Sketch Time at Here Come The Boys

The new challenge starting today over at Here Come The Boys is a Sketch challenge... I LOVE a nice sketch, I find a sketch is a great starting point to a card, and this is a nice sketch :-)

The sketch has lots of room for interpretation, as you can see if you visit the Here Come The Boys blog. 
I've gone with different papers for each layer - from Kaisercraft's Save the Date, Echo Park's Walk in the Park and DCWV Animal Crackers,  Addicted to Stamps has a Lots of Layers challenge so I'm entering there. 


I used the cute digistamp "He is Loved" from Sassy Cheryl, featuring the darling Noah and his best friend Patches, coloured with Copics. Sassy Cheryls Tuesday Challenge has Best Friends as their theme, so I'm in, and Digi Makeover have Colour It, which I have so I'm in there too :-)

I didn't use any punches or dies on this card, most unusual for me, but I did crack out the ol' sewing machine and stitch around the background paper and the image panel... again, most unusual for me, lol (and I can see why; as a seamstress I make a good bookkeeper, lol) I did more (very uneven!) stitching on the inside too... All that effort meant I just had to find a stitching challenge to enter, and I did! The Monday Challenge # 105 at The Craft Spot is Sew Fun, "sew" I'm in (see what I did there? lol) 

The tiny red buttons on the front were from my stash,as were the metal sentiment badges (bars? whateva!) I've got loads of them still in my stash, they must have been a bargain, lol.  Craft Your Passion and Inky Impressions both have Birthday challenge themes, so I'm entering them.

Divas by Design, Anything Goes Challenge, Crafts 4 Eternity, Colour Me Copic, The Paper Shelter and Pile It On all have Anything Goes challenges running, so I'll be in there too :-)

Well that's about it for today's card, pop on over to the Here Come The Boys blog and check out what the rest of the team made of Woo's fab sketch; 

I hope you get a chance to join in the challenge, we've got a great new sponsor in Dr Digi who's offering one of his quirky images as the prize for this challenge, yeehaw :-)  Don't forget it's all about the men or boys in your life at Here Come The Boys - hints in the name I s'pose :-)

Talking of the boys in my life, Matt is healing well, he has started at a Scar Management Clinic (yup, it's real!), he'll be starting physio in the next week or so, that'll make him feel less like an invalid.  He went out for the day today with Elaine and the twins, the shopping centre they went to's management provided a motorized scooter for him to get around on, completely free of charge - I certainly didn't know this facility was available and what a godsend, as Elaine had enough to deal with navigating the twin pram; Matt did hit the end of a huge set of shelves when doing a three point turn... he said everything on the shelves got a wobble up and he visualised himself on You Tube as "Maniac Mobility Scooter Hoon Wreaks Havoc in Joondalup Shopping Centre" in the end it was all good, they enjoyed the day and even though the babies took a bit of settling at bed time (over tired/stimulated) they looked the better for the outing.  

Our youngest son Chris had his annual Christmas in July party last night, it was really successful as always - thanks Chris and Amna (his faux wife) for the invite, we look forward to next year!!  It is an opportunity for us Aussies to celebrate in a traditional fashion as it is winter here now, so it was mulled wine and egg nog 'til you drop - and my hubby nearly got lynched when he tried to carve the turkey; all I can say is one turkey into 45 party-goers doesn't go, not without a blood bath anyway, lol.  It's not as if there wasn't enough other food, Chris will be eating seasonal fare for daaaayyys (ah, the tradition, lol)

Anyway it's late, I'm outta here, until next time Happy Crafting, Donna

Delighted to be Guest Designer for Delightful Challenges

A couple of weeks ago I won first prize in a challenge over at Delightful Challenges, as winner I was offered a Guest spot on the Design Team... which I jumped at of course :-)  I got my pick of image from Digital Delights, got to make a project of my choice, too easy. Anyway here's the easel card I made using the lovely Flower Power Basket of Daisies image, available here.

