Thank you

I think I have made more 'thank you' cards than any other kind this year, and I've also sent more than any other kind as well... which indicates to me how much I have had to feel grateful for :)

Here's my latest one, which I made for CRAFT Challenges this week:



I'm entering my card at:
# The Crazy Challenge ~ #47 ~ Punch it
I used Martha Stewart 'Lattice Arch' punch along the edge
# Papertake Weekly ~ Be Thankful


I think something is wrong with the white balance settings on my camera; the colours have been coming up all strange. I used Fancy Pants 'Happy Together' papers, which I got from Scrap Pile for my November DT kit.

New beginnings

The theme for this week at CRAFT challenges is New Year / New beginnings. Our lovely sponsor, Sally&Sam Doodles, provided an image to use, and I made an engagement card:



This has been a tough year for my family, and I really do hope for some 'new beginnings' in the year ahead. Hard to believe it's Christmas Eve already!

I'm also entering my card at:
# Simon Says ~ Anything goes
# CES Challenges ~ Anything goes
# ABC Challenge ~ K is for ~ Keep it simple

Just one...

This time of year is crazily busy, so the last Design Dollies Elements Challenge for the year is super simple - to create something using the following recipe:

• Just one piece of cardstock
• Just one patterned paper
• Just one word in the title/sentiment
• Just one photograph/image
• Just one embellishment

I made a card:



I'm also submitting my card at:
# Allsorts ~ Week 83 ~ Free and easy
# CupcakeCraft ~ Challenge 122 ~ Thank you

Lucky me!

This 12x12x12 box arrived on my doorstep this week:



And this is what was inside:



All of this was a RAK featured on Stacy's blog, and sponsored by Elmer's and X-acto.

Thank you, thank you, thank you

Another CRAFTy Thursday

Here's my contribution for C.R.A.F.T Challenges #81:



Our sponsor this week is Susie at Diecut Dreams.  The theme is black and white with a splash of colour' - I used Bazzill cardstock, Bella journalling card, Pink Paislee alpha stickers, Cuttlebug 'Floral Fantasy' embossing folder, and Green Tara rosette.

A little bit nautical

This week's Elements Challenge at Design Dollies is all about 'nautical' themes.  Here's my sample layout - with the Cape Byron lighthouse in the background:

 
Click to enlarge

And a little detail shot:



I'm submitting my layout at:

# Fussy and Fancy ~ Week 25 ~ Anything but a card
# Craft Your Days Away ~ Challenge #10 ~ Punch it out
I used Martha Stewart 'Garden Trellis' punch

Colour Festivia

Another Thursday, and time to share another C.R.A.F.T. creation. Challenge 80 is to use the following colour palette:





The sponsor is Eiglas, and I've used her cute Rufus digital stamp on my creation. I made a treat bag topper for a novelty gift:



And a little closer:



This will probably end up being a little stocking-filler for my Dad or brother for Christmas, or maybe a Secret Santa gift.

I'm submitting my creation at:
# Totally Stampalicious ~ Wrap it up
# Tuesday Throwdown ~ Challenge 28 ~ Clean and simple
# The Town Scrapper ~ Bling
I used Kaisercraft rhinestones for the tangled lights, and Kindy Glitz 'Crystalina' on his scarf.

To infinity...

... and beyond!



Over at Scrap Pile, I've been playing with Fancy Pants 'Happy Together' papers and this is the first layout that I've completed so far.  This is also my contribution for the Inspiration Challenge this month - details of the challenge can be found here.

Just a few little closeups:





I'm submitting my layout at:
# Flutterby Wednesday ~ #133 ~ Open theme
# Tuesday Throwdown ~ #27 ~ Embellish it
# The Crazy Challenge ~ #43 ~ On the Go

Christmas Birthday?

I was thrilled when Jo invited me to join the Design Team at C.R.A.F.T  Challenges, starting in December.

The sponsor this week is Toucan Scraps.

I have to admit that Challenge 79 had me puzzled for a while and I really had to step out of my comfort zone agin this week.


I made a birthday card in Christmas colours, and I used a Christmas journalling card:



I also used: Bazzill cardstock, Tim Holtz embossing folder, Cosmo Cricket alphabet stickers, Bella journalling card, Scenic Route patterned paper.


I'm submitting my card at:

# Party Time Tuesdays ~ PTT #23 ~ Anything Goes
# Papertake Weekly ~ Sketch 51
# Everything but the Kitchen Sink ~ Challenge 28 ~ Texture (dry embossing)

Layer upon layer upon layer...

Today is Tuesday, so it must be... Design Dollies Elements Challenge day!

This week it's all about layers - using a minimum of five layers:




I'm entering my card in these challenges:

# Fab'n'Funky ~ Challenge #50 ~ "Going with the flow"
# Allsorts ~ Week 80 ~ Monochrome
# Cute Card Thursday ~ Challenge #140 ~ Blast from the Past (Challenge 116 'anything but square')
I used my new Spellbinders Nestabilities 'Labels 16' dies
# Craft Your Days Away ~ Challenge 9 ~ Texture
I used Cuttlebug 'Script' embossing folder to add texture

Snow globes

This week at CRAFT Challenges, Challenge 78 is to create a Christmas present.

Our lovely sponsor Debbie at The Crafty Pad is offering the following polymer stamp as a prize:

In keeping with the theme, I used a digital version of the stamp on my project. I printed the image onto pale blue cardstock, coloured it with watercolour pencils and KindyGlitz:



and I used it to decorate this:



I bought the snow globe from my local Coles supermarket (in the aisle that has DVD-Rs and photo frames).  It's got a magnet on the back, and you can change the picture that slots in at the back.  I was going to put it aside to pop into Jasmine's Christmas stocking, but I wasn't sneaky enough and I got sprung taking the photograph!!

I'm also submitting my project at:

# Our Creative Corner ~ Create a holiday 3D project
# Stamptacular Sunday ~ Challenge #86 ~ A time for giving
# Paper Cutz ~ Challenge #68 ~ Christmas project with lots of bling
# Simon Says ~ Let it Snow!
# Totally Papercrafts ~ Challenge #43 ~ Snow and snowflakes

A magical sunset

I'm joining in with another gorgeous colour combo for the Design Dollies - black, white, and grey, with a pop of orange:



I'm also submitting my layout at:

# Frosted Designs ~ Distressing
I distressed the black Creative Imaginations patterned paper, and I think my wonky dropped stitches are a bit distressing too!

Harriet's first layout

This week at CRAFT Challenges I was pushed out of my comfort zone yet again.  Challenge 77 asked us to use vellum - something I never use and don't have in my stash.  I managed to scrounge some vellum scraps from a friend, and I met the challenge with this 8x8 layout about our newest guinea pig, Harriet Jersey Caramel:



What I did:  I punched out some retro flowers, scrunged them up, then misted with Smooch Spritz.  Next, I layered them up and secured with a brad.  Here's a little detail shot:



I'm also submitting my layout at:
# Paper Sundaes ~ Challenge 44 ~ Pick your sundae toppings
I used punches (retro flower) and ribbon

A little silliness

"Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans: it's lovely to be silly at the right moment." - Horace

 Time for another Design Dollies Elements Challenge!  I had one of those weeks and despite my best intentions I didn't get my layout finished - it's on my desk with no title and no embies :(  The theme this week is "something silly" and it must include some buttons.

J-girl stepped up to the challenge this week to help me out, and she created this layout:




This is all her own work - she took the photograph of her friend, made the flowers using a Cuttlebug die, and used her own stamps and supplies - but she did raid my button stash!

Jasmine is entering her layout at:

# Lollipop Crafts ~ Challenge 16 ~ Very girlie (Lots of pink!)
# Stamp with Fun ~ Challenge #85 ~ Square (8x8 layout, using Basic Grey stamps)
# Crafty Creations ~ Challenge 93 ~ Buttons (in the flower centres)


Do you want to be a Design Dollie?  We are holding a Dollie-Call - check HERE for details.


EDITED 22/11/10:
Jasmine's layout was chosen as one of the Top 3 at Lollipop Crafts!

Goodnight Scrub

Back in September I was renaming folders on my external hard drive and I found an entire folder of photographs from October 2007 (somehow mis-filed).  I've been enjoying the trip down memory lane as I scrap some of the places we visited on our impromptu family mini-break.

These ones are from our unplanned detour to explore Goodnight Scrub.


Click to enlarge

This was for the Geography 101 class assignment at My Scrapbook Nook.  The criteria was to create a layout focussing on a place (no people) and include journalling on the page.  My title is a line from the lyrics of 'Colours of the Wind' (Pocohontas, 1995)


The next one is for this week's Sketch Challenge at Design Dollies:


Click to enlarge


I'm also submitting this layout at:
# Challenge Up Your Life ~ Challenge #31 ~ Blue and green (papers from K&Co and Echo Park)
# The Crazy Challenge ~  Challenge #40 ~ Things with Wings (I used a Maya Road owl)

EDITED 30/11:
My layout was chosen in the Top 3 at Challenge Up Your Life!

CRAFT and colours

Thursday again, and time for the new challenge at C.R.A.F.T. This week it's a colour challenge, and it had me in a panic at first because I don't buy purple products, and I have next to nothing in my stash in those colours.

Then I remembered the Bo Bunny Jazmyne that papers I won last year, and my project came together easily.

I enjoyed making the 3"x3" Christmas card set last week, so I used the same origami box design and made a set of gift cards for my mother-in-law for Christmas. She is always sending little cards and messages so I know she'll appreciate them:





I learnt how to make the origami 'masu' box back in primary school, and it's very easy.  I started with a 9"x9" piece of patterned paper to finish with a base of just over 3"x3".  You can also make one very slightly larger to make a nesting lid.  There are zillions of tutorials online, each with slight variations; just choose one that you find easy to follow.  My best tip is to do all the pre-folding (straights and diagonals) first, and to be as accurate as possible to ensure neat corners.  Pre-folding will ensure that the 'tucked in' steps are much less fiddly.

I'm submitting my cards at:
# Crazy4Challenges ~ C4C62 ~ Create square cards

Elements

Over at Design Dollies, founding Dollie Adina is taking a short break and I'm helping out for a little while hosting the Elements Challenge.  All the hard work has already been done for the November challenges; I'm just the game show hostess gracefully waving her arms around to point you in the right direction each week ;)

This week it's GETTING COLD - well, maybe it is in the Northern Hemisphere! The required elements are something cold and something glittery. This is mine:


Click to enlarge

Be sure to check out the other gorgeous creations by the Dollies. I'm also thrilled that Karen Wray is joining us as a Guest Dollie - she's a fabulous Aussie scrapper (from Canberra), whose blog I love to visit!

Feeling CRAFTy

I was thrilled when Jo asked me to be a guest designer at the C.R.A.F.T Challenge blog in November. Weekly challenges are posted every Thursday, and there are some lovely sponsored prizes too.

Challenge 75 is all about dry embossing, and is sponsored by Hope Jacare. Here's my contribution:



I used Cuttlebug 'Spots and Dots' EF - this was the first embossing folder I ever purchased and I love how versatile it is.

Little wee ones...

Design Dollies time again! This week's Elements Challenge is "little wee ones". I interpretted the challenge fairly literally, and I made a set of six 3"x3" Christmas cards.  I re-purposed some 'little' wine charms into card embellishments: 

Click to enlarge

I also made a matching box:





I'm submitting these at:

# Charisma Cardz ~ Challenge 43 ~ Match Master
# Wild Orchid ~ Challenge 9 ~ Classic Christmas (red, green, gold)
# Wee Memories ~ Challenge #29 ~ Free for all

I used: BoBunny and Bella papers, Spellbinders Nestabilities 'Lacey Squares' die, Colorbox fluid chalk 'Dark Brown', and Prairie Bird Boutique ribbon.

AQUA, aqua everywhere...

It's November and my turn to host the monthly sketch challenge at Scrap Pile.

This is the sketch:



Digital credits: 
Ginger Scraps "Beach Glass" digital kit
Artisan shape from digiscrap.ch

This is my layout:

Click to enlarge

This is also my contribution for the first Design Dollies Colour Challenge for November.  The fabulous colour combination is: AQUA, YELLOW, RED and BLACK.  I went a bit heavy on the aqua but I couldn't resist the gorgeous Bo Bunny 'Gypsy' papers I found in my stash.  I loved this range and bought it maybe six months ago (??) then put it away somewhere safe and misplaced the package... and found it again only last week.

I'm entering this layout at:
# One Stop Craft ~ Challenge #104 ~ Anything goes


I used some of the aqua offcuts to make this card:


Click to enlarge

I'm entering my card at:
# C.R.A.F.T ~ Challenge 74 ~ Monochrome
Aqua, aqua, aqua - Bo Bunny, Kaisercraft, and Dream Street papers
# ABC Challenge ~ G is for ~ Glitter
Lots of KindyGlitz 'Crystalina' on the wings and roses
# Lollipop Crafts ~ Challenge #13 ~ Embossing
I used Spellbinders to cut and emboss the butterflies
# Sentimental Sundays ~ Challenge #27 ~ Birthdays


UPDATE 8th Nov:
My card was chosen as one of the Top 3 at Lollipop Crafts!

Feeling patriotic

I haven't been doing much scrapping over the past few weeks - a combination of nightwork lethargy, missing mojo, and lots of time spent outdoors in the gorgeous spring sunshine.

Just one layout to share today:

Click to enlarge

I'm entering my layout in these challenges:

# A2Z Scraplets ~ October sketch
I turned the sketch 90 degrees left to suit my photograph.
# Papertake Weekly ~ Sparkly and bright
Lots of rhinestone dots on the butterfly wings.
# Secret Crafter ~ Challenge 107 ~ Anything that flies
I cut butterflies from the offcuts, mimicking the shape of the Cosmo Cricket 'Togetherness' motif.
# One Stitch at a Time ~ Challenge #36 ~ Any celebration
Australia Day

Swimming

It's time to share my project for the Elements Challenge over at Design Dollies this week.  The theme is 'mixed media' and after a bit of pondering I came up with this:

Click to enlarge

I made my own 'canvas' by shaping some corrugated cardboard packaging, painting with gesso and acrylic paint, then Mod-Podging a piece of metallic wrapping paper onto the background.  Then I sponged gesso over the top again to get rid of the shine, and scrapped over the top of that.

It's an aide-memoire for my daughter to help her pack her own bag for swimming lessons.  We have all sorts of little lists all over the house to help her navigate routine activities more easily, so she doesn't feel constantly lost and confused.  She hasn't seen this new version of her swim bag list yet; I hope it will make her smile.

Purple and white and black

It's Design Dollies time again, and I've been revisiting purple.  This week the Colour Challenge is to use PURPLE   BLACK and WHITE:


Click to enlarge

I'm entering my layout at:
# Top Tip Tuesday ~ #7 ~ Anything goes


The J-girl *loves* purple and black.  She also *loves* Converse High Tops.  Unfortunately, they are a bit out of our budget so she's just been dreaming about them.  About a month ago, I found these cheap no-name canvas boots at an outlet store:



She wore them a few times, but she is now becoming a little more fashion conscious and interested in experimenting with accessories, and she told me more than once that they are 'a bit plain':

 

Then the Nook U Final 6 challenge at My Scrapbook Nook came up ~ "Alter something.  Anything." ~ I knew exactly what I was going to do. I used lace and beads and fabric paint, and a LOT of hot glue gun action and I came up with this:



I didn't win any places in the challenge, but I did win some "Mummy Points" at home!

Cards

Back to some cardmaking, using lots of leftover bits and pieces from my messy scrap desk! My theory is -  if you use it all up, you don't need to tidy it away ;)



# Party Time Tuesdays ~ Challenge 17 ~ Anything Goes
# Corrosive ~ Challenge 86 ~ Get rid of the white
# Wee Memories ~ Challenge 27 ~ Celebrate good times
# Beary Sweet ~ Challenge #12 ~ Misting

I used Smooch Spritz 'Sunkissed' to spray white Prima e-line flowers, and I also coloured the lace by soaking up the overspray.  I also used: Cosmo Cricket 'Togetherness' papers, Stampin' Up sentiment, Kaisercraft pearls.




# Etsy Inspired ~ EIC #110 ~ Inspired by this card at Capturing Creativity
# Tuesday Throwdown ~  Challenge #22  ~ Anything Goes