desperatehousewifecraft

March 25, 2019
by desperatehousewifecraft 5 Comments

Hero Arts Poppy Background

Hi all, its Gwendolyn here back with my last post for a2z Scrapbooking as I move on to other projects. I had such fun designing with this great team and I just want to thank everyone, especially Cindy, for being so supportive and helpful during my term here.

So for my last card, I wanted to do something different and also inspire you to join us in this month’s “Color It In” challenge. I just bought 100 pulp board coasters made from compact paper, with an idea to paint on them. So I decided to try it using stamps first and the Hero Arts poppy background in its square shape was just perfect for my project.

I first stamped it with Peacock Feathers distress ink, being careful to avoid the flowers, then coloured in the florals with my pink Zig Clean color real brush. I spritzed the whole stamp with fine mists of water and placed the coaster over my stamp. I started colouring in the large poppy with my Zig marker but realised that the coaster was absorbing it too fast and so I couldn’t blend it and it left very clear marks. So I switched to my watercolours and the result was much better. Once the paint dried, I brushed the whole coaster with clear Varnish so it would be waterproof and UV resistant.

Well, I hope you liked my watercolour coaster, it was my first time so it’s not perfect but I think its important to share my mistakes too! If you’re interested to see my other watercolour coaster projects, do visit my blog.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see your projects in our challenge gallery here. Have a great day!

Are you on social media? We are! Please join us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook? so you don’t miss any fun promotions or new challenge announcements! You can find me at desperatehousewifecraft.

Please join us in this month’s “Color It In” challenge for your chance at a free digital stamp set AND, if you used Hero Arts or Sugartree Stamps, a $20 gift card to our etsy store. Our current monthly challenge can always be found in the menu bar, and runs from the 1st to last day of the month

The a2z scrapbooking store carries a wide variety of Hero Arts products as well as a nice selection of digital stamps! Get discounted new releases, sales, grab bags & more. Proceeds from our store benefit Celiac & Behcets disease foundations. Use my discount code Gwendolyn15 to get 15% off your purchase of $25 or more. If you’re looking for a Hero Arts product you don’t see in store, use the Request Custom Order button from with-in the shop.

March 15, 2019
by desperatehousewifecraft 4 Comments

Hero Arts Hummingbirds

Hi there! Its Gwendolyn and I’m here today to share a card I made to inspire you to join us in our latest challenge which is “Color It In”, so we would love to see any projects you made which you have coloured in and you can link them up here.

I created my card using Hero Arts Spiral Petals stencil and Hero Arts Hummingbirds which you can get from the a2z Scrapbooking store. I wanted to create a form of a flower through my stencil so I added coloured paste through a part of the stencil, by first mixing blue liquid watercolour with a clear embossing paste, taping down the stencil on 250g mixed media card stock and adding the paste through the stencil with a spatula. Be sure to clean your stencil and spatula as soon as you finish. Once it dried, I sprinkled some Violet Brushos paint powder over it and spritz it with water, this dissolves the powders into beautiful washes of colour!

While that was drying, I stamped one of the birds from the Hero Arts Hummingbirds set with Hero Arts black ink and coloured it in with my Zig clean color real watercolour brushes. I fussy cut it and added it on my card in a position that would give the impression it was suckling the nectar from the flower I created with my stencil. To finish, I stamped the sentiment from the Hero Arts Hummingbirds set, with Hero Arts black ink, using my Misti so I would get a strong black sentiment against the colourful background.

Well, I hope you are inspired by my card to create a card of your own using your colouring mediums. I look forward to seeing them at the challenge here. Who knows, you could be the winner of a digi stamp, and if you happen to use Sugartree or Hero Arts products, you will get a $20 gift voucher to shop at the store, in addition to the digi stamp!

Have a great day! Hugs

Are you on social media? We are! Please join us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook? so you don’t miss any fun promotions or new challenge announcements! You can find me at desperatehousewifecraft.

February 25, 2019
by desperatehousewifecraft 4 Comments

Hero Arts Dahlia

Hi everyone, its Gwendolyn here today on the a2z Scrapbooking blog to inspire you to join our February challenge with the wonderfully romantic mood board to celebrate the month of love!

For this card, I was inspired by the red and pale pink colours & the flowers to create a clean and simple card using Hero Arts Floral Dahlia stamp, which my fellow DT member Karen Gave me for Christmas. I decided to give my watercolours a break and use my Prismacolor pencils instead, and I have to say it was nice to use a medium I could control! The lines on the stamp also help to figure out where to add the shadings, which is really very useful.

