Hugs & Kisses .....

... Hello everyone!  I had a super time last night - got to spend the whole evening in my craft room; Jonathan was out at a photo shoot so I made a few cards and tidied my space!!

Stamps: My Favourite Things - First Class Friend; Amy Tangerine - Aspire
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Blushing Bride, Baked Brown Sugar
Accessories:  SU Card - Cherry Cobbler, Blushing Bride; Tim Holtz - Washi Tape; White Lustre Card

I've used a couple of challenges in the making of this card:

• CAS(E) this Sketch - CTS#51 - just making the deadline on this one!
• Colour Throwdown - CTD266

I really struggled to get past the challenge graphic for CTS this week - but in the end the little postmark bit led me to First Class Friends - and a card for my Mum.  I used some of my washi tape on the card, picking the bit that said "journey" - our trip to the US has been a big journey for the whole family.  And like Ben, I often send my Mum cards, just because.  I stamped the chevron image in the lightest colour to allow the words and popped up ampersand to shine.  I used Baked Brown Sugar as I don't have Close to Cocoa.  The inside has a mat in pink and a simple sentiment - Mum is always in my heart!

My Mum keeps all the cards I send her - when I was in the UK in the summer, I saw that she has them all on her cabinet.  She says that it's a way to be close to me!  I love her!  And I believe Ben keeps all my cards too - although I suspect they might be in a box!!  That's all for now.  I'm off to do some cleaning today - I've a special visitor coming tomorrow!!  Will tell you later :)

Oh yes, before I go - have a super Halloween!

Birthday card ....

...  Hi, back again - this time with a card to share.  I've made a birthday card for my great nephew who will be six years old next week!  I can't believe how quickly time passes:

Stamps: Papermania - Robot (PMA10144)
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Not Quite Navy, Pumpkin Pie
Dies:  Spellbinders - Star Circles (S4-335) #3, Grand Circles (LF-114) #3
Accessories:  Papermania DP - For Him; SU Card - Pumpkin Pie, Naturals White; SU DP - Not Quite Navy, Pumkin Pie; Sakura Glaze Pen - Orange; White Lustre Card

I used the sketch from this week's CAS - Colours & Sketches - CASC&S48 challenge.  I couldn't think what to do on the card so I had a rummage through my design papers and came across this set of guy papers from Papermania (quite old).  I think the robot is just right for a six year old boy.  I covered the base of the card with the robot paper.  I cut the circles with the dies and then stamped the robot onto Natural White card, cut him out and added a bit of colour with a glaze pen - it has a subtle shine in real life.  I drew the number by hand and cut it out.  I haven't finished the inside yet, but will post a picture later.

Edited:  Hi back again - I managed to finish the inside of the card - kept it really simple with more of the cute robot paper as a mat layer and some orange behind the white panel.  I stamped another image of the robot and a simple greeting.  This card will be in the post tomorrow!

That's all for now - must dash off to the shops.  See you soon.

Pumpkins and photos ....

....  Morning all - at last the sun is up!  I don't like the dark mornings but the clocks go back on Saturday, a week later than in the UK and Europe!

I don't have a card to share with you (yet), but earlier this week I mentioned that we'd been to a pumpkin carving party.  Kathryn and I both took a large pumpkin to carve, while Jonathan's job was to go round with the camera and get the candid images!  He did that in spades!!  Here are a few photos from the party along with a link to the full set on Jonathan's Flickr account - Pumpkin Carving.  There are lots more photos.

Before heading off to the pumpkin carving party, Jonathan and I attended a photography workshop run by David Birdsong in Pontiac.  Jonathan has been going to David's since we moved to Michigan, but this was only my second studio shoot.  Below are some photos from the session - they are the only ones Blog and Facebook safe.

Holli is a fantastic model and such fun to work with.  I'm going to give you a big warning now - it was a nude shoot, but if you want to see more, then you can follow the links to my Flickr account: Holli - Natural Light, Holli - Slides Lights, Holli - Studio Lights1 and Holli - Studio Lights2.

That's all for now - see you soon.

ASM - Round the Clock .....

.... Good evening everyone!  It's time for our new challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More! - ASM#69 - it's our CAS week.  It seems our colours last week weren't very popular, but hopefully you'll enjoy this one more!  Here's my card:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Gorgeous Grunge; Uniko Studio - Extra Time
Inks: Memento - Peanut Brittle, Toffee Crunch, Pistachio, Espresso Truffle; SU - Sahara Sand
Accessories:  SU Card - Sahara Sand; White Lustre Card; Twine

Once again, I've gone with a more masculine card and, you've guessed it, this is another for my son Ben.  I've used a couple challenges to make it:

• Uniko Studio Challenge - USC#4
• Less is More - LIM143 - to use twine/string

I really like the colours on the Uniko challenge graphic.  I cut a panel of Sahara Sand card for the mat and on the white layer I stamped the distressed stripes along the top of the card, a clock at the bottom right and a simple sentiment.  I wound some twine around the top of the card.  I adhered the white panel to the card with dimensional tape.  The inside has a mat of Sahara Sand and some more distressed stripes and space for a message to Ben.  I'm not sure whether this has enough white space for Chrissie and Jen, but it is really clean and simple!

I have CASed a card I saw on Debbie Blake's blog - she made a set of rainbow cards with the Gorgeous Grunge stamps.  I love the rainbow colours, but actually the style works really well with these colours too!  That's all for now.  See you soon.

Shades of purple ....

... Good afternoon!  It's been a busy weekend for family Frings.  Jonathan and I were both at a photo shoot yesterday afternoon - it was such fun and I'll post a few photos here later.  After the shoot we all headed to our friend, Kirsten.  She and her family moved to Michigan from Australia earlier in the summer, so this is their first experience of Halloween in the US!  Kirsten's two young boys, and the rest of the team, had fun scooping out pumpkin innards and cutting designs into pumpkins.  I was one of those busy cutting and getting messy, while Jonathan had the easy job of taking photos!  Again, I'll post a few of those later.  We finished the party with warm pumpkin pie and cream - it was such fun!

My card today, has been made with a couple of challenges in mind:

• Dynamic Duos - DD#76
• The Sweet Stop - SSS234

 

 

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Flower Shop, Pursuit of Happiness
Inks: SU - Wisteria Wonder, Perfect Plum, Smoky Slate; Versafine - Onyx Black
Accessories: SU Card - Wisteria Wonder; SU DP - Perfect Plum; White Lustre Card; Sakura Stardust Pen; SU Marker - Perfect Plum; SU Punch - Pansy; Gems

I've used the sketch from The Sweet Stop - sadly it is their very last challenge and while I've not played often, I have always enjoyed the sketches they provided.  As soon as I saw this sketch I knew which stamps I would use.  I created the background by randomly stamping three of the flowers over the card.  I cut a panel of design paper, tearing the bottom and inking for definition.  On the white panel I stamped more flowers and this time added some sparkle with a Sakura Stardust pen.  I stamped a few more flowers on scrap card and design paper, punched them out and added gems and sparkle.  All were added to the card with pinflair gel.  I finished the front with this lovely sentiment - telling us to stop and be happy!  The inside is simply a mat in Wisteria Wonder and white card on which I stamped a few more flowers.

I know that last night and this morning a huge storm hit the UK and that there have been several deaths, and over 500,000 homes left without power.  According to news reports the storm has now moved on, I do hope that all my UK friends are safe and well.  Take care and I'll see you tomorrow.

School project ....

... Good evening everyone - it's been really dull, grey and cold in Northville today, and it started to rain about an hour ago - a perfect day to stay indoors in fact!  I had planned to get into my craft room, but instead I spent some time browsing blogs and Pinterest - an easy way to lose several hours :)

You know having a craft room full of supplies has come in handy this week.  Kathryn came home from school recently with a project in science to make a 3D model of either a single cell organism or a specialised animal cell.  The teacher provided good information for her to follow, but Kathryn wasn't sure how to go about it at all.  Her initial idea was card board and felt pens and I suggested she had a hunt through the craft supplies to see what she could use to make a model.  This is what she made:

This is a model of a single cell organism - Euglena.  Kathryn made the cell body from modelling clay coloured with a few drops of Daffodil Delight reinker.  She allowed it to dry over a few days, and in the meantime made the chloroplasts - green beads and wire, the nucleus - lilac felt, nucleolus - pink button, eye spot - red sequin, flagellum - black tinsel ribbon, reservoir - hot glue and the pellicle - blue pipe cleaners!!  I did have to get a new hot glue gun, but the rest is from stash!

It'll be a while before Kathryn gets the result of this assignment, but whatever her teacher awards her - I give her an A+!  She's a real star!

Fancy folds ....

.... Good morning - it's the weekend already!  It's time for our new challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown and Danielle has a real dozy for us!  She wants to have cards with fancy folds.  Now, I'm not great with anything other that simple folds - so for me this was a real challenge.  However, here's my card:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Nutcracker Sweet, Compliments of the Season II
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Stampin' Up! - Pool Party
Dies: Spellbinders - Scalloped Rectangles Lg (S4-133) #5
Accessories:  White Lustre Card; Dovecraft DP - Christmas Blues; SU Card - Pool Party; Gems; Copics

It's a standard 5½" × 4¼" card; I folded the front in half and then positioned my die and only cut half way - creating a flip-card.  I covered the inside back and side as well as the front fold with some pretty Christmas paper. I cut a couple of panels in Pool Party card to make the flip section a bit stronger.  I stamped some little Christmas trees directly on the front panel, as well as one on white card which I coloured with Copics.  I cut this one out and adhered it with dimensional tape.  The inside has a panel in white on which I stamped another greeting. 

I'm really pleased how this turned out - you should have seen the first couple I tried to make - they are in the bin!  I've also taken a photo of the card standing up so that you can see the fancy folds.

Don't forget to check out the inspiration cards from the rest of the team - there are a selection of fancy folds on display!!  See you soon.

Christmas tags ....

....  This is a really late post, but then I've only just seen the challenge!  Don't know how I missed it!!  I've made a set of five Christmas tags for the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop:

Stamps: PTI - City Scene, City Scene Christmas Sentiments
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Early Espresso, Chocolate Chip, Soft Suede, White
Dies: PTI - Tag, City Scene Dies
Accessories:  SU Card: Early Espresso, Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Pink Pirouette, Blushing Bride, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Sahara Sand; Ribbon

Sometimes I get an idea that comes together really quickly - this is one such idea.  I saw the challenge about half an hour ago, but as I already had a pile of tags made I only had to die cut the trees, stamp them and add the greeting and ribbons.  - I'm really pleased how they turned out.  Very clean and simple and in non-traditional colours too!

That's it, I think I'll just about make the deadline.  And time to go off for a coffee and settle down to watch Grimm - thank goodness for recorders :)  See you tomorrow.

Skater dude ....

Hi!  Hope your day is going well - mine's not bad at all.  I've been out shopping and done some decorating for Halloween!  The house is now adorned with pumpkins, corn and scarecrows!  I've even managed to make a card:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Free Spirit Boy; PTI - Skater Dude
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Not Quite Navy, Baked Brown Sugar, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding
Dies: PTI - Skater Dude Die
Accessories:  SU Card - Not Quite Navy, Baked Brown Sugar; White Lustre Card

This card is for a few challenges:

• Waltzingmouse PJ Party Bedtime Sketch - WMSPJPBS#3
• Colour Throwdown - CTD265
• The Paper Players - PP168 - make a masculine birthday card

I decided to use my all time favourite WMS set - Free Spirit Boy - to create the background.  I really like the tribal style images and the cute skater dude.  I stamped the runway onto white card, cut it out and added it to the card.  The skate board was made from a die cut and stamp - new from PTI - and perfect for my son, Ben.  Ben really likes skate boarding - not sure his knees do though!!  For the inside I cut a mat in navy and on the white card I used the negative to sponge on a few more skateboards.  Finishing with a celebratory sentiment.  I wasn't sure how the colours would work on a guy card, but actually they work really well!

I'm off out to a Stampin' Up! meeting tonight for a few hours crafting - a super way to spend the evening!  I'll post pictures soon. 

As I'm submitting this card to the Waltzingmouse PJ Party Bedtime Story sketch - I think I'll take the opportunity to remind all you WMS fans of our sketch challenge at Waltzingmouse Fanatics.  We have a fun sketch and would love to see what you make with it.

You have until Thursday 31st October, 5.00pm GMT (1.00pm EDT).  The only thing we ask is that you include at least one WMS image or sentiment.  That's all for now.

Attitude ....

.... Hello again!!  I'm back with a very clean and simple, and one layer, card for a couple of challenges:

• Less is More - LIM142 - where the theme is trees
• CAS(E) this Sketch! - CTS50

Stamps:  Penny Black - Fantasy Tree; My Favourite Things - Clearly Sentimental about New Beginnings
Inks: Versafine - Vintage Sepia; Versamark; Stampin' Up! - Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Cherry Cobbler; Doodlebug Sprinkles; Vellum; Clear Embossing Powder

I've adapted the sketch for a square card.  I stamped the tree directly onto the card base and embossed it with clear powder.  I didn't want to hide the tree so I stamped the sentiment onto vellum and embossed that too.  I ran the vellum through my Xyron to make it self-adhesive and applied to the card.  I finished off the front with some enamel dots in co-ordinating colours.  I've left the inside very plain - simply a mat of red and on the white panel a tree - allowing space for me to write a message.  Chrissie and Jen want to see more than just leaves, so I thought this was a good opportunity to get out this stamp - I've neglected it a bit of late!

It's a gorgeous day here - with lots of sunshine and blue skies, mind there are a few dark clouds that keep coming over, but no snow or rain yet!!  Strange to think that in Chicago they had the first snowfall of the season yesterday, albeit only a dusting!  Bye for now!