cas-ual fridays 68

Yey for Friday! Of course that means it's time for a new CAS-ual Fridays challenge :) This week we want to see your back to school projects. Our sponsor is Pretty Paper Studio with a prize of 100 dirhams GC (equates to about $26) :)

Before I get to my card, I've got one more thing to share and that is that we have a new DT member! Please give a wonderful CAS-ual Fridays welcome to the amazing Piali Biswas!


Now onto my card which was inspired by the new Lawn Fawn dewey decimal papers! There's a lovely graphic paper in the set with yellow and kraft apples. I've ordered the 6x6 paper pad but it's not here yet :( However, it got me thinking about a school themed card in non traditional colours. I thought this might appeal more to an older child to give to their teacher.

I used Studio Calico's abroad collection 6x6 paper pad - I feel their papers are always right on trend. I die cut 3 apples from different papers and mounted them with dimensionals over a strip of paper from the same pad which I'd stamped with the "TeAcHeR" from Papertrey Ink's Teacher's Apple set. The "thank you" above the apples came from the same set.

I'm also going to pop this card over to Moxie Fab for their repetition challenge :)

Here's the links for the rest of the crew:

Michele Gross - The Boss 
Christina MacLaren 
Dana Seymour 
Debby Hughes - that's me! 
Gayatri Murani 
Jenny Mullens 
Julie Day 
Karolyn Loncon 
Kimberley Lane 
Laurie Willison 
Lorena Canto 
Lynn Mangan 
Piali Biswas
Virginia Lu

Not forgetting the facebook team who will be posting to facebook and their blogs during the week:

Angie Tieman 
Deb Wabbe 
Lisa Addesa 
Stephanie Washburn 
Suzanne Dahlberg 

Have a great weekend!

Supplies: Stamps - Papertrey Ink teacher's apple, Hero Arts my happy; Inks - Versafine smoky gray, onyx black; Papers - Studio Calico abroad collection

case study 106

Good morning! And what better way to start the day than with a challenge from CASE Study :) This is our final week of anniversary celebrations and for this week the theme is to CASE ourselves! Straightforward you'd think but sometimes I find this the hardest! I decided to CASE this card I did a couple of weeks back. Staggered banners below a horizontal piece.

Here's my CASE:

Now I have a confession to make. While CASEing my card I remembered a stunning banner card by Shari for Hero Arts which influenced my banner sizes and placement. Having created that element of the card I then created the horizontal panel with a die cut banner stamped with the sentiment and some twine tied around to reinforce the horizon onto which I popped the cutest little wood veneer bird from Studio Calico.



I'm also popping this card over to Moxie Fab for their focal point challenge :)

Want to see more fun? Then click on the links to these lovely ladies:

Amy Wanford

Andrea Ewen

Christina MacLaren

Clare Buswell

Debby Hughes - me!

Iwona Palamountain (Chupa):Owner

Jean Martin

Maureen Plut

Teneale Williams

Teresa Kline

Supplies: Stamps - Clear & Simple Stamps all occasions 1; Ink - Versafine smoky gray; Card - Stampin' Up confetti white, Papertrey Ink soft stone; Paper - My Mind's Eye the sweetest thing bluebell; Twine - The Twinery buttercream; Dies - Lil' Inker Designs flags & tags, Papertrey Ink love lives here

trick or treat

And there I was thinking that when the children went back to school I'd have more time! I'm now in major clear out mode which is probably a result of the house being an absolute bomb site for the 8 weeks of the summer holiday. That and we've been reallocating rooms to new functions and generally wiping the slate clean in certain areas.

Anyhow, moving on :) The start of the new school term always has me turning my mind to autumn and the upcoming holidays. So I thought I'd experiment on some Halloween treat containers. Although Halloween isn't widely celebrated in the UK our neighbourhood likes to be an exception to the rule and we have over a hundred little visitors to our door. Of course I do like to inject a little craftiness into my treat bags :)

I loved this mummy from There She Goes Hauntingly Delightful set last year and I can see he's going to be making an appearance again this year too. I had a ball making this treat container and it didn't take me long but I think I'm going to need to design something simpler for mass production :)

Supplies: Stamps - There She Goes hauntingly delightful, Stampin' Up four frames; Inks - Versafine onyx black; Card - Stampin' Up basic black, so saffron, Papertrey Ink vintage cream; Paper - Authentique blissful felicity; Ribbon - Stampin' Up basic black; Twine - The Twinery; Dies - Stampin' Up/Sizzix mini milk carton, Lil' Inker Designs flags & tags; Punches - Stampin' Up

pti blog hop

Hello! Hope you are having a fabulous weekend. I haven't taken part in Papertrey Ink's blog hops in ages and today I was finally able to remedy that. The inspiration boards above certainly got me in a creative mood. Initially I tried to recreate the lovely blue flower in felt and although I know it's possible, my attempts weren't up to scratch. I did want to include a flower on my card though so went through my stamp sets and settled on one from Pretty Peonies. I went with a washed out blue and rich yellow colour scheme which reminds me of late summer and the first chills to the air as autumn approaches. Here's my card:

I coloured the flower from Pretty Peonies with distress markers and added the sentiment from Botanical Silhouettes to a fillable frame #7 die cut. The patterned paper strip reminded me of the herringbone fabrics and I backed the sentiment panel with jute to give an extra hint to the textiles in the inspiration photos.

That's me for today. Enjoy the rest of your weekend :)

tsg sneak peeks day 4

The final day of There She Goes sneak peeks already?! 

Torico has created the most adorable moving set,  which we think will help to ease the pain of moving just a little! Most people do NOT like to move, and this super cute set has an image and sentiment for every occasion, whether you be the one moving, or if you are sending one to a friend or family member. With a major transition such as moving, a hand stamped greeting is JUST the thing to say goodbye, hello, or just a plain welcome to the neighborhood….and there’s a DOG!!!!

On the Move is a 6x8 set that includes a total of 22 stamps and will sell for $24.00.

Yep, there's a dog and I couldn't resist this pooch hanging out the back of the truck with his ears flapping in the wind! I stamped and coloured the truck and then cut out and popped up on dimensionals   before adding the sentiment flapping off the back on a banner :)

Would you like to win the new On the Move stamp set? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in each of the blog hop challenges below and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs (from each hop day) will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Blog Hop Challenge post.

You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 PM Eastern Time Saturday, August 25th with the winner being announced during the release party chat.

Supplies: Stamps - There She Goes on the move; Inks - Versafine onyx black; Papers My Mind's Eye the sweetest thing bluebell, American Crafts shoreline; Markers

cas-ual fridays 67

Today at CAS-ual Fridays the challenge is to create a project using banners and flags :) I was inspired by a bit of Pinterest :)

Source: bridegoggles.blogspot.com via Debby on Pinterest

I loved the book papers used on these banners. I paired a bit of similar patterned paper for my banner with a die cut glittery heart and strung it over a simple piece of twine. I stamped the Hero Arts newspaper background off once before adding to my panel to create a light, slightly patchy covering which I really quite liked :)

I'm also going to pop this card over to Moxie Fab for their focal point challenge :)

Here's the links for the rest of the crew:

Michele Gross - The Boss 
Christina MacLaren 
Dana Seymour 
Debby Hughes - that's me! 
Gayatri Murani 
Jenny Mullens 
Julie Day 
Karolyn Loncon 
Kimberley Lane 
Laurie Willison 
Lorena Canto 
Lynn Mangan 
Virginia Lu

Not forgetting the facebook team who will be posting to facebook and their blogs during the week:

Angie Tieman 
Deb Wabbe 
Lisa Addesa 
Stephanie Washburn 
Suzanne Dahlberg 

Have a great weekend!

Supplies: Stamps - Hero Arts newspaper background, Clear & Simple Stamps all occasions 1; Inks - Hero Arts shadow ink wet cement, Versafine smoky gray; Card - Papertrey Ink soft stone, Stampin' Up confetti white; Paper - M Mind's Eye the sweetest thing bluebell; Dies - Papertrey Ink banner builder collection, love lives here; Twine - Stampin' Up

tsg170 and sneak peeks day 3

Moving on to day 3 of the sneak peeks from There She Goes :)

Last month we released the new Enjoy Life set with matching dies, and THIS month, Melyssa has created a set full of stamps to go along with the dies!! From crabs, to sand castles, oysters, and octopi, this set will help you use the Enjoy Life dies to there fullest!!

Enjoy Life-By the Sea is a 4x8 set that includes a total of 25 stamps and will sell for $18.00.

I used the sketch from this weeks challenge (TSG170) as my spring board for this card. I loved the sentiment from this set for the pearl oyster however I wasn't entirely sure how to colour the image! Google images to the rescue and I attempted to give the impression of lustre by colouring the pearl and then adding glossy accents with a touch of glitter. I paired the image with the sentiment which comes as a two line sentiment but I masked and stamped it as a three line one to fit on the die cut :)

Would you like to win the new Enjoy Life-By the Sea  stamp set? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in each of the blog hop challenges below and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs (from each hop day) will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Blog Hop Challenge post.

You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 PM Eastern Time Saturday, August 25th with the winner being announced during the release party chat.

