The Joy of FUSION...

So this fortnights FUSION card took a whole different direction from where it started (exit stage right lol!) I tipped the fabulous FUSION sketch on its side, created the super cute fishtail flag using MME On The Bright Side paper die cut with Paper Smooches fishtail flag die, the rectangle became my Winnie & Walter Joy diecut and the circle is this gorgeous Uniquely Creative Whimsy Bunnies stamps, paper pieced in Echo Park Sweet Day papers. Admittedly I did add my own bunny smile and balloon string to the stamps, before adding this gorgeous sentiment, also from Uniquely Creative Whimsy Bunnies, and inked the edges in Distress Oxide Evergreen Bough.

Hop on over to the FUSION blog for some more super sized inspiration from our fabulous Design Team...

Betty J. - Jeanne Jachna - Jen Mitchell

Karren Johnson - Linda Callahan - Michelle Leone

Michelle Lupton - Michelle Williams - Wanda Cullen

Hope you can join in the fun this fortnight @ FUSION.

Can't wait to see what you create!

P.S. A CAS(E) of Sugar & Spice & all things Patterned Paper...

Super inspired by this weeks CAS(E) this Sketch, and playing along with Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes and Virginia's View Patterned Paper. Created by using Paper Smooches die cut Fishtail Flags, Onesie and Hearts (for pegs), Each heart clothes peg was created by die-cutting 2 hearts and adhering the tops of the two hearts together, then "clipping" them over the onesie. Clothesline stamped with Paper Smooches Pip Squeaks and Little Lady sentiment. As always, I have stamped in brown (Momento Luxe Rich Cocoa) instead of black for my baby card.

I just realised that this is the first time I have used the Hearts and Onesie diecut, and the first inking of Pip Squeaks and Little Lady, so I'm joining in the fun @ the gorgeous Darnell's NBUS Challenge #2 too!

    

Keep It Simple Baby (reminder)

FUSION (reminder)

A Flamingo FUSION...

I don't know why, but when I spied this gorgeous FUSION inspiration photo with all it's shiny pink and reflections of palm trees, the first things I thought of were Florida and flamingos! Combining the sketch and inspiration photo this fortnight, I paper pieced this cute TAWS flamingo, and paired it with the Mama Elephant die cut banner and "feeling tickled (pink!)" sentiment.

How to join in the fun...

1. Play with just the sketch challenge.

2. Play with just the inspiration photo challenge.

3. Or you can create FUSION by combining BOTH challenges into one card.

4. Use the challenge graphic and link back to Fusion in your post.

5. Please read the other considerations on the Our Rules Page before playing along.

Can't wait to see how you will be inspired by this fortnight's FUSION!

The Design Team have some FABULOUS creations to inspire you!

The fabulous Amy Tsura is back on the team!

Betty J - Dannielle Robeson - Deepti 
Jeanne Jachna - Julia Aston - Katie Brooks

Kelly Griglione - Kimberly Wiener - Lynn Mangan

Michelle Folland - Michelle Lupton - Stephanie Severin

Please check the linky for the days left to play with us.

Playing along with Virginia's View Patterned Papers Challenge, 

and a reminder there's still time to play in KIS Baby Challenge too!

Keep It Simple Baby...

I can't wait to see what you create for this fortnights Keep It Simple Baby Card Challenge. 

I created my baby bib shape using two Lil Inkers Stitched Circle dies, inked up this cute Mama Elephant Nursery Deco bear, and Everyday Greetings sentiment in Versamark Watermark ink and heat embossed in Zing Denim. The teddy bear is created using Doodlebug Design Snips and Snails patterned papers

You can catch some more FABULOUS DT Baby Card inspiration over at Keep It Simple.

Also playing along with 

Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember® ‘Stamp-It’ and Blog Hop

A-very Little MUSE...

I loved the simplicity of Gillian's Muse Challenge card this week, but find I tend to go more rather than less, so I took some inspiration from the gorgeous pink colour, baby theme and Lil Inkers stitched border die.  Featuring Avery Elle's Storytime stamps by Heather Campbell, stamped in brown ink for a baby card, with an added swoosh of watercolour to get in the mood for next weeks Online Classes Watercolour for Cardmakers class - and Keep It Simple Watercolour Challenge!

Gillian's Muse Inspiration Card

Playing along with Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes, and
Virginia's View Stitching Challenge too.

Happiness is... DeNami Blog Hop

So glad you can join us for the DeNami Fuzzy Friends Blog Hop! Don't forget to hop along, be inspired and comment to be in the running for your chance at one of TWO $20 DeNami Gift Certificates.

When: You have until March 10, 2014, 11:59 pm PST (March 11th, 6:59pm EST Australia), to leave comments on all the blogs to be eligible for a prize.

Why: To be inspired by fun DeNami Design creations and also the chance to win mini shopping sprees on the DeNami Design website!

Prizes: DeNami Design are giving away $20 gift certificates to TWO people who comment along the hop!

This card features the fabulous DeNami Design Hatching Chickie and Solid Rose Accents, against a watercolour background. Watercolour paper was first stamped with the DeNami Roses in Versamark ink and embossed in white before adding the watercolour stripes to the paper and matching stripes to the wooden sentiment. Hatching Chickie was stamped over a section of the yellow watercolur paper before being fussy cut and colouring her beak.

You should have arrived here from the fabulously talented Dana's blog, and next stop on the hop is the gorgeously creative Deb, so hop to it! If you get lost along the way, just stop by DeNami blog for a full list :)

This was my original card for this hop but somehow it didn't feel fuzzy enough LOL!

But I couldn't resist including it! Created with DeNami Design Rock Band Chickies, 

wooden sentiment covered in silver glitter and music washi tape stripes.

Card 1 playing along with Virginia's View Watercolour Challenge,
CAS(E) this Sketch and CAS on Sunday Colour Me Pretty.
Card 2 playing along with Keep It Simple Stripes (DT) and Clean and Simple sketches.

Dotty for DeNami Blog Hop...

So glad you can join us for the DeNami Polka Dots Blog Hop! Don't forget to hop along, be inspired and comment to be in the running for your chance at one of TWO $20 DeNami Gift Certificates.

The first card features the fabulous DeNami Design Peacock Feathers, stamped and embossed in gold and the second features the super cute DeNami Design Chickie Long Legs and Hatching Chickie.

When: You have until February 10, 2014, 11:59 pm PST (February 11th, 6:59pm EST Australia), to leave comments on all the blogs to be eligible for a prize.

Why: To be inspired by fun DeNami Design creations and also the chance to win mini shopping sprees on the DeNami Design website!

Prizes: DeNami Design are giving away $20 gift certificates to TWO people who comment along the hop!

Card 1 also playing along with this weeks fabulous CASE Study by Danielle Flanders, inspired by the dots, gold and white and translucent elements. I used some Wendy Vecchi Gold Embossing Paste over a polka dot mask to create the background, stamped the two fabulous DeNami Design Peacock Feathers on vellum using Versamark Watermark ink and gold embossing powder, die-cut masking tape shaped strips from white textured tissue paper, and sprayed the wooden Pink Paislee letters with Perfect Pearls Sunflower Sparkle. 

Card 2 also playing along with this fabulous Freshly Made Sketch, this gorgeous Colour Q palette, and Little Red Wagon Love Challenge. Created using papers from MME and Sassafras Lass, Lil Inkers Stitched Square, Love paper clip from Freckled Fawn, and wooden heart from Studio Calico, with this fabulous DeNami Design chickie family, stamped using Chickie Long Legs and Hatching Chickie coloured with Copics. 

 

If you've hopped here from the FABULOUSLY creative Dana Seymour, you're on the right track, and need to head off to visit the FABULOUSLY talented Stacey Schafer next!  If you get lost, don't forget to stop by DeNami Design blog to see the whole list.

This made me smile :)

A FUSION of Inspiration...

 

Sadly you may have read that for now, FUSION is no more! It was an AMAZING team and Challenge to have had the privilege of being part of, and I will miss the Challenge and the FABULOUS Design Team!!! 

So today I created a mini FUSION of my own, with photo inspiration originally for the Lawnscaping Pinterest Inspired Challenge - but my camera wasn't playing nice LOL! - and this fabulous Retro Sketches sketch.  Papers are a mix of Basic Grey (Fusion range - about 8 years old!!), Crate Paper and American Crafts, with Lawn Fawn stamps, Prima wooden frame and Lil Inkers Stitched Rectangles die cut, perfect for playing along with this fortnights Shopping Our Stash Stitching Challenge. Thought I'd play along with Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes too!

Freshly Pinspired Embossing Baby...

Started off playing with this gorgeous Freshly Made Sketch and my Hero Arts New Baby elephant and Baby sentiment to join in the fun at A Blog Named Hero - but somehow a day disappeared this weekend LOL! Lucky for me the CAS on Sunday Oh Baby arrived just in time, so I paired it with this fabulous Pinspired Challenge quilt to create this card.  This gorgeous Fancy Pants Childish check has been my go to paper for baby boys cards - now I'm down to my last scraps of it.  I love that the Lil Inkers Stitched Square mimics the stitching on the elephant and the Craft Concepts Diamond Shadows embossing folder mimics a quilted coverlet, perfect for playing along with Simon Says Stamp Emboss It, and cute buttons perfect for playing along with the Moxie Fab World Handmade Cards Week - General Craft Supplies Challenge, where you can join in the fun too until October 21st!

  

This made me smile...

A Dash across the Lawn...

8 Minutes and 7 seconds later...

with a few of my favourite things...

Die cuts,

Foam tape,

Fussy cutting,

Patterned paper,

Combining Challenges,

Living in the Land Down Under...

So what's a girl to do when Lawnscaping Challenged with using her favourite supplies to create a card?!? Here's what I did!  

First up start the clock for the 10 Minute Craft Dash!  Then adhere a piece of brown Fancy Pants paper to cardstock before stamping this gorgeous Lawn Fawn Critters Down Under roo & kanga, once onto the brown and once onto the teal Childish papers, then fussy cut the images (see the first 10 Minute Tip below on how to save time when fussy cutting). Next up die cut Lawn Fawn Quinn's ABCs - the BEST thing about Lawn Fawn alphabets is that they come with ALL the letters - which means that "baby" was cut in one pass through the machine! Cut the Fancy Pants Childish check paper to size and adhere to the cardstock base. Position and adhere the die cut "baby" and stamp the "welcome" sentiment in Cup O Joe ink (another favourite!) Pop dot the roo & kanga, and stop the clock!

I interpreted the gorgeous overlapping hearts from Lisa's Wanna Sketch as the baby and mama roo - 'cause you can't get much more overlapping hearts than that!

10 Minute Tips...

• When fussy cutting overlapping images, first cut the top layer image edges that overlap (in this case the back of the roos head around to his nose) before adhering to the bottom layer image, then you can cut the common outline (in this case the front of the roos head) with the two pieces already glued together so you only need to cut the outline once.
• Choose a die cut alphabet which has ALL the letters -  the b and the q, the d and the p, the n and the u - which means that you can die cut words such as "baby" in a single pass through the machine!
• I find glue pens are the easiest adhesives to use for smaller fiddly pieces - especially when you are in a rush!
• Grid or check background paper makes aligning stamping & die cuts a breeze! 

Also playing along with Simon Says Stamp Animal Antics!

Retro Cottage Roses Recipe...

I found the perfect sentiment to play along with this weeks Catered Crop Sentiment-al Challenge and City Crafter Cottage Roses & Gingham Challenge, from Practicing Creativity:

ten tiny fingers, ten tiny toes

she's cute as a button,

and sweet as a rose.

...and so a baby card began, with papers from Authentique, and the "Hello Sweet Baby" sentiment, teddy and button heart from WPlus9, matched with this weeks versatile Retro Sketch, and Lil Inkers Stitched Rectangle.  

I always find I stamp my baby cards in brown ink rather than black - it seems more suited to the softness of baby cards - how about you?

Playing along with Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge too

This made me smile...

Cute as a (row of) Button(s)...

When I saw this weeks Freshly Made Sketch I thought it would be a great canvas to use for interpreting this fabulous MUSE Challenge card by Laurie.  I recreated the line of buttons and the textured background from Laurie's MUSE card, using Fancy Pants Park Bench buttons and this Craft Concepts Diamond Shadows embossing folder reminded me of a quilted coverlet.  Joining in the fun at A Blog Named Hero Playing Favourites, using my favourite Hero Arts supply, Hero Arts Cup O' Joe Shadow Ink, together with this cute little stitched Hero Arts baby giraffe.  Added a sentiment from Mama Elephant, atop Lil Inker Designs Stitched Squares and pop dots!

Laurie's fabulous MUSE card

These made me smile...

Check Out This FUSION Baby...

LOVED seeing everyone's FUSION creations this week - especially the sea-themed ones - I do love to be beside the seaside!!  Time for some more FAB inspiration this week.  Will you choose just the sketch - with these four panels open to WIDE interpretation, or this gorgeous collection of ties - just in time for Father's Day for some of you - or a FUSION of both.

Jackie's gorgeous sketch reminded me of this gorgeous die-cut window, and I honed in on the pink and yellow checks of the third tie from the right for my colour and pattern inspiration.  I repeated the window dressing checks with papers from Authentique on the Mama Elephant teddy's tummy to tie the design together.  I love the way the stitched teddy ties in with the stitched rectangle from Lil' Inkers.  I thought black ink would be too stark for a baby card, so I stamped the Mama Elephant sentiment using Hero Arts Cuppa Joe.

I can't wait to see what you create over in the FUSION gallery this week, and don't forget YOU get to vote for your favourite creations each week too!

Why don't you stop by the FUSION Design Team blogs for even more inspiration!

Allyson  Anderson  / Amy Tsuruta / Deanna Jean / Kelly Griglione / Stacey Schafer

Playing along with Southern Girls Diecut Challenge too.

Congratulations on Your New Addition...

I couldn't resist this combination of Paper Smooches Sparks Cool Shades Challenge, and this fab Retro Sketch by Deanna.  I thought these Cool Shades would be perfect for a baby boy card.  I fell in love with this teal  American Crafts 5th Avenue paper, with images of houses and "home is where the heart is", "at home" and "happy little life" sentiments scattered on the paper, so combined we have "Congratulations on Your New Addition"!  Featuring this gorgeous mama and baby elephant from Paper Smooches A Little Lovin' and sentiment from Sentiment Sampler, together with papers from American Crafts, with the corrugated kraft card left over from some recycled packaging, all tied together with some Trendy Twine in baby blue.