Welcome little one

Sorry I've been MIA lately - not just from blogging but I have fallen way behind in my post reading and commenting as well. I've just been trying to rest my hands as much as possible due to a flare-up of a previous injury in my right hand from my previous job. I've been overdoing it a bit lately so I think my body was saying slow down! So I've been avoiding the computer as much as possible and I've only started making cards again in the past couple of days because stamping seemed to make the pain worse.

I had a bit of a play last night and to help my hand out I created the card I'm sharing for three challenges in one. AnnaBelle Stamps challenged us to make a card in pink, green and kraft and CAS-ual Fridays wants us to just add colour. Wee Memories is having a free for all so that makes three.




The dotted background is from Background by Design 3 from AnnaBelle Stamps stamped with Petal Pink Versacolor ink.
The Backgrounds by Design line of stamps is what drew me to AnnaBelle Stamps in the first place - I do love background stamps. What I didn't know until I bought this set is what makes them the best background stamps ever is how easy they are to line up - I mean, if I can do it, anyone can! :)




I coloured the umbrella from the 'Baby Shower' set by Fiskars in Spun Sugar and Bundled Sage distress inks with a paintbrush and some water added. I used a grey marker to colour the bit of the umbrella you hold onto (what is that actually called? - the handle maybe?) and to add a bit of a shadow to the umbrella trim.

I used watercolour paper for all of the layers except for the cardbase (Kraft).

Well I'm going to stop typing now as the pain is starting to come back - gonna go put on a heatpack I think.

Thanks so much for looking, and I hope you have a good one!

Wishing you the peace and joy of Christmas

Hello there! I'm writing this entry during my lunch break at work as I created my entry for the AnnaBelle Stamps' current challenge - Say It With...Embellished Corners late last night and felt so sleepy after that I had to go straight to bed!
Embellishing the corners is a tricky one because I'm a clean and simple kinda gal, but I think my card below manages to fit the challenge and be CAS at the same time:





I received my first order of AnnaBelle Stamps earlier this week (I ordered so much stuff, I couldn't help it, I love the designs - especially the backgrounds) and had to play straightaway. I'll have some more cards to share in the coming days that I created with the stamps I ordered.

I stamped the large sentiment from the 'Christmas Wish' set in Onyx Black Versafine ink on Canson Vivaldi cardstock.





I stamped the star from the sentiment again with Gold Versacolor ink but it wasn't sparkly enough so I rubbed on some gold Pearlex powder and set it with Matte Fixative spray. Cut out the star and fixed it onto the card with a tiny foam dot.
The corners were pierced and sewn by hand with gold embroidery floss.

Thanks for taking a look! I suppose I'd better get back to work. :(
Have a good one!

Winter Wishes

Let me preface today's entry by saying that I know it's a little bit weird creating a card with 'Winter Wishes' for the sentiment in spring (down under), and I also acknowledge that creating a card with images of snowflakes on it when I live in a subtropical climate where we never get frost, much less snow, is odd. But I can't help myself -  I love winter and I wish we got snow here :)

I couldn't resist the Textured to Perfection challenge from Moxie Fab World so I created a card using embossed resist! And I had to add a little bling so I'm entering this into the Simon Says Stamp Presents a Bling Challenge from Lily Pad cards.



By accident I used matte photo paper that was lurking in my scrap pile for the blue panel with the snowflakes - I have found in the past that embossing powders don't stick to it as the ink seeps in and dries too quickly - a great quality in a photo paper, not so much for embossing! However, this turned out to be a good thing in this instance as the patchy embossing adds to the overall distressed/dreamy effect.

The below image shows the card base itself is embossed as well - with the 'Cornfield' stamp by Docrafts for the V&A Museum quilts exhibition.



I clear embossed the snowflakes (Winter's Butterfly - Hero Arts) with Versamark ink and Ultra Fine embossing powder from Hero Arts. Swiped Tumbled Glass distress ink using the direct to paper method and wiped off the excess.




Scattered some Kaisercraft rhinestones amongst the snowflakes and affixed the sentiment (from 'Tis the Season by Fiskars) panel using foam dots.

That's it from me, I hope you get a chance to play along with the challenge too - it's so much fun adding texture!

Have a good one!

Hello Friend

I've spent lots of time at my craft desk this weekend. I made a couple of cards, but I was mainly sorting out new stamp sets into the A5 binders I use to store them. I have so many Hero Arts stamps now that I've had to buy another binder so that I can divide them between 'Clear' and 'Cling'.

Speaking of Hero Arts, I used some on the card in today's entry which is based on the inspiration photo from Scrapbook Boutique's latest challenge:

I took in the flower and the tiny silver balls and created the following card:




The daisy-like flowers are Tattered Florals by Tim Holtz. Stamped Chateau Grey Versacolor ink with Hero Arts Dotted Pattern on one daisy.



Stamped metal brad with Chateau Grey ink and dipped in Ultra Fine embossing powder (Hero Arts). Heat set it and covered with glossy accents for a bit of shine.




Assembled the flower on Canson Mi-Tientes textured cardstock (I believe this colour is 'Stone' but I can't be sure!) which I paper pierced the top and bottom of. Stamped the sentiment (All Occasion Messages by Hero Arts) with Versafine Onyx Black ink.

Thanks for taking a look! I'm off to enjoy the rest of my Sunday which looks to be a beautiful one!

Catch you later,

Thank you

Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post with ideas on how to be more creative during the week. It makes sense to create on the weekend and then stagger the posts throughout the week. I might try that and see how it goes.

