CAS Mix Up October reminder .......

Happy weekend .......

I hope you've had a lovely week.  

What's the weather like where you are?  We've definitely seen a change whilst we've been on our travels.  The temepratures have dropped and we've actually had some rain!

Autumn has arrived, which to be honest, I don't mind at all. 

 

We're currently back in the beautiful Lake District, for the last leg of our trip ...... only 2 more days left.

We're in Bowness on Windermere, and it's been lovely.  

a pretty October sunset

We've had a good wander around the town, been up to Windermere too, and had a couple of days catching up with family and friends which is always nice.  Too much good food and wine probably, but hey! ...... we are on holiday!!!  

Anyway, enough of what we've been up to.  The reason for the post is, a quick reminder of this month's CAS Mix Up Challenge ...... have you entered yet?

It's a Mixed Media Challenge using the Blackout Embossing technique ....... if you haven't tried this you need to give it a go.  It's super easy, and so much fun.  It's a different way of using your embossing folders too, which is always good.

I've gone a little festive for this card, well it is only about 70 days before the big day (I'm sure that's what is said on the blackboard in the Christmas Shop earlier! ........ yes, I have been in a few Christmas shops on our recent travels.  I can't resist looking for new baubles!)

For this card I used the Simon Says Stamp Embossing Folder ...... Holiday Greenery, which is a lovely all over winter foliage design.

On the debossed side of the cardstock,  I used blending brushes and various shades of green and red Distress Oxide inks to colour the design.  Remember, you don't have to get this perfect as you'll be covering over any colour on the top part with your black (or any other dark colour) ink

I then applied Black Soot Distress Oxide, direct from the ink pad, over the top.

I love the mat finish to the DOX inks, and the Black Soot gave great coverage.

I added a few dots of Glitter Glue to some of the berries, and finished off with white paint splatters

I cut the embossed piece down using a fancy stitched edge die, cut a piece of red cardstock using the same die, and then layered them together leaving a festive red border.

I then attached this to a white cardbase and stamped my sentinment underneath.

Another idea for using your Blackout Embossed panels, is to turn them into tags, either to use as they are or, add them to the front of a card.

This pretty embossed design is another Simon Says Stamp folder called Darcy Bouquet.

I used it on a previously coloured piece of card, which I found in my stash, and I think it was done with Distress Oxide inks,  swiped directly from the ink pad across a piece of white card .... so easy to do.

I cut the panel into a tag shape and added a knot of white ribbon to the top.  I then attached a die cut sentiment onto the actual tag, and finished with a few white paint splatters here and there .......

Luckily, I remembered that you must include some stamping for the CAS Mix Up Challenge, so I added that underneath (phew!).

I do think that maybe this card is pushing the CAS rules just a little bit but, I didn't want to loose any of the pretty embossed design so I didn't cut it down any.  Maybe next time.

The challenge is open until the 31st October so there's still plenty of time to join in.  

Go on ..... give Blackout Embossing a try!  

By the way, you don't have to use black ink to do this technique.  Check out the cards from the rest of the DT, some of them have used different colours to do the 'Blackout' part, and they look fab!!

Thanks for popping by ......... enjoy your weekend.

We start our journey home tomorrow, so we're having a nice lazy day today.  

We're on the Sunday afternoon boat so we should be back on the island early evening ...... I'm ready for getting home now!

Cheerio until next time .........

Products used:

Card 1

Embossing Folder ........  Holiday Greenery - Simon Says Stamp

Inks .......  Distress Oxide Inks - Rustic Wilderness, Mowed Lawn, Peeled Paint, Festive Berries,

Black Soot:  Versafine Claire - Nocturne (to stamp the sentiment)

Other ...... Crystal Stickles Glitter Glue; Fresco Finish Chalk Paint - Snowflake (PaperArtsy)

Card 2

Embossing Folder .......  Darcy Bouquet - Simon Says Stamp

Inks ...... I think they were Distress Oxides in various shades of purple and blue; Versafine Claire - Nocture for the stamped sentiment.

