ColourQ #141

Hello!

I am off to dinner tonight for my friend's and her partner's birthdays. This meant some card-making action was called for. :-)

Here is the card for him.

I used my new PTI chevron die, some stars from Star Prints, and the sentiment from Think Big Sentiments #13. The colours are Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Old Olive (for Lucky Limeade), and Pool Party (because I have NOTHING resembling brocade blue and this is as close as I could get).

The colours are from this week's ColourQ challenge 141.

This is the card for her.

Yep, I received my PTI Strawberry Patch set, yippee! And Strawberry Patch Sentiments! Colours are Poppy Parade, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Tuxedo Black, and Daffodil Delight. I also used Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the flowers. This card in real life is so very pretty. I love it!  This card was made just for the fun of it, no challenge. :-)

Thanks for dropping by!

Michelle
xxx

Buon Compleanno, sorella!

Hello!

Here I am with a second card for today, yay! After this I will have to make some dinner and perhaps start my big move into the rumpus room corner I have been eyeing off. The move off the dining room table is well overdue and I think I've tested my family's patience enough on that score. ;-)

The card I've created here is for my step-sister's birthday, which is tomorrow. She is currently in Italy and her son (my nephew) was baptised yesterday in Florence. I wish I had been there. This card will never make it through the Italian post before she heads back to Australia, so I will give it to her virtually tomorrow and then physically when she comes home. :-)

This is the card. Forgive the wonky photo!

I used my new background stamp - Hero Arts Large Flower Background. I love this stamp. I've been coveting it for months. I finally picked it up at the expo yesterday. Colours are Night of Navy, Real Red, and Whisper White. The frame is PTI Fillable Frames #10. The sentiment is PTI Global Greetings. I used white embossing on the navy card base.

This is for Pals Paper Arts #136, which is a colour challenge.

I couldn't resist when I saw these colours.

and also for CASE Study #94, where Joy Taylor is muse this month! I tell you, there has been a run on some of my favourite card makers lately! Joy is awesome and I'm excited at the chance to CASE her. This is her card.

I used Joy's basic layout, but obviously changed the colours drastically. :-)

Thanks for dropping by!

Michelle
xxx

I'm back!

Hello!

I finally got to sit down today with some of this week's challenges. I'm still intending to go back and play some more. This week I received some new PTI goodies and I also went to the Brisbane Papercraft Expo yesterday and picked up a few nice things there too. :-)

The card I have created today is for three challenges: CAS-ual Fridays, Jay Gee's Nook, and finally I have managed to enter over at A Blog Named Hero.

This is the card I created:

What I used: Hero Arts/Sizzix Bicycle stamps & die set, Hero Arts envelope pattern background stamp, a mix of patterned papers, Memory Box cloud dies. Ink colours are daffodil delight, tempting turquoise, and tuxedo black.

The inspiration from the challenges was:

Use polka dots

Use two or more colours from the A Blog Named Hero logo

 and

Jay Gee's Nook inspiration board 

Back to the Papercraft Expo. Guess who I saw while I was there? (If you have visited my photo blog since yesterday you'll already know the answer.)  This guy:

Yes, that is Tim Holtz in the process of embedding a deep desire for alcohol inks into my brain. He's a lovely guy, and very inspiring. I was so glad to get the chance to stand right there next to him and listen as he talked through the creative process, awesome!

Thanks for dropping by. I'll try to get back later today with more cards.

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

A couple of rejects

Hello!

I made a couple of birthday cards for the most recent Paper Crafts call for submissions. They weren't selected for publication. I also submitted some Christmas cards, but I'll save those rejects for later. :-)

These two cards I made using one of the sketches. I made them pretty much the same, but in different colours. I always struggle choosing colours "appropriate to the season" because in Australia, Christmas is in the middle of summer. And here in Brisbane our Winter isn't that cold, so I think I have creative block when trying to figure out colours for a Winter Christmas season, LOL!

Here they are. I really like them, so I guess rejection isn't so hard in this case. If they'd been picked, I wouldn't be able to use them. ;-)

The first one went with "red and green" for Christmas colours.

 The second one, I used "blue and purple" for cold winter colours.

Colours used are Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Real Red, Poppy Parade, Early Espresso; Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum. Stamps are PTI Rosie Posie and Think Big Favorites #12.

So, what do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts on these ones.

Michelle
xxx

ColourQ 138

Hello!

As soon as I saw the ColourQ colours this week, I knew I had to make a card using them. It is a wonderful colour combo. Take a look:

I would LOVE a pair of shoes like that! (And I'm not a "shoe" person).

The card I made was for a young friend's baptism today. I wanted it to be pretty and special. This is what I came up with.

My eldest daughter was raving about this card even before I finished it. THEN she realised it was the card for her friend and she was jumping with joy. Later today she lamented that the cards we really like, we give away, LOL!

I used PTI Basic White card. SU! ink in Crumb Cake, Pure Poppy, More Mustard, and Pool Party. Stamps are PTI Botanical Silhouettes, Tiny Tags II, and Hero Arts Say It All. The ribbon is Pool Party seam binding. This is the first time I've used seam binding, and I'm hooked. It's so soft and makes a BEAUTIFUL bow. 

Thanks for dropping by!

Michelle
xxx

Edited to add: I'm a colourQ Colour Queen! So excited! Thanks everyone for your lovely messages!

Papertrey May Blog Hop Challenge

Hello!

I almost forgot to post my entry to the May Papertrey Ink Blog Hop! I think I've made it just in time. The card was made, I just forgot the post, silly me!

This was our inspiration:

I had a few more ideas than the one I created, but my limited crafting time in the past two weeks has seriously impacted my ability to make more than one card here and there (sob!). (This is where you chime in and say, "There, there, you poor dear." LOL!)

This is what I came up with.

I made another card the same, in a different colour, in fact, I might show it to you as well. When I made the green one, I wanted to add some bling, but its purpose was to be a bit more unisex, and the older men this was aimed at are not blingy types. So I made a second so I could add the bling! :-)

Both cards are constructed the same. I stamped PTI Rosie Posie, then masked and stamped the Hero Arts Zig Zag and added the Hero Arts Sentiment. I popped up the front panel to add some dimension to what is essentially a one-layer design. Card is PTI Basic White.

Thanks for stopping by!

Michelle
xxx