Farewell to Summer Silhouette CTC#80

This week at CASE-ing The Catty we are sharing our favourite retiring stamp sets, and I have two very inky, well-used stamp sets leaving the catalogue this time (but not my shelves!!) Not yet anyway. Summer Silhouette is a wonderful, carefree type of stamp which I ordered immediately it was released. You can use it in so many different ways, with stems, leaves and petals all being individual stamps, and not needing to be perfectly placed is a huge bonus.

Just to freshen things up, and because I'm so besotted with the latest InColors, which you can order too in a few days (1st June 2016) I've used Flirty Flamingo, which might just be my favourite, and Peekaboo Peach, with Mint Macaron leaves. You can see some of the ruched ribbon here too, in Flirty Flamingo. The leaves in this stamp set are so nice, I've used them alone too, and stamped them inside this card. The border stamp is very distinctive too and almost covers the card side-to-side.

The other retiring stamp I used is Petite Pairs, also very inky, but so handy for so many reasons. It has some lovely sentiments, and they each have a buddy for the inside of the card. Both of these stamps are only available until May 31st unless stock runs out sooner. If you feel like putting a last minute order in through my Australian shop, don't forget to check out the retiring stock lists and Clearance. The lists are as up-to-date as you can get, and many items are discounted. You can find my online store here and this month the HOSTESS Code is ZGGAABEE.

By the way, it's not too late to contact me for an invitation to my Catalogue Launch on Saturday June 4th at 2 p.m. A number of my regulars had other commitments, so it won't be too crowded if you'd like to come and bring a friend. I'm located in South Morang, Victoria, so if that's not too far for you, text me your name and address, and I'll give you alll the details. There is no charge and lots of fun to be had!

Next p on this blog is the lovely Helen at H2 Designs

       

Happy crafting

Cheers, Rachel

Christmas Festival CASE-ing Christmas CTC#41

This week the CASE-ing The Catty Crew are CASE-ing the section of the catalogue titled Christmas, pages 67-72. You may be starting here with me, or perhaps you have come from Emma's Blog, Vintage Graffiti. I love what she made this week.
If you've started here, you can continue to blog hop your way right around for plenty of CASE-ing The Catty inspiration by clicking on the link at the end of my blog. If you happen to get lost along the way, you can get back on track at Case-ing The Catty.


On page 70 of the catalogue is a picture of a box decorated with green and red Festive Trees. I case-d the layout, changed the colours and turned it into my very first Christmas card for 2015. The fabulous part is the Tree Punch for quickly punching out the stamped images. Although tricky to photograph, up on my display shelf it glimmers and glitters, and looks gorgeous. Youngest son's girlfriend loves it, she always seems to like the things made with Glimmer paper!

It's hard to see the lovely textured embossing on the Night of Navy banner, (Elegant Dots) and the stars stamped on the background are very faint too. The banner framelit included in the Mini Treat Bag Thinlets, is a nice wide one and I joined two together under the circle. The irregular die for the greeting label is from that set too. Unfortunately, Endless Wishes has retired, so if you were to CASE my card, you might have to pick a different sentiment - easily done!

Next, just to show you how versatile this particular sketch is, here is a non-Christmas sample. The Textured Embossing Folder is  Elegant Dots again, so you can see how lovely it is. The banner, from the Mini Treat Bag has been cut twice in Mint Macaron and joined behind the circle. I used a favourite stamp set, Summer Silhouette and a sentiment from Cottage Greetings. I often have thin strips of card lying about, perfect to stamp a sentiment and hand cut the flag ends. I hope I've inspired you in some way, and now you're off to my friend Kathryn's blog, you'll love her gorgeous card.



If you're wanting to shop for supplies, my online shop is open 24/7, or the links below take you straight to those items in the shop. If you choose to use the Hostess Code 36JSEMF6, I will post you a small gift from my stash during September. Two lots of happy mail!
Cheers,
Rachel

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Better Get Better CTD#352 FMS #196

I have a friend who has been feeling poorly for several weeks. I had actually thought that she had recovered until I rang her last Sunday, and she told me she was still under the weather. It's not good to feel off-colour for so long, so a cheer-up card is required I think.

The lime green, soft gray, darker gray and aqua colour scheme at Color Throwdown is very pleasing to my eye, and I've pulled Summer Silhouette from the shelf. The sentiment, 'better get better' is from A Dozen Thoughts. Work of Art was on my table too, so a swish of colour was popped over the sentiment. A few sequins have been pulled from a roll of Bermuda Bay and scattered around. I had another sketch in mind, but when I saw Freshly Made Sketches , I've run with that one.

Lastly, it seemed like a good idea to decorate the envelope so that Sharon knows she's getting 'happy mail' - the best mail ever!

Hope you're feeling well,
cheers
Rachel

Cheer Up Buttercup CTD 308

Aren't these colours just so gorgeous and vibrant? I was a bit surprised (pleasantly)  when I saw this as the colour challenge at Color Throwdown this week.

I admit I've neglected Melon Mambo for a while, ever since Strawberry Slush came on the scene. Recently, I retired the old Melon Mambo stamp pad I had, and broke open a fresh new one, and I'm loving the brightness of this pink. When I was assembling this card, my natural tendency would be to put the decorated square to the top with the sentiment underneath it, but somehow or other, it felt wrong. This way seems jauntier....

Spring is in the air, down here in Australia. In homage to the changing season, I decided that Summer Silhouette was perfect for these bright colours. The result was so bright and cheerful,  I was wondering who might like to receive this card. The greeting is from another stamp set, Geometrical.It's a little bold, or cheeky.

My thoughts turned to a lady living in Sydney, who I have never met. June went to school with my mother, and after Mother passed away, I wrote to her. Every year, a letter or two passes between us and a few weeks ago, the note I received was a little sad. Now, let me just tell you that my dear mother would have turned 88 next month, if she was still with us and I imagine that June is going to be around the same age. Isn't it amazing that these two maintained a friendship for all those years, since their teens. I'm not sure if this greeting is a bit cheeky for a lady of mature years, I do hope not.

Cheerio,
Rachel

Summer Silhouettes Wood Stamp Set

$42.95

Summer Silhouettes Clear Stamp Set

$33.95

Geometrical Wood Stamp Set

$51.95

Geometrical Clear Stamp Set

$41.95

Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad

$9.95

Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad

$9.95

Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad

$9.95

Daffodil Delight A4 Card Stock

$11.95

Melon Mambo A4 Card Stock

$11.95

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

Awesome...Thanks for Spring

Oh boy! this ended up being a tricky challenge. Maybe its because our seasons are the opposite and while the northern hemisphere anticipates Spring, we are in the midst of Autumn, and dreading Winter. It was not the sketch so much, but the combination of the sketch and colours. I'm also having heaps of trouble with the lighting for photography, so I've put two photos up, using two different lighting arrangements. Not totally happy with either option.
 The base and panel remained fairly standard all through my design process, but I've stamped numerous images and cut out many shapes before I settled on this one.
The end result is a label cut with a Chalk Talk Framelit and mounted on a black Scalloped Tag Topper piece. First it was stamped with leaves from Summer Silhouette stamp set, then Awesome.... Thanks! is from Yippee-Skippee. A few small flowers from Summer Silhouette were stamped in Coastal Cabana and Mambo Melon and one of the InColor button embellishments in Coastal Cabana topped the left corner of the tag. I do like the way the tag turned out, Summer Silhouette is one of my favourite stamp sets.

The DSP is Eastern Elegance and a few more flower blossoms were stamped onto the Melon Mambo card base.

Many thanks to the design teams that organise these challenges, without you I don't know what I'd do for inspiration!
Try Stamping On Tuesday for the sketch,( and I managed to add blossoms too!)
Sunday Stamps for the  spring color palette: Melon Mambo, Coastal Cabana and Black.

Thanks for popping by, leave a message if you like, I love to read your comments.

Rachel
Happy news for me again, made the top 3 at Try Stamping On Tuesday, thank you, its such a thrill!

Wonderful Summer Flowers CTS #72 DD#98

I have some crafting time now, after driving my grandsons home to their parents yesterday. On checking out the challenges, I came across a pair that were perfect for my mood, Cas(e) this Sketch and Dynamic Duo.
I've been wanting to ink up Summer Silhouette for a while, and today was that day! Its such a fun set, and with all the different individual stamps included, you can create to your hearts content. Teeny Tiny Sentiments on a Word Window Punch piece and then a Modern Label Punch in Wisteria Wonder are the finishing touch.

So this morning, before anyone but the sun was up, I stamped, sliced and stuck away - and this was the result! I think it looks a bit like looking out a window into a garden.
I'm very happy with it, and now off to enjoy some of that Autumn sunshine.
Hope your day is as happy as mine...

Rachel

Sending Thanks - RS #83 and PP#165

As soon as I saw the challenge at Retro Sketches, I wanted to die cut half of the largest shape in Framelits Apothecary Accents(127003) and use the paper piercing tool and Essentials Paper Piercing stencil(126187) to create a faux envelope flap to suit that sketch.The paper piercing adds a nice finishing touch to that pretty shape.

Next, I teamed it with the Tic-Tac-Toe challenge #165 from Paper Players, its such fun deciding which combination to use. I have gone with the top line: Thanks, Button, Ribbon. I DID have a bit of a struggle threading the ribbon through the holes in the button! The Very Vintage Buttons are so pretty, don't you think?

The card is Soft Blue and Very Vanilla and after I had used Summer Silhouette to stamp the base in Smoky Slate, Soft Blue and Marina Mist, I put it through the Big Shot to dry emboss with the Modern Mosaic Embossing Folder.

The prettiest 'thanks' I could locate in my messy room today was this retired one, I'm sure if I tidied up I could find more things. Maybe tomorrow.......

Don't forget to click on the links to see some more inspiration,

Rachel

Update:Exciting news for me, I got a SHOUT-OUT from Retro Sketches for this card!!!