Shaking it all about with AAA Birthday

... Good morning!! I am delighted to say that I'm Guest Designer at AAA Birthday for their April challenge. The challenge this month is 'Shaker', and I have to admit that this caused me some concern. You don't see many shaker cards on my blog - and there's a reason for that. So, I spent a few weeks watching various tutorials, and this is the card I made:

Stamps: Gina K - On the Inside, Sweet Sentiments

Inks: Versafine Claire - Nocturne; Gina K - Bubblegum Pink, Passionate Pink

Dies: MFT Die-namics - Happy Birthday Block; Lil' Inkers - Stitched Squares #7

Accessories: White Card; Acetate; Brutus Monroe DP - Galaxy; Sequins & Gems from stash

I thought this would be a breeze. It was mostly. I cut some design paper to fit on a 5¼" square white card. I die cut the Happy Birthday block in white card and adhered some acetate to the back of the die cut. I then carefully went around the edge with dimensional tape. At this point I realised I needed to add some dimensional tape to the edge of some of the letters, otherwise the whole lot would collapse. Once I completed that, I filled the inside with a mixture of sequins and gems and added the card to the shaker panel. And I'm delighted it turned out so well.

I kept the inside, quite simple. I cut another piece of the design paper to make the mat layer and on the white panel added a birthday greeting along with some pink flowers.

I do hope you get time to join in with this month's challenge. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what the design team make and to visiting you all this month. I may even have another go - it was fun. I'd like to thank the DT for inviting me to join them this month. Bye for now.

JUGS GD - Hello ...

... Good morning!! It's the end of the month and the end of my time as Guest Designer with Just Us Girls. I've had a fabulous time and it's been a joy to visit everyone to see your creations. As there are five Saturdays in May, we have a wild card week and the challenge at Just Us Girls - JUGS#538 is to use two or more different patterned papers. Here's my card:

Stamps: Altenew - Totally Tropical, Leaf Canopy
Inks: Gina K - Jet Black Amalgam, Sweet Mango, Soft Stone
Dies: Altenew - Totally Tropical, Leaf Canopy
Accessories: White Card; BoBunny DP - Garden Party; Cosmo Cricket - DeLovely

I'm submitting this card to Dare 2 Be Artzy - D2BA#05 where the theme is In the Garden.

It's not often I use design paper, although I have a huge stash, so this was a fun challenge. Used some bold patterned papers from DeLovely (which I've had for years) for the flowers. I used the matching dies to cut them out. For the leaves I used some papers from Garden Party. I got the marbled paper from Garden Party and used it to make the mat layer on the front of the card. I adhered the leaves flat to the card and used dimensional pads to attach the flowers. I finished the front with a bold hello! On the inside, I used another piece of paper from Garden Party, same design as the leaves but a different colour, for the mat layer. On the white panel I stamped a simple message, added some leaves in grey and another pretty paper flower.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what you make with all those fabulous design papers we have in our stashes. Thanks again to the amazing Design Team at Just Us Girls for having me join you this month - it's been an honour and a pleasure. Bye for now. See you soon.

CASOF - GD - Happy Birthday ...

... Hi! Recently, I was picked as winner of the flower challenge at CAS on Friday and, as a result, I'm their Guest Designer for this week's challenge. So this week at CAS on Friday - CASOF#181, the DT want us to make a clean, simple card with the theme of Animal. Here's my card:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps - Frame It; Inkadinkadoo - Patterned Pets; MFT - Sassy Pants Birthday Greetings 2
Inks: Gina K - Jet Black Amalgam; Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: White Card; Copic Markers; Clear Embossing Powder

I'm submitting this card to Perfectly CAS - PCAS#9 where the theme is to use only a third of the card along with Animals, and to Addicted to CAS - ATCAS#185 where the theme is Rainbow.

For me this is an ultra CAS card - I do tend towards CAS, but it's not often that I go as CAS as this!!! I stamped the square frame onto the white card base and, using my MISTI, carefully positioned the funky cat image in the space. I stamped the cat, coloured it with Copic markers, repositioned it in the MISTI and restamped using Versafine ink and then heat embossed the image. This technique gives a really clean, crisp image - which is exactly what you need for a CAS card. I finished by adding the simple sentiment. On the inside, I added a sassy and fun birthday greeting along with the same cat, but this time I didn't colour the image.

