Sunday 31 January 2010

Friday Sketchers #87

I can not believe it is Sunday already, this week has flown by. I have been busy with the kids and also running around that I have not really had the chance to play with my stamps this week. So today with nothing on and it being hot again I decided to hibernate for the morning and play with my stamp from High Hopes.


So after sifting through all my favorite challenge sites this morning Friday Sketchers appealed the most today.


 


 


As you can see the image is quite big this is why the sketch appealed to me as I thought it suited it well. I think I will get quite a bit of use out of this stamp. I used my watercolour pencils again (getting happier with the result each time I use them), cardstock is Stampin Up, So Saffron & Really Rust and the patterned paper is from kaisercraft. The stamp is called T. Sir Dustin which as I mentioned is by High Hopes Rubber Stamps.


I am really happy with the way this card has turned out for once it did turn out how I imagined!


Elizabeth starts back at school tomorrow (insert cheer!) and Robbie starts his school life on Thursday so I should have more time on my hands again and will be able to get back to making more cards and participating in more challenges.


Anyhow if you are a Melbourne mum I hope if you have little ones off to school this week and that you can sit down and have a cuppa and enjoy 10 minutes silence!


 


I will hopefully be back in a few days.


 


Until next time xoxo

Tuesday 26 January 2010

Kraftin' Kimmie meets Sketch Saturday

Hi all just a quick post today. Happy Australia Day to all my fellow Aussies!

My Chester from Kraftin’ Kimmie Stamps arrived last Friday and I have been aching to ink it up since then. I decided that I would partake in my first Kraftin’ Kimmie challenge, this week no embellishments, and combine it with this weeks sketch at Sketch Saturday:





So there you have it. I hope you like. Once again my bad photography has let the card down as I have not been able to capture the colours to well. The brown on the patterned paper does not have such a heavy orange tone.

Still school holidays here so been busy with children.

 Will be back soon hopefully with some more for you.

 Until next time xoxo

Saturday 23 January 2010

Two in One

Hello again! I hope you have all had a great week and now getting into a nice relaxing weekend.


 I was spoilt by hubby on Thursday night as he took me to the movies to see The Avatar and some dinner out. It was a great night, thanks to Dol for our tickets to goldclass (Christmas present 2008), my wonderful supportive parents for taking the kids for the night and of course for Michael for actually thinking of taking me out. The movie was great I would recommend you go see it.


My sister, Sarah, called this morning for a chat and asked if I had a spare card laying around that she could use for an engagement. After looking through my stash I realized that I didn’t so off I went to quickly whip something up. I ended up following this week’s challenge at Quixotic Challenges, stamp up something old, and this weeks sketch challenge over at The Pink Elephant.


  


 



I really enjoyed making this card as I got to use Fifth Avenue Floral, which I have had for about 6 months but only used maybe once or twice.


I have used lots of Stampin Up on this card, DS Paper and Cardstock, stamps, scallop punch and watercolour crayons. The only things not stampin up are the pearl ribbon, watercolour paper and the kinder glitz I have added to the tips of the flower (you cant really see this in the photo).


I will let you get back to enjoying your weekend.


One more week of school holidays (not that I am counting) and then after that I can hopefully get some routine back and perhaps be able to bring you more cards.


Until next time xoxo

Thursday 21 January 2010

Friday Sketchers

Where is all the time going? It seems like only last night I was on here showing you my card for Papertake Weekly but it was 3 days ago. I suppose that is what happens on school holidays the time just seems to get gobbled up!


Last week I was doing some blog surfing when I came across a brand of stamps, Lili of the Valley and of course I was not able to resist. Lol. So you can imagine my excitement when they turned up in Tuesday’s mail and I could play with them.


I decided to tackle this weeks challenge over at Friday Sketchers


 


 


A nice clean layout, just what I like at the moment.


Here is what I came up with:


 


Now I am not sure if I am convinced about the flowers but as they are threaded through the layer with the image on it and it is all stuck down there is not a lot I can do about it. 


I had lots of fun with water colouring on this one. As the image was so cute I did not want to take away from it with heavy embellishing.


So what I have I used, stamp from Lili of the Valley, Stampin Up watercolour crayons, flowers from spotlight, the pink paper is from kaisercraft and the green patterned paper is from autumn leaves, watercolour paper from Deb’s shop (she packages this herself and I have found this to be the best) lace punch from fiskars and Mellow Moss cardstock from Stampin Up.


I hope you all have a great day.


Until next time xoxo

Monday 18 January 2010

Papertake Weekly Challenge

I can not believe that this time last week we were expiring a 40+ day and today it is cold enough that we have decided to hibernate inside and have our very first pajama day! After doing some cleaning this morning and making pancakes for the kids for lunch, their favorite, I managed to sit down and make a card. I came across this sketch last week for Papertake Weekly:


 


 


I loved this sketch and had really enjoyed making a card with it.


 


 


As it is childlike, which I don’t often do, I decided that the paper and image were enough for this card, no heavy embellishments required and I am happy with the result.


I have been playing with a pack of watercolor pencils that my generous hubby brought me last year (been sitting untouched in my drawers due to fear) and although it is far from perfect I do not think it is too bad.


The patterned paper is by Grace Taylor which I have had laying around for quite a while now ready to be used. I have also used Rachelle Anne Miller stamp from Stampavie and some miscellaneous cardstock.


I think I am beginning to get back into the swing of things!


Until next time xoxo

Sunday 17 January 2010

A mixture of challenges

Arrghhhhh!!!!! I have not had a good week for stamping. It seems that everything I set out to do is just blah. It started off with trying last weeks Anya Ink challenge, a one layer card, resulting in two attempts not even remotely good enough to post  to 5 attempts of coloring an image today for a card. I have also being finding it difficult lately to make cards as when I looked back on my blog I saw that I was creating a lot of the same style card so I challenged myself to step outside the square.


 


This morning I got up and decided to clean the house and give my stamping stash a bit of a clean up (in a very vain hope it would help me) and then set out to try again!


 


I managed to pull together a card that I am reasonably happy with. It covers this weeks Anya Ink’s challenge, flowers, Cute Card Thursday, using grey and pink and this weeks Sketch Saturday:


 


 


So without further ado here is my card:


 


As I said I am not in love with it but I don’t totally hate it either, in fact it seems to be growing on me more and more.  There are four types of flowers on this card, the first being in Miss Anya’s hair, second being the flowers petals I have made, the third being on the DS Paper and the fourth is one of my buttons I have used.


 


I came across a great tutorial on how to get the “bounce” in the hair. This was my first attempt doing this and it is the thing I like most about this card! If you would like the details of the tutorial please send me an email and I will email you the link.


 


I have used Miss Anya from The Greeting Farm, Copic Markers, Spellbinders Nestabilities to make my flowers, miscellaneous buttons, Stampin Up cardstock and DS paper. I have also distressed my edges by running the scissors down the edge of my paper and applied some faux stitching.


 


I think I may go any try to make another card. I hope you have all had a wonderful weekend.


 


Until next time xoxo

Monday 11 January 2010

Stamp Something Sketch

My goodness it is hot here in Melbourne today with the temperature hovering over 40C˚, with not expecting the temperature to go below 30C˚ tonight. As we live in a bushfire prone area we decided to leave the hill for the day so we escaped the heat and went shopping to get the kids shoes and lunch boxes for the beginning of the school year. I can not believe that my little baby, Robert, is heading off to school this year!


So I was sitting at my desk thinking can I be bothered making a card when I came upon this weeks sketch over at Stamp Something:


 

And this is what I came up with:

 

Now I have to  admit that once I finished sticking the card down I was feeling a bit hot and bothered and was wondering if I could get away with no real embellishments when my hubby came up to me and looked and said that he really like the card, so the decision was made! In hindsight perhaps I should have attempted to add something.


I have used stamp from Sugar Nellie range which you can purchase at Funky Kits, SU cardstock, red riding hood, pink pirouette and chocolate chip. Image was colored using my copics and I have added faux stitching.


I think I might go and attempt to make another card as it is way to hot to even attempt to go to sleep.

If you are in Melbourne I hope you are surviving this heat wave.

Until next time xoxo

Saturday 9 January 2010

I am back!

So have you been wondering where I have been? I have been on a very enjoyable 2 week holiday with the family down at Lakes Entrance. We had a wonderful time at the beach and also exploring the nearby area. The caravan park we stayed in was fantastic. It had an organized activity for the kids each day (whether that be some crafts or games in the pool) and movies under the stars every 3rd night and was only 5 minutes walk to the patrolled surf beach.


 


We had a very stressful lead up to Christmas this year with my nana being very sick and in hospital. She is now on the mend in a rehabilitation hospital and hopefully will be home in the next few weeks so our holiday was a great chance to unwind and enjoy being together.


 


I do have to say that now we are home I am glad to have my space back as we have being living in a tent! When I had my shower this evening I nearly cried!! I will bring you some photos over the next few days.


 


Well after two weeks away I keen to make a card so I headed over to Anya Ink and Anyone for Anya sites. This week over at Anya Ink we had to use black, white and one other colour. This week’s challenge for Anyone for Anya was Anything Goes, meaning could do whatever we liked, just the sort of challenge I like.   


 


Immediately when I saw Anya Ink’s challenge I knew that I wanted to use red as my third colour so off I went in search of some red patterned paper. I have now discovered that I do not have much meaning I have a great reason to head off to the scrapbooking shops!


 


After much deliberation this is what I finally came up with:


 


 


 


I am not too sure about this card must be a bit rusty after my break (at least that is the excuse I am using)! I have used stamp from The Greeting Farm, Stampin Up cardstock and DS Paper, copics for colouring and miscellaneous flowers and embellishments. 


 


I hope you have all had a fantastic Christmas and New Years with your family and loved ones and I look forward to spending more time with you over the coming year.


 


Until next time xoxo