Papertrey Ink Stamp A Faire - Inspired by Muse!

Hi all,

With an hour to spare I'm sneaking a quick card into this year's Stamp a Faire event over at Papertrey Ink. So many challenges to join in with but I chose to do Yana's challenge which is to create a die cut with a faux iron look: 

I was completely inspired by Cat's pretty card over at Muse. I love her beautifully coloured panel of flowers so I did a similar panel using PTI's Doodlie-Do and added a sentiment from Botanical Blocks.  The frame is from PTI's Pretty Frame Coverplate die, smothered in lots of embossing powder and embossed to look like metal.

Thanks for calling by,

Claire

CAS-ual Fridays Colour Challenge

Hi bloggers,

CAS-ual Fridays is having a colour challenge this week using coral, aqua and grey:

I've used Bravo for my one layer card card.  I love the font on this set and it's so easy to make a quick congrats card by fitting all the words together. I've also used part of a border stamp from Bold Wishes - it was the perfect size to fill in the gap on the right hand side.  The bold 5 has lots of large dots on it which I've covered in some Pretty Pink Posh clear droplets to add some texture.

I've been inspired by Jenni's card over at Muse - such a clever design with a variety of thank you sentiments.  I'm also popping it over to Time Out where the theme is Celebrations with the Optional Twist of One Layer Cards.  I think I can get away with it - isn't is about celebrating an achievement? Or am I pushing it a bit far?! 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Claire x

More Clean and Simple

G'day again!

Still in clean and simple mode with a couple of cards for Muse and Casology.  At Muse, Anita has made this gorgeous card for some inspiration. Here's my retake:

I've barely strayed from the original but I thought it was a great design for those smaller stamps in my collection, that rarely get a lick of ink! This little giraffe belongs to Mama Elephant's Nursery Deco set.

Casology's cue word this week is 'open'.  I used one of the larger arrows from TAWS Good Point and coloured it in with Copics, adding a little wooden heart from Studio Calico. Not only does it give directions to my husband on how to open his card, it also indicates that my heart is still open to his love! Bleughhh! On that slightly sickly note, I'll say goodbye!

Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Muse Challenge #139

Hello again,

Second post for the day - if you want to see my previous card you can do so here. 

I can't remember the last time I played along at at Muse but when I saw Tracey's beautiful card I knew I had to CASE it:

I love all the white space she used, and the perfect placement of those sequins and sentiment.  The stamps are from CAS-ual Fridays Mon Ami set - perfect for me to practise my less than adequate Copic skills!

Off to bed now and bracing myself for my 7 year old son to keep me up half the night. Poor little thing is full of a cold...although for some reason it didn't stop him from trick or treating and eating half a tonne of lollies earlier this evening!

Happy stamping!

Claire x

Time for a Three-fer

Hello again,

It's been such a long time since I played along with the Muse challenge but I was determined to have a bash at it this week with this beautiful card by Michele for inspiration:

Pretty obvious where I've drawn the inspiration from isn't it? I love the way Michele has cut a little window for her image and kept the card so clean and simple. And since I've kept mine very CAS I'm going to enter it into this week's Casology challenge too.  They've joined together with Darnell for an NBUS challenge - that's 'never before used schtuff' - and we all have heaps of that don't we? I treated myself to a packet of Spectrum Noir markers last week so this is my first go at using them. They're the 'poor crafters' Copic' aren't they? I have to say, I really like them and if you're not ready to commit a zillion dollars to buy a heap of Copics I can thoroughly recommend them.

Well that's all from me folks. Trying to write a blog post whilst having a very serious game of Monopoly with the kids is not the easiest.  I'm really quite surprised what little capitalists they've turned into.....

Catch you later,

Claire x

Triple Whammy

Hello folks,

Not much time for the crafty stuff for me this week - I managed to do one card though and combine 3 challenges to save time. Firstly, over at Muse,  Anita is the guest designer:

I love Anita's cards - definitely one of the queen's of clean and simple! I went with her pretty colour scheme and scattering of bling.  No sentiment as I may add it later. I also decided to join in with Casology where the cue word is 'free' - I think dragonflies are a pretty good symbol of being free....all that fluttering around wherever they please.  Lastly, I used the sketch over at CAS(e) This Sketch. Oh, and I'm entering it into the Simon Says Stamp 'anything goes' challenge for this week. Think that covers everything!

Thanks for stopping - have a great weekend!

Claire x

Muse #15

Well hello bloggers!

It's been a little while since I posted - not surprising really, since we've just come back from a family holiday to San Francisco and Canada. It really was the trip of a lifetime, especially the couple of days we spent at Disneyland - I'm not sure who had most fun, us or the kids! Now I'm just wondering how I'm going to have time to scrapbook the photos...all 2000 of them.....

I'm letting myself get back into crafty mode gently this week so what better way to do it then getting inspired by this week's Muse challenge with a fab card from Jen Mitchell:

Isn't it gorgeous? I have to admit I think I've been a little 'too inspired' by it as my version is a little too similar for my liking:

Pretty obvious what I've been inspired by isn't it?  Erm, all of it perhaps? I used a strip of washi tape on the panel which came from Michaels. Oh dear. What's a girl to do when a HUGE craft store is a 10 minute walk from where she's staying in SFO? Well go in and spend money of course. Again. And again. And yet again. Those pesky 40% coupons got me every time!

Well, I'm feeling the mojo now so I'm off to do a couple more things and have a look at the gallery. Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Muse Challenge #11

Morning folks,

Just a quickie this morning for this week's Muse challenge based on Laurie's beautiful card:

What did she inspire me with? The strip of stamped circles underneath the sentiment, the twine, the panel, the tabs...the list is endless. (In fact, it looks like I'm still being inspired by Ardyth's card from last week too!) 

I love it when a card makes me think of something I've got in my stash that I haven't used in ages. In this case, it's a punch that punches a strip of circles along the page. I backed the circles with different coloured card  and made some 'tab's with some die cut circles in the same colours.

So, thanks Laurie for making me use what I've got in my stash and for the inspiration. This will be my last post for a while so see you in a few weeks! 

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

More Muse!

Hello Bloggers!

So, what kind of cards do you find most challenging to make? For me, it has to be teenage boys. I find it incredibly difficult to find stamps that I like for boys between the ages of 13 and 18.  If you do know of a good teenage boys set, please let me know as I'll be making a few teenage cards in the coming years!

Anyway, I did manage to come up with an idea using Ardyth's fabulous card for inspiration over at Muse this week. Now, Ardyth is the type of stamper I'd like to be when I grow up. Simple with a clever and quirky twist that always make you say 'why the hell didn't I think of that?'

This one is for my 14 year old Godson.  I've been inspired by Ardyth's random circles so I used a football stamp I had lurking in my collection. (Don't all English teenage boys love football?) I'd have liked a sentiment on the card but most of the ones I have are a bit feminine for a 14 year old boy, so I went with the numbers instead.

Well, that's one of his teenage cards over and done with...just another 4 to go......

Have a great Easter and thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Casology Inspired Muse

Hello Bloggers!

It's been a little quiet here recently....for reasons you'll discover at a later date. I've missed a few challenges in the last couple of weeks but I'm happy to say I managed to sneak a couple in before naughty Mr Linky closes. First, the Muse challenge with this gorgeous card by Marion Vagg to inspire us. Secondly, the Casology challenge. The cue word for this week is 'song.'

Well this could have been inspired by any number of songs I guess, but the one I'm thinking of is 'I am sailing' by Rod Stewart.  The worrying thing is that I've been inspired by a song that came out when I was 3....I'm not really quite sure what that says about my music tastes. Perhaps I'm stuck in a '70's time warp. Marion's stripes have obviously inspired the design...what a great way to use up strips of bazzil.

The stamp is PTI 'Men of Life' which I've had for years and don't use half as much as I should do. Isn't that always the way? It's a great blokey set as it has sentiments for men across the entire family. (I've put the sentiment inside the card as I didn't feel it would fit anywhere on the front.)

I'm all blogged out now, so I'm off to see what everyone else has been inspired by today.
Happy stamping and thanks for popping by,

Claire x

Muse Challenge #6

Hello Bloggers!

Time for another inspirational card over at Muse, this time a beautiful card by Deanna Jean:

I was inspired by the way Deanna clustered the stamped flowers in the left hand corner - I love the way she's sliced off the ends of the leaves to make it all fit.  I used a Memory Box die to make my flowers and added a KindyGlitz centre. The leaves, background and sentiment have been stamped using a number of different Waltzingmouse sets.

Just a quickie today folks...have a good one!

Claire x

Muse #5

Hello bloggers!

Time for a bit more Muse inspiration with this lovely card by Marion Vagg:

What a great way to use washi tape...but since I only have 2 rather dull coloured rolls in my collection, I'm not sure they'd create the same effect.  Instead I was inspired by the bright colours, the stripes and the bold, black sentiment. I had a play around with some My Minds Eye lace stamps together with a solid Jenni Bowlin stamp and made a couple of cards.  I asked the bloke of the house which he likes best and he helpfully said 'either.'  So I'll leave it up to you to decide....

Looking forward to seeing how you've been inspired!

Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Muse Challenge #3

Hello again bloggers!

Time for another Muse challenge - I'm loving this challenge as everyone's cards often turn out completely differently to the original. This week's card has been done by Laurie Willison:

Isn't it an absolute stunner? In fact I was quite tempted just to copy the whole thing and hope that no-one noticed but I figured I couldn't really get away with it.

This week I was determined to look through my stash and use some papers I hadn't used in a while. I came across these gorgeous Cosmo Cricket ones from a couple of years ago and did some fussy cutting:

I love the way Laurie has added some subtle detail to her card by splitting her front panel in two. I've split mine into 4 as I wanted to use a couple of different patterned papers. I layered the fussy cut patterns with dimensional tape and added a bit of bling and a sentiment. They're such pretty papers I figured I didn't need to do too much more!

Well, that's all folks so have a fabulous night - thanks so much to those of you who take the time to make a comment!

Cheers, Claire x

A Play Date with Muse

Another day, another card...this time for the current Muse challenge. The guest designer for week 2 is Suzanne Dahlberg:

What isn't there to love about this card? All those bright, happy colours make me smile! My card has been inspired by those very same bright flowers against the black background:

I used Stampin Up's Eastern Gardens for this one, together with the little leaves from the Waltzingmouse Frame It set. The squares are Spellbinders Marvellous Squares - which were being anything but marvellous, as I had terrible problems getting the card out of the die!

Funnily enough I happened to glance at the Play Date Cafe blog and this week's colours fit in with the challenge over there too. I'm not sure how many neutrals you're allowed to use with the chosen colour scheme so I'll just have to have my hand slapped if I've broken the rules:

Have a fantastic day and thanks for any comments...I love reading them!

Claire x

Monday Muse

Hello Bloggers!

Don't you just love a new challenge site?! Muse is a brand new challenge blog where a different designer each week provides a card  from which you draw inspiration for your own design. In other words, you use it as your 'muse.' What I like about this one is that you have to comment on at least 3 of your fellow member's submissions and you have to vote for the one you find most inspiring. This week's card has been done by Amy Kolling:

I love the way Amy has placed her image to one side and left a lot of white space. I've also been inspired by her use of bling, although I've positioned mine slightly differently.

Now I have to say, I do actually have another 'muse' for this card...is that allowed?! A few months ago Anne-Elise made a stunning card for one of the Waltzingmouse challenges, where she used her doile stamps to create a wedding dress. She stamped the doiles on to vellum, embossed the images in white and layered them to make a dress. Her beautiful card can be seen here. I've done something similar, but I've used a My Minds Eye lace border stamp instead. Hope she doesn't mind me using her card for a little inspiration too!

Well, that's enough musing for now folks...have a great weekend and a wonderful Australia Day if you're in  my neck of the woods!

Thanks for popping by,

Claire