Author: tinstar05

I love the challenges over on the Less is More blog. They stretch you to think differently and they are always in my comfort CAS zone.

The current challenge is a sketch with lots of circles, so when I saw it I instantly thought of a stamp set I have from Altenew called “Halftone circles’. So I got inky with my Catherine Pooler inks in Melon Ice, Fiesta Blue, All That Jazz, It’s a Boy, Something Borrowed and Black Jack.

See, isn’t that set perfect for this sketch? I’m pretty chuffed with how this card came together.

Thanks for looking and have a great day.

Today’s card I’ll be giving to my mum next Sunday for Mother’s Day. She’s about to start her next round of chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer with secondary liver cancer. It has been 12 months since her diagnosis and surgery and we are now accepting of this being her way of life. Treatment and non-treatment. We are hopeful that one day research may catch up and be able to rid her of this disease but in the interim we are living life with cancer and making memories. My mum is a strong woman and my inspiration for how I raise my daughter, Miss K, to be strong and resilient.

I was inspired by 3 challenges when making this card:

• Shopping Our Stash – SOS 352
• Fusion Card Challenge – pink phone/sketch
• Muse Challenge #264

I used a stamp set from Altenew called “Garden Treasure” for the flower and the sentiment is from MFT called “Mothers”. I used Stampin Up inks in Pear Pizzazz, Granny Apple Green, Mossy Meadow, Highland Heather, Gorgeous Grape, Fresh Fig and Black.

I hope she’ll like it. Thanks for looking and have a great weekend.

Today’s card is brought to you by 3 challenges:

• CAS on Friday – Challenge #131 – Black, White & Pink
• CAS(E) this Sketch #269
• Seize the Birthday – Anything Goes

I love the simplicity and balance of the sketch and the colour combination is a beautiful, feminine one.

I used a stamp sets from Altenew called ‘Peony Bouquet’ and ‘Birthday Greetings’ for the flowers and sentiment. I stamped them in Stampin Up inks in Basic Black, Pink Pirouette, Blushing Bride and Sweet Sugarplum. The black and white twine gives that little bit extra balance to the top left corner.

Thanks for looking and have a great day.

Today’s card will be added to my Christmas card stash. I used an adorable digital image from the April Gerda Steiner progressive challenge. I love playing along with this monthly challenge and I will be entering this card into the current Watercooler Wednesday Challenge – all about Christmas and the CAS Colors & Sketches challenges.

I thought the gnome couple looked like Mr & Mrs Claus so I coloured them in that way with my Stampin Up Stampin Blends. I used a sentiment from a set by Uniko Studio called ‘Rustic Christmas’

I kept is pretty CAS so the gnomes were the focus. Hope you agree they’re pretty adorable.

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend.

Aint this the truth but some days I think mine is off on holidays!

I’m playing along with the current challenges over at Shopping Our Stash and Calling All Sistahs, which are about mythical/magical and colour inspirations.

I used a stamp from Unity Stamps called ‘WFT Fairy’ and sentiment from ‘Your Fair Godmother’ and coloured her in with my Zig markers. I added a few solid sequins from The Ton for that extra bit of sparkle, some silver thread and I was done.

Thanks for looking and have a great day.

This is my first time playing along with the Muse Challenge as the Muse challenge card spoke to me – I love CAS cards and the colour green.

I used a stamp set from Altenew called ‘Persian Motifs’ that I stamped and coloured in with my Stampin Up Stampin Blends markers in Calypso Coral and Old Olive. I then fussy cut a portion from the top, popped it up with dimensionals and added a couple of sequins for balance in the top.

This will now go into my birthday card stash. Thanks for looking and have a great day.

Today is our national day of remembrance here in Australia, where we remember those who fought and still fight to protect our land.  The remembrance poppy was inspired by the World War I poem “In Flanders Fields”.  Its opening lines refer to the many poppies that were the first flowers to grow in the churned-up earth of soldiers’ graves in Flanders, a region of Belgium.

I was inspired to use the poppy on my card for the CAS(E) This Sketch current challenge.

I used a retired stamp and matching die set from Clearly Besotted called ‘poppy’, stamped in Stampin Up Red Real, Old Olive and Basic Black inks.

I love the simplicity of this card. Thank you to all those who gave their lives so we could enjoy the freedome we have today.

Well hello there – I’m back from my cruising holiday. I had a fabulous time with my hubby, daughter and mum and am starting to plan the next cruise. If you haven’t been on a cruise before I highly recommend them – I have been on many holidays and must say that a cruising holiday is the most relaxing holiday ever!

Now I’m back I’m raring to go with some crafty challenges and first cab off the rank is the current challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays Stamps which is all about using a musical theme on your card.

The Design Team have shared some fabulous cards with lots of inspiration. I was inspired by Lisa’s card with the alcohol ink panel. I created my own alcohol ink panel and cut a large postage stamp panel for my focal point and added the sentiment from the CAS-ual Fridays set ‘Love Notes’  and a Heart Note Fri-Die in silver glitter paper to finish it off.

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend.

I have finally found myself an hour to be able to craft. These past 2 weeks have been go go go for me with Miss K’s birthday, school activities, sport and plenty of my paying work to be done prior to us going on our cruise tomorrow!

Yep, we’re heading off on a cruise to the islands of Noumea, we’re taking my mum along who needs to make some very happy memories before she undertakes her third lot of chemo treatment. She got some results that were not what we were hoping for; but it is what it is and we will continue to be strong and provide the support that she needs.

So, on to more happy things – the bookmark. I used the current month digital image from Gerda Steiner Designs which is an adorable cat sleeping on a bookshelf. I thought to make a bookmark as I’m planning on catching up on my reading on the cruise.

I coloured this little cutie in with my Prisma Pencils, added it to a tag and tried a bit of mixed media for the finishing effect. I can see him getting a good workout over the next 2 weeks.

Thanks for looking and I’ll see you in 2 weeks time 🙂

Those who know me won’t be surprised by this next statement –  I love green. So when I saw that there were some  challenges that I could play with my favourite colour I quickly got myself inky!

I made 1 card that I think fit the bill for 4 different challenges:

• Watercooler Wednesday Challenges #WWC161 (a birthday’s an occassion right?)
• CAS(e) this sketch #263 (I flipped the sketch)
• CAS-ual Fridays – #CFC196 (I used 3 greens)
• Time Out Challenges #105 (I used the word birthday)

I used a stamp set by Altenew called Peony Bouquet with a sentiment from their Birthday Greetings set – thanks to my MISTI for making this multi-layer stamping super easy. The inks are from Catherine Pooler Designs in Melon Ice, Garden Party and Lime Rickey. The black stripe DSP is from a MFT 6×6 paper pad. I added some sequins for a little bit of extra bling and I was done.

The background behind my card is my new Tim Holtz glass media mat which I love; cleaning up has never been easier!

Thanks for looking and have a great day.