Happy Birthday, Ardyth!

Hello!

Today is Ardyth's birthday! And I was invited to the party! If you would like to join in, you can too! The party is being hosted by my friend Darnell, who is one of the sweetest ladies in the card blogging world.

I am lucky enough to have made friends with Ardyth. We met here, in blogland. I think I was probably one of her first followers, and I still adore everything she creates. Recently she did some naughty enabling by sending me a recipe for Turtles (aka Sweet Georgia Browns). Oh, they are BAD!!! In case you want to make these super-sweet caramel chocolate pecan treats for yourself, here is the LINK.

Happy Birthday, Ardyth!!

The idea was that we were to CASE Ardyth. Well, I did, sort of. I went over to Ardth's Pinterest boards and decided on bright colours, repeated words, and super-CAS. I ended up with a mix of Ardyth and me, LOL!

I used the colour scheme from this week's ColourQ Challenge #191.

I also found, while visiting Ardyth, that she is hosting her own birthday party at One Layer Wednesday. And we are invited to make a card that we think she would like. How cool, I already made one!

Ardyth, I hope you have a fabulous day!

Michelle
xxx

I'm a MUSE!!

Hello!

I'm so excited! I'm a Guest Designer over at Muse Card Club!

In making my Muse card I wanted to use my own style, which is usually super-CAS, but also add some extra interest so that there was something for everyone to work with. My card is one-layer, but I'd love to see some layered versions of this one! I've been wanting to try this folk-art inspired style for a while, and this was my chance. :-)

I used PTI Birds & Blooms, and Sentiment Signs. Colours are PTI Berry Sorbet, Memento Pale Tomato and Tuxedo Black, SU! Daffodil Delight, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Blushing Bride.

I'd love to see you joining in with Muse this week! I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.

Thanks for visiting me!

Michelle
xxx

CASE Study #142

Hello!

And we're back to Monday again!

Over at CASE Study, they still have Maile Belles as our muse. You know I can't resist CASEing Maile! So I made this card.

I used Jane's Doodles Pretty Peonies and PTI Turning a New Leaf and Stylish Sentiments: Birthday. Patterned paper is PTI Hibiscus Burst. Leaves are stamped in SU! Old Olive. 

Case Study #142 brings us this beautiful card.

I think I may have CAS-ified Maile's design! There are foam dimensionals under the flowers. And the centre of the top flower is also popped up. For a basically one-layer card, this has quite a satisfying amount of dimension! Big smile from me. :-)

Thanks for dropping by!

Michelle
xxx

Dynamic Duos #54

Hello!

I'm here today with my card for Dynamic Duos Challenge #54 where the colours this week are Bashful Blue and Midnight Muse.

My husband asked me to make him a card that his running group could all give to a friend's father for his 90th birthday. The card had to be big enough for them all to sign. The birthday "boy" is one of the nicest men I've met. He is a retired builder and a few years ago he supervised my hubby doing some building work around here. Being about 85 at the time, we didn't want him climbing ladders, but we really needed his building expertise, since we were repairing posts that held our veranda and veranda roof up! He's helped out a few times in various ways. He's a good man.

Anyway, onto the card! It's 8 1/4" x 6".

I used SU! Bashful Blue, Night of Navy (I don't have Midnight Muse), and Whisper White. The dies are wPlus9 Star Stax. The sentiment and little star are from PTI Stylish Sentiments: Birthday.

At this point, I will say that I am very sad that Bashful Blue is retiring. If there are any SU! demos out there who still have a reinker available, please let me know. It has sold out in Australia, and I haven't found anyone who has one in their stock.

Now, I hope you're still with me! After you go and visit the rest of the Dynamic Dynamos, go and make a card and join in the fun! ;-)

Alison Barclay

Anne Marie Hile

Debbie Henderson

Hayley Kew

Janet Bagnall

Janet Zeppa

Lori Turner

Susie Wittwer

Tara Bourgoin

Tracey McNeely

I'm also linking up over at Paper Issues where they're inviting us to use dies. :-)

Thanks for coming to visit!

Michelle
xxx

Papertrey Ink May Blog Hop - Take 2

Hello!

