Final CAS(E) This Sketch Challenge!

Hello bloggers,

Another one of my favourite sketch challenges is closing it's crafty doors this week so I had to play along - it's the last ever challenge from CAS(E) This Sketch: 

 

 

 

 

I've also been inspired by both the inspiration pics at The Card Concept and Fusion. I think there are a lot of similarities between the two photos - the windows, the white paint on the walls in the background, the neutral colours, the leaves and the natural wood of the table and the bristle brush. I've also used a touch of gold and apricot which are in the Fusion pic and I've taken the browns from the suitcases in TCC photo to frame my Stampin' Up blooms. I think one is clean and layered in design!

Have a great weekend!

Claire x

CAS(E) This Sketch #402

Hello again,

 

Since I was in an Altenew kind of mood I thought I'd have another play with one of their 2020 inspiration picks, this time from March, using the sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch:

 

 

 

 

 

Definitely not one of their easiest sketches to play with - in fact,  it really threw me until I thought of draping some of Altenew's Painted Flowers around the diagonal embossed strip. The sentiment's from Floral Motifs and I've used Altenew's Grid Stencil again in the left hand corner.

 

 

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My second card is for MFT's Colour Challenge which I've combined with their latest Birthday Project Challenge - to create a winter wonderland themed birthday card. I've used Sweet Holiday Penguins with a stamped Happy Birthday Background in Grout Gray on Grout Gray card stock. The image has been framed using a Stitched Rectangle Frame. The design is actually from one of MFT's older sketches but I missed off one of the elements so I can't help feeling it's needs a little something adding to it - maybe a button? I'll leave that till another day...

Happy stamping!

Claire

Color Throwdown #620

Hello folks,

Just getting in a quick card before the latest Color Throwdown challenge finishes:

I combined the pretty colour colour palette with the simple layered sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch.

 The stamp is called 'Blossoming' from Stamplorations - I never feel as though I do this stamp justice but for once I'm happy with how the colouring came out. Makes a change!

Happy stamping!

Claire

CAS(E) This Sketch - Take 2

Hello again,

I thought I'd have another go at CAS(E) This Sketch, this time combining it with Paper Smooches' colour pop challenge to use black and white with one other colour:

I used 'Curls and Swirls' for my background panel and this cute little froggy from 'A Little Lovin'.

Happy stamping!

Claire

Four in One!

Hello again,

It's a rare day when I get to combine four challenges with the one card - I've used the colours at Colour Throwdown with the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch: 

The colours really threw me at first (excuse the pun) - the gold, green and blue were fine but the peach left me a little flummoxed to say the least! It's not a colour I use much and I certainly wouldn't have put them all together but I love how it's turned out. I blended a couple of distress inks ( Evergreen Bough and Salty Ocean} and gold embossed the Stamplorations butterfly over a set of peachy wings. The sentiment's from PTI.

I'm also linking this up to The Paper Players - their 500th challenge is a CAS one with the theme of 'celebrate.' I made this card for a very close friend of mine to celebrate 30 years of friendship...we met at university when we were 18 and she's always been such an appreciative recipient of my cards. I always save my favourite ones for her! 

Finally I'm sending it over to Time Out which challenges us to be 'peaceful' this week. Don't you think butterflies are the most peaceful of creatures?

Happy stamping!

Claire 

CASology Meets CAS(E) This Sketch

Hello fellow inkers,

My mind went completely blank when I saw this week's CASology cue card - 'pool:' 

I really had no ideas at all but the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch made me think of flowing water so I created an alcohol inked background and added a little lifesaver ring from WMS' Ocean Bound.  Isn't it funny how you can have no ideas at all,  but throw in another challenge and you suddenly have a card?!

Happy stamping!

Claire

CAS(E) This Sketch #372

Hi inkers,

Super quick card and post for CAS(E) This Sketch and CAS on Friday which challenges us to use a die cut:

I've used Your Next Stamp's Silly Monsters with matching die and the splat stamp is from Cool backgrounds!

Happy stamping!

