Anyone for Shopping?

Afternoon folks,

Hope your week is going well. Over at Casology the cue card is:

When I started making cards about 7 years ago, one of the very first things I made was a paper handbag. The tutorial was in a card making magazine. I haven't made one since but I did keep one I made at the time just in case I ever wanted to. (Unfortunately I no longer have the article so I can't give the writer any credit!)

Anyway, who wouldn't like to go shopping with a hot pink handbag?! Or buy one for that matter? I die cut the frame using a Nestability Fancy Square die and added a brad button and a string of beads for the handle.  So simple but I like how it came out.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping!

Claire x

Ready for Another Colour Q?!

Hello bloggers!

Time once more for another fabulous colour combo over at Colour Q - a mixture of brights with a little bit of neutral thrown in. I'm also linking it up to CAS(e) This Sketch:

It was one of those very rare occasions where I had all the colours so not a piece of patterned paper in sight. Kind of reminds me of the London Underground map! I used the little label stamp from PTI's Grunge Me set and just had a play until I was happy with the design. I'm still struggling with Stampin' Up's ink pads...you can tell which colours I have in the new style ink pads as they've gone a little blotchy. ...I really don't know why they changed them - I thought they were perfectly fine as they were.

Enough of the whinging...hope you have the chance to join in this week!

Claire x

Getting Feathery...Again

Evening all,

I seem to be in Waltzingmouse mode again...obviously think the Pajama Party is still going! Here's my take on this week's Freshly Made Sketch and the gorgeous triple colour treat over at Dynamic Duos:

Short but sweet.

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Ring the Bell for Casology!

Hello folks,

A quick one for Casology where the cue word is:

Gold embossing powder against black...so unforgiving if you make a mistake! I cut a couple of bells using the Cameo and smothered them in gold embossing powder. The gold embossed string is from the Close to My Heart Pinwheel set and the jingly sentiment is Waltzingmouse.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks so much for taking the time to comment - they always make me smile!

Claire x

WMS Pyjama/Pajama Party!

Good morning fellow party goers!  (Or it may be good evening to some of you.)

Time for a pyjama party over at Waltzingmouse. Apologies for the huge post but I really felt as though I had to make an extra special effort for this one as last time I was a total party pooper and got the date wrong.

The first challenge is to make a project featuring the theme of 'thanks':

I change my mind on a week to week basis about which is my favourite WMS set and the Asian Gardens one is always somewhere near the top of the list. I haven't used the tree in quite a while so it was good to get some ink on it. The background is the large Woodgrain stamp which I love (although I always seem to use it with the same colour. Note to my self - get out of my Woodgrain comfort zone!)

Challenge 2 is 'pick a card - so long as it's Christmas.' In preparation for Christmas this year I bought the gorgeous Ornate Ornaments set. Since I have the matching Nestabilities dies, I always veer towards the smaller ornament but this time I paired the largest bauble with one of the cut Art Deco backgrounds:

I considered adding a huge bow but really thought that the stamp is so detailed, all it needed was a bit of pearl bling. (Plus my bow tying skills are nothing short of pathetic!)  I embossed the image in black on to a gold shimmer background and cut the Art Deco background with the Cameo.

The third challenge is to make a tag just for Claire.  Well, I guess she'd like us to show off the stamp sets so I tried to use as many different sets as I possibly could on the one tag! It was a pretty small space to work with but I managed to use 5 different sets.

First, I stamped the background with the Crackle Backgrounder, then sponged it with some Distress Inks. I then added some chocolate brown borders using the Very Vintage Labels 4 set. Next,  I used the Woodgrain background and then stamped over it with the peacock feather from Funky Feathers. I added the little heart from the same set.

On the back of the tag I used the same crackle background and the tag shoulder from Very Vintage Labels 4. I also added a sentiment from  the Frame-It set.

In your own words Claire - hope it tickles!

So onto challenge four (nearly there...promise)...to make a Christmas decoration. I have to admit, I'm not big on handmade decorations but I'm looking forward to seeing what amazing stuff people have done for this one. I kept it very simple...so simple I almost feel like I've cheated!

Not sure about the US but in Australia and in the UK you know it's almost Christmas when the Ferrero Rocher ads start on TV. Did you know that the large ornament in the Ornate Ornaments set is the perfect size to hold a Ferrero Rocher? All it took was a bit of hot glue to hold the stamped images together and I had the perfect little treat holder to hang on the tree. And the best thing of all is that one of the stamps is a great big 'don't' just to warn the kids that they're not allowed to eat them until Christmas Day!

Ok, that's me done...off to grab a cuppa and some chocolate to see what goodies everyone has come up with!

Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Colour Q #216 & Cardabilities

Hello folks,

It's Tuesday so time for another fabulous Colour Q challenge with a mix of pretty pastels and brights. Aren't those acorns gorgeous? I can imagine them in a glass bowl on the coffee table....although I have a feeling my 5 year old may think they were sweets! 

This week I've combined my card with the sketch over at Cardabilties:

I've used a few different stamps for this one - PTI for the sentiment, a Stampin' Up sunflower (which took a LOT of fussy cutting),  and a couple of background stamps from Waltzingmouse. The woodgrain one has been getting a big workout lately!

We had a small tornado come through our local shopping centre yesterday. Luckily my son and I had left a couple of hours before but it was amazing the damage it caused. Roofs were partially ripped off, huge trees uprooted, a demountable building was tossed up in the air (with six people inside it) and the local cinema's ceiling caved in. Unbelievably no-one was seriously injured but seeing the clean up today made me realise how very lucky everyone was.

Well, that's all folks...happy crafting and thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Triangular Fun

Morning all,

I've just got time to post for this week's Casology challenge where the cue word is 'triangle.' It made me think of the PTI 'Men of Life' stamp set with it's little boat and triangular sails:

I cut a polaroid frame with the Cameo and used a woodgrain stamp to give it some colour. The sea was done with PTI's 'Watercolor Wonder' set. I have to say it looks a bit bare to me....I keep wanting to add more stuff but since it's for the Casology challenge I'll resist my urge to embellish!

After finishing the card,  it actually reminded me of this beautiful one by Barb....looks like I've cased it doesn't it? Totally by accident but I'm going to mention it anyway as it's one of my all time favourites! Love Barb's stuff!

Thanks for looking,

Claire x

Colour Q #215

Hello folks,

Can it really be time for another Colour Q challenge? It doesn't seem two minutes since we did the last one!

Talk about having to dig deep into the depths of my stash for this one.  I only had pumpkin pie ink and one ancient,  little burgundy button.  Luckily there's always the hoard of patterned paper I've squirrelled away over the years...in this case some very old Basic Grey and Graphic 45. Which really goes to show, even if you think 'I haven't got any of those colours' there's always something hidden away in your stash that you've forgotten about!

Have a brilliant day!

Claire x

Cheery Chevrons

Good morning fellow bloggers!  Hope you're having a relaxing weekend.

It'ss always a kick start to the mojo when you get new stuff to play with isn't it? I invested in a couple of Close to My Heart stamp sets last week - Pinwheel and Charming Chevrons - and had a play with this week's Freshly Made Sketch by Linda C:

I was so impressed with the stamps..great quality and a crisp, clean image. Oh dear...I feel another spending spree coming on....

Thanks for looking and have a fabulous Sunday!

Claire x

Shades of Brown

Hello fellow bloggers!

It's a blistering day here in Sydney today - the heat has been increasing steadily throughout the week.  And so what did my dozy other half do a couple of days ago? He took the kids fishing at the weekend and forgot about the raw fish bait that he had left in an esky in the boot of my car. Can you imagine the stench when I opened my car door on Tuesday morning?  Needless to say he is a naughty boy and is definitely in my bad books at the moment....

Moving swiftly on, the cue word over at Casology this week is 'brown.' When I had a quick look at all my ink pads, I realised I own about 6 different shades of brown ink, so I used a few of them for my card, together with a touch of pink:

This is the first Casology card I've been happy with for ages - I find it so difficult to keep layers to a minimum and always seem to be adding bits and pieces so it no longer looks like a simple card!

Have a fabulous night and thanks for stopping!

Claire x

Hexagon Crazy for Colour Q

Hello again bloggers!

The new colours are here for the latest Colour Q challenge and they are a beautiful mix of Autumnal hues with a little pop of blue thrown in:

Hexagons were all over the place a couple of months ago and it occurred to me that I hadn't seen many for a while. So I was determined to use my hexagon die that's been sitting in it's packaging looking rather forlorn. I'm not sure if it's through lack of use, but for some reason it wasn't cutting properly - what was meant to be a reasonably quick card turned into a lengthy process of hand cutting half of the hexagons (with a little bit of bad language thrown in!)

I've had that little Basic Grey fabric flower sat in my stash for ages so I'm glad I've finally found a use for it..don't you just love it when you have the perfectly coloured embellishment to fit the challenge?!

Go and check out the beautiful projects the rest of the design team have come up with - you can't fail to be inspired!

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Freshly Made Sketch #110

Hello folks,

Just a quickie to show you the card I made using the latest Freshly Made Sketch from Rita. I totally stuck to the sketch this week:

Can't get quicker than that can you?!

Have a great day and thanks for popping by!

Claire x

Triple Whammy

Hello again bloggers,

So how has your weekend been? I've had a 'child free' day today and went to the Sydney Papercraft Festival for a bit of inspiration and a teeny tiny bit of shopping. New stamps=more mojo...isn't that right? Anyway, after spending a few dollars I came home to a quiet house and finished a card that I'm entering for three different challenges - CAS-ual Fridays, CASology and CAS(e) this Sketch:

I stamped and masked the black and white background with the Waltzingmouse Camellia bloom. I then embossed the same bloom and some leaves with white embossing powder on to a black background. I did think it needed a small pop of colour so I matted them against some pink cardstock. It was surprisingly quick to do.....the hardest part was deciding where to put the flower.

Have a great weekend!

Claire x