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!

Valentine Celebration

Valentines' cards, love 'em, but I don't make them very often and I'm not a big fan of lovey-dovey stuff, so my cards are often quite masculine in feel, which is a good thing because today my card is for The Male Room. Valentine is the theme over there for the new challenge which lasts for two weeks, well past the day for lovers.
This time I used a sketch from Cas(e) This Sketch as my starting point. I have often seen links to this challenge blog but never ventured over there before...boy was I missing something! I loved all the cards I found there, CAS- my favourite style, all beautiful, from the DT and challenge entries so I thought I'd join in. Here is the sketch

I used three stamp sets here, Happy Celebrations, Delightful Dozen and Work of Art, combining them to make strings of heart shaped lanterns. The central panel is kept very clean, one more heart with the sentiment and the twine, coloured with ink to match strung across at just the right spot.

I kept the colour scheme simple too; white, red and Crumb cake/kraft.

  Keeping the stamping crisp was the biggest challenge, although getting the excess ink off the string also kept me busy for a while (I'm too impatient to just leave it to dry and come back later!)

Birds and Banners

It's a double challenge this week at CAS Colours & Sketches where we give you a sketch AND a colour combo to create your CAS card with. This sketch is fab, there are so many different variations, I know because I tried at least six, and I was only using stamps, never got to the die cuts or papers!

...and here are your colours, great for a guy card, or a soft natural look, or geometric (I could go on...)

But I wont, instead I will show you my card, made using two sets, my very seldom if ever inked up Decorate A Daisy and a more recent set called Happy Congratulations.

On the photo below you can see the dimensional effect of the foam pads. I deliberately left a very large white border around the stamped panel for a cleaner look.

I even stamped inside

Hope you like my card. I think it would be good for a male or female recipient, I certainly am a bit short of birthday cards at the moment so I'm sure it will soon be sent out! happy Crafting!

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.