Animals!

 A new challenge starts today at Sweet Stampin'.  This time our theme is animals, wild or domestic!

I opted for man's best friend for my DT card and was inspired to try colour blocking after seeing this technique used so brilliantly by Yana Smakula.

I started by stamping, colouring and die cutting these cute pups using a set from MFT.  I used Copic markers as usual, adding a little bit of Sakura black gloss pen to the wee noses.

I cut squares of cardstock as individual mats for my images, using card from my scrap folder. I think the colours are Spellbinders Beeswax, Indigo and Barely Peach, plus Gina K Seaglass.  I cut a banner from Concord and 9th Lakefront and stamped the "thanks" sentiment from a mini stamp set by Altenew.  The banner was a saving grace as it goes some way towards hiding the fact that I had a hard time lining up the cardstock squares!

Do grab a cuppa and head along to the Sweet Stampin' Challenge blog to check out the inspiration makes created by the Sweeties.  You have just under 2 weeks to submit your entries.

Enjoy your weekend!

xxx

Sweet Stampin' - Use a Stencil

 It's time for a new challenge over at Sweet Stampin'.  This fortnight we're asking you to use a stencil as part of your design (although you still need to include some stamping somewhere).

I treated myself to this Kristina Werner stencil from the last Concord & 9th release.  It's a fair old size, so you can crop out the portion you like best if you're making a smaller card.

I would recommend using Pixie spray on the first layer as the area masking the stems it liable to move about while you're applying your ink.  The other layers are less delicate and you wouldn't necessarily need to apply adhesive to them unless you really wanted to.

I used a number of different ink brands for my colours. The background is C&9th Pebble, applied with a very light hand using the first stencil.  The leaves and stems were done using Gina K inks (Key Lime and Fresh Asparagus, if I remember rightly) and the flower centres were created with Pink Fresh Studio inks from the orange ink cube set.  I wanted white flowers so I didn't use that stencil.

The inked panel was cropped down and matted onto cream and chocolate brown cardstock layers before applying to my card base.  I white heat-embossed the stamped sentiment onto the same chocolate cardstock, cut it out with a rectangle die and glued it to my image.

We'd love you to play along with us this fortnight, so grab a cuppa and head over to the Sweet Stampin' blog for the challenge details and some great inspiration from the Team Wends Sweeties.

Enjoy your weekend!

xx