Freshly Made Daisy

I have been having fun today, this is my second challenge entry of the day, it is so great to be creative!  This time I am using the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches, I can't believe they are up to #301 already!  I can't remember the last time I played along.

I decided to base my card on the Delightful Daisy DSP and Bundle, initially I had the DSP the other way around, but the daisy stood out better on the green. Adding some gold edged trim, sequin trim and a gold faceted gem.  The Daisy I stamped on water colour paper using Calypso Coral, then used an aqua painter to run over the image, adding Crushed Curry in places. My aim was to replicate the images in the DSP on the bottom panel. I re-stamped the daisy over the blur of colour once it had dried. The sentiment is from Happy Birthday Gorgeous, I just love the font of these sentiments, block fonts but with a whimsical flourish.

Happy Stamping
Monique

CTC #81 - Birthdays

I am so excited! This is the first CTC Blog Hop with the new Annual Catalogue that went live on 1 June. I just love a new catalogue, although my bank balance often struggles under the weight of my wish list! This week the team are taking inspiration from the Birthday section of the catalogue, pages 10 - 25.  

There are so many projects in these pages it was a bit tricky to narrow down what I wanted to CASE, and although I was tempted to ink up some of my new stamps that arrived just yesterday, I decided that I would use a set that carried over and is just so great for birthdays, Endless Birthday Wishes. 

 The stamp set certainly lives up to its name with a total of 27 stamps, most of which are sentiments that can be mixed and matched to make an almost endless range of birthday greetings. I love mixed font sentiment, and this stamp set is perfect for that as it has a mix of both the small type and larger cursive font sentiments. I kept my creation very similar to the one in the catalogue as I wanted to highlight some new product in the two new in-colours Peekaboo Peach and Sweet Sugarplum, the yellow cake is "decorated" with Daffodil Delight.  To colour these I used my Stampin' Write Markers on the bottom two shades, then going over this a second and third time toward the base of the cake to give more depth of colour.  I used my Aqua Painter to pick up a small amount of colour for the top of the cake.  I feel the need to point out the beautiful 3/8" Ruched Ribbon which is just so pretty and available in all the new in-colours. 

  

As always we would love if you joined in with the challenge, just take inspiration from one of the images in the birthday section of the Annual Catalogue and add it or a link to your blog to the main CTC page (link above).  We choose a top pick from all the entries each month.

  

Time to hop on over to see what the lovely Simone has created in her first blog hop since returning from holiday.

Product List

Endless Birthday Wishes Photopolymer Stamp Set [140273] $28.00

Sweet Sugarplum 3/8" (1 Cm) Ruched Ribbon [141428] $14.00

Peekaboo Peach A4 Cardstock [141422] $14.00

Sweet Sugarplum Classic Stampin' Pad [141395] $11.50

Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] $15.00

Happy Stamping
Monique

Mojo Birthday

I have had some time this week to play at my craft desk which has been really lovely.  I spotted the sketch challenge at Mojo Monday and thought it would be perfect for a card I needed to make for my nephew's 16th birthday.

I wanted to keep it masculine but also a bit fun, so used my Bohemian DSP and embossing folder and carried the colours through the card.  This is my first card with the Number of Years stamp set from the Occasions catalogue, I am really hoping that this one makes it into the next annual catalogue.

I wanted to send my nephew a gift card, so made a little pocket that sits on the inside of the front panel of the card.  I love how the colours on the gift card tie in with the colours of the card, I am sure he will like it, even if he doesn't appreciate the coordination lol.  

Happy Stamping
Monique

CTC 63 - It's My Party

I just love birthdays, especially when they involve parties, so this week's challenge hop is right up my alley as we are taking inspiration from the It's My Party section of the Occasions Catalogue. This is the pages from 4-7, don't worry if this doesn't seem to be a lot of pages, they are jam packed with inspirational creations.  You don't have to copy a project directly, or even use the same stamp sets or colours, just use the catalogue sample to inspire you.

