Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #187

 Wow, what a week its been!! We've gone from ridiculously warm weather in late Autumn (been sleeping with no blankets at night!!), to overnight suddenly 0 degrees (celcius). Talk about a shock to the system and tomorrow morning we might have our first frost....I'm not ready!!!!

I might need to take a hint from our theme at TIME OUT and keep myself moving to stay warm. This is such a fun challenge theme and the word 'Move' can be interpreted in so many ways. For example you've got body movement, moved by an emotion, maybe moving house.....so many!!

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Topflight Stamps and they are giving the winner a $25 voucher to their store. They have a tonne of products to choose from, I'm super jealous!

I had a completely different idea for the word 'move', its a bit naughty but I love making these sorts of cards:

Can you guess what type of movement I was inspired by??????? If you guessed 'bowel movement' your a winner! I've had this stamp set for months and what could be a better challenge to use them in.

The images are super simple to colour so decided to make a couple of cute note cards instead of one big card. I stamped the images from Simon Says Stamp 'We're like toilet paper' (inspired by COVID toilet paper madness.....) with Versafine Onyx ink on white CS, coloured softly with my Faber Castell Polychromo pencils and fussy cut out.

I created two 3.5 inch square white card bases and adhered squares of black CS on the front. I then popped the images and sentiments on some foam tape for dimension. Instead of pearls I found these cute red resin hearts and little brown bugs (to be little flies) from Loose Lemon Crafts and glued them on. Done!

You have until Wednesday 19th May to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge and if your needing any help with ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our talented Guest Designer Milla from Mustesormi have created for you. Can't wait to see all your 'moving' projects in the Gallery!!

And on a personal note, you may have seen the message from Sandie, our fearless leader at TIME OUT, sharing that this is her last challenge with us. I'm going to miss her terribly. She has always been so supportive of myself and everyone on the team, and worked so incredibly hard. It won't be the same without her but I know that the girls and I will give our all to keeping the challenge going, not only for ourselves but also all of you, our super-loyal followers. Thank you Sandie for EVERYTHING!!!xxx

Take care

Shona

 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #186

 Hi everybody!! Sorry my blog has been rather quiet of late, lots of things going on at home so not much time for crafting but I'm off to my Mum's place this weekend so will definitely get some cards made!!

Our current challenge at TIME OUT is all about 'Pets' which should be a topic that many of us can relate too. You could include animals on your project, make it about your own pets or maybe have a few photos included. Would love to see what pets you all have!!

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Newton's Nook Designs which couldn't be more appropriate as they have the cutest little mascot and animal products. They are giving the winner of this challenge a $25 voucher (I'm very jealous....).

For my card I wanted to create a scene which shows off one of the favourite places I love to sit with my dog in the Summertime:

Unfortunately I don't own any Golden Retriever stamps but this cute little doggie will do just nicely.

Lots of colouring for this one!! I stamped all the images (from Funky Fossil Designs) on white CS with Gina K Amalgam Black ink and coloured with my Altenew Artist Markers. I then spent quite a while fussy cutting them out.The tree and its heart leaves are from the 'Heartfelt Tree' set, doggie from the 'More Furry Friends' set and the bee from the 'Bee's Knee's' set.

In Summertime I love sitting in the shade under our two Golden Queen peach trees. I have an old black bean bag and set myself up with my colouring products and my Ipad so I can colour and watch a movie. My dog Bella always comes to sit with me, as does our cat Remy. Its a beautiful place in the shade, especially when the peaches are starting to come ripe.....

I used two stencils from Funky Fossil Designs ('Scenic Borders' and 'In the Clouds') to create the background, blending over some Distress Ink on the front of a white square card base. I used some foam tape to pop up the images, as well as the white heat embossed sentiment (also from the 'Heartfelt Tree' set). To finish off I added some Wink of Stella to the hearts and glued on some pearls from Loose Lemon Crafts.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

 

You have until Wednesday 5th May to link your projects to the TIME OUT   challenge. And if your needing any help with ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team have created for you. Look forward to seeing your pets in the Gallery!!

Take care

Shona

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #185

 Hi everybody!! It has been a very busy week in the Chambers household, so much so I didn't get this card in to my team on time, hence it isn't on the TIME OUT challenge blog post. I'm so sorry!!

 

We have this gorgeous photo to inspire you for this challenge. How I wish I was sitting in one of those chairs right now, sipping a strawberry daiquiri and reading a good book.... So many ideas to use in this photo, the scene itself, the colours or maybe the beach...totally up to you!!

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Kitchen Sink Stamps and they are giving a very generous $25 voucher to the winner. So envious!!

For my card I was totally swept away by the turquoise chairs, the light blue roof and the crisp white of the floorboards and railings. And on top of all that those bright pink flowers had to be included too:

This took SO LONG to colour as I've been trying to get more adventurous with my watercolours, along with my pencils. I still have a lot to learn but my colouring is much better than when I started!!

The design for this card is pretty basic as I wanted the colours to be the stars. I stamped the MFT stamps 'Loosely Lined Flowers Background' stamp on some watercolour CS using Gina K Amalgam black ink. I then used my Zig Real Color Brush pens but didn't add them directly to the images. I brushed them on my Tim Holtz/Tonic Studios Glass Mat and used a separate brush and water.

Once it was dry I added more shading with my Faber Castell Polychromo pencils and then added some white with a Sakura Gelly Roll pen. I die-cut this using a die from MFT Stamps 'Blueprints 27', added a panel of white foam behind it and then to a white card base. The sentiment is also from MFT Stamps 'Raving Racoons' and I thought some silver pearls from Studio Katia would add a bit more shine.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge  where their theme is 'Clean and Simple'.

You have until Wednesday 21st April to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge. If your needing more inspiration, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our talented Guest Designer Claire of Life on the Scrap Heap have created for you. Looking forward to seeing your projects in the Gallery!!

Take care

Shona 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #184

 Hi everyone, sorry this blog post is a little late. I've had a lot going on at home this week that hasn't been good but we are getting there day by day...

On to much happier topics, we have this wonderful phrase to inspire you this week at TIME OUT. There are so many ways you could go with this i.e. choose one word, go with the whole sentence or maybe like me you'll be going with a gardening theme.

Our Sponsor is Altenew and they have a $20 gift voucher for the winner. And you know how many incredible products they have to choose from!!!

Spring time is my favourite time to be in the garden. After the dreariness of Winter and hardly any flowers or growth, seeing leaves popping out of the ground and blossoms on the trees is so exciting. And you can feel Summer isn't far away. Like a lot of you I have lots of floral stamps from Altenew so I could create a 'Spring-time' card:

 This was a little time consuming but really enjoyed doing all the colouring, even felt like making another one with a different colour combo!!

Firstly I used the Caps Bold Alphabet Die Set (from Altenew) with some white CS. I then grabbed three floral Altenew stamp sets that had tiny flowers and leaves: Beautiful Day, Adore You  and Blooming Bouquet. I arranged the flowers and leaves over the die-cut letters and stamped with Gina K Amalgam Black ink so I could colour them with my Altenew Artist Markers.

To add some dimension I die-cut the letters again from white CS and also from green, pink and aqua blue CS and glued them together. Using a slimline die from Studio Katia on white CS I cut out a base for the letters and glued them in place and then popped it up on white foam on a card base. The rest of the greeting (from Altenew Festive Foliage) was white heat embossed and put on foam tape, along with some Studio Katia pearls.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

You have until Wednesday 7th April to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge. And if your needing help with ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our talented Guest Designer Helen of Moments of Crafting have created for you. Look forward to seeing your projects in the Gallery!!

Take care

Shona

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #183

 Hello there!! I've been busy in my own garden today, pruning my peach trees and removing my swan plants (the plants that monarch butterflies eat and lay their eggs on). After all my caterpillars died from the virus 'Black Death', I thought it best to remove the plants as they probably still have remnants of the virus on them. I'm not sure if I will put more swan plants in for next season yet, having all of them die was quite traumatic, not sure if I want to go thru that again.....

On to much happier things, the theme for the current TIME OUT challenge is 'Different'. There are a myriad of ways you could interpret this on your project. You could try a different technique, use different colours or maybe show off something different about yourself....its totally up to you!!

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Funky Fossil Designs and they are giving a 15 GBP voucher to the winner. They have recently had a new release and have an amazing number of products to choose from.

