They say flattery....

I hope the person I have CASE'd these cards from doesn't mind....

Given that I am still (and I am so sorry to keep you all on tenderhooks with what is going on...but I had a CT and the result should not be that far away!!) on light duties....the stamping that I have been undertaking has also been light....clean, simple....but hopefully elegant cards. One such card I found here on the blog of the delighful and gorgeous Jenny Hayward. I fell inlove with the simplicity of the card and the intricacy of the flower stamp. I did not however have the embossing folder that she had, so I got to thinking!! I raided my Cuttlebug Embossing folders and came up with the following versions. I did 2 of each colour, one in Very Vanilla and one in Whisper White. So here goes.....

Whisper White                                                                              Very Vanilla

Concord Crush

                    

Cherry Cobbler

Elegant Eggplant

And lastly Rich Razzleberry

Now as you can see....the Razzleberry Whisper White card has a sentiment on it. No sooner had I finished these, my DH got word of one of the clerical staff of one of his clients losing the battle against Breast Cancer. So I offered the choice of the 8 as a sympathy card...and oddly enough we both chose the same one!! Now also being a bloke and not real good with words...I had to write the card....and he signed it.

The rest I have left the sentiments off....as I have another plan for them....but need to put it into motion.

Thanks for dropping by and as soon as I have a firm result on my CT...I'll let you know!! Fingers crossed.

Stuff used:
CS: (SU) Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Concord Crush, Elegant Eggplant, Rich Razzleberry, Cherry Cobbler
Ink: (SU) Concord Crush, Elegant Eggplant, Rich Razzleberry, Cherry Cobbler
Stamps: (SU) Elements of Style, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Other bits: SU Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Cuttlebug Stylised Flowers and Victoria Embossing folders

Lynda xx

A CASE of Digital Proportions

Hey all!

Can you keep a secret??? I have been a little bad. I have be going slowly NUTS with this darn neck thing. I have sketched soooooooo many cards that you will be over-run with posts once I get the all clear and get them made!!! I have read Stamping and Crafting Mags, (finally) sorted all my SU stuff into the new colour groups, gone through my stamps and decided which ones I wanna part with and repackaged my punches. On the upside I am all organised and ready to go when the green light flashes!!

But...I was bad....I HAD TO STAMP!!! I kept things relatively CAS (clean and simple) so as to not be in a bad position for too long. I also made a CASE of a card I saw on SCS here. Apparently in the US they have a digital studio thing that means that you can print elements of a set out as you wish. At least I think that's the idea. Anyhow, I made 2 versions with just a minor tweak of the embellishments.

As you can see one one card I have the 1/2 pearls midway & on the other at the bottom. I have also moved the position of the bow according to balance. I am very happy with the results. It is also my first use of Elements of Style. This set is gunna be a long time fave I think. The hummingbird is stamped onto the card and then onto a wide oval punch and then positioned over the original on dimensionals. It was easy to line up with a SAMJ....to get perfect lines!! I thought the "Happy" from "Life Definitions is a nice sentiment on a birthday card.

I hope you like these cards as much as I do. I have another round of CAS cards to share later. thanks for dropping by.

Stuff used:
CS: (SU) Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla, Elegant Sioree DSP
Ink: (SU) Night of Navy
Stamps: (SU) Elements of Style, Life Definitions (ret)
Punches: (SU) Scallop Border and Wide Oval Punch
Other bits: Dimensionals, SAMJ, Mini Glue Dots, 1/2 Pearls and Navy Satin Ribbon fm stash

Lynda xx

Something different...

Hey there all.

I thought I'd share something a little different today. Given that I am STILL on light duties (and going greyer by the minute), I am gunna share a little more of me and my family. I hope you don't mind.

During the Christmas just gone, we all got a wonderful surprise. My Aunt had "inherited" my Grandmother's (Dad's Mum) photo albums. Talk about a time trip!!! Wondering what to do with all the history....she decided to go through all of them and sort them out as to who was in them etc. All of our envelopes were chocked full of bad 70's and 80's fashions and hair-do's as well as things we had not seen much of before. For me, it was pictures of my Mum and Dad's wedding.

So here's a little giggle for you all!! These are a little chronologically over the place.

