Your Next Stamp #42

G'day folks!

I've been coveting this Silly Monsters stamp set from Your Next Stamp for ages. They really are the sweetest monsters I've ever seen - except for the two little monsters who live with me of course....

Nothing like playing along with a challenge as an excuse to get them inky:

I used both the colours (together with neutral grey patterned paper) as well as the sketch for my card. 

Thanks for popping by!

Claire x

Brightly Blooming

Hello again!

I haven't had a play with a Retro Sketch for months and since I had PTI's Lovely Layers already messing up my desk I thought it would work perfectly with this brightly coloured bloom:

The colours are from Colour Throwdown's latest challenge - a couple of scraps of patterned paper, PTI sentiment from Birthday Sentiments and a touch of twine and it all came together pretty quickly.

Hope you have a wonderful Monday!

Claire x

Freshly Made Sketch #242

Hello, happy weekend to you!

Just a quick post to show the card I made for Freshly Made Sketches:

I used PTI's Lovely Layers, together with a matted die cut, embossed circle and a woodgrain stamped panel for the sentiment. 

Thanks for calling by!

Claire x

Papertrey Ink June Blog Hop

Hello!

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop time again with a gorgeous inspiration pic by Yellena James. I was inspired by so may aspects of her artwork - besides the colours, I love the translucency of the sea anemones so I used vellum to white emboss the Botanical Block rose and coloured the back of the image with Copics. I added a couple of Pretty Frames, a sentiment from the same set and a few sequins and it was all done. 

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Claire x

A Masculine Touch

Hello, hello - hope you're enjoying the weekend! 

The current cue word over at Casology is 'masculine.' I've been looking for some more masculine stamps for a while now, specifically for kids over the age of 8 and that doesn't feature boats or monsters! I bought Boy Basics:Game on from Papertrey Ink - it was one of their small, $5 sets and it's perfect for kids or teens as it features a WII-like remote and Sony DS-like controls:

I'd like to say it took me 2 minutes to make this card but the simple ones are really never that simple are they? It took forever to work out the positioning of the remotes before I was happy with it.  The good thing is that it would take me about 2 minutes to replicate it and would only require a change of colour to make it suitable for a girl!

Over at Time Out the theme for the latest challenge is also masculine 'with optional twist of mixed media' so I'm going to enter my card over there too. No sign of any mixed media though - just stamps and ink!

Thanks for popping by today,

Claire x

Creating with Papertrey Ink

G'day folks!

I received some gorgeous happy mail earlier in the week from Papertrey Ink - I couldn't wait to get my inky mitts on it and have a play. Its arrival timed perfectly with PTI's latest release week so I've created a quick card using one of Danielle's beautiful creations as some inspiration

I love the colours on her card - especially the black ink she used for the leaves on the forget-me-nots. It looks really dramatic with the reds. I used Lovely Layers, together with the Pretty Frame die...I've  a sneaky feeling this stamp set is going to see a lot of ink!   No sentiment on this one - it would have made the card look a little unbalanced  - I think the design would be perfect for a set of 'anything goes' cards for my Mum.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Claire x

CFC150: Thanks Twine

Hello again!

A couple of posts for CAS-ual Fridays today - if you would like to see the previous post for the monthly Sistahood Blog Hop, just scroll up. 

Now it's time for a brand new challenge - we want you to feature a thank you card using twine:

I inked up one of the newer sets for this one - Thanks.  I love the bold sentiments,  perfect for designing backgrounds like this one, in a variety of multi-coloured inks. A simple button tied on with twine and a smaller sentiment from the same set and it was all done!

For your chance to win a $25.00 gift certificate from CAS-ual Fridays,  link up your card using the theme. It can be any style - clean and simple, layered, mixed media - we don't mind! And if you use CAS-ual Fridays Stamps, Michele will even double the prize!

Thanks for popping by!

Claire x

Check those Boobies - Calling all Sistahs June Sistahooh Blog Hop

Hello again!

It's the 17th of the month which means one thing - check those boobs!

To  remind you, CAS-ual Fridays is having its monthly Sistahood hop. There are lots of designers taking part and showcasing the Calling all Sistahs range of stamps and dies - 50% of the profits from these sets will be donated to breast cancer research.  Michele has her own breast cancer story which you can find here.

My card features the Hope Ribbon and matching Ruffled Ribbon Fri-Die and a sentiment from Calling all Sistahs. I stamped and white embossed the ribbon on 3 layers of card stock and vellum. On the top one I sponged it with distress inks and polished it up to a soft sheen using some Perfect Pearls.

Now it's time to pop on over to the next blog on the hop which is the uber-talented Lisa. Here is a list of all the designers taking part - there's even a chance to win by commenting.  Make a comment on any of the blogs below and you could be in with the chance of winning one of three random CAS-ual Fridays prizes. 

CASual Fridays Stamps  <<<Start Here<<<

Shona Chambers

Lori McAree

Nora Noll

Claire Apostoloff- that's me!

Lisa Lahiff

Lydia Evans

Ceal Pritchett

Vicki Dutcher

Kimberly Rendino

Susan White

 Kelly Griglione

Alanna Moses

Jeanne Jachna

Jennifer Ingle

Lisa Harrolle

Diane Jaquay

Penny Ward

Bonnie Sharp

Lori Kobular

Archana Bhurke

Sue Nagata

Kim Sherrod

Heather North

Have a fabulous weekend!

Claire x

Happy Sunshine

Happy weekend folks!

Quick card for Casology using Mojo Monday's sweet sketch:

I inked a shiny blue circle using dye inks and Perfect Pearls, then added a cluster of clouds and sun from Whimsy Stamps' Happy Hello'.  I haven't got a rainbow die (next on the wishlist) and tried several times to create a curved rainbow using Copics.  My seven year old son could have done a better job so in the end I just kept a straight edged flag, as in the sketch,  and used a ruler to create a Copic rainbow.

Thanks for popping by!

Claire x

A Froggy Freshly Made Sketch

G'day folks!

It's Monday so must be time to post a card for Freshly Made Sketches:

I white embossed a background using Waltzingmouse's Woodgrain, added a few strips of MME patterned papers and a sweet little frog in a die cut pocket from Taylored Expressions.  I've coloured him in with Copics and added lots of Glossy Accents to his googly eyes.

Hope you have a wonderful Monday!

Claire x

Partial Die Cut Florals

Hello, hello, happy weekend to you!

Since Casology is celebrating their 200th challenge, I've done another quick card and combined it with Addicted to CAS where the code word is 'petals:'

I don't think you can get more CAS than this pretty bloom from CAS-ual Fridays' stamp set Mon Ami. It's definitely my favourite set to date. I partially die cut the flower using the matching Fri-Die, then stamped and coloured the petals with Copics. I also white embossed another flower on black card stock, then placed it behind...you can just seeing it peeking behind in the close up.  Since the cue word is CAS, I didn't add anything else to the card - I think the stamp is pretty enough all by itself.

Happy stamping!

Claire x

CAS-ual Fridays: CFC149 - Florals

Good morning!

It's time for a new challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays:

So many beautiful florals to choose from in the store - I chose Wallflower for my card, together with the matching 4 Petal Set Fri-Dies and the sentiment comes from WTF.  I gold embossed each of the blooms onto card stock, then coloured them with Copics and added an enamel dot to the centres.  I then gold embossed the larger flower on to navy card to give the illusion of more petals.

The rest of the DT have come up with some stunners to whet your crafty appetite so pop on over and say hello:

Llina Crouse

Wei Wei

Lisa Harrolle

Kim Hamilton

Channin Pelletier

Alanna Moses

There is a $25.00 gift certificate to the store up for grabs for the winning project. If you use CAS-ual Fridays stamps as the main focus of your card, this will increase to a whopping $50.00! You have until June 14th to get your entries posted so get your crafty skates on.

I'm also going to pop this card over to a couple of other challenges: Addicted to CAS where the code word is 'petals' and Casology where the cue word for their milestone 200th challenge is 'CAS.'

Thanks for coming by, Claire x