CAS(e) This Sketch: Cheers...

Hey,

So I was really happy to have made the favourite's list over at CAS(e) This Sketch last week.

I was going to play along with this week's sketch anyway, but then the sketch featured a hexagon (swoon).

For some reason I LOVE hexagon's, I have no idea why, I just do.

So I broke out my fave Spellbinders nesting hexagon die set and went to work :)

I had an idea, as the 'Cheers' die by Winnie & Walter, was sitting on my desk. So I die-cut two hexagons in black and purple cardstock and die-cut the cheers out of a scrap of Lawn Fawn plaid paper.

I bought the Waffle Flower 'Currently Drinking' set on a whim 2 years ago, as I thought it would be handy and honestly it is one of the most used things in my craftroom.

I used x3 of the stamps from the set to create a little background on my purple hexagon.

I affixed the black one to the card blank and popped up the purple one and the cheers.

To finish it off I added some adhesive green pearls.

Fun card, suitable I think for both men and women.

Cx

Sketch Saturday #550 LeAnn's World...

Hey,

Happy Saturday to you and welcome to the latest sketch for the Sketch Saturday challenge.

Our sponsor this week is LeAnn's World and they are offering a prize of 2 digital stamps from their store.

Here's the sketch...

One of the DT chose the Thessa image that I used on my card.

I decided to rotate the sketch. I printed and coloured the image and die-cut it using a stitched oval die, to compliment the sketch. As Thessa is a Mermaid, I decided to use nautical papers - the starfish paper is digital and ancient from the now defunkt Pink Petticoat, the striped paper is a scrap from a beloved MFT 6x6 stack!

The sentiment is by Stampin' Up.

I added a teeny tiny blue pearl to anchor it all.

I can't wait to see what you do with the sketch, but first check out what the rest of the DT have made over at Sketch Saturday.

Challenge ends 15th Feb 7pm GMT / 2pm EST

Cx

Catch The Bug: Annual Birthday Bash - Sketch Sunday...

Hey,

I am back again today playing along with the Catch The Bug Annual Birthday Bash.

Today we have a sketch for you.

I decided to use the Birthday Monster Balloon stamp on my card.

I coloured the stamp first and used the colours to inform my colour palette.

I used scraps of spotty orange papers and a green scrap to fit the sketch. The sentiment is from a great set by Create a Smile.

To finish my card, I added 3 green pearls.

I love this cute little Balloon Monster card.

Pop over to Catch The Bug to see what the rest of the DT have made.

Want play along?
HOW TO PLAY: Enter up to 3 times using the sketch above. If you use a Bugaboo Image, you could WIN 10, 7 or 4 Bugaboo Images of your choice. We LOVE to see what you do with your Bugaboos! If you NEED a Bugaboo Stamp to use, head on over to the store and get the Friday Freebie! If you have a wonderful NON-Bugaboo Image you'd like to use, you’ll be eligible for 7 or 4 Bugaboo Stamps Images of your choice if you’re one of our winners! All entries must be new and follow the sketch.
You have until 6 am Sunday, January 20, 2019 to join the sketchy fun go over to Catch The Bug to link up your project.

Cx

Retro Rubber Challenge #75 Photo Colour Challenge..

Hey,

Welcome to another fun Retro Rubber challenge.

This time we have a photo to inspire you..

Pick out some, or all of the colours for your project.

I pretty much went with all the colours and used the flower image as an inspiration when hunting for the right stamp set.

As I love Flower Jar stamps, I thought this one by Unity Stamp Co. would be perfect for this fall inspired challenge, I've had it since January 2016.

The flowers in the jar, feel very fall like to me and I kept it all very simple by watercolouring the image and adding a sentiment banner. The pearls were added to cover an oops.

I thought that the stripey card blank really offset the colours of the coloured image. I need to use these card blanks more!

Check out what my awesome teammates have made over at Retro Rubber and show us what the photo inspired you to make.

Don't forget to use a stamp older than a year on your project and tell us all about it, that is a big part of the Retro Rubber fun. Also please feel free to combine our challenge with others, but keep it to a maximum of 10 challenges including ours.

Challenge ends on November 7th

Cx

CAS Mix-Up...Inky Flowers..

Hey,

Whilst I was looking at some blogs the other day, I stumbled across a link to CAS Mix-up.

