Challenge time with Laura's Loft- "Resist Technique"

CHALLENGE TIME

Welcome to my project inspiration for this month's challenge. The theme was a technique based one, "Resist".

I decided to go with using the way embossing powder resists watercolours.

This is what I came up with:

Cut an A7 card (5" x 7" ) from blue cardstock (or use a premade one). Stamp using random combinations from My Favourite Things (MFT) Party Patterns set and a Paris Dusk blue Memento Ink pad.  Using some Strathmore cold press watercolour paper (I tried on normal card and it doesn't look as nice) stamp and emboss some more of the set using a clear embossing pad and white embossing powder such as Wow's Opaque White Superfine. You'll also need an embossing tool. 

Let it cool a little, then dampen the paper with a brush or mister. Then drop in some watercolours. I used some Cotman pans and tubes, but you could also use Brusho powders or Distress Inks. Let dry. Cut into rectangles and mount onto white card rectangle cut slightly bigger. Stamp a sentiment in the blue Memento ink (I used on by Papertrey Ink). Mount some of the same blue you used for the back ground and adhere to the card using foam pads.

So now it's YOUR turn. Yes, you! Right there! Your turn to join in and have some fun, maybe try something new.

The challenge runs for TWO weeks and you can enter on Laura's blog HERE. The winner will be announced two days later.

You could win the 1st prize

 and kindly donated by Avery Elle the 2nd prize

to spend on goodies all for yourself (well, you can share them with me if you really really want to :))

Here are some more of the compadre's pages if you would like some more inspiration!

Deana

Jasmine

Debbie

Noe

Lisa

Dawn

Valentina

Linda

Robbie

Fantasy cards

I'll admit it, I'm a huge fan of the fantasy genre... Lord of the Rings, Eddings, Jordan... I wish there were more stamps around of non-cute dragons, unicorns and so on...but finding any proved hard, so I decided to use my trusty Silhouette machine to make a get well card for fellow fantasy lover I know. The dragon was cut from yellow cardstock, then sponged using Tim Holtz's round blending tool with distress inks in shades of orange and red. Spritz with water and blot. Then I over stamped with Papertrey Ink's Brushed Off set and Tim Holtz's Cracked and Specks set to finish the look.
Some gold thread was wrapped around my fingers and adhered under the dragon. I ripped some paper with writing on it (a dragon summoning scroll perhaps?) and stuck that to a red A2 card. Then the dragon and thread was placed on tip.

Valentines Project for Coffee and Cat lovers, with Laura's Loft.

A little extra project for you this month, because I love you all.

I am using the same sets I used for the blog hop earlier this month, so that you can how easy it is to achieve some variety in your work using the same materials. 

Cut some hearts from white cardstock using dies or a Silhouette/ Cricut machine. Using Distress Inks in shades of red and pink stamp the brushstroke from My Favourite Things (MFT) Abstract Art set along the side of it. Use a black gelly roll to mark on some faux stitch. 

On a white A2 card, stitch some lines of black cotton thread (or use a stitch stamp, or draw lines as previously). Make them different lengths. Arrange hearts in a pleasing manner and adhere.

Stamp the cat from Newton's Coffee stamp set by Newton's Nook using black Memento Ink. Watercolour as you wish. I used watercolour pencils, but you could use Distress inks, paints or Kuretake Clean brush markers too. Fussy cut. Adhere to card. Stamp sentiment. Draw on some dots using Liquid Pearls in Rouge.  

Laura's Loft Hop and Shop- Love Grows Here

Have a peek at Robbie's work here if you missed it!

Valentines Day....would could be more romantic than staring at your loved one over a cup of hot steaming coffee, right? Maybe it's because the temperature just dropped and it snowed today, but I couldn't help but be inspired for my Valentine's project by the thought of a nice hot cup of... well your choice...cocoa, coffee, tea, mulled cider.... 

So without further ado:

I cut a blank white card with a heart aperture using my Silhouette machine. You could also use dies or hole punches to get a similar effect. 

Using My Favorite Things Abstract Art collection I stamped brushstrokes down the side of the card using Distress Inks in Festive Berries, Barn Door, Fired Brick and Picked Raspberry and Memento Inks in Lady Bug and Rhubarb Stalk or any shades of red and pink you prefer. Draw a line around the aperture using a black gelly roll if you wish. 

On separate card stamp the cat with coffee cup from Newton's Coffee set by Newton's Nook using black Memento Ink pad. Colour with markers or pencils (I used Prismacolor pencils). Fussy cut.  For the inside using Rangers Round Mini Ink Blending Foam and some Distress Ink in Festive Berries to soften the outside of the heart. Over stamp with the coffee beans from the Newton's coffee set using Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Stamp the sentiment in Memento black ink.

