Altenew August Challenge

Hello!

Have you seen the inspiration over at Altenew's August Challenge? Flamingoes! They're so fabulous I just had to join in. There are already many, many beautiful cards in the gallery. It's worth heading over to take a look - they're GORGEOUS!

This is my card for the challenge.

I used Wild Hibiscus and Label Love stamps. I masked the butterflies and stamped flowers and leaves in the background in a very pale warm grey. I love how this turned out.

Thanks for dropping by to visit!

Michelle
xxx

Happy 13th Birthday!!

Hello!

Today I celebrate my first-born daughter's 13th birthday! I can't believe 13 years have passed already. She's growing into such a lovely young lady with a very kind heart.

This is her birthday card.

I used Altenew Wild Hibiscus and Label Love stamps. The tiny sentiment is Wplus9. I did some subtle colouring using Copics.

I'm entering this into the current Virginia's View challenge.

My daughter spent the last 10 days on Flinders Island, way down south in Tasmania, with her aunt and uncle. What a wonderful holiday! If I can get some of her photos on my computer, I'll share with you. Flinders is all natural beauty.

Flying from Flinders back to Melbourne, she arrived at Essendon Airport and needed to transfer to Melbourne Airport at Tullamarine (a short 8km away). There was no easy transport option that I was comfortable with her taking by herself, at least not on this first solo trip, so I flew down to meet her and transfer her home. While I waited for her flight I had a couple of hours spare, so I went walking around Melbourne. What a beautiful day!

The view from Southgate across to the city.

The view from Princes Bridge with Southgate on the left and the city on the right.

Flinders Street Station, always so photogenic.

Art at Southgate.

And last, but not least, the birthday girl herself.

It's so good to have her home. :-)

Thanks for coming to visit!

Michelle
xxx

Celebrate!

Hello!

I found a little time this week-end (by ignoring the vacuuming) to make some cards. :-)

This card I made for Runway Inspired Challenge #87, which inspired me the second I saw it!

I sponged SU! Almost Amethyst along the side of my card and then stamped Altenew Modern Beadwork against this. The sentiment is Altenew Label Love. Super clean and simple, just the way I like it!

I'm also entering this card into Virginia's View Challenge #16 - 100% stamped.

We're enjoying the most beautiful Winter's day here. We were promised the coldest day of the year. It didn't arrive. I was looking forward to that cold snap, but this beautiful blue-sky day is a wonderful consolation. 

Thank-you for dropping by to visit me!

Michelle

xxx

Exploring Striped Florals

Hello!

I had a couple of days off this week leading into the Easter week-end. My kids started school holidays on Wednesday and I decided to take a couple of days off and have a couple of my girls' friends over. We don't get many play dates because life is usually a bit too busy, so this was special. My littlest (7 years old) had her first friend sleeping over last night. They did pretty well, considering the excitement level. They remembered their manners, went to bed at 9pm (a late bedtime as a treat), and finally went to sleep at 11pm when I roused at them for too much activity and giggling. ;-)  My eldest had her friend over today and I didn't see them except when they emerged for food, and when I decided I wanted to make a card and they had taken over the rumpus room (where all my crafting gear is kept). It was a lovely couple of days and I think my girls really enjoyed themselves. A good start to the holidays.

When I did finally get allowed back near my craft desk, I made a couple of cards using Altenew Striped Florals. I'm still not finished experimenting with this set. I really love it!

The first card I made for The Card Concept. It is a clean and simple card that I stamped and coloured using Copics.

Stamps are from Altenew Striped Florals and the sentiment is from Altenew Label Love.

I'm also entering this card into Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where the inspiration is "Happy Birthday".

I also made a card for The Challenge #28 which happens to be the one year anniversary challenge. I can't believe The Challenge has been going for a whole year and I haven't joined in yet! It's not that I haven't been inspired, I have, but I've never made the deadlines. :-(  Since it is a special occasion, I made a special effort and made a card to join in, in time. ;-)

Stamps are again Altenew Striped Florals and Label Love. I added a bit of gold twine for some extra texture and interest.

I'm also entering this card into Virginia's View Challenge #14. My card is a CAS version of layers and dimension. ;-)

Thank-you for visiting! I hope that I find some more time for stamping over this Easter long week-end. I'll definitely be back in a few hours with this week's CAS(E) This Sketch card. :-)

Michelle
xxx

CAS(E) This Sketch 111

Hello!

Here in Brisbane, we're in the middle of some rather rainy weather. With Tropical Cyclone Marcia bearing down on the North Queensland coast overnight, the weather is certain to get worse before it gets better. My kids' school is on stand-by for closure. We have to check at 6am. I'm thinking school will go ahead, it's wet but it isn't too windy just yet (although that could change overnight). I'm wondering if the Lunar New Year celebrations this week-end will go ahead as planned. I'm not sure the dancing dragons like the rain too much! Fingers crossed we get a pause in the rain on Saturday night when I am out celebrating with the family. :-)

I'm here with my card for this week's CAS(E) This Sketch Challenge. I've managed to somehow mix the sketch elements up. They're still there, just in slightly different positions, lol! I think I got carried away colouring and splattering. ;-)

Looking at this card, I get a sense that I've seen it before. Have I accidentally copied someone's idea? If I have, let me know so that I can credit their influence on my subconscious! I did a search on Blended Bloom and Gorgeous Grunge stamps, but didn't find anything similar, so maybe it is just an odd case of deja vu. I'm loving that rich, luscious rose! It almost bursts off the card!

I can't wait to see what you all make with this sketch as inspiration! I'll look for you in the gallery. My internet service returned to normal today, so hopefully I can do some visiting. :-)

Thanks for dropping by to visit me!

Michelle
xxx

Winter beadwork

Hello!

Virginia's View Challenge this month has the theme "Clean Slate". That sounds right up my alley! I love a good  expanse of white on my cards. :-) I was also inspired by the photo at Curtain Call Challenge which is all white and ivory and beige, yum! The sponsor at Curtain Call is Altenew, so I couldn't resist pulling out my Altenew stamps. I settled on using Modern Beadwork with Label Love for the sentiment.

Once I had finished this card, it gave me the feeling of marble mosaic tiles and I was whooshed off to Italy in my imagination! :-) Colours are PTI Soft Stone, Fine Linen, and Hero Arts Wet Cement.

I'm also entering this into Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where the theme is Anything Goes.

Today I had a mole excised from my face. It was only a little mole, but it appeared right where I had previously had mole removed through a shave biopsy and found pre-cancerous cells. The fact that a shave biopsy had already been done meant they had to do the excision this time. I really don't like local anaesthetics. I don't like the numb feeling, I don't like the tingling and itching as the feeling comes back, and then I don't like the pain that arrives later on. :-(  I'm such a sook! I have two friends this week with their gallbladders removed, and I'm sooking over a little mole removal, lol! You can check my Instagram account if you'd like to check my sooky face. ;-)

I will be back with more entries to Virginia's View challenge. I just love Virginia's challenges and I am off work this week, so I plan to make good use of my time and make multiple entries.

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

P.S. I have started updating my other blog again. I'm putting some of my daily life photos (not professional, just snapshots) and some of my art practice over there. Feel welcome to take a look.

Moxie Fab Fabulous Friday - Getting Fancy

Hello!

I keep missing the Fabulous Friday Challenges at Moxie Fab World. There has been some amazing inspiration along the way, so I've been sad to miss out! Today I managed to sneak in one extra card while I was at my craft desk. :-)

I used PTI Building Blocks and Altenew Label Love stamps with a spritz of gold Smooch. I pretty much created the photo inspiration in my card - colours, placement of the rectangles.

The reason I was at my craft desk in the first place was to make a card for my daughter's teacher from this term. She was filling in for only one term. The regular teacher returns next term. The kids want to say thank-you. This card is A5 size.

I used Mama Elephant stamps - Pandamonium, Party Kit, and Flashy Letters.Inks are a mix of Mama Elephant and Memento Luxe. The twine is Twinery. The washi is from Typo.

I also needed to make some birthday invitations for my eldest daughter who turns 12 very soon. Her brief was for pastel floral invitations. These fit the bill.

Thank-you for coming by to visit me!

Michelle
xxx

CAS(E) This Sketch 89

Hello!

I'm back with CAS(E) This Sketch #89. This sketch allowed me to use one of my favourite techniques - a masked frame. Every single time I pull away the mask, I get a great big smile to see all that lovely white left behind!

I used PTI Turning a New Leaf and Altenew Label Love stamps. I tried to use a more masculine colour scheme. I really need some "boy" cards!

I hope you can take some time to visit the rest of the Design Team (over there on the side bar) and then join us in the fun this week! I'll look for you in the gallery. :-)

Michelle
xxx

Case Study 199

Hello!

I have had a busy few weeks! The nice part of this past week is that part of the busy-ness was caused by a little trip to the Gold Coast. We were greeted with the most stunningly perfect Queensland Winter weather! I might whinge all Summer long about the heat, but a beautiful Winter day at 22 degrees with the sun shining on the beach can't be beaten. :-)

I'm here to share my card for Case Study #199. Our muse is still the amazing Shari Carroll. I took the overlapping circles from the inspiration and made a card using inlaid die cuts. I added a few sequins for sparkle, and I was done! Fitting those die cuts together was a little like a jigsaw puzzle at times, lol!

Last week I forgot to mention our two guest designers for this month. Yes, TWO! And they are two amazing ladies who I count among my bloggy friends - Amy Tsuruta and Tenia Nelson. If you haven't met them before, make sure you take a wander over to their blogs and check out their fabulous work!

Okay, now, back to the Gold Coast. I thought I'd share some of the fabulous week-end.

The beach. The water was clear and perfect. The sky was clear and perfect. Just wonderful!

That's my kids playing. There was a big rip, so I had to keep asking them to come back closer to the beach, but they couldn't resist and kept going out into the water. I had visions of me having to get out there to rescue them, lol!

And the reason for our trip - the marathon! My hubby ran it exactly as he predicted - 3 hours 45 minutes. This was about 4km into the race, right outside our hotel. They ran back this way, too, at about 27km point.

And finally, one of the beautiful sunsets. No editing. This is straight from the camera.

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle

xxx

Case Study 197

Hello!

Do you sometimes start making a card with one idea in your head and then end up in a completely different place? This is what happened with my card for this week's Case Study Challenge. The inspiration provided by Pamela Ho's awesome card definitely spoke of circles and vellum to me, but I picked up rectangles and kept going with that theme. :-) I did keep with the colour scheme. ;-)

This is my card.

I used Altenew Label Love stamps. Inks are Memento Luxe in Tuxedo Black and Morocco.

My kids have started school holidays. They are enjoying vacation care this week. Their smiles make me feel better about the fact that I can't take holidays with them. :-)

Thank-you for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

Muse 72 and CASology 100

Hello!

One of my favourite, and very neglected, challenges is Muse Card Club. I really wanted to play along last week, but I didn't make it in time. This week, I'm squeezing in at the last minute, but at least I've made it in time!

Another favourite, and neglected, challenge is CASology. Casology is celebrating their 100th challenge with the cue word, CELEBRATE! Congratulations CASology team on reaching this fabulous milestone!

For this card I took Marion's beautiful layout, changed the colours, and voila! A bright pink celebration!

I used Altenew stamps - Hennah Elements and Label Love.

Thank-you for coming by to visit!

See you again soon!

Michelle
xxx

CAS(E) This Sketch AND Fusion - it's a combined challenge!

Hello!

This week we have an exciting collaboration of CAS(E) This Sketch and Fusion challenges, and I am lucky enough to be on both design teams! The sketch and the inspiration photo both had me running for my craft corner. I saw gold and butterflies, and the sketch is awesome, so a Fusion of both was inevitable.

I used a plethora of product on this card. Hero Arts, Stampin' Up!, Altenew stamps. Lots of gold - ink and smooch spritz. And that fabulous textured patterned paper, Save The Date by Teresa Collins.

For those of you who regularly play with Fusion, we are only running the challenge for one week this week. It will close next Wednesday, 25th June, and then we will take a little one week  holiday before our next challenge. So this week-end will be your only week-end opportunity to join in the fun. I would hate you to miss out!

I can't wait to see how everyone interprets this inspiration! I hope to visit you all soon. :-)

Michelle
xxx