I really like the idea and the January challenge was very appealing -

I chose to use alcohol inks as my liquid colour. I like working with alcohol inks, you can create such random shapes and patterns.

I decided I wanted flowers this time and these were really simple to do and I made a few variations, but this version was my fave.

All you have to do is take a piece of glossy photo paper, drop your ink on and blow on it through a straw to spread the colour. Simple.

I added the stamping with my sentiment (by Scraptastic Club) and in the flower centres (by Concord & 9th).

My choice element was the little black pearls to finish off the flowers.

I die-cut both panels using MFT stitched rectangle dies and I love how the small purple border makes the flowers pop.

I am hoping I followed the rules correctly and that my alcohol inks count as an 'art product' for the mixed media part of the challenge, no matter, I still love it and there's always the Feb challenge to master the rules LOL.

Cx

CASE A Card..Grid Scraps...

Hey,

Happy Friday.

I am leaving for London later on today, so my posts will pretty much be scheduled for the next 10 days..

As you know I have been recently having a Pinterest CASE frenzy! Today is the latest one.

I saw this card -

Image courtesy of Snippets by Design

I really liked the grid idea and the idea that it could be made from scraps. Wasn't keen on the twine though, so left that off of my card.

As you can see from my card, this isn't a straight CASE. I used all spotty papers by Lawn Fawn, die-cut and heat embossed sentiments and added little pearls to my heart and star.

Not the easiest card, as I had to work out the grid, so I could cut the scraps to size, but it was a great way to use scraps and is so bright and spotty I love it.

I need to think about how to make it easier, so I can make tons of them :)

Have a great weekend, see you in London tomorrow.

Cx

Retrosketches..You're Pure Magic..

Hey,

I really liked the sketch this time from the Retro Sketches team -

It made me think of a new stamp set that I just bought..it's a bit of a reveal, I bought it for JT and I, but she doesn't know about it...so when she reads this the jig is up!

She bought us both these wonderful dies on my last trip home -

JT said she really liked the 'magic' die and so I had to buy the Avery Elle 'Pure Magic' set for us to compliment the dies..yes that was my 'logical' thought process..

My card was simple to put together. I cut the stitched square in white, added red spotty washi tape and the die-cut magic, which I die-cut out of a scrap of glittery paper. Once the word magic was in place I stamped the sentiment from the stamp set.

It took a while to get my top hat bunny positioned right, but once he was in place I added black pearls and red blingy gems.

I love it! I have JT to thank, I kind of CASEd her thoughts....is that weird yet?

Cx

P.s anyone looking for a WOYWW post - ducking out this week, due to my workload...see you next week

Retro Rubber #37..Get Sketchy...

Hey,

Welcome to another awesome challenge from the Retro Rubber team.

This week we have a fun sketch for you - 

Who doesn't love a sketch?

I had an idea and went rooting through my 'nature' stamps looking for the Fossil Leaves set by Inkadinkadoo - JT bought it for me 2 years ago and I love it.

I used a die-cut white panel as my base and die-cut an ancient piece of DCWV spotty border paper, so that the stitching matches... I did the same with the thin glittery border, which was a scrap of DCWV glitter paper.

I stamped one of the fossil leaves several times, closely together, so it looked a bit like a bunch of them and added some movement. I added some wink of stella to the leaves and close up it is super shimmery.

The sentiment is from a mixed sentiment set by Bo Bunny, it's one of my early NYC bargains (2014).

I felt it was missing something so I added the little brown pearl and now it works!

Your turn to show us what the sketch inspired you to make, but first go over to Retro Rubber and look at the creations by my talented teammates.

Don't forget to use a stamp a year or older on your creation and tell us about it, that's half the fun.

Challenge ends on May 6.

Cx

Retro Rubber #27 Colour Challenge..

Hey,

It is time for another awesome challenge over at Retro Rubber.

Colour challenge..just the thing to get you all inspired.

I like colour challenges and I tend to be a bit subtle about how I introduce the colours..

The whole focus of my card is a stamp that is a couple of years old and is by Lucy Cromwell for Papermania. It's so simple.

I die-cut my white panel using my fave MFT stitched rectangle dies and mounted it onto a textured American Crafts card. I used some new Lawn Fawn stitched leaves dies and die cut them in 2 sizes and colours. I added the little heart punch in the old olive..

For the final touch and colour I added a self-adhesive pearl..

I like the simplicity of it all..

