Runway Inspired 89

Hello!

It's such a pretty dress on Runway Inspired Challenge this week! My card doesn't do the dress justice, at all!

The dress is a very graphic CAS design, so I made a graphic CAS card. Simple stripes. I tried to capture the tulle layer with my vellum at the top of the card.

I've had such a busy time at work over the past few weeks. I'm feeling quite worn out. A little crafting revives me. Oh, how I wish I had whole days to devote to making cards. Perhaps I need to take a holiday to achieve just that? ;-)

Thank you for dropping by!

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

Graphic and Flowers

Hello!

I love the mix of a graphic pattern with flowers. I love the contrast of the sharp lines against the curves of nature. This week's collaboration between Runway Inspired Challenge and CAS(E) This Sketch provides me the opportunity to play in this way.

I used PTI Square Prints and Pretty Peonies. The sentiment is wPlus9 Strictly Sentiments II.

It took me a while to work out how I was going to reflect this inspiration. All the design team members have done such beautiful work already and I didn't want to just make a card "just like theirs". I think I've managed to make something a little different, but still close enough to the inspiration. What do you think?

We have the most beautiful Easter week-end here. The sun is shining. It is still a bit too hot during the days, but we are finally getting some lovely Autumn nights. I look forward to the night temperatures dropping just a bit more so that I can really enjoy my doona without having to leave a foot or leg outside. ;-)

Thanks for coming by to visit!  Happy Easter everyone!

Michelle
xxx

Runway Inspired #57 - a little bit of modern art

Hello!

If you've been hanging around here for a while, you'll know how much I love Runway Inspired Challenge. You'll also know that I haven't entered very much lately. The inspiration is constant, but RIC really stretches me, and it takes some time for my ideas to come to fruition. Most of the time I miss the deadline! But not this time, I have almost a whole day before the deadline, yay!!

The inspiration this week took me in a whole new direction in card design. I really enjoyed the journey. This is what I love about RIC - I try so many new ideas out! :-) This is what I came up with.

I used PTI Doodlie-Do, Building Blocks, and Square Prints stamps. Inks are a mix of SU! and Memento Luxe.

And this was the inspiration. What a cute dress. I think I would like this dress in my wardrobe, gorgeous shape, and quirky pattern. :-)  I'm not sure I can pull of the short hemline these days, but you never know...  This dress had me wishing I had a pigeon stamp. On the topic of pigeons, who puts a pigeon on a dress??? So unexpected, and so much fun!

Today I went for a lymphatic drainage massage. I'm still battling my sinus infection. My massage was AWESOME. I'm hoping it has a positive impact on my health, quickly. I'm falling further and further behind at work, and I know how much is waiting for me when I am back up to speed, sigh!

Thanks for stopping by to visit!

Michelle
xxx

Runway Inspired Watercolour

Hello!

As promised, I'm back with some new cards. I have made two cards for Runway Inspired Challenge #52 where the inspiration is a gorgeous dress by Dennis Basso.

The dress made me think of watercolours. The first card I made was directly inspired by the splashes of pastels. This was a bit of an experiment. I quite like the effect of the black and white with splashes of colour.

Stamps are Janes Doodles Pretty Peonies and Simon Says Stamp Sketchy Banners. Colours are Distress Ink Worn Lipstick, Mustard Seed, Tumbled Glass, and Memento Tuxedo Black.

The inspiration is this gorgeous floaty dress. I would defnitely wear this dress myself, so pretty!

I then moved away from the direct inspiration to make my next card, which uses the same colours, but on watercolour paper and with much more saturation. The stamp set is PTI Meadow Greens.

This card was made for the rescuers of Coco. On that note, here is my Coco, with an extra 1.3kg added over the past 9 days. I think we can slow down the feeding now and work on building her muscle back up again. ;-)  Her back legs are half the size they were, but they'll come back with some exercise.

 Thanks for visiting.

Michelle
xxx

Runway Inspired #45

Hello!

I'm sneaking in with a last minute entry to Runway Inspired Challenge #45. I have some new Memento Luxe inks, and I wanted to try them out for their colour, and I remembered the colourful stripes on the Tanya Taylor dress at RIC. So here I am!

