Sandy Toes Challenge.

I saw a challenge on Michelle Grant's facebook group to use certain items....stapler, glitter, decorative scissors, clay, eyelets, and gloss varnish and I also had a sketch from the Mackay Project Lifers to do something with as well, so I combined the two.

  Unfortunately I couldn't use the clay, gloss varnish or the decorative scissors on this card.

The rope paper from Kaisercraft Sandy Toes 6 x 6 paper pad was perfect for what I had in mind - a male, distressed, boat card.

The base is Kraft card stock with a layer of Island Indigo.  All the edges have been sponged with Island Indigo.  This range of paper has a 12 x 12 piece filled with 3x4 images so I used a blank one with an anchor to tie in with the them.  I stamped the ship onto it in Black Archival Ink. Then the scalloped border was added and the banner piece after that.  The eyelet went through all the layers so it was good and sturdy.  The banner looked a bit bare so I stamped the Happy Birthday on it towards the bottom.   To use the stapler, I pushed in a tab collectable and stamped the word storm onto it.

  

Because the rope reminded me of a big cargo ship, I stamped some label stamps onto the side and added a compass point and north to the bottom.  Then to give the look of salt encrusted rope, I drenched the whole card in Distress Clear Rock Candy Stickles.   The bottom photo shows the look I wanted.

String has been tied around the top and to the anchor collectable and through the jumbo eyelet.  To finish off, I added the charms.

The stamps I used came from a set by Marianne Design called Eline's Beach House.  Love these stamps and being acrylic, I could stamp them a bit blurry to imitate the look of stamped wooden crates.

I don't know if I've explained it all very well but I'm very happy with the resulting card.

Have a very happy Monday everyone.
 

Salty Toes Case.

While doing my search for ideas using the Kaisercraft Salty Toes range of papers I came across some fabulous cards.  Well I couldn't help myself.  I had to case them.  This is one the I just absolutely loved. I did add an extra layer to my card and inked the edges with Lost Lagoon and Gathered Twigs inks.

The bits and pieces to make this card are all Kaisercraft except the base layer of Naturals White and Lost Lagoon card stock by SU.  I used the sticker sheet, collectables, 6 x 6 paper pad and a couple of Kaisercraft mini blooms.  Many thanks to Alison Bevis on the Kaisercraft design team for her fabulous card.

This range of papers I believe has been hugely popular and really it's not surprising, it's just perfect.

A very big happy birthday to my friend Jean whose birthday it is today!!!

Thanks for visiting today.

 

Life Is Better In The Summer!!

I have been playing with Kaisercraft's paper range called Sandy Toes.  Love it.   After making two cards, I had some scraps.  I looked at the Deconstructed Sketch #187 and the scraps seemed to fit it perfectly.  So off I went.   The card base is Kraft oops sorry Crumb Cake with a layer of Lost Lagoon which is the perfect colour match to these papers. I added some neutral mesh and a piece of Kaisercraft string for some added interest.  The thongs, starfish, shell and "take me to the beach" are out of the matching collectables.  The sequins and Relax flair are from a package of sea themed goodies from D-lish Scraps.

I mounted the Life is better in the summer oval which is out of the 6 x 6 paper pad onto a scallop die cut out of Lost Lagoon card stock.  All the edges have been sponged with Lost Lagoon.

I think that's it.   I'm really happy with the way this card turned out.  It certainly came together easily.

My next class is a week away so I had better start designing and prepping cards.  I'm trying to keep my life uncluttered this year.  June to the end of last year (2014) was absolutely ridiculous.  I was doing far too much and running myself ragged.  This year I decided to do something for me....in the exercise line.  There was an advertisement for Deep Water Running at the Sarina pool.  So I went for the first lesson on the 13th January.  Well I haven't missed a lesson since.  The classes are twice a week now, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and I love it.  The pool is local to me, Sarina is only 15/20 mins drive from Koumala.  Usually things are held in Mackay which is 40 miles away..one way and it's not really feasible petrol wise to be travelling in there twice a week.   I'm doing a bit of walking too and I know I've lost weight.  It definitely feels good to be a bit lighter. lol

Thanks for visiting today.

 

McAleese Lookalike!!

Good morning everyone.

I'm back this time with a card that I made especially for a friend's brother's birthday.

He used to drive McAleese semis so Lex wanted a semi trailer in McAleese colours on the card.

Here is the result.   The inspiration for the layout and embellishments are from this card by Ans Gilbert.

At first this card just wouldn't work but once I coloured the darker blue stripe with a bit more Island Indigo, I forged ahead. 

The base is SU Naturals White with a layer of Island Indigo.  In my recent stash buying, I bought this dsp by Kaisercraft called Base Coat Cracked.  It's actually a picture of a brick wall that has been rendered a few times.  I picked out a corner that looked like bitumen coming off road base....which I might add is what quite a few of our roads look like.  lol

Then a piece of Silver Foil Sheet was run through the Tim Holtz Diamond Plate embossing folder.  I matted this onto Basic Grey.   For this card I had the wonderful opportunity to use my new Gilding Paste.  Love this stuff.  It smells like shoe polish.  I rubbed Black Gilding Paste over the checker plate, gears, number and had a marvellous time with it.  rofl

 My semi trailer is a Stamp It stamp coloured with Prisma Colour pencils with the dark blue stripe over coloured with Island Indigo ink and blender pen.  For the background of the semi, I stamped the World Map stamp after stamping off first.

Tyre tracks from Rev Up The Fun have been stamped on the Smokey Slate layer and to clean my stamp a bit, I stamped randomly over my checker plate piece.

The grid paper is from Soho Subway and then with my old spiral punch I made it look like paper from a notebook. 

Enjoy The Journey seemed appropriate for the card and this has been stamped onto another piece of Soho Subway dsp.

Black photo corners, screw top brads, gears, paper clip, an age number and ticket provided embellishments for the card.

I had a wonderful time distressing, gilding, stamping and embellishing this card.

Lex loved the card and she is positive her brother will too.

The rest of today will be spent in making a couple of cakes and two potato bakes.  I also have to cut up kabana, cheese, heat up cheerios, butter bread rolls and worst of all, cut up onions. sniff, sniff.

My son is having a 21st birthday party here tonight.  Eeeeekkkk!!!!

Wish me luck! lol

Enjoy the rest of your day and keep well.

 

The Big Catch!

Can you see it?   The big fish?? lol  I had a lovely time designing this card because I was having a chuckle all the while.  This card was inspired by a card made Cootje - here.

I used a base of Stampin' Up Early Espresso.  On to that I layered a piece of creek pebble dsp that I purchased while I was away at camp in March.  The image is from Joy Crafts Fishing Fun paper block. I chose this particular image because I felt that it was more of a creek or dam than the ocean and would go with my 'pebbles' well.   The green layer is Wild Wasabi (I think) and the hessian paper is one out of the Kaisercraft Base Coat range.

The woven jute ribbon is from Linda at the Funkie Junkie Boutique.  This jute ribbon is fabulous BUT it is interwoven with nylon, like fishing line so it's a bit of a nuisance to try and fold. The grass die is Impression Obsession and I use it a lot.  The man in the boat silhouette and fish dies are from Joy Crafts.  I die cut the smallest fish out of silver card and added a bling eye.  The fishing 'line' is some hemp twine.  The Big Catch stamp is from one of the matching stamp sets in the Joy Crafts Fishing Fun series.  Unfortunately I cannot purchase the other one. It's mostly in Dutch but I just love some the images and words in it.  Pity.

Last but not least, is my Gone Fishin' sign.....an old stamp by Stylish Images.  Love it.

The ladies in class who made this card were thrilled with it and they had a chuckle too. lol

Thanks for visiting my blog.

 

Twin Boys.

Well I'm back again with another card that I made some time ago.  A friend of mine needed a card for twin baby boys so this is what I came up with.   I think there was a card some where that was my inspiration but 

I'm sorry, can't remember where.

The image is from Doodle Pantry and can be found here.

The papers I used are Kaisercraft with textured Stampin Up card stock.  A bear at each end of the 'clothes line' added a cute little touch.  All up quite a simple but effective card I thought.

Thanks for visiting today,

Enjoy your crafting.

 

White Wicker Basket Of Flowers.

Back again.

This time with a class card the ladies made a few weeks ago.   While away in March, I visited a paper craft shop in Nambour called Daisy Chain Scrapbooks.    I found some wonderful goodies there and yes, I did purchase them. rofl

This was one of them.....12 x 12 paper depicting white wicker work.  I remember basket chairs made out of the plastic wicker work and I think there is still one at the farm in my old bedroom.  I had a child size one too. 

I actually think this card is based on a Mojo Monday sketch, #337.  Well onto the card.  I used a base of Stampin' Up Naturals White because the dsp wasn't quite white enough for Whisper White.

Then a layer of  Blushing Bride because I wanted to use some K & Co papers I have had for ...well let us say, a very long time.  The next layer, of course, was the dsp from Daisy Chain.  Then I found in my lace stash, this absolutely gorgeous floral lace.  Well I had to use that didn't I because it went so well with the daisy paper I was using.   Then came the image problem?  Mmmmm well I knew I didn't have anything suitable in my stash, I also knew I wanted the image to have a basket in it to match my dsp and I also wanted daisies to be in the basket.  So I went googling, new word, I've just coined it.  lol   The image I  found was perfect.  So I adapted the size and printed it out on Whisper White card stock.  It matches in quite well because the lace is white.  I then die cut the image and matched the size of it to fit into the Blushing Bride nestie I used.  I'm sorry but I can't remember which one I used, oops, yes I can.... Stately Circles.

I added a metal corner from Linda's shop, The Funkie Junkie and embossed it with Ranger Antiquities Weathered White embossing powder which Linda also has in her shop.  It can purchased in Australia as well of course.  I used some pretty green bling on the centre of each of the lace flowers and a bow made from seam binding from Sharon's shop, The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store.  The colours I used were perfect with the card's colours.  I tied the bow this way by Deborah Saaranen.  Mine ended up a bit more scrunched up than Deborah's but the ladies didn't seem to mind.  They loved the card.

I think that's it.

It's Easter Sunday lunch time here.   I was flat out yesterday afternoon.  Two trays of Apple Crumble and one of Potato Bake got made and one of the Apple Crumbles delivered to Ilbilbie which is 10 minutes down the road (Bruce Highway). The Ilbilbie Hall Management Committee were catering for a function at the Cape Palmerston Holiday Park.  I volunteered to make one of the Apple Crumbles.  Hope it was enjoyed.  Today it's washing time because I have a feeling we are in for more rain. 

I also have card orders to complete, so really had better get on with them.

To Leslie, who is wonderful and comments on my blog posts regularly....thanks so much for liking my cards and I'm glad you like the links. I hope Wally and Lulu are enjoying their Easter.  Hugs to them both.

Here are links to Leslie's blog and to Wally and Lulu's blog.  Enjoy everyone, both blogs are well worth looking at.

Take care,

Happy Easter.

 

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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Paradise!!

Good morning.

I have another class card to show you.   When I first saw the range of Kaisercraft papers called Paradiso, lots of thoughts crossed my mind.  One, that the images looked so much like the photos of the 1970's after being in those sticky photo albums.  Two, that the images were all tropical, beach and totally appropriate for where I live.  Three, that these papers, images, and collectables would make absolutely fantastic cards for the class I teach in Mackay.  I knew the ladies would love them.  So with a view to creating a male class card I came up with this one.   A versatile card I feel, one could use it for a male card or just for someone who likes the beach, water or photography.

The sketch I used is this one from the Cardabilities blog.  I've altered the placement of the elements a bit, only because they seemed to fit better on the card.  The base card is Stampin' Up Early Espresso, then a layer of Stampin' Up Soft Suede.  I layered the image onto retired Stampin' Up River Rock and Blue Bayou.  The words 'beach' and 'escape' are from the Collectables that Kaisercraft put out to match their paper collections.  I love the Paradise sign and the camera which are also from the Collectables range.  The hessian, leaves and shells all add texture and dimension to the card and fit in with the theme of the image.  I've had the greeting 'Another Day In Paradise' for a long time.  It's a stamp by Stamp It in Australia.  Perfect and the ladies were very happy with their cards.

I do apologise for the way some of my cards are photographed.  For my classes, I tend to photograph the card on grid paper so the ladies can easily see where to place images, embellishments and other elements.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog today.  Hope you like my card.

Keep well.

   

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. 

Baby Girl Baptism

A couple of months ago, one of my class ladies asked me to make her a Baptism card.  I said yep, no worries,  then got home and started to have a worry because I didn't really have anything remotely suitable.  So I decided to go through some of my favourite card designers and found this one by Tina which is the one that inspired one of my previous cards on here.  I've since edited the post to reflect this.

I really, really wanted to make this card a lot more vintagey and to use some of that wonderful Stampendous Frantage Shabby Embossing Enamel on the image but I resisted.  Some people don't like the edges distresses and inked so I left this alone.  I just added different elements to the card.  The main feature is the zipper pull which is gorgeous.   The papers are Kaisercraft and the image is from Inkido.  The hand dyed Venise Lace heart, tri bud, and dyed seam binding are from Linda at The Funkie Junkie.  The rest of the embellishments are out of my stash. The sentiment I printed out on the computer and then positioned the stamp around it.

I've since been told that the card was a great success and very well received by the parents.

Thanks once again for visiting, 

 

Butterflies And Clock

 My friend Jan request a very special card for her grand daughter's 21st birthday.  It had to be in blue tones.

Once again, issue 42 of Australian Simply Cards came to the rescue.  I've changed a few things on my card but it's the same sketch, papers and die cuts.  There are quite a few cards in this issue that I totally love.

The base card is acetate with a panel of designer paper attached to the back inside so the greeting could be attached.

My clock isn't as good as the original one in the magazine but my excuse is, that it's the first time I've really used crackle paint on something that wasn't for practice.

This card was a joy to make and Jan absolutely loved it.

I'm still recovering from the last lot of cooking I did for my son.  Thirty-nine meals were done and are now in the freezer.  By the end of the session I was forcing myself to keep going to get it finished. lol

Talk about exhausted!!

Enjoy the rest of the day everyone and thanks for visiting my blog
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Red And Black.

First of all, apologies for the lousy photo.  I took this picture early this morning and it has been an overcast day.

I had a request from a friend of mine for an engagement card, the stipulation....red and black.

Here is the result.

The base card is black with a layer of very vanilla.  The dp is from a pad of Kaisercraft called, I think, After Five.

I've use some cream pleated satin with a strip of black velvet ribbon along the bottom of the card.  The 'bouquet' has been arranged from the bottom up and involved lots of matte multi-medium.  Love this stuff...dries matt not shiny...excellent.  Thanks Linda for putting me on to this.

The greeting has been stamped in black with barn door distress ink sponged around it.  The frame is from Tattered Angels.

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Hope everyone is well.

 

Butterflies And A Bird.

I'm frantically trying to make cards to keep my outlets stocked.  This is one that I finished and it didn't even get on display.  Bought straight away.  The Webster's Pages base has some pretty laces and a pear pizzaz bow topped with a Webster's Pages vintage button added to the bottom section.  The top half of the card has the a bird cage which has been enamelled to give it some texture.  The bird has had rock candy distress stickles smothered over him, once again to give a touch of texture.  I then added a pearl flourish and butterflies to finish the card off.

Thanks for visiting my blog today.  Enjoy your day. 

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. 

Baby Girl!!

A friend of mine wanted a special baby card for a first time mother.  The parents know they are having a girl so here is the result.  I will say that when I delivered this card today, Anne was really happy with it, which is very gratifying.

Kaisercraft Lullaby collection papers  matched with pink and white card stock formed the basis for my card. I stitched around the card stock so I could tie in the cheesecloth which was added under the tag.  Some absolutely gorgeous lace and a strip of pearl ribbon went along the bottom with a pretty lace heart and a bud trio adorning the left hand corner.  I finished off with a double bow and a white velvet flower.

 I'm trying to do some sewing at the moment so my cards have taken a back seat.  My aim is to sort my days into sewing days and card making days.

Hope you like my card and thanks for visiting my blog today.

                                   

Hook, Line and Sinker!!

This is a birthday card for my Dad.  He's a fisherman and has been since he was small.  Now that he's retired from the cane farm he's often out fishing.  We get the benefits from these trips. lol

I had the idea in my head using the papers from My Mind's Eye Breeze because the colours reminded me of the water but it needed that bit of something....so I rang him up and asked if he had an old prawn net that I could cut a piece from and also at the same time I snaffled the hook, line, swivel and sinker.  The map of Australia I thought was appropriate because he's always checking the weather before he goes fishing.  This was from a piece of Kaiser dp.  The piece of hessian is there because years ago when we went fishing, the inevitable hessian bag was used to put the fish in then dragged through the water to keep it all wet and fresh.

The card stock is Core'dinations which I've distressed.  The dark brown pieces are from the My Mind's Eye Core'dinations card stock pad.  The distress look of the papers, card stock seemed to suit the type of card I wanted to make.  The main panel has been swiped with Shabby Shutters distress ink.

I've added Crystal Effects to the net, line and hook to represent water droplets.

I did have to doctor the hook a bit because it 'got' me while I was tying the line to it.  Damn thing. The fish is covered in Rock Candy distress stickles, just to show that he's fresh.  The stamp is a fabulous one by PSX that I purchased on Ebay last year. 

We are off out to tea tonight for Dad's birthday....Australia Day.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

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.