Happy Bird-Day

 I recently got a stamp set by Mangocrafts called Funny Birds... and got the matching dies. It's got a few humorous stamps and sentiments.  This is my first card-

I started by stamping the birds and used Altenew Artist Markers and some Spectrum Noir Tri-blends to colour them.  Once I had die cut them I worked on a background.   I blended some Altenew inks in green and  blue for grass and sky adding some marker on the grass.  Added the sentiment from the stamp set... isn't it fun!   This one is a for friend turning 60 soon!

Had a busy weekend - so not too much crafting went on... Was up early on Saturday as I had to go and get a prize voucher I had won in a Mother's Day competition - $300 at Cosmo Nail and Beauty Salon.  I had to have my photo taken getting the prize.  

Espressly for You...

 I was asked to make a card for some colleagues, whose team leader has moved to a new position.  They told me that he loves his coffee... so I made a 5 x 7 card so the team can sign it.

I trimmed some kraft paper and stamped it with Catherine Pooler Icing on the Cake ink with an Altenew Coffee Ring stamp.  The little bean and the two coffee sentiments are from a 2011  Hero Arts Sparkle Clear Coffee stamp set.  It's a mini 2 x 4 stamp set. The coffee cup is a digital one I got in 2022 from My Scrap Chick.  Not sure if it still available.   Being digital it was easy to size up to suit a larger card.  I used some alcohol markers to added the colour to the cup.   The sentiment is from another Hero Arts mini set - Mini Messages (2008) 

And added upside of making this card, when I was searching for the older Hero Arts stamps, I found 2 Studio G stamp sets that I haven't even opened, and a few sets I'd forgotten about that I pulled out and put close to my desk to remember to use soon.  

Card swaps.... Christmas swaps 2021

 Love this time of the year when I do card swaps....I do a couple of monthly one (when I can) through Card Chain Challenge and my NZ swap group, but at Christmas there are others relating to the holidays... 

Here is the card I send to Char for the Hero Arts Fan group on Facebook

Using an older Hero Art Christmas set, I black embossed my Nativity scene and then ink blended the background 

These are the three cards I made for the Merry Christmas - handmade cards and swap group on Flickr. 

I did the same design in three different colour schemes.  Stamps from Gina K's Holiday Tapestry set and added the border stamp to the envelopes.  

And for the Altenew swap - again on the Facebook Fan page:  See this post (Here)

It's a few days to go.  I'm already on my Christmas break.  Taking a good 4 week break after the hard year 2021 has been with our 4 month lockdown.   Plan was to take a trip overseas to visit the family in Perth, Australia... but for another year - no go.   Maybe sometime in 2022

Have a happy Christmas break one and all 

WWC 303- Karen's Challenge: Anything Goes with a Feminine Twist

 Hello there,  Welcome to our first challenge for 2021 for Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.  Karen is our hostess this week with an anything goes with a feminine twist challenge. 

I find making feminine cards easy... doing my own favourite florals.  I bought some new goodies as an early Christmas present to myself and included was Altenew's Spider Mum Paint A Flower.  

I used Alcohol Markers to colour this one in.  I used my Gina K Master Layouts to make my layers, combining a couple of the layout dies.  The sentiment is from the same set.  A few little black gems finished it.  

I have another sample using this stamp set here. 

Check out the projects that the artists at Watercooler Wednesday Challenges have created then take the challenge and link your creation to the challenge post. We’d love to have you join us.  You have until Mondays at 5 p.m. Mountain Standard Time (Tuesdays at 1pm NZ time) to link up your project.

WWC 266 Heidi's Challenge: All About Occasions

Hi there - time for another challenge at Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.  Heidi is our hostess with an All About Occasions.

Today I have a card with a new die I recently got.  I was at Spotlight and Kaisercraft dies were on sale.  The one I got was down to $8 from $30.

The die is called Posy Circle. I cut it from white card and used markers to colour it.  The main circle was coloured with a bronze Marvy Metallic marker and the rest were Alcohol makers.  The card is 10.5cm square.  I used a piece of patterned paper from a Uniti pack (Urban Retreat)  The sentiment is from Altenew Classic Beauty.   I finished off the card with a few maroon coloured sequins.


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 12.00 noon NZ time ) to link up your project.

Keep Calm and Be Kind

What a place the world is now... How would have ever imagined this could happen. 

Yesterday my package from Krafters Cart arrived - I needed some new Momento Tuxedo black ink so popped in a stamp set too... by Clearly Besotted called Say Something  I manged to get the last one in stock.  When I opened the stamp set, the sentiment Keep Calm and Be Kind, jumped off the sheet at me!  I didn't even notice it was in the set when I was ordering,  I just loved the font and wanted some different sentiments.... how fortuitous it was - perfect for the times....

I've done two cards....
First one I did paired the sentiment with an Altenew flower and some of their new washi tape

 I did this one last night - using Simple Beauty in Pink Pearl, Coral Bliss for the larger flower and Coral Bliss, Heart Beat for the smaller one.  I added the sentiment and washi plus a few clear gems and added to a pink base.  I'm going to walk up the road and drop it in my elderly neighbour's letter box to give her some positive encouragement.

This afternoon, I watched a live FB class from a NZ based company called Caftables.  Paula, the owner, had made kits which were sent out earlier in the week.  I didn't get the kit but loved her design elements so did some improvising. 

I used a die to make my oval centre and then embossed the panel.  Paula used the most incredible Poppy flowers which were die cut and then layered up to give a 3D effect, but I went with something a bit simpler.  I used a Hero Arts flower that was sitting on my desk (Night and Day Flower)  I stamped the black outline and then used Altenew Alcohol markers in Crimson and Velvet to add colour to the flowers.  A couple of green Spectrum Noir markers were used for the leaves and branches.   I white embossed the sentiment on to the same red card I used to mat the centre panel. 

So how is everyone going at self isolating/quarantining/being in lock down.... First week of working from home for me has gone okay.  I managed to do my hours each day and not get too stressed out.  Our team had a MS Teams meeting every morning to talk about what the work was like, how we were coping and generally chatting to each other.   During the day we would chat on Teams, use our teams Whats App and sent each other photos of our pets, our lunches, or families... anything to stay in touch really.   All that working didn't give me much time to craft though (insert sad face) so I'll be making up for it this weekend.  

AECP - Magical Markers Techniques.

I'm slowly getting to the end of my Level 2 classes.  Today I had a go at the Magical Markers Technique class.  I originally took this class some time ago, but only recently purchased some Altenew Markers.   The class was lead by Sara Naumann and it was all about Markers.  Not just using them to colour in with, but lots of incredible techniques for other ways to use your markers.    Each lesson gave different ideas and of course, Sara explained and demonstrated them beautifully.   I went through every lesson again and came up with a card that used several different ways to use my Markers,

So what did I do?  First off I used my ruler and the R217 Velvet marker to make the frame around my panel.  Next was to make the splatters. - How you ask?  Well it's quite easy.  Scribble some maker onto a craft sheet and spritz with Isopropyl Alcohol.  Quickly use a stippling brush to pick up and flick the colour onto the card.

I used the R217 Velvet, R705 Midnight Violet and some Black Copic marker.  Just love the misty look I achieved.

My final technique was again to scribble some of the markers onto the craft mat and spritz with the Isopropyl Alcohol and then taking some glossy card stock, smooshing it on the mat.  This give an amazing watercolour look.

I was very impressed with the idea of doing this for backgrounds.  My next step was to stamp a flower from the Wallpaper Art stamp set onto the pink piece.  (actually was the Velvet ink but the diluting with the IA makes it softer)  I added clear embossing over the stamping and carefully used the heat gun to set.  I fussy cut it out.

I added a leaf from the Wallpaper Arts set with some Industrial Diamond ink and a sentiment from the Leaf Canopy set.   I don't have a small Hello from Altenew so cut one from another die I have.  A few pink sequins and I called it a day.

I learnt so much from Sara and this class.  Alcohol Markers can be used for so many different techniques and ideas other than straight colouring.  This class was excellently presented and I can highly recommend it.

I am entering this into the Anything Goes challenge at The Flower Challenge.

Thanks for visiting my blog today.  All visitors are welcome.  If you liked this post, feel free to leave me a comment.  

WWC 230 Kath's Masculine "Anything Goes" challenge

Hello there, it’s time for another Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.  Kath is our hostess this week with a Masculine "Anything Goes" challenge.

Here's my card for today

Isn't this just lovely.  I brought a magazine a few weeks ago and these stamps were the free gift.  It's called British Garden.  There are lots of lovely birds and bits and pieces.  I CASE'd a card from the Magazine.  I stamped the leaves around the edge, added the sentiment, stamped the shovel and then on a separate scrap of card I stamped the bird.  I used a variety of alcohol markers to colour in the images.  I fussy cut the bird and added it to the top of the shovel.  I kept the card relatively simple with no other embellishments... it is a guy card after all!

 
Come join in the fun.  Check out the projects that the artists at Watercooler Wednesday Challenges have created then take the challenge and link your creation to the challenge post. We’d love to have you join us.  You have until Mondays at 5 p.m. Mountain Standard Time (Tuesdays at 11.00am NZ time) to link up your project

Dots and spots at Southern Girls.

It's Team Trace's turn to share our cards for the latest Southern Girls Challenge.    Our sponsors this time are

 

I chose to work with an image from Colour of Love called Rory's Spring Day

 I used a variety of Alcohol markers (Altenew, Spectrum Noir and Copics)  I had added a frame when I printed the image.  I trimmed around it and added it to some spotty paper.  Of course I had to give Rory spots on her jacket and shoes as well as her bow.  Added a die cut hello to finish.

Come and check out the design team's creations and join us at Southern Girls Challenge.  You could be in to win a wonderful prize from one of our 2 fabulous sponsors.
REMEMBER one of the prizes is only for a NZ or AUS entry so be sure to let us know in your link that you are from either the land of the long white cloud or the lucky country.

 Thanks for stopping by.

WWC224 - Karen's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Hello there, it’s time for another Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.  Karen is our hostess this week with an "Anything Goes" challenge.

 

 I recently won a couple gift vouchers from Altenew so was able to make two orders.  My first one came via USPS and took nearly a month to arrive, the second one came by DHL and was here in 3 days.   My first parcel had the stamp set called "Book Club" and it's matching die and this is what I've used today to make my card. 

I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto white card stock and used Altenew and Spectrum Noir markers to colour it in.  I then die cut the image.  I pair the stamp with a sentiment from Catherine Pooler "Lovely Flowers" set.   I originally was only going to have some stripes across the middle of the card, but as I laid the die cut onto this thin black striped paper, I really like how it looked.  I trimmed the striped paper and layered it onto some black card and then onto a white card base.  I finished this off with some gold gems.

Come join in the fun and make a feminine card. Check out the projects that the other artists at Watercooler Wednesday Challenges have created, then take the challenge and link your creation to the challenge post. We’d love to have you join us. You have until Mondays at 5 p.m. Mountain Standard Time (Tuesdays at midday NZ time) to link up your project.

Laugh and Live - May Card Chain Challenge.

I'm sharing my card for the May Card Chain Challenge as Helen, my recipient  has received the card.

 

 I decided to use the Sketch this month 

I used some pretty Patterned paper for the bottom half of my card and a stripe of green to separate the two areas.  The beautiful floral image is from Altenew's Wallpaper Art set.  I used Altenew Alcohol markers and Spectrum Noir markers to colour the flowers and leaves.  I then used my Scan'n'Cut to cut out the flower and leaves.  I stamped the sentiment from Kaisercraft's Violet Crush set.   Some gold gems finished off the card.  

Thanks for stopping by today.

Amazingly Amazing.

Today I'm sharing a card I made for a colleague.  It's to say thanks for being so awesome.  Jen and I have been working together over the past two and a bit weeks to support and assist our other colleagues with coming to terms with the business transformation and changes our work has made.  She has been just amazingly amazing. 

My long time arriving parcel arrived last week and I finally had time to play.

As the background die is A2 American size which is different to our NZ sizing, I adapted it by using the pieces that came out of the die.  I used die cut as a template to add the pieces and then mounted onto the mat.  I stamped the Book Club stamp and added the sentiment from Catherine Pooler Designs "Lovely Flowers"   I used Alcohol markers to colour up the image.  I used the image on the die cut package for my inspiration.   Once I had die cut the stamp, I added to the base.  Added some white Nuvo drops.

Off to the beach for the weekend and then to visit Grace and her Mum and Dad on the way home on Sunday. 

Another Snarky Christmas Card

My bloggy friend Jo, runs a great challenge called "Christmas Kickstart"  The latest challenge is "S for Snarky"

I have a number of Bugaboo images that are Christmas snarky so I've entered a couple of Snarky cards.

First one

I used watercolour paints to colour up this image and to make the striped background. 

and my second one:

For this one, I printed the snow globe and coloured with Alcohol markers, some white paint pen, and some glitter glue.    I embossed some white card for my textured base and added the snow globe

I had some fun with these cards.

Baby Grace is now home and all cozy in her own bed. Mummy is not sleeping well and is feeling very tired, but I am so proud how my son has stepped up to help with baby and give her time to rest and gain her strength again

Thanks for stopping by today.

WWC #219 Heidi's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Hello there, it’s time for another Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.  Heidi is our hostess this week with a Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge.

 

I've made a Birthday card today - in a few days (6th May) it's my daughter's birthday so this has made it's way over to Perth.

 For this card I did some masking.  I started by stamping the Floral Bliss stamp from Simon Says Stamp and made a mask to cover it so I could stamp the vase from Altenew's Versatile Vases set.  I used the matching stencil to do my sponging with Altenew Sea Breeze ink.  I then used the mask stencil to sponge Altenew Limestone ink for the background.  The sentiment is from the Versatile Vases set.  The flowers were coloured with a combination of Copics, Spectrum Noir and Altenew markers.  I added some clear Nuvo drops to the centre of my roses.  A few pink sequins finished off my card

Come join in the fun.  Check out the projects that the artists at Watercooler Wednesday Challenges have created then take the challenge and link your creation to the challenge post. We’d love to have you join us.  You have until Mondays at 5 p.m. Mountain Standard Time (Tuesdays at midday NZ time) to link up your project.

I'm entering this into the challenge at Simon Says Stamp, Wednesday challenge. 

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate your visit.

Versatile Vases

It's my day to share at Die Cut Divas again... Our sponsor is the amazing Altenew

if you have been a follower of mine for anytime, you will know that I adore Altenew stamps,dies, inks, stencils etc. so I'm super happy that they are our sponsor this month. 

I recently got the Versatile Vases stamp and stencil set.   I knew it would be perfect for our theme this month  "water"

I started by stamping, masking, and some ink blending on my vase and the flower from Fresh Freesia set.  My original idea was to have the vase on a single layer but of course, a spludge of colour happened.  So change of plans... after colouring with a mixture of watercolour markers, Alcohol markers and Prismacolor pencils, I fussy cut the image and added to an embossed background.   I used Evening Grey ink to stamp the images and the sentiment and a brick folder from Sizzix. 

Thanks for stopping by today.  No baby yet!  Today is due day but I'm betting that maybe Thurs or Friday. 

Christmas Kickstart - Frosty and Friends

Jo's latest theme over at Christmas Kickstart is "Frosty and Friends" -all about Snowmen

 

I had popped over to Digi Doodle Studio the other day to purchase an Easter digi I had seen and while I was there picked up "Joe Frost Snowman" with this challenge in mind....

I printed him onto some light cream card and used some Copics, Spectrum Noir and Altenew alcohol markers to colour him in.  I used Altenew Arctic ink to sponge behind him.  (just love my smallest makeup blending brush for getting around close to the image)  For my snow I smeared some clear Nuvo drops and sprinkled some SU Diamond Dust glitter on it   A few dots with a Gel pen and a Hero Arts sentiment and my panel was done.  I trimmed it, and then matted with some pretty Patterned paper from Meg's Garden, adding it to a cream card base (4 3/4" x 6" - just a little bigger than normal - trimmed down a 6x6 card base)

Thanks to Jo and her challenge, my stash of Christmas cards is growing.  

It's Saturday afternoon and all the house work is done, so time for some more crafting .... there are 5 family and friend's birthdays in May.... so busy time ahead.  

Thanks for stopping by.

Sending Kindness

Hi.  29th means it's my day over at Die Cut Divas.   Our sponsor is Gracielle Design

Although our theme is May Flowers.... my card showcases what comes after fruit flowers....

A quick CAS card as the pears take centre stage.  I used Copics and Spectrum Noir makers to colour them.  And die cut the panel with a Lil'Inkers stitched die,