Mo's Dream Team Blog Hop - Glitter

How excited am I - this is my first month as a permanent member of Mo's Dream Team - and before I go on to talk about my card I just want to thank the girls for making me feel soo welcome!

Just in case you get lost along the way the hop order is ....

Shell, Elaine, Rosette, Lori, Kerttu, Paola, Jak, Liza, Peri, Cheryl, ME and Mina

This month we have the lovely Shell hosting the hop and she has challenged us to use GLITTER - not much of a challenge for many of us - just a challenge to get across in a photo! If you're following the hop you should have arrived here from the Sparkling Cheryl's Blog.

When I realised the challenge was Glitter the first thing I thought of was Mo's gorgeous fairys! But because  I used 2 of Mo's fairy's in last month's hop I decided to challenge myself with a different theme. While I was out walking the other day I saw an elderly couple walking hand in hand - they reminded me of Mo's Jack and Ginger! It reminded me that love shines for ALL ages and the idea formed for my card!

I used Mo's Bride and Groom image like an old photograph on the wall to remind us that these gorgeous ol' folks were once young - and though time had stooped their backs - their love still "Glitters" around them! There are dazzling diamonds smothering the frames, the numbers, the butterflies and the nestability label under the sentiment - it really does sparkle IRL. I was going to use gold glitter for their golden anniversary but it just looked a little "cheesy". But there is a gold chiffon bow nesting among the flowers.

Now to follow the glittery road to Dazzling Mina's blog and see what's sparkling over there. And if you love these images check them out at Mo's store - Jack and Ginger are HERE and the Bride and Groom are HERE.

xXx

This One's A Bit Bright!

This is unheard of for ME - I've managed to fit 3 challenges into one small card - woohooo! But apologies if you feel the need to pop on your sunglasses - LOL. I was lucky enough to stamp this cutie off when I had the TPS girls over - thanx Kristy! She is just sooo adorable! I think she looks like she's holidaying on some tropical isle - just where I'd like to be as we head into Winter here in Oz! I've cut her floral headband out and popped it up for some extra fun! And if the sun were shining here - you'd see how much this sparkled!

Now onto the challenges I'm entering...

The wonderful new look Anya Ink asked for an easel card - tick (I love easels - LOL)

The Pink Elephant ask that you use the colour orange - tick  ( I actually love the colour orange but I know lots of people don't - poor orange!!!)

Mad for Markers ask you use feathering - tick (I used copics Y00 and YR00 for her dress and flowers - and thanx for the tutorial - it's such a fun technique)

The DP was from Kristy's Delicious Papercrafting store - if she doesn't have papers you'll LOVE you are just toooo darn fussy - LOL. This one is from October Afternoon's Thrift Shop, the 8x8 pad. I computer generated the sentiment - and my son and I were trying to remember the words to this song all morning - it wasn't very pretty for anyone's ears - LOL

xXx

Life's a Fairy Tale at Tickled Pink Stamps

Magnolia's Fairy Tale Collection is currently on pre-order over at Tickled Pink Stamps - they only went on pre-order last Friday and Kellie's already sold out of many of the stamps! But don't stress - she has just listed her second pre-order of these beauties.

To coincide with the release Da Boss Lady asked the DT to use one of the Fairy Tale images on an easel card. What a hardship - LOL. I decided to make mine into a scene from Cinderella. The gorgeous princess carriage is one of the new release digis from Whimsy Stamps. The lace, orange flowers and DP were bought at Tickled Pink Stamps back when it was Magnolia Down Under. I found the shoe sticker in my stash - it was originally lilac so I coloured it with my white gel pen, followed by one of my blue copics and then doused it in dazzling diamonds - NOW it fits my colour scheme - LOL.

And did you notice the "Fairy Godmother" fluttering over the carriage to keep an eye on things??? Isn't she CUTE! Once again the photos just don't do the glitter justice - maybe one day - sigh!

I'm also going to enter this into Bec's Creatalicious Challenges - they are asking you to create something that has both flowers and wings on it - what a fun challenge!

xXx

Using Nestabilities For Easel Cards - and a Special Thanx

Before I begin my post I want to thank a very special lady. My fellow DT friend, the lovely and ultra talented Jodie from Oz kindly offered to help me out yesterday. I've been trying to figure out how to turn my blog into 3 columns - and have even tried a couple of times without success - I'm not really the most computer literate amongst my peers. Jodie hopped onto my blog and within minutes I had 3 columns - unfortunately for my DH Jodie is my hero of the moment - LOL. I was hoping Jodie would post some of her marvellous creations here for me to take credit for at the same time - but alas you have to put up with my work - you can check out hers HERE ....

Thanx again Jodie - these are for you

Now onto my regularly scheduled post - ENJOY.......

Over the past couple of days I've received 2 emails from lovely ladies wondering how I make my nestie easel cards - how do they attach, what's the secret - LOL. The first lady asked me for some diagrams for a circle card as she wasn't sure about my written instructions - so I decided to quickly put together a photographic tutorial for her. The VERY next day the second email request arrived  - it's nice to feel like you're inspiring people to try new things!!! Once again I emailed off my pictures. It did make me wonder if anyone else out there would like them but was afraid to ask- so thanx to Dawn and Diane here they are for you too. PLEASE don't be afraid to email me with questions - I really don't cyber bite and will do my VERY best to help if I can...

For me it was the amazing Debbie Dolphin who inspired ME to make the nestie easels - so thanx Debbie - this is for you too.

If you want to check out the finished easel cards I've done there's a label called "Easel Cards" on my side bar - if you click on that it will come up with all the posts I've done with Easel Cards.

I hope this has helped...

xXx

I'm Tickled Pink About Sweet November

Recently I saw THIS amazing easel card on Norma's blog and thought I'd use the idea for Kellie's Pink Ladies' DT challenge for Tickled Pink Stamps. Kellie asked us to combine one of the gorgeous Sweet November images with ribbon. With everything going on last week I finally got around to finishing my card yesterday - oh OK - I admit - I only started it yesterday - LOL. Last night I spent some time blog hopping and came across Fran's DT card for this challenge - I had to laugh - we are obviously in synch this week! What can I say - she's one talented gal so am happy to be in synch with her - LOL.

This is Fidget Goblinspider and is one of the Sweet November cuties that Kellie has at Tickled Pink Stamps. The ribbon was pinched off one of my daughter's birthday presents - my reward for all the hard work organising the party - LOL. I've had this butterfly punch for years - these guys have been punched out and then coated with Dazzling Diamonds. The DP was a scrap from my stash- I think it's Basic Grey - I'm a bit of a Basic Grey fan if you hadn't noticed - LOL. I tried to make it look like she was floating in a garden - I think I pulled it off!!!

And don't forget Kellie has the personalised stamps for order - even for overseas stampers!

EDIT - If you've been waiting for the new release Kraftin' Kimmies they are IN STORE NOW - along with some fabulous sentiment sets!!!
xXx

The Battle Continues!

Last week Debra James did an AWESOME job to get our TGF Battle Team - The Delicious Delights -  into the next round. Now it's MY turn! This week's challenge is to create an easel card. I love easel cards but it's amazing what extra pressure there is when you are responsible for your team-mates too - LOL.

I've gone with a shaped card using my Nestabilities Labels #1 set - in fact I used 4 out of the 6 dies for this card! The largest 2 have been used for the card and mat, and for added interest I've set it on point. The smallest 2 dies have created the "seat" for Miss Anya - the pink layer is cut down slightly from it's original size to create the thin green border.

The leaf die is a Stampin' Up exclusive Sizzlits die that I bought last year - not sure I've actually used it before but I may be hooked - LOL. The DP is from my Basic Grey Porcelain paper pad and is beautiful in soft tones of pink and green. Most of the flowers are from Kellie's store.

I used a mixture of Copic and Touch markers on Neenah paper - which is available from Mad for Markers here in Australia.

VOTE 1 for The Delicious Delights....Yay team!

xXx

Another Mini Easel Card

I decided to make another mini easel card for my Stamp Spot Wednesday - these are sooo much fun. I've been mainly using my gorgeous Greeting Farm stamps for these posts but Marcia does have products from several other gorgeous stamp companies at her Stamp Spot Store - this cutie is from Inky Impressions.

You can also buy Nestabilities at The Stamp Spot. I've used my circles and large scallop sets here. Once again my DP is from a Basic Grey paper pad - I just LOVE these for cards. The downsized pattern means they are the right scale for cards!

Edit - these papers are from the Kioshi paper pad by Basic Grey for those that asked.

I've used a touch of crystal Stickles on the flower edges and on  Angelica's headband - it gives it just the right touch of sparkle!

So pop on over and check out the wonderful range of images, tools and embellishments Marcia has instore HERE.

xXx

Magnolia Down Under Challenge #34 - Easel Cards

WOW - what a FUN FUN FUN challenge for you this week over at Magnolia Down Under Challenges! You have to make an easel card! Now I love this style of card but wanted to create something a little different to inspire you - and then I found Debbie Dolphin's blog - wow this gal CREATES! Check out her heart shaped easel card HERE. She also does amazing things with round easel cards - I just HAD to try one out!!!

Unfortunately I don't have a circle cutter so my circles have been traced around various lids, tapes and bowls. After hand cutting them I decided that distressed edges would hide a multitude of cutting mishaps - and had the added advantage of looking good too!

My DP is from Basic Grey's Indian Summer paper pad. Roses and ticket sentiment are from Bizzy Bec's.

