All very CAS

I would like to be able to say that we are having a rare sunny weekend but, we aren't.  Gloomy and rainy again.  A quiet weekend punctuated by a 60th birthday celebration last night.  It was one of my husband's former triathlon friends, so it was wonderful to catch up with a few familiar faces from the squad of 12+ years ago.  It's a bit surreal to see these men and women now, married with children, when the squad were training hard, they were just out of university, coping with new jobs and relationships.  

So, these 2 challenges dovetail nicely.  This stamp set is about the only one I have with anything vaguely balloon like.  I used vellum for the background to create the illusion of sky, perhaps it worked.

What you need
Cardstock - BB aqua;  PTI vellum
Stamps - PTI Everyday Button Bits
Ink - SU Early Espresso, Real Red
Buttons - PTI
Thread - DMC

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One for my Christmas card collection. 

I hadn't tried to emboss with this die before, but knew the effect would be lovely.  Just wanted to keep it simple, with just a touch of red and black

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white

Stamps - PTI Mega Mixed Messages

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Die - Memory Box

Gems - ?

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And just to finish, a quick card for the Stampin' Royalty challenge.  The theme  

STRIPES

I saw a design similar to this on a quilt (Pinterest).  I forgot to pin it, unfortunately.  

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white

Stamps - Avery Elle Knotty, To the Point

Ink - Memento Lady Bug, Nautical Blue

Now ....... Breathe ............

WOW ... huge (cultural) weekend for us, but I have to say my daughter did the hard yards.  In the past week, she has had the final week of school for this term.  But also rehearsals leading up to the mid year Aust. Girls Choir showcase, a day long workshop with choirs from other schools in the area and  a charity concert for dance.  Now we can relax.

This first card is a real mix up of colours and patterns which I thought would be great for a teenager.

Love these colours, so summery, which is nothing like the weather here at the moment.  Winter has really hit now - but nothing like the Northern hemisphere experiences - but we do suffer ("tears tears").

Love this little sentiment!

What you need

Cardstock - PTI red, white

Stamps - CAS-ual Fridays Woot woot, Big Thanks

Ink - SU real red, Island Indigo, Certainly Celery;  PTI Hawaiian Shores;  Memento Tuxedo Black

Punches - SU

Ribbon - Certainly Celery satin

Gems - Kaisercraft

Marker - SU Island Indigo

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Now, I have to add a few thoughts on the Bolshoi Ballet.  So very glad we went, larger than life, BUT,   I think I far preferred the subtlety and elegance of the Hamburg ballet we saw last year.   It is a great experience for children to see these famous companies and make informed decisions on their preferences.  They were faultless but, in my opinion, a bit emotionless. 

OK enough artsy opinion,  needed to have a go at a few challenges close to my heart.  No stretch on colour, theme or bling (NEVER a problem there).  I loosely interpreted that Graphite Black was BLACK.  

Edited to add:  this was selected as the Headliner for The Paper Players.  Thank you, that is a real thrill!

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white, black;  SU Lucky Limeade

Stamps - CAS-ual Fridays stamps Bold Wishes, Mum's the Word

Ink - SU Lucky Limeade Memories Unicorn white, Brilliance Starlite Black (well, it has black in the name!!)

Die - TE branch

Gems - Kaisercraft

Last day of holidays .... (BIG sigh!)

 It's back to work tomorrow, still it's been a nice break, though a little hot so unable to achieve all we wanted to around the house.  My daughter has another week to go before school starts and we have the Australia Day holiday next weekend too, so something to look forward to.

Wanted to have a go at these 2 before time ran out.  Tricky colours these and in my head I wanted the colour to be in the cardstock rather than the stamping.  So all stamping is in grey and broke into my new SU colours for Summer Starfruit.  I did think about colouring in the flowers but glad I didn't, as it looks really pretty sitting here on my desk.

What you need

Cardstock - SU Real Red, white, Summer Starfruit, Melon Mambo

Stamps - HAPattern Hearts and Flowers, Year Round Sentiments

Ink - SU Basic Grey;  Memento London Fog

Punch - Fiskars

Gems - Kaisercraft

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Now, this next one evolved rather than trying to fit in a couple of challenges .... Really!  I started out with my Hero Arts challenge with what I believe is my oldest HA stamp.  I used it in this post many moons ago.  So it was easy to visualise it in Dynamic Duo colours of red and black with a touch of Valentine.  But the design stumped me till I saw the latest Paper Players challenge.  Problem almost solved.  

Trying to be a bit arty, and not go down my usual framing route, I tried for off centre ... not tooo bad.  And finally it neatly fell into the Addicted to CAS embossing challenge.

I am happy with the finished product, especially the little hearts, a punch Jennifer McGuire has used many times to great effect.

What you need

Cardstock - SU Real Red, white, black

Stamps - HA Chandelier;  PTI Lighten Up

Ink - Versmark; Versafine Onyx Black

Embossing Powder - Zing Glitter Black

Die - Spellbinders Classic Squares

Punch - Martha Stewart

Glossy Accents