2024 Hops: Summer Soiree Part Two...

Hey,

Here is the 5th post in my blog hop series and part two of Summer Soiree.

Kelly Santi organises all of the hops. This year I have done 6 hops with Kelly and the gang -

• Ring in the New Year
• Spring Hop
• Sunshine Awareness mini hop
• Shark Week 2024 mini hop
• Summer Soiree
• Fall Friends

In this post I am showing the final 5 cards I made for the Summer Soiree hop. We did 12 weeks with this one! I missed one week.

Themes for these cards are Winter in July, don't bug me, hello sunshine, Summer roadtrips, Summer food & drink and Rainbows. My cards are in the correct order, Winter in July is the main photo.

I actually CASE'd my own card for Christmas in July, as I loved it so much. Rainbows were my theme choice and I finally got to use this gorgeous die by Sizzix & Jen Long.

Cx

25 Days of Christmas Tags 2020 - Tree Tags..

Hey,

Happy Friday! I am SO glad this work week is nearly over..

I recently stumbled across Tracey McNeeley's 25 Days of Christmas Tags..

I love tags, so it is surprising to me that I hadn't come across this before!!

I wanted to play along and the tags for Day 7 using Uniko products really are my faves so far!!

I don't have any Uniko products (that is about to change..) so I used what I had to CASE these tags by Lindsey Larsen - 

I used a new Tim Holtz stencil (it was part of the class kit from last weekend's virtual retreat) and blended distress oxides through the stencil (picked raspberry, worn lipstick, spiced marmalade, twisted citron, and mermaid lagoon). 

I made long strips that I then cut into two - because of this, my colour variation on each tag isn't quite like Lindsey's, but I'm happy with it.

I used x2 different stamp sets for the sentiment strips - Pink Fresh Studio 'December Days' and Studio Calico 'Jolly'.

The twine is actually from my friend Lisette and she had used it to wrap my birthday gifts this year - I recycle EVERYTHING!!

Here is a little shot of all x10 tags - I love how they came out and now I am off to buy all the Uniko things..

Have a great weekend.

Cx

Christmas Cards 2020: Clearly Besotted CASE

 

Hey,

Happy Monday!

I hope you had a great weekend.

Hubby and I are getting used to the NFL being back, we love it, but it does take some adjusting our lives to fit in 10 hours of football on a Sunday!!

I realised that I hadn't shown you all the Christmas card makes for 2020.. It all came together so quickly! I am now just making the 'special/fancy' cards.

This card is a CASE of one I saw on the Clearly Besotted website with their cityscape stamp. 

I didn't have that cityscape stamp, so I used a different one from my stash.

I stamped it in x3 colours, grey, navy and black to create the pretty skyline vignette you see. The Reindeers are by Clearly Besotted and I had already stamped and watercoloured a bunch of them, so I just fussy cut them out for using here. 

I didn't have the same sentiment as the card I was CASEing, so I used these great sentiment strips by The Ton Stamps.

Final touch was to die-cut the entire panel using Tim Holtz deckle edge dies.

Then I went over them with a nuvo aqua flow glitter pen, so IRL they are SUPER sparkly!!

I love them, I don't really want to send them to anyone LOL.

Cx

 

4from1: Neat and Tangled.. Later Alligator..

Hey,

A few weeks ago I gave the craft room a much needed clean and went through the newer items and rediscovered this awesome set by Neat & Tangled that I had bought second-hand from Cheiron. It is now retired.

I was inspired to make a few cards and this wonderful card by Kay Miller inspired me to get CASing!

I stamped, coloured and die-cut all the elements from the set that I wanted to use. Then I created the x3 backgrounds by smooshing distress inks.

They all came out so well and my colours are actually as vivid as Kay's but they got a bit muted with late night photography! My fave is totally the main card - with his little bow-tie! Meaning that snappy has a double meaning - he's a 'gator and he's also snappily dressed ;)

It's always fun to play with a stamp set for the first time and I always try and make a few cards, so that it gets a full use!

Cx

WOW!!

Hey Happy Friday,

What a week!

No posts from me, it's been a touch busy!

But today I am pretty happy to be sharing this awesome card that is a CASE of this wonderful card by the amazing Julie Ebersole.

Amazing card right?!

I used spotty Clearscraps stencil with Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide. The WOW was cut from the super large alpha dies I bought with my Christmas money from my in-laws.

Weirdly I do not have an Elephant in my stash, so I pulled out the Pink Fresh Studio 'Party Animal' set and decided that a Giraffe would be perfect here.

Whenever I hand stamp the Mama Elephant sentiment banners, I wish that I had used a misti - never gonna learn right..

Anyway, it still came out really well and I LOVE it. I need to make more of them.

Have a great weekend. Stay Home.

Cx

CASE: Floral Llama Car Birthday..

Hey,

So last weekend as it was a long weekend I decided to CASE a card I have had on my Pinterest board for a while.

I knew that it wouldn't be a quick make, so needed to save it for a time when I had oodles of desk playtime.

This is the card I CASEd - by Rejoicing Crafts.

I loved the colour combos and just the fun and unusual nature of the card.
Yoosun used all Flora & Fauna stamps to create her card, but I didn't have all of those, so I dug out some Neat & Tangled and MFT stamp sets to supplement the F&F that I did have. Also Yoosun stamped all her flowers and leaves first and then added the watercolour aspect and I did it the other way around.

Here are photos of the first two steps -

As you can see the watercoloured panels don't really look that great, then add flowers and leaves and wow! it really comes to life.

I used a F&F car die and die-cut x2 cards out of white watercolour paper and then watercoloured them in red and blue to coordinate with the backgrounds better. I stamped and die-cut the Llama's from F&F's 'Llama Garden' set and affixed them to the cars before I popped them up on foam tape and added them to my card.

The sentiment is also by F&F and from their 'Birthday' set.

I am so, so happy with these cards, they came out so well and it was fun to CASE a card using a mix of things I already have!

I get so hooked on the beautiful cards that design teams make to help sell products, I always want to rush out and buy the products, but this year I am trying to mimic what I see, using what I have.

It's working out really well and this makes it easier for me to not be tempted to open my wallet!

Cx

p.s Other stamp sets I used were - Neat & Tangled's Scandinavian Prints (no longer available), MFT's Pretty Posies (available here) and My Cute Stamps 'Spunky Nature'(no longer available)

Flora & Fauna: Mini Toucan...

Hey,

Happy Friday to you.

Today is a big day for Hubby and I, we are going to our Green Card interview - EEK!! So nervous and excited...

A while ago we did a class at The Inkpad with Cheiron and she used a bunch of Flora & Fauna products.

I loved the 'Mini Toucan' set and bought it, but I hadn't had a chance to use it.

Then when we did the not quite Florida playdate Cheiron made a card using it and I loved it, so I CASE'd it and added some Reverse Confetti sentiments.

Super simple, but very elegant, I love how pretty and bright the Toucan is and I wouldn't have thought to add white gel pen for feathers!

Always learning new stuff from Cheiron.

Cx

CASE: Sooo many candles...

Hey,

So I saw this great card in the gallery when I entered a challenge and I had to CASE it -

It's by Ishani (aka Quillish) and I thought the idea was so clever, that I had to CASE it.

I went on a hunt for a stamp set that had candles and a die - I settled on the Concord & 9th 'Eat Cake & Celebrate' set.

I stamped some of the candles onto the base of my white panel and I also stamped some onto a scrap piece of paper, so I could die-cut them and mount them with foam tape. It give the card such great dimension.

I added a cheeky sentiment from the 'Fun Birthday Sayings' set which is from Scrapbook.com's own range of stamps.

A little bit of bling finished the card off nicely. I KNOW I'll be making this card a lot!

