now and forever my cup of coffee

card was inspired by the aroma in my coffee cup as I was contemplating this design in CAS(E) this Sketch #78

this was so much fun with lots and lots of gold embossing, first on the coffee cup from Hero Arts - Need Caffeine stamp set, and on the swirly design from IO-Cover-a-Card - Swirls stamp

the curvy 'steam' was cut using Paper Smooches - Borders 1 dies, and card was finished off with a sentiment from Paper Smooches - Simply Said stamp set.

final close-up shot of that 'luxe' cup of coffee!

happy birthday in red, yellow and green

card design was based on CAS(E) this Sketch #75 (which again, I was too late for submission ... this is getting to be a bad habit!) and inspired by the lovely colours scheme in the Paper Players Color Challenge #195 (which submission I made just in time)

*the card base - yellow cardstock which was stamped with Impression Obsession Cover-a-Card - Tapestry 2 stamp in watermark ink, clear-embossed with heat, and then sponged lightly over with Distress Inks - Barn Door red and Mowed Lawn green

*the corner tag - green cardstock embossed with a flourish design with the raised portions lightly sponged with Versacolor White ink, and then mounted on red card stock

*the embellishment - flower die-cut from Hero Arts - Chrysanthemum Fancy Die on coral red card stock, and heat embossed with embossing glitter, and finished off with a Hero Arts - Go Out and Play stamp - using only the Happy Birthday sentiment, again lightly sponged over with the same Distress Inks colours

a close-up of the card to show off the glitter on the flower die cut

metallic wishes

the wonders of embossing powders... especially the metallic ones in gold, silver and copper!

card was made for CAS.ology #94 challenge: Metal

the bird cage die cut is from Cheery Lynn Designs - Bird Cage, whilst the sentiment is from Hero Arts - Good Luck stamp set

I die-cut the bird-cage on two pieces of card stock to give it added thickness. The die-cut was then sponged over with VersaMark, sprinkled with silver and gold embossing powders and heat-embossed. This process was repeated once again for a more pronounced metallic finish.

Similar process used for the 'wishing you the best' sentiment which was popped up using mounting tape.

Card was finished off with a string of pearls attached to the top of the bird cage.

arigato amidst sakura pink

using just two very mini sakura flower stamps, and multi-shades of pink, red and purple ink pads - this simple cascading design of sakura flowers was done in no time at all

card was finished with the 'arigato' sentiment stamped and clear-embossed in place, pink rhinestones affixed to the centre of a sprinkling of the flowers, pink glitter glue added to others

card inspiration comes from this week's Lawnscaping Challenge #81 - Create your own background using stamps

the sakura and arigato stamps are from Lawn Fawn - Let's Roll stamp set

thanks hexagonal style

a very simple card that is wholly dependent on the patterned paper to make it 'pop'

 using some left-over paper from a previous project, I cut the tapering design along the hexagon edges so as to follow this week's CAS(E) this Sketch #74

the 'thanks' sentiment comes from Paper Smooches - Simply Said stamp set, and with a couple of crystal 'blings' strewn across the hexagon wave, my CAS (clean and simple) card was done!

You turn me on...... electric!

made a fun and simple card based on this week's CAS.ology Week 93: Electric challenge

the electric die-cut (with jagged edges) is from Paper Smooches Borders 1, the sentiment and cute telly image is from Paper Smooches Boob Tubes ... added the mini heart and zigzag lines within the telly in line with the sentiment!

Card is also entered for this week's Paper Smooches SPARKS - May 4-10 Anything Goes challenge

Post Note (6 May 2014) - super cool that above card was selected by one of the Design Team members for Honourable Mention!

hello sunshine!

3 umbrellas on the ground ... perfect to signify the end of rain and sunshine ahead ... 

also perfect for CAS-ual Fridays CFC 131 challenge - Three Thirds

CFC131: Three Thirds? The idea is to use three of something, could be colors, sequins, etc
on just 1/3 of the card, and keep it clean and simple.

Card colour palette is based on ColourQ challenge #239

The pretty umbrella stamps come from Penny Black's April Showers stamp set.

What's Up?

With paint already on my palette, I thought I might as well colour up a few more images, and this one of Cheeky Chat from The Greeting Farm is one of my favourites!

She's colored in yellow, aqua and grey shades ... for the last challenge at Dynamic Duos: Challenge #100 (and it's so sad that they are closing the wonderful blog just when I have discovered them.... sob.. sob!)

The sentiment comes from Hero Arts - Guess What stamp set, whilst the diamond-shaped embossing folder is from Cuttlebug.

Cheeky Chat was coloured using Caran D'ache Neocolor II Water-soluble wax pastels - I love the richness of the colours and the ease for water-colouring and blending.

my cup of coffee

sometimes, I can stare at a sketch for a long time and then suddenly, 'click' - the light bulb comes on and I know exactly what I want to see on the card

this happened with this week's CAS(E) this Sketch #73, which was paired together with Runway Inspired Challenge #58 (love the dramatic combination of red against black)

for this card, I thought the CTS sketch of the semi-circle was perfect to depict a checkered-tablecloth with cups of coffee on the table... 

the coffee cups and latte glass stamps are from Hero Arts - Need Caffeine stamp set whilst the checked gingham stamp is from Impression Obsession - Cover-a-Card Gingham

blossoms into dreams

A little girl watering her precious blossom .... from Mo Manning's digital image April.

I totally loved colouring her using water-colours - and especially 'muddying' up her cute little pink boots!

Sentiment comes from Penny Black's Friendship (T for Transparent) stamp set.

Entering card for this week's 

Mo's Challenge #228 -"CAS (Clean and Simple)" 

with a Mo Manning digi or stamped image!

a final close-up shot of the adorable cutie-pie

multi-colored friend for life

a very simple card inspired by The Paper Players Challenge #192 - Washi-tastic CAS Challenge (a clean and simple design using washi tape)

and what a perfect way to use these lovely thin strips of multicoloured washi tape in my stash!

The sentiment is from Penny Black's Edge to Edge clear stamp set - stamped and heat-embossed in white on kraft-stock and mounted using foam tape. With a few simple embellishments (multicoloured pearl dots and a green flower) - the card is ready to go!

friends are special gifts

ovals and more ovals - that's the theme for CAS-ual Fridays CFC130 Challenge: Good Egg

- a lovely shade of lilac patterned paper affixed on the base white card stock, which had been cut using Lawn Fawn's Large Stitched Journaling Card die cut - I love the detailed stitching lines round the edges!
- this was followed by a white strip of paper and some silver threads affixed and tied from end to end at the bottom third section of the card
- the centre oval royal purple card was first embossed and then lightly dusted with VersaMark Ink before sprinkling a light sheen of embossing powder - heat-embossed to bring out the beautiful contrasted details
- another oval white card was affixed behind the purple card but offset slightly
- the sentiment stamp is a beautiful stamp from JustRite - Special Gifts Labels set - stamped in VersaFine Imperial Purple and heat-embossed before affixing to the card with mounted foam tape
- finished off with a little flower embellishment at the side and some pearls at the top left corner