Freshly Made Sketch #217

Good morning bloggers!

Last card before Christmas for the final Freshly Made Sketch of 2015:

I stamped a heap of Whimsy Stamps balloons from Happy Everything. The sentiment is an MFT die cut which I covered in Glossy Accents and sprinkled with chunky glitter - it's a lot more sparkly in real life!  The colour palette is from a previous challenge at Colour Q that you can find here.

That's it for me for 2015 - where did the year go?  Hope you have a safe and happy Christmas and may Santa bring you lots of crafty goodness!

Thanks for popping by,

Claire x

Life's a Juggling Act

Hello - hope you're having a fabulous weekend!

I've not had the chance to join in over at Casology for the last few weeks - probably for the same reason as every one else... and that's where the inspiration for this super CAS card came from:

In fact I'm dedicating this card to all those lovely Mum's out there who have spent the last few weeks Christmas shopping, wrapping presents, preparing for Christmas dinner, looking after the kids, working and who will probably fall in a heap on Christmas night thinking thank God it's over for another year.   I think you're all Amazeballs!

Thanks for popping by!

Claire x

Winter/Holiday Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

Hello bloggers!

I almost missed this month's Coffee Lover's Blog Hop so I'm just sneaking this little card in before Mr Linky closes:

I used this week's Retro Sketch for a little inspiration and Waltzingmouse's Coffee Set to fit the coffee lovers theme!

Have a great weekend!

Claire x

Feeling Wonky

Hello!

It seems ages since I last made a card - hardly surprising when Christmas is just round the corner. 

The wonky rectangles in the latest Freshly made Sketch are kind of a reflection of my current state of mind.  I had the ultimate mother brain moment the other day, when my sister-in-law called to say thank you for the handmade card I had made for my 4 year old niece...and how lovely it would have been if I'd actually written something in it! Oh dear....

Moving on, I've been lusting after Altenew's Painted Flowers for months now so was very excited to see it land in my letterbox as part of an early Christmas present! This sketch was perfect for playing around with those pretty blooms. I partially covered the stamping with some vellum to soften it, then added a swirly 'hello' sentiment from MFT. Very simple, but pretty much the only thing my addled brain is capable of at the moment!

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

CFC 146

G'day folks!

Anyone feeling a little stressed right now? How about a new CAS-ual Fridays Clean and Simple Challenge to get you into a more relaxing headspace? This month we're focusing on snowflakes:

I couldn't decide which colours to use so I did two different versions of the same card: one in cool blues and the other in more traditional Christmas colours - with a little bit of bling thrown in!

For these cards I used Snowflake Greetings - which you can find here at the CAS-ual Fridays store. Did you know,  those larger snowflakes are the perfect fit for a 1 inch circle die? And that you can also use your die to cut a hole in the middle of the circular greeting? They were so quick and easy to make these cards, that I ended up making a whole batch of them for family and friends.

Since my cards fit in with the theme over at Time Out I'm going to link up with their challenge based on this quote: Snowflakes are Winter's Butterflies.

So, are you ready to get inky again for our final challenge of 2015? You need to get your Winter skates on - this challenge is for two weeks only and will end on 18th December at 6pm Eastern time. For those of you who like a few more layers on your cards, head on over to our other challenge site for the CAS-ual Fridays CAS-ual Chic challenge!

Happy stamping!

Claire x

Runway Inspired

Hello again bloggers!

Hope all of you State side had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day yesterday! 

I had a quick play with paper for this week's Runway Inspired challenge using the sketch from Mojo Monday:

As you may know, purple is definitely not my 'go to' colour in the ink department! I white embossed the Winnie and Walter bloom against a navy background, then coloured a separate bloom with purple distress inks and a Copic marker. The white embossed background strip is from Waltzingmouse.

Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop - Take Two!

And here I am again..

In my second card I used PTI's Take a Bough.  I've added some dimension to this card too with heaps of chunky glitter snow on the branch and some dimensional tape to make those baubles pop!

Long day at work for me today so I'm off to retire to the sofa for some much needed vegging out!

Thanks for taking a peak!

Claire x

Papertrey Ink November Blog Hop

G'day folks!

Time for the November Papertrey Ink Blog Hop! This month there's an inspiration pic full of non-traditional Christmas colours:

My first card is a non-traditional Valentines card using Heart Prints:

I stamped the hearts in a variety of colours and folded them in half to add some dimension. The base heart  and sentiment have been embossed in pewter and white embossing powders.  Speaking of dimension,  I'm going to enter this into Addicted To CAS as that's the code word for their current challenge:

If you want to see my next card for the Blog Hop, just scroll down to the next post!

Thanks for popping by!

Claire x

Feeling Rosy

Hello again!

Second post for the day with a quick, CAS card for Freshly made Sketches. I had a bit of a winning streak a few months ago through Anita's blog (https://mypapercraftworld.wordpress.com) and these pretty rose stamps from Winnie and Walter came via happy mail yesterday:

 

I coloured them in with Copics, added an embossed strip and that's pretty much it. Told you it was CAS!

Hope you get the chance to get inky this weekend! Thanks for stopping again,

Claire x

Watercolour Play

Hello bloggers! 

Watercolour has never really been my forte but when I saw Karen's beautiful card to CASE at Time Out  I reached for my dusty watercolour pad and had a play.  I embossed a small doilie from Waltzingmouse in gold,  sprayed the paper with water and then filled in some of the pattern with some distress inks. 

I based my card on Karen's clean and simple design and the round clock face which made me think of the circular shaped doile stamp. 

That's all from me folks - thanks for popping by!

Claire x

CASology Guest Designer

G'day folks!

I was chuffed to bits to be picked as last week's winner for the CASology challenge, so this week I'm guest designing for their latest challenge:

Its no secret that sometimes I struggle with the cue word so I was somewhat relieved to see that the cue word is 'pretty.' I mean, you could go anywhere with this one couldn't you?  I reached for Papertrey Ink's Doodlie-Do blooms, embossed them in gold and pink and added a touch of pretty bling. The sentiment is Waltzingmouse.

So where will pretty' take you this week? Make sure you check out the fabulous inspiration given to you by the uber-talented design team won't you?

Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Freshly Made Sketch #212

Hello!

An ultra quick post for Freshly Made Sketches today:

I'm also entering this one into Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge which is 'Thinking of You.' I figure if you're sending a card to someone 'Just Because', then you must be thinking of them! 

I used Stamping' Up's Flower Shop for the bloom and coloured it red as it reminds me of a poppy.  The leaves are from WMS' Simple Sprig. Yes I know - the petals aren't the right shape for a poppy and the leaves are nothing like a poppy either...but don't tell anyone....

Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Freshly Made Sketch #211

G'day folks!

Love this sweet sketch by Karren over at Freshly Made Sketches:

For the circle I stamped one of Waltzingmouse's small, Dainty Doilies, then added a layered Funky Flower with a die cut leaf flourish from Cheery Lynn. The sentiment is from Mama Elephant.

It was a trip down memory lane for me yesterday when I took my oldest son to see Back to the Future  at our local cinema. Can you believe it's been 30 years since Michael J Fox went back in time in a Delorean? They even had the Delorean parked outside the cinema - you can imagine my 9 year old's excitement when he saw the Flux Capacitor!

Have a great week!

Claire

Vehicular Fun

Hello, hello!

Hope you are having a good weekend.  Here's a quick little card I made for this week's Casology challenge:

I'm not sure if, by definition, a helicopter can be classed as a 'vehicle' - but since there were a few hot air balloons in the DT's fabulous creations this week, I thought I could get away with it!  I sponged another of those lovely, shiny backgrounds again as I did here and added some Memory Box clouds and a Paper Smooches helicopter from their Little Fella set. I've coloured the copter in with Copics but it's a lousy day in Sydney today so the shading looks non-existent in the photo. My colouring skills are improving...if only it showed in my photos!

Paper Smooches is also having a call out to be guest designer for December so I'll join in over there too.

Hope you get some time to get inky this weekend! Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

CASual Fridays Clean and Simple Challenge #145

Hello folks!

It's time for a brand new challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays. This time we have a theme for you to play with: precious metals. Think metallic thread, foil...so many different crafty options out there!

I had a play with this stamp set called Mon Ami and the accompanying Mon Ami Fleur Fri-dies. I've made a few cards using these stamps recently - so many different ways you can colour those blooms!

For my card and tag, I used some metallic, silver embossing powder and coloured the images with  a blend of metallic Perfect Pearls. The little studs at the top of the bloom are actually from a bath plug chain which has been sitting in my stash of trash for several years. Why did I have an old bath plug chain sat in my stash? Well, for this obviously!

To be in with a chance to win a $20 gift certificate from Laura's Loft and CAS-ual Fridays link your creations by November 27th. For another chance to win, head on over to the CAS-ual Chic Utterly Adorable Layers Challenge.

Happy stamping!

Claire x

Make it Monday & More Hearts

Hello bloggers!

I'm on something of a roll with the cards this weekend - four in a weekend is something of a record for me. 

I absolutely loved the technique used by Lizzie for this week's Make it Monday challenge. Firstly, it's easy and I love easy! Second, it has given me a way to use some of my Perfect Pearls powders which don't come out anywhere near as often as they should. And lastly, it's a great way to hide my rubbish blending skills!

I used the technique to mask a pearlized circle,  then added a Doodlie Do bloom, coloured with Copics (which were still lying around after my previous card). Instead of stamping and clear embossing on to the pearlized part, I stamped the leaves in black. In hindsight I probably should have used Stayzon as the ink would be clearer on the shiny surface I think.

My Muse card yesterday gave me another idea for this week's CASology cue word - 'heart.' I stamped CAS-ual Fridays Mon Ami sentiment, but this time added a couple of hearts from PTI's Heart Prints.
I then shadowed them using black heart die cuts which made them pop against the card stock. Another easy one but I really like how it turned out.

That's it for now - I'm bracing myself for the arrival of a grumpy husband who woke up at 2am this morning to see Australia's World Cup Rugby dream destroyed by those pesky Kiwis! He will not be a happy man!

Thanks for popping by again,

Claire x

Muse Challenge #139

Hello again,

Second post for the day - if you want to see my previous card you can do so here. 

I can't remember the last time I played along at at Muse but when I saw Tracey's beautiful card I knew I had to CASE it:

I love all the white space she used, and the perfect placement of those sequins and sentiment.  The stamps are from CAS-ual Fridays Mon Ami set - perfect for me to practise my less than adequate Copic skills!

Off to bed now and bracing myself for my 7 year old son to keep me up half the night. Poor little thing is full of a cold...although for some reason it didn't stop him from trick or treating and eating half a tonne of lollies earlier this evening!

Happy stamping!

Claire x

Christmas in Pink

G'day!

Another Christmas card to show you today - at this rate I'll have them all finished by December 24th! I'm joining in with the latest sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch and using the theme from Time out which is: Christmas with the optional twist of "use pink and/or purple":

I've always loved Christmas cards which steer away from the more traditional colours of red and green. It was the perfect opportunity to use CAS-ual Friday's Snowflake Greetings and to bring out some pink. something that is severely lacking in my testosterone infused house.

Hope you have a great weekend - and hopefully this time tomorrow Australia will be World Cup Rugby champions!

Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Casology - Have a Heart

Hello!

It's about time I started my Christmas cards and luckily the cue word over at Casology gave me a nudge in the right direction:

I used Papertrey Ink's Take a Bough and stamped the round bauble, then die cut the shape into a heart and added a Waltzingmouse sentiment from Seasons of Love. There's a sprinkling of glitter over the branch to give the impression of snow but it's not shown up too well in the photo. Very quick and very simple, which is exactly how I like my Christmas cards as I have to make a whole heap of them!

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Little Monster

G'day folks!

My fingers have been distinctly lacking in ink these last couple of weeks. October is such a busy month in our family - birthdays galore, including my youngest son who turned 7 yesterday.  I borrowed a friend's 7 seater car, filled it with a bunch of his closest friends and took them to a play centre. Let's just say that every form of bodily function was discussed between said boys and the trip ended with a very serious burping competition - which my son very proudly won. Not sure what that says about my mothering skills or his manners!

Speaking of little monsters, having a bunch of very sweet ones in my car reminded me of this little fella from the Paper Smooches set of the same name.  I coloured him with Copics (annoyingly you can't see any of my shading in the pic - but it is there, I promise) added a swirl of twine and stamped and embossed a chevron background from Mama Elephant.  I took my cues from the latest Time Out challenge pic and the latest Freshly Made Sketch. It also happens to fit in with the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge to use monsters in your project:

Enjoy your weekend!

Claire x