Two weeks ago it was my 41st birthday. Both Max and Phoebe were sick with a horrible virus and so was Ella (Phoebe's best friend) who had come to stay the weekend as her parents were going away. So it was a very quiet day, looking after the sick and thinking at least it wasn't as bad as last year (we had days of very large earthquakes!!!).
During the week before, Phoebe worked very hard on some birthday cards for me. She couldn't stop making them because she kept coming up with different ideas, she told me. Phoebe asked if I could please put these into the challenge at Simon Says Stamp as she was very proud of them indeed (as was I). Their theme is 'Anything Goes', so this is what she came up with:
This one carried on with the stamping on the inside saying 'the best Mum in the world'. I will keep this card forever!
This is actually just a square piece of cardstock, like a birthday postcard, which I thought was such a good idea.
Phoebe loves to stamp, maybe she will grow up to be just like Laura Bassen!!!!!
She loves to go thru this bag of mine that has lots of die cut shapes and words that I haven't used. She isn't quite sure how to use the Cuttlebug yet but it won't be long....
I'm extremely lucky to have my children (there was a long time there where we didn't think it would be possible) and I'm grateful for them every day. So nice to have Phoebe to share my crafting passion with. Max loves karate, video-games and playing soccer. I get to share my 'getting dirty and I don't care' passion with him, so all is good!
Take care
Shona
A blog post with a difference today as I have another card that Phoebe would like entered into the challenge at Simon Says Stamp.
The theme is 'Anything Goes' so Phoebe has had a great time over the last few weeks letting her crafting ideas loose onto the dining room table. As you can imagine she just loves going thru all my drawers finding new and wonderful products to play around with.
Phoebe seems to be leaning towards stamping (a bit like me) lately and she tried out this cupcake stamp set that I haven't even used yet (by Rosies). She also told me that the Echo Park 'Sweet Girl' 6x6 pad is her favourite at the moment. She found a page that was split up into border strips, so cut out her favourites and glued them around the edge.
And with all the enamel dots, sequins and rhinestones I have, she didn't use even one. I asked her about it and she said it didn't need it. She is so much like me!!!!!
We were 'spring cleaning' her room today, which included my craft cupboard. I was putting a picture frame in the 'go to the school gala' pile and she asked if she could have it. She has decorated it beautifully, so will photograph tomorrow and post. She almost needs her own blog!!!!
Take care
Shona
I'm really getting in under the wire here (only ten minutes to get this posted...eeek!) but after weeks of sickness in my house I've finally had the chance to create a card for this challenge.
This is the inspiration photo for the challenge this month at Artful Crafts, the colours are so gorgeous I didn't know what ones to choose. But choose I did and came up with something my daughter Phoebe just loves.
I decided this was a chance to finally use my Pretty Pink Posh dies and filled them with the light pink and teal colours. I popped the rectangle up on some foam tape to give it some depth. I also cut three 'love' words from white and red cardstock. I cut two white to give it a bit of height and popped the red on top, with a quick whip of Wink of Stella. I then went to town with my new Neat and Tangled sequins and just love how it all came together.
The coloured papers are from Echo Park 'Sweet Girl' and the 'love' metal die from Paper Smooches.
Will also link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes', this will be my second entry.
Better run, only a few minutes to spare.....!!!
Take care
Shona
I'm alive.....just. Have just spent the last week fighting off a horrible virus that had me unable to walk it was so painful and nasty. Probably didn't help that I had spent the two weeks before that looking after both kids with a similar (but thankfully not so yucky) virus, so it was only a matter of time.
Apart from wondering if the family would survive (there was a lot of take-out food consumed...) I kept thinking about all the challenges I was missing and wondering what everyone was creating on their blogs. So I'm glad that finally today I was able to physically (and creatively) make some cards....yay!!!
I saw this cue word on the CASology blog this morning and did have a creative block. Haven't used my noggin much for a few days, so the ideas just weren't coming but thank goodness for my trusty shower! I always have my 'ah ha' moments in there (better than the toilet, although trust me, I have had some amazing ideas happen there too!!) and came up with something simply....simple.
When I thought of 'letter' all I kept thinking of was letters as in the Alphabet. And whats one thing we do with letters?? We makes words and also puzzles. Crosswords!! So that's what I decided to do and thank goodness 'love' and 'you' fit together perfectly. I finally used my new Martha Stewart alphabet stamp set and managed to put all the letters on one stamp block.
When I looked up the word 'letter' on Google it also said that its a 'symbol'. So I used the heart stamp (which is also a symbol for love) as a symbol for the 'o'. I really wanted it to stand out from the black, so nothing like red ink and Glossy Accents to finish it off. I didn't add anything else because nothing else seemed to fit. Maybe its too simple.....but I love it.
Will also link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.
Right, one more card to post and then back to catching up on my millions of emails and blog hops. I was gutted that I missed out on the Cutting Edge Blog Hop with Pretty Pink Posh but have loved looking at all the cards that joined. Boy there are some amazing designers out in the world and I wish I had the time to follow all of their blogs!!!
Take care
Shona
Just a quick post to remind you about the fabulous Time Out challenge where you have the chance to CASE this amazing card by Anita and add your own twist:
I decided to see how else I could be inspired by this card and decided that some paper piecing was in order:
I really liked the diamond pattern in her background embossed image and don't have any diamond dies or stencils, so got out my square punch. I went thru my paper supplies and found two papers with hints of the same colouring and punched out numerous squares. I wanted the patterned paper to stand out a bit (just so it wasn't all flat), so punched some squares out of white cardstock and glued two together behind each patterned square.
I spent a bit of time gluing all the squares to the card front, trying my best to have them line up. I then die cut the 'hello' from two pieces of white cardstock and one from the turquoise paper. The white ones were glued together to give a bit of height and then I glued the turquoise 'hello' slightly up and to the right. A scattering of bling and thats my second card done!!
I love how it turned out, fingers crossed Anita and the Time Out Design Team like it too!!
The patterned paper is from Lawn Fawn 'Into the Woods' and the turquoise from Echo Park 'Everyday Eclectic'. The 'hello' metal die is from The Crafters Workshop and rhinestones from Kaisercraft.
There have already been some amazing cards entered into this challenge and there's plenty of room for more over the next week. I hope you have the chance to join in!!!
Take care
Shona
My last post for the evening. Two weeks of sick kids has really taken it out of me and I haven't had the time or energy to make many cards of late. So glad I pushed myself to make three last night as they all gave me a real boost!!
This is the fantastic sketch for the challenge at CAS(E) this Sketch this week and I knew it would be a perfect chance to try out some new stamps I received last week.
I purchased these stamps as I loved the circular patterns and have all sorts of ideas on how to use them. I basically just stamped the three different sizes in different inks. I was going to stamp the sentiment down the bottom right but it wasn't balanced enough. I even tried heat embossing the sentiment in gold on the yellow doily but what a disaster that was!!
So because I used simple black ink, I decided to cut the panel and pop it up on foam squares over a piece of black cardstock This frames it ever so slightly. Its funny, it doesn't look like my normal card but it also does. I'm not usually a frilly person but there's just something I love about these patterned stamps.
The doily stamps are from Couture Creations and the sentiment is from Rosie's Stamps. This is also my second entry into this challenge.
Right, I'm off to bed with my fingers crossed that Max doesn't get visited by croup tonight. I thought as he got older (he's 7yrs old) that he would deal with it better but he was so scared last night with not being able to breathe in properly. I don't think I will ever forget the look of terror in his eyes. Thank goodness for 24hr children's tv,YouTube and my cuddles to keep his mind off his problems.
Take care
Shona
Since I started joining in challenges around six months ago, the CASE Study challenge is one that I've joined many times and love their weekly inspiration. For their 4th Anniversary they are having weekly blog hops of designers that have been involved with them over this time. The projects are stunning and you get the chance to choose one project and CASE it with a chance to win amazing prizes.
This is the gorgeous card by Donna Mikasa that really inspired me and I decided to try out this pattern. I've been following Donna's blog for a while now and her creations are incredible, I really recommend having a look.
I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to keep my lines straight while stamping this but amazingly this only took one try!! I LOVE the patterning, so thats why I decided to stick with just one colour. I added the sentiment underneath to balance it out and a few rhinestones finished it off. Thank you Donna for the idea, I will definitely be doing this again!!!
The circle stamp was from Couture Creations and the sentiment from Altenew 'Sohcahtoa'.
I'm also going to link this to the Addicted to CAS #45 challenge where their theme is:
This is my second entry and will probably not be my last.........
One more card to go and then off to the land of nod, hopefully for the whole of the night.
Take care
Shona
I am so tired, trying to keep my eyes open so I can post my 3 cards, so must type quickly. I'm into Week 2 of sick children and was up with Max ALL NIGHT last night as he developed croup. Very scary for the both of us and we were shattered today. He is asleep now and so far so good......You would think by the age of 7yrs he would have grown out of this by now. The joy of being a prem baby born with dicky lungs.....
So, last night I was determined to make a few cards. I actually had two challenges in mind for this one.
Anyone that has seen my cards knows I like quite graphic shapes and triangles are my favourite. So when I saw this challenge at Addicted to CAS I new I had to join.
I also had in mind this sketch from the CAS(E) this Sketch #88 challenge this week and realised I could combine the two.
After a lot of practicing and many, many mistakes, I finally came up with the card I wanted and to me, its triangle-loveliness!!!
Rainbow colours, triangles and lots of white space.... can't get any better than this for me!! It was pretty simple to make, just time consuming. I used three different sized triangle stamps from my Altenew 'Sohcahtoa' set, starting off with the red triangle and working clockwise with different colours. I was going to leave it one-layer with the sentiment (also from the same set) but felt it needed to be lifted off the page to give some depth. I simply love it!!
Apart from linking to both the challenges mentioned above, I'm also going to link this to the Moxie Fab Friday Challenge where the inspiration is 'Trendy Triangles'.
Right, my eyes are still open so will post my next two cards. I still can't hear any coughing so (touch wood) it will be a quiet night for us all. Fingers crossed!!
Take care
Shona
I've been counting down to this day for weeks, so excited!! I was invited by the fabulous Sandie, to be a Guest Designer on the Time Out Challenge blog after winning a challenge a few weeks ago. This is my first ever GD so its extra special and I hope I do the Time Out Design Team proud!
The next part of this invitation was that this challenge required us to 'CASE' the card of another designer, with our own 'twist'. The card turned out to belong to my friend Anita. I've gotten to know her since I started my blog last year and she has the most incredible designs on her own blog. This is the card of her's we are being asked to 'CASE':
Isn't it stunning!!! She uses a lot of my favourite colours, so I was so glad to see this one. I wanted to use the same colour palate but my 'twist' was to change the layout slightly and sneak in a bit more white. I hope she likes it.....
I started out by stenciling with some Distress Inks to create the background. I then die cut the 'hello' three times in white and also in teal. I stuck all the white ones together and then adhered them on top of the teal but slightly upward so you could see the colour underneath.
This was then glued to the die-cut speech bubble, popped up on some foam squares and there we have it. I even used textured white card stock as Anita uses this all the time. I'm really happy with how it turned out and I hope she is too.
The stencil is from Teresa Collins 'Basically Essential'. The 'hello' metal die is from The Crafters Workshop and the 'speech bubble' metal die is from Die-namics - My Favourite Things.
I really hope you can join myself and the Design Team over at the Time Out Challenge blog. I can't wait to see all the different designs that come in. You have two weeks to enter, so plenty of time to come up with something amazing.
