Krafty Chicks challenge #716 - CAS

Good morning friends and welcome back to my corner of blogland.  I'm back again this morning with my card for this week's Krafty Chicks challenge.  This week is Week 3, Diane is our hostess and as always our theme is 'CAS' (clean and simple).  

My card is very clean and simple today and uses very limited supplies.  I hope you like it. 

Here is my card:

A closer look at the details:

I decorated the inside as usual:

I began by cutting a white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and stamped the flower images along the left edge in black ink.  I stamped the sentiment in the same black ink about 2/3rds down on the right hand side.  I die cut 3 butterflies from hot pink card and used an embossing folder to add some texture to them.  I adhered two butterflies to the front with liquid glue.  No embellishments or any extras this time to keep it a traditional CAS design.  For the inside I cut a white panel 3 3/4" x 5" and stamped a sentiment in the centre with black ink.  I then simply added the third butterfly to the bottom right corner.  I wish I'd stamped a portion of the flower in the corner also but I didn't think of it at the time, although I could still alter it I suppose.  I added the white panel onto a mat layer cut from the hot pink card and adhered it to my card base with double sided tape.  This was one of the quickest cards I've ever made and would be a good one to mass produce in different colours I think.  

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

AAA Cards challenge - anything birthday goes (must be CAS)

Addicted to Stamps & More challenge - birthdays

Allsorts challenge - spots and/or stripes (I have embossed dots on my butterflies)

A Place to Start challenge - ATG optional twist for a lady

Aud Sentiments challenge - foiling and/or flowers + sentiment

Beautiful Blossoms challenge - Anything floral goes optional mood board

Can You Handle The Pressure challenge - must use an EF optional theme flowers

CAS on Friday challenge - flowers

Creative Inspirations challenge - feminine

Double D challenge - polka dots (I have embossed dots on my butterflies)

Get Creative challenge - ladies only

Make My Monday challenge - florals

Moving Along With The Times challenge - flowers

Papercraft challenges - flower power

Simply Clean and Simple challenge - anything CAS goes optional theme flowers

The Paper Funday challenge - ATG optional theme flower shoppe

The Sisterhood of Crafters challenge - all about the ladies

Triple B challenge - must use at least one bird, blooms or butterflies optional mood board

Unicorn challenge - for the girls

Wow there are a lot of flower/female themed challenges around at the moment.  Must be because of Mother's Day in the US.  

I hope you will be able to join us for our 'CAS' challenge and I cannot wait to see your creations in our linky.  Please leave some love for my fellow chicks - Leanne, Diane and Lori and also our guest designer for May, Rachelle. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Love and hugs, 

Card ingredients:

Uniko Stamps - Pure Florals: Peony stamp set

Uniko Stamps - English country garden - butterflies dies

Uniko Stamps - Wonderful day stamp set (for inside sentiment)

Gina K Designs - swiss dot embossing folder 

Limetree Crafts - 250gsm silky smooth white card

Versafine - onyx black ink pad

Mini Card challenge IG Hop

Hello friends and happy Hump Day.  I trust your week has been good so far.  I'm taking part in a Mini Card challenge for the next 3 weeks, which has been organised by my lovely friend Kelly.  It's a chance to keep us occupied and our creativity flowing before the Summer 2024 Hop begins. 

We begin this week with The Mixed Up Challenge where we take 2 things that DO or DON’T belong and create a project! For instance you could make a card with ink blending and stamping - they go together. However you could also make a Christmas card in Halloween colours - which normally would not go together. I have to admit I was a little stumped at this one as I didn't want to make a card where things go together (like a 'normal' card) but was wracking my brain to think of something that didn't go together. I eventually decided to make a Christmas card using 4th of July colours i.e. red, white and blue, which are not traditionally used for festive makes.

Here is my card:

A closer look:

I decorated the inside:

It was so gloomy here when I took the photos that the stamping on the inside looks black but it's actually navy and the sentiment is also cut from navy card. 

I began by cutting a white panel 3 3/4" x 5" and ink blended some red ink into the centre.  I also added some water droplets to give a slightly distressed look.  I cut a slightly larger mat panel from navy card and adhered them with double sided tape.  I die cut 3 snowflakes from white card and added them onto the ink blended panel with liquid glue.  I die cut the sentiment 3 times from navy card and stacked them using liquid glue for extra dimension.  I added the sentiment on top of the snowflakes with liquid glue.  I finished the front with a few red pearls.  For the inside I cut the same panels from white and navy card and adhered them with double sided tape.  I lightly ink blended the red ink just in the lower left corner and cut another 3 white snowflakes and added them over the ink blending with liquid glue.  I stamped the sentiment in the centre of the panel with navy ink.  A fairly clean and simple card and I really like the colour combo, even though it is untraditional.  I hope you like it. 

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Crafts Galore Encore challenge - ATG

Creative Knockouts challenge - finish the inside

Girlz Creative Christmas challenge - dies and/or punches

Inkspirational challenge - seasonal (winter)

Jingle Belles challenge - no patterned paper 

Merry Little Christmas challenge - anything Christmas goes

Peace on Earth Christmas challenge - anything Christmas themed 

The Holly & Ivy Christmas challenge - anything Christmas goes 

If you would like to follow the hop over on Instagram please use the hashtag #minicardchallenges to find us or alternatively visit my profile and you will find the list of participants on my post.  We would love it if you would give the mix up challenge a try and again use the hashtag and we will find your projects. 

Enjoy the rest of your day and thank you for stopping by. 

Love and hugs,

Card ingredients:

MFT stamps - Let it snowflake die-namics

Sizzix - merry & bright die

Gina K Designs - ink pads - red hot & in the navy

Uniko Stamps - Christmas wishes (for inside sentiment)

Limetree Crafts - 250gsm silky smooth white card

navy card from stash 

Little Things from Lucy's Cards - chunky soft pomegranate pearls (sadly store now closed)

2nd Annual Sunshine Hop

Hello and welcome to a brand new week!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend; wasn't the weather glorious last week?  For once I have an empty washing basket (but not for long I'm sure).  

I don't normally post on a Monday but I am honoured to be part of an Instagram Hop to raise awareness of skin cancer, which has been organised by my lovely friend Kelly.  This has a personal significance for me as my mother-in-law was diagnosed with skin cancer on her face and had to have surgery to remove it.  It was a scary and worrying time but thankfully they told her that they managed to get it all during surgery.  

The purpose of this hop is to bring awareness to skin cancers/melanoma with helpful tips, reminders to get your annual skin checks and beautiful projects focusing on the sun and the colour yellow! As a thank you for hopping with us, there is a giveaway prize hidden somewhere on the hop so make sure to visit each stop along the way!  I used some fun dies for my card today that I've had for a while but haven't used before so that was a bonus.  

Here is my card:

A closer look at the fun sunglasses:

I also decorated the inside:

I began by die cutting the sentiment from white card 3 times and before I stacked them I did an ombre ink blend using yellow ink on one set.  I then adhered them together with liquid glue.  I die cut the sunglasses (again 3 times) and also adhered them with liquid glue.  I thought it would be fun to put a sunshine image behind the glasses so stamped the image onto alcohol marker friendly card and coloured it with Promarkers.  I then use the sunglasses die to cut out image.  I again stacked them 3 times so that they would be the same depth as the frame.  I cut a piece of yellow card 4" x 5 1/4" and used a cloud embossing folder to create a fun background for my card.  I die cut a stitched rounded rectangle from white card as a base for my sentiment and sunglasses.  The yellow panel was added to the card base with double sided tape and the white rounded panel was added with foam tape.  The sentiment and sunglasses were added with liquid glue.  I tried adding some bling but I preferred it without so left it as it was.  For the inside I cut a white panel 4" x 5 1/4" and stamped a sentiment in the centre with black ink.  I used the cloud embossing folder to emboss a thin piece of the yellow card and added that to the bottom of the panel with double sided tape.  I stamped and coloured an image of the sunglasses and die cut it out before adding it onto the yellow strip with liquid glue.  A really fun and cheerful card.  I hope you like it.  

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

AAA Colourful challenge - inspiration colour board

Can You Handle the Pressure challenge - must use an EF option flowers

Crafts Galore Encore challenge - ATG

Crafty Catz challenge - ATG optional twist summer

Creative Knockouts challenge - finish the inside (10 challenges max)

Cut It Up challenge - add a sentiment (3rd entry)

Inkspirational challenge - seasonal (summer)

NBUS challenge - never used my dies before 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - use die cuts

Word Power challenge - make the sentiment the focus of your card

I thought I would add a fact about skin cancer/melanoma, which you may find interesting.  I have another fact for you on my Instagram post too.

* Did you know regular daily use of SPF15 or higher sunscreen reduces risk of melanoma by 50%.

 Please pop over to my Instagram post to see the list of stops along the hop or use hashtag #scawarenesssunshinehop to find us. As a thank you for hopping along with us there is a giveaway prize hidden somewhere on the hop so make sure to visit each stop along the way!

I hope you have a wonderful day. Thank you for stopping by and leaving me such lovely comments; I really appreciate them all.

Love and hugs,

 

Card ingredients:

MFT Stamps - Stay cool die-namics

MFT - SPECtacular stamp & dies

MFT - stitched rounded rectangles stack dies (retired)

Clearly Besotted Stamps - balloon bunch backdrops (retired)

Darice - clouds embossing folder (no longer available)

Promarkers

Limetree Crafts - 250gsm silky smooth white card

Heffy Doodle - alcohol marker friendly card

Memento - tuxedo black ink

Versafine - onyx black ink

Gina K Designs - wild dandelion ink pad

yellow card from scrap box

Krafty Chicks challenge #715 - Christmas

Good morning lovely friends; I hope you're having a brilliant week so far.  Well the weather here has 

been glorious this week so I've nothing to complain about lol!  I even have an (almost) empty washing basket - which makes me very happy!  

It's the start of a brand new challenge over at Krafty Chicks challenge and this week is Week 2 and as always I am the hostess.  For this week's challenge it's all about Christmas so grab your festive supplies and beat the rush in December.

I decided to dig out an old wood rubber stamp and show it some love.  I have a drawer full and they are so lovely that I feel bad neglecting them.  I must start making an effort to use them in the coming weeks.  

Here is my card:

A close up of the image:

I decorated the inside (not sure why the gold edge looks so wonky, it doesn't look like that in real life):

I began by stamping the image onto alcohol marker friendly card using memento ink and used my Promarkers to colour it.  I have also rediscovered my 'puffy stuff' so added that to the bottom of the image to mimic snow.  It's pretty cool stuff, it goes on like a thick paint but when you heat it with your heat tool it puffs up and hardens.  I die cut the image with a circle die and used the larger size to make a frame with gold mirror card.  I also die cut a topper die so that it would look like a bauble which was adhered to the circles with liquid glue. I stamped a simple sentiment in black ink onto the white circle.  I used some old 6x6 papers to create my background and added some thin strips of the gold card to cover the joins.  I added foam tape behind the patterned paper and added it to my card base.  The bauble was then also adhered with foam tape (I also added a thin sliver of foam tape behind the topper 'string').  I didn't add any extra bling as there was lots of shine from the mirror card.  For the inside I added a thick strip of the green paper, a small strip of the red paper and a thin strip of the gold card at the bottom of my panel.  I then stamped a sentiment in the centre with black ink.  This panel was adhered to the card base with double sided tape.  A fairly simple card but I think it looks really cute.  

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps & More challenge - Christmas

As You Like It challenge - soft or bold colours (I prefer bold colours especially when colouring an image as I'm a bit too heavy handed to use soft colours!)

Crafty Animals challenge - ATG must include an animal

Critter Crazy challenge - ATG with a featured critter

Cut It Up challenge - add a sentiment

Incy Wincy Designs challenge - spring and/or animals

Inkspirational challenge - seasonal (winter)

Merry Little Christmas challenge - anything Christmas goes

Peace on Earth challenge - anything Christmas themed

Pearly Sparkles challenge - cats and dogs

Penny Black Saturday challenge - ATG option pastel colours

PINspirational challenge - designer or patterned paper

Simply Create Too challenge - add an animal

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - use die cuts

Sweet Stampin' challenge - animals 

I hope you will be able to join us for our 'Christmas' challenge and I cannot wait to see your creations in our linky.  Please leave some love for my fellow chicks - Leanne, Diane and Lori and also our guest designer Rachelle, who is joining us again this month. 

Enjoy the rest of your day and thanks for stopping by. 

Love and hugs, 

Card ingredients:

Penny Black Stamps - Wishing (2998H)

Gina K Designs - holiday toppers dies

Spellbinders - standard circles large dies

Inkylicious - fluffy puffy stuff 

My Mind's Eye - Be Merry 6x6 paper pad

Personal Impressions - Big Christmas Essentials stamp set

Personal Impressions (Paula Pascual) - Christmas messages stamp set (for inside sentiment)

Promarkers

Limetree Crafts - 250gsm silky smooth white card

Heffy Doodle - alcohol marker friendly card

Memento - tuxedo black ink pad

Versafine - onyx black ink pad

gold mirror card from stash

We Love Stamping challenge - guest designer

Good morning lovely friends; I hope you've had a great start to your weekend and of course the added bonus if you live in the UK is an extra day off tomorrow for the Bank Holiday (apologies if you have to work).  The sun was actually warm and shiny here yesterday so fingers crossed it appears today; although we can rarely string two days together at the moment. 

I am delighted and honoured to be a guest designer over at the We Love Stamping challenge this month so I'll be sharing a card today and also another card in two weeks time.  The theme for this month has been chosen by Lynn and is 'Vintage'.   There are some fantastic prizes up for grabs courtesy of Lisa Horton Crafts.  

Now I have to admit that my heart sank when I read the theme as vintage is not really my thing but hey that is what a challenge is all about isn't it.  I used the opportunity to make a birthday card for my Father in Law for this first card and I was really happy with the finished result.  

Here is my card:

A close up of the image:

Of course I decorated the inside:

I began by stamping the car image onto cream card with a brown ink; I cut it out, inked around the edges and also distressed the edges with a edge distressed (which I did to most of my edges).  I stamped the map background in the same way and again inked and distressed the edges.  I used a newspaper style patterned paper for my background and added that to my card base with double sided tape.  The postcards were cut from a piece of patterned paper, inked and distressed along with the circular piece.  The tickets were cut with two different types of dies and again inked with various colours of ink.  I stamped one with a coordinating sentiment.  The letters were die cut from brown card and stacked 3 high for some dimension.  I stamped the happy birthday sentiment with brown ink onto cream card, inked and distressed and cut out with a sentiment strip.  The hardest bit was figuring out placement on the card and I have to say it took me a good while of moving and changing my mind before I came to the final result.  Most things were added with double sided tape except the car image, sentiment and circle embellishment which were added with foam tape and the DAD letters with liquid glue.  For the inside I used the same newspaper patterned paper for my background, I stamped a postcard onto cream card and again inked and distressed it.  I die cut a few more tickets and stamped my sentiment into the centre of a cream rectangle which was inked and distressed.  Everything on the inside was adhered with double sided tape.  I think it is the perfect card for an older gentleman and although I went a bit mad with the inking and distressing I think it turned out ok. 

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Alphabet challenge - C is for cars

Classic Design challenge - ATG optional twist happy birthday

Crafts Galore Encore challenge - ATG

Crafty Calendar challenge - ATG

Cut It Up challenge - add a sentiment

Daisy Chain challenge - boys/men

The Male Room challenge - trains, planes and automobiles

As I said I will be back with my second card on the 18th May.  I hope you can play along with the challenge and I cannot wait to see all your vintage projects in the linky.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend and thank you so much for stopping by. 

Love and hugs, 

Card ingredients:

Car Stamp - from Amazon (was a set of 4 stamps)

MFT - little letters die (retired)

MFT - mini ticket strip border (retired)

Indigo Blu - map background stamp

Whimsy Stamps - ticket sentiments & friendship ticket sentiments stamps (retired)

Gina K Designs - flowing florals (for happy birthday)

Gina K Designs - large strip sentiment dies

Woodware Stamps - one for the boys (for inside sentiment)

Hunkydory - essential paper pack - vintage newsprints

Gina K Designs - ink pads: sea glass, jellybean green, fresh asparagus, dark chocolate, warm cocoa

Versafine Clair - acorn ink pad

Lidl - Crelando 270gsm coloured card (available in store)

Postcard stamp - unknown brand

Heidi Swapp - edge distresser (discontinued)

Krafty Chicks challenge #714 - Stamps

Good morning lovely friends; I hope you're having a brilliant week so far.  Well the weather here has turned decidedly chilly and wet again, so I'm still dreaming of spring; you would think by May 2nd we would be having spring weather by now wouldn't you?  Anyway enough of my waffling let's get on to the card making lol!

It's the start of a brand new challenge over at Krafty Chicks challenge and this week is Week 1 so we want to see your stamps/digis.  

It was my Father-in-law's birthday yesterday so I used the opportunity to make a card for my sons to give to their grandfather.  I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A close up of the cute image:

Plus I decorated the inside:

It's strange for me to make a 6"x6" card these days, even though that's the only size I used to make years ago.  It's funny how our preferences change isn't it.  I started by making my own card base from a white 12"x12" piece of card (cut to 6"x12" and scored in the middle); I also made my own envelope using the envelope punch board.  I stamped the image onto white alcohol marker friendly card with black ink and coloured it with Promarkers.  I made a mask for the bear and once in place used a cloud stencil and grass stencil to create my background.  I also stamped 2 small butterflies, coloured them with Promarkers and added some white gel pen dots for extra detail.  I then stamped the sentiment onto the sign with black ink (the happy birthday was part of the same set as the bear but the grandad was from a different company).  I matted the image panel onto some light blue card with double sided tape.  I rediscovered a lovely paper pad which had some great generic patterns which suited a man and chose this 'hessian' looking pattern for behind my image panel.  I again adhered it to a light blue mat with double sided tape and also added it to my card base with double sided tape.  I added the image panel onto the patterned paper panel with foam tape.  I finished the front with a few gold pearls.  For the inside I chose to decorate it quite simply this time.  I cut a white panel and stamped the sentiment in the centre with black ink.  I matted it onto the same light blue card with double sided tape and took a piece of the patterned paper and added it to the bottom of the panel with double sided tape.  This was adhered to the card base with double sided tape.  A fairly simple card overall but I think perfect for my boys to give to their grandfather.  

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Allsorts challenge - use a stencil (I used two)

As You Like It challenge - soft or bold colours (I tend to use bolder colours as I struggle with pastels)

Crafty Animals challenge - ATG must include an animal

Critter Crazy challenge - ATG with a featured critter

Incy Wincy Designs challenge - spring and/or animals

PINspirational challenge - designer/patterned paper

Sweet Stampin' challenge - animals

The Cutie Pie challenge - simply cuties

Tic Tac Toe challenge - butterflies/free/patterned paper (I appreciate my butterflies are dinky so delete if not appropriate)

I hope you will be able to join us for our 'Stamps' challenge and I cannot wait to see your creations in our linky.  Please leave some love for my fellow chicks - Leanne, Diane and Lori and also our guest designer Rachelle, who is joining us again this month. 

Enjoy the rest of your day and thanks for stopping by. 

Love and hugs, 

Card ingredients:

LOTV Stamps - James thinking of you A5 stamp set

Gina K Designs - autumn splendor 6x6 paper pad

Gina K Designs - ink pads - sea glass & jelly bean green

Gina K Designs - pearl mix - black, gold & silver 

MFT - mini cloud edges stencil & grassy edges stencil

Clearly Besotted Stamps - simply said stamp set (for inside greeting)

Clearly Besotted Stamps - friends and family stamp set (for grandad) (retired)

Craft UK Limited - 12 x 12 250gsm smooth white card

blue card from stash

AAA Birthday challenge #61 - CAS

Good morning lovely friends and Happy 1st of May. I don't know where the months are going, it only seems like last week that I was welcoming April lol!  I'm here this morning for the start of a brand new challenge over at the AAA Birthday challenge. This month Helen is our hostess and she has chosen 'CAS' as our theme. Our lovely guest for this month is Lynne so pop over and leave her some love.

I didn't have anyone in mind when I made this card but knew I wanted to use a few more cute critters from LOTV as I was in the mood for colouring.  Here is my card:

Here's a closer look at the cute bunnies:

I decorated the inside as usual:

I began by stamping the two images with memento ink onto alcohol marker friendly card.  I coloured them with Promarkers, adding a few highlights with a white gel pen.  I trimmed the panel to 3 7/8" square but then decided to add a decorative border to the top and bottom.  I stamped a small happy birthday sentiment in black ink in the lower right of the panel.  I cut a piece of green gingham paper 3 7/8" x 5" and adhered it to my card base with double sided tape.  I added the image panel on top, again with double sided tape.  It took great self control to leave it like that, without any dimension and not add anything else, but I think it looks sweet as it is.  For the inside I cut a white panel 3 3/4" x 5" and stamped a sentiment in the centre with black ink.  I added a strip of the green gingham paper to the bottom of the panel (I again cut a decorative edge) with double sided tape.  I did stamp the image direct to paper but I messed it up so had to re-stamp it on a separate piece of card, fussy cut it out and add it to the panel with liquid glue (but I think it looks ok).  The panel was added to the card base with double sided tape.    

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

As You Like It challenge - clean or fussy (I like both styles but really like the simplicity of a CAS card)

Classic Design challenge - ATG optional twist happy birthday

Crafter's Cafe challenge - CAS

Creative Inspirations challenge - feminine

Creative Moments challenge - cute and cuddly

Critter Crazy challenge - ATG with a featured critter

Cut It Up challenge - starts with a B (bunnies, blooms) I used a die to cut my decorative edge

I love Promarkers challenge - ATG option new home

Incy Wincy Designs challenge - spring and/or animals

Pinspirational challenge - designer/patterned paper

Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge - feminine

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - ATG

Sweet Stampin' challenge - animals

The Cutie Pie challenge - simply cuties

The Sisterhood of Crafters challenge - springtime designer paper (you can't beat a bit of gingham)

Tic Tac Toe challenge - flowers/free/die cuts

The Design Team have created amazing cards as always so please pop over to the blog and check them out and perhaps leave them some love on their personal blogs.   

I hope you will be able to join in with our challenge this month but don't forget it has to be birthday themed.  I can't wait to see your creations in the linky.

Enjoy the rest of your day and thank you so much for stopping by.

Love and hugs, 

LOTV - spring sweeties A5 polymer stamp set

LOTV - bear trios A5 polymer stamp set (for sentiment) (currently unavailable)

Clearly Besotted Stamps - scalloped edges die collection (retired)

Spellbinders - pocket bunny stamp set (for inside sentiment)

Memento - tuxedo black ink pad

Versafine - onyx black ink pad

Heffy Doodle - alcohol marker friendly card

Limetree Crafts - 250gsm silky smooth white card

Promarkers

Sakura - white no. 10 gelly roll pen

Gina K Designs - soft stone ink pad

gingham paper from stash