Double Daisy

There are 5 Thursdays in July this year, so that allows the DT at CAS Colours and Sketches to offer the ultimate double challenge, use the colours and the sketch.
Here they are...

This one made me think! I am not a fan of circles, I think other people's cards are much better than my own when it comes to circles. For a start off, they need to be die cut or punched for me, can't stand circles that are not perfect on my own cards. As I only own a few sizes of circles and only one size of scalloped circle this leaves me a bit limited. So, what if I was to use a large flower instead? I can fussy cut that to my heart's content. Only one set to reach for, Decorate a Daisy, seldom out of it's box I am afraid. Then, how to get the circles poking out? Well, I cheated and used Off The Grid as a background, allowing parts to peak through. As I had the stamp set out I used the banner, thank goodness for my Stamp-a-Ma-Jig which allowed me to add a Happy Birthday greeting from Happiest Birthday Wishes.

Have fun with the double challenge!

Geometric Work Of Art

Phew! I finally made it, with a bit of help from the internet and a colour challenge. What am I talking about? My DT card for The Male Room of course! A couple of days ago we posted a new challenge, geometric cards for men/boys and do you think I could get an idea going...useless. Today I was searching for some inspiration and a I came upon a card here that I instantly liked. A quick search for a great colour combination and I found The Colour Throwdown Challenge this week had three gorgeous colours and a photo inspiration of Venice and my mojo kicked in.



I associate Venice with art and I have my new Work of Art stamp set to play with. Can I make a geometric card with what is essentially a collection of watercolour brushstrokes? Well, I'll let you be the judge of that.

I hand cut the frame, stamped the modern art, added a sheet of acetate over the top, popped it up on foam pads, and used Off The Grid to set it all off. I punched out a few circles stamped from the Work of Art set too.

Spotlight on Swallowtail

First week of the Summer holidays for us! Hooray! I love my long summer holiday, one of the main reasons for working in a school, but not always the best for crafting, too many other things to do! I managed to get this one done though, my DT card for this week's Sketch Challenge from CAS Colours and Sketches

This sketch instantly put me in mind of a spotlight card and so that's what I have tried to do.I stamped the large Swallowtail on two sheets of paper, matching them up to form the diagonal line. I did it this way because when I tried joining the card and then stamping I got an edge shadow on the image.
Then I stamped the image again, using my Big 'n' Juicy ink pad to get a rainbow effect and die cut the circle. My circle is a bit more central than in the sketch-that's OK, as long as we can see the elements of the sketch.
Finally, I sponged the edges of the circle, added the sentiments from a set called Happy Congratulations.

First Work of Art

It's a colour week at CAS Colours and Sketches and apart from these lovely colours I also have a new stamp set to play with (the title of this post does give it away)

 I know that the card itself is not particularly original, I have seen a few around of this design and liked them so much I decided to make my own version. The bottom swipe is a stamped off version of Perfect Plum. My dark purple is actually Blackberry Bliss. It is OK to substitute your own shade or other brand of ink, as long as it is basically the same colour palette.The flowers and leaves are from Stippled Blossoms and there is a tiny purple gem inside each flower centre. I LOVE the style of the sentiment, it's also from a new set, Fabulous Four- I can tell these are going to be my new best friends!

I used Mossy Meadow and Blackberry Bliss cardstock to make the mats. I am very happy with the new In Colours from Stampin' Up, not trying to sell them, just commenting!

Masculine Thank You

Oh My goodness, I am so late with my post for CAS Colours and Sketches, which went live yesterday, I hope that my fellow DT members will forgive me! This week it is the turn of the sketch

And it took me a while to kick start, but then I received a delivery of my new Stampin Up colours and then everything fell into place. I have just used stamps to represent the squares and banners, you could do something similar, we only need to be able to recognise the sketch layout in there somewhere!

I needed a thank you card for a male colleague so Gorgeous Grunge is an obvious choice for me, the stripes paper a really good match for the colours I used a new stamp set too, Fabulous Four, for the sentiment. Of course I'd like to say the small splash is intended but it is covering up a small smudge! A happy accident as we like to call it.
I also would like to say hello and welcome to my new follower Granmargaret , thanks for the lovely comments too, Margaret, will be hopping over to your blog very soon.

Blast From The Past

Hi There! Time for a new challenge at The Male Room and for the next two weeks the theme for your male projects is Games.I had fun a few weeks ago creating Angry Birds cards and this gave me the idea to try something else. Do you remember this one?

I used the Owl punch to make the little aliens and a circle die to make Pacman. The dots are peel offs, which have some dimension, they almost look like gems. I rounded the corners on the black background and added a blue mat. My google eyes are the finishing touch.

Inside, I stamped a greeting. I think my card will be going to some teenaged male friend of my sons, hope they know who Pacman is!

You can use any game for your inspiration, including games like rugby, cricket, or board games like chess or how about snakes and ladders!

Christmas In July Bloghop

Welcome to the 52 {Christmas} Card Christmas in July Blog Hop!  If you've arrived here from Gill, of Lily-By-Gilly you are on the right track!  If you haven't and want to participate for a chance to win honors and/or prizes, please go back to the original hop post and follow along with us!  Come and take a peek at the creation I made using our prompts for the month!

There are four prompts and I have chosen the sketch......

    ....as mine. Here is my card for July

I found a pack of Christmas 12x12 papers in the bargain bucket at my local craft shop and couldn't resist, love this polka dot paper and I now have it in several colours. Today I chose traditional Christmas colours. The tree and sentiment images are from an old retired SU set, I think it is called Season Of Joy, embossed in white and I reversed the mat layers. Finally I added three colour matching buttons. Quite CAS and a traditional/contempo mashup of a card. Hope you like it!

Thank you for coming by to leave a comment!  Don't forget--hop along with us starting at the original 52CCT post for multiple chances to win honors and prizes!  Your next stop will bePatricia of ThinkingofInking Merry hopping!

New Home Colour Challenge

My daughter is just finished her second year at Loughborough University and it's that time of year when students move out of their old house/halls and into new digs so a New Home card was called for. Luckily this coincided nicely with the new colour challenge at CAS Colours and Sketches

I used the cloud embossing folder and a single house cut out from a row of houses from a Tim Holtz die. The DP is from Stampin' Up and I stamped the greeting using an alphabet set and my Stamp-a-Ma-Jig (such a useful bit of kit!). The two little punched hearts come from the Owl Punch.