Cool for cats!

My lovely daughter adores cats, in fact she is transporting her cat Arthur by plane to her home in Berlin as we speak! It’s her birthday today. So what else would I make but a crazy cat woman card!

Three main ingredients feature in today’s post: Spectrum Noir Aqua tint inks; Tuck in dies from Tattered Lace and ‘Kevin’s Gang’ rubber stamps from IndigoBlu.

I have also used:

Sheena Douglass stamping card;
White card blank;
blue ink spray;
Sapphire die cutting machine from Spellbinders;
Archival ink pad in jet black ;
Spectrum Noir black alcohol marker;
Paint brush;
Heat gun;
Water;
Tattered Lace fine glue applicator;
Small rectangle die
Adhesive and foam pads;
pink gems;
Scissors.

I was very excited to receive my’ Tuck in’ dies. These add texture and just that little something to help draw the eye to the main image on the card. There are six packs of wonderful designs with two in each pack and they can be used in either the Baby Blue or the Sapphire machines. I chose three of the patterns which best complimented my stamped images.

I cut out the dies on strips of white card.

I set the die cuts to one side.

Now for the fun part…. inks at the ready! First chose some yummy colours from the aqua tints, there are loads to chose from. I used the ‘beautifully grunge’ set. I brushed some colour on in broad strips.

Next, drop some colour on top using the pipettes which come with the inks, including gold. Let it bleed and merge together. I also spritzed it with water and blue ink. Dry with the heat gun.

This creates a wonderful background for any project. Finally to add extra interest I sprinkled it with water drops and dried with a paper towel. These inks are water based and behave a bit like distress inks. They are magical!

Here is a less vibrant version with gold splats!

Now time to stamp your images randomly in black and cut out.

I also recommend edging them with the black alcohol marker once they are cut out.

Who said you can’t have a bag of cats!

I used a plain white card with an embossed square and stuck my tuck in die cut using the fine applicator. I stuck down one cat flat on top and the other raised with foam pads and added a sentiment and some pink rind stones.

But what about the inside? I used the larger stamp but first, I die cut a small rectangle and placed it inside the card in the centre. I then carefully stamped over the top. When the rectangle card is lifted you are left with a blank space to add your greeting.