AAA Cards CAS Challenge ........

Happy Monday .......

Did you have a nice weekend?  I hope you did better weather wise than here on the island ..... it wasn't very nice at all. 

I had plans to go to a felting workshop, a first for me but, due to a number of unfortunate circumstances, first off with the car, which we can't get into the garage until Wednesday (arghhh!) and then the weather, it just wasn't to be.   Oh well, I'll have to wait a little longer to learn that particular craft!

I did get to play in the craft room though, trying to re-stock the birthday box as well as prepping for Blog challenges.

Here's the first one for ....... Game #189 at the AAA Cards CAS Challenge

I'm not sure that space creatures can be classed as mystical but, I have only used a third of my card so I think this is OK for the challenge.  Plus I need some cards for the kids section in my stash and this little guy was already sitting in my bits box!

I placed a strip of low tack masking tape across my card leaving the top third for me to work on.  I stamped and heat embossed the planet first, made a mask to cover that, and then coloured the galaxy sky using Distress Inks.

I used blue shades, pinks, a touch of yellow.  A bit of purple here and there, finished off with a dark blue and black to blend everything together

I splattered with water, let it sit for a few seconds then mopped up the excess ...... I always love the effect from this technique.  

Once everything was dry, I splattered again, this time with gold and silver inks.

I added some colour to the planet, again with Distress Ink, and finished off the top section with a thin strip of double sided tape covered with gilding flakes ........

before stamping the sentiment underneath.

I attached the spaceship with foam pads .........

and the little alien with a wobbler so that he can move ...... so cute!

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

It's been a bit of a special one here.  I know it's Monday but, what a way to start to the week.  Champagne and lobster at lunchtime (I could definitely get used to that!) and then an afternoon spent with the family.

We are celebrating a little ........ I'm not sure if I've mentioned before but, we're going to be grandparents again, I am so excited!!  And today, Chris and Myra went to the hospital for their 20 week scan.  They'd already decided to ask whether it was a boy or a girl so, when we all met for lunch they announced that we will be getting another Grandson in September ...... whoo hoo!!!  

Of course I had to do a bit of shopping this afternoon ....... baby clothes are just sooo cute! 

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

Products used:

Stamps: Out of this World (Clearly Besotted)

Inks: Versamark; Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Distress Inks - Faded Jeans, Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed, Peacock Feathers, Wilted Violet, Chipped Sapphire, Black Soot; Delicata - Golden Glitz, Silver Shimmer

Other: Gold Embossing Powder (WOW!); ZIG Clean Color Markers; Gold and Silver Gel Pens, Double sided tape; Gold Gilding Flakes

A CAS reminder ........

Happy Wednesday .......

If you're a fan of the CAS Blog Challenges ....... that's Mix Up, Watercolour, Christmas or CAS Stencil, then you've probably noticed that we're doing things a little differently for the mid challenge reminder posts.
Starting this month,  ALL of the inspiration posts for the four CAS challenges, will all be going live on the same day ....  which is today!
For me that means that I have two posts in one.

First up ........ the CAS Mix Up Challenge where the theme this month is

Partial Die Cutting

This really was simple to do and I think you could do this with virtually any of your metal dies.

I cut a piece of white card to fit the front of my cardblank then simply stamped the flowers in the centre..... ish.

I then placed the matching die over the top, securing it with low tack tape.
Because I only want to die cut part of the image, I made sure that the bit I didn't want to cut was over the edge of my cutting plates, this mean't there would be no pressure on this part when it actually went through the machine, therefore the die wouldn't cut around that part of the image.
I simply took a craft knife and a ruler to cut away the rest of the bottom section.

I attached a piece of black cardstock to the bottom of my card, to make the die cut edge stand out more, and then attached the die cut piece over the top using foam pads

I'm using up leftovers again ..... something I'm trying to do more of this year.  You can't see my desk at the moment for stuff left over from one thing or another.  When I get a spare minute I'm going to have a really good clean up!!!

I finished off my card with a simple sentiment a few sparkly gemstones

Onto the CAS Stencil Challenge now, where the theme is

Use a New Stencil

This could be a brand new stencil that you've just bought, one that's only just been released or, maybe a stencil that you've had for a while and it's never been used ..... I'm sure we all have lots of those!

Not sure when I bought my stencil, I found it in my box of NBUS (Never Before Used Stuff!) ..... isn't it pretty!

I applied various colours of  Distress Oxides through the design

Added a few ink splatters onto the background ......

And stamped a sentiment over the top ...... stencils make one layer cards so simple to do.

I added a touch of fine crystal glitter to the flowers, just to give things a bit of sparkle

There's still time if you fancy playing along with any, or all, of the CAS challenges.  I look forward to seeing you in the gallery.

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
These arrived this morning ........ haven't told Alex yet but Lauren's been round to check them over!
19 weeks on Friday ....... not that I'm counting!

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:
CAS Mix Up card
Stamps: Just for You (Clearly Besotted) with Matching Die
Inks: Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Delicata - Golden Glitz & Silvery Shimmer for the splatters ont he black card
Others: Just For You Die (Clearly Besotted); Gold gemstones

CAS Stencil card
Stencils: Stencil #73  Bouquet (ALL & Create)
Stamps: Sentiment is from Beautiful Heart (Penny Black 'T' for Transparent)
Inks: Distress Oxide Ink - various colours; Delicata Gold & Silver inks for the splatters; Versafine Clair - Nocturne
Others: Quickie Glue pen; Fine crystal glitter

Whoo hoo!! .... it's the weekend

Happy Friday .........

Have you missed me?  The blog has been a bit neglected this week ..... sorry!  I was feeling a little under the weather at the beginning of the week ...... started with a cold that never really went anywhere.  But ....... that was the start of the week ...... I'm feeling great now, just as well really as things have been a little busy round here (so whats new!)

Hubby's booked us a trip away for the week after next, so I'm trying to get all my DT stuff done and ready to go before we leave on the 30th.  The beginning of the month is always a bit frantic ...... I'll have my laptop with me though so I can keep an eye on things .... and keep you posted on where we are.

We've had birthday celebrations this week ........ the little man was 6!  He's growing up so fast.

We had a special family birthday tea on Tuesday ........ Alex chose the venue, and we all went to Alessandro's in town.  He even paid the bill ...... well with Grandad's card of course!!!
Wednesday was his actual birthday, so that meant  PARTY TIME!!!  Lots of little people having fun, playing games and eating lots of cake!!!  And of course a special birthday card .....

Six little aliens ready to party .....

Each with their own balloon ....

Alex loved it ..... but then he always a fan of Grandma's cards!

As I said, in between all the fun that's been going on this week, I've been busy with DT stuff .... getting ready for a whole new batch of challenges at the start of next month ...... and, I've also been getting stuff ready for this weekends workshop.  Yes ...... I've got my group of crafty ladies gathering again and this weekend should be loads of fun.

We're going to be carrying on from the last one ..... using Mica Powders again but this time in spray form.  We'll be adding in some Mixed Media along the way - texture pastes, gel medium, tissue paper, along with fabric, and lots of embellishments, to create a gorgeous canvas in the very popular Finnabair style. I've done a couple of pieces recently and everyone has said they would like to try the techniques ...... so ...... I'm here to please and tomorrow they'll be giving it a go.

Here's a few sneaky peeks at my inspiration pieces .......
You've probably seen this one before .... it was done a few months ago on a workshop with the lovely Maria Simms ..... mica sprays on a black gesso base ......  gorgeous!

Another sample using Black Gesso before spritzing with those gorgeous micas ..... I do love this effect

And finally ..... one done using White Gesso as the base colour ....... you get a different look when you start spraying those micas onto the white ..... really pretty!

So .... will the dramatic, black base be more popular ....... or will it be the more delicate white? Whichever one they go for I'm sure they'll have some fun.

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day and have a lovely weekend.

I've got the little man for a sleepover tonight ...... hubby's gone for a quick drink with the lads after work so it's take away for dinner when he gets home .... yum!

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

Out of this world ......

Happy Wednesday to you .....

Hope you're week's going better than mine ...... I can't seem to get anything done and the house is in a right old mess.  Not my fault though .... not this time ...... it's all down to Lauren.  They're moving out next week into a nice little house with her partner ...... so the packing has started.
There's boxes everywhere, clothes and shoes everywhere ...... although that's nothing new, and there's no space in the garage!!!!  Looks like our weekend is going to be spent clearing stuff to the re-cycling centre .... oh joy!!!

Anyway .....  enough of all that. The little man and I have been having some fun in the old craft room. He's had quite a few birthday parties on his social calendar recently so we needed some cards making. He spotted these little guys from the Out of This World set from Clearly Besotted and thought they were perfect for the job .......

 
Silly Grandma forgot to photograph the others before they were sent but ..... there's still one party left so we needed one more card.
Two birds .... one stone and all that ........ I thought I'd play along with this week's Less is More challenge, it's been a while.

As it was the first Saturday of the month at the weekend, it's a Colour Challenge and the ladies have chosen ......

BLUE and BROWN

(nice combination)

Don't these little guys look cute in their shimmery colours

Everything has been stamped using the Vintage Sepia Versafine ink and then embossed with a clear powder.
I've coloured the cute aliens using Starlight Paints from Imagination Crafts, mixed with a little water .... love the shimmer from these and the colours are fab! I've used Mediterranean Sky for the blue and the gorgeous Topaz for the brown.
You can see they were stamped on a separate piece of card and then fussy cut before attaching them to my card using foam pads.

I applied some Distress Ink onto the background using the acetate smooshing technique ......

and added a little something on the inside ...... well, every alien needs a space ship don't they .... how else would they get around (hehehe!)

Well that's it from me today .... I suppose I should make a start on something.  Ironing maybe, mop the kitchen floor or .... do I go to the old craft room with these guys who have just arrived .....

Woof! Woof!!  ........ the housework can wait.

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

Cheerio until next time