Flower Pots

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Hi lovely friends ~

A few weeks ago now I really wanted to make some cards but had no creativity flowing. I did what most paper crafters I know do ... fell back on a tried and true favourite ... in my case the Flower Pot card.

I've made these cards free standing, and you can find a nifty tutorial by Sandra with all the measurements you need to create your own.

I made a few in different colour combos. They really are so fun and I think just a little bit special. I've used Concord Crush, Daffodil Delight, Crumb Cake and Early Espresso along with White Heat Embossing on my Flower Fest stamps and my all time favourite Champagne Shimmer Mist for sparkle.

I'm working on photographing my cards better but some days it just won't work no matter what I do. This is a classic example - in real life these cards are quite lovely, however, in every photo I've taken they look too bright and kind of fake - if that makes sense. Try to look past my photographic skills if you can lol.

Just Add...Inspiration #89

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Good Friday morning ~

It's Inspiration challenge time over at Just Add Ink.

This one scared me off a bit and I procrastinated for ages and ages over what I was going to do. I'm no good at sponging or using my brayer and of course this pic was screaming out for one or the other. Fortunately for me the super talented and lovely Paula did a fabulous tutorial on a quick CAS way of sponging just a few days ago. Thank you so so much Paula!

As you can see I've CASEd Paula using the JAI Inspiration colours. This is my very first attempt at sponging this way and while it is far from perfect I'm pretty happy with the outcome. I'm definitely going to keep trying this and get better at it.

Don't let the Inspiration pic put you off the way it did me. Go check out Paula's tutorial and give it a try, you'll be surprised at how easy it is once you know the basic steps. If you don't fancy sponging or brayering just use the colours in the pic the way Delys did this week. Most of all just have fun with it.

Enjoy your weekend!

Party Bag/Survival Kit Tags

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Happy hump evening friends ~

Last month a colleague at work asked if I could make her a bunch of tags (16 actually) that she could add to some party bags she was putting together. The bags were to contain Champagne, Berocca, Panadol and the like. She belongs to a really fun group who socialise and travel overseas annually - with the women being called Grasshoppers and the men Ants. Don't ask me!

Obviously the tags had to have something to do with Grasshoppers! This is what I came up with - I should add that I had about 24 hours notice for this little jobbie.

I used that fabulous little 'hopper from Bugs & Kisses, stamping it once on my tag and then a second time so I could fussy cut the body and 'pop' on top (saves cutting around the legs). I slathered Crystal Effects all over the body too.

Base tag is textured Crumb Cake c/s, with Certainly Celery and Whisper White on top. I used Craft white ink and the Polka Dot b/g stamp and some Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon adhered with Sticky Strip, finishing with a touch of bling - just because.

My work colleague with thrilled with her tags. Phew!

A Thai Birthday

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Happy Monday ~

I just realised this is my first post for the month of October ... time has been moving quickly. I haven't really been crafting much lately so I'll share a couple of projects that kept me busy back in August.

A dear friend chose to celebrate her 40th in Thailand! She had about 30 family and friends joining her over there and wanted to present them each with a gift of thanks. She needed boxes so I made them for her ... they travelled flat and she put the sides together over there.

Unfortunately my only photograph was a little hurried. Half of the boxes were for the ladies and a little taller than those for the men. I did see a pic of them all put together and grouped and they looked pretty good.

This is the birthday card I made for her ... a telescopic fold, just for a little something special.

Gorgeous Kid and I have been trying to find the perfect day to visit Floriade. Canberra has been experiencing really odd weather this past couple of weeks and it's been quite wet so I'm not keen to go trudging through mud while looking at all the Spring Delights Floriade is showing. Typically today was lovely and sunny and we'd made other plans! Hope your October is going well so far!

Just Add...Colour Combo - JAI#87

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Good Friday morning ~

Over at Just Add Ink this week Nikki has given us a colour challenge. At first I wasn't sure of these colours, but once I got playing it was easy, it really is a nice combo.

This is the first time I've used the rolled flower die. The little flowers are very uniform aren't they? I think I prefer freehand to be honest, there is always a bit more texture and more of a 'real' look to the flowers.

The colour palette this week is Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Crumb Cake and Whisper White. Make sure you go over to JAI and check out the design team inspiration - fabulous, even a couple I'm hoping to CASE in the near future :o)

Hope you've all got fun plans for the weekend. I'm kind of hoping this rain will stay with us for a few more days ... gives me the perfect excuse to stay indoors and craft and not feel guilty that I can't mow the lawn or tend to the garden. Hee hee.

Take care and enjoy!

A special card for a special friend!

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Happy Tuesday ~

I survived Brisbane! It was really really busy getting ready for Trishie's big birthday party. We had some running around to do - not quick by any means in a large city full of traffic, there was lots of fun stuff to prep and the end result was totally worth it. Trish had a wonderful party with lots of fabulous friends who went to great efforts with their costumes (it was dress up).

This is the card I made for her! Those numbers are glistening with Champagne shimmer mist...of course!

Back to Brisbane...we enjoyed dinner in China Town, wandered at Ikea for ages, shopped and picked up a few items from Esprit, ate ice cream (it's one of our favourite things to do), did the tourist drive thing around various suburbs checking out the old renovated Queenslander homes, took a walk at Wellington Point, had a drink at the Powerhouse...lots of fun. It's so great to see people outdoors enjoying life. It's not quite the same here in Canberra where it is still fairly cool.

The weather was divine, although I found Saturday a bit hot after running around all afternoon hanging decorations and moving furniture around the yard. The party started at 4pm, but I had to wait for the sun to go down before changing into my costume. It was funny a bit later in the evening when some of the locals were complaining of being cold - it so was NOT cold for me.

It's never fun to say goodbye but there really is nothing like your own bed! I've slept and slept and slept since arriving home yesterday. It was back to work today and back to normal routine for Gorgeous Kid.

My weekend plans & an assortment of cards

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Happy Wednesday evening ~

Thought I'd best do a quick post and let you all know I'm heading up to Brisbane tomorrow to spend an extra long weekend with BFF and help celebrate her birthday - she's having a party! Trishie is much more disciplined with her camera than I am so no doubt she'll have lots of piccies to share on her blog next week. I'm hopeless and forget to take mine anywhere!

Will leave you with a few cards I've made at some stage and not shared here yet.

A 43rd b'day card for a friend earlier this month, using Cherry Cobbler

3x3 Note Card using the new Pool Party c/s - pre release date

3x3 Note Card using the new Island Indigo c/s - pre release date

A CASE of a card I'd stashed in my 'to do' file, yet not noted down the original creator

Have a fabulous weekend everyone, I certainly hope to.

JAI#85...Just Add Baby

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TGIF!

It's been a long and busy week. Can't wait for the weekend and hopefully a bit of rest time. Last night Gorgeous Kid performed at his school Talent Show - what a fun night. Over 500 people and lots of great and entertaining acts from the kids. As fantastic as it was I'm looking forward to a bit of a break from all the months of living and breathing Talent Show rehearsals!

This week at Just Add Ink we're adding 'baby'. Sooo cute. There seem to be babies everywhere these past six months, more boys than girls ... so I've gone blue this week.

I thought I might put these gorgeous doily die cuts to use on something other than a pretty feminine card - which is how I normally use them. Not half bad hey. I've used Marina Mist dsp layered on Whisper White c/s, and the last of my MM satin ribbon - gasp, I loved that ribbon! The little boat is 'popped' up and I've inked it in MM, So Saffron and Crumb Cake. I cut the little circle of MM c/s that's sitting in the centre of the doily with my Circle Nesties.

If you want to join the fun this week and get all clucky creating your own baby cards and layouts head on over to JAI and check out the design team inspiration. I love them all and I'm sure you will too.

JAI#83...Just Add a Sketch

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Happy Spring (to you Aussies and Kiwis) ~

I'm running a little late with this blog post, but that seems to be the story of my life lately. There don't seem to be enough hours in the day. Gosh and it's not even Christmas time. I wish the world would slow down for a bit.

Gorgeous Bronwyn gave us a sketch over at Just Add Ink this week. It's really lovely so you wouldn't guess that I had a bit of a hard time with it and this card almost didn't go live. I started out colouring a pretty little ballerina girl, which suited the ribbon and pink and bling perfectly. But you know when you just can't stop? It's good but needs a little something more? Well I overdid it in a big way and my pretty little ballerina ended up in the bin.

From that moment I didn't like this card and nothing I did would work. On top of that I got really sick and had to stay horizontal for hours, which meant my submission was way late. Lucky for me the JAI girls are such fabulous, supportive and caring friends.

So after all that blurb here it is ... the card I'm really not very happy with.

I've used a combination of Whisper White, Pretty in Pink and Melon Mambo. The sentiment was made on my computer and I've added puffy paint to the edge of my Nestie circle. That gorgeous ribbon is a Tim Holtz I picked up at my local craft store.

I hope you can join in the challenge over at JAI this week. Head on over for some terrific inspiration from the design team.