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

Anyone for Fruit Salad?

Hello!

There's a deceptively simple sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week. I had so many ideas about which stamps to use but in the end I went with this fruity little cluster from Whimsy Stamps.  

It didn't seem to matter what I did, nothing looked right until I turned the sketch on it's side. I think I spent more time trying to arrange those fruits than making the actual card.

The bright colours at Colour Throwdown worked perfectly for this and I'm also linking up to Darnell's latest NBUS challenge (that's 'never before used schtuff''). I've had this little set and matching dies for a while but always seem to reach for the lemons!  

Hope you have time to get inky this week!

Claire x

Time for a Spin

Hello, hello!

It's been months since my Mama Elephant set 'Around we Go' has seen ink but it's perfect for the cue word over at Casology this week, which is 'spin':

I've embossed the little ferris wheel in three different embossing powders and mounted it with dimensional tape on a navy background. It looks black doesn't it but I can assure you it's actually navy...trick of the light. (Or just rubbish photography skills.) The little enamel heart has been in my stash for years and as it has never been used, it means my card is eligible for Darnell's fabulous 6th NBUS challenge. That's never-before-used-schtuff, in case you've been sleeping under a rock somewhere. 

Well I'm off to apologise to my Mum for forgetting it's Mothers Day in the UK today. I do wish Australia and the UK would get their Mothers Days in sync..I've forgotten the UK one every year for 15 years!

Thanks for calling by,

Claire x

More Doodling

Morning bloggers!

I'm still playing around with PTI's Doodlie do set but thought I'd use a few blue hues to fit in with the code word over at Addicted to CAS.  It's a colour I don't seem to use very often on my cards..perhaps I have more of a yearning for pink, since I'm surrounded by boys:

I even had a go at using a stencil which is a bit of a rarity. Since I haven't used this one before, or the PTI flower and leaves,  I 'm going to link up to Darnell's 5th NBUS challenge as well as Time Out's marker challenge. There's some absolutely beautiful cards made by the DT there this week so make sure you send them some love!

Have a great weekend!

Claire x

Colour Q #307

Hello folks!

It's Tuesday so time for a new palette of colours over at Colour Q: 

It was Father's Day on Sunday so I made a quick card for the big bloke. I really had to search deep into the depths of my stash for the colours.   It's the first card I made after a four week break...can you tell? My mojo was flying somewhere between England and Australia I think.

The super talented Darnell is having one of her NBUS challenges so I'm going to plonk it over there as I haven't used the WMS sentiment stamp before. Have you seen the prizes she has on offer? I'm wondering if she's been resorting to a little bribery, there's so much on offer....

Ok, that's all from me - make sure you check out the rest of the DT's stuff won't you? Whilst I've been away a couple of new ladies have joined the team and they are so talented, Joyce and Michelle.

Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Colour Q #276

Hello folks!

Can you believe that Tuesday's rolled around again? It doesn't seem two minutes since I posted for Colour Q last week - is it me, or does time go a lot quicker as we get older?

I love this week's colours but I have to admit my 'coastal cabana' looks a little more 'tempting turquoise' in the photo.  I can assure you, it looks a lot more 'coastal' in real life!

I'm entering this into Darnell's NBUS challenge too - as you probably know, (unless you've been hibernating under a blogland rock) that's 'never before used schtuff'.  I bought these floral Penny Black stamps a few weeks ago so I could practise my Copic colouring...pretty aren't they? In fact, so pretty I stamped a few partial blooms and didn't even add a drop of colour.

Make sure you give some love to the rest of the DT won't you - there's some wonderful inspiration this week!

Thanks for popping by,

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

An Oriental Flavour

G'day there bloggers!

Hope your week is going well! I've been playing around with some Perfect Pearls Powders for the latest Addicted to CAS challenge - the cue word is 'Oriental' so what could be more perfect for the theme than Waltzingmouse's Asian Gardens:

I've had a set of these powders for well over a year now and I've used them precisely once.  In fact, one of the colours hasn't been opened at all so I'm also entering this card into Darnell's NBUS (never before used schtuff) challenge.  Haven't heard of Darnell? Then you must be hiding under a rock somewhere in blogland...she can be found over here and has an absolutely unique and often hilarious blogging style!

Since my card also features three stamped panels (again), I'm going to enter it into Casology's challenge too - this week the cue word is 'three.'

Happy stamping!

Claire x