Splish Splash for Seize the Birthday

 

Hi everyone, it's time for a new challenge at Seize the Birthday and Shirley has chosen splish splash as the theme for this round.

Or play along with our anything goes birthday option.

Our party guests and my team mates have loads of inspiration for you so I hope you can join in.

I've had this cover die for many years and thought I'd use dolphins with it again.

I coloured the panels with distress oxide inks from dark to light blue and splashed on some water. The dolphins are die cut from silver shimmer card and are layered up, along with the sentiment for dimension.

I'm linking up to these challenges:

Addicted to Stamps & More

AAA Birthday

Try it on Tuesday, animals real or imaginary

Aud Sentiments, playing along with the ink blending option and a sentiment

Supplies:

Distress oxide inks-tumbled glass, broken china and chipped sapphire; Memory Box splashing puddles & diving dolphins dies; Creative Expressions happy birthday die; Crafts 4 U stitched rectangle die.

Thanks for visiting and have a great week,

Cathy x

Dragon Castle

 

Hi everyone, I decided to have a play with some of my Lavinia stamps that have been collected over the years! I've not used this castle, tree or dragon before and there are so many more

 that I need to actually use!

I used some torn paper to stencil the hills and a moon mask layered stencil.

The sky is a mix of stormy cloud, chipped sapphire and dusty concord distress inks and the ground is pumicestone and forest moss.

The trees are part of a much larger stamp but I just wanted the tops to show to create some depth. I used some gel pens to add colour to the windows.

I'm linking up to these challenges:

Addicted to Stamps & More

Alphabet Challenge, M for Mythical Creatures

Try it On Tuesday, animals real or imaginary

We Love Stamping Challenge, playing along with the anything goes option

Krafty Chicks

The Neglected Stuff Challenge

Supplies:

Stamps: Lavinia stone castle, dragon set and forest trees.

Other: Tim Holtz moon mask; distress inks antique linen; stormy sky; chipped sapphire; dusty concord; pumicestone, forest moss and black soot; Crafts 4 U stitched rectangle die; sentiment sticker; versafine clair nocturne ink & clear ep.

Thanks for visiting and have a great week,

Cathy x

A grim birthday for Halloween!

 

Hi everyone, I had a play with some old and new goodies today for a friend's Halloween birthday!

These cobweb stamps and bat dies have been in my stash for quite a few years and I've had the distress spritz sprays since they first came out but have never used them!

I was inspired by this card by my new STB team mate Nance, to try out a new to me grim reaper die.

I stamped and embossed the cobwebs in silver, then sprayed on antique linen and wilted violet distress spritz, I love how shimmery it is in real life!

I inked around the edges with wilted violet distress ink, added the grim and some bats.

The sentiments are from a Poppy Stamps older set and a new to me Honeybee Stamps set, inked in black and clear embossed.

Nance used an action wobble so the grim shakes about,

 this one is firmly in place with glue dots!

I'm linking up to these challenges:

Mix it Up Challenge, playing along with the anything goes option.

The Neglected Stuff Challenge, bat dies, cobweb stamps and distress spritz.

Allsorts, playing along with the anything goes option.

Supplies:

Dies: Spellbinders dancin grim; Sizzix bat crazy; Crafts 4 U stitched rectangle.

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous tangled webs; Poppystamps birthday blowout: Honeybee Stamps sassy birthday.

Other: Distress spritz antique linen & wilted violet; distress ink wilted violet; Silver ink & Wow fine detailed silver ep; scraps of glossy black, silver, gold and silver shimmer card; purple cardstock.

Thanks for visiting and have a great week,

Cathy x

Guest design for Cut it Up Challenge #340

 

Hi everyone, I was delighted to be asked to join Cut it Up as a guest designer for being a top pick in Challenge #336. I love using dies so this theme of more than one die cut was lots of fun!

 

I embossed the base card and frame diecut with the Subtle embossing folder, love the texture it adds and it's the perfect name, as it is so subtle!

I coloured the flowers and tiny butterflies with Altenew inks and used distress inks for the greenery.

I layered the sentiment up for dimension and used glossy black card for the top layer.

Thankyou again to the team at Cut it Up for inviting me along to play.

I'm also linking up to these challenges:

Dragonfly Dreams, Happy Birthday

Krafty Chicks

The Sisterhood of Crafters, Birthdays

Allsorts, playing along with the anything goes option

Supplies:

Dies: Simon Says Stamp exotic blooms; Creative Expressions birthday wishes;  Memory Box scalloped frame and butterfly delights.

Other: Altenew sweet dreams fresh dye inks; evergreen bough & peeled paint distress ink; black gloss card; Stampin Up subtle embossing folder.

Thanks for visiting and have a great week,

Cathy x

Clean & Simple with a stencil for Seize the Birthday

 

Hi everyone, it's time for a new challenge at Seize the Birthday and our leader Nancy has chosen CAS with a stencil to challenge us this time around.

Or you can play along with our anything goes birthday theme.

