CTC196 – Santa’s Workshop

Oh my… have you actually really really looked at the suite of products on offer in this section of the catalogue? It. Is. De.Vine…. sigh….  (insert dreamy eye emoji!)

This is the section of the holiday catalogue the Caseing The Catty Crew are focussing on for this week’s hop. Welcome if you are joining me here or if you have hopped over from the lovely Julia Quinn.

The thing about the products in this suite is, you have to feel them. The Designer Paper is flocked, meaning it has raised texture and the Memories and More cards have glitter adhered on, so they too have raised texture and sparkly to match! The other thing is the dies fit the little characters printed on the Designer paper, and some of the circle punches will punch out all the little extras – candy canes, snowflakes and lollies – so there is little wastage. Notice how they are printed in lines too – you can cut strips and not decapitate poor ol’ Santa… he does have a tough job as it is huh!

There is so much to love with all of these products, but this week, I went in a different direction. You know I love all the idea in the catalogue too, so this weeks card came from inspiration from the “Have yourself a Merry Christmas” card design on the right on page 23.

This is what I came up with.

Very Vanilla and Gold are the main colours and I have teamed them up with a splash of Real Red. The card is square and I have included a strip of Gold Glimmer paper layered with some of that yummy bauble design paper from the All is Bright suite. I heat embossed the sentiment from the Merry Christmas To All stamp set and die cut with an oval from the Stitched Shapes framelits.

The back of the sentiment is adorned with die cut elements in Gold Glimmer paper and Foil from the Swirly Snowflakes and Pretty Pines thinlits sets. I love mixing up my existing collection of toys with my new ones!

I was wishing I had purchased the Red Rhinestones from the Annual Catalogue, but I keep forgetting to order them, so to substitute, I used the Dark Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Blends and coloured some medium and small Pearls. This added the splash of colour I was looking for. To make the job of applying them soooo much easier, I used the new Take Your Pick tool – it has many options to help you along while crafting. Today, i used the palette knife to loosen the pearls off the backing of the packaging the come on, and the putty end to lift them and move them into place on my project. All those pearls, in place on my project in no time!

Next up in the hop is Fi Cobbin.

After you’ve enjoyed the awesome hop with the team, I’m looking forward to seeing your CASE over in our challenge group. Be sure to load up your creation by 6pm next Sunday night, September 23rd.

Until next time… Stamp Creatively,

Click to shop these supplies:

Merry Christmas To All Photopolymer Stamp Set [147702] $47.00	Merry Christmas To All Photopolymer Bundle [149952] $86.25	Swirly Snowflakes Thinlits Dies [144678] $52.00	Pretty Pines Thinlits Dies [141851] $45.25	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies [145372] $50.00
Big Shot [143263] $159.00	Heat Tool [129056] $50.00	Embossing Buddy [103083] $10.00	Versamark Pad [102283] $15.00	Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder [109129] $8.75
Very Vanilla A4 Thick Cardstock [144238] $13.50	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock [106550] $17.00	All Is Bright 12″ X 12″ (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper [147892] $19.25	Gold Foil Sheets [132622] $7.00	Gold Glimmer Paper [146958] $8.75
Pearl Basic Jewels [144219] $8.75	Cherry Cobbler Dark Stampin’ Blends Marker [144575] $7.75	Take Your Pick [144107] $17.00	Clear Block E [118484] $20.00	SNAIL Permanent Adhesive [104332] $10.00
Tear & Tape Adhesive [138995] $9.00	Stampin’ Dimensionals [104430] $6.00	Paper Snips Scissors [103579] $17.00	Stampin’ Trimmer [129722] $50.00

Colour INKspiration – CI32

Welcome to this colour challenge with the Colour INKspiration crew. Welcome if you have joined me from Rachel or if you are starting here with me. We have an awesome colour combination for you to play with this time, they are:

Night of Navy, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White and Gold.

Here is my inspiration. I have gone with a Mothers Day themed card, using the A Mothers Flair stamp set.

I have always found Pink Pirouette to be a very light shade of pink so when I want to use it for watercolouring backgrounds, getting a dark enough coverage, can be challenging. Obviously, water colouring washes out the colour, so this is how I went about achieving a darker background:

• I used the ink pad and lightly tapped it directly on the cardstock, I used Shimmery White cardstock;
• Next, I used an aqua painter and blended the ink together, providing a smooth appearance;
• I repeated this process again, building up the depth in colour. This allowed for a more intense pink, than what the tradition ink would give; and
• Lastly, I squeezed a few drops of water from the aqua painter and allowed them to drop on to the cardstock in different spots. This moved the ink around the surface of the cardstock, allowing it to pool in other places to create that watered edge look.
• I dried it off with my heat tool, just for speed. But this can be air dried if time permits.

I love how it came together. Now to finish my card.

I overlayed the water coloured background onto Pink Pirouette cardstock, which was adhered to a Night of Navy cardbase.

The embellishments over the stop featured a flourish in Gold Foil from the Petals & More thinlit die set, a cut square using the Stitched Shapes Framelits, a 1 ½” circle punched from Whisper White cardstock. This was layered with a Scallop Circled punched shape from Pink Pirouette cardstock. Off the top right, featured a dragonfly in Gold Foil from the Detailed Dragonflies thinlit set.

Lastly, my stamped images – I just love all the sweet girly style imagery that feature in the A Mother’s Flair stamp set. They are just so delicate and so very useful for many different occasions. There are a couple of sentiments that can be used for other occasions also, and a few that are Mother specific.

Here I stamped the hat in Night of Navy ink and fussy cut it. I coloured the flower with a Pink Pirouette marker and used dimensionals to adhere this over the circle punched shapes. I added my sentiment to the bottom right and finished off with a couple of gold faceted gems.

I really like how this turned out and look forward to giving this one away in a few weeks. I hope that I have inspired your Mothers Day projects. I know there are many out there who may not have their own mums along side them just now, but there are still a lot of Mums out there, many who are doing it tough. Stop and look around you and bless them with one of your lovely creations.

Next up in the hop is the amazing Kelly Kent.

Once you have enjoyed all the amazing inspiration in this hop, pop over to our Facebook Challenge group and load up your creation using these colours. This challenge is open until 7pm, Monday 7th May. Look forward to seeing you over on the group.

Until next time… Stamp Creatively,

Click to shop these supplies:

A Mother’s Flair Clear-Mount Stamp Set [145905]	Big Shot [143263]	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies [145372]	Detailed Dragonfly Thinlits Dies [142749]	Petals & More Thinlits Dies [145655]	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin’ Pad [126970]
Night Of Navy A4 Card Stock [106577]	Pink Pirouette Classic Stampin’ Pad [126956]	Pink Pirouette A4 Card Stock [116203]	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549]	Whisper White C6 Envelopes [106588]	Gold Foil Sheets [132622]
Aqua Painters [103954]	1-1/2″ Circle Punch [138299]	1-3/8″ (3.5 Cm) Scallop Circle Punch [146139]	Heat Tool [129056]	Clear Block C [118486]	Clear Block G [118489]
SNAIL Permanent Adhesive [104332]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Tear & Tape Adhesive [138995]	Stampin’ Dimensionals [104430]	Paper Snips Scissors [103579]	Stampin’ Trimmer [129722]

CTC175 – Favourite Occasions Big Shot Project

I don’t know about favourite…. There are just waaaay to many great projects using the big shot, it was really hard to choose. Welcome to Caseing The Catty where this week, we are looking at big shot projects.

Here is my card…

Here I have used Foil Frenzy Specialty paper stack to cover the card front. I used the Parquetry style pattern in Soft Sky. I overlayed this with a piece of Soft Sky card stock. I stamped the bottom with a couple of those cute and mischievous kittens.

I overlayed a circle in Whisper White cardstock punched using the Stitched Shapes framelit. I just love them. The sentiment is one of the thinlits from the Lovely Words thinlit die set, here I have snipped it out of the frame to use on it’s own. I added more words to it to create the sentiment. These are from the Happy Birthday Gorgeous stamp set.

I topped it off with the Pansy from Birthday Blossom stamp set and one of those metallic rimmed pearls.

Nice and bright and sparkly – just enough to brighten the recipient’s day.

Next up in the hop is the ever amazing Kelly Kent.

After you’ve enjoyed the awesome hop with the team, I’m looking forward to seeing your CASE over in our challenge group. Be sure to load up your creation by 6pm next Sunday night, April 29th.

Until next time… Stamp Creatively,

Click to shop these supplies:

Happy Birthday Gorgeous Photopolymer Stamp Set [143662]	Pretty Kitty Clear-Mount Stamp Set [141864]	Birthday Blossoms Clear-Mount Stamp Set [139471]	Lovely Words Thinlits Dies [143733]	Big Shot [143263]	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549]
Soft Sky Classic Stampin’ Pad [131181]	Card Stock A4 Soft Sky [131292]	Rose Red Classic Stampin’ Pad [126954]	Rose Red A4 Card Stock [108613]	Crumb Cake A4 Card Stock [121685]	Foil Frenzy Specialty Designer Series Paper [144125]
Pansy Punch [130698]	Metal Rimmed Pearls [138394]	Clear Block C [118486]	SNAIL Permanent Adhesive [104332]	Stampin’ Dimensionals [104430]	Stampin’ Trimmer [129722]

Is it Wine O’Clock Yet?

I just love the Half Full stamp set. I was really pleased to see it carry over into the new year too. More wine for us to play with.

I posted this project just recently (see here), but wanted to go over some of the details in depth for you.

Here I used the recently launched Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers to colour in my feature elements – the wine bottle and glasses.

As these are based on an alcohol solution, you need to use Memento ink to stamp your outline image. This is so as the pigment in that particular ink means the line work wont bleed once you begin colouring over the top. It’s all to do with alcohol vs oil vs water and the combinations that make up these products.

Stampin’ Up!’s Stampin’ Blends come in 12 different colours. There are two shades (a light and a dark) for each hue. Each marker has two tips – a brush end (for blending larger areas) and a fine tip end (for more precision work). There is also a Bronze and Ivory marker and a Colour Lifter to help lighten areas to create more of a realistic depth to your colouring.

There are number of ways you can colour with these types of markers. My preferred way, I think, goes against the grain a little. Well, for larger areas anyway. But I just find this gives me the result I’m looking for…

After stamping my outline image, I add shade with the darker marker first in a thin line.

Next I use my lighter shade to blend that harsh line away, adding the colour to the remaining areas I need it. As you colour over and over the same areas two things happen – 1: the alcohol mixes together to help dissolve that line so that the colour in the image transitions seamlessly, and
– 2: the lighter shade does get a little darker, this makes me think about where I want my highlight to be so I don’t go over that area quite so much.

As the alcohol flood the cardstock, it may make the colour bleed out past the line work. This may make your image look like you need to brush up on your colouring skills again. So to help avoid that and make you look like the colouring pro you are, just stay in from the edges. If you do happen to put on too much colour, or colour goes outside the line, you can lift it away with the Colour Lifter –  you may need to go over the area a couple of times, allowing drying time in between.

For finer work, like the glasses on the inside of this card. I found it easier to colour the whole glass in with the lighter shade first, then add a touch of the darker shade to add depth.

I find I hover between these two methods based on the amount of area I am colouring.

I used Vellum for the glass, allowing the woodgrain to show through slightly, giving it an authentic look. I used the Stitched shapes framelit for the sentiment at the top, and layered this with the Layering Oval framelits and some more of that wood textures paper.

Below is a full supply list used on this project.

Until next time… Stamp Creatively,

Click to shop these supplies:

Half Full Clear-Mount Stamp Set [144999]	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies [145372]	Layering Ovals Framelits Dies [141706]	Big Shot [143263]	Big Shot Magnetic Platform [130658]	Crumb Cake A4 Card Stock [121685]
Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549]	Whisper White C6 Envelopes [106588]	Wood Textures Designer Series Paper Stack [144177]	White Vellum A4 Card Stock [106584]	Old Olive A4 Card Stock [106576]	Old Olive Classic Stampin’ Pad [126953]
Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin’ Pad [126966]	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708]	Old Olive Stampin’ Blends Markers Combo Pack [144597]	Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Blends Markers Combo Pack [144598]	Stampin’ Blends Color Lifter [144608]	Stampin’ Blends Markers Collection [147475]
Brights Stampin’ Write Markers [131259]	Regals Stampin’ Write Markers [131262]	Daffodil Delight 1/4″ Double-Stitched Ribbon [144116]	Clear Block A [118487]	Clear Block D [118485]	Clear Block H [118490]
Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Stampin’ Dimensionals [104430]	Paper Snips Scissors [103579]	Stampin’ Trimmer [129722]

CTC159 – Casing the Holiday catalogue

Welcome to our last blog hop and challenge for the year. Welcome if you just joined me from Rebecca or if you are starting here.

In some ways… having less structure can be harder, don’t you think? So for today’s Caseing The Catty team challenge, being able to choose anything we like in the Holiday catalogue, I found difficult to narrow down. It was probably so, as I like so many different ideas in the catalogue and these generate so many ideas for me.

I knew I wanted to use the stamp set – Wise Men from afar. I finally decided on this card here from page 17. It showcases the stamp set Christmas in the Making, but the design was going to suit what I wanted.

Here is my card…

I always start by breaking down the elements – the main circle feature, top 3/4 of Designer paper, the bottom strip of tone on tone decorative stamping, a strip of glimmer and the sentiment.

My based card is Whisper White thick card stock and I layered a strip of Sahara Sand cardstock across the bottom, which I stamped with the sand stamp in Sahara Sand ink. My next layer of Designer paper, I used the seemless ombre print design from Color Theory in Dapper Denim. I used the lighter end of the sheet and cut a strip off to fill the rest of my card.

To punch out the night sky, I used the thinlit from the Card Front builder set. However as this is sized to fit a portrait layout and my card is landscape, I had to run this through my big shot twice, offsetting my top cutting plate, so that I missed one edge on the first pass. I repositioned my die and again offset my top cutting plate so that it stretched the design to finished the scene across my paper.

Next, I stamped the largest of the palm trees, in Night of Navy ink, off the right side. I heat embossed a silver star in the middle to complete my scene. I layered some Silver foil behind my punched night sky and adhered them to the cardbase, overlapping the sand strip slightly. I finished off the join with some silver washi tape from the Year of Cheer pack.

I stamped the Three Wise Me in Night of Navy ink and punched them out using the largest of the circles from the Stitched Shapes framelits – I really do love those framelits! I added some more stamped sand to the bottom here.

I stamped my sentiment in Night of Navy ink and finished off by adhering the Wise men with dimensionals.

Next up on the blog hop is the lovely Peta Stephen.

Hop on through and when you are done, load up your creation inspired by ideas from the Holiday catalogue to our Facebook challenge group.

Until next time… Stamp creatively,

Click to shop these supplies:

Wise Men From Afar Clear-Mount Stamp Set [144875]	Card Front Builder Thinlits Dies [144674]	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies [145372]	Big Shot [143263]	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock [140490]	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549]
Whisper White C6 Envelopes [106588]	Sahara Sand A4 Card Stock [121695]	Sahara Sand Classic Stampin’ Pad [126976]	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin’ Pad [126970]	Color Theory Designer Series Paper Stack [144193]	Silver Foil Sheets [132178]
Year Of Cheer Specialty Washi Tape [144644]	Heat Tool [129056]	Embossing Buddy [103083]	Versamark Pad [102283]	Silver Stampin’ Emboss Powder [109131]	Clear Block A [118487]
Clear Block C [118486]	Clear Block D [118485]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]	Stampin’ Dimensionals [104430]	Paper Snips Scissors [103579]	Stampin’ Trimmer [129722]

Colour Challenge – CYCI#152

As I was rummaging through my drawers for the combination of colours for this challenge, I found some pre made element in my drawers – like the embossed Mint cardstock, a precut and scored cardbase in Sahara Sand, the strip of Designer series paper in Turquoise and the ring in Melon Mambo. Obviously left over elements from previous creations, so I added those in to my challenge this week to see how I could incorporate them.

I liked the colour combination this made and was close to the Can You Case It? #152 challenge colours for this week. Amber always has a colour combo up her sleeve. Check them out.

Here is what I created with these elements. A simple but colourful Hello card.

I have missing a few of my stamps of late – you know those ones that sit quietly and patiently on your shelf waiting for you to notice them again. The cute little flower is from the Bloomin’ Love stamp set, which is about a year old now but haven’t used them lately.

Here I inked up the little flower using markers to get that coloured in look. I stamped it on some whisper white, which I had pre-punched with my Stitched Shapes framelits and adhered my Melon Mambo ring too. That gave me my boundaries for the stamped images. I added a little hello stamp in Tempting Turquoise to finish off.

Too see more inspiration using these colours – join the Design Team over at the Facebook Challenge Group. I’d love to see what you create with these colours. So why not enter the challenge? Entries close Midday Saturday 8^th April (AEST).

Until next time… Stamp creatively,

What I used to make this:

Bloomin’ Love Photopolymer Stamp Set [140643]	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies [145372]	Layering Circle Framelits Dies [141705]	Decorative Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [133520]	Big Shot [143263]
Big Shot Magnetic Platform [130658]	Brights Stampin’ Write Markers [131259]	2015-2017 In Color Stampin’ Write Markers [138333]	Sahara Sand A4 Card Stock [121695]	Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock [138344]
Melon Mambo A4 Card Stock [119980]	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549]	Brights Designer Series Paper Stack [138434]	Clear Block B [117147]	Fine-Tip Glue Pen [138309]
SNAIL Permanent Adhesive [104332]	Stampin’ Dimensionals [104430]	Stampin’ Trimmer [129722]

Pretty Present – CYCI #146

The challenge colours this week over at Can You Case It? #146 are really cool. I wouldn’t have thought to put these together but don’t they look amazing together – Curry Yellow, Teal, Orange and Burgundy.

The colours I used for this challenge are Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay, Pumpkin Pie and Cherry Cobbler.

 

 

 

I kept it pretty simple this week, but the colours just make it pop, so I don’t think it needed over doing.

I used the gorgeous Stitched Shapes framelit dies for the base of my present. I just love the soft stitching detail these frame create. With a little Designer Series paper at the top and a plain strip of cardstock at the bottom, the present started coming together.

What is a present without a bow?! Here, I have punched out using the bow die from the Balloon Pop Up thinlit dies, and finished it off with a metal rimmed pearl for a little detail.

I can’t wait to see what you create with these colours. And now it’s even easier for you to join in. Can You Case It? has been in planning mode in between our fortnight challenges. We have been brainstorming ways to make it easier for you to join in on all the fun. Here is what we are trying out…

Get your creative inspiration from the amazing Design team on the Can You Case It? website.

After creating your project – Join the Challenge Group over on Facebook. You can enter the challenge by either uploading a photo of your project directly into the Album for this fortnights challenge. Or you can load a link to your blog or pinterest or Instagram post.

How cool and how easy is that now? So… off you go…. create and load your project by Saturday February 18^th, Midday (AEDT).

Until next time… Stamp Creatively,

What I used to create this:

Birthday Bright Photopolymer Stamp Set [142835]	Balloon Pop-Up Thinlits Dies [142753]	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies [145372]	Big Shot [143263]	Precision Base Plate [139684]
Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin’ Pad [126966]	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock [140490]	Whisper White C6 Envelopes [106588]	Pumpkin Pie A4 Card Stock [108601]	Cherry Cobbler A4 Card Stock [121681]
Card Stock A4 Bermuda Bay [131286]	Party Animal Designer Series Paper [142738]	Metal Rimmed Pearls [138394]	Clear Block B [117147]	Stampin’ Dimensionals [104430]
Fine-Tip Glue Pen [138309]