Inky Hey!

Hello lovely people,

WARNING: this post contains a lot of enabling because I have been playing with lots of new stash for my Dies to Die For DT card this week.

I'll show you what I made first and then we'll talk details :-)

I love the idea of creating inky backgrounds and effect, but am usually disappointed with my efforts when I give it a go. I'm left wondering if  it's my tools or my cardstock, or maybe my technique is just rubbish.

So, I took the plunge and bought a set of the Taylored Expressions blender brushes to see if that would help...and OMG, they are a HUGE game-changer for me!

I think I still need some better cardstock but I found that they made it easier to blend colours into each other, didn't leave any 'edge' marks on my card and required a lot less pressure to get a smooth blend.

For the background I placed a square of card onto a glass mat, popped the the star stencil over the top and taped it down. Then I just brushed 3 or 4 shades of inks in diagonal stripes over the stencil and that's it!

I brushed stripes of the same inks onto a strip of card and die cut the letters from that, then added them to my card with 1mm foam pads to make them pop out.

Oh, and the additonal enabling (other than the brushes)...those alphabet dies. They are definitely an investment but I just know how much I am going to use them so it is 100% worth it.

They team up so beautifully with the new bitty birthday wishes sentiments too...yes, more enabling!

The brushes are available for pre-order and are due to arrive in August so go and check them out! 

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Blender brushes - Taylored Expressions
Impact alphabet - My Favorite Things
Bitty birthday wishes - My Favorite Things

Scattered stars stencil - Taylored Expressions

Inside and out stitched square STAX - My Favorite Things

Distress oxides;

Combo 1 - picked raspberry, spun sugar, peacock feathers

Combo 2 - mustard seed, spiced marmalade, ripe persimmon, candied apple

Combo 3 - cracked pistachio, broken china, faded jeans

Unicorns, cupcakes and sparkle!

Hello lovely people,

Do you like unicorns, cupcakes and sparkle?

If so, you are in the right place because I have a Dies to Die For DT card featuring all those things!

Oh, and I certainly love all those things PLUS I love rainbow colours, polaroid frames and cute # captions so you can probably get a good idea of how happy I was creating this card - lol!

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a fabulous sparkly day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Party unicorns - CC Designs
Polaroid shaker frame - My Favorite Things
#captions - My Favorite Things
Stitched borders 3 - Pretty Pink Posh
Sweet Celebration 6x6 paper pad - My Favorite Things

Other ingredients;
twine, glitter card - from stash

Copic colours;
Unicorn: C00, C0, C1
Hooves: C5, C7
Nostrils / inside ears: R00, R30
Mane / tail: R81, R83, R85
Hat / cupcake top: Y21, Y35
Cupcake tops: BG32, BG34
Cherry: R85
Cupcake wrappers: BG0000, BG000, BG01

To plant a garden...

Hello lovely people,

I suppose all the recent (and seemingly never ending!) rain is very good for the garden but I do wish the sunshine would come back now!

This gorgeous Curvy Girl Gardener on my Dies to Die For DT card looks like she has been having a lovely time outside though!

It's not often I use so many colours all together but I was very much inspired by the pretty floral paper that I chose.

I also don't often reach for the sequins but they seemed just right to finish off this card :-)

I always have the best time colouring Stamping Bella images, and isn't that just the loveliest sentiment too?

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a bloomin' lovely day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Curvy girl gardener - Stamping Bella
Spring fling 6x6 paper pad - Lawn Fawn
A2 stitched rectangle STAX 1 - My Favorite Things
Scallop borders 2 - Pretty Pink Posh

Other ingredients;
twine / sequins - from stash

Copic colours;
Skin: E50, E51, E21, E11
Hair: E53, E35, E59
Dungarees: B00, BG01, BG02, BG05
Pink: R81, R83, R85
Green: YG03, YG25, YG17
Yellow: Y15, Y19, Y38
Flowerpot: E97, YR27, E99
Watering can / trowel: C00, C0, C01, C02, C03
Flower centres: C5, C7

Heart tree

Hello lovely people,

It's back to die cutting this week for my Dies to Die For DT card because I fell in love with this cute little MFT tree die; it's not new but I somehow missed it at the time it came out.

