Driftwood and seashells.

Hi everyone, I was so excited to be asked to play along as a guest designer at Retro Rubber Challenge Blog.I have a lot of stamps that fit their criteria for playing along, that is, more than one year old. So it's great to rediscover some old goodies in my stash!

I hope you get the chance to play along.

The theme for this challenge is life's a beach.

I went with my favourite thing to do at the beach, which is looking for interesting driftwood and seashells! I'm not a swimmer lol.

The driftwood background is part of the woodgrain stamp by Darkroom Door (2012). I've had it for years and usually use it to cover a card front like this card. For this panel I stamped embossed and inked with distress inks. Then I cut a couple of the "planks"out and distressed the edges with an edge tool. I layered them onto a scrap of black card.

The seashells and starfish are diecut from white and cream card and coloured with distress inks, chameleon pens, and then rubbed with platinum and champagne inka gold to give them some shimmer.

Here's a closer look.

The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set that I've also had for ages, Find Joy (2013).

I know that in many places cool thoughts would be great at the moment, but over here a bit of warmth wouldn't go astray lol!

I'm linking up to these challenges:

Addicted to CAS where the theme is summertime.

At Simon Says Stamp Wednesday, it's anything goes.

At Word Art Wednesday it's anything goes with the provided bible verse or a sentiment.

Supplies:

Stamps: Darkroom Door woodgrain and Hero Arts Find Joy.

Dies: Impression Obsession seashells.

Other: Versafine smokey grey and onyx black; clear ep; Chameleon pens; Inka gold platinum and champagne.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Gelatos and a tree frame.

Hi everyone, I've been playing with gelatos again! I love how soft the colours are, although I keep reaching for the same blues and yellow! They smoosh so easily when you scribble them on a craft mat and spritz with water. Sometimes there are small lumps that need blending with a palette knife or other tool to get them mooshy lol!

I'm linking up to these  challenges:

 at Poppystamps it's a birthday theme.

I've used the Poppystamps Feather Tree Frame.

The die is wider than the usual cardstock I buy in Australia, but I managed to get some larger cardstock and once I trim it, it's perfect!

Here's a closer look at the shimmer from the blueberry ice gelato.

It's anything goes at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday.

At Seize the Birthday I'm playing along with the anything goes option.

At Stamplorations CAS challenge, Shery and the team are on Summer vacation, but you can still link up your CAS makes.

and I'm also linking to the anything goes with dies challenge at Happy Little Stampers.

Supplies:

Poppystamps feather tree frame die; Happy Little Stampers sentiment from Doodled Flowers set; versafine ink & clear ep; gelatos.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

More panda monium!

Hi everyone, Most of these components were in my bits box!

The only thing I had to make was the diecut sentiment.

There's still a heap of diecuts, half made things and backgrounds to be used, and it gets added to nearly everytime I play with something new.

The background is a panel of watercolour paper sprinkled with brushos and spritzed with water, so I'm linking up to the Happy Little Stampers watercolour challenge. I've gone with the anything goes option.

The panda is stamped with archival black ink and fussy cut, but apart from that evertyhing else is a diecut, so I'm also linking up to anything goes with dies at Happy Little Stampers.

Uniko has a quote "It's much more friendly with two" for their theme.

I've interpreted this as missing a friend, so I hope that fits the theme ok.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday has an anything goes challenge.

Word Art Wednesday has an anything goes theme and you can use their bible verse or a sentiment.

Supplies:

Mama Elephant pandeomonium stamp; Archival black ink; Cuttlebug embossing folder; Spellbinders distressed edges die; fun foam; Paper Smooches balloon die; silver cord; Simon Says Stamp script miss you die; brushos.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Rustic thankyou.

Hi everyone, a work colleague wanted a thankyou card with a country feel.

I know she likes butterflies and she also likes the look of timber, so I combined them.
It's a design I've used before but for a different occasion.

I'm linking up to the challenge at Addicted to Stamps & More where the theme is make your mark.
I used distress inks to colour the timber panel and the butterflies are coloured with Inktense pencils and a waterbrush.



At Happy Little Stampers, it's anything goes with dies.
I've used a sentiment diecut, covered with veramark and embossed with frantage embossing enamel.



The Mix it Up Challenge blog has an anything goes with the optional twist of mixed media theme. My card may fit the mixed media option as I've used the frantage enamel and distress inks.




At Simon Says Wednesday the challenge is to use a die or a punch. I've used a W plus 9 sentiment die.


At Word Art Wednesday it's anything goes with a sentiment or bible verse.


Supplies:
Darkroom Door woodgrain stamp; Hero Arts antique engravings butterfly stamp; versafine ink & clear ep; distress inks; Inktense pencils; W plus 9 thankyou die; veramrk ink and aged silver frantage enamel; distressing tool.

Thanks for visiting,
Cathy x

Tangerine funky florals.

Hi everyone, I got a chance to play with my new zig markers and a new floral die set today.

I cut a lot of the flowers and leaves in one pass on my cuttlebug, so it didn't take long to have lots of diecuts ready to colour.

I started by sponging some spiced marmalade distress ink onto the flowers with a finger dauber, then spritzed this with water to give a  light orange base colour. 

Then I coloured around the edges with a bright yellow zig marker. I used a water pen to blend this in. To tone down the brightness I added a touch of vintage photo distress ink on the edges. The greenery is coloured with olive green and the centres with yellow. I added a touch of sparkle with a clear wink of stella pen.

I'm linking up to these challenges: 

CAS Mix Up Card Challenge where the theme is to colour diecuts.

My other elements are sponging, stamping wet embossing and die cutting.

At Less is More it's a colour challenge, olive and tangerine.

At Addicted to Stamps & More it's anything goes.

Simon Says Stamp Monday want us to add a little sparkle.

At Work it Wednesday the theme is the great outdoors.

Supplies:

Sizzix funky floral#1 dies; distress inks; zig clean colour brush markers; wink of stella clear pen; Annabelle Stamps sentiment (Fanciful Flowers set); versafine ink & clear ep; hammered card base.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Summer Fun with brilliance wax and gelatos!

Hi everyone, I wish I was on a tropical island in the sun right now!

It's been very cold and windy here lately, although being the middle of Winter it won't be too long before I'll be complaining about the heat lol!

I'm playing along with a few challenges. 

At Simon Says Stamp Monday the theme is Summer fun.

At CAS Mix Up Card Challenge the theme is to colour your diecuts.

I often colour card or create an inky background then dicut my pieces from that. So instead I diecut the palm trees then rubbed Antique Brilliance wax in lucky emerald on the leaves with my finger, and painted iced chai gelato with a little water onto the stem. The trees have a lovely shimmer in real life. Here's a closer look.

My elements are coloured diecuts, diecutting, gelatos, watercolouring and stamping.

I created the background using Loll's splash watercolour technique. The link is to a quick video tutorial. It's a lot of fun, although I found blue ink splashes in quite a few random places lol!

Hubby wanted me to add a sun, I opted for some yellow and mopped the ink up with a paper towel before it turned green!

So I'm also linking to the CAS watercolour challenge where splash watercolouring is the theme.

I used a few blues and a yellow distress ink.

I'm also linking up to Just Us Girls  as they have a watercoloured background theme.

Supplies:

Palm tree die, unbranded from craft fair; Spellbinders circle die; Prima antique brilliance wax; gelatos; distress inks; Kaisercraft Bon Voyage mini clear stamp; versafine ink & clear ep.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Panda Birthday!

Hi everyone, hope you are having a great weekend.

I've been busy making more baby cards and thought I'd use one of the pandas for an upcoming birthday.

The panda was fussycut and I versamarked and clear embossed the birthday diecut, there's wink of stella on the red balloon, hard to see in the pic though.

There are a few challenges I'm linking up to:

At Seize the Birthday I'm playing along with the anything goes option.

Addicted to Stamps and More is celebrationg their 6th birthday and 300th challenge!

 Congratulations Kylie!

Inkspirational also has a birthday theme.

Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge has an animals theme,

and it's anything goes at Happy Little Stampers Dies Challenge.

Supplies:

Mama Elephant pandamonium stamp, black archival ink; Paper Smooches balloon dies; glitter paper; wink of stella pen; Stamplorations birthday die; versamark ink and clear embossing powder; hammer card base; foam squares.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Bits Box Butterfly!

Hi everyone, the theme at Less is More is to use something from your leftover bits stash!

I had this butterfly diecut from a play with dylusions sprays a couple of years ago!

I embossed it with the matching folder, brushed the peaks and edges with some black ink, added some bling and it was finished.

 The scroll is stamped with versafine imperial purple ink and clear embossed, and the sentiment stamped in versafine black and clear embossed too. It says don't just fly. Soar. (Hubby had trouble reading it).

I'm also linking up to the butterflies challenge at Double D Challenges, where they have this gorgeous mood board for inspiration. I was taken with the lower left one!

At Just Us Girls the theme is anything goes.

At Simon Says Stamp Wednesday it's also anything goes.

Word Art Wednesday also has an anything goes theme,

 as long as you use a sentiment or bible verse.

Supplies:

Sizzix butterfly duo die and embossing folder; antenae from a Memory Box butterfly die; Dylusions inks, probably fuschia, grape and midnight as these are the only purples and blues I have! black soot distress ink; Katzelkraft flourish border stamp; Stamplorations Noteworthy 2 setiment; versafine inks, clear ep.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Gelatos and baby mobile.

Hi everyone, it's a grey day outside so I'm alternating between the craft room and a bit of housework, just a bit lol!

I used silver metallic gelatos to paint the frame of the mobile and the sentiment, it's a lovely soft shimmery silver in real life. The animals were cut from scraps of coloured card, although the elephant was a white scrap coloured with spun sugar distress ink to match the matted border.

I never want to "waste"a whole piece of coloured card as a mat and colouring the edges, which is all you need, of a white card is so much more economical. (Must be my Scottish side coming through lol!)

I'm linking up to these challenges:

Anything goes at Just Us Girls,

it's also anything goes at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday.

Supplies:

Mobile die, unbranded bought from a craft show; Penny Black congrats die; silver metallic gelatos; spun suger distress ink; Stampin Up lattice embossing folder.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x