Christmas colours .....

.... Hi everyone, it's time for another challenge from 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown.  Ruth has picked us some wonderful colours for our cards - kraft, red and white, here's my take:

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Compliments of the Season Two; Stampin' Up! - Sassy Salutations
Inks: SU - Crumb Cake, Real Red
Dies: Spellbinders - Create a Flake Three (S4-340), 2010 Snowflake Pendant (S4-286)
Accessories: Cuttlebug EF - Snow Crystals; White Lustre Card; SUDP - Crumb Cake, Real Red; Martha Stewart Snowflake Punch; Red Ribbon; Vellum; White Glitter Paper; Gem

I used a couple of additional challenges in the making of this card.  I used the layout from this week's CAS - Colours and Sketches - CASC&S42 and also this week's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Emboss It.  I started by stamping the sentiment at the top right in Crumb Cake ink and then embossing snowflakes over the front.  I cut a strip of design paper and layered on red ribbon and attached the panel directly to the card.  Next it was simply a case of die cutting the snowflake - I used vellum for the bottom layer, white glitter paper for the middle and finished with a punched snowflake in red.  I top it all with a single crystal gem. I think these colours are just lovely for Christmas Cards and this card was really quick to make. For the inside I simply cut a mat layer in Crumb Cake.  Using the little snowflake negative as a stencil, I sponged snowflakes over the white card and finished with a bold sentiment in red.

Below is a close up of the snowflake - you can really see the shimmer of the glitter and the sheer embossed pattern in the vellum.

That's all for now.  Don't forget to check out the inspiration cards from the rest of the Design Team - as always, they have awesome cards to share.  And for September Margaret, a long time player of our challenge, has joined us as our Guest Designer.  Have a super weekend.

Birthday invitations .....

.... Morning - I was busy making Kathryn's birthday invitations yesterday - she's having her party on Saturday 14th, so I've left it a bit late!!  However, it shouldn't be a problem as she and her friends have been discussing it for a while!  I used the theme from this week's CAS- Colours & Sketches Challenge - CASC&S41 - rainbow colours.  Here are the cards I made:

Stamps: Lil Inkers - Notebook Doodles; My Favourite Things - Just the Ticket, Playlist, For the Record
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Stampin' Up! - Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Garden Green, Pool Party
Dies: Lil Inkers - Notebook
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Various Copic and Sakura Stardust pens; SU Markers - Basic Grey, Real Red, Basic Black

This is the first time I've inked up the doodle stamps.  I used Copics and Sakura Stardust pens to colour in the doodles, it was such fun!  Then I cut out eight notebook pages and stamped on the lines.  For the words on the pages I used a mixture of stamps from My Favourite Things and some of the doodle images.  The reverse of the invitation gives details of the party:

I've blanked out the address and telephone number.  Each card is slightly different; I used different colours to stamp "legit" and "OMGEE!" on each card.  I put each invitation card into a glassine envelope and added a name label.

Below are the other three invitation cards - as you can see - there are a few subtle differences between them.

That's all for now.  I've got a really busy day lined up - sadly all involving housework.  My ironing basket is piled high - so I'll be doing it all in front of the TV and watch a movie at the same time.  See you soon.

WMS Fanatics Sketch Challenge ....

... Good morning fellow Waltzingmouse Fans!  Today's the day that our new challenge at Waltzingmouse Fanatics launches - yea!!!  We're starting off with a touch of the familiar - a sketch - and I've made a couple of cards to share with you.  Here's the first:

Stamps: WMS - Simple Sprig, Big Day - Today
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Basic Grey, Island Indigo, Regal Rose, Raspberry Ripple
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Circle Punches - ½" and ¾"

This is really clean and simple.  I used the colours from this week's Colour Q - cQc205 challenge.  I stamped the leaves (using the second impression for a softer look) twice following the shape of the curve.  I then stamped the roses onto white card and used punches to cut them out.  I glued some of the roses flat to the card and some I attached with dimensional tape.  Don't you love the font Claire used for the sentiment?  I've left the inside of this card blank.  The card measure 5½" × 4¼".  So pleased to finally ink up my new stamps :)

My second card is for my son Ben who has just moved into his own place.  At the grand age of 17½ years, Ben has decided that he wants to live on his own.  As you can imagine, I'm very proud that he wants his independence, but at the same time I'm a bit worried.  I've used my all time favourite WM set - Free Spirit Boy - seemed appropriate!

Stamps: WMS - Free Spirit Boy, North Shore, Tying the Knot, Playful Pinwheels, Sewing Box - Hugs
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Lucky Limeade; Distress - Iced Spruce
Accessories: SU DP - Old Olive, Lucky Limeade; White Lustre Card; SU Card - Old Olive; SU Markers - Chocolate Chip, Old Olive

This card measures 7" × 5".  I used the current Colour Throwdown Challenge - CTD258 - I really like the colours; perfect for a guy card.  I used Iced Spruce (second impression) to stamp the circles on the background.  I cut a panel in white,stamped the rope image around the edge and attached it to the card base.  I really like the wing effect on the surfer image from North Shore and thought it would work to frame a sweet house.  I stamped the image in Chocolate chip and cut it out by hand.  I stamped the house onto design paper and white card, cut out the image and created the little house above.  For the inside I cut a mat layer in Old Olive and on the white panel I stamped some more of the circles and a couple of sentiments.  I think the sentiment from Tying the Knot is perfect - as I remember when I first moved into my own place, I did find it a bit tough.  And the "be happy" bit speaks for itself!

Here's the sketch that we're playing with - all we ask is that you use at least ONE Waltzingmouse image or sentiment and link up your card by Thursday 19th September, 5pm (that's noon EDT in Michigan).

Don't forget to pop over to Tara's blog and check out her cards - they're fab!  Really looking forward to seeing your creations.  Oh yes, before I go, I should let you know that our first winner will receive £20 credit from Claire to go shopping at Waltzingmouse Stamps.

Here are the graphics from the Colour Q and Colour Throwdown challenges - great colours!

Well, that's all for now.  We're off to a pool party this afternoon, making the most of the last of the hot summer sunshine.  Have a super weekend, see you soon.

Christmas sketch ....

.... Wow - the last couple of weeks have simply flown by.  We're well into September, and I've noticed a definite chill in the air first thing in the morning!  This month our challenges at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown are being set by Ruth and she has a super sketch for us this week.  Here's my take:

Stamps:  Rubber Stampede - Santa Collage; Stampin' Up! - Christmas Messages
Inks:  Versafine - Onyx Black; SU - Bermuda Bay
Dies: Die-namics - Chevrons; Spellbinders - Plain Ovals Sm (S4-112) #4, Scalloped Ovals Sm (S4-113) #4
Accessories:  White Lustre Card; Black Card; Silver Linen Texture Foil Card; SU Marker - Bermuda Bay; Gems; Promarker - Turquoise

I've gone for quite a clean, graphic look.  I used the colours from this week's Just Add Ink - JAI181 challenge.  I turned the sketch to make a portrait style and I've just realised that I attached the ribbon on the wrong side - hey ho!!  I cut chevrons in black and silver and layered them together, using the silver/black ribbon on the front and the black/silver ribbon on the inside.  I used my favourite Santa stamp for the main image and used an oval die to cut out the face and layered it onto some linen textured foil card.  I added just a touch of colour to the image by colouring the spectacle frames and iris in Bermuda Bay; I coloured the gems to match.  For the inside I stamped the Santa image (using the second impression) and a bold sentiment in Bermuda Bay.

I took a close up photo of the Santa image to really show the colour - it really pops!!

Don't forget to check out the inspiration cards from the rest of the Design Team.  Can't wait to see what you make with this sketch.  See you soon.

I've been playing with photos ....

... Hi - it's been a while!  I'm fully recovered from the bug I picked up on holiday; why is it that happens?  Hey ho! By the way, this is a picture heavy post and there's not a card in sight!!

Last week I took Kathryn to the hair dresser.  She's been dying (sorry) to have her hair done for ages and, as the school doesn't worry about it, we got it done!!  Kathryn's absolutely thrilled with it!

 I love the colour that Kathryn picked.  You should have seen Jonathan's face when he got home from work :)))

Last weekend was the Labour Day holiday and we went out with a group of friends to a lovely lake in one of the local State Parks.  The weather was absolutely perfect - warm, sunny, but not too hot.  The kids (big and little) had a great time playing in the lake and I had a super time taking lots of photos.  Here are few of the day:

It was a brilliant day out - I love the photo of the children with the sandcastle which they built with the "help" of the big kids!  Here's the link to the rest of the photos!

On Labour day we headed out the Michigan Renaissance Festival.  It was absolutely fabulous.  And I had my camera out again.  I took lots of photos and here are a few:

If you want to see the rest of the photos from the day, they are on Flickr and here's the link!

I've been taking lots more photos recently - hence not getting into my craft room much last week - I was going through the several hundred photos on my computer and picking out my favourites.  Since moving to the US I've been meaning to make some scrapbooks and not done it yet, but I really think that I have fix that!  I've got so, so many photos!

Kathryn started back to school on Tuesday; she was really quite pleased to go back and see her friends.  And Jonathan's back to work too.  Now that their routines have returned to normal, hopefully I'll get back onto schedule a bit too.  I've missed lots of recent challenges, and there have been some super sketches and colours too.  That's all for now.  See you soon.

Pick a previous ....

... sketch and colour combination - that's the challenge that Sarah has set for us at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown.  You can find our previous sketches here and the colour combinations here.  I had fun going through previous challenges and here's my card:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Text-It, Compliments of the Season; Stampin' Up! - Serene Snowflakes
Inks: Versamark; SU - Night of Navy, Bashful Blue
Dies: Lil Inkers - Stitched Circles # 1, 2 and 3
Accessories:  SU Card - Night of Navy; Crystal Glitter; QKR Stampede - Sticky Powder; White Lustre Card

I used Sketch 10 (October 2012) and Colour Combination 16 (April 2013).  I saw this sketch and immediately thought of Christmas baubles, but when I saw the colours I changed my mind and settled on snowflakes!  I masked the edges on the base card and then stamped the text background in Bashful Blue.  I used the lovely stitched circles to cut out the circles (I turned the panel through 180° before attaching it to the card base).  I stamped some snowflakes in Versamark and added QKR StickyPowder which I heated and then added glitter - it works really well and the glitter doesn't shed!  Next I randomly stamped small snowflakes in navy and finished with an appropriate sentiment.  For the inside I cut a mat in navy and on the white panel I stamped snowflakes around the edge and finished with a bold sentiment.  Below is a close up where you can see the snowflakes on the navy panel - they don't show up very well in the main picture.  And you can really see the glitter snowflakes too!

I used a couple of my favourite Walztingmouse stamp sets on this card, so I'm submitting it to the Golden Oldies category over at the Waltzingmouse Pajama Party! 

I'm really looking forward to seeing what combinations you come up with for this week's challenge - see you all soon.

Sorry I've not been around much this week - it seems that going on holiday is not good for my health!!!  I've been feeling really poorly since coming home and last night was the first time I got to play in my craft room.  Have a great weekend!