Monday 29 June 2015

The Gossip Column with Taheerah Atchia # 3 Challenge

Well, Taheerah has done it again with another brilliant post for the Winnie and Walter: The Gossip Column.  For this one she interviewed one of the 'A Lister' card makers Jocelyn Olson. I've followed Jocelyn's blog for a while so it was quite exciting to hear so much more about her.

Its a really good read as Jocelyn tells you about how she got into crafting, what her favourite trends are right now and her ideas for her cards. For the challenge, Taheerah asked us to create a card based on Jocelyn's style or CASE one of Jocelyn's cards. Or even use one of the trends that she likes on your creation. I decided to mix all three!!

I really liked the look of this card with the design and layout, so decided to try and CASE it. 

Jocelyn's style is so different from my own. She loves lots of layers, lots of embellishments and different textures on her cards. So this was going to throw me completely out of my comfort zone (this is why its taken me so long to make my card....). Last night I sat down and very slowly pieced together my card. Its so different from my usual so really hope you like it:



Reading the interview with Jocelyn, she mentioned that one of her favourite trends was 'yellow and grey' and that 'grey was the new black'. So this was the colour combo I used. She also mentioned water colouring as one of her favourites, so I did this on the flowers for their colour. She likes a lot of white space, so made sure there was plenty on my card and also some layering and texture with dry embossing (which I never do). This card was a total experiment for me and the result: I really like it!

I started by using a circular embossing folder on the card front. I then cut a piece of grey CS and popped it up on foam tape. After heat embossing the flowers in gold on water colour paper, I water coloured them using Distress Ink 'Mustard Seed'. I also stamped some leaves in grey ink on white CS.

I used a die to cut out the curvy shape from patterned paper and adhered to the card. After fussy cutting the leaves and flowers, I layered and glued them all. I stamped the sentiment on a thin piece of white CS and tucked it under one of the flowers. A sprinkling of gold and yellow sequins finished it off. Can't wait to hear what you think of this!!!

The embossing folder is from Couture Creations 'Drink Me'. The flower and leaf stamps are from Winnie and Walter 'In Bloom: Addie's Garden' and the sentiment from 'The Big, the Bold and You'. The curvy die is from Couture Creations and the patterned paper is from Dear Lizzy 'Serendipity'. The gold sequins are from Neat and Tangled and the yellow are from the Winnie and Walter Birthday Bash set from Pretty Pink Posh.

I have three other challenges I would like to enter:

The Card Concept Challenge # 38 (Clean and Layered)


Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge (Anything Goes)

Seize the Birthday Challenge (No Toppings for me)


Thanks again to Taheerah for getting me to try many new things with this challenge and opening my eyes to different ways to create my cards. I'm looking forward to the next Gossip Column now to see what I have to try next or maybe I should be a little scared........

Take care
Shona
 

Sunday 28 June 2015

Reverse Confetti Sketch Challenge # 25

I feel so sick........Dave came home tonight from his three days in Auckland with LOTS of donuts (like I ordered) but it would seem my eyes were bigger than my stomach (or they used to be....). The kids and I scoffed them as soon as we got home and then we lay around holding our tummies.....and there are so many left over.....Phoebe said 'thank goodness we aren't diabetics but maybe we will be tomorrow'!! They really need to be eaten fresh but I think there will be a few in the lunchboxes tomorrow to share with their friends.....Don't get me wrong, they were absolutely delicious but in the battle of 'Man V Food, Food won!'

The funny thing is that by this time next week, I will be dreaming of them again. Thank goodness I probably won't get near a Dunkin Donuts again for another two years......


I decided to have another go at the Reverse Confetti Sketch Challenge and quite liked the look of this one. As I've mentioned before, I'm not so good with lots of layers but worked out pretty quickly what I wanted to do and of course, some of it had to be fiddly:



I cut a piece of white CS slightly smaller than the card front and adhered to the card. I then cut another piece into a square shape and spent some time die-cutting the chevron pieces in grey, pink and gold CS. After working out the pattern, I glued the chevron bits on to the square, cutting off any overhanging pieces. The square was then popped up on foam tape. I stamped then heat embossed the pineapple in gold, fussy cut and glued to the square. The pineapple spines were stamped in pink, fussy cut and glued on as well.

I stamped the 'hello' in grey ink, fussy cut and popped it up on lots of tiny pieces of foam tape. I also covered it in lashing of Wink of Stella for lots of shine. A few pink and grey enamel dots and the sketch card was finished.

The chevron die is from Reverse Confetti. The 'hello' stamp is also from Reverse Confetti 'Color Me Happy' as well as the pineapple stamp from 'Pineapples a Plenty'. The enamel dots are from Papervine.

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

My stomach tells me its time for bed. Maybe lying down will make it feel better. Although I'm sure that come tomorrow, I will be able to fit in a few more......Its the last week of the school term before the kids are on holiday for two weeks. I also have Dave home tomorrow as he is buggered from his weekend away. Must be tiring going out for dinner and shopping, the poor thing.......Or maybe he's tired from lugging home all those donuts!!

Take care
Shona

 

Friday 26 June 2015

AEIHeartU Challenge # 25

I don't have many Avery Elle products (unfortunately) but I did receive a few a while ago but still hadn't tried them out. When I saw the latest AEIHeartU  challenge I thought it was about time I created something with them.


Who doesn't love a good rainbow! As soon as I saw this I knew instantly what I wanted to do. As to whether I could pull it off, that was another story....:



I have these Avery Elle 'Chevron Bits Dies' that come in different sizes. So I spent ages just randomly putting them in columns, trying to alternate the sizes, on a piece of white CS. I then rummaged through my tin of paint chips and decided to choose colours for a pastel rainbow. I cut tiny pieces of the chips and glued them behind the chevron openings. I decided to put this panel up on foam tape over my card base, as I thought you would see the slightly raised areas of the paint chips if it was glued flat to the card.

I also have the Avery Elle 'Bottle it up' dies and stamps, so I die cut the label and stamped the sentiment in black. This was popped up on foam tape too.

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

Max and Phoebe are both home sick today, and I'm coming down with their cold too. We had to get up at 6am this morning and drive Dave to the airport as he's flying to Auckland for the weekend for his sisters birthday. So we will just be cruising along with our boxes of tissues and counting down till he comes back, as he is bringing boxes of Dunkin' Donuts for us. Yippee!!!!

Take care
Shona
 

Just Add Ink Challenge # 268

How did Friday come around again so fast??? Must be those cold breezes coming straight off the Antarctic at the moment that wooshed the days by. Its the end of another week but the beginning of a new challenge at Just Add Ink.

We have a sketch for your inspiration this week:

I have to admit, I was a little scared of all those layers but after playing around a bit with some die-cuts, I worked out what to do:



I started by cutting a piece of grey polka dot paper and adhering to the card front. After die-cutting the aqua paper into a chain, I glued this over-top of the grey. I die-cut the cupcake and then stamped the sentiment on to a small white CS banner. The banner was glued on first with the cupcake over top. I then heat embossed the 'Congrats' in gold and fussy cut before popping it up on some foam tape. A few gold and pink sequins finished it off.

The polka dot papers are from Lawn Fawn 'Let's Polka' and the cupcake CS from DCWV 'Brights and Pastels'. The cupcake die is from Paper Smooches and the chain die from MFT Die-namics. The 'Congrats' and stamped sentiment are from Waffle Flower 'Congrats' and the sequins from Neat and Tangled.

I'm going to enter this in the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Anything Goes'.

And will also link to the Seize the Birthday Challenge where I'm not using the 'Toppings' option.


You have until next Wednesday to link your entries for the Just Add Ink challenge. The rest of the Design Team have some fantastic projects on the blog to help you with ideas. I can't wait to see what you do with this sketch and hope to see you in the Gallery!!

Take care
Shona
 

Thursday 25 June 2015

Time Out Challenge # 34

Another fortnight has flown by and its time for a new challenge at TIME OUT.  
For this challenge we have the theme of:

                                                    HOME SWEET HOME

And we have the most amazing photo for you to be inspired by:
 


Aren't those colours and patterns just incredible!! I couldn't wait to get started on this one and really look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Our Guest Designer for this challenge is the fabulous Sue of Foleys Friend. Her designs are so sweet and she seems to be able to design for any type of challenge. I hope you have a chance to pop over to her blog!

I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I saw this photo. The colours grabbed me straight away and I loved the angular patterns:


I gathered up all the different coloured CS I needed and my Reverse Confetti 'Chevron' die (which cuts out three different sizes) and then went to town, cutting out lots of each colour. After working out my pattern, I adhered them all to the card front. I die cut the 'love' (from Paper Smooches) once from gold CS and twice from white CS and glued all together. I then stuck it to the card front, along with heat embossing the 'everything' (from Winnie and Walter 'The Big, the Bold and You') in gold. I also added a few gold heart sequins for a bit of extra love.

I will link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is the ever popular 'Anything Goes'.

I'm going to also link this to the Colour Me...! challenge where their colours are very similar to mine:


You have a whole two weeks to link your entry to the TIME OUT challenge. And the rest of the fabulous Design Team have some creations on the blog to help you with ideas. I so can't wait to see what your imagination came up with!!

Take care
Shona

 



 

Wednesday 24 June 2015

Sparkle and Shine Challenge # 7

Have just been for a big walk with Bella along the river. Very cold but sunny day. The sun makes such a difference to how you feel about the day, I can handle a frosty morning if the sun will shine. The drawback to that lovely walk though is that I can 'smell' that Bella has snuck into the lounge room. She found a big pile of horse poo to roll in which I thought had all come off while she was swimming but some remains......yuck!


This is the sketch for the latest Sparkle and Shine challenge. I loved that it had a circle in it and was going to make a shaker but got off track when finding a replacement for the banner piece:




I didn't want to do a shape exactly like the banner, so the closest I could get to was the pointy pieces on the bottom of this frame. I die-cut it three times from white CS and stuck them all together. I cut a piece of patterned paper so that it would stick out on the left-hand side (like the sketch) and adhered to the card front. The frame was popped up on lots of foam tape.

I heat embossed the sentiment on a strip of black CS and stuck to the frame. Instead of a circle, I water coloured an ombre of pink with some Distress Inks and die-cut the butterfly. I also cut a larger size from vellum and stuck them together on the frame. I loved the butterfly so much, I decided to add another. It was finished off with a sprinkling of clear and pink sequins.

The frame die is from Paper Smooches 'Frames 2'. The patterned paper is from Dear Lizzy 'Serendipity'. The sentiment stamp is from Lil' Inker 'Rainbows and Clouds Sentiments' and the butterfly dies are from Paper Smooches. The sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh.

I'm going to enter this in the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Use your favourite technique and/or product'. I love heat embossing and die-cutting. And I can't live without my foam tape!!

And will also link to the Paper Smooches - Sparks June 21-27 Challenge where their theme is:


Better go and give Bella a wash and then pick up the kids from school. Phoebe has gymnastics tonight at 6.30pm which is hard to find the enthusiasm for in Winter. Well, I should say she has the enthusiasm, I just want to put my onesies on but she is obsessed with gym, so my onesies will have to patiently wait.

Take care
Shona

 

Addicted to Stamps Challenge # 150

I can't believe how quickly these weeks are passing me by. Will have to start thinking about Christmas soon....eeekkk!! Its Wednesday so its time for another challenge at Addicted to Stamps.  We have a photo to inspire you this week:
Isn't all that green just dreamy?? So many elements in this photo to inspire you, can't wait to see what you come up with!

The sponsor for this challenge is Sweet Pea Stamps. They are giving a prize of 4 digi images to the winner of this challenge. How wonderful is that!



I just couldn't take my eyes off the green in this photo and immediately thought about water colouring. I also wanted to put in some flowers (they are all over the table) and some wood for the table itself:


I stamped and heat embossed in white some flowers and leaves from Deepti's 'Blooming Buds' stamp set from Stamplorations. I then water coloured with Distress Ink 'Evergreen Bough', just with my brush. After drying it with my heat gun, I adhered the wood veneer piece from Freckled Fawn.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Use your favourite technique and/or product'. I can't get enough of heat embossing at the moment. Maybe its because its so cold here, I enjoy the use of the heat gun.....

You have one week to link your projects to the Addicted to Stamps challenge. The rest of the Design Team have some gorgeous designs on the blog to give you some ideas. Look forward to seeing you in the Gallery!

Take care
Shona
 


 

Sunday 21 June 2015

Guest Designer - AAA Card Challenge # 44

I've been looking forward to this day for weeks! After winning a challenge at AAA Cards a few months ago, Victoria invited me to be a Guest Designer. Of course I jumped at the chance and have been waiting for this day to arrive!!

This is one of my favourite challenges to join as they always have the most interesting inspiration ideas each fortnight and they look for cards with a 'clean and simple' design, which you know I love. The theme for this challenge is:

                                        USE A STENCIL AND/OR PASTE

I don't own any embossing paste (really must get some, looks like so much fun...) but do have a handful of stencil's that I hardly ever use. So this was a great chance to dust them off and try them out. 

My card is INCREDIBLY simple but I found the stenciling quite fiddly (I had problems with their 'crotch' area') but more on this in a moment. Really hope you like the idea:
 
 
I have a set of stencils from Teresa Collins 'Basically Essentials' and found this lovely couple among them. I thought it would be great to use them for a 'love' themed card. I laid them on the card front and masked all around (as I get very messy with my blending tool). I used Picked Raspberry and my mini blender and started at their feet. 

I very quickly realised that the thin piece of plastic between their legs kept wobbling around but I had no way of keeping it in place with tape. I didn't want either of them to end up with an extra wide 'private' area so had to think quickly. I ended up by holding the end of down with my finger, blending on one side and then swapping fingers. I must admit I had a bit of a giggle to myself but then realised I'm 41yrs old (not 5yrs) so regained my composure.

I tried to blend so that it was darker on their hands, feet, heads and under-arms, seemed to look better than keeping them all one shade. After removing the stencil, I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment (from Paper Smooches 'Uplifters') in gold and put a hole-punched heart (from glitter CS) on some foam tape. So, very simple and their dignity was kept intact!

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Use your favourite technique and/or product'. I love heat embossing, could do it all day and still find it magical!

You have two weeks to join the AAA Card Challenge and I'm so looking forward to seeing your cards in the Gallery. The Design Team have some incredible cards on the blog to help with ideas too. I need all the help I can get with using Stencils, so can't wait to be inspired. See you there and thank you to Victoria and the DT for having me!!

Take care
Shona
 



 

Saturday 20 June 2015

Paper Smooches - Sparks June 14-20 Picture Perfect Challenge

It was an incredible cold and dreary day today. I stayed inside with the kids by the fire for most of the day. The kids were tired from a busy week and I was feeling that way myself. I even managed to sneak in a bit of card making while watching The Simpson's with Phoebe.


This is the inspiration photo for this weeks Paper Smooches - Sparks June Picture Perfect Challenge. I've actually seen this photo before. I introduced Phoebe to Pinterest a few months ago and she has a board filled with ideas for a dream bedroom, this being one of them. Even I would have loved this when I was younger. Actually, come to think of it, I would love it now!!!

I was instantly drawn to the white-on-white with the playhouse and that gorgeous turquoise chevron patterned ottoman between the chairs. And I knew I had the perfect paper somewhere.....:



I die-cut the 'Frame 2' (from Paper Smooches) three times from white CS and glued them together. After cutting the blue patterned paper to fit, I adhered it to the back of the frames and stamped the sentiment (Paper Smooches 'Uplifters') in black. After adhering the frames to the card front, I die-cut the flowers (also Paper Smooches) from different tones of turquoise paint chips. I glued these to the frames and used foam tape to pop up the larger 'three-toned' flower. Three sequins were added (from Avery Elle) and it was finished.

I'm going to also link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Use your favourite technique and/or product'. I LOVE die-cutting and using paint chips, so many colours to choose from!!!

Will go and watch a little more Modern Family with Phoebe and then off to bed. I'm taking Phoebe to her gym competition in the afternoon. She is so excited because she has finally mastered her bar routine. She tries so hard and practises all the time. She isn't a natural athlete but she so deserves a medal for trying the hardest!! So proud of her and looking forward to cheering her on from the stands.

Take care
Shona
 
 

Thursday 18 June 2015

Reminder: Time Out Challenge # 33

Just popping in quickly to remind you about our current TIME OUT  challenge. Our theme is to be inspired by the words:

                                  HAPPY IS THE BRIDE THE SUN SHINES ON

You can use any part of the sentence as your project inspiration, the choice is totally up to you!!

I decided this time to combine not only the idea of love but also the rings (and jewels) that are worn by the bride and groom:


I stamped and heat embossed the faceted heart stamp in silver, on some white CS. I then water coloured using Distress Inks - Picked Raspberry and Mustard Seed. I used yellow to represent the sun from the inspiration sentence. Once the paint had dried I added lots of Glossy Accents to the pink heart. I die-cut a rectangle from white CS and after fussy cutting the heart, I popped it up on foam tape. I then heat embossed the sentiment in silver as well. After adding some sequins I put the panel on to the card front using foam tape for height.

The heart stamp and sentiment are both from Winnie and Walter 'My Precious'. The rectangle stitched-edge die and sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh.  

As I've used Winnie and Walter products, I'm going to enter this to the Winnie and Walter 'Join in to Win' where you can link any projects you make using their products. 

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where the theme is to 'Use your Favourite Technique and/or Product'. I LOVE heat embossing, especially with silver and gold. I also can't get enough of sequins and stamps!!

And will also enter the Sugar Pea Designs Challenge # 17 where their theme is:


You have one week to enter the TIME OUT challenge and the rest of the Design Team and our Guest Designer Sue have created some more inspirational projects for you on the blog. Hope to see you in the Gallery!!

Take care
Shona

 
 

Wednesday 17 June 2015

Little Tangles Challenge # 57

On the Little Tangles blog, they have a sketch for this challenge. They are using a sketch by Leslie Hanna for The Crooked Stamper Sketch Challenge.


Unfortunately I don't own many Neat and Tangled stamps (and you don't actually need to use them for this challenge) but want to show them what I can do with the ones in my stash. Its not very often I use one stamp set for a whole card design but decided to try it out for this card and it worked:



 All of these stamps are from the Neat and Tangled set 'Kindness Matters'. I stamped the hearts in a row down the left-hand side of the card front. I then used a small circle die (from Couture Creations) to cut three circles. I adhered some white CS behind the circles and stamped the sentiment in navy ink. After stamping the 'Be Kind' stamp on white CS, I fussy cut them out and popped up on foam tape in the middle of each die-cut circle. It gave them a slight frame instead of just sitting over flat card. I added blue sequins (from Avery Elle) and a pink one (from Pretty Pink Posh) and my very simple card was done.

My bed is calling my name!! Max came in crying at 4am this morning after having an awful nightmare. Hopefully he will have a happier sleep tonight. I don't have any gardening jobs tomorrow, so a chance to grab some groceries, do some housework and take Bella for a big walk. Fingers crossed the weather man was wrong about it pouring with rain!!!!

Take care
Shona
 

Waffle Flower Challenge - June 8-21 (2nd entry)

It's been another chilly but sunny day here today. I had to garden yet again (so please ignore me if I nod off for a while.....). The dirt is so cold I had to go and buy some leather gloves this morning so my hands wouldn't freeze. The garden is looking much better though so all my frostbite is worth it!!


After making my first entry for the Waffle Flower Challenge, I went back to look at the inspiration photo and realised I possibly should have used more of the colours. My table was covered with all the circles left over from using the Waffle Flower 'Doily Square Die' repeatedly and I thought I could use some of them for a second card:


I used washi tape on the back of four circles and pressed them on to a piece of scrap paper (to hold them in place). I used my mini blending tool to colour each one using Distress Inks - Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade. I don't have any blue Distress Ink so blended my Hero Arts Shadow Ink 'Pool' and it worked perfectly.

