Coming Home beach huts

Fancy a bit of respite from relentless Christmas projects? A week or so ago, I challenged my regular customers to create a project inspired by a place they love.

I was making this card anyway and am all for pinning the challenge to the card, rather than the other way round, so decided this was inspired by Findhorn Beach in Scotland.  Here’s a pic I took on a very blustery day there in 2017.

 

The ‘beach huts’ on my project are actually little houses stamped with the Coming Home stamp set and coloured in using Stampin’ Blends. Pool Party, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight and Calypso Coral, in case you were wondering. The sand is a mix of Ivory and Daffodil Delight. 

 

I created the sea by tearing some Whale of a Time Designer Series Paper. I only have scraps of this left after using it for lots of classes this summer, so couldn’t resist adding the little fussy-cut turtle. I don't think they get turtles off Findhorn but they are occasional visitors to Scottish waters, so that’s good enough for me.

Get perfectly placed houses by stamping with the Stamparatus. The stamps are designed to work like this. Using the top hinge, stamp one house, move the plate to the right one slot then repeat. Keep going until you have as many houses as you need. 

 

If you’d like to order anything you see here, please visit my store and, if shopping in November 2020, please use the host code RMK743TS. The host code allows me to earn Stampin’ Rewards which I use to order thank you gifts for my online customers.

Rusty old cogs with Garage Gears dies

I've wanted to have a play with these cogs for a long time but couldn't justify getting the whole bundle - and this is one case where three of the dies just wouldn't work well without the co-ordinating stamps.

Downline to the rescue again! One of my team members, Ian, kindly die-cut some cogs for me so I could make this card for a cyclist friend's birthday.

I used a really fun technique which was demonstrated by Kim Fee at OnStage Birmingham last November; the technique stuck with me and I've been eager to try it.

You start with a cog - mine was made from Crumb Cake cardstock - and sponge in your chosen colours. I used Early Espresso, Copper and Cajun Craze. As you go along, you add some Versamark and clear embossing powder, then brush some off, randomly. Repeat and you get this lovely rusty effect.

The cogs can be cut apart if you’re careful. The small cog looked a little ropy when I detached it from the main die-cut, so I simply hid the ropey bits behind the greeting. Nobody will know unless you’re like me and tell them!

And I've said it before but don't feel bound to stick to Suites and products designed to co-ordinate with each other. For the background of this card I used an image from Countdown to Christmas – you wouldn't know it was a Christmas stamp set. 

 

Nature's Beauty deer in the silver birches

Third Monday of the month is Make-It Monday with the local WI ladies. They have very particular requirements and are not afraid to tell me about them! I know they enjoy masculine cards so this is one of today's projects. I hope they like it!

For this sample, I stamped the deer onto Crumb Cake cardstock before colouring with watercolour pencils and Blender Pens. It gives the image much more depth and allows it to stand out from the background.

Nature's Beauty with Feels Like Frost DSP

Woodland theme again! You can't escape it on this blog because it's my favourite theme. And how gorgeous is the Feels Like Frost Designer Series Paper with this lovely Nature's Beauty stamp set?

The animals are coloured with Stampin' Blends but I was concerned the colours weren't quite right so I gave the rabbit and deer a swipe with some Seaside Spray ink on a sponge to tie them in with a hint of blue.

The silver birches are stamped in Seaside Spray, too, but stamped off so they don't overwhelm. I used the Stamparatus for perfect positioning - just move the plate along one slot each time.

The copper leaf accent brings out the colour of the fox (coloured in Calypso Coral Stampin' Blends). I made sure to position them on opposite sides of the card to balance it out. 
 

Fabulous fox from Nature's Beauty

If you’re a regular visitor (and, if you are, thank you!), then you’ll know I’m a sucker for a woodland theme.

My craft stash is bulging with woodland-themed products – and, with the new Autumn/Winter catalogue, my collection just got a whole lot bigger.

The Nature’s Beauty stamp set was sure to end up on my list – and finding out that £2.50 from every sale goes to mental health charities in the UK was a bonus.

This is one of the projects we made at Crafty Friday last week. Along with the stamp set, I used the new Beautiful Boughs Dies and the Woodland Embossing Folder.

I stamped the fox first, then masked with a sticky note before stamping the foliage around him in Gray Granite. The stark white theme is enhanced with a splash of silver, which echoes the Gray Granite (my silver ink pad isn't due to arrive until today!) and really helps the Cajun Craze fox to stand out. 

Memories & More cards... not just for scrapbooking

Memories & More Cards are not just for scrapbooking; they are ideal for the crafter in a hurry.

Having said that, I added quite a few extra elements to this card so it's not exactly a Simple Stamping project. I used two cards for this project; yes, the green background is a Memories & More card, cut down to fit on the front of a standard A6 card. 

The wheel is die-cut and the anchor is from the Memories & More stickers which come in the pack of cards. The words are stamped onto a stitched circle and mounted onto another sticker from the Memories & More pack. You really do get loads of elements in these handy packs. 

The lighthouse from the Smooth Sailing dies fits this Memories & More card perfectly, so I could die-cut the lighthouse and pop it up with a Mossy Meadow background to create the popular ‘eclipse’ effect. 

Smooth Sailing Dies - the lighthouse that nearly got away

I found the Come Sail Away Suite so inspiring because it appealed to my love of all things nautical and I could see watercoloured backgrounds coming into play, too.

Unfortunately, my first attempt to create lovely, rich watercoloured backgrounds didn't go to plan and all I ended up with were rejects. A few days later, however, and I was idly fiddling with a template left behind after die-cutting yet another lighthouse when I fortuitously placed it over one of my watercoloured rejects. Suddenly a new card idea was born!

I stamped my greeting then embossed the white cardstock using the Subtle Embossing Folder, then added a couple of extra elements to complete my card. And, as is so often the case, it's turned out to be one of my favourite Come Sail Away projects so far. 

Keep your rejects as you never know how you will be able to use them in the future. I keep all my in my UFO (unfinished objects) box.