September Challenge Week 1

We're back to colours again this month and have some Autumn hues for you to play with along with one of my personal faves of black white and grey with a pop of yellow - a timeless classic!   Just pick a minimum of 3 colours from any one of the 3 images below and make something with it using at least one product we sell in store.   You don't have to make a card - it can be a scrapbook layout, or an off the page project - whatever takes your fancy!

In case you're stuck for a place to start - the DT are playing along too and this week we have used all 3 colour combos to kick things off.

Jenny

I've made a simple Mandala pattern using Garden Flowers by Lia from Hero Arts

Sarah

using Paper Smooches Leafy Greens and Lil Inkers Awesome word die.

Tara

using My Minds Eye My Story Papers and Washi, Wood Veneers, Smile Die
and Family Floral Stencil (used as a stamp)

We hope that's inspired you to play along - once you've made your creation - link it up here http://makethedayspecialcards.blogspot.co.uk/p/challenges.html
You can play along as many times as you like and feel free to combine with other challenges as long as you stick to our rules too!   You have until the 22nd September to play.

Shaky Fish

Hello!

I have just got back from my holidays and seem to have left my mojo on the airplane so needed to play along with a challenge to get creative.  This week the cue card at CASology is Aquatic which is where I started with the cute fish from Mama Elephant's Cosmic Stars set.  I watercoloured and glazed them before stencilling a watery background.  Throw in a few sequins behind the aperture and a simple shaker card is made. 

I hope you are having a fun summer :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Sarah x

      

August Challenge Week 1

We're back with a new challenge today and you have 3 whole weeks to play along.  This month we're playing with a nice simple sketch so nothing as taxing as last month's challenge so we're hoping for a record number of players!

You can flip the sketch and change the shapes a little to fit your design, as long as we can see our sketch was your jumping off point.  You must also use at least one product we sell in store to be eligible for the £15 prize voucher.

Need a little inspiration?   Well our fabulously talented design team will be here each week with our interpretations , here are the first 3 but make sure you come back in 7 days to see some more.

Jenny
Using Celebrate You by My Favourite things and Stitched Borders

Sarah
Using Paper Smooches Chubby Chums and Sentiment Sampler.

Tara

Using Waffle Flower Lotus and Leafy, So Happy plus Stitched Borders and Enamel Dots

You have until 10pm Sunday 23rd August to link up your entry here when you've made it.

Birthday Elephant

Hello!

Just a quick post with some of the fab new products from My Favourite Things that I have been playing with since Tara bought them to the store (yay!).  I teamed up the fabulous Abstract stencil with one of my all time favourite sets from Altenew - Ori Kami. 

I stamped and masked the elephant before inking through the stencil with a range of distress inks and simply added a die cut sentiment from MFT coupled with the birthday from Hero Arts....a real product mash up!

I hope you like it and have checked out the gorgeous MFT products in store....

See you again soon,

Sarah x

       

May Sketch Challenge - Week 1

With a pinch and a punch it's the first of the month and that means a new challenge - woo-hoo!   This month we have a sketch - which I have to admit is harder to work with than I imagined now I've tried to create a card with it :(   So, as usual feel free to flip and make the interpretation a little loose....

As my DT is so fabulous though - they all have some amazing projects using the sketch so hopefully they will inspire you to play along for your chance to win £15 to spend in store.

Sarah

I went for a literal interpretation using Timeless Tags 2 from WPlus9 along with
their Epic Dad stamps and dies and Ink Splats sets.

Jenny
I flipped the sketch on its side and used the Reverse Confetti stamp set called Leaping Lions
with a technique I love.... paper piecing :)

Tara
Used Clouds from Neat and Tangled and Sunshine Layer Dies from Wplus9
and embossed the clouds onto vellum in silver

You have until 10pm on Sunday 24th May to play along and you can combine with other challenges as long as we can see our sketch in there somewhere.   You must include a link to the challenge in your blog post and you must use at least one product from the store to be eligible for the prize.  Link up your entry on our challenge page when you're ready to play.  http://makethedayspecialcards.blogspot.co.uk/p/challenges.html

Stamping Contrasts - Colour

It's day 3 of our week long stamping contrasts series - we do hope you're having as much fun as we did as a DT getting together to bring this series to you.

