Sympathy for Sid

Today I have a card that I made for my Aunty Ellen;  Sadly, my Uncle Sid lost his battle to cancer in September, Sympathy cards are always a little difficult - especially for a man - and as my Mum asked me to make one for her as well, I had twice the difficulty.  Anyway this is the card from us

 I relied on the sentiment (which I made on the computer - feel free to grab it here - open it before Saving to make sure you get a better resolution - or from my Freebies page if you like it) to "make" this card, and the lovely paper - which is flocked with silver embossing - from my go to store for specialty paper Starfish Lane.
The sentiment panel was cut using Nestabilities Classic Ovals, as was the brown mat, the silver mat is Nestabilities Floral Ovals.  I used the Lavish Branch die from Memory Box (cut up) for the embellishment, adding some tiny silver pearls from my stash and some faux stitching done in silver pen.  Delightful Challenges have a Favourite Things challenge, I love die cuts, and my Floral Ovals are one of my favourite Nesties sets, and any Memory Box die is a Favourite!
The inside of the card followed the same layout as the front.  All in all a very simple card, always the best for the occasion IMHO.
I thought I'd enter the Aud Sentiments challenge, where you can use any sentiment and Bearly Mine Challenges, Through the Craftroom Door, Simon Says Challenge, Cute Card Thursday, Hobbycutz and Cards for Men which all have Anything Goes challenges running.
I'll be back tomorrow with my DT project for Here Come The Boys.... how quickly these fortnights come around - especially at this time of the year!
I thought I'd pop a picture of the twins on, just to lighten the mood - we babysat them the other day, so I took the opportunity to get some photos even though they weren't all scrubbed up after dinner; which my son pointed out as soon as he came to pick them up! I still think they're cute pictures, but then I would, lol  Sassy Cheryl's Show Me Thursday blog loves to see what we've been up to (and gives us nosey peeps the opportunity to see what others have been up to, lol) so I'm sharing my babysitting pic there... trust me there isn't much time to do anything else when you're watching eight month old twins at dinner/bath/bed time :-)

 I'll put some more pics on tomorrow's post,Until then, Happy Crafting, Donna

Saying Thanks at Di's Digis

I'm a little late with today's post - for the new challenge at Di's Digi Designs; the theme is Thanks/Thanksgiving/Harvest.  As we don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in Australia I've made a general Thank You card.

I used the super-cute "Hi Have You Dropped This?" image available here, coloured with Copic markers and Prismacolor pencils.
The sketch is from Sketch and Stash, it's a great sketch - I ended up using it a few times - so versatile.
The papers are Kaisercraft's Madame Boutique, lots of lovely foil - that doesn't show in the pics, of course!!  I matted onto gold foil card and added a Memory Box Corner Bow die cut using the same, Totally Papercrafts has Add a Bow and Addicted to Stamps has Punches and Dies for their challenges so I'm entering there.
The flower is a Joy Craft Daisy die with a gemstone brad centre - the surround was silver... until I coloured it with a YR07 Copic :-) The little sprays of blue pearls were sprays of white pearls, until I coloured THEM with a Blue Copic.
The sentiment is from Craftworks Cards, mounted on a hand cut gold foil mat, everthing is on it's own layer, and of course it looks much nicer IRL.  Aud Sentiments has Any Sentiment so I'm in!
The inside of the card is finished more or less to the same sketch, with more or less the same everything else, lol.
The bow on the inside was cut with the gold surface up and has resulted in a really smooth metallic look, to get the one on the front to face the "right" way I cut it with the white backing facing up, the gold on this one is sort of wrinkled as a result and actually looks kinda cool :-)
Digi Makeover, 2 Sisters Challenge. Creative Belli,

Pile It On, Papertake Weekly and 

Crazy 4 Challenges all have challenges along the "Thanks" line so I'm entering them and Oozak has Anything Goes with Thanks while Through the Craftroom Door, Whimsy Inspirations Challenge and Colour Me Copic have Anything Goes challenges so I'm in there too.

Well that's it for today, it's past 2am here and definitely time for bed!!  I hope you get a chance to share a project in our new challenge, head on over and check out the rest of the team's inspiration.  The sponsor this time around is the Cutting Café and as always if you use one of Di's images you go into an extra draw, Woo Hoo!!

I'll be back in a day or so - I really have to sort out some of the posts from my Draft folder!

Until then, Happy Crafting, Donna

Getting Sentimental at Here Come The Boys

As the title suggests, we're getting Sentimental over at the Here Come The Boys Challenge... well not really "sentimental", but the challenge this time is to use Sentiments Only; that's right NO IMAGES aaahhhhh!  I thought it was a challenge too far, as I love to colour my images :-) but once I started I actually thought of a few ideas where a sentiment alone is  perfect - especially for a masculine card, which obviously we're all about at Here Come The BOYS!!

Of course the first trick is to find a great sentiment... this gorgeous one came from Create With TLC, as do so many of my favourite sentiments.  This is from the Awesomeness Word Art collection and you can get yours here.  That Craft Place are having a Sentiment challenge too, so I'm entering there.
This is a smaller than usual (for me) card, it's A6, or 6" x 4"and it's Kraft.  
I printed the sentiment BIG (I love digis, scaling is one of their many features!) then used a Sakura glaze pen (that I've had in my stash for YEARS and never found a use for) to go over some of the words to give them emphasis.  It's hard to photograph, but looks really effective in real life - it looks embossed, but was really easy to do, I wasn't particularly careful either, lol.
I distressed the edges with various coloured ink to match the background paper, which is from Die Cuts With a View's Far East mat stack (I don't know if it's still available, I've had that years too!)  Stampin' for the Weekend and 
My Mums Craft Shop have Autumn Colours challenges so I'm entering those.  
I matted it on to some pearl/metallic green cardstock from my stash then added the eyelets to give it a sort of Poster look.  I used my had-to-have Cropadile (eyelet setter), for only the second time ever! I was going for a vintage/shabby chic feel, to suit the style of the sentiment, but when I really look at it the sentiment is more Art Deco, oh well, I'm still going to enter the Vintage challenges at Charisma Cardz, The Crazy Challenge and Bunny Zoes Crafts.  This card is pretty much devoid of embellishments, I don't know if it fits the Totally Papercrafts CAS challenge, I'll enter but will understand if it's deemed inappropriate :-)
The ribbon is from my stash as well, I love it for "manly" cards :-) 
I used the same layout on the inside of the card, I didn't have another sheet of the paper I'd used on the front so I inked up another sheet from the pad to tone it down, the jotting panel was a scrap of heavily textured paper I found in my White Scraps folder... I have no idea where it's from, which is a shame as I love it - especially for vintage/shabby chic cards. Through the Craftroom Door and Fab'n'funky Challenges have Anything  Goes challenges running, so I'm entering there.
That's it for today's card, pop over to the Here Come The Boys blog and see what a Sentimental lot we are, lol.  I hope you get a chance to enter the challenge, it's really not as hard as you think, and it does eliminate that age old problem of finding a suitable image for a masculine card!!
I just thought I'd give a quick update on my son Matt; he is back at work, he has a slight limp and still has a dull ache in his (missing!) toes... this could apparently go on for up to a year, as can the swelling that plagues him after a long day on his feet.  All in all though, he is in a much better place than he was a few months ago, he has decided that prosthetic toes (at $16,000 none of which is covered by his health insurance) are not on the agenda - if we win Lotto that may change, lol.  The babies are growing fast, it keeps his mind focused elsewhere than his foot, so that's a good thing; Nathan has cut two teeth this week, is crawling everywhere in a commando style, Emily hasn't quite mastered that - but she can get herself from laying to sitting which she does to watch Nathan get himself into all sorts of strife, lol. I'll post a couple of pics next time :-)
I'll be back in a few days, until then Happy Crafting, Donna

Father's Day... Finally!

First of all I'd like to say a quick hello to my new Followers and my old, no wait a minute, that doesn't sound right... my Loyal Followers, that's better!  I finally got around to dragging one of my cards out of my "ready to blog" folder and actually BLOGGING it, lol.  I've got another ten at least sitting there twiddling their, whatever they twiddle!!  For today, it's the card I made for my Dad for Father's Day (which was the first week in September, where did that time go??!!)

I made an easel card... I love easel cards and so does my dad ("Right clever that is... ", he's Welsh - well Australian now, but if you're born Welsh... you can take a boy out of the valleys but you can't... and so on, lol)  The Paper Shelter has For Someone Special for their challenge, Dad is, I'm in :-) Cuttin' and Stampin' has Anything Goes with a Family Twist so I'm in there too.
The cute image is from Di's Digi Downloads, this is Henry's Hazy Days, I used it as a tongue in cheek reference to the fact that my Dad, despite being 84 and long since retired is just about NEVER "allowed" to kick back like this - courtesy of my 83 year old hyper active Mother :-)  She is convinced that it's what keeps him going - constant activity mainly in the garden (they have a large garden and only got a lawn mowing contractor this year when Dad couldn't start the petrol mower any more, he tried an electric mower, hated it, tried another smaller petrol mower, couldn't start that - gave in!!  Two grandsons each now have a shiny near new mower of their very own, lol. 
I coloured the image with Prismacolor pencils, it gives such a lovely soft finish.  The papers are from Kaisercraft's Save the Date pad, the brown and blue matting are American Crafts.  As You Like It has What's your favourite; Spots or Stripes, I love both, but tend to use stripes more on men's cards, don't ask me why!
I used some of the cazillion gold border stickers (peel offs) I have in my stash for around the image and sentiment panels, as well as on the edge of the brown strip punched with a punch my Mum and Dad brought back from their last trip to Malaysia (they go at least once a year, stay at the same hotel as they have since 1989 - they are great friends of the staff there, attending one wedding and at least one christening over the years, I think it's cute!) 
The blue stitched ribbon is from my stash, as is the Covent Garden Card Candi and the tiny gold flat back pearls. Digi Makeover has Stitching for their challenge so I'm entering there.
The sentiment is/was a freebie from Create with TLC - I added "It's Father's Day".  I used Nestabilities Large Scalloped Squares to cut the mats for the image and sentiment (there's one "inside" for the jotting panel too, but I can't find a photo of the inside) Crafty Creations and Addicted to Stamps both have Punches and Dies challenges so I'm entering them, Pile It On has Show Us Your Tools, apart from my paper trimmer, corner punch (used here on the image and sentiment panel) and ATG (I LOOOOOOVVVVE this tool, I don't know how I applied glue before I had it!) the tool I use on almost every card is my Cuttlebug - so that's me showing my tools :-)

Love to Scrap, Make It Monday, Fab'n'funky Challenges, Whimsy Inspirations Challenge, Card Mania Challenges and Through the Craftroom Door all have Anything Goes challenges so I'm entering there.

Anyway, sorry this was a bit of a ramble, and not just showing my card.  I have a DT card to show on Sunday, so I'll be back then - and I'll try to be succinct.... stop laughing I CAN do short posts, really, I CAN... well I can TRY :-)  Until then, Happy Crafting, Donna

Get Girly

I'm here today with my DT card for Di's Digs Challenge, this time around we want to see your "Girly Creations". 

The oh-so-cute image I've used is Teddy Love, available here, the stool is from Little Miss Muffet Stamps - I love how you can merge digis so easily to make whole new scenes.  Divas by Design want us to Use a Digi - I've used two, I'm in!  I've coloured mainly with Prismacolor pencils, which I don't do very often because it takes me a bit longer than with Copics... I don't spend as much time "tidying up" the edges with pencil  though, and I do love the soft effect it gives.
I've followed the sketch at Sweet Sketch Wednesday this time, I like a nice sketch :-)  The papers are from Kaisercraft's Sweet Nothings pad, the image matting is actually plum pink embossed card distressed with brown ink - the card base and rest of the matting is Kraft, also distressed to soften the look. Crazy 4 Challenges wants us to Frame It - I hope this is "framed" enough. 
I aged the lace, which is from my stash, with the ink and added some string pearls I've had in my stash for ages.  
The swirl of gold flatback 'pearls' (from Bunny Zoe Crafts) took me ages; I'm sure there's a more efficient way to add them than how I did it, lol.  There are four layers separated by foam dots on this card, getting those tiny pearls to sit on the edge of one layer was a trick I can tell ya! Moving Along With The Times wants to see Pearly, Swirly & Girly - tick, tick, tick, I'm in,  Aud Sentiments has Feminine, I'm in there too and Digi Makeover hasLots of Layers so in there too.
I made the pin up using beads from my stash.  Actually the coloured beads (which are so lovely and iridescent IRL) are from a necklace my Mum brought back from Malaysia; she knew I wouldn't get much use out of it as a necklace but MAN there were a lot of beads on it :-)) A Little Bit Crafty wants to see Sparkle and Shine so I'm entering there and Delightful Challenges has All That Glitters, so in there as well.
The flourish is Memory Box's Corner Bow Die cut in pieces - I forgot to distress it first, but it still looks okay I think.   I made the sentiment on the computer, as usual you'll find it on my Freebies page if you're interested - I did get the idea from one of TLC's fabulous freebies, but wanted to use a more "girly" font, so thanks anyway Paulette :-)
The inside of the card was finished to compliment the front, more or less following the same layout, papers and embellies.

Bearly Mine Challenges, Whimsy Inspirations Challenge,Catch The Bug, Through the Craftroom Door, Papertake Weekly and Card Mania Challenges all have Anything Goes challenges so I'm entering them all.

That's about it for today, pop over to the Di's Digis Challenge blog and check out the awesome makes by the rest of the DT.  I hope you get a chance to enter the challenge too - there's a great prize from Digi Darla (and an extra draw if you use one of Di's fab digis), such an easy challenge...what are you waiting for? lol 
I really will have to get some of the cards I've made out of my Drafts folder and on to my blog - it seems to get harder to find the time than ever!
I'll be back - hopefully in a few days; until then, Happy Crafting, Donna

Off Yer Rocker!

The new challenge starting today over at Here Come The Boys is going to set you Off Yer Rocker... or maybe not; we just want to see some Rocker Cards.  I'd never made one before, but as you can see, once I started I was on a Roll (see what I did there? roll... rock and roll d'ya get it? do ya??) sorry, bit carried away!)  and made two

The idea for the first one just popped into my head... I thought the cute baby image from Pink Gem was perfect for a rocking cradle... well it was once I cut the wheels off the pram, lol.  Hobbycutz has Inspired by a Song as their challenge theme, how about Rock a Bye Baby?

I made a semicircle (well technically I made a circle, then folded it in half, lol) then drew the rockers and struts onto the bottom edge; I stuck the body of the cradle on (with the top half protruding above the fold) then cut the unwanted part of the bottom edge away... I actually had to "offset" the cradle as it had more weight toward the back and didn't sit level, easily solved though. Sweet Stampin' wants to see Shaped Cards, I'm in, and Crafty Creations want you to Make It Yourself, so I'm in there too.

I coloured the image with Prismacolor pencils as I didn't want the colouring to show through... then I ended up covering the entire back of the card in patterned paper anyway, duh!  No patterned paper on the front though so I'm entering Moving Along With The Times No Designer Paper challenge.  I'm entering Paper Creator Crafts Pink or Blue challenge too - blue of course, not pink :-) The Crazy Challenge has B is for... in this case B is for Baby Boy and Blue.  Colour Me Copic has Dudes, Guy, Masculine for their theme so I'm in there too. The ric rac is from my stash as are the little metallic rhinestones in the centre of the stars.

My second card is another addition to my stash for Christmas.  I thought the Bugaboo image Christmas Brat Boy Elf would look good sitting on a little rocking ledge - another thing I love about digis... I printed him up pretty big so he was easy to cut around :-) I coloured with Copics and covered the back with red paper so the card looks okay from both sides.  I made the ledge stand out from the front of the card and made a gusset for him to sit on (so you can't see down between the elf and the card) it looks really effective IRL but was hard to photograph.  

The papers are scraps from a Kaisercraft pad, I don't know which one(s?) as they were in my Christmas scraps folder.  Digi Makeover want you to Use Your Scraps so I'm entering there.  Gem of a Challenge, Allsorts Challenges, Stamping Sensations, Crafty Calendar and Great Impressions all have Christmas challenges so I'm entering them all :-)  The sentiment is from an ancient pad of el cheapo stickers in my stash... I mounted it on some gold foil card - it improved it a bit, Aud Sentiments wants to see a Christmas Sentiment, I'm in. I added some rhinestones to some of the little ornaments and some gold border stickers around the edge of the green and that was it. 

My Rocking Card doing what it should... Rocking!!

Through the Craftroom Door, Simon Says Challenge, Paper Crafting Journey and Catch The Bug all have Anything Goes challenges so I'm entering them.
That's it for today, pop over to the Here Come The Boys Blog and check out the rest of the team's inspiration.... it really ROCKS!!  I did it again, rofl!! 
I hope you get a chance to join in the challenge, it really is EASY to make a rocker card.  There's a great prize this time around - from the fabulous Bugaboo :-)
Until next time, Happy Crafting, Donna