MFT Sketch and Colour Challenges

Hello again,

Oh dear, I found this week's MFT sketch a real challenge - I struggle using circles as it is but when there's 3 of them I kind of go a bit blank.  I had an idea of using the Radiating Rays stencil behind my superhero but it's not quite the effect I was hoping for:

 

I also used the latest hues from the MFT colour challenge - I always seem to colour this set using reds and yellows so it was good to use a different palette for a change.  

Happy stamping!

Claire

Clean and Simple Takes

Hello again,

A couple of CAS cards today. The first combines four different challenges - Addicted to CAS where the code word is 'nature', CAS on Sunday which has a butterfly theme, CASology with the cue card of 'mask' and Fusion:

It's a long time since I inked up Papillon Potpourri from Stampin' Up - I'm not used to stamping with rubber stamps any more and even with a stamping platform it was quite difficult to mask. I was inspired by the rainbow colours from the Fusion pic which gave me a great excuse to get out some new inks from Catherine Pooler called Zen Garden - the colours are so vivid and the ink is really juicy...I highly recommend them!

My second one is another take on Freshly Made Sketches 500th sketch using an older stamp from Penny Black. Both sentiments are from PTI. 

Happy stamping!

Claire 

 

Just Us Girls #599 - Photo Week

Hello and happy weekend!

It's my last week as GD over at Just Us Girls - it's photo week with a great pic that just happens to feature one of my favourite colour combos of black, white, grey and yellow:

I stamped a striped background with PTI's Background Basics: Super Stripes, then added a framed sentiment from Whimsy Stamps. Very simple but I love how it's turned out - good for the boys and the girls which is always a bonus.

Hope you can get your stamps inked up and join in with JUG'S latest challenge - the DT has lots of inky inspiration for you. Who knows - you might get to be a future GD!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Freshly Made Sketch #500!

Hello folks,

Can you believe Freshly made Sketches are up to their 500th sketch?! It's been a long time favourite of mine so I used their sketch for Altenew's August Inspiration Challenge:

I used Beautiful Day, coloured with Zigs and Grid Stencil with some gesso. The sentiment's from Hennah Elements.  Altenew is having an Ultimate Challenge Blog Hop so I'm popping it over there too!

Happy stamping!

Claire

MFT Sketch #555

 Hello folks,

Very quick post for MFT's card sketch - I used Santas Elves with a snowy panel of Very Merry patterned paper:

Happy stamping!

Claire

Just Us Girls #598 - Colour Week

Hello folks,

Can you believe another week has gone by and it's time for a new Just Us Girls challenge? Since we're in lockdown the days just seem to be blending into one another - I'm not sure I even know what day of the week it is half the time.

It's colour week over on the JUGS blog with a fun, bright palette which inspired my sunny card:

 

I've gone for a different shade of pink to colour my MFT piggies and set them up against a stamped sunbeam background - another stamp gifted to me by a lovely friend. 

Hope you will be inspired by the colours - make sure you pop by the DT to give them some love!

Happy stamping!

Claire 

Time Out Inspired

Hello again,

Time Out has a photo inspiration challenge and it's a pic of a beautiful bag made by Kim - turns out she's not only a talent with paper but so too with stitching:

Lots of things to be inspired on - I've used the colours to stamp a panel with W Plus 9's Paisley Patterns and the silver zip prompted me to pull out some sparkly, silver card stock for the die cut MFT sentiment.   I've also used this week's Freshly Made Sketch for the layout.

Thanks for popping by!

Claire

Shades of Blue

Hi folks,

I really do need to make a few more masculine cards - Less is More's 'shades of blue' was the perfect opportunity to break out those blue hues and make a 50th card for a male friend of mine:

I've used Avery Elle's Rounded Diamonds with matching dies - it's one of those sets you can really play around with and create lots of different looks. I layered my stamped images and clustered them together with some dimensional tape. The sentiment's from Taylored Expressions and the stamped number is WMS.

The Paper Players  have a masculine clean and simple challenge as well this week so this one's going over there too.  And Jolanda from Cardz4guys popped by to say it would fit in with their 'age is just a number' theme. It's a new one for me so check it out here. 

Enjoy what's left of your weekend!

Claire

Just Us Girls #597 - Black and White

Hello again,

Time for a new challenge over at Just Us Girls where I'm guest designer for this month.   This week's challenge is to use black and white:

You don't have to use pure black and white. Shades of grey are acceptable. I really had to think hard about this one - I certainly hadn't thought of using flowers but since I have so many different shades of grey ink I thought I'd try stamping Altenew's Peony Bouquet. The leaves are from Beautiful Day embossed in white on to grey card stock with die cut frames from PTI.

Who would have known a black and white flower could look so elegant? 

So how will you use black and white on your creations? Link up to JUGS for the chance to be chosen and Chic of the Week and perhaps get chosen as a future guest designer!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Lawn Fawn Challenge #106

Hello again from lockdown!

