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