Kool Kitty Musings

DCM - Oh Baby!

Good morning!

This week's Daring Cardmakers dare is a well-timed one for me!

Ruth has challenged us to create a card for the youngsters in our life.

Well, it's a certain little girl's birthday very soon and so it enabled me to get my card made for that occasion.

One of her gifts is... shhhhh! Ocean Bingo - she absolutely loves the other bingo sets we have from the same company and I thought I might as well go whole hog with the Ocean theme:

Stamps: Memory Box - Oceanside Typewriter Sentiments, Lawn Fawn - A Birdie Told Me
Dies: Lawn Fawn - A Birdie Told Me, Lawn Fawn - Hearts, Lawn Fawn - Spring Showers, Poppy Stamps - Whittle Whale, The Stamp Market - 1/2" Quick Strips, The Stamp Market - Jumbo Tag, X-Cut - Build-a-Scene Nautical (r)
Stencil: Simon Says Stamp - Clouds For Days
Other: Distress Oxides, Typewriter

I started off by creating the card base using navy and white cardstock strips cut with the Quick Strips die from The Stamp Market. The Navy in the Concord & 9th pack is actually very dark and it does look a bit too like black on camera, but you can definitely see navy in real life.

I'd originally covered a 5x7 card blank with the strips but later trimmed the card length down so the proportions worked a little better with the Jumbo Tag that I used to showcase the marine scene.

I didn't want to hide the stripes too much, so left it at 5 inches wide.

I'll make a bespoke envelope with my WRMK punchboard later.

As for the scene.... well first I used Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide and the Clouds for Days stencil to create the subtle sky background at the top of the tag.

I coloured in the Whittle Whale die cut with Copics and added some white pen highlights.

I then used 3 shades of aqua/teal cardstock from my scraps folder to build up the dimensional waves with a very old Nautical build-a-scene set by X-Cut. Once the waves were stuck down I used my bone folder to just bend back the waves, so they stand out from the panel. This allows the wave to look like he is swimming away in the sea.

I also used the Nautical die set for the excited Octopus inside the card:

The sentiment thankfully embossed cleanly on the tag as initially I was going to put it on a separate strip altogether, but I liked the contrast of the white on the teal and it stamped and embossed fine - phew! Don't you just hate it when you almost finish a card only to make a silly mistake right at the end?

As per usual for the cards I make for her I got the very old typewriter dusted off - it really could do with a new ribbon... But it's the only way to add small personal messages that will fit inside stamps or die cuts.

I needed the sentiment to fit inside one of the speech bubbles from Lawn Fawn - I stamped that element and die-cut it after typing the greeting and just added a little heart to it once it was on the tag.

Finally, I added a snazzy red button with twine to complete that nautical look.

I hope she has a lovely birthday. Due to Covid it's going to be a different celebration this year, but at least we will get to see her at the weekend. :)

Have a lovely weekend, and make sure you check out the design team projects over on the Daring Cardmakers blog and play along if you can!

Happy crafting!

---

Lawn Fawn - A Birdie Told Me stamps Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC	Memory Box - Oceanside Typewriter Sentiments stamps Shop at: EH	Lawn Fawn - A Birdie Told Me dies Shop at: AZ | EH | SHC	Lawn Fawn - Hearts dies Shop at: MISC
Lawn Fawn - Spring Showers dies Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC	Poppy Stamps - Whittle Whale die Shop at: EH | MISC	The Stamp Market - 1/2" Quick Strips die Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Jumbo Tag dies Shop at: MISC
X-Cut - Build-a-Scene Nautical dies (r) Shop at: MISC	Simon Says Stamp - Clouds For Days stencil Shop at: SSS	Altenew - Industrial Diamond dye ink Shop at: EH | MISC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Tumbled Glass Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Versamark ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SHC	Altenew - Rock Collection ink cube set Shop at: EH | MISC | SHC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Concord & 9th - Assorted cardstock pack Shop at: EH | MISC | SHC
Hero Arts - White embossing powder Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tonic Studios Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH
EK Success powder tool Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Cosmetic blending brushes Shop at: AZ
Taylored Expressions - Blender Brushes Shop at: MISC	Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | 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

DCM - September elemental inspiration

Good morning!

