Snowflakes Galore

I really find it amusing to be making cards with snowflakes for Christmas when I'm sweltering in early summer heat... but I love the look of snowflake cards.  Today I have two I've made in the last few days ~ both for entries in the City Crafter Challenge "Snow White" challenge.



This uses the negative space made from cutting my Marianne Designs die.  I added some glitter card underneath and then did a few layers of white.  The sentiment is one I've had for around 4 years.

Card two

I used the same Snowflake die cut this time with some creamy white glitter paper and added a silver glitter paper punched snowflake with a pink pearl in the centre.  The background is dry embossed with a Snowflake embossing folder.  The sentiment from Hero Arts has been silver embossed on some adhesive vellum, trimmed to a banner shape and stuck on the card.

I'm off to spend the day with my stamp group.  It's been a while since I've meet with them as I missed the last meeting.  Looking forward to it.

A big Happy Thanksgiving to my American followers.  Hope it was good.

His and Hers cards from HCW

Hi there... back with a couple of cards I made from the HCW Day 5  ~ His and Hers cards.



First one  - my feminine card.  I had a go at making a plaid background.  I don't have any suitable stamps so with this one I tried using a stencil

I used some distress inks in Festive Berries and Broken China and a silver gel pen.  I then cut the Simon Says die.  It has two parts so I used the blue ink on the little frame.  I stamped and embossed the sentiment in the circle space.  I added some little fussy cut Holly leaves (Inkadinkado)  Was just getting ready to take a photo when I noticed that I had smudged some black ink onto the card... so big save with a larger fussy cut Holly ~ this time a Kaisercraft stamp.   Added some glossy accents on the berries.

My masculine card follows the same design and sentiment,

This time I used a ruler to draw my plaid with a gold calligraphy pen, a Kaiser marker and a white gel pen on a pale blue card.  I die cut the panel and added the gold pen on the outer frame.  My base is some Kraft card.

I'm really enjoying the warm weather we are having and that we live so close to the beach.  I did a lovely walk along the shore line today... dodging a few waves over the pipeline I was walking along.  High tide had been about an hour before.  It's a great place to live.

Have a great week and Happy Thanksgiving for Thursday to all my American friends.

More Christmas cards inspired by the Workshop

The Holiday Workshop has now finished, but I have still a few cards to share and I haven't even started on the Wrap Up day.  So today I have some cards to share. 

First up a card from Day 3

Day three was all about CAS.  This one uses a Hero Arts tree stamped in a variety of Hero Arts Inks. -note the final colour - I didn't clean the stamp properly after the Punch ink and then inked up the Soft Pool... made a bit of a purple colour!  I used some of the ink to colour the stars and baubles and added some Glossy accents.  The PP is from American Crafts and the sentiment is from a Lawn Fawn set, stamped and embossed.  

I used the same tree stamp to make a card inspired by Shari from Day 5

I loved Shari's soft blues and greens so used those.  The trees were stamped and coloured with Distress Inks.  I coloured the baubles with a Sukura Glitter Pen.  I made the little blue stared piece of card by stamping and white embossing a Simon Says Stamp border and did a resist technique using some Broken China distress stain.  The  green is a scrap of PP.  Finished with some blue, green and white bakers twine and some green and blue sequins   

and finally another card inspired by Shari's on Day 4

I CASE'd the card from Shari using stamps I had on hand... the lights are from Inkadinkado and the sentiment from Hero Arts  as is the little bird.  I stamped it with HA ink - Punch and then coloured with a Copic.  The edges were cut with a Spellbinders die.

Thanks for bearing with me while I've shown off the cards I've made.  This class is probably one of the best I've done... so much inspiration!  

Summer is here now in NZ...  we've just had an amazing weekend weather-wise. So warm and sunny both days.  Just loving it.  

                                                                   

Snow much Joy.... Christmas in November Day 6 at Little Blue Button Stamps

Today it's my turn to  host the blog in Little Blue Button Stamps' Christmas Event.

My card uses "Catching Snowflakes" an adorable Eris image.  I have printed her out and coloured with Copics.  I made the background with some distress inks and a stamp from Hero Arts. 

My card base already had the lovely edging so it was an easy card to come together.  I added some Sukura gel pen to the snow at the bottom of the focal panel.

Also today we release this stamps set "Hooray Its Christmas!" which is available in rubber

And don't forget you can get this stamp for 50% off, just for today over at Little Blue Button Stamps with this code ~  dwn55  Attention: you must be logged in to use coupon! Otherwise it will not work! It's only for these two stamps and only for today so be quick.

Also in the end of this event will be two random winners picked up among those who will make order during this event - they will receive a small kit of Christmas digital stamps which weren't included in this event! So stay tuned!

Hope you take the time to visit our Event... full of inspiration.

Lots of homework being done.

I have been really busy doing homework for the online class.  I have a few to share today...

This is from Day 2 using Jennifer's inlaid die technique.  It uses a Spellbinders wreath die and some MME paper.   The sentiment is from Kaisercraft.  

The next two cards are a variation of the same technique.  From Day 3, this is a technique uses masking and stencils. 

I used Memento ink ~ Bamboo Leaves and VersaMagic ~ Key Lime and a Mister Huey's stencil to make my tree.  Added some green sequins and a star sequin together with a Hero Arts sentiment.    My second card is almost identical except I used a Simon Says Stamp stencil called Peppermint Stripe.   Another sentiment from the same Hero Arts set.

If you want a quick peek at the rest of my homework pop over to my Flickr page

HERE.  I will try and share over the next few days.

Thanks for stopping by today.

It's All About ME!!!....

Yes.. I'm the guest over at Die Cut Divas this month.  Paula has interview me and you can read all about me there.   I made a couple of cards for her to show, both using images from this month's sponsor.

 My first card uses the gorgeous girl with some WPlus9 flowers and leaves stamps and dies.

My second card used a Lawn Fawn polaroid die with a little bit extra added to the bottom.  The ribbon hides the join.

So please pop over to the blog to find out a bit more about ME.

Today was Week 4 weight in for our Biggest Loser challenge at work.   I'm down 3.5kgs (that's almost 8lbs) and coming in 3rd in the challenge.  Two more weeks to go so it's all out now.  More exercise and less food intake.  Tonight I made cauliflower rice (grated cooked cauliflower) as a low-carb alternative to white rice with my Thai chicken curry.   Life is looking good!

Thanks for visiting.

HCW 2013 ~ Day 2

I'm really enjoying the class.  Day 2 had more amazing inspiring videos and tutorials.  I was able to find some time to play on Friday evening.   My card did take some time to do....

My ornaments were die cut from a Poppy Stamps Die and some American Crafts silver foil.  One one way and one the other so I could back them together.  I cut the opening in my card and layer the ornaments between two layers of acetate.  

The PP behind the window is from American Crafts as well and is made like a card so you can lift it and write your greeting.  The front of the card is stamped with an older Hero Arts snowflake flourish in Grey Flannel Memento Ink.

Here's another photo showing the floating ornaments

I also finished off a card from Day 1.  Inspired by Joy Taylor's video using both the positive and negative pieces of a die.   

I used two different red card stocks and cut out my die... but didn't get it straight  :-(  still decided to continue.  I added the piece to my card and then decided it looked way too plain.  I added some white embossed dots from an older Hero Arts stamp called Raindrop Background.  I inked it up with Versamark and then write a bit off.  Gives a very subtle background and then as it was still a bit stark, added a die cut Poinsettia (Spellbinders die) with some twine and a few punched leaves.

And here is the inside

I used a Kaisercraft sentiment and stamped just parts of it to stamp the words.

Yesterday I spent 7 HOURS... yes 7 hours tidying up my craft space... It was LONG overdue, I can tell you... but it's so much better now.  So more creative underway.

Thanks for visiting today... off to try out some more of the techniques from Day 2 and Day 3

Holiday Cards Workshop ~ Day 1

I was lucky enough to win a spot in the latest Online  card class called "Holiday Card Workshop"  Day one had 4 different cards to inspire us.  I've used the inspiration to make two cards.

First up a card inspired by Kristina's card



Using an embossing folder and a sentiment stamp from Kaisercraft and a cute little reindeer from Mygrafico  (by Zenware) printed, coloured and fussy cut.  Some washi tape and bakers twine finish it off.

second card is inspired by Jennifer's Z fold card with long banner...

I used some white ink to stamp a Hero Arts background all over the card.  The candle is from Kaisercraft as are the sentiments.  Inside it reads "'this the season to be jolly" 

Day 2 is up now so more inspiration for me.  Using die cuts which I can't wait to try.

Enjoy your week.

Happy 25th Birthday to my son.

Yes, 25 years ago my baby boy was born.  I can't believe how quickly the years have gone by.

I did this collage and up it up on Facebook today.  He loved it and called me this evening to say thank-you.

I made a card for him as well

I used some Tim Holtz water colour paper ( just love this paper... the best I've found) and stamped the smoother side to stamp the boat from Rubadubbadoo.  I used distress inks to colour the stamp.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts. 

So to our son... Happy Birthday Kieran.

A few Christmas cards.....

Over the past few weeks, I've done a few Christmas cards.  I have two to share today ~ so hang in there with me while I show you what I've been doing.


My first card was inspired by Betty who made a few cards with poinsettia's on them together with some little berries.

I used a Tim Holtz/Sizzix die to make my flower, some rose leaves, the berries from WPlus9 Fresh Cut Florals die and stamp set and a background with a Couture Creations embossing folder.  This one has been entered into the challenges at Simon Says Stamp and CAS-ual Fridays

and a quick card I made for Chupa's Saturday Sketchbook #109

I really liked the sketch and used a new pad of PP from American Crafts called Peppermint Express to co-ordinate the colours.  The sentiment is from Kaisercraft.  My snowflakes are from a Marianne's die set and a punch.  The large one is cut with glitter tape stuck to some card and the rest were cut and punched and Stickles added.   Added some Stickles to the houses and snow and finished with some silver gems.   The whole card took me less than 20 minutes to finish and then that long for the stickles to dry.

