Big Birthday Wishes

I made this card for a friend's 'Special Birthday' using one of my 'go to' dies for male cards.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 6" white matt card blank
     My Favorite Things 'Big Birthday Wishes' , Memory Box 'Classic Numbers' and Xcut 'Star' dies
     Snippets of white matt card, dark, medium and pale blue textured card

I trimmed a snippet of white card to 6" x 4" and die cut the sentiment from the centre before attaching it to the card blank.  I cut two narrow strips of dark blue card and attached them down each side.  I die cut 'BIG' from dark blue card and inlaid the letters.  The rest of the sentiment was die cut from medium blue card and inlaid into the panel.  I die cut the stars from dark, medium and pale blue and attached them to the card.  To finish I die cut '70' from pale blue card and attached it to the dark blue star.

I am entering the following challenges:
     Allsorts - Shades of Blue
     Cardz 4 Guyz - Clean & Simple
     Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes
     Snippets Playground - Challenge 500 'Celebrate'
     The Male Room - Monochrome

Kath x

More Delightful Dangles

I've had this stamp set for many years and it's still one of my favourites - it's perfect for the current 52 Christmas Card Throwdown colour challenge.

To make this card I used:
     C6 white matt card blank
     Woodware 'Delightful Dangles' stamp
     Versafine Onyx Black ink
     Cosmic Shimmer Clear Detail embossing powder
     Pentel Hybrid Dual Metallic gold pen
     Snippet of white matt card

I trimmed a snippet of white matt card so it was slightly smaller than the card blank before placing it into my MISTI.  I used black ink to stamp the tree in the centre, stamping a couple of times to get a good depth of colour.  I embossed the image with clear embossing powder before attaching the panel to the card blank.  To finish I used the gold pen to colour the 'dangles' on the tree.

I am entering the following challenges:
     52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Black, White and Gold
     As You Like It Challenge - Favourite Stamping or Digi (stamping is my favourite as I love to heat emboss images, plus my old printer doesn't print images well!)
     Cardz 4 Guyz - Clean & Simple
     Krafty Chicks Challenge - Christmas
     Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes
     We Love Stamping - CAS

Kath x

Have a Wonderful Birthday

I made this card for the Uniko 13th Birthday Celebrations challenge using my new Uniko stencil and stamp set.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 6" white matt card blank
     Uniko 'Sentiments Outlined' stamp
     Uniko 'Ink & Flip Geometric Butterfly Layering Stencil'
     Distress Inks - Seedless Preserves and Spiced Marmalade
     Versafine Imperial Purple ink
     Bruynzeel orange pencil
     Snippets of white matt card

I used Seedless Preserves ink to stencil the butterfly onto a snippet of white card.  I cleaned the stencil and flipped it to stencil it again with Spiced Marmalade.  I then fussy cut the butterfly.  I trimmed another snippet of white card so it was slightly smaller than the card blank and put it into my MISTI.  I placed the butterfly onto the panel so I could see where to position the sentiment.  I removed the butterfly and stamped the sentiment in purple ink before colouring it with an orange pencil.  I attached the panel to the front of the card blank before attaching the butterfly along the body and slightly shaping the wings.

I am entering the following challenges:
     Addicted to Stamps & More - Make Your Mark (I've used Distress Inks, Versafine ink and a coloured pencil)
     Allsorts - Anything Goes
     Love to Craft - Anything Goes
     Moving Along With The Times - Things With Wings
     NBUS - Challenge 71 (I have used my new stencil and stamp set)
     Triple B Challenge - Birds, Butterflies, Blooms (I've opted for a large butterfly)     
     Uniko - 13th Birthday Celebrations
 
Kath x

Flourish Reindeer

I've recently bought a collection of Impression Obsession dies (I do like IO dies as they always cut so well) and this lovely reindeer was amongst them.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 6" white matt card blank
     Impression Obsession 'Flourish Reindeer' and Creative Expressions 'Festive Collection - Season's Greetings' dies
     Joy Crafts 'Earth Bloc' paper
     Snippets of brown pearlescent card and bright blue shiny card

I trimmed the paper, layered it onto brown card and attached it to the card blank.  I die cut the reindeer and sentiment from brown pearlescent card and attached them to the lower edge of the card.  To finish, I die cut the reindeer's eye from a tiny snippet of bright blue card and inlaid it.

I am entering the following challenges:
     ABC Christmas Challenge - D for Die Cuts
     Ally's Angels - Anything Goes
     Cardz 4 Guyz - Clean & Simple
     Merry Little Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes
     NBUS - Challenge 71 (my new Flourish Reindeer die)
     The Male Room - Monochrome

Kath x

Love

Whilst looking through my 'Antebellum' snippets I came across a heart I had die cut but not used.  As it's got music on it, I thought it would be perfect for the Allsorts 'Romance and/or Music' challenge.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 6" white matt card blank
     Spellbinders Nestabilities 'Classic Hearts' and  Lawn Fawn 'Scripty Love' dies
     Snippets of white matt card and Lili of the Valley 'Antebellum' paper

I trimmed the white card so it was slightly smaller than the card blank and die cut the heart from the centre.   The Antebellum paper had been attached to a snippet of white card before the heart had been cut.  I inlaid the heart into the panel and attached some washi tape to hold it in place.  I then die cut 'love' from the lower edge of the heart.  The panel was then attached to the front of the card blank.  I die cut 'love' four times from more snippets of white card.  I layered the four white sentiments with the one cut from the panel on the top.  These were then inlaid into the card front.

