Blue butterfly panel.

Hi again, I've been trying to use up the unfinished bits and pieces on my desk!

I used some of this watercoloured panel on my son's birthday card in July and decided to add a couple of butterflies to this piece to use it up.

The challenge at Allsorts calls for black & while plus one.

There is a tiny touch of silver in the watercolours so I hope this is ok.

At CASology the theme is frame. 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday has a CAS theme.

At Word Art Wednesday it's anything goes.

Supplies:

Kuretake Gansai watercolor paint; Darkroom Door butterfly stamps; prismacolor pencils; sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Sleepy cat!

Hi everyone, I've had limited time on the computer lately as we didn't realize Windows 10 was doing huge automatic updates that had used nearly all of our monthly usage! We're on satellite NBN which is fast, but limited in what we can have per month. Lesson learned!

I've paired this sleepy cat from Katzelkraft with a retired Stampin Up sentiment set called Just Sayin. My cat often looks like this!

 I've added some glossy accents to the eye for more dimension.

She is fussy cut and coloured with prismacolor pencils.

I'm, entering the CAS challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday.

I've used a snippet of black for my tag layer and the sentiment was stamped and diecut from another white scrap, so I'm visiting the snippets playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.
You only need to use one snippet to join in.



At Happy Little Stampers diecut challenge it's also anything goes.



Supplies:
Katzelkraft cat stamp; versafine ink & clear ep; Stampin Up Just Sayin stamp & framelit; MFT pierced & traditional tag stax; prismacolor pencils; glossy accents; sentiment sticker; grey shimmer card base.

Thanks for visiting,
Cathy x

Sandstone Brusho Butterflies

Hi everyone, I needed a quick birthday card, so diecut some butterflies from a sheet of watercolor paper that I'd sprinkled sandstone brushos on.
I diecut a black layer also to add more definition on the white background.

I'm linking up to these challenges:

Bizzy Bec's store challenge, anything goes.



Seize the Birthday where it's anything goes with the optional topping of frames.



Happy Little Stampers anything goes with dies.



Word Art Wednesday, also anything goes.



Supplies:
Memory Box Moonlight butterfly die; brushos; Darice crackle embossing folder; gold shimmer paper; sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting,
Cathy x

Pink birthday butterflies

Hi everyone, I've had these butterflies perched on my desk for a while now and thought I'd pop them onto this diecut.

They fit the challenge at Stamplorations CAS card challenge where there's an optional twist of using pink.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday has an anything goes theme.

At Addicted to Stamps & More the theme is CAS.

Seize the Birthday has anything goes with an option of using tags.

Work It Wednesday is celebrating Stamptember with a stampin theme.

These butterflies by Hero Arts are my all time favourite butterfly stamp.

Supplies:

Hero Arts antique engravings butterfly stamp; prismacolor pencils; Memory Box sketchy rings die; sage infusions used to colour the diecut; sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy

Experimenting with infusions!

Hi everyone, I'm trying a new to me technique inspired by

this this tutorial by Ruth at Argeum Blogspot. 

I spread clear embossing medium through this leaf stencil onto watercolor paper and before removing it, sprinkled sage infusions powder on to it. Removed the stencil and waited for it to dry.

I wanted to colour the background and instead of shaking any excess powder off (I think it had dried on anyway) and painting with glaze, I spritzed the leaves with water.

This created puddles of colour galore lol! Blotting with paper towel cleaned it up ok.  

 I need to practice this more but it was so much fun!

I'm linking up to the anything  goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday.

This is the first time I've played with my Stamplorations leaf stencil so I'm also popping over to Darnell's NBUS challenge. It's a great incentive to pull out all of those goodies that have yet to used, so thanks Darnell!

I'm also linking up to the anything goes Stamplorations challenge,

and the Stamplorations CAS card challenge, 

Supplies:

Stamplorations leaf print stencil; MFT pierced tag stax die; Simon Says Stamp hello die; clear embossing medium; Paper Artsy Infusions; Papertrey Ink woodgrain texture plate; square brad.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Mixed Media Seahorse Panel.

Hi again, it's Father's Day here next Sunday so I thought I'd better try a few designs out.

This scrap of cardboard had gesso applied then some distress ink. I wanted more colour so I tried some of my new Infusions on it, but wasn't happy. Luckily it wiped off ok because of the gesso I think. There's a bit left in the nooks and crannies which is fine.

The starfish and seahorse are cut from scraps of chipboard, covered in versamark ink, then sprinkled with aged taupe or aged aqua frantage embossing enamel. Gives a lovely metallic look, which fits in with the theme at

 Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media Challenge 

Bizzy Bec's Store Blog has an anything goes theme.

I've used the Sizzix mini sea & sand dies and sketchy rings from Memory Box, so I'm also linking up to the Happy Little Stampers anything goes with dies challenge.

Snippets of chipboard means I can visit the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop, you only need one scrap or snippet to join in the fun!

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge has a go fish theme,

 so I'm hoping starfish and seahorses are ok.

Supplies:

Sizzix mini sand & sea dies; Memory Box Sketchy rings die ; gesso; distress ink; Royal Blood Infusions; Aged taupe and aqua frantage embossing enamel; versamark ink; metalic gold rub on paste; sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Blended crackle background.

Hi everyone,

I was inspired by one of Tammy Tuterow's Beautiful Blends tutorials to try these

 distress ink colours together.

 Peacock Feathers, Blueprint Sketch and Ground Espresso.

Tammy has some amazing combinations that look great together!

The background Stamp is one I've had for ages and this is it's first inking! 

So I'm entering Darnell's latest NBUS challenge where using your never before used schtuff is all the go!

At AAA Cards the theme is blending.

Simon Says Stamp Monday has a Go Fish theme. 

I'm hoping starfish and seahorses count as fish!

Supplies:

Impression Obsession craquelure stamp; versafine ink & clear ep; distress inks; Sizzix mini sand and sea die; versamark ink; aged taupe and aged aqua frantage embossing enamel; sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

The best Dad!

Hi everyone, I've had fun making a few cards today and thought I'd post this one that uses some of my new goodies that I've been accumulating!!

I fussy cut this Katzelkraft dog stamp and coloured him with Prismacolor pencils, french grey 10 and 30%, and tombows for the black spots. I love the goofy expression he has!

I've used a few diecuts, the brick wall, the speech bubble and the DAD text, so I'm linking up to the anything goes diecuts challenge at Happy Little Stampers.

I sponged my background with pumice stone distress ink, then spritzed it with water to add more texture. Using ink, stamps and sprays is the theme at the CAS Mixup Card Challenge, (it's ok just to use water as your spray element too). I've also used fussy cutting,sponging and heat embossing.

It's anything goes at Word Art Wednesday.

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

At Cas-ual Fridays it's time to colour.

Supplies:

Stampin Up Just Sayin stamp and die (retired); Katzelkraft dog stamp; versafine ink & clear ep; Sizzix alterations mixed media die set #3; Impression Obsession alphabet die; distress ink; prismacolor pencils; tombows.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Gum leaves and blossoms

Hi everyone, I hope you are having a great week! I'm looking forward to a crafty weekend as things have been a bit busy lately. Here's hoping anyway lol!

I was asked for an Australian themed birthday card and thought of this Kaszazz stamp I've had for a while. It's a similar design to previous cards I've made but I tried to get a better green for the leaves this time, and left off the flower soft on the blossoms. I've fussy cut and separated the leaves and blossoms to arrange on this twig, cut from a snippet of brown card.

One snippet is all you need to visit the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

The challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday is fabulous florals and I'm just scraping in before it closes!

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



Supplies:
Kaszazz large gum leaves stamp; Memory Box twigs and berries die; Prismacolor pencils; Sizzix woodgrain embossing folder; distress ink; sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting,
Cathy x

Irish blessing with butterflies!

Hi again, I was looking for an Irish blessing for a colleague and found this one.

I typed it up and printed it onto some light cardstock and it seems to have blended up ok with distress inks.

The challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday is to add some texture.

I've used an embossing folder to add some interest to the background.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday  has an anything goes theme.

Supplies:
Distress inks; Darkroom Door butterfly stamps; inktense pencils; birds and swirls embossing folder; quote from the internet.

Thanks for visiting, Cathy x

Dreamy Floral

This is another simple sympathy card I made for a colleague.

I think this dreamy flower is useful for so many occasions!

I used antique linen, tumbled glass, broken china and weathered wood distress inks to create the inky halo effect with an applicator tool.

I'm linking up to the anything goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday.



I'm also linking up to Word Art Wednesday where it's also an anything goes challenge.



I'm also linking up to the challenge at Penny Black at Allsorts where it's anything goes with a stamp.



Supplies:
Penny Black Dreamy stamp; versafine ink & clear ep; distress inks; sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting,
Cathy x