OLW62 - Make it personal .....

.... gosh, talk about cutting things fine - it's only a few hours to the deadline for this week's One Layer Wednesday challenge, being hosted by Susan at Simplicity.  The challenge for OLW62 - is make it personal - "make a card for a particular person that is custom designed for him or her. You might use the person's favorite colors or a favorite image (such as a frog card for a friend who collects frogs, or an iris because it's your mother's favorite flower)". 

I don't know why this card has taken me so long to make - because I knew as soon as I saw the challenge that it would be for Jonathan to welcome him home.  But coming up with a design has been more than a little difficult.  And this card owes thanks to Chrissie - for the idea of sponging, and to Vicky - again for the sponging, but also for the idea of music!

Jonathan has lots of interests but the top two, apart from his family, are photography and music - so it was natural to use them as the main features.  And his favourite colour is green.  Once I'd got that sorted it came together really quickly.  Here's the card.

It's a square card, 13½ × 13½ cm.  I started off by masking off the top and bottom of the card.  I stamped some of the images in London Fog directly onto the white base.  The I picked my favourite green inks and sponged them on being careful to blend them.  Then I added a few more images using the various shades of green.  Finally, I added a sentiment above and below the main image.  I think this is the first time I've done one of these grungy, vintage type panels - I really like the effect. 

Stamps:  Stampendous - House & Home; Inkadinkadoo - Rock Star; Creative Expressions - Vintage Photography; Waltzingmouse - Musical Backgrounds, Fancy Phrases, Sewing Box - Hugs
Inks:  Memento - Tuxedo Black, London Fog; Distress - Shabby Shutters, Crushed Olive, Bundled Sage, Peeled Paint
Accessories:  Card from stash

I showed this to Kathryn before I added the sentiment and asked her what she thought.  She looked at it carefully and said "It's for Daddy!  His favourite colour, cameras and music!" - so it works :)

I've had an extremely busy day - I've finished the wedding cards - I've made two so that Helen can pick which she likes - I'll share them with you tomorrow.  That's all for this evening, so glad I managed to get this card finished in time for the challenge - now to put it away safely until Jonathan comes home.  Only 10 days to go! 

Black, white and ???, take two ....

.... we have a lovely challenge for you this month over at St Luke's Charity Card Challenge.  It's a colour challenge

Black, White and ?????? 

Well, you get to pick the other colour!  It's the middle of the month, and time for a gentle reminder about the challenge.  Any style, any theme, pretty much what you fancy, but it must be black, white and ONE accent colour.

For my first card I went with red and I made a card for my mother-in-law's birthday - she loved it!!  I combined LIM23 with St Luke's to make a sweet card for my son - and this time I went with green!  And I've gone for green again - I like green - you might have noticed :)

The image was designed by Leigh Hannan and is made by Impression Obsession.  I love her style; she also designed the coffee set I used for the Waltzingmouse birthday Waltz.  This image - Damask Floral - is quite large; 11½ cm × 8cm (4¾" × 3¼").  I stamped it in Versafine Black Onyx and embossed it to give a sharp image and coloured with Promarkers.  I used the largest of the Labels 17 dies to cut it out.  I wanted to have very narrow borders around the image, the mats are all cut using the same die.  The image was cut a bit smaller by removing the embossed edge, the green layer is the actual die cut and the black layer was drawn around the outside of the die and cut by hand.  I was fortunate to find the green card in my stash and it matches the promarkers.  I finished off with a ribbon made from two - one green and one black, and a sentiment which I layered onto small scalloped circles. 

Stamp:  Impression Obsession - Damask Floral
Ink: Versafine - Black Onyx
Promarkers: Meadow Green, Apple, Leaf Green
Spellbinders:  Labels Seventeen (S5-025) #6; Big Scalloped Circles Sm (S4-250) #2; Big Scalloped Circles Lg (S4-249) #2
Accessories:  Sentiment, ribbon and card from stash

This is such a beautiful image that I had to take a close up of it.  You can see the fine scrolls in the leaves and flowers, and I think the sparkle is just about visible too!

For full details of the challenge - and where to send your card(s) - if you'd like - then check out the challenge blog.  And don't forget that this month we have a super Stampin' Up! prize donated by our Guest Designer - Zoe Tant.  At the time of writing, we have 24 entries - so it could be YOU!

Now, I'm off back to my craft room - I've a wedding card to finish.  See you soon.

Rain .....

.... again!!  My posts yesterday were up early in the day and I had hoped that the weather would improve - you know, actually start to resemble SUMMER!!!!  But, no.  Yesterday was miserable - it poured pretty well all day, and it looks like it's going to much the same today.  But we didn't let that stop us having a great day out.  Kathryn had a rehearsal for her show and while she was there, Mum and I went shopping.  We had such fun!!!

And our plans for today include attending craft class - so at least we'll be out of the rain :)  I've been asked to make a card for a wedding, so I'm going to rough out some sketches and make that later today, when I get back to my stash. 



Before I head out - I've got another birthday card to share with you.  It's  one of the coffee set that I made for my friend.  She wanted a card featuring coffee as her nephew has a coffee cafe, which is very popular. I showed three of the set yesterday as part of the Waltzingmouse Blog Waltz, but this one doesn't have any WMS - so it has a post all of its own!!


This time I decided to feature the latte glass - it's such an elegant design and a joy to colour!  The wonky rectangles are just right to give a slightly less formal feel. 

Stamps: Impression Obsession - Smell the Coffee; Hobby Art - Happy Birthday
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black, London Fog
Promarkers:  Blue Pearl, China Blue, Cornflower, Ice Grey1
Spellbinders: Reverse Wonky Rectangles (S4-307) #4 & 5
Accessories: Card from stash

And this is the card that my friend selected for her nephew.  She said that the colours went with his shop - so it was just right!  My mum really liked this one too, so I'll probably make another one for her to take home with her when she goes. 

And that's all for now - I'm off to have my breakfast - a nice bowl of cereal and a large cup of hot coffee!!! :)

Hope you all have a super fun day - despite the damp, dull and grey weather!  See you later.

 

Take your partners for a Waltz .....

For my CR84FN post - click here.

.... it's time for the monthly Blog Waltz with Waltzingmouse Stamps - if you've not joined in before, you can find all the details here - it's lots of fun!!  And the theme this month is BIRTHDAY PARTY!  That gives us so much scope to play!!!

I've gone a bit mad with cards for this month.  Last week I was asked to make a birthday card for a friend's nephew.  I discovered he owns a coffee cafe!!  Now I'm a huge coffee lover (and am still waiting for Claire to come up with coffee stamps :)).  I decided to make steaming coffee cups the main design element.  All the birthday sentiments are from Waltzingmouse.  I made a few so that she could pick one.

Stamps:  Impression Obsession - Smell the Coffee;  Waltzingmouse - Say It Loud
Inks:  Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine - Onyx Black
Promarkers:  Cobalt Blue, Berry Red, Royal Blue, Tan
Spellbinders:  Wonky Rectangles (S4-306) #5
Accessories:  DCWV - Mat Stack (red); Card and embossing powder from stash

Stamps: Impression Obsession - Smell the Coffee; Waltzingmouse - Fancy Phrases
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Stampin' Up! - Cherry Cobbler
Promarkers:  Cardinal Red, Burgundy, Shale, Tan
Spellbinders: Reverse Wonky Rectangles (S4-307) #5
Accessories:  Card, ribbon and embossing powder from stash

The next one is based on the sketch for this week's Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge - WMSC56.  The sketch has been designed by Julia Aston - it's great.

I masked off an area to the left of my card and then stamped the chevron pattern.  It has a slightly distressed look.  I've used the same coffee cups image, just coloured to match the background.  I added a thin black border with my promarkers.  I stamped the sentiment and cut it out, and added a black border to match the picture.  This was a huge mistake - I think I'm going to be fixing this card.  I like the colours though.

Stamps: Impression Obsession - Smell the Coffee; Waltzingmouse - Say It Loud
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Stampin' Up! - Wild Wasabi
Promarkers:  Forest Green, Pear Green, Lime Green, Apple, Tan, Black, Cool Grey 1
Spellbinders:  Classic Rectangles (S4-130) #5
Accessories: Card, and brads from stash

I also made a blue version, but this one doesn't feature any WMS - so I'll share that tomorrow!

