Waltzingmouse Sketch #99

Hi Scrappers,

Time for this weeks sketch at Waltzingmouse. You can find the sketch here:

We'll be celebrating our 8 year anniversary tomorrow so I thought I'd whip up a card for my man. I've told him that the very least I expect is 2 bars of fruit and nut chocolate to celebrate! (Of course the huge, diamond eternity ring would be an added bonus...I'll keep dreaming shall I?).

I used the Nestie heart dies, together with the Fancy Phrases and Very Vintage Labels sets.  All the papers are MME.

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Saturday Sketch

Hi Scrappers,

I haven't done one of Kaisercraft's Saturday Sketches for ages so thought I'd sneak one in before the end of the month.  I used the May #2 sketch for the layout:

I flipped it and used some texture paste with a Studio Calico stencil, sponged white pigment ink around the edges and added some red and yellow to match the photo (not that you can tell!)

Nothing like doing a challenge to get the scrappy mojo going again - hopefully it will stick around a bit longer this time and not go walkabout like it has done in the last few weeks.

Have a fabulous weekend and thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Waltzing Mouse Blog Party

Hi Scrappers,

It's blog party time at Waltzingmouse Stamps again. This months theme is felt/cozy fabrics. Now, let me tell you, felt and I don't really have a good relationship so it took me forever to think of something to do for this challenge! I tried felt flowers which I liked but didn't look right with what I was stamping. In the end, I made a little owl out of some suede-like paper I've had for about 5 years and some small scraps of felt. I made the owl using the Labels 4 Nesties and then stamped the owl's belly with the Very Vintage Labels set. The 'branch' is part of the same set and I made the 'leaves' from the Fancy Phrases set:

It's a bit quirkier than my normal cards - always good to get out of your comfort zone isn't it?
Can't wait to see what everyone else has done!

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Scrapville Layout Sketch

Hi Scrappers,

Have you done yours yet? This month's Scrapville sketch looks like this:

It's not often I do a 'romantic' layout but I must have been feeling the love a bit this week as it's our eighth wedding anniversary. I fussy cut the map from some Featureart patterned paper (it took a while) and added a couple of pics where it looks like we actually like each other! Since those photos were taken the wrinkles run a little deeper, the mummy tummy has formed (and that's just on him) and the hair's a little greyer....must be something about having a couple of a kids eh?

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

A Splash of Mustard with Waltzingmouse

Hi Scrappers,

A quick post today as I have 49 minutes until the Play Date Cafe challenge closes for this week! It's a splash challenge this time - black, white and a splash of mustard,. Since my mojo has got up and walked right out the door (again) I thought I'd get some inspiration from the Waltzingmouse weekly sketch challenge as well:

I used MME papers and the background is the piano stamp from the Musical Backgrounds set at Waltzingmouse. It's the first time I've used it and I love how it's come out so bold and clear. It's quite a 'busy' background so I kept the geometric pattern with the papers very simple.

Hope you're having a fabulous week and thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Scrapville Cards

Hi Scrappers,

It's time for a couple of new sketches over at Scrapville. You can check them out here on the blog and you have until 14th June to get your entries in for a chance to win some scrappy goodies. I'm still working on my layout sketch but here's the card I made:

I've used a La La Land Stamp and added a frill for her skirt. The chipboard is some Tim Holtz grungeboard, that I've painted, smudged Glimmer Mist on and added a bit of Kindy Glitz sparkle.

I've also had another play with this months pack, full of the Fancy Pants new range, 'Be You':

I love the quirky little birds on these papers so I just fussy cut one and put it next to the flowers as if it's feeding on the nectar. That Martha Stewart round the page punch is getting a damn good workout at the moment - I really must invest in another one!

Well, just a quick post - I'm recovering from post-birthday celebrations. Again. Happy scrapping and thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Playing with Fancy Pants!

Hi Scrappers,

The new Scrapville pack is choc full of papers by Fancy Pants Designs. It's a really whimsical paper range and I loved having a play -

I find papers with a large design on them quite hard to work with, so naturally I had to make life difficult for myself and choose it as my background! I fussy cut parts of the paper and layered it over a 6 x 8 photo. The Thickers are vinyl ones - perfect for smudging gesso on and embossing using Versamark. I used a heap of fullstops to string the bunting together, covering them with some Kindy Glitz. The photo says it all really so I didn't think much journalling was needed - I used a quote: ' A laugh is a smile that bursts.' I'm really not into a lot of quotes but I think that one's pretty cute!

Hope you all have a beautiful weekend, enjoying the amazing weather we have at the moment. I think Summer's finally arrived in Sydney, just 4 months too late!

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Waltzingmouse Challenge #96

Hi Scrappers,

I took out my ancient heat gun this week, gave it a good dust and used it for this week's challenge at Waltzingmouse stamps. Check out the current sketch here on the blog.

I inked an embossing folder, blended a few different colours over the top and ended with some gold embossing powder. I wish I hadn't used the reddish brown ink though - the colour that came out is a bit yucky and I had no papers to match! The heart's are a nestie die on which I stamped the tiny scroll from the Very Vintage Labels 4 set and covered them in dimensional magic.  Not sure what occasion I'm going to use this one for - wedding, golden anniversary or an engagement card perhaps?

Anyway, I'm off to try that inking and embossing technique again - this time in different colours!

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Play Date Cafe and Cardabilities

Hi Scrappers,

I absolutely love the colour scheme this week at the Play Date Cafe -

How pretty are those colours together? There's also a great sketch over at Cardabilities so I've combined the two challenges together -

I've used a Kaisercraft stamp and white ink, then painted the flower in some pink and added some Dimensional Magic and a seed bead. I tried to emboss it but it's so long since I used my clear embossing powder I think it might have 'gone off!' I guess even embossing powder has an expiry date.

Hope you all have a fabulous, scrappy weekend!

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

New Scrapville Pack

Hi Scrappers,

The new monthly pack has arrived at Scrapville, choc full of Fancy Pants goodies -

Details of what's inside can be found here. Purchase a pack and submit a layout to Scrapville and you could be the lucky winner of the June monthly pack.

Cheers and thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Wax Crayon Layout

Hi Scrappers,

A few weeks ago I happened to see a segment on Better Homes and Gardens, where the designer made some wax crayon art. For anyone who doesn't know what on earth I'm talking about, you basically stick some kids wax crayons down on a canvas and melt them with a hairdryer. I thought it would look great as a layout background so I bought a cheap box of crayons and had a go on some white cardstock.
I think it's worked but you'll have to let me know if I need more practice!

As I like to keep things simple, I just stuck the crayons down in a straight line - I then built the layout around the splat! I didn't think it needed too much embellishing as the colours are so vivid.

Anyway, there seem to be heaps of tutorials on the net so get out your kids crayons and make a mess!

Cheers and thanks for stopping by,

Claire x