 I'm extremely lucky to be on the Design Team for Funky Fossil Designs and wanted to try out some 'different' make up designs on a certain stamp set:

This is quite a different type of card for me. I'm usually all about pastel colours with lots of white space. Wanted to try a different style and had so much fun doing the make-up...

I started off by stamping the girls face from the Funky Fossil Designs 'She is Fierce' stamp set using Gina K Amalgam black ink on some Strathmore Watercolour CS. I then, very carefully and very slowly, used my Kuretake Zig Real Color Brush Markers to bring her to life. I'm very inexperienced with doing skin for any colouring but took my time and was amazed I could get the blush to work along with some shadowing on her face. Once she was dry I fussy cut her out.

Keeping with the 'dark' theme I die-cut a circle of white CS with a die from Couture Creations and then stamped one of the border stamps from Funky Fossil Designs 'Doodle Borders' across it using Versafine Onyx ink. After adhering a panel of black CS to the card front, I put the circle on a piece of black foam and put the girl on some foam tape. To finish off I added a sentiment from Funky Fossil Designs 'Small Print'  and some Studio Katia pearls. 

You have until Wednesday 24th March to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge. And if your needing help with ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our talented Guest Designer Lisa of Paper Mountain Parcels have created to inspire you. Can wait to see your 'different' projects in the Gallery!!

Take care

Shona

 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #182

 Hello there!! We are celebrating a HUGE birthday over at TIME OUT challenges. Its our 7th birthday and I've actually been part of the Design Team for 6.5years. Hard to believe so much time has gone by and I've loved every minute of it. And also so exciting to see how popular the challenge has become over the years, and that we have so many people who play with us a lot, which is such an honour for our team. Thank you so much everybody for your support and here's to many more years of challenges!!

So for our 'birthday party' our theme for this challenge is 'Celebration'. Your project can be for any type of celebration you like i.e. wedding, birthday, new home etc or maybe something that's personal to you that you want to 'jump for joy' over.

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Stamplorations who have Sponsored us from the start and have been very generous not only to the winners but also the Design Team. They are giving a whopping $40 gift voucher to the winner of this challenge, which would be so much fun to spend!

For my card I definitely wanted to use Stamplorations products and was in a colouring mood:

I spent a few evenings sitting in the warm evening air on a beanbag under my peach tree's, colouring away while watching 'Superstore' on my iPad. Gotta love Summertime....

First up I stamped the images from Stamplorations 'Birthday Bash - Shery Russ Designs' with Gina K Amalgam Black ink on a panel of white CS. I coloured them quickly with Altenew Artist Markers and then added lots of detail with my Faber Castell Polychromo pencils. 

Once I had finished I wanted to add a waffle-edge to the panel (like the edge of the cupcake liner) so die-cut it using a MFT Stamps die from the 'Blueprint 27' set. After adhering a panel of black CS to the card front, I put the cake panel on a piece of black foam. 

For the sentiment (from the same stamp set) I used Ranger Black embossing Powder on a piece of plain vellum. I then used a circle die from Couture Creations to cut it out. It didn't stand out enough against the background so I used a smaller circle die with some white CS and glued it to that before putting on foam tape. To finish off I added some pearls from Studio Katia in similar colours.

I'm going to link this to the Stamplorations Never-ending Anything Goes Challenge  which is for projects using their products.

You have until Wednesday 10th March to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge. And if your needing any help with ideas or inspiration, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our fabulous Guest Designer Karen of Random Reflections have created for you. Karen has played with us for years, so its really lovely she is the GD for this challenge.

Thanks again for all your support with TIME OUT and I hope to see your projects in the Gallery.

Take care

Shona

 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #181

 Hello there!! Its been the strangest week here weather-wise. February in New Zealand is normally the hottest month of the year but it feels like we've missed the month completely and near the end of March, going into Autumn. The nights have been really cold and I've been in my Winter pjs instead of sweltering with all the windows open. Its supposed to be really hot tomorrow (after another cold night) so wouldn't surprise me if people started coming down with colds etc....

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day. Its not something my husband and I celebrate and I completely forgot all about it. However I've loved looking at all the entries for this TIME OUT challenge, there's so much love out there in the world. The photo for this challenge is all sweet and 'hearty' with lots of different ways to be inspired.

Our Sponsor for this challenge is CAS-ual Fridays Stamps and they are very sweetly giving the winner of this challenge a $25 gift voucher to their store!!

For my card I couldn't help but be inspired by heart shapes and managed to find two dies that fit together perfectly:

I always enjoy a good die-cutting session, however my Cuttlebug is nearly 10yrs old and making funny noises, so not sure how much longer she is going to last.....

I found a die from Simon Says Stamp 'Heart Vent' that cut stripes across a heart shape but didn't cut out the outline. So I used one from Uniquely Creative 'Nordic Hearts' that fitted around it so well, they were made for each other!

I die-cut the SSS die twice on a panel of white CS. I also die-cut it from red CS. I glued a spare piece of white CS behind the white panel so I could inlay the red strips. After die-cutting the heart frame from the same red CS, I glued it around each shape and then cut around it. These were put on the card front using foam tape.

The Simon Says Stamp 'Love' die was die-cut 3x from pale pink CS and the shadow from black CS. These were glued together and then over the heart. The sentiment (also from Simon Says Stamp 'Love') was white heat embossed on a strip of black CS, backed with some dark pink CS and put on foam tape, along with some Studio Katia silver pearls. I also added some Wink of Stella to the 'love' die-cut for a bit more sparkle.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge #169  where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

Will also link to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Favourite Technique' and you know how much I LOVE die-cutting!!

You have until Wednesday 24th February to link your projects to the TIME OUT   challenge and if your needing some ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our talented Guest Designer Nancy of Nancy's Creative Mess have created to inspire you. Can't wait to see all your 'loving' projects in the Gallery!

Take care

Shona

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #180

 I'm back!!!! After a much needed break over the holiday period and January I'm back with cards to inspire you for the TIME OUT challenge!!! I've really missed seeing and commenting on all your amazing entries, so can't wait to see what you come up with.

We have this fantastic phrase to inspire you for this challenge. You could pick one word or maybe use the whole phrase to get ideas for your project, its completely up to you!

The Sponsor for this challenge is Newtons Nook Designs and they are giving the winner a $25 gift voucher to their store. They have so many cute stamps and dies, I'm sure there will be no problem finding something to buy!!

For my card I already knew which stamp set I would use as soon as I read the phrase:

 

I couldn't think of a better stamp set to use for this challenge. Its by Uniquely Creative 'Reading Past your Bedtime' and one of my favourite sets.

I stamped the images on white CS using Gina K Amalgam black ink, coloured with Altenew Artist Markers and then fussy cut out.

I wanted to create a 'room' feel for the card, so I used the 'Arch Window' stencil from Funky Fossil Designs, blending over Distress Inks 'Salty Ocean' and 'Chipped Sapphire. I then used a white gel pen to create some snow.

All I had to do then was adhere the images in place, pop up the white heat embossed sentiment (from the same stamp set) on foam tape and then glue on some pearls from Studio Katia.

You have until Wednesday 13th February to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge and if your needing any help with ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team have created for you. Can't wait to see you in the Gallery!!

Take care

Shona

 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #177

 Well, its Christmas Eve here in New Zealand. Its been a chaotic few days for me finishing off gardening (while it poured with rain EACH DAY!!), have been to the supermarket 3x in past 24hrs, spent two hours wrapping all the presents today to then realise I had no labels, the painters finished this morning after three days so I'm putting the house back together so I can sleep in my own bed tonight.....chaos doesn't seem like the right word but I'll be glad to wake up tomorrow morning and everything will be good and chocolatey!!!

We have a photo to inspire you for this challenge, which I always enjoy. This one has so much lovely white/cream accents, with a touch of green from the tree. Wish my dining table looked this good!

Our Sponsor for this challenge is the always generous Stamplorations who are giving a $25 voucher to the winner!

 
Shery (the owner of Stamplorations) is always so good to our Design Team at TIME OUT and given us some products to use for this challenge. I chose some balloon dies and thought it was about time I made some shaker elements:

I really enjoyed creating this card because I used colours that are a bit 'out of the box' for me (dark green and cream/beige) but really like how it came together.

