Cards for my newest Great-nieces

These cards were made this year for my Great Nieces. The top one was made for the baby shower for my niece, Ashleigh, for her daughter Aailiyah. I used a stamp set from Sweet November Stamps. I can't find the pack so can't tell you exactly what the stamps are called.  Looking at this card, it should have been smaller in size (less "white space") or more layers. I'm not sure which? In real life, also, it's much more colourful than it looks in the photo. The colour balance on my camera is so off.

 The second card was made for the birth present for my niece Kathrine on the birth of her daughter, Phoebe. I used the elephant because it paid homage to the baby shower invitations she had. It used the Ella With Umbrella digistamp from Pink Gem Designs.

 I was much more happy with the design of this card. It looked so sweet and feminine.

Both cards were coloured using my Copic markers. I don't know what I'd do without them. But I must try some watercolouring etc, just for a little variety. :)

Anyway, I'm off to do some christmas cards, so I'll be seeing you soon.

Bye for now.

Love,

News of me being kidnapped and taken to outer space have been greatly exaggerated!

Oh Wow! I can't believe it's been 6 months since I last posted. I have been having problems with my health and other family issues and not had the extra energy to spend on making many cards etc. (I have made some though...which I will show you over the next while.) When Chronic Fatigue Syndrome flares up, along with my other ailments, it makes it hard to do anything much at all (mostly only the essentials). Hopefully I'll be able to keep posting in a timely manner for you to share in my journey.

I made the card above for a lovely lady my mum and I were friends with at her retirement centre who died earlier this year. I wasn't sure what to do for it, but went with some paper etc that I had been working with for something else, and added what flowers I thought were pretty. I also made a co=ordinating card box for it. As it turned out, the flowers and feathers matched perfectly the theme of the memorial luncheon we attended for her. Joan is sorely missed and we always think fondly of her.

Anyway, it's time I got going on what I NEED to do, so all of my love and I'll see you soon.

Bye for now,

Challenge #20 for Angie's Digital Stamps

With no optional theme this week at Angie's Digital Stamps, I was able to make a birthday card for a friend. He's a bit older than me and totally into cars (though more MGs rather than VDubs). Inside I've printed "You're a CLASSIC! Happy Birthday".
 

The background was created in a Word document with an assortment of fonts all saying "Classic". I used a range of colours for the printing from a very pale blue for the background colour, aqua, teal and dark navy. I also stencilled a strip of herringbone brickwork using a mixture of black texture paste and some Anna Griffin/Couture Creations Mix & Match Pigment powders (white and silver) that I wanted to match my Graphite Viva Decor Ferro Texture Paste that went hard in the container on me. I hate that - when you are going to use something and then you find out it's "gone off"!

If you haven't used the Mix & Match Pigment powders, they are amazing! They can be used to colour a wide range of media (eg gesso, texture/embossing paste, acrylic paint, Dimensional Glaze, etc), as well as providing a lovely shimmer to it all. They can also be used for painting (by mixing with water), misting (a little in a spray bottle of water) and added to glue with glitter to add "a dash of flash" to any surface. With these, you almost can just have white everything and just colour where and when needed. Talk about great economy! I find them similar to Pearl EX, Perfect Pearls and Cosmic Shimmer, but the colours are so vibrant you only need a tiny amount of powder to achieve a rich colour.  

I coloured Angie's super cute digi stamp car using my trusty Copic markers; with a little silver and clear Wink of Stella Brushes for the metallic areas and glass.

I tried styling the photo, but Darryl's grungy old car keys don't really match in. (I should have at least given them a scrub first.) Hahaha!

Anyway, head on over to Angie's Digital stamps and join in the fun. There's some great inspiration from the Design Team, as well as super amazing contributions from our subscribers. 

Bye for now.

Love,

Simply Create Too Challenge #137

"Use die cutting" is the optional theme for the latest challenge from Simply Create Too.

Here I used a few separate die cutting sets to create my scene card - PoppyStamps Boddington Hillside, Lawn Fawn Puffy Cloud Borders and a sun die set (manufacturer forgotten). I'm not sure about the brown house - perhaps it should have been another colour?

I coloured the sun, hills and trees etc with my Copic markers, while the clouds were sponged with Distress Oxide ink.

I have to say that I found it quite difficult to get all of the layers to work together  (and especially to get it the right size for my card front.) Maybe it's just me???

                                  

 Anyway, click on over to Simply Create Too and create a die cutting creation of your own and check out the designs from our competitors.

Bye for now.

Love,

Get Creative Challenges #68

Get Creative Challenge #68 is active and the optional theme is "No patterned paper".

I took this to mean " no commercially manufactured printed patterned paper" so I decided to make my own patterned paper by heat embossing with clear embossing powder. I then coloured the images with a Spectrum Noir Crystal Clear Sparkle pen. The stamp set I used was Altenew Amazing You. This gave a great white-on-white look and a perfect foil for the oh-so-cute digistamp called Lil Peek a Boo’S Pretty Parcel by Lacy Sunshine Stamps.

The sponsors for this challenge are:

                       

Digistamps will be awarded for winners, so get on over and try your luck.

Bye for now.

Love,

Angie's Digital Stamps - Challenge #19

Buttons and bows is the theme for the latest Blog Challenge from Angie's Digital Stamps.

I used the cute Teddy Bear digistamp and quite a few cutting dies to create my layers. Krafters Korner mini paper roses came in the perfect colour combo for me to use; and the satin bows were just the perfect hue. I opted out of using real buttons (but there was a "belly button"!) Yuk yuk yuk! I coloured some white cardstock with some Altenew ink pads (Lavender Fields, Deep Iris, Midnight Violet). It looks striking against the white.

 There's still time to head on over to Angie's Digital Stamps and join in the fun.

Thanks for visiting.

Love,

Challenge #18 for Angie's Digital Stamps blog

Challenge #18 for Angie's Digital Stamps blog has commenced and it is with great pleasure that I present my card, which timely, is an Easter card, using Angie's cute little bunny digi. While not content just to use one bunny, I had to flip the image and use two. I also included the scroll for the sentiment. Hope you like it.

 

I coloured the bunnies using my Copic markers and partially cut out the image to leave the bunnies and ground intact. The sky is using some patterned paper I had tucked away in my stash, that I added some blue Wink of Stella pen to.

Overall I am pleased with how it turned out, though I am very disappointed with my ground and grass. I need to do some more practice to get it looking better.

Head on over to Angie's Digital Stamps and see for yourself the creations and join in the fun.

                        

See you soon.

Love,

I Forgot........Sorry!!!

It seems at the moment that if I don't do something when I first think of it, I'll forget to do it. It sounds like the onset of dementia; but my GP tells me it's because of the meds I'm on for my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and peripheral neuropathy. The reason I'm admitting this is because I forgot to post my card from my last challenge for Simply Create Too. It's now time for the new challenge to start, so head on over and see the creations on show and join in to win a great badge to put on your blog site. The theme is to use green.

Getting back to my card, I had to use my favourite colour combo; which, if you were to look in my wardrobe, is a combination of blue, green and purple (and all of the variations in between).

I used some Couture Creations Anna Griffin Mix & Match Pigment Powders and smooshed, and layered the background and then hand-painted the sentiment onto a heat embossed image. If you haven't tired these powders, you really should. They have a glorious sheen and the colours are vibrant and so pretty. Very similar to Tim Holtz Perfect Pearls, but the colours are much more vibrant and you only have to use a smidge to get great depth. They can also be used mixed with any liquid media, such as embossing paste, liquid glue, white gesso, etc to get it coloured to match perfectly the colours of your layouts or cards.

Anyway, a simple card, but, oh, so pretty!  (Big smile)

Don't forget to check out the latest Challenge at Simply Create Too.

Bye for now.

Love,

A new challenge for Get Creative Challenges

I'm back with the second of my February challenges. Challenge #66 from Get Creative Challenges has a theme of "Use Ribbon or Washi Tape". The sponsors for this month are Rick St Dennis, Twinkle Lane Designs and Knitty Kitty Digis and you could win images, etc from their shops.

 

I used a digistamp from Rick St Dennis called "Pavanne 2017 Fashion" and coloured her up using Copic marker colours that matched the washi tape rainbow background. The die cut sentiment was cut from a panel of cardstock that I covered with strips of glittered washi tape. I really love how this turned out.

Anyway, head on over to Get Creative Challenges and join in the fun by adding a washi tape creation of your own (or you can use ribbon if you really must. hahaha)

P.S. I bought the pastel washi tape from KMart. It came in a tube of 14 rolls; and I knew it would be perfect for this card.

Bye for now.

Love,

Angie's Digital Stamps Challenge #17

Angie's Digital Stamps Challenge #17 has the optional theme of "Love". I've been doing some shaped cards lately for a commission and thought the Cupcake with Love digistamp would make a great shaped card.

 

I printed the image onto some pink cardstock which meant that I didn't have to try to copy all of the markings by hand. A little bit of shading (using my Spectrum Noir colouring pencils) and some Diamond Glaze on the hearts; a pink foiled heart; and a speckled silver foil base almost finished the card. To complete it, I die cut the sentiment from some pink cardstock using a die set from HOTP, attached it to the card and applied Diamond Glaze on it as well. All up, the finished dimensions were 11.5 x 14cm.

Head on over to Angie's Digital Stamps and join in the competition. Winner of this challenge gets 2 of the digistamps from Angie's shop.

Bye for now.

Love,

The First Challenge of the Year for Angie's Digital Stamps

Challenge #16 for 2018 is of a "No Twist" theme, but I chose to make a birthday card for a 91 year old friend of my Mum. Joan is the same lady I made a card for last year when she celebrated her 90th birthday.

This card used a cute little helicopter digi from Angie's Digital Stamps, but I drew the banner to fly behind it. I had to make it large enough for the sentiment to be stamped inside. The stamp set I used was a freebie from the British Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine, and I LOVE it. It is so easy to use and make all of the letters join up; as well as being a really attractive script font. I have several script lettering stamp sets and this is the easiest to use. I also used a sentiment from Lawn Fawn's "Blue Skies" stamp set. I thought at 91 years of age one should be able to do anything they darn well feel like!

The background was created by drawing a cloud and sponging Peacock Feathers Distress ink over the edges as a mask. I coloured the helicopter and banner with my Copic markers and fussy cut; before attaching to the background with foam tape. You'll hopefully be able to see the gold and clear Wink of Stella I used on the cockpit and rotors. Tiny clear rhinestones finished off the design.

Drop on over to Angie's Digital Stamps Challenge and see what amazing designs my fellow designers have come up with and join in the fun. Anyway, I hope that everyone is having a crafty good time. Bye for now.

Love, 

Happy Birthday to my Big Sister

I hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas and Boxing Day holiday.

Lucky for me, I also get to celebrate my big sister's birthday today. Yep, I get to do lots of celebrating in December, especially with a lovely new addition to our family with a beautiful great-niece born on 22nd December. Just to explain the extent of my December joy, I have two sisters, a brother-in-law, a niece, two great-nieces and a great-nephew who are all born in December. Yay! I may sound factitious but I love each and every one of them and I gladly offer them birthday and Christmas gifts at the same time. (The moths have flown out of my purse and are long gone by now!) No, I'm only joking!!! It's just that it's hard enough to come up with ideas for Christmas presents, without also having to double-up with birthdays.

 Anyway, I made a card for her that used a brand new Happy Birthday to You Banners cutting die set from Poppy Crafts. Since her favourite colour is green, I was able to use some Christmas patterned paper along with some old cardstock that I had in my stash. It also had to have gold on it, of course! I finished it off with some Apple Green Nuvo Crystal Drops.

Anyway, bye for now.
Love,






PS. I wanted to share a photo of my new great niece Aaliyah, as well as a photo of my beautiful boy, Alex, taken at lunch on Christmas Day.

A lesson for new Cardmakers at Christmas...

Hi, I'm back with a rather long (but very informative) video tutorial for beginner cardmakers. I wanted to do something for total novices who don't know where to start or what they need to "start" making cards for Christmas.

Using a designer paper pad, white cardstock, scissors, adhesive and simple embellishments, I created about 20 cards to display what can be made; and then I demonstrated the creation of three cards, using very simple techniques. I also introduce the use of the internet and a printer as an alternative to buying sentiment panels. I downloaded a file from www.papercraftermagazine.co.uk/downloads/free-debbi-moore-christmas-digi-stamps to use as it's chock-full of great digistamps and sentiment strips.

Below are a few of the cards I made for this exercise (the rest have been sent on to their new homes).

The video can be viewed below or watch it on YouTube by following the link.

I'll be back soon.

Love,

Oh oh!!!

I went AWOL for many weeks earlier in October/November, due to my mum tripping and dislocating and breaking her left shoulder. UGH! I happened to be away in Sydney/Melbourne on holidays at the time; but once we got back, Mum came to stay with us and I had to look after her, doing everything for her. The resulting stress caused my Chronic fatigue to flare.

The great news is that both of us are continuing to heal. Mum's back in her little place and I'm back doing some cardmaking and housework. Yay!!????

Some of the things I missed posting about included:

Angie's Digital Stamps had its last challenge for the year with a "Happy Holidays" theme.

I used Angie's Little Lila with Musical Instrument digi stamp for my card and coloured her in the reds and greens of Christmas. Some distressing and edge inking gave the card a slight vintage feel; but I just had to add a touch of glitz with the gold die cut "greetings". Nuvo Ebony Black Crystal Drops completed the card.

Get Creative Challenges also had its last challenge for 2017. Challenge #64 had a theme of "Holidays".

My card used a digistamp by one of the sponsors, Rick St Dennis called "Winter 2017". I coloured the image using my Copics and combined patterned paper, white paper roses,

organza red ribbon, some silver flower centres, leaves and a stacked red die cut sentiment. I have always admired Tracy Wray and her distressed and layered cards; and wanted to have a go at it.

Simply Create Too's last challenge for the year had the theme of CAS and I had fun creating a card using a Santoro Gorjuss "Fly Away With Me" stamp set. Did you know that Nuvo Crystal Drops will flatten? I stacked it along with some other cards (after it had been sitting out drying for several days) and when I later looked at it, the drops had flattened.

Anyway, off to have some more adventures (disasters???) in my life. I'll be back soon.

Bye for now,

Love,