CTC #93 - Artistic Expressions

Welcome to another week of CASEing the Catty, this is our final week of looking at the Annual Catalogue, for a while anyway, as next week we will start to CASE our way through the Holiday catalouge.  But I am getting ahead of myself!  We are taking another look at the Artistic Expression section this week, pages 95 - 157.

I chose this lovely card on page 95 as my inspiration. I love the simplicity of it and haven't used the Circle of Spring stampset as much as I should.

I decided to keep the layout almost identical to the original and try a different colour scheme with the use of a DSP layer.  I think the monochromatic colour scheme really works for this, and in keeping with the watercolour feel of the DSP I used a blender pen to colour the main image.  White StayzOn was used to stamp the bow.

The inside of the card is simply decorated with a panel of Whisper White with a strip of Floral Boutique Designer Washi Tape along the bottom, you can just see it peeping out in the image.

  

We welcome your entries into the challenge each week and choose a winner from the whole month so add a link to your creation on the challenge page above.

  

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

Happy Stamping
Monique

Paisley Fishy

I am so blessed to be a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator for many, many reasons, but one of the best is having contact with some really amazing and creative people.  This morning I was blown away by the creativity of a fellow demonstrator Valerie Sanchez and her use of my favourite bundle from the new Holiday Catalogue - Paisleys & Posies. I can't add a link because she posted in a private Facebook page, but the creative credit for this belongs firmly with Valerie. 

I am really not sure how a mind looks at this set of framelits and sees this cute little fish! Valerie was kind enough to share which of the framelits she used, and after consulting with my daughter who has a great eye for colour made this little fellow. Yes I have used the new copper metallic paper on his fins, eye and tail, I just love how it adds something special. It took a little while for me to choose a card layout for him and made a mask from the swirly birds framelits and sponged Bermuda Bay a bit randomly. I like how the different levels of colour give a sense of underwater scene. 

The sentiment from Designer Tin of Cards on the front seemed to go well with this sentiment from the same set on the inside.  I love the little flourish and heart from Paisleys & Posies stamp set.

Happy Stamping
Monique

CTC #92 - Everyday Occasions

Hi and welcome to another CASEing the Catty blog hop, this week we are taking another crack at the Everyday Occasions section of the Annual Catalogue.  

This is one of those big sections of the catalogue with so many inspirational images.  I chose the card on the right in the above image from page 86.

 While I kept a few things the same, like the use of the gorgeous Serene Scenery DSP stack and the general layout, I also changed it up a bit too.  I chose one of the other papers in the stack and used some of the wonderful new bakers twine that is coming in the Holiday Catalogue next month.  Such a great set of twine, you get three rolls to tie in with the traditional Christmas colours - Garden Green and Cherry Cobbler, with the third being a really cute gold twine. I wouldn't normally put gold with a natural/organic themed card, but I think it really goes with the lovely gold heads of the plants.

I used the cute little line of dots stamp from Perfectly Wrapped stamp set and the sentiment from Paisleys & Posies.  It is really hard to see the sentiment, no matter how many pictures I took, it just wouldn't come up well in any of them.  The sentiment says "I thank you for your part in my journey" and is from another new product in the Holiday Catalogue.

  

If you would like to join the challenge this week, please add a link to your project to the CTC Blog using the link above.

  

Time to hop on over to Kathryn's blog to see what she has created this week.

Happy Stamping
Monique

Perfectly Wrapped Project Kit Tip

I have been having fun today making up one of each of the boxes from the Perfectly Wrapped Project Kit. You can see the full kit made up in the picture above.

I was a little disappointed to learn that the frill on the smallest box was adhered directly onto the box and would be torn when the box was opened. I knew there had to be a way to keep the look of the box and frill without having to damage it when the box is opened.

I decided the simplest way would be to add the frill to a belly band in matching Mint Macaron that could be easily slipped on and off without damage.  I cut a strip of the long side of an A4 sheet that was just under 1.5cm (I actually think 1.3 would work a little better).  I added four strips of the ruffle by running a very fine strip of Tombow glue down the centre and adhering the first to the card stock, and then layering the others on top.  An additional tip to get the ruffle to work nicely is to slightly off-set each layer.

By adding the fine frill to the belly band it also gives it more strength and reduces the risk of it getting torn accidentally.

I hope this has been a helpful tip for this little box.

Happy Stamping
Monique

CTC #91 - Birthdays

Welcome to another week of CTC, this week we are re-visiting the birthday section on the Annual Catalogue. I have said before how much I love birthdays, so this section filled with beautiful projects is right up my alley.

Having browsed through the pages I settled on this image as my inspiration, I loved how the mat goes right to the sides and just a bit of the base card colour peeks through. 

Now as much as I love birthdays, I also love new stamp sets!  So this week inked up my brand new Paisleys & Posies stamp set from the upcoming Holiday Catalogue. I also used the Copper Embossing powder and paired it with the new Copper Foil Paper, yep you heard me right, in the new catalogue is the beautiful copper coloured metallic paper.  I was going to colour the whole paisley image, but decided to keep it minimal using Bermuda Bay and Crushed Curry.  I think this is my new favourite colour combo.  

  

I hope my entry, or the entries of the rest of the team have inspired you to join in this week, if so please add a picture of your creation on the main CTC blog at the link above.  

  

Time to hop on over and see what our guest designer Mel has created.

Happy Stamping
Monique

CTC #90 - Project Life and Kits

Welcome to another CASEing the Catty blog hop.  Quick post from me today as I am a bit late in writing it.  This week we are taking inspiration from the Kits and Project Life sections of the catalogue.

I made two projects this week, the first was inspired by the lovely Tin of Cards. I chose the Moroccan Suite inspired card in the top right hand of the picture above.

I really loved these cards and have wanted to see how I would go copying them.  I think it turned out pretty well, don't you?

My second project was CASEd from the Perfectly Wrapped Project Kit, which I am running a class on in early September.

I was delighted to see these cute little acetate boxes in the annual catalogue.  I have dressed this one up in one of my favourite colours Bermuda Bay.  The silver doily is adhered to the top of the box, and the ribbon slides off to allow easy entry into the box.  I can't wait to fill it with something yummy and give it to someone as a special treat.

  

If you want to join in this month please link your project up to the main blog.

  

Time to hop on over to Fiona's blog to see her lovely creation. Fiona is a guest designer this week, great to have her on board. 

Happy Stamping
Monique