Simply The Zest

Happy Friday! DT Annalisa here and I’m sharing a bright green thank-you card that I created using stamps and dies from Time For Tea Designs. To create the vibrant background, I used Twisted Citron Distress Paint.

I started by placing several drops of Distress Paint onto a piece of acetate and spritzing it with water. I then repeatedly pressed the acetate onto Distress Watercolour Paper, spritzing the paper with water to help the paint spread and blend. I repeated this process several times, heat-setting between layers to build up colour and create a textured background.

Next, I die-cut a thin frame from Distress Watercolour Paper using the Simple Square Nesting Dies. I coloured the frame with Distress Watercolour Pencils in Weathered Wood, Lost Shadow, and Hickory Smoke, then adhered it to the green background. The completed panel was then glued to an A2 card base.

For the focal images, I stamped the fruit from Squeeze the Day, die-cut them with the coordinating dies, and coloured them with Copic markers. I added white gel pen highlights for extra detail and interest. The adorable mouse is from Sweet Cart Critters and was also die-cut using the coordinating die set.

Finally, I adhered the images and sentiment using a combination of liquid glue and 1mm double-sided foam tape for added dimension.

Thank you so much for reading my blog post! Don’t forget to use my discount code T4TANNALISA10 when you shop at Time For Tea Designs to receive 10% off your order.

Thanks For Helping Me Bloom!

Hello Tea Timers!

Michelle from the Design Team here and today I am sharing a shadow box card with a busy little bunny tending to their flower shop.

Supplies used: 

I Really Dig You

Cacti Critters

Awning - Sweet Cart Critters

Snake Plant - Purrfect Day

Leafy Foliage - Seasons Tweetings

I started with a bright green brick-effect background which gives the card that perfect little garden feel. It is fresh, fun and really sets the scene beautifully before any of the other elements are added.

The window is framed with a gorgeous green and white striped awning. Inside the shop, a sweet little bunny is hard at work with a red watering can in hand, surrounded by garden tools, potted plants and lots of plants. Two little buzzing bees pop up on either side of the window to add extra charm and keep things lively!

Spilling out beneath the window are two overflowing flower boxes packed with tulips, daisies, roses and so many colourful blooms. There is so much to look at and every little detail just makes me smile!

To finish everything off, the "Thanks For Helping Me Bloom" sentiment is heat embossed in white onto a warm brown banner across the top, giving it a lovely earthy, natural feel that ties the whole garden scene together perfectly.

This card would be perfect for a teacher, a friend or anyone who has helped you grow. It is one that is sure to make their day blossom!

Michelle

Valentine Sweets

Happy Friday! DT Annalisa here, and today I’m sharing a sweet Valentine’s Day card featuring the Sweet Cart Critters stamp set from Time For Tea Designs. I used Distress Watercolour Pencils along with the Scattered Hearts Stencil to create a soft, pretty water coloured background.

For the background, I started with watercolour paper and the Scattered Hearts Stencil. I soaked Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry, Tattered Rose, and Seedless Preserves Distress Watercolour Pencils in water, then scribbled them directly onto the stencil. After lightly spritzing the stencil with water, I placed it ink-side down onto the watercolour paper and gently pressed for a few moments before lifting it away. Next, I spritzed the paper with water to help the colours spread. After heat-setting the ink, I added splatter using the pencils and a watercolour brush.

I ink-blended Speckled Egg onto a 1 1/4" x 4 3/4" white cardstock panel. Using a blender brush, I then ink-blended Salvaged Patina through the Tiled Wall 6 x6" Stencil.

I adhered both inked panels to a square 5 1/4" card base using liquid glue. I die-cut a patterned paper frame using the Simple Square Nesting Dies and glued it onto the card base.

I stamped several images from the Sweet Cart Critters stamp set, coloured them with Copics, and cut them out using the coordinating dies. I added white gel pen details with a Gelly Roll Pen. The butterflies are from Squeeze the Day, and the sentiment is from Sweet On You. I used 1mm double-sided foam tape to adhere the images to the card for added dimension.

Thank you so much for reading my blog post! Don’t forget to use my discount code T4TANNALISA10 when shopping at Time For Tea Designs to receive 10% off your order.

Life Is Sweet!

Hi Tea Timers!

Design team member Michelle here and this week’s creation features two adorable skunks having a sweet moment under a beautiful cherry blossom tree.

Supplies used:

Stinkin Cute

Sweet Cart Critters

The scene is set in a lovely garden with a soft blue sky using Salvaged Patina Distress Oxide and a cloud stencil. I added a vibrant grassy ground, ink blended with my favourite combination of Twisted Citron and Lucky Clover Distress Oxides.

One little skunk is swaying on a swing hanging from a gorgeous pink tree that I shopped my stash for while their friend waves hello from the ground whilst holding a fresh flower (I used Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry, Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso for the ink blending). The pink tree adds such a dreamy, whimsical touch to the whole scene and for some extra charm, I added some hearts topped with glitter.

The sentiment "life is SWEET" is heat embossed onto bold red banner that really pops against the pink background and finally to try something different and to give the card some extra, "oomph" I added a white frame to pull the focus right into the center of the action.

This card perfect for Valentine’s Day, anniversaries or simply to brighten someone’s day.

Sending sweet crafty wishes your way!

Michelle

Tis the Season to Decorate!

Hello everyone!

Michelle from the Design Team here and this week’s card is all about festive fun and teamwork! Just look at these two little cuties decorating their Christmas tree. The kitty and squirrel are working together to string up lights and hang ornaments, and it couldn’t be more adorable. 

Supplies used:

Sweet Cart Critters

Snow Much Fun

Jumping With Joy

A5 Woodgrain Stamp

To create the background panel, I used a stencil and ink blended with Weathered Wood Distress Oxide for a soft brick look. Next, I shopped my stash for the arched window where I die cut it from white card stocked and lightly ink blended the edges again with Weathered Wood Distress Oxide to match.

The window background is a blend of Salvaged Patina, Peacock Feathers and Salty Ocean Distress Oxides with a silver and white paint splatters. I love how window gives a glimpse of a snowy winter sky, making it feel extra cosy indoors.

The wooden floor grounds the whole scene and this was made from my favourite technique of stamping the A5 Woodgrain stamp on Kraft card stock using Vintage Photo Distress Oxide. 

Each of the critters, decorations, and the gifts were stamped and coloured with alcohol markers. A tip - a white gel pen and some strategic fussy cutting were used to separate out some of the images! They were then arranged and in some places scraps of card were used for layering and dimension.

 

The sentiment is a nice and simple 'Merry Christmas' heat embossed onto red card stock cut into a fish tail banner to match the red ribbons on garland framing the window.

It’s a joyful little moment captured in card form and I hope it gives you all the warm, festive fuzzies too!

Michelle

Balloon Birthday Wishes!

 Hi Tea Timers!

Michelle here from the Design Team today with a colourful birthday card that’s ready to party! These adorable critters have gathered with balloons and big smiles to send some cheerful birthday wishes.

Supplies used:

Sweet Cart Critters

Hippo - Snappy Before Coffee

Balloons - Hey There Critters

Sentiment - Birthday Cake

This card would be great for anyone who loves a bright and happy surprise in the mail! The hippo is looking dapper in a bow tie, and the little squirrel and kitty are ready for the cake and celebration. I love how the bright balloons pop against the soft yellow sky and the cobblestone path gives it that perfect park day feeling.

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

I hope it added a little extra colour to your day!

Michelle

Wishing You A Happy Day!

Hello Everyone!

Michelle from the Design Team here and I bring to you some friendly crocodiles and their sweet little neighbours wishing you a happy day!

One of my favourite things to do is that I like to mix and match my stamp sets so that I get more from them. Today’s inspiration uses the following sets:

• Snappy Before Coffee
• Sweet Cart Critters
• Cactus, books, cup - Home Sweet Home
• Pie - Baked with More Love
• Sentiment - Birthday Cake

To make the card, I stamped all my images onto white cardstock with the exception of the windows. These were something that I made myself but is very easy to do - its just drawing a lot of rectangles, squares and having a little patience! I coloured the images with alcohol markers and added highlights with a white gel pen. 

The background is a panel of white cardstock that has been die cut with a stitched rectangle die and then ink blended with a brick stencil and pink ink.

For the sentiment, I kept this simple. I heat embossed this onto black cardstock with white embossing powder and die cut it with a banner die.

The fun part was laying out all the windows and deciding what was happening in each one. I wanted some of the windows to tell a story - the crocs having a brew to catch up on where to go after their beach holiday, a cute little crew that are either eyeing up the delicious smelling pie or wondering what is happening outside. For the other windows, just warm homey touches such as cacti, books and of course a buzzy bee! 

I hope you all enjoyed the card.

Happy Crafting,

Michelle

Life is Sweet – A Garden Market of Smiles!

Hello Tea Timers! 

Michelle from the Design Team here and today’s card is blooming with happiness with a charming hippo! 

I had so much fun creating this bright, cheerful scene and hold onto your seats as I mixed a matched a record number of stamp sets that makes it plant-tastically special.

Stamp sets used:

• Hippo - Snappy Before Coffee
• Plants - Purrfect Day, Home Is Where The Heart Is, Seasons Tweeting
• Flowers and bee - I Really Dig You
• Bucket plant pot - Beach Buds
• Sentiment and cart - Sweet Cart Critters 

To start off, I stamped and coloured the images with alcohol markers and highlighted with a white gel pen. Once this part was done, I did some ‘plant cuttings’ by trimming off the trough part on the flowers and gluing it to the cart. The plants in the bucket style pots is a tree branch cut down to size and turned vertically. The eucalyptus like plant is 3 of the leafy fronds from the Seasons Tweetings stamp set grouped together.

For the dreamy sunset background, using a cloud stencil, I ink blended on pink, orange and yellow inks on a piece of white card stock. I then splattered gold metallic watercolour to give it interest. Once the sky was dry, I stamped the ‘Life is Sweet’ sentiment directly onto the background with black ink.

To create a rustic market feel, I knew I had to have a cobblestone ground. I took a piece of white card stock and die cut a hillside. I then used a patterned stencil and ink blended grey ink and splattered with black ink. 

Once I had all the pieces to the plant market stall, I laid it all out and like really life gardening, spent a quite some time deciding which plant should go where! When I was happy with everything, I glued it all down with liquid glue. I made sure I added a bee as wherever there are plants and flowers, there is always a busy bee!

To finish the card, I framed the scene using the Smile Inverted Scallop Frame, die cut from white card stock and adhered with foam tape to give it some height.

If you love this card as much as I do, don’t forget to let your creativity bloom!

Happy Crafting,

Michelle

Bookshelf Bookmark

Hello, DT Annalisa here. I love finding creative ways to use my supplies beyond their intended purposes. For my bookmark project, I did just that with the Five Windows Cover Die.

First, I die-cut white cardstock using the Stitched Quilted Cover Die. Then, I placed the Bookmark Dies diagonally over this panel and ran it through my die-cutting machine again, which left me with a beautiful quilted pattern on my bookmark.

Next, I ink-blended Squeezed Lemonade and Scattered Straw Distress Oxides onto the bookmark using my Beautiful Blender Brushes. I used Black Soot Distress Oxide and some masking tape to create the floor area.

I also ink-blended a Neenah Desert Storm cardstock with Vintage Photo Distress Oxide and die-cut it with the Five Windows Cover Die. I only used three of the four small boxes and trimmed off the larger rectangular area, creating a bookshelf for my bookmark.

I attached the bookshelf to the bookmark using double-sided tape.

After that, I stamped and coloured images from three stamp sets - Purrfect Day, Sweet Cart Critters, and Book Buddies - and cut them out with their coordinating dies. I added white gel pen accents using a Gelly Roll Pen. I also stamped the "one more chapter" sentiment and cut it out with its coordinating die.

Finally, I used liquid glue to attach all the elements to the bookmark and tied a decorative ribbon in the opening at the top to complete the project.

Thank you so much for reading my blog post! Don’t forget to use my discount code T4TANNALISA10 when you shop at Time For Tea Designs to receive 10% off your order.