CASE-ing the Catty - Favourite Annual Catty Project

Hi there

Welcome to CASE-ing the Catty for this week.

Wow, it's our last CASE from the 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue!  Next week we will be starting on the brand new 2024-2025 Annual Catalogue that goes LIVE to customers on 1st May, 2024.  I cannot believe how quickly this year is speeding past and it is only 7 weeks until we leave for our overseas trip to Scandanavia.

If you've come from visiting Lauren, 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 button at the bottom of the post. 

This week we are taking inspiration from our favourite project from the 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue.  There are so many great samples to choose from and I've CASE-d many of my favourites. However, I  love this page (below) from the Annual Catalogue showing samples for the Masterfully Made Suite.  

I think the Masterfully Made Designer Series Paper is amazing. I love all of the colours in the paper and as I'm a pink fan, the Berry Burst and Fresh Freesia designs are winners for me.  The paper is now in the Last Chance Sale, so you can get it for $10.87AUD, which is close to a 50% discount. I've already CASE-d the layout of the card at the top in this post here, for cards for new team members, so I decided to focus on the Berry Burst project at the top right in the photo above. 

I decided on Fresh Freesia for my card base, which is a colour in the paper and cut another piece slightly smaller. I like the interest this extra layer adds, but the other advantage is that if you make a mistake or don't like your stamping, you can turn it over and start again! I stamped off the text in from the Quiet Meadow stamp set at the bottom and top corners using Fresh Freesia ink, which looks quite faint in the photo, but I just wanted a subtle hint in the  background. The foliage spray from the Gorgeously Made Dies was cropped twice from Fresh Freesia card stock and I adhered them with tape across the stems. You can also add Adhesive Sheet to the reverse of the card stock but I wanted a more free flowing look. 

I added the piece of patterned paper from Masterfully Made to a piece of Fresh Freesia card stock to make it more robust for the 'lumpy' surface it was being adhered to. The white banner was cropped with a die from the Nested Essentials Dies, and I extended it to be a little longer. The second banner is the reverse side of the floral paper. Inspired by the paper, I created a shabby chic flower by tearing Berry Burst card stock and rolling it up and squishing it a little and adhered it at the top of the banners. I finished with a flowing bow from (retired) Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon under it and a trio of silver pearls from the new Basic Gray & Smoky Slate Pearls. The birthday greeting from the Go To Greetings stamp set was stamped in Berry Burst ink, fussy cut and popped up.

For the inside, I have a Basic White writing panel and I've used the spiral look die from the Gorgeously Made Dies at the top which gives it the look of being torn from a notebook. At the base I have stamped off the text and adhered part of the foliage spray under a strip of the designer paper.

This card isn't one for a standard envelope, but it's worth it for something a little different, don't you think?

 

Project Details
Stamps	Go To Greetings, Quiet Meadow
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Berry Burst, Fresh Freesia, Masterfully Made DSP
Ink	Fresh Freesia, Berry Burst
Accessories	Basic Gray & Smoky Slate Pearls, Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon (retired)
Tools	Gorgeously Made Dies, Nested Essentials Dies, Stampin' Cut & Emboss, Dimensionals, Glue Dots

 

We would love to see your CASE of a favourite project from the 2023-24 Annual Catalogue this week. 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 the Julia to see her lovely 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 - Mediterranean Blooms

Hi there

Welcome to CASE-ing the Catty for this week.

If you've come from visiting Julia, 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 button at the bottom of the post. 

This week we are taking our inspiration from the Take To The Sky Suite on page 36 of the 2024-2025 Annual Catalogue. 

I've chosen the card above for my inspiration project. I like the layout with the layers and contrasting colours and patterns of the designer paper.

I thought the lovely Mediterranean Blooms DSP with the bold blue and white patterns and contrasting citrus colours would work well with the layout. I don't have any of the other products in the suite, but you can do a lot with Stampin' Up!'s gorgeous patterned paper. I started with a card front sized piece of Navy of Navy cardstock and added a layer of the small lemon and olive print. Next up is the small Night of Navy print and I added it to a Night of Navy mat with a narrow border. For the tag, I have a piece of Thick Basic White that I dry embossed with the Distressed Tile 3D Embossing Folder. It is similiar to some of the tile patterns in the paper and the distressed look is very European, lol. After trimming the corners I added it to a Night of Navy mat with a narrow border to add pop. I think matting your layers does add a more finished look to the card.

