Tuesday 28 October 2014

CAS(E) this Sketch Challenge # 97

The sun has come back after disappearing for a few days, so the garden is begging me to come and play. It will have to wait till I finish a few jobs (including this one) until I can get my hands dirty!





I was quite fascinated with this sketch when I saw it on the CAS(E) this Sketch blog the other day and wondered what I could come up with. I don't have many small metal dies or punches, so as usual I had to think outside the box....




I thought that I may not have enough room to die cut a whole image but there is no reason why I can't cut half of it! 

I laid the rainbow die so it was half over the panel and held it there with washi tape. After cutting that one I did the same on the other side. Then the fun began. I die cut rainbows from light and dark pink cardstock and also gold. I worked out the pattern and then flipped the panel over. I placed each strip in the hole and held it there with tiny pieces of washi tape until all strips were in. Thank goodness you can't see the back of this panel!! It was then popped up on foam tape. I then heat embossed the sentiment in gold and adhered it to the panel with small strips of foam tape under each end to keep it straight. This was a very fiddly card but so worth it!

The rainbow metal die is from Paper Smooches. The sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh and sentiment from Hero Arts 'Year Round Sentiments'.

As I used Kraft cardstock, I'm also going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is to 'Get Krafty and use Kraft Cardstock.

I have a class to attend this afternoon from 1pm to 4pm. Its part of an 8 week Pain Management Course for my Fibromyalgia. Its really interesting, although some of the dvd's nearly cause me to fall asleep. There are 8 other people there who are equally split into wanting to be there and will try anything to ease their pain. And the other half joke or whinge the whole time and don't want to try anything. Very frustrating as I wonder why they are there but trying to ignore them and get as many ideas as I can. And if anything else, its 3 hours away from housework!!!

Take care
Shona

Monday 27 October 2014

Addicted to Stamps Challenge # 118

I knew it finally had to happen but have been fighting it for weeks. I couldn't help myself though when I saw the Addicted to Stamps Challenge and their theme is 'Holiday'. So, the Christmas card making has begun:



I was very naughty the other day and finally purchased a set of circle dies. I have been looking for them for months and they were just what I needed for this card.

I die cut a circle in the front of the card with the second largest die. I then used that one plus the largest die to cut a circular frame from silver cardstock. This was glued around the hole. I then stamped the sentiment thru the hole (so I could make sure it was centered on the inside of the card) in Versamark Ink and heat embossed in silver. A strip of silver washi tape was added to the bottom of the card. And I also glued on three light-blue sequins around the sentiment because it needed a touch of another colour. For my first Xmas card I'm pretty happy with it!

The circle metal dies are from Couture Creations. The sentiment from Lawn Fawn 'Peace Joy Love'. The silver washi tape is from Papervine and sequins from Avery Elle.

I'm not sure if it quite fits the bill but I'm going to also link this to the CAS on Sunday Challenge # 45 where their theme is 'One layer wonder'.


Talk about a change in the weather!! After the past week being full of hot sunshine (and lots of it), we have today reverted back to winter with rain, cold winds and freezing temperatures. It would have been fantastic to stay inside today and make lots of cards but unfortunately its a public holiday so EVERYONE is stuck inside and the fighting has begun.... Oh goodie. 

Take care
Shona
 

 

Saturday 25 October 2014

CASology Challenge - Week # 118 (second entry)

Yep, I missed one week and couldn't help myself, I just had to make another card!


The cue word at CASology this week certainly made me think a lot about my home and how I want it to be inviting to everyone, especially all the children that we seem to have visiting all the time. So for my second card I decided to embrace the little girl inside me and go with pink!



I decided to grab out my 'house' stencil and go to town with Spun Sugar Distress Ink. I then stamped the sentiment in Versamark Ink and heat embossed in Silver. A few pretty pink sequins and I was finished. Can imagine this one will be living in Phoebe's room!

The stencil is from Teresa Collins 'Basically Essential'. The sentiment is from Rosies Studio. The light pink sequins are from Neat and Tangled and darker pink from Pretty Pink Posh.

