peace at Christmas

a simple card using the design from Freshly Made Sketches #139 - but for the card, I flipped the design vertically, and instead of 3 ribbons running down the side, I decided to go with stamped and silver embossed lace trims

the main tag and bird are stamps from Penny Black - Glad Tidings stamp set, which I had embossed in white and then coloured in distress inks in blue shades

the horizontal swirls are part of Penny Black - Lace Trims stamp set - I embossed the same with silver powder for a bit of glitter but so as not to overpower the centrepiece blue tag

card is also entered for Merry Monday Christmas Challenge #111 - using aqua, white and splashes oolours

hugs under the daisy

love this Penny Black wood-stamp - "squeeze till I squeak" - the two mice are super cute and so fun to colour, as this is one of my favourite stamps, this card is entered into this June month's Penny Black and More Challenge 
******Use your favorite stamp******

the card design was based on Seize the Sketch #21 by Lori Turner

the tag is a die-cut using Paper Smooches - Quote Tag die cut set, and the 'hugs' sentiment is also from Paper Smooches - Chit Chat stamp set

for extra dimension, I had fussy-cut an extra daisy flower and mounted the same with foam tape onto the stamped image - after colouring the same, I added glossy accent to the flower centre and also along the sides of the petals - which was picked up in the close-up shot below

'HUGS' TO ALL AND HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND AHEAD!

love in pink

a friend's daughter is getting married this weekend, and I love to make wedding cards - with happy endorphins gushing around my system as I picture the couple making this wonderful commitment of a lifetime....... 

card's design and colour combination was inspired by this week's retrosketches challenge #116 and the colour throw down challenge #294 colours (and such delicious colours they are)

the 'Love' sentiment was die-cut using Penny Black's Love & Joy creative die, and inlaid into the beige patterned circle (die-cut using Spellbinders Nestabilities - Beaded Circles)
which was mounted onto the scalloped square (using the die-cut from Lifestyle Crafts - Nesting Scallop Squares)

love is patient

What is great with inlaid die-cutting is that one always ends up with another set of die-cuts for a second card...this card was made using the reverse set of the hearts die cuts used in my earlier post.

the card design was inspired by this week's retrosketches #114

the bible verse fro 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 is a stamp from Penny Black - Love Chapter stamp set, whilst the little birdie on a birdcage is a stamp from Penny Black - Tree-mendous  stamp set

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.

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!

thanks so much

thanks so much, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

I'm having so much fun with my Zig Art & Graphic Twin brush markers - they are wonderful to colour directly onto stamps - after colouring, spritz a mist of water and voila, a semi-water colour image is produced when stamped!

Here, the image was stamped using Penny Black's Fresh Fields wood stamp.

Sentiments come from Paper Smooches Simply Said and Chit Chat stamp sets.

The card sketch itself comes from Seize the Sketch #13 - a really easy sketch to play around with.

love

love, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

with valentine's day just round the corner, this is a great time to create cards with the 'love' theme.... and a great time to send these 'reminders' to loved ones!

- the heart was die-cut using Hero Arts' Fancy Dies - Renaissance Heart

- the banner was stamped using Paper Smooches - Streamers stamp set, and embossed in silver powder

- the word 'Love' was die-cut using Penny Black's Creative Dies - Love & Joy 

this card was based on this week's CAS(E) this Sketch #63

and using the colours set out in ColourQ Challenge #227

CNY - happy new year

CNY - happy new year, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr

another Chinese New Year card - design was based on the sketch from Try Stampin' on Tuesday Challenge #151 - Love Plaid

- the flowers stamp is from Penny Black - Floral Silhouette - this was coloured using brush markers direct onto the stamp which was then misted over to create a water colour effect before stamping
- the 'happy new year' stamp is from Paper Smooches - Christmas Sampler, stamped and embossed in gold powder

a 'close-up' snapshot of the colored flowers - love working with the brushmarkers using this technique and seeing the colors merge and blend beautifully

CNY florals

CNY card in light floral, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

today's Chinese New Year cards were inspired by this week's CAS(E) this Sketch #60 card design

as the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrates the beginning of the new year, I love using stamps of flowers to announce the onset of spring - here, I used the brush-marker technique to colour the stamps and misted the coloured stamp with a very light mist of water before stamping (to create the water-colour effect)

the flower stamps (Floral Silhouette and Casual) and the chinese seal stamp (Luck) are from Penny Black

Spring Blessings

Spring Blessings, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

a simple Chinese New Year card to wish abundant blessings on a loved one ... this card was based on the following card sketch found in Freshly Made Sketches #119

• kraft-card was used for the card base - and also to stamp the dahlia and leaves (from Penny Black's Dahlias stamp set) which were then embossed in white
• using the technique (called white watercoloring) - I coloured the stamped images with a light coat of white water-based ink, followed by slight shading in red and pink for the dahlia and olive green and light green for the leaves - love the almost luminescent touch to the stamped image
• flower and leaves were then fussy-cut for affixing later with mounted foam
• the beige patterned paper was stamped using Hero Arts - Tapestry Script Background, and embossed in pink and red detail embossing powders, edged lightly with red distress ink
• sentiment in the bottom corner comes from Penny Black's April Showers stamp set - and embossed in white

A New Year

Thank you, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

The last three months have been a whirlwind of chaos, first dealing with the renovations at my new apartment, then followed by the horrendous task of packing and unpacking as we moved to our new place! Finally with the last of the boxes unpacked ... I can breathe a huge sign of relief ... and reward myself with some creative R&R as I bunker down in my new craft room .... YAYYYYYY and super hooray!

Mojo Monday #328's latest sketch this week is a wonderfully simple design that is so versatile and easy that I made two cards quickly ... just to 'kickstart' some of the creative 'mojo juice'.

The colours for the first card was inspired the very rich hues of blue and bright red in Runway Inspired Challenge RIC#51

For the second card, I looked towards The Paper Players Color Challenge #178 and loved the cheerful colour options!

The background stamp of the calendar week is from Hero Arts - My Week whilst the sentiment stamp in the centre is from Penny Black - Your Days.