Your turn now to show us what you can do with these fab colours - link up over at Retro Rubber whilst checking out the great creations from the ladies.

Don't forget to use a stamp a year or older and tell us about it. Challenge ends on Nov. 20th

Cx

Paper Players...Colour Challenge..

Hey,

Happy Friday.

Today I wanted to join in with The Paper Players..

I love the colour palette and it was a great opportunity to use another one of my Meljen's Designs Divas, this time I used Flirty Diva.

Once again, oodles of fun to colour. You can see I have used some of the palette in her outfit and added more colours using the papers.

I am happy with all the little details..

Hope you have a great weekend.

Supplies used:
Promarkers  Soft Peach, Cool Grey 3, Buttercup and Pastel Yellow. Copic - skin white
Saffron pearl by Papermania
Glitterglue by Martha Stewart
Papers by Pink Petticoat in Saffron and Pistachio
Pear Tart Ink by Versamark
Wink of Stella Brush - Clear

Cx

Moving Along With The Times...Three.. in a Row...

Hey,

It's time for the Moving Along With The Times challenge..Team B are up this week and our hostess is Sue B and she has chosen a great theme of Three in a Row

Very simple rules - choose a row top to bottom, left to right - example Ribbon or Lace, Image, Punch

I went with Die, Image, Gems or Pearls.

I used a Magnolia image, which was such fun to colour. I had the hello in my image drawer forever and now that I have circle dies (by Sizzix), I could finally cut it out at the right size!

I thought it worked well here with the greens in the image and the paper.

All the papers are by Bo Bunny.

I added self-adhesive gems and pearls around the image.

I love Three in a Row, it's such fun and made me use some things that have been hidden away for quite some time.

This card is already on it's way to my Grandma.

Now it's your turn to join in the fun, but first check out the inspiring makes by my teammates over at MAWTT.

Cx

Happy New Year!!

Hey,

Happy New Year everyone and welcome to 2015.

Hope you all welcomed in the new year with fun things...this is a scheduled post, so I can't tell you how my new years eve went yet :)

As you know I love a Thank You set and I like to make sets for my personal thank you's.

For Christmas 2015 I decided to use some of my new stash - postage style square dies and leaf stamps - both of which were $20 challenge gifts from JT.

I used green card for my die-cut squares and then I stamped one of the lovely inkadinkadoo leaf stamps slightly off the edge in a contrasting green ink. I used a fave Thank You stamp for the sentiment in the same colour ink.

I then attached the die-cut squares to small 3x3 cards using my American Crafts mini stapler (like a mini attacher). For a final touch I added a contrasting green pearl

Simple and pretty too :)

They feel like little pieces of patchwork or quilting..

Cx

Scrappy embossed cards...

Hey,

So I am super excited as JT and I are having a Skype Playdate tomorrow..I have been missing her a LOT recently, so it will be fun to catch-up for a few hours. Also we have done our usual $20 challenge, so we will be comparing notes on the booty we ended up with.

Today I have 4 cards for you - they are super simple and were inspired by some pieces of paper I had cut up - you know one of those sheets that comes with lots of sentiments?

I had 4 Thank You's from my sheet, so I decided to challenge myself.

Make 4 cards using only scraps and 2 other items!

Challenge accepted!!

Recently I have been neglecting my enormous embossing folder collection, so I chose that as 1 of my other items and I went with adhesive pearls from Michaels, as the 2nd item.

I found 12 scraps (3 per card) that co-ordinated with the thank you's, then I rummaged through my paper drawers and came up with 2 already embossed papers that worked. I chose 2 more embossing folders and embossed 2 more pieces of paper.

I wanted all the cards to have a layered effect and to feel quite modern.

The main card was the first one and my fave. I used a notepaper folder by Darice and all the scraps except the corrugated card are by American Crafts. Look closely and you'll see the pale pink paper has been embossed with a Cuttlebug zig zag stitch folder. The corrugated card is by DCWV.

Here are the other x3 cards -

Card 2

Card 2 uses a tricky Sizzix flower embossing folder, the spotty paper was gift from JT and yes I found the butterfly in my 'black' scrap box. Once again the corrugated card is by DCWV.

Card 3

Card 3 has a bit of a masculine feel. I added the piece of burgundy card for a pop of colour. The embossing folder is JT's and she is kind enough to emboss stacks of things and send them to me..hint hint almost out of these ones love! The papers are all by Michaels.

Card 4

Card 4 makes me smile - the checkerboard embossing folder worked so well here with the silver card. The papers are all by Michaels and the pale pink and grey papers have also been embossed (I found them like that in their scrap boxes).

It was a great way to play with some neglected stash - following my Retro Rubber ethos here. I am also really enjoying working with just scraps.

Cx

Playing with my stash...

Hey,

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

If you are based in the US I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

I spent most of Saturday playing at my desk.

I decided to play with some of the more mixed media elements of my stash.

I broke out stencils, Ferro metallic paint/paste stuff, distress paints and my heat embossing stuff.

I made 3 cards, each using different techniques and materials.

The main card today is my fave. I went with stamping and heat embossing for this one.
I really love the colours and the fact that it's the first time I have ever got this uber detailed tree stamp to work (by Papermania 'Birdsong').
My colour scheme started because I came across the sheet of MME paper from a SSS card kit I have, it made me feel all Autumnal..
So I stamped the tree using Red Brick VersaMagic chalk ink - not a normal ink for heat embossing, but it worked. I used a clear embossing powder so the ink would show through. The sentiment is stamped with the same colour ink. I added a couple of pearls and some bling to the left corner to anchor the whole thing.

Card number 2 - Stenciling with distress paints...

A few weeks back I got a ton of distress paints in the sale. Having never used them before I surfed around for ideas for my first attempt. I settled on stenciling, seemed like the easiest way to get to grips with them.
I used a SSS mosaic heart stencil with Fired Brick and Spun Sugar distress paints. I totally love the way it came out, it's a bit messy, but it makes it a bit edgy I think. Because of this I added the You Rock sentiment and now it's going to be used as a birthday card for my friend who is an Art Teacher.

Final card - Stencil, texture paint/paste and heat embossing on to vellum...

So I bought the Ferro metallic paint/paste stuff a while ago, so I could finish my card course on stenciling. But to be quite frank, when it arrived it scared me a bit!
I had a play with it using a Memory Box texture splatter stencil and forgot all about it...
Then I stumbled across it this weekend and wanted to use it somehow. I heat embossed the Dear Lizzy sentiment onto vellum, which I then die-cut to shape. I chose the vellum so you can see parts of the texture underneath.
For a final touch I added some MME spotty washi tape and used a piece of solid tape from the same set to secure the vellum sentiment circle to the card.
I think this card should be used as an Anniversary card - bit weird, but I figure I know just the couple..

Playing with my stash was fun and gave me so many new ideas - my notebook has been out a lot this weekend. Note to self - do this more often!

Cx

Moving Along With The Times..To Someone Special..

Hey!

Its time for a new challenge with Team B over at Moving Along With The Times.

This week our hostess Shell is asking us to make a card 'To Someone Special'.

I really struggled with this theme for some reason?! Then a lightbulb went off and I made the beauty you see here for my Aunt.

My Aunt Connie aka AC, is totally crazy, cool and adorable. I often send her my challenge makes, as they can be a bit unusual and she seems to love them.

So this little card is just for her, for Christmas. I used an ancient Woodware wreath peel-off and then decorated it using bling, pearls and Stickles glitter glues in gold, red and turquoise.

The sentiment was from another set of peel-offs and the leaves are from the wreath sheet.

I had forgotten how much I love the wreath peel-offs. Isn't it great to rediscover parts of your stash!

Come and play along with us over at MAWTT and check out the fabulous creations by the other Team B ladies.

Cx

Squirrel tag...

Hey,

I skipped a post yesterday..not like me..but I had to work on Sunday and it kind of confused me!

No matter, here I am with a little challenge entry ;)

It's the second time I am joining up with Tag You're It! The inspiration piece is gorgeous -

The main card today is my second attempt at it! I managed to salvage the DCWV Squirrel - its from a Woodland box of chipboard with Bears, Beavers, Owls, trees, frames and other goodies - I love them all and use them sparingly - I got the box on sale :)

The tag, background paper and Leopard print tab are all from the same paper pack by Recollections. I really love the backing paper, I like the way it has a distressed feel to the edges. I die cut the tag using a Sizzix Tim Holtz die.

I smudged some white ink onto the backing paper, so my sentiment would pop out better and I am pleased with the result. The sentiment stamp is by Technique Tuesday. I added a brown pearl, because I love even lo-key bling!

In the end the whole card came together really quickly, which is often the way with a second attempt!

