Dare To Dream.

Good morning.

I'm showing today one of the cards that my Saturday ladies made in their class yesterday.

The inspiration for this card came from this one by Stamping Shanni.

I used a stamp from a new Stampin' Up set called Traveller.  The Australian/New Zealand new catalogue goes live on the 1st July.  

The base is Crumb Cake, next layer, Midnight Muse, then Crumb Cake again.   I stamped the World Map with Soft Suede onto Very Vanilla twice.  The join from stamping twice is under the ship's log piece which has been stamped on Crumb Cake and layered onto Midnight Muse.

To tie in the Cherry Cobbler that I stamped the ship with, I used some mesh that I bought from Sharon at the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store.

The edges of all the layers and the banner have been distressed and inked lightly with Soft Suede.

The rope around the image is from Sharon too.  The anchor, which is from The Open Sea, I stamped in Midnight Muse then cut out. Along the rope on the anchor, I glued the frayed string and then threaded it through the hole, knotted it and tucked the end up under the oval.

The banner was die cut and then 'Dare To Dream slightly bent to the curve of the banner and stamped using the stamp-a-ma-jig.

Hemp twine and a button made a wonderful nautical embellishment.

A very fine line of Multi Media Matte around the oval so my knotted rope would stick and a compass charm completed the card.

Hope you have a wonderful day or night as the case may be.

Keep well.

 

For The Bride And Groom

Goodness, I hadn't realised just how long it has been since I posted a card.  Time gets away from one.   It's Easter Saturday here today and after doing some housework jobs, I intend to get down to card making.   I do have an Apple Crumble to make this afternoon but that shouldn't take too long, especially if I do the apples this morning.

On to my card.  This card was an order for a friend of mine.   The wedding card had to be in vintage pinks and cream.   I chose to 'case' this card from an advertisement in the March issue of  Australian Simply Cards.  The advertisement was put in by Fat Cats Card Corner.  When I first saw this advertisement, I immediately rang Kaaren and asked to be sent the dies. lol

I didn't get the flower dies.  I decided that I could use my Wild Orchid Crafts flowers instead.

My base is Stampin Up Blush Blossom (retired) card stock.  I added a layer of Very Vanilla using the Spellbinders Elegant Labels 5" x 7" die set. The next layer is, once again, Blush Blossom, using the next matching die in the set.  I added an extra layer here, using a Label Four or Label Four Small die.   I can't provide a link to the Label Four Small die because they have been discontinued.

Then came the fun part, adding my roses and leaves to make an arrangement that is pleasing to the eye.

The leaves die I used is gorgeous.    It's been a worth while investment because I've used it many times since this card.  It's called Curvy Leaves Die.  

To finish off the card, I added a sumptuous silk bow using silk from Sharon's shop Stamp Simply Ribbon and a greeting on layered banners.

I do apologise for terrible background my card has photographed on but the photo I did have ready for this post wasn't right.  For some reason, the vanilla card stock was white.  So I had to edit another photo, this one.  The photo editing program I was using, has decided not to work anymore.   I'm not computer savvy enough to work out why so I had to use another program.   Methinks it's time for my computer to have an overhaul and perhaps a new photo editing program needs to be purchased.

Thanks for visiting my blog today.  Hope you like my card.

Happy Easter everyone.

 

Secret Garden.

I've had the Graphic 45 Secret Garden papers for some time but haven't used a lot of them. They are so pretty that really I couldn't bring myself to cut into them, but one can't hoard everything so I used them today.

This is the card the ladies will be making in class tomorrow afternoon.

These ladies just like to make cards without learning techniques and stamping so I'm pretty sure this one will go down well.

