CASE-ing the Catty - Annual Catty Sketch Challenge

Hi there

Welcome to another week of CASE-ing the Catty!  Firstly, apologies if my post looks a little strange today. I had issues uploading photos (again), with the blog platform insisting on making them huge, so they are actually smaller than usual! I will fix them up when things get back to normal again.

If you've come from visiting  Sandra, 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 based on the lovely geranium card above, from page 58 of the 2022-23 Annual Catalogue. This diagram shows more clearly the key elements of the sketch, with the background in 2 sections and the greeting crossing it at the bottom right. It is a super flexible layout with unlimited possibilities.

I pulled out the beautiful Hues of Happiness Designer Series Paper and used one of the variegated designs for my background, layering it on a Thick Basic White card base. I had a few blooms already die cut from a previous project and started playing around and end up with this arrangement going diagonally across the card. 

I've used the colours from the background paper, positioning the blooms to contrast with the background. To make adhering the greeting easier, I've adhered the flowers on the right, flat. To add some dimension, I turned up the edges slightly with my fingers and a bone folder first and then adhered them just in the centre, so the flowers look like they are popping from the card. The Flirty Flamingo rose on the left was popped up on Dimensionals for extra height and I popped some foliage of different shapes and colours cropped from the paper, around the blooms.

The greeting from the Happiness Abounds stamp set was heat embossed in white on Night of Navy card stock for a strong contrast. It was cropped with the smallest of the Stitched Rectangle Dies and you need to double-cut it, as it is longer than the die. I popped it up on Dimensionals at the bottom right as per the sketch layout. I added a sprinkle of dots from the Glossy Dots Assortment that coordinate with the Hues of Happiness Suite, to finish.

For the inside, I've continued the same layout, with a mat of Melon Mambo card stock for the writing panel. I added a border on each side, of the floral design that incorporates the colours I've used on the front.

The rain finally let up today with some blue sky peaking through this afternoon, so I could get outside and take my photos on the deck. Hopefully, I'll be able to catch up on some laundry tomorrow!

 

Project Details
Stamps	Happiness Abounds
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Melon Mambo, Night of Navy, Hues of Happiness DSP
Ink	Versamark
Accessories	Glossy Dots Assortment
Tools	Stitched Rectangles Dies, Blossoming Happiness Dies, Stampin' Cut & Emboss, Dimensionals, White EP, Heat Tool

 

We would love to see your CASE this week, of this great sketch from page 58 of the 2022-23 Annual Catalogue. 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. 

You can head over to Julia to see her pretty project and follow the hop to see the inspiration from the rest of the CTC Crew.

 

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

CASE-ing the Catty - Mini Catalogue Bundles

Hi there

Welcome to CASE-ing the Catty for this week! 

If you've come from visiting  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. 

We're taking inspiration from bundles in the 2022 July-December Mini Catalogue this week. As it happens, the Leaves of Holly Bundle arrived this week, so I decided to get it inky.

The photo above shows the sample project from page 76 that I've taken my inspiration from.

 

As you can see, I've stayed close to the design, choosing to use more traditional red and green colours for my version. I added the red spotted design from the Boughs of Holly Designer Paper to a Thick Basic White card base. For the focus panel I have a Basic White rectangle cropped with the Stitched Rectangles Dies with a Pool Party mat creatiing a narrow border.

This is a 2 step stamp set, so you can stamp the background colour and then add the highlights in a darker colour over the top. I've used just the highlight stamp and stamped on Shaded Spruce card stock with Shaded Spruce ink, to achieve the different tones.  There are coordinating dies in the Holly Berry Dies to crop the holly leaves. For the berries, I used only the background image with Real Red ink. For another option, you can use just the dies to create layered holly leaves. The greeting was stamped in Real Red on Pool Party card stock and cropped with the label die included in the Holly Berry Dies.  I added a strip of the 3/8" Gold Shimmer Ribbon under the label and around the focus panel, adhering on the reverse with tape. The label is popped up and the separate bow added at the left. I popped in some Gold Foil foliage and a sprinkle of Adhesive-Backed Seasonal Sequins to finish. 

