Unboxing : Cherrylana Designs Stamps

Hello dear friends! Last month there was a DT call at Cherrylana Designs. I was like 'what is this company like, hmn, let's see their designs' and honestly guys, I was floored by their designs! The floral stamps.. Oh! really to die for! So without any second thought I applied to their DT call and to my surprise I was selected as Design Team member! :D

Last week I received my DT kit and you know what, Svetlana, the owner of Cherrylana Designs sent me a whole bunch of their stamps and embellishments. This is a Ukrainian Stamp Company manufactures first class photo-polymer stamps. I was really blown away after seeing their stamps in real, so so pretty! :)

I made a couple of cards with video and they soon will be published on their blog.

I made a unboxing video, yesterday I've published it but there was a lady who suggested me some good things about my video editing and product information and etc. So I've unlisted that video and made another one! I hope you guys like this one. Thanks for visiting! :)

A Bird - water color art

Hello friends! What do you do when you don't have a lot of commitments? You do your favourite things, right? Yep! today was the day for me, spent my midday water coloring this bird. It's one of my favourite things to do! :D And also I made a card for Mudra's upcoming challenge which I will show you later! 

As you guys already know that I am trying my hands at water coloring which isn't quiet easy for me! I have created a water color playlist at my YouTube Channel. If you haven't subscribed yet just go and do it! so that you won't miss any of my videos!

First, I drew the bird with a pencil and water colored it with Koi water colors. The paper I used wasn't a water color paper, it's Iris card stock cut in 8x8 size. Once the water coloring part was done I drew the outlines with a black permanent marker and also painted the flowers and leaves outside the bird.

Then I flicked some black paint and stamped the sentiment from Mudra - Geometric Nature in Archival Jet Black Ink. 

If you want to see more of these projects in future let me know, I will plan accordingly. I would love to share my work with you all! Thank you :)

Entering this card for Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge 

Village Landscape | Sizzix Lifestyle | Video and Photo Tutorial

Please visit sizzix.co.uk for more updates, inspiration and information

I think Cacti is perfect for summer! I don't have any plants at home, I live in a single bedroom apartment where we have a very tiny balcony. To be honest, I don't think I can handle having an actual plant. LOL.. This Village Landscape Bigz Die is designed to go with the Sizzix Bigz XL Die - Village Dwelling. Since I want to decorate my home I made these cute little plants as my table decor. And also I have a pictorial for the cacti card which I will show you at the end.

I die-cut the trees and cacti from a white card stock and distressed colored them using Peeled Paint, Festive Berries and Vintage Photo. All the trees have indentations at the bottom where we can actually push the base through it. The base has also got an indentation which allows the top portion sit firmly while placed on a flat surface.

I also colored a few trees with markers. They look very beautiful together. Love how they turned out!

I've made a video for you where I have shown everything in detail, enjoy! :)

CACTI CARD DETAILS

I started by die-cutting the Cacti from Village Landscape Bigz Die by running through the BigShot Express machine. I used white card stock for this.

First I distressed colored all the die-cuts using Peeled Paint Distress Ink.

Then I colored the flowers on Cacti with Festive Berries Distress Ink

Then for the dimension I sponged Vintage Photo Distress Ink along the edges of the Cacti.

I thought the front panel was too plain so I embossed it with Wood grain Embossing Folder from Sizzix.co.uk

Then I foam mounted the cacti onto the card base

Stamped the sentiment from Lawn Fawn - Stuck on you on a strip of brown card stock with Archival Jet Black Ink and foam mounted over the cacti die-cuts.

I hope you like my projects, thanks for visiting! :)

Basic Water Color Supplies for Beginners | How to easily Hand Paint Flowers | Video | Giveaway (closed)

Winner Announcement :

ETA - Thank you so much everyone for your participation and for the beautiful comments. Really appreciate it! I will be soon with another giveaway so stay tuned.. :)

And now the lucky winner who won the above stamp set is

Quillish

Congratulations, Ishani. Kindly write a mail to deeptistephens@gmail.com. Thank you :)

If you are my regular blog reader you know that I love Water Colors and how much I am in love with it. I have a very few water color mediums like Distress Inks, Koi Water Colors, Student water Colors, Water color Markers and Faber Castell Water Color Pencils. Since I am a water color enthusiast I googled and searched best and inexpensive water color supplies for beginners. Yep! I am a beginner too so you'll certainly find a lot of mistakes in today's post. :p

Basic Water Color Supplies for Beginners

(Disclaimer : All opinions are my own. I found these supplies work best for me. If you want to purchase or if you feel other supplies work best for you then that's good! Once again all opinions are my own!!)

• Canson Montval Water Color Paper - 300gsm
• Koi Water Colors - 12 set
• Okayji Crafto Set - 6 set
• Tissue Paper and 
• a Bowl of clean water

CARD MAKING PROCESS

I started by cutting down the water paper exactly to the size of the main card base then I started hand painting the flowers. To paint the solid images I used medium flat brush. 

And for the brisk strokes on the inside of the flower I used a fine tip paint brush.

I then drew the stems and leaves. They are not at all perfect but I liked it :) Later I added a wash of green color at the bottom of the water color panel and muted down the color by adding some water.

I added splatters of black paint and stamped the sentiment from Mudra - Wild Rose in Archival Jet Black Ink. Finally I adhered the panel over the main card base with Red Sticky Tape!

VIDEO TUTORIAL

I have made a video for you showing you the entire process of making this card. I hope you like it :)

GIVEAWAY

I just want to THANK YOU all from the bottom of my heart for showing me such love and encouragement in all the things that I do and I am doing! Enter your name below and I will draw ONE lucky winner on 24th of June, 2017. Thank you :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Sizzix | Meadow Butterfly | Video

Meadow Butterfly! How beautiful is the name of this die! This thinlit die is so detailed, intricate and very lovely! I enjoyed die-cutting and coloring it. :)

(you can get the Meadow Butterfly here and the Bigshot Express Machine here)

CARD MAKING PROCESS

I started by die-cutting the thinlit die out from a white card stock and water colored it with Dusty Concord, Seedless Preserves, Peeled Paint, Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed Distress Inks. I then applied Tombow Glue here and there onto the die-cut and poured Rock Candy Distress Glitter and tapped off the excess. Over the main panel I applied Broken China Distress Ink for the hint of color!

Onto the second panel I stamped the sentiment from Technique Tuesday with Archival Jet Black Ink and added tiny splatters of black paint for some interest. Then adhered the sentiment panel over the main card base using foam tape.

Finally applied glue on the back of the die-cut (only on the center part of the butterfly) and adhered over the sentiment panel :)

You can watch the whole process of the video below or at my YouTube Channel. I hope you like it :)

GIVEAWAY

Giveaway! Do you love Sizzix Lifestyle products? And would you like to win Big Shot™ Plus Machines along with a range of their new dies? Yes? :) then enter here https://goo.gl/SteF45

Smile | SOA Naturally Inspired Collection

I've been into water color mode lately and I must say I am very much obsessed with it and enjoying every bit of it. I have a very few water color mediums, among them Distress Inks are one of my favourites! :) By the way the stamps I'm using today are from the latest release of Stamp of Approval - Naturally Inspired Collection

How to achieve water color look with Solid Stamps:

There are two ways to achieve this look

1.  Ink up the solid image, spritz some water and stamp onto the paper. This is one of the easiest ways to achieve water color look instantly. 

2.  Second way -  Smoosh the ink pad onto the acrylic block, pick the ink up with a wet paint brush, apply the pigment onto the stamp, huff a little and then stamp!

I applied the second technique here. I applied Festive Berries and Peeled Paint Distress Inks on one of the flowers from the Wild Flowers Stamp Set and stamped it onto the paper. I love how this card turned out. So beautiful! :) 

Once the water color image was dry I added tiny splatters of black paint and stamped the sentiment from Medallion Mix Up stamp set. I added Star Dust stickles onto the berries (you can see it in first and second pics). I hope you like it. Thanks for visiting. :)

DIY | Backdrops for your projects

Today I am not here with a post related to card making but it's beyond that! It's all about making beautiful backdrops for my cards/projects. I saw a few sites selling beautiful backdrops for your projects, I had an itch to buy those but I managed to convince myself by saying you have paper, water colors, paint brushes and other supplies - why not Do It Yourself. :) So I pulled out the supplies and created a few backdrops for my projects :D It is such a satisfactory thing to do it yourself when you can and save that money for other purposes!

Materials I used

• A sturdy and heavy white card stock from a local store (300 gsm)
• Camel Student Water Color Cakes - 12 Shades
• KOI Watercolors Field Box Set of 12 Colors
• Paint Brushes

Here are the backdrops I made using the above supplies! I have already shared a couple on social media. If you are not following me there yet make sure to follow so that you won't miss any of the updates (you can find the links in the side bar) :)

I may paint a few more in future but I am not sure at the moment! ;) And I am planning for a giveaway too so keep an eye on this page ;)

How to make these Backdrops more sturdier :

For this you'll need

• Card board pieces exactly or a little bigger than the backdrop
• Glue
• Mod Podge 
• Foam Brushes

Simply apply the glue or Mod Podge onto the card board and adhere the backdrop design over it. Let it dry completely. Then apply very gentle and light stokes of  Mod Podge with a foam brush over the design. This seals the design, add a beautiful shine and the design lasts longer. 

I hope you liked my tiny attempt at creating my own backdrops. If you have any questions or suggestions kindly leave me a comment below. Thanks for visiting :)

One Layer Scripture Cards | Creative Retreat

Hello everyone! Today I have two simple one layer cards to share with you made using the stamp set and bows from December 2016 Release of Creative Retreat. This post was already up their blog. I really loved this stamp set a lot and that black striped bow, wow!! so cool!

I started by masking the cards horizontally with a washi tape and ink blended over it with Picked Raspberry and Peacock Feathers Distress Inks. Next I peeled off the masks and stamped the sentiments with Catherine Pooler’s Midnight Black Ink. I punched out a small heart out of Pink Card Stock and adhered over the black heart in ‘Jesus’ sentiment.

Next I took the paper clips with bows, separated the bows from the clips and adhered beneath the sentiment with white glue. And finally added sequins here and there to finish my cards off.

Here is the card process video, I hope you like it! See you soon ;)

Faux Embossed Background with die-cuts | Sizzix

This card was inspired by one of my cards made for Sizzix. You can view that post HERE. Creating a background like this is a very tedious unless you have bigger die-cuts. I used the latest Brushed Lowercase Alphabet thinlits for my project today! 

Creating a sticker sheet/die-cuts : this is very easy to make, simply adhere the double sided sticky tape on the back of your card, place the die on the front panel and run it through your Bigshot Machine. Tadaaa.. your die-cut sticker is ready!!

CARD MAKING PROCESS

Once you gathered all your supplies, adhere the die-cuts onto your card front randomly. The die-cut pieces should be of the same color as the card stock you are using!

Next I die-cut '#goals' out of white card stock and colored the bottom portion with Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide Ink and adhered onto the strip of white card stock that goes on the front panel.

Finally adhered a few sequins from Mudra and finished my card. This card is great for both men and women. It's one of a kind Unisex card ;)

VIDEO DETAILS

Here is the video for you. I hope you'll like it :) Thank you so much for visiting. See you soon!

PROMOTIONS

1. The vote is now open for Sizzix Awards any one can pick their favourite to win so please head over to the Sizzix Awards page and vote for your favourite entry.

2. You can download the free pattern papers for Father's Day here. 

3. As June has arrived we have a new campaign which is New Home. You can check all the details HERE