Cathy's Creative Corner

Swap Cards - April - Fun Fold & Sketch

2026-04-24T17:00:00.000+09:30

Time for another card swap - CM April swap cards – Fun Fold & Sketch

Card #1 – Fun Fold

I struggled to decide on which ‘fun fold’ I was going to use, but then settled on a ‘Z-fold’.

I utilised some more the DP & embellishments received in my Secret Santa swap.

I used black cardstock for the base, and white cardstock for features. I die-cut ‘hello’ from Honey Bee Bitty Buzzwords in white (x2) and black for the shadow.

The sentiment and butterfly were mounted to the front with 3d foam tape and a final touch of bling added.

I think this card is ‘CAS’ …. Well it is for me! LOL

I kept the two inside panels blank for writing a personal message.

Items Used:

Stamps &/or Dies: Honey Bee Stamps Bitty Buzzwords

Adhesives/Tapes: Double sided tape, Gina K Connect Glue, 3D foam

Card stock: Blue Edge Crafts 300 gsm cardbase, Blue Edge Crafts 210 gsm background and die cuts

DP: American Crafts – Vick Boutin ‘Bold & Bright’

Tools: Cuttlebug, Couture Creations Mini Guillotine Trimmer

Embellishments: American Crafts – Vick Boutin ‘Bold & Bright’

Linking Card #1 with the following challenges:

Triple B: April Challenge - Butterflies

Card #2 – Sketch

We had a sketch provided – although I did not stick to it precisely …

I used a die set I have had for quite some time now, but don’t seem to reach for it very often. I thought it might work for this sketch.

I cut up some DP to suit the background (once again using my Secret Santa present) and die-cut the BBQ & sentiment from coloured cardstock, the food & flames from white cardstock and the tools & wheel from silver mirror cardstock. I then coloured the flames & food items with Copics, finishing with Kindy Glitz on the flames.

I die-cut several different sizes of circles from vellum/parchment paper and placed according to sketch layout. I then attached the BBQ elements to front of card using Gina K Connect Glue.

I am quite pleased with how this card turned out.

Items Used:

Stamps &/or dies: Creative Expressions – King of the Grill, Spellbinders Circles

Ink: Copics, Kindy Glitz

Adhesives/Tapes: Double sided tape, Gina K Connect Glue, 3D foam

Card stock: Blue Edge Crafts - 300 gsm cardbase, white 210 gsm cardstock, mirror cardstock, vellum

DP: American Crafts – Vick Boutin ‘Bold & Bright’

Tools: Cuttlebug, Couture Creations Mini Guillotine Trimmer

Linking Card #2 with the following challenges:

Crafty Calendar Challenge April - Dies/Punches

Neglected Stuff Challenge April

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Swap Cards - March - TTT & Sketch

2026-04-24T12:45:00.000+09:30

Time for another selection of swap cards - another month where I was very late in sending.

Card #1 – Tic Tac Toe (TTT)

I chose the middle line – Flowers, Scoring, DieCuts

I made my background by scoring diagonal lines with my scoreboard. I then inkblended the edges and attached it direct to the 300gsm cardbase.

I die-cut, coloured & assembled some flowers from Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms using Ranger Distress Inks and attached to the cardfront with a combination of glue & double-sided tape.

The Pre-cut foiled sentiment is from my stash and was placed on the front with 3D Foam.

Items Used:

Dies: Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms, Waffle Flower A6 Layers

Ink: Ranger Distress inks

Adhesives/Tapes: Double sided tape, Gina K Connect Glue, 3D foam

Card stock: Blue Edge Crafts 300 gsm cardbase, Blue Edge Crafts 210 gsm background and die cuts

Tools: Cuttlebug, Couture Creations Mini Score Board,

Embellishments: Pre-Cut foiled Sentiments,

Linking with challenges:

AllSorts Challenge #847 - in the garden

Card #2 – Tic Tac Toe (TTT) & Sketch

I chose the right column – Summer, Die Cuts, Ice Cream

I made my background by cutting up some Kaisercraft DP to suit the sketch. I then stamped & die cut several items from the Uniquely Creative – Summer Stamp & Die set. The images were coloured in with Copics then mounted to the cardfront with 3D Foam.

Items Used:

Stamps & dies: Uniquely Creative – Summer

Ink: Copics

Adhesives/Tapes: Double sided tape, Gina K Connect Glue, 3D foam

Card stock: Blue Edge Crafts 300 gsm cardbase, Blue Edge Crafts 210 gsm background and die cuts

DP: Kaisercraft DP

Tools: Cuttlebug

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Riding by to say 'hello'

2026-04-24T12:30:00.000+09:30

A crafty friend needed some cheering up

I made my background by scoring diagonal lines with my scoreboard. I then inkblended the edges and attached it direct to the 300gsm cardbase.

I stamped various elements from Honey Bee ‘Riding By’ – heat embossed in black and then coloured with Distress Inks/watercolour.