The base card is Stampin' Up Very Vanilla with the next layer being apricot Bazzill.  I love the blue with the apricot in the papers, so I felt that the blue silk threaded through the lace with a blue silk ribbon bow would be a perfect contrast to the pale peach roses.  I tucked a couple of little ivory sweetheart blossoms in amongst the roses to pick up the lace and doily ivory colour. The leaves are from my favourite leaf die at the moment, Elizabeth Craft Designs Curvy Leaves and they've been cut from Always Artichoke and Pear Pizazz.  The pretty, pretty eyelet lace is from Linda at The Funkie Junkie.

Sharon from The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store has silk ribbon and seam binding kits to match the Graphic 45 Secret Garden papers.

I cut the image and Baja Breeze layer with Deckled Rectangles Nestabilities.  

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Keep well everyone.

 

Baby Girls For Mojo Monday 337

 Good morning all.

I'm here again with two baby girl cards.  These two cards were orders from two of my class ladies.  The other  ladies in the class didn't want to make baby cards. lol

I used the latest Mojo Monday sketch #337 as my starting point and went from there.  The top card was inspired by Sharon Wheet's card called Stork Delivery.  I loved Sharon's idea of the embossed vellum with the doiley peeking through the Tattered Angels frame. 

As I was using Stampin' Up Blushing Bride card stock, I inked the frame in the matching ink and sprayed it liberally with pearl Glimmer Mist.  I backed the vellum with blushing bride card stock and embossed the same greeting, 'Welcome Baby', that Sharon used, in white.  I do wish I could find a lovely cream embossing powder.  Next it was a matter of following the sketch but I added some shabby seam binding with pink twine, all from Sharon's shop, Stamp Simply Ribbon Store, on the other side of my frame.  The papers are from Kaisercraft called Bundle Of Joy....I think.  Having come this far, the top right hand corner was bothering me.  So out came my embossing powder again and I white embossed a metal corner and sponged with distress paint.  Well I'm thinking that's what I did.  This was early last week after all and I've had a full week. lol

The next card was has been done differently.  I decided that as much as I liked the embossed vellum in the frame, that I didn't have time to do it again and that I should make the next card a bit differently.  I stayed with the same sketch but changed the elements I used.

For the centre image, I used a die cut from the paper and added a die cut lacey circle to frame it.   Instead of the embossed metal corner, I added a pretty venise lace butterfly with a hand painted tri bud to the top right hand corner.  The papers had a very pretty scalloped border so I used it under the lace instead of the larger polka dot piece as is on the first card.

Both are pretty cards and the ladies were very happy with them.  I must mention that the metal corner, venise lace butterfly and tri bud are from Linda's shop, The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

Thanks for visiting today and hope you like my cards.
 

Time Flies!!!

Good morning everyone.   I'm back again to show you another class card the ladies did last Friday. 

When I saw this stamp by JustRite....I had to have it.   lol  

The sketch I used is this one from Sunday Sketch & Stamp.

I started with a base card of Stampin' Up Naturals White.  Layered on to this is Early Espresso.  The papers are from Kaisercraft Art of Life paper pad with the roman circle numbers piece from an old collection from Bo Bunny called Timepiece.  The ribbon is May Arts woven stripe from Sharon's shop.

I used a combination of Tim Holtz mini gears and brass charms for the cogs.  The clock hands have been punched out using a very old punch from EK Success.  Underneath the watch hands is a small washer, another Tim Holtz product.  I love the effect the watch hands, washer and cog gave when layered onto each other and attached with a Tim Holtz mini brad.

Onto the actual watch face.  The idea for this came from this card by Deborah Saaranen. I stamped the image with Black Archival ink on to Vanilla craft board,  then coloured around the outside with a distress marker.  The inside border has also been coloured with a distress marker....sorry, I can't remember which ones now.  I sponged with a dauber, distress inks onto the watch face to age it and also to give it a pearly look.  I then put four layers of UTEE over the lot.  After doing nine of these watch faces I was absolutely over UTEE. lol  When the clock faces were completely cool, I pierced a hole through each one and added a large black brad to the centre of the clock to give it a bit more dimension.

