The below post is featured on the Gerda Steiner Designs Blog today

Hello everyone,

It’s Lesley Oman again, from Hungry Heffy Crafts, and I am delighted to be back with another guest designer post for Gerda Steiner Designs! This time I am working with the sweet Fall Mice stamp set – aren’t they adorable!

I figured that Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and so I was inspired to use soft, romantic colours, and I wanted my card to have a love theme! Lucky for me, the stamp set has a great greeting which says Sending You Love and Blessings, which was perfect for this card.

I wanted to create a soft, romantic background, so I grabbed a large text print stamp from my stash and clear heat embossed the image onto some watercolour cardstock. I used some post-it tape as a mask along the crease to make sure the back of my card stays clean. Next I used a few distress inks to blend some colour over the top of my embossed image- with soft Spun Sugar at the top blending into Picked Raspberry, and then a Shaded Lilac at the bottom. I had to work this pretty hard, but I got there in the end!

Next I stamped two sweet mice from the Fall Mice stamp set from Gerda Steiner Designs onto watercolour cardstock, and painted these with my watercolour paint. I used the wet on wet technique to build up some soft, blended colours then I used my heat tool to dry the paint completely, before adding some shadows. Next I created my own watercolored heart – using a heart die as a guide. This is for my mouse to hold behind his back. Aren’t they adorable!?

To create a panel for my greeting, I used a scalloped rectangle die, but by running it through my cuttlebug machine a couple of times, I was able to create a uniquely sized rectangle that was just the right size! I stamped and heat embossed the greeting from the stamp set on the white panel, and then added a touch of spun sugar distress ink to give it a pop of subtle colour.

To create some contrast on the card, I wanted to add a frame using some dark grey cardstock but unfortunately I only had scraps left over. I didn’t let that stop me though – I simply cut the frame in two parts, and then stuck these to the card, hiding the join behind the scalloped rectangle panel.

I also mounted the watercolour heart on the same grey cardstock so it had a nice frame, and then stuck my card all together. To finish, I darkened the eyes with a little sakura glaze pen, and added a sweet wooden heart and some adhesive pearls!

Thank you so much for joining me again. I had such fun playing with these stamps, and I am sure you will too.
x

Lesley

Product List:
Gerda Steiner Designs FALL MICE Clear Stamp Set https://goo.gl/jc0Ksi
Hero Arts Clings Stamp – Friend Definition Background http://amzn.to/2kQvU1q
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad SPUN SUGAR https://goo.gl/QP4ES8
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad PICKED RASPBERRY https://goo.gl/cm9fp7
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad SHADED LILAC https://goo.gl/tDOiwj
Ranger MINI ROUND INK BLENDING TOOLS https://goo.gl/0YXc2c
Memento TUXEDO BLACK INK PAD https://goo.gl/wRtTLG
Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolor Set http://amzn.to/2kUHuYy

It’s getting near that time of the year where my crafting goes in full blown PINK and RED mode! Yes, valentine’s day is fast approaching! I decided to make a card with one of my favourite Honey Bee Stamp greetings – the ‘You Are Loved’ stamp from the Beautiful Life set!

Before I could decide where I wanted my greeting, I chose to work on my background first, and decided to reach for the sweet floral stamps and dies from the Country Wreath set. First I die cut two rectangles of white card using a large rectangle die, and then used two poppy dies from the Country Wreath set to cut floral holes all over the card. I turned the die each time to create more variety and have a more whimsical feel to the card.

Once all the holes were cut, I reached for the other white rectangular piece of card, and used brushed to blend ink all over it. I used some basic brushes that are actually blusher brushes from the pound shop, so nothing fancy in the slightest, but they seemed to do the job! I started with a yellow dye ink at the top, and then made my way down the card into orange and pink tones. I think this gives the card a real sweet, sherbet feel – perfect for V day!

I laid the die cut panel on top of the inked panel and held them in place with some washi tape whilst I stamped the coordinating images onto the inked background, using a grey ink. I used the die cut as a guide to ensure the images fit perfectly inside each hole. Then I mounted the top layer with some foam tape to give some fun dimension.

I then added a grey scalloped frame and embossed the You Are Loved greeting onto some vellum using grey ink and clear embossing powder and when it had cooled I die cut it into a circle using a Simon Says Stamp circle die. Its hard to see, but underneath I added a white die cut heart from cardstock, just so that the message could be more easily read! To finish, a few Honey Bee Stamps diamonds – I simply can’t get enough of those cute little gems!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day! Happy Crafting!