It's nearly here!

Hi everyone, I hope all is well with you wherever you are!

Life has been pretty hectic here of late so I needed some quick and easy card techniques for Father's Day which is this Sunday here in Australia.

This one uses the new Tim Holtz 3d mechanical embossing folder, so much depth and texture! 

My heaviest cardstock is a white 300 gsm, so once I embossed the diecut tag, I coated it in some black gesso.

Next I used some inka gold in silver and art alchemy aged brass wax to colour the cogs using my finger! I added a couple of Memory Box diecut cogs in black, and finished with a sentiment sticker.

I'm linking up to these challenges:

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

At Addicted to Stamps & More, it's make your mark.

Happy Little Stampers CAS has a diecuts theme.

and it's anything goes at Happy Little Stampers anything goes with dies.

Supplies:

Tim Holtz 3D mechanical embossing folder; Memory Box mini gears die; black gesso; Inka gold silver; Prima art alchemy aged brass wax; MFT tag stax diecut; sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Cold snap - warm thoughts!

Hi everyone, I was excited to be asked to be a guest designer at Inkspirational after winning a couple of their challenges earlier this year.

This theme was a bit tricky for me and once I got the idea of a cold snap in my head I couldn't shake it lol! We are nearing the end of winter here in Australia and it has been incredibly cold and frosty for this late in the season.

The snowflakes were inked with versamark and embossed with Wow white twinkling embossing glitter, it's so sparkly in real life! The blue panel was inked with some distress oxides and spritzed with water.

I'm linking up to these challenges:

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



At A Blog named Hero it's sparkle and shine.
Yhe stamped sentiment is from the Hero Arts Find Joy set.

At Outside the Box they want to see winter cards.



Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge has a diecuts theme,



and it's anything goes at Happy Little Stampers anything goes with dies.

Supplies:

Memory Box Lindeman snowflake die; versamark ink and white twinkling embossing glitter; distress oxide inks; Hero Arts Find joy sentiment stamp; versafine ink; hammer card base.

Thanks for visiting, 

Cathy x

Congrats - you did it!

Hi everyone, it feels like it's been a long week even though it's only Wednesday!

This is my second card as guest designer for the CAS Mix Up Card Challenge.

The theme is stencil monoprints which are lots of fun to do! So I hope you can join in.

I used a blending tool to add twisted citron, mermaid lagoon, blueprint sketch and cracked pistachio oxide inks to the back of the stencil. I spritzed it with dazzling diamonds shimmer mist then carefully placed it onto some watercolour paper placed a paper towel over it and pressed down to help the ink absorb into the paper. 

It took a couple of goes to get the right amount of liquid spritzed on so that the stars stayed defined.

My elements are the monoprint stencil; diecutting; stamping and wet embossing.

I'm linking up to these challenges:

It's a masculine theme at Addicted to CAS.

At Allsorts it's from boys to men.



At Word Art Wednesday it's always anything goes as long as you use a sentiment or a blble verse.

Supplies:

Tim Holtz stars layering stencil; distress oxide inks;  So Suzy sentiment stamp; versafine ink and clear ep; MFT congratulations die; glimmer mist.

Thanks for visiting and enjoy the rest of your week,

Cathy x

Birthday surf.

Hi everyone, been busy here for a while as both of my parents have been in and out of hospital.

My step dad is still there, hoping his procedure is a success!

This was a quick card to make for a friend's birthday.

I blended on a few blue distress oxide inks and spritzed with water. Love the textured effect it created. The surfer is a retired Stampin Up image, stamped in archival jet black ink.

I'm linking up to the water themed challenge at Seize the Birthday.

At Addicted to CAS it's a masculine theme.

I'm hoping the inky blue background is ok as "white"space.

It's a CAS theme at Addicted to Stamps & More.

At Simon Says Stamp Wednesday the theme is distress it.

Supplies:

Distress oxide inks; Stampin Up surfer stamp; Happy Little Stampers sentiment stamp from Doodled Flowers set; archival jet black ink and white versafine ink and white ep.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Evolution Butterfly.

Hi everyone, I was delighted to be invited to play along as guest designer at

CAS Mix Up Card Challenge, after winning the June challenge.

I love CAS cards but I also love playing with inky techniques and arty products, so this is the perfect challenge to combine all of that!

The theme this month is stencil monoprints.

What a lot of fun this was! Messy but fun!

I inked up a new stencil with some citrus coloured distress inks, spritzed it with water then carefully lifted and placed it onto some watercolour paper. I blotted it with a paper towel to absorb the excess water and that was it!

When I asked my boys what they thought they said the stencil looked like DNA, it's called evolution by Stamplorations, so they were pretty spot on lol!

The butterfly was stamped, wet embossed, fussy cut then coloured with Inktense pencils and a waterbrush. I added some diamond stickles for some sparkle. Here's a closer look.

My elements are stencil monoprint, stamping , wet embossing and watercolouring.

There are some video tutorials on the challenge site to help inspire you, so I hope you can join in.

I'm also linking up to these challenges:

It's all about birthdays at A Blog Named Hero, 

and you just need to use at least one Hero Arts product. This butterfly stamp from the antique engravings set is my all time favourite!

I'm also linking up to the CAS challenge at Stamplorations.

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

and to the never ending anything goes challenge at Stamplorations.

I've used the Artplorations stencil evolution.

At Double D Challenges the theme is don't bug me.

Butterflies are glamorous bugs! I've gone with the oranges and greens in the photo.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday has a make your own background theme.

Stencil monoprinting is my background.

Supplies:

Stamplorations evolution stencil: distress inks in twisted citron, carved pumpkin; fossilized amber and scattered straw; Hero Arts Antique Engravings butterfly stamp; versafine ink & clear ep; Inktense pencils; sentiment sticker and diamond stickles.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Watercoloured cone flowers.

Hi everyone, I was delighted when Kylie asked me to play along as a guest designer at Happy Little Stampers after winning the  June watercolour challenge. 

There are so many ways to play along whether it be paints, powders, or as in this case pencils.

The theme for this month is anything goes watercolour with the option of flowers.

I stamped these flowers in versafine smokey grey, fussy cut them, and coloured them with Inktense pencils and a water brush.

The sentiment is from the HLS doodled flowers set. I love the fonts on these stamps, and they are a great size.

I'm linking up to these challenges:

Make My Monday where the theme is to colour your image.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday, where the theme is anything goes.

Supplies:

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous Flower Garden; Happy Little Stampers Doodled Flowers.

Dies: Crafts 4 U stitched rectangles.

Other: Inktense pencils; watercolour paper; versafine ink smokey grey and onyxblack; clear ep; the flowers are layered onto a hammered card base.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x