Hey, Chick

 I was really pleased to see that the Hey Chick stamp set has been brought back along with another similar set and some dies.  I acquired this set as a free Sale-a-bration gift (at least I think so) but it was a few years ago 🙂.  I think it is quite a good idea to have some fun and quirky cards to send in these difficult times to raise spirits and make people smile.  I've gathered together a few scraps of card to tone with my background paper and this is my smile card for today.  I added a random watercolour wash to the white background piece for added interest.

Stamps -  Hey Chick set from Stampin Up, matching dies now available
Sentiment - Die cut label from Art Gallery set Stampin' Up
Background - printed from a Crafter's Companion CD from some time back
Colouring - using Inktense pencils

Another Donkey

 These donkey stamps seem to be pretty popular and they are certainly fun.  Today I've gone for the one which is frolicking around, starting by deciding what size of square he would be on and then working out the text on the computer.  The donkey and balloon were stamped and fussy cut.  I then used a splat die to make myself a stencil so that I could ink through to give him a bit of background, finally adding more splodges using a stamp.

Donkey - from Darling Donkeys set Stampin' Up
Balloon - stamp from Balloon Celebrations Stampin' Up
Words - produced on the computer to fit the square
Square - die from Phill Martin
Inky background - stencil made using Sizzix Splat die
Extra splodges - stamp from French Foliage Stampin' Up

Love You Always

 I treated myself to a Stampin' Up mini class from Stacey Marsh which uses items from the Love You Always Suite of products.  The designer papers are all monochrome although of course colour could be added but Stacey designed the four cards to be monochrome.  I've made three of them so far using the items in the class kit but I've chosen to adapt the designs slightly to fit my preferred square card format rather than the A6 format which seems to be the norm for Stampin' Up card designs.  I have quite a bit of the DSP left over so I'll be able to make some more cards to which I will probably add colour.  The die cut elements were supplied in the kit; and as I don't have the stamp set, the smaller words were printed on the computer and all the flowers were fussy cut from the DSP.  I've enjoyed making these cards and these classes act as a sort of 'taster' for the products.

Another Share

I've been steadily making cards ever since lockdown (and before of course) but I've not shared them all on my blog.   Today's card is one which I made some time ago but which should serve as a reminder that Spring is just around the corner and there must be some warmer days coming along.  The temperature has gone up a little  bit today because it is raining steadily which is a good excuse for hiding in the craft room making even more cards once I've cooked myself something for lunch.

I die cut a stitched rectangle of white card, sponged with some ink and also stamped some little dotty accents. This was layered onto a green stitched rectangle before the tulips were added.  Some of them are stamped in the background and the remainder stamped and cut out before being layered up with the addition of a strip of spotted ribbon and a tiny tag for the sentiment.  In the background is a white piece of card embossed with a text design and also sponged with matching ink.

Embossing Folder - from Crafter's Companion
Tulips - Timeless tulips stamp set from Stampin' Up

Note Cards

 Sorting through a box of miscellaneous card blanks I found some small tall cards and thought that they would be good to use as note cards.  Decided that if I worked on a few  ideas I could make them up in packs of six or so and they would make nice small gifts.  This is one of the first ideas I had - some partial inking through a stencil directly onto the card and then added some die cut words - simple 😉. Just have to get my thinking cap on for some other ideas.

Stencil - Berry from Lavinia Stamps
Words - Floral Gallery die set Stampin' Up

Anniversary Card

 It occurred to me that the donkey stamps could well be used for a Valentine card but in the end I decided to make a fun Anniversary one instead. Started with the square lattice background which was die cut and backed with a piece of text paper, then the two hearts were cut with the white one being embossed and brushed lightly with some red ink.  Donkeys were stamped, coloured and fussy cut and finally the sentiment added.  Very low temperatures again today - brrr!!

Stamps - Darling Donkeys set from ZStampin' Up
Sentiment - words from two separate freebie stamp sets
Text - from an old Papermania paper pad
Lattice die - Tonic die which I've had for some years
Hearts - Tonic dies, also been in my stash for years

Flowers

 Flowers are always popular and this is another card for my growing collection - can't stop producing cards and at least making them is something I enjoy and it helps to keep my hands and mind occupied during lockdown.  Seems to have been going on forever but hopefully with the vaccination programme there is some light at the end of the tunnel, although I'm sure we will still need to be very cautious for quite a while.

I started by stamping the flower onto snippets of coloured card using matching inks, also repeated for the leaves; Embossed a square of white card and found a scrap of green designer paper to fit across the centre.  Used a couple of dies to cut the border strip from more snippets and stamped the sentiment onto a scrap of white card. Rearranged the components a few times until they looked right and then stuck everything in place using some thin foam pads for the flower and sentiment. A few gems were added as a final touch.

There is a slight variation to the Snippets Challenge this time around - do pop along to read the interesting post which explains it all beautifully

Embossing Folder - roses from Crafter's Companion
Flower Stamp - from Art Gallery set with matching dies Stampin' Up
Border - dies from Creative Expressions Lavish Swirl (Sue Wilson)
Fern Leaf - Die cut left over from another project
Sentiment - from a freebie set
Designer Paper strip - Stampin' Up
Colours used - Pale Plum and Perfect Plum inks Stampin' Up (pale plum card snippets)