INKY FINGERS

It’s been one of those weeks… we all have them, I’m sure …

It was my birthday, which became a bit of an extended celebration, and on which my lovely younger son put up some shelves in my craft room. I was so excited, I had to start reorganising it all immediately, which sort of lasted a few days. My (still unfinished) craft room is looking great, but as a result of all the lugging and clearing and cleaning, my hands died and my already sore back just got worse, so I’ve been unable to stamp – big AWWWW – or do much of anything else!

I contented myself by making a few bits which didn’t need too much dexterity.

This one is for 

Allsorts Black and White challenge… 

I concentrated on layers, rather than the fiddly bits I usually enjoy adding to black and white. I’m sure it would have looked better if I’d added the brads vertically…

I then made this one… intending to add some tag words, but after numerous failed attempts, I gave up   I haven’t used this image for a while – it was one of my favourites a few years ago. The background on the back layer is my trusted crackle stamp, stamped repeatedly around the edges, then clear embossed.

Sticking with monochrome, I found this background I’d stashed, and added the stamp (from my winnings at Simon Says Stamps) and an already cut out image from my ‘cutouts’ basket. I really love the result.

I’ll link this to the

Crafty Friends Challenge – Anything Goes

and to

Crafty Creations – Anything Goes.

This is one I made for a KCUK mingle.. all things New.

I’ll link it  to Mix it Up’s ‘Make Your Own Background challenge.

I’ll end with another couple of scraplings…

Here’s a close up to show the mica in the background.

I’ll be back soon…lots more to share.

Thanks for looking.

Have a great Easter!

Cath

xxx

I don’t often use bling on my cards but do occasionally like to, when it fits the image… this is the kind of image that screams out for a bit of glitter…not that you can see it!

This is for the Allsorts Challenge – Bring on the Bling!

(Unfortunately, the link is closed, so I can’t add this )

and

Dragonfly Dreams – All that Glitters

And how could I not add glitter to this one, with that sentiment?

This is just a Spring card… for the

Spring into Action challenge at That’s Crafty

and

My Time to Craft – Easter/Spring

and a journal page for Art Journal Journeys

A bit more Spring rain with new Inkylicious stamps.

…and last, but not least, another Scrapling, this time with a lovely Swallow postcard stamp.

Back soon

Thanks for looking!

Cath

xxx

Just a couple of birdies today, for challenges I noticed earlier.

The Call of Spring – Try it on Tuesday

Watch the Bird – Daring Cardmakers

and

Crafty Cardmakers – Go Green!

Sing your Song!

Birthdays are GOOD for you! I’ve done something similar to this before, but I love the idea of this card and I LOVE these birds!

More cards made with scrap papers I’d previously made…

Back soon, with more…

Thanks for looking

Cath

xxx

Still furiously using up scraps and bits of card I discarded because I wasn’t too happy with them, for one reason or another.

These are scraplings again (offcuts), using up part stamped images and discarded bits.

These are from a Faux Batik background I decided was too dark… so I overstamped in white and cut it up.

These were just background paper scraps… I have a LOT of these because I like making backgrounds, so I end up with piles in similar colours, which I don’t use all at once!

This was also overstamped and stencilled with white ink because it was a bit too dark…

… and these are simply my favourite colours!

This one has a resist background, though it’s not showing well in the photo…

I’d like to link to the following challenges:-

Dare 2B Artzy – Favourite colours

Simply Papercraft – Anything Goes

Sweet Stamping – Use up your Paper Scraps

A Bit More Time to Craft – Anything Goes

and

Mix it Up – Anything Goes (+ make your own background)

See you soon… I hope! I made the mistake of starting to tidy/reorganise my craft room…eeek!

Thanks for looking

Cath

xxx

I’ve had a good couple of weeks, winning a second place prize from

Stamping Sensations

Top Five in Try it on Tuesday

and Winner in Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge!

So I’ve been doing the happy dance

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

This week, I’ve been playing with lots of scraps, using up bits of backgrounds and just doing some quick and easy bits, using new stamps and parts of stamps. 

This was my pile of ‘Works in Progress’, either coloured or waiting for colour…

… and here are some of the results.

Scraplings (offcuts of folded cards created when cutting prefolded cards to size) – these two are roughly 3-4cm wide.

Simple 3” square cards…

A simply stamped card, dry embossed…

Another simple 3x3 card…

…and using up a scrap of background paper…

There’s more, but that’s enough for now. I haven’t had much chance to post before now, so I thought I’d just pop by to say hello.

I’d like to link one of the above cards to:-

Everybody Art Challenge – Anything Goes

Inspiration Destination – Anything Goes

Sparkles Monthly Challenge – Clean and Simple

Thanks for looking!

See you soon

Cath

xxx

The theme over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is ‘Whatever the Weather’, so I was thinking of this while stamping today.

I used one of my favourite girly stamps – Tatty Buttons – to make these two cards.

This one is a little OTT with colour, but that was intentional… maybe I should’ve made her a little plainer?

There’s an optional ‘girly’ theme over at

Creatalicious Challenges – Anything Goes, so I’d like to enter this one for that.

This is my favourite, though. I LOVE this stamp!

I’d like to enter this into:-

Addicted to Stamps Challenge – Make your mark

A Bit More Time to Craft – Anything Goes

Mix it Up – Anything Goes

This one is a little different…

I’d like to enter this into the

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge – Girl Power Challenge and the

Ladies Only Challenge at Allsorts

That’s all for now…. back soon!

Thanks for looking

Cath

xxx

Good morning, stampers.  Hope you’re well.

Yesterday I had a bit of a different kind of play – less inky and a bit more organised, playing with different things.

For the Ladies Only Challenge at Allsorts I made this pretty, girly card…I used Spun Sugar for the stencilled background and Prisma Pencils to colour.

Next time I’ll be a little more concerned about where the wording falls – I was so busy making sure the words stamped straight, I didn’t notice the t was on the shoe.

This one was just a simple Penny Black stamp I use a lot for quick cards – I don’t know why but I just love this little sheep! I dry embossed it with one of those partial embossing folders to take away the plainness.

I tried this card last week, but the word didn’t stamp properly and I was really frustrated with it. When I checked it the foam underneath was undercut on all 3 of the set of stamps – I didn’t expect that from Hero Arts. I decided to unmount them and put them on EZ mount – much easier to use and far more reliable now

That’s actually Citrus ink but the photo doesn’t show the brightness well.

While dry embossing, I did a little more on this card.

This one is for the Floral Delight Challenge at Crafty Cardmakers. I love this flower stamp set! The flowers are very  simply coloured with Prisma Pencils and I cut the word stamp in two to give more options. The edges are sponged with Bundled Sage Distress Ink.

I’ll also enter the

Addicted to Stamps Anything Goes Challenge.

Thanks for looking

See you soon

Blessings

Cath

xxx