ScrapFriends Candy Giveaway

Check out this fantastic candy on the ScrapFriends Blog.

 

They also have another chance to win an equally fantastic candy if you place an order on the ScrapFriends store but make sure you do so quickly your chances run out on 15th December.

Flourishes December Release Challenge

Flourishes December Release Challenge has two angled sketches for you to play with.  I have picked the B Sketch or portrait version of the sketch.

The card I have made uses the wattle from Flourishes Bloomin Aussie Florals stamp set.  I really struggle to find stamps appropriate for Australian Christmas cards.  The stamps are all northern hemisphere snow, deer, holly and pine trees.  Lovely stamps but don't really reflect the swelteringly hot days of summer which is our Christmas here. The only white stuff falling from the sky here is likely to be hail from a thunderstorm. Australian Christmas stamps tend to be cutesy surfing Santas or koalas in Santa hats.  So I thought I would colour up the flourishes wattle with Christmas green and red rather than our green and gold and add a bit of sparkle.  I used Copics R000, 02, 22, 24, 27 for the flowers and G000, YG00,03,06,67 for the leaves. The green background is a scrap of card I used to wipe up distress ink and glimmermist from another project.  The circular die is Memory Box's Suffix Globe cut from red glittery cardstock. The Merry Christmas is an old Kaisercraft wood mounted stamp.

Thank you for looking and I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas.  Cheers Linda

Speedy Fox and Friends Purple Christmas

I made this card for Marks Finest Papers Speedy Fox and Friends challenge 188 Purple Christmas. I was a little stumped at first as I don't have a MFP Christmas stamp set, but then I remembered all the gorgeous window scene cards that I have come across lately.  So I grabbed the bare branched tree from MFPs Tree Greetings stamp set and Poppy Stamps Grand Madison window.  I stamped the tree in Stazon jet black on gloss card, masked a circle for the moon coloured the background with distress inks - milled lavender, shaded lilac and (my all-time favourite) dusty concord. I masked some snow drifts at the bottom but the window ended up covering it.  I then added a bit of Signo white pen for snow on the branches. The sentiment and banner, and the sparkly snowflake are Marianne Collectables dies from two different sets.

 

Maybe one day I wont be crafting in the middle of the night and be able to take a nice picture in natural light. Thank you for passing by my blog. Cheers Linda

Enjoy the Ride

I made the following card for the Sparkle Creations Challenge 118. The main image is the adorable Bicycle Chloe.  Chloe is coloured with copic markers in the Y, YR and YG family with a little bit of the cool greys for the bicycle wheels and a bit of B00 for the sky. I then shaded around the image with Distress Inks.  The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn's Admit one set and it was stamped on a Marianne Collectables banner die. The brown leaves are also from Marianne dies. The little orange leaves were cut with a punch of unknown manufacture from paper towel I used to mop up glimmermist from another project.  The flower was handmade by wrapping cotton string. Thank you for looking, sorry about the average photo - late afternoon light and not enough charge in the camera battery for some flash to fill in the shadows. Cheers Linda

Flourishes Grab a Cup - November Release Challenge

This months Flourishes release challenge was to create something inspired by the following beautiful photo.

I was inspired by the colour combination, the round saucer and the woodgrain of the table. The stamp is the Sturts Desert Rose from the Flourishes "Blooming Aussie Florals" stamp set. Now I have used some artistic licence when colouring the flowers as they certainly aren't blue and brown out in real life. The image was stamped with memento tuxedo black ink and coloured with copics B00, 24, 29 and touches of BG000 and BG15 on the flowers and E000, E 31,33, 35 and E57. The spotty brown paper is from a 6x6 pad by Fancy Pants Designs - Country Boutique. I wish I knew who made the woodgrain paper as I would definitely get some more. The sentiment is also from the same Flourishes set stamped with memento rich cocoa, die cut with a Spellbinder label 18 die and colour with tumbled glass and chipped sapphire distress inks. I don't know where the ribbon came from it has been lying around in my stash a while.

 

Thank you for checking out my blog, even if it just briefly. Cheers Linda

Flourishes - Get in Shape September Release Challenge

First up I have to apologise for the pretty ordinary picture. As usual I'm trying to get a half decent picture in the middle of the night (or very early morning in this case) natural light wont be around for a few hours. This card is my entry into Flourishes Get in shape September release challenge. No sweaty exercise was necessary just create a shaped card or a 3D item. The stamps on the card and the box are Flourishes Garden Fairies. I was lucky enough to win this gorgeous stamp set in their blog hop back in July.  I'm feeling totally guilty that I haven't inked it up until now. I coloured the fairy with copic markers, cut her out and matted her with Spellbinders classic ovals. The other dies used to create the card are decorate labels  8 and labels 8. The sentiment on the box is sitting on a spellbinders adorning square. The patterned paper is Kaisercraft Fairy Tales.  Sorry I have absolutely no idea what the card colours are - wish I did because I really like them.

Thank you for passing by my blog, cheers Linda

Vintage with handmade flowers

Today started off nice and sunny so I decided to do some washing and hang it outside on the line. Bad idea - the rain came back again - AGAIN - I'm so over it.  Why can't it rain all week while I'm at work. Nope it's got to make the weekend all gloomy. Well at least I got some crafting done.

The following card was made with a die cut image.  The sheet has a lot of cute vintage images. I don't know the brand as there's nothing on the sheet and I've had it for a while. It originally had a gold border but that is behind the Spellbinders fleur de lis doily diecut.  The image is popped up on foam dots over a piece of material.  I picked up a lot of material pieces at a recent craft show as I really liked the texture fabric gives to cards. The background card was distressed and inked with distress ink. Penny Black letter background was stamped on some cream card. The card was very thin - really more like thick paper. No idea of the brands of card as they were just in my scrap drawer. I used a strip of the stamped card over another strip of the distressed kraft card under some sheer ribbon which I coloured with distress ink as well. Over this is some blue velvet ribbon - Websters pages I think - but don't quote me on that. My ribbons and trims just get shoved into jars of like colours - I don't record brands. The pretty scalloped lace was tucked under this panel. 

The flowers on top are handmade. The large one was made with the penny black stamped card. It was cut with the EK success retro flower punch the tips of which were then cut with deckled edges scissors (looks like the Tim Holtz tattered florals to me).  The centre is some paper from an old dictionary coloured with broken china distress ink.  The small flowers were made by wrapped thin twine round a cardboard die (the centre of the nellies multiframe die #10).  An idea I have certainly borrowed from someone else. I'll look for the original site and pop up a link when I find it. Then I just added some golden brown bling. The base card is pale blue.

Thanks for looking, cheers till next rainy day, Linda

I like to enter this card in the following challenges.

Krafty Girls - Anything goes challenge #22 (sadly this is the last challenge here)

Friends of speedy TV challenge #82 - No designer Paper

Creative Craft Challenges2 - A colour Challenge - Blue and Brown

Crafts-Too Challenge You - Challenge #1 Choose your decade or era, with twist 2 - three or more layers.  My era is the Victorian era.

A Creative Romance - No designer papers

AnMa Creatief - Challenge #22 punching

Whimsy Stamps Inspirationa Challenges - Challenge # 61 Ribbons and Lace

Paper Crafting Journey - Punches and or Diecuts Challenge

Charisma Cardz Challenges - #29 Make your own embellishments

Summer Scene

While we are in the depths of winter here in Brissie and having some miserable rainy weather - its seems to be all fun in the sun in blog challenge land. It's making me jealous!  The following card was made with the boat and jetty stamp from the Mark's Finest Papers "Island life" stamp set.  This was stamped on watercolour paper and coloured with distress markers. I'm a bit of a learner driver when it comes to distress marker techniques.  Which is no doubt obvious from my card.  The yummy weathered wood  paper is from the country boutique 6x6 paper pad from Fancy Pants. This was cut out using the spellbinders labels 18.  The peace banner was made from the same paper, the peace word is from another Mark's Finest Papers set "Marsh Birds".  I really like this font - wish they would bring out an alphabet set. 

As always thank you to anyone who drops by my blog. I would like to enter this card in the following challenges.

Mark's Finest Papers Friends of speedy TV - Challenge 81 Summer Fun

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge - Feeling Nautical

Frosted Designs - Fabulous Friday Challenge - The Great Outdoors

Crafts and Me Challenges - Anything goes

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - By the Sea

Stempelsonne - Challenge #93 Summer

Emergency Crafters - Summer Days and Holidays

Interesting colour combination

This isn't a colour combination I would have chosen - orange, beige and teal.  It is the colour combination for the latest JustRite Friday Challenge.  However, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it when they finally came together. Just shows my tastes are pretty boring.  I struggled to even find orange paper and elements.  I have followed the sketch on Sketchy Colours.

The tulips and border stamps are from an older Just Rite stamp set "Breath of Spring" coloured with copics YR00,02,04,07; BG10,13,15,18 & E31,33,35.  The papers are Kaisercraft and DCWV.  I have used a number of dies one Spellbinders oval and leaves from Marianne designs LR0117, LR0245 which I cut up into smaller pieces, one of the flowers from LR0192 and the CR1204 oval.  The final embellishments are some Kaisercraft pearls, seam binding and a paper rose.

Thankyou for looking

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges

Sketchy Colors - Sketch # 164 (see above)

JustRite Stampers Friday challenge - #97 colour inspiration ( see above)

Marianne Design Divas - Get your dies out

Simon Says Stamps Challenge Blog - Flower power

Card and Scrap - #55 Layers

CMC Copic Challenge Group - #68 Anything goes

Page Maps 1-2-3-4 Challenge

Page Maps the blog is having their 7th anniversary celebrations with great competitions and fabulous prizes all month long. The following card is for their 1-2-3-4 challenge - 1 button or brad, 2 patterned papers, 3 layers and the 4 colours shown following the gorgeous sketch. The image is from Beccy's Place (no not Becky Fleck) but a very talented Queenslander Beccy Muir who produces cute, cuddly and absolutely gorgeous images both in rubber and digi. Beccy is also very generous and often provides digi freebies and this is one of those. The image is Peonies in a Vase. I'd also like to enter this card into Beccy's Place May Challenge with the theme of anything goes.

The digi was printed on x-press it blending card and coloured with copic markers. The three dies used are all spellbinders and the two patterned papers are Kaisercraft. The happy birthday stamp is from Kaszazz. The embossing folder used on the spellbinders label is "in stitches" by Craft Concepts.

As always thank you to all who stumble upon my blog.

 

 

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges

 

Page Maps the blog - 1-2-3-4 Challenge with Julie Koerber

 

Beccy's Place - May Challenge anything goes

 

Crafts and Me Challenges - Use a digi

 

Little Claire's Designs ideas and inspiration blog - Open Theme

 

CMC copic challenge group - Anything goes

 

Simon Says Stamps Challenge Blog - Flower power

 

Whimsy Stamps Inspirations Challenges - Anything goes



Trying some CAS styling

I've been very attracted lately to the clean and simple styling on a number of blogs. I'm entranced by blogs such as  Moxie Fab World which are full of wonderful inspiration. I love the use of white space and the focus on design rather than embellishment.  Now don't get me wrong I also love to layer with all manner of flowers, bling, papers, ribbons, etc - I have a craft room overflowing with stash which will testify to that.  However, I thought I would really like to give this technique a try. The card below was inspired by the Case Study challenge blog which of course is exactly what this blog is about - to CASE someone in a CAS style. Case Study is owned by the extremely talented Chupa whose work I have admired for a long time.

A bit about the card - the background paper is Kaisercraft from the Lake house range, the flower is from Stampin Up's Every Moment - coloured with copics, the sentiment is from Hero Arts/Basic Greys Plumeria Collection, the embossing folder is Craft Concepts Hexagon Illusion.  As always thank you to anyone who stumbles across this blog and takes the time to check it out.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges

Case Study Challenge Blog - #139

Southern Girls Challenge - #68 You can say that again

Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog - Simon Says - " Happy Mail"

Sister Act Card Challenge - #5 Anything goes

One Stop Craft Challenge - #227 Flower Power

Lia Stampz - #40 Friendship

All at sea over lighthouses

I love images of lighthouses.  I'm not sure why I have this fetish, but it is evident in the number of lighthouse stamps I have - both digital and in rubber. The image on the card below is one of the range of Michael Powell images from Urban Stamps.  I love his detailed stamps but they do pose a challenge when colouring with copics and trying to get some shading.  In this case I have trimmed the stamped image back to remove the background cityscape. The copics I have used are R22, 24, 27& 29 & B000, 00, 02, 05& 24 on the boats and lighthouse and some shading with the cool greys.  The stonework uses some of the warm greys and E25, 31, 33, 35, 47 &71.  The two ships wheel charms are actually from and old pair of earrings. I'm not sure of the origin of the papers but they were not branded.

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges

Cupcake Craft Challenges - All at sea

Delicious Doodles Challenge - Something for the boys

Moving Along with the Times - One for the guys

Party Time Tuesdays - Anything Goes

Bugaboo Stamps Catch the Bug Challenge blog - Anything Goes

Embossing with white

The Speedy Fox and Friends Challenge #155 at Marks Finest Papers and Stamps Blog is white embossing.  My Card uses two stamps from the Marks Finest Papers "Island Life" set. Both the sentiment and the lighthouse are embossed in white and the lighthouse is coloured with water colour pencils - though in this case no water was used. The card was finished with a reef knot tied from plain cotton twine - simple!  The kraft card is a little buckled as we have been having unseasonably wet weather and the card loves to soak up the moisture in the air.  It also made the embossing a little painful too as the powder wants to stick where you don't want it to.  Thanks for looking, cheers Linda

Doggie Love

I thought this digi from Doodle Dragon Studio was just so cute. He is coloured with copics and I added some glitter pen and glossy accents to his adorable drool.  He reminds me of our boy Spider who springs a leak at the mouth anytime there it a hint of food.  I didn't have an appropriate sentiment to go with the pooch, so I made something up in word, printed out and cut with a heart die. I wanted to keep it pretty clean and simple so just added a bit of sparkley twine and a cute doggie footprints embossing as a background inked with some red ink.

 

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges

 

Speedy TV simple Salutations Challenge #26 - Make a card using a dog

 

Clearly I Stamp Clearly Inspired Challenge #66 - Puppy Love

 

Fairy Tale Challenge # 58 - Animals and pets

 

Crafty Creations Challenges - Anything Goes

 

Little Scrap Pieces - Anything Goes