One of a Kind

The first card is for There She Goes sketch challenge #78.
The second card is for the Annabelle Sketch Challenge + bling.

The first one was also for the last Papercraftstar photo inspiration challenge, where I used the colours from the photo to inspire me and the Tuesday's Throwdown #22  "anything goes', but I was too late for both of them!

I have used SU DP's and a piece of Co'ordinations card which I lightly sanded. The sentiment comes from the SU set One of a Kind, but the image is a Crafty Individuals C1 - 193. I used Momento Rich Cocoa ink, used a Copic for the pink breast and sponged the edges of the SU oval punch I used for the sentiment. I then added a piece of greenish ribbon and mounted it all on SU kraft card, and it's done.

This card is using the papers from a Papermania set called Silent Night. The image and sentiment are from WMS set Nutcrackers.  I have added some ribbon and some green sprinkles for bling! The image is coloured with Copics after being stamped in Memento ink Rich Cocoa on cream card. 

It's a rainy day today but warm - not as rainy as the mainland I hear, but still a bit wet. We had 1.2 cm last night and it is drizzling as I speak. Had my first seen huntsman in the house Friday night - yuk! He/she was lively and BIG.  Poor John had to get out of bed and get on a stepladder and remove him/her from the bedroom! Time to call the spiderman to come back and make sure they desist from entering. 

A couple of digi images for Christmas

Little Paper Shop has a sketch challenge #91 going at the moment, and I had a free digi image from them ready to colour up with the copics, so that's what happened! Delightful Challenges also allows two entries into their current challenge if you use an image from them, and they had this funny winter flamingo as a freebie this month, so again, I coloured it up with copics!

The flamingo is mounted on pink scrap card, and then on a piece of SU Whisper White which was folded into a card, and then one side had been put through the bug embossing folder with snowflakes. A scrap of ribbon tied through a button from Memory Keeper, and the WSM sentiment stamp in black completed this. 

This sketch #91 from LPS suited the image, which I had printed off and then put through a nestabilities square, and embossed.  I coloured the image with Copics, and then masked it and sponged it with blue ink lightly.  I used some glitter on the image to look like ice as well. The image called 'Katie Skating' was mounted on a scrap of Co'ordinations and then put between two pieces of Kaiser paper, on a background of pink card.  I used some paper ribbon on the bottom for the sentiment. 

Worked for four hours today - enjoyed it greatly.  

Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge

Yes, another card. This one is for Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #79, and for Tuesday Throwdown #22 - Anything Goes, as well as Delightful Challenges - "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas"

I had inked up the St Nicholas stamp from WMS set Nutcracker, and stamped some images onto the X-press card, after I had cut out the shapes from Nestablilites Labels 4, ready to be coloured with Copics.  However, I had not done any colouring-in for a while, and felt the need to feed the inner child. That's why this is a Christmas card.

 I used card from the DCWV Citrus stack to back the image and to make the oval and scallop behind it. The background is a piece of scrap red I had put through an embossing folder in the bug and had sprayed with mica spray,so it has a bit of a shimmer. The blue also has a shimmer.  The sentiment is from the same stamp set. The card is a commercial blank and I added three small poinsettia's that I picked up at a craft fair earlier this year.

I did some relief work yesterday, and will go back tomorrow and work for the rest of the week.  A bit of a shock to the system! So, I probably won't get much crafting done. But, who knows......

Clean and Simple Challenge

Am I too late - hope not!

Clean and Simple FTL#112 sketch challenge
There She Goes TSG #77 Colour challenge - green, black and orange
Annabelle stamps - "Say it in - black and white" challenge

I used a background paper from DCWV All Dressed Up, some ribbon, the stamp set from TSG called Art is the Window and a Prima flower.  All mounted on SU orange card. I stamped the sentiment with SU Craft white ink and didn't get a really clean print with it - it looked OK before I embossed it and the bird with clear embossing powder. I will go back to Versamark I think for this type of thing. 

This is a Flourish stamp set called City of David and the sentiment is from a WMS set. I stamped it on black card with Craft white SU ink - very juicy - and then embossed it with clear embossing powder.  I then added some ribbon, pearls and mounted it on a shiny white bazzil and then on a black and white background paper before putting it onto a white commercial blank. The ribbon is sparkly and the embossing also sparkles but the photograph does not show that properly. Poor camera work - sorry.

Just a Note Box

When tidying up my desk (one of them, I have three) I found 7 images cut from cards given to me by a older friend "because they are pretty and it's a shame to throw them out". Thanks Mary. Anyway, I turned them into six Note Cards and then decorated a box to match. Added some envelopes and now I can give it back to her as a box of note cards!

Here it is.  I used just scraps and stuff from the stash, nothing new or fresh, except the stamp from Annabelle Stamps from the set called Sentimental Bluebells.  I also had an insert in the card with the date and a stamp with an arrow and the comment "Here's the Scoop" but I don't know who made the set. It was an early clear stamp set I got, some years ago. I also use lace and some bling.

The box lid

The inside takes six cards and envelopes. I will put in some stamps as well. 

There were three cards x 2 each. The image on the box top was an extra. 

Making Christmas Cards

Yes, I have made 14 of these - very quickly, and thought I would show off a few. I found a Papermania Christmas embossing folder at a local craft shop (very cheap by comparison to the Cuttlebug ones) so of course if jumped into the basket - I then opened a magazine and there were some cards made using embossing folders and metal shim. Bingo, I thought,and got busy.  Here is some of the result!

The gold card one looks the best I think. I added some bling and mounted some.  However, after making eight, I grew tired of them.  Moved on to another few things that just leapt into my basket - some Blue Christmas embellishments from Scrapbooking Australia. Again, I got about 6 pieces for $6.  I really liked the girl and thought I would turn my hand to vintage - but even though I am old I just don't seem to get there. However, they turned our OK I guess.

Again, some scrap Christmas paper and card, a bit of ribbon and lace, some bling and stars - done. 

Then I went to another shop and found a 12 x 12 sheet from Graphic 45 called Christmas Past Frames.  It cost $4 but I got 5 cards from it. Here they are:

It took me an hour to make these, and I used scraps of Christmas paper, ribbon and lace, some doilies, and some card to mount some bits and some bling. I also used dimentionals to lift up sections, particularly in the apertures. Here are three of them in close up:

OK, I added some ink around the edges of the base card, some leaves and brads to the Santa card, and cut out the aperture and put the image inside the card for Peace.... but Peace and Tradition come from a give- away in a magazine. So, only another 120 or so to go..........no, I won't put all of them up here! Just wanted to boast a bit that's all about getting some cheap and quick cards done. 

Friends always....

Just playing  round with the stamps from Waltzing Mouse Stamps - a set called Teeny Trees.  I tried to meet the Colour Throwdown challenge #114 of Poppy Parade, Choc Chip, Pear Pizzaz and So Saffron. However, I don't have any of these colours yet except for So Safron, so had to approximate. Delightful Sketches has  a challenge to use metal on the card - Metal Mania - so I used four brown brads.

One card is either a birthday or just friendship card, and the other is for Christmas.  The first one is the one that meets the two challenges.

I tried to be a bit edgy but think I am too old to be edgy! That is a piece of plastic waste and the card and DP are scraps, attached to a piece of SU So Safron card. All inks used except the stems on the trees are SU, and the stems are Momento Tuxedo Black. The bow is Papermania.

The second uses the same stamp set with the tinsel embossed in gold, and the sentiment and stars just stamped in gold. The whole is mounted on gold mirror card, and then a piece of Kaiser Christmas Collection paper. The whole is then on a blank of aqua Bazzil card. 

Cheap Stamp challenge

Jean at Just Scraps challenged us to use a bargain stamp and say where it came from (Challenge #21) - this one was part of the stash that Sue at Consuming Passion sent me when I won her calico bag of goodies! It's an Annabelle stamp and she is pretty cute, huh! Cannot get more bargain than that!