After stamping the whole image with Hero Arts Soft Granite ink, I first highlighted the lines of each petal with Crimson Red and then softly went over the extreme edges of each petal with Pink, making sure to leave the centres uncoloured. As I decided my light source would come from the top side, I gave the bottom half of my dahlia a darker shading. The leaves were coloured with Chartreuse first before adding the darker green called Grass Green. To create a smooth blend after I added all the colours I wanted, I went over each petal with a white colour pencil. The centre of the flower was then coloured using Faber Castell Artist PITT brush pen.

To finish, I stamped the sentiment from the same stamp set with Hero Arts Black ink and added some water drops using my Goosebumps clear texture spray, but instead of spraying, I unscrewed the top and let some droplets fall onto my card. They dry hard so those water droplets stay nice and plump!

Well, I hope you liked my card and that it inspires you to one for our challenge. You have until the 28th of February to enter your card at the a2z Scrapbooking blog here. I look forward to seeing your entries! Have a great week! Hugs,

Are you on social media? We are! Please join us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook? so you don’t miss any fun promotions or new challenge announcements! You can find me at desperatehousewifecraft.

Please join us in this month’s “Mood Board” challenge for your chance at a free digital stamp set AND, if you used Hero Arts or Sugartree Stamps, a $20 gift card to our etsy store. Our current monthly challenge can always be found in the menu bar, and runs from the 1st to last day of the month

February 15, 2019
by desperatehousewifecraft 3 Comments

Be My Valentine

Hi all, its Gwendolyn here today to share a card I made to inspire you to join our current monthly challenge. As it was Valentine’s Day yesterday, this month’s challenge celebrates love! Love between your partner and you, with your family, your friends, your pets or blogger friends whom I truly appreciate and love!

I was inspired by the bouquet of flowers and the ice cream with strawberry in the photo board to make my card, but as I am lactose intolerant, I replaced the ice cream with flowers. I used stamps from 5 different Hero Arts stamps set to make my card! The cone comes from the Color Layering Ice Cream set, which I stamped with Momento Desert Sand for the base and Versafine Vintage Sepia for the darker parts of the cone.

The little flowers come from Hero Arts Cactus Animals, Hero Arts Autumn Moon and Hero Arts Mouse Tea Party and they were stamped to form the cone of the ice cream with alot of masking! I then coloured them with my Zig clean color real brushes. The sentiment comes from Hero Arts Love Bandit and I gave it a little ombre stamping by first stamping with Versafine Satin Red and then stamped the top again with a darker red ink Versafine Crimson Red.

Well I hope you liked my card and it will inspire you to join our challenge. I look forward to seeing them in the link up here. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Are you on social media? We are! Please join us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook? so you don’t miss any fun promotions or new challenge announcements! You can find me at desperatehousewifecraft.

January 25, 2019
by desperatehousewifecraft 3 Comments

Hero Arts Cactus Animals

Hi its Gwendolyn here, your desperate housewife, and I’m back today to share a card I made using Hero Arts Cactus Animals, which you can find over at the a2z Scrapbooking store, to remind you to join in our “Anything Goes” challenge which ends in a few days.

Today’s card was done rather quickly as the idea hit me at 22h30 just before I went to bed…and 1h later, I was in bed! I first inked up the background with Tim Holtz’s distress inks and spritzed a little water all over it. While waiting for it to dry, I stamped the critters using Hero Arts Black ink coloured my little cactus animals, which I had cut with my Brother Scan and Cut, using my Zig clean color real brush pens.

Before adding my little cute cactus animals, using my Zig pen by tapping it against my bone folder, but any small stick will do too, I splattered a little brown ink on the yellow part of my card to resemble “sand”. I then stuck on my little critters using ScrapPerfect Best Glue Ever. The sentiment comes from Hero Arts Thank You messages set and it was stamped onto one of my newest purchases, one of the rounded rectangles from the Hero Arts Infinity dies set.

Aren’t those critters just adorable? If you would like to get them at the a2z Scrapbooking store, remember to use my personal code Gwendolyn15 to save 15% off your purchases of $25 and above! And if they’re already sold out cause they’re freakin’ adorable, you can always put in a custom order at the store by clicking on the “Request Custom order” tab at the bottom of the items list on the left.

I look forward to seeing your gorgeous designs in the link up of our “Anything Goes” challenge here. Have a great weekend!

Hugs,

Are you on social media? We are! Please join us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook so you don’t miss any fun promotions or new challenge announcements! You can find me at desperatehousewifecraft.

Please join us in this month’s “Anything Goes” challenge for your chance at a free digital stamp set AND, if you used Hero Arts or Sugartree Stamps, a $20 gift card to our etsy store. Our current monthly challenge can always be found in the menu bar, and runs from the 1st to last day of the month

Hero Arts Cactus Animals,
Hero Arts rounded rectangle infinity dies
Zig clean color real brush pens
Tim Holtz’s distress oxide inks Faded Jeans, Wilted Violet, Picked Raspberry, Abandoned Coral and Spiced Marmalade
Hero Arts Black ink
Brother Scan and Cut

January 15, 2019
by desperatehousewifecraft 2 Comments

Hero Arts Fairy baby card

Hi everyone! Its Gwendolyn and I’m back today to inspire you to join us in our “Anything Goes” challenge for January. You get a chance to win a free digital stamp set from the a2z Scrapbooking store and if you use any Hero Arts or Sugartree products, you get a $20 gift voucher to spend at the store! If you need to get any of those products, make sure you use my personal code Gwendolyn15 to get a 15% discount on any of your orders $25 and above.

Now onto my card. I just got the Hero Arts December monthly kit, the first time for me but I just loved all the fairy images, perfect for kids birthday cards or as I made here, baby cards. I made this card for a friend who’s sending it to a new mum of a baby girl called Sophie. I first stamped all the images using Hero Arts inks, then coloured them with my Spectrum Noir Sparkle pens. They glide on like watercolour and blend really easily and boy do they sparkle and shine!

I didn’t use this fairy in the end as the coordinating die slipped while I was cutting it on my Big Shot Plus…I’m terrible at diecutting, even when I add tape, it doesn’t come out perfectly centred, I end up fussy cutting to finish it properly!🙄 To know where to add my images, I used the rectangle from Sue Wilson’s infinity double stitched rectangle dies in the middle of the card, as a guide.

Once all my stamps were coloured and diecut, I cut the rectangle and got my daughter Ines to write the name of the baby as she writes so well! I flicked on some blue and pink paint onto my card by wetting (a little) my Zig clean color brush marker tips and tapping it against the side of a pen.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope I inspired you enough to join us in our Anything Goes challenge. I look forward to seeing your projects. Have a great week!

Hugs,

Are you on social media? We are! Please join us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook so you don’t miss any fun promotions or new challenge announcements! You can find me at desperatehousewifecraft.

Hero Arts December monthly kit
Sue Wilson Noble collection double stitched rectangle dies
Spectrum Noir sparkle pens
Sizzix Big Shot Plus diecutting machine

December 25, 2018
by desperatehousewifecraft 4 Comments

Hero Arts Paper Layering Neighbourhood die

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it!!! Its Gwendolyn here and I hope you’re all having a nice time with your family or loved ones. I’m taking a little time off from my family and friends who are at our house this year, to share my last Christmas card of the year, with those of you who are doing the same and reading my post!

I’m using my Hero Arts Paper Layering Neighbourhood die again which I got from the a2z Scrapbooking store. Remember, if they don’t have it in stock, you can custom order it! Use my code Gwendolyn15% to get 15% off any of your purchases of $25 and above.

To make this card, I first painted the background using Hero Arts Watercolor dot palette for the night sky. There is so much paint on just one dot, its incredible! The lights in the windows were coloured with Prima Marketing gold metallic Watercolor. Once it was dry I sprinkled white acrylic paint all over the sky. I always use Clairefontaine 250g multi technique paper for my cards, but any watercolour paper will do in this case.

I then posed the diecut onto my painted panel and added Nuvo crystal drops onto the roofs to give an impression of snow. The sentiment comes from the Hero Arts Holiday Houses digital kit which I printed on a blue card stock and cut with my craft scissors. I flicked some white paint on it too to coordinate with the sky.

Well, I better get back to my house guests, but I was happy to share a little of my Christmas time with all of you!

Happy Holidays everyone and a great start to 2019!!!

Are you on social media? We are! Please join us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook? so you don’t miss any fun promotions or new challenge announcements!

Please join us in this month’s “Winter Wonderland” challenge for your chance at a free digital stamp AND, if you used Hero Arts or Sugartree Stamps, a $20 gift card to our Hero Arts store. Our current monthly challenge can always be found in the menu bar, and runs from the 1st to last day of the month

The a2z scrapbooking store carries a wide variety of Hero Arts products! Get discounted new releases, sales, grab bags & more. Proceeds from our store benefit Celiac & Behcets disease foundations. Use my discount code Gwendolyn15 to get 15% off your purchase of $25 or more. If you’re looking for a Hero Arts product you don’t see in store, use the Request Custom Order button from with-in the shop

December 15, 2018
by desperatehousewifecraft 3 Comments

Hero Arts Holiday Houses Digital stamps

Happy Saturday all! It’s Gwendolyn and I’m here to share a Christmas card I made using Hero Arts Holiday Houses digital stamps. I’m also here to remind you to join our challenge where the theme is “Winter Wonderland” and I look forward to seeing your cards in the line up. Don’t forget to use my personal code Gwendolyn15% to get 15% off all your purchases $25 and above.

To create my card, I first embossed the background with a Darice Snowflakes embossing folder and then printed the three houses in black (they also come pre-coloured) and 2 trees in green. I coloured them with Prima marketing watercolours, fussy cut them and adhered them onto my card, raising the centre tree and house on foam tape, to give my card some dimension.

The sentiment, (which came in green or black options) was printed in green onto a water-coloured panel I had created shortly before, and the edges cut with my craft scissors. To finish I added Nuvo Ivory Seashells crystal drops on the “snow” areas to give a fun added interest to the houses!

Well I hope you liked my card and that it inspired you to use this wonderful digi stamp! Have a great creative weekend!

Are you on social media? We are! Please join us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook? so you don’t miss any fun promotions or new challenge announcements!

November 25, 2018
by desperatehousewifecraft 6 Comments

Thankful for you

Hi all, its Gwendolyn and I’m back this Sunday to share a very simple to make card with a technique that’s apparently all the rage at the moment – ombre ink blending on coloured card stock to leave a spotlight for your main image, which in my case is the cute baby polar bear sitting on an iceberg, from Hero Arts Polar Greetings stamp set, which you can get from the a2z scrapbooking store.

I first saw this done by Kensija (Sweetkobylkin) and loved what she did with her cards so I decided to try it. I started with a blank card base from the Hero Arts Pool Mixed Folded cards set, using the lightest pool colour card, which is like a very light teal colour. I started blending Mermaid lagoon distress oxide all around the card, with a very light blend in the centre of the card just so there were no blend marks, I then added Faded Jeans around the borders and a little black on the edges. I went over everything with Mermaid Lagoon again so that everything was nice and blended. The idea is to have a very light centre and it gets darker as you move towards the edges of the card.

I stamped the iceberg directly on the card, coloured it with my Prismacolor pencils & finished with a brush of my Spectrum Noir Illustrator clear sparkle pen to make it appear as the ice is glistening. The little polar bear was stamped on another card stock, coloured with my coloured pencils too and fussy cut. Before adhering this to my card, I flicked some white paint on the top part of the card to resemble snow and a little water on the bottom part of the card to resemble water bubbles.

I then stuck on my baby bear and stamped the sentiment, which comes from Hero Arts “Thank You” messages set with black ink from the Hero Arts Swan layering ink set. So a very simple clean and simple card to make but with great effect don’t you think?

Thanks for stopping by and have a great creative day!

Are you on social media? We are! Please join us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook? so you don’t miss any fun promotions or new challenge announcements!

Please join us in this month’s “Give Thanks” challenge. As you know, we’ve changed our rules a bit and participants are no longer required to use Hero Arts products to enter our challenges. Each month we feature a ‘Digi of the Month’ which will be the prize offered to our randomly-chosen challenge winner from our Hero Arts store. Our current monthly challenge can always be found in the menu bar, and runs from the 1st to last day of the month

November 15, 2018
by desperatehousewifecraft 6 Comments

Thanks a Latte

Hi everyone, its Gwendolyn here, back to remind you to join us in this month’s challenge where the theme is “Give Thanks”. Link up your cards here and maybe win a $15 voucher to the a2z Scrapbooking store, AND if you use any Hero Arts or Sugartree products, there is a bonus prize!

I made a very simple card today, using a digital stamp from Sugartree Stamps called “Hug in a Mug”, which you can immediately download as soon as you purchase it at the a2z Scrapbooking Etsy store. It has 5 different coffee cup images and 8 sentiments! Don’t forget to use my code Gwendolyn15 to get a 15% discount on all purchases $25 and over!

I first water-coloured my background on 300g watercolour paper using Ecoline liquid watercolours as I wanted a very vibrant look. I wet the paper thoroughly and just dropped in the colours of paints I wanted. While it was drying, I prepared my print file on my computer by inserting the image I wanted and duplicated it all over my page. I also prepared the sentiment I needed by just printing it on a white piece of paper and die-cutting it with Sue Wilson’s stitched rectangle dies. I then printed my coffee file on the dried water-coloured panel.

I cut it into size with Sue Wilson’s stitched rectangle die and adhered it onto one side of a white card base and added the sentiment. So, very simple and easy to recreate! I hope you’ve been inspired by my card to join us in this months “Give Thanks” challenge and I look forward to seeing your cards in the line up!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great creative day!

Are you on social media? We are! Please join us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook? so you don’t miss any fun promotions or new challenge announcements!