Cx

Using neutral tones...

Hi,

Happy Friday!!

Hubby and I are off to Atlantic City tonight, to start his birthday celebrations.

Last weekend, I decided I would work with only papers from my overflowing 'brown' paper drawer!!

I am really pleased with them both. The main card has an added bit of texture with the corrugated card. I like all the layers and different papers. I used pearls and bling for the cake and the corner of the card. The cake stamp and die and the sentiment are by SSS.

The next card has a funny story associated with it..I used my shiny new Memory Box feather die to make the card and then promptly lost the die...I kid you not, I cannot find it anywhere?!

Feather Birthday

Well, at least I got to use it once!! I made a small mistake with the heat embossing, as you can see, I kind of knocked the top off of the word happy! I love the little bunch of feathers, they are so cute..shame that I won't get to do this again until I find/replace the die..

Have a great weekend everyone..

Cx

New baby...

Hi!

Happy Friday.

First I want to say a HUGE thank you to my blog buddy Carole, for her gorgeous and thoughtful parcel..amazing! I love it all, can't wait to use the stamps. Here's a photo..she made the notebook at top right, below that is Carole's first ever ATC (how special am I!!), next to that is a folding pocket card and the flower bunny was inside..I need to take a better pic, as the heat embossing is AMAZING!! Below that is a little chipboard bird, which is now hanging on my pinboard with the rest of my birdies.

Gift from Carole

I wanted to get ahead of the game and make a New Baby card for an imminent arrival...but I am not sure what flavour it is, so I decided to play it safe, but kept my theme of 'seaside' from yesterday :)

I am super happy with this card, it came together so easily. I love circle and scallop punches, they clean up everything so well.

This is also one of the first times that I am super chuffed with my heat embossed sentiment, I stamped it in grey ink and then used grey embossing powder over it and it's given it a shimmery feel - here is a close-up..

Close-up heat embossed sentiment

Strangely enough this very simple card used a lot of stash and tools -
Promarker to colour the Whale
Whale stamp is part of a sealife set, it was a $20 challenge gift from JT
Sentiment stamp is by Fiskars and part of a New Baby set
Embossing powder is by
Grey ink by Simon Says Stamp
Grey pearls from AC Moore
Grey corrugated card by DCWV
Grey paper by Canford
Grey spotty paper by American Crafts
Scallop rectangle die by Simon Says Stamp
Circle and scallop punches by Woodware

Have a great weekend..I am excited to be well, but will be taking it easy.

Cx

Oh Ship!!

Hi,

I have recently got lucky and got a bit of a bonus..which sparked a mini shopping spree..

One of the things I bought is this Naughty Nautical stamp set by Simon Says Stamp..

I have wanted it for a while, but had no real use for it. So when the bonus came along I decided to go crazy and buy the things I wouldn't normally (more of these purchases to come).

Then as luck would have it, I forgot a friend's birthday last week (craft sun shining on me) and so today's main photo is the card I made for her using the set.

It's a tough one to stamp, as you can see it is a bit patchy, but I like that on this version.

Cracks me up every time I look at it..Darnell would love it, the skull and crossbones paper is by Funky Hand and I added some grey pearls to make it a bit more girly...

I'm seeing my friend on Thurs, so we'll see what she thinks then :)

Cx

Good Luck...

Hi,

Boy, am I glad it is Friday!! Despite the 4 day week it has been pretty crazy at work..felt like a 7 day week!

It has had fun parts though - WOYWW 5th Anniversary, was lots of fun and all my ATC's are ready to post now. Watching a colleague's jazz band was very cool. Best bit though is that I won a prize...can't tell you what until it arrives (disclaimer) but I am super excited...

Today a colleague is leaving us and I was asked to make her leaving card. I have already given her a little gift and card from me..so wanted it to be different to that.

She is pretty stylish, so I decided to use a fave digital stamp - well it's actually a designers sketch that I cleaned up.

I hope she loves it!

The paper was a freebie, the pearls are from The Works in the UK, as is the card blank and I coloured the image using Promarkers and added a touch of glitter glue, so the dress would shimmer.

Hope you all have fun plans for the weekend. I am taking it easy on Sat, going to try and do more of the Online Card Class. Sunday I am off to my first Bikram yoga session - which is Hubby's idea of hell - exercise in a hot room?! I must be a bit mad.

Happy Friday.

Cx