There are lots of options for using this die...but I limited myself to just the one card this time!

I've inked a slightly shimmery card with Distress Oxides and placed that behind the die cut tree, then die cut the trunk in Kraft and hearts in silver to piece back into the holes.

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a fabulous day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Heart tree - My Favorite Things
A2 stitched rectangle STAX 1 - My Favorite Things
Inside and out stitched rectangle STAX - My Favorite Things
Mini tags - Mama Elephant
Mini everyday messages - Mama Elephant

Other ingredients;
Distress Oxide ink pads in Twisted citron and Mowed lawn

twine - from stash

Fairy Time!

Hello lovely people,

By now you may be getting the idea of how much I love the Mama Elephant Little agenda stamps so you probably won't be surprised by what's on my Dies to Die For DT cards today!

You wouldn't believe how long I faffed around with various sentiments before realising that once again vellum was the answer!

I actually coloured up about 30 of these little beauties all at once, so I still have plenty more left to use on other projects!

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a fairy lovely day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Little fairy agenda stamps -  Mama Elephant
Little fairy agenda dies -  Mama Elephant
Inside and out stitched square STAX - My Favorite Things
Puffy cloud borders - Lawn Fawn
Fairy happy - My Favorite Things (for the sentiment)
Dots and stripes pastels 6x6 pad - Sunny Studio
Vellum - Lawn Fawn

Other ingredients;
Crystal Glamour dust for the wings

Copic colours;
Skin: E000, E21, E11
Hair: various combos that I didn't write down - oops!
Errrr...actually it appears I didn't write any of it down, so sorry :-(

It's cocktail o-clock!

Hello lovely people,

It's Friday so I think we should all drink to that!

I tried really really hard not to buy EVERYTHING from the latest Stamping Bella release but this image was first into my basket!

I think that sentiment is making a fair point, don't you?!

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a whole day of happy!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Curvy girl with a cocktail - Stamping Bella
Stitched rectangle scallop edge frames - My Favorite Things
Dots and stripes pastels 6x6 pad - Sunny Studio
Stitched jumbo fishtail banner STAX - My Favorite Things

Other ingredients;
Sentimental Too dies - Avery Elle

Copic colours;
Skin: E50, E51, E21, E11
Hair / flower centres: T5, T7, T10
Dress: B01, B02, B04, B05, B06
Dress frill: B000, B00, B01
Flowers: R81. R83. R85
Leaves: YG17, YG67
Drink: R0000, R000, R30
Ground: T0, T1, T2, T3

A Bunny Thank You

Hello lovely people,

I'm pulling out all the cute for my Dies to Die For DT card today...

Ok, I admit it...I have a little bit of an obsession with polaroid frames!  I have quite a few already but MFT bring out a new one...and I just can't resist - lol!

As you can see I also couldn't resist these sweet bunnies...and the ric rac...total cuteness :-)

The grass and little flower stamps I used here are also part of the stamp set, and I inked them up with Distress Oxide pads.

If I've tempted you with any of the lovely supplies I've used then you can go straight to the individual products via the links below or just pop over to Dies to Die For and have a little browse around!

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a lovely day!

Lovely things I've used from Dies to Die For;
Sweetest somebunny - My Favorite Things
A2 stitched rectangle STAX 1 - My Favorite Things
Polaroid shaker frame - My Favorite Things
Stitched ric rac - My Favorite Things
BB Greetings galore - My Favorite Things
Blueprints 29 - My Favorite Things (for the fishtail banner)
Gingham pastels 6x6 paper pad - Sunny Studio

Other ingredients;
Distress Oxides in Mowed Lawn and Wilted violet
Neenah Desert Storm Kraft card - Crafter's Companion

Copic colours;
Bunny: E41, E42, E43, E44
Ears: R0000, R00, R01