I'm hoping to get a few more Christmas cards done... I was lucky enough to win a place in the latest On-line classes class... Holiday Card Workshop and am really looking forward to the class.  Thanks to Joy who picked me for a place.

Have a great week

Moxie Fab Thanks....Cath you are the best!

Hi.. welcome to my part in the Moxie Fab Thanks blog hop to let Cath know how much she will be missed.

You should have come from Meredith's blog.  Below are the list of all the blogs if you want to start at the beginning. 

Here is my card

I used a Penny Black cling stamp and white embossed it.  I then added some distress ink by smooching it onto my craft mat and spritzing with some silver glimmer mist and painting onto the card.  I used Peacock Feathers, Peeled Paint and Festive Berries, doing some mixing of the colours.  It has a lot of glimmer in real life.   The die and sentiment are from Simon Says Stamps. Did you notice my colours mimic the banner... well that was totally unintentional.  I'd done the card before I added the banner to the blog.

I also looked up the word Moxie... it means " skill and know how, aggressive energy; initiative and the ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage"  that sums up Cath and all the rest of the Moxie Fabbers taking part in the hop.

Now it's time to hop on to Marisa's blog

Have fun hopping along.

A Snowman in Summer.....

It's strange to be making a Snowman card when it's summer time here in New Zealand.... but I wanted to CASE a card I saw on Gina K's Stamp TV   Her technique was to use a white Faber Castell pen and a silver pen to make a plaid background.

 

The background turned out perfectly, even though my silver pen is a bit thinner than what Gina used.  My snowman is from Hero Arts and my sentiment from Kaisercraft.   

I know summer is here as today we had strawberries for dessert.  This is one of my favourite fruits over the summer period and they are very plentiful and reasonably priced just now.  We love ours with a spoonful of icing sugar and some vanilla yoghurt.   Semi healthy! 

We're off to visit some local gardens tomorrow.  They are are in the country about half an hour from here.  It's a fund raiser for a local Rotary group.  

It's late so off to bed for me.  Back tomorrow night to take part in the Moxie Fab Thanks Cath blog hop... see you then

Mixed Media Collage background.

Today I have a card to share for Little Blue Button Stamps.  I started with making a mixed media background and then used it to make the card.

 

The background is some water colour paper which I coloured with Derwent Water colour pencils.  I then used some stamps, stencils and inks to make the collage background.   

 I printed the new image called Sally.  I coloured her with Copics and fussy cut her out.  I haven't added a sentiment yet ~ I'll wait till I decide who I'm giving the card to... 

Our new challenge starts soon... be on the lookout for some gorgeous projects from the team.   

I'm sitting writing this while listening to the fireworks our neighbours are letting off.  Last night was Guy Fawkes night but due to very bad weather not many fireworks were let off.  You can only buy fireworks for 4 days from the 2nd Nov till 5th Nov. We didn't get any this year ~ now the kids are not here, it's not worth it.  

Anything Goes at Chalk'n'Stock

Yes, it's that time again... another ANYTHING GOES (as long as there is chalk involved) over at Chalk'n'Stock

As usual, our sponsor is the amazing Bugaboo Digi Stamps

 

If you haven't been to visit them, you really should.  They have the most amazing digis.   I so love working with them... they go from cute through to hilarious and just about everything in between.

 

Today my card uses a "Stella" digi.  Isn't it just so hilarious!  I printed and coloured with Copics.  My card background is made with a Hero Arts stamp and some Chalk ink which I also distressed the edges with.  The sentiment is from Stamp It.   I finished up with some rolled roses made with the same card I matted the focal image with and some punched leaves. 

Had a great weekend ~ started the major clean up in the craft room... going to take WEEKS!!!! to get it cleaned up... I keep getting side tracked.  

Weight down again this week... only 350gms but every bit helps.  Been walking just about every day ~ but biked tonight as the weather has packed in.  

Off to finish up my card for the Moxie Fab Thanks Cath blog hop in the weekend.  

Let's Celebrate at Die Cut Divas.

As promised, I'm back with my sample for the challenge at Die Cut Divas...Paula and I have decided to combine the November and December challenges and give you two months to Celebrate.... Holiday cards or any other celebration.   We have one sponsor for each month but cards for both months will be in the running. 

This months sponsor is Crafty Sentiments Designs.  They have some adorable images.  I chose to use a Christmas image

I used my Spellbinders circle die to cut out the Copic coloured image and added to my snow globe.  The sentiment is from Kaisercraft, stamped with Hero Arts Poppy ink and cut out.   

So please come and join us with Die Cut Divas over the next couple of months. 

Thanks for visiting today.  Hope your weekend is going well.