Brand new stamps from Happy Little Stampers ..... let's have a Blog Hop to celebrate

Happy Sunday evening ......

I hope you've all had a nice weekend.  It's been a busy one here ..... and it's not over yet!!

It's time to showcase the BRAND NEW stamp release from Happy Little Stampers.  And guess what .... we're having a Blog Hop to celebrate!!!

You might want to grab a cuppa .... or something a little stronger maybe depending on what time it is where you are because this post is a BIG one!!!

You have the chance to win some amazing prizes too .... just by hopping along and leaving comments along the way .... more about that later.

All of the Design Team have been busy creating a feast of inspiration for you using the new stamp sets, and it's all on show for you in this blog hop.  Follow the links at the end of this post and see what they've been up to .... and don't forget to leave your comments.  We'd love to hear what you think of the new stamps .... I think you're going to love them as much as we do?

There's 6 brand new sets ...... and something for everyone.

Pretty little delicate Dandelion heads, and the Succulents are just so cute!
Just look at all those sentiments too ......

 Born to be Wild is a great set for guys, and the words on the Smile set are so useful.  Love the large fonts!

There's even a little Christmas in there too ..... time to make a start on all Christmas cards!!

OK .... you've seen the stamps, now for some ideas.  

WARNING...... photo heavy!!

Let's start with Dandelion Wishes

(By the way ..... the new sets are all available to buy now on the Happy Little Stampers website)

CAS ..... stamp the flower heads over pretty inked backgrounds.  This was a piece of card I found in my bit box which I think has been smooshed with Distress ink, spritzed with Perfect Pearls

I added a touch of fine glitter to the dandelions just for a bit of sparkle ......

and finished off with one of the sentiments from the set

You may of already seen the next one on Friday's Blog post (I sneaked one in early ... ooops!) It was done using the same stamps ...... but a totally different look ....

One of my favourites now ...... Perfectly Succulent  This is so cute!!
Great little images to use in aperture cards maybe ....

Use dies or punches to make your apertures ......

The images are so easy to colour ......

I used foam pads to give a bit more dimension.
All of the words are from the stamp set too .... love this font!

Don't just keep your stamps for the front of your cards .... use them on the inside too

How about this for a bit of fun .......

Sorry .... I couldn't resist adding the googly eyes!

He dances too ..... a little piece of folded acetate to make a sort of spring ...... love it!

Mix and match your stamp sets ..... they all work so well together

The words are from Smile! and look, there's those Succulents again ......

I think I need to treat myself to a new pot of Clear embossing powder .... this one has been contaminated with a little bit of white I think  ...... ooops!

Back to CAS, and another leftover piece of card ... stenciled this time, but perfect for using with the new Smile words

Sometimes a simple word says it all .....

Why not make tags too .....

Still with me?  Great ...... three more sets to go!

Next up is Born to Be Wild ..... how about this for all those men in your life, or kids designs, especially teenagers I think.

Go wild with your backgrounds ...... I used Distress Stains here, straight from the bottle.  Simply remove the top, and smash the sponge (technical term there) down onto your cardstock to get these great splatters .... love it (Top Tip ...... don't wear your best t-shirt when you're doing this ...... !!)

I did stamp the zebra first and created a mask before I added the colour ..... just look at that face!

Another aperture card ...... with another crazy background

Various colours of Distress Oxides just splattered onto the background using an old paintbrush ..... easy and fun to do!

An aperture cut in the front for the lion to peep through whilst the card is closed .....

And then when you open it up .....

Open it up again and there's more on the inside too ......

You can tell I love the whole of this new release .... each set is so much fun to use.

And it's never too early to make a start on those Christmas cards you know .......

Pretty sparkly snowflakes from the Let it Snow set ....... love white ink on Kraft card.

And a really cute CAS design using Merry Kissmas

Phew!!  We made it to the end.  Congratulations if you're still with me ...... I hope you like what you've seen.  How long is the shopping list?

Time to hop along and catch up with the rest of the DT ..... and don't forget about the prizes up for grabs.

Here's how to win ......

• Leave a comment on this blog post
• Follow the links below to the HLS post and the rest of the DT posts and leave comments there too
• The Blog Hop will run for 1 week ..... from 12th March @ 6am AEST (that's 8pm 11th March GMT) until 6am on the 19th March AEST (that's 8pm on March 18th GMT)
• Have fun and enjoy!

There's a whopping 10 prizes up for grabs.  ALL the winners will be chosen randomly, and you MUST comment on ALL of the Blogs involved in the Hop

Happy Hopping!!

Happy Little Stampers 

Kylie

Anita

Heidi

Jane

Michelle

Linda (you are here)

Stephanie
Helen Liu

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day and the Blog Hop.