And the envelope designed to match. The process is the same. I then used my Lettermate template and a Black Gelly Roll to address it. 

This months fantastic prize package!

WRMK Heatwave Pen Starter Set, WRMK Next Level EF "Gemstone", LL/DCB Sequins "Garden Splendor" & VT Enamel Dots "Autumn"

How to enter the blog hop giveaway: 

TO ENTER:

There are several ways to enter and the more comments you make in the different social media outlets, the more entries you earn! It is required that you comment on each blog in the Hop.  After that, you are encouraged to like, and comment on our Facebook page, tag on our Instagram post and pin on Pinterest, as well as share on your own pages. The participant with the most entries wins the fabulous prize package! How cool is that!?!

CHRISTMAS STAMPS AND DIES are 45% off!! Stock up now :)

Also order over $75 and get $10 off, code $10off75

Stop by and have a look at Sue's LOVEly creations here.... (sorry for the pun. No not sorry really)

In case you are lost here is the complete hop:

1. Laura's Loft

2. Deana Benson

3. Jasmine Burgess

4. Robbie Rubala

5. Heart of Craft ← you are here!

6. Sue T

7. Kim

8. Linda Gorman

9. Lisa Bedigian

10. Valentina Delmonte

Small print! For competition T&C's please see Laura's website. Some products in this post have been provided for use by Laura's Loft but all views are my own!

CAS-ual Fridays with Laura's Loft.

Today I am helping celebrate the release of some wonderful dies from Cas-ual Fridays, available from Laura's Loft. 

I will be using the two sets Tag Buddies and and Friendly Flowers Fri-dies which are so much fun!

For this release I decided to experiment with some mixed media for a change. Start by die cutting your tags and flowers multiple times from white card stock (I used Michaels' Recollections). You'll need lots of the flowers especially!

Use some of Tim Holtz's tissue tape on the tags. Then smear some Distress Paints onto a craft sheet (I use Teflon cooking sheet). Mist very lightly with water, then smear your tag through it. I used Salty Ocean, Picked Raspberry and Seedless Preserves. Mist slightly again. Let dry, or if you are impatient use a hairdryer or embossing tool to carefully dry it.  Use Ranger Transparent Medium applied with a spatula through Studio 490's Polka Dotty stencil across the bottom left corner and let dry. This will take a while, so move onto the flowers while they dry. Colour the white card using the Ranger Round Mini Ink Blending Foam and Distress ink pads to match the paint colours you used. Spritz with water, blot and dry. Over stamp with lettering from Tim Holtz's Urban Grunge set using a Grape Jelly Memento pad and Ink Splodges from MFT's Abstract Art set using a Rose Bud Memento ink pad. The construct the flowers. Some of them I bent sharply along the centre of each petal to give a more star like shape. Others I used embossing tools or Heartfelt Creations flower shaping set to make the petals curl and become a rounder shape. Experiment and see how many combinations you can make!

I picked out some details using Ranger's enamel accents in white. Let dry and assemble flowers using your adhesive of choice.  Using Distress ink pads in Dusty Concord, Vintage Photo and/or Walnut Stain, ink the corners of your tags to darken them and increase the contrast with the flowers.

Use the Dusty Concord to stamp butterflies from Close to my Heart (Find Your Style) and Clearly Besotted stamps on the tags. Assemble and let dry. Meanwhile cut some ivory cardstock 0.25" shorter than a base purple card. Ink the edges with Antique Linen Distress Inks and adhere the panel to your base card. Arrange the tags in a pleasing manner and stick them on. Voila, pretty floral mixed media tags. You can buy some of my favourite Distress Ink pads from Laura's Loft. I warn you they are addictive though!

Laura's Loft Shop and Hop- Ringing in the Holidays

If you missed it please do check out the previous stop and the gorgeous work of Jasmine here

Jasmine is also our lovely guest designer this month, so be sure to check out her work!

My card for this month's hop features the gorgeous Altenew's Pine and Poinsetta set again.

The background is a piece of white cardstock cut to 4" x 5.25". I then sponged on Distress Inks in

 Evergreen Bough, Antique Linen, Vintage Photo and Crushed Olive using my Ranger Round Mini Ink Blending Foam. Leave some of the central area white. Then spritz with some water and blot it.  Stamp on the top left with Penny Black's Pine Silhouettes stamp using Memento Inks on Bamboo Leaves, then Cottage Ivy then Cottage Ivy and Black together. Stamp the trees from Penny Black's Nature's Friends in the bottom right using the first two colours only. Add some highlights to the trees and branches using a white gelly roll pen. Stamp the pine cones from the Altenew set on a separate piece of cardstock using Memento Black. Colour using Prismacolour pencils in browns and purples, blending as you go. Cut them out and adhere them to your base image. Stick panel to a base kraft card. Highlight the edges of the cones using a Marvy Snow Marker or Liquid Applique. Let dry and puff up using a hairdryer or embossing gun. Add some sparkle with Stardust Stickle glue. Let dry. Stamp and emboss your sentiment (I used Merry Christmas from a Christmas wording sent by Momenta) in  Wow Sparkling Snow Embossing Glitter (also available from Laura's Loft) on some vellum. Adhere to card. 

