Nature Walk Meets Springtime Vintage

This card is for a friend who ordered it for her daughter's birthday.  I must say that I really enjoyed making it.  I cased it from a card I saw on a blog months ago...sorry can't remember who now.  I used the same sketch and elements but beefed up the embellishments.  It's a card I would make again using different papers and colours.

Yesterday was spent cleaning my craft table and putting things away.  I can now see the table with plenty of space to work.  Long may it last.  One of my New Year resolutions is to keep things tidy. My OH has gone to bed....he starts work at midnight.

Happy New Year to you all and take care wherever you are.

Midnight Frost Christmas Cards

Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year to everyone.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas day.   Christmas Eve was spent by me preparing as much of the food as possible for Christmas Day.  Christmas Day morning, I started the roast pork early, then put the chickens on.  Cooked those, then started on the cauliflower/broccoli au gratin and potato bake.

The pudding then had to be steamed and the other vegies to cook.  A very busy morning, but it was worth it.  Everyone had a wonderful meal and had no need to eat tea that night.  rofl

The rest of year here is shaping up to be extremely hot and muggy so we'll see how much rain we get in the next few days. 

These are six more Christmas cards that I made this year.  I saw this card by Jocelyn

and loved it.  These are my versions.  The same sketch but I've embossed in Pewter, used different greetings, added an extra card stock layer and used different dp.  I punched a couple of the white strips and liked the effect.  I loved this paper pad when it came out last year and was very tempted to purchase some more....but I'm quite sure there will be something similar released by this time next year, so will be sensible. lol

Tomorrow is work for me...just a mail run but have to do a full day at the Post Office on Thursday.

Enjoy your day everyone and thanks for visiting.

Music Christmas Cards

I saw on Carla Suto's blog these Heartfelt Creations stamps used in conjunction with the matching nesties and just loved the concept. 

I then saw on another blog the idea of using flourishes and poinsettias as embellishments.  I can't remember whose blog...sorry.

I was very happy with the way these cards turned out and the recipients have loved them.

Thanks for visiting today.

Yes, I've been missing in action....BUT....all my Christmas cards were done and sent two weeks ago.  Christmas presents posted two weeks ago.  Christmas lollies....rum balls, apricot balls, rocky road, Russian caramel and coconut ice all made last Tuesday with some extra batches of rum balls and apricot balls finished yesterday. 
Local gifts all delivered, last one done yesterday morning. 
All the grocery shopping is done.

The rest of the presents are bought and just have to be wrapped today.  I run the vacuum cleaner over the floors this afternoon then that will be done too.

    The trifle is to be made today and I'll do the stuffing for the chickens.   Then on to preparing my cauliflower/broccoli dish and potato bake, all ready for cooking tomorrow.

My problem is I have run out of fridge room so it'll be out to the shed with the extras. lol 

Have a wonderfully productive Christmas Eve everyone.

 

Gabrielle Engagement Card

A friend of mine asked me to make her an engagement card.  So I used the pretty Bo Bunny Gabrielle papers and a sketch from Mojo Monday.  I'm so happy with the way this card has turned out.  Card stock used is the matching Bo Bunny card stock.  Embellishments are some Prima roses with lace and braid.  The oval around the sentiment is the one of the Designer Frames Embossing Folders from Stampin Up.  The sentiment is from Flourishes and fits perfectly into the extra large oval punch by Stampin Up.  Pearls around the Lacey Circle finished the card off.

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Roses and Tea

This is what I've been working on while I've been missing in action.  A couple of months ago, one of the ladies in our little craft group showed Judi, Jan and I this gorgeous Block of the Month quilt called Roses and Tea.  We all liked it so much that we are now doing it too.  Each block has a panel that has to be stitched (fancywork), then the fabric pieces are joined to make the block.  This is the first block.  Unfortunately I had traced and started stitching by the time I realised the rectangle wasn't squared properly.  I think by the time it's been quilted, this won't be noticeable.  Stitching is a welcome change from my cardmaking.  I felt I was a bit stale and instead of being inspired every day to make cards, my inspiration was very spasmodic indeed.  In the next week I hope to get as much stitching done as I can then back into my cards.  Supplies at the Tourist Centre are low and Christmas cards are now in demand. lol  Unbelievable how fast this year has gone.  No doubt everyone says that every year. lol

Enjoy your afternoon and thanks for visiting my blog.

