Distress to De-Stress!

Hi everyone - I hope you're having a good weekend. I have to say, I made my OCC card at the very last minute this week, but the challenge couldn't have been more perfect. 

 

This week my challenge is for you to distress to de-stress using the provided sketch (below). So rip and sponge edges, crumple flowers or use your favourite distressing technique to work away a little stress while stamping!

 

I made this card for my Mother-in-law's birthday. I also used CTD #130 for my colour combo and the CCEE challenge to use a distressing tool.

 I stamped my image on watercolour paper and coloured it using markers. My edges are sponged with Crumb Cake ink and distressed using the cutter kit tool.

The inside is nice and simple with lots of room for a personal message.

Head on over to Our Creative Corner and see the design team samples - I hope you'll play along this week!

 Colour Combo: Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango, Pretty in Pink & So Saffron Stamps: Because I Care, Warmest Regards, Wonderful Words (SU) Paper: Candy Lane & So Saffron DSP (SU) Dies: Butterfly Embosslits (SU) Punches: Corner Rounder (SU) Other: Pearls, Mat Pack, Cutter Kit, Button, Choc Chip Ribbon, PIP Ribbon, Markers, Piercing Tool (SU)

Pinterest

 

Hi Everyone. First off, thanks so much for all the messages and emails today. I know news of the quake spread far and wide and knowing you're out there thinking of our little country means a lot. There are still hundreds of people missing, people trapped, families without power, water or shelter - so keep on sending those positive thoughts!

I've tried to keep busy and take breaks from the media coverage today. Shanan and I won tickets to an advanced screening of a movie for tonight, but didn't feel up to going, so while he watches a basketball game I distracted myself by finally finishing my Pinterest membership. 

If you haven't heard of it, Pinterest is a new experience in visual bookmarking, sharing and social media. I love it already - rather than try to explain it, just go take a look! At the moment, membership is delayed unless you have an invite, and I have a couple left. If you'd like one, please just email me.

I've only just started adding my bookmarks....but the potential is awesome. Searching for a particular tutorial? Just browse your photos instead of bookmark links! So great.

Stay safe, hug your loved ones and enjoy tomorrow - I'll be back soon with something crafty :-)

Memorable Moments

Edited to add: This was a pre-published post. Not long after it went up Christchurch was hit with a major earthquake again. There is loss of life and great loss of property this time around. My family are fine - please keep ChCh in your thoughts, not everyone was so lucky.

Hi everyone - hope your day is going well. As this publishes I'll be enjoying a crafty day with my two fave gals, so it's safe to say mine's going well!

It might be a little immodest, but I have to say this is one of my favourite cards ever I think - I had to wait till today to show you because I made it for my friend Janine and her husband who are moving into a new house soon. Isn't that a perfect sentiment to wish someone well in a new home?

It's also one of those cards that turns out to just be impossible to capture with a photo - I wish you could see it in real life! (you can click for a larger version)

The sketch is this weeks MFTSC - once I decided to make the big flower it all came together pretty easy. I wanted to try for a vintage feel while using extremely modern papers - I like it!

The C4C challenge this week is to use dies - I barely make a card without them anymore! I used my new butterfly die for the first time on this card.

The flower is simply some crumpled scallop circles with a brad in the center. The flower and a couple of the layers were sprayed with gold smooch spritz.

Inside I've used scraps of papers and more die cuts - this definitely helps me cut down on the number of scraps I keep!

Colour Combo: Concord Crush, Peach Parfait. Taken with Teal, Very Vanilla Stamps: Clearly Sentimental about Parenting (MFT) Paper: Hippie Chic (DCWV) Dies: Faux Crochet Border & Butterfly Dienamics (MFT) Punches: Scallop Circles (SU) Other: Jumbo Brad, Cutter Kit, Linen Thread, Mat Pack, Gold Smooch, Vintage Trinket (SU) Pearls (Kaisercraft) Lace

Getting Wordy!

Hi everyone - hope you're having a great weekend. It's been lovely here today, lots of sunshine and shopping - nothing to dislike there!

It's my turn to act as hostess for Our Creative Corner, and my first challenge is to Get Wordy! Simply stamp a sentiment stamp repeatedly to create your own background or layer for your card.

I made this card for my Nana's birthday earlier this month. The image is paper pieced and coloured with SU! markers. I hand stiched around my wordy layer - I still can't get the hang of my sewing machine on cardstock!

As usual I used offcuts of paper on the inside of the card as a simple decoration.

I hope you'll join us at Our Creative Corner this week and have a go at getting wordy!

Colour Combo: Blushing Bride, Going Gray Stamps: Birthday Princess (MFT) Paper: Basic Grey Dies:  Nestabilities (Spellbinders) Punches: Scallop Edge, Word Window (SU) Other: Grey Ribbon, Mat Pack, Brads, Markers (SU) Glitter (Martha Stewart)

Oh, to be a cat....

Looks like the good life, doesn't it?

Welcome Baby!

Happy Valentine's Day! We celebrated over the weekend as Shanan has an exam tomorrow. Our low-key Valentine's included curling up on the sofa in comfy new slippers (really, who doesn't love a good pair of slippers?!) pizza and a couple of great movies - it was perfect, hope yours is too!

Recently one of Shan's co-workers had a new baby boy. Baby cards are just the cutest - I'll never pass up the oppourtunity to make one!

The sketch for this card came from Jen's SFYTT for Feburary. The colour combo is from CR84FN15 - I used So Saffron, Tempting Turquoise and Pear Pizzazz.

I paper pieced the elephant image, cutting out an extra head and popping it up for a little dimension. I love this embossing folder....it gives a gorgeous even texture.

I left lots of room inside for writing a message, just adding in a scrap of the paper used on the front of the card.  Thanks for visiting!

Colour Combo: So Saffron, Tempting Turquoise, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White Stamps: Short & Sweet, Celebrate Everyday (SU) Paper: Spring Fling, Pear Pizzazz DSP (SU) Punches: XL Scallop Circle & Circle (SU) Other: Brads, Circle Scissor Plus, Button, Linen Thread, Square Lattice Embossing Folder (SU)

Cut it Out!

Happy Saturday! It's time for another OCC challenge, and this week Lori has challenge us to cut it out - paper piece, create with the out of the box technique....just use some form of fussy cutting on your project.

I paper pieced my image, one of my fave techniques - it gives such a polished look to your card. I also hand cut a mat for my central die cut panel.

This card is for my sister who is going back to study this year to add some specialist literacy training to her teaching degree. She's been subbing this week, so this sentiment was perfect! The sketch is for this week's WSC and CCEE challenged us to use embossing folders - remember when embossing folders were the newest and most amazing tool out there?!

I went a little mod with my colour scheme and used the offcut from my notebook edge die to add some funky trim to the vanilla layer. I've glazed the apple with Crystal Effects.

Inside I used the notebook edge die again, and another apple image to tie it all together. Head on over to OCC - the team have some wonderful samples this week, as always!

Colour Combo: Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla Stamps: Teacher's Pet (MFT Stamps) Paper: Summer Picnic, Notebook (SU) Dies: Notebook Edge, Textile Rectangle (MFT Stamps) Punches: Scallop Circle, Large Circle (SU) Other: Chocolate Ribbon, Markers, Brads, Crystal Effects (SU) Pearls (Kaisercraft) Spots and Dots Embossing Folder (Provocraft)

CAS SUO OLC

That's a lot of acronyms right!? In case you haven't come accross any of those before, the title reads "Clean and Simple, Stampin' Up Only, One Layer Card". Which is exactly what this is - fast, effective, fun!

The SCS color challenge this week had a different but gorgeous combo, I had to play along. I also wanted to play in Jessie's Forgotten Stamp Friday - I love her challenge to use a stamp set older than six months (I've barely inked Circle Circus, but I love it!)

I stamped and masked various images for a Thank You card that's easy to post, modern and gender neutral. Thanks for stopping by!

Colour Combo: Daffodil Delight, Not Quite Navy, Cajun Craze, Whisper White  

Stamps: Circle Circus, Heard from the Heart (SU)

Branch Out

Welcome! Thanks for stopping by. Today I'm sharing my project for Our Creative Corner. This week  Lori Rider has challenged us all to create a clean and simple (CAS) card incorporating a tree image. It's been awhile since I made a CAS card, so this was fun!

