Saturday, 30 November 2013

Christmas Tags with Tracey

Hello!

I'm thrilled to be here today joining Tracey McNeely in her 25 Days of Christmas Tags! I can't imagine coming up with 25 different ideas for tags, let alone doing it year after year! Tracey is Superwoman! Tracey and I met here in blogland and over the past couple of years we have built a lovely friendship that I truly value. I am honoured to join Tracey in her tag extravaganza!

I've never really made many tags, but this past year I have tried it a few times, and I am really enjoying it! Tracey's invitation had me panicking a little - would I be able to come up with a tag that was pretty enough to share? I can report that I'm happy with these. :-)  They are double-sided. The green is on the back of the white. I think these may be my favourite tags that I've made so far.
I used Mama Elephant Merry Greetings, and PTI To You From Me stamps. The die is Mama Elephant Embellished Tag. Colours are SU! Poppy Parade and Gumball Green.
Here is a little closer view of the tags.
Do you make tags? I'd love to know. Recently when I made some tags and shared them on my Facebook page, someone asked me what I would do with them. My answer was that I would place them on presents. What do you do with your tags?

Thanks for visiting.

Michelle
xxx


Tuesday, 26 November 2013

Dynamic Duos #80

Hello!

I'm joining in with Dynamic Duos this week. I couldn't stay away! :-)  And what's this? They have three colours? Uh oh! They're calling it the "Triple Threat" week. I'm not sure how I feel about this... LOL!

My card uses my new Mama Elephant Party Kit stamps again. I can see this set being a new favourite. I made this card for my brother's partner. Her birthday is just around the corner, and I have actually sent the card, so I think it may just arrive on time (depending on Australia Post and Royal Mail both working properly). I'm pretty sure she doesn't read my blog, but if she does... Happy Birthday! :-)
Stamps are Mama Elephant Party Kit and So Breezy. Dies are Mama Elephant Femme Frames. Colours are SU! Pretty in Pink, Primrose Petals, and Old Olive.
Just a quick one tonight. I'm hoping to get to bed early. Although, I'm so behind with my "end of school year" tasks that I probably should work through the night!

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

Monday, 25 November 2013

CASE Study 167

Hello!

CASE Study this month has Keisha Campbell as the muse. Keisha's cards are amazing, but they are in a style that I find a bit unattainable. Me being me, I can't resist a challenge. So I thought I'd give Keisha's style a go. I have a LONG way to go before I come anywhere near Keisha's style. With this card, I really just copied, not so much as following the muse as copying the muse... but at least I gave it a shot, and I'll try again, I'm sure!
My card is a mish-mash of stamps and dies. The feathers are Waltzing Mouse Fine Feathers, flowers are Jane's Doodles Pretty Peonies, zig zag is Hero Arts, the sentiment is Papertrey Ink Stylish Sentiments. The dies are Mama Elephant. I would love this card, if I hadn't accidentally stuck the feathers in slightly the wrong position (the glue stuck by accident while I was positioning, argh!). It's really different for me, but still reflects my style. This is one of the things I love about CASE Study, I get to stretch outside of my comfort zone. :-)

This is Keisha's beautiful original.
This morning my daughter attended her piano exam. She has decided to stop learning piano, even though she's very good at it, because she doesn't enjoy it. I'm sad. I'm hoping she goes back to it in the future. She will continue violin (which she loves) but, for now, the piano is to be sidelined. She's only 11, there's still time to return.

Now it is time for my beauty sleep. It's been a busy few weeks. Only a week and a half left of school, and I don't have the teacher gifts done yet, eek!

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

Sunday, 24 November 2013

Colour Q 216 - Birthday Balloons!

Hello!

It was my brother's birthday recently. He and his lovely partner also had a new baby. My baby nephew was arriving over the time of my brother's birthday, and so in the excitement I forgot to make and send a card! Oops! It's okay. I'm now going to send my brother's card and the baby card all together, so they can have a double celebration. ;-) I'm celebrating like crazy here! My brother lives in London, England, so my new nephew is a LONG way away from me. It may be a good thing, otherwise I may just be smothering him in too much love right now. He's pretty gorgeous! I cannot wait to meet him when he comes with his parents to visit me next year. :-)

Back to the card. This is my brother's birthday card.
I used Mama Elephant Party Kit stamps. The sentiment is PTI. The dies are Mama Elephant Femme Frames. Colours are SU! Crumb Cake, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Bashful Blue.

I took my colour inspiration from this week's Colour Q colours.
We've had a busy week-end here. My daughter's swim club hosted an A-Grade meet yesterday. It was a fun day! My daughter swam two PBs and made me proud, as always. Tonight we are having our pizza night instead of last night. The pizzas are cooking right now, and my house smells heavenly. I love pizza night!

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

Wednesday, 20 November 2013

Christmas is coming!

Hello!

I just love Christmas! I love Christmas carols. I love Christmas decorations. I love it all! I think I would happily buy every Christmas stamp available every year if I didn't have a stern talk to myself about how useful those stamps may be for the rest of the year. Regardless of my self-talks, I still ended up with some yummy new stamps this year, yippee! When Mama Elephant released their October release, I wanted just about everything on the release. Unfortunately for me, but perhaps fortunately for my wallet, by the time I returned from my travels and got to my computer many things had sold out. I had to wait. Then the "other" things I wanted sold out, argh! Not to worry, I still ended up with a very happy haul. :-) Then I went away for work again, and had to wait to play. I know that my work pays the bills, but sometimes it really cramps my stamping style, haha!

Enough of my talk. Here are a couple of cards.
Aren't Santa and Mrs Claus just so cute? Don't look too carefully at the colouring. I don't own Copics, so I used my daughters Faber Castell connector pens. The dies are Mama Elephant Femme Frames, and I am in love with them. You'll see these quite a bit, I think. The stamps are Cozy Christmas. Can you see how the presents and hands are popped up? That involved fussy cutting, sigh! The good news is that the stamp set includes a set of hands, so I don't have to cut around the Santa and Mrs Claus stamps just to get their hands out. The present is also separate.

This next card was just a quick play with the Christmas tree from Cozy Christmas. I like the simplicity of this card, although I'll probably go back and fill in that star with gold now that I've taken another look at it. There are those Femme Frames again... ;-)
Edit to add: I'm linking this tree up with Curtain Call CAS-ual Christmas. I forgot to link up when I published, and managed to miss the CAS-ual Fridays side of this challenge!

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

Tuesday, 19 November 2013

One Layer Wednesday #166 - Tags!

Hello!

Right up front here I am going to let you know (in case you haven't yet guessed) that I struggle to photograph tags. I'm too impatient (and maybe too lazy) to style them nicely like other people do. ;-)  One day I might take the time to learn how to make them look pretty. In the meantime, I apologise, LOL!

One Layer Wednesday is on Cheryl's blog this week and the challenge is to create tags. It just so happens that I have a new tag die and some new tag stamps that I couldn't wait to try out. So here they are. Clean. Simple. One Layer.
The stamps and dies are Mama Elephant. The stamp set is No Peeking. The die is Embellished Tag. The ink is Mama Elephant Apple and Memento Tuxedo Black. I coloured the reindeer skarf with my daughter's colouring pens.

Just a quick one tonight. I'll be back again in a day or two. Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

Sunday, 17 November 2013

Pink Christmas!

Hello!

Last week, the evening before I went away for work, I received a parcel in the mail. My Mama Elephant order had arrived! I have just spent several frustrated days being unable to dig straight into this wonderful new stash of goodies - stamps, ink, dies! This card is the first I made, and there will be many to follow, I'm sure!
I just LOVE Mama Elephant. And I love the products even more now that they've expanded to include dies and ink. I can tell you that the stamps, dies, and inks are all excellent quality, I've tried them all. ;-) Anyway, onto my card. I made this for this week's Muse Challenge. Therese made a Christmas card with non-traditional colours, using snowflakes, so did I. :-)  I used Mama Elephant Merry Greetings and No Peeking. The dies are Femme Frames. Colours are SU! Pretty in Pink and Memento London Fog.
Today I watched my eldest daughter's end of year string ensemble concert. All of the school ensembles played - 8 ensembles for kids ranging from Grade 2 at school (beginner string students) to Grade 12 at school (most of them advanced string students). There were some amazing performances, as always. I'm always so proud watching the kids play so beautifully.

Now I'm off to bed for some beauty sleep before starting the work week again tomorrow. Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

Friday, 15 November 2013

Happy Birthday, Anne Marie!

Hello!

It's Anne Marie's birthday! Our mutual friend, Lesley, has organised a super birthday party to celebrate over on the Dynamic Duos Challenge blog! I may be a little late to the linky party - it is the middle of the night in Australia right now, and I'm in Canberra for work, so no access to my computer for blogging. Never-the-less, I'm still here partying on my blog, and will link up as soon as I'm able. :-)

For those of you who don't know, Anne Marie is one of the sweetest people in the world. Not only is she a talented card artist, but she is the best animal foster carer in the world. If you pop over to her blog, you're sure to find photos of her foster pups and kitties, and they are ALL SO CUTE! Her own pets are gorgeous, too! Anne Marie's tireless efforts to find homes for homeless animals is a small indication of her BIG HEART.

Happy Birthday, Anne Marie! I hope your day is fabulous! Your card will probably still in the mail on its way to you at this stage, but at least it is on its way. ;-)
Knowing that Anne Marie likes pink, I went VERY pink on my card. The card base is Soft Stone, the watercolour panel down the bottom is Jane's Doodles Pretty Peonies white embossed and watercoloured with Melon Berry and Berry Sorbet, and then a little Perfect Pearls added for shimmer.
Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

Saturday, 9 November 2013

Moxie Fab Thanks Blog Hop

Hello!

Today we say a Moxie Fab Thanks to Cath Edvalson, who is the Moxie Fab-est of all, with a GIANT blog hop, the biggest blog hop in the history of blogging! I think the size of the hop is only a small indication of the great love we all have for Cath, and also a very small indication of how much she will be missed.

Personally, my blogging journey has been accompanied by advice, ideas, inspiration, and fun provided by Cath at Moxie Fab World. While I didn't participate in every challenge (although I would have if I could have found more time), and I didn't comment every time, I did read every single post that Cath published from the moment I discovered her. I also participated in my fair share of Tuesday Triggers, which I discovered while browsing back through them all recently!

My card is influenced by one of my favourite Tuesday Trigger inspiration photos from a couple of years ago. This card has white embossed and watercoloured flowers with silver strip down the side and silver embossed sentiment on vellum.
The stamps are Hero Arts Everything Flower background and Simon Says Stamp Flower Friend. Colour is SU! Pacific Point. White and silver embossing. Twine from The Twinery. SU! Rhinestones.

This was the inspiration that originally convinced me that I should join in the Tuesday Trigger Challenges. So elegant!

If you have been hopping along, you will have come here from Melania's Blog.

The next step in the hop is Jamie at Avery Elle.

If you are lost, I am number 64, and the full list is available below and also at Moxie Fab World.

Cath, thank-you for all the years of inspiration (Oh My Moxie Fab, Tuesday Triggers, etc), enabling (Moxie Fab Stamp of Approval), great advice (on being published, on being picked as a Trigger Target, etc), and just sheer fun! You have made me giggle more times than I can remember. I feel like I've gotten to know you a little over the past few years, and I can say without any hesitation that you would be welcome to drop by for a coffee (or wine) and a chat with me anytime! Good luck with your new adventures. You will be missed.

Cheers! *raising glass*

Michelle
xxx




Our Moxie Fab Thanks to You, Cath!

1. Moxie Fab World  96. Anieszka Malyszek  191. Jimmi Mayo  
2. Keren Baker  97. Kate from i {heart} papers  192. Julie Overby  
3. Jennifer Ingle  98. Cindy Lawrence  193. Eva Dobilas  
4. Debby Hughes  99. Lori Tecler  194. Ren-Yi Lo  
5. Virginia Lu  100. Penny Ward  195. Jessica Shelton-Buffa  
6. Nina Yang  101. Leigh Penner  196. DoBea Alberts  
7. Karolyn Loncon  102. Christina MacLaren  197. Nicole Rixon   
8. Lori Barnett  103. Heidi Van Laar  198. Debbie Corbari  
9. Kim Hughes / Paper Smooches  104. Giovana Smith  199. Lawn Fawn / Kelly Marie Alvarez  
10. Becky Oehlers  105. Katrina Hunt  200. Leigh Ann Baird  
11. Donna Mikasa  106. Kathi Rerek  201. Betsy Veldman  
12. JJ Bolton  107. Glenda J. Wyatt  202. Natasha Kara  
13. Jocelyn Olson  108. Heather Campbell  203. Wanda Cullen   
14. Daniela Dobson  109. Ardyth Percy-Robb  204. Shemaine Smith  
15. Amy Wanford  110. Erica Hettwer  205. Lydia Fiedler  
16. Sylvia Blum  111. Danielle Walls  206. Jenn Shurkus  
17. AJ Otto  112. Fresh Squeezed Stamps  207. Leslie Hanna  
18. Taheerah Atchia  113. Lynn Mangan  208. Lenny Sacr�as  
19. Laura Williams  114. Kim Kesti  209. Chunyuan Wu  
20. Kimberly Crawford  115. Kelly Booth  210. Berenice Rendon  
21. Vera Yates  116. Stephanie Severin  211. Brenda Weaver  
22. Jaclyn Miller  117. Michelle Lupton  212. Sabrina Alery  
23. Amber Kroening  118. Angelica Suarez  213. Debbie Marcinkiewicz  
24. Lindsay Amrhein  119. Sarah Martina Parker  214. Lyndal Higgins  
25. Miriam Prantner  120. Ashley Nguyen Newell  215. Pattie Goldman  
26. Irit Shalom  121. Jessica Witty  216. Jenny Martin  
27. Anabelle O'Malley  122. Jennifer Rzasa  217. Michelle Bala  
28. Michele Gross  123. Jennifer Priest  218. Julie Smith  
29. Teri Anderson  124. Angie Tieman  219. Linda Auclair  
30. Alice Wertz  125. Bev Gerard  220. Tyra Babington  
31. Pamela Ho  126. Asty Purbasari  221. Darnell J Knauss  
32. Elena Roussakis  127. Megan Hoeppner  222. Jennifer Jackson  
33. Lorena Canto  128. Pia Overgaard  223. Amy Sheffer  
34. Tara Cardwell  129. Nina Brackett  224. Piali Biswas  
35. Joscelyne Cutchens  130. Linda Lucas  225. Lori Hairston  
36. Ashley Harris  131. Judy Rozema  226. Charlene Bopp  
37. Annette Allen  132. Lynn Mercurio  227. Deanna Woodland  
38. Jessi Fogan  133. Erin Thiem  228. Ceal Pritchett  
39. Lindsey M-P  134.  Carolyn Gimpel King  229. Vanessa Menhorn  
40. Christine Dring  135. Smitha Katti  230. P. Kelly Smith  
41. Tasnim Ahmed  136. Susan Liles  231. Therese Calvird  
42. Alicia Thelin  137. Lisa Arana  232. Rachel Izakowicz  
43. Ashley Marcu  138. Kalyn Kepner  233. Frances Byrne  
44. Kryssi Ng / Mama Elephant  139. Rachel Kleinman  234. Holly Shepard  
45. Katie Gehring  140. Wendy Price  235. Geri Greening  
46. Angi Barrs  141. Kim Dellow  236. Gretchen Belknap (same as #186)  
47. Tracey McNeely  142. Melissa Elsner  237. Shirley Bampton  
48. Jen del Muro  143. Laura Pryor  238. Julia Stainton  
49. Sarah J. Moerman  144. Ivanka Lentle  239. Diana Slaughter  
50. Laurie Willison  145. Ashlee Townsend  240. Kim Heggins  
51. Cristina Kowalczyk  146. Michelle Liimatainen  241. Melissa Phillips  
52. Iwona Palamountain  147. Juliana Michaels  242. Jennifer McGuire  
53. Shanna Vineyard  148. Ilina Crouse  243. Beth Matson  
54. Tiffany Johnson  149. Suzanne Bier  244. Kanan Pandya  
55. Laura O'Donnell  150. Sherry Wright  245. Chrissy Larson  
56. Lisa Adametz  151. Barb Housner  246. Kristi Schurr  
57. Laura Bassen  152. Kim Makortoff  247. Tammy Hobbs  
58. Ryann Salamon  153. Stephanie Washburn  248. Windy Robinson  
59. Clare Buswell  154. Alyssa Scritchfield  249. Wida Miller  
60. Gayatri Murali  155. Niki G  250. Erum Tasneem  
61. Laurel Seabrook  156. Colleen Dietrich  251. Barb Murphy  
62. Christine Traversa  157. Sharyn Tormanen   252. SRM Stickers  
63. Melania Deasy  158. Karin �kesdotter  253. Judy Marino  
64. Michelle Williams  159. Erin Taylor  254. Noelle McAdams  
65. Jamie Gracz / Avery Elle  160. Jen Carter  255. Katie Brooks  
66. Lin Brandyberry  161. Cristina N��ez (Yainea)  256. Unity Stamp Company  
67. Michelle Woerner  162. Susie Wittwer  257. Cheryl Valadez  
68. Kim Howard  163. Becky Olsen  258. Jennie Harper  
69. Amanda Coleman  164. Lori Craig  259. Latisha Yoast  
70. Dana Warren  165. Tessa Wise  260. Ang Mansfield  
71. Kelly Griglione  166. Courtney Kelley  261. Danielle Flanders  
72. Taylor Usry  167. Maureen Merritt  262. Niki Meiners  
73. Emily Branch  168. Alice Golden  263. Shelly Kurth  
74. Amy Tsuruta  169. Chrissie Tobas  264. Els Brigé  
75. Rae Barthel  170. Stasia Sloma  265. Jane Beljo  
76. Erin Schreiner  171. Heather Hoffman  266. Stacy Croninger  
77. Stacey Schafer  172. Annette Witherspoon  267. Susie Moore  
78. Sarah Gough  173. Tarynne Wise  268. Gaby Creates  
79. Joni Andaya  174. Amy Kolling  269. Sylvia Nelson  
80. Lalo  175. Chari Moss  270. Lucy Abrams  
81. Maria Fischer  176. Carol Wilson  271. Lee Murphy  
82. Laurie Schmidlin  177. Shelly Greybeck  272. Britta Swiderski  
83. Yvonne Yam  178. Maureen Plut  273. Michele Kovack  
84. Tifany DeGough  179. Bree Tetz  274. Valerie Stangle  
85. Deirdre Horgan  180. Meredith MacRitchie  275. Nancy Krueger  
86. Cheiron Brandon  181. Dawn Turley  276. Heather Doran  
87. Beverley Brown  182. Marisa Gunn  277. Isha Gupta  
88. Tenia Nelson  183. Simone Naoum  278. N@ Ali  
89. Jamie Greene  184. Stephanie Muzzulin  279. Dawn Schuster  
90. Veronica Zalis  185. Richard Breaks  280. Ginny Henriquez  
91. Jennifer Scull  186. Gretchen Belknap  281. Joyce Mehrberg  
92. Lizzie Sanchez  187. Libby Hickson  282. Cathy Andronicou  
93. Glitz Design  188. Hannelie Bester  283. Rebecca Fellows  
94. Lea Lawson  189. Julie Campbell  284. Cornelia (fun stamping) Wenokor  
95. Heather Nichols  190. Lisa Henke  285. Anita Recksiedler  

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

Thursday, 7 November 2013

Happy Birthday, Lynn!

Hello!

Today is Lynn's birthday (that's Lynn from The Mango Boys and Me)! What better excuse for making a card than the birthday of one of the sweetest bloggers out there? :-)

I am playing along with Less Is More for the first time in a very long time. The inspiration picture and the challenge - to use a pop of colour on a dark background - enticed me! This is my take on it.
I used PTI Snowflake Flurries stamps. The star was made using a mask (made from wPlus9 Star Stax) and stamping in white ink and then chalking in two tones of pink. The little tags are made using Tiny Tags II, inked in SU! Pretty In Pink and Primrose Petals.

This is the inspiration picture.
I always think fireworks when I use PTI Snowflake Flurries stamps, so when I saw this picture, that was the stamp set that came straight to mind.

Lynn, I hope you have a fabulous day and that your boys all look after you like a princess! Happy Birthday!

Michelle
xxx

Sunday, 3 November 2013

Happy Birthday, Tracey!

Hello!

Two posts in one day? Well, this one couldn't wait, because it is my friend Tracey's birthday!

Happy Birthday, Tracey!!!  

The queen of party-planning, that would be Joyce, has done it again, and organised a super party to celebrate!
I used Simon Says Stamp Flower Friend and Sketchy Banners. Colours are PTI Hibiscus Burst and Memento Tuxedo Black.

I used the sketch from Seize the Sketch for inspiration. I turned it on its side.
I'm also linking up to Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes challenge.

Tracey, I hope you have a fabulous day! I'll be thinking of you!

Michelle
xxx

Thank You So Much

Hello!

It's my first week-end for a very long time where I am not on any design teams. This means that my crafting time was spent just wandering around seeking inspiration from current challenges, and working just for now, not for a week or two in advance. ;-)

This card is made for Cards for Cath at Moxie Fab World, where yesterday we received the devastating news that Cath Edvalson has posted her last post. I'm having a hard time coming to terms with the news. Cath's advice to papercrafters, her constant inspiration, and her positive and fun attitude have been mainstays of my papercrafting world. So, for all of this, I say THANK YOU SO MUCH, Cath! If I had a chicken stamp, I would have made you a chicken card. ;-)
I used SSS Flower Friend. Paper is PTI. Card is SU! Basic Black, Real Red, and Whisper White. Ink is SU! Real Red and PTI Hawaiian Shores.

The sketch I took from Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.
The colours I took from Dynamic Duos, because I'm having withdrawals from being on the DT. The new DT is AMAZING, so I can't be too sad about it! :-)
Edit to add: I'm also linking up to Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes challenge.

And now, I can hear my family having fun in the pool, so I think I shall go and join them!

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx