Stampin Royalty #297 - Pinspired

So much for more posting in 2015!  Life has been pretty full on in this household - my daughter in the first year of high school so academic expectations have ramped up, although I think it's the interest in boys and social life that has increased here.  Ballet has been given the flick and it's now all about rowing (sadly seasonal), so we need to find another outlet for exercise.  I think lack of motivation on my part was particularly key to the silence over here.

The highlight of my year, apart from significant birthdays and wedding anniversaries was the trip to Scandinavia which we arrived home from last week.  It has been a part of the world I have always wanted to visit and it didn't disappoint.  A bit over 2 weeks in duration and covering Helsinki (Tallinn for a day), Copenhagen and Stockholm. All charming and unique, the people friendly and helpful and the wealth of history made my heart sing.  The weather was perfect, and all were fantastic walking cities.  The food was amazing, with several memorable meals, the downside was that for Australians, it was expensive, but we went knowing that.

Helsinki

Seaplane Museum, Tallinn

Copenhagen

Stockholm

So it was really just a taste, my husband, who has been working in the north of Finland was fortunate enough to see the Northern Lights on 4 nights and took the most wonderful photos.  Need to go back for that.

So to the challenge - Pinspired.  

Suzanne Dahlberg - My Mind's Eye paper (SSS)

With Christmas fast approaching, and card stocks low, there will be a concerted push to create, and create quickly.  I love the simplicity and elegance of Suzanne's card, letting the paper work its magic. I coloured paper with ink as none of my papers match Blackberry Bliss which was my starting point. 

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white;  gold foil

Stamps - Clearly Besotted Sweet Little Sentiments

Ink - SU Blackberry Bliss;  PTI Lavender Moon;  Memento Sweet Plum;  Versamark

White embossing powder

Belated Merry Christmas but an on time Happy New Year

The start of 2015 - my goodness 2014 went fast, particularly the last few months for my family.  My daughter had a great school trip to Canberra - a lot came back sick and all were extremely tired but they really enjoyed themselves and it is a great starting point on the road to independence.  This happened in the middle of an impossibly busy school term and preparations for end of year ballet concerts, which was broadly felt to be the best ever.

This is a photo of the wall, at the Australian War Memorial (a very special place) with the names of Australian soldiers who died at war.  This was taken on Remembrance Day (November), covered with poppies.

This is where we were in her absence ... just an hour south of Brisbane but across the road from the beautiful beaches of Burleigh Heads

While she was away, and, with my husband in between jobs, we thought it would be an ideal opportunity for a whirlwind trip for them to the UK to see elderly relatives.  They had time in London,  seeing a sprinkling of sites (a bit of retail therapy at ballet shops in Covent Garden), and a couple of stage shows, all at break neck speed.  Then time with family in the Midlands and on the south coast.  They returned just after Christmas and had our belated celebration a few days ago.

I have been making a few cards in this blog quiet time.  These 3 cards were for my hairdresser's family.  I am not going to pretend that the inspiration for these cards popped into my head - no,  I needed help.  This first one was for his daughter doing a semester at a university in Chicago. The colour scheme belongs to Cristina K. (My Paper Secret) and I was dying to use my new Waltzingmouse stamps.

This one I have reproduced a number of times from Jennifer McGuire, for his elder daughter, still some more tweaking needed to make the perfect shaker card but it does give people much pleasure when receiving them.  

Now, the initial colour scheme and die cut idea came from Laurie Willison but it ended up quite different.  I felt the Art Deco look would make a great card for his wife.

These are the Christmas cards I sent my family away with.  This is not a situation I want to repeat.  I thought (oh so naively) that saying goodbye at the airport would be the hardest.  OH NO!  It was much harder over the next few days, luckily I had lunch with my best friend the next day, and she said - so how are you, (eyes well with tears) - OK not so good, next topic!  (Thank you so much F).  

Again the Jennifer McGuire inspired background. My daughter saw the Mama Elephant stamp set before she left and insisted she have it this Christmas.

My husband's card was an experiment.  I didn't know whether I could heat emboss on foil card.  But yes you can!  We haven't had Christmas Day apart in over 25 years, and even though they were with family (and I was too), it just felt weird.

