Cheer up, buttercup

I can't say it's been the most beautiful autumn day today, but although the skies have been grey, the rains have kept away and we spent a few hours in the garden. The results are a big bowl of apples which need to be turned into stewed apple, thee cucumbers and a huge bowl of tomatoes of various sizes and colours which I'm hoping to turn into a bit of tomato sauce. I'm so gutted that the tomato crops this year have been abysmal, last year we had enough tomatoes to keep us in tomato sauce for a year, and this year we hardly had any and all have been consumed as soon as they have been picked. But we did have an exceptional harvest of cherries, apricots and figs, so I'm not complaining. And there are plenty of apples and pears, I'm just happily picking the fruit straight from the tree and eating it standing right there in my garden. True happiness! 

I did get a chance to play in the craft room as well. Today's card is my second entry for the CAS-ology Silly challenge. I absolutely love this theme, and I have to admit I once again turned to my beloved Crazy Birds. The round sad looking is my absolute favourite of the bunch (shhh, don't tell the others!). I thought he could do with a bit of accessorising. The layout was inspired by the sketch over at My Favourite Things, and the colours are from the current ColourQ. I'm also linking up at Allsorts where the theme is No designer paper, Chocolate, Coffe and Cards where the theme is animals and Crazy 4 Challenges where the theme is costumed characters. 

There's nothing very high tech about this card, I die cut a panel of watercolour paper using Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangles dies and stamped the sentiments and bird using Staz-On Jet black ink. The first part of the sentiment is stamped using the Stampin' Up Alphabet Rotary stamp and the second part using Lawn Fawn Violet's ABCs. I like creating my own personalised sentiments to go with the cards I make, sometimes you just don't have an appropriate sentiment in your existing sets. Which reminds me I do want to buy at least one more alphabet stamp set, I am loving the Lawn Fawn ones as they have multiple copies of most letters so you can create the whole sentiment you need in one go instead of having to stamp one letter at a time. I watercoloured the birdie and his (I don't know why the birds are all male to me, but they just are...) accessories using Stampin' Write markers in Tangerine Tango, Wisteria Wonder and Old Olive (I don't have Kiwi Kiss). I then used the same markers to colour three stripes from the Stampin' Up Brushstrokes background stamp for the background and adhered the front panel with foam adhesive. I also stamped a sentiment inside the card which I thought would go with the theme of the card.

Card: 300 gsm white card, 300 gsm watercolour card

Stamps: Tim Holtz Bird Crazy, Crazy Things and matching dies, Lawn Fawn Violet's ABCs, Stampin' Up Alphabet Rotary stamp, Brushstrokes

Ink: Staz-on Jet Black, Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up Tangerine Tango, Wisteria Wonder, Old Olive

Other: Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle dies

Great CAS(E) this Sketch and some more craft room organizing

Summer and crafting just don't seem to go together. There is so much to do, and the days just pass by so quickly. Of course the fact that I have also spent a few evenings just lazily falling asleep on the sofa while watching TV really doesn't help either, does it? But today I'm home alone and after having finished my rat shopping in the morning (yes, the babies have to eat although daddy is out and about), I did camp out in the craft room and have been multitasking crafting, getting inspired, cleaning and organising.

Today's card is inspired by the awesome sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch. I was also inspired by the great colour combo over at Colour Me...! I am linking up over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where Anything Goes as well. I went for a very literal interpretation of the sketch this time. I created the chevrons in the background by colouring parts of the Positively Chevron background stamp using markers. I also coloured the Gorgeous Grunge stamps using markers to get the coloured splatters for the background.

I've also been organising my stamps and dies. I finally got the Avery Elle Stamp Storage pockets I ordered a while ago. I think my stamps look so much neater now that they are all in identical pockets. I have put in a cardstock sheet for support in the pockets along with the stamps. For sets with matching dies, I bought some magnetic sheets which I attached to black cardstock, and the dies stay beautifully organised on the magnetic sheets. I have popped the dies into the same pockets with the matching stamps, so now it's always easy to find the matching stamp sets and dies, and I know even the tiny little dies stay safe on the magnetic sheets and in the sealable pockets. Unfortunately some of the larger stamp sets don't fit in the pockets, so I have to figure out something else for them.

Stamps and dies stored in plastic pockets. Matching dies
are stored along with the stamp sets. 

Card: Stampin' Up Rich Razzleberry, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card, scraps of Bermuda Bay and Tangerine Tango Card

Stamps: Stampin' Up Positively Chevron and Gorgeous Grunge

Ink: Stampin' Up Rich Razzleberry, Tangerine Tango, Bermuda Bay

Other: Stampin' Up Hello You dies

Christmas gift bag

I love the Stampin' Up kraft gift bags, such an easy way to quickly and prettily wrap a present by just adding some embellishments. For this bag I used the Lawn Fawn Stitched Snowflake die on copper coloured cardstock for the snowflakes. I also stamped some images and made a little tag. Finally I inked a doily with some red distress ink. Quick and easy, but it looks quite elaborate. Also, the gift bags are perfect for wrapping stuff that is slightly oddly shaped and would be difficult to wrap neatly using wrapping paper. 

I'm submitting my little bag to the following challenges:
Not Just Cards - Anything Goes
Inky Chicks - Winter Wonderland
Deep Ocean Challenge Blog - Christmas is All Around
Clear it Out Challenge - Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create - Anything goes with optional twist Gift packaging

Card: Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card, Stampin' Up Crumb cake
Stamps: Stampin' Up Chalk Talk, Tag It and White Christmas
Ink: Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango and Real Red, Tim Holtz distress ink Festive Berries
Other: Doily from my stash, Stampin' Up Chevron Tag a Bag Gift Bags, Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, Chalk Talk dies, Lawn Fawn Stitched Snowflake dies

Masculine Open Sea

It's been a crazy hectic week with no time to play in the craft room. After enduring an hour and a half of crazy traffic to get home from work I finally had some time for crafting. I'm not quite up to date with all the current challenges out there, but I did like the colour scheme over at Colour Me...! this week. I also went for a rather literal interpretation of this week's CAS(E) This Sketch. I'm also linking up with Red Rubber Inspirationals where the theme is to repeat the same stamp at least three times. For my background, I actually repeated the background stamp four times. 

For the card I used a stamp set from Stampin' Up called The Open Sea, and it makes a great masculine card. I stamped the background stamp in Soft Suede and the world map in Early espresso. The anchor is stamped in Tangerine Tango onto Crumb Cake cardstock and fussy cut, as is the compass. Last I stamped the sentiment from Bloom with Hope in Versamark and heat embossed using white powder. A bit of matting, and some stamping for the inside as well. I decided to keep it simple and not to add any embellishments to keep it masculine.

Card: Stampin' Up Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Tangerine Tango and Crumb Cake, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card
Stamps: Stampin' Up The Open Sea, Bloom with Hope
Ink: Stampin' Up Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Tangerine Tango, Tsukineko Versamark
Other: Papermania Seafoam White Embossing Powder

You can't have too much moose

I loved the Retro Sketch this week so much that I made another card for it after the one I submitted yesterday. This is actually the first card I was making for the sketch but discarded it as failed. I initially tried to make a 6x6 in card, but it just didn't work. Unwilling to give up my cute moose I had so lovingly coloured with Copics, I decided to give it a second try a a 4x4 in card. So I resized the DSP panels a bit and rounded the edges. All of a sudden it looked much better. I also stamped the speech bubble onto the beige card, as I had first made it white and it just didn't work. 

Lesson of the day. If at first you don't succeed, just try, try, try again. I'm also entering this card at Clear it Out Challenge where the theme is Orange and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and The Pink Elephant Challenge where Anything Goes.

Card: Coloured 240 gsm kraft card beige, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Creatures in the Arctic, Stampin' Up Just Sayin'
Ink: Tsukineko Memeneto Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango
Colouring: Copics E24, E34, E39
Paper: Stampin' Up Sweater Weather DSP
Other: Lawn Fawn Creatures in the Arctic dies

Really tough colour combo

I received my wonderful Verve stamp set (called Surely Goodness) on the post the other day, the one I won at Mojo Monday challenges. I chose this set with the pretty flowers because I thought they would be really fun to colour in. And because you can never have too many flower stamps. When in doubt, always go for flowers. I couldn't wait to play with it, and thought the only right place to start was with the wonderful Viva La Verve challenge (by the way, you don't have to use Verve stamps to join in the fun). I really like their sketch over there this week, you can see it below.

Then the only decision was what colours to use. I thought I would really challenge myself and use this week's Colour Me... colours, which frankly is a combo I would never have put together on my own. I really didn't think I would be able to make anything useful out of it, but after many trials and errors I did manage to put together a more or less bearable card after all. But it's worth pushing your boundaries a bit from time to time and create something you never thought you would. 

I stamped the flower with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured with Stampin' Write markers. I fussycut the background for the flower from a Stampin' Up DSP using a printout of a scalloped rectangle as a template. I stamped some of the flowers in Pink Pirouette onto cream cardstock, and stamped one of the sentiments from the stamp set in Marina mist onto the background. For the lower part of the card I used another Stampin' Up DSP and added some ribbon in Tangerine Tango (I don't have Tangelo Twist, so I substituted with the closest colour I had in my stash). Finally I die cut the scalloped borders using a Tim Holtz die. I also stamped inside the card and on the envelope, just because I had so much fun colouring in the flower. 

