Sending hugs!

Hi everyone, I've been playing with the Katzelkraft cats and dogs.

 I love the expression on this little guy's face! He's been fussy cut and coloured with Prismacolour pencils.

I masked the sentiment on the Stampin Up Just Sayin stamp and replaced it with the ruff sentiment from Memory Box, then used the matching die to cut out the speech bubble. The hugs die is from Stamplorations.

I'm linking up to Inkspirational where the theme is comfort.

At Make My Monday the theme is animals, I'm just going to scrape in here!

It's anything goes at the Stamplorations CAS challenge.

It's also anything goes at Happy Little Stampers anything goes with dies challenge.

Supplies: 

Katzelkraft dog stamp; Memory Box Dog Gone stamp set; Simon Says Stamp Happy stamp set; versafine ink & clear ep; Primacolour pencils; Stamplorations hug die; Stampin Up Just Sayin stamp and thinlits; brushos.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Metallic purple!

Hi everyone, here's hoping you are well and happy wherever you are. 

We've been fortunate to have some rain recently, much of eastern NSW is in the grip of a terrible drought, so I'm grateful for what we've had. Our water tanks are filling up and the grass is green again and growing!

I wanted to play along with the metals challenge at CAS Mix up card challenge.

I've used versamark ink on the sentiment diecuts, then heat embossed them with some gorgeous puple powder. It looks delicious in real life  (yep I could eat it!).

Bit hard to see the colour but here's a closer look at the metallic shine.

I've used a leftover snippet from a project using acrylic paints and cling wrap for the heart.

The love and you diecuts are from completely different companies and I bought them ages apart, I think they're a good font match though.

My other elements are acrylic paint; dry embossing, heat embossing and diecuts.

I'm also scraping in to the make your mark challenge at Addicted to Stamps & More. I've used  acrylic paints to make my mark.

Using a painted purple snippet means I can visit the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop,

Di has an adorable new puppy playmate, I'd get even less crafting done if I had him to play with!

I'm also linking up to the Happy Little Stampers anything goes with dies challenge.

Supplies:

Couture Creations Love script die; Simon Says Stamp you die;  Poppy Stamps heart swoosh die, just used the solid heart part; 

versamark ink; Lindy's Stamp Gang midnight violet embossing powder; Happy Little Stampers simply said sentiment stamp (love the font on this too); versafine ink & clear ep; Dioxazine purple and silver acrylic paint; Stately embossing folder and hammer card base.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Butterfly sympathy card.

Hi everyone, I've been on a blog break trying to get a few things up to date!

Still a few things to do but I'm getting there! I'm glad to be back and thought I'd start with a few things from my bits box.

The butterfly was stamped, embossed, fussy cut and coloured with inktense pencils and a waterbrush. Distress inks were sponged onto the leaves with a finger dauber.

The woodgrain panel is really subtle as it's made with an impression plate.

I love the font on this sentiment, its from Happy Little Stampers Doodle Flowers set.

I'm linking up to a few challenges.

At Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge, it's anything goes watercolour and I've gone with the optional twist of a butterfly.

At Simon Says Stamp Wednesday it's anything goes.

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

Supplies:

Poppystamps Lorelai Leaf die, distress inks; Stampin Up Best of Butterflies stamp; Inktense pencils; versafine ink and clear ep; white gel pen; Papertrey Ink woodgrain impression plate; Crafts 4 U stitched rectangle die; Happy Little Stampers Doodled Flower sentiment; hammer card base.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

It's nearly here!

Hi everyone, I hope all is well with you wherever you are!

Life has been pretty hectic here of late so I needed some quick and easy card techniques for Father's Day which is this Sunday here in Australia.

This one uses the new Tim Holtz 3d mechanical embossing folder, so much depth and texture! 

My heaviest cardstock is a white 300 gsm, so once I embossed the diecut tag, I coated it in some black gesso.