I used Mama Elephant Basic Borders and Simon Says Stamp Sketchy Banners (sentiment). Colours are Memento Tuxedo Black, Memento Luxe - Nautical Blue, Lilac Posies, Rose Bud, Morocco, Dandelion.

The stripes are a bit hard on the eyes if you look at them too long, LOL!

The inspiration was this dress.

I've been busy at work this week, and I am about exhausted, so my chatter is a bit limited... maybe on the week-end I'll chirp up again. ;-)

Thanks for coming to visit me!

Michelle
xxx

RIC#43 and MUSE#33

Hello!

It has been so long since I sat down to play along with Runway Inspired Challenge and Muse! These are two of my favourite challenges, and my busy life has interfered with my playtime! But, when I saw the RIC Inspiration photo I was determined I would not miss this week. Since crafting has been a bit slow around here, I needed a little extra inspiration to get me started... and then I saw Laurie's card at Muse. Laurie provides me guaranteed inspiration in every single card she makes. :-)

So my card is Laurie's design wrapped up in Lela Rose Resort fashion!

I used Mama Elephant Basic Borders to stamp the plaid. Sentiment is from PTI Stylish Sentiments: Birthday. Card is SU! yellow (Sunshine? It's retired), Basic Black, PTI Soft Stone. Sequins are from Avery Elle. Ink is Memento Tuxedo Black.

Laurie's card for Muse #33

Runway Inspired Challenge #43 inspiration.

I made this card after bedtime last night, and I'm blogging instead of preparing the kids for school and me for work, so I'd better get back to it. Sneaking crafting and blogging time is tricky, LOL!

Thanks for visiting! I apologise for my slow commenting. I do visit as often as I can, but comments are often beyond my time constraints.

Michelle
xxx

Retro Baby Shower

Hello!

Just a quick one tonight. I still have a million things to do to get the kids ready for school tomorrow and me ready for work!

I didn't want to miss Aga's baby shower over at Runway Inspired Challenge to welcome baby Helena! Aga is one of my card heroines, her style is just awesome! I tried to make a card that reflected Aga's style (although I will never come close to her skill, I'm sure!). Sorry for the lighting in the photo, that's my night time photography combined with shiny elements that didn't want to shine, wah!

I used PTI Fine Linen card and patterned paper, and SU! Soft Suede and Very Vanilla. I gold embossed Mama Elephant Nursery Deco bear and sentiment, and used Delicata Gold to stamp the background. (The golds match better in real life).

I took the layout from Retro Sketches #62

The inspiration for the card came from this gorgeous bub.

Thanks for coming by to visit!

Michelle
xxx

Runway Inspired #34

Hello,

I'm here to share a card for Runway Inspired Challenge #34.

I used Simon Says Stamp Flower Friend, PTI Sentiment Signs. Ink is Memento Tuxedo Black. 

I wanted to mimic the flow of the flowers up the side of the dress and also the stark black and white. At the same time, I couldn't miss the model's bright red lips, so I added a little bit of red bling.

Here is the inspiration.

I wanted to add some words regarding the bombing in Boston, but everything I write doesn't sound right. Suffice to say that I am horrified at the people who would choose to target innocent bystanders when making their "stand" against whatever they are against (an nothing is worth this). Intolerance breeds intolerance, hate breeds hate, and this is not how I want the world to be for my children. My heartfelt sympathies to the friends and families affected by the bombing, and to the people of Boston.

Michelle
xxx

Runway Inspired #33

Hello!

When I saw the inspiration photo at Runway Inspired Challenge #33, I decided that I not only wanted to capture the outfit, but also the gorgeous watercoloured background. It took me a while to come up with something... part of my difficulty in responding to RIC, and why I'm always entering my card at the last minute, is that the DT tends to make such amazing creations that it takes me a while to come up with something suitably different, LOL! This is what I came up with.

I used Hero Arts Large Flower Background and PTI Birds and Blooms (sentiment) stamps. The background is stamped in PTI Soft Stone and watercoloured using a water pen and SU! Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, and Bashful blue. The yellow is SU! Daffodil Delight.

To be honest, I almost didn't want to put anything over that card base once I was through colouring it. It is so soft and pretty! I love that background stamp. That little black heart is a wink to the model's hair ribbon.

This was the inspiration.