Sunny Challenges 012/11 Sketch and Flowers

Thank you so much to the girls of the Sunny Challenges.  I made the Ray Of Sunshine award this week with this card.  It's grown on me somewhat and I quite like the non traditional colours for Christmas.  It would be so wonderful if there were a few more entries.  It's a fabulous challenge..once a week.

The Sunny Challenge this week is a sketch and flowers, flowers, flowers. So this is my card for this challenge.  You know how you start a card with an idea then it takes a completely different direction...well this is what happened here.  The end result is totally different from what I envisaged..BUT I love it!!! lol

The colour combination came from the Colour Coach which is such an invaluable tool.  I used Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight and for a highlight..Pool Party.  This is the first time I had used my Field Flowers set and a very, very long time since I had done two step stamping but it all came together so well.  I did have to stamp my image panel twice because, silly me, stamped the little flowers upside down!!! The centres of the flowers have been coloured with a Daffodil Delight marker.  I think the rest is self explanatory.

In amongst making cards, I'm stitching and making a Block of the Month quilt. I'm also trying to practice my colouring techniques with my copics.  My new toy arrived on Friday...an air compressor!  I love it but I do need to practice with it as well. lol 

My Chiropractor visits continue, once a week now and I'm feeling so much better. Thank goodness. Now at least I can keep up with my father when we both go walking.  While I wasn't well, I was dragging the chain a bit, it looked a bit like Brown's cows with me in the rear. rofl 

Thanks for visiting my blog and hope you enjoy the rest of the afternoon.

Sunny Challenges 011/11 Season of Joy

Thankfully I'm feeling a lot better today.  So much so, that some of my mojo has come back I think. Well we'll see anyway. lol

This week on Sunny Challenges and Creations we are provided with a sketch and have to use the stamp set Season of Joy.  Yikes....this set hasn't seen daylight for some time.

I haven't used traditional colours of red and green because I wanted to try something different.  I'm in two minds about this card.  In the course of my blog surfing, I've seen the dsp Domestic Goddess used for Christmas cards so I thought..why not?

Here is the result.  Colours used are Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral, Pool Party and Whisper White.  The ribbon is white satin together with a layer of Daffodil Delight narrow taffeta.  The bells are so cute and are attached using some retired silver cord.  The image panel has been embossed with Pewter embossing powder which is just yummy.  The Petals-a-Plenty embossing folder was perfect, matching the flowers in the image.

All products are Stampin' Up.

Hope you like my attempt at a contemporary Christmas card and thanks for visiting.

M4M Copic Colour Conference 2011

Here are some photos I took of all of us attending the Mad For Markers first Copic Colour Conference in Sydney on the weekend. It was a wonderful weekend and we all had a fabulous time.

Now to put it all into practise. lol

All set for next year.

Unfortunately I haven't been well this week, so not a lot done, unless you count two more trips to the Chiropractor.

I did receive a big SU order so lots of stash to play with as well as the new copics I purchased in Sydney.

Thanks for visiting and I'm hoping I'll get something coloured or even a full card made today.

Sunny Challenges 010/11 Animals, Fish, Birds, Bugs or Insects

I'm getting in early this week with my entry for the Sunny Challenges.  We had to use a sketch combined with animals, fish, birds, bugs or insects.  I chose this stamp from the For Father set.  I think it was in a mini at some time.  I thought it would combine beautifully with the Well Worn dsp.  The ribbon is retired River Rock tied in a knot with three Cajun Craze brads to balance the card.

The colours I used were Early Espresso, River Rock, Not Quite Navy, Cajun Craze and Naturals Ivory.  I didn't add a greeting because I felt this card could be used for either male or female.

Thanks for visiting and hope you like my card.

Sunny Challenges 009/11 Heat Embossing

I spent this afternoon making my card for this week's Sunny Challenges which is a sketch combined with heat embossing.

I used the flourish out of Elements of Style to clear emboss my Marina Mist layer adding the components of the sketch on to this.  The new Stitched Stocking set from SU is fabulous to use.  To some it may be a bit fiddly to add the toes and heels but it's definitely worth the effort. My stockings wouldn't fit on an A5 card so I made mine square but kept to the sketch. The colours used are Whisper White, Garden Green, Marina Mist, Cherry Cobbler and Early Espresso.  A gorgeous combination.  The panel with the stockings hanging from it represents a piece of timber.

I had this card in my head when I started and I'm pleased to say it's turned out exactly as I envisaged.

Thanks so much to the Friday Mashup girls...I made one of this week's Mashup Glamettes with my Time card.  Pretty exciting.

My Chiropractor visits continue and I think some good is being done.  I'm back to my walking in the mornings..slowly...but it's a start.

Hope everyone is well and thanks for visiting my blog.

Square And Manly Friday Mash Up

Well finally I've made a card.  Just lately because I haven't felt well, my mojo has deserted me.  I've had a number of visits to the Chiropractor with more to come and hopefully it is doing me some good.  It's certainly costing enough!!!

I started a card for The Friday Mash Up challenge using The Open Sea by SU but it just wouldn't work.  So I decided on a whole new direction.  Once I found these papers in my stash which hadn't been used yet, the whole card came together really well.  The sketch is a good one and very suitable for a male card.  I embellished my oval with buttons and vintage brads. The red is SU Cherry Cobbler and by introducing it, picks up the red in the rims of the watches.  For some reason the quilted ribbon looked just right and added a bit of texture.

Thanks for visiting today and hope everyone is well.

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #2

I made this card for this week's Freshly Made Sketches Challenge.  I had seen a card somewhere using the Notably Ornate set combined with the retired Love Letter dsp and I liked the combination. I'm sorry I can't remember where now.  I fussy cut around the stamped image then layered it onto Riding Hood Red and Black.  Unfortunately I don't own the Language of Friendship stamp set so I substituted Punch Potpourri (retired) for the flowers.  The greeting is from Occasional Quotes (retired).  Leaves, lace and pearls completed my card.

I have been missing a little while....haven't been well but am hoping to be on the mend after seeing the doctor on Monday.

Enjoy the rest of the day everyone.

Sunny Challenges 006/11 Wheels

This week on Sunny Challenges and Creations the girls want us to combine a sketch with a wheel.  Mmmmm well, I freely admit that I have plenty of wheels/rollagraphs but very rarely use them.  Jean and I looked through our wheels and discovered that in actual fact we both have very few current SU wheels.  Lots retired and of course the rollagraphs which aren't eligible being a different brand.  So after discussion together..lol..I decided to use Soft Holly.  Jean decided to use Music Notes, but that may have changed by now. rofl

I have once again used Deck the Halls dsp which is retired combined with the bauble out of Tags til Christmas.  I used Heat and Stick with Cherry Cobbler ink and  Diamonds glitter on the bauble.  I then fussy cut round it and added the ribbon.  The greeting is from a retired set called Bells and Boughs.

Unfortunately today was not a cardmaking day because it's tax time.  Charlie and I spent the morning in Mackay seeing the Accountant.  I came home with a bad headache and have spent the afternoon having a sleep.  Perhaps tomorrow may be a better day for playing.  Hopefully my order from the new catalogue just may turn up.  It will be a week tomorrow since it was sent. 

OK off to have a look at everyone's creations.

Take care.

A La Card Monkey Challenge 72....Christmas

This is my card for this week's A La Card Monkey Challenge which is a sketch plus the theme of Christmas.  The stamp set is retired SU Scandinavian Season.  I used SU Deck the Halls dsp which is also retired.  I stamped the images in ink combined with heat and stick powder sprinkled with glitter.

Unfortunately the glitter doesn't show up very well in the photo.  The sketch was originally A5 portrait but I've made it into a square card so as to give me more room to add my different elements.

Once again thank you for all the wonderful comments that are being left on my blog.  Very much appreciated.
Edited to add A La Card Monkey's link.  Sorry girls, I thought I had done it.

Three in One!!!

Here is my latest card using the colours in this week's  Create With Connie and Mary challenge.  I combined this challenge with 4 Crafty Chicks and The Paper Players challenges for this week.

I'm hoping I have the balance of these strong colours right for my card.  The flourishes I made using Stampin' Up pearls.   The flower out of Happiness Shared is water coloured using markers.  I'm afraid that my water colouring isn't the best it could be, but after trying twice, I decided this was the best attempt.  That must mean the others were pretty bad hey?  rofl

Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments that are left on my blog.  I love them all.

Have a wonderful afternoon.

Sunny Challenges 005/11 Marina Mist

This week on the Sunny Challenges blog, we had to use a sketch and also Marina Mist had to be somewhere on the card.  Well this is what I've come up with.  I'm quite fond of the Beau Chateau dsp and as you know, I love ribbon and bows.  So I combined them all. lol

The butterfly is from the stamp set Creative Elements which I think is a beautiful set.

I'm hoping to get back into my cards....for some reason, haven't been able to settle down to them this week.  Here's hoping this a temporary thing.

Hope you all have a wonderful afternoon.

Thanks for visiting.

Little Girls Like Pink!

Well maybe not all little girls but the one this card is for certainly does and also butterflies.  The sketch is this week's The Sweet Stop Sketch #123.  The reason for the 3d Sarah Kay image is simple....I was challenged by a UK friend of mine to use a 3d or peel off (out of my very neglected/not used anymore stash) with my Stampin' Up stash.  I selected the lesser evil, the 3d image.  I have hundreds of peel offs which I very rarely use...they are just sitting in the cupboard.  The same goes for all the 3d's I have...all just sitting in the cupboard.

Fortunately, Blushing Bride goes beautifully with this pretty little Sarah Kay 3d.  My colour coach indicated that Early Espresso and Pear Pizazz were a good choice with Blushing Bride so I included them both.

Mmmmm that is dsp that I've used but you can't see the little dots very well in photo.  Pity because I chose it specifically to go with the little girl's dress.  The flowers are out of my stash and fits another challenge the same friend issued....to use fabric/paper flowers on a card.  So I've met both challenges.

Thanks Kerrie.  I hope I've passed with flying colours!!! lol

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today and hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with another card....stamping etc this time. rofl

I hope all our US friends are safe or trying to keep safe.  Thinking of you all.

Enjoy your afternoon everyone.  I'm off to make some Melting Moments.

A La Card Monkey Challenge 71...All About Autumn

This week I'm one of the guest designers on A La Card Monkey challenge blog.  My challenge was to make a card following this sketch with the theme of Autumn.

Well here is my card!  I used three stamp sets on the image panel....Lovely as a Tree, French Foliage and Autumn Days.  The colours are Baja Breeze, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso and River Rock.

I hope you like my card and please join the challenge.

I've been missing in action for the last couple of days working so there haven't been any cards made at all.  Hope to get back into it tomorrow (Sunday).

Have a wonderful afternoon everyone.

I'm a Princess!!

Wow, I've been chosen as The Monkey Princess for this week over on A La Card Monkey  with this card.

I really enjoyed making this card.  Thanks to the ladies over on A La Card Monkey and thanks to Jean for challenging me to enter.

A La Card Monkey Challenge 69

It was Jean's turn this time to get me to do a challenge.  This is the card I've made for the A La Card Monkey challenge for this week which is a Sympathy or Thinking of You card using the sketch provided.  I really do like this Springtime Vintage dsp and I feel the Strength and Hope set goes very well with it.
Hope you like my card.

Enjoy the rest of your day everyone.

Mojo Monday Challenge 204

This is my card for the Mojo Monday Challenge this week. I said to Jean that we should try this sketch and once again our cards are completely different. lol  Jean's card is on her blog.  At first this card gave me quite a bit of grief, yes, I know hard to believe when it's so simple but what I wanted to put in the middle just wouldn't work.  So this is what I ended up with.  I feel quite happy about this card now where as before I stamped on the twill and just used the world circle as the centre, it was going in the bin.

My Dad loves fishing and boats so this card is for him on the 4th September, our Father's Day here in Australia.

Hope everyone has had a fabulous day.  Thanks for visiting my blog.