Sunday 27 November 2016

Crazy Crafters Blog Hop with special guest Cindy Schuster




Hello and welcome to the Crazy Crafters November Blog Hop. We are so honoured to have a very special guest Cindy Schuster from the US joining us. Cindy is part of the Artisan Design team and you can visit her blog page by clicking on the banner below to see all her stunning creations. As part of the hop we get to CASE (Copy and Selectively Edit) any card or project by Cindy. 



Choosing which card to CASE was the hard part as there are so many gorgeous creations to choose from. However, being the festive season I have chosen to case Cindy's gorgeous card below and would be a fabulous card to use for the markets.


I love the sets that Cindy has used and the inspiration came from her Christmas decoration collection ideas she had on Pinterest. 



This is my card as inspired by Cindy. I have used the Warmth & Cheer sets and that is, Wrapped in Warmth stamp set, Warmth & Cheer designer series paper and Cable Knit Dynamic Textured Impressions embossing folder. I have taken the same pine swag that Cindy has used using the Pretty Pines thinlits as this is also one of my favourites from the holiday cataglogue. The same Cherry Cobbler Silky Taffeta Ribbon has been used and have placed this underneath the centre panel instead. 


I have taken the centre panel and have turned it into a shaker card. The sentiment has been stamped on a window sheet using Stazon Opaque White pigment ink. The window frame has been die cut using the Layering oval framelits dies. The same patterned paper from the Warmth & Cheer dsp has been used. Cherry Cobler cardstock has been used for the base of the shaker card. The sequins for the shaker card is from the Brights Sequins assortment and have only used Melon Mambo and Real Red to blend with the Cherry Cobbler cardstock base and this helps bring out the sentiment.


I love the textured pattern from the Cable Knit dynamic TIEF and have used this on the Crumb cake card base panel and the reverse looks stunning too.


I also decorated the inside for a finishing personalised touch and to tie in the elements from the front. I have stamped the sentiment with Garden Green and Cherry Cobbler ink. I have done an almost ombre effect by stamping one half and wiping the edge to give a soft gradient and then repeating this for the next colour. Using a stamp positioner tool helps for this technique to get perfect placement.

The sentiment has been die cut using the Banner framelits and have mounted this with Stampin' dimensionals. The pine swag has been placed underneath and arranged to give that festive look hehe. I have also stamped the textile pattern from Wrapped in Warmth set using Crumb Cake ink as a border on the base of the card panel.   

A big thanks to Cindy's gorgeous card for the great design inspiration and hope you have enjoyed. The Warmth & Cheer suite of products are wonderful and all coordinate perfectly together and as you can it's such a versatile set and looks even more wonderful teamed up with other sets.

Make sure you continue to hop all the way around and see all the amazing inspiration from the Crazy Crafters team. You are going to love what our team have come up with using Cindy's cards. Currently you are at my blog: Juana Ambida - so check the list to see who is up next. Enjoy!

Thank you so much for stopping by and hope to see you next time. Happy Crafting! :) 


Products Used: 




Wednesday 23 November 2016

So In Love bundle - Love is in the details




Welcome to our International Visual Blog Hop using current Stampin' Up!® Products. There are so many amazing and beautiful projects in the gallery for you to be inspired by! We would love it if you could visit every one of our blogs and see a close up of our projects. Our theme this month is LOVE and I just couldn't get enough of sharing the love. Get ready to fall in love with another fabulous bundle from the new 2017 Occasions catalogue, appropriately titled So In Love and compliments this month's theme for the blog hop. I was fortunate to get this set as part of my pre-order for attending Onstage Live Brisbane.

Love is truly in the details and this bundle has it going on with the So Detailed thinilts. Allowing you to make the most intricate border edges on the card front as well as a coordinating belly band. Perfect for bespoke wedding invitations, Anniversary, Congrats and of course -  the coordinating stamp set says it all with the So In Love collection of sentiments.

There is also an amazing Falling In Love designer series paper. It contains beautifully photographed images of lace and foliage as well as bokeh effects and other wonderful patterns that all coordinate with rest of the set. You can see how vivid the images are just from the photo below with the lace background - that is in fact the one of  the images from the Falling in Love dsp - looks so real doesn't it? 


So In Love Bundle:
So In Love Stamp set and So Detailed Thinlits

Falling in Love Designer Series Paper



I couldn't wait to try out the So Detailed thinlits and have created a wedding themed card with a gate fold and matching belly band. This would make a stunning wedding invitation with the intricate die cut flaps that open out as per the photo below. I have used Very Vanilla cardstock and is one of the coordinating colours of the Falling In Love dsp. I have chosen this one in particular for the hearts and compliments the 'So in love' sentiment.

I found that stamping the sentiment first then die cutting it out is a lot easier and will give you the exact placement for the sentiment thanks to the cut out window on the die.

The bundle also has the Falling In Love embellishment of the flower with the rhinestones - it just makes the most gorgeous colour coordinated accessory.

The card is A2 in size, 10.5 x 14cm and die cutting each intricate panel separately is the best way to go and allows you to attach each piece to any size card as long as its 14 cm on the longest side. You could go a bit longer but will be noticeable with the extra length. Placing the dies vertically in the Big Shot gives for better cutting overall and used along with the thin die adapter.  



The next card is a follow on with just one of the intricate dies as a border edge. I have used Sweet Sugarplum cardstock to coordinate with the selected Falling In Love dsp of the same flowers as the dies. I have used vellum to give a soft contrast to the die cut and printed dsp and have white heat embossed the 'Happy Anniversary sentiment. Please excuse the temporary tape, it's placed there to keep the panel in place to show up the patterned dsp for the photo hehe.  



This is inside the card with the coordinating Sweet Sugarplum ruched ribbon tied around in a bow. Using the ribbon also hides all the adhesives of  the die cut panel on the back.


I hope you have enjoyed these cards and found inspiration. It's a charming set and all made with love. This set would compliment many other current sets too.  The bundle is available on 4th January 2017 for customers. 

Thank you for visiting my blog today and seeing my second post, there are so many amazing ideas and inspiration you don't want to miss. We know that you will love our gallery of projects made from Stampin' Up!® Demonstrators around the world!


Thursday 17 November 2016

Dragonfly Dreams Bundle


Hello and welcome back. I'm so excited to showcase the Dragonfly Dreams bundle. This set was also part of my pre-order from Onstage Live Brisbane and couldn't wait to have a play.

I have made four cards using all the images in the set and wanted to show how gorgeous they are and such a delight to use. My initial inspiration came from the watercolour effects from playing with Brusho cyrstal watercolours this week. The amazing watercolour effects from  these concentrated vibrant powders made such as fun background and suited the Dragonfly Dreams images and thinlits.  The samples at Onstage of this set were breathtaking and wanted to try and emulate them. There is a new watercolour pencils coming out from the Occasions catalogue that I'm sure you will want to try as I'm excited in trying them out too. :)  

Here are the fun backgrounds using Brusho Crystals watercolours. I have used Arches medium watercolour paper. I then mounted each one on white cardstock to reinforce them and make them flat again.



The two cards below have also been inspired by this week's Global Design Project #62 - Sketch Challenge.



It's a fun sketch with the staggered panels, I was almost tempted to make them straight, but it's fun to change things up now and then right? It also adds a sense of movement with the dragonfly and bumble bees don't you think? :) 

Please be sure to check out the rest of the creative projects from both the talented design team and entrants and hopefully you'll be inspired to join in the fun.





1. Thanks for the smile and everything else.

This card uses Turquoise and Violet Brusho Cyrstals, by first adding the Brusho Crytals and spraying it with water and allowing the colours to react. I tilted the paper to get the run off look. This layout is almost like a splash of water of the blues and purples and suited the dragonfly very well in it's watery element. I have also stamped the dragonfly image on with versamark ink and clear heat embossed and shows up well against the violet/purple hues. The other one is underneath and is subtle tone on tone as the turquoise is lighter. The sentiment has been stamped in black Stazon ink and stamped several times with the MISTI tool to get a defined darker image as it's on watercolour paper.

The dragonfly has been die cut on the top so as to preserve the gorgeous colours and inlaid in place. I have die cut another one using white fun foam to give it an even raise. Underneath this, I have stamped the dragonfly image in Tempting Turquoise and you can just see the detail of the wings.

This just give such a nice blend of the layers without loosing the original colours on the panel.


The black and white stripes is using the diagonal stripes background stamp and just love using it to make custom made patterned paper backgrounds that's always colour coordinated. 


Inside the card is kept relatively simple with an ombre look using Wisteria Wonder and Pool Party inks on the dragonfly. The sentiment has been stamped with Basic Gray Archival ink. 

This card with it's lovely and meaningful sentiments is going to a special RAK (Random Act of Kindness) friend in the Crazy Crafters team. :) 

 2 Enjoy Your Special Day!

The random colouring of this card has been matched up with the bumble bees as the yellows reminded me of their colouring. It's a hive of activity with this colour combination of yellows, orange and crimson . The same technique has been applied as with the first card, using Brusho crsytal spray effects, though a lot more water has been applied and gives a hazier blending of the colours. The same die cut and inlaid technique is used for the bumbles bees, this time using black fun foam to coordinate. 

The sentiment has been white heat embossed on basic black cardstock and mounted with dimensionals. Silver sequins added for bling and to balance out the composition.

Here are the elements that made up the card. I have gold heat embossed the Diagonal Stripes background and can you see how much I love this stamp? It's perfect for any cards and so versatile. 





The inside is kept simple just the bumble bees stamped in black memento ink.

The layout of this card is rather masculine hehe and have entered it in Jessie Holton's Case This Card Challenge #CTC011. Be sure to check out the creative entries and hopefully you'll be inspired to join. It's a great way to create more masculine themed cards to add to your collection, I know I do hehe. 




3. Hoping Your Day is Perfect - Shaker Card with Stitched Shapes Framelit.

This card shows the grouped dragonfly dies thinlits in the set and I have used Gold foil sheet just to make it pop against  the bright colours. The gold embossed dots are also featured to add textures and accents with the gold.  

The background has been created with first applying water to the paper and dropping in the powders. Using lots of water also gives this blended look.

The sentiment is taken from a FREE stamp set I received in my bag of goodies at Onstage Live Brisbane and it's called Suite Sayings. This set  has many greetings that coordinates with a few of the bundles from the Occasion catalogue. It's a great accessory set to use for extra sentiments.



The shaker window features the new Square Stitched framelits which are very popular at the moment. Love that detail on the border. It's been placed on top to preserve the watercolour background. The sentiment has been stamped with Cool White Opaque Stazon ink.




Inside the card uses the dotty image and I have used an ombre effect by wiping off the ink and restamping with another colour. Inks used are Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral, Bermuda Bay and Tempting Turquoise. The dragonfly has been stamped with Basic Gray Archival ink.

4. To A Wonderful Friend...

This background was by accident and lucky that I salvaged it. It was very experimental as I have used Shimmery White cardstock with Brusho Crytals. It held up pretty well as I only spritz the paper with a tiny amount of water. I white heat embossed the two dragonflies to get an ink resist effect and added started with the purples with a paint brush and almost gave up as I didn't like the look, but lucky I kept going hehe. I did each colour in stages by heat drying before applying the next one. You can see each layer with the hard edges left behind as the pool of water dried. This was a more controlled colouring as I tweaked each colour using a paint brush and dabbing off excess pigments and reapplying to get the desired colour.




The same technique of die cutting  the dragonfly has been done and inlaid, this time left it white underneath. The dragonfly has also been mounted on white fun foam so it's slightly raised from the main panel.  I have used  the same dotty images again and gold heat embossed to make a fun organic border.

The sentiment has been white heat embossed. I just love how this card turned out and especially love the sentiment. I will be sending this card to my wonderful team leader, Angela Westland, as a thank you for being such a wonderful and supportive friend to me and am so lucky that I have her as my team leader. It was so wonderful to meet her in person at Onstage Live Brisbane.


I hope you have enjoyed these set of cards and found inspiration. This set is truly remarkable and goes so well with any colour application. The matching dies allows so much creativity and if you love dragonflies and bees this set will definitely not disappoint. The set will be available to order on 4 January 2017, this bundle also has a coordinating gorgeous black and white outlined "Inside the Lines" designer series paper, that is like an adult colouring book where you can colour to you hearts content or leave as is. You can earn it for free for a qualifying order from Sale-A-bration. I will be featuring this interesting DSP very soon. I would love to hear your thoughts. If you have any queries please send me a message thanks. :)


Dragonfly Dreams Photopolymer set and Detailed Dragonfly Thinlits Dies.




Thank you so much for stopping by and hope  to see you next time. Happy Crafting! :) 



Tuesday 15 November 2016

Helping Me Grow - Watercolour Thank You Card. Case this Card Challenge #CTC009


Hello and welcome back. Today's card has been entered in Case This Card challenge #CTC009 caseing Kim Oliver's gorgeous card below. 



The stamp set that Kim has used is called Fabulous Flora and it's utterly fabulous hehe. I don't have this set yet but the font used is similar to the Helping Me Grow set and of course another fabulous floral set. I just love the watercolouring of Kims's flower and fluid brushstrokes inspired me to try it out with the Helping Me Grow set. 




This is my first time to have a play with this set and it's very well suited to watercolouring thanks to the outlined images. 

I started of stamping the flower or daisy with Stazon black ink on Arches watercolour paper. Using the MISTI tool helps with re-stamping the image in the same position to get a more defined image as the watercolour paper is textured.

I then masked the image using Art masking fluid so that I could work on the background and create a colour explosion with watercolours. 

The watercolour background has been achieved using Brusho cystals colours. It's a very high pigmented crystals beads that explode when you add or spray water over them. You only need to use a small amount and the colours are so intense. I just love playing with them as it gives the most organic blooms of colour. I have sprayed this with a lot of water to create this hazy look you can just see traces of the crystals from the dots, it is so much fun to use.  

Colours used for the background are: Ultramarine, Turquoise and Sea Green


After peeling off the art masking fluid, I watercoloured the flower using Kuretaki Gansai Tambi watercolours as I just love the vibrant colour effects. The magenta is almost the same colour as Melon Mambo. 

To add another artsy element I have added the splatter images from Gorgeous Grunge set and have white heat embossed it.

The sentiment has been white heat embossed on basic black cardstock and the black reverse helps it pop against all the bright colours. The banner has been die cut  using the coordinating Rose Garden Thinlits and has been mounted with dimensionals.

The panel artwork has been adhered on Sweet Sugarplum cardstock,  a top folding portrait measures 10.5cm (w) x 14cm (h)



Inside the card, shows the flowers peeking through as in Kim's layout. This time I have used Stampin' Up! inks using an Aqua painter to colour them in. Inks used are Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight,Wild Wasabi and Pool Party for the soft sky background.

I have used regular Whisper White cardstock with minimal water to apply the colours.


I hope you have enjoyed this card and found inspiration. If you have, why not give the Case This Card Challenge a go and use colour expressively. The Helping Me Grow stamp set is such a wonderful set to use and allows you to colour this to your heart's content. You could use any medium with this set and would look amazing in the end. I would love to hear your thoughts. :) 


Products Used:



This month if you purchase anything over $60 you will receive the "Cosy Critters" clear mount stamp set and also receive a complimentary card I have made using this set. 


You will also go in to a draw to win another exclusive hostess stamp set, "Love You Lots" at the end of the month. The winner will be announced at the end of the month.


Remember to use the hostess code: NDHHQU3U when you place your order. 

Here's how:


Most importantly please make sure to create an account so that I can send you the free gifts. If you sign in as a guest I will not be able to know who you are unfortunately.

Click here to shop with me to receive and win these FREE gifts.

Thank you so much for stopping by and hope to see you next time. Happy Crafting! :)