1,2,3...EasyPC

An Overdue Update.....

2012-02-09T09:00:00.005+11:00

Morning all!!

I am sorry it has taken me so long to show you all this picture. As I mentioned in this post here I made this class with a group of very enthusiastic year one children. We had so much fun and the children were very happy with their creations. Below is a picture of me with the class showing off their finished cards. There is something truely magical about a child's face when it lights up, isn't there??

Thanks for popping by and thanks again to Leonie Schroder for the inspiration for the card. Supplies used are the same as the ones in the hilighted post.

Lynda xx

Small Comfort

2012-02-07T09:00:00.000+11:00

Morning all.

It has been hard to know when to actually post this card. A girlfriend of mine (who I believe also reads this blog) sadly lost her husband towards the end of last year. We were all deeply saddened and felt such loss. Her strength, resolve and amazing faith was a rod for both her and her twin daughters. I wanted the card I did for them to reflect his wonderful life. I made the same card for another friend here but stepped it up a little. This is the card I made.....

As you can see, I stamped the edge of the card with the flourish after I ran it through the embossing folder. I think it gives just enough without being over the top.

I was very happy with the way this turned out. Sympathy cards are never easy, but I do like this design.

Thanks for popping by.

Stuff used:
CS: (SU) Night of Navy, Whisper White
Ink: SU Night of Navy, Tim Holtz Distress ink - Broken China
Stamps: (SU) Teeny Tiny Sentiments, Vintage Vogue
Punches: (SU) Scallop Trim Border and Corner punch, Word Window Punch, Nesatbilities Fancy Tags
Other Bits: SU Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Dimensionals, Mini 1/2 pearls fm stash

Lynda xx

Bevvy of Butterflies

2012-02-05T09:00:00.001+11:00

Morning all.
Bestie asked me to make a Fantasy Box for her daughter at some stage. You may recall, for Christmas 2010....I kinda went mad making them and have not made one since. The links for making them can be found through here. Now Miss "turning 9" has very discerning tastes. She scrapbooks with her Mum and also makes the occasional card....so the pressure was on. I also knew she had a thing for butterflies, so I chose this as my main theme.

I went to Alice In Paperland and fell TOTALLY in love with some Cristina Re paper. I am not sure of the brand of the butterfly paper, it may be her as well, but I know both the white/ivory papers are Cristena Re. You know that feeling when you see a paper and you KNOW that is it the PERFECT one for what you have in mind....this was one such finding.

This is Miss 9's Fantasy box...

(Warning....from this point on...lots of pics!!!)

Top one side

Centre Front Other Side

Open front Open Inside

Sneaky butterflies on the inside and lining the drawers

Now I had a little paper left over, so I used them to make the card.......

The butterfly is on dimensionals, and the close up gives you an idea of the amazing texture and sheen of the papers.

...and of course...the two together.....

Miss 7 (after her triumph of making grand-dad's card) Made Miss 6 a card too, and here is hers...

Thanks so very much for tolerating all the pictures. This was definitely a project that had a lot of heart and soul in it and I was so very happy with the final result. As you can appreciate there were a lot of things used and I will try to list them all.

Stuff used:
CS: Thin Chipboard, SU Pale Plum (ret), Cristena Re papers both textured and lustred
Ink: SU Almost Amethyst (ret)
Stamps: Clear 'Happy Birthday' sentiment from stash, SU candle fm Big Bold Birthday
Punches: (SU) Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die, Bigz Butterfly Die, Large Star Punch (ret), EK Parisian Border Punch
Other Bits: Dimensionals, (lots of) Double sided tape, 4mm purple 1/2 pearls fm stash, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder

Lynda xx

Totally Out of my Comfort Zone

2012-01-24T13:46:00.001+11:00

A bonus post for you all!! (scroll down for the other post today)

The folks at Our Creative Corner have set another great challenge for this week. You can read up on it here. Now there is a back story to this card. I have shown you some cards in the past for my cousin's daughter here and a couple of other places. She is 16 tomorrow and I still am amazed by her. She was born at 28 weeks and was not really expected to survive 2 days.....yet here she is 16 years on and still going strong. Sh has many special needs and I so admire the strength and resilience of my Cousin and family and the way she has raised her. Her cards have always had colour and texture as her eyesight is not fantastic. With all this in mind, I went with butterflies. This is the picture that OCC set for the challenge....

This is the card I made.....

As you can see, I drew inspiration from the colours, the flowers on the DP are similar to the ones on the table and the texture of all the lollies, icings and food on the table. Now because I am also very literal with my cards sometimes too (surprising right!) there are 16 butterflies used in the construction of this card.

I added dimensionals under a couple of the butterflies so she could feel them 'flying' on the card.

Notice the other thing about this card.....NO STAMPING!!!!! Now the things that took me way out of what I felt comfortable with were 1 - the colour palate....I don't do corals/oranges hardly at all....let alone combine it with blues!!! and 2 - the fact that I did not use stamps. Felt really odd.

Thanks for popping by. Why don't you go over to Our Creative Corner and challenge yourself.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Baja Breeze, Groovy Guava (ret) and Foof-a-La Paper (Savannah - Ambrosia # 47090)

Ink: NONE

Stamps: NONE

Other bits: SU Beautiful Wings Embosslit die, PortaCraft Ice Blue Rhinestones, Cuttlebug Olivia Alphabet, Dimensionals

Lynda xx

More Blossom Fun

2012-01-24T09:00:00.000+11:00

Morning all.

I want to share some more fun I have had with the Build-a-Blossom stamp and punch. This is seriously so easy to use and the cards go up so quickly. I sourced this card on SCS, but decided to change the colours up as the person it was going to loved blues. Here is the blue version......

I curled the edges of the flower over my bone folder to give it a slightly 3D-ish look.

Now...as I had not done a Flower bookmark for a while, this is what went in as the present.

And here are the 2 together.......

Thanks for popping by. I have been through all my pictures and found at least another 2 weeks of things I have not shared with you. So.....you may have to buckle in and brace yourselves!!

Stuff used:

CS (SU): Pink Pirouette, Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy

Ink (SU): Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy

Stamps: (SU) Build A Blossom, So Happy For You (SAB '11)

Other Bits: SU Very Vanilla 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, SU Sherbert Designer Buttons, 3mm Cream Satin ribbon, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder

Lynda xx

Botanical Fun

2012-01-22T09:00:00.001+11:00

Morning all.

I decided that I needed some quick and easy cards. So as usual, I went to SCS for inspiration. Now I thought I had noted the name of the creator of this card, but sadly I cannot. So I just wish to say a big thank you to the original creator. This is a direct CASE of her card.

I love it when you can add a little extra embellishment to cover up the occasional inky oops....don't you??

The other wonderful thing is that you only use half a flower.

Just a quick one today as a couple of my last posts have been a tad long winded.

Thanks for popping by.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Springtime Vintage DSP

Ink: (SU) Blushing Bride, Regal Rose, Old Olive

Stamps: Build-A-Blossom, Sincere Salutations

Punches: (SU) Blossom Builder Punch, Eyelet Border Punch, Carla Craft CP2 3/4" circle punch

Other bits: SU Beautful Wings Embosslit die, Dimensionals

Lynda xx

What I Made for Christmas - #4

2012-01-18T09:00:00.000+11:00

Morning all.

Last Christmas make for a couple of posts...I promise. This last one was also a challenge. Amongst all the kids....is 1 nephew (Master 8)...not incl my son of course. His Mum happened to let it slip that he has been engrossed in "Diary of a Wimpy Kid". So,I made him his own diary that he can jot his thoughts and feelings down in. He is the brother of Miss 16 and 14! His diary was also a lot larger than the others (A4), it took 2 pieces of DP to cover it.

For the label, I stamped off the stars in So saffron from the Just Jawing set. Worked well I think!!??

The top was looking a little bare with just the planets and there was a rocket ship on the off cut. I trimmed around it and put it amongst the planets.

I think he was pretty happy with it.

To accompany all the notebooks for the girls, I made tiny desk caddies to hold their bits and pieces. I got the idea from Rubber Redneck (Holly Krautkremer) here. The go up very quickly and hold lots! Perfect for the age group.

Miss 16 and Miss 14

Miss 11 and Miss 14

I am going to make me a couple more of these and keep them in reserve as they are a fun and unusual gift.

Thanks for dropping by.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Pretty In Pink, Certainly Celery, Kiwi Kiss, Regal Rose, Basic Black, Rich Razzleberry, Pink Pirouette, Almost Amethyst (ret),Tea Party DSP (ret), Only Orange (ret) and Optix Turquoise

DP's: My Memories S'book Paper #141791, My Memories "Once Upon a Dream" S'book paper # 142827, Silver Hollographic A4 CS, K & Co DI Rough and Tumble Outer Space Flat Paper.

