White birthday flowers

Hi, I started this card on the weekend and have finished it while I'm away at my sister's place. I've none of my usual photography things with me, although she does have a little easel. So apologies first up as the pic is a bit shadowy.

I'm linking up to the challenge at Scrapbook Boutique. Here's the gorgeous inspiration pic.

It closes in a few hours so if you live in Australia there's still a little bit of time left.

I was also inspired by the challenge at CAS(E) this Sketch

Materials used: Dies: MFT flower : Memory Box Madeira corner: Spellbinders rectangle; Punch Bunch flower punch for the flower centres, coloured with sparkle gelly pens; white glitter paper; sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting, have a great week.

Cathy x

Anniversary Cheers

Hi, I seem to be building up a stockpile of fussy cut images that I'm not sure how I'm going to use!

I stamped and embossed these glasses on a visit to my sister's. A friend kindly loaned us a few stamps, not sure of the brand, and we had a great time. So, it was good to finally use one.

I inked the image with Versamark and used my sticky embossing powder for the first time. You heat it until it melts then quickly sprinkle over the glitter. It seems to have worked ok.

I'm linking up to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where the theme is Glitter. These glasses are really sparkly although the photo doesn't show it.

Materials used: Stamp unknown; glitter; Spellbinders dies; Rachel embossing folder; sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting :)

Cathy x

Seashell Birthday

Hi, I was asked to make a male 30th birthday card for a recipient who loves snorkelling, boating and holidays.

 I was a bit stumped until I remembered this seashells embossing folder. I'd used it once to try it out on an old fridge calendar. The card stock is quite thick and the back was shiny but not too glossy. The distress ink dried well on it .

I diecut the numbers, sponged a few distress inks on them and dried with a heat gun. Then I stamped Versamark ink on them and clear embossed to give some shine. I cut another number from white and layered the blue ones on them to add some dimension.

I hope he likes his card.

I'm entering the challenge at Cuttlebug Mania where they are celebrating their 1st anniversary with a dotty challenge. You need to use a die or an embossing folder with a manual machine like a Big Shot or a Cuttlebug. I used the Tiny Bubbles embossing folder to add dots to my sentiment strip.

Since I used snippets of white and blue I'm off to the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop, there's always lots of fun happening there.

Materials used: Old fridge calendar- the sort that real estate agents give you for free; Shell Beauty and Tiny Bubbles embossing folders; distress inks; Papertrey Ink number die; Versamark ink and clear embossing powder; sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting, enjoy your week,

 Cathy x

Purple Peony

 Hi, I've been having fun with watercolor effects again and a couple of new dies from Memory Box.

I diecut the background peony from watercolor paper and the peony outline from typing paper just to see what it looked like.

 I thought it would be good as a stencil to guide where I coloured the base, so held it there while I added some colour with a tombow marker. I kept the stencil in place while I blended the colour out with an aquapainter. I quite liked the white outline that was left behind.

Here's a pic of the outline stencil.

I'm going to link up to a few challenges.

At Less is More the theme is masking or stencilling.

At Addicted to Stamps & More the challenge is to Make your Mark with pens, pencils or similar colouring mediums.

At The Card Concept the theme is to create a birthday card in one of the designer's styles. There's a range to choose from so there's something for everyone. I think this card fits into the Clean and Simple category.

My black and shimmer paper layers are cut from leftover snippets so I'm also visiting the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

Edited to add: I'm also going to link up to the  Moxie Fab World where the theme is Stencils: Styling with Stencils Challenge. I've used a diecut as a stencil.

Materials used: Memory Box Lovely Peony Outline and Background dies: Tombow marker; bling & sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Cathy x

Watercolor Dinghy

Hi again, it's my Dad's birthday in a couple of days. He loves fishing and goes on trips with a mate in their little boat.

This is my attempt at paper tole! I've cut and layered the boat and the rope to try and make them stand out more. I think I need to use thicker foam tape.

I coloured the image with Inktense pencils and blended with an aqua painter, so I'm going to enter

Virginia's View Challenge, a new challenge for me, where the theme is watercolor. 

I'm also linking up again to Addicted to Stamps where the theme is anything goes.

Materials used:

Stamp: Inky Antics Fishing Favourites

Inktense pencils; Divine Swirls embossing folder; Sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting :)

Cathy x

White rose

Hi, I'm finally taking a break from housework to do a bit of crafting! It's hot and windy outside so the washing is drying in record time!

