Kool Kitty Musings

Have a magical day!

While I had the supplies from yesterday's card out on my desk, I decided to fully embrace the rainbow/unicorn theme and make a card for a certain birthday girl in Poland, who celebrates her birthday today!

Papers and chipboard accent: Simple Stories - Dream Big (r)
Stamps: Mama Elephant - Mini Everyday Messages, Poppy Stamps - Whittle Rainbow Unicorn Kit
Dies: The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics, Mama Elephant - Framed Tags - Park Avenue

A special birthday calls for all the glitz and sparkle - so the perfect opportunity to use the large unicorn chipboard sticker in the Dream Big collection as the main focal point.

As you can see, it fits almost the entire space inside the frame on this A2 card, so I just needed to add in the sparkle and glitz with pretty sequins and gems.

The Poppy Stamps Whittle Rainbow Unicorn kit comes with some great sentiments that will fit many occasions, and the "Have a Magical Day" stamp fit just right on a sentiment strip from The Greetery Sentiment Suite Basics set.

I also used a circular tag from the same die set to add the "Hello Lovely" sentiment from the Mama Elephant Mini Everyday Messages set.

I am happy to report that the card was a hit. ;)

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Mama Elephant - Mini Everyday Messages stamps Shop at: EH | SHC (UK)	Poppy Stamps - Whittle Rainbow Unicorn Kit Shop at: EH | MISC	The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Mama Elephant - Framed Tags - Park Avenue dies Shop at: MISC | SHC (UK)
Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Butter Mints Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: EH | MISC	Simple Stories - Dream Big - 3x4 Elements paper (r) Shop at: MISC | SBC
Simple Stories - Dream Big - Dream Big paper (r) Shop at: MISC	Simple Stories - Dream Big - Chipboard stickers (r) Shop at: MISC	Ranger - Glossy Accents Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tonic Studios Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
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
Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" 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

2022 Card Challenge - May card

I can't believe it has taken me almost an entire month to share the card I made for this month's prompt, as seen here.

The prompt inspired a retro theme, so of course out came my beloved typewriter set from SugarPea Designs.

Paper: Simple Stories - Dream Big (r)
Stamps: Mama Elephant - Birthday Messages, SugarPea Designs - You're My Type
Dies: SugarPea Designs - You're My Type, The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics, Mama Elephant - Framed Tags - Madison Avenue

I am making a concerted effort to use up my stash of pre-scored card blanks, as these days I tend to make my bases from Neenah 8.5 x 11 cardstock so I can use US A2 dies on my cards.

And well, you can't go wrong with kraft, so that was the "neutral + bold tone" part of the challenge sorted!

It goes so well with these bright, rainbow patterns and designs in the Dream Big collection by Simple Stories.

I wanted to keep things simple, so just showcased the orange typewriter with a fun frame and added a couple of sentiments.

And hey presto, card made!

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Mama Elephant - Birthday Messages stamps Shop at: MISC | SHC (UK)	SugarPea Designs - You're My Type stamps Shop at: MISC | SHC (UK)	SugarPea Designs - You're My Type dies Shop at: MISC | SHC (UK)	The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG
Mama Elephant - Framed Tags - Madison Avenue dies Shop at: MISC | SHC (UK)	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Butter Mints Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH	Concord & 9th - Assorted cardstock pack Shop at: EH | MISC | SHC (UK)
Simple Stories - Dream Big - 4x4 Elements paper (r) Shop at: MISC	Simple Stories - Dream Big - Dream Big paper (r) Shop at: MISC	Simple Stories - Dream Big - Chipboard stickers (r) Shop at: MISC	Tonic Studios Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
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
Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" 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 - Flair not Square

Morning!

I've been AWOL recently, as life has been pretty hectic on the work front, with very little time to be creative.

But thankfully, this week's Daring Cardmakers challenge from Rizwana allowed me to tick off a project that was already on my to-do list.

A first birthday card for my nephew!

The challenge calls for anything but a square card, so I went all in making a number 1 card base from scratch!

Paper and ephemera: MME - Alphabet Soup (r)
Stamp: The Greetery - Cake Pops Sentiments
Dies: The Greetery - Cake Pops Banner, Lawn Fawn - Oliver's Stitched ABCs, Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Stars (r), The Stamp Market - Oblong Hexagon, Waffle Flower - Nesting Diamonds

Yes indeed, out came the ruler, pencil, eraser, and a cup to draw the rounded bits, and hey presto a 5x7 card blank was transformed ready to add lots of papers and accents from a very old My Minds Eye collection kit called Alphabet Soup.

I had just the one animal left on the die-cuts sheet, and so I designed a little scene around him using an array of dies in my stash.

He also got the goggly-eye treatment!

I couldn't find another way to easily add a sentiment, so I used the Cake Pops Banner from The Greetery to just add it to the side there. Such a versatile little stamp and die combo. Especially when you don't want to obscure your card design with a larger sentiment strip or tag.

Here's hoping the birthday boy likes. :D

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

Happy crafting!

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The Greetery - Cake Pops Sentiments stamps Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Cake Pops Banner dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Lawn Fawn - Oliver's Stitched ABCs dies Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Stars dies (r) Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Oblong Hexagon dies Shop at: MISC	Waffle Flower - Nesting Diamonds dies Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Memory Box - Festive glitter pad Shop at: EH | MISC
Ranger - Glossy Accents Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tonic Studios Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" 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 - Rain or Shine

Good morning!

Over on the Daring Cardmakers blog this week, it was my turn to set the challenge.

Inspired by the wacky weather my parents experienced on their wedding day some 40+ years ago that ran the gamut from a blistering heatwave to a full on snowstorm, I want to see weather elements featured on your cards this week.

I went for a rainbow for mine...

Paper: Lawn Fawn - Let's Polka (r)
Stamp: Mama Elephant - Birthday Messages
Dies: The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics, Lawn Fawn - Hearts, Lawn Fawn - Spring Showers, The Stamp Market - Dotted Rainbow, The Stamp Market - Postage Stamp

I started out by cutting the postage frame and dotted rainbow die from kraft cardstock in one pass - taping everything down to keep the dies aligned.

I then stitched the rainbow with full 6-strand floss using a tapestry needle, adding a bit of tape to the back to secure the ends in place.

Then it was time to find a birthday sentiment that would fit on one of the sentiment strips in the Sentiment Suite Basics die set - this typed sentiment from Mama Elephant fit the bill and really matched the fun colours.

I die cut some clouds and a few hearts using Lawn Fawn dies to finish off the look, adding sequins here and there for extra sparkle.

Finally, I popped the panel onto a card base covered with paper from Lawn Fawn's Let’s Polka paper pad.

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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Mama Elephant - Birthday Messages stamps Shop at: MISC | SHC (UK)	The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Lawn Fawn - Hearts dies Shop at: MISC	Lawn Fawn - Spring Showers dies Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)
The Stamp Market - Dotted Rainbow die Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Postage Stamp dies Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Butter Mints Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH
Neenah 80 lb smooth Desert Storm cardstock Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: EH | MISC	Neenah Classic Crest 80 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | MISC | SBC	Ranger - Glossy Accents Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
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
Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" 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 - May elemental inspiration

Morning!

Well, it's a brand-new month, so time for a brand-new elemental inspiration challenge over on the Daring Cardmakers blog.

This month Joanne is setting the challenge and here's the lovely inspiration she's provided for us:

For my elements, I went with pink/purple florals, black and white stripes, the use of stencils, and some droplets:

Stamps and stencils: The Greetery - Print Shop: Spring Mix
Dies: The Greetery - Print Shop: Spring Mix, The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics

I started out by cutting the main Print Shop: Spring Mix die from a sheet of 12x12 Marshmallow cardshoppe, so I'd be all set to stencil a few backgrounds as and when.

I used a combination of inks (which are all listed below) for the ink blending and direct stamping. The pink and purple tones from The Stamp Market really do replicate the tones you usually see in fuchsias, begonias, and the like. I'm not usually a big user of purple, but I may be using this combination of colours again, very soon!

Some of the flowers are stamped and die-cut for extra pop, with clear Nuvo drops added to the centres.

Once all the Spring Mix flowers were done, it was just a matter of adding that bold stripe (from an old Crate Paper collection) and the sentiment.

The sentiment is also from the Spring Mix set and stamped on a banner die from the Sentiment Suite Basics set.

Once everything was assembled, I just needed to add some grey Nuvo jewel droplets to the background.