I am entering the following challenges:
     Addicted to Stamps & More - Die Cuts and/or Stencils
     Allsorts - Romance and/or Music
     Crafty Calendar Challenge - Hearts
     Pearly Sparkles Challenge - Love is in the Air
     Simply Clean & Simple - Love and/or Hearts
     Try It On Tuesday - Romance
    
Kath x  

You are the Love of my Life

I've had this Tattered Lace die for a while and thought it would be perfect for this month's Love, Hearts and Valentine challenges.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 6" white matt card blank
     Tattered Lace 'Floating in the Air Love' and Lawn Fawn 'Outside In Stitched Square Stackables' dies
     Snippets of red pearlescent card and red glitter card

I used the largest stitched square die to emboss the front of the card blank.  I die cut the heart panel from red pearlescent card and attached it to the embossed panel on the front of the card.  I used lots of snippets of red glitter card to cut the hearts which were then inlaid into the panel.

I am entering the following challenges:
     Addicted to Stamps & More - Die Cuts and/or Stencils
     Allsorts - Romance and/or Music
     CAS on Friday - Valentine
     Crafty Calendar Challenge - Hearts
     NBUS - Challenge 71 (my new Tattered Lace die)
     Pearly Sparkles Challenge - Love is in the Air
     Simply Clean & Simple - Love and/or Hearts
     Snippets Playground - Challenge 499
     Try It On Tuesday - Romance

Kath x

Darling Friends

I received a lovely card from Linda for the February Card Chain Challenge last year which had this cute cat in a hot air balloon and a sun.  After keeping the card for a year, I thought it was time someone else could enjoy Linda's lovely colouring so I carefully removed the hot air balloon and sun from the card to make this birthday card for my great niece.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 6" white matt card blank
     Upcycled Simon Says Stamp 'Darling Friends' images from Linda's card (Linda had coloured the images with Copics and a white gel pen and added a gem decoration)
     Impression Obsession 'Hills' and 'Clouds' dies
     Clearly Besotted 'Modern Calligraphy' stamps and coordinating dies
     Versafine Smokey Gray ink
     Cosmic Shimmer Clear Detail embossing powder
     Snippets of blue and green textured card and white matt card

I trimmed the blue card so it was slightly smaller than the card blank and attached it to the front of the card.  I die cut two of the hills from green card, using darker green for the background hill and a brighter green for the front hill.  These were attached to bottom of the blue panel.  I attached the hot air balloon to the front of the card using foam pads behind the balloon to give some dimension to the card.  The sun was attached to the top corner of the sky.  I die cut the small and medium clouds from white card, the medium cloud was tucked behind the hot air balloon and the small one attached above the hills.  I used grey ink to stamp the sentiment onto a snippet of white card before cutting 'happy' with the coordinating die and trimming around 'birthday'.  These were then attached to the card.

I am entering the following challenges:
     Ally's Angels - Anything Goes
     Krafty Chicks Challenge - Anything Goes
     Little Red Wagon - A for Anything Goes
     Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes

Kath x

Decorative Cat

I made this card to send to Michaela for the January Card Chain Challenge.  I used the Colour Option (Walnut, Lavender & Jade) and the Theme Option (Cats & Friendship). 

To make this card I used:
     6" x 6" white matt card blank
     Woodware 'Decorative Cat' stamp
     Versafine Vintage Sepia ink
     Faber Castell coloured pencils
     Wild Rose Studio 'Bluebell' paper
     Wink of Stella
     Snippet of white matt card

I placed a snippet of white matt card into my MISTI and stamped the cat and 'meow' with dark brown ink.  I coloured the flowers and leaves with shades of walnut, lavender and jade.  The panel was trimmed, layered onto lavender paper and attached to the card blank.  To finish I highlighted the flowers with a Wink of Stella.

I am entering the following challenges:
     Allsorts - Anything Goes
     Ally's Angels - Anything Goes
     Little Red Wagon - A is for Anything Goes
     Krafty Chicks Challenge - Anything Goes
     NBUS - Challenge 70 (I won the cat stamp in the Snippets Playground last year and this is the first time I've used it)
     Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes
     We Love Stamping - CAS

This is the lovely spinner card I received from Gail.

Kath x

Love

I've made another anniversary card for the AAA Cards 'Follow the Leader' challenge using some more white snippets.

To make this card I used:
     C6 white matt card blank
     Impression Obsession 'Love' die
     Snippets of white matt card and red glitter card

I die cut 'Love' three times from white matt card.  I layered the die cuts before attaching them to the bottom corner of the card.  The three small hearts that had been cut from the heart on the sentiment were attached to the card.  To finish I die cut another small heart from the red glitter card and inlaid it into the 'Love'.

