you're special

you're special, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

card was made using the card sketch from Mojo Monday #332, which incorporated a tag on the front of the card:

I had used tacky glue to stick the patterned paper on the tag - but this turned out to be a bad idea as I had used too much glue - to save the tag, I edged the same using a maroon polka dotted washi tape which I also used for the horizontal design feature.

The hearts were cut using Quickutz Nesting Scallop Hearts die-set, edged with distress colour and each was mounted on foam tape on top of the other - finished with a little heart pearl.

Finally the tag and sentiment were stamped using Paper Smooches Streamers stamp set and Sentiment Sampler stamp set, and embossed in silver.

warm thoughts

warm thoughts, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

a quick and simple card made based on:

1. Retro Sketches #101 sketch design

2. Paper Players Color Challenge #182 - using the colors of midnight muse, crisp cantaloupe and gold

The card base is blue card stock, over which I layered the light orange 'cantaloupe' polka-dotted pattern paper with the edges die-cut using Paper Smooches Borders 1 die cut.

The sentiment is stamped on blue card stock using Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler stamp set - and embossed in gold - mounted on orange card stock.

Some lace, ribbon and co-ordinating buttons in blue and orange finish the look for this card.

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

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

heart melt bunny

heart melt bunny, a photo by eatzycath on Flickr.

Valentine's Day this year also happens to fall on the 15th day of the Chinese Lunar New Year (or Chap Goh Meh) - the last day of the lunar new year celebrations - which means that the restaurants in Singapore will be doing a roaring business whether catering to loving couples or to families get-togethers!

This Valentine's Day card is a one-layer card made from kraft-card - in line with this week's

The Paper Players #179: One Layer Valentine

The stamps are from Paper Smooches - the goofy-looking bunny from the "A Little Lovin" stamp set whilst the sentiment and heart stamps come from the "Warm Hearts" stamp set. All were stamped with VersaMark ink and heat-embossed with white, pink and red embossing powders. The edges of the card were also heat-embossed using Stampendous - Aged Rose Embossing Enamel.

It's also great that this week's Paper Smooches Jan 19-25 Anything Goes (week 3) Challenge 

Stamps used:

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

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

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.