Thursday, 3 April 2025

CAS Cat

Hello again,

This week's AAA Cards challenge intrigued me - it's a very simple version of Tic Tac Toe using the central theme of silhouettes with one of the other prompts. I chose pets: 



 




This is a simplified version of a couple of cards I made for last months's Lavinia Stamps creative challenge. I also tried to make it a little more masculine by using a masculine font for the sentiment and sticking to neutral colours. Having said that I asked my husband if he thought it was a masculine card - to which he replied a resounding no! I'm still going to enter it into Addicted to CAS's masculine challenge though.  I'm sure there are plenty of men out there who love cats...I just need to find one to send it to!

Happy stamping!

Claire









Tuesday, 1 April 2025

Celebrating a Milestone

Hello inkers,

My beautiful sister-in-law celebrates her 50th birthday this month so it was a great opportunity to enter Seize the Birthday's challenge to celebrate a milestone:

 








These aren't the colours I envisaged - being the lazy crafter I am I didn't bother labelling any of my blending brushes and when it came to doing some of the petals, there was a darker ink mixed with the lighter stuff. Oops. Not to worry, I quite like the different shades of petals and who said they had to be realistic?

I used a strip of Altenew gold washi tape and added a few glittery, die cuts to the cluster of Altenew blooms.  I've also embossed the background using the same embossing folder to give it some more depth. 

This one's also going over to Time Out where the theme is to base your card on your favourite movie. I've gone with Pretty in Pink - the touch of gold is meant to be inspired by Molly Ringwald's hair! Lovely to see that Claire Brennan from Waltzingmouse Stamps is sponsoring it this week. I should have used some of my (many) WMS stamps!

Happy stamping!

Claire


Wednesday, 26 March 2025

Addicted to CAS - Masculine

Hello inkers,

It's been ages since I entered a CAS challenge - with my sports mad nephew's upcoming birthday it was just the excuse I needed to enter the masculine challenge at Addicted to CAS:








I've had this set called Boys and Toys so long, I couldn't even tell which company made it - it's almost 20 years old. It's a very simple set, perfect for a teen boy, hence the soccer ball bouncing all over the card. The huge birthday sentiments are from one of my favourite CAS-ual Friday's sets, Bold Wishes.

Happy stamping!

Claire

Monday, 24 March 2025

Altenew March Inspiration Meets The Flower Challenge

Hello, happy weekend to you!

I was determined to get some ink on my fingers over the weekend and made this simple card for the March Altenew Inspiration Challenge:






Gerberas are so bright and cheerful they're enough to put a smile on anyone's face aren't they? I used the Mini Gerbera set, coloured with Copics and a sentiment from the Craft Your Life Project Kit:Fragrant Florals. For the background I stencilled a blended ink background with the Circle Frame Mask Stencil and added some Leaf Clusters.

This one's also going into The Flower Challenge which has a circle theme this month - as well as the circular background, I used some circular, clear embellishments.

Happy stamping!

Claire


 

Tuesday, 11 March 2025

Happy 11th Birthday Time Out

Hello again,

Time Out's celebrating 11 years of challenges with a challenge to CASE Donna's beautiful card:

 






Apparently CASE means 'copy and selectively edit' - I always thought it meant 'copy and share everything' so I guess I'm doing both here! Lots of lovely elements to inspire from Donna's card - I created a stamped background with snowflakes instead of flowers from CAS-ual Friday's Snowy Sayings.  I also added some embossing on the frame and a simple sentiment against a white background. 

Thanks for popping by!

Claire

Tuesday, 4 March 2025

MFT Sketch Challenge

Hello inkers,

Another simple card for MFT's sketch challenge - one of the Adorable Elephants floating through the sky to wish a special someone a happy birthday:

 

I used MFT's Cloud Stencil with Distress Inks to create the background - I had the little elephant already coloured with Copics and ready to go. I just needed to find a place for him!

Happy stamping!

Claire 

Saturday, 1 March 2025

Altenew February Inspiration Challenge

Hello again,

Not much happening over here - job hunting is getting in the way of card making but I guess I have to prioritise. I had just enough time to make a very simple card for February's inspiration challenge over at Altenew:






I love the colours and I wish I'd had the time to do something a little more extravagant but sometimes less is more isn't it? Lots of different products despite the simplicity - the background has been partially cut using Stacked Diamonds Cover Die and the bloom is the Open Bloom 3D Die Set. I added a few glittery, gold sprigs from the Whimsical Garden Layering Die Set and the sentiment is from Mini White Splendour.  Lots of older products but as pretty as the day I got them!

Happy stamping!

Claire