Island Vacation

Challenge #268 has just gone live at Time Out Challenges and this fortnight we challenge you to be

on Vacation

This challenge is generously being sponsored by Varada Sharma and they are offering our Top Pick as chosen by the design teams a $25 credit to the store!  The Top Pick will also be invited to join Time Out as a guest designer in a future challenge!

Speaking of guest designers, we are joined this challenge by the incredibly talented Claire Apostoloff of Life on the Scrap Heap.  Wait until you see what she has created for our challenge this fortnight - do drop by and leave her some comment love!!

What does being On Vacation mean to you?  Claire and my talented team mates have plenty of inspiration for you over on the Challenge Blog!

For me, being on Vacation means creating memories with my family.  I would love to go somewhere exotic but it doesn't really matter as long as I have a camera and am able to snap some pics which will capture some of the memories we make together!

To make my vacation snap, I pulled out a very old stamp set I haven't used in over ten years (My Island from Waltzing Mouse Stamps).  I created quite a few "vacation snaps" but ended up using this one because of the colours I'd used (Tumbled Glass and Picked Raspberry).  I found a piece of co-ordinating DP and created a polaroid frame with the use of a rounded square dies and a rectangle die - which left plenty of room to stamp this gorgeous vacation text (also from the set).   

I used a wooden camera charm I had in my "finds" box and coated it with versamark then embossed it with WOW! Fluorescent Tickled Pink EP and trimmed a piece of silver mirror card to back it (so it looked more realistic).  I also added some glossy accent to the lens.

I'd like to send my card packing ...  to the following fabulous challenges

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday Challenge for June/July - Anything Goes;

We Love Stamping July Challenge - Sun, Sea, Sand;

Word Power Challenge #7 - Focus on the Sentiment;

Four Seasons July Challenge - Anything Goes Summer;

{Pin}spirational Challenge #315 - Recycle (the camera);

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your comments are always appreciated and always bring me joy and if you do leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

Starry Starry Night

Challenge #267 has just gone live at Time Out Challenges and this fortnight it's a theme challenge because it's the 4th July and we are Seeing Stars.  I would like to wish all my American friends a very happy celebration of their independence and democracy. 

This challenge is generously being sponsored by Picket Fence Studio and they are offering our Top Pick as chosen by the design teams a $25 credit to their store!  The Top Pick will also be invited to join Time Out as a guest designer in a future challenge!

Speaking of guest designers, we are joined this challenge by the incredibly talented Simeen Batra of Simeen.creates - our top pick from Challenge #263.  If you didn't come here from the Time Out Challenge Blog, you really must see what Simeen has made especially for this Time Out Challenge ... and while you're there, let her know how much you love it!

What will Seeing Stars inspire you to create?  I hope you'll take Time Out of your busy schedules and come play cards with us this fortnight! 

I had been eyeing this gorgeous Arched Gothic Cathedral Window frame for ages, so once I had decided to put in an order at Poppy Stamps it was first in my basket - it's such a pain to put in an order from the USA that if I can't buy crafting goodies through Amazon (who take care of any duties payable) I usually don't bother!  But every now and then I spoil myself and try not to think of the duties I'll have to pay when the goodies finally arrive.  Unfortunately I exceeded a €150 limit I was previously unaware of and had a customs bill which was hefty (more than 1/3 of the order value)!  Ouch, I'll have to be more careful next time!

I had it out for a play the very next day (in order to forget about the customs debacle as quickly as possible) and created a Christmas card with this beautiful window revealing the starlit heavens!  And I must say, I just love it - not only is the detail gorgeous, but it cut straight through this very tricky gold glitter card stock on the first pass.  And there was enough room on the window sill for this little sentiment (from Waltzing Mouse Stamps 2011 Ornaments) to be stamped underneath!  

I started by cutting an aperture in the front panel using the overlay die from the set (though both dies cut the same aperture).  I then cut the base window frame from gold glitter card stock and laid it into this space.  I then overlaid the white frame I'd cut originally on top of the gold base frame.  

I backed the panel with a piece of starry DP and added a star cut from glitter card stock (Memory Box Star of Wonder) to one of the frames.

Very elegant and ever so easy peasy and as an added bonus, I was able to make up these two little tags from the negative bits!  

I know Christmas cards in July is a little odd but I like to get them made throughout the year so I can focus on family when December rolls around.

