CTC #169 - Sale-A-Bration

Welcome to another week at CASEing the Catty Sunday Blog Hop, where we take one of the lovely projects in a current Stampin' Up! catalogue and use it as inspiration in a project of our own.  The inspiration might come from the colour combination, layout or sketch, or some other feature.

This week we are looking at the current Sale-A-Bration catalogues, including the second release flyer.  This is the final month to earn Sale-A-Bration item for free before most of them are gone for good.

I took inspiration from the image on the 3rd page of the second release brochure. I have been quite drawn to these with my last Sale-A-Bration CASE coming from this set of cards too (the pink one), but this time I was drawn by the Rich Razzleberry and Pool Party combo of the bottom left card.

Much like my last challenge card I flipped the colours around so that I have Rich Razzleberry as the card base and accent, and Pool Party on the stitched circle Framelit piece. Instead of fussy cutting the leaves from DSP I cut them using the Petal Passion Bundle from the current Occasions Catalogue, choosing to use gold to bring out the small leaves on the DSP.  

I wanted to draw your attention to the sentiment for a moment, I have double cut it with another Framelit from the Petals & More Thinlit Dies, by this I mean that I cut it once then moved the Die along to make the window for the sentiment a bit shorter and a better fit.  The other thing I did with this was to cut three of the flourishy pieces, trimming one down to extend just beyond the sentiment, you can do this the same way by re-positioning the cut piece in the Framelit to cut a piece off.  I then added two more pieces to widen the piece so it created a border around the sentiment. I was totally surprised to find how well the layers lined up - zoom in on this picture and you can see where I have done the layering.  I was in a bit of a rush to make this card, so didn't take pictures of the steps, but will be doing this again soon as I  love the look and will do some step by step pictures then. 

  

I hope you are inspired to join in this week, just take your inspiration from one of the SAB catalogues and upload a picture of your project to the CTC Facebook page. 

   

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

Happy Stamping
Monique

Amazing Lavender

Having a bit of time to play with my stamps this weekend I found this sketch from CASE this Sketch and decided to play along.

As soon as I saw it I knew that I wanted to make it using Lots of Lavender Sale-A-Bration stamp set. I wanted to keep a soft feel to the card so I used White Embossing Powder on Sahara Sand cardstock, masking the bottom part of the card so the stems didn't stamp.  I then coloured the images with Stampin' Blends, Light Pink Pirouette for the flowers, and Light Old Olive for the leaves. 

I was initially going to add a sentiment on a banner, but then though the Celebrate You Thinlits Dies would be perfect, and add just a hint of sparkle to the card. I coloured the ribbon with the Dark Pink Pirouette Stampin' Blends and layered it over two pieces of Old Olive cut using the Decorative Ribbon Border Punch.  I stamped the "You" sentiment in White Craft Ink using Crazy About You stamp set.

Happy Stamping
Monique

CTC #145 - Beachy Little Christmas

Welcome to another week at CASEing the Catty Sunday Challenge, where we take a look at different sections of the current Stampin' Up! catalogues, and take inspiration from the great projects within that section.

This week we are looking at the Merry Little Christmas section of the Holiday Catalogue, pages 10 -19.  While this is only 9 pages there are soooo many samples from tags, to packaging to cards. 

When I first saw this section of the catty I fell in love, in particular with the Merry Little Christmas mega suite, and knowing that we would CASE this section at some point I was sure I would CASE one of the projects from that suite.  However I was also really quite drawn to the above images from page 18 of the catalogue, particularly the one on the left and top right.  I chose the layout of the card on the left, and the background stamping from the card on the top right.

While I don't own the Beachy Little Christmas stamp set, it is on my wish list, and I was lucky enough to have a play date with my friend Cathy who let me have a play with hers. To link my project with the Merry Little Christmas suite I used one of the sheets of DSP from the coordinating pack to create the two borders.  I usually do a border all the way around but quite like the idea of just strips down each side, it is the perfect way to frame a longer central image like the tree and sentiment on this card.   I used Watercolour Pencils to colour the tree, and love all the little sea creatures used as ornaments, perfect for the summer Christmas we have here in Australia.

There are a couple of cute single stamps in the set, one I used on the background, and another I used on the inside of the card. Isn't this little crab holding the mistletoe cute? Still, not sure I would be giving him a Christmas kiss! He reminds me of one of the little soldier crabs that I used to see running in swarms across the sands in summer. 

  

I hope we have inspired you to join in by CASEing one of the beautiful projects in the Holiday catalogue, just upload a picture to the CTC Facebook page.

