12 Days of Christmas

Just made an impromptu 10 day visit to my mother in South Africa which was wonderful. But now I find myself totally discombobulated with regards to Christmas preparations. Haven't bought any presents, hosting the Christmas lunch for 25, waiting for my daughter who is stranded in snow bound London! But I finally got the tree up today. And this year's new Advent calendar too. Here's the tree as it is now . . . behind by 3 days . . .

And a close up of the first 12 Days cards . . .

This is made with paper and stickers from a great Christmas scrapping set, a selection of my Christmas stamps (all brands), glittery embossing powder, glossy accents, ribbons, flowers. I love using up supplies!

One Layer Challenge 30

Here's the inspiration for my one layer card for the OLW30 challenge. Although this is a straight line, I thought of a leaping line.

Monster Blog Candy Giveaway

Jenny at Wee Memories is having a monster giveaway. Go give yourself a chance to win all this . . . .

5 Good Things

The practice of seeing the positive instead of the negative is something that needs an occasional reminder. The little book for a week of noting down our 5 Good Things each day that came from Whiskergraphics via the scrap RDV site was one that I could not resist. I plan on making many more!

What better gift for a happy life than to be thankful!

Month of Lists

I've had a month of list . . . some due to scrap RDV's challenge this month (here) and some that have been on my agenda for a year.

I did the Today's list, then the shopping list notepad. Here is the special mini album for my husband's 50th  . . . 50 reasons to love him!

 

Agata's Notebook

Just love the inspiration from scrap RDV (here) for lists and notebooks. I have been wanting to make a shopping list notepad for the kitchen that could stick on the fridge. Although I had the magnets, I knew that if I just hung a notepad backed by a magnet, the weight of it would eventually just tear off the backing. And then Agata came to the rescue with her nifty little tabs! Works like a dream.

I wanted a notepad that matched my blue / maple wood / white kitchen, so dug in my stash for patterned paper. I punched the delightful Stampin' Up bird and stamped the body with Hero Arts Friendship definition and wing with Hero Arts Antique Flower Background. Used my new Stampin' Up alphabet stamps for my title LISTS. The glossy accents on the leaves added the perfect touch.

Happiness!

List for Today

I love the Scrap RDV blog (here) and their designs, ideas and challenges. This month the theme is lists . . . and the challenge is to create a layout with a list of what we're up to currently . . . eating, drinking, wearing, thinking, etc. I wish I could get more clean and minimilistic with my LO's but it's not happening yet.

I printed out my list in a Word table with the "subject" texts turned vertically, then cut and made into tags. The dragonflies are rub-ons, the title is stamped using the Hero Arts large font and distress inks, large flourish is Club Scrap, and small one is Hero Arts.

Be Still

The Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge this week (here), was about prayer. Although talking to God is part of prayer, listening is equally important. And I need to quiet my soul and be still to listen. So that is what my card is about.

I stamped the dove on the same patterned paper as the background, and embossed in blue pearl embossing powder. Love the effect of the pearl EPs - suits the softness and peace of the dove.

As I stamped and embossed on PP, I also submitted this to 2 Peas in a Bucket's Holiday Thinking Inking challenge (here)

With a story to end - I can't find any reference to the author. Would appreciate if anyone could enlighten me.

God's Voice

Not long ago I heard a story about a young man and an old preacher. The

young man had lost his job and didn't know which way to turn. So he went

to see the old preacher.

Pacing about the preacher's study, the young man ranted about his problem.

Finally he clenched his fist and shouted, "I've begged God to say

something to help me, preacher, why doesn't God answer?"

The old preacher, who sat across the room, spoke something in reply,

something so hushed it was indistinguishable. The young man stepped across

the room. "What did you say?" he asked. The preacher repeated himself, but

again in a tone as soft as a whisper. So the young man moved closer until

he was leaning on the preacher's chair.

"Sorry," he said. "I still didn't hear you." With their heads bent

together, the old preacher spoke once more. "God sometimes whispers," he

said, "So we will move closer to hear him." This time the young man heard

and he understood.

We all want God's voice to thunder through the air with the answer to our

problem. But God's is the still; small voice... the gentle whisper.

Perhaps there's a reason.

Nothing draws human focus quite like a whisper. God's whisper means I must

stop my ranting and move close to Him, until my head is bent together with

His. And then, as I listen, I will find my answer. Better still, I find

myself closer to God. And there is no better place to be....... Amen?

