Speech Bubble Trend

There's a new challenge at The City Crafter and the theme is Speech Bubbles.

I started to look around Pinterest to get some Pinspiration and now my head is overflowing with ideas!
I saw this pin, which gave me the idea to use a telephone.

City Crafter Challenge

The telephone stamp is an oldie from Hero Arts (another craft retreat goodie from Chupa). The sentiment is from My Favourite Things and the speech Bubble die is from Lawn Fawn.
I thought about adding a touch of washi, but stopped myself - I wanted it to be retro CAS style.

A Case of Watercolour!

Last week I was very excited to learn that Sanketi of The Storyteller Blogspot (Swarup Murthy),  has her own youtube channel and is sharing her amazing watercolouring talent.

The last video I watched was of  a gorgeous butterfly card and I was immediately inspired to get my paints out and make my own card. Sanketi advises in her video that we should use artist quality paints to get the best results. I recently picked up some discounted paints and was happy to have a play with them.

I have decided to enter this in the Case Study Design Call. The deadline is fast approaching, so if you want to submit a card then you should be quick!

Once I had finished the painting, I pondered how I could make it my own style and decided to die-cut the panel in to 3 tags and mount them on to black and white cards. The butterfly stamps are from Kaisercraft and Darkroom Door. One thing I have discovered - the acrylic stamps seem to stamp better than the rubber on watercolour paper.

A Bit of Grunge!

I can't help but notice that my cards have been 'Spring-like' with soft colours and lots of butterflies lately! Obviously I've been influenced by all the Northern bloggers and challenges, but it is Autumn here and today is wet and dreary.  So I decided to make a card for the Addicted to CAS challenge where the theme is grunge (in a CAS way!). Oh and because this is CAS, I can enter this in the SSS Wednesday   - Keep it Clean and Simple challenge too.

I used distress stain and stencils to create the splatts and other grunge. The sentiment is from Winnie and Walter (yay - my 1st set!). ETA: I am linking this to W&W Join To Win!

I wish you didn't live so far away!

I had some die-cuts left over from my last card, so I decided to make another card for the Case 
Study Challenge #188 and combined it with Addicted to Cas  Challenge - Far Away! I'm also entering this in the SSS Wednesday Challenge - Keep it Clean and Simple.

The frame die is from Papertrey Ink and of course the little bird is from Memory Box. The sentiment is from SSS Stamp.
Again, I hope you can see my where I got my inspiration. I wanted to make my card more collage style, whilst keeping it CAS like Jaclyn's. I thought it was serendipity when I found the sentiment in my stash, which perfectly fitted the Addicted to Cas challenge and the layout of my card with the birds. The coloured card is from Hero Arts (another gift from Joy Taylor) and I used an inktense pencil to colour the flower and hearts.

ETA: Oh NO!!!! I missed the deadline for Addicted to CAS! C'est la Vie!

Case Study - Last chance to Case Jaclyn

It's the last week with Jaclyn Miller as our Muse at Case Study Challenge. I must say, it has been a very diverse and challenging month and lots of fun to case Jaclyn projects. This last inspiration is so CAS and beautifully executed - it looks so simple, but I bet a lot of thought went in to placement and balance.

Yet again I have had some trial and error with my case card and in the end, I rejected my first card and went less literal in my interpretation.

I hope you can see where I got my inspiration! First of course, I went with the white background, embossed instead of the stripe pattern.  The colour scheme is similar and I used lots of die-cuts like Jaclyn. I am addicted to butterflies, so that had to be the hi-light. I layered the butterflies with a heart button and then added more punched hearts. I added the skinny banner sentiment like the sentiments in the inspiration.

ETA: I am entering this in the SSS Work it Wednesday which is to use patterned paper. 

Muse Card Challenge

I've been away at our beach house for a couple of days at Queenscliff - it was very relaxing! I took some craft supplies, but in the end I just went for walks and read my book.

I decided I should make a card as soon as I got back, because when I have a break, I tend to lose my Mojo. I was inspired by Marion's card in the Muse Card Challenge. My other inspiration is the scarf I am wearing today.

