#1131 – A Stained Glass Crocus

Posted on January 6, 2026 by Ashwini

Hello and welcome! It’s the first challenge for me in this year! We are starting the challenges at Addicted to Stamps & More with Birthdays challenge this year. There are no other themes to follow other than the need for it to be a birthday project.

And here’s what I made –

I wanted to make a stained glass effect card since I saw these cards from Jennifer McGuire. I had already kept my die chosen and ready for when I wanted to make the card – Simon Says Stamp Crocus Flowers. For the window, I chose to use Hero Arts Infinity Dies Arches.

To start with, I embossed the dies on a white panel and colored them. For the background I used distress inks and a brush to ink blend and for the Crocus, I used Zig brush pens. Once dried and done, I adhered the pieces together and stacked them with a couple more layers of die cuts. I then used Glossy Accents and filled in all the negative areas. I then left it to dry overnight.

For the card base, I used Simon Says Stamp Crystal Distortion embossing folder on black card base – I finally got to use this after more than a couple of years of buying! I then adhered matte silver cardstock die cuts on the previously assembled Crocus+Window piece and adhered this over the embossed base. For the sentiment I used Neat & Tangled Celebrate die, using black as the shadow and the matte silver for the seniment. After adhering all these pieces on the card, I used a few sequins for embellishment.

I must admit I love this technique despite it using quite a bit of the glossy accents and taking quite a bit of drying time. It is worth the wait!

And I’m joining these challenges –

Inkspirational challenge #358: Shine/Shiny

Neglected Stuff challenge January – I used the Simon Says Stamp Crystal Distortion embossing folder– old and completely unused! Not sure how old this is, but I’ve had it with me for a couple of years at least.

AAA Birthday Card challenge ##81: Winter Birthday – I’ve used a winter flower in my card.

So take your time to join the challenge as well. You can get more inspiration from our DT at the Addicted to Stamps & More challenge blog.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

#1125 – Card Chain Challenge September

Posted on October 2, 2025 by Ashwini

Hello and welcome! I got to join the Card Chain Challenge again for the September challenge and today’s the reveal day.

The September challenge had the following options:

Colour Palette Option

(Exact matching is not required.)

Sketch Option

(Orient as desired.)

Theme Options: Flamingos / Fish / Friendship

Product / Technique Options: Foil / Silhouette

And here’s what I made –

If not obvious, I used the colors, the sketch, the Friendship theme and the Foil from the product option.

I started with the background, using Neat and Tangled Rice Paddies stencil. I didn’t have a teal colored ink in my stash, so I used green ink and blue on top of that, going over the same areas so that both the inks blend together to give a teal.

Once done, I set that aside and stamped the mermaid, the shell and the starfish from the Simon Says Stamp Be a Mermaid on white cardstock using VersaFine Onyx black ink and colored them using distress inks. On the mermaid tail, I also used Perfect Pearls of similar colors and also Gansai Tambi Starry Skies in gold to get the colors from the theme. I then fussy cut all the images and went over the edges using black Zig brush marker.

I die cut three panels of increasing size from white cardstock using Hero Arts Infinity Dies Arches. On the middle panel, I added a strip of foiled washi tape, which had a gorgeous wavy pattern on it. On the top panel, I stamped images from Trinity Stamps Sea Life Silhouettes. I then adhered the pieces over the stencilled card base. After that, I adhered the mermaid tail, the shell and star fish and also a few sequins. I also added a few drops of the same gold from Gansai Tambi Starry Skies. I then stamped the sentiment from Winnie and Walter The Big, The Bold and The Happy stamp set.

I got this beautiful card and some lovely die cuts from Linda this month!

Checkout the entire chain of cardmakers who participated this time in the the Card Chain Challenge challenge blog. Wow! I am so impressed every single time by the variety of cards!

Thank you so much for stopping by! 🙂

#1114 – Window to a Garden

Posted on May 22, 2025 by Ashwini

PE: Honorable Mention at Timeout challenge!

Hello and welcome! We have a new challenge at Seize the Birthday challenge. This time, I am the leading lady and I have chosen the topping to be ‘Use a Frame‘. As always, every Challenge still carries the ‘Anything Goes‘ option.

And here’s what I made –

I started with the flowers in the background. I wanted to make a wild garden like scene. I used Simon Says Stamp Butterfly Blossoms, stamped them with a light ink and then watercolored it using Daniel Smith watercolors. I also stamped the butterflies using Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink and then watercolored it the same.

My initial idea had a branch of flowers on top, but once I was done with the background, I liked the version without it better, so I left it out.

I cut out a panel of white cardstock, die cut this using Hero Arts Infinity Dies Arches. I also die cut a frame using the same dies from a piece of yellow cardstock. I also embossed the white die cut panel using Spellbinders Splendid embossing folder.

Assembling the card, I adhered watercolored panel on a white card base. I then adhered the frame to the window panel and then foam mounted it on the card base. For the sentiment, I used a sentiment from the same stamp set, stamped and fussy cut it and then foam mounted it partially on the stamp, the rest covered with glue. The butterflies came last, fluttering around the garden. 🙂

And that finished my card. And I’m joining these challenges –

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Bright & Cheerful