Mix It Up Monday: Birthday Fiesta llamas

It’s Mix It Up Monday again and time for another project made with a colour combination from my latest set of In Color charts.

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it (I do really) but I really LOVE llamas. They really are great for very many reasons... the main one being: they are GREAT. 

Anyway, a friend of my husband’s has just bought a house with land and plans to fill it with animals. She’s started with a couple of pigs but, although I have a pig stamp in Barnyard Babies, I wanted to look to the future, as she also hopes to get some alpacas. They’re smaller than llamas and slightly different in shape, but this is the best I could do for their new home card. Really, I just wanted an excuse to use the llama stamp again. It ’s such a fun stamp, I don’t know why everybody doesn’t buy it! 

This is my favourite colour combination for this set at the moment. I thought I’d ignore the harsh oranges and pinks of the catalogue samples (although only until next Monday, hint, hint), and tone things down with some Cherry Cobbler and Early Espresso, for a more Peruvian look. I love it! 

Birthday Fiesta Photopolymer Bundle [142268] £38.50	Peekaboo Peach A4 Cardstock [141422] £7.25	Early Espresso A4 Card Stock [121686] £7.25	Cherry Cobbler A4 Card Stock [121681] £7.25	Card Stock A4 Soft Sky [131292] £7.25
Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock [106550] £8.25	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [126974] £6.00	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad [131181] £6.00	Peekaboo Peach Classic Stampin' Pad [141398] £6.00	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad [126966] £6.00

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Caturday: Maggie and Eddie

It’s Caturday again! Don’t they come round quickly at the moment? Every day is Caturday for Maggie (left) and Eddie here, busy spreading cat hairs all over the stripped bed. They belong to my friend and helper Kelly, who adopted them from Woodland Nook a couple of years ago. They’ve definitely landed on their feet there!

If you’d like your cat to feature in Caturday, just drop me a line and you kitty could be the star. Now that I’m not visiting the shelter every weekend, I don’t have as many pictures to choose from!

Love You Lots with paint splatter technique

How fun is this? Ignore the copper embossing; while I love the new copper embossing powder, it really doesn't work on this project, but I couldn’t find the white (it was before the Big Craft Sort).

Instead, concentrate on the main image. For this, I masked the elephant, then spattered paint all over the background. I did this at a Crafty Friday event and, again, took inspiration from one of my customers. Kate made a splattered background around her elephant image and we decided it looked like the elephant had done it with a paintbrush. So, between us, we carefully drew in a paintbrush - and I loved the effect so much that I just had to make my own version.

Love You Lots Clear-Mount Stamp Set [141801] £8.00	Pop Of Paradise Clear-Mount Stamp Set [141581] £17.00	Timeless Textures Clear-Mount Stamp Set [140517] £18.00	Jet Black Stazon Ink Pad [101406] £8.25	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad [131179] £6.00
Versamark Pad [102283] £7.75	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [121029] £3.00	Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [109020] £3.00	So Saffron Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [105225] £3.00	Sweet Sugarplum Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [141400] £3.00
Watercolor Paper [122959] £4.50	So Saffron A4 Card Stock [108611] £7.25	Wild Wasabi A4 Card Stock [111850] £7.25	Sweet Sugarplum A4 Cardstock [141423] £7.25	Dapper Denim A4 Cardstock [141419] £7.25
Crumb Cake A4 Card Stock [121685] £7.25	Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder [141636] £4.50	Project Life Journaling Pens [135304] £4.50

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Mix It Up Monday: Blooms and Wishes

This is quite an autumnal colour scheme for July, but it’s always good to plan ahead. I’m not normally a huge fan of orange but I do like it combined here with the sobering influences of Dapper Denim and Soft Suede. Yes it’s Mix It Up Monday again and time for another project made with a colour combination from my latest set of In Color charts. 

I wanted to have another play with Blooms & Wishes and, while creating this card, I realised it would be perfect for one-sheet wonder projects, too. Here I’ve just stamped a quarter of a sheet of cardstock to create my busy background, then topped it with a simple greeting. Fun to do and, by ‘stamping off’ onto scrap paper first, you can get several shades from the same ink pad.

Blooms & Wishes Photopolymer Stamps [141784] £19.00	Dapper Denim A4 Cardstock [141419] £7.25	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock [106550] £8.25	Tangerine Tango A4 Card Stock [116206] £7.25
Tangerine Tango Classic Stampin' Pad [126946] £6.00	Dapper Denim Classic Stampin' Pad [141394] £6.00	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [126978] £6.00	Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' Pad [126976] £6.00
Punch Corner Project Life [135346] £7.25	2016-2018 In Color Enamel Shapes [141410] £8.25	Dapper Denim 3/8" (1 Cm) Ruched Ribbon [141424] £7.25

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Around the World Blog Hop: CASE the catalogue!

It’s time for another Around the World Blog Hop! Thank you so much for visiting today and I’m delighted you could join me on this trip around the world, as we CASE the catalogue. You may have joined me from Julie’s blog, or may have happened upon this post by chance. Either way, please continue on to Anke’s blog afterwards and follow the trail to see the rest of the creations. 

First things first, what exactly is CASEing? It stands for Copy And Share Everything and it’s what we stampers do when we’re short of time, short of ideas or simply see something we love so much we have to make one for ourselves. 

Secondly, there is absolutely no shame in CASEing. I’m firmly of the view that, if you don’t want people to copy your projects, don’t put them on the internet! However, it is polite to give credit where it’s due, which is why I always try to link back to the person who inspired me. 

And thirdly, CASEing doesn’t have to be an exact copy. You can copy a colour scheme, a layout, or simply a cool technique. Here I’ve stayed pretty close to the original project (below), which features on page 133 of the current catalogue. When I first flicked through the catalogue, this project was one of the first to shout out at me, even though it uses a stamp set that’s at least a couple of years old. 

Stampin’ Up!®

I absolutely loved the watercolouring technique on the card, and the fact that non-traditional colours were used. The splattering of ink appealed to me, too, and I soon discovered it’s really easy to achieve simply by tapping your paint brush. 

Finally, here’s the full list of participating bloggers, so that you don’t miss a single post! Thanks again for visiting and hope to see you again soon!

Miriam van Eyden (Netherlands)

http://miriam-cardsandscrapping.blogspot.com

Barbara Meyer (Austria)

http://barbaras-kreativ-studio.blogspot.com

Martha Lucia Gomez (USA)

http://stampartpapel.com

Julie Davison (USA)

http://juliedavison.com

Helen Read (UK)

http://allthingsstampy.blogspot.com

Anke Hämsch (Germany)

http://leipzig-stempelt.blogspot.com

Kristine McNickle (New Zealand)

http://www.creativestamping.co.nz

Alisa Tilsner (Australia)

http://www.alisatilsner.com

Wetlands Clear Stamp Set [126697] £16.00	Thoughtful Banners Photopolymer Stamp Set [141614] £19.00	Affectionately Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper [141632] £11.75	Watercolor Paper [122959] £4.50
Crumb Cake A4 Card Stock [121685] £7.25	Night Of Navy A4 Card Stock [106577] £7.25	Jet Black Stazon Ink Pad [101406] £8.25	Cucumber Crush Classic Stampin' Pad [138324] £6.00
Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad [126944] £6.00	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad [126970] £6.00	Metallics Sequin Assortment [138390] £4.50	Gold Metallic Thread [138401] £2.75

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Caturday: Kitty

Cats are very frustrating to photograph... unless they’re asleep. They either turn away haughtily, walk off snootily or do this: come up to sniff the camera so they’re too close and out of focus. Thanks, Kitty! Unfortunately I was in too much of a hurry to have another go!

I’ll be back later with another blog post as it’s time for another Around the World Blog Hop. Come back at 9pm BST to see my take on the theme: CASE the Catalogue!