This months BLOG HOP GIVEAWAY is fantastic!

On to the important stuff...how do you win those lovely prizes?

TO ENTER:

1. Follow Laura's Loft on IG @InLaurasLoft, like the IG Hop/Giveaway post and tag a friend. as many as you like but one tag per comment please (this part is for extra entries).  If you do not have IG, just let Laura know.

2.Visit & Like Laura's Loft store page on facebook https://www.facebook.com/Lauras.Loft.Shop

3. Leave a comment at each stop on the blog hop including Laura's.

After doing these 3 things, fill out the rafflecopter to be entered!!  Yay!

What is more she has some fabulous deals for you too (so no-one has to miss out on the fun!)

All Christmas Stamps and Dies are 30% off (discounted price shown) until stock runs out.

 WRMK products on sale 20% off with code WRMK20% from Dec. 3rd through Jan. 3

See Cindy's lovely cards here:

In case you are lost here is the complete hop:

1. Laura's Loft  

2. Deana Benson

3. Robbie Rubala 

4. LeeAnn McKinney

5. Debbie Brunssen

6. Joy Hadden

7. Lisa Bedigian

8. Jasmine Burgess 

9. Heart of Craft   ← you are here!

10. So Stinkin' Crafty 

Small print! For competition T&C's please see Laura's website. Some products in this post have been provided for use by Laura's Loft but all views are my own

Winter Wonderland with Laura's Shop and Hop

If you missed it please do check out the previous stop and the lovely creations of Cindy here

This month I am using the gorgeous Altenew's Poinsetta and Pine stamp collection from Laura's fantastic shop to create my card. 

I started by cutting some Recollections white cardstock a fraction smaller than my blue background card, at 4" by 5.25". I then used my Ranger Round Mini Ink Blending Foam and started to blend on some Distress Inks in Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers and Chipped Sapphire. I over stamped this with a tiny snowflake from Stampendous's Christmas Charms set using Summer Sky Memento Ink. I tried first with Distress Ink but the stamp was so tiny the image bled alot. I also used Penny Black's All Is Bright set for more snowflakes in varying sizes using Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. This was all over stamped on one side using Heidi Swapp's music stamp and Memento Bahama Blue. I then sprayed water on top and blotted immediately. 

The edges of the card were pressed into an embossing ink pad and then sprinkled with Wow Sparkling Snow Embossing Glitter. I love this powder so much, it melts really nicely and gives such a lovely ice/snow/ seasonal effect! The glitter stays put too. 

Then I printed the poinsetta from Altenew's set using Black Memento Ink and coloured with Prismacolours in tones of blue, white and purple, blending as I went. Then cut a second smaller layer of the front leaves and repeat. Leave the centre uncoloured. Use some clear Aleene's glue to glue some tiny sequins and beads from Baby It's Cold sequin mix. These are exclusive to Laura's Loft and are really pretty so do have a look!. Let dry and use a small foam pad to adhere to the base layer.

Attach some larger foam pads to the back of the poinsetta. Wrap some silver thread from a spool around your hand to form a circle. Arrange on card, making sure the ends are where one of the foam pads will be. (You could stick down one pad on top first and the leave a gap on the back of the poinsetta). Adhere the poinsetta and voila...Winter Wonderland!

This months blog hop prize (see Laura's website for entry requirements) is this lovely parcel of goodies, just in time for your holiday card making!

CF "Sleigh Bells" Stamp, CF "Bell Tag Fri-dies", VT "Holly Jolly" enamel dots & LLDCB "O' Tannenbaum" sequins

This month there is also generous 20% off Avery Elle stamps (ending 11/28/2015). Just use code AE20% at the checkout. 

Before hopping back to the beginning if you missed it to see what Laura has in store for you.

Here is the complete list in case you missed it:
This months guest bloggers:

Jasmine Burgess

Linda Gorman

1. Laura's Loft

2. Deanna Benson

3. Robbie Rubala

4. Debbie Brunssen

5. LeeAnn McKinney

6. Lisa Bedigian

7. Joy Hadden

8. Linda Gorman  

9. Jasmine Burgess 

10. Cindy Dooley  

11. Heart of Craft ← you are here!

Small print! For competition T&C's please see Laura's website. Some products in this post have been provided for use by Laura's Loft but all views are my own.