Anyone for Dove??

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

(Again) Better Late Than Never

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





A Bridal Affair.....

One of the wonderful Doctors at my work is getting married tomorrow (10th April). She was so sweet in that she asked for tips etc with how and what wedding invites should look like, as she and her friends made them all. She loves blue and all shades there of. This is her wedding invitation.....

The embossed paper that she has used is a luscious teal blue and looks magical IRL. We had all chipped in at work to get her a present, and I was asked to provide a card (no pressure.....ha!!!) I took the colour theme of the wedding invitation as my inspiration and came up with this......

The aim was to not make the card too girly, as the groom is a part of the day to!!! It was warmly received by all the staff and the bride-to-be was very happy with it (phew). To add dimension to the layout, the bird's wings were popped up on dimensionals and the Decorative Label punch was double punched to give the extended effect.



I am hoping so very much that they have wonderful weather on Sunday and I am very much looking forward to seeing the happy snaps as they go around the office.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Bashful Blue, Taken With Teal (ret), Shimmer White (non SU)

Ink: (SU) Taken With Teal

Stamps: (SU) Whimsical Words

Punches: (SU) 2 Step XL Bird Punch, Decorative Label Punch

Other bits: Dimensionals, Cuttlebug Decorative Swirl Embossing Folder, Nestabilities Labels 8, Light blue 1/2 pearls (sentiment) and small white 1/2 pearls (bird's eyes) fm stash

Lynda xx

Elements of Sympathy

Hi there all who pop by!

Today is a somewhat sombre post as sadly the FIL of one of the gals I play neball with passed away suddenly. We all know how difficult sympathy cards are to do, let alone MALE sympathy cards. I was trawling through my CASE cards file and came across this one from the immensely talented Tashana Lundy. I decided very quickly and came up with my version.

As you can see mine is slightly different. I dropped the ribbon (being for a male) and I also did not sponge the edge of the Nesties die (forgot in the haste to get it done!!) I also did not use Close to Cocoa, instead using Sahara Sand. I DID however shadow the flourish, stamping it in Sahara Sand first and then the Soft Suede. Here tis up close.

You also may notice that the wing of the bird is outside the cut shape of the die. I owe the learning of this technique to Debbie Pamment. She has done a tutorial for it here. Debbie has MASTERED this technique and uses it on quite a few of her cards. I have a LONG way to go...but at least now I have a handle on it. The large flower image from the stampset is stamped in Sahara...seen here.

I am happy with the way this turned out and I think it is fitting of a male sympathy card.

Stuff Used:
CS: (SU) Soft Suede, Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla
Ink: (SU) Soft Suede, Sahara Sand
Stamps: (SU) Elements of Style
Other bits: Nestabilities Labels 8

Looking very much forward to seeing the Neurologist next Tues. Thanks so much for all of your well wishes and messages of support.

Lynda xx

Challenge #4......more PINK!!!!!

Over at Inkspirations4U....I am getting the impression that with all this Valentine's day stuff that it is themed around....I have to take on board there's gunna be a LOT of pink around. Madeline set us another picture challenge for #4 here...

I am sorry that the pic is a little distorted, but it was like this when we were given it as the original was VERY small!! Here is what I got from the pic....

Rather than stick to a traditional shaped card....I cut one using the Nestabilities Labels 8, and then cut a concentric one to make the quilt. I thought it made for a nice change. The owl was based on the one in the middle of the picture.

Once you get past the pink....I think it's an OK card. It was however passed onto someone with an appreciation of everything pink and handmade. I think I have DEFINITELY met the creative resolution of using pink more as well as making challenge cards....LOL!!!

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Whisper White, Rose Red, Tea Party DSP, Black

Ink: (SU) Rose Red Stamp and Write Marker

Stamps: (SU) Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Punches: (SU) Owl Punch, Word Window Punch, Large Oval Punch

Other bits: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 8

Lynda xx



Bevvy of Boxes - #5

I have been at my job now nearly 16 months...yes time has flown. I love working with a larger staff...more opportunity to create havoc!! Running this well oiled machine is a fantastic Practice Manager - Judy. She is the QUEEN of multitasking, Mum, trouble shooter, confidant, negotiator and all round FAB lady. I managed to suss out when her birthday was and I wanted to make something special for her. I had seen this Top Note Die box on SCS here. I wanted to bust out something a little different and In my file I had a Vintage Vogue card I has seen here that I liked very much. I think it was the colour combination that attracted me first. Also helped that Judy like blue!!

