live, laugh, love

live, laugh, love, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

I would not normally use black and neon yellow together as the contrast between these colors are so stark.... so it was truly a challenge to combine black, white and neon yellow on a card, as set by The Play Date Cafe for this week's challenge "It's a {splash} of Neon".

* decided to go with a main graphic design using a die-cut in black (die from Cheery Lynn's Princess' Garden Window Frame)

* after sticking to the white card base, I frame the outer square with neon yellow washi tape, followed by another frame in black polka-dotted ribbon

* affixed the butterfly and sentiment with mounted foam tape

* butterfly is actually a stamp from Hero Arts/Basic Grey - Butterflies and Print stamp set - I actually stamped using Hero Arts Neon Yellow inkpad, and then I outlined the shape of the butterfly by hand in black ink to recreate the hand-drawn look

celebrate each day

days, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

card was designed based on this sketch from this week's CAS(E) this Sketch #38

Needing to create some long elements, I remembered that I had these 'day' stamps from Hero Arts/Studio Calico - Weekdays stamp set - which were perfect for the design - coupled with the 'celebrate' sentiment stamp from Paper Smooches: Pretty Phrases stamp set.

With a bit of sparkling ink from Uni-ball Signo gel pens and a couple of mini pearls and the card came together easily!

scooting by to say hi

scooting by, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

dabbing, spraying and playing with ink is messy.... but I love the final result - unique and hard to repeat!

this card was inspired by Paper Smooches SPARKS July 22-28 Picture Perfect Challenge of a sunset

* the card background was created using the masking technique (both the positive and negative parts of the circle) to create the yellow/orange/red sunset and the dabs of muted colors on the background

* the scooter stamp was stamped on 3 different colored patterned papers and pieced together (scooter and sentiment stamps - Paper Smooches: Spiffy Scooters set)

* the buildings in silhouette were stamped on white card in black ink and fussy-cut (stamp - Paper Smooches: Super set)

wishing ewe happiness

wishing ewe happiness, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

these 'sheep' stamps from Penny Black ("plimsoll pete" and "bah-quet") are so cute not just in their names but in their innocent expressions, that I had to use them as part of the card design for CAS(E) this Sketch #37.

* the images were stamped, water-colored and fussy-cut - in the case of 'plimsoll pete' (sheep with colored shoes), image was stamped 4 x

* the square green patterned paper was distressed at the edges and affixed to the card-base

* using a white-ink pen, a border was drawn around the inner edge of the green square

* the sentiment 'wishing ewe' from Penny Black was stamped at the bottom right corner in VersaMark and white embossed

* sheep images were added to the card with dimensional tape

together we can do so much

together, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

I love how the sentiment in this card worked so well together with the vertical line of cute little mice, and this is thanks to the Fusion Card Challenge #13 design sketches, which have been combined in this card:

* after stamping the vertical line of mice, I placed the die-cut near the top portion of the vertical line, and die-cut the rectangle around the top mice and the third mice

* sentiment was stamped on the blue patterned paper and cut into a shape of a banner

* I then fussy-cut around the second mice on the left and right edges at width just enough for the banner to slide through

* a second larger rectangle was then die-cut in the red patterned paper

* after coloring the image in water-color, the rest of the mice were fussy-cut, and the whole thing put together, with the help of dimensional dots at the right places

The mice stamp is from Penny Black - Everest Next, whilst the sentiment comes form IO-impression obsession - Fabulous Friend clear stamp set.

Card was also submitted for Penny Black and More's July Challenge - "Dies and Punches" theme.

LIVE colorfully

LIVE colorfully, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

card was actually made for CAS-ual Fridays CFC #109 challenge (theme: Polka Dots) 

but I was too late in submission.... but still I had fun using polka dots throughout the card ...

*from the bottom base patterned paper

*down to the label die-cut in dotted patterned paper (die-cut is from Spellbinders Nestabilities - Labels Sixteen range)

*and finally coloring in the dots in the "LIVE colorfully" sentiment from Hero Arts - Glow Girl stamp set

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!

Hello, Baby

Hello, Baby, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

It's always such a joy making cards to celebrate a newborn child ..... and with this week's Muse #25 challenge, which features the colors of pink and blue, a baby card is just begging to be made! Below is the Muse inspiration card from Therese -

The cute image stamps come from Hero Arts - New Baby stamp set, whilst the 'hello baby' sentiment comes from Paper Smooches - Word Up stamp set.

The pram was first stamped on the white card to use as the base for the paper piecing to come - using stamped pieces of the various images cut up from light blue and pink patterned papers and layered onto the card with mounting tape.

Dare to be Remarkable.... roar!!

Dare to be Remarkable.... roar!!, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

A simple card with a 'roaring' message to encourage a young one ..... 'grrr....rrr..."

The design was inspired by this week's CAS(E) this Sketch #36 challenge.

This was a really fun card to make, especially with the coloring of the lion image, a wood-mounted stamp from Penny Black - His Majesty.

* The center banner is actually light yellow vellum - the texture was added by passing the banner through an embossing folder.

* The sentiment is a stamp from Impression Obsession - Follow Your Heart stamp set - stamped on a die-cut label from Spellbinders Nestabilities - A2 Distressed Edges set.

* a couple of zig-zagged cut patterned paper at the bottom of the white label and some orange pearls - and the card is done!

All things grow with LOVE

All things grow with LOVE, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

A second card made for this week's Paper Smooches July 8-14 Designer Drafts challenge, based on the card sketch below.

A very simple card to make,

* die-cut the circle on white card - I used the QuicKutz Nesting Floral Doilies set

* on the bottom half of the circle die-cut, I used a handmade stencil by cutting freehand a rolling form edge, and then colored in layers using chalk in dark brown and green (to represent the mounds of earth)

* using the Paper Smooches Green Thumb 1 die, I die-cut the watering can on green polka-dotted patterned paper, and then stamped the watering can from the Green Thumb stamp set

* the sentiment "All things grow with Love" from Impression Obsession was stamped in sepia ink

* the watering can was then affixed with mounting tape

* the little hearts were stamped in orange ink, and then dabbed with glitter glue

* final touch - a round brad with apple motive was added on top of the alphabet "O" in the word "LOVE"

* circle was then affixed to the green cardstock base using mounting tape