Ink: (SU) So Saffron

Stamp: (SU) Just Jawing

Other bits: SU Decorative Label Punch, Cuttlebug Olivia Alphabet

Lynda xx

What I Made for Christmas - #3

2012-01-16T09:00:00.000+11:00

Morning all.

Still wading through all the projects I made (sorry). today's one...I definitely went out of my comfort zone. Our delightful Miss Pippa celebrated her first Christmas with us. At Christmas she was 7 months. Please excuse a massive Aunty moment, but I have to share this picture of her in her dress.....too cute.

Now only being 7 months old, and Aunty Lynda wanting to still MAKE her something special for Christmas....my thinking cap went on....and sadly nearly fried....LOL!!! I got some inspiration from Nicole Derendorf. She works with fabric a fair bit and has used her dies to cut material. So with all that on board.....I came up with these......

.....and the 2 of them together.....

I must say I was delighted as to how they turned out and must thank Nicole for her counsel and guidance. Now of course Miss Pippa's Mum loved them too and she modelled one of them straight away.....

Thanks for dropping by. More Christmas ideas in the way. Perhaps you may be inspired for something for 2012??

Stuff used:

Fabric and Buttons from Hobbysew

Headbands purchased fm store

Dies: SU Fun Flowers Bigz L Die and Bigz Butterfly Die

Lynda xx

What I Made For Christmas - #2

2012-01-14T09:00:00.000+11:00

Good Morning.
Here are another 2 altered notebooks, this time for siblings Miss 14 and Miss 11. The paper for Miss 14's notebook was the one NOT in the 60 cent pile, but I think it turned out to be my favourite. She is a real purple lover but the blue woven into this DP had me sold from the get go.

Miss 11

Miss 14

Back and fronts....

...and of course the flowers....

Thanks for popping by again.

Stuff Used:

DP: K & Co Brookfield Sunflower Diamonds Flat Paper, KaiserCraft: Airy Fairy - Dreams"

Other bits: Lace, Flowers, Ric-Rac and Charms fm Alice's, Martha Stewart Celery/brown ribbon.

Lynda xx

What I Made for Christmas - #1

2012-01-12T09:00:00.001+11:00

Hi all.

Well given that we are nearly half way through January, I thought I should share with you the things that I made for my nieces, nephews and friends. I am going to break them up into a few posts, but know that each reflects the receivers personality. The other brilliant thing is that the papers used I got at my favourite Paper Crafting store (Alice in Paperland) for the bargain price of just 60 cents a sheet (with the exception of 1).

Today I am sharing siblings Miss 16 and Miss 14. All the girls received notebooks that were A6 in size.

Miss 14

Miss 16

The DP's looks so great, this is how they looked in their entirety.

The things I carried through all the notebooks are the flower motif and the wee double heart charm. the lace was all the same, but I added another narrow contrast ribbon to make it pop. The flowers (I thought anyhow) looked fantastic. Sadly I did not have any black paper flowers so I tried to colour a white one with ink....and nearly got there.

Here is a close up of the lace and ribbon/ric-rac.

The girls also received something small for their dressers, which I will feature in another post.

Thanks for popping by.

Stuff used:

DP: K & Co - Sparkly Sweet: Shoes and Purses Flat Paper/ Danny O Red & White Checks Flat Paper

Other Bits: Lace, Ric-Rac, Paper Flowers and Double Heart Silver Charms all from Alice In Paperland, Brads fm stash, Double Sided Tape (lots of it)

Lynda xx

Bevvy of Booties....

2012-01-09T09:00:00.000+11:00

Hi All.

Some time back I was asked to make a baby boy card for one of the doctors at work who was about to become and Aunty. I was also HANGING out to try and make the booties I had seen around blog land with the Stocking Punch. I took my inspiration from here and here. Given that I wanted to give her a choice, I made a softer card and one a bit bolder.

The one inspired by Jackie Topa turned out like this....

Given that I had used the "Hello Baby" sentiment on the other card, I changed it to the "Welcome Baby" and used the wee nappy pin to make a patterned piece for the booties to sit on.

The bolder one I used Pacific Point.....a colour that I very rarely use, but was pleasantly surprised with the way it came up.

I am a sucker for dry embossing and the folders really for a work out here.....

She loved both but took the softer one.

Thanks for dropping by again.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Pacific Point

Ink: (SU) Bashful Blue, Pacific Point

Stamps: (SU) Simply Stitched, Teeny Tiny Sentiments, Short and Sweet, Polka Dot BGS

Punches: (SU) Stocking Builder Punch, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Scallop Trim Border Punch

Embossing Folders: SU Tulip Frame, Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes and Swiss Dots

Other Bits: Dimensionals, DMC White Embroidery thread, SU Bashful Blue Gingham Ribbon (ret), White and blue 1/2 pearls

Lynda xx

Post Christmas Birthdays

2012-01-07T12:04:00.000+11:00

Hi All,
I am always on the go around Christmas/New Years as I have quite a few family birthdays immediately after the festive frivolity.

My MIL has her birthday 5 days after Christmas and I wanted to get her something nice, but not overwhelming. It started off with this card. I worked with that and ended up with this.......

Now as you can see the card does not have a sentiment on it ....as I was running horridly behind (so unlike me) and I wanted to get some pics before I lost all light. After the sentiment and finishing touches went on, this is what it looked like...

The card used what I think is called the "Spritz" Technique, whereby you colour the image on the stamp with Stamp and Write Markers and then before stamping onto watercolour paper, you lightly spray it with water. Up close, it really is a beautiful effect.

Part of my new drive is to reload my card stash, so in all I made 4 of these, but with different border punches and I have left the sentiments off so that I can tailor as needed.

Thanks for dropping by, I still have some of my Christmas gifts to show, but I may spread them out a little.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Elegant Eggplant, Orchid Opulence (ret), Eraldo watercolour paper

Ink: (SU) Stamp and Write Markers in Elegant Eggplant, orchid Opulence (ret) and Certainly Celery

Stamps: (SU) Inspired By Nature, Amy R "Birthday Sentiments

Punches: SU large and small Oval Punches, Sizzix Beautiful Wings Embosslit die, MS Gothic Arches Punch

Other Bits: SU Certainly Celery Twill Ribbon

Lynda xx

Getting with the times....

2012-01-04T13:50:00.000+11:00

Hi all.

Just a quick one today for those of you who wish to keep up with what I create. If you look in the upper right hand corner of my main page, you'll see a "Follow By E mail" link. This essentially lets you subscribe to my blog and my posts will arrive in your inbox as they come to be.

I have to thank dear Andrea for helping me test this function and she assures me that all is arriving as it should.

Will be back soon with more projects and cards.

Lynda xx

Bright Start to the New Year

2012-01-02T13:14:00.000+11:00

Hi all.

Happy New Year to all out there and I hope that you all survived the celebrations.

I have decided to start this year of 2012 posting with a challenge to get the creative juices flowing. Our Creative Corner have set the challenge of "Bright and Happy New Year" with the following bounds.

Now a little while back I saw this card on SCS. Now when I CASE, I like to put my own little twist on it. I initially started in pastels which were very pretty, but then this challenge made me think....hmmmmmm....how would brights look? This was the outcome.....

Bright and BOLD!!! Now to satisfy the challenge parameters....the green is in the stems and leaves of all the flowers. Other than that.....

Bright Pink.....

Bright Purple......

...and Yellow.....

For the record, the other colours used were Rose Red, Poppy Parade and Peach Parfait. As for the celebration part, I figure these cards are so generic that they can go with a "Thinking of You", "Happy Birthday" or even a "Hello Friend". The other massive 'celebration" is that I boosted my cards stash with 7 bright and cheery cards.

Thanks for popping by, and if you get a chance, pop on over to Our Creative Corner and have a look at what the DT and other creative souls have put together.

Thanks for popping by.

Stuff Used:

CS: Basic Black, Whisper White, Regal Rose, Almost Amethyst (ret), Summer Sun (ret), Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade, Rose Red and "Elle" card - Fuschia (very close to Melon Mambo)

Ink: (SU) Regal Rose, Almost Amethyst, Summer Sun, Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade, Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Wild Wasabi, Pear Pizzaz

Stamps: (SU) Soft Summer

Other Bits: SU Scallop Border Punch, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, 10mm black Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals, Black 4mm faceted 1/2 gems, Mini Glue Dots

Lynda xx

Christmas CAES-ing Kez - #1

2011-12-30T09:00:00.000+11:00

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

2011-12-28T09:00:00.001+11:00

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

2011-12-15T09:00:00.001+11:00

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

2011-12-13T09:00:00.001+11:00

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

2011-12-10T09:00:00.001+11:00

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

2011-12-04T09:05:00.000+11:00

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!!!

2011-11-29T09:00:00.001+11:00

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...

2011-11-27T09:00:00.001+11:00

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!!!!

2011-11-19T16:38:00.002+11:00

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

2011-11-16T09:00:00.000+11:00

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"

2011-11-14T09:00:00.002+11:00

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

2011-11-10T09:00:00.001+11:00

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

Fleur-de-Male

2011-11-07T09:00:00.002+11:00

Hi all!!

Once again I have a bevvy of male cards to share with you. I must admit, these cards kind of came together with partially the luck of the proverbial crafting gods. I had these 2 cards on SCS and liked their simplicity.

Now as chance would have it, the croud at Our Creative Corner have a challenge on this time for Masculine Cards/Project. So......I thought I would submit these for this very occasion.

Now I love Carte Postale and it is one of my "go to" make sets. I also recalled that I had an embossing folder with fleur-de-lis' on it. Things started coming together nicely. Then the cherry on top...was that I had actually intended to use the REVERSE side of the gold toned DP which was burgandy tones....and coincidence....MORE fluer-de-lis!!! Too cool!!

These are the masculine cards I came up with.....

I kind of like the idea of changing up the DP orientation to change the look of the card. I also had so much fun with these, I did another 2 in green tones....

The other bit of fun was layeringup the Curly Label Punches. Even better was that I managed to line up the dark red stripe right down the middle of the sentiment.

Lastly, i have to make mention of the beautiful texture of the DP used in the 1st cards. It was so good to work with. Added a grand kind of luxury to it all. Pretty impressed that I got to use "old gold" 1/2 pearls and brads on a male card. Wonders will never cease.

Thanks for setting such a great challenge guys. This is the 1st time I have plucked up enough gumption to do one of your challenges...and was so glad I did.

Hope you do get a chance to drop by again soon.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Crumb Cake, Bravo Burgandy, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla, Glod "Stardream" shimmer paper, Imaginisce Timeless/Harlequin Romance DP (#000377), Green plaid I think is an old KaiserCraft one (sorry I cld not find it)

Ink: (SU) Bravo Burgandy, Always Artichoke

Stamps: (SU) Carte Postale (ret) Vintage Labels (SAB '10), Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Punches: (SU) Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Curly Label Punch

Other Bits: Cuttlebug "Fleur-de-lis" Embossing Folder, Craft Concepts "In Stitches" Embossing Folder, Old Gold 1/2 pearls (fm Bizzy Becs), Gold brads fm stash

Lynda xx

Sweet CASE-ing - #2

2011-11-05T09:00:00.000+11:00

As promised, here is another CASE'd card done with Sweet Summer.

I drew inspiration from this card. This card proved very much more a challenge with dimensions, embossing and the like. This is what I came up with....

Still practicing the whole blender pen thing....I am convinced it is MUCH harder with light colours....I dunno!!! Again, the flowers are cut out and mounted on dimensionals.

The sentiment is stamped in Crumb Cake ink which lets the flowers pop a bit more I think.

Thanks again for dropping by. With any luck, I should be posting a little more regularly soon.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride, Whisper White

Ink: (SU) Black Stazon, Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzaz, Pretty In Pink, SWM's in black and Summer Sun (bee)

Stamps: (SU) Sweet Summer and So Happy For You (both SAB '11 sets)

Punches: (SU) Eyelet border punch

Other Bits: SU - Blushing Bride ribbon, Square Lattice embossing folder, dimensionals, white 1/2 pearls and pink rhinestones fm stash

Lynda xx

Sweet CASE-ing - #1

2011-11-03T12:17:00.000+11:00

Hi all!!

Please excuse my absence for the past 2 weeks. Needless to say life has been on full throttle and there is no time left over to do the "luxuries" needed. I am sure folks out there know what family mania entails!!

Sometime ago I was very fortunate to win some blog candy from the uber talented Michelle Halling. I received the "Sweet Summer" stamp set. It was the only one of this year's SAB sets that I did not get. It didn't really get to me....until I saw some SENSATIONAL things done with it....and then of course kicked myself that I did not get it. Fate is indeed a funny thing.

I had seen this card on SCS and thought I'd give it a crack. At the time I was using a LOT of Baja and Kraft!! This is my CASE of it.....

....and because I have learnt to do one for the stash, but not entirely the same...I did this one as well.....

Ashamedly, I have to admit this is the first time I had used blender pens, and it is an art I have yet to master. I started off with the whole flower in Baja and then darkened the bits at the base with Bashful Blue. The flowers are cut out and mounted on dimensionals.

I do like the way these 2 came out. I will be back soon with another CASE with this set soon.

Thanks for dropping by.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake (Kraft), Whisper White

Ink: (SU) Basic Gray, Black Stazon, Baja Breeze, Bashful Blue, Pear Pizzaz

Stamps: (SU) Sweet Summer (SAB'11), Fresh Cuts, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Punches: (SU) Large and Small Oval Punches

Other Bits: Dimensionals, Blender Pens, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, White 1/2 pearls and Blue Rhinestones fm stash. Blue Organza Ribbon fm stash

Lynda xx

Baa-baa Black Sheep

2011-10-21T09:00:00.000+11:00

Tis really amazing how time flies....isn't it. You may (or may not) recall a card I may for triplets born here. Well...those triplets have just turned ONE!!!!! Their Aunt asked me again to make them a speccy card to celebrate this occasion. I was inspired by a card I saw on Kerry Bunting's blog here. This was my card for the birthday bubba's.......

I took this pic in the stockroom at work and only realised afterwards that a small piece of plastic has clung to the card. This WAS removed before passing it on!!! I did add a couple of things to Kerry's original (apart from an extra sheep!!!) I sponged in a sky and also sponged the sheep in Crumb Cake, not black, just to soften it a bit. I also managed (by luck rather than good management) to do the "ewe" in the same font as the top of it. I used the 'e' and 'w' from 'best wishes' and viola.

Here is a close up of one of the sheep......

...and yes...these are the same wee bows I tied on their original birth card too!!!!

I put the fact that they turned "1" on the inside of the card......

Both the Mum of the triplets and the Aunt were very happy with the card....and I have another 12 months to think of something for 2....if approached....LOL!!!

Thanks for dropping by.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss (ret), Basic Black

Ink: (SU) Bashful Blue, Basic Black, Crumb Cake

Stamps: (SU) So Happy For You (SAB '11)

Punches: (lots) SU - Scallop Circle, Scallop Oval, Large Oval, Word Window, 5 Petal, Owl Punch (eyes), 1 3/4" circle, CM 1 1/2" punch, Carla Craft Vinca B Punch, MS Grass Punch

Other Bits: Dimensionals, Sponges, SAMJ, Large Glitter number

Lynda xx

Sweet 16

2011-10-19T09:00:00.000+11:00

(subtitle....You Know You're Getting Old When........)

DH's eldest niece turned 16 not so long ago. Kinda makes one panic a little because (1) you still recall the day she was born and (2) you have NO idea of what is hip and trendy with regards to a gift and you get that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. I actually thought I had the card part at least sussed, until I took a trip to the Reject Shop. Sometimes you find nothing, other times you strike GOLD!!! On this particular trip,nit was GOLD on 'dem dare shelves!!!

I found a corset dress with matching mask in what was marked a "Scrapbooking Embellishment" kit. The light bulb immediately went off as to what the card was going to be.........

What do you think? I think this card has so much fun to it....don't you??? This is the wee dress close up.

I also love the quilted paper behind the dress. It's Cristena Re and i have had it for soooooo long, but never used it. I also added the wee pink rhinestones to bling it up a bit.

The only problem now was what gift. Miss newly turned 16 posted on her FB page that she got her BELLY BUTTON pierced for her birthday. OOOOOOOOOOOOKKKKKKKKK.......fact taken in and cogs started turning. After chatting with her Mum...I got her a new belly ring. FYI...a VERY new shopping experience for moi...hee hee hee. I made a co-ordinated Peek-a-Boo Box to hold the said gift. This was it.......

I made an insert for the box to hold the belly ring. I think it passed as a jewellery box. Of course...here's the 2 together......

It turned out to be a very SWEET 16 card and gift indeed.

Thanks for popping by again.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Very Vanilla, Pretty in Pink, Cristena Re Quilted Ivory Paper

Ink: (SU) Pink Pirouette

Stamps: Hero Arts Design Block - Dots & Flowers - S5213

Dies: Nestabilities Scallop Ovals, Scallop Circles, Classic Ovals and Classic Circles, Cuttlebug Olivia Alphabet.

Lynda xx

Goodbye Miss Smith

2011-10-17T09:00:00.000+11:00

Sadly again, not so long ago we said goodbye to another wonderful teacher from our school, Ms Smith. Whilst she never taught any of my children, she was always up for a chat (and more often than not a laugh) and really was the most wonderful soul. I could not let her go without something small to say thanks and goodbye.

I drew inspiration from a card on Andrea Buckland's blog here (the 2nd card) and came up with this.....

Sadly the dodgy photographics do not do the background justice, but believe me when I say I really learnt a LOT about sponging doing this project....LOL!!! I also sponged the sentiment here....

I teamed it up with one of my co-ordinated butterfly bookmarks......

Hopefully the colours sponged on the background are better shown here.....

And of course the set together.....

Next time I decide to do sooooooooooooo much sponging I need to allow myself a little more time to do it I think....hee hee hee, however, I was very pleased with the result.

Thanks for dropping by.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Pale Plum (ret), Perfect Plum, Very Vanilla

Ink: (SU) Pink Pirouette, Pretty In Pink, So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Pale Plum (ret), Perfect Plum

Stamps: (SU) Butterfly Prints, Baroque Motifs, En Francais BGS

Punches, Dies, Embossing: (SU) Butterfly Punch, Bigz Butterfly Die, Square Lattice Embossing Folder

Other Bits: SU Very Vanilla Gros Grain Ribbon, Ivory 1/2 Pearls fm stash, Pale Plum 3mm Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals, sponges!!!!

Lynda xx

Anyone for Dove??

2011-10-15T20:08:00.000+11:00

Ever had one of those moments where you think you have an idea sussed out and under control.....only to go looking for it and totally distress yourself out because you can't recall where the heck you filed it on your laptop? You Google and search your laptop high and low all for nought?? This is how this whole project started out for me. I put the call out to my crafty friends on FB and the divine Miss Debbie P as well as Kerri Donsky via e mail aided me beautifully and guided me in the right direction. Using the instructions Kerri gave me and this tute here my project idea had life again.

The seeds of the idea started with this card that found on SCS, but DAH when I did it I omitted the background layer of DSP. I actually made this card at Craft Camp this year, but I do not think I posted it...DAH again!! This is my card......

Co-ordinated with this, I made a wee box that held 18 Dove chocolates...and this is the result....

And of course the set together.......

The beauty of the chocolate box is that when the inside is consumed, the divider can be removed and it can be used as a trinket box. needless to say, my friend who received it was sooooooo pleased, so therefore....mission accomplished.

Thanks for dropping by. I have a couple more co-ordinated gifts to share with you very soon.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Always Artichoke, Rose Red, Springtime Vintage DSP

Ink: (SU) Rose Red

Stamps: (SU) Wonderful Favourites

Dies: (SU) Little Leaf, Beautiful Wings Embosslit and Nestabilities Labels One and Eight

Other Bits: Scrap Lace, 1/2 white Pearls fm stash, Dimensionals, SAMJ

Lynda xx

Male Sailing

2011-10-13T09:00:00.001+11:00

I had some more fun with "Sail Away" a couple of weeks ago, whilst my son was playing baseball. Again, none of these cards are exactly the same, but are the same layout....very basic.

I started with a Sahara Sand base and stamped it with the Weathered BGS. I then co-ordinated it with

Always Artichoke

Chocolate Chip

...and Early Espresso

I also used the Modern Label Punch a little differently in each card.

Now if you also look carefully in the pic above, you will notice that the pattern of the Weathered BGS is at angles. I randomly stamped it diagonally and LOVE the result.

It is always good to have some male cards in the stash....greatly eases the 'freak out' factor when one sneaks up on you!!

Thanks for popping by again.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Sahara Sand, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla

Ink: (SU) Sahara Sand, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Early Espresso

Stamps: SU - Sail Away, Weathered BGS, Amy R Sentiments "Birthday Sentiments"

Punches: (SU) Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch

Other Bits: Dimensionals

Lynda xx

Pre-Teen Rock - #2

2011-10-11T09:00:00.001+11:00

Time is marching by so very quickly. A couple of weeks ago (yes I am still posting Sept projects) my son turned 11!!!! Buoyed by the success of the 1st Extreme Guitar card I did (last post) I decided to put my own twist on another card I had seen here. This is my version that Mast 11 received.....

I 'grunged' the background and the "11" up as previous, as well as the bits behind the guitarist...

I then thought, since my son's friends are all roughly the same age, I made another, but this time left the age off to be added when needed.

I used the KaiserCraft "Grunge" stamp on the background of this one. It is less of a tyre tread texture as the "rough Texture" SU wheel is.

I hope to use this image much more as all the boys around me grow up. It's kind of fun.

Thanks for popping by.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Tangerine Tango, Real Red, Very Vanilla

Ink: (SU) Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Tangerine Tango, Real Red

Stamps: SU - Extreme Guitar, Just Jawing, KaiserCraft Clear "Grunge" Stamp, Gel-a-tins "Numbers"

Punches: (SU) Large and Small Square Punches, Spiral Punch

Other Bits: Dimensionals

Lynda xx

Pre-Teen Rock - #1

2011-10-09T09:00:00.001+11:00

It really is amazing how time flies. Bestie's eldest son was 12 not so long ago...so I have "graduated" to "tween masculine cards"....just typing those words can send shivers down the spine!!!

I was lucky enough to get "Extreme Guitar" before it retired at the end of last catty. I was therefore armed with a least a stamp in my artillery that could be used for such an age group!! I then found this MDS card on SCS. Now we do not have MDS (My Digital Studio) in Australia...so I had a play and came up with this for Master 12.......

I was so very happy with this end result. I did add a couple of my own touches though. I do not have a "splat" stamp, so I improvised with a rough textured clear Kaiser stamp and then ripped a random hole in paper and used it as a mask. It was also stamped off, but you get the general idea.

After stamping the 4 dark strips, it still looked a little bare, so I stamped a music stamp in the same tone in the gaps left behind.

Then it was a matter of adding in the stamped off stars and lining up the guitarist image.

The punched star and sentiment were the final touches. I had to cut the dark star by hand as I needed to just build it a tad more.

Master 12 was happy and thought the card was "cool" which translated I guess is high praise from a chap of that age!!!

Thanks for dropping by.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, Real Red, Very Vanilla

Ink: (SU) Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, Real Red

Stamps: SU - Extreme Guitar, Just Jawing, Rough Texture Wheel (ret), Simple Type Alphabet Numbers, KaiserCraft Clear "Grunge" Stamp, Hero Arts -Clings "Musical Clef"

Punches: SU Large Star, Carla Craft CP2 Star

Other Bits: Dimensionals, SAMJ

Lynda xx

Pockets of Sympathy

2011-10-07T09:00:00.001+11:00

Hi all.

Sometime back I did some CAS birthday cards here. With some thought and a little tweaking, I altered them to add to the sympathy card stash at work. I made a mixture of male and female tones. Male being early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Night of Navy and female tones of Regal Rose, Perfect Plum and Concord Crush. The male cards were on Very Vanilla and the female on Whisper White.

Rather than show you all of them, here are the female ones.....

I think these appropriately fit the bill as (thankfully) so did the Practice Manager.

Thanks for popping by again. There is so much more to show you, so please keep dropping by.

Stuff Used (in the cards shown):

CS: (SU) Whisper White, Perfect Plum, Regal Rose, Concord Crush

Ink: (SU) Regal Rose, Perfect Plum, Concord Crush

Stamps: (SU) Sincere Salutations, Warm Words, Teeny Tiny Sentiments, Pocket Silhouettes

Other Bits: White satin ribbon fm stash

Lynda xx

An Element of Sympathy

2011-10-05T09:00:00.000+11:00

Being a nurse in a busy practice, sadly patients passing is an occurrence that happens all too often. The Practice Manager asked me to make some sympathy cards so that we could pass them on to the families that were affected.

With this in mind, I was inspired to make these cards that I found on You Tube here. These were my two masculine toned sympathy cards.....

I love the elegance and simplicity of these cards. Needless to say, I think they can be altered to fit a number of occasions.

Just a quick one today. Thanks for popping by.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Whisper White, Very Vanilla

Ink: (SU) Early Espresso and VersaColour Black

Stamps: (SU) Elements Of Style, Life Definitions, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Other Bits: SAMJ, Black Satin Ribbon fm stash

Lynda xx

Patchwork Butterfly

2011-10-03T09:00:00.001+11:00

Two days after my Brother's birthday is one of my SIL's (Pippa's Mum!!) For her I wanted to keep things monochrome but with wow and I was inspired by this card I saw on SCS. This is my version of Sheryl Dickinson's card....

This went together so very easily. I added a couple of my own tweaks from the original with the sentiment and the textured butterfly.

I put the butterfly on dimensionals too, so it looked as if it was floating through the air.

Monochrome has such impact and wow....doesn't it??

Thanks for popping by. Still more birthday projects coming your way in the following weeks.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Whisper White, Pear Pizzaz, Pear Pizzaz DSP

Ink: (SU) Pear Pizzaz

Stamps: (SU) Elements of Style, "happy bitthday" fm clear mount set I have but no name attached to it!!

Punches: (SU) Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, 1 1/4" Square Punch

Dies: (SU) Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die, Beautiful Butterfly Bigz Die

Other Bits: SU Square Lattice Embossing Folder, 1/2 pearls fm stash, Dimensionals

Lynda xx

Nauti(cal) at 40

2011-10-01T09:00:00.000+10:00

At the beginning of September, my baby brother turned 40. Whilst blurfing one day I came across a wonderful card by Vikki Beck (using Sail Away) here. You may have to scroll down to see the card...as there are quite a few stunning male cards shown (it's the 4th one down). I decided to base my brother's card on this.

I had not tried "Acrylic Block Background" Stamping before. For those unfamiliar with it, there is a tutorial link here. Here is my version of Vikki's card......

As you can see I have made a couple of minor alterations, but was thrilled with the final outcome. The sails are on dimensionals, which give it a billowy feel. There is also a close up of the effect you get with the acrylic block. My block had wavy edges, which fitted the nautical theme beautifully.

I tried to carry through the feel of ropes and pulleys with the ribbon through the eyelets.

I hope you like this card as much as I do. Sail Away is definitely my "go to" male card" stamp at the moment.

Thanks for dropping by.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Real Red, Night Of Navy, Whisper White

Ink: (SU) Real Red, Night Of Navy, Bashful Blue

Stamps: (SU) Sail Away, Sanded BGS, Simple Type Alphabet Numbers

Punches: (SU) Large and Small Oval Punches

Other Bits: Dimensionals, Bright Red Eyelets, 3mm Red Satin Ribbon fm stash

Lynda xx

Co-ordinated Gift Set - #2

2011-09-29T09:00:00.001+10:00

Just a quick one today to show you the other gift set i made for Miss 14!! It is basically the the same as the last post, except in different tones. I also modified the box on this one slightly again as the purple one has minor closing issues.

Here is the set together

And different views of the box....

Oh...and of course the card.....

I hope this has inspired you to perhaps try and converting a card face into perhaps a 3D project. The possibilities are endless!!

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Whisper White, Pretty in Pink

Ink: (SU) Pretty in Pink

Stamps: (SU) Elements of Style, Sincere Salutations

Other Bits: SU Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die, Tulips Embossing Folder, Pink Crystal Rhinestones fm Stash, Dimensionals, Pink Grosgrain ribbon fm stash.

Lynda xx

Co-ordinated Gift Set - #1

2011-09-27T09:00:00.002+10:00

Hello all. I hope for those in Sydney, you are all surviving the school holidays.

A little while back, I made a CAS card which got me to thinking here. I had 2 birthdays of girls of a similar age (one turning 13, and one turning 14) and I was wondering if I could make the card into a pretty box for their desks. This is the version of the card I made to go with the box for Miss 13....

I thought about what shaped box may transfer well to the card design and I decided on a Top Note Die Box. I based it on the tutorial here. I modified it slightly in that it is a rectangular Pizza Box with a Nestabilities Label 8 die top and bottom. The dimensions of the box are roughly 12cm x 8cm x 3cm ( 4 1/2 x 3 1/2 x 1 1/4 inches). This is how it turned out...kinda fab if I do say so myself....

And here is the first set together....

Sorry about the glare and shadows, it is either feast of famine with sun and wind around her at the moment.....LOL!!!

I'll be back soon with the 2nd one I made soon. Thanks for popping by.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Whisper White, Lavender Lace (ret)

Ink: (SU) Lavender Lace (ret)

Stamps: (SU) Elements of Style, Sincere Salutations

Other Bits: SU Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die, SU Tulip Embossing Folder, Nestabilities Labels 8, Lilac 1/2 pearls fm stash, Dimensionals, small purple ric-rac fm stash

Lynda xx

For (Another) Friend

2011-09-25T09:00:00.002+10:00

Sincere apologies for having been absent for a bit. September is the start of the birthday onslaught season for me and this week just gone I have had 8 birthdays in 1 week alone!!! As a result....I have much to share with you, I just need the time to post it all!!

I have a dear friend who LOVES the colour YELLOW!!! A lot of you may know her and when you see the photos of the gift I made for her...the dots will join! She is incredibly strong and durable with all that she does in her daily living and I wanted to send her a little something to show her how special I think she is. My real challenge for this was that I RARELY use yellow....hee hee hee.

For the card, I used a layout that I had done here.

I used a Mustard SWM with the Saffron which gave a lovely effect.....

For the diary I made, I found a luscious flocked yellow paper at my local craft store. From there it all came together quite nicely. Here is the diary...

I kissed the edges of the yellow flower with Chocolate Chip ink to "vintage" up the whole feel.

The flocked paper made the diary feel so lovely underneath your fingers

Finally, here is the gift and card together......

Thanks for popping by. Be sure to do so fairly regularly over the next couple of weeks as I have lots of boxes and more co-ordinated gift sets to share with you.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Yellow flocked paper fm Riot Art and Craft.

Ink: (SU) SWM's in Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, So Saffron and More Mustard

Stamps: (SU) Inspired By Nature, Warm Words

Punches: Martha Stewart - Gothic Arches

Other Bits: Cuttlebug Olivia Alphabet, Brown Grosgrain ribbon fm stash, yellow and white flowers fm stash.

Lynda xx

Old Style Butterfly

2011-09-13T17:30:00.000+10:00

I have had some more fun with the wonderful "Fly Free" set from The Craft's Meow. I am even entering this card into a challenge on The Pink Elephant. They want a vintage style card....and given that I am kinda into this style at the moment, I thought I'd give it a whirl. Now I made 2 similar cards, but it is this one I am entering into the challenge......

I combined a whole lot of different elements for this card. The DP has an old world paisley print on it, which lent itself nicely to the vintage theme. I am also a HUGE fan of the cage image. Reminds me of the old cast iron cages that once were.

The edge was embossed with the Tulips embossing folder from SU and the image was raised slightly.

Of course....doing one, I HAD to do another.....

These are the 2nd type of vintage cards I have done with this set. If you missed the first ones, you can find them here.

Thanks for dropping by. More creative frivolity to be had soon.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Blue Bayou (ret), Sage Shadow (ret), My Mind's Eye No 2 Blue Paisley Paper (item # OA1012)

Ink: (SU) Not Quite Navy

Stamps: TCM - Fly Free and Butterfly Kisses

Other Bits: SU Tulips Embossing Frame, Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die, Dimensionals, Martha Stewart Piped Nylon 3/8" ribbon in Silver Sage

Lynda xx

Farewell Ms Brooks

2011-09-11T09:00:00.000+10:00

It is always sad to lose a teacher htat has been a stalwart of a school for so very long. Sadly, my son's teacher retired recently. She has ~~endured~~ taught Dylan for 2 years (yr 2 and this year...year 5), so I thought her parting gift should be all that she has meant to us as a fmily and as an educator. Once again, everything was co-ordinated and it sought of grew and took on a life of it own. This is what she received...

It consisted of a diary, a candle, a desk compendium and a card. (Be warned...lots of pics following....)

The diary....

The Candle....

The desk compendium, complete with calendar, monogramed paper and butterflies....

The desk set is the same as the one Debbie P made here.

And last but not least the card....

I am so very happy with the way this set worked out. As you can see, there are MANY elements to this set, so I will put the main ones in the "stuff used" at the end.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Urban Garden DSP (ret), Whisper White

Ink: (SU) Not Quite Navy, So Saffron, Old Olive

Stamps: (SU) Inspired By Nature, Life Definitions, Lovely Letters Alphabet and TCM - Fly Free

Other bits: Nestabilities Ovals and Scalloped ovals, SU Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die

Lynda xx

A Blushing 1st Timer

2011-09-08T09:00:00.001+10:00

This is another escapee from my "gunna" file.

NB: The BLUSH in this post refers to that of awkwardness and slight embarrassment

Now as some of you may (or may not) know, I have had a brayer for nearly a year and alas it has not seen the light of day....that is...until recently. I am a MASSIVE fan of the brayering queens out there, and know to emulate such feats is batting WAAAAYYYY above my average. So, to embark on my first brayering foray, I went to Michelle Zindorf and her brayered Golf Card. My FIL is a massive golf fan, so I thought it may be a good idea to try it. (Insert far away and wistful sigh) this is the card I gave to my FIL.....

Now, as you can see, it's slightly different to Michele's card (perhaps for the better), but the brayed section is the same dimension. Given that US/Canadian cards are different sizes to the ones we have here, so I amended things slightly. I was happy with the layout of the card. The sentiment is form my Amy R set and I mounted it on a black oval to carry the theme through. I also carried the golf "dots" through on the background.

The golf ball is on dimensionals, and the shadow is sponged.

The things I have learnt through brayering this card are: # Make sure your post it notes are of a good quality. # Overlap (ever so slightly) the post it marks so that no white lines happen. (Perhaps most importantly) # Start off with an easier project!!

Thanks for enduring to the end of this post. I will be back soon with some other (very much) co-ordinated cards and gifts. Ta so much for popping by again.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Basic Black, Sahara Sand, Whisper White

Ink: (SU) Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Bashful Blue, Not Quite Navy, Versa Black (for golf hole)

Stamps: Amy R - Birthday Sentiments

Punches: CM 1 1/4" Circle Punch, SU Large Oval Punch & Word Window Punch

Other Bits: Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Dimensionals, Brayer, Post-it Notes

Lynda xx

(Again) Better Late Than Never

2011-09-06T09:00:00.001+10:00

Hi all. Thanks for popping by.

Now you may recall that little Pippa (my newest niece) was born in May this year (shown in this post.) Well (finally) I can share with you all my birth gift to her. Did you ever have one of those projects that you thought would come together relatively easily....and then have the total opposite happen??? This is such a project!!

When Jessica was born, I stamped a candle for her (here). I wanted to do the same for Pippa. I was CERTAIN of the image I wanted to use, and of course, the card had to co-ordinate!! The Craft's Meow (TCM) have beautiful stamps. Butterfly Kisses is such a favourite of mine. I have used it a couple of times. Pippa's was the first time I had used the main image on a candle. Also...not being one to bite of more than I could chew (yeah right), I decided to try another technique with the card - Faux Silk. There are many tutorials out there, but I have linked the one I followed.

Here is Pippa's Birth card....

Not my usual style huh??? Having said that, I was more than ecstatic that it came out on the paper the way I had it in my head!! Here is a close up of the faux silk and my lace flower. It was done by using a decorative scalloped lace and running a tacking stitch through the flat side and then pulling the thread taut to make a circle and tying the ends together. The brad was then inserted through the middle. Hope that makes sense??

The way to stamp on a candle is in one of the linked tutorials. One of the reasons why this post is so late is that sadly the pics I had taken of the candle were HORRIBLE to say the least and taken in v v poor light, so I had to ask Pippa's Mum to take some and send them to me. This was Pippa's birth candle....

Front

and back

If you'd also indulge me a tad further, I'd like to share with you some pics of my devine little niece...

10 weeks old

and taken 23/8/11

Will be back soon with more fun and creativity, Thanks for popping by.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Pretty In Pink (PIP), Whisper White, Bella Rose DSP (ret)

Ink: (SU) Pretty in Pink, SWM's in Perfect Plum and PIP, Perfect Plum and PIP on Candle

Stamps: TCM - Butterfly Kisses, SU - Lovely Letters Alphabet, Best Yet, Simple Type Alphabet Numbers

Punches: (SU) Large and Small Tag Punch

Other Bits: SU Antique Brads, Dimensionals, Scallop lace fm stash, Small pink ric-rac fm stash, Nestabilities Labels 8, Pop-up Glue Dots

Lynda xx

Father's Day Fun

2011-09-04T13:55:00.000+10:00

Hi and Happy Father's day to all out there.

I am lucky enough in my life to have "3 Father's" - my Dad, my FIL and of course, my DH is father to my kids. No as usual...I was late on starting out with the idea for the cards and then flicked through a folder I have on "Life Definitions". I found this and the cogs started turning.

After some procrastinations and ruminations, this is what I came up with...

As you can see I put a couple of my own touches on it, that being stamping "dad" underneath the "gratitude" and of course adding the sentiment. Here's what the 'dad' looked like...

and of course the obligatory close up of the card.....

My Miss 7 also made a cracker of a card for her dad, and I will share a picture of that later on with you. I sincerely hope all the Father's/Dad's and Blokes in general out there have a fantastic day. Thanks for dropping by.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Old Olive, Choc Chip, Whisper White, Windsor Knot DSP (ret)

Ink: (SU) So Saffron, Choc Chip,

Stamps: (SU) Whimsical Alphabet, Life Definitions (also Known as Define Your Life), Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Punches: (SU) Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch

Other Bits: Paper Piercer/Mat Pack, Dimensionals, Brown Grosgrain ribbon fm stash

Lynda xx

I Tried Something Different!!!

2011-08-31T09:00:00.000+10:00

My "gunna file" is nearly BUSTING at the seams. I am always "gunna" try this technique, "gunna" do this kind of folded card....but I never seem to get around to it!! Well ladies (and gents if you are out there reading...) I DID something from my GUNNA file....that being Reverse Masking!! Also after many, MANY sad neglected months untouched...I finally inked up a SAB set from this year!!

Some time ago I saw this card in my travels. Now I have Googled and e mailed trying to track down the post or indeed the person that is Trish Hughes...but alas...to no avail....so Trish....I still wanna say a BIG thank you for the inspiration for this card.

Whilst in Singapore, I did some rummaging for Andrea through the craft shops to find her some 1/2 metallic silver pearls. I was successful, and I included MY version of this card to go with the crafting happy mail to her...

Now this reverse mask in on a mini note card. I got to (finally) use my 2 3/8" scallop circle punch to form the outer mask and used a 1" circle punch for the sun/moon mask. From there it was a very (tenuous) job of sponging the background colours and then building the flowers. Lastly, the circle was removed and the bird image was stamped. Slightly close up versions here.....

For a first attempt, I thought it was OK. Andrea was very gracious in her appreciation and liking of the card. In a way it was karmic, because I received the note cards from Andrea as blog candy sometime ago.

May pluck up the guts to try this again at some stage, but I also have ANOTHER gunna file special coming up!! Stay tuned for that one.

Stuff Used:
CS: (SU) Whisper White Mini cards and Envelopes
Ink: (SU) Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, SWM's in Concord Crush, Regal Rose, Pear Pizzaz and Early Espresso
Stamps: (SU) Silhouette Sentiments (SAB 2010), Fresh Cuts
Punches: SU 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, Carla Craft 1" Circle Punch

Lynda xx

Pigeon Pair

2011-08-29T09:00:00.001+10:00

Morning all....hope you all got the opportunity to get a little crafty over the weekend???

A couple of weeks back, my work place underwent accreditation. Now if any of you have been through this process, you'll be aware that it is very intense and high stress. Basically it is needed every 3 years in the medical field so that your medical practice/hospital/health facility is seen to be maintaining the standards it should.

This time around was our Medical Centre's first in it's new premises. the old rooms consisted of 5 doctors sharing 2 consulting rooms, NO treatment room (they did not have any nurses till recently) and a very small reception area. Where we are now consists of 6 consulting rooms, a treatment room, 7 doctors, 2 nurses, a physio, blood pathologists....basically MUCH bigger. Policies were written for the treatment room and a lot of other things that did not exist previously.

Happily, we passed accreditation and to say thank you to the Practice Manager and my fellow Practice Nurse (as she did A LOT of the policy work), I made them both a small pamper package. This is what they got.....

Now for all of you playing at home, yes, these are Gable Boxes. There is a tutorial on SCS here. I find them deceptively big in that they only 6" tall (the box bit is 3 1/2" x 2 1/4") but they HOLD a lot!!! This is what I had hidden in mine.....

The box contained from the "Body Shop": a Shea Butter soap, a scented small body lotion and a myriad of Lindt wafer chocolates. Needless to say the girls were wrapped. I made a co-ordinated note card and envelope too. I was ecstatic with the result. I really think I am starting to get the hang of this co-ordination thing??

Thanks for dropping by. If you wanna give someone a "WOW" gift, try a gable box. I altered mine ever so slightly so that it was made form 1 sheet of A4 CS.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Bravo Burgandy, Elegant Eggplant, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Mini Cards and Envelopes fm SU (107312)

Ink: (SU) SWM's in Bravo Burgandy, Elegant Eggplant, Pretty in Pink and Old Olive

Stamps: (SU) Inspired By Nature

Punches: (SU) Wide Oval Punch, Carla Craft CP1 3/16" circle punch

Other bits: SU Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die, Pink Organza/Satin Ribbon fm Stash, Double Sided tape

Lynda xx

CAS Cards

2011-08-24T10:31:00.000+10:00

Good morning all. So nice to feel the warmth of the sun is Sydney....have missed it so much.

Recently I had occasion to send a card to a friend who was coming up on the anniversary of their Dad's passing. I wanted to let them know they were being thought of.

I found this card on SCS and was quite taken with its simplicity. Although for a birthday, a change of sentiment could easily fix that.

I made 2 of the cards. 1 for the occasion and a birthday version for the stash. This is my take.

I had to make the cards slightly smaller than the 1/2 A4 sheet size due to the Tulip Embossing frame. Here they are on their own...

As you can probably tell from the glare, the butterflies sit up a bit. So pretty. In my never ending quest to not have 2 cards exactly the same, I used 1/2 pearls on one and light green rhinestones on the other. The change of direction of one of the butterflies also helped create a "creative opportunity" to fix an extra ink spot that appeared!!

I was so taken with the simplicity of this card...I stepped it up with another birthday present that I will be back to show you soon.

Thanks for popping by.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Whisper White, Pear Pizzaz

Ink: (SU) Pear Pizzaz

Stamps: (SU) Elements of Style, Sincere Salutations

Other bits: SU Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die & Framed Tulips Embossing Folder, White 1/2 Pearls, Light Green Rhinestones, Green Grosgrain ribbon from stash, Dimensionals

Lynda xx

I got on the Bandwagon

2011-08-22T09:00:00.000+10:00

Yes, yes....I know....I am such a groupie!!!!

I guess I should explain what the heck I am rambling about...shouldn't I??? Do you know when you 'um and ahhhhhh' about whether you should get a stamp or not, then somehow, but way of other talented folk out there showing you the stamp's potential, you end up getting it? Well this is what happened to me and "Sail Away". It is a single stamp and PERFECT for male cards.

These are my first 2 cards with this stamp......

I wanted an old world, vintage feel to them. It is also amazing what you find when you flip a piece of DP over. The paper I used on these cards was on the flip side of the paper I used here. So fitting for a nautically themed card. Here are the cards close up.......

I aged and distressed both these cards the same way. I used the cutter kit to distress all edges on the card and I then kind of fashioned my own labels for the sentiments. I stamped them on a Word Window punch towards one end and the re-punched it to make it smaller. The brown labels are done via the same method but with the Modern Label Punch. Close ups here.....

These have gone into my stash for those male birthdays that seem to come out of nowhere!!! Thanks for popping by and I hope you get the chance to be creative soon.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Soft Suede, River Rock, Kaisercraft "Timeless Collection" ~ P657 - World map...flip side is the clocks!!)

Ink: (SU) Early Espresso, Soft Suede

Stamps: (SU) Sail Away, Vintage Labels

Punches: (SU) Word Window, Modern Label

Other bits: SU Jumbo Antique Brass Eyelets, Making Memories Mini Pewter Brads, SU Cutter Kit

Lynda xx

Farewell Friend

2011-08-20T09:00:00.000+10:00

Morning kind readers and commenters.....

Don't you hate it when a workmate whom you have formed a great working relationship leaves???? I know I do. Sadly we lost our wonderful pathology collector a couple of weeks back. I wanted to give her something small but memorable as a parting gift. I had an appropriate card in my stash, and I was also aware of the fact she was an avid reader...so bookmark was the logical answer!! Here is what I gave to her...

This is a slight change up on the butterfly bookmarks I have done recently in that the top butterfly co-ordinates with the card.

I think I made her cry a bit, which was not my intention, but I knew it hit the spot. Hmmmmmm....I am starting to get the hang of this whole co-ordination thing I think!!

Just a quick one today, lots to (try) and get done. Hope you get creative and a little inky today!!

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Very Vanilla, Rich Razzleberry

Ink: (SU) Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Orchid Opulence (ret)

Stamps: (SU) vintage Vogue, Great Friend (retiring at the end of this month I think!!)

Other Stuff: SU Very Vanilla Grosgrain 5/8" ribbon, 1/2 Pearls fm stash, Dimensionals.

Lynda xx

A Little OTT Perhaps???

2011-08-18T09:00:00.000+10:00

Good morning all!!

A courtesy head's up for you all....there are lots of pics in this post! You have been warned.

Miss 7 came home with a party invite for a school mate. She was FULL of ideas as to what she wanted to give her. So, we wrote them down, crossed off the "not quite appropriate" ones and focused on what we could achieve. She wanted the gift to be in her favourite colours (blues, read and greens) and also have butterflies. Definitely doable so far.....and.....she also wanted to give a candle!!! So....off to work I went......

Firstly the card. I had seen this card on SCS and put it to my CASE file. This was our version...

I sponged the edges of the embossed butterfly and mounted both on Dimensionals.

Of course on the inside...I had to use my "ever so useful" big glittery numbers!!

Next....the reds and greens portion. I had recently acquired the Scallop Envelope Die and a basket was a good choice. We could fill it with red and green things perhaps?? The basket was born....

Now for the candle....

A little while ago through Debbie P's blog, I was introduced to The Craft's Meow stamp set - Butterfly Kisses here. I have used the large image on another candle which I have not yet posted, but I could not resist using it again. This was the candle....

Front

....and back

All together, this is what the present looked like...

Needless to say Miss 7 was over the moon with the gift and I must admit I was pretty chuffed with it too. I thought the wee tags with the birthday girl's initial on it were the perfect finishing touch. After the party, in the playground at school, the Mum of the birthday girl chased me down and told me how much she LOVED her gift. Mission accomplished (phew)!!

Thanks for enduring to the end of the post. Now there are quite a few things used in this set, so if you have any questions....please leave me it in the comments and I will get back to you.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, WW, Springtime Vintage DSP

Ink:(SU) Baja Breeze Not Quite Navy

Stamps: The Craft's Meow - Butterfly Kisses, Jemac "Happy Birthday"(W29B)

Dies: (SU) Bigz Beautiful Butterfly, Scallop Envelope Die, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Cuttlebug Olivia Alphabet

Punches: (SU) Large and Small Tag Punch, Scallop Border Punch

Misc: Paper Fasteners "Blue Diamante" (fm Minibuckle), SU Designer Buttons - Sherbet, SU Square Lattice Embossing Folder, dimensionals and glue dots

Lynda xx

For A Friend

2011-08-15T09:00:00.001+10:00

It is never nice to loose someone close to you, let alone 2 loved ones in quick succession. Sadly, this happened to a blog friend of mine. I wanted to let her know that she was being thought of and send her something to (hopefully) bring a smile to her face. Going through my files, I found this card on SCS. It appealed to me on a couple of levels.

1. It used Elements of Style....one of my fave go to sets at present
2. It had a vintage feel to it which I am luvin' also
3. It gave me a chance to bust out Life Definitions....ironically a set that I purchased second hand from this girl
and
4. There was no Whisper White or Very Vanilla to deal with.

This is my take on the card.......

Now there was a LOT of sponging involved with this card....but well worth the effort. I also changed the top left corner with the definitions as seen here....

The rest of the card is pretty much to the original, except for the wee tag. I did not have the jewellery punch nor the wording to go inside it....so I improvised with the word window punch (which I made smaller by double punching) and the sentiment form Wonderful Favourites.

The small piece of lace is from Singapore and I wrapped a small pewter brad around the end to keep with the vintage feel. Seriously.....pink ribbon?? (hee hee hee)

Now I also had a fair idea that this young lady was partial to the odd coffee.....so this led me to part 2 of the project. I think most of you are familiar with the chocolate pulls, well this was my (much) smaller version with some sachets of flavoured coffee....

and here is the set together........

Thanks for enduring all the pics in this post, but I was so very happy with the way this project turned out.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Crumb Cake (Kraft)

Ink: (SU) Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake

Stamps: (SU) Elements of Style, Teeny Tiny Sentiments, Wonderful Favourites

Punches: (SU) Word Window Punch, Carla Craft 1" Circle Punch

Other Bits: Topaz Rhinestones fm stash, Lace fm Singapore, Mini Pewter brads, Chocolate Brown Ribbon fm stash.

Lynda xx

Asian Inspiration

2011-08-13T09:00:00.001+10:00

Hi all.

When I was over in Singapore, I KNEW that my in-laws would be helping my DH a lot with kid wrangling and babysitting. I got them a special pressie from Singapore...and of course needed a suitable card to go with it.

Whilst blufing, I came across JUST the card on Kim Tonnet's blog .....in particular this post here. With the help of the tutorial Kim used for her 2nd card on the post, I came up with this......

Was soooooooooooooo happy with the way it turned out.....and made me look like I had put some decent thought into the whole thing...LOL!! I had not given Fresh Cuts an airing for some time and was considering selling it....but now I am having serious second thoughts. Many years back I received some GORJUS 6 x 6 Japanese papers....so these were perfect for this card too.

I used the colours in the Japanese paper to give me the inspiration for the colours on the flourish and background. There is actually a sparkle with metallic gold in the patterned paper. The hardest thing for me was doing her freehand eyes and mouth!!! Thankfully tracing around the base of a 1/4" circle was a great help. Best thing was the in-laws loved it!!

Thanks for popping by. Enjoy your day...whatever it may bring you.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Whisper White, Basic Black, Ballet Blue (ret), Very Vanilla (face), Japanese papers

Ink: (SU) Ballet Blue, SWM's in Rose Red, Brocade Blue (ret), Green Galore (ret) and Basic Black

Stamps: (SU) Fresh Cuts

Punches: As per listed in the tutorial Kim used

Other Bits: Pink Rhinestones fm stash

Lynda xx

Gratuitous Parental Post!!!!

2011-08-11T14:11:00.000+10:00

No craft things this post....just gross parental pride!!!

A few weeks back Master 10 (nearly 11) had his sports carnival. It was freezing cold and very VERY overcast. I arrived in time to see him run 1 event, but I had heard rumblings that he had done well in other events too. The thought of him even making 800m was a little overwhelming....but he lined up for it with all the other boys. Long story short....he came in 2nd...and I will admit to perhaps having a little moisture around my eyes.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and he comes home very excited with the news that he has made it to the Zone Carnival at Homebush for the 100m and 800m. He then presents me with these.....

No less than 5 ribbons......2nd for the high jump and 800m and 3rds for the 100m, 200m and relay race. I was so very proud of him. He has since had the Zone Carnival this week and was up against kids that train and do Little Athletics (which he does not). I was so proud of his efforts and said to him that I would share this with you all.

Thanks for allowing me this wee parental boast.

Take care and create freely.

Lynda xx

Nicest Surprise

2011-08-10T11:16:00.000+10:00

Yes...I am still here...although very infrequently and for that I am so sorry. There has been so much going on under our roof......mania has taken over with its close cousin chaos!!

Most of you I am sure are aware of the delightful Andrea Lowcock. Over a week ago (and I know I am so v v slow to do this) she passed on this to me....

I had to had to have a giggle at this...cause style is one thing I am rarely accused of!!!

Now as usual...there are things you have to do....and one is share 5 things about me...so here goes....

1. I am a passionate St George (Dragons) supporter

2. I so love Dirty Dancing (the movie) and watching it is my guiltiest pleasures

3. I am a "gunna" hoarder. I have lots of projects and techniques that I am gunna do...but never seem to get around to!!!

4. I am really loving "vintage" themed/looking crafts at the moment.

5. It IS really embarrassing getting sprung by your kids rocking out to 80's songs in the kitchen!!!

Now I also have to pass this onto 5 folks whom I believe have style.....

1. Debbie P

2. Kerry Bunting

3. Helen Williams

4. Katie Ridden

5. Patrice (I have just realised I cannot recall your surname...oops!!)

All of these uber talented ladies have amazing blogs and are wonderful talents. Please check them out if you feel so inclined.

Off to more madness......stay sane.

Lynda xx

Getting Crafty In Singapore - #2

2011-07-29T09:00:00.001+10:00

Back again with one of those "WOW" finds from Singapore.

I read an article about Washi Tape on the plane. (The link is a v v brief description for those who have also never heard of it!!) I had never heard of it but I was intrigued by it's versatility. So....Bestie and I invested in a roll each and decided to have a play. She went for something bold and bright...I went for v v basic...LOL!!! The article I read gave 10 ways to use the tape, one was by using it as a frame. These are the 2 cars I have gone with so far....

and #2...

As the pattern on the Washi Tape was so bold, I wanted to let it be the feature...and I also love the impact of white, black and red. I also have to add sentiments to these cards too of course. I have nearly completed the cards I did with Bestie's Washi Tape, but they still need something to finish them off....just can't decide what yet!!

Hope you likes these cards too. My next crafty Singapore post will involve Bestie's kids. Thanks for popping by.

Stuff Used:

CS: CM red and a White CS fm Bestie's stash.

Ink: (SU) Basic Black SWM

Stamps: (SU) Pocket Silhouettes

Other Bits: Japanese Washi Tape

Lynda xx

Getting Crafty in Singapore - #1

2011-07-27T14:07:00.000+10:00

I have had a couple of requests to show some of the stuff craft wise that I got up to whilst in Singapore. So.....whilst the mojo is still MIA...I figured that it will fill some time till it comes back!! So here goes...

My bestie being the great gal she is...pretty much predicted that I may wanna suss out some of the crafty haunts in Singapore. On the way over in the plane, I took some "Australian Cardmaking, Stamping and Papercraft" magazines with me as well. By pure coincidence....what I read about in some of the mags....I found in Singapore!!! Who'd of thought??

One thing I saw were these stunning ladies...

I had actually made a mental note to source them when I got back to Australia...so you can imagine my delight when I found them OS!!! I wanted to try a vintage thing with them, so using what bestie had in her craft room I came up with these (bearing in mind I have still not added the sentiments yet!!)

The images in this and the next card were stamp on a textured cream/ivory paper which I was a little unsure of to start with, but was really happy with in the end. Once I had sponged the edges...it gave a whole new feel.

This is #2

The lace in this card.....well it was one of those amazing finds. Bestie introduced me to the "Daiso" experience. Daiso is really a $2 shop on steroids. EVERYTHING is $2 and it covers basic, electrical, kitchen, stationary, homewares....and of course crafting bits n pieces!! They are even bringing it to Australia soon. They had 3m packets of lace for $2....and of course I could not resist....lol!!!

Hope you have enjoyed the first glimpse of my creative time away. I will be back soon with some more.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) River Rock, Chocolate Chip, Cream paper fm Bestie's stash

Ink: (SU) Close to Cocoa (ret), River Rock,

Stamps: Clings - "Vintage Ladies"

Other Bits: Cuttlebug "Script" Embossing Folder, Lace fm Daiso.

Lynda xx

1,2,3...EasyPC

An Overdue Update.....

Small Comfort

Bevvy of Butterflies

Totally Out of my Comfort Zone

More Blossom Fun

Botanical Fun

More Post Christmas Birthdays

What I Made for Christmas - #4

What I Made for Christmas - #3

What I Made For Christmas - #2

What I Made for Christmas - #1

Bevvy of Booties....

Post Christmas Birthdays

Getting with the times....

Bright Start to the New Year

Christmas CAES-ing Kez - #1

Teacher's Presents - #1

Christmas CASE - #3

Christmas CASE - #2

Christmas CASE - #1

Christmas - Dasher #1

Christmas......finally!!!

Marking a milestone...

Pumpkin Mash!!!!

Giving Thanks

A Day to "Act Now"

Exploding co-ordination

Fleur-de-Male

Sweet CASE-ing - #2

Sweet CASE-ing - #1

Baa-baa Black Sheep

Sweet 16

Goodbye Miss Smith

Anyone for Dove??

Male Sailing

Pre-Teen Rock - #2

Pre-Teen Rock - #1

Pockets of Sympathy

An Element of Sympathy

Patchwork Butterfly

Nauti(cal) at 40

Co-ordinated Gift Set - #2

Co-ordinated Gift Set - #1

For (Another) Friend

Old Style Butterfly

Farewell Ms Brooks

A Blushing 1st Timer

(Again) Better Late Than Never

Father's Day Fun

I Tried Something Different!!!

Pigeon Pair

CAS Cards

I got on the Bandwagon

Farewell Friend

A Little OTT Perhaps???

For A Friend

Asian Inspiration

Gratuitous Parental Post!!!!

Nicest Surprise

Getting Crafty In Singapore - #2

Getting Crafty in Singapore - #1