One for the Boys - Colour Q #230

Hello folks!

Are you ready for another Colour Q challenge?  How about this for a great shoe?! I'd barely be able to stand in this, let alone walk.  (Is it just me or is it a sign of age when you start to buy shoes for comfort rather than style?)

I may not buy the shoes but I love the colours and thought they would look good on a  masculine card:

It fits in nicely with the theme over at Waltzingmouse Fanatics too, where the challenge is to make a masculine card using Waltzingmouse Stamps.  I used the brilliant My Kind of Guy set. I also based it on sketch #139 over at Deconstructed Sketch - definitely one I'll be using again.

Go and check out the rest of the design teams gorgeous creations...you'll get heaps of inspiration!

Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Paper Patchwork

Evening bloggers!

For the first time I've played in the challenge over at Curtain Call, where the inspiration is a gorgeous picture of a patchwork quilt.   I also combined it with MME's 'All You Need is Love' challenge - so I'm all set for next years Valentines....that's if I don't leave the big bloke for a younger/richer/better looking model. I keep threatening him....

I used MME's 6x6 pad 'The Sweetest Thing' for this one - saved me from having to go through my hoards of MME scraps to find papers that matched. I would seriously have been sat there all night.

Have a great day and thanks for looking!

Claire x

Just Playing Around...

Hello again!

So there I was thinking that now I have both kids at school I'd have a little bit of free time before I get down to the serious job of finding work. Well that hasn't quite worked out yet - I'm beginning to wonder if I need to paint a black cross on our door since one by one my family seems to have succumbed to a nasty flu bug. One kiddo was off school all last week, my brother in law came down with it and now the man of the house. I'd like to say it's just a bout of 'man flu' but last time I said that it turned out it was a dose of pneumonia...made me sound a little heartless!

So just a quick card today for 2 different challenges: Dynamic Duos and CAS-ual Fridays:

It was a real case of just playing around with a new stamp set from Stampin' Up - Flower Shop.  I tried out every flower and looked at every possible embellishment for the flower centre but decided in the end that the stamp is so beautifully detailed, nothing else is needed. I chose a 6 x 4 card which is the size I like best at the moment. Although there is the option for a shaped card over at Dynamic Duos, I kept to a basic rectangle as it's a sympathy card.

Hope you have a wonderful day and thanks for popping over,

Claire x

Colour Q #229

Evening folks!

So are you ready for another Colour Q challenge? Did you manage to get crafty using last week's bright and breezy colour palette? This week we've gone for it's complete opposite:

It screamed flowers and more flowers to me so I inked up those Fresh Cut Florals again from W Plus 9. The little leafy border is from a really old Sassafrass Lass set...I think the two sets compliment each other perfectly!  Don't worry if you haven't got the exact colours in your ink/paper collection - the nearest I have to Summer Starfruit is Memento's Pear Tart but it still fits the colour palette.

Hope you get the chance to join in this week...happy stamping!

Claire x

Black or White

Afternoon all!

Having a good weekend? I'm about to be bombarded by family so I'll make this quick! The key word over at Casology this week is 'bold' so I had a play around with my PTI stamps:

I use Watercolour Wonder and Grunge Me, together with a tiny sentiment. I embossed the Watercolour stamp with pewter emboss powder and stamped the remainder of the star with one of the Grunge Me stamps, then coloured it in with some SU markers.  I also added a bit of Dimensional Magic and some glitter to make it stand out a bit more.

I liked how it came out but I wasn't sure whether it was bold enough so I did the same card on black instead of white. What is it about black cards that makes them so difficult to photograph?  Let me know which you prefer won't you?

Thanks for popping by,

Claire x

At Last She Scraps! Colour Q #228

Hello again folks!

Can you believe I've actually done a scrapbook page for this week's Colour Q challenge? I really do need to change the name of this blog....... The colours this week are the perfect combination for a boys page:

Of course it helps when you have a new camera doesn't it? I find I only want to scrap now when I have a great photo...this one was taken a couple of weeks ago, just before my youngest son started 'big' school.  The journalling is hidden just behind the photo and explains how much I've loved both my boys at the age of five.  I think it may be because they've pretty much grown out of their tantrums but haven't yet started school so haven't picked up many bad habits!

Anyway, how will you use the colours? Card or layout? Feminine or masculine? Could go either way couldn't it!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping!

