* Cat Lovers Hop: Mooch

 

Hello

Welcome to the Cat Lovers Hop 2022.

A big hello to all my furry, feline-loving friends!

The Cat Lovers Hop, for those that don't know, is a fantastic annual event, hosted by the lovely Janis over on her blog, Her Peaceful Garden. 

This is its eighth year and an awful lot of work goes into its planning and preparation. The community of cat loving crafters is one of the best I have come across and I look forward to this event all year long.

If you like cats pop over and have a look at the fun games and awesome prizes that Janis has organised for the next few days. 

You'll find the link up and all the beautiful projects here. 

If you enter, make sure you sign up here to be eligible for prizes.

My first card is a winter card that I'll probably send it as a Christmas card - I am way behind on making them, as usual!

It features the lovely Mooch, a silhouette cat, from Lavinia Stamps:

Lavinia Stamps is a company founded by Tracy Dutton, the artist behind the beautiful stamps. It has grown massively in the last few years and now has an international following and fan base. Tracy owns a magical shop in Ruthin, North Wales and I'm hoping to visit this weekend for her Hallaganza Open Days :)

I have been watching quite a few Lavinia You Tube tutorials on how to create wreaths from small stamps and this is my version.

I used a circle stencil to create the centre, using torn paper and ink to create snow mounds for Mooch to sit upon. The wreath was stamped using foliage stamps (Pound Stamps) and Versamark inks - some second generation stamping was included to produce depth. I blended some light green ink around the foliage and coloured the holly berries with a red Posca pen. I stamped the Fairy Charms to give Mooch something to gaze at. The rest of the card was inked in Della Blue Elements ink and the very edges in black. I added some water droplets to bleach out some colour and splattered all over (apart from Mooch) with white acrylic.

Some Icicle Stickles was added to the snow drifts and some Lime Green Stickles to the wreath.

That's all for now.

Thanks for stopping by today.

xoxo

I'd like to play along in these challenges:

* Critter Crazy Challenge #67 25/10

* Crafty Animals #66 AG Animals 28/10 TOP PICK

* SUYP Challenge #82 AG Cats 31/10

* Most Magical Time of the Year #1 31/10 Top Pick

* Lost Coast #154 Cats &/or Dogs 31/10

* Winter Wonderland Challenge Let it Snow 04/11

* Crazy for Cats Challenges #1 AG Cats 25/11

* Crafts Galore Encore: Birdsong

Hello!

August brings another challenge at Crafts Galore Encore. 

The theme is always Anything Goes and the challenge lasts all month.

Our sponsor this month is Beccy's Place and they she is offering a AU $10 store voucher to our winner.

I chose to work with the Birdsong set and made this silhouette card:

I applied Distress Oxide ink in Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade and Crackling Campfire to my craft mat and spritzed with water. I then dabbed a piece of white card into the inky puddle. Once it was dry, I adhered it to a piece of copier paper and ran it through my printer to print the silhouette digi stamp and sentiment. I added some stamping around the edges with Delicate Vines from Inkylicious.

 

I inked the edge of the card with black ink and. added it to a black mat.

 Such a quick and simple card, but one that I like the look of.

Many thanks to Beccy's Place for sponsoring the challenge.

Please pop over to Crafts Galore Encore to see the DT's wonderful designs. 

We'd love to see your creations.

Remember the challenge is always 'Anything Goes' and so you can create any type of project - it doesn't have to be a card and you can enter up to 3 times.

Thanks for stopping by today!

xoxo

                                                                

I'd like to play along in these challenges:

* My Time to Craft #462 No Patterned Papers 05/08

* Aud Sentiments #280 AG with Sentiment 09/08

* Creatalicious Challenges #216 AG/Animals 14/08

* Crafty Animals #53 AG 27/08

* Moving Along with the Times #133 Summer Fun 29/08

* Love to Craft #61 AG 30/08

* Cafters Castle #44 AG 31/08

Beccy's Place August Challenge AG 31/08 WINNER

I'd really love some feedback :)      

I read and appreciate all your comments. 

 

* Pipin's Birthday Wishes

 Hello

Today I have a nice, simple card I made using Lavinia stamps. 

I absolutely adore Lavinia stamps, and greatly admire the beautiful cards I see Tracy Dutton and her DT make . I am slowly building my collection.

Here is little Pipin looking at the gorgeous Luna flowers.

I used Old Paper and Bundled Sage Distress Oxides for the background applying lightly with brushes from each corner. I used a mask to create the hills and ground and stamped the images with Versafine Clair Nocturn. I added some colour to the plants using Inktense pencils and a water brush.

I finished by adding some white highlights and a doodled border. A little glitter was also added.

That's all for now.

Thanks for stopping by.

* PIP Challenges #2128 AG 18/07 

* Crafty Sentiments AG 19/07

* A Perfect Time to Craft July 27/07

* Stamping Sensations For a Lady 28/07

* 613 Avenue Create #7 AG/Use Watercolour 30/07 TOP ROCKER

Cat Lovers Hop: Day 3 - Toby Cat

Hello!

This year is the sixth Cat Lovers Hop and it's a crazy week filled with crafting, commenting and celebrating cats of all sizes. There are fabulous sponsors and prizes to be won, but best of all, friendships to be forged with like minded cat lovers from around the world. 

Why don't you come and join us?

Here is my card for Day 3:

I made this CAS card simply by stamping with Versafine Clair Nocturn onto white card. I used two stamps, both from Inkylicious, a small, family-run business here in the UK. I used Toby Cat - isn't he handsome. I used to have a tuxedo cat exactly like him many years ago. She was called Holly because we adopted her the week before Christmas. I teamed Toby Cat with Daisy Fields. 

I find it quite difficult to make CAS cards; I always feel that I should add more. This time I decided to mat and layer my image three times and then I popped it onto a 5 x 7inch card base.

That's all for now!
Pop over to see what the others cat lovers have been up to
click here

Thanks for stopping by today.

xoxo

I'd like to play along in the following challenges:

 My Time to Craft #443 Halloween/Cats 29/10
Moving Along with the Times #123 Animals/Birds 30/10
Lost Coast Portal to Creativity Furry Friends 31/10

Crafting Happiness Challenges #69 AG 31/10

SUYP #59 01/11

TTCRD AG 03/11

I love feedback :)      

I read and appreciate all your comments. 

* Cat Lovers Hop: Cats on a Branch

Hello!

Have you heard? 

It's the Cat Lovers Hop hosted by Janis at Her Peaceful Garden.

This year is the fifth hop and it's a crazy week filled with crafting, commenting and celebrating cats of all sizes. There are fabulous sponsors and prizes to be won, but best of all, friendships to be forged with like minded cat lovers from around the world. Why don't you come and join us?

Here is my second card:

The card was inked with Distress Oxides in Antique Linen, Spiced Pumpkin, Vintage Photo and Worn Lipstick. I splattered some water droplets to bleach out some colour and blotted with a paper towel. I created a moon using a die cut circle, and hills using a torn piece of paper, by blending ink around the paper. I made a bit of a botched job with the blue around the moon, forgetting to blend the sponge off on spare card before adding it to the background.

I used a super, polymer, silhouette stamp from Inkylicious Stamps called Cats on a Branch, and made sure my cat couple were inside the moon spotlight. Bare Branches were stamped along the left side of the card and along the top edge. The lovely sentiment was added in the bottom right corner.

I inked the edges of the background with black archival ink and matted first onto white card, then onto black and popped it onto a 6 x 6 inch  card base. 

That's all for now!
Pop over to see what the others cat lovers have been up to
click here

Thanks for stopping by today.

xoxo

I'd like to play along in the following challenges: 

* Cardz TV #100 AG 24/10
* Sweet Stampin Feature A Creature 25/10 TOP 3

* Crafty Animals #31 27/10 TOP PICK

* Crafty Sentiments AG 28/10
* My Time To Craft #408 Halloween or Cats 30/10
* Lost Coast Portal #86 Pets 31/10
* Animal Friends Cat 31/10
* 613 Avenue Create #226 AG/Opt: Spotlight 02/11
* SUYP #47 AG 04/11
* Creative Moments #179 AG 05/11

I'd really love some feedback :)      

I read and appreciate all your comments. 

* Let It Go

Hello!

Today I'm sharing an inky card featuring the beautiful Dancer Silhouette stamp by Lost Coast Designs. I love the distressed look of the silhouette. 

Here is my card:

I don't know about you, but when I've had a stressful day and I get home, I like nothing better than putting on some music, getting lost in the moment and dancing along. The dancer in my card looks far more elegant than me, though! I love the way she throws her head back, expands her chest and throws caution to the wind, letting all the stress and worry go... a perfect way to feel more relaxed!

Here are the steps I took to make the card:

1. I stamped the Dancer with Versamark ink and heat embossed with super fine, Primary Ebony WOW embossing powder.

2. I then blended distress oxides in Carved Pumpkin and Fossilised Amber to my card and spritzed with water to activate the inks. 

3. Next I made puddles of the same Distress Oxides on my crafting mat and dipped, dabbed and dried my card several times. 

4. I mixed some Fired Brick Distress Oxide with water and dipped just around the edges of the card. Some Fired Brick was also flicked onto the dried background. 

5. Spiced Pumpkin was blended around the edges and then Black Soot - this was to frame the image.

6. I added some stamped flourishes (stamp by Inkylicious) with Versamark Onyx Black. 

7. I added black and white Posca Paint pen splatters. 

8. Using a die cut circle, I created a spotlight for the Dancer using Cut and Dry foam and Fired Brick Oxide.

9. The background was mounted onto black textured paper.

10. All was adhered to a blank white card (15cm x 15cm).

11. The sentiment is a Tim Holtz Small Talk sticker, inked in black around the edge and attached with glue.

Thanks for stopping by today.

xoxo

I'd like to play along in these challenges:

Lost Coast Portal To Creativity #81 AG 15/08

* Always Fun #123 Circles 18/08 TOP 3

* International Art and Soul #64 Embossing 18/08

* Crafty Creations #396 AG 26/08

* Stinkin Inkers Some Like It Hot 30/09

(Hot colours)

* Corrosive Challenges #8 AG 31/08

* Dare 2 B Artzy Aug AG 31/08

* The Artistic Stamper Aug AG 31/08

* Get Creative #83 AG 01/09

* Path of Positivity #71 Relaxation 01/09 TOP PICK
 

* Crafty Gals Corner #198 Emboss It 10/09 WINNER

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* Wildflowers

Hello!

On Tuesday night Storm Gareth took down a section of our fence, so whilst the workmen were here building a new fence, I had some time to craft. I was also able to keep an eye on what they were doing, as my craft room overlooks the back garden.

I decided to make two note cards:

Once again I'm using Inkylicious stamps on Brusho backgrounds. The backgrounds were made on watercolour card. Water was spritzed over the card, then the Lemon, Yellow and Leaf Green powders were sprinkled. More water was added until the colours blended and filled the card. Once dry, the card was cut into 10cm squares and stamped in Black Versamark ink. The image was matted onto black card and then onto white card which had the Wonderful Day sentiment stamped in the bottom right corner. The white card was then popped on foam tape onto the card blanks.

This stamp set is called Daisy Fields and has two small clusters of butterflies as well as the wild flowers.

This stamp set is Windswept. I love the swaying grasses and the two sets of birds. It reminds me a lot of the sand dunes close to where we live.

That's all for today!

Thanks for stopping by.

xoxo

I'd like to play along in these challenges:

* Penny's Challenges #421 AG 19/03
* Crafty Creations #386 AG 28/03
* Alphabet Challenge Z is for Zesty Colours 28/03 TOP 3

* Cardz TV #84 AG 28/03
* Creative Friday #226 Spring 28/03
* Corrosive Challenges #3 AG 31/03
* A Bit More Time To Craft #88 AG 31/03

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* Gecko Galz: Moonlight and Silhouettes

Hello!

Today it's my DT day at the Gecko Galz blog. The theme for this month's customer challenge is Moonlight and Magic, so all of my cards today feature moonlight in one form or another.

Here is the first:

I used a frame die to cut the intricate leafy pattern from some card coloured with  Distress Oxides. This was placed over the beautiful image from the Moonlight Magic collage sheet. I enhanced the image by adding tiny gold heat embossed stars and using an embossing pen to add specks of heat embossed gold. Once the image was in place,  I matted the frame onto silver mirror card (I did have trouble containing the glue in a few places!) and then onto black card. I thought that the 'Dare to Dream' sentiment from my favourite Charming Words collage sheet, suited this image, so I printed and cut it out, inked the edges in black and matted it onto some black card.

Moonlight Magic                             Charming Words

  

I'd like to enter the following challenges 
with my 'Dare to Dream' card:

 * TTCRD  wb19/02 AG 26/02 
* Crafty Creations #384 AG 26/02 (#2)
* Die Cut Divas Feb Love is in the Air 28/02 (#2)
* Ellibelle's Corner  Feb Dies/Punches 28/02
* A Bit More Time To Craft #86 AG 28/02
* Not Just Cards Feb AG 10/03

My next two cards are silhouette cards using stamps from the Charming Silhouette stamp set.

Fairy Silhouette:

The silhouette stamp was printed onto smooth white card and when the ink was perfectly dry, I used a blending tool to add colour using Distress and Memento Inks. I clear heat embossed the whole image to make the colours pop even more, then matted the silhouette image onto black card, cut with a stitched rectangle die, and then onto a background of black and white polka dot card. Before the matted silhouette was added, I attached some black and white ribbon across the centre of the background card. The image was popped on foam pads for some dimension and a knot of ribbon was added alongside the image mat.

Hare Silhouette:

Charming Silhouette Stamp Set 
(25 silhouette stamps)



I'd like to play along in the following challenges with these silhouette cards: 

* A Perfect Time to Craft #3 AG 26/02 
* Classic Design Team Challenge #2 AG 26/02
* Crafting with Friends #80 AG 28/02
* Crafty Catz #450 AG 28/02
* Crafting with an Attitude #48 AG 01/03
*Jo's Scrapshack #270 AG 01/03 Top 3

* 613 Avenue Create #218 AG 02/03
* The Happy Craft Challenge Feb AG 04/03
* Creative Fingers #158 AG 07/03
* World Wide Open Design Team #2 AG 12/03 DT Favourite
 

This shaker card was the card I made customer inspiration on the 1st February. I love the cute couple from the Moonbeams collage sheet and I decided to make the moon into a swing using border stickers. For more details please see the post here.

Moonbeams

That's all from me for now!

I hope you'll join our  Moonlight and Magic Challenge where the Winner will get 

$25 shopping spree 
at the Gecko Galz shop.

The only rule is that you must use at least one Gecko Galz product ...
(this can be one of the freebies or, of course, you can buy at the Etsy store!) 

Also if you sign up for the Gecko Galz newsletter, you'll be able to claim a free collage sheet each month and get first claim on the $1 Wednesday deals!

Please pop over to the Gecko Galz blog to see the fabulous designs by the very talented DT.

We also have a Private Facebook Group where there are 4 monthly challenges, each with a collage sheet prize. Come and join us!

I'll be back on the 1st March with more Gecko Galz projects.

Here's all the info you need:

Gecko Galz blog

Current Gecko Galz Challenge : "Moonlight and Magic"

Gecko Galz Etsy Shop

Gecko Galz Closed Facebook group

***

Thanks for stopping by today.

xoxo

I'd really love some feedback :)      

I read and appreciate all your comments.