Swanlady Impressions

Double Whammy & Hero Arts Challenge

2012-02-17T17:53:00.003+04:00

The first cyclone went passed us last week, but is coming back to bite us! So we may have a double whammy this weekend. Why does it always have to be on a weekend?!

Just got my prize from Hero Arts, so had to play with my new toys. And what better inspiration, than to go for this month's Hero Arts Challenge - Die cutting technique / Hello or Friend theme and/or the following sketch :

So here's my first take, using the first sketch :

The dot,(my island) is made with enamel accents.

February Card Chain & OLW78

2012-02-13T00:33:00.001+04:00

I love the colours of the February Card Chain Challenge at Lily Pad.

And I decided to follow their sketch too :

Using a wonderful Hero Arts sentiment, and my new stamps from Stampin' Up florals and bracket set.

Since the stamps have lots of dots around and in, as well as the fact that I doodled white dots on the sentiment, and brown ones here and there, I can submit it to Susan's OLW78 Challenge too!

OLW78 - Take 3

2012-02-13T00:23:00.002+04:00

Can't stop now! There are just so many options for Susan's OLW78 Challenge which is to use MORE THAN 5 CIRCLES or dots.

There are no dots on the Inkadinkado Swan stamp, but I added plenty of black doodle dots. I would have loved to have put 3 green pearls instead of the 3 stamped dots, but I prefer keeping bookmarks flat.

OLW78 - Circles Take 2 & Cyclones

2012-02-13T00:17:00.000+04:00

Having such fun with Susan's OLW78 Challenge which is to use MORE THAN 5 CIRCLES or dots.

And I had to stay indoors today as we were in a class 3 cyclone alert. I'm on that little dot of and island on the edge of the cloud band. It was quite a tame one so no major damage, and I was so happy to see that my mangos and avocados survived the winds!

I wanted to use the strip of dots from Club Scrap, and the sentiment from Hero Arts. Added more doodles too.

OLW78 Circles, Circles Everywhere

2012-02-13T00:08:00.000+04:00

I thought I'd play along with Susan's OLW78 Challenge which is to use MORE THAN 5 CIRCLES or dots. When I looked at my stamps I could not believe how many I had with circles and dots. I could play with this challenge for weeks, never mind days! I just love it.

"Using five or more circles on a card isn't that challenging, so the real challenge here is that you are NOT allowed to pop punched or die-cut circles on your one-layer card...that's adding a layer!!! Of course you CAN punch/die-cut a circle out of the front of your card. That's not adding a layer."

Here's my first one using Hero Arts stamps of a row of dots, the sun and the sentiment. I also doodled black dots too.

Late Again!

2012-02-09T10:03:00.001+04:00

I think I'm living in a dream world. I so wanted to play with the colours of Play Date Cafe Challenge, but I missed the deadline!

Here's my take anyway

I just love these little girls from Lily of the Valley stamps. Colouring with Copics.

I think I need to get this stamp from Hampton Art . . .

Black, White and One Colour

2012-02-08T02:43:00.000+04:00

I know I spotted a black, white and one colour challenge . . . but just cannot find it anywhere! I was asked to make a masculine card, and thought this would fit the bill.

But I was told "Plainer - not with the rings!" So I used paper from the K & Company Roam 6" paper pack, and mounted my birthday message on foam dots with 2 brads. Whew! Passed the test.

Scramble and Palette Challenge

2012-02-05T17:26:00.000+04:00

Well I've been MIA since Christmas due to . . .
. . . holidays at the beach
. . . holidays with the family
. . . a week enjoying African wildlife
. . . time with my mother
. . . getting back to the real world!

Lucky me!

I came back to 428 unread blog posts . . . can't catch up with that many, so just dived in from the current ones. When I spotted the Hero Arts flickr group card scramble for last night, I just had to play despite my studio still being in "Santa workshop" state since Christmas.

The theme was "hearts". But not just stamped ones.

As soon as I saw hearts, I thought about the Kathy's Lily Pad Palette Challenge which is :

Now this is not a colour combo that I would have come up with myself. So thank you Kathy for helping me create this :

and this

Not the best photos, but that's what happens in a scramble! I love them!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T00:00:00.000+04:00

Merry Christmas to you all! May you receive the gifts of love, joy and peace.

And my last 3D star of the year goes on top of the tree.

Advent 24

2011-12-24T00:00:00.000+04:00

Twas the night before Christmas . . .

Silent night, Holy night!

Advent 23 - Stars

2011-12-23T00:00:00.000+04:00

Today's message on the back is "Go outside and look at the stars".

Advent 22 - Peace

2011-12-22T00:00:00.000+04:00

Wishing you all peace!

Advent 21

2011-12-21T00:00:00.000+04:00

Today the tree has only 4 spots left to go.

This card I mixed the Hero Arts stamp with a couple of the stickers from the Christmas set.

Guest Designer at Lily Pad

2011-12-20T18:49:00.000+04:00

I'm so happy to have the opportunity to be a guest designer at Lily Pad today. I made a number of cards, varying techniques with the same stamp, and shapes with the same stamp, plus a fun bonus card.

Here's a sneak peak . . .

Click here to go look!

And if you're just arrived for the first time, I'm busy with my advent calendar starting here.

Advent 20 - An angel.

2011-12-20T00:00:00.000+04:00

Only 5 days to go! Hallelujah!
The felt angel is from Hero Arts.

Advent 19

2011-12-19T00:00:00.000+04:00

Still Christmas shopping today !

Baubles stamp and punch from Stampin' Up.

Advent 18 - Glittery Trees

2011-12-18T00:00:00.000+04:00

Our family will all be under the same roof today! Wonderful.

I came across these glittery trees at my local tiny "Rayon D'Or" (Golden Ray) shop. Three sweet, helpful sisters run the shop where I find little treasures like these, and lots of ribbon!

Advent 17

2011-12-17T00:00:00.000+04:00

Playing catch-up with my kids today . . . talking, eating litchis off the tree in the garden, "gateau piment" at 4pm (Isn't it amazing how our sense of home is so linked to our food!), a visit to Meme. The precious moments of the Christmas season.

Today I used a Hero Arts Poinsettia with love sticker. A row of gold Liquid Pearls across the top. Loved getting the tip of tapping the card to "flatten" the points - you can see that I forgot to do the ones at the bottom of the card.

Advent 16 - Starry Journey

2011-12-16T00:00:00.000+04:00

One more sleep and I get my eldest daughter back! She'll need defrosting coming from Scotland.

Today I'm using a stamp that must be close on 16 years old . . . the Mary on Donkey led by Joseph silhouette from Stamp Africa! The journey is being made!

Amazing Stamp cutouts

2011-12-15T03:43:00.004+04:00

I wanted to make another cutout tab card, but wanted to try with different stamps. I started with this one - the dogwood from Club Scrap.

It's lovely, but to cut out the tab was very difficult and I had to mount an extra flower to cover some rough edges. Then I had a lightbulb moment . . . hey - I have the new Hero Arts Antique Flowers and Butterflies stamp and die cut set. That will cut it out for me! Like butter! So crisp and clean.

So much fun, I had to make a set

I coloured them with Prisma crayons.
The set then needed a folder so that I could give it as a gift.

Advent 15

2011-12-15T00:00:00.000+04:00

We're having our book club Christmas dinner tonight . . . looking forward to the fun, laughter, sharing and feasting!

Today I used the Hero Arts felt holly, trimming a punched out circle. The gold ribbon is bought locally and is gorgeous - has a great shimmer to it!

OLW73 Peace

2011-12-14T14:26:00.000+04:00

Loved the theme of peace for this week's OLW73 challenge! And I didn't want to do another Christmas card, so I used my Inkadinkado inchie set, which also came with the sentiments.

Advent 14 - Peace

2011-12-14T00:00:00.000+04:00

I am just so thankful for the deluge yesterday . . . we are still under serious water restrictions. My garden is smiling. It came with thunder and lightening and a resultant 5 hour power failure, but that is a small price to pay!

I have always loved this dove from Hero Arts. I stamped on blue cardstock and coloured with Prisma White. Used Colorbox baby blue to stamp the Peace so that it was soft and peaceful.

Advent 13 and tropical snow puffs

2011-12-13T00:00:00.000+04:00

More tropical alternatives . . . no snow, but white puffs of bouganvillas!

And Hero Arts felt JOY for today, with the snowflake sticker!

Advent 12

2011-12-12T00:00:00.000+04:00

Almost halfway!

I love this Reindeer stamp from Hero Arts. And adding stickles to the flourishes and antlers!

Advent 11

2011-12-11T00:00:00.000+04:00

Each card for the Advent tree has a note on the back, with the deed of the day. Today's is "Pray for a friend who lives far away".

In my mail box this morning, was this wonderful link from Kyria about The Twelve Prayers of Christmas. We can write out prayers and present them as gifts. It's struck a chord in me.

Advent 10 and Baubles

2011-12-10T12:09:00.001+04:00

I have been making Christmas Baubles this past week. I started with patterned paper, then one night while lying in bed, I had this picture of Shari Carroll's wonderful button Christmas tree in neutral shades, floating in my head. Anyone else design while in bed?

So I thought, why not stamp 5 different designs in neutral brown! Using 4 of Hero Arts stamps and one from South Africa and Hero Arts Soft Brown shadow ink, I came up with this:

Sorry I couldn't get a shot of the entire bauble hanging - my arms weren't long enough to get far back enough!

And my advent card for today . . .

Advent 9

2011-12-09T19:07:00.001+04:00

I had such a wonderful day today. Got so much accomplished on my to-do list. Sunshine and beauty around. Here's our red flowers for Christmas . . . Amaryllis . . . no poinsettias in this heat!

Paper piecing for the tree, with distress background spritzed with perfect pearls and stamped and embossed stars.

Advent : Days 1 to 8

2011-12-09T01:34:00.001+04:00

This has been a long time in the coming . . .
. . . started last year, but never completed.

But now we go through the days . . .
. . . counting, preparing, waiting
for the coming of a baby,
a king,
the greatest gift.

I'm late in posting, so it's a catch up of 8 days.

After making an Advent set for my mother-in-love 2 years ago, I wanted one for myself. (In fact, that was my first blog post! See here for the completed one) This time I thought I would change from the rectangle to making a tree.

When I made the tree, starting at the top with one card space, I added one card to each row, so in the end there are 28 card spaces. This works out great as Advent usually runs from the 4th Sunday before Christmas, making it anywhere between 22 - 28 days.

As the Christmas Countdown paper pack (Stampin Up) only had 25 days, I created 3 cards with no numbers :

. . . Countdown
. . . Rejoice
and
. . . Christmas - What's it all about

To make up the cards, I used all and any of my Christmas stash from the Countdown pack, Christmas stamps from all different suppliers (Hero Arts, Inkadinkado, Club Scrap, Biblical Impressions, Embossing Arts & Co, Clarity Stamps, amongst others), distress inks, diecuts (Fabscraps and local craft shops), Stickles, Liquid Pearls, Glossy Accents, Poinsettia flowers (Hero Arts and others), pearls and gems and ribbons. I had got this far last year, so you may have seen these before.

I just had to get that reindeer - dog stamp as it reminded me of my dog, Snoopy. It's coloured to match his colouring. He keeps us entertained by his antics and crazy ways of sleeping.

I will be posting a new Advent card each day.

Butterfly Medallion

2011-12-05T15:30:00.001+04:00

The Moxie Fab World Medallion challenge got me wanting to make one of these butterfly medallions. I know it's not an award medallion, but I'm just mad about butterflies. The layout was inspired by card of the December muse, Amy Sheffer, at the Case Study #68 Challenge . . . and she also had butterflies!

Anything goes!

2011-12-01T22:01:00.001+04:00

For the Simon Says "Anything Goes" and Star challenge, you get more of the 3D star. Can't get enough of it! Stamped the Hero Arts magical background with Versamark ink and dry brushed Gold Perfect Pearls. I used the new Hero Arts Blush dots and gems for bling - and entered the Bit of Bling at Less is More too.

Lost Challenges

2011-12-01T21:32:00.001+04:00

I saw a couple of sketch challenges which appealed to me, and kept the sites online, but then my system froze so I had to reboot. Now for the life of me I can't find them, but here are my creations... (if anyone can spot the sketch, I would love for you to tell me!)
I know this first one is a mirror image of the sketch - the squares were on the right. I used the punch out piece from Virginia's card - just could not bring myself to throw it away!

The second also uses the punched out piece from another creation. The sketch had the sentiment in the circle.

PS. Thanks to Tineke, I've discovered that this was for the Clean & Simple 168 challenge. Thanks Tineke!

Happy birthday Virginia

2011-11-30T17:34:00.001+04:00

Virginia . . . here's to your big

I wanted to make something special for you, to it had to have . . .
. . . some technique (resist emboss)
. . . with some shimmer (misted with Gold Perfect Pearls)
. . . dimension &
. . . ribbon to finish it!

May you have simply the most wonderful celebration!

Thank you for your encouragement (all those comments!), inspiration, enthusiasm and cheerfulness. You have been a blessing to so many!

Silhouette Angels

2011-11-25T02:06:00.001+04:00

Borrowed these angels while stamping with a friend today - sorry I don't remember which company they belong to.

Originally I wanted to just a one layer card so I created a oval mask and distressed it with Tumbled Glass, Broken China and Faded Jeans. Stamped the angels, only to discover I had the card upside down! So had to resort to cutting out the oval, and mounted it on foam dots. The background is one of my favourites at the moment .. . Magical Background from Hero Arts.

There's always a way to save a stamped image!

Inspired by Maile Belles

2011-11-25T01:21:00.001+04:00

I love this card of Maile Belles with the two different colour strips of cardstock.

When I made mine, I was doing it from memory . . . a very faulty one at that, as I still haven't organised internet connection in my studio. Got to get myself into gear! So I really only remembered the 2 colour matting. I don't have any Papertrey stamps YET, but hopefully someday. Love my Hero Arts too, and used 2 new sets, So Sorry and With Sympathy.

Thought the sentiment might be too much in the middle, so did another, using the thirds rule.

Which do you prefer?

Silhouette Cards

2011-11-25T01:11:00.001+04:00

I was very taken by the silhouette challenge at Less is More.

I was given these nativity cutouts (done on the Silhouette machine) by a crafty friend, Marie-Françoise. Started with using just 2 Distress Inks to create the background.

Decided it needed a bit more depth to make the white "halo" around the crib stand out more. Changed the sentiment to a Stampin' Up one.

But then I forgot to put my mask down, so had to make one more!

Bookmark Card

2011-11-20T23:51:00.001+04:00

I remember seeing brown snowflakes on someone's blog and thinking that it was something I would have never considered. Well, didn't quite get brown snowflakes, but kept the colours to brown and white.

The background was created by inking up the embossing folder with Hero Arts Soft Brown Ink then passing it through the machine. The bookmark images were stamped using Colorbox Frost white embossed with Icicle embossing powder. Gives a lovely shimmer.

More 3D stars

2011-11-20T20:20:00.001+04:00

A simple card that is easily be produced . . . stamp and emboss the stars, cover with white Distress Stains, mount on patterened paper, stamp the sentiment and tie a bow!

A Sketch and Colour Challenge

2011-11-20T20:07:00.001+04:00

I used the sketch from the Holiday Card Boot Camp, with the colour challenge of Hero Arts.

I created the blue paper with Distress Inks and Perfect pearls, the pink is patterned paper, and the green is Club Scrap card stock with a lovely texture. Diamond distress stickles on the stars, and pink bling on the snowflakes. The Dot PP is from My Minds Eye.

Here, you can see the shimmer :

And here the detail :

More Stars and tags

2011-11-20T19:15:00.001+04:00

I truly love this 3D star from the Holiday Card Boot Camp (thank you Jennifer!). Can't get enough of it, so I'm sorry but you're going to see more of it!

Since the star is so 3D, I thought it would well with the tag which is mounted on foam dots! To create the swirl I used the swirly reindeer horns from the Hero Arts Stamp CL469, which is in the same set as the star with the swirls.

Christmas Package

2011-11-20T19:01:00.001+04:00

I had made boxes with this kind of fold before, but it had a bottom and a lid, so needing 2 squares. This origami box makes the one square into a box. Just love it.

Had to try stamping with the white Distress Stains. Lovely effect.

Star Tag

2011-11-14T03:10:00.001+04:00

Love the 3D star from Holiday Card Boot Camp. Also entering the CAS-ual Friday tag challenge.

Sorry for lack of details . . . posting at 2:30am!

Another HCBC inspiration

2011-11-14T03:02:00.001+04:00

Inspired by Jennifer's layout, but using emboss resist with distress stains and gold perfect pearls instead of faux letterpress technique . . .

and a close up . . . stamped a panel of writing in Colorbox white on the inside . . .

Newsletter in Christmas Cards

2011-11-14T02:54:00.001+04:00

Inspired by the Holiday Card Boot Camp . . . this shows the details of the embossing . . .

and this show the shimmer . . . the snowflakes are embossed with iridescent embossing powders, and the thread has silver flecks . . .

QUICK CARD

2011-11-14T02:26:00.001+04:00

Quick card for Christmas . . . inspired by Maile Belles at Holiday Card Boot Camp . . .

Photo Christmas Card

2011-11-08T18:24:00.000+04:00

While walking up to the highest point of Mauritius, I found these berries. I guess they are the closest we get to holly so had to take a photo and make a photo card. One to send to my fellow trekkers.

TWO Christmas giveaways

2011-11-05T20:47:00.003+04:00

Virginie from art scrap & more has got 2 gorgeous Christmas giveaways . . .
. . . one for card lovers
. . . and one mini-album!

Go give yourself a chance to win one!

Clean & Simple 164

2011-11-02T23:37:00.000+04:00

Playing along at Clean & Simple challenge 164. I like to try as use my stamps in as many ways as possible, so decided to cut the Silhouette Meadow flowers image in a circle for a change. Added some lovely embossed Stampin' Up die-cut butterflies.

The sketch was

InLinkz.com

CAS-ual Fridays CFC26

2011-11-02T23:24:00.002+04:00

Have just loved playing with my new Distress Stains. Made many backgrounds with this new Hero Arts stamp playing with different colour combinations of the distress stains.

Got to start using them, so for CAS-ual Fridays CFC26 challenge, I came up with this card :

from their sketch

InLinkz.com

Christmas Bauble

2011-10-27T13:01:00.001+04:00

I've always wanted to try one of these . . . and I had some Fabscraps left overs from my Christmas zigzag book so a perfect opportunity. But having finished one (the smaller one) I decided it needed a larger one, so had to break out more paper . . . lucky I still had some one hand.

Thought beads were a sparkly alternative to bows.

Polka Dots - week 38

2011-10-24T18:17:00.000+04:00

Simply less is more is having a polka dot week. Got to love it!

I spotted my May Arts ribbon sitting on the shelf begging to be used for this! And as I'd been playing with my Stampin' Up butterflies, I knew one was dotty.

and a close-up

Clean&Simple FTL163 - Take 4

2011-10-24T18:08:00.000+04:00

On a roll with the sketch at clean and simple stamping:

While I was playing with my Distress Stains, I saw that you could make a real big splatter!

Such fun . . . playing with abandon! Some of my favourite distress colours : tumbled glass, crushed olive and faded jeans. I printed the sentiment as I didn't have the stamp.

Clean&Simple FTL163 - Take 3

2011-10-24T17:59:00.001+04:00

Just loved this sketch at clean and simple stamping, so just kept playing:

A simplier version of the buttefly . . . counting the 2 gems as the other 2 items.

Clean&Simple FTL163 - Take 2

2011-10-24T17:54:00.000+04:00

Just loved this sketch at clean and simple stamping, I had to keep playing:

I turned it on it's side, and got :

Clean&Simple FTL163 - Take 1

2011-10-24T17:39:00.001+04:00

Just loved this sketch at clean and simple stamping:

I had been playing around with my new Distress Stains and my new Hero Arts Flower Dot Pattern stamp, so I had sheets of it around. Punched out the butterflies (Stampin' Up) and stamped the sentiment (Stampin' Up).

OLW69 - Stripes

2011-10-24T17:23:00.000+04:00

Love stripes and so took up the OLW (One Layer Wednesday) challenge from Julie at Styles Ink. I knew which stamp I wanted to use . . . but the mojo had different ideas and I came up with this instead.

It is a single candle stamp (so old I can't even remember where it's from - a cling with no details) and the sentiment from 2 different Hero Arts stamps.

MAGENTA Blog Candy

2011-10-18T17:29:00.001+04:00

Magenta is giving some blog candy . . . click here to be in with a chance!

Magenta Sketch

2011-10-17T18:23:00.000+04:00

I have been eyeing the Magenta Sketch for awhile.

Here's my take on it (using 2 of Magenta papers . . . cutting the scrolls). Punched out circles from the actual name place settings and menus in addition to lots of blues and greens.

As I like double page spreads, I did a vertical take on the same layout moving it off-centre.

Getting Triangular!

2011-10-16T14:31:00.001+04:00

My submission for the OLW68 : Get triangular challenge on Susan's Simplicity Blog. This card didn't start out for this challenge. Just stamped the Merry Christmas (à la Susan), coloured it and gave it a shadow but then spotted the bird and added 2 of those! Both are Inkadinkadoo stamps.

So 3 stamped images, 3 blings, and a skewed triangle.

Take two

2011-10-12T23:40:00.001+04:00

More for the combined challenge of CAS-ual Fridays and Play Date Cafe's Operation Julie's Smile.

Take two with my go-to colours, blues and greens and Club Scrap stamps with distress inks . . .

Missed Deadlines . . . but there's new challenges

2011-10-12T23:38:00.000+04:00

I started playing with some of my quote stamps for the OLW67 challenge but I pondered too long and missed the deadline! But then I saw that I could submit for the combined challenge of CAS-ual Fridays and Play Date Cafe's Operation Julie's Smile.

So here's the first card . . .

The missed OLW67 challenge (only ONE layer) of a quote, all stamps from Club Scrap . . .

Quote inspiration for Julie's Smile

2011-10-12T23:23:00.000+04:00

For the combined challenge of CAS-ual Fridays and Play Date Cafe's Operation Julie's Smile. Today, I had the help of my friend, Bronwyn, who has the gift of mixing the right colours, I (I mean she) came up with pinks and oranges, still with Club Scrap Stamps . . .

I love the quote and butterfly from the Unity Stamps, so had to use that too, in pinks and greens for my mother, with the flourish leaves from Club Scrap and tiny flowers from Hero Arts. This one was coloured using Copics so needed to layer it . . .

and in radical purple and orange (thanks again Bronwyn!) using Prismacolour crayons . . .

Hearts

2011-10-12T22:36:00.000+04:00

Been on a roll today . . . 17 cards. Starting with the "Less is More" Week 36 Challenge of one layer CAS hearts. I was inspired by Susan Raihala's cards here and here. Love the few lines of text & keeping it simple . . . and she makes it look easy (which I know from experience that it's not!).

So my first take . . . (which I think is my favourite) uses 2 Hero Arts stamps with script from Club Scrap (only inked about a third of it)

I then thought of my "thinking of you" dictionary definitions by Hero Arts and wanted to try that one too. Needed to add the 2 gems to balance it out a bit.

Lastly, wanted to use the hanging hearts too. Added Martha Stewart sticky ribbon - so easy to use!

Gratitude Challenge

2011-10-05T22:01:00.000+04:00

Thank you Susan from Simplicity who has a wonderful Gratitude Challenge going . . . actually sending cards to those people we would like to thank for their contribution, encouragment, or whatever to our lives.

I've made my list, and here are my first 2 :

Distress inks on quite glossy paper - quite a challenge as it doesn't get absorbed.

Spritzed with perfect pearls - lovely shine to it. And the green background is stamped with HA friend definition, and the blue top part with HA Flower Dot pattern.

And the second is :

Flower is quite an old stamp from Clarity in the UK. Thank You definition from Hero Arts, and the tags from Stampin'Up.

Stamp Storage

2011-10-05T21:14:00.002+04:00

Susan at Simplicity was discussing storage and organisation of stamps.

My wood ones are on thin shelves organised in 5 major areas :
1. kids, people, animals, fairies
2. Christmas
3. Flowers
4. Words
5. Flourishes, scripts, sea and backgrounds

So easy to find things as they each have their place.

People, kids, animals, fairies on the left panel, Christmas on the right :

Flowers :

Words :

Background, flourish, scripts, sea, sports :

My clear and cling collection are not so big, so they are in 2 shoe boxes with divisions : flowers, patterns, mixed messages (words and pictures), words, alphabets and Christmas.

I had started an inventory file, but got too bored stamping them all out . . . I'd rather be creating. So I stopped.

And I'm happy.

Tags CAS

2011-09-27T11:35:00.000+04:00

I had my eye on the new Hero Arts Christmas tags. And decided they were just the thing for the Less is More (week 34) challenge.

Colourful CAS

2011-09-18T19:18:00.001+04:00

Adding my 2 cents worth to the 1000 CAS challenge at "Less is More". With 1000 followers now, they are aiming at getting 1000 entries. Come and join in!

Stamped the sentiment in white and embossed white. Inked up my craft sheet and spritzed with water and created background. Used glossy accents on the heart (embossed clear first) and mounted with foam dots. Used a white gel pen to doodle around.

Colours are much richer in real life - may try to take another photo tomorrow.

Resist on PP

2011-09-18T19:04:00.000+04:00

Stamping on patterned paper is a recent thing for me. This time, instead of darkening the pp after stamping and embossing, I sponged with white pigment ink to make it paler. Love this leaf stamp of Hero Arts.

OLW64 Colouring 2

2011-09-18T18:54:00.001+04:00

Wanted to see what it would look like if I took artistic license and used a different colour.

OLW64 Colouring

2011-09-18T18:47:00.000+04:00

Another take on Stampendous agapanthus stamp, using the traditional colours.

Resist Technique Take 1

2011-09-18T18:40:00.002+04:00

For the Lily Pad Technique Challenge my first take is to use this new Agapanthus stamp from Stampendous and a Hero Arts' favourite sentiment. Stamped and embossed, then used milled lavender, dusty concord, stormy sky and faded jeans distress ink.

Last Words

2011-09-13T16:51:00.000+04:00

Almost finished the album. All the LHS are done (except for an embellishment or two on the last page). This has been a gift to myself. So enjoyed doing it, and found it so meaningful. A rainbow of reflections . . .

And here are some of the double page spreads . . . most of papers and embellishments are left overs from other projects.

OLW : Baby Card - Twins

2011-09-10T15:41:00.002+04:00

My next door neighbour just had twins, so this was a timely challenge for me! The OLW challenge at Styles Ink this week is to make a card with a baby theme and there is a scrumptious assortment giveaway from A.Muse Studio.

Thanks to Judy, I found I could enter it for the Less is More (32) challenge of seeing double too!

And packets for the prezzies too . . . .

And close-ups . . .

Class Venue in Paradise!

2011-09-08T14:51:00.000+04:00

I was giving a class to the "Calender Girls" of Black River today. Just look at this venue . . . paradise!

The beginning . . . table all tidy still.

I was enjoying myself so much, I forgot to take pictures of the ladies' mini albums.

Words, Paint and Gremlins

2011-08-29T19:30:00.000+04:00

I signed up for the Big Picture Big Idea Festival and the theme was Words {to live by}. I was way behind as I was away for the first week, so I played catch-up yesterday. I prepped and played with my Silhouette Studio in the afternoon plotting and planning my pages. So happy. Then I waltzed into my studio around 9:00pm to cut, print and glue. Thought it would be a cinch. But the gremlins got there first and attacked my silhouette. It would NOT load the media! OK, so on to plan B . . . the good old fashioned way with some adjustments . . . cut, punch, dig in the stash for replacements.

I took my inspiration from Kelly's inspiration on Hero Arts Friday Blog (just loved those tags in rainbow colours) and Sally's video on paint splattering, also at Hero Arts Blog. Such inspiring ideas.

For the cover, I decided to use the Hero Arts Word Pops as it went so well with the theme. And it had to be colourful!

So I used a rainbow of colours for my album : each page is one colour . . . paint splatters on white, with a coloured tag, a strip of patterned paper to match, some stamping on the background and a black line around the page. Here are the first 6 left hand side pages (the right hand side will have photos . . . still to be printed!) The last 4 will be posted as and when they're done. OK?!

A fun little 6" x 6"album.

Thanks Scrap RDV

2011-08-09T23:42:00.000+04:00

I want to thank Scrap RDV for inviting me to play with some tags. I so enjoy their blog and gain much inspiration and many ideas from the talented Virginie, Alexandra and Pascale.

Here's a sneak peak

and

and go here to see the 2 layouts and 6 cards.

Brotherly Blogs

2011-07-27T16:56:00.000+04:00

So excited to find my youngest brother join the blog world with exactly one dash. Wish I could find that wonderful photo of him as he dressed up to serve us a delicious middle eastern dinner about 10 years ago!

As he puts it so well in his "about" . . .
"variably employed actor, part-time amateur cook, full-time father, husband and sports fan. soft spot for shoes, hats and polonecks. but this is not about shoes, hats and polonecks, it is more about food and putting different kinds of it together. in a way that isn’t too strict or anything.

it also might be about other stuff. like funny stories or free thinking. or saving the planet or theatre, or both. or possibly about sport or south africa or MAYBE polonecks and other things i like. but mostly food i think.

because i never record or remember whatever recipe i’ve just created or amalgamated or botched. so this is a space for those discoveries, variations and schoolboy errors. i am not very good at measuring things out. i am a big fan of the pinch, the splash, the sprinkle. the trusty handful. the mighty dollop. the relaxed improvisation in cooking, or the fearless experiments and adaptations means no meal is ever exactly the same as it was before. like theatre. i’ve always enjoyed scouting a range of recipes, and then absorbing various elements i like into something new. preferably always with good, fresh ingredients. but i’m no chef. this is not ballroom cooking. it is dancing on your own to van morrison singing into a wooden spoon cooking. sort of thing. it is not being afraid to look a bit stupid cooking. ideally with shoes you can dance in, a hat and a poloneck."

So perhaps I will try my hand (with a dash and dollop here and there) with his first recipe of Harira!

Celebrating and Giveaway

2011-07-13T15:35:00.000+04:00

Vera is celebrating her 300th follower with a generous giveaway! Join in at Ling's Design Studio.

Electronic mayhem!

2011-07-12T15:57:00.000+04:00

Haven't been posting much lately as I'm in electronic mayhem . . . first converting my laptop from Windows Vista (been a nightmare of an operating system!) to Windows 7, and that will be for my kids . . . and then getting myself a mac. A whole new learning curve and issues to be resolved. Like the fact that my trusty, faithful, economical printer cannot be connected to the mac as there is no driver for it! So need to look for a new printer too.

I haven't got my files from my Dell to my mac, so feeling quite discombobulated! Hope to get things together before school starts (and my marathon of scrapping).

Why I Scrap

2011-07-12T15:37:00.000+04:00

I need to get back scrapping more pages (my kids want their pages done!) and I'm doing lots of cards as they are so much quicker. So I have enrolled at the mother load of scrapping classes at Big Picture Scrapbooking.

We are in training for 8 weeks before starting the marathon of 26 layouts in 26 days. Will be interesting.

So week 1 we look at why we scrapbook, and I came up with this layout which I decided to do in an altered book.

Since one of the reasons I like to scrap is to use my stamps, I had to use them on the page . . . from Club Scrap, Stampin' Up, and Hero Arts. Love browns and blues, butterflies, dots!

Blues and Turquoises - Take 2

2011-06-16T20:47:00.000+04:00

While trying to find the right sentiment for my first card at Kathy's Palette Challenge at Lily Pad, I came across my butterfly inchies and knew I wanted to use them on a much simpler card.

So I came up with this :

Blues and Turquoises - Take 1

2011-06-16T20:44:00.000+04:00

Just love the colours of Kathy's Palette Challenge at Lily Pad.

Just up my street! But when I sat down to create, I just couldn't come up with anything. So I started with all my bits and pieces of paper in those tones of blue, and came up with this :

The background card has a lovely shimmer.

June CCC Challenge

2011-06-14T09:15:00.000+04:00

This months Lily Pad CCC really was a challenge for me . . . the colours were not ones I use very often (well at least not together)

and the sketch had the sentiment at an angle (definitely way out my comfort zone).

But at the 11th hour, my mojo finally decided to get moving . . . and then it was FUN! I'm going to add 3 white pearls after the sentiment, so that on the inside of the card it will read "when shared with friends".

May Arts Ribbon Challenge at Lily Pad

2011-06-13T23:21:00.000+04:00

Love May Arts ribbon, so had to play! Used some of my favourite Hero Arts stamps giving a watercolour effect, embossing the sentiment with white and adding gems.

ATC Swop

2011-06-01T10:46:00.000+04:00

I love getting the real thing so was definitely up for the Hero Arts Flickr group ATC swop. I was paired with Donna and we decided to make ATC's with the Starburst Lace and a bird. Just to see if it was possible to make different ones, I made 2 :

Inspired by Tacha

2011-05-29T18:17:00.000+04:00

I just loved Tacha's sketch and examples at Scrap RDV. We have Mother's Day tomorrow, and my MIL is now a great-grandmother. Nothing is so special as I baby, so I made a mini album of her first grandchild (now nearly 2 months) as a gift. I found these delightful "ribbons" of baby clothes at my local hobby store. Couldn't resist them!

And the inside . . .

Each of the tags is a mini booklet with 4 photos. Here is the first page of each one.

Congratulations Heidi!

2011-05-29T02:37:00.000+04:00

and welcome Abigail!

Kathy at The Daily Marker blog is having a baby shower blog hop to welcome little Abigail.

Here's my card (inspired by Tacha's sketch at Scrap RDV - I love her examples too!)

More Lily Pad Palette

2011-05-16T04:45:00.000+04:00

I warned you that these (at Lily Pad) were my colours! Could just keep going with them.

Name that Frog

2011-05-15T00:37:00.000+04:00

Over at The Lily Pad there is a celebrity in that making . . . . and we're to come up with names.

Amazing how my first thoughts were for a masculine name :

From the Lily Pad :

Lancelot
Logan (from the hollow)
Link (from the river)
Leroy (king)

The frog . . .
Frodo
Fynn (river)
Felix
Fergie

but then I began to think it must be a “woman” frog :

Linleigh (from the pond)
Bernadette
Pandora (what has she let out the box?!)
Fredrica

or a celebrity name . . .

Bluebell
Bella
Tallulah

OLW52 - Circles

2011-05-09T22:03:00.000+04:00

I love circles and so was keen to do the OLW52 (One Layer Wednesday - circles) at Simplicity

Decided to highlight a circle of the image. (My new Inkadinkado stamp which I'm just loving!)

More Lime, turquoise and brown

2011-05-09T17:23:00.000+04:00

More for the Lily Pad Palette Challenge and my favourite colours at the moment!

and

Lily Pad Palette Challenge

2011-05-08T16:47:00.000+04:00

I'm so exited about the Lily Pad Palette Challenge this month. These are SO my colours.

In fact when I finally sat down to do it, and got out my folder with turquoise etc, I had to laugh . . . . I could make at least 10 cards just with the unfinished and leftover bits and pieces that were lying about!

So now I'm on a roll . . .

I used a piece of card that I had already brayered. Stamped the leaf with Versafine sepia (it appears darker in the photo), and highlighted the tops with white gel pen. The card is actually pale lime green and not so yellow in real. Wanted to keep this one CAS.

For No. 2 I used the inked and stamped page from a book. Got perfect pearls too so a lovely glimmer to it. Here I was following the sketch from Hero Arts National Scrapbook Day.

For my 3rd card I continued with the HA sketch using a scrap of card card with alcohol inks, and pre-inked dots and scripted background.

OLW51 - Three of a Kind

2011-05-03T16:25:00.000+04:00

A lovely challenge from Jennifer's OLW this week. Make 3 cards using the same stamp. Got to love that!

First time I'm using this stamp from Inkadinkado, and one of the sentiment wordings of Club Scrap that I love . . . first card . . .

Second card I decided to use distress inks on a shadow stamp, and a line pattern (inspired by Susan) from Club Scrap - not as chic as hers, but one's got to use what one's got!

Thirdly, I love playing with the distress inks so kept going! Adding flourish from Stampin' Up and script writing from Paper Chain in South Africa.

I bought the swan stamp to be used for my blog header, and this challenge helped me bring it all together. Thanks for the comments.

May CCC at Lily Pad

2011-05-02T12:03:00.000+04:00

I'm so glad the ladies at Lily Pad are continuing Deborah's CCC! I love this month's colour scheme . . . pinks and brown, and the wonderful sketch that lends itself to chic and simple cards.

So here's my take . . . with my new butterfly inchies stamps from Inkadinkado, swirls from Club Scrap and sentiment from Hero Arts and ribbon from May Arts.

Movement - revised!

2011-04-27T12:05:00.000+04:00

Our Dodo Scrapchicks meeting had the theme of movement this month, and on the day I came up with this . . .

The photo is not good as the lighting was not good - and the glossy accents hadn't dried on "S". I used white acrylic paint for the background, stamped with orange and grey acrylic paint using the new Hero Arts stamp CG298 "Life of the Party dots".

But the white paint on the black draws the eye away from the photos, and so I changed it to what I had originally planned . . . a white background just with the dots. This time I used distress inks. Had to change the "splash" title as the white would have been lost on the white background.

And I thank Susan from Simplicity who showed her revisions which gave me the encouragement to do it myself! Certainly don't get it right the first time every time.

Scrap RDV Monochromatic Challenge

2011-04-09T00:07:00.000+04:00

I don't always get to make the challenges at Scrap rendezvous but I love the theme this month . . . Monochromatic! And there is so much good information there on colours, the colour wheel, how to combine colours etc. So kind of the 3 lovely ladies to share - it's like going on a course!

So I may make a rainbow of creations by the end of the month, but I start with green. And I made a card using a borrowed set from Annabelle Stamps with the dragonfly from Hero Arts. I enjoy this set so much I may have to get one myself - the detail is so fine.

And then a LO for my London trip . . . where I loved the GREEN and spaces in the middle of such a big city. I used stamps from Hero Arts, Inkadinkado and Club Scrap. (Will try to get a better photo . . . can't really see the details of the stamped squares nor the coloured background)

Go British at Scrap rendez-vous

2011-03-30T01:01:00.000+04:00

There are 3 challenges at Scrap rendez-vous this month, and I wanted to enter all 3, but starting at the 11th hour . . . and don't even know if these 2 will make it in time.

First Valerie's sketch challenge, of which we had a choice of 2, and I chose

and my card is . . .

Then there is the So British challenge. I have been sitting on doing my London album since October last year, to this was the kick I needed. Just loved the vibrant colours in the fabrics of the inspiration . . .

And that's exactly what I spotted at Covent Gardens . . . vibrant colours . . . popsicles . . . hats . . . ties . . . I just was inspired by it!

Family Project.

2011-03-13T21:21:00.000+04:00

The box was the kit from Club Scrap (Shadow-in-a-box November 2010) and I needed to assemble it - 2" deep. I am a bit of a philistine in that I mix and match anything from my stash. So I didn't use their paper supplies as they were not the colour I wanted. Just got these perfect papers and flocked lettering the day before in the post! Had fun with the embellishments . . . stamping (Hero Arts & Club Scrap), flowers, silhouette cutouts, pearls, pegs, metalica.

Angle view

The details

This will hang on the wall opposite the 3 photo portraits of the kids.

Play Date Cafe 72

2011-03-11T13:48:00.000+04:00

I just love Dina Wakely's work - so inspiring - colourful, free, space to breath, original ! So as her work was the inspiration for this week, I wanted to play along.

Have been waiting the use the Inkadinkado sentiment stamp with just this kind of card. The black artistic lines are from Club Scrap.

Inspired by Simply Create, Alford

2011-03-06T01:09:00.000+04:00

I just loved the romantic inspiration and colours of Simply Create, Alford's latest challenge. And there is £100 of goodies up for grabs.

And my take is below, but this will not be able to be entered as I forgot the button!

I will have to play again and use the colour combination, and have a flower and a button!