And…Relax!

Morning! Can't you tell it's the summer holidays!

There needs to be a whole ton of relaxing done.. except I'm not feeling it quite so much!

A card like this would be very welcome right now!

This is probably the simplest card ever.. but just goes to show that sometimes 'less' is most definitely ok!

I've used these lovely products- and for those that thought the font on Louie's ABCs dies might not be too large and only suitable for scrapbooking (ahem.. that would have been me ;-) ).. it's NOT. 

It's perfect.

It also subscribes to the 'the bigger the product the more quickly finished the card' school of thought. A CAS quickie at only about 7 minutes in total!

The simple shadow is enough to give a little contrast and the tiny details are courtesy of the Hello Sunshine stamp set

Do try 'minimal'.. it's a wonderful feeling!
Oh.. and don't forget to breathe.. and relax today!

See you next week,

Keren xx

Pretty Rain!

Happy Tuesday! 

Hope you're all ok- and not hiding from pretty rain like this little bunny. I thought I'd give the 'line-less' trend a go- simply stamping in a light colour and colouring up the edges so there doesn't appear to be any stamped edges. I chose a light Memento colour (Sahara Sand, I think) & got shading with my Copics.

The set is called Hello Baby

and I've also enlisted the help of the matching dies- which were perfect for cutting out the metal for the umbrella

Thankfully, there's plenty of sets..at the moment.. but always best to 'hop' ahead of the stampede!! (he he- a little mixing of metaphors for you!)

Hoping you have a bright sunshiney day- but failing that, a gorgeous shiny umbrella would be the perfect style ticket to ward off the drops!!

See you next Tuesday!

Keren xx

Happy Colours!

I have a necklace which is just lots of buttons attached together and I call it my happy necklace.

So bright and sunny, I'm always asked if I've made it and where I got it from. Wearing it just makes me feel happy!

These colours on the card are like that. How could you not smile when surrounded by the rainbow of tones?!

I've just used two Paper Smooches sets (Design Motifs & Cyber Cafe) and the squiggle stamp is from Newton's Nook (Love a La Carte). Mixing and matching is the best way of getting an unique look

I decided the stripes were too heavy & so cut up the card to create a tag..

I should have left well alone!!

Have you ever wished you'd left things as they were?!!

Well, I'll see you next week.. I've still some teachers cards to finish- we've not broken up from school yet!

Keren xx

Really, Superbly, Greatly, Perfectly Happy!

Good morning! Are you happy?!

Hopefully this card will bring you a bit of rainbow brightness and leave you with no doubt that the sender is wanting to wish you a ton of 'happy'!!

Now the 'Happy' set has just slipped out of stock but there are these alternatives- perfect for recreating the stacked die cut look-

or even these

It's a super-easy technique- just die-cut to your heart's content in a plethora of rainbow colours and simply stack, shifting each word slightly to the right (or left!) until you have a big chunky statement piece that leaves little extra embellishment needed.

For the balloon stack I simply layered up a few of these from the Whole Lotta Happy dies

Well, that's enough 'happy' for one day (yeah, right!)- I hope you pick up a couple of word dies from the shop, dust off your die-cutting machine & get stacking!

See you next week-

Keren xx

Back To Smell The Roses!

There is something quintessentially English about roses- and I'm a sucker for any types. The large frilly scented blooms are my favourite. On the stamp scene, the Fresh Cut Florals were everywhere for a while- we all went mad over them.
I wanted to ink them again & do something a little more pared back and try and inject a few stronger lines into my card too. The stripes of colour seemed just right

This set is back in stock & Make The Day Special has restocked plenty of these so if you missed out on them first time around, you can grab this set which is perfect for so many of your crafty projects. 

                                         

If you don't fancy fussy-cutting.. we've these fab dies to help you cut them out instantly!

Well, it's time to go! Hope you get chance to linger near some flowers & take a moment to enjoy nature in all its glory (& then run home and stamp a load of your own blooms !) 

Keren xx

Loving Marshmallows!

Hi! What an amazingly beautiful day! I was musing yesterday that most of us can do male Birthday cards- but a card to tell a bloke you love him? 

Hard. 

You don't want to go too cutesy & humour is often the way to go.

I thought this card nearly gets it right..plenty of 'man colours' but with a little pop of colour. The set is this one; 'Love you S'more' from Lawn Fawn

It was only a year or two ago that we learnt what s'mores actually were- in case you're wondering..

They're a campfire staple of graham cracker (kinda a square digestive biscuit), marshmallow and some sort of chocolate. Now hopefully- the little squidgy thing with eyes on my card makes more sense!

Righto- will leave you all salivating about chocolate, biscuits & marshmallows!

See you next week !

Keren xx

The Start of Something New...

Hey! It's Tuesday again!

I've been making such complicated cards recently, I thought I'd do something simple. I had a spare piece of stamped out 'map' from 'Wanderlust' knocking around on my desk & it sparked off a card idea using this set.

Remember those days of a new relationship/friendship or a big holiday adventure? I thought it would be fun to make a 'text' card using the sentiment & the 'map' stamp. I did a little stamp surgery on the sentiment to make it fit my speech bubble, cut out a frame from Coredinations cardstock & then just added the little details. The card is practically phone sized & makes a nice change from the same old same old! Do check out this Mama Elephant set- there's only half the stock left from when I last highlighted this set- & they'll go before you know it!

Hope you have your own adventure today!

Love, Keren x

Flying High!

Happy Tuesday everyone! It looks like the perfect day for a flight. I've gone all Mary Poppins on you..remember the 'Let's Go Fly A Kite' song where all the kites take off into the air? I thought the little creatures could do with some freedom too. Ok, there's no kite, but the balloons from Hello Sunshine make a good substitute!

I've also added in the little deer from Into The Woods.. he was the perfect 'weight' at the bottom to make sure they didn't fly too high! I did cut the sentiment into 4 pieces because masking it was going to be too tricky so I've now got extra mileage from my set!

Both sets are in stock & just waiting to be set free! Hope you get time to fly a kite today too ;-)

See you next week,

Keren xx

Something Wonderful!

Hello! How are you all? Thought I'd squeeze another project out of what is probably my favourite stamp set at the moment..'Wanderlust' by Mama Elephant.

The tiny map stamp is gorgeous for a background image & I've simply punched out lots of little holes where the circles are on the stamped image & backed them with coloured cardstock giving a rainbow coloured effect. I'm on a bit of a rainbow kick right now so the black and white main part of the card is the perfect base for colour.

I die-cut circles out of the panel & added a few extra bits- such as the sentiment & an angled matt. Another big go-to supply right now is acetate, so I used that for the card base to make more of an unusual card. 

Hope your day has something wonderful in it ( mine will involve baking, crafting & a kids party !)

See you next Tuesday,

Keren x

3D Tweeting!

Hi! Thought I'd do a little 3D card. I'm using the Newton's Nook set 'Tweet Talk'

It's hard to see that the top bird is actually coming out from the card. The way I've bent it means that it could still be folded up and popped into an envelope; it's kind of a step shape or straighter 'z'. The other birds and sentiment are simply attached to thin strips of acetate, adhered to the frame shape & then the frame is added to the card using 3D foam pads.

The background paper is the Hello Sunshine 'Lawn Fawn' paper pad which should be back in stock in soon. In the meanwhile, check out the rest of the Newton's Nook designs here. 

Hope you've enjoyed something a little different! I'm flying off to do some more crafting..hard life!!

See you next Tuesday!

Keren xx

You're Special!

Hey! Happy Tuesday!
There are some people in life who make others around them look a little..grey. They're so special, they exude colour and wonderfulness! This is a really quick card using a combo of 2 Paper Smooches sets.

There is obviously only one cup & I wanted them to be opposite to each other which is why I stamped onto acetate & flipped it after cutting it out. Obviously alcohol markers & Stazon don't mix so I coloured on the opposite side that I'd stamped on & dabbed the marker for the best coverage (alcohol markers don't behave the same as on paper/cardstock).

I know if you have to explain a card, then you've probably not done a very good job- but the idea is that there is the ordinary grey coffee, with plain steam & a more stylish one emitting flowers instead. Does that make sense now?!

Well, I'm off to make a coffee- and see what kind of steam comes off it!

Don't forget about our fab challenge here - just pick your colour & create a prize winning project!

See you soon,

Keren x

Wander & You'll Miss It!

Morning! Hope you've all had a lovely weekend (a long one for those of us in the UK!). Back to work might mean a less than blissful day- but, like this card says, go and find your bliss (maybe in crafting later or a little chocolate at lunch time!).
You might have missed this set- it's a superb one

It's a Mama Elephant set called 'Wanderlust' & boy, is there tons you can do with it

That little compass stamp would make perfect backgrounds, & is a gorgeous base for an embellishment too. I'll show you a card I created last week so you can see what else you could do with it

That little subway map has had the intersections punched out & coloured cardstock added behind them

And the best news- Wanderlust is in stock and there's a good number of them…for the moment at least!

Hope you get can get your hands on this set- just perfect for guys or gals!

See you next week,

Keren x

The Kings New Clothes & Avery Elle

I'm posting something a little risky today. I've been playing..with paint. The reason that I've titled the post 'The Kings New Clothes' is that any moment you'll realise I actually can't paint and I've just made it up!

Once I'd finished moving paint around, I wanted to stamp a sentiment and a border and this set was perfect

I've used the 'Thanks', the dashed line around the edges and in the next pic you might spot the tiny circle that I've used to highlight the circle. It's a brilliantly versatile set that you might have overlooked but would do for tons of occasions.

Well I'll cut and run… do check out the Avery Elle inks here- they're beautiful!

See you soon,

Keren x