Baby love

As soon as I saw this week's challenge at CASual Fridays, "Name That Tune", I had so many song/card ideas popping into my head, but this was the first one to crystallise, so to speak.  (I don't think I really need to tell you what song I used as my inspiration!)

I'll also be submitting this to the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog for their "Anything Goes" challenge.

Clean and Simple FTL 183 meets Moxie Fab

This is my 2nd post for today, but it's a bit of deja vu - another card that will be submitted for a Clean and Simple challenge (#183) and to Moxie Fab's DIY Embellishments Challenge.  I'm also submitting this to LilyPad cards Flower challenge and to  Moxie Fab's Don't throw it Away Challenge - let me explain!

The flower on this card was made using ribbon from a t-shirt - you know when you buy a new top, they often have bits of ribbon sewn into the shoulders, so that you can loop it over a coat hanger so it won't slip off?  Well, I generally keep my t-shirts folded in a drawer, so I cut the ribbon loops out and use them on my cards!  I've been doing this for years now, but this is the first time I've used the ribbon for a flower.   I made the flower by just pleating the ribbon onto a Gluber, and adding a SU antique brad in the centre.

Thanks for visiting :)

Clean and simple meets Moxie Fab

I am back in the craft room this weekend - I finished all the marking I needed to do (will get another huge pile of marking to do after Easter - boo hiss).  I just wish I could shift this cold - my head feels heavy and my brain is fuzzy.
 For this card, I wanted to use this week's Clean and Simple sketch #184, but I wanted to stamp, not use punched scallops.  I also decided to join in with Moxie Fab's DIY Embellishments challenge - for a tutorial on how to make a flower like mine, see this blog post of mine from July last year.  The only thing I did differently was I coloured in the white ribbon with pink and peachy colours before making the flower.

Also submitting this to LilyPad Cards Flower Challenge. 

I hope you're having a great day - thanks for visiting :)

More spritz and flick with Lauren

My eldest neice, Lauren, really liked the background on the baby card I made recently,

so I helped her make a whole sheet of it, so that she could punch out some ovals (well, Easter egg shapes, really).   I did most of the inking, she did the spritz and flicking ;)

Another card without a sentiment

I will have to make quite a few more blank cards (without a sentiment, that is!) - I've sold this one plus a couple of others already!   The good thing is that I can make this 12cm x 12cm square size, and use up some patterned paper scraps ;)
  This particular paper is one of my favourites from Stampin' Up.

Have a great day :)

Blank cards

I took my cards to work today, and sold a few, but had a couple of requests for more blank cards.  I don't know why, but I always feel the need to add a sentiment to cards - to balance the design, to add a focal point, I don't know.   So I made a concerted effort this evening to make some cards without sentiments.  Here are three I made in a set:

I can't decide which is my favourite colour - one minute, I like the blue, the next, I'm leaning toward the pink, but I also like the combination of the purple petals and the green leaves. 

 Will be submitting these cards to CASual Fridays Bold and Beautiful challenge. 

Flowers for CASual Fridays and Lily Pad

I haven't taken part in many challenges in the past 3 weeks, so I thought that, with a teeny bit of time on my hands today, I'd make up for lost time.
Here's another card I made for CASual Fridays Bold and Beautiful challenge. I'm also submitting this to Lily Pad Cards challenge to make a flower card. 
The flower and leaf stamps are Stampin' Up, and I intentionally lined up the black outline with the solid colour by just eyeballing it - I didn't want it too precise.  I used some very old Hero Arts Shadow dye inks I had gathering dust for the flowers, and an old Versacolor cube pigment ink pad for the leaves (I used 2nd generation images for the large leaves - too intense otherwise.) 

I hope you're having a great day :)

Liebster Award!!!

The other day I received a comment on this card from the lovely Lisa A of "I'm in Haven", who nominated me for the Liebster Award. 

  Her site with the information can be found HERE ...but here's how it works:

This award is given to up-and-coming bloggers who inspire you and have fewer than 200 followers. The Liebster Award takes its name from the German word meaning, "Beloved, Dearest, or Favorite."  As part of the tradition, you then pass the award on to five bloggers that have motivated and inspired you.  

So, here's my list of 5 - it has taken me a while - there are just SO MANY cool blogs out there!

1. Anne-Marie of Hand-Made by Anne-Marie

2. N@ Ali of Just Cards by N@ Ali
3. Tracy of Created by Tracy
4. Gayatri of Handmade by G3
5. Wendy of Happy Stamping Designs by Wendy

  

So, now it's your turn to share the love :)

The new honorees are now asked to do the following:

1. Acknowledge the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
2. Give this award to 5 other bloggers, who must have fewer than 200 followers, and let them know through a comment on their blog.
3. Post the award on your blog
4. Best of all:  Bask in the glory, have fun, and SHARE THE LOVE!

Please check out the blogs of all these ladies - I hope you find them as inspirational as I have :D  And thanks again to Lisa - such a lovely surprise!

Have a great day!

CASual Fridays Bold and Beautiful

This week's CASual Fridays challenge is called the Bold and the Beautiful - the bold refers to black, and the beautiful refers to pastels.  I thought I'd try a technique that was in a video in Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 101 Online Card Class - he calls it the "blended spritz and flick" technique - I went with pale shades of Distress inks, and spritzed and flicked with Perfect Pearls in water.  Here's the result.

You can't really see the flicked perfect pearls in the first photo, but it really shows up in this next one:

Have a great day :)

Inspired by.....

Hello, blogland!  Haven't seen you in a while - my work has been seriously ridiculous over the past few weeks, and today is the first day in three whole weeks that I have been able to even look at my cardmaking supplies! 

I thought I'd ease myself back into the swing of things with a CASE.   I love the blog of Lisa Haines at The Purple Place - not only is she a fabulous cardmaker, but so generous and kind, too :)   I saw these cards on her blog this morning and knew instantly that I was going to CASE them ;)

Here's my take on her idea:

As I was inspired by Lisa's work, I'm entering this card into this week's Lawnscaping challenge - "Inspired by a fellow crafter". 

I'm also submitting this to Simon Says Stamp Presents a Flower Challenge at Lily Pad Cards.

Thanks for visiting - have a great day :)

Butterflies for Caitlin

My 2nd-eldest niece, Caitlin, is turning 7 this week, and she specifically asked for a card with 7 butterflies on it.

 And, before you can say,"Hey, there are only 5 butterflies", here's the inside:

Happy birthday, Caitie!

Clean and simple sketch take 4!

I've made a few cards today using Clean and Simple's sketch - here's the fourth:

Clean and simple sketch take 3!

I've made a few cards today using Clean and Simple's sketch - here's the third:

Masculine card for Clean and Simple

I've made a few cards today using Clean and Simple's sketch - here's the second:

Clean and simply love always

    I made this card with this week's Clean and Simple cardmaking sketch in my head - but I just couldn't find a patterned paper in my stash that I was happy with for the panel at the bottom - so I left it out!  Made it similar to the sketch, but not identical - but I like how clean and simple it is.  I tried to add a thin ribbon across the card just below the sentiment, but I couldn't get it to sit just right, so I took it off - and I remember reading another cardmaking blogger having to say to herself, when trying to add stuff and add stuff and add stuff - "walk away from the card". So I did!  (I need to make that my clean and simple mantra - "WALK AWAY FROM THE CARD"!)   BTW, if this other cardmaking blogger was you, please let me know!!
     I turned the sketch to make it landscape, as these flowers were a bit chunky for portrait orientation, and I made it 2 instead of 3 flowers for the same reason.

Hope your day is turning out fabulous!

A new technique and a CASE

Hi, all - I've had an INCREDIBLY eventful week - very stressful work stuff going on, with way too many students being allowed to enrol in the subjects I teach, with reductions in staff members and huge budget cuts at the same time leading to everyone being on edge and overworked.  On the flip side, I had a very exciting week, being called up onto stage at a taping of Adam Hills In Gordon St Tonight on Monday to answer questions about being a chorister for Carols by Candlelight for 22 years - the episode aired here on Wednesday! Very exciting! (sorry, only Australian IP addresses will be able to view the video).  Big week! No crafting time :( ....... until today :)

So, making up for lost time today - I decided to try a technique I saw Shari Carroll do on the Hero Arts Blog. I used Hero Arts Leaf and Floral background in white ink, then stamped over with the smaller flowers from Stampin' Up.  Looks GORGEOUS in real life, it is incredibly difficult to photograph, though.  I also decided to join in with this week's Just Add Ink Challenge, to CASE a card by Nikki Spencer (see her card below, or click HERE to see the card in her original post - it is the last one in her post.)

Here's what I came up with:

 Nikki's fabulous card that I CASEd:

Thanks for visiting - have a great day :)