Bike elements were die-cut from Red Mirror card, wheels & handle bars from silver cardstock, tyre from black and attached direct to the cardfront with Gina K Connect Glue.

Sentiments were stamped & die-cut then attached to the cardfront with foam tape.

The basket & flowers were arranged and glued together, then placed on the cardfront with foam tape to add dimension.

Items Used:

Stamps &/or dies: Honey Bee ‘Riding By’

Ink: Versamark Embossing Ink, WOW Embossing powder, Distress Inks

Adhesives/Tapes: Double sided tape, Gina K Connect Glue, 3D foam

Card stock: Blue Edge Crafts - 300 gsm cardbase, white 210 gsm cardstock, mirror cardstock,

Tools: Cuttlebug, Couture Creations Mini Guillotine Trimmer, Couture Creations Mini Score Board

The card has now been received, and I can share it here.

Linking with the following challenges:

All Sorts Challenge #847 - in the garden

Cut it Up Challenge #354 - colours of spring

Stamping Sensations - Nature inspiration

We Love Stamping - Spring

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Guest Designer Post - CAS on Sunday Challenge #329

2026-03-06T19:30:00.017+10:30

The card I submitted to a recent CAS on Friday Challenge #327 was selected as a Top Image, and I have been invited to be a Guest Designer for their next challenge - which is Challenge #329

We were provided with a sketch for this particular challenge and here is my take on that sketch.

I confess I do struggle a little with 'CAS' ...... I always wonder whether a card looks 'finished' enough LOL

aNYWAY .......

I recently purchased some new Spellbinder number dies - 'Classy Numbers' and was looking for an excuse to use them.

As soon as I saw the sketch, I knew I wanted to use some lovely ribbons I have had in my stash for as long as I can remember, so I pulled that out.

I also came across the last of some lovely 'red mirror/foil cardstock' and die cut several copies of numbers from it. I layered those numbers three times, and mounted onto a circle die cut.

I cut some 210 gsm white cardstock with Waffle Flower Nesting rectangles, then embossed using the ProvoCraft 'Number Collage' embossing folder, and smudged some Candied Apple Distress Ink along the outer edge of the cardfront and across the top of raised numbers. I then applied the two strips of red crossgrain ribbon and glued to the back of the cardfront. The Cardfront was attached to 300 gsm white A6 cardbase with foam tape, and the white circle with the '60' was placed on the front with foam tape as well.

this is the sketch we were provided:

I would like to thank Janneke Dijkstra - de Jong & Team for picking my card as a winner and for the invitation to be a Guest Designer. I look forward to seeing the other Design Team's cards.

Please visit the CAS on Friday blog to see their new challenge.

Linking with:

AAA Birthday #83 - Use Die Cuts

Can you Handle the Pressure 2/2026 - Anything goes

Allsorts Challenge #844 - Ribbons & Bows

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Swap Cards - With Sympathy & Handmade Hug

2026-03-06T13:00:00.002+10:30

It was time again for some more swap cards.

Card # 1 - Easel Card

I struggled to come up with an idea - but landed on a 'crafty' feel. I actually started following the sketch before I came up with a suitable 'easel' idea.

I stamped, hand coloured and die cut several elements from the Stampin Up Crafting With You.

The various elements were added to the front of the cardbase using foam tabs to provide added dimension.

I forgot to take a photo of the easel bit ..... but the front of the card folds up, to reveal another raised element of the designer paper.

Card #2 - Sketch

Once again, I followed the sketch, with the basic elements being added to the front of the card with foam tabs. Spellbinders 'Little Blooms' were diecut, then ink blended with Distress Inks, leaves trimmed & glued together to form a 'bunch', then added to the square panel cut with Spellbinder Square die.

The background paper came from the paper pad I got from Secret Santa - it's funny, because I am not normally a fan of green, but I do like this particular shade of green.

The 'With Sympathy' element was printed and foiled, then die cut with Spellbinders Circle die. Both the square and the circle were added to the cardfront with foam tabs to add dimension.

Linking Card #2 with the following challenges:

Pick 3 challenge #2 - I chose Embellishments, Flower, Circle

Allsorts Challenge #844 - Anything Goes

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Happy Birthday Sharon

2026-02-22T10:30:00.001+10:30

It's the Sister-in-Law's birthday, hence another birthday card - they seem to come by so very quickly of late!

I have been making an effort to utilise some of the thousands of images I have purchased over the years and came across some wine & cheese images that are just perfect for Sharon.

As with my previous cards using digital images, I utilised Photoshop to put the image & text on different layers so that they could be printed by two different printers. The text being printed by a Laser printer so that it can be foiled, then the image printed by the ink jet.

I foiled the text in Red, after letting the print thoroughly dry. Sadly, on this one, I can see a very faint line where the edge of the foil was. I will have to investigate a better way to do this type of cardfront.

