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

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

Reverse Nestabilities....

Now I had never heard of this term before, but after watching a video on Stamp TV here it was actually quite logical. I literally stumbled across Stamp TV and Gina K...but I am very happy I did. I have found a couple of things and put them away for things later on.

My cousin's daughter Rhiannon recently turned 15. It is a real milestone as she was not expected to survive even 2 days when she was born. She has many special needs and difficulties, but our lives would be emptier without her. She loves bold colour and texture, so using what I found on Stamp TV and some cupcake fun....I came up with this....

Isn't the paper PERFECT???? It is by Papercraft and called "Sweet Party". I found it in Big W. It went perfectly with Big Bold Birthday. The hardest thing was matching the colours!!

I dry embossed the icing with Devine Swirls and popped it and the heart up on dimensionals to add some fun. To get the frame I used the Nestabilities Scallop Circles on the cupcake paper and then a plain circle on the Summer Sun CS to get the inlaid look. The wee heart on top mimics all the cherries on the DP. I love it...and can't believe I had not discovered this sooner!!! Here tis up close......

To finish it off...I used the same principal with the Curly Label Punch and the Vintage Labels set. A bit of Crystal Effects on the heart....and we were good to go!!

Thanks for sticking with me through this long winded post. Hope you are having a creative weekend. Have fun and thanks for popping by.

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Whisper White, Summer Sun, Papercraft Brand DP - Sweet Party

Ink: (SU) Close to Cocoa (ret), Almost Amethyst (ret), Rose Red Stamp and Write Marker

Stamps: (SU) Big Bold Birthday, Vintage Labels

Punches: (SU) Curly Label Punch

Other Bits: Spellbinders Nestabilities Standard Circles Large & Scallop Circles, Cuttlebug Devine Swirls Embossing Folder

Lynda xx

Cupcake Fun!!

Whilst blurfing sometime ago I found a sweet little layout on Marelle Taylor's blog here. I got to thinking (a v v dangerous thing) and the inspiration for these cards came from some green textured gingham paper I found at Alice's. Now, as with all of my cards at present, i made a couple of versions, but slightly different on each card. Here's my version....

The layout is the same for both cards, however I changed the dry embossing on the icing....just for a slight change-up!!

 

Now the stamp-a-ma-jig is VITAL for this card to line up the candle correctly, but for a cute card for someone under the age of 5, I love them...hope you do too.  The squares at the bottom are for the age of the child.

Thanks for stopping by.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Green/White Gingham paper fm Alices.

Ink: (SU) Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, So Saffron (SWM)

Stamps: (SU) Big Bold Birthday

Punches: (SU) 1 1/4" and 1 3/8 " square

Other bits: Cuttlebug Devine Swirls and Swiss Dots embossing folders

Lynda xx

Cake Fun!!

Since I have been guilty of relentlessly flogging a couple of stamps set lately, I had a dig in my stash, and found Big Bold Birthday. I find this set brilliant for kids card....and (as in this case I was hoping) a male adult card....but it was not to be!!! I saw this card on SCS and used it as a base for my card. I took a slight bit of artistic liscence (changed the orientation etc) but essentially kep the colours close to the original. Here is my version.

Now whilst I was happy overall with the card, for the birthday boy that I had in mind, it was not quite what I had hoped!! Here are some close ups of the cake and the side brackets, which are Small ovals with a word window punch and a pewter brad. I had not even tried something like this before, but I like what it does for the card.

I am now in the habit of making 2 of the same card at a time, so that my stash can be replenished. I wanted to try and "bloke" the card up a bit more, so I got out my Cuttlebug and this is what I came up with.

Here is the close up of the Cuttlebugged icing. I think it makes the 'chocolate' look delish!!!

Alas however, whilst (I hope) improving the look of the card, it's improving blokey-ness was very elusive! I therefore admitted defeat for the moment and currently have another version (currently in pieces) in deeper, more masculine tones (fingers crossed)!! I'll share that upon completion.

Thanks for popping by.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Certainly Celery, Baja breeze, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Whisper White

Ink: (SU) Certainly Celery, Chocolare Chip, Baja Breeze, So Saffron

Stamps: (SU) Big Bold Birthday. "Happy Birthday" fm Jemac (Item Code: W39D)

Punches: (SU) Small Oval Punch and Word Window Punch

Other bits: Cuttlebug "Devine Swirls" embossing folder, Crimper, Dimensionals, Pewter brads.

Lynda xx