Liebster Blog Award

Hello!

This week I have been honoured to receive the Liebster Blog Award from two bloggers that I admire greatly - Jen from JENerally Speaking and Gayatri from Handmade by G3. Thank-you, ladies. You both inspire me constantly, and I absolutely love receiving your comments on my own work on a regular basis. :-)  If you haven't yet visited Jen and Gayatri, please do pop over to visit them and tell them I sent you! Their work is creative, beautiful, and inspiring.

What is the Liebster Blog award? Here is a quick explanation.   'Liebster' is German for 'dearest'. The award is a 'share-the-love' arrangement, given to inspirational bloggers with less than 200 followers (based on Google followers).


Here's the to-do list of any Liebster award recipient:
1) Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you
2) Reveal your five blogger picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog
3) Copy and paste the award on your blog (see above)
4) Hope that those you award forward it to their favorite bloggers!

Without further ado, here are the five inspirational bloggers that I have chosen to forward this award to. They not only create beautiful work, but they also spread the love by leaving lovely comments on a regular basis.

1) Cassandra of Paper Addiction - The person who inspired me to start blogging in the first place, inspired me to enter my first challenge, who creates the most elegant cards I've ever seen, a great stamping buddy, and who is a wonderful friend.

2) Tessa of Happy - Tessa posts all sorts of projects on her blog. She doesn't post many cards, but those she does are always creative and trying new ideas. Her baking, parties, and building (furniture) posts amaze me with her creativity.

3) Ann of Kingston Mama Crafts - Ann is a CAS stamper and she always comes up with ideas that I hadn't even thought of. Her style is different to mine, but similar enough for me to take direct inspiration. I love visiting her blog as I always come away inspired.

4) Karen of Made by Meadie - I actually "met" Karen on Flickr in the Jane's Doodles Group. I always loved her cards, and she often visited me and commented on mine. Then I managed to find her blog here on Blogger and I became a follower immediately. I LOVE looking at her cards.

5) Judith of Jay Gee's Nook - How is it that Judith has (just) under 200 followers? I know that the Jay Gee's Nook blog is attached to Judith's store, and that she has her design team posts there, but it is also where she posts her personal work, and that is what I am linking Judith for. I am a big fan of Judith. She makes great cards, her colouring is awesome (I want to be able to colour like Judith when I grow up), and she takes great photos.

I hope you take some time to visit the lovely ladies on my list. When you do, please let them know I sent you. They are definitely worth a visit.

Michelle
xxx

CASE Study #79 and Tuesday Trigger: Home Sweet Home

Hello!

One of the reasons I like entering challenges is that, as well as improving my skills, I am challenged to try different ideas and styles. Those of you who visit me regularly will know that I am primarily drawn to the Clean and Simple style of card making. This preference doesn't stop me attempting to try something different, although sometimes those forays into the unknown are more successful than others!

This month at CASE Study, the muse has been Karola Witczak. Karola makes some really, really beautiful items, and her style is stunning, but she uses so much more than me! Her creations are FULL of beautiful bits and pieces. I really, really love what she creates. If you haven't visited her before, you should take a look, it is a treat of pretty goodness. :-)  Anyway, the reason for the long story is that I have taken the plunge and attempted to use a bit more of Karola's style, while still maintaining a sense of my own. Here is Karola's inspiration, it's an altered frame:

See what I mean about pretty?

The other challenge I am entering is Tuesday Trigger, where the theme this week is Home Sweet Home. This is the inspiration photo:

The first thing that struck me was the bright blue, red, and that little bit of green. I was stuck for a few days trying to think how I was going to create a "Home" card. The Kraft and the woodgrain kept running through my head. But then, while I was making my card, I felt that the true inspiration this photo gave me was the bright colours and the "sense" of home. For me "home" means family. The card I have created gives me a warm, homey feeling. Here it is:

I have to say, as a CAS card maker, it was really hard to work out how much to put on this card. I could probably add a few more things and still be happy, but I decided to stop where I was. Directly from Karola's inspiration is the green frame, the stripey banner, and the love heart. I also used the sense of texture and different patterns. From the Tuesday Trigger I used the colours, the blue ribbon, and my own sense of the warmth of home.

What I used: PTI Rosie Posie, PTI Tag It's #11, PTI White Card, SU! Old Olive card, Inks are SU! (Pool Party, Poppy Parade, Old Olive, Cameo Coral, Pretty in Pink), Patterned Paper is SU! Everyday Enchantment, Dies PTI Filigrie Border and Canvas Impression Plate, SU! Pool Party ruffled ribbon, SU! Limeade Ribbon.

I like it. What do you think?

Michelle
xxx

P.S. I'd like to add my call to everyone to turn off their Word Verification if they are using Blogger. I have had a number of comments lately that I abandoned because I couldn't get the words right. In about 18 months without WV on my blog, I have received about four spam comments (which I deleted). If you are worried, you can always moderate your comments and delete the naughty ones before they are published. :-)  If you need instructions, Susan has done a great picture tutorial.

OLW79, LIM55, and Jay Gee's #16 - Colourful flowers

Hello!

I have told you before how much I love rainbow colours, haven't I? :-)  This months challenge inspiration over at Jay Gee's Nook uses so many bright and happy colours, it's irresistible. As is usual for me, I've been pondering this card for ages. The original concept for the card I've made today came from Amber over at Damask Love. For some reason I can't find the card that inspired me, but if you've seen Ambers cards and calendars, you'll recognise the inspiration (Amber does it so much better than me). The layout and design for the card is a very direct CASE from Michelle at Pigment of My Imagination. When I saw Michelle's card, I knew I just had to bring my ideas to reality, right now! Again, Michelle has done it so well, I'm not sure why I am even considering doing it within the same challenge that her card is in (that would be One Layer Wednesday), LOL! I also made this card for Less Is More Week #55 (theme punches or dies), because it has been too long since I visited and had a play there, and I miss it. :-)

Here is my card:

I had to hold it together so that you could see it more clearly:

And here is the colour inspiration collage from Jay Gee's Nook Challenge #16:

Gorgeous, isn't it?

For my card, I used Stampin' Up! inks in a variety of bright colours. I used PTI Fillable Frames #5. I used PTI Rosie Posie, PTI Turning a New Leaf, and PTI Botanical Silhouettes stamps - 8 stamps in total.

I really like this card. It's exactly what I wanted to create. I just love it when a card turns out as I imagined. 

Thanks for visiting. I love having visitors, and hearing what you have to say. :-)

Michelle

xxx

For Your Inspiration #24 - Green!

Hello!

It's For Your Inspiration Challenge 24, and the inspiration photo this week has allowed me to totally go to town with GREEN. I really like green. :-)

This is the inspiration photo:

I love weeping willows.

This photo reminds me of the Avon River in Christchurch, New Zealand. Christchurch is one of the prettiest cities I've been to, and I have been saddened by the impact the earthquakes have had on such a beautiful city, especially its people.

Here is a picture I found to show you of the Avon, Christchurch.

Photo Credit

Here is my card. The zig zag pattern reminded me of water flowing, and I wanted to add some leaves to reflect that beautiful willow just a little. And of course, I've used about four different greens in creating this card. I've added the bling for the sparkle of the water.

I used Hero Arts Zig Zag and Say It All, PTI Turning a New Leaf, PTI buttons, Stampin' Up Ribbon (certainly celery), SU! green inks (certainly celery, old olive, green galore, gable green) and Memento Tuxedo Black. The die is PTI Fillable Frames #10.

At this point I would like to welcome our newest Design Team members - Irena, Karen, and Sylvia - three wonderfully talented ladies.  Why don't you pay them a visit along with the rest of the DT?

Debbie

Debby
Irena
Karen

Rochelle

Sara

Steph
Sylvia

Vicki

Thank-you so much for stopping by. I hope to see your cards over at FYI very soon!

Michelle
xxx

Happy 5th Anniversary Papertrey Ink

Hello!

Just call me "Speedy" tonight. I wanted to enter PTI's 5th Anniversary Contest, with all that awesome talent on show from the DT, but I thought after spending all day at work that I wouldn't make it... then I realised I had one hour left. This is the first time I've managed to make the deadline for a PTI challenge, woo hoo!  I'd better stop talking and get this blog finished, though, or I'll miss it, LOL!

The challenge was to choose one of the DT's gorgeous cards on show. I chose Jessica Witty's card. This is it:

I had to do a little lateral thinking to make my interpretation, but I think you can see the influence:

It is a one-layer card with a round aperture on the front. The heart is inside the card, and is die-cut using PTI's Heart dies. I used Tiny Tags dies and Tiny Tags II stamps. I also used, Think Big Favorites #11 and Tag Its #11.

I apologise for my night-time wonky photo. Considering the conditions, it didn't turn out too bad. :-)

Thanks for stopping by.

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #23 - Blue

Hello!

It's that time again, time for another For Your Inspiration Challenge. Yay!

We do have a sponsor. It is the one and only Kenny K, and the generous prize is four free digis! I anticipate many entries to this challenge. Enter and it could be YOU who gets those free digis. :-)

Here is the inspiration photo:

This is a very interesting building, and could inspire you in all sorts of directions. Shapes, colours, theme, etc.  For me I took the emotion "blue" as my inspiration.

This is my card:

"I'm blue without you". Coloured with Inktense pencils. Image is Giraffe from Kenny K, our sponsor for this challenge. The patterned papers are Pebbles, Happy Go Lucky.

Before racing off to make your entry for this challenge, take some time to browse my fellow DT members' creations for this challenge at their blogs:

Debbie

Debby

Peggy

Rochelle

Sara

Steph

Vicki

Thanks for dropping by!

Michelle
xxx