Thanks for everything you do.....

Hi there it's Anja again on this lovely monday the end of februari and the beginning of march.

Today's card has several techniques and here it is;

 

 

I wanted to use several leaves and highlight them in some way in a panel and make that pop.
So I did some watercolor washing, some clear embossing and masking.




I used a lila topfolded cardbase and cut a watercolor paper panel slightly smaller then the cardbase. I positioned the framedie and taped the edges to stamp the images in the middle. The stamping was done with some maskingpaper. After this stamping I stamped the image at the side with some watermark ink and clear embossingpowder and did some watercolorwashing with distress ink.
I diecut the frame and placed it back with some foamtape to give it extra dimension.
The word thanks was stamped and fuzzy cut and the sentence was stamped with white embossingpowder on a lila strip.
To finish the card I used some clear droplets.







Stamps;

Time to say thanks;




Sequins by Pretty pink posh;

Clear Droplets;






Have you seen all those pretty sequins and clear droplets from pretty pink posh you can order over at create a smile? and those great acrylic blocks which make it some much easier to stamp?
Stay tuned because there is a new release coming soon........

Have a great week;
Hugs Anja

A Card Without Any Images - Rainbow Fun!

Hi everyone! You know, I'm not such a great colourist and I always take so long when colouring an image, eventhough I love it. So, sometimes, I take the opportunity to make a great without using any images and you can still make a great card! With die-cuts that's popping out everywhere nowadays, there's plenty you can do :)

To make a fun card without involving any images.

As you can see, I basically almost filled the background with the colours of the rainbow. As usual, I use Distress Ink for this. You can use any medium you have. Hey! You can even use strips of cardstock to create a rainbow background. 

With a busy background, I wanted to keep the rest of the card clean. I die-cut those frames and left it uncoloured. The frame can stand out more and a gold die cut for the sentiment just adds a little glam to the card, don't you think? ;) 

Create A Smile Die-Cuts - Birthday-Triple
Create A Smile Die-Cuts - Magical Frame
Create A Smile Stamps - Mini Birthday

Follow Create A Smile on Facebook keep yourself updates on all the happenings and if you're an Instagram addict like I am, you can follow Create A Smile using this name : @createasmilestamps ! :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Marina

Merry Christmas!

Hey stampers, Anni here!
Today I have another card for you using the Set Made of Snow but this time for a Christmas card.

After last week's card I couldn't stay away from this cute set. As I challenge myself to make two Christmas cards each month I decided to use the cute deer this time.

• If you add Glossy Accents to your baubles you can easily add a little bit of shimmer by sprinkling a little bit of glitter on it.
• If you have a small image, place it on a die cut to make it stand out.
• Making Christmas cards all over the year helps reducing the stress in already busy December.

Follow Create a Smile on Facebook and Instagram to get all the news!

   

Watercolored Sentiments!

Hello there!
Samantha here again, and today I'm sharing a card I made with a bit of a watercolored sentiment, look! It's SO easy to do, too! :)

   

I can't stop using the floral sets that Christine creates! These are some of my FAVORITE sets ever, and honestly, I'm not a flower person!! Well, I guess I can't say that anymore...I *used* to not be a floral person...what's next...? Purple?! Ha!

To create this card, you'll definitely need some Distress Markers!

- place your sentiment onto your acrylic block

- using the Distress Markers, color directly onto your stamps! I used four different colors (Chipped Sapphire, Mermaid Lagoon, Pine Needles and Peacock Feathers).

- once the sentiment is colored completely, light spray with a mister bottle

- then stamp directly onto your card front!

- once the sentiment was stamped, I stamped with various leaves and flowers along three of the edges of the card, keeping it in black and white, so the focus stays on the sentiment.

- to finish the card, I added some enamel dots!

I used enamel dots from various collections (Fruitalicious, Holly & Berry and Sending Sunshine). The sentiment is from This Must Be Love and the flowers/leaves are from Botanical Love and Time to Say Thanks.

Colors! You can do this card in ANY color scheme and ANY sentiment! This would make an adorable set of Thank You cards to give to someone! :)

In addition to the awesome enamel dot embellishments, you can also get some amazing Pretty Pink Posh sequins right there in the Create a Smile Stamps shop! :)

Thanks again for spending some of your time with me this Friday! 

~Samantha

      

Guest Designer Keeway Tsao #1

Hello everyonwe happy friday!

I am here with youtoday to share something AMAZING. When we had out last Guest Designer Call I was happy to see Keeway Tsao apply - I had followed her INstagram for a while and each and every creation she makes it outstanding, unique, clever, perfecly executed and cheerful.

More than that I found out that Keeway is a super sweet person, too <3

Please give her a warm welcome and more than that - hop over to her Blog Kiwi Koncepts - take time  to look at all her amazing designs and sign up for her creations - you are sure going to love them!

Here's what Keeway has for you today {puffa heart love!}:

_____________________________________

When I see beautiful products, I like to let it inspire me to create scenes that I can imagine myself in. In today's card, the wave of stars stencil is what caught my attention and when I imagine a beautiful sky sprinkled with stars, I would want to spend it with someone special.

- Mask off approximately an inch of the top and bottom of your A2 white cardstock with post-it tape.

- Use your blender tool to create a gradient night sky, starting with your lightest color. In this card, I used Distress Inks and started with the Tumbled Glass from bottom up, then Chipped Sapphire from top to bottom, and then a touch of Hickory Smoke on the top. Blend until the colors gradually transition into each other.

- Create two mixtures of embossing paste, one yellow and one orange. I used Distress Inks Squeezed Lemonade and Spiced Marmalade.

- Place the Wave or Stars Stencil where the stars to be, and spread the yellow embossing paste right to left. Then spread the orange embossing paste left to right. The colors will mix somewhere in the middle. Let it dry.

- Stamp the meerkat from the Friends and Couples set once on cardstock, and another time on a separate piece of paper to create a mask. After you mask the first meerkat, you can stamp the second one beside it. Color in with copics. You can also add a hint of color pencil to create additional texture and shading. Then, cut out.

- To create an extra sparkle on your stars, add a hint of gold glitter. I used a Q-tip to help me add a thin and scattered layer of clear glue to add some gold glitter to my stars. I also went over the embossed stars more with my Wink of Stella pen.

- Stamp your sentiment in the top right corner of the card.

- And lastly, use foam tape to adhere the meerkats underneath the stars.

Be patient. When playing with embossing paste, it can take awhile to dry, but if you are able to set your project aside and come back to it next day, you'll have beautiful results and less chance of messing up your work. I have to remind myself that all the time.

_____________________________

Don't you just LOVE Keeway's card? The colors - the texture - the allover design - it's just swoonworthy - like all of her project. (Yes, you can call me a fan-girl - hehe ;) )

You'll get to see more of her creations this week-end - so make sure to check back!

What I do in a Creative Slump: My Go-To Card Technique

Hi Crafters,

Justine here again with another video tutorial - this time a bit different. Have you ever had a creative slump or a time where you just didn't have any ideas for cardmaking. Well I am going through that now and I wanted to share with you my "go-to card technique" for when I am just not feeling very crafty. 

I wanted to share my quick, easy technique for stunning cards every time without having to be super creative. Over on my blog, I shared my favourite stencils, stamps and ink combination for this technique so be sure to come visit and say hi!

In my video, I show you how to do my go-to card and talk about my recent creative low-point.

What I do when I do not have any ideas:

• Check Pinterest for ideas
• Look at photos for colour ideas
• Facebook groups that share cards
• Organize my stash and clean my area - sometimes going through what you have will inspire you to create something

Full supply list on my blog. Supplies available from the Create a Smile Store:

Ein riesiges Danke

In Circles

InLinkz.com

There are some clearance stamps available over at Create a Smile so snap them up before they are gone!

See you next month!!!