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

Crafter's Retreat #4

Sorry guys n gals...not even half way yet!!!! Told you I got a lot done!!

Now anyone with a boy around the age 5-10 will know of Ben 10. He is a HUGE hit in this house and I know my Bestie's youngest is a massive fan too. He is soon to turn 6. A long while back I saw this card by the Super-talented Christie Kunkel. I wrote to her to see if it was OK to CASE it and she also helped me out with the size of the circles she used. This is my version of her Ben 10 card.....

She very cleverly used the Spiral Punch to do the wrist band....GENIUS!!!! Then it was a matter of using the concentric circles I had to do the rest. I ended up using my Nestabilities Circles to do the large ones. For the other punches used, see the "Stuff Used" at the bottom.



Needless to say...a pretty big happy dance was done when I finished this. There were a couple of other crafter's who took a great deal of interest in this too....loving everything Ben 10. Thanks so very much Christie for making such a great card to CASE.

Stuff Used:

CS: Whisper White, Basic Black and Stardream Shimmer Silver, CM Green (sorry do not know the name!!)

Ink: Basic Black

Stamps: (SU) Birthday Wish

Punches: (SU) 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Horizontal Slot Punch, Spiral Punch, Carla Craft 1/2" Circle Punch, Nestabilities Classic Circles

Lynda xx

Crafter's Retreat 2011 #3

The following cards are expamples of how bits come together to make real an idea bouncing around a brain. At the last Craft Expo at Rosehill Racecourse, I stumbled upon some magical DP that had giant clocks all over it. I was immediately reminded of the stamp set "Sense of Time". Only thing was...I do not own it....but Bestie did. So a few e mails later...she promised to bring it to camp with her, so I could have a play. I wanted to have a play with all things vintage again....so here's the results.....

                                                                                 #1

I left the sentiments off some of the cards...so I could decide later. The clocks on #1 and #2 are matted on a piece of Early Espresso to show a v v thin 1mm border.

                                                                             #2

and #3

As you can see I stamped off the ink and continued the "cog" motif around the edge of the card and the DP. I also popped up the clock on a dimensional.

I am really loving playing with the Tim Holtz inks. They sponge on so v v easily and evenly...and you gotta love that!!!!

Stuff Used:
CS: (SU) Very Vanilla, Early Espresso and Kaisercraft "Timeless Collection" ~ P657 - World map...flip side is the clocks!!) and P656 - Script
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Frayed Burlap, Vintage Photo, Tea Dye and Black Soot
Stamps: (SU) Sense of Time
Other Bits: Dimensionals

Lynda xx

Crafter's Retreat 2011 #2

Another thing on my 'to do' list was a couple of Male Cards (collective groan of frustration!!!!) 2 men in my life are turning 40. One is my hubby and the other is my Bestie's partner. I had his pressie in the car at camp, so I kinda HAD to do it....cause Bestie was running it back to Singapore for me!!! Now I DID make the same card for both boys, I just aqua painted them slightly differently.

I had found some FANTASTIC DP in a bin for 60c a sheet (12 x 12 no less) and I loved the colours in it immediately. This shaped the colour scheme for the card....and the stamp was a cinch...Lovely As A Tree. This is what I came up with.....

Isn't the DP fantastic?? It is real Autumnal tones. I used the Nestabilities Deckled Rectangles to get the rough edges.....again...to bloke it up a bit!!

The tree was stamped is Basic Brown and the aqua painted over, the same way as I had done here. Just gives it that bit of lift don't you think??

I then kept the age basic....cause male cards are not fussy right. I used some gold Upkit Numbers I have had for ages...and then used 2 full stops to fill the space.

I really do love the way this turned out, and by all accounts "Mr" Bestie did too.

Tonnes more to show.....thanks for popping by.

Stuff used:
CS: (SU) Always Artichoke, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla and 2001 Anna Griffin DP (AG052)
Ink: (SU) Basic Brown, Always Artichoke and Soft suede with the aqua painter
Stamps: (SU) Lovely As A Tree
Punches: (SU) Designer Label Punch, Carla Craft 1" circle punch
Other bits: Aqua Painter, Nestabilities Deckled Rectangles, Upkit Gold Numbers

Lynda xx

Crafter's Retreat 2011 #1

Hi there.

I guess I shoud get off my keester and show you what I made at craft camp....given that it WAS 2 weekends ago!!! Once again, it was at the idyllic Collaroy, where we have been all the previous times. One of the BEST things about camp was that my bestie came out all the way from Singapore...JUST for camp!!! We had some "us" time...and even better...US CREATIVE time. Could not have asked for more.

This year I went with specific goals in mind...with a glut of birthdays and things coming up, I wanted to get ahead (or at least dare to dream anyhow). I also had some new toys to play with and I wanted to give them a good going over.

First task was to fill some orders I had been give. One of the doctors at work was about to become an Uncle for the first time, but he did not know the sex of the baby, so he wanted one of each. He also wanted traditional colours...ie pink and blue. my "go to" baby set is Wild About You. I also had purchased some time back some beautiful Christina Re double sided A4 paper. With all these factors in mind, here is the boy card....

And the girl card.....



I kept the design fairly basic as I wanted the paper to be the centre of attention. I just made a simple matt...

...and because I (still) can't bear to do 2 identical cards....slightly changed the sentiment up a little...

Even side by side I think they looked pretty speccy together....

Isn't the paper just too cute?? The doc was really happy with them too. Turns out the timing was perfect. I gave them to him at work on the Tuesday and his new NIECE was born on the Wednesday....and he was all organised. Gotta love that. You still can't wipe the smile off his face.

Thanks for dropping by. Rest assured, I have A LOT more to share!!!

Stuff used:
CS: (SU) Pretty In Pink, Bashful Blue, Whisper White and Cristina Re paper (sorry unsure of name)
Ink: (SU) Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue
Stamps: (SU) Wild About You, Short and Sweet
Punches: (SU) Word Window Punch, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Modern Label Punch
Other Bits: Dimensionals, Pink and Blue 3mm craft ribbon, 3mm pink and blue rhinestones 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



Fly Free.....

I recently took part in a blog hop featuring a new release from a US company The Craft's Meow. I was blown away by these sets and felt an instant connection to a couple of the. The first set I played with was Fly Free which is featured in this post. I guess this was the start of my newly acquired butterfly fetish....LOL!!!

I wanted my first cards to look like they looked like they had come from an old glory chest or similar...you know that old vintage tea stained look. Here's what I came up with....

Black Soot

Early Espresso

I dragged out the Tim Holtz Distress Inks and teamed it up with SU's Early Espresso and some DP. I also busted out a new KaiserCraft Clear Stamp called Sheet Music. I used this on the background. The sentiments are from Fly Free.

I changed it up a little and offset a shape the same as the one stamped to give a shadowed effect.....I really liked the look. The background was stamped off in the Espresso and Black Soot to add interest.

Don't you just love the feeling the butterflies leaving the cage gives.... or perhaps I am over thinking it too much??

I have more butterflies to show....but I think you have had enough for one post. Hope to see you soon.

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Very Vanilla, Early Espresso.

DP: Legacy Collage # 0554 - Diamonds

Ink: (SU) Early Espresso, Tim Holtz Distress inks in: Tea Dye, Antique Linen, Black Soot

Stamps: TCM - Fly Free, KaiserCraft Clear Acrylic Stamp - Sheet Music

Punches: (SU) Scallop Oval Punch, Curly Label Punch

Lynda xx