Just Add Ink #271 - Just Add a Sketch

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Today is going to be a good, good day ~

My big boy is coming home (finally) from Borneo.  I can't wait to see him.  There are going to be lots of cuddles and I'm looking forward to hearing all his stories and the adventures he's been experiencing.  Hope to see some pics too!

We have a lovely new sketch challenge over at Just Add Ink today, courtesy of Narelle.  I made my card for a beautiful friend who celebrated her 50th birthday yesterday.  Using the gorgeous new Timeless Elegance papers and coordinating colours - Basic Black, Sahara Sand and Very Vanilla - I inked up my Stippled Blossoms stamps.  The photo doesn't show the dimension on this card, or the shimmer on the flowers, but trust me, they're quite lush in real life.

We'd love you to join the challenge this week.  Pop over to JAI and check out the design team inspiration.  Here is the sketch for you.

All things open house are still on the go.  Sigh.  The auction is next weekend so there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  Once that's done and dusted things will really kick into gear with the big move. My craft room will be packed up for a few weeks :(  Any spare moment I've had lately has been spent at my desk.  I've been busily creating and trying to get ahead with my deadlines.  I am looking forward to re-furbishing my new craft room - shopping for new furniture, having lights installed etc. Lots to do, but it's going to be loads of fun.

Does anyone watch Wayward Pines on Foxtel?  It has me completely intrigued and I still can't figure out quite what's going on.  If you've got any ideas, please do share :)

Thanks for stopping by today.

Just Add Ink #270 - Just Add Inspiration (Christmas in July)

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Happy Friday ~

Welcome to the brand new challenge over at Just Add Ink.  Nikki has given us a lovely Christmas themed inspiration pic this week.  I've used the traditional Real Red and Old Olive for my card - mainly because the inspiration pic calls for that.  Typically I prefer non traditional colours, pink, silver, blue... Here I've white heat embossed my sentiment and added a little silver glimmer heart, along with bling of course.

No news from Borneo this week.  This poor old mum is missing her boy big time!  GK has been in the Kelabit Highlands jungle trekking for most of the week, and as at yesterday he will have arrived at the small village of Pa'Umor to complete the community project phase of his expedition.

FYI - Pa' Umor village is a 60 minute walk east of Bario, which is an upland settlement in the Kelabit Highlands, very close to the international border between the Malaysian state of Sarawak and the Indonesian state of Kalimantan.

If you'd like to play along with the challenge this week, below is the inspiration pic.  Choose any of the elements that inspire you to get crafty.  Don't forget to check out the JAI design team projects if you need a head start.  I'm really looking forward to seeing all of your Christmas projects.

Have a wonderful weekend.  Canberra is expecting snow, brrrrrrr.

Just Add Ink #269 - Just Add a Colour Combo

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Happy Freezing Friday friends ~

Yep I'm calling it that because the temps these past few days have been super low and chilly.  I'm so over Winter already.  Brrrrr.

I'm sure you're here to check out the new challenge over at Just Add Ink today.  Kim has chosen these lovely colours for us to use - Tip Top Taupe, Lost Lagoon, Soft Sky and Pool Party. 

Before I show you my card here's the disclaimer - I've been extremely short on time recently, totally distracted, and completely lost any creativity I may normally possess.  Sooooo my card is not entirely original.  I spotted a really lovely card over on Mary Fish's blog (although I now realise through reading her post that it isn't her original design either) and went ahead with a CASE (copy and share everything).

This was my first play with the new Birthday Blossoms stamp set {love}.  You'll notice a few subtle differences....I used the little stripes stamp in the Painted Petals (retired) set as my background, sequins and bling instead of buttons and I put my silver thread around my flower clusters.  The doily is an MFT die.

Our open house went really well last weekend.  Lots of interest, and several return families the following day.  A good strong start, and we get to do it all over again this weekend.  Sigh.  I look forward to it all being over at the end of the month.

Gorgeous Kid has been in Borneo for just over a week now, and I'm super happy to say I heard from him a few days ago via FB.  It was a really quick note to say hi, it's hot, he's got lots of mozzi bites and he's doing just fine - oh and "don't worry about me mum, I love you".  Sweet kid.  I haven't been sleeping well lately, no doubt a combination of everything going on at once.  I was awake at 4am and after tossing and turning for an hour decided to have a look at my phone....  you have no idea how excited I was to see that message pop up in my feed.  I nearly fell out of bed, along with my squealing and arm flapping and feet kicking.  Suffice to say no one else got any sleep in this house after that.  Lol.

If you're still with me (sorry lots of blabbering in this post) and find yourself looking for some creative inspiration, head over to JAI and check out the current challenge.  Hope you find some time to join us this week.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks, as always for your lovely, supportive comments.  They make my day! Seriously, it's really nice to know I still get a few visitors :).  Have an awesome weekend.

Just Add Ink #268 - Just Add a Sketch

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Good morning beautiful blog friends ~

OMGoodness Friday's roll around ever so quickly....over at Just Add Ink today we have a new sketch challenge from Narelle.

It's been a really crazy busy time the past six weeks (you know...buying and selling houses, sending GK off on his big adventure to Borneo), and I've had minimal crafting time.  Today I have a fairly straight forward, simple, layered card to share.  

Using a base of Coastal Cabana and the Best Year Ever designer paper (another freebie from SAB this year), along with a little Sahara Sand and some (now retired) Crisp Cantaloupe I just layered up. Told you, pretty simple!

The design team have made some stunning cards to share with you this week, so head over to JAI and check them out.  I'm sure you'll be inspired by their creations.  Hope you can join the challenge fun with us.  Here's the sketch.

Well GK left bright and early yesterday morning.  I was a bit teary and sad to send him off, despite this being a fabulous opportunity and such a learning experience for him.  I'm already counting the days/weeks until he comes home with all his news, and hopefully a memory card full of photos!

We have an open home this Saturday and Sunday so a bit of a drag, but it should be reasonably painless.  I'm already tired of having to wipe down the shower and bathroom every time one of us uses it.  I've been smart though, and closed off the other two bathrooms - so no extra cleaning required lol.

Hope you have a fabbo weekend!  Back again soon.

Just Add Ink #267 - Just Add Typography

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Happy Friday friends ~

This week Di has given us the new challenge over at Just Add Ink, to add Typography.  I have to admit I googled this one.

As you can see I've used a ton of different stamp sets on my card.  It was a total snap to put together, despite it looking like it took forever.  Thank you MISTI.  I just lined them all up and stamped once.

My base card is the very cool Irresistibly Yours Specialty designer paper we received during SAB earlier this year. It's white paper with a glossy white pattern that you can colour using a variety of techniques - which then reveals the pattern.  I used a sponge dauber and black ink to bring up the bold stripes.  I've used a Smoky Slate mat and my accent colour is the lovely new Watermelon Wonder In Colour.  Pretty cool for a guy, don't you think?

Head over to JAI and check out the great variety of design team inspiration cards this week - that should give you an idea of where to start if you'd like to join the challenge.  I'm looking forward to seeing many more Typography ideas from you all.

Well after fifteen months of planning and training, in just six days GK will be on his way to Borneo with World Challenge Organisation.  Everything is packed.  He's had all his needles and adventure awaits.  He'll be doing a week of jungle trekking and sleeping rough in hammocks.  He's also going to work on a community project in a small village for a week - digging trenches for water pipes. Nothing like good old fashioned hard work to put things in perspective. He'll have a week of R & R also, and visit some beaches and see the orangutangs and clouded leopards.  I'm sure he's going to come home a different kid.  I'm excited and nervous for him.  Can't wait to hear all about it when he returns.  Let's hope he's better with a camera than I am lol.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Have an awesome weekend!

Just Add Ink #266 - Just Add a Colour Combo

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Hi crafty friends ~

There's a new challenge over at Just Add Ink, and Nikki has given us the lovely colour combo of
Pink Pirouette, Night of Navy and Gold to work with this week.  If you haven't already noticed, I'm super fond of beautiful flower images.  So sad that Stippled Blossoms has retired, however, I'll be keeping it forever.

I don't keep a lot in the way of gold in my craft stash.  I really didn't want to heat emboss my leaves, so I used an ink that would give a gold-ish tone.  Did it work?  The glittery gold enamel dots are from My Mind's Eye - Ashbury Heights.

The design team have created some absolutely beautiful cards using this colour combo, and  I really can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with.  Head over to JAI, check out the inspiration and link up.

News with us this week....we're gearing up to put the house on the market.  That means lots of sorting and packing and cleaning.  Sigh.  Lucky I'm not a hoarder (excluding craft items of course) and so it really isn't a huge job. Photos are being taken early next week then the 'open house' starts every weekend for a month.  Not looking forward to that - living in it and keeping it presentable with toddlers and a teenager (not to mention the dog and the bunny) in tow just does my head in.  Anyway it is what it is.  Wish me luck!

Gorgeous Kid had his last pre expedition check this week.  Everything is in order and two weeks yesterday he heads off to Borneo for what I expect will be a life changing experience.

Just Add Ink #265 - Just Add Inspiration

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Hello crafty friends ~

Yay for another Friday!  I'm off to my second Osteopath appointment this week for a niggly back/shoulder issue I've been hoping would heal itself for the past three weeks.  Wish I hadn't left it so long :o(

Rochelle has give us an inspiration pic for the new Just Add Ink challenge.  I needed a pretty cool congratulatory card for a talented young man who made it to one of the Brumbies footy junior teams a few weeks back.  Hand picked he was.  Didn't even try out.  Clever!

I took inspiration from this card that my fellow design team friend, Di Barnes made a few months ago  - it's an iPhone card!  Di generously gives all the measurements in her post.

My base is Bermuda Bay c/s, with Crushed Curry, Basic Black and Whisper White as the accents. The sentiments come from various stamp sets.  Soooo if you have a look at the inspiration pic below, you'll see I used slightly different shaped 'balloons' on my card.

We'd love you to join the JAI challenge this week.  Choose whichever elements appeal to you and get crafty - could be colours, stripes, flags, balloons, circles...you're only limited by your imagination.

Well Gorgeous Kid is doing some fast growing up these days.  He's currently off for a few days at an Outdoor Education camp, middle of nowhere, freezing weather...but I bet he's having a blast caving and abseiling etc.  In a few short weeks he's heading off to Borneo, Malaysia with World Challenge Organisation for a month.  I'll talk more about that closer to the day.  I'm getting nervous!

Hope to see you join the challenge this week, have a fabulous weekend.

SUO Challenge #123 - Sweet Treats

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Oh my goodness, don't fall off your chairs!  Can you believe I'm here for a mid week share?  AND I'm participating in a 'new to me' challenge - SUO - where have I been?  Their challenge this week is to make something sweet.  I do love a treat!

I wrapped some mini Kit Kat chocolates in the now retired Gold Soiree specialty designer series paper, created a little tray using some Calypso Coral c/s and packaged them up in a cello bag, tying off with a little of the matching free SAB ribbon.  My embellishment uses a few of the thinlits from the Mini Treat Bag thinlits - how versatile is that gorgeous little set?  I cannot believe I sat on the fence for as long as I did.  Best.  Purchase.  Ever!

I love having little treats like this on hand to give for no reason at all.  

If you'd like to play along with the Stampin' Up! Only challenge this week, go check out the awesome design team inspiration here,

Thanks for stopping by today.  I'll be back Friday for a brand new Just Add Ink challenge.  Enjoy the rest of your week :o)

Just Add Ink #264 - Just Add a Sketch

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Happy Friday friends ~

If you read this post you'll know we were off to a house auction last Saturday morning.  I'm very pleased to say we won the auction!  Woohoo!  The next two months are going to be busy busy with putting our current house on the market, packing and sorting...the logistics of a move can be quite daunting.  I'm already having sleepless nights because my mind is churning with all that needs to be done.  Sigh.

Over at Just Add Ink this week Kim has given us a lovely sketch challenge to work with.

I've used a Blackberry Bliss base - love this rich colour.  The softer, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla toned dsp is an old SU paper from my stash.  The Sweet Life roses are inked with Wisteria Wonder, Rich Razzleberry and Blackberry Bliss.

This card went all the way across to Western Australia for a lovely birthday lady - hope your special day was wonderful yesterday Chantell.

If you'd like to give this sketch a whirl head over to JAI for the details, and lots of design team inspiration.

Have a fabulous weekend!