For our contrast today - Keren and Sarah are showing you what a difference colour can make - you can achieve such a different look from a set like Painted Butterflies by playing with Colour VS Monochrome.

Keren

Colour is definitely the easier one.. I wanted to do something really bright without it being 'rainbow'. We had both picked 'Painted Butterflies' by Altenew and I wanted to showcase the little butterflies in the set. I had the idea of them flying beyond the card and so cut out an acetate hollow heart shape. I folded it in half and then started to add the butterflies. These are a 3 step inked stamp- and trust me, this set is so forgiving, you won't need to worry if they're precisely lined up.

Once I'd stuck them all down, I added foam pads at different stacked heights so the heart would remain folded on the card and then added a thin strip of acetate in the middle to rest the white embossed sentiment onto.

Sarah

Isn't Keren's card spectacular?!  Initially I scratched my head in terms of how I could use the layered butterfly stamps from Altenew in a black and white design.  Black on black would just look like a smudge :)  I decided to stamp the butterfly in Black Soot Distress Ink on watercolour card.  I didn't stamp all of the layers and tried my hand at watercolouring to give the butterfly some dimension and interest. I splattered some ink in the background and added a sentiment from the same set.  The central panel is die cut with a Lawn Fawn stitched square and matted on black card.  I think it came out quite atmospheric and a real contrast to Keren's gorgeously vibrant (and dimensional) design.

Have we inspired you to join in the fun?
If you fancy having a go and challenging yourself to stamp a contrast along with us then link up your entry below - just pick a contrast from any we'll be demonstrating this week and make your own.   You could either make 2 cards to show the contrast or just choose one of ours and make the contrast to match it (so choose Keren's colourful card and make a monochrome one like Sarah did with whatever stamps you have)   We'll leave the link open for a week after our final post on Saturday so you have time to see all the contrasts before picking one to join in with and then have a full week to play.   You never know, we might even find a prize for the best contrast ;-)

An InLinkz Link-up

Whatever the Weather!

Hello!

The weather over our way has been up and down over the past few days and has put me in the mood to use the fabulous dies from WPlus9.  They have great stitched details and are really fun to use - I love the pretty scalloped frame that comes in the set too.  I think I will be using that a lot! 

I thought they would go perfectly with this sentiment from Mama Elephant which I stamped in the centre of the card and then again on patterned paper from Avery Elle.  The central banner is popped up.

It is a bright and cheerful card - I hope it brightens your day!

Sarah x

     

Star Signs Trio

Hello!

I have been dying to play with my cute Mama Elephant Cosmic Stars set for ages - I don't really know which sign of the zodiac goes with which month but the images are just too sweet to resist!  So sweet that I made 3 cards to share with you :)

I have watercoloured each of the images and die cut them with the Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle and Squares dies.  I created different backgrounds using Winnie and Walter's The Big, The Bold and The Happy stamps and Big Bang Confetti.  I found these images really easy to work with and they added to my stash of birthday cards.

Hopefully these stamps will be back in store later today or tomorrow once our crafty superhero, Tara, has had the chance to upload the latest delivery from Mama Elephant!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Sarah x

           

 

February Challenge Week 1

It seems lots of you found our recycling challenge a little scary, so you will be much happier to see a nice simple sketch to play with this month I'm sure.   Being February I went with sketch featuring a heart but feel free to change that to another shape if you'd prefer - just keep the overall feel of the sketch so we know our challenge inspired you and make sure to use at least one item we sell to be eligible for the £15 prize.

As usual we're kicking things off with projects to inspire you and we'll be back for the next two weeks with more as we remind you to play along.

Sarah

Jenny
I have shrunk the sketch down for my card :)

Tara

I used some yummy bang on trend papers from the "Just Sayin" pad and made a gate fold card based on the sketch with a double butterfly fastener. 

Once you've got your project ready, link it up on our challenge page before the deadline of 10pm on Sunday 22nd February.