I used my new Penny Black rose die for the first time, and layered the cut out section to give some extra dimension. The flower is painted with a pearl white acrylic paint and the green is a couple of twinkling H2O's.

At The Card Concept there's still a little bit of time left in this colour challenge.

These colours have really grown on me! I think this card is in the Clean and Simple category.

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

At Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge, the theme is Mother's Day or special girl.

At Cuttlebug Mania the theme is Happy Mother's Day. You also need to use a manual machine like a Big Shot or a Cuttlebug.

Thanks for visiting :)

Cathy x

Lime & Brown tag

Hi, I was inspired by a few challenges to create this card.

The colours were from  The Card Concept .

Not colours I've used together before but they really appealed to me. I've used twinkling H20s to colour the butterfly and the flowers. I used polar white flower soft in the centres to lighten them up. I think this card is probably in the Clean & Layered category.

At A Blog Named Hero the theme is to use a stencil and a Hero Arts product .

I used my favourite Hero Arts butterfly from the Antique Engravings set. The stencil is a newbie, Tim Holtz burlap. I dabbed walnut distress ink through it, then sprayed it with Perfect Pearl Mist to get it to blend a bit.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is D for distress.

At Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge the theme is to Tag It. I cut this tag from some promotional cards my sister gave me. Hopefully no one will ever see the back of it!

I think the tag may qualify as a snippet. The ribbon is an offcut from a shirt (to keep it on the coathanger), and the greenery is diecut from a snippet of green card. So I'm off to the playground again at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

Materials used: Hero Arts Antique Engraving butterfly stamp; Heartfelt Creations flower stamp; Memory Box madeira corner die; Tim Holtz burlap stancil; distress ink; twinkling H2os; Perfect Pearls mist; flower soft; bling and sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Cathy x

Soccer Birthday

Hi, a colleague at work asked me to make a 30th birthday card for her son. He's a mad soccer fan. Hope he liked his card!

 

I brayered black soot distress ink onto the label side of this numbers embossing folder. I like the way it makes the numbers stand out.

I die cut a black and a white 3 and layered them for dimension. The soccer ball is a copyright free image that I downloaded and printed. To give it some texture I laid it on a snippet of card that had been embossed with a honeycomb folder. You can barely see it in the photo, but in real life the texture really stands out.

 

I'm going to link up to the following challenges:

At Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge the theme is D for distress.

Snippets means I can visit the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

At Allsorts the theme is Sport.

At Sentimental Sundays, a new challenge for me, the theme is to create cards for a boy/man and to use a sentiment.

Materials used:
Cuttlebug number embossing folder; distress ink; Papertrey Ink number die; MBossabilities honeycomb embossing folder; sentiment sticker from stash;

Thanks for visiting :)
Cathy x
 

 



Filmstrip Birthday

Hi, I hope you've been enjoying your weekend. It's late Sunday afternoon here and I thought I'd finish off this project before I start getting things ready for work tomorrow.

I bought this filmstrip die to use with photo thumbnails. I don't do scrapbooking although I've made cards for my boys in the past that have included thumbnails of various pics from over the years. I usually mat the photos and spend ages trying to get straight and even edges!

I'm going to link up to the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, the theme is tick tock. I've used pics through childhood to show time passing.

Just Add Ink, the theme is to just add a sunburst. I borrowed this sizzix embossing folder and distressed it with a couple of brown inks.

Pixie's Crafty Workshop, I cut 2 filmstrips from snippets of black cardstock and layered them together for more definition.

Materials use: Poppy stamps Bijou filmstrip die; Sizzix sunburst embossing folder; distress inks; thumbnail photos and sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Cathy x

Carnival Clowns

Hi, I got this clown stamp ages ago and have never used it. I thought it would be perfect for the carnival challenge at CASology.

I stamped the images on watercolour paper and coloured them with tombow markers. The challenge at

 CAS on Sunday is Colour me Pretty, to use markers or pencils on your project.

At Inspired by Stamping there's a card & tag challenge, and at Seize the Birthday

it's an anything goes birthday challenge.

There are lots of inspirational ideas by the teams on all of these challenges, so join in if you can.

Materials used: Clown stamp, no brand on it; Tombow markers; Fiskars star punch; foam tape; sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting and enjoy the rest of your weekend :) 

Cathy x

Plum Blossoms

Hi, this was another card that I managed to finish today.

I had stamped and embossed heaps of these flowers on vellum at my sister's place last visit.

I've been taking them to work to fussy cut during my lunch break. I painted them with plum blossom twinkling H2O's

The gold flourishes were diecut form scraps of gold metallic paper. I cut and repositioned them to suit the panel. So I'm off to the snippets playground again at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

At Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge the theme is anything goes with pearls.

Materials used: SU Flower shop stamp; Memory Box flourish die; twinkling H2Os; pearls and sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

 Cathy x

Happy 18th!

It's my niece's 18th birthday in a couple of days, so I'd better get this card posted tomorrow!

 I took ages to get started as I couldn't decide what to do! I hope she likes geckos.

I know she doesn't see my blog so it will still be a surprise.

At Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge the theme is to use paste.

I had another go at making some of these geckos a few days ago using a Dreamweaver stencil and textured paste. I fussy cut them and coloured using distress ink and some pigment inks. Last visit my sister gave me some really long, biggish cue tips. Not sure what they're for but I used them to dab the ink on, I like the splotchy effect. 

Edited to add: The brick wall is an embossing folder and I've distressed it with about 3 inks.

I used snippets galore on this card for the numbers and grass. The banners were stamped on a scrap that I distressed in yellows, and the flowers were diecut from a scrap of that. I'm linking up to the snippets playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop. 

I finally remembered the button :)

At Seize the birthday it's an anything goes birthday project.

Materials used: Dreamweaver stencil; brick embossing folder; distress inks; pigment inks: Maya Road banner stamp; Memory Box number, flower & grass dies; tiny sentiment stickers  from stash.

Thanks for visiting and have a great week,

Cathy x

Serenity Prayer

Hi everyone, I was really excited when Marina from Inkspirational asked me to be a guest designer for this colour challenge. I seem to use purple a lot so I definitely think it's one of my favourite colours!

For more information pop over to Inkspirational, the design team have some wonderful projects to inspire you.

. 

I bought this verse stamp recently from Jemac Stamps and this is the first time I've inked it up.

 I recall having this prayer and the Desiderata hanging up at home when I was growing up, so finding the stamp brought back lots of fond memories.

  

I tried the Belleek inspired technique for the background. There are so many beautiful examples by card makers and I'm not sure where I first saw it. I brayered the label side of the embossing folder with bundled sage distress ink, so the embossed card came out with the raised white design highlighted. I love the effect, just need to practice a lot more!

The greenery is cut from snippets of green card with Memory Box Madeira die. I've trimmed pieces off to fit into the corner. The flower is one of the Stampin Up Flower Shop stamps, coloured with Inktense pencils and shaped. I layered 2 together for dimension.

I'm linking up to a couple of challenges.

Pixie's Crafty Workshop where you just need to use a snippet on your card to join in.

At Cuttlebug Mania the theme is Let's Feel It, to add texture. You also need to use a manual machine like a Big Shot for your project.

Materials used: Rebecca embossing folder; Jemac Stamps verse; Stampin Up Flower Shop; Inktense pencils; distress ink; Mpress label die; Memory Box Madeira Corner die.

Thanks for visiting :)

Cathy x

Flower with love

Hi, I need to make quite a few birthday cards for family members in March. I'm leaving it a bit late but things have been a bit hectic lately so the craft room has been a bit neglected!

I stamped this Penny Black flower twice and coloured it with Inktense pencils. I shaped the petals and layered them for some dimension.

I'm going to link up to the February challenge at Scrapbook Boutique, it closes very soon so I'll just make it.

Here is their gorgeous inspiration pic.

At Sister Act Card Challenge, the theme is anything goes.

Materials used: Penny Black flower from For You set; Papertrey Ink quatrefoil background die; Memory Box leaves and label die; Inktense pencils; white shimmer paper; bling & sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Cathy x

Framed Tulips

Hi, this is my second guest design team card for Addicted to Stamps & More. 

The theme this week is Clean & Simple.

I'd like to thank the talented crew at ATSM for their inspiration and for making me feel so welcome, it was a lot of fun.

These tulips were stamped with smokey grey Versafine ink and coloured with Inktense pencils. I fussy cut them, cut and repositioned 1 flower head and added a few more leaves to fill the frame.

I'm also going to link up with the snippets challenge at Pixie's Crafty Workshop. The gold metallic paper in the frame is a snippet from another project. Waste not want not!

At The Card Concept it's a floral theme, and this card fits the Clean and Simple guidelines.Here is the gorgeous inspiration pic.

The theme at Make it Monday is always anything goes and to share creativity.

At Allsorts Challenge Blog the theme is Ladies Day.

Materials used: Technique Tuesday stamp; Intense pencils; Spellbinders rectangle dies; sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Cathy x

Wedding Flowers

Hi, I'm back from a lovely weekend visiting my sister in Brisbane. 

She kindly let me use her newish Stampin Up stamps - Flower Shop I think they're called.

I stamped with vanilla ink and embossed with her gold pearl powder. I did some on vellum and some on white card. I've fussy cut and layered the vellum flower over the card flower so I could give them some shape, it's a bit hard to see in the photo though.

I'm linking up to a few challenges.

At Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge the theme is wedding or anniversary.

Inkspirational has a tic tac toe challenge.

I've gone with a diagonal row, flowers, ribbon and pearls.

At Cuttlebug Mania the theme is Let's feel it, to add texture to your project. You also need to use a manual machine like a cuttlebug.

Edited to add: I've just realized the theme at The Card Concept is a floral one, so I'm going to link up there too. I think my card fits the clean and layered category as the base is totally embossed.
Here is the gorgeous inspiration pic.

Materials used: SU Fancy Fan embossing folder; SU Flower Shop stamp; gold pearl embossing powder; 3mm ribbon and double sided tape; Martha Stewart Frond punch; turquoise shimmer paper; pearl bling and sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Cathy x

Guest designer at Addicted to Stamps & More

Hi, this week the team at Addicted to Stamps & More have invited me to be a guest designer.

I am really delighted to be joining them.

The theme this week is HOLIDAYS. I chose to do a christmas card as it's never too soon to start those!

I stamped this Memory Box poinsettia onto vellum and embossed in gold. The image is coloured with Prismacolor pencils and I used the gamsol technique to blend them. It's a good thing that vellum is stronger than it looks, it stood up to fussy cutting pretty well! 

For more info please visit Addicted to Stamps & More, the design team have lots of wonderful projects to inspire you.

Materials used: Memory Box stamp; Prismacolor pencils; vellum; Stately embossing folder; bling & sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Cathy x

Floral Oval

Hi, I've made another card with my Heartfelt Creations daisy stamps.

I coloured them with 2 shades of inktense pencils.

The smaller leaves are from an Impression Obsession leaf die, and I punched some larger leaves using a Martha Stewart frond punch from snippets of green, and stuck these over the top in places.

I'm visiting the snippets playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop, I hear gum boots are needed with all the wild weather in the UK at the moment! Hope everyone is staying safe.

I'm also entering the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge where the theme is We Love Stamps.

At Addicted to Stamps & More the theme is to Make your Mark with pens, pencils etc.

Thanks for visiting and have a great week :)

Red daisy

Hi, I've been doing a lot of fussy cutting lately and this large Hero Arts flower was a perfect candidate!

I also cut the stamped stem off and coloured a snippet of card green as I needed it to be longer.

It was one of the strips from my paper trimmer from me trying repeatedly to get something straight! I'm becoming obsessed by it...the more I trim something the crookeder it looks...maybe I need to replace the blade LOL!

I curled the petals and popped a second centre up on some foam dots for dimension.

Snippets means I can visit the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

At A Blog Named Hero the theme is flowers.

Cuttlebug Mania is hosting a colour challenge, red. You also need to use a manual machine like a Big Shot.   I used the Entangled embossing folder for my background in my Cuttlebug.

The Hero Arts Blog has a birthday challenge with 5 categories for entries. I'm entering the Floral one with this tag card.

Supplies: Hero Arts Engraved Daisy stamp; inktense pencils; stickles; Entangled embossing folder; tag, sentiment sticker and ribbon from stash.

Thanks for visiting and enjoy the rest of your week :)

Cathy x

Wedding Hearts

Hi, a friend asked me to make a wedding card for her daughter. 

She wanted it larger than my normal C6 card, and to be black and white with a touch of red.

I'd not long bought these Memory Box heart dies and thought they'd be perfect. I used white shimmer paper and plain black card. The tiny red hearts are sprinkles from Annabelle Stamps.

I scored the border just to frame everything.

There are a few challenges with a valentines or love theme happening at the moment.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge is Have a Heart.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is Love Notes.

Addicted to Stamps & More has an anything goes challenge.

Addicted to CAS is Love.

and Cuttlebug Mania is a Touch of Red with this inspiration pic.

Supplies: Memory Box La Rue and Grand Heart dies; Annabelle Stamps heart sprinkles/bling; sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)