I had such fun colouring this little lady up (with Copics), which in the end was very fortunate as "disaster" struck when I die cut the finished picture - using my now-in-the-bin buckled B plate; it sliced it into pieces... aaagh! You wouldn't believe it, but when I coloured the replacement the green Copic I was using let a huge blob out, ruining the border, so I had to fussy cut it and stick it on a plain white circle.  Got there in the end though :-) 
I used a sketch from Sunday Sketch and Stamp, they have a "pick your own sketch" challenge, I used this one, I do love a nice sketch! Plenty of room here for lots of layers, which I also love! Addicted to Stamps has a Lots of Layers challenge, so I'm in.
The gorgeous papers I've used are Kaisercraft's Hey Birdie Collection, the leaves on the background are foiled, the glittery vertical panel is a strip from another sheet in the pad - all the other patterned paper is from that same sheet, I cut it up and arranged it as I wanted - there's plenty of nice glitter on it too :-) Crafty Creations has Summer for it's theme, I'm entering my summer-coloured creation there.  Colour Me Copic, Anything Goes Challenge, Kaboodle Doodles and Great Impressions all have Anything Goes challenges so I'm entering there too.
The scalloped border on the inside came ready cut in the pad, easy peasy!!  I made the stop for the easel as I often do, by gluing a strip of card under the "front" and then decorating the stop itself with some of the birdie paper, it's hard to explain but easy to do, lol. This pic may help... or not!!
Cutie Pie Challenge has Pretty in Pink for their challenge, I'm sure there's enough pink here so I'm in, My Mums Craft Shop has Just for Girls and That Craft Place has It's a Girl Thing so I'm in there too.

I cut the image panel (eventually, lol) with Nestabilities Standard Circles and the mat from brown Kaiser card using Nestabilities Lacey Circles.  I punched the edge of the corner detail on the vertical mat and on the top corner inside with an EK Success punch (Daisy Scallop Edger) before cutting the triangles, the flower on the inside is a Nellie Snellen punch.  A Little Bit Crafty has Die-ing for it and Papertake Weekly has Die-ing for a Punch; so I'm entering those.
The sentiment is from Hobby Palais, Craft Your Passion has Birthday for their challenge as does Crafty Cardmakers and Inky Impressions so I'm entering those.  The little flower in the centre of the sentiment was a big flower that I cut down to fit in the centre of the sentiment with scissors, Totally Papercrafts has Make Your Own Flowers - I hope one cut-down flower and one punched flower count!

Here's some pics of the pesky die cut disaster, I'm sure it, or something like it has happened to all of you - or maybe it's just me!  Now all I have to do is find a use for one slightly damaged stuck-back-together image,  lol,  in case you're wondering - it's the one on the right!

I think that's it for today's card, I'd like to thank Delightful Challenges for having me as their guest - I hope I've done their cute image justice.  You really should go and check them out, loads of sweet images and they have some really nice digital paper too :-)
I'll be back on the weekend, until then, Happy Crafting, Donna

Weddings or Anniversaries at Di's Digis

Well, I didn't get as much crafting time this week as I was hoping, but I DID manage to get my DT card up for the new challenge at Di's Digis Challenge Blog, where the theme is Weddings or Anniversaries.  We're in the middle of winter here, but as we still get plenty of sunny days and temperatures in the high teens/ low twenties (Celcius, of course!) weddings are still popular, and come September there's a veritable confetti explosion - so I made a Wedding Card :-)

I've used the lovely "Special Day Moments" image (from Di's Digi Stamps - as you would expect!!)  It was a difficult decision as there are so many sweet Wedding images to choose from. The sentiment is from the Desert Diva, one of Hannelie's fab freebies, thanks :-)

I coloured with Copics and made my own White Pastel Embossing powder (using equal parts clear powder to glitter) to emboss the brides dress and cowl. It's so hard to photograph, but looks really effective in real life.  Crafty Creations has Time to Sparkle and Delightful Sketches has Glitter and Bling as their challenge themes, so I'm entering there.  

I've used the sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday this time around, I love a nice sketch, and I've popped the floral panel and image panel up on foam dots, don't I always? lol Addicted to Stamps has a Lots of Layers challenge, so I'm in there too.  The image panel is cut and embossed with Nestabilities Labels Three, the mat is handcut, A Little Bit Crafty has "Die-ing for it" as their theme so I'm in!

I finished the inside of the card along the same lines as the outside, without the foam dots, lol.  

I used a lovely heavy textured card for the base, the "heart" paper is vellum lined with white card.  The floral print is Japanese Chiyogami paper, anyone who's used this type of paper would know the lovely texture it has - it's like rice paper and the print sort of "soaks" into it, even the gold outlining looks like part of the fabric - I love it, but it's a bit pricey so I tend to only use it on "special event" cards... like Weddings, lol.  I get all my speciality paper from Starfish Lane in North Perth; I have another voucher burning a hole in my purse - from Mother's Day back in May - there's just been too much going on for me to get down there and redeem it!  I do love to spend a loooong time choosing, lol.

The pearls and felt flowers are from my stash, Card Mania Challenges has Pearls and/or Gems for their challenge, so I'm entering there.  

I cut the gold floral-swirly-flourish-thing (!) using my new (as in hitherto unused, lol) Memory Box Nottingham Border die, cutting it up using some on the front and the rest of the inside, I think it worked okay :-) The Anything Goes Challenge has an Anything Goes theme, as does Tuesday Throwdown, so I'm entering them too.

Well, I'm off to Matt's, he's getting to that stage in his recovery where boredom and a bit of depression are creeping in; so we're going to shake it up a bit for him (as much as you can with a man with his leg in the air, two little babies and a no-alcohol diet, lol)

Pop over to Di's Digis Challenge  and check out the rest of the team's work, it's great as usual!  Hope you get to enter the challenge too, there's a great prize on offer from the Cutting Café - and don't forget, if you use one of Di's gorgeous images, there's an extra prize on offer too :-)

Well that's about it for today, I'll be back in a day or so with a card for a Guest DT position that I won recently.  Until then Happy Crafting, Donna

Anyone For an Anything Goes Challenge

Today a new challenge is starting over at Here Come The Boys, it's everyone's favourite... Anything Goes - as long as it's for a Man or Boy, that is!

Very sadly a work friend of ours died last week - at only 49 and five weeks after being diagnosed with cancer; he will be sorely missed as he was the most cheerful guy you could meet.  I made this card for Adam, and his lovely wife Jenny to keep as a memento - not, I'm sure, that she will need it.  I made sure it has a real "masculine" feel, as Adam would have hated a "sissy" card :-)

I used lovely embossed pearl card, and patterned paper, both from my favourite "special" paper stockist Starfish Lane. The black card is from my stash, as are the gros grain ribbon and the brads (the smaller ones have a black glittery finish, I wish I could remember where they're from!

Papertake Weekly has Old, New, Borrowed, Blue as their theme, I'm going with Old (stash), That Craft Place has Ribbon, so I'm in there too and Cards for Men has a Bingo theme; I've used "Dry Embossing (paper), Metal or Charm (Brads), Die Cut or Punch" the panels are cut and embossed with Mpress Curved Rectangle Dies.

The sentiment is one I made on the computer, you can grab it here with my best wishes.  Click on the image to open it before saving to your computer to maintain the quality of the image - it will be available on my Freebies page too. It is printed on linen card, just because it gives a nice finish, I distressed the edges with silver ink to soften the effect a little.

The inside of the card is finished with more of the patterned paper (though not the embossed, it was my last bit and I've got plans for it, lol) and another computer generated sentiment, feel free to grab that too, if you want, don't forget to click on it to open before saving.  More of my lovely glittery brads to finish. Paper Pretties has a Monochrome challenge, I'm definitely in there, lol, Addicted to Stamps has Lots of Layers, so I'm in there too, while Bizzy Becs has Anything Goes - and I've managed to keep the number of challenges I've entered to six... so I'm in there too :-)

Well that's about it for my card, it's pretty CAS really.  I hope you get a chance to check out my Teamies inspiration, nice and varied - and all "For the Boys", so it just goes to show making those masculine cards is not that hard - so hopefully we'll see you in the challenge too :-) 
As you may (or may not) know, our son Matt works in the same industry as us; he also worked with Adam frequently; Adam delivered and installed swimming pools, Jenny drove the Escort vehicle for him.  Matt came to the funeral with us, it was good that he was able to come in a wheelchair to show his respect for a man who was just a "great bloke".  It also gave us a bit of a wake up call re Matt's recuperation - he had his foot elevated for the entire time we were out, but not higher than his heart... the next day his foot was bright red and really quite swollen;  A timely reminder that he is not out of the woods yet!
It's looking better today, he can wash it now; it's strange how fabulous the little things feel when you've been denied them for a while, lol.
Matt and Elaine spent the day "doing" for themselves today, we popped over to visit and kept the babies awake (I know, I know "if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem", but they weren't quite asleep and soooo cute and smiley they just HAD to have a cuddle)
Hopefully I'll get some crafting time this week, I do have a hospital appointment for my Mum, and babysitting while Matt goes to the Plastic Surgeon and it is tax time  - but I'm sure I can slip in a bit of a crafty fix, lol.
Until next time, Happy Crafting, Donna

Time to Piece a Piece of Paper at Di's Digi Stamps

Well, as the title of the post suggests, the new challenge kicking off at Di's Digis Challenge Blog today is "Paper Piecing"
I've had very little time to craft but (rather wisely I think) used my DT commitment to make a card for my Mother In Law, whose birthday is tomorrow (Happy 85th, Norma!)

I've made yet another of those "cut away" cards I'm favouring at the moment, using acetate as the bulk of the card front. 
I love the way you get to decorate the inside and outside of the card with basically one lot of paper, all you have to do is make sure anything on the inside lines up well with the outside.
I used the Sweet Sketch Wednesday Sketch this time, love a good sketch and this one lent itself to my acetate idea.
The adorable image I've used is Spring Bonnet, available at  Di's Digi Stamps. My Mums Craft Shop has Just for Girls as their challenge theme, so I'm entering there, Hobbycutz has Beginning with H (Hedgehog) and Delightful Sketches has Include a Critter (again, the hedgehog), so I'm entering there too.

I used floral paper from Bearly Mine Designs, the Spring Blossoms set - I scaled the paper down to suit the scale of the image (I love digis!)  I made the areas of the image that are "dress" transparent (easily done in Photoshop) then placed a cropped down version of the image on a small square of the scaled-down digi paper; then I only had to cut around the outside of the dress and bow all in one piece - not having to cut the tiny fiddly bits around the bow was a real bonus... like I said, I love digis :-)  Allsorts Challenge wants us to use our Favourite Things, (digis and Copics) so I'm entering there.
The apron is also digi paper, I scaled down (in Word, simple) one of the stripy papers from Nitwit Collections Romance and Roses set, then added the bonnet to a small piece of the paper, twisted a copy of the same square a little and added the cropped image of the apron to it to to have  the stripes going more naturally down the apron. Print (all on one piece of paper I might add, including the "blank" image) and a little trimming = DONE!  I added some shadows to the paper pieced parts and coloured the rest of the image with Copics. Cutie Pie Challenge this time around is also Paper Piecing, so I'm entering there.

The image mat (and the mat for the jotting panel inside, come to that) are Nestabilities Fleur De Lis Rectangles.  The pink matting is Kaisercraft and the sentiment is one of Craftworks Cards Oval sentiments cut down, Aud Sentiments  has "Two Words" as their challenge, with extra Brownie points for not using Happy Birthday, which I didn't (close, but still, I didn't!)
The flowers were cream (until I Copic-ed them, lol) and the sparkly centres are self adhesive cachous from Kaiser, I think.  Clear It Out has Theme: Make Someone's Day, Stash: Sparkly, so I'm entering there, and Pile It On has Bling so I'm in there too.  The pearls are also from my stash.

Bearly Mine Challenges, One Stop Craft Challenge, Colour Me Copic, Catch The Bug and Papertake Weekly all have anything goes challenges so I'm in!

That's about it for my card, pop on over to the challenge blog and check out the rest of the team's inspiration - I'm sure you'll love it.  Hope you get a chance to enter the challenge too, why not try going digi as I did - it really isn't hard - easier  than stamping if you ask me :-)  We've got a great prize on offer too, bonus!

Speaking of bonuses, my son Matt came home from hospital today - he was scheduled for a skin graft to cover the amputation site but the Plastics Team (really, that's their title!) decided to leave it to heal itself - it's pretty gruesome to look at at this point but my nurse friend Jenny (who knows about such things, lol) assures me that it is a "good" wound with great potential for healing and skin grafts bring their own set of issues.  

He still has to be immobile with his leg elevated (on a James Leg Elevator, which is a large wedge nearly 3 feet long and about 18 inches high that we couldn't hire to bring home, so bought for him at a cost of $275!!!) As he has to sit and sleep like that for the next seven weeks, we figured it was money well spent, but seriously, it's a bit of vinyl-covered foam, $275??!  

We're sorting out a wheelchair for him tomorrow. He is so glad to BE home with his wife and his babies and we're so glad to have him back at his home, close to us and easy for us to get to to help out personally or with the babies.  We really feel he's on the road to recovery now, we know it won't be easy and there's a lot of rehab to come but he's come a long way from a few weeks ago too.  Suffice to say it's been a difficult four weeks, but the next seven look infinitely easier, at least from here!

I might even get a bit more crafting time, though now it's end-of-the-financial-year time so I may have to spend a bit of time sorting the businesses out (they've been a bit neglected while Matt has been incapacitated and we busy)

Until next time, Happy Crafting, Donna