Hang in There

Today it's time for some sloths. Lawn Fawn designed this cute little stamp set and I hadn't used it before now. That's one thing with the pandemic, it's making me check out my stash. This set is called Hang in There. It had that as a sentiment but also the happy birthday. I coloured the little guys in with Copic markers and used some die cuts for dimension. Are you still 'hanging around' these days, or are you back to normal living?⁣

Bye for now, Cheryl :)

Hedgehog Hugs

So, it’s Tuesday. Not my favourite day of the week really as it’s a work day 😂 But the sun is out and I know the recipient of one of these cards got theirs yesterday, so now I can share with you. The lovely Michelle is the genius behind the card designs at The Card Grotto. Her designs always make me smile and I am always inspired by what she comes up with, especially her Copic colouring! She is a fabulous advocate for the wonderful Clearly Besotted, Hero Arts and Cricut for that matter! She has inspired me for a number of years, by her love of white space and her fantastic Copic colouring. Thank you Michelle for sharing your talent 💗 This cute stamps and die date used here are by Lawn Fawn and its called Hedgehugs. Lawn fawn are masters of CUTE in the crafting world! 💗

Cricut Easy Press

I purchased a new tool from Cricut, the Easy Press 2. This is the 6”x7” version (in mint, of course). During the unusual times we are experiencing, I have tried to use the time to master new things. I first made a ton of cards using different techniques and now I have concentrated on Cricut Design Space. All this led me to playing with some designs and print vinyl decals to pretty up my craft tools. First my new Easy Press Then, my Cricut Explore Air 2! 

Pretty Pink Posh

These beauties took some time to make but it was so enjoyable. The beautiful LOVE Stamp Set and Die is by Pretty Pink Posh.
I coloured the letters and die cut each letter 3 times to give added dimension. I lightly stamped the background for added interest, as I felt it needed a little something. I gifted a couple of these cards to some fabulous crafters n the industry. You know who you are 🥰 
In case you were wondering, I used the ready printed sentiment strips by Simon Says Stamp -  these have been sooooo handy!

Creativation 2020

Happy New year to you!

So far this year, so many people seem more positive. Quotes like "its a new decade", "time for 20/20 vision" and "new year, new opportunities" have been reflected back to me.
It's nice to have positivity around you. As I have matured, I am more cognizant that the group of people I regularly connect with are positive, kind and supportive people. One wonders if maturity also brings with it insight and self respect. Wow, going deep there!!
Either way, so far 2020 has been very, very cold but super positive, and what better way to start than attending Creativation in Phoenix again.
This will be my fourth year of attendance. Hopefully flight delays will be at a minimum. I think it was last year, flight delays were so bad, I ended up having to be put up in a hotel overnight by the airline.
I'm attending Creativation for two days this time, not three. I have a super busy schedule on Friday. My flight leaves at 7am (I hope!) . It should get me into Phoenix by 10.30. My first class with Altenew is at 12.30pm and my next class with Gina K is 3.30pm. Then,  I have a designer dinner to attend at 7pm. This will be my first time and I'm not sure I will know a lot of people, so super intimidated by that!
I plan to take pics of some of my favourite peeps and new crafty goodies being released this yea, so keep an eye out on my instagram @linkcraftycards

Chat soon guys :)

Gnome For Christmas 2019

This Christmas was the season for Gnomes in the crafting world. Simon Says Stamp cracked it when their designer Shari Carroll came up with Gnome die. There were so many fun ways to use the die with different colour combos and added embellishments. Take a look below at some of the Christmas card designs I came up with this season.

Christmas Cards 2019

Altenew Build-A-Flower: Bellflower Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

I am proud to be participating in the Altenew Build-A-Flower: Bellflower Release Blog Hop + Giveaway. To celebrate this release Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 6 lucky winners! Please leave your comments on the Altenew Card Blog and/or the Altenew Scrapbook Blog for a chance to win. Altenew will also draw a winner to receive a $15 gift certificate from the comments left on each designer’s blog on the blog hop list below. All winners will be announced on the Altenew blog on 8/10/2019.The Altenew Card Blog is full of fabulous inspiration. There are some amazing designs from such creative people. Make sure you leave comments for a chance of winning the giveaways!By scrolling through my blog post you will see my designs as well as links to all the Altenew products. I have added large pictures to help you see the stamp set and bundles, up close and personal.

HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY

My first card was inspired by the colour combos of Coral, Green and Taupe. I knew I wanted to do something with a gold trim that was elegant, and with alternative colour combos. As well as using the Build-A-Flower Bellflower stamp set I also used Altenew's Floral Frame stamp set. The set has great sentiments in it and has matching dies! 

BIRTHDAY WISHES

My second card is a bright and cheerful colour combo. Green and yellow. I decided to use just the closed petal design here from the Build -A-Flower Bellflower stamp set. My thoughts were the sun rising and the morning dew. I achieved the background with a little ink blending, then splattered it with white. I added a black frame to make the flowers pop. The clear drops just added that little extra to imitate the morning dew. 

Of course, I have shown you some alternative colour combos when using the Bellflower stamp set. If you want to save a bit of money and stamp it using the original designed colour combo, there is an opportunity to buy the Build-A-Flower Bellflower stamp, die and ink bundle saving 5%!

**One thing I want to mention...I attended a class with Altenew a couple of years ago at Creativation. I spoke to their marketing director May (who is as cute as a button BTW). I asked her if they would consider labelling the Build-A-Flower sets with numbers and letters. It was my belief that sometimes it was hard to distinguish between the layers, despite having the pictures on the back. Im not sure if there were others that suggested this addition to their stamps, but I have to say the Build-A-Flower stamp set is labelled!!! Yay!! Check out the picture below. I believe this is really helpful, especially for stampers who are not as experienced. 

Before I leave you I wanted to make you aware that Altenew also have a monthly subscription opportunity for their Build-A-Flower designs and you can sign up HERE!

Go show some love.....and maybe win!

Altenew Card Blog

Svitlana Shayevich

Therese Calvird

Virginia Lu

Sveta Fotinia

Laurie Willison

Altenew Scrapbook Blog

Seeka

Caly Person

Laura Jane 

Mindy Eggen

Nenette S. Madero

Jaycee Gaspar

Ashlea Cornell

Jenny Colacicco

Cheryl Espie
Amber Rain Davis

Mandela Stencil Ink Blending

 Hi Guys,

If you read this today, then you will get to see all three colours of cards that I made using the Mandela stencil by Honeybee Stamps. Even before Instagrammers!

All the colours were achieved by blending two different distress oxide inks per card.

The pink card uses Spun Sugar and Picked Raspberry, the green uses Cracked Pistachio and Evergreen Bough, and finally the yellow uses Spiced Marmalade and Squeezed Lemonade.

The sentiments come from the stamp set called Hello Gorgeous, also by Honeybee Stamps.

They have matching Honey Cuts (love that name!) too. For each centred die cut, I cut it three times to give added dimension.

There's something about lush colours together that just makes me happy....looking at these three cards make me happy....hope they make you happy too!!

Bye for now

Cheryl x

Bouquet of Roses

Happy Canada Day guys!

I wanted to give a shout out to this beautiful stencil by Simon Says Stamp called Bouquet of Roses. Stencils are a great cheap alternative to full background stamps. This one was used for two different techniques, ink blending with Oxide Distress Inks and for adding dimension,  Nuvo Embellishment Mousse.

For the ink blending card I used the Distress Oxide Inks called Picked Raspberry and Squeezed Lemonade. For the dimension card I used  Nuvo Embellishment Mousse called Mother of Pearl.

To see short videos of the both techniques in action, checkout my Instagram  @linkcraftycards 

Bye for now, Cheryl x