Another Cat

I've used another cat image from the Crazy Cat CD and this one seems to fit in with today's weather - we had thunder and lightning and of course rain in the night and it is still dark and somewhat damp this morning. The background is from my stash and I over stamped it with the water droplets stamp, added a simple greeting and a die cut border.

Image - from Card Creations plus, cut out with Spellbinder dies
Sentiment - My Craft Studio, cut out with punch and Spellbinder dies
Water Drops - Stamps by Ryn
Border - Cheery Lynne die

To Cheer Up a Friend

One of my friends is due to have a cataract operation today so I made this card to let her know that we are thinking about her - I thought the little birds and flowers would make her smile.  The paper was one which I came across in one of my boxes and came as a freebie quite a while ago so I designed the card to go with the colours and luckily the punched bird is very similar to the one printed on the paper.

Background - free paper from magazine
Layers - Spellbinder dies
Bird and leaves - Stampin' Up punch
Flowers - Stampin' Up stamp with matching punch
Tiny flowers - X-cut punch
Sentiment - computer generated on SU punched tags
Ribbon - SU banner punch

Steampunk Cockerel

As mentioned recently I'm finding that to make the most of some of my larger dies and indeed larger stamps, I need to make some bigger cards - this one is A5 in size which I think showcases the elements to better advantage than when they are cramped into a smaller layout.  The image was stamped onto watercolour paper and coloured with distress markers using a paintbrush and water.  The small embossed piece was produced by inking the embossing folder with Versamark ink before putting it through the Big Shot, then sprinkled with embossing powder and heating - this effect varies according to which side of the folder is inked, the type of card and the type of powder so endless possibilities.

Background - text embossing folder with patina gilding wax
Image - Steampunk Cockerel from Chocolate Baroque set
Die Cut - Couture Creations tied together, backed with Tim Holtz Vintage Shabby paper
Embossed panel - Cosmic shimmer embossing powder
Sentiment - Stampin' Up stamp and punches

Wedding Theme

The theme on Make My Monday this week is weddings and the design team have come up with a really great selection of ideas - worth taking a look.  My card uses another of the Crazy Cat images with two of them cosying up together.

Image - from Crazy Cats by Card Creations Plus
Background - Crafter's Companion embossing folder
Corners - Tonic dies
Mats - Spellbinder dies
Flower and flourish - Marianne dies

Mixing Up Some Dies

I've been playing around again and mixing up dies from different sets which can be fun most of the time but occasionally frustrating when they don't always quite 'fit'.  Luckily this time they seem to have come together quite nicely and details of items I used are below.  Now of course I have to make sure they all get stored away properly in their original sets before I get totally confused!  Fortunately I managed to find some scraps of card which matched the delicate shade of the background but I'm not at all sure if and when I can obtain any more to go with the rest of the papers from the pad!  As I've used snippets of card for three  of my layers and the sentiment I reckon this card will fit the Snippets Playground Challenge week 127

Background - Papermania Capsule Collection Midnight Blush
Largest Die - Sue Wilson Italian Collection Calabria
Circles - Spellbinder Stately Circles and plain circle
Sentiment - Stamped and cut out using Sizzix Bitty Banner die Stampin' Up
Image - Bird from Simply Sketched set Stampin' Up