Home is where you hang your heart...

I so wanted to play along with the new design team at Dynamic Duos this week - only just scraping in as our internet service provider was having issues!  Inspired by the gorgeous graphic over at Curtain Call Welcome Home Challenge, and this fabulous Freshly Made Sketch!

Felt heart and kraft wreath are both My Favorite Things die cuts, paired with paper from MME and Collections "home", together with the sentiment from There She Goes and a Kaisercraft pearl.

Hello Uniko...

Uniko Studio are having their very first challenge, so I thought I'd play along!  The theme is Hello, and whilst you need to use a Uniko Studio product on your card, don't worry if you don't have any yet, as Uniko Studio have a fabulous selection of FREE downloadable digital goodies!

I have used this gorgeous layered Uniko Studio poinsettia stamp - this time in slightly less traditional colours of pink and green, together with an MFT Hello die cut.  I stamped the poinsettia image multiple times onto two sheets from my overflowing diverse collection of Basic Grey papers, and fussy cut two green layers and three pink layers, foam dotting each layer, and finishing with some Kaisercraft pearls.

Playing along with Little Red Wagon Falling to Pieces Challenge and 

this fabulous Dynamic Duo warm pink & soft green combination.

This made me smile!

and this too!

Paper Smooches August Guest Designer...

So excited to be Guest Designer over at Paper Smooches!!!

Delighted to bring my first two cards featuring the August Paper Smooches release Many Thanks stamps, these are the Thanks A Million stamps for August too - so any August order over $60 (before discounts & postage) receives this fabulous set for FREE!

This set will certainly never leave you short for a word of thanks! I couldn't decide which of the fabulous Many Thanks sentiments to choose - so I (nearly) used them all!  I created the background using Distress Inks in Peacock Feathers, Picked Raspberry and Squeezed Lemon, then spritzed with water and a touch of Dylusions Lemon Zest (hungry yet anyone LOL!), and used a heat gun to ensure this was thoroughly dry before stamping.  I aligned all my stamps using my Fiskars Stamp Press before stamping in Momento Black ink, and adding these cute wood veneer hearts and speech bubble from Studio Calico.

My next card features sentiments from Many Thanks, combined with this funky little Bee Mine bee and "Bee" sentiment, together with the August release Artisan Blocks hexagon honeycomb.  The honeycomb background was created by stamping Artisan Blocks on yellow vellum using Versamark Watermark then heat embossing with Whispers Black Glitter - it's amazing how this looks in real life! The bee was also stamped in Black Glitter on yellow vellum, with his body backed using white cardstock - and fussy cutting the holes out for his eyes.  Paper Smooches Hexalongs dies were used to create the negative space for the honeycomb, and to also cut a negative space in the dark grey cardstock base - so the yellow vellum honeycomb becomes a translucent window - perfect for playing along with this weeks Paper Smooches Sparks Trend Watch - Sheer & Clear.   The white cardstock layer and bee were pop dotted, and this cute little Studio Calico wooden heart was stained with Versa Color Opera Pink ink.

Playing along with Dynamic Duos,
Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes,
The Pink Elephant Texture Challenge
Little Red Wagon Falling to Pieces, and
Summer Camp Online Class Homework Week 1 - Day 2 too!

How Do You Craft...

This is how I "usually" craft.

Pick one sketch - today's choice, this weeks fabulous CAS(E) this Sketch,
Add one colour combo - today's choice, this weeks versatile Dynamic Duos Basic Grey plus Your Choice (can you guess what my choice is LOL), and
Throw in a theme - today's choice, this fortnights fabulously fun, Keep It Simple Sun, then
Mix them all together with some gorgeous papers - today's choice, My Minds Eye and Echo Park,
Add some stamping, or today's choice, a chipboard accent, and
Voila - a card!

OK, so maybe a little more thought goes into it like, "ooh, that flower reminds me of the sun", and "I love that the next line of the song is when skies are grey, so it fits perfectly having a grey background..."

How do you craft???

Playing along with Moxie Fab Mixy Matchy Style Challenge and

 Little Red Wagon CAS too, because CAS isn't a challenge, it's a way of life!

A CAS(E) of Dynamic Chevrons...

Whenever I spy a yellow and black colour combo I think of sunshine & happiness, so when I spied this weeks Dynamic Duos soft yellow and black colour combo, this is what sprang to mind.  I thought I'd challenge myself to create a monochromatic chevron card, perfect for playing along with the Moxie Fab World Card Creations Week Chevron Challenge, and to get into warm up mode for the Pattern Play class commencing tomorrow.  I had based this originally on this weeks fabulously versatile CAS(E) this Sketch, but I'm not sure whether my tinkering has pushed it outside the boundary lines :)  The papers are a mix of MME papers, combined with Lil Inkers stitched Photo Frame - I love how the chevrons are cut so they create a trail of arrows around the frame.  This gorgeous camera is from Imaginesce Scooter's Vacation, and the sentiment is by Ali Edwards from Technique Tuesday.

Hope you have a fabulous day today :) 

This made me smile...

HM at CAS(E) this Sketch

There She Goes, Just in CASE...

Torico's gorgeous TSG card

I fell in love with this gorgeous card by Torico, so when this weeks There She Goes Challenge was CASE a Trendsetter, I thought I was set, but alas I left it too late.  I couldn't miss the opportunity though, so I'm playing along with this fab Dynamic Duos and linking up with Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes instead.

Cross My Heart...

Tuesday Trigger- Cross My Heart

I re-discovered a roll of self-adhesive mesh which was popular in scrapbooking a few years back, and thought it would make a great template for re-creating cross stitching on my card.  The advantage of the mesh is that it is repositionable, removable, and you don't have to draw and erase your lines.  This card was inspired by this weeks Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger - Cross My Heart, the theme, the textures and of course the cross-stitching.

This may be my last Valentine's Day Card, for this year any way - Cross My Heart!!

Playing along with Dynamic Duos Colour Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Have a Heart, 

Papercraft Star Love Challenge and 

Stampin Royalty Valentines/Love Challenge too!

Caffeine Deprivation...

Inspired by this weeks CASology cue, the perfectly drinkable Dynamic Duos monochromatic palette and this fabulously versatile Retro Sketch, especially Kasia's interpretation.  I broke out my coffee washi tape (hoping nobody will notice the splash of red there!) and paired it with these gorgeous Skipping Stones Design stamps and My Favourite Things sentiment, stamped in Espresso ink (of course LOL!) backed onto cafe style checks from MME.  I pop-dotted and used dimensional magic to highlight the coffee in the cup - which got me thinking these would make a great design if you sealed them and created a set of coffee coasters!

Loves Me, Loves Me Knot...

The Alley Way Stamps Love Knots is perfect for CASual Fridays Knotty or Nice Challenge this week.  Inspired by the pink monochromatic shades at Dynamic Duos and this fab Unscripted Sketches sketch, I stamped the Love Knots onto a strip of white cardstock and a strip of pink cardstock and heat embossed using American Crafts Pink Glitter Zing.  I found a chipboard heart in my stash which I used as a template to hand cut the three dark pink hearts and pop-dotted them on the stamped white cardstock.  The sentiment was created using a combination of The Alley Way Stamps AdoraBOWL, Get Moovin, Tie One On and Alphabet Soup.  Added some twine to reinforce the knotty!

 

All I Want for Christmas...

Two for one today :)

OK so these are my Christmas wishes - joy and world peace - am I being too greedy!

With Christmas is just around the corner, I thought I'd show you a super quick Christmas card.  I die cut my Memory Box Country Landscape, and my patterned paper is cut so the landscape just overlaps it.  From the back I lined up the patterned paper and landscape cardstock, and taped them together on the left and right hand sides - so the middle section was not stuck down.  This enabled me to cut out the patterned paper from behind the die cut windows and doors, so the red background shows through them.  I then used my glue pen to stick down the middle section of the landscape.  I stamped this gorgeous sentiment in Versamark Dazzle using The Alley Way Stamps Christmas Magic and Chatterbox, then added some red tinsel embossing powder and heat set it, before pop dotting the scene onto my card base.  Perfect for this weeks splash of maroon at Play Date Cafe, and only 99 Christmas cards to go LOL!

Decided to make another Christmas card.. this one is for my DS.  Inspired by this weeks CAS(E) this Sketch and the fab colours at Dynamic Duos.  The oblong in the sketch reminded me of a front door with someone peeking out from behind, so I created a 3D door using rectangles of red, and die cut this gorgeous Christmas wreath from My Favorite Things, and added this fab little Santa from The Alley Way Stamps No Peeking, and sentiment created using Alphabet Soup.

Don't forget there are still a couple of days left in this fortnights TAWS BE Inspired!

These made me smile...

White Magic...

When I saw this clear photo bauble on sale recently, I thought it would be perfect to use as a base for creating a 3D Christmas bauble.  The gorgeous snowman and snowflake are from The Alley Way Stamps Jolly Holiday, with the sentiment from Christmas Magic stamped in clear and white embossed.  I die cut the background and foreground snow scenes using Memory Box Country Landscape, and used 3D Kidyglitz in Glitter Crystalina to create a glittery layer of fresh snow.  I pop-dotted the foreground scene, careful to leave a couple of millimetre gap at the base of the circle to allow for the curve of the bauble.  I even managed to find some glittery snowflake ribbon from American Crafts (I think) to use to attach the bauble to the tree.  Now we just need to retrieve our tree!

Inspired by this months photo montage at Jay Gee's Nook - check out those transparent blue baubles! Perfect for playing along with Really Reasonable Ribbon Anything but a Card Challenge,  Dynamic Duos fab colour combo with Snowman Dessert Option

and CASual Fridays Winter Blues.

Jay Gee's Nook

Jingle All the Way...

Its beginning to sound a lot like Christmas...

As soon as I saw this weeks CAS(E) this Sketch, I knew it would be perfect for hanging these cute little craft bells, suspended using craft wire.  I punched circles from my gingham cardstock to create the little semi-circles, to help get them in exactly the right spot I first punched three circles from scraps and used them as my template. By temporarily taping the scrap circles in position with masking tape before punching my circles, I made sure they were punched exactly where I needed them.  I pop-dotted the gingham layer, before stamping with the fab new Jolly Holiday set from The Alley Way Stamps on cardstock as close to Cherry Cobbler as I could find, so I could join in the fun at Dynamic Duos too!

P.S. Did you notice these colours match my house too - no wonder I love this combo!
PPS.  Happy for my Honourable Mentions at CAS(E) this Sketch and Dynamic Duos :)