Birds of a Feather

Hello again,

Just sneaking in with a card using the colours from Color Throwdown. I was very sad to see that Barbara Anders from Paper Pursuits has passed away. She always really inspired me with her beautiful cards over at MFT - the DT have left some lovely messages about her on the CT blog:

I made a birthday card rather than a sympathy card - I've sent far too many out this year, the latest this afternoon, unfortunately.  Instead,  I've followed the theme over at Seize the Birthday - 'feather.' I used a new to me Jane's Doodles set from 2014 that my beautiful friend gave me from her stash. After some random stamping I gold embossed a few of the outline feather stamp. (I'm hoping gold is considered an neutral along with the chocolate brown.) The die cut sentiment is from Altenew and the stamped one from MFT. 

Thanks for popping by,

Claire

Time Out Guest Designer Challenge #275 - Baking/Sweet Treats

Hello inkers!

I'm delighted to be guest designing over at Time Out for this week's challenge. It's a theme challenge - 'baking/sweet treats.' Who doesn't love a sweet treat? Unfortunately most of us love them a little too much:

I chose a sweet MFT Pure Innocence image for this one. Christmas cake reminds me of Christmas growing up in the UK - my Mum would make the cake weeks in advance and like every kid I'd savour the good part which was the thick layer of marzipan and icing on top and very begrudgingly ate the fruit cake underneath!

This challenge is being sponsored by the wonderful Lawn Fawn with a $25 voucher up for grabs - you have to be in it to win it so check out the DT's designs which are always inspiring and get inking!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Freshly Made Sketch 658

Hello inkers!

It's been ages since I've joined in with Freshly Made Sketches so here's a little card I made for my youngest son who turns sweet 16 this week. I use the term 'sweet' very loosely!

 

I've used the hues from Color Throwdown to colour this sweet little fisherman from Your Next Stamp. This was always a favourite set from YNS but he's been in semi retirement and hasn't seen ink for quite a while. 

I went for some smaller stitched Mod Rectangles from MFT instead of standard rectangles so I could have a little more white space to give it more of a CAS feel.  The patterned paper is also MFT. 

Have an inky week!

Claire

Altenew October Inspiration Challenge

Hello folks,

Time for another Inspiration Challenge from Altenew, this time from April Leithner:

 

I love the colours for this one and really wanted the bright blooms to stand out against the leaves. I used the Craft Your Life Project Kit: Fragrant Florals and coloured the image using the coordinating stencil. I love these kits - it's so much faster colouring these huge stamps with a stencil. I've tucked a few sprigs of foliage behind from the Whimsical Layering Die Set.

Because I've used the stencil this one's going over to The Flower Challenge as well!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Funky Feathers

Hello bloggers,

 After a little break I'm back in the inky swing of it- a good job as October brings a multitude of family birthdays. Addicted to CAS' 'masculine' theme was a good kick start to the mojo:

These Funky Feathers from Waltzingmouse haven't seen ink in quite a while. According to the packet they were released in 2011, long before I purchased a Misti! I doubt I could have got them in such a straight line back then (and certainly not whilst drinking a glass wine!)

This one's also going over to AAA Cards' 'anything goes' challenge - without the optional twist this time!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Lavinia Stamps September Creative Challenge

Hello again,

I completely forgot to post this one which I did for Lavinia Stamp's September challenge.  I posted it on the last day of the challenge and it was a combo of Time Out's 'inspired by words' and Lavinia's Autumn themed challenge:

 

I made the background using my Gelli plate - it's something I'm still getting used to. My clean and simple nature means that a lot of my backgrounds get thrown in the bin as I just don't know what to do with them. I could never be a mixed media artist! 

No sentiment on yet - I'll add that when I find a reason to send it! 

Enjoy your weekend and happy stamping!

Claire

Autumn Hues

Hello folks!

It's that time of year - the leaves are turning, the temperature is getting crisp and the nights are drawing in. Except they're not - Down Under the very opposite is happening having just gone into Spring! That hasn't stopped me from making a few Autumnal themed cards though:

 

There's quite a few Autumnal challenges in the world of ink at the moment - AAA Cards 'anything goes with the optional twist of Autumn colours', Time Out's 'inspired by words' and CAS on Friday's theme of 'leaves.'

I made a very CAS card using a tiny maple stamp with a trio of maple leaves from Lavinia Stamps and each cluster has been stamped in a different coloured ink. The sentiment's from PTI and I dotted some gold pen around the wreath so it's actually quite sparkly IRL.  Who knew I had so many autumnal hues in my ink stash? 

Thanks for popping by,

Claire