Big Week

Just need to tell people that I have a big week coming up and just past - I have been paid by the Commonwealth Gov to assist with the Census as a Supervisor of Collectors, and its not a doddle of a job, I have to earn my money, so as the Census is on the 9th,  I and my team are busy.  I have a big birthday as well this week, so will be out or action for a few days, I expect!  Have a good one and don't forget to do your Census if you are in Australia.......if you are in USA, get those pollies to agree will you, its doing great harm to our and everyone else's  economy while they dither!!!

Whatcha got in your drawers?

I've got lots of goodies in mine! Spent the afternoon pretending I was cleaning up by tidying up my standing desk (where I do most of my craft work) by painting, gluing and papering with My Minds Eye - Confetti papers a small Kaiser set of drawers I have had for a while now but not done anything with......and then loaded it up as I cleaned off the desk space (told ya I was cleaning up!).  I think it looks sweet and the top of the desk did get a clean off and spruce over. I added the Kaiser locks but they are a bit big and make opening the drawers a bit hard but I am sure I will manage.

Don't look at it too closely as it is a bit rough. Hubbie certainly thought so - he was not that impressed with the painting etc.    BUT I'm happy!!!!

A Stampin'Up sort of day...

It is really lovely outside - a real bright blue winter's day, with the sun shining and the temperature below 10. I have been playing in the workshop, avoiding dealing with the corner of my space where the rain from last week got in and destroyed the carpet and mangled stuff in that corner!

I have a party next weekend where I have to create a demo and a make-and-take.  So, after going onto the SU site, I have cased three cards and one idea for my demo.  I will show the demo idea later, but here are my CASED cards - mmm, which one will be the MAT?

Perhaps I will make it Number 1.  Any suggestions?

The card used is SU Rich Rassleberry, Sahara Sand, Whisper White and Pear Pizzazz, and the inks are PP and RR.  I have used ribbon from the stash and Kaiser bling, and the punches are all SU punches. The frame in Number 1 is a Sizzix Big Shot embossing folder for SU called Framed Tulips.

Tis NOT the season but.....

....the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #117 says "Christmas in July" as it added twist, so I had to make a Christmas card, my first one for 2011.

Scraps of Christmas papers from my stock, the SU stamp Dasher embossed with Stamp It EP Egyptian Gold onto SU Confetti White card (which is also the base) and is all sparkly, a flower and a sticker from momenta.  Recycled Christmas ribbon and that's all folks! 

Gussy Up a book

I was walking past a Specials bin in a city newsagent this morning and there was this little book, with a spiral back and kraft covers, and vintage looking pages.  It was $1 and it called my name - I bought it and this afternoon I used some old stash to cover it and gussy it up a bit.  The cover is where I was trying the resist technique (emboss with clear on glossy paper, cover with ink and wipe clean, polish with a tissue) for the first time.  You can see it was not very successful as it was in the days when I was not very good at wielding a stamp or embossing stuff - not that I am much better now, but I do at least try to be neater and clearer. Anyway, I then used some ribbon given to me by Sue Walsh last year, from AnnaBelle stamps. Notice it has circles on it. I tied a big bead onto it to create a place ribbon, and tied on anther smaller bit for decoration to the spine. I then used two sheets of another pad I had picked up in one of those dinky little vintage shops, somewhere on the mainland while on holidays, because I liked the vintage look of the pages.  I glued this inside the front and back of the covers.

I will enter this in AnnaBelles - Say it in Circles challenge, as it is using circles in the ribbon, on the face plates (well, technically they are ovals, but who is complaining, right?) and the flourish is circular, the flower is a circle and the brad in the middle of it is a circle, while the bead is a definite circle!!

Sorry about the photography - I think it is my camera on the blink.....

It is shiny so hard to get a good photograph of the bits......

The inside front cover........

A close-up of the flower - it is die cut with a Spellbinders Heartfelt Posy die, and held together with a SU brad. 

I have 25 followers now - I feel so privileged that so many of you have decide to follow my blog and am delighted to welcome Sally as the 25th! I am starting to feel like a real blogger now! 

Sunday Selections

This is a photo sharing experience, by frogpondsrock.

Here is my photo to share:

It was taken earlier this year on a beach not much visited, late in  he afternoon on a cold day.

Flowers

This one was made quickly from a cased photo - with stuff left on my craft desk and some Cosmo de Lovely paper. A doily folded over, a die cut label, sentiment from a S2G stamp stamped with SU Tempting Turquoise, green ribbon. I used Kaiser bling and coloured some with pink Copic pen. The edge is a Martha Stewart edge punch. The card is a white commercial blank.

I am entering this in Scrappy Frogs Flowers Challenge and I was going to enter the Penny Black at Allsorts Challenge, until I read the small print as saw I had to use a stamp from them - sorry, I have some of your stamps but didn't use one in this and didn't realise until after I had entered it was a condition.  My apologies. 

Ed:  I will also enter this one, as it fits the criteria also - no stamps - into UnstampaBelles Challenge#1

Pink and Blue

I am entering this one in three challenges:
Lollipop Ladies #24 - Fairy Floss and Fibre
Mojo Monday sketch
Lili of the Valley - Pink and blue

It is a Magnolia (of course), coloured with Copics, and die cut with Spellbinders.  The sentiment is from Lili of the Valley - Dreamy Days.  The die cut behind the image is Nestabilities Fleur de Lis, and the one behind the sentiment is the scalloped circle, and the one below it is a straight scallop.  The paper is from the De Lovely set mentioned below.  The flower is a Prima and makes the fibre as it is made from fabric. The ribbon has been in my stash for so long I have forgotten who made it.  The card is SU Pink Passion as is the ink used to stamp the sentiment and also swiped along the edges of the image. I finished with small Kaiser blue pearls. 

Fancy Fold

It was my DIL's birthday last  week - can you guess how many fingers?  (Happy Birthday Bea).

I am entering this in Delightful Challenges - Fancy fold card challenge and Southern Girls Challenge - Happy Birthday; and Craft Your Days Away - fancy folds. 

Ed:  I am also entering this into a challenge I have just discovered called UnstampaBelles Challenge - not stamps!

One sheet of cream Co'Ordinations embossed card 12 x 12 cut in half and rounded on one end.  Then I edged this with cream lace, added the flower (Prima) and the Joy metal sticker, the metal clasp (faux) and the number which has been embossed with Stamp It Bronze Sparkle EP. Photo taken in late afternoon, hence the shadows.

Inside the card I used papers from the Prima Annalee collection, and some SU Vanilla card.  The sentiments are stamped with Momento Close to Cocoa ink using Stamp It Birthday Sayings. The clasp is really held down with velcro dots. I popped in a small piece of lingerie to remind her of her youth! 

Bread bag ties

They were green so I couldn't throw them out and then I saw this in my journal so cased the card and made my stems and leaves out of the ties. It's just scraps from the scraps bag, cut into 2.5cm squares.  Three flowers die cut and embossed from  Heartfelt Creations (Spellbinders) Posy Patch set, three pearls as centres, and the sentiment comes from My Favourite Things set - Just my Type. It is stamped in SU Elegant Eggplant.  The base card is SU EE card folded over. 

I have been working (for money) the last two days and am drained and in need of a craft fix but happy! See you tomorrow!

Just Grey this time

I was playing around with my SU set Baroque Motifs and Cased these two from my inspiration journal (collection of photographs torn from magazines etc):

This one uses three stamps from the set, some card scraps from the stash, some SU Grey card as the base, and a piece of a page from a romance book. Four red hearts punched out from another piece of scrap an a white brad and some white dots with a gel pen.  

This one has a red heart on it (a sticker) but I have just noticed it has fallen off and reglued it.  However, the weather outside is freezing and raining and I am not going back out to take another photo. It's on the top LHS! Again, I used pages from the book, glued to chipboard, embossed with white embossing powder, inked with Tim Holtz distress inks - Barn Door, Moss and Scattered straw.  A bit of ribbon, three pearls from AnnaBelle stamps and some more gel pen.  They look better irl!

Black, white and red all over

No, NOT News of the World, but a set of cards in a box.

The box - I made it up in a sheet of Bazzill.

It takes four cards and four envelopes

See?

Card one - commercial blanks and a strip of Junkitz - Basics Skinny Strip, two scalloped squares punched with my SU punch, some red card trimmed to fit inside these and wrapped in white cord, with a white nail fastener by Scrapbook. The red square is mounted on dimentionals.

This is a white scalloped square inside the card, with a front aperture scalloped square punched out to fit over it.  The jelly sticker (Me and My Big Ideas) fits neatly inside. The second photo shows it (sorry, the wind moved it as I was taking the shot just before the last shower of rain!)

 This one has all of the above plus some black bling.

This one has bling, some scraps, a rub-on and a piece of black and white ribbon scrap.

They didn't take long to make and I thought it would make a good gift. 

Brr, winter is here with a vengence

It's cold, wet and windy, and there is snow on the mountains. Apart from that all is well.

I made this yesterday:

Some paper from the stash, a doily, smooched with Antique Linen and SU Soft Suede. A variety of vintage stamps - TJ Designs Song Bird, Paperartsy at Home Plate 2 and 5, SU Baroque Motives, Script stamp (?), and the sentiment is from SU Warmest Regards, embossed with Stamp It Egyptian Gold powder; and inks - Antique Linen, Soft Suede; Momento Desert Sand; some card - SU Vanilla and a cream Bazzill for the folded card; some recycled ribbon (from clothing labels) and a beaded button from a broken bracelet  Add three pieces of blue bling by Kaiser, layer it all together and its done. 

I will enter it into this challenge:

Crafty Catz - vintage looking

Wet dry embossing!

Yes, you dry emboss after you have put paint or ink into the folder.  So, I swiped the inside of the folder with SU White Kraft ink and then ran it through the Cuttlebug - interesting effect.  I did the positive side and then the negative side, and find it hard to see which one I like best.  I used only two colours - SU's rich razzleberry and marina mist, and even dyed some seam binding in MM to get ribbon to tone. It dried quickly in the gale force winds thundering into the bay at the moment! The cards are quite quick to make up once the ink has dried - and you need to wash the embossing folder straight away in warm, soapy water. I added some sparkle and coloured the stones with my Copic pens to get them to tone to the RR card.  The card bases are white commercial blanks.

The first card uses a Verve stamp and sentiment and the second one is a Verve sentiment from the set Sweet Treats but I used a Fleur De Lis Square die cut. I lightly sponged on some MM and RR ink as well to this label.  

I will enter this in :
http://audsentimentschallengeblog.blogspot.com/ as they want sentiments of two or more words.  Either card qualifies.

Easy Being Green

Maybe....anyway, I made this card quickly, CASing it from my collection of photos cut from various craft magazines, and placed in a journal (number 4) - to get into the journal, the card has to either have a good colour combo, a good design idea or a sentiment/image combo that attracts me.  This card fits the first two.  AND it's green.

It's dark and its raining outside, so I rigged up a light box thingy out of a shoe box to take this photo and get the correct colours. SU card of course, Vanilla, Mellow Moss and Cherry Cobbler.  The MM card is dry embossed with a folder from Cuttlebug. The DP is part of a freebie from the magazine Simply Cards, and is sitting in my stash because it's good quality paper and pretty!

The oval punch from SU is mounted in the middle of a scalloped oval nestability, embossed, and the ribbon is SU Certainly Celery.  Three bits of Kaiser bling and I smooched the edges of everything with Cherry Cobbler ink. The sentiment is a rub-on. 

I will enter this in the following challenges:

Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes

Die Cut Dreams - a recipe: three shapes (rectangle, oval and scalloped oval), two colours (green and red) and one ribbon.

Life is about Living

CR84FN Challenge # 33 said to use red, pink and neutral so I had a go because in my cleaning up I had come across some chipboard stickers as a freebie in a magazine (no idea which one now) so I used them along with a doily I had cut from SU Poppy Parade (red).  I also have been using up all those ends of ribbons and cut-off bits of ribbons by applied them to one side of some XPress jak paper (double sided sticky paper).  I then cut this to size and used it as a background.  I had also experimented with making some little cut circle roses with a pearl brad through the centre out of the background paper so I added them.  I mounted my muted (neutral) bits with SU PP card, and used a folded SU Pink Pirouette card as my foundation.  I did some colouring on the image with SU markers, and swiped the edges of the background paper with Tim Holtz Antique Linen.

For those who had been following the rodent story, no more mice died in the adventure to date.  Next stop for the traps, the workshop!  Only then will I be happy that we have them all!  Still have not discovered a nest but then again, still have not cleaned up all the craft area!!

It is a terrible day weather wise today, so I am bunkered down this afternoon - may be forced to create some more!!

And another one (mices) bites the dust!

But, it is sad as they are really so cute! However, none last night, so the traps are now set downstairs in my space to see if there are any other mice running around down here, and if not, then they will go into John's workshop to see is he has any.

Meanwhile, I have started to clean up my space a bit - so not a lot of crafting is happening.  However, I did this yesterday - when I was playing with the idea of using my Martha Stewart edge punches to create a frame.  Not very well but I am going to enter it into the AnnaBelle Stamps challenge - Just Say It In Frames.

The stamp is from Sugar Nellie, called Hamish with Tractor, and it is coloured with Copics.  The background is sponged with chalk and the sentiment is from Stamp It. The image is fussy cut and attached using dimentionals and the reason there is ribbon on it is that I tried to take the mounted image off and tore the background and could not be bothered to  cut a new one - just added the ribbon trim! Very lazy!! The whole lot is mounted on some Laura Ashley card from a 2010 calendar (recycled), with a cream folded card behind it.  Inside uses some more of the LA card and another Stamp It sentiment:  see?

I apologise for the photo's but it was raining outside and cold, and I was in a hurry.

Success! Three Mices down!

It's sad really, as they are so cute but they were running all over my craft space yesterday, and on the bookshelves and I even watched one shimmy up the brick wall!  They knocked my template designs off the shelves and I know I now have to clean up my space thoroughly in the next few days to find the nest!

I have been sorting things to day and doing other (paid) work, so haven't made much except this - one of the things knocked off the shelf by a mouse was a little favour box made for me by my SU rep. I decided to CASE it - so here it is!

It is made with the SU Hope set, where $2 for each set sold goes to the Breast Cancer Research. The set will not be available after July, so if you are interested in it, let me know.  I have made the box with SU DP that is no longer available but is still in my stash.  I stamped the background words three times with SU ink Orchard Opulence (also out of date) stamped off, after masking off the H stamp which is stamped in Old Olive. I distressed the edges of the SU Whipser White square, and inked them; then distressed the edges of the green scrap piece and the purple Concord Crush (SU) piece.  These are layered and then put on the outside of the bag. A bit of ribbon tied through holes punched by the SU Double Rectangle punch keeps it closed.  It is big enough to put several small chocolates or similar. 

My entry in the Southern Girls Challenge  here gained me a top 5 position - yippee!

Still got mice - very small, cute ones!

However, I have decided that I have to get nasty and kill them off, so some new traps have been purchased that kill them when they enter, so we will see what happens.

I was up to Michelle's blog in the Crop Stop Summer Blog Hop but have run out of time to complete the hop! Time and tide and all that.......however, I will put up the card I made for Michelle, whose theme was Nature.

The card is made using SU card of Chocolate and Cream.  I stamped using SU Suede ink, and I swiped with SU Cherry Cobbler ink.  I used a SU set Nature Walk, and the sentiment comes from part of the set Touch of Nature. I have fussy cut several things and mounted them and I have used a green branch punched from the SU bird punch.  My card is a centre step card, which I have CASED from here.  Anne's is much better than mine!