Stencil Card -- A Colorful Life Designs

Hi everyone!

I having been playing with stencils lately and it has reignited a love for them. You can just do so much with them as a creative tool!

I was introduced to A Colorful Life Designs in June, while away at a retreat and the owner was offering a make and take. Of course, I jumped right in and tried, and fell in love.

For the first card, I used the Adorned Frame stencil, to create a Congrats card.

I ink blended using Distress Ink in Victorian Velvet and Distress Oxide in Shaded Lilac, and finished off with a subtle brushing of perfect pearls to add shimmer.

Since the stencil already had the heart shape in the middle, it gave me the idea to remove it to create a shaker card. I had a die almost the same size, so it made for easy work.

Once it was cut out, I trimmed the card base down to size and added my acetate and foam all around. I had the little "love' sentiment laying on my desk from a previous card, and thought it matched well. I filled the center with sequins from Studio Katia, then assembled the pieces. 

I finished off with a die cut sentiment. The 'Congrats' is from Brutus Monroe, it is actually a full Congratulations I just cut down.

For this second card, I used the Layered Fluffy Flowers to create the card base.

This card uses the same ink colours as the first one, but I just used a very light touch. I absolutely love the effect. The centers are Distress Oxide in Hickory Smoke.

I kept the front pretty simple to keep the focus on the flowers. So all it received was a stamp and emboss Happy Birthday sentiment from Hero Arts.

I really like this stencil, as it is actually is a layered one. Three stencils create flowers so the possibilities are endless then!  This set has seen a lot of use in my studio lately!!

I have several more cards to share at a later date, but hope these two inspired you a bit.
Go check out a colorful life designs, you won't be disappointed. They have a huge selection for all different styles of creating.

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Remember...be creative, think of others and kindness always matters.

 Kim

LFL December 18 Card Kit Unboxing

LFL December 18 Card Kit

Hi everyone,

Today, I get to share the unboxing of the awesome new card kit from Love From Lizi, also know as LFL December 18 Card Kit

I am super excited to be guest designing with her kit this month, and I look forward to sharing all the neat things I am making with it.


So lets dig in!

This box of excitement landed at my doorstep yesterday, and I was immediately in love with it!  Purple and butterflies are two of my favourite things, and they were both in a kit.....together!  Also, as makers, we have been looking at and working with holiday paper crafting for months already, so not seeing Christmas in a box, is a breath of fresh air and a nice break by this point.

First off, I take out the large bag to see what it holds. Inside, I find 5 pieces of cardstock, two of which are white Copic marker friendly, which is awesome to work with for stamping and colouring. Lizi's kits always include the 5 pieces of cardstock so you can just cut in half right away and have your ten card bases if you so choose, or use them for matting like I often do. There are also two metallic pieces of cardstock included , in silver and gold, both with a matte mirrored finish. I LOVE these two pieces!

Look how pretty they all are?

Next in the bag, is 16 sheets of 8X8 patterned paper. What a selection of gorgeous prints!  Some are double sided, others have a touch of glitter, or spot gloss, and one of my favs is the canvas textured paper. Paper that has texture just adds one more layer of oomph to a card......we not only look at cards, we feel them, and canvas paper does a great job of grabbing our attention. Of course, all these patterns coordinate with each other beautifully.

Also in this bag was a matching set of puffy stickers for lots of different occasions, such as birthday, thinking of you and thank you, perfect for card making. As well, there was a sheet of Peel Offs in Sky Blue. Lizi's kits always have fun Peel Off colours included. Did I mention I am addicted to Peel Offs.....they are such a great finishing touch to so many projects!

Now, can we talk about my favourite part of the kit??  The stamp and stencil butterfly set!! Stunning, and such a great combo to keep in your day to day stash. These are going to get a ton of use in my studio for sure!! So many combinations to use the two together or separate. The stencil could be used alone to create a background, or they align with the stamp set to add even more detail. Did I mention this is my favourite.......just love them!

Now, onto the embellishment bag which is packed tight with amazing, crafty goodies also. 

The Nuvo Crystal drops bottle included in this kit, is called Plum Pudding, and could be used for all seasons really, as it is that pretty in tone. Another awesome stash builder in the kit that you could use over and over, is the Love From Lizi embossing powder, in ivory pearl. Such a gorgeous sheen to it. 

The embellishment bag also has 5 white paper dollies, a sheet of pearl stickers, a bag of adorable purple heart shaped buttons, beautiful paper flowers in two shades of purple, the beloved sequins mixes, and lace. I love that the lace is super soft and white. This means you can custom colour it how ever you want. You could add ink, or stains, or may favourite tea dying! So pretty and so perfect for this kit theme. Another fun addition to the embellishments, was a bag of little paper triangles and twine to make a banner or bunting with. 

Last, but not least, are the two adorable dies that are included with the kit. One is a script font that reads "thank you" and the other is a little heart, that says "with love" in the middle of it. I really appreciate the size of these for card making. Lots of sentiment dies are large scale, but these are nice and delicate.

So crafty friends, I look forward to creating cards and more with this months kit and to share with you soon via video where I will make 10 cards with one kit and of course the matching blog post.

This kit was just released in limited quantity, and if it is like the last few kits, it will sell out fast. So, hop on over to her website to pick up this kit and much more! There are some wonderful add-ons to this month's kit as well.

 You can find the kit at Love From Lizi

**Affiliate links are used at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support -Kim

Remember...be creative, think of others and kindness always matters.

 Kim

   

Sunny Studio Stamps Balloons

Hi everyone. 
Been a little busy these days with lots of unexpected things popping up, and eating away at my already planned tasks and deadlines. Funny how our lives think it has the right to just take over our crafting time!! How rude! lol!!

Anyhoo....today I am sharing a card I made a couple weeks ago and started the matching post, but like I said, life has taken ownership of my time.

I recently bought several new Sunny Studio Stamp sets to play around with. As I make so many birthday cards, one of the them that I bought was the "Birthday Balloon" set. I thought these would be great to add to my collection as the image has so many options for stamping and great little sentiments as well. I just adore the Birthday script in it!

Sunny Studio Stamps Birthday Balloon

I played around with colour combos and ink companies that I really liked. In the end, I settled on Gina K Design inks for them all. Using my Misti stamping tool, I stamped about 50 balloons in all different colours, then used the coodinating die to cut them all out. 

After that, I just started to make card fronts and piled on the balloons! Each were different, some had several and some had a single balloon. In the end, I was able to complete 20 cards and they are ready for my upcoming craft show season.

For the card above, I simply stamped the outline all over a 12 x 12 cardstock sheet, to create a random background, which could be cut up. By having a simpler backround, I then only used three of the detailed, cut out balloons and popped them up with foam. By starting with a large 12" paper, I was then able to quickly cut it up into 4, 5" squares (like this one) and then still have a 2" strip that got cut up into other card fronts. I always think, go big or go home! You have it all out, why just stamp on little piece when you can complete several at once!

Most of the balloons were finished off with a bit of "wink of stella" and/or "Tim Holtz Micro Distress Glaze" to give great sheen to the balloon. I love that glaze, as it gives the balloons another layer of realism, like it truly is reflecting the light source.

I highly recommend this set, as it is easy to create multiple fun cards to have on hand, and such a great price point too!

(Not an affiliated post)

Remember...be creative, think of others and kindness always matters.

 Kim