happy father's day in blue and red

made a Father's Day card for a friend, with the centrepiece of the card being a wonderful black & white photo of the family mounted onto a scalloped square die-cut in white card stock (from Spellbinders Nestabilities - Lacy Squares range)

the card design was based on Seize the Sketch Challenge #22 (sketch by Lori Tecler), whilst the colour combination of red, blue and white was inspired by The Paper Players - Colour Challenge #199

the card base is white, on top of which is blue card stock mounted onto red card stock  - on the blue card stock, I had stamped in VersaMark using Impression Obsession's Cover-a-Card - Distressed Lines stamp, and then heat-embossed the same with white and glitter powders ... I loved the effect created (this would actually be a great Christmas card design!)

card was decorated with Hero Arts - Spring Branch die-cuts in red and white card stock (with embossed glitter), and finished off with a red bow and ribbon strip

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

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

have a nice 'brekkie' day

this week's Apr 13-19 Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge is a Picture Perfect challenge 

based on this inspirational photo

To re-create those whacky banners of colours, I decided to use all the cute little stamps from Paper Smooches - Wake Up stamp set - the 'sausages', 'bacon rashers', 'cups' were perfect and with a little masking work, I had my criss-crossing banners. After colouring, the glitter on the 'bacon rashers'  and liquid pearl dots on the 'cups' provided that extra zing.

The red-checked 'tablecloth' pattern below was stamped using Impression Obsession (IO) - Cover-A-Card Gingham background, and grounded my little red toaster.

PS Note (21 Apr 2014): Am giddy with delight that this card was selected as the PSS February Picture Perfect PRO winner!

and featured on the Paper Smooches blog on April 27!

Prosperous

Prosperous, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

With Chinese New Year just round the corner, I'm going 'oriental' in my card designs .... 

• Starting off with the auspicious colour of gold, the card base is a bright yellow card stock, topped with white card stock.
• Sitting on top of the white card stock is a smoky grey coloured paper, which has been stamped with IO's background stamp - Swirls, and embossed in gold - this was then fussy-cut along one edge
• a label die-cut on yellow glitter card stock formed the base for the chinese word ('prosperity') embossed in gold, and the row of New Year wishes along the bottom

Card design and colour was inspired by this week's Fusion Challenge #2

LOVE - for a young couple

Love-marriage, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

a wedding card made for a young couple, the groom being the son of a friend

in Singapore, red is an auspicious color and in keeping with tradition, the background of this card and the fussy-cut hearts are red in color

but I kept the stamped image of the bridal couple (from Stampendous - Happy Couple wood-stamp) in white with gold embossed edges, to align with the gold-embossed 'LOVE' sentiment (from Hero Arts) created on the white card-stock

a further 'marriage' sentiment (from Impression Obsession - A Good Marriage wood-stamp) was stamped on the inside of the card

and a pocket was created also on the inside of the card for the 'ang-pow' to be given to the couple - 'ang-pow' being a red packet containing a cash gift for the couple

this card is submitted for this week's Freshly Made Sketches #99 (Sketch by Rita)

my very first tri-fold card

cottage tri-fold, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

I have just learned the technique to stamping a tri-fold card (a card with two flaps on the right and left) - i.e. having a series of co-ordinating stamped images on the centre portion, and on the overlapping right and left flaps. For proper alignment of the three images, the best method requires the use of a stamp positioner, and how easy the task becomes! Love the possibilities that this may throw up in the days to come!

This tri-fold card was stamped using the 'cottage' series of stamps in Art Impressions "Tryfold" range - the scenes are beautiful, especially for water-coloring.

Scene from the second flap:

Final image scene on the centre portion when both flaps are opened:

The very appropriate sentiments come from IO - Impression Obsession - Joy in the Journey clear stamps set.

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

great cycling friend

great cycling friend, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

Card was made for the 1-layer card challenge from Hero Arts.

* the main image of the girl and boy on the bicycle (stamp is from IO-Impression Obsession - Fun Friends) was stamped first - I used teal metallic ink which provided a nice sheen to the stamped image (unfortunately, the sheen is not very noticeable in the picture)

* then I die-cut a scalloped circle to use as a mask

* with mask over the stamped image, I then stamped the background with Hero Arts - Newspaper Background wood-mounted stamp colored with Kaleidacolor Rainbow Dye Inkpad (Caribbean Sea color range)

* the "great friend" sentiment comes from Hero Arts - Made with Love stamp set - stamped in lime green and clear embossed
* with the scalloped circle mask in place, I lightly colored the newsprint background using co-ordinating chalk colors of light yellow, blue and green

Fishy Hello

Fishy Hello, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

The theme for this week's Paper Smooches Sparks - Trend Watch Challenge is OCEAN! Such a great theme with lots of possibilities and I get to use my itsy bitsy little fish stamps!

Instead of portraying a huge big ocean, I decided to fit part of the 'ocean' into a little bell jar with a cheery hello from some friendly fishes.

* the bell jar stamp comes from Paper Smooches - Crystal Clear stamp set which comes with matching die-cuts

* I stamped first on white cardstock and die cut the same out - stamped a second time on white card stock and die cut only the lid (which was then colored with silver and glitter blue pens, before affixing onto the base stamped image with foam tape) - finally I die-cut the inner part of the jar from blue vellum paper, which was then affixed to the base stamped image

* the two fishes were stamped using Paper Smooches - Birthday Buddies stamp set, colored and fussy-cut, affixed onto blue vellum portion with foam tape

* the gingham checked 'tablecloth' is actually a triangle cut from a stamped paper using IO - Impression Obsession Cover-a-Card cling background stamp (Gingham)

* affix 'tablecloth' onto bottom part of the card, then affix the jar with foam tape

* the 'Hello There' sentiment was stamped onto the white base card-stock, which was followed by the stamping of the 'talk bubble' in dark blue ink - 'talk bubble' stamp comes from Paper Smooches - He Said, She Said stamp set

grateful vintage

grateful vintage, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

When the cardmaking itch catches up, one can only scratch it.... and that's what I've been doing for the last week or so - and since my night classes haven't started yet, I might as well get in some private crafting time before things get busy again.

This card was made this afternoon for submission to A Blog Named Hero: Challenge #26 - objective: incorporate a tag into one's card or project OR be inspired by the dog tags included in the inspirational challenge graphic below.

* the tag was stamped using IO - Impression Obsession (Alesa Baker Designs) - Graph Tag - a truly beautiful vintage design with a lovely flourish in the corner - unfortunately, you can't see it on the card as it is partially hidden by the flowers

* the 'truly grateful' sentiment comes from Hero Arts - Truly Grateful stamp set

* the 'truly grateful' sentiment was fussy-cut around the edges and mounted with foam tape onto the tag which was then affixed onto a piece of gauze bandage, which had been inked with Ranger Distress ink (Vintage Photo) to create that slightly sepia tone, and affixed with dimensional glue onto the patterned paper

* final touch - added some paper flowers with buttons and some rough twine

Let your Light Shine

Let your Light Shine, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

I do love embossing folders - touching a card with lots of texture is a great joy... must be some kind of positive tactile stimuli (*smile*) - made using a Cuttlebug embossing folder, which name escapes me - looks like it's time for me to start labelling my Cuttlebug folders.... what a chore, maybe tomorrow or maybe next week?

The sentiment is a stamp from IO - Impression Obsession.

This was made for someone who had recently accepted Christ - what joy there must be in heaven as the angels rejoice and blow their trumpets! My prayer that she will continue to walk in God's grace and be a wonderful testimony for all in her life.