Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #177

 Well, its Christmas Eve here in New Zealand. Its been a chaotic few days for me finishing off gardening (while it poured with rain EACH DAY!!), have been to the supermarket 3x in past 24hrs, spent two hours wrapping all the presents today to then realise I had no labels, the painters finished this morning after three days so I'm putting the house back together so I can sleep in my own bed tonight.....chaos doesn't seem like the right word but I'll be glad to wake up tomorrow morning and everything will be good and chocolatey!!!

We have a photo to inspire you for this challenge, which I always enjoy. This one has so much lovely white/cream accents, with a touch of green from the tree. Wish my dining table looked this good!

Our Sponsor for this challenge is the always generous Stamplorations who are giving a $25 voucher to the winner!

 
Shery (the owner of Stamplorations) is always so good to our Design Team at TIME OUT and given us some products to use for this challenge. I chose some balloon dies and thought it was about time I made some shaker elements:

I really enjoyed creating this card because I used colours that are a bit 'out of the box' for me (dark green and cream/beige) but really like how it came together.

Firstly I wanted to add a touch of dark green (like the Christmas tree) so adhered a panel to the card base. I then found this patterned paper from Rosie's Studio 'Noel', which encompassed the beige in the photo as well as some black images which seemed to scream 'celebration'. This was cut smaller than the card front and put on a piece of white foam.

I die-cut the Stamplorations 'Shaker Balloons #3 Oval' from white CS. I adhered some vellum to the back of the 'open' die-cut and then added thin pieces of foam tape to the back as well. This will creation some height to allow the sequins to move around. I made a pile of clear and white sequins from Neat and Tangled in the middle of the solid balloon die-cuts and pressed the vellum pieces on top to seal them in. They were glued to the card front, along with the die-cut strings. To finish off I white heat embossed the sentiment from Stamplorations 'Yuletide Deer - Dee's Artsy Impressions' on a strip of the same dark green CS. This was popped on foam tape, along with some dark green sequins, again from Neat and Tangled.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge  where their theme is 'Sparkle and Shine'.

You have until Wednesday 30th December to link your projects to the TIME OUT Challenge and there are lots of projects from the rest of the Design Team and our spectacular Guest Designer Vicky of Crafting Clare's Paper Moments to inspire you on the blog. Look forward to see what you came up with in the Gallery.

Take care and Merry Christmas!!

Shona 

Stencilled Christmas Card

 Hi everybody!! I'm typing this out at 8am Monday morning while listening to painters hammer in nails and sand down window frames (Phoebe is in bed, she is going to LOVE all the noise......). I have three days of gardening to go before I finish for a two week break over Christmas. And its now raining!!! I have no spare days or time to fit anyone in before Thursday if I can't work in the rain, so I'm stressing out. Please cross all your fingers and toes for me that the rain isn't very hard and I can get everyone finished!!!

 

As I've mentioned a few times I'm not very experienced when it comes to stencils but there are so many amazing ones that have been released this year, I can't help but grab them and try them out. I spotted one from Waffle Flower that created rings and thought they would make great Christmas wreaths:

I'm so terrible at not reading instructions properly and then getting in a mess but there was no way I was going to waste all my ink blending work.

Using the 'Rings Builder Stencil' on a panel of white CS, I blended Distress Inks 'Mowed Lawn' and 'Twisted Citron' to create the wreaths (I used the stencils the wrong way around and it took a lot longer than it should have...silly me....). I then trimmed the panel down so there were 5x3 rings. I needed a bow to create the 'wreath' idea and found one from a very old Waffle Flower set 'Willy and Friends'. I stamped it with Catherine Pooler 'Rockin Red' ink at the top of each wreath and coloured in with a red Altenew Marker.

The wreath panel was popped up on a piece of white foam, above a panel of red CS that showed slightly underneath, and then adhered to the card front. I didn't have a Waffle Flower word die to fit, so I used the 'Joy' from The Stamp Market. I die-cut it 3x from red CS, glued together and then to the card front. I then stamped the sentiment (from Waffle Flower 'Oversized Merry') with the same red ink and put on foam tape. To finish off I added lots of Wink of Stella to the 'Joy' die-cut.

The rain has slowed down a bit now so I might just be able to go and garden. Fingers crossed it was a flash in the pan and it won't come back again. Trying to weed in the mud is not one of my favourite jobs!!

