Charlotte's Bithday

Hi Guys,

My friend that I stayed with in Sydney, Jenn's, eldest daughter turned 14 last week. It doesn't seem that long since she was a cute toddler & now she is becoming a beautiful young woman. I went trawling for a card idea & saw a card on Splitcoast (surprise!?!). It used the cupcake stand out of "Crazy for Cupcakes" & I really liked it. I followed the blog link to here. It was CAS (Clean & Simple) and I made it less clean & a tad less simple (every time I try to use glitter it becomes less simple LOL). I am not good with lots of white space & though Sue's original is so lovely I just had to add some DSP & ribbon ;-). I must get better at CAS cards as they look so elegant.

Here is my version:

I used stazon ink on watercolour paper for the main image & coloured it using Markers & an Aquapainter before layering it onto Chocolate Chip CS. The background is 'Sweet Always' DSP also layered on CC CS. I added Regal Rose grosgrain ribbon &, because 14 is definitely not too old for bling, I added a glittery 14. I cut the numbers out of CC CS using my Big Shot & the very handy 'Timeless Type Junior Alphabet' dies, I then used my 2-way glue pen to add the glitter. I then stuck the numbers (very carefully as I was getting glitter everywhere) to a circle of Regal Rose CS & yet more CC CS. The glitter was the hardest part LOL.

Charlotte's family, & especially her aunt, are big SU fans (pity they live in Wagga & already had a demo, rats) & Jenn suggested that Charlotte would really like some SU stuff. I thought the "Picture This" hostess set might be good for this age, cute for making cards for her friends. Add some DSP, blank cards & dimensionals & present done. I really hope she likes the card & gift (I'm banking on their being little chance she would look on here & her pressie should've arrived by now). Happy Birthday Charlotte!!

Hope you're having a great week,

Cheers, Fi x

My Birthday Invites

Hi Again,

I'm sure I've been mentioning that I turn the dreaded '40' this year. I decided to have a party, who says you can't throw one for yourself?? As soon as I saw the 'Rich Razzleberry' CS I knew it would be the basis of my invites. I also initially planned to use 'Cottage Garden' DSP & the 'F' image from 'Vintage Vogue'. Well, I didn't. I saw this card (the top card) whilst blurfing & loved the simple elegance. I decided to turn it around so I didn't need to add a knot, for the sake of postage. My lovely friend Lavonne sent me the 'ElegantBouquet' embossing folder (by the way, if you're reading this Lavonne, stop now, yours is in the mail).

I used the Big Shot both for the dry embossing & the numbers (Timeless Type Junior Alphabet Sizzlets dies). These dies are so handy, now you can whip up any name or number combo in a flash. I used SU Silver CS for the numbers. I stamped the 'You're Invited' from the 'Sincere Salutations' stamp set using Silver Encore ink & heat embossed with silver powder. Easy but time consuming. I coloured the flower centres with a non-SU silver marker. Gluing the numbers took quite a while but the '2-way Glue pen' is perfect for the job.

And now the inside:

I bought some white shimmer paper & printed the details on my computer. I then stamped the 'Vintage Vogue' small flower in 'Rich Razzleberry' & the leaf in 'Silver Encore'. I actually only did the bottom flower on the rest of the invites as it looked more open. I've edited out the details with iPhoto.

I hope everyone likes them, now to organise the rest of the details.

Thanks for popping by,

Fi x

A quick post

Hi Guys,

My hols are over and I haven't done half of what I planned to do (like clean & organise house, its worse than before my hols!!). So much for the theory that I would blog heaps and enter all the challenges. Been too busy gallivanting out & about, having coffee, dinners out, spending time in Sydney, what a life. Pity work has to interfere with all that but the bills do have to be paid.

Anyway, enough ramble. My cousins had a gorgeous girl, Kaia Jay, this week. I made a card for her, CASEd from this one on Splitcoast. It was very easy & I think it is pretty.

I used a base of Kraft CS, ran 'Very Vanilla' CS through the 'Big Shot' with the Polka Dots embossing folder for the top half, & used 'Sweet Always' DSP for the base. The stamp is from 'Punches Three', very cute. The addition of some' Chocolate Chip' CS, doctored with the ''Scallop Edge' punch, and some Regal Rose ribbon finishes it off. Finally I printed Kaia's name using my computer to personalise it.

Their 2yo son, Byron, is now a big brother, so we sent him a little gift with this notecard attached.

This is a SU notecard, so handy. I inked up the engine stamp from 'Choo Choo' (hope this set makes the next IB&C) with Pacific Point and added black & silver accents. The 'Brother' stamp is from 'Wonderful Favourite', its a shame I didn't have room to add the 'wonderful'. I hope Byron likes getting his own little card in the mail.

Well, must go & think about the 'going to work' process. It is a damp, chilly night, not really conducive to heading out. Oh well.

Catch you soon, I hope,

Fi x

Long time, no blog

Hi Guys,

Well its been a while since I was here. I've been on hols and rather than having more time & I seem to be busier than ever. I spent last week in Sydney, firstly at a work conference, and then spent 5 fun days catching up with my best mate from Wagga. We've been friends since 1992 but don't get to see each other very often. As we both turn the dreaded big '40' this year we decided to celebrate by spending some time together. When we were 30 we planned to go to Paris for our 40th, now we're there, we are still broke, so Sydney had to do. We go a great deal on the Menzies Hotel right in the city, & had a ball. We saw "Calendar Girls", fab show, ate, talked (often well past midnight), had coffee & shopped to our hearts' content. Great fun.

Anyway, that is a long-winded explanation of why there have been no blog updates or challenge entries. I did, however, find a few cards that I haven't shown you yet.

I made this one to say thanks to my mate Tracey's hubby & son for coming & pulling shrubs out of my yard. Trace is good at volunteering them, LOL.

I used Basic Grey, Basic Black & Whisper White CS. The grey CS was embossed with a (oh, mental blank, type of metal...) design embossing folder (non-SU) using the Big Shot. The stamp is from the good male go-to set, 'Totally Tool', stamped in black & coloured with a silver marker. I added a 'Wide Clip' to jazz it up a little as it really was a five minute job. I included a a Bunnings & iTunes voucher.

The next card is one I made my Mum for Mother's Day. She is the best Mum ever (& she even reads my blog, so - Hi Mum, love ya!). As I've said before, my brother & his family live in Russia so this gorgeous stamp set, sent to me by the lovely Lavonne, is perfect.

I used Very vanilla, & Rich Razzleberry CS, & Watercolour Paper. I used my markers to ink the border stamp, and stamped the Matryoshka in Stazon, & used an aquapainter & markers. I added Rich Razzleberry ribbon & a Filigree Flower held on with a rhinestone brad. The sentiment is from another US set, I hope it comes out in our next catty.

Thanks for popping by. I'm heading back to the warm loungeroom to watch NCIS & NCIS LA (Mark Harmon & Chris O'Donnell, yummo).

Have a great weekend,

Cheers,

Fi xox