As with one of the previous cards, the cardfront was mounted to some 300gsm red leathergrain cardbase.

As I mentioned previously, I have been making a concerted effort to use some of the many digital images purchased in the past - this lot have been sitting on my computer for about a year and have not been used before.

I also love the versatility of using digital images where you can resize to suit your purposes, and ofcourse the choices of so many fonts are available now!

AND I love the ability to print in separate layers, so that I can foil the text with my Mini Minc - win win!

Linking with:

NBUS Challenge #83

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Swap Cards - Hello & Thank You

2026-02-20T13:30:00.023+10:30

Some more swap cards for my CraftMad Swap group.

We had to swap two cards.

Card #1 - using a defined colour palette

I started with an embossed card front and selected some inks that were sort of close to the defined colours and went about 'colouring in' using my ink blending brushes to create a feathery soft layered effect.

I Trimmed the cardfront down using Waffle Flower Rectangles and inked the edges to give definition to the border. The cardfront was mounted with foam to a 300gsm cardbase.

I then diecut the 'hello' out of black cardstock and placed onto the front of the card.

I finished off with some gems that were received as part of my Secret Santa gift.

Linking Card #1 with:

Allsorts Challenge #843 - embossing

Beautiful Blossoms - Anything floral goes

Card #2 - using items from Secret Santa gift.

The following card was made with several items received in my Secret Santa gift.

Secret Santa Gift 2025

I used a sheet from the paper pad and several elements of ephemera layered with foam tabs.

The background paper was inked around the edges to define the border. The gold 'thank you' sticker is from a sheet that has been in my stash for years!

I am quite pleased with how the cards turned out, even though they took a while to come together.

PS: I ate the choccie santas, they didn't last long! Thank you Secret Santa!

Linking Card #2 with:

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge - Anything floral goes

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Happy Anniversary

2026-02-18T14:00:00.001+10:30

It's was our 44th Wedding Anniversary on 13th February.

There have been a few challenges this year, but I am happy to say we survived LOL

So here is a card I made for our Anniversary.

I recently purchased some wonderfully fun images from ETSY.

There was a wonderful selection of images - the hardest part was deciding which one to use, but when I saw these three images, and I knew that they would be perfect for our Wedding Anniversary card!

I used Photoshop to place the 3 images on 3 different layers; playing with different layouts and sizes LOL you have no idea on how long that took and the many minute changes I made to and fro LOL

The Anniversary sentiment went on a different layer.

The cardfront was printed on 'glossy photo paper'. I printed the sentiment layer separately with the Laser printer first, so that it could be foiled using my Mini Minc. Then the images were printed using my Epson Ink Jet printer.

After leaving the image to make sure it was completely dry, I trimmed the cardfront to size using Waffle Flower Nesting Rectangles and mounted to 300gsm red leathergrain cardbase. No Kindy Glitz/Stickles on this card, as it for Mr Fixit!

If you've read this far, I shall explain the significance of the images.

We first met when I was a frequent roller skater at St Clair Roller Skating, Woodville and our first 'sort of' date, was roller skating.
He was in a 'band' and played guitar, and very often played for me.
Now, it is me doing most of the driving when we go out.

And now the card I made for Valentines Day - this card is so very us lately LOL

The is essentially very simple - just the sentiment doing the talking, but what was challenging was finding a way to make only certain lines of text foiled in a different colour. I solved my problem by placing a sheet over the area not being foiled, then cutting out 'slots' to expose only the words to be foiled.

It's a little bit smudged in some parts, as I fed it through the Minc twice, but I'm happy with how it turned out - after all, it's the thought that counts.

So another year done and dusted - next year the big 45...... which means Sapphire! Woo Hoo!

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Happy Birthday Bestie!

2026-02-18T13:30:00.003+10:30

It was my BFF's birthday recently. Here is the card I made for her.

I recently purchased some wonderfully fun images from ETSY and I knew exactly who I was going to make a card for!

There was a wonderful selection of images - the hardest part was deciding which one to use.

Once I decided which image to use, I placed the image on one layer in Photoshop, then created another layer for the birthday sentiment.

The cardfront was printed on 'glossy photo paper' using an Epson ink jet printer.

After leaving the image to make sure it was completely dry, I trimmed the cardfront to size using Waffle Flower Nesting Rectangles and mounted to 300gsm cardbase. I then highlighted a few select parts of the cat with Kindy Glitz/Stickles and the outer edge of cardfront.

We eventually caught up with each other and went out for a meal with our respective partners. Food was good and as always, the company was great!

EDITED TO ADD:

CAS Winner! Woo Hoo

Linking with the following challenges:

CAS on Sunday #327 - Anything Goes

All Sorts Challenge #843 - Anything Goes

Critter Crazy Challenge #107 - Anything Goes

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Monotone Christmas & Shaped Card

2025-12-18T15:00:00.021+10:30

Another crafting session, another card swap completed.

