An Autumn Card for a Man

Hey stampers, Anni here!
Don't we all love the colors of fall? Today's card is totally inspired by the colors of leaves and trees at the moment. The sentiment says "Let's celebrate!".

I needed a card for my father's birthday! I have a lot of birthday cards in my stash but not one of them was suitable for a man, especially not for a man turning 78 years. So I went through my stamps. Critters - typical my go to images - wouldn't work obviously but the leaves from the set Time to Say Thanks are perfect for masculine cards.

• I am a newbie when it comes to ZIG Clean Color Real Brush pen - I know, I am late to the party! I just recently discovered how awesome they are! But now I am totally in love and colored the leaves with them! It's fast and you get a great color blend!
• No need to forgo embellishment on a masculine card! I chose enamel dots in earthtones.
• To add a little bit of intrest I splattered different colors of color on the background.

There is a Christmas kit ahead - don't forget to follow Create a Smile on Facebook and Instagram to get all the news!

      

Mood Board Inspiration!

Hey stampers, Anni here!
It has been a great release last week, hasn't it? Did you get something from the new release and are you already playing with it?
The hippo from the new set Served Up!/Es ist serviert! called my name so I decided to make a card with it.

Do you know Create a Smile has a Facebook group? It is so much fun and a lot of nice and supportive people! At the moment there is a challenge going on with prizes! Christine created a mood board for the challenge and it is very inspiring.

There are so many inspiring details - the colors, the sequins, the twine, the pattern... In the end I decided to go with the colors and the water color effect.

• Stamp, color with copics and fuzzy cut the image.
• Create a watercolor background. I used Ken Oliver's color burst.
• Die cut a rectangle from this background.
• Emboss the sentiment in white on a piece of matching cardstock.
• Add a scrap of oatterned paper.
• Assemble the card.

• Did you see I used a little cup from the set Coffee first? It fits perfectly on the tablet of the hippo.
• When I first started the card I had a totally sketch in my mind. I liked the idea very much but it didn't work out. I moved things around, changed the paper, but anything seemed to make me happy. It took me a long time! At the end I changed the whole card, just went with the hippo and the card came together easily and in no time. Sometimes you just have to let go an idea that seemed good at the beginning!
• Mood boards can be overwhelming at first! just decide to go with two or three elements and start from there!

I hope you will join the fun in the Create a Smile Friends and Family!

 

Release Countdown "3" - full sets revealed!

Hello everyone!

It's release-countdown week!
That means we're introducing our newest products to you, sharing inspiration and also excitement :)
Countdown 3 means there are 4 more days until the new products will be added to the shop.

From now on we'll have an English and a German version of our stamp sets, so our German customers get to enjoy matching (punny) sentiments as well - yay!

There will also be new Cool Cuts this month:

And the new "Neat & Neutral" enamel stickers:

So much fun stuff to play with! 

Any favorites? Must-haves? Something for your wishlists?

Time for some inspiration!

Before we get started I'd like to show you what's waiting for you during the next days:

Wednesday:  Countdown "2" Inspiration by Terhi, Anika and Angel

Thursday:     Countdown "1" Giveaway-day! + Closeup Video
Friday:         Countdown "0" IGNITION!!!! Sets will be released at 10 am CET (3 am EST)

Let's see what we have for you today ;)

Kelly looked up some images of this flower from the Aloha Spirit stamp set (you can look for red ginger or pink ginger) and colored this amazing card. I adore her coloring skills - she just brings so mich brightness and depth to every single image!

And look at those shadows around the flowers! Wow!

Next ups is Sam, who made two pretty and soft cards.

For the first one she used a stencil for an amazing subtile background and the Just because stamp set which has some gorgeous handlettered sentiments in it.

I am in love with her background - I have never made one like this before but I will sure ask her for a tutorial ;)

For her second card she used the outline stamps from Aloha Spirit and added a sentiment with the new Thanks Twice Cool Cuts and the matchin mini stamp set Mini Thanks.
these dies can be used in different ways (solid only, outline only/ outline on solid/ inlaid,...) sam went for the inlaid version and really made it pop with her black outlines!

Now for some Inspiration by Anja. She used a combination of Served Up, Aloha Spirit and just because and she makes it look so easy. She created a wonderful cute and funny scene (look how she turned that hippo in to a girl - eek! and they seem to hug each other! This is just SO genius!!) and her coloring is outstanding! I struggle with leaving white spaces when it comes to coloring, but Anja completely nailed it!

I have two cards to share, also: The Served Up!/ Es ist Serviert! might be a new favorite - you'll get to see quite a few cards soon :) Creating your own scene and coloring it in is so fun and relaxing and got my mojo dancing! The sentiment is from the German set Weil Du toll bist.

For my second card I used a lot of washi and the new Thanks Twice Cool Cuts anlong the matching sentiment set "Mini Thanks".

Well, this was a lot to see and be inspired by and we hope you love this new release just as much as we do. :)

So please spread the word!

Thanks for stopping by and supporting this little company <3