Happy Day

Hi friends!

I'm sharing a card I made for a couple of challenges in mind.

Crafty Individuals has a Face Value Challenge. It's just closing but I'm happy I had time to make a card with this gorgeous Crafty Individuals lady! I created a fun headpiece for her using a Penny Black die (this is actually a leaf) and some sequins and rhinestones. I colored the pretty lady with Copics and added Wink of Stella glitter brush pen to the background. 

Mod Squad Challenge is Anything Goes with dies  so I'll enter this simple CAS card there too. The sponsor is OneHappyCut.com -they have awesome dies, wish me luck! :)

Back to the 70's :)

Hi friends!

I made this card in retroish colors yesterday following the sketch from Handmade Bliss. I tried to make a sort of a CAS version of the sketch. The stamps I used are Hennah Flowers by Altenew -one of my favorite ever stamp sets! The center flower is popped up with 3d stickers for dimension. My coloring is done with Copics. Hope you like and thanks for popping by!

I'd also like to enter:

http://blog.markerpop.com/ Anything Goes

Christmas in July...

Hi friends!

Here's a simple Christmas card I made with cute angels from Stampendous. I've colored them with Copics and added white details with gel pen. I also added shine to the stars, wings and " the caps" the angels are wearing. This card turned out quite cute I think -I do regret I didn't heat emboss the sentiment with gold for example, it looks a bit plain just stamped! I had several challenges in my mind when making this, see the list below. Hope you like and thanks for visiting!

http://modsquadchallenge.blogspot.fi/2015/07/the-wings-thing.html Things with Wings

http://abcchristmaschallenge.blogspot.fi/2015/07/o-for-off-edge.html Off the Edge

http://christmascardchallenges.blogspot.fi/2015/07/christmas-card-challenges-34-anything.html Anything Goes

http://christmasstampin.blogspot.fi/2015/07/christmas-stampin-all-year-long_17.html  CAS

http://jinglebellesrock.blogspot.fi/2015/07/an-old-fashioned-christmas.html Retro/Vintage

STAMPlorations 2nd Birthday Blog Hop Day 2!

Welcome to STAMPlorations 2nd Birthday Blog Hop! Please click here for the post in our main blog. You'll find all the prize info and list of blogs participating in the hop there. Basically, the more you comment, the better changes you have for winning some of our amazing prizes! 

In my card for Day 2 I've used 3 STAMPlorations sets:

Party Time
Party Girl
The Birds and The Blooms

I masked the dress after stamping it and created a bed of flowers for it. I wanted to use lots of happy, summery colors and played with some of my favorite Copic combinations. I also added white dots to the dress with white gel pen. Hope you like!

Check out what the rest of the team made! You'll find links to all birthday blog hop projects here.

New Sketch at STAMPlorations!

Hi friends!

I think it's nearly two months from my last post... But now I'm back and you are not getting rid of me for a while! ;) It's very fun to start the DT "work" again with STAMPlorations Sketch Challenge #33. I love how the challenge DT girls have used STAMPlorations stamps and we have talented a guest too:

Monika Reeck

Monika is a very sweet girl and makes great, great cards -do pop by her blog!

In my card I've used two stamp sets:

Blossom Overture and Subway Art Builders: Dare

I've colored the rose with Copics and heat embossed the sentiment with white powder. This turned out super-girly I think. :)

Please click here for all the challenge and prize info and I hope to see you playing along! 

CAS at TIME OUT!

Hi friends!
I haven't made DT cards lately due to work issues but I'm popping by to share a quick card that works as a DT card for the current TIME OUT Challenges: 

CAS with optional twist of Black and white with a splash of one colour

If you choose the twist you could win a 

 $20 gift voucher to  CAS-ual Fridays Stamps

For DT inspiration from our DT members and guest designer Susanne, please click here.

My card is very simple: just a big Stampendous flower colored in with Copic's, matted on kraft card and attached to a card base. Marika gave me the idea for how to color this flower: this was my first attempt on this kind of coloring and the blending is definitely not perfect but I'm happy with some of the petals. :) Äidille is Finnish for "For Mum". 

I hope to see you playing along at  TIME OUT Challenges!

New Challenge at Inkspirational!

Hi friends!

We have a new challenge for you at Inkspirational: 

Rose Colors

Guidelines : Use rose shades of red and /or pink. You may also use green leaf colours, black, white or cream and realistic colours for skin, fur and hair. 

I've used stamps by Altenew in my simple card, colored in with Copics. The flower is popped up with 3d stickers and I also added some small pearls to the design. Easy peasy. 

Before creating your rose projects I hope you'll check out all the gorgeous inspiration cards by the  Inkspirational DT and our talented guest designer Jill here. Happy crafting!

New Sketch Challenge at STAMPlorations!

HI guys!

You are looking at my DT card for the second sketch challenge of January at STAMPlorations! Click here for stunning inspiration from our DT members and guest designer Maria ... And then think how you'll want to use the sketch! I decided to flip it: I wanted to use the so so so cute macarones from Sugar Rush and make a Valentine's Day card with them. I've colored the macarones with Copics. The hearts are sponged through a stencil. Only one embellishment: a die cut heart ! :)

The winner of this sketch challenge will receive 3 STAMPlorations digi stamps and a possibility to guest design in a future challenge. We will also choose 2 top picks and they have a chance to guest design too... So it's really worth playing along! Read all the details about  the prizes from the challenge post.

I hope to see you playing along!

"Ombre" at Inkspirational!

HI friends!

Here's my DT card for the current Inkspirational Challenge: Ombre. The challenge was chosen by the talented DT member Pia. I'd love you to take a look how our DT members created their ombre looks so do head on our to our challenge blog! In case you are not familiar with the concept of ombre, here's a clarification: 

"Ombré is when the colour is graduated in tone eg. a colour that fades from dark grey to light grey."

I chose to work with blues in my card. The center panel is first sponged with 3 shades of blue DI:s and then water stamped with a Simon Says Stamp stencil. The flowers (Altenew) are colored in with Copics. The sentiment is from the same set. 

I  hope you'll join me, the DT and our guest designer Deepti in this fun challenge! 

New Sketch at STAMPlorations!

Hi guys!

We are back with our challenges at STAMPlorations! I love the first sketch for 2015 and hope to see you playing along! Our guest designer is Kim Makortoff from Art Keeps Me Sane. Kim is one of my favorite bloggers, she is so talented and a lovely person... Do visit her blog if you are unfamiliar with it!

All the challenge info is to be found here. We offer even more guest designer spots than before so it's definitely worth playing along now. Don't miss the fun! :)

In my DT card (sketch is flipped by the way) I've used stamps from Sugar Rush and paired them with patterned papers, doily and twine. My inspiration for this card was an American Diner... How did I do? My coloring is done with Copics and there's also some extra "frosting" with sparkly embossing glitter (WOW).  Have a nice week everyone and I hope to see you at STAMPlorations!

New Sketch at STAMPlorations!

Hi guys!

We have a new sketch for you at STAMPlorations, click here and you'll be directed to the challenge post with fabulous DT inspiration! Our guest designer this time is Julie who has made a beautiful card with Christmas flowers... You don't want to miss it! By participating this sketch challenge you have a chance to win a $10 gift certificate to STAMPlorations store if you use a STAMPlorations image in addition to 

$5 gift certificate drawn between all participants.

In my DT card I've used the beautiful Christmas Flower stamp. I've colored the flowers with Copics, fuzzy cut them out and combined them with a heart doily for a simple Christmas card. This card screamed my aunt's name so I opted for a sentiment in Finnish instead of the many great Christmas sentiments we have at STAMPlorations. Do check them out! 

I hope to see you all playing along at STAMPlorations. Thanks for popping by! 

I'd like to enter my card to 

Uniko Challenge: Anything Goes

Less Is More: Jingle all the way/ Anything Christmassy

Beverages/Drinks at Inkspirational!

Hi friends!
We have a new challenge for you at Inkspirational! Time just flies doesn't it. :) The theme is Beverages/Drinks -a very fun theme chosen by our own Carol!

In my DT card I've used a Stamping Bella stamp I'd forgotten I own... Thanks to this challenge I found it again! I think Stamping Bella stamps are so cute and I adore them in everyone's cards but I find it hard to make them work: coloring in them is somehow difficult and I can't find the style I want to use... In the end I went for an almost monochrome look with touch of pink and made a "fake polaroid" sort of frame for the image. I do love the script card I used for card base. I used washi tape and ribbon for embellishing the frame.

I hope to see you all playing along at Inkspirational! The DT cards look great as always so please pay the DT girls a visit: check out all the creations from here. You'll also find a cool card from our guest designer Mary V: I'd like to have the cocktail in her card, please! ;) Have a fun weekend, everyone!

Happy Birthday Shery!

Hi!
If you've come here from STAMPlorations blog then you know what this post is about: STAMPlorations design team is celebrating the birthday of our wonderful leader Shery, the owner and designer of STAMPlorations. We've all made cards for her and are also sharing thoughts about our favorite STAMPlorations stamps + our favorite literature! Shery is not only a stamp designer but does writing too so we thought she might want to hear what we like to read. :)

 I've created my card with stamps from two latest releases: Boxed Blooms and Bold Sentiments  and VIGNETTE:It's Your Day. The size of the Boxed Blooms flowers is a perfect match with the VIGNETTE sentiment block! I colored the flowers in with Copics and for me this didn't need anything else. I hope you like your card, Shery!

So, what's my favorite STAMPlorations stamp?
My favorite set has for a long time been Chevron and Arrows: I love stamping backgrounds with it and it's great for masculine cards too. However, Boxed Blooms and Bold Sentiments is becoming a new favorite: I love coloring in the flowers of this set and the font of the sentiments is just so COOL!

How about my taste for literature... I must confess that lately I've been mainly reading Craft Stamper and (slightly boring...) books related to my profession but I love books by John Irving, Paul Auster, Siri Hustvedt and Donna Tart for example. I actually just found out they've translated Donna Tart's latest to Finnish -I must get that to my hands! :)

I'll end my post by telling Shery that she is an awesome, awesome girl! One of the greatest things that has happened to me in blogland has been to get to know her. I'm very proud to be in STAMPlorations design team and happy to be friends with this talented, creative, artistic girl. Happy Birthday Shery, I wish you a wonderful day!

Fun in the Sun at TIME OUT Challenges!

Hi friends!
It's time for a new TIME OUT Challenge. Summer goes so fast... Especially when you have a little guy like this at home:

Hee hee! That's my puppy Rafa! He is a lot of work... But so funny and cute!

Okey, I'll resist the urge to tell funny Rafa-stories and tell you about our challenge and my card instead. :) This time we are inspired by words "Fun in the Sun": you can use the whole phrase as your inspiration or just some words like "fun" or "sun". My card is inspired by the whole phrase since wearing a bikini usually means having fun in the sun in the beach! :) The stamps I used come from Avocado Arts. I heat embossed the sun image with gold powder, stamped the owl with Memento and colored her with Copics. I know the color palette of this card is pretty wild but I guess fun in the sun can be wild! It was fun to make a card with many layers for a change.

As always, the DT at TIME OUT has made stunning cards for your inspiration. We have a guest designer too, Carol, and I know you'll love the cute tag she created with sponging and stamping. Play along at TIME OUT and you could be a guest designer too! Happy crafting!

I'd like to enter the following challenges:
http://pdelinkyparty.blogspot.fi/ Many Layers
http://citycrafter.blogspot.fi/ Let's Go to the Beach
http://sparklesforumchallenges.blogspot.fi/At the Beach/ Summer Fun

CASEing Donna Mikasa at TIME OUT!

Hi friends!
It's time for another cool challenge at TIME OUT Challenges. We are super proud to be CASEing the very talented Donna Mikasa in our current challenge -do check out her blog three umbrellas if you are not familiar with it yet. I love the colors Donna uses in her cards... And the one we are CASEing is no exception (see the photo below). All the challenge details are in the challenge blog together with DT inspiration. Our guest designer this time is the talented Marzena. Play along and you might end up joining us too! :)

My first idea for the CASE was to use a stencil like Donna did and even to use her fab color combo... But then my new Avocado Arts stamps arrived and I ended up changing all my original plans! I used a couple of shades of blue and green Distress Inks for sponging the underwater background... And added some interest by stamping it with bubble wrap and water (I believe Donna stamped with a stencil and water). I was also inspired of Donna's gold embossing and used it for both the sentiment and the stamped sand. The hilarious bikini girl is colored with Copics. I'd like to dedicate my card to all the ladies enjoying summer... You all rock that bikini you are wearing! :)

Thanks for popping by and I hope to see you playing along at TIME OUT Challenges. Thank you Donna for the change to get to know you better and to CASE your fantastic card!

Summer Theme With Optional Twist of Flowers at TIME OUT!

Time for a new TIME OUT Challenge! We have a theme challenge for you: summer with the optional twist of "flowers". Very current, fun and easy, I hope to see you joining us! The challenge blog  is filled with inspiring DT samples -do check them out. Our guest designer this time is the talented Bobby, and her beautiful card is filled with floral summer feeling!

