Handmade by Natty

Good morning!

I am really hoping that this month's prompt helps usher in some seasonally warm and summery weather! I've definitely been wondering whether I might as well get started on some Christmas cards this past week, what with the chilly temperatures up north, and the almost constant rain showers.

Here's hoping we see some sun and dry weather for the jubilee weekend!

{Pinterest pin}

The focus colour for June is: Rainbow tones

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Rainbows – the obvious way to incorporate rainbow tones is to feature an actual rainbow, but how about interpreting the colours of the rainbow in order by using a separate colour for each letter in a sentiment, a separate colour of cardstock to create a floral/leafy wreath, the separate colours in a row of birthday candles, or create a rainbow coloured background with stencilled stripes or other patterns (or just use paper from your stash that already fits the bill!).
• Confetti – it doesn't have to be in all the colours of the rainbow, but confetti can be incorporated as a shaker card with sequins, die-cut stars/hearts/dots, polymer clay sprinkles and the like. You could even splatter ink or paint on the background of your card in different colours to represent confetti.
• Dots galore – there's plenty of scope for polka dots of all sizes. In addition to dotty patterns with paper or stamps, you could use circle dies to create apertures/frames for different focal points on your card or one main element you want to showcase.
• Pompoms – in the last few years they've been featured in a good few scrapbooking lines as embellishments, so if you have something with a pompom on it and you've wondered when you will ever use it, now's the time! Otherwise, how about looking at your stash of ribbons and trim, and seeing whether there's any pompom trim waiting to be used.
• Party – it's pretty clear from the image that anything party-related will definitely fit the bill – so if you've got birthday cards to make, you can go all out with balloons, party hats, bunting/streamers, a big birthday cake, or even use the word "party" in your sentiment.
• Negative die-cutting – the font for "You light up my world" is missing the insides of letters, it reminds me of one of my favourite fonts, Papercute. You could imitate this style by using alpha or word dies for negative die-cutting techniques, where the dies/word create an aperture for a shadow effect or contrasting background. Really simple and no fiddly gluing of those little bits that need adding back into the word!
• Flora and foliage – the leaves and flowers featured in the image this month are really bold and big, so why not go for a floral design that covers almost the entire front of your card? Or some oversized floral motifs and leaves? I don't know about you, but I have a good few of these in my collection that have been somewhat overlooked.
• Pinstripe – finally, for a little pattern or contrast to dots, there are different pinstripe patterns featured in the image. Dashed lines, stitched lines, whether with patterned papers or using stamps, even a little stitching or crimping detail on layering dies and cover plates would easily fit the bill.

Happy crafting!