  

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

Happy Stamping
Monique

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 #133 - Love and Sympathy

Welcome to another week at CASEing the Catty Sunday Blog Hop, 

This week we are taking our inspiration from the Love and Sympathy section of the Annual Catalouge, pages 86 - 101.

I took my inspiration from the card on the bottom left of the above image from page 101 of the catalogue.  I think it was the fact that I have been thinking about getting the Birthday Blooms stamp set because I love the big blossom image and was surprised to see the image from You've got this gives a similar effect when cut off the stem!

I did want my card to be brighter than the original and and thought that the beautiful papers in the Wood Textures DSP Stack would be perfect.  I used two of the sheets and layered them onto a Very Vanilla Thick Cardstock base.

I wanted to show you a close up so you could seek a bit better how I used Copper Metallic Thread to coordinate with the Copper Embossing Powder on the flowers. I coloured them with Watercolour Pencils and a Blender Pen, although unlike the original I decided to add some Daffodil Delight to the Melon Mambo on the petals and Old Olive on the leaves. I also used Shimmery White cardstock for the flowers to give them a little bit of a lift. I also added some of new Glitter Enamel Dots, and even though they are from the Berry Burst dots the lovely ombre options in each colour allow them to be coordinated with other colours. 

  

I hope that we have inspired you to join us in the Love and Sympathy challenge this week, it is really simple, just take inspiration from any of the projects in this section of the catalogue and use it to create your own project, then add a picture of it to the CTC Facebook page.

  

Time to head on over and see what Rebecca has been inspired to create this week.

Happy Stamping
Monique

CTC #121 - Sale-A-Bration Last Call

Welcome to another CASEing the Catty Sunday Blog Hop, this week we are taking a final look at the Sale-A-Bration samples.  Sale-A-Bration ends this coming Friday so its the last chance to pick up some great free items, so don't forget to contact your friendly demonstrator before they are gone for good.

This week I was inspired by the card on page 4 of the SAB catalogue, I was particularly taken by the diagonal banner for the sentiment.  

I wasn't so taken with the colours in this sample, preferring something a bit brighter, so decided to use the Just Add Ink colour challenge combo for the week.

You know I have been having all sorts of fun with my Oh So Succulent stamps lately and this challenge was no different, I think they look good in the bright colours.  To get the two tone effect I stamped directly onto the card stock, and for the solid stamps I stamped off to get the softer effect. I decided to add rhinestones instead of the pearls and left the bow off as I didn't think the card needed it with the extra bling.

  

I hope the design team are inspiring you to join in with the challenge this week, if so just add a picture of your creation to the CASEing The Catty Facebook page.

  

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

Happy Stamping

Monique

CTC #112 - Cupcakes & Carousels

Welcome to another week at CASEing the Catty, this week we are taking our inspiration from the Cupcakes & Carousels section of the Occasions Catalogue, p 8-13.

I took my inspiration from this card that you can see on page 10, I liked the colours and layout of it, and wanted to use both in my creation.

As you can seek the sketch shifted a bit over the course of my creating, but I did stay true to the colours used, I do like how they go together. This is my first inking up of my new Oh So Succulent stamp set, and I had fun playing around with which colours looked best.  I love these little succulents, as well as the framelits that they bundle with, I can't wait to show you the 3D one I made.  The sentiment is stamped with one of the great sentiments in Layering Love and cut using the Layering Ovals framelits.

I like adding some coordination to the inside of the card, and for this one I simply stamped one of the succulents in the corner. 

   

We have moved the challenge to Facebook, so if you would like to join in just follow the link above. If you are not yet a member, join the group to be added.  Each week we will be having  "most popular" card and a "crew choice" awards to give out.  Don't forget to add your picture to the album for this week to be in the running for one of the awards.

  

Next on the hop is Elizabeth, pop on over to see which project she was inspired by.

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

CTC #103 - Ronald McDonald House Charities

Welcome to another week at CTC, this week we are taking our inspiration from the images on page 209 of the Annual Catalogue using the My Hero stamp set.  Each year Stampin' Up! have a fundraising stamp set for Ronald McDonald House Chrarities (RMHC) and this is that set, with $3 from every set sold going to the charity.  

From the above image I took inspiration from the cute umbrella card.

As I don't have the stamp set yet I decided to get a little creative and hand cut the umbrella, and hand draw the handle which I used a letter opener as a template!  I am not sure if you recognise it but I have used the Sprinkles of Life stamp set which was last year's RMHC set. 

  

I hope we have given you some inspiration to join in this week. If so just add a picture of your project to the link above.

  

Time to head on over to Julia's blog to see what she has been inspired to create this week.

Happy Stamping

Monique