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I'm following the instructions for bloglovin here! I don't think Google Reader stopping will affect me, but I'm following the instructions anyway! Reminds me a bit of the end of 1999 when there was a commotion about our computers clicking over to 2000...Hmmm. LOL. Better to be safe than sorry anyway :)

Red flowers & tag

Hi, my hubby is knocking down our broken timber cattle yards over this weekend. I went up to help and could hardly lift one of the timber gates that we want to keep! I escaped to make  yummy sausage rolls for lunch instead and am now hiding in my craft room!! Ssshhh...

This card is for a couple of challenges. A Blog Named Hero has a tag challenge that is drawing to a close. I think I've probably only ever measured up and made a tag for a card once. I thought I kept a chipboard copy for measuring again but it's gone! Then I remembered I had this Fiskars squeeze punch that I got on sale at Spotlight! I think that's where the ribbon came from too.

I punched the tag from a scrap of white card, the flowers are stamped onto scraps too using Versafine and irridescent sparkle embossing powder. So I'm off to play on the swings at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

The stamp is an old Lucys one that I've had for years, and I coloured it with some pigment ink using a paint brush. Added some stickles to the centre for bling. The base is embossed with Divine Swirls. The brad and sentiment sticker are from my stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Black Red & White

Scrapbook Boutique has a challenge to use red, black and white and this delicious cupcake photo as inspiration.

It closes soon, so if you live in Australia, join in before the end of June 30.

Materials used: Darkroom Door flourish stamp; Versafine ink and clear embossing powder; EK Success small flower punch; Martha Stewart frond punch; Store bought large flower; Memory Box label die; bling and sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Mosaic with Butterfly

Hi, I made this card to enter the mosaic challenge over at Cuttlebug Mania. When I think of mosaics I tend to picture designs on beautiful Moroccan pottery or tiles. The shape of these off cuts also reminds me of these tiles.

 A while back I made a card with  9  punched squares with small embellishments on top of them. I wanted to try something different this time so I used the off cuts from my Papertrey Ink Quatrefoil die. I ran them through my cuttlebug with a couple of embossing folders for some texture,  Swiss Dots and Entangled. Then 

I had fun daubing the edges with some distress inks.

The butterfly stamp is my sister's and I coloured it with Prismacolor pencils. The base card is embossed with one of the folders from the Cuttlebug Asian set . (Wish I owned that too!!) Pretty quick and easy to make.

 I'm also going to enter the Anything Goes challenges at Addicted to Stamps & More and Simon Says Stamp. At CASology the cue card is Free. Since I'm thinking of mosaics and all the beautiful art works  that we can enjoy for free, I hope that fits the challenge.

Thanks for visiting :)

Fabric Flower

 

Hi, I've made another card using a scrap of calico, my tattered flower die, distress inks and perfect pearl mist.

 

I'm entering the challenge al Less is More, where the theme is to make a birthday card for Jen. I'm cutting it close as the deadline is in a few hours!!

 

I'm also entering the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp. At Addicted to Stamps & More, the theme is also Anything Goes.

 

Materials used: Sizzix embossing folder; Tim Holtz Tattered Flower die; Stampin Up Build a Bird leaf  punch; distress inks; perfect pearl mist; MFT label die; sentiment sticker and bling from stash.

 

Thanks for visiting :)



Pink Butterflies

 

 

Hi, I think I'm stuck on butterflies again! There's only 2 days before school holidays so maybe I'll get inspired to create something else again!

 

I stamped the Hero Arts engraved butterfly with Versafine and embossed with clear embossing powder. Coloured with Prismacolor pencils and I added stickles on the wings for some bling. I got a bit carried away with the pearl bling too!

 

The embossing folder is from Stampin Up, and the sentiment is from a Penny Black stamp set.

 

I'm going to enter the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

 

I'm also putting another entry into the Make It Monday Challenge where the theme is always anything goes and to share creativity.

 

 

Thanks for visiting :)

Meadow Butterflies

Hi, I was inspired to make this card by the photo inspiration at Addicted to Stamps and More.

I created my sky and meadow using distress inks, then stamped one of the grass stamps from Annabelle's All Things Grow set, with distress ink.  I coloured my butterflies with Prismacolor pencils

The sentiment is from Annabelle Stamps Standing Tall set.

I'm also going to enter the Anything Goes challenge at Make It Monday.

Materials used: Annabelle Stamps as above; Technique Tuesday butterfly stamp and an old butterfly stamp that I borrowed yet again from my sister!; distress inks; Prismacolor pencils; Versafine ink.

Thanks for visiting :)

Birthday Handbag

Hi, I've made this card for a couple of challenges. I wanted to do another card for a teenager and remembered I had this little handbag stamp. I coloured it with Prismacolors and fussy cut it. The silver stickles looks grey but it is sparkly silver in real life.

I used up a snippet from a recently made brightly coloured card to punch my flowers from. Luckily my punch was small enough!

I'm entering the challenge at Addicted to CAS, where the code word is teenager.

I'm also going to the snippets playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

Materials used: Snag em stamp; Prismacolor pencils; stickles; Bubbles embossing folder; Carl flower punch; foam dots; bling and sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Leafy Butterfly

Hi, thank goodness it's Friday again! We're going to an agricultural show tomorrow to buy some panels for cattle yards and some fencing pliers. Exciting stuff LOL!! So I thought I'd better get some card making in tonight.

I'm going to enter this into the challenge at Addicted to CAS where the code word is teenager.

I thought this would be a good card for a teenage girl, the butterfly has bling and the sentiment sticker is really glittery in real life.

At CAS-ual Fridays, the theme is Over the Edge. To make sure part of your project hangs over the edge of your card. I had to check the butterfly would still fit into a C6 envelope!

At Just Add Ink the challenge is to add leaves to your project.

Materials used: Penny Blabk Social Butterfly stamp; coloured with Tombows and black enamel accents; Memory Box leaves die: Couture Creations Entangle embossing folder; distress ink to colour the leaves;  bling & sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Floral Birthday

Hi, I needed a quick birthday card for a friend so used my MFT flower die that has been languishing in my stash!

The Paper Players challenge at the moment is to create a Clean & Simple card with Bling.

I die cut the flowers from a stack of glitter paper and added some bling to the centres. 

Thanks for visiting :)

Window Flower Box

Hi, I've been playing with a new window die from Spellbinders. I cut three of them from thin kraft card and glued them together to give the window some dimension on the wall.

I used some acetate too but you can't see it in the photo. 

I'm entering the challenge at Simon Says Stamp & Show, where the theme is to use kraft card or paper in your project.

My flowers and greenery were die cut from snippets so I'm visiting the playground again over at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

Materials used: Spellbinders windoe die; Poppy Stamps cat die; memory Box flower die; distress ink; Sizzix/Tim Holtz brick embossing folder; Martha Stewart branch punch; Tombow markers; sentiment sticker and scrap of designer paper  from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Butterfly on pink Quatrefoil

Hi, I've made this card for a few challenges this week.

Flutterby Wednesdays has a Clean & Simple theme this week. I made a couple of cards recently with butterflies and the quatrefoil die as a background, this time I've left off the greenery and the flowers, so I hope it's CAS enough!

I die cut the butterflies and the tag from snippets so I'm visiting the playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

At Make It Monday, the theme is Anything Goes.

Materials used: Papertrey Ink quatrefoli die; Memory Box butterfly and label dies; sentiment sticker and bling from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

CAS Butterfly

I've made this card to enter the CAS challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More.

 I've coloured the butterfly with tombow markers and put stickles on the body. It's a bit hard to see but it's nice and sparkly. 

Materials used: Penny Black Social Butterfly stamp; memory Box circle burst die; Tombows; Versafine ink and clear embossing powder; sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Chook Yard

Hi, I've been up with my chickens this morning cleaning their yard, so I thought this was an apt card! The flowers wouldn't last very long with my chooks though!

I'm going to enter the following challenges.

At Less is More, the challenge is to use hexagons in your project, and at CASology the cue card is yellow.

I used a craft nib to paint the raised part of the embossed chicken wire with silver ink to make it more defined. The rooster diecut is coloured with tombow markers and twinkling H2O's.

Materials used: Chicken wire embossing folder; Die-versions rooster die; Memory Box flower die; PoppyStamps grass die; CAS-ual Fridays sentiment stamp; Twinkling H2O's; Silver and Charcoal Versacolor ink; stickles; tiny brads from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Card for Maddy

Hi, I've made this card to send to Maddy. She's a young girl who has fought a brave battle. Simon Says Stamp is hosting a card drive for Maddy, and here is some of her story from their blog.

Hi Bloggers!!  You may remember back in July of 2012, we introduced you to this beautiful and brave young girl,Maddy Justice.  She sadly was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and went through chemotherapy treatment, followed by a stem cell transplant from her (then) fifteen year old sister Melanie. 

Three months later, we were thrilled to report to you in this blog that Maddy seemed to be on the road to recovery!  This January, we learned that she had relapsed, which unfortunately means she's going to have to go through this very physical and emotional pain again.

That being said, we were overwhelmed and so happy with the response to our card drive last year, and we can also assure you that your cards and LOVE really touched Maddy.  She found herself looking forward to the cards every day, and even made a game out of where in the world the cards came from with her family.  They used a world map to locate the card origins! We're hoping you can help lift her spirits again!!