Card #1 - Shaped Card

I struggled to make a new card - I wanted to make a 'teepee' card, but no matter what measurements I used, it would not come together, so that idea was put on the back burner. I pulled out my Klik n Kut to use but 'old technology' got the better of me LOL

Time was running out and I did not want to be late AGAIN!

So I reverted to a card I had made previously, using my CraftROBO (before it went to crafty heaven) and kept in my 'to use' pile waiting for the right moment to send it.

I designed the card using a pretty font and applying offets, the cutting from SU Cardstock and some pretty DP with just a touch of glitter!

I threw in an extra one to make up for not making up a new card :)

Card #2 - Monotone Christmas card with Tag

I decided to utilise some 'emboss heat resist' for this card and stamped a 'Kaszazz' christmas bauble (I think - if anyone knows for sure, let me know please) with Versamark and heat embossed with White powder directly onto the front of the cardbase. I then ink blended using green Distress Ink over the stamped image.

Using the Cuttlebug, I diecut a circle out of an A6 cardfront (cut with Waffle Flowers A6 Layers) and then embossed it with Couture Creations 'Scattered Notes' folder (singing along all the way). I swiped the same Distress Ink over the raised bits and finished with a bit of ink blending around the circle aperture. The cardfront was then mounted to the cardbase using foam tape.

The tag followed the same embossing and colouring process, but instead of heat embossing, I diecut 'Merry' from Hero Arts Stamp & Cut several times, layered, inkblended then attached with glue.

Linking the above card with the following challenges:

As You Like it - Anything festive

Can You Handle the Pressure? Anything goes with twist of 'any holiday'

I also made a little 'card' for my swap partner.

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday & Happy 35th Anniversary

2025-12-17T15:30:00.001+10:30

Another family gathering, another round of birthdays - this time for the November & December birthdays.

Brother-in-law & Sister-in-law celebrated their 35th Wedding Anniversary in November, so an extra special card was made.

It's not an original idea, but I did consult the internet on just how many days, weeks, months etc were in 35 years!

'35 years' anniversary is Coral (Traditional) or Jade (Modern) anniversary. I didn't have any Jade cardstock, so Coral it had to be LOL I even searched to find the right RGB code for the font colour (MV Boli). The Champagne bottle & glasses were purchased from ETSY back in May 2025. The cardfront was printed with an inkjet printer on 210 gsm cardstock, trimmed down to suit the A6 Cardbase using the Waffle Flower A6 Layers die, then highlighted with just a touch of Kindy Glitz/Stickles.

The inside of the card says 'but who's counting?'

Linking the above card with the following challenge:

Word Power - December 2025

Next is a card for the brother-in-law, Greg.

I diecut a heap of diamonds out of my stash of cardstock (snippets), printed a sentiment with the computer and cut out by hand. I then 'splashed' a white background with black ink and placed the diamonds in rainbow order (ROYGBIV) with foam tabs on the front. I strategically placed the sentiment and added some black bling as a final touch.

The white cardfront seemed to disappear on the white cardbase, so I edged the cardfront with black Copics to give it a rough edge.

Quite happy with the way the card turned out. I have CASED a card I saw on someone's blog a few years ago - I can't find it now, but it had 'handmade by Tasha'. They used several dies from the Altenew Fine Fames set, but I have chosen the centre diamond, and I used bling/gems whereas I think they used sequins. I love working with the rainbow colours, and I love any opportunity to work through my snippets stash!

Linking the above card with the following challenges:

Cut it Up Challenge #345 - from your stash

Snippets Playground #521 - use up snippets

Allsorts Challenge #838 - Anything Goes

I also needed a card for the Sister-in-law, so I duplicated a card I made earlier for a swap, this time using different DP, but everything else was done the same.

Colorado Craft Company Sundae Funday image stamped and heat embossed, then hand coloured with Copics. Spellbinders Circle Dies and offcuts/snippets layered on the background from my stash, and a touch of bling.

This is about as CAS as I get. I did use an old FMS sketch for the layout.

Linking the above card with the following challenges:

Critter Crazy Challenge #105

It felt good to be in the craft room making card for my family :)

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Sundae Funday & Gnome for Christmas

2025-12-16T15:30:00.008+10:30

Another crafting session, and another Christmas Card & Tag and Swap Card

This time, we have a 'gnome' Christmas Card and a CAS Card (I struggle with CAS cards, they always look incomplete to me LOL)

Anyway, here are my cards for the CraftMad Card Swap - November.

Card #1 CAS

This is about as CAS as I get. I did use an old FMS sketch for the layout.

Now onto Card #2 - Gnome/Snowman Christmas Card with tag.

We had a choice of Snowman or Gnome, so I chose Gnome.

I stamped up some Gnome images and coloured in with Copics, then cut them out with the matching dies. I used some leftover strips from my previous 'white on white' card, swiped some ink over the raised bits and layered over some DP from my stash. I layered the Gnome on a die cut Diamond Vellum, and heat embossed on the edges and the sentiment with Silver.

The Tag mirrors the layout of the card, but I used a 'Girl' Gnome this time.

I have really struggled to keep up with my card swaps this year - most of them have been late, very late, not something I am proud of.

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

White on White Christmas

2025-12-08T17:30:00.001+10:30

more swap cards for my CraftMad swappers group

This Christmas Card swap was a 'white on white with a tag' swap. I confess, I really struggled with an idea for this one. It took several days to come up with a design that I thought fitting of a 'white on white' challenge, and it was very late getting to the recipient.

Cuttlebug to the rescue with some Christmas Trees die cut, and an aperture cut from the front of a card to make a window. There is such a gorgeous amount of texture in this card.

And of course, the matching tag!

I have to wonder why I am drawn to snowflakes when making Christmas Cards ..... here in South Australia, we don't have snow .... if it does snow in winter (July/August) it makes front page news! LOL

And a Gift Card Holder - this was created using a prize I won from Christina, of Flowers, Ribbons and Pearls - Christina was most generous in sending it to me, even though I was in Australia and she is in the UK. This is the second time I have used the die set - the first time was used to hold a small present, but I forgot to take photos. So thank you Christina, I will be using my prize again very shortly.

Sadly, my Gift Card Holder does not fit a gift card!! Note to self: check measurements before committing to design. LOL It may not fit a gift card, but it will fit some Cash ..... everyone knows, Cash is King! and it is perfect for holding special small presents.

Linking with the following challenges:

AAA Cards #305 - white on white (not sure if the card is CAS, but the matching Gift Tag is :) )

Crafty Calendar Challenge December - Winter/Christmas

Christmas Kickstart Challenge - Anything Christmassy Goes

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Christmas Greetings

2025-12-01T16:00:00.001+10:30

Another Cardmaking session - some Christmas Cards this time for my CraftMad swap for September - these cards were extremely late in being sent, it was November before the swap was completed..

Stamped image and coloured in with watercolour pencils and a bit of metallic paints, die cut several layers of cardstock and DP from my stash. Some of these papers were in a stack from my Secret Santa parcel for 2024. I have been looking forward to using these papers.

Also made a matching tag.

Another card using the double Z-fold process.

Same image, this time stamped & heat embossed in gold, lots of layers cut from DP stash.

Card made with lots of scraps and snippets from my DP stash.

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday & Anniversary

2025-10-25T13:30:00.018+10:30

Time for some more 'family' birthday celebrations.

We meet up in October to celebrate September & October birthdays.

October is niece Lauren's birthday & wedding anniversary - I usually do a combined card.

Background was stamped with Couture Creations 'sunburst' and Clear Heat Embossed, then a selection of ink blended rainbow colours were added. Sentiment 'happy' was die cut 3 times - 1 from rainbow foil cardstock & 2 from white, then layered together for dimension and added to front of card with Foam strip. Sentiment 'birthday' and 'anniversary' stamped directly onto cardfront. Fishishing with a few stripes of Stickles.

Next up is a card for Great-Nephew, Lucas (11)

Background was stenciled with Blue Distress Ink, '11' was stamped & clear heat embossed, 'birthday' was stamped - all directly onto cardfront. 'happy' was die cut from 'gold' mirror cardstock.

Next up is a card for Archie (9) - I had some fun with this card!

I have had this set of Uniquely Creative Stamps & Dies (Summer) for a little while now (since August 2024), but have never used them before. So I set about stamping out some elements and colouring in with Copics, then die cutting several times and mounting in layers to create dimension. 'happy' was die cut from Gold mirror card, layered and added to cardfront with foam.

I played around with the different placements for a little while. I decided to add a layer of DP from my stash, and a 'white' frame layer to help make the elements stand out a bit better, and once I was happy, stuck everything down.

I really enjoyed the way this card came together and can see some more coming using this stamp set in the future.

Linking above card with the following challenges:

NBUS #79

Cut it Up Challenge #341 - add embellishments

Addicted to Stamps & More #504 - Any Occasion

Seize the Birthday #316 - Anything Goes

Neglected Stuff Challenge 10/25

Items Used:

Stamps & dies:	Uniquely Creative – Summer, Hero Arts Stamp & Cut - Happy
Dies:	Waffle Flower A6 Layers
Ink:	Versamark Embossing Ink, Ranger Distress inks, Copic Markers
Card stock:	Blue Edge Crafts 300 gsm cardbase, Blue Edge Crafts 210 gsm cardfront, Mirror cardstock, rainbow foil cardstock
DP:
Tools:	Cuttlebug, Print Blocks Emboss It Heat Tool, Couture Creations Precision Stamp Press, Couture Creations Mini Guillotine Trimmer, Couture Creations Mini Score Board,
Embellishments:	Stickles/Kindy Glitz

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

You're not old, you're a classic

2025-10-09T11:30:00.002+10:30

Another Cardmaking session for me!

CARD #1

Masculine Card -

The Altenew Vintage Vibes stamps & dies were still on my desk from my last card. So I went with a similar layout, but decided to do a 'shaker' element for the screen.

I stamped all the layers of the TV, then die cut it out twice and joined the layers together for added dimension.

The assembled diecut TV was then mounted to the front with foam tape for added dimension.

Sentiment was stamped with black ink direct to the cardfront.

The ONLY BLING on this card was the shaker elements!

Linking with the following challenges:

Items Used:

STAMPS: Altenew Vintage Vibes

DIES: Altenew Vintage Vibes, Waffle Flower A6 Layers

INK: Distress Inks

CARD STOCK: Blue Edge Crafts Cardstock – Cream 300 gsm, White 210 gsm, Acetate

DP: unknown (from stash)

TOOLS: Cuttlebug

EMBELLISHMENTS: Sequins, hearts

CARD #2

I used some stencils I have had for a while and ink blended them using slightly different that traditional Christmas colours.

Just the plain ink colour was a bit bland, so I re-positioned the stencil and went over it with Kindy Glitz/Stickles ...... I think it added just the right amount of sparkle. Sentiment 'christmas' was stamped underneath baubles.

The card front was mounted onto some copper mirror cardstock, then added to the 300 gsm card base.

"Merry" was diecut several times with white cardstock and once with the mirror cardstock, layered then attached to the cardfront.

The Tag followed the same process for the card - ink blending and adding sparkles, mounted onto mirror cardstock and copper organza ribbon added.

Linking with:

Sparkles Christmas Challenge #177 - non-traditional Christmas Colours

Items Used:

DIES: Waffle Flower A6 Layers, Hero Arts Merry & Bright

STENCILS: Christmas Baubles (BlueEdge Crafts)

INK: Distress Inks

CARD STOCK: Blue Edge Crafts Cardstock – White Linen 210 gsm, Mirror Copper

TOOLS: Cuttlebug, sticky matt

EMBELLISHMENTS: Kindy Glitz/Stickles, organza ribbon

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Happy Birthday Mr Fixit!

2025-10-04T16:30:00.001+09:30

Birthday for Mr Fixit ....... 66 ...... one year closer to being an 'official' Aged Pensioner!

I had a bit of fun with his card - his favourite show (and mine) is Star Trek (the whole franchise actually).

The Altenew Vintage Vibes stamps & dies were the perfect choice! I managed to find a Star Trek image on the internet (PNGwing) - the hardest part was sizing it small enough to fit in the 'TV Screen'.

I stamped all the layers of the TV, then die cut it out twice and joined the layers together for added dimension.

The background is a snippett of scrapbook/DP that has been in my stash for so long. It was die cut with the Waffle Flower A6 Layers die and I used the outer edge of a Spellbinders circle die to draw part of a circle and hand cut the top right hand corner, which was then added to the cardfront using double-sided tape.

The assembled diecut TV was then mounted to the front with foam tape for added dimension.

Sentiment was stamped with black ink.

NO bling was added to this card!

Linking with the following challenges:

As You Like It challenge asks for our Favourite card - square or not. I do like a square card, but the traditional rectangle is my 'go to' - A5 size (half of an A4, folded in half) I do mostly in portrait mode, but occasionally landscape mode.

Cut-it-Up Challenge #340 - Use more than one die - I have used the Vintage Vibes TV die, and a Waffle Flower A6 layers die AND using the outer edge of a Spellbinders circle die to get the round corner.

Cardz 4 Guyz #378 - Autumn/Fall - I have used Autumn/Fall colours.

Items Used:

STAMPS: Altenew Vintage Vibes

DIES: Altenew Vintage Vibes, Waffle Flower A6 Layers, Spellbinders Nested Circles

INK: Distress Inks

CARD STOCK: Blue Edge Crafts Cardstock – Cream 300 gsm, White 210 gsm, matte gold

DP: unknown (from stash)

TOOLS: Cuttlebug, Print Blocks Emboss It Heat Tool

EMBELLISHMENTS: No Bling!

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Happy Birthday Liam!

2025-08-18T10:30:00.001+09:30

Another family birthday, this one for the Nephew, Liam.

I made the card using his favourite football team colours - Port Adelaide (Black, White & Teal)

I have wanted to try the 'split circle' technique for quite some time and I figure now was a good time to try.

I made a background using Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder and splattered with Distress Inks, then cut the cardfront with Waffle Flower A6 layers die. I diecut several different size Spellbinders circles from offcuts of black, white & teal cardstock and set out having a play. I discovered that cutting a circle in half is not as easy as it sounds LOL but I managed.

Circles were cut, glued together then arranged accordingly, but I made a mess with the ink somehow, hence the 'extra' bit to the left of the 'Happy Birthday' to cover up a blob. Happy Birthday sentiment is from Stampin' Up, Voila! stamped onto another circle, then positioned accordingly.

Birthday balloons were cut from teal and placed on the cardfront. (unknown brand, bought at an Op Shop)

Cardfront was then attached to a 300gsm white card base.

I was not completely happy with the card, but time was against me. I think I will have another play with these split circles at some stage in the future and see what I can come up with.

Linking with the following challenges:

AAA Birthday #76 - Sports (Fave Sports team colours) Not sure if this qualifies or not, but will give it a shot!

Seize the Birthday #311 - no flowers

Snippets Playground #513 - offcuts of black, teal & White

All Sorts Challenge #830 - I Spy with a "B" - Balloons

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Merry Christmouse!

2025-08-07T12:00:00.001+09:30

Time for a Christmas Card and matching tag!

I had a colouring in session with some of my LOTV Christmas digital stamps. I have had these digital images since 2021/2022 and I don't think I have used them yet :(

I used my computer to place the two LOTV graphics 'Christmouse Pudding' & 'Christmouse Decorations' along the bottom of an A4 page for the cardfront. The sentiment graphic was then placed below it.

For the Tag, another copy of the 'Christmouse Pudding' was placed at the top of the A4 page and resized, with a portion of the image removed, leaving just the mouse with the pudding. A sentiment graphic was then positioned below it.

Once the graphics were printed, I then set about colouring it in with Copics, finishing with Kindy Glitz.

Slimline/DL sized card was made with Red leathergrain cardstock, and completed cardfront attached to cardbase.

The Tag was hand cut to suit, then a red ribbon added.

I had lots of fun making this set :) Now to get on with some more cardmaking!

Linking with the following challenges:

Critter Crazy Challenge CCC101 - Anything Goes

Creative Knockouts - #551 Sparkle & Shine

Neglected Stuff Challenge 8/25

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Happy Purrthday

2025-08-07T11:30:00.004+09:30

Another fun card for today.

The As You Like it Challenge asks us 'cats or dogs?' LOL it is definitely cats for me!

Black 300gsm card base, with a marble DP.

Uniquely Creative "Purrfect" cats stamped and hand coloured with Copics, then die cut, Sentiment stamped and diecut. All elements added to cardfront with foam tabs.

A touch of bling added.

A very clean and simple card for me .... not sure whether it needs something more or not :)

Linking with the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps & More - Birthdays

Allsorts Challenge #829 - Animals

As You Like it - Cats or Dogs Oops, too late!

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Hello Friend, Happy Birthday

2025-06-30T17:30:00.001+09:30

I have another new card today. This one is Card #2 of my CraftMad card swap.

Card #2 is an embossed card with layers.

It took a little while to settle on a design, but once inspiration hit, the card came together fairly quickly.

I rumaged through my Snippets container, and made a selection of rainbow colour strips of cardstock. I ran them through the Cuttlebug using the 'hello' embossing folder.

The strips were then placed in rainbow order, trimmed to suit the placement of the sentiment and then mounted to cardfront with foam tape.

Honey Bee 'Bitty Buzzwords' stamps & dies were used.

I diecut 'hello' & 'friend' in alternating black & white cardstock (black for the shadow, white for the text).

Sentiment was also mounted with foam tape, and placed at the bottom of the cardfront.

'Happy Birthday' was stamped on the inside with Versafine Claire Onyx black.

Quite a fun cheerful card.

Linking with following Challenges:

Snippets Playground #509

Can You Handle The Pressure - Anything goes

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Have a Bloomin Good Day

2025-06-29T13:30:00.002+09:30

A slightly different card from me today.

You may recall I have been participating in a swap group, regularly swapping cards with a 'fun fold' technique ..... most of which have not been 'fun' for me!

Well, I persevered and I finally made a card I am happy with and had fun making (even after a few false starts with the cutting and measuring 😆).

So here is one of my cards for the card swap - a Double Z fun fold.

I started with a 300gsm speckled cardbase I have had since I first started crafting way back in the 90's - I came across the last few pieces when I did a recent sort out!

I then selected some DP from a new 'Craft Smart textured paper stack' I purchased recently.

The chosen stamp set was 'build-a-bouquet' from Australian Simply Cards Magazine Issue 113 (I think)

After planning layout and cutting, I stamped the various sentiments in Versafine Claire Black Onyx directly onto the DP, then attached them to their respective positions using double sided tape.

I then stamped the vase on vellum, in Versafine Claire Black Onyx, heat embossed with clear, then die cut the vase. The bunch of flowers & single flower were stamped in Versafine Claire Black Onyx on 210gsm white cardstock, and hand coloured with Copics. The bunch of flowers was cut out by hand and the single flower was die cut. The stems were stamped directly onto card front, the vellum vase placed over the stems with double sided tape, then the flowers were added to the front with foam tabs to add dimension. Flowers were highlighted with FolkArt Papier Finish in Antique. A final touch of bling with a spray of brown pearls added above the sentiment.

I am really quite pleased with how this card has turned out ...... so much so that I didn't want to send it to my swap partner LOL I think I can see a few more Double Z Fold Fun cards in my future!

Participating in the following challenges:

Die Cut Divas - June Challenge - The tonings of the card were inspired by the current challenge for Die Cut Divas - I love the browns/pinks.

Addicted to Stamps & More #495 - Die cuts &/or Stencils

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge - Anything Goes

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Hello, Thanks so much

2025-06-21T10:30:00.001+09:30

More time in the craft room recently :) yay!!

Another selection of cards for my swap group.

For May, we swap 2 cards of our own choice ...... easy right? I was happy to make a start on the cards early in the month, but things got in the way and the cards were delayed in getting to their partner.

Anyway, here are my cards.

Card#1

This is an Altenew stamp & die set - Wild Flora (2020) - flowers were stamped with Versafine Onyx Black and heat embossed with Zing Clear embossing powder. I hand painted the flower & leaves using Altenew Inks.

I made the background using a stencil with a blending brush and lightly blended using Altenew Ink in the centre. When mounting the background onto the matt, I thought it got a little lost, so I ink blended the edges as well, and added a few splatters. I then die cut the sentiment twice from black and layered onto the background.

The background was cut using Waffle Flower A6 layer dies and layered onto an A6 300 gsm White Cardbase.

The flowers and leaves were then positioned on the front in a pleasing manner with foam tabs to add dimension.

Linking this card with a few challenges

Retro Rubber Challenge #257 - Stamp set from 2020 - using right column Stencil, coloring, die cut

Triple B Challenge: June 2025 - use Blooms

Card#2

I came across some elements set aside from a previous crafting session and thought it was perfect for the swap. Flowers were stamped with White ink, and heat embossed with White embossing powder, then the flower & leaves were ink blended using brushes.

The flower element was mounted onto a gorgeous die-cut that I received in a Swap many years ago, then that was mounted onto the purple handmade paper, which in turn, has been mounted onto the white A6 300gsm white cardbase.

Sentiments 'thanks' (from Honey Bee Stamps Bitty Buzzwords) was die cut from black & white, layered & mounted with 3d foam dots to background. 'so much' (from Honey Bee Stamps Miss You Big time) was stamped in StazOn black onto white cardstock scrap pieces, then mounted onto front of card.

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Thinking of you today and every day

2025-06-06T13:00:00.001+09:30

I have been a bit sidetracked in the craft room of late, but sadly, I was in need of a sympathy card to give to my sister. Her mother-in-law, who turned 90 in February this year, passed away on Saturday night.

This is an Altenew stamp & die set - Wild Flora - flowers were stamped with Versafine Onyx Black and heat embossed with Zing Clear embossing powder. I hand painted the flower & leaves using Altenew Inks.

I recently purchased some stencils and blending brushes from Amazon and was keen to have a bit of a play.

I made the background using one of the stencils with a blending brush and lightly blended using Altenew Ink in the centre. When mounting the background onto the matt, I thought it got a little lost, so I ink blended the edges as well, and added a few splatters. I then stamped the sentiment directly onto the background.

The background & matting were cut using Waffle Flower A6 layer dies and layered onto an A6 300 gsm White Cardbase.

I layered the background onto the purple matting, then layered the purple matting onto the white cardbase. The flowers were then positioned on the front in a pleasing manner with foam tabs to add dimension.

Linking this card with a few challenges

TicTacToe #272 (centre column - layers /Free/ Floral/foliage

Just Add Ink #754 - Choose Two - DieCut-Flower-Ribbon - I chose DieCut/Flower

Just Us Girls #778 - Die Week - Layers - I used several dies to make up multiple layers

Cut it Up #331 - anything goes (with a die)

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

A New Home

2025-04-20T12:00:00.001+09:30

Some friends are moving into a new home, so I just had to make a card!

David is a friend I met through my camera club way back in 2011 and his wife Carol is a quilter!

Suffice to say, I knew what type of card I was going to make.

I found a great tutorial online to follow, and the card came together very quickly.

The longest and hardest part was choosing the DSP - which was from my stash of 6" DSP I have had for quite some time.

I made the cardfront using 210 gsm, and cut up several strips of DSP, and following the tutorial, placed the strips accordingly.

Picking which embossing folder to use for the 'quilt block' was fairly easy, the one I chose has some 'double wedding ring quilt' inspiration ...

I ink blended the edges of the cardfront to add further dimension & interest, then added a strip of DSP. The 'quilt block' was added to cardfront with foam tape.

The sentiment was printed on computer, and foiled with my Mini Minc in gold foil, then mounted to the front of the card using foam tape.

To finish, the cardfront was added to a 300gsm A6 cardbase.

Linking with the following Challenges

Can You Handle the Pressure - use embossing folders

Neglected Stuff Challenge - DSP

TicTacToe #268 - middle row - Any colour/Free/Embossing

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.