Inkyfingeredcat

The Moravian Star die set makes three sizes of the star. I decided to make the middle size for my version!

There is a die for each of the sizes and then a die that fits each size that does the cut outs. For my version I only did the cut out on one panel for each point rather than all sides of the points – I wanted it to be more random than uniform!

I chose to make mine out of four colours of cardstock – so cut five of each colour.

The points are easy to put together – just one ‘seam’ to glue and then once you get your head around the construction it comes together quite quickly. But won’t lie there was a moment when I couldn’t get my head around it at all so there was about ten minutes of frowning and suddenly it clicked – but then I am well known for not being good at following instructions!

So this was it constructed … I then took it outside to make it shimmery!

Ignore the weeds in my garden but this seemed the most sensible way to spritz it without dousing the whole craft room in shimmer! I used the three colours of green shimmer spritz and kept turning the star so it was all over and then in about three minutes in the sunshine it was dry! (And the grass/weeds got a healthy dose of shimmer too!)

Seriously a fun project and although I am glad I chose the size I did for my sample I am curious how big the big one is and if the small also looks cute! I think if you think it through before the final stages of construction you could add lights inside and a string to hang and then these could look stunning dangling from the ceiling in a picture window. Might make up a few small white ones for the craft room window for Christmas with silvery shimmer mist – think that would look cute!

And this is definitely an as seen on tv project as Rosie couldn’t stop twirling it round on Hobbymaker when this was released.

What’s more it also made an appearance on their socials in the car park! 😀

Happy crafting!

Catherine

I know how to enjoy an afternoon off by filling it with medical appts! I am however just taking a pause now to grab some food so I’m updating my blog and sharing more of the fab Kingston Crafts products that were released at the end of September over on Hobbymaker.tv.

I wanted a way to frame one of the chipboard sentiment pieces on a card and realised it would be good to also showcase a few of the designs from the slimline paper pack.

I grabbed the navy for the background and then die cut six papers with the stitched square die. This created a lovely grid finish and were the perfect background for the large chipboard sentiment shape.

I decided to use one of the 5×7 everyday card bases in a lighter tone of the navy as the base and adhered it down and then grabbed three of the pinwheel sweet chipboards from the pack and add those.

I added wink of Stella to the three pinwheels and the little flower on the sentiment just to step them up a bit and give them some shimmer!

A cute card showcasing the papers but also a perfect base for one of those large sentiments in the chipboard pack!

This card got shared on the show on Hobbymaker and I have to admit I thought it looked fab – and as Martin said – it’s a good design for using up scraps.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Today’s design team project share was made using papers from the Holly Jolly slimline stack of papers.

I decided to go all green and add in some subtle elements so that the paper can be seen.

So the background green is one of the papers – yes they give you coordinating solids along with the patterns.

I then added a panel of the leafy pattern. Pretty sure we saw a similar pattern in last years papers but in a different colour.

I decided to add just a bit of dark green ink to the edge to give it some definition. Then did the same with the panel of the check I put across the card.

Next I took some of the green and cut the holly branch using a cut and emboss folder I’ve had for a while and rarely remember to use.

With the colour being similar to the background I did sand it a little and then added some dark green ink to give it some colour variation. I think it might have been better to choose the darker green from the stack of papers but instead I stuck with this one. Actually I like the subtle look this has so not bothered that I didn’t do that!

I grabbed the red glitter glue and added dots to where the berries are which does give it a bit of sparkle and some contrast.

Then I added the linen thread bow and a sentiment which I raised on foam adhesive.

Love this – a very traditional type green card and I think this shows off that beautiful patterned paper and the coordinating solid from the stack!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

These balloon alphas are just so cute! And perfect for personalising projects or just making a sentiment ‘pop’.

Here are the samples I made with them!

A bold shiny happy for this DL card.

I used the adhesive foil cardstock and then in the background the embossing folder with all the birthday party words.

I then just added card candi to finish off!

The next card I went with the word Party and this time started with white adhesive cardstock to which I added inks! Lots of lovely bright colours blended together before I die cut the letters and then added more ink to strengthen the colour and enhance the embossed detail on the dies.

I then decided to keep the card super simple! I used a panel of white mat with a panel of black and drew lines for the strings of the balloons, including little squiggles for the top wbere the balloon would be attached.

Then stuck the balloons down so they are overlapping and then added gems and a sentiment!

Very easy but super effective!

Love this!

Next up I went to patterned paper and chose this checked one which I thought would be good for a masculine card.

This time I went with HBD (happy birth day!) and again started with white cardstock and used inks to make green, blue, brown ombré balloons.

I added some thin lines of the terracotta adhesive cardstock for the strings and then borders to the patterned paper and stuck it to a card blank. I used foam adhesive to add the balloons so they have dimension.

I added a heat embossed sentiment on the bottom and some gold sequins on the balloons for finishing touch!

Final card made with the balloons as the feature was this pretty card I made using the balloons to spell Mum!

Such a simple design … floral paper, the reverse of which is the teal panel which I added to a foil cardstock to give a bit of shine. Then the balloons cut from the same cardstock as the card base. I did give it a little ink over the die cuts just to give some more depth to the embossed lines in the balloons,

Then three pearls to finish off!

Love this! So pretty!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Scrapped more photos from our trip to Paris – this time views from the roof of Galeries Lafayette – using both papers from the #100patternedpaperchallenge pile and the sketch from day 4 for #dscbl22 which is created by Tara The paper snob

So I slightly adjusted to add in an extra photo and didn’t include the big splat and instead just another splatter bottom left!

But otherwise I think it worked with the sketch!

I used lots of bits from the 49&market packs from Birdsong and then some stickers from the stash for the Paris part of the title!

Love that I once again got some papers from the #100patternedpaperchallenge pile … including the cars to represent the crazy Paris traffic!

The views from the roof of Galeries Lafayette were amazing – and a great free way to see the amazing city of Paris – it’s so beautiful and HUGE! Seriously a fab place to visit!

And i love the page I made! Process video over on YouTube!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Today is World Cardmaking Day as so decided to share this card made from the scraps from the scrapbooking page I shared earlier …

Again I went with a project which didn’t focus on Christmas for this design team card … I took the four strips left from the scrapbook page I made using the swirly pinwheel design and created a background onto a panel for the DL card.

Vellum layers so well with the different layers showing through thanks to the semi-transparent nature of vellum!

I then created a die cuts sentiment (I stacked it three times to make a chunkier element).

I then added the embroidered stars that I had in my stash to finish off the front of the card.

I did end up also adding wink of Stella to the sentiment to give it shimmer but then left the card as it is as I think it is visually stunning. Not bad from some 1” strips leftover!

And of course this was an as seen on tv card last week.

Hope you are having a lovely creative day for World Cardmaking Day! There are a lot of companies offering discounts today too so hope you grab a bargain!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

When Martin shared with Sarah and I the new product we were getting to work with from Kingston Crafts he said about this swirly pinwheel design “Catherine a scrapbook page would be fab” – he knows me well! 🤣

The vellum sheets are 12×12 but I chose to take an inch off each side to have this piece framed. I also chose to add a white square underneath to give that different shading with the vellum being semi-translucent.

I chose to not scrap a Christmas picture for this one and instead a picture of me and my first ‘mad’ hair colours from back in 2020!

I thought the colour of the vellum worked with the colour of my hair in the photo. I chose a base of the peach colour (this actually came from the Christmas paper pad from last year from Kingston Crafts and shows all their products work well together.

I added a strip of the diagonal stripe vellum under the photo and then a couple of white strips to give the photo a shelf to sit on. I then let the pattern of the vellum do most of the work.

I added foam stickers for the title and then some of the Kingston Crafts layering flowers which I added some pretty sequins to the centre – just to add some sparkle. I then scattered more sequins across the diagonal between the flowers.