Ice skating outside the Museum of Natural History (December)

But I wasn't idle over the time they were away.  Pinterest is a wonderful thing, anything I wanted to get sorted there was always several ways to try.  My inks are now organised a la the aforementioned Jennifer McGuire (ink swatches, a great post).  Our bills and budget etc now reside in a beautiful folder by Kikki K (unfortunately it doesn't pay them), and all my new stamp sets have a home in files from Ikea.  We are going there today to get a couple of large frames, one for my daughter's Dr Who print and she wants to put together a frame with tickets and bits and pieces from their trip.  We have done it a few times for previous trips and they are a great art piece.

Deb Frings had a link to these great Dr Who cross stitch patterns from Etsy on one of her Pinterest boards.  I just had to make them, there is another one - the Disappearing Tardis which I made for a couple of her school friends (I really need practice with the finishing touches).  I also had the chance to make some Christmas decor,  these baubles were left over from a bauble wreath I made and love the idea of a topiary.  I then ventured into glass etching with lettering cut with the Silhouette Portrait on the candles, spelling out Noel (hard to see, I know).

I have to add, I have been completely sucked in by the podcast "Serial" from the team at This American Life. It has popped up on my radar a few times as a great series, well written and researched.   I hope they do another season.

So, I would like to say that I resolve to post more in 2015, but resolutions don't have a great history with me and my mojo has been missing for quite some time.  Hopefully, with the re-organisation of my craft room and a general purge, this will re-energise me and use a few more of the craft items I have been hoarding for so long.

WMS October 2014 Pyjama Party

We are now into the second week of school, and already the schedule is starting to fill up with concerts for pretty much everything.  Add to that, Grade 6 have their trip to Canberra (Australia's capital), which has become a bit of a tradition, certainly after my time at school.  They get to see Parliament House, National Gallery and several other landmarks, including being at the War Memorial for Remembrance Day.  More important than anything is whether they are staying in the same room as their friends.

With a relatively quiet weekend I was able to put a bit of time into the October WMS Pyjama Party challenge.  I was hoping that the stamps and dies I ordered with my very generous prize from last month would arrive in time, but sadly, no.  I wonder does it have anything to do with increased security with mail services worldwide,  as parcels from the UK usually arrive within the fortnight.

Challenge1:  Embossing with things other than embossing folders
I tried a couple of things, including some Waltzingmouse lace I have hoarded from a few years ago. It worked well but then I couldn't think of what to do with it.  I tried stamps (too thick), gemstones (completely destroyed the paper) so settled on the impression from a couple of layers of card stock.

I just had to pull out Funky Feathers for this one.

What you need
Cardstock - PTI white
Stamps - WMS Funky Feathers
Ink - Brilliance Coffee Bean, Rust;  SU Early Espresso
Clear Embossing Powder

Challenge 2:  Snow is falling
I had decided on sequins for falling snow, but not much beyond that, when I found an old friend - Spooky Tree background.  This was clear embossed then the card coloured with Distress inks

The image didn't look great plonked straight onto a white card but nothing I had worked.  So I coloured white with a Chipped Sappire distress marker.

What you need
Cardstock - PTI white
Stamps -  WMS Spooky Tree Backgrounder, Compliments of the Season
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black;  Versamark
Distress Ink - Salty Ocean, Tumbled Glass; Broken China
Chipped Sapphire distress marker
Clear Embossing Powder
Sequins - Pretty Pink Posh and others

Challenge 3:  Old Pyjamas - Christmas

I have no idea what my oldest WMS Christmas set is but this Vintage background hasn't seen ink in a long time.  The colour palette is from the latest Festive Friday challenge.  I think the fabric on the chairs is a textured self pattern so out came the clear embossing powder again (well, it was still out on my messy desk) and it looks really lovely.

What you need
Cardstock - PTI white
Stamps - WMS Vintage Christmas background;  Compliments of the Season,  Vintage Labels 5
Ink - Versamark;  Versafine Onyx Black;  SU Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Lucky Limeade, Certainly Celery
Clear Embossing Powder
Ribbon;  Twine
Glossy Accents


Challenge 4:  Sketch
This one had me really stumped.  What to do with the little flags at the bottom.  Any of the initial thoughts I had involved several layers of paper, therefore, "unsendable".  PTI has a stamp from a release or 2 ago, Botanical Blocks 2 I think, where Nichole Heady coloured kraft card stock with Copics.  The effect was magic

So I tried to create the same effect on this card.  Instead of white pigment ink, I used white embossing powder.  So once the colouring  started the idea came for glitter flags.

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white, kraft

Stamps - WMS Camelia

Ink - Versamark

White embossing powder - Filigree

Copics - R35, R37, R59, YG93, YG99

Ribbon - SU Real Red taffeta

twine

Crafty Sparkles

white gel pen

 Look forward to seeing what everyone has created.

Christmas, Copics and Birthdays

Summer is definitely on the way.  After a few mid-week tasters of the summer heat to come, the weekends have been really lovely and great for getting out in the garden.  Unfortunately it is the end of the school holidays, so back to thinking about school lunches and before we know it, it will be Christmas.  Hence the onslaught of Christmas cards.

I took inspiration for the Festive Friday challenge from the wreath here, and a card from the DT (Ardyth I think) for the panelled background.

The wreath is cut from vellum coloured with a few green Copic markers - they were all over my desk as I am in the middle of the Online Card Classes Copic class!  More on that later.  The sentiment is stamped on the inside of the card.

I think using SU Chocolate Chip DSP might qualify me for the latest CAS-ology challenge

What you need
Cardstock - PTI white, vellum
DSP - SU Woodland Walk
Stamps - Wplus9 Silver Bells (sentiment),  Winter Wishes
Ink - SU Real Red
Various Copic markers
Die - MFT wreath
Twine
Gems - Kaisercraft

Yep, here is another one!  I couldn't decide on spots or stripes so went with both.  

Again, the idea of die cut outs but I wanted a border this time.  Note to self, always cut the BIGGER shape first!

What you need
Cardstock - PTI white, red, ripe avocado
Patterned paper - ?? Authentique
Stamps - Wplus9 Silver Bells (and die)
Ink - SU Old Olive, Real Red, Cherry Cobbler; Versamark;  HA Silver
Embossing powder - Zing! Silver
Spellbinders circle dies

Just a quick aside - this was a birthday card I did for one of my daughter's good friends whose birthday celebration was yesterday (and a bit today).  It is a combination of a few different things that Jennifer McGuire has done over the past year and just haven't got around to.  The flowers are stamped in Memento Luxe ink (Jennifer stamped on Kraft card which I hope to get to soon),  and using translucent embossing paste to adhere glitter.

What you need
Cardstock - SU white, Coastal Cabana
Stamps - MFT Tropical Sensatons,  Birthday Sentiments
Ink - Memento Luxe Pear Tart, Rose Bud, Morocco, Love Letter, Dandelion, Angel Pink;  HA Tide Pool;  Versafine Onyx Black
Wendy Vecchi Translucent Embossing paste
Glitter Ritz Ocean Spray
Viva Pearl Pen - Red

Now this is what I have been spending my time on.  I have learnt so much and been challenged to try new colour combinations.  

Some work, some don't - particularly like the purple and green balloon combination.  And it was good to try a few pink and green palettes, they are my favourites together.

Hair was less successful.  I tried Kristina' s technique (middle top), but struggled with the feathering on the fringe.  Really liked the ideas shown for black,  particularly the way Kelly Marie Alvarez tackles the challenge.

For the flower, I followed Sandy Allnock  in colouring the top  2 flowers.  I have always struggled with reds but  it seems to be working now.  I had never had a go at shadowed white flowers but love the was it turned out.

I was trying to get a combination that would work with the new SU Blackberry Bliss in colour - it took a few goes but got there in the end.  Bottom left was my attempt at a pink to white flower, that bright fluoro pink I have trouble with.

Now this was my favourite and I coloured it several times.  I hadn't used the combination for the leaves before but I think it is my new favourite.  I used Jennifer's red trio and Kristina's purply colours.  Then I had another attempt at shaded white then some blues.

Phew,  that's more homework than i probably ever did - and enjoyed!

Christmas Pyjama Party

Spring is definitely in the air around Brisbane, it seems that a switch was flicked on 1st September and we are into warmer weather (sometimes it would be nice to have the milder temperatures for a bit longer as it makes our humid summers so long).  

Next week school holidays begin, and I can't tell you how much my daughter needs a break.  Traditionally this is their busiest term, with assessment and several ensemble performances that seemed to be all at the end of term.  Add to that my daughter has damaged the tendons of her big toe and is unable to do ballet - weird thing is she did it while doing Hip Hop at school!  So she has been told to rest till school resumes in October.  

When I saw this photo over at Festive Friday I knew I needed to find my mojo fast (it has been missing for a very long time) - it is so beautiful!    Which elements to pick!! 

I settled on pink with a touch of grey and the baubles, the picture frame on the bottom shelf was the impetus for the shape of the card.  I have been wanting to use my stencils more, with all the inspiration out there, so the snowflakes  possibly make for a busy card but that's OK by me.  

While these stamps may not be my oldest WMS Christmas stamps, they are very much loved like "Old Pyjamas"  - Challenge 3

What you need

Cardstock - SU grey;  PTI Shimmer Pink;  SSS vellum

Stamps - WMS Nordic Winter, Compliments of the Season 2

Ink - Versamark

Embossing Powder - Filigree white;  Ranger Liquid Platinum

Embossing Paste - Wendy Vecchi

Stencil - SSS Snow

Crafty Sparkles glitter

Punch - SU

Die - Spellbinders

Twine - Lawn Fawn

OK, while we are on a roll with creating - I came across this Colour Q challenge and knew it had to be the debut of my new Blackberry bliss ink pad.  I was a little concerned as my previous new formula SU stamp pads have been less than successful (very wet and blotchy).  Quel surprise!  It worked a treat - almost as good as my adored Versafine ink pad (high praise indeed).  

So, using the WMS Bedtime Stories sketch, I came up with a birthday card for my Mum.  It isn't needed till Christmas Eve, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared (and she doesn't read my blog).  

I have been catching up on all the lovely posts from Laura Sterckx, and one of the techniques she is particularly good at is shaker cards, so that is what we have here.  My Mum is also in love with seahorses.  

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white;  BB grey;  Canson shimmer gold

Stamps - WMS Ocean Bound, Cameo to Go (sentiment)

Ink - SU Blackberry Bliss;  HA Butter Bar;  SSS Fog, Smoke

Die - MFT Fishtail Flags and Layer Stax

Punches - SU

Acetate Sheet

Copic Liner Grey 0.3

Sequins - various

Just one more I thought I would tack on the end.  My daughter's teacher has had a term off school and his replacement will be finishing up on Wednesday.  She asked me for a card and present to give her.  The colours she chose were aqua and mango .... hmmm. 

So this is what I came up with - I have been wanting to do more Distress ink blending (again, thank you Laura),  so used it as a patterned paper.  I do need more practice but love the effect.   Ooh, and a bit of practice for the upcoming Online card classes class - all about Copics.

I didn't realise mess could be so much fun ...

This is just way too much fun

The Day 2 challenge had me stumped for a while - different ways to use templates.  Kristina's card was the stand out from this stellar group of examples.  She used Inktense pencils to colour random parts of the stencil with that scribbly font that I love.  

I didn't have a stencil that lent itself to this technique, so I made my own with a couple of layered diecuts.  Orientation of the leaves was a bit of a trial but love how it turned out.  

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white, black;  SU Melon Mambo

Die - PTI Turning a new Leaf

Sequins

Inktense pencils - Apple Green

Day 3 - Dimension with Texture.  I wasn't able to do much with my Christmas acquisitions late last year as I ordered quite late.  So now is my time!  I used the embossing paste the sprinkled the wet paste with Distress glitter a la Debby Hughes. A beautiful subtle gleam, very hard to pick up in the photo. 

 So much fun.

What you need

Cardstock - Bazzill Navy;  SU white

Stamps - Wplus9 Winter Wishes;  The Craft's Meow Stitched Sentiments 2

Ink - SU real red;  Memento Paris Dusk

Die - MFT Fishtail Flag stax

Stencil - SSS Falling Snow

Wendy Vecchi Embossing paste

Distress Glitter - Clear Rock Candy

Bakers Twine

So while we are STILL on the subject of Christmas, this card popped into my head and was very quick and easy to do for the first Festive Friday challenge of 2014.

I love this window diecut and you cannot help but be entranced by the colours.  

What you need

Cardstock - PTI red, white:  SU Handsome Hunter

Stamps - PTI Holiday Sparkle

Ink - Memento Cottage Ivy

Die - Taylored Expressions

Punch - MS Medium Branch

Gems - Kaisercraft

Better late than never ......

Happy New Year and hope your Christmas holidays have been restful and spent with those closest to you.  I noticed that my posting has been non-existent since October, we had such a busy end to the school year, but my hands have not been idle.

Before school finished in early December, we had auditions for Percussion Ensemble and the Middle School band, a piano exam to endure, and the general worry about end of school reports.  Don't know why I bothered to waste energy over worrying, it all worked out well.  Then we had end of year ballet concerts, my daughter danced in all 4 concerts and was completely shattered by Sunday evening.  It is great  to see the progression of these poised young 11 year old girls, who have turned into wonderful dancers as well as delightful young ladies and close friends.

The following weekend was my daughter's belated birthday celebration.  She wanted to have friends for a sleepover - in a tent in our backyard!  A wise friend told me I will only do this once, I should have just taken the advice.  So my husband had the assistance of 8 girls in putting up the tent, a decision I think he later regretted.  Some slept very well, others not so much (darling daughter included), so apologies to those parents who had vile tempered children the next day. They behaved beautifully, ate well and were, on the whole, considerate of our neighbours.

We made these take home bags, inside which were a few camping essentials.

I stamped each child's name on the bag.  I was told in no uncertain terms NOT to put any bling what so ever on them.  Just not the same.

Along with Christmas cards, I also managed to do a few jobs that have been hanging around for a couple of years.  I am no scrapbooker, and my style is, well, basic to say the least.  But I have finally got all my daughter's dance photos mounted, along side the ones my husband had taken on open days, so it is a reasonably complete record of her dance career.  Then there was my recipe folder, overflowing with bits ripped out of magazines and printouts.  Now, they are all in the appropriate sections of the folder (bet I won't be able to find anything now!)

Christmas was a lovely family time, then some time at the beach.  My husband and daughter then went camping on Fraser Island with friends, right at the time when we had a spell of extremely hot weather (40C).  For me, camping doesn't happen and it was the start of my month of intensive TV viewing - the tennis.  We spent a day sweltering at the Brisbane International, the tennis was great.  Sadly it is nearly over and RF went out of the Australian Open last night!!

Next week we are back into the school routine, which I think will be welcome after 2 months off.  Her group of friends have  caught up periodically over the summer, mostly at birthday parties as they all seem to fall around this time.  The bags are packed with new books and pencil cases filled with brand new pens.  Just need to get the ipad cleaned up.  Here is one of the birthday cards I made, regrettably, I forgot to take a photo of the card I made for her ballet friend whose birthday was last night.

So, maybe after all that waffle, a challenge card is in order.  I can't resist pink and it has been a while since I have participated in a PTI blog hop.  I have just watched the videos for the latest Online Card class - Stenciled and I am inspired.  I resisted stencils for quite a while, the image in my hands is a bit blurry and not quite my taste.  but what the ladies have done is just breath taking.

It is a mixture of a ideas used by Jennifer, Laura and Debby and yes, it is a Christmas card, but I didn't post any on the blog this time.  I don't do much distress inking, I leave that to my daughter.  I get ink all over my fingers then all over the card.  But as I said, I very much wanted to try and it took a number of practice runs.

I still can't quite master the art of starting off the page without the corner of the sponge "stamping".  I adhered the stencil to card with adhesive spray, which seemed to work well.  

What you need
Cardstock - PTI white, black
Stamps - Background Basics:  Text Style;  Tree Trimming Trio
Inks - Ranger Distress Inks (Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry);  Versafine Onyx Black; Versamark
Stencil - SSS Ornament on a String
Embossing Powder - Judi Kins Extreme Peacock
Adhesive spray
Zig Wink of Stellar (clear)

Hope you made it to the end of this long winded post, as it is a long weekend in Australia, I may get round to more challenges.

Happy Australia Day to all Aussies for tomorrow (26th).