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

Four Challenges in One Card

Hello Inkers,

There's so many CAS Christmas challenges out there I managed to fit them all on the one card! Just Us Girls are challenging us to make a CAS card with the image in a circle, AAA Cards to use black, gold and white, Less is More is to use D, as in Deck the Halls and CAS on Friday is to make a Christmas card:

 

I used this sweet dove silhouette and sentiment from Gina K's Christmas Silhouettes - I figured as she's carrying a piece of mistletoe it will fit with the LIM challenge! It's gold embossed along with the circle stamp from Winnie and Walter - I cut a smaller circle in the middle and matted it on white, then mounted it with dimensional tape. 

I love the simple sentiment - hoping 2024 brings a lot more peace, love and joy for the world!

Happy stamping!

Claire

MFT Colour Challenge #212

Hello again,

Quick post for MFT's Colour Challenge.  A couple of days ago I spent an evening colouring these sweet MFT Party Penguins (retired) and had enough to make a couple of cards so I'll post the other one another time:

 

I wasn't quite sure what to use as the backdrop for my little snowy scene so used an older birch tree stamp from Winnie and Walter. I doubt they have birch trees in Antarctica but then I doubt they have penguins wearing party hats either! 

Thanks for popping by!

Claire

My Little Hoot!

Hello, happy weekend to you!

Some of my much loved stamp sets have been very neglected recently so I was determined to wipe off the dust and use a few older sets for this card. Four different challenges - Just Us Girls 'use a stencil', Time Out's 'make your own background', Sunday Stamps colour palette and the latest Freshly Made Sketch from Jacquie Southas:

 

This is an older Hero Arts set for Operation Write Home (2014). For the strip of background behind the owls I've blended some distress inks and added a stencilled sun peeping through the stamped Winnie and Walter birch trees. I'm probably pushing it a bit with the stencil but I can assure you it is there! 

This one's going to my youngest son in October. I've just booked to go back to the UK for the first time in 3 years, without the kids and hubby - as if that's not bad enough I'm also missing his birthday so I figure a special card from me is definitely required! 

Happy stamping!

Claire

Time Out #215 - Masculine 50th

Hello again,

It's about time I made a card that hasn't got flowers on it so Time Out's inspiration photo was the perfect prompt with lots of blue, black, gold and silver - perfect for a masculine 50th card:

 

The stamped and embossed stripes are PTI and the rest is Winnie and Walter with some sparkly die cut MFT numbers.  I'm also popping it over to Less is More's masculine challenge.

This one's off to the UK to my oldest friend, Michael. We've known each other our whole lives and assumed at the age of 6 that we'd get married when we grew up -  as you do at that age!  44 years later and he's still one of my favourite friends!

Happy stamping!

Claire

CAS Birthday

Hello again,

Here's a very CAS card for AAA Cards 200th birthday challenge using stamps from two different Winnie and Walter sets and a sentiment from Waltzingmouse.  

I used the gorgeous colours from Sunday Stamps - they always have such great colour combos - and the theme from CAS on Friday which is  Circles. 

It's such a simple design - I might use it for some Christmas cards too!

Happy stamping!

Claire 

Déja Vu

Hi folks!

I couldn't papercraft my way out of a paper bag at the moment (excuse the pun), but when I saw this  stunner of a card by Cecile, it inspired me to grab the colours and get stamping. I just haven't been making enough masculine cards recently and I thought the colours were perfect for a boy's card. 

In case you're thinking the card looks familiar, I actually CASed myself and based it on this previous card, using the same Winnie and Walter stamp set but opting for stars instead of circles:

This is also for a new to me challenge called Le Créablablablog, based in France - not only has it tested my paper crafting skills, it's also tested my appalling French. I learnt French for 5 years at school (a long time ago) but can only remember the very basics. Google Translate is a wonderful thing!

I'm also popping it over to Addicted to Stamps and More for their 'any occasion' challenge and to The Paper Players where the theme is 'cards for boys.'

Happy stamping!

