It's Christmas ....

.... well, it will be in just about 5½ months!!!  Good afternoon all, isn't it great when you wake up and feel full of energy and the joy of life - well that's me today.  So much better than the last few days.  I've been playing in my craft room this morning and I've a Christmas card to share with you today:

Stamps: PTI - City Scene Christmas Sentiments
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, Mossy Meadow
Dies: Memory Box - Sparkling Tree Tile
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Mossy Meadow, Perfect Plum; Sequins

I've used the colours from CAS - Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#83, the theme at Merry Monday - MM#117 is sequins and the layout is from our 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown July Blog Hop - 52CCT27-14. The sequins are as close as I could get to the colours. I used my new Memory Box die to cut out the Christmas Tree and adhered a panel of Mossy Meadow card behind.  I added three sequins for sparkle and finished the front with a simple sentiment.  On the inside I cut a panel of Perfect Plum and on the white card stamped a sentiment and fun image of Santa.  I love this new die and will probably use it again soon.

Bye for now!  Hope you're having a good week.

ASM - CAS ....

....  Good afternoon!  I have to apologise to you all, I'm very late with this post; I've not been feeling 100%.  However, this afternoon I've felt well enough to get into my craft room.  This week's challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More! is CAS; that means clean, simple, lots of white space and minimal embellishments.  Here's my take:

Stamps: Eureka Stamps Digi - Holly Square; Stampin' Up! - Curly Cute
Inks: Archival - Jet Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Black Card; Cuttlebug EF - Holly Leaves; Copic Markers; Gold Pental Marker

I used a digi image from our sponsor Eureka Stamps who are giving the winner of this week's challenge 3 digi images!  One advantage of running late is that I've been able to check out the Wednesday challenges and this week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches - FMS#145 is perfect for my card.  I have adapted the sketch a bit by making it landscape and turning the circle to a square.  I printed the digi onto white card, coloured it with Copic markers, added a line of gold, cut it out and then ran a black marker round the outside to define the image.  I embossed a panel of white card with holly leaves, layered it on black card and then adhered to the card base.  I finished the front with a simple sentiment printed onto flags, edged in black and adhered to the card.  The inside is blank.

I'm off for a lie down.  Hopefully, I'll be back tomorrow with another card.  Take care.

My other hobby ....

... Hi all!  I know that I've been a bit quiet on here between Design Team posts, but that's because I've been catching up on my other hobby.  Just to be clear - there are no cards or scrapbook pages involved here, just photos! 

I started going to photo shoots with Jonathan towards the end of last year and I was really good last year, I edited the shoots reasonably promptly.  That has not been the case this year.  Since January, we've been to fourteen shoots and I've only edited photos from three of the shoots!  I'm very, very behind.  I did put up some photos from a pool shoot under my "Non Crafty Photos" along with the links to the sets on Flickr, but I thought I'd share a couple of photos here. 

The first photos feature Jordan, a stunningly beautiful woman, with the longest legs - she's over 6'4" and in heels tops 6'8"!!!  The theme of the shoot was masks and masquerade - many of the photos are not "Facebook" safe, but this one is:

If you want to see more from the Masquerade shoot here are the links: Masks 1 - all family friendly, Masks 2 - part nude - and Masks 3 - nude. This one of Jordan is from the final set Masks 3 and is family friendly:

The next few are from a shoot with Jasmine Sue and Onikaa.  They are both great fun, totally mad and fabulous models. 

The photo shoot was organised by David Birdsong, who has a studio in Pontiac.  For the first part of the shoot we all headed to the streets and found this fantastic wall with the most amazing graffiti which was the perfect background.  We also did some photos of Jasmine and Onikaa under studio lights.  Here's one of Jasmine and then one of Onikaa:

Here are the links to the photos from the shoot - more of Onikaa and Jasmine together, Jasmine in natural light, Onikaa in natural light and finally Onikaa under studio lights and Jasmine under studio lights.  They are all family friendly.

Yesterday, I added another set of photos to be edited.  Jonathan, Kathryn and I attended the July Pool Shoot - more fab models, a wonderful pool and lots of photographers.  I'll be editing the rest of the photos later, but here's a sneak peek - a behind the scenes view!

In the top photo Onikaa is altering a t-shirt for Monique - Onikaa is not only a great model, but she's a talented artist and photographer too.   And the bottom photo is of us, the photographers! 

I'm off to make a card or two now and then later this afternoon, I'll be settling down to watch the Football World Cup final between Germany and Argentina.  I'm supporting Germany!!!  Bye for now.

WMSFC - Sketch ....

....  Good morning everyone!  Tara and I were delighted to see so many gorgeous submissions to our Anything Goes challenge, we hope to see just as many to our new challenge. For the next couple of weeks at Waltzingmouse Fanatics, we'd like you to base your projects on our sketch. Here's my take:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Two Step Sprig, Big Day-Today, Large Doily
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Poppy Parade, More Mustard, Coastal Cabana, Island Indigo; Archival - Jet Black; Versamark
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Island Indigo; Vellum; Clear Embossing Powder; Copic Marker

I've used the colours from Colour Q - cQc#249 - it's been a while since I joined in with this challenge and I'm glad to play along with these wonderful colours.  I stamped the solid leaves in pale aqua directly on the card base and then added the leaf veins with dark teal.  I inked the doily first with Versamark and then pale aqua, stamped onto vellum and heat embossed the image with clear powder.  Then I fussy cut it out - it's actually really easy to do.  I ran the doily through the Xyron to make it self-adhesive and adhered it to the card.  To create the flowers I inked up the solid image and stamped the second generation impression then added the shadows in the same colour with the first generation impression.  After stamping the centre of the flowers I added a little more colour with a Copic marker.  There are no matching dies to these flowers, but they are very easy to cut out.  I attached the large flowers directly to the card and attached the smaller ones with dimensional gel.  I finished the front with an elegant flourish sentiment.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of dark aqua and on the white panel added some leaves and finished off with a small flower.

For more inspiration using the sketch - do check out Tara's card - it's fabulous!  We would love to see your creations based on the sketch.  Our only rule is that you use AT LEAST ONE Waltzingmouse image, sentiment or digi.  You've got plenty of time to join in the fun - the challenge runs until Thursday 24th July, 6.00pm BST (1.00pm EDT).

I've been a bit quiet on the blog lately, I have finally started to edit photos from various photo shoots.  I hope to get a few photos on the blog next week - I think they are all perfectly safe - any that aren't you'll be able to see on Flickr.  We are all off to another photo shoot today - an afternoon in the sun at the pool - should be great fun.  See you soon.

TMR - Games ....

... Hi!  Good morning!  It's time for our new challenge at The Male Room. It looks like the sketch was a bit of a challenge last time, so hopefully this theme will be easier - I certainly think there's lots of scope here. We'd like you to make a masculine card based on the theme GAMES. As I said, lots of scope football, rugby, cricket, baseball, basketball, golf, board games, computer games, etc, etc!!!  Here's my take:

Stamps: Papermania - For Love of Sport; Kanban - Sports
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Archival - Jet Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Black Card; Kanban DP - Football; Copic Markers

As many of you have realised, I like football (soccer) and have been watching the World Cup matches lately. So it is only appropriate the my first card has a football theme.  Going through my stash of papers I found some from Kanban which featured a football pitch.  I cut it out, layered it onto black card and adhered it to the front of the card.  I stamped this fab footballer onto white card and coloured him with Copics.  I guess I should have used blue as I support Chelsea, but red works so much better!  I finished the front with a simple sentiment stamped directly on the pitch.  On the inside I've cut a mat layer of black and on the white panel I added a smaller football pitch with a greeting and a couple of loose balls!

I rather like this theme and have made a couple more cards.  This next one features dominoes and has a very vintage feel.

Stamps: CAS-ual Friday Stamps - Mum's the Word
Ink:  Distress - Antique Linen; Stampin' Up! - Early Espresso
Accessories: Cream Lustre Card; Kaisercraft DP - Art of Life, Pickled Pear; Black Card; Kanban - Games Toppers

I found this super vintage image of a game of dominoes in my stash. The topper started off grey and white, so to make it fit the theme, I rubbed over some Antique Linen Distress ink - I like the subtle shading. I layered the image onto some scrap patterned paper and then on some black card.  I covered the card base with more design paper - this time featuring lots of books.  I finished the card with a simple birthday sentiment.  On the inside there is a mat of design paper and a panel of cream card for my message.

Finally, I've made a card for a teenager - probably for Ben - this time I've gone for a computer games feel. I used the colours from this week's CAS - Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#81.

Stamps: PTI - Boy Basics: Game On
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Crumb Cake, Strawberry Slush; Archival - Jet Black
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Grey

Compared to my first couple of cards, this one is small card, 5" × 3½".  However, it's just the right size to showcase the games controller and inspirational sentiment. I stamped the background using a couple of other images from the set and used the second generation impressions so that the colour was a bit muted. I cut a mat layer of basic grey card and edged the white panel with a hint of pink to pick up the pink stamps on the card. The inside is blank for my own message.

For more inspirational project using the Games theme, check out the cards by the rest of the Design Team.  That's all for now.  See you soon.

Happy Birthday ....

.... Good morning everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your weekend. Today I've a bold, bright birthday card to share with you. I used a few challenges in the making of this one:

• CAS(E) this Sketch! - CTS#83
• Inkspirational Challenge - INK#60
• Addicted to CAS - ATCAS#42

Stamps: Dare 2B Artzy - Lift Your Spirits; WPlus9 - Basic Banners; Stampin' Up! - Endless Birthday Wishes
Inks: SU - Only Orange (discontinued); Memento - Tuxedo Black, London Fog
Dies: Dare 2B Artzy - Hot Air Balloons; WPlus9 - Basic Banner
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Tangerine Tango; SU/Sizzix EF - Cloudy Day; Copic Markers

I used the layout from CAS(E) this Sketch! adapting it a bit to fit the fact that I've a big hot air balloon on the card. I stamped the image onto white card and coloured with Copic markers. I made the background by embossing white card with my SU Cloudy Day EF; which is actually in landscape format, so I had to add a bit to make it fit this card. I layered the embossed panel onto orange card and finished the front with a simple banner birthday sentiment. Both the sentiment and hot air balloon were attached with dimensional tape. On the inside I cut another mat of orange card and on the white panel stamped a trio of smaller hot air balloons, coloured them and added a birthday greeting.

I am safe to share this card with you today, as we were at Rachel's party yesterday. I picked orange because Rachel's family originally come from Holland and and orange is the country's national colour. Yesterday was not only Rachel's birthday, but Holland were playing in the World Cup quarter finals against Costa Rica.  It was a fantastic match, being 0-0 at full time and after 30 minutes extra time too.  So it went to penalties, which is always tough, but Holland pulled it off and beat Costa Rica 4-3 on penalties!  Yea!!!  It was a very happy party :)

Happy Birthday Kylie ....

... Hello again!  I'm back with a birthday card for a special lady - Kylie Purtell.  I think most of us know Kylie either through Addicted to Stamps and More!, Addicted to CAS, STAMPlorations or Inspired by Stamping.  I was lucky enough to join Kylie's team at ASM last year and have been getting to know her better. 

Today it is Kylie's birthday and Loll thought it would be fun to celebrate Kylie's day with a Birthday Blog Party.  If you want to make a card and share it with Kylie, then you can link to Loll's blog.  Here's my card for Kylie:

Stamps: Hero Arts - High Heels
Inks: Versamark
Dies: Spellbinders - Rectangles Sm (S4-130) #5, Rectangles Lg (S4-132) #5
Accessories: Stampin' Up! Card - Garden Green, Melon Mambo; Black Card; White Lustre Card; Black/White Check Paper; Cuttlebug EF - D'Vine Swirls; Perfect Pearls; Pebbles Inc Chalks - Brights; White Embossing Powder; Wink of Stella Brush - Clear

Last week I attended a class on the Faux Chalkboard technique, run by Valerie Brincheck at Stampeddler (my local craft store).  I used one of the techniques I learnt to make Kylie's card.  I stamped this fabulous shoe in Versamark on to black paper and then heat embossed it with white powder.  Then I painted the shoe with chalk.  I used my aqua brush to pick up chalk and apply it, like paint, to the shoe.  It's a bit strange because you can't see the chalk at it goes on, but as it dries the colours "magically" appear.  I added a touch of sparkle to the shoe's inside and heel.  I cut out the image and checked backing paper with rectangular dies.  I made the card base from green card and cut a panel of pink to go on top.  I embossed the pink card, inked the swirls with Versamark and then rubbed Perfect Pearls over the top giving a lovely green shimmer.  On the inside of the card I cut a mat layer of the checked paper, a panel of white and a fun sentiment.

I don't think Kylie will have received the card yet, but it is on the way!!  Kylie, I hope you have a fabulous birthday and that this Birthday Blog Party is a real surprise.  Have fun!!

52CCT - Christmas Blog Hop ....

.... Hi!  We're doing something a bit different this month. Welcome to the 52 {Christmas} Card Christmas in July Blog Hop!  If you've arrived here from Danielle's blog you are on the right track!  If you haven't and want to participate for a chance to win honours and/or prizes, please go back to the original hop post and follow along with us!  Come and take a peek at the creations I made using our prompts for the month!

Dies: Spellbinders - A2 Matting Basics A (S5-131) #4, A2 Matting Basics B (S5-132) # 6 & #7
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Black Card; Silver Peel-offs (stickers); Copics; Sakura Glaze Gel and Moonlight Pens

I decided to pick our Stash challenge and use up some of my enormous collection of peel-off stickers.  I adhered the large candle onto some scrap white card and then coloured it with a mixture of Copic markers and Sakura Glaze Gel pens.  You can't really see it in the picture above, but the big candle has a lovely shine.  I used a die to cut the rectangle.  On the black panel I adhered a simple peel-off sentiment (which is actually silver and not gold as it appears here), a couple more candles and some little bubbles.  I coloured the smaller candles with Sakura Moonlight Pens which are opaque on black and also a bit neon.  On the inside I cut another mat layer in black and on the white panel added a simple sentiment and another candle.  I coloured the candle with Copic markers while it was still on the carrier sheet, once dry I carefully removed it and it is now multi-coloured!!!

I was on a bit of a roll, so I decided to make another card with peel-offs.  Once again there is no stamping on this card at all.

Dies: Spellbinders - A2 Modern Stationary (S5-219) #5, #6 and #7
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Black Card; Silver Peel-offs (stickers); Copics

This one is ultra clean and simple.  I made the shaped card by using my Spellbinder die to cut the card base and also the black panel.  On the panel I added a simple Christmas tree with a little robin (silver peel-offs) and a fun sentiment on the side.  On the inside I cut a mat layer in black and added a white panel on which I adhered some more Christmas trees.  I coloured them while still on the carrier sheet.

Thank you for coming by to leave a comment!  Don't forget--hop along with us starting at the original 52CCT post for multiple chances to win honours and prizes!  Your next stop will be Fabiola!  Merry hopping!  Have fun and see you soon.

Independence Day ....

.... I'd like to wish all my American friends a very Happy Independence Day. Our first Independence Day was spent in Chicago in 2012 and last year we were in the UK. To all my American Friends - enjoy the holiday.

That's it for today!  See you soon.

Brighten my day ....

.... Hello and good morning everyone.  I was going through my challenge book last night and realised that I'm really behind on playing along with challenges, but I did see that I still have a couple of days to join in with Addicted to CAS - ATCAS#41 where the cue word is SUN.  It's been a while since I played along, and here's the card I made:

Stamps: Avery Elle - Bright Days, All Squared Up
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Hello Honey
Dies: Spellbinders - Circles Sm (S4-116) #3
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Daffodil Delight; SU DP - Daffodil Delight

I've gone for a very literal take on the cue word with a huge sun and simple sentiment.  I made this by stamping the ray around the corner of the card in three colours and then adding a die cut yellow circle on top.  I finished with a simple sentiment in the opposite corner.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of yellow design paper and added another sun and sentiment in the corner, leaving lots of space for a message.

I have to tell you that this is not the idea that I started with.  There's a gorgeous sun ray stamp (the one I used on the inside) in the Bright Days set and I thought it would a stunning image for the front of the card.  But I got a bit carried away with stamping layers and ended up with a bright, bold piece of card - but it's not CAS!  I have to say that I love the way it turned out.  It has gone into my scrap pile for now, but I'll have to think of a way to use it!

The last paragraph in yesterday's post I told you I was going to watch the USA v Belgium match at the World Cup.  I watched it, and sadly I have to report that the USA have not made it through to the Quarter finals.  It was a super game.  The final score, after 30 minutes extra time, was 2 - 1 to Belgium.  Tim Howard, USA goalie, was magnificent!   I think it won't be long before the US actually wins the World Cup!  They really believe they can!

That's it for now.  Kathryn had a friend over last night for a sleep over - so totally inappropriately named!  I don't think they fell asleep until gone midnight!  I think we might be going to the movies this morning that is, of course, if they can wake up!!  See you soon.