Inkyfingeredcat

I decided to make up another of the backgrounds from the lovely Altenew layered stencil using some pale blue cardstock and then different shades of blue inks and then added some embossing through the final layer of stencilling. I only added it to some bits of the final layer and not on the larger flowers that I had added the teal through the stencil for.

The embossing I chose to add was silver.

I die cut a circle which I then placed over the part of the panel that has a little circle gap … it isn’t immediately obvious that it is there but I think that on a large panel like this it needed something to break it up.

I then decided to have another play with the stacked cake stencil and dies.

I decided to keep to similar colours for the cake as the background but also added in the purple colour too.

The cake i die cut several times to stack up, and also added lots of layers underneath to give it dimension. The frosting layers of the die I inked and then embossed with clear embossing to make them shiny.

I also added gold wink of Stella to the flames on the candles.

I then decided to turn this into one of the 18th birthday cards for the stash for this year. So I cut a banner and stacked it up a few times using turquoise cardstock. I decided to add a mat layer of white and then turquoise for the full panel too.

Then the 18 I cut from the Playful Alphabet dies three times … I added a bit of ink and then clear embossing to the top layer so again it is a shiny finish for the numbers.

I decided this would be enough as the cake and the embossing and all the layers make this a heavy card and plenty to look at with all that gorgeous pattern behind the cake!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Another card using that gorgeous Crafters Companion dsp …

This time I shortened the front of the card blank and punched the edge. Then added a piece of the dsp so that formed the bottom half of the card front.

Then I created a topper using the dsp, a Kraft die cut flourish and the Artistically inked stamps.

I also used a scrap of the ruffled ribbon to embellish along with the sequins!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

I have a box that has all the Christmas papers in it along with embellishments/card toppers and random things people have gifted that have a seasonal feel to them but I wanted to have a sort through and get rid of things I wouldn’t use… and of course ended up making some cards from what I found!

First up the focal element was gifted to me but no idea by who … but I appreciated it and kept it and now am reusing it in this card.

I added the Tim Holtz die and some magazine papers for the background and the black layer to frame it. Quick and easy and another card for the stash!

The next one uses similar papers but this time I added lots of vintage type pieces of ephemera that I had had in the stash for a long time.

I also had one sentiment left from the gold foil cut sentiments from an old Stampin Up kit and found a little wooden snowflake that finished it off perfectly.

Not bad from a short session when I should have been tidying! Good news is that I did manage to throw some things away… bad news is there is still too much paper in the box for me to justify new dsp for Christmas this year! Ah well maybe next year?

Happy crafting!

Catherine

So today it is my wedding anniversary … 16 years ago I married my lovely V!

I made the card for V from some gifted elements mainly as I thought that they worked well as topper elements.

The little journaling cards and the heart were both from gifted extras that came with a swap and then I used the Pefectly Penned dsp for the background paper. I edged each panel with grey ink, using the brads to ‘pin’ each of the cards into place. I layered up the panel onto foam to give it dimension.

I added the embossed sentiment too.

Then inside the large card I added the sentiment using a stamp set I bought in a sale … love that large halftone Everything … and embellished with the little Lawn Fawn hearts.

Fairly simple card but enjoyed putting together this simple card.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

A few weeks ago the first of the 18th birthdays happened … and it was the lovely Kaspa!

Here is the card I made for her… the brief was green and flowers … so it ended up being pink, purple and green … with tons of sparkle!

I did the whole emboss over the watercolour technique, but this time silver rather than gold. I used the same Altenew as I have used previously and I really love how this looked. I used a mix of distress inks and SU inks for the colouring.

Then I took the same colours and used them through the layered stencil to create a background I knew would work colour wise. I then grabbed the shimmer vellum and cut the stitched circle and also a plain circle from white to give the floral element something to rest on.

I used the same vellum for the mat but decided to turn it to the Matt side as I knew that it was getting very sparkly as I’d decided to add in the silver glimmer die cuts behind the floral piece and also die cut the 18 from the same silver glimmer.

I used Biggest Wish stamps and my stamp positioner to add the distress ink in both the pink and the purple to give a two tone effect to the words.

I used foam to raise up the circle, floral element and the sentiment but kept the other elements flat.

I didn’t add any gems or pearls … there really is enough sparkle already with the embossing and the shimmer vellum and the sparkly glimmer paper elements!

Really enjoyed making this… so lovely to make cards for these girls birthdays. So nice my princess has such good friends.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

My lovely friend has gifted me a stack of Crafters Companion dsp that is so pretty. It’s soft and a bit shabby chic and I have been enjoying playing with it over the past few weeks. I’ve got lots of projects coming up over the next few weeks using it as I wanted to space out the projects so you don’t get bored seeing the same style over and over… so be prepared for a few pretty and vintage type projects this month!

Let’s start with this one… a piece of dsp which I punched down one side added to the cream card base. I then added the Kraft strip which I had embossed using a scoreboard. Then some flourish die cuts added and the large floral stamped piece that is from Altenew. Then some sequins and a sentiment strip that I added on foam with ruffled ribbon peeking out the bottom.

The image I stamped and then watercoloured with some inks, keeping the style very loose and fluid.

The sentiment was from a magazine kit that I had … I thought the font suited the style of the image.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

The lovely Michelle had her birthday a few days ago and I made this card for her, knowing her love of purples!

I used up the other panel of the stencilled background I made and used on another card at the beginning of the month but added a layer of paper on which I had done some distress ink splodging and some shimmer vellum as a mat and a circle cut into two.

I then added some flowers and leaves I created using the zig zag flowers from Altenew and some of the pierced blooms leaves I had got in a pouch cut from scraps.

The sentiment I stamped and embossed and then inked the panel more so it became another shade of lilac. I added some foam between some layers to give dimension and also the stamped flowers I had die cut a few times to stack them up..

I added some sequins for bling and then layered it onto a 7×7 card blank. I then decided to go all out and do something on the inside as well as the envelope!

The envelope I used the layered stencil and inked that and the outside part of the envelope. I then used some leftover from the splodged background a scrap for writing Michelle’s name.

Then inside I used an old Stampendous stamp and did partial inking in my stamp platform so it would be multi coloured.

Love how this turned out.

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Ok the title of this blog seems weird … and almost like I make an error (gifting back the gift you didn’t like to the person who gave it to you – major faux pas!) but it isn’t … my lovely friend gifted me a pack of 12×12 papers that are gorgeous and so I made her some cards she can use and also I decorated her a little notebook using the supplies.

Dead simple this one … a little piece of the paper, a topper I was gifted in a different swap package and then the diecut flower from cottage flowers that I think works perfectly with this paper and the little notebook.

Very important when doing this is making sure the adhesive you use is strong.

A simple little gift… I think having a tiny notebook for in your handbag is essential and why have a full one when you could have a very cute one like this?

So a good way of saying thank you to my friend for gifting me the paper. Will share the cards I made in other blog posts as they deserve their own little spots on the blog!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

I made one more card based on the one that Liane (@lilly7h) shared on instagram that so inspired me… this time I changed up the stamps I used as well as the colours!

And it is safe to say I am in love with this … both the inspiration and the way this particular card ended up!

This time the cardstock is BlackBerry Bliss and the stamps are a magazine set I have been using for years as I love the line art.

I had to put both the focal image stamp and another leaf stamp together for the background and gold embossed that.

I then stamped and watercoloured the image … like last time it looked a right old mess until I then heat embossed the gold over the top!

With the gold embossing on the top it really does make the paint work much better!

I then fussy cut the image out (you can imagine I have wished for a die for this image many times as I’ve had to fussy cut this out lots of times over the years!) and added it to the card front.

I then stamped the sentiment using blackberry bliss ink and clear embossed over the top so that it became shiny and a little darker before cutting it out.

I then added some pink pearls to the card as embellishment.

As this is a dark cardstock I made an insert and added the image again using Sahara Sand ink so that it can be written over when adding the message to the inside.

I will absolutely be making more of these cards as Christmas cards but maybe with dark red as the colour or more shaded spruce ones? They are so elegant and I really love that gold embossing on the background! Makes it so special.

I know Liane has enjoyed the fact that I had been inspired by her card and I love the fact that the crafting community is so friendly. I’ve been following lots of new people on instagram recently so imagine there will be lots of new inspired by posts to come!

Happy crafting!

Catherine

Hello hello hello!

Today I have another design team contribution using dies for the Happy Little Stampers Blog.

I actually made a fun fold card with some lovely sprayed backgrounds that have been in the stash since the beginning of the year when my daughter made them during the photo shoot she did with my craft supplies for her photography AS Level.

So there are several layers to the card and the main part of it on the front the image was die cut from two pieces of the sprayed paper and one was layered up three times with cardstock to make it more dimensional before inlaying it into the original background.

This pic probably best shows the dimension.

I then just added elements of stamping and blocks of colour and patterned cardstock to create the different parts of the card.

Finished with some gems and simple sentiments.

Happy crafting!

Catherine