Marking a milestone...

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

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

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

Tea for One (#1)

As most of you may know....I love my netball. Not so long ago whilst playing against a bunch of 14/15yo's (PS.....my team STARTS at 40yo!!) I sustained a minor knee tweak. To say the least it was frustrating and the fluid continued in spurts and fits. Thankfully, I have a physio at my work and she is amazing. She noticed me hobbling one arvo and offered to take a look for me. She diagnosed the problem, gave me some exercises and ordered a new piece of hardware for the knee. This helped me make it through the rest of the season with no more fluid. Nancy is AMAZING!!! She was so very generous with her knowledge and time.....I wanted to do something nice for her. This is what I came up with...

It is based on a teabag holder that I saw on SCS here. These teabag holders are so easy and a lot of fun to do and I think make a great little gift. Here are some other angles for your enjoyment!!

Give these teabag holders a go....you won't be sorry!!

Stuff used:

CS:(SU) Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun, Green CS and DP non SU

Ink: (SU) Wild Wasabi, Versamark, Markers Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun

Stamps: (SU) Garden Whimsy, Happy Moments, Whimsical Words

Oddments: Orange Ribbon (fm Big W), Carla Craft CP1 Circle Punch (to nip out the corners), Gold eyelets and collars fm Riot Art and Craft, Nestabilities Labels One

Lynda xx

Going Round In Circles (aka Light Bulbs and Brick Walls)

Again, this is NOT a reflection of my disposition...although SOME may argue the point!!

The title refers to my most recent effort for one of our young neighbours who turned 7. He is the most beautiful little boy who has a developmental disability. He gives you so much every time you see him. He loves everything bold and bright as well as being heavily into anything to do with animals.

Once again....I strapped on my thinking cap. I knew that I wanted to use my very neglected Wild About You set (which covered the animal quota), but the bold and bright.....I hit a brick wall.

So.....I went blurfing for inspiration and came across something that the delightful Christie Wallace said. Although the whole of the quote pertained to SU product, the part that stuck with me was "Sometimes when you lack a bit of inspiration you only need to look at the papers and colour combinations"........So I did. I rummaged through my ever increasing stash of papers and found a bright bold circular pattern and then the light bulbs started to go off....so thank you Christie!!

So now I had my paper, my stamp set and I managed to match most of the colours with inks that I had. All was going sweetly. The idea of concentric bright circles and the animals in the middle then.........BRICK WALL!!!! After having thought I had nearly every size of circle punch from 1/16"-2"...the only one I did NOT posses was a 1 3/4" circle...AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!

So...another light bulb...my dear father gave me a primitive (but as it turned out exceptionally useful) circle cutter for my birthday last year that I had not used. It's like the old geometry compasses but it has a blade where the pencil would usually would have been. So then I measured out a 1/2 of a 1 3/4" circle and HUZZAH!! Blade did not quite go through the CS, but it was enough that I could cut it out.

Anyhow...this is the result...

As I did not do the best job of cutting out the large circles, I decided to distress them with the cutter kit. The "7" is from a Gel-a-tins set that I got sometime ago too, but just had not gotten out. I popped up all the circles on dimensionals...which you can (sort of) see here.

The best part of course was that Jayme LOVED his card and the fantastic smile I got was worth all the ups and downs of putting the card together.

Thanks so much for sticking to the end of this arduous tale.


Stuff used:
CS: Optix Turquoise and Yellow CS, SU Riding Hood Red and Whisper White.
Ink: (SU) Riding Hood Red, Tempting Turquoise and Summer Sun Stamp and Write Markers, VersaColour #14 - Scarlet
Stamps: (SU) Wild About You, Whimsical Words and Gel-a-tins "Build-A-Set" Numbers
Punches: CM 1 1/2 and 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Franchenville Circle Cutter and Compass
Paper: G.C.D Studios Designer Paper (#710) "Jumbo Dots" - Lost In Paradise Collection

Lynda xx

Sorta Same...but Different

You may recall this post. It is a relatively CAS (clean and simple) layout that goes together in a jiffy. Well.....whilst (still) playing with Vintage Vogue, I decided to do some similar cards, but in a different colour combo. When I am making cards for my 'stash' (that wonderful and glorious pile of cards you can call on in a moments notice when desperate!!) I try and do 1 card landscape and 1 card portrait. This time around however, I had a lighbulb moment...and that was to pop the stamping in the upper corner, instead of the bottom left (as is usual for me). Here's the result....

And of course, close ups of the flowers and the sentiment.

Thanks for dropping by.

Stuff Used:
CS: (SU) Whisper White
Ink: (SU) Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss
Stamps: (SU) Vintage Vogue, Whimsical Words (SAB '10 set)
Bits: 1/2 pearls fm stash.

Lynda xx

Swap Sisters Challenge #7

This week on Swap Sisters, the delightful and always encouraging Michelle set us a technique challenge...Ghosting. Now I for one had never heard of this technique before and thankfully she provided us with a guiding pdf. It involves using Glossy white CS, Versamark and a brayer. Basically you versamark the image you wish to "ghost thru" and then when dry, ink up a brayer and cover the whole piece of card in the ink and let dry. The Versamark will resist the ink and you gently buff the card just to help the image through.

Now I had a wee hiccup this week cause I do not have glossy CS OR a brayer...but Michelle assured me that I could do the same with glossy photo paper and a sponge. So with that in mind, here's my challenge card....

I used the flourish and small flower from the Fresh Cuts set to Ghost and then went over it with Lavender Lace ink. Now in the example given, Michelle also used a background stamp (BGS) before the versamark and it looked a treat. Unfortunately, this was not the case with mine....however...if you squint really hard you may see the Weathered BGS!! There are some 'veins' of colour there I promise....LOL!! The wind also caught the card and I lost a 1/2 pearl...DOH!!

Anyhow....I learnt another technique and through a lot of elbow grease (yes evenly sponging is a great workout) I got a card in for the challenge. Ghosting is fun and perhaps when I have the glossy CS and a brayer I may give it another go!!

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Vellum and Dotti brand hi gloss photo paper

Ink: Versamark, lavendar Lace, Certainly Celery

Stamps: (SU) Fresh Cuts, Weathered BGS, Butterfly Prints, Whimsical Words

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

Other bits: Dimensionals and 1/2 pearls fm Bizzy Becs

Lynda xx