Well, it had to happen sooner or later... summer is on its way out with a bit of a whimper in these parts as August was really not a great month for the weather.

But with autumn around the corner it's time to ease ourselves into a new colour palette and new card themes.

The September elemental inspiration challenge over on the Daring Cardmakers blog is doing just that.

For my elements I went with wood grain, leaves, and autumn colours:

Stamps: The Stamp Market - Big Botanicals
Dies: The Stamp Market - Big Botanicals, The Stamp Market - Jumbo Tag

Before all else I'd decided that I wanted to try out a colour combo I'd recently seen on The Stamp Market's Instagram feed, and this makes selecting inks a whole lot easier when they are just there in your drawer. No time spent looking at swatch charts to check if you have something similar from another brand that you could substitute with.

So I had my inks to the ready and just needed to find a stamp/die that would fit the autumnal feel so I could create a background.

I checked on Evernote (my OCD cataloguing of stamp and die sets comes in very handy at times) and the best fit for what I had in mind was the Bold Botanicals set also from The Stamp Market.

I stamped the branch out in the various colours and die cut them ready to position on a card.

I realised pretty soon that I'd need to use a 5x7 card base to fit everything on.

I wanted to still go clean and simple with my project but that takes a bit of precision if popping elements up on foam tape and wanting to make sure they end up in the right place when you stick them down. I'm not so great at that...

My top tool for this card was Press n Seal - I couldn't have kept everything in place without it. It's pricey to purchase here in the UK as it's an import item usually available via amazon or ebay. But a little goes a long way and you can be frugal with it and reuse sections you cut until they lose their stick. :)

Once I'd arranged all the leaf branches on the woodgrain panel just how I wanted, I took a piece of Press n Seal (from a previous project) and pressed it down onto the card front so everything was held right. I flipped it over with the panel still attached and then drew around the woodgrain panel with a pencil - marking the reverse of the die cuts so I would know where to apply slivers of foam tape and so it would be easy to line up the panel when sticking it onto the leaves.

It took some time to apply little slivers of foam tape here and there to all the branches, but it was worth the effort. :)

Once they were all in place I just needed a bold sentiment and I had some off cuts of Gravel and Slate cardstock on my desk needing to be used and so out came my Jumbo Tag again, but this time for the Happy Birthday word die.

Finally, I added clear Nuvo drops all over to fill in some of that white space between the branches.

Make sure you check out the wonderful projects from the rest of the design team - it's not all autumn on the blog this week - and play along if you can. :)

Happy crafting!

---

The Stamp Market - Big Botanicals stamps Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Big Botanicals dies Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Jumbo Tag dies Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Blush Pink ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Bubble Gum ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Curry ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Melon Orange ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Peach ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Rusty ink pad Shop at: MISC	Lawn Fawn - Woodgrain cardstock - Neutrals Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	The Stamp Market - Gravel cardstock Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Slate cardstock Shop at: MISC
Tonic Studios Nuvo Crystal Drops - Morning Dew (clear) Shop at: AZ | EH | SHC	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH	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 | EH | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick 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

2020 Card Challenge - September prompt

Good morning!

Welcome to a brand-new month and a brand-new prompt. :)

{Pinterest Pin}

This month there is a little woodland magic in the air as nature takes the main focus. However, there's still ways to interpret what you see without going that route:

• The colour pallet - there are some great tones there that would work as bold florals or die-cut sentiments, I definitely spot some shades in the new Concord & 9th colour range and tones that feature in The Stamp Market colour chart too.
• Add a touch of gold - glam up your project with gold sparkle, whether foiled accents, heat embossing, texture mousse, enamel dots, Stickles, or a splatter of  watercolour paint... there are many ways to go big or keep it subtle with gold.
• Natural fibres - how about using handmade paper or felt, fabric trim, or lace to add a tactile touch to your card. If you're anything like me, you're sure to have some reels of twine in your stash - always great threaded through a button.
• Pleating - whether fancy paper folds or card bases with a bit of engineering. Jennifer McGuire has lots of YT tutorials for cards that will still fit in a regular envelope, but have an element of surprise in how they open. You could also add some scoring details to create an elegant textured background.
• Floral border/stamp off to the side - the cuffs on the dress remind me how you can bring attention to your sentiment by positioning large stamps off to the side of your card or at the top and bottom edge. Get some mileage out of those big floral bouquet stamps and use them as a border rather than the main focus of your design.
• Bricks - woodgrain is still very much in, but I'm pretty sure Tim Holtz has released a textured embossing folder for brick effects. It would look great embossed on white or a neutral tone for a clean and simple backdrop.
• Signs of autumn - toadstools, leaves, trees, mountains, garden birds, all that is nature can be easily incorporated on your card and even fits the bill for Christmas projects if September is the time you start working on those.
• Sweater weather - well, that's definitely something that makes me think of Christmas. A knitted print background, a critter wearing a sweater or scarf... or even an ugly Christmas jumper image. When the nights draw in, it's time to get cosy.