Black Cream and Kraft of JUGS55

I was so drawn to the colours of the Just Us Girls challenge No 55 here. I had bought some Fantastix but couldn't remember why I did that - or how to use them! Luckily Jennifer McGuire covered that in this week's Holiday Thinking Inking video at Two Peas in a Bucket here

And the detail of the iridescent embossing powder on the big stars, and the gold pearl on the inside of the small ones

Challenges - too late and just in time

I was making these for the Holiday Thinking Inking Challenge by Jennifer McGuire at 2 Peas (here), but I was too late for last week. Just so happens that I used my favourite colours of the moment which are blue, green & brown which fit perfectly for the Play Date Cafe Challenge (here). Just made the deadline! This first one was stamped with distress inks then spritzed to let the inks bleed. Works well on this hydrangea as it then doesn't need colouring.

On this second card, I inked up the flower once (broken china), and stamped it 3 times without re-inking but spritzing in between impressions. Did the same with the leaf (bundled sage). Added 3 shades of bling to match the fading colours.

In with a chance

Go to Kathy's Blog for a chance to win this blog candy :

Grateful

I'm so grateful for  . . .

• the incredible grace of God

• friends who encourage

• being able to read and have access to lots of books

• new tyres on my car

My entries into the Stampin Sisters in Christ challenge (here) for their week's challenge on having a heart of thanksgiving.

Tweaked Cards . . . Before and After

I entered my first SCRAMBLE Here which gives you 90 minutes to get your card made and posted! So off I went thinking easy peasy. But my first card had a mind of it's own and it wasn't what I had in mind at all. So wanting my OWN way, I got greedy and made a second  . . . and then missed the deadline. That will teach me!

But looking at the cards in the light of day, I needed to tweek a bit.

CARD ONE before was this,                                         and just needed 3 gold pearl dots to become after

CARD TWO before was this,                          and need more JOY in the shape of a bird to be this after

 If you want to play along, then join the next Hero Arts flickr group on October 23. See here for details.

A Winner and THE Answer

Apologies for the late posting - couple of technical problems. The card has gone AWOL and I spent ages trying to find it - to no avail. I then made a video of the technique and have been battling to get it uploaded.

First  . . . the winner of the random draw is number 30 which makes it Froggietalks! Congratulations. Please contact me with your details.
True Random Number

Generator
Min: 1
Max: 33
Generate
Result:
30
Powered by RANDOM.ORG

And Judy1223 guessed the answer correctly. I inked up my embossing folder, spritzed it with water and then put the watercolour paper in and put it through the machine. The video has step by step instructions with added tips and suggestions and I will get it posted as soon as I've sorted out the technical gremlins!

Guessing the new Technique!

A little light bulb went off tonight as I was struggling with getting what I wanted using what I had. And then the fun began  . . .  I could hardly contain my excitement . . . and this was the result of the first try . . .

Can you guess what I did? Leave a comment and you'll have a chance to win the random draw. The deadline will be Monday 4 October, 2:00pm Mauritian time. 
The prize will be . . .

plus an additional mystery item!
You can see the other cards on my flickr photostream.

Thank You

I love the Week of Gratitude and card inspirations that Susan (starting here) and Mary (starting here) are doing. (You will need to remove the date section of the address to see the more recent pages.) We all need to acknowledge those in our life who have helped us in the myriad of ways that enrich our lives . . . help, support, laughter, gifts, comfort, advice, inspiration, friendship, encouragement . . . to name a few.

I want to thank Nancy (here) for her lovely Sept CCC card and generous gift of goodies. I loved her rich colour combinations on her card and on the extra distressed, inked card that she sent along. Look at that lovely perfect pearl Starburst Lace stamped shimmer! I added a collage of black stamped images and mounted it on kraft card, adding the message and butterfly.

And so thanks for the colour inspiration for my entry to Susan's Simplicity OLW (One Layer Wednesday) challenge (here)

PS. And thank you Nancy for your snazzy flickr button that you designed, and let me use!



Passed the nth Hour

Well as I expected, I dithered and found a lot of other things to do today instead of cleaning my studio . . . important things like getting some sun, doing some suduko, learning what zumba is (the new latino dance aerobic craze), getting caught in watching extraordinary people . . . and it was only the fact that I said I would post a photo that got me in there . . . close to dinner time. Which is why I am still up at 1:47 am! And of course I just had to make a card after all that effort . . . inspired by the colours of Jillian Foster's card on day 3 of her challenge this past week. (See here)

At least you can see the desk top now! (Of course there is artful photography just getting the clean bits!)

Even cleaned up the other tables!

The question now remains "How long will it stay like that?"!!!

The MESS!

I've off to tidy my studio today - yuck! but I've been avoiding going in there since getting back from UK and I can't create until it's done! (Well I CAN if I just start making mess somewhere else but I think I've spread over such a large area - 3 tables - that I'd better nip this rampant disorder in the bud . . . oh no, it's actually way passed bud phase - it's blooming!)

Maybe I need a little sun first . . . . . it's such a beautiful day here!

Here are photos taken in Dec (but it's pretty much the same again) to show the "damage" and I challenge myself to send you photos of the state this evening!

My place (my mess shouldn't extend past this space!)

But I've overflowed to TWO tables like this  . . .



Warm & Fuzzie

So warm and fuzzy about winning one of the Fabulous 5 for June on the Hero Arts Blog! (See here) I had such fun making this card. One of those light bulb moments when I just "saw" the clouds as sheep. And then I found the perfect message from the clear stamp set CL342 Everyday Sayings. And I certainly need something warm right now - it's freezing here - well as freezing as a tropical island can get - 15°C and there's no heating!

Missed Dodo Scrapchicks

I was so sorry to miss the last Dodo Scrapchicks session. I enjoyed the layout so much, could not let it go by. So stayed up Wed night to finish it. I turned the LO on it's side as I wanted to make a facing page and wanted it to flow. Thanks Nadine for your choice!

Not simply Masking

Oh I do so love Simplicity by LateBlossom and this week has been masking on one layer. Although I kept strictly to the one layer policy, I went a bit wild with the stamping. Well, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do! Sigh! One day I'll be doing simply stunning cards, but in the meantime here's mine :

I used the silhouette flowers of Hero Arts cut on the Silhouette machine as the mask.

And I had such fun, I had to make another :

Used another cutout from Silhouette machine - flower 1020 - which I sponged with Tumbled Glass and Shabby Shutters Distress Inks and then stamped with HeroArts Antique Bocade in Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

9 Ways with 1 Stamp

I took one of the Hero Arts silhouette stamps (Silhouette Meadow Flowers see here) and tried 9 different techniques. With the exception of No. 7, I started with white card.

1. 
   
   Stamped in Sky Blue Colorbox pigment ink, then added a script stamp in Hero Arts Soft Sand, and finally added black shadow lines with a fineliner
2. 
   
   Stamped in Sky Blue Colorbox pigment ink and embossed with clear embossing powder, then stamped the script inked with Faded Jeans and Forest Moss Distress Ink, and then sponged the unembossed areas with Shabby Shutters, Crushed Olive, Tumbled Glass, Broken China and Faded Jeans Distress Inks, and lastly wiped with a dried wet wipe.
3. 
   
   Stamped the script in Hero Arts Soft Sand first, then stamped silhouette stamp in Sky Blue Colorbox pigment ink and embossed with iridescent embossing powder, then sponged with pink,m purple, green and blue from Tsukineko Kaleidacolor Pastel Pad. I had thought the dye ink might stain the sparkles, but was happy to see that it didn't.
4. 
   
   Stamped the script in Hero Arts Soft Sand first, then stamped silhouette stamp using the graded Pastel Colorbox option pad and embossed with clear embossing powder, then applied the Faded Jeans directly to the image, and lastly wiped with a dried wet wipe.
5. 
   
   Stamped the script in Hero Arts Soft Sand first, then inked the silhouette stamp with Colorbox lavender and inked HA Starburst with Royal Blue and stamp-kissed repeatedly inking before each kiss; then stamped the silhouette stamp and embossed with clear embossing powder.
6. 
   
   Stamped in Sky Blue Colorbox pigment ink and embossed with Blue Pearl embossing powder twice. Added dots of Blue Liquid Pearls to centres.
7. 
   
   Started with turquoise card. Stamped with Versamark and embossed with white embossing powder.
8. 
   
   Stamped HA Friends Definition stamp with Fired Brick Distress Ink, then stamped the silhouette stamp with Versamark and embossed with clear Embossing powder, then applied Fired Brick directly to unembossed areas, and lastly wiped with a dried wet wipe.
9. 
   
   Stamped the script in Hero Arts Soft Sand first, then sponged Tea Dye Distress Ink around the edge, then stamped the silhouette stamp with Versamark and embossed with clear Embossing powder, then applied Vintage Photo Distress Ink to unembossed areas and wiped with a dried wet wipe.

And here are the cards I made with each piece. (Have temporarily misplaced number 5, but will add it when I find it - gremlins in my studio!)

Big Ben in London

Made sure I didn't miss London in Vicky's Around the World Challenge (see here if you want to join too.) Her inspiration photo was

and my take on it was

Kept with the red, white and blue as the colours of England (their flag as well as the photo) and had to put in a clock.