This is my second card for the Papertrey Ink May Blog Hop. It's one of those cards that is "almost" right. I'm itching to remake it, but I'm so tired that I really need to get some sleep! There is certainly enough right about it to post it. In fact, of the cards I made today, this one is my hubby's favourite (even though he called my cards today "Mum cards", which translates to "Grandma cards"). If I was making this for a Mum or Grandma, I'd make it a LOT more flowery. ;-)

I used PTI The Sweet Life and Stylish Sentiments: Birthday. 

I was inspired by this colour palette.

I found a guide for how to line up The Sweet Life on Pinterest. The actual tutorial is somewhere in the PTI Forums, but I couldn't access the real link because I keep forgetting my username and password (why is it so hard??). Anyway, my pin is THIS ONE. If you can remember your own username and password on the PTI forums, you can follow my Pinterest link (otherwise just follow the pictures, like I did). These instructions have demystified the process for me. Now I can hand this set back to my friend (who owns it) with some instructions to make it easier! :-)

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

Papertrey Ink May Blog Hop - Take 1

Hello!

The Papertrey Ink Blog Hop snuck up on me this month. I know we get quite a bit of notice, but I lost track of time! When I sat down to create today, I had a definite lack of mojo. Sigh!

Here is my first card.

I used PTI Birds & Blooms stamps. Colours are PTI Fine Linen and SU! Bridal Blush, Wisteria Wonder, Pale Plum, Certainly Celery.

The inspiration came from this colour palette.

Today was a whirlwind of a day. We had the usual Saturday morning flurry of sporting activity, then a couple of hours at home before heading back out for String Ensemble concert and then the swim club end of season celebration. Now I'm home and thinking my bed is looking mighty attractive. ;-)

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

Muse #18

Hello!

I've made a card for Muse Challenge #18. It is the end of a long and tiring week at work, so I'm not sure how my creativity is going...  here is my card. :-)

I used Simon Says Stamp Flower Friend. The patterned paper is PTI Hibiscus Burst. The little hearts are washi tape. Inks are Hero Arts Pale Tomato Shadow Ink, SU! Primrose Petals, Cameo Coral, Pretty in Pink, Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Poppy Parade, and Memento Tuxedo Black.

The Muse this week is Marion Vagg. The Muse team is seriously awesome! This is Marion's card.

Marion used Jane's Doodles Doodle Flowers. I love this set, but I don't have it yet. I sat looking at my other Jane's Doodles stamps, hoping for inspiration, but it just didn't come tonight. So I pulled out Flower Friend by Simon Says Stamp instead. I love Marion's colouring. I don't have copics (or any other colouring pens), so it was either paper-piecing or bright stamping. My tired old brain called for stamping to save me the fussy cutting, LOL!

Thanks for coming to visit. I'll be back over the week-end with some more cards, I promise!

Michelle
xxx

Fusion #7

Hello!

I've made a card for this week's Fusion Challenge. Once again I worked with only the sketch. I'd love to go back and use the inspiration photo, it's fabulous! My brain just couldn't come up with something that worked for it when I sat down to work on the challenge. Maybe I'll make another before the deadline!

I used PTI Wonderful Words: Hello and Heart-2-Heart #4. Colours are black and PTI Hawaiian Shores. Oh, the stripes on the hello are Mama Elephant Basic Borders.

It's a chilly evening here. I am making minestrone soup for my dinner. The kids turned up their noses at the idea of minestrone, so I'm cooking them sausages, sigh! My house smells so good with all this warm food. :-)

Thanks for coming to visit!

Michelle
xxx

CAS Baby

Hello!

Today I bring you my contribution to CASE Study #141 and CARDS Magazine May Challenge.

I used Mama Elephant Nursery Deco. Ink is PTI Hawaiian Shores, Hero Arts Pale Tomato, SU! Daffodil Delight. Twine is Twinery Lemon Drop.

The inspiration came from Maile Belles' card at CASE Study.

I was actually using the colour inspiration from CARDS Magazine, and didn't have the photo of Maile's card in front of me when I made my card (I'd sketched the layout, to try to come up with my own version). Anyway, I ended up with a VERY similar card, oops!

Today I'm back at work for the week. I think week-ends need to be a LOT longer. Two days is just not enough. ;-)

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

Dynamic Duos #53

Hello!

The week passes by so quickly! Here we are again with another Dynamic Duos Challenge! This week has the option of using a kid-theme. With Pacific Point and Black as the colours, I immediately reached for my Little Hot Rod set. Such cute images for a boy card. :-)

I used PTI Little Hot Rod, and I grabbed some extra cloud dies from Heart-2-Heart #6. Colours are Pacific Point and Black. Twine is Denim from The Twinery.

The other ladies on the Design Team have come up with some beautiful cards also. Why don't you pay them a visit, too?

Alison Barclay

Anne Marie Hile

Debbie Henderson

Hayley Kew

Janet Bagnall

Janet Zeppa

Lori Turner

Susie Wittwer

Tara Bourgoin

Tracey McNeely

I hope you are able to come along and join us this week!

Thank you for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

Blooming One Layer!

Hello!

Just a quick one tonight. I'm already past bedtime, and fading fast!

The other day, I was looking at Chrissy Stokes' card, which is super gorgeous, and some vague ideas that had been circulating in my head formed into something concrete. Then I had to wait a day or two before I could make the idea into a card (if only I didn't need to go to work). The card(s) I made didn't live up to my imagination, but I think there is promise in the idea. ;-)

Card base is Poppy Parade. Stamps are Hero Arts Tall Flowers and Say It All. White embossing with Delicata Gold selective colouring.

I also made another one, which I had decided was too subtle, but now that I made the bolder one I am switching back and forth with my choice as to which one I like best.

Card base is Pool Party. Stamps are Hero Arts Tall Flowers and Say It All. White embossing with Clear Spica pen selective colouring.

I am entering into CASology Challenge #44

I am entering into A Blog Named Hero Challenge #24

Also Less Is More Challenge #119 where it is one-layer week and we're asked to use a coloured card base.

And last, but not least, One Layer Wednesday #140 where we are making borders.

Four challenges for one simple card. I think that might be a record for me!

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #46

Hello!

Today I'm bringing you a card made for For Your Inspiration challenge #46.

I used Mama Elephant Basic Borders, and Simon Says Stamp Flower Friend. Colours are Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight, and PTI Soft Stone.

The photo is of a beautiful aspen forest. I couldn't resist using the lines and the colours in this photograph. They're irresistible!

The rest of the design team have done their usual wonderful work. I'm sure they'd love to have you over for a visit.
Debbie
Karen
Mynnette
Rochelle
Rudlis
Sara
Vicki

Okay, I have to admit, I actually closed the windows in the house today. It was slightly chilly. When we got home tonight, I made the decision that Winter may just be approaching and I should start keeping what little warmth we have inside the house. For those of you who don't know Brisbane, we have very mild Winters. Summer is really hot and really humid, but Winter tends to be quite nice. BUT, it does get cold overnight. Brisbane houses have generally not been built for the cold, and most of us have no heating, sigh! So when the temp goes down near or below 0c overnight, it really does feel cold. It's not that cold now. I think it's probably somewhere around 16c, but a few days ago it was a LOT warmer... and now it's grey, overcast and rainy. That's probably why I'm a bit grumpy about the temperature, Brisbane has blue skies and zero rain in the cold months, I don't know where this rain has come from, LOL!

Thanks for visiting me!

Michelle
xxx

Fusion #6

Hello!

I'm joining in over at Fusion Card Challenge #6. I looked at those gorgeous teacups in those pretty colours for a very long time, but in the end I chose to just follow the sketch on this one. The card in my head was BOLDER than I could achieve with pinks and peaches. :-)

I used Hero Arts Year Round Sentiments. The star is a Wplus9 die. Colours are SU! Poppy Parade and Night of Navy.

I made the card for a special friend of mine who is endlessly helpful and just plain lovely. I am so lucky to have her in my life.

Thanks for coming by to visit me!

Michelle
xxx

CASology #43 - Hexagons

Hello!

Over at CASology this week the theme is Hexagons. I have so many little hexagons awaiting some love, that I just had to join in. While I was sorting through my hexagons, I thought that perhaps I should donate a pile to the school for use in art projects. I really do have quite a few leftovers from when I've used the hexagon cover plate, LOL!

Colours are SU! Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Barely Banana.

I'm still not feeling well, so I'm a bit deficient in banter today. I hope you are all having a marvellous week-end!

Thanks for coming by to visit.

Michelle
xxx

Dynamic Duos #52 - It's a celebration!

Hello!

This week marks one year of Dynamic Duos. I clearly remember when this challenge came on the scene. I was excited! I LOVE a two colour combination. Sometimes when I have four or more colours to use, I get a little confused as to what to do with them, or I get to the end of the card and realise I've left a colour off, eek! Dynamic Duos was, and is, perfect for me. :-)

For Dynamic Duos Challenge #52, we can use any past Dynamic Duo. How cool is that? To make the selection easy, there is a PAST COLOURS page.

My card uses my favourite colour - Yellow!

I used Mama Elephant So Breezy stamps. The yellow stripes are washi tape. The colours are SU! Daffodil Delight and Memento Tuxedo Black. The Sunshine sentiment is glittered, although that is difficult to see here.

The colour combination came from Challenge #3.

Are you going to come and celebrate with us? I hope so! Why don't you pay the rest of the design team a visit for some additional inspiration. ;-)

Alison Barclay

Anne Marie Hile

Debbie Henderson

Hayley Kew

Janet Bagnall

Janet Zeppa

Lori Turner

Susie Wittwer

Tara Bourgoin

Tracey McNeely

Thanks for coming to visit me!

Michelle
xxx

CASE Study #140

Hello!

I've had a lovely week this week. My brother visited for a few days. He lives in London (UK), but he was holidaying in Bali, and he decided to "drop in" and visit us (in Brisbane, Australia) before he headed home again. My girls love their uncle! I really miss him, so I love it when he's able to visit. :-)

I've ended the week with a horrible cold - blazing sore throat, sore body, cough. Wah! Tomorrow is Mother's Day, and I've had to cancel our celebration with our Mums because I'm not feeling well enough for it. I also don't want to infect the Mums with this bug, it's not nice.

On a happier note, I made a card for CASE Study Challenge #140.

I used PTI Strawberry Patch stamps. Card is SU! Crumb Cake, Poppy Parade, and Old Olive. Twine is Peapod by The Twinery. Ink is Versamark, Tuxedo Black, and Poppy Parade.

I hope I get to play along every week this month. I really love Maile, so any opportunity to CASE her is top of my priority list! ;-) This is Maile's card.

Thanks for coming to visit!

Michelle
xxx

Muse #16

Hello!

I received the most awesome little package in the mail today from one of my blog friends. It held chocolates, stamps, and a gorgeous card. The chocolates are ones that are not available here in Australia, and I was curious about how they would taste. Now, I'm not really a chocolate person, but I was wondering about these ones, and today I tasted Turtles for the first time... they are DELICIOUS! I gave one to my little girl and she announced, "I LOVE American food!"  For those of you who don't know, Turtles are pecans and caramel covered in chocolate, a perfect combination!  So to my friend, I say THANK YOU, your thoughtfulness really made my day.

I used PTI Sentiment Signs stamps, and Hero Arts Year Round Sentiments (stars). The star dies are WPlus9. Twine is Caribbean by The Twinery. The border is washi tape. Colours are SU! Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Memento Tuxedo Black, and PTI Hawaiian Shores (patterned paper).

My card was made for Muse Challenge #16, where the Muse is Laurie Willison. Laurie is an amazing card maker who truly is one of my muses every day. I adore her work. Laurie's card is this one. I kept the red card base, and the basic layout, making minimal changes in my own card.

And now, it is time to get some beauty sleep.

Thank-you for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

Foxy Fusion

Hello!

A quick one. I'm due to grab some beauty sleep. I made a card for Fusion Challenge #5

I used PTI Hello, Foxy and Simon Says Stamp Flower Friend stamps. Colours are SU! Apricot Appeal, Barely Banana, Soft Sky, and Pool Party.

Can you tell that I fused the sketch and the inspiration photo? I took the colour scheme from the photo. I would have used a bird or birdcage image, if I'd had one, LOL! Since I didn't have a suitable bird, I thought another animal might just do. ;-)

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

Retro Baby Shower

Hello!

Just a quick one tonight. I still have a million things to do to get the kids ready for school tomorrow and me ready for work!

I didn't want to miss Aga's baby shower over at Runway Inspired Challenge to welcome baby Helena! Aga is one of my card heroines, her style is just awesome! I tried to make a card that reflected Aga's style (although I will never come close to her skill, I'm sure!). Sorry for the lighting in the photo, that's my night time photography combined with shiny elements that didn't want to shine, wah!

I used PTI Fine Linen card and patterned paper, and SU! Soft Suede and Very Vanilla. I gold embossed Mama Elephant Nursery Deco bear and sentiment, and used Delicata Gold to stamp the background. (The golds match better in real life).

I took the layout from Retro Sketches #62

The inspiration for the card came from this gorgeous bub.

Thanks for coming by to visit!

Michelle
xxx

Dynamic Duos #51

Hello!

It's my first post as part of the Dynamic Duos design team! Woo hoo! :-)  To say I'm excited is an understatement!

Dynamic Duos has been one of my favourite challenges for almost a year now (one year next week!). I have always treated Dynamic Duos challenge as an exercise in extreme-CAS stamping. This first card is not the best example of that style, LOL! But over the next six months, you'll most likely see several of my really basic CAS designs coming out. I love the limitations of using only the two colours, it forces me to really think about the design of the card. I know that other neutrals are allowed, but I do my best to just use the two colours (and usually white card base). As soon as I saw this week's colours, this card jumped into my head and wouldn't jump back out, so here it is:

I used PTI Rosie Posie and Stylish Sentiments: Birthday. Colours are Daffodil Delight and Baja Breeze.

The Dynamic Duos #51 colours are:

I am honoured to be working with this amazing team, and I would love it if you would pay them a visit, too!

Alison Barclay

Anne Marie Hile

Debbie Henderson

Hayley Kew

Janet Bagnall

Janet Zeppa

Lori Turner

Susie Wittwer

Tara Bourgoin

Tracey McNeely

Thank-you for visiting!

Michelle

xxx 

I'm celebrating!

Hello!

Some of you will have already seen me jumping up and down and screaming all over Facebook, and some of you may have missed the news. I'll shout it here, too! This morning I received my very first ever acceptance email for publication of one of my cards! Yippeeeee!!!

I'll calm down now, and show you the actual reason for this post. I made a card.

I used PTI The Sweet Life and Stylish Sentiments: Birthday. Colours are Black and SU! Raspberry Ripple. I used watercolour paper for the front panel.

There were three inspirations for this card. Firstly, I saw Marion's Vagg's cards this morning, and was totally in awe. My card is a little different from hers, but I was definitely inspired by the watercolouring.

Secondly, I've been pondering the CASE Study #139 inspiration for a couple of days. This month our muse is Maile Belles. I'm seriously swooning! I LOVE Maile!! From Maile's card I took the layout, although I changed the orientation) and the flower theme. I may give this particular CASE study challenge one more go, because I would actually like to do more of a COPY of this card (Shhhh! I'll call it CASEing, if I do it, LOL!).

My colours I took from The Play Date Cafe Challenge #180.

Thanks for coming by to visit!

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #45

Hello!

I'm here with my contribution to For Your Inspiration Challenge #45.

I used PTI patterned paper, Pretty Peonies stamp embossed in silver. Card is Soft Stone.

This is the gorgeous inspiration photo.

The photograph is a lighthouse in Gloucester, Massachusetts and is taken by Mike Buchholz. It is worth wandering over to his blog for more amazing photography. He's given me wanderlust! He's also inspired me to work harder at my photography.

I used the sketch from Retro Sketches #61

Why don't you pay the rest of the For Your Inspiration design team a visit and check out their awesome work, too? :-)

Debbie
Karen
Rochelle
Rudlis
Sara
Vicki


Thanks for coming to visit.

Michelle
xxx