Blog - The Crafty oINK Pen

Seasons from the Piccadilli Players

October 2, 2026 by Mikaela Titheridge Leave a Comment

Welcome to the Piccadilli Players quarterly hop where this quarter we share the Seasons.

This month, the Piccadilli Players are bringing you Seasons from around the globe.

For me, Autumn sings to my heart and my love of rich colours and warmth. My DL card was created from an 8″ Square piece of Cajun Craze and scored at 4″. A matting layer of the same colour, was embossed with the Sunflower 3D Embossing Folder.

Each of my Two-tone Daffodil Delight Sunflowers were die cut and gently blended with Pumpkin Pie ink to the centre. The flower centres were then die cut from both Pecan Pie and Early Espresso that were again blended using Early Espresso ink.

A warmer sentiment panel was created from a scrap of Very Vanilla and my sentiment stamped using Early Espresso.

Scattering my sunflowers across my card to surround the sentiment panel, provided a fabulous focal point.

A linen thread bow and a scattering of sequins helped finish my card.

This card was such a joy to create, and I loved bringing together all the floral details. I hope my design inspires you. Be sure to head over to my INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT and follow along with the hop … you won’t want to miss all the beautiful creations shared by the Piccadilli Players!

Hop Participants

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Stampin’ Fancy Friday – Black and White Challenge

September 21, 2026 by Mikaela Titheridge Leave a Comment

This month at the Stampin’ Fancy Friday … Black and White Challenge.

The Stampin’ Fancy Friday Challenge this month is all about Black and White.

A monochromatic theme that’s bold and beautiful, I used it to create my husband’s upcoming Wedding Anniversary Card.

The reverse side of the Spooktacular Designer Series Paper offered this fabulously relaxed striped paper. This formed the background to my collage.

The Extraordinary Life Dies seemed both fitting in name and style for a contemporary vibe. To anchor my collage, I die cut a scrap of notecard paper complete with ring bound holes. To this I added some white leaves, die cut from the Fern & Flora Dies.

A Black Stampin’ Blends Pen was used to colour change some Linen Thread, that I wound up to sit behind two Black die cut hearts.

One large white Ampasand sat centrally between the two hearts and just above by heat embossed sentiment. This sentiment came from the Sunset Coast Stamp Set and was heat embossed white on black.

A scattering of black embellishments and my card was complete. Now to keep it from my husband seeing … wish me luck!

Join in the Challenge

Why not consider joining in this month’s Challenge and play along with this Black and White Challenge. You can add a hashtag #fancyfridaychallenge to share your designs with us both on Facebook and Instagram. We look forward to seeing what you have to share.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my share today. Thanks for hopping by.

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Stamping Station – Timeless Design – Elegant and Vintage

September 20, 2026 by Mikaela Titheridge Leave a Comment

Welcome to this month’s Stamping Station hop where this month we offer Timeless Design – Elegant and Vintage.

Today’s theme had me immediately think of vintage florals and tiny flowers, so Bloom Bouquet it had to be. Taking a 3″ panel the height of my card, I trimmed it with what looked like white lace. This was created with off cut scraps of Basic White cardstock and the Bordered in Beauty Dies. A final skinny trim of Hydrangea Hue, to coordinate with the card base, and this panel was complete.

Next I created the sentiment panel. Stamped in Secret Sea, I selected the words Thank you, from a larger sentiment and stamped this onto a white card. The rectangular die from the Fern & Flora Die set helped create this anchor point. Once cut, I gently blended some Hydrangea Hue ink along the bottom edge using a Blending Brush.

Sentiment and Decoration

Narrowing the ribbon, by splitting it lengthways, made it appear a little less bulky and a more delicate. This bow would be positioned to the left where a floral spray would be built.

From Bloom Bouquet Designer Series Paper, I die cut a series of little bow shapes, that when stacked, form little flowers. The stems were die cut from white cardstock and blended with Peaceful Pine and the flower centres, from Hydrangea Hue.

Once assembled, the flowers were positioned around the left side of the sentiment panel. Adding a few more to the bottom right, give the appearance of them cascading down with the sentiment panel perched within.

A gentle scattering of Gold Foil flower centres and some Embellishments and my card was complete.