I used Gelatos to colour the butterflies. I didn't want to blend the colours too much, because I wanted the contrasting colours like Marion's flowers and the scarf.
I used a warm grey Prisma colour to highlight the butteflies - it is less obvious IRL, but the lighting in the photo picks it up. 

I'm also entering this in SSS Wednesday Challenge - Keep it CAS and CASology - Garden theme.

20 Years! Aninal Antics

I'll let you all in to a little secret - it was our 20th Wedding Anniversary on the 16th of April!  My husband Scott, was in Nepal with my daughter, so the occasion passed without any celebration.  We will do something special together soon - maybe an overnight at somewhere romantic.

I made a card when I was at the craft retreat, borrowing Lyndal's stamps. I really think I need to get this set!

I am entering this in SSS Wednesday Challenge - the theme is Animal Antics.
The stamp set is Mama Elephant Pandamonium.

Layered Cake

I made another card for the challenge at A Blog Named Hero, where the theme is 'Layered Cake' - to use layers and dimension.

It's been raining quite heavily, so I felt like making something colourful and cosy!

Whenever I need to make a card with a Hero Arts stamp, I find myself reaching for this set - Antique Flowers and Butterflies - it really is my favourite.

I coloured gelatos and distress ink directly on to the dogwood flowers , adding a touch of water and then stamping, I have used distress markers for the butterflies.  The base card was coloured with ink to match and then embossed. the paper is from Studio Calico and die cut with a Lil Inkers die (thanks Joy and Lyndal!). I really need these dies!  

Winged Things

Today I am sharing a card I made for SSS Monday challenge, which has a theme - Winged Things and also for A Blog Named Hero, where the theme is Layers and/or dimension.

I made the background panel a few days ago when I was playing with a new to me background stamp, which I was lucky enough to get from Iwona at our craft retreat. I used distress inks to sponge a piece of white cardstock and then stamped the image with Broken China. The butterfly is from a card I made a couple of years ago - I loved the butterfly, but not the rest of the card. The orange paper is also from the craft retreat from Joy Taylor
. The sentiment is my favourite tape - not dymo.

Runway Inspired meets Case this Sketch

This week Runway Inspired and Case this Sketch are combining their challenges for double the fun!

ETA I'm also entering this in the Fusion Card Challenge

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As you can see, I flipped the sketch, although it's a square card, so it could go either way - ha, ha!
I wonder if you can tell - this is actually a mini card. I had this Studio Calico paper and I thought that matched the pattern of the short really well, but I didn't have much - hence the down-sized card.

The stamped and die-cut images are from Simon Says Stamp Flower friend. I chose to go without a sentiment.

Case Study Design Team Call

I can't remember when I first discovered Case Study, but it has always been one of my favourite challenges. Chupa has always had such a wonderful design team, with a great mixture of styles to inspire us. The concept of Casing a Muse is so much fun - I always look forward to finding out who the next next Muse will be and also  guessing which project we will be casing each week.

The other thing about this challenge is that it pushes us to do our best and step outside our comfort zone.

A few designers have recently departed Case Study, so there is a designer call. Chupa has asked applicants to create a craft project inspired by our personal Muse. So here goes... I have cased an amazingly beautiful card by the incredibly talented Jill Foster.

                                                              This is Jill's Card

                                                              And here is my card

I have used Simon Says Flower Friend stamps and dies for the flowers and sentiment.
The coloured panel is watercolour paper. I painted it with gesso and then used gelatos swiped with wet wipes.

ETA:

 I'm entering this in the Papercrafts Connection April challenge - Get Well - because everyone needs hugs when they're unwell!

I"m also entering this in the Stamplorations April Challenge, because I have used my favourite techniques - watercolour with gelatos and distress inks.

Art Deco Leaves

What a productive day I'm having today! This is my 3rd post in one day and I'm still creating! My Mum is starting to recover from her shingles and told me she is ok on her own today. My DH and DD arrived back yesterday from Nepal trip and I'd already cleaned the house. Scott has gone to work and my daughter is recovering, so I've been having a lovely day crafting!

This card was a result of a bit of stencil play! I am entering it in the Time Out Challenge - which is a 'Birthday Theme with a Masculine Twist'.

The stencil is TCW Balzer Designs Art Deco Leaves and the awesome sentiment is from Papertrey Ink
'Wet Paint'. I used distress inks.
I've missed the deadline for Virginia's View challenge, but I still had fun.

Gorgeous Sketch!

I've been noticing lots of cards around the challenges, using this gorgeous sketch, from Retro Sketch Challenge and so I just had to play along. Only problem was the deadline was getting very close! However, when I scoured through my stash I had an epiphany - Japanese paper! So luckily, with this beautiful, inspirational  paper and sketch, I was able to create very quickly. Here it is ....

I really, really love this sketch! It has so many possibilities!
The sentiment is from WPlus 9. 

Happy to Case!

Hi there it's Saturday here in a non-sunny Melbourne. Happy Easter everyone - hope you're enjoying the break!

The inspiration is a bit different this week at Case Study challenge - it's a couple of sweet gift bags by jaclyn Miller. I put my thinking cap on and after several changes of direction, this is what I came up with ...

I don't use much paper in my cards these days, but I thought these papers from Kikki K were fairly close to the colours in the inspiration and I liked the trendy patterns. I coloured the chipboard letters and a strip of card with gold ink and I'm quite happy with the end result.
PS: I'm quite annoyed with myself, I wish I had done some machine stitching - but c'est la vie!

Fusion Card Challenge

Have you seen the gorgeous inspiration photo in this week's Fusion Card Challenge? It is so beautiful! I do not find it easy to praise myself, so you wont often find me saying  'I really like how this turned out'. But this time I am really happy! I had an idea and it played out exactly as I pictured it in my mind.

The flower image is from Clearly Besotted Happy Everything and the background stamp from Kaisercraft. The sentiment is from Wplus9.

I very rarely make a card like this, without using any black at all, so I enjoyed using the gold, which really softened the whole look. The ribbon is really gorgeous - it was in a bag of goodies that I received from Joy Taylor at our recent Craft Retreat. Joy is so generous!

ETA I am entering this card in the Clearly Besotted Challenge - the theme is 'Spring'.

Case This Sketch #72

Here is a quick post with a card for the Case this Sketch Challenge.

I decided to look through my stash of unfinished projects and found this bright watercolour, stencilled and stamped panel. So I cut it up and the rest is history. The stamps are from PTI - Hands of Time and Wet Paint.

Now I really need to get away from symmetrical cards!!!!!

Muse Card Challenge #62

I keep missing out on the Muse challenge, because the deadline always creeps up on me. But the Muse this week is Vicki Dutcher and she has created such a beautiful card, so I had to play along!

Time Out Challenge #3 Birthdays with a Masculine Twist!/Case Study#186 - Take 2

Yesterday I made a couple of masculine birthday cards, whilst I was playing with some new stamps. I'm entering this one the Time Out challenge. I'm also entering this in the Case Study Challenge.

Most of the stamps come from Mama Elephant, except the circles, which are from Papertrey Ink and the HB sentiment from Kaisercraft. I've used Memento Luxe Inks
As I said the other day, symmetry doesn't come easily to me, so don't look too closely, as it may not all be perfectly in line!

A Blog Named Hero - Build a Background

Today I have another card to share for A Blog Named Hero - Build a Background Challenge.
I chose some small stamps from Hero Arts Konnichiwa Lantern set, to build a background.

This style of card making actually reminds me of when I first started stamping, because in those days I never used patterned paper and didn't have many stamps. Its very simple, but I had fun doing this, while I was watching television last night - quite relaxing!

I'm also entering this in the Scrapbook Boutique Challenge.

Scrapbook Boutique April Challenge

And I would also like to enter this in Taheerah's Cure for the Monday Blues.

