Holidays at last ...... almost

Just one more ballet commitment to go and we will be on holidays officially!  My daughter has her ballet exam tomorrow afternoon, and they are very well prepared.  Yesterday, together with her "adventure" buddy, she did the Spartan Run.  Now you may ask what that is and you may also be asking what sort of mother lets her daughter do this before a ballet exam.  Well, I'll tell you ..... one that certainly wasn't thinking ahead when she cheerfully said, yes, nothing on that day, she is on holidays!!!

The Spartan Run is a an obstacle course cum exercise in lunacy.  Needless to say, the clothes that came home were destroyed with mud (make that 2 sets because my husband did the adults (or idiots) version.  Of course, now it's winter they held it west of Brisbane - absolutely freezing.  

It did give me a day to make cards though ....... YAY

This is the previous sketch from Cardabilities which I missed but really loved and, as you may know, I cannot resist Navy.  There were so many elements to this graphic and would have liked to use them all. 

I don't know that there was any driftwood or any other type of wood in fact, but wanted to use something like that, so cut very thin strips of kraft card.  

What you need

Cardstock - PTI Kraft, white

Patterned paper - MME Lush 2 (Navy Stripe)

Stamps - Cas-ual Fridays Bold Wishes; PTI Star Prints;  SU Ocean Commotion

Ink - Memento Nautical Blue; SU Marina Mist, Midnight Muse

Punch - Fiskars

******

Along with one of my standby challenges, I wanted to get a few birthday cards under my belt.  There are a few coming up in my family, including my best friend who is "enjoying" a significant birthday today.  I have seen a couple of beautiful cards done for this challenge, and I think this will be a very versatile sketch (notice using up more of the patterned paper - yay me!)

Turquoise is a tricky colour for me - not because I don't like it, just that my SU ink pad isn't the best and have no other colour close to it, so I have opted for the paper

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white

Patterned Paper - MME Lush 2 Turquoise stripe

Stamps - Avery Elle Petals and Stems;  PTI Stylish Sentiments: Birthday

Ink - SU Poppy Parade, Gumball Green;  Regal Rose

Corner Rounder

Die - PTI Ribbon Tails

OK, time to work on my PTI blog hop card - the theme is gold.  I have a few ideas but really need to settle on just one, before it looks just plain gaudy.

A quick Tuesday night card

Couldn't let this colour scheme go untested.  So what I tried to incorporate is the delicate pink of the apricot/peach flesh with the more striking colour of the skin.  

This is based on a previous CAS(E) this sketch challenge which I didn't get around to.  Again, my favourite stars but no bling - how rare is that for me!  

What you need

Cardstock - PTI black, white, melon berry;  BB apricot

Stamps - MFT On the Line, Pretty Poppies (sentiment)

Ink - Versafine Onyx Black

Die - MFT Star Stax

Would like to be back before the end of the week, but, well, work calls and that is what pays for this addiction.

Now ....... Breathe ............

WOW ... huge (cultural) weekend for us, but I have to say my daughter did the hard yards.  In the past week, she has had the final week of school for this term.  But also rehearsals leading up to the mid year Aust. Girls Choir showcase, a day long workshop with choirs from other schools in the area and  a charity concert for dance.  Now we can relax.

This first card is a real mix up of colours and patterns which I thought would be great for a teenager.

Love these colours, so summery, which is nothing like the weather here at the moment.  Winter has really hit now - but nothing like the Northern hemisphere experiences - but we do suffer ("tears tears").

Love this little sentiment!

What you need

Cardstock - PTI red, white

Stamps - CAS-ual Fridays Woot woot, Big Thanks

Ink - SU real red, Island Indigo, Certainly Celery;  PTI Hawaiian Shores;  Memento Tuxedo Black

Punches - SU

Ribbon - Certainly Celery satin

Gems - Kaisercraft

Marker - SU Island Indigo

******

Now, I have to add a few thoughts on the Bolshoi Ballet.  So very glad we went, larger than life, BUT,   I think I far preferred the subtlety and elegance of the Hamburg ballet we saw last year.   It is a great experience for children to see these famous companies and make informed decisions on their preferences.  They were faultless but, in my opinion, a bit emotionless. 

OK enough artsy opinion,  needed to have a go at a few challenges close to my heart.  No stretch on colour, theme or bling (NEVER a problem there).  I loosely interpreted that Graphite Black was BLACK.  