Next I used some inka gold in silver and art alchemy aged brass wax to colour the cogs using my finger! I added a couple of Memory Box diecut cogs in black, and finished with a sentiment sticker.

I'm linking up to these challenges:

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

At Addicted to Stamps & More, it's make your mark.

Happy Little Stampers CAS has a diecuts theme.

and it's anything goes at Happy Little Stampers anything goes with dies.

Supplies:

Tim Holtz 3D mechanical embossing folder; Memory Box mini gears die; black gesso; Inka gold silver; Prima art alchemy aged brass wax; MFT tag stax diecut; sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Cold snap - warm thoughts!

Hi everyone, I was excited to be asked to be a guest designer at Inkspirational after winning a couple of their challenges earlier this year.

This theme was a bit tricky for me and once I got the idea of a cold snap in my head I couldn't shake it lol! We are nearing the end of winter here in Australia and it has been incredibly cold and frosty for this late in the season.

The snowflakes were inked with versamark and embossed with Wow white twinkling embossing glitter, it's so sparkly in real life! The blue panel was inked with some distress oxides and spritzed with water.

I'm linking up to these challenges:

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



At A Blog named Hero it's sparkle and shine.
Yhe stamped sentiment is from the Hero Arts Find Joy set.

At Outside the Box they want to see winter cards.



Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge has a diecuts theme,



and it's anything goes at Happy Little Stampers anything goes with dies.

Supplies:

Memory Box Lindeman snowflake die; versamark ink and white twinkling embossing glitter; distress oxide inks; Hero Arts Find joy sentiment stamp; versafine ink; hammer card base.

Thanks for visiting, 

Cathy x

Congrats - you did it!

Hi everyone, it feels like it's been a long week even though it's only Wednesday!

This is my second card as guest designer for the CAS Mix Up Card Challenge.

The theme is stencil monoprints which are lots of fun to do! So I hope you can join in.

I used a blending tool to add twisted citron, mermaid lagoon, blueprint sketch and cracked pistachio oxide inks to the back of the stencil. I spritzed it with dazzling diamonds shimmer mist then carefully placed it onto some watercolour paper placed a paper towel over it and pressed down to help the ink absorb into the paper. 

It took a couple of goes to get the right amount of liquid spritzed on so that the stars stayed defined.

My elements are the monoprint stencil; diecutting; stamping and wet embossing.

I'm linking up to these challenges:

It's a masculine theme at Addicted to CAS.

At Allsorts it's from boys to men.



At Word Art Wednesday it's always anything goes as long as you use a sentiment or a blble verse.

Supplies:

Tim Holtz stars layering stencil; distress oxide inks;  So Suzy sentiment stamp; versafine ink and clear ep; MFT congratulations die; glimmer mist.

Thanks for visiting and enjoy the rest of your week,

Cathy x

Birthday surf.

Hi everyone, been busy here for a while as both of my parents have been in and out of hospital.

My step dad is still there, hoping his procedure is a success!

This was a quick card to make for a friend's birthday.

I blended on a few blue distress oxide inks and spritzed with water. Love the textured effect it created. The surfer is a retired Stampin Up image, stamped in archival jet black ink.

I'm linking up to the water themed challenge at Seize the Birthday.

At Addicted to CAS it's a masculine theme.

I'm hoping the inky blue background is ok as "white"space.

It's a CAS theme at Addicted to Stamps & More.

At Simon Says Stamp Wednesday the theme is distress it.

Supplies:

Distress oxide inks; Stampin Up surfer stamp; Happy Little Stampers sentiment stamp from Doodled Flowers set; archival jet black ink and white versafine ink and white ep.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Evolution Butterfly.

Hi everyone, I was delighted to be invited to play along as guest designer at

CAS Mix Up Card Challenge, after winning the June challenge.

I love CAS cards but I also love playing with inky techniques and arty products, so this is the perfect challenge to combine all of that!

The theme this month is stencil monoprints.

What a lot of fun this was! Messy but fun!

