Create a Smile Stamps January Challenge: Kraft

Hello Everyone,

Happy New Year! 

I am starting mine with some great news - for the next 6 months, I will be on the Create a Smile Challenge blog Design Team, woohoo! If you are not familiar with Create a Smile Stamps, you should definitely check them out! They are a German company (which means cheap shipping for us in Europe, as well as worldwide!), and they have some fantastic & great quality products. They have stamps, dies, stencils and some additional embellishments, too - most of these are available both in a German and an English version. They're super cute, versatile, and they have lots of really unique designs, which I love. 

I have been using their products for a long while now, I am a big fan, and so am really delighted to be part of their team!

The challenges run bi-weekly, which in my opinion is a great amount of time to get crafty and participate. 

This time, the theme is KRAFT. 

I love the look of white on kraft (be that pencils, white paint, texture paste, heat embossing, etc), hence the background I created (and by the way, isn't that Mandala stamp to die for?!).  I also wanted to try my skills in colouring with coloured pencils, and since I love how they look on kraft, it was the perfect opportunity for me. And, seeing that this is my first creation for the challenge blog as a DT member, I of course had to use my favourite stamp set, which is Bear Mail. 

The card design might look familiar to you - that's because I made two quite similar cards in the past - one in a more summery theme, and one in a winter theme. I plan to make a small series out of these, just to see how different they can look with just changing the colour schemes, textures, etc, hence - stay tuned for a spring and autumn edition! :o)

And here's my card, I hope you like it:

I am really happy with how it turned out, and for a newbie to colouring with coloured pencils, I think my colouring came out quite nicely, too!

Will you participate? I can't wait to see what you make! If you share your creations on Instagram, feel free to tag me (@handmadebymirella), so that I can see it the moment you share it! 

Have a great day,

Mirella

SUPPLY LIST (please see affiliate disclaimer & essential supplies info here):

This particular kraft paper is from my local stationery store, and it's unbranded

CraftStash (for my European readers):

Polychromos at Craftstash
Big Shot at Craftstash
Tonic Trimmer at CraftStash   



Simon Says Stamp:

Altenew Educator Certification Program - Easy Die Cutting Techniques

Hi Everyone,

Today I am back with another card I made for the AECP. This time, the class was all about Easy Die Cutting Techniques, and the videos and ideas were led by the one and only Yana Smakula. I adore Yana's creations, so I was delighted to see what she had to share with us. 

Yana did not disappoint - in the class, she shares some great ideas on how we can stretch the dies we already have in our stash. She also *might have* encouraged me to get a die or two, haha! I will admit, I was familiar with most of the techniques Yana showcased, however it was great to be reminded of some of them, and to learn a few new tips along the way. Plus, let's face it, her inspiration was fantastic, too! 

One technique that I really like seeing, and usually forget using myself, is embossing with dies. Whenever I dry emboss, I tend to reach for my embossing folders straight away. Which is a bit limiting, seeing that I only own a few of them... However, I have a plethora of dies, and I really need to remember that for the future, as my dry embossing options are so much wider thanks to the dies! 

For my card, I opted for a rather simplistic design, but I am really happy with how it turned out. And, it pretty much uses only dies, with just a bit of bling and some colouring/ink blending. I used the gorgeous Rose Filament die set for both the focal image on my card, as well as the dry embossing of my background. The fantastic Fine Frames came handy to draw the eye to the sentiment. I honestly don't think this designs needs anything more!

This is a perfect feminine card, and I am sure it will make any special woman in my life happy on her birthday!

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything goes

I hope you like this design as much as I do, and that you give dry embossing with dies a go, if you haven't already!

Have a great crafty day,
Mirella

SUPPLY LIST (please see affiliate disclaimer & essential supplies info here):

Vellum: Crafter's Companion, Printable vellum
Enamel dots: from my stash 

Altenew Education Certification Program - Easy Ink Blending Techniques

Hi Everyone,

Looks like I will manage to squeeze in one more post just before Christmas. Woohoo! 

Today, we'll focus on the Easy Ink Blending Techniques class over at the Altenew Academy. Whether you are totally new to ink blending, or want to expand your knowledge about this technique a little bit, Amy Lee has you covered. She teaches the class starting with real basics, and slowly steps it up a bit in each class. And let me tell you - her inspiration examples are amazing! I saved a good few for the future - when the mojo is missing, these are sure to help me get crafty! 

I personally love ink blending, and use this technique very often - especially with Distress Inks, and Distress Oxide inks. If you look at my Christmas cards from this year, you'll definitely see the confirmation of that - most of my cards incorporate ink blending in one way or another!

Having finished Amy's class, I was inspired to make yet another card using ink blending. I was going to do some emboss resist on this design also, but in the end decided to skip it, and I am glad I did. However, I did make another card later on, which used the fun emboss resist technique. 

I opted for a circular card, to make it a little bit different from the usual A2 size. I actually don't have any pictures of it, but before I posted the card to its recipient, I decided to punch a small hole at the top of the card, and added some silver thread to it - so that the card ended up as a little hanging decoration/ornament! I was so proud of this idea! 

The background is ink blended with the use of blues in Distress Oxide inks. I left the center of the panel a bit lighter, as this is where I planned to have my focal image. I then stamped the gorgeous little Altenew Winter Cottage image in the center of the lighter area, and added some detailing with my white gel pen, for additional interest. 

I wanted this scene to look snowy, hence I added some white splatters to it. Amy mostly added splatters in the same colours that she used for the blending on her cards, but I needed snow - hence the white. I love how it turned out! 

I stamped my sentiment in a silver glittery embossing powder, and created my own silver glitter paper with the same embossing powder, in order to be able to add a matching layer under my main panel. I popped the matted panel on a white card base, with the use of some foam tape - for a bit of dimension. 

And voila - the card was ready (the sentiment is a bit hard to read in the picture, but it was perfectly legible in person):

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Altenew - 2018 Year in review (July2018)

SSS Work It Wednesday - Something new (the winter cottage stamp set, and turning the card into a hanging ornament)

This was one of my favourite cards of the 2018 Christmas season, and I really only wish that I had taken a photo of it with the punched hole. But, I'm sure that all you crafty peeps can imagine it?! :o)

Once again, have a Merry Christmas and a crafty New Year!

Mirella

SUPPLY LIST (please see affiliate disclaimer & essential supplies info here):

Circle dies - Nesting Circles by We Are Memory Keepers