I'd like to join these fabulous challenges

NBUS Challenge #64 -  NBUS Poppy Stamps Arched Gothic Cathedral Window;

Retro Rubber Challenge #234 - Christmas in July, I've had the Sentiment Stamp since 2012;

Die Cut Divas July Challenge - Add Glitter;

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #57 - Anything Christmas Goes;

The 12 Months of Christmas Challenge #112 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and should be able to find you!

Kate

Ornamental Forest

I have just joined the talented team at the The Sparkles Christmas Challenge where Challenge #162 has just gone live.  Caz has chosen as the theme for July

A Handmade Ornament or Ornaments

I have several lovely ornament stamps which coordinate with Spellbinders Heirloom Ornaments but after 2 false starts decided to use a die set that has been patiently waiting for over a year now for its first outing.   It's from Love2Craft and has 3 circle dies (a plain circle, a snowy circle and a branch circle) and many tiny elements to decorate the branch - lanterns, birds, flowers. leaves and these ornaments.  The bird I've added here wasn't from this set one but was left over from a previous project (it's one of the lovely cardinal birds that come come with the Impression Obsession Birch Trees Set).  The sentiment is from Waltzing Mouse Stamps (Season Flourish).

I'd like to join these fabulous challenges

NBUS Challenge #64 - NBUS Love2Craft set;

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #57 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Peace on Earth Challenge #66 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday June and July Challenge - Anything Goes;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and should be able to find you!

Kate

Safe Harbour

Challenge #266 has just gone live at Time Out Challenges and this fortnight it's an Inspiration Photo Challenge!

This challenge is perfect if like me, you're missing your Vitamin Sea!  Here's a closeup!

This challenge is generously being sponsored by Lawn Fawn and they are offering our Top Pick as chosen by the design team a $25 voucher to their store.  

Our top pick will also be invited to guest design with us at a future date so I hope you will take some Time Out of your busy schedule and come play cards with us! 

Speaking of Top Picks, we are delighted to welcome Joyce Mehrberg (our Top Pick of Challenge 262) as our guest this fortnight!  Many of you will already know and probably follow Joyce's blog Cards By The Sea - definitely worth a visit and leave her some comment love while you're there!

And you'll find plenty more inspiration from Joyce and the rest of the team over on the Challenge Blog!

I love anything to do with the sea and so does my hubby and my father-in-law was a naval commander so I have accumulated quite a few nautical stamp and die sets over the years - some still NBUS!  But this photo reminded me so much of a card I made ages ago that I've CASEd myself on this one except that I've swapped the sentiment for a New Baby (a friend of mine is expecting her first grandson) and I also cut everything for this card from white card stock (apart from the base panel) and used distress inks (Shabby Shutters, Squeezed Lemonade and Blue Lagoon) and alcohol markers to add colour rather than using coloured card stock.  The sentiment is from WMS Ocean Bound and fits perfectly on this Spellbinders Wonky Frame which I think resembles a ship's square sail fluttering in the wind, 

I'd like to enter these fab challenges

Papercraft Challenges #106 - For the Boys;

Allsorts Week 785 - Masculine;

Make My Monday Challenge #228 - Outdoor Summer Fun;

Word Power Challenge #6 - Make the sentiment the focus of your card.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

Hip Hippo Hooray

I recently won as a Guest Designer Star at Traumfabrik (for this card).  Traumfabrik (The Dream Factory) chooses a movie each month as a source of inspiration and this month they have chosen the movie Inside Out or its German title Alles Steht Kopf (which Google translates as Everything is Upside Down).

Here is the movie poster (both English and German versions) and they would like us to create something Upside Down or perhaps be inspired by the colours and layout of the poster(s).  Traumfabrik welcomes any kind of handmade projects - card, art journal page, ATC, canvas or 3D project!  

When I recently asked my youngest son Simon what he wanted for his upcoming birthday, he jokingly replied "a hippo"!  He loves Christmas and spends much of the year listening to Christmas music and he especially loves that corny old Christmas song "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas (look it up on Youtube but I'm warning you it's both very corny and very catchy)!   Well a hippo may be out of the question, but a hippo birthday card was definitely within the realms of possibility.  So I was already planning a hippo birthday card when Rosi invited me to join Traumfabrik as a guest!  And the upside down prompt gave me just the inspiration I needed - a spinning hippo card - and slowly this design evolved.

I coloured my tumbling hippo (Poppy Stamps Happy Hippo) with alcohol markers and then liberally coated him with Glossy Accents so he'd be nice and plump and blubbery!  I cut a blue lagoon for my hippo to frolic in (Memory Box Underwater Collage) which caused a problem as it's only meant to be an aperture die so there were two unattractive spots on the lagoon shoreline.   But I managed to hide those with a life preserver ring (from the 2024 Gummiapan Advent Calendar) and a younger smaller hippo (Poppy Stamps Whittle Floating Hippo which came with its own life preserver).  

