Finally!

Today I am feeling a little bit pleased with myself as I have finally used my PTI square print set and embossing folder. This is the first time I have inked these up and actually liked what I have made! I have tried a number of times to make cards using this set but just didn't like the results. I thought they would be going into a stash swap BUT not now! I made this card and loved how it turned out, so expect to see these more often now!
I was inspired to use these when I saw Tracey's card here. Tracey is on the DT for Colour Q and this was her card for this week. I loved the graphic look of her card and immediately thought I would give my square stamp set another go. I used this weeks colours at Colour Q and the sketch from CAS on Sunday.
And this is what I came up with:

I love the texture this embossing plate gives and think it really compliments this stamp set. Hope you do too!

Happy Stamping x


                            

My News and Inspired by Retro!

Good Morning and welcome to a new week,

I have been waiting to tell you my new exciting news........I have been chosen to be on the Design Team at Addicted to Stamps and More. I applied a few weeks ago and didn't expect to be chosen but was over the moon when Kylie contacted me and said I had been successful. I love this challenge site and am honoured to be joining the team. If you are not aware of this challenge take a peek here and join in the fun. I will be starting on the 8th May so keep your eyes open for my post!

Today my card was inspired by the sketch at Retro Sketches and the photo at Inspired By.

                            


The sketch was so CAS I loved it and I was immediately drawn to the chalk board and writing in the photo. I was a teacher many moons ago and this photo did bring a few memories back for me! With all this inspiration spinning in my mind I ended up creating this:

The card was actually in my stash from when I first got my script embossing folder and had been trying it out! The retro typewriter stamp is new though and has been stamped in memento 'London fog' ink.
I will also enter this into the 'script' challenge at Craft-room Challenge

That's me for today, have a good one!

Bows!

 Happy Sunday crafting chums and I hope you are having a great weekend.

Yesterday I did some messing around in my craft room and decided to practise a few techniques rather than make a card. I had a lot of fun playing with water colour paints but must admit I haven't quite got anything to show you yet. It is a lot of fun and I found it relaxing.

I then decided that I would have a go at tying bows with wide ribbons as I am not so good at this! In the end I liked this bow and made a card around it to share with you.

I had actually tied the bow on the card then decided I liked it and made the card to slip under the bow! So my practice session actually ended up with a card and this is for my Mum's friend who is soon retiring. Mum loves bows so I hope she will be happy to give this to her friend.

I am going to enter this into the following challenges:
Creative Corner Challenges-CAS
Crafty Ribbon Challenges-anything goes with a ribbon

CAS-Colour and Skeches #22

Its a sketch challenge this week at CAS-Colour and Sketches.
And this is the sketch we have to inspire you:

 

I played around with this for ages and tried out lots of ideas with banners but didn't like any of them. I just couldn't get it CAS enough for me. Then I decided to leave it for a few days and see if any ideas popped into my head. And when looking through some of my stash I came across a digi sentiment I had printed out ages ago and knew this what I wanted to use for this challenge. I have flipped the sketch and really made a 'CAS' version by using score lines and gems to represent the banners. See what you think?

The sentiment is mounted on card that I have stamped using bubble wrap. This idea came from a tutorial that Mynnette posted a few weeks ago. This is such fun to do and gives great texture to your cards. If you want to give it a go, watch the tutorial here and then have some inky fun.

Our DT again have designed some fabulous cards so pop over to our blog here and be inspired!

Then get stamping, I can't wait to see what you make x

Inkspirational #17

Hello crafting chums,

This week at Inkspirational we have this sketch to inspire you:

I loved this sketch as soon as I saw it and immediately knew what I wanted to do. It is so perfect for a CAS card! I went for a small square card with a dramatic look!

The stamp is from Paper Smooches and I have stamped it off the edge 3 times. The sentiment is from PTI....such a cool sentiment and I know a few girlies that will just love this!

Our sponsor this month is Rubber Stamp Tapestry and they are offering a $15 gift coupon to our monthly winner.

Don't forget to visit our blog here and see what our DT have been inspired to make-you will not be disappointed.

I am also going to enter this into the challenge at Runway Inspired. The dress in the photo below is just gorgeous and I think you will see where some of the inspiration for this card came from!

Muse Flowers

Hello crafting friends,

Just popping in quickly with my card for this weeks Muse Club. This week our Virginia provided the inspiration card here and at the bottom of my post. I have for a long time admired Virginia's cards and this one was a perfect muse for me as it gave me the chance to take part in my therapy of choice......just stamping! I stayed pretty much to Virginia's design with a few of my own twists.

I am also going to enter this into Addicted to CAS-flowers and Addicted to Stamps and More-anything goes

Here is Virginia's card:

CAS Flowers.

Today I have a card for you that was inspired by the picture on a box of tissues! I realise I should have taken a photo of this now but as soon as I made the card I threw my inspiration in the bin! I had been meaning for ages to make a card inspired by this tissue box but just hadn't got around to it. But then I was motivated to do this when I saw today that I won the challenge at For Your Inspiration with this card. I was so pleased because this was sent to a friend who needed a bit of cheering up, plus it was using blending distress inks-which I have been trying out recently (with varied success!!).

So this little boost gave me the motivation I needed to give this another go. This time I tried a more subtle approach. And here is what I came up with:

I stamped the flowers then heat embossed the white blossom. I then re-stamped the flowers in distress 'milled lavender' ink to give a faded look and used this same ink to sponge around the flowers.

I actually was really pleased with how this turned out and as I have a lot of Birthdays coming up this will be very useful!

The code word at Addicted to CAS this week is 'flower' so I am entering my card into this challenge and the 'Birthday' challenge at CAS-ual Fridays

Inkspirational Case.

Hello crafting friends,
After my little break from Inkspirational, I am back on the DT and here with my 'end of the week encouragement' card.
This week we are asking you to case Hannelie's  fabulous card here-also at the bottom of my post.
Hannelie's card struck me as very elegant and I loved her use of black and kraft. I took these elements from the card and came up with this:

I did play around with various ideas but finally I ended up with a long, thin CAS card! I can't tell you how long the bow took me to tie but eventually I was happy with it. The cream card is embossed but I couldn't get this to show too well in the photo. I did try over a few days but the weather was so dull, this was the best I could do!

Our DT have come up wih some great projects inspired by Hannelie's card so pop over to our blog here and take a look, then get stamping!
This month we are being sponsored by Rubber Stamp Tapestry and you could be the lucky winner of a $15 gift coupon Take a peek at their store here to see what you could win.

And here is our inspiration card for you to case from Hannelie:

Smitten!

Friday is finally here and today I received some goodies from my fellow DT member Mynnette at Inkspirational. We did a stash swap and I was so excited when my package arrived I got straight to playing with my new toys!
I made a card for the 'word' challenge at CASology and this week sketch challenge at CAS(E) this Sketch. I really loved this sketch but had intended to do something completely different until my new toys arrived. Today from my new stash I have used the fab S.W.A.L.K stamp from Stampers Best and a sakura gel pen and I had such fun making this card and have to say I love it!

This is the sketch:                           And the cue word:

                        

Have a fun weekend x

CAS-Colour and Sketches

I am so pleased to back on the DT for CAS-Colour and Sketches. I had a little break but I am back and super excited to see all your cards. And this week we have this fab colour combo for you:

You can use colours that are as close as you can to these. And remember this challenge is for cards only.

 I decided to make a square card for a change and this is what I came up with:

I masked off an area using post it notes and stamped these chevrons, die cut the butterfly then stamped it and just added a gem.

Nice and simple but I love the way it came out. Take a peek at the wonderful cards from our DT here and then get stamping my friends!

I am also entering this into the following 'wings' challenges:
Crafts 4 Eternity
Cards in Envy

Have a fabulous day!

Hello stamping friends, I hope you are all having a fabulous day and have had some time to create!

I was working on the household budgets and after a few hours of number crunching I needed some time for stamping therapy. I was really in the mood to just stamp, no die cuts, no masking, just plain old stamping. And luckily this weeks colour combo at colour Q came to the rescue. I just loved it and knew it would be perfect for the therapy I needed! What do you think of this combo?