Firstly I wanted to add a touch of dark green (like the Christmas tree) so adhered a panel to the card base. I then found this patterned paper from Rosie's Studio 'Noel', which encompassed the beige in the photo as well as some black images which seemed to scream 'celebration'. This was cut smaller than the card front and put on a piece of white foam.

I die-cut the Stamplorations 'Shaker Balloons #3 Oval' from white CS. I adhered some vellum to the back of the 'open' die-cut and then added thin pieces of foam tape to the back as well. This will creation some height to allow the sequins to move around. I made a pile of clear and white sequins from Neat and Tangled in the middle of the solid balloon die-cuts and pressed the vellum pieces on top to seal them in. They were glued to the card front, along with the die-cut strings. To finish off I white heat embossed the sentiment from Stamplorations 'Yuletide Deer - Dee's Artsy Impressions' on a strip of the same dark green CS. This was popped on foam tape, along with some dark green sequins, again from Neat and Tangled.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge  where their theme is 'Sparkle and Shine'.

You have until Wednesday 30th December to link your projects to the TIME OUT Challenge and there are lots of projects from the rest of the Design Team and our spectacular Guest Designer Vicky of Crafting Clare's Paper Moments to inspire you on the blog. Look forward to see what you came up with in the Gallery.

Take care and Merry Christmas!!

Shona 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #176

 Hello there!! Its getting closer to the end of the week, hopefully yours has gone well and your slowly getting yourself organised for Christmas. I finally did some online shopping this week and started my baking, so far I've made 14 dozen cookies with a few more to go. All my gardening people seem to love them, so I take a plate and card to each of them on my last day of gardening before taking a break over Christmas.

We have some words to inspire you for the current TIME OUT  challenge. I really enjoy the word inspiration ones because you have so much to use for ideas, like one word in particular or maybe how the whole phrase affects you.....

The Sponsor for this challenge is the always fabulous Newtons Nook and they are very generously giving a $25 gift voucher to the winner. And they have so many new release goodies to choose from too!

For my card I was going to go with an angel theme but I then got thinking about things with wings and got a little side-tracked:

Not your usual angel but pretty cute nonetheless. I always thought the saying 'if pigs could fly' was hilarious and the thought of seeing pigs roaming the skies, oinking away definitely makes me smile. Although the 'poo' situation would be a bit more dramatic than if it was a bird....

I started by stamping images from Funky Fossil Designs 'Hogs and Kisses' and 'Bee's Knees' on white CS with Gina K Amalgam Black ink. Of course I used my favourite Altenew Artist Markers to colour them in and fussy cut them out.

On the card front I blended Distress Ink 'Salty Ocean' over the Funky Fossil Designs 'In the Clouds' stencil, and 'Mowed Lawn' over the 'Scenic Borders' stencil. I then used Gina K Connect Glue to pop the images in place. To finish off I white heat embossed the sentiment from Funky Fossil Designs 'Whimsy Town', put it on foam tape and glued on some Studio Katia pearls for a bit of shine.

You have until Wednesday 16th December to link your projects to the TIME OUT   challenge and if your needing any ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our talented Guest Designer Jenny of My Paper Epiphany have created for you. Looking forward to seeing you in the Gallery!!

Take care

Shona

 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #175

 Hello there!! Its another rainy day here and I've just checked my strawberry patch. My plants are a couple of years old and they were fantastic the last few years but this year they have been attacked by whitefly and something is causing them to go soggy and rot before they are even red. It would seem to be all the rain we've had along with the hot weather that's caused this which is really disappointing. So looks like this is another 2020 sucky moment. Will this year ever end??!!

On to happier things, we have a really cool theme for you at TIME OUT, its all about 'Quick' which could be a quick card, quick thinking or maybe a quick craft purchase.....lots of possibilities!!

We are very excited to have Catherine Pooler as the Sponsor of this challenge and she is giving the winner a $25 gift voucher to her store. She was also very generous with our Design Team, gifting us products to use. Thanks so much Catherine!!

