A great little challenge over at Addicted to CAS #134 this week - bubbles. Now I didn't think I had anything which would remotely fit this theme - it just goes to show what you can find when you rummage. And this is what I managed to come up with:
The bubbles came courtesy of an old Cherry Pie stamp - I've used SU Bermuda Bay Ink and card stock, SU Tangerine Tango and SU Pear Pizzazz for the inks. The fish and the grasses and the sentiment come from Jar of Love and one of the little fish has been cut out with its matching framelit and popped on a dimensional. I've just added some ribbon to match and then left it alone to keep it as CAS as I could. There is a bit of Wink of Stella on the bubbles to make them shine. I also used a very old crafting tool I found in the cupboard to make the paper wavy as if it's under the sea.
It's been a while since I joined in with the Global Design Project challenge - this week their challenge is a colour challenge and I only just sneaked in with a few hours to spare.
I love this colour combination - Tranquil Tide has never really been one of my go to greens even though I love the colour green so I am partial to a challenge that makes me use it.
There are a ton of inspirational cards out there for the Stampin Up Colourful Seasons set and although I love this chair which comes with the matching framelits I haven't used it an awful lot. I've used it here in Tranquil Tide with a wash of Wink of Stella. I've used the stamp for the background inks from Painter's Palette. The Crumb Cake was stamped off so it looks a little softer as my Night of Navy ink is actually over 10 years old so not quite as bright as it should be!
I've used the little stamp from Bookcase Builder to make the grass at the bottom of the chair and the little dots from the same set to stamp around the outside. The sentiment from Colourful Seasons is stamped in Crumb Cake and some rhinestones finish it off. I'm not a lover of sayings finishing in a full stop which a lot of Stampin Up ones seem to do so I nearly always cover it with some sort of embellishment. The butterfly is one I had in my stash that had been punched out with one of the SU butterfly punches, now retired.
My life at the moment seems to be all about cats! I am a volunteer cat fosterer for a national charity for cats in the UK. That means I have some cat pens in my garden and I look after cats that find themselves without a home until one can be found. I've only been doing it since January this year and have had 7 cats come in and out of my pens and found homes.
My latest cat in my care though is going to give me problems in that I can see I won't want to give her up. She came to me last week after she had just had major surgery to amputate her front leg. We don't know her history or how she got the injury. She has no owner, not name - we have called her Lucky. She is such a cute little cat and, although very nervous which is hardly surprising, she and I are forming a close bond. How on earth can I give her away? I have two cats and two dogs already - I'm not sure how a Tripod Cat, which I found out is what they are called, would fit in with my brood. But for now she is in my care whilst I nurse her back to health, strength and life!
So my card today for another new challenge I've found had to be cats. The challenge is called Twofer Card challenge and going by the fact that their challenge is #4 I'm guessing they are quite a new challenge. What a great idea - take one stamp make two different cards! A great way to add cards to our ever growing pile of them! I'm also adding this into Daring Cardmakers - which are asking for Animal Antics
I've gone with Stampin Up's Pretty Kitty and, I think you could say, they are quite different.
The first one is all about the pinks - Melon Mambo, Powder Pink and a touch of Berry Burst. The Embossing folder is non SU which I picked up in a local craft shop yesterday for only £1.49!!! I love it! I've used the Hey sentiment from Jar of Love adn the other one is from Pretty Kitty. I've coloured it in with marker pens and used Wink of Stella and some rhinestones. Stitched Framelits were used for the sentiment.
The other card is all about the greens - my favourite Lemon Lime Twist to be precise. The background paper is non SU - I've used the Stitched Framelits again for the image and the sentiments. They say Thank You...My Friend - and are from a retired set called Mini Messages Two Step Stampin from 2004.
What a challenge sketch over at TGIF Challenges #tgifc155
Going through some old SU stamps I suddenly had a Eureka moment of what I wanted to do - but I'm not sure its actually turned out as I hoped. Nevertheless here it is - constructive criticism welcomed.
I started off with a very old set of letter stamps called Collage Alphabet - this is one of my favourite SU alphabet sets and I've had it years. It's great for scrapbooking also. I chose SU colours Rich Razzleberry and Island Indigo for the cards and u sed my SU 1" punch and 1 1/4" punch for the circles in contrasting colours to the stamped inks.
The Birthday sentiment comes from Feather Together and the butterfly is from Bold Butterfly Framelits. I inked a piece of cardstock with both the ink colours and cut out the butterfly. I added some Wink of Stella and some basic pearls. A touch of non SU coloured stones at the bottom and the background paper is also non SU.
What do you think? Does it work?
What a fabulous challenge over at Less Is More - I went all out for this challenge - rummaging in the back of the craft cupboards - finding old friends and trying to remember how to use old craft tools! So here is their Challenge - Bring Something Back. Well we do this on a regular basis over at my Facebook Group The Joy of Sets so I'm used to playing with old sets - but embellishments etc is something new.
So whilst I was rummaging I came across this - and thought wow let's do a CASE of a card from this Mini-Catalogue from 2005! This was from when I still lived in Houston, Texas and first found out about Stampin' Up. My Demo then was Diana Hooyman and I believe she is still crafting.
I actually didn't have any of the stamps shown in this mini catalogue so I improvised - I chose to do this page and CASE this project - the stamp set was called Wing Things.
Amongst my stash I found these old retired products - probably back from 2005! Some Ribbon, Eyelets, Brads and felt flowers. I decided they all needed an outing. The ribbon is actually Mellow Moss and I still have the ink. Keep a thing long enough and it comes back into fashion as I see it's one of the new colours! My ink is still going strong since 2005 - which sadly is more than I can say for the inks I bought last year which are already dry.
