January Altenew Inspiration Challenge

Hello inkers,

Here's a couple of cards - one for Altenew's January Inspiration Challenge and the other for Addicted to CAS:

I coloured the Altenew blooms with pencils for a change, using the Beach Towel Stripes Stencil for the background. The darker pink flowers are the Mini White Splendour set - who said they had to be white eh? The larger bloom is from Beautiful Day - an oldie but a goodie that I'll never tire of inking up. 

For the second one my inky mojo got up and left in case you can't tell. The reading glasses are from an older YNS set which I've stamped, coloured and added some Glossy Accents to. 

Happy stamping!

Claire

Addicted to CAS - Water

Hello inkers,

Still not much craftiness going on in this household but here's a quick card I made for Addicted to CAS where the code word is 'water:'

 

I made a watery background with alcohol inks and added some sparkly bubbles. The cute little fish is from an older YNS set in my stash. 

I'm also popping it over to AAA Cards who have an 'anything CAS goes' challenge - without the optional twist!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Freshly Made Sketch 658

Hello inkers!

It's been ages since I've joined in with Freshly Made Sketches so here's a little card I made for my youngest son who turns sweet 16 this week. I use the term 'sweet' very loosely!

 

I've used the hues from Color Throwdown to colour this sweet little fisherman from Your Next Stamp. This was always a favourite set from YNS but he's been in semi retirement and hasn't seen ink for quite a while. 

I went for some smaller stitched Mod Rectangles from MFT instead of standard rectangles so I could have a little more white space to give it more of a CAS feel.  The patterned paper is also MFT. 

Have an inky week!

Claire

Sunday Stamps SSC #340

Hello again,

There's nothing like a layered sketch to use up some of the patterned paper I've been hoarding: 

I used a whole heap of My Mind's Eye papers from years ago - the cute little bee is from Your Next Stamp and sentiment is MFT. 

Thanks for popping by,

Claire

Freshly Made Sketches #639

Hello bloggers!

I'm playing along with Freshly Made Sketches this time. Amy's sketch gave me the opportunity to get all my old scrapbooking papers out. And I mean old. I haven't looked at them for a couple of years and had forgotten how many gorgeous papers I have gathering dust:

 

These papers were from Carta Bella - I though the fun colours would make a great kids card so inked up these cute monsters from Your Next Stamp. 

Hope you have a great start to the week!

Claire

The Paper Players - Pun Intended

Hello again,

The Paper Players have a clean and simple challenge happening at the moment - make a card with a funny/punny sentiment:

 

I have heaps of Your Next Stamp's punny sentiments in my stash - this is a cute set called Coffee Cart that hasn't seen ink in a while. I stamped and die cut a wooden banner and added a die cut circle at the back for some dimension. The scattered hearts are from a very old W Plus 9 set, Borders and Backgrounds. 

Thanks for popping by!

Claire

Time Out Photo Inspiration - Splat!

Hello again,

2024 is the year of 18th birthdays with my own son about to hit the milestone next month - he and I share the same birthday but this year he has announced that his takes precedence and mine will be all but forgotten. Cheeky devil!

This one is for his lovely mate who we've known since he was 3 weeks old:

 

I was inspired by Sarah's gorgeous creation over at Time Out where the challenge is to CASE her card. I loved her cluster of elements against the stencilled splat (from her own Funky Fossil Designs store) so reached for my very old and very used PTI Grunge Me. In fact it's so old I actually had to wash all the stamps with washing up liquid as they wouldn't stick to my Misti. The big splat in the background is from Your Next Stamp. 

The colours over at Color Throwdown are perfect for a masculine card so this one's linking over there as well.

Happy stamping!

Claire

Freshly Made Sketch #600!

Hello folks!

Can you believe Freshly Made Sketches has made it to their 600th sketch? That deserves a celebration and at the very least deserves a play along this week:

On Sunday it's Father's Day here in Australia so here's a little card for the big bloke (or should that be biggest bloke as there's 3 of them in my household). I used some older stamps from Your Next Stamp, Waltzingmouse, MFT and Stampin' Up...hopefully he likes it, along with the bottle of whisky to celebrate the special day!

Congrats to the FMS design team and thanks so much for all the inspiration over the years!

Claire

Clean and Simple Paper Players Challenge

Hello again,

It's been a while since I made a card for a CAS challenge. At The Paper Players the theme is to make a CAS card featuring a bird - this one features a miniature human as well so I hope that's within the rules!

I'm determined to use some different stamps over the coming months...it's so easy to stick to old favourites isn't it? This one's from Your Next Stamp but since there's no-one having babies at the moment baby cards aren't high on the priority list and it hasn't seen ink in a long time. I added a sentiment from the same set and a layer of stitched die cut clouds from MFT.

Happy stamping!

Claire

Critter Christmas!

Hello inkers,

Just a few more Christmas cards to go and then I'm done. Most of my cards are winging their way across to the UK as I write, my wallet almost empty due to the astronomical postal costs! 

These two are for a couple of different challenges - the first a combined MFT Colour and Sketch:

 

I've used Sweet Holiday Penguins with a sentiment from Itty Bitty Holiday.

My second card's for Your Next Stamp's latest challenge to add 'sparkle and shine.' I used Reinbeer and gave him a sparkly red, glitter nose and added a couple of strips of sparkly card.  This one's also going over to Simon Says Stamp's Monday challenge where they're in 'sparkle mode.' 

Happy stamping!

Claire

CASology _ Guest Designer: Type

 Hi folks,

I'm delighted to be guest designer at CASology for their latest challenge. The cue card is: Type:

I do like it when the cue card is quite specific -  I knew exactly which set to ink up for it: Mama Elephant's Type It featuring a very old fashioned typewriter. Remember those? Probably not if you're under 40. I showed it to my youngest and he said 'oh that's a typer from the old days'  making me feel about 90! 

The ink splashes underneath are a combination of PTI and Your Next Stamp - a trio of enamel dots and it was done.

There's 3 weeks to get inky for this one so no excuses not to join in!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Clean and Simple Geometrics

Hello again,

Here's a very CAS card for The Paper Players' Clean and Simple challenge featuring bees. Any excuse to ink up Your Next Stamp's Honey Bee:

With its geometric honeycomb in the background I'm popping it over to Addicted to CAS too!

Happy stamping!

Claire 

Christmas in July

 Hello bloggers,

I've never made a 'twinchie' card before so I've had a bash at AAA Cards' latest challenge to create a card where everything has to be contained in a 2 inch area:

I chose to do the optional twist of Christmas in July. The problem wasn't the image but the sentiment and finding one small enough to fit! 

This one's also going over to Less is More's Christmas in July challenge.

Happy stamping!

Claire

Your Next Stamp - Challenge #163

Hello inkers,

I haven't had a chance to play along with Your Next Stamp for ages - their latest challenge is to go bright,  with a burst of colour:

 

I made a very CAS card using two of my favourites - Dancing Dragonflies and Honey Bee. I created a little scene by die cutting a circular window and stencilling a background of grass, cloudy sky and sun rays.  

This one's also being entered at Addicted to CAS where the theme is 'bugs',  CASology where the cue card is 'outside' and Addicted to Stamps and More with the challenge to use stencils and die cuts.  I'm also popping it over to Simon Says Stamp's Monday challenge where there's a 'things with wings' challenge happening.

Happy stamping!

Claire

Happy Mail

Hello again.

I haven't entered a clean and simple challenge for a while as I've been busy doing DT stuff so here's one for a couple of CAS challenges - CAS on Friday where the theme is 'happy mail' and Less is More's colour challenge:

 

I've had this Avery Elle Happy Mail set for a while, an  uninked gift from a crafty friend a few months ago.  I've never been quite sure how to use it so opted to stamp all the images in various hues of pink, grey and gold and cluster them together. I also added a Your Next Stamp splatter, embossed in gold. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Claire  

Clean and Simple Christmas

Hello inkers!

It's been a while since I've played along at CASology  Their cue card this week is 'stag' so I used this fun image from Your Next Stamp called Reinbeer:

The background is CAS-ual Friday's Amazeballs - it kind of made me think of the bubbles in a beer. I'm also popping it over to The Paper Players who have a clean and simple holiday challenge and Simon Says Stamp's Christmas themed Wednesday Challenge. 

Happy stamping!

Claire

Keeping it CAS at Your Next Stamp

 Hello folks,

Your Next Stamp's latest challenge is to keep it clean and simple so I pulled out one of my favourite YNS sats and inked up the cow from Funny Farm Crew:

The white embossed strips at the side have been stamped with the Thick Stripe-Tastic Diagonal Edge.

I think he may be doing the walk of shame after a late night out partying, don't you? Since I'm going with a party theme I'm popping it over to CAS on Friday and I'm also joining in with Fusion, using both the sketch amd the colours for inspiration. 

Happy stamping!

Claire