Allsorts Challenge #663

Back again with a card for the new Allsorts Challenge and this time they are asking for **Clean and Simple (CAS) with the option of Elegance**.  I'd say my card is CAS but will leave the decision about 'elegance' to my viewers and the design team - not sure if it qualifies on that point.  I've used some dies which I've had for a while and as the lines are quite fine it was quite a task to apply glue to them so I hope they all stay put.  Quite a bit of 'white space (which is actually cream) and the sentiment was stamped direct with the aid of a positioning platform - not sure where I'd be without that - probably ending up with lots of throw-away pieces of card with messy stamping on them 😉.  Black and gold card from my scrap boxes was used for the die cutting.

Dies Used - Birdcages set from Sizzix
Sentiment - stamp from a favourite magazine freebie set

Allsorts Challenge Blog

The Allsorts Challenge this time is **anything goes with the option of adding red flowers** .  There is a lovely prize and some great ideas from the Design Team.  The idea came to me for this card while I was walking home from meeting some friends for coffee and I've used a die set which has been in my stash for a considerable time and despite it being a 'must have' at the time, I'm ashamed to say it has never been out of the packet 🙄.  I chose a DL card blank and inked some random splatters using two different stamps and die cut the 'coffee rings' from a scrap of 'inky play' card which has also been lying around for some time.  The flowers and leaves were also die cut from scraps.

Splatters - random stamps from Stampin' Up retired sets
Rings - die from Sizzix Coffee Rings
Flowers - Creative Expressions Dandelion Clocks die set

Snippets Playground

 Off to visit the Snippets Playground for the latest challenge - worth following the link for a visit to see the lovely inspiration card which showcases the prize which will be won by the  lucky entrant whose name comes out of the 'hat'.  Everything apart from the base card has come from my collection of leftovers although I do think that 'snippets' is a nicer name for them.  I started with a piece  of white card slightly smaller than the base card and stencilled a leafy area before finding smaller snippets of heavy watercolour paper to die cut the  coneflowers which I then coloured with Distress inks.  The vase was stamped and die cut, using another snippet.  The final touch was a sentiment left over from another project for which I'd printed a few in varying sizes so that I could use the most appropriate.  A tiny scrap of pink card was added to highlight the sdentiment and pick up the colours of the flower petals.  

Stencil - from Lavinia Stamps
Coneflowers - unbranded die
Vase - stamp and die from Stampin' Up Boho Indigo (retired)
Sentiment - produced on computer using Word

Faux Cloisonne

 This is the theme for the CAS Mix Up Challenge this time around and there is some great inspiration from the design team as well as links to some tutorials.  I'm afraid I was unable to lay my hands on any glossy magazines to use so I stamped the floral motif onto white card using glimmer gold ink and then heat embossed with detail gold powder.  The colouring was done using Twinkling H2O's (a real blast from the past) and then I fussy cut the motif.  I then unearthed a large swirly stamp to use as a background on the card base, added the 'cloisonne brooch' and a sentiment.

Floral Motif - Ruby Tuesday Design a Flower from Elusive Images (now Chocolate Baroque)
Swirl - Nature Swirls from Chocolate Baroque
Sentiment - from my favourite freebie sentiment stamp set

Butterfly Challenge Letter 'C'

 Card design and colours etc beginning with the letter 'C' for the Butterfly Challenge this time - follow the link to read all about it and to find a tutorial for the Collar Card which is one I'd not heard of before.  I've made a collar card and used three of the colours, some circles and of course a butterfly  I started with a square of double sided patterned paper in a suitable colour to form the collar element and infilled it at the top with a strip of glimmer parchment although the glimmer doesn't show on the screen I'm afraid.  I then searched through my dies to see what circles I had and came across this set which hasn't been used in quite a long time.  Circles and butterfly were die cut from blue and green card with a touch of pink (celadon, cornflower and coral).  This was quite straightforward to make using the tutorial so why not have a go - there are prizes on offer too as usual.

Designer Paper and Glimmer Parchment - from Stampin' Up
Circles - die set from Marianne which I've had for a long time
Butterfly - dies from Sizzix (Tim Holtz)
Sentiment - die from Stampin' Up Hay Birthday Chick set

Birthday Time

 Another card to share today where I've used one of the stamps which I seem to have had forever (quite possibly not been inked before) and which came to light when I was looking for the stamps used on my previous project.  I stamped the hot air balloon onto some cream card,  added some colour and cut it out before sponging the edges.  Next thing was to decide what to use as a background and I stamped several of the watch and clock stamps onto masking paper and carefully cut them out so that I could build up a design onto a square of cream card of the right size, finally infilling with a text stamp before again sponging the edges.    Making this background required a degree of concentration but I quite enjoyed doing it which is the main thing.The two words were stamped onto scraps of card and cut out to add a greeting. 

Balloon Stamp - Crafty Individuals
Clocks and Watches - from two sets of magazine gift stamps
Background Text - from Tiny Stamp set Chocolate Baroque
Words - random stamps from my collection of sentiment stamps

Inspiration

 Inspiration - where does yours come from I wonder?  From many sources I guess, just like mine.  One good source is trawling round crafty blogs and seeing what other like-minded people are making and of course quite often doing this is the trigger for a bit of retail therapy which I'm trying hard to resist at the moment 😉 by looking through my stash and using items which have not seen the light of day recently (if at all in some cases, I'm ashamed to admit).  Guess I'm not alone in this failing though 🤣🤣.

The idea for this card started when I saw the miniature stamps had been used by Design Team members at Chocolate Baroque. I remembered that I've had these stamps since their initial launch  many years ago so I had a rummage and brought them out of retirement, spotting quite a few (lots!) of other neglected stamps in the process so I'm now on a mission to bring more items out of hiding.  I started by stamping the little topper using a selection of the stamps and while I was thinking about how to turn it into a card I suddenly thought that another under-used item could be just what was needed.  This street scene embossing folder is what came to mind so I embossed a piece of cream card and then inked it to bring out the detail.  Just finished off with a birthday greeting on a banner and ended up with a card suitable for a man, often difficult ones to make if the recipient isn't into football or beer 🙄.

Stamps - Mail Art, Curiosities and Mini Stamps from Chocolate Baroque
Sentiment - stamp from Tim Holtz
Banner - dies from Creative Expressions
Embossing - fold by Sheena Douglass