CIC - Colours ....

... Morning!  It's time for our new challenge at Cupcake Inspirations - CIC#350.  As always our colours are taken from our fabulous cupcake photo.  Don't they look just yummy? Our colours are light and bright and perfect for a spring card - Chartreuse, petal and goldenrod.  Here's my card:

Stamps: DRS Designs Digi - Leaf Butterfly Spray; Uniko - Some Bunny, I Love Tea
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Stampin' Up! - Daffodil Delight
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Pear Pizzazz; Cuttlebug EF - D'Vine Swirls; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear

My layout is based on this week's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#226.  I'm also submitting to the new Time Out Challenge - TOC#51, as their theme is Spring/Easter and I've made an Easter card. I received this beautiful digital image from DRS Designs which I printed on white card. I coloured it with Copic markers and then carefully cut it out. As I'd already printed a second image, I decided to layer the butterflies for some depth.  I added sparkle to the butterflies and flower buds with a clear Wink of Stella brush. I made the base from green card and embossed the white panel with elegant swirls. I stamped a simple greeting on the horizontal border.  On the inside I stamped a couple of pretty flowers at the corners.

I've taken a close up photo of the butterflies so that you can see the dimension as well as the pretty sparkle:

For more inspiration with these pretty colours, check out the blog to see more from the Design Team.

Our sponsor this week is DRS Designs, who kindly provided me with this pretty digital image.  The winner of the challenge will receive a $10 Gift Certificate for use in the DRS shop.  Have fun!

52CCT - Sketch ....

... Hello and Good Morning!  As I type this post I can see a winter wonderland from my office window - snow all over the ground and houses, but with sunshine and blue skies - so very pretty.  I just hate driving in it!!  Anyway, it puts me in the mood for making Christmas cards, which is good as it's time for our new challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - 52CCT01-16.  Our host this month is Julie and she has a super sketch for us to use.  You can flip, rotate, adapt and add embellishments, but we must be able to see the sketch in your design.  Here's my take:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Free Spirit Boy, Compliments of the Season II, Chief Elf
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: Die-namics - Wonky Stitched Squares Stax #4, Wonky Stitched Circles Stax #4
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Kaisercraft DP - Say Aloha; Copics; Wink of Stella - Clear

 

My card has a totally tropical feel, which is the theme over at this week's Merry Monday challenge - MM#194.  I thought it would be fun to make tropical style Christmas card and I used stamps from my all time favourite company - Waltzingmouse (who are, sadly, closing on 31st March).  Our sketch lends itself to using lots of design papers (and I have a huge stash!).  I used co-ordinating papers from Say Aloha to create the layers.  I used dies to cut the centre square and circle.  I stamped a fun Christmas sentiment in the centre of the circle. I stamped these lovely hibiscus flowers on scrap card, coloured them with Copics, cut out and added sparkle with a clear Wink of Stella brush.  I adhered them to the card with dimensional gel.  On the inside I cut a piece of design paper as a mat layer and on the white panel added a Christmas greeting and some more hibiscus flowers.

As this card has multiple layers, I'm submitting it to the current challenge at Jingle Belles - JB:16:15. I am also linking up to our Farewell Blog Hop over at Waltzingmouse Fanatics.  If you're a fan of Claire's super stamps, please join us and share your work - Tara and I would like to show Claire just how much we Waltzingmouse Stamps and how much she'll be missed.

Don't forget to visit out blog to see more inspiration Christmas/winter cards from the rest of the team. As the sun is shining today (Friday morning) I've been able to take some photo of the fabulous sparkle you get with Wink of Stella:

That's all for now - have a great weekend!

TMR - Technique ....

... Good evening! It's been a really busy week here at Chez Frings! I've started to sort through our stuff to try and reduce what we take to the new house - it's taking much longer than I expected. We have accumulated so much stuff! Hey ho! I decided that I'd spend some time in my craft room today and I finally made my card for our new challenge at The Male Room - TMR#30. I must apologise to my teamies for being so late! This week we have a technique challenge - we want you to MAKE IT MOVE. Your masculine themed project must have moving part(s). Here's my take:

Stamps: Lawn Fawn - Bon Voyage; Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz - Schoolhouse
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Stampin' Up! - Brocade Blue
Dies: Lawn Fawn - Bon Voyage; Spellbinders - Circles Sm (S4-116) #5 and #6
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Island Indigo; Teresa Collins DP - Far & Away; Copics

I got the theme from the photo inspiration graphic at The Challenge - TC#62 - I used the map on the back wall as the inspiration. The colours are from Colour Q - cQc#331 - the shades of blue work really well for a masculine card.

I took advantage of the videos on our blog and decided to make a spinner card. I cut a mat layer of island indigo card. I cut two panels of map design paper, one was adhered to the card and I cut out a circle (as per the video instructions) from the other piece. I stamped the plane on white card, coloured it with Copics and cut it out with the matching die. I stamped the sentiment on the paper before attaching the panel with dimensional tape. I used a penny to make the spinner part of my card. Here are a couple of photos showing how the plane moves around the circle:

On the inside I cut a mat layer of island indigo and on the white panel I stamped a globe which I coloured with copics. This card is going into my stash.

Do visit our blog to see more inspirational projects from the rest of the team. You've got plenty of time to join the fun. That's all for now!  See you tomorrow.

Artistic Muse ....

... Hi again!  Another quick class review today.  I've just spent a wonderful crafting weekend with my daughter, Kat.  I've been trying to get her interested for the last few years with very little success. However, I recently introduced Kat to Dylusions sprays and suddenly she was hooked!  Yea!!  Last month I took Kat to the regular meeting of our Art Journal club and she loved, so now we're booked to go each month.

This weekend, we've been lucky enough to have two craft events.  The first, on Saturday, was run by Valerie Brincheck at my local craft shop, Stampeddler.  It was called Artistic Muse.  We were a small class of six, some with experience and some, like Kat, complete beginners.  The aim was to create our own artistic muse, to help us find inspiration and push past the mojo blocks!  We started by selecting polymer clay faces and some wings to personalise as our muse, and then built a collage with found objects. We built up layers, painted with black gesso, added more layers and more black gesso and finished off by adding some colour with metallic paints.  It was fantastic.

Here's my finished Artistic Muse and not in my go to cool colours either!!

This is a 6" × 6" wooden block decorated with lots of wonderful found objects (kindly provided by Valerie).  We got gloriously messy.  And here's a photo of Kat's Artistic Muse:

Once again, it's a 6" × 6" wooden block that Kat decorated.  I love the colours she used to finish the piece - blues, violet and purple - lovely!

Here are photos of the ones that Valerie made, two are 6" × 6" and the other two are 8" × 8".  They are all stunning:

This one is 6" × 6" and was the example that Valerie put on display in Stampeddler.  When Kat saw it she just loved it, so I asked if she wanted to have a go at making one herself.  And we had the most marvellous time.  These are the colours I normally tend to use!

Another 6" × 6" example.  This glows in the light and I just love the steampunk theme.  Check out those cute little googles on the face!

An 8" × 8" example.  I would love to make one this size.  There are so many lovely details in here. Check out the pen nibs in the headdress.

And I think this i my favourite of them all.  Another 8" × 8".  Valerie made this for a friend of her.  I would love to get a gift like this!  And this one includes all my favourite colours.

If you live in the Northville area, keep an eye on the class schedule to see if Valerie runs this class again - it is so worth going.  Thanks to Valerie for the inspiration, to our classmates and to Margene for the use of the class in her shop - Stampeddler!

On Sunday we went to the Art Journal club.  Kat spent the whole session working on a spread in her journal.  I don't have a photo as she's not finished it yet, but I'll share it as soon as she's done!  That's all for now.

Crafting Weekend ....

.... Hello!  I've been meaning to write this review of my weekend in Florida since I got back last Monday, but it's been crazy busy in our house.  However, I've got an hour before the next guy comes to give me a quote for house removals, so I thought do it now!!! These are a couple of photos of my Dyan style folio and Dina style art book:

This photo shows the front and back covers of the book we made in Dina's class.  First time I've attended a class with Dina and had the chance to use her wonderful paints.  It was fantastic!  I still have work to do as I have some blank pages to fill!

This is the outside cover of my folio.  I had such fun using Dyan's paints - they dry so quickly. Usually I end up making things in shades of green, so it was such fun playing with blues and the wonderful new Cherry Pie paint!  Still lots of work to do on this folio - more late.

I was fortunate to be part of the group who attended the Back to Back No Rules Retreat from 19th - 21st February in Florida.  The retreat was organised by the amazing Michelle McCosh, owner of Everything Scrapbook & Stamps, a wonderful store located in Lake Worth, Florida.  Michelle's shop is a treasure trove of goodies and well worth a visit if you're in the area.

The No Rules Back to Back Retreat featured the brilliantly talented Dina Wakley and Dyan Reaveley.  Many of the people attending the retreat were here for the second year, with just a few of us being newbies!  Howver, I have had several classes with Dyan, so was able to keep up.  All the sessions were fast, furious fun - I had a blast!  Here are a few photos from the weekend - if you want to see all my photo, you'll find them on Facebook here.

The retreat take place at the Duncan Conference Centre in Delray Beach, Florida.  It's a lovely place with super staff.  It's calm, quiet (when we're not there) and we were all made to feel so welcome. The food was fantastic.

After class on Friday 19th, some of us headed to Michelle's shop, Everything Scrapbook & Stamps, in Lake Worth. Thanks to Shari for driving us over.  The shop is full of wonderful goodies as well as the most gorgeous displays, here are just a few photos of the displays:

Thanks to Dyan, Dina and Michelle, to all the staff at the Duncan Centre and also to all the wonderful ladies I met - it was a fantastic weekend.  Can't wait to do it again next year!

CIC - Theme ....

... Good morning!  It's time for our new challenge at Cupcake Inspirations - CIC#349 where we have a theme - PRINCESS.  I wasn't able to play along last week (busy at Back to Back Retreat in Florida), so I'm pleased to be here this week.  Our sponsor is this week is AlciaBel and the winner of the challenge will get three digi images.  The team were lucky to be able to pick an image to play with and I chose Umbrella's Lady.  Here's my card:

Stamps: AliciaBel Dig - Umbrella's Lady; Happy Little Stampers - Fun Birthday Sentiments; Dovecraft - Princess
Inks: Versafine - Vintage Sepia; Stampin' Up! - Early Espresso
Dies: Die-namics - Wonky Stitched Ovals Stax #3
Accessories: White Lustre Card; My Mind's Eye DP - Summer Papers; Copic Markers; SU Card - Early Espresso; Wink of Stella - Clear

I really like this little lady - she's quite fun - check out the tiny skulls on her skirt and her hat!  I used the colours in the graphic as inspiration for colouring the image.  In my stash I found crown stamp which is perfect for the theme.  I used the layout from this week's Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#225.  The crowns fit nicely down one side of the card and I used pretty patterned paper for the large panel.  I printed the image on white card, coloured her with Copic markers and used a scalpel to cut her out.  I die cut an oval panel from white card, adhered the image and added some little gems.  I finished the front of the card with a simple birthday greeting.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of design paper, which I edge with a brown marker and adhered to the card.  On the white panel I stamped the crown again and added the crown.  I added sparkle to the main image (skulls, umbrella, lips and hat) with a clear Wink of Stella brush and also to the hearts in the crowns.  Sadly you can't see it in the photo!

For more inspiration with our Princess theme, do visit our blog to see more cards from the rest of the team.  That's all for now!