Celebrate with balloons

A little while ago I saw a couple of cards that I wanted to CASE.

They are by crafters that I really admire so I hope they don't mind me CASing their work.

The first card was this gorgeous CAS card by Birgit.

The other one was this fun card by Karen at Made by Meadie.

I love both of these cards so thank you for the inspiration.

I'm also linking up to a few challenges:

AAA Cards wants us to use some gold.

I used snippets of gold glitter paper for the die cut sentiment so I'm visiting the playground at

Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

It's an anything goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday.

At Serendipity Stamps the theme is sparkle and shine, and you need to use one of their stamps or dies.

Supplies:

Serendipity Stamps Celebrate die; gold glitter paper; Paper Smooches balloon dies; Hero Arts tiny star background stamp; versamark & gold embossing powder; distress inks; gold cord.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Gold & silver 21st tag

Hi everyone, hope you all have a wonderful New Year celebration wherever you are, and that 2015 is a happy and healthy year for you.

I was inspired to make this card by the challenge at Seize the Birthday where the theme is anything goes birthday with the optional topping of silver and gold. 

I'm also linking up to the challenge at Serendipity Stamps where the theme is sparkle and shine.

You also need to use one of their stamps or dies. I've used their celebrate die, I love the curved font.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge has an anything goes challenge.

Supplies:

Hand cut tag; Hero Arts tiny star stamp; versamark & silver embossing powder; Serendipity Stamps Celebrate die; Paper Smooches balloon dies; Memory Box number die; silver, gold and white glitter paper; silver shimmer paper; birthday sentiment sticker; silver & gold cord.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Marbled panel with dragonfly

Hi everyone,

 I hope you are all well and happy and that the festive season was a good one for you!

Among my Christmas gifts was this marbled background stamp from Serendipity Stamps.

(I've cut the stamped image in half to use in his panel).

I remember marbling my wedding invitations way back in the late 1980's using a tray of water, some turps and small tins of oil paint. It was so much fun!

I stamped the image in silver, clear embossed it and then coloured with distress inks.

The dragonfly was die cut using snippets of silver shimmer paper so I'm visiting the playground at 

Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge has an anything goes theme.

Edited to add: I was visiting in blogland and saw that  Serendipity Stamps also has a challenge where the theme is sparkle and shine.(I hope the silver shimmer paper is sparkly enough). You also need to use one of their stamps or dies. (Thanks Darnell :)

Supplies:

 Serendipity Stamps marbled background; Memory Box dragonfly die;

 distress inks; silver shimmer paper; sentiment sticker; bling.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

James Bond Birthday Theme!

Merry Christmas everyone!

 I hope you are all enjoying a happy day with good company and lots of festive treats.

I'd like to thank you for your support and kind comments throughout the year too, it really means a lot to me!

I was asked to make cards for twin brothers turning 40. The brief  included a black base, lots of silver and a James Bond theme! Also, even though the twins are identical the cards were to be different.
Oh and the gun was ok as one of the brothers is a firearms instructor.

I had a lot of fun making these and I believe the twins liked them too!

I'm linking up to a couple of challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday has an anything goes theme. The challenge is open for 2 weeks so there's lots of time to join in!

I used snippets of silver shimmer paper for the alphabet die cuts so I'm visiting the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop

The theme at Addicted to CAS is

I hope that making this pair of cards fits the theme!

Supplies:

Memory Box number and alphabet dies: sentiment sticker; Jolee's Boutique gun stickers; Spellbinders Circle dies; sequins. The swirly panel was printed off the computer, (I stretched the image out to fit my card base).

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Candle and poinsettia

Hi again, I've been slow in deciding on my christmas card design this year.

I thought I'd use these dies as they're pretty new and fairly easy to put together.

I've found it best to lay the candle outline down and use a couple of pieces of washi tape to keep it in position. Then glue in the insert candle pieces.

Lift up  the outline, pop glue on the back, and when you lay it down you can fit it around the insert pieces and it tends to stretch out of shape less.

(Ask me how I know LOL!)

I'm linking up to the challenge at Inkspirational where the theme is to use gold with any other colours.

 I thought the challenge was gold and any other colour, so initially I just used a pop of red bling. 

I've linked that card below but I think I prefer the red and green flower.

I used snippets of gold and green paper for my leaves so I'm visiting the playground at

Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

The theme at Just Us Girls is sparkle.

I've used metallic gold paper, creamy goldish shimmer paper and bling to add sparkle.

At Addicted to Stamps & More the theme is CAS.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge the theme is holidays/ christmas.

Supplies:

Memory Box taper candle and small blooming poinsettia dies; Martha Stewart branch punch;

sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Snowman tag

Hi again, I hope you are enjoying your weekend.

A storm is brewing here this afternoon so there will probably be a mad scamper to bring washing in and to shut windows soon!

I was inspired to make this tag by the challenge at The Card Concept.

I was just going to make a winter scene as I don't have any snowman stamps or dies.

I used some snow tex paste I bought a while ago to spread on the branches and at the base of the tree, and realized that it could cover a couple of circles to make a snowman too!

The heat is definitely affecting me lol!

I think my card fits the clean and layered category.

I'm also linking up to the challenge at Virginia's View where the theme is distressing.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge has a holiday theme.

and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge has a christmas/ holidays theme.

Supplies:

Hand cut tag: Memory Box twiggy tree die; distress inks; Deco Art Snow tex; Spellbinders smallest circle die & circle punch; twine; hat cut from scrap of black card; wink of stella pen and sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting,
Cathy x

Yellow butterfly

Hi again, it's Friday here and I'm so looking forward to the weekend!

I made this card for a friend who likes CAS cards and loves texture.

I'm also linking up to a few challenges.

Addicted to Stamps & More has a CAS theme.

At Just Us Girls the theme is anything goes.

Seize the Birthday it's an anything goes birthday theme.

Supplies:

Hero Arts antique engravings butterfly stamp; Annabelle Stamps sentiment: versafine & clear ep; twinkling H2Os; bling;Couture Creations embossing folder;

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Blue swirl and snowflakes

Hi again, it's very stormy outside so I'm hoping the power doesn't go off!

It's lovely to have more rain though as the place is greening up at last.

I was inspired to make this card by quite a few challenges.

Addicted to Stamps & More has a clean and simple theme.

AAA Cards has a blue christmas theme.

Cuttlebug Mania wants us to use a snowflake and a sentiment along with a manual machine like a Big Shot.

 I used a snowflake embossing folder and a Memory Box die in my cuttlebug.

Inkspirational has a christmas theme with an optional twist of no red or green.

Simon Monday Challenge has a holiday theme.

Simon Wednesday Challenge has a Christmas/ holidays theme.

Supplies:

I used a borrowed snowflake embossing folder (not sure of the brand) and a Memory Box die, (I cut them out at my sister's place so I'm not sure of the name of it either!); distress inks; silver bling and a sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x