Eclectic Ellapu February: Burgundy / Red & Cream / Ivory

Hello, friends! We have a brand new year of challenges starting over at  Eclectic Ellapu. Our DT family has grown and that means MORE crafty inspiration for you.

As always the 2 teams - Pinks and Purples - are playing together, but they have own themes. The Pinkies are colouring with "Burgundy / Red AND Cream / Ivory" and the Purplies are playing with "Hearts & Roses".

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I couldn't help but make this love-themed card with Burgundy and Cream. The hot-air balloons are from a discontinued stamp set by Clearly Besotted called "Up and Away". Such a pity because it truly was a lovely set and that heart shaped hot air balloon is the cutest! The little hearts are also Clearly Besotted, this time from the Good Times stamp set. These little guys make lovely clouds!

I cut a heart shaped window with an X-Cut die. The hot air balloons are cut with coordinating dies by Clearly Besotted.

Products used to make this card:


Challenges:
Addicted To CAS #56: Codeword "Hugs & Kisses"
Inspirational #75: Rose Colours
Suzy Bee's Blooming Challenge #65: AG with Twist - Stitching
Sweet Stampin' Challenge: Love
Simply Create Too #78: Valentine's Day / Use Hearts

Now it's your turn to create and link up your labour of love over at the Eclectic Ellapu Challenge Blog. Remember, we have 2 concurrent challenges: "Burgundy / Red AND Cream / Ivory" for the Pink Team and "Hearts and Roses" for the Purple Team. You can enter one or both challenges as many times as you wish, but make sure you link up your projects by 11:59pm GMT on 28 February 2015.

Thank you for stopping by today. Looks like it going to be a sunny day. We're taking the dogs for a walk on the beach. I hope you've got a fun day planned. Have a beautiful Sunday, friends!

Beijinhos!

CASE-ing Christmas #5: Mynn

Welcome to CASE-ing Christmas! This is a NEW weekly challenge devoted to the holiday season all year 'round and today we're starting Challenge #5.

Here's how you play along. Each week you'll be given you a card to CASE and ... you CASE it! It's as easy as that. If you've never CASEd a card before, here's how you do it:

• Look at the photo of the card to CASE; 
• Be inspired by some elements of the card - the colours, layout, image, embellishments, etc 
• Make a card based on that inspiration and link it up at CASE-ing Christmas Challenge Blog by Noon (Central) / 6pm (UK) on Thursday,  5th February 2015. 

And that's all there is to it. Our CASE card this week is this gorgeous creation by Mynnette Kitchen. Lots of ideas here and I can't wait to see how this project inspires you.

I've picked the snowflake, silver, ribbon, colour combo and sketch to make a chalkboard inspired card. For the background I blended Salty Ocean and Tumbled Glass Distress Inks before heat embossing the snowflakes from CB Snowy Scenes in silver. I also added a few blobs of silver Liquid Pearls. The black and grey stitched ribbon is a perfect match.

To get the chalkboard look, I stamped the sentiment onto Bazzil Black CS with VersaMagic Cloud White. The snowflake is made by layering a couple of flakes (!) cut out using Spellbinder dies and is held in place by a black brad.

Products used to make this card:


Challenges:
Sister Act Challenge #91: AG
CHNC #213: Joy To The world
Word Art Wednesday #168: AG Uplifting 
Christmas Card Challenge #8: AG Christmas
4 Crafty Chicks #231: AG
Crafter's Café #101: Make Your Own Background

Now it's your turn to make a Christmas card by CASE-ing Mynnette's creation. Winners of Challenge #5 will be announced on, Wednesday 11th February 2015.

You'll find more ideas over at the DT's blogs: Mynn ... Donna ... Ellen ... Pat ... Steph.

Before you run off to your craft room, here's some FABULOUS news: we have BLOG CANDY to give away! You win the candy by following the CASE-in Christmas Challenge Blog either on Blog Lovin' or Email (see the sidebar) and commenting on challenge posts when you have done one of these things. If you comment AND link up with our challenge, you'll get TWO chances that week!

There will be FIVE winners of small gift packs of stamps--all holiday themed! The prizes will be SHIPPED INTERNATIONALLY! The blog candy opportunity will last the entire month of January, so invite your friends! Winners will be chosen from each week of challenge post comments and will be announced on  Saturday, 7 February 2015. To maximise your chance of winning, make sure you play along every week!

Thanks for dropping by and Happy CASE-ing. I'm looking forward to seeing your take on Mynnette's card. Have a lovely day, friends.

Beijinhos!

You Are Loved

Just a quick post from me. Most of my crafting these days are DT related and I rarely get the chance to get creative just because. So, this evening I was determined to get inky and have some "fun" making a CAS card. To my surprise, I did have fun with CAS but only because the card came together quickly and without much pain - another rarity!

For the plain background, I blended a few Distress Inks: Peacock Feathers and Evergreen Bough at the bottom and Worn Lipstick and Spun Sugar at the top.

Next, I heat embossed a branch from Clearly Besotted's Leafy Accent stamp set with the lovely Ranger Verdigris Embossing Powder - love the stuff! The little hearts are cut from scraps of First Edition's Love Letters paper. I gave the edges a lick of Gold Wink of Stella and a coat of the Clear. Then I popped them up on foam tape.

The sentiment, from Stamploration's It's All About You set, is heat embossed on vellum with Ranger's Superfine Detail Black EP.

Products used to make this card:


Challenges:
Stamplorations Bi-Weekly Sketch #26
Stamplorations January Challenge: Stamps & Inks
Time Out Challenge #23: Valentine's Day + Optional Twist: Hearts
Shopping Our Stash #186: Love Me Do
Eureka Stamps #125: Hearts
Crafty Sentiments: Love / Valentine's Day
Addicted to Stamps #129: CAS

That's all from me today. Thanks for stopping by. I'm off to give Rosie her meds and tuck her in for the night. I suspect she may have tucked herself in already... oh she snores like a drunken sailor!

Sweet dreams, friends.

Beijinhos!

Chocolate Baroque: His & Hers Hearts and A Punky Rose

Good morning, friends! Today I have 2 loved-up projects to show you, featuring the Punky Hearts and Fluttering Hearts stamps by Chocolate Baroque. You'll find my original post over at the Chocolate Baroque Design Team Blog along with more ideas from the rest of the Design Team. Here I'll share with you details on how I made these cards. 

First up is an easel card, made using the the big heart stamp from the Fluttering Hearts A5 sheet. I heat embossed in white, blended some the Distress Inks and fussy cut to create His and Hers hearts. More Distress Ink for the background with some tone-on-tone stamping using a leaf from the Autumn Poppy A4 sheet. The sentiment is from the Punky Hearts sheet stamped with VersaFine Olympia Green. To finish this card I added some bling and ribbon.

Here's a close-up. I popped up the red heart on some foam tape and tucked the blue heart under ... hearts entwined! LOL.  I used two shades of Distress Inks for each heart, starting with the darker shade on the outer edge moving in with the lighter to create depth to the hearts:  Faded Jeans + Tumbled Glass for the blue heart and Festive Berries + Spun Sugar for the red heart.

Products used to create this card:

Challenges:
Pile It On #53: Hearts and / or Flowers
The Craft Place: Love / Valentine
Brown Sugar #130: Valentines

For my second card I wanted to "soften" the punk in Punky Hearts. I started by creating a faux vellum feel for the background - made entirely with Distress Inks and a stencil. The trick here is to pick muted colours that blend with a thumping motion over the TCW Chicken Wire stencil.  The colours I picked are Iced Spruce and Worn Lipstick with some Bundled Sage and Spun Sugar to soften the look.  This helped me get that frosted glass look instead of a smooth blend.

I also did some zigzag stitching to bring back some edginess to the card base. The sentiment is from the Loving Sentiments A5 sheet.

I coloured the rose with Graph'It alcohol markers, fussy cut and adhered it to the card base. To not loose the punk, I added Metal.  Silver Sharpie, silver eyelets and silver thread offer the perfect finishing touch.

Products used to create this card:

Challenges:
Amusing Challenge #15: AG
CAS On Sunday #50: Stencil It - stencil background
The Stamping Boutique: Make Your Own Background
Sentimental Sunday #243: AG + Sentiment

I hope you've been inspired to get inky and play with your stamps to make a few Valentine's Day card.  Don't forget to swing by the Chocolate Baroque DT Blog regularly for more crafty ideas from the rest of the girls. They're having tons of fun with these new stamps!

Thank you for visiting me today. And thank you for sending hugs and cuddles for Rosie. After a couple of "good" months we've got a few issues to deal with now. It's the nature of the disease but we're up in arms for another fight. Rosie is on a Low-dose Metronomic (LDM) chemotherapy regime with cyclophosphamide. So far so good and she's taking it very well. She's a fighter, that one!

Have a beautiful Sunday, friends!

Beijinhos!

