a 1st birthday

An easel card made for a little one who will be celebrating his first birthday - the yellow, green and purple colours were inspired by Paper Smooches SPARKS: May 11-17 Picture Perfect Challenge

The numeric "1" was highlighted with the same green and purple colours in line with the embossed inked background, and 'glittered' up with glitter glue for added impact.
I also added a little picture window frame where the 'smooches' tag is currently placed, so that a mini-polaroid photo of the 1-year birthday boy can be inserted for memory-sake.

The stamps and die-cuts (frame and banner) are from Paper Smooches - Chubby Chums, Sentiment Sampler, Streamers and Duo Die 1 range.

The background of the front cover of the card was embossed using Cuttlebug's embossing folder.

Post Note (19 May 2014): so thrilled that this card was selected as one of the Featured Players' cards for the PS SPARKS challenge!

hello, little kitty

card was created using the sketch design in Seize the Sketch #17 from Jen Mitchell

the cute little kitty comes from Paper Smooches - Nine Lives clear stamp set, which comes with its own matching die-cuts - convenience personified! The tag with the 'hello' sentiment is also a die-cut from Paper Smooches - Quote Tag set - love the little window in the centre of the tag which is great for placing background paper and photos as well

Card is also going in for this week's April 6-12 "Anything Goes" Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge 

POST NOTE (14 Apr): and though I didn't win the PS SPARKS challenge, it was great to be selected as one of the Featured Players .... yayy!

love u moo moo

love u moo moo, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

cute but not too mushy - that's how I like my Valentine's Day cards - and this card was such a joy to create and colour

* the farmer, cow and sentiment stamps come from Paper Smooches - Green Acres stamp set, water-coloured, fussy-cut and mounted with foam tape

* the frame design is from an embossing folder - Cuttlebug - after embossing, the edges were inked using Distress Inks (Worn Lipstick colour)

perfect for the Paper Smooches Jan 19-25 Anything Goes (wk3) Challenge

stamp used

PS NOTE (Jan 27): yayy, so very thrilled to have this card chosen as a Featured Player in Paper Smooches Challenge

News Flash!

News Flash!, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

Card was inspired by

1. color choice of red, blue, grey and cream in this week's Paper Smooches July 15-21 Cool Shades Challenge - Celebration

2. card sketch from CAS(E) this sketch #36

Love the choice of colors but I didn't want the card to end up looking too patriotic with the reds and blues - so I decided to choose a non-patriotic subject - the television!

* after stamping the television (stamp is from the Paper Smooches - Boob Tubes stamp set), I cut out the centre screen portion and backed the same with a zigzag-pattern paper

* the zigzag theme was repeated in the centre circle - which was die-cut both in red and in the grey polka-dotted paper using QuicKutz Nesting Pinking Circles die

* the banner (from the Paper Smooches -Streamers stamp set) was matted on dark blue paper

* banner and tv set were fixed on the card using mounting tape for extra dimension

PS Note: hurrah ... this card was chosen for Featured Player mention in the Paper Smooches Cool Shades Challenge!

thanks teacher, you rock!

teacher, you rock!, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

I love playing with the Paper Smooches stamps - so versatile and such cute cartoony characters, like this little mad curly-haired professor!

Card was inspired by this week's Paper Smooches 8-14 July Designer Drafts challenge

check out the draft design below

The books, apple and professor stamps came from PS Smarty Pants set whilst the 'You Rock' sentiment came from PS Sentiment Sampler set.

* the books stamp was stamped 3 times, one on top of the other to create a stack, and finally topped off with the apple stamp

* once the stack of books image and the professor image are colored, they were fussy-cut with a thin white edge

* the pseudo blackboard is actually a black card with white edges, upon which I stamped the two sentiments in VersaMark and then white-embossed

* to create the slightly chalky look of a blackboard, I used a sponge dabbed in white chalk ink and lightly dabbed over the black card

* the stack of books was fixed on with mounting tape for dimension, and the mad little professor was fixed on with an Action Wobble Spring so that there's a bit of 'mad' wobbling when the prof is touched!

PS Note: thrilled that this card was chosen to be Featured Player in the PS Designer Drafts Challenge!

an ocean special

ocean special, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

this is my second entry for this week's Paper Smooches SPARKS Trend Watch Challenge - Ocean theme, inspired by the following photo

To create the blue swirly background:

* stamp with VersaMark using Hero Arts - Magical Background stamp

* emboss with white embossing powder

* sponge-colored using a combination of blue distress inks

* sides trimmed, with the top cut using Paper Smooches Wise Dies - Borders 1 die-cuts

All the little fishes, jelly-fish and sea-weeds are stamped using Paper Smooches - Briny Blue stamp set - colored with Copic markers, cut and fixed onto the blue background, some with foam tape for dimension.

Final touches - stamp "You're Special" sentiment by the side, add blue ribbons, bow and brad

PS Note: this card was my very first "Featured Player" mention for a PS SPARKS challenge... hip hip hurrah!