It occurred to me earlier, that while these are all lovely birthday cards, they are not particularly birthday party related.  So I decided to make another card.  I think this one has more of a party feel - at least that was the idea :)

This one is entirely WMS and I've used two of my lovely new Waltzingmouse sets - Eat Cake and You're Lovely.  I decided to showcase the party dress and cakes - do you think this is more party related?

I used the little cake, flowers and stand and created my background to match the multi-coloured gingham paper I used for the dress. I don't know where I got the paper - it was a little scrap, but I thought it would make a super party dress for a young lady (I know that Kathryn will love it). I cut out the beaded oval mat and added colour to the beads - again to match the dress and cakes. I threaded a pretty multi-coloured satin ribbon through the holes and tied at the back of the oval. I stamped the dress onto the mat and then paper pieced the dress. Finally, I added the ribbon down the card spine, a simple birthday sentiment and a bit of sparkle on the flowers and dress. I suppose it's really more a birthday card than party related - but I like it :))

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Eat Cake, You're Lovely
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black, Grape Jelly, Cantaloupe, New Sprout, Summer Sky, Lulu Lavender; Stampin' Up! - Wild Wasabi, Bashful Blue, Tangerine Tango, Regal Rose, Pink Pirouette
Spellbinders: Beaded Ovals (S4-294) #4
Accessories: Card, ribbon and embossing powder from stash

I've taken a close up shot of the dress and mat - you can really see the pretty ribbon, and very subtle sparkle around the bodice of the dress - it's the same around the hem!  If only I had the figure to wear a dress like this :)


I am soooo sorry that this has turned out to be so long!!!  But I did make a few cards ;)  Now, I'm off to Waltz around the blogs!!  See you later.

CR84FN34 - Good luck .....

... it's time for another CR84FN colour challenge.  We have bright, cheerful summer colours for you to enjoy - yellow, pink and bright pink - just fab!

Our inspiration photos this week have been taken by Mona's very talented husband - Scott - not only does he find the most wonderful quotes, but Scott's a darn good photographer too!!  I adore those pretty hibiscus flowers and decided to feature them in my card.

I used a lovely linen textured square base card onto which I put a mica mask and then sponged on two shades of yellow.  I wanted to echo the simplicity of the hibiscus flower, so I stamped, with Versamark, one of my favourite doilies onto some bright pink card and then heat embossed with clear powder to give a tone-on-tone effect.  I cut out the doily with the matching nestie.  Next I stamped a pretty scroll frame in pale pink onto some plain card and cut this out with the lacey circles.  I stamped these lovely hibiscus flowers twice.  Using my aqua painter I carefully pulled some of the ink from the edge of the image to give softly shaded flowers.  I added some extra ink to the central flower for depth.  I cut the flowers out and added glossy accents to the petals and left them to dry.  Before attaching the flowers I coloured the stamen with my Stardust pen.  Finally, I added a simple sentiment to the frame.

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Dainty Doilies - Large, Free Spirit - Boy, Fancy Phrases, Faux Fun Circles

Inks:  Distress - Spun Sugar, Mustard Seed, Scattered Straw; Stampin' Up! - Melon Mambo

Spellbinders:  Lacey Circles (S4-293) #4, Big Scalloped Circles (S4-249) #7

Accessories:  Creative Expressions mask - Floral Background; Glossy Accents; Card and clear embossing powder from stash

Now don't forget that the rest of our Design Team also have some wonderful cards to share with you - do drop in and leave some love!!

Sue

Andrea

Stephanie

Suzanne

Heather

Mona
Lisa

That's all for now, but I do have a few more cards to share with you later - so I'll see you soon.

Less is More 24 - circles .....

... good afternoon fellow LIMettes!  I trust you're all having a great day.  It's been surprisingly nice here today - the weather men promised rain and we've had sunshine and warmth.  So nice for a change!  And where have I been?  Playing in my craft room :)

First thing this morning I checked to see what Mandi and Chrissie had in store for us on the Less is More challenge - and I was delighted to see CIRCLES as the theme for this week.  There are just so many possibilities with this theme.  So did I make a LIM card?  No, I played with a couple of other challenges (which I'll be sharing tomorrow) and then I realised that I was running out of time if I wanted to get a card in today.  I'm off out on a Scouts function in about an hour.

So here's my card for the circle theme - I think there are lots of circles in my card!!!

I pulled out my lovely doilies from Waltzingmouse stamps and used my favourite colours of the moment - pinks and orange - don't know why, but I like it!  I cut the big doily out by hand - it takes a while, but it worth it!

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Dainty Doilies - Large, Fancy Phrases
Inks:  Stampin' Up! - Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Regal Rose, Tangerine Tango
Spellbinders: Big Scalloped Circles Lg (S4-249) die #3
Accessories:  Circle punch and card from stash

I'll be back later this evening to have a look around and see what you've come up with.  See you soon.

Two more challenges ...

... I've been having lots of fun this afternoon, and I've made cards for two challenges.  The first card is for a new blog that I found the other day while browsing - by it's just the type of challenge I like.  The Blog is called For Your Inspiration - and new challenges are posted on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month, there aren't many specific rules - just create a project based on the inspiration photo posted using any medium you choose (ie: paper, sewing, jewelry, art, etc) - you can enter up to three times.  The challenge this week is based on this wonderful photograph:

We've been told that this building is a library - I don't know where it is or what's it's called, but it looks just wonderful in this photo.  I can imagine sitting reading, immersing myself in books and knowledge - joy!!!  And this is my interpretation of the photo:

In my scrap box I found this lovely blue vellum that looks a bit like the cloudy sky, so I cut it to fit just inside the card base.  The blocks of colour in the library window reminded - by some strange route - of a lovely flower stamp that I have in my box.  I've had it a long time, but I think this is only the second time it's seen ink!!  I stamped it four time and embossed each image with clear powder to give a nice raised edge.  I painted each image with Twinkling H2Os and then cut them out.  Initially I was going to layer them up and make a single flower, but I decided to make them individual flowers.  I cut out the vellum mat with my nesties and stamped the single word "Imagine" and embossed it.

Stamps:  Funstamps - 3D Flower 3 (FF69); Hero Arts - Letter I set
Inks:  Versafine - Onyx Black
Twinkling H2Os: Snap Dragon, Lemongrass, Autumn Skies, Dreamsicle
Spellbinders:  Fleur de Lis Squares (S4-318) die #4
Accessories:  Card, vellum and clear embossing powder from stash

My next card has been made for the Just Add Ink challenge - I've not played this one for a while - don't know why, just kept missing the deadline!!  This weeks challenge is also an inspiration photo - and it's just beautiful.

When I first saw this photo - I was going to make a card based on a window with flowers in a beautiful window box.  But that's not what I made. 

I found myself drawn to the lovely sky and sea and the shades of blue - so relaxing, so calming.  And I remembered a lovely sailing ship stamp that I got from Ebay - it's part of a discontinued Stampin' Up! set and I just love it.  I started off with a bit of nestie scrap that I have in my box - a lovely oval.  I attached it to my card and stamped the ship image through the space and put a mask over the image.  Next I added a couple of cloud masks (from my OLW61 card - I don't throw things out).  Then I stippled on a variety of blue inks, starting with the palest and building up the intensity around the ship.  After removing the various masks I added the sentiment and coloured the ship and flags.  Mu Mum loves this - and I'm quite pleased with it too! :)

Stamps:  Stampin' Up! - Discontinued set
Spellbinders:  Mega Classic Scalloped Ovals Lg (S5-024) die#4
Inks:  Memento - Tuxedo Black;  Distress - Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Stormy Sky, Chipped Sapphire
Accessories:  Card and pencils from stash

That's all for today - I've been making up for the last couple of days!!  Tonight is our last Scout meeting of the term.  We're doing some community work this evening by selling programmes at our local theatre - we started on Wednesday night and finish on Saturday.  The leaders and Scouts have each taken a night.  It's fun!!

See you tomorrow for two of my favourite challenges - Less Is More and Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge.  Bye for now!

Butterfly Hi .....

.... sorry, I've been a bit quiet over the last couple of days - my husband will tell you to make the most of it :)  It's actually been really lovely here and I've taken the opportunity to enjoy the sun, do some reading, catch up with some washing and make some cards - but they're a surprise and you'll have to wait to see them!

However, I have made a card this morning for two challenges.  The colour inspiration is from this week's Play Date Cafe - PDCC90 - eggplant, fuchsia and orange!! Wow!  For the layout I'm using a sketch layout from Clean & Simple stamping - FTL147 - the deadline is today!  So I've left it late.

While I was at craft class on Monday I was playing with the lovely Flowerfly stamp from Stampendous and I stamped a couple just for fun.  One I coloured with shades of orange and peach - and it looked lovely, but I didn't quite know what to do with it.  That was until I saw the PDCC90 colours and then it was easy peasy!!!

I started off by cutting a border of Elegant Eggplant, wide enough to allow me to put this lovely lace around it.  Next I stamped three flower onto some white card and cut them out with my circle nesties.  The mats were also made with my nesties. I added a bit of sparkle to the flowers with my Stardust pen.  As I mentioned, the butterfly was already coloured and cut out, I added some sparkle to the wings and made the antennae from purple wire.  The sentiment is really simple - Hi - and I'm sending this card to a friend who I've not heard from in a while - just thought I'd make sure she's okay. 

Stamps:  Stampendous - Flowerfly; Elusive Images - Flowers; Waltzingmouse - Victorian Frippery
Inks:  Memento - Tuxedo Black, Lilac Posies
Spellbinders:  Standard Circles Sm (S4-116) #2, Big Scalloped Circles Lg (S4-249) #2, Big Scalloped Circles Sm (S4-250) #2
Accessories:  Stampin' Up! card - Elegant Eggplant; Lace, card base, glitter and gems from stash

I've taken a close up photo of the butterfly and flowers - they really are very pretty.

I noticed that my follower count has gone up so I'd like to say Hello and welcome to Pauline - glad you joined me!  Now, I'm off back to my craft room, I've a couple of idea I want to play with.  See you later.

Colour Q - birthday flowers ....

.... my Mum asked me to make a special card for my step-father's aunt - she's well into her 90s and I wanted to make something really nice!!  I decided to use the colours from this week's Colour Q challenge - lovely warm summer colours.

I used a Dawn Bibby flower stamp for the main image - it's a nice, clean, graphic image and super to colour.  I cut out the flower with my nestie and cut a couple of backing layers in peach parfait and pear pizzazz (as I don't have the inks).  I kept the flower image in the die and added some small flourishes around the edge to match the flourishes on the card base.  I used promarkers to colour the leaves and Stampin' Up! ink to do the flowers.  Mum's really pleased with the card.

Stamps:  Dawn Bibby - Flower stamp; Waltzingmouse -  Fancy Phrases, Flourishes - Scallops & Dots
Inks:  Memento - Tuxedo Black; Stampin' Up! - Marina Mist, Real Red
Spellbinders:  Labels 17 (S5-025) dies 5 & 6, Fancy Tags (S4-235)
Accessories: Stampin' Up! card - Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz; Promarkers - Pear Green; Card from stash

Sorry not to have been about for a couple of days - just got busy with Scouts stuff and school bits.  And spending time with my Mum.  We had to run to town for her regular blood test this morning - and then we did a little shopping - always fun.  This afternoon, I was working in my craft room on this card and heard the news reporting bombs in Mumbai.  As you can imagine, I was rather concerned.  However, I've spoken to Jonathan and he's okay - so I'm feeling much better.

And that's all for now.  I must get round to commenting on lots of wonderful cards on the CR84FN Blog - this evening.  See you tomorrow!

Gosh - my brain really is fried!!  I posted this without the picture of my card!!! Doh!

OLW61 - Butterfly clouds ....

....my card has been made for this week's One Layer Wednesday challenge - OLW61.  It's being hosted by Jennifer at Styles Ink - Jennifer's been away on holiday recently - so I'd like to say Hi and welcome back.  I always find I like being back in my own home after a break - sleeping in my bed, having my things about me - it's nice!  Now the theme for this week's challenge has been decided by Jennifer's little lad - he likes to draw pictures and suggested, flowers, trees and clouds.  And settled on clouds!!!  Oh dear!  This is hard - I've been thinking about my card for a while.  First off, I wasn't at all sure I could rustle up any clouds.  I've seen what some of the other ladies have done - talented bunch that they are - but then going through my Stamp Album I came across a sweet cloud stamp - problem solved. 