Hop on over to enjoy the inspiration shared by the rest of the team. . You can follow the hop by heading over to my Instagram page today

Mikaela Titheridge, UK Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, The Crafty oINK Pen. Stampin' Up! Products available through my online shop 24/7

Hop Participants

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Join my Team, Mikaela Titheridge, The Crafty oINK Pen, UK Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

Die Cutting Essentials Magazine Commission using Fern & Flora

September 7, 2026 by Mikaela Titheridge Leave a Comment

Die Cutting Essentials are featuring my magazine commission using the Fern & Flora Bundle.

I love creating a wreath and the foliage from the Fern & Flora Bundle created the most beautiful one. Set on a backdrop of Secret Sea, I added texture to the mat layer by embossing it with the Fern & Flora 3D Embossing folder.

Darkeing up the edges of the mat layer with ink of the same colour, helped add atmosphere.

From here a series of leaves were die cut from both cardstock and the Moonlit Flora Designer Series Paper. This brought about gradient in colour and texture and worked beautifully together.

A lighter pop of green was used to help lift the otherwise dark wreath with tiny yellow flowers added to the tips. The flowers were created by blending Golden Glow ink onto white cardstock before die cutting.

A white heat embossed sentiment was added onto rustic Pecan Pie cardstock and fussy cut. This was riased on Dimensionals to sit over the edge of the wreath.

A Linen Thread bow and a scattering of embellishments help finish this half wreath.

I hope you like this card and that you’ll consider creating with the foliage from Fern & Flora.

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Shop Online with me and obtain a copy of this month’s All Star Tutorial Bundle.
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Global Design Project #GDP563 Garden Harvest Challenge

September 2, 2026 by Mikaela Titheridge Leave a Comment

This week’s Global Design Project challenge #GDP563 – Garden Harvest Challenge.

Welcome to this week’s challenge that had me blend two autumnal bundles together – Painted Pumpkins and Radiant Sunflowers.

Using rich autumn colours, I added texture to the card base by embossing my matting layer with the Simply Plaid 3D Embossing Folder.

The little wooden gate was die cut from Crumb Cake cardstock and blended with Early Espresso Ink. This helped to highlight the markings in the woodgrain. With the Ink already open, I stamped my large Thank you sentiment onto Basic Beige, as a softer alternative to white.

Harvest to me consists of both Pumpkins and Sunflowers, so here I set to work die cutting both from Two-tone Daffodil Delight and a now retired Peach Pie. Ink was used to blend and add shadows and contrast.

The flower centres were die cut from Pecan Pie and again blended gently with Early Espresso.

Pullling this all together was the presence of Old Olive and Granny Apple Green, which all blended perfectly with my Pretty Peacock card base.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this autumnal share and that you’ll join in the challenge.

Play along with this week’s challenge

Grab your craft supplies and get creative!

🌎Create a project
🌎Post your creation to Instagram or Facebook
🌎Mention @global_design_project
🌎Use the challenge hashtag #GDP563

I hope you’ve enjoyed my inspiration and that perhaps you’ll have a go at joining in this challenge. The weekly Global Design Project challenge helps ignite your creative juices at the start of the week. I’ve enjoyed creating this and I hope you’ll seek inspiration from the rest of the Global Design Project #GDP651 either over on Facebook or Instagram.

Products Used:

Painted Pumpkins …. Radiant Sunflowers (168352)

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Global Design Project #GDP562 – Sketch Challenge

August 26, 2026 by Mikaela Titheridge Leave a Comment

This week’s Global Design Project challenge #GDP652 – is a Sketch Challenge. I interpret each of the rectangular panels as layers to a hillside view.

This week’s challenge, had me being creative with the Moonlit Flora Designer Series Paper by Stampin’ Up! to create this layered hillside view. I carefully ripped each layer and changed the pattern four times to represent the four panels of the sketch.

The soon to launch Welcome Noel Bundle offers these cute little houses. I die cut one in white ready to colour and backed it with Crushed Curry cardstock. The colouring was completed using Stampin’ Blends which I used the darker shade to add shade to the right hand side. A Black Blends pen was used to colour in behind the windows where I wanted the lights off.

The house was tucked between the layers of the patterned paper with a single white punched circle, created with a standard stationery hole punch, to represent the moon.

A white heat embossed sentiment sat on Secret Sea cardstock and was fussy cut up close and adhered using Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Play along with this week’s challenge

Grab your craft supplies and get creative!

🌎Create a project
🌎Post your creation to Instagram or Facebook
🌎Mention @global_design_project
🌎Use the challenge hashtag #GDP652

Products Used:

Welcome Noel Dies – 168464

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Purchase a Starter Kit for £99 : Choose £130 worth of products (p&p FREE) More HERE

Global Design Project #GDP561 – Colour Challenge

August 19, 2026 by Mikaela Titheridge 2 Comments

This week’s Global Design Project challenge #GDP651 – Colour Challenge

Global Design Challenge - colour theme #gdp561

A colour challenge is often a great place to start when trying to regain your mojo.

It’s been a long while since I took part in the Global Design Challenge, mainly down to personal issues I’ve been battling with at home. Needless to say, crafting has taken a back seat, so to join in a colour challenge for this week, seemed the right place to start on my full day of crafting.

The colours suggested saw me lean immediately towards the Hydrangea Hue for my card base and matting layers. The beautiful bold gingham paper gave a wholesome country feel.

Handemade card using Lily of the Valley for GDP561 by The Crafty oiNK Pen

I adore these new scalloped framed dies, called Scalloped Christmas Cheer Dies. Beautiful scalloped edges gave a wonderful backdrop for my stamped images.

The flowers, from Lily of the Valley Stamp Set, were stamped with black waterbased ink onto white cardstock, before colouring and die cutting. The colouring was done using Stampin’ Blends pens in the three colours of this colour challenge.

Handmade card using LIly of the Valley by Stampin' Up! for GDP561 by The Crafty oiNK Pen

To add variation, I die cut three larger leaves from Soft Sea Foam that I blended with the darker green and adhered behind my stamped images.

The sentiment came from another new stamp set called Radiant Sunflowers. A happy font and a cheerful sentiment that I stamped in black ink and fussy cut with papersnips.

Handmade friendship card, made using Lily of the Valley for the Global Design Project colour challenge by The Crafty oiNK Pen

A linen thread bow and a scattering of butterly embellishments helped complete my card, which I hope you like.

Play along with this week’s challenge

Grab your craft supplies and get creative!

🌎Create a project
🌎Post your creation to Instagram or Facebook
🌎Mention @global_design_project
🌎Use the challenge hashtag #GDP651

Products Used:

Scalloped Christmas Cheer Dies (168544) and Radiant Sunflowers (168352)

Get More for your Money …

Shop Online with me
Purchase a Starter Kit for £99 : Choose £130 worth of products (p&p FREE) More HERE

Stamping Station – CASE the Catalogue

July 19, 2026 by Mikaela Titheridge 4 Comments

Welcome to this month’s Stamping Station hop where this month we CASE the Catalogue.

This month we CASE the Catalogue here at the Stamping Station and I choose to case something from our Kits Collection.

The Radiant Reminders Kit offers the most beautiful botanical elements to create cards and/or Home Decor pieces.

My CASE of the Catalogue

Loving the layout and colours of the lower right card, I knew this was where my CASE would start.

Starting with a white card base I added an embossed matting layer to add texture. By adding additional white die cut frons, helped bring to life the embossed mat layer.

To replicate the large leaves from the Radiant Reminders kit, I die cut 3 each of Old Olive, Soft Sea Foam and Pecan Pie. Blending a little Granny Apple Green to the Soft Sea Foam leaves added depth of colour. The same applied by adding Pretty Peacock to the Old Olive leaves.

Gold foil or embossing would have been a beautiful addition but in the absence of having any to hand, I added Pecan Pie and Golden Glow. Tiny Golden Glow flower heads were die cut from the Moonlit Flora Designer Series Paper and added with tiny dots of wet glue to the Pecan Pie stems.

The Moonlit Flora DSP offered this beautiful large butterfly that I fussy cut and adhered using Stampin’ Dimensionals.

A white heat embossed sentiment from the Banner Sayings set was heat set onto Secret Sea cardstock, trimmed and raised on Dimensionals. Dewdrop Embellishments were added to complete my card.

The outcome is very botanical and I hope you like it and can take inspiration from it. Hop on over to enjoy the inspiration shared by the rest of the team. You can follow the hop by heading over to my Instagram page today

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Simply Cards & Papercrafts Magazine Commission using Rolling Waves

June 25, 2026 by Mikaela Titheridge 2 Comments

Simply Cards & Papercrafts (issue 284) are featuring my magazine commission using the Rolling Waves Bundle.

On a hot day like today, I share just one of the 5 cards I designed for this commission using this fabulous bundle.

When shade is needed from the sun, what better way than with a bright and cheerful parasol. The Rolling Waves bundle offers the most fabulous dies to cut both these cute parasols and the tropical palm leaves.

Starting with the Water and Dotted Lines Decorative Masks, Pool Party ink was blended through with a blending brush. This left a fabulous bubbly look down the centre of my white matting layer.

Die cutting my palm leaves from Granny Apple Green Two-Tone cardstock and blending with Pretty Peacock gave depth.

The Made with Sweetness Two-tone Cardstock pack, was used to die cut my parasols. Using Two-tone cardstock enabled me to use both sides to layer and create the various segments of the canopys.

Using Pretty Peacock tonally tied in nicely with the Coastal Cabana cardbase. This worked beautifully as a banner which I het embossed with my sentiment.

A gentle scattering of sequins gave that subtle shimmer as you move the card.

I really hope you have enjoyed my share and I hope if you have the extreme heatwave that you’re protecting yourself from the sun.

Products Used:

Get More for your Money …

Shop Online with me and obtain a copy of this month’s All Star Tutorial Bundle.
Purchase a Starter Kit for £99 : Choose £130 worth of products (p&p FREE) More HERE

Creative Stamping Magazine Commission using Cutest Crew

June 24, 2026 by Mikaela Titheridge Leave a Comment

Out NOW!! … Creative Stamping are featuring my magazine commission using the Cutest Crew Bundle.

Issue 162 of the Creative Stamping Magazine features a set of 5 cards I’ve designed using this fabulous bundle from Stampin’ Up!® – here is just one of them.

Starting with a DL card base of Coastal Cabana, created by scoring in half an 8″ x 8″ sheet of cardstock, I prepared a half embossed mat layer. Using the same colour mat layer, I added texture by using the Lovely Stripes Embossing Folder.

To help anchor my focal point, a wide strip of Designer Series Paper was added. This DSP coordinated perfectly with the cardbase and came from the Hobby Haven Designer Series Paper pack.

A square frame, die cut from basic white cardstock by using two Stylish Shape square dies framed my focal point.

Stamping the cute dogs with black waterbased ink allowed me to colour them using our Alcohol Stampin’ Blends Pens. You can afford to be as random as you like with the colouring, to simulate the coats of these cute dogs. The trio of butterflies balanced the card and acted as embellishments.

Coordinating Dies helped cut these dogs to precision. These were then sat over two strips of cardstock, one in Soft Sea Foam and the other Basic Beige. Dies within the pack generate these cute paw cut outs.

A sentiment disc, linen thread bow and a scattering of sequins helped complete this card.

I hope you have enjoyed my share.

Products Used:

Get More for your Money …

Shop Online with me and obtain a copy of this month’s All Star Tutorial Bundle.
Purchase a Starter Kit for £99 : Choose £130 worth of products (p&p FREE) More HERE

Seasons from the Piccadilli Players

Stampin’ Fancy Friday – Black and White Challenge

Join in the Challenge

Supplies Used:

Stamping Station – Timeless Design – Elegant and Vintage

Sentiment and Decoration

Hop Participants

Products Used:

Die Cutting Essentials Magazine Commission using Fern & Flora

Products Used:

Global Design Project #GDP563 Garden Harvest Challenge

Play along with this week’s challenge

Products Used:

Global Design Project #GDP562 – Sketch Challenge

Play along with this week’s challenge

Products Used:

Global Design Project #GDP561 – Colour Challenge

Play along with this week’s challenge

Products Used:

Stamping Station – CASE the Catalogue

My CASE of the Catalogue

Simply Cards & Papercrafts Magazine Commission using Rolling Waves

Products Used:

Creative Stamping Magazine Commission using Cutest Crew

Products Used:

thecraftyoinkpen

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