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

The weekend that was

Now, this was a challenge.  The colours are a couple of favourites, but how to use them with this sketch. Hmmm  I didn't want to put Island Indigo card over the top of the Pool Party so went with vellum.  It is hard to see but the vellum is stamped with white flowers and then stitched

What you need

Cardstock - SU Pool Party, white, vellum

Stamps - SU Fifth Ave Floral;  TE Treasure Life

Ink - PTI white

Thread - DMC 598

So to my other card of the weekend - pink, black and white, wonderful.  I have tried the layering thing again, but with plenty of white space still.  I have used one of the older Mojo Monday sketches that I really loved.

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white, black;  SU basic grey

DSP - SU Brights Collection

Stamps - Verve Amazing Wishes

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Die - MFT flourish

Ribbon - PTI Smoky Shadow satin

Flowers -  Prima

An afternoon's hard work !?! ....

 Not really....  it was nice to have the time to catch up on a few colour schemes and sketches that didn't happen late last month.  Like this one ..

Now Vintage/Shabby Chic isn't in my comfort zone and as I have said before, I am very jealous of those who achieve it so effortlessly.  Not sure why I opted for brown tones, except that it is easier for me to get that vintage look with these hues.  

What you need

Cardstock - PTI rustic white, cream;  BB dark brown

Patterned paper - MME Miss Caroline Howdy Doody

Stamps - HA Pattern Hearts and Flowers, Large Flower Background, Year Round Sentiments, Newspaper Background

Ink - SU Early Espresso, Crumb Cake;  Memento Rich Cocoa;  PTI Chai

Dies - MFT Jumbo Fishtail Flags;  SB Classic Circles

Copics - R11, R12, R14, R22

Gems - Kaisercraft

Dark brown ribbon

*****

I CANNOT resist a pink and green colour combination.  It is my all time favourite and again a sketch from the recent past

On the whole, I really like the new SU colours (not sure about Summer Starburst but I guess it will have its uses).  The new pinks I particularly like, but the jury is still out in the Jones craftroom on the stamp pad itself.  Either it takes a bit to get ink on the stamp or it's far too moist.  Still, I am probably in the very small minority on this matter.

What you need

Cardstock - SU white, Lucky Limeade, Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals, Regal Rose

Stamps - TE Make it Amazing

Ink - SU Lucky Limeade, Raspberry Ripple, Early Espresso

Dies - PTI Zig Zag;  SB Deckled Rectangles, Classic Rectangles

Gems - Kiasercraft

*****

Now this sketch stumped me for a while, how to cut those rectangles.  I used MFT Fishtail Flags off the end of my Bigshot and it worked a treat.  Not much more to say really ....

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white, black

DSP - SU Brights Collection

Stamps - PTI Inside and Out:  Thank you

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Embossing Folder - Sizzix Dots and Flowers set

Die - MFT Fishtail Flags

Gems - Kaisercraft

******

OK for my final card for this Sunday before I put the finishing touches to our lamb roast for dinner (my favourite).  I really wanted to have a crack at this colour scheme, very intriguing.  Couldn't find my So Saffron inkpad but remembered this VERY old DSP.  Again this sketch was from a few weeks ago but I just love the simplicity of it.  Night of Navy has always been my favourite "navy" but this new one has a bit more black in it and I love it.

 What you need
Cardstock - PTI white, Midnight Muse
DSP - SU So Saffron
Stamps - The Craft's Meow Timeless Tags
Ink - SU Midnight Muse
Die - MFT Fishtail Flags
Brads - SU

That's it for today.  My daughter is still unwell, listless and a very sore throat, not sure if she will make it to school, though she tells me she has to be there for Maths - maybe we are getting through on that front.

Dynamic Duos #33

I don't believe I have posted the Christmas cards I did for my mother - all 55 of them!  And fortuitous that it fits with this weeks Dynamic Duos challenge, but without the music option.

We had plans to use other stamps but just ran out of time.  However, I love the gold on black with little pops of red glitter.  I had to incorporate Fishtail Flags somehow, just love those dies.

What you need

Cardstock - PTI black, cream;  Canson metallic gold paper

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Stamps - PTI Stylish Sentiments Holiday

Die - MFT Fishtail Flag Stax;  TE Holly Leaves

Red glitter glue

ColourQ #134, JAI #115 and Less is More

My goodness these colours were a challenge to put together but a very interesting combination.  As Purely Pomegranate was still on my desk and I don't have Bravo Burgundy, it was my substitute and I think it worked well.  I stamped the JustRite border twice to get a double line at the top of the pool party panel.  

What you need

Cardstock - Bazzill Basics Burgundy;  SU white, Pool Party, Calypso Coral

Stamps - TE Make it Amazing;  Just Rite Lace Borders II

Ink - SU Purely Pomegranate, Pool Party, Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie

Butterfly Punches - MS

Gems - Kaisercraft

*******

I recently received my latest Simon Says Stamp order and the stamp I have used was part of it.  As soon as I saw this stamp this was the idea I had for it (hopefully there will be others).  There are black gems on the ampersand bit it is a little difficult to see them

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white

Stamps - Hero Arts Ampersand;  WMS Join Us

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black;  SU Real Red

Gems - Kaisercraft

Card Patterns #162

It's a grey old Saturday morning here in Brisbane, and it has rained pretty constantly for the past 12 hours or so.  Given that this is usually our dry season, this is a bit of a surprise.  Needless to say, a great day for card making.  It is last minute but I wanted to do the Card Patterns challenge and I went to Design Seeds for some colour inspiration.

It has been a long time since I have incorporated Purely Pomegranate in any project and it was the colour that initially got me hooked on all things SU.  I think it goes really well with the aqua and the Hero Arts Soft Pool ink was a good match for the base card.

What you need

Cardstock - Bazzill Basics Aqua;  SU white

Patterned Paper - MME Happy go Lucky

Stamps - TE Make it Amazing

Ink - SU Purely Pomegranate;  HA Shadow Ink Soft Pool

Die - TE Fancy Buckles

Ribbon - PTI Saddle Stitched Scarlet Jewel

Gems - Kaisercraft

Emily's First Birthday

These colours are just perfect for a little girl's birthday, it will be a very different birthday experience for this family as she has 2 older brothers!  I stumbled upon the sketch blog below as I am an admirer of a few of the ladies on the design team, so thought I would have a go.

 So this is my card, had a bit of trouble with the larger sized glitter, it was a bit more translucent than I wanted the number to be but anyway I do like the result.

What you need

Cardstock - BB textured white;  SU white;  PTI orange zest, lemon tart

Patterned paper - Doodlebug bubblegum swiss dot

Stamps - TE Garden Party Blooms

Ink - SU Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie

Dies - PTI, Spellbinders

Felt - PTI Autumn Rose

Ribbon - SU Pumpkin Pie taffeta

Gems - Kaisercraft

Glitter - Doodlebug Sugar Coating tangerine

Tuesday Trigger and For Your Inspiration

Tuesday Trigger - Home Sweet Home

Loved the idea of some kind of house image but beyond that no idea.  I had hoped that I could have done this in one layer and submit it for One Layer Wednesday (masking) but had terrible trouble getting the fence straight so, no chance there.

What you need

Cardstock - PTI Kraft

Stamps - PTI Boards and Beams

Ink - Memento Rich Cocoa and marker;  PTI Fresh Snow; SU Real Red

Prismacolour White pencil

"For Your Inspiration"

Just beautiful, all these divine shades of green.  So I have chosen to go for 2 shades of green on a clean card.  I couldn't work out how to achieve the reflecton, so I will be interested to see where other people took this challenge.

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white, New Leaf

Stamps - TE CreativiTEA

Ink - Memento - Pear Tart, Rich Cocoa

Gems - Kaisercraft

ColourQ #124 and CR84FN48

I really wish we had access to SU Cool Caribbean is Australia, I think I would have found it very useful.  However, I have substituted PTI's Aqua Mist which I think works equally well.  Don't think my colouring pencil colouring is up to much at the moment, really needs perfecting, but not completely unhappy with the way this card turned out.

What you need
Cardstock - Bazzill Basics Red;  SU Very Vanilla
Patterned Paper - PTI 2008 Bitty Dot Basics
Stamps - TE Rosy Posey
Ink - Memento Rich Cocoa
Die - SB Scalloped Rectangles
Ribbon - SU Pretty in Pink Taffeta
Twine - MME Lime Twist "Charmed"
Colouring Pencils - Faber-Castell Art Grip

Not my usual colour palette this one, and, now I have looked at the photo, doesn't do it justice in real life (note to self: NEVER photograph cream against a white background).  Love the simplicity of this design.

Edit: Have tried to take a better photo but just won't work.


What you need
Cardstock - SU Very Vanilla, Basic Grey
Stamps - SU Oh, so lovely; PTI Inside and Out: Birthday
Ink - Brilliance Lavender;  Versacolor Bamboo
Twine - Jillibean Soup
Gems - Kaisercraft

Runway Inspired #5

 I think I will just make the deadline for this challenge.  I particularly love the shimmery, gauzy look which I wanted to capture

Then, whilst waiting for an appointment found the latest edition of Harpers Bazaar Australia, which also uses the same texture and colour, so I have sort of combined them both,

The stamping on vellum isn't quite so clear in the photo but does look lovely and delicate.  

What you need
Cardstock - PTI Kraft, Spring Rain,vellum
Stamps - TE Friendship Blooms
Ink - PTI Fresh Snow
Die - TE Leaves
Pale Blue thread, Rose
Gems - Kaisercraft
Ribbon - PTI


Grade 4 had their first camp this week and have come home extremely tired but happy.  So hopefully a quiet weekend before back to school next week.