I had fun colouring the cat all the colours of the rainbow! That's all from me today - see you again soon.

JUGS GD - Sea of Life ....

.... Hello! Can you believe we're almost at the end of May - the month has simply flown by. I'm having a fabulous time as Guest Designer at Just Us Girls and I've enjoyed visiting your blogs to see what you make with the prompts. This week is Photo Week and the photo is fabulous - look deep into the picture and you'll see so much. Here's my take:

Stamps: Stampendous - Stylized Whale (P302), Ocean Wishes; MFT - Wavy Colouring Book
Inks: Gina K - Jet Black Amalgam; Versamark
Dies: Lil Inkers - Dual Dotted Rectangles #3
Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Pacific Point; Copic Markers; Clear Embossing Powder

I'm submitting this card to Uniko - USC#59 where it's Anything Goes with the option of Bright and Happy, and I think this whale is very bright and happy.

Looking at the photo I saw that there were lots of patterned fishes on the chair fabric and also displayed in the blue vase. So I took the rainbow colours and fish as my inspiration. I stamped the whale on white card, coloured it with Copic markers, restamped and heat embossed with clear powder. I then cut out the panel using a fancy edged die. I cut a piece of blue card to make a card 5½" × 4¼" with the fold at the side. I stamped the wavy pattern using Versamark ink to give the suggestion of a wavy sea. On the inside, I cut a white panel onto which I stamped a greeting and added the tail of the whale as it swims out of the picture.

I look forward to seeing what you create based on our photo at Just Us Girls - JUGS#537. That's all from me for now. See you again soon.

JUGS GD - Happy Birthday ...

.... Hi! I'm half-way through my time as Guest Designer at Just Us Girls and I'm having a great time with so many lovely cards to see. This week is colour week - JUGS#536 and we want to see bright colours - green, orange, yellow and pink. Here's my card:

Stamps: Concord & 9th - Butterfly Love Turnabout, Beautiful Butterfly; MFT - Bitty Birthday Wishes, Sassy Pants Birthday Greetings
Inks: Versafine Clair - Cheerful, Summertime, Charming Pink, Verdant; Gina K - Black Amalgam
Dies: Spellbinders - 5 x 7 Modern Stationary (S6-013) #4; Die-namics - Stitched Fishtail Flags STAX #1
Accessories: White Card; Black Card; Vellum; Copic Markers

I'm submitting this card to Fab Friday - FABF#189 where they have a lovely versatile sketch, and to AAA Birthday - AAAB#13 where they want to see things with wings.

I used my MISTI to stamp the butterfly turnabout image in bold, bright Versafine Clair inks. I stamped the large butterfly on the turnabout in black ink and coloured it with Copic markers, then fussy cut it out. I used a die to cut a panel of the butterfly image and a layer of vellum, adhered them together and put them on the front of the card. I stamped a simple birthday greeting, cut it out with a die and attached it to the card. I finished the front by adding the bold butterfly. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of black card and on the white panel stamped a sassy birthday message along with another smaller butterfly. I coloured the butterfly with softer tones on the inside of the card.

Do join in with this week's challenge at Just Us Girls - JUGS#536 - I can't wait to see your bold, bright cards! That's all from me for today - see you again soon.

JUGS GD - Happy Birthday ....

.... Morning! I can't quite believe just how fast the days are passing - I guess it's because they are all so similar at the moment. I'm Guest Designer at Just Us Girls for the month of May - still so excited. I'm here with my card for our Trend week - JUGS#535, where the key word is MINI. Now, for me this immediately suggested the iconic British Mini! But this is what I made:

Stamps: Dawn Bibby - Flower Swirls DB026 (mini), Flower Swirl DB196 (lg); MFT - Bitty Birthday Wishes, Anything But Basic Birthday Wishes
Inks: Versamark; Distress Oxide - Tumbled Glass, Shaded Lilac; Distress - Tumbled Glass, Shaded Lilac, Broken China, Wilted Violet; Gina K - Black Amalgam, Soft Stone
Dies: Spellbinders - A2 Locking Loops (S5-175)
Accessories: White Card; Tim Holtz Water Colour Card; White Embossing Powder

I'm submitting this cad to Cupcake Inspirations Challenge - CIC#492, such pretty colours, and to Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge - HLSWC#05, where it's Anything Goes with the option of Embossing.

So, as you can see this is not what I immediately thought of - I couldn't find a stamp or image of a Mini car!! So, I had a think and decided to use a large and mini image of the same flower. These are old stamps, so it's nice to get them out and play. Using the larger image I stamped the corners of the card in turquoise and lilac inks, then added some mini images in the same colours. For the focal point of the card, I die cut a panel of water colour card and stamped the mini flower image in Versamark, heat embossed it with White powder and then added distress inks to the panel to make the image and sentiment pop. Once the water colour panel was dry, I attached it to the cardbase with dimensional tape. On the inside, I cut a mat layer of deep lilac card and on the white panel stamped the large flower image in soft grey, added a fun birthday greeting, and finished by stamping two of the mini images in lilac and turquoise.

That's all from me today - do join in with this week's Just Us Girls challenge - JUGS#535 - I can't wait to see what you make that's Mini!! Take care and see you soon.

JUGS GD - Hero ....

... Morning all! I am so excited to share the news that I am Guest Designer at Just Us Girls for the entire month of May!!! 😄😀😄 The first challenge of the month is a word challenge and this week the word is HERO. Here's my take:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps - Kaboom, Halftone Basics; There She Goes - Cutie Pi
Inks: Hero Arts Neon - Orange, Green; Gina K - Black Amalgam
Accessories: White Card; Copic Markers; Glossy Accents; Nuvo - Clear Aqua Shimmer Brush

With all that's going on in the world with Covid-19, some of my heroes are the scientists who are working so hard to come up with a vaccine and treatment. So my card is to honour the scientists, that's not to say the other key workers are forgotten. I'm submitting this card to Perfectly CAS - PCAS#08 where they want us to use Masking.

I've been going through all my crafty stash and this card is made entirely from stamps that have been discontinued (so sad), but they are still super. I stamped the scientist towards the edge of the card and then covered her with a mask so that I could stamp the neon "superhero" elements. After removing the mask, I coloured the image with Copic markers. I stamped the sentiment in bold black and finished the front by adding glossy accents to the goggles. I also added a touch of sparkle to the fluid in the testtube. On the inside, I carried on with the "superhero" elements with a bold green frame around the words and some stars. I also stamps some chemistry glassware at the bottom of the card.

I took a close-up photo of the goggles to show the glossy finish - it makes such a difference to the finished look of the card.

Come and join in this week's challenge at Just Us Girls - JUGS#534 to make a card for a hero. Can't wait to see what you make. Be safe, keep well. See you soon.

CASC&S - Colours .....

.... Morning! I'm continuing my stay as Guest Designer at CAS Colours & Sketches and this week we have some lovely colours - CASC&S#223 to play with - Rich Razzleberry, Sahara Sand and Sweet Sugarplum. I decided to make a sweet cup birthday card:

Stamps: Gina K - Sweet Thing
Inks: Versamark; Versafine - Onyx Black; Memento - Tuxedo Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Stampin' Up! DP - Rich Razzleberry, Sahara Sand; SU Card - Sweet Sugarplum; Copics; Spectrum Noir Sparkle - Clear; Glossy Accents

I used the sketch from this week's CAS(E) this Sketch - CTS#211 for the layout and the theme comes from Global Design Project - GDP#087. I recently got some new stamps from Gina K designed by my favourite designer - Claire Brennan and decided to give them a some love. I think the colours for this week's challenge are just perfect for a nice cherry cupcake (and calorie free at that!). I adhered the design paper to the card and on the small piece of pink card stamped the birthday greeting. I stamped the cupcake holder on design paper, heat embossed it and then carefully cut it out. I adhered it to the cake and then added the frosting on top. I used Copic markers to colour the image and added some sparkle to the cherry with clear Spectrum Noir brush. I also added some shine with Glossy Accents. Before attaching the finished cupcake, I stamped some stars for the background. I finished off by adding the little flag banner. On the inside I cut a piece of sand design paper for the mat layer and on the white panel added another greeting and cupcake.

This card will be in the post shortly!! Don't forget to visit the CAS Colours & Sketches blog to see more inspiration from the Design Team.