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

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

More Inky Education

Hello again,

I've been playing around with some more techniques from the classes over at Bluprint. Mayuri's class on Radiant Stamping Techniques gave me an idea for this week's Less is More challenge - Out of Focus:

In this class she showed how to create a geometric design by rotating the same stamp in different colours. I used one of Waltzingmouse's Funky Feathers - however, to achieve the blurry look, I took one of Catherine Pooler's ideas and sprayed the stamp with water before stamping.  The hello sentiment was a freebie from Poppy Stamps covered in a thick coat of Glossy Accents.

For the second one I smooshed a distress ink background and added a simple fish stamp and sentiment from Altenew's Ori Kami set. I'm popping this over to Addicted to CAS'  'Animal' themed challenge and CASology's Zodiac challenge - I'm a Pisces so it seemed logical to use the fish symbol for this one.

Lastly, I had some of the stamped squares left over from yesterday's technique in the previous post. They fitted perfectly for CAS(E) This Sketch  #368- I just added another Altenew Hennah Elements bloom and Cheery Lynn flourish and made a more CAS version of yesterdays card.  Since I used Altenew's colours (again) I'm linking up over there too!

Hope you have the time to get inky this week!

Claire

CASology - Guest Designer

Hello bloggers!

Hope you everyone is keeping well.  I'm delighted to be this week's Guest Designer for one of my favourite challenge blogs - CASology. The cue word is 'kite:'

I think we'll see a few of these cute MFT Adorable Elephants for this one - it's such a popular set. I kept it very simple and just coloured him with Copics, then set him on the sentiment to ground the image. Too easy!

Happy stamping everyone!

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

CASology Guest Designer

Hello fellow inkers!

I'm delighted to be guest designing for CASology's first challenge of 2020. The cue card is 'repeat:'

I feel like life is on repeat at the moment - get up, go to work, look after kids, sleep, repeat, particularly at this time of year when the kids are on Summer holidays for 6 weeks!

As you can see, the repetitive elements on my card are all those stamped circles from Winnie and Walter's Big Bang Confetti. Did you know they are closing? Such a shame - I've seen so many small stamping businesses close over the the years. Head over to the W & W website as they have lots of bargains in store.

How will you interpret the word 'repeat?' Head on over to the CASology blog for heaps of inspiration from the DT!

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Gingerbread Greetings

Hello folks!

As Christmas approaches there's not much time to get creative but I did manage a quick card for CASology. The cue card is 'gingerbread' so reaching for Lawn Fawn's Simply Celebrate Winter was the logical choice:

Of course I started the card, then realised that two of the DT had used exactly the same stamp so I cut up my little gingerbread folk instead of placing them in a strip. I also kept the focal point on the centre two by leaving the others uncoloured.

Enjoy your night!

Claire x

Negative Space

Hello fellow inkers!

I've combined a couple of challenges for the card below - CASology's cue card is 'appreciate' and Less is More's theme is 'that's torn it:'

Both cards have been made using goodies from Stamplorations - when I bought the butterfly stencil I hadn't realised that the butterflies were created with the negative space. It threw me a bit and I really wasn't quite sure how to use it so I just blended some distress inks around the edges to bring out the pattern.  My 'torn' element is a die which gives the impression of a torn notebook. perfect for someone who can't bear to tear a good piece of card stock!

Thanks for popping by!

Claire x

Party Till the Cows Come Home

Hello again,

Time for a card for CASology's new challenge. The cue card is LOL which, for years, I thought meant 'lots of love.' Once I got back into the 21st century I realised it's actually 'laugh out loud,  so I used Your Next Stamp's Funny Farm Crew:'

AAA's sketch was the perfect starting point.  I only wanted one cow coloured so that it was the main focal point but when I masked the others behind him, the black ink was way too heavy,  so I embossed them in white instead - it's given a much more subtle effect!

Make sure you make time to LOL this week (and perhaps do some stamping too!)

Claire x

MFT Camp Create 2019 - Last Two!

Hello again,

I finally finished all 5 challenges for MFT's Camp Create so I'm feeling very pleased with myself!  Day 4's challenge is to create a slider card - definitely a challenge for me as I haven't got any of the MFT slider die-namics:

I saw lots of different tutorials for slider cards on Pinterest and Youtube but they all looked way too complicated so I used a die from my stash and fixed the piggy from Hog Heaven on to a large brad, allowing it to slide over the clouds.  The cloudy background was created using the Cloud Stencil. I'm so glad I invested in this as you can whip up a cloudy background within a couple of minutes...definitely one for the MFT wishlist if you haven't bought one already!

I'm also popping this one over to CASology where the cue card is 'shimmer.' It's got those shimmery, sparkly wings and lots of not so white space!

My final card is for challenge 5 - to use glitter on your card. This time I've used PI Butterfly Kisses and given her some sparkly wings using clear glitter. I've used a Stitched Rectangle Frame  and a Stitched Scallop Basic Edge, white embossed using Wood Plank Background. There's so many layers on this one, I'm surprised it doesn't topple over!

Hope you have time to get inky this week - thanks for popping by!

Claire x

Shimmering Giraffe

Hello fellow inkers!

I've been away for a few days so not much in the way of card making these school holidays. Whilst away I caught up with a lovely friend of mine who used to be an avid card maker (in fact it's partly her fault I've acquired this inky obsession) but has now developed a fixation with mixed media. So she presented me with a whole heap of stamps she no longer uses. I really felt all Christmases had come at once!

One of the sets she gave me is Altenew's Geometric Menagerie which I've used to create a card for 3 

challenges:

I've taken this month's colours at Altenew and made a very CAS card for AAA Cards (maxi white space) and CASology's new challenge where the cue word is 'shimmer.' I've coloured the giraffe with Copics and added some clear glitter to some of the triangles but yet again I lament that the glitter really hasn't been done justice in the photo!

Thanks for popping by!

Claire x

CAS Christmas

Hello fellow inkers!

As someone who loves both heat and dry embossing, Less is More's latest challenge was right up my card making alley:

I love Christmas cards that aren't traditional Christmas colours so took my inspiration from the colours in Time Out's Home Sweet Home challenge.  I've heat embossed some snow on to the roofs of this sweet Lawn Fawn scene and added some dry embossed snowflakes just for good measure.

I'm also popping it over to CASology where the cue card is 'calm.' Who doesn't feel calm when they watch snow fall gently to the ground?

Happy stamping!

Claire x

AAA and CASology Take 3!

Hello again,

It's a rare day that I manage to enter a challenge twice, let alone three times,  but something about the CASology and AAA challenges must have whetted my creative appetite!

This is what I originally had in mind for both challenges - a simple strip of PTI's Watercolor Wonder stamped at the base of the card with a big, bold sentiment from CAS-ual Fridays. I stamped the sentiment in black but thought it need a bit of a boost so added a second white embossed layer with a touch of clear glitter to create a shadowed sentiment.  I reckon this design would work well as a really simple Christmas card - just with Christmas colours and sentiment!

Happy stamping!

Claire x