Dino Birthday Card

I hope you are all safe and dry. Here the wind is howling around the house and battering the trees with rain hammering against the windows every so often, but that is nothing compared to the awful situation in the south of the country.

Today's dinosaur sneak peek comes in a completely different style - with a more colourful creature on a birthday card for young kids. I deliberately wanted to create a dinosaur image that comes over as more cute than scary.

I used the new Crafty Stamps image DN104M (the stamp will be launched on 18 February 2014) and coloured in the dinosaur using ProMarkers in Soft Green, Amethyst and Aubergine.

In addition to the dinosaur stamp I used:

* 15cm x 15cm white linen textured card blank by Southfield
* Smooth white cardstock
* Textured cardstock in soft green and in two shades of purple
* CoreCouture cardstock by Core'dinations
* Embossalicious Lattice embossing folder
* Leave embossing folder by Crafts-Too
* Number and letter die-cuts (peel-offs would work just as well)
* Cutting dies: circle and scalloped circle
* Candi

Land and Sea

It is time for another sneak peek on the new dinosaur stamps by Crafty Stamps, which will be released later this month. Inspiration for the two cards I would like to share with you today was provided by the habitat the dinosaurs lived in.

For the card above I used brown-grey tones of Spectrum Noir pens for the dinosaur and opted for a forest-like feel with brown and kraft cardstock, raffia and string as well as leaves. A torn strip of kraft cardstock and the distressed embossed detail add a rustic touch.

Some products used for this card in more detail:

* Crafty Stamps dinosaur stamp DN107Q
* Embossalicious A4 embossing folder 'Tumbling Leaves'
* Leaf die set by Cheery Lynn
* Santoro Mirabelle jute and raffia string set by Trimcraft
* White linen textured 15cm square card blank by Southfield
* Glass-smooth white cardstock by Southfield
* Kraft cardstock
* Tim Holtz Kraft-Core cardstock by Core'dinations

The second card is styled around a marine dinosaur (DN108K). I chose blue greys for the dinosaur and light blues for the surrounding water. This time I used a mix of ProMarkers and Spectrum Noir pens. The bubbles - and incidentally also plant sections within the background - are highlighted with Sakura Gelly Roll pen in 'Clear Star'.

The backgound is mainly doodled. I used a calligraphy pen to get thinner and wider sections for these fantasy plants and added then some circles with a fine liner by Letraset. After that I embossed the background using a 6" x 6" Embossalicious embossing folder and added adhesive pearls in various sizes and shades of brown for the bottom of the sea. Embellishments are starfish and shell die-cuts. I used my good old QuicKutz dies, but other manufacturers (e.g. Marianne Design) have brought out similar dies in the meantime.

I hope you like these two new projects.

Here come the dinos ...

Crafty Stamp DN102N

Towards the end of this month Crafty Stamps, the Edinburgh based family business, are launching a brand-new collection of stamps. The images should be popular with many recipients of all ages and are currently really trendy when it comes to kids: dinosaurs.

All stamps are made from high quality grey rubber and come cut and foam-backed. And this is just perfect for us impatient crafters, as they can go straight out of the packaging onto an acrylic block and are ready for a crafting session within seconds.

Here is a first sneak peek for two of the new images. More samples will follow over the next days.

For the card above I used:

* Textured cardstock
* Smooth white cardstock
* Embossalicious embossing folder by Crafters Companion
* Tonic Studios tag die (the die-cut is cut in half)
* Corner rounder
* Black Memento ink pad
* Spectrum Noir pens (green greys plus IG1) as well as a Letraset FlexMarker in 'Glacier Blue'
* Adhesive pearls

Crafty Stamps DN110Q

The products for the second card are:

* Black textured cardstock
* White smooth cardstock
* Patterned paper from the Trimcraft Back to Basics Monochrome collection
* Cheery Lynn corner die
* Britannia sentiment die set (peel-offs would work just as well)
* Octagon Nestabilities
* Black Memento ink pad
* Spectrum Noir pens (ice greys)
* Adhesive pearls

I hope you like these new stamps and are looking forward to more previews.