Seeing this one did bring tears to my eyes. I had only ever seen pictures of Mum and Dad's wedding (for want of a better expression) from the waist up. This is 1968 and my mother in her wedding gown at the stairs of her parents place.

Every year (for MANY years) the whole family...well Dad's side...went on these MAMMOTH holidays. We went to Tumut, Gundegai...all over the shop. Usually to places that had something of "interest"...for the grown ups at least. This is circa 1974....and I am in the purple!!! My little brother -Graeme- is in the red outfit and we are surrounded by our cousins.

We also went to Lane Cove River Park quite a bit growing up. We had picnics, hired the row boats and they actually had a Paddlesteamer that use to travel up and down the river. It is now a restaurant at one end of the park!!! Graeme and I are a little older in this shot, but is is a landmark pic for me, because there is 22 mths age difference between us....and he is nearly as tall as me!!! Looking at his hair there.....it's hard to believe he has hair like it is NOW!!!!

In 1975 my baby sister -Susan- came alone and Mum was ALWAYS taking us down to have out picture taken with Santa. In 1978...this was the 3 of us......

Fast forward some 33 years later and we look like THIS!!!!

(Remember what I said about my brother's blonde locks???) This was taken in January this year at my Dad's 70th birthday. Since my brother lives in Norwestern country NSW now....we don't get to see eachother much, so any photo opportunity is taken.

Finally, also at my Dad's 70th, Someone took this pic of my daughter Braelea and her cousin Jessica...who is 1 in April....man time flies!!! The look on her face says it all!!

Thanks for sharing this glimpse into my life. I hope reliving the fashion and hair-do's was not too traumatic. I sincerely hope I will be back with some cards REAL soon!!

Lynda xx

Roses and Lattice

Hi there!!

I am so very sorry to put another challenge card to you all, but I am still on light duties with my neck, incredibly FRUSTRATED and desperately trying to be good (ie not craft/be on the computer too much).

With this sketch from Inkspirations4U....I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do..in my head at least. This is the sketch we were given....

....and this is what I came up with.....

I went to my technique crypt and found the Lattice Technique compliments of Dawn Griffiths from the US. For a first attempt I don't think it turned out that badly. I also broke out the Scallop Trim Border Punch for the first time...it is soooooooo easy to use. Goes through CS a helluva lot easier than the Eyelet or Scallop Border Punch. I can only sadly use these on DP now, now matter what I sharpen them with, they don't play nice.

Here is a slightly closer view of the latticing.

The Kiwi Kiss is a cut down version of the Scallop Oval Punch. It fits nicely with the Word Window Punch. I also popped the roses up on dimensionals.

Thanks for popping by and I also wanna say a HUGE thank you for all the "hope-your-neck-gets-better-soon" wishes. It still is not playing fair and I am still doing everything I should....sadly with no great rewards...but patience is a virtue right????

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, Urban Garden DSP

Ink: (SU) Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy

Stamps: (SU) A Rose is a Rose, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Punches: (SU) Scallop Oval Punch, Word Window Punch, Scallop Trim Punch

Other bits: Dimensionals, Green Kaisercraft Rhinestones

Lynda xx

In Colour Inspiration....

Hey all!

Madeline at Ink4U changed things up for the next couple of her challenges and gave us a sketch challenge this time. This is what we were greeted with....

Now one thing I have learnt from challenges....is that that you can flip the sketch and go from there, so I took this one. I just hit one small snag...I got the sentiment and cirle bit mixed up. Anyhow, this was my take on this sketch.....

I apologise for all the brightness and glare, but it has been so hot here and hard to get a pic in decent light without getting fried in the process...LOL!!

I used all the new In Colours on this card. Peach Parfait still remained in its wrapper and CS untouched, so I made this the base. The rest just fell into place from there. The butterfly's wings are all mounted on dimensionals.

Thanks for dropping by.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Peach Parfait, Concord Crush, Pear Pizzaz, Poppy Parade, Blushing Bride, Whisper White

Ink: (SU) Peach Parfait, Concord Crush, Pear Pizzaz, Poppy Parade, Blushing Bride

Stamps: (SU) Great Friend, Vintage Vogue, Warm Words

Other Bits: Dimensionals

Lynda xx



Something for Sonia....

Hey there. I hope for you on the eastern coast of Australia that you are all going OK. We have had floods in both Qld and Vic, A horrific cyclone in Northern Qld and NSW is experienceing a very uncomfortable heatwave at the moment. Today we have an expected top temp in the mid 30's, yesterday we hit 41.5 and to make matters worse...the nights have been nothing short of UGLY and uncomfortable. It is not easy to sleep well in 25-30 degC heat at night. We do not have aircon....just the good grace of all windows open.

Anyhow...back to today's post. You may have noticed that I have been a part of Inkspirations4U. I was very fortunate to win a pass through Sonia Garbutt....and I believe she has another promotion running for the next round starting soon. So, if you are interested in challenging yourself and having a heap of fun and gaining access to FAB tutorials...pop over and give it a go.

Some weeks back, I had the good fortune to meet the incredibly talented Sonia face to face with her 2 beautiful gals. I wanted to make her something special to thank her for giving me the opportunity to experience some wonderful things...as well as challenge myself further with pink!!! This is what I made for Sonia.....

This notebook is A7 size, but I still managed to fit quite a bit on it. The DP is a dictionary one I used for my Father's day cards here. To bring all the colours together I used my Tim Holtz distress inks in Aged Mahogany, Frayed Burlap and Vintage Photo. I also used the Mahogany on the petals of the red flower do dull down its intensity as it started out Christmas Red. The lace is courtesy of a vintage workshop I did at Alice in Paperland's some time back. tthere was a MASSIVE tub of lace that a lady had donated and we could take what we wished and donate as many gold coins that we felt represented what we had taken. Needless to say I could have gone MAD, but did manage to get some intricate laces for a very reasonable price.

Across the white flower I stamped a small script stamp from Kaszazz in Vintage Photo. To finish it off I popped in a pewter brad. The letters are  in SU Cherry Cobbler. The back is very simple....

Sonia also surprised me with something amazing that I will show you in a later post.

Thanks for cruising on by and I hope that next time....it is somewhat cooler. Take care all.

Stuff Used:

A7 Notebook fm Hot Dollar store

CS: SU Cherry Cobbler, Vintage Dictionary DP fm Alice's

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Aged Mahognay, frayed Burlap, Vintage Photo

Stamps: Kaszazz Script Background (4077KM)

Other bits: Cuttlebug Olivia Alphabet, Flowers fm stash, Pewter brad fm stash, Lace fm stash

Lynda xx



A Little Less Ink....

Sadly, I am on very LIGHT duties (both crafting and computer duties) at present due to a neck and back problem that has flared again. The physio and I are seeing a LOT of eachother. Let me tell you....strapping tape and 39 degree heat do NOT mix...LOL!!! I have been told that I am allowed 15 mins on the laptop TWICE a day and little to NO crafting for the foreseeable future....at least until the niggle settles.

Needless to say....I am going STIR CRAZY. So.....if I could not stamp....perhaps I could punch some things....and I recalled this card fm SCS. So...obeying the physio...over the course of the next week....I came up with these....

In my continuing paranoia to not have 2 cards the same....I switched the orientation. I also mamaged to nearly Match the paper with SU inks. The paper is from the DCWV Jewel Coloured Collection and I matched it up with  Orchid Opulence and Tempting Turquoise.

I stamped off the filigree from Vintage Vogue to stamp the breast of the bird and also sponged chalk onto the back white wing just to help it stand out a little. A rhinestone eye, a twig, gold sticker sentiment and all done!!

The cards (altho not very fancy or complicated) helped to keep the insanity at bay for at least a little while!! Thanks for stopping by...as I have exceeded time time allowance by a smidge...hee hee hee. Will be back soon.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss,  DCWV Jewel Coloured Collection

Ink: (SU) Stamp and Write Markers in Orchid Opulence, Tempting Turquoise

Stamps: (SU) Vintage Vogue

Punches: SU 2 Step Bird XL punch, Martha Stewart Deep Trellis Border Punch

Other bits: Dimensionals, Kaiser Purple rhinestones, Green rhinestones fm stash, Gold Upkit Happy Birthday Stickers

Lynda xx