Magnolia Down Under Challenge #17 - A Sketch

For this week's challenge the ever talented Kellie Winnell has come up with a fabulous sketch. If you love this sketch I also have some exciting news for you - Kellie and Kristy Young have decided to start up their own sketch & colour challenge blog where you can use ANY stamp or product you like!!! Delicious Diva Challenges is coming August 4th, 2009. Their challenges will be weekly and will rotate between a sketch one week and colour challenge the other week. Go check them out.

Now back to this sketch - I've stuck fairly closely to it - but couldn't help popping on a great big layered flower. I had made 3 build-a-brads for the top left but decided they looked too crowded - so the 3rd one became my flower centre.

The DP is from the gorgeous SU Bella Rose series and I've textured my Whisper White pieces using my Floral Fantasy cuttlebug folder.

Originally little Miss Tilda was going to be sitting on the bottom edge of the square - but I decided to pop her up higher where she didn't look so lost! A thin strip of Chocolate Chip CS came to the rescue as a seat. I thought she needed to be "grounded" and not floating in mid-air!

I've had a sneak peek at the work from some of the other DT members and it always amazes me how many fabulous - and yet so different - creations can be made from one inspiration! I highly recommend you pop over to MDUC and see what the other's have done before giving it a go yourselves!

xXx

Sankari's Challenge #23 - I'm dreaming of a White Christmas

Over at the Christmas Stampin' All Year Long blog there's a challenge this week to make a Christmas card that is mostly white - it was a challenge set by the very talented Sankari from Sankari's Sunshine Corner. If you're stuck there's also a sketch to follow if you like.

I decided to come up with my own layout and thought a predominately white card would ooze elegance. I've used Mellow Moss CS as my touch of colour. I went for a simple look - using texture to add interest. I've stamped my Lovely as a Tree pine in Sage Shadow and then glittered it up before cutting it out with my nesties. I meant to use Sage Shadow CS for the layout too - but picked the wrong sheet out - oops! The colour difference isn't too noticable with the sparkle covering the tree. Once again I wish I could photograph the sparkle - maybe one day!

I ruched the tails of the taffeta ribbon to add more texture and to frame the sentiment which is from Snow Swirled. The background was run through my cuttlebug snowflake folder.

Hoping all of you are having a wonderful week.

xXx

The Stamp Spot DT Call

The lovely Marcia over at The Stamp Spot has decided to head in a new direction and open an online stamping and scrapbooking store. And it opens for business TOMORROW - check out the store here!!! Marcia is also looking for some Aussie crafters for her DT - and you can check that out here. Firstly I'd really like to wish Marcia all the very best on her exciting new venture - I've already checked out what she's got in store and will be putting my first order in ASAP. It's just a shame the pre-order for our new SU mini starts tomorrow too - there goes my bank balance for another month!!!

I decided to apply for the DT and - as some of the stamps on my wish list are the new Miss Anyas - I decided to use one of the original Miss Anya's on my card! I've used the sketch upside down and made it short and fat - or in other words - square. You may have noticed I'm into square cards at the moment - LOL.

I've coloured Anya with my Sketch and Copic markers and cut her out with my nesties. The base Kiwi Kiss layer has been run through the Forest Branches folder of my cuttlebug and the stripes are from the fabulous Urban Garden DP - I used both sides from one sheet and was VERY happy to be able to fussy cut and get the little blue hummingbird in the corner.

Wish me luck - and good luck to everyone else who applies!

xXx

A Gorjuss Girl Card for Fun!

Most of my recent cards have been a result of my playing along with challenges - but this one is just for fun! It did start off being another card for the current JCBC challenge but as I put it together my idea of how I wanted it to look didn't go with the elements of the sketch. I also have a few birthdays coming up so I know it'll have a home soon! I LOVE challenges because they make me think outside the box - and I have become a more confident crafter because of them. They are also a fabulous source of inspiration - I highly recommend challenges to anyone!

This card is my first attempt at colouring an image with black hair, I only just bought myself some black and grey Touch markers (they were on sale!!!). I decided to go with an image that has lots of lovely hair to colour - so let me introduce "Untamed" - a fabulous Gorjuss Girl. I coloured her in at the ice rink so was glad to see everything looked OK in decent light - I have put a request in for a daylight lamp to take to the rink - so hopefully the bad lighting there won't bother me in the future.

The CS colours I've used are Whisper White and Lovely Lilac - with Basic Black swirls and Urban Oasis DP. The flower centre is a filigree brad but I used a Lilac rhinestone brad in the centre. I also popped a Lilac rhinestone brad underneath the sentiment - which I punched using my square punches - with one corner taken off and set on point. I was really happy with the final result and hope you like it too...

The kids are on holidays for 2 weeks - which means I am too as I work at a school - YIPPEEEEE. I nearly have my sewing project done so am hoping to be able to enjoy some crafting time for myself over the next 2 weeks too, especially as the weather is perfect for staying home in the warm!!!!

xXx

Recipe Swap - Crab Crepes

As you may remember if you've been following my blog, I joined a recipe swap over at Abra Leah's blog. I did check if she was happy to have an international swapper before joining and she said yes as we all send stamped self addressed envelopes with our swaps for the returns - it makes is easy on everyone!! The funny thing was neither of us registered at the time the fact that I couldn't buy U.S. stamps for my SASE!!!! Luckily we have worked out a solution to the problem and I could continue with my swaps.

The theme for this month is Summer Appetisers. I hope I've done the right thing because - even though we all speak English - the terminology is different in our countries for different things - including menu courses. For example - we have entrees as a starter and then a main meal - whereas in America the entree IS the main meal, if I remember right. I've also had to adapt some of the measurements and ingredient names to suit American weights and ingredients - thank goodness I lived in America for 18 months and have a little idea of some of the differences - hope I picked them all up - LOL.

This recipe is for Crab Crepes - a light and fresh tasting start to any meal. Apologies for blurring the recipe but I need to save something for the girls in the swap!

The recipe is fairly easy but there is quite a list of ingredients, so I had to tuck the cooking method in behind. I used my Word Window punch to create a slot in the DP layer to make a pocket for the pull out. I've used some Windsor Knot DP from SU which has a sort of sea "bubble" feel to it - in keeping with the theme of the recipe. I've also used my "wavy" divine swirls CB folder and "deep sea" pearl flower centres for the same reason! And of course the cute crab from the retired Crab and C. was a no-brainer of a choice - LOL.

I'm hoping this recipe card will be used by the recipients as it's one of my favourite dishes! I'm planning on trying all the recipes I receive too - watch out kids!!!

xXx

Just Christmas and Birthday Cards Sketch Challenge #37

This week's fabulous sketch for the Just Christmas and Birthday Cards challenge is from Anne. I decided to do a square card this week - I'm loving the look of these and it fit the sketch better, but they aren't as easy to file away in my box for later - or to get envelopes for! This is actually 5-3/4" square as it fits our Aussie A4 size better.

My image and sentiment are from a retired SU set called Sassy and Seasonal. It's a great little set because there are a few different things Miss Sassy can pile onto her sled. She reminds me a little of the Bellas too - whom I think are cute! Today she's pulling her tree home on her sled - although the way she's dressed I'm surprised some handsome young man hasn't offered to help, I certainly don't dress like this to get a tree - LOL.

I've actually cut the tree out and popped it up on Dimensionals - originally because I wasn't sure it would fit in the nestie oval - but in the end the effect is better anyway. The background is stamped in Real Red using the snowflake from Winter Post and then cuttlebugged with my Swiss Dots folder. The little Garden Green snowflake has been cut in my CB using a CB die. I've coloured using my Sketch markers and blinged it up with Dazzling Diamonds and red rhinestones.

Hope you're all having a fabulous week - wherever you are!

xXx

Keesh's Inkspiration Sketch Challenge #9

Last night I had a very quiet evening at home - my son was tucked up in bed, my daughter was out at her boyfriend's and my hubby was on a plane to Brussels! So I decided to sit in front of the TV and colour up some images - one thing led to another and by the time I went to bed I had completed Keesh's sketch challenge for the week! I really should have been sewing but had no motivation for it!

I love putting Whisper White, Kraft and Black together, and this DP is one of my faves! It is such a stylish combination! So after I coloured this image I thought it would be the perfect background for this elegant red flower from Bloomin' with Beauty. I have toled the petals of the flower and the leaves for added effect - all in all a very simple card, but I'm really happy with it!

And it was lovely to relax on a Sunday evening doing something I love!

xXx


Edit - have just realised my card is similar to Tracey's in the colours and papers she's used for the challenge - I loved hers when I saw it but hadn't realised what an impact it had on me until I revisited her blog! I should call this a CASE of her wonderful card, just wish it wasn't for the same challenge - LOL!

Magnolia Down Under Challenge #16 - Cream, Brown and ... Blue!

There has been a little bit of a change over at Magnolia Down Under Challenges - we have decided to run the challenge fortnightly for a variety of reasons. And what happens this week - with 2 weeks to make my DT card I left it to the last minute again - LOL.

The challenge is to use cream/white , brown and one extra colour - either pink, blue or orange. Can you guess I chose blue!! The DP is from SU Bella Blue, my cream is Very Vanilla CS and my brown is Chocolate Chip CS. I've stamped Tilda with Memento Black ink and coloured her in with a combination of Copic and Touch markers.

I found this fabulous cobweb ribbon at a local store and and thought it would go perfectly on this card - so I bought a whole metre, and a couple of metres in other colours too - LOL!!! You can never have enough ribbon! I framed the right side of my image using half a nestie - I didn't want it to cover the ribbon but I felt it needed something.

Now it's your turn!!! Head over to MDUC and check out what the other DT members have done and then give it a go yourself!

xXx

Holiday Line-Up Class

Last Tuesday I held a class using the fabulous Holiday Line-Up set and the current In-Colours. The girls made 3 set cards to start with and then I let them loose to re-create the cards in different colours, or use one of my other Holiday Line-Up cards as inspiration.

This is the only card of the 3 I haven't posted yet - so I thought I'd share it with you. I know we Aussies don't have the Top Note die in our catalogue, but I was lucky enough to have my hubby bring one home for me from The States. I gave each of my class participants a laminated template of the small and the large size so they could re-create these at home if they wished.

I also realised too late that I had ordered Real Red ribbon instead of Riding Hood Red. Not to worry - a quick lesson on how to get REALLY dirty hands by running white taffeta ribbon across an ink pad solved the problem. I was going to run the ribbon through again because there were some white streaks - especially along the edge - but decided I liked the look.

For those asking - the sewing is "progressing"!!! I need to get it done in the next week or so and then I'll see if I can get a decent picture to post for you - although not sure I'll have someone willing to model it! Hopefully I'll be back in full blogging swing soon - although the kids start holidays in a week.

Have a great weekend...

xXx

Keesh's Inkspirations Inspiration Challenge # 8

Yesterday I had a wonderful time over at Kristy Young's place (aka Princess). It was her birthday last week and she decided to help celebrate the day by having a bunch of SU demos over for lunch and some stamping fun. While I was there I was playing around making some flowers and I came home having made a daisy using the Sizzix Flower, Daisies #2 die in Pink Pirhouette. I used an embossing tool to cup each of the petals for extra dimension - so easy but what a difference it makes! This morning I decided I would try and incorporate it into a card for Keesh's Inkspiration Challenge for the week.

I felt the challenge called for soft muted tones so I combined my pink daisy with some Sage Shadow leaves I paper pieced onto the stamped background - I used the leaves from God's Beauty - a hostess set in the American catalogue. The background is Kraft which is the colour of one of the pillows. The centre of the daisy is pencil shavings - an idea I got from Donna over at Butternut Sage - she has developed a version of Flower Soft and she explains it here. I think my shavings may be a bit too big but I love the rustic look. I also left my shavings natural in colour as I felt it went better with the natural feel of the whole card. I don't actually have a pencil sharpener that gives fine shavings so you can imagine my neighbour's face when I saw his and asked if I could have them - I think he believes I'm a little crazy - LOL.

The cushions in Keesh's Inkspiration picture are a fairly elegant with the satin embossed look - I've added a pearl to the "i" in the sentiment as my touch of elegance!

Now I must go and start some sewing - I'm making the costume for Titania in the High School's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream - so apologies if my blogging falls behind for a few days.

xXx