KINDA ELECTIC - COLLAGE STYLE

So I have a new stamp set and am playing with it like mad - I'm late to the Kinda Eclectic by Stampin' Up! party as it's a retired set - it passed me by in the catalogue and it was only looking through Pinterest that I saw some cards made with it and realised what a lovely versatile set it is.

I've done a CAS card with it and thought I'd do more of a collage look to the set - my card is going in to the Global Design Project challenge this week which is Bring Me Sunshine.  You can't get much better than that huge sun stamp which is part of the set.

My colours on this card are all Stampin Up inks - I used Old Olive, Crushed Curry, Fresh Fig and a touch of Crumb Cake and Soft Suede for the edges and the sentiment.  I used the Banner Framelits to cut out the sentiment which comes from SU Thankful Thoughts, and you can just see the background of the stamped circles which come with this set.  I still have my SU butterfly punches which retired a while back but which fit these butterflies perfectly.  A touch of basic pearls and gold thread finish off the card.

I'm off to do some more playing with this lovely set....I hope you don't get bored seeing too much of it.




 

HAND STAMPED SENTIMENTS -# IC288

I am loving being on the Design Team for Hand Stamped Sentiments Challenge blog - and what a fabulous inspirational photo we have for you today for our Inspirational Challenge #IC288






I chose to go with the robin - one of my favourite birds, and not only around at Christmas time but all year round.  I have three very territorial robins in my garden - always flitting in and out of the apple trees.

I've used two sets here for my card - one is an old SU set Touch of Nature - the bird was stamped and then fussy cut out and the background is made from the leaf stamp from this set.  The rest came from Colourful Seasons and the matching Seasonal Layers Thinlets. A touch of Copper Metallic Thread is added to the side of the card.  The colours I've used are Melon Mambo, Pear Pizazz and an old SU colour Pretty in Pink.




 

KINDA ECLECTIC

One of the things I quite like about no longer being a Stampin Up Demonstrator is the fact that I don't have to use current stock all the time.  That's why I set up the Joy of Sets Facebook Group - to enjoy all the wonderful images current and retired.  So I think its safe to say I'm a little late to the party where Kinda Electic is concerned.  I can see a host of ideas for this versatile set.  Luckily I still own the SU punches which actually co-ordinate with these two little butterflies from this set which offers an extra element.

My card today is for two challenges- Case This Sketch 



and Sunday Stamps



One of the things we do on our Facebook Group is have a RAK group where people from all over the world are very generously sending cards out to other crafters within the group.  It really has made the world a smaller place and I have 'met' some very lovely people.  You really can't put a price on receiving a handmade card through the post and, after all, we make these lovely cards they should be seen and shared.  The challenge over at TGIF this week is exactly that, RAK's - so I'm adding my card to their challenge also and one of my FB members will be receiving this card.




 

PAPER WEAVING

I tried a new technique for my card this week - Inspred by the Inspired By challenge's image this week and the Color Throwdon's #CTD489, challenge I went for the stripes of the tea cloths and used up some old pieces of DSP.  The Paper Players gave us a sketch to follow which matches my card! 







I used a variety of about 6 pieces of DSP size 3/4" x 4 1/2 " approximately.  I wove them all together and was going to leave them just as a woven piece but then had a bit of an Eureka moment. I took one of the Bold Butterfly framelits from Stampin' Up and cut it out of the woven piece.  I loved the look it produced.

I used some of the retired DSP for the background and the stamped dots are from Watercolour Wings.  The summer sentiment is from retired set Season by Season and the days word is from a retired Project Life Date It set.  A button and some ribbon finishes off the card.



 

OOPS - WE SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE....BUT...

Ha I bet that title got you thinking! So let me expand.  I thought I would join in with Addicted to Stamps and their challenge this week was Holiday.  Spring was late in arriving in the UK and within a day went from winter to summer!  Seriously warm here now and we don't have aircon.  So when I saw their challenge I immediately thought of relaxing on a beach.

So - this is where the confusion starts - Holiday in the UK means Vacation in the US and I forgot this basic rule, even though I've lived there.  So my card does not really reflect holiday as such, but rather holiday lol!

I've also followed the Global Design Project's sketch this week.

So anyway my Holiday/Vacation card uses Lemon Lime Twist paper and ink.  Some old DSP in Melon Mambo - one of the stamps from a very old set A Little Love - I've been using this one lately and these little flip flops are so cute with their Relax sentiment - just right for a holiday lol!  And I've also used Colourful Seasons.

