JUGs 308 - Anniversary

Despite being busy recently I had time to make a quick card today so went searching for a sketch challenge that would inspire me.  The Just Us Girls  sketch challenge was just what I was after.

The reason I "had" to get crafty today was that tomorrow is our 24th wedding anniversary and I wanted to make my hubby a card.  This is made using one of his favourite stamps from the Fun & Fast Notes stamp set that retired some time ago, but as hedgehogs are one of his favourite animals I won't ever sell this set.  I used sentiments from Something to Say, with the second matching sentiment "Love You Always" stamped on the inside of the card.  I wanted to keep it fairly masculine so used some of the corrugated card stock, and then added a strip of Real Red behind the Early Espresso strip punched with the cute Confetti Hearts Border Punch.

Happy Stamping
Monique

CASE-ing the Catty #43 - Artistic Expression

 Oops, any of my frequent visitors might have noticed that my post went live without any content!!!  I had scheduled the post with plans to write up the content after work, but got invited out for drinks so didn't get home in time! At least I am not toooooo late : )

This week on CASE-ing the Catty we are taking inspiration from the Artistic Expressions section of the Annual Catalogue (pp 111-134).  Like last week this is a fairly large section of the catalogue with lots and lots of samples to take inspiration from.  I chose the pretty flower card at the top of page 119.

For my card I chose to use the pretty Birthday Blossoms stamp set along with Petite Petals, I just love CASE-ing a card with different products that gives a similar look.  I also liked the pretty floral side of the Neutrals DSP so used that instead of the diagonal stripes. 

Hop on over to Emma's blog to see her pretty creation. 

Happy Stamping
Monique

CASE-ing the Catty #42 - Everyday

Have you had a good look at the Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue's Everyday section??  It is jam packed with projects of all types, so many beautiful things! 

I had a hard time picking one to CASE this week, but after some consideration I chose this one from page 109. I think it is really soft and pretty, but I also wanted to put my own twist on it so changed out some of the stamps and colours.

I have recently purchased two new stamp sets Awesomely Artistic and Endless Birthday Wishes and thought they would go beautifully on my CASE. I changed up the colours to the more rich tones of Blackberry Bliss and Island Indigo, adding just s thin strip of the gold DSP from the neutrals stack.  I kept the medallion from Serene Silhouettes but used a flower instead of the butterfly in the original, adding some gold embossing and some gorgeous Gold Metallic Thread to give it some pop.  Take a close look at the dragonfly:

While the Blackberry Bliss was still wet I added some gold embossing powder, then carefully used a fine paintbrush to remove most of it on the wings, leaving only the edges and some of the body embossed.  This photo doesn't do it justice, it really gives the dragonfly an extra special feel.

Time to hop on over to Katheryn's blog and see what she has been inspired by.  Don't forget that you can join in too if you would like, just add a link to your creation in a comment on the main blog.

Happy Stamping
Monique

Sketch Frenzy Roses

I have had such a fun day today creating, my last card to share is one inspired by the Sketch Frenzy Friday sketch. 

I love the Timeless Elegance DSP, so vintage and pretty.  For this card I layered on Basic Black and Blushing Bride and then used a sponge dauber to add Blushing Bride to the roses on the DSP.  I chose a sentiment from Teeny Tiny Sentiments layering again on Blushing Bride, of course with so much blushing bride it had to be a wedding card!

Happy Stamping
Monique

Dragonfly Birthday

I had some fun today searching for excuses to play with my new Awesomely Artistic stamp set, and the colour challenge from Just Add Ink and the Seize the Birthday anything goes challenge were perfect. 

 

The anything goes challenge "topping" was to use embossing, and I chose the Brick Wall embossing folder for the background layer.  I originally stamped the dragonfly using just Bermuda Bay ink, but decided it needed some depth so added some Blackberry Bliss to the edges of the stamp with my sponge dauber before stamping - I like the look it gives.  The ferns are stamped in Island Indigo, and even though this isn't a traditional colour for ferns I like the effect.  The dragonflies on the background I stamped once in Smokey Slate and then stamped again without re-inking but off setting it slightly to give a sense of fluttering wings.   The gorgeous sentiment is from the hostess set Happy Birthday Everyone, I love the mixed font and size of this stamp.

Happy Stamping
Monique

Friday Mashup - Soft and Pretty

I have had some fun today playing with some new products that arrived just yesterday in a lovely brown box from Stampin' Up! When I saw this challenge from Friday Mashup and the lovely soft colours I wanted to try it out with my new Awesomely Artistic stamp set.

Because I was after a soft look I stamped the flower image in Smokey Slate and then coloured roughly using Blushing Bride and Soft Sky.

It is a bit hard to see but the frame around the sentiment is embossed in Silver Embossing powder. You can see in this picture that I have cut a vellum and card stock butterfly using the Bold Butterfly Framelits, layering them to give extra depth. 

Happy Stamping
Monique