   

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Tangerine Tango card, Hobbycraft 160 gsm cream card

Paper: Stampin' Up DSPs Sycamore Street, Polka Dot Parade, Fan Fair

Stamps: Verve Surely Goodness

Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up Marina Mist and Pink Pirouette, Stampin' Write markers in Marina Mist, Tangerine Tango and Pink Pirouette

Other: Tim Holts alterations Vintage Lace dies, Stampin' Up Tangerine Tango ribbon

Hey chickie

I know pretty much on first look whether I like a stamp brand or not. The stamps with the girl with no mouth - freaky! Not my thing at all (and no offence meant to anybody, I know there are some seriously beautiful cards out there with those stamps, but like I said, just not my thing). But then there are others that I just fall for from the first time I see them, and would love to buy every single stamp and die they have ever made. I am a sucker for the cute cartoon characters. And Paper Smooches is definitely one of those brands. I finally bought a few of their classic stamp sets, including this one called Chubby Chums. It actually reminded me of me and Best Friend. We are both chubby chums. Chubby in a very cute and loveable way!

My stamps arrived just in time to make a card for Best Friend's birthday. I love love love the Hey Chickie sentiment. Makes me chucle every time. And I thought, what could be better than to celebrate my first Paper Smooches card than to participate in the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge. This week it's a sketch challenge (see below). The round circles in the background inspired me to stamp the little chickie all over the background. I was also inspired by the CAS-ual Friday challenge, which this week was three thirds. I used three gems and three XO:s on the tag which covers about a third of the card surface. As a bonus, I used three colours for the chickies in the background, and there is three scalloped tag ends on the two tags on the card. How's that for threes! I will also submit the card to this week's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge, despite the fact that there is already more than 430 submissions for the challenge, and this will just get lost in the crowd. But the theme this week is keep it clean and simple and I figured if the shoe fits...

For my card, I stamped the chickie onto white cardstock using black ink, coloured using Sharpies and fussycut using scissors. I used the Stampin' Up scalloped tag punch to make the two tags, one in Crisp Cantaloupe and the other in vellum. I stamped the chickie onto the background panel in Crisp Cantaloupe, Daffodil Delight and Tangerine tango. Then I just adhered everything into place and added the twine and gems. I also stamped the cute little moo inside the card.

Cardstock: Leonardo Stationery 350 gsm Smooth White Cardstock, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card, Stampin Up' Crisp Cantaloupe cardstock, Dovecraft 110 gsm premium vellum
Stamps: Paper Smooches Chubby Chums
Inks: Hobbycraft black pigment ink, Stampin' Up Crisp Cantaloupe, Daffodil Delight and Tangerine Tango
Other: Stampin' Up Scalloped tag punch, 80's Glam Sharpies, Papermania adhesive gems Capsule Sunshine, yellow twine from my stash

Fresh Vintage Thank You

This card was inspired by this pin I found when I was doing a search for Fresh Vintage ideas. I coloured the stamp using Stampin Up' Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, Pumpkin Pie and Melon Mambo markers and stamped twice onto cream cardstock. The stamps in the corners are stamped with Tangerine Tango. I fussy cut the banner from Tangerine Tango cardstock and stamped the sentiment onto cream cardstock and used a corner rounder to clip the corners. I matted everything onto a DSP from Sycamore street and then Tangerine tango cardstock. the card was attached to Kraft card and to finish it all off, I coloured two adhesive gems with my orange sharpie. This is a colour combo I rarely use, but I think it turned out quite good in the end.

Stamps: Stampin' Up Fresh Vintage, Hobbycraft Clear Stamps General Sentiments
Inks: Stampin' Up markers Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, Melon Mambo and Pumpkin Pie, Stampin' Up Tangerine Tango inkpad
Cardstock: Hobbycraft cream 160 gsm cardstock, Stampin' Up Tangerine Tango, Kraft card
Crafting paper: Stampin' Up Sycamore Street DSP
Other: Stampin' Up adhesive gems, 80's glam Sharpies

Colourful birthday card using Mixed Bunch

It was my Grandma's Birthday recently. I wanted to make her a bright card with lots of colours. I used a colour combo from the very colourful DSP consisting of Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Rich Razzleberry and Pool Party. I stamped the flowers using the Mixed Bunch stamp and punched them using the Blossom Punch. I stamped a few extra flowers and cut out the centres. I stamped the "Happy Birthday Grandma" sentiment using Rich Razzleberry and the Hobbycraft typewriter alphabet (yes, it's the only stamp alphabet I have so I will use it again and again and again...). I attached the flowers onto Daffodil Delight cardstock and matted everything onto Tangerine Tango cardstock.

Inks: Stampin' Up Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Rich Razzleberry, Pool Party
Cardstock: Stampin' Up Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango and Pool Party cardstock, Hobbycraft white 160 gsm cardstock, Kraft card
Stamps: Stampin' Up Mixed Bunch, Hobbycraft clear typewriter alphabet
Punches: Stampin' Up Blossom Punch
Crafting paper: Stampin' Up Designer Series Paper International Bazaar
Other: Papermania adhesive gems from the Capsule Heather series