I inked up a new stencil with some citrus coloured distress inks, spritzed it with water then carefully lifted and placed it onto some watercolour paper. I blotted it with a paper towel to absorb the excess water and that was it!

When I asked my boys what they thought they said the stencil looked like DNA, it's called evolution by Stamplorations, so they were pretty spot on lol!

The butterfly was stamped, wet embossed, fussy cut then coloured with Inktense pencils and a waterbrush. I added some diamond stickles for some sparkle. Here's a closer look.

My elements are stencil monoprint, stamping , wet embossing and watercolouring.

There are some video tutorials on the challenge site to help inspire you, so I hope you can join in.

I'm also linking up to these challenges:

It's all about birthdays at A Blog Named Hero, 

and you just need to use at least one Hero Arts product. This butterfly stamp from the antique engravings set is my all time favourite!

I'm also linking up to the CAS challenge at Stamplorations.

Shery and the team are on Summer vacation but you can still link up your CAS makes.

and to the never ending anything goes challenge at Stamplorations.

I've used the Artplorations stencil evolution.

At Double D Challenges the theme is don't bug me.

Butterflies are glamorous bugs! I've gone with the oranges and greens in the photo.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday has a make your own background theme.

Stencil monoprinting is my background.

Supplies:

Stamplorations evolution stencil: distress inks in twisted citron, carved pumpkin; fossilized amber and scattered straw; Hero Arts Antique Engravings butterfly stamp; versafine ink & clear ep; Inktense pencils; sentiment sticker and diamond stickles.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Watercoloured cone flowers.

Hi everyone, I was delighted when Kylie asked me to play along as a guest designer at Happy Little Stampers after winning the  June watercolour challenge. 

There are so many ways to play along whether it be paints, powders, or as in this case pencils.

The theme for this month is anything goes watercolour with the option of flowers.

I stamped these flowers in versafine smokey grey, fussy cut them, and coloured them with Inktense pencils and a water brush.

The sentiment is from the HLS doodled flowers set. I love the fonts on these stamps, and they are a great size.

I'm linking up to these challenges:

Make My Monday where the theme is to colour your image.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday, where the theme is anything goes.

Supplies:

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous Flower Garden; Happy Little Stampers Doodled Flowers.

Dies: Crafts 4 U stitched rectangles.

Other: Inktense pencils; watercolour paper; versafine ink smokey grey and onyxblack; clear ep; the flowers are layered onto a hammered card base.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Driftwood and seashells.

Hi everyone, I was so excited to be asked to play along as a guest designer at Retro Rubber Challenge Blog.I have a lot of stamps that fit their criteria for playing along, that is, more than one year old. So it's great to rediscover some old goodies in my stash!

I hope you get the chance to play along.

The theme for this challenge is life's a beach.

I went with my favourite thing to do at the beach, which is looking for interesting driftwood and seashells! I'm not a swimmer lol.

The driftwood background is part of the woodgrain stamp by Darkroom Door (2012). I've had it for years and usually use it to cover a card front like this card. For this panel I stamped embossed and inked with distress inks. Then I cut a couple of the "planks"out and distressed the edges with an edge tool. I layered them onto a scrap of black card.

The seashells and starfish are diecut from white and cream card and coloured with distress inks, chameleon pens, and then rubbed with platinum and champagne inka gold to give them some shimmer.

Here's a closer look.

The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set that I've also had for ages, Find Joy (2013).

I know that in many places cool thoughts would be great at the moment, but over here a bit of warmth wouldn't go astray lol!

I'm linking up to these challenges:

Addicted to CAS where the theme is summertime.

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

At Word Art Wednesday it's anything goes with the provided bible verse or a sentiment.

Supplies:

Stamps: Darkroom Door woodgrain and Hero Arts Find Joy.

Dies: Impression Obsession seashells.

Other: Versafine smokey grey and onyx black; clear ep; Chameleon pens; Inka gold platinum and champagne.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x