I stamped the two sentiments on the front panel (Poppy Stamps Whittle Wild Animal Sentiments), worked out where I wanted my lagoon to go, I cut a track in the lagoon and the front panel and added the lagoon to the panel (lining up the track) and added the panel to the card base with foam tape.   I've devised a mechanism for my spinner cards that utilises magnets.  I find the magnet system is sturdier and the spinner element can be easily added to or removed from the card - if you're interested, you can see how this system works in this blog post.

Here's the hippo in action

and the right way up!

As I was about to pack everything away, I suddenly had yet another idea ... based on the English title of the movie - Inside Out! 

For this card I made an aperture card so that the inside was on the outside!  I cut an aperture (Poppy Stamps Whittle Wave) from the card front and coloured this blue and added some waves with a white Posca Pen.  I then added it to the inside of the card so it lined up with the aperture.  I used the hippos again though the smaller one is now wading while his mama looks on from the edge of the lagoon.  I used the same life ring I used on the first card but also added a beach umbrella and a palm tree from the same set (Gummiapan Advent Calendar 2023 Day 5).

Here's the inside

 I do hope you will be inspired by Traumfabrik's movie title this month and I do look forward to seeing your upturned creations in Traumfabrik's gallery!

I'd like to enter the following fabulous challenges

NBUS Challenge #63 - NBUS Happy Hippo, Floating Hippo, Underwater Collage and Gummiapan Advent Calendar Day 5;

Crafty Animals Challenge #84 - Anything with an animal;

Four Seasons June 2024 Challenge - Anything Summer Goes;

Seize the Birthday #284 - no topping;

Thanks for stopping by - your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and will (hopefully) be able to find and visit you!

Kate

Under the Mistletoe

 

Challenge #165 has just gone live at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge and here is my DT card. 

I am on a mission to use all the NBUS items in my stash and this card is the first outing for these bears (Poppy Stamps Nordic Bears).   I thought purple might be a nice change for their vests and a little gold is always a good idea for Christmas.

Once I'd made up the bears, they appeared to be kissing so I decided to put them under some mistletoe (Memory Box Mistletoe Bundle).  I cut the mistletoe from green card stock (stacked twice) but I did go around the edges with distress ink which always helps to add a little dimension.

It's rare for me to have no sentiment, but sometimes there just isn't the space and sometimes the image says it all!  

I'd like to enter these fab challenges

NBUS Challenge #63 - The Nordic bears were NBUS;

Crafty Animals Challenge #84 - Anything Goes with an animal;

Make My Monday Challenge #227 - B is for .... bears;

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday Challenge June and July  - Anything Goes;

Girls Creative Christmas Challenge #76 - Ijsberen - Polar Bears;

The 12 Months of Christmas Challenge #111 - Optional Twist of North Pole;

Sparkles Christmas Challenge #161 - Use Dies;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and will hopefully be able to find you!

Kate

Always Flowers

 

Challenge #265 at Time Out Challenges has just gone live and this fortnight we have an Inspired By Words Challenge with this lovely quote from Henri Matisse 

 “There are always flowers for those who want to see them”

An Inspired By Words challenge works exactly as you would expect - you take the words from the featured quote and use them to inspire your creation!   You can use one word, multiple words or just the general idea of the quote.

 This fortnight we are generously being sponsored by Altenew and they are offering our Top Pick as chosen by the design team $15 store credit and our Top Pick will also be invited to Guest Design with us in a future challenge.  

Speaking of guest designers, we're joined this challenge by the very talented Arlene Rose as our guest!  Be sure to check out her gorgeous interpretation of our quote as well as the rest of the team on the Time Out Blog!

How do these words inspire you and where do they lead your imagination?  We hope you can take Time Out of your busy schedule to come play cards with us!

I think it's fair to say there are always flowers (and lots of them) in any card maker's cache - I certainly have one or two (hundred) flower stamps and die sets in my stash and this lovely Altenew Dog Rose Panel Bundle is just one that I haven't got around to using yet!   As Altenew is sponsoring our challenge this fortnight at Time Out, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to have a play with it! 

There are two dies in this bundle and for my first card, I cut the two panels from two shades of cream and backed it with gold and added a "thinking of you" sentiment below it.  Love the dimension!