It's been Mother's Day today in the UK  so a very Happy Mother's Day to all you lovely mum's out there.  I hope you've all had a fabulous day.

I was treated to a lovely Sunday lunch out with the whole family.  Now it's time to put my feet up, relax,and enjoy one of my birthday presents ........

Cheers!

Cheerio until next time ....

Let's Smoosh ........ for Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge

Hello again ......

I hope you've had a good day ..... let the weekend begin!
It's been a gorgeous day here .... at last!!!  The sun is back and has been shining brightly all day ....

That means the practice/qualifying sessions of the Isle of Man TT got underway again this evening (yeah!!), and there's a full schedule for the next 4 days with the actual races starting on Sunday. Guess where we'll be all weekend ..... especially if the weather's like it has been today.

It's time to get another challenge underway though ........ we're going all CAS for the Happy Little Stampers Challenge

As you can see this month's theme is all about smooshing ...... one of my favourite techniques.

I've been having fun with my Distress Oxide inks ...... they smoosh so well!
I simply swiped the ink pads onto a craft sheet, spritzed the ink with water and then smooshed my card through the ink

I also splattered a little extra water over the card, let it sit for a few seconds then mopped up the excess with a paper towel, removing the ink with it leaving this speckled effect .... love it!

It was quite a large piece of card that I smooshed so I cut it down a little to fit across the bottom of my card and then die cut a piece of white to fit on the top

I stamped the Happy Birthday along the edge, bending it slightly to follow the curve .....

I stamped one of the HLS Doodled Flowers onto the smooshed coloured card and embossed it with a clear powder before fussy cutting around it ......

I added few highlights with a white gel pen and a gold glitter dot to the centre and attached the flower to the card using foam pads
I also added a simple stem and a leaf ........ the stem is actually cut from the leftover piece of card from die cutting the curved edge ..... I don't like wasting anything!

Now it's your turn ........

Don't forget, as with all the HLS monthly challenges there's a prize for the winner ..... a $20 Gift certificate to spend in the store
Full challenge details and all the rules can be found here on the HLS Blog.  Whilst you're there check out more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.

Thanks for popping by ..... have a great weekend.
It's been a busy day here.  I had a few things to do in town ..... it's always nice shopping in the sun although town was a little busier than the usual Friday morning! More motorbikes too!
I met up with hubby for lunch and a cheeky G&T which was nice, and I'm currently out for drinks and a bite to eat to help celebrate a birthday .... it's all go over here.  Happy weekend folks!

Cheerio until next time ....

Time to 'smoosh' for Happy Little Stampers

Hello there,

Happy New Year!!!
With all the celebrations over .... hope you had a fabulous evening seeing in the start of 2016 ....... now it's time to get back to business.  Yes it's the first HLS CAS Challenge of 2016 ....... and we're starting the year with a real fun technique for you to use .....

'SMOOSHING'

What's 'smooshing' I hear you say?  Well ...... it's one of those really technical terms in the crafting world.  A really cool technique for colouring cardstock, to create fabulous backgrounds etc.  It basically involves applying ink or paint directly to a craft mat, spritz with some water then 'smoosh' your card through the ink to pick up the colour ..... simple!
You can use most types of ink ..... Distress Inks, Re-inkers, Alcohol ink, water-based markers, Inka Gold, Acrylic paints ..... and try it on different types of cardstock  too, to see what results you can get ...... just have a play.

If you're still not sure check out the HLS Blog ...... on there you'll find links to some fab videos and great tutorials.

For my challenge inspiration piece, I've used a 'smooshed' background, made using Distress Inks, applied directly from the ink pad onto a craft mat .......  I've also added in a little Inka Gold paint to add a touch of shimmer

This is a great way to colour pieces of card ..... a few whole sheets at a time to cut up and use on future projects or, I like to use up all the smaller pieces, left over bits ........ to use with die cuts or punches.

I used Picked Raspberry and Twisted Citron inks along with the Inka Gold, spritzed them with water then placed a piece of regular white card on the top, pressed it down a little, gave it a twist, then smooshed it through the colour and then left it to dry.

See how the mica in the Inka Gold gives that lovely shimmer .... so pretty

The daisies have been die cut from the same piece of cardstock ...... from the edges where there wasn't much colour ......

but this still gives a nice effect

I added my sentiment along the bottom ...... HLS Bold Birthday Sentiments

and carried on the greeting inside ........

You can see I've also added a little extra detail to the inside by using strips of my smooshed card along the bottom.

The challenge is sponsored by the Happy Little Stampers store .......

and the winner will receive one of the fabulous HLS stamp sets.

Go on ..... why not give smooshing a go .... it's fun!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio until next time

XX