Waltzingmouse Pyjama Party

Hello Waltzingmouse fans!

It's Pyjama Party time once again and I've been busy crafting away on three little cards ready for the party.  There's a bit of a masculine theme for this one, which is a good thing, as my cards have definitely been missing a masculine touch in the last few weeks. 

First up is my 'man of the moment' card for challenge one. There's quite a few very special men in my life...Hugh Jackman, George Clooney, Jon Hamm...the list goes on.  But actually I've made a card for one of the most special of all which is my youngest son. He saw me making this and insisted I give it to him for his birthday in October:

I used Half Pint Heroes, together with a small circle sunburst die from Memory Box - the colours are from the latest palette over at Colour Q. The spaceship has been coloured with Copics and I added some Kindyglitz to the sun and fire for a bit of sparkle.

The next card is for challenge 3 - 'old pyjamas'. For this very CAS one I used the huge strawberry from 'Big Berries.' I stamped it in Real Red, then added some Glossy Accents to all the dots to make it extra juicy. The background has been stamped using the Woodgrain background stamp and I embossed a little frame for the big berry with the Picot Panel die:

Lastly is the Bedtime Story sketch challenge:

Since I already had the woodgrain stamp out, I used it to stamp a background onto three Nestability die cuts, then stamped 3 identical Funky Feathers and coloured them with distress inks. I added a little heart from the same set and covered it with Glossy Accents.

One day I'll manage to enter all four challenges but I think I've done pretty well doing three! Now I'm off to make a very big cup of coffee and have a nosy at what everyone else has done!

Thanks for stopping,

Claire

Colour Q #287 Meets Waltzingmouse Pyjama Party

G'day folks!

How's your week going?  It's a busy one for me - kids holidays and lots of work so not much time to get crafty. Luckily I was organised and managed to make a couple of cards for today's Waltzingmouse Pyjama Party. I made them before we had the new Colour Q palette and one of them happened to be the very colours that Arielle picked...how lucky was that?

So here are the colours:

And here's the card:

The first card is for the Bedtime Story Sketch. It's been ages since I inked up WMS Funky Feathers and I thought it would be a perfect fit for this gorgeous, layered sketch.  I inked the feathers in three different colours and then fussy cut them.  I had a new 6x6 pad of Authentique patterned papers so used those for the rest of the card.

The next WMS challenge was to use an older WMS set from their Nestability compatible range.  I had a few to choose from but ended up with Opera Tags.  I used a couple of other sets too - Ocean Bound, which is one of my absolute favourite masculine sets and the houndstooth from Heirloom Patterns:

I used some distress inks to create the background for the tag, then stamped the anchor and sentiment.  I stamped the houndstooth onto some kraft card stock and clear embossed it. The wave has been cut using my Silhouette.

Make sure you check out the rest of the DT's creations at Colour Q won't you...and at Waltzingmouse too.  They are an extremely talented bunch of ladies!

Thanks for popping by,

Claire x

Waltzingmouse Pyjama Party

Good morning all!

It's Pyjama Party time over at Waltzingmouse today and for once I've been a little more organised and managed to get three out of the four challenges done:

First up is a set of 'Scandi' Tags.   Since my only brush with Scandinavia has been at the local Ikea,  I'm not too familiar with Scandinavian style - but I guess if it's clean and simple these will fit the bill. I had some happy mail recently from Melinda Spinks  - she sent me a very generous pack of goodies which included these gorgeous Doodlebug cork tags.

I partially stamped the Folk Art Medallion and embossed it in red, white and gold - the sentiments are from Ornate Ornaments. I'm also entering them into this week's Casology challenge:

Challenge 2 is 'Wrap it up Warm.'  I have no problem admitting I am the laziest wrapper upper on earth.  I'll spend hours making the perfect card but chances are your present will be wrapped in the cheapest, most rubbish paper from the local dollar store.  So you can appreciate how difficult this was for me.  Once again I delved into my new pack of goodies and out popped these cute, kraft pillow boxes.  I embossed  the background using Heirloom Patterns and used the Picot Panel die for the label.  The Camellia was embossed on kraft and coloured in with Copics.   Sorry Claire, no plaid or stitching but I think it's got a kind of 'cosy' vibe to it!

 The last project is for 'Old Pyjamas' - I used the first Christmas set I ever bought from WMS which was the Seasons or Love Tags.  I've also used the sketch from this week's Freshly Made Sketches:

I made a shaker card and filled it with a few red and green sequins.  It's only my second Christmas card so far - let's just say my Christmas preparations are not going well this year!

Well that's all folks - can't wait to see what everyone else has done! Thanks for popping over,

Claire x

Waltzingmouse Pyjama Party

Hello bloggers!

Once again I find myself being unprepared for the Waltzingmouse Pyjama Party, despite the invites being sent out last week.  So again I've 'cheated' and cased one of my own cards just to say I've played:

You can see the original card on this post here.  I bought some gold embossing powder online recently and thought it would look lovely against a cream background, using the WMS Simple Sprig.  It's a little lighter than what I wanted but I think it would look gorgeous against black or navy.