Take care
Shona
This is my second entry into the brilliant challenge on the Moxie Fab World blog. There are so many camera's popping up on papers, stamps, wood veneers etc, they want you to design with camera's in mind.
For this card I went back to straight stamping but in saying that, I had to do it three times before I was happy with it:
I was out shopping the other day and came across this camera stamp for $3. It immediately spoke to me because I really do think that a photo does capture a little part of you in that moment. Here is a closer look at the sentiment:
I stamped a few small hearts around the card and gave them all a tiny covering of Wink of Stella. And to top it off, a gold metal heart in the lens of the camera. Simple and sweet!
The camera stamp is from Rosies Stamps. The small heart stamp is from Lawn Fawn 'Woodgrain Backgrounds' and gold heart from The Warehouse.
Phoebe has just been out of bed again. She is so congested with cold and her poor nose is suffering from all the tissues. Think its going to be another long night, the poor little sausage. Better get into bed while I can!!!
Take care
Shona
I love my camera! It may not be very big, its not very flash but I love that it captures memories for me that half the time I can't remember.
Phoebe actually asked me tonight that if there was a fire and I was allowed to grab two things, what would they be?? She then added that all people and pets were already rescued. Of course I thought of my collected ceramics, my handbag etc but really the one thing I would like is all our photos. The things you can't replace. Even in this digital age, you can't beat a framed photo on the wall (and we have ALOT!)
So I quite enjoyed this Moxie Fab World challenge and yes, camera's seem to be everywhere in the craft world at the moment. For this first card (will do a second post...) I came across some camera print paper and it reminded me of people going away on holiday. How you wish they have a good time but you miss them all the same.
I know, I know, look at all these layers!!! This is not my usual card and I don't usually get away with lots of elements but really like how it turned out.
I used my brand new Pretty Pink Posh metal die, cutting out two and sticking together to give it more stability. I popped it up on foam squares above a strip of the camera paper. I had also found this plane sticker in the perfect shade and also the little pink heart from the same set. I had to squeeze in some stamping, so stamped the sentiment (missing the 'I') onto a little banner at the bottom. There is still a lot of white space, so I'm happy!
The camera paper is from American Crafts - Dear Lizzy 'Polka Dot Party'. The plane and heart sticker are from October Afternoon 'Travel Girl' and the sentiment stamp from Altenew 'Sohcahtoa'.
One more card to post and then its off to 'count some sheep'. Thank goodness no one else has come down sick with Phoebe's cough/cold, especially Dave. Men are the worst sick people ever!!!!
Take care
Shona
Well, I have to say that when I saw this photo on the AAA Card Challenge blog all I could think of was Ice Cream!!!! Although to be honest, ice cream is eaten in our house no matter what time of year and in all manner of flavours. My all-time favourite is banana choc chip but you don't come across it much these days.
So I knew I had to do some sort of ice cream on my card but I don't own any stamps or dies like that, so the old brain had to get creative.....
Ta-da! The ice-creams that Shona built!! So to put these beauties together I first stamped the triangles for the cones. I then cut circles out of some journal cards and cut off the bottom part so they would sit flat on the cone. A lashing of Wink of Stella and some Glossy Accents and there we go. I put the sentiment on the banner and popped up on foam squares over the pink strip. A very summery, colourful and hopefully yummy looking card!
The sentiment is from Rosies Stamps. The journal cards are from We R Memory Keepers - Bloom and the sequins are my very first ones from Pretty Pink Posh.
Everyone is in bed and I'm not far behind. Have a busy and exciting day tomorrow. Hopefully Phoebe will be well enough to go back to school tomorrow but if not, its okay, just gives me more of an excuse to do some more Rainbow Looming with her!!!
Take care
Shona
Each Friday, Teri (from the Moxie Fab World Blog) sends out a post with a list of different projects and pictures that have caught her eye over the week. I always look forward to it as she finds the most amazing designs and ideas.
Last Friday she surprised us with a Friday Challenge and this is the inspiration photo:
You know how much I love triangles, so this challenge grabbed me by the short and curlies and begged me to play along. However, I just couldn't think of any way that I could show my inspiration of this picture, with a card. But then....
Yesterday it was Day 7 of the Stretch your Stamps Online Card Class (and yes, I'm EXTREMELY behind in my homework...eeek) and it was all about using Graphic Stamps. The wonderful Laura Bassen (my hero!!) showed a technique where she used a big teardrop stamp to overlap in a circle. It looked amazing but didn't think I had anything to try this out with. Well......
Suddenly it dawned on me this morning, why don't I just use a big triangle!!! It took a few goes but the pattern looks fantastic!!! I've already got ideas for more cards using this same pattern. I wanted to reference 'time' in there somewhere (because of the clock) so used this sentiment. Thank you Laura Bassen!!!!!!!
The triangle stamp is from Altenew 'Sohcahtoa' and the sentiment from Hero Arts.
Poor Phoebe has been home sick with a horrible cough and cold the past few days. We have been 'looming' a lot and even tried playing scrabble. Hopefully she will be back at school tomorrow but if not, she will be coming grocery shopping with me. For some reason my grocery bill is much higher when my children shop with me....wonder why???????
Take care
Shona
Been running around all morning doing all sorts of jobs, I'm pooped already and its only midday!!
I decided not to make another card last night before I went to bed but suddenly had an idea when I thought of the Addicted to CAS challenge, where their theme is:
I wanted to try and create a card that was only using gold, no matter what form it came in but of course I also wanted it to be simple.
I have this gorgeous gold glitter washi tape that I don't use enough of (although when I grabbed it, it would seem that someone else called Phoebe has been liking it....alot....). I painstakingly put strips of the washi across the card, trying to get them as straight as possible. I then used my brand new 'love' die and die cut 3 words out of gold cardstock and also out of the front of the card. I stacked the words and put them into the hole in the card and secured behind with some white card.
I wanted to do it this way so the word would stand a bit proud of the washi. And also decided not to add back the die-cut pieces from inside the letters, that had washi on them as I really wanted the word to stand out. I LOVE it!!
The 'love' metal die is from Paper Smooches and the glitter washi from Papervine. Talk about a short ingredient list!!
I'm going to link this as well as my second entry into the CASology Challenge Week #107 where their theme is:
I will also add to the Mod Squad Challenge where their theme is 'Pretty Pieces - a card with paper piecing'. This is my second entry.
Off now to vacuum and do all those other horrible jobs (like clean the fridge....eewwww) when all I would rather be doing is making more cards. Or Rainbow Looms. Have made a Hamster, a pencil cover with a dangle and a kitty in the last few days. I think I do it more than Phoebe. Maybe I should get a loom just for me for my birthday........
Take care
Shona
A few days ago I posted a card for the Time Out Challenge #11 which had stenciled butterflies and I mentioned that I had gotten the idea from my 9yr old daughter Phoebe. She finished off her card last night and she said I could share it with the world.
Then I came across the Simon Says Stamp - Summer Vacation Kids Challenge and asked if she wanted to enter. She jumped at the chance, so here is Phoebe's first ever challenge entry:
I think she did a fantastic job!! She stenciled it all by herself and she came up with blending the pink and yellow distress inks together. She found a 'sweet' die cut and my gold hearts. A quick sentiment stamp from Hero Arts 'Year Round Sentiments' and some ribbon she found at the back of the drawer and there we go!! My little protege sure has style!
The stencil is from Teresa Collins 'Basically Essential' and the metal die cut from The Crafters Workshop. And the ribbon is from American Crafts.
She is very excited her card is going to be shared through 'blogland' and I told her that the challenge runs for a few more weeks so don't be surprised if I have a few more of her creations to post.
Its so nice to have something creative we can do together. We did a lot of 'looming' this afternoon as well with her best friend Ella, so you can imagine how many loom bands I have on my carpet right now.....
Take care
Shona
I've only been entering the CASE Study challenge for about six months, so I can't believe that there are 4 years worth of incredibly made cards for this challenge all over the world. They have a blog hop (with some AMAZING prizes up for grabs) of card makers who are currently or have previously been part of the Design Team over this time. Incredible!!!
For this weeks challenge they ask you to choose one of the cards from the blog hop and use it for your inspiration. My card is from the one, the only, Laura Bassen. Her blog Doublestick Heaven is one of my favourites to look at, as her cards are always crisp, clean and so colourful. This is the card she made for the hop:
I was actually speechless when I saw this. I don't know what it is but its perfection to me and I'm in love with everything about it. Actually now I'm thinking about it, why did I choose such a perfect card to case????? Anyway, with my little stamp collection I did my best and this is my card:
Good grief, now I have them both together I'm kind of embarrassed..... but hey, I tried and at least it gives me something to laugh about!!
I used a border stamp to do each colour and amazingly I actually got them pretty much in alignment. I then heat embossed the sentiment is gold and added a few gold hearts for bling. Simple and colourful.
The stamp is from Simon Says Stamp 'Tag Sayings' and the sentiment from CASual Fridays 'Shenanigans'.
I'm going to link this also to the challenge at CASology Week #107 where their theme is:
Another beautiful day today, so managed to tackle some of the weeds in my garden, the kids went on a huge bikeride with Dave and I found a scruffy little doggie sitting at our front gate wanting to come and visit. I have Phoebe's card to post now and then one card to make before bedtime (if I can keep my eyes open.....). Hope you all have a fantabulous week!!
Take care
Shona
So many wonderful new techniques on Day 2 and love watching all the tutorials, some the designers are a real scream!!
This day was covering even more ideas with Background Stamps (who knew there were so many!!). One of my favourite designers was doing a tutorial on Ombre cards. Her name is Laura Sterckx and she has a blog Making Cards is Fun which I subscribe too. She is only 16yrs old ( I know!!) and she makes some incredible creations.
For her technique she had you stamp your background stamp with Versamark Ink and then heat emboss with clear embossing powder. Once again I stamped repeatedly with a border stamp as I don't own any background ones. You then used 3 Distress Inks in gradients of the same colour from dark to light.
Starting at the bottom with the darkest colour you used your Mini Distress Ink Blending Tool to add the colour. You then changed to the middle colour and then the lightest, blending as you go.
This was so much fun and the embossed pattern was all shiny and smooth. I then cut the card down and popped it up on some foam squares onto a card face. I embossed a sentiment in white onto some vellum and attached (very carefully, with teeny tiny bits of foam tape) to the front. A few glitter stars and done. I absolutely love this so will be doing this alot!!
I've decided to also link this to the challenge at Addicted to Stamps #107 where their theme is 'Make your Mark'.
Right, now tonight I need to do something from Day 3 and at least 3 challenge cards. Everyone is tired after a busy day, eating homemade pizza and hopefully going to bed early to watch a dvd. I better get some dinner before it all gets demolished!!
Take care
Shona
FINALLY I've finished a card from the first day of the class. We are already up to Day 5, so have a lot of catching up to do. And the classes already have been incredible for inspiration and techniques. This is the third class I've done and I really recommend them to all.
Day 1 was about using Background Stamps and the technique I tried was using water colouring.
Firstly you stamped your background stamp with Versamark Ink and then heat embossed with white embossing powder. I don't have a background stamp so had to repeat stamp a border stamp over and over. Time consuming but worth it. You then used whatever colours you wanted to wash across the image, using less diluted paint to highlight certain areas.
I don't have any watercolour paints so just used Distress Inks. And I also don't have watercolour cardstock (yet...) so used normal card stock and just made sure I didn't use much water. I thought it looked pretty good!
You then die-cut a word from the painted card and used it to decorate a new card.
Once you stick the pieces on your cardfront, you can then put Glossy Accents all over the top of the word. I thought this was fantastic because it gives the word height and shine and with the white embossing it also gives a smooth and shiny finish to the card. Will certainly be trying this one again!!
I like it so much I'm going to enter it into the AAA Card Challenge #14 where their theme this week is:
Life has been very busy this week and I wish I could create another day just so I could catch up with everything. Will have to stay up late again tonight to do some more Card Class Homework and have some challenges I really don't want to miss out on. Oh well, at least the sun was shining today and the children had their friends over, so lots of laughing going on and that always makes me happy!
Take care
Shona
Beautiful day here, with sunshine and a light breeze. You would swear it was Spring even though August is supposed to be the coldest month of the year. I even found blossom buds getting ready to bloom on my fruit trees......
The is the stunning inspiration card (by Amy Kolling) this week at The Cutting Edge Challenge. I love all the gorgeous summery, pastel colours and decided to have a play with those....
I die cut the heart from some grey, yellow and pink journal cards and then played with the combos. I added two strips of the grey to the card front and then popped the two hearts up on foam squares. Before I stuck them down I cut a strip of vellum and white heat-embossed the sentiment. The foam squares from the hearts held this in place. Good old summer colour fun!!
The heart metal die is from CASual Fridays. The journal cards are from We R Memory Keepers and the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp 'Tag Sayings'.
I'm also going to link this to the Mod Squad Challenge where their theme is 'Pretty Pieces - using paper piecing'. Certainly took a lot of patience and paper piecing to get those hearts to stick together....
Now out into the sunshine I go. Can't wait to pick Phoebe up from school today. She is obsessed with anything medical (has been since she was 3yrs old when she told me she was going to be a 'fanny doctor', thank goodness she can now pronounce Gynecologist!!) and now wants to be a Midwife.
She has always wanted a broken bone so she could have a cast. And I found last week a roll of bandage that is covered in Plaster of Paris, all you have to do it wet it (used to make sculptures etc). You can just imagine what we will be doing today after school as it arrived today.
Hopefully we will be able to get our casts off or it might be a quick trip to the emergency department to use their electric saw......wish us luck!!
Take care
Shona
Wonderfully gloomy day here today. We actually needed some rain and gives me a chance to stay inside and catch up with some cards and jobs. Over at the Time Out Challenge Blog they have a theme this week of 'Celebrations with the optional twist of Butterflies'. I wanted to have a go again with my butterfly stencil and even had my daughter Phoebe making a card at the same time!
I have Phoebe to thank for the colour scheme of this card. I knew I wanted to use gold (which I heat embossed the sentiment with) but wasn't' sure of the main colours. Phoebe stenciled her own butterfly first with pink and then went around the edge with yellow. Out popped this gorgeous peachy colour.
So with her approval, I used my mini blending tool to do the same colours with my distress and dye ink. I added a very bottom layer of gold cardstock (so there is just a hint around the edges) and then a similar peachy coloured patterned paper. Popped the front panel up on foam squares and tried to add some enamel dots but nothing seemed to work. I love the butterflies and it seems I'm not the only card maker in the family.......my little protege!
The sentiment is from CASual Fridays 'Shenanigans'. The stencil is from Teresa Collins 'Basically Essential' and patterned paper from Teresa Collins 'You are my Happy'.
I'm also going to link this to the challenge at Addicted to CAS #44 where their theme is:
I'm not sure if it will pass as a CAS card with the different layers of cardstock but because the front panel is so simple it may squeeze through....
Right, a card making I will go. My poor dogs are looking at me like I've told them the world is ending. No walking in a downpour today, will have to do laps of the lounge room instead!!
Take care
Shona
Well, the challenge at CAS(E) this Sketch this week is really exciting. They are teaming up with the challenge at Tag your it! #3. I've seen this challenge before but have never really made any tags (apart from some very sad ones I made at Xmas....), so never entered.
This is the sketch we are to use this week and you need to either make a tag or use one on your project. I thought why not throw caution to the wind and just make a tag!!
This is so not my normal type of design but I love it!!! I found this cute little wooden house in the bottom of a drawer the other day but didn't know what to do with it. Finally, it has a use! I die-cut two tags and stuck them together for extra strength. I then stenciled the hearts using my mini blender and distress ink. I gold heat embossed the sentiment and popped it up on some foam squares. The house was glued straight to the tag and so were the tiny gold hearts. I even managed to find some pink/white ribbon.
Its so cute!! Phoebe (my 9yr old) has taken ownership of it straight away, so will hang it somewhere in her room. Maybe she can look at it when she's a teenager and remember I'm sitting at home waiting for her in the wee small hours of the morning......
The tag die-cut is from Pretty Pink Posh. The stencil is from Teresa Collins 'Basically Essential' and used Picked Raspberry Distress Ink. The sentiment is from Hero Arts. Unfortunately I have no idea where the little house came from, which is a shame. The gold hearts are from The Warehouse.
I can't wait till tomorrow morning. The new Online Class 'Stretch your Stamps 2' starts Monday (although its already Monday here in New Zealand, the class starts for me around 2am Tuesday morning). I've done two of these classes so far and they are so helpful and fun. The inspiration from the classes and the gallery is unbelievable! So you will probably see a few posts with new tricks I've picked up on. And don't worry, I won't stay up till 2am to start the class (well, maybe I won't......).
Take care
Shona
The challenge at CASology has been very popular and I think it has a lot to do with the theme for this week:
Who doesn't like rainbows?? There are so many gorgeous entries this week, you should pop over and take a look. After my mega-hard paper piecing rainbow card, I decided it was time to get back to basics:
I thought that a rainbow is an arch but it doesn't necessarily have to be stripes, does it?? So I chose some of the main rainbow colours and arranged my hearts in an arch. I then covered them all in Wink of Stella and then lashings of Glossy Accents, to give my 'heart rainbow' some sparkle. I then put my sentiment from Altenew 'Sohcahtoa' right in the middle.
I love the simplicity of this and I'm so amazed that I managed to line the hearts up, usually getting things in line is my downfall.
Once again I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamps - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.
And also to the challenge at Addicted to Stamps #106 where their theme is also 'Anything Goes'.
One more post then I'm done. I've been baking, washing, cleaning, sorting....basically doing it all today. Thats the only problem when you go away for a few days, all those jobs that you had a break from are waiting for you when you get home. And they have usually grown over that time too!!
Take care
Shona
Spent the weekend with my Mum and only left the house once!! The weather was horrible, so Mum and I chatted while I made cards and she did crosswords. Was fantastic!!
It gave me a chance to make a card for the CASology Challenge this week where their cue word is:
I knew what I wanted to do but didn't know if I could pull it off as didn't have the right tools....
This was the hardest card I've EVER attempted before!! I wanted to keep it all one layer, so used my curved-stitched die from Pretty Pink Posh. I cut the first curve in all of the colours and then realised I would have to do it again under each curve to make a strip. I suddenly found that my 'eyeballing' of the depth of each strip wasn't the best AND if I got the curve in the wrong place, they wouldn't fit together. It was a nightmare!!
After getting the rainbow together and getting it glued to the top curve in the white cardstock, I tried to put the cut card from that curve underneath the rainbow and it wouldn't fit! So after much tracing, hand-cutting and regluing, I managed to get it all together as one layer. I absolutely love how it turned out but don't think I will ever do it again (unless I buy a rainbow die....).
The sentiment stamp is from Altenew 'Sohcahtoa' and managed to stop myself from adding any enamel dots as I thought the rainbow was enough.
I going to link this card to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.
And will also link to the challenge at Addicted to Stamps # 106 where they also have an 'Anything Goes' theme.
I have another card to post and my first ever tag for a tag/card challenge, so will hopefully get to those soon. Lots of jobs to do after being away for the weekend!
Take care
Shona
