An extremely quick blog post as I can hardly keep my eyes open but need to get this posted before I miss the deadline.....(spent most of the day gardening, I'm exhausted....).
When I saw this photo for the Runway Inspired Challenge I knew I had to take part. The reason being is that I could see the card design in my head within minutes of seeing the photo, so that has to be good!
I diecut a rose from vellum 7x and very carefully adhered it to my card with very tiny pieces of double sided tape. After cutting off the overhang I die-cut the 'thanks' 3x from white CS, glued them all together and adhered to a strip of white CS. This was glued over the flowers and clear sequins added for shine.
The rose die is from Paper Smooches. The clear sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh and the 'thanks' die is from Clearly Besotted.
I'm off to bed. Max is playing his first tennis game in the morning at 8.45am. I'm usually only just getting out of bed at this time on a Saturday morning as I tend to stay up till around 3am making cards. Will have to try and take it easy tomorrow (no gardening!!) so I can stay up late on Saturday night.
Although just remembered that the final of the Rugby World Cup is on at 4am Sunday morning. Its New Zealand against Australia, so will be an amazing game. My Mum is Australian and I've always supported her team since I was little, so even though I should be saying 'All Blacks, All Blacks', I'll end this post with 'Aussie Aussie Aussie'!!!!!!!!
Hello Friday, boy you come round quick!!! Lucky I'm all ready for a new challenge at Just Add Ink! We have a really cool challenge theme for you this week:
JUST ADD ANYTHING WITH A 'W'
How simple is that!! And there are SO many different things you can do with your card around the letter 'W'. Wings, water colour, werewolves.....anything you can think of, its totally up to you!!
With it coming close to Halloween the very first thing that came to my mind was 'webs', as in Spiderwebs. I'm not a huge spider fan and hate getting caught up in webs while I'm gardening but there is something rather magical about them, especially their patterns. My card isn't so magical, its more 'spooky' than anything else:
At least these webs won't get stuck on my face!!! To create this I stamped the web on white CS 6x and then fussy cut. After working out the pattern I popped them all up on foam tape. On another piece of white CS I stamped 'Beware' in red pigment ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder straight away for a bit of shine. I also stamped the tiny spiders and fussy cut them and put them on small pieces of foam tape as well.
And will also link to the AAA Card Challenge # 51 where their theme is 'Halloween - All Styles'.
You have until next Wednesday 4th November to link your projects to the Just Add Ink challenge. The rest of the Design Team have some fantastic projects on the blog to help you with any ideas on the 'W' theme. Can't wait to see your creations in the Gallery!!
I'm about to wander off to bed. Its been a very busy day. Walked into town with Max's class this morning (along with two other classes) to see an exhibit at the Art Gallery. Takes an hour to walk each way and trying to keep 100 children from wandering off was quite difficult. Everyone was really good though and it was a lot of fun. After that I went straight to a gardening job for a few hours and then home to do all my 'housewife' stuff. So I'm a little tired but....
I really wanted to post this card that I made for the Uniko Challenge. The theme is 'Geometric with optional twist of circles, squares or triangles'. And I decided to make a Xmas card with a twist as well:
Instead of doing geometric shapes for the challenge, I decided to use my geometric animal stamps. I stamped and heat embossed the bear and giraffe on white CS in silver and fussy cut them out. I also stamped some reindeer antlers on some white CS and coloured with brown pencil. I used a matching die to cut them out and glued them behind the animal heads.
To create the background I stamped and heat embossed different sized snowflakes in white and then water coloured using Distress Ink 'Peacock Feathers'. After that had dried I put the animals on some foam tape, stamped the sentiment in black and added some sequins for shine. I really like how it turned out!!
The animals are from Altenew 'Geometric Menagerie'. The antler stamps and matching dies are from Waffle Flower 'Stocking'. The snowflakes are from Uniko Studio 'Background Builders: Vines Winter Additions' and 'Big and Bold - Snow'. The sentiment is also from Uniko Studio 'Rustic Christmas'. The sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh.
Off to bed I go. I think Max has snuck in there while I've been typing. He likes to sleep in ours for a bit and then go back to his because it will be all cold. I have my electric blanket on and bet he's all snuggled up on that!!
Are you ready for a new challenge theme at TIME OUT? You all totally rocked the Halloween photo for our last challenge and it will be excruciatingly hard to choose our favourites!!
Our theme for this challenge will certainly come in handy at this time of year:
CHRISTMAS with an optional twist of pink and/or purple
I know I'm way behind with my Xmas card stash, so anything to push me to make some more is brilliant!
We even have a fabulous Sponsor for this challenge - Uniko Studio. And you have two ways to win one of their stamp sets:
- you can either twist with us using pink and/or purple and be a random picked winner for a stamp set of your choice
- you can also comment on the Uniko Studio Blog and on all the DT that have played along with us, to win their Stamp of the Week - Label Love
We also have a Guest Designer for this challenge, its the amazing Suchi from Suchi's CardStock. Her designs are gorgeous and she does incredible things with stamps. Lovely to have her with us!!!!
I decided to 'twist' with my card this week and use a Xmas die I had forgotten all about:
I die-cut the Xmas tree's (from Memory Box 'Pine Trio Background') from silver CS, purple glitter CS (from DCWV 'Glitzy Pastels') and a purple paint chip. I staggered them and glued them together. They were popped up on foam tape. I then heat embossed the sentiment (from CAS-ual Fridays 'Lovely Snowflake') in silver. A simple but glittery card that could do quite well with being made quite a few times in different colours!!
You have two weeks to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge. The rest of the Design Team and our Guest Designer Suchi have some cards on the blog to inspire you if you need any ideas. Hope to see you in the Gallery!!
I seem to have a real thing for making Halloween cards this year. Its the only time of year I can enjoy my love of horror movies and cards of the same theme. So I decided to have another go at the Winnie and Walter 'Rerun' Challenge.
For this challenge they were concentrating on the 'Moonlight' stamp set, which I don't own. But you could also be inspired by the cards created by the Design Team. This time I was inspired by a card that Shay created:
I loved the use of the bats and how the outside edge of the black card front framed the design. This is what I came up with:
I must make sure I have some bat stamps for Halloween next year but luckily I purchased some stamps that came with a bat stencil!! Boy oh boy do I need more practice with my night-time blending!! I'm not 100% happy with this but I'm glad I threw some water on it as I love the effect with the Distress Ink. I used Chipped Sapphire, Seedless Preserves and Salty Ocean to create my night sky on a white CS panel. After the water dried I used a mini blending tool with some black ink and sponged over the stencil. I then used the same black ink to stamp the sentiment. The panel was put on some foam tape over a black card base and I glued on some stars for some night-time sparkle. The bat stencil and 'halloween' stamp are from Hampton Arts. The 'happy' stamp is from Winnie and Walter 'The Big, the Bold and the Happy' and the sequin stars are also from W&W (from the Pretty Pink Posh mix). I'm also going to link this to the AAA Card Challenge # 51 where their theme is:
Hoping its not raining tomorrow. I'm walking with Max's class and two other classes into town to go to the Art Gallery. Will take us about an hour each way, with nearly one hundred 8 and 9 yr olds it should be rather fun....Wish me luck!!
I really want to go to bed but I also have so many things to do on my computer. I'm behind with so much commenting and have a few more cards to post. I need to have a whole extra day each week to just work on my card/computer stuff, will put that request on my Xmas list!!!!
So excited because while I was staying with my Mum, I had the time to really sink my teeth into a card for the Little Tangles Challenge using Neat and Tangled products. It was really fun to put together and is Phoebe's favourite card from all I made at the weekend:
I spent a bit of time picking out pretty, pastel coloured patterned papers to use. I stamped the lightbulb in black ink onto each paper and then fussy cut them out. After working out the pattern, I popped them all on to foam tape on the card front. I die-cut a circle from vellum and heat embossed the sentiment in gold, so it really would 'shine bright' and used tiny pieces of double sided tape behind the letters, to hold it in place. A few coloured sequins finished it off nicely.
I used papers from American Crafts 'Serendipity' and 'My Girl'. And also from Echo Park 'Everyday Eclectic'. The lightbulb and sentiment stamps are from Neat and Tangled 'Sparkle and Shine'. The sequins are from Neat and Tangled as well.
One more card to post and then need to catch up on some commenting. I follow so many incredible blogs and love seeing what everyone is up to and what they are creating but with working so hard physically gardening nearly every day, I can't seem to stay awake at night any more. I then feel so guilty that people are leaving comments for me but I'm not able to return the favour. So please, if you haven't heard from me for a while, please know that I haven't forgotten about you and I'm still seeing your blog posts. I just can't physically do it all at the moment, so please accept my apologies.
This month for the Winnie and Walter 'Rerun' Challenge they have been looking at the 'Moonlight' stamp set. Unfortunately I don't own it myself but I wanted to take part and was inspired by some of the cards by the Design Team.
For my card I was inspired by this card by Kelly Griglione:
I loved the number 31 used many times and the sentiment. I was also inspired by this card by Vanessa Menhorn:
The halloween balloons are fantastic, along with the colour blending with the green distress ink. I took all these things and combined them together for my own card:
I used Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink with a mini-blending tool and added three splodges to the card front. I stamped the balloons over top, along with the '31st' images. I heat embossed the sentiment on a strip of black CS and popped it up on foam tape and instead of using any sequins, I stamped black stars.
The 'happy' stamp is from Winnie and Walter 'The Big, the Bold and the Happy'. The black stars are also from Winnie and Walter 'My Precious'. The 'halloween' and '31st' stamps are from Hampton Arts and the balloons are from Simon Says Stamp 'Birthday Bits'.
A bit of funny information for you. In the paper on Saturday I read that our Health Board that runs the local hospital, has decided to ban all fruit. Supposedly they have been listening to some Doctor who tells them it has too much fructose and is a 'danger' food. You will now be offered a bowl of raw cabbage with your sandwich at lunchtime in hospital. So much for '5 plus a day'. Do you think they will have 'Fructose Scanners' at the door to scan for people smuggling in grapes for Granny??? Absolutely absurd!! Next they will be telling me that vegetables are dangerous too.....And Dave heard today that all red meat gives you bowel cancer. What are we going to live on??? Air???
Its a dismal, cold day here, which is odd because yesterday I was in t-shirt and shorts. Spring in New Zealand can be very confusing for the wardrobe...... However, if it does rain here or if its not nice where you are in the world, then you might like to partake in the latest Addicted to Stamps challenge. Our theme for this week is:
HOLIDAY
Which is quite handy as I don't know about you but I'm so behind with my Xmas card making, a challenge like this is great to push me to get creating!! But you can also create a project for any other holiday, like Halloween, which is very popular at the moment.
Our Sponsor for this weeks challenge is Deedee's Digis and they are offering a $15 voucher to the winner. Talk about lucky!!!
I've been trying to find a Xmas card design that will be simple enough to make in bulk but also sparkly. I decided some heat embossing would be in order:
I heat embossed the Xmas tree from Uniko Studio 'Rustic Christmas' in silver, fussy cut and popped up on foam tape on the card front. I also heat embossed the sentiment (from the same stamp set) in silver and added clear sequins to the tree. I love how it glistens in the sun!!
You have one week to link your projects to the Addicted to Stampschallenge. And of course the rest of the Design Team have some gorgeous creations on the blog to inspire you. I hope you have a chance to join in and can't wait to see what you create in the Gallery!!!
Its time for a new challenge theme at The Challenge. I'm sad to say its my last post being the Featured Designer for October. I've absolutely loved being part of the challenges for the past four weeks and loved seeing all the entries. Thank you again Kim for your invitation and to the team for being so welcoming. I will definitely be back to entering each week!!
So the theme for this weeks challenge is 'Wedding' and this is the inspiration photo. To be honest, I've hardly made any wedding related cards. I don't go to many weddings as most people I know are already married. So this gave me a chance to create something that hopefully a couple would enjoy:
The colour of the flowers in the photo jumped out at me straight away, as did the wooden panels in the background. So these became the basis for my design.
I started by die-cutting the frame from some wood-patterned paper and also 2x from white CS. These were all stuck together for more stability. I cut the piece of gold dotted paper to fit behind the frame and adhered it to the card front. The frame was then popped up on foam tape over top. I die-cut the flower from some patterned paper and kept all the pieces in place with some washi tape. This was glued to the frame. After cutting a thin banner from white CS, I heat embossed the sentiment in gold, added some foam tape behind it and glued the ends to the frame.
The peachy patterned papers are from My Minds Eye 'Fancy That'. The wood patterned paper is from Kaisercraft 'Happy Snaps'. The flower and frame dies are from Paper Smooches and the sentiment stamp from Reverse Confetti 'Fancy Word Co-ordinates'.
You have until Sunday November 1st at Noon (PST) to link your projects to The Challenge. The Design Team have some fantastic creations on the blog to inspire you, if you need any ideas. I hope you have time to join in and can't wait to see what you come up with!!
Well, I came home today after spending the last three nights with my Mum. Was supposed to come home yesterday after dinner but as today was a public holiday, the kids said I could stay with Nana for another night. We had a wonderful time and I made loads of cards. We even tried out a cinnamon bun recipe my friend Kim sent me. They were loaded with butter and sugar and pouring the icing over them while still hot from the oven was heavenly. Everyone loved them and they disappeared that day. My pants are all a little tighter but it was totally worth it!!!!!
While at Mum's I wanted to make a card for the Muse challenge. I really loved Anita's design and thought I could turn it into a Xmas card. Here is what I came up with:
I just can't get enough of these little monkeys!!! I cut a panel of white CS and used a circle die to cut out the gap. I adhered some Xmas patterned paper to the card base and after stamping the sentiment in red, I popped the panel up on foam tape. I coloured the monkey and his hat with pencils and put him on some foam tape. And I can't have a Xmas card without some sequins!!
The monkey, santa hat, beard and sentiment stamps are from Waffle Flower 'Stocking'. The circle die is also from Waffle Flower 'Flower Circles Die Set'. The patterned paper is from Lawn Fawn 'Peace Love Joy' and the sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.
Off to check my emails and post a few more cards. The Walking Dead is on tonight so must watch that before I go to bed too, if I can keep my eyes open..... And just found out that our cable tv provider SKY is having a 'pop-up' channel for the next few days until the 31st Oct with all horror movies on it. So cool, just need to find time to watch them all!!!
With a cue word like 'zombie' this week at CASology, you know I couldn't enter just once!!
For my second entry, I came across a stamp set that I love but haven't used yet because I never quite had the nerve too. Well, one of them was perfect for this challenge:
This sentiment stamp is from Lil' Inker Designs 'Read Between the Lines'. It went perfectly with the idea about making a card about having to kill someone you love because they are turning into a zombie. The blood splatter stamps are from Hampton Arts 'Bloody Scene'. Not quite sure if there would be a need for a card like this, apart from Halloween......Can't imagine Hallmark coming out with cards if there really was a zombie outbreak!! I have four other challenges I would like to enter: Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge (The Monster Mash) Simply Create Too Challenge # 96 (Halloween Colours) AAA Card Challenge # 50
Time to get the kids ready for bed and I'm reading such good stories with them at the moment. I'm off to spend the weekend with my Mum, will go over Friday night and back home Sunday night, so won't be at my computer. Looking forward to hanging out with her, watching a few horror movies, making some cards and trying out a cinnamon roll recipe my friend Kim sent me. I saw a photo of the rolls on Darnell's blog and if I can get mine to turn out that good, Mum and I will probably polish off the lot!!
Hi everybody!! Popping in quickly to remind you about our current TIME OUT challenge. We have this amazing Halloween photo to inspire you:
Would love some of these sitting on my front deck if I lived somewhere that celebrated Halloween. Its not a big thing in New Zealand and you would be lucky to get one trick or treater. But the good thing is that they always have lots of horror movies on the tv, so I celebrate that way!! I got REALLY dark and spooky for my card this time and didn't even use any orange:
I stamped the skeleton and the top of the casket on some white CS using black Versafine pigment ink. That way I could quickly sprinkle some clear embossing powder on the casket lid and heat emboss to give it some shine. I used the matching die to cut them out and added foam tape to the lid.
I wanted to try and create some depth and a smoky look behind the skeleton so I used my Mama Elephant purple and grey pigment inks with a mini-blending tool. It worked really well, wasn't sure how they would move on the card stock. I adhered the skeleton and then put the lid on top but on an angle, as if he was about to get out as the 'undead'. I stamped the sentiment in black as well and threw on a few black enamel dots. Very cool!!
The skeleton/casket and sentiment stamps and die are all from Hampton Arts. The enamel dots are from Papervine.
You have one more week to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge. I hope you get the chance to join in. The rest of the Design Team and our Guest Designer TaeEun have some fantastic creations on the blog to inspire you. Can't wait to see your project in the Gallery!!
I've had this card sitting on my desk, waiting to be posted for two days. After seeing what the new CASology cue word was going to be, I jumped at the chance to create something!
I LOVE zombies! Anything to do with zombies, especially movies and tv programmes. So I'm one of the very happy people that The Walking Dead is back on tv!! I actually came up with the idea for this card after watching The Walking Dead on Monday. I won't describe the scene that inspired me.....:
I got this stamp set by Hampton Arts 'Bloody Scene' a few weeks ago and was 'dying' to use it. As you can see its a pretty simple card. I stamped the hand in red pigment ink and then covered it in Glossy Accents to give it a wet look, which unfortunately didn't show in the photo. I then stamped the sentiment (from Create A Smile 'Bad Day'), which I used recently with my 'poo' card but thought it was a perfect sentiment. It could only be a bad day if your being chased by zombies!!!!
I have four other challenges I would like to enter:
I have one other card to post which has a similar theme. If I make a lot I will call them my 'Splatter Collection'. American Horror Story is on tonight, so that might get me in the mood to make some more......
I'm back again as the Featured Designer for The Challenge this week!! Its been so much fun and I've loved seeing all the different entries in the Gallery.
Here is the inspiration photo for this weeks challenge. Aren't those pumpkins gloriously decorated?? I love all that shiny black and white with the pops of orange. The Gallery for this challenge is going to look very Autumn and/or Halloween with its colourings. Fabulous!! I just had to go with the black/white/orange colour combo on my card but decided to use something a bit more scarier than a pumpkin:
Isn't that skeleton spooky?? I love how its so detailed and has a vintage type look about it. As you can imagine, this was incredibly easy to put together. I used my mini-blending tool to create the orange background with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink. I then stamped the skeleton in black ink. I stamped the sentiment on a piece of white CS and realised that it looked too white and clean compared to the skeleton stamp. So I did something out of the ordinary and touched the edges of the CS to my black ink pad and even smudged some ink on the front. Much better! I popped it on some foam tape, added a couple of enamel dots and my Halloween card was done. The skeleton and sentiment stamps are from Hampton Art. The enamel dots are from Papervine. I have three challenges I would like to enter: Fusion Card Challenge
You have until Sunday 25th October at Noon (PST) to link your projects to The Challenge. I hope you have some time to play and can't wait to see what you create in the Gallery!! Take care Shona
Here's another Friday and another new challenge from Just Add Ink. We have quite an interesting theme for you this week:
JUST ADD: A FANCY FOLD
What is a 'fancy fold' you may ask?? Well, to be honest I wasn't quite sure myself but after a bit of research I discovered its when you fold your card differently than the usual top or side folds. When I looked on Pinterest I was AMAZED by all the different types of folding designs there are. Its something I've never done with my cards before, so this was going to be a real challenge for me!!
After looking at hundred of cards on Pinterest, I finally started getting an idea for a folded card that could work with my style. It wouldn't be too hard to make but I sure do wish I had thought about photographing it before I started making it:
Now, you may be wondering 'where are the folds????' but don't worry, they are in there. I've been trying to think of how to describe this. Basically the top panel opens to the left, the blue panel opens to the right and your left with the snowflake on the back panel of the card. Does that make sense??
Does this photo help?? You fold the blue panel in first and then the top white panel. Rather different don't you think?? Was so hard to get a good photo of though as it constantly wanted to open when closed. I had sneaky pieces of washi tape everywhere to keep it together.......
I started off with a white card base and a blue card base, both side folding. I die-cut the larger circle in the white card and then the smaller circle in the blue card. I stamped and heat embossed the snowflake in silver on the inside of the white card and then adhered this panel to the inside of the top panel of the blue card. The above photo shows you how its stuck together.
So after folding the panels in I stamped the sentiment on the front and added some clear sequins for a bit of sparkle. I sure hope this passes for a 'fancy fold'!!!
The clear sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh. The stamps are from CAS-ual Fridays 'Must Love Snowflakes'.
You have until next Wednesday 21st October to link your projects to the Just Add Ink challenge. I really hope you have a go with this one, would love to see what your idea of a 'fancy fold' is. Will look out for you in the Gallery!!
Its Thursday, which means its time for a new challenge theme at TIME OUT. For this challenge we have a fantastic photo to inspire you:
HOME SWEET HOME
Isn't this an amazing Halloween photo?!! Those black, glossy candle sticks and those brilliant decorated pumpkins, not to mention the black bird. My goodness the possibility of card ideas is endless.......
Our Guest Designer for this challenge is the fabulous TaeEun of Rainbow in November I'm sure you will have seen her cards around blogland. Her creations are stunning, especially her 'Clean and Simple' card designs. I really encourage you to visit her blog!!
I couldn't stay away from a black/white/orange colour theme for my card and even managed to find a bird:
I managed to find some black and white striped paper and used a rectangle die to cut out the shape. I stamped the owl and two pumpkins on some white CS. I coloured the pumpkins with pencils and then fussy cut, along with the owl. I put the owl on some foam tape over the striped panel. I also stamped the sentiment on some white CS, fussy cut and glued to the bottom of the panel, with the pumpkins over top. The striped panel was then popped up on foam tape on the card base.
The patterned paper is from Teresa Collins 'Save the Date'. The stitched-rectangle die is from Pretty Pink Posh. All of the stamps are from Close to my Heart.
You have two weeks to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge. The rest of the Design Team and our Guest Designer TaeEun have some fabulous cards on the blog to inspire you if you need any ideas. Hope to see you in the Gallery!!!
I'm coming Kimberly, I'm coming.......!!! When I saw Kimberly's spectacular card for the Muse: Christmas Visions challenge on Facebook, I left her a comment that since she used my favourite Xmas colours, I had better join in. It's been a long week coming but I made it, with a few hours to spare!!
Isn't all that blue and white heavenly....... Blue and white is one of my all-time favourite colour combo's for Xmas cards so seeing this makes me very happy indeed.
This card idea popped up while I was writing my grocery list today. I wanted to do snowflakes but somehow make them a bit different. It was another 'fiddly' number but thank goodness it worked:
I cut a panel of white CS and silver heat embossed different sized snowflakes all over it, trying to keep in mind that I would be doing some masking. I found some circle dies (from all sorts of different sets) to fit over each snowflake and die-cut them from masking paper. I covered all the snowflakes with the masks, realising that in some places I had stamped the flakes too close together but went with the flow. I then used my mini-blending tool and some Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink, dabbing off a lot of the colour before blending between the flakes.
It was like magic removing all the circle masks and seeing that it had worked out. I trimmed the panel down and popped it up on foam tape over the card base. I then die-cut the 'merry' 3x from silver CS, glued them together and adhered to the card. I also stamped the rest of the sentiment in black on a small piece of white CS and glued it on with a scattering of clear sequins. A sparkling Winter Wonderland!!
The snowflake stamps are from CAS-ual Fridays 'Must Love Snowflakes'. The 'merry' die and sentiment stamp are from WPlus9 'Hand Lettered Holidays'. The sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh.
Its been an exciting time over the last few days. Phoebe's BFF's Mum was due to have her baby last weekend, so we've all been on tenderhooks, as we would be looking after Ella and her brother while they are at the hospital. They were dropped off yesterday morning (as things had started at 3am) and she had the baby just after 3.15pm, a little girl. They stayed in hospital and the kids stayed here, so it was a very giggly school night last night....We were able to meet the baby briefly today on their way home. She is so beautiful and her skin is flawless. The poor parents though haven't slept for two days so hopefully they will get some sleep tonight in their own home. Just waiting now to have a baby cuddle!!! Take care Shona
