Birthday wishes and Handmade cards

I look forward to belatedly celebrating my 50th when we've had some good news and all the bad luck's been blown away.

However, despite some rather subdued celebrations, I wanted to acknowledge the beautiful handmade cards I received from friends in the UK, who had gone to some effort to make and then send on to me:

From Lisa - a beautiful bee card - it was obviously "buzzing" through the post, as Australian customs felt the need to open the envelope and examine it's beauty!

From Tara - lots of lovely colour and layers.  I treasure them both and miss you too.  xx



UK SCrappers 52 Card challenge 2014 - Week 5

Week 52 - Week 5

This week, Nat reached into the prompt jar and pulled out the following three prompts:

Glitter
Pale
Love

This is the card that I produced:

 

I found this challenge quite difficult, as I don't have much stuff that coordinates together and I have loads of bits and pieces.  I seem to spend a lot of time shuffling scraps! 

 

Anyhow - I am happy with the result - a real mix of punched and stamped elements, and some new things, like the alpha, love and word stickers, and some banners made from a Promarker and different bits of patterned paper. 

 

Supplies:

Patterned paper: MME Wild Asparagus, Pebbles Inc

Bazzill Bling,

Spellbinders Nestabilities

Kaisercraft Rhinestones, Alphas

 

So, more bits and pieces used - let's hope the next challenge proves a bit easier!!

 

Thanks for stopping by.  :)





Get it Done!

I have found some pieces of patterned paper in the bits and bobs here that I have been using for card making.  I have bought some patterned paper since arriving - and I do appreciate how quickly it seems to multiply and reproduce when you're not looking! but I have been really trying to use what is currently here without accumulating too much more.

 

So I have been consciously trying to use up this patterned paper, most of which is at least several years old and was never my favourite.  The following star of the show is a classic example - it was from a DCVW stack called "Taj Mahal".  I bought that stack to scrap my elephant photos, of which I have done only a very few.  I've been a wee bit busy ever since!

 

 

I borrowed my Mum's neighbour's Cuttlebug again and some of her Nestabilities.  I used my new circle punch to break up the pattern at the botton, and added some gems.

 

Added a scrap of ribbon, and again more half circles at the bottom, with a few assorted gems. 

 

I calmed down some of the pattern by punching out some smaller circles and covering up some of the stars.  All of the cards were boosted using Stardust Stickles. 

 

 

Scrap of ribbon again - and this time using the lemon card as circles on the bottom.  All much of a muchness, and that card is no longer staring at me, and in the for sale box.  I do find that once a patterned paper is cut down, you usually like it a lot more!

 

Supplies:

DCVW "Taj Mahal" stach

Scraps of coloured card

Nestabilities

Stardust Stickles

Scrap of ribbon

Kaisercraft Turquoise Rhinestones

Fiskars , Carl small circle punches

Elizabeth Craft Designs "Happy Birthday" die

 

Thanks for stopping by.  :)



52 Card Challenge UK Scrappers Week 4

This week, Natalia took this picture as inspiration:

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/190136415491262213/

and used this as a base for this week's challenge. 

 

I received a lovely goody crafty bag from the UK for my birthday from my sister-in-law, and it contained a cornucopia of Do Crafts products - most of them, this "Lovely" range of products from Papermania. A whole heap of papers, stickers, ribbon,  die cuts and even a post card stamp - I love that this range is so photo realistic - it looks like I've done loads of sewing and popped on loads of buttons, when in reality, everything has been cut to size. 

 

I just cut out some of the individual elements and stuck them on the paper - specifically, the cotton reels, the lace border and some buttons.  Everything was based on this sewing or haberdashery theme - so my very loose interpretation is folksy, or homespun, I suppose - with lace and a doily in common to the original picture inspiration. 

 

I just raised the heart die cut and the teeny blue buttons on 3D foam - it really does make quite a bit of difference to the appearance.  I've just distressed the edges of things with scissors to add to the "homespun" quality.  Quite different for me - I didn't think I would like this range - but I really do!  Shame I don't know more people locally who love sewing ...

 

Supplies:

Papermania "Lovely Range" - patterned papers and die-cuts

Pocket Scrapbooking - Week 2 January 2014

Underwater World - Wednesday, 8th January

 

This double spread is all part of the fabulous day we had with my sister Nerida and her family in Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast Queensland.

 

We had a wonderful time, seeing the Australian fur seal, Groucho, put on a fabulous show, with his girlfriend, Bella and their trainer, Alex.  Supplies were mostly a Project Life mini kit - "Baby Boy" with lots of alphabet stickers and other bits amalgamated into it. 

 

There are more photos to be acquired from my sister's camera - but I can always add another layout to my album if there are other wonderful photos.  At least the basic memories and the feeling about the day is captured, and I have made some progress. 

 

I was concerned about how I would coordinate these pages together, given that a lot of the photos are quite dark, but I love the splashes of tan and aqua with a bit of red.  It just proves that you don't need a whole lot of stuff to get going - but collecting it is really fun, too! 



Supplies:
Project Life "Baby edition for him" mini kit
Echo Park "Splash" Stickers; "Diagonal Stripes"
Simple Stories Fundamental Sticker Sheet - "Urban Traveler"
Studio Calico Classic Calico alphabet stickers
Pebbles Inc Sticker sheet
Glitz teeny Alphabet Stickers - red
Glitz designs "Sunshine in my Soul" Alphabet and Sticker sheet
Prima Marketing Leeza Gibbons "Wishes and Dreams" Types and Tabs stickers

2014 will be a big year for us - I just know it.  Enjoyable to intersperse all the craziness with some crafting, albeit mostly in documentation form, with a little bit of decoration thrown in!  Thanks for stopping by. 

52 Cards challenge 2014 - Week 3

Here is the sketch which is the inspiration starting point for Week 3 of the 52 Card Challenge:

 

And here is the card I produced.

 

 

I swapped the sketch around, to make it work for the card elements I was using. 

 

 

Most of the elements came from the pile of punched and stamped elements my mother made when she came to the UK a couple of years ago.  I pulled the ribbon through the middle of the blue punched out piece and then used the little bits glued in the middle of the large flower.  I used my tan Promarker to match the journalling mat and the inside of the flowers.

 

I recently purchased two small circle punches and that tiny butterfly one - I don't regret it for a second, as they're a staple and I have already used them enough to justify their purchase.  I finally cut into a small doily and used it here. 

 

I hated that piece of 12 x 12 paper when it was whole, but now split up onto cards, I have grown to quite like it! I think it was from a K & Co stack. 

 

Supplies:

K & Co Patterned paper

Kraft card



Doily
Stardust Stickles
Cream ribbon
Fiskars circle and ribbon punches
Tan Promarker
Flower buttons

Thanks for stopping by. 

Project Life Week 2 - 2014

On Wednesday, we had a really lovely day with my sister's family at Mooloolaba, a beachside town about an hour north of Brisbane.  Nerida had a voucher from her entertainment book which allowed us to get one free ticket into "Underwater World" and after that, both families went to the beach and had a swim in their rented unit pool. 

It was the first time my boys had been to the beach and they loved it!  It was made even more special sharing it with some extended family because they added to the happy event.  Both boys relished the open spaces, went "wow" at all the sand and the ocean and were obviously delighted. 

I wanted to capture that feeling whilst it remained with me, so quickly got the day's photos processed locally and decided to tackle the beach photos first. 

Pocket scrapbooking for me is about the photos and the memories; I am not committing to a spread per week or any given time - just as and when memorable photos are taken or there is something to journal about.  As long as it is chronological, each little memory can then be preserved and cherished in my scrapbook. 

I bought quite a few PL style elements before leaving the UK so I have a few basics and this choice has been enough here. 

Left hand page:

 

Right hand page:

 

 

The top right hand card was a mix of the PL coloured card and a cropped journaling card adhered on top; with the red Pebbles sticker at the bottom.  I cropped out a person on the top landscape photo and matted it onto a Fancy Pants brag card with the pink washi tape running down the left hand side. 

 

Here's a close-up of the title "pocket" which took the most work:

 

 

The base was Echo Park "Splash" patterned paper, with a Simple Stories 3 x 4 journaling card on top, together with various alphabet and element stickers, and the washi running down the right hand side. 

 

I just took the colour theme from what we were wearing and I quite like the addition of the pink that was in Nerida's swim top with flashes in mine!



 

There will be at least another double spread from the earlier part of the day but I am very pleased that I have made a start and scrapped these really current photos. 

Supplies:
Echo Park "Splash - Diagonal Stripes"
Simple Stories - 4 x 6 Sn@p cards - "Just the Basics", "Urban Traveler" 4 x 6 pad, "24/7" journaling sheets
Studio Calico Classic Calico alphabet stickers
Pebbles Inc Sticker sheet
Office Works washi tape and magazine freebie pink washi
Project Life day stickers
Fancy Pants Designs 4 x 6 Brag Pad - "The Good Life"

Thanks for visiting!  I am happy with this start, and hope it continues ....

Week 2 - 52 Card Challenge UK Scrappers

This week over at UK Scrappers, Natalia set us this inspiration picture as the basis for Week 2's 52 Card Challenge for 2014:

 

I love the bright, zingy colours incorporated with the grey! So I did some stash hunting (not that it takes very long) and pulled some bits out. 

 

I have sort of managed all the colours, with the exception of the grey - there was navy in the patterned paper I used, so that is near enough. 

 

 

 

I am not happy with this card, but it is finished.  I would have preferred more colour pop with a solid colour patterned paper background - but it's the best I felt I could do with the stash I had to hand. 

 

By choosing a dotty border Project Life card, and an orange chevron pattern in the paper which covered the chipboard, I have more or less got the spots and chevrons covered ... I tried to add some colour by outlining the paper with a berry red Promarker.  By outlining that and the stars with Glossy Accents,  I've added some slight dimension and a sheen which emulates the enamel embellishments that are currently the rage. 

 

It's funny how things look different when you buy them online.  I bought these Bo Bunny sticker alpha letters, and didn't like most of the fonts on the sheet when it arrived.  So I decided to get them used, and this card is the start of it. 

 

Not every challenge will suit the stash I've got and the lack of current inspiration certainly won't make up the shortfall! If my cards continue to sell as well as they did before Christmas, I can perhaps justify some small purchases to get a few more tools to hand temporarily.  Until we are more settled, I will continue to play along whilst I can because crafting is bring some small semblance of normality to my life, in any case. 

 

Supplies:

Pebbles Inc "Love You More" patterned paper "Zach"; "Matty"

Project Life "Boy" 3 x 4 card

Berry Red Promarker

WOW(Words or Whatever) chipboard stars

Echo Park Scoot Element Stickers

Kaisercraft Rhinestones

Bo Bunny Letterific cardstock stickers

 

Lovely to see how differently the theme is interpreted by all the participants! It's the most interesting part of taking part in the challenge and a great future source of inspiration ....



All I want for Christmas ....

Happy New Year! I would have to look back to see when the last 12 x 12 layout was made, but it's been a really long time ...

 

Being very short of supplies, I was determined to make do with what I had, so I ended up piecing this patterned paper to the green cardstock, to make up a 12 x 12 base.  I ideally would have like a pine green base, but I think the brighter green does add some dynamism to the layout. 

 

 

I coloured in the bottom half of the Dusty Attic title with the white Wink of Stella shimmer pen and then stickled with Stardust over the top.  It is subtle but glittery IRL which is the effect I wanted.  I used the negative part of the chipboard and misted around the title onto the red base for a shadowy effect. 

 

I cut out the journal block using one of the Project Life 3 x 4 cards as a base, and then traced around a plastic template for the shape. 

 

I have gently distressed each edge of all the cardstock and patterned paper used so that there is a small white edge on all the borders.  This just helps to lift the layout in terms of colour and pop. 

 

I glossy accented the gold star to the light khaki cardstock behind and then outlined all the accents with Stardust stickles for effect.  The layout is quite glittery IRL - every Christmas layout needs some bling!

 

I layered up the robin, a bauble and a small sticker of holly with 3D foam for some dimension and to add to the layering effect - the placement of the title was determined by a "Westfield" logo on the photo, which I wanted to cover up!

 

Supplies:

Kaisercraft "St Nicholas" sticker sheet

Dusty Attic "All I want for Christmas...." chipboard

Kaisercraft Rhinestones

Stardust Stickles
Dylusions White Linen spray ink

Gold Thread

Christmas decoration - gold star

White shimmer pen - Wink of Stella

Coordinations cardstock

Simon Says Stamp! red A4 cardstock

Dark Brown patterned paper - Bo Bunny

Christmas patterned paper

3d Foam pads

 

Thanks for looking - I hope your New Year has started creatively.