Mesh Butterfly

I really really struggled to photograph this card.  I had major glare issues and after about 30 different shots I ended up going with the first one I took.  Typical.  It's still not great but it's the best I'm going to get with my limited skills.  But enough of that and on to the card which I made for the Textured to Perfection Challenge in the Moxie Fab World.  I used PTI's linen impression plate on the blue panel for some subtle texture but the real texture comes in on the butterfly.  I die cut 3 different PTI butterflies from turquoise mesh and layered them to create my own embellishment.  And look what's on that sentiment!  Hooray for the arrival of my white embossing powder - and a touch more texture for the card!  I thought it needed a bit more colour too so the white panel is stamped with my new Market Street Stamps Argyle background stamp and I coloured the gems to match it.  

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill Basics, (Night of Navy)  Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Argyle background) Market Street Stamps; (Sentiment from Big & Bold Wishes)PTI
Ink:  (VersaMark) Tsukineko); (Rich Razzleberry) Stampin' Up

Embossing Powder:  (Seafoam White) Ranger
Impression Plate:  (Linen, ) PTI

Dies:  (Butterflies) PTI

Gems:  Craftsuppliesforless.com

Copic:  V06

Coloured mesh: Craft supply

Coloured Woodgrain

***This is my second post for the day.  For my A Passion for Papertrey post plase click here!***

A super CAS card for the Tuesday Trigger challenge at the Moxie Fab World. I was inspired by the colours and the woodgrain in the picture.  I love the autumn colours of the trees so I used the "Season's Greetings" sentiment - that way this could be a Christmas card or an autumn card.  And that makes it eligible for The Paper Players challenge to add a fall element to your card.  I realise this may be a bit of a stretch but I'm going there anyway!  :)
Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Pacon, (Cajun Craze)  Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Small tree from Holiday Tree, Large Tree from Season's Greetings) Hero Arts, (Sentiment from Merry Messages) Stampendous
Ink:  (Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke, More Mustard) Stampin' Up
Impression Plates:  (Linen, Woodgrain) PTI  

Silhouettes and Masking

My PTI goodies arrived just in time for me to take part in A Passion For Papertrey's Sensational Silhouettes challenge.  I used a mixture of new and old stamps including stamps from Star of Wonder, Nativity Silhouettes and Mat Stack 2 Collection.  I also attempted some masking (which is something I very rarely try) although I kept it pretty simple - just masking the light beams behind the medallion.  The Mega Mat Stack die is new too and I really like the shape.  I'm also going to enter this over at Simon Says Stamp's Anything goes challenge.    

This picture is for you, Kim S!  You mentioned once that I always only show beautiful pictures of my view so I thought I'd share one from this grey and gloomy day today.  As you can see, the dock was underwater again.  We went across the harbour to our favourite pub for lunch and their outdoor eating area was close to being swamped!  Apparently these tides are due to the moon, earth and sun being in a very particular alignment at the moment.  Pretty fascinating how the world works huh?  

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (Cream) Stampin' Place, (More Mustard, Not Quite Navy) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Bethlehem & sentiment - Star of Wonder, Beams of light - Nativity Silhouettes,  Medallion - Mat Stack 2 Collection) PTI
Ink:  (VersaMark) Tsukineko, (Early Espresso, More Mustard) Stampin' Up

Embossing Powder:  (Clear) Ranger

Dies:  (Banner, Mega Mat Stack 3) PTI

Wish Big Flower

I needed one more birthday card for this year's staff birthdays at work so I made a bright and happy flower card using ColourQ's colours.  This Hero Arts flower is perfect for layering and paper piecing and I added some Stickles to the dots and stripes for a little pizzazz.  I'm also going to enter this in the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes challenge.  

And Christmas came early for me this year!  Yesterday I received orders from Hero Arts, PTI and Skipping Stones Designs.  Yes, you read that right - SSD.  I had a bit of a rant a couple of weeks ago when I couldn't manage to process an order with them or get in touch with them.  However, a little birdie (tweet tweet, KB!) intervened and got me in touch with Heather.  She was super apologetic about the problems I had, gave me an easy ordering solution and also gave me a very generous discount.  And my goodies arrived in about a week!  I was impressed.  Thanks to my little birdie friend for your help and to Heather at SSD for helping me get everything sorted.  I'm really excited to dive in and get those stamps inky!  Watch this space!  :)

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (Peach Parfait, Daffodil Delight, So Saffron) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Big Flowers Pattern) Hero Arts, (Sentiment from Big & Bold Wishes) PTI
Ink:  (VersaFine Onyx Black) Tsukineko

Impression Plate:  (Woodgrain) PTI

Other: ( Orange Peel Stickles) Ranger     

Merry Merry Merry and Bright

***This is my second post for the day.  Please click here for my Unity Friends With Flair post***

I'm still working to try and overcome my sketch allergy so I decided to make a card for this week's Paper Players challenge.  I'm not that convinced that I like it but I thought I'd put it out there anyway and see if anyone has any thoughts on it or suggestions about it.  I think maybe there's too much going on at the top and not enough happening at the bottom.  Or maybe the background needs some texture?  What do you think?  I really want to know.  That's part of what I like about this blogging community - sharing ideas and tips and such so any are welcome!  Also, I learned that you never know what everyone is going to like.  For example, I wasn't that keen on this card that I posted the other day - in fact I almost didn't bother to post it.  However, not only did I get really positive comments about it but it also won the top prize over at the Inkspirations challenge!  And then there's the cards that I think everyone should be swooning over that barely get a response.  Go figure.  :)
Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill Basics, (Peach Parfait, Pacific Point) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Snowman - Jan 2011 KOM - To The Moon and Back) Unity Stamp Co,  (Snowflake from Swirl Christmas, Merry from Holiday Sayings) Hero Arts, Bright from Merry Messages) Stampendous
Ink:  (VersaMark, Memento Tuxedo Black) Tsukineko, (Cherry Cobbler, Peach Parfait) Stampin' Up
Copics:  100, R59, Y38, B05, E37, C-1

Watering Can Love

A clean and simple entry for this week's Unity Friends With Flair blog hop.  I used 3 different KOMs for this card as well as the colours from last week's Play Date Cafe challenge.  The green can is from the November 2010 KOM - Picture Perfect, the yellow can is from July 2009 - Pocket Full Of... and the sentiment if from July 2010 - Happily Ever After.  A real blast from the past card!  


And I thought I'd share a couple of pictures from home.  We've had some really high tides this month and the dock has been disappearing underwater almost every day!  

Even the little island out in the bay has been getting almost completely swallowed up! 

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (Kraft) PTI, (Old Olive, Daffodil Delight) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Green can from Nov 2010 KOM - Picture Perfect, Yellow can  from July 2009 KOM - A Pocket Full Of..., Sentiment from July 2010 KOM - Happily Ever After) Unity Stamp Co.
Ink:  (VersaMark) Tsukineko, (Rich Razzleberry) Stampin' Up
Embossing Powder (Clear) Ranger

Button Balloons

After having this Up, Up & Away stamp set for almost a year now it's funny that it's suddenly caught my interest and keeps appearing on cards.  I'm just so bad at keeping up with the latest goodies - I always seem to be a beat behind.  Ah well, better using them late than never I guess.  This card is for the Embellish colours and buttons challenge.  I don't use buttons too often (although they must be breeding in the Craft Cave because there sure are a lot of them around here) so it felt good to use a few on this card. The colours are kind of masculine but I don't know if those button balloons are... the jury's still out on that one!     


Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (Blue) Bazzill Basics, (Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (All from Up, Up & Away) PTI
Ink:  (Early Espresso, Certainly Celery) Stampin' Up
Die:  (Nestabilities Labels 3) Spellbinders
Buttons:  Craft supply
Gems:  Doodlebug

Print Candee Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the Print Candee blog hop!  The theme this month is Fall/Spring - depending on which hemisphere you're in of course!  I'm excited to be the second stop on the hop.  If you haven't checked out the Print Candee blog then please stop there first so you don't miss out on any of the fun or potential prizes!  

For this card I decided to try and improve my digi skills and play with the images on the computer a bit more.  I used the tree image from Digital Potpourri's Halloween Horrors and the leaf piles and individual leaf from the Digi Butterfly's Fall Leaves Clip Art. It took me a while to figure out the layering and rotating but I got there in the end and created this little scene.  Of course, I had to have some traditional stamping in there so stamped the sentiment and layered the image on embossed card stock.  

After finishing the card I played around with layering some more.  I layered a couple of the leaf piles and then added a label from Assorted Labels to the top.  I stamped names on them, fussy cut them, added cardstock props to the back and ended up with these cute place cards!  I thought they'd be perfect for a table on Thanksgiving.  :) 

Fun stuff huh?  There really is a huge selection of goodies in the Print Candee store and they are always offering specials.  There are also a few prizes to be won on this hop - 2 $10 Print Candee gift certificates and a $15 Two Peas in a Bucket gift certificate!  To increase your chances of winning leave a comment on the Print Candee blog as well as on each of the Design Team's blogs.  You will have until 11:59pm EST on Saturday, October 29th to comment for prizes.

Speaking of the fabulous DT, here's a list of all the blog hop participants so you don't get lost:
              Print Candee Blog
              Jen (Me in my first ever hop!)
              Jocelyn
              Marion
              Kalyn
              Jackie 
              Therese                   

That's all from me for now.  Get hopping over to Jocelyn's blog and check out her fantastic projects!

Christmas Red Bird

I loved this Hero Arts stamp from the first time I saw it.  I mean, how cute is that little bird?  I thought it would go well with this week's Inkspirations colours so I finally inked it up.  I fussy cut the bird from Cherry Cobbler paper and put some Glossy Accents on him for some shine.  I also added some Stickles snow to the background which you can kind of see in the picture.  
Supplies Used:
Cardstock:   (Not Quite Navy, Sahara Sand, Cherry Cobbler) Stampin' Up, (Cream) Craft Supply
Stamps:  (Image & Sentiment from Merriest Christmas Wishes set) Hero Arts
Ink:  (Not Quite Navy, Cherry Cobbler) Stampin' Up
Dies:  (Nestabilities Labels 3) Spellbinders
Imression Plate:  (Sunshine) PTI
Other:  (Frosted Lace Stickles) Ranger, Glossy Accents

Lonely Pear

Both CAS-ual Fridays and 4 Crafty Chicks have challenged us to colour in stamped images this week.  There are a lot of crafty people out there who can work wonders with their Copics (check out this bucket by Karen Baker for a jaw-dropping example) but I am not one of them so I kept my colouring pretty simple.  I used the Play Date Cafe colours for my palette and this lonely looking Unity pear for a simple Thinking of You card.  

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill Basics &  Gina K, (Rich Razzleberry, So Saffron, Old Olive) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Pear  from July 2009 KOM - A Pocket Full Of...) Unity Stamp Co, (Sentiment from Mat Stack 2 Collection) PTI
Ink:  (Memento Tuxedo Black) Tsukineko
Copics:  YG63, YG95, Y21, V06

Hey There

***This is my 2nd post of the day.  Please click here for my Moxie Fab/Lily Pad/Wee Memories post.***

This Colour Throwdown colour combo seems to be popular this week but I guess that's not surprising with Halloween on the way.  However, I've tried hard to not make Halloween cards with these.  I don't have many Halloween images anyway so it wasn't too hard to avoid it.  Instead, I went for a Unity image and a PTI sentiment.  My white ColourBox ink didn't work as well as the last time I used it so I ended going over the sentiment with a coloured pencil.  I'd have embossed it but my embossing powder is still at Bermuda Customs awaiting release.  *Sigh*  Hopefully they'll be gentler with it than they were with Amy's card.

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill Basics, (Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Image  from September 2011 KOM - All Seasons) Unity Stamp Co, (Sentiment from Big & Bold Wishes) PTI
Ink:  (VersaMark) Tsukineko, (Frost White) ColourBox, (Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry) Stampin' Up
Embossing Powder:  (Clear) Ranger
Gems:  Doodlebug Designs
Copics:  YR04, G99
Other:  (PC938) Prismacolour pencil, Sharpie

If Nothing Ever Changed...

I am so not a dress girl but I actually really like the one in this inspiration picture for the latest Tuesday Trigger over at the Moxie Fab World.  I took my inspiration from the colours and the design on the dress.  I pulled out PTI's Butterfly Kisses set and used silver embossing powder for both the image and the Unity sentiment. Since I added a little bling, I am also entering this in the Lily Pad Bling Challenge.  Also Wee Memories has a Free for All challenge this week so I thought I'd link up there too. 
Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (Basic Grey, Tempting Turquoise) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Image from Butterfly Kisses) PTI, ( sentiment from November 2010 KOM - Picture Perfect) Unity Stamp Co
Ink:  (VersaMark) Tsukineko
Embossing Powder: (Silver) Ranger

Dies:  (Nestabilities Labels Fourteen) Spellbinders

Gems:  Doodlebug Designs

Autumn Beauty & RAK

I really don't know what possesses me to decide to fussy cut and paper piece such tiny designs but here I've done it again!  I cut lots of little leaves, popped them up on Pop Dots and added Glossy Accents to them.  The colours I used are from this week's ColourQ challenge and I'm also going to enter this over at Unity's monthly challenge (Autumn Harvest), Picture Perfect Creations (Fall/Halloween Specialty Challenge) and Create's Fall challenge.  


I had a lovely surprise arrive in the mail yesterday.  Awhile back Amy Tsuruta had asked for some crafty storage ideas and I linked her up to my Craft Cave pictures.  As a thank you she sent out a little care package with stamps, notepaper, buttons and, of course, a fabulous card!  I was so excited although I'm not happy with Bermuda Customs.  They opened the package to "inspect" it and clearly just crammed everything back in and bent the card.  :( Typical.  I still love it though - especially the delicate stitching! 

 I also realised that I never posted a picture of the fabulous card Lynn Mangan sent when I won some blog candy from her.  Love all the layers and PTI goodness!  

  

Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  (White) Bazzill Basics, (Lucky Limeade, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry) Stampin' Up
Stamps:  (Image from Beauty Tree Itty Bitty, sentiment from August 2010 KOM - All You Need) Unity Stamp Co
Ink:  (Early Espresso, Rich Razzleberry) Stampin' Up

Dies:  (Nestabilities Labels Eleven) Spellbinders

Other:  (Glossy Accents) Ranger