Aquamarine Butterfly tag

Hi everyone, I'm on day one of my long service leave and have enjoyed playing in my craft room nearly all day!

I was inspired to make this tag by the gorgeous colours used in Tammy Tutterow's beautiful blends tutorial. I don't have all of the colours she used, but tried to match hers the best I could using cracked pistachio; peacock feathers; tumbled glass; mermaid lagoon and chipped sapphire.

I'm linking up to a few challenges.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday has a make it colourful theme.

Cuttlebug Mania  is back from their break with an anything goes challenge. I used MFT tag and pierced tag dies and Leafy Branch embossing folder in my  cuttlebug.

At AAA Cards the theme is spectacular embossing.

At Time Out the theme is to make your mark, I coloured my butterfly with prismacolor pencils.

Happy Little Stampers has a CAS colouring theme.

Supplies:

Stamps: Hero Arts antique engravings butterfly.

Other: Cuttlebug Leafy Branch embossing folder; MFT tag stax dies;

Versafine ink, clear ep; prismacolor pencils; distress inks; sentiment sticker; stickles; bling.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Cowgirl Silhouette

This is my other new Kitty Lane stamp. I used versafine ink and clear embossed the image this time to help darken it.

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

At Seize the Birthday there's an optional theme of the weather, 

I've gone with anything goes birthday.

Supplies:

Stamps: Kitty Lane; Annabelle Stamps sentiment.

Other: distress ink, versafine ink & clear ep.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Bushman silhouette

Hi again, I'm playing with some new stamps and inks.

I tried versafine onyx black on this solid stamp but I think my ink pad may be getting worn out as it stamped splotchy! I was happier with this image stamped using Ranger archival ink.

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

At Addicted to Stamps it's a Clean & Simple theme.

I used some snippets of black and orange card to layer the image so I'm visiting the playground at 

Pixie's Crafty Workshop, you only need to use 1 scrap or snippet to join in the fun!

Supplies

Stamps: Kitty Lane

Other: distress inks; Ranger archival inks; sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Silver, black & blue birthday

Hi everyone, I hope you're enjoying your weekend.

I'm multi tasking and have washing on, muffins in the oven and am about to get stuck into some much overdue housework!

I used my new Spellbinders die for the borders in this card. I was going to lay them parallel with each other but decided I liked the offset look better.

I'm linking up to these challenges:

Freshly Made Sketches where they are celebrating their 200th challenge!

Congratulations!

I turned the sketch on it's side and used a curvy line instead of straight so hope that's ok.

At A Blog Named Hero it's a Clean and Simple theme.

At CASology the theme is number.

My borders and numbers were die cut using snippets of silver shimmer paper and black card, so I'm also visiting the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop,

 you only need 1 scrap or snippet to play along.

Supplies:

Stamps: Hero Arts Find Joy sentiment; Darkroom Door butterfly.

Dies: Spellbinders A2 curved borders 1; Memory Box Parker numbers.

Other: versafine ink & clear ep; prismacolor pencils; bling.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Find joy every day

Hi everyone, it's the weekend again so hopefully there'll be some time to get into the craft room! 

This is a belated sympathy card for a friend, not the usual sort of sentiment but I think it suits what I'm trying to say.

I'm linking up to the challenge at A Blog Named Hero wher it's a CAS theme.

My flowers are die cut from a scrap of white card so I'm also visiting the snippets playground at

Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

Supplies:

Stamps: Hero Arts antique engravings & find joy.

Dies: Impression Obsession

Other: Prismacolor pencils for the butterfly; Tombow markers for the flowers; distress ink for the greenery;

versafine ink, clear ep, stickles.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Delicate Love

Hi again. Another card using new things almost as soon as they arrived!

I diecut the sentiment from a "failed" stamped image thinking it would be a sample to see how it looked. I inked it with Delicata gold, heat dried it, then added Delicata bronze. I like how the 2 colours blended and decided to layer it onto another diecut for dimension.

I'm very hesitant when it comes to positioning bling or sequins but thought the card was too plain without some added sparkle! The base card was inked around the edge with Delicata copper.

I'm linking up to Virginia's View Challenge where the theme is embellishments.

Supplies:

Ultimate Crafts embossing folder; Couture Creations die; Delicata ink; sequins from stash.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Metallic gears

Hi everyone, it's good to finally be able to make a few cards this weekend.

Such good therapy when you need it!

I'm linking up to the challenge at Scrapbook Boutique where they have this gorgeous inspiration pic.

I was inspired by the circles and the blue, black and silver colours.

At Addicted to Stamps & More the theme is to make your mark. I used rub on metallic paints to colour the gears. There's a lovely shimmer that doesn't show up too well in the photo.

I used scraps of metallic sheet to diecut a few gears for extra dimension, so I'm visiting the snippets playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop. You only need to use 1 scrap or snippet to play along.

Supplies:

Darice Steam punk embossing folder; Craf-T Products metallic rub on paints; Memory Box gear dies;

Fiskars tag punch; distress inks to colour the tag and the edge of the card; sentiment sticker and brad.

Thanks for visiting, 

Cathy x

Banner line

Hi again, I wanted to play along with the challenge at Addicted to CAS where it's a banner theme.

I used a free punch I got with an order from Stampin Up and cut up a scrap leftover from a Brushos experiment (have lots of those!)

I also punched out some

 black banners and glued them to the yellow ones to show a black edge. I glued a strip of black card to the base to line them up against.

