A couple of clean and simple cards

Entering this card in the following challenges:
Casology - Cue word:  Cut
Seize the Birthday - Theme:  Anything Goes

I fussy cut the cow and die cut the white rectanglar piece. 
I used Mama Elephant stamps (lunar animals and brush strokes) and Stampin Up stamps (endless birthday wishes) to make this card.

   

 I created this card for a  colleague who celebrates a birthday in early Jan but unfortunately I forgot it.  The inside of the card reads:  "But I do!"

Thanks for looking!

Wishing you a tree-mendous day!

Entering this card in:
Freshly Made Sketches Challenge and CASology Week 23.

I loved the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches - it takes a lot of the hard work out of card making for me and makes it so much more fun to create.  The 'Forest' theme from CASology made me use colours that I normally don't use (which was fun!) and also made me realise that I don't own any tree stamps (GASP!).  Definitely need to add some of those to the wishlist!

I used Mama elephant stamps for the rabbit (lunar animals) and the sentiment (calli letters & happy everything).
Here's a link to both challenges if you're interested in having a look.  It's great fun to play along!

Thanks for looking!
        

CASology 'Orange' challenge

Here is my first attempt at using distress inks.  I have seen then used lots and lots on different blogs and on pinterest and LOVE how they look, but I've always been a bit scared of them!  I finally decided that I HAD to have them, and yesterday I made an investment (as opposed to a large impulse purchase!) at my LSS and bought five distress ink pads and some of the basic tools to use them.  Here is a link to two of the cards that I found very inspiring:  MASKerade blog and Made Marion blog.  Both are gorgeous blogs, I spent plenty of time drooling over their cards!  The MASKerade blog though, oh boy, I think I pinned just about every card that she has made!  WOW!  Her cards are absolutely stunning...I could look at her board on pinterest all day long!

The card is far from perfect, I made a number of errors, but given that it was my first ever attempt, I am so pleased with how it turned out!  I used post it notes to mask off the area of card that I didn't want ink on.  I used the red, orange and yellow distress inks to create a sort of 'sunset' backdrop.  I then spritzed it twice with a mini mister to give it a gorgeous, slightly distressed look.  Once it was dry, I simply stamped the bird cage image, took off the post it notes and stamped the sentiment, then it was done!  So much fun!

Some of the errors I made included not having one post-it note stuck down properly at the top, therefore you can see where I accidentally got red ink at the top left corner of the card, kind of spoiling the whole 'nice straight line' effect that I was going for!  When I pulled off the post it notes, my three year old immediately informed me that "Mum, look, you made a mistake at the top.  You need to rub it out!"  Thanks for pointing that out mate!  I also forgot about the back of the card and so when I'd finished inking and I sat the card back down on the 'messy mat', I got little ink marks on the back!  Oh well, I'll call them 'character marks'!  Also, the second birdcage didn't stamp as well as it could have, I need to make sure I press harder near the edges.

Anyway, all in all, not a bad first effort, and I am dreaming of all the possibilities!!

I am going to enter this card in the CASology challenge - I have been quietly drooling over this blog for weeks and weeks but been too scared to enter!  The cards on here are just incredibe - so inspiring and so beautiful.  Their challenge this week is:


 so I think my card will fit in nicely with this challenge.  Click here for the CASology blog - definitely worth a visit!

Stamps:  Kaisercraft bird cage image
Sentiment stamp:  Amy R stamps
Distress inks:  Barn door, Spiced marmalade, Mustard seed

Thanks for looking!