I have taken inspiration from the card on the right in the above photo, which appears on page 5 of the catalogue.

Here is my card, you can see that I have used the basic sketch but changed up the colours and stamps! I have used the lovely Flowering Fields, one of the Sale-A-Bration stamp sets you can earn for free from now until 31st March with any $90 purchase from the Stampin' Up range, which also includes the retired and weekly specials so you can get a real bargain at this time of year.  I added some Washi Tape, Silver Thread and Faceted Button, as well as a strip of Bohemian DSP.

Time to hop on over to see what Jackie has created 

                                                                     

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Happy Stamping
Monique

More Botanical Blooms

I saw this sketch at the CASE This Sketch challenge and thought it would indeed be a challenge so decided to stretch myself a little and give it a go.

You know how sometimes you have a gem of an idea in your mind, and then your creativity just flows and you pull it off perfectly? Well this was an experience like that, and it doesn't come often!  It started with the long leaf framelit to cut the vellum into the two pieces, then adding the washi tape to hide the adhesive I used to attach it to the card. The best part about the Vellum is that it is one of the coordinating Sale-A-Bration products that you can earn for free! From there I had to use Blackberry Bliss as one of the flower colours, and I think it contrasts so beautifully with Crushed Curry so I just started to layer the flowers until I got them how I liked them.  I decided to colour the "stem" of the leaf cut out both to highlight it and again to cover some of the use of adhesive.  

This is a close up of the flowers to show how I added some of the amazing new Wink of Stella Glitter Brush to add subtle sparkle to the edges of some of the flowers, the photo really doesn't do it justice, it is such a pretty soft shimmer.  Finally I added a metal rimmed pearl to the largest flower and more simple pearls to the smaller flowers. I am so happy with how this card evolved and came together.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Happy Stamping
Monique

Blushing Bride Blooms

 I love having time to craft on the weekends and this weekend has been one of those, although you won't get to see a couple of the projects for a while as they are for an upcoming Blog Hop. One I can show you was inspired by this lovely colour combination from Colour Q, I think it was the cute little baby outfit that caught my eye as much as the colours.  I have a relative who has recently given birth to twin baby girls quite prematurely, and they have been on my mind a lot lately. In good new the girls are doing well and are approaching their expected due date and getting stronger and bigger by the day.  Anyway, onto my creation.

As those of you who visit my blog regularly, you will know that I am loving the new Botanical Blooms bundle of products, and again they were my go-to set for this card.  I knew the Blushing Bride and Melon Mambo would go beautifully together, and I have used Pool Party in the past for leaves and I think they work well here.  The sentiment is from the Tin of Cards stamp set and goes perfectly in the space created by the cut out leaf framelit.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

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

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

CASE-ing the Catty #40 - Gift Packaging

Don't you just love gifts, I love shopping for them, picking out the perfect something for someone and then I absolutely love packaging the gift up so it looks just right.  Sometimes I make boxes to perfectly fit a gift, sometimes I just choose some really pretty wrapping, but I think the way a gift is presented gives the recipient a little something extra.  So you can imagine my excitement at this week's CASE-ing the Catty challenge - taking inspiration from the Gift Packaging section.

I took inpsiration from one of the cute gift bags on page 56, but changed up the colour scheme to match the Bohemian DSP.  

In keeping with the theme I sponged the Kraft Tag a Bag Gift Bags using Island Indigo and one of the Happy Patterns stensils.  I accentuated some of the diamonds with the smallest stamp from Bohemian Borders using Blackberry Bliss.  The sentiment is from Tin of Cards stamp set, giving the whole bag some extra pop with silver accents.

Hop on over to Julia's Blog and check out the cute bag she has CASEd.

Happy Stamping
Monique

CASE-ing the Catty - Thanks

Welcome to another CASE-ing the Catty Blog Hop, this week we are taking inspiration from the Thanks section of the Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue - did I mention it has just recently been released? Just because it is a new catalogue doesn't me you have to use new product to join in, just take inspiration in some way from pages 13 to 18.  Don't forget that the front page of each section has a heap of samples too.

I have never tried the bokeh technique before and wanted to give it a go for this challenge.  I CASE-ed the card on page 14, but because I don't send many thank yous I changed it up to be a birthday version instead.  I was pretty happy with how this turned out, but think it is a bit dark, so next time will use lighter colours.  I think also doing it on watercolor paper meant that the sentiments didn't have as crisp an image.

I used stamps from a few different sets for the main panel, and added a few Blushing Bride and Bermuda Bay sequins for some bling.

Don't forget that you can join in by adding a comment to the CASE-ing the Catty Blog with a link to your project, and one of the team will add you in.

Time to hop on over to Emma's blog

Happy Stamping
Monique

CASE-ing the Catty - Birthday

Welcome to another CASE-ing the Catty Blog Hop, this week we are taking inspiration from the Birthday section of the Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue.  If you want to play along, just add a comment to the main CASE-ing the Catty blog and we'll add you to the hop.  Just take inspiration from some aspect of the birthday section.

Stampin' Up! Card - I took my inspiration from this card on page 11 - I just love the stamp set and it was a cute simple layout.

My Card - I just adore the Bohemian DSP, and thought it would be a fun way to brighten  up my CASE card.  I used the matching Bohemian Washi Tape under the little banner, and think my take on the card gives it a bit more of a masculine feel.

Time to hop around and see what the rest of the design team have created, next stop is Rebecca at The Paper Stamp Addict. Don't forget you can join in too,

Happy Stamping
Monique

CASE-ing the Catty #18 - Occasions Birthday

Welcome to another CASE-ing the Catty challenge, this week the theme is to take inspiration from the Birthday section of the Occasions Catalogue.  

I just love this stamp set  From the Herd with this quirky set of farm animals.  There are so many possibilities with this card, and I have taken inspiration from page 15, but have given this card lots more colour than in the catalogue.  I loved the way they made it look like a Polaroid camera photograph and wanted to re-create that.  The Washi Tape is just perfect for adding some extra colour and balance to the card and is just so easy to use.  I fancied up the inside by adding a panel of Whisper White with just a strip of Washi Tape along the bottom. It is amazing how much this adds to a card.

I hope you come and join in this week, to do so is simple, just look through the Occasions Catalogue and take inspiration from one of the samples in the Birthday section.  You can use colors or layout and mix it up with different stamp sets.  Pop over to CASE-ing the Catty to check out what the rest of the Design Team have created this week.

Happy Stamping
Monique

CASE-ing The Catty Week 6 - Kids

Time for another CASE-ing the Catty Challenge, well actually I am a little late putting up my post for the challenge!  I thought I had done it mid-week only to find it had slipped my mind!  This week we are focusing on the "Kids" section f the catalogue starting at page 82.

 Challenge Guidelines:

• Create a new project for this challenge
• Mention CASE-ing the Catty in your blog post and link back to the challenge page 
• Make note in your post of which project from the catalogue gave you inspiration for your project
• Use Stampin' Up! only products (current or retired) in your project
• Have fun and inspire others

I don't make a lot of kids cards, so thought this might be a bit of a challenge (no pun intended) for me this week, then I realised that I didn't have to make a kids card, just be inspired by one that was in the catalogue.  I chose the sketch from page 86, also keeping to similar colours.  I added some Silver Glimmer Paper, secured with a cute little staple using the Handheld Stapler that is coming in the Holiday Catalogue.  I also added some silver stars to give some added bling!  The cake is from Sketched Birthday, and the sentiment from Age Awareness.

It would be really easy to change up the colours and give this layout a more masculine feel.

I hope I have helped inspire you to join in this week, if you need a bit more inspiration pop over to CASE-ing the Catty and see what the other design team members have created.

Happy Stamping
Monique