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

Breaking the Card Drought: Freshly Made Sketch - 717

Hello inkers, happy new year!

I can't believe it's been over 3 months since I made a card.  I've gone back to work full time in a new industry in a job that's busy 100% of the time and it doesn't leave room for much card making. Loving it, but I wish I had the time to ink up more often!

 

I had a little time off over Christmas, most of it spent holidaying with friends but I did manage to make this card for my father-in-law, using Freshly Made Sketch 717.  All the stamps I used are pretty ancient - almost as old as that typewriter probably!

Happy stamping!

Claire

August Altenew Inspiration Challenge

Hello inkers, 

It's almost 2 months since I made a card, my longest inky drought in years! A new full time job in a different industry has had a severe impact on the card making - there's always such a lot to take in when you start a new job and I don't think my brain is quite used to thinking so much! Having said that,  I did manage to get one done for August's Altenew Inspiration Challenge:

I had some lovely new goodies from Altenew to play with including the Mini Delight: Butterfly Dreams Stamp and Die Set and the Wonderful Wreath Stencil - the background is from a 6x6 paper pad. Talk about a quick card just to get a chance to use some new stuff!

Happy stamping and here's hoping September will be a bit more productive!

Claire

Altenew May Inspiration Challenge

Hello inkers, long time no card!

Not much creativity for the last few weeks but here's a quick one for Altenew's May Inspiration Challenge that I'm managing to enter by the skin of my teeth:

 

I usually have a lot of white space when I make a card using Altenew stamps but the colours called for a bright, bold background with some stamping using Groovy Garden.  The background was done on my Gelli plate with a light inked wash and stencilling with Altenew's Grid Stencil.  I added some sparkle to the centres of the flowers for a bit of bling!

Happy stamping!

Claire

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

Altenew Ultimate Inspiration Challenge - Year in Review

Hello again,

You know another year has gone by when it's the Ultimate Inspiration Challenge: Year in Review   over at Altenew. I revisited Bridget's April challenge - I'd already used these colours a couple of times for the original challenge so I obviously liked them:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches for some inspiration - I thought it was perfect for this Psyanka stamp (currently half price so a good reason to buy it). I coloured the first one in full using Copics, then partially coloured the other three. It's quite a detailed design so I thought it would be a bit much with all four coloured. I also added a Fine Frames Cover Die and a teeny tiny diamante in the middle of each flower.

Happy stamping!

Claire

Seize the Birthday - Masculine: Guest Designer

Hello,

So happy to be the surprise party guest for Seize the Birthday's latest challenge.  The theme is 'masculine:'

I feel like it's ages since I inked up a masculine card - I really don't do enough of them which is very silly as I live in a house with 3 strapping males. 

I used a very old stamp set from Close to my Heart which I haven't inked up for about 7 years. I have to say I struggled with it - the entire card face was covered in those stamped and hand cut chevrons but the background was so busy the sentiment was just lost. So, I decided to add some 'white' space and framed some of the pattern with a circular die cut panel, then added the Altenew lime frame to match the colours.

Go check out the talented DT over at their blogs and see the amazing cards they've done to inspire you. Who knows, you may 'take the cake' and be a future party guest!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Altenew November Inspiration Challenge

Hello inkers,

Altenew's November Inspiration challenge has a lovely Christmassy palette but unfortunately I haven't got a single Altenew Christmas stamp so I reached for this Precious Peony set instead:

I coloured the image with alcohol markers then added a few more outline stamped images in kraft coloured ink. At the top and bottom I used the same ink to stamp a dotted border from Halftone Squares. The sentiment's from Craft Your Life Project Kit: Fragrant Florals. 

This one's winging its way over to Colorful Options as well as the colour palette is red. 

Happy stamping!

Claire

 

Birds of a Feather

Hello again,

Just sneaking in with a card using the colours from Color Throwdown. I was very sad to see that Barbara Anders from Paper Pursuits has passed away. She always really inspired me with her beautiful cards over at MFT - the DT have left some lovely messages about her on the CT blog:

I made a birthday card rather than a sympathy card - I've sent far too many out this year, the latest this afternoon, unfortunately.  Instead,  I've followed the theme over at Seize the Birthday - 'feather.' I used a new to me Jane's Doodles set from 2014 that my beautiful friend gave me from her stash. After some random stamping I gold embossed a few of the outline feather stamp. (I'm hoping gold is considered an neutral along with the chocolate brown.) The die cut sentiment is from Altenew and the stamped one from MFT. 

Thanks for popping by,

Claire

Altenew October Inspiration Challenge

Hello folks,

Time for another Inspiration Challenge from Altenew, this time from April Leithner:

 

I love the colours for this one and really wanted the bright blooms to stand out against the leaves. I used the Craft Your Life Project Kit: Fragrant Florals and coloured the image using the coordinating stencil. I love these kits - it's so much faster colouring these huge stamps with a stencil. I've tucked a few sprigs of foliage behind from the Whimsical Layering Die Set.

Because I've used the stencil this one's going over to The Flower Challenge as well!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Altenew September Inspiration Challenge

Hello inkers!

I had a bit of a break from card making in September - I've had a few GD spots in the last few weeks so but I think I've been all carded out!

So I'm trying to get back into the swing of things with a very last minute card for Altenew's September Inspiration challenge:

I used the Whimsical Garden Layering Die Set which I've had for a few months but hadn't opened. I didn't want to use plain card stock so I splashed some pink and green alcohol inks on yupo and die cut them. It was a bit like completing a jigsaw putting all the tiny pieces back together. 

I placed it on one of the large tags from Terrific Tags Die Set, added the hello from Timeless Sentiments and set it against a paper background from the Pinkfresh Celebrate 6 x 6 paper pad. It looks pretty CAS but took a while with all the die cutting!

Happy stamping!

Claire

AAA Card Challenge - Anything CAS Goes: Guest Designer

Hello inkers,

I'm delighted to be guest designing again over at AAA Cards Challenge - they have a brand new challenge for the start of September: anything CAS goes with the optional twist of sympathy/get well.

Sympathy cards aren't the easiest to make but I think it's the words that are most important - this Altenew set,  Say it With Love, has some lovely sentiments for all sorts of occasions. 

 

I blended a panel with various distress inks, then cut a floral border with Altenew's Floral in 'N' Out Die.

 

Make sure you pop over to the DT's blogs and check out what they've been doing - their cards always amazing and are bound to inspire you to get the inks out!

Claire