Retro Sketches #34 - a study in speed stamping

Hello!

What do you do when you have 30 minutes between gymnastics pick up and ballet drop off? Make a card, of course! Well, no sane person would try to do this, take the photo, and then blog it... but I do try to push the boundaries of time-management on a regular basis!

Here is my card for Retro Sketches #34

The deadline is fast approaching and I didn't want to miss out this week like I did last week. :-)

This was the sketch:

Pretty, isn't it?

I used PTI Rosie Posie, Turning a New Leaf, and Pretty Peonies. Colours are Vintage Cream card base, Berry Sorbet, SU! Pure Poppy, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, and Early Espresso.

Thanks for dropping by!

Michelle
xxx

Papertrey Ink October Blog Hop - Part 2

Hello,

The second card I made for the Papertrey Ink October Blog Hop is this one.

I used PTI Happiest of Holidays and Snowflake Serenade stamps. Colours are SU! Certainly Celery, Pool Party, Bashful Blue, and Gable Green. Die is PTI Mat Stack #1.

Inspiration came from:

I feel that I went a bit bluer than the inspiration picture, but I still love the outcome!

Thanks for dropping by. I'm off to sleep and I'll link these in the morning when the hop will be well and truly underway!

Michelle

xxx

Papertrey Ink October Blog Hop - Part 1

Hello!

It's Blog Hop time over at Papertrey Ink! I have made two cards using two different colour combinations. The first is this one.

I used PTI Christmas Friends and Think Big Favorites #20. Colours are PTI Berry Sorbet, Melon Berry, Fresh Snow, SU! Certainly Celery, Barely Banana, Memento London Fog.

Inspiration came from:

I probably wouldn't have used this colour combination for Christmas cards if left to my own devices, but I quite like the feel of this pastel card. :-)

Michelle
xxx

Dynamic Duos #25

Hello!

Tomorrow is my hubby's birthday! Fortuitously, the Dynamic Duos colours this week are orange and black, two of his favourite colours!

This is the card. I must start concentrating on the angle of my cards in the photos!

I used PTI Background Basics: Circles for the background stamping. Colours are SU! Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, and Whisper White. The vellum is PTI. The die cuts are PTI Mat Stack and Mat Stack Layers (Mmmmm, #1 I think).

Here is the colour inspiration, the dessert option being die-cuts.

Thanks for popping by!

Michelle
xxx

Hello!

Hello,

Third card for today. This will probably be it... I do have to make some dinner at some stage. :-)

Made in response to CASE Study #113 where Julia Stainton is the muse with this lovely card:

and CR84FN #65 with one of my favourite colour combinations:

I used PTI Heart-2-Heart #4 and #7. Colours are SU! Pretty in Pink, Very Vanilla, and Soft Suede (sentiment), and PTI Fresh Linen, and Fresh Snow.

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

Tuesday Trigger: Val de Victorian

Hello!

It feels like ages since I've entered a Tuesday Trigger. The current challenge inspired me very directly.  This is my card.

and this is the inspiration

I really wanted to add that angled sidewalk in, too, but couldn't work out a solution for that one! Such a cute picture. As soon as I saw it, I was thinking housewarming cards. I wanted to use the same colour combination, because I found it unexpectedly appealing (I NEVER in a million years would have put these colours together myself). I didn't have the inspiration picture in front of me while I made the card, I looked at it first, took a note of the colours, and then went to work on my own version.

I used one of my favourite little stamp sets, which doesn't get enough love. It is Stampin' Up! Good Neighbors. The sentiment is from PTI Think Big Favorites #19 (I think). Colours are SU! Perfect Plum, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty in Pink, Crumb Cake.

My husband looked at my card and asked me how many stamps I used to make it... he's usually fairly unimpressed with my "flat" cards (one-layer, or close to one-layer), but I got the idea that he realised there was a bit of work putting this one together. I used 9 separate stamps (with 13 different opportunities to make a mistake), and my trusty stamp-a-ma-jig. 

Thanks for dropping by. That was a lot of words to get through!

Michelle

xxx

Runway Inspired CAS-ual Christmas!

Hello!

I have been playing with my stamping this afternoon. I really should have been in the swimming pool, it's rather HOT! But I wanted to kick-start my mojo, and a good stamping session was required for that.

First I have created a card for Runway Inspired Challenge #22 and CAS-ual Fridays #75.

It's a tricky card to see in a photograph. The white bauble is glittered up around the edges and it is hanging "over the edge".

Inspiration came from:

and

I used Stampin' Up! Ornament Keepsakes, PTI Snowflake Serenade and Happiest of Holidays. Colours are PTI Fresh Linen, SU! Real Red, and Whisper White.

Thanks for dropping by.

Michelle
xxx

Sending Love - CAS-ual Fridays #74

Hello!

I have had this card waiting to go onto my blog for almost a week, and I just realised the deadline is looming, and it isn't yet up! Eek!  This is my entry to CAS-ual Fridays #74 where we need to put our heart into it. :-)

I used PTI Postmarks, and Think Big Favourites. The little envelopes are WPlus9 Love Notes. Colours are PTI white card base, PTI Fine Linen, SU! Pretty in Pink and Very Vanilla.

Thanks for dropping by!

Michelle

xxx

Just Add Ink #139

Hello!

The theme over at Just Add Ink this week suits me just fine... they ask us to use something new... and I have just received a nice big batch of new things that has me very excited (in case you didn't notice the flurry of activity here on the blog, LOL!).

When the new Stampin' Up! catalogue is released, and also that lovely Holiday catalogue (which isn't such a "mini" this year), I find it so hard to write my wishlist and restrict myself to buying just a little at a time. I always want it all, IMMEDIATELY! I'm not a SU! demonstrator, I just really like lots of their products!

Anyway, the item I couldn't hold off on was Ornament Keepsakes (and I got the matching dies, because they are irresistible too).

Here is one of the first cards I've made.

Colours are Real Red, Certainly Celery, and Daffodil Delight. Twine is Twinery (honeydew, maraschino, and lemon drop). Sentiment is PTI.

Thanks for dropping by!

Michelle
xxx

Some ultra-CAS cards

Hello!

Now we move to my ultra-CAS cards I made today.

First is a birthday card that I made for one of my daughter's young friends (a boy, so no sparkles or flowers allowed). The simplicity of this card delights me... am I allowed to say that about my own card? ;-)

For colour inspiration I turned to the Dynamic Duos colour choice for this week. I didn't have Tangerine Tango, so I used Pumpkin Pie. The stamps are Hero Arts - Bicycle and Say It All.

And I just realised that I have fit into the theme over at A Blog Named Hero this week as well, yay!

The other card I made was more experimenting with PTI Teach & Inspire. I'm thinking this might do for one of my littlest girl's kindy teachers at the end of the year. They're doing marvellous work with my little acorn. :-)

I used Early Espresso, More Mustard, and Really Rust on a Vintage Cream card base.

Inspiration came from CAS-ology #14 theme - LEAF.

Thanks for dropping by!

Michelle
xxx

Runway Inspired Challenge #21

Hello!

It's been a while since I've entered the Runway Inspired Challenge. I'm always inspired, but I don't always find the time.

This is today's card. Not a great photo, sorry! We have a very dull day here today, so I resorted to using lights.

I used PTI Think Big Favorites #19. Colours are SU! More Mustard and Pool Party. Ribbon is Pool Party seam binding.

This is the inspiration for Runway Inspired Challenge #21.

 

I have some more cards from this morning. I had a bit of a CAS card blitz instead of baking birthday cakes and cleaning the house, as you do!

Michelle
xxx

Jay Gee's Nook #24 and Moxie Fab Thank You

Hello!

Just a quick post tonight. It's bedtime, and I have to work tomorrow...

I made a Thank You card using soft grey and aqua and a little beige. It feels so serene and gentle to me.

Stamps - PTI Lovely Layers, Heart-2-Heart #3. Card - PTI Basic White. Paper - My Minds Eye All Is Bright. Ink - SU! Pool Party, Memento London Fog. Button - PTI Aqua Mist.

The inspiration came from Jay Gee's Nook Challenge inspiration board for this month, it is delicious. If I get a chance, I'll use it again. I really love that curtain!

I also submitted this to Moxie Fab World's Thank You challenge.

Thanks for dropping by.

Michelle

xxx

CR84FN64 - blue, green, and yellow

Hello!

I just received the Papertrey Ink Teach & Inspire set, so I had to ink it up! I'm loving this set already, and I've only made two cards!  This is one of them:

Just a simple one to start with. Colours are SU! Daffodil Delight, Certainly Celery, and Bashful Blue, with a little Early Espresso and Crumb Cake for the sentiment and pencil.

The colour inspiration came from CR84FN #64

I'm starting early on getting the end-of-year teacher cards made. I always run late, and we only have about 7 weeks left of school before Summer holidays. Fourth term starts tomorrow.

Thanks for popping in!

Michelle
xxx

Happy Wedding Day!

Hello!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of some very good friends. They had the ceremony at their beautiful home in Mapleton, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, with a view right out to the ocean. They managed to obtain special dispensation from the church to have their priest perform a full catholic mass at their home. It was beautiful. This is the view from their deck, in real life the view is about 300 degrees of gorgeous countryside.

So that is the prelude to these two cards. I made two cards for my husband to choose from (these friends were his first). They used the same design, just a couple of different colour schemes. For the layout I CASEd Debby Hughes (I just love her CAS style).

One card I made using The Play Date Cafe Challenge #152

Coincidentally, the image for the colour scheme was wedding themed. :-)

Stamps and dies are PTI Pretty Peonies. Colours are SU! Basic Black and Perfect Plum. Black ink is Memento Tuxedo Black.

The other card, I made using ColourQ #157

I used PTI Pretty Peonies stamps and dies. SU! Eastern Blooms. Colours are SU! Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Basic Black, Memento Grey Flannel, PTI Berry Sorbet. I also embossed the pink panel with PTI Linen.

Thanks for coming by to look at my cards!

Michelle
xxx