Kool Kitty Musings

DCM - March elemental inspiration

Good morning!

This week it was my turn to set the monthly elemental inspiration challenge over on the Daring Cardmakers blog, and this is the image I chose:

Can you believe this is actually a wallpaper pattern?

Well, for my three elements I went with a safe combo of a floral pattern, numbers, and pink as a focus colour:

Stamp: Agateria - Zestaw do napisów na każda okazję 3
Dies: SugarPea Designs - You're My Type, Mama Elephant - Oval Scallop Frames, Pinkfresh Studio - Diagonal Stitched Rectangles

For a change I've used a cream card base as it was a softer match for the floral paper and colours I've used.

I started out by cutting the Carta Bella floral paper with the largest die in the Pinkfresh diagonal stitched rectangles set, and then cut the aperture with the Mama Elephant scalloped oval frame.

I find this combo of dies really good for flat cards that need posting overseas, as you don't need to pop up the layers on 3D foam tape to add dimension, simply use a bone folder to turn up the stitched edge and the scallop border inside the oval.

I then cut all the elements for the typewriter from scrap cardstock snippets.

It's always nice when you can run smaller dies like these through your Sidekick quickly.

Finally, I added a sentiment from my Polish stamp set in Onyx black ink in the Misti and my card was done. :)

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

Happy crafting!

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Agateria - Zestaw do napisów na każda okazję 3 stamps Shop at: MISC	SugarPea Designs - You're My Type dies Shop at: MISC | SHC	Mama Elephant - Oval Scallop Frames dies Shop at: EH | MISC | SHC	Pinkfresh Studio - Diagonal Stitched Rectangles dies Shop at: EH | MISC | SBC
Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Butter Mints Shop at: AZ | EH	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Rock Candy Shop at: AZ | EH
The Stamp Market - Bubble Gum cardstock Shop at: MISC	Carta Bella - Flower Market - 6x6 pad Shop at: SBC | SHC	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC
MISTI stamping tool Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

2021 Card Challenge - March Prompt

Well spring is definitely on the way at last!

And this month's focus colour suits the season...

{Pinterest pin}

 

As you can probably guess, the focus colour is: green

• Remember, the focus colour is just an added extra for the challenge. You can make it the main feature of your colour palette or include it as a pop of colour.

Here are some ideas to get you started for the various elements in the image:

• A tree for all seasons - think branches, wreaths, nests, twigs, trees in blossom, landscape scenes, even woodgrain textures.
• Gift bag/box - create a dimensional card that has the look of a gift bag or box, or keep it simple by cutting out rectangles of paper to look like presents and adding a bow and tag. Or why not try your hand at a pop-up box card?
• Kraft/brown paper - if you want a break from white card bases, why not go for kraft and use white heat embossing or a white pen for contrast rather than black ink. Kraft pairs very nicely with pastel tones, and brown parcel paper is actually a nice medium to use on cards.
• Fancy labels - tags or (ornate) labels are a great way to make your sentiment stand out. You could even use a tag shape as the main panel on your card.
• Multi-coloured text - use two-step stamping with sentiments, ink daubers to replicate the look of an ombré ink pad, or different card colours to die-cut your sentiment. You could keep it monochromatic and use colours in the same family, or select a pretty colour palette to suit the number of letters you'll die cut. Here are some great colour selections.
• Tyepwriter/telephone - both are still popular design elements. If you have these among your stash, get them out. Even better if they're dies as you could cut them from green cardstock for that truly retro look. ;)
• Circles - the belt buckle and steering while make me think of apertures, frame dies, and coverplates with either simple circle designs or interlinking circle patterns. The image with the moon also makes me think of peek-a-boo circles that can have something popping out of them, or simply blending ink in a circle behind something you want to stand out. It's also worth flicking through your collection of embossing folders to see how circles feature...
• Floral print - I'm sure you have something in your collection of papers that will do the job.
• Slimline or horizontal cards - the door panelling made me immediately think of the current trend in slimline tall cards, but it's also a good reminder that you can turn your card base to make a landscape card for a change if that's not your usual format.
• Dragonfly/butterfly - you could have a go at stamping on acetate or vellum to create that transparent gossamer look for your dragonfly or simply include butterflies in some way on your card. The transparent wing also made me think of shaker cards - your window for a shaker card could be any shape of die you have.
• Chanel eau de parfum - well, if you have some at home, treat yourself to a quick spritz before sitting down at your craft desk. Otherwise, think of water or any liquid - it doesn't have to be perfume, it could be the sea, water in a vase of flowers, a watercolour effect for your background, or try this technique with Distress Oxide inks on glossy paper revealed with Distress glaze.
• Book spines - these can be simply translated as strips of card or paper used to create a background or you could create a stack of books by cutting strips of paper to different widths and lengths. Or perhaps you already have a patterned paper that depicts book spines or any other book theme. :)

I hope those give you some ideas on where to start.

Happy crafting!

2021 Card Challenge - February cards

Well, just in the nick of time I managed to get a few photos of the set of cards I made for the February prompt several weeks ago!

Back in early February I spent most of one rainy Saturday die-cutting the Pieces of My heart small die 16 times to get a full rainbow of colours and another 16 times to get the white outline.

Well, four of those hearts have now made it onto these fun little cards.

Stamp: Hello Bluebird - Typed Everyday
Dies: Avery Elle - Double Pierced Squares, Lawn Fawn - Hearts, The Stamp Market - Pieces of My Heart

They are 4x4 in size and the bases are created from 8x8 DCWV cardstock that I've had for ages. These two shades are so happy and bright in real life.

I assembled them by sticking the white heart outlines on squares of card cut with the dotted Avery Elle dies, then pieced in the cardstock segments that already had Stick-it applied to them.

The sentiment is from Hello Bluebird – I figure these cards can be sent for many an occasion. :)

As a finishing touch I added a little heart from Lawn Fawn in the centre for extra pop.

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Hello Bluebird - Typed Everyday stamps Shop at: EH | SSS	Avery Elle - Double Pierced Squares dies Shop at: AZ | EH | SHC	Lawn Fawn - Hearts dies Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Pieces of My Heart dies Shop at: MISC
Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	The Stamp Market - Bubble Gum cardstock Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Cactus cardstock Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Cherry Kisses cardstock Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Cobalt cardstock Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Coral Reef cardstock Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Cotton Candy cardstock Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Curry cardstock Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Emerald Isle cardstock Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Fresh Pink cardstock Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Leafy cardstock Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Lipstick Red cardstock Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Melon Orange cardstock Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Party Pink cardstock Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Peach cardstock Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Peony cardstock Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Sea Glass cardstock Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Tropic Teal cardstock Shop at: MISC	Stick It Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC
Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC	MISTI creative corners Shop at: EH | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

DCM - Fairy Tale

Good morning!

For this week's Daring Cardmakers challenge, Rizwana has asked us to create a card celebrating a fairytale to mark National Fairytale Day.

Paper and ephemera: Pebbles - Winter Wonderland (r)
Stamp: Agateria - Napisy na każdą okazję
Dies: Lawn Fawn - Oliver's Stitched ABCs

Well, there's a certain little girl in my extended family who really loves Frozen and princess stuff in general. Her birthday is still a few months away, but it makes a nice change to have something made this far ahead. ;)

I used papers and Ephemera from an old collection by Pebbles.

The Polish sentiment was stamped on with my Misti - very handy for getting it lined up just right and not ruining your project on the last step. ;)

I used Lawn Fawn alpha dies to cut out her name from Jade cardstock, which fit this colour palette nicely.

Finally, I added some icy gems to complete the full on frosty sparkle effect!

Make sure you check out the wonderful cards from the rest of the design team here and join in if you fancy. :)

Happy crafting!

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Agateria - Napisy na każdą okazję stamps Shop at: MISC	Lawn Fawn - Oliver's Stitched ABCs dies Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	The Stamp Market - Jade cardstock Shop at: MISC
Ranger - Glossy Accents Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC
Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

Another Bridgerton-inspired card

While I had the supplies out for this week's Daring Cardmakers card, I thought it only right to create a card celebrating one of the best relationships in the entire Bridgerton series....

Yes, the friendship between Eloise and Penelope, aka Peneloise!

Paper: Pink Paislee - London Market (r)
Dies: PTI - Simply Jane (r), Mama Elephant - Oval Deco Frame
Other: Typewriter

The Simply Jane set from PTI also has two female silhouettes that do nicely for this theme.

I used more paper from the London Market collection from Pink Paislee for the background, cut the frame from cream cardstock using the Deco Oval Frame set from Mama Elephant, and typed up one of Eloise's great quotes.

Again, a little heart gem and silk ribbon bring everything together. :)

I look forward to the day when we women can once again talk with our friends in person. x

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PTI - Simply Jane dies (r) Shop at: MISC	Mama Elephant - Oval Deco Frame dies Shop at: EH | SHC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Butter Mints Shop at: AZ | EH	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS
PTI - True Black cardstock Shop at: MISC	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

DCM - Kiss, Kiss

Good morning!

For this week's Daring Cardmakers challenge, Joanne has challenged us to celebrate Kissing Friday:

Did you know that on the Friday of Shrove Week, English schoolboys were once entitled to kiss the girls without being punished or rejected?
Make a card with a kiss this week - it could be an image of characters kissing, some luscious lips, or perhaps you’ll use a kissing technique with your rubber stamps.

For extra brownie points K.I.S.S and make your card clean and simple!

Well, this took me on an unexpected journey because I finally had a reason to make something Bridgerton-inspired.

I'm no newcomer to the Bridgerton series, I've been a long-time fan of the books since I got into the genre over a decade ago, and I've loved the humour and characters in all of Julia Quinn's books I've read over the years. So it's been lovely to see the world at large fall in love with the Bridgerton family (and a certain Duke) via the Netflix show.

It'll soon be time for my annual re-read of Romancing Mr Bridgerton... but until then I shall celebrate this wonderful series through the medium of cardmaking! ;)

So here's my homage to Daphne and Simon (let's just imagine this is the prelude to a sizzling kiss...):

Paper: Pink Paislee - London Market (r), Crate Paper
Dies: PTI - Simply Jane (r), Mama Elephant - Oval Deco Frame
Other: Typewriter, Nuvo Mousse

Also, does this fit the bill of clean and simple?

I don't have much in the way of ornate/regency style products, but I remembered I had a set of dies and stamps from PTI called Simply Jane that features silhouettes and Jane Austen quotes.

The silhouette figures fit nicely into the Mama Elephant Oval Deco Frame.

I wanted to use a nice light blue paper in the background as that's Daphne's colour and found this piece in one of the paper pads I have from Crate Paper. I used a pattern wheel to "stitch" the edges and then went over with Nuvo Mousse in gold to add a bit of gilding.

The music pattern in the background is also a nod to Daphne's keyboard skills and provides a great contrast to the blue while tying in the black silhouettes.

Finally, I typed a quote from the series onto cardstock, added a heart jewel to the frame and a touch of silk ribbon at the top to soften the overall look.

Make sure you check out the wonderful projects from the rest of the design team here.

Happy crafting!

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PTI - Simply Jane dies (r) Shop at: MISC	Mama Elephant - Oval Deco Frame dies Shop at: EH | SHC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Butter Mints Shop at: AZ | EH	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Taffy Shop at: AZ | EH
Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	PTI - True Black cardstock Shop at: MISC	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH
Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC