Welcome to my crafty blog. I’m a bit late with today’s post – it’s been a pretty full on day, but I’m now finally sat down with a coffee to write this. I’ve used the new ‘Friends are like seashells’ stamps & dies from Stampin’ Up for today’s offering. I wasn’t really sure how best to use this set to start with, but I did a brilliant online class on Monday with Joanne James (aka ‘The Crafty Owl’) and now I’m inspired! Joanne is always full of great ideas – you can find out more in her blog here

I’ve taken ideas from a couple of blog challenges for this card – the layout picks up the inspiration photo from TGIF challenges and I went with the colours in this week’s photo over at Fusion card challenge

I started with a 6×6 card blank, and brushed ‘speckled egg’ Distress Oxide through the centre of Claritystamp’s ‘seaweed’ stencil using a blending brush.

The next stage was thanks to Joanne’s class inspiration. I started by cutting out the large die in the set from a piece of white card. I then stamped each of the shells into the spaces on the die cut, following which I ran it through the seashells embossing folder, to give them added dimension. I then snipped each of the individual shells out of the die cut using scissors.

I then attached the shells to the centre of the card blank, using foam pads, in a cluster.

Finally I added the sentiment, using ‘terracotta’ Artistry Ink to pick up the colour of a couple of the shells. I thought it was perfect for my little seashell collection.

Thanks for dropping in. Seashells are not my usual style, but I think that might be about to change!