Addicted to Coffee

Hi bloggers,

Coffee is my legal addiction so it seemed appropriate to take part in the Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop:

I made a very CAS card using Waltzingmouse's Coffee Set, stamping each of the utensils in different colours of the rainbow,  so it's also heading over to Addicted to CAS for their rainbow themed challenge.

Happy stamping!

Claire

Less is More - Take Two

Hello inkers!

I've had another go at Less is More's White and Cream challenge:

I've white embossed PTI's Doodlie-Do flowers on cream and white card stock and the leaves are on vellum. The sentiment is from Poppy Stamps.

I've tried to keep it to a minimum of one third of the card since AAA's challenge is to use up to one third with the optional twist of using a repeating image.  (I've repeated a couple of the blooms as well as the leaves.)  I'm also throwing it over to Addicted to CAS again where the code word is 'flower' and CASology's cue card is 'plant' so I'm popping it over there too!

Happy stamping everyone!

Claire

Addicted to CAS #184

 Hello and happy Sunday to you!

For those in Australia and the US, I hope you've had a lovely Mother's Day!  I've been playing with some new distress oxide inks my gorgeous boys gave to me:

This very simple one layer is for Addicted to CAS which has a 'flower' theme for their latest challenge. I blended Evergreen Bough, Cracked Pistachio and Tumbled Glass, then embossed the Clearly Besotted's bloom from Beautiful Friend in pewter.  Took about 10 minutes!

Happy stamping everyone,

Claire

The Magic of Christmas

Hello again,

Hope you are all keeping safe and well. Australia is relaxing a few of the lockdown rules this weekend so at last I can catch up with a couple of friends over a wine or two.  I am beyond excited to have some social interaction with some like minded adults!

This CAS card is for a few challenges - Addicted to CAS (again) where the code word is 'silhouette', CASology which has the cue card 'magical' and AAA Cards which has a challenge to use one image only:

I blended a nightfall background with distress inks and added some paint spattered snow. The stamp is from a Cherrypie Art Stamps set called Winter Spirit and hasn't really seen much ink - they're unmounted rubber stamps and I can never get the scene to sit in the correct spot on the snowy hill. This week I invested in a Tim Holtz Stamp Platform (yes, I realise I'm slow on the uptake) and I've at last been able to make use of it. The sentiment is the only sentiment in my collection which has the word 'magical' in it - it's from CAS-ual Fridays' Snowy Sayings.

Hope you take some time out to put ink to paper this weekend! Thanks for popping by,

Claire

Addicted to CAS - Silhouette

Hello folks,

Here's a very simple card for Addicted to CAS where the code word is 'silhouette:'

Funnily enough I don't think I've ever used this Memory Box die as a black silhouette - I always seem to use it in a white snowy scene. This time I put it against MFT's Sunbeam stencil. The hot air balloon and sentiment is from Mama Elephant. 

Happy stamping!

Claire 

CAS Christmas

Hello again, hope everyone is well. 

I'm on a bit of a roll with my Christmas cards - only a pandemic could see me making Christmas cards in March! I recently won a voucher for Poppy Stamps and bought Tidings of Joy as I knew it would enable me to make a whole heap of super simple cards for the holiday:

They looked a little too CAS with only the greeting so I added a snowflake from CAS-ual Fridays Snowy Sayings and a tiny jewel in the middle for a little Christmas sparkle.  I also embossed the panel to add some texture so I'm popping this over to Addicted to CAS for their 'texture' challenge (again!)

Thanks for stopping by!

Claire

A Critter or Two

Hello fellow inkers, hope you are all doing well.

Another couple of cards for you - the first is for Addicted to CAS which has the code word 'texture.' I used one of MFT's Sweet Holiday penguins, textured with an embossed snowy background and a liberal sprinkling of crystal glitter:

The second card is for Your Next Stamp's Cute Critters challenge. I've used the goat from Funny Farm Crew and set him against a stencilled background.  I couldn't fit a sentiment from that set on to the card front so added one from Keeping' it Reel instead.  The stamped diagonal strip is the Thick Stripe Diagonal Edge.

I'm really hoping that my favourite stamp companies are having a boost in sales as a result of what's happening around the world. My lovely nephew in the UK has taken up Copic colouring to pass away the time so I've just ordered a few stamp sets for his birthday so he can practise. I'm so looking forward to seeing what he does with them!

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire

Textured Christmas

Hello again,

I'm determined to make a few Christmas cards whilst locked down instead of leaving it all until the end of the year like I normally do. MFT's colour challenge screams Spring but I thought these bright and breezy hues would make a pretty Christmas palette:

I kept it very simple and used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches for the layout which features MFT's (now retired) Holiday Cheer.  I'm also throwing it into ATCAS' challenge,  to use texture. since she has a scattering of embossed snow falling all around her!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Swell Circles

Hello fellow inkers,

In this age of isolation I'm so thankful to have a hobby that I can do at home. We're not in lockdown in Australia but looking at Europe, I'm wondering if it's only a matter of time before we are. 

Anyway, here's a CAS card for AAA Cards which has an 'along the edge' theme this week. No optional cats and dogs on this one - just a cute little puffer fish from Your Next Stamp. They have a 'critter' theme for their Friday challenge - can a puffer fish be considered a critter?

Addicted to CAS has a circle theme for their challenge so I created the 'water' by stamping lots of different sized Winnie and Walter circles in varying shades of blue.

Hope everyone is keeping safe and well in these very trying times,

Happy stamping!

Claire

Rainbow Symmetry

Hello, hope you're having a good weekend.

I've made a CAS card for 3 different challenges today - although I'm wondering if I'm pushing the boundaries a little with one of them:

 The first one to catch my eye was the ATCAS code word of 'symmetry.' Symmetry appeals to my anally retentive nature when it comes to stamping, so I reached for Winnie and Walter's Bigger Bang Confetti and played around with the large and small diamond stamps to create a symmetrical rainbow coloured pattern.  Since I've used different sizes I'm also popping it over to Less is More for their 'big and small' challenge,  but looking at them, they look more similar in size than I realised, so Kylie might hit the delete button on this one! The last challenge I'm entering it for is CASology where the cue card is 'tall.' It's a tall pattern in comparison to the PTI sentiment...wonder if I'm pushing it with that one too?!

Happy stamping!

Claire

One Layer MFT

Hello again,

It's a dreaded one layer challenge both at AAA Cards and Less is More this week. There's an optional twist at AAA to use polar animals so I used one of Stacey Yacula's Sweet Holiday Penguins from MFT and coloured him using the hues from colour challenge #134. Addicted to CAS also have a Wintry theme of 'frosty':

I'm also popping this one over to Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge where 'anything goes!'

Happy stamping!

Claire x

Seeing Pink

Hello inkers,

I'm just sneaking in with a last minute entry to Addicted to CAS' challenge to use pin and purple:

Not two colours I would normally put together,  but even I like the purple with the splash of bright and pale pinks. I stamped Paper Smooches Curls and Swirls on the left side, then made a cut through the middle and matted it on pink card stock. The die cut butterfly is from Stamplorations and the sentiment's PTI.

Happy stamping!


Claire x

CAS Sunday

Hello folks, happy weekend to you!

A couple of very CAS cards for a few different challenges - the first is for Addicted to CAS where the code word is 'daisy'. I've also been inspired by Time Out's Home Sweet home challenge and drew from the gorgeous palette of neutral whites, blue candle, distressed wood and the vase of daisies sat on the table. I stamped the Paper Smooches paint strip die with MFT's Wood Plank and coloured it using Weathered Wood distress ink. The embossed corner came about entirely by accident when I grabbed two lots of card stock by mistake and tried to die cut them both. It left an embossed image on the bottom piece which actually looked better than the die cut - love a happy accident!

My second card is for Paper Smooches' Anything Goes challenge - I've used Lovestruck with the colours from Color Throwdown. I gave the little hearts a liberal covering of Glossy Accents which has added a raised, shiny layer of texture too. These sweet little arrows are just under 2 inches in length so I'm also popping this one over to Less is More where the recipe is to use small stamps which are less than 2 inches in diameter. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Claire x

Ombre...or Maybe Not

Hello, hope you're having a good week!

Addicted to CAS has another code word to inspire which is 'ombre.' I used 3 similar shades of distress inks but two of them look almost identical so I'm afraid it's not very ombre-ish!

I also used the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch - I found the sentiment placement quite difficult so ended up stamping on the diagonal with an Altenew sentiment.

Happy stamping!

Claire x