I just had to add wings to my clock to match the greeting I used, which is a Vilda stamp, despite my friend Jean, having a very real aversion to wings on things. lol

My wings are stamps that I purchased on ebay some time ago and are from here I think.  I stamped them in Black Archival ink and then sponged vintage photo distress ink over them.  The Time Flies greeting has a little butterfly on it.  I covered this over with a cog to keep in with the male theme.

Despite the card looking quite simple, there was quite a bit of work in it but I am extremely happy with the way it turned out.

Thanks for taking the time to visit today.  I hope you like my card.

Keep well.

 

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Beautiful Memories

Good morning everyone.   This time I'm showing a vintage card I made based on this one by Mona Pendleton.  I used much the same sketch but changed the image and the embellishments.  Thank you so much Mona for sharing your original card.  My card is much smaller than Mona's because unfortunately I don't have a Grand Calibur. 

Onto what I used.....base card is Stampin' Up Very Vanilla then a layer of  So Saffron.  The next layer had me for a while until I remembered to look through some Magnolia papers that I've had for some time.   Yep, I found the perfect colour.  A vanilla which is printed with a lovely tone on tone lace pattern.  The lace is, I think, some Green Tara brand I bought online in Australia.  After cutting it into enough lengths for a class, I went looking to replace it and was very put out when I couldn't find it.  Oh well.  The ladies loved it. lol

The round Spellbinder die is from a set called Stately Circles and the gorgeous Spellbinder die layered on the back of the vintage girl image is from a set called Gold Labels Four.   My girl is one from Pion Design's vintage image sheets.  I cut into a hoarded paper by Inkido Beautiful Memories.  The pretty blue and yellow flowers seem appropriate for the image I used.

To finish off the card and tie in the vintage feel, a feather, leaves, flowers, ribbon and a greeting were added.

Each lady in the class received a different image and they were delighted with their cards.

Yesterday I took in 10 cards to the Tourist Centre.  This morning there are only four left and none of the cards had even been put out on the shelf.  It really is wonderful to know that people like the work I do.

Thanks for visiting today and take care everyone.

 

Violet Crush Birthday Card

Good afternoon everyone.

Thanks so much for taking the time to comment on my Gingham Garden card.  Very much appreciated.

I have another card to share.  This is made using the Kaisercraft Violet Crush 6 x 6 paper pad, that Jean very kindly gave me for my birthday.

The card that gave me the inspiration for this one came from Sharon at The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store.

I basically did the same as Sharon with the paper but added different elements.   The green velvet ric rac and green pearls are in Sharon's shop as is the wide wrinkled ribbon.  The butterfly was cut out from one of the papers in the pad.  I stamped the greeting from the Stampin' Up hostess set Express Yourself onto one of the tags in the collectables that match the paper.  This was then layered onto a motif cut from Spellbinders Parisian Motifs.  The little purple flowers were amongst a lovely selection of goodies given to me by a wonderful lady who works at the Tourist Centre in Sarina.  I showed her the card today when I booked it in for sale and Sandy was really chuffed to see them used.

Voila, a lovely pretty card.

Thanks for visiting my blog today. 

Pink Gingham For Sketch N Stash Challenge 131

I'm definitely too late to enter the Sketch N Stash Challenge but this is the card I made from the sketch.  This card will be used for two classes.  

I decided that I wanted to use Sharon's pink gingham ribbon, which I've had in my stash for some time and is just gorgeous.   Stampin' Up's dsp that matches is Gingham Garden, so I built the card around the sketch and the ribbon.   Using Stampin' Up's doileys, I tucked one in behind the pink gingham panel so it is peeking out for added visual interest.  The circle and matching pink lacey circle are Nestabilities.  I stamped the flowers using the new set Petite Petals and matching punch which are in the latest Stampin' Up mini catalogue. The colours used match the Gingham Garden papers and are Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo, Pear Pizzazz and of course, Melon Mambo is my pink.  The centres of the flowers are little rhinestones, unfortunately I didn't have enough Candy Dots to use on this card and all the class card kits. All the leaves which are from, you guessed it, Stampin' Up's Little Leaves Sizzlet, have been pinched and bent a little to be more realistic.  The flowers were also balled in the middle with an embossing tool to give a little more dimension.  

One of the hostess sets in this current Stampin' Up catalogue is called Express Yourself and lately it is my go to set for greetings and sentiments.  

The finishing touch is the bow made from pretty pink gingham ribbon.

Hope you like my card and thanks so much for visiting my blog.

Bananas In Pyjamas

 All together now....let's sing...

Bananas in pyjamas are coming down the stairs,
Bananas in pyjamas are coming down in pairs,
Bananas in pyjamas are chasing teddy bears,
'cos on Tuesdays they all try to catch them unawares!

Sorry, I couldn't resist that.

As you may have guessed, I was asked to make two Bananas in Pyjamas cards for three year old twin boys!!!

Well!!

What was I to do....I had no idea.  So I googled and came up with some images.  At first I thought I could colour B1 and B2 coming down a set of stairs.   Mmmmm well I abandoned that idea pretty quickly.  Then I had another idea while doing the preparation for this card by Connie Collins.

So instead of the rainbow zig zag, I alternated Summer Sun (retired), Tempting Turquoise and Pacific Point zig zag trim on to white card stock.  I then layered that onto Summer Sun, then Pacific Point and the base is Whisper White.

The Summer Sun I found went perfectly with the two Banana images I printed out from the computer.

The 'three' on the sentiment has been paper pieced.  I tried colouring the three in with a Pacific Point marker and that effort went in the bin.  It looked dreadful.

I cut the four Bananas out and placed them either side of the sentiment, of course, remembering to have one B1 and one B2 on each card.

So there you are.....two Bananas in Pyjamas cards for three year old twin boys.  Done.

I have to say that the lady who ordered them is absolutely stoked with the results.  She was just so pleased....so my efforts haven't been in vain. lol

Hope you like them too.

I'm busy preparing cards to go away to craft camp with next weekend.  Very excited...I always love craft camps.  lol

Enjoy your day everyone.

Meg's Garden - Pretty Green

This is another card based on one that was in an issue of Australian Simply Cards.  As I've said in previous posts, this issue was absolutely fantastic.  If you can get hold of it...I would. lol  Issue 42.

The papers of course are from Meg's Garden here in Australia.  The vintage picture is from the same place.  I can't remember where the butterflies came from...maybe a stamp?  Sorry, this card was made back in May.  Once again, it's since been sold. lol  The card stock I used is from Stampin' Up, it's the one card stock that I always reach for first for matching up colours.  I then go on to my other card stock supplies if I don't have success with Stampin' Up which isn't often. 

I'm still trying to get over this horrible 'flu bug.  I think I'm beating it.   Sunday night I had a small issue to deal with.....a mouse!!!!  Just a little bush mouse, not the rodent kind, BUT was he a nuisance!!  I got him yesterday, managed to catch him in a towel and take him back to the bush.  Thank goodness.

Last night I managed to get some sleep to make up for all the lost hours on Sunday night.

Today I intend to finish a couple of baby cards I started yesterday and hopefully get a couple more cards done.

Enjoy your day everyone and take care. 

 

Pretty Everyday Enchantment.

For a long time now I've been an admirer of Joanne Leddy's work.  I think the way Joanne creates cards using bits and pieces of different papers is amazing.  These particular cards were cased from a  Valentine's card Joanne made.  I've used the same sort of elements and sketch but did change the sentiments and added an extra layer of card stock.  Thank Joanne for your inspiration.

