Funky Play Date

Hello folks,

Just sneaking in a late entry for the latest Play Date Cafe challenge:

This time I used some different feathers from the WMS Funky Feathers set...yes I am in love with it and yes I am going to bore everyone senseless by using it on heaps of cards for the next few weeks! Unfortunately I ran out of glossy card stock so I came up with the 'ingenius' idea of using glossy photo paper. Newsflash everyone: it doesn't work! I thought the ink would blend quite nicely but it kind of went on in clumps so I haven't quite got the gradual layering of colour I was looking for.  Not to worry,  it kind of worked....

As the saying goes...hope it tickles!

Cheers,

Claire x

Cardabilities Play Date

Morning all,

I can't remember the last time I played along at Cardabilities - there's a gorgeous sketch by Karan Gerber and I've combined it with the pretty pastel colours at Play Date Cafe:

I've embossed the Waltzingmouse flower background onto vellum and added a chipboard ring which I inked, covered in dimensional magic and sprinkled with glitter.

Just a quick one again today...it's kids holidays here in Australia so I have some mothering to do!

Thanks for stopping and particularly if you take the time to comment.

Claire x

CAS(e) This Play Date!

Morning all!

There's a fab sketch by Chrissy over at CAS(e) This Sketch this week. So many ways I could have used this - I decided to combine it with the colours from Play Date Cafe:

Now this severely limited my options! In the end I just threw a few bits and pieces together and hoped for the best..sometimes that's the best way isn't it? I white embossed a hexagon Mama Elephant stamp on to the grey background and layered a bright pink (and very ancient) Glitz rubon, together with a Studio Calico vellum speech bubble and button. I thought it looked a bit bare so luckily I had some teal paint which I splattered over it.

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Play Date Cafe

G'day folks,

Here's the colours for this week's challenge over at the Play Date Cafe - a perfect match for Crate Paper's Pink Plum range:

Mr Mojo's gone walkabout yet again in the last couple of days but it's always easier when you have patterned papers in the exact colours isn't it? I embossed the Stampin' Up flower onto the plum background, then added a couple more blooms on some vellum.

I'm also putting it into the Simon Says Stamp challenge for this week which you can find here - the theme this week is 'anything goes.'

Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

Play Date Cafe

Hello folks,

Another pretty colour combo over at the Play Date Cafe this week:

I've used a few Kaisercraft papers from their Peachy Keen collection for this one. I fussy cut the flowers from the patterned papers and added a few stamped leaves from the Waltzingmouse Folk Art Medallion set. I've used a stamp from the same set to stamp the background on to a Marvellous Square die cut.  I love the boldness of the blue with the peach and apricot - definitely a colour theme I'll be using again....if only I had the talent to think of it in the first place!

Thanks for looking!

Claire x

Another Retro Play Date

Good morning folks,

Another day, another card - this time for Play Date Cafe and Retro Sketches:

I bought a few Mama Elephant stamps recently so I've been dying to have a play with them - that typewriter is kind of retro and vintagey all at the same time. Love it!

Have a fabulous day and thanks for popping by,

Claire x

Anything but CAS

Hello crafty folks,

I had every intention of playing along with Casology this week as the cue word is 'circle.' So I knew what I wanted to do ( it looks like a few others went for this as well) and thought I would use the week's colours over at Play Date Cafe:

It turned out to be anything but simple...lining up the patterned papers with the cut out circle, working out where to stamp the flourishes and sentiment, where to put the flowers....it seemed to take forever. I like how it turned out though, but it won't be entered into this weeks Casology challenge!

Have a great night and thanks for stopping,

Claire x

A Retro Card for PDC

Hello peeps,

I mentioned in my previous post that I wanted to sneak a card into the colour challenge over at         Play Date Cafe, as well as a scrapbook page. I also used a sketch from Retro Sketches. This week you are able to choose any past sketch for inspiration - there were about 8 sketches I wanted to use but I eventually went with this one:

Hmmmm - I have to say the jury is still out with these new Stampin Up inkpads...I found it very difficult to stamp a solid image - the ink just wouldn't cover the stamp evenly.  I'm a huge fan of Stampin Up and I know there are a few demonstrators out there who follow my blog so I'd love to have some advice please. It could just be my lousy stamping technique!

I used that lovely Jenni Bowlin image again, together with some October Afternoon and MME papers. A button and twine seems to be obligatory for everything I make at the moment!

Have a fabulous day and thanks for stopping,

Claire x

A Scrappy Play Date

Hello Scrappers!

I absolutely love the colour combo over at Play Date Cafe this week:

It's the first time I've done a layout for a Play Date challenge but, having two boys, I knew I had heaps of papers in these colours. If I have time I might try and get a card done too. I haven't put any journalling on - sometimes the title just says it all doesn't it?

Thanks for stopping,

Claire x

A Play Date with Muse

Another day, another card...this time for the current Muse challenge. The guest designer for week 2 is Suzanne Dahlberg:

What isn't there to love about this card? All those bright, happy colours make me smile! My card has been inspired by those very same bright flowers against the black background:

I used Stampin Up's Eastern Gardens for this one, together with the little leaves from the Waltzingmouse Frame It set. The squares are Spellbinders Marvellous Squares - which were being anything but marvellous, as I had terrible problems getting the card out of the die!

Funnily enough I happened to glance at the Play Date Cafe blog and this week's colours fit in with the challenge over there too. I'm not sure how many neutrals you're allowed to use with the chosen colour scheme so I'll just have to have my hand slapped if I've broken the rules:

Have a fantastic day and thanks for any comments...I love reading them!

Claire x

A Splash of Green

Hello Peeps,

Hope those of you in Australia are enjoying the long weekend. We had a lovely afternoon at the beach on Australia Day, until a nasty bluebottle decided to wrap itself around my leg. Ouch! It felt as though I'd stuck my entire leg on the barbecue!

Play Date Cafe have a 'splash' challenge this week - ie. black, white with a splash of emerald green:

I have to say, this is one of those annoying cards that actually does look better in real life. The black strip has some embossing on it but it just wouldn't show up on the photo so I took another one with the flash on. (Note to self: I really do need to do a photography course so I can learn how to use my camera properly!) The butterflies are PTI, stamped on to vellum and embossed, then layered one on top of the other. Hmmmm, not sure about this particular colour scheme -  feel as though I need a hint of pink somewhere!

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

A New Year Play Date

Good morning bloggers and Happy New Year! Hope this year is a great one for you and your family!

For me,  2013 has started with a clear head (for a change) and a blog post to show what I've done for the latest challenge over at Play Date Cafe:

To be quite honest I'm not sure if I'm happy with it....I kind of think my mojo got left in 2012 for this one. Santa gave me a few little crafty Christmas presents and I was so desperate to use them I  bunged them all on the one card! And since I've not got a New Years hangover to deal with, I can't even blame it on that...

Anyway, it's a scorching 39C here in Sydney today so I thought I'd head to the air con with the kids to see Wreck-it Ralph. Is it a sign of age that you actually find the kids films way more intelligent than the adult's ones nowadays?

Have a fabulous day!

Claire x

Cardabilities + Play Date

Have to be super snappy with this post as both challenges close in a soon!  I've been lusting over the colour scheme over at Play Date Cafe but, despite having 2 weeks to get it done,  I waited right until the last minute to have a play. Luckily I had some left over scraps of MME papers that fit the colour scheme pretty well - I also used a sketch from Cardabilities just to speed that mojo up a bit....

I stampede a Waltzingmouse doile and used that as a base for the flower. That Stampin Up sprig of leaves is getting an absolute hammering in my Cuttlebug at the moment...it seems to be ending up on everything I do!

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Freshly Made Play Date

Happy Sunday Bloggers!

I've had a 'kidlet-free' day today and had afternoon tea in the city with a friend.  What could be better than good company,  champagne and beautiful little nibbles - all without interruption.....

Couldn't resist the mint, gold and leather colour scheme at Play Date Cafe this week, together with this week's sketch at Freshly Made:

I knew I had the perfect MME papers and I've used a few different stamps including a Kaisercraft Oriental script stamp embossed in gold and inked using SU's Mint Melody. The butterfly is PTI and the sentiment is Waltzingmouse. I really must make more use of those butterflies - it's a gorgeous set and I've had it years. Yet more proof I have way too much stuff to use!

Thanks for stopping by,

Claire x

Happy Birthday Play Date Cafe

Hello Bloggers!

I'm just finding time to fit in a post whilst making a birthday cake for my little 4 year old. What was meant to be a little morning tea in the local park, has now turned into a a much larger affair - which means I have to actually make some effort!

Play Date Cafe  is celebrating its 3rd birthday which means lots of lovely prizes up for grabs and a facelift for the blog.  The colours this week are:

Perhaps it's just me but I truly found this the most difficult colour challenge yet. They're certainly not colours that I would think of putting together and I had absolutely nothing resembling them amongst my patterned papers.  In the end I got out my Autumn Leaves flourishes and inks and had a play. It resulted in half a sheet of heavily patterned paper so I cut some panels and came up with this:

The ribbon is blue and the button is a kind of grape colour but it doesn't show in the photo - they kind of look black don't they?

Well, back to the cake baking.....thanks for stopping by,

Claire x