CI #34 - Pretty Pastels

Welcome to another Colour INKspiration challenge, a twice a month challenge where we pull Stampin' Up! colours from an inspiration picture and use these to create our projects. 

The colours this week are:

• Calypso Coral
• Pool Party
• Daffodil Delight
• Basic Grey 

I have been loving the Rooted in Nature stamps lately, because it was out, I decided to use it on my card for this challenge. I absolutely love how these leaves look when stamped on vellum and then embossed in clear embossing powder.  The ink stays damp enough for the powder to stick and it gives a pretty glisten to the leaves.

For the base of the card I used one of the embossing framelits that come in the set and then sponged over using Pool Party to pick up the embossing, then dabbing Basic Grey onto the card between the leaves to leave a sort of speckle.  The flowers are stamped using Oh So Eclectic, once I had stamped the line image in Calypso Coral I used my blender pen to "colour in" the centres of the flowers. I didn't add any additional ink, and find that by doing it this way I get a lovely soft finish.  A couple of White Perfect Accents, coloured with a Pool Party Stampin' Blends pen set off the sentiment perfectly.

  

I hope you are inspired to join in the challenge, just use the colours in your creation and upload a picture of it to the CI Facebook Page.

  

Time to hop on over and see what the lovely Denita has created with the colour combo.

Happy Stamping
Monique

CTC #179 - Favourite Kit

Welcome to another week at CASEing the Catty, where we take inspiration for our creations from the pages of one of the current Stampin' Up! Catalogues.  

This week we are taking inspiration from the kits in any of the current catalogues.

I decided to take my inspiration from the Colour Me Happy kit, which  while not strictly in one of the catalogues, is still available and therefore fair game!  I chose the above card as my inspiration.

I decided to keep very much to the original layout and colour scheme but instead of pink flowers I coloured mine in Rich Razzleberry for a deeper colour.  The DSP on the background is one of the amazing ones in the Share What You Love suite.  I also added a few of the enamel dots onto the card instead of the sequins.  Because I wanted to step the card up a little I used a base of Rich Razzleberry and a mat of basic black which I think gives it a more elegant look.

  

I hope you are inspired to join in with the challenge this week, we don't have many left for the current catalogues, which is a little sad and a little exciting.  To join in just take your inspiration from one of the current kits and upload a picture of it to the CTC Facebook Page.

 

Time to hop on over and see what the lovely Megan has created this week.

Happy Stamping
Monique

Kelly's Birthday Blog Hop

Hi and welcome to a special blog hop for a special stamping friend of mine, the lovely Kelly Kent.  I was so happy to join in this hop to celebrate Kelly's birthday and stampaversary (when she joined Stampin' Up!).  

I decided to share a couple of cards made with the very cute Animal Outings stamp set that we received at On Stage event recently.  I think these little animals are just so cute and I love that the stamp set includes a couple of Aussie natives, this cute kangaroo with a koala in her pouch.  I decided to see if I could find something to pop into her hand, and was initially going to use a balloon, but these cute little flowers from Pick a Pennant. for the "stems" for this flower I used the tassel from the banner!  I think it works perfectly don't you?

My second card features the cute and wrinkly rhino with his little bird friend.  The DSP in the background is from the Rooted in Nature suite and reminded me a bit of wrinkly skin.  I added some little foot prints using a stamp from Foxy Friends to add a bit more of a wild feel to the card.  I love the versatility of this sentiment which is great for a range of occasions, and suitable for many ages from the young to the young at heart.

  

Time to hop on over and see what the lovely Nicole has created to help Kelly celebrate.

Happy Stamping
Monique

CI #33 - Colour Combo Two Ways

Welcome to another Colour INKspiration challenge, where we take inspiration from the colours in a different photograph each week, and use those colours as the basis for our projects. 

This challenge we are taking inspiration from this shabby chic looking flower arrangement:

• Night of Navy
• Marina Mist
• Very Vanilla
• Always Artichoke
• Sahara Sand

I have to share that I initially found this colour combo to be a bit of a challenge, for starters Always Artichoke is my least favourite colour, and the combo doesn't have nice bright colours. But I decided to have a play around and surprised myself by actually made two cards for the challenge!  

This first card is the one I started with, deciding that an easy way to use the colours would be by stamping them in with the various circle stamps from Eastern Beauty.  However once I had done this I wasn't really sure where to go next, so I put the base piece aside and started over.

I had seen a card by Kylie Bertucci that used the Lovely Floral Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (which I think needs a longer name!), and sponged colour over the top.  I had a play around with this, adding the colours from the challenge to different parts of the design until I was happy with it.  Layering on the double background enhances the contrast between Night of Navy and Marina Mist and brightens the card.

I then went back and finished off my first card with a similar but reversed background and card base and added the sentiment and "flower".  I was really pleased that I persisted with what was very much a challenge for me.

  

I hope you are inspired to join in with this challenge, if you find it to be a true challenge like me, just play around and see what turns out!  Then add a picture of your creation to the CI Facebook Page.

  

Time to hop on over and see what the lovely Lou has created this week.

Happy Stamping
Monique

CTC #177 - Retiring Favourites

Welcome to another week of CASEing the Catty Sunday Blog Hop, where we take inspiration from one of the sections or themes in the current Stampin' Up! catalogues.

This week we are looking at our favourite retiring item, and boy is this a hard one as there are quite a few of my favourites that are on the way out. 

I decided to go with a set that I haven't used as much as I thought I would, but totally love the images within it, and that's Bird Banter. So I CASE'd this card on page 45 of the Occasions catalogue.

I kept the card pretty much the same, changing up the back to capture another retiring product, the lovely Soft Sky.  As well as the stamp set this card also captures another of my faviourites, the Brick Wall  embossing folder which always adds texture and interest to the background.  

  

I hope you are inspired to join us this week and share a project using one (or more) of your favourite retiring products, just add a picture to the CTC Facebook Page.

  

Time to hop on over and see what Julia has been inspired to create this week.

Happy Stamping
Monique

You Are Amazing for FMS #334

I had a busy weekend, but managed to sneak in some crafting time here and there, and the sketch from teh Freshly Made Sketch team caught my eye.  I just love the new Share What You Love DSP and wanted to use it in this challenge.

Often I find I like one side of a sheet of DSP but not so much the other side, well this set of DSP I love both sides of most of the sheets!  For this card I have used a single sheet to show how beautiful both sides are.  I love the "amazing" sentiment cut from Basic Black, but my daughter thinks maybe I should have cut it from Whisper White, what do you think?  The "You Are" is from Sunshine Sayings and I think they are perfect to use in this way.  Wanting to balance them I added a fussy cut flower from one of the other sheets of DSP and some leaves stamped and cut from Vellum.

Happy Stamping
Monique