I was inspired by the photo inspiration at Just Add Ink. I love the bright colours and the silhouette so I'll be entering the card there.

Materials used: Penny Black flower stamp; Annabelles sentiment stamp; distress ink; Versafine ink and clear embossing powder; bling from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Fisherman Silhouette

Hi, I was experimenting with swiping ink pads and sponging to create this fishing scene.

Lots more practicing to do but I'm enjoying playing around with new techniques. Thank goodness I've got some gritty soap for getting the ink stains off my hands!

I've used some of me new goodies again, Joy Crafts Fishing Fun dies. The silhouette is cut from a snippet of black card, and the fish are from a scrap of  inked watercolour paper that had Perfect pearls sprayed on it. I thought it was good for the silver glimmer on the fish.

I'm going to enter the snippets playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

At Cuttlebug Mania, the theme is to create a masculine project with stripes. I used the distressed stripes embossing folder on my base card and also used my cuttlebug to diecut the fish and fisherman.

At Inkspirational, there is a photo for inspiration.

I was inspired by the blues and green and the texture of the water.

Materials used: Joy Crafts Fishing Fun dies; Cuttlebug distressed stripes embossing folder; memento and Versacolor ink pads; sponges; Blacke enamel accents for the fishes eyes; sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Tattered Flowers with Buttons

Hi, I've been having a lot of fun with distress inks and my tattered flowers die!

I've followed another tutorial by Amy Bowerman from Plucking daisies. This time it was  how to make watercolor paper flowers. Her flowers are gorgeous and the instructions are so easy to follow.

Instead of making all of my petals out of watercolour paper, I used an old music score for my top layers. The score was quite old so it was already distressed! I helped it along with the colour.

I used the tattered leaves die for my foliage. I used my shaping tool to score some lines to look like veins on the leaves and distressed them with 2 shades of ink.

I'm entering the challenge at Simon Says Stamp & Show, where the theme is to use buttons.

I'm also entering the challenge at Make It Monday, where the theme is anything goes.

Thanks for visiting :)

Beads & Bling

Hi, it's still raining here, our water tanks are overflowing again, which is good. No need to feel guilty when I enjoy a nice long hot shower on cold nights!

 I've made this card to enter the circles challenge at Addicted to CAS. 

I used the Lifestyle Crafts Beads embossing folder, it reminds me of the bead strips that we used to hang in our doorways to keep the flies out!

Other materials used: Memory Box Primo label die; bling and sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Purple Floral Get Well

\Hi, I've been playing with another new purchase. I've never used stencils before but bought a couple at the craft show to try some different techniques.

I used a finger dauber to pounce distress ink onto this stencil. The outline is actually raised a little bit which was a surprise. I coloured the image with Prismacolor pencils, blending them with odorless mineral spirits and a paper stump. The blending wasn't as easy as it normally is, but that could just be operator issues!!

I'm going to enter the challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More, where the theme is a colour challenge. 

I tried to match my colours as closely as possible as I don't have Stampin Up card stock, inks or markers.

I'm also entering the challenge at Make it Monday where the theme is Anything Goes.

Thanks for visiting :)

Just For You...

It's a wet end to the long weekend here, so I'm glad I wasn't driving home from Brissie today!

I've used a couple of my new purchases, a Cheery Lyn flower die and MFT tiny banner die. The sentiment sticker is new too!

I'm entering the challenge at Flutterby Wednesday, where the theme is Anything Goes as long as you use a butterfly or fairy on your project.

At CAS-ual Fridays, the theme is banners and flags.

I used snippets of green for the stem and the leaf banners, and pink snippets for the butterflys, so I'm enetring the snippets playground again at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

Materials used: Memory Box Prim Poppies die (stem only), Cherry Blossom die (flower stamen centre only) and butterfly die; Cheery Lyn flower die; MFT tiny banner die; Distressed stripes embossing folder; distress inks; Perfect Pearl mist (home made); brad and sentiment sticker.

Thanks for visiting :)

Birthday Banners

Hi, I've been away for a couple of days visiting my sister in Brisbane. We went to the craft show up there and saw lots of goodies, and  managed to buy some too! We went out to a Chinese Hot Pot Restaurant with our cousin too and had a great time catching up - thanks Ross :)

I've made a quick banner card using my Maya Road pennant stamp. 

I'm entering the challenge at CASual Fridays where the theme is banners and flags.

At A Blog Named Hero the theme is It's a Man's World.

Simon Says Stamp has a masculine or Father's Day challenge.

I punched the stars from scraps of paper and card stock, so I'm also entering the snippets playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop

.

Thanks for visiting :)

Christmas tree in June

Hi, I don't usually start making christmas cards until maybe October, but Cuttlebug Mania has a Christmas in June challenge on this week.

I used my cuttlebug with the Stately embossing folder to frame the layers for my tree. I also cut the rectangle with a Spellbinders die to stamp the tree on.
 The stamp is one I've had for ages and I used gold embossing powder. The baubles are liquid pearls and the stars are leftovers from some of my sentiment sticker sheets.

Thanks for visiting :)

Bird on a Branch

Hi, I've made this card to enter into the challenge at Make It Monday where the theme is Anything Goes. 

I uses snippets for the bird ,vellum flowers and the tiny leaves so I'm entering the snippets playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

Materials used: Memory Box branch, flower, leaf and bird dies. Twinkling H2Os; Liquid Pearls; Distress ink.; bling and sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Skateboard Star

Hi, I made this card for a teenage boy. They can be tricky to make cards for, I hope he likes skateboards!

The skateboard is an EK Success sticker and the stars I've had in my stash for ages. I distressed the brick wall with frayed burlap to bring out some texture.

I'm entering the challenge at Simon Says Stamp where the theme is Anything Goes.

At Simon Says Stamp & Show, the theme is to create a project inspired by the letter S. I've used a skateboard and stars.

At Make It Monday the theme is Anything Goes.

At A Blog Named Hero, the challenge is to create a card or project for the man in your life.

Thanks for visiting :)

Tattered Flowers in a tiny vase

Hi, I've had great fun today making these little flowers! The hardest part was trying to decide what to put them in. I had a glass spice jar, a terracotta pot, but this little jug seemed to work best for now. I think I got it from my dad when I was about 16! (yes, that's a long time ago!!)

I have admired the work of Amy Bowerman at Plucking Daisies for quite a while, she has made some totally amazing paper flowers. One of her tutorials for making hydrangeas is here. 

I cased her hydrangeas to make a few flowers for this simple bouquet. I cut the smallest flower from watercolour paper and inked both sides with antique linen distress ink. Then I added some picked raspberry and some squeezed lemonade distress ink. I spritzed with some blush perfect pearls in water and dried them off with my heat gun. This gave the flowers a bit of a sheen. Lastly I added a bit more colour to the edges.

I  added some greenery with the Poppy Stamps Meadow Leaf die. I glued 2 diecuts together, then attached the really fine florist wire to the back with glossy accents, so I could attach them to the bunch and twist them to where I wanted them.

Here's a close up of the bouquet, next to a kindy glitz bottle (it has glue in it).

I'm going to enter the challenge at Cuttlebug Mania where the theme is to create a 3D project with a Summer theme. I think raspberry and lemonade are bright summer colours. I cut my flower and leaf dies with my cuttlebug.

I used snippets to cut my greenery, so I'm entering the snippets playground at Pixie's Crafty Workshop.

I'm entering a new challenge for  me at Inkspirational, where the theme is Anything Goes.

At Simon Says Stamp, the theme is Anything Goes.

Materials used: Tim Holts tattered flower die; Poppy Stamps meadow leaf die; distress inks; Perfect pearls; beads; florist wire and tape; paper piercer; watercolour paper; glossy accents.

Thanks for visiting :)

Teddy Bear Congratulations

Hi, I was asked to make a card for a new baby girl that wasn't pink, so I hope they like red!

I'm going to enter  the challenge at CASology where the cue card this week is furry.

At CAS-ual Fridays, the theme is to create a Congratulations card.

At Addicted to Stamps & More, the theme is to Make your Mark with markers, pencils etc.

Materials used PSX stamp (on loan from my sister - thanks Mo!); Prismacolor pencils; versafine ink and Fine Bronze enbossing powder; Swiss dots embossing folder; bling, ribbon and sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)

Fabric Flower

Hi, I've been wanting to buy the Tim Holtz tattered flower die for ages, and I finally bought it! I was worried it wouldn't work in my cuttlebug, even though I'd read that it would, and am relieved that it does!

I made this card for a few challenges. At Just Add Ink, the theme is to add fabric to your card.

At Flutterby Wednesday's, your project needs to use a flower, a butterfly and a diecut or punch.

At Simon Says Stamp, the theme is Anything Goes.

At Crafting with Dragonflies, the theme is to create a girly card! 

I die cut some calico flowers and spritzed them with Perfect Pearls mist in both gold and perfect pearl colours. I dried the flowers with my heat gun, then dabbed on some distress ink in Victorian Velvet & Worn Lipstick.

The Memory Box butterfly was cut from a piece of gold shimmery cardstock. It was dabbed with the same distress inks.

The leaves are from Stampin Up's Bird Builder punch (borrowed from my sister's friend, thanks Amanda :)

Materials used: Sizzix embossing folder; Tim Holtz tattered flowers die; memory Box butterfly die; Stampin Up punch; distress inks, bling & sentiment sticker from stash.

Thanks for visiting :)