However, that left me with what to do to have clouds as the feature - planes, birds, hot air balloons.  I took some stash with me to craft class this morning and played around.  I made a lovely card - really pleased with the layout and design - and then I got ink on it!!!  Darn.  So, this afternoon, I had another go - and it's better.  Here's my card:

I stamped the butterfly off the edge of the card and then put my largest oval nestie over the top.  I actually embossed this by hand - with a light box!!!  I stamped several clouds and the butterfly onto some post-it notes and cut them out.  I masked the butterfly, and positioned the clouds inside the frame.  Next I added a sky using stencil brushes.  This gives a lovely soft subtle effect.   I moved the cloud masks a bit and added a bit of ink over the clouds to give dimension.  Next I added some grass inside the frame.  I coloured the butterfly with promarkers and then added a sentiment.  The word "create" was in the same set as the cloud - and seems totally appropriate for a challenge card!  I'm really pleased how this turned out.

Stamps:  Hero Arts - "C"; Stampendous - Flowerfly
Inks:  Memento - Tuxedo Black; Distress - Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters
Promarkers:  Purple, Orchid, Lavender
Spellbinders:  Petit Ovals Lg (S4-138) die # 6
Accessories:  Card from stash

I was at Kathryn's school this afternoon, watching a special presentation of the show the children did for the Pensioner's Tea last week.  It was brilliant - all the children sang their hearts out - and I have to admit to a tear in my eye!! 

Now, it's time for tea.  And I plan to catch up on some reading this evening.  I'll be back tomorrow.  Bye for now.

WMSC55 - diecuts ....

.... the sketch challenge over at Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge - WMSC55 is really pretty.  It's been designed by Belinda Chang Languer - she's got lots of layers on the sketch.  Great, I can play with my nesties!!  The sketch is made for dies and I had fun!! 

First I checked out my "Colour Coach" cards from Stampin' Up! - I wanted to find some colours that they suggested worked really well together.  I focused on melon mambo - a gorgeous hot pink, and ended up coordinating it with river rock and rich razzleberry - yum!  They sound so tasty.   I've stuck to the layout on the sketch, just changed a few shapes!  It's very clean and simple.

As you can see, I used three different Spellbinders sets - and I kept the cut shapes plain - I did try stamping some patterns onto some of the shapes, but it became too cluttered.  So I made a few more and kept them plain!!  I stamped the lovely hibiscus flowers in Versamark and heat embossed them with clear powder, I love the tone-on-tone effect this gives.  I cut out the flowers, keeping one set whole and cutting the other sets into bits!  I added some glitter to the inside of the flowers - sadly you don't get to see just how pretty they are in real-life.  Finally, I added the sentiment.  I went for a small sentiment in plain text - unfortunately as I lifted the stamp it slipped a bit!!!  That'll teach me to make cards at silly times - I finished this last night (or this morning) at 1.00am!!!  Still, I'm pleased with this card - it's a bit outside my comfort zone.

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Free Spirit - Boy, Say It Loud
Inks:  Versamark; Stampin' Up! - Rich Razzleberry
Spellbinders:  Pinking Circles Sm (S4-172) #6, Big Scalloped Circles Lg (S4-249) #5, Stars (S4-092) #3, 2 and 1
Card:  Stampin' Up! - River Rock, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo
Accessories:  Card and glitter from stash

Now, I'm about to head off to craft class.  I'm going to have a go at a card for this week's OLW - it has to have clouds!!!  I'm struggling with this one - but I'll give it a go.

Some of you may have noticed a little blue box at the top of my sidebar!  It's counting down the days to my Blog Anniversary.  I can hardly believe it's nearly a year since I started on this adventure.   It's been such fun.  I'll be posting something special about my Blogversary soon - keep your eyes peeled!!  On that note - see you later :)

CR84FN33 - You're Lovely ...

Sorry this is late - for some reason Blogger didn't publish this post!!  Still better late than never.

.... that's the sentiment on my bonus card for our CR84FN33 challenge.  Our colours are red, pink and neutral - just so gorgeous.

The inspiration photos, courtesy of Martha Stewart, are just so feminine and pretty.  And that's the way I decided to go with my card.  You may recall that I mentioned receiving my new Waltzingmouse stamps last week.  Well I've been playing with them - and they are wonderful.  Here's my card.

I've used two sets on this card.  The gorgeous swirls are from Flourishes - Scallops and Dots and the body form and sentiment are from You're Lovely.  I started off by stamping the flourishes - which come in various sizes and in pairs - in shades of pink and red.  Next I stamped the body form onto some plain white card.  I cut out the image with the Beaded Ovals nestie.  Keeping the image in the die, I sponged on some colour and added a few flourishes.  I stamped the dress form image onto some gorgeous designer paper from my scrap box and cut out the dress, and attached it to the topper.  I threaded some black organza ribbon through the little holes and made a bow at the back of the image.  I attached this image to the card using Pinflair glue - giving some depth.  Next I stamped the sentiment, and cut it out with one of the Fancy Tags dies, again adding a little colour while it was in the die.  I ran some ribbon behind the tag and brought it up through the little holes in the tag and attached the sentiment to the card.  And the final touch was to add a couple of sweet pink roses on the sentiment tag.  When Kathryn saw this card - she just said to me "I want this card!!"

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - You're Lovely, Flourishes - Scallops & Dots
Inks:  Stampin' Up! - Real Red, Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink; Memento - Tuxedo Black
Spellbinders:  Beaded Ovals (S4-294) die #4; Fancy Tags Two (S5-030)
Accessories:  Designer paper (don't know who made it), organza ribbon and card from stash; Anita's Lg Paper Rose Buds

Do check out the CR84FN blog for more inspiration cards - and don't forget to join in the fun - there's still plenty of time.  But please note, that this week the deadline is Thursday 14th July.

Yesterday was really busy - I mentioned tidying Kathryn's bedroom.  Well, we finally finished at 6.00pm!!  But it was worth it - I can now see a carpet and everything has been put away and sorted.  And we rearranged the bedroom furniture - Kathryn is absolutely delighted with the new look!! 

Today Kathryn has to attend the first big rehearsal for the show she's appearing in later this month.  The group are putting on Bugsy Malone - she's so excited to be taking part.  We'll be picking up her costumes today too - can't wait to see them.  That's all for now.  Hope it's a good day for you.

Less is More meets St Luke's .....

... good morning fellow LIMettes - have you seen this week's challenge?  No, that was a daft question - of course you've seen it.  This week Chrissie and Mandi from Less is More would like us to make a one layer card that features "something with legs".  My first thought was a table!  Don't have anything with a table stamp - so off to think again.  And I've made a card for my darling son, Ben.  And my card has lots of legs!!!  Oh yes, it is also suitable for our challenge at St Luke's Charity Card challenge where we want you to make a card using "Black, White and one other colour" - do check it out - it's for a great cause.  What do you think?

This set of patterned animals is just fantastic.  I made a couple of cards with this set in May for the OLW challenge - see here and here.  All the animals are a bit unusual - they feature funky designs, and I've been dying to play with the lizard stamp.  I also wanted to play with my new Papermania typography stamps.  They're large size sentiments in great fonts and can be coloured, paper pieced or left plain.  The frame is from the Frame-It set by my favourite rodent!!  I was going to colour the sentiment but decided to keep it simple in black and white, and added colour to the lizard - sparkly green!!

Stamps:  Inkadinkadoo - Patterned Animals; Papermania - Son (PMA907413); Waltzingmouse - Frame-It, Free Spirit - Words
Inks:  Memento - Tuxedo Black
Accessories:  Card from stash; Stardust pen and Promarker

I've done a close up photo of the lizard so that you can see the design easier - it's such a cute lizard!!

I know I'm not going to be the first to post my card to the challenge blog - but it's way earlier than usual!  And now that I've made this card, I'm going to have a busy day helping Kathryn to tidy her bedroom.  It looks rather like a bomb site!!  I suspect I'll be doing more tidying than supervising :)  Still, it will also give us the chance to have a move around - which is always fun.  I'm going to try and get back later to post another card - this time for the CAS-ual Friday challenge - a non-traditional shaped card!!  See you later.  Have a great day.

