Another digital stamp that I found for free. Colored it using copics. For the outer panel, I sponged distress inks, die cut a circle using nestabilities and then gave a snow like effect using my white gel pen. The sentiment is embossed using white embossing powder.
I’m always in the mood of making backgrounds especially by doing some sponging. So during one such moment I created this ombre background by embossing the background stamp in silver and then sponging on top of it. Once I’d the background I wasn’t sure what to do. Then I realized that it would make for a nice whimsical space scene! Hence was born my card!
The images are colored in copics. This is the first shaker card I’ve created. I used foam tape to create the cavity and added some martha stewart glitter (which I’ve plenty of!) to it.
Pleased with my idea
I was going for a retro circus look and feel here and I think I quite succeeded at that. really like how this card turned out! Wasn’t sure what sentiment I wanted to add so left it blank.
I created an oval mask from contact paper. Adhered it to cardstock. Sponged mustard seed distress ink. Then stamped the polka dot background using memento blue ink. Removed the mask. Stamped the carousel. Colored it with prismacolor pencils. Stamped the horses on other cardstock, colored and then cut out. Adhered them with foam tape. My prismacolor pencils are getting the love again!
Oh when this stamp set was released and I saw the samples I was drooling over it! So when I got the first chance to buy a stamp set purchased this and you know what? Every time I wanted to make a card using this set, I would be totally stumped. Just didn’t know what to do with it. Finally a few months later I resolved that I must use this set and I’m glad that I did. For I really like this card!
I sponged the base cardstock with tumbled glass. On a separate piece of cardstock I stamped the castle. Then I masked the castle and stamped the dunes. Colored the castle and the dunes. Cut it out and glued it to the base. The pail, flip flops and shells were acolored, cut out and then glued. The sentiment is printed on the cardstock. I wanted to make a birthday card using this set but none of the sentiments in the set were what I was looking for so I made my own. The castle and the dunes are sponged using distress inks – since I didn’t have copics in this color. The rest are colored in copic. Added some stickles to the castle.
This was also an image that was in my stash of colored images! I sponged the background using distress inks – Broken China, Faded Jeans and Chipped Sapphire. I really like the color of Chipped Sapphire! The stars are doodled using a silver gel pen and the sentiment is embossed in white embossing powder.
I used this cut file from Bird’s cards. I modified it a little so that I got a plain strip towards the bottom for my sentiment. Then I cut it out using my KNK Zing. Stamped the sentiment. Sponged the background with distress inks – red and weathered wood. Created some shimmer mist and sprayed that. the sentiment was white embossed on vellum. Voila! my card was done!
I used this cut file from Bird’s cards. I modified it a little so that I got a plain strip towards the bottom for my sentiment. Then I cut it out using my KNK Zing. Stamped the sentiment. Sponged the background with distress inks – Spicy marmalade and pickled raspberry. Created some shimmer mist and sprayed that. Voila! my card was done
Sponged various distress inks on a white cardstock. Cut background using KNK Zing. Colored yellow circles using spectrum noir markers. Adhered pearls in the center of these circles. White Embossed the sentiment and then sponged distress ink around it. Assembled the card.
Ooh I love what I did with this sentiment stamp 
A close look at how glossy “life looks:
For the background I sponged mustard seed, orange marmalade and dusty concord. Then stamped a flourish using dusty concord.
I love all the sentiments from this stamp set (Tim Holtz Thoughts and Prayers). I used versafine ink to stamp the sentiment. If you’re looking for an ink t hat gives good coverage with solid stamps then look no further – versafine is DA ink!
I loved this sponged look – look at how the colors have blended! Whenever I want to sponge a sky background, I search for images on the internet for sunrise and sunset photos and pick the color combinations from there. The stamps are from a Technique Tuesday stamp set – I forget the name. I stamped some grass using second generation stamping too.
The background was created by sponging barn door, pickled raspberry and dusty concord.
For the sentiment, I cut it out using Zing and then double embossed it in clear embossing powder. Stamped the moon in white pigment ink and went over it with white gel pen. Stamped the cowboy in black and the cactii in walnut stain. Tore same random strips from brown cardstock to create the desert.
Used the same technique as my last card.
Masked the background using painter’s tape. Sponged it using distress inks. Stamped the images and accented with glossy accents. Printed the sentiment on white CS and sponged it.
I made two somewhat different cards using the same stamps.
Stamped the image in memento and colored with spectrum noir markers. Sponged the card vase with Spiced marmalade, barn door and broken china. Stamped the border repeatedly with fired brick.
In this card I simply embossed the card base.
I hoped you enjoyed the ideas and inspiration shared by the team on day one of the bloghop! Here’s another day full of creativity! Day 2 is devoted to anything-but –a-card!
I’ve had a banner on my to-do list forever! So when deciding what to make for the bloghop I figured that I should make a banner and check off that item from my list after all!
[My apologies for the poor lighting]
Instead of making something very specific like “happy diwali”, I chose to make something more generic based on the theme of diwali and which would also be an inspiration for everyday life. To me Diwali is all about celebration. Celebrate the festival, celebrate the homecoming of Lord Ram, celebrate with friends and so on. “Celebrate” is also an inspiration for me – it tells me to celebrate life. Everyday. As it happens. Celebrate every moment. Celebrate what you have.
Coming down to the mechanics of this banner: I used Cricut and SCAL to cut the triangles and the letters.
This banner is quite easy and quick to make; just that the glitter part takes some time and maybe a little messy but it’s worth it!
My second project is something that I plan to make for my friends this Diwali – little mason jars filled with some homemade treats! These jars are so cute and adorable!!
I used a 5” square of fabric cut using pinking shears. Here’s a closer look at the tag.
I cut the tag from white CS using Cricut and Tags, Bags, Boxes and More Cartridge. Stamped it with a background stamp using versamark and then embossed in gold embossing powder. Sponged it with various distress inks. Printed the sentiment on vellum using Word. Cut out the diya using Cricut and SCAL.
That’s not all! All my other team mates have some wonderful creations to share too:
Supplies
Banner: PTI cardstock, White 4” doilies, 65# cardstock for letters, Martha Stewart brown glitter, brown grosgrain ribbon, glossy accents, Inka gold platinum, Mini mister, Distress Inks – Mustard seed, dried marigold, broken china and peeled paint.
Tag: PTI white CS, Impression Obsession Damask cover-a-card, Vellum, Distress Ink – Fired brick, peeled paint and Dried marigold.
Welcome to the Diwali bloghop! I’m so excited to be a part of the two day diwali bloghop! We’re going to be sharing a ton of ideas for Diwali – from greeting cards to home décor, etc.! If you haven’t yet started your Diwali crafting, this is sure to get your creative juices flowing! Let me not hold you up with my chit-chat and get down to the real stuff! Note – if you’ve SCAL then you would be glad to know that I’m sharing all my cut files and you can use them for free!
Today, day one of the bloghop, we’ll be sharing greetings cards for Diwali. Diwali is my the most favorite festival and I love to make things for this festival close to my heart! So when I started to make a card for Diwali, I just couldn’t stop at one!
My first card is a more traditional take on Diwali. After all what is Diwali without Lord Ganesha and I find Lord Ganesha can be expressed in as many artistic forms as there are stars in the sky!
For the card above, I cut the outline in red, the solid in yellow and the mat in green. Adhered the red outline to the yellow solid using a glue pen. I’ve found a glue pen to be most helpful in gluing such intricate designs. You can use a toothpick or a glue bottle with a thin nozzle for the same. Stamped the Kraft cardsock with WMS Text-it in Walnut Stain distress ink. Put a strip of 1/2” double sided tape on either side of the CS and sprinkled martha stewart green glitter on it. Then burnished the glitter with a bone folder. Finally sealed the glitter by rubbing some glossy accents all over it, so that the recipient doesn’t have glitter all over him/her when he/she opens the card! 
