CTC #546 - CASE A Die Or Punch Project

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 projects featuring dies or punches. There aren't any set catalogue pages for this challenge as they are all through our catalogues!

I was inspired by this card from page 84 of the Annual Catalogue, I loved the simplicity of this card and the how the images are used on both the background and as the focal image. 

For my card I chose bolder colours, using Pretty Peacock for the card base and utilising the Extraordinary Flora Washi Tape adhered to Whisper White cardstock and die cut using the coordinating dies. I played around with the background, first trying a more subtle effect stamping with VersaMark, but I preferred the effect of using Pretty Peacock with it's stronger colouring.  The sentiment is from Greetings For All Mix & Match Ephemera Pack, which is one of my favourite products of all time.

  

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

  

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

Happy Stamping
Monique

Card Swap Chain Series 4C - CASE-ing Sharni

BADGE

Back in May 2025 we started the fourth series of the Card Swap Chain, arranged by the lovely Tracy Held. The idea is the we each made a card and sent it to another person in the chain. That person would CASE (Copy and Share Everything or Copy and Selectively Edit) the card and send it to the next person who would in turn CASE it and send it on. There are 10 of us in this chain so quite a few variations between the first and last card, and these blog hops take you on the journey through the CASEing process. 

Sharni's Card

This chain started with this bright and cheerful card from Sharni, I love this little bee stamp and the coordinating papers and at times regret not adding it to my stash! If you didn't start the hop with this card then pop on over to Sharni's blog to see the progression of her design.

I was third in the chain for this card so my card holds fairly true to the original, even down do the embossed panel, use of DSP and contrasting strips of colour around the image and DSP. I used Celebratory Sips paired with Mossy Meadow Two-Toned cardstock, with a sliver of Secret Sea peeking out from under the DSP triangles.  Keeping with Cindy's card (the one I received) I cut my focal images out of one of the sheets of DSP, adding the sentiment from the coordinating Cheers & Sips stamp set. Even though the embossing folder is from a very different suite of products I think it adds a touch of elegance to my card.  

I thought I'd share the inside of my card too as it uses a little trick of mine (not exclusively mine but I do use it frequently). You know how some images are incomplete on a sheet of DSP as they run over the edge of the paper?  Well I use those to decorate the inside of my cards, or sometimes on a front panel, aligning the cut off edge to the edge of my panel so it looks intentional. You would never suspect this glass could have been thrown away as scrap! I love that it matches the one on the front cover. 

Time to keep hopping to see how this card was interpreted for the rest of the chain, and if it is still recognisable by the end of the chain.  What elements do you think made it all the way down the line?

Happy Stamping
Monique

CTC #545 - CASE The Online 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 projects from the Online exclusives, you can find a badge with a link on the right side of my blog.

I was inspired by this card from the projects made with the Friendliest Foliage stamp set from the On-line Exclusives.

I used the sketch and general concept of the original card to make this Christmas version, using the lovely die cuts from Branching Out dies. I usually struggle a bit with lots of layers like this card has, but I just kept popping them behind the sentiment until I was happy.  That's right, I adhered the frame first with single layer of Dimensionals, and then the sentiment with a double layer of Dimensionals and then adhered the die cuts with glue dots. 

Here's a close up, you can see I added some cute berries to the branches using Red Enamel Effects, and then because I was on a roll a little bit of Gold Enamel Effects to the edges of the leaves, and Copper to the edges of the pine cones.  I am so disappointed that these products have retired but I just couldn't help using them. 

  

I hope you are inspired to join in the challenge this week, just use 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 Kathryn has created this week.

Happy Stamping
Monique

Card Swap Chain Series 4B - CASE-ing Mandy

Back in May 2025 we started the fourth series of the Card Swap Chain, arranged by the lovely Tracy Held. The idea is the we each made a card and sent it to another person in the chain. That person would CASE (Copy and Share Everything or Copy and Selectively Edit) the card and send it to the next person who would in turn CASE it and send it on. There are 10 of us in this chain so quite a few variations between the first and last card, and these blog hops take you on the journey through the CASEing process. 

This chain started with this lovely floral fun fold card from Mandy, I love the colours she has chosen for this card. You should start this hop at Mandy's blog so you can see the progression of the card.  

I was last in the chain for this round and it is again a little surprising how so many features of the first card have followed through to my final CASE.  Not only have we kept the fun-fold going but I also returned to the floral theme with my version.

Here you can see the card opened so you can see how I decorated the inside panels with more fussy cut flowers from the Charming Day DSP. I absolutely love the colours I chose for this card, it looks so regal and perfect for a special birthday.

Time to keep hopping to see how this card was interpreted for the rest of the chain, and if it is still recognisable by the end of the chain.  What elements do you think made it all the way down the line?

Happy Stamping
Monique

Let's Craft Together Blog Hop - Non-Traditional Christmas Product

Welcome to the monthly Blog Hop by Let’s Craft Together and thank you for joining us. We are a group of multi-cultural Stampin’ Up!® demonstrators in Australia who have developed a strong friendship though our love of stamping and our admiration of each other’s style of crafting.

The challenge this month was to use a non-Christmas product to make a Christmas project!  This was a fun challenge and it had me scratching my head for a while, I did think I could do floral images coloured in Christmas colours but that didn't really grab me.  I flicked through my stamp sets for inspiration and came to Darling Dinos and knew they would be perfect.

I planned out a card with the dinosaurs on each side of the sentiment "Roar means ... in Dinosaur" knowing I'd add a Christmas sentiment in the middle.  As the card evolved I added the cute little Christmas eggs cut from Christmas Tags & More 6"x6" Specialty DSP pack sponging the edges so they stood out from the green and red dinosaurs. I also used some of the pre-cut images from the DSP pack for the gifts between the two dinos.  I was initially disappointed to find that I didn't have any Christmas sentiments that would fit, then I remembered the Greetings for You Mix & Match Ephemera Pack which had the perfect sized sentiment. To make it stand out I added Real Red with my blending brush and popped it up on Dimensionals.  A few stamped-off fir trees in the background and I think it all came together really well.  I know my grandson will love it!

Time to hop on over to the next blog in the hop, just follow the link in the list below (if I am last in the list just go to Carolina's blog at the start and keep hopping until you get back to where you started from.

Happy Stamping

Monique

Card Swap Chain Series 4A - CASE-ing Julia

Back in May 2025 we started the fourth series of the Card Swap Chain, arranged by the lovely Tracy Held. The idea is the we each made a card and sent it to another person in the chain. That person would CASE (Copy and Share Everything or Copy and Selectively Edit) the card and send it to the next person who would in turn CASE it and send it on. There are 10 of us in this chain so quite a few variations between the first and last card, and these blog hops take you on the journey through the CASEing process. 

Julia's Card

This chain started with this lovely fun-fold card from Julia, I love how she used the scenery DSP on the front of her card. You should start this hop at Julia's blog so you can see the progression of the card, you can find it first in the blog hop list at the end of this post.  

I was ninth in the chain, and it is great to see that the fun-fold has continued through the chain. My choice of DSP was the lovely Modern Christmas collection, as was the sentiment. The layered labels were cut using the Traditional Labels dies.

This is a look at the inside of the card, I used trees stamped and cut using the Ornamental Christmas Bundle, using gold embossing powder to keep with the very Lux look of the card. The writing panel is on the back, and left blank to leave lots of room for a nice Christmas greeting. 

Time to keep hopping to see how this card was interpreted for the rest of the chain, and if it is still recognisable by the end of the chain.  What elements do you think made it all the way down the line?

Happy Stamping
Monique

CTC #542 – CASE The Colours of Autumn Toile 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 of the Autumn Toile DSP

Here is a better look at the colours for this challenge: Cajun Craze, Pecan Pie, Early Espresso, Gray Granite, Mossy Meadow, and Very Vanilla. I will be honest, these are not colours I reach for often, at least not together and it took me a while to work out what to do with them.

When I struggle with colours, I often reach for my Aquapainter and Watercolour paper as it lets me play around with the colours, getting lighter shades and blending different ones together.  I chose the flowers from Charming Day and used all the main colours except Early Espresso and Very Vanilla to colour the flowers and leaves. The sentiment from Sweet Blooms seemed to pair well with the design and the floral images.  The twine is a newer addition to my stash from the Black and White and Gold Baker't Twine from the Modern Christmas Suite Collection. 

  

I hope you are inspired to join in the challenge this week, just use colours in the Autumn Toile 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 the lovely and talented Julia has created this week.

Happy Stamping
Monique

CTC #541 - CASE A Mini Catty Bundle

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 bundle section of the September to December Mini Catalogue, pages 49-54.

I was inspired by this card from page 49 of the Annual Catalogue, I liked the simple layout and the monochromatic background. 

I chose Cherry Cobbler as my card base and used coordinating sheets from two DSP packs, both carry over from the last Annual Catalogue, Regal Distressed Patterns and Season of Elegance. This is another one of my "no-stamping" cards using one of the new DSP packs from on-line exclusives Modern Christmas, cutting the Christmas trees from one of the sheets. The sentiment is from Greetings for You Mix & Match Ephemera Pack. I love how Stampin' Up! products make card making so easy.

I used another trimmed piece of the Modern Christmas DSP and strip of Seasons of Elegance to carry the images into the inside of the card.  I added some bling to the front using the Traditional Sparkling Sequins, which I have used on so many of my cards recently. I chose the red sequins rather thank gold to give a subtle effect. 

  

I hope you are inspired to join in the challenge this week, just use the projects in the bundles section of the mini catalogue (pages 49-54) to inspire your creativity, then post a picture of your project to the CTC Facebook page.

  

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

Happy Stamping
Monique

CTC #539 - CASE The Peaceful Garden Suite

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 Peaceful Garden Suite which can be found on pages 32-35 of the Mini Catalogue. This suite was available as a very early pre-purchase for demonstrators so you may have seen projects using these products for some time and not realise it was from the latest Mini Catalogue. It is a great suite featuring mostly shades of blue and beige/brown - Basic Beige, Crumb Cake, Pecan Pie, Cloud Cover, Misty Moonlight and Secret Sea. It has a Christmassy theme, but a lot of non-specific patterns as well so a really handy addition to your collection.

I was inspired by this card from page 34, I liked the simplicity of featuring strips of DSP over some lovely glimmer paper which is also part of this lovely collection of products. 

I kept with the basic idea of the strips of DSP, but because I use metric card sizes my card has a little bit more showing than the original (metric cards are longer and thinner than those in inches). I also mixed up which of the glimmer and DSP patterns I used and swapped out the sentiment for on from the Traditional Labels Bundle. Definitely worth checking that bundle out, I think it has a selection of some of my favourite sentiments and label shapes ever. 

  

I hope you are inspired to join in the challenge this week, just use the projects associated with the Peaceful Garden Suite 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

CTC #357 - CASE The Traditions Of Christmas Suite

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 Traditions of Christmas Suite on pages 21-27 of the September to December Mini Catalogue. This is one of my favourite suites, combining traditional Christmas colours with pinks and blues to give it a modern twist. There are beautiful floral images as well as great label shapes with festive sentiments that fit within them.

I was inspired by this card from page 21 of the catalogue as I love the way the floral pieces are layered behind the sentiment. In this sample the red flowers behind the red label reminded me of the old style Christmas tree ornaments that my Nana used to have on her tree (not the round baubles you get these days.

I decided to take a literal approach to the ornament on the front of the card, and while I have otherwise kept to the original layout, decided to focus on the non-traditional Pool Party as the primary colour of my card and DSP players.  The DSP is from Nests of Winter, a carry over product in the Annual Catalogue, I love that it also has a simple lined pattern much as the original card.  The embellishments are from the Traditions of Christmas called Traditional Sparkling Sequins, a name I find a little misleading as these really aren't sequins at all, but rather little dots cut from the glimmeriest (my new word) glimmer paper and really give a lovely sparkle to the card. 

  

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

  

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

Happy Stamping
Monique