Then I noticed the word "always" in the quote and I had another idea so I made up another panel, this time with green, cream and gold and added the die cut word "always" (Winnie and Walter) under the panel.

 Space was tight, so it had to overlap the panel, which wasn't straightforward because the Dog Rose Panel was three layers high ... so I cut just the bottom half three times and stacked them up so that these were the same level as the panel.  Then I cut the complete word and added this to the top, overlapping the panel.

I can't wait to try new colour variations with this fab die set!

I'd like to enter the following Challenges

NBUS Challenge #63 -  NBUS Altenew Dog Rose Panel;

Triple B Challenge - Birds, Butterflies and/or Blooms;

Inspirational June Challenge - Flowers;

Inspirational Challenge #317 - Word Prompt Frame;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

Bird of Peace

Challenge #164 has just gone live at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge and here is my DT card.  

For today's card I raided my UFO box and found this window (Poppystamps Brilliant Star Oval) I'd cut for a previous project but didn't end up using.  It had been cut from light blue card stock but I thought it could benefit from a little gilding to make it a bit classier for Christmas - I have to admit I do love the mottled effect of gilding wax!  Then, I was very happy to discover that the largest of my old Spellbinders Class Ovals dies fitted perfectly so I placed an oval of patterned vellum behind the window - I do love a bit of vellum.

I had already cut the base of the bird from blue and I was going to cut the remainder from gold when a snippet of yellow caught my eye (not cleaning up your desk between projects can have its advantages)!  It occurred to me that a blue and yellow bird would be perfect for my Ukrainian friends!  It also reminds me of my budgerigar  Billy Boy who was blue and yellow!

The background panel was cut with one of the Pinkfresh Studios Essentials Diagonal Stitched Rectangles.

Lastly, I mounted the little bird on an action wobble!

I'd like to enter these fab challenges

Kraft Chicks Challenge Week 2 - All Occasions;

Triple B May Challenge - Birds, Butterflies and Bees;

Die Traumfabrik Challenge #128 - Pets (my budgerigar was blue and yellow just like this little bird);

Me and Billy Boy circa 1986

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Fur or Feathers;

Peace on Earth Challenge #63 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #56 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and will hopefully be able to find you!

Kate

Magical Day

 

Challenge #264 has just gone live at Time Out Challenges and this fortnight we challenge you to be

Magical

This challenge is generously being sponsored by Picket Fence Studio and they are offering our Top Pick as chosen by the design teams a $25 credit to their store!  The Top Pick will also be invited to join Time Out as a guest designer in a future challenge!

Speaking of guest designers, we are joined this challenge by the incredibly talented Carol McFarland of Saw it. Had to Make it.  Wait until you see what she has created for our challenge this fortnight - do drop by and leave her some comment love!!

What does magical mean to you - magical or mythical creatures, wizards, witches, fairytale scenes?  Carol and my talented team mates have plenty of inspiration for you over on the Challenge Blog!

Today's card is a tribute to a set of books that were pure magic in my family.  Like so many other households across the globe, Harry Potter ignited a love of reading in my boys.  They were the first real novels we read to our boys and it wasn't long before they were reading them themselves (despite not learning to read in English at school).  Before Harry Potter it was mostly Thomas the Tank Engine!  And yes I was one of those people queuing up at 1 in the morning in July 2007 when the final book in the series was released (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) - accompanied by a 14-year old Gavin who started reading it on the way home by torchlight!   Anyway, onto my card.  

The cauldron is from a set I bought earlier in the year from Gummiapan.  To give the cauldron more dimension, I cut it twice and removed the legs from the second.  The I cut just the upper area of the cauldron and snipped away the lip and removed the centre.  I cut the area around the handles from gold  and snipped these away too then assembled the cauldrons.   These dies are made so that the pieces easily separate - it only takes a few snips most of the time.   I have to thank Christine Stokes and Deb Hallett for showing me how to use the beautifully detailed dies properly!  Once assembled,  I rubbed the black cauldron with gilding wax to give it an aged patina (a tip from Christine Stokes).  

The glasses were from a set I had almost forgotten about (Impression Obsessions Sunglasses).  I bought them in Australia last year and then forgot about them after the dreadful trip home and Covid and Christmas!   I have a few sets of glasses but these round ones made me think of John Lennon and I imagined myself making a card for one or two Beatles fans in my life!  The Harry Potter connection didn't occur to me until I started thinking about making up a card for this magical challenge!  Naturally I added glossy accents for the lenses!

 I found a lightning bolt die in a very old weather set and cut it from a snippet of gold mirror card.  

 

Almost forgot to mention the floor - another die from Gummiapan which has been ever so useful in grounding many of my recent projects!

I'd like to enter my magical card into the following fabulous challenges

NBUS Challenge #62 - the Cauldron die and Glasses are NBUS;

The Heart's Quest Fantasy Challenge #5 - Anything Fantasy Goes (option of Unicorn);

Kraft Chicks Challenge #717 - All Occasions;

Sisterhood of Crafters - Men;

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday Challenge for May - Anything Goes;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your comments are always appreciated and always bring me joy and if you do leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

Glad Tidings Deer

Challenge #163 has just gone live at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge and I have a quick card today!  

These reindeer (Poppy Stamps Whittle Forest Reindeer) have been sitting on my window sill for a few weeks - I had cut them when I made up this card!   I  thought I'd make them a little more special so out came the gilding wax ... again!   This stitched panel was also in my UFO pile so it was just a matter of working out what else to add.  I went with this row of trees (Poppystamps Whittle Tree Border).  If you look closely, you'll see a touch of gilding wax on the trees as well.  To subtly ground the scene, I used some very old stitched border dies (Paper Smooches Stitched).  Do you think I should add red noses ... I do like my reindeer with red noses, don't you?

I'd like to enter these fab challenges

NBUS Challenge #62 - The Whittle Tree Border set is NBUS;

Kraft Chicks Challenge Week 715 - Christmas;

Crafty Animals Challenge #83 - Anything with an Animal;

Peace on Earth Challenge #63 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #56 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

All About Gavin

 

Challenge #263 has just gone live at Time Out Challenges and this fortnight it's a theme challenge because we're celebrating 

ALPHABET MAGNET DAY

This challenge is generously being sponsored by Altenew and they are offering our Top Pick as chosen by the design teams a $15 credit to their store!  

The Top Pick will also be invited to join Time Out as a guest designer in a future challenge!  Speaking of guest designers, we are joined this challenge by Carol McFarland our winner from Challenge 259!  If you're still stuck for ideas, Carol and the rest of the team have plenty of inspiration for you over on the Challenge Blog!

Alphabet magnets are such a lot of fun!  I love the bright vivid colours and they are such a great educational aid as well!  When my husband and I arrived here 26 years ago with a 2 year and a 5 year old in tow, we knew we wanted to give them the opportunity to fully experience a foreign culture and learn new languages but we also realised that that meant they wouldn't be learning any English at school, so we would have to be their English teachers!   Making words across and down with the magnetic letters on the fridge door was just one of the things we would to do to make sure they had a good grasp of English vocabulary and spelling!    

My eldest son still has a thing for magnets and so I thought I'd make up an "alphabet magnet card" to celebrate his birthday!  It took days (and nights) to plan it as I sought out words that describe him while trying to fit those words around the letters from his name - and then there were the colours to consider!  My original design was a lot more complicated, with over 60 characters but I realised (fortunately before I got to the die cutting stage) that I needed a simpler design and ended up with just his name spelt vertically in red and adjectives using those letters spelt horizontally.   Still, with 43 characters cut twice and stacked it was a lot of die cutting and required an A5 panel to accommodate it - can't tell you how many times I wished I'd chosen shorter adjectives - definitely a labour of love!

Of course I couldn't resist getting the Glossy Accents out so the letters resembled plastic! 

Then I created a frame using strips of red and mitring the corners so it resembled a school blackboard.  I also wanted to draw the eye to the letters in red which actually spell out his name.

I'd like to enter these fab challenges

Word Power Challenge #5 - Make the sentiment the focus of your card;

Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge - Use Die Cuts;

Colorful Options May Challenge - Rainbow option!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

Festive Trees

 

Challenge #162 has just gone live at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge and here is my DT Card.

Sometimes inspiration can come from unlikely sources and I have to give a shout out to the gang over at  Inspired By ... Challenge Blog!  They have some great inspiration pics and this one from earlier in the month really helped jump-start my flagging mojo! 

The umbrellas made me think of upside down Christmas trees and these dies (Poppy Stamps Nordic Tree Toppers) in particular - they’re NBUS and I've been wanting to use for a while now.   And I must say, it was nice to make some bright and cheery Christmas cards for a change - after all the majority of my Christmas Cards do head down under where it's often 40 degrees in the shade around Christmas time/!  I never would have thought to use yellow with the red and green for Christmas, but the combination  does look quite festive - so this sentiment (Waltzing Mouse Stamps Compliments of the Season 2) was perfect!  I was worried about stamping onto this highly textured surface but it worked out fine (with a stamping platform).

