We dare you to create a smile : June Sketch

Hello everyone 

Time for a new challenge and now we are having this wonderful sketch to boost your creativity !

Also i have some sad news as this will be my last challenge as challenge coordinator . When Christine asked me to join her team and CAS family,  almost three years ago ,  i was so honoured and also very emotional as  CAS was one of my favorite and i've been a fan ever since i found the company . 

Now after three years i feel as honoured or even more if that is even possible to have been part of such amazing and supportive group , to had the opportunity to know so many talented people . 

I'm sad for leaving but i know that team and the challenge remains in good hands and will continue to check all your fantastic creations ! 

Also don't forget that by playing along with our challenge you get the chance to win a 25€ to Create a smile store

 Our guest designers made such fabulous cards using today's sketch to bring you inspiration. Let's check their cards out!

Loreen made this beautiful card using Heute wird gut stamp set 

Fatima made this lovely card using Beste stamp set ,  Sei kein Frosch stamp set  , Cool cuts Scalloped rectangles

Thank you for guest designing for our challenge ! Make sure to check their amazing creations and leave them some love.

Let's see what our design team created inspired by the sketch 

Ale made this card using Crazy Chick stamp set , Cool cuts Double Stitched DIN Lang  , Cool cuts DIN Lang Postage , Cool cuts Party Mono  , Cool cuts Stitched Square frames 

Candice  made this beautiful card using Eggstarordinary egghunt stamp set , More than naps stamp set  , Cool cuts Stitched Square Frames , Stencil Pretty stencils

Claudia  created this wonderful card using A little treat stamp set 

Jeanne  made this lovely card using Tee trinken stamp set ,  Cool Cuts Postage Edge Circles , Cool cuts Geburtstag , Kaum zu sehen stamp set , Cool cuts Scalloped Rectangles , Keine Geschenke stamp set

Joke  created this wonderful card using A little treat stamp set  , Pig out stamp set  , Mesmerizing Mandalas stamp set , Cool cuts Cherry lower case

 

Kerstin  made this fantastic card using Kirschzeit stamp set , Beste stamp set , Stencil Splotch  , Cool cuts DIN Lang Postage

Maaike  made this lovely card using Cool cuts DIN Lang Postage  , Wild flowers stamp set , Small sentiments stamp set

Nina  made this fantastic card using Heute wird gut stamp set , Dicke Freunde stamp set , Vasen stamp set  , Voll verpeilt stamp set  , Cool cuts DIN Lang Postage  

 Tinne created this beautiful card using Same frequency stamp set, Cool cuts Double stitched Rectangle  , Happy mail stamp set

Vicki made this adorable card using Cool Cuts Double Stitched Rectangles  , Glowing seaside stamp set

All hands on deck stamp set, Stencil Bubble circle , Stencil Under the sea

Before you enter our challenge please make sure to check the rules below 

Thank you for stopping by ! Have a great day 

Alexandra 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Winners from June Mood board challenge

Hello everyone !

It's time to pick our winners !! Thank you everyone for playing along with our mood board challenge !

Also wanted to let you know that by playing along with our challenge you get the chance to win a 25€ gift certificate to Create a smile store and to be guest designer for our next challenge!

The winner of a 25€ gift card is Biggi with this gorgeous card using  Unschlagbar stamp set  , Cool cuts Stacked Pierced Banners 

Congrats  please send an email to challengeteam@createasmilestamps.com to claim your prize ! Is so well deserved !

Our featured artist from the mood board challenge is Liebes.Wolf with this adorable card using Cool cuts DIN Lang Postage , Zuckerschnute stamp set

Congrats !! You can take the badge and display it on your blog is so well deserved ! if you would like to guest design for our next challenge please send an email to challengeteam@createasmilestamps.com so i can let you know the details.

 Make sure to check the blog for the new challenge and I hope you are inspired to play along with us. 

Until next time have a great day!

Alexandra

You're My Reason to Smile

 Hello dear crafty friends!  It's Candice with you today and I want to share with you my secret of how to get the splattered backgrounds for your scene building!

I love to use the splatters on my ink blended backgrounds to add contrast to my scenes and I feel it's about time I shared this with you!

The first thing I like to do is to die cut my stitched panel, here I used the Double Stitched DIN Lang dies, from Bristol Smooth cardstock.  I find Bristol Smooth to work the best for my blending of oxide inks.

On this panel, I used abandoned coral, dried marigold, and squeezed lemonade to get the base.

Now, onto the splattering!

I have found from asking around (especially helped by @theunpamperedstamper) that the best way to get the solid white is to use the Copic Opaque White paint.  

For my gold splatters I either use watercolor paint (as I did here) or for a more lighter sheen I used shimmer sprays.  

I then like to use the darkest oxide color I inked with, either by rubbing onto a piece of acetate or using the refills, and the damp paint brush.

The paintbrush of choice is #4 (another helpful hint from my friend) pictured above.

Now, while we let the panel dry, we move onto the pieces that will be put onto the card!

I die cut many of the Summer Florals dies from different pattern papers that would match the background.

Next, I heat embossed the 'SMILE' and fussy cut around it. 

The cute little pig was next, I stamped him, colored him with copic markers, and fussy cut him out.

To put the card together, I glued the splattered background to the center of my card base, glued the bases of the floral dies, and topped them with a row of black twine.  

I then used foam tape to add the pig and 'SMILE' and stamped the sentiment above.  To finish, I sprinkled a few yellow jewels!

Experiment with the paints and watercolors that you have to see what works for you!  Also, try different sized brushes for varying sized splatters, for galaxies, I use a toothbrush to get the really tiny dots!

Pig Out stamps

Reason to Smile stamps

Summer Florals dies

Double Stitched DIN Lang dies

Don't forget there is a current challenge that you can try this new technique on for your chance to win!

Thank you for visiting today!

Candice

Simple Masking and Combining Stamp Sets!

 Hello friends and welcome back! It's Laurie with you today to share a clean and simple card using some simple masking!

I went through all my CAS stamp sets and as soon as I saw that cute jam jar from the Summer in a Jar set, I knew I wanted to turn it into a vase or a pot for some flowers. I also wanted to do some masking to make one complete image instead of fussy cutting each image. For the flowers, I chose the gorgeous Cosmeas set.

Yes, masking does take a little time and a little bit of thought to create the scene you want. But in the end, it is so worth it! I don't go for very elaborate scenes. I try to keep it simple! Here are the steps I followed to create this jar with flowers:

1.  Stamp jam jar and create mask.

2.  Apply jar mask and place the flower stamp you want towards to the FRONT of your scene. In this case, it was the purple flower!

3.  Stamp flower and create mask.

4. Apply mask over first flower and place stamp for the next image. You can see that the pink flower looks like it is sitting behind the purple flower...that's all thanks to the mask on the purple flower!!

5.  Make mask for pink flower. When we stamp the greenery, all of our stamped images will be covered by masks and will make the leaves look like they are in the background!

6. Stamp the leaves.

7. Remove all the masks and voila, you're scene is created!

I used alcohol markers and coloured pencils to colour the image. I fussy cut the entire image out including the inner bits!

Once the image was cut out, I did a little ink blending with a light blue ink and a blending brush onto the front of a white card base. I used one of the DIN Lang Border Dies to create a scalloped "shelf" for my flowers to sit on. To take it to the next level, I added a piece of crochet ribbon. When was the last time you used ribbon on your cards?! I rarely do anymore but I absolutely LOVE the look!

Before adhering everything to the card base, I realized I needed to stamp some sort of a greeting. I found the "hello" from the Mesmerizing Mandalas Stamps Set fit perfectly!!

I adhered the "shelf" with liquid glue. Because the ribbon was a bit thick, I needed to add a bit of foam tape to the flowers and everything sat level. 

To finish off, I used a white gel pen to add a couple of details to the leaves and flowers and also added a few clear sequins.

If you're new to masking, my advice is to start out with simple scenes, like this one. The more you do it, the more complicated scenes you'll be able to do. I don't mask much so I ALWAY keep it simple! This project only used 3 masks!  Another tip is to not use itty bitty images. I find I get so frustrated cutting out tiny images only for them to get lost or slide around.

Cosmea

Fine Ferns

Summer in a Jar

    DIN Lang Borders

Mesmerizing Mandalas

Create a Smile Stamps has a wonderful community on Facebook! If you haven't checked out the group, you totally should! And if you need more inspiration, check out the biweekly challenge here on the blog!!

Thank you so much for stopping by today!! See you again very soon!!

Laurie

Winners from May Sketch challenge

Hello everyone !

I'm stopping by to share with you the winners from our latest sketch challenge ! Thank you everyone for playing along with our challenge, we loved seeing all different takes on the challenge sketch !

Also wanted to let you know that by playing along with our challenge you get the chance to win a 25€ gift certificate to Create a smile store and to be guest designer for our next challenge!

The winner of a 25€ gift card is Loreen  with this beautiful card using In bloom stamp set , Cool cuts Scalloped Rectangles  , Floral decorations stamp set , Ruhrpottliebe stamp set

Congrats  please send an email to challengeteam@createasmilestamps.com to claim your prize ! Is so well deserved !

Our featured artist from the sketch challenge is Fatima with this adorable card using Möwen Gang stamp set , Cool cuts Cherry Lowercase

Congrats !! You can take the badge and display it on your blog is so well deserved ! if you would like to guest design for our next challenge please send an email to challengeteam@createasmilestamps.com so i can let you know the details.

 Make sure to check the blog for the new challenge and I hope you are inspired to play along with us. 

Until next time have a great day!

Alexandra