Papertrey December Blog Hop - Shine bright!

Hello!

It's been a while since I've entered the Papertrey Ink monthly blog hop, but I happen to be at home today, and I had planned to make some cards, and there was the inspiration just begging to be used! Yay! The challenge this month is to use both silver and gold on a single project. The second challenge was to photograph a shiny silver and gold card, lol!

I used Sparkle & Shine stamps and dies and the dots come from Harvest Berries.

As an aside... I have always been good at keeping all of my stamps, not losing a single one, even the little tiny ones. In the past two weeks I have discovered that I have lost a tiny dot, a tiny heart, and a tiny star! I'm devastated! There is no way I'll find those little ones anywhere in the mess that is our rumpus room. I fear they are lost forever. :-(

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas. I certainly did. While I complain no end about the heat and humidity of Summer, I just love our Christmases swimming and having fun in the pool! The kids are happy, we're happy, it's awesome!

Edit to add: I'm joining in at CASology where the cue card is LIGHT.

Thank-you for visiting me. I hope to be back a few times over the next couple of weeks as I have a little time off work, which theoretically will translate into a little extra crafting time, yippee!

Michelle
xxx

CAS(E) This Sketch 104

Hello!

I just noticed that I made farm animal cards two weeks in a row for CAS(E) This Sketch! I hope you like farm animals as much as I do! I blame it on the fact that I hadn't yet tidied up my desk and that little pig was just begging me for a place on a card, lol! This may just be my style of Valentine's card - CAS, not too mushy, with just a touch of humour thrown in. ;-)

I used PTI On The Farm. Colours are SU! Pumpkin Pie, Gumball Green, and Early Espresso.

I managed to get a tiny bit of Christmas shopping done today at lunchtime. If I can do a tiny bit more tomorrow, then my Christmas Eve shopping won't look quite so daunting... only one week to Christmas!

Thanks for visiting me! I hope you can join us at CAS(E) This Sketch this week!

Michelle
xxx

I'm being featured at Paper Crafter's Library!

Hello!

You could have knocked me down with a feather when I was invited to be the featured artist/designer at Paper Crafter's Library this week! What an honour!

The easy part was saying "yes!". The hard part was thinking what type of project would showcase my style. It had to be CAS, of course! Oh, how I agonised, lol! I ended up selecting the card and gift sets that I made for some of my daughter's school teachers and administrators when school finished a couple of weeks ago. I'm sharing two of them over at Paper Crafter's Library, plus an extra version.

Here is a sneaky peak at one of the sets. Inside those boxes, hidden by the bookmarks, are lovely handcreams.

You'll need to pop over to Paper Crafter's Library to see the rest!

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

Retro Sketches 145

Hello!

Retro Sketches this week is based on a card that I happen to already love (by Tracey McNeely), so an excuse to use the sketch to make my own version was very welcome! I also just recently brought home off my wishlist two Waltzingmouse Stamps sets that really needed an outing. They've been calling me from my desk all throughout these busy few weeks. ;-)

I used Waltzingmouse Two Step Floral Sprig and Simple Sprig stamps. The sentiment is from PTI Meadow Greens.

Two days of work left before Christmas holidays. Somehow I need to do my Christmas shopping in the next couple of days also. I'm not sure how I'll finish all the work I have to complete PLUS do my Christmas shopping. I also need to get my daughter to the doctor before the week-end to check if her ear drum has healed. Feeling the pressure and really looking forward to my holiday! (I'm really hoping to find a good long period of time to play at my crafty things instead of stolen five minute bits and pieces!)

Thank-you for visiting me!

Michelle
xxx

Christmas cards!

Hello!

Recently I played around with Mama Elephant's Cozy Christmas, just for fun. I decided to make a series of one-layer cards coloured with Copics and SU! Blendabilities. I'm sharing a few here.

On this first one, my naughty yellow Copic splattered my card, so I added some unplanned stars, lol! Sentiment is PTI.

On this next one, I added a lovely pile of presents. Sentiment is from Mama Elephant Merry Greetings.

I added a shiny gold star to the tree for this next card. PTI sentiment again.

For this next one, I felt that the tree by itself looked a bit funny without a trunk, so I used the glass from the set to create one.

For all of these cards I used Simon Says Stamp #120lb card. Oh my goodness! This cardstock is my new love. I coloured directly onto the card, and there was zero bleed through, despite enthusiastic blending! I wish I could find an inexpensive way of importing it to Australia. In fact, I wish there was a supplier of ANY quality card stock in Australia, full stop! I'm wondering if I need to start a card stock importing business, lol!

I hope you liked my Christmas cards. Thank-you for stopping by to visit me!

Michelle
xxx

CAS(E) This Sketch 103

Hello!

I'm here with my card for this week's CAS(E) This Sketch Challenge! I still haven't finished writing and sending my Christmas cards. I'd say I'm about one third of the way through my list... at least I'm one third of the way through my list. Last year I think I sent about two cards! That's disgraceful for a card maker, lol!

Despite needing a few more Christmas cards, I couldn't resist making a birthday card with this sketch this week. I needed a masculine birthday card and I NEVER have those in my stash. So I made this one. It made my husband laugh. I call that success. :-)

I used PTI On The Farm. This set has been around for a long time. It's been on my wishlist just as long. I finally gave in and bought it because my love did not waver or wane. ;-)

This sketch is a classic design that works well in so many ways. I can't wait to see what everyone makes with it!

Thank-you for visiting me! I've been away this week for work, which means my blog visiting has been a bit lax. I hope to make up for that over the next few days.

Michelle
xxx

CAS(E) This Sketch 102

Hello!

The sketch this week at CAS(E) This Sketch is brilliant! The very first second I saw it I had ideas flying through my mind. I just love a great sketch. :-)

I used Papertrey Ink Ruby Rose stamps. The process I used was simple - stamp the flowers without the pink layer (I stuck the white panel down with washi while I worked) and then add the pink layer between the two white layers to create that neat separation without losing the continuity of the images.

The entries to last week's challenge were amazing, and so many of them! I just know this week will be even bigger!

Thank-you for coming by to visit me! I love hearing from you.

Michelle
xxx

Fusion - Gingham Christmas

Hello!

What a big 24 hours in blogland! I'm still hopping along with the PC&S swan song hop (see my earlier post), it's going to take me a few days to get through all 213 posts, but I'm determined, there are some amazing crafters in the hop.

In this post I'm bringing you my card for the new Fusion Card Challenge, where we also have amazing crafters. ;-)  I made a Fusion card using sketch and inspiration.

I used SU! Ornament Keepsakes stamps and dies to create this card. The sentiment is PTI Keep It Simple: Merry Christmas.

My work had a market stall day today. I took along my cards. This card was one of the first to sell. :-) When preparing for the market, I discovered that I have WAY too many cards in my stocks. I think I might need to find a real market to take them to, as I'm a little overstocked for personal use, lol!

Thank-you for dropping by to visit! I hope you can join us at Fusion.

Michelle
xxx

Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking Magazine Special Thanks! Blog Hop

Hello,

Today I'm joining in with many others in this papercrafting world of ours to celebrate Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking Magazine, and especially to give thanks to those hard-working people who not only have made the magazine such a fabulous resource, but have supported many of us in so many ways.

If you are hopping along, you will have arrived from my friend and fellow Australian, Michelle Lupton.

I made a card for the occasion. The sentiment is heart-felt. The Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking team are special, and it IS all about the little things. I hope that in their new adventures they each find a place where they can continue to share those special little things that make such a big difference to others.

Being published in Paper Crafts Magazine was one of my first BIG goals when I was brave enough to join the papercrafting community online. It took me several months before I felt brave enough to submit, and then it took several more months to have one of my cards chosen for publication. I submitted to the November/December 2013 issue, with a non-Christmas card. I thought I had no chance of being selected, but it turned out that my my very literal interpretation of the sketch in non-Christmas colours was just what was needed. You can still see it here online. I never took a photo of the final card for my own records, but here it is before the corrections I made for publication.

You would not believe how excited I was to be selected for publication. I may have screamed out loud when the email arrived. I made this card while crafting with friends, and it took me HOURS to arrange the squares. I used a ruler and carefully measured distances. It took forever to achieve a very simple-looking card, so to have it selected felt wonderful! And then life got busy, and I only submitted a few times, and wasn't selected again until the February 2015 call. I can't share that card, because it is yet to be published.

When I received the email saying that Paper Crafts Magazine was closing down and that February 2015 would be the final issue, I was so sad. :-( I haven't submitted to other magazines. Paper Crafts has been my favourite, although I will admit to struggling with the new digital format (I can't carry my computer around in my handbag, lol!). There will be a big hole left behind when they close their doors. I'm obviously old-fashioned, because I love good topical magazines, the paper version. Yes, blogs give me inspiration, but magazines fill a different space for me. I don't want to be on my computer all day long, I like reading on the train in the morning, and reading about beautiful paper crafty stuff is just perfect! Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking Mag, and all of you wonderful people who have made it what it is, I will miss you.

The next stop on the hop is another Australian friend of mine, Lyndal Higgins. Three Aussies in a row! :-)

Thank-you for visiting me. I hope you enjoy the hop. It's a big one. It may take a few days to get through. I'll be hopping along beside you.

Michelle
xxx