CAS(E) This Sketch 227

Hello!

This week has been a challenge. I have a cold that has me feeling like I've been hit by a truck. My washing machine stopped working in the middle of a load, full of water, and towels. And I'm so, so tired! But there is good news! My youngest daughter started holidays and spent three days this week going to Code Camp where she created her own computer game app. She loved it! We've had a quiet week together while hubby is traveling for work and big sister is still at camp, which has been lovely despite my illness. The washing machine repair man came and worked his magic. And this week-end we get to pick up my big girl after five weeks of camp! Yay!

I'm here with my card for this week's CAS(E) This Sketch Challenge.

I used Stampin' Up! Organic Grace stamps (retired) to create this card. I masked, stamped, and sponged before stamping the butterfly and sentiment.

Another very cool sketch from N@ Ali. :-)

I hope you can come and join us in the fun this week!

Thanks for visiting me!

Michelle
xxx

CAS(E) This Sketch 97

Hello!

My card for CAS(E) This Sketch this week almost made itself. I had half an idea in my head, I went digging through my old stamps, and then I did a little masking and sponging and stamping et voila! There it was, ready to go.

I created the background using sponged Distress Inks - Mustard Seed, Crushed Olive, Walnut Stain - and SU! Gorgeous Grunge stamped in Crumb Cake. The images are stamped in SU! Early Espresso. I think the stamps are SU! Organic Grace... and I'm not sure! I'm pretty sure all the images are retired (except Gorgeous Grunge). The sentiment is wPlus9.

Isn't this a fantastic sketch?! I love it!

Anyway, it is bedtime, and I'm about to fall asleep in my chair. I'd better race off to bed!

See you in the gallery! Thanks for visiting!

Michelle
xxx

Insider - Day 1

Hello!

Online Card Classes are running Insider at the moment. I'm so behind in class, but looking forward to finding time to really sit down and work on the ideas. The ideas are fantastic! My time is limited. :-(

For the first day, there were a number of watercolouring ideas shared by Jennifer McGuire. I watched the videos intently. I took my (11yo) daughter to the rumpus room to give her a lesson on watercolouring with distress inks (since the Distress Inks are actually hers). I did practice on watercolour paper, but then I was working in my art journal (on this gorgeous little fox), and decided to just make a one-layer card. This is it.

Stamps are PTI Hello Foxy. Colours are SU! Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green, and Delicata Gold.

The inside looks like this:

It's simple, but pretty. My photography at night time leaves a lot to be desired.

My daughter is in love with this card, so I'm thinking I may make a version of it for her birthday next week-end. ;-)

My other watercolouring practice, with Distress Inks on watercolour paper, included this:

I will have to work on how I can incorporate these types of images into my cards.

Thanks for dropping by.

Michelle
xxx

Clean and Simple Card Making 2 - Day 4

Hello!

Again today at Clean & Simple Card Making 2, the inspiration was overwhelming! I'm still working on Day 4, and hopefully I'll come up with something amazing to share. This is where I am up to so far. :-)

One card, by Kristina, was a variation on the chalkboard theme - clean and simple chalkboard (no dust and no blurs, and lots of black space. Here is my version.

I used my current favourite baby stamp set, Mama Elephant Nursery Deco. I white embossed the stamped images, and drew the white frame using my gel pen.

My other cards are the best of a big batch. Some of my cards today actually ended up in the rubbish bin, and if you know me and my "don't waste anything" mentality, this is a sign that this technique was beyond me today! LOL! Anyway, here are two that were partially salvaged. I have to go back and do this again. The technique was demonstrated by Julie Ebersole and she is one of my cardmaking heroes. Julie makes it look so easy, and yet it WASN'T (for me).

I used Stampin' Up! Organic Grace, All A Flutter, and Because I Care (all retired).

Thanks for coming by to visit!

Michelle
xxx

Less is More 61

Hello!

First up, I want to confess... I have crafter's block. It may seem that someone who has crafter's block should NOT be posting two cards, but I'm working on the theory that if I just keep on making cards, eventually my mojo will return...maybe!

The worst thing is, this inspiration from Less Is More this week for Challenge 61 is a Design Seeds colour palette, and I was totally in love with it the minute I saw it. Here is the inspiration:

Yummo! Pale pink gerberas. I just love gerberas. And I love pale pink.

Well, onto my card.

I used Stampin'Up! Organic Grace and PTI Think Big Favorites #12. Colours are certainly celery, pretty in pink, pale plum, and old olive. Lots of masking, a little bit of bling and a little bit of twine to finish it off.

Thanks for stopping by.

Michelle
xxx

Fanatical about Botanical

Hello!

Well, the title is the theme of the challenge over at Moxie Fab World - Fanatical About Botanical, but it is true of me also! I love botanical images.  I am also known to take photographs of random things in nature when I'm out supposedly taking photos of my family at play. . . grass, flowers, leaves, clouds, Oh, and there's a kid!

I've been mulling over this challenge for a while, wondering how I would construct it. Then last night I was sitting staring aimlessly into space when I realised that my half-formed concept actually worked well with this week's Just Add Ink Sketch Challenge. The sketch for Just Add Ink #77 is:

So this morning I set to work, and this is what I came up with:

Should I admit that there a couple of design errors that I'm unhappy about???  Probably not. . . so I won't tell you specifically what I'm unhappy about, LOL.  There are also plenty of elements in this card that I'm super happy with.

What I used (all Stampin' Up! except sentiment):
Stamps: Organic Grace, Because I Care, All A Flutter; PTI - Botanical Silhouettes sentiment
Ink: Pretty In Pink, Cameo Coral, Ruby Red, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Barely Banana, Crumb Cake
Card: Crumb Cake, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Ribbon: Certainly Celery Grosgrain

So what do you think?

Thanks for stopping by, I love having visitors.

Michelle
xxx

JAI75 meets LIM week 23

Hello!

First of all, WELCOME to my new followers, it is lovely to see you there.  Even though Blogger doesn't always let me see my list, I will eventually come visiting you all when it does.

Well, I'm having trouble today.  My ideas won't translate to card.  So many rejects sitting on the "what do I do with this?" pile. Argh!  I think it might have something to do with the fact that it is an absolutely beautiful day out there. You wouldn't know it is the middle of Winter - I'm in a t-shirt and feeling very warm! I spent so much time enjoying the outdoors, I'm having trouble sitting indoors for the moment, LOL! While I'm still coming up with some brilliant birthday card ideas to be made later (positive thinking), I thought I'd share what I've managed to produce so far today.

Just Add Ink 75 is a Colour Challenge with these lovely colours:

Less Is More week 23 is One Layer Week with the theme "Something With Legs".  My dragonflies have legs, you just can't see them, I promise.

Stamp Sets: Because I Care, Organic Grace, Curly Cute
Cardstock is Very Vanilla and I have drawn the frame with black pen

So what do you think?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Michelle
xxx

Gratitude

Hello!

Second post of the day, and I dedicate this post to GRATITUDE.  My points of gratitude are not in any order of importance, just as I have thought of them.

1. This post is a submission for One Layer Wednesday #60, which is over on Simplicity this week.  Which is my first area of gratitude.  Susan Raihala over at Simplicity continues to inspire me with her creations.  And she shares so much with the rest of us.  I truly love reading her posts and seeing what she has come up with each time she shares.  As well as telling me all about design, colour, texture, simplicity . . . she also shares little tidbits from her life, and I love that too!

2. I am grateful for all my visitors who take the time to look at my creations and then take more of their valuable time to give me some feedback via a comment. Thank-you all!

3. I am grateful for my followers. That you have placed me on your list of people you like to receive regular updates from is humbling.  Each new person who shows up brings me a smile and amazes me all over again that you would want to see what I have created or perhaps hear what I have to say.

4. I am grateful for my real-life stamping friends, Manda and Cassie, who both inspire me constantly with their creativity and their generosity.  About three years ago, Manda introduced me to Stampin' Up! products via a workshop.  Along with an instant addiction to all things paper and stamping, I also gained some wonderful friendships, and then a further addiction to blogging!

5. I am grateful for all those talented artists out there in blog-land who share their ideas and creations with me via their blogs.  I am constantly amazed at the beauty of all that creative work out there.

6. I have so many other things in my life that I am grateful for, but since this post is about stamping, I'll restrict myself to the theme of stamping in my items of gratitude. . . for today. . . LOL.  I just thought of more stamping-related things to be thankful for. . . I think I could go all day!

So on to my entry. . . Susan REALLY inspired me this week.  The rules: Make a card that layers ink. USE ONLY STAMPED IMAGES AND/OR SENTIMENTS. No masking, no sponging, no embellishments of any kind!

Wow! Seriously?  So off I went to experiment with this "quick and easy" style. . . and discovered that quick and easy is exciting!  I couldn't stop.  Added to the excitement of quick and easy was my new stamp set (thank-you Cassie!) from PTI - Botanical Silhouettes, awesome! The only thing that stopped me was that I had an appointment to get to. But I think I might get back to it tonight for some more fun!
My challenge entry is this one, mainly because it has more layering in the stamping (and here I say thank-you again to Manda who enlightened me recently about using acrylic blocks by themselves to stamp, I love the effect).

Colours used: Barely Banana, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Certainly Celery

And now for my other work from today, this was my first one (colours Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst, Night of Navy):

Then came this one (using SU Organic Grace, and colours Daffodil Delight, Certainly Celery, Creamy Caramel, and Chocolate Chip):

And my other one (using Ruby Red, Certainly Celery, and Chocolate Chip):

While I was working on the first card, my 8 year old daughter was working alongside me.  The whole reason we pulled out the stamps was to make Grandma a ThankYou card.  She asked me to share her card here with mine, so here is her lovley effort:

She's pretty clever, isn't she?

So what do you think of my flurry of one-layer cards?  Isn't Botanical Silhouettes an awesome stamp set?  I'm in love. I'll be heading over to PTI to order more of their fabulous sets sometime in the near future. So easy to use and gorgeous images.

See you again soon!

Michelle
xxx

Framed One Layer

Hello!

I'm so excited to be back stamping!  I've had a few weeks off as a result of getting a cough that turned into bronchitis.  You'd think all those sick days at home would be a blessing in disguise (more stamping time), but the tyranny of illness is that I just didn't have the energy for much other than being still in between coughing fits.  So frustrating!

Today I wandered off to the craft show, where I didn't buy much other than tape and spritzer bottles, but I did pick up some fresh inspiration.  I returned home hoping that my family would bless me with another hour or two to myself, and they did ... without my even asking!!

The challenge I chose to work on this afternoon was the new Less Is More challenge.  Week 19 is One Layer Week and the theme is In The Frame.  You saw my first efforts at one layer cards a few weeks ago, and today I gave them another go.  I made three cards: One I quite like, one I'm still thinking about, and one that didn't work.  I'll show you them all.

The first is my challenge entry:

With this card I got a bit adventurous (for me) and made an embossed frame around my sponged image. Surprisingly, first go and I managed to get the lines to meet correctly at the corners. :-)   What I used here was White cardstock, ink colours were More Mustard, Really Rust, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, the stampset is one of my favourites, Trendy Trees.  I like the simplicity of this card, it soothes me.

The second card was the first I made, and I do like it, but I feel like it is missing something.

What I used here was White cardstock, ink colours were More Mustard, Really Rust, Old Olive.  Stampsets were Curly Cute and Organic Grace.  Curly Cute is brand new for me, and I predict I'll be using these sentiments regularly for a while!  Organic Grace I have had for a while and I have made some lovely cards with it, but it seems that I never shared those on this blog.  What an oversight, I'll have to make some more and show you!

The third card didn't work at all.  This card is for one of my little girl's friends at kindy.  She thinks it's lovely and she thinks her friend will like it too, so that is all that matters really . . . but I'm going to have to have another go at the idea in my head to see if I can make the necessary improvements to make it work as it should!

Cardstock is Very Vanilla. Ink colours are Summer Sun, More Mustard, Close to Cocoa, Garden Green, Not Quite Navy, and Chocolate Chip.  The stampset is Fox and Friends (which always makes me smile).

So there you have it. After a card drought of a few weeks, I have managed to put together three in one go.

So what do you think? Which is your favourite?

Michelle
xxx