Artistic, Biggest Wish, Delicate Dahlia, Distress oxide ink, Happy Celebrations, Lovely Inside and Out, Ribbons

Happy for Abbie

Catherine

My lovely colleague and friend Abbie has a new job and I am delighted for her as much as I am sad that we will no longer be at the same workplace together.

I had to make her a special card though to let her know how happy I am for her.

I started by stamping Delightful Dahlia stamps on cardstock in Versamark and embossing them in white and then plenty of distress oxides and the smooshing technique made a cool background. I also wiped away the excess ink with a piece of glossy photo paper which I ended up using in the card too.

I stamped a few of the smaller flowers for the card too and inked up using the same colour oxides.

I cut down the panel for the background and then got out the Artistic dies as I love the flower cluster one. I cut it from the photo paper and again from white cardstock so I could layer them to give it extra dimension.

Next I created the sentiment. I was inspired by the sentiment in the Delicate Dahlia set but wasn’t keen on the font so instead made my own using lots of other stamp sets and of course the Biggest Wish for that fab Happy part. I added the twine bow and plenty of foam under the sentiment and flower cluster so this is a VERY dimensional card.

I added lilac gems from the stash an a mount of the Blackberry Bliss cardstock. I then stamped (badly) the Dahlia onto the envelope and blended some ink over the corner.

And inside the card a strip of the background I had trimmed off and mounted it on blackberry bliss and added the final small flower.

Love how this came out. I know Abbie will appreciate the love I put into making her card and I hope she knows how much she will be missed.

Best of luck Abbie.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Christmas 2021 challenge, Christmas Pinecone, Christmas to remember, Designer Series Paper, Ribbons

Christmas challenge #6

Catherine

Week 6 … already … oh my … running a little late on the posting today … but better late than never!

So it was time for the main man to arrive. Except then I realised I don’t own many Santa stamps. I ended up digging some old Making Cards magazine stamps out to make the focal image. I stamped the Santa’s and coloured them using my Stampin Blends.

I grabbed some of the dsp I got in Saleabration and cut some plaid panels and the mounts for the images.

I then die cut the christmas pinecones large foliage dies in white with an extra one which I could cut up and use for additional embellishments.

After putting the layers together I decided to also add some of those gorgeous gold leaves and some cherry Cobbler twine. The sentiment I stamped from the Christmas to remember stamps… wish I had used the stamp platform so I could have got the colour darker but hey you learn from your mistakes! And it looks lovely regardless.

Don’t forget if you are playing along to add #christmascard2021IFCchallenge so I can follow along.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Banner Year, Inchies and Twinchies

Autumn inchies

Catherine

Decided to make some inchies when clearing up the desk and I had some scraps of dsp and cardstock.

I grabbed the Banner Year stamps and onto the little 3/4 inch squares I stamped three leaf elements and then stamped the acorns on separate card and fussy cut them.

I decided to use tiny scraps of the Bedazzled speciality paper from Saleabration and also experimented with the edging of the panels and the way I laid them out!

Pretty chuffed with these little pieces of artwork. Sending them over to Sid for the UK stampers forum swap for this month!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Christmas 2021 challenge, Heartwarming Hugs, Wreath Builder

Christmas challenge #5

Catherine

So I am at the point of the challenge where I wonder what my brain was thinking in giving myself the prompt of gifts. Turns out I don’t really have many gift stamps or dies in my collection. So I had to think outside of the box… in fact I had to make the box to think outside of!

I started by grabbing the Heartwarming Hugs dsp and cutting lots of squares and rectangles to make my gifts. Then I started die cutting bows from some scrap coordinating cardstock. This die is the one from the retired Wreath Builder set (I forgot there was a bow in tidings and Trimmings!). I also cut some slithers of cardstock too.

Next to construct my gifts and work out how to use them!

I decided to make piles of boxes and add dimension using shading and pen work… well sort of!

First I went in with my Sahara sand ink and inked the edges of the boxes and created a ‘surface’ for them to sit on.

Next I used the grey alcohol pens to add shadow and dimension.

And on this one I added some sketchy pen lines…

Think I actually prefer this last one of all three but maybe it speaks to my mixed media grungy messy heart.

I had some boxes left over so made three tags to match… so it became a little collection of cards and tags.

Love those bow dies … still think SU should never have retired this bundle! Ah well!

And love those papers… so pleased that they are still available!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Biggest Wish, Picture perfect birthday, Pierced Blooms, Seasonal Labels Dies

DT: Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies challenge

Catherine

Hi

So I decided to make another 16th birthday card as there are quite a few ‘sweet 16’s’ to celebrate this year. And as I used a fair few dies it was perfect to use as this months DT contribution for the Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies challenge.

I decided to start with the stamping on the right hand side… no idea where I was going with this but I had woke up with the idea so decided to go with it! And of course it is one of my favourite sets to use … Biggest Wish.

Next I added strips of rose gold washi tape and the panel of the stripey dsp.

I decided to go for a large label panel so grabbed the Seasonal Labels die and cut one in the rose gold cardstock and one from black, and then trimmed the black one down top and bottom so it was a stripe across the label.

Next I embossed the sentiment from an old set (Picture Perfect Birthday) and

I then grabbed the Pierced Blooms dies and used scraps of different pink and peach coloured cardstock to cut flowers and the Soft Sea Foam for the leaves.

I raised the label panel up on foam and then created the flower clusters and dotted a few small ones around.

I finished off with the number stickers and some sparkly gems for the obligatory bling.

Really happy with this. Slightly wishing I had used a different colour for the Happy stamping at the beginning and that it had been more pink rather than Calypso Coral but I still think it works together.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Artist Trading Coins, Ribbons

Artist trading coins… vintage

Catherine

I’ve actually pulled out of doing most swaps, including the one I organised as a result of not having time energy or mojo for making them… but then suddenly I got a bit of motivation to make these coins. So I will be sending them in to the UK stampers forum swap. I used some vintage ephemera papers to cover each of the coins and also the little vintage doll stamps to create the focal image for each.

I then added some crochet trim and the word vintage to each to finish off.

I did also add a little stamping in sepia ink and a splatter of a shimmer watercolour paint to them as I wanted a bit of Grunge.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Christmas 2021 challenge, Christmas Season, Christmas to remember, Forever Fern, Ribbons, Seasonal Labels Dies, Sheena Douglass Embossing Folders, Tidings and Trimmings, Very Versailles

Christmas challenge #4

Catherine

Another week has whizzed past and we are already onto week 4 of this challenge… and this week Tree is the prompt.

Now I love tree stamps and dies but this year I haven’t bought any new tree based stamps or dies. I love the Whimsical tree set but not yet managed to sneak that into my basket so I was going to use old stash … but then I spotted the tree themed paper in the Tidings and Trimmings dsp and an idea came to mind! So this is what I did!

I took one sheet of Soft Succulent cardstock cut in 4 and 2 6×6 sheets of the dsp cut into half lengthways and decided to make 4 cards in different styles/finishes using the same base supplies.

Card 1… kept this one simple. Dsp mounted and then run through an embossing folder. I stamped and die cut the sentiment (Christmas to Remember) and a couple of Holly leaves and berries from Christmas Season. I also added some linen thread and a vellum die cut frame to give the sentiment some definition. Simple!

Card 2… again fairly simple … I scrumpled and distressed the paper and the edge of the cardstock panel. I mounted the dsp onto a piece of foam to give it dimension and then stamped and die cut lots of different leaves from Christmas Season to create a central cluster focal point.

Card 3… this time I decided to added some ink to the cardstock panel and make it ombre before adding water splats, ink splats and white splats to create a fun background. Of course I didn’t want to cover it up so added the dsp on an angle after edging the paper to give it definition. Again some stamped die cuts added and the vellum from under the main sentiment.

Finally… Card 4… this time I added to the dsp with ink blending and stamping to make the paper more vintage (Very Versailles text and Forever Fern dots). I decided to die cut the sentiment to create a label and used some brown string from the stash to make it rustic.

I love how these came out and pleased with the ideas I used to make them all different although of course they started the same.

Hope that’s given you some ideas for stepping up a simple bit of cardstock and dsp!

Have a good week.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Berry Blessings, Design Team, Expressions in Ink, Jar, Jar of Flowers, Sweet Strawberry

DT: Craftyhazelnuts patterned paper challenge

Catherine

So at the start of the year I thought I would do one sheet wonders all year for the Craftyhazelnuts patterned paper challenge but this month I didn’t fancy it and instead grabbed what was left of a piece of dsp from a project I made a while ago and created four cards using just 1 panel of dsp for each.

The paper I used was the expressions in Ink dsp in the Pale Papaya pattern. Love this paper so much and with the gold elements in it, it really doesn’t need much else to make it special. But I then grabbed some of the shimmer vellum in soft succulent and pale Papaya to add some more shimmer.

I decided to punch the jar out of the soft succulent and create 4 flower arrangements. Two I did using the Jar of Flowers rose stamps and the other two using the Berry Blessings stamps where I turned the berries into ‘peaches’? Well they look fab regardless of how real they are! 😆

I added some bakers twine to each jar and two of the jars I added some foam behind them to give them dimension.

I added sentiments from the Sweet Strawberry stamps set and then used the banner punch for the ends.

I also added some of the glitter gems in gold to go with the gold bits in the dsp.

A fab set of little cards … sorry I didn’t stick to the OSW idea I had but sometimes you just have to go with the flow of what you fancy creating!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Christmas 2021 challenge, Masks/Stencils, Tidings and Trimmings

Christmas challenge #3

Catherine

Hi… how are you doing? Have you managed to make any cards using my challenge yet? I would love to see them if you have. Just tag them #christmascard2021IFCchallenge so I can pop along to see them.

So as you can see for challenge number three I chose star. There are so many things I could have chosen to play with but I decided to start with a stencilling experiment with different mediums.

I chose a Clarity stamp stencil which I’ve had for ages which is the stars in a circle frame and decided to ink through using Tempting Turquoise on a piece of card I had cut into 4 pieces.

Next I did the same but added a layer of modelling paste through the stencil. And again the same ink but with Iridescent Modelling paste. And finally the same ink but glass bead gel medium.

Aren’t they fabulous and of course all different. I had to leave the ones with the mediums to dry for a while before I could then start adding to them but they are worth the wait in my opinion.

Next I decided to have a die cutting frenzy with the Bedazzled speciality paper from this years saleabration and the dies from the Tidings and Trimmings set.

And then started creating the cards.

I kept to thr Tidings and Trimmings stamps for the sentiments which I embossed and trimmed into strips (one of my favourite ways to add sentiments).

To a couple I added some random patterned paper from the stash and all of them I added a layer of vellum behind the intricate star die cut and used some Pretty Peacock cardstock for the mounts.

This one I added some splatters and air brushing using the Tempting Turquoise as I wanted more of a loose style to go with the more rustic modelling paste texture.

I kept this one quite plain and let the shine do all the work. Just love the iridescent paste for adding glam to a card.

This one I actually was inspired by a sketch I had seen on Instagram for stampinfancyfriday and although just not an exact replica you can see some of the inspiration in the final design I am sure!

I really enjoyed these … they weren’t quick makes but I really enjoyed playing with the different mediums and that sparkly Bedazzled speciality paper.

Hope you enjoy playing with stars this week… look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Christmas 2021 challenge, Seasonal Labels Dies, Stitched framelits, Tidings and Trimmings, Timeworn Type

Christmas Challenge #2

Catherine

Week 2 = stocking

I decided to just go for it with the Tidings and Trimmings bundle and create some cards using the matching dsp and the stamps and dies from the set.

I had lots of fun then delving in the gems box and the ribbons basket to find some bits and pieces to embellish and add texture.

I kept to a simple colour scheme… Evening Evergreen, Soft Succulent, Cherry Cobbler and Sahara Sand. I also added gold embossing and did die cut some of the sentiments using the Stitched framelits and the Seasonal Frames too.

I stamped the two different stocking stamps in lots of different colour ways and did a bit of colouring in on some too.

And then had fun chopping papers up and matting and layering. I used 3 sheets of the 6×6 in total and made 8 5×5 cards. I also embossed a couple of the card blanks using my new favourite embossing folder: timeworn type.

Just love these … those stockings are so cute and the little bow and the foliage in the set help finish it off perfectly.

Plus love the sentiments and the ones you can create into strips are PERFECT !

So this was my stocking selection for you. A quick reminder that you do not need to make multiple cards to join in … I just love doing this when making Christmas cards as although they are all different they create little sets and I often end up gifting these to my parents and my aunties.

But please do join in … and if you do, use the tag #christmascard2021IFCchallenge so I can find your creations… or comment below!

Happy crafting!

Catherine