It's just after 9pm here and we are still a hive of activity. Phoebe has her friend Ella staying the night and Max has his friend Tom staying as well. They are all watching dvd's or playing on their Ipod's in their rooms. Coming up to lights out soon....wish me luck!!
Sometimes a challenge that I follow regularly will come up with a colour combo/photo/cue word etc that doesn't quite work for me. Over at the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge this week their theme is 'Transport it'. I have no car etc stamps and hardly any papers for that genre, so normally I would miss it out. But I decided to push myself and just see what I could come up, as I love to join in each week.
Now I don't know how many people 'transport' themselves by hot air balloon these days but I'm sure they would still be considered part of that group....I hope!
I started out by stamping the balloon and fussy cutting by hand. I then die-cut the clouds, tag and then the windows from the tag middle. The tag was stuck straight to the card front and the clouds on top. I popped the balloon up on foam tape. I did it this way so the balloon would really stand out compared to everything else. A couple of quick sequins and gold hearts and my balloon was ready for lift off!
The blue paper is from Teresa Collins 'Save the Date'. The stitched tag and window metal dies are from Pretty Pink Posh. The cloud metal dies are from Couture Creations. The pink sequins are from Neat and Tangled and gold hearts from The Warehouse. Unfortunately the balloon stamp was purchased second hand with no packaging, so don't know where its from.
I've decided to also link this to the Curtain Call challenge where their theme is 'Smooch'. I stamped the balloon in hot pink to be a similar colour to the lips in the photo and this is such a loving card asking someone to run away with them:
I'm also going to join a challenge that's new to me at House of Cards - October Challenge where their theme is to 'Use a die or punch or both'. As I used three different dies to create my card, I'm playing along.
Will also make this my second entry into the WCMD Winnie and Walter - Pattern play with Shay Challenge where they are looking for projects with any type of pattern on them. I used this blue/white paper to give a hint of blue sky to my balloon scene.
And last but not least, I'm going to join in with Virginia's View Challenge # 8 where their theme is 'Clean and Simple'. This is my fourth(?) entry, sorry Virginia!!! As you can tell, I really love this challenge!!
Normally I don't usually mention when I have won something (don't want to seem like I'm bragging...) but I got the best news this morning. I LOVE the stamps at Winnie and Walter but with money being so tight at present, I just couldn't afford to buy any. Well, I found out that if you put their 'blinkie' on your blog and add your name to the blinkie list for the month, they draw out a name for a free stamp set. And you guessed it, for September its me!! I'm just over the moon and can't wait for them to arrive. So thank you Winnie and Walter, you've so made my day!!!!
Take care
Shona
I'm afraid I did it again last night....didn't get to bed till 3am this morning even though I had told myself I would go to bed early. I was looking at some challenges that are due soon and suddenly ideas starting popping out of my head, so took the opportunity to create before I forgot!!!
I never used to like the colour coral but it seems to be growing on me of late (especially combined with gold...), so when I saw this photo for the Colour Me! challenge this week, I decided to go for gold and immerse myself in the colour.
I tried something new last night. About 12 months ago I won a paper collection from Carta Bella 'Hello Again'. I've hardly used it at all and it has masses of coral patterns. So, my own challenge was to use papers only from this pack and do no stamping. That's right, a challenge within a challenge!
I cut out this journal card size rectangle as I loved the watercolour wash. I then chose two other patterns, cut them into strips and adhered straight to the card base. The rectangle was popped up on foam tape and scattered with sequins. I couldn't help popping in a little bit of gold too.....
It was actually a lovely card to make. No worry about getting my stamped sentiment smudged or on an angle. This was a lot of fun, so might have to try this challenge for myself again!
The clear sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh and coral sequins from Teresa Collins 'You are my Happy'. The gold heart was cut with a heart metal die from CAS-ual Fridays'.
As I've mixed a few patterns here, I'm going to link this to the Winnie and Walter - WCMD Pattern Play with Shay Challenge which came about on World Card Making Day.
And since this is a pretty simple card, I'll also link to Virginia's View Challenge # 8 where the theme is 'clean and simple'. This is my 3rd(?) entry...I think....
I have one more card to post and then I'm going to bed....promise! I even rented a horror movie for the night to make sure I go to bed and watch it. And, I just remembered I have a sneaky bag of Peanut M&M's tucked in my bedside drawer, so early to bed is looking better and better.......
Take care
Shona
What an amazing time I've been having today, looking at all the inspirational cards made for World Card Making Day and entering prizes all over the show. Such a brilliant idea to celebrate our wonderful hobby, wish I could have spent the whole day crafting!!
This room is so colourful and chic, don't you think?? Its the gorgeous inspiration photo at Cure for the Monday Blues this week. The yellow bedspread jumped out at me straight away, as well as the pillows with the pink edges. Here is what I came up with at 2am this morning:
Isn't it always a relief when you compare you card to the photo and can see the inspiration??? Thank goodness, as at 2am in the morning I'm never quite sure if I'm thinking straight or not.....
I chose the yellow paper to reflect the bedspread and used a stitched-curved die to shape the bottom. This was adhered straight to the card base. I then die-cut the stitched rectangle and also used the same curved die to make it smaller. To reflect the pillows with the pink edge, I cut a piece of hot pink paper to be slightly larger to sit underneath. After stamping on the sentiment I adhered it to the pink paper with foam tape.
I also heat embossed in Silver the 'Be kind' stamp and cut out by hand. A scattering of sequins (I used the aqua because on the bed is a gorgeous pillow with aqua accents) and all is done. I think it looks pretty good for an early morning design.
The yellow paper is from Echo Park 'Sweet Girl'. The pink paper from Lawn Fawn 'Let's Polka'. The rectangle and curved metal stitched dies are from Pretty Pink Posh, as well as the sequins. The sentiment stamps are from Neat and Tangled 'Kindness Matters'.
As I've used stamping and embossing on this card, I'm going to enter the challenge at Stamplorations where their theme for the month of October is 'stamping and embossing:
We are off to have dinner with my Mum tonight and she always makes roast chicken, which is everyone's favourite. And she always tries out a new dessert recipe on us, which we don't mind at all. I'm so glad we are close by with her being on her own now and I'm sure she appreciates it too. So will come home tonight happy and heavier!
Take care
Shona
