CTD #171 & SSSC#147

Hello!

Just a quick one before I head out to work. I'm entering a card into the Color Throwdown Challenge #171 and the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #147.

The colours are:

The sketch is:

My card:

I used (mostly SU!)
Inks: Ruby Red, Creamy Caramel, Soft Suede, Old Olive, StayzOn Black
Stamps: Curly Cute, Circle Circus
Card: Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Paper: Mocha Morning, something retired, vellum
Twine: Twinery capuccino
Button: Papertrey Ink

So what do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts. :-)

Michelle
xxx

Masculine Thank-You

Hello!

Second post for the night, on a school night, that's a bit of a record!  This is the other thank-you card for my team.  It is also A5, big enough for everyone to sign.  This time for a young man.

Oh dear, how I struggle with masculine cards.  This card I've made this evening is the most recent in a long line of attempts at an idea I have in my head that I am really having problems getting down on paper.  I thought this time I would share anyway, even though I'm still not happy, because I have found many, many times that cards I'm not enamoured of can be something that someone else actually likes.  And maybe if I look at it for a while I'll be inspired with some magic to make it better. . . maybe. . . LOL.

There is a new challenge out there called For Your Inspiration which I have been watching since it started a short while ago.  I have been inspired almost every challenge, but have never found the time to enter.  This time, at Challenge number 8, I am giving it a go.  And I have a couple more ideas which I might still try and enter a second time (with some layers, to jolt me out of this one-layer phase I'm in).

So the inspiration is this photo:

I love these colours.  I love the contrast of textures.  I'm not sure I captured it in my card, but take a look and let me know what you think (please be nice, I know it isn't my best work ever, but constructive feedback is appreciated).

I used mostly Stampin' Up!
Very Vanilla cardstock
Inks: Really Rust, Old Olive, Not Quite Navy, Garden Green, Creamy Caramel
Stamps: Circle Circus, Trendy Trees (sentiment)
I also raided my daughter's colouring pens for a grey pen to create the frame because I wanted to capture the grey of the water cascades.

So what do you think? 

Michelle
xxx

Notebooks

Because I was out of time before Christmas to get all my planned activities completed, I have decided that my Christmas gifts for my team at work will be "Seasons Greetings" gifts in the new year.  The thought and heart were there, but I just didn't get the time before I went on holidays to complete the project I planned instead of Christmas cards. 


For each member of my team, I have created the front inside cover of a notebook.  I will write a personal message on the back of this cover for each person, and they will then have my greetings as well as a notebook which will (hopefully) be more useful than a Christmas card, and might even last all year.


Here they are:

They are all different.  I have a particular favourite, but I won't tell you, so that you can choose your own!


I hope you like them, and I hope my team likes them too.  :-)

Here are the larger photos of each.

Boy Birthdays

I haven't had a second to do any stamping lately, and Christmas is looming!  But, I had a couple of birthdays to make cards for this week-end, so out came my gear.  Recently I picked up a simple alphabet from Kikki-K and I played with that for these cards.

The first was a 3rd birthday for one of my little girl's friends - the party was yesterday and I put the card together in about 30 minutes just before we had to go, phew!  My little girl watched me make it and when it was finished she declared, "Oh, that's beautiful, Mummy!"  That put a smile on my face.  :-)  

Colours are (all SU) Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, and Sage Shadow. 

The second is a birthday card for my brother (who I don't think reads my blog, but if he does, "the card's in the mail").  This card emerged from an idea I had in my head that I had trouble translating to paper.  Although not what I originally imagined when designing the card, and due to the challenge of translating my concept to paper, I ended up with something different to my usual style, and I quite like it. 

I can't get the picture to translate in a normal format (it is squishing it up), but you get the idea, I'm sure!

Colours used are (all SU) Very Vanilla, Night of Navy, Really Rust, Pumpkin Pie.

Sometime soon I will be blogging with some Christmas cards again.  Until then, I hope you've enjoyed my latest attempts at creativity.