Claire 

Birthday Twosome

Hi bloggers,

Here's a couple of birthday cards, the first using the pretty colour palette from The Colour Throwdown:

I'm throwing this over to Less is More which has a recipe challenge featuring solid and outline stamps. I used Winnie and Walter's Big Bang Confetti and a sentiment from CAS-ual Fridays, stamped in black.  I'm also popping it over to Addicted To CAS who have a one layer challenge>

The second card is for MFT's Wednesday Sketch Challenge which I've combined with their latest Birthday Project challenge - to make a card featuring a party.  I used so many different stamp sets for this one - Birthday Chicks, Hog Heaven, Happy Hippos and Rain or Shine, with a sentiment from Fluttering Friends. The DP is from the Sweet celebration Paper Pad. 

Hope you get the chance to get inky this week!

Claire

Happy Birthday AAA!

Hello folks,

It's AAA Cards 6th birthday so there's a birthday theme for their latest challenge:

I'm also going in with The Paper Players in their Tic Tac Toe challenge. I chose the row on the right - birthday, silver and embossing. I've embossed one of the circular patterns with pewter embossing powder.

Happy stamping!

Claire

NBUS - Teddy Bear Christmas

Hi folks,

I've made another card for FMS #436, creating a snowy scene using Winnie and Walter's Into the Woods and Your next Stamp's Huggles Christmas:

I've had these W & W birch trees for a while but didn't really know what to do with them - I realised I didn't really have any animal stamps or dies I could use with them so they've sat uninked for a few months.  Then I remembered this sweet little teddy bear from YNS which I've had for a while and haven't inked up either. Since neither have been used I'm linking up to Darnell's NBUS challenge too.

The background has been blended with distress inks and the birch trees embossed over the top with a sprinkling of stencilled snow. It's made a nice change to all the CAS cards with lots of white space that I've been making recently.

Happy stamping!

Claire

Swell Circles

Hello fellow inkers,

In this age of isolation I'm so thankful to have a hobby that I can do at home. We're not in lockdown in Australia but looking at Europe, I'm wondering if it's only a matter of time before we are. 

Anyway, here's a CAS card for AAA Cards which has an 'along the edge' theme this week. No optional cats and dogs on this one - just a cute little puffer fish from Your Next Stamp. They have a 'critter' theme for their Friday challenge - can a puffer fish be considered a critter?

Addicted to CAS has a circle theme for their challenge so I created the 'water' by stamping lots of different sized Winnie and Walter circles in varying shades of blue.

Hope everyone is keeping safe and well in these very trying times,

Happy stamping!

Claire

Rainbow Symmetry

Hello, hope you're having a good weekend.

I've made a CAS card for 3 different challenges today - although I'm wondering if I'm pushing the boundaries a little with one of them:

 The first one to catch my eye was the ATCAS code word of 'symmetry.' Symmetry appeals to my anally retentive nature when it comes to stamping, so I reached for Winnie and Walter's Bigger Bang Confetti and played around with the large and small diamond stamps to create a symmetrical rainbow coloured pattern.  Since I've used different sizes I'm also popping it over to Less is More for their 'big and small' challenge,  but looking at them, they look more similar in size than I realised, so Kylie might hit the delete button on this one! The last challenge I'm entering it for is CASology where the cue card is 'tall.' It's a tall pattern in comparison to the PTI sentiment...wonder if I'm pushing it with that one too?!

Happy stamping!

Claire

MFT Sketch Challenge + AAA Cards

Hello again,

Just a quick post. The weather's going from bad to worse here in Sydney, resulting in huge power cuts all over the city. We've been without power for over 24 hours now with no indication of when it will be back up and running. What's a girl to do then, but make a couple of cards;

I used Bring Out the Sunshine for the MFT card, inspired by their Wednesday Sketch.  The second card is for AAA's latest challenge, to only use up to one third with the colours from Colour Thowdown.  I was just going to have the stars peeping out in the top half of the card but it looked a bit boring like that so I put the white card stock at a slant to create a bit more interest. I still reckon it's only a third that's showing though!

Hope you have the time to get a bit inky this week - happy stamping!

Claire x

Freshly made Sketch #420

Hello and happy Monday to you!

I've been playing around with the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches using the colours from Colour Throwdown:

I've used Waltzingmouse's Simple Sprig for the main image and stamped the same image on the background panel using Grout Grey Ink on Grout Grey card stock.  I love using matching inks and card stock as it looks subtle and doesn't overpower the card.  The sentiment is from Altenew and the stamped red circle around the die cut was a freebie I received recently from Winnie and Walter. I'd won a gift voucher and they threw in another stamp set for free as they were closing down - how nice is that!

Hope you get the time to get inky this week!

Claire x