Muggie's Hollow

Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge January 14

Here I go again... I SO need a tutorial on how to photograph my creations. This card is exactly what I wanted it to be but my attempts to catpure [OMGoodness... typo that just made me snort because I am the happy owner of two pure cats ;).... so yes a small digression that I am quite sure only made cat lovers smile]... let me start again - my attempts to capture it in a photo to share were such a sad fail... can someone please direct me to some instructions on how to improve the situation???? Please!

So... today's post is about Paper Smooches most recent Sparks Challenge - yes I actually managed to create a card and post it within the deadline, but the photo is not as clear and vibrant online as it is IRL :( hence my previous lament and plea!!

This was the inspiration...

This is my card...

The inside says 'Birthday' and I used the PS Briny Blue stamp set and matching wafer thin dies, the PS Alphadot stamp set, cardstock and patterned paper from Papertrey Ink (PTI) as well as a sunrise impressions plate from PTI, and an embossing folder from Sizzix. The sun die is from Lil 'Inkers, the heart is Simon Says Stamps and the wave die is from Memory Box. I stamped the fish with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, coloured it with with Copic Markers and embellished it with Ranger Liquid Pearls. The bow is Karen Foster's  Scrapper's Floss. TFL! My favorite S-I-L will receive this for her birthday.

Please join me and the rest of the mega talented and enthusiastic PS fans for this weekly challenge... SO much fin ;) ...sorry I love puns!

Dynamic Duos triple threat...

My sister is in the design team for Dynamic Duos colour challenge blog so I usually pour over the two colour plus neutrals creations each week. I've not participated in the past but this week they are having a 'triple threat week' so a trio of colours plus neutrals.

I'd been dying to try a new (for me) multistage stamping set with coordinating dies from PTI called Delightful Dahlia Additions and I had some ink colours that looked right so I decided to make a card for this weeks challenge. I also used a PS Hotspot Small Base Dies and some bakers twine from the Twinery. I think before I send it I will add something to the centre of the flowers, but for now I think I managed to meet the colour palate although my green is a little off ;) TFL!

Sea-son's Greetings...

A second card for this week's PS SPARKS challenge. It is funny where inspiration comes from sometimes... I happened to pull out a fishy PS set while looking for Nine Lives for the previous card and when I put it on the table it landed on some patterned paper that said "Season's Greetings"... always one for a good pun I thought it would be cute to create a little scene with some sea sons decorating their 'tree'.

I started by cutting a circle of white cardstock and stamping the scene using bits and pieces from Surf and Turf and then added the tiny Christmas ornament from Hang Ups. I then stamped the four sea critters again on a seperate sheet of white cardstock and then coloured the scene and critters using Copic markers. I fussy cut the critters and mounted them overtop of where I had stamped them on the scene and added some gloss and glitter using two Sakura pens (one Glaze and one Glitter). I punched some small circles out of glitter ribbon for the ornaments and diecut and layered two tiny stars for the top of the 'tree'. After adding some google eyes I mounted the scene on a PTI Tag Sale #4 tag diecut from red cardstock and added a bow using a scrap of patterned paper and the Small Bow die from Lil'Inkers.  I cut one of the curved banners from the PS Streamers set from white cardstock using the coordinating die and then stamped it twice once on the diecut and once on patterned paper to match the bow. I fussy cut the one on pattern paper and then stamped it with the greeting and tiny ornament (to which I added another punched glitter circle) before mounting on the white cardstock version. The seasons greetings paper was cut to size for the silver card and I added a strip of glitter ribbon to the bottom before mounting the tag and banner to complete the card.

A little hard to photograph again with all the glitter and glare so I took a close up because the critters are too cute! TFL!!

 

 

Purrrfect Xmas

Actually managing to post my card for this week's Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge!

The PS SPARKS challenge is my favorite card challenge as I just love PS stamps, but it has been a while since I managed to photograph a card in time to put it up for the actual challenge... this week's inspiration is a Cool Shades challenge and the colours are light green, light aqua, orange and red and were labelled 'Thanksgiving', which is happening this weekend in the USA... however I am working on Christmas cards these days so I let the colour inspire a cat oriented Xmas card. 

 

I used two PS stamps sets - Hang Ups & Nine Lives and the Alphawhimsy alphabet dies. I started with a silver card background and an old Quickutz die for the Christmas tree. I cut a few extra layers to make a taller tree and then stamped it randomly with the two tiny pine boughs from Hang Ups set using Versamark ink and then embossed with clear embossing powder.  For the tree ornaments I used the lantern from Hang Ups which I filled with cat appropriate themes - a little birdy (also from Hang Ups) and a fish, a mouse and a paw print (all from Nine Lives). I also included another cute free standing birdy from the set as I wanted a little more orange on the card. All the 'ornaments' were coloured with Copics, fussycut and then covered with Versamark ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. The 'Have a Purrrfect' sentiment and cat are also from Nine Lives and I cut 'Xmas' using the Alphawhimsy dies. The cat and diecut letters were also coloured using Copics. A little glitter tape that I bought from my sister through CTMH this summer, an old scrap of striped patterned paper (to which I added the orange stripes) and some glossy accents and it was done. A bit hard to photograph with the silver background and embossed elements so I tried to capture some of the details in a second photo... TFL!

 

Back {again}... happy autumn!

Another major blogging break. I have such a stack of projects waiting to be photographed but somehow just have not had the energy or inclination :(  ... summer vacation and a crazy busy fall at work might be excuses, but I think I've spent enough time browsing other people's blogs and Pinterest that had I focussed there would be at least a few blog posts before this one!

But I am back {again} with the intent of being reasonably regular... we shall see how I do! ;)

Today I am sharing a series of Thanksgiving cards I made for my family (Canadian Thanksgiving is mid-October) using a cute mini set from PTI, patterned paper from Doodlebug Design and dies from a few companies. I took the Online Card Class Insider so was playing with windows on a few of them... 

The first one uses the PTI stamp set coloured with Copics, including the pearls used for eye and nose and a great tree die from Memory Box's Owl Heart set. 

        
The second one is the only one where I did not use the squirrel from PTI stamp...although the sentiment is from the set.  It features an older yet darling Memory Box die called Nutty Acorn and an exclusive banner die from Simon Says Stamps.  

The third card is back to the squirrel and I think this one is my favorite! The window and frame are cut with Spellbinders oval dies and I love the small acorn detail (hand cut and pieced from PTI stamp set) on the burlap string.

The last card was using a new die from Die-versions Corner Concepts - Pine - you cannot quite see it in the main card but the close up shows it a bit better - however the impact is much better IRL. The square cutout and frame around it are again Spellbinders dies. TFL!