I'm trying to think of the positives of lockdown and making my Christmas cards 3 months early is one of them. This one's for the sketch challenge from Lawn Fawn. I've used their Simply Celebrate Winter set:

 

I kept it very CAS, colouring the image and adding some sparkly snow with some glitter. I haven't got any LF patterned papers or background stamps so I made a watercolour background originally but thought it detracted from the stamp. In the end I just kept it simple and cut three strips of card stock for the background detail instead. 

Thanks for popping by!

Claire 

MFT Camp Create - Day 5: Delightful Die Cutting

 Hello inkers,

Here's my last card for MFT's Camp Create - the final challenge is to use die cuts:

Lots of different die cuts on this one - the flower is Die-namics Upsy Daisy (long retired but still loved), set against a Die-namic Precious Polaroid die and the scalloped border is from Stitched Scallop Basic Edges.  The sentiment's from Itty Bitty Basics.  I stamped the polaroids with Wood Plank - again, retired. 

Very simple but I like how it's turned out. This one's popping over to Time Out's Inspired by Words challenge too.

Happy stamping!

Claire

Just Us Girls #596 Word Week - Guest Designer

Hello inkers,

I'm delighted to be guest designer over at Just Us Girls again.  There are some fabulous challenges coming up for August so head on over to the blog for some inspiration from the DT. This week's it's Word Week and the word is 'harvest:'

Harvest makes me think of Autumn, in particular my school days (a long, long time ago) when  we had the harvest festival at primary school and we all had to take in a tin of canned goods to put in a harvest gift basket for the local church. I remember the school hall would be decorated with sunflowers so that's the image I chose for my card - a pretty sunflower from PTI.  I coloured it with Copics and added some background detail with a die cut given to me by a lovely friend and a strip of DP. 

I've no idea where that die cut is from so if anyone could enlighten me, do let me know - I think it might become one of my next favourites.

I'm also popping this over to Time Out where's there's an 'inspired by words' challenge.

Hope you get to join in with JUGs this week - you may get to be 'Chic of the Week' and be a future guest designer.

Happy stamping!

Claire

Camp Create Day 4 - Background Bonanza

Hello again,

Here's my card for day 4 of My Favourite Things' Camp Create which is a Background Bonanza challenge:

 

I thought a burst of colour was in order since yesterday's card looked a little sombre! So I cracked open the inks and stencilled a background using Basic Shapes Circle Stencil and Celebrate Die-namics. 

I added a liberal layer of holographic glitter to the die cut and matted it against some black to make it pop. Such an easy design with this stencil and can be so easily made into a masculine card by just changing the colours.

Happy stamping (or stencilling!)

Claire

MFT Camp Create Days 2 and 3: Wonderful Watercolour and Emboss Resist

Hello folks,

Here's another couple of cards for My Favourite Things Camp Create. 

Oh dear - watercolour. Not my medium of choice. I've tried everything - pencils, paints, dye inks, Zigs and always struggle. I felt that watercolouring a scene would be less forgiving than flowers so used the City Block background as my starting point:

 

Rather than spend hours watercolouring the entire background, I coloured part of it, then white embossed a second panel on black card stock and then stamped a third panel in black and white. I cut out different sections and used dimensional tape to stick one layer against the other, being careful to line up the buildings correctly and to give it some depth. The sentiment's from Essential Sentiments.

My second card is using the emboss resist technique which is perfect for Lavish Lilies as it's such a pretty, detailed stamp. I used Antique Linen, Black Soot and Evergreen Bough (thank you Debby Hughes) which is one of my favourite combinations. Having said that, I've been a bit heavy handed on the black and it's looking a bit funereal...I should probably change it to a sympathy card.  Instead of the usual rectangle I used a Stitched Mod Rectangle.

I'm also popping the second one over to Time Out's 'inspired by words' challenge...'a single rose can be my garden and a single friend can be my world.' 

Hope you get the chance to join in with the challenges - on to the next one now!

Claire

MFT Colour Challenge #170 - Take Two

 Hello again,

Another day, another card for MFT.  This is my second card for their colour challenge, using their latest sketch which I flipped so I could fit in the sentiment:

Lots of MFT products on this one - Stitched Cloud Edges, Circle Celebration Background, Radiating Rays Stencil, Grassy Edges Stencil, Bring Out the Sunshine and Itty Bitty Basics. 

Enjoy your day!

Claire 

My Favourite Things - Camp Create 2021 Spectacular Shakers

Hello inkers,

MFT are holding their annual Camp Create  and the first challenge is to create a shaker card:

 

I don't often make shaker cards - I find them a bit fiddly and time consuming but it's a lot easier using a Rectangle Shaker Pouch  and Rectangle Peek a Boo Die.  I made a snowy background and added a couple of Sweet Holiday Penguins which I've coloured using the colours from Colour Challenge #170. Definitely not the first colours I'd think of for a Christmas card but the orange makes a nice change from  the traditional red and green!

Happy stamping!

Claire x