A cold change

...has swept in today and the temperature has dropped, although the sun was still out until 30 minutes ago. The washing has dried in the breeze so that is my Polyanna moment! I have made a card for our daughter's birthday tomorrow, and am risking putting it up today as I want to enter it into the CR84FN # 21 challenge of garnet, chartreuse and cream! What a colour combo!!  

                                                       

I then unpacked the package that arrived from Waltzing Mouse Stamps yesterday, and there were my pennant flag stamps, so I entered the sketch challenge at WMS as well - WMS#40. Yummy stamps!

Here is the card:

I used my SU multi-roller for the first time and it is obvious that I have to practice more!  I went all over the place and then tried to correct it by cutting the sentiment into a wavy line (not very successfully!) The rollers I used were Pleasing Birthday Polka Dots, Birthday and Candle Crazy.  However, I am quite please with the embossing of the SU inks on the flags - Glorious Green and Cranberry Crisp.  The card under the sentiment strip is also SU Cranberry Crisp and I had put this through the Cuttlebug and a Country Companions embossing folder called Lovers Lane for lots of little hearts.  I used some ribbon from Papermania Verde range plus the matching bows, and threaded the ribbon through two buttons from my stash.  The card I used to make the card is a piece of bazzil.  The circle is on dimentionals to lift it up and the flags themselves are also on dimentionals.

I Brake for Stamps

I joined in a swap at the forum for the Brakefast Club and had to make and send a card using one of their images to some-one in America.  Meanwhile, May in Norway apparently got my name and had to send me a card - it arrived today as did the card I sent to USA!  So, I had a photo of May's card and as Anne does not have a scanner, a photo of the card I made and sent also.

 - isn't this pretty! AND I love Lily of the Valley!

And this is the one I sent to Anne. The image is a digi one from IBFS, coloured with Copics and I added some texture with Opalite faux pearls.  

Been to the Soccer today

...and watched both older granddaughter's play in the 'grown-up' division:  the 15 year old played half a game in Reserves and most of a game in the Premium team, and the 18 year old turned up from work at 2.30 and played most of the Premium game. They were both exhausted after - they have been playing a division down until this year when their team got promoted, so they are the bottom of the top. They lost heavily today in both games but they played with their heads high.

I came home and made this card for the challenges at Mojo Monday (sketch) for last week, and CR84FN  #20, which is a colour challenge - plum, lavender and green and over now!  So, I think it looks kinda like Spring, so am entering it in the Creative Cottage #35 Spring has Sprung!

The DP is the backing paper from Prima flowers, cleaned up and attached to some Co'ordinations paper (Asparagus) with some lace behind it (recycling), and some purple lace and pink sheer ribbon, with a pearl stick pin.  The flower is also Prima.  I used a SU Notably Ornate sentiment and Opulent Orchid ink, and punched out a couple of butterflies from green vellum with a Martha Stewart punch.  The butterfly on the bottom is stamped out onto vellum, coloured in and cut out, and then I used Pearls to put drops on the wings for texture. 

Turning 98

Second Post for Day:

I made a card for a challenge - had it in my mind for a while, and started full of enthusiasm but when I came to put it together I fiddled and fiddled - not happy with it at all. Still, it's done. I will enter it for The Sweet Stop sketch challenge #101 and Lets Ink it Up - diecuts and punches.  I tried to use a die cut I had of a sun shape, but it looked so strange I gave it away and punched out a circle for the sketch with my SU Scalloped Punch.

I had a different panel as well but had to ditch it as the image did not show up well against it, so ended up going with the plain green background.  The card and SP and ink is all Stampin'Up (Melon Mambo, Pink Pirouette) except I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black and used the Copics to colour it, and then the Stickles to add some sparked.  The text is embossed using Holographic EP for extra sparkle also.  The stamp and the image are from Lili of the Valley Ltd - the girl is called Dandelion Clock and the sentiment is from Dreamy Days.  The ribbon is the new SU baubles ribbon in Melon Mambo. 

First Post:

My MIL has turned 97 (Christmas Eve last year) and she is currently in rehabilitation hospital - no, not for an addiction, she is recovering from septicaemia - one tough lady. She has a friend at the Lodge, where she lives normally and he turned 98 yesterday. Cyril is a real card - he is so funny and so fit and so alert mentally. I made him a birthday card.

Both the sentiment and the image are from I Brake for Stamps, the DP is the packing from a Verve stamp set, and the frame and sentiment are scrap pieces from the scrap pile.  The three brads are Kaiser.  The card is a piece of SU card Taken with Teal and I used Memento black and SU TwT inks. Inside the card suggests that 98 years of living means he has a lot of horrible warnings to impart!!!  I read it to MIL over the phone last night, and described the image - she roared laughing.  I wanted to check it wasn't too cheeky but she assured me he would love it. Fingers crossed.

Say it with a Tag

We have a very dismal day here today - it feels and looks like winter! I have been doing some relief teacher (supply teacher?) work for my good friend Elaine, who is off playing croquet for the state team - in the rain!  I have had the privilege of dealing with some of the loveliest students over the past three days, and will have them again for another two until the end of the week - they are sooooo quiet! They get on with their work! They are pleasant and courteous! They say 'thank you' to me at the end of a lesson!!!!! Thank you Elaine.

I did however, make time yesterday afternoon to make a card!  It is for a challenge as my notebook tells me that  Annabelle Stamps have a Challenge to - say it with a Tag.  Also, Aud Sentiments are challenging us to make Get Well cards by today. I combined them and used an Annabelle stamp - Lil Michelle - to do so.  The sentiment comes from the same Annabelle set; and today in the mail I got a free stamp of Lil Michelle swinging, as a prize from their March blog hop: thanks Andrea, very cute!

I used the SU Sizzix Big Shot embossing folder - Framed Tulips on a textured commercial card blank.  I added a die cut circle, and then lifted the image up using dimentionals.  I had fussy cut it out after colouring it in with my Copics.  The tag was purchased from a Corporate Express shop, and I ran the copic pen around the edge, and stamped the sentiment on it in Memento Tuxedo Black.  The flower is from a set of Dress It Up Fab Buttons. 

I also got a parcel from Lili of the Valley in the UK today and cannot wait to mount them and ink them up!

Every day should be special...

I made this card for the Tuesday Throwdown Challenge #39 - Scraps, using just what I had on my desk with the exception of the SU Melon Mambo strip (in the scrap card bag), the yellow base card and the bling. I used the MOJO #181 Sketch Challenge sketch and may just make it this time! (Nope, just missed it!)

The edge punch is a Martha Stewart on some SU Sky Blue scrap card, the DP's come from Pretty Please Spring Papers by My Minds Eye (left over from the last card I made!), the flower is a Prima and has been laying on the desk top for over two months after falling off it's card, so I suggest it can now be officially called scrap; the circle is a cut from the Nellie die cut I used on SU Daffodil Yellow for the last card to get the centre piece - the rest of the circles went into the die offcut bag! The flourishes are similar -when I get a new die I cut a few on different pieces of scrap to test it, and they have been sitting on the desk waiting to either be used or put away, whichever is the earlier! The sentiment is stamped in SU Melon Mambo ink (which has also be used to sponge edges everywhere) and is a stamp from my latest Annabelle Stamp set, called All Things Grow. I cut the yellow background paper out in a circle using Nestabilities and attached it behind the yellow frame, and added some bling.

Springtime smiles

This card is for the Papercraft Star Challenge #36, which is a colour challenge, with a spring theme, to use the colours lilac, aqua, pink and light purple. Mmmm, all very soft and feminine, not really me.  I have seen these easle card with a twist, and worked out finally how to make them, so that is what I attempted.  Here it is:

The white washing basket (upside down) is the base but the sun is bright, so the photo is not as good as it could be -sorry, I was trying to avoid the sunlight getting onto the card. . Here is what it looks like when open:

The stamp set is from StampinUp and I have used it quite a bit lately - its called Easter Blossoms.  The girl has been embossed in holographic EP and then masked to stamp the blossom branch (in Memento black) and coloured slightly with Copics.  The inside image is stamped, coloured and some of the blossoms layered. I then added a bit of bling through the little purple gems on the centres.  The sentiment is embossed also and the ink used is SU Tempting Turquoise stamped off to make it more aqua! The ribbon has been hanging around in the stash for over three years.  The pink ink used is SU Blushing Bride and I also sponged it around liberally. The card is SU Whisper White and and old colour Pale Plum. The oval punch and some dimentionals for the sentiment and double sided tape completes the menu. 

Second Post for Day:

I made another card - have to do something to take my mind of what is unfolding in Japan - and this one is for another challenge: I used the sketch from Mojo Monday's design #180 which was from the end of February for the Colour Throwdown #132 Challenge, where the colours are Baja Breeze, Daffodil Delight, Crumb Cake, Soft Sky.

My husband says it is too ornate - too much stuff on it - but he likes the butterfly! Thanks John. I used SU Sky Blue as the base card, and Baja Breeze for the lattice and mount, with trim and 'flower' in the Daffodil Delight.  The Crumb Cake is in the DP which is from a 6 x 6 booklet from My Mind's Eye that was a freebie with a magazine recently - papers are called Pretty Please Spring Papers.  I sponged with Baja Breeze ink and used some ribbon from the stash, along with a Seasonal embellishment.  The centre of the flower is stamped with Baja as well using a SU set called Think Happy Thoughts. The lattice is from a Martha Stewart edge punch and the butterfly is a peel-off on vellum, coloured with Copics. 

Two chicks and a rodent

Sounds like the start of a joke....but I decided I wanted to enter the WMS Sketch Challenge this week,and I also went for the Colour Throwdown  colour challenge #131 of Not Quite Navy, Pink Pirouette and Baja Breeze (probably missed that one but I entered anyway).  Lets Ink It Up also says "Show us your Embossing" so I went for that as well.

I threw yellow and Melon Mambo into the colour palette as well - not sure the yellow's work that well.  I die cut and then dry embossed and layered up the nestabilities squares, and then stamped, embossed and layered up the eggs from WMS Nestie Eggs.  I also stamped, layered and paper pieced the chicks from WMS Li'l Buddies.  I stamped and embossed a background onto the SU Pink Pirouette card, using WMS Picnic Patterns.  I used mostly SU card in the required colours for the challenge, but I did colour in my chicks with Copics and the seam binding was coloured to match the whole with a Copic as well. The EP is clear, and the deep pink contrast is using SU Melon Mambo ink (i.e. the small egg, the ink sponged around the edges). I used a yellow button and three little pearls as embellishments.  One other thing - the paper piecing and the middle mount of the squares is done from the backing card from a set of Verve stamps - too pretty to throw that away.

Second Posting for Today.....

I made another card using some scraps and the WMS set Li'l Buddies, and a free digi from Digital Delights called "eggstraspecial bunny" plus some other stuff such as the little flowers in the bunch.  I thought this would be a quick card but it became a bit difficult as I made a few errors that had to be corrected (the first sentiment was not straight) and then decided to use a sketch from the CPS - sketch #208 and enter this in their challenge.  I was going to enter it in the Delightful Sketches challenge also - welcome Spring but as Spring does not come to us until September/October, this is a bit of a cheat for me ..... and I missed the deadline anyway!  

You can see in the photo below that the ears, nose and feet of the 'bunny' are layered on, and that the flowers are meant to be as a bunch in his left hand! The bees are also lifted up on dimentionals, as is the first sentiment. 

A bit of ribbon, and some SU card plus the DP scrap and its done!

Tag it!

Tuesday Throwdown has Tag It as their theme for today and I think I have snuck in by a whisker with this one. (Nope, when I went to link I had missed it - whisker too thick!) I will also enter it in the Clean and Simple FLT#130 Sketch Challenge as I used that as my inspiration.

I used the Waltzing Mouse Stamp set Nestie Eggs for the sentiment and a rabbit from a stamp set I got on sale from S2G's called Jump at the Chance (I cut the sentiment off the rabbit).  Copics coloured in the rabbit simply and the tag is a die cut from Verve. The background DP is from Carolee's Creations - Adorn It set and the ribbon braid is from the stash.  The eggs are from SU's Easter Blossoms set and embossed with clear EP over SU Melon Mambo ink. I also sponged the edges of the DP with this.  The paper twine is also from the stash.

The following two cards were made as a result of a workshop I had here with a few people and uses mainly SU products.

There are Kaiser sparkles and the ribbon is Seam Binding dyed with a Copic (SU ink did not work, must find out how to do that). The stamp set is Easter Blossoms. The ovals are Nestabilities or a sU punch. 

This one has the image mounted on two mounts and the background is card stamped with the small flourish from this set. I masked the girl to do this and then over stamped the sentiment. 

Inside the card I used a WMS sentiment and the egg from the SU set. 

I have been a bit slack in posting....

Sorry about that but I have been busy, both crafting and other things.

On Saturday last (the 27th) my DH and I joined my brother and his wife, and just a few others (the number has been growing recently) who belong to the group of Old Scholars of the (now defunct) Bream Creek State School in Bream Creek, Tasmania. We went on another trip down memory lane for a lot of us, and a trip of interest for others.  The growing number of participants means that the local talk has deemed our trips enjoyable and fun, so people have asked to join us even though they did not attend the school.  The school in its heyday only had about 25 students in a year - ranging from Grades 1 - 9! Anyway, we went to the start of the Tasman Peninsular, to a property called 'Bangor' - yes, after the town in Wales - and visited the original site where Abel Tasman's crew set foot on Tasmania in 1642!  There is a monument there set up in the early 1900's and another stone one set up in the nearest town (Dunalley) in the 1950's as the property is of course private.  We "bush bashed" (walked in the bush) a bit and then went to a lovely beach for lunch and another walk. We had a great day together even though it was a bit chilly! Here are some of the photo's taken that day.

On the way in - looking out Blackman Bay to the back of Marion Beach

Over a small creek

Bush-bashing up a hill (usually no track)

Lost in the bush! 

Found the track to the monument

Found the monument - yes John was cold

Went to Lagoon Beach for lunch

The other end of Lagoon beach, looking back

We found a dyeing group there camping - and one woman was dyeing on the beach!

Some kelp!