CAS(E) This Sketch 212 - Green Birthday

Hello!

Another week has whizzed by and it is time for the new CAS(E) This Sketch Challenge!

I created a little greenery on a green trellis for this card. Stamping the trellis using Square Prints was the usual exploration of allowing myself to be satisfied with imperfection... If I ever align these perfectly, it will be a miracle! ;-) I still love this set, despite the alignment challenges, it's really versatile.

I used PTI Square Prints, Turning a New Leaf, and Happy Birthday sentiment stamps.

This sketch is super cool. I love it! I hope you're inspired to join us this week.

I'm also going to enter over at Curtain Call, where the green inspiration was provided.

Thanks for dropping by!

Michelle
xxx

Papertrey Ink October Blog Hop

Hello!

It's been a while since I took part in a Papertrey Ink Blog Hop, and I thought I had better rectify that right away! :-)  I've used the beautiful inspiration to create a birthday card for my lovely husband who happens to love orange.

I used PTI Turning a New Leaf and Stylish Sentiments: Birthday stamps, PTI Plain Jane paper, and PTI woodgrain texture plate.

I'll link up first thing in the morning (the hop goes live at midnight here, and I'm a bit tired to wait up that late!).

Thank-you for visiting! I can't wait to hop along with everyone.

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 202 - big, bold flower!

Hello!

It's our last week with Shari Carroll as our muse at CASE Study Challenge. I've really enjoyed this month. Shari has such a fabulous style! This week is no exception with a big bold flower on a kraft background. Irresistible!

I didn't venture far from the inspiration with my CASE of Shari's card. I even tried out a square card, which is highly unusual for me (I have an enduring love for 5.5" x 4.25" cards).

I used SU! Regarding Dahlias and PTI Turning a New Leaf stamps.

You can check out the rest of the team by clicking on the links over on the sidebar. We also have our guest designers, Amy Tsuruta and Tenia Nelson, who are definitely worth a visit! :-)

I cannot wait to see the gallery this week. That big flower just makes me smile, and I look forward to seeing more big flowers on display.

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

CASE Study #161

Hello!

Today I'm bringing you my second contribution as Guest Designer over at CASE Study Challenge. Our muse is Elena from Just ME, who is super inspirational! I'm still pinching myself that I get to play along with this awesome team of card artists all month. :-)

Elena's muse card this week is a cutie - a matryoshka doll card with a smaller matryoshka inside! So sweet!

I don't own the stamps that I would like to have used for this inspiration... So I sat down and pondered matryoshka/babushka dolls and what their image conjured in my imagination. I decided it was folk art, so folk art is where I headed with my first card. I will admit that it took a few goes to get the stamping and positioning right on this one. I almost gave up, but I'm glad I persevered!

I used PTI stamps - Stylish Sentiments:Birthday, From Me to You, Rosie Posie, Birds & Blooms, Turning a New Leaf. Colours are SU! Poppy Parade, Gumball Green, Bashful Blue, Calypso Coral, PTI Berry Sorbet, Memento Tuxedo Black.

I was feeling all satisfied with that card when I thought that perhaps I should make a card inspired by my daughter's beautiful matryoshka set... and off I went back to my craft table and came up with the next card.

I used PTI stamps - Stylish Sentiments: Birthday, Rosie Posie, Turning a New Leaf. Colours are SU! Poppy Parade and Basic Black. Embossing is white and gold. I also used a gold paint pen for the dots along the edge, which I had punched using a scallop edge punch.

Thank-you for coming by! What does Elena's gorgeous card inspire you to create? I can't wait to see!

Michelle
xxx

Papertrey Ink September Blog Hop - Take 2

Hello!

My second card for the Papertrey Ink September Blog Hop looks more like an actual wreath. ;-) I had thought I would use Autumn colours, to blend in with my Northern Hemisphere friends, but the reality is that while I am actually in the very beginning of Spring here, it feels like SUMMER. Today was 34 degrees Celsius (approx. 93F). I ended up using Spring colours on this one. Perhaps the positive thinking will work and the hot weather will disappear, maybe. Or maybe we're really in for a stinker of a Summer.

I used PTI Rosie Posie, Turning a New Leaf, Think Big Favorites #16, and Harvest Berries (the smaller dot). Colours are Hero Arts Pale Tomato, Crisp Cantaloupe, Soft Olive, Wet Cement, SU! Soft Suede.

Thanks for visiting me. I'm out of steam tonight, so not much chatter (I'm sure some of you are sighing in relief right now, LOL!).

Michelle
xxx

CASE Study #142

Hello!

And we're back to Monday again!

Over at CASE Study, they still have Maile Belles as our muse. You know I can't resist CASEing Maile! So I made this card.