Claire x

Floral Fresh

G'day crafty friends!

Hope the start of your week is going well. Another card here for three different challenges this time: The Card Concept where the challenge is to use monochromatic pink, Freshly Made Sketches and a textured card for the latest W Plus 9 birthday celebration. They gave us a heads up on Saturday so I'm just waiting for Mr Linky to open his doors before I can post it there:

Oh how long have I been hankering after those Fresh Cut Florals stamps from W Plus 9. They seem to be such a popular set at the moment -  perfect for playing around with. I think they are going to see a lot  of ink in the coming days!

As for the style?  I think classy and elegant again.

Thanks for stopping by and if you take the time to comment double thanks...I love to read them!

Claire x

W Plus 9 - Birthday Celebration: In my Comfort Zone

Hello again!

How has your week been? W Plus 9 are having a 4th birthday celebration with a challenge to craft in your comfort zone. Not sure what my comfort zone is at the moment - judging by my previous posts,  it seems to be clean and simple with heaps of white space:

So that's what I did using W Plus 9's Pretty Patches. I still had the red and teal inks out from my previous card so I stuck with those...perfect for a nice, big juicy apple!

See you soon,

Claire x

100 Retro Sketches!

Hi bloggers,

I managed to combine three challenges for my latest card:

Can you believe it's the hundredth challenge over at Retro Sketches? I made it a little more CAS than the sketch - the stamped and cut strips are Mama Elephant's Basic Borders and the birdcage and flowers come from Waltzingmouse's Asian Gardens.The little ricrac frame has been cut using the Cameo. Since it's got bits hanging over the edge and it's red and teal I'm also entering it for the challenges over CAS-ual Fridays, together with Dynamic Duos!

That's all for now - have a great day!

Claire x

Another Hint of Pink! Colour Q #227

Hello blogging folks!

Are you having a good week? My littlest boy started kindergarten yesterday - I was so proud of him. He toddled off into the classroom with not so much as a backwards glance at us...I've never felt so unwanted in my life!

Anyway, time for another colour challenge over at Colour Q. We're sticking to all things pink again this week with this pretty palette:

I've done quite a few pink cards recently and I've managed to avoid making even more Valentines cards. Let's face it, most of us only have one husband/partner so we don't normally need more than one. Having said that, I do send a card to one of my closest friends in the UK called Michael...we've been doing it since we were about 6, when we swore undying love for each other and thought we'd get married.  Luckily his wife and my husband do accept this little tradition of ours...Michael's wife has even been known to write the card for him!

I used a couple of PTI sets for this one - Heart Prints and Grunge Me which has to be one of the most versatile sets around. It looks like I've missed out one of the colours but the Raspberry Ripple (or Memento alternative) is the stamped sentiment. It's just slightly different to the Melon Mambo.

Ok, that's all from me for tonight...happy stamping!

Claire x

Purple Yuck!

Hello again!

When I saw this week's Casology challenge I knew I'd struggle. This week's cue word,  'purple', seems to be a colour that's either loved or loathed by crafty folks. I'm afraid I'm not a fan - to me it's a 'nothing' colour, one that's neither masculine or feminine and that I find almost impossible to match with others.

But I had a bash at the challenge anyway.  There have been heaps of stencilled projects in blog land this week, due to the most recent class over at Jennifer McGuire Ink. These cards have encouraged me to reach for an old Spellbinders Embossability and attempt to stencil the design. I really wanted to mask it directly on to the card but since the stencil is completely warped (and in some parts broken), it was a total disaster and I kept getting purple ink all over my beautiful, clean, white card.  So I stencilled it, cut a strip and plonked in on to the card, then added a white embossed butterfly - sponged in purple ink of course:

Not my best effort but it will have to do - I learnt a couple of things along the way:

1) I still don't like purple
2) I must sign up for that class....

Have a fabulous Sunday and thanks for popping by!

Claire x

Time for a Sneaky Peek at Scrapbook Creations Issue 103

Good morning bloggers!

It's almost time for Scrapbook Creations #103 to hit the newsagents! Do you fancy a sneaky peeky? Check out a sneak preview here: http://issuu.com/ellenharvey/docs/scr103_sample. There are going to be heaps of articles, layouts, tutorials and all manner of crafty goodness in there this month. You may even see something by me in there...

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Claire x