PTI January 2013 Blog Hop

It is predicted that we are to have torrential rain today, due to the remnants of a cyclone a bit further north.  At the moment it's just a little windy, but the rain has stopped briefly.  Sounds like a great day for card making (or cleaning but we won't think about that).

So to my blog hop entry.  A very simple card, I love the elegance of it, so didn't want to mess with the stamp too much.  I have used a white Prismacolor pencil to gently colour in the leaves while still letting the texture of the card show through.  

What you need

Cardstock - BB black

Stamps - PTI Simple Sentiments, Stitches and Swirls

Ink - PTI Fresh Snow

White Prismacolor pencil

Pearls - Kaisercraft, Annabelle Stamps

Gemstones - Kaisercraft

Corner Rounder - SU

Last day of holidays .... (BIG sigh!)

 It's back to work tomorrow, still it's been a nice break, though a little hot so unable to achieve all we wanted to around the house.  My daughter has another week to go before school starts and we have the Australia Day holiday next weekend too, so something to look forward to.

Wanted to have a go at these 2 before time ran out.  Tricky colours these and in my head I wanted the colour to be in the cardstock rather than the stamping.  So all stamping is in grey and broke into my new SU colours for Summer Starfruit.  I did think about colouring in the flowers but glad I didn't, as it looks really pretty sitting here on my desk.

What you need

Cardstock - SU Real Red, white, Summer Starfruit, Melon Mambo

Stamps - HAPattern Hearts and Flowers, Year Round Sentiments

Ink - SU Basic Grey;  Memento London Fog

Punch - Fiskars

Gems - Kaisercraft

******

Now, this next one evolved rather than trying to fit in a couple of challenges .... Really!  I started out with my Hero Arts challenge with what I believe is my oldest HA stamp.  I used it in this post many moons ago.  So it was easy to visualise it in Dynamic Duo colours of red and black with a touch of Valentine.  But the design stumped me till I saw the latest Paper Players challenge.  Problem almost solved.  

Trying to be a bit arty, and not go down my usual framing route, I tried for off centre ... not tooo bad.  And finally it neatly fell into the Addicted to CAS embossing challenge.

I am happy with the finished product, especially the little hearts, a punch Jennifer McGuire has used many times to great effect.

What you need

Cardstock - SU Real Red, white, black

Stamps - HA Chandelier;  PTI Lighten Up

Ink - Versmark; Versafine Onyx Black

Embossing Powder - Zing Glitter Black

Die - Spellbinders Classic Squares

Punch - Martha Stewart

Glossy Accents

Blue Friday

 Guess who is completely hopeless at photographing very long cards.  Sorry.  I had SU Pacific Point out for The Paper Players challenge and thought it would work for this one.  Not my usual blue of choice but I think it works well with the butterflies.

What you need

Cardstock - SU white

DSP - SU Brights Collection

Stamps - The Craft's Meow Sewn Sentiments

Ink - Memento Bahama Blue

Die - Memory Box Kaleidoscope Butterfly

Gems - Kaisercraft

So, to the next challenge before I miss the deadline.  A tricky colour combination this one, so I have opted for the easy way out.  Predominantly grey with splashes of blue and yellow.  I have just realised that the sentiment is hard to see, but don't worry, it's the same as above.  Couldn't resist a bit of stitching either.

What you need

Cardstock - SU white, basic grey

DSP - Neutrals Collection

Stamps - SU Friends Never Fade;  The Craft's Meow Sewn Sentiments

Ink - SU Delightful Daffodil;  Memento Bahama Blur

Die - MFT Dizzy Doily

Ribbon - SU Satin Delightful Daffodil

Pearls - SU

Tomorrow, Saturday, is apparently meant to be a scorcher again, around the 37C mark.  Sounds like another great stamping day (or cleaning out cupboards).  Let's see what happens.

Case this Sketch #10

Well, it's a significantly cooler day today with no real need for air conditioning.  I think my daughter was going a little stir-crazy from being inside during the day.  Still she has had a couple of friends over the past few days - not absolutely sure what they are up to but there has been lots of singing and general noise so they must be having a good time.  She has a ballet workshop over the next few days so that will be a step back towards routine.

When I saw this sketch I knew exactly which stamp I would use, but it has taken me all this time to work out how to use it.  So at the eleventh hour this is the result, which I am quite chuffed with.

What you need
Cardstock - PTI Kraft, Pure Poppy
Stamps - HA Great Flourishes
Ink - Versamark
Embossing Powder - Zing matt black
Pearls - SU

OK, off to cover more school books and sew labels onto clothes.  Fortunately, the Australian Open Tennis is on, a good excuse to sit in front of the TV!

The "new" in this for me is the stamp, that is, new to seeing ink.  This stamp came to me after seeing a few wonderful cards using this but particularly this one by Julie Ebersole (I think Joy Taylor did a great version too).  However, I wanted to create it in this way (Jennifer McGuire), but I think the flowers were a little too big for my learner plate inktense pencil colouring.

So I went with Copic colouring, and rather pleased with how it looks.

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white;  X-press it card; BB mid pink

Stamps - HA Large Background Flower, Pattern Hearts and Flowers

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black;  SU Gumball Green

Copics W1, G07, G14, RV13,RV14, RV17, RV19, RV29

Gem - Kaisercraft

Waltzingmouse Christmas Card Challenge - January 2013

Yes, yes, I know, you are thinking haven't we just got over the 2012 edition.  Well, yes but there is nothing like being prepared.  This challenge has been going for a few years now, thanks to the untiring creativity of Lynn Mercurio.

This year things are changing slightly with a few of us taking on a challenge each month.  This month the very talented Anya Schrier has provided us with a sketch (and the new logo) for inspiration.

Here are a few basic guidelines for the monthly Waltzingmouse Stamps Christmas Card Challenge:

• A new challenge will be issued on the 10th of each month in the Playroom Forum.
• Each card must contain some Waltzingmouse Stamps’ images but need not be exclusively WMS images.
• Once you have created your project, upload it to the 2013 WMSCCC gallery - and if you have a blog, we would love for you to post it there too!
• Feel free to grab the WMS Christmas Card Logo for your blog sidebar and/or your blog post if you are so inclined.
• You may make as many projects as you like for each challenge. We encourage you to make batches of cards since our end goal is to have enough hand-made Christmas cards for each person on our “list”.
• You may play along when and if you want – make it suit your schedule. For example, challenge cards for January may be uploaded anytime in January or in June or even September...whenever you have them completed. There is no monthly deadline.

So if you are new to this challenge, beg, borrow or steal (well, maybe not) some Waltzingmouse stamps and give it a go, because by the time December rolls around all your Christmas cards will be done.  Tick off one end of year task.

This was certainly a challenge for me.  I spent a lot of time trying to work out how I would tackle the shape.  In fact, I spent so much time on the shape that I forgot to emboss the bottom half of the card.   I used the negative die cut then traced around the shape of the die to get the red border.  I do love how this turned out but will work out a simpler was to mass produce it.

What you need

Cardstock - PTI Kraft, Rustic Cream, Pure Poppy

Patterned Paper - Authentique Festive

Stamps - WMS Vintage Labels 5, Compliments of the Season, Festive Foliage

Ink - Memento Rich Cocoa;  SU Real Red, Old Olive

Ribbon - SU Striped Grosgrain

Pearls - Kaisercraft

Just a final couple of cards for season 2012.  

 

This one was for my daughter, the La La Land stamp I had bought last year to use but forgot about it, so she got a run this year.  I am not sure what my daughter's favourite colour is at the moment, but I figured black was probably up there, so had covered most bases.

This was for my husband who loves most things Japanese.  Not Christmassy I know, but when I saw this Darkroom Door series of stamps, I knew he would love it .......  And he did.

Perfect pastime on a VERY hot day

 The plan had been to attack some much needed gardening and general outdoor maintenance this week, but the weather here has conspired against us.  All around Australia, there are some very serious bush fires happening, we have had record temperatures fanned by high winds and low humidity. And there seems no respite in sight.

So, I couldn't think of anything nicer to do than attempt some challenges, particularly a new one on the scene.

I think I will just make the Dynamic Duos challenge deadline.  Island Indigo isn't a colour I have used much of but I do like it and now that it is out of the packaging (read languishing on my desk), I will endeavour to use it more.

What you need
Cardstock - PTI white;  SU Melon Mambo, Island Indigo
DSP - SU Brights Collection
Stamps - MFT Lovey Dovey Sentiments
Ink - SU Melon Mambo
Die - PTI hearts border
Gems - Kaisercraft


Now for the newbie - what avid card maker isn't going to love this one.  And what an endless source of inspiration.  I didn't think I would refer to it as much as I do, for all sorts of things.

The ideas I particularly liked on this card, and there is a fair bit of decoration going on,  are the colours and polka dots.  While I don't have a stamp set with several different circles, I did have one with stars so went with that.

What you need
Cardstock - PTI white, black
Stamps - HA Year Round Sentiments
Ink - Memento Pear Tart, Sweet Plum, Bahama Blue, Rose Bud, Tuxedo Black
Gems - Kaisercraft

Cloud 9 January 2013 Blog Hop

First off,  Happy New Year!  Hope your Christmas celebrations were a wonderful time with friends and family.  Ours was low key, with my parents and parents-in-law having Christmas lunch with us.  This made for a very happy grand-daughter, being the focus of attention.  

2013 promises to be a year of change and new experiences for the Jones family, with my daughter moving into Middle School (grade 5) and with that more responsibility and independence.  She has taken on another dance class, add to that, choir commitments and piano and she is one very busy girl.

So, to my first challenge of the year.  Isn't this a beautiful picture!  The warmth and sparkle makes this card maker one happy girl.  It wasn't planned but there is no white or cream cardstock in it, just the lovely kraft, silver and dark brown (I think).  I searched high and low for a piece of glitter paper I knew I had and diecut the stars.

It did end up a little more bland than I expected, so added Glossy Accents to the jar lid and a small twine bow.

What you need

Cardstock - PTI Kraft;  BB dark brown

Glitter Paper - Bella Glitz

Stamps - Wplus9 Fresh Preserves, Classic Christmas

Ink - Memento Rich Cocoa

Die - MFT Star Stax

Twine - Jillibean Soup

Glossy Accents - Ranger

I will be back later today with the first card in the new look Waltzingmouse Christmas Card Challenge.