New Stuff!

Hello bloggers,

I was very lucky to win a gift certificate from Papertrey Ink/Ink to Paper a few weeks ago so thought I'd have a bit of a play with the goodies I bought:

First up is AAA's one layer challenge - I stamped It's a Sign: Birthday Sentiments and used the black, yellow and orange from the graphic as inspiration. One layers are definitely not my thing but for once I'm happy how this one's turned out.

For the second card I used the sketch from Freshly Made and the colours from Colour Throwdown - the blooms have been stamped in a really dark purple from MFT but it looks navy in the pic - the frame is cut from navy card stock.  I stamped the background with Grout Grey on Grout Grey card stock, my go-to neutral for months now...I'm obsessed with it.  I'm also popping this over to Time Out's inspired by Words Challenge.  Any mention of a garden reminds me of flowers.

Enjoy what's left of your weekend!

Claire x

MFT Colour Challenge #142

Hello stampers,

The colours over at MFT are perfect for a masculine card this week so I inked up Viking and Wood Plank Background (both retired) to create this rather blokey card:

 I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch and I'm popping it over to Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge calling for masculine cards.

Happy stamping!

Claire

NBUS - Teddy Bear Christmas

Hi folks,

I've made another card for FMS #436, creating a snowy scene using Winnie and Walter's Into the Woods and Your next Stamp's Huggles Christmas:

I've had these W & W birch trees for a while but didn't really know what to do with them - I realised I didn't really have any animal stamps or dies I could use with them so they've sat uninked for a few months.  Then I remembered this sweet little teddy bear from YNS which I've had for a while and haven't inked up either. Since neither have been used I'm linking up to Darnell's NBUS challenge too.

The background has been blended with distress inks and the birch trees embossed over the top with a sprinkling of stencilled snow. It's made a nice change to all the CAS cards with lots of white space that I've been making recently.

Happy stamping!

Claire

Channelling Lime Doodle

Hello inkers!

I love the simplicity of Jen B's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week. It gave me the perfect opportunity to completely CASE/rip off one of Debby Hughes' stunning cards at Lime Doodle:

 

When I first saw her card I immediately bought Evergreen Bough distress ink as I love the colours she used (Antique Linen, Evergreen Bough and Black Soot.) I kept mine very simple and I wish I'd been a bit more heavy handed with the Antique Linen but I'm happy with how it's turned out. I love all the jewels and drops she's used on her card but since I have none of them in my stash they'll have to go on my never ending inky Wishlist.

This one's also going over to Time Out where the challenge is to use the theme 'free.' This little scene reminds me of the saying 'free as a bird' - very pertinent since we've all been isolating for so long!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Cutting it Up for Freshly Made Sketches

Hello, hope you are enjoying your weekend and that you're gradually getting back into a vaguely normal life!

Linda has created a deceptively simple Freshly Made Sketch this week - I say deceptive as my original idea just didn't work and I ended up making something totally different to what I 'd planned:

I used a daisy die cut from MFT, together with die cut grout grey sprigs and vellum leaves. The rectangular panels have been blended with distress inks and gold embossed with a WMS stamp from Heirloom Patterns. The sentiment is from Clearly Besotted and fits with the challenge at Cut it Up - make a project to celebrate friends.  I've also used the gorgeous colours over at Colour Throwdown - definitely a palette I'll use again!

Thanks for popping by,

Happy stamping!

Claire

Splats at Freshly Made Sketches

Hello, hello,

Happy Sunday to you. Here's a CAS card for Freshly Made Sketches and Less is More which has a recipe challenging us to use 'scribbles, drips and/or splats:'

Funnily enough the sketch from FMS features a splat so it's perfectly suited to the LIM challenge. I've used a splat stamp from Your Next Stamp's Cool Backgrounds, smothered it with a few blue distress inks, added a couple of sprits of water and stamped it. I had no idea what I was going to put on it but realised it's the perfect watery backdrop for this sweet little YNS whale from Totally Narly. I added a swirl of silver twine and a scattering of clear pebbles and it was done.

Happy stamping!

Claire

Getting Sketchy

Hello,

Here's couple of cards using sketches from this week's Freshly Made Sketch and My Favourite Things:

I've used a couple of snowy sets from CAS-ual Fridays for the first one. It looked a bit bland with the rectangle panel so I cut a Stitched Mod Rectangle  from MFT to give it a few curves.

The second card is for Time Out, using a sketch from MFT and the colours from their colour challenge. I used Funky Flowers (now retired) with a sentiment from Essential Sentiments and the background has been stamped in Cement Gray, using Wood Plank (retired.)

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

Birthday Cheer

Hello fellow inkers,

I had an urge to colour a couple of days ago - whenever that happens this larger image from MFT's Happy Birth-yay always springs to mind.  I used the colours from their latest challenge and the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

I white embossed the grout grey card stock with Happy Birthday Background and added the sentiment along the side. It's also going over to Time Out's 'Inspired by Words' challenge 'it's your birthday, so party and throw acts of kindness around like confetti.' These little guys look like they're partying up a storm!

Happy stamping!

Claire x

Freshly made Sketch #420

Hello and happy Monday to you!

I've been playing around with the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches using the colours from Colour Throwdown:

I've used Waltzingmouse's Simple Sprig for the main image and stamped the same image on the background panel using Grout Grey Ink on Grout Grey card stock.  I love using matching inks and card stock as it looks subtle and doesn't overpower the card.  The sentiment is from Altenew and the stamped red circle around the die cut was a freebie I received recently from Winnie and Walter. I'd won a gift voucher and they threw in another stamp set for free as they were closing down - how nice is that!

Hope you get the time to get inky this week!

Claire x

Playing Favourites at Your Next Stamp!

Hello fellow inkers,

Hope you had a fun and festive Christmas.  Can you believe it's all over for another year?  Just think - only another 10 months to go until it starts all over again!

In between all the festivities I managed to squeeze in a bit of card making for Your Next Stamp's final challenge of the year using the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

The theme for Your Next Stamp is 'favourites' - I used my favourite stamp set from 2019 which is Dancing Dragonflies. I mixed it in with a couple of other sets - the sentiment is from 'Keeping' It Reel' and I've used the branch from Honey Bee - I've then framed the little scene with the large InstaLove Polaroid die.

Hope you get some time to play with some ink this holiday!

Happy stamping!

Claire x

Final Christmas Card of the Year!

Hello, hello,

So many fabulous challenges out there but just not enough time to play at this time of year!  I've rustled up this one for 3 different challenges - The Card Concept, Time Out and Freshly Made Sketches:

I've been inspired by the colours over at The Card Concept to make this clean and layered card - I didn't have any black and white check paper so I used a WMS houndstooth stamp to create the strips. It's not a traditional Christmas card but I like this PTI stamp using traditional Christmas colours. I didn't like the sentiment going across the strips so I placed it up the side and inside it says 'merry and bright.'

Hope your days are looking merry and bright!

Happy stamping!

Claire x

Time Out for Freshly Made Sketches

Hello fellow inkers!

I bought the Sweet Holiday Penguins set from MFT just before I went to the UK - it seems to have taken weeks to get round to actually using them.   I thought this little fella would work well with the latest Freshly Made Sketch: 

I've also used Time Out's Home Sweet Home inspiration pic. I've been inspired by lots of things - the gingham pattern on the pillows, the white duvet (or doona as we say over here) on the bed and the traditional Christmassy colours. I didn't have a gingham stamp so had to get creative and used a few different stamps from Mama Elephant and Waltzingmouse to create my own patterned paper. Lastly, an embossed snowy background using Tim Holtz' Snowfall Speckles which is probably one of the best crafty investments I've bought!

Thanks for calling by!

Claire x