Chemistry nerd ....

... I've made this card for the Colour Q challenge - cQc92.  Their colours this week are orange, turquoise, green, black and white - and the inspiration picture is of a really retro looking clock.  When I saw the picture it reminded me of the molecular models I made while studying my chemistry course.  So this was an easy card to make.

Now, I have to apologise to any other chemistry bods out there - I've hand drawn "actual" molecules - but the colours representing the atoms aren't right!!  I know - it bothers me too, but this is craft!! :)  And I had such fun with the card.  The little "atoms" were stamped with a tiny berry from one of my Waltzingmouse sets - see very versatile!!  I stamped the chemistry glassware and coloured the image with Promarkers - matched as closely as possible to the Stampin' Up! colours.  I know this is a strange sort of card, but it makes me happy! 

Stamps:  There She Goes - Chemistry, Chem 101
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Tangerine Tango, Wild Wasabi, Tempting Turquoise; Memento - Tuxedo Black
Promarkers: Orange, Cyan, Marsh Green, Ice Grey 1
Card:  Stampin' Up! - Tangerine Tango, Tempting Turquoise
Spellbinders: Wonky Rectangles (S4-306) dies # 2 & 4
Accessories:  Card from stash, black fine line pen

These stamps are made by There She Goes, an American company, and I can't remember where I first saw them - but I knew I had to have them.  I have several friends who studied chemistry with me and we're all nerdy enough to really appreciate cards made with the stamps:)  To be fair the stamps make great Valentine/love type cards - check out the gallery over at There She Goes - see here. 

Scouts was really good fun - we didn't have many kids turn up - but those that did had fun cooking - and then eating!!  Now, it's really late - or early, depending on how you think of it - and it's time for me to head off to bed.  I'll be back in the morning to check in with some of my favourite challenges - Less is More and Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge.  See you soon.

Ribbon Reel 5 - Summer Fruit ...

... I've been thinking about the current Ribbon Reel challenge for a while - we've been given a photo for inspiration along with a list of requirements - two ribbons/lace or twine, at least one brad and a summer fruit.

I had lots of ideas about how to use the photo for inspiration - just for the colour, the general idea of fruit - I even went off at a tangent and thought about Wimbledon.  You know, strawberries and cream while watching the matches.  However, I think the cake looks absolutely delicious!!  And so I decided to be quite literal with my card - here it is:

Some while ago I got a strawberry stamp free with Craft Stamper (can't remember which company made the stamp) and I thought it was perfect for this card.  I stamped the strawberry randomly over the base card.  I cut out three mats - one in satin red mirri card with the largest lacey square nestie, a piece of patterned paper and a plain white mat.  I added some pink gingham ribbon to the base card before attaching the central topper.  The white mat was attached with dimensional tape - giving depth and also hiding the pin on the brad.  The cupcake is from Cupcakes by Hero Arts - such yummy looking cakes.  I stamped it three times in London Fog - and coloured the image with Promarkers.  I cut out and layered the cake and then the icing.  The little strawberry is made from pink shrink plastic using the strawberry stamp and cutting it out carefully (making sure there are no sharp edges) and adding some green chalk to the leaves.  Finally, I added a bright red bow, a sentiment and the strawberry!

Stamps:  Hero Arts - Cupcakes; Strawberry Stamp (FOC with Craft Stamper)
Inks:  Memento - London Fog; Stampin' Up! - Real Red
Spellbinders:  Lacey Squares (S4-295) die #5; Classic Squares (S4-126) die #5 and 7
Promarkers:  Almond, Ice Grey 1
Accessories:  Card, ribbon, brad, shrink plastic, paper - all from stash

I've taken a close up photo of the topper - the strawberry looks amazing - it has such texture!!  I'm really pleased it turned out so well.

That's all for now.  The weather has been awful this afternoon - lots of rain - and the forecast is for a thunderstorm this evening.  So the BBQ won't take place outside - we'll get out the gas cookers and the kids can cook their burgers indoors!!  We'll still have fun this evening.

I'll be back in the morning to check out Less is More - I enjoyed this week's challenge - just love blues!!  Have a great evening - see you soon.