Getting Scrappy with MME

Hello folks,

Happy Halloween to you! Thank goodness it's almost over for another year - tonight has been spent following a horde of overexcited, sugar infused kids, stuffing their faces with chocolate and sweets, whilst blackmailing all the neighbours into giving them even more chocolate and sweets.   One day I'll actually be organised and won't force my children to wear an oversized costume, hastily put together from the $2 shop.

Now that the kids are in bed and I have a (large) glass of wine in hand I'll show you a layout I did for October's My Minds Eye challenge. I haven't scrapbooked for ages...in fact you can probably tell...but I so enjoyed it. Hopefully the scrappy mojo has begun to return:

I have to admit, it was a last minute layout and I would like to add some more bits and pieces but Mr Linky closes shortly so I've kept it very simple. All the papers are from the gorgeous 'Collectable' set...I truly could never get sick of them!

Thanks for popping by and happy haunting!

Claire x

Colour Q Time Again

Evening bloggers!

Can it really be time for a new Colour Q challenge already? The last couple of palettes have definitely had a Halloween influence,  but this week we have a really soft,  pretty colour combo based on this beautiful patchwork quilt:

I have to admit, one of the colours always seems to throw me a bit - in this case it was the lilac so I tried to use it sparingly.

Hope you have the time to get your craft mojo going with the colours this week - have a good one and thanks for popping by,

Claire x

Another Masculine Freshly Made

Good morning bloggers!

Yet again I'm only just in time to do the latest  Freshly Made Sketch - one day I'll get it done as soon as the sketch goes up instead of rushing around at the last minute! This week the sketch is from Jen M:

I seem to have a bit of a thing about masculine cards at the moment...can't get enough of them. I think it's these 6x6 papers I got (very cheaply) from Authentique - they are perfect for more blokey cards.

 I placed the rectangle on a slant and added some absolutely ancient Stampin' Up hardware too, so I guess it's made it look a little different to the original sketch. I've had that Stampin' Up Timeless Talk set for a couple of months but have never used the old fashioned gramophone. When I inked it up, I forgot it hadn't been used and didn't prep it first so the ink didn't fully take to the paper. I kind of like it though - makes it look like it's been stamped with a crayon. Don't you just love cock ups that work out hey?!

Ok, that's all from me - have a fabulous day and thanks for stopping!

Claire x

Want to Win Chantal's Handmade Goodies?

Hello folks,

Well, there's a new scrapbook store in town and it's all handmade by a fantastic scrapbooker called Chantal Vandenberg.  Have you checked out her blog yet? She does these wonderfully detailed and arty pages, with heaps of little embellishments which are all handmade. She's now opening her own online store - 'By Chantal Vandenburg' and you have the chance to win ALL this:

Imagine receiving that happy mail eh? Check out Chantal's blog here to see how you can support her new venture and win all these fabulous goodies!

Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Feeling Feathery for CAS(e) This Sketch #50

Hello bloggers,

Just a quick card for the latest CAS(e) This Sketch challenge:

For some reason I felt like doing a very masculine card...who said feathers can't be for the boys eh? I embossed the feather onto vellum..love the way it kind of gives it a bit of flexibility!

Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Getting into the Halloween Spirit at Colour Q and CASual Fridays

Evening all,

I've had a bit of a quiet week blog wise - it's been completely manic around here with weekend visitors, school orientation for my youngest and family birthdays.

Luckily I had a bit of spare time for the bright new colour combo over at Colour Q and the Tags and Bags challenge over at CASual Fridays.  Dare I say that I have attempted to get on the Halloween bandwagon and made a couple of goodie bags for my boys:

I even had a 'good mummy' moment (they don't happen very often) and made some cookies to go inside, complete with white chocolate drops and orange, green and purple smarties. Somehow I don't think they will last until the 31st so I guess I'll have to make some more. Unless they're naughty - in which case they'll be filled with a banana, carrot and a bit of grilled eggplant!

Well that's all folks - off to find my crafty mojo!

Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

A Retro Colour Q #211

Hello fellow bloggers!

The last week has flown by and already it's time for a new challenge over at Colour Q. This week's colours are such a striking combination, with huge Halloween potential:

Isn't that table fantastic? Not sure if it would go too well in my lounge room unfortunately....

I used this gorgeous sketch over at Retro Sketches for a little inspiration. I would love to have done a Halloween card but I'm afraid I haven't got a single Halloween themed stamp in my collection so I decided to do a flowery chalkboard effect instead. The image is from Stampin' Up's Reason to Smile and the sentiment is from Waltzingmouse's Funky Feathers set. 

I'm also going to enter this one over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where the theme is 'rubber or clear stamping' - there are currently a whopping 576 entries so if I win I'll also be buying a lottery ticket!

