Kool Kitty Musings

Container Garden Wishes

Morning!

I'm over on the Seven Hills Crafts blog today with a new project featuring the Container Garden set from The Greetery:

Stamps: Mama Elephant - Mini Everyday Messages, The Greetery - Container Garden
Dies: Reverse Confetti - Open Drop Cover Panel (r), The Greetery - Container Garden, The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics, The Greetery - Jumbo Jar

I absolutely love this set for spring and summer projects. It offers many possibilities for changing up the colours of the flowers and leaves, plus I love that you can cut and use all the coordinating dies in one pass. So no need to pick and choose what you're going to use, just cut and stamp all the elements.

I used some bold colours for the florals, paired with a lovely shade of aqua cardstock for the Jumbo Jar outline.

I cut the detailed jar lid from gold metallic cardstock and stamped a sentiment from Mama Elephant's Mini Everyday Messages on the small tag in the Sentiment Suite Basics die set.

I also went with Alpaca cardstock for the background to my card. It's a lovely heathery grey tone and draws out the purple tones of projects. I attached the sentiment with some coordinating embroidery floss.

The background is cut from the now discontinued Open Drop Cover Panel die from Reverse Confetti, which I managed to snag in a sale. Just a great, versatile background. :)

I've spied some fun new sneak peeks over on The Greetery blog, time to start a new wish list then! ;)

Until next time, happy crafting!

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Mama Elephant - Mini Everyday Messages stamps Shop at: MISC | SHC (UK)	The Greetery - Container Garden stamps Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Reverse Confetti - Open Drop Cover Panel die (r) Shop at: MISC	The Greetery - Container Garden dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG
The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Jumbo Jar dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Stamp Market - Cactus ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Forest ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Fresh Pink ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Golden ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Minty ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Peony ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Rosy ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Sea Glass ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Sunshine ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Umber ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Wisteria ink pad Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Alpaca Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH
Simon Says Stamp - Ivory cardstock Shop at: MISC	Lawn Fawn - Gold metallic cardstock Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Tombow - Mono-Multi liquid glue Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)
MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC

40th Birthday Wishes

It's been a fun weekend here as my little brother celebrated his 40th birthday, much to his stunned realization that he is "old".

Well, there's no telling him age is just a number, but yes, that 40th milestone hits a bit hard. hehe

Anyway, to soften the blow I did make an effort in producing a stylish and bespoke card befitting the occasion.

Stamps: Concord & 9th - Playful Patterns, The Greetery - Sentiment Suite: Birthday, The Greetery - Sparkler Background
Dies: The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics, The Greetery - Takes the Cake, The Greetery - Takes the Cake Stand, Spellbinders - Postage Edge Rectangles, The Greetery - Bold Numbers, The Greetery - PreText Banners

I created the cake from cream cardstock, blending each of the layers with the 4 shades of ink in Altenew's Tranquillity set to create that ombré effect.

I also used the Cloudy Sky ink in this set to stamp the Sparkler background on Ivory cardstock.

There was of course opportunity for a little sparkle using glitter cardstock with the frosting die and then rather than opt for a metallic cardstock for the stand, I used a nice deep navy blue instead.

And to create the candles, I first used the solid stamp from the Perfect Prints set to create a block of blue and yellow colour on white cardstock ready for die-cutting.

Finally, some silver Bold numbers were combined with a fitting sentiment or two, and I assembled all the elements using the Spellbinders Postage Edge Rectangles as the backdrop to the card.

It's definitely been the year for milestone birthdays, that's for sure! I don't think my number dies have ever seen such action.

Until next time, happy crafting!

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Concord & 9th - Playful Patterns stamps Shop at: MISC | SBC | SHC (UK)	The Greetery - Sentiment Suite: Birthday stamps Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Sparkler Background stamp Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG
The Greetery - Takes the Cake dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Takes the Cake Stand dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Spellbinders - Postage Edge Rectangles dies Shop at: AZ (UK) | MISC | SBC	The Greetery - Bold Numbers dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG
The Greetery - PreText Banners dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Altenew - Cloudy Sky dye ink Shop at: MISC	Altenew - Dark Night dye ink Shop at: EH | MISC	Altenew - Honey Drizzle dye ink Shop at: MISC
Altenew - Misty Morning dye ink Shop at: MISC	Altenew - Nimbus dye ink Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Altenew - Pocketful of Sunshine ink cube set Shop at: MISC | SHC (UK)
Altenew - Tranquillity ink cube set Shop at: MISC | SHC (UK)	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Butter Mints Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH	Simon Says Stamp - Ivory cardstock Shop at: MISC
Lawn Fawn - Silver metallic cardstock Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Memory Box - Delicate Pastel glitter pad Shop at: MISC	Tombow - Mono-Multi liquid glue Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)
MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ (UK)	Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC

DCM - June elemental inspiration

Morning!