This week our wonderful sponsor is My Creative Classroom

Hope you have time to come along and play! Just one thing to note - Melbourne time is several hours ahead of most of the places our entries come from  - but it's MIDDAY MELBOURNE TIME that the challenge closes - there's a clock on the sidebar of the MDUC site if you're a bit confused about the time difference!

Our fearless leader Kellie and her wonderful MDUC partner in crime Princess Kristy invited me along to have some fun yesterday - thought I'd share a picture of the 3 of us together!!! And surprisingly enough we actually DID get some crafting done - LOL.

xXx

Tilda For Your Telephone Table

I used to be soooooo good at remembering dates - but just lately I've been HOPELESS!!! So when Kellie sent her Magnolia Down Under Store DT a cute little calendar to play with I knew what I wanted to use it for - a "Memory Station" for me to keep by the telephone. My plan is to highlight important events in different colours (eg: blue for birthdays) so I can see at a glance what's coming up. The idea for these with a little drawer to hold a notepad and pen came from Camille over at Capture a Heart - you can check her version out HERE. Camille's version is a bit smaller than mine - I was going to put post-it notes in the drawer but I often find them too small for note taking while on the phone. I found these notepads at my local newsagent for 80c each - they measure 3" x 5" and I popped 2 into the drawer. The pen I got from the Stampin' Up Convention last year and is a little shorter than conventional pens - but I'm sure you can find something similar elsewhere.

If you're interested the box measurements are as follows - and then add an easel card to the top:

2 pieces 4" x 6 7/8" for the wrap - score at 3/4" and 6 1/8" on both and glue the small edges of 1 piece to the small edges of the other piece to form a wrap for the drawer to go in.

1 piece 6 3/4" x 5 1/4" for the drawer - score in from each edge 3/4" and form into a box. I also added an extra strip of CS behind the front of one long side for added support - this side will have the drawer pull attached later! The drawer pull is a SU Build-a-Brad with a bead behind it so you can grasp the handle.

For the easel card you'll need 2 pieces of CS - one will be 8" x 5 3/8" (the card - score along long edge at 4" and 6") and the other will be 4" x 5 3/8" (the top)

Please contact me if these instructions don't make sense!

Now as I was creating I did have my hubby wondering what I was up too when he saw me going through the Melbourne phone book! I wanted to have Tilda standing in front of a page from the phone book - just to tie in with my theme! And what other name should I be looking to find other than MAGNOLIA - LOL. Luckily there were a few entries so my plan took shape - you can see "Magnolia" just above Tilda's head in bold writing!!! The sentiment goes with the calendar theme too - it's all about important dates - times to cherish!

All the CS is from Stampin' Up. The DP and that fabulous green lace is from Magnolia and I bought them at Kellie's store - unfortunately they were part of the Christmas range so are no longer available but Kellie does have similar items in stock. She's also taking pre-orders for Sweet Tilda who I've used here - she's in the Raising the Ceiling collection. And of course I've used roses, leaves and a digital ticket stamp from Bizzy Bec's range.

This was a fun little project to create - now just to use it for it's intended purpose - LOL.

xXx

Fabulous Fifty - My First Easel Card!!!

It's definately a decade for me to try new things - first there's the scrapbooking and now I'm trying card styles I've had on my "To Do" list for ages! These easel cards have been tempting me but I just hadn't had the opportunity to try one - until my DD's boyfriend asked me if I could make a card for his mum's 50th birthday. After asking his sister what her favourite colour was because he didn't know (typical male - LOL) - it's purple - I printed off a few Mo Manning images and coloured them in. Matt chose this one and then it was up to me!

I paired some Elegant Eggplant CS with Summer Sun CS - both from SU. The lilac DP is also from SU - it was sent to me by the lovely Donna over at Butternut Sage as a gift after I lamented the lovely Halloween papers the U.S had that we didn't - how sweet is she!!! The other DP is from Kaisercraft - it was a freebie in the back of their catalogue and just suited perfectly. I've found purple based DPs aren't that easy to come by!!!

The flowers and leaves are from Bizzy Becs - with the exception of the white flower - a local find!

I've cut the tag out using tag nestabilities that the lovely Marcia at The Stamp Spot sent me for Christmas - although the yellow tag was traced around the outside of the nestie and hand cut as I preferred a finer border. The numbers are cut using Cuttlebug dies and then slathered with Dazzling Diamonds. There is more sparkle on the yellow edge of the skirt and on the yellow flower at her waist to balance everything up.

I was warned by a fellow blogger that these cards are addictive - and I think Lynda might just be right!! I'm really happy with this card and the fact that it's a little "different" will hopefully make it a bit more special for the birthday girl.

My daughter has told me she would also like me to make a 50th card for Matt's mum - and HER'S has to be better than this one - LOL!!! Hmmm - now there's a challenge - wish me luck!

xXx