Flowers to Finish

Hello and goodbye today. This is my last post as DT member at CAS Colours & Sketches, I have decided to take a rest from card making for the foreseeable future. I have been on the DT since November 2012 and was one of the founder members with my friend Jacqueline. It's been lots of fun and I've seen my CAS style develop and change but I'm finding it less and less enjoyable. A month off proved to me that, far from missing it I was actually relieved at not having to make cards and write posts and comments. So this is my (almost) final post- I am on one other DT and will completely finish next week.
Enough of that, here is the sketch for this week's challenge

You can use any shape without right angles, so I went with a circle and die cut an aperture. I embossed another piece of card and layered it over the top and stamped the sentiment from Happiest Birthday Wishes in the corner. I have also taken the liberty of rotating the sketch, you'll see why!

The flowers are all stamped from Jars of Love and Stippled Blossoms using the two step stamping method. I've used Flirty Flamingo and Sweet Sugarplum, because they were already out on my crafting table and added some Tangelo Twist to the mix.

The surprise is inside, where I have stamped a jar, water coloured some water inside and added a few stamped stems. I also added the stamped band and 'twine'. This keeps the card very CAS on the front, with lots of white space.

Even these lovely new stamps have not changed my mind about giving up card making. I will still be crafting in some way, I always have, and I do still intend to make cards for family and friends, and Christmas, of course. It's been a ball, thanks for checking in to my blog now and then,and Happy Crafting!

Simply Textured

In the summer holiday months the team at CAS Colours & Sketches are taking it in turns to set the challenges and this week I have chosen these three colours

Two of them are new colours from Stampin Up. At first I thought 'cake' but I ended up going floral.

I used a new stamp set too, Touches of Texture, I think it will become a favourite. Here I have teamed it with  Vertical Greetings for the sentiment.

You can just see Sams paws in the photo, he wanted to get in on the crafting today and sat on my table while I was making this card. The sweet Sugarplum colour was used for the sentiment and is the colour of the tiny rhinestones I have used. I used the chocolate chip just for the outline. The card is mostly Flirty Flamingo (what a great name).

Take it Easy

yep, I'm back from my fantastic holiday in Australia and, to be honest, I'm just gently easing my way back into crafting after over a month away. Thanks to Bev, over at CAS Colours & Sketches for this super sketch which really helped me get going again.

I started by selecting two complementary DPs from my stash (new resolve to stop hoarding and start using!) Then, with the pennant idea in my head I reached for Perfect Pennants to help with the sentiment. Wish I had the matching nesting dies but I don't so thesewere cut by hand.

A few fussy cut flowers, stamped using the two stamp method- they are from my newest stamp set, Jars of Love. I've just sprinkled them around.

I stamped the inside with a plain sentiment from Best Dad Ever and added three more flowers to tie in the design on the front.

Finally, I added a liner to the envelope using the matching DP ( remember my pledge to use it up??).

This is a fairly simple card, minimum stamping, keeping it simple by leaving lots of space, which doesn't necessarily have to be white, hope you like it. Check out my teamies' cards over at the challenge blog.

Big Hello

With there being 5 Thursday's in June this year we always celebrate at CAS Colours & Sketches with 'The Double' where we set the sketch and the colour. So here it is.....l

Isn't that a great sketch, teamed with luscious summer colours. Just remember to keep it CAS, it's easy to get carried away with these colours to play with!

I used a curved mask to protect part of my card whilst I stamped a background using Gorgeous Grunge, Toughtful Banners and Touches of Texture

Then I die cut 2 'hello's from the Hello You set and layered them up to make them stand out more. 

I stamped one more little pink flower, fussy cut it and popped it on a foam pad and a final one inside, next to the greeting, which is from Perfect Pennants

At Craft Club last night we looked at how much more 'professional' our cards can look with an insert, even if it's just a stamped sentiment with something connecting the design on the front of the card. This was by far the simplest thing we tried out and it has made me think more about the inside and the envelope I use for my cards

Old & New

Sorry, CAS Colours & Sketches followers, I was missing in action last week due to a couple of family issues but I'm back this week with Bev's awesome colour challenge, I just LOVE these colours together, so summery and they remind me of sherbet sweeties or candies, although I make it a rule never to eat green sweets!

I've called my post Old & New, since these colours have been around for a bit but my stamps are brand new! Love getting new stuff, don't you? I've been very conservative over the last year and haven't ordered much stuff but when I saw this set in SU's new catalogue I just had to have it- I've looked everywhere for vertical sentiments and this set, Vrtical Greetings has them all!

I inked up the plant stamp with the three colours. It was a bit tricky and my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig helped me get them straight. I have used a pool party mat and I also stamped a couple of extra pots and fussy cut them out to pop up on foam pads

I added a Wink Of Stella to add a bit of glisten to the pots, it's my new favourite bit of kit, I will probably have to give myself a strong talking to to avoid over using it!

A very simple and clean card for a summer birthday.

Blooming Summer

As it is school holiday here in the UK I had time to sit and craft this morning to bring you my card for the new colour challenge at CAS Colours and Sketches, a rare luxury these days. I also went to a new catalogue launch for Stampin Up yesterday evening and can't wait to get my hands on some of the new colours and stamp sets, so I've been having a crafty few days, which all started on Tuesday with a trip to my regular craft club. We were using acrylic blocks to produce water colour effects and so I have incorporated that into today's card.

Can you see the colours? Aren't they lovely and summery?

I used an old set, I think it was saleABration, and I think it's called Bloomin' Marvellous to stamp the flower and the bird (can you see his iridescent eye?)The sentiment is, of course, from Happiest Birthday wishes. I have ordered some new sentiment stamps...hurray you say!

Finally, I decorated the inside of the card, unusual for me, with some DP and then cut a white mat to allow a message to be written and finished with another tiny bird stamp.

simply Sketched Sympathy

I have a really clean and simple Sympathy card to share with you and CAS Colours &Sketches. Once I'd found the stamp which felt right with the sketch it was a simple matter of stamping and colouring, I've even kept it one layer, how's that for simplicity?

The two important elements here are the diagonal and the reducing size. I've used Simply Sketched and Perfectly Preserved to create my card, I hope you can see the sketch

I used Promarkers to colour the image and my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to get the positioning just right.

I'm not in need of a sympathy card, luckily, but I like to have a couple ready. I like this design very much, funny how sometimes it all just clicks so quickly into place. Usually I'm still working on my cards hours after I start!

The Cats whiskers

There is a new challenge today from CAS Colours & Sketches and it's a real clean and simple sketch

I've made the diagonals with washi tape and tried to pick up the colours in the cats eyes and collar tag.

Matting the white background onto a white card with foam pads always gives a CAS card a crisp look, I think

To add a bit of interest I fussy cut out the little cats' head and also popped that up, which also allowed me to overlap the washi tape.

It's a bit of a cute card for me, but to be honest I was lacking a bit in creative mojo and time. I am pleased to have used up some of my stash (the washi tape) and a stamp set that I rarely use.

Happiness is a man on his Bicycle....

Just squeaked in with this one for The Male Room as I got carried away making a card for a swap challenge, which has taken me most of the day! Lucky I knew what I wanted to do. I have used one of my favourite colour combos, Kraft, red and white, usually reserved for Christmas cards, well, for me anyway. The theme this time is transport. Good one for me, I'm married to a transport modeller, a Dutchman, who is bound to like this card!

I am into using some of my older stamps and Pedal Presents doesn't come out of the box very often. The Happy die cut is from Hello You and the birthday is from Best Dad Ever.

I used my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to make sure the cake was exactly in the right position.

I hope you like my CAS take on the theme. There is a DT call too, over at the challenge blog and we'd love you to join us, creating masculine projects (not just cards) fortnightly.

Another use for the brayer!

We have a new hostess at CAS Colours & Sketches, Caro and she's starting this morning with a colour combo that I just love. Making my card was so easy this morning!

I used my bird punch and Language of Friendship stamp set to make this one.  The tricky bit was doing the mirror image stamping but since I have rediscovered my brayering it was a sinch!

I used tone on tone stamping for the wings and the branch and some foam pads to add a little dimension.

The sentiment is made up from a magazine freebie and a stamp from Happiest Birthday Wishes. I have used some Naturals White cardstock for the card base. It makes it a little softer than white.

Have a look at the challenge blog for more inspiration from my teamies. 

one layer Congratulations

It's my last week as hostess at CAS Colours & Sketches and it's the turn of the sketch. I really wanted to try and find something which I had not seen before and came up with this one...

I have also really kept it very CaS by opting to go for a one layer card. These can be very frightening, especially to a messy crafter like myself . 

I used Happy Celebrations stamp set and six different coloured inks to stamp my lantern chains.

The sentiment is from Sassy Salutations 

Spot the difference in the last photo. It is the card which nearly didn't make it due to a splodge, but I managed to save it, if not as a DT piece at least as a card to send to a friend or colleague...I hate waste!

Card Evolution

I knew the colours and the theme for this morning's card weeks ago....well, I did make the challenge myself as I continue to host CAS Colours & Sketches for April, but even so it is Wednesday evening and my card is only just finished.

This is the one, the final version, a one layer card using Work of Art and a magazine freebie image.

This was my original card and design. I wanted a bokeh effect on the pink and blue and die cut the cherry trees. It's not that I don't like it, it's just that it didn't quite come out as I'd hoped. I added a few tiny pale pink rhinestones, they improved it but didn't really feel as CAS as I wanted.

Two more attempts at the masked panel of blended inks and !%*#^ bokeh and I gave up.

I wanted something arty so I turned to my favourite way of colouring, Work Of Art stamps. I loved this card until the final stamp, also a freebie. It just wasn't crisp enough for my liking, not for a DT card....

So here it is again, the final card. Hope you enjoyed the short story of its creation and manage to get your card for the challenge made with a little less frustration.