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

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

Not raining .... but VERY hot

Interesting .....  how all my post titles are weather related.  Possibly because things in this part of the world have been so out of the ordinary.

What colour is "coral"?  There is the lovely hue in the challenge photo but I had nothing remotely resembling it.  SU used to have a coral colour but I always hated it (sorry Michelle!).  So, where to next.  I have opted for Tsukineko's official coral colour, a lovely pink tone.  So did the old smoosh on paper and love the result.  

There have been so many wonderful versions of  negative diecuts which I thought would be perfect for both these challenges.

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white, black

Stamps - PTI Stitched Sentiments;  Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Words

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black;  Brilliance Pearlescent Coral

Dies - Memory Box Prim Poppy;  PTI Stitched Sentiments

*****

Now, this green - Glorious Green, is a difficult colour for me.  Not because I don't like it, I love its freshness, but my tastes really lie in the yellow-green spectrum.  

Which is probably why I went with minimal green of any kind (oh, and some new background stamps).  

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white, black

Stamps - HA Number Pattern, Thank you, Lotus Leaves

Ink - Memento London Fog,  Versacolor Fresh Green;  Versafine Onyx Black

Gems - Kaisercraft.

*****

 I was going to stop there with the whole challenge thing this weekend, as I usually find after 2 or 3 I am no longer enjoying the "process".  But this one just wouldn't go away and after I saw a  post by Laura Bassen, it gave me an idea.

I tried this with the hexagon pattern in black, which I thought would work, but the white seemed more harmonious.  I wanted to work with my new extended collection of Inktense pencils but the effect wasn't as smooth as Copics.

Pretty happy with the effect actually.

What you need

Cardstock - PTI white, Express it blender card

Stamps - HA Luscious Frames

Ink - Versafine Onyx Black

Die - PTI Happy Hexagons

Copics

Corner Rounder - We R Memory Keepers

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.

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