Edited to add:  this was selected as the Headliner for The Paper Players.  Thank you, that is a real thrill!

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white, black;  SU Lucky Limeade

Stamps - CAS-ual Fridays stamps Bold Wishes, Mum's the Word

Ink - SU Lucky Limeade Memories Unicorn white, Brilliance Starlite Black (well, it has black in the name!!)

Die - TE branch

Gems - Kaisercraft

Now.... tell me...

... how is it that a day spent in not doing much activity leaves you exhausted.  My daughter had 5 teeth out today, not complicated but she had to deal with a general anaesthetic for the first time.  

 North West private hospital on the northside of Brisbane were BRILLIANT.  Every level of care were just fantastic, particularly with a child who has had no experience of a hospital.  

Thank you from the Jones family.

She came through it beautifully, and ate when she came home.  She will definitely have tomorrow off (as her nurse said "children, school and raw wounds - not a great mix").  

OK, here is a quick card from today - between serving various forms of cold food and blog surfing, I came up with this one.

What you need

Cardstock - PTI Black, white

Stamps - Cas-ual Fridays Woot-woot, HA Year Round Sentiments; PTI Star Prints

Ink - Versamark;  Versafine Onyx Black

Glitter Ritz

Bolshoi Ballet Sunday

Guess who's going to the ballet today!!  Can't wait.  Queensland audiences have been warned that we are too reserved when watching ballet (of the Russian kind) and that if we feel like clapping and cheering mid dance, then we should.  My daughter has one busy day today, still sick of course.  First up this morning she is doing "The Colour Run", a new thing to Australia but it looks SOOOO much fun.  She is doing it with one of her school/triathlon friends, so I think they will giggle more than run and enjoy having as much colour as possible hurled at them.  Parents at a respectful distance behind.  That is on the Gold Coast - 1 1/2 hours from home.  

So once we are plastered in colour, she has to be back for a private ballet lesson, presumably un-coloured, not sure how that will work out as I am pretty sure she won't have time to come home.  THEN, we go to the Bolshoi.  BIG BIG BIG here in Brisbane.  

So by evening she will be exhausted.  Le Corssaire (never been staged in Australia before) is 3 hours 20 minutes long with 2 intervals.  So we won't get home till after 7 and of course, it is a school night.

First up, a Christmas card of the CAS kind.  I assure you that his beard and hat are furry.  This one could be a goer for my daughter's friends cum the end of the year.

Edited to Add:  My little friend here was nominated for a Shout Out - what a thrill!

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white; Canson shimmer gold

Patterned paper - PTI patterns in New Leaf, Pure Poppy

Stamps - PTI Holiday Button Bits, Communique Curves

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black;  Delicata Gold Glitz

Copics

Brads - SU

*****

Now for one of my favourite challenges, particularly when we have  a divine graphic like this one.  Summer - hmmm, second day of winter here, but none the less, most of our year is spent in near summer conditions so shouldn't have too much trouble channelling warmth.

It is hard to see, but the yellow paper is striped

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white, Summer Sunrise;  SU Old Olive;  BB mid pink

DSP - SU Brights Collection

Ink - Versafine Onyx Black

Stamps - Cas-ual Fridays Stamps Woot Woot

Dies - MFT Layer Flag Stax;  TE branch;  PTI Ribbon Ends (?)

MS butterfly punch

Pearls and Gems - Kiasercraft

*****

My Avery Elle stamps have arrived and what better way to christen them than with my first Avery Elle challenge - and in beautiful blues and blue-greens. 

Apologies for the photography - taken on my iPhone

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white

Stamps - Avery Elle Framed Fonts, To the Point

Ink - Memento Danube Blue, Bahama Blue;  PTI Hawaiian Shores

Twine - The Twinery (Ocean)

The Paper Players #147

 This card started out quite a different beast.  I wanted to combine it with another one of my favourite challenges, but when I had another look at the colours, the dominant hue was sadly lacking.  So no Stampin Royalty today.

This is probably the hardest challenge for me to do - this says multiple patterned papers to me (or stamping).  Not absolutely sure what I think about this one, perhaps the card size is a bit too big for the diecut.  I dunno!

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white, black

Patterned paper - Echo Park Victoria Gardens

Die - MFT

Stamps - MFT On the Line

Ink - Versafine Onyx Black

Gems - Kaisercraft

I hope to be back over the weekend with a couple of cards, certainly the plan is there.  Those gates still need painting.

PTI May 2013 Blog Hop

A beautiful winter's day here in Brisbane.  The perfect time to get some outdoor jobs done.  My husband and father-in-law have just built 2 side gates, which I love (if you can love gates) and now my job is to paint them.  I actually quite like painting and it gets me out of the housework!  

I had SOOOO much trouble picking a colour palette, I loved them all.  So went with the pink - no surprise there!  But I also missed last months challenge - tilted.  Therefore I have combined both challenges and am very happy with the result.

What you need
Cardstock - PTI white
Stamps - PTI Embroidered Blooms, Think Big Favourites
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black;  PTI Raspberry Fizz, Hibiscus Burst, Ripe Avocado;  Memento Tangelo
Black Marker
Gems - Kaisercraft

Edited to Add:  At Darnell's very kind suggestion, I am also entering this for the latest CAS(E) this Sketch challenge.  I don't know how I missed it. 

Pinspired No. 9

I think I will just make the deadline for this challenge.  Where has the week gone - well with a husband away and and child sick - up the spout.  Anyway, enough moaning,  a day playing mummy has allowed my to stamp YAY!  

All those rich pinks and golds, yum!  Had to have a go.  I think at the bottom of the graphic are sequins so I have added them.  Not my thing necessarily, but having a daughter, I have TONNES of them.  But didn't want to take it any further.

What you neeed
Cardstock - BB pink; Canson shimmer gold
Stamps - PTI Embroidered Blooms
Ink - Versamark
Embossing Powder - Zing! Glitter Black
Punch - SU
Sequins

? Christmas ..... already!

I have had the Festive Friday challenge sitting in my to do list for quite some time, but this is the first time I have attempted it.  So to go with that, the latest WMS Christmas card challenge, hosted by Charmaine Stack and the theme is Glitter.

So, lots of glitter and my favourite Christmas sweet treat - Gingerbread.  I am too lazy to decorate it but love baking and of course eating it (any time of year really).  

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white

Glitter card - Bella! Glitz Rouge

Stamps - WMS Nutcracker Sweet, Candy Jar Christmas Fillers

Ink - SU Early Espresso

Punch - SU scallop

Stickles - Red, Diamond

*****

I missed the dessert option for Dynamic Duos, initially but I was determined to use a bear for this sketch.  Must be telepathic!  

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white; SU Pacific Point

Stamps - PTI Baby Button Basics

Ink - VersafinStame Onyx Black;  Memento Bahama Blue

Copic T1

Various punches - SU

Glossy Accents

Goosebumps - K and Company

*****

And finally for this weekend - 2 colours I don't use much and 1 quite a bit.  And yes, you guessed it, another piece of 12 x 12 bites the dust - very satisfying!  I admit to a bit of recycling too.  The twine around the button came with my first (I anticipate many more) consignments of Cas-ual Fridays Stamps.  I had a very hard time limiting the number of stamp sets.  It's all Susan Raihala's fault, she has created some really great cards with these stamps lately.

I digress.  More baby cards, male or female this time I think

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white;  SU Calypso Coral, Island Indigo

Patterned Paper - Pebbles Inc Ever After (Sparkle)

Stamps - PTI Baby Button Basics

Ink  - Versafine Onyx Black

Die - SB classic scalloped circles

Pen - SU Calypso Coral

Button - PTI

Friday afternoon fun

This card started out a very different beast.  Let us just say, no glitter was involved.  But a quick trip to one of my favourite bloggers, led me to this Julie Ebersole for Ellen Hutson.  I had to try it.  Love the effect but, man does that ink travel fast!  Had to do a few quick fixes, but it is quite forgiving.

This photo, hopefully gives  a better idea of the  glitter.

But ... maybe not

What you need

Cardstock - PTI black, white

Big Shot Multi purpose adhesive sheets - SU

Stamps - HA Pattern Hearts and Flowers, Year Round Sentiments

Ink - Brilliance Graphite Black

Copics - YG05, YG17, R11, R14, R46,Colourless Blender

Glitter - Glitter Ritz Microfine Opaque white

Gems - Kaisercraft