The last few days here have been busy, busy, busy.  We have managed to find someone for my son to board with in town (Mackay).  While he has been living here at home, the kilometres and petrol that have been going on his car whilst going back and forth to work in Mackay is unmanageable for his wage.  So to lessen the load for him, I've been cooking up a storm!!!!   On Friday I did a total of 18 meals, spaghetti bolognese, curried mince and rice and curried sausages and rice.  They are now in the freezer.  I still have to make fish cakes with a sweet and sour sauce and rissoles.  

In addition to all that, my cards are selling really well and my stocks are low. So have been frantically trying to get cards made as well as the normal everyday household jobs.

Last week my Big Shot died.  What a disaster!!! lol  The bearings in the handle collapsed.   Charlie pulled it all apart to try and fix it but unfortunately it was not to be.  So I ordered another one and thankfully it arrived Thursday.  I had pulled out for the emergency my old 'critter' (cuttlebug) but it's amazing how used you get to using one sort of tool.  Anyway it did the job very well.

OK, that's it from me.  I'll have another coffee, finished my blog reader and get on with my jobs for today.

Keep well everyone.
 

Butterfly In A Garden

I made this card for a good friend's birthday.  The original card appeared in an issue of Australian Simply Cards magazine.  This particular issue has a fantastic array of cards that are right up my alley.  I love them.

I have changed things a touch.  I've used more layers and the sentiment is different from the original.  My card base is very vanilla, with a layer of cherry cobbler.  The dp has had some fussy cutting added to the top left hand corner.  Bashful blue has been used for the butterfly wings, which were stamped and rock candy distress stickles added.  Rock candy distress stickles have also been added to the flowers on the dp.  I think that's it.  Thanks for visiting my blog today.  Keep well. 

Sympathy.

I made this card for a friend of mine who unfortunately needed a Sympathy card.  I started out with a totally different idea in my head than the finished result but I'm really pleased with it.

Judi requested that the card have flowers and a butterfly on it.  So here it is.

Base is soft suede, then a layer of cranberry crisp.  The dp is Webster's Pages.

I thought the fence and gate looked pretty good and I had to try out my new dies. lol

The butterfly has been fussy cut from a piece of Mariposa dp and covered with Rock Candy distress stickles.  I don't think you can really see the shine.  I've also dry embossed the butterfly to give it dimension.  That's about it. 

Thanks for visiting today.  Hope you like my card. 

Pretty Little Bird.

I've had this image coloured for months now.  It was coloured with copics but sorry, I have no idea which colours I used.  I wasn't sure what to do with this image until I saw this card by Marlies.  Absolutely perfect!! Thanks Marlies.   So I cased the layout but changed the punch border to lace and added some cheesecloth. The papers are different and of course my stitching isn't as good as Marlies.

I sponged the edges with distress ink and also stamped the edges with some edging stamps.  The papers are very old ones from Websters that I pulled out that matched the colours I used.  Flowers and lace are from my stash.

Thanks for visiting my blog and hope you like my card.

Springtime Vintage Buttons.

These two cards were made for very good friends of mine, Jean and Heather.  My inspiration for these cards came from a fabulous lady called Linda and a card she made here.  I admire her work and as much as I would love to be able to do the same sort of work, I'll have to resign myself to wanting to be like her when I grow up!!!

The corners on the cards were originally brass coloured.  Mmmm well perhaps less said about how they ended up looking like they do, the better.  I will say, that I experimented for some time to get the look I wanted but without success.  They didn't turn out too badly though and after a while, grew on me. lol

The seam binding has been dyed in two different colours...pale plum and perfect plum, then a bow made using the two colours at the same time.  I also dyed the cheesecloth and layered it underneath my toppers to soften the whole effect of the card.

Lots of other different elements on these cards, mostly self explanatory.  The gorgeous lace, button, metal corner and lace heart came from Linda.  The buttons card is a Stampin' Up stamp from a set called Sew Suite.  The papers are Stampin' Up Springtime Vintage unfortunately retired now.