For the past couple of days I've tried to make several cards based on Clean and Simple's FTL 161 but nothing worked until I caught this post by Aimes and I instantly knew what to do...





This size of card is my favourite at the moment - the Canson Vivaldi card is cut 4" x 6" and scored at 3". The fern from the Leaf Print set by Hero Arts fits perfectly in the ATC sized panel (2.5" x 3.5"). Used Bamboo and Brown versacolor ink.



The wooden button is from Heart Supplies. It's the same kind used on this card but coloured with a copic marker (Chamois). Stamped the sentiment from the Leaf Prints set with Versafine Onyx Black ink.




That's it from me. Thanks for taking a look, and I hope you are having a wonderful and creative weekend!

Thinking of you

I'm so jealous of crafters who post more than twice a week! How do you do it?? I find myself so wiped out after work most nights that it's difficult to get the creative juices flowing. What gets you crafting after a long day at work? I'd love to know!

Having said that - I made a card this afternoon/evening after work to enter the Annabelle Stamps Say It In...Yellow, Lime & Chocolate challenge.

My yellow and choc don't quite match the colour sample, but the three papers I chose complement each other quite well which is the most important thing for a CAS card! The 'yellow' paper is from the 'Peachy Keen' collection by Kaisercraft, while the 'choc' and 'lime' papers are from the 'Hey Birdie' collection (also Kaisercraft).



The flower was created using the Tattered Florals die by Tim Holtz. I also cut up one of the flowers from the die to make the leaves (Jennifer McGuire is right - a flower doesn't look finished until you add leaves!)




The wooden button is from Heart Supplies and the sentiment is Hero Arts (All Occasion Messages).

Thanks so much for looking, and have a great day!

You make me smile

I lost my two front baby teeth at the same time when I was 6 or so. I dislodged them by accidentally banging my head against on a pine beam at the playground at school... ouch. I was only a kid, but I still remember feeling self-conscious about my smile.

The card I'm sharing today is my entry for the Operation Julie's Smile challenge from CAS-ual Fridays -

I used the saying above as the inspiration for my card:




I used Canson Vivaldi cardstock for the card bases as well as the blue layer and the cut out bird layer.



The blue layer is Tumbled Glass distress ink with a bit of Cyan Versacolor for contrast.




I coloured the birds ('Best Friends' by Inkadinkado) with Lyra Polycolor pencils and blended using Zest-it. The sentiment is from the 'All Occasion Messages' set by Hero Arts.

Thanks for taking a look, and I hope you find something to smile about today. Me? I'm smiling at my cat snuggled up in his bed next to me :)

Mini card set

Happy Saturday to you! This morning we woke up to the sound of rumbling thunder which became a full-on storm by 8am and now it's pouring with rain - such crazy weather - I can't remember the last time it stormed in the morning! I was going to go do some gardening today but I definitely won't be now.

So - I thought I would finally write this entry instead! I originally created this little mini card set well before the CAS-ual Fridays deadline but I didn't take photos and post on time because I'm silly and a little bit time poor at the moment :(

I thought I'd share anyway because I would like to enter this into the Jay Gee's Nook challenge this month using the following inspiration photo:

I'm also taking a shot at Hero Arts' October contest. Can you tell which sketch I used?

These cards fit the mini envelopes I have. The cards themselves measure 4 x 6" unfolded (4 x 3" folded). I used papers from the Christmas Carnival collection (Kaisercraft) and the yellow dotted pattern is from the Lilac Avenue collection (also Kaisercraft) and coloured white ribbon with copics to make the banners.



I did the unthinkable and cut up a couple of my Hero Arts clear stamps - 'Feel Better Soon' from the 'All Occasion Messages' set and 'Enjoy Today to the Fullest' from the 'Wonderful Birthday' stamp set. It was much easier to stamp them that way and they can always be put back together.



I cut out all of the circles with my Spellbinders dies and mixed and matched the coloured ribbon with the patterns to create each individual card.


That's it from me today, I hope everyone has a wonderful, crafty Saturday!

You are so special to me

Happy Cardmaking Day for yesterday! I made this card card yesterday which was more of a happy accident than something I planned.




I printed a photo to hang on the wall yesterday using this canvas photo paper I found at my local Officeworks. It's slightly glossy and has a really lovely texture. This is the photo I printed and framed. I have a thing for roses but I can't keep them alive to save my life. Plastering them all over the walls is my compromise. :)

Later on I used the offcuts from printing the photo to create this card. I started with a Very Vanilla cardbase stamped in Vanilla Versacolor ink with the Envelope Pattern by Hero Arts.

I used the inkpad to paper technique (more Jennifer McGuire) to colour the canvas paper with Bundled Sage distress ink. I stamped the flower from Fiskars' "Petals from Scratch" set (which I think looks kind of like a coneflower) once on the green layer and then again in StazOn ink on an uninked piece of the canvas paper. I used the colours of coneflowers as my inspiration -



Picture found here- and blended Victorian Velvet and Worn Lipstick distress inks to colour the flower. I then swiped a little bit of Soft Peach shadow ink in the centre of the flower which blended by itself beautifully.




I created a banner which I then stamped with the sentiment (All Occasion Messages by Hero Arts) and popped it up on foam dots to complete the card.

Because the graduating colour effect using the blender tool is my favourite technique (at the moment!) I think it fitting that I enter this card into this week's Wee Memories challenge (to use your favourite technique)

I couldn't resist adding this one to the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes challenge.

Have a good one!