Stamps ....... Julie Hickey Designs - Sweet Daisy

Other ....... Be Bold Alphabet Dies Upper & Lower Case - Spellbinders; Sentiment Starter dies - The Greetery;  Silver Chrome Pen;  Fresco Finish Chalk Paint - Snowflake (PaperArtsy); White ribbon

October's CAS Mix Up Challenge ......

Happy weekend to you,

Happy World Card Making Day too!  It's the perfect day to launch this month's CAS Mix Up Challenge

It's my turn to host, and the challenge for October is a Mixed Media one, with the prompt .....

Blackout Embossing 

Time to get out all your favourite embossing folders and have some fun!

This is a new to me technique.  I've seen it used a lot online, and it always looks stunning, but I haven't really done much of it myself. 

The first time I tried it, I didn't actually use any colour, I just simply used a black ink over the debossed side of an embossing folder design, so I'm not even sure if that can be classed as the 'Blackout Embossing technique'.  (I'll show you what I mean at the end of this post!)

Anyway, on with this month's challenge.  

I've got two cards to share with you, the first is using a pretty embossing folder from Simon Says Stamp called Blossom Field.  It's a pretty floral design, with lots of little details.

I simply ran the EF through the Big Shot with some plain white cardstock.

I then coloured the flowers, on the de-bossed side, using Distress Oxide Inks, in shades of pink and yellow.  I found the easiest way, for me, was to use small blending brushes to get the colour into the debossed detail of the card.

This is quite a thick EF so the detail is quite deep in the cardstock which is what you need for this technique, so that when you rub over with the black ink you don't get too much on the coloured bits.  Does that make sense?

I used Black Soot Distress Oxide on this card, but Nocturne Versafine Clair or any black ink would work just as well.  Try whatever you have to hand.

I gently rubbed the ink pad over the surface of the card, to bring out the coloured, debossed design ........ this was so much fun to do!  Try not to add too much black ink at once, I think less is definitely more with this technique.  Build up the depth of colour gradually .... remember it's always easier to add more than it is to take it away!

A simple stamped sentiment and a few highlights with a gold gel pen finishes off the card

This technique also works well with cardstock that has already got colour on it .......

I found this small piece of card in my bits box.  It's a leftover from a previous project I think, possibly a mop up piece by the look of it.   

The embossing folder is Piped Floral Lace from Altenew (I think this is my favourite EF at the moment ...... I love it!!!)  Again this is a deep, 3D, folder, giving lots of detail. 

Just remember, if you use already coloured cardstock, make sure you put it in the EF folder the right way up ..... you need the coloured side to be debossed.

For a bit of extra interest, but still keeping things CAS, I added my blackout piece to a white, die cut postage stamp frame and added the same in black, underneath.

If you need more inspiration for October's challenge, then check out the latest post on the CAS Mix Up Blog.  There you'll find more fabulous ideas from our Design Team and, there's also links to some useful videos showcasing this fun technique.

We also have a fabulous Guest Designer this month. Darnell from djkardkreations is joining in the fun so be sure to pop over there and say Hello!

Remember to follow the Challenge Guidelines ......  and keep your cards CAS.

Before I go, here's a picture of what I mentioned earlier ..... something I played around with whilst taking part in the #100 Day Challenge earlier in the year.  

It's the Blackout technique (sort of!) without any colour ....... I love this look, but then again I'm a big fan of black and white with just a hint of colour!

I'm really looking forward to seeing your take on the Blackout Embossing challenge.  I can't wait to see your entires in the gallery.  Have fun!

Thanks for popping by ....... enjoy your weekend.

We've spent the last few days in the lovely town of Knaresborough.  An historic market town in North Yorkshire. 

Nice walks, great places to eat, and the weather's not been too bad either.

We walked through Nid Gorge, quite a long walk but nice ....... I need the excercise!!

The next stop on our travels is one of our favourite places .......... we're off to the city of York!

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:

Card 1

Embossing Folder ...... Blossom Field - Simon Says Stamp

Inks ........  Distress Oxide Inks - Mustard Seed, Scattered Straw, Picked Raspberry, Black Soot; Versafine Clair - Nocturne (for the sentiment)

Stamps ....... Happy Birthday sentiment from my stash
Other ......  Gold Metallic Gel Pen

Card 2

Embossing Folder ...... 3D Piped Floral Lace - Altenew

Inks ........  Distress Inks - Mustard Seed, Scattered Straw, Wild Honey; Versafine Clair - Nocturne 

Stamps ....... Happy birthday Sentiment from my stash
Other ...... Postage Stamp dies; Small crystal gemstones, black cardstock

Have you played along with the CAS Mix Up Challenge? .......

Happy Wednesday .......

I hope you're having a good week.

Sorry I've been a bit quiet on here, it's been a busy couple of weeks.

Have you played along with September's CAS Mix Up Challenge yet?  

If not, then there's still lots of time to get your entries in.

It's a Watercolour Challenge this month, with the added prompt of Sunflower.

I must say, the gallery is beginning to look fabulous with all those beautiful blooms.

Here's a quick and easy idea using the gorgeous Sunflower Garden stamp set from Simon Says Stamp.

This stamp set is quite large, there's just the one bunch of sunflowers and also some fab sentiments to go with but, that doesn't mean you can only use this for large cards.

My card is 6x6inch square and I've kept things CAS by just using part of the image, stamped off the bottom edge.  This would work for any size of cardblank.

I stamped onto watercolour card using black ink, and then coloured the flowers with Altenew Watercolour Paints

A simple sentiment, a little natural twine for added detail, and a few paint splatters to finish off.

The challenge runs until the 30th September so, have some fun and watercolour those sunflowers!

Thanks for popping by, enjoy the rest of your day.

I'm busy this week getting the motorhome ready.  We're off on a road trip at the weekend (fingers crossed.  I'm taking things extra carefully on the stairs!!!)  It's not the trip we had booked back in June/July but, we're really looking forward to getting away.

We start off in Keswick in the beautiful Lake District, which should be nice this time of year.  

The season is definitely changing, Autumn is on its way.  

It's my favourite season of the year, I love the changing colours of the leaves, the cooler mornings and of course it's time to get those cozy woollies out!  I'm just hoping the nice weather holds out a little longer, you can't beat a bit of Autumn sunshine!

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:

Inks ........  Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Stamps ....... Sunflower Garden - Simon Says Stamp; Tiny sentiment from Soul Whispers stamp set by Tracy Easson
Other ......  Watercolour card, Altenew Watercolour Paints, Gold Ink for splatters, Natural Twine Thread

September's CAS Mix Up Challenge ........

Happy Thursday ........

Well, we're in September!!  It's going to be a busy month I think.  There's two birthday's coming up.  We're going away in the motorhome in a couple of weeks (finger's crossed!), so I need to start getting things ready for the trip.  And, it's been quite the emotional day today.  Schools are back, and our eldest grandson, Alex, has started his final year at secondary school (where has that time gone!) and, for the youngest one, Arthur, it's his first day at Infant School (he's growing up too fast!!!)

But, that's not why I'm here ........... a new month means a new Blog Challenge.

Welcome to September's CAS Mix Up Challenge. 

Bobby is our Host this month, and the challenge is a Watercolour Challenge.

Watercolouring Sunflowers to be exact.

Sunflowers, for me, are happy flowers.  They always make me smile.

I don't know about you but I'm always a little nervous when it comes to watercolouring.  I love the look of watercoloured images but it's not always easy to create.  As they say ........ practice makes perfect!

One easy way of achieving the watercoloured look is to use stamps, and water reactive inks.

I've used one of the stamps from an old Stampin Up! set ...... Painted Harvest.  (I'm not sure if its still available or not.  I haven't bought from Stampin Up! for a long time!)

There's two layers to the flower, the base layer I used Mustard Seed Distress Ink, then the second layer I used Fossilised Amber, then Wild Honey over the top

I inked my stamp using the ink pad, then before stamping I spritzed the stamp with water, not too much just enough to react with the ink.

You can repeat the stamping process until you're happy with the depth of colour.

I used Brushed Corduroy and Walnut Stain to colour the centre, applied with a paint brush.

I stamped my sentiment underneath using a brown Versafine Clair (I think it was Acorn), and I finished off with a few splatters using the Distress colours.

I also decided to have a go at painting my own sunflower ...... what do think?

(I can't take full credit as the idea came from Pinterest)

This time I used my Altenew Watercolour Paints, and a small brush ......

It's not perfect but, it's a start ..... maybe next time I'll go for the full flower!!!

I masked off the edges of my card, painted the sunflower, then doodled the frame around the edge using a black fine liner.

A tiny simple sentiment, a bit of sparkle and some gold splatters to finish it all off

Check out the CAS Mix Up Blog for more Design Team inspiration for this months challenge.

You'll also find some links on there to some great videos using this technique.

We also have a fabulous Guest Designer this month.  Barbara is joining us from My Creative Room so be sure to pop by and say hello there too.

Remember, follow the simple challenge guidelines (you can find these on the Blog), use the monthly prompt, and keep your cards CAS (Clean and Simple) .......

I look forward to seeing you in the gallery!

Thanks for popping by, enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:

Inks ........  Distress Ink - Mustard Seed, Fossilised Amber, Wild Honey, Brushed Corduroy, Walnut Stain; Versafine Clair - Acorn; 

Stamps ....... Painted Harvest - Stampin Up!; Siunshine Wishes - Inkylicious; Tiny sentiment from Soul Whispers stamp set by Tracy Easson
Other ......  Watercolour card, Altenew Watercolour Paints, Small Heart gemstone, Black Finer Liner, Gold Ink for splatters

CAS Christmas Card Challenge

Happy weekend .........

The sun is shining again ..... yeah!   The temperature has dropped a little though ........ over here it has anyway!  And I must confess, the 'C' word (dare I say it .......Christmas!) has been mentioned a couple of times lately.  Don't worry, I'm not going full on festive just yet but, I am playing along with this month's CAS Christmas Card Challenge ...... well, I have to make a start on those cards at some point!

As you can see the theme is .... Santa's Sleigh

I smooshed a little bit of Distress Ink onto my card using a piece of acetate ...... I love this technique.  Everytime you smoosh the results are different, and no matter how hard you try you can't repeat one particular 'smoosh'.  I know this because, it took me three, no wait four attempts to create this finished card!  The harder you try not to make a mistake, the more they happen ....... don't you just love CAS designs.  Anyway, I got there in the end!  

Once the smooshed ink was dry, I stamped the cute little Santa and Sleigh over the top, using my MISTI and a black Versafine Clair ink.

I dotted around some falling snow using a white gel pen, and added in a few dots of glitter glue here and there to give a touch of sparkle.

To finish off  I stamped my sentiment ...... the words in red are an old wooden Penny Black stamp (yes I do still have a few wood mounted stamps that have survived all the clear outs).   

The small text underneath is from a Stampin Up set.

I do love CAS card, even though they can be a little difficult to achieve!

Thanks for popping by, enjoy your weekend.

We've got the Manx Grand Prix going on, so I don't think we'll be going very far this weekend.  

Oh well, at least there's horse racing on the TV and the football season is underway so, every cloud and all that!

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:

Inks ........  Distress Ink - Chipped Sapphire; Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Versafine - Crimson Red

Stamps ....... Holiday Home stamp set - Stampin Up! (Santa & Sleigh and small sentiment); Wood mounted ..... to all - Penny Black
Other ......  Acetate (for the smooshing); White gel pen; Crystal Stickles Glitter Glue

More Stenciling for CAS Mix Up ........

Happy Monday ........

I hope you had a lovely weekend.  We had family and friends round for a BBQ which was nice, and hubby did all the cooking, well most of it, which was even better!

I've got a little reminder for this month's CAS Mix Up Challenge for you today.  There's still 2 weeks left to get your entries in if you want to play along.

It's a Stencil challenge this month, and the added prompt is ........ Stenciling over Patterned Paper 

Patterned paper is not something that I use a lot of really, but this challenge has been fun.

I've rummaged through my bits boxes and found a few paper pieces and here are the results.

First up ...... a touch of pink

The paper is from the Mixed Media Compendium Paper Pad from Funky Fossil.  I love all the different shades of pink, and the grungy look with the little touches of blue on there.

I've used an old Sweet Poppy stencil over the top. I think it was called Cornflowers, but I couldn't find it on the website so I assume its been retired ..... sorry!

I used black Versafine Clair ink and applied it through the stencil using a sponge, building up the depth of colour gradually.

I added my sentiment using a die cut, coloured blue to bring out the blue already in the paper, and then heat embossed the word friend underneath.

To finish off the card I added a doodled frame around the edge using a black fine liner pen.

Next up, another piece of patterend paper from the same paper pad, just a different colour.  This has more of an Autumnal feel I think

Another Sweet Poppy Stencil used over the top (one of my all time favourites this one) ..... Wildflowers

(this must be retired too as it's not on the website)

I used Distress Oxide Inks this time, a mix of Unchartered Mariner and Villianous Potion.  I used a sponge to apply the inks again, and built up the depth of colour gradually.  

Applying the ink gradually means that you get a cleaner image, not as much risk of the ink bleeding under the stencil.  Takes a bit more time but, I think its worth it.

The sentiment was simply stamped in black and then die cut.

One type of paper I do like to use is book pages, I love text.  And, it makes a great background for stenciling over.

If you do use book pages, just be careful.  Give it a quick glance over first, to make sure there's nothing 'naughty' on there!

In fact, JOFY gave a great tip during one of her recent workshops ........ she likes to use foreign language books, they're not as easy to read, which I thought was a great idea.  Guess what I'm looking for next!!

Not sure where this page came from, but I think it's ok .......

This is a real CAS card.  A circle cut from an old book page, pretty flowers stenciled over the top, then I attached it onto a larger die cut circle (black card), and added a white die cut frame over the top.

A simple sentiment stamped underneath to finish it off.  I used my MISTI for the sentiment and shaped it to follow the edge of the circle.

If you are playing along with this months challenge, please remember to follow the simple guidelines, and keep your cards CAS (Clean and Simple).

Thanks for popping by, enjoy the rest of your week.

It's going to be a quiet one here, well as quiet as it can be.  The Manx Grand Prix started yesterday so it's motorbikes again.  The weather's not playing nice though.  We had rain yesterday (Sunday), so the racing had to be called off ....... not good!

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used

Card 1

Inks ...... Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Versamark Embossing ink, Tumbled Glass DOX (for the die cut)

Stencils ....... Cornflowers - Sweet Poppy (retired I think)

Others ...... Patterned paper; WOW Gold Superfine Embossing Powder, Small 'hello' cutting die, Black Fine Liner pen

Card 2

Inks ...... DOX Unchartered Mariner; Villianous Potion, Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Stencils ....... Sweet Poppy - Wildflowers

Stamps ....... Opposites Attract stamps and matching dies;

Others ...... Patterned paper; 

Card 3

Inks ....... DOX  - Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade, Rustic Wilderness; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Stencil .......  Imagination Crafts - Butterflyy & Daisy

Other ..... Old Book page; Circle Dies; Stitched Circle Frame Die; Sentiment from my stash