A New Ink on Life

TGIF Challenges #331 - Getting Wild with Nuts About Squirrels

It's Friday and that means another great challenge on the TGIF Challenges Blog. We LOVE bringing you weekly paper-crafting inspiration, and are so excited to have you join us. This week things are getting "wild" around here!

For our last challenge of the month we have a theme challenge, so grab a stamp set or patterned paper with animals, leaves, animal print, whatever, and join us for this week's challenge!

For my take on the challenge I had to pull out the Nuts About Squirrels Stamp Set. I actually bought this stamp set with one thing in mind, to make a card for my bestie. Now you may be thinking awww how cute she must love squirrels, right? Actually she is terrified of them and may have actually called me on more then one occasion half crying when she was out somewhere and one or more crossed her path preventing her from getting to where she wanted to go. Now trust me, if she was really THAT petrified of them I wouldn't actually give her a card with one on it, but her distain for them has been a running joke for many years and I just couldn't resist. 

In all seriousness though, who could think that this little guy was not adorable?! This stamp set is a two-step set, meaning the line are images have other solid images that fill them in, making "colouring" this little guy super easy. I fussy cut him out using Paper Snips to help bring him to life. I kept the card pretty clean and simple, starting with a Smoky Slate card base. The main layer is a piece of Basic White Cardstock, I lightly splattered some Early Espresso using a Stampin' Write Marker. Next I stamped the cheeky sentiment from Light Hearted Lines (this is a must have stamp set) in Early Espresso Ink.

To help the little critter really stand out I added Dimensionals to the back and then attached him to a die cut piece of Beauty of the Earth Designer Series Paper. This patterned paper was the perfect backdrop for this cute little guy. A little Linen Thread and a few gems and the card was done!

I hope you can join us this week and make sure to check out the TGIF challenge blog for some more awesome inspiration!

All products I have used for today's project are listed below with a direct link to my online store for easy shopping. And remember Stampin' Up's biggest promotion is going on now. It's SALE-a-Bration time, which means with your qualifying purchases you can earn FREE products!

 

Earn for FREE with $60 purchase

Earn for FREE with $120 purchase

Be Inspired Blog Hop - Sale-a-Bration Favourites

Hi everyone and welcome to the Be Inspired Blog Hop! I am so excited to be joining some of my very talented stamping friends on this international blog hop. You are currently visiting Jennifer Picard in British Columbia, Canada! If you have been hopping along, you most likely arrived here via the insanely creative Stesha Bloodhart.

This month we are showcasing some of our favourite offerings from Stampin' Up's Sale -a-Bration Catalogue. This is the first time they are offering SAB during this time of year. It runs until the end of September, so now is the perfect time to earn free product while stocking up on some new goodies from the current Mini Catalogue.

There are so many amazing FREE items to choose from, so it was hard to narrow it down to just one favourite, but I could not resist playing with the adorable Penguin Playmates 12x12 Designer Series Paper. I am not usually one for cutesy images but this paper was impossible to say no to. 

This card was super quick and easy to put together! The most time consuming part was fussy cutting those cute little animals, but my Paper Snips Scissors made that task a dream. I know people seem to have either a love or hate relationship with fussy cutting, but I am telling you these scissors make all the difference. I used three different patterns from the patterned paper to create my card. The Picture this Die was used to create the windows for the little critter to peek out of.

To add some texture and bling I used a little Basic Baker's Twine and some In Color Jewels. The sentiment was the only stamping on this card, I know shocking, right?! It is from the stamp set Whimsical Trees and was stamped in Fresh Freesia Classic Ink. 

Next up on the hop is one of the sweetest people I know, the fabulously talented Angela Meiritz-Reid. You are going to love what she has to share!

Be sure to check out the full Blog Hop Line up

Tanya Rees

Cathy Caines

Brian King

Emma Goddard

Stesha Bloodhart

Jennifer Picard

Angela Meiritz-Reid

 

 

All products I have used for today's project are listed below with a direct link to my online store for easy shopping.

TGIF Challenges #328 - Delicate Dahlias

It's Friday and that means another great challenge on the TGIF Challenges Blog! We LOVE bringing you weekly paper-crafting inspiration, and are so excited to have you join us. This week we are hosting a fabulous colour challenge. 

As everyone knows by now, I love flowers and one can never have too many floral stamp sets, right?! So when I saw this combo I immediately reached for the gorgeous new Delicate Dahlias Stamp Set. And what is even better than a brand new stamp set, earning it for FREE! Right now Stampin' Up! is having it's best promotion of the year, Sale-A-Bration and with qualifying purchases you can earn free products. 

A Black and White colour combination can really make an impact, especially when you add in a pop of colour. Coastal Cabana is such a beautiful, bright and refreshing colour, but is one I rarely reach for, although after making this card I think I will be using it more often now. I really wanted to focus on creating bold contrast. This card is all stamping, no patterned paper to be found, which is definitely rare for me. 

The card base is Thick Basic White Cardstock layered with a piece of Coastal Cabana. To create the large focal background layer I stamped the outline image several times using Tuxedo Black Memento Ink. Next I stamped the solid image in Coastal Cabana Ink on a scrap of Basic White, then lined up the outline image and stamped over top of it. I know not everyone likes fussy cutting, but using my trusty Paper Snips made it quick and easy.

 

Here you can see the fine detail of the large flower stamp, I just love how much texture there is with this type of solid images stamp. To make the sentiment really stand out I stamped it on a strip of coloured cardstock then trimmed it to size. Next I tied a double bow with White Twine and attached it to a die cut piece of Basic Black Cardstock, then added the sentiment with Dimensionals. A few splatters of Wink of Stella and some Matte Black Dots finsih the card off.

I hope you can join us this week and make sure to check out the TGIF challenge blog for some more awesome inspiration!

All products I have used for today's project are listed below with a direct link to my online store for easy shopping.

 

Earn for FREE with $60 purchase 

 

Earn for FREE with $120 purchase