Claire 

More Inky Education

Hello again,

I've been playing around with some more techniques from the classes over at Bluprint. Mayuri's class on Radiant Stamping Techniques gave me an idea for this week's Less is More challenge - Out of Focus:

In this class she showed how to create a geometric design by rotating the same stamp in different colours. I used one of Waltzingmouse's Funky Feathers - however, to achieve the blurry look, I took one of Catherine Pooler's ideas and sprayed the stamp with water before stamping.  The hello sentiment was a freebie from Poppy Stamps covered in a thick coat of Glossy Accents.

For the second one I smooshed a distress ink background and added a simple fish stamp and sentiment from Altenew's Ori Kami set. I'm popping this over to Addicted to CAS'  'Animal' themed challenge and CASology's Zodiac challenge - I'm a Pisces so it seemed logical to use the fish symbol for this one.

Lastly, I had some of the stamped squares left over from yesterday's technique in the previous post. They fitted perfectly for CAS(E) This Sketch  #368- I just added another Altenew Hennah Elements bloom and Cheery Lynn flourish and made a more CAS version of yesterdays card.  Since I used Altenew's colours (again) I'm linking up over there too!

Hope you have the time to get inky this week!

Claire

Easter Three-fer

Hello fellow inkers and happy Easter!

Despite the isolation we still managed an Easter egg hunt in the back garden and a special meal followed by pavlova. I think after all this is over I'll be rolling out of the house - eating and drinking seem to be taking up most of my time!

The remainder's taken up with card making (unfortunately very little calorie burning there) so here's a few clean and simple ones I made for a variety of challenges:

The first is for CAS(E) This Sketch.  I've stamped and embossed some Mama Elephant Basic Borders and added a large die cut butterfly from Stamplorations which has been coloured using alcohol inks. A scattering of sequins and MFT sentiment and it was done.

The second one is for MFT's latest sketch challenge. In case you missed it, MFT and Torico have made all four Birdie Brown doctor and nurse images available as a free printable. The one above looks just like one of my closest friends, currently working in the ICU of one of Sydney's largest  hospitals. Unfortunately I'm not catching up with her as much as I'd like so this is just to remind her that she hasn't been forgotten.

The last is for the Paper Smooches colour story challenge and Fusion's cute gnome inspiration pic which has similar pastel colours.  The decorative chain of spheres above the gnomes reminded me of Paper Smooches Hearts Dies. I tried to add in another PS stamp or die but despite my growing Paper Smooches collection nothing seemed to work so I used the same Stamplorations butterfly which seemed to fit well with the pretty sentiment from Fun and Flirty.

Hope you get the time to get a bit inky this long Easter weekend - happy stamping!

Claire

CAS(E) This Sketch # 360

Hello and happy weekend to you!

I seem to have a thing about corners at the moment and made another card based on AAA's current challenge - to use one corner only. This week's sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch is the perfect inspiration:

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I've obviously flipped the sketch and I have to admit, may be pushing it a bit with the corner thing. The Color Bursts bled out more than I wanted against the watercolour paper so haven't quite kept to the corner. That's the problem with watercolour and Color Bursts - there's absolutely no control!

I stamped a sky of stars using a starburst stamp from Your Next Stamp and added a sweet little space traveller from MFT. Mission control - we have a finished card!

Happy stamping!

Claire x

Altenew Woes

Hello folks,

Here's a CAS card using CAS(E) This Sketch as inspiration and the colours from Colour Throwdown:

I've used Floral Motifs from Altenew - yet again I despair with my colouring of my Altenew blooms...I never feel like I do them justice!

Happy stamping!

Claire x

Pretty in Pink

Hello fellow ink addicts,

It's been a while between cards as we've just had a week away on Australia's beautiful East Coast. The fires have well and truly burnt out and much of the week was spent in torrential rain - it seems to go from one extreme to the other at the moment! 

Anyway, here's a little card I whipped up using the pretty colours from My Favourite Things:

I used Adorable Elephants, set in a Stitched Rectangle Frame against a white embossed Garden Flourish background. The sentiment's from Essential Sentiments. I used the latest sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch and I'm also popping it into Time Out's latest challenge to base your card on something in your wardrobe. I used to own a pair of PJ's very similar to the colours above - long gone unfortunately.  I've also done the optional twist which is to use embossing.

Happy stamping!

Claire x