Who's Game?

Well hello again bloggers,

Two posts in one day...can't you tell I've had a day without the kids?! This time it's a card for the latest Casology challenge. The cue word this week is:

So who remembers the game of Twister? I don't reckon there was a household with kids in the 70's that didn't have a game of Twister.  It's the type of game that's great fun for kids, but even more fun for adults when they're just a little bit tipsy. For those of you who haven't had a go, it consisted of a huge white mat with brightly coloured dots. You had to spin a dial and whatever dot it landed on, you had to place a leg or hand on the equivalent dot on the mat. Fine after one or two goes, but it got increasingly difficult as the game went on, with players getting twisted around each other and overbalancing in a very unladylike manner!.

Anyway, I based my card on the Twister mat, using a similar layout and colours:

I tried a few different shapes but settled on this flower from the Waltzingmouse Asian Gardens set.  I also used some dimensional tape to raise 3 of the flowers, just to add a bit of interest.

Can't wait to see how everyone has interpreted the cue word this week! Thanks for popping by again,

Claire x

Kaisercraft Saturday Sketch

Hello Scrappers!

Well I'm sat here in a state of bliss, not because I'm blogging with a bar of chocolate, a glass of wine and George Clooney sat beside me,  but because...... it's silent. I think it's the first bit of silence I've had in 6 weeks - my eldest went back to school today and my youngest is in preschool so I'm enjoying my little piece of tranquility before the bedlam begins again at 3 o' clock!

It's also given me the opportunity to finish off a layout I've been doing for Saturday Sketch #2 over at Kaisercraft. Can you believe, I've actually done a DOUBLE layout?! I so rarely do double layouts but I knew I wanted to use more than one photo so I followed the sketch and then did a mirror image on the other page:

I used Kaisercraft's 'Save the Date' collection for this one. I cut the windmills from the patterned paper, added a brad and some Dimensional Magic and then added a sprinkle of glitter for some sparkle. The scrabble letter stickers are from the Timeless collection.

Well, only 3 and  a half hours left of silence...better start cleaning the house and look as though I've been busy all day!

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

A Splash of Green

Hello Peeps,

Hope those of you in Australia are enjoying the long weekend. We had a lovely afternoon at the beach on Australia Day, until a nasty bluebottle decided to wrap itself around my leg. Ouch! It felt as though I'd stuck my entire leg on the barbecue!

Play Date Cafe have a 'splash' challenge this week - ie. black, white with a splash of emerald green:

I have to say, this is one of those annoying cards that actually does look better in real life. The black strip has some embossing on it but it just wouldn't show up on the photo so I took another one with the flash on. (Note to self: I really do need to do a photography course so I can learn how to use my camera properly!) The butterflies are PTI, stamped on to vellum and embossed, then layered one on top of the other. Hmmmm, not sure about this particular colour scheme -  feel as though I need a hint of pink somewhere!

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Monday Muse

Hello Bloggers!

Don't you just love a new challenge site?! Muse is a brand new challenge blog where a different designer each week provides a card  from which you draw inspiration for your own design. In other words, you use it as your 'muse.' What I like about this one is that you have to comment on at least 3 of your fellow member's submissions and you have to vote for the one you find most inspiring. This week's card has been done by Amy Kolling:

I love the way Amy has placed her image to one side and left a lot of white space. I've also been inspired by her use of bling, although I've positioned mine slightly differently.

Now I have to say, I do actually have another 'muse' for this card...is that allowed?! A few months ago Anne-Elise made a stunning card for one of the Waltzingmouse challenges, where she used her doile stamps to create a wedding dress. She stamped the doiles on to vellum, embossed the images in white and layered them to make a dress. Her beautiful card can be seen here. I've done something similar, but I've used a My Minds Eye lace border stamp instead. Hope she doesn't mind me using her card for a little inspiration too!

Well, that's enough musing for now folks...have a great weekend and a wonderful Australia Day if you're in  my neck of the woods!

Thanks for popping by,

Claire

A Chalky Challenge

Hello bloggers,

Just a quickie for today. There's a new technique challenge over at Waltzingmouse Stamps this week - the chalkboard look. I've been meaning to have a bash at it for ages - the blogosphere seems to be full of fantastic examples so here's my version:

It was surprisingly quick, although I wouldn't recommend a glass of wine whilst stamping...it required a steady hand! I didn't want to put too much 'chalkdust' on there as I was a bit worried you wouldn't be able to read the sentiment from the Camellia set. The frame is a stamp from Very Vintage Labels No 1.  I'll definitely be trying it again - I think a Christmas card would look great with this technique!

Well, that's all folks! Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Getting Retro in the Heat

Good morning all,

Well, the stinking heat does absolutely nothing for the mojo I discovered yesterday. This was the inside of my car at 2.19pm:

Apart from the need to clean my car, you'll also see it was a whopping 47C, Sydney's hottest day since records began. Phew, makes me want to hop on the plane and fly back to Old Blighty for a cool down and a hot cup of English tea!

Anyway, I really did the simplest card last night, based on the colour scheme at CR84FN and a sketch at Retro Sketches:

Couldn't get more CAS than that could you, but like I said the mojo had melted away in the heat. You can just see a My Minds Eye lace stamp peeping out from under the patterned papers. I loved the sketch and will definitely be using it again for some quick cards in the future.

Thanks for stopping by - hope you don't freeze or melt, wherever you live!

Claire x

Waltzingmouse Blog Party

Hello Blog hoppers!