I'm entering this into challenge 1 - make a project using embossed textures, without using an embossing folder.  I've used the embossing powder and I've created an embossed frame using a couple of Spellbinders Fancy Squares.  I tried this technique a couple of years ago, failed miserably and haven't attempted it again but Jennifer Mcguire has done a great tutorial for this and this time it worked a treat. The sentiment is from WMS Asian gardens Additions.

Well,  off to grab to tea and chocolate before taking a peak at what everyone else has done....thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Waltzingmouse Pyjama Party

Hello fellow crafty folks!

Some Waltzingmouse happy mail arrived for me on Friday, just in time for the Waltzingmouse Pyjama Party this month.  Lots of new things to play with but not lots of time, unfortunately, so I've only managed to do one of the challenges, which is the Bedtime Story sketch challenge:

I stamped the houndstooth from Heirloom Patterns in Midnight Muse and blended a couple of blue Distress Inks over it. I then used Woodgrain to stamp over some balsa wood  and added a few of the nautical motifs from Ocean Bound. I've been dying to get my inky hands on that set for ages - perfect for masculine cards!

There's still a few hours left until Mr Linky closes his doors so you never know, I may have time for one more.  In the meantime I'm going to have a nose at what everyone else has done...

Thanks for stopping,

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

WMS Pajama Party!

Hello fellow partygoers!

It's the first day of Spring for us and it's an absolute beauty here in Sydney...clear blue skies and endless sunshine. Am I making you jealous?

Now I didn't think I was going to be up to any of the Waltzingmouse Pajama Party challenges due to a bad case of the sniffles but I have managed to get one done.  I've had a bit of help from  Colour Throwdown and Freshly Made Sketches - can you tell I wasn't up to thinking any original thoughts last night? I also chose to do the 'golden oldies' challenge, which meant that I didn't have to think about which stamps to use either.

From memory, the first WMS stamps I bought were Musical Backgrounds, Very Vintage Labels no 4 and Fancy Phrases.  I used the teeny tiny musical note background for stamping my panel and to decorate my butterfly die cut, then popped it on to the stamped label. The 'hello' sentiment is probably my most used stamp out of my entire stamp stash...it's the perfect size and seems to fit on any card I make!

Since there's an 'Anything Goes' challenge over at Simon Says Stamp, I'm going to pop it over there too!

Well, that's all for me folks - my head is about to explode...happy partying! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment,

Claire x

A WMS Bedtime Story

Hello bloggers!

At the end of the Pajama party over at Waltzingmouse there is a bedtime story in the form of a sketch:

I'm sure I'm not the only card maker out there who buys a brand new set of stamps and uses one particular image all the time, whilst the others get left to gather dust. I can't believe I've never used the dress form from the 'You're Lovely' set  so I was determined to get it inky for this challenge.

I'm also entering it into the latest Simon Says Stamp challenge which is 'Anything Goes.'

Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

WMS Pajama Party

Morning bloggers!

There's a new challenge going on over at Waltzingmouse this month - a WMS pajama party. The party starts at midnight (UK time) and everyone is invited to join in, complete with PJ attire.  Now I'd like to say that I'm sat here in my sexiest, silk negligee (make that flannelette pajamas) ready to take part. But alas, since I'm Down Under I'm in my daggy 'Mum' clothes and I've just taken the big kid to school!

There are three different challenges which give everyone the opportunity to use any new stamps they may have purchased during the recent new release. It just so happens that I did have a little bit of a splurge a couple of weeks ago so I've entered 2 of the challenges - the first is 'Tickle me Silly' where the theme is feathers:

I had an absolutely manic weekend so I have to say I was flagging a bit when I did this one. 2 kids parties in one day, followed by a 50th that evening so let's just say the mojo had disappeared somewhat. I bought the Funky Feathers set (after procrastinating terribly over whether to buy Fine or Funky!) and gold embossed two of the larger feathers, tying them together with some ribbon.  I put some gold metal shim underneath the Fancy Square die cut to give it a hint of shine.

The next challenge is for In the Background.  I also bought the gorgeous Crackle Backgrounder stamp which is absolutely huge.  We were lucky enough to go to Canada earlier this year so I used it as the background to some photos I took whilst visiting Whistler:

Talk about using a lot of white embossing powder! I used the crackle background on some vellum first and used this as the base for my photos. I then used it on some contrasting blue bazzil. I had absolutely no Winter/snow themed embellishments so I used the snowflake stamp from Seasons of Love and added a few spots of bling. I also used the vintage heart from the same set and the 'Wonderful' sentiment is from Camellia.

Phew, I'm all waltzed out so I'm going to grab my morning coffee and have a nose at all the other projects on offer.

Thanks for stopping by!

Claire x