Christmas CAES-ing Kez - #1

Not that long ago I was privileged enough to be involved in another session of Cards For The Troops with Kerry Bunting. Between all of us we mastered about 250 cards in under 4 hours. The mood was jolly and light and many laughs were had. You can see the cards we made on Kerry's blog HERE. To save confusion, This is the card I worked on at the session and consequently also CASEd.

I certainly got a crash course in sponging on that day....mind you....I could have had to cut out 50 of the doves....hee hee hee. I loved the tones in this card and they had a real classic, vintage feel to them. This is my version......



For the version above, I cut out the Crumb cake layer all together. I added the Dazzling Diamonds to the dove and randomly to the main image. I am not usually a fan of sparkle, but it did add something very special to the card. Here is the dove close up....

Thanks so much Kez for providing me with the inspiration for such a fantastic card. I love it to bits. Belated thanks for allowing me to be a part of cards For the troops again. It is such a rollicking afternoon for a brilliant cause.

Thanks for dropping by.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla

Ink: (SU) Crumb Cake, Soft Suede

Stamps: SU A Wish For Peace (ret), Kaiser Clear Christmas Greetings Stamps

Other Bits: SU Dazzling Diamonds, Nestabilities Classic Ovals, Sponges, Dimsnsionals

Lynda xx

Teacher's Presents - #1

Hi all,

Thanks again for stopping by and thanks also for your patience with the time between posts. In the lead up to Christmas I kinda over extended myself and was left finishing gifts til 1.15AM Christmas AM!!!

I have so much Christmas stuff to show you, I will bundle some,  bit I also hope you'll indulge the speccy ones that need posts of their own. This is one.

I had a request to make a gift for the teacher of a girl that my daughter dances with. Being male, her mum was struggling for an idea of what to get. She often sees me crafting at dancing and she asked if I had something perhaps suitable....yeah sure....AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!

So I went through my male "things" and came up with the following set. Here it is all together.

I will feature the card in an upcoming post. The box is the same type that I featured in a previous post here. I 'bloked it up" by keeping embellishments to a minimum, but did put his initials on the box.

I was pretty happy that I got ribbon on all 3 bits of the gift!!!

The desk caddy was so much fun. I had found paper blocks (4" x 4") at the Reject Shop for $1 and based the whole project around this. It had a simple easel top and a 2012 mini calendar to keep it open.

All parties were very happy with the gift. The teacher even pulled me aside on the last day of school and thanked me (which I thought was lovely). He admitted the chocolates did not last very long and has discarded the base and is using it as a trinket box on his dresser.

Thanks for popping by. I will post (hopefully) slightly more frequently in the weeks to come.

Stuff used:
CS: (SU) Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla, Whisper White (card) and KO Verbena Brown - Dots and Floral DP
Ink: (SU) Choc Chip
Stamps: (SU) Dasher, Occasional Greetings
Other Bits: Nestabilities Labels One, SU 1 1/4" Real red striped ribbon, Carla Craft CP2 Sparkles punch

Christmas CASE - #3

Good Morning all!!

Is anyone else feeling the impending time and pressure of Christmas? I must admit this year I am feeling it terribly!!!

This is the 2nd card I turned out from the visit to my friend's place. It is based on a tag that I saw on SCS here. I expanded and added a little to make it into a cute and a little bit of a cheeky Christmas card.

I will admit to a small squeal of delight escaping when the final piece was placed on this card. The Santa vest was achieved by stamping the Santa tag from the Tags 'Til Christmas set and then punching it out in the Owl Punch. Add some Summer Sun SWM for the belt.....and Santa was complete. The hat is a Carla Craft CP2 Heart with a small trim of a Word Window Punch for the trim.

Finished off with  the Scallop Square punch and the sentiment.....

I have since made a couple of more versions of this card, but have not yet photographed them.

Thanks for popping by. I hope I am not boring you with all of this CASE-ing.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Jolly Holiday DSP (ret), Soft Suede, Basic Black, Only Orange, Old Olive

Ink: (SU) Cherry Cobbler

Stamps: (SU) Tags 'Til Christmas

Punches: (SU) Owl Punch, Scallop Border Punch, 1 1/4 Square Punch, Scallop Square Punch, XL Bird Punch

Other Bits: Dimensionals, Cuttlebug Christmas Holly Leaf and Berry Embossing Folder

Lynda xx

Christmas CASE - #2

A couple of weeks back I landed over at my friend's place with the soul intention of making Christmas Cards. I would like the record to reflect that I made 6 and she got 1 done, but in her defence, she did make a lot of owls too!!!

I think I am a SUCKER for Christmas stamp sets, due to the fact that when I packed up my stamps to go to her place, I actually had to leave SOME behind. One set I did take was "Tags Til Christmas". I got the inspiration for my card from this one on SCS.

Now still feeding my overwhelming desire to have no 2 cards the same, these are similar in very subtle ways.

The original card I found a bit plain, so I dry embossed the tops of the cards for a small bit of interest.

and also used the border punches to flair things up a bit....

The best thing about this card is that it went up very quickly, thus easy to mass produce of so desired.

Thanks for popping by again.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Jolly Holiday DSP (ret)

Ink: (SU) Old Olive

Stamps: (SU) Tags 'Til Christmas

Punches: (SU) Decorative Label Punch, Scallop Trim Border, Pinking Hearts Border

Other Bits: Cuttlebug "Just My Type" embossing borders, Dimensionals

Lynda xx

Christmas CASE - #1

Once again....sincere apologies for time between posts. My intention was to post my Christmas cards fairly regularly, but you know what they say about the best laid plans!!!

This year for Christmas, I have found that a lot of my cards have gone down the "non traditional" colours route. I also have CASE'd a lot of my card ideas....and put my own little twist on them. This is the 1st of my Christmas CASEs.

In 2010 I was privileged enough to be involved with Kerry Bunting and her enclave of crafters in Cards For The Troops. We have since done a couple of Christmas sessions and even a round for Mother's Day. The designs Kerry comes up with are simple, elegant and VERY reproducible. I used her card from 2010 here (scroll down to the third picture). It used the set "A Wish for Peace" which is sadly now retired. I made a few versions, with the variance being the edge of the border.

Scallop Trim Border

Pinking Hearts Border

And lastly I used the flower from the Bouquet Blossom Triple Layer Punch

I also tried to "age" this one up a bit by sponging the edges in Tim Holtz "Tea Dye" Distress Ink. Seen slightly better here....

Thanks Kerry for providing the inspiration for this lovely Chrissy card. I will be back later (and hopefully soon) with other Christmas CASE'd cards.

Thanks for popping by.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Always Artichoke

Ink: (SU) Always Artichoke, SWMs in Crumb Cake and Always Artichoke, Tim Holtz "Tea Dye" Distress Ink

Stamps: (SU) A Wish For Peace (ret)

Punches: (SU) Scallop Trim Border Punch, Pinking Hearts Border Punch, Bouquet Blossom Triple Layer Punch

Lynda xx

Christmas - Dasher #1

Hi all,

Is anyone else scratching their head and wondering where the time is evaporating??? Every year I get 'organised' earlier and the time vanishes quicker....AAARRRGGGHHHHH!!!!

....and breathe......

My Dasher stamp has come in for a bit of a work oer this Christmas. It started here!!! Over at Inkspirations4U for the Christmas session, we were thrown this colour challenge....

For some reason it jumped out at me. I was inspired by this card on SCS, but I wished to keep it very much more simple. This was my version.....

I made an edge for the circle with the Scallop Trim Border Punch and nipped and eased it onto the circle. The edge on the Decorative Label punch was done by punching another 2 labels from Razz and cutting then in half, one lengthwise, one vertically and placed them to the depth of border required.

