Card Swap Chain - Series 6 - Sue's Card

In April 2026 we started the sixth series of the Card Swap Chain, arranged by the lovely Tracy Held. The idea behind this is that everyone in the group made a card, then sent it to one other person in the group. Each of us CASEd the card we received and posted it to the next person in the chain, there were 10 of us in total. Each time the card was CASEd it was changed slightly until the last round when the final copy of our first card was returned to us.  This is such a fun process, and it is now time to reveal each of the cards in the chain. With 10 of us in the chain there is definitely opportunity for a few variations to sneak in between the first and the last card, so join us on this blog hop journey through the CASEing process.

This chain started with this pretty card from Sue. If you haven't started the hop at her blog I would encourage you to do go there first, even though I directly CASEd Sue's card, you will learn more from her about the products she used on this lovely card. You can find her blog listed at the top of the participant list below.

I was second in the chain so you can see the two cards have remained very similar. I used the pretty Bloom Boutique DSP for my quilt effect and I love the soft look of this paper. The base of my card is Golden Glow, a colour I wasn't really sure about when I first saw it but it is growing on me as time progresses! The sentiment is from my favourite Mix and Match Greetings for All Ephemera Pack, if you don't have these yet, I would really encourage you to do so, they make creating quick and easy cards so simple. 

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 #593 - CASE A 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 bundles featured in the catalogue, this can be a punch or die bundle. I love a bundle, not just for the 10% discount, but also for the coordination they provide for my projects. 

I was inspired by this card from page 43 of the catalogue, I think this little koala is so cute and I loved the varied fonts used for the sentiment. 

I used the Creative Celebrations Mix & Match 6x6 DSP pack for this card, not just the background panel, but this DSP pack also has sheets of punch out ephemera which I used for the wreath. The sentiment I chose is from Pretty Poinsettia, in part because it had the mixed font, allowing me to fussy cut it and separate the two words to reflect the original project. I was a bit sneaky in how I cut the "Joy", I didn't cut out the centre of the O, rather I stamped it again on a piece of the scrap background DSP and cut the centre out of DSP and adhered it to the word. This was much easier than trying to trim out the centre!  Do you have any tricks you use to make life a bit easier when you craft? Let me know in the comments below.

  

I hope you are inspired to join in the challenge this week, just use the projects associated with the bundles 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 Judy has created this week.

Happy Stamping
Monique

Card Swap Chain - Series 6 - Sharni's Card

In April 2026 we started the sixth series of the Card Swap Chain, arranged by the lovely Tracy Held. The idea behind this is that everyone in the group made a card, then sent it to one other person in the group. Each of us CASEd the card we received and posted it to the next person in the chain, there were 10 of us in total. Each time the card was CASEd it was changed slightly until the last round when the final copy of our first card was returned to us.  This is such a fun process, and it is now time to reveal each of the cards in the chain. With 10 of us in the chain there is definitely opportunity for a few variations to sneak in between the first and the last card, so join us on this blog hop journey through the CASEing process.

This chain started with this gorgeous card from Sharni, if you haven't started the hop at her blog I would encourage you to do go there first, so you can see the progression of the chain. You can find her blog listed at the top of the participant list below.

I was 4th in the chain this time and you can see the elements of the card have remained the same so far.  I used the stunning Delicate Dreams DSP and In-Colour Pearlized DSP for my card, I just love the look of both of these DSPs especially the shimmer. As always it is terribly difficult to photograph to show off it's best potential.

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

Product of the Month Collaboration - Shining Stars Dies

Welcome to the October 2026 Product of the Month (POM) Blog Hop! The POM is an exclusive product released each month can be earned for a greatly reduced cost, $9 in Australia, with the purchase of $125 in product.   So a group of demonstrators decided to help showcase these products we would run a blog hop each month to give ideas.

The Product of the Month (POM) for October is the Shining Stars Dies, an amazing set of 23 dies including 7 nesting stars, 4 with stitched edging and 12 small stars perfect for cutting out multiples to decorate Christmas and other projects.  Unfortunately these gorgeous dies have now sold out in Australia, so are no longer available but we hope our projects give you lots of inspiration.

 

I knew I wanted to make a Christmas themed card for this hop, one that's design let me use multiple of the sizes of stars. I have also recently learned the technique for sanding the colour from foil that has been through an embossing folder to reveal the silver layer underneath, thanks to the Creative Carnival Retreat. I love the way my card includes both textured and smooth stars to further show the contrast.  The addition of a strip of embossed gold foil down the left of the card was a bit last minute, and I am so glad the idea cam to me as it really adds to the overall effect.  I had to keep with the gold theme and used one of the sentiments created with the Hot Foil System, and with all the stars teh "magic" of Christmas fit beautifully.

Time to keep on hopping and see what the rest of the team have created with this versatile stamp set, follow the links at the end of each blog post to make your way around the hop.

Happy Stamping
Monique

CTC #592 - CASE A Layout

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 layouts on page 13, including the extra layout ideas you can find by following the QR code on that page. You can also find them here TEMPATES.

I was inspired by this layout from the templates page. I have just been playing around with the Creative Celebrations Mix & Match DSP and it made me think of the little tags included in the cut apart sheets. I flipped the template from portrait to landscape orientation to better fit the tags.

I used three of the tags for my card, adding some cut out flowers to the tag on the right to help it tie in better with the other two. Doing this added the same floral images as well as some Hydrangea Hue for more cohesion. The foil sentiment and gold embellishments gave the card a lift and the little knots of Hydrangea Hue Bordered Ribbon adhered over the tag holes helped finish off the card.  It is hard to tell but I also added Wink of Stella to the centres of the poinsettias for a little extra sparkle. In hindsight I should have popped the tags up onto Dimensionals for extra definition, although that would have added extra bulk and might have made posting more expensive. 

  

I hope you are inspired to join in the challenge this week, just use the teplates 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 6 - Tracy's Card

In April 2026 we started the sixth series of the Card Swap Chain, arranged by the lovely Tracy Held. The idea behind this is that everyone in the group made a card, then sent it to one other person in the group. Each of us CASEd the card we received and posted it to the next person in the chain, there were 10 of us in total. Each time the card was CASEd it was changed slightly until the last round when the final copy of our first card was returned to us.  This is such a fun process, and it is now time to reveal each of the cards in the chain. With 10 of us in the chain there is definitely opportunity for a few variations to sneak in between the first and the last card, so join us on this blog hop journey through the CASEing process.

This chain started with this bright and cheerful card from Tracy, if you haven't started the hop at her blog I would encourage you to do go there first, so you can see the progression of the chain. You can find her blog listed at the top of the participant list below.

I was 7th in the chain for this round, and again there is quite a change from Tracy's card. This was one of the first cards I made with my hot foil system and I loved creating it so much. The butterflies are so easy to colour with the masks included and I love how they look.  I wanted the shimmery effect on the background but didn't have any DSP that coordinated, so I took a piece of the 2026-2028 In-Colour Pearlised DSP, and added Highland Heather with a blending brush to help it coordinate with my project. I love how this turned out and as always with foiled or shimmery projects, they never photograph as nicely as they look in person.

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

Card Swap Chain - Series 6 - Heather's Card

In April 2026 we started the sixth series of the Card Swap Chain, arranged by the lovely Tracy Held. The idea behind this is that everyone in the group made a card, then sent it to one other person in the group. Each of us CASEd the card we received and posted it to the next person in the chain, there were 10 of us in total. Each time the card was CASEd it was changed slightly until the last round when the final copy of our first card was returned to us.  This is such a fun process, and it is now time to reveal each of the cards in the chain. With 10 of us in the chain there is definitely opportunity for a few variations to sneak in between the first and the last card, so join us on this blog hop journey through the CASEing process.

This chain started with this cute little ladybug card from Heather, if you haven't started the hop at her blog I would encourage you to do go there first, so you can see the progression of the chain. You can find her blog listed at the top of the participant list below.

I was 9th in the chain, so almost at the end with only one more card before the round finished. As you can see there have been some reasonably big changes to the card through this chain, although there are some recognisable features.  My card has the round shape as the feature on the front of the card, and as a stretch contains botanical images.  For my card I used one of the hot foil sentiments, but this time trimmed it into two separate pieces as I thought it looked more balanced on the card this way.  The stamp and die bundle I used is Garden Gatherings, which I would highly recommend getting while it is still available on the Last Chance List. I have had so much fun with this set, and I believe the stamp set is carrying over even though the dies are not.

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 - Treat Packaging

Welcome to the monthly Let's Craft Together Blog Hop, thanks for joining us. We are a group of multi-cultural Stampin' Up! Demonstrators in Australia who have developed a strong friendship through our love of stamping and our admiration of each other's style of crafting. 

The challenge this month is to create some treat packaging which I think is always fun!

I decided to make this cute little basket for this challenge, it is crafted from a 6x6 piece of DSP, in this case I used the All Wrapped Up pack for this with a strip of Cherry Cobbler for the handle. I love this design because the size of the basket is determined by how far in you push the two sides, I like it at this angle and it is perfect for some sweet treats, either home made rum balls, or store bought Lindt balls!

Here is the other side of the basket, decorated with the Pretty Poinsettia bundle stamped in Cherry Cobbler and Peaceful Pine to coordinate with the DSP. You could add a little tag, or even just tie a bow around the handle to decorate. 

Time to hop on over to the next project, just follow the list below until you get back to where you started. 

Happy Stamping

Monique

Card Swap Chain - Series 6 - Ros's Card

In April 2026 we started the sixth series of the Card Swap Chain, arranged by the lovely Tracy Held. The idea behind this is that everyone in the group made a card, then sent it to one other person in the group. Each of us CASEd the card we received and posted it to the next person in the chain, there were 10 of us in total. Each time the card was CASEd it was changed slightly until the last round when the final copy of our first card was returned to us.  This is such a fun process, and it is now time to reveal each of the cards in the chain. With 10 of us in the chain there is definitely opportunity for a few variations to sneak in between the first and the last card, so join us on this blog hop journey through the CASEing process.

