Keesh Sketch Challenge #16

Finally, I've been able to have a go at one of Keesh's challenges. I have missed at least the last two. This one is a really nice sketch, so of course, I had to have two attempts, LOL.

The first time I saw the sketch I thought of a silhouette of butterflies in front of a sun or moon. I decided to try my brayer again. I need quite a bit more practice at getting more of a gradation in the colours but thought it was not too bad for being only the 2nd time my brayer has seen ink.

I didn't exactly stick to the sketch as it didn't look right to put a strip of anything across under the circle, so I used the grass stamp from 'Inspired by Nature' instead. The butterflies are from 'Dreams du Jour' & 'Inspired by Nature' (ret). I used 'Summer Sun', 'Tangerine Tango', 'Rose Red' and 'So saffron' inks for the background. The grass & butterflies are 'Chocolate Chip' with the butterflies also stamped in Versamark & clear embossed. The paper is Glossy White & Chocolate Chip CS.

Another friend's child is having a birthday (and there are still 4 December birthdays yet!!!) so I decided to use this sketch again.

I had already thought of using the 'Sticky Cuts' 9 with blue 'Supernova' glitter, so I just incorporated that idea into the sketch (thanks to Sarah-Jane as I think your card must have inspired me to think of using the 'Party Hearty' hats). The glitter worked so well with the sticky cuts number, easier than using glue. i did, however, give the paper (retired SU DSP) a good rub over with my 'Embossing Buddy' first as I have a tendency to end up with glitter stuck to the paper as well as to the stamped image/sticky cut. The CS is 'Green Galore' (a rarity, I hardly ever use it), "Pumpkin Pie' & 'Pacific Point', & I used my 'Pacific Point' ink pad plus markers in 'G.G', 'Pump. Pie', and 'Real Red' for the hats. I cut one out & stuck it near the top using scraps of Dimensionals. I hope Jesse likes it.

That's it for tonight. Better go get some sleep as I *sob* have to go back to work tomorrow night after 3 glorious weeks of holidays. I hope the women are kind & ease me back in gently, though storms and rain usually means 'broken waters' and lots of women labouring. Something to do with the change in barometric pressure....

Have a great week, will try & get back soon with pics of some of the gorgeous swaps I received at Regionals.

Cheers,

Fi xox

Been a while..

Wow, it's been a week since I was on here, and what a week it has been. Mum & I went to Sydney to see 'Mama Mia'. What a fantastic show, talk about 'feel good'. makes you want to get up & become the 'Dancing Queen'. I saw it on Broadway about 4.5 years ago & the Aussie production is as good, if not better. I also went to stay in Sydney for a few days. My main reason for going was to attend the NSW "Stampin' Up!" Regionals but I decided to go a few days early & have a mini holiday. Was fun playing tourist and just wandering around to see the sights. The Regionals were great fun too, but that deserves a post all itself. I got some great swaps which I'll have to share.

Anyway, "where are the cards", I hear you asking. I thought I'd pop up a few more of my Christmas cards. Finally finished stamping sentiments in them tonight. Another stamp set that caught my eye in this years IB&C was "Christ is born'. I really love the script, & the message. I CASE'd a few cards using this set, here are two of my favs:

I CASEd this one from 'mikate' on Splitcoast.

I really like the 'rock 'n roll ' technique on the poinsettia. The DSP is from my fav 'Ski Slope' and the inks are 'Baja Breeze' & 'Real Red'. This is a simple card to make , though I did use my 'Stamp-a-ma-jig'. I've used it more in this last month than ever. It is such a fab tool. An aside, I had to laugh when at Regionals I noticed them talking about 'Ba-ha Breeze', I have been calling it 'Baja' pronounced with a 'J' since April! Rather embarrassing to realise I had it wrong all this time (blush).

This next one comes from this site, made by the talented Tammi.

I actually tracked to her tutorial after seeing the card on Splitcoast. I thought it was so elegant. Tammi uses 'Bravo Burgundy' but I have a fondness for 'Riding Hood Red' so used that instead. First you stamp the poinsettia onto 'Very Vanilla' CS. Then take Vellum CS & stamp the "Christ is born' sentiment in Versamark & emboss with gold embossing powder. Attach the vellum CS to the 'V.V' with a strip of Snail, which is covered by ribbon. I used the 'RHR' ribbon from the 'Dress Up' Ribbon Originals pack. It has a lovely texture. Finally adhere it all to a piece of 'RHR' CS, leaving a fine border. I added some pale gold ribbon, source unknown. I was really pleased with these.

I'm going to try & do a post for Keesh's latest challenge now. I hope to 'see' you then,

Cheers,

Fi xox

Christmas cards bonanza.

Hi Guys,

I've gone crazy making Christmas cards this last week. The Dining Room table is still a disaster but I have two friends coming over for tea & games or craft, so will have to go & tidy it up soon :-(

I have used a selection of Christmas stamps & papers but I must say that the "Tree Trimming" stamp set & the 'Ski Slope' DSP seem to have been used the most. I love the colours in the 'Ski Slope' range, although I kept wishing it was 'Riding Hood Red' & not "Real Red' as I have much more RHR CS.

I'll show some cards using these today.

This one was CASEd (of course) from this card on Splitcoast. Instead of the ribbon, I added some 'Ski Slope' DSP. The greeting is from 'Occasional Greetings'. making these cards has made me appreciate my 'Stamp-a-ma-jig' even more. It really is an indispensable tool. The CS is 'Old Olive', "Real Red' & 'Whisper White'. I used inks in those colours plus 'Baja Breeze' & 'Gold Encore'. The 'Scallop' punch is so handy to make a pretty edge.

Here is one in purples. I love purples, mauve's & blues with silver. These are the colours of my Christmas Tree decos (no, my tree is not up yet, I'm not quite ready for that LOL). Instead of using DSP, I stamped the smallest snowflake from the 'Snow swirled' set in 'Silver Encore' & 'Elegant Eggplant' on 'Almost Amethyst' CS. The baubles are stamped in 'E.E', 'A.A" & 'Pale plum'. I was really happy with how these turned out.

Another one using 'Tree Trimming' & 'Ski Slope' was this one that I CASEd from Jayne Mercer (only I was too lazy to cut the front image out like she did). Quietly, I had to make a few changes cause I forgot to stick the ribbon on before I stuck the card front on (sssh, our secret..). The ribbon is Baja Breeze & the sentiment is from the 'Snow Swirled' set, another favourite.

That's probably enough for today, its been a long one. I think you deserve a coffee (mmm, might go & have a cup of tea before I get the washing in).

Catch you later, TFL,

Fi xox

Finished candles..

Just a quick post, before I do some card posts ("about time", I hear you say), to show the finished candles. The soy ones don't look as interesting as some of the pillar candles I've made in the past but they do look lovely IRL & smell divine.

Here are some past candles. The textured crystally one is palm wax, the striped ones are paraffin. The palm & soy are natural, burn more cleanly & are easy to clean up. Paraffin is better for making smooth candles or layering.

Have a great day. Hope you're not too hot (I'm in the aircon, but I was cleaning & cooking...),

Cheers,

Fi xox

Candle making...

Thought I'd take a little detour and show some pics of the process involved in making soy candles. I like making them but haven't done so in quite a while. I must have melted close to 7kg of wax on Thursday. It take a lot of wax to make candles, close to 200gm for a medium size. These are scented in a variety of scents but I haven't coloured them. Firstly soy wax can react strangely to colour and most people seem to like the simple, more elegant, look of the natural wax colour.

First, wick all the washed jars. The wicks are stuck to the jars with little circles much like 'Dimensionals".

Melt the wax. I used to do in jugs over water but this method is easier for lots of wax, its just a deep fryer with the basket removed.

You then scent the wax and pour it into the jars. It should be at about 58 degrees. I have wick centring tools which I use to keep my wick from falling over - the simplest & most effective way to do so. These are like the 'Stamp-a-majig' of the candle world.

Not a great pic, sorry. Next step, remove the wick-centring do-dad, trim the wick & pop on the lid. Will provide a pick of a finished candle when I've done these last steps. The room smells good though sometimes if I'm playing with lots of fragrances I need an anti-histamine. There is one fragrance I can never use again, it made my nose clog, my eyes itch, sneezing, the lot.

My stamping stuff used to be kept in this room too (it is 2/3 of my garage converted to a craft room, complete with bench, cupboards, sink & dishwasher) until I made over half my study (see this post for details). The wax & body product stuff was crowding out the stamping, & vice versa. Became impossible to do anything. Now it works much better all round.

Thanks for visiting, hopefully there'll be card pics tomorrow,

Fi xox

Come back soon...

Just a quick note to say I hope to take some pics of the Chrissy cards I've been madly making the last few days. My cousin, Jordan, came over yesterday, she is the embossing queen. My heat gun had a great workout. As I hadn't put all the stuff away I decided to have more of a play today. Lets just say the dining room is a sea of paper, stamps & glitter. I also made a whole bunch of soy wax candles yesterday & some swarovski Christmas tree earrings. These were a real hit at work last year & orders are already coming in for this year. My fellow staff enjoy my 'shop' that I bring in every Christmas. Hope they're looking to buy up big again this year!

Better run & get to stamping. Hopefully some pics will be up by tomorrow.

ETA: Thought I'd show a pic of my formerly tidy Dining Room & a stack of my cards.

Cheers,

Fi xox

Watering Can

I first saw this on Jayne Mercer's blog when she held her 'Girl's Night In' cyberstamp challenge. It is from a tutorial on Splitcoast which you'll find here. I haven't had a chance to play til now. I think I went a bit crazy with the stamping. I used a stamp set only available in the US called "Greenhouse Garden". I added some 'Felt Fusion' flowers & a rhinestone brad. The sentiment is also from a US SU set called 'Simple Friendship' which I bought before I became a demo. I've given up on it coming here but it is a lovely set. I used the large oval & scallop oval punches.The scallop oval is in the Spring Mini & thus only available til the end of November.

Anyway, here is the pic of my little project:

Thanks for visiting. Must get on with making some Christmas cards. How did it get to be November already??? This year has just vanished (is this is a sign of getting older?).

have a great weekend,

Cheers,

Fi xox

Inspired by Fuzzy on Celebrity Masterchef

I was watching Celebrity Masterchef the other night and really liked Fuzzy's shirt. The image on her left shoulder gave me an idea for a card design (oh my goodness, I finally got a little Mojo of my own!!!)

This is the shirt. I immediately thought of 'Very Vanilla', 'Going Gray', 'Kiwi Kiss' & 'Baja Breeze' (actually its probably more 'Bashful Blue' but I love KK & 'Baja Breeze' together).

Here is the card I made:

I used the aforementioned colours and stamps from 'Friends 24-7', 'Baroque Motifs' and 'Best Yet' and the BG stamp 'Sanded' which I stamped using 'Versamark' ink for a lighter finish. I added two of the 'Kiwi Kiss Corduroy Brads', another great Spring Mini product which will only be available to the end of this month (sob).

I was pretty happy with how it turned out. For a change it actually looked rather like I'd pictured in my head.

Must run, have a fab day,

Fi xox

Elise's Wedding Pic

I got the bride's permission to post a wedding pic. Elise & Glenn looked so happy, it was a lovely day. Elise looked absolutely stunning. I love her dress, just her. The setting was beautiful, up in the vineyards of the Hunter Valley.

The chapel is on the grounds of the reception centre so very easy, no trying to find out where to go. There is a cafe and little shops there so no problem filling in time. The reception centre was just beautiful, so nicely decorated. Lots of candles. Really set the mood for a fun night.

Elise and Glenn, I wish you all the happiness in the world. Thank you for letting me share in such a beautiful day. Love ya,

Cheers,

Fi xox

Keesh Sketch Challenge #15

Hi Guys,

Sorry it's been so long between posts. The last few weeks were a bit hectic, with work, my friend's wedding and life in general. I have been making a few cards lately. I've made a start on my swaps for the NSW Regionals (can't wait for that). I will show them after the event. I made three cards for friends who had their children dedicated at Church (like a Christening only without the baptism) but was in a mad rush so didn't take any pics. They were based on theseone's. I used the giraffe stamp and stuck pretty much to Simone's card for a boy, and then did the same layout but using 'Sweet Always' paper and RR & PP CS for the girls' cards.

Anyway, down to business. Keesh has given us another great sketch this week. I was so glad that I had time to play. As with Keesh's best challenges, I couldn't stop at one, LOL.

Here is the sketch:

For this first card I've used Parisian Breeze papers (I so love them and, sniff, they are only available to the end of this month) and stamps from the Simply Sent Kit 'No-one Like You'. I didn't realise that this floral image matched the Parisian Breeze papers until I saw this card by Carol Dunstan. Of course I had to have it then. I've also used the jumbo brads which are also only available to the end of November. Am going to miss the Spring Mini when its finished, has so many fabulous products.

For my 2nd attempt I used the 'Cheers to You' stamp set & the 'Sweet Always' papers. I didn't think I'd ever like this colour combo but I think Keesh won me over. Now I really like it. I used my ink pads & 'Blender Pen' to colour the image. It is a bit hard to see but I've added a little bling with some 'Rhinestone Brads' .

Thanks for visiting. I'm off to look at the other entries to the challenge. I look at the fabulous Design Team entries but no others until after I make my cards, that way I can't cheat!

I'm off to morning tea with my friend's Mum who is visiting from the USA. We have met a few times & become Facebook friends so it will be lovely to catch up. I better go get ready.

Cheers,

Fi xox