I am entering the following challenges
     AAA Cards - Follow the Leader
     Crafty Calendar Challenge - Add a Die Cut
     Cut It Up - Have a Heart
     Litlle Red Wagon - Can You Feel the Love Tonight
     Love to Craft - Anything Goes
     Love to Scrap - Anything Goes
     Simply Clean and Simple - Anything Goes

Kath x

With Sympathy

I dislike making Sympathy cards when they're needed, I would rather keep one or two in my card box 'just in case'.  For this card I used a lovely Uniko stamp I bought with a gift voucher I won in the Uniko 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway.

To make this card I used:
     6" x 6" white matt card blank
     Uniko 'So Much' and Clearly Besotted 'Mini Calligraphy' stamps
     My Favorite Things 'Inside & Out Stitched Circle STAX Die-namics' die
     Versafine Olympia Green ink
     Cosmic Shimmer Clear Detail embossing powder
     Sakura Gelly Roll Clear Star pen

I used the largest die to emboss a circle in the centre of the card blank.  I placed the card into my MISTI and laid the flowers and sentiment stamps inside the circle.  These were stamped with green ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.  I then used a Clear Star gel pen to colour the outlines of the flowers and leaves.

I am entering the following challenges:
     Addicted to CAS - Center Focus
     Addicted to Stamps & More - Any Occasion
     Allsorts - Close to Nature
     Beautiful Blossoms - Anything Floral Goes
     CAS on Friday - Flowers
     Daisy Chain Challenge - No Design Paper
     Pearly Sparkles Challenge - Something Old, Something New (my old Clearly Besotted stamp and my new Uniko stamp)
     Simply Clean & Simple Challenge - Something New (my new Uniko stamp)

Kath x

January Rudolph Day

It's time for the first Rudolph Day of the year.  For the past few years I've had a theme for me RD cards. In 2017 I used images from a Lili of the Valley Art Pad, in 2018 my cards were 4" x 4", in 2019 all cards had a Christmas tree on them, in 2020 I used wet and/or dry embossing on my cards, in 2021 I used something that had been upcycled, in 2022 I used something that had been a cover gift with a magazine, in 2023 all my cards were cross stitch designs and last year they were all white, green and gold.  This year my theme will be die cutting and I will have used at least one die on the cards.

I've used this 'Opulent Baubles' embossing folder many times, but as the small die had fallen out of it I decided to cut a different bauble for this card.

To make this card I used:
     C6 white matt card blank
     Marianne Design Creatables 'Christmas Bauble' and Memory Box 'Crisp Bows' dies
     Practical Publishing 'Opulent Baubles' embossing folder
     Snippets of white matt card red glitter card and gold mirri

I placed the bauble die inside the embossing folder and embossed a piece of white card, this also cut the bauble shape.  The panel was trimmed and attached to the card blank.  I die cut the bauble from red glitter card and inlaid it into the front of the card.  The bauble was cut again with gold mirri and the small pieces inlaid into the card.  I die cut the bow from gold mirri and trimmed the bottom so it left just the bow section, this was then attached to the top of the bauble.

I am entering the following challenges:
     ABC Christmas Challenge - A for Anything Goes
     Allsorts - Anything Goes
     Ally's Angels - Anything Goes
     Cardz 4 Galz - Anything But Square
     Christmas Kickstart Challenge - Bring the Baubles
     Merry Little Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes
     Rudolph Day - January Challenge

Kath x

Snow Family

I was so pleased when my Rudolph and Friends card was the winner of the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Sketch challenge and the team invited me to be Guest Designer of their 'Fussy Cutting' challenge.  The cute snowman stamp was one of the items in the bumper bundle of Christmas goodies I've recently won in the Snippets Playground.

To make this card I used:
     C6 white matt card blank
     Wild Rose Studio 'Snowmen' stamp
     Crafts-Too 'Twinkle' embossing folder
     Versafine Onyx Black ink
     Bruynzeel coloured pencils
     White Fun Flock
     Wink of Stella
     Snippets of white matt card

I trimmed a piece of white matt card so it was slightly smaller than the card blank and tore a strip from the bottom.  I embossed the top half of the card with the star embossing folder and attached it to the card blank.  The plain torn strip was then attached across the bottom.  I stamped the snowmen onto a snippet of white matt card and fussy cut them before colouring them with the Bruynzeel pencils.  The image was attached to the card with foam tape.  I applied white Fun Flock to the trim and bobbles on the hats and a Wink of Stella to the holly.    

I am entering the following challenges:
     ABC Christmas Challenge - A for Anything Goes
     Allsorts - Anything Goes
     Daisy Chain Challenge - No Designer Paper
     NBUS - Challenge 70 (I have used my new snowmen stamp)
     Pearly Sparkles Challenge - Something Old, Something New (I have used my old embossing folder and my new stamp)
     Sparkles Christmas Challenge - Warm and Cosy (scarves and hats are keeping the snowmen warm)
     Stamping Sensations - Hand Coloured Image
     We Love Stamping - Anything But Square

Kath x