They look a bit uneven in the pic as I raised them on foam dots for some dimension, (they don't look as wonky IRL!)

I'm also linking up to the challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday where the theme is  to make a plan.

I had these banners in a heap of other layouts before settling on this one. They were staggered, had a solid black layer under them just to mention a few. So I guess I'm linking to the theme by changing my plan!

At Addicted to Stamps & More the theme is anything goes.

Supplies:

SU banner punch; watercolour paper; brushos; sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Baby Blocks

Hi everyone, hope you have been enjoying your weekend. I've done a bit of everything and managed to make a few cards too for a change!

I'm linking up to the challenge at CASology where the theme is precious.

Babies are one of the most precious gifts aren't they!

I used snippets of card for the stars and white block centres, so I'm also visiting the playground at

Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

Supplies:

Lined cardstock; MFT retro squares die; Memory Box Parker alphabet die; Fiskars star punch;

the teddy stamp has no label and belongs to my sister,(yes Mo, I've still got it!!)

versafine sepia ink & clear ep; prismacolor pencils; silver shimmer paper; wink of stella clear pen.

Thanks for visiting, Cathy x

Musical Anniversary

Hi everyone. I was asked to make an anniversary card for a couple 

who love music. I punched these flowers from some old music scores  and embossed the tag with some musical notes. Some of the lyrics can be seen too, the word love and lovers lane

so I hope they like it!

I'm linking up to some challenges.

At Less is More this week it's a colour challenge - use berry colours.

I've used festive berry distress ink with a touch of fired brick, mustard seed and aged mahogany.

At Addicted to Stamps & More there's a photo for inspiration.

I

I was inspired by the bold red and silver.

At Simon Says Stamp Monday the theme is no ordinary paper.

I've used an old music score. 

At  Simon Says Stamp Wednesday it's anything goes.

Supplies:

SU pansy punch and EK Success small flower punch; MFT tag die; Elizabeth Craft curvy leaves die; MBossabilities music embossing folder; distress ink; silver cord; glossy accents; sentiment sticker.

Have a great week,

thanks for visiting, Cathy x

Snippets birthday

Hi everyone. My son asked me to make a birthday card for a friend and he wanted a bird on it.

I revamped a design I did a few years ago and luckily it fits a few challenges too.

Chrissie from Less is More is celebrating a very special birthday and the team wants us to use snippets on a card. Happy Birthday Chrissie!

My flowers are diecut from scraps of vellum and the bird and leaves are cut from snippets of cardstock. The scraps went back into my snippets box for another go later!

Di from Pixie's Crafty Workshop is the guest at Less is More and she is the queen of the snippets playground, so I'm visiting the playmates there too.

At Siomon Says Stamp Monday the theme is to use no ordinary paper.

I love the look of vellum, so I hope that fits.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday has an anything goes theme.

Supplies: 

Memory Box grove branch, reed bird and fancy blossom dies; twinkling H2Os; distress ink; vellum; bling; liquid pearls; foam tape and sentiment sticker;

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

25th birthday

Hi everyone, I made this card for my eldest son's birthday this weekend.

I can't believe he's 25 already! 

I'm linking up to the challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday where the inspiration this week is the letter I.

I used distress ink on this Memory Box stencil.

The theme at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday is sparkle and shine.

I covered the diecut numbers with versamark then embossed with black sparkle embossing powder.

The card is laid back to capture the sparkle in the photo.

The theme at Seize the Birthday is anything goes.

Supplies:

Memory Box Smash stencil & Parker numbers die; distress inks; versamark ink; black sparkle ep; sentiment sticker; Darice embossing folder, I think it's called crackle.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Teddy Bear

Hi everyone, once again it's been ages since I've had a chance to make any cards.

I'm hoping things have settled now and I'll have more free time.

This stamp is an old PSX one that belongs to my sister. I've coloured it with Prismacolor pencils and fussy cut it.

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

Supplies:

PSX stamp; sepia versafine ink & clear ep; prismacolor pencils & zest it: teddy bear ribbon from stash; swiss dots embossing folder; sentiment sticker.

Have a great week & thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Pink & Purple

Hi everyone, I made this card up from some leftovers on my desk and thought the flower looked more summery paired with purple rather than black. 

I'm linking up to a few challenges:

At Simon Says Stamp Monday the theme is summer. 

At CASology the theme is pop. I'm going with a pop of colour.

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

At Allsorts the theme is how does your garden grow.

Supplies:

Memory Box tilth floral and Spellbinders square dies; Kuretake watercolour paints & Finetec gold paint; sentiment sticker; foam tape.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Antique linen & butterflies

Hi everyone, I need to make a few cards for friends going through some difficult times.

I thought these subdued colours would be ok.

I inked the tag with antique linen, weathered wood & frayed burlap distress inks.

I sprayed some water over it lightly just to blend the colours a bit more.

The butterflies are coloured with inktense pencils and gold finetec paint. I blended these with a water brush.

I'm linking up to a few challenges:

The Hero Club Blog tic tac toe challenge. I went with watercolour, tag and favourite colour (blue).

I hope the inktense pencils are ok as a watercolour medium.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday  where the theme is anything goes.

Addicted to Stamps & More where it's also anything goes.

And Tag you're it where this is the gorgeous inspiration tag by Anja Curvers.

I was inspired by the browns and blue.

Supplies:

Hero Arts antique engravings butterfly stamp; versafine ink & clear ep; MFT tag die; inktense pencils; finetec gold paint; distress inks; leafy branch embossing folder; leather thong; sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x