Paper Therapy!

Today has been one of those days when I wanted to stay at inside, be quiet and just immerse myself in all things inky.

And here is the result of my 'paper therapy' session:

CAS-ual Fridays challenge this week is to make a card with a long and short side. It is fun to make cards of different shapes but sometimes I need a reminder to do this. So this challenge was that little reminder!

I used the 'blue skies' stamp set from Verve. I repeated stamping a tiny single leaf stamp on an angle and stamped the butterfly in different sizes. Then die cut butterflies in brown and white card, layered these, stamping the top one. A few little pearls were my finishing touch!.
The sentiment is from PTI.

I am also entering this into the following challenges:
Addicted to Stamps and More-CAS
Less is More-friends.

Have a good day x

Muse week 1!

Today is the first week of a new challenge called Muse from Jackie. The basic idea is to be inspired by others, to use only what is in your stash and to encourage each other. This week Amy's card here and below, is our inspiration.
Here is my card and below I will share with you where I got my inspiration from:

I was drawn to the impressed centre frame of Amy's card and  immediately thought I could use scoring to replicate this feel. I also liked the use of the stripey paper background. And as I have a stash of un-used patterned paper, this was a great way to use some. The striped paper I have used here is nearly 2 years old and has never been used! And the final thing that inspired me was her big, cheerful flower.
I then drew inspiration for Jen's DT card at Retro Sketches. I love this layout and thought it would work perfectly for my 'Muse' card.
I knew I wanted to use my 'Garden of Life' PTI stamp set, all I needed was colours. And after browsing for a bit found I would have a stab at using the combo this week at ColourQ.

Before I go here is Amy's card:                                                                                



So some scoring, stamping, fussy cutting and embossing (sorry its the linen again!!) and I finished my first 'muse' card inspired from a number of different sources!
Happy Inking x

Snowy London Days!

Yes, it really is a snowy London day today!
A perfect day to stay inside and craft.

This week at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown is a recipe challenge. The recipe being patterned paper, glitter and to decorate the inside of your card. Ruth set this challenge and I commented that this was scary for us CAS lovers!
Now, Ruth decided to show me I had no reason to be scared and made a 'CAS recipe' card to prove it!! You can see her 'CAS encouragement' card here.

I had already got my Xmas crafty goodies out before I saw Ruth's card but this was the little extra bit of encouragement I needed to get me started.
I have all week been trying to think of a card for the 'blue' challenge at Casology and decided I could combine these 2 challenges and came up with this:

I had a lot of fun making this and was happy with how it turned out. So thank you Ruth for the little push!!
I die cut the super big snowflake out of blue polka dot paper, embossed some white card and added a strip of glitter paper to the edge. Punched a flower in glitter paper for the centre of the snowflake then added a few gems. The sentiment is from PTI-I have bordered this with the polka dot paper.

Not forgetting the third element of the recipe....here is the decorated centre of my card:

I die cut a snowflake out of white card and cut it in half and inked the edges. I did the same with the patterned paper and flower punch to give this design. And I added a little corner of patterned paper to really show I could do a CAS version of this recipe!

I am also going to enter this into the 'Christmas in January' Challenge at C.R.A.F.T.. They are doing one week a month Christmas theme, so that will have to go onto my list.
And to finish, my Dad just sent me this photo of him and Mum playing in the snow with a kid form next door!! You are never too old to have fun!!

Have a great Sunday x

I love Dogs!

O.K, this title is not actually true but I thought it suited my card (sorry all you dog lovers out there!).

This card is for a 2 year old girl who loves dogs but I was instructed that it was not to be girly and pink was a no no!

This is based on the challenge sketch this week at Paper Smooches Sparks and I have used my brand new 'Woofers and Tweeters' Paper Smooches stamp set.

I was inspired by Karen's use of the bone as a ribbon on her Cuteasaurus card here and thought it would work on my dog (so thank you Karen!).

This card took me ages to make. I couldn't decide on colours, stamps, sentiment etc.

Eventually I got the colours and decided to stamp my own back panel using the paw stamp. I had fun doing this so then went a bit crazy and decided to stamp bones also. As I got ready to put the card together I decided the stamp I originally used looked more like a cat and hubby agreed.....so back to the drawing board! I re-did the card using the above stamp!
I really find using patterned paper a challenge and at the end of making this card I had to laugh or it would have been tears!

Here is the sketch I based my card on:

I am also going to enter this into the 'Child's Play' challenge at The Stamping Shack-a new challenge site worth a peek.

Enjoy your Saturday x

CAS-Colour and Sketches #8

Gosh, I can hardly believe we are now on our 8th Challenge at CAS-Colour and Sketches. I loved visiting your blogs last week and can't wait to see what you come up with this week!

This week is a colour challenge and we are using this stampin' up colour combo:

I just love this combo but remember, if you don't have the exact colours, just use a colour close to it.

I used these colours to make a 'get well' card for my Mum to give to her very oldest friend who is in hospital. My Mum loves cards with die cuts, buttons, ribbons etc. I have managed to use these elements and still make the card CAS! See what you think;

The papers all from stampin' up. The button is from my stash. The die cuts are a mix and match. Now, are you sitting down??? Because, this week I have not used the linen impression plate but the PTI wood grain plate. This plate also adds texture and I think matches with the flower theme.

Pop over here to see the cards our DT have made to inspire you. Then its time for you to get creating.
As I have used these flower and leaf die cuts I am entering this into the 'Die Cut/Punches' challenge at Make My Monday
And as I used a different impression plate I am going to enter this car (with pride!!) into the 'Embossing' challenge at Addicted to CAS

Happy Stamping and I will be visiting your blogs very soon I hope!

Inkspirational Chalenge #3

We are back again with a new challenge for you at Inkspirational. And this week the super talented Victoria has provided us with a great card to 'case' and here it is:

I just loved Victoria's card and decided to use the panel of flowers and bright colours as my inspiration. I challenged myself to make my card one layer. I masked of the panel then got inky and this is what I came up with:

And the inside;

The flower stamps are from PTI and the sentiment on the front is from Paper Smooches.

So what does Victoria's card inspire you to create?

Pop over to our challenge site here and take a peek at the fab creations from our DT. 

Plus, don't forget this month we have a great sponsor A Day of Daises who are giving our monthly winner a $12 gift certificate!
Happy Stamping!

I will also enter this into the 'Flowers' challenge at Magnolia Down Under

Snowy Days Are Here!

That is right, snow is creeping towards London and my card today is to celebrate this! Yes, I like to celebrate snow as it rarely visits us and a snowy winter walk in the park would be a great way to spend Sunday-so it had better hurry up and start falling!!
My card today is my 2nd Christmas card of the year for the challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown. I only have 50 to go! This week the very talented Ruth set the funky Christmas colours of purple, metallic silver and white. I just love this combo for Christmas and here is my card:

I was hoping you would be able to see the sparkly glitter hills as IRL they really do stand out. I stamped this funky Xmas tree and added a few metallic brads and some purple gems. The sentiment is from PTI

Love how this turned out and so happy I made it to week 2!!

I am also going to enter this into the 'winter' challenges at
Casology
The Sisterhood of Crafters
Fab 'n' Funky

If you are a lover of all things CAS Jackie Rockell  is starting a new CAS challenge blog-so keep your eye on her new blog here.

The snow has not yet fallen but we can hope. Happy Sunday crating chums!!