It has been quite some time since I pulled out the Crazy Cats by Tim Holtz so this challenge was a good one for me bring them out and use them. I also used a sentiment (cut up) from Dylusions which is another set I’ve not used anywhere near enough. The snarkiness of this set amuses me.

I started by stamping the fish skeleton for a background and inked the edges to make it stand out a bit more from the card base. After die cutting the center panel using an unbranded stitched frame set, I inked those edges with same colour ink. Then the two cats were stamped coloured with Inktense pencils and also die cut. I like that the dies for this set don’t leave a white border. I enhanced the eyes and whiskers with a Sakura glaze pen . The sentiment was added as you see but I forgot to add something to the panel and it looked a bit stark. In the end I used a couple of very tiny stamps and added hearts and some flowers in Wild honey ink. To make it fit in with the background I added a few hearts around the edges of that piece too. Cats were popped up on foam tape.

Thanks for taking a look. It is always appreciated as I know your time is precious.

Somehow I managed to use all five colours for this challenge. This is actually a CASE of a card that Natasha Foote has done which intrigued me enough to want to try a version of my own. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get my die to cut through the acetate so in the end I used scissors which didn’t give me as clean an edge as I would have liked. No matter – I persevered. Getting a close colour match is a challenge of its own, so this is as close as I could come. I used Distress oxides in Scattered Straw, Lost shadow, Mowed lawn, Broken china, and Salty Ocean. Because I couldn’t get really crisp edges I added lines by hand using a sparkle Sakura pen and the embellishments are Trinity Stamps. The sentiment is from a set by MFT and I curved this as best as I could follow the inked curve. I also tried another one but still didn’t have truly crisp lines. It will be used at some point but not today.

My last card for today and I’m off to cook some supper for a hungry hubby. Thanks for stopping by.

A while back a stamping buddy made a card using this same stamp and I said one of these days I shall CASE it. This is my take on her card, kind of the same but using silver heat embossing. Stamp used is from Nellie’s choice called Idyllic Floral Scenes and is made by Nellie Snellen. As well my frame is different and the die is from a Paper Roses set. The sentiment is from a Hampton Arts set that I’m using quite a lot lately. Although this card is pretty close to Lisa’s and is quite nice I still prefer hers to mine. Looking at it again if I make another, I will use a smaller frame so I get more of the image in the sides. I find this scene so peaceful and calming and I really like the stamp.

I’m entering this into 2 challenges.

Thanks for stopping by, it is appreciated.

My mojo is a bit lacking at the moment and while I don’t think this card is a bad one, it isn’t making me feel inspired either. That said, it works for 3 challenges so here goes.

Obviously I followed the sketch and with the seashells added it fits the theme at JUG’s and perhaps the outdoor theme at Double D. I had the embossed piece and the gold oval already cut and left over from other projects. Luckily I was able to find another piece of the same green and I embossed this with a Memory Box 3D ocean theme folder. Finding a small strip of pale green Mulberry paper in my stash spoke to me, so I used this and heat embossed some shells top and bottom in gold before adding it over the background layer. Stamps used are from an old Hero Arts set, an Inspired by Stamping sentiment set and a Newton Nook set. I cut up the sentiment so I could make it fit properly. The octopus was coloured with Tea Dye ink, a gold pen and watercolour pencils that I mixed a little to get the heart similar in colour to the card base. Once he was die cut he was popped up as you see, with the additional heat embossed and fussy cut shells tucked in.

Thanks for stopping by and spending some of your precious time with me.

Challenge links: http://www.asyouseeitchallenge.com/ – Challenge #302

Just Us Girls # 687 Word Week

The Great Outdoors Challenge – https://daranddiane.blogspot.com/

As promised I have begun another small batch of pet sympathy cards for a friend and this is one of them. The background was done with an unbranded die I’ve had for a month or two but not yet used. The challenge calls for an inlay so I die cut the umbrella section again using some PP and inlay that piece along with a small piece for the handle. The stamp used for the sentiment is from Joy Clair and the paw prints are from a dollar store set. The sticker is from my friend who tried to make her own and gave up in disgust, hence me doing them for her. It’s a very simple card but I think effective for its purpose.

Thanks for spending some time with me, it is appreciated.

I find this Stampendous House Mouse stamp quite cute and I had seen another stamp in this set where the creator spotlighted only a portion of the image. As I liked the idea I decided to try it with mine. I stamped the image in black on the white layer and lined up another piece of white card so I could stamp it again. Then I die cut the middle into a circle after I had coloured the parts I wanted to spotlight. Mainly used pencils for the colouring with a little Ohuhu inks for faces, paws and tails. I die cut a couple more circles so I could layer for a bit of dimension and then lined everything up to assemble as you see. Added the black layer to give a border and then to the card front. The sentiment is from a Joy Clair set.

Entering it into the two challenges at Make my Monday and Crafting Happiness just for fun. Hope you all have a great weekend. It is another hot day here and likely to continue for some time to come. Thanks for stopping by, it is appreciated.

Last week I didn’t get to do much crafting so I missed one or two challenges that I usually like to participate in. This week it is easier so I’m back in my craft room trying to regain some mojo. I don’t do a lot using pastels so decided to have a go with this challenge at JUG’s.

I pulled out some marble paper that was gifted to me and cut a frame, using Hero Arts Infinity dies, for the card front. I also cut a circle, also Hero Arts, to go behind the dotted die piece. This die is from Your Next Stamp (sadly closing shop). With an older SSS set called Lifting Hearts I stamped the cute image, coloured it with pencils and then covered it with Versamark ink so I could heat emboss it. Once I had one coat done I repeated it only this time I used the Ultra Thick powder and kept adding it until I was happy with the result. I die cut several pieces so I could stack them for a bit of dimension and now the image is shiny and to me, quite pretty. Using a stamp from the same set I added the sentiment at the bottom. I decided against any embellishments but may change my mind later on.

I hope you are having a good day, and thanks for taking a look.

This is my take on something I’ve seen Natasha Foote do on a video I found at Pinterest. Initially I tried doing it using an alphabet die but I couldn’t make the letters fit how I wanted them to. They’ve been set aside to be used in another project. Maybe even a 2nd card for this challenge? Instead I found this older Recollections stamp set and used it. The other word is from a Hampton Arts set but I only used part of the stamp. My colours are as close as I can get as I don’t really have anything that could be classified as Merlot and instead used Aged Mahogany. I masked off a portion of the layer and sponged the colour on partially. Then I stamped the Happy with Chipped Sapphire ink. Once it was fully dry I ran it through the folder which is from Sizzix and called Mechanics 3D texture fades. The navy border was added after I had cut the piece down to the size I wanted and then the additional word was popped up on foam tape. A few embellishments and it was good to go.

I’m reasonably happy with this card although it went in a slightly different direction than planned. Thanks for popping in to take a look – it is appreciated.

It has been so busy lately that I haven’t had any time for my craft room. Yesterday I did sit down for a while but found that I had no mojo for anything so I caught up on email instead.

The embossed piece used here was something leftover from another project and I decided to add it behind the lighter blue piece. I backed the layer with a bit of black for a narrow border and then thought about what to add. As the challenge has a twist of butterflies I decided to go with it and used an MFT set called More Brilliant Butterflies, to create this one. I inked up the stamp with Mustard Seed Distress oxide ink and fussy cut the base wings. The top wings were done with VersaMark and silver heat embossing, to which I added a hint of yellow to the middle with a darker edge at top and bottom. These pieces were glued together then added to the card. Sentiment is from a Hampton Arts set and was heat embossed with white. I added a few dots with a Sakura glitter pen at the base of the butterfly for some added interest. I’m not sure about these but too late to change it now.

It was Canada Day here yesterday, so I wish all Canadians a Happy one and 4th of July is coming up for those of you in the USA so I wish you all a wonderful day when it arrives. Thanks for stopping by it is appreciated as are any comments.

The Cardz 4 Galz challenge is more than one fold and this is what I came up with. As a design team member I try to come up with something different when I can. I’ve never done this style before and rarely have done any pop-up cards so it was fun to play with something new. I followed a template found on Pinterest that included a tutorial on YouTube so I used that for measurements and this card is the result.

A good friend of mine was so disappointed with the quality and variety of pet sympathy cards, that she decided to try making her own. I think she managed one before deciding that card making was not her forte and gave up. Last year I made her 6 to have on hand and unexpectedly, in return, she gifted me with some unbranded stamps and dies as well as the supplies she had purchased for her unsuccessful venture. The stickers used on this fun fold card and the PP on the cross over pieces come from her items, the rest is from my own stash.

Once I had the pieces cut it was fairly simple to put together and to decorate. The sentiments and stamped paw print as well as die cut paw print all come from a small SSS set that I’ve found very useful since its purchase. I promised my friend a few more cards in this vein for her stash and this will be one of them after the challenge is over. I’ll probably do another 5 or 6 when I have time.

I appreciate you stopping by and hope you have a fun day.