Its Labour Day on Monday which means a day off. Well, a day off for people in paid work. We also have a long weekend next weekend as well, so Dave has taken the four days in-between as holidays. He has been wandering around talking about how good it is to have a holiday and putting his feet up to watch his favourite tv programmes. I still seem to be making dinner, doing the washing, cleaning the toilet etc. When does my holiday start???????......I feel a weekend at my Mum's coming on......

Take care
Shona
 

Cure for the Monday Blues Challenge # 32

Boy oh boy what a busy day!! I spent most of my day helping someone else with their garden, managed an hour in my own and even played some tennis with Max. I'm pooped but was such a warm sunny day, I didn't want to stay inside at all!

I was so glad that Taheerah had to extend the challenge deadline for the Cure for the Monday Blues last week, as I loved the photo but wasn't able to get a card organised.

Of course I love all the white in the photo but also the gold and silver layered jewellery really caught my eye. So.....






It was actually quite hard to photograph this card because the sunlight kept making the silver cardstock look like it was white, so I hope you can see the difference.

I cut strips of silver cardstock and one of gold and die cut along each edge. I layered them on top of each other and glued inbetween. I then stuck them on to the card front with double sided tape. I stamped the sentiment on to a thinner piece of white cardstock and cut fishtails at both ends. This was popped up on foam tape. A couple of pale pink enamel dots and voila!

The metal stitched scallop die is from Pretty Pink Posh. The sentiment is from Altenew 'Sohcahtoa' and the enamel dots from Papervine.

I'm also going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

One more card to post and then I'm going to bed with my laptop to watch the last two episodes of Scandal and Revenge. Just hope I can keep my eyes open so I don't miss any good bits!!!!

Take care
Shona

 

Friday 24 October 2014

CASology Challenge Week # 118

So nice to finally feel my mojo beginning to return!! Unfortunately after dental surgery last Friday I'm still in a lot of pain but its slowly getting better, and so is my card making brain.


I wasn't able to join in with the challenge last week at CASology (they must have wondered where I was??!) so I had to make sure I was part of this one.

When I was thinking about 'home', I thought about how important the feeling of having a home (not necessarily a house) is and how you miss it so much when your not there. So.....





This is exactly the feeling I was going for, missing your home. I finally came across some gorgeous wood veneer houses from Freckled Fawn and their hearts can be removed. I coloured this heart with a red marker, gave it a coating in Wink of Stella and then covered it with Glossy Accents. After stamping the sentiment (from Hero Arts) I glued the house directly to the card and then the heart in the middle. Talk about simple!!

Over at the Mod Squad Challenge the theme for this week is 'Its your Favourite', which means you can create any type of card which is your favourite to do. You know I LOVE my CAS cards, the more white card showing the better, so will link to this challenge.

And will also link to the Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'. This is my second entry.

I'm so tired but managed to finish another card tonight. We are going away this coming Thursday for three nights, so I'm trying to get as many challenge cards finished before I go. Four days with no craft products around me....how will I cope??!! I can imagine the kids will keep me busy, I can't wait!

Take care
Shona

 

Thursday 23 October 2014

TIME OUT Challenge # 17

Hard to believe I know but another two weeks have flown by and we are ready for another challenge at TIME OUT.

This time we are to be inspired by the words:

                                 Birds of a feather flock together

You can use these words to create any ideas you like, whether you focus on one word or the phrase itself, its totally up to you.

We are also joined by a Guest Designer for this challenge, Jill V from My Life in Paper. Her cards are so clever and creative, and she does amazing things with colour. I hope you get a chance to pop over to her blog and see her creations.

Birds certainly came to mind when thinking about this challenge and also feathers. While sorting through my stamp sets I came across one that I hadn't used and thought it would be perfect!


 
Just before my father passed away last year, I mentioned to him about these cute little birds I had seen while walking the dogs along the river. He told me they were Swallows and they were flying around so close because they were protecting their nests. Now, whenever I see them I always think of him and wonder if its him checking up on me. So this card is for you Dad!

I started by cutting some vellum to the size of my card. I stamped the 'Swallow' stamp randomly with Versamark ink and heat embossed in silver. I then found a light grey patterned paper, cut to the size of the card front and adhered it directly. Vellum is always hard for me to attach, so this time I used double-sided tape in tiny pieces and put it behind each bird, with pieces in each corner. To carry on the 'circle' theme of the pattern paper, I used a circle hole punch on white card stock and stamped my sentiment in red. 

I just love this card and the more I practice my heat embossing, the better its gradually becoming (thank goodness!). 

The 'Swallow' stamp is from Rosies Studio. The patterned paper is from Chickaniddy Crafts 'Jolly Good' and the sentiment stamp is also from Rosies Studio.

As I've done some embossing, I'm going to link this to the challenge at CAS on Sunday #44 where their theme is 'Emboss it'.

And since I used vellum, I will link this also to Addicted to CAS # 50 where their theme is 'Vellum'.

Also, as I've stamped and embossed with this card, I'll link to the Stamplorations October Challenge where their theme is:




And lucky last, I will also link to the Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

Whew, what a list!!

You have two weeks to join in with the TIME OUT challenge and if you need any inspiration, please go over to the blog to see what the Design Team have created, their cards are simply amazing!! Really hope to see you there and can't wait to visit your own blog too!

Take care
Shona



Thursday 16 October 2014

Addicted to CAS Challenge # 49



So, the theme at Addicted to CAS this challenge is 'Stencil'. To be honest, I only have a few stencils but don't use them very often. I'm not very confident with them and they just don't come into my mind with any card designs. So this challenge is perfect because it makes me think about it!


This probably isn't the common way to use stencils so hopefully it will be acceptable...

I started by using a house stencil on white cardstock and coloured it with Distress Ink in Picked Raspberry. I then cut it out by hand. I was going to put it straight on the card front but decided I needed something else to make it pop. So cut a rectangle of striped paper and adhered it straight to the card front. Black ink for the sentiment wasn't going to look right so managed to find a stamp that fit perfectly within the heart and heat embossed in gold. This was then put over the stripes with foam tape. I added only a few sequins as the house is the star!!!

I really like this and think I could even use this idea for Xmas cards, if I can find a stamp to fit in the heart with a Xmas sentiment.

The heart stencil is from Teresa Collins 'Basically Essential'. The striped paper is from Teresa Collins 'Save the Date'. The sentiment stamp is from Rosies Studio. The pink sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh and the gold from Neat and Tangled.

Will also link this to the Virginia's View Challenge # 8 where the theme is 'Clean and Simple'. This is my billionth entry.

Yesterday I got an email blog post from the Paper Crafters Library which still has me smiling! Its a post called Trend Watch - Focal Point Greetings and the very first photo is my card...eeeekkkk! Its a card that I created for a challenge at Addicted to Stamps and was my first ever win. 

Its so exciting to be included in a list with the likes of Ashley Marcu, Jocelyn Olson, Kathy Racoosin and MY CRAFT IDOL Laura Bassen. But not only that, two crafting friends, Michelle from I Card Everyone and Toni from Frankie Helps Craft are also featured. That's so awesome, congratulations guys!!!!

Just in case you don't see me around for the next few days, I'm having oral surgery tomorrow and sounds like I'll be in hospital all day. Will be a good excuse tomorrow night to sit in bed with the laptop and see what you've all been up too!

Take care
Shona


Monday 13 October 2014

Getting to know you blog hop

Well, its finally time for me to join in with the blog hop that has swept 'craft blogland' over the past few months. I am honoured to have been tagged a few times to join in with this hop in the past (you know who you are, you lovely ladies!!) but life, as usual, was always overwhelming me and I couldn't jump in with both feet.

So, now that things aren't quite so chaotic, I was lucky enough to be tagged by my wonderful friend Anita (also known as Anita in France) who has her blog My Papercraft World. She's a rather popular young lady (as many of you will know) and if you don't know, please pop on over to meet her and take in the wonder of her cards. They really are amazing! 

Anita was one of the very first people to comment on my blog and has stuck with me ever since. We are now on the Design Team together for TIME OUT CHALLENGES which is extra awesome. So thank you Anita, here I go:

What creative projects are you currently working on?

Card challenges, I LOVE card challenges. Looking at my trusty calendar, I have at least 5 challenges (at this stage) that I need to make cards for by Sunday. Its very rare for me to have a card that takes me days or weeks and I have to finish a card before I start another. And each fortnight its a new TIME OUT challenge, so always have ideas for that swirling around in my mind. Here are a few of my more complicated cards:





What inspires your designs? 

Everything! Flowers, clothing, business logos, house magazines, food packaging, other cards, Pinterest...its everywhere! House magazines are really good for colours and I'm always ripping out pages of geometric patterns on plates, pillows etc. All the blogs I follow of other card designers are extremely inspirational and give me so many ideas and techniques to try.




Also the challenges themselves have fantastic photos, colour combo's and words that spin my mind with all sorts of thoughts. One of my favourites is the CASology Challenge. They have a different word each week and I push myself to come out with the weirdest interpretation. For example, their latest cue word is 'Splatter'. I immediately thought of 'blood splatter' (being a horror movie buff) and this is the card I came up with. 



What method/process do you apply to each of your creative projects and how long does each one take?

If its clear in my head, I feel the need to make it as soon as I can and I usually finish a card in an evening. I'm a real night-owl and often don't go to bed till 3am.

If I'm not sure what to do, I'll google the word for ideas or if a colour I will go thru my papers. Or will sort thru my stamps for inspiration. These are a few of my 'I know exactly what to do' cards:


 

If you had to describe your signature style, what would it be?

Clean and Simple. Its funny because when I started making cards a year ago I had no idea what I wanted to do. I had twine, lace and all sorts of stuff. Now  the more white I have showing on a card, the better. These are some of my favourites:




What are three crafting product/tools you can't live without?

My We R Memory Keepers paper trimmer/scoring board....its the best! My scissors and my foam tape. I LOVE foam tape and would hate to think about how many rolls of it I have gone thru this year.....

And for a laugh I thought I would show you the first card that ever appeared on my blog. Oh how far I have come:



Now this is where I'm going to do things a little differently. Normally I would tag two people to carry this on but everyone I know has already taken part and I just don't feel right about approaching someone who doesn't know me.

So, I decided to mention some of the people who's work I admire and set up links to their blogs. I wish I could mention all the blogs I follow but we would be here for days.....

Laura Bassen of Doublestick Heaven 
Jennifer McGuire of Jennifer McGuire Ink 
Ardyth Percy Robb of MASKerade 
Nichol Magouirk of Nichol Magouirk
Therese Calvird of Lost in Paper 
Julie Ebersole of Paper Trufflez 

When I started my blog just over a year ago and then started joining challenges in January this year, I found following the blogs of these incredible designers so helpful with ideas, techniques and support. Even though they are super busy and extremely popular, they have always replied to my email questions. They are all talented and super sweet too!   

Well, I think that's enough about me. You've probably had enough of me to last you six months!! I hope you've found it interesting, as I've certainly enjoyed reading about yourselves. Starting this blog and discovering card making has really changed my life for the better and meeting all of you is really the icing on the cake!!

The new series of The Walking Dead starts in five minutes, so I'm off to grab my Peanut M&M's and settle into the couch to watch. 

Take care
Shona




 

The Cutting Edge Challenge # 12

I seem to be going thru a 'die cutting' phase at the moment with a bit of stamping added in. A little while ago it was the other way around. Does anyone else find themselves doing this?? 





When I saw this image for the latest challenge at The Cutting Edge I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do, so got straight to work. It did take a little while because it was a bit fiddly but oh so worth it.




I started by die-cutting the rainbow from both silver cardstock and pink patterned paper. I put the rainbow together and used washi tape at the back to hold it together. After die-cutting the clouds, I adhered the rainbow with foam tape and stamped the sentiment. I cut a piece of striped pink paper to go behind the clouds and glued this to the card front. Foam tape was added to the cloud panel and stuck to the card front. A couple of pink and silver sequins and I was finished. Silver and pink goodness!!

The rainbow die is from Paper Smooches. The clouds dies are from Couture Creations. Both pink papers are from Lawn Fawn 'Let's Polka'. The sentiment is from Rosies Studio and the pink sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh.

I'm linking this to the Colour Q Challenge #262 and in honour of it being Cancer Awareness Month, their colour theme is 'silver, pink and black'. I kept these colours in mind when designing this card.

 

I'm also going to link this to the House of Cards October Challenge where their theme is 'Punches or dies or both'. This is my 2 billionth entry!!

And I will also link to the Artful Crafts October Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

I'm off out into the sunshine now to take Bella for a run by the river. She has caught two huge river rats in the last few days. She doesn't eat them, thank goodness but plays with them like a cat with a mouse. Its quite funny to watch but they always manage to get away, much to her frustration. I'm so glad she doesn't want to bring them home with her...eeewwww......

Take care
Shona

Muse Challenge # 88

Its 11.40am Monday morning and the house is completely quiet. Yes, the kids went back to school this morning. They were happy to be seeing all their friends and I was happy to have a bit more of 'me time'. Although I do miss their laughter and cuddles. Won't be long till 3pm and maybe I'll be wishing for quiet time again......





This is our incredible inspiration card for Muse this week, by the amazing Vicki Dutcher. I just knew this would be a chance to get out my heat gun and try some more embossing, as I sure do need the practice!




I loved Vicki's card so much I didn't really stray too far from her original design. I have these fantastic doily stamps that I hardly use, so stamped and heat embossed in gold, in a random design. I adhered the black panel straight to the front of my white card. I decided to heat emboss the sentiment in gold as well, on to a strip of vellum. This was glued straight to the front too. No rhinestones, sequins or enamel dots this time. I love how it turned out, thank you Vicki so much for the inspiration!!

The doily stamps are from Couture Creations and the sentiment from Sullivans. 

I'm also going to link this to the challenge at Addicted to Stamps #116 where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

Will also link to the Stamplorations October Challenge where their theme is 'Stamping and Embossing'.

And last but not least, will link to the CAS on Sunday Challenge #44 where their theme is 'Emboss it'.

I've got one more card to post and then I have a few jobs to do with my blog. Although, I don't really know much about blog design but hopefully I can figure out what I need to do without making too much of a mess. Just such a good time to do it with no one around, as I need 100% of my brain to work it all out!

Take care
Shona

Friday 10 October 2014

Winnie and Walter - WCMD Challenge: On Trend with Lea

I've had a busy week joining all sorts of challenges, one of them being the numerous ones for WCMD at Winnie and Walter.  They decided to turn their World Card Making Day into World Card Making Week and have left their challenges open until Saturday October 11th 11.55pm. That means you still have time to join in too!

This time I joined the challenge where Lea was looking at the trend of 'Camera's'. They really are everywhere from papers to stamps and stickers to dies. I was amazed after going thru all my craft goodies as to how many different camera products I have!!

I found one paper that I have wanted to use for weeks and this seemed like the perfect time:





I love this light green/blue so much, I'm trying to find a nail polish to match for Summer! 

I adhered the paper to some white card-stock to give it some strength. I then cut thru it and added foam tape to the back of each piece. After working out where the paper would go, I stamped my sentiment and then stuck the panels to the card front. I added some enamel dots in a similar green colour and then some silver twine at the top. I really struggle to tie twine nicely but this time, my bow was perfect!!!  I really love this card, its one of my favourites from this week.

The camera paper is from Dear Lizzy 'Polka Dot Party'. The sentiment is from Fiskars 'Say What?'. The enamel dots are from My Minds Eye.

I'm going to link this to the Lawnscaping Challenge #91 where their theme is:


I'm also going to link this to the Virginia's View Challenge #8 where their theme is:

Right, I'm off to bed!! Must not stop at tv or take laptop with me. Will be just me and some trashy magazines for about 20 minutes before my eyelids lose the battle to stay open. Yay!!!

Take care
Shona

Pinkfresh Studio! - World Card Making Day CASE Challenge (second entry)

Back on WCMD, Jennifer of Just Jingle was a Guest Designer for Pinkfresh Studio!. They were showcasing some of her amazing cards. And they were also running a challenge, asking you to CASE one of Jennifer's GD cards and link it to the post. The winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to Pinkfresh Studio! and as I unfortunately don't own any of their yummy products, I thought this might be my chance!

This is my second entry for this challenge. My first entry is here. For this CASE I chose a different card:





You know I love triangles! If only I had some white pigment ink, I would have taken my card in a different direction but working with what I have, I think it worked out pretty well:




I found this gorgeous wood-grain paper with this fantastic chevron-type pattern and adhered it straight to my card front. I then cut a strip in white cardstock and stamped the sentiment. This was adhered to a slightly thicker strip of gold card and glued over the paper. I attached some gold heart sequins and pink enamel dots reminiscent of the pink card used on Jennifer's card. Really happy with how it turned out and hope you like it too!

The patterned paper is from Echo Park 'All about a Boy'. The sentiment is from CAS-ual Friday's 'Shenanigan's. The gold hearts from The Warehouse and enamel dots from Papervine.

I've got one more card to post and then I'm off to bed. I don't think I've been to bed before 2am all this week and its starting to catch up with me. We are going out for brunch tomorrow morning which is such a treat for us. I can't wait to be able to eat without having to clean up afterwards...thats the treat for me!!!!

Take care
Shona

Pinkfresh Studio: World Card Making Day CASE Challenge

I had a wonderful time last weekend going thru all the blogs looking at all of the inspiring cards created for WCMD. One of the blogs I follow is Just Jingle which belongs to an incredible designer called Jennifer. For WCMD she was a Guest Designer for Pinkfresh Studio!

I popped over to the Pinkfresh blog to find her gorgeous four cards. And that they were also running a challenge. They asked you to CASE one of Jennifer's cards and link to the post. A winner would be chosen and they will win a $25 gift certificate to Pinkfresh. I LOVE their products, so I'm totally joining in.

I really love all of Jennifer's cards but decided to CASE this one:


The pattern and colour of the background paper really jumped out at me first and then the cute pink and yellow curvy strips. So, here is my version:





I found a similar pattern in a beautiful teal blue and adhered to the card front. I die-cut a similar curvy panel and stamped the sentiment. I then used a zig-zag/stitched die to cut the strips of yellow and pink cardstock. These were glued to the card front first and the panel popped over-top with foam tape. Only used a few gold sequins and enamel dots so the sentiment was the star. I really like it, so nice to try a new idea.

The teal paper is from Lawn Fawn 'Into the Woods'. The pink and yellow cardstock is from We R Memory Keepers Journal cards. The curved shape metal die is from Couture Creations and the zig-zag stitched metal die is from Pretty Pink Posh. The sequins are from Neat and Tangled and enamel dots from Papervine.

I'm also going to link this to the Lawnscaping Challenge # 91 where their theme is:

And will also link to the House of Cards - October Challenge where their theme is to 'Use punch or die or both'. This is my millionth entry.

And finally will link to the Virginia's View Challenge # 8 where their theme is:


I got so carried away doing this card last night, that I decided to CASE one more of Jennifer's cards, so will get posting straight away!

Take care
Shona

Thursday 9 October 2014

Guest Designer - Just Add Ink Challenge # 235: Colour Challenge


This is such an exciting post for me. In September I was the winner of Just Add Ink Challenge #229 and I was invited to be a Guest Designer for a future challenge. Well, you can imagine how quickly I said yes!! 

I really enjoy this challenge not only because of the variety of the weekly inspiration, but also the cards entered are so amazing and I love visiting new blogs. And I must also mention that the Design Team leave the sweetest comments and are so supportive. They must be a wonderful team to be a part of.

Well, today is the day I get to join the DT to hopefully inspire you for the latest challenge. This week is a 'colour challenge' and this is the pretty colour combo:



I thought these colours were gorgeous and it gave me a chance to use the 'blackberry' colour which I don't usually use. Unfortunately I don't own any pale blue or blackberry ink colours, so it gave me the excuse to dive into my large pattern paper collection.



Oh how I love my metal dies!!!! I started by die-cutting the word 'sweet' three times and sticking them together. This gave the word a bit of height. I then die-cut the rectangle and then the round windows from white cardstock. I adhered the 'star' paper directly behind and stamped 'love'. After gluing 'sweet' to the front, I popped the panel up on foam tape on the front of the card. A few pale blue and pink enamel dots and Bob's Your Uncle!

The blackberry paper is from Bella BLVD 'Too cute to Spook' and the 'pink star' paper is from Dear Lizzy 'Polka Dot Party'. The metal-stitched rectangle and window dies are from Pretty Pink Posh. The 'sweet' metal die is from The Crafters Workshop. The 'love' stamp is from Altenew 'Sohcahtoa' and the enamel dots from Papervine.

I'm also going to link this to the House of Cards - October Challenge where their theme is 'Use Punch or a Die or Both!'. I think this might be my fourth entry, they will probably tell me to stop entering soon.....

And will link to the Lawnscaping Challenge #91 where their theme is:


The Design Team have some incredible designs to get you inspired for this challenge, so please visit the Just Add Ink blog. I really hope you have the chance to join in and I look forward to seeing your creations in the gallery.

And to the Just Add Ink Team, thank you so much for having me!!!

Take care
Shona




 


Time Out Challenge #16 - CASE with your own twist

I can't believe another two weeks has passed us by and we are ready for another TIME OUT challenge. And I must say, we had so many incredible entries for Challenge 15, I was blown away! So its going to be a very hard challenge to vote on.



For this challenge we have this incredible card by Heather Telford to 
'CASE - with your own twist'.  Heathers' cards are extraordinary and her blog is full of so much inspiration. 

And we also have a Guest Designer for this challenge, Carol from just me. Her style is out of this world and we are so happy to have her joining us. I hope you pop over to visit her amazing blog.

Now, I unfortunately don't own any leaf stamps or stencils or any inks in this colour range (really must do something about that!!), so I turned to my huge pile of patterned papers to inspire me.


I dove straight into my 6x6 pad from Lawn Fawn called 'Into the woods' and used the most beautiful fall coloured paper. I wanted to show more greenery, so was able to round the corner with a curved metal die. The green paper was adhered directly to the card front, while the fall paper was popped up on foam tape. I die-cut the 'hello' three times from the same green paper and glued them together. This was glued to the card and I then stamped the rest of the sentiment. A few gold sequins for sparkle and all finished. 

As mentioned, the papers are from Lawn Fawn 'Into the Woods'. The 'hello' metal die is from The Crafters Workshop. The curved-stitched metal die is from Pretty Pink Posh and the 'lovely' stamp from Fiskars. The gold sequins are from Neat and Tangled.

The rest of the design team have put together some incredible cards for you to help with your inspiration. The challenge runs for a fortnight and finishes on Wednesday 22nd October at 5pm GMT. I really hope you have a chance to take TIME OUT and join in the fun. Can't wait to visit your blogs to see your creations!

Take care
Shona

Wednesday 8 October 2014

Just Add Ink Challenge #234

I don't know if its because its October and Cancer Awareness Month but I seem to be heading towards anything pink at the moment when it comes to ink, paper etc. So when I saw the theme at Just Add Ink this week was 'Just add baby', I decided to run with the pink idea.


I love children and especially babies, so I'm not sure why I find it so hard to make baby cards. I don't own any 'baby' stamps or much in the way of 'baby' papers, so had to go on a bit of a search for something appropriate. Thank goodness for Teresa Collins!

I found this gorgeous paper with pale pink elephants and darker peach/coral hearts, so die-cut this into a speech bubble. This was popped up with foam tape on the front of the card. I then stamped and heat embossed in gold the sentiment on a white banner, on which I also used foam tape. I then die cut some gold hearts and framed one of the dark hearts with the gold. Not even an enamel dot in sight!

The paper is from Teresa Collins 'You are my Happy'. The speech bubble metal die is from MFT Die-namics. The sentiment is from Fiskars and the metal heart die is from CAS-ual Fridays.

I'm going to link this to the WCMD Winnie and Walter Challenge: Colour Combo with Gayatri where the combo theme is:


I will also link to the House of Cards October Challenge where their theme is to use 'Punches or dies or both' on your project. This is my second entry.

I'm also going to join a new challenge I found out about today (thank you Mynn) 'Inspired by Stamping #86 where they have a colour combo, sketch and photo for inspiration. I chose the photo because I was attracted to all that gold and pink:

Right, I'm off to start linking to all of these challenges and then need to write out my post for a new Time Out Challenge tomorrow night. These fortnights between challenges certainly go fast and I can't believe its only around 12 weeks till Xmas. My waistline hasn't recovered yet from last Xmas!!!!!

Take care
Shona

CAS(E) this Sketch # 95

I'm pretty sure that sometimes I get myself so worked up about a card, trying to make my design something different and new, that it can turn into a bit of a chore. When I saw the sketch this week for CAS(E) this Sketch I tried not to overthink it and enjoyed the process so much more.






Looking at the direction of the arrows, triangles immediately came to mind so ran with that straight away:





Maybe this is too simple but I love the triangles in the different shades of pink and the sentiment goes with the funkiness I think. 

I basically just alternated the triangles in the two shades of pink and was quite amazed that when I stamped with the light shade, it hardly covered the dark at all, so it looks like the dark pink ones are on top the whole way. I stamped the sentiment in black with a few enamel dots in shades of pink and voila!

The sentiment and triangles are from Altenew 'Sohcahtoa' and enamel dots from My Minds Eye.

I'm also going to link this to the Mod Squad Challenge where as its Cancer Awareness Month for October, their theme is 'Pink'. Was thinking of this as I chose my triangle colours.

Will also link to the Curtain Call Challenge where their theme is 'Smooch' and I love how the pinks on my card are reflected in the lip picture:


Once again I will link to the WCMD - Winnie and Walter Challenge: Pattern Play with Shay where they are asking for you to create patterns on your cards. This is my third entry.

And will once again also link to Virginia's View Challenge #8 where the theme is 'Clean and Simple'. This is my millionth entry and I'm sure Virginia will be glad when the challenge is closed, so she doesn't have to look at any more of my cards!!!


No extra's overnight tonight. We had a very warm day, so the kids wanted to try out their tyre tubes down the river again. They had so much fun I wished it had been a few degree's warmer as I would have joined in. Have to make the most of this time as I'm sure in a few years they won't want to be seen tubing down the river with their Mum!!!!!

Take care
Shona

CASology Challenge Week # 116

Horror movies. You either love them or hate them and me.....I love them alot!! They are a strange thing to like because I spend a lot of my time with my hands over my eyes while watching but there is something about a good story and lots of creepiness/suspense that's quite appealing. So, this may give you a hint as to what my card for CASology looks like this week....


So, what do you think came to mind when I saw the Cue Word this week???? That's right, blood splatter. Eeeww right but its actually kind of funny....



Oh no she didn't!!!!! I really hope this isn't considered bad taste and I'm banned from CASology challenges for life!!! This is the sort of card that I would expect a friend to give to me if I had accidentally hurt myself, as I'm just so clumsy. I suppose you would call it 'tongue-in-cheek' and even my husband thought it was funny. So I hope you do too!

It was pretty simple to make. Basically I smudged my red dye ink pad on to a plastic plate and used a brush to add some water. I then flicked the brush across to get the 'splatter' effect and then stamped the sentiment (from Fiskars). Simple, maybe not sweet but funny. And I really love it!

I hope I haven't offended anyone and your all still talking to me tomorrow!!

Take care
Shona