CAS birthday with new supplies.

 Today didn’t start off quite as planned. I woke up with a bad headache and spent the morning resting, unsure whether I’d feel up to doing very much at all. Thankfully, after taking it easy, I started to feel much better—and that gave me the perfect excuse to spend some quiet time crafting,

A package of new crafting supplies had arrived, so couldn’t resist pulling out a few bits to play with. I decided to create a clean and simple (CAS) card.

I began by die‑cutting squares and a circle from white cardstock, then cut floral shapes from green and purple scraps of patterned paper. For a little extra detail, I added subtle texture by embossing  lines across the middle of the card using my scoreboard. Once that was done, I glued the circle into the centre and balanced the design by placing the squares in opposite corners.

The sentiment was silver embossed and is from a magazine freebie that’s been in my stash for at least 12 years! It had never been opened or used before. To finish off the card, I layered the leaves and flowers over the centre circle, bringing the whole design together perfectly.

All in all, it turned into a calming and creative way to end the day—proof that even a slow start can lead to something lovely.

I'm entering this into Darnell's NBUS challenge as this is the first time using all the elements. 

A Cut Above - Anything Goes using a die cut.

AAA Birthday - Anything Goes.

One die - two different cards

I'm back... we had the most amazing 12 days with Emma, Andrew, Archer and Finlay... full of adventures. Went to Kings Park on King's Birthday Monday holiday and saw the wild flowers and watched the 21 gun salute... Boy was it loud!   Visited Caversham Wildlife Park, which was awesome- patted Kangaroos, saw Koala in trees, farm animals and lots of amazing birds and other wildlife.  Spent a day at the Royal Perth Show - animals, watched Polo Cross, and the kids had rides and played on the side shows.   Lots of playgrounds visited, watched Finn's swimming class.  Took an adventure into the city with Archie to see the Dinosaurs Alive exhibition and did a tour of the Perth Mint.  Visited two of the Giants in Mandurah for the day.  And took Archie to play Mini Golf, 10 pin bowling and spend some time in the Arcade!  All in all, a busy but fun time. 

So after 2 weeks no crafting... I managed to spend some time in the craft room this afternoon.   While I was away I purchased Crafting Inspiration #9 magazine.  It came with some Crafters Companion goodies - a stamp set, a die, an embossing folder and a stencil.   Today I CASED a card from the magazine - changing up the colours mostly...

I chose a grey-blue card for my base.  I die cut the little square die and trimmed it into three pieces.  I layered them onto a panel the same colour as the card base and added white strips down each side.  I die cut an oval for the focal point to sit on.   I stamped the vase and orange tree from the stamp set and coloured with markers and fussy cut it.   Added to the oval and finished with a little white embossed sentiment from the set.

I love the look of splitting the die into three and adding to the card so decided to try it for a Christmas card.

I die cut the square from gold card and trimmed it into three pieces and added to a red panel.  Added this to the white base and then added a focal image of a Poinsettia.  This is a Hero Arts stamp which I gold embossed onto white and dark green card.  I fussy cut the centre part of the white one and after fussy cutting the green one, layered it on top.  Cut some dots from the same gold card and added to the card. 

As first one was the first time using these dies and stamps, I am adding it to the October NBUS challenge. 

Craft Roulette #232

 I finally had some time to play with this week's Craft Roulette - number 232 - and my 22nd submission. 

Some interesting parameters.   I had to google French Bulletin Board to work out what it was... it's a ribbon bulletin board... so that was a good start for me.  Over time, I've been gifted a few dies and stamped images from some of my Die Cut Diva team mates... and one of them was an awesome trellis looking die. 

As you an see it was perfect... it was white woodgrain card so I used some Memento Toffee Crunch ink.  For the background I used Catherine Pooler Icing on the Cake ink... (Catherine was the guest for this week's challenge)  - this was my winter dessert colour - Self Saucing Chocolate pudding, a firm favourite for a winter dessert in our house.   For my balloon element, I chose to make some hot air balloon trading cards to pin on my board.   I had some rub-on from Stamperia and added them to some cream card and die cut with a rounded corner die, adding some ink blending to go with the vintage look.  The sentiment is also a rub-on from the same sheet.   Added some black gems to represent the bead parameter.

All in all, I was really happy with the results and think this make a great guy card.

Quick birthday card with PET Tapes and washi stickers.

 Today I'm sharing a quick card I made using some PET tapes and washi stickers from a book of stickers and tapes I got from Journalsay.   It is so easy to combine the two.  The tapes are translucent and the stickers are on a white background. 

I had fun sticking these in a combination that pleased me. I got a new die at the Craft show- from Creative Expressions... so cut from gold card.  I die cut the panel and added some pale green for a layer.  Took a pale green shimmer envelope and added a line of floral tape along the bottom.  

Loved how quick this was to put together.    

First Christmas card for 2023.

 Yes.... first Christmas card for 2023.  Christmas Kickstart challenge called for Stenciling or Masking.  I had a little bit of time this afternoon - had to go inside as the sun was shining and the heat was up there.  

I used two stencils for this one. I started by using a wreath stencil from Creativ8 - used a light green Altenew ink, shifted the stencil a little and did it in a darker green and then shifted again and used the dark green again but a little heavier handed.  I then used a dark red and a gold gel pen to add some berries.  I then used a stencil from Faith Pocock Studios with some Altenew Silverstone ink.  The sentiment is from a freebie magazine set of dies - cut from red cardstock.    Linked to

Thanks for stopping by today.  Have a good crafty weekend. 

Diamond Fold Card.

 Hi there.... well my mojo has taken a holiday this week!   I just haven't had any enthusiasm for card making.... did one this afternoon and I think it will be binned.... didn't like how it turned out.... 

So today's share is a card I made for my local swap group.  Suna let me know today that it arrived.  Carol chose the theme:  Some kind of interactive project... something has to move, pop up or out, open or be revealed.   I did lots of googling and checking out Pinterest and You Tube.  I found this video for a Diamond Fold Card.  

This is the card closed, ready to pop into the envelope. I had made the envelope (but forgot to take a photo before sending it off) 

And here it is opened.  I found some pretty paper in my extensive supply of patterned papers... It was something I had picked up at my local The Warehouse store.  I cut it to fit all the pieces.  I fussy cut one of the roses to pop on my front diamond.  The diamond is a little larger than the centre panel as you can see on the closed card.  I used some shimmer blue to make the diamond and the Penny Black sentiment was die cut from dark grey shimmery card.  I added some silver bauble gems.  There is just a little space on the back of the sides to write on.    Now this one, I was pleased with!  And Suna said she loved it too.  

Today I went retail shopping for the first time in 13 weeks!  Wednesday morning our area moved down a little in terms of restrictions - retail shops are able to open - but still only click and collect for cafes and hospitality.  I needed to replace a set of sheets that died a couple of weeks ago.  And the cushion needed new inserts... plus hubby needed new clothes and walking shoes.  Bonus was I found his Christmas present and he got mine... and I got some bits for the Princess Dress up I'm putting together as part of Grace's Christmas present.  All in all very happy.  We waited till after lunch before heading to the Mall.  Did all the right things... wore our masks, used the Covid app to record where we went and stayed 2 metres apart as much as we could.  It wasn't overly busy thank goodness. 

The forecast is for wet and humid weather tomorrow so I'm heading into the craft room and hope the mojo comes back.  

Take care.

WCC327 - Dawn's All Things Femininie Challenge.

 Hi time for a new challenge at Watercooler Wednesday.  I'm the hostess this time around with an All Things Feminine Challenge. 

Here's my card

I was playing around with some metallic black card and some gold Altenew ink.  I used my brayer to add the ink to the Altenew 3D embossing folder and ran it through my trusty Cuttlebug.  Love the shimmery look I achieved.   I trimmed it and added to the white card base.  The sentiment was gold embossed onto a flag label die cut.   

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 1 November at 5 pm Mountain Standard Time (Tuesday at 12.00 noon NZ time ) to link up your project.

WWC 285- Karen's Challenge: Anything Goes with a Masculine Twist

Time for the latest challenge at Watercooler Wednesday Challenge blog.  Karen is our hostess with An Anything Goes with a Masculine Twist.

My card today is one that I was commissioned to make for a work colleague.  Her son was 40 last month.  She wanted 40 on it with his name.  And told me he likes golf.

So pulled out my go-to stamp set "For the Boys" which was a freebie a few years back with Issue 26 of Cardmaking in Easy Steps.  It was published in 2018 and the stamp set is full of good masculine cards and the magazine is full of ideas.   There were also a few pages of papers too.  I took some of the papers to make the circles with a Spellbinders die.  I used the Happy Birthday stamp and cut it in half so I could insert the little 40 die cut (from a Mama Elephant die set).  I then selectively inked the "th" in the birthday sentiment to add the "th" to the number. I also used the Mama Elephant dies to cut out the letters for his name.  I stamped the golf bag and then used my Scan'N'Cut to cut it out. 

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.

Farewell to Southern Girls Challenge

It's a sad day - after nearly 10 years the creators of Southern Girls Challenge, Lou and Tracy, have decided it's time to say goodbye.... today is the final post for the challenge.  Some of the past and present designers are sharing projects.  I have done two stints with the group... the last one for the past year or so.

Today I am sharing a little gift box I made.  I follow a UK Stampin' Up demonstrator called Sam (Pottles.co.uk)  She makes lots of different boxes.  This one uses an 8"x 8" piece of card for the base and a 6" x 6" piece for the top.  I used kraft for the base and some PP for the top.

I recently got Heartfelt Creations Wild Rose small stamp, die and mold set plus the Classic Rose stamp and dies.   I stamped, die cut, inked and shaped the individual flowers before putting them together.

So it's Adieu from Southern Girls. Come and check out the wonder projects from past and present DT members HERE

Spring Card Camp 2 - Day 6 Homework

Warning: Photo heavy post

I'm back today to share five cards I made for Day 6's homework.  Day 6 was all about Colour Blocking.   The idea was to take three different colours of cardstock and emboss a background stamp then cut up the card to make some cards. 

I used a Hero Arts background stamp (Antique Background circa 2009) and pale purple, pale green, pale blue pearlescent card..  I white embossed the background.  

Card 1

I cut the three panels and mounted onto to black and then a light cream card.  This was then mounted onto a darker cream base.  I used a sentiment from Altenew Sentiment Strips 2.  Added some silver sequins to finish.  

Card 2

I took two of the panels and laid them on my card base.  I die cut a white butterfly with a Memory Box die - Chloe Butterfly and laid it over the top of the panels.  The white embossed sentiment is  from the Altenew Sentiment Strips 2.

Card 3

I layered the strips of coloured pieces at different levels.  Add some blue and white strips.  The You die cut is from Catherine Pooler Designs.  And the sub sentiment is part of one of the Altenew Sentiment Strips 2.  I masked the word you before stamping with some Obsidian ink.   I added some blue and green sequins to finish. 

Card 4

 For this one, I used only blue and green panels layered onto some black card.  I added to a white base which was trimmed to a bit narrower than a normal base.  I added a printed sentiment from Catherine Pooler Designs.  A few green gems finished it off. 

and finally Card 5

I trimmed the colour blocks to squares of 1 3/4" and added to the black mat.  The base is a square of light grey card.  The sentiment is from an older Penny Black set (circa 2012) called Wishes.  I stamped in Catherine Pooler ink - It's a Boy. I die cut the stamped circle and also a Spellbinders Scalloped die.

So from three pieces of card I got 5 cards and had some tiny pieces left over.  Not quite enough for another one. 

Thanks for stopping by today.  It's been a fun weekend making these and also finally spending some time with my son and his family.  Little Grace has grown so much in the last 9 weeks since I last saw her.  She is walking all the time now and has 4 teeth.   I was so happy that she came to be straight away and gave me a big hug.  

 Here I am reading her book to her.  I was sitting on the floor playing and she came over with her book and plonked her little bottom on my leg.  So cute.

Anything Goes at Die Cut Divas

This month at Die Cut Divas it's an Anything Goes challenge.  and our sponsor is Chic Chickadee Crafts. 

I am using a digital stamp set from Sugartree Stamps available at Chic Chickadee Crafts.  It's called Party Animal.

I printed out the panel with several images and sentiments together.  I used a scalloped die to cut it out.  I used a variety of Watercolour markers to colour it in.  I added some Sparkle pen to the icing and some glossy accents on the candle flames.

Still time to join us at Die Cut Divas this month.

Well New Zealand goes into Lock Down at 11.59pm tonight.... we got warning on Monday afternoon to advise we had moved from Alert Level 2 to Alert Level 3 - people were to start working from home if they could...and to prepare for full Lock Down Alert Level 4 on Wednesday night... so for the next 4 weeks I'm at home alone....  You might wonder why I'm alone... well my husband and I separated last month... I'm still living in the house so lock down means me by myself.  I am keeping busy working 7 1/2 hours a day - and no doubt my weekends will be crafting all weekend.  I have lots of cotton fabric and beeswax so some wax wraps will be made, got some knitting I need to finish and I'll get a head on all my design work and even have some simple play time.  

This virus is changing the world.... so be kind to each other and look out for one another.   WE WILL BEAT THIS!

St Patrick's Day over at Sweet Stampin' Challenge.

Hi there.  It's time for a new challenge at Sweet Stampin' challenge and our theme is

 

St Patrick's Day (or use Green!)

Remember to include some stamping otherwise we won't be able to 

 include you in our Top 3!

 Here is the card I made to celebrate St Patrick's Day

 I went through my scrap stash and found the plaid oval for the basis of my card.  I used a plain olive green as my panel and printed the sentiment.  I die cut the bench out of some grey card and sponged the edges.  The little girl is a Bugaboo image that I printed and coloured and then fussy cut.

So now it's over to you, we'd love to have you playing along.

 I'm adding my card to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge:  Use some Green

Hero Arts Flowers

It's the last day of February so it's the final day for the challenge at Die Cut Divas.   Our theme is month has been Hearts and/or Flowers.  And our wonderful sponsor is 

I have a lot of older Hero Arts stamps and dies and for today I am using a Color Layering Hibiscus set.

I used both the bigger and smaller Hibiscus flowers and both the bigger and smaller leaves.  I used Altenew inks as they come in sets of matching colours.  For the flowers I used Coral Bliss, Heartbeat and Vineyard Berry with Andromeda for the stamen.  The leaves are a mixture of Firefly and Green Fields.  I took a piece of teal textured card and a Hibiscus Embossing Folder to make the background.  Added a piece of green and a stripe of yellow across the card.   I added the flowers with some dimensionals and the leaves were glue straight onto the base.  I die cut the Couture Creations Hello Friend from dark blue card.  

You have till 9.00pm Pacific Time to join us with your Flowers/Hearts.

Use a die as a stencil... Die Cut Divas

Hi all

It's the last day of the month so the current challenge at Die Cut Divas is finishing today.

Kat Scrappiness is our sponsor this month at Die Cut Divas.

This month's Challenge is NEW THINGS

(new stamps, dies, stencils, embossing powders or folders, papers, digital images)

 

Today I am using a die cut as a stencil.... I was colouring up a white Mandala die cut to use of my earlier Die Cut Divas sample card HERE - so decided to use a sheet of white card behind the die cut and hey presto it was like using the die cut as a stencil.  

I used a Couture Creations die "Anastasia"  To make it really pop I layered onto some black card and then onto the white square card base.  The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp "Tiny Words Encouragement" embossed in white onto some black card.  Finished with some dark magenta sequins. 

Kat Scrapiness has a lot of wonderful dies as well as stamps = both their own brand as well as many other companies goodies.  

Come and join us at Die Cut Divas.

