DCD's - Halloween or Autumn challenge finishes soon

 Hi.  Last day for the October Die Cut Diva's challenge... Halloween or Autumn.

  

I chose to use an Autumn image for my card. 

My sentiments are from a Catherine Pooler stamp set.  I used Gina K Designs Master Layouts 2 to cut the centre panel and its mat.  The base card is a dark brown.   

My teamie - Linda also used the same image (here) - always interesting to see how we all use the same image differently.

Do come and join us at Die Cut Divas 

Today I went to a Craft Fair.... the first this year with COVID causing the big Craft Fair not going ahead in July.  FYI - is a lovely friendly little fair about 2 hours south of Auckland.  I travelled down with my friend Suna, and we caught up with our friend Carol.  A good day had by all

Suna, me and Carol.

My Haul! 

Already made two cards using some of these goodies.  Look out for them in future posts.  But here's a wee sneak peek

thanks for stopping by.

WWC 295 Karen's All About Occasions Challenge

 Hi there.  It's time for the new challenge at Watercooler Wednesday and Karen is our hostess with an All About Occasions challenge.

My card today started as a card for an Embossing challenge... but I didn't read the theme correctly - It was use Metallic with a Geometric embossing folder. - I didn't use a Geometric folder but used a floral folder.  

I made my metallic centre by making the edges and using Catherine Pooler Sauna ink and gold Perfect Pearls. I then used a an Altenew 3D Embossing folder Beautiful Bergenia.  I matted the panel onto a piece of gold paper and then added to a white card base.   Added a Catherine Pooler die cut Hello and finished with a sentiment from an Altenew set. 

Come and join in the fun at  Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and check out the project from the other designers.  Then take our challenge and link up your project to the challenge post.    We'd love to have you join us.  You have until Monday at 5 pm Mountain Standard Time (Tuesday at 11.00 am NZ time ) to link up your project.

Pink Christmas - Take Two

 Hi.  I'm back again today with another Pink Christmas card - for the Christmas Kickstart Challenge. 

Here's what I came up with

This card started life as a test run of my Altenew 3D embossing folder.  I inked up the folder and ran it through my Cuttlebug.  I wasn't sure if I liked it so it sat on my desk for a white.   I was mucking around and thought it might do ok for the base for a Pink Christmas card.  I matted it onto some black card and some dark pink card before adding to the white base.  I die cut the sentiment from the dark pink mat and added to the card.  It was only when I took the photo I realised that I had added the sentiment to the base upside down.  The flowers were going the wrong way.  But I'm sure you won't have noticed unless I had said!  A few pink gems finished off the card.

Halloween at Sweet Stampin' Challenge.

 Time for another challenge at Sweet Stampin'.  Our challenge this week is "Halloween" 

I used a digital stamp I've had for years.... not 100% sure who it's from.  I printed the image and and used some alcohol markers.  

I die cut the image and then added the sentiment which is a Clearly Besotted one.   I added a black layer and then onto a purple card base. 

Do come and join us at Sweet Stampin' this week.  

WWC 294 - Marsha's Challenge: Anything Goes With a Masculine Twist

 Hi there- time for a new challenge at Watercooler Wednesday.   Marsha is our hostess and she has an Anything Goes with a Masculine Twist 

My card is the birthday card that I made for my husband's birthday on the 16th

I chose a Catherine Pooler stamp set called Leaf Motifs and used my Gina K Wreath Builder Stencil to stamp the leaves using Altenew inks - Bamboo, Parrot, Olive and Moss inks.   For my centre panel I used second generation stamping of the leaves.  The sentiment is stamped in Expresso ink from Altenew using a sentiment from Gina K's Frame and Flowers 2 set.  I mounted both panels onto some dark brown card.   

Come and join in the fun at  Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and check out the project from the other designers.  Then take our challenge and link up your project to the challenge post.    We'd love to have you join us.  You have until Monday at 5 pm Mountain Standard Time (Tuesday at 11.00 am NZ time ) to link up your project.

A Pink Christmas

 Hi there.  The current challenge at Christmas Kickstart is "A Pink Christmas"   I did some Pink Christmas cards last year with some pretty patterned paper I purchased, but for my card today I CASED a card I recently received from my NZ swap friend, Carol.  Our challenge was to use a white die cut... I'll show her card after I show mine...

I smooshed some Altenew Fuchsia ink onto my craft mat and completely covered my panel with the ink.  I then took another panel and picked up what was left on the mat.  This gave me the pretty background that looks like clouds.  I used Cottage Cutz Stitched ovals to make my frames.  I die cut the Poinsettia with a Spellbinders die from the centre of the full panel of ink, before using it as the matting.  Waste not, want not!  I layered the flowers together and added some Soft Pink rhinestones to the centre and on the frames.    The sentiment was stamped with Magenta Ink (Altenew) with a stamp that was a free one several Christmas ago.  Love the scripty writing.

