Saffron Birthday

I'm already behind this year on birthday cards - how can that happen so early in the year?! Must be the whole increase in workload thing.... It was my Mother-in-law's birthday this weekend, and this is the first chance I've had to make her card.

I must admit, when I saw the latest Scrapmaster's Paradise Colour Combo, I thought 'how on earth am I going to work in that Only Orange?' But I must admit, I think I did ok!! I used a base of So Saffron Washington Apple DSP, teamed with Walk in the Park DSP (retired) and took it from there, with further inspiration from this week's Mojo Monday sketch.

I wanted to keep the stamped images not too bold, so pulled out Burst into Bloom which was one of the first sets I ever ordered. I stamped the larger flowers in second generation Only Orange and the greeting in first. The double flowers are held together with an Only Orange eyelet (still have quite the stash of eyelets!), and some So Saffron ribbon (from the recent ribbon bundle promotion) provided the finishing touch.

When I finish the present, this card will be winging it's way down south, and hopefully I'll have the opportunity tonight to catch up with the other cards I need to make!!

Stamps: Burst into Bloom (retired), A Little Birthday Cheer

Card: So Saffron, Only Orange, Very Vanilla

DSP: Washington Apple, Walk in the Park (retired)

Ink: So Saffron, Only Orange

Other: So Saffron 3/8" Grosgrain Ribbon (retired), Only Orange Eyelet (retired)

Curtain Call Colour Challenge Act 12 with SSSC #51

While we were on holiday in Adelaide we received news that my godmother's mother had passed away. She was a lovely woman and I feel fortunate that I was able to see her about 14 months ago (she lived in country South Australia), and that she was able to meet Luana. Although Stacey's latest Curtain Call Colour Challenge is classic romantic colours, I thought they would work with the latest Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge for a sympathy card for my godmother and her family.

I wanted to do something straight forward, but classic, just like Mrs J was; she was quite the gardener too, so the flowers from Embrace Life were the way to go. I used a blender pen to pick up some Pretty in Pink ink to add a bit of colour to the centre of the Rose Red flower. The Very Vanilla panel was sponged and edged with Pretty in Pink, before mounting on the same card stock, the bottom half of which had been stamped with the smaller flowers from Embrace Life. This panel was mounted on Chocolate Chip, before being finished with ribbon and brads and mounted on the Rose Red base.

Celebrating a wonderful lady; may your legacy live on in your beautiful daughters and grandsons.

Stamps: Embrace Life, Warmest Regards (retired)

Card: Rose Red, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Very Vanilla

Ink: Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Chocolate Chip

Other: 3/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, 5/16" Jumbo Brads

Curtain Call Colour Challenge Act 11

I didn't realise how long it has been since I last posted - sorry. The festive season well and truly caught up with me. We travelled down South to see family and are now back home settling into normal life again. We really did have an enjoyable trip - life is SO much fun with Luana. Many fantastic memories were made, so I will try to get some scrapbooking done soon to share some of our experiences.

I did do a little bit of papercraft while I was away which I will share soon, but tonight I sat down and finished a card I have been working on for AGES, and played with Stacey's latest Curtain Call Colour Challenge. It has been a long time since I've been able to play with one of Stacey's challenges, largely due to the big move. So, this is nothing earth shattering, but not bad for coming back from a hiatus. Head over to Stacey's blog on the above link to see the fabulous example card she has created.

I still have a few thank you cards to make for people who have helped us out over the last few months, so now I have one less to make. I used the DSP from the Level 3 Hostess Hand Drawn Bundle with the coordinating stamp set as a starting point. The greeting is punched out with the wide oval punch and layered on 2 overlapping wide oval punches of Always Artichoke.

Must be off and head to bed, but I'll just finish with a little bit of good news - I found out just before my birthday that I achieved the permanent position!! We're just waiting to hear about Paul's permanency now, so please continue to keep those fingers crossed for us.

Stamps: Much Appreciated (retired), Hand Drawn (Level 3 Hostess bundle)

Card: Going Grey, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Whisper White

DSP: from Hand Drawn bundle (Level 3 Hostess)

Ink: Old Olive, Always Artichoke

Other: Wide Oval Punch, Old Olive Grosgrain ribbon

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Luana and myself ventured out to Carols by Candlelight tonight, which she had a ball at, so I thought I'd spread a little more Christmas Cheer.

This little cutie was inspired by Leah's latest Monthly Challenge:

This card is actually a little larger than a Love Note - 3 1/4" x 3 1/4" and I've use a very non-Christmas set, Trendy Trees, for my reindeer; the antlers are tree trunks. The larger hole punch on the crop-o-dile was used for the eyes and nose, and I think the brushed gold adds a special Christmas touch.

I think this little stripey reindeer lends itself to so much inspiration! Have a go!

Stamps: Trendy Trees, Best Yet (Level 1 Hostess)

Card: Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla, Brushed Gold, Whisper White

Ink: Close to Cocoa, Riding Hood Red

Punches: Scallop Circle, 1 3/8" Circle, 1 1/4" Circle, Crop-o-dile

Other: Basic Black Journalling Pen

Another Note of Thanks

So many wonderful people have helped us out during our recent move and I've slowly been getting through the list of cards to make. The latest Scrapmaster's Paradise Colour Challenge provided the inspiration; it's been AGES since I've played along with this challenge.

I pulled out So Swirly once again (I couldn't find it for a while as I'd packed it separate from the rest of my stamps - SO glad it's appeared again) and coloured it with Real Red and Lavendar Lace Stampin' Write Markers. I've kept this one simple and flat - no dimensionals (!). It's hard to see, but there's also a little bit of piercing either side of the sentiment.

These colours would also work really well for Christmas...

Luana's fast asleep, so will try to have more of a play tonight.







Stamps: So Swirly Jumbo Wheel
Card: Real Red. Lavendar Lace, Whisper White
Ink: Real Red, Lavendar Lace
Other: A Perfect Day Rub-ons (retired), paper piercer

A Little Bit More Christmas Cheer

I am finding it really hard to believe we are already in December, and only 3 weeks away from Christmas. I still haven't made my Christmas cards (!) but did take the photo of Luana tonight that I will use... I think cards will be arriving after Christmas yet again! There are decorations up everywhere around the hospital (we'll wait until after my birthday to do ours at home) and Kid's Ward even had their Christmas Party with Captain Starlight today.

Although I had every intention of making a birthday card with Keesh's latest colour challenge, I have made a Christmas card (better photography to come):

I love both the colour combo this week and the Sweet Sunday Sketch - they are so versatile and I'm thinking I'll use them for quite a few projects in the near future.

We used Season of Joy at the Christmas Stamp-a-Stack I held over the weekend, and it was calling me to be used for this card. I added a bit of sparkle (hard to see) onto the swirls of the tree. The edges of the circles are distressed to add a bit more dimension and have been mounted in Sweet Always DSP. The background is So Swirly wheeled in Taken with Teal on the same, and a little bit of double ribbon finished the sketch.

I will try to photograph this before I head off to work tomorrow morning to get a better pic!

Thanks again girls for the inspiration, I'm really enjoying being able to sit down and stamp again!

Stamps: Season of Joy, Best Yet (Level 1 Hostess), So Swirly Jumbo Wheel

Card: Taken with Teal, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White

DSP: Sweet Always

Ink: Taken with Teal, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red

Other: Real Red 1 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds

Thank you Flower

Wow! Two posts in two days!! I'm really enjoying being able to do some card making again and I found my rub-ons last night - yay!

I made this card especially for my Mum as she was a FABULOUS help in the lead up to and during our recent move - she even flew all the way up to keep me company on the long drive down. THANK YOU MUM XXXXX

Inspiration for Mum's card came from Dawn's latest Raspberry Suite Colour Challenge:

and Karen's latest Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge:

Must go, but hope you enjoy this offering!

Stamp: Friendly Flowers (retired)

Card: Chocolate Chip, Orchid Opulence, Mellow Moss, Whipser White

Ink: Pixie Pink, Soft Sky (retired), Orchid Opulence

Other: Light Orchid Grosgrain ribbon (retired), Fashion District Rubons, Flower Designer Brads

Finally - Lachy's Christening Card

It has taken me FOREVER, but I have finally made a card for our godson's christening that I am happy with. And once again one of Makeesha's challenges helped me out of the slump!

I took a little bit of liberty with the sketch, changing some of the dimensions. I used the Classic Stars Jumbo Wheel as my starting point and the rest evolved from there. The only part that may not be self explanatory is that I swiped the large Whisper White panel with the Baja Breeze ink pad so it wasn't quite so stark.

This is such a lovely sketch that I may have another play before the end of the week - Paul is currently out at the cricket with Luana, so it's lovely to have a little bit of me time!!

Oh!! I have some wonderfully exciting news too. My little nephew arrived safely last week, so we are just over the moon!! I will post some creations made for him soon.

Have a great week!

Stamp: Classic Stars Jumbo Wheel
Card: Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Brushed Silver
Ink: Baja Breeze
Punches: Large Star, Small Star
Other: Paper piercer

Thinking of Grandad

I'm back! We're slowly getting ourselves organised, but are still a little ways off yet. I'm still taking over the dining room table after dinner (some nights), and the laptop is sitting on a packing box!!

I've been wanting to make a card for my Grandad, who is going through chemotherapy at the moment, for a few weeks now and thought this weeks challenges from Makeesha and The Sweetest Thing were just the motivation....

We found our Grandad had cancer not long before Paul moved down here to Alice Springs, and he started chemo around the time Luana and I moved down. Times like these it is really hard to be so far away from family, but I just wanted to let him know he is always in our thoughts.

Rustic colours, like Keesh has challenged us to use this week, always make me think of Grandad, and I just really like the tilted panel in this weeks sketch from Karen. I've just used Circle Circus with a bit of masking and the good ol' Stamp-a-ma-jig for the Close to Cocoa panel, and the greeting is from Trendy Trees. A little bit of piercing just finished the job.

Must go and finish writing my job application - I'm in a locum position at the moment and am applying for permanency. Keep your fingers crossed for me, and please send positive thoughts to my Grandad. I can't wait to see him again.

Touching Base

My apologies for being MIA this month. As you have probably guessed, we have now made THE move and we're slowly getting organised. I'm yet to set up my stamping space... but have taken over the dining room table (much to Paul's horror - it's started again!!) to make a few bits and pieces, which haven't yet been finished. It's a bit of a shock to the system heading back to full time work. I am enjoying it, and the challenges of clinical, but find I'm SO tired by the end of the week.

Here are a few photos of our big trip and life in the Red Centre so far....

Leaving Katherine. Paul had headed out about 4 hours earlier than us. Luana was asleep before we had even travelled 10 minutes down the road!

Rest stop at Devil's Marbles. Luana had a great time exploring.

Our first full weekend here we went to Desert Park. Luana loved the birds and the nocturnal house. She's checking out the mala in this photo.

Hopefully over the next couple weeks I will have a bit more to share with you. I have had every intention of playing in a few challenges in the last week or so, but my bed has had a stronger calling!! I have seen the new Summer Mini (launching 1st December) and I LOVE IT!!! Seriously, I think this is the best Mini yet! So when I place my order, I am SO looking forward to playing.

For those of you here in Alice, I'm going to have a Christmas Stamp-a-Stack in the next few weeks. If you would like to join me, drop me a line here.

Until next time (no promises when....), have fun!!

Spring Mini Swap

Thought I'd better make another appearance for this month so it's not an absolute washout :)

I was involved in a Spring Mini swap with a great group of girls in August - although I was only able to post my swaps mid-September due to our life being thrown into chaos.... Here's what I put together:

In these swaps I like to try and use a stamp set that may be one of the 'outsiders' - you know the ones that are great, but not everyone immediately falls in love with them. So for this one I used Introducing. I love it because I am expecting a little niece or nephew in November and will use it to make announcements for my sister, but it also has some classic invite stamps (I also used it for Luana's invitations this year). I also fell in love with the giant cupcake that is Simple Birthday Thanks, and thought I could show that it can be used for more than a thank you....

Quite straight forward - a little bit of masking (to take 'off' the thank you writing), a little bit of paper piecing - the chocolate dots are courtesy of the crop-o-dile - and a little bit of glitter.

The other swaps I've received have been great too - thank you for swapping with me!!

Stamps: Introducing, Simple Birthday Thanks
Card: Certainly Celery, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose
Other: Crop-o-dile, Chunky Glitter, toothpick (non SU!), Tombo glue pen, sticky strip, glue dots

Cool Rock'n Roll

Despite being surrounded by boxes I have managed to make a couple of cards over the past few days - some people have said I should be packing, but I reckon I need time out too!! I actually only set out to make one card (for my Godmother) but ended up making 2 (the other for Paul's Auntie). Both using Keesh's latest cooling colour combo and one using the latest Sweet Sunday Sketch (a little abridged). Like many others, I think Keesh's colours are perfect for masculine cards, but I wanted to give girly cards a go with them.... Love the colours together!!

This was the second card I made and is actually one of the cute little Love Notes - love that size! I rock'n rolled the butterflies from Great Friend in the Spring Mini, tore a bit off the Love Note and swiped the torn edge in Not Quite Navy, and paper pierced the coloured parts for a bit of interest. This was very much an evolving card and turned out quite different to the initial plan...

This card was made for my Godmother who celebrates a birthday this week. I have used the very sweet Flowers in Silhouette stamp I was lucky enough to win in one of Stacey Schafer's Jewellery Colour Inspiration Challenges (with this card), rock 'n rolling again - I really like the effect of the Not Quite Navy on the Old Olive. I distressed the edges on the two large panels, and sponged the edges of the Very Vanilla with Chocolate Chip. I didn't have any ribbon the right width, so have just used some Chocolate Chip card along the bottom of the panel and finished with some retired Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardware.

I'm quite happy with the result and can't wait to pop it in the post.

Butterflies For You

Stamps: Great Friend (Spring Mini)

Card: Very Vanilla (Love Note), Not Quite Navy, Chocolate Chip

Ink: Old Olive, Not Quite Navy

Other: paper piercer

Flowers For You

Stamps: Flowers in Silhouette, Great Friend (Spring Mini)

Card: Not Quite Navy, Old Olive, Chocolaye Chip, Very Vanilla

DSP: Haiku

Ink: Not Quite Navy, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip

Other: Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardware (retired)

Happy Birthday Me Hearty!!

Thank you for being patient with me this month... Sometimes it feels like time is flying by and others it feels like it's crawling. I was very lucky and had Mum with us for a few days which was a HUGE help with the packing. I tell you what though, I'm getting sick of the sight of boxes!! Fingers crossed this move is the right step and we don't have to move again for a while....


Last week Luana was a bit of a social butterfly and had 2 birthday parties on the one day. For the little boy (she calls him and his sibling her 'brothers') I put together this cute card (if I do say so myself!!) as he had a pirate themed birthday this year:


I made this cute little pirate all by myself!!! No blog hopping for inspiration this time! His head, body and bandanna are the 1 3/8" circle punch, with the bandanna ends being a petal of the 5 petal flower punch cut down and a crop-o-dile circle for the knot. His arms and hands are the word window punch. His good eye is another crop-o-dile circle and his mouth and eyepatch are the corner of a scallop square. The '7' is trimmed down from the On Board Simon (retired) one and edged with a Brilliant Blue marker. The halo behind it was made with the two circle punches. Matey's Map jumbo wheel (retired) provided just the right touch for the background.

Luana's friend thought it was 'awesome' too which is the main thing!


Must be off to pack yet another box - it feels like it will never end!!


Stamps: Matey's Map Jumbo Wheel (retired)
Card: Wild Wasabi (retired), Whisper White, Blush Blossom, Brilliant Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Basic Black
DSP: Jersey Shore (retired)
Ink: Wild Wasabi (retired), Brilliant Blue
Punches: 1 3/8" circle, 1 1/4" circle, word window, 5 petal flower punch, crop-o-dile, scallop square
Other: On Board Simon Lower chipboard (retired)

Curtain Call Colour Challenge Act 3 with Mojo added

As part of my job I am often called up to see children on Kid's Ward, so have come to know many of the nurses quite well. One of them is expecting her first baby in October and I was chuffed to be invited to her Baby Shower tomorrow. As an added bonus I've been able to use the shower stamp from Greetings Eight for her card:

She knows she is having a little girl, so I thought the colours Stacey has chosen for her most recent Curtain Call Colour Challenge would work well, coupled with the latest Mojo Monday sketch, rotated:

I stamped the umbrella image twice in Regal Rose on Very Vanilla so I could fussy cut the open part and pop it up for a bit of dimension. This was layered on Regal Rose before being layered on top of the three strips of Certainly Celery Prints DSP (retired) which had the edges swiped with Certainly Celery ink. Kraft and Very Vanilla layered on Regal Rose formed the card base and some wide Regal Rose grosgrain ribbon and Certainly Celery brads finished it off.

I'm not likely to be in town when this little girl enters the world, so I'm so glad I can celebrate with her wonderful mother tomorrow.

Stamps: Greetings Eight

Card: Regal Rose, Kraft, Very Vanilla
DSP: Certainly Celery Prints (retired)
Ink: Regal Rose, Certianly Celery
Other: Regal Rose 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon, Certainly Celery brads

Luana's Birthday Creations

I have been meaning to post this for ages, and as it is, I still haven't got around to making the Thank you's to coordinate with the invite and card for Luana's birthday.


I wasn't quite sure what theme to go with this year for her invites and ended up using Keesh's favourite colour combo (Regal Rose, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip) and Crazy for Cupcakes as inspiration. I posted a card in August that didn't quite make the cut for Miss Luana's card...

I wanted to keep the invited relatively straightforward, and the new Introducing stamp set from the Spring Mini was just begging to be used. I paper pieced the balloon from Crazy for Cupcakes with Sweet Always DSP, and despite my wanting this to be straightforward, I stamped one little cupcake from the cupcake tower in the same set three times on Pink Pirouette (icing), Pumpkin Pie (base) and Regal Rose (cherry) before fussy cutting it and putting it together. Stamping and using blender pens to colour just didn't work for me...

The next challenge was the card...

Luana had chosen a Bluh-fly (Butterfly) birthday cake, so I just had to pull out Bold Butterfly for her card. I used the Flitting By wheel on her first birthday invitations. I stamped off the solid base of the butterflies and flowers and stamped the outline detail in first generation, adding some sparkle to the butterflies (3 of course!). Clear rhinestone brads finished off the 3 flowers. I used second generation Pink Pirouette with the flower outline to add a bit of interest to the Whisper White circle the chipboard 3 was mounted on. The 3 was covered with Bella Rose DSP, the edges were sanded and inked with Chocolate Chip before mounting. After trying a few different cards, I was quite happy with this one!

Here's our family pic from the big day - I kept with the pink and orange theme for the cake too!! Luana loved it - what more can you ask for?!

As I mentioned a few posts ago, the reason for my lack of inspiration and blogging lately will become apparent soon... and the time is now. A few weeks ago, we found out VERY unexpectedly that Paul had been offered a short-term contract position in Alice Springs (for those of you not in Australia - 1200km south of Katherine, around about the middle of Australia). This had not ever been even an outside thought in our life plan so this offer threw our lives into turmoil - what to do?! In the end, it worked out I could transfer to a locum position down there, so we decided (VERY quickly) to take the plunge and move down the track to keep our little family together. Who knows where we will be early next year?! Anyone with a crystal ball is more than welcome to throw any hints our way! Consequently, life has since been mad with packing, contract negotiations, trying to find a place to live and trying to find child care for Miss Luana, as well as everything else that goes with moving.... It is slowly taking shape, but I think I will be relieved when we're finally all down there.

Please bear with me over the next few months with blogging, and for those of you waiting - I will post my swaps soon - I promise!!

Invitation

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes, Introducing (Spring Mini)

Card: Regal Rose, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Pumkpin Pie

DSP: Sweet Always

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Pumkin Pie

Card

Stamps: Bold Butterfly (retired)

Card: Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie

DSP: Sweet Always, Bella Rose

Ink: Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip

Punches: 1 1/4" circle, 1 3/8" circle

Other: Dazzling Diamonds, Clear rhinestone brads, On Board Lots of Letters Chipboard