Big Birthday Wishes

Hello. It’s raining here today, a little relief from the high temperatures last week – but I like whatever the UK weather tends to throw at us – barring the absolute extremes, of course.

I have couple of cards to share today using the same stamp set from Hello Bluebird, and for a few different challenges:

Both are one layer cards, stamped onto folded card-stock from Catherine Pooler I received many eons ago in one of her kits.

For the hippo card, I stamped the hippo in Gina K amalgam ink, then coloured with warm grey Copics, adding some white gel pen for details.

The grass was drawn on – to fit in with one of the challenge themes – and coloured with Copics. I must say – drawing grass is far harder than it might look. :)

The second card, the elephant, was coloured in the cool grey Copic markers, and this time I just drew in the top of the grass and coloured the rest with the same as the previous card, but adding bunches of grass with the darker green instead of drawing more black lines.

The hippo card will be entered into the following challenges:

Simply Less Is More CAS and doodles

Animal friends Challenge hippo or rhino

Watercooler Challengeoccasions

The elephant card will be entered into the following challenges:

Moving Along With The Times Elephants

Pink Gem Challenge anything goes

Seize The Birthdaybirthday anything goes with option rainbow colours (not taken)

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You’re The Cat’s Meow

Hello and welcome once again. I have a card to share today which turned out to be made largely from Mama Elephant products. This wasn’t planned at all – it was just the way my mind went when designing the card:

The theme started off from the current challenge at CASology – the prompt word being ‘BALL’. I put that into the Color My Life app and it came up with lots of balloons in my stash – and a few stamp sets which had cats/kittens with balls of wool.

Of those three, I chose the Mama Elephant stamp set ‘My Pet Kitties‘, stamped a couple of the images in Gina K Amalgam ink onto a scrap piece of Concord & 9th white card (from a previous make).

I coloured the kitties in Copics – the warm greys (and this card stock loves Copics – very easy) with a touch of peach to the ears, an aqua Copic for the wool balls – following the current colours at Color Throwdown – and then used the matching dies to cut them out.

I was going to go with a ‘normal’ card layout, but I have several of the slimline die sets so I went with that. I first looked on the Mama Elephant web site to get the dimensions for a slimline card, especially as I was using their dies to create one.

The base card is Neenah card, the Kraft layer is cut using Mama Elephant ‘Slim Card Basics‘, as is the white layer and the three windows.

Instead of ink blending the windows, I used another Mama Elephant die set – ‘Slim Window Dressing‘ – which had grass and cloud dies so I used an aqua and Kraft card for those two layers in each window.

The sentiment is from C.C. Designs ‘Cutie Cats‘ – one of the other stamp sets I was going to use – and then all put together with foam pads and glue as you see.

I added a couple of little butterflies – just because I could………

Even though this has a few layers to it, I still think it’s CAS enough for the CASology Challenge – but I am sure the DT there will let me know if it’s a problem – I still had fun thinking about a card for their current theme – it has taken me days and days…….

I shall be entering the following challenges:

CASology word prompt ‘BALL’

Color Throwdownpeach aqua, Kraft

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge midsummer blues – use blue, or the blues music, or sad

You Really Are The Sweetest…

Hello there. I have a ‘berry’ sweet card to share today – pun intended:

See what I mean?

I used the Clearly Besotted ‘Pick a Plushie‘ stamp set and – obviously- the strawberry. Once stamped with Gina K amalgam ink and coloured with Copics – I then had to fussy-cut them out……I know – not usually my thing, but these were quite easy.

I then used some white gel pen for details and turned to the sketch layout, using three die cut squares which were left over when I die-cut the Heffy Doodle ‘Stitched Slimline Trio die’ a few cards ago – I always keep these little squares or circles for future uses – but sometimes I forget I have them! These were still on my craft desk and just begging to be used.

The inner small squares were cut using a Stampin Up ‘Stitched Squares’ die set – a staple in my craft drawer and used frequently.

The sentiment is from the same Clearly Besotted stamp set and stamped directly onto the card base.

I am continuing to make cards for non-specific reasons and just sending them to friends as a little encouragement and contact.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Fusion Card Challengesketch and/or photo – photo inspiration of the berries

CAS Colours and Sketchessketch

Crafty Sentiments Designsanything goes

Arty Divas Challengeanything goes

Inkspirationalword prompt ‘Face‘ – my strawberries have faces :)

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Curvy Girl with Diamond

Hello once again. I have a card to share today as a new challenge has started at The Alphabet Challenge – this time we have the letter ‘J‘ and we want to see ‘Jewels or Jewelry’. Here is my card:

This curvy girl is from Stamping Bella, stamped with Gina K amalgam ink then coloured with Copics.

Once die cut, I turned to plan my layers and colours for the card, raiding my stash of coloured card to find some that would match the dress – I didn’t think of that before I coloured her – and cut the layers as you see.

I thought it needed a little more bling/jewels, so I used some blingy purple tear-drop thingies……….no clue where I got them from but the colour seemed to match to dress…….and also found some Nuvo drops that matched too, but I restrained myself with those and only added eight drops….. :)

There is a lot of shiny jewels and jewelry from the design Team, such a joy to see. I hope you can come and join us – I look forward to seeing you in our gallery. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Aud Sentimentsanything goes with a sentiment

Crafty Calendar Challenge anything goes

QKR Stampedeanything goes

Dragonfly Dreams Challenge anything goes

QKR
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Monochrome Magnolia

Hi there. A new challenge is beginning at Cardz 4 Galz, and this time we want to see your MONOCHROME creations.

Here is my card:

I began by stamping the outline of the Altenew ‘Build-a-flower Magnolia’ in Concord & 9th grey ‘Dove‘ ink from the mini cube set, and the second layer, missing out the base and more detailed layer as I wanted some white within the grey. Once they were die-cut, I played with the layout on a piece of black card embossed with a Crafters Companion 3D embossing folder until I came up with the placement you see.

Sentiment-wise – this is from Heffy Doodle – a vertical sentiment for a ‘just because’ reason. I am missing so many of my friends that I’m going to keep sending out little snippets like this – so they don’t forget me!

As if!!!!

I hope you can come and join us this time round – the Design Team has a whole variation of monochrome creations waiting to view – hope to see you there. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

A Bit More Time To Craft anything goes

Crafters CafeAnything goes

All Fun Challenges anything goes

A perfect Time To Craftanything goes

Mix It Up Challengeanything goes with option of embossing

Die Cut Divas – flowers including die cuts

The Crafter's Cafe Challenge Blog
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A White Daisy

Hi there. I hope you are all well. I was lucky to obtain the new ink cubes and card stock from Concord & 9th when it was first released over here in the UK.

This card features just the card stock – all die cutting – mixing the three Concord & 9th ‘Fresh Cut Florals‘ die sets for several challenges:

A close friend of mine has a birthday on 11th August, so this card was made withe her in mind. I knew I could go a little more dimensional as I could take it to her so I wasn’t worried about giving the daisy a little bit of dimension and life – whilst still keeping the look CAS.

She has been shielding since March, so I haven’t seen her – though we have kept in contact. Her family has been doing the shopping etc. It’s only recently that people who have been shielding have been ‘let out’ of the house. I’ll be picking up some real flowers and maybe a little treat as well.

After die-cutting the three sets a dies a few times in the blue, white, marmalade and red pieces of card, I then played with the colours of each element. I knew the white daisy was going to take centre stage, but the other elements were moved and changed around until I had the layout you see above.

I have some huge white daisy in our garden which were also an inspiration:

I didn’t ink the leaves of the daisy – just clean lines and colours. I looked for a sentiment – and I have a lot of them – but in the end I decided to put the sentiment on the inside to keep the outside kinda ‘pure’.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Color Throwdown – red, coral, blue, white

Watercooler Challengeatg with feminine twist

Simply Less Is More CAS Summer Flowers

Give a Crafter a Cookiephoto Inspiration (white flowers)

Clean and Simple On SundayCAS Nature

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P, Q and R Christmas

Hellooooo. There is a new challenge beginning at ABC Christmas Challenge. We have reached P, Q and R – and we want to see your Christmas makes with Pine Trees, Quiet, and/or Robins.

I went with all three:

Pine Trees

This first card is using the Clearly Besotted ‘Scene It Around 2‘ stamp set, and coloured with Copics.

Quiet

Santa and the sleeping cat – shhhh – is from Gerda Steiner Designs, again coloured with Copics. I’m owned by two cats actually, and until hubby and I have finished our travels and working less – then it will continue to be cats – they are so much more independent – and don’t need walking in bad weather!

Robins

These cute little Robins are from Clearly Besotted – stamped the layers, adding glitter to the white on the hats, and added to a stenciled background.

I am looking forward to seeing what you create with these topics for a Christmas make – hope to see you in our gallery. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Scene card:

PolkaDoodles Challengeweek 31 – atg colouring

Pink Gem Challenge atg colouring

12 Months Of Christmas Challenge – Christmas with option shimmer and shine

Santa and Cat:

Fezziwigs Festive Frolics – Santa

As You Like It Challenge Favourite Dogs or Cats – and why

Christmas with the Cuties cute Christmas Animals

Di’s Digi Designs Cute and Cuddly Animals

Rockin’ Robins:

Christmas Blog Challenge Christmas and Square card

Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge atg Christmas – option reindeer (not taken)

Crafty Animals anything goes with animals

Stamping on Kraft

Hi everyone. A new challenge has begun at Cardz 4 Galz, and this we want to see you stamping on Kraft………

I did another card recently where I enjoyed creating my own background whilst stamping on kraft – I got my DT cards and themes kinda mixed up!

So for this challenge I went retro:

Very simple – but I think very effective. This is a stamp from Picture This/Creative Endeavours and once again ‘found’ whilst putting items into the Color My Life app. It’s called ‘Terry and June‘ – which also brings to mind an old UK sit com.

This stamp set also brought back memories of the early 1980’s – hubby and I were often off on his motorbike – sometimes camping at rallys with lots of other bikers, and sometimes off on our own just travelling the roads.

He has had loads of motorbikes over the years – and still has some – but my days of doing that are over – I like my creature comforts too much!

I must say, when I showed him the card he wasn’t very pleased – we were the rockers – completely opposite to the scooter gang! You know the ones I mean – we had long hair, scruffy leather jackets with denim cut-outs on them – head-bangers we were called because of the way we ‘danced‘.

Anyhoo – I love this image – bringing back memories of biking and camping with such joie de vivre……

I hope you can come and join us in this challenge, I’d love to see you in our gallery. xx

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Crafting Happiness Challenge anything goes

CAS on Sunday CAS summer

Christmas Spirits….

Hello once again. I hope you are keeping safe. I have a CAS card to share today:

I took a square base card and stamped some images from a newly purchased Clearly Besotted stamp set ‘ Drink and Be Merry’ in Gina K Amalgam ink, then very simply coloured with Copics.

The berries are one of the gold’s from my Gansai Tambi set – and those little berries are exactly that – little!

The sentiment is from the same stamp set – and there are loads of sentiments with this actually quite small set – you certainly get a lot for your money.

I have a confession to make – this is my second attempt! The first did go in the bin – I couldn’t save it……………I took ages creating a mask for the glasses on the original card, then used a circle stencil and Distress Oxide Speckled Egg as a background – it looked absolutely horrendous!

Really – I mean horrendous! It was only because the Speckled Egg is a greyish-blue, and covered some of the black lines up – my fussy-cutting isn’t the best in the world – so I drew over them in black pen – went squiggly without even touching a drop of alcohol……..I still thought I could save it – coloured the images, stamped the sentiment……nope! Binned.

The version you see here is much better and I feel a whole load happier. I keep trying new things – but sometimes going back to what you know is better. I’m not having a very patient day………………..warn hubby now!

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Color Throwdown blue, green, peach, metallic gold

Aud Sentiments Christmas in July with a sentiment

Simply Less Is More CAS one layer Christmas

Christmas Blog ChallengeChristmas and a square card

christmasblog

White on White Christmas Foliage

Hi there, After a few days making cards for my DT posts for the next few weeks, I decided to make a card to enter some challenges. A few caught my eye. Here is my card:

I really am a fan or white on white cards, especially for Christmas. For this card, I hunted out a lot of my oldie but goodie Sue Wilson dies – some dating back to 2014 – I am never, ever getting rid of these dies – my ‘go-to’ when it comes to die cutting and Christmas in particular.

I have found with white on white cards, that leaving some of the elements to – well – hang around creates some shadow and dimension. For instance – I don’t glue every single branch and leaf down – I just glue the stem, or a leaf or two, and let the rest wriggle around there. This creates movement when the card is handled by the recipient, too.

The Gemini Junior went through a work-out for this card – all that die cutting! I have also bought some new plates so it cuts better – not warped currently – and I have even followed Jennifer McGuire when she taped some of the plates together to try and prevent warping……you can check the video out HERE.

Now, she does state several times that she is defying the rules – but hey – anything which gives me a chance of reducing the warping on my plates – then I’ll try it.

You can see each element I have die cut and how they are arranged, adding a little pearl to the middle of the poinsettia – even the pearl is a white one!

All this die-cutting takes me back to when I first started crafting – rather card making. Lots of die-cutting, very little stamping…..purely because I couldn’t stamp correctly, the images where never clear and solid.

We all know the arrival of the Misti stamping tool was revolutionary – it was for me anyway. From there onwards my whole way of crafting changed – I even took to trying some colouring…….!

So – this card brought back happy memories of years gone by, and made me realise how my card making has changed – I feel I am so much more versatile now – I will try a lot more techniques – some you win, some you lose – but hey – as long as we are having fun, right?

Anyhoo, I digress – I seem to be in a chatty mood – somebody better warn my hubby……………….. :)

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Christmas 24 Challenge Christmas Foliage

Fezziwigs Festive Frolics anything goes festive

52CCT – Christmas and all white (you can have black for the sentiment)

Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge – anything goes Christmas – option to use red (not taken)

Merry Little Christmas Challenge anything goes Christmas

Die Cut DivasChristmas and die cuts