For the inside, I have stamped the greeting from the Leaves of Holly stamp set and added a strip of the striped paper from the Sweetest Christmas DSP at the bottom. The writing panel was added to a Pool Party mat.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Leaves of Holly
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Pool Party, Boughs of Holly DSP, Sweetest Christmas DSP, Gold Foil
Ink	Shaded Spruce, Real Red
Accessories	Adhesive-Backed Seasonal Sequins, 3/8" Shimmer Ribbon
Tools	Stitched Rectangles Dies, Holly Berry Dies, Stampin' Cut & Emboss, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

 

We would love to see your CASE of a bundle from the 2022 July-December Mini Catalogue this week. Click on this link or the image below to go there. The first time you will need to cte bundlick 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. 

You can head over to Rebecca to see her lovely card and follow the hop to see the inspiration from the rest of the CTC Crew.

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

CASE-ing the Catty - Colours of Santa Express DSP

Hi there

Welcome to CASE-ing the Catty for this week! 

If you've come from visiting  Monique, 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 the Crew are taking inspiration from the colours in the Santa Express Designer Series Paper. They are an interesting combo, but as always, Stampin' Up! has created a combination that works well with the fun imagery in the paper.

I started off with something else in mind and then got sidetracked, lol. The pretty trees on one of the cards in Santa Express Memories & More Pack took my eye and so I went in another direction.

These trees are one of my favourite cards from the pack and then I saw the acetate overlay and put them together, but the greeting got a bit lost.  I decided on the Poppy Parade design from the Santa Express DSP across the centre to make it pop. I sliced off 2 rows of trees (leaving me 2 more for another card) and adhered them to my Shaded Spruce card base and then added the panel of DSP that was adhered to a strip of Basic White.  

To add some texture, I stamped the holly and berries from the Christmas Banners stamp and adhered them with glue dots on top of the acetate overlay. Don't forget the acetate overlay has a protective layer of plastic that needs to be removed when you're ready to use it.

Adhering the acetate overlay without showing adhesive is a bit tricky, but if you have an embellishment on top of the acetate, you can hide your adhesive underneath, so I put glue dots under the holly and adhered the acetate to the front of the card. I felt it needed something else, so I stamped the sweet deer from the Peaceful Deer stamp set and coloured it with Stampin' Blends to add a bit more Christmas imagery. I finished with a trio of sequins from the Adhesive-Backed Season Sequins.

For the inside, I have stamped the greeting from the Sweet Candy Canes stamp set and added the row of presents fussy cut from another Santa Expess Memories & More card. 

 

Project Details
Stamps	Christmas Banners, Peaceful Deer, Sweet Candy Canes
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Shaded Spruce, Mint Macaron, Santa Express DSP, Santa Express M&M Card Pack
Ink	Shaded Spruce, Poppy Parade, Early Espresso
Accessories	Adhesive-Backed Seasonal Sequins
Tools	Christmas Banners Dies, Stampin' Cut & Emboss, Glue Dots, SU300 & Petal Pink Stampin Blends

 

We would love to see your CASE using the colours of the Santa Express DSP this week. Click on this link or the image below to go there. The first time you will need to cte bundlick 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. 

You can head over to Julia to see her fabulous card and follow the hop to see the inspiration from the rest of the CTC Crew.

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

IDEAS Blog Hop - Christmas Crafting!

Hi there

I'm back with the IDEAS (International Demos Exciting Artistic Stampin') team this month to share more fabulous projects. We are a group of international demonstrators who create a Tutorial Bundle each month to give you, our customers and readers a heap of inspiration for your crafting.

If you've come from looking at Sigrid's elegant projects, 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 IDEAS Team by clicking on the NEXT button at the bottom of the post. 