For my card I was sent the cutest stamp set that had me immediately thinking about my own dog and what she does around 'walk' time:

 My Golden Retriever 'Bella' knows exactly what routine I go thru when its time to take her for a walk. If none of the doors of the house are open she runs around the house, looking through the windows/doors to try and spot where I am. If she can see I'm in my bedroom putting on my walking shoes, she stands up on her back legs, paws on the windowsill and watches me while making a crying noise. Can you tell this is her favourite time of the day??!!!

I started by stamping the dog images from Catherine Pooler 'Peeking Pets' stamp set on white CS. I used my Altenew Markers to colour in the grey doggie and then used the 'Peeking Pets Dies'  to cut them out.

I wanted to create windows for these little dogs to look through. Luckily Catherine had also sent me the 'Essentials Slimline Die' which included a rectangle window die. I die-cut the slimline card base from white CS and adhered to the card front. I then cut a rectangle of white CS that would fit within the detailed edging and die-cut the windows. I used a pencil to mark where the windows would sit and blended Distress Inks 'Picked Raspberry' and 'Spiced Marmalade' on the slimline panel. I also stamped the paw prints (from the Peeking stamp set) as if the dogs were running around to look in the windows. 

After putting the window panel on foam tape, I stamped and die-cut some hats for the dogs and glued them on. They were then put in the windows on foam tape. To add a bit of interest to the background I dotted some water and removed with tissue and added Wink of Stella to the hats. To finish off I stamped the sentiment (from Catherine Pooler 'Bloomin Happy') using CP inks 'Orange Twist' and 'Party Dress'. I fussy cut it out, backed with some black CS and put on foam tape, along with some Studio Katia pearls.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge 'Anything Goes'.

 

You have until Wednesday 2nd December to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge. And if your needing some 'quick' ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team have created to inspire you. Can't wait to see your creations in the Gallery!

Take care

Shona

 
 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #174

 Hello there!! Hope the week has been kind to you and you've got great plans at the weekend to look forward too. Max had his 14th birthday on the 6th November and is celebrating this weekend with having 3 of his friends stay over on Saturday night. There is also a huge fireworks display and carnival on that night, so the boys will go to that as well. Its been a very busy week for me so I'm just looking forward to staying still for a few moments....

 

Our theme for the current TIME OUT challenge is 'Festivals' with Optional Twist: add shimmer or glitter. Your project can have whatever type of 'festival' you like and there are so many around the world that are a local thing but not heard of by others. Its a brilliant theme!!

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Craft Tangles and they are giving a $20 voucher for their store to the winner. How fabulous!!

When I think of festivals I immediately think of the Japanese Lantern Festival. Its held at the end of Obon which is a 3-day Buddhist festival held in late August. I've seen photos and videos which look so incredible but could I emulate the lanterns on a card:

What do you think?? I spent FOREVER trying to get the glow of the lanterns on black CS and couldn't think of any other way of doing it. If you have any ideas, please let me know!!

All of the images I used are from Ellen Hutson 'So Matcha by Julie Ebersole'. I stamped the Geisha on white CS with Gina K Amalgam Black ink, coloured with Faber Castell Polychromo pencils and fussy cut out. I then stamped 20 lanterns with Altenew 'Crimson' ink on white CS. I coloured these with the Polychromos too. I started off with two tones of yellow in the middle and then added two tones of red on the outside, blending towards the middle. I then fussy cut them all out.

After adhering a panel of black CS to the card front, I used a Couture Creations 'Circle Die' to die-cut some dark green CS. I glued it in place to become a 'hilltop' and cut off the excess. The Geisha girl was put on top with foam tape, as well as the sentiment, which was white heat embossed on black CS.

After playing with the lantern arrangement (I wanted them to sort of go up in a 'V' pattern) I blended some Distress Oxide Ink 'Squeezed Lemonade' on the black CS. This gave it a milky/glowy finish. It wasn't quite yellow enough for me, so I gently rubbed the side of a yellow Polychromo pencil over top. I kept it to just the area where the lanterns would be so it looked like the light was coming off them.

I glued some of the lanterns to the card and then others on foam tape, cutting off any overhanging pieces. I then carefully added some Wink of Stella to give them a bit of sparkle. To finish off I used a Sakura Gelly Roll pen to add some stars and glued on some gold pearls from Studio Katia.

You have until Wednesday 18th November to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge. And if your struggling with 'festival' ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team created for you. Can't wait to see your festive projects in the Gallery!!

Take care

Shona

 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #173

 Hi everybody!! I've had the craziest week with a million appointments for the kids, rainy days and so much wind its a wonder all my trees are still standing!! Hopefully will get some gardening done today after Phoebe's orthodontic appointment (yes, she still has her braces, will be 4 years in Feb 2021....), will be nice to get a bit dirty.

We have this photo to inspire you at TIME OUT and it offers so many ideas for your projects! You could use the colours, the plants, the wood or maybe the mandala itself......the possibilities are endless....

The Sponsor for this challenge is Altenew and they are giving a $20 gift voucher to the winner. Talk about a fabulous prize!

I was so excited when I saw this photo because it was one of those rare times when I knew EXACTLY what stamps I could use:

 I didn't get too carried away with ideas, I knew I could re-create the photo itself with stamps I had on hand and I love the finished result.

To start off I went thru my paper pads and found some woodgrain paper from Rosies Studio 'Twig and Twine'. I then heat embossed the mandala from Uniko 'Marvellous Mendhi' with Ranger White Embossing Powder. I created a white card base 4 1/2 x 5 inches and popped the paper up on a piece of white foam.

For the succulents in the photo I stamped these images from Studio Katia 'Cactus Hugs' on white CS. I kept the pots white (like the photo) and used Altenew Artist Markers to colour the plants themselves. I cut a strip of gray CS for the shelf and put it on the card front with foam tape. After fussy cutting the plants I glued them to it. To finish off I white heat embossed a sentiment (from Studio Katia 'Birthday Greetings') on black CS, backed it with white CS and put on foam tape, along with some pearls also from Studio Katia.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

You need to link your projects for the TIME OUT Challenge by Wednesday 4th November. And to see some other inspiring projects for this challenge, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our very talented Guest Designer Rahmat of Cards and Cooking Corner have prepared for you. Look forward to seeing you in the Gallery!

Take care

Shona 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #171

 Hey everyone!! Been a very busy day today and the weather has been wonderful, with no wind at all. Just me and the kids tonight as Dave has gone on a trip up to Auckland to see his Mum, so we will just chill with a movie and take-aways for dinner.

We have the above phrase to inspire you for the current TIME OUT  challenge. You could chose one word to inspire your design, or maybe it reminds you of something you could use....the possibilities are endless and its totally up to you!

Our Sponsor for this challenge is Stamplorations and they are giving a $25 voucher to the winner....lucky them!

 Shery (the owner of Stamplorations) is always so generous with our Design Team at TIME OUT. The products I used for my card were provided by her by way of a voucher, which I'm so grateful for. She is such a sweetheart and its lovely to be able to show off her products to you all:

 

I had so much fun colouring in this cup. Yellow and brown aren't colours I use very often, so was nice to do something different with shading etc.

I stamped the cup from the Stamplorations 'Coffee Joy' stamp set on white CS using Gina K Amalgam Black ink and coloured with my Altenew Artist Markers. I then used my new Faber Castell 'Polychromo' pencils to add some more details and dark shading. I fussy cut it out (including between the handle) and went around the edges with a black pen.

For the background I used the Stamplorations 'Peeking Sunflowers - ARTplorations Slimline Stencil'. It has flowers at each end of the stencil but I used just the one end and blended Distress Inks 'Gathered Twigs', 'Squeezed Lemonade' and 'Mustard Seed' over top. My card base was my normal 4 1/4 inches wide so I cut it down to match the stencil width.

All I had to do then was pop the coffee up on some foam tape. The 'Coffee Joy' stamp set comes with sentiments and a banner outline stamp, so heat embossed them both with Ranger White embossing powder on black CS. I cut it out and put on foam tape, along with some Studio Katia pearls.

There is also an amazing blog hop going on right now for National Coffee Day and Stamplorations is one of the Super Sponsors. If you leave a comment on their blog post HERE you have the chance to win some prizes. For all the details on the hop and all the Super Sponsors go to the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Blog. 

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

You have until Wednesday 7th October to link your projects to the TIME OUT  challenge and if your needing some more inspiration, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team have created for you. Can't wait to see your projects in the Gallery!

Take care

Shona