3am. Yep, thats what time my head hit the pillow this morning. And the reason why? I had an awesome idea for a card and couldn't wait until morning to give it a go. Am I the only one that does this or do other people get so excited about a design they can't stop themselves from doing it straight away?
The cue word for this week at CASology is 'Sea' and to be honest I didn't think I would have anything in my stash to make a 'beach worthy' scene. However.....
Jaws. A movie and book that stopped me from swimming (and bathing) when I was about 10 years old because I thought that sharks could somehow make it into a swimming pool (and the bath). I thought the idea for the card was great but boy did it take a long time to get it right.
I stamped the 'fin' in grey ink with a triangle stamp from Altenew 'Sohcahtoa'. I spent half an hour trying to stamp and then cut out waves (which looked awful) when I suddenly realised that I could do them with a die. I used my Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Scallop die along the edge of some white cardstock so I was left with the negative.
I used my Mini Blending Tool to spread some Mama Elephant 'Ocean' Pigment Ink around the waves. I then spent another half an hour fiddling with some horrible alphabet stamps (from Rosie's Studio) to make the word 'lunch', which was stamped in black. I popped the wave panel up on foam tape and positioned over the 'fin'.
Da na....da na....dun dun dun dun dun....dun da dah!!!!! (my crazy spelling of the Jaw's theme song which I can't help but do whenever I look at this card!!)
Lovely sunny day so off to the park with the ball and the kids. Everyone is pretty tired as the sleepover finished late last night (I think the last kid fell to sleep about 11.30pm!). Pretty tired myself but just had to get this card in the CASology gallery to see if people recognise it as a shark....fingers crossed! Da na......
Take care
Shona
I tell you, this year is just disappearing before my eyes and these fortnights between challenges feel like a few days!! The plus side is that we get to try out a new TIME OUT challenge and this time we have a photo for inspiration...yippee! The theme for this one is:
'HOME SWEET HOME'
And this is the beautiful inspiration photo:
Isn't all the gorgeous wood, white crisp couch and golden glow of the candles so inviting??! Endless possibilities of card ideas for this one.
We also have a Guest Designer for this challenge and this time its the spectacular Toni from Frankie Helps Craft. I've been following Toni's blog for a while now. Her card designs are incredible and even a bit risque, which also makes them hilarious as she has a wonderful sense of humour. I really encourage you to visit her blog, you won't be disappointed!!
I couldn't help but be inspired by all the natural wood in the photo and also the glow of the candles for my card:
I made a top folding card from kraft card-stock and then used a curved-stitched die to cut off the bottom front. I desperately wanted to use one of my new Xmas word dies (from my SSS shopping spree), so die-cut the word in the middle. I then die-cut the 'merry' 3x from gold card-stock and stuck them all together.
There aren't many other colours in the photo but some green moss around the pine cones. I used green striped paper and adhered it to the inside of the front panel, so the bottom of it became the rest of the card front. I glued the 'merry' into the die-cut word hole so it was inlaid but had some height to it. It also worked out well as you can see the green thru the word. I then stamped the 'christmas' in black Versafine and it was done. And not a sequin or enamel dot in sight!!
The 'merry' die is from WPlus9 'Hand lettered holiday' and the curved/stitched die is from Pretty Pink Posh. The 'christmas' stamp is also from WPlus9 'Hand lettered holiday'. The green paper is from Chickaniddy Crafts 'Jolly Good'.
I'm also going to link this card to the new Virginia's View Challenge # 9 and the theme is:
I can't wait to see how your all inspired by the challenge photo this week, you have two weeks to join in the fun. And if you need any extra ideas, please have a look at the cards by the design team this week, the girls have really outdone themselves!! Looking forward to seeing you all there at TIME OUT!!
Take care
Shona
I'm back!!!! After a few wonderful days away with my family, I'm slowly catching up with myself (and the 400 emails I came home too...eeekkk). We went to Hanmer Springs and spent a whole day at the Hot Springs waterpark. Dave spent most of his time lazing in the hot pools, while I went up stairs and down water slides for hours with the kids. We loved every minute of it and went home exhausted and sun burnt (oops).
Will see if I can find a photo of us without me in a bathing suit (its past Halloween, so no need to scare you!!).
I found two wonderful stationary stores in Christchurch and managed to buy a few stamps. And when I arrived home, there was a parcel from Simon Says Stamp. I finally used my $25 voucher (thanks so much Darnell!) and they only took a week to arrive. Lots of wonderful goodies which you will be seeing on my cards I'm sure.
So I sat down last night and made some cards. Of course one of them was for the Addicted to Stamps Challenge which I try to join every time. This week their theme is 'Clean and Simple', so you know I had to jump into this one!
In Christchurch I came across a store called Kikki. K (which a lot of Australian's will recognise). Its a stationary store that has everything you could imagine and in every one of my favourite colours. They had a cute set of three block stamps for Xmas. I saw the house and had to have the set!
I stamped the house in red and coloured the roof with Wink of Stella. After stamping the sentiment (from Simon Says Stamp 3x4 Christmas 2013), I added clear rhinestones and silver twine along the top. Clean, simple and I love that house so much!!
I'm also going to link this to the CAS on Sunday Challenge # 45 where their theme is 'One layer-wonder'.
Will also link to the One-Layer Simplicity Challenge # 11 where their theme this month is 'Home Sweet Home'.
And of course I will also link to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.
I really missed 'blog world' while I was away and its been wonderful to slowly catch up on everyone's creations and adventures.
This is another busy week. Its Max's 8th birthday on Thursday and still haven't finished shopping for presents. He has friends coming over after school on Friday and one is staying the night. He requested a two-tier birthday cake (which I've never done before) so that will probably take all-day Friday to assemble. My head feels like it's going to explode but its all good things so that can't be too bad...right??!!
Take care
Shona
