Sunday, March 23, 2025

CTC #512 - CASE Mini Catty Mix & Match Projects

Welcome to another week at CASEing the Catty Sunday Blog Hop, where utilise the projects within the current Stampin' Up! catalogue to inspire our own projects each week. We also invite you to join with us in the challenge each week by using this inspiration in your own creations and uploading a photo to our Facebook page.

This week we are taking inspiration from the Mix and Match "Get Inspired" projects on pages 14 and 15 of the Mini Catalogue. As usual you can choose a sketch, colour combo, images or technique as your inspiration.

I was inspired by this card from the lower middle of pages 14 & 15 in the Mini Catalogue, or part of the Spring Celebrations Ephemera Pack in the on-line store.  I loved the way it uses a frame of flowers around the focal image and sentiment. 

I started off doing a very simple version of the original card, but it felt a bit bare to me, so I added some layers and texture to mine.  The plaid DSP was not the first one I thought of using for this card, but so glad I tried it out, I love how a good portion of the floral images is covered by the sentiment, leaving what I coloured as succulents as the dominant image. I coloured the image using a combination of pale version of blends, then added depth and colour variation with my watercolour pencils.

I hope you are inspired to join in the challenge this week, just use the samples on pages 14 and 15 of the Jan to Apr Mini Catalogue to inspire your creativity, then post a picture of your project to the CTC Facebook page.

Time to hop on over and see what Kathryn  has created this week.

Happy Stamping
Monique

Sunday, March 16, 2025

CTC #511 - CASE The Colours of the Wildflower Birthday DSP

Welcome to another week at CASEing the Catty Sunday Blog Hop, where utilise the projects within the current Stampin' Up! catalogue to inspire our own projects each week. We also invite you to join with us in the challenge each week by using this inspiration in your own creations and uploading a photo to our Facebook page.

This week we are taking inspiration from the colours in the Wildflower Birthday Specialty DSP from the January to April Mini Catalogue. 

Here are the colours for the challenge, Pretty in Pink, Peach Pie, Soft Sea Foam, Pool Party and Gold. 

I wasn't really sure what to do with these colours, so I thought I'd share my process.  I started off by pulling out the inkpads for the challenge colours, then chose a stamp set with a few different elements that would accommodate those colours.  In this instance I chose one of the new On-Line Exclusives Textured Notes stamp set, I paired up a stamp with each of the colours and then used them to layer the images. I did think about masking but liked this effect more.

Once stamped I trimmed down the focal image and sponged the two corners with the stamped images, then used my scissors to rough up the edges and did some light sponging across all the sides of the panel.  I was going to just add the butterflies to meet the gold  element of the challenge, but wanted a little more bling so cut down some of the gorgeous Gold Open Weave Trim.  Wanting a bit more interest in the background I used the Mini Corrugated 3D embossing folder, using an Aquapainter to splatter Old Olive and Pool Party ink to add a grungy look. 

I hope you are inspired to join in the challenge this week, just use the colours in the Wildflower Birthday DSP to inspire your creativity, then post a picture of your project to the CTC Facebook page.

Time to hop on over and see what Julia has created this week.

Happy Stamping
Monique

Sunday, March 9, 2025

CTC #510 – CASE March 2025 On-Line Exclusives

Welcome to another week at CASEing the Catty Sunday Blog Hop, where utilise the projects within the current Stampin' Up! catalogue to inspire our own projects each week. We also invite you to join with us in the challenge each week by using this inspiration in your own creations and uploading a photo to our Facebook page.

This week we are taking inspiration from the On-Line Exclusives, I will also always have a link button on the right hand column of my blog to help you find them easily. 

I was inspired by this card from the Textured Notes Bundle I love the natural fibres in Woven Textures DSP and lovely botanicals in the coordinating Botanical Textures DSP, and to make the collection complete I used the Textured Notes Bundle and Neutral Matte Dots.

I kept my card fairly similar to the original but used A5 card base instead of a square one. I also kept with most of the elements from the original, switching out the ribbon and stamped wicker image for alternatives and using another sentiment.  I can highly recommend this collection of products to create lovely projects for all occasions. 


I hope you are inspired to join in the challenge this week, just use the On-Line Exclusives to inspire your creativity, then post a picture of your project to the CTC Facebook page.

Time to hop on over and see what Rebecca has created this week.

Happy Stamping
Monique

Sunday, February 23, 2025

CTC #508 - CASE The Sale-A-Bration Catty

Welcome to another week at CASEing the Catty Sunday Blog Hop, where utilise the projects within the current Stampin' Up! catalogue to inspire our own projects each week. We also invite you to join with us in the challenge each week by using this inspiration in your own creations and uploading a photo to our Facebook page.

This week we are taking inspiration from the Sale-A-Bration (SAB) Catalogue. 

I was inspired by this card from page 9 of the SAB Catalogue, the use of the Fresh Freesia Ribbon to create the weave pattern really caught my eye. Did you know that there are a lot of tips, tricks and techniques within the pages of our catalogues?  Near this picture was a description of how to re-create the two-toned textured background on this card. 

Here you can see a close up of the background panel which was achieved by weaving Fresh Freesia Seam Binding in two directions across a piece of cardstock.  For us in the South Pacific it is easy to work out how big the panel needs to be as the ribbon is 1cm wide, so any measurements in whole cm will work!  The tip in the SAB catalogue is to colour half of the ribbon using Dark Fresh Freesia Blends, it is really subtle makes all the difference.  I cut my pieces of ribbon and added adhesive tape to one edge of the cardstock, using it to stick down one end of half of the ribbon, then I added tape to the edge beside the one I just did. For me this was the left edge and the top edge, flip the cardstock over so the "back" is on the table, then it is a simple job of weaving the two together over and under, tucking the end of the ribbon over and adhering it to the back of the cardstock.

Here is my finished card, I wanted to keep with the general layout but also showcase some other SAB products like the Adhesive Backed Purple Sequins and Star Struck Embossing Folder. The flowers and leaves are from Everyday You & Me an on-line exclusive bundle, embossed in white embossing powder onto Fresh Freesia and Granny Apple Green cardstock. This technique is great for more solid images like this as it allows pops of colour while creating a softer finish than stamping those colours onto white cardstock. 

I hope you are inspired to join in the challenge this week, just use SAB projects to inspire your creativity, then post a picture of your project to the CTC Facebook page.

Time to hop on over and see what Kathryn has created this week.

Happy Stamping
Monique