I am very happy with the finished product. I hope all of you creative souls out there are "on top" of your Christmas mountains!! Stay sane and I hope to be back soon with some more Christmas fun.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Sahara Sand, Rich Razzleberry, Very Vanilla

Ink: (SU) Always Artichoke, Sahara Sand

Stamps: (SU) Dasher, Contempo Christmas, Weathered BGS

Punches/Dies: SU Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Decorative Label Punch, Nestabilities Classic Circle dies

Lynda xx

Christmas......finally!!!

Well talk about trying to cram as much into one post as possible!!!! Here goes.......

Our Creative Corner has a wonderful new challenge this week being "O Christmas Tree". The premise is simple - make a project with a Christmas tree in it!! Woo hoo....can DO.

Enter next cram.....I am soon to be taking approx 22 (give or take) 1st class children (5-6yo) for some Christmas Craft. We are making a Christmas card with inspiration I gained from Leonie Schroder here. This is what I came up with....

Easy enough (hopefully) for the kids to cut/fold/glue together and also satisfying the challenge for OCC. I love the way the tree has a 3D effect.

Also...being the season, I made different versions of the same. Love how you can go to from portrait to landscape without changing dimensions.

Thanks for dropping by. More Christmas cards to come very soon.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Pear Pizzaz, Poppy Parade, Whisper White

Ink: (SU) Pear Pizzaz, Poppy Parade, Soft Suede

Stamps: (SU) Pennant Parade, Best Yet

Punches: (SU) Petite Pennants Builder Punch, Scallop OvalPunch, Large Oval Punch

Other Bits: Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Paper Mill Crystal Stars

Lynda xx

Marking a milestone...

Hi all,

So sorry for the infrequency of blogging, however, at work it has been a tad out of the ordinary. Both of our senior docs ended up in hospital and the other nurse had a nasty bout of ikky reign down upon her, so it has been all hands on deck to cover workloads and keep things afloat.

Once of my darling regular patients celebrated a milestone......91. In her words....every day you get past 90 is a gift...so the ones that come in a 365 day bundle are a PARTY!!! She is a fantastic lady and we share all kinds of stories and mischief when she comes in for her visits.

I had been waiting v v patiently for the Build-a-Blossom stamp set and punch to come out. This was as good an opportunity as any to see what I could do. I had seen this and loved the idea of the black CS. I ran with it and this is what I came up with.

Too much fun!!! Now as you all know I like to do a good bookmark too, and this lady LOVES her books. I was also patiently waiting for the Fun Flowers Bigz L die to be released so I could do similar bookmarks to Dawn Griffiths here. I do not have a Big Shot, but use a lot of the Sizzix dies in my Cuttlebug. I thought I had done enough research and found that I could use the die......WRONG!!!!!!

(skip the next paragraph if you wish to avoid the saga!!)

When using a plain Bigz Die...I just use 2 B plates....and thought this was going to be the same from what I had Googled/You Tubed/ Blog surfed etc. ALAS no!!! I was not to be outdone. I needed something slightly thicker, but still so that only 2 plates went thru the Cuttlebug. I went to Bunnings to get some rubber....as you do....and I must say, I received some v v ODD looks. Found the PERFECT rubber....needed 15cms of it....DOH...only sold in 50cm increments...not gunna happen. Next stop....flooring. I found some 12 x 12 thin (1mm) floor tiles. Three of these on top of each other should have worked a treat. Buoyed by perhaps false hope off I wnent home to try out my theory. WOO HOO.....worked a treat. Went thru no probs and crisp clean cuts....so my Sizzix Bigs L die goes thru my Cuttlebug.

The end result......

I used the colours in the card....and if  really wanna be artsy-fartsy about it....the green ribbon is kinda like the stem!!! Here's the gift and card together....

Having so much fun making that card I also made another for the stash with different embossing.

Thanks for dropping by. I WILL be posting some Christmas cards soon. It has rained nearly all week in Sydney, so made it hard to take pics of things.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Basic Black, Certainly Celery, PIP, Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry

Ink: (SU) Rich Razzleberry, Wild Wasabi

Stamps: (SU) Build-a-Blossom, Whimsical Words

Punches/Dies/Embossing folders: (SU) Blossom Petals Builder Punch, Fun Flowers Bigz L Die, Square Lattice Folder, Carla Craft 1/2" Circle punch

Other Bits: Cuttlebug Just My Type Embossing Folder, Victoria Embossing Folder, SU Certainly Celery 5/8" ribbon, Pastel SU Buttons, DMC Embroidery Thread

Lynda xx

Pumpkin Mash!!!!

Hi all.

I thought I would visit Our Creative Corner again and see if I could do another one of their challenges. This time around it is Pumpkin/Pumpkin Pie Challenge. Thanksgiving is approaching in the USA, so it is to use a pumpkin in your design, or the colour Pumpkin Pie. Either was going to be a challenge for me, because it is a colour I have, but rarely use. Due to my procrastination.....I also missed the deadline!!!! Tui was kind enough to advise me that (purely by good luck and fortune) that the card may also fit THIS weeks OCC challange - Gratitude/Thanksgiving. It had this pic to provide the inspiration.....

I hit my CASE file again and stumbled across this gem from Steph. Now it was back from 2009...so just as well I keep lots of things at the ready!! I got my bits and pieces out and came up with this for the challenge.....

This was such a challenge for me....you have NO IDEA!!! I had the card folded already to stamp, and stamped it the incorrect way....so that the card opened backwards. Solution, I cut the front off it, made it still and then can stick it to another card, or perhaps another project down the track. I even managed to find some Pumpking Pie ric-rac I received as blog candy a LONG time ago. Lends itself tot he scallops/soft edges. Again...it also matches the tones or the Thanksgiving picture.

The image panel is done with Botanical Blooms (SAB '09). The flowers are stamped in Pumpkin Pie and leaves in Soft Suede.

Thanks Steph for the inspiration and thanks to the gals at Our Creative Corner for really getting me out of my comfort box and challenging me no end!!

On a separate note, Andrea has reached a mammoth milestone of 200,000 hits. To thank her readers, she passed on this award.

Now I have to forward this to at least 3 friends who have encouraged me and shown me some blog love too.....so thanks so much to....

# Kerry Bunting

# Katie Ridden

# Tui

# Cheryl

# Melissa Davies

# Helen

There are many more. Most of these ladies have already been awarded by Andrea, so please don't think I have forgotten/neglected you. I appreciate all that pass by my blog and take the time to comment.

Thanks for dropping by.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla

Ink: (SU) Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede, Tangerine Tango, Early Espresso

Stamps: (SU) Botanical Blooms (SAB '09), En Francais BGS

Punch: (SU) Scallop Border Punch

Other Bits: SU Pumpkin Pie Ric Rac, SAMJ

Lynda xx

Giving Thanks

Morning all.
My Mum always told me to thanks a person properly if they did something for you. I had an instance not so long ago that needed such a recognition.

As mentioned in my last post, I have type 1 Diabetes. Every day brings good and bad. I liken it to having a third child, as you have to take care of it, respect it and cohabit with it. If you disrespect it, nasty things can come a knocking. Thankfully for me....the worst of the "nasties" are unexpected hypoglycaemic attacks (low blood sugars). If left untreated these can have serious consequences.

A few weeks back, I was attending my weekly grocery shop. I know many of the gals and guys there, as I cannot often resist the odd chat. I am also a very habitual shopper. These quirks of mine, whilst boring an monotonous, actually rang the alarm bells.

I was nearing the end of my trip going towards the 'cold' section. I felt odd, but nothing I could really call out of the ordinary....or so I thought. One of the girls pulled me aside to see if I was OK. A couple of isles over she noticed me being fidgety and slightly erratic. My shopping trolley was also near empty (unusual for this ways along on my trip). She asked if my diabetes was OK. I took out my kit (and for a fleeting instant realised I could not recall how to test my sugar.....der something was up) and tested. The result was 1.2.......ummmmmmmm VERY LOW indeed. She asked what I needed....we went to the juice isle....raided what we needed and she stayed with me until I was back in "control". I was so v v thankful for her observation and help. They also looked after my trolley whilst I went to the cafe outside to get something to eat and restock my sugar stores.

I wanted to show my appreciation to this wonderful young lady, so I took the opportunity to ink up my new Simply Soft set and bust out my Fun Flowers Bigz L Die. This is what I came up with....

A Card.....

....Matching bookmark.....

 

....and the 2 together......

I passed this small token of thanks onto her the next week when I saw her. I also wrote a note to the store's manager to let him know of the wonderful staff that he has. She was surprised and touched.

Will be back soon with more fun....and the main story...that accompanies the Fun Flowers Bigz L Die.

Thanks for popping by.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler

Ink: (SU) Cherry Cobbler

Stamps: (SU) Simply Soft (Hostess Set '11-'12), Short and Sweet

Other Bits: SU Sizzix Fun Flowers Bigs L Die, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Very Vanilla 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon (ret now I think), Dimensionals, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Craft Affair Pearl Brad.

Lynda xx

A Day to "Act Now"



Morning all,

I hope you will indulge me a little tangental offering today. As you know, I am a Type 1 Diabetic and today is World Diabetes Day.

If you or someone you love has had a suspicion that something is not "quite right" or if you have a history of Diabetes in your family, why not choose TODAY to ACT ON IT....and get a test or talk to your GP. Sadly, a lot of the population have symptoms of Diabetes (especially Type 2 Diabetes) and do not even know that they are at risk or have it. There is an easy to follow guide from Diabtets Australia here that lists that people that may be at risk and the signs and symptoms of diabetes.

Ironically, I was diagnosed on World Diabetes day and so today celebrate 14 years of living with Type 1 Diabetes.

Thanks for letting me have this little side bar. I promise to resume normal crafting programming next time.

Lynda xx

Exploding co-ordination

Hi all.....

Problem: You have a niece about to turn 14....what do you do???

Solution: Through the miracle of the crafting gods, you stumble across a project that fits the bill to a "T".

I was lucky enough to find such a solution here. I had seen these amazing purses about, but one had never really crossed my mind until I stumbled across it. By pure coincidence, I had also purchased some wee notepads to decorate for stocking fillers. Too good!!!!

This is the explosion purse I made for Miss 14 (who happens to be a fan of purple!!)...

....and open.....

I was also lucky enough to find a a shop that sold individual heart shaped chocs that matched the DP perfectly.

Next was the notepad.....

....and the inside.....

I made a template of the cover and then measured the 'gaps' between the centres of the circles, then used a 3/16" circle punch to cut the holes....perfect fit.

Now for the card......I carried through the scallop circled theme from the bag and used it on the card.

...and the set together....

I had so much fun playing with this, I think I may stow it away again for another one of those desperate times. BTW...was a hit with Miss 14 too.....as a further coincidence would have it, she received a pinky purpley shade writing pen from her parents which also matched the notepad perfectly.

Thanks for popping by.

Stuff used:

CS: SU Perfect Plum, Bazzil Plum, My Memories Scrapbook Paper # 150117, Pink bling glitter card

Ink: NONE

Stamps: NONE

Punches: Carla Craft CP2 - Heart, SU 2 3/8 Scallop Circle, SU 1 3/4" Circle

Other bits: Nestabilities Scallop Circles, Cuttlebug Olivia Alphabet Dies, Basic Grey Small Magnetic Discs, Plum Satin Craft Ribbon.

Lynda xx