This month we are inspiring you with Christmas projects and the team has created a fabulous collection projects using a wide variety of products. This bundle contains an amazing 14 tutorials and 78 pages of crafty inspiration for your Christmas cards, tags, gift card holders, gift packaging and treat packaging and even the table setting!

I have used the Stampin' Up! Cracker & Treat Box Dies and Sweetest Christmas patterned paper to create the cutest Advent Calendar. Fill the crackers with small gifts or treats and hang them on a 3ft (90cm) table top tree to delight small and big kids alike. It would make a fabulous pre-Christmas gift for friends and family! The finished size of the crackers is 5" (12.7cm) long and 1 1/4" (3.2cm) in diameter. I have provided lots of tips to make this project as quick and easy as possible. Also included in my tutorial is instructions for a gift box shaped Gift Card Holder with 2 options for decoration.

Would you like a copy of the instructions for this and the 13 other projects for your personal use, or even to use in your classes? 

There are 3 ways you can get the October 2022 Tutorial Bundle.

1.  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 tutorial bundle for FREE. I will email you the PDF file within 24 hours of your order being confirmed.  

2. You can purchase the tutorial with Instant Download through my Etsy store by clicking here. You can pay with a credit card or PayPal and you DO NOT need to sign up to Etsy to make a purchase. Check out as a guest if you are not a member.

3.  Join my team and you will get this bundle of tutorials FREE every month to use for your personal crafting or for classes. You can see all the details over on the Join My Team page. It might be the right time for you consider the opportunity to run your own home-based craft business or to get a great discount on your craft supplies.

Once you have received the tutorials, please remember not to share or distribute the printed or electronic copies of these bundles. We have worked hard to provide these exclusive projects for your use. If you know someone that would like to purchase the bundle, please direct them to me to obtain their copy. Thanks for your support.

Now it's time to hop over to Sandra in the UK to see her lovely projects. 

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

CASE-ing the Catty - Sending Love & Hugs

Hi there

Welcome to CASE-ing the Catty for this week! It has been ages since I've been able to join the Crew and I'm feeling rather out of practice, lol. After 10 months of renovations, I'm finally moving into my new craft room.  I'll share some pics after I'm unpacked and organised.

If you've come from visiting  Peta & Marvi, 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 the Crew are taking inspiration from a bundle in the 2022-23 Annual Catalogue .

I decided on the Sending Smiles Bundle for my card, using the sample above for inspiration. I think it was the textured backgound using the lattice from the Chic Dies that caught my eye, plus, I thought it would be nice for my Mum, who has been unwell recently.

I don't have the Chic Dies, but I thought the lattice (of a different kind) from the Artisan Addition Dies might work. I cropped 2 panels from Thick Basic White and then fussy cut around the design to create standalone pieces that I adhered to a panel of Basic White. If I was doing this again, I would add the Adhesive Sheet to the reverse first, but I wasn't sure how it would turn it.


I stamped the flowers and stems and cropped them with the corresponding pieces from the Sending Dies and positioned them on the lattice. I decided on the detailed 'Sending' die, rather than stamping it and then die cutting. Foam Adhesive Sheet was adhered to the reverse of the Daffodil Delight card stock before die cutting, so the greeting adds another layer of texture to card. The smaller greeting was stamped in Garden Green and cropped with the smallest of the banner dies from the Stylish Shapes Dies, cutting twice to extend the length.  I finished with a trio of Brushed Brass Butterflies.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Sending Smiles
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Daffodil Delight
Ink	Garden Green, Polished Pink, Mango Melody, Highland Heather</span4D8B56
Accessories	Brushed Brass Butterflies
Tools	Artisan Additions Dies, Sending Dies, Stylish Shapes Dies, Stampin' Cut & Emboss, Dimensionals, Foam Adhesive Sheet

 

We would love to see your CASE of a bundle from the 2022-23 Annual Catalogue this week. Click on this link or the image below to go there. The first time you will need to cte bundlick 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. 

You can head over to Monique to see her fabulous card and follow the hop to see the inspiration from the rest of the CTC Crew.

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