RIC#8 - last minute entry!

Hello!

I'll edit this post in a sec. It was a true last minute entry and I only had 4 minutes to spare! Phew! I think I made it. :-)

Well, that was exciting! I've been pondering this challenge since it first went up, and somehow I forgot to make my card, LOL! This is for Runway Inspired Challenge #8. This is the lovely inspiration from Alexander McQueen.

I wanted to get the brown of the leaves and the charcoal of the wall in with the black with bright flowers. I didn't want too much white on my card (and this was my challenge, I like white!) While I've been pondering this picture for a couple of weeks, I only left myself 20 minutes to make, photograph, post, and link the entry. Talk about procrastination!!

Here is a closer version of the photo. Not my usual background. Although, my sofa makes a lovely colour background to this card. :-)

I used PTI Rosie Posie, Hero Arts Say It All. The paper is Stampin'Up! Mocha Morning. Card is Early Espresso, Black, and White (all SU!). I white embossed the sentiment.

Thanks for stopping in to visit!

Michelle
xxx

Happy Tulips for Tuesday Trigger

Hello!

Bringing you a card to look at today... surprise! :-)

When I saw the Tuesday Trigger: Happy Happy Joy Joy, I was in love. I had an instant idea. I love it when that happens. Take a look at the inspiration photo.

I love it. The colours, the patterns, the NEATNESS of it. Yum!

Things were looking positive, I stamped out that tulip background and was VERY happy with how it looked. All those gorgeous earthy colours. Then I got stuck... and I sat and stared at it for a while... and I cut a couple of pieces of ribbon... and I die-cut and fussy cut the frames... and sat... and stared... and then I cut that mustard banner... and sat staring at it all... and then I sent up some prayers... because I seriously had crafters block!!!!  Can you tell this was a frustrating process? LOL! Each and every part of this card took long hard work.  When I finished I thought it looked too plain. Then I looked at the photo again and thought maybe it wasn't plain enough? And THEN I decided to just live with it the way it is and call it finished. Phew!

Here is the card again.

Despite the angst, I like it. :-)

I used PTI Think Big Favorites #12, Fillable Frames #10, Flower Fusion #11, SU! inks (daffodil delight, really rust, more mustard, soft suede, crumb cake, pumpkin pie, old olive), ribbon is SU! taffeta. Card is SU! early espresso, and the panel is white. That little button and bow is tied onto my ribbon with a piece of twine (this allowed me to fiddle with the placement before sticking everything down).

Before I go, I wanted to say a big thank-you to Lisa from I'm in Haven for nominating me for the Liebster Blog Award.  I did receive and forward this award a little while ago, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to thank Lisa and to offer you the opportunity to go and check out her awesome work. In fact I am not sure why I didn't nominate Lisa myself, perhaps I thought she had over 200 followers? I'm surprised she doesn't! Lisa is one of my favourite card makers and she is a totally inspirational woman way beyond her cards. Please make a little time to pay her a visit and let her know I sent you. :-)

Thanks for coming to visit today.

Michelle
xxx

Easter is coming!

Hello!

I actually published this over at my photo blog but I thought it was a little bit crafty, so I would share it here as well.

Today I am showing a tiny bit of "super-Mummy" powers.

First I will disclose that while I make cards, I am not a particularly crafty Mum, and my kids don't get to take cool gifts to school at Valentines or Christmas, etc. Usually I don't do anything at Easter either, because I'm a bit of a grouch and don't like my kids eating too much junk food and SO MANY kids give SO MUCH chocolate at Easter time! I can honestly say that each year we often still have Easter chocolate left over as Christmas approaches because we end up with so much given to us all. Crazy! Oh, I should also tell you, I'm not one of those women who swoon over chocolate. I can totally enjoy eating one box of chocolates over a period of months. Yes, I'm strange, LOL! Put a block of cheese in front of me with some crackers, and it is a very different story...

Back to Easter. Tomorrow is the last day of school before Easter break. I realised this tonight. And I remembered that I'd seen some cute Easter Egg Butterflies that I told my daughter I might make. She took this to mean that I would make them (and if she thinks I will, then I must). This is what I saw:

I don't have the right punches for this. Or the time and patience to make those cute antennae. So I took a short cut, and this is what I came up with:

They're little butterflies sitting on scallop circle flowers. :-)

They're colourful, aren't they?

I'm pretty sure I'll be my daughter's hero for at least five minutes tomorrow morning.

:-)
Michelle

Papertrey March Blog Hop Challenge

Hello!

I think this is the first time that I have managed to organise myself at the right time to participate in a Papertrey Ink Blog Hop. A bit of a miracle. All I need to do now is to remember to link it up in the morning (when it is past 10am US EST). :-)

The inspiration is this:

All of that happy yellow and a touch of aqua. Lovely!

Here is my card:

I used PTI Rosie Posie, Think Big Favorites #12, Mat Stack #1 and Layers Mat Stack #1. I used a Sizzix Stripes embossing folder and covered it in yellow ink before embossing to created the yellow stripes. Colours are SU! Daffodil Delight, Barely Banana (retired), Pool Party, and Soft Suede. I used PTI white card.

I really love those yellow stripes. :-)

Thanks for coming by to visit!

Michelle

xxx

Butterfly birthday

Hello!

Today I am combining two challenges - Gayatri's Inspired by Pinterest and CASE Study #83.

I follow Gayatri on Pinterest (as well as here in blogland), and her pins are always inspiring. I don't know how she managed to choose just one image for this challenge, LOL! This is the image.

I love butterflies, don't you?

At CASE Study this week, the muse is still Laura Bassen (yay!), with this lovely card.

I love the layout. I love the simplicity.

By the time I finished my card, it wasn't as simple as I had planned, but I still like it. :-)

I used PTI Background Basics: Circles and Pretty Peonies. The colours are SU! poppy parade, pretty in pink, and soft suede. Card is PTI white (the card) and SU! white (the front panels).

Thanks for stopping by to visit. I hope you like the card. :-)

Michelle
xxx

Simple Spring Elegance - Tuesday Trigger and Jay Gee's Nook Challenge

Hello!

Once again I have been pondering the current Jay Gee's Nook Challenge for a long time. It is Easter themed - bunnies and eggs. BUT, it also has lots of pretty pastels and I was thinking pastels and kraft and "Spring" even though we are in Autumn for Easter at this end of the world. This is the photo inspiration.

I thought about borrowing some bunny and egg stamps, or borrowing any of the gorgeous silhouette stamps that are out there at the moment, but then I decided to fall back to my Spring theme when I saw the Tuesday Trigger: Simple Elegance this week. Here it is:

Yummo! I could LIVE in that room. This room appeals to me through and through. See that vase of tulips on the table, and that lovely pale pink rug? All that brown and beige and cream, a touch of white and a touch of pink. PERFECT.

This is my card:

The card base is SU! early espresso, the cream panel is PTI vintage cream. The colours are SU! crumb cake, pretty in pink, certainly celery. Stamps are SU! Bliss (the damask), PTI Think Big Favorites #11 and Flower Fusion #11. (I used a ruled pencil line and a stamp positioner to get that background stamped). Oh, and I used Spellbinders Nestabilities Circles to cut the aperture and circle.

Thanks for stopping by!

Michelle
xxx

CAS-ual Fridays #45 - pastels and black

Hello!

CAS-ual Fridays challenge #45 this week is to use pastels and black. I have to say, I don't think I've ever made a card using pastels and black, and yet all the DT cards were so gorgeous, I had to give it a go myself.

This is my card:

This card was claimed as soon as it was made. It's a hit here at home! That always makes me happy.

The stamps are PTI Think Big Favorites #12 and Tag-Its #10. I used PTI white card, SU! black, almost amethyst (retired), pretty in pink, barely banana (retired).

This card looks very simple, but for me it meant a little bit of maths to figure out just how wide those three stripes had to be, and how much border needed to go around the panel. I adhered the pastel stripes onto a piece of card, and then trimmed the edges to make sure they were all neat. THEN I stuck the whole panel down on the black panel. The black panel is up on foam to give it some depth.

Thank-you to everyone who left me lovely get-well wishes this past week. I had a shocker of a time with that headache and all the rest, and all of your good wishes went a long way to making me feel much better.

Thanks for stopping by!

Michelle
xxx