And here is the card I got from Carol. 

 Isn't it stunning.  You can see why it inspired me.  

Thanks for stopping by today.   Hope you all are well and coping with how the world is spinning at the moment.   I'm looking forward to a fun full weekend starting with the a family takeaway dinner tonight for hubby's birthday (today) and then up to spend the night at our friends up north and then on Sunday a quick trip back to Auckland so we can go to the Test between the All Blacks and the Australian rugby team.  Lucky to get given some tickets to a corporate box to watch the game. 

WWC 293 - Tristan's Challenge: All About Occasions

 Hi there.  It's time for another challenge at Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.  Tristan is our hostess with an All About Occasions challenge. 

My occasion today is Christmas.  I recently got an order of Altenew stamps - one of which was this Festive Frame .

I stamped the image with Versafine Onyx black ink and clear embossed.  I used several shade of orange, red and green Zig Real Brush Markers.  I added some splatters - mainly because I had inky fingers and smudged some on the card.  This way I was able to disguise my boo boo.  I trimmed the image with Gina K's Master Layers 2 and then added to the red base card.  The sentiment is from the same set - three different sentiments stamped together. 

 Come and join in the fun at  Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and check out the project from the other designers.  Then take our challenge and link up your project to the challenge post.    We'd love to have you join us.  You have until Monday at 5 pm Mountain Standard Time (Tuesday at 11.00 am NZ time ) to link up your project.

October's Hero Art Facebook Fan 90 min Scramble.

 Hi.  Nina is hosting a 90 minute scramble over at the Facebook Hero Arts Fan Scramble Challenge 

Her challenge is to use your Hero Arts Background stamps.   I have a lot of older Hero Arts stamps including a reasonable number of block backgrounds and cling backgrounds.   I chose to use a cling stamp called Leaf and Floral background.  I saw that my blogger friend Cindy had used the same background stamp - nice to see how we used it differently. 

I watched a video this week from Jennifer McGuire that used Perfect Pearls with background stamps and that's what I did.  I stamped the background stamp with Versamark and added the gold Perfect Pearls.  I finished off with a simple little die cut Hello from the Hello Stamp and Cut set.  The little added sentiment is from the same set and was gold embossed onto the same dark blue cardstock.  The panel was added to some gold card and then added to a white base.   

Nice to just have some fun playing in a scramble - even if I did it over 2 nights the total time was around 60 mins. 

Thanks for stopping by.  

Cards for two challenges.

 I'm back from my  5 days away - we did a little road trip south of Auckland.  We had a lovely trip away, did lots of walking - along the beach at Papamoa, through the bush in Rotorua and a short walk to see the Huka Falls in Taupo.  And some soaking in the Thermal Pools in Rotorua and in a warm creek riverside in Taupo.   Had fun riding the Luge in Rotorua and generally had a relaxing time.  

So today I have two cards to share.  One I made on Saturday after getting home from babysitting little Grace.  She had a bit of a hard week - ending up spending 2 days in Starship Hospital (Auckland's Children's Hospital) last weekend with high temperature and not being able to weight bear on her leg.  After lots of tests and scans she went home on Monday but got a call back on Wednesday and spend another two nights in hospital with more scans and blood tests.  She had a bacteria in her blood that caused the joint pain but is now much better.  Back to her smiley self. 

On to my cards... Both are for challenges hosted by my blog friends... Gail and Jo.  First up for Christmas Kickstart Challenge.. the theme is Festive Sweet Treats 

My card uses some Catherine Pooler Designs stamps - Candy Cane Lane and the matching dies.  I used Green Skirts and Rockin' Red CP inks to stamp the Candy Canes and Peppermint sweets and die cut them out.  I used the Grass Skirt to make the Plaid background - also a Catherine Pooler Design stamp.  The sentiment is just perfect for the sweets.   

My next card is for a brand new challenge blog - started by Gail and assisted by Jo.  It's called "Let's Squash It" - and is all about embossing folders.  Gail admits to being a bit obsessed with Embossing Folders... and so am I!  I just counted how many I have - 139 full sized folders and 23 border folders.  

So for the first challenge the theme is "Geometric and Metallic"  Use a Geometric EF and Metallic paper/card.  On the blog, Gail has a tutorial on making your own metallic paper.  For my card I used a faux metallic technique I did years ago from a video by Jennifer McGuire (here) using ink and Perfect Pearls.  

I used some Catherine Pooler Sauna ink and Gold Perfect Pearls to make my panel.  Then used a We Are Memory Keepers 3D Geometric die to emboss.  I trimmed the panel and layered it with some black card and then onto my white base.  I added a black die cut from  Penny Black.  

