CAS Flowers

Hello bloggers,

The cards are very few and far between in this house unfortunately. I've strained my neck by card making which is the saddest reason to strain your neck isn't it? It would sound so much more impressive if I'd done it rock climbing or jumping out of a plane!

So this is a very simple card for AAA Cards colour challenge and Seize the Birthday where the birthday topping is flowers.  I used a die from Altenew as a stencil to colour the flowers, then popped a clean die cut over the top. The die is quite intricate so it took longer than I thought and quite frankly wasn't worth the effort (or the dodgy neck)! Next time I'll use paper die cuts to colour in the bloom I think!

Happy stamping!

Claire

April Altenew Inspiration Challenge

Hello again,

It's been such a busy few weeks I completely forgot to post my card for Altenew's Inspiration challenge this month:

Until I actually finished it I hadn't realised that there are quite a few similarities with Amy's beautiful card.  I used the same sentiment from the Timeless Sentiments Die Set with a smaller one from Tiny Sentiments: Hello. The blooms are from Build-a-Flower:Sakura Blossom Layering Stamp and Die Set (on sale by the way!) and the background is the Diamond Cover Die.

Happy stamping!

Claire

Seize the Birthday - Surprise Party Guest

 Hello folks,

It's been a busy week with family visiting from overseas. I look forward to these visits for months in advance but saying goodbye is still hard even though I've lived in Australia for 25 years.  I never know quite when I'll see loved ones again so it always takes a few days to get back into the normality of life.

And the normality is that cards need to be made, this time for Seize the Birthday's latest challenge.  I'm chuffed to bits to be their surprise party guest:

The topping for this challenge is 'stencilling' but you don't have to add the topping. I chose a spotty stencil from CAS-ual Fridays and used a rainbow of inks for a bright and cheery background. The sentiment is Whimsy Stamps - stamped in black and embossed in clear sparkly EB. 

There's lots of amazing inspiration from the DT as usual and don't forget, you could get the opportunity to 'take the cake' and be a future party guest on the blog!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Layered Blooms

Hello again,

I haven't been able to play along with Freshly Made Sketches for a while so made this card using the colours from Colour Throwdown and the prompts from Time Out (pastel and floral):

I don't use pastels often - I much prefer brights and bold colours so this is about as 'pastelly' (is there such a word?) it gets. Lots of older products on this from PTI and W Plus 9. 

I'm also popping it over to Seize the Birthday where the topping is 'layer it' - I love a few layers and layered the card stock and flowers to fit the challenge. 

Apologies if you've left a comment recently - I've got family over from the UK and looking for a new job which is a full time job in itself! I will get there eventually.

Happy stamping!

Claire

MFT Sketch Challenge #6

Hello again inkers,

I did some very quick colouring last night for MFT's latest sketch challenge but, oh dear, note to self: check it in the daylight before posting. One of these poor elves looks like he has acne the blending's so bad! 

 

I used the long retired Santa's Elves with the Lined by Hand Background and some pretty Christmas papers. Nothing wrong with pink and green elves for a change! 

My other card is for Lavinia Stamp's Creative Challenge which is to use Spring colours. All the pink blossoms come out at spring in Australia as well as our purple Rhododendron so I've incorporated those colours instead of the usual yellows and greens associated with the season. 

Happy stamping!

Claire

CAS Cat

Hello again,

This week's AAA Cards challenge intrigued me - it's a very simple version of Tic Tac Toe using the central theme of silhouettes with one of the other prompts. I chose pets: 

 

This is a simplified version of a couple of cards I made for last months's Lavinia Stamps creative challenge. I also tried to make it a little more masculine by using a masculine font for the sentiment and sticking to neutral colours. Having said that I asked my husband if he thought it was a masculine card - to which he replied a resounding no! I'm still going to enter it into Addicted to CAS's masculine challenge though.  I'm sure there are plenty of men out there who love cats...I just need to find one to send it to!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Celebrating a Milestone

Hello inkers,

My beautiful sister-in-law celebrates her 50th birthday this month so it was a great opportunity to enter Seize the Birthday's challenge to celebrate a milestone:

 

These aren't the colours I envisaged - being the lazy crafter I am I didn't bother labelling any of my blending brushes and when it came to doing some of the petals, there was a darker ink mixed with the lighter stuff. Oops. Not to worry, I quite like the different shades of petals and who said they had to be realistic?

I used a strip of Altenew gold washi tape and added a few glittery, die cuts to the cluster of Altenew blooms.  I've also embossed the background using the same embossing folder to give it some more depth. 

This one's also going over to Time Out where the theme is to base your card on your favourite movie. I've gone with Pretty in Pink - the touch of gold is meant to be inspired by Molly Ringwald's hair! Lovely to see that Claire Brennan from Waltzingmouse Stamps is sponsoring it this week. I should have used some of my (many) WMS stamps!

Happy stamping!

Claire