Perfectly CAS - Birthday

Hi I'm back to enter the Perfectly CAS challenge - this time the theme is "Birthday"

This CAS challenge asks you to only use a third or less on your card.   I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the Top Picks for the first challenge.. so had to join in again.

Once again I chose to do the bottom third of my card for my focal point.  I used a stamp set that was a freebie with a magazine. (note to self:  write the magazine it came from on the back of the stamp set!) I decided to leave it black and white and only add the pop of colour with the bright pink Happy Birthday die from Elizabeth Craft Designs.   Really happy how it turned out.  I added a scored line all around but not other embellishments.

I am also enter this into the Addicted to CAS - code word "Birthday" 

Thanks for stopping by today.  Hope the weekend was fun for you.  I did get a bit of stamping in and on Sunday did a 6 garden, Garden Ramble in Coatesville (about a 25 min drive from our place in the countryside)  It did rain a bit, but we saw some beautiful gardens from a sweet "Bumpkin" garden to "Mincher" a very elegant and large, well know garden.  Had a great time.  And got to see our little princess on the way home.  She was 6 months old yesterday

This is so typically "her" - full of smiles.  The last 6 months have simply flown by.

WWC #245 Anything Goes Challenge

Hello there, it’s time for another Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.  As it's the 5th Wednesday of the month, it's an Anything Goes Challenge.  

My card today is an Autumnal Thankful card. 

This was made by taking some white card and using the Newton's Nook 2 part stencil with Altenew's Autumn Blaze and Firebrick inks.  I then added the light orange card stamped in with Catherine Pooler Icing on the Cake ink with a sentiment from Catherine Pooler's Autumn Blessings.  I added a die cut strip of dark brown card.  I die cut a number of Kraft leaves from an older Cuttlebug set of die cuts and used some Altenew watercolour paints to colour them up.  One they dried I scrunched them a little for some texture before adding to the card base.  A few sequins to finish. 

Come and join the fun.  Check out the projects that the other artists at Watercooler Wednesday

Challenge have created.  Then take our challenge ant link your creation to the challenge post.  We'd love to have you join us.  You have until Monday at 5 pm  Mountain Standard Time (Tuesday at 11.00am NZ time ) to link up your project. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Make a Wish..

I got lots of new goodies over the weekend so just had to try out my new Altenew Mid Century frame die.

I used some silver mirror card to die cut the frame.  I added it to my light grey card. I used some   silver embossing powder to add the sentiment.   I added some of the wide washi (Monochrome) to white card and fussy cut some of the flowers.   I also die cut some leaves from the washi.  Once I was happy with the layout I added to the card.  Some is stuck directly onto the base and some with 3D tape.  I finished with some silver sticker dots.   

I can't wait to get more cards done with the stash I got.  Working full time is getting in the way of my crafting!!!!! 

Thanks for stopping by.

WWW 226 Dawn's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Yes, it is my turn to host the Watercooler Wednesday this week.  Our challenge this week is Masculine "Anything Goes" challenge. 

My card today started with a panel that I made with Alcohol inks with some foil added.  The black die cut is an unnamed one I got a number of years ago.  I added it to the right hand side of the panel which I cut to the size of the die.  The sentiment is a Britannia Die cut. 

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

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.

Happy Easter... every day is a gift

It's Good Friday today and I got a bit of time to play in my craft room.  A couple of cards done... am now well ahead with my DT samples.  This afternoon I pulled out an alcohol background I had done on some photo paper.  It was a bit more vibrant than usual so decided to trim it down a bit for just a smaller focal panel.

I layered the panel onto a maroon card and then onto a cream base.  I die cut the Memory Box Bella Bouquet from the cream card and added to the card.  I used Altenew Rose Gold embossing powder to add the sentiment.   Like how the maroon card really showed off the panel.

Today was a really nice day, the sun was shining and it was warm.  Hubby went over to our son's place to help him remove some trees and plant some new fruit trees... 4 Feijoas.  I made some veggie soup and took it around for lunch.  Erin is only 10 days away from due date... so I thought I'd take this around so she didn't have to prepare lunch for the boys.  

Happy Easter to you all.