There is lots to look at on these cards but that's how I wanted them to be.  I did start with a sketch but it's no use showing you that because these cards look nothing like that sketch now, in fact, far from it. lol

Thanks for visiting my blog today.  Keep well.

Merry Monday Challenge Three!!

This is my card for the Merry Monday Challenge 3 this week.  I took a leaf out of Becca Feeken's book and embossed this image in a cream embossing powder on vanilla card stock.  Then with my applique mat and ink blending tool I inked Wild Honey distress ink over the whole image, then cleaned off the ink from the embossing.  I'm really pleased with the result.

Becca had one of her patent bows on the top of her ornament and I liked the way it looked.

I combined my ornament with Kaisercraft's dp December 25th.  The gold in the dp picks up the colour of the ornament.  Always artichoke is a fabulous colour for these papers and the base card is Naturals ivory.  The red is some Bazzill that I had and I'm sorry I don't know the name of it.  I couldn't find a good match with my Stampin Up card stock.  The vintage button on top of the seam binding bow is a Webster's Pages button.  Love these things. lol

Thank you for visiting my blog and hope you all have a wonderful day.

Card Patterns Sketch 148

I was lying in bed last night designing this card in my head after I saw the Card Patterns sketch.  So this morning I had to sit down and make it.  I'm absolutely stoked with the way this has turned out.

  The card stock colours are vanilla, Going Grey (retired), Riding Hood Red.  I also added lots of lace, velvet ribbon and a Websters vintage button with a black pearl in the centre.  The round panel is inked with Groovy Guava and layered on a scalloped nestie circle.  I felt the black leaves and black tipped corsage pin just added that bit of something to the card.  Prima flowers and black pearls finished it all off.

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Mojo Monday Challenge 222

I was looking through my collection of sketches and found this Mojo Monday 222 sketch which was perfect for the Authentique Uncommon dp that I hadn't touched.  Do you believe that I was saving it???  lol  I used a few different nesties on these cards.  Riding Hood Red and black are a fabulous match for these papers.  I must admit, that pennant cuts are not my favourite thing to do.  The ends don't seem to work out evenly.  I think these will pass with a push. Pearls, prima flowers and some black leaf trimming finished them off.

It was overcast today but not raining.  When Dean was home, he and I had a clean out of his cupboards, consequently there is a mountain of washing waiting in the laundry for the first sunny day.  Linen etc that I want to freshen up before being put away again.

Thanks for visiting my blog and hope everyone is well.

Beautiful Chanteuse!!

Thursday was a very productive day for me.  I finished four cards!!!  This is one of them.  I used Kaisercraft's Chanteuse dp.  It's gorgeous.  The sketch is similar to many cards that I've made, Sharon cards, Jean and I call them.  Sharon makes these cards which are stunning and very simple with gorgeous embellishments.  Thanks Sharon.

The greeting has been stamped twice, with just a smidgen of movement to make it stand out a touch more.  Card stock is Stampin Up and the greeting panel is from the 6 x 6 paper pad.

Thanks for visiting my blog and taking the time to comment.  Very much appreciated.

It's still raining here, not as much as it was but with light showers.  I do hope to do some more card making today...I have several orders to fill.  Also hope to crumb the steak I bought on Friday so a busy day ahead for me.
Take care everyone.

Prima Botanical Sympathy cards

I needed a sympathy card so I cased Sharon's card but added layers and inked the nesties labels. I hope she takes it as a compliment.  I did put a different sentiment on one of them.  I've kept the other one in my supply of cards because unfortunately just lately I seem to need sympathy cards.

Baja breeze went perfectly with these particular papers from the Prima Botanical collection.

The weather broke and it's been raining for the past day and a half.  We needed it though.  Looks like there is more on the way.  Don't mind the rain so long as there isn't any cyclones to go with it. lol
My son is coming to visit me this morning before he goes back to Toowoomba this afternoon on the plane.  I hope to get a card done for the Merry Monday challenge today as well.
Thanks for visiting.