I added the journaling and decided that this was a finished page … I am seriously in love with that swirl … so pretty!

And of course this got its moment on TV when Martin was on with Kingston Crafts … so yes an ‘as seen on TV’ project!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Wanted to make a slightly funky Christmas card this week for Festive Friday so grabbed one of the panels I had made already from scraps of cardstock.

I stamped all over with the merry & bright stamped from Paperartsy and then decided to do the same with the background panel. I then inked up the edge of both panels with both vintage photo and black.

Next I grabbed the little laser cut elements from the Christmas tags and More speciality dsp kit.

I added the bauble with foam adhesive and then the bells and misteltoe embellishment. I then added the liquid pearls for the top and then glossy accents for the bells.

Inside the card I added a strip of the paper leftover in the pouch and then another little bauble. I added a little pen mark for the ‘string’.

I think this is a lovely and funky way to use these embellishments.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Day 2 sketch for #30dscbl22 comes from Shannon Keith.

I loved the inky background Shannon designed but must admit ornate frames are not my style so I changed that for a frame from 49th & market – and also adjusted the large flowers into the birdcage and ticket ephemera.

I kept the basic shape and positioning for the page as per the sketch but clearly did my own thing with it!

The photos are the first I have had printed from our Paris holiday so it was good to get started on sharing those – in this case our breakfast at Carette which is a very popular place to get their signature hot chocolate and in my case a very large apple pastry!

A fab first stop on our very busy day exploring Paris.

Thanks to Shannon for the sketch.

If you want to see the process video now up!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

I looked at the patterned paper in the pouch I had already set aside I wasn’t inspired to use it so instead decided to use the papers from the Indigo Blu magazine I bought as a second ‘use up a magazine kit’ challenge and combined the two challenges together – using the papers to make a Cards by Kendra set of cards using templates for #kcc23

I of course videoed the process … and just getting to these first five cards took a few sessions of crafting as I wasn’t very well at the time and could only sit for short periods.

But let’s get on with card 1…

This one I added the stencilling using the stencil in the magazine kit and of course the gorgeous sunflower stamp.

I had stamped a lot of the images from the kit on the scraps of cardstock left from the cutting of layers and this gave me lots of choice for the focal points.

Creating the focal points in bulk is really helpful when assembling as you can audition different elements easily.

Card 2 …

This set of templates included quite a few with fiddly strips and tiny pieces and as a result I enjoyed the cutting of this set much less than normal.

I think the designs of the final cards are still fun but probably this isn’t a set of templates I will revisit as the fiddly element puts me off! Not for example sure the position of these strips is quite right – but I do think the final card works well!

Ok card 3 …

Again another design with strips … and but what I loved about this was the combo of the coloured papers behind the focal point. Such pretty papers in this magazine kit.

I teamed it with a range of different coloured cardstocks for the layers from the stash. I used both pastels and that zingy green – and then pulled in white and black too.

Card 4 …

Having stamped a range of both sentiments and focal points on different colours of cardstock gave me a few options with colouring the images and styles of adding sentiments.

I used both inks and shimmer paints dependent on the images and the cardstock colour. I also did some as fussy cut images and others as straight panels. it was fun for this one to cut out the individual elements of the sentiments… I did the same on the next card too.

I also added ink to some of the other panels … this one I had also stamped and embossed the background although it’s not very evident from the final card as those green panels take up a lot of real estate!

And the final one – card 5 …

Whilst I hated cutting those semi circles during the cutting phase of the make (my punch was playing up!) – I love the finish this card has with the semi circles popping out at the bottom of the horizontal strip! So cute!

Really happy with how this came out – and really think these papers were perfect for the challenge as they both coordinate and offer lovely contrast.

And those focal elements – especially the sunflower – are so great and easy to use!

The remaining 10 cards are sitting in their envelopes ready to be made so they will be done for future posts.

Look forward to sharing them with you once I get them made! 🤣

Happy crafting!

Catherine