Christmas Kickstart Challenge 88/52 Christmas Card Throwdown

Hello again,

Now that MFT have stopped their challenges I've had to find some alternative Christmas challenges to give me a kick up backside and get some cards done so I'm not doing them last minute! This one's for the Christmas Kickstart Challenge and the challenge is to use a frame and 52 Christmas Card Throwdown with a Christmas Lights theme:

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's not a festive frame so I hope it fits the challenge!  I stamped and coloured this sweet moose from Yuzu Merry Moose over at MFT and placed him on a blended ink background, then splattered some snow over it using a Posca pen. It was meant to be almost a one layer but I stuffed the sentiment up right at the end...so annoying. Nothing that a piece of card stock couldn't cover though! 

Hopefully he won't get an electric shock from those lights!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Tic Tac Toe Challenge

Hello inkers,

Quick card and a quick post for Tic Tac Toe's challenge - think it's a new one for me:

 

I've gone with the bottom, horizontal row with a yellow, Copic coloured Stamplorations die cut butterfly,  green leaves and MFT sentiment. I also added a little bit of sparkle to its body. The background is stencilled with a butterfly stencil (although you wouldn't know it) and stamped with a W Plus 9 script stamp.

Enjoy the weekend!

Claire

Sunday Stamps - Mosaic Madness

Hello again,

 As soon as I saw the bold colour palette over at Sunday Stamps I knew which stamp set I wanted to use:

 

 

 

 

 

Folk Art Medallion is an older, much used Waltzingmouse set. This came out long before the Misti was ever invented so you had to have a steady hand when using it. So much easier with a stamping platform! The sentiment is from Altenew's Timeless Sentiments die cuts.

Happy stamping!

Claire

Time Out 'On Vacation' - Guest Designer

Aloha!

I'm so thrilled to be Time Out's guest designer for their newest challenge. Whilst everyone is sunning it up over in the northern hemisphere, those in the south are rugging up so it was good to be reminded that Summer's just around the corner as the theme for this challenge is 'on vacation:'

 

Of course,  a vacation doesn't necessarily mean sun and warmth but that's what I always think of,  so I inked up MFT's Polynesian Paradise. 

I often get Ralph Tyndall's card making videos popping up in my Facebook feed - they're great because they're not overly long and this one was no exception. I love how he used the stencil for the sea and some embossing paste for the waves. So clever!  (Clearly, I'm not quite so clever as I put the paste on before die cutting the panel which meant it squashed the paste after it had dried.)

The challenge is being generously sponsored by Varada Sharma who is offering $25 store credit - there's also the opportunity to guest design at Time Out for a future challenge. 

The DT over at Time Out always have some great cards to inspire so go and check them out!

Happy stamping!

Claire

My Favorite Things - Final Colour Challenge

Hello folks,

So sad to see that MFT are stopping their challenges - it's a rare week when I don't enter a card into one of them! Here's my entry to their final colour challenge:

I used BB Rain or Shine, Lined by Hand Background (both retired), Cloud Stencil and Stitched Rectangle Frames.

Happy stamping!

Claire

Altenew July Inspiration Challenge

Hello folks, hope you're enjoying the weekend!

I received some Altenew happy mail last week so it was an easy pick deciding what to use for this month's Inspiration Challenge: 

I bought the Craft Your Life Project Kit: Fragrant Florals. This is a huge stamp! It's so big I had to cut it down to fit on the card.  I was going to make a tag with the left over piece but then decided to put it underneath the main image which I popped up using some dimensional tape. I used the Dotted Lines Debossing Cover Die for the background and a big stamp deserves a big sentiment so I used Timeless Sentiments.

Happy stamping!

Claire
 

Playing with Lavinia Stamps

Hello again!

A couple of weeks ago I went to a craft show where my once local craft store had a stand - unfortunately they closed the shop a few years ago which is probably a good thing for my wallet but not for my stash! I bought quite a few bits and pieces from the Lavinia Stamps  range and I've been watching lots of their tutorials - I really enjoy them as they're in real time rather than sped up which makes it so much easier to learn a new technique:

These two cards have both been entered into their monthly creative challenge, the theme being 'Summer Moon.

The cards that the Lavinia DT produce are like small works of art - I'm amazed at what they come up with but I've realised I find it easier to work on a smaller scale rather than cover an entire card front.

I'm adding the second card to Time Out's 'seeing stars' themed challenge (I added several using a white Posca pen.)

I didn't bother with sentiments - I'll add them another day when I decide who I'm sending them to!

Happy stamping!

Claire

MFT Ready Set Christmas Meets Sunday Stamps

Hello inkers,

Not much blogging going on this week but I've got quite a few guest design spots coming up over the coming weeks so there's been plenty of paper playing in the background. Here's a quick card I did for MFT's Ready, Set, Christmas challenge using the sketch from Sunday Stamps:

 

I used Yuzu Holly Jolly Santa, Bitty Holiday Wishes, various Blueprints dies and patterned papers - all of which are retired. I changed the position of the sentiment otherwise poor Santa would look like he was gagged!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Sunday Stamps Challenge #337

Hello again,

Love the latest colour inspiration over at Sunday Stamps this week - so pretty!

 

Pretty colours require pretty stamps and you can't get much prettier than Nostalgic Florals from Altenew. I have the matching stencil for this set but decided to use Copics for a change. I've used some pinks from the Red-Violet spectrum but I find them so difficult to blend! After getting RSI from all that blending I added in some pencil strokes...pencil is most definitely not my colouring forte! 

Happy with how it turned out - kind of. But I think I'll stick to using the stencil in future.

Thanks for popping by,

Claire

Paper Players - Colour Challenge

Hello inkers,

Love the colours over at the Paper Players and I envisioned a pretty floral creation - after procrastinating for what seemed like hours and trying various floral stamps, nothing seemed to work so it turned into a welcome baby card:

 

These Mama Elephant Nursery Deco stamps are very well used but they're still my go to for new baby cards. The stripes are PTI. Now I just need to find someone to have a baby so I can give it to them...

Happy stamping!

Claire

MFT - One Card, Three Challenges

Hello again,

Second post of the day - I whipped up this card very quickly for 3 different MFT challenges - sketch, colour and Christmas:

 

I used Cute and Cuddly Christmas (which has just been retired) and Wood Plank stamped with Grout Grey Ink on Grout Gray card stock. 

Happy stamping!

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

Altenew June Inspiration Challenge

Hello again,

I'm all recovered now from Covid so it's time to up the inkiness, this time for Altenew's June Inspiration challenge:

I've used Ornate Foliage which I think may be retired as I can't find it in the shop. I made a very sparkly background with the Beach Towel Stripes Stencil and Embossing Paste, then sprinkled over some white glitter and set it with some hairspray so it doesn't shed. 

I'm also popping it over to Time Out's brand new Inspired by Words challenge with the quote 'there are always flowers for those who want to see them.' It just so happens that this week's sponsor is Altenew.

Happy stamping!

Claire

Seize the Birthday - Metallics

Hello inkers,

I'm on a bit of a card making roll this weekend, this time playing along with Seize the Birthday's challenge to use metallics:

Remember this Swallowtail stamp from Stamping' Up? It was absolutely everywhere when it was first released and a lovely friend was organising her stamp stash and gave me hers. 

I used copper metallic embossing powder and was so surprised that all the detail was still captured. I often find with these larger stamps the powder fails to stick to some parts of the stamp and the image isn't as crisp as it should be. I coloured the spaces with gold and white metallic Perfect Pearls and added a simple PTI sentiment.  I love how it turned out but the photo just doesn't capture the metallic sparkle IRL!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Claire

 

MFT Sketch Challenge - #700!

Hello folks,

So I'm in the throes of Covid unfortunately - I've managed to avoid it for the last couple of years so can't really complain, but it's definitely taken more of a toll than it did first time round. 

In between resting, Netflix and not much else I've managed to make a couple of simple cards. The first is for MFT's whopping 700th sketch challenge and colour challenge #237:

Lots of MFT products on this one - Hanging with my Gnomies, Drawn by Hand Background Stamp, Small Brick Wall Stencil,  Essential Sentiments and a Stitched Rectangle Frame to finish it off. 

 

The card above is my second one for Time Out's 'magical' challenge using Lavinia Stamps sweet fairy, Pan. I love doing these ink splattered backgrounds on my gel plate - they're so random and I'm never quite sure how they're going to turn out. The purples/blues worked well - the greens and yellows not so much and the background looked like a sheet of mouldy paper!

Time for a rest...again!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Time to be Magical

Hello folks!

My Gelli plate has been out again, this time to create a background for Time Out's 'magical' challenge:

 

I've been watching lots of Lavinia Stamp's YouTube tutorials recently and used this one for some background inspiration. I didn't have Brushos so used Twinkling H2O's which has given a very different look to the one in the video. 

I used Olivia (small) and the foliage is Technique Tuesday with a sentiment from Poppy Stamps.  

Thanks for popping by!

Claire

MFT Card Cue Challenge

Hello inkers,

There's a new challenge over at My Favourite Things called Card Cue - this month, the cue is Flower Power: 

These are MFT's Upsy-Daisy Die-namics from the first time round - did you know they've just released them from the MFT vault? Definitely worth buying if you're thinking of it! 

I kept it very CAS and used the sketch from AAA Card  Challenge. I coloured the leaves with Copics and the sentiment is from Essential Sentiments. 

Happy stamping!

Claire

Addicted to CAS - Balloons

Hello!

Quick post for a quick card - the Addicted to CAS code word is 'balloons' so here's a very simple card using some balloon stamps from Whimsy Stamp's Happy Everything:

 The little bow is from a different set by Winnie and Walter and the sentiment is Waltzingmouse. 

Happy stamping!

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

Color Throwdown #794 - Guest Designer

Hello folks!

I'm delighted to be guest designer over at the Color Throwdown this week. The colour palette is perfect for a masculine card and I used MFT's latest sketch for some inspiration: 

I stamped and coloured this little bloke from Old Friends with Copics - secretly I think he may be a little bit of a party animal despite his rather dull appearance! The wooden floor was stamped with MFT's Wood Plank Background and the brick DP is from the Floor to Ceiling Paper Pad. 

I have to say it took a huge amount of effort to make this card - I've been in excruciating pain for most of the week waiting for the dentist to do a root canal.  A combo of ibuprofen, codeine and paracetamol probably aren't the best kick starters for my crafty mojo!

Make sure you pop over to the talented Design Team won't you to get some inspiration!

Happy stamping!

Claire