Butterfly & roses thankyou card.

Hi again friends!!

Here's a card that honestly--I nearly gave up on about 3 times...thank goodness I didn't though! I'm in love with the bright yellow and the über pretty American Crafts roses ribbon that I spotted on several of Sarah's cards. (I'm in love!)

I didn't have a plan in mind at the beginning of making this card but it turned out COMPLETELY differently to how in envisioned it after I first started. It was going to be paler, more neutral with a 'biology report'-type feel.
The Hero Arts ledger stamp in the background just makes me want to measure things and write them down along with scientific apparatus and such!! (Paper and stamps do strange things to my brain!!)



and a side shot so you can see the dimension:


HOW I DID IT:
I inked a piece of white cardstock with Antique Linen distress ink and using the same colour, stamped the Ledger cling stamp. Next I stamped the butterfly image all over the "ledger paper" also using Antique Linen and clear heat-embossed it, then distressed the page edge.
Next, I stamped the larger butterfly onto plain white cardstock using black stayzon ink and coloured it with PTI Pure Poppy & Plum Pudding inks (using daubers). It was lovely but a bit pale in the centre (the Plum Pudding) so I went in with copics and added some colours.
Next I used a tiny bit of Glossy accents on the butterfly's wings (to make the 'veins' stand out more, which in turn makes the colour more vibrant).

{Hint: the glossiness of the Glossy Accents is repeated again in the use of the acetate--this made the card really 'come to life'...little 'matching elements' like this can really up the WOW factor, its also more pleasing to the eye.}

Using the dauber from the butterfly (without reinking them as I wanted just a hint of colour), I brushed the Pure Poppy over the wings of the background butterflies to tie in the pink from the front area of the card. It looks very pretty in real life.

I knew I wanted the butterfly to sit on the rose ribbon, as if it were in a garden, so it was all just a matter of placement. I 'accidently' (read: on purpose but then hated it) coloured the body of the butterfly in black but it looked horrible so I added the rhinestones and I love the effect. I just laid 2 strips of thin double sided tape directly below the rose ribbon, adhered the cardstock that I'd edge punched & inked with Pure Poppy PTI ink and repeated the same (double-sided tape on top of this cardstock) to adhere down the yellow ribbon, with a ripple effect on one side.

I cut the 'sentiment frame' from a tiny piece of yellow bazzil cardstock using Nestabilities Labels 4 and set it on dimensional tape.
I decided to use acetate for the sentiment, so after stamping it with white versamagic ink, I adhered little buttons strategically around the sentiment so I'd be able to adhere the acetate to the yellow bazzil cardstock (the nestabilities die cut shape), which I did using glue dots directly behind the buttons.

Lastly I added some bling and attached the whole thing to a piece of dark brown bazzil cardstock to make the card body.

The stats--there are a LOT of components:

Ribbons~ American Crafts rose; small yellow ribbon (pleated)- from my stash (un-labeled)
Copics(on butterfly): V04, V12, V06,RV1,RV11.
Stamps~ (all Hero Arts) Essential messages, Butterfly cling, Ledger cling
Clear embossing powder (butterflies on ledger paper)
Inks~Papertrey Ink Plum Pudding & Pure Poppy (main butterfly & light colouring on background butterflies); Tim Holtz Antique Linen & Walnut stain distress inks; Cloud White Versa Magic (sentiment), Black stayz on (butterfly)
Ranger Glossy Accents (main butterfly)
Buttons--my stash (read:un-labelled :)) tied with pink embroidery thread.
Zots, Terrifically tacky red tape.
Martha Stewart Moroccan edger punch.
Rhinestones: Kaisercraft
Overhead Projector acetate.
Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 4

PHEW!!

anyhoo--hope you like it as much as I do!! I've got a screaming baby I have to get back to.

Take care and thanks so much for looking! Please feel free to leave a comment--I'd love to hear from you!

Masculine sympathy card

Hi again!

A quickie today.

Here is a sympathy card I made for my best friend's husband, who recently lost his dear grandmother. I wasn't sure where to go for a masculine sympathy card but decided that just because it's for a man, doesn't mean it can't be beautiful.

I decided to stick with muted colours and an unusual design. I put the note from us inside the envelope and kept the card single layer (like a postcard).

The stats:
Flower: Prima "Raspberry"
Ribbon: Martha Stewart
Lace: $1 shop!! yay!!
Envelope: Maya Road (LOVE LOVE LOVE)
Stamps: Flourish & La letter woodblock, Sentiment "Thinking of You" Cling (Hero Arts)
Button & Twine: my stash
Ivory cardstock
Inks: Black Soot (Sentiment), Frayed Burlap, Walnnut Stain & Peeled Paint(envelope & backing card)
Backing to photo: Matt's jeans :) I had to take the photo in the car on the way to deliver it!!

anyhoo, thanks for stopping by and looking! I hope you like--please feel free to leave a comment!! I'd love to hear your thoughts...

till next time~~

*tries to look guilty for not blogging but instead yawns*

Hi again!