Auld Sentiments challenge #13 is anything to do with a baby, so I got out my WSM stamps called Little Buddies and used them and combined it with a sketch challenge SSS#78 from The Sweet Stop - with a twist of having to be sparkly! Here they are:

This is how Annabelle is made: The frame is a Spellbinders Frameability - Classic; in gold card; she is coloured in Copics; the sentiment is from WSM Sweethearts set, embossed with gold; the base card is green bazzil card; the image is mounted on blue card from DCWV Citrus Matstock, with a strip of sparkly card from the same place; and their is a bit of left over Christmas ribbon tied around the middle.

I used the SU Circle cutter here to cut circles to mount the image twice on yellow and then teal card.  I stamped the image and the sentiments with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured it with Copics, cut it out and mounted it into the circle - both stamps come from WSM Lit'le Buddies, as do the sentiments. The circle of hearts was first cut and embossed using the bug and nestabilities, and then the image was stamped with Versa Aquatic Splash chalk ink, and clear embossed.  The same ink was sponged into the circle before removing the nestability circle. I added some pearls to the outside square, and some glitter to the head of the lamb. Some strips of scrap paper, mounted on more teal card and the whole then onto a yellow bazzil card blank. The SU yellow ribbon completed the story. 

This last card was made on commission for someone''s 50th birthday - her sister chose the image and sentiments and colours. The letters were white and I coloured them with my trusty copic red pen. The centre area is for a personal message. 

Butterflies and birthdays....

This is a challenge card - Little Paper Shop #89: Colour challenge - blue, chocolate and yellow

The flower/butterfly are from Prima flowers, the background has been embossed using the bug, and the swirl was made with Gold Liquid Pearls and some brown and cream pearls.  The backing card is brown and the flag with the sentiment - stamped with gold ink and embossed, using a sentiment from WMS Basket Additions. Yes, it is sewed around the edges  - spent several fraught minutes wrestling with my little Elna sewing machine to get it to work, and then to actually sew around the card - so please excuse the poor effort there. The whole lot is attached to a piece of yellow bazzil card. 

That's it folks - DH had given me a G and T, and I can hear the dinner being prepared upstairs, so had better stop and go and be sociable.  Isn't he a gem!!

Happy Halloween

Challenges:  Let's ink it Up - Halloween colours
Papercraftstar#17 - photo inspiration - spiders and pumpkins
Clean and Simple FTL110 - sketch (but too late for it!)
Creative Cottage #25 - Halloween

My first attempt at a Halloween card - we don't celebrate this although I am seeing more and more evidence of it being bought into the culture through the shops! My background stamp is from Darkroom Door stamped with Momento London Fog ink, and the basket of pumpkins is from WMS Basket Additions set. The basket and contents are stamped with Momento Tuxedo Black ink, and coloured with Copics.  The web and spider are stickers from my stash, and are the tiles with the sentiment. I used gold Smooch around the light and to highlight the top of the pumpkins and the side of the spider. I stamped the basket and contents first, and then masked them before stamping the background so that it looks as if the basket is on the pavement outside the door. I mounted the images onto the purple bazzil and again onto some orange card, and the whole onto a blank made from a grey bazzil. I followed the sketch from Clean and Simple to create the design but am too late to enter it in their challenge. Never mind.  

See you!

Hey, sweet-thing.......

Challenge:  Annabelle Stamps: "Say it in ...no DP"
It could also have gone in There She Goes #75 colour challenge - grape, purple and lime but that was last week! Have just discovered this Challenge at Cowgirl's Sunday Stamp: it's a girly challenge,  so have linked in here as well:

My youngest granddaughter is not feeling very well - sore throat and temp - so I made her this to cheer her up!

The image is one that Lyn from Lyn's designs (see last post) sent me, carefully coloured with Copics and then put through the bug with a large oval die.  Mounted this on some spare card and then put it onto a doily after I had run a Krylon gold pen around the edges of it - some ribbon and lace, a piece of embossed card from the stash and a sentiment stamped in SU Elegant Eggplant ink and a WSM stamp set called Sweethearts. Some flowers - Prima and one coloured with the Copic pen, and sparkly centre from Prima and 2 small green roses from the $1 shop. 

Cheers........

While waiting for the repair man to come and fix the ice-maker on the fridge, I made a card. It is a cased card from this website - her's is in pink! It is really lovely and seemed so simple, so I had a go - I like the way mine turned out.  I used the SU stamp set - Snowflake Spots and embossed with a silver powder, and use three different inks to sponge around - my edge is a Martha Stewart punch called Stars. I used three little sparkles from Annabelle Stamps as well on my snowflakes. Here 'tis.

The card is a commercial blank and the other card is SU or Bazzil (teal)!

Merry and Bright

Lyn from Lyn's Designs sent me a few images (thank you very much Lyn!)  and I coloured this one with the Copics and made it into a Christmas card. My mojo has gone into hiding and I am just fiddling around, cleaning up and sorting, tidying away some things and getting out others I had forgotten I had - case in point the lace on this card! However, I did make this card - Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, embossing and all......

The sentiment is from Stamp It and the mounting is from DCWV's Citrus Matstock - yummy sparkly stuff! Some SU red card and Annabelle sparkles - think that's it!

My garden always looks its best in Spring, and this year I have orchids as well! I divided them up two years ago and repotted them all, and then ignored them - this year I have thirteen spikes! See?

My DH has a lime tree in a pot and these are all just outside the door of the craft space.  The Rhododendron was given to us by our son and his wife, and is doing OK  - it is a bit deeper in colour than the photo allows.  The mock orange is just smothered and John as grown these blue things from a small plant so he is very proud of them - they look good against the white and the ferns. 

Contrasts and other things

There are few things to tell you :
a) We have moved into the new kitchen - yes, the windows need to be redone (Friday) and the carpet is not yet sorted, and the old fridge and freezer are still in the hallway, but we have COOKED in the kitchen!
b) I have done so while combating a virus - now I know that I have a good virus protector on my computer so how I got this thing I do not know, but I do not like it!
c) Spring is here (at the moment, its going to be winter again tomorrow)
d) not all that left the old kitchen will fit back into the new kitchen - strange that, so a cull has had to be undertaken! There is a garage sale in the offing........

Some pictorial evidence:

Even figured how to work the dishwasher and the hot plates!  

The fridge/freezer had to be serviced before it would stop leaking (hmmm) but it's sorted now. And I can use the stove and microwave - sorta.

The entry into the kitchen - its the camera angle, not the walls........

Nice, clean lounge room walls .... and still the hallway full of fridges in the background - nearly put back together again.

Remember how it snowed last week - well on Sunday morning the local boat club has it's annual sail past to celebrate the start of the racing year  - Open Day, it's called - same view, different perspective! That's called 'Spring' here. The view of it from the balcony, over the potostrum (?) tree. No snow left on those hills at the moment but after a day of 24 degrees, apparently tomorrow will be cold and wet. Mmmmm.

Circles and Swirls

 I have been playing with circles and swirls and Christmas cards - made three. The first two used the Nestablilties Circles and a Cuttlebug to cut out various circles and stamp them with a stamp set from Papermania Stamp Duos, with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. The papers I used are a mixture of Basic Grey's Fruitcake; My Minds Eye - Frost signature christmas; and the script paper is from Anna Griffith. Some bling and acouple of brads, a rub on and a stamped sentiment from an old unknown stamp for the sentiments an they were done.

The third one used the paper's mentioned and the SU Baroque Swirl stamp in Versamark with gold embossing.  The paper was touched up with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo distressing ink and the candles are peel-offs. I put them on Jac paper, rubbed them with fold leaf and then green tinsel to fill in the gaps and then cut them out before taking the backing off and sticking them onto the paper. Don't they look pretty.