Well, it's hard to believe it's June already! But as it's the first Friday of the month, there's a new Elemental Inspiration challenge over on the Daring Cardmakers blog, and this is the image Kathy has picked for us:

The elements I interpreted were the iron screen over the window (as the cut-out floral overlay over the cake), flowers, and aqua colour inspiration:

Stamps and stencil combo: The Greetery - Takes the Cake
Background stamp: The Greetery - Sparkler Background
Dies: The Greetery - Takes the Cake, The Greetery - Takes the Cake Banner, The Greetery - Takes the Cake Floral Details, The Greetery - Takes the Cake Stand, Spellbinders - Postage Edge Rectangles, The Greetery - Bold Numbers

I started out by stencilling the flowers from the Takes the Cake set on white cardstock and overlaying it over the Fresh Pink cardstock base.

I then cut all the cake details from glitter cardstock and metallic cardstock, and cut the numbers from Wisteria and added a Wink of Stella to the plain cardstock for a touch of sparkle.

The sentiment banner is stamped on white cardstock and inked with the Fresh Pink ink at the edges.

I then stamped the Sparkler background with Tropic Teal ink and layered up all the elements on the Postage Edge Rectangles die from Spellbinders.

Still loving this combination of supplies for milestone birthdays, and I love how you can go all out on the florals or take a more subtle route.

Make sure you check out the projects from the rest of the design team here, and play along if you can!

Happy crafting!

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The Greetery - Takes the Cake stamps and stencils Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Sparkler Background stamp Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Takes the Cake Banner die Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Takes the Cake dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG
The Greetery - Takes the Cake Floral Details dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Takes the Cake Stand dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Spellbinders - Postage Edge Rectangles dies Shop at: AZ (UK) | MISC | SBC	The Greetery - Bold Numbers dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG
Lawn Fawn - Freshly Cut Grass ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	The Stamp Market - Fresh Pink ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Golden ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Greenery ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Lilac ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Sunshine ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Tropic Teal ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Wisteria ink pad Shop at: MISC
Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH	The Stamp Market - Fresh Pink cardstock Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Wisteria cardstock Shop at: MISC
Lawn Fawn - Silver metallic cardstock Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Memory Box - Delicate Pastel glitter pad Shop at: MISC	Tombow - Mono-Multi liquid glue Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)
MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ (UK)	Detail blending brushes Shop at: AZ (UK)	Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)
Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC

Honeysuckle Birthday Wishes

Morning!

I'm over on the Seven Hills Crafts blog today with a clean and simple take on the Honeysuckle Stems set from The Greetery.

Stamps: The Greetery - Honeysuckle Stems, The Greetery - Opposites Attract
Dies: The Greetery - Honeysuckle Stems, The Greetery - Opposites Attract, The Greetery - Opposites Attract Script, Avery Elle - Custom Panels (r), The Greetery - Fit to Be Tied

There are 3 large stems in this set, with 4 stamp-layering steps for the flowers and 2 for the leafy stems.

I stuck to bright pink shades for the flowers, but am tempted to go off-piste next time I use this set. :D

The raspberry ink for the darkest pink step is also used for the Opposites Attract sentiment.

To tie the stems together, I used the twine die from the Fit to Be Tied die set.

I created a watercolour wash for the background of my card. I like to use A2 panel dies like the one in the Avery Elle Custom Panel set to cut the watercolour panels to the right size. This helps flatten them down again after watercolouring and creates a nice rounded edge for this heavier-weight cardstock.

Finally, I added some pearlescent ivory sequins as a finishing touch for some subtle bling.

Here's hoping the nice weather sticks around for a bit. :)

Until next time, happy crafting!

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The Greetery - Honeysuckle Stems stamps Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Opposites Attract stamps Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Honeysuckle Stems dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Opposites Attract dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG
The Greetery - Opposites Attract Script dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Avery Elle - Custom Panels dies (r) Shop at: MISC	The Greetery - Fit to Be Tied dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Stamp Market - Cheeky ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Leafy ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Mossy ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Peony ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Raspberry ink pad Shop at: MISC
Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH	The Stamp Market - Rusty cardstock Shop at: MISC	Tim Holtz - 4.25 x 5.5 Distress Watercolor Cardstock Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Kuretake Gansai Tambi 36-pan watercolour set Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tombow - Mono-Multi liquid glue Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC
Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Royal Langnickel - Zen watercolour round wash brush set Shop at: AZ (UK)	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC

DCM - Seashells on the Seashore

Happy Friday!

We're hitting the beach this week over on the Daring Cardmakers Blog, as Rizwana is challenging us to feature shells on our cards.

Well, I had high hopes of featuring more than one shell on my card, but it didn't quite work out that way! lol

Stamps: Hero Arts - Color Layering Sea & Sky (r), Hero Arts - Color Layering Waves (r)
Die: The Greetery - Curio: Summer Findings

I started out by stamping the Color Layering Waves on white cardstock in Sea Glass, Coastal, and Pacific inks.

I then blended Pizza Crust ink lightly at the bottom of the card leaving some white space and also going in with a light hand with some Kiddie Pool blue ink to make that transition from the waves to white less obvious.

I masked off the sea to start blending Oxide Inks for the sun and sky, and added some platters of water while the sea was still masked.

After a few blitzes of the heat gun and more ink layers, I removed the Post-It tape to add some yellow ink below the horizon.

Popped the panel in my Misti to add the "island" (which is actually the small cloud stamped a few times) and palm tree, and of course a few seagulls for good measure.

I just needed to add my greeting, but between closing the lid of my Misti and inking up the stamp I hadn't realised that the stamp had moved, so it's at a rather jaunty angle, But thankfully the font doesn't make it totally obvious that it was a mistake!

The shell from the Curio Summer Findings is cut from white cardstock and coloured with peach ink tones using a small blending brush.

And there we go, card complete.

Make sure you check out the wonderful projects from the rest of the design team here, and play along if you can!

Happy crafting!

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Hero Arts - Color Layering Sea & Sky stamps (r) Shop at: MISC | SBC	Hero Arts - Color Layering Waves stamps (r) Shop at: MISC | SBC	The Greetery - Curio: Summer Findings dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Distress Oxide ink pad - Fossilized Amber Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Distress Oxide ink pad - Kitsch Flamingo Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Distress Oxide ink pad - Mermaid Lagoon Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Picked Raspberry Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Kiddie Pool ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)
Lawn Fawn - Pizza Crust ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	The Stamp Market - Blush Pink ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Coastal ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Pacific ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Peach ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Sea Glass ink pad Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH
3M Post-It tape White Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH	Tombow - Mono-Multi liquid glue Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC
Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ (UK)	Detail blending brushes Shop at: AZ (UK)	Taylored Expressions - Blender Brushes Shop at: MISC	Tim Holtz - Distress Sprayer Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Tim Holtz - Stampers Anonymous Splat Box Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC

Happy, happy birthday!

Morning!

I'm over on the Seven Hills Crafts Blog today with a bespoke birthday card for my nephew's upcoming birthday.

His current love at the moment is trains and, of all things, level crossings! But sadly, I had nothing in my stash that fit the bill.

Luckily though, he also really loves his new road play mat from Ikea, and thankfully I still had some rather vintage papers from My Mind's Eye that must be a good decade old now that ticked that particular box!

So, with the papers as my backdrop, I created a little scene for this special 5 x 7 card.

Paper: MME - Abbey Road: Round and Round (r), MME - Quite Contrary: Little Boy Blue (r)
Stamps: Concord & 9th - Make a Wish, Mama Elephant - Birthday Messages, The Greetery - Cake Pops Sentiments
Dies: The Greetery - Cake Pops Banner, The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics, Lawn Fawn - Finley's ABCs, Mama Elephant - Framed Tags - Park Avenue, MFT - Fishtail Flags STAX (r), The Greetery - Bold Numbers

I knew I wanted to add some sentiments as "street names" to the map (à la the Destination series of products by The Greetery), but first I needed to create all the dimensional elements first, so I could arrange everything on my card before stamping the sentiments and then gluing all the elements down.

I created a banner that would fly in the sky behind an imaginary aeroplane using the "Happy, Happy Birthday!" sentiment from Concord & 9th's Make a Wish stamp set.

I used The Greetery's Bold Numbers to cut the 2, then I used a banner from the Sentiment Suite Basics set and some ribbon elements from the Cake Pops Banner set to create a little podium for the 2 to sit on.

I used Finley's ABCs from Lawn Fawn to cut out the letters and arranged them on the card, so I could stamp the "a million birthday wises just for you" sentiment from Mama Elephant's Birthday Messages along the road.

I then added a few short greetings from The Greetery's Cake Pop Sentiments set as additional "street names". These sentiments are already curved in the shape of a banner, and they fit perfectly in the little grassy openings on the map.

And then it was just a matter of assembling all the dimensional elements.

Hopefully he'll forgive me for not giving him a level crossing card this year! ;) But to be fair, that is a rather niche theme. I'm hoping next year's will be a bit easier to reproduce on a card!

Until next time, happy crafting!

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Concord & 9th - Make a Wish stamps Shop at: EH | MISC | SBC | SHC (UK)	Mama Elephant - Birthday Messages stamps Shop at: MISC | SHC (UK)	The Greetery - Cake Pops Sentiments stamps Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Cake Pops Banner dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG
The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Lawn Fawn - Finley's ABCs dies Shop at: MISC | SHC (UK)	Mama Elephant - Framed Tags - Park Avenue dies Shop at: MISC | SHC (UK)	MFT - Fishtail Flags STAX dies (r) Shop at: MISC
The Greetery - Bold Numbers dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH	Tombow - Mono-Multi liquid glue Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH
3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Distress Sprayer Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC