CAS(E) This Sketch 161

Hello!

Summer is still solidly here in Brisbane. We've been enjoying the pool on the week-ends. The work days are not so joyful... walking to and from the train station in the blazing heat, ugh! I event got sunburned this week on that little walk! I'm thankful that my kids' classrooms are air-conditioned. Not all classrooms are in Queensland, so my kids are very lucky. I remember sitting in hot classrooms as a kid - it's completely impossible to concentrate!

I'm here to share my card for this week's CAS(E) This Sketch. When I saw the sketch, my pandas came to mind immediately and there was no moving from the idea. Isn't he so cute?

I used Mama Elephant Pandamonium and Wplus9 Whole Lotta Happy stamps. This card is sitting right next to me now, because my little one has requested a purple version for her friend's birthday. I think panda-love must run in the family.

This cool sketch is so easy to use and I think I'll be keeping it for later use. I hope you're inspired, too.

Life's been a bit busy for me lately. Work is challenging and very, very busy. I'm loving it, but I could do with another two of me to keep up with it all. Definitely too much to get through right now. It will work out in the end.

Thanks for visiting! I hope you join in with us at CTS this week. :-)

Michelle
xxx

One Layer Colour Splash

Hello!

I love colour challenges with one or two colours, and this week there are TWO challenges with this theme. The restriction of using a single colour (plus neutrals) gets the creative juices flowing and I just love the effect.

I used MFT Delicate Pretty Poppies and coloured with Copics.

I'm entering this into ColourQ

I'm also entering Color Throwdown

and last, but not least, I'm entering One Layer Simplicity where the theme is Friends

Thank-you for coming by to visit me!

Michelle

xxx

CAS(E) This Sketch 160

Hello!

I had some fun with this week's sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch! While I fully intended to make horizontal lines, I completely fell in love with the vertical lines, so kept them this way. :-)  To make up for my diversion from the sketch, I kept the horizontal sentiment lines.

I used SU! Hardwood Background stamp and PTI Wonderful Words: Hello stamps. Colours are SU! Gumball Green and PTI Smokey Shadow.

Yes, Chrissy has come up with another fab sketch! This one is going to have regular use, I think.

I hope you're inspired to join in the fun with us.

Thanks for visiting.

Michelle
xxx

Fusion - Pretty in Pink

Hello!

Oh, how I love the inspiration at Fusion Card Challenge this time around! I used only the inspiration photo, picking up the colours and floral/leaf designs. I did partially use the sketch, but not all of it. ;-)

I used SU! Botanical Blooms and PTI Wonderful Words: Friends. Colours are SU! Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, and Pretty in Pink.

Isn't this inspiration photo beautiful? I love the sketch, too. I am really looking forward to taking a browse through the gallery!

The weather remains hot and humid here in Brisbane. Luckily for me, I spend my work day in air-conditioning. That just leaves the problem of sleeping at night time. Looking forward to a cool change sometime soon (fingers crossed).

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

CAS(E) This Sketch 159

Hello!

This week's sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch is one of mine. The funny thing is... it took me forever to think of how to use it, haha! I knew I wanted a background that covered the card, but what that background would be took a while to evolve in my brain.

I finally decided on diagonal rainbow stripes! :-)

Stripes are Mama Elephant Basic Borders. Sentiments are Wplus9 Whole Lotta Happy.

There are so many options with this sketch, and I know my fellow design team members have made amazing cards with it! I can't wait to see what you all do.

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

Watercolor for Cardmakers - Intermediate Techniques: Days 5 and 6

Hello!

I've finally found a moment to sit down to photograph and blog my homework from days 5 and 6 of Watercolor for Cardmakers: Intermediate Techniques where we were taught expressive florals. This style can be either easy or challenging, depending on your mental state! As a perfectionist, it was difficult for me to just let the paints do whatever they wanted to do with a tiny bit of direction from me.

My first challenge was to follow Dawn's direction to not worry about wasting my expensive and valuable watercolour paper, haha! She is right, how can we improve if we don't practice? And since the paints behave differently with different papers, you really need to practice on the paper you intend to use.

So I practised, and then I started making little paintings. I have made a card from one of the paintings I made during day 5 practice, and I will make more. I like some of what I created, and the others I learned from.

My first one uses just the natural shape of the brush to create the leaves and flowers. I like this effect. I've seen a few others in the gallery using the same technique but with quite different feels, and all so beautiful!

I love these little flowers. They remind me of crepe myrtle. I'm thinking I'll explore this technique a bit more, to see if I can actually create something that really does look like crepe myrtle. :-)

Oh, how I struggled with these little roses! It's such a loose painting style, and you really don't know what you'll get until you're finished.

This one I did not like at all. But I can see things that worked in it, so it was a good practice.

So after the rose that I didn't like, I decided to try one more time and created this one, which I do like.

I liked it so much I decided to scan it and make it into a card. (I'm not happy with my stamping of the sentiment, but since it is a scanned copy, I can just fix it later with another print.)

I then moved onto day 6 homework. First I tried Sanketi's lessons. I've successfully used Sanketi's techniques previously, but this time I really found it challenging. I love her style and I always learn something when I watch her videos. :-)

So after that, and feeling frustrated I gave myself a day of rest. I returned to the expressive florals with two ideas. The first was that I wanted to experiment with what happens when I use less water and a smaller brush. I was pleasantly surprised! I can see some potential in this style for me.

Then I tried to create some cosmos with wet flowers and drier leaves and stems. I played around with my greens to create some variation, and I really gave it a good splatter!

So, that's where I'm up to. I've loved these classes so much. I knew that I would learn from Dawn and my admiration for her has just increased over this class.

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

CAS(E) This Sketch 158

Hello!

This week's sketch for CAS(E) This Sketch had me wondering for ages just what I would do with it. It's such a simple sketch, but those vertical stripes puzzled me. Then I had an idea! Yay for the mojo coming out to play!

This is what I came up with.

I used Mama Elephant Bear Hugs stamps and dies. I coloured in Copics (W2 & W4).

For those of you who layer easily, this sketch will have you bursting with ideas, I'm sure! I can't wait to see what you create!

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

Fusion - Paper Hearts

Hello!

For Fusion Card Challenge I am using one of my watercolour pieces created during Online Card Classes Watercolor for Cardmakers: Intermediate Techniques. I couldn't resist when I saw the inspiration, watercolour was the perfect choice!

To create this card, I traced around my heart dies to make the shapes and then watercoloured. For my perfectionist inner critic, it was really difficult to have my hearts imperfect, but at the same time, it's the imperfection that I really like in this card. Yes, I'm a little bit crazy. ;-)

How cool is this inspiration photo and sketch? Perfect for Valentine's cards!

WARNING: This bit is me moaning about the heat.
Speaking of cool, I'm super-envious of all of those snow photos I'm seeing from the northern hemisphere! Here in Brisbane we've had over a week of high temperatures with high humidity. The ceiling fans do nothing but move the hot, moist air around. I can't sleep. I feel physically ill from the heat and humidity. It's driving me crazy. Everything is wet! I keep hoping we'll get a giant thunderstorm that will blow in a cool change. I keep seeing the thunderstorms heading off in the distance - flashing lightning, giant clouds, and nothing for us! I whinge every time the weather gets like this. I'm not a fan of hot Summers, give me cold Winters any day! (We don't get those here, the coldest we get in Winter is just below 0 degrees celcius, definitely no snow.) Maybe soon we'll get those much needed rain storms to take away the heat, then I can cheer up! ;-)

Thanks for visiting! I hope you're inspired to join us at Fusion Challenge. I'll be looking for you in the gallery.

Michelle
xxx