It's been a while..

Hi Guys,

Just a quick post as have to work tonight.

Firstly, my thoughts & prayers to everyone in Christchurch, and to their loved ones around NZ & the World. It is a terrible tragedy, something we seem to be seeing too much of lately.

Sorry it's been so long, again, between posts. A work mate placed an order for five 'Labour Packs', a kit of products to help in labour, such as massage oil, lipbalm etc. I had run out of stock so it's taken a fair bit of time to make everything. PLus, when I went to print my labels, which are stored in the Windows partition on my Mac, I discovered the latest Mac OS update doesn't support Windows XP and my partition seems to have vanished. Thus i had to get new software & make new labels. No huge drama, just time consuming.

Finally, a card. My friend's daughter turned one on the 12th and I was working when her party was on. I finally got around to organising a little gift & needed a card. I turned to a recent Clean and Simple sketch. I have been either straight CASEing or using sketches as I am so short on time that I have no time to think. I use the mighty combined brain of the internet & I thank you all for putting your wonderful talent out there for me to access!!!

The sketch:

And my card:

I recently bought these number dies from PTI and a stamp set to match with 'th', 'st' etc to place after the numbers. I thought this sketch was a good place to try them out. The only thing I would've liked is a frame for the main image. I used retired SU DSP which I love for little girls and stocked up on, and some sprinkles (pink dots). The sentiment is from 'Party This Way' and the cupcakes from 'Short and Sweet'. Colours are 'Regal Rose' and 'Pumpkin Pie'.

Thanks for dropping in, must go & hit the shower,
Fi xox

Yet more birthdays...

Hi Guys,

Yes, I have some more birthday cards to show you. Maija (see last post) is not the only one in her family to celebrate a birthday recently. Her Daddy, Kev, and gorgeous little brother, Noah, had January birthdays but I am a huge slacko, and even though I dearly love this family, have not yet caught up with them for their birthdays. I will, however, remedy this tomorrow night.

Kev is a muso, mainly guitar, so I had to put some music related stuff on his card. I went for simple as it was the fourth card I made that day, plus, lets face it, he is a bloke LOL. I do think it needs something else though, any ideas??? Maybe some jumbo eyelets might help???

I initially took the idea from page 52 of the IB&C but then decided to do a similar card to this one I made the other week.  I used Crumb Cake, Old Olive & Not Quite Navy CS & matching inks, plus Early Espresso. The images are from the Grunge Rock & Extreme Element stamp sets & the 'Dude' sentiment is PTI.

ETA: I went back and had a bit more of a play with Kev's card. The pic quality is no good and my camera battery went flat so couldn't take another. Despite that, what do you think of the changes?

I stamped the guitar again in early Espresso on a separate piece of Crumb Cake CS, added embossing powder & cut it out, popping it up on dimensionals. I swiped some Crumb Cake ink around the edges of the top layer & added Jumbo Eyelets and a star cut out with the small star punch (retired) and swiped with NQN ink. I think it is a bit more interesting now. Just hope Kev likes it!

Next up is Noah's card. Guess what colours/DSP I went for? Of course, it is 'Celebrations' again. Good thing I bought two packs of this DSP. Nearly everyone of my friends has boys. I used this past sketch from the Inkspirations challenge site that I did not had time to play when the challenge was open.

I used the engine from the Choo Choo set and the 'Happy Birthday' is a cute stamp from the 'Party This Way' set. The '2' is cut out using my Big Shot and the Timeless Type Alphabet dies. Dn't look too closely at the Crystal Effects on the '2', it got away from me a bit!  The colours are, of course, Pacific Point, Real Red & Pear Pizzaz.

I registered today for the SU Convention in May. had booked flights & accom but nearly forgot about registering, duh!!! It will be fun, and I'm really looking to wandering about Melbourne. I have wanted to visit there for years! Anyway, must get moving. I had such a lazy day today after a fun time with Mum yesterday going to Sydney to see 'Tap Dogs'. Those guys sure can dance (and don't look half-bad either LOL).

Have a fab week,

Cheers,
Fi xox

Finally, an Inkspirations challenge!

Hi Guys,

A very quick post. I needed to make a card for a beautiful soon-to-be 4 year old and thought the latest Inkspirations sketch would be fun to use. It looks scary at first but seeing the DT's efforts helped a lot.

Here's the sketch:

And my card:

I decided to use the Playdate DSP as it has such cute images. I used my 13/4" punch for the squares and added them to a Bashful Blue background, and then onto Real Red.  The cupcake is from 'Party Hearty' and the sentiment from 'Party this Way'. The scallop is from the large scallop punch that I was fortunate enough to purchase before it was withdrawn.


I hope Maija likes it. I am a bit concerned that it is more suited to an older girl. Since I made this I have seen Louise Layton's gorgeous effort which is sooo cute for a 4 y.o.


Must run,
Cheers,
Fi x

Least favourite cards

Hi Guys,

One of my beautiful work mates lost her Mum the other week. She had been deteriorating due to Dementia and was about to move into a nursing home. As such, even though it was a blessing that she passed away, the family mourns the loss of the woman she was. I made a card for all of those of us who were Tom's fellow night owls. I was inspired by the 2nd card in this post, which I first saw on the SU Connection Showcase. Forgive the poor quality pic.

I used Crumb Cake & Marina Mist and was pleased to find this retired DSP (from the gorgeous Parisian Breeze papers, now retired). I stamped the floral image from the 'Elements of Style' set and the sentiment is from 'Thoughts & Prayers'. I added some Marina Mist ribbon and one of the lovely Vintage Brads. I hope it meant something to Tom at this sad time.

I made four birthday cards the other day but haven't time to take any pics. I've been cleaning today, and rearranging my bedroom as I just got my new chest of drawers delivered. It is a lovely white slimboy that I got for 40% off!!!! Now to head to the shops & then home for a nap before work tonight (yucko).

Hope you're surviving the heat, and thinking of all my North Qld family & friends. I pray that the cyclone diminishes to nothing before it hits.

Cheers,
Fi x

Farewell cards

Hi Guys,

Sorry its been a while since I was last here. Work has been crazy busy, though thankfully we had a reprieve for my last few nights, and we needed it!!!) and I haven't been feeling 100%. These days off are helping though.

Anyway, onto cards! It is that time at work when we change our Doctor rotations and three of our lovely doctors have left. I missed making a card for one of them but managed to get the other 2 made.

One is taking 6 months off, she is getting married but also travelling. Ang has been a real joy to work with & is excellent at her job. We will miss her but she will be back in town for her wedding so we all want to be off that day so we can go & peek, LOL. I went with a travel theme for her card.

I broke out the 'Sentimental Journey' and 'Artistic Etchings' sets. These are both sets that I loved at first sight but have hardly used. I also inked up my 'En Francais' background stamp. I used 'Early Espresso', 'Confetti Cream' & 'Cherry Cobbler' CS with 'Early Espresso', 'Cherry Cobbler' & 'Not Quite Navy' inks. I added a Vintage Brad to complete the old-style appearance. I was inspired by several cards on splitcoast and was pretty happy with the outcome.


The next card was made for Em, she is bright and bubbly and we have sadly lost her to Qld. Its the 1st time that I've wished I had the tropical products from the current mini. I totally CASEd this card from here, just changing some of the colours. It was a bit brighter IRL

I used Daffodil Delight (for the 1st time ever I think), Marina Mist (ribbon & button), Pear Pizzazz and Real Red. Em was quite chuffed with it (she is English). I gave the girls a handmade travel candle to go with the cards.

Must go and get some stamping done, I have 4 b'day cards to make, 3 for the one family!

Thanks for popping in,

Just a quick post

Hi Guys,

Mum needs a card for her cousin who is turning 98 soon (Mum is from the much younger side of the family). I had seen this card ages ago and filed it in my 'card ideas' bookmarks. I thought it would be perfect to CASE, and then read that Jaydee had made it for a 90th birthday. No wonder it seemed so appropriate. After playing a bit I decided to go lighter with the main image, and, I'll admit, I'm very pleased with how it turned out. It does look better IRL.

I used stamps from the 'Elements of Style' set.Once again, I didn't really like this set until I started to see it being used, now I think it will become an SU classic. I used the ink to rubber technique, using 'Pretty in Pink', 'Rose Red' and 'Pear Pizazz' markers. For the left side, Jaydee used the lovely 'Very Vintage' wheel but I decided to try the flourish from 'Elements of Style' instead. The sentiment is from 'Curly Cute', inked with markers so I could place it on two lines. Finally it is finished off with some lovely PiP satin ribbon and an Antique Brad (love these). I really hope that Mum is happy with this, and Betty too.

Must run, off to work again,

Cheers,
Fi xox

Kid's birthdays

Hi again,

Don't faint at me being here two days in a row! Several of my friends and my cousin have kids with December or January birthdays. Thus I not only made quite a few Christmas cards but had to come up with birthday cards as well. I showed some from early December on here but still have a few left.

Dominic was on 27/12. They spend a lot of time on the water so thought he might like the Extreme Surfer image. I inked up the background 'Splat' image from 'Extreme Elements' in white and the 2 different blues to create a bit of an 'oceany' feel. I was inspired by this card but the image seemed to suit better with the stripes vertical rather than horizontal. As I'm sure you've noticed, I love Pacific Point & Real Red for boys.

Next was Curtis, my friend from Tamworth's youngest. I can't believe that he is 7 already! I can't remember where I got the inspiration for the layout, it is pretty generic I suppose. I was going to use the 'Extreme Skateboard, but I was chatting to his Mum on the phone as I was preparing to make his card & she said the 'Extreme Guitar' would go down better. I inked up stamps from the 'Extreme Elements' set too (can you tell its a fav??) and used my fall-back for boys cards, Celebrations DSP. The '7' is a chipboard number, inked in white, then Pacific Point & covered in Crystal Effects. After all this I forgot to take it to the PO when I sent the parcel & had to post it separately, duh!

Finally, for now, a card for my good friends' '8' year old Zach. They are great kids and always open the card and really seem to appreciate the work that goes into them. Could be because their Mum is a scrapper...

I CASEd the same layout as the first (Dominic's) card but had much more time to play.  Celebrations DSP, check, 'Extreme Elements', check, "Pacific Point' & 'Real Red', check, 'Extreme' stamp, check, must be a boy's card LOL. I used my Big Shot to cut out the '8' and placed on a star cut using the large star punch. I love the 'Wish Big' stamp from the fab 'Word Play' set. So many great sentiments in this set. Anyway Zach was suitably impressed, and his Mum was amazed that I'd stamped the background behind the Skater, she thought it was DSP. My mission was complete!

Must get going. Need to have a cuppa and then consider going back to bed as I am working tonight. Got up for the plumber but bed is calling.

Cheers,
Fi xox