The Blues at 60

Morning all.

Now the title is not as morbid as you may think. Our beautiful Practice Manager Turned 60 last week and her favourite hues are blues. Therefore I did not have to go far to come up with a colour palate for her card. The problem arose when I had done a special card from me, and then work asked me to make one that all of them could sign!!! OOoooooooooookkkkkkkkkkk...thinking cap on.......

The one I made for her from the practice was a square card. I think there is something very elegant about blue and silver together. This is what I came up with......

 

I used Vintage Vogue for the flowers and a little fussy cutting. I teamed the flowers with the Fancy Flourish Die from MFT. The curls sat on petals, it was such a pretty effect.

 

 

The "60" perhaps was a little obvious in silver glitter card stock, but hey.....whatcha gunna do??

 

My card was a standard size and I (yup) still went with blue flowers. I found this card by Dawn Olchefske here and thought it'd look OK in blues too. This was my version of Dawn's card......

 

 

As you can see I changed up the sentiment, textured the main background but still used the beautiful Springtime Vintage DSP, which sadly we did not get out here (sniff). The "60" this time was cut in a beautiful sky blue glitter CS from Alice's. I also love the distressed flowers. I had not tried these before, but seriously, they are REALLY easy-peasy. The flowers are cut, spritzed with water and then crumpled, uncrumpled and then let to dry naturally and layered. The affect is magical.

 

 

 

Thanks for popping by again. I hope you liked my blue cards. I will list the "stuff used" separately for these cards as there is both a bit in them.

 

Stuff Used:

Square Card:

CS: (SU) Night of Navy, Whisper White, Soft Sky (ret), Bazzil textured white, Stardream Silver paper and Silver Glitter CS fm Alice's

Ink: (SU) Night Of Navy, Bashful Blue, Island Indigo (stamped off)

Stamps: (SU) Vintage Vogue

Dies: (SU) Window Framelit Dies, Simple Type Alphabet Numbers Dies (ret), MFT Fancy Flourish Die

Other Bits: Dimensionals, Clear Rhinestones fm stash

 

Standard Card

CS: (SU) Very Vanilla, Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Springtime Vintage DSP, Sky Blue Glitter CS fm Alice's 

Ink: NONE!!!

Dies and Punches: (SU) Fun Flowers Bigz L Die, Lots of Tags Sizzlits Dies, Scallop Circle Bigz Die, Wide Oval Punch, Nestabilities Classic Circles Dies

Other Stuff: Cuttlebug Olivia Alphabet, SU Fancy Fan EF, Dimensionals, Lace fm stash, Brads fm Reject Shop

 

Lynda xx

 

 

 

Every Princess Needs a Castle....

Morning all.

I decided to continue on with the kid's birthday idea and show you what I put together for DH's niece. She was 1 on Mother's Day this year (mid May) and all of my DH's family got together to celebrate. This is Miss Pippa amongst her birthday bounty.....

I had purchased some beautiful colourful bookends with fairytale motifs on them. I carried this idea through to the card. I had come across this stunning card by Carrie Rhoades in my blurfing travels and thought it perfect. It comes with a tutorial in the post. This is my version of Carrie's card......

Who thought a Spiral Punch could do so much??

I did put a little of my own spin on it, in that when I think of castles, I imagine them covered in wandering ivy. I stamped the flourish from Vintage Vogue and stamped it in Versamark over the Crumb Cake CS. Worked OK I think.....(click on an image if you wish to make it larger)

The wee flags are the points of stars, the door an oval punch and windows 1/4" squares (perhaps the fiddliest bit for me!!) The sun is a double punched scallop circle with a 1 1/4" circle with the number on it.

I was very happy with the way this came out. Being the first time I had done it, it did take a wee while. There is a lot of sponging and snipping, but final result was well worth it.

Thanks for popping by.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Bashful Blue, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Certainly celery, Whisper White, Summer Sun (ret), Windsor Knot DSP (ret) - door, DSP flags I cannot recall...sorry, Hot Pink Glitter CS fm Alice In Paperland

Ink: (SU) Crumb Cake, Summer Sun (ret), Versamark

Stamps: (SU) Vintage Vogue

Punches: (SU) Scallop Circle, Spiral Punch, XL Star Punch (ret), Large Oval Punch, MS Grass Border Punch, Carla Craft CP1 cloud punch, CM 1 1/4" circle punch

Other Bits: Cuttlebug Olivia Alphabet (for the #1), Dimensionals, Sponges

Lynda xx

Birthday Butterflies

Morning all.......

