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

Inky Education at Bluprint

Hello fellow inkers!

With all this extra time on my hands I've been watching lots of tutorials over at Bluprint Crafts. Over the last few days there's been free access to all their classes so I've been trying different techniques - some successful and some a 5 year old would be proud of!

One of my favourite classes is with Mayuri from Candles in the Garden - she showed a technique on kraft card stock in which she stamped the back of the stamp with white pigment ink, then offset stamped over the top with a coloured ink. She then put the stamp the right way round and stamped the outline image on top in black.

I like playing with different techniques but always try to do my own take on it,  so I used grey card stock instead of kraft and stamped it with white and pink inks. Needless to say, I wasn't too happy with the result - it was far too dark and almost ended up in the bin. However,  I thought if I could add lots of white space and a bright bloom over the top, I could perhaps salvage it so I cut the piece into squares and used them as a base for this Altenew Hennah Elements bloom. The flourish is from Cheery Lynn and I've used the colours from their inspiration pic again.

I've made a couple of these cards using this technique so I'll post the second one later, along with some other cards with some much needed colour. It''s all looking a bit grey on this blog at the moment!

Happy stamping!

Claire

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

Less is More - Dry Embossing

Hello and happy Wednesday to you!

Less is More are continuing their 7th birthday celebrations with a technique challenge - dry embossing.  I love dry embossing - it's such an easy way to add a bit of detail to a card whilst keeping it CAS:

I used an Anna Griffin strip embossing folder for my white-on-white card, then added a die cut flourish and a white embossed bloom and sentiment from Altenew's Hennah Elements. 

Short but sweet today - check back in later for my final card as guest designer at Color Throwdown!

Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Casology - Leafy Foliage

G'day bloggers,

Leaves seem to be featuring on my cards a lot this week - Casology's latest cue word is 'foliage:'

I used a Cheery Lynn leafy flourish die cut in dark green and then layered an identical white one over the top. You can't get much simpler than that!

Thanks for popping by!

Claire x

Bright and Freshly Made Sketch

Hello there!

Not sure what it is about the school holidays but all my crafty mojo seems to go flying out the door the minute the boys get out of school.  Maybe it's because I'm too busy trying to think how I'm going to entertain them for a couple of weeks!  I tried to give it a kick start again with Freshly Made Sketches and The Card Concept:

Even the arrival of some happy mail from Simon Says Stamp couldn't really get my creative juices flowing this week - I used a pretty, stitched photo frame die to frame the WMS bloom, then added a WMS doily and a smattering of hearts from W Plus 9's Borders and Backgrounds 3. I'm plonking it into the clean and layered category for the Card Concept.

Catch you later!

Claire x

Freshly Made Sketch #211

G'day folks!

Love this sweet sketch by Karren over at Freshly Made Sketches:

For the circle I stamped one of Waltzingmouse's small, Dainty Doilies, then added a layered Funky Flower with a die cut leaf flourish from Cheery Lynn. The sentiment is from Mama Elephant.

It was a trip down memory lane for me yesterday when I took my oldest son to see Back to the Future  at our local cinema. Can you believe it's been 30 years since Michael J Fox went back in time in a Delorean? They even had the Delorean parked outside the cinema - you can imagine my 9 year old's excitement when he saw the Flux Capacitor!

Have a great week!

Claire

Upsy Daisy

Hello again,

There's been an abundance of white space on all my cards recently so I was determined to use some colour and layers for the latest Freshly Made Sketch (by my very talented Colour Q team mate Jen:)

Such a simple sketch isn't it?  But it actually took me forever to make it work. Whichever shape I picked just didn't seem to balance on the card - I eventually opted for a circle of Authentique paper, added some die cut MFT daisies and a few sprigs from a Cheery Lynn flourish to balance it all out.  I also used the gorgeous colours over at The Card Concept. I think this one's classy and elegant. What do you think?

Thanks for popping over,

Claire x

Colour Q #282

Evening all!

Hope you've had a good start to the working week. Are you ready for a new set of colours to play with for the latest Colour Q challenge? They are a complete contrast to last week's pretty and soft hues:

Since my last Bokeh attempt was quite bright and girly I thought I'd have another go at it with these more masculine colours. I used Marina Mist with Soft Sky and added the newsprint bloom from Stamping' Up's Flower Shop.  I punched a flower from some old dictionary paper and layered it with a brad, then added the fancy flourish.

Go and have a peep at the rest of the design team's creations won't you? Heaps of inspiration to give your mojo a kick start!

Thanks for popping by,

Claire x

Colour Q #262

Hello again fellow bloggers!

Tuesday's sneaked up on us again so the new colours are up for the latest Colour Q challenge - another Halloween pic for you to draw some spooky inspiration from:

No spookiness for me - I opted for a more flowery take on this week's colours using the latest sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch.  I still love the shape of these flowers from Stampin' Up's very old Eastern Blooms set.  I added a strip of vellum for a softer look and embossed the WMS sentiment in white as I thought black would look a little too heavy.  The leaves are a Cheery Lynn die leaf flourish which I've cut into smaller pieces.

So do you think you'll get the chance to join in this week? You've got 6 days to link up your creations to be crowned this week's Colour Queen - hope you find the time to join in!

Thanks for calling by,

Claire x

Electric Blue

Hello folks!

Not much time to get crafty this week but I did manage a quickie for the Casology challenge using the latest CAS(E) This Sketch:

When I saw the word 'electric' I immediately thought of a beautiful, electric blue butterfly.  I may take the photo again as it really doesn't do the blue justice - it's much more vivid in real life.  The die cut Cheery Lynn leaf flourish has been in constant use in the last few weeks - I'm surprised it isn't blunt.  I've looked everywhere to find a different one but it's the perfect size and shape and seems to work with anything I put it with.

Anyway, way to late to be blogging...time for my beauty sleep....

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

A Dynamic Farewell

Good evening bloggers!

Well one of my favourite challenges has come to an end so I just had to have a play for the last time over at Dynamic Duos whilst sobbing into my stash.   It's a triple threat week this week - three colours instead of the usual two. I've had a play with the latest Freshly Made Sketch too:

Since it's almost midnight it's not the best photo...lots of shadows but you get the gist.  The stamp is Waltzingmouse's Folk Art Medallion which was the perfect size for the challenge.  I embossed the flower and flourish by using a mixture of white and pewter embossing powders - SU's pewter emboss powder looks grey in the pot but comes out a beautiful silver when heated. The white has kind of toned it down and given it more of a greyish tinge. I really love this colour combo...such a shame it's the last challenge!

Off to bed now...the kids are back at school tomorrow so no excuse to lie in!

Cheers,

Claire x

Purple Pain

Hello folks!

I've been trying to kick start my mojo after my little break so turned to Dynamic Duos for some colour inspiration. Not sure why really - purple is my absolute least favourite colour but I loved the design teams' yellow and purple creations:

Actually, it looks more like violet than purple doesn't it? I can never really tell the difference.  The arched window frame is from Scrapmatts - I inked it and cut an arched card using my Cameo. I thought it would make things easier using such a pretty frame but it was actually quite difficult to find some flowers that didn't overpower it.  In the end I went for the little, dainty flower in Stampin' Up's Reason to Smile.

Well, that's enough waffling from me....happy stamping!

Claire x

Colour Q #231 - a Little Green and Black

Evening bloggers!

The new Colour Q combo is here - how about a St Patricks Day inspired colour scheme to get your crafty teeth into?  It's a pretty striking palette this week isn't it?

Of course it doesn't have to be a St Patricks Day card - we don't really send cards for St Patricks Day in Australia, so I made one that's suitable for just about any occasion. Love that sentiment from WMS - it's so versatile.  I also used the WMS Funky Flowers set. I stamped and embossed some vellum with three of the flowers, layered them and added the brad.

This card was almost impossible to photograph for some reason - nothing seemed to work. One of those annoying ones that look better IRL!

Anyway, hope you can all join in this week - make sure you pop over to the rest of the design team's blogs and leave them some crafty love!

Thanks for popping by,

Claire x

Just Playing Around...

Hello again!

So there I was thinking that now I have both kids at school I'd have a little bit of free time before I get down to the serious job of finding work. Well that hasn't quite worked out yet - I'm beginning to wonder if I need to paint a black cross on our door since one by one my family seems to have succumbed to a nasty flu bug. One kiddo was off school all last week, my brother in law came down with it and now the man of the house. I'd like to say it's just a bout of 'man flu' but last time I said that it turned out it was a dose of pneumonia...made me sound a little heartless!

So just a quick card today for 2 different challenges: Dynamic Duos and CAS-ual Fridays:

It was a real case of just playing around with a new stamp set from Stampin' Up - Flower Shop.  I tried out every flower and looked at every possible embellishment for the flower centre but decided in the end that the stamp is so beautifully detailed, nothing else is needed. I chose a 6 x 4 card which is the size I like best at the moment. Although there is the option for a shaped card over at Dynamic Duos, I kept to a basic rectangle as it's a sympathy card.

Hope you have a wonderful day and thanks for popping over,

Claire x

Dynamically Textured!

Hello folks,

Yet again I find myself at the mercy of Mr Linky...only a few hours left on the Dynamic Duos challenge which I've combined with the textured challenge over at The Card Concept:

Not the best pic I'm afraid as it's late.  I used an Anna Griffin embossing strip but I left the top strip smooth in case I want to put a sentiment there at a later date. In between each embossed strip, I stamped a Waltzingmouse dotted strip to add a little detail.  I guess I could have added more but I wanted the embossing to be the main feature since the Card Concept challenge called for texture. What style is it? I think I'll define it as 'classy and elegant!'

Have a great night!

Claire x

Hexagon Crazy for Colour Q

Hello again bloggers!

The new colours are here for the latest Colour Q challenge and they are a beautiful mix of Autumnal hues with a little pop of blue thrown in:

Hexagons were all over the place a couple of months ago and it occurred to me that I hadn't seen many for a while. So I was determined to use my hexagon die that's been sitting in it's packaging looking rather forlorn. I'm not sure if it's through lack of use, but for some reason it wasn't cutting properly - what was meant to be a reasonably quick card turned into a lengthy process of hand cutting half of the hexagons (with a little bit of bad language thrown in!)

I've had that little Basic Grey fabric flower sat in my stash for ages so I'm glad I've finally found a use for it..don't you just love it when you have the perfectly coloured embellishment to fit the challenge?!

Go and check out the beautiful projects the rest of the design team have come up with - you can't fail to be inspired!

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

A New Year Play Date

Good morning bloggers and Happy New Year! Hope this year is a great one for you and your family!

For me,  2013 has started with a clear head (for a change) and a blog post to show what I've done for the latest challenge over at Play Date Cafe:

To be quite honest I'm not sure if I'm happy with it....I kind of think my mojo got left in 2012 for this one. Santa gave me a few little crafty Christmas presents and I was so desperate to use them I  bunged them all on the one card! And since I've not got a New Years hangover to deal with, I can't even blame it on that...

Anyway, it's a scorching 39C here in Sydney today so I thought I'd head to the air con with the kids to see Wreck-it Ralph. Is it a sign of age that you actually find the kids films way more intelligent than the adult's ones nowadays?

Have a fabulous day!

Claire x