I also used some retired inks - Regal Rose and Not Quite Navy.
So here's my card - I've used the sentiments from Feather Together and the butterflies from Watercolour Wings and Bold Butterfly framelits.
I
had such fun making this card and it really did take me back down memory lane to warmer climes of living in Houston, the fun evenings stamping with everyone which you just don't get so much of here in the UK. It set me on my path to stamping and cards which before hand I only did scrapbooking. So thank you Less is More for that trip down Memory Lane.
Two cards from me today for different Facebook Challenges. One is for a challenge on Joy of Sets - my own Facebook Group which celebrates all things SU - retired and current. I've challenged everyone to Case the Catty before it goes. I've chosen to do Bookcase Builder, especially as I see it is retiring - I don't think this little set got the love it deserved! My card is from Page 105 of the outgoing catalogue 2017/2018. I've had this set quite a while and only from looking at the image in the catalogue did I realise what the small dots were for - keeping the shelves together - Doh!
I'm also entering this one into Watercooler Wednesday's challenge this week which is All About Occasions.
My other card is for a new FB Group I have just joined called Colour Inkspiration #C131- and their challenge was to use the following colours:
Old Olive, Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry Tempting Turquoise
I opted to go with Feather Together for this one - another set I believe is retiring. I don't have the framelits to go with this set so had to just cut out the feather for the layering. I used marker pens for the sentiment. The ribbon is non SU but it goes so well.
That's exactly how many of us feel in the UK as Spring is really taking its time coming and we are all desperate for some warm weather. My card today reflects that.
The challenge over at Addicted to CAS #133 is rain and the challenge over at Inkspirational 158 is a photo image.
I've used SU Night of Navy as my base card stock and for the layers - the stamp set is Beautiful You and the little umbrella is from a very old set called A Little Love. The background paper is non SU. I've also used an old non SU stamp for the splatters which you can just see on the squares. I've used SU stitched framelits to cut out the various squares - I was inspired by the photo above to use lots of squares on the card. There is a touch of Wink of Stella on the umbrellas and the girl to give a bit of a sheen.
I hope you like my card and thank you for visiting my blog.
There are times when only a marker pen will do! That's especially true if you want to join in with a colour challenge and the only colours you happen to have are in marker pens.
Ahem - that's me this week with the TGIF challenge - their colours are last year's In Colours which I must admit were not my favourites. I was lucky enough to win a set of marker pens at Convention but I never did follow up on buying the full ink pads.
The challenge over at Addicted to Stamps this week is also using Marker Pens so my card can double up.
I've kept my card quite CAS (clean and simple) and I've used an old SU set which I've been using lately for some inchies for a swap I've organised on my Joy of Sets Facebook Page. It;s called A Little Love.
These colours do seem to scream sweets or ice cream and I thought this little sweet dispenser was the perfect stamp. I've used the Stitched Framelits to layer the little squares and kept the colours as block colours. The sentiment is from an old Project Life set called Remember This.
Well, it should be spring here in the UK but it feels more like Autumn -and not a good Autumn at that! Dull, wet, miserable, the dark days of winter are hanging around far too much. Maybe that's what drew me to doing a more autumnal feel to my card today.
This is the challenge over at As You See It #173 for this week - a wealth of possibility.
I decided to use a very old SU set - Autumn Days. I started with inking the background with Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Antique Linen, Old Paper, then added some SU Pear Pizzazz and Crushed Curry. The sentiment stamp is a very old one from Laura Ashley of all people. It's a word stamps which says -
"Find your inspiration anywhere, roaming the English countryside, gathering wildflowers, reading a cherished gardening book, watching birds flutter in the sky, following their trail that leads through the woods, sipping tea and watching the sun rise, strolling through the garden amongst the roses, sitting on a swing built for two and watching the world around you."
How idyllic is that imagery. And just as I was reading it our local Cockerel Pheasant made himself known with that raucous cry they have and there he was in the garden. The dogs, being gundogs, go mad when they hear him cry but they don't scare him - not one bit. So there really was no other alternative than to put him on this card for today.
After stamping the word stamp in Tranquil Tide I heat embossed the pheasant with SU brown embossing powder. He was then coloured in with SU Markers in golds, greens and reds. I stamped some of the grasses from the set in stamped off SU Crumb Cake and added some Burlap Ribbon and enamel dots. The sentiment is from Thankful Thoughts and is cut out with Banners Framelits.
Thanks for stopping by - I appreciate reading your comments.
One of the sets I like to use is A Nice Cuppa - it's a set I purchased after it had retired as I had lost touch with SU a bit when it came out. I think one of the benefits of not being an SU Demo any more is I don't have to just use what's current and can get out some of those much loved stamps and re-use them. That was my thinking behind starting up my Facebook Group The Joy of Sets - details over on the side. If you love SU and want to still show off those creations using retired sets and colours come on over.
Sunday Stamps this week have a sketch challenge.
Oh my - how daunting at first glance - all those different panels to fill with papers or colours. As I had decided to use A Nice Cuppa I went with the gorgeous SU DSP for Coffee Break - I do like those lovely soft blues and browns. I used the framelit for the tea cup and popped it up on dimensionals. I used some metal rimmed pearls that I actually found at the back of the cupboard - there is a bit of washi tape on there also. The sentiment is from Watercolor Wings- due to retire I think.
I'm quite pleased that I was brave to use all those papers together lol!