I stamped my tree twice, cutting out one of the images to pop up the foliage. The rest is very simple, a border punch and pretty sentiment to finish it off.

Inside is the matching sentiment and an off cut of the border piece to tie it all together.

I hope you'll join us at OCC this week, we'd love to have you play along!

Colour Combo: Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait, Whisper White Stamps: Love Defined, Occasional Quotes (SU)  Paper: Peach Parfait DSP (SU) Punches: Eyelet Border (SU) Other: Circle Scissors Plus, Markers, Dimensionals (SU) 

Miss You

TGIF! At least here in New Zealand. It seems like there aren't enough hours in the day at the moment, the weekend is a good chance to tick a few things off our to-do list. Happy Birthday to my lovely Nana, hope you got your card Nana!

I was up bright and early this morning (no migraine today thank goodness!) finishing off this card I made last night while Shan watched some basketball. I've used MFTWSC5 for my sketch and the CCEE challenge this week was to use punches. I've used my faves for the sentiment treatment as well as the scallops behind the brads - one of my go-to tricks!

I loved this sketch! The image is coloured with SU markers. I've added glitter to the letter, it might be a little hard to tell because it's white. What do you think, are you loving the extra large photo of the card, or should I stick with large? As with all my photos, you can always click on them to get the "oh I can see all the mistakes now" version!

Inside I used the same papers and an approximation of the layout to tie it all together. I hope you have a fun weekend wherever you are (and if you're in North America, stay warm!)

Colour Combo: Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Basic Black, Whisper White Stamps: Making a List (MFT Stamps) Paper: Greenhouse Gala, Blushing Bride DSP (SU) Dies: Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders) Jumbo Scallop Dienamic (MFT Stamps) Punches: Itty Bitty Shapes, Word Window, Modern Label (SU) Other: Markers, Black Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals (SU) Brads (Unknown) Embossing Folders (Provocraft)

Belle Toile

Happy Chinese New Year! My day started with a migraine, not fun. So once I kicked it I used the colour combo at Color Throwdown and the SCS sketch for this week to make a soft and soothing card. Stamping is always relaxing for me, it totally made me forget my head was hurting!

I finally used my beautiful Belle Toile background stamp. It's been sitting on the shelf waiting to be inked up for awhile now. I love it! I added the sentiment on a little tag so it can be easily changed if I need a quick card - I think this one would work for just about any occasion.

I've kept the inside blank for the moment in case I do need to use the card as a sympathy card or something else. Have a wonderful day, thanks for stopping by!

Colour Combo: Very Vanilla, Bashful Blue, Crumb Cake, So Saffron, Early Espresso Stamps: Belle Toile, Teeny Tiny Sentiments, Soft Summer (SU)  Punches: Scallop Edge, Itty Bitty Shapes, Word Window, Modern Label (SU) Other: Vanilla Ribbon, Espresso Button, Vanilla Brads, Linen Thread, Stamp-a-ma-jig (SU)

With all my Heart

Happy February! It's true, time flies when you're having fun, because January went by in a blur! I spent a fun hour this morning making a card for a couple of my fave challenges, and one new (to me) challenge.

This card uses the MFTWSC4 sketch, the Recipe for Love challenge, and the colours from CR84FN13.

I usually find recipe challenges limiting, but this one was fun! A Valentine with one neutral card base, one patterned paper, two cardstock colours and three types of embellishments! I used brads, ribbon and Prima flowers. The colour challenge called for Red, Turquoise and Brown - one of my favourite colour combos!

My image was coloured with SU Markers (a lot of you write to ask that I list my Copic colours - but any bright colouring you see is done with SU markers only, I haven't made the Copic plunge just yet! ) and the heart is paper pieced.

You'll see I'm still kinda crazy about dots, polka dots, big dots - love em!

Inside the card things are nice and clean, waiting for a sweet little message!

Colour Combo: Soft Suede, Poppy Parade and Tempting Turquoise Stamps: Love You With All My Heart (MFT Stamps) Paper: Poppy Parade DSP (SU) Dies: Circle & Lacey Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders) Faux Crochet Border (MFT Stamps) Other: Soft Suede Ribbon, Markers, Dimensionals (SU) Brads (Basic Grey) Flowers (Prima) Xmas Red Stickles (Ranger) Embossing Folder (Provocraft)