So much to be thankful for!

We've had some devastating fires in my community just recently.

We were very fortunate in that the fire did not spread close to us, but others fared badly.

Numerous homes and outbuildings were lost, fencing destroyed and feed in paddocks that was already scarce due to the drought was burnt to dust.

No people lost their lives, although no doubt some cattle and native wildlife wouldn't have been so lucky.

The efforts of our local and not so local rural fire fighters who assisted in battling this blaze, along with the water bombing planes and helicopters and the masses of volunteers who helped in many ways are truly heroic.

Thankyou to all of you.

Cathy x

Floral birthday with brushos and Sprinkle It powder.

 

Hi everyone, I'm hoping to catch up on a few cards that I need this weekend.

This one uses a new to me Memory Box die called Painted Flower Stems.

The flowers are diecut it from a sheet of watercolour paper that I'd used to mop up some leftover sandstone coloured brushos.

 I didn't want the base so cut it off. The stems are coloured with a peeled paint distress marker, then on another scrap of watercolour paper I added some more sandstone brushos with some Sprinkle it. This one is a gold pigment that works with the brushos when you spritz them with water.

Here's a closer look at the shimmer. The sprinkle it doesn't seem to over power the colour of the brushos, although I'm still experimenting with them.

I diecut another flower set and glued them together for dimension.

The sentiment is a sticker from my stash.

I'm linking up to these challenges:

At Simon Says Work it Wednesday the theme is green and gold,

and at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday there are no stamps allowed.

At Addicted to Stamps & More it's a clean and simple theme.

The Flower Challenge wants us to use our latest stamps or dies.

Inkspirational want us to use our stash.

I've used new dies and sprinkle it and from my old stash, the sentiment sticker.

Supplies:

Memory Box pained flower stems die; Colourcraft brushos and Sprinkle It; distress ink marker; sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Lace stencil and brushos.

Hi everyone, have you had a chance to play along with the CAS Stencil powdered inks challenge yet? You can use any powdered product like brushos, micas, colour burst, infusions or bistre.

I used brushos  for this card, amazingly just one colour, sandstone. 

I laid the stencil onto some watercolour paper, sprinkled the powder onto the open sections, as best as I could, then spritzed with water.

The edges of the stencil seeped a fair bit and somehow I got ink on the right hand edge, not a problem though as I just trimmed the watercolour paper down!

There are some video tutorials on the blog site and lots of ideas to inspire you from the DT, so I hope you can play along. It's lots of fun, if a bit messy (if you're anything like me lol!)

I'm linking up to these challenges:

Watercooler Wednesday where it's all about occasions.

Seize the Birthday where it's anything goes birthday.

At Time Out it's a retro theme. Doilies to me fit that bill!

At Stamplorations CAS challenge, I've gone with the anything goes option.

Supplies:

Kaiserkraft lace doily stencil; Brushos; Happy Little Stampers doodled flowers sentiment stamp; versafine ink & clear ep, hammered card base.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Birthday dreamcatcher.

Hi everyone, it's time for a new challenge at Seize the Birthday

 where it's an anything goes birthday theme.

There are lots of wonderful cards by the DT to inspire you, so I hope you get the chance to play along!

I've been playing with Paper Artsy infusions and my favourite colour is this jade one. I always mop up any left over colour on my craft mat  with sheets of watercolour paper,

 hate wasting anything lol!

If the colour is too pale I'll sprinkle a little more powder onto the paper and spritz with some water.

So the background for this card is made from one of these sheets, and I diecut the dreamcatcher and feathers from another lighter one. I used two spellbinder circle dies to create a border to enlarge the size of the dreamcatcher.

The white panel is embossed with a burlap coverplate from Papertrey Ink, love the subtle texture it gives.

I'm linking up to a few challenges:

Happy Little Stampers anything goes with dies


At Mix It Up Challenge Blog, I've chosen the anything goes option.



At Watercooler Wednesday it's all about occasions.



And I'm popping another entry into the Uniko Studio challenge, choosing the
anything goes option.

Supplies:

Cheery Lyn dreamcatcher die; Spellbinders circle dies; Papertrey Ink burlap cover plate; PaperArtsy a little bit jaded infusions; sentiment sticker and bling!

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Stencilled floral hearts.

Hi everyone, it's time to get some stencils out and play along with the new CAS Stencil challenge!

The theme this month is to use powdered inks like brushos, bistre, infusions, colour burst or one of the other brands of pigment powders.

I've used Paper Artsy infusions here, as I love the slightly vintage look it gives.

I placed my stencil on some water colour paper and carefully sprinkled are you cerise, and emerald envy powders over the open areas. Next I spritzed a light spray with a water mister and took the stencil off. 

This is the image that was left! Looks a bit like a lovely vintage wallpaper!

There are some video tutorials on the challenge site and lots of inspirational ideas from the design team, so I hope you can play along.

I'm linking up to these challenges:

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

It's also anything goes at Addicted to Stamps & More.

At Uniko, it's anything goes with the optional twist of love.

At The Paper Players, love is in the air.

Supplies:

Tim Holtz floral layering stencil; Paper Artsy infusions; Mpress heart stencils; Annabelle Stamps sentiment stamp; Versafine ink & clear ep; Stately embossing folder; hammered card base.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

I thought elephants never forgot!

Hi everyone, I've been colouring in again, 

and this time I decided to CASE one of Therese Calvird's awesome cards.

She uses Prismacolour pencils brilliantly and there's a video showing how she coloured this elephant at the link.

I stamped the image in versamark and clear embossed it, then coloured with Prismacolour pencils.

The sentiment is a new to me set and I've used the retired Stampin Up Just Sayin stamps and dies for the speech bubble. I masked out the SU words so that I could use this sentiment.

I'm linking up to a few challenges:

At AAA Cards where the theme is to use only 1/3 of your card, helping to keep it CAS.

At Seize the Birthday its a black and white theme, or as always an anything goes birthday theme.

At Simon Says Stamp Wednesday it's anything goes,

CAS on Friday has a birthday theme,

and Uniko Studio are celebrating their 7th birthday! Congratulations to Bev and the team!

Supplies:

Katzelktaft Les Jungle stamp: Taylored Expressions pow boom wow sentiment stamp; versafine ink & clear ep; prismacolour pencils; Stampin Up Just Sayin stamps and dies.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Black & White Floral Circle.

Hi everyone, it's time for another challenge at Seize the birthday.

The optional toppings theme this time is black and white,

or, as always, you can play along with the anything goes birthday option.

I diecut this circle burst and taped it down onto a matte black layer.

I diecut an extra circle burst from black pearlized card and used these pieces to inlay into the white circle. Here's a closer look.

You don't want to lose any of the tiny dots!!

I diecut and shaped two Memory Box cherry blossons and layered them up for dimension.

The design team have lots of wonderful cards to inspire you, so I hope you can play along.

I'm linking up to these challenges:

CAS on Friday where it's a birthday theme.

At Simon Says Wednesday, it's my favourite, anything goes!

It's also anything goes at Addicted to Stamps & More.

Edited to add: I'm also linking up to the CAS Mix Up Card Challenge, 

where dimensional diecuts are the theme.

My elements are dimensional diecutting with the cherry blossoms shaped and layered up, diecutting, stamping and wet embossing.

Supplies:

Dies: Memory Box small circle burst and cherry blossom.

Stamps: Happy Little Stampers doodled flowers sentiment.

Other: versafine ink & clear ep.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x