Cx

Happy Snail 40th...

Hey,

Happy Friday!

This week was pretty awful as a working week, but as a personal week it was a nice one.

About to get even nicer, as it is Memorial Day weekend here in the US, so no work on Monday WHOOP!!

And Hubby and I are going to an all day dance party tomorrow - double WHOOP.

Today I thought I'd share a card I made for a friend's 40th. A lot of my friends are turning 40 this year, so I am mixing up my ideas for what can be used as a 40th birthday card!!

I make this card over and over again in various forms. It started here as a CASE of a card by Marion Vagg - one of my all time craft crushes and now I blend a circle and add the cute little snail and the appropriate sentiment.

This time I used 'boy' colours as the card is for a male friend.

Super simple and a great use of the Avery Elle stamp that I just fell in love with years ago and had no plans for!

Have a great weekend.

Cx

Global Design Project: CASE the Designer..

Hey,

Happy Sunday to you.

I loved the idea of the current Global Design Project challenge -

You have to CASE the card shown above, in any way you chose.

What a fun idea!

I decided to use the flowers, gingham, blue and loosely the card layout.

My flower vase is by Paper Smooches (Best Buds) I stamped and coloured it using Copics and then die-cut it to size with a stitched rectangle die.

I layered gingham and blue papers to roughly fit the card layout and I added the die-cut flower panel with foam tape to pop it up a bit.

The sentiment is by Hot Off the Press.

My card ended up with quite a springy feel and I like it.

Cx

Dotty Whale CASE...

Hey,

Happy Saturday!

I'm super excited today, as tonight Hubby and I are off to the Opera, which was my Christmas gift from Hubby..I will be finally hearing Placido Domingo sing..

I have become obsessed with Alex Syberia's method of dot colouring..

I have been practicing, but essentially my versions look crap LOL!

Then I saw a post of Alex's where she used a Whale for her dotty colouring and I love Whale stamps and have a few, so I thought I'd give it a go and FINALLY it all clicked.

Mine are by NO means as awesome as Alex's, but it's a start and I am super happy with the end results.

You really have to try it and even if you don't, do check out Alex's work.

I used a ton of supplies..
Whale stamp/die by Recollections
Birthday Fishes sentiment by Waffle Flower
Fintastic Sentiment by Newtons Nook
Mini fish shoal by Kaisercraft
Single fish by MFT
Clear droplets by Pretty Pink Posh
Stencil by Andy Skinner

Cx

A little puff...

Hey,

Happy Friday.

Gotta love a short week right!

Today I am showing you a pair of cards I made as a CASE. The card below is the one I CASE'd by a fave of mine Amy Kolling..

The set is Sea-prise by Avery Elle and I love it and it has been used a lot.

I haven't really used the Puffer Fish much and was looking around for some inspiration.

To create my holes I used a great die by Simon Says Stamp that a friend bought me, it only has 3 holes, but worked just as well.

I traced around the holes onto my card blank and blended the 'sea' and stamped the fish and waves onto the card blank.

I added clear droplets just like Amy and stamped a sentiment from the set.

I love how cheeky they are and they make create fun cards for adults, both of mine were used for men. RESULT!! I mean how hard are male cards!

Have a great weekend, I am going out to party a bit with some of my girl squad tonight and then into the gym tomorrow to be brutalised by Wendel!

Cx

CASE: Kinda Eclectic..

Hey,

Happy Friday to you!!

Hubby and I leave for London tonight, part work, part fun. It is my companies annual Christmas trip - they take all of us employees and our partners on a 3 day European vacation - I know, unbelievable right?!

This year we are going to Porto in Portugal and we are leaving a week today, but before that we are heading to London for a few days with our families and a few days of working out of our London offices.

Today's card I actually made for a friend, then decided that it was too fussy for her (she is the Queen of CAS).

It's actually a CASE of a card I saw on Pinterest and realised that I have that stamp set!