I used the square die from the Doily Square Die set to cut a square from white CS. Foam tape was put under each circle and set on the square. I used some gold CS to die-cut 'Perfect' (also from Waffle Flower), as well as twice from white CS. These were all glued together and then to the circles. The square was adhered to the card front and then the rest of the sentiment (Waffle Flower 'Congrats') was stamped in black ink.

It wasn't until I was about to write this post that I realised this could also be entered in the CAS(E) this Sketch # 127 challenge, so will link there as well.


I also wanted to let you know that I have a winner from my Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop giveaway. I put the names on pieces of paper in a bowl and asked my daughter Phoebe to pick one out. The winner was Deepti!!! Have already contacted her and the Paper Smooches 'Cyber Cafe' stamp set will be on its way to her very soon. Yippee!!!

I have one more card to post and was then going to create a few more but can feel my eyes and body fading already. Tomorrow night we have the school dance performance. Each class has created their own dance routine and been working on them for months. We are looking forward to it and can't wait to see what Max and Phoebe have been practicing and making costumes for. 

On Friday afternoon Phoebe is taking part in the Primary School Gymnastics Competition, so will be spending a few hours watching her compete. She will also be competing at the Blenheim Gymnastics Comp on Sunday afternoon with the 'Silver' grade girls. So a very busy and exciting few days ahead!!!

Take care
Shona
 
 


 

Monday 15 June 2015

Waffle Flower Challenge June 8th - 21st

A very quick post before I jump into my nice warm bed (my electric blanket is waiting for me!!!). Its very cold here today and have been trying to get warm all day.


I just love the inspiration photos for the Waffle Flower Challenges and now I finally have more of their stamps and dies, I can get a bit more creative with my entries.

Like everyone else at the moment, I love the ombre look. I'm not always the best with my blending but I'm gradually getting better (thank goodness for Distress Inks!). I had a bit of a crazy idea on how to use ombre with my new Waffle Flower die:


As you can imagine, I spent quite a while die-cutting white CS with my Doily Square Die. I blended Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick and Picked Raspberry to create the ombre look on my card front and then adhered the circle frames, cutting off any overhanging edges. I then stamped and heat embossed in gold the 'yippee' from Waffle Flower 'Congrats', fussy cut them out and popped them up on foam tape. I absolutely love how it turned out and I'm always happy to find new ways to use a die.

I'm also going to link this to the Virginia's View Challenge # 15 where their theme is:


I actually enjoyed making this card so much, I made another one which I will post tomorrow. Its kind of the opposite of this one, if that makes sense. All will be revealed...... Right, I'm off to enjoy my electric blanket.

Take care
Shona
 

CAS(E) this Sketch # 127

I'm trying to type quickly tonight, doing my blog posts and catching up on comments and emails. I really want to jump in bed with my electric blanket as its so very cold tonight. I have the fire on and my onesie but nothing beats winter sheets, heavy blankets and a hot electric blanket feeling underneath. That is until I fall asleep and forget its on full and wake up in a puddle of sweat...(sorry, not the nicest mental picture for you....).


I was really excited when I saw this sketch for the CAS(E) this Sketch  challenge this week. So many ways of doing those four squares were floating thru my mind. That was until my mind moved away from squares completely:

 
Clouds instead of squares....do you think it will be aloud??

I die-cut clouds in light and dark grey from paint chips and adhered them to the card front. I then die-cut the umbrella and its handle from more paint chips. The handle was glued to the cloud and I popped the umbrella up on foam tape. A sentiment in black to go with the sadness of the grey clouds and a few pale blue enamel dots for raindrops. 

The cloud dies are from Couture Creations and the umbrella die is from Paper Smooches. The sentiment is from Reverse Confetti 'Fancy Word Coordinates' and the enamel dots from Papervine.

I'm also going to link this to the CAS on Sunday Challenge # 60 where their colour scheme is:


I now have the horrible job of going to the toilet. Now, it may not seem like a horrendous thing to do, but when your toilet is around 3 degree's (celcius) and I have to remove my onesie to go (don't worry, I do have my pj's on), I have the choice of do I go now quickly or answer some more emails, go quickly and jump straight in bed?? Thank goodness we don't have an outside toilet, I think I would be investing in a catheter!!!

Take care
Shona
 
 

House of Cards - End of Term Blog hop and Challenge Photo

I had a wonderful weekend with my Mum, making cards, watching horror movies and introduced my Mum to my favourite tv programme 'The Big C'. She was a little shocked by the language but absolutely loved it. 


Over at House of Cards, they have come to the end of their Design Team term and are celebrating with a huge blog hop and challenge. My friend Monika told me all about it and when I saw the fantastic inspiration photo, I just had to play along!!

Two things that caught my eye in this photo were the black frame and the white vases with pink flowers. It took me a while to work out how to put these two together, hopefully you like what I came up with:


The shape of the white vases looked incredible to me and I knew I didn't have anything that would cut that shape. So, I cut them out myself with some scissors (so don't look too closely....). After working out where they would sit, I stamped the flowers and then glued the vases over top. I die-cut the frame twice from black CS, glued together and popped up with lots of foam tape. The sentiment was stamped in black and added a few enamel dots for interest. Its simple, with lots of white and pops of pink, just like I wanted.

The flower stamps are from Waffle Flower 'Loved' and the frame die is from Paper Smooches 'Frame 2'. The sentiment is from Neat and Tangled 'Kindness Matters' and the enamel dots from Papervine.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge, where their theme is 'Friends or Superhero'.

It has been freezing cold here today. Was supposed to go gardening but it kept raining and was way to cold for my sore body. Fingers crossed its a bit more above freezing tomorrow as I need to get it done. The joys of gardening in Winter.......

Take care
Shona
 
 


 

Friday 12 June 2015

Paper Smooches - Sparks June Challenge - Week 1

Have been gardening all morning and have come home and packed up my car with all my craft stuff to take to my Mum's house for the weekend. I just pull out all my drawers and take them with me, very heavy but much easier. Would hate to think what I would do if I had to go to a craft retreat or something??? Rent a U-Haul I suspect! My husband says its because I have too much but I say you can never have enough craft goodies....don't you agree??



It's 'Anything Goes' for the Paper Smooches - Sparks Challenge this week. I've already entered my coffee bean card but came up with this card idea while I was washing the dishes last night. It was a little fiddly (as usual) but worth it:
 

I cut a panel of white CS slightly smaller than the card front and heat embossed the house stamps randomly in white. I then used Distress Inks - Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick and Picked Raspberry to create an ombre look. I die-cut the circle from the panel and then adhered it to the card. I wanted the word die to have some height, so die-cut it three times from white CS and glued them all together. I stuck it to the card and then covered it in Glossy Accents for a bit of shine. I stamped the sentiment in pink and put on a few sequins for bling.

The house and sentiment stamps are from Paper Smooches 'Bitty Bungalows'. The sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh and the 'friend' word die is also from Paper Smooches. The circle die is from Couture Creations.

I'm going to link this to the Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge where their theme is 'Friends or Superhero's'.

And will also link to the Virginia's View Challenge # 15 where their theme is:


I'm off to walk Bella and pick up the kids from school. I have to take Max's latest paper plane to school to show his friends. He and about 7 other boys are heavily into making the planes at the moment but the school decided to ban them from doing them at school. I was so shocked!! 

Supposedly too many were being left on the playground, which I understand. Seems it was other kids, not Max's group doing this which is such a shame. It was so fun watching them each morning comparing planes, fixing each others, learning about aerodynamics etc. The school is afraid it will lose its 'enviromental friendly' look but wouldn't it be better to recycle the planes and encourage such team work and comradery?

Will be interesting to see what they say when they see me turning up with this one today. Do you think they will tell me off?? Probably!

Take care
Shona
 

Just Add Ink Challenge # 266

Happy Friday everybody!! Its time for another challenge at Just Add Ink. This week we have a colour combo to inspire you:


The great thing about a colour challenge is that you can create whatever you like with regards to design. So go crazy, try a technique you've been wanting to experiment with, use some of that patterned paper you have stashed away or maybe you have some new stamps that haven't been inked yet. The choice is yours!!

I was excited about this challenge because I finally have a navy ink pad. The funny thing was, that when I started putting my card together, my navy ink never came anywhere near it:


 
I was very lucky to win this 'hello' die from Winnie and Walter a few weeks ago and thought it was about time I used it!!! I also wanted to try a technique again that I did months back as this die is perfect for it.

I started by cutting a piece of white CS to sit on top of the card. I put my 'hello' die in place but put the edge of the top plate slightly above the bottom of the word, so it wouldn't cut all the way thru, when it went thru my Cuttlebug. It took a few goes but was much easier to do because the 'h' and the 'l' have straight bottoms. I cut away the surrounding CS with a kraft knife. 

I realised then that I wanted the word to be gold, so die-cut the word again from gold CS and glued it on top.  After working out where the word would sit over the card front, I used Spun Sugar and Picked Raspberry Distress Inks to create an ombre background. I also used a waffle edge die on a strip of navy CS. This was adhered to the card front so it would stick out slightly from under the top panel. I stamped the rest of the sentiment in black and popped the panel up on foam tape. A couple of co-ordinating enamel dots and I fell in love with this card!

The sentiment stamps are from Winnie and Walter 'The Big, the Bold and the Happy'. The stitched-waffle edge die is from Pretty Pink Posh and the enamel dots from Papervine.

I have three other challenges I would like to enter:

Winnie and Walter - Join in to Win 

Simon Says Stamp - Wednesday Challenge (Friends or Superhero's)

Virginia's View Challenge # 15 

 
You have until Wednesday 17th June 10pm to link your entries to the Just Add Ink challenge and of course the rest of the Design Team have created some incredible cards on the blog to inspire you with ideas. Can't wait to see what you come up with and hope to see you in the Gallery!

Take care
Shona
 

Thursday 11 June 2015

Runway Inspired Challenge # 85 - J. Crew

I went shopping today for some more foam tape and can't find it anywhere!! You know how much I used it on my cards and I usually have a few rolls stashed away but seem to have used them all and I'm freaking out! I have one more store to try tomorrow morning, so will be keeping my fingers crossed.....



This is the inspiration photo for the latest Runway Inspired Challenge. How I wish I had this outfit!! Although I can't imagine walking the dog or jumping with the kids on the trampoline in it but would be nice to know its in my wardrobe for a 'just in-case' moment.....

I was of course drawn to the glittery top but I also love coats and this one is so strong in colour and clean in design. I felt a shaker card coming on (and this is where the rest of my foam tape went to....):



I knew straight away that I wanted to use a black frame as the coat around the sequin top is very much like that (to me). I die-cut the frame four times from black CS, gluing three of them together. I adhered a piece of clear acetate to the back of the fourth frame and then glued to the stack. I laid the frames acetate side down and filled with sequins in colours similar to the photo. I also added lots of foam tape pieces around the frame.

The shirt-dress under the top is a gorgeous pale blue/lavender which I had in CS, so cut a rectangle piece and cut a rectangle in black CS as well. The black panel was adhered to the card front. The pale blue panel was pushed down over top of the sequins to make the shaker. This was then glued to the card front. I die-cut the 'hello' from gold CS and twice from white CS, gluing them all together. I used double-sided tape to stick this over the frame.

The frame die is from Paper Smooches 'Frames 2'. The 'hello' die is from Winnie and Walter and the pale blue CS is from DCWV 'Brights and Pastels'.

I'm going to also link this card to the Winnie and Walter - Join in to Win challenge they have on their blog. It gives you a place to show off how you used your W&W products.

I'm off to spend the weekend with my Mum tomorrow night, so you can expect LOTS of posts next week. I don't have access to my emails but will be on Facebook. Unfortunately Mum can't walk far at all at the moment (she see's the Orthopaedic Surgeon on Wednesday) so will be nice to keep her company, watch horror movies and she likes watching me create my cards. Of course there will be lots of yummy food involved too!!

Enjoy your weekend (when it finally comes around) and if you hear any screaming, its just me in the store tomorrow finding out I will be without foam tape for a while.....eeekkkk!!

Take care
Shona