My summer flower comes from Hero Arts -I stamped and colored it one evening last week at Sandie's in London. Sandie had a wonderful Sakura glitter pen in her stash and I used if for highlights in the flower. I must get one of those!! The leaf die cut comes also from Sandie -back at home I gave it some color with blue and green gelato and water. I decided to give this as a birthday card for my MIL -she loves turqouise- so I added femine touches with lace, ribbon, some bling and pretty floral paper.  I hope you like! :)

As always, our winner at  TIME OUT  is invited as guest designer but this time we have a prize too: We are sponsored by CAS-ual Fridays Stamps and everyone choosing the optional twist "flowers" enters a draw for a 25 $ gift voucher to CAS-ual Fridays store. Amazing, right! I'd definitely twist if I could enter. :) Time to take TIME OUT and craft, friends!

Id like to enter these challenges:
http://craftingmusketeers.blogspot.co.uk/ Stamped image
http://creativecolorschallenge.blogspot.fi/ Color palette + layers

More stamping for Less Is More

Hi guys!
Just a quick post to share my second card for this week's Less Is More: use more than one stamp. I used the same Avocado Arts stamp set  than in my first entry. I really like playing with cute stamps like these, I guess I'm a bit childish! I had fun coloring the images with Copics and pencils (the pencils were used for the feather-look of the bird) and my last touch was to customize the gift boxes with white gel pen. Glossy Accent was a must for the bird's goggles. :) I hope you like my card and thanks for popping by!

Thank You Card for a Guy

Hi friends!
Many of you know that I was visiting my blogging friend Sandie in London last week. We had the best time, it was SO FUN to meet in real life! I hope we get to meet soon again. Sandie and her husband were the most generous hosts. Sandie's husband took me for a run with spectacular views over London and he also made me my first ever Martini (James Bond style!), just to mention some of the treats during my stay! :) Thank yous are in order, of course for the lovely Sandie but also for her hubby who gets the card above. I wonder if Sandie will be getting a card? ;)

I've used stamps from Avocado Arts. How funny is that guy?!? I just love these cute stamps. I've used five stamps (2 of them are sentiments) so my card is perfect for this week's Less Is More: more than one stamp. I stayed away from kraft and used some sort of ribbon -mine is more like thread but looking at the DT cards it's okey!- so I can enter CAS-ual Fridays.  And last but not least, I was inspired of the Something Simple Challenge at Curtain Call. I was originally going to use twine but the all white inspiration photo at Curtain Call made me use white thread. I quite like how that looks! My image is colored with Copics and I also used white gel pen and glossy for small accents. I think monochrome cards are good for men, what do you think?

Before I go, here's me and Sandie smiling happily after a yummy Japanese lunch:

Thanks for popping by! :)

Word Prompt Bloom at Inkspirational

HI there!
Time for yet another Inkspirational Challenge! I can't believe how fast time flies -I think we just started our previous challenge! Anyways, we have a new type of challenge for you, a word prompt. This time the word is "Bloom" -very appropriate for this time of year! In my garden the tulips (all 10 of them!) are finally opening up now -the most annoying thing about living in Northern Finland is the late spring... Well actually, our winter can get pretty annoying too. :)

Anyways, to my card: I've used some fun fun fun stamps from Avocado Arts. These images are very cute, I love the naive style. This card was a coloring disaster: my Copics are in a desperate need of a re-fill! I hope I have money to do that later in the summer. I tried to rescue he uneven blending with Stickels and Glossy so this card has quite a lot going on... I hated it at first but it's growing on me!

Some challenges helped me to create this card: the sketch is from CASE this Sketch. The theme and color inspiration come from Iron Craft Challenge  Inspiration Collages 1: Memories and 3: Difficult Colors -yep, plenty of orange does get difficult! :) I'm also entering CASology: Flower. Thanks for popping by and have a great weekend! I hope you'll now head on over to Inkspirational challenge blog: there's plenty of blooming inspiration from the DT and our talented guest designer Julie.

Photo Inspiration at Inkspirational!

Hi friends!

I'll have to keep this very short this time... I'm popping in quickly to share my DT card for the latest Inkspirational Challenge: Photo Inspiration. Please check all the challenge details from the challenge blog! As always there's fab DT cards there too... And this challenge is extra special because we'll be introducing our new DT members:

Carol

Kim

Pia Larsen

Welcome to Inkspirational, girls!

I went to CAS direction with my card thinking about the colours of the balloons... + things that fly in the air: butterflies. :) Okey, as said, just a quick post, must run! Have a fun weekend everyone!