I hope that's got your creative cogs turning. ;)

Happy crafting!

2020 Card Challenge - July card

Behind the scenes I'm still hoping to make a card for every card challenge prompt I post this year, even if they may end up being Christmas cards. ;)

But I have managed to make a project that is my take on the July prompt, which includes an element or two with bold diagonal stripes.

So hey, why not make my own diagonal stripes and in rainbow colours to boot?

A few weeks ago I was experimenting with stamps that can build stamped backgrounds, this time it's dies that make nice and uniform strips quickly and easily from pieces of card you have lying around waiting to be used.

I recently topped up my supply of cardstock by The Stamp Market via UK store Dies to Die For.

The Stamp Market released various new colours in August and when I swatched the cardstock out I had some off-cuts left that could be turned into strips very easily.

Here's one of the backgrounds I created with them:

Stamps: The Stamp Market - Friendly Phrases
Dies: The Stamp Market - Friendly Phrases, Avery Elle - Double Pierced Squares, The Stamp Market - 1/2" Quick Strips

I used it as the backdrop for one of the sentiment builders in the Friendly Phrases stamp and die set.

The set is intended to make mini cards, but I like how the various assembled sentiment designs fit inside fancy or non-fancy square dies and can be used as the focal point on a large square card too.

I did some tone-on-tone stamping for the floral background and used white Nuvo drops to add a bit of interest along with the orange flowers.

And for a change, my sentiment is stamped in something other than black! ;)

---

The Stamp Market - Friendly Phrases stamps Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Friendly Phrases dies Shop at: MISC	Avery Elle - Double Pierced Squares dies Shop at: AZ | EH | SHC	The Stamp Market - 1/2" Quick Strips die Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Melon Orange ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Party Pink ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Sea Glass ink pad Shop at: MISC	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS
PTI - Aqua Mist cardstock Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Blush Pink cardstock Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Bubble Gum cardstock Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Citrine 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 - Melon Orange cardstock Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Tropic Teal cardstock Shop at: MISC	Tonic Studios Nuvo Crystal Drops - Simply White Shop at: AZ | EH	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH	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 | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

You are simply splendid

Sometimes you just need a card for the card basket. :) Ready to be sent out to a friend when the time is right. ;)

This summer I've been experimenting with colour combos for layering sets and backgrounds.

You can get so many different looks from a floral stamp set by just switching up the colour landscape.

And the stamp sets I've been focusing on have been the Modern Layered Floral set by Pinkfresh Studio and Just Mason Around by The Greetery:

Stamps: Pinkfresh Studio - Modern Layered Floral, The Greetery - Just Mason Around
Dies: Pinkfresh Studio - Modern Layered Floral, The Greetery - Just Mason Around, Hero Arts - Infinity Nesting Rectangles

My bouquet uses Volcano Lake and Emerald Altenew shades for the leafy elements, and Sunflower, Dew Drops, and Blush + Peachy Keen for the blooms.

I really like the emerald tones for the foliage but might go a little lighter next time for this combo. :)

Once my bouquet was ready to add to a card I looked through my stockpile of previous background experiments (this one was from an ink smooshing session with PTI inks - listed below) and took one of the Just Mason Around jars I stamped recently to assemble everything.

I'm a bit annoyed that I didn't use Versafine ink for the sentiment as the Lawn Fawn ink has bled into the cardstock which has never happened to me before - the cardstock panel was created months ago so wasn't still damp... but very odd.

To bring it all together I used Taffy grey cardstock as my card base as it's a lovely warm neutral.

I have plenty more bouquets and jars stamped out so don't be surprised if more random cards get added to my feed ready for when my mum asks if I have a card for xyz occasion. ;)

Enjoy your weekend!

---

Pinkfresh Studio - Modern Layered Floral stamps Shop at: EH | MISC	The Greetery - Just Mason Around stamps Shop at: MISC	Pinkfresh Studio - Modern Layered Floral die Shop at: EH | MISC	The Greetery - Just Mason Around dies Shop at: MISC
Hero Arts - Infinity Nesting Rectangles dies Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	Altenew - Blush dye ink Shop at: EH | MISC	Altenew - Dew Drops dye ink Shop at: EH | MISC	Altenew - Emerald dye ink Shop at: EH | MISC
Altenew - Volcano Lake dye ink Shop at: EH | MISC	Lawn Fawn - Black Licorice ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	Lawn Fawn - Peachy Keen ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC	Lawn Fawn - Sunflower ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC
PTI - Harvest Gold ink pad Shop at: MISC	PTI - Hibiscus Burst ink pad Shop at: MISC	PTI - Summer Sunrise ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Sea Glass ink pad Shop at: EH | MISC
Altenew - Red Sunset ink cube set Shop at: EH | MISC | SHC	Altenew - Sea Shore ink cube set Shop at: EH | MISC | SHC	Altenew - Sweet Dreams ink cube set Shop at: EH | MISC | SHC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Bazzill Cardshoppe - Taffy Shop at: AZ | EH	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC
MISTI stamping tool Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Distress Sprayer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Stampers Anonymous Splat Box Shop at: AZ | SBC | SHC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

DCM - In the garden

Good morning!

My card for this week's Daring Cardmakers challenge set by Shabneez takes a teeny bit of artistic licence on the whole garden them.

There are flowers, but they're in the Wycinanki style!

I needed to make a card for an upcoming big celebration for a relative in Poland - we can't make it to the party for obvious reasons, so some colourful birthday wishes with a Polish theme will have to do in the meantime:

Stamps: Agateria - Napisy na każdą okazję, Altenew - Wonderful Wycinanki
Dies: Altenew - Wonderful Wycinanki, PTI - Angled Labels (r), PTI - By the Numbers, Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Circles (r)

 

I had initially wanted to create a card that emulated the lovely floral style of the original invitation, but it wasn't working. So I had a brainwave to do florals in another way with the Wonderful Wycinanki stamps from Altenew and the matching dies for that stamp set. I've previously used the Polish Papercuts stand-alone dies to create this look with different colours of cardstock. This was the first time using the stamps to combine colours.

It was also a good excuse to use my The Stamp Market inks in some of the newly released colours.

For the leaves though I switched to the lighter Lawn Fawn green inks in my ink arsenal.

I also now have a couple of sentiment sets in Polish - perfect for this occasion.

I kept the other colours neutral with some grey ones but needed a pop of colour for the numbers.

Hopefully the card will reach the birthday boy in good time. :D

Make sure you check out the wonderful garden-related cards from the rest of the Design Team here, and play along if you can. :)

Happy crafting!

---

Agateria - Napisy na każdą okazję stamps Shop at: MISC	Altenew - Wonderful Wycinanki stamps Shop at: EH | MISC | SBC | SHC	Altenew - Wonderful Wycinanki dies Shop at: EH | MISC | SBC | SHC	PTI - Angled Labels dies (r) Shop at: MISC
PTI - By the Numbers dies Shop at: MISC	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Circles dies (r) Shop at: MISC	Lawn Fawn - Celery stick ink pad Shop at: EH | SHC	Lawn Fawn - Freshly Cut Grass ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC
Lawn Fawn - Jalapeño ink pad Shop at: EH | SHC	The Stamp Market - Cherry Kisses ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Citrine ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Cobalt ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Melon Orange ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Party Pink ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Peony ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Tropic Teal ink pad Shop at: MISC
Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Woodgrain cardstock - Neutrals Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	The Stamp Market - Gravel cardstock Shop at: MISC
Ranger - Glossy Accents Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tonic Studios Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH	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 | EH | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC