Oh boy, what a card!

Today I am doing something very special, exciting, and totally new for me.  Demonstrators from all over the world, me included, are taking part in Kylie Bertucci's International Blog Highlight for May.  The theme this time is MASCULINE.

 
The best bit about this Highlight is that you can vote for your favourite projects.  I would love it if you would vote for my project HERE.  The top ten winners will get to be part of an international blog hop so please VOTE for my project.

I decided that my project was to be a masculine birthday card.  Masculine cards have the reputation for being notoriously difficult to make and generally cause lots of problems.  I wanted my solution to be simple yet bold, and I think that the hexagon embossed foil adds the perfect graphic element.

I have used the brand new Happy Birthday thinlit, which will be available from 1st June, as the focal point for my card.  It is big and bold and gets the message across wonderfully!  I'm sure that this versatile die will be used for many birthday cards in the future... and not just for men's cards!

The fine-tip glue pen is perfect for adhering small intricate dies, but did you know that it can be used as a glaze too?  Can you see how shiny the Happy Birthday is?  Apply a thin layer of glue to the die cut sentiment, allow to dry, and then you have a shiny glazed finish.  Voila!
The Timeless Textures stamps are fabulous for adding just a little bit of depth to plain card.  The die cut circles lift the big sentiment away from the embossed foil.  Finally, I added a couple of star clusters.

Thank you for visiting my blog today.  Make sure you head over to Kylie's blog to vote for my project.  I would love to be chosen to do an international blog hop.  

Happy crafting

If you would like to order any supplies, I would love to be your demonstrator.  Please visit my online shop: HERE

If you would like to join my team, you can choose your starter kit HERE and if you have any questions, please contact me at furrycatdesigns@gmail.com
Alternatively, you can click on one of the images below showing the supplies used:

Hello There Lemon Lime Twist for Global Design Project #GDP086

I sat at my desk last night planning to make a card for the Global Design Project sketch challenge.  Great plan!  I'm really pleased with myself because not only did I make a card for the challenge, but I carried on and made two more cards in the same vein!

This is the sketch given as a starting point and as inspiration this week, and there are lots of ideas on the Global Design Project site.  It has taken me a while to get going with my new products - part of me wanted to savour their newness and part of me didn't know what to do with them!  Now I have started to experiment I don't want put them down or stop creating.

The cards all have the same core ingredients - I have used two of the gorgeous new In Colors, Tranquil Tide and Lemon Lime Twist, and a fabulous new stamp set called Pieces & Patterns.  I must admit that initially I wasn't going to purchase this set straight away, not because I didn't like it, but because I thought I could wait, and buy it later.  Thankfully, my youngest daughter saw its potential immediately and persuaded me to buy it!  I am so pleased that she did.  Now I have started to use it, I love it.

I've also used some new Lemon Lime Twist Finely Woven Ribbon, Silver Glimmer paper, white Bakers Twine, washi tape from an incredible new card kit, called Soft Sayings, the brand new Pretty Label punch and there is also quite a liberal helping of sparkle and shine from my Wink of Stella Glitter Brush!

If you would like to order any supplies, I would love to be your demonstrator.  Please visit my online shop: HERE - the brand new products will be available from 1st June.
 
If you would like to join my team, you can choose your starter kit HERE and if you have any questions, please contact me at furrycatdesigns@gmail.com

Alternatively, you can click on one of the images below showing the supplies used:
 

Hello to the new Stampin' Up! colours!

Over the weekend I spent several happy hours getting to know the brand new 2017/2018 In Colors from Stampin' Up!  Do you want to see what I made?

Shall I introduce you now? The first three new colours are Tranquil Tide, Berry Burst and Fresh Fig - which are beautiful rich jewel colours.  The other two colours are Powder Pink and Lemon Lime Twist - one soft, one bright and zingy!  I love how these colours work so easily with each other and how superbly they complement the existing palette.  Lots of possibilities.  Here is the Tranquil Tide one by itself.

When I first saw the colours I expected that Fresh Fig and Tranquil Tide would be my favourites.  Now I'm sure that it will be Berry Burst... or maybe Lemon Lime Twist (shown below).  I think that my favourite is going to be constantly changing.  How exciting!

My cards mix something new (besides the cardstock) with something old!  I have used a fantastic new stamp set called Happy Birthday Gorgeous, which will be available from 1st June.  This set includes numerous sentiments related to birthdays, together with some adorable flowers and balloons.  I have stamped one of these flowers behind the aperture created by the smallest flower die in the Bloomin' Heart Thinlits set - a firm favourite of mine.

The finishing touch is the sentiment... all the colours are gorgeous, aren't they?

Stampin' Up! are giving customers the opportunity to purchase two special Eastern Palace bundles before the launch of the new catalogue, and the bundles include some of the new colours.  The products are all available from 1st June, but these special bundles are only available until 31st May.

Here are some of the stunning projects you can make with these products.

Would you like to see more?  You can see the Eastern Palace Suite in this video.

Another way to obtain brand new products before the 2017/2018 catalogue launches is to join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator.  One of the perks of being a demonstrator is that you get to see new products before catalogues launch and you can pre-order from a selection of items too.  You can choose which items are included in your Starter Kit.  If you would like to join my team, you can choose your starter kit HERE and if you have any questions, please contact me at furrycatdesigns@gmail.com
  

If you would like to order any supplies, I would love to be your demonstrator.  Please visit my online shop: HERE

Alternatively, you can click on one of the images below showing the supplies used:

Flourishing Phrases Thank You

I love participating in our team challenges that happen every two weeks or so.  They are a fun way to exchange and swap ideas.  Each time there is a new theme which could be a colour challenge, a sketch or something topical, such as using new products.  This time it was something a little different because a CASE challenge was set.

When you CASE a project you can Copy And Selectively Edit.  Take what you like from the design and make it your own. It might be the stamp set, the colours, the layout or the flowers.  Whatever you like that has inspired you to make a card of your own.

The challenge is to CASE our incredibly talented Team Leader Bekka Prideaux.  The project (above) she chose for us to CASE is awesome with lots of elements to take inspiration from.
I chose to follow Bekka's sketch.  I stamped the beautiful flourish stamp a couple of times using Veramark ink on to Thick Whisper White card and then white heat embossed the image.  Once the image is heat embossed it acts as a resist to the Pool Party ink (I know it is one of Bekka's favourites!) that was sponged over the surface.

The flourish is decorated with either some die cut flowers or little punched flowers, from the Tree Builder punch, that are topped with small pearls. I chose to use the 'Thank You So Very Much' sentiment, although the stamp set contains lots of other useful sentiments too.  I've used my trusty Triple banner punch to create a neat finish to the ends and used strips of ribbon as another accent.

Which element would you CASE?  Happy Crafting!

If you would like to order any supplies, I would love to be your demonstrator.  Please visit my online shop: HERE

If you would like to join my team, you can choose your starter kit HERE and if you have any questions, please contact me at furrycatdesigns@gmail.com

Alternatively, you can click on one of the images below showing the supplies used: