Handmade By G3

December 7, 2018

Simon Says Stamp DieCember Blog Hop Day #2

Simon Says Stamp’s DieCember is one of my favourite event on my calendar for the year. I look forward to the gorgeous dies Simon releases. I am so excited like a kid in the candy shop with the dies this year. I could not wait to play with them and share my creations.

Hello and welcome to Simon Says Stamp DieCember Blog Hop.

This is day #2 of the hop. The first hop was on the first of DeCember when the dies were released. You should have arrived here from the talented designer Anna-Karin Evaldsson’s blog. Don’t worry, if this is your first stop. I will list all the designers participating in the hop later in the post.

I have two projects to share today. Both are holiday cards. The first card uses the new Holiday Knit Border die.

I used this die not as a border but die cut repeatedly to cover the entire panel like a cutting plate. I didn’t realise there was a cutting plate released as well when I made it. Nevertheless, I love the versatility of this border die.

For the background, I used distress inks to add colour. I masked and sponged Barn Door, Abandoned Coral, Mowed Lawn and Twisted Citron. All of which is traditional Christmas colours. I then adhered the Holiday Knit die cut panel on top to reveal the colours through the knit die cuts. I adhered this panel on card base made of Ivory cardstock using craft foam.

For the sentiment, I used Simon’s Merry Christmas die. This is an older die from Simon. I die cut this die three times with white cardstock and once using Simon’s gold glittery cardstock. I stacked and glued with the gold glitter die cut on top. I adhered this stacked sentiment on a vellum panel and adhered on top of the card front.

To finish the card, I added few gold sequins with gold stickles inside the sequins. Here are some closeups of the card.

All the supplies used to make this card are listed below.

Supplies:

The second card showcases the new Picture Book Pup die along with the Nested Banner dies. I love picture book dies and I love puppies. So this one especially with the Santa hat is adorable. I made a wobbler card using it.

I die cut the Picture Book Pup image using Neenah Solar White 110 lbs cardstock as well as Simon’s silver glitter and Crimson glitter cardstocks. To adhered the pieces together, I first embossed the image on a white cardstock and trimmed the outline. The embossing makes it easy to piece the die pieces in its place.With so many tiny pieces, this trick works like a charm. I coloured the ears and eye patch using C8, C6 and C4 grey copic markers and eyes using E25 copic marker.

Now for the sentiment, I silver heat embossed the sentiment from Tiny Words stamp set from Simon on to black cardstock. I die cut this using the smallest of the fish tail ended banner die from Nested Banner die. I layered this banner on to red banner die cut using the second fish tail ended banner die and then layered on top of the pattern paper banner die cut using the largest of the fish tail ended banner die. I used foam tape for each layer.

On the red card base, I used an old Christmas pattern paper to cover the entire card front. This pattern paper is from a Kaisercraft Christmas pattern paper pack. The I used the second largest stitched circle die from Simon’s Stitched Circle die set to die cut a white rectangle panel trimmed to 4’x5.25′ I adhered this panel to the card front using foam adhesives. Then used a wobbler on the back of the Picture Book Pup to adhere inside the circle. The sentiment layer is adhered below the circle. No embellishment needed as it is already an interactive card. You can see the wobbler action below.

Here are some closeups of the cards

My daughter took this card immediately after I made it and given away to her friend already. I had to quickly take photos first before she took it. Anything dog related walk out of my craft room faster than any other card I make. It is either taken by family members or friends. This card was no exception. 🙂 All the supplies used to make this card are listed below.

Supplies

All the new DieCember release dies are available at Simon Says Store. Simon is also celebrating the DieCember release with $25 coupon to every stop on the hop from your blog comment section. We’ll choose your winners over the weekend and post on our Simon Says Stamp store blog on Wednesday, the 12^th of December.

There is also a special promotion with the release. See details below. The promotion is valid until 12/9 at 11.59PM ET or while supplies last.

Here is the list of all the designers participating in the blog hop.

Simon Says Stamp Blog

Gayatri Murali (that’s Me!)

Hope you enjoyed my projects and got inspired. You next stop is to the gorgeous Elena Salo’s Blog.

Enjoy your hop and have a lovely weekend.

Posted By Gaya3Murali 90 Comments

December 6, 2018

It is the release day!

Edited: This is the second post for today. My first post on Altenew Blog Hop is HERE!

Yes! Today is the release of all the gorgeous new products Taylored Expressions and I as part of their team have been sharing with you for past three days. All the products are now available at Taylored Expressions Store. Hurry before they fly out of the shelf.

Today, I am sharing with you two projects using two of the new background stamps. The first one is called Hearts in Bloom background stamp. I mean I am in love with this design. One can do so many wonderful techniques using this design either as focal point or as background. I used it as a focal point for my card below.

I stamped the image using MISTI on to TE Sea Salt cardstock using TE Oreo hybrid ink. Sea Salt is my favourite cardstock in my TE cardstock collection. I mean what a gorgeous light gray cardstock. Wonderful substitute for white when you don’t need the stark contrast. I can’t have enough of Sea Salt cardstock in my stash. Secondly TE Oreo ink is a great black ink which can be used to both copic colour as well as water colour an image. Look at the intense black on the stamping. Almost like laser printed. Love this ink.

I coloured the image using copic markers, added shimmer and glossy accents on the hearts and left the panel to dry. I worked on the rest of the card. I white heat embossed the sentiment from Cutting Edge Love stamp and die combo on to a strip of Oreo cardstock. Used Double Ended Flag stacklet die to die cut the sentiment. Then I prepared the white card base and added a strip of black and white stripped pattern paper from Playful Pattern Black and White 6×6 paper pack. Now I adhered the background panel to the card front using craft foam for dimension and the sentiment in the middle of the cardstock using foam adhesives. Thats it! I let the Hearts in Bloom stamp set take the centre stage.

Such a beautiful design. I am sure you want this stamp set in your collection. 🙂 All supplies used to make this card are listed below.

Supplies:

The second background stamp I am showcasing today is called Backstory Valentine background stamp. wonderful valentine themed bold script background stamp. This stamp is just lovely for the bold background you need on your card. I love it.

I stamped the background stamp using versamrk ink pad and heat embossed the background using TE diamond embossing powder on Fruit Punch cardstock. Gorgeous sparkle tone on tone look on the beautiful pinkish red cardstock. I then sponged the edges of the panel with Cherry Pop TE dye ink and Oreo TE hybrid ink. This gives depth and highlights the centre of the panel. The valentine embossed script also pops against the dark edges.

I kept the sentiment simple by using Caps Lock LOVE die in gold foil stacked with a few more in white under it. With the layered Daisy die tucked behind the sentiment. The secondary sentiment is from Caps Lock Love Companion stamp set which I gold heat embossed using TE gold detailed embossing powder on to a strip of Oreo cardstock. Finally added a bit of sequins from Snow Flurry sequins collection with white Nuvo crystal drops in the centre.

This is one bold and bright card. It certainly makes an impact. All the supplies used to make this card are listed below.

Supplies:

Hope you enjoyed all my projects for today and past three days. All the products are now available for purchase at Taylored Expressions store.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my blog today.

Posted By Gaya3Murali 2 Comments

December 6, 2018

Altenew December 2018 Markers/Embellishments Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

Artist Markers from Altenew are my new found favourite among alcohol markers next to copics. The best part of Artist Markers are they come in shades of four for each colour and they are all Altenew ink colours. If you are a fan of Altenew products, you know their ink colours are just beautiful. So far there has been Set A, B and C. Today I am sharing with you Set E. I am so happy with the new addition.It is a pleasure to participate in Altenew Artist Marker and Embellishment Blog Hop!

Hello and welcome to Altenew December 2018 Artist Marker/Embellishment Blog Hop! If this is you first stop, then don’t worry I will list all the designers participating in the blog hop towards the end of the post. If you have come from Svitlana Shayevich‘s blog, then welcome and you are in the right stop in the hop.

I have three projects to share using Set E artist marker set. This set has my favourite green, grey and the beautiful orange markers. The first one is a frame decor piece which currently sits in my family room shelf.

I coloured Altenew’s Cherished Memories stamp set images using the new orange and green markers and the red set from Set A marker set. I love orange and peachish pink combination with green. I stamped and coloured so many flowers and leaves, I could make a large cluster. It looked very pretty. Hence instead of making a card, I made a 5″x7″ frame decor. I absolutely love the large cluster and how it looked in the frame. I used Altenew’s woodgrain cardstock for the background panel for its texture. Then used Nuvo jewel drops in the same colours as the floral cluster to embellish around them and glossy accents as dew drops on the flowers.

All the supplies used to make this frame decor is listed below.

Supplies:

The second and third projects are a set of two cards. I have been experimenting on colouring the flowers. I used the images from Build a Flower Anemone stamp set. On one card I coloured the Anemone flower petals from centre to the edges using flicks method. This leaves the highlights on the edges of the petals. This gives depth at the centre of the flowers and makes the petals bloom from the centre to out. I hope I made sense explaining. The centre of the flowers are coloured with the grey markers in Set E.

The flicking strokes add depth and texture to each petal. Leaves I coloured normally filling in all the space and used the greens in Set E Artist Marker set. So I arranged and glued them into a cluster. My favourite thing to do with floral images. I wanted high contrast. So I went with black card base. I spattered with Altenew’s gold, white and iridescent spray to add interest to the background instead of solid black. Then I adhered the floral cluster on the centre of the card front. The sentiment is from Birthday Greeting stamp set. I stamped the sentiment in ombre using the Warm and Cozy ink set. The colours are the same as the orange artist markers in Set E. So I coordinated with the flowers. I added some white gel pen details on the stamens of the flowers. Finally embellished with some white Nuvo crystal drops.

On the other card, I coloured the Anemone flower petals from both centre as well as from the edges towards the centre of each petal using the same flicking method. This makes each petals bloom in the centre of each petal and fold down towards the edges. You will be able to see them in the photos below.

This card is similar to the previous card except I stepped it up a bit not just by changing how I coloured the flowers and leaves, but also adding some stencil detail and how I placed the elements on the card.

I used the Flowing Drops stencil and white embossing paste to add detail and texture on the background panel. Then I added the spatters as in the previous card. I made two floral cluster and adhered diagonally on the panel on top of the embossed detail. The sentiment is stamped similarly as the previous card but adhered vertically on the top right of the panel. Details on the stamen using white gel pen and white Nuvo crystal drops around the floral cluster to finish off the panel. This panel is adhered to the black card base using craft foam.

So which colouring method for the flowers is your favourite? It is hard for me to choose. I think it depends on how much time I have to colour I guess. I like them both equally. All supplies used to make this card are listed below.

Supplies:

Hope you liked my projects using the new Artist Markers Set E. There is many more markers and embellishments in this release. Here are all the releases for your convenience.

To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 6 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or Altenew Scrapbook Blog by 12/12/2018 for a chance to win. Six winners will be announced on the Altenew blogs on Sunday, December 16th.

Here is the list of all the designer participating in the blog hop.

Altenew Scrapbook Blog

Make sure you drop in all the blogs and get inspired and leave some love. You next stop is to the talented Kymona Tracey ‘s blog. Have a wonderful hop and shopping.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today.