Take care

Shona

Two for one Christmas Cards

 Hi everybody!! Its the final weekend before Christmas and I'm no where near ready!!! I still have more shopping to do and I'm gardening Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday this coming week, so only have Thursday to do final prep, wrap presents etc. I'm off shopping with Phoebe shortly to buy some things for Dave. He's off up North for a week on the night of the 22nd, so making him up a box of goodies to take with him. Tomorrow I'm going to pick (and eat) cherries in the morning, then at lunchtime I'm going to visit some of my gardening people who have moved into a retirement home. Will then do my Mum's lawns, walk the dog, make the dinner then pass out probably!

I recently purchased the above stamp from Colorado Craft Company 'Big and Bold - Nordic Ornament' because I not only fell in love with the images but I knew it was big enough to be the star of a card on its own. I then realised that I could make two cards with one lot of stamping:

The stamp itself is 5.5 inches in diameter, which is the perfect card height. I white heat embossed it twice on to some soft mint CS and then cut it down the middle. I didn't have a circle die big enough to go around the outside so carefully fussy cut it out. I created two card bases that were only 4 inches across. I popped the halves up on foam tape and simply stamped the sentiments (from the same stamp set) with Versafine Onyx black ink. And finished off with Arctic Breeze pearls from Studio Katia.

You could make these in bulk with lots of different CS colours and embossing powders. Or maybe just stamp with different colour inks. The images are so cute I'm even thinking of fussy cutting them out and using on cards in the future. One of my favourite stamps I've purchased all year!

I'm going to link these to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Christmas Critters'.

Time to put out one more load of laundry before I go into town. I must share a funny story with you. My husband is terrible at mixing colours and putting the fluffy white towels with the darks while doing laundry. This morning I tried to go in there and he shooed me out. I said 'Are you mixing colours again??' and he said 'No. This is my white pile, this is my dark pile and this is my cream pile'. Cream pile??? I must have missed that episode of Martha Stewart, I couldn't stop laughing......

Take care

Shona

 

Reminder: The Flower Challenge #51

 Hi everybody!! As usual I've had a strange couple of days so far this week. The weather Sunday and Monday were so cold, I had to get out my Winter pj's yet again. And it was so windy!! Today (Tuesday as I write this) has been extremely hot, no one knows what to do with themselves. I haven't been gardening today as I received two cortisone injections in both shoulders this morning for 'Reactive Bursitis' so fingers crossed that will kick in, in a few days. I wasn't allowed to do anything too strenuous so have been sweating at home while making some Christmas cards.

We have a great challenge theme at The Flower Challenge this month 'Add Embellishments', so you can get out all those bits and bobs and put them on your floral projects.

For my last card I used my favourite embellishments - sequins and pearls (from Studio Katia). This time I wanted to make them one of the main parts of my design:

Who knew this card would be so hard to photograph??? I usually only take photos of flat cards for slimline designs but this happened:

The photo itself is fine but you can hardly read the sentiment, let alone know that its sparkly gold. 

For this card I wanted to do some die-cutting, so I die-cut the 'Outline Floral Frame' die from Simon Says Stamp 2x from red CS. I glued one to the card front and then glued back in some of the flower petals. The second layer was then glued on top to add more dimension.

Using gold pearls from Studio Katia, I glued them to the middle of the flowers and also as 'berries' on the round parts of the frame. I kept the sentiments simple, using a Couture Creations circle die on the same red CS. I heat embossed the sentiment (from Simon Says Stamp/Gina K Designs 'Joy of the Season' from last year) using WOW! Metallic Gold Embossing Glitter and put on some foam tape.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge #164 where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

You have until Friday 25th December to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and the rest of the DT have some incredible ideas for you on the blog.

I'm afraid I'm sad to say that this is my last challenge as part of the Design Team. I've been a part of The Flower Challenge family since the beginning 4yrs ago and have loved every minute of it. Its time for a change and to let someone else have the joy of being part of this amazing team of women. Thanks so much to Aileen for inviting me and to Viv for keeping the team organised. I'm going to miss the challenge terribly and will definitely be joining as a participant next year. Time to take a break, recharge and hit 2021 with a bang.

Hugs

Shona 

Uniquely Creative - Koala-la-la-la

 Hello there!! How I wish Santa would bring me an irrigation system for Christmas!! Unfortunately I have only one hose and a sprinkler, so I use my phone to time 12 minute intervals to go out and move it. Not much fun but it could be worse, we could be on water restrictions but with all the rain we had in November I don't think that will be happening.....

I've got another card to share with you using the Uniquely Creative 'Aussie Christmas 2' Mini Stamp and Colour Kit. This has been ridiculously popular, especially with all of the Australian Subscribers. For this card I used a koala which couldn't be more 'Aussie' if he tried:

I stamped the large tree image from the 'Oh Christmas Tree' stamp set and the koala from the 'Aussie Christmas 2' stamp set, which comes with the kit, on white CS using Gina K Amalgam Black ink. I coloured them with my Altenew Artist Markers and then cut out with the 'Aussie Christmas 2 Fussy Cutting Die' and 'O Christmas Tree Fussy Cutting Die'.

I cut a piece of patterned paper from the kit so it was slimmer than the card front and popped it up on a piece of white foam. I then used foam tape to add the Christmas tree and then the koala on top. The sentiment was cut from the sentiment strips that come with the kit. I backed it with some red CS and put it on foam tape, along with some 'Silver Rhinestones' 

Time to go move my sprinkler for the millionth time and then have some dinner. It rained yesterday but after the crazy winds we had today none of the moisture is left. Mother Nature is a bit all over the place at the moment. Maybe she needs a holiday too....

Take care

Shona 

From our home to yours

 Its Friday night...yippee!! Its been an incredibly busy week and I can't wait to get into  bed with my iPad and watch something till the wee small hours (probably Law and Order) because I don't have to get up early tomorrow. I still have some Christmas shopping to do and some baking. And my own garden is looking rather unloved too, so not a relaxing weekend but are they ever??

I have another Christmas card to share with you, using a digital image I purchased from Alex Syberia Design.  This time I have some adorable little gnomes in a row:

Aren't they the cutest?? These took me a while to colour but was so fun creating their own personalities with colour combo's. This image is called Christmas Gnomes Digi Slimline and is a 'Bestseller' in Alex's Etsy store. I can totally see why!!

I printed the image on to white CS and coloured with Altenew Artist Markers. I then added some details and highlights with a white gel pen. I cut the panel so it was 3 1/4 x 7 inches. After making a white card base that was 7 1/4 x 3.5 inches I adhered a panel of light grey CS. The gnomes were then put on top with a piece  of white foam and I finished off with some Studio Katia pearls.

I'm definitely going to colour some more and I've worked out that I can cut some of them apart to make more than one card at a time (which is always good at this time of year.....). Its 8pm and I still haven't had any dinner, or eaten anything today come to think of it, no wonder my tummy is growling. Better go and see what I can rustle up. The kids have already had dinner so I can make whatever I like!!

Take care

Shona 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #176

 Hello there!! Its getting closer to the end of the week, hopefully yours has gone well and your slowly getting yourself organised for Christmas. I finally did some online shopping this week and started my baking, so far I've made 14 dozen cookies with a few more to go. All my gardening people seem to love them, so I take a plate and card to each of them on my last day of gardening before taking a break over Christmas.

We have some words to inspire you for the current TIME OUT  challenge. I really enjoy the word inspiration ones because you have so much to use for ideas, like one word in particular or maybe how the whole phrase affects you.....

The Sponsor for this challenge is the always fabulous Newtons Nook and they are very generously giving a $25 gift voucher to the winner. And they have so many new release goodies to choose from too!

For my card I was going to go with an angel theme but I then got thinking about things with wings and got a little side-tracked:

Not your usual angel but pretty cute nonetheless. I always thought the saying 'if pigs could fly' was hilarious and the thought of seeing pigs roaming the skies, oinking away definitely makes me smile. Although the 'poo' situation would be a bit more dramatic than if it was a bird....

I started by stamping images from Funky Fossil Designs 'Hogs and Kisses' and 'Bee's Knees' on white CS with Gina K Amalgam Black ink. Of course I used my favourite Altenew Artist Markers to colour them in and fussy cut them out.

On the card front I blended Distress Ink 'Salty Ocean' over the Funky Fossil Designs 'In the Clouds' stencil, and 'Mowed Lawn' over the 'Scenic Borders' stencil. I then used Gina K Connect Glue to pop the images in place. To finish off I white heat embossed the sentiment from Funky Fossil Designs 'Whimsy Town', put it on foam tape and glued on some Studio Katia pearls for a bit of shine.

You have until Wednesday 16th December to link your projects to the TIME OUT   challenge and if your needing any ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team and our talented Guest Designer Jenny of My Paper Epiphany have created for you. Looking forward to seeing you in the Gallery!!

Take care

Shona

 

Happy Holidays

 What a warm couple of days its been!! Unfortunately its also been extremely windy, which is not much fun when you work outside all day but the temperatures have been so balmy, especially at night. Its 9pm now, we still have all the doors and windows open and I'm sitting here in my summer pjs....its bliss! Although when I go to bed and watch my iPad in the dark, all the bugs that have flown in thru the windows will be all over me like last night....was like a horror movie!

Last month I purchased two digital images from Alex Syberia Designs. She is such a talented artist and really keeps on trend with the images she creates. As I may have mentioned I'm obsessed with anything to do with gnomes but haven't been in a position financially to purchase many stamps or dies. So when I saw the ones that Alex had created, I bought them straight away:

This gnome is so adorable but I feel I may have left him a little cold, as I seem to have made him shirtless by colouring his arms a 'skin' colour. Maybe he's been doing a lot of Christmas baking so needed to cool off??.....

My husband printed the Christmas Cute Gnome Digi stamp image on some white CS so that he would fit perfectly on a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inch card front. He's actually a much larger image to colour than I've ever done before and my Altenew Artist Markers were starting to run out (was waiting on an order of refills) so decided to make his hat more grey/white to save some ink. And I had lots of fun doing his beard with lots of shades of grey.

Once I had finished I went around the edge of the images with a light blue marker, to give him a bit of glow and cut him down to slightly smaller than the card front. I cut a panel of dark grey CS to adhere to the card and then popped him up on a piece of white foam. To finish off I glued on some pearls from Studio Katia.

Luckily my husband printed off a few of the images I purchased, so I have some more colouring to do. And might see if he can experiment with the size as well, to see if he can be made a little smaller.

I have one other image to share with you, just need to finish off adding some highlights (which I forgot about with this one) and get some photos taken. My day is busy again tomorrow, everyone wanting their gardens to look tip-top for Christmas but hopefully I can come home and take the photos to show you tomorrow night. My bed, my iPad and Law and Order Season 13 are calling my name, time to say goodnight.

Take care

Shona

 

Funky Fossil Designs - New Home

 Hi there, have just turned on all my Christmas lights. Its so bright on our verandah in front of our house, which of course I love. And I have lots of lights in the trees and along the fenceline, so you can see it from miles down the street. I did it all myself over a few days which I'm pretty proud of. My husband doesn't like it and won't let me put our address in the paper of houses with lights, so I just tell everyone I meet!!

I thought I'd give you a 'non-Christmas' card to look at today for a change. I'm short around 20-odd cards so I've been trying to make them for days. My husband works for a house building company and every now and then he asks me for a card to give to the people when they hand over the key:

I haven't shown my husband this card yet, its probably a bit too colourful for his liking but I had so much fun colouring it and adding lots of yellow, I'm sure I can pass it on to someone somewhere that is lucky enough to have a new home!!

I started by stamping the house image from the 'A5 Whimsy Town' stamp set on white CS using Gina K Amalgam Black ink, colouring with Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cutting out. 

I decided to try something different for the background and used the 'Snow Globe' stencil. I blended Distress Ink 'Black Soot' for the stand of the globe and then 'Salty Ocean' for the globe itself, making it lighter  towards the centre. I then used 'Mustard Seed' and the 'Rooftops' stencil stars to sit behind the house. I popped the house on some foam tape and white heat embossed the sentiment (from the same stamp set) on red CS (to match with the roof), put that on foam tape as well and finished off with some yellow pearls from Studio Katia.

Its nearly 9.30pm and I still haven't gotten around to having any dinner. Phoebe is out with friends tonight and Max spent the afternoon with friends, so he's chilling in his room. Dave has just gone to bed so I have the lounge room to myself. Feel like watching something funny, so will see if I can find some Robin Williams somewhere, he always makes me laugh.

Take care

Shona

The Flower Challenge #51

Hello there!! What a week its been. The weather has been all over the place, winter pjs one night, summer pjs the next. The wind is ridiculously strong and then you get the odd warm still night. I have such sore eyes, I don't usually get affected by allergies but think with all the wind and flowers around, my eyes feel like I poured sand in them. I would take eye drops but I'm like a 2yr old toddler with them, hate putting them in and constantly blink when Dave does it. Can't win!

Its our last challenge of the year for The Flower Challenge and we are wanting you to 'Add Embellishments' to your floral projects. And with so MANY different embellishments available, your choices are endless!

For my cards I was all about simple stamping/heat embossing and using my most favourite embellishments:

I need so many more Christmas cards and STILL haven't sent out my International ones but I love receiving cards after Christmas, keeps the feeling going that bit longer....

I purchased a new stamp that I was dying to use 'Big and Bold - Slimline Poinsettia' by Colorado Craft Company. I thought these images would look fantastic just on their own and since I need to make a lot of cards at once, I can use different inks for each one.

For one card I stamped the flowers using Catherine Pooler 'Rockin Red' ink on white CS. This was cut down to 3 x 7 inches. I created a white card base that was slightly larger, adhered a panel of red CS to the front and popped the flower panel on white foam. The sentiment (from the same set) was white heat embossed on the same red CS, fussy cut out and put on foam tape, along with my all-time favourite embellishments sequins, from Pretty Pink Posh.

For the second card I heat embossed the poinsettias on red CS using WOW! Metallic Gold Sparkle Embossing Glitter. This was cut down to the same size and put on a white card base with a piece of white foam. The sentiment (also from the same set) was heat embossed on a strip of white CS with the same gold embossing powder, popped on foam tape and I glued on my new favourite embellishments, pearls from Studio Katia.

You have until Friday 25th December (Christmas Day!) to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and we'll be back on the 15th with some more 'embellishment' ideas. Look forward to seeing you in the Gallery!

Take care

Shona

 

Uniquely Creative - Merry Christmas to Roo

 Hi everyone! The rain has finally cleared today and I've just been outside dead heading all my roses. Such a lovely thing to do after dinner as the smell of the flowers is heavenly. Hopefully I can get a whole day of gardening done tomorrow as I can hear the weeds growing from here!

We have a new Mini Stamp and Colour kit this month at Uniquely Creative 'Aussie Christmas 2'. The Australian themed stamps are so popular (especially with the company being from Aussie) and the kit has already sold out. However you are still able to get your hands on the individual parts of the kit.

When I saw the stamp set I immediately fell in love with the kangaroo (he looks so happy) and wanted to try out the new wreath die:

My Mum is Australian and has already grabbed this card and all the others I made from the kit to send to her family for Christmas!

I stamped the kangaroo from the kit stamp set 'Aussie Christmas 2' on white CS with Gina K Amalgam Black ink, coloured with Altenew Artist Markers and then used the matching 'Aussie Christmas 2 Fussy Cutting Dies' .

A piece of patterned paper from the kit was adhered to the card front and I also cut a panel of red CS. I die-cut the 'Star Wreath Die' from it and also from some Craft Smith gold CS. I inlaid the gold wreath into the red panel, using washi tape behind it, to hold it in place. I then added lots of foam tape and popped it on the card front. 

I used a double-layer of foam tape to put the kangaroo in the middle. The sentiment was white heat embossed on a strip of the same red CS, backed with the same gold CS and put on foam tape, along with some 'Gold Rhinestones'. 

I'll link this card to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'. This is my second entry.

Time to get my pj's on and set myself up on my bed with my iPad. I'm near the end of Season 12 of Law and Order (have just watched all of Season's 10 and 11). Its amazing that even though Season 12 was made in 2001 I still remember a lot of the episodes. Funny how I can remember those but can't remember where I parked my car when I go to the supermarket??? The joys of getting old!

Take care

Shona

 

Reminder: TIME OUT Challenge #175

 Hello there!! Its another rainy day here and I've just checked my strawberry patch. My plants are a couple of years old and they were fantastic the last few years but this year they have been attacked by whitefly and something is causing them to go soggy and rot before they are even red. It would seem to be all the rain we've had along with the hot weather that's caused this which is really disappointing. So looks like this is another 2020 sucky moment. Will this year ever end??!!

On to happier things, we have a really cool theme for you at TIME OUT, its all about 'Quick' which could be a quick card, quick thinking or maybe a quick craft purchase.....lots of possibilities!!

We are very excited to have Catherine Pooler as the Sponsor of this challenge and she is giving the winner a $25 gift voucher to her store. She was also very generous with our Design Team, gifting us products to use. Thanks so much Catherine!!

For my card I was sent the cutest stamp set that had me immediately thinking about my own dog and what she does around 'walk' time:

 My Golden Retriever 'Bella' knows exactly what routine I go thru when its time to take her for a walk. If none of the doors of the house are open she runs around the house, looking through the windows/doors to try and spot where I am. If she can see I'm in my bedroom putting on my walking shoes, she stands up on her back legs, paws on the windowsill and watches me while making a crying noise. Can you tell this is her favourite time of the day??!!!

I started by stamping the dog images from Catherine Pooler 'Peeking Pets' stamp set on white CS. I used my Altenew Markers to colour in the grey doggie and then used the 'Peeking Pets Dies'  to cut them out.

I wanted to create windows for these little dogs to look through. Luckily Catherine had also sent me the 'Essentials Slimline Die' which included a rectangle window die. I die-cut the slimline card base from white CS and adhered to the card front. I then cut a rectangle of white CS that would fit within the detailed edging and die-cut the windows. I used a pencil to mark where the windows would sit and blended Distress Inks 'Picked Raspberry' and 'Spiced Marmalade' on the slimline panel. I also stamped the paw prints (from the Peeking stamp set) as if the dogs were running around to look in the windows. 

After putting the window panel on foam tape, I stamped and die-cut some hats for the dogs and glued them on. They were then put in the windows on foam tape. To add a bit of interest to the background I dotted some water and removed with tissue and added Wink of Stella to the hats. To finish off I stamped the sentiment (from Catherine Pooler 'Bloomin Happy') using CP inks 'Orange Twist' and 'Party Dress'. I fussy cut it out, backed with some black CS and put on foam tape, along with some Studio Katia pearls.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge 'Anything Goes'.

 

You have until Wednesday 2nd December to link your projects to the TIME OUT challenge. And if your needing some 'quick' ideas, pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the Design Team have created to inspire you. Can't wait to see your creations in the Gallery!

Take care

Shona

 
 

Funky Fossil Designs - Let the Magic Happen....

 Well, its raining again!! I don't know whats happening with the weather of late but its rained on a Wednesday 4 weeks in a row. Although the last two days have been pretty hard work so I'm glad to have a little rest to try out a cookie recipe and make more Christmas cards but its getting rather frustrating. Especially when I need to try and fit everyone in before Christmas Day....

I wanted to share this card with you using one of the new stamp sets from Funky Fossil Designs and also an experiment I did with some embossing powder that turned out really well:

 So glad I was able to capture the sparkle of the embossing powder, usually I have to get 'up close and personal' so you can see it.

I started by stamping the word image from the new 'Musings A5 Stamp set' using my MISTI and blue inks from Catherine Pooler and Waffle Flower. I adhered a panel of turquoise CS to the card front and then put the stamped panel on a piece of white foam.

I stamped the 'yoga pose' from the 'Serenity A6 Stamp set' on white CS using Versafine Onyx ink. I did it 4x to get really good coverage and then tried something new. I sprinkled over some WOW! Clear Sparkle Embossing Powder, used my heat gun and was so excited with the result. It seems to have a turquoise sparkle to it, so I'm not sure if its picking up on the ink colours I used around it. Will try it again but maybe on pink next time to see what that does.

I fussy cut the yoga image and put it on foam tape, along with the white heat embossed sentiment (from the same 'Musings' set) and glued on some sequins from Neat and Tangled.

I have a few jobs to do in town but I don't really have the enthusiasm to go running around in the pouring rain. I need to take Phoebe to an appointment at 1.30pm so might wait till then and potter inside in the mean time. There is always something to clean (like my kitchen floor) so I'm sure I'll keep myself busy.

Take care

Shona

 

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps - Girl Friday post for November #2

 Hi everyone!! The weekend has finally arrived for us here in New Zealand and I couldn't be happier. I've got weeds coming out my ears and people begging me to fit them in where I have no time left. Its nice to be popular but I find it quite stressful as I don't like letting people down...maybe 2021 will be my year of 'saying no' but doubt it, been trying to do that for years....

One of the millions of jobs I have to do this weekend is go thru all my Christmas lights for outside the house. I usually put them up on December 1st and that date is rushing towards me like a bull in Pamploma but so is Christmas itself. I decided this week to do something about my lack of Christmas cards and came up with a quick and easy idea using products from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps:

You should have seen the mess I made creating these, I had white paint EVERYWHERE: curtains, tables, chairs, paint set, clothes, carpet....need to start flicking paint outside from now on....

I wanted cards that I could create quickly but still have a bit of 'flair'. I love the Flakey A2 Panel Die and thought I could make two cards instead of one using it. I die-cut it twice from white CS and then cut across, making sure I didn't cut off the large circle snowflake. I added panels of coloured CS to each of the card bases and then arrange them together on a table. Using some Gansai Tambi white paint, I flicked them all at once with a round brush.

Once they had dried I glued on the snowflake border with Gina K Connect Glue. The sentiments (from 'Snowy Sayings') was stamped in similar coloured ink on white CS strips and backed with CS in a similar but darker/lighter shade. These were put on foam tape and then I added some sequins and jewels from Pretty Pink Posh.

Background dies are always that bit more pricey (for me anyway....) so I'm always excited to find a way to stretch their use. Definitely going to make a lot more of these and think all my gardening clients will like them.

If your thinking of purchasing any of the products I used today or maybe picking up something else (especially from the Clearance Section), you can use my special code to save yourself even more money!

I'm off to untangle hundreds of lights and might even start putting up my home decorations. Its been a horrible year. I love Christmas, especially decorating the house so why not celebrate early with something you love!

Take care

Shona 

Reminder: The Flower Challenge #50

 Hi there!! It has been so hot this weekend. On Friday it was so warm I ended up with my first sunburn on my shoulders and back of neck, so each time I go outside it hurts in the heat even under my t-shirt. Definitely need to travel everywhere with sunblock from now on.....

Our theme for this month at The Flower Challenge is to 'Use a Sentiment'. You could make a floral sentiment or just add a die-cut/stamped sentiment along with your floral images....its totally up to you!!

For my card I had a good idea in my head but as usual, when I came to make it I realised I hadn't thought it through properly....:

So frustrating how hard it is to capture gold, shiny CS in a photograph. I tried laying it flat, going closer etc but nothing seems to work. Here is another photo:

 

I started off by stamping the flowers from Pinkfresh Studio 'Pop Out: Hexagons' on white CS and white heat embossing. I then used a rainbow of Distress Inks to blend over each one. My idea was to inlay these pieces back into the Pinkfresh Studio 'Simple Hexagons' die-cut but suddenly realised there wasn't a single hexagon die with it and the way I had stamped them I couldn't use the large die to cut them out. Silly me!!

So I fussy cut around the floral patterns that filled the shape and used them to cut out the smaller floral images. I die-cut the hexagon panel from grey CS and also from white CS. I glued these together with Gina K Connect Glue and then to the card front. I inset four of the grey pieces along the side and then put all the floral images on foam tape.

For the sentiment (also Pinkfresh Studio 'Hello') I die-cut the shadow from white CS and the 'hello' once from Craft Smith 'Holiday Foil' in gold, and twice more from white CS. I glued these all together and then to the card front. And to finish off I added some gold pearls from Studio Katia.

You have until Wednesday 25th November to link your projects to The Flower Challenge and there are lots of projects to inspire you on the blog from the rest of the Design Team. Hope you have time to join us!!

Take care

Shona 

Teeny Tiny Christmas Cards

 Hi everyone! We are nearly half-way thru November and I need to start thinking about my Christmas lights that I use outside to decorate the house. Lots of them are solar lights and not very expensive, so need to get them out (probably have to untangle them.....ugh!) and charge them up to see if they work. 

I usually buy a few new lights each year to increase my decoration coverage so also need to decide what to cover in lights next. I'll be honest, with everything going on this year I don't have much energy for Christmas (which is very odd for me) but I also think because of this year its more important than ever to enjoy everything about it, especially making people happy, so will try to make my lights bigger than ever!