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Playing with Glitter at Freshly Made Sketches

G'day again,

Just a quickie to show another Christmas card, this time using the sketch from Jennifer T over at Freshly Made Sketches:

I'm not normally a 'glittery' kind of girl - using it reminds me of craft sessions at primary school when I got more glitter over my sticky hands than on the actual project I was making. But I wanted to see what this WMS bauble stamp would be like using sticky embossing powder and fine glitter. It came out ok but I'm not sure how it will go once it's stuffed into an envelope. I suspect when it arrives at its destination, there will be more glitter in the envelope than on the actual card!

I'm also entering it into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where the challenge is to use rubber or clear stamps.

Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

A Casology/Simon Says Stamp Inspired 'Craft Don't

Hello folks,

The cue word at Casology this week is 'crisp' and since I really need to get a few Christmas cards done I naturally thought of crisp, new Winter snow.

I've always been a fan of the Joseph's Coat technique which is often done with Autumn inspired leaf prints. I thought I'd try the technique using a Waltzingmouse snowflake stamp and a blue colour palette, with Midnight Muse brayered over the top. Well I have to say it was a complete disaster - the stamp really wasn't solid enough for the technique. Now, normally I screw up my craft disasters in a fit of temper (well I am a redhead...it's genetic) and stick them in the nearest bin, but this time I was inspired by Tammy Tutterow's post over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. She keeps her 'craft don'ts in a bag and finds a use for them at a later date.


So, to cut a long story short...I was inspired to use my own 'craft don't to make a matching tag and card set that fits the Casology challenge:

I feel as though the card is a bit of a cheat since I cut the shape using the Cameo - super easy! I sponged the snowflake in matching ink and added a bit of bling, then used the same snowflake die cut on the tag.

Since the theme over at the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge is 'use a rubber or clear stamp' I'm also going to link my post up there!

Thanks for looking,

Claire x

Getting Every So Slightly Grungy

Hello folks,

It's the big bloke's birthday next week so I've made a bit of a grungy card for him based on the latest Cardabilities sketch and with a little influence from Tammy Tutterow on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Blog:

This is about as grungy as it gets for me!  I was inspired by Tammy's use of Distress Inks which I used  to sponge the background. I also stamped on some of the background using the paint splatter stamp from PTI's Grunge Me set. I've been looking for a motorbike stamp for my motorbike mad bloke for ages and found this rubber one a couple of days ago at my local craft store - it's by Deep Red Cling Stamps. I'd have liked to have put a sentiment on it but all of mine are way too feminine for the stamp...I feel some more shopping coming on....

I'm entering this for the Simons Says Stamp Monday Challenge and also the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where the challenge is to use a clear or rubber stamp.

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Rustic Colour Q

Hello folks,

Hope your week is going well. My eldest went back to school today with a smile on his face and a spring in his step. It was so lovely to see and so completely different to my own experience, when I was filled with dread at the thought of returning to school after the holidays!

So, time for another challenge over at Colour Q - a striking, autumnal colour combo this week:

Since we're approaching Summer over here, Autumn was the last thing on my mind so I chose to make a card for my soon-to-be 5 year old son.  Another Waltzingmouse set (well I do have a lot of them) called Half Pint Heroes. I've had this set for over a year and for some reason have never used the car...I always seem to veer towards the rocket or the submarine.

I sponged the sky with a little help from this wonderful tutorial by Iwona Palamountain. I covered the car with a little Dimensional Magic to make it nice and shiny and the sun was cut using a Silhouette (still on loan and going back soon...sob - Santa are you reading this?) Of course it wasn't until I almost finished it that I realised I had the exact colours in the form of a 6x6 Authentique paper pad - you can see some of it poking out at the bottom!

Well, that's all from me - have a fabulous day and thanks for stopping!

Claire x

Strawberry Anyone?

Hello bloggers,

Cutting it a bit fine with this one so I'll keep it short with a quick card for this week's Waltzingmouse Fanatics Challenge and Casology's cue word which is 'harvest:'

Yes, I know, most people will probably come up with more Autumnal fruits and veggies like pumpkins but technically you can harvest strawberries too!  I've used Waltzingmouse Woodgrain background stamp for the strips and the lovely, juicy strawberry from the Big berries set.

Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Colourful Colour Q

G'day folks,

Summer is just around the corner for us in Sydney and so far the school holidays have been bursting with sunshine and beautiful, clear blue skies. The kids have been having a ball swimming in a friend's brand new, giant spa (it's literally like a giant bath in the garden) and playing around on inflatables at the local pool today.

Speaking of Summer, there's a brand new colour combo over at Colour Q which is sure to brighten up your day - it makes me think of Summer scrapbook pages and cheery cards that make you smile:

I printed a polaroid frame using the Silhouette but it looked a bit bare so I decided to layer a few of them in the chosen colours. The pumpkin threw me a bit so I used that to stamp the flower from Hampton Art and layered it with some punched blooms from patterned paper.  The glass baubles are Prima and I could quite happily use them on every project (if only I could afford to!)

So, even though Autumn may be upon you in the Northern hemisphere, get yourselves into a Summery mood and have a bash at becoming this week's Colour Queen.  Can't wait to see you what you come up with!

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x