Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

Hello!

It's the Fall Coffee Lovers Bloghop so time to ink up those coffee/tea themed stamps:

My mojo went a bit walkabout with this one - let's just say I was really 'procaffeinating' about what to do.  I couldn't decide on colour, design or even stamps...so used the latest Retro Sketch with the colours from Fusion for some inspiration. In hindsight I probably should have had a couple of cups of  strong coffee to get the creative juices flowing!

Hope you have time to join in the fun!

Thanks for calling by,

Claire

Your Next Stamp Sketch Challenge

Hello there bloggers!

I was lucky enough to win a stamp set from Your Next Stamp a couple of weeks ago so had to have a play with their latest sketch:

I've been wanting a new masculine set for ages - this one is called Keepin' it Reel. It's for the big bloke's birthday in a couple of weeks and I'm taking great pleasure in reminding him that he will be closer to 50, rather than 40! I coloured the cute fisherman with Copics - do you like his sunburnt nose? He's been fishing quite a while and has had one two many beers whilst doing so! I used distress inks to blend the water and added some grass which has been coloured with Copics too.

Hope you have a fabulous week! Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Papertrey Ink September Blog Hop

G'day!

Time for the monthly Papertrey Ink Blog Hop with a really pretty inspiration pic. I love the neutrals teamed with the crisp green:

 

I wasn't in the mood for a Christmas card so pine cones don't feature! Instead I used Lovely Layers, together with the matching dies. The green ink is PTI's New Leaf.

Have a fabulous day!

Claire x

CFC157 - Shake it Up!

Good morning - or rather good afternoon from over here in Oz!

Are you ready for a brand new CAS-ual Fridays challenge? We'd like you to shake it up a bit for this week's challenge and make a shaker card:

I used the larger Scallop Tag to make my pocket. I die cut the tag, cut a rectangular window and covered it with acetate. As the background for the pocket, I stamped lots of little flowers from Loving Blooms in three different shades. I sometimes feel as though I neglect the smaller stamps like this, but they're perfect for creating patterned backgrounds like the one above.  I used a strip of the same pattern to peep through the diagonal cut in the larger background panel and randomly stamped some of the larger blooms from Loving Thoughts above. After filling the pocket with lots of sequins,  I added the die cut sentiment from Smiling Fri-dies, which I matted on to black card stock and covered with Glossy Accents.

So are you ready to shake things up? Link up your creations to be in with the chance of winning a $25.00 gift certificate to the CAS-ual Fridays store. Use CAS-ual Fridays products as the focus of your card and Michele will even double your prize!

Happy inking!

Claire x

My Favorite Things Superstar Contest

Hello again,

Second post of the day so if you'd like to see my second card as guest designer for Time Out's latest challenge scroll up!

My Favorite Things are holding a huge contest which I only read about yesterday (thank you Anita!) So let's just say I had to be quite quick off the mark!

I have quite a few Die-namics and I often turn to the Blueprints 24 set for a quick card. I love the idea of these sets - it makes the design process so much easier.  Can you imagine how many you could buy with a $250.00 voucher? (I'll just keep on dreaming....) I've used another of my favourite dies - Die-namics Accent It Celebrate - which I've liberally covered with pewter embossing powder. I love how it gives the die cut a metallic look. For the background I used some distress inks to create a bokeh effect. The little sequins are from the same Blueprints set - some I cut from sparkly cardstock and the rest I covered with glossy accents and added a sprinkling of glitter.

If I had more time I'd have loved to enter a couple more cards....maybe next year!

Hope you get the chance to join in,

Thanks for calling by,

Claire x

Time Out - Take Two

G'day folks!

There's still time to play over at Time Out where they are running a 'home sweet home' challenge, using this gorgeous photo for inspiration:

This is my second card in my stint as Guest Designer. Pretty obvious how I've got my inspiration isn't it?   I blended a sunset background with some distress inks and stamped over it using this sweet Jenni Bowlin Silhouette image. 

Hope you get the chance to have some time out and play along this week. The winner will receive a $10.00 voucher towards the Stamplorations store and two runners up will each get a new stamp set.

Thanks for calling by!

Claire x

Just Because...

Hello, hello!

For the first time in a long time I've made a card just because I can! In case you've been hibernating under a rock somewhere, Altenew are having a huge blog hop and it's to say thank you to all papercrafters who organise those fantastic challenge blogs out there. A whopping 18 challenge blogs have joined in with the fun!

I used Painted Flowers for this one - it's my only Altenew set so the sentiment is actually from PTI. (Note to self: buy some more Altenew sets.)  I don't think I've done these stamps justice at all...I wanted to experiment with Copics but I think I prefer the look of the layered stamping, which is of course what this set is for.

Anyway, this little card is for all those lovely ladies out there who put so much effort into running challenge blogs. Having been on a few of the design teams now, I know how much work goes into running these blogs behind the scenes, so thank you - you're the best!

Claire x

Girl Power! Sistahood Blog Hop

G'day folks!

It's that time of the month again - CAS-ual Fridays Calling All Sistahs Blog Hop to remind us all to check our breasts for any lumps, bumps and abnormalities as a prevention against breast cancer. 

This month we are having a girl power theme:

I made a clean and simple one layer card using Calling All Sistahs  - this set is full of sentiments to send a fighting message to those suffering from breast cancer, as well as to remind our fellow sisters to check their breasts on a regular basis.  50% of the profits made on the sale of any of the Calling All Sistahs stamp and die collection are donated to breast cancer research.

These lovely ladies are joining in with the hop this month - next on the list is Lori. Pop by to any of the blogs below and leave some love and you could be in with the chance of winning one of three $15.00 gift certificates for the store. Want to join in in next month? Pop over to the Calling All Sistahs facebook page for information on what you need to do.

CASual Fridays Stamps

Penny Ward

Bonnie Sharp

Diane Jaquay

Kara Stainbrook 

Jeanne Jachna

Jennifer Ingle

Kelly Griglione

Kimberly Rendino

Sue Nagata

Lisa Lahiff

Nora 
Noll

Shona Chambers

Vicki Dutcher

Claire Apostoloff

Lori Kobular

Heather North

Enjoy the hop and thanks for calling by!

Claire x

Time Out - Guest Designer

Hello again,

Hope you're having a good week!

I'm chuffed to bits to be guest designer for the latest Time Out challenge and this week it's a Home Sweet Home photo inspiration challenge to whet those inky tastebuds:

What a gorgeous photo - so many ways to take this. I was inspired by the black and white with a pop of vibrant orange so stamped my PTI Doodlie-Do blooms in black, then partially coloured them with Copics. The sentiment is from a different set - Stylish Sentiments. I love this sentiment, but perhaps  to keep up with the times, it should now read 'wrinkles should merely indicate where botox should be.'

Go take a look at what those fabulous girls have done in the Time Out design team won't you? It always amazes me how many different directions one inspiration photo can take you!

Thanks for popping by,

Claire x

The Card Concept - Part 2

Hello again folks,

Here's my second clean and simple entry to the rainbow themed Card Concept and beach themed Casology:

Have a great night

Claire x

Feeling Tropical?

Hello, hello,

I managed to get 3 cards done over the weekend for a variety of challenges. Scroll down to the next post if you want to see all three:

The first one for Freshly Made Sketches features two little penguins from Whimsy Stamps with a Winnie and Walter snowy background stencilled with texture paste.

The second one is for The Card Concept in the clean and simple category - it has a rainbow theme this week. The flowery card is for Less Is More. They have the dreaded one layer theme using flowers. One layer cards have never been my strong point!  

This little card was meant to be for the latest Casology challenge too. For some reason I had the word 'tropical' in my mind, then went to go and post it and realised that the cue word is actually 'beach!' Mother brain strikes again. Having said that, the term 'aloha' is Hawaiian and Hawaii is famous for it's beaches isn't it? Plus you get flowers and birds at the beach...yes I know, pushing it a bit isn't.... Melissa, feel free to hit the delete button on Mr Linky!

Have a fabulous week and thanks for calling by!

Claire x

CFC# 156 - Dimension and Bling

Good afternoon folks!

The last challenge went by in the blink of an eye and it's now time for a brand new one over at CAS-ual Fridays. This week we'd like you to bling it up a little:

I must have been in a Christmassy kind of mood and reached for Snowflake Greetings for my card. Who doesn't like a bit of bling and sparkle at Christmas? The larger snowflakes in this set are the perfect size for a three quarter inch circle die so I stamped a selection of flakes in a variety of Christmas colours and added a sparkly gem to the centre of each.  For some dimension I popped up alternate circles using dimensional tape. It's such an easy way to add a little detail to a card, whilst keeping it clean and simple. 

So now it's your turn to add some sparkle - share your project and you could be in with a chance of winning a $25.00 gift certificate for the store.  Use CAS-ual Fridays Stamps/Dies as your main focus and you could double it to $50.00!

I'm also popping my card over to the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge which is all about stamped images this week.

Thanks for popping by!

Claire x

Mojo Monday #464

Hello, how's your week going?

I've been playing around with Altenew's Painted Flowers for Mojo Monday's contest sketch:

Lots of stamping in this little card so I'm also joining in at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge where the theme is 'stamp it.' 

Thanks for popping by!

Claire x

Anyone for Fruit Salad?

Hello!

There's a deceptively simple sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week. I had so many ideas about which stamps to use but in the end I went with this fruity little cluster from Whimsy Stamps.  

It didn't seem to matter what I did, nothing looked right until I turned the sketch on it's side. I think I spent more time trying to arrange those fruits than making the actual card.

The bright colours at Colour Throwdown worked perfectly for this and I'm also linking up to Darnell's latest NBUS challenge (that's 'never before used schtuff''). I've had this little set and matching dies for a while but always seem to reach for the lemons!  

Hope you have time to get inky this week!

Claire x