CAS Flowers

Hello bloggers,

The cards are very few and far between in this house unfortunately. I've strained my neck by card making which is the saddest reason to strain your neck isn't it? It would sound so much more impressive if I'd done it rock climbing or jumping out of a plane!

So this is a very simple card for AAA Cards colour challenge and Seize the Birthday where the birthday topping is flowers.  I used a die from Altenew as a stencil to colour the flowers, then popped a clean die cut over the top. The die is quite intricate so it took longer than I thought and quite frankly wasn't worth the effort (or the dodgy neck)! Next time I'll use paper die cuts to colour in the bloom I think!

Happy stamping!

Claire

April Altenew Inspiration Challenge

Hello again,

It's been such a busy few weeks I completely forgot to post my card for Altenew's Inspiration challenge this month:

Until I actually finished it I hadn't realised that there are quite a few similarities with Amy's beautiful card.  I used the same sentiment from the Timeless Sentiments Die Set with a smaller one from Tiny Sentiments: Hello. The blooms are from Build-a-Flower:Sakura Blossom Layering Stamp and Die Set (on sale by the way!) and the background is the Diamond Cover Die.

Happy stamping!

Claire

Seize the Birthday - Surprise Party Guest

 Hello folks,

It's been a busy week with family visiting from overseas. I look forward to these visits for months in advance but saying goodbye is still hard even though I've lived in Australia for 25 years.  I never know quite when I'll see loved ones again so it always takes a few days to get back into the normality of life.

And the normality is that cards need to be made, this time for Seize the Birthday's latest challenge.  I'm chuffed to bits to be their surprise party guest:

The topping for this challenge is 'stencilling' but you don't have to add the topping. I chose a spotty stencil from CAS-ual Fridays and used a rainbow of inks for a bright and cheery background. The sentiment is Whimsy Stamps - stamped in black and embossed in clear sparkly EB. 

There's lots of amazing inspiration from the DT as usual and don't forget, you could get the opportunity to 'take the cake' and be a future party guest on the blog!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Layered Blooms

Hello again,

I haven't been able to play along with Freshly Made Sketches for a while so made this card using the colours from Colour Throwdown and the prompts from Time Out (pastel and floral):

I don't use pastels often - I much prefer brights and bold colours so this is about as 'pastelly' (is there such a word?) it gets. Lots of older products on this from PTI and W Plus 9. 

I'm also popping it over to Seize the Birthday where the topping is 'layer it' - I love a few layers and layered the card stock and flowers to fit the challenge. 

Apologies if you've left a comment recently - I've got family over from the UK and looking for a new job which is a full time job in itself! I will get there eventually.

Happy stamping!

Claire

MFT Sketch Challenge #6

Hello again inkers,

I did some very quick colouring last night for MFT's latest sketch challenge but, oh dear, note to self: check it in the daylight before posting. One of these poor elves looks like he has acne the blending's so bad! 

 

I used the long retired Santa's Elves with the Lined by Hand Background and some pretty Christmas papers. Nothing wrong with pink and green elves for a change! 

My other card is for Lavinia Stamp's Creative Challenge which is to use Spring colours. All the pink blossoms come out at spring in Australia as well as our purple Rhododendron so I've incorporated those colours instead of the usual yellows and greens associated with the season. 

Happy stamping!

Claire

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

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

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

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

 

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

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 

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

Pink Profusion

Hello inkers,

There's a profusion of pink around blogland this month for obvious reasons so I've taken that as my cue for both these cards. The first is for Lavinia Stamp's Creative Challenge where the theme is 'what brings you to my humble abode?' Lots of Lavinia products on it including Zen Houses coloured with pencils:

 

The second is a very simple card for MFT's sketch challenge featuring some copic coloured cupcakes and an embossed Garden Flourish background.  I've used the pink hues from the Colorful Options mood board and one of my cupcakes features a sparkly heart which is the topping over at Seize the Birthday. 

I'm afraid Valentines Day is a very underwhelming affair in our household - a card and a box of half-price Maltesers is about as romantic as it gets and both myself and the big bloke woke up and forgot it was Valentines Day! 

Happy stamping!

Claire

MFT Colour Challenge

Hello inkers,

Here's a card for MFT's colour challenge using 'You're Super' and the Watercolour Wash stencil:

 

I used my gelli plate to create the background, then sponged some purple ink around the edges to give it some more definition. 

Happy stamping!

Claire

Altenew January Inspiration Challenge

Hello folks!

 

This has been a very slack month for card making but at least I've managed to make a card for Altenew's January Inspiration challenge which is soon to close it's virtual doors:

 

 

I created a background using distress inks (Bundled Sage, Fired Brick and Lost Shadow) with the Grid Stencil on my Gel Press. I cut a large tag using the Terrific Tags Die Set and added a couple of Mini White Splendour Anemones coloured with alchol inks. The sentiment's from the Craft Your Life Project Kit: Fragrant Florals and I added an embossed background using the Majestic Bloom EB.

Here's hoping February's a more productive and inky month!

 Happy stamping!

 Claire

 

Lavinia Stamps for Addicted to CAS

Hello again,

Very quick post as I'm tired and just a little bit grumpy. This one is for Lavinia Stamps Creative Challenge which has a theme of 'blue hues.' Addicted to CAS happens to have 'blue' as their cue word as well:

 

I used an acetate block to create the background with a trio of blue mists that have been sat in my stash for years and amazingly aren't clogged. It was meant to be a one layer but as usual I got more ink over the card than I did anywhere else. I added the little LS butterfly and coloured the blooms and butterfly with Copics. No sentiment - I'll add one when I'm ready to send it!

Happy stamping!

Claire

MFT Colour Challenge

Hello inkers, happy 2025!

It's been a while between cards - Christmas can do that, can't it?  We've had family over from the UK for a few weeks so lots of socialising and very little crafting.

It was hard to get motivated to play with paper again but what better way than by playing along with the brand new colour challenge at MFT.  I've missed their challenges so much in the last few months but they're back, alternating between a colour and a sketch challenge:
 

I also used the latest Freshly Made Sketch from Karren for some inspiration - a great sketch for those MFT 6 x 6 paper scraps I have lying around as I can't bear to throw them out! I have a real lack of birthday cards at the moment so used MFT's Let Your Hair Down.

Happy stamping and here's to a crafty 2025!

Claire