Speaking of Christmas, I don't have anywhere near enough cards to send out, so need to start cranking them out. I've had my eye on this die from Uniquely Creative 'Nordic Hearts' for ages and even though its sold out on their website, I was able to get hold of it through a New Zealand Craft Store The Ribbon Rose. I was itching to do some cross-stitch and thought that would be great for a Christmas card or two:

I went for the same colour combo with all of my cards - turquoise, red and white, with silver sentiments. These two cards use the quilt-like/nordic pattern in the middle.

These use the same dies but with the blue behind the red with the middle pattern. Just love this colour combo!!

 For these ones I stitched the hearts with red DMC cotton using three threads at a time and I also added the stitched frame behind the white hearts.

For these ones I got extra creative! I worked out how to create a red heart shape in the middle and then stitched the light turquoise thread around it. I also used light blue on one of them for a change.

 And for these final two cards I got really crazy with the designs!! For one I did vertical stitch lines of red and white. And for the other one I worked out where the middle of the heart would be and alternated with red and white stitches outward.

All of the cards are on 3.5 x 3.5 inch card bases. And the sentiments are from Uniquely Creative 'O Christmas Tree', 'Christmas Sentiments' and 'Aussie Christmas'. I really enjoyed making these and feel the urge to do more stitching, so watch this space!!

Take care

Shona 

Uniquely Creative - Naughty or Nice Card Tutorial

 Hi there!! Its 9.30pm Friday night and its so warm, although I'm extra warm from my very sunburnt shoulders and neck from gardening today. Its supposed to be a fabulous weekend too which will be great for the big fireworks show on Saturday night.

I just wanted to let you know that I'm up on the Uniquely Creative Blog with a  tutorial for this Christmas card using the Mini Stamp and Colour Kit 'Naughty or Nice':

Lots of inlaid die-cutting which you know I love and I enjoyed the red/blue colour combo of this kit so much I've started using it on my own Christmas cards. The tutorial has lots of photos of each step and all the details of what products I used.

This month has gone so quickly, won't be long till the next Mini kit is released and I know your going to love it!!

Take care

Shona

 

Funky Fossil Designs - Joy and Peace

 Hi everyone!! I've finally made it to Friday and the last two days have been full of super hot sunshine. I think I even got my first sunburn today, which means I need to start putting on my sunblock every morning. So nice in the evening too, especially as tonight I need to dead-head my roses. They smell extra good in the still of the night.

I wanted to sneak one more card into the 2020 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop before it finishes. My goodness there are some incredible projects linked and makes me wish even more that I actually enjoyed a cup of coffee!!

Funky Fossil Designs are one of the many Super Sponsors for the hop. It must take Amy so much time to gather info about all the Sponsors together! I shared a card using their products the other day which had a 'walking thru the snow' theme to it. This time I looking towards Christmas:

Pink and purple go together like coffee and cake (well for me cake AND cake go together too....), its such a pretty colour combo, especially for Christmas.

I started by stamping the angel from the 'Folksy Christmas' set on white CS with Gina K Amalgam Black ink, colouring with my Altenew Artist Markers and fussy cutting out. I then heat embossed the coffee cup from the same set on white CS using Ranger 'Queens Gold' embossing powder. I used Distress Ink 'Picked Raspberry' to colour the base of the cup and fussy cut out.

For the background I adhered a panel of purple CS to the card front. I then blended the same 'Picked Raspberry' ink thru the 'Snowfall'  stencil on a piece of white CS. After removing the stencil I blended with the same colour over the whole panel but without adding any more ink to the foam pad to give the snowflakes a very pale colour. I used a die from Studio Katia 'Nested Ovals' and put this on the card front with white foam.

The sentiment (from the 'Festive Phrases A5' stamp set) was heat embossed with the same gold embossing powder on white CS. I fussy cut it out, glued to some lavender CS and then fussy cut around it again to create a frame. I coloured the heart with a purple marker and added some clear Wink of Stella. The angel and cup were popped up on foam tape, as well as the sentiment. And to finish off I added some Studio Katia pearls and Wink of Stella to the halo and coffee cup lid.

Wish I'd had time to make more coffee cards but I'm happy I was able to make a few. Its such a fun idea and I always look forward to seeing everyone's creations. I might pop outside now to check my roses, I think all of my towns aphid population have congregated at my house!!

Take care

Shona