Colour Q #297

Hello folks!

How's your week going?  We've started the school holidays over here and enjoyed a few hours at a friend's property today. The kids came back tired, happy and very dirty, although one of the boys probably could have done without the blood sucking leech on his leg!

There's a somewhat patriotic feeling to this week's Colour Q palette - just in time for US Independence Day on Saturday:

I love these colours...perfect for a masculine card aren't they? I made a clean and simple thank you card using WMS Ocean Bound, together with Opera Tags.  I stamped the kraft tag in red ink, added the white panel and embossed the anchor in navy. The background paper is MME.

Hope you get chance to get in crafty mode this week - check out the rest of the DT's creations for some inspiration. For those of you Stateside, have a wonderful long weekend!

Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Upsy Daisy

Hello again,

There's been an abundance of white space on all my cards recently so I was determined to use some colour and layers for the latest Freshly Made Sketch (by my very talented Colour Q team mate Jen:)

Such a simple sketch isn't it?  But it actually took me forever to make it work. Whichever shape I picked just didn't seem to balance on the card - I eventually opted for a circle of Authentique paper, added some die cut MFT daisies and a few sprigs from a Cheery Lynn flourish to balance it all out.  I also used the gorgeous colours over at The Card Concept. I think this one's classy and elegant. What do you think?

Thanks for popping over,

Claire x

Nautical Fun

G'day folks!

There's another great cue word over at Casology this week - I took my cue from Tracey and brought out Waltzingmouse's Ocean Bound.  I love the lifesaver image in this set but since Tracey's used it on her card I opted for the large sail ship:

I stamped a sea with PTI's Watercolour Wonder, added the ship, then die cut the image into three. I then popped it onto a stamped sea on the base using dimensional tape.

The kids have begun their school holidays today...is it me, or do they seem to spend half the year on holiday?  If only we went to school as adults..I'm sure we'd appreciate it so much more!

Thanks for stopping, have a wonderful weekend!

Claire x

Colour Q #296

Hello!

Where on earth does the time go? This week has absolutely flown by and it's time again for a new Colour Q challenge:

It's a rare Colour Q when I have the exact inks. I thought they would be perfect for a masculine 40th card using this fun CAS-ual Fridays set. I love the stripes in this set - it's so easy to create a background in different colours.  I used this week's Retro Sketch for some design inspiration, although I have to admit I've kind of adjusted it a bit.

Check out he blogs of the lovely ladies form the rest of the team won't you?

Happy stamping!

Claire x

A Simple Freshly Made Sketch

Hello bloggers!

How was your weekend? Ours was spent playing by the river with the kids - the sun was shining, the wine was plentiful, the company was good and the kids behaved. (Kind of.) What more can you ask for?

There's a lovely, simple sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches - I wanted to practise some colouring with my Spectrum Noir markers so I used this sweet little outline stamp from Spellbinders:

 The green strips at each edge are strips of washi tape and the sentiment is WMS - I love plain, simple masculine fonts...perfect for the boys.

That's all for now- hope you have a fabulous week! 

Claire x

Butterfly Crazy

G'day folks!

Butterflies abound throughout blog land at the moment. Over at Addicted to CAS the codeword is 'butterfly', at The Card Concept there is a butterfly theme and the sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch has....you've guessed it a butterfly:

I love the colours so much at Colour Q this week that I've used them again here - I embossed the WMS Camellia in gold against the navy card stock and then added a navy embossed SU butterfly.

Sometimes the hardest challenge over at The Card Concept is to categorise your card isn't it? I'm not sure if it's clean and graphic, clean and simple or clean and layered but since it has a couple of layers I'll put it in the clean and layered basket!

Thanks for popping by,

Claire x

Casology Guest Designer

Hello again!

I did a little happy dance a couple of weeks ago when I won the Casology challenge with this card, so it's my turn to be guest designer this week. I've never hidden the fact that the Casology challenges can prove testing for me sometimes so I was rather relieved when Melissa sent me the cue word, thinking it would be a cinch:

And then I realised that I have the grand total of two stamp sets featuring something resembling a small child. Of course, if I was really clever I'd think completely out of the box and wouldn't use a small child at all but I do love this cute WMS set and thought it would fit the card making bill!

Have you checked out the DT's designs? They make a habit of thinking outside the box every single week...I really am in awe of them sometimes! Make sure you pop by their blogs for some of their inspiration won't you?

Happy stamping!

Claire x

Colour Q #295

Hello folks!

How's your week going? This is the first post tonight and it's for the latest Colour Q challenge.  I love this combination...so elegant. It would be perfect for a wedding card I think:

I embossed a couple of Waltzingmouse's Camellias in gold and coloured one with some Spectrum Noir markers. I then used a different bloom from the same set to stamp a masked background.  Not a great photo I'm afraid so I may try and take a better one in the morning.

You've got until Monday at midnight CST to link up your creation - hope you get time to join in this week!

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Waltzingmouse Pyjama Party

Hello!

Time for another Waltzingmouse Pyjama Party! I'd love to have made more for this one but I only had time to make a quick card for challenge 2 which is a colour challenge:

I sponged a circular background using Antique Linen and Frayed Burlap, then added the branch and blooms from Asian Gardens. I think this was the second WMS set I ever bought and it still gets inked up on a regular basis.

Short but sweet again...kids to feed, homework to be done and wine to be drunk....

Happy waltzing!

Claire x

Roll on Summer - CFC #140

Morning everyone!

There seems to be a Summer theme around blog land at the moment and this months CAS-ual Fridays challenge is no exception.  Michele's idea of Summer is tan, white and one other bright colour so here's what I came up with:

I die cut a kraft circle and inlaid it into the card, then added a die cut 'hello' which I coloured with Copics and covered in a thick layer of Glossy Accents. The clouds and sun are from Whimsy Stamps 'Happy Hello.' Anita pointed out that this fits with the current Time Out challenge too - be inspired by the words 'happy is the bride that the sun shines on' - so I'm popping it over there as well.

Just a very quick post today...unfortunately something called 'work' is getting in the way of my craft time...

Catch you later!

Claire x

Colour Q #294

Hello for the second time today!

So are you ready for Summer (if you're in that part of the world)?  This weeks Colour Q hues are a Summery, sunny affair inspired by these pretty, frilly thongs:

I used a combination of MME patterned papers and ink for this card - I masked and sponged a Summer background scene using Soft Sky, Daffodil Delight and Mustard Seed distress inks.  I then used Frayed Burlap to stamp the flowers from Technique Tuesday's One of a Kind. Don't forget, if you haven't got the exact colours, just use the closest at hand.

I loved the layered sketch over at Fusion this week so I used that for some added inspiration. 

There's heaps more inspiration from the rest of the design team so make sure you go and check out their creations and leave them some love!

Happy stamping!

Claire x

Time Out Twist

G'day folks!

It's been a full on holiday weekend for us in the last few days. We took the kids to see Vivid on Sunday which is a festival of light where huge light projections are placed on the Opera House and other well known buildings around the city.  So clever - the boys loved it (although I have to admit I spent most of the time walking around in a mild panic, in case they got separated from us. The crowds were horrendous!)

Time Out has an inspiration challenge this week based on this beautiful card by Deepti:

I focused on Deepti's main colours for my inspiration - I love how she's torn her card stock diagonally so I based my design on a diagonal slant. I used an embossing folder to emboss a diagonal strip and then clustered my WMS Funky Flowers around it. I've stamped some blooms in colour, then white embossed some on vellum to add some softer texture. The embossing folder created a crease along the card stock - so annoying when that happens - so I covered this up with a stamped, dotted line from WMS My Kind of Guy.

That's it for this post - I'll be back later with the latest Colour Q palette. Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

A Vintage Offering

Hello again,

Another great cue word over at Casology - 'vintage.' I have to say I'm not a big fan of vintagey things (except wine of course.) I tend to envision old fashioned lace, chintzy fabric and a musty smell! So it was definitely a challenge to create something with a vintage theme and yet keep it clean and simple:

I thought the monocled man from WMS 'My Kind of Guy' would be perfect for this one. I love the old fashioned sentiments in this set. I kind of did some masking in a mask, if that makes sense.  I masked off a larger rectangle, then used a square mask with distress inks to mask lots of little squares within it. I then added a little crystal effects to his monocle to make it shiny.

Simon Says Stamp has a masculine challenge on their Wednesday challenge blog at the moment so I'm going to link my monocled little man over there too!

Thanks for popping by,

Claire x

Colour Q #293

Evening all!

So after an extended challenge, it's time for Colour Q #293. Can you believe we're almost up to our 300th challenge? It's a bright, bold and fun palette today...I can definitely see a few cards for the boys using these colours:

I used this week's Retro Sketch to kick start my mojo and Mama Elephant's Nursery Deco to create the little nursery scene.  I've had babies on my mind recently as I became an auntie again a couple of weeks ago. In a family of boys, you can imagine my delight that I'm able to buy something pink at last.  And I'm even going to get to see her in person soon when I make a trip back to the UK (dare I say it, without the kids!)

Enjoy getting inky this week - thanks for stopping by!

Claire x