 

CHERRY BLOSSOM

Spring is finally showing its face here in the UK with sunshine and warmth.  Doesn't it just make everything feel better - crafting when its warm though is a challenge as I want to be out in the garden - I could take everything outside later and make the most of it before it leaves again.

So I think Spring was on my mind when making this card - and used some of the stamps from the Cherry Blossom set I've recently purchased.  

The challenge over at CAS Colours and Sketches #268 is a Colour challenge this week and I thought this gorgeous cherry blossom stamp and the lovely vase suited these colours.




I've used all SU colours in my card and the Spring sentiment is an old SU one from Season by Season set from about 2005.  My Pool Party ink though is very disappointing - I've found that with all the inks I purchased recently - they have dried out very quickly - yet I have inks from ten years ago that are still going strong - sometimes change is not a good thing. 

 So as my Pool Party was so dry I used Versamark and clear embossing powder to stamp the vase.  I used a neutral of Crumb Cake for the stems and used Daffodil Delight as my base cardstock.

PANDA CARD

Another new challenge I've found is Try Stampin' On Tuesday - well its Wednesday today but I'm sure that doesn't matter lol!  Their challenge is a sketch with a Motherly Love option.  Sadly I don't have a mum to give a card to anymore - I lost my dear mum nearly 8 years ago next month.




I have a new set of stamps I actually got from ebay called Cherry Blossom and there is such a gorgeous panda stamp in the set and when I saw this big circle I thought he was perfect for popping in there but then what do I do with him?  I quite fancied turning it into a birthday card and needed a Welcome sentiment but I didn't have one so I went with a birthday card.  The little Hey sentiment is from Stampin Up's Jar of Love and the Happy Birthday is from Feather Together.  I've used SU Lemon Lime Twist here - and some Lemon Lime Twist Ombre ribbon at the top of the card.

 

RETRO - GOING BACK TO 2004!

As nice as it is to start using new stamps, there is a special relationship with old stamps that maybe we have forgotten to use for a while.  This was my thinking behind starting my Facebook group - The Joy of Sets where we celebrate all stamps, not just Stampin Up, old and new.

The challenge over at Retro Challenge #rrcb84 this week is a photo image :




The challenge over at Inspired By is also very similar 




This one had me scratching my head thinking I didn't have anything that was old enough to do with rain or showers.  And then I remembered a little set I've used recently for an inchy swap which has a cute little umbrella in it.  This one hails from a Stampin Up Set called A Little Love from 2004!

I've used a retired SU embossing folder and some retired ribbon also.






 

FAVOURITE FLORAL

The challenge over at SUO challenge this week is to showcase your favourite floral stamp from the SU Catalogue which is about to retire.  My favourite were the flowers in the lovely set Floral Phrases - only two stamps in the set but what wonderful stamps.  I think they are sadly on the retirement list too which is a shame.

I've used SU Grey cardstock for my base layer and some of the Delightful Daisy DSP for the background and the little butterfly.  I've rough edged the white layer and inked it to give it a softer more vintage feel as befits this rose.  Some Wink of Stella on the wording and a touch of ribbon finishes it off.  I've added a few dots from the Watercolor Wings stamp set just on the outer edge of the gray in Versamark.

CATS AND MORE CATS

New challenge over at Fab Friday is this sketch.




I've chosen to go with Stampin Up's  Pretty Kitty card again and using the little image of the cat all tied up in the wool and that sweet little sentiment.  I've used a retired embossing folder for the hearts in Powder Pink and the cut out hearts are from a framelit from Jar of Love.  The little ball of wool is some blue thread I had.  I've edged the white with a touch of Powder Pink ink just to soften it.

This is the little cat that was on my mind while I was making this card - she's my latest charge - I volunteer to look after poorly cats for our local charity.  This little girl came in last week after having undergone surgery for an amputated front leg.  Look at her little face - she's such a brave little thing and we have called her Lucky.  She and I are naturally forming a close bond as she is quite nervous but lets me stroke her and I really can't see me giving her up - I'm just wondering if she could cope with three legs, my two cats and my two dogs.  Time will tell and I'll keep you posted.

 

BUBBLES

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.

GLOBAL DESIGN PROJECT - 133

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.



 

I'M ALL ABOUT THE CATS

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

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?



 

LET'S GO BACK TO 2005

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.