Sorry it's been so long--this will only be a quickie. The days have been flying by and I've made a few things but mostly just been playing and tidying my scrappy corner. I did a huge overhaul of the space which was exhausting and back-breaking but it's better now!

I've also changed the layout to the blog--I hope you like it! It's much simpler but prettier I think...however I've got this annoying little "undefined undefined" icon thingo showing up in the top left corner...anyone know how to fix that?! maybe it's from when I was fiddling with the html....I was going to change to typepad as I'd heard it had better layouts and better features...as always in life, this apparently is only true when you're paying for it! SO i'm sticking with this one... I'm not 100% happy with the blog name (the url I mean) but it's working so far, so ...again, I'll stick with it (unless any of you has a suggestion?!)

Please tell me what you think of the new style.

I've got several new pics but I'll have to upload them tomorrow-I'm pooped today!

Thanks to all of you who come by and read my little bloggy ramblings...there's now an 'RSS' feed button (it's kinda see through but it's there just at the top of this post) that you can click if you'd like updates to when I post (which hopefully will be more often!)

I'm going to attempt to participate in more challenges--I think I need the inspiration. I see it everywhere (note: my blog title) but I'm having a hard time translating it onto paper this last few days. Never the right ribbon colour, or the right embellishment. Never the right hole-punch. You know what I mean. I just have to get my brain sorted and GET TO PLAY!! (not work :))

anyhoo, I'm off to bed early tonight (10:30pm..woohoo!!) so I'll say Oyasuminasai (Japanese for goodnight) and hope to 'see' you all again soon.

PLEASE feel free to comment, even if it's only a few words, I think it would be wonderful to feel like I'm writing TO someone rather than myself or the big ol' void that is cyberspace.

take care

You make me smile...

Hello hello!!

WOWWWWOOOWOWOWOWOW!!! What a huge response to my last card!!! How exciting!!! I'm so proud to have had Hero Arts tweet about it!!! What a huge honour!! I had a quiet internal challenge to myself since I started making cards and following tweets, blogs and Hero Arts etc that I'd keep trying to improve until H.A noticed one of my cards on the flickr group and tweeted about it...WHO WOULD'VE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE SO SOON!!! *blushes*

THEN!!!! Sarah Martina (the very genius this card was inspired by) tweeted about it too!! *double blushes*

Thank you all so much for the WONDERFUL comments!!! It's such an honour to be noticed by such talented, gorgeous people!! I'm so humbled.

It's been a really rotten few weeks for me, my 5 month old daughter is going to need surgery for a kidney problem and I'm trying not to have a complete heart-attack, but its very stressful. It will all be happening next month so I'm doing my best to hold it together until she goes into surgery (then I'll have a total meltdown I'm sure) and I'll be aiming to be back to functioning when she comes back out...*positive thinking positive thinking positive thinking*

ok. back to happier thoughts and pretty cards :)



I kept going with the 'pretty, girly and glittery' kind of mentality for this one and I'm really pleased with it.

Here are the stats:
Bazzil textured cardstock in fushia/dark pink
Beige/tan cardstock (untextured)
Hero Arts Friends definition cling stamp-- inked with Martha Stewart queue chalk inks-hibiscus; colorbox cats eye queue-olive, Tim Holtz antique linen & Vintage photo D.I (just tiny dabs of each).
Whole section edged with Tim Holtz walnut stain Distress ink.
Swirl stamp: Heidi Swapp
Bling: "Basics" Rhinestone strips by Kaisercraft in pink.
Martha Stewart etiquettes tag
Stamped wtih Hibiscus chalk ink (M.S queue) & Hero Arts La Letter stamp.
Pink patterned strip: Marcella range by K cardstock. "Lucy's Linen Mat Deck" (K & Co)
punched with MS edger punch.
Sentiment: "you" Thickers: "Glass Slipper" by American Crafts (GORGEOOOOOOOUS!!!)
"make me smile" Hero Arts "All occasions messages" clear stamp set.
Feathers, pearls & chocolate ribbon: local craft shop.
Terrible handstitching: by me :) using embroidery thread.



Hope you enjoyed!! Thanks for looking & comments make my sun shine brighter!!







PS I always title these posts based on the sentiment of the card I'm showing you. I also usually title each post at the end, just before posting so that I can be sure to include any ramblings/changes that I might include that I hadn't planned--how fitting that I'd make a card with the sentiment "You make me smile" the night before such a hugely overwhelming and humbling response to my card. Again, thank you all so much for the wonderful comments..."I'd like to thank the academy..." lol. YOU all make me smile so much. Thank you thank you thank you...

Sarah Martina inspires me endlessly

Hello!

I'm such a huge fan of Sarah Martina Parker and I'm constantly left breathless by her ridiculously beautiful cards.

Her recent post on the colour throwdown (http://sarahmartina.com/blog/2010/07/08/color-throwdown-100-clear-and-simple-stamps/)
inspired me to make this card.

I'm really happy with it, more so than I've been with anything else I've made recently...or ever, so thank you Sarah!!!
I'm so glad to feel happy with something I've made, my mojo has REEEEALLY been waning lately. I might maker her blog my homepage :) Beautiful things every time I open my laptop--yes please!!!


Here are the specs...
*Hero Arts Friends definition stamp, inked with Chalk inks from Colour queue in ocean & olive, with a little Walnut Stain Distress Ink on the edges.
*Olive green lace from local $1 store!!
*Brown Ribbon, chinese coin & Household String from stash.
*Tim Holtz Movers & Shapers Alterations die, run through the bigkick with Swiss Dots embossing folder.
*White alphabet stickers (name lost!!), inked with same colourbox queue chalk inks.
*Prima flower
*Bling from Simonsaysstamp.com
*Espresso Bazzil Cardstock



Hope you like!! Thanks for looking :)

many creations and apologies ...

Hello again!!

I promised I'd be back didn't I?!

Ok, so today, a few cards that I made a while back but forgot to post and a few newies...

first the older ones...














The first was made using Broken China DI on scalloped circles I punched out and stamped with the Hero Arts Dots & Flowers woodblock stamp, Claudine Helmuth Sticky-back Canvas with Faded Jeans DI and the Hero Arts Japanese writing stamp. The canvas is mounted on white cardstock inked with Faded Moss & Peeled Paint DI, which is mounted on a piece of white cardstock that has the Hero arts Friends Definition stamped in Walnut Ink with Tea Dye & Antique Linen ink over the page...FINALLY I topped alll those layers on brown Bazzil cardstock and rounded the corners...

The second card is made using some cardstock I picked up at the Perth Craft Fair, it's a wedding paper pad set...name of which completely evades me!! (I'll come back and add the name later) I used the tutorial Dawn on youtube did for the 'waterfall card'--you can find plenty of them.













This card is using another set of papers I got at the Perth Craft Fair, Mariposa is the name and it's just a teeny pad of paper, maybe 5"x3.5". GORGEOUS papers!! I diecut the butterfly on my Bigkick and then heat embossed with Bronze embossing powder and the Hero Arts Swirl Stamp.
The sentiment is from Hero ARts and says "thinking of you". The little black butterfly you see on the Sentiment piece (the central piece of card) is from Martha Stewart Punch. I thought this would be a great sympathy card but it could also be nice just for a birthday/everyday card for someone a little older.

I just want to wrap myself up in the gorgeous bird cage paper in this set. Card tutorial is on Splitcoast Stampers (Tri-fold card).

I might just give you a list of details for this one:
Hero Arts Wildflower Stamp--inked with Walnut stain DI, I heat embossed it half in clear embossing powder and the other parts I used white to make an unusual effect-it looks great in person. (I'd like to try this as snow actually!)
Hero Arts French letter stamp-antique Linen Distress Ink
Antique Linen & a touch of Walnut Stain on the page behind & on sentiment (which is handwritten).
The flower & 'ripple' is handmade from lace, using hotglue. (Technique shown on Marion Smith's ustream channel)



Hero Arts stamps: Hydrangea, French Script, Grid Pattern
Inks: Broken China & Peeled Paint & Forest Moss (for flower)
Broken China, Weathered Wood (Grid background)
Antique Linen (white page in background).
Stayz on in Black on Transparency paper for the sentiment.
Mushroom coloured embroidery thread for bow.







The deets:
Walnut Stain & Frayed Burlap (for background cardstock)
Peeled Paint & Frayed Burlap for tag wtih French Script Hero Arts stamp in Walnut stain on tag.
Peeled Paint & Swiss Dots embossing folder on backing piece of paper.
White embossing powder for leaf stamp on tag.
Peeled Paint ink on white prima e-line flowers.
White Martha Stewart ribbon.

mini tag with handwritten sentiment--from a packet of ribbon I bought from a craft shop-if only I could find some of these to buy!


ok!! that's it!! sorry it's taken sooooooooooo long. We've all been sick one after another in my house this last week and my mojo was a bit AWOL before that...I keep starting projects, loving them then I get to the end and think..."hmmm what's the finishing touch that it needs?" and then I get frustrated and huff as I leave my craft desk because I can't find just the right thing...I need MUCH more ribbon :)
I have a mini album to put a video up for but I have to send it to my friend first!


thanks for looking!!

I am still alive!!!

Hi there,

I know, I know, it's been 2 weeks PLUS since I posted anything, we've been dealing with some health issues for our youngest daughter, she's going to need surgery soon, so it's been doctors, specialists, more doctors, tests, blah blah blah and then on top of it all, my husband and elder daughter have been sick this week so it's just been a BUST. I've done a few cards and finished off a mini album that I made a quick video of and I'll be uploading all those tomorrow...I tried to today only to be greeted with a sad little bleep from the camera who's battery had died...again, it's been one of those weeks.

anyhoo!

thanks so much for checking in, I PROMISE I'll upload some stuff soon...as long as my best friend doesn't want to see Twilight Eclipse tomorrow instead of the planned Sunday...Twilight may have to take precendence!! I haven't had a couple of hours to myself in several months so I'm sure you'll understand!!

thanks again for stopping by and talk to you soon!