catherine pooler

Sketch Inspiration

Hi there, everyone. Despite it being very, very hot here in Chesterfield, UK, I have been in my craft room. I am not really a sun-bathing fan, except when on holiday somewhere with a beach, pool/sea, and a bar, so I have been in my cool room playing.

This card was inspired by the sketch from CAS Colours and Sketches, and I took the opportunity to use my new Catherine Pooler Stamp of Approval stamps. There is one huge stamp set with lots of different medallions on it, which all can be used individually or that quite a few of them fit inside one another.

I also used the Catherine Pooler inks ‘Lime Rickey’ and ‘Aquatini’ – love those colours.

The two circles are two stamps from that set, and I used a circle to mask the larger image when I stamped the smaller image to give the effect of one behind the other. The three smaller flowers are also from that same stamp set, with the sentiment using two words from separate stamp sets in that collection.

As I stamped the words in black, I added a strip of black paper from Stampin Up I had laying around.

I shall be entering this card into the following challenges:

CAS Colours and Sketches – sketch

Brown Sugar Challenge – anything goes

Crafty Catz challenge – anything goes

 

 

Color Layering Koala

Hello there, everyone. I am now back from London. Quite a few days with no crafting – definitely suffering withdrawal symptoms. And guess what was waiting for me when I got back? The new Catherine Pooler Stamp of Approval box. Ordered and delivered within 8 days. Fabulous. I will be playing with them over the weekend.

Another thing which I am highly excited about – I am guest designer for Inkspirational Challenges for the challenge which starts tomorrow morning!! (Saturday) I know………..OMG! The first time I have been asked……so excited and nervous! Please check it out tomorrow, it’s a great inspiration photo – trust me!

For the card today, I had a little cute moment. Aren’t the koalas cute?

I started by stamping the tree from Altenew ‘Birch Land’ to one side of a plain white piece of card. I then stamped the koala and the baby, from Hero Arts ‘Color Layering Koala’ using Versafine ‘Black Onyx’ as an outline, stamped off once for the base of the koalas, then direct after inking for the next layer, for the two different brown looks using the same ink, cutting them out using the matching die set.

For the leaves I used Catherine Pooler ‘Aquatini’ and Stampin Up ‘Night of Navy’ – artistic license for the eucalyptus to be those colours!

For the grass, I used Catherine Pooler ‘Lime Rickey’ and rubbed it along a piece of plain white card, then cut it out with the Lawn Fawn ‘Simple Grassy Hillside’ dies, stuck it to the base card, and cut the whole thing using my Lawn Fawn ‘Wonky stitched rectangles’.

Once I had that base card, I realised the pointy edges of the grass were not stuck down, so I placed my two koalas under the edge of the grass, adding the die cut eucalyptus leaves. The base card is a navy card from Creative Expressions – love their foundations card.

I shall be entering this card into the following challenges:

Color Throwdown – Navy, Aqua, lime green, kraft (used brown)

Addicted to stamps and more – anything goes

Colour Crazy Challenge – anything goes

I hope to see you tomorrow morning when the Inspirational Challenge goes live…………..

 

 

 

Three colour card

Good morning all. I know this looks like a very simple and easy card, but I like that about it. I took inspiration from a couple of challenges with the colours and the theme, but in general I really like how this flower turned out.

I have used the Altenew stamp and die set ‘Extra Special’. (Yep – another new buy from Doncaster Dome/Which Craft show from last Sunday.) For the first card, I stamped onto a piece of white card in Versafine black onyx, then stamped the solid base layer for the flowers in yellow, using a Catherine Pooler ink. I added the second layer of the flowers, not with the layering stamps, but with a Zig marker.

The leaves I did the same way – layered with the solid stamps, then added further green with a Zig marker.

I die-cut the flowers with the matching die, and added to a piece of plain white card I had die-cut with my MFT Die-Namics ‘Wonky Stitched Rectangles’, raising the flower with some small foam pads, and adding the whole panel to a white card base.

For the second card, I stamped and coloured onto some water-colour card, as I didn’t know which way I was going with the colouring, but in the end I went with just the stamp and colour. Nothing fancy, and cut that panel out sticking directly down onto a white card base.

I haven’t added a sentiment, because I didn’t really know what sentiment to add. I like it as it is – plain, no sentiment, ready to be sent. For any occasion. Perhaps as a little note card. I may make several of these and package them together in sets of four.

I shall be entering into the following challenges:

Color Throwdown – Green, Yellow, Coral (all the three colours used)

Time Out challenges – photo inspiration (flowers)

Crafty Catz – anything goes (optional dies/punches)

Colour Crazy Challenge – anything goes

 

Sketch and colours

Hi everyone. Today’s couple of cards are inspired by CAS Colours and Sketches. For this card, you had a sketch to follow, and also a selection of colours from Stampin Up. I didn’t have all the colours they suggested, and used Lost lagoon, Baja Breeze, and Watermelon Wonder instead. I hope they match enough for the challenge…….

I began with a 6 inch square white card base, and added a die cut from Sizzix/Tim Holtz ‘Scribbles and Splat’. I die cut the scribble twice and added it as a band as per the sketch, and decided to use the piece of card I used for die cutting as another band on a similar card – waste not, want not! I stuck the actual scribbles down using my little Xyron so I didn’t get glue all over the place.

For the main piece, I stamped the main flower from Stampin Up ‘Sunshine Sayings’ in the two different colours, and added some smaller flowers as fill-in from Catherine Pooler ‘Amazing Floral’ stamp set. I used all three colours at some point in the stamping.

The sentiment is from the same Catherine Pooler stamp set, in black, as I wanted a contrast to all the colours used, and I feel the flowers actually stand out more with the sentiment in black.

I think I’m getting the hang of less and less layers and embellishments, but I do like to revert back occasionally.

I will be entering the following challenges:

CAS Colours and Sketches – sketch and colours

QKR Stampede – anything goes

Artistic Inspirations – anything goes with option of flowers

A bit more time to craft – anything goes

Mix it up challenge – anything goes with option of stamping

 

 

3 colour triangle turnabout

I’m still playing with the Concord and 9th ‘Triangle Turnabout’, which is why I’ve posted again today – very excited I managed to get that far…… This time I managed to do three layers in the colours set out in the current Just Us Girls challenge – lime green, turquoise and navy. I did the design of the card to match the challenge from Freshly Made Sketches and the Fab ‘n’ Funky challenge for creating a background.

I must say, doing three of the four layers for this stamp was a little easier than before, but I did make sure my stamp was cleaned well between the colours so I could double-check before stamping.

The Navy and Turquoise are from Stampin Up, and the lime green is from Catherine Pooler ‘Lime Rickey’. I think the colours work well together, and I loved the combination. To match the sketch challenge, I cut a thin sliver out and separated the two, adding thinner foam pads to raise only slightly. I always add a little glue to each pad, as I find it then gives me some ‘wiggle time’ to make sure it is centred correctly.

The sentiment is from Altenew ‘Painted Inspiration’, which is a great stamp set with some lovely sayings on it. Quite motivational, which I think is the point of them. I used a Sue Wilson die to cut out the sentiment, and raised it with foam pads.

When I manage to get all four ‘turns’ from the stamp set – I’ll let you know.

Challenges I will be entering are:

Just Us Girls – colour challenge (lime green, navy, turquoise)

Freshly Made Sketches – sketch

Fab ‘n’ Funky – use a background stamp or create a background

 

 

 

 

Less is definitely more

Hi all, I hope everyone is having a good weekend. I’ve been having a little struggle with my mojo for the past few days, what with busy at work, being let down by a charity I was making cards for. Isn’t is amazing how things affect your creativity sometimes, and yet other times it doesn’t make any difference.

I was having a look through my recent challenge entries, and remembered I had made a major ‘boo boo’ with the last ‘Less is More’ challenge – I entered a card but entered too many other challenges. So – you know what – this card is only being entered ONLY into the challenge.

The theme for the current challenge is ‘one layer: spots/stripes’. I knew I had some small stamps somewhere by Catherine Pooler which had plenty of those on them – now to find them! Actually, it wasn’t too difficult as I have been trying to organise my stamps into makes, as opposed to themes and find that works better for me. I always seem to know I have stamps and dies, and usually who makes them so it works better.

I used some Crafters Companion Neenah Crest Solar White card, which is lovely and smooth, perfect for stamping on. I cut two pieces of A4 card down to make four cards, as I was planning on putting some together in a four-pack for notelets, varying the sentiment on each one, but the design staying the same.

I used Catherine Pooler inks, too, as I find these stamp extremely well, but being very careful as they stay a little wet for longer. Beautiful inks……but I still used my Misti just in case!

So, I am only entering the current ‘Less is More’ challenge, and hope I have read the rules correctly this time! :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just a rainbow note…..

For today’s jaunt into crafting – as I only have a limited time today – I ventured into the clean and simple genre again.

The inspiration for this card was from Addicted to CAS, with the code word of ‘rainbow’. I may have gone a little too much the other way, compared to my multi-layered and embellished cards, but I like the simplicity of the design, and thought it would be ideal if I created some little note cards, sold by the charity in a set of four, for instance. I may try other little stamps in the corner, but have used stars and hearts from the Catherine Pooler stamp set ‘For Everything’. This stamp set was part of her Stamp of Approval collection and I hadn’t had a chance to use it yet.

The actual small little set comes with many stamps, for a variety of occasions, including sentiments, strips of dots, Christmas tree, kite, stars, a mug…..a wide variety.

I also used several of her inks, as I find them very vibrant, and stamp beautifully with a full and crisp image – I didn’t even use my Misti! The base card is Stampin Up, as is the layered part, as I find this very smooth card to be ideal for stamping.

I struggle to accept a clean and simple design and technique, as I have said before, but it does mean that the cards are quicker to make – once you have decided on the design and colours. Which is the hard part. Which is why I like to get inspiration from a challenge.

I shall be adding my latest card into:

Addicted to CAS – rainbow code word

Addicted to Stamps and More – theme of Clean and Simple

 

 

Fresh Sketch

 

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After doing some quite complicated techniques and dark colour schemes the past few posts, I just thought I’d throw a spanner into the works and do a clean and simple card based on the sketch challenge for Freshly Made Sketches.

I know it’s my second posting of the day, but I have had my crafting head on, and hubby has been golfing……..

I used a 6 inch square card base, with three little squares attached with 3D foam. Each square is cut using Crafters Companion Essentials Scalloped Squares, after stamping with one of the stamps from Altenew ‘Simple Flowers’ stamp set. I used Catherine Pooler inks – Rockin’ Red, Something Borrowed, and Grass Skirt.

I always wonder whether to stamp first and then cut, or cut first then stamp……this time I stamped then cut. Is there a supposedly correct way? Or do we do what we usually do – whatever works best for us?

The sentiment is from Stampin Up ‘Vertical greetings’, which is a great little stamp set with other vertical greetings, and topiary stamps. I stamped with Versafine Black Onyx, using my Misti.

I use the Misti a lot when stamping, especially when stamping directly onto the card base, as I never seem to get it quite right first time. I always seem to get the depth of colour wrong, or it doesn’t stamp correctly, and the Misti just help me to line things up, and double/triple stamp if needed. I then added the squares as per sketch pattern.

A quick card, as clean and simple as I think I can make it……

 

 

Simple sketch

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I made this card to enter the ‘Clean and Simple colours and sketch’ challenge. I try to do clean and simple frequently, but then always add more, then more, so this was certainly a challenge for me. I am not sure about the background to the circle on this one, but I feel even if we are unsure, or maybe not quite feeling the love from a card we have made, then still publish. I like discussions – often with myself! – about what could be changed or tried.

As I had recently joined a challenge using stencils – and found I had quite a few – I chose the Leonie Pujol ‘Friend’ stencil set. This set comes with varying sizes of the word ‘friend’ to act as a mask, and also comes with the stencil which has the same sizes of the word. She has a whole range of words which can be used quite easily.

I cut a circle out of some paper, and attached that to my card with Crafters Companion ‘Stick and Spray’, a repositionable adhesive – ideal for using masks and stencils. However, maybe I did something wrong, but I did have some adhesive left on my card in the word ‘friend’ and around the outside where I had stuck my outer mask – thankfully, my trusty Creative Expressions adhesive eraser came into play…..

After placing the stencil and mask down, I used Catherine Pooler ‘Lovely Notes’ and ‘Lovely Flowers’ stamp sets in the Catherine Pooler inks – Grass Skirt and Flirty Fuchsia. These little stamp sets are very versatile, and ideal for adding small details. There are lots of stamps in these small sets, with lost of small elements for filling in very small spaces. Hmmmmm – probably going to play more with those stamps today………..

Once the stamping had been done, I needed to create a background to the word ‘friend’, so it showed up more. There was too much white around the word and it didn’t show up very well. So – were the flowers I inked dry? Could I sponge over the top of them? Would they smudge? I didn’t know – so had a go…….

I used a heat tool anyway for a few seconds, just in case. Then I used Altenew ‘Frayed Leaf’ ink and started to blend into the circle. It started to smudge. So – I then decided to just blot into the circle with that same colour, with my Ranger ink blending tool – went quite well, I think. However, see my thought process below for how simple this could be to rectify.

I stamped a sentiment from the same ‘Lovely Flowers’ stamp set in the Flirty Fuchsia ink, mixing two of the wording options together, which I think worked well with the friend word inside the circle. I cut the sentiment out with my Sue Wilson banner die cut set, and raised that on foam pads. The only dimension I added – quite a feat for me – and added that to a green card base.

Some thoughts throughout the process:

The ‘stick and spray’ does leave residue behind, so don’t put your work upside down on your craft table until you have either washed the surface of your table, or have used an adhesive remover where the stencil has been. I’m going to have a look at their web site to see if I did something wrong, or if this is the way it is!

The Catherine Pooler inks are absolutely, stunningly gorgeous. They are vibrant, they cover the stamp beautifully – even big background stamps – and are a joy to work with. But – they do stay wet for a while……….if you are planning on blending over the top of inking – then wait…..and wait…..and wait….just to be sure. Alternatively – blend the background first. I know, you were saying that before. I didn’t hear you!!

The stencils are also very, very good. There are a lot of options with sizes in each pack, and I find they are good quality, and easily cleaned.

So – I have finished my thinking for this card and this post. If anyone has any hints and tips about using sticky stuff, feel free to contact me. I am always looking out for improvements and ideas…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lotus layering

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On arriving home from work I thought I would have a little focused play with a set of layering dies. I have used them before, but decided to play a little more. The inspiration for this card came from another challenge – Make my Monday weekly craft challenge.  The challenge is to use at least three of the colours of the rainbow listed – red, orange, yellow, green, blue indigo, violet.

I decided to go with blue flowers, and only used two layers of the lotus stamps, along with green for the leaves. I wanted them to hang over the edge of the white card, as some flowers do seem to go wild (not lotus flowers, I know, but here is my creative license). I was wondering what to do with the other colours, as I didn’t want to create a lot to go with the flowers, and was considering stamping the sentiment in one of the other colours, then my eyes fell upon a little bee that I had stamped and coloured for another project. I thought the little bee could add the yellow, and add a little quirkiness to the card. Therefore, I have used blue, green and yellow. Hey presto. Sorted.

Then to decide what sentiment, in what colour. Should I try another of the colours? How do I tie it all in? Again – as I don’t really clear my crafting desk away completely (who does?) –  I saw this sentiment from the Altenew set of the same name. I decided to use it as the challenge had inspired me to create the card, and decided to stamp it in blue. The blue I used was actually a mix of two blues, both from Catherine pooler – Something Borrowed and Fiesta Blue. Each of them didn’t work alone, but when I inked with one, then the other it seemed to tie in quite nicely, I thought. Then a blue base card.

Compared to my previous couple of days crafting with mixed media, very little adrenaline, no fear, just all seemed to work.