A stark departure from the previous card, here’s a more modern take on Diwali!
I cut the string of lights using the Create-a-critter cartridge. Stamped “happy” from a bigger sentiment. Cut out “diwali” from a self-made patterned paper. Popped it up on dimensionals and to dot the “I” used the rhinestones. I’d created the patterned paper, quite sometime back and it was just perfect for this card; now I know that I should just create some PPs when I’ve time and stock them up. To make the PP, I stamped polka dot background in versamark on white CS, embossed in clear embossing powder and then sponged all over with Borken China, Barn door and peeled paint distress ink. Another simple and quick design!
My last card was inspired from this photo.
I sponged white CS with Faded Jeans in a circular motion so that the center was lighter than the boundary. Cut the lantern base in yellow and purple; and the embellishments in pink and orange. Used white tissue paper to make the fringe. Popped the lanterns on dimensionals. Embellished them with liquid pearls. With white gel pen, doodled some fireworks and used stickles Crystal to make some stars. I used “happy” from a bigger sentiment and cut out “Diwali” using SCAL and cricut.
I hope the above designs have you inspired; but wait there’s more! Here are links to blogs of all the other lovely ladies who’ve created beautiful projects:
Links to SCAL Cut files:
Supplies:
Stamped the cuckoo in Brilliance black and tries to emboss with clear EP. Didn’t help a lot. Sponged with distress inks. Cut an oval in sandstone CS, scored a frame around it and stamped the sentiment in memento black. Popped the panel on pop dots.
I enrolled in the the Stretch Your Stamps online class and today was the first day of the class. It focused on background stamps which was really good for me because just yesterday I’d made some patterned paper using my background stamps and wondering what to do with them!
Here’s my sample for today:
Can you believe that the only CS I used in making this card was a white CS?!?!? I created the patterned papers by stamping the background stamp in distress ink, embossing it with clear embossing powder and then sponging all over with a contrasting distress ink. I cut a strip of vellum and embossed it with swiss dots embossing folder. The sentiment was stamped with versamark on white CS, embossed with gold embossing powder and then sponged over with Broken China distress ink.
I intend to make a masculine (or unisex) version too using the same technique! Watch out for that!
This week’s tuesday trigger inspired me to use the colors as well as flowers.
This card is also inspired by Lisa’s card – it is so cheerful!! And that’s what I wanted – a bright cheerful card to brighten up someone’s day.
The flowers and the grass were cut using Cricut and SCAL. The flower image comes with SCAL, while the grass I found online. I cut a stencil for the cloud – again an image that comes with SCAL. Using this stencil I sponged the cloud in Sky Blue ink. I dotted the stems with a black pen. For the leaves, I hand drew an outline and cut out the stencil. Then sponged the leaves in Fresh Green and added a touch of Green ink. The sentiment is printed using computer. I printed it out on copier paper first and then taped the grass border to the copier paper and printed again. Someday I’ll buy the Grafix rub-on transfer paper and then I don’t have to print twice! Till then this seems to be working out well! I attached buttons to the flower centers. Can you believe it this card does not use any stamp?!?!?
I was working on this emboss resist background when I read on Nichole’s blog the new challenge that they’re introducing the technique for today was guess what – emboss resist! So I decided to finish my card and enter it into the challenge which has a deadline of tomorrow morning!! I’m glad I could finish it before that! Here’s the PTI Emboss resist challenge.
I wanted to keep the card simple and highlight the background. The background was made by first stamping the paisleys using Versamark, then embossing with clear EP and finally sponging using green and blue inks.
Supplies: Jolies Fleurs, prima flowers, dew drop, ribbon, versamark, clear EP, versacolor inks
