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

Feeling Fruity!

 Hello bloggers,

There's a fruity theme happening in blogland at the moment - both The Paper Players and Time Out have a fruity inspiration pic to play with:

My inky mojo has escaped in the last few weeks and even this CAS one was a bit of a struggle. I grabbed a couple of very old Whimsy Stamps sets and stamped/coloured away.  The sentiment's from an equally old Waltzingmouse set. 

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

Birthday Sparkle

Hello again,

There's so much to do at this time of year there really isn't the time or inclination to get the inks out is there? Having said that I did manage to make this very simple card for Time Out's 'sparkly' challenge using the colours from Color Hues - pink and silver:

 

The candles are from Whimsy Stamps with silver embossed flames and some kindyglitz to add the necessary sparkle. I've framed them with Altenew's Fine Frames - the outer one cut with some glitter card stock. 

Hope the Christmas prep is going well!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Rainbows at Time Out and MFT Sketch and Colour Challenge

 Hello, hope you're enjoying your weekend!

A couple of cards for a few different challenges - Time Out's photo inspiration which features all the colours of the rainbow, Seize the Birthday's candle-themed challenge (thanks for the prompt Elizabeth!) and MFT's Sketch and Colour Challenge:

I do love a rainbow and made a very simple card using Whimsy Stamps Happy Everything which has seen a lot of ink over the years. I think I managed to get all the colours on - red, yellow, orange, blue, green and purple pretty much covers the spectrum!

For the MFT card I used Let Your Hair Down with Garden Flourish background stamp (retired.) I didn't use a heart - I find big hearts very hard to incorporate on a card so switched it to a circle instead. I mentioned in an earlier post that this little stamp makes me think of my beautiful niece in the UK - since this one's for her birthday I've tried to colour her hair blonde to look just like hers!

Hope you've had the time to get your inks our this weekend!

Happy stamping!

Claire

AAA Cards Birthday Challenge

 Hello inkers,

AAA are celebrating their 8th birthday with a Moodboard inspiration challenge

I kept it to a minimum, using the colours from the ink blends on the top right pic and the image of a balloon from the pic below. I blended a trio of blue/green distress inks, stamped and die cut a balloon from Whimsy Stamps Happy Everything then covered them with a very liberal sprinkling of holographic embossing powder. The sentiment's from Waltzingmouse. 

Happy stamping!

Claire

Just Us Girls #599 - Photo Week

Hello and happy weekend!

It's my last week as GD over at Just Us Girls - it's photo week with a great pic that just happens to feature one of my favourite colour combos of black, white, grey and yellow:

I stamped a striped background with PTI's Background Basics: Super Stripes, then added a framed sentiment from Whimsy Stamps. Very simple but I love how it's turned out - good for the boys and the girls which is always a bonus.

Hope you can get your stamps inked up and join in with JUG'S latest challenge - the DT has lots of inky inspiration for you. Who knows - you might get to be a future GD!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Addicted to CAS - Christmas

 Hello inkers,

Here's a CAS card for Addicted to CAS where the code word is 'Christmas:'

I stamped a trio of cute penguins from Whimsy Stamps, coloured them with Copics and added a simple MFT frame and sentiment.  My favourite snowy embossing folder from Tim Holtz has added a bit of texture. 

It's also going over to Addicted to Stamps and More in their 'any occasion' challenge.

Happy stamping!

Claire

Time Out Photo Inspiration Challenge - Guest Designer

Hello stampers,

I'm chuffed to bits to be guest designing over at Time Out this week - they have a fabulous Summery photo inspiration challenge to get you stamping:

This wasn't the card I envisaged when I first saw the pic. On closer inspection, I realised that there are actually  lots of different,  bright colours in the photo, even though the emphasis is on the softer blues and teal. So, I did lots of random stamping of the balloons in various hues, using Whimsy Stamp's Happy Everything. I then stamped the sentiment in bold black with a big, bold birthday sentiment from CAS-ual Fridays. 

How will the pic inspire you? Can't wait to check out what's in the gallery - as ever the DT has produced some amazing cards!

Happy stamping!

Claire
 

Freshly made Sketch - Take 2!

Hello folks,

 I've been on a bit of a roll this week and made another card using the latest Freshly Made Sketch - it's a lot simpler than the last one and I was totally inspired by the picture at The Card Concept:

 

I love the teal and orange in the photo so I created a stamped background panel using Whimsy Stamp's Happy Everything. Inspired by the tan footstool in the pic, I placed it on a pre-printed craft panel (some very old Stampin' Up card stock) and stamped the bold CAS-ual Friday's sentiment in navy, like the striped throw on the chair. I'd say it's clean and layered!

Happy stamping!

Claire

Back to CAS

Hi bloggers,

I'm back to my CAS self with this little card for CASology and Less is More:

Despite living in Australia where the new school year starts in January, September always makes me think of the new school year in the UK as that's where I was brought up. 

I did the chalkboard technique for Less is More's latest challenge,  using the letter board stamp from Mama Elephant's Nursery Deco, then added an apple from Whimsy Stamps. The background splatters are PTI's Grunge Me and the sentiment's from Waltzingmouse.  I do like combining stamp sets, especially when they're older ones that haven't seen ink in a long time!

Hope you get the chance to play along!

Claire

CAS on Friday Guest Designer

Hello folks!

I'm delighted to be Guest designer over at CAS on Friday today.  They have a brand new challenge to whet your inky appetite:

The theme is 'sunshine.'  I used a Whimsy Stamps set to create my sunny card - the centres of the sun have been blended with distress inks using MFT's circle stencil and the sentiment's from Polynesian Paradise.

I'm also popping this one over to The Paper Players who also have a weather inspired challenge happening.

Hope you get time to join in this week!

Claire 

CAS Shenanigans!

Hello, happy Thursday to you!

I'm playing along with The Paper Players for the very first time with my latest card. They have a 'men in mind' clean and simple challenge happening and since there's a distinct lack of masculine cards in my stash, it was the perfect time for me to join in:

I've used a couple of different sets - CAS-ual Fridays' Shenanigans and Whimsy Stamps' Happy Everything.  The colours are inspired by Colour Throwdown's new colour palette which I thought would be perfect for a masculine card.

Happy stamping!

Claire

Seeing More Spots!

Hello again,

I've another card for you today featuring spots, this time for Less is More which has a one layer challenge to use spots:

It's been a while since I inked up Whimsy Stamps' Happy Hello - it feature a larger, spot block stamp so I used it to create a rainbow background and embossed the PTI sentiment over the top with some holographic, glitter embossing powder. It really does look quite sparkly in real life but doesn't show up in the photo.

Short and sweet today! Happy stamping!

Claire x

FMS - Winter Wishes

Hi bloggers!

Time for a quick card for Freshly Made Sketches:

The sweet little penguin is from Penguin's Winter Adventure by Whimsy Stamps.  I've created the snowy background using CAS-ual Friday's Snowy Sayings so I'm also popping it over to Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge to create your own patterned paper.

Happy stamping!

Claire x

CAS(E) This Sketch #312

Hello, 

Quick card using the sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch:

Yes I know, not quite an accurate take on the sketch but you can definitely see how I've been inspired...I just went a bit mad with all those circle stamps!

Happy stamping everyone!

Claire x

Simple Circles

Hello fellow bloggers,

Card making has been thrown out the window in the last week - my eldest started his first day of high school and promptly came down with chicken pox 24 hours later.  Nothing seems to go to plan in this household!

Maybe as I've had spots on the mind in the last week, this week's Freshly Made Sketch appealed! I'd been wanting to play along with Less Is More's navy and yellow challenge but my mojo didn't know where to start - and then FMS came up with a fabulous sketch which made it at whole lot easier:

I blended a few circles using MFT's circle stencil and a selection of yellow inks, then added some stamping using Whimsy Stamp's circle bursts from Happy Everything. A scattering of clear dots and a Simon Says Stamp sentiment and it was all done!

Happy stamping!

Claire x

Simply Celebrate

Hello again,

I've been playing around with the sketch from Less is More - looks nice and simple doesn't it but it was hard finding a sentiment that fit with the squares: 

I used Whimsy Stamps Happy Everything to create the pattern and the sentiment is from WMS. I made sure I used some bright hues so I could also play along at Time Out where the theme is 'bright.'

Have a fabulous day!

Claire x