It's the first Waltzingmouse Blog Party for 2013 and the theme for this month is 'love.' Now I could have made a Valentines card, but since I've already done one for a previous challenge (and I've only got one husband), I didn't fancy doing another one. Of course, I would have made another one if I knew George (Clooney) was going to receive it....

Instead I thought I'd do a layout - I haven't done a layout for a WMS challenge for ages:

It's based on my kids 'love' for our homegrown strawberries. The blokey built our very first proper veggie patch last spring, complete with Chinese cabbage, lettuce, beetroot, sweetcorn, radishes, carrots, herbs, tomatoes, eggplant, chillis...and in a separate pot some strawberries! The kids have loved them and I have to say, the whole exercise has really encouraged them to try more veggies, which can only be a good thing.

I used the Woodgrain set for my background, Big Berries-Strawberries, Vintage Labels 1 for my journal spot and for my leaves I used the Camellia set. Who said that Camellia leaves couldn't be used as strawberry leaves eh? I added a few drops of Dimensional Magic to the strawberry, just to make it extra juicy!

Can't wait to see what everyone else is in love with - happy blog hopping and thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Cooling off with Casology

Hello again Bloggers!

I'm in Canberra this weekend and woke up to the smell of smoke throughout the house, from bushfires about 70km away. Luckily the weather has cooled a little so hopefully this will allow the fire service to get the fires under control.

This week's Casology challenge has helped keep me cool in the roasting weather though:

Since I'm not at home I had VERY limited supplies to play with. In fact, I packed just the bare essentials; card, ink and a few scraps of patterned paper and blue bazzil. I've had that little Cuttlebug snowman die for years - he's pretty cute isn't he but I felt as though he needed a twine scarf to keep his neck warm. I inked some glossy card stock for a bit of a snowy night scene - I'd have liked to have added some snow with some gesso but I didn't grab any in my packing frenzy. A jaunty little hat would have gone well too...maybe next time!

Hope you're having a great weekend and thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

A Final Layout for Scrapville

Hello Scrappers!

It's been a blistering day in Sydney today, with more to come...it feels like the whole of Australia is burning at the moment. What I would give to be in a British or North American Winter right now!

Well, the time has come for me to finish on the Creative Team at Scrapville. It's been a wonderful year, with lots of new products and sketches to try. This months sketch challenge from Anita looks like this:

I framed the layout with some washi tape and used some different tape to make some tabs down the side of the photo. I've had this tape forever and really must start to use it more...it just seems to sit in my stash, accumulating dust.

If you would like to enter the sketch challenge and be in the running to win some scrappy goodies, you can find all the details here.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone and home you manage to remain sane in the extreme weather conditions, whatever side of the Atlantic you're on!

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Cr8ing for Freshly Made

Hello peeps,

Time for  a sketch at Freshly Made, together with this weeks colour challenge at CR84FN:

It's rare for me to find a quote that I like...but I think this is a lovely one for anyone going through a hard time, so I made it the focus of the card. It's from the Camellia set at Waltzingmouse. The blossoms have been embossed on to some raspberry coloured paper from American Crafts and, of course, there's the obligatory twine which seems to make an appearance on everything I make at the moment!

Hope you have a wonderful day and thanks for popping by!

Claire x

A 'New' Card

Hello Bloggers!

Casology is back with a new challenge and funnily enough the cue word is:

I thought that the baby boom amongst friends was over....you get to a certain age and you pretty much think that will be it for a while.  But I've got 3 friends, all in their 40's and all due with 3rd babies in the coming months, so I may as well stock up on supplies.

I used a Sizzix die and hung it up with a couple of mini pegs. The layers are stuck with dimensional tape (but you can't really tell from the pic) and the sentiment is Waltzingmouse from the Frame-It set.

I can't say that making baby cards makes me feel clucky, but it will be lovely to have newborns around again...particularly when I'm able to hand them back!

Enjoy your weekend and thanks for popping by,

Claire x

A Last Saturday Waltz

Hello bloggers,

Tonight has been spent with a hoard of females (and the odd male) sobbing into a hanky, whilst watching Les Miserables.  Not since Beaches (remember that one?) have I heard quite so much snuffling at the cinema. It was a fantastic movie so I thoroughly recommend it...unless you're not a fan of musicals...in which case steer well clear!

Well I continue to sob since it's the last ever Saturday sketch challenge over at Waltzingmouse this week. But not to worry, it sounds like there's still going to be challenges on the main blog in the coming months so my stamps will continue to get a good workout! This week the sketch is from Edna Morrisedie:

Santa bought the Half Pint Heroes set so I knew exactly what I wanted to do with this one. I  used one of the doiles from the small Dainty Doiles set for a planet. The 'moon' is some ancient silver paper I had which has been embossed using a Cuttlebug folder and I embossed the sentiment to the side, since I couldn't exactly fit it on to the rocket.

It's late now so I'm off to cry copiously into my pillow, whilst dreaming of singing a duet with Hugh Jackman...

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

A New Year Play Date

Good morning bloggers and Happy New Year! Hope this year is a great one for you and your family!

For me,  2013 has started with a clear head (for a change) and a blog post to show what I've done for the latest challenge over at Play Date Cafe:

To be quite honest I'm not sure if I'm happy with it....I kind of think my mojo got left in 2012 for this one. Santa gave me a few little crafty Christmas presents and I was so desperate to use them I  bunged them all on the one card! And since I've not got a New Years hangover to deal with, I can't even blame it on that...

Anyway, it's a scorching 39C here in Sydney today so I thought I'd head to the air con with the kids to see Wreck-it Ralph. Is it a sign of age that you actually find the kids films way more intelligent than the adult's ones nowadays?

Have a fabulous day!

Claire x