Chocolate Baroque Colour Challenge #7

Good morning, friends! How are we this cold and frosty morning? Oh yes - we are in the thick of winter, but since I'm a glass half full kinda gal I'm looking ahead to spring. Hopefully it won't be long before we get some sun. What you need is a little therapeutic crafting to brush away the winter blues.

A new Chocolate Baroque Colour Challenge has started and we're kicking off this monthly meet-up with warm rich tones... perfect for this time of the year.  If you haven't played yet, now's the time to do so. The colours are super gorgeous and will work for any occasion. You can use any medium to create your projects: paints, inks, pencils, pens, stains, etc., as long as you keep to the colours from the colour swatch.

You don't have to use Chocolate Baroque stamps to play along but if you do you will be entered into a random draw to win £15 to spend on Chocolate Baroque stamps. All participants will have a chance to be on the Design Team's Top Three list and proudly display winner's badge on their blog.

I made this all occasion card using one of my favourite stamps by Chocolate Baroque: Pretty Birdcage A5 Rubber Stamps. I'm keeping it simple with a tie-dyed background using a stencil by The Crafter Workshop and TH Distress Ink in Spiced Marmalade before adhering the lovely image from the Pretty Birdcage stamp set.  For added texture and to give the flowers some dimension, I added some sheer green ribbon and tied a bow just below the flowers.

Here's a close up of the image. I coloured it with Graph'It markers, added some glitz with Stickles and tiny gems.

And I have to show you the birdie. I gave him a good dousing of Glossy Accents. You can see the light reflect off him ... so tactile!

Products used to make this card:

The challenge will close at 12.00 p.m. (UK) on Tuesday 17th February 2015, and the winner will be announced on Wednesday 25th February 2015. I hope you'll play along and run the risk of winning £15 to spend on Chocolate Baroque stamps. Are you game?

Speaking of game, I'm taking this card to the following challenges:

Crafting For All Seasons #94: Things With Wings
Word Art Wednesday #167: AG Inspirational
Inspiration Destination #17: AG
Cards Und More #124: Pets / Animals
Avenue 613 Create #107: AG
Going Grey With Scrap Creations #20: Favourite Embellishment - ribbon

Thank you so much for stopping by. Looking forward to seeing your projects over at the challenge blog. Have a wonderful Wednesday, chums!

Beijinhos!

Tuesday Throwdown #228: Embossing

Happy Tuesday, friends! Hope you are ready for another week of crafting fun with the Tuesday Throwdown gang. Our challenge theme this week is Embossing. All you have to do is incorporate embossing - wet or dry - on your project.  Our sponsor is Avery Elle but you can use any stamps as long as you follow the theme.

I made a simple birthday card using the Make A Wish set by Clearly Besotted Stamps. The background is embossed with the X-Cut Stars folder. The greeting is stamped with VersaFine Majestic Blue and popped up on foam tape.

Here's a close-up of the stamped images. I did some inlaid die cutting before embossing the stars in the background and slotting the balloons into the negative spaces. I adhered some thread to the balloons and for fun I cut one loose to fly off the card! In keeping with the starry theme I included a strip of Bo Bunny patterned paper from the Blast Off 6x6 pad (now out of print). To finish, a few blue bling.

Products used in making this card:

Challenges:

Crafting From The Heart #43: AG

Craft Your Passion #245: AG

Dream Valley Challenge #98: AG

The Crazy Challenge #189: Embossing

Scrapbook Stamp Society #58: AG + Option "Happy Birthday"

My Craft Creation: AG

Dies R Us #18: Embossing Folder

Now it's your turn to create a project based on this week's theme: "Embossing". For ideas and inspiration, take a peek at what the rest of the DT members have made. Remember to link up your project at the Tuesday Throwdown Challenge Blog by 3pm Pacific / 11pm UK Monday, January 26th. And the most important requirement: Have Fun!

Thanks for stopping by today. I'm behind on my visits again. Rosie was (and still is) needing extra attention this past week due to a chest infection. She's on the mend now as the antibiotics are finally kicking in... and I'm able to catch up. See you on my rounds!

Beijinhos!

CASE-ing Christmas #3: Judy

Welcome to CASE-ing Christmas! This is a NEW weekly challenge devoted to the holiday season all year 'round and today we're starting Challenge #3.

Judy's Card

Here's how you play along. Each week you'll be given you a card to CASE and ... you CASE it! It's as easy as that. If you've never CASEd a card before, here's how you do it:

• Look at the photo of the card to CASE; 
• Be inspired by some elements of the card - the colours, layout, image, embellishments, etc 
• Make a card based on that inspiration and link it up at CASE-ing Christmas Challenge Blog by Noon (CST) on Thursday, 22 January 2015. 

And that's all there is to it. Our CASE card this week is this super cute creation by Judy VanZandt. Lots of ideas here and I can't wait to see how this project inspires you.

I've picked the tree, banners, ovals, star, framed background, three brads and traditional Christmas colours from Judy's card and made this:

Here's a close up of the tree. I heat embossed it in gold, applied distress inks and for more shine, threw in Stickles and gems. The patterned paper is from Papermania's Mistletoe Kisses.

Products used to make this card:

Challenges:
Completely Christmas #45: AG + Christmas Foliage
Sister Act Challenge #89: AG
CHNC #211: Inspired by A Song - O Christmas Tree
ABC Christmas: A is for Anything Christmas
CRAFT Challenge #294: Christmas

Now it's your turn to make a Christmas card by CASE-ing Judy's creation. Winners of Challenge #2 will be announced on, Wednesday 21 January 2015.

You'll find more ideas over at the DT's blogs: Mynn ... Donna ... Ellen ... Pat ... Steph.

Before you run off to your craft room, here's some FABULOUS news: we have BLOG CANDY to give away! You win the candy by following the CASE-in Christmas Challenge Blog either on Blog Lovin' or Email (see the sidebar) and commenting on challenge posts when you have done one of these things. If you comment AND link up with our challenge, you'll get TWO chances that week!

There will be FIVE winners of small gift packs of stamps--all holiday themed! The prizes will be SHIPPED INTERNATIONALLY! The blog candy opportunity will last the entire month of January, so invite your friends! Winners will be chosen from each week of challenge post comments. To maximise your chance of winning and make sure you play along every week!

Thanks for dropping by and Happy CASE-ing. I'll be stopping by your blogs to take peek at how you've worked Judy's card .

Beijinhos!

Polka Doodles #3: CASE It

Goood morning, my crafty chums! It's time for a brand new challenge over at Polka Doodles. We have a fun theme this fortnight: "CASE It" We are required to CASE a DT's card / project from 2014. I'm channelling my inner Anjie, who is a doyen of Polka Doodle designs. Anjie made this super cute card in 26 Sept 2014 for PolkaDoodles' Wk 39 Challenge "It's a Sketch".

I've stolen Anjie's project - lock stock and barrel - and created a card featuring the super sweet Etty. It is made entirely from one of several awesome design sheets from the über adorable Winston CD. I say awesome because it has everything I needed to complete the project. And, I also tried my hand at decoupage - a technique I've never attempted before. I finished my project with some blue ribbon and few droppings of Baby Blue Liquid Pearls.

Look at the dimension! So excited and very pleased with my first decoupage. There was A LOT of fussy cutting but... definitely worth the extra effort.

A full frontal view of Etty that is safe for your Nana's viewing pleasure. Oh yes, Etty... she's is a cutie!

Products used for this project:

Challenges:
4 Crafty Chicks #229: Flowers
Seize The Birthday: AG Birthday + Optional Sketch 
Scrap & Craft #1: AG
Word Art Wednesday #166: AG Inspirational
Inspiration Destination #16: AG
Brown Sugar #129: Birthday For A Girl

Miss Nikky has done it again! She's released another fabulous design collection and it's called Work & Play #9: Love & Kisses. This is a bumper, super-sized XXXL perfect for all things romantic - everyday love, dating, proposal, engagement, hen & stage nights, wedding and something saucy for the wedding night! In this collection you get 16 character digis (each coloured and B&W), 50 coordinating backing papers, themed sentiments and coloured embellishments, including paper bows! There's also something new called Personalities to help you personalise your characters with specs, moustaches and beards. And if that wasn't enough, you also get design sheets, SVG cutting files and 6 card-making templates! All these at an insanely low £14,99. So get yours now before Miss Nikky comes to her senses!

Now it's over to you, my friends. Create any project - card, tag, lay-out, box, bag, etc. You have until Noon (UK Time) on Friday, 30 January 2015, to link up your entries over at the Polka Doodles Challenge Blog. You don't have to use Polka Doodles products to enter, but if you have it, by all means, flaunt it! One randomly selected winner will receive the  Work and Play #8 Collection on download worth £11,99! The Top 3 Design Team favourites will also win a digi each.

Time for y'all to get creative. Thanks for stopping by and I can't wait to see your projects. Have a fabulously crafty weekend, friends!

Beijinhos!