The stamp set is Kinda Eclectic by Stampin' Up and I think it is discontinued now.

I kept most of the card as a straight CASE, but used a different large Butterfly (Clearly Besotted) and sentiment (Scrapbook.com own brand).

It's actually in my hand luggage, as I think my Momma might like it for one of her friends / colleagues.

Have a great weekend, I'll be napping, eating, hanging with my folks, going to SoccerBall with Poppa and missing my craft desk.

Cx

CASE it...

Hey,

So I wanted to show you a couple more cards I made using this great masking / blending / stenciling idea that JT and I CASEd recently.

The main card today uses some new birthday booty that I bought from MFT using money given to me by my in-laws.

You are familiar with my love of Monsters and I couldn't resist the new 'Monster Sized' set and the 'Sassy Pants Best Friends' set made me laugh a lot and so I needed to own that. The sentiment used on this card is hilarious and true of many of my friendships.

For both of these cards I used this awesome stencil by Andy Skinner - I am literally overusing it right now, it's so fun.

The next card uses more birthday booty - the amazing Cake stamp is by Sweet Stamp Shop and the sentiment is by Scrapbook.com - they do this awesome range of stamps and I loved 'have cake for breakfast' - I mean YES!!

I really need to use a different technique, I'm so hooked on this one, it makes card backgrounds super easy and fun.

Cx

Real life playdate..

Hey,

Happy Friday!

Finally I am getting round to showing a couple of cards I made on the playdate I had with JT during my recent trip to London.

We basically found this very cool idea -

And then we CASEd it, over and over again!!

I've kept on using it..I'm totally obsessed. I have added stencils to the blending and different borders, it is totally the idea that keeps on giving.

One of the best things about playdates is getting to use someone else's stash and I loved being able to play with the Avery Elle 'Yappy Birthday' set that I bought JT as part of our annual Black Friday $20 swap. WHY did I not buy it for myself?! Adding the little white spots to the doggie's scarf made me very happy, as did the sparkly gold border.

Here is another version I made that is truer to the original idea and again uses JTs stash - the stamps and dies are by Sizzix -

I really want this cute set too -

How cute are the Elephant and the Giraffe?!

I love real life playdates with JT, especially at her house, as her Hubby is a great cook and just randomly makes yummy foods (this time a Spanish Tortilla..).

Have a great weekend, I will mostly be resting, thanks to Mr Trapped Nerve and watching NFL games.

Cx

CASE: Shark Birthday...

Happy Friday!!!

Obviously I am SUPER happy today, as it is the first day of my Summer vacation!

Hubby and I arrive in Tampa later on today and our bestie / wife joins us from London on Monday for the rest of the week. We have rented a house with a pool, so cue mucho lounging, pool party action.

What better way to celebrate vacay than with a Shark card?

I love the Avery Elle Sea-Prise set and CASE'd one of the DT cards that they made to signal the new release a few months back -

I die-cut my aperture using a MFT stitched oval die. I coloured and die-cut my shark and recreated the 'sea' by using corrugated card.

I love the 'Hope your birthday is swell' sentiment, but as this card was going to a little boy in the UK, I didn't think he would be familiar with it, so played it safe with Happy Birthday.

The banner die is by Simon Says Stamp and I have had it forever and it's the only banner die I own surprisingly!

Fun CASE, I love it, I'm gonna make a few more I think.

Have a great weekend..if you need me I'll be by my pool!

Cx

Pretty Pink Posh: Hummingbird Cards

Hey,

Do you ever get a new stamp set, but are at a bit of a loss as to how to use it?

I fell in love with Hummingbird Thanks by Pretty Pink Posh, but I struggled a bit with ideas. So I did a google search and came up with the idea for my main card, which is a CASE of a card by Umichka (Anna).

I love masking and I thought her card was gorgeous and it inspired me.

I stamped all the Hummingbirds first, then using die-cuts, I masked them off and blended over the panel using Distress Oxide inks. I coloured the Hummingbirds using Promarkers and added some white gel pen like Anna to their wings.

I added a piece of tracing paper, a die-cut word and a sentiment banner to finish my card off.

LOVE the end result.

I made three more cards, using a simple formula - masked circle, Hummingbird die-cut or stamp and a large sentiment (all from a Freebie set that was a gift from JT)

A great 4 cards from 1 set solo playdate and has given me food for thought with some other stamp sets.

Have a great weekend.

Cx

Pinterest CASE..

Hey,

So first day back to work!

I am actually only back at work for 2 days this week, as my work permit has not arrived in time and I legally can't work, so these next 2 days are going to be hectic.

I got a new tablet for Christmas (thanks Hubby) and it re-invigorated my love for Pinterest. I came across this card and decided it was time for a CASE -

As you can see it's not a 100% CASE, more an element / layout CASE.

I love that spotty die that was used on the original card and as you can see I have a similar version but it's tiny Hexagons. This element really was key for me and was a must have on my versions, all the rest of the elements I kind of interpreted with the things to hand.

The speech bubble die in the original card is something I want, I didn't have anything similar so opted for a ready made kraft tag.

A friend gave me a big bag of cardboard embellishments and I really wanted to use the giant 'Happy' ones on these card, so opted to use those over the sentiment banner on the original card.

The birthday banner die is by MFT and they were a great buy. The stars were cut from some precious DCWV glittery paper.

I'm really pleased with how they came out, I love a random CASE, really helps to spark my imagination.

Cx

CASE brush strokes and abstracts..

Hey,

Happy Sunday, hubby and I are on the way to Atlantic City, I'm actually writing this post on the bus!

I saw this great card by Julie Ebersole, using her stamps for Ellen Hutson -

I realised that I had some similar products (brushstrokes by Simon Says Stamp and landscape textures by Neat & Tangled). So I thought I'd have a play.

I'm pretty pleased with both cards. I actually dug out the few pigment inks that I have, so I'd get really rich and bright colours.

The first card I made was the bottom one, I really love the rich colours and the Misti made it super easy to do, I actually left the brushstroke stamp in one position and moved the paper. The sentiment on this one is a mix of a great stamp by Waffle Flower and a Tim Holtz sticker. I added a few enamel dots to finish it off

I decided to get all brave with the top card and only use a few brushstrokes and add in more of the abstract elements. I like it, feels like I could stamp happy birthday inside...

Fun cards to make, quite time consuming for 2 cards, but totes worth it.

Cx

Get on the Bus...

Hey,

So I had a great time over the super long holiday weekend, I had brunch with friends and Hubby, went on a Macy's rummage with a friend and then Hubby and I hit the boat party. It was a lot of fun and I felt totally relaxed yesterday.

I also managed a couple of long sessions playing at my desk, which was nice after the 6 days away from it! I broke out old and new things to play with.

Today I am showing you two cards I made using my new Avery Elle Birthday Bus stamp and die set.

The main card is a bit of a CASE - I really liked the card Elena made and I have the cover plate die, so thought why not!

I watercoloured the bus and the presents, I made a mistake, so I had to fussy cut out the windows - ugh, but it does look nicer, I wish dies would do that..

I thought a piece of red spotty paper in the aperture would be a great foil for the blue card blank and the red bus. I stamped the sentiment from the set onto a piece of red cardstock and affixed it at a jaunty angle, to give the bus a bit of movement.

I stamped and coloured two of the bus and present stamps, so I thought why not make a similar card, using a different cover plate (I don't have as many of these as I'd like..)

I love the Hexstar cover plate by Neat and Tangled, it makes everything look good. The only different with this card really is the lack of fussy cutting, it probably would have looked nicer, but I just couldn't face it!

I love how they both turned out, giving me a couple of fun cards for my stash.

Cx