Please do not adjust you spectacles....yes it is me and I am POSTING!!!! Thanks for you patience and e mails of friendship and encouragement. Things have settled a little, but there is still a ways to go...a long way in fact, but at least there is a little light.

Now I created these cards a VERY long time ago and I got the inspiration from Leonie Schroder and her card here. I just love the whimsy and simplicity of it....so much so that I made a couple....or 4.

Here are my versions....

 Now as usual.....I have made small tweaks on each of them so no 2 are exactly alike. The differences range from a different vine colour, sentiment and rhinestones or pearls. I did particularly like the way the vellum made the butterfly "fly".

The other little piece of special was the wonderful embossing the vellum held.

Here are 3 of the 4 cards together. 1 had to make a quick exit so I was not late for a friend's birthday.

Again, thanks so much for your patience, support and friendship. I hope to schedule a couple more posts over the next few days. Last weekend (18-20th May) I also went to Craft Camp and I have MUCH to share from there too.

Thanks for popping by.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Vellum

Ink: (SU) Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake

Stamp Sets: (SU) Vintage Vogue and Amy R- Birthday Sentiments

Punches/Dies: (SU) Large and Small Oval Punch, Beautiful Wings Embosslit die

Other bits: Dimensionals,  Pearls and Rhinestones (most from Hot Dollar)

Lynda xx

Flower Fun to Die For.......

Morning all.
A bit of a bonus post for you this sunny Sunday (yes....I said sunny!!!!!!!!!) Sydney finally has a golden orb in the sky for a change with some heat behind it....woo hoo!!!

This week at Our Creative Corner they have a "Best Friend" theme going. You have to create a card, 3D project etc to let a best friend know that you are thinking of them. It also HAS to contain a flower!! Now my Bestie's birthday is not for another month, but I have many WONDERFUL friends that have birthday's in the nest week or so. Well with this in mind, I had an idea or 2 bouncing around my brain.

I also received an order of My Favourite Things dies that I had been very patiently waiting for and was BUSTING to try them out. This is what I came up with.....

Now this card is VERY out of the ordinary for me. I do not do square cards that often, it has a lot of pink in it...another not to frequent occurrence and i also managed to tie my first double bow!!!

The MFT Dizzy Doily and Fancy Flourish dies are so intricate. I loved working with them. I think they are definitely gunna get a massive work out.I used a Bow Easy to tie my double bow.

I cut out all the flowers and the dimensionals really got a workout here, but the flourish/garland was so pretty......

Thanks for popping by again. I may even have another card or two for this challenge....but I will think about it for a bit. Thanks also to Michelle at The Stamp Spot for the MFT dies.

Addit......since posting this and sending a link to Michelle, I have now also entered it in The Stamp Spot Sketch challenge for February.

Stuff used:

CS: SU Very Vanilla and Pear Pizzaz, Roman Ivory CS, Graphic 45 Baby and Bride Collection Paper - Unchained Melody - #450023

Ink: (SU) Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzaz

Stamps: (SU) Vintage Vogue, Sincere Salutations

Dies: MFT Dizzy Doily and Fancy Flourish

Other bits: Dimensionals, Pink 6mm satin ribbon fm stash, Crystal Green 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

Farewell Friend

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

Crafter's Retreat #8

Good morning all.

One thing I think we all have some difficulty with is sympathy cards. I admit to having a couple of fail safe ones...as do we all. Not so long ago I saw a stunner on Andrea Buckland's blog here. It was one of the projects I was DETERMINED to get done at camp as I knew I would have the time needed to get it just right.

This was my 1st version of the card. The person I had it in mind for was a fan of greens.

Now whilst very happy with this version, for me it was just a tad stark, so I stepped it up. The cross itself reminded me of one of the ones you would see on a family's crypt of similar and that is where i found the idea of the trellising vines. This is version #2....

Now on Andrea's tutorial, she embosses the cross in 2 pieces, but I found it much easier to do it in 1 and that way I found that you could line up the join and make it near impossible to detect (hopefully) as seen here....

I think the vines from Vintage Vogue worked a treat here....don't you?? I also love the monotone look of Mellow Moss and Whisper White.

Thanks for dropping by. I believe this is the LAST one of my Crafter's Retreat posts....or perhaps one more. Thanks for enduring them all and I hope that you have enjoyed what I came up with. I will be back soon with more fun and creativity and hopefully a couple of pics from my fun time in Singapore.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Mellow Moss (ret), Whisper White

Ink: (SU) Mellow Moss

Stamps: (SU) Teeny Tiny Sentiments, Vintage Vogue

Punches: (SU) Scallop Trim Border and Corner punches, Word Window Punch

Other bits: (SU) Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Nestabilities Fancy Tags Die, Dimensionals, Small 1/2 pearls fm stash

Lynda xx

In Colour Inspiration....

Hey all!

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

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

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

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

Thanks for dropping by.

Stuff Used:

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

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

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

Other Bits: Dimensionals

Lynda xx



A Little Less Ink....

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

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

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

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

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

Stuff used:

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

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

Stamps: (SU) Vintage Vogue

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

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

Lynda xx

MORE Challenge Embraced.....

Hi there - another bonus post to show you the 2nd colour challenge from I4U. This time it was a TAD easier....but still a PINK element!!! Here's what we were set....

Surprisingly, this card came together very quickly (although there was a LOT of cutting out involved!!) This is my take on the Colour Challenge......

Apologies for the darkish photography, but the light goes very quick here of an afternoon. I have to confess, this was my virgin use of Blushing Bride Ink (having used the CS only once) and I wasn't sure how a Rock 'n' Roll technique would go on the edges of the flowers, So I go out my Real Red Stamp Spot and grazed the edges in different ways to get the different effects. LOVE the final look!! The background is stamped with Baja Breeze and also the flourish on the Nestabilities Scallop Circle (would be VERY lost without these) is stamped off twice so as to be very very faint.

It was all glued down along the edge of the Nestabilitie shape, but not flat, so as to give it dimension and then the Scallop Oval was popped up on Dimensionals.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Baja Breeze, Whisper White

Ink: (SU) Baja Breeze, Blushing bride, Real Red

Stamps: (SU) Vintage Vogue, Whimsical Words

Other bits: Spellbinders Nestabilities Large Scallop Ovals, Dimensionals

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

Miss Jessica's Card

Warning....the next couple of post will involve so gratuitous Aunty boasting!!!

On Sunday the 4th of July I FINALLY got to meet my new niece Miss Jessica!!! needless to say she is adorable, cute and had everyone totally mesmorised. How could you not love this......

Ain't she just so cute and chubby??

Now I am so blessed to have so many wonderful blog friends out there and most of them (directly or indirectly) helped me in putting Jessica's birth gift an card together. It started with this idea for the card from SCS. Now I have trawled through all the possible combinations that I had hoped would help me find the person to give due credit, to no avail. Still that card was my start point.

This is what I came up with from there.......

Now the contributors that hepled were Debbie P (for the Nesties that I now have thanks to her advice) and Andrea (for the fantastic concept of the no tie brad bow!!) I was also very mindful of co-ordinating the card and the gift I gave, something I have not done a lot of enough.

With the help of those two I got these....

Now I DID score lines above and below the embossed dots and if you squint really hard you may see them...hee hee hee.

And of course these beautiful 1/2 pearls I got from Bizzy Bec's that I used with the sentiment.

Thanks so much to all of those (again) out there that provided the inspiration for this card. Wren (Mum of Jessica) upon opening up the card did say it was her fave card!! (blush)

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Very Vanilla, Rich Razzleberry, Orchid Opulence, Old Olive

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

Stamps: (SU) Vintage vogue, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Punches: (SU) Scallop Oval, Large and Small Oval

Other bits: Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing folder and Olivia Alphabet, SU Very Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon & dimensionals, Brad fm stash, Lavendar 1/2 pearls fm Bizzy Becs

Lynda xx