Case Study Challenge #186

It's week 2 with the oh, so talented Jaclyn Miller as the Muse  at Case 
Study Challenge and Iwona has chosen a very famous card for us to case!
 I remember this card winning a Moxie Fab challenge and have seen it pinned many times!

Here is the card ….

Amazing , right!!!?

So anyway, I learnt something, or rather confirmed something today - symmetry is not my thing! You should  see my desk with all the failed attempts and wasted paper! So in the end I gave in and pulled out my NBUS die set from Avery Elle and randomly arranged the shapes. I wanted to keep the diagonal line on the card like Jaclyn. The sentiment and stars are from Mama Elephant and the butterfly is a Penny Black die-cut.

It's still raining here, so that is why the photo looks a bit out of focus.  

ETA: I am also entering this in the Time Out challenge, where the theme is Birthday (I didn't take up the optional twist - masculine, but will make another card )

City Crafter 4th Anniversary Challenge/ SSS Monday challenge

I cannot believe it is Thursday! My husband and Daughter went away on Saturday night, so I'm home alone with my son and dogs and thought I'd get lots of crafting done. However , my Mum's been unwell and  needs daily visits and there's been other coming and going with friends and school holidays, so unfortunately my mojo is on a go slow!!!

I do have one card to share today. I made this for the City Crafter challenge, which is to case one of 4 projects. This is the one I chose.

And this is my card ...

My card has less layers, but I've included the bicycle, some machine stitching, similar colours and I used twine instead of seam binding. I actually had some lace on this card originally, but it just wasn't me - I am more of a CAS girl these days. Happy Birthday to the team at City Crafter - thanks for all your inspiration!

I'm also entering this in the Simon Says Monday Challenge as the theme is 'Journey'.

By the way, it's been raining for 3 days, so I've been taking my photos inside, in the evening, so I apologise if it's a bit dark in the background.

Craft Stamper Challenge - Bottles

Craft Stamper is a UK magazine which I discovered in a newsagent last year. I really love it because it is mostly about stamping and features some really interesting techniques. They have started a new challenge called Take it , Make it , so I thought I would play along.  Their current theme is 'Bottles'.Oh and I nearly forgot to say, my talented blog friend Shirley, is one of the design team - yay Shirley!!!

I have been working on this card in my head for the last 3 days! It was driving me crazy, because I really wanted to do a vintage style collage, but it wasn't coming together. Usually, I would just move on to something different, but this time it just stayed there niggling at me! So, finally I have completed a card - it's not quite as I envisaged, but at least I can get back to some watercolouring now!!!!

The bottle image is from Kaisercraft collage stamp - Perfume. I stamped it twice and fussy cut it,  coloured it with Inktense pencils and then mounted the label on the bottle with foam. The bird is from a Penny Black christmas stamp and also fussy cut.. The background paper is from Studio Calico.

Muse Card Challenge/Mama Elephant

Jacqui Southas is the Muse this week at Muse Card Challenge. I saw her gorgeous card and was inspired to make a masculine birthday card. I am also entering this in the SSS Wednesday Challenge - Happy Birthday theme, because it is their birthday!

This is Jacqui's card

And this is my card. I was also inspired by this card by Heather Campbell.
I used inktense pencils  for the stripes and my very 1st Mama Elephant stamp set -, 'Make a Wish' with memento luxe ink  for the sentiment and stars.
I'm also entering this in the Mama Elephant April Challenge. I might have to do another one, cos I can't wait to play some more with these stamps!

Case Study Challenge?simon Says Wednesday Challenge

It's a new month, which means a new Muse at Case Study Challenge #185 and this month it's the talented Jaclyn Miller of Designs by Jax.

I used mostly Simon Says Stamp products so I am also entering this in the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge, where they are celebrating their birthday!
I cut out the vase from some Kaisercraft paper, coloured, cut up and re-arranged the die-cut flower from SSS. The sentiment is from SSS Sketchy Banner Greetings. I used metallic card, which again is hard to photograph, but I'm sure you'll forgive me!