I did change the card up a little bit to co-ordinate with the box, but kept the colour scheme the same. Here's the finished box..

Front and side.....



You may notice the Reverse Masking on the top of the box. I used the negative from the Nesties Labels 8 and sponged it in Whisper White Craft Ink to almost give a faux shadow....I love the effect. I even used a BUTTON!!! I think it is the very first time I have used a button as an embellishment. It covered the join nicely on the double layered ribbon. So I took it one step further. I changed up the card to keep the Labels 8 theme going.

On the original card they had used a Curly Label punch, but once again I reverse masked the Nestabilitles Labels 8, and also added some leaves and used half pearls instead of brads. It turned out better than I had hoped. I had never reverse masked at all before, but I think I will definitely do a LOT more of it.

The box held Judy's favourite indulgance....dark chocolate...and a couple of milk chockies for later on of course!! To complete the look I stamped a plain white paper bag. It look good I think all together. This co-ordination thing has some merit!!

These Top Note boxes are small but I am aware that there are different sized versions around. Judy DID love her pressie and managed to keep (most) of the chocolate from her kids. Give these wee boxes a try...they are very easy and a LOT of fun to make. Perfect size to hold diamond things perhaps girls???

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Old Olive

Ink: (SU) Rich Razzleberry, Bashful Blue, Whisper White Craft Ink, Versamark

Stamps: (SU) Vintage Vogue, Lovely Letters, Amy R "Birthday Sentiments"

Other bits: (SU) Sizzix Little Leaves Die, Dimensionals, Designer Buttons - Sherbert, Mini Glue Dots, Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 8 (many of the sizes), Burgandy Grosgrain and Light Blue organdy ribbon fm Alice's, Blue Satin ribbon fm Big W, 1/2 pearls fm stash

Lynda xx

More comebacks than Melba!!!!

Both my MIL and FIL have been workers at Australia Post FOREVER. My MIL finally decided to retire.....after threatening to do so many times. This time 'was it and FINAL!!" So to commemorate such an auspicious occasion, I marked it with a card. I made it at a play date at my bestie's house. She had aquired the SU bird punch and let me have a play. I had seen similar versions of this card on SCS and here's what I came up with...

It let me also have a play with my relatively new nesties (Labels 8) which is a similar shape to the SU top note die. Dunno if I am happy with my sun in the top left hand corner.....but it needed something!! Here are some close ups anyhow....

In the weeks since I made this card...I have since aquired the bird punch and will show you some other creations with it.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Cottage Wall DP

Ink: (SU) Rich Razzleberry, Orchid Opulence, Pale Plum, So Saffron (chalk)

Stamps: (SU) Teeny Tiny Sentimente, Pocket Silhouettes

Other Bits: Nestabilities Lables 8, SU XL Bird Punch, Dimensionals

Lynda xx

Robbie's 50th

My wonderful BIL Robbie turned 50 the other week. I wanted to make a card for him that perhaps reflected his life. Back in England he was part of a rock band (and yes from memory he WAS the drummer) and I had recently purchased a new Cuttlebug embossing folder that may help with my quest. I also got another chance to bust out my new Nestabilities Labels 8.

I went for the colour combo of black,silver,red and white. Here is what the cuttlebug folder looked like before I put the rest of the card together. My head is buzzing with possibilities for this folder as it is very masculine.

and here's the whole card together.....

I am happy with the way it turned out. I know that we all LOVE to do masculine cards, so I hope that this may inspire some of you. The bling 50 was a total bargain and the local 'Hot Dollar' shop. Got a massive bag of these numbers in red, blue and pink for a pittance and I think they worked well on the card too. Most importantly is that Robbie liked it...so mission accomplished.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Basic Black, Whisper White, Stardream Silver and Red

Ink: (SU) Real Red

Stamps: (SU) Vintage Labels (SAB '10 set)

Oddments: Cuttlebug Embossing folder - "Gem Rox", Nestabilities Labels 8, SU Pewter Brads, Dimensionals.

Lynda xx