Lillibet Stamps

Lillibet - In the Garden

You might remember my projects created with the Lillibet collection by Trimcraft. Recently they also released some fabulous stamps. They are a brilliant addition to this lovely collection, as they give us so much more creative freedom than stickers or printed images.

For the above card I opted for more intense colours and tried out a different hair colour. I used Spectrum Noir pens to colour in the image.

A product list and step-by-step instructions are in my Trimcraft gallery. The swirls are created using a die by Marianne Designs. The background paper and kraft cardstock can, of course, easily be cut with a paper trimmer or guillotine, but I could not resist to try out the square layering dies by Tonic Studios. I could not be tempted by square dies for a long time, but the increments and the large number of dies in this set changed my mind. And somehow it is quite nice to get perfect squares every time, which will come in very handy for techniques like teabag folding.

Christmas Decorations II

I hope that you all had a great start into a happy, healthy, peaceful and successful 2014.

But will these storms never end? For weeks now it has been extremely wet and windy most of the time. I hope that you are all safe and dry.

I still need to share some more decorative items, which I made over the Christmas days, with you. These Christmas crackers are intended as decorative items that I can put on top of the fireplace, onto shelves, etc. They will get simple boxes, so that they can be safely stored away during the rest of the year and come out fresh and like new for the next festive season.

The cardstock used comes mainly from the First Edition paper pad 'Silent Night'. Other than these sheets I just used silver mirri card and a bit of textured cardstock. Additional items include adhesive pearls and curly ribbon.

The most important die for these decorations is the Christmas cracker die by Tonic Studios. Any Christmas themed dies can be used for the embellishments. I opted for Die'sire holly and snowflake dies as well as a bell by Crafts Too. The border punches used for these projects are geared punches by Tonic Studios, as these are easily copying with mirri card or textured cardstock.

Christmas Decorations I

The weather outside is really frightful, as the storm just does not want to come to an end. So I have simply taken out some time and created some handcrafted Christmas decorations.

The inspiration for this style of ornament came from the Trimcraft advent calendar, day 13. There are dies, which cut the cardstock in this style, but the Trimcraft advent calendar also provides a free template.

I used cardstock from the First Edition Silent Night paper pad, adhesive pearls and charms. The holes at the top and at the bottom of the ornament are reinforced with eyelets. I then attached the charms with one 8mm jump ring (at the eyelet) and two 5mm jump rings. I threaded beading elastic through the hole at the top, as this is not so visible when the ornament is hanging in front of a window or at the Christmas tree.

So I pretty much used just things that many of us have in their craft stash anyway. And the free Trimcraft template means that a) we can get a bit of crafting fix over the Christmas days or without spending much on additional materials and that b) this ornament could also be useful for those of us, who might need to keep kids entertained over the next days. And stored carefully these 3D ornaments can be lovely decorations for many years to come.

Final Preparations in Santa's Workshop

 Santa's Workshop - Winter Treat

Christmas is nearly upon us and even Santa is slowly finishing his preparations. But until then it is time for two more cards created with Helz Cuppleditch's Santa's Workshop collection by Trimcraft.

This time the stamps within the collection are providing the focal points. The images on both cards are coloured in using ProMarkers. I used the bullet tips as well as ultra-fine nibs.

Santa's Workshop - Gingerbread House

You can view the product lists and step-by-step instructions in my Trimcraft gallery by clicking onto the links below the photos.

Even I am now finishing off my 2013 Christmas cards, but I intend to try my hands on some handcrafted decorations on Monday and Tuesday. Our Christmas dinner is sorted and the bulk of the food shopping done, so I might only need to go to the shops for some milk and bread and should have some time for a bit of 'creative relaxation'.