I would love that outfit for myself if the skirt was a little longer (I've never figured out how women sit down modestly when their skirt is this short). I'd probably not wear the knee high stockings. ;-)

Thanks for coming to visit!

Michelle
xxx

Runway Inspired #32

Hello!

I'm bringing you a card that was a bit of an experiment in colour, shine, and glitter.

This card was made in response to Runway Inspired Challenge #32 where this outfit was the inspiration. I think I need to add this jumper to my wardrobe, it would probably be a great conversation starter. :-)

 

I was struck by that question mark and the shiny red skirt. I immediately thought of embossing black on black and a red shiny ribbon. The only problem with that was that I don't own any red satin ribbon, LOL! And black on black wasn't quite the look I had in my head.  Sooo, what did I do? I embossed clear "psychedelic" glitter onto black (which happens to be almost impossible to photograph). I embossed red glitter onto the red panel - shiny and sparkley all at the same time (and also impossible to photograph, argh!).  To finish off I added some black rhinestones to the flowers. The stamps are Simon Says Stamp Flower Friend. The dies are PTI Mat Stack #6.

Thanks for coming to visit.

Michelle
xxx

Hello!

Hello!

I've made a card for another three challenges today. I also made a batch of berry muffins, but that is another story, LOL!

This is my card.

I used Mama Elephant Basic Borders stamps. PTI Wonderful Words: Hello die. Cardstock is SU! Daffodil Delight, Pretty in Pink, Basic Black, Whisper White. Ink is Primrose Petals, and Memento Tuxedo Black.

I know that as soon as you've seen this card, you've realised it is responding to Runway Inspired Challenge #31. When I saw this outfit, first I smiled (I love that bright yellow skirt and those taxi shoes), and I knew I needed to make a card.

My layout came from (CAS)E this Sketch #18.

And I added that lovely negative die-cut sentiment in response to the Moxie Fab World Card Creations #11 Emphasise the Negative challenge.

Thanks for coming by to visit! See you again soon!

Michelle
xxx

Designer Strawberries!

Hello!

After I put the kids to bed tonight, I was determined to sneak in a little bit of "me" time before retiring myself. I achieved this, and while I was playing at my craft desk, I tried out a "new to me" technique. I'm a little excited! :-)

I used PTI Strawberry Patch and Strawberry Patch Sentiments. I inked up in PTI Fresh Snow and used SU! pastels. Card base is PTI Fine Linen, Card panel is SU! Night of Navy (night time photography makes it look a bit bluer than it is).

The new technique is a very OLD technique of white pigment ink coloured with pastels (using sponge daubers). I've never, ever tried this, and I was amazed at how well it worked. I sprayed over it with a fixative when I was finished, because I wasn't convinced the pastels would stay put. The fixative brought out the colours beautifully.

This card was made in response to two challenges. The first was Runway Inspired Challenge #30.

When I first saw this picture, I wasn't sure I would be able to come up with anything in response. The colours and designs are bold and dramatic, and not really in a style I usually work in. But I was struck with the creative problem/challenge, of getting bright colours to pop out of navy, so I've been working on this in my head for several days. I'm still working on how to make a card using the graphic yellow and black pattern. ;-)

The other challenge is being run by Lucy Abrams. Lucy has given us four sketches to consider, and I've been wanting to respond since the first one was released, but life has been a bit busy.  The sketch this card is based on is her second sketch.

All four of the sketches are down on my craft desk, waiting for some attention. I'm not sure I'll get to them all, but I'll give it a go. 

Thanks for dropping by!

Michelle

xxx

Runway Inspired Challenge #28

Hello!

I'm doing my usual thing of posting an entry to Runway Inspired Challenge at the very last minute.  I don't like to miss this challenge for a couple of reasons. One is that it always makes me think differently in my approach to cardmaking, and the other is that because it really challenges me, I love it! It may be my favourite challenge blog. ;-)

This is my card.

There is not much stamping there. I stamped the sentiment and heat embossed it in red glitter. The rest is punched out dots layered over three layers - card, vellum, vellum. I was trying to replicate the gauzy/floaty feeling of the dress.

Speaking of the dress, here is the inspiration photo.

Now I'm off to grab some quick groceries, and then to collect my daughter from school. I'll be back later with some more cards.

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx