A second go at CTS #6

Hi Guys,

I had another idea for this weeks CAS(E) this Sketch (CTS) as soon as I saw it, but have only just had time to make it. My last card was not really CAS so was extra keen to have another go.

A reminder of the sketch:

I went Christmassy this time:

I really like this stamp by SU, it has some nice sentiments too. As you can see, I flipped the sketch around so that my angel would fit. i am loving these challenges. I hope king back to work doesn't get in the way too much. I can't believe my month off is up this Friday (sob). Well, I must go and get more stuff done for my 'Christmas Shop'. Mum came and helped with labelling bottles (a laborious task) and threading beads on headpins for earrings. She is a champion!

Catch you soon,
Fi x

Challenge for a birthday

Hi Guys,

Well, I've been crafting up a storm getting ready for my work 'Christmas Shop'. Each year I take a bunch of handcrafted goodies (papercraft, body products candles, Christmas earrings) for my workmates to buy. I have, however, also needed to make some birthday cards. I haven't had time to even think much about Christmas cards!.

My friend Kaz (who I know as she is my cousin's BFF) invited me to her 40th and renewal of her wedding vows. It was a fun evening, they had a black and white theme.

I used the CAS(E) this Sketch #6 as the layout for my card.

As Kaz was born in the 70's, and thus an 80's girl, I decided to use this stamp set from MFT.

I love the colours, the paper is retired SU DSP. I used a mix of copics & SU markers for my colouring. I used SU dies for the numbers and blinded them up with SU's Dazzling Details.

I also decided to make a vow-renewal card. This had me at a bit of a loss for a while, til I saw this card that I had saved on Pinterest. This is a mix of PTI stamps & SU paper. I figured that they were a great match.

Kaz said that she was really happy with the cards. Nice to have handcrafts appreciated.

Have a fab week,

Fi x

A 50th card

Hi Guys,

Maggie, one of my workmates, celebrated her 50th recently. She was in Hawaii for a midwifery conference (not sure how much conference the was vs holiday LOL) so I'm sure it was fun, though I think that was the night of the tsunami warnings, so maybe not so fun. Anyway, before she left, I was asked to make her a card from all the work girls. I love it when I am asked to make cards :-)

I was time poor so did a Splitcoast search and came up with this card to CASE. I love this MFT stamp for a celebration (used a bit this year for all the milestone birthdays).

I am happy to say that my workmates were thrilled with it. I used retired SU papers. I paper pieced the dress and added shimmer paint to the glass. I die cut the '50' from SU card stock. I hope Maggie liked it!

I need to make a 40th today, am thinking this MFT party girl will be out to play again...

Have a great weekend,
Fi x

I got picked as a CTS favourite!

Hi Guys,

A quick post. I am soooo excited to say that the lovely women over at CAS(E) this Sketch picked this card as a favourite. I even get a cute badge to display on my blog. Thanks to the CTS crew, you made my week.

Cheers,
Fi xox

Another go at CAS(E) This Sketch

Hi Guys,

I was wandering around Splitcoast and I saw a card using SU's 'Happy Hour' stamp set. It looked nothing like this weeks CAS(E) This Sketch but it made me think that it would go OK if I turned the sketch upside down.

Here's a reminder of the sketch:

And my second attempt:

I must admit, I'm pretty happy with it. The colours are SU In-Colours and the dashed lines are a PTI stamp.

Must run, have a cup of tea brewing and little lip balms cooling off.

Have a fab 'rest of the week',
Cheers,
Fi x

Baby gifts

Hi Guys,

Two friends had babies this year. Cute little Darcy and gorgeous Juliet. I made each a name frame for their room (not as cool as the name frames that Lousie Layton makes, check her work out here). I apologise as the photos are atrocious - one photo was taken quickly and is pretty blurry, the other I pinched from my friend's FB page (I blurred out his bub as don't have permission to share his pic).  Here goes...

Darcy's frame was made using SU's 'Two by Two' stamp coloured with a combo of SU and Copic markers. I did the text on the computer. The paper is SU's Comfort Cafe DSP.

I CASEd this next card from Betsy Veldman. I don't usually like bird images, but this set from PTI 'Tweet Talk'  is so cute and it has great sentiments. The colours on the card are a little softer IRL.

I based the frame on my card. I love SU's 'Twitterpated' and the above print (on the card) is my fav but I had run out of large pieces. I would buy that print in a pack by itself I reckon, so pretty.

My friends seemed happy with the gifts. Something a bit different from baby suits. The next job is a wedding card. I enjoy sharing in these special moments in my friends' live.

Have a fab day,
Fi x

CAS(E) This Sketch 5

Hi Guys,

I am really enjoying playing along with the 'CAS(E) This Sketch' gang. This week is a simple sketch that had me a bit bamboozled. Then I thought of my PTI 'Holiday Lights' set. I had to reverse the sketch so that i had lights that hang down.

The sketch:

My card:

I really like this stamp set, great for CAS cards. I used SU Basic Black, Real Red and Wild Wasabi.

I am so loving being on hols. A work mate came over yesterday for our annual 'card therapy' day where we make her a stash of Christmas cards. She brings morning tea and lunch and I provide ink, stamps and some paper. Always fun.

Today has been a lazy one, but I have a fancy dinner tonight. It is the annual Client Awards dinner for CAP (Christians against Poverty). They do a fantastic job helping people get out of serious debt. Click here to go to their website.   It's a good excuse to dress up and celebrate families who have worked hard to financial freedom.

I'll try and blog some of my non-challenge cards soon. Have a great weekend.

Cheers,
Fi x

A quick post

Hi Guys,

Just a quick post for a challenge. I have been on hols for a week but had an essay due on Friday. Spent all week finding journal articles and then writing (with a tad of shopping thrown in, of course). Now I get to play for the next 3.5 weeks, yay!

I like this weeks CASe this Sketch!.

My card:

I didn't give it a big think. I had my PTI 'Happy Hydrangeas' on my desk so decided to stamp a trio of the flowers in various SU purples. The sentiment is from SU's 'Take the Cake'.

Just a bit of fun.

Thanks for  popping by,
Fi x

Quick challenge post

Hi Guys,

Thought I'd have another go at CAS(E) this Sketch!. Not sure if I'll make the time cut off.

Here is the sketch:

And here is my take on it:

Sorry for the poor pic quality, not great at night by lamplight. I thought of my friends who are up to teaching their kids to drive. I used my PTI 'Enjoy the Ride' stamp set and matching die, and an old SU sentiment stamp and DSP. Pity the sentiment is crooked, that's what happens when you rush. Oh, I added SU's 'Crystal Effects' to the windscreen and headlights too.

Thanks for looking. I'm off to have a cuppa, a choccie and finish watching 'Winners and Losers' (Aussie TV drama).

Cheers,
Fi x

A challenge

Hi Guys,

I saw this new sketch challenge, 'CAS(E) this Sketch', on someone's blog the other day and thought I'd have a go. It's ages since I did a challenge, and this is a really simple one.

Here is the sketch:

And here is my card:

Sorry, the pic quality is not very good. I used a PTI die as an embossing tool and then stamped with PTI Boy Basics stamps. It is rather basic but my friend's son plays soccer so thought she might be able to use it one day.

I look forward to future sketches!

Cheers,
Fi

Some boyish cards.

Hi Guys,

My friends' and rellies' kids keep having birthdays, and they are nearly all boys. I seem to be making lots of car and truck elated cards.

Byron, who lives in Cairns, was 5 in September (yes, it was a huge month for birthdays). I saw this cute card made with SU's 'I Dig You' stamp set and 'Summer Smooches' DSP.  I didn't have the new 'in-color (sic)' blue and green, so used 'Pacific Point' and 'Garden Green'. I love the bright colours. I never actually heard back re this card.

This next card is also a CASE of this card from one of my fav blogs, and it is only one of about 4 variations that I have made for various boys that I know. It uses the 'Need for Speed' set and I have alternated between using the car and the quad bike depending on the boy. As I have said before, I like this birthday sentiment for male cards. I usually colour the 'i' to match the card but must have forgot this time. I made a car one for my friend Jenn's Harry, and he told her that "Aunty Fi makes the best cards". High praise indeed, as his Mum and two Aunts are all card makers (who occasionally pop by my blog, sorry Jenn and Leah, MWAH).

I was surprised to find that I haven't yet blogged one of these cards.

Have a fabbo day,

Fi xox

Dad's Day cards

Hi Guys,

It is a bit late to be posting these pics but better late than never LOL. I CASEd one and used a sketch for the other.

I absolutely loved this first card (scroll down on linked post) when I saw it and had to have a go at remaking it. Kristine made it as a pop-up voucher card, but I just made a normal card. Dad likes most things that are transport orientated. This card uses the SU set "The Open Sea".The sentiment is from a set I had in my stash (pity it's a tad crooked).

Here's the card I made from Mum:

The next one uses this sketch from Freshly Made Sketches. It is a great layout. I bought this stamp years ago as Dad really likes steam engines. I drag it out every few years.The DSP is from Papertrey Ink and the other card stock and brads are SU. Not sure about the sentiment. Could be MFT??? I was really happy with this card and Dad seemed to like it too.

Better get moving, this day is getting away on me. Have a good one.

Cheers,
Fi x

Beverage birthdays...

Hi Guys,

I thought I'd show you two cards that I CASEd for my workmates' birthdays. They are on the same day and they both ended up with a beverage theme card.

Firstly Eileen's card. Eileen was a mad coffee drinker but has recently converted to tea, often herbal. I saw this card in my blogger feeder and loved it. I changed the colours as I didn't have the new in-colours yet. I used my SU Colour Coach for inspiration.  This card uses all SU except for the PTI textured embossing plate for the background and MFT fishtail dies. I haven't caught up with Eileen yet as she's been on hols. I hope she likes it. Of course she is getting some T2 Tea as part of her gift :-)

I tend to catch up with my friend Lou over coffee when we can fit it around our rosters and life. I saw two coffee themed cards on Pinterest so mixed them up. The originals can be found here and here. You have to scroll down through these posts to find the inspiration cards. These are PTI stamps and ink, and SU paper. Lou did like the card.

I better get on with housework and study, oh what fun (not!).

Have a fab day,  Fi x

More Birthdays...

Hi Guys,

August & September have been huge for birthdays. I still have 4 more september birthdays yet, thankfully only one more card is needed as I got in early whilst Uni was on a break.

My good mate from work, Tracey, had a birthday at the end of August. She has chickens, so I was glad to have the Beau Chateau DSP available (now retired). I combined two cards from Splitcoast, here & here.  Tracey was very pleased with a chicken (well rooster really) card.

My cousin's partner Mikki celebrated her 40th in August. I really wanted to use this MFT stamp 'Cheers' and found a great card on Splitcoast. I loved those colours but then decided on these papers from SU and that decided my colours. I wasn't sure how they'd go together at first (they're from same pack DSP) but they looked great IRL. I left off the lace as it didn't really go with these colours and looked too busy. I paper pieced the dress and popped the top of the glass up on a dimensional after adding crystal effects.

Mikki said she liked it, so that is the main thing.

Hope the rest of the week is good to you,
Cheers,
Fi x

Male Birthday

Hi Guys,

Hope this works, as it is a scheduled post :-)

 This one is another shameless direct CASE but as you are mostly SU girls, I thought I'd show you a card using a PTI set. Quite a few of my mates have camper trailers now and I've been wanting a camping set for ages. Then PTI and SU brought out similar ones months apart. Wouldn't you know it! The PTI set had co-ordinating paper and some nice background stamps, so it won.

My mate Ian and his family go camping quite a bit, and spent 4 months last year travelling around quite a bit of Oz. They're already planning their next big trip. As soon as I saw this card by Maille Bells, I knew I wanted to make it.

Here is the card:

I added the Happy Birthday to the bottom as I didn't have the right punch/die/sentiment combo to fit the cutout shape on Maille's card, even though I really liked it. I do use this SU stamp quite a lot for boy/male cards. hard to find sentiments without curls and swirls sometimes.
Ian was pretty pleased with it, and his wife Joy, a card maker, also liked it, so I was happy. The best thing, I have plenty more friends that this stamp set will be good for.

Have a great week,

Cheers,
Fi x

Teen birthdays

Hi Guys,

Thought I'd pop up a quick post. Have been busy again but have finished teaching the six-week Parenting Education course (3 hrs on Monday nights) and am just stating back for my 3rd Uni trimester. All fun and games.

My friend Jenn's two teen daughters had birthdays in June and August respectively. I wanted something more 'teeny' than 'tweeny' so turned to my MFT stash.  They make some great teen girl stamps.

For Charlotte I CASED this card from Splitcoast. I changed the stamp set and used SU papers (retired SAB 20112). I coloured the image with a mix of Copic & SU markers. I cut out the numbers with PTI dies and covered them with SU's 'Dazzling Details'.

Here she is:

Now for Lucy's card. I used the MFT 'Unrepeatable' a-la-mode stamp, again colouring with Copics and SU markers. I used a MFT sketch leaving out the horizontal element as it seemed too busy (and covered her cute shoes LOL). The paper is SU and the banner was cut using a PTI die. The little numbers are from an MFT banner/alphabet/numbers set.

The girls' Mum assures me that they liked them. Charlotte sent a lovely email to say thanks.

I better go ink some paper as work have asked me to make some cards for their stash. They try to give all the staff birthday, baby and sympathy cards when required. It does help morale.

Have a great weekend,

Cheers,
Fi x

Emboss Resist

Hi Guys,

I thought I'd share two cards today (both shameless straight CASEs) that used the emboss resist technique. It is a technique that I tend to forget but it looks fab.

I made this first card initially for my cousin Adam's b'day but then made him another 'more blokey' one. This one ended up going to my neighbour who enjoys gardening. I CASed it from this card

Here it is:

It is not the best photo but you get the idea. The sponging came out quite soft. It took me a while to warm to the 'French Foliage' set by SU, but now I love it. I particularly love the drops and french script stamps in the set (thanks in a large part to Teneale Williams who seems to use those 2 stamps quite a bit).

I made the next card for my friend Ang who also enjoys card-making. She likes blues and is really feminine, and I have been wanting to CASE this card for quite a while.

I used the vine from 'Thoughts and Prayers', a real SU classic, with a background of 'French Script'. The tag is from a PTI set 'Tiny Tags' and the matching die.

I must go and hang out my washing and then do some Uni stuff. My Uni break went by way too fast.

have a fab day,
Fi x

Apothecary Mother's Day

Hi Guys,

Just a quick post today. I love the Apothecary Art set by SU and thought it would be perfect for Mum last Mother's Day. I think I most likely CASEd the card but it is a simple layout, so maybe not. It's not in my 'bookmarks' anyway.

I used Wisteria Wonder & Pear Pizazz. The embossing is from a PTI plate. If anyone recognises the Sentiment stamp set could you let me know? I must go through and document which sets have which sentiments.

Anyway, here is my card:

Mum really liked it, and that is the main thing.

I better get moving. Couldn't get to sleep last night and thus got up way too late. Not good for getting things done.

Have a great day,
Fi x

A Blog Reno

Hi Guys,

As you can see, I've had another go at a blog make-over, and I'm pretty happy with this one. I even managed to use Gimp to edit the header, with the odd google search to figure out what the heck I was doing LOL.

I hope you like it,

Cheers,
Fi

A CASE for Jenn

Hi Guys,

It was one of my best mate's birthdays in April and she and I are have very similar tastes. I decided that I really wanted to use my PTI 'Simply Jane' stamp set & matching dies for her card. I had to get this set as I have long been a sucker for anything Austen, and love Mr Darcy (especially when played by Colin Firth).

I must say, I really love how PTI bring out so many dies, less cutting for me!!!

I saw this card (top of post) when I was perusing the PTI group posts when 'Simply Jane' was released. I love it, and it made me think of Jenn & I.

Here is my attempt:

I used SU card stock so swapped in 'Blushing Bride', and added a (retired) SU rose. The little pearls are also SU.  I'm pretty sure that she liked it. 

Have a great day. I've had my 'post-last-night' catnap and need a cuppa badly.

Catch you soon,

Fi x

A wedding card

Hi again.

Thought I'd do a quick post while my hair is drying :-)

A good friend from work wanted a wedding card earlier this year. I don't know the bride so thought I'd go with elegance over cute. I did a Splitcoast search and found this card by Mary Fish. I made a few modifications to make it more 'weddingish'.

Here is my card (forgive the terrible pic, I shot it in a rush):

I used the (retired) Bliss SAB stamp set on a base of Very vanilla & Basic Black card stock. I added a sentiment (which stamp set???) and some SU pearls. 

I hope the bride liked it, Tracey seems to.

Have a fab day,

Fi x

A new post!

Hi Guys,

I suppose I should say 'Hi Mum' as I doubt anyone else still follows me in their blog readers. Just in case they do, I thought I'd pop up a few posts as I've actually made a spate of cards of late.

I think I'll start with a card that I made for one of my colleagues who moved back to Sydney. She is very crafty and likes to make cards herself (and knits so beautifully that she submits her items in the local show). The pressure was on to make her a lovely card. She is quite classic so I searched Splitcoast for a design using SU's Apothecary Art.

I found a gorgeous card here and CASEd it directly as I was short on time. I think the only difference is the colour of the button. Here is my card:

I love the new dies from SU, but I would like to see them make an in-between set of 'Framelits' as I love layering. I'm also surprised that they didn't have an exact match for this stamp. Seems crazy to have to cut it out, but that's me. We all know that I hate cutting out ;-)

Well, I better head to bed. Message me if you want any card deets.

Cheers,

Fi x

Still playing..

Not fussed on this layout either, but will have another play another day. No power tomorrow (3rd day in a few weeks) so will have to sleep and read I guess, could even *gasp* stamp!

Fi x

Back again!

Hi Guys,

Thought I'd better explain my blog change. I recently resigned from Stampin' Up!, due to time and money constraints mostly, but also so I could feel free-er to purchase, and blog, products from other companies. I really enjoyed my time with SU and those Demoes are some of the fabbest, most gorgeous, peeps you'll ever meet. I still consider them as good friends and hope to stay in touch, maybe even get to Convention in 2013 (as mentioned in my last post, I'll be heading to Europe instead of Convention this year). Anyway, I had to remove all the SU Demo stuff from my blog. I tried to just change the header but forgot how I did it last time duh!!! Anyway, I've gone for simple until I have time to figure out what the heck I did last time (I do remember it taking me hours & hours LOL).

Anyway, gotta run. Heading out for tea :-)

Fi x

A card for Lizzie

I hope you didn't just faint at the sight of a blog post! This is the first card I've had time to take a pic off,  let alone edit and blog. Have been busy with work, uni and life. I am going to Europe with my beautiful niece in May and organising the trip is also taking time, but so much fun :-)

My lovely work friend Liz reached a significant milestone birthday the other week and I made a card for everyone to sign. I wanted pretty and vintagey and found lots of inspiration on Splitcoast, especially this card, which I merged into one card.

Here's my card:

Forgive the poor photography. It was late at night by desk lamp. I am pleased to say that Liz loved it and said that she'd been hoping to get a 'Fi card'. Sweet words indeed. Also gratifying to over hear someone say 'did she make that??'. Had fun, and made a big mess, all the joys of stamping.

I used 'Established Elegance', 'Perfectly Penned', 'French Foliage' by SU and PTI's 'Big B'day Wishes' and their number dies. Paper is Su's Beau Chateau. I had to go on Youtube to figure out how to emboss the little frame, but once I saw the tutorial it worked perfectly, no more crumples!

I really wanted to make a card for my friend Andrea's 50th but having 3 other birthday cards to make, on top of this one, and several uni assignments all due meant time just ran out. Sorry Andrea. Maybe I'll get to make a (very) belated one.

Hope you all have a great week (month, six months LOL).
Hope to catch you after my next uni essay is finished,
Fi xox