I have to say this was the second card I made using this technique.  I miss read the the challenge and didn't use a Geometric Folder.... so I have another card up my sleeve.  You'll see it sometime in the future!

Thanks Gail and Jo for starting this fun challenge.  

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Use Something from your Old Stash

 Hi there.  It's time for a new challenge at Sweet Stampin' Challenge.  And it's a fun challenge... Use Something from your Old Stash.

I've been stamping for about 11 years or so now.  Today I am using a stamp set I got not long after I started stamping.  It's an Inkadinkado set circa 2007 and I have always loved it. 

I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink as I knew I wanted to colour with a Copic marker.  I used a purple marker and to give some texture I used my score board to score some lines around the edges.  I added some Spectrum Noir clear sparkle pen to the dress and used a fine line glitter pen to add some colour to the sentiment.  A few little pearls on the waist finished my card.  I played around with adding some clear gems but decided in the end to keep it CAS. 

WWC292 - Dawn's Challenge: Anything Goes With a Feminine Twist

 Hi there.  Today it's my turn to be the hostess at Watercooler Wednesday and I have an Anything Goes With a Feminine Twist.  

I love making floral cards and nothing says Feminine than flowers.   Today my card is using a new to me stamp from Altenew - Paint a Flower Calla Lily.

My neighbour has some white Calla Lilies in her garden which inspired me to have a go at doing some white ones.  I did make a bit of a boo boo with one of the leaves... colouring in an area that really wasn't a leaf!  However I think it turned out ok. I used Zig Markers to colour in the image.  I added a very CAS sentiment from a Tim Holtz set.  I decided to keep it simple and did not add any embellishments.  I trimmed the panel and added to a white card base.  I'll be sending this to my Dad's partner for her birthday in a couple of weeks. 

Come and join in the fun at Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and check out the projects from the other designers.  Then take our challenge and link up your project to the challenge post.  We'd love to have you join us.  You have until Monday at 5pm Mountain Standard Time (Tuesday at 11.00am NZ time) to link up your project. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Your visit is appreciated and I would love if you want to leave me a message with your thoughts. 

Gift Bags inspired by Gina K

 I managed to watch Gina K's FB live this week where she made some cute Halloween Gift Bags.  I don't have many Halloween stamps so decided to make a few Christmas bags and a little birthday one.  Gina kindly provided a template to make her box which is a sweet little 3.5" square bag which is what I used to make my birthday bag.

I used some kraft card and used a Hero Arts stencil and some brown Altenew ink to add a pattern to my background.  I used a little Altenew set "Blooming Blossoms" for my flower and leaves.  I fussy cut the flower and leaves.  The sentiment is from Altenew "Merry Reindeer" set, white embossed on a black Scallop oval from Spellbinders.  I attached my topper with a white and silver bakers twine bow.

For my Christmas bags I wanted to use the reindeer from Merry Reindeer, but it is too big for the small square bag so I did some adjustments and made a taller bag.  

 I used some red card to make the bag and added some Couture Creation patterned paper as my background.  I stamped the reindeer onto some white card and then stamped the banner part onto some red card.  I die cut the reindeer and fussy cut to the red piece.  I white embossed the sentiment.  A nice big red ribbon bow finished off the bag. 

And my third bag is a wider, taller one.

I again used some patterned paper for the background and used the bakers twine to close the back.  I had such fun making these and am sure there will be a few more made before Christmas.  I think I'll add some "reindeer poo" inside these ones.  

Thanks to Linda for the heads up - I'm adding my middle bag to the challenge at The Sisterhood of Crafters - Anything but a card.  A fun challenge. 

Am pleased to advise the kitchen is FINISHED - well 99.9% - just the garbage disposal unit to be added to the sink and the rangehood to be connected to the outside.  I am so happy to be back in the kitchen cooking.  So much easier.  

WWC 291 - Fifth Week Anything Goes Challenge

 Back again with another challenge at Watercooler Wednesday.  There are 5 Wednesday's in September so this is our Fifth Week Anything Goes Challenge... 

Today I am sharing a background I made after seeing a Gina K Facebook live a few weeks ago.

Can you guess what the background is made with?  It's an older technique - using rubber bands.   I wrapped some rubber bands onto a block.  I then inked up the bands with a variety of Altenew inks in darker red and blue colours.  I changed the orientation of my block to get the different directions.  

I stamped the oval from Gina K's Warm Spring Wishes  and used one of the sentiments and butterflies from the set.  As I don't have the co-ordinating dies I fussy cut the oval and butterfly.  A few small pearls finished the card. 

 Come and join in the fun at  Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and check out the project from the other designers.  Then take our challenge and link up your project to the challenge post.    We'd love to have you join us.  You have until Monday at 5 pm Mountain Standard Time (Tuesday at 11.00 am NZ time ) to link up your project.