Baroque embossed ornament with alcohol inks.

Hi everyone, I've been making some small ornaments to go on a little Christmas tree that I bought from Ikea. The back of the ornament has black card on it but if you angle them right you just see the front.

I thought I'd pop one on a card for the metals theme at CAS Mix Up Card Challenge.

I attached some adhesive metal sheet to card stock, diecut it, then embossed it. I've done this before with other embossing folders but not this Baroque one. The tag at the back is embossed with the same folder.

Next I poured on some alcohol inks, it looks as if I mainly used citrus and red but there's wild plum and some blue in there too! Lastly I poured on some dimensional magic to protect it and give a glossy finish. The ink does move around a bit more too, so I'm investigating sealing it first before I add the gloss.

Here's a closer look.

My elements are metal, diecutting dry and wet embossing, stamping and alcohol inks.

I'm also linking up to the tags challenge at Less is More.

and it's a clean and simple theme at Addicted to Stamps & More.

I used a snippet of silver shimmer paper for the tag and the silver cord is also a snippety piece. Yep I throw nothing away lol! So I'm also visiting the snippets playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

A good excuse to check in on little Dudley's antics too!

Supplies:

Dies: Poppystamps Clarissa ornament background, and the top from Marconi ornament and the hoop from Brittany ornament, yes looks like I have a lot of ornament dies lol! MFT tag and pierced tag stax;

Other: Alcohol inks; QuicKutz metal sheets; Stampin Up Beautiful Baroque embossing folder: Kaiserkraft christmas sentiment; versafine ink and clear ep. silver brad.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Alcohol inks, foil and a flower.

I've had this flower die for quite a while and thought it was time to use it!

The background is alcohol inks on yupo paper.

They are celebrating their 2nd birthday at The Flower Challenge, congratulations!

 The theme is to add some sparkle to our cards. I've added shiny foil to the alcohol inked background and a sparkly gem to the flower.

It's an anything goes theme at Seize the Birthday.

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

Supplies:

Poppystamps Floral Stem Collage die; alcohol inks and blending solution; gold foil; sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Birthday tips!

Hi everyone, I thought this cat's expression would go well with this

 So Suzy cheeky sentiment!

The cat is fussy cut and coloured with Prismacolour pencils.

 I stamped the sentiment onto some card diecut with a large Memory Box speech bubble die and used a black sharpie to trace around the edge.

I'm linking up to the animal antics challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday.

It's anything goes at Seize the Birthday.

At Simon Says Work it Wednesday, the theme is to use your favourite stamping technique in a birthday or celebration card.

I nearly always use wet embossing when stamping, I love the shine it gives the image and it makes it easy to colour in.

It's a clean and simple theme at Addicted to Stamps & More.

Supplies:

Katzelkraft cat stamp; versafine sepia ink & clear ep; Prismacolour pencils;  

Memory Box Big Word Pop Curve die; sharpie; So Suzy Stamps birthday tips stamp; versafine ink & clear ep.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

Silhouette on Halloween colours.

Hi everyone, I was experimenting with halloween colours in brushos powders.

We don't celebrate the holiday here but I like the vibrant colours! I spritzed some home made gold perfect pearls on top for some shimmer but it's a bit hard to see in the pic.

I thought it made a good sky scene behind this leafy diecut, although hubby thinks it looks like a bushfire!

I'm linking up to these challenges:

Addicted to CAS has foliage as a theme.

This is a large diecut so I hope there is enough open space to be CAS enough.

At Addicted to Stamps & More it's clean and simple.

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

I'm also linking another card to the Stamplorations CAS challenge and this time I am using the colour twist black.

Time Out has a colourful theme.

Supplies:

Tree die was a gift so I'm not sure of the brand; brushos; gold shimmer paper and home made gold perfect pearls spray.

Thanks for visiting,

Cathy x

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