This chain started with this cute card from Ros, if you haven't started the hop at her blog I would encourage you to do go there first, so you can see the progression of the chain. You can find her blog listed at the top of the participant list below.

I was 6th in the chain for this round and am happy to say that the card seems to be keeping with the design vibe of Ros's original card. The colour scheme for this card came from one of my favourite recent DSP packs, Delicate Dreams, and in fact uses one of the copper foiled sheets from this pack as the background. I added Hydrangea Hue to the DSP to bring out the colour of the flowers which were stamped using Fragrant Layers stamp set which I borrowed from a friend and really loved using.

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 #589 - CASE A Scrapbook Layout

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 scrapbook layouts in the catalogue.

I was inspired by this card from page 29 of the catalogue. It appealed because it was a double page spread with a good number of photographs. This allowed me to document my husband's recent birthday that had two parts, firstly a trip to Floriade followed by High Tea at a nearby venue.

I have to report that this page took me a day to complete, that is how rusty I am at scrapping!  I have made two pages earlier in the year, but they just had one photo per page which I think was a bit easier. I am happy with how this spread came together, I wanted to capture the vibe of Floriade by incorporating the floral die cuts on both pages. The DSP is from Floral Charm pack which to be honest I thought had retired, but happy to discover it is still available. 

I liked decided the Extraordinary Life dies would be great to add some elements to the page without detracting too much.  I love the large & die and it was the perfect addition to tie in the two aspects of this birthday celebration.  The little hexagonal die cuts were a last minute addition and helped tie in the hexagonal die cuts on the following page.  This page documents the first part of our outing, the trip to Floriade to see the gorgeous spring blooms, we had a lovely time and the flowers were perfect with most of the blooms open. Given we have had some cold days recently it was lovely to have a warm sunny day.  The picture of Gav and I will go into a flip flap and applied the the page protector once the page is installed in my album, this allows me to show off more images of the stunning flowers. 

The second page captures the delightful High Tea we had at The Marion, it was a table service event and we were given the savoury course with a glass of bubbles and then the sweet course with a pot of tea. We had a stunning view over Lake Burley Griffin with the Captain Cook Memorial Jet just outside our window. In trying to capture the savoury course and fountain in the same photo the items on the table were burred and quite dark.  My solution for this was to add a different photo showing what was on our savoury plate right over the top of the large picture.  I know I should have hand written my journaling, and I often do, but I wanted to fill this space so typed it up on the computer and printed it out so it would better fit.  Even though both pages have a similar layout and use the same DSP and cardstock, I think the little hexagons with the florals helps link these two pages together.

  

I hope you are inspired to join in the challenge this week, just use any of the scrapbook projects to inspire your creativity, then post a picture of your project to the CTC Facebook page. While I have chosen to create a scrapbook page, you don't have to, rather you could use the project to inspire a card or 3D item too.

  

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

Happy Stamping
Monique

Card Swap Chain - Series 6 - Danielle's Card

In April 2026 we started the sixth series of the Card Swap Chain, arranged by the lovely Tracy Held. The idea behind this is that everyone in the group made a card, then sent it to one other person in the group. Each of us CASEd the card we received and posted it to the next person in the chain, there were 10 of us in total. Each time the card was CASEd it was changed slightly until the last round when the final copy of our first card was returned to us.  This is such a fun process, and it is now time to reveal each of the cards in the chain. With 10 of us in the chain there is definitely opportunity for a few variations to sneak in between the first and the last card, so join us on this blog hop journey through the CASEing process.

This chain started with fun card created by Danielle, don't you just love how she cut the arch die! I
f you haven't started the hop at her blog I would encourage you to do go there first, so you can see the progression of the chain. You can find her blog listed at the top of the participant list below.

I was last in the chain  for this round, and it boy has it changed along the way! I kept to the general layout of the cute card I received from Ros, changing up the DSP and colours.  Funny story with this card is that I while I made it I had my brother in mind, thinking I would send it to him for his upcoming birthday.  I realised once finished that of course I would be sending the card to Dannielle to close out this round!  Of course I have since made another for my brother!!!

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 #588 - CASE The Neutral Noel 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 projects associated with the Neutral Noel Suite of products. This is a collection that I didn't purchase as I love more colours on my Christmas cards, but I do love how these projects look, and the little houses are so cute!

I was inspired by this card from page 17 of the catalogue. I was intrigued by the oval shape, and wanted to try and recreate it with products I do own.

I decided to use the Everyday Arches to cut a sheet of All Wrapped Up DSP, cutting one with the pattern right side up and the other with the pattern upside down, then overlapping them. To cover the join I added a strip of ribbon and bow which went beautifully with the gold foil on the deer and sentiment.  The panel behind the oval is Peaceful Pine Two Tone cardstock run through the Lovely Stripes 3D embossing folder.  The background is stamped in Versamark on Crumb Cake using stamps from Graceful Evergreen Deer, the stamp set that bundles with the gorgeous deer foiling dies. 

  

I hope you are inspired to join in the challenge this week, just use the projects associated with the Neutral Noel 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 Julia has created this week.

Happy Stamping
Monique