My team mates and our party guests Johanna, Milla and Bonnie have some great inspiration for you, so I hope you can play along.

I made a card with this flower a few years ago, and wanted to try a more clean and simple version
It was inspired by this card by Sherry Hester. Love her layout of the petals and leaves.

I stencilled some white card with candied apple distress ink and the Tim Holtz ornate stencil, then diecut the petals from it. The petal outlines are coloured with the same ink.

The stems and leaves are diecut from green card and the whole flower layered up for dimension.

The sentiment is from Annabelle Stamps, an Australian company that retired a long time ago. Her designs were gorgeous, I love the font on this one.

I'm linking up to these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday, anything goes

Cardz 4 Galz, dies or punches

Crazy is our game stencil fun challenge, nature

Simon Says Stamp Monday, sentiment as the focus

Supplies:

Memory Box sketch daisy die; Crafts 4 U stitched rectangle die; Tim Holtz ornate stencil; Candied apple distress ink;  Annabelle Stamps sentiment stamp; Versafine Clair nocturne ink

 and clear ep; hammered card base.

Thanks for visiting and have a great week,

Cathy x

Cheeky cat!

 

Hi everyone, I love this cheeky sentiment and this Katzelkraft cat suits the mood lol!

I made a similar card quite a few years ago and thought I'd redo the design as I need a card for a friend.

The cat is stamped, fussy cut and coloured with Prismacolour pencils.

I stamped and embossed the sentiment then die cut it with a speech balloon die. I went around the outline with a sharpie for some definition.

I'm linking up to these challenges:

AAA Birthday

Addicted to Stamps & More

Krafty Chicks

Mix it Up Challenge, anything goes option

The Sisterhood of Crafters, birthdays

Supplies:

Katzelkraft cat stamp: Crackerbox Stamps sentiment stamp; Memory Box big word pop curve; prismacolour pencils; verafine clair inks & clear ep.

Thanks for visiting and have a great week,

Cathy x

Embossing for Seize the Birthday

 

Hi everyone, it's time for a new challenge at Seize the Birthday and Jenny wants us to use an embossing technique.
Whether it's dry with a folder, or wet with inks, powder or pastes. Sounds like lots of fun!

Or you can play along with our anything goes birthday option too.

Our party guest and my team mates have some great inspiration for you, so I hope you can play along.

I have had this 3D embossing folder for ages and probably only used it once!

I thought I'd try the blackout technique with it, but instead of completely covering the card with ink, I just blackened around the debossed areas so the tools stood out more.

I used some designer paper from Craft Consortium, it held up well being embossed with the 3D folder.

I'm linking up to these challenges:

Dragonfly Dreams, Happy Birthday

The Male Room

The Neglected Stuff Challenge, my Memory Box 3D tools embossing folder

Allsorts, Birthday

Supplies:

Memory Box EF1019 3D folder; Craft Consortium retro summer paper pad; Versafine clair nocturne ink; Creative Expressions sentiment die; Crafts 4 U stitched rectangle die.

Thanks for visiting and have a great week,

Cathy x

Pandas and lost balloons

 

Hi everyone, I'm back with another version of my panda card.
 I decided to add a pop of colour and to give the pandas a reason for clambering on the sentiment, lost balloons lol!

The sentiment is diecut from glossy black card and the pandas were stamped and fussy cut.

It's ages since I've used these stamps and I painted more versafine ink over the streaks in the pandas to give them a more solid look.

I'm linking up to these challenges:

Can You Handle the Pressure, playing along with the balloon twist

The Neglected Stuff Challenge

Simon Says Stamp Monday 4 legged friends

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday, anything goes

Supplies:

Mama Elephant pandamonium stamps; versafine ink; Crafts 4 U stitched rectangle die; unknown brand sentiment die; Crafts 4 U balloon die; Sizzix 3D cracked embossing folder; 

inky scraps for the balloons.

Have a great week and thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Black & White for Seize the Birthday

 

Hi everyone, it's time for a new challenge at Seize the Birthday and Linda wants us to play with black & white for this round.

Or if you need some colour, play along with our anything goes birthday option.

Our party guest Karen and my team mates have some great inspiration for you, so I hope you can play along. Welcome Nancy to the team too :)

Black & white made me think of pandas or penguins! Sadly though I don't think I have any penguin images. I've had these stamped and fussy cut pandas in my stash for years though!

When I stamped them I coloured in the streaks on the body with the same ink to get a smooth black look.

The sentiment is diecut from glossy black card, perfect for balancing cheeky pandas on!

I've used a 3D embossing folder for lots of texture in the background.

I'm linking up to these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday, anything goes

Cut it Up Challenge, anything goes with a

Addicted to Stamps & More

Supplies:

Mama Elephant pandamonium stamps; versafine ink; Crafts 4 U stitched rectangle die; unknown brand sentiment die; Sizzix 3D cracked embossing folder.

Have a great week & thanks for visiting,

Cathy x