Happy New Year - Colour Q Sparkle!

Hello folks,

Only a few hours to go until we ring in the new year!  I'll keep this one short and sweet since the champagne has already been flowing a little too freely tonight...

This week's Colour Q challenge is a sparkly affair and perfect for a celebratory card:

2014 brings a few 50th celebrations for us this year -  birthdays and a couple of golden wedding anniversaries, so I though this card would be perfect for either. I even got on to the sequin bandwagon - there seem to be heaps of them around blogland at the moment ad I love the touch of sparkle they bring to a card!

Well, that's it for me in 2013 - hope you have a happy and safe New Years!

Thanks for popping by,

Claire x

Merry Christmas and a New Colour Q

Hello bloggers!

Can you believe we only have a few hours to go until Santa arrives?  I'm currently blogging with one eye out the window, waiting for the rural fire service to arrive on to our street. It's an annual tradition for them to drive around the local area with the lights flashing and the siren blaring - Santa sits on the top of the engine throwing sweets to all the local kids, who wait on the street expectantly. My kids love it!

Since it's Tuesday it can only mean another Colour Q challenge. I'm posting a little early today as my in-laws are about to arrive for the festive break. This week the colours are a gorgeous, fresh combination of blues and light brown:

Recognise the papers?  Luckily I had them handy from my previous card so I didn't have to think too hard about what to use. I also used the sketch from this week's Retro Sketches:

Not sure how much crafty time I'll get in the next few days so I'll wish you a wonderful, happy and safe Christmas. Thanks for popping by,

Claire x

Stampin' Up Revival

Hello bloggers!

The Christmas holidays have begun here in Australia - the kidlets have finished school for the year and I have six weeks to spend being their personal entertainer!  My littlest finished preschool today and I only just managed to hold it together - another milestone reached before he starts school next year.

Anyway, here's the card I made for this week's  Dynamic Duos and Freshly Made Sketches:

Sorry, not the best photo as it's late so I may retake it in the morning.  The Dynamic Duo colours fitted perfectly with some very old Stampin Up papers I have in my stash. Keeping with the SU theme I also used one of their older stamp sets (Eastern Blooms.)

Ok, that's all again folks...have a great day!

Claire x

Feeling Summery for Colour Q #220

Hello again,

Just returning for my second post of the day, this time for the brand new Colour Q challenge. We've got  a completely different set of colours this week which made me think of hot,  Summery days. I think they'd be perfect for a Summery, beach themed scrapbook layout:

Since my scrapbooking mojo went walkabout I stuck to a card and used my absolutely ancient SU Stem Silhouettes set. Now let me tell you, this set hasn't seen a swipe of ink in years which is such a pity as it's a really pretty set of stamps.

I embossed the stem on to a piece of vellum and matted it against some MME papers. The sentiment is from PTI's Mixed Messages - such a great set of sentiments...they're so tiny I'm always able to squeeze one on somewhere!  The doily is from WMS and I used a marker to colour in parts of the image.

So there you go - hope the Colour Q pic gives you a bit of inspiration...hop on over to the rest of the design team's blogs for some more!

Thanks for stopping again,

Claire x

CAS(E) This Sketch! #57

Hello bloggers,

First post of the day for the latest CAS(E) This Sketch challenge:

For some reason I always find CTS a real challenge and this one was no exception. I tried every shape possible instead of circles...stars, windmills...and nothing worked. In the end I thought I'd use the three circles as a base for the Jenni Bowlin stamped image.   For the strip of dots I embossed a Mama Elephant border stamp and then added a sentiment from their Type It set. Looks kind of kooky doesn't it? I'd love to know what you think!

Have a great day and thanks for popping by,

Claire x

Australian Scrapbook Creations - Christmas Issue

Evening folks,

Have you checked out this months Australian Scrapbook Creations? I had the opportunity to do a couple of projects for it - an advent calendar using various stamp sets and some place names for the Christmas table. I'll upload the place names tomorrow but here's a little pic of the advent calendar:

Photography by Scrapbook Creations/Amanda Reddicliffe

I made 24 little kraft envelopes, stamped and embossed them with some flourishes and added a stamped PTI Christmas bauble. I then put a handmade Waltzingmouse stamped tag in each and typed a treat for each of the days in the lead up to Christmas.  Finally I added a peg and a die cut number. Each of the tags has been strung up on a beautiful white picture frame with bakers twine but they could also be hung from the Christmas tree or even hidden around the house for the kids to find!

Hope you get the chance to take a peek! Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Freshly Made Sketch #116

Good morning bloggers!

Are you feeling confident that you're all ready for Christmas? If it's a resounding 'no', then join the club. So,  since nobody has much time for reading, let alone crafting at this time of year I'll keep it short and sweet and show the card I made for this week's gorgeous Freshly Made Sketch by Narelle:

Thanks for popping by,

Claire x

A Traditional Colour Q

Evening all,

Another Colour Q challenge has triggered a mild dose of Christmas panic.....it's an indication that another week has flown by and we're even closer to Christmas. I wonder if Santa could perhaps put it on hold until next year...

There I was thinking the holiday cards were all done and dusted and Arielle comes up with a combo of traditional colours screaming Christmas - I used the current sketch over at Cardabilities for a bit of inspiration:

It's been a while since I pulled out PTI's Take a Bough set - an oldie but definitely a goodie. I found some absolutely ancient Christmas themed papers which I think may be Basic Grey and added a few sequins, tartan ribbon and twine. Come to think of it, there's a bit of everything on this card but if you can't go a bit over the top at Christmas, when can you?

Check out the rest of the design team's gorgeous creations and then see what you can come up with using the chosen colours....in fact, why not really challenge yourself and do something other than a Christmas theme?!

Hope you have a productive day and thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Bold and Cheery

Hello folks,

I barely seem to have time to do a card at the moment, let alone post it on my blog. So I'll make it quick and show you what I've done for the sketch over at Freshly Made and the bold and cheery colours over at Dynamic Duos:

I absolutely love those chevron stamps from Close to My Heart - they stamp so crisply and cleanly. I may be pushing it a bit with the Freshly Made sketch but since that's where I got my inspiration I thought I'd post it anyway..Mr Linky can always hit the delete button!

Have a great night and thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Finding my Mojo

Hello fellow bloggers!

I'm finding my mojo has virtually disappeared with all this Christmas malarkey - I think I have too much to think about and the cards just aren't happening.

Anyway, thought I'd have a bash at this week's Mojo Monday sketch. I was using the colours for this weeks Dynamic Duos too but naughty Mr Linky has closed for the week.....

Hope you're finding your own mojo!

Thanks for looking,

Claire x

Beautiful Brights for Colour Q #218

Good evening folks!

Another week as gone by and the next Colour Q challenge is up and running. A bright and colourful combo full of (potentially) festive cheer!

So what do I do? A birthday card of course! I'm quite over the Christmas cards...in fact I never truly got into them. I think the prospect of having to do so many kind of puts me off so once they are all done for the year I don't make any more.

I used CTMH's Perfect Fit Birthday Occasions for this one. I added a little sparkle to the images and layered a few Nestability circles for the background. The sentiment is PTI.

So what will you come up with? Looking forward to seeing everyone else's colourful inspiration!

Have a fabulous week and thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

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