Make Your Own Winter Wonderland

Hello!!
Samantha here again, on this happy Friday!! If you're in the states, it's Halloween! And I can't wait to go trick-or-treating with my little Menn! The costumes are my favorite part of Halloween, by far!! :)

However, today, my card is all about a different holiday - Christmas! Yay!! :)
This is the very end of October, which means it's the last day we'll be showcasing the amazing embossing powders by WOW!

I used the super soft, super incredible and super stunning Silver Pearl embossing powder to create part of a background for my card!

Ta-da!
First, I took some grid patterned paper, and spritzed it with a teal color mist. it's super shiny and FUN! Then once that was all dry, I heat embossed the ADORABLE Smiling Snowflake imges! LOVE how it looks!!
That silver pearl is gorgeous, and because of the teal misted background, they took on an almost soft teal look, in some lights! The other great thing about the Silver Pearl color is that it can look striking in light, but soft and almost a watermarked look, when the light isn't on it directly! It's just super cool!

The super fun train is from Whimsical Wheels! I colored the train with copics and then popped it up for some dimension! I really think it's sweet that the train is helping to bring the winter wonderland this season with those wood veneers in the cars! :)

The sentiment was heat embossed in white, and then the entire panel was popped up onto some patterned kraft paper!
So that's it!

Have you picked up the new stamps yet? How about some of the stencils or AMAZING new chipboard pieces?? Such an exciting time at Create a Smile!! :)
Have a wonderful weekend!
~Samantha

What a Lovely Snow Couple

Hello Crafters!

How are you guys? I hope your Monday was lovely :) 

We are still working the amazing WOW embossing powders this month. 

I can't get enough of these cute little Cool Buddies lately. However, I suspected this one snowman was looking for more than a buddy. I thought he needed a lady friend. I knew the mirror technique was the best way to get this guy a girlfriend. 

If you're not familiar the mirror technique it is where you stamp your image on a clear non-porous surface, like acetate, and then flip it over and use the acetate image to stamp instead of the actual stamp. This gives you a reverse image. It looks like this. 

When you stamp the image will be less clear but that's okay. Nothing a pen won't fix :) 

The top right is the original image. The top left is the acetate stamping. Bottom left is the reverse image stamped, see how it's a faint? Bottom right is the reverse image outlined with a Sakura gel pen in black. Since I use Memento Tuxedo Black to stamp when I'm coloring with copics I usually outline my original image too. This just makes the blacks match. I'm particular like that ha!

Here's how I applied the technique to my card

I used copics to add some shading to my snow couple. If you're going to use copics make sure you use a copic safe pen for your outlining. 

I used a copic multiliner to draw a little necklace onto my lady. Both the necklace and buttons were colored red to match. After all a well groomed lady's necklace must match her buttons. Or I've heard that. Don't ask me. My clearance Target purse from 2000 is falling apart but matches my flip flops or tennis shoes just the same ;) 

My dapper gentleman got a top hat from the same Cool Buddies set. I think it's such a cute accessory. 

Once I was done coloring I used the little circle from the same set and stamped in Versamark ink to create some snow. I also used my Versamark pen to add some embossing powder to my shadow. I heat embossed in Neutral Ultra Shimmer Embossing Glitter from WOW. It creates the most subtle snow, I love it! I did add just a bit of shading to the circles with my lightest BG copic to help them stand out more. 

After embossing I added some glossy accents to their buttons and enamel accents to their eyes. 

I think they look adorable together. What about you? I used the warm fuzzies sentiment because I'm going to use it to write my husband a little note this winter but I think it would be super cute as an anniversary or congratulations card for a couple that chose to get married in the winter! 

Thanks for visiting us!

XoXo

Kelly 

Cool Buddies 

More embossing on vellum....

Hi there it's Anja again on this monday.
Hope you all enjoyed our amazing videohop yesterday and if you didn't make sure to hop over and join in the fun it's really worth every minute. You also have until tuesday night to comment for your chance to win some fab prizes.

Now over to some more inspiration and it's still October so I used some embossingpowder from WOW!

I started with a white card and used the new nautical stars stencil in a bit different way it's supposed to.
I inked up the stencil with some distressinkt and placed the cardbase on top of it and gently rubbed it to transfer the stars. I really like the outcome.

Now about the embossing. Nowadays I really like vellum and especially embossing on vellum. So I took sentiments from several former stampsets and stamped them randomly onto the vellum with versamrk inkt. Then I used three different kinds of embossingpowder from WOW! in a striped pattern. It really gives a cool effect.

 

To finish of the card I placed some washi-tape at the left side and also heat embossed some chipboard stars from wycinanka in the same colors.

That's it for me today, hope you enjoyed it and I wish you a happy crafty week.

 

 

Need Help?

Hi there!

It's Linda here with a card that is really different from my normal style.  We're still collaborating with the wonderful

lucky us!!

I was staring at all the cute images from the set Whimsical Wheels, and I thought it would be fun to incorporate a few into the one card.

For some strange reason, I've always loved those 'choose 1' questionnaire forms that crop up in life, and I thought it might be an idea, to use that as the basis of my card.

I coloured all my images in with copics, fussy cut them out, then assembled the card. I hand-drew the tick or check boxes, and aligned the chipboard from Wyancanka into the top box.

For some extra oomph, I embossed the chipboard arrow with some RED GLITZ embossing powder from WOW. I think it makes ALL the difference! Now the arrow REALLY stands out against the background, but thanks to the red in the firetruck and ambulance, it coordinates with the card too.

What do you like to do to bring some extra oomph to your cards? I always enjoy how embossing powder changes things so much.

Do you have a favourite way of altering items like chipboard? How about Embossing Powder? Love it or not? I definitely love it, except for the mess, no matter how neat I am, it always seems to spread everywhere!

That's it for me today, I'll be back next week with another card using some delicious WOW products.

See you then!

Rainbow starburst

Hiya!

It's Linda here, and today I've got a card that's inspired by a childhood toy/favourite show of mine. Rainbow Bright--remember her?

Here are a couple of images to show you what I mean, in case you've never heard of her.

One of my daughters has a tshirt that's similar to that one on the right (with a different character), and I was inspired to try a starburst sort of pattern for todays card.

We're working with the lovely WOW embossing powders till the end of this month as well :)

I stamped and copic coloured all the stars, added some glitter to the big one (though you can't see it so well in this photo) THEN, for the outline, which I wanted to emboss, I turned my stamp over, and stamped the back side of it in versamark, before heat embossing it with Pastel Yellow WOW Embossing Powder.

Before I heatset the embossing powder, I rubbed off the central part, where the original stamped image was that I'd coloured in. This left a thick border around the outside (which is what I wanted). I love this effect! So fun.

What about you? Are you inspired by any childhood toys to create something? I might have to go back through some old photos to see if I can find any more that give me ideas :).

Well that's it for me! I do hope you'll come back soon, to see more inspiration from the design team!

See you next time!

Winter Wonderland

Hello Crafters!

Kelly here with a sweet and simple card for you today. 

We have been using some really awesome WOW Embossing Powders this month and I wanted to use it with my stencil for this card. 

I can't get enough of our Waves Stencil. 

To me it looked like it could be used to create some very cool looking "wind"

I started by tracing my stencil onto some white cardstock with two of my lighter Copics in the BG family. I then very lightly rubbed on my tumbled glass distress ink. I really wanted a subtle shimmer so instead of smooshing my whole Versamark inkpad on top of the stencil I used a Versamark pen to trace the same lines. Remove the stencil and pour on some WOW Neutral Ultra Shimmer. This is like the stardust stickles of embossing powders! I love it!! 

It's hard to see the shine so I took a close up

Ahh isn't it lovely?! I colored the fox from Cool Buddies with copics and added a little detail with a white gel pen. Enamel Accents made his eyes and nose really pop! I wanted his feet and tail to over hang the sentiment from Smiling Snowflakes so I just cut a slit between his feet and tail, allowing me to tuck his body behind. 

That little guy is so adorable! 

Before I go did you see we just added another product to the Create A Smile line up? 

We now carry chipboards! 

(click to see more)

I am smitten with that script "Beautiful" I can't wait to get my hands on it! What about you?

 Leave me a comment telling me which one is your favorite chipboard and I'll draw a random winner to receive their fav and a card from me :) I'll announce the winner next Tuesday so you have until Monday October 27th @ 11:59 pm (est) to leave your comment!

Thanks for stopping by!  

XoXo

Kelly 

Adding Texture by Heat Embossing!

Hi there!
It's Samantha, again! And today, I have a totally FUN card to share! :)

We're right in the middle of the month, which means we're still working with the amazing WOW embossing powders!!

For my card, I used the Clear Embossing Powder! And lots of it! :)

Ok, let's dive in!
First, let's talk about that wonky-trapazoid-like shaped white panel...I'm going to break it down in steps:

1) cover the entire panel in versamark ink
2) cover with embossing powder
3) heat set, until it's all melted
4) repeat steps 1-3, at least 2 more times
5) get your background stamp(s) ready on a block
6) one more time, versamark, add powder and heat set your panel. but BEFORE it cools off - stamp your (uninked) background!
7) heat in spots, per your discresion on the panel you want to add the background stamp to
8) let cool

It leaves you with the stamped image deeply embedded in the embossed background! it's awesome!!! To make the snowflakes pop even more, I painted on some of the same mint spray mist around the snowflake, then wiped it off with a wet wipe! The area where it is embossed, rubs right off, leaving your image outlined in a faint color! :)

I must admit, this was an experiment for me! I'm totally going to do this technique again, and when I do, I'm sure I'll refine it a little more! Ha ha!

The rest of the card is pretty easy to tell. The penguins from Cool Buddies were colored with copics and adhered with foam tape. (and my background was made with the Smiling Snowflakes stamp set!)

Let me know what you think of that technique! Maybe try it yourself for the super AWESOME December Guest Designer Search!!

Thanks for stopping by!
~Samantha

Don't Ever Change

Hello Crafters!

It's Kelly here popping in to share a quick and simple, but brightly colored, card with you!

Did you see we are carrying stencils now? There are so many wonderful designs available. I couldn't wait to get my hands on the Waves stencil. I think it makes the most fun backgrounds!!

We are also using some fabulous products from Wow Embossing Powders this month. 

I laid my stencil down and created a super fun background with my distress inks. I just love how it came out. I created a second piece so I could pop up the chameleon from Jungle Fever.  

Warning, if you're going to emboss on top of distress inks make sure they are dry. In fact heat set it just to be sure :) Since you can emboss with distress inks they stay wet longer. Your embossing powder will stick to everything!! Ask me how I know. ;)

I stamped the chameleon in Versamark and heat set it with Ebony Embossing Powder from Wow. One of the wonderful things about embossing powder is it really helps an image pop against a very busy background like this one. In order to get the placement right I laid my chameleon down on my card base while I stamped the sentiment. I removed it to heat emboss. I trimmed out the chameleon and popped it up on dimensional adhesive. I was very careful to match up the rainbow stencil pattern. I had to stamp the sentiment before I added the image because it's very difficult to get a good image stamping around dimensional adhesive. Again, ask me how I know ha! 

I think he pops just enough don't you?

Before I take off I wanted to remind you that we are currently having a Guest Design Team call. We would love to have you apply so we can see what you're making!

Thanks for visiting!

XoXo

Kelly 

Jungle Fever

Waves

Cold but happy..........

Hi there it's Anja again. I hope you all liked our new release so far and maybe even ordered some of the great goodies already.
Did you also see that we are searching for a new guest designer? So the perfect moment to try out those new stamps and stencils,  what are you waiting for?

To get you started I have a rather simple card today,  but I love it,  I hope you do too.




Since we still have our collaboration with WOW! I used their white puff ultra high embossing powder on this card.

I build a scenery with the skinny chevron stencil to get some ice mountains. I tried to get the idea of the little pinguin sledding of those mountains.

 

The bigger one is resting on some floating ice. For this image I used a stamp by the company Lawn Fawn, critters in the arctic.  You can see that you can mix the create a smile stamps easily with other stamps.

 

I hope you like this simple card and please let us see what you create with our stamps!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Release Countdown "2" - Inspiration by Anika & Samantha

Hello world!

"TWO!" - only two days to go until the new products are release. Who's excited? (me!)

Anni and Samantha are bringing awesome projects to you today, using the new sets. This team keeps amazing me. Again we're featuring some of our favorite WOW! Embossing powders.

First up is Anni - she created three tags using the Cool Buddies set. I love how she colored them with pencils on kraft cardstock. And the cool shadows she created around them. I also fell in love with the Silver Pearl Embossing powder she used on her backgrounds. I need to get that!

Anika Lerche

Samantha created another stunner using Smiling Snowflakes. This background looks to me like sunny reflection on a cold an icy winters day. I am in AWE! The droplets in the background are perfect for the snow-scene and look how she clustered the embossed flakes and stars!

Samantha Mann

We have some more inspiration for you tomorrow - and there will also be a give-away. So make sure to check back tomorrow! :)