Isn't great. And all I needed to do was get out inks in these colours and a couple of my favourite stamp sets and get playing. I used my much loved flower sets from PTI and Paper Smooches and just mixed and matched. I remembered this card I had seen a few weeks ago by Tracey McNeely and loved how she had stamped just one corner. I decided to case Tracey's card with my own stamps, the colour q colours and some extra texture. I added brads and buttons and use my linen embossing folder to give me the texture I wanted. Thanks Tracey for the inspiration. And here is my card:

I have to say after making this card the household budget has been forgotten and it is time to relax.....what would we do without the 'stamping therapy'??

And as this card uses PTI stamps and their embossing folder plus has lots of texture I am going to enter it into the 'texture' challenge at A Passion for Papertrey.

Also as the card is mainly stamping I am going to enter it into the 'anything goes' challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More

Hope the rest of your day is fabulous x

My Kraft Muse #13

At the Muse Card Club this week Marion's card here, (and at the bottom of this post) was our inspiration. I loved the lay out of Marion's card with the three flowers and the sentiment centred under these.

As a lot of my Muse cards have been based around flowers I decided to use this layout, but shake things up a bit by replacing flowers with hearts! Plus it is Hubby's Birthday and this week and this challenge was the inspiration I needed to get creating.
I knew I wanted to use Kraft for his card and as Make it Monday with Kraft challenge this week is CAS, all seemed to fit into place. And here is Hubby's card:

I die cut 3 hearts then dry embossed them, followed the layout of Marion's card and just added a Paper Smooches sentiment to complete my card. The centre heart is on foam pads to give dimension.

And here is Marion's inspiration card:

CAS Fusion on Sunday!

Happy Sunday and I hope you are all enjoying your weekend.
Today my card is for the Fusion card challenge and the 'circles' challenge at CAS on Sunday.
This week at Fusion we have the following sketch and photo to inspire us:

I liked both the sketch and the photo. I loved geometric look and colours of the cushions and used these in combo with the sketch and this is what I came up with:

I have stamped a cross border stamp in memento 'London Fog' ink and then a circle border stamp on a separate piece of card and popped this up on foam pads to give some dimension. The bakers twine I added to give more definition between the shapes.

I started this card with these 2 challenges in mind but didn't really know where I was going but after some playing around and having a few design chats with hubby I ended up with this card that I really like and think it will be great for a guy.

Hope your Sunday evening is a chilled one x

You're Special!

Happy Friday,

I am popping in quickly with a CAS card for a special friend who has a Birthday just around the corner. I am entering this card into the 'friends' challenge at Addicted to CAS.

This was my first go at using clear embossing powder with coloured ink and I really like how it gives the flowers a shine-hard to see in the photo but IRL it just adds a little bit extra texture to the card. I added a few pearls to the centre of the flowers just to make my card extra special for my friend.

I will also enter this into the 'kraft' challenge at totally paper crafts.

Have a great weekend my friends x

Time for Summer?

We are still waiting for Spring in London so today my card is to cheer us up and to look forward to some much needed sun!

The idea for this card came from the photo challenge this week at Addicted to Stamps and More and the 'travel' code word at Casology Doesn't this photo make you dream of the Summer and travelling for your hols???

At first I was going to do a 'drink' inspired card until I saw Kylie's card here and I loved her idea of flip flops so went in that direction instead. I remembered by cousin Lynn sent me this flip flop card and decided this would be perfect to case. And here is my version:

The twine is meant to represent the straw hat in the photo. And the wood in the middle is to represent the deckchair. This wood is actually a kebab stick cut up to fit the size of the card!!

Oh come on Summer, hurry up! Until then we have our dreams.
Happy Stamping my friends x

Muse #12

At the Muse Club I loved the design of the inspiration card here by Therese. I decided to follow the design just changing up a few things. I went for a small square card as I wanted the design to almost fill the page and here is what I came up with:

I have coloured the die cut with promakers and just stamped the leaves onto this pink swirl card base.
If you haven't played along at the Muse Club I urge you to join in the fun, you get to visit each others blogs and really do get to see some fabulous cards.

I will also be entering this into the 'die cut' challenges at:
Lexi's Creations
Stamp and Create

And here is Therese's card



Happy Stamping x

Chevrons and Flowers.

Today my card is for two challenges. One I have played along with many times, CAS-ual Fridays (flowers and chevrons) and one brand new challenge Fusion Card Challenge. With this new challenge you can choose either the sketch or the photo to inspire you or you can create FUSION by combining the two.
I decided to go with FUSION for my first go and here is the sketch and the photo:

To be honest I thought I was going to give this week a miss as my ideas weren't working. Then this morning I   was reading Susan's post and her cards and ideas on using stash gave me an idea and off I went!  Susan was urging us to use our stash and had made some cards using brads-you can check them out here. So I decided to hunt out some brads that haven't been used for months and see what I could make and then I remembered the Fusion challenge....could I make a chevron pattern using the brads and bakers twine........what do you think??

I was quite pleased with this and actually all of this is from my stash.

I like this Fusion challenge as it seems like it will be run like the Muse Club where the participants get to vote on each others card. I have had such fun with the Muse club as you get to visit other crafters blog and get to see some fabulous creations and meet new people who without this challenge I may never have come across. And I am guessing this new challenge will do the same.

And as my card is flowers and chevrons and is pretty CAS I thought it was perfect for this week's challenge at CAS-ual Fridays.

Have a great week x

Another one layer card!

Happy Friday Eve,

This week I am still recovering from my time in hospital and have not felt like doing much but this has given me an opportunity to do some crafting and get my mojo back in gear. I will be returning to my DT work in a few weeks so have been making a few cards for that plus having a play along with a couple of challenges.

Today I had another go at blending and masking distress inks to make a one layer card. Two techniques which scare me but I have been giving it a go!
I was inspired to do this when I saw this weeks challenge photo at For Your Inspiration. Isn't the sky just the most amazing colours. And Karen's DT card here gave me the idea to base my card on these colours.

Also my plan had been to make a card today for the 'threesome' challenge Ardyth set for us this week at One Layer Wednesday. Here I used 3 stamped flowers and 3 colours-distress ink in 'broken china' and 'milled lavendar' for the masking and blending, and memento 'sweet plum' ink for the flowers.  So the inspiration I got from these challenges resulted in this:

The sentiment says 'sweet friend', a little easier to see IRL! I combined 2 different sentiments to make this. I have scored two lines either side of the masking which does look really nice but didn't show up so well in the photo. The fact it is snowing outside today didn't help much when taking the photo! But I have to say what I love most about this card is my blending, I really tried to make it have a splash of blue like the sky in the photo and was surprised it worked!

Happy Stamping x

One layer only!

Hello my friends,

Today I had a go at making a one layer card using some masking and inking. I was inspired to do this when I saw Jan's card here at this weeks Make My Monday challenge. I loved her distress inking and decided to give it a go. I am a little afraid of this and was unsure it would turn out o.k. I used 'broken china' distress ink,blending tool and post its to mask off the strip and I am actually quite pleased how it turned out. I loved the inspiration picture this week at paper smooches sparks so decided to go with butterflies, plus to me, the prominent colour in the photo is blue. I have used one of my much inked paper smooches sentiment. And here we go:

And as my butterflies are flying up and up I am going to enter this into the Casology 'up' challenge. And at Addicted to stamps and more the challenge is CAS, so naturally I have to enter!!

Here is Jan's card

                            

Have a great day x

Muse #11

After missing a few weeks of playing along at Muse club I was so happy when I saw Laurie's inspiration card for this weeks challenge. I loved the browns and greens in her card and what attracted me most was the script. I can't remember the last time I inked up my script stamps so this was a great opportunity to give it a go.
I just masked off an area using post it notes and stamped the script. Then used the 'summer silhouette'  SU stamp.
This card is for my Mum who came to sit with me in hospital, everyday my hubby was at work. I wanted to make her a card to show her how much this meant to me.

And here we are:

I will also enter this into the 'spring' challenge at Addicted to CAS.

And here is Laurie's inspiration card: