Merry & Bright with FUSION (Take 2)...

Still time to play along with this fortnights fabulous FUSION!
This card created using these gorgeous star and "Merry" die cuts from Winnie and Walter, created from copper self-adhesive paper adhered to black chipboard. Added "& Bright" sentiment from Neat and Tangled Very Merry, heat embossed in copper.

Also playing along with 
Lil Red Wagon Sparkle and Shine
Simon Says Stamp Christmas to Die For
Little Tangles CAS

Colour Me Tangled...

Inspired by this fabulous colour combo at Colour Me Striking #33 Tangelo Twist and Tempting Turqoise, together with Little Tangles Happy Birthday Challenge and Crazy for CAS Watercolour. Featuring three Neat & Tangled stamp sets, My Heart Sings, Sunburst and Everyday Circles, together with Simon Says Stamp leaves, diecut from vellum. This gorgeous My Heart Sings bird was watercoloured with Gelatos and fussy cut, the "Happy" Everyday Circles sentiment and Sunburst were stamped in Hero Arts Soft Cantaloupe, with the sentiment diecut using Lil Inkers Stitched Circle, and the "Birthday" Everyday Circles sentiment stamped in Hero Arts Tidal Pool.

Remember you have until the 25th to join in the fun @ the Mixed Media Card Challenge Summer

 

 

Colour Me Striking #33 Tangelo Twist and Tempting Turqoise

 Little Tangles Happy Birthday Challenge, Seize the Birthday,

Less is More Animal and Crazy for CAS Watercolour.

Seize the Little Tangles...

It's been such a long time since I played with my Neat & Tangled stamps, I couldn't leave it a minute longer! Playing along with the current Little Tangles Stencil Challenge and Seize the Sketch, I oversprayed this Heidi Swapp Mini Stencil Hello Frame with Prima Color Bloom Peony Spray Mist, then stamped this cute Neat & Tangled Just Hello phone and masked the Little Tangles squiggly lines in Hero Arts Charcoal, to create the phone cord, and added a couple of sequins.

This made me smile...

A Little KIS Splatter...

Had super fun with this fortnights Keep It Simple Splatter theme, perfect for this gorgeous Ink Splatter stamp from Neat & Tangled, combined with this cute birthday sentiment stamp by The Alley Way Stamps, and finished with three little MME enamel dots. 

Hope you take the time to get inky with Splatters! 

Remember to stop by the blogs of the Keep It Simple DT for some super Splatter inspiration

Anni

Christine

Mia

Tanja

Tenia

Love to see how you are inspired this fortnight!

Used the colour inspiration from Little Tangles Inspiration Photo Challenge, and 
The Alley Ways Stamps Be Inspired too!

A Happy Birthday Accident...

Whilst I was playing with my Glimmermists, I accidentally oversprayed onto a couple of pieces of white cardstock on my desk, so I made the most of this happy accident by adding some more layers of ink to create this Neat & Tangled Happy Birthday card.  Using Neat & Tangled Ink Splash and Everyday Circles sentiments stamped in Momento Luxe Morocco, Bahama Blue and Nautical Blue. Playing along with Little Tangles One Layer Card Challenge and Seize the Birthday, and inspired by the inky goodness of Donna's CASE Study card.

 

Hi Bear, a Little Freshly Made Card Concept...

Just popping by with a quick card for Little Tangles Hello Challenge, and play along with the inaugural The Card Concept Colour Challenge using this fab sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  Thought "Hi bear" was a cute substitute for "hi there". I used the chalkboard technique for this Clean and Simple card, stamping with Versamark Watermark then white embossing powder, using three fabulous sets from Neat and Tangled with Little Bear bear, paw prints and "bear" sentiment, A Lot to Say speech bubble, and Just Hello "hi" sentiment.

 

Hello Beautiful...

Playing along this week with Little Tangles Saying Hello Challenge, celebrating the new Little Tangles DT, and MUSE Challenge, with a gorgeous sunny card by Laurie, and Little Red Wagon All Purpose Card Challenge too.

This card combines five of the fabulous sets by Neat & Tangled, although you have to look pretty close to see the Little Tangles zig zags stamped in yellow behind the bottom two clouds - I was trying to go for subtle - but maybe yellow ink on kraft is a bit too subtle LOL! The sun is created by stamping Sunburst and Everyday Circles "Hello" in Momento Luxe Dandelion, and the white clouds were created using Just Thinking of You stamped in Hero Arts Soft Pool, and Fresh Blooms "Hello Beautiful" sentiment. The matching teal cloud is from Amy Tangerine's chipboard collection, and the kraft cardstock base was highlighted using Lil Inker Stitched Squares.

Neat & Tangled have a new DT call on at the moment too - they have a FAB collection of unique images, and sequins!!! and owner Danielle is just delightful - so get your skates on and give it a go - you never know!!!

Laurie's gorgeous MUSE card

This made me smile...

and this too...

Little Tangles Guest Designer Post - Giving Thanks...

E.T.A.

So excited to be able to present this card to you as Guest Designer over at Little Tangles, the Neat & Tangled Challenge blog!  This fortnights Little Tangles challenge is Giving Thanks. Although we don't celebrate Thanksgiving in this part of the world, I do have a lot to give thanks for!

I thought I'd give you a few hints and tips to create a card similar to this, using Distress Inks, Glimmermist, Embossing powder, and of course, Neat & Tangled Stamps! 

• Cut your 6x4 inch card base to size and round the corners.
• Stamp several Neat & Tangled Fresh Blooms flowers (12) and My Heart Sings bird (1) onto watercolour paper in Versamrk Embossing ink (or similar).  Try stamping two rows of six flowers, with the bird stamped underneath the flowers on the right-hand end.
• Sprinkle with clear embossing powder before blasting with your heat gun.
• Using Distressed Inks, vertically swipe the ink pad over the clear embossed images. Swipe the colours so each is just overlapping the next colour. Try using Wild Honey on the left (4 flowers), Spiced Marmalade in the centre (4 flowers & bird) and Picked Raspberry on the right(4 flowers & bird).
• Overspray with Glimmermist, or water & perfect pearls, then dry thoroughly with your heat gun. Try using Glimmermist Twinkle Yellow, or Gold, or just plain water!
• Fussy cut the Neat & Tangled flowers and bird. Try using a really small pair of sharp scissors, to help get around all the curly edges more easily.
• Adhere the layered flowers in position on the card with double-sided tape.
  
• Cut a strip of cardstock 6.5 inch x 1.5 inch, round the corners and die-cut "thanks" letters. Try aligning and taping the letter dies with masking tape to them hold in place before die-cutting.
• Don't be afraid to cut your stamps to customise your sentiments. This sentiment was created using Just Hello "a note of thanks" and "o" from "hello: and Fresh Blooms "f" from "beautiful". Before you ink your sentiment, place the sentiment stamps in position on your cardstock, then press down your stamp press or stamping block to pick up the stamps from the cardstock - this will vertically align your sentiment with your negative die-cut letters. Alternatively use a ruler to measure the spaces before placing your stamps on the block. If you have a stamping block with grid-lines, you can use the lines to help align your sentiment horizontally.
• Stamp the sentiment using a coloured ink such as Hero Arts Soft Cantaloupe.
• Pop dot the sentiment banner across the card.
• Pop-dot the top section and double-sided tape the bottom section of the bird and attach to the card.

I hope you are inspired to give it a go with your inks and sprays,

 and Neat & Tangled stamps!

Also playing along with Seize the Sketch, with this fabulous sketch by Stacey.

It's Black & White & A Little Blue...

So this is the card I was working on for the Little Tangles Back to the Blackboard Challenge when I came to many of these conclusions:

"the most effective blackboard cards are those in which the blackboard forms only on part of the card, and/or is used with solid white or bright colours for contrast, that too much black on a card is difficult to photograph, and the messy nature of the chalkboard technique makes it difficult to use on more formal cards."

I've re-photographed my card in more natural (ie daylight) conditions, and I'm happier with how it has turned out, so I thought I'd include this card here too.

I used the same blackboard technique by stamping Neat & Tangled Fresh Blooms and Just Hello in Versamark Watermark ink and heat embossing with Zing White, then taking small amounts of Hero Arts White dye ink on my fingertip and smudging it across the black, to mimic chalky residue. The Fresh Blooms were layered by creating a mask of the largest flower. The chalkboard technique was used on a teal background paper to create Neat & Tangled My Heart Sings bird and Fresh Blooms flower, which were then pop dotted onto the card.

Playing along with Simon Says Stamp Emboss It Challenge and 

CASual Friday Back to School.

It's Black & White and Read all Over...

It was back when I went to school anyway!!!

In creating a card for Little Tangles Back to the Blackboard Challenge I've come to the conclusion that the most effective blackboard cards are those in which the blackboard forms only on part of the card, and/or is used with solid white or bright colours for contrast, that too much black on a card is difficult to photograph, and the messy nature of the chalkboard technique makes it difficult to use on more formal cards. So with this in mind I created a mini blackboard on my card - and used the technique in conjunction with bright red to help it pop. The blackboard technique was achieved by stamping Neat & Tangled My Heart Sings in Versamark Watermark ink and heat embossing with Zing White, then highlighting the edges of the blackboard section using Hero Arts White dye ink, and taking small amounts of this ink on my fingertip and smudging it across the black, to mimic chalky residue. This technique was also used to create the bird and heart.

Created with a combination of patterned papers from Crate Paper DIY Shop, Cosmo Cricket Little Boys (from back in 2007!!!) and blackboard paper from MME, together with WPlus 9 Label Layers 5 and Lil Inkers Stitched Rectangles die cuts.

Playing along with Simon Says Stamp Emboss It Challenge,
 Shopping Our Stash Favourite Stamp Technique, and
CASual Fridays Back to School

Have a Little Guesso What the Difference is...

With the current mixed media / art journalling trend, I thought I'd have a play and see the difference a little gesso can make to your cards.

In the first sample using a base of Kaisercraft music paper, I stamped the Neat & Tangled My Heart Sings bird and sentiment in Versamark Watermark Ink and heat embossed with American Crafts Pewter. By embossing this layer, you create a barrier which will stop your watercolours from ending up where you don't want them. Next I dipped a water brush into my Gelatos to create the watercolour fill.  The heart was filled in red, and the bird was filled in turquoise, then I added the darker blue. I found the watercolours easy to blend on this card as they bleed and blend into each other and the paper.

The second sample was created in exactly the same manner, with one simple exception - the Kaisercraft music paper was first primed using white gesso, applied in a thin layer with a paintbrush.  This white gesso layer served to tone down the background layer, so the stamped images take centre stage.  When embossing directly onto the paper, the Watermark Ink and some of the Pewter embossing powder bled into the paper, so the result was not as crisp as when I stamped onto the gesso.  When you use the gesso as a base, as it is a primer, this means the colours sit on top of the gesso layer.  The advantage of having gesso as a base is that if you make a mistake, you can easily remove colour from where it is not wanted by gently wiping the area with a baby wipe.  White gesso is a simple way to tone down any patterned paper so you can stamp and colour over it.

Playing along with Little Tangles Technique Challenge

Playing along with this weeks Catered Crop Sentiment-al Challenge

City Crafter Challenge Birds & Blue Challenge and
Addicted to CAS Music Challenge

This made me smile...

Neat & Tangled Birthday Bash...

After the Little Tangles Birthday Bash suggestion to use the Neat & Tangled Just Thinking of You cloud as a muffin top - how could I refuse?!?  Playing along with Little Tangles Let's Eat Cake! and Seize the Birthday Anything Goes Challenges, and Little Tangles Birthday Bash C.A.S.E. Challenge inspired by Tenia's card here too.  Using Mirror Gold embossing powder, I stamped the Just Thinking of You cloud as the muffin top, On the Strip diagonal strip as the candle and Fresh Blooms large leaf as the candle flame, with the sentiment also from Fresh Blooms.  The bottom of the muffin was created using an Avery Elle cupcake die, then placing a real life silver muffin patty paper under the negative die cut.  The candle and wick are pop dotted, and the muffin top filled with Dimensional Magic before filling with Neat & Tangled Crystal Clear sequins.

Playing along with Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes too!

This made me smile...