For Your Inspiration #46

Hello!

Today I'm bringing you a card made for For Your Inspiration challenge #46.

I used Mama Elephant Basic Borders, and Simon Says Stamp Flower Friend. Colours are Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight, and PTI Soft Stone.

The photo is of a beautiful aspen forest. I couldn't resist using the lines and the colours in this photograph. They're irresistible!

The rest of the design team have done their usual wonderful work. I'm sure they'd love to have you over for a visit.
Debbie
Karen
Mynnette
Rochelle
Rudlis
Sara
Vicki

Okay, I have to admit, I actually closed the windows in the house today. It was slightly chilly. When we got home tonight, I made the decision that Winter may just be approaching and I should start keeping what little warmth we have inside the house. For those of you who don't know Brisbane, we have very mild Winters. Summer is really hot and really humid, but Winter tends to be quite nice. BUT, it does get cold overnight. Brisbane houses have generally not been built for the cold, and most of us have no heating, sigh! So when the temp goes down near or below 0c overnight, it really does feel cold. It's not that cold now. I think it's probably somewhere around 16c, but a few days ago it was a LOT warmer... and now it's grey, overcast and rainy. That's probably why I'm a bit grumpy about the temperature, Brisbane has blue skies and zero rain in the cold months, I don't know where this rain has come from, LOL!

Thanks for visiting me!

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #45

Hello!

I'm here with my contribution to For Your Inspiration Challenge #45.

I used PTI patterned paper, Pretty Peonies stamp embossed in silver. Card is Soft Stone.

This is the gorgeous inspiration photo.

The photograph is a lighthouse in Gloucester, Massachusetts and is taken by Mike Buchholz. It is worth wandering over to his blog for more amazing photography. He's given me wanderlust! He's also inspired me to work harder at my photography.

I used the sketch from Retro Sketches #61

Why don't you pay the rest of the For Your Inspiration design team a visit and check out their awesome work, too? :-)

Debbie
Karen
Rochelle
Rudlis
Sara
Vicki


Thanks for coming to visit.

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #44

Hello!

It's time for For Your Inspiration Challenge #44!

When I first saw the inspiration photo, I was a little stuck. That happens sometimes. So I walked away and let it bubble away at the back of my brain for a while. The inspiration struck - white embossing on grey for the grey skies! I love the subtle effect it creates.

I used Jane's Doodles Pretty Peonies and Mama Elephant So Breezy stamps. The patterned paper is Studio Calico Snippets. Card base is PTI Soft Stone.

How does the inspiration photo inspire you? It's an amazing view! Stormy weather? Sunset? Grey, black, orange, and yellow? I'd love to see your interpretation!

The rest of the design team has been hard at work, too. Why don't you pay them a visit?
Debbie
Karen
Mynnette
Rochelle
Rudlis
Sara


Thanks for coming by!

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #43

Hello!

Wow, time flies by so quickly! I can't believe we're at another For Your Inspiration Challenge already!

The photo for For Your Inspiration Challenge #43 is this one.

Isn't that sky gorgeous?

I went with the colours of this photo for my inspiration.

My card base is PTI Fresh Linen. The stamps are Simon Says Stamp Flower Friend. The inks are PTI Fresh Linen and SU! Soft Suede, Almost Amethyst, Pretty in Pink.

The rest of the DT have come up with gorgeous cards this week. Why don't you check them out?
Debbie
Karen
Rochelle
Rudlis
Sara
Vicki

I'd love to see your creation over in the FYI gallery for this challenge.

Thanks for coming to visit.

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #42

Hello!

Today is For Your Inspiration day!  Today's inspiration is bold, and so I have made a bold card, using colour blocking. For me, there was no other way to combine the colours and the feeling of the image. ;-)

For this card I used a brand new stamp set (which I won at Clean & Simple Card Making 2 class, yay!) Hero Arts Tall Flowers. I created a colour-blocked card base using SU! Brilliant Blue, Really Rust, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun, and Chocolate Chip. I stamped in Versamark and white embossed. I coloured the flowers a little with Delicata Gold.

The inspiration photo for For Your Inspiration #42 is this one. What's your take on it? I'd love to see your interpretation over in the gallery.

Check out the rest of the Design Team contributions, beautiful work as always.
Debbie
Karen
Mynnette
Rochelle
Rudlis
Sara
Vicki

I will admit, that I used some other inspiration in making this card. I am entering this into Muse Challenge #9, where Marion Vagg has brought us this beautiful card. I loved the coloured stripes with the white images and sentiments. Marion make the most beautiful cards!

And also A Blog Named Hero Challenge #22 where the theme is Freestyle - we can make anything, so long as we have fun!

Thanks for coming by to visit!

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #41

Hello!

For Your Inspiration Challenge #41 brings you a photo that is perfect for a masculine project, so that I what I made!

I used PTI Square Prints, and Stylish Sentiments:Birthday. Colours are SU! Really Rust, Early Espresso, Soft Suede, PTI Fresh Linen.

This is the photo.

Amazing colours and ambience!

Please stop by my fellow DT blogs to take a look at what they've come up with.

Debbie
Karen
Mynnette
Regina
Rochelle
Rudlis
Sara
Steph
Vicki

I hope that I see your entry over at FYI sometime soon. ;-)

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #40

Hello!

It's time for another beautiful inspiration photo at For Your Inspiration!

For Your Inspiration challenge #40 has this gorgeous scene on offer.

So pretty!

It took me a little while to figure out what I'd make because I just wanted to fill my card with pink! But, at the same time, this picture has a delicate feel - small flowers, fine branches. There is a lot more to use which I didn't even get to, the road lined with pink, the forest feel... oh, I could go on!  In the end, I went with my impression of a Japanese scene and used my cherry blossom from SU! Eastern Blooms.

I used SU! Eastern Blooms, Hero Arts Say It All (sentiment). Colours are SU! Early Espresso, Real Red, Pretty in Pink. Since I don't own any markers, I used a blending pen to pick up the colours and colour the stamp. 

The rest of the team have come up with some beauties, why don't you pay them a visit too?
Debbie
Karen
Mynnette
Regina
Rochelle
Rudlis
Sara
Steph
Vicki

Thanks for coming by! I hope to see you over at FYI very soon!

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #39

Hello!

It's For Your Inspiration Challenge time!

Here is my card.

I used PTI Guide Lines II and Botanical Silhouettes (sentiment), Mama Elephant Basic Borders. Colours are SU! Bashful Blue, Daffodil Delight, and Night of Navy.

This is the inspiration photo for For Your Inspiration #39.

There is lots to work with there. I took the blue and yellow, and I picked up the geometric shapes and light. If I had a triangle stamp, I think I would have used it!

The rest of the team have come up with some great cards, too! Why don't you pay them a visit?
Debbie
Karen
Mynnette
Regina
Rochelle
Rudlis
Sara
Steph
Vicki

We had lots of entries for our last challenge, I look forward to seeing yours sometime soon!

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #38

Hello!

It's time for another challenge at For Your Inspiration!

This is my card.

I used PTI Snowflake Flurries (as fireworks). Colours are SU! Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Soft Suede, Early Espresso. Card base is PTI Vintage Cream.

This is the inspiration photo for FYI Challenge #38. What I saw was the bright oranges and browns with a little green peeking through. The lacy leaves meant that I wanted my images to be a little more delicate. The wonky branches are reflected in the wonky sentiment.

I am entering this card into CAS-ual Fridays #85 where the theme is "a round of applause", with at least one circle. I have several circles in my design here, and I think fireworks and a great big "celebrate" is perfect for someone who has just achieved something super!

I'm also entering this over at Moxie Fab World's Make Your Own Background Paper challenge.

I'd love you to take a wander over to look at the rest of the FYI DT contributions, they're awesome, as usual!

Debbie
Karen
Mynnette
Regina
Rochelle
Rudlis
Sara
Steph
Vicki

Thanks for coming by to visit!

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #37

Hello!

For Your Inspiration Challenge is back from holiday! Yippee!  We're kicking off the year with a beautiful, placid scene across the water.

I'm not sure where this is. It evokes feelings of Switzerland with the mountains out back and the lake in front. In any case, I'd love to be there! Edit: It's Lake Bled in Slovenija, according to Andreja. :-)

For my card, I couldn't go past the greens and blues with those wispy white clouds.

I used Hero Arts Large Flower Background and Say It All stamps. I white embossed the background onto SU! Pool Party, and then used my Inktense pencils (Sea Blue and Teal Green) to do some selective colouring. The sentiment was white embossed on vellum, to allow the beautiful background image to shine through.

I really like how this turned out. This is the type of card I had in mind when I bought this beautiful background stamp.

The rest of the Design Team have created beautiful cards, as always! Why don't you pay them a visit?
Debbie
Karen
Mynnette
Regina
Rochelle
Rudlis
Sara
Steph
Vicki

Thanks for dropping by. I'd love to see your entry over at FYI very soon!

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration DT Call

Hello!

Just dropping in quickly to let you know that there is a Design Team call over at For Your Inspiration Challenge blog.

Applications are open until November 23 and the new DT is announced December 1.

For Your Inspiration is a photo inspiration challenge - Steph chooses the photos, and we get to make a card (or other crafty project) twice a month in response to those awesome photos. It's always fun to see what everyone comes up with! :-)

If you are interested in applying, head on over to FYI for all the details.

Michelle.

For Your Inspiration 36

Hello!

Well, this is the last For Your Inspiration challenge for this year. The team are taking a little holiday and we'll be back next year. Please join in on this challenge and help us end this year grandly. :-) The inspiration photograph for challenge #36 is beautiful, as always.

For me, I chose the colours and shapes as my inspiration. I loved the purple and yellow of the sunrise/sunset, and the grey wall is just delicious!

I turned to a sketch to build my card, and the sketch at Retro Sketches #24 was perfect, and turned the picture upside down - the sunrise on the bottom with the grey leading up from there.

My card follows the sketch really closely.

I really like how this turned out. The stamps are PTI Embellishments (who knew this set could be so beautifully CAS? I surprised myself). The colours are PTI basic white card, Memento Grey Flannel, SU! Pale Plum and Barely Banana. The Pale Plum card is textured. The rhinestones are SU! and are the perfect finishing touch (if I do say so myself, LOL!).

The FYI Design Team have done some beautiful work again. Please do take some time to go and visit them and leave some love.

Debbie

Debby
Rudlis
Karen

Rochelle

Sara

Steph
Sylvia

Vicki

Thanks for coming to visit me, and I hope to see you over at FYI with your project for the challenge very soon!

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #35

Hello!

It's time for another For Your Inspiration challenge! We're up to Challenge #35, and this is the beautiful inspiration photo.

Blue, aqua, green, grey, gold, cathedral, bridge, river, spires, arches... oh the inspiration!

For me, I took the colours, and the shapes I used reminded me of church windows.

I created a one-layer sympathy card using PTI Guidelines II and Botanical Silhouettes. Colours are SU! Crumb Cake, Pool Party, and Certainly Celery.

The other ladies on the DT have come up with some lovely cards, as always. Why don't you pay them a visit?

Debbie

Debby
Rudlis
Karen

Rochelle

Sara

Steph
Sylvia

Vicki

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #34

Hello!

It's time for another For Your Inspiration challenge. Challenge #34 this time. :-)

This is the inspiration.

It's quite a busy picture. Lots of inspiration there! I took the natural feel and made a flowery card. I also used the colours, because I love these autumny colours. :-)

This is what I came up with.

I used PTI Pretty Peonies. I used the PTI canvas/linen impression plate to add texture to the bottom panel for interest. Unusually for me, I used the canvas side of the plate. Colours are SU! More Mustard, Really Rust, and Old Olive. The ribbon is PTI Fine Linen.

Why don't you go and visit the rest of the FYI DT, they've done some awesome work again. ;-)

Debbie

Debby
Rudlis
Karen

Rochelle

Sara

Steph
Sylvia

Vicki

This week I travelled to Cairns in far north Queensland for work. Cairns is a 2.5 hour flight from Brisbane. Further away than Melbourne! While in the southern regions of Australia it is in the depth of cold winter, and in Brisbane it is cool, Cairns is delightfully fresh and almost warm. I certainly only needed a light pullover when I went walking in the evening. People were swimming in the town pool, so it was definitely mild. I thought I'd share a couple of photos.

I stayed at the Mantra Trilogy, which was comfy! I had a lovely room with a wonderful view. This is the evening view from my balcony.

And this is the morning view.

In the evening I went walking along The Esplanade. I love that walk. In the middle of town on The Esplanade, there is a big pool (which they call The Lagoon). It is free for use and is open with no fences. It's really beautiful. This is just a portion of that pool.

And here is a view looking back along the Esplanade.

When I've had a chance to edit some more of my photos, I'll add them over at my Photo Blog.

Thanks for dropping by. I hope I see your entry at For Your Inspiration soon.

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #33

Hello!

It's time for another For Your Inspiration challenge! The entries into challenge #32 were awesome, I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with this time around. :-)

This is the photo.

Beautiful, yes? I looked at this scene for a while, thinking about how it made me feel. It feels peaceful to me. A place of reflection. From the photo I took the colours blue, green, and white, and attempted to give them a soft feel that portrayed the feeling it gave me.

This is my card.

Colours are SU! Almost Amethyst (retired) and Certainly Celery. The stamps are Jane's Doodles Pretty Peonies, PTI Turning a New Leaf, and Hero Arts Say It All.

I used a sketch from My Favorite Things to get my layout.

I have to say, it is very dangerous going over to the MFT blog, especially at release time!  My wishlist just got a lot longer, sigh!

Now, why don't you take a little tour of what the rest of the design team came up with before creating your own beauty to enter into the challenge. :-)

Debbie

Debby
Rudlis
Karen

Rochelle

Sara

Steph
Sylvia

Vicki

Thanks for dropping by!

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #32

Hello!

It's time for Challenge number 32 over at For Your Inspiration Challenge blog. The inspiration photo is this one

This photo gave me a reflective mood. I liked all the white with the patch of sandstone in the middle.

I have made a sympathy card this week.

I'm not sure you can see all of the elements of this card in the card. I have embossed the Hero Arts Large Flower Background in White and lightly sponged PTI Fine Linen ink. I believe the little frame and stamps are Framed Out #4 (it could be #3, I am away from my supplies currently!) The ribbon is PTI Fine Linen. I'm loving that colour, delicious!

I have another photo that shows the texture better.

The other ladies on the Design Team have done a super job with this inspiration. Please pop over and visit them.

Debbie

Debby
Rudlis
Karen

Rochelle

Sara

Steph
Sylvia

Vicki

I hope I see your own creation in the entries sometime soon!

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #31

Hello!

Long time, no see! Life over the past few weeks has really interrupted my stamping activities... I'm desperate to get back into it. This week-end is a long week-end here in Queensland to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. I think I'll celebrate by attending the Scrapbooking and Papercrafting Show at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, and spending a good amount of time making cards. :-)

Today it is time for a new For Your Inspiration challenge. Challenge #31 to be precise. We are sponsored by Bugaboo Stamps, and I have chosen to use their gorgeous Flower Jar image. If you play along this week, you have the chance to win 7 of their digi stamps! Woo hoo!

The inspiration is this lovely photo of the Colosseum.

Makes me want to head back to Rome. I studied Ancient History in my Bachelor of Arts (a long, long time ago) and visiting Rome brought it all to life. I was in historical heaven! :-)

I used the photo as a colour inspiration, and this is what I came up with.

This is for a good friend who has been in hospital this week and who is facing a tough time.

Edit to add: I forgot to mention that this card is paper-pieced. It's probably obvious that this is what I have done, but just in case, I thought I'd let you know!  In real life it has a lovely dimension with the flowers sitting on top of each other.

The sentiment is PTI Through the Trees. The colours are SU! Night of Navy, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Crumb Cake, Certainly Celery. Twine is Twinery (Lemon Drop?). I also used my Inktense pencils and a white pen.

I would love to see you enter challenge #31. If you could create an Italian inspired card for me, that would be wonderful!!

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #30

Hello!

It's time for another For Your Inspiration challenge. Challenge number 30, to be precise. The inspiration photo at first glance was tricky for me, but then I thought about it for a while, and ideas started jumping! This is an AWESOME inspiration photo and the DT have done AMAZING things in response to it.

Take a look:

Sitting here in my jacket and scarf, I totally start daydreaming of summer while looking at this picture.

I'm in Brisbane (most of you know this) and we have fairly mild weather most of the year. This autumn it has been as warm as summer, well as warm as summer somewhere else (Summer in Brisbane is really HOT). Autumn hasn't really hit. This week we skipped past autumn and went straight to winter. Morning temps are quite cool (about 8 celcius/46F) and we have no heating, so getting out of bed is a challenge!

Anyway, back to the challenge! I had an idea formed, but I really needed a layout and I couldn't think one up myself in this instance, so I went where I knew I would find a great layout - Mojo Monday. This sketch is for Mojo Monday 241.

I love this sketch, I think I'll use it again.

In the end, this is how my card turned out.

I'm in love with this card. It turned out even better than I imagined!

Card: crumb cake, pumpkin pie, early espresso, apricot appeal (retired)
Ink: early espresso
Stamps: PTI Turning a New Leaf, Pretty Peonies
Other: PTI buttons, Sizzix dots embossing folder, twine, Spellbinders circle dies, SU! square punch (for the ends of the banner)

The DT have done some seriously awesome things with this inspiration. Please take some time to browse their creations, because I promise you'll be inspired.

Debbie

Debby
Rudlis
Karen

Rochelle

Sara

Steph
Sylvia

Vicki

I'm looking forward to seeing your responses to this photograph, too!

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #29

Hello!

It's time for another For Your Inspiration challenge. Today we are at Challenge number 29. We have another sponsor this week - Fresh Brewed Designs. They have been kind enough to let us use some of their digi stamps for our projects this week. They are so lovely! Enter this challenge at FYI and you will have the chance to win three of their gorgeous digi stamps for yourself. :-)

The photo inspiration is this serene scene.

There is so much inspiration there to choose from -  greens, blues, greys, and browns; hills, village, waterfall, ocean; or even just the feeling that the photo gives you.

This is my card:

Isn't the little A+ Bug so cute? The minute I saw him, I fell in love!

I paper-pieced the image and did a little colouring with Inktense pencils. I also coloured his dots black using a Copic multiliner. The patterned paper at the side is a retired one from Stampin'Up! My card base is PTI white. Sentiment is Hero Arts stamped in Tuxedo Black.

Now, I happen to know that the rest of the team have done an amazing job with this inspiration and the Fresh Brewed Designs images, so please do go and take a look at their work also!

Debbie

Debby
Rudlis
Karen

Rochelle

Sara

Steph
Sylvia

Vicki

Thanks for stopping by! I can't wait to see what you come up with in YOUR entry to FYI this challenge. :-)

Michelle
xxx

For Your Inspiration #28

Hello!

It's time for another challenge over at For Your Inspiration! Yay! Steph's chosen another super photo to get your creativity flowing. Take a look.

I chose to use the colours as my basic inspiration, but you also have that amazing sky and the grass fields, and I could go on...

This is my card.

At this point, I will admit that the purple layer was originally supposed to be on the bottom, to mirror the photo. But, in the effort to get my letters to line up and lay on the card correctly for die-cutting, I forgot about the orientation of the card, LOL! I was quite happy with how it turned out, so I have left it that way. :-)  This card is again inspired by Ange Kelly with the flowers and stripes and negative die-cut.

I used MFT Die-namics for the flowers. I used PTI block alphabet for the sentiment. I used PTI impression plate canvas/linen. Card is SU in crumb cake, perfect plum, lavender lace, apricot appeal, and old olive (I think that's what they are). No stamping at all, that's unusual for me!

Thanks for popping by. Why don't you go and visit the rest of the DT to see what they came up with, too?

Debbie

Debby
Rudlis
Karen

Rochelle

Sara

Steph
Sylvia

Vicki

I hope to see you over at For Your Inspiration soon. :-)

Michelle
xxx