I used Jane's Doodles Pretty Peonies and PTI Turning a New Leaf and Stylish Sentiments: Birthday. Patterned paper is PTI Hibiscus Burst. Leaves are stamped in SU! Old Olive. 

Case Study #142 brings us this beautiful card.

I think I may have CAS-ified Maile's design! There are foam dimensionals under the flowers. And the centre of the top flower is also popped up. For a basically one-layer card, this has quite a satisfying amount of dimension! Big smile from me. :-)

Thanks for dropping by!

Michelle
xxx

Yay! It's your birthday!

Hello!

Well, maybe it isn't YOUR birthday, but I was having trouble thinking up a header... and it IS someone's birthday, that's why I made this card. ;-)

I used PTI Turning a New Leaf and Stylish Sentiments: Birthday stamps. The flowers are MFT Die-Namics. Colours are PTI Hibiscus Burst PP, and SU! Garden Green and Night of Navy ink.

I made this card for Muse Challenge #12 where Therese Calvird is our Muse this week with this gorgeous card.

I looked, and looked again, and decided that I was not going to do Therese justice if I just copied this card. Therese has already made this one to perfection. I made a stylised version. ;-)

I used the colours from the April CARDS Blog Challenge.

  Today I am spending the day with my real-life stamping friends. Finding a day in school holidays where none of us are working, or busy, is just heavenly. Our kids run rampant, totally ignored by their mothers, and we spend a lot of time chatting, and a little time putting ink to paper. ;-)

Thanks for coming to visit!

Michelle
xxx

Collage Colour

Hello!

Second post for the day. I just made a card for Make It Monday #110, and I didn't want to delay, just in case I miss the deadline! This week the technique is collage elements. At first glance, I didn't think I'd be able to do this technique. My brain has a hard time when too many elements get added all together. It turns out that I can reconcile lots of elements with my CAS-loving brain! Yay!

We have another overcast day here today, and using my light to take the photo has exploded the colour a bit. No amount of editing would bring it back to being quite as pretty as it is in real life (I'm very sad about this, because this card is super pretty). Just imagine that the bright coral is slightly less bright...

I used PTI Stylish Sentiments: Birthday, Text Style II, Strawberry Patch, Heart-2-Heart #10, Turning a New Leaf. Colours are PTI Berry Sorbet, SU! Pretty in Pink, Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede. Dies are PTI H2H#10, and Filigree Border.

I used the colour scheme from ColourQ #183.

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

Retro Sketches #34 - a study in speed stamping

Hello!

What do you do when you have 30 minutes between gymnastics pick up and ballet drop off? Make a card, of course! Well, no sane person would try to do this, take the photo, and then blog it... but I do try to push the boundaries of time-management on a regular basis!

Here is my card for Retro Sketches #34

The deadline is fast approaching and I didn't want to miss out this week like I did last week. :-)

This was the sketch:

Pretty, isn't it?

I used PTI Rosie Posie, Turning a New Leaf, and Pretty Peonies. Colours are Vintage Cream card base, Berry Sorbet, SU! Pure Poppy, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, and Early Espresso.

Thanks for dropping by!

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

Papertrey June Blog Hop Challenge

Hello!

I was sitting here, preparing for an early night to bed, when I remembered (with a little memory jog from my friend Cassie)... it's Papertrey Ink's June Blog Hop day! The timing of the hop meant that I either made a card tonight, or I miss the challenge.  So, off I toddled to my little stamping corner and whipped up a card. :-)

This is the inspiration this month.

Isn't it lovely? I didn't have enough time to make the ruffles this picture evoked for me, so I focused on that floral and leaf patterned cushion and the greenish/blue and yellow colour scheme. What colour is that green, anyway? Please, someone tell me it's name, I can't think of it. It's not really aqua (which is what I used), it's not really green, it's not teal, not really verdigris (is it?). I'm going to be dreaming bluey-green all night, LOL!

Here is my card.

I used Rosie Posie, Pretty Peonies, and Turning a New Leaf and stamped like crazy in SU! Pool Party and Daffodil Delight. My token ruffle comes from the pool party ribbon over a daffodil delight satin ribbon. Oh, I would like to take a moment at this time to thank PTI PROFUSELY for creating a die for that little frame from Pretty Peonies... no more fussy cutting this one for me!

I also had another challenge in mind when I created this card. I just saw over at Moxie Fab World that Cath is back. She's challenged us to make a Thank-You card where stamping is the star of the show for the Stamp It! Cards Thank-You Challenge.  Stamping is definitely star of show on this card. :-)

I'll be back to link this card in the morning when the Blog Hop will be well and truly up and running.

Thanks for dropping by!

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

CAS-ual Thanks

Hello!

The theme over at CAS-ual Fridays challenge 50 is to use trees or flowers in a CAS card. I made a flower wreath.

And at Less Is More challenge 65 we have been provided with a sketch.

I promise that I started with a little circle in my 4.25" square card. But once I stamped it, it looked bigger than I intended! I think it still qualifies, as there is lots of white space and it is a relatively CAS design. :-)

Stamps are PTI Rosie Posie, Turning a New Leaf, and Pretty Peonies. Ink is Stampin'Up! Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Cameo Coral, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Pool Party, and Soft Suede.

Thanks for coming by. I'm off to see if I can come up with another card to share before the afternoon is finished. I'm having a lovely afternoon stamping with my big girl. :-)

Michelle
xxx

Watercolour Butterflies for Tuesday Trigger

Hello!

Before I begin, just a little advice: Not a good idea to have your glass of wine near your computer or keyboard. Keyboards don't work very well (or at all) after they've been doused in wine... just saying! 

I'm now using my husband's ancient, dusty, old keyboard that takes a 100kg of force to press the keys down... but at least I can type, LOL!

So back to regular programming. The Tuesday Trigger this week had me thrilled. This is the beautiful trigger:

Isn't it beautiful?

For my card, I had a play with a few different ideas, and then I decided that I would try to incorporate the dreamy watercolour effect into a more CAS style that is more "me". I'm really happy with this card. I feel like I reflected the trigger but maintained my own style.

The butterflies are watercoloured with Derwent Inktense pencils (Fuschia and Tangerine). I then sprayed them with champagne shimmer mist. I'm not sure you can see that well in these photos.  I used PTI Turning a New Leaf in SU! Certainly Celery to create a little background. The sentiment is a mixture of PTI Pretty Peonies and Think Big Favorites #12, stamped in SU! Soft Suede. The card base is PTI Vintage Cream.

This is a close up of those butterflies. I punched the butterflies (using SU! Butterfly punch) before colouring. I like the way the colour soaked into the edges of the cuts. I used watercolour paper for the butterflies.

Thanks for dropping by!

Michelle

xxx

OLW79, LIM55, and Jay Gee's #16 - Colourful flowers

Hello!

I have told you before how much I love rainbow colours, haven't I? :-)  This months challenge inspiration over at Jay Gee's Nook uses so many bright and happy colours, it's irresistible. As is usual for me, I've been pondering this card for ages. The original concept for the card I've made today came from Amber over at Damask Love. For some reason I can't find the card that inspired me, but if you've seen Ambers cards and calendars, you'll recognise the inspiration (Amber does it so much better than me). The layout and design for the card is a very direct CASE from Michelle at Pigment of My Imagination. When I saw Michelle's card, I knew I just had to bring my ideas to reality, right now! Again, Michelle has done it so well, I'm not sure why I am even considering doing it within the same challenge that her card is in (that would be One Layer Wednesday), LOL! I also made this card for Less Is More Week #55 (theme punches or dies), because it has been too long since I visited and had a play there, and I miss it. :-)

Here is my card:

I had to hold it together so that you could see it more clearly:

And here is the colour inspiration collage from Jay Gee's Nook Challenge #16:

Gorgeous, isn't it?

For my card, I used Stampin' Up! inks in a variety of bright colours. I used PTI Fillable Frames #5. I used PTI Rosie Posie, PTI Turning a New Leaf, and PTI Botanical Silhouettes stamps - 8 stamps in total.

I really like this card. It's exactly what I wanted to create. I just love it when a card turns out as I imagined. 

Thanks for visiting. I love having visitors, and hearing what you have to say. :-)

Michelle

xxx

For Your Inspiration #24 - Green!

Hello!

It's For Your Inspiration Challenge 24, and the inspiration photo this week has allowed me to totally go to town with GREEN. I really like green. :-)

This is the inspiration photo:

I love weeping willows.

This photo reminds me of the Avon River in Christchurch, New Zealand. Christchurch is one of the prettiest cities I've been to, and I have been saddened by the impact the earthquakes have had on such a beautiful city, especially its people.

Here is a picture I found to show you of the Avon, Christchurch.

Photo Credit

Here is my card. The zig zag pattern reminded me of water flowing, and I wanted to add some leaves to reflect that beautiful willow just a little. And of course, I've used about four different greens in creating this card. I've added the bling for the sparkle of the water.

I used Hero Arts Zig Zag and Say It All, PTI Turning a New Leaf, PTI buttons, Stampin' Up Ribbon (certainly celery), SU! green inks (certainly celery, old olive, green galore, gable green) and Memento Tuxedo Black. The die is PTI Fillable Frames #10.

At this point I would like to welcome our newest Design Team members - Irena, Karen, and Sylvia - three wonderfully talented ladies.  Why don't you pay them a visit along with the rest of the DT?

Debbie

Debby
Irena
Karen

Rochelle

Sara

Steph
Sylvia

Vicki

Thank-you so much for stopping by. I hope to see your cards over at FYI very soon!

Michelle
xxx

Clean and Simple Day 2, Part 2 with OLW74

Hello!

When I saw One Layer Wednesday this week, I decided to try to wake up my mojo and make another card for Clean and Simple Card Classes, Day 2. I made another stack of one-layer cards and this one is the very best of that bunch. Sigh!

Here is the card:

This card has potential. I need to reposition the elements at the very least! As it is, my kids like it, and they will use it, yay!

I used PTI Turning a New Leaf, and SU! Wonderful Favourites. Colours are Real Red and Pixie Pink.

I'm actually a bit embarrassed to share this one, but someone recently commented on her blog how nobody ever shows the less-than-perfect cards. So this post is for her, and you never know, someone else (a lot less critical than me) might like it, or it might inspire someone to make a better version, and that would make me happy. :-)

Michelle
xxx

New Challenge - Runway Inspired Challenge

Hello!

I am very excited about this new challenge. Runway Inspired Challenge has been started by Jennifer Rzasa, who has brought together some of my most favourite card designers in the whole wide world. Seriously, they are ALL my muses and I aspire to one day create something nearing their level of creativity!  If you haven't taken a look at this challenge yet, head on over and join in on this first one!

To cap off my excitement, the very first inspiration photo uses my very favourite colour, YELLOW. I love, love, love yellow.  Here is the photo:

As soon as I saw this photo, an idea formed in my head, and it has stayed there until I found a tiny slice of time available this morning to put it onto card.

This is my card:

I can't tell you how much I like this card (I might even have trouble giving it away, LOL). Yellow and cream together. YUM. It's raining here this morning, so the light isn't so great, so my yellow looks a bit golder and darker than it really is. It's close enough.

I used PTI Vintage Cream, SU! Daffodil Delight, Sentiment is Curly Cute stamped in SU! Early Espresso, Images are PTI Turning a New Leaf, Dies are PTI - Mat Stack #4 and Fillable Frames #10 (I think).

Thanks for coming by to look at my card. Please leave me a comment letting me know what you think of my card, and to let me know you were here, and I'll come and visit you back sometime soon.

Michelle
xxx

Leaves and Christmas

Hello!

I am excited. My September Papertrey Ink order arrived after travelling to Brazil on its way to Australia. 7 weeks is a really LONG time to wait when you ordered Christmas stamps to make your cards this year!  I hope my next order doesn't take quite so long to get here...

I think Mandi and Chrissie KNEW that I had ordered lots of LEAVES and would want to try them out, because that is the theme they chose for one-layer week at Less is More Challenge #41.  Woo hoo!

I have a few things to share. Two cards are one-layer cards with leaves.

First card:

I used:
Stamps: Think Big Favorites #8, Turning a New Leaf, Harvest Berries
Ink: SU! Certainly Celery, Ruby Red, Early Espresso
Card: PTI White

Next card:

I made this card for my daughter's classroom teacher, to match the present I made her. The colours used are the same as the above card, I used Vintage Cream Card instead of white. The sentiment is from Stylish Sentiments: Holiday (I am loving this set). The leaves are Harvest Berries.

The present to match is a note book (A5 size), which I created a new front cover for:

The notebook has a hard frosted plastic cover (which I opened to take the photo). The pages inside are beautiful thick unlined paper. All stamps used here are Harvest Berries. The same colours again as above - Certainly Celery, Ruby Red, Early Espresso.

And the last card I have to show you is the card I have made for my daughter's music teachers (I made three of the same card):

I love this card. Really LOVE it. The papers are SU! Mocha Morning, and KaiserCraft Sheet Music. The stamps are Stylish Sentiments: Holiday and Tag-Its #8. The Ink is Early Espresso, Soft Suede, and Crumb Cake.

This week-end has been stunningly beautiful here in Brisbane. We've had the first hit of Summer weather this week. The temperature has been very (stinking) hot at times. This means that our family, between school swimming carnival and solo violin concert, have spent most the the last few days in the swimming pool. I'm lucky I got any card-making done at all!

I hope you enjoyed your visit. Thanks to everyone who gave me advice for my Big Shot from my previous post. I appreciate your guidance, and I'm putting it to use. Some time soon you'll see the first projects using dies, embossing folders, and impression plates.

Michelle
xxx