Getting to know you blog hop

Hi again, you've probably seen posts like these around blogland recently and may have gotten to know more about cards and their makers. I thought I'd post a pic of me as an introduction!

I was tagged by Susanne Vargas of Keep in Touch, she creates amazing cards in a variety of styles, like this gorgeous card. 

Pop over for a visit, you'll be so glad you did.

Now to answer some questions!

What creative projects are you currently working on?

I sell some of my cards locally so am always making a variety of cards, and I'm also starting my christmas cards.

I used to make ornaments for our tree with my boys when they were younger, and like that these metallic baubles can be hung on a tree, but may end up just putting one on each card to save time!

 I'll probably make a few more like this one and then will do some simpler ones like the turquoise baubles to send to family and  friends.

What inspires your designs?

I get inspired visiting blogs and I like entering challenges.

 I have a table drawn up with the names of challenges, the current theme and when they close so that when I make a card I can see at a glance if it fits the criteria. 

The design teams do a wonderful job and I get a lot of inspiration from them and the other entries too.

What method/process do you apply to each of your creative projects, and how long does each take to complete?

I'm sometimes asked to make a card for someone that has a particular hobby or likes a certain colour.

For this card I was asked to make a 30th birthday card for a guy that loved speed cycling.

I knew I had a bicycle die and

that I wanted to modify it, so this card didn't take very long.

At other times I'll see what challenges are happening and be inspired by one of their themes. I'll usually work out what I'm going to use then take ages to decide on colours and placement. I'll sometimes sketch out my design on a scrap of card sized paper.

 I'm painfully slow at times!

I also like to stamp, fussy cut and colour butterflies or flowers so that I have them on hand for projects. 

Sometimes that means I make a lot of butterfly cards !

If you had to describe your signature style, what would it be?

I tend to make clean and simple cards, although they may be not strictly CAS, as I often have embossed backgrounds and I'm never sure whether that counts as white space!

I do love distress inks and have tried to experiment with other styles but I think the card still ends up looking a bit CAS.

What are three crafting products/tools you can't live without?

1.My cuttlebug. Nearly every card I make has embossing or die cuts on it.

2. My heatgun. I rarely stamp without heat embossing the image. I love the raised outline it gives for colouring. I'm also too impatient to wait for inky projects to dry by themselves!

3. My curved scissors. I bought them for $5 at a craft show and they make fussy cutting so easy. 

And now I get to nominate another crafter for you to get to know.

Karen Mead from Made by Meadie.

Karen makes gorgeous CAS cards and I'm in awe of her fabulous stamping.

Here is one of Karen's beautiful cards.

Find out more on November 10 when Karen joins the blog hop.

Thanks for visiting, Cathy x