Irish Luck for Lachlan

Believe it or not, this is a baby card (yes, for the same Lachlan Luana made her card for the other weekend). Not traditional I know, but I wanted to give a nod to this little man's Irish heritage and strong Irish name.
Also, I wanted to use a Sale-a-Bration set before they finish - today's your last chance to get these great sets!!



I used the heart from Polka Dot Punches to make a lucky four leaf clover, stamped in Green Galore. This was mounted on Whisper White card which had been pierced around the edge, swiped and sponged with Green Galore, mounted on Green Galore and mounted on a Glorious Green card base. To finish the clover I just cut a stem from Green Galore card. I stamped Lachlan's name using the retired Pure & Simple Alphabet Upper and mounted each letter with dimensionals.

Welcome to the world little man, we cannot wait to meet you, and always be proud of your heritage.

Leah's Monthly Challenge #5

I found Leah's challenge this month exactly that - a challenge! I really wasn't sure about how to combine the colours from her inspiration until late last night....

I thought I could use the colours Leah pulled of Pink Passion, Pixie Pink, Pumpkin Pie, Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, Basic Black and Whisper White to make a card for a special little friend's birthday that is coming up in April (I'm trying to be organised).

However, I failed to check my diary until AFTER I made this, and she is actually turning 8... oops. Glad I found out now and not after I'd given it to her!

I shadow rolled Flitting By with Pixie Pink and Pink Passion (this is what happens when you shadow roll after 11pm...) and mounted this on Soft Sky card scalloped using the scallop edge punch. I punched a scallop circle from Soft Sky, which had Pink Passion and Whisper White mounted on it. The '7' is from Best Friends Numbers, stamped in Pumpkin Pie and shadowed with the Basic Black journalling marker, which was also used for the dots in the scallops. A row of piercing finished the panel, which had been mounted on a Wild Wasabi card base, and I added a few Pumpkin Pie felt flowers from Flower Fusion in the current Summer Mini, with silver brads or Pixie Pink eyelets (retired) for the centres.

Not too bad for being completely stumped until late last night (but not brilliant); I might see what else I can come up with....

Mum and Dad's Calendar

I know it's taking a while to show you these, but here are the pages that I made just for Mum and Dad's calendar this year.

Let me know if you'd like to know the details.

Have a great night.

KWernerDesign Colour Inspiration #42 - Sort of

Firstly today I must say THANK YOU to Makeesha and everyone who has left wonderful comments about the last card I posted for Makeesha's Inspiration Challenge. I was left a bit gobsmacked when I found out I had won this weeks challenge - thank you! It's been a pretty good day all round! I had to work this morning at the Healthy Heart Sports Day, but overall it was fun, and I'm receiving really positive feedback about a health promotion I am currently running.

Onto todays card, I missed out on the last colour challenge from Kristina, although I did love the colours, and this weeks was another one of those 'what am I going to do here?' colour schemes (seems I'm like that a lot when the yellows feature....). Here's the inspiration:

I've ended up coming up with this, which I also created to fill the requirements of my friend and upline Karen's current challenge - no ink!

I thought I would try out Dahlia folding, so used the scallop circle punch with So Saffron Prints DSP (retired) - not quite More Mustard, but at least it's the other half of the Dynamic Duo! Will understand if this stretched the requirements of the challenge a bit.... I spiral cut a hand cut circle out of Really Rust for the flower centre and mounted the dahlia on Bali Breeze DSP - I've used Old Olive instead of Kiwi Kiss as we don't have that colour - yet! The DSP was edged with a bit of distressed Whisper White card and all mounted on Really Rust card, then Old Olive card base. The greeting is from the retired A Perfect Day rubons.

This card is for a special friend of mine for her upcoming birthday - but won't say who as I'm not sure if she reads this!

Makeesha's Inspiration Challenge #4

Makeesha has had a few inspiration challenges now, but this is the first one I've actually been able to take part in. The inspiration picture was just lovely - very summery, blue and peaches. What more could I ask for!



I've drawn inspiration from the table runner and the peaches (of course!), and just a touch from the silver edged glasses...


I pulled Ballet Blue and Whisper White from the runner and scored Whisper White card then brayed over with the Ballet Blue (I'm sure that technique has a name, but I don't know what it is) and mounted on a border of Whisper White. The little stars are from Baroque Motifs (another one of the sets the contributes to the Bushfire Appeal), stamped in Ballet Blue on Whisper White. Drawing on the peaches for inspiration, I inked the medium flower from Baroque Motifs in So Saffron then rock'n'rolled it in Rose Red, added a clear rhinestone brad (silver edged glasses!) from the Pretties Kit and mounted it with dimensionals. I finished the panel with white grosgrain ribbon and a rub on from Cherished Memories.

Thanks Keesh for the inspiration and I'm glad I could finally play along!

Luana's Weekend Stamping

Luana loves to 'paint' with me when I'm stamping, so this weekend we sat down and made a few cards for a few special people in her life:

For one of her godmothers, Kerry who we think of and love just a little bit more in February (but we still think of and love her the rest of the year too!).

For baby Lach-an (she misses the second 'l') who arrived last Wednesday and

for Luana's best buddy Brendan who has just become a Big Brother.

Luana chose each of the stamps she wanted to use (from a small selection), and which colours she would use for each (with only a touch of guidance). She also decided which colour stars for Brendan's card and where to put them!

Well done my darling girl!

Thank you Karen (Pooi-Lim)

I made this card for a Sale-a-Bration swap back in January. The inspiration for this card came from a very unexpected gift from a friend I did Nutrition and Dietetics with for Chinese New Year. Karen is Malaysian-Chinese and is one uni friend I have kept contact with over the years and miles. I was a little bit intrigued when a card arrived in the post from her mid-January as Christmas had been and gone and it was addressed to Luana; upon opening it there was a card for all of us for Chinese New Year and a gift for Luana - Karen explained that it is customary to give gifts in her culture to children for New Year as a symbol of blessings for the New Year and growth in children. I was quite overwhelmed and just HAD to make a thank you for her. So this is what eventuated, inspired by Chinese New Year, and more specifically the envelope Luana's gift arrived in:

I have used Real Red, Basic Black and Whisper White card with the Botanical Blooms SAB set. I stamped the 'rounder' flower outline in Real Red, and the lily in Versamark before embossing with gold - 3 lilies as 3 is a Chinese number of good luck! 'Thanks' is from Live Your Dream (one of the sets that supports the Bushfire Appeal at the moment) and is stamped in Basic Black.

I am trying to scrap the card and envelope, so hopefully will get it done at some stage. It's providing a challenge as the envelope is red, gold and black, and the card is blues, greens and browns....

Thank you Karen for thinking of us!! Hoping you had a truly wonderful Chinese New Year!

Bushfire Appeals and For my Valentine

I'm sure you can understand I really haven't felt much like doing anything this week. It feels like every time I watch the news or read the paper I cry at the moment. However, in true Aussie style we have rallied together with people contributing what they can. I was in Darwin Friday (yes, we did our shopping at Coles) and was warmed to hear a bloke in his 20's tell the food attendant to put his change in the Bushfire Appeal jar - almost as much as what his milkshake cost! Also, one of our local eateries today put on an appeal with the fire-ies (I can never figure how to spell that), which was fantastic - thanks June and guys! I even went on a ride in the fire truck with Luana:

Stampin' Up! has also announced they will be donating 50% of the price of the following stamp sets to the Bushfire Appeal until March 31st:
Priceless
Seeing Spots
Baroque Motifs
Live Your Dream
Looks Like Spring*
The Snowflake Spot*
Bodacious Bouquet*
Polka Dots & Paisley*
G'day Mate*
Be Happy*
*These sets will appear on the upcoming list of retiring products, so they will only be available for the Bushfire Appeal while supplies last.

I will also continue to contribute 20% of all orders placed 15th Feb and 10% of all other orders placed in February.

Onto cards. Mel's challenge last week was to make a Valentine's card using Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Ruby Red and More Mustard, so I thought I may as well make Paul's! Here 'tis. Very, very simple but he liked it:

I used the Priceless set (one of the sets in the Bushfire Appeal selection) and Short & Sweet, and Chocolate Chip 1" Double Stitched ribbon from the Summer Mini.

I hope you were all thoroughly spoiled today!

Victorian Bushfire Appeal

Those of you here in Australia will know how devastating the bushfires in Victoria have been the past few days - they have now surpassed Ash Wednesday and Black Friday as the worst fires in Australian history. Paul and I have been rocked to the core watching footage of towns that have literally gone up in smoke, and thanking our lucky stars that our family in Gippsland are ok. However, tonight the death toll was at 85 and expected to rise to over 100, and so many families have been left with only the clothes on their backs.

We were talking about what we could do to help; being so far away we can't volunteer our time. Tonight on the news they featured the appeal that has been launched by the Red Cross and the Victorian Government. This is where we can all help.

I was planning on holding a Sale-a-Bration workshop at my home in the next few weeks anyway, so I have decided that I will donate the fee for this workshop to the appeal, as well as 20% of the value of all orders placed on the day. I will hold this fundraising workshop Sunday 15th February at 2pm. We will make 3 projects and cost will be $10. In addition, for all orders placed with me until the 28th February, I will donate 10% of the value of the order to the appeal. Please contact me here to book a place at the workshop or place an order (Sale-a-Bration bonuses are available until February 28th).

If you live overseas or would like to make a more substantial donation, please go to www.redcross.org.au and click on the Victorian Bushfire Appeal link.

Together we can help the families devastated by these fires start to rebuild their lives.

KWernerDesign Colour Inspiration #40

When I saw the latest colour challenge on Kristina's blog I wasn't quite sure what I was going to come up with - More Mustard and So Saffron are two colours I really don't use much. I was even tempted to pass this week... In the end I decided to try an abridged version of sketch #3 from Sweet Sunday Sketches.
Here's Kristina's inspiration:

and the original sketch:

Here's what I came up with:

I've kept exactly to the colour challenge of More Mustard, So Saffron, Taken with Teal, Old Olive and Whisper White using Embrace Life from the Summer Mini. The greeting is from Short & Sweet (can't believe I waited so long to get that set) stamped in Taken with Teal and mounted using Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware. I used a clear rhinestone brad from the Prettied kit for the middle of the flower and the DSP is So Saffron Prints (retired).

Not a bad effort for not being keen to begin with!

Have a great weekend, we're off to the 5th birthday party I made the Glorious Green In The Stars card for!

Cheese!

I wasn't planning on posting this page just yet, but Shelli's latest Creative Challenge is using Sale-A-Bration, so I thought I'd try to enter this one.

I made this page for Paul's calendar (and yay! he has a brand new work desk to put it on!) - I tried to make his calendar pages not girly-girly so he would feel comfortable having them on his desk, but this photo just screamed for pink and purple - Pink Passion and Elegant Eggplant!! I have used the gorgeous Polka Dot Punches from Sale-a-Bration for the heart and a bit of background stamping (also in the bottom left hand corner, but the photo came out a bit dark), and Best Friends Upper Alphabet for Cheese. It took ages to get the title to a point where I was happy, and it ended up being pierced around the edges, swiped in Pixie Pink (I used Pixie Pink for all the stamping to make it less 'strong') before being mounted with dimensionals.

I do love this photo because it was taken just days after Luana had ENT surgery (that's why she has a little mark on the corner of her mouth where they taped the tube during the operation) and while it was just the both of us getting ready for my sister's engagement party. She had a ball at the party and you would never know what she went through just days before - little trooper!

This page always makes me smile - hope it makes you smile too!

This one fits better

Now, this one fits Makeesha's sketch challenge better! Here's her sketch

And here's the latest card

I coloured the flower from the retired set All The Best with Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery markers, rock'n'rolled the flower in Rose Red and added a clear round rhinestone brad for the flower middle. I swiped the edges of the Whisper White in Pumpkin Pie and lightly sponged the edges before piercing them, adding a couple of Certainly Celery brads and mounting this on Pumpkin Pie card. I used the Weathered background stamp on Certainly Celery base card and also swiped the edges. I added some 5/8" Certainly Celery grosgrain and Bashful Blue grosgrain ribbons, as well as felt flowers with Certainly Celery brads for the Rose Red flowers and a Bashful Blue one for the Pumpkin Pie and mounted this all on a Rose Red card base.

I'll be sending this to someone I know who's a bit under the weather at the moment -
I hope it brightens her day!

Coloured Wheelin'

Mel's challenge this week was to include a wheel image that had been coloured with markers. I looked at all my wheels and thought 'most of them will be impossible', but then remembered I have recently aquired the Nursery Letters Jumbo wheel. Here's how my first attempt at colouring wheels with markers turned out:

I had a birthday card for a 5 year old boy in mind. I didn't really spread the colours out too well though on the wheel. I have used Green Galore, Brilliant Blue and Whisper White card, and Green Galore, Brilliant Blue, Only Orange and Yoyo Yellow markers and ink. All of the stars come from In The Stars in the current Summer Mini (love it for boys cards) and I affixed the large star with a cast star brad from Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware. A little bit of scoring on the right hand side finished it off (but Luana decided to add the thumb print......). I wasn't overly happy with this at first, but I think it's growing on me.

After looking at it for a while (as you do), I thought I might be able to get away with entering this in Makeesha's latest sketch challenge. I'll give it a go and let you decide Keesh - will understand if the layout is a bit too different.

Beryl's Calendar

I'm going to be super quick with this one because I have just finished writing my last assignment for my diabetes educators course (yay!!) which I found quite a chore, so I made a deal with myself not to blog until it was done. Now, I need to be at work in less than 6 hours.....

As you may know, I've been working on calendars since before Christmas. I know Beryl (Paul's Mum) has received hers, so here are the 6"x6" pages that are exclusive to hers:

And this is my favourite 'layout' from her calendar - I really do like the Infinite Goodness stamp set.

Let me know if you want any of the details.

I'm off to bed - night!