Muse Challenge #11

Morning folks,

Just a quickie this morning for this week's Muse challenge based on Laurie's beautiful card:

What did she inspire me with? The strip of stamped circles underneath the sentiment, the twine, the panel, the tabs...the list is endless. (In fact, it looks like I'm still being inspired by Ardyth's card from last week too!) 

I love it when a card makes me think of something I've got in my stash that I haven't used in ages. In this case, it's a punch that punches a strip of circles along the page. I backed the circles with different coloured card  and made some 'tab's with some die cut circles in the same colours.

So, thanks Laurie for making me use what I've got in my stash and for the inspiration. This will be my last post for a while so see you in a few weeks! 

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Throwing Down Some Colour!

Hello folks,

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!  The Easter bunny was way too generous in our house this year so my kids are only just coming down from a major sugar high all weekend!

What better way to make myself stop thinking about chocolate than by getting my craft mojo in gear. Recently, I've been trying to do a few challenges that I haven't participated in before so I had a bash at the gorgeous combo over at Color Throwdown this week which looks like this:

Hmmm. Probably wasn't the best one to take my mind off chocolate after all.  I've had to improvise on the pinks as I haven't got many of the new colours from Stampin' Up but hopefully they'll do. I've    
used a hexagon emboss folder and trimmed its base with a line of cupcakes, stamped with Waltzingmouse. Added a little Kindy Glitz for a touch of sparkle and that's about it.

Unfortunately I've now missed the deadline for the challenge...oops...must have been all that chocolate playing havoc with my mind. May as well put on the blog anyway!

Happy stamping and thanks for stopping,

Claire x

More Muse!

Hello Bloggers!

So, what kind of cards do you find most challenging to make? For me, it has to be teenage boys. I find it incredibly difficult to find stamps that I like for boys between the ages of 13 and 18.  If you do know of a good teenage boys set, please let me know as I'll be making a few teenage cards in the coming years!

Anyway, I did manage to come up with an idea using Ardyth's fabulous card for inspiration over at Muse this week. Now, Ardyth is the type of stamper I'd like to be when I grow up. Simple with a clever and quirky twist that always make you say 'why the hell didn't I think of that?'

This one is for my 14 year old Godson.  I've been inspired by Ardyth's random circles so I used a football stamp I had lurking in my collection. (Don't all English teenage boys love football?) I'd have liked a sentiment on the card but most of the ones I have are a bit feminine for a 14 year old boy, so I went with the numbers instead.

Well, that's one of his teenage cards over and done with...just another 4 to go......

Have a great Easter and thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Kaisercraft Saturday Sketch #3

Well happy Good Friday to you!

Hope you're enjoying the Easter weekend. I'm looking forward to Sunday, when it's the only day in the year that I can justifiably stuff myself with chocolate. and not feel guilty about it.

Felt like scrapping last night so here's a layout for the Kaisercraft Saturday Sketch challenge:

I'd liked to have put some random, typewritten journalling over it but my printer packed in yesterday. Not happy.  Instead, I've had to hide it on a journal label under the photo. I've used the papers from the Attitude! collection...perfect for my two boys who are developing more and more attitude by the day!

Have a fabulous long weekend!

Claire x

CAS(E) this Sketch #20

Well hello again bloggers!

This week I'm trying to do some different challenges and todays effort is for the latest CAS(E) This Sketch challenge.

I'm not sure how much we're able to use 'artistic licence' with the sketch but I think all the elements are there.  Instead of a pocket I've tucked the little Imaginisce boat into the sea, which has been stamped using an MME lace stamp. The sentiment was too big to stamp at the side so I've stamped it above instead and shifted the whole image to the middle of the card.  I covered the sea and part of the boat with some Dimensional Magic and I used part of an embossing folder to make a frame around the edges. Now all I have to do is wait for one of my pregnant friends to pop!

Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping,

Claire x

A Retro Colour Q

Good morning bloggers!

There's a great colour challenge over at Colour Q this week - the colour palette immediately made me think of a kid's card. Perfect, as my gorgeous little nephew turns 3 in a couple of weeks. I used this week's sketch from Retro Sketches for a bit of inspiration too:

Short but sweet today...time the school run!

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Casology Inspired Muse

Hello Bloggers!

It's been a little quiet here recently....for reasons you'll discover at a later date. I've missed a few challenges in the last couple of weeks but I'm happy to say I managed to sneak a couple in before naughty Mr Linky closes. First, the Muse challenge with this gorgeous card by Marion Vagg to inspire us. Secondly, the Casology challenge. The cue word for this week is 'song.'

Well this could have been inspired by any number of songs I guess, but the one I'm thinking of is 'I am sailing' by Rod Stewart.  The worrying thing is that I've been inspired by a song that came out when I was 3....I'm not really quite sure what that says about my music tastes. Perhaps I'm stuck in a '70's time warp. Marion's stripes have obviously inspired the design...what a great way to use up strips of bazzil.

The stamp is PTI 'Men of Life' which I've had for years and don't use half as much as I should do. Isn't that always the way? It's a great blokey set as it has sentiments for men across the entire family. (I've put the sentiment inside the card as I didn't feel it would fit anywhere on the front.)

I'm all blogged out now, so I'm off to see what everyone else has been inspired by today.
Happy stamping and thanks for popping by,

Claire x