CTC #109 - Anything Goes

Welcome to the final CTC blog hop for 2016, don't worry though, we will only be taking a short break and will then be back again on 8 January.  For our final hop of  the year we are taking our inspiration from any of the projects in either the Annual or Holiday catalouges, talk about a lot of inspiration!!!

I would like to take this opportunity to say a very happy Christmas to everyone who follows our hops each week. I wish you all a peaceful and happy season.

 I was inspired by the wonderful Perfectly Wrapped kit this week, I just love this kit, its bright colours and cute designs it is perfect for a wide range of occasions.

I have been really busy at work lately and a number of my colleagues have been particularly supportive through the last crazy two months so I wanted to give them a little gift to show how grateful I have been for their unwavering support. These little gift boxes were just perfect and I filled them with chocolates.

Here is a close up of the card. I used the Perfectly Wrapped stamp set and matching colours. I wanted to carry through the shape of the tag from the box and I think it has all come together pretty well.  I have to confess the striped DSP is now retired, but was too perfect for this card not to use. I chose the Note Cards for this project because of their cute size which is just right to make the tag on the front pop. I love decorating the envelopes to match as well, although for this card I haven't decorated the inside as I wanted heaps of room to write my message.

  

I hope you have been inspired to join us this week, just add a picture of your project inspired by any product in our current catalogues, to the link above. 

  

Time to head on over to see which project has inspired Kelly this week.

Happy Stamping

Monique

CTC #108 - Holiday Kits

Welcome to another week at CASEing the Catty, this week we are taking our inspiration from the wonderful kits in the holiday catalaogue.  I just love the idea of the kits as they make creating so easy for both experienced and new crafters.

I took my inspiration from the Stitched With Cheer kit pictured above. Even though I was tempted to showcase Tin of Tags again, I thought I would do something new. I don't have this kit but took it as a challenge to create them out of supplies I have on hand.

I kept all my cards fairly close to the original, and the first one is no exception.  I did use gold sequins instead of the holly leaves, to accent the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Sentiments.  

For my second card I used the lovely snowflake image from Holly Jolly Greetings to create the large white image, and the small green snowflake stamped on the DSP is from Peace This Christmas. I couldn't completley resist Tin of Tags in this challenge so used it for the sentiment.  

I pulled out another Christmas stamp set for my third card, creating the trees using triangles of DSP. The small snowflakes on the background are stamped using StazOn White to stamp the image from Perpetual Birthday Calendar.

I chose to make all of the cards using the Notecards, they are just perfect with their matching envelopes, and with both white and crumb cake available are really versatile. Did you also spot my faux stitching on each card?

  

I hope you have enjoyed your visit, and that you might be inspired to join us this week, simply take inspiration from the kits in the holiday catalogue and add your image to the link above.

  

Time to hop on over and see what Julia has created to inspire you.

Happy Stamping

Monique

ESAD Sneak Peek Blog Hop

Welcome to the ESAD Sneak Peek Blog Hop for the new Occasions and Sale-A-Bration catalogues that will be available from 4 January.

I chose to get my three faviourite products from the catalogue in my pre-order Beautiful You stamp set, Falling in Love DSP and the gorgeous Watercolour Pencils.  I have incorporated all three in my cards today.  The Beautiful You stamp set has three lovely ladies, which I have named Dancing Lady, Umbrella Lady and Stylish Lady. 

The first card uses Dancing Lady but I have added the umbrella from one of the other images.  I did so by stamping it onto Floral Boutique DSP and then just cutting out the umbrella, adding a handle simply by drawing a straight line to her hand.

I love using the watercolour pencils to colour, here I have used them simply as pencils, using a range of pressures and layers to build up colour and add depth to the image.

As you can see in this close-up  I have added some colouring to the umbrella using the lovely watercolour pencils.

My second card uses the Stylish Lady and this was one of those cards that I imagined in my head but took a bit to get down on paper just how I wanted it. I am not sure it is 100% right yet, but I am pretty happy that I have achieved the effect I was aiming for.

On this front panel I stamped the lady onto acetate then flipped it over so that it was in reverse, I have cut an oval out of the front of the card to create a window to the inside.

 Here is the inside of the card on which you can see I have added the "mirror" using silver foil paper.  I wanted the recipeient to see the two beautiful ladies on the front, then open the card and effectively see herself in the mirror as she read the sentiment.

  

Time to hop on over to Josie's blog to see what she has been inspired to create in her sneak peek.

Happy Stamping

Monique

CTC #107 - Holiday Punch Bundles

Hi all, welcome to another week at CTC, this week we are taking inspiration from the Punch Bundles in the Holiday catalogue. 

I had a little struggle with this one because (as hard as it is to believe) I don't have any of the punch bundles!!!  I settled on the card in the lower left of the above picture.

I decided to use one of the Annual Catalogue punch bundles in my CASE, the Foxy Friends bundle. This is a super cute bundle and is so versatile, with a number of animals able to be created, so I made the little cat and turned the sketch into a baby card.  Making this reminded me of one of the keepsakes that was on my daughter's hospital crib when she was born, although that had a holy picture. I haven't thought about that for a long time, in fact it wasn't until the card was finished that it caught my eye and the memory came fludding back!

Here is a picture of the inside which I also deocrated with the Foxy Friends stamp set.  The leaves at the top of the insert use the curved stamp from the set:

The photo isn't great, but here you can see the stamp and the stamped image. This is one of my favourite things about the photopolymer stamps, I put one end of the stamp on my clear block and then pulled it until it straightened the image out and pressed it onto the block.  It held and stamped perfectly.

  

I hope I, or one of the other team members has inspired you to join in this week, just add your picture to the main CTC page by following the link above.

  

Time to head on over to see what Jackie has been inspired to create.

Happy Stamping
Monique