I used the tag hole and ring die from the Perennial Postage Dies to add the hole to the tag and I've threaded a couple of strands of Linen Thread through and knotted it. The lemon image has been fussy cut from the paper and I adhered it to Basic White cardstock first, to make it more robust. The left side of the image is popped up on 1mm foam pads to account for the height of the layers on the other side. I cropped some sprigs from Old Olive cardstock with the Painted Lavender Dies and cut them into pieces and popped them around to fill out the image. The greeting from the  Layering Leaves stamp set is heat embossed in white on Night of Navy cardstock and then fussy cut and popped up.  As I don't have the coordinating Opal Rounds Assortment, I coloured a few Pool Party dots from the Glossy Dots Assortment with a Night of Navy Stampin' Blends marker. The finished panel was adhered to a Thick Basic White card base.

For the inside, I have a Night of Navy mat for the writing panel with a strip of the navy print at the bottom. I fussy cut an image from the edge of the Mediterranean Blooms paper and adhered it to the edge of the writing panel.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Layering Leaves
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Night of Navy, Old Olive, Mediterranean Blooms DSP
Ink	Versamark
Accessories	Glossy Dots Assortment, Linen Thread
Tools	Painted Lavender Dies Dies, Distressed Tile 3D EF, Perennial Postage Dies, Stampin' Cut & Emboss, Black Dimensionals, Tombow glue, White EP, Heat Tool, Dark Night of Navy Stampin' Blends, 1mm Foam Pads (not SU)

 

We would love to see your CASE of a project from the Take To The Sky Suite on page 36 of the 2024-25 Annual Catalogue this week. 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  Courtenay to see her lovely 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 - Sketch Challenge

Hi there

Welcome to CASE-ing the Catty for this week.

If you've come from visiting Courtenay, 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 button at the bottom of the post. 

Have you noticed the card sketches/layouts/templates in the new 2024-2025 Annual Catalogue? They are at the bottom of page 22 and there are 22 different layouts to give you inspiration for your cardmaking. This is a fabulous resource and this week the Crew are choosing one of these sketches for their inspiration.

I've chosen the sketch above for my card today. As soon as I saw it, I knew what I was going to do with it; isn't it funny how that can happen sometimes. As it turns out my card is a variation of my original idea, but I like the extra detail that resulted.

Instead of taking up the entire card, I've chosen to create a smaller centre panel with the layout, leaving a nice border of the Petunia Pop card base showing.  I used the smallest circle die from the Stylish Shapes Dies to create the 12 openings in the Thick Basic White panel. Yes, there was a ruler involved, lol, but you could probably just 'eyeball' it as well. It was a little more effort than adhering 12 black circles (my original thought), but I like the stitched detail around each circle that you get with this option.

You can see the stitched detail around the circles more clearly in the photo above. I adhered the panel to Basic Black with a narrow border, giving a bold background to make my sweet flowers pop. The greeting from the Country Birdhouse stamp set was heat embossed in white on a narrow strip of Basic Black and popped up between the sets of circles. I added the panel to the card base with Dimensionals, leaving the flowers to last, so they wouldn't get flattened. I chose 4 colours and cropped the flowers with a die from the Country Birdhouse Dies, using a stylus in the centre of each to add dimension before adding the 3mm rhinestone. I adhered the flowers with a dot of Tombow glue in the centre of each circle, leaving it to go tacky, so it wouldn't squish when I added the flower. Rolled up Mini Glue Dots would work well, too.  I added a little bow in white Baker's Twine and a small version of the flower in corner of the greeting. This satisfied my need to have an odd number of flowers on the card!

For the inside, I have cut the writing panel at the same size as the focus panel on the front, with a narrow border of Basic Black. The birthday greeting from the Country Birdhouse stamp set was stamped in Petunia Pop ink and a little cluster of flowers adhered flat in the corner.

As my husband said when I showed the card to him, 'that's different'! Yes, it's a bit different to my normal style, but I like the fun graphic look for a change.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Country Birdhouse
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Basic White, Petunia Pop, Summer Splash, Lemon Lime Twist, Pretty in Pink
Ink	Versamark, Petunia Pop
Accessories	Basic Jewels Rhinestones, Baker's Twine Essentials Pack
Tools	Stylish Shapes Dies, Stampin' Cut & Emboss, Dimensionals, Glue Dots, Tombow glue, White EP, Heat Tool

 

We would love to see how you used one of the sketches/layouts/templates from page 22 of the 2024-25 Annual Catalogue this week. 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 lovely 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 - Mix & Match

Hi there

Welcome to CASE-ing the Catty for this week.

If you've come from visiting Andrea, 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 button at the bottom of the post. 

This week we are taking inspiration from the Mix & Match section of the new Annual Catalogue. Mix & Match is a brand new set of products for creating, made easy. Select a set of cards & envelopes with printed backgrounds and matching envelopes and add an emphemera pack or two.

There are 4 ephemera packs to choose from:

• Saying Something - die cut greetings of all sizes and shapes,
• Labels & Layers - die cut labels and layering pieces
• Fully flowering - floral and foliage die cuts
• Something For Everything - die cut images for all occasions

You can click on the image above to go to my Online Store and see the ephemera packs in more detail.

I chose the image above from page 21 for my inspiration this week. This project uses a card base and envelope from the Calming Creek Cards & Envelopes and elements from 2 of the ephemera packs. This is a great layout that lends itself to lots of different occasions and embellishments.

I've used a cute critter on my card as well, but mine is the sweet rabbit from the Playing In The Rain stamp set. But first I decided on a design from the lovely Thoughtful Journey DSP for the background to provide some ground and sky for my outdoor scene. The greeting from the retired Beautiful Balloons stamp set was stamped in black ink on Basic White and cropped with the largest banner die from the Stylish Shapes Dies. 

I stamped the bunny and the clumps of flowers in Basic Gray ink on Basic White and coloured them with Stampin' Blends. The images were cropped with the coordinating Playing In The Rain Dies. I positioned and adhered the banner flat and then the rabbit was popped up and the flowers positioned around him. I fussy cut a single flower to pop up at the end of the banner. I added a couple of dragonlflies around the flowers and finished with a trio of Petunia Pop resin dots.

For the inside, I have a Petunia Pop mat for the writing panel and I stamped the clump of flowers in the corner and coloured them the same as the front of the card. I will add a another greeting inside the card when I know the occasion. 

 

Project Details
Stamps	Playing In The Rain, Beautiful Balloons (retired)
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Petunia Pop, Thoughtful Journey DSP
Ink	Memento Tuxedo Black, Basic Gray
Accessories	2024-2026 In Color Resin Dots,
Tools	Playing In The Rain Dies, Stylish Shapes Dies, Stampin' Cut & Emboss, Dimensionals, Stampin' Blends (Smoky Slate, Azure Afternoon, Petunia Pop, Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight)

 

We would love to see your CASE of a project from the Mix & Match section of the 2024-25 Annual Catalogue this week. 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  Lauren to see her lovely 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 - New 2024-25 Annual Catalogue

Hi there

Welcome to CASE-ing the Catty for this week and the brand new 2024-2025 Annual Catalogue. We have a HUGE hop this week to inspire you as we have new Crew joining us. Make sure you follow the link at the end of the post and welcome them with some comment love!

If you've come from visiting Michelle, 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 button at the bottom of the post. 

This week we are taking inspiration from the 2024-2025 Annual Catalogue, which means we get to choose any project.

I decided on the project above using the Layers of Beauty Bundle for my inspiration. This bundle consists of the stamp set with the large floral image and a selection of greetings, the coordinating dies and the Decorative Masks. The masks are a fabulous way to quickly colour a large image with Blending Brushes and perfect for those who are not super fond of colouring. Of course, you can also colour the image directly with Stampin' Blends alcohol markers, Watercolour Pencils, or watercolouring with inks and Water Painters. This makes it a super flexible bundle with lots of techniques. Today, I decided to use the masks and wanted to give you another option with the finished image by cutting it apart for a totally different look.

I used Pretty in Pink, one of the new 2024-2026 In Colors for the large roses. This colour was retired about 5 years ago, but has returned for the next 2 years.  I wanted a soft look, so I used Pretty in Pink for all 3 masks that colour the roses and Petunia Pop on the smaller flowers and Old Olive for the leaves. Again, I've keep the leaves quite soft with just a little shading. You can of course make it darker if you choose by using more ink.

