Splotchy Octopus

Hey stampers, Anni here!

Today I have a card for you where I have combined some older stamps with a brand new stencil.

Lately I tend to stamp the whole set and colour all the images when I got a little bit of time on my hands. Some weeks ago I showed you a card with the narwhals from this cute set Underwaterlove. For this card I used another image from this set.

• When you create your own background it is easy to match the colours. Sometimes I start with the images, sometimes with the background. It depends on my mood and in which medium I have the biggest variety of colours.
• Here I coloured the images first (with coloured pencils) and then created the background. 
• For the colours of the background I try to choose some that are not the main colours of the focal image. In my opinion you get better contrast and less tone in tone.

Show us your art work: Use #createasmilestamps when you're posting on Instagram!

      

We dare you to create a smile : Happy mail

Hello everyone!

It's time for a new challenge on the blog and what better way to spread joy than an ''Happy mail'' ! Yes you got it right the new theme for this challenge is Happy mail!

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

As usual we got our guest designers ready to bring you some inspiration for this challenge and look what beautiful cards they made

Eva created this absolutely adorable card using Bear mail stamp set , Cool cuts -Postage Edge circles

Colien made this two gorgeous cards using Gull gang stamp set

Thank you so much for creating this amazing cards ladies and for being our guest designers for Happy mail challenge!
Make sure to check their creations out and leave them some love. And now let's see what our team made

Alexandra created this card using the Frosty fun kit and Easy breezy stamp set

Ashlee created this adorable card using Bear mail stamp set and Cool cuts Postage Edge Circles

Ellenor made this super cute card using Served up stamp set

Giada created this adorable card using Bear mail stamp set and Stencil Focal point

Ksenija made this beautiful card using Bear mail stamp set

Laura created this fabulous card using Lovely creatures stamp set

Sindhu made this adorable card using Bear mail stamp set 

Victoriya made this card adorable card using Bear mail stamp set

Now it's your time to be creative! Please make sure to check the rules before you enter your project to our challenge

Thank you for spotting by today! Have a great day!

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Happy Snail Mail for You!

Hi there!
Samantha here with you on this lovely Friday! Today I have a quick little card to share with someone who needs a pick me up!

     

I just think that little snail is SO cute! And I love that there are two different sized snails available! I was originaly going to use both, but ended up just going with the largest sized snail!

Join me as we make this card!
- stamp and color that little snail image (I used Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and watercolored onto some Bristol Smooth Vellum Mixed Media paper)
- once dry, fussy cut and add foam tape
- on the card front, ink blend in greens! (I used Cracked Pistachio and Twisted Citron Distress Inks)

- splatter some water and ink onto the background- stamp the sentiment under the image
- add washi

Raise your hand if you love one layer cards?! Not me...by far!! I think they're gorgeous, but I have the hardest time with them!! If you do love one layer cards, this could EASILY be remade as a one layer!

How adorable is that cute little snail?! He's from the Lovely Critters stamp set! And the first part of the sentiment is from the Happy Mail mini stamp set! I finished off the sentiment with the Mini Birthday set!

    

All of the Create a Smile Christmas themed stamps are on sale!!! Get them while you can!

~Samantha

    

Happy Mail for You!

Hi there!

Samantha here with you today, sharing a fun card that can be sent for any reason!

See what I mean? It would work as a birthday card, but also as a card to send to someone for no reason at all! It's perfect!

I have been trying to build up my stash of birthday cards lately, but I also want to make sure I have cards to send to people for all occasions - enter this card! Ha! 

To create this card, you'll need watercolor paper and a medium to color! 

- stamp and watercolor the snails

- once dry, spritz small water droplets on top of the images to add the worn or distressed watercolor look! 

- fussy cut and set aside to dry

- on the card front, create a watercolor using the packaging technique

    *smoosh Distress Ink pads onto a scrap piece of packaging from stamps or embellishments and mist with       water

    *press down onto card front to create the watercolor look

    *lift up packaging and set paper aside to dry

- I used Spun Sugar and Scattered Straw for my background

- once it was dry, I added some white polka dots with acrylic paint and a roller stamp!

- stamp the sentimnet and pop up the snails images

I used the mini stamp set Happy Mail and also the cute as can be Lovely Critters stamp set! 

To avoid the hassle of fussy cutting, this card could easily be a one layer! All that would change, would be to stamp the snail images onto the card front. Then use a masking solution or paper to cover the images. Add the mixed media background and when dry, remove the mask and color your snails! Perfect for mailing, too!

There's a big KIT RELEASE coming up! Be sure to stick around the Blog and Facebook group to catch sneaks, updates and ways to win! 

Thanks again for spending part of your day with me! 

~Samantha

  

Happy Mail Collage

Hello Crafters! 

Before we get to today's card I 'm a bit sad to share that this will be my last post as a full member of the design team. My schedule is ridiculous and I just can't do these adorable stamps justice with my time constraints. However, I'm only  a bit sad because I'm moving over to the video team so I won't be completely gone :) I love Christine and the girls far too much to just leave! 

Now onto those adorable stamps we were talking about . . .

I spent the most wonderful weekend away with my girlfriends. While we there stamping and crafting I accidentally stole one of my friend's stamp sets! Eep!  

Since I stole her stamps I clearly needed to send them back to her but I couldn't do that without including a super cute card now could I? The Happy Mail set is perfect for this! I used every stamp in the set to create a collage on my card. 

I started by stamping and masking all the images onto my card base. I then used a very light hand and rubbed on some Salty Ocean distress ink. I laid down my swirly stencil and added more distress ink. This helps the design to be a bit more subtle. 

I removed all the masks and colored the images up with my copics. I used grays to create white objects and blues similar to my background color this really let's the red POP and I love that :) I stamped the sentiment and outlined the top with a white gel pen to set it apart from the rest of the images. Some sparkle on the hearts finished it off. 

Try a tone on tone look for some interest that isn't over bearing. To make one color pop keep the rest of your color subtle and similar. 

Thanks so much for joining me! 

Supplies: 

Swirly Stencil Happy Mail *Neenah Classic Crest **110 LB** SMOOTH SOLAR WHITE Paper Pack 25 Sheets Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad SALTY OCEAN Ranger Summer TIM35015 Ranger MINI ROUND FOAM REFILLS for Mini Round Ink Blending Tools IBT40972 *Ranger Inkssentials INK BLENDING FOAM REFILLS Applicator Tool Refill IBT23623 *Ranger Inkssentials INK BLENDING TOOL Applicator Foam IBT23616 *Tombow MONO MULTI Liquid Glue Two Applicators 62191 *Simon Says Stamp Premium Dye Ink Pad BLACK Ink008 Simon Says Stamp Premium Ink Pad INTENSE BLACK Ink065 Sakura 6 WHITE Gelly Roll Classic Medium Point Pens Set 57488 EK Success WRITING PEN FINE TIP 55-30080 Crafter's Companion CLEAR OVERLAY Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pens SPECNSPACLE3 Copic Sketch Marker C1 COOL GRAY Grey Copic Sketch MARKER C5 COOL GRAY Grey Copic Sketch MARKER C3 COOL GRAY Grey Copic Sketch MARKER C7 COOL GRAY Grey Copic Sketch Marker B02 ROBIN'S EGG BLUE Copic Sketch Marker B00 FROST BLUE Copic Sketch Marker B0000 PALE CELESTINE Blue *Copic Sketch Marker R59 CARDINAL Maroon Dark Red *Copic Sketch Marker R29 LIPSTICK RED Bright Bold Copic Sketch Marker R35 CORAL Copic Sketch Marker R32 PEACH

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