CardSwap - March - TicTacToe + Sketch

Time for my March Swap Cards for CraftMad - this time using a sketch + TicTacToe.

Card 1 - sketch + TicTacToe

For my first card, I started following the sketch, but as I played with it, the more I started following the TicTacToe as well.  In the end, I went with bottom row - neutral/ribbon/patterned paper.

First up, I stamped, coloured in and die cut some cats from the Uniquely Creative Purrfect stamp set, then placed them on some vellum circles cut with Spellbinders Circle dies.

Patterned paper was placed on the left side and white cardstock embossed with Dots using my Cuttlebug placed on the right side - a ribbon was used to cover up the join.  Vellum circles were then added to cardfront using double-sided tape.  To finish, cardfront edges were inked slightly to emphasis the edges, then added to the cardbase.

 

Linking this card with:

Allsorts Challenge #772 - Feathers or Fur

Shopping Our Stash #517 - Round and Round

Critter Crazy Challenge #84 - Anything Goes

Card 2

I played with some new stamps (new for me).  I recently received a prize in the mail from Christina of Flowers,Ribbons and Pearls.  Each Friday Christina has a giveaway for her followers and I was lucky enough to win in January and by February, the magazine & stamps were in my hot little hands!

 

Thank you so much Christina, and for the little extras in the package too!  you are most generous!

 

I was itching to have a play with these stamps - I usually struggle with cards for males and I think these stamps will really help with the creativity.

Following the sketch layout, I cut 3 circles and stamped them with some of the text/elements in StazOn ink.  I then used the 'road map' stamp and stamped that on some DP, then trimmed to size.  The 'tyre tracks' were stamped, then circles placed to follow the sketch layout.

The TicTacToe elements followed for this card were middle row:   masculine/die cut/ink.

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Floral cards

I have been playing with some more floral stamps from #Altenew. Here are some using the Build-a-flower Coneflower & Anemone Coronaria sets.

 

My February card swap for the CraftMad group had the theme of florals + sketch - we swap two cards, one card following a theme and one card using the theme + sketch.

 

 

Card 1 - Floral card

This card was in my stash of cards made last year - you can read how it was made HERE 

I think it was perfect for my first swap card. 

 

 

Card 2 - Floral + Sketch

The next card came together fairly quickly :)  I had some flowers left over from a previous stamping session, so it was just a matter of playing around to find a pleasing layout.

 

The background ribbons were cut from offcuts/snippets of cardstock.  The gold has a lovely sheen that doesn't quite show up well in the photo.  Ribbons were layered using 3d foam tabs, then the flowers were added to cardfront 3d foam tabs for more dimension.  Sadly, the sheen on the gold ribbon does not show up well in the photo ..... it looks lovely in real life!

 

Stay tuned for my next post for the March swap ...... coming soon!

 

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Thank You for all you do!

Mr Fixit was experiencing some health issues at the end of last year and I don't know what I would have done without the support of my family but the help and support from my BFF Joy has been exceptional!  Joy has gone above and beyond!

So, I have made her a card to say 'thank you'.

 

Once again, I have used the Altenew BAF Lavender set and die cut several layers, glued together to add dimension.   These particular lavenders were stamped with some different shades of purples and greens from an old ink set from 'color box' which I got for $5 from a 'craft fair' ....... I think ...... I have had them for so long, I really can't remember where I got them from. I tied 3 lavenders together with some gold twine and glued them together, then added a 'tag' diecut stamped with 'thank you for all you do'.  The layered lavender flowers were then added to a black cardfront using 3D foam tabs, which was then then added to a white 300gsm cardbase.

I am loving this Altenew stamp set ... the more I use it, the better I get at lining up the layers and the more confident I get at selecting different colours to stamp with. Next time, I am going to use some pinks, or maybe some reds and see how it looks. #Altenew, #AltenewChallenge, #CaughtbyAltenew  The As You Like It Challenge asks us to nominate our favourite, and as I struggle with masculine cards, my favourite is definitely feminine LOL .... on checking my stamps (both physical and digital) there is definitely a leaning towards the feminine and I seem to have a preference for flowers and 'very girly' stuff  LOL
 Linking with the following challenges:Creative Inspirations February: A Special Friend As you Like It Challenge:  Feminine or Masculine

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Thinking of You

I was in need of a Sympathy Card this week ..... a dear family friend had passed away.

 

Serendipitously, I had been playing with some new #Altenew inks that had arrived in the mail from Auzz Trinklets N Crafts just a few days earlier.  I stamped up some lavender flowers using the Altenew BAF Lavender set and die cut several layers, glued together to add dimension.  I tied 2 lavenders together with some gold twine and glued them together.  For the background, I used a single lavender stamp, and Altenew 'Wisteria' Crisp Dye Ink - stamping several times, then adding some 'splatters' using a few other inks.  I then stamped 'thinking of you' using the Altenew 'Permanent Black' Crisp Dye Ink at the bottom of the cardfront. 

 

 The layered lavender flowers were added to the cardfront using 3D foam tabs, and a final touch of 'bling' added with some randomly placed pearls. Linking with the following challenges:Creative Knockouts #515 - die cuts/stencils/punches Beautiful Blossoms Challenge #14 - Anything Floral
#Altenew, #AltenewChallenge, #caughtbyaltenew,
 

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Happy Anniversary & Valentines Day

It is that time of year again!   

 

42 years ago, on 13th February 1982, we got married.

14th February is Valentines Day

I had a bit of fun this year with my card.

 

I purchased some lovely digital graphics from ETSY recently and had a play around on the computer designing a card.

 

As an added touch, I used Dimensional Magic on the balloon heart.

 

 

Linking with the following challenges:

Addicted to CAS: #251 - Heart

Creative Inspirations - February Challenge - Someone you Love 

Critter Crazy Challenge - #83 - Anything Goes with a Critter

 

 

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Another Year Flies By

Birthdays are thick & fast this time of year.

Another Birthday card inspired by the current sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.

 

I started with stamping some Butterflies from Kaisercraft on white cardstock.  I heat embossed the central butterfly and coloured with some Distress Ink using a waterbrush.

I then cut them out with circle dies - layering them twice to give dimension and mounting with foam dots.  Sentiment was stamped directly on the cardfront.

 

 

 

While playing with placement, I realised that just a plain white background was not working for me, so I grabbed a stencil I have had for a while, but not used before and using the same Distress Ink used to colour the central butterfly, I stenciled the background lightly.  That was the little 'something' I was looking for!

 

The cardfront was trimmed then placed on some old Stampin' Up Cardstock - I think the colour is either More Mustard or Pumpkin Pie ..... perfect!

 

Linking with the following challenges:

 

Addicted to Stamps & More #460 - Die Cut/Stencil

Seize the Birthday #276 - Anything Goes

Freshly Made Sketches #621

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Hope your birthday is a hit!

It's time for some more birthday cards.  Making cards for friends & family always makes me happy!

 

Inspired by some of the Challenge Blogs, I have made a few birthday cards.

 

The 'records' were die cut from black cardstock twice, metallic cardstock for the lables, layered together and attached to the cardfront with foam dots.  The black cardstock is some left over 'snippets' from a heat embossing experiment that did not work - I kept it as I figured I could always use the other side ..... waste not, want not!

 

Die Cut musical elements cut from other 'left over' snippets added to front of records.  Sentiment was stamped using Versa Fine Black Onyx and die cut with a 'tag' die and attached to the cardfront with foam dots.

 

The layout of my card was inspired by the Freshly Made Sketch #620

 

Linking with the following challenges:

Freshly Made Sketches #620

Addicted to Stamps & More - #460 Die Cut/Stencil

Seize the Birthday  #276- Anything goes

Cut it Up Challenge #296 - this makes me happy

I made my own background by stamping a musical notes stamp several times with Versamark and heat embossing with clear powder.  I then ink blended with some blue inks, leaving a lighter centre area and darker around the edges.

The 'records' were die cut from black cardstock twice, metallic cardstock for the lables, layered together and attached to the cardfront with foam dots.  The black cardstock is some left over 'snippets' from a heat embossing experiment that did not work - I kept it as I figured I could always use the other side ..... waste not, want not!  and not having too much wastage makes me happy!

 

Die Cut musical elements cut from other 'left over' snippets added to front of records.  Sentiment was stamped using Versa Fine Black Onyx and die cut with a 'tag' die and attached to the cardfront with foam dots.

Linking with the following challenges:

Creative Knockouts #513 - lots of layers

Snippets Playground #472

Cut it Up Challenge #296 - this makes me happy

 

 

The above cards have been inspired by the same sketch layout  - the first one being a VERY CAS card, the second card with a bit 'more' added.   I struggle with CAS cards, I can't help but feel they are 'incomplete'  LOL

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Happy Birthday

Happy New Year to you all!

Time for some NEW Birthday Cards.

 

 

I made my own background by lightly ink blending a few colours and stamping some musical notes several times in Black ink, which was then trimmed to size.  I have had the musical notes stamp for quite a few years, but this is the first time I have used it.

I die cut 'happy birthday' words & shadows from alternating black & white layers - layering the black shadow twice to add more dimension.

Background was attached to the 300 gsm card base using double sided 'jac' paper, then the sentiment was mounted with 3D foam.

 

I am quite happy with the way the card turned out, as this is a new technique for me. 

 

--oooo0oooo--

For the Card #2, I made my own background by ink blending a few different blues, spritzing with water and letting dry.  The I randomly stamped the cake from Stampin Up Voila in Versamark, then heat embossing.  It is amazing the difference a new stamp pad makes!  Now I just need to keep a look out for the refill bottles and not let the stamp pad dry out :)

 

I die cut 'happy birthday' words & shadows from alternating black & white layers - this time using the black words on a white shadow.

Background was attached to the 300 gsm card base, and the sentiment was mounted 3D foam.

 

I quite enjoyed my first 'real' crafting session for 2024, and I hope to spend more time in the craft room...... how about you?...... what are you hoping to do in 2024?

 

 

Linking with following challenges:

 

Card1

NBUS: Musical Notes stamp

Time Out Challenge #254:  New technique

My Time To Craft #525 - Use something new in your stash

All Sorts Challenge #763 - make your own background

 

Card2

Sweet Stampin Challenge: New 

Cardz 4 Guys #338 - Use something new from stash

All Sorts Challenge #763 - make your own background

 

Linking both cards with 

Cut It Up Challenge #295 - New Product/Technique

 

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.