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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The Greetery - Print Shop: Spring Mix stamps and stencils Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Print Shop: Spring Mix dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Lawn Fawn - Fresh Lavender ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)
Lawn Fawn - Jalapeño ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Noble Fir ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	The Stamp Market - Fresh Pink ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Fuschia ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Orchid ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Party Pink 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
Bazzill Cardshoppe - Butter Mints Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: EH | MISC	Tonic Studios Nuvo Crystal Drops - Morning Dew (clear) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SHC (UK)
Tonic Studios Nuvo Jewel Drops - Grey Mist Shop at: EH | SBC	Tonic Studios Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	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)	Taylored Expressions - Blender Brushes Shop at: MISC	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	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" 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

Thank you for your kindness

I managed to snap a few projects at the weekend after I'd

Here's another take on the April card challenge prompt:

Paper and chipboard: Crate Paper - Maggie Holmes - Garden Party
Stamps: Concord & 9th - Banner Builder
Dies: Concord & 9th - Banner Builder, Mama Elephant - Oval Scallop Frames, Pinkfresh Studio - Diagonal Stitched Rectangles

I wanted to go to town with patterned paper and green as the focus colour. So in came the Garden Party collection from Maggie Holmes. It includes lots of floral prints, including a lovely one on black that reminds me a little of the flower characters in Disney's Alice in Wonderland. There are also more subtle floral prints (as used for the banner die).

Plus, there's a great pop of green in the collection.

It's definitely a full on busy card, so the only finishing touch needed was a "bow" - or bow-like butterfly from the chipboard set. :)

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Concord & 9th - Banner Builder stamps Shop at: EH | MISC | SBC | SHC (UK)	Concord & 9th - Banner Builder dies Shop at: EH | MISC | SBC | SHC (UK)	Mama Elephant - Oval Scallop Frames dies Shop at: MISC | SHC (UK)	Pinkfresh Studio - Diagonal Stitched Rectangles dies Shop at: MISC | SBC
Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: EH | MISC	Crate Paper - Maggie Holmes - Garden Party - Blooming paper Shop at: SBC	Crate Paper - Maggie Holmes - Garden Party - Garden Friends paper Shop at: SBC
Crate Paper - Maggie Holmes - Garden Party - Garden Greens paper Shop at: SBC	Crate Paper - Maggie Holmes - Garden Party - Happy Growing paper Shop at: SBC	Crate Paper - Maggie Holmes - Garden Party - Sown paper Shop at: SBC	Crate Paper - Maggie Holmes - Garden Party - Cardstock stickers Shop at: SBC
Crate Paper - Maggie Holmes - Garden Party - Chipboard Shop at: SBC	Tonic Studios Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	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	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC

2022 Card Challenge - May Prompt

Good morning!

It's a bit of a chilly and wet start to what is typically a warm and sunshiny month in these parts.

A time when the delights of summer can really get underway, with more time spent outside, the winter wardrobe being switched out for brighter summery patterns and colours, and those longer days can be enjoyed to the full.

Here's this month's prompt:

{Pintrest pin}

The focus colour for this month is: Neutral + bold tone

So basically, use white, cream, kraft, or grey as your anchor colour and add in a bold tone of your choice. The image above shows lots of shades that work well paired with neutrals.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Minimalist - keep things clean and simple by featuring white on white elements with just a single pop of colour from an embellishment. For example, a white with little red/pink hearts coming out of it with a simple stamped sentiment below. Clean and simple all the way.
• Kite - feature a kit or elements associated with a kite, such as bows, strung items like bunting, twine, a diamond shaped mat or aperture, a pattern made up of diamonds/triangles in alternating colours.
• Vintage/modern technology - a camera, record player, typewriter, TV, phone, Instagram style frame, text message style abbreviated sentiments.
• Sunburst - the sunburst pattern is a popular one among manufacturers, you may have a stamp, die, or paper with this type of design on it which makes for a great background to your sentiment. The sunburst in the image also makes me think of old school style circus advertising, so any circus theme could work.
• Layering/folding - the design on the cushions could be easily translated to a card with different papers layering over each other diagonally. The origami items make me think of folding, and there are plenty of simple and fancy folding techniques in cardmaking. You can get creative with your scoreboard, and even just use scored lines as a decorative feature. Or as above, a die that makes a mini envelope is another way of featuring a folded element. Or indeed a die that scores an opening like a little window that reveals a surprise image or sentiment.
• Foiling - feature a metallic foiled element, if you have a foiling system then there's plenty of scope to use it for this prompt. Otherwise, foiled papers, foiled ephemera, even some heat embossing with metallic embossing powders would fit the bill.
• In the round - there are circles, dots, and spheres galore in the image, so plenty of ways you can incorporate round things on your cards, even if it's just sequins, enamel dots, or Nuvo drops.
• All lined up - like the pencils and origami items shown, you can line up similar things in a row like 3 pot plants, a row of birthday candles, a grid of hearts.

I hope those ideas have got your imagination going!

Happy crafting!