Bright Fowers....in Hope of Warmth!!!

Morning all.

It's official....I am freezing and in desperate need of warmth. Perhaps the posting of these cards may evoke some warmth??

I love finding a card and then working out, if you do not have the exact supplies, what you can use to make it yours! I fell in love with the idea of this card on SCS....and then the cogs started to clunk. The flowers...check...the grass...can alter but check but it was the stems that had me stumped. You really have to love one of those 3AM light bulbs...don't you?? This is the result of my light bulb moment....

I am so very happy with the way they came out. I got the chance to play with the Edgelit Dies on the grass. I am really loving the orange and purple colour combination. The sentiments are from Petite Pairs.

The Butterflies gave me the opportunity to try a trick I read on the net somewhere. If you want to have a certain coloured rhinestone.pearl, but you do not have the right colour, a permanent marker on a clear rhinestone or white 1/2 pearl will do the trick. I used a bright orange Sharpie in the rhinestone and viola!!!

The final thing was to pop the flowers on the dimensionals and I was good to go!!

Here are the 2 together........

Thanks for popping by. Let's hope that the warmth comes soon....or sooner!!!

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Concord Crush, Kiwi Kiss (ret), Regal Rose, Tangerine Tango, Summer Sun (ret)

Ink: (SU) Kiwi Kiss (ret) Regal Rose, Tangerine Tango

Stamps: (SU) Sweet Summer (SAB '12), Petite Pairs

Pinches, Dies and Embossing: (SU) Adorning Accent Edgelit Die, Triple Layer Bouquet Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Large and small Oval Punch, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Carla Craft Vinca A punch,

Other bits: Dimensionals, Pink and Orange Ric Rac from stash, Pink 1/2 Pearl and Clear Rhinestone fm stash.

Lynda xx

Another Zero Birthday......

Hi all.

I hope you are all enjoying the long Easter break. I have so much to show you, so I hope to schedule some fairly regular posts over the next week or so.

Today's card date's back a month or so....yes I am that far behind!!! One of the secretaries at work was about to celebrate a zero birthday. This lady is very elegant and understated. I was asked to make her card that was black and white and nowhere was it to mention her age!!!! Easy right????

I was inspired by this card on SCS.....it fitted the black and white part anyhow. This is the card I made for the birthday girl.....

and I also made one slightly different for the stash......

I think the red just stepped up the sass factor a little. I embossed the stripe...although due to 2 sproggets tearing around...I ended up debossing as opposed to embossing....but it worked out OK.

The swirl is so very intricate and with both rhinestones and pearls it looked so pretty.

The birthday gal loved her card....so I was happy too.

Thanks for popping by. As promised will have more for you all soon.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Basic Black, Whisper White as well as Paper Mill Black and White Paisley Pearl paper and Stardream Deep red paper

Ink: (SU) Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler

Stamps: (SU) Elements of Style and Amy R - Birthday Sentiments

Other bits: SU Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Deep Red 1/2 pearls and Red Rhinestones fm stash

Lynda xx

Small Comfort

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

Giving Thanks

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

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

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

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

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

A Card.....

....Matching bookmark.....

 

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

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

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

Thanks for popping by.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler

Ink: (SU) Cherry Cobbler

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

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

Lynda xx

Sweet CASE-ing - #2

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



Patchwork Butterfly

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

Crafter's Retreat #5

Good morning all,

Well the time for me flying out is fast approaching and I am DESPERATELY trying to organise posts amongst planned menu's for the family, working out who is going which way and where for the 10 days I am away...and to tell you the truth, I have contemplated a couple of times not going. However...I AM off to Singapore for 10 days to see my bestie and partake in her new life...as well as take in some World Cup Netball.

I hope you are not over all my posts on the Crafter's Retreat...but you were warned that I DID get a LOT done. Now the lovely lass who organised the camp this year was Connie (Facebook link....she has a store front in Campbelltown - Sydney). Upon arrival she gave us a wee goodie bag that contained some DP, ric-rac and paper flowers. She challenged us to make something with the stuff from the bag.

I got out my swatches and matched some of her papers. I was SHOCKED to find out that one of the colours was one that I had (purposely) NEVER used...Groovy Guava (SU 2008/09). It was also paired with Sage Shadow...a fave of mine that has sadly gone via the wayside too!!

Here are my 2 attempts....

#1

Now sorry bout the glarey sun...but this is prob better IRL. I was so very surprised that these colours worked so v v well together.



The bottom layer of the butterfly is vellum that I embossed, then the smaller one is the paper from Connie's goodie bag. It was Bestie's idea to put the pearls as the antennae....and it worked out well. A couple of dimensionals...and there you go!!

#2

This one came together a LOT easier than the first...perhaps I had past the initial shock of the colour combo...LOL!! I had a minor hiccup with the embosslit die in that I had the DP the wrong way....so I used the debossed side!! The tag was done by trimming off the top and bottom of the Designer Label Punch. I think it gave a really nice shape.

 

Again, thanks for enduring another wordy post. I am going to endeavour to get another handful of posts done, but if I disappear for a while....you know where I am...and that I'll back real soon. 2 more sleeps to go!!

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Sage Shadow, Groovy Guava, Whisper White, DP - Foof-a-la (item 47090 - Savannah: Ambrosia), Vellum

Ink: (SU) Sage Shadow

Stamps (SU): Best Yet, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

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

Dies: (SU) Bigz Beautiful Butterfly, Beautiful Wings Embosslit die, Nesties Classic Circles

Other Bits: SU Tulip Embossing frame, Cuttlebug Devine Swirls Embossing Folder, Dimensionals, Metallic Silver Gel Pen, Rhinestones and Half Pearls fm stash

Lynda xx

For a friend......

One of the magical things that exist in the world of blogging is the fact that you have so many friends....and most of them you will never meet. Yet somehow, through creativity and inspiration you connect on a level and run with it. Comments on their blogs turn to chats via e mail....texts and the odd call. You become a part of their lives as they do yours, sharing highs, lows and all in between.

Sadly, one of my beautiful friends has had the ultimate roller coaster ride of late, so, I thought I'd send her something to let her know that I cherish her friendship and I think her strength is amazing with all that she was going through.

Small digression...

I got the idea for this bookmark from the amazing Dawn Griffiths here. I used the logic that one Bigz Die would be similar to another and I went from there.

Back to the story....

This person has a very strong faith, so I thought that the bookmark may be able to be used in her Bible, which I know is very special to her. This is the bookmark I made...

Since this was the very first one of these I had made (using the logic principle) I was so very happy with the way it turned out. The ribbon marks the page and the butterfly sits on the front cover of whatever book you are reading. The beautiful thing about this is that I could combine it with Elements of Style. Here is the detail close up...

I teamed this up with a card in the same set.

I felt the sentiment reflected perfectly what I wanted to convey to her at the time. For me this was co-ordination on a massive scale as everything was all in the same colours. Here is what she received all together......

Since making this initial bookmark, I have made MANY more. The girls at work have really taken to them and they are going like hot cakes. I will show you the other colour combinations later on.

Stuff used:
CS: (SU) Very Vanilla, Rich Razzleberry
Ink: (SU) Rich Razzleberry
Stamps: (SU) Elements of Style, Warm Words
Other bits: (SU) Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Sizzix Bigz Butterfly Die, Very Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon, Ivory half pearls from stash

Lynda xx



Blissful

Far and away the stamp set used the most for the last round of Ink4U was the SAB set Bliss. Diane set us the following colour challenge.....

I loved this colour combination and the bar was set very high with Sonia and Diane's cards. Given that at the time this was set, I was still on restricted duties and my mojo was a tad flat, I scoped SCS for inspiration and found this card and I altered it to accommodate the challenge. Here is my version......

Once I had guessed the dimensions, it came together very quickly and perhaps is one of my very favourite cards. It's just that little bit different.....which I like. I got to bust out the square lattice embossing folder as seen here....

As well as the Curly Label Punch.....

Once I actually wrote down the "Stuff Used" I realised that there was actually a LOT of things used in this card....LOL!!! Thanks for dropping by and I hope you have a creative day.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Very Vanilla, Pear Pizzaz, Not Quite Navy and Making Memories "Paper Reverie - Brun Antique" Collection (Item # 35856 - Brun Antique Dictionary)

Ink: (SU) Pear Pizzaz, basic Black, Not Quite Navy

Stamps: (SU) Bliss (SAB '11), Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Punches: (SU) 1 3/4" circle, XL Curly Label Punch

Other stuff: SU Square Lattice Embossing Folder

Lynda xx



They say flattery....

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

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

Whisper White                                                                              Very Vanilla

Concord Crush

                    

Cherry Cobbler

Elegant Eggplant

And lastly Rich Razzleberry

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

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

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

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

Lynda xx