With the image coloured, I used the coordinating die to crop the image and then went one step further and cut the image into 3 pieces. By cutting the image into pieces, you can achieve different looks, making it even more flexible. There is a separate die that crops the largest rose with the 3 leaves, but I just separated the 2 larges roses from the third rose with the small flowers and foliage and the small flowers with foliage as a third piece. This allowed me to create a more compact cluster, which I layered on a Basic White background dry embossed with the Distressed Tile 3D Embossing Folder. The 2 large roses are popped up on Dimensionals and the smaller rose and flowers are popped up on 1mm foam pads to give it a little dimension as it sits under the main image,  I added a narrow mat of Pretty in Pink card stock and then popped it up with Adhesive Foam Strips onto a Thick Basic White card base. The greeting from the Stippled Roses stamp set was masked to separate the words and stamped in Petunia Pop ink. I finished with a sprinkle of 2024-26 In Color Shimmer Gems. The finished card is 13cm (5 1/8") square.

For the inside, I have replicated the Pretty in Pink mat for the writing panel at the same size as the front and I've added the remaining piece of the floral image that I cut apart. 

 

Project Details
Stamps	Layers of Beauty, Stippled Roses
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Pretty in Pink
Ink	Pretty in Pink, Petunia Pop, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight
Accessories	2024-2026 In Color Shimmer Gems
Tools	Layers of Beauty Dies, Distressed Tile 3D EF, Stampin' Cut & Emboss, Dimensionals, Layers of Beauty Masks, Adhesive Foam Strips, 1mm Foam Pads (not SU)

 

We would love to see your CASE of a project from the 2024-25 Annual Catalogue this week. 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 new Crew member Courtenay to see her lovely 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 - Perennial Lavender Birthday

Hi there

Welcome to CASE-ing the Catty for this week.

If you've come from visiting Rebecca, 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 button at the bottom of the post. 

This week we are taking inspiration from projects using Retiring Punches.

I've chosen the project above for my inspiration, as I thought the background was interesting, with punch outs from the retiring Ink & Tiled Punch Pack creating a textured background for the focus image. I'm not a fan of Crushed Curry, so I'm not at all partial to this particular sample project. However, if you can get past your initial view, often you will find an interesting idea or technique that you can take into your own card making.

Instead of punch outs, I've used die cuts to create a textured background for my bouquet of Lavender. I started with a Lost Lagoon card base and then cut a smaller piece to leave a border at the top and bottom and added the mottled Pretty Peacock/Lost Lagoon design from the Perennial Lavender DSP.  I've die cut 4 of the Lavender branch from Lost Lagoon card stock to which I added Adhesive Sheet, first. This turns the die cuts into stickers and makes it super easy to adhere them to the background. 

The tops of the lavender heads were stamped with Highland Heather and Gorgeous Grape ink in a two-step process and cropped with the coordinating die. I stamped 3 stems in Lost Lagoon ink and then fussy cut them as a group and adhered it to a white stitched rectangle cropped with the (retired) Stitched Rectangles Dies. The Lavender heads were adhered over the stems with the bottom layer flat and the top one popped up. The panel was adhered flat to the background and I tied the pretty Silver & White 1/2" Sheer Ribbon around the panel and finished with a bow over the Lavender bouquet. The finished panel was adhered flat to the Lost Lagoon card base. 

The greeting from the soon to be retired Go To Greetings stamp set was stamped in Gorgeous Grape ink, fussy cut and popped up. The teeny butterfly was stamped in Gorgeous Grape ink and fussy cut and popped up above the greeting.  I finished with a trio of  Purple Fine Shimmer Gems.

For the inside I have a white writing panel cut with the same style border as the front and I've added a lavender branch and flower head on the right and an even teenier Gorgeous Grape butterfly in the top corner. The butterflies are from the Painted Lavender stamp set.

I hope you give this idea a try in your card making, when you want to add texture and interest to your background.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Painted Lavender, Go To Greetings
Card stock & Papers	Lost Lagoon, Basic White, Perennial Lavender DSP
Ink	Highland Heather, Gorgeous Grap
Accessories	Silver & White 1/2" Sheer Ribbon, Purple Fine Shimmer Gems
Tools	Stitched Rectangle Dies (retired),  Painted Lavender Dies, Stampin' Cut & Emboss, Dimensionals, Glue Dots, Adhesive Sheet

 

We would love to see your CASE of a project using a Retiring Punch this week. 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 the Peta & Marvi to see her lovely 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