Sunday, May 29, 2011

A card for Deanna

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I was supposed to mail a Christmas present to my friend in Canada. Given it's now May, I thought I had better get my butt into gear and post it. My excuse for the delay, she needs a handmade card and I needed to make one that was good enough. It's taken me until May to get good enough. :)

So here it is, a card for Deanna (Deanna, if you read my blog look away now!).


This is my brand new La-La Land Crafts stamp and I absolutely adore her. I have been looking forward to using these darling pink and white gingham buttons, and lace is now my favourite embellishment. This paper is some of my favourite - It's making an appearance for the second week in a row.

This card is entered into the following challenges:
Totally Papercrafts - Pink & Girly
Stamp Something - Something Sentimental

Sunday, May 22, 2011

A card for Nan

Sadly last weekend my very elderly Nan had a fall. She lay unconscious in her house alone until, prompted by the fact she did not answer the phone, my Dad drove to her house and found her. She has fractured her pelvis, is dazed and confused and was suffering some hypothermia after being on the cold floor overnight.

Nan has always been fiercely determined to stay at home until she died, and being 90 years of age she's done very well so far, but this is the second fall she's had so there are grave doubts that she will be allowed to return home after she recovers.

I saw her in hospital today, she is looking much better and was less confused than she has been all week. Fingers crossed she continues to recover well. Tomorrow we find out where she will be moved to for her rehabilitation.

I made this little Get Well card to take to her today. As a typical Nan, she's very proud of my card making efforts. :)

I've entered this card into the following challenges:
Stamp With Fun - Green/Pink
Easy Craft Projects- Pretty pastels




Saturday, May 21, 2011

What a week!

I made it! A race to the finish but my new TVC will be on air this Sunday. All eyes peeled for 'the lonely boat' ad - a 30 sec Gravox TVC - this Sunday. Voiceover was recorded yesterday morning, colour grading completed by lunchtime, a last minute substantiation letter to CAD - and we were done. Phew!

I can't wait to see this one on the small screen. I am so proud of it. Given the multitude of food ads on TV every day, the challenge was to get cut-through in a cluttered environment. I think the creative is brilliant (not often I am so excited when an agency presents a creative concept) and the music is fantastic. You may not squeal with excitement when you see it like I will, but hopefully you'll notice it!  Now let's just hope it does great things for the sales of Gravox.

So last night, too keyed up to sleep after such a huge day, I visited my favourite Challenge blog - The Lollipop Ladies- and took a look at their latest challenge. The inspiration was a photo of a bowl of fruit salad.

I had been looking for a chance to use my little fox stamp again, and to colour him with my orange copics (I find it difficult to use orange on anything else!) so the rockmelon in the pic inspired me. I love the orange and green combination of the rockmelon and kiwi fruit together, so here's my answer to the challenge -


I added the yellow pearl brads to the flowers to match the banana. An additional component of the challenge was 'round' or 'square' - and as you can see I went square.

I tried something a little different for this card - I coloured my Y04 onto an acrylic block and then used a babywipe to pick up the colour. I then swiped the babywipe across the sentiment, taking it from bright white so a lovely subtle orange. I then coloured the edges with Y04 and Y07, two of the colours used in the fox. I think it adds a bit more to the card than leaving it plain white although I will have to work on drawing straighter lines freehand.

Happy weekend everyone. :)

Friday, May 20, 2011

Linda's Card

Earlier this month was Linda's birthday. I can't believe that Lin and I have been friends for over 25 years - it hardly seems possible we met in Year 7 when we were only 11 years old. In that first year of High School we struck up a friendship that has stood the test of time. I can not only say that Lin is one of my oldest friends, I can truly say she is one of the best - and I think that says a lot after all this time.

Our lives are really different now - Lin is a Mum to two gorgeous girls, and I am childfree - we live in different states.. but this friendship survives, actually thrives, because it's real. In a time when 'friends' are counted by the hundreds on Facebook - I'm happy to say there are people like Lin in my life. A true friend.

This is the card I made for her.


Sunday, May 15, 2011

Mother's Day Card

I am sure everyone is thinking I need to start using another stamp. This CC Design stamp had a real work-out for Mother's Day - I made three cards using her. It's too hard to resist the dressing gown and slippers in this image for the official day Mums are supposed to be spoilt - after all, hanging out in your pyjamas is the height of luxury!

This was the card I made for my own special Mum, I didn't get a chance to photograph the others as I was hurrying to get them into the mail.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Josh's card

I went on a card making frenzy this week - 4 Mother's Day cards, two birthday cards and an anniversary card. Sadly I was in such a rush to mail the cards before they all needed to arrive, I forgot to photograph all but the one I finished last night - A card for Josh.

This was my first boy's card. As you can see, Josh is 37 this week, but he's still as big a kid as me, so the kiddy pic is appropriate. :)

I think that now my copic collection is growing, I should start recording which I use on each card.
The little lion was coloured with E35, E31, E25, box was coloured with B00 and B02, stars and ribbon in Y02. I learnt a trick last week that I used on the wedding dress on my previous card and the tissue paper on this one. Using the B00 I make an outline and then use the colourless blender over the blue to soften and blur. It makes the line so much softer and more subtle.

This little guy is entered into the following challenges this week:
My Partner in Crafting Crime - Incorporate numbers
Crafts and Me - Swirls


Sunday, May 1, 2011

Papercraft Festival & A Wedding Card

The Papercraft Festival. Who knew? Thanks to one of my best mates Linda  - who has thrown herself into card making in a far more technical way and does a LOT more than just colour in! - yesterday was my first excursion to a 'craft' show. Lin came up from Canberra Friday night, and Saturday morning we were off to Canterbury Racecourse to spend far more money than we ever anticipated.

As usual I have thrown myself into this hobby with wild abandon - and simply have to have all the necessary tools and fun gadgets that go with it. This is very typical of me, I am the person that owns an indoor climbing harness and who then went twice.

Anyway, I bought stamps, ink, paper, dies, embossing folders.. and of course then stopped to show Lin my local crafty shops and bought even more there. But now I am equipped!

Below is my first card using my new stuff. This card has die cutting, embossing, and the colouring of a new CC Design stamp all courtesy of my visit to the Papercraft Fair. I even did my first layering of the image with the flowers.


Lin and I had a great weekend, spending Friday night watching the Royal Wedding, drinking champagne and talking card making. The wedding of Wills & Kate seems to have sparked a bunch of challenges so my little wedding card is entered into the following challenges:

Stamping Vacation Occasion Oasis Wedding Challenge
Fab n Funky Callenges Here Comes The Bride
Stampin for the Weekend Wedding Challenge