CASE-ing the Catty - Easter Sketch Challenge

Hi there

Welcome to another week of CASE-ing the Catty challenge!

If you've come from looking at the amazing creativity of my lovely friend Tina, then welcome! If you're visiting me, I appreciate you stopping by today!  You can continue your journey to see the other inspiring creations from the CTC Crew by clicking on the buttons at the bottom of the post. 

This week we have a sketch challenge to create a card for Easter.

This is a great sketch and I've got a lot more ideas for it, but for this week I've created a card that represents the true meaning of Easter. Although I don't usually send many cards for Easter, I always send them to our Mothers. 

The inspiration for this card came when I opened my new pack of the Ornate Garden Specialty Designer Series Paper. The Mint Macaron design with gold foil detail is soft and elegant and I thought it would work well for the type of card I had in mind. I started with a Thick Whisper White card base and added a layer of Gold Foil. Next is a layer of Whisper White and I stamped the floral spray from the Hold Onto Hope stamp set in the corners with Mint Macaron ink. The stamped layer was dry embossed with the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder, although it is not apparent in any of the photos; it adds a nice texture to the background. I have placed the greeting from Itty Bitty Greetings under the oval rather than across it as shown in the sketch.

I cut a 2" strip of the designer paper and adhered it flat onto the art panel. For the embellishment, I die cut the largest of the stitched ovals from the Stitched Shapes Dies in Gold Foil. I've used the Cross of Hope Dies to cut the 2 layers of the cross; the solid Mint Macaron base topped with the open design cut from Sparkle Glimmer paper and popped up on the gold foil oval. The small cross was cut from Gold Foil and adhered flat and I finished with one of the clear Epoxy Droplets. I added a double bow on the side with the 1/4" Whisper White Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon to add some softness. 

For the inside, I have a Gold Foil mat and I added a strip of the designer paper at the base. On the white writing panel, I have stamped the wreath from the retired stamp set Wishing You Well in Mint Macaron and in the centre I have gold embossed the sentiment from the retired His Grace stamp set. 

 

Project Details
Stamps	Hold Onto Hope, Itty Bitty Greetings, Wishing You Well (retired), His Grace (retired)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Mint Macaron, Gold Foil, Ornate Garden Specialty Garden DSP, Sparkle Glimmer
Ink	Versamark, Mint Macaron
Accessories	1/4" Whisper White Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon, Clear/Frosted Expoxy Droplets, Gold Metallic Pearls
Tools	Cross of Hope Dies, Subtle 3D EF, Stitched Shapes Dies, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Butterfly Beauty Dies, Big Shot, Dimensionals, Gold EP, Heat Gun

 

Now it's time to click on the Next button below to hop over to see what Michelle has to inspire you this week. 

You have one more week to join us with your CASE of  a card from the January - June Mini Catalogue, giving it a male twist. You can upload it to our Facebook group. Click on this link or the image below to go there. The first time you will need to click on the 'Join Group' button at the top. Once you have been added to the group, you can go ahead and post your creation and you do not need to have a blog. 

I hope you've enjoyed my Easter project, with this great sketch. I'm looking forward to showing you a totally different card with this sketch next week.

Don't forget that Sale-a-bration finishes this Tuesday, 31 March 2020, so you have just a couple of days to redeem FREE items with a qualifying order.

Thanks for visiting today!

• Shop my Online Store 24/7
• See the latest Stampin' Up! Promotions
• Request a FREE Catalogue
• Check out my Tutorial Store

Lovely Lily Pad - Final Week of Sale-a-bration

Hi there

I hope you've been enjoying some crafting time in the last few days. I like to put on some music; a nice blend of essential oils in the diffuser and shut out the never ending stream of news about the Corona virus for a few hours. Self care and mental health will become increasingly important over the coming weeks as we self-isolate. Apart from the pure enjoyment, creative pursuits are known to help elevate our mood, alleviate anxiety and boost the immune system. Time to get crafty!

I'll be doing my best to bring you more creative inspiration and you're welcome to get in touch for a chat. Today, I want to remind you that there is less than a week left of the Sale-a-bration promotion. More product choices from the current catalogues have been added for you to redeem when you place a qualifying order until 31 March 2020. You can see all of the options here in my Online Store. 

My card today features 2 of the Sale-a-bration products - Lovely Lily Pad stamp set and Lily Impressions DSP. The coordinating Lily Pad Dies are no longer available, but the images are very easy to fussy cut as I have done.  This card is perfect as a friendship or 'thinking of you' card.

I started with a Pool Party card base and embossed the front with the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder with the texture going horizontally. The Lily Impressions DSP hasn't been a favourite although I do like more of the plainer designs on the reverse side, which are great for backgrounds. This small print is my favourite lily design from the pack and it is included in the DSP Sampler that you receive as a bonus when you join during Sale-a-bration. I had this strip left over from another project and it is perfect for a clean and simple card. On the left side I have added one of the lovely new borders in Petal Pink created with the Ornate Borders Dies that will be available for sale on 1 April 2020. There are 5 designs in the set and they are looooong! In fact about 16cm (or 6.5"), longer than a metric card so you only need to do one cut for the length of your card. 

I stamped the Lily flowers in Terracotta Tile ink that was stamped off once, to give a darker shade that tones well with Petal Pink. The flowers were coloured with Stampin' Blends Alcohol markers in Petal Pink, with highlights in Calypso Coral and fussy cut on the line. The lily pad and leaves were stamped in Bermuda Bay ink and I coloured them with Dark Pool Party and Light Bermuda Bay Blends with a touch of Light Night of Navy to blend with the designer paper. I stamped the greeting from the Label Me Bold stamp set in Bermuda Bay ink and hand cut it with snips and popped it up. A sprinkle of Frosted & Clear Epoxy Droplets finishes it off.

For the inside, I have a mat of Petal Pink and I used the same border die to create the decorative edge at the bottom. The Whisper White writing panel has a strip of the designer paper at the bottom to coordinate.

This photo shows the texture from the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder more clearly and I think it works well with water in the designer paper.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Label Me Bold
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Pool Party, Petal Pink, Lily Impressions DSP
Ink	Bermuda Bay, Terracotta Tile
Accessories	Clear/Frosted Expoxy Droplets
Tools	Ornate Border Dies, Subtle 3D EF, Big Shot, Dimensionals, Tombow glue, Stampin' Blends (Petal Pink, Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Bermuda Bay, Night of Navy)

 

If you don't have a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, I would love to help you out.  Place an order with me for $50 or more using the current month's Host Code (shown in the side bar on the right) and you will receive the March IDEAS Fun & Fancy Folds Tutorial Bundle for FREE (normally $10). It contains 55 pages of crafty inspiration and 12 projects that move, spin, wobble, pop-up, pop-out, slide out and shake!  I will email you the PDF file within 24 hours of your order being confirmed.  Don't forget, with an order of $90 or more, you can earn a FREE Sale-a-bration product until 31 March 2020. 

Thanks for visiting me today!

• Shop my Online Store 24/7
• See the latest Stampin' Up! Promotions
• Request a FREE Catalogue
• Check out my Tutorial Store

CASE-ing the Catty - Inspired by Sale-a-bration Release 2

Hi there

Welcome to another week of CASE-ing the Catty challenge!

If you've come from looking at the lovely project on Lauren's blog, then welcome! If you're visiting me, I appreciate you stopping by today!  You can continue your journey to see the other inspiring creations from the CTC Crew by clicking on the buttons at the bottom of the post. 

It's week 2, taking inspiration from the Sale-a-bration Second Release brochure. I was in Perth for last week, but managed to get a card made today.

I chose the card above from page 7 of the Second Release brochure for my inspiration. I really like the asymetric layout of the card.

I have a Thick Whisper White card base and I stamped the greeting from the lovely Positive Thoughts stamp set at the bottom in Gorgeous Grape ink.  I added the Pool Party vellum from the So Very Vellum Speciality DSP to the front of the card. I positioned the vellum over the card front and then marked on the left and right where I wanted it to finish and then cut between the marks.

I stamped 2 sets of the flowers from the Sale-a-bration Happy Birthday To You stamp set and then coloured them with Stampin' Blends Alcohol markers. Highland Heather was used for the flowers, Mint Macaron for the leaves and Daffodil Delight for the flower centres and berries. I chose to fussy cut them on the line (but there are dies available to crop them) and positioned them along the edge of the vellum.  A sprinkle of the pretty Gold Glitter Enamel Dots is the finishing touch.

For the inside, I have a wide mat of Pool Party and then a very narrow mat of Highland Heather around the Stitched Rectangle writing panel. I've stamped the Maidenhair Fern image from the Positive Thoughts stamp set in the corners in Mint Macaron ink and added one of coloured flowers to the bottom corner.

We will need to send lots of 'thinking of you' cards in the next months as we are forced to stay isolated in our homes. Receiving a paper hug in the mail will be really important to our friends and loved ones. I will be making a few more of these cards in different colour ways to have on hand. The pretty So Very Vellum Specialty DSP is available to redeem as a Level 1 Sale-a-bration option until 31 March 2020 or while stocks last. 

Project Details
Stamps	Positive Thoughts, Happy Birthday To You (Sale-a-bration)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Pool Party, Highland Heather, So Very Vellum Specialty DSP
Ink	Gorgeous Grape, Mint Macaron
Accessories	Gold Glitter Enamel Dots
Tools	Stitched Rectangle Dies, Big Shot, Stampin' Blends Markers (Highland Heather, Daffodil Delight, Mint Macaron)

 

Now it's time to click on the Next button below to hop over to see what Shannon has to inspire you this week. 

You have one more week to join us with your CASE of  a card from the January - June Mini Catalogue, giving it a male twist. You can upload it to our Facebook group. Click on this link or the image below to go there. The first time you will need to click on the 'Join Group' button at the top. Once you have been added to the group, you can go ahead and post your creation and you do not need to have a blog. 

I hope you've enjoyed my project, inspired by the Sale-a-bration Second Release brochure.   Don't forget that Sale-a-bration finishes on 31 March 2020, so you have just over a week to redeem free items with a qualifying order. Thanks for visiting today!

• Shop my Online Store 24/7
• See the latest Stampin' Up! Promotions
• Request a FREE Catalogue
• Check out my Tutorial Store

95th Birthday Celebration

Hi there

Firstly, I hope you are all safe and well. We are facing challenging times with restrictions on our normal activities. There is no better time to de-stress and get creative with the extra time you maybe having at home.  Get everyone involved in the fun of being creative!

I'm back from a week visiting family in Western Australia. We had a special milestone birthday to celebrate with my  lovely mother-in-law Betty turning 95. Isn't that a great achievement and she is so amazing; still living independently; driving and playing for her church service every week. She has an amazing capacity for doing complex puzzles, Sudoku, jigsaws and word games on the computer. We got her an iMac for her 75th birthday and has progressed through several Windows PCs and more recently a new laptop last Christmas so she can enjoy it sitting in her arm chair. She is a real inspiration.

We celebrated this milestone with a little event, where she invited her friends to join her for lunch on a cruise down the Swan River. I made some invitations, keeping it very simple, using the lovely Noble Peacock Specialty Designer Paper on a black card base.  She loves the teal shades, so I chose the Pretty Peacock design.

This is a standard sized (metric) card using the gate fold and I've added a belly band to keep it closed.  The embellishment is a circle with the popped up numbers in Silver Glimmer using the retired Large Numbers Dies. The black mini dimensionals were fabulous for it.

The invitation insert was created with my computer and I printed it on Whisper White card stock, feeding it through the rear slot.

Of course, I had to make a special card to recognise this milestone as well. Music has been a huge part of her life; as a music specialist in education and working with community choirs and more recently with her church. I took inspiration from the card created by Dawn Olchefske , using her Music From The Heart stamp set. Betty has a baby grand piano in her lounge room, so I wanted to create  a design that looked very similiar to her piano. 

The card base uses Black Foil sheet to give that gorgeous glossy look and the keys use retired Glossy White card stock. I created a template for the top of the piano using various dies and then hand cut it from Black Foil as I didn't want any marks from die cutting. This is an easel card, with a shallower angle as the curve of the piano on the right is a lot deeper.  I tied some retired Stitched Satin Ribbon in Real Red around the top of the piano, finishing with a bow.  The sheet music embellishment, which is the actual music for the 'Happy Birthday To You' tune was created with my computer and printed on Whisper White card stock. I added a scalloped circle in Black Foil and the numbers in Gold Glimmer using the retired Little Numbers Dies.

To keep the top of the piano in position when the card is open, I used a set of small neodymium magnets. One magnet is attached to the tab on the underside of the piano top and the other is on the reverse side of the card. When the card is removed from the envelope, the magnets pop together to create the easel. 

Being an easel card, the top of the piano folds down over the keys and fits into a 14cm (5 1/2") square envelope. I stamped the piano image from the Music From My Heart stamp set in the bottom corner of the envelope and coloured the heart with Stampin' Blends. This photo shows the lovely glossiness of the Black Foil and it adds a real 'wow' to the card. 

The writing panel is on the reverse side and I have added a Real Red mat and these layers cover the second magnet. I have used more of the images from the Music From My Heart stamp set to decorate the bottom edge.

Finally, here is picture of the birthday girl, cutting her cake.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Music From My Heart
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Real Red, Black Foil, Glossy White (retired), Gold Glimmer
Ink	Memento Tuxedo Black, Real Red, Basic Gray
Accessories	Real Red Stitched Satin Ribbon (retired)
Tools	Big Numbers Dies (retired), Little Numbers Dies (retired), Layering Circles Dies, Layering Ovals Dies, Big Shot, Dimensionals, Stampin' Blends (Real Red)

 

If you don't have a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, I would love to help you out.  Place an order with me for $50 or more using the current month's Host Code (shown in the side bar on the right) and you will receive the March IDEAS Tutorial Bundle for FREE (normally $10). It contains 55 pages of craft projects featuring Fun & Fancy Fold Cards.  I will email you the PDF file within 24 hours of your order being confirmed.  With an order of $90 or more, you can earn a FREE Sale-a-bration product. 

Thanks for visiting me today!

• Shop my Online Store 24/7
• See the latest Stampin' Up! Promotions
• Request a FREE Catalogue
• Check out my Tutorial Store

CASE-ing the Catty - Adding a Male Twist

Hi there

Welcome to another week of CASE-ing the Catty challenge!

If you've come from looking at the lovely project on Sandra's blog, then welcome! If you're visiting me, I appreciate you stopping by today!  You can continue your journey to see the other inspiring creations from the CTC Crew by clicking on the buttons at the bottom of the post. 

It's week 2, CASE-ing a card from the January- June Mini Catalogue and giving it a male twist. 

I chose the card abovefrom page 11 for my inspiration. I was drawn to the double frame and simple layout. Those critters are very cute, but I decided to pull out the products from the Country Club Suite for the first time. 

I have a card base in Night of Navy and I added a double frame over the golfer image.  I've cut one frame in Seaside Spray with the Stitched Rectangle Dies and a second smaller frame from the argyle patterned paper from the designer paper Country Club DSP pack. I like the window -like effect that it gives the image when they are adhered together and it also makes the frame more robust. To balance the frame I've tied some Garden Green twine from the Country Club Twine Combo pack around the left end of the card.

I have used one of the line images from the Country Club Designer Paper for my art panel.  This is a great addition to the paper pack. This piece of DSP is designed to be cut into 4 horizontal strips of 3" and then each 3" strip is cut into 4" pieces. I have coloured the main areas with Stampin' Blends Alcohol markers. You need to use a light touch as the paper is more prone to bleeding than Whisper White. I photocopied the image and create a mask so I could do some ink blending with Balmy Blue for the sky. The frame was popped up over the part panel for more dimension. The birthday greeting from Clubhouse stamp set is stamped in Night of Navy ink and cropped with the banner die from the coordinating Golf Club Dies. I've popped it up on a Garden Green stitched label from the All Dressed Up Dies.

For the inside, I have a strip of the designer paper on the right and I've stamped the golf ball image on the left and coloured it with Stampin' Blends markers.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Clubhouse
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Seaside Spray, Night of Navy, Garden Green, Country Club DSP
Ink	Night of Navy, Balmy Blue
Accessories	Gold Metallic Pearls, Country Club Twine Combo Pack, Country Club Elements
Tools	Golf Club Dies, All Dressed Up Dies, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Big Shot, Dimensionals, Stampin' Blends Markers (Soft Suede, Seaside spray, Smoky Slate, Old Olive, Granny Apple Green, Pool Party, Real Red, Petal Pink)

 

Now it's time to click on the Next button below to hop over to see what Rebecca has to inspire you this week. 

You have one more week to join us with your CASE of  a card from the January - June Mini Catalogue, giving it a male twist. You can upload it to our Facebook group. Click on this link or the image below to go there. The first time you will need to click on the 'Join Group' button at the top. Once you have been added to the group, you can go ahead and post your creation and you do not need to have a blog. 

I hope you've enjoyed my project, giving a card from the January - June Mini Catalogue a male twist. Thanks for visiting today!

• Shop my Online Store 24/7
• See the latest Stampin' Up! Promotions
• Request a FREE Catalogue
• Check out my Tutorial Store