I'd like to enter these fab challenges

NBUS Challenge #61 - the tree topper dies are NBUS;

Kraft Chicks Challenge Week 4 - All Occasions;

Peace on Earth Challenge #61 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Rudolph Day April Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

Hogs and Kisses

Challenge #262 has just gone live at Time Out Challenges and this fortnight we have an Inspiration Photo Challenge for you!

Here's a closer look!

This challenge is being generously being sponsored by Kim Heggins of Running Stitch Design.  Kim is offering this cute bag to our Top Pick as chosen by the Design Team (inside USA only - thank you for understanding).   Many of you will remember Kim as a former Design Team member at Time Out!  

The Top Pick will also be invited to join Time Out as a guest designer in a future challenge!  Speaking of guest designers, we are joined this challenge by Cornelia Wenokor of Stempel Spass, our winner of Challenge 258!   Cornelia and the rest of the team have plenty of inspiration for you over on the Challenge Blog!

Three things immediately caught my eye - the gingham lower third, the spots and the dogs.  While wrestling with how to use one of the two dog dies I own, my eye fell upon this NBUS pig (Poppy Stamps Whittle Pig) and I then remembered I have the Whittle Wild Animals Sentiment set and gradually, the design began to take shape - replacing dogs with hogs and spots with hearts, three whittle pigs seemed like a good number to have with a fourth heart space for the sentiment.   I don't usually make slimline cards because the envelopes are tricky to find, but this card will fit in a DL envelope!

I couldn't find any black gingham (at least not large enough for a slimline card front) but I did find this rather lovely plaid which I cut with a slimline die (Creative Craft Products Slimline Sewing Edge Nesting Set) and then used a suitable heart die to make the four windows for my whittle Pigs to pop their heads through!  There was a hint of green in the plaid, so I used this olive green card base rather than the teal used in the bag.  The pigs were cut from pink pearlescent card stock (because I had a snippet of that lying around on my desk) that I distressed with Worn Lipstick DI.  I cut extra snouts for dimension and gave them a string of pearls each (how could I not??) and added some glossy accents to the stacked snouts!

So that's how I was inspired by this cute little bag, where will it lead you - looking forward to seeing your projects in the Time Out Gallery!

I'd like to enter the following Challenges

NBUS Challenge #61 -  NBUS Whittle Pig and Slimline set;

Crafty animals Challenge #82 - Anything Goes with an animal;

Snippets Challenge #478 - Snippets of pink pearlescent card from a previous project;

Challenge #62 Day of the Month Club - National Look Alike Day;

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

A Fitting Wedding Card

 

We're half way through Time Out Challenge 261 and as this card I just finished for a friend works for this challenge, I thought I'd share it with you today!   

Challenge #261 is all about this quote

"I'm a romantic!  I live for long, dreamy walks down the craft aisle"!

An Inspired By Words challenge works exactly as you would expect - you take the words from the featured quote and use them to inspire your creation!   You can use one word, multiple words or just the general idea of the quote.  Whereas my previous card focused on the word "Craft", this card focuses on the words "Romantic" and "Aisle".  

I used a jigsaw die (Stampin Up Love You To Pieces) to emboss a piece of white card stock (using a tan embossing mat), which I then cut down with a heart die.  You lose a little of the detail from the embossing by doing it in this order but I prefer to have the rounded edged of the die cut rather than the ragged edges from the embossing.  I then used the puzzle die to cut three more puzzle pieces from cream card stock and one from black.  I cut a v in the top of the black piece and added it to one of the cream pieces.  Then I stacked the other two pieces, added pearls along the "neckline" and the two pieces fit together perfectly.

The names of the bride and groom and the wedding date were cut from gold paper with Gummiapan Alphabet and Number sets - I really love the quirkiness of the font ...  and the size!  

I liked the design so much I made up some others without names for an upcoming market in June!  They can always be personalised as needed!

How do these words inspire you and where do they lead your imagination?  We hope you can take Time Out of your busy schedule to come play cards with us!   

I'd like to join these fabulous challenges

AAA Card Challenges #263 - Wedding/Anniversary Card;

Die Traumfabrik Challenge #127 - They cloned Tyrone is the featured film and my card uses the same puzzle piece with one turned 90º);

Crafty Chicks Challenge #712 - Week 3 CAS;

NBUS Challenge #61 - NBUS Love You To Pieces set!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate