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

Hand Stamped Happiness

I had the urge to create tonight, although I will admit it was a bit of a challenge as nothing seemed to be going right with my planning lol.  I had chosen the above sketch from Hand Stamped Sentiments and wanted to use my new Choose Happiness stamp set which I haven't had chance to ink up much - some stamps even still had the backing on them :)

I knew exactly what I wanted on the off-set panel, it was the strips along the top of the card that had me stumped. I tried DSP strips initially, but couldn't find ones that looked good.  Then I tried hand stamping, just using the flower stamp, but that was too plain. I also tried a number of different colours for the 10x14.8cm mat on the card.  Eventually I decided to add some of the leaves in Mossy Meadow and some of the small flowers from Petite Petals and was happy with the result.  Finally happy with the result!

Happy Stamping
Monique

Easter Gift Box and Card

Easter is such a special time of the year, and I wish I was closer to my family to celebrate with them. Unfortunately they are over 1,700km away so that just isn't possible.  I decided that this year I would make an Easter gift and card for the family of my daughter's boyfriend.  She spends a lot of time with them so I wanted to do something special, not just buy a box of chocolates - these are my creations.

First the box, I was going to use a pre-made box from Stampin' Up! but found none were quite the right size for the chocolates I wanted to give.  So the only alternative was to make a box myself!  I used the Natures Composition Speciality DSP for the base of the box, it is quite a heavy weight that is more like a stiff card stock than a paper so it was perfect.  It is difficult to see but I used the sheet with the floral pattern and brayered it with Crushed Curry.  I made the lid from Window Sheet and made the faux band from Melon Mambo and Gold Embossed Vellum.  The box is of course filled with Easter Eggs and Lindt Balls.

I wanted to make a card that matched so after some false start sketches I decided to go with a bigger sentiment and butterfly and I am happy with the result.  They are quite bright, but Easter is a time for celebration and so the brightness seemed to fit perfectly.  You may notice that I have stamped the flowers using the Encore Gold Ink in the Occasions Catalogue, and then coloured parts of the petals with Melon Mambo to give some depth of colour.  The centre flower on both the box and card are raised on Dimensionals and curled.

Box Measurements
Base
- 10" x 10" Card Stock
- Score on each side at 2-3/4"
- Base adhered with TomBow Glue

Lid
- 10-1/8" x 10-1/8" (this is a smidge bigger so the lid fits neatly over the base)
- Score on each side at 2-3/4
- When cutting the fold over flaps, I trimmed these to 1/4 inch so they are less conspicuous.
- Lid adhered with Sticky Strip

Happy Stamping

Vintage Birthday

I am a fan of mixing up challenges, so was excited to try this one from Runway Inspired Challenge and CAS(E) this Sketch.  I haven't seen Runway Inspired Challenge site before so that was a nice find as well, they take their inspiration images straight from the runway!  So on trend for patterns and colours which is a bit fun.  

I decided to turn the sketch on it's side as it fit the sentiment better.  I have been having some fun recently with the Gold stamp pad, here I have stamped onto Basic Black card stock with both Flower Shop and Petite Petals stamps.  I finished off the centre flower with one of the Antique Brads, I haven't used these for ages so it was nice to brush the dust off!  The sentiment is from Perfectly Penned and also seemed to fit the vintage feel of this card.

I have taken a second photo so that you can see that I have spritzed the Modern Medley DSP so that it has a shimmer to it, the flowers have also had the shimmer treatment.  I found this helped tone down the starkness of the DSP, and tied it into the Brushed Gold layer.  I was thinking about adding some colour, but decided against it and kept the monochormatic look.

I have a very special Easter project to share with you, but as I haven't given it away yet I won't post that until Sunday. I will say it is a very different feel to this one with much brighter colours, although it does use the Gold ink again!

Happy Stamping

Bright Makes Me Happy

 One of the great things about being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator is the inspiration I can get from other demonstrators all around the world, the Around the World Stampin' Up! Challenge is a great blog to visit, and this week has inspired me to not just look at the wonderful creations, but to join in with their colour challenge!

 I have not had chance yet to use my Hexagon Hive Thinlits Die, and decided to change that with this card. I wanted a painted wood lattice sort of feel so stamped Crushed Curry onto the same colour card stock using the Woodgrain stamp.  Then I ran it through the Big Shot with the Thinlit to create the lattice.  I decided to layer this over the stamped image, a combination of Flower Shop and Creative Elements to give the sense of looking through the lattice into the garden.  The little faux bows were an additional thought when the two layers of ribbon were not quite enough.

I sat and looked at the card for a while, not sure if I liked it or not.  I decided it needed something else to make it pop, so added some smaller flowers using Petite Petals stamp set and matching punch.  I just love how the flower makes perfect leaves as well!  Using my bone folder I gently curled the petals to give more of a 3D look and popped a couple of them up on Dimensionals.  I think this gives the card the finish it needed. I was thinking of adding Crushed Curry Candy Dots in the centres of the flowers but thought that might be taking it a bit far :)

Happy Stamping

Bright and Flowery

 In the mood for more creating I went searching for a sketch and colour challenge and found the Hand Stamped Sentiments sketch and Stampin' Royalty sketch challenge.  I liked both of these and thought it would have been easy to do the sketch with a traditional doily and in vintage colours, the challenge came to do the sketch in the bright colours instead.

I wasn't really sure about the card when I was finished, and eventually made some changes.  The original had no stamping on the So Saffron or the two flower banners, and the base was just So Saffron.  After consulting with hubby who said it was busy in the centre but the rest was too plain, I took the front off the card and used VersaMark ink to stamp flowers across the background and the flags and then trimmed the background to mount it on Strawberry Slush card base to tie in the layers.  I was very pleased with the amended result.  It is a bit hard to tell but the two flowers are stamped and embossed in white then punched, the bottom of each banner is punched also with the flower sitting above the punch image on a dimensional - not sure if that makes sense, so click on the image for a closer look :)

The colours haven't turned out so well in the photo, I don't have a spot for my light box in my new craft space so just took it under my natural light desk lamp.

Happy Stamping

My Challenge Helper!

Let me introduce the newest member of our family, Makucha, he is an adorable little rescue kitten and is clearly my kitten.  This morning he had fun on my desk as I tidied up the mess and when it was all clear he chose the centre of my workspace as the perfect place to have a nap.  Even after I carefully slid the paper he was on off to the side (I have a huge desk), he stood up, stretched and moved back onto my cutting mat!

I decided the best thing to do was go through my Feedly feed and see what new posts were up on some of my favourite blogs.  I spotted these two challenges from Friday Mashup and Just Add Ink and started planning my creation.  Luckily kittens don't sleep for too long before they are off to explore the next thing and I got chance to create.

I loved the lovely yellow colours in the inspirational photo so chose some of the new Watercolour Wonder DSP and coordinated my colours with that. I have really enjoyed using negative space lately and did so again on this card, I stamped the sentiment in VersaMark and used White embossing powder, I sponged around the sentiment with Tangerine Tango to give some depth.  I also sponged around the DSP layers, I haven't sponged as much lately but do love the way it accentuates the edges and adds depth.  I finished off the card with some cute little flowers from Petite Petals, again tying in the inspiration photo.

And wouldn't you know it, the kitten is back! Maybe he can help me tidy my desk again.

Happy Stamping

Asymmetric

 Asymmetrical things are not usually my thing, actually they are the opposite of my thing!  So this week's challenge at Freshly Made Sketches really has been a challenge, I decided to pair it with another challenge, this one from Colour Q.  The colour challenge provided a different sort of challenge, I don't have any Poppy Parade left in my stash - not to be put off by that I decided to substitute Real Red instead.

Isn't it great that we now have three different sized flower stamp sets and matching punches?  I have used all three on this card because they go so well together, and layer beautifully. I wasn't initially sure of the colour combination, but I like the bright feeling it gives this card.  It is a bit hard to see, but I have curled each of the flower's petals with my bone folder to add some dimension to the card.

Happy Stamping

Flowery Sketch

Isn't this a cute sketch from Create With Connie and Mary?  I just had to play as it let me use some of the new products available soon in the Australian/New Zealand market with both Sale-A-Bration and Occasions Catalogues, both go live on 28th January and are just bursting with great products, some you can get for free!

Onto my card, I have used a combination of new products and some existing products on this one.  The cute little flowers come from Petite Petals that have a matching Petite Petals Punch, I stamped some of the flowers on the top layer of the card and punched others out to let the Sweet Sorbet DSP show through.  I also used the little flowers from Betsy's Blossoms.  The banner is from another new stamp set Perfect Pennants which also has matching Banners Framelits which I love because I can never get the flag end of a pennant or banner to look just right, and this set has 6 different sized banners!

Happy Stamping