CC&S 161 Colours: Text Me Purple

I had to work the first couple of days in half term but now I'm off for the rest of the week, yay! And it's back to my favourite cool colours for this week's colour palette choice at CAS Colours and Sketches. 

With my interest in mixed media slowly building, the starting point for my inspiration (alongside the three colours) was a challenge new to me organised by Craft Stamper magazine. Their February technique challenge is 'Text Me' i.e. to use text or script background stamps, or text paper in our projects. These can be any language, any style, old book pages, bits torn from magazines, scrapbooking papers, etc.

I stamped the script stamp with two colours of Distress ink, spritzing the stamp with water before stamping. The Rennie Mackintosh inspired 'Glasgow Rose' stamp was free with an old copy of Craft Stamper Magazine (July 2014). This was stamped with Versamark and embossed with silver EP. I coloured parts of the image with the same colours of Distress ink using a paintbrush. I then stamped and embossed the image again on an old book page. I cut just a few sections of the image out and paper-pieced them over the original image. Both layers have been matted onto a piece of metallic silver paper and the sentiment is computer-generated, again in silver.

I hope you feel inspired to make a card using these colours and joining us at CC&S this week and I would like to enter my card into the Craft Stamper challenge.

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Glasgow Rose (Chocolate Baroque/Craft Stamper July 2014), Script Background SB1 (IndigoBlu)
Inkpads: Dusty Concord & Shaded Lilac (TH Distress Inks)
Sentiment Font: Allegro
Snippets: White cardstock, Silver EP, Metalllic silver paper, Old book page

You have until Wednesday 24th February to link your card at CC&S. Don't forget to check out the fabulous inspiration from the rest of the DT!

Stef x

CC&S 160 Sketch: Mothering Sunday Roses

This week I have made cards for my Mum and my MIL ready for Mothering Sunday which we celebrate here in the UK on 6th March this year. However I was almost stumped by my own sketch at CAS Colours and Sketches. Having said to the rest of the DT that the circles in the sketch were slightly different sizes, I thought that they and other crafters might think that that was a non-alterable element in the sketch.

I tried clustering two different sizes of the rose stamp together but I couldn't get them to look right because I think they are too different in size (for this card anyway). I then played around with adding smaller leaves instead of more flowers and decided that looked much better. Other than that the card came together quite simply. The sentiment is one I had saved on my PC, I loved it as soon as I saw it and I think it has several sources on the internet.

I would also like to play at a couple of challenges:
Addicted to Clean and Simple #81: Code Word 'Bloom'

Time Out 'Inspired By Words' Challenge #49: 'Love is the flower you've got to let grow' from a John Lennon song 'Mind Games'. I thought this phrase tied in a beautifully with the sentiment behind any card for Mothering Sunday.

Supplies Used:

Stamp Set: Flower Power #6 (Uniko Studio)

Inkpads: Hyacinth, Heliotrope, Smoke Blue, Atlantic, Bamboo (VersaColor)

Sentiment: Found on the internet

Snippets: White linen cardstock

I hope you like the sketch and you'll want to play along. You have until Wednesday 17th Feb to link up your design.

Thanks for visiting!

Stef x

CC&S 159 Colours: To Brighten A Wintry Day

It's my turn to act as hostess for the month at CAS Colours and Sketches. In my first challenge I have chosen some bright colours to cheer up the gloomy, wintry days we have been having in the UK. Hopefully they'll also suit those on the other side of the world where I guess it's the middle of summer!

I've stayed with a Valentine theme so now I have a choice of which card to give my OH! I'm not usually a reds and oranges kinda gal, but I thought that these three colours worked rather well together. I had so much fun with the inlaid die technique a couple of weeks ago that I thought I would try it with a different die. It was trickier as the outline is a lot narrower, more complex and it's easy to stretch it when adhering it to the card but once I'd worked out a way of doing that successfully, it was very easy! The card was finished with a white embossed sentiment and a stray white heart.

Supplies Used:
Die: Heart Ribbon (Memory Box)
Sentiment: Always and Forever (Uniko Studio)
Snippets: Kraft, Orange, Pale Pink & Bright Pink cardstock, White EP

I hope you feel inspired to join us in our challenge this week. Please pop by the rest of the DT blogs to see what these colours led them to create.

Thanks for visiting!
Stef x

CC&S #158 Sketch: Always & Forever

This week’s sketch at CAS Colours and Sketches is quite open to interpretation. Because of the simple nature of the sketch, I decided to concentrate on the background. I also wanted to play with my new Always and Forever stamp set from Uniko Studio and with a mixed media technique new to me that I learned by following one of Eileen Godwin’s YouTube videos called the Masterboard/Gesso Resist technique. Alas, I felt that my finished Masterboard even after simply matting onto a card blank was not CAS enough for our challenge so I made another card for CC&S and will post the Masterboard card separately! 

I stamped the smallest flower from the Beautiful Blooms 1 set using Versamark and clear embossing powder onto a piece of violet cardstock. This was simply matted onto a card blank and trimmed to follow Patricia’s sketch. I stamped the image with the flower from the Always and Forever set onto a piece of white linen cardstock and again clear embossed it. The sentiment stamp comes from the same set and this has been die-cut using a banner die. I felt the contrast between the dark mat and the white card blank was too much so added the white punched hearts, but I’m still not sure if that was the right thing to do. Hey ho, it is what it is and done now! I'm sorry for the reflections in the photo but with all that embossing it was difficult to get a good picture without the shine!

I would also like to enter my card into a couple of challenges:

CASology Week #182: Cue Card ADORE

Uniko Studio: Anything Goes with the option of a LOVE theme

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Beautiful Blooms 1 and Always & Forever (Uniko Studio)

Inkpads: Versamark (Tsukineko) & Violet (VersaColor)

Die: Tag Along (Clearly Besotted)

Snippets: Violet & White linen cardstock, Small heart punch

We would love to have you join us in our challenge. You can find the details HERE and you have until Wednesday 3rd February to share your card.

Thanks for visiting!

Stef x

CC&S #157 Colours: Roses Are Red...

This week at CAS Colours and Sketches, I haven't let my inky meanderings take me very far. In fact, the only inking on the card is the sentiment which is very unusual for me!

I have paper-pieced my roses outline die, a technique that I haven't done much with die-cutting and I have stuck strictly to the colour palette chosen by our hostess Patricia. I drew round the die and cut out the shape in a spare piece of card to which I stuck the outline, this made the piecing a whole lot easier! I didn't really want brown leaves but couldn't change the colours so I have just cut the outline of these in some brown cardstock and think they look better for not being pieced.

The large rose looks a bit orangey but I think it's just the light. It's so difficult to get good photos at this time of year when you can't take them in daylight.

Supplies Used:
Die: Roses DED186 (Paper Smooches)
Coloured Cardstock: So Mod (Core'dinations)
Sentiment: Sentiment Sampler A1SO13 (Paper Smooches)
Inkpad: Pinecone (VersaColor)
Snippets: White linen cardstock

I found myself really challenged by this colour trio, they're just not my colours, and it took me absolutely ages to come up with an idea for my DT card. But it's also very inspiring to try something totally different. Please join us this week and let's see what you make of them.

Thanks for visiting!
Stef x

CC&S #156: Wildfowl and Wetlands

This week I have taken a few more liberties than I normally would with our sketch at CAS Colours and Sketches. I usually like to stick very close to it otherwise, personally, I don't see the point of having it. Sure it provides a starting point but if you're going to stray too far away from it I'm not sure how your design can still be an interpretation of the sketch. Anyway, as I said, a personal view!

Apart from the sketch I started with the fact that our eldest daughter Laura has just got a brilliant new job at Slimbridge, the HQ of The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in the UK. I bought this stamp set from Stampin Up (the first product I have ever bought from them!) as I had seen some beautiful cards made with it and thought I may be able to make some for Laura and I to sell to support the work of the charity.

Secondly, I noted that Happy Little Stampers have a CAS challenge using the technique of 'Smooshing' this month and I just love getting messy with all different kinds of inky products.

Last, but definitely not least, I used the blue/green/silver combo from this week's challenge #324 at ColourQ. I can't resist blues and greens, they are just my favourite colours.

I played around with the inky products below till I was happy with my smooshed piece of card. While it was drying I cut an oval aperture from a piece of white cardstock. I didn't want to add a stripe of anything to the top and bottom of the design so thought that by raising the middle I was still being true to Patricia's sketch. I added the reed stamp off the edge of this piece and because the silver doesn't show up that well as a separate colour in the smooshing or as the gorgeous sheen that it is in the photo, I stamped and embossed the greeting in silver EP and die-cut a matching oval to replace the circle in the sketch.

Supplies Used:
Inkpads: Mowed Lawn DI (Tim Holtz), Sage (VersaColor), Green Green (Whisper), Smokey Gray (VersaFine)
Wax Paste: Turquoise (Inka Gold)
Spray Mist: Silver (Cosmic Shimmer)
Stamp Set: Wetlands (Stampin' Up)
Dies: Classic Ovals Large (Spellbinders)
Snippets: White textured card scrap, Silver EP

It's Martin's brother's birthday this week so I think I'll send this card to him, especially as he doesn't live far from Laura and no doubt visits WWT at Slimbridge with his family.

Thanks for visiting my blog today. Our new DT members designed some great inspirational cards last week so do drop by and see what they've made this week - I know some of them were very nervous at being on the other side of the table but they needn't have been, they were amazing!

Stef x

A New Year, a New CC&S Challenge and a New Design Team!

Hi everyone and a warm welcome to a new year of challenges at CAS Colours and Sketches. Whether it is your first time of playing along with us or you are a seasoned CC&S crafter it is great to share our creative makes with you and to see the wonderful ways in which you interpret our challenges! We have doubled our DT and this month we welcome Bev, Caro, Karen and Liz to the team and are all super excited to be sharing this journey with them.

This month our wonderful team leader Patricia is our hostess and she has chosen a cool wintry colour palette for us this week. As I often do when trying to decide what card to make I had a look at a couple of other current challenges to focus my thoughts and choose a starting point.

I decided to make a winter thank you card using PanPastels, which haven't had much love recently and a stencil technique with glossy white stencil paste. I completely forgot that I don't actually own any glossy white paste and ended up experimenting with making my own using pearlescent paste and adding some white gesso (I have two pots of pearlescent paste and think I must have accidentally picked the wrong one up at the last show I went to)! It worked reasonably well but isn't as glossy as it might have been - oh well, I will just have to go shopping! For the background, I used two colours of PanPastels to match the blues in Patricia's palette and stamped a few snowflakes over the top before doing the stencilling. Once dry the card was simply finished with a computer-generated sentiment and a few adhesive pearls.

Supplies Used:
PanPastels: Turquoise, Pthalo Blue Tint
Stamps: Large snowflake (Magazine free gift set), Small snowflake from Mistletoe Kisses set (Papermania)
Inkpads: Summer Sky (Memento), Cement (Versa Color)
Stencil: Snowflake (Woodware)
Stencil Paste: Pearlescent White (Sweet Poppy Stencils)
Snippets: Linen cardstock, White gesso, Adhesive pearls

I would like to enter the following challenges:
Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: Frozen
The blues, whites and marble greys of their inspiration photo match our colour scheme perfectly!

Inkspirational #99: Thank You With Something New
The Woodware stencil is new to me as was my attempt at creating a white paste, plus I have entered two challenges both new to me!

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today. I'm updating to Windows 10 over the next couple of weeks and then hope to revamp my blog in the February half term. Please upload your creations to the CC&S blog and share them with us. We love to see what you are all making!

Stef x