FUSION Falling for Christmas...

Inspired by this fortnights FUSION to get a wriggle on with Christmas card making! Combined the super versatile sketch with the Autumn wood tones, wreath and candles from this fortnights FUSION inspiration photo. Featuring die cuts from Avery Elle Seasons Greetings, MFT Dienamics Winter Wreath and Memory Box Glowing Candles.

Head on over to the FUSION blog for some more super 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!

Also playing along with this fabulous colour combo from Color Throwdown

Darkest Nights, Brightest Stars FUSION

I LOVE this fortnights FUSION inspiration even more so than usual! 

Focusing on the FUSION inspiration photo, I was inspired to create my very first alcohol inks on Yupo paper background, using blues, black, white and silver, and adding silver foiled paper, silver sequin stars and this perfectly gorgeous MFT Shining Stars diecut in silver glitter paper, and Mama Elephant Shooting Star sentiment in white embossing powder on MFT fishtail banner, topped with MFT stitched diecut frame.

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

PLUS Claire Apostoloff - Guest Designer 

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

Can't wait to see what you create!

Also playing along with 
Creative Artiste Mixed Media Anything Goes
We Love 2 Create Anything Creative Mixed Media Goes
More Mixed Media Challenge Anything Goes - Optional Brights
Simon Says Monday Challenge Blog Sprinkles and Splatters
Double D Moon and Stars, and The Male Room Wild and Free 
because that's how it felt when I was creating!

Happy to be Stuck with FUSION...

Had super fun playing with these Doodle Bug Fun in the Sun papers and MFT Sweet Succulents stamps for this fortnights FUSION challenge. Love the gorgeous colours and theme from FUSION, together with this fabulously versatile sketch so I played along with both! Paper pieced the gorgeous MFT Sweet Succulents, atop fishtail flags from MFT Blueprints #27.

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!

Monster Fusion

Super fun colours for this fortnights FUSION inspiration, created a kid's birthday card using MFT Rectangular Peek-A-Boo Window diecut, MFT Monster Sized stamp and sentiment paired with Lawn Fawn Birthday diecut.

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

Becca Cruger - 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!

Also joining in the fun at
Seize the Birthday!

Coral Flower FUSION

Feeling a little under the weather this week?  Hope the FUSION inspiration is enough to put a spring back in your step!

Inspired by the fabulous FUSION sketch and photo, I die cut these gorgeous stitched blooms from MFT and coloured them using Distressed Oxides in Abandoned Coral, Spiced Marmalade, Peeled Paint and Antique Linen. Added an MFT Dienamics Scalloped Edge and Mama Elephant Flag die cut, stamped with MFT Anything But Basic Birthday Wishes sentiment, and popped on a couple of pearl accents for flower centres, (perfect for playing along with Double D's Bling it Up challenge too!)

To play along you can take inspiration from either the FUSION sketch or inspiration photo - or combine the two as I have!

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

Becca Cruger - Betty J. - Jeanne Jachna - Jen Mitchell - Karren Johnson

Linda Callahan - Michelle Leone - Michelle Lupton - Michelle Williams

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

Can't wait to see what you create!

Playing along with 
Double D's Bling it Up
Fussy & Fancy Favourite Florals
Card Concept Floral Centrepiece (Mixed Media)

You're Jawsome!

LOVE this cool shark and his JAWsome matching sentiment from MFT, just perfect for a little (or BIG) boy's birthday card. Background created using alcohol inks on opaque Yupo (although I think baking or tracing paper may work just as well), dripped on the light blue, dark blue and yellow inks and blotted off the excess with ridged paper towel to create the mottled colour effect. Die cut with Dienamics scalloped edge to create the waves, then stamped and fussy cut the shark from grey cardstock and stamped the sentiment on and MFT fishtail flag - naturally lol!

Playing along with CASology Marine
and "Less is More" Yellow/Blue/Grey - 
although the yellow got very blended into the sea!
613 Avenue Create Mainly Blue
Crafty Cardmakers No patterned paper

Happiest of Mother's Days...

Wishing all mothers, the most wonderful of Mother's Days.

Created using pink, red and purple alcohol inks on Yupo paper. Poppy from Unity Stamps and sentiment from Avery Elle, fishtail flag and stitched frame from MFT.

Playing along with

Creative Artiste Mixed Media

Call Me FUSION...

Had fun playing on retreat with some of my favourite crafty girls! 

Inspired by this fortnights FUSION photo, I created this cute hello, hello card using La La Land telephone, My Favorite Things (MFT) Big Hello and Paper Smooches Hello sentiment dies.

To play along you can take inspiration from either the FUSION sketch or inspiration photo - or combine the two as I have!

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

Becca Cruger - Betty J. - Jeanne Jachna - Jen Mitchell - Karren Johnson

Linda Callahan - Michelle Leone - Michelle Lupton - Michelle Williams

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

Can't wait to see what you create!

Also playing along with Simon Says Anything Goes

My Favorite Things - Colour Challenge...

Playing along with My Favorite Things Color Challenge
Realised I had this ready to go from my crafty weekend, playing with Joy's MFT goodies, but not yet posted, luckily there's still time to play along!

Anyways, this shaker was created using super cute MFT Somebunny I Love stamps and Essential Sentiments, together with the shaker window and fishtail flag, created with MFT die cuts. Inks are from the new Tim Holtz Distress Oxides, and Distress Ink, splattered and a little bit of starlight sequins added to the shaker.

Paris FUSION with Oxide Inks and MFT

Can't believe it has been a whole month since I posted! It's not that I haven't been busy crafting, just not busy posting my crafting efforts!

Had a great excuse to pop back in today though, back to join in the fun @ this fortnights FUSION. It's almost a year since we headed off to Paris in the Spring, so this fabulous FUSION inspiration was making me feel particularly nostalgic! Thought I'd do a Paris sunset rather than rain, so broke out my Tim Holtz Oxide Inks and this gorgeous MFT Paris Skyline and frame die cuts to play along this fortnight.

You can find some more fabulous inspiration from the Design Team blogs:

Becca Cruger - Betty J. - Carol Mayne - Jeanne Jachna - Karren Johnson

Linda Callahan - Michelle Leone - Michelle Lupton - Michelle Williams

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

Can not wait to see how you are inspired! 

Paris in the Spring...

 

Coffee Lovers Holiday Blog Hop (Peace, Joy & Coffee)...

All I want for Christmas is...

to play along with the fabulous Coffee Lovers Holiday Blog Hop.

As a special Coffee Lovers Holiday treat, I have included the recipe for a coffee cocktail - as we celebrate Christmas in the midst of Summer here! Did you know it is rumored that Theodore Roosevelt (Teddy) drank a gallon of coffee a day! This cocktail was created by Mad46, a Manhattan rooftop lounge at the Roosevelt Hotel, as a salute to the hotel's namesake...

Teddy Tini

2 oz. chilled espresso

3 oz. vanilla vodka

1/2 oz. Kahlúa

Fill shaker with ice, add ingredients, and shake well.

Strain into chilled martini glass and garnish with 2 chocolate coffee beans.

Card created using Winnie and Walter The Big, The Bold and the Merry die-cut in pearl gold cardstock, MFT alphabet die-cut in pearl bronze cardstock and a La La Land fir tree, with background patterned paper from Simple Stories Cozy Christmas, and added silver star sequins.

How YOU can play along...

• There are also random 5 prizes for people that comment on ALL of the linked blogs see on Amy's blog for the list before 11:55 pm Pacific Time on Sunday, December 14th.

EXTRA BONUS GIVEAWAY if you comment on this post, this post or this post (my Coffee Lovers Holiday Blog Hop posts), you will also be in the running to win a FABULOUS Winnie and Walter The Big, the Bold and the Merry stamp set.

A BIG THANK YOU to our fabulous sponsors:

17 Turtles, Add A Little Dazzle, a●muse studio/Chris Franco

Butterfly Reflections Ink, Color Cast Designs, Create a Smile

Hero Arts, Kraftin' Kimmie, Kreative Kymona

Latina Crafter, Neat and Tangled, Newton's Nook

Paper Smooches, Pickled Potpourri, Poppystamps

Reverse Confetti, Stamp Academy, Stampin' Up/Veronica Zalis 

STAMPlorations, SugarPea Designs, Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps 

The Alley Way Stamps, The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store, Two Paper Divas

Verve Stamps, Whole Wild World, Your Next Stamp

Also playing along with Merry Monday Gold, Silver, White and Bronze,
Cure for the Monday Blues

Jingle Belles Rock Anything Christmas,
Inkspirational Colour Challenge, Dies R Us Winter
 and Card Concept Silent Night Neutrals, Clean and Layered

  

Think Pink for Christmas...

I created this snowflake shaker card when I was crafting with friends last weekend. In real life the snowflakes inside the shaker look much more pale than the bright pink in this photo LOL! Regardless, this was created especially for the Jingle Belles It's a Pink Christmas, with Stephanie and Lauren pledging to donate $4 per linked up card to The Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Created by die cutting the My Favorite Things snowflake from the card front, foam sheet and from a sheet of snow white American Crafts glitter paper, and layering the card with the pink pearl American Crafts card front, glittery snowflake, clear acetate (so the snowflakes don't get stuck in the larger snow flake die cut), small snowflakes, foam sheet, acetate then white card front. The "peace" die-cut is from Papertrey Ink.

Hope you get a chance to Think Pink for Christmas too!
Inspired by the Cutting Edge Challenge (more-so Melania's interpretation of it!)

A CASE Study in Washi...

So wanted to play along with CASE Study last week with the fabulous Wida as Muse - but ran out of time - so an extra effort to make the deadline this week, with inspiration from this gorgeous card...

I was inspired by the colours, the window (mine became a circle), use of washi tape and die cuts. The background panel was created using strips of floral washi tape (just right for playing along with Simon Says Stamp Spring Flowers), die cut with Lil Inkers Stitched Rectangle and Stitched Circle (just right for playing along with Virginia's View Stitching Challenge too). The Simon Says Stamp daisies are also My Minds Eye washi tape on cardstock and die cut.  I wanted to go for the trifecta and create the sentiment from washi tape, but none of my washi was as perfect as this tiny polka dot paper from Lawn Fawn. The My Favorite Things sentiment was also cut from Lil Inkers Stitched Circle and inset.

As washi is such a central feature, I'm playing along with 

Paper Crafter's Gallery Idol just for the fun of it too!

Winnie & Walter Happy Playdate...

Can I tell you how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these Winnie & Walter fonts! Had to sneak in a last minute entry for the first Winnie & Walter Playdate Challenge. This time I was inspired by the quilt, the checks, the colours and flowers from two of the quilt patches between the Mum and daughter, and the happy day. I created a hexagon quilt as the background for my card using papers from an old favourite Lily Bee paper pad, stamped with this gorgeous Winnie & Walter sentiment in Momento Ink Love Letters.

 

Playing along with Seize the Birthday too!

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.

Just a Little Distressed...

Hopefully the distressed wood and inked edges (using Parchment Distressed Ink) is distressed enough to play along in this weeks The Pink Elephant Distressed / Paper Tearing Challenge. It was too distressing to distress it anymore LOL!

How gorgeous is the inspiration photo from this fortnights Festive Friday Wreath Challenge?!? Playing along with this rustic card created using Crate Paper distressed wood paper, a collection of old letters from Scenic Route and Lil Davis, My Favorite Things wreath and these cute holly berry brads from Making Memories.  I remembered I had these brads when prompted by this weeks Little Red Wagon Brads or Eyelets Challenge. How many brads and eyelets do you have lurking in your stash LOL! 

You Can Always Count on Me...

9 minutes and 12 seconds later...

Following the theme of The Pink Elephants #215 Numbers Challenge, here's a post full of them!!!  

My card for today features... you guessed it - NUMBERS!  For the 10 Minute Craft Dash #25, this card was based on Clean & Simple Sketch #256, it took 9 minutes and 12 seconds to diecut six Dienamics numbers (this was my first attempt, I cut a second sheet as the one went a bit wobbly on this one, but then mucked up the stamping, so came back to this one LOL!), stamp two Hero Arts background numbers stamps in Stampin' Up Daffodil Delight (see previous explanation ;)) and one Simon Says Stamp "You can always count on me" sentiment in Hero Arts Cup 'O Joe, cut and adhere two pieces of Fancy Pants Child's Play patterned papers, with 4 strips of double-sided tape and 7 pieces of foam pop tape.  I realised after I had pop-dotted that in my rush I had forgotten to round the corners - I think it gives it a more polished finish, but cest la vie!  I LOVE this 10 Minute Craft Dash colour combo, so hope to revisit it later this week using Lawn Fawn stamps ;)

All this talk of numbers brings me to this FABULOUS Month in Numbers idea from Julie Kirk...

How did I get here?  Well may you ask!  And who am I not to answer?

Whilst skimming the internet for some inspiration for the first FUSION challenge for September, I discovered this fabulous blog post on Five Ideas for Scrapbooking with Pages from Old Books, which had in turn been sourced from Julie Kirk's blogspot Notesonpaper.

Intrigued with her Month in Numbers post, I thought wow, I've moved interstate since I started school - I wonder how many kilometres it is between where I first started school and where I am now.  And then it dawned on me, although I did most of my schooling in Australia, I actually first started school in Belmont Massachusetts (and yes I did have to look up to see how that was spelled correctly LOL!), we moved to the USA from Australia as my Dad was offered a position at M.I.T., and we stayed there for almost two years, til just before my baby brother was born. Co-incidentally I have lived in Belmont in Australia too (but that's a whole other story!)

So from Massachusetts to Melbourne is 17014.421 km and I'd have to say - you've come a long way baby!!!