Supplies: Stamps - There She Goes enjoy life - by the sea; Inks - Versafine onyx black, Versacolor pinecone; Papers - Studio Calico abroad, Echo Park sweet day, My Mind's Eye follow your heart by happy; Ribbon - Stampin' Up early espresso; Die - Memory Box perfect gift card; Glitter 

case study challenge 105

I have to say that I was totally wowed by the players who CASEd the Design Team last week at CASE study and very humbled when I spotted CASEs of my cards amongst the throng. It was fab to see the roles reversed and have an insight into the experiences of our muses :)

And ....... now it's your turn! This week we are asking you to CASE another player! So keep a close eye on the Inlinkz as you never know, someone might pick one of your cards to CASE!  I chose to CASE one of our regular players Lynn. Lynn has a wonderful blog (The Mango Boys & Me) full of fabulous creations and it was difficult to pick just one to CASE :) However, I was so drawn to the serenity of this card of Lynn's.

Card by Lynn of The Mango Boys & Me

There is so much to love in this CAS card - matted stamped layer with pale blue stamped background, bird on a branch and a perfect sentiment. For my CASE I chose the cool blue of Versacolor's baby blue ink to stamp a woodgrain circle before adding some of my all time favourite Memory Box dies for the branch and bird. The bird was lightly stamped with the newspaper background from Hero Arts. A sentiment similar to Lynn's finished it off.

The weather is so unpredictable today; one minute sunny and the next a downpour! I found it difficult to photograph my card and the photo above is quiet harsh which I'm not very happy with so here's a close up which gives a better look :)

I am also popping this card by the Hero Arts flickr group for their monthly theme for August of Clean and Simple design and to Moxie Fab for their exploration of the focal point in design principles.

Now it's your turn! Here's the DT links for more CASE fun:

Amy Wanford

Andrea Ewen

Christina MacLaren

Clare Buswell

Debby Hughes - me!

Iwona Palamountain (Chupa):Owner

Jean Martin

Maureen Plut

Teneale Williams

Teresa Kline

Supplies: Stamps - Hero Arts/Studio Calico my happy, newspaper background, good friends; Inks - Hero Arts shadow ink wet cement, Versacolor baby blue; Card - Stampin' Up early espresso, sahara sand; Dies - Memory Box nested bird, woodland branch

tsg sneak peeks day 2

I'm continuing on today with the sneak peeks from There She Goes :)

Torico’s new set this month is well, it’s a GRAND SLAM!! America’s favorite past time has been brought to life with Torico’s fabulous style, and cutesy whimsical characters!! For the baseball enthusiast to the mom/dad yelling in the stands, this set is PERFECT for the baseball lover in your life! Can you imagine the scrapbooking possibilities!

Swing Big is a 4x6 set that includes a total of 16 stamps and will sell for $15.00.

Baseball isn't so big in the UK but despite this I decided to have a go with a baseball theme - there are some cracking images in the set which just scream out to be coloured! I loved the glove image from the set and tried to give the impression of the glove being well worn from lots of use. Then I added the bat and ball. For the ball I cut a circle die cut and then just stamped on top:)

If baseball isn't your thing there are plenty of great sentiments that would fit for numerous sports :)

Would you like to win the new Swing Big  stamp set? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in each of the blog hop challenges below and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs (from each hop day) will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Blog Hop Challenge post.

You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 PM Eastern Time Saturday, August 25th with the winner being announced during the release party chat.

 Supplies: Stamps - There She Goes swing big; Inks - Versafine onyx black, Hero Arts wet cement, Colorbox cranberry; Card - Stampin' Up sahara sand; Dies - Spellbinders circles

tsg sneak peeks day 1

Seriously, how quickly is time flying by! The summer holidays have officially ended as my youngest went back to school today :( The good news, however, is that it is time for this month's sneak peeks from There She Goes :)

Our favorite new animal at There She Goes is the Donkey, and this month Melyssa has found great new ways for us to dress up our Donkey however we see fit. With his super cute tee shirt, and several sayings, you can send Donkey to the University, or just let everyone know what a STUD he is!! We hope you love this set as much as WE do, because believe me, we are in LOVE!!

Donkey University is a 4x4 set that includes a total of 13 stamps and will sell for $10.00.

He, He how cute is this guy! The sentiments in this set are cracking and are going to have you snorting with laughter! For my card I coloured the donkey, paper pieced his t-shirt with a stamped sentiment on top.

I added some dimension to his muzzle and mane by stamping and cutting these out a second time and popping them up with dimensional adhesive.

Would you like to win the new Donkey University  stamp set? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in each of the blog hop challenges below and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs (from each hop day) will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Blog Hop Challenge post. 

You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 PM Eastern Time Saturday, August 25th with the winner being announced during the release party chat.

Supplies: Stamps - There She Goes donkey university; Inks - Versafine onyx black; Paper - Martha Stewart mat pad, Lily Bee Design buttercup; Card - Stampin' Up poppy parade; Markers; Dies - Papertrey Ink love lives here

cas-ual fridays challenge 66

Yey Friiiiiiiday! I am so ready for the weekend! We have been busy, busy, busy as we eek out the last ounce from the summer holidays - the children head back to school next week :)

Anyway on to today and the challenge this week from CAS-ual Fridays is "Splish Splash" - lets see your projects with a watery theme of sea, boats, shells etc. Our sponsor this week is Stop & Scrap who are offering a $25 gift certificate :)

For my card I went with a subtle background of shells and starfish with a sentiment overlaid which is just perfect!

I stamped the starfish first, masked it, then the small shell, masked that and then finally the big shell over the top :) To keep with the muted tones I stamped the sentiment in grey. I love the recent trend for layering banners and so popped a couple peeking out from the stamped panel.

Here's the links for the rest of the crew:

Michele Gross - The Boss 
Christina MacLaren 
Dana Seymour 
Debby Hughes - that's me! 
Gayatri Murani 
Jenny Mullens 
Julie Day 
Karolyn Loncon 
Kimberley Lane 
Laurie Willison 
Lorena Canto 
Lynn Mangan 
Virginia Lu

Not forgetting the facebook team who will be posting to facebook and their blogs during the week:

Angie Tieman 
Deb Wabbe 
Lisa Addesa 
Stephanie Washburn 
Suzanne Dahlberg 

Have a great weekend!

Supplies: Stamps - Hero Arts antique engravings, good friends, Wplus9 guiding light; Inks - Versafine smoky gray, Versacolor sage; Paper - My Mind's Eye six by six meadow; Dies - Lil' Inker Designs sentiment flag; Stampin' Up rhinestones

for your inspiration 36

This is my second post today; please scroll down for my CASE study card :)

Oh my, this is the last of the photo challenges from For Your Inspiration for a while :( The challenge is taking a little break until the New Year but what a photo to go out on!

I was particularly wowed by the graduated colours in the sky and the sweep of the wall. I got out my Distress Markers and scribbled with dusty concord and wild honey over a panel of white card. Then I spritzed it with water, spritzed a bit more, splashed a bit and a bit more until finally I was happy! I punched some butterflies from left overs and added them with rhinestones in a swoosh across the panel reminiscent of the movement the wall created in the original photograph.

Well that's me for today. Please pop by these lovely ladies to see how they were inspired. We will be back again in the New Year :)

• Debbie
• Debby - that's me!
• Irena
• Karen
• Michelle
• Rochelle
• Sara
• Steph
• Sylvia
• Vicki

Supplies: Stamps - Hero Arts good friends; Inks - Versafine onyx black; Distress Markers - dusty concord, wild honey; Punch - Martha Stewart; Stampin' Up rhinestones

case study challenge 104

Boy have we got some fun for you today! Continuing our 2nd anniversary celebrations at CASE study we are asking you to CASE a Design Team member! However, before I show you my card, there's more! Not only are there lots of prizes on offer this week but CASE study are beginning the search for a month-long Guest Designer! You gotta pop by the CASE study blog for all the details :)

So, to CASE a teamie; tough choice as I love the style of all my teammates and I spent a wonderful but lengthy period of time browsing through their blogs. Finally I picked this card by Aimes. I loved the serenity of the grey and blue scheme. I used Hero Arts newspaper flowers and coloured the stamp directly with Distress Markers before stamping onto white card.

I then masked the flower heads and stamped over the image with the newspaper background stamp; stamping off on a piece of scratch paper before stamping over my flowers so that the background was faded and not too dominant.

Here's a little snap shot of Aimes' card but you really must pop by her blog and see the original which was inspired by an equally stunning card from our muse that month Aga:)

I can't wait to see who the rest of the DT CASEd :)

Amy Wanford

Andrea Ewen

Christina MacLaren

Clare Buswell

Debby Hughes - me!

Iwona Palamountain (Chupa):Owner

Jean Martin

Maureen Plut

Teneale Williams

Teresa Kline

I am also popping this card by the Hero Arts flickr group for their monthly theme for August of Clean and Simple design and with the bottom left sketch in mind too :)

Supplies: Stamps - Hero Arts newspaper tulips, newspaper background, say it all; Inks - Distress Ink pumice stone, Versafine onyx black; Distress Markers - pumice stone, broken china, tumbled glass; Paper - Studio Calico classic calico vol 2; Card - Stampin' Up island indigo; Dies - Lil' Inker Designs sentiment flag; Stampin' Up rhinestones.