Thankful autumn

Another challenge - two in the same week, yay! I just had to play because I loved the colour combo at Dynamic Duose!

Stamp set: french foliege
Ink: cajun craze, island indigo
Card: cajun craze, island indigo, very vanilla
Accessoriness: island indigo ribbon, expressions thinlits dies, big shot, dimensionals

This came together pretty quickly, and I played with some new toys which was is always fun!  I stamped the background, added some extra leaves on dimensionals and die-cut the 'thankful'.  The ribbon added some texture and coloure to the project.  I love the expressions thinlites and I'm sure they'll be put to good use as Christmas comes alongs and Valentines!  And of course, I had to add some stamping into the inside panel to add a message.

Thanks for stoping by!http://thedynamicduoschallenge.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/dd73-cajun-craze-and-island-indigo.html

Flower Shop Hello

The laddies at JAI set us a challenge to use a beautiful colour combo in our projects.  I loved this challenge and enjoyed getting out of my comfort zone a little for this one... So without further ado, her is my project that I sent in to JAI:

Stamp set(s): flower shop, four you

Ink: costal cabana, raspberry ripple, raspberry ripple marker

Card: costal cabana, raspberry ripple, whisper white, glossy card

Accessories: pansy punce, pearls, costal cabana ruffle stretch trim, wax paper, iron, sponges

I used a new technique using wax paper that resisted the ink that I added with sponges.  I scrunched the wax paper before ironing over the glossy card, and then I added colour was added on the glossy card with sponges.  The wax paper it resists and it gives you a very cool effect.  If used this technique on the main panel.  It was a lot of fun to try out this technique and I think I'll using this technique again!  To finish off, I love the new ruffled stretch trim and I added some flowers and pearls.  Hope you enjoy it!

And a quick update:

I have just had more surgery for a recurrence of a brain tumor and have currently going through chemo (tablets, 5 days every month for 6 months).  I've just been through the first round of chemo and I'm feeling pretty good but still taking it it easy, and one day at a time. It's a long process but I have ben recovering well and have so enjoyed my stamping as I have recovered. It has been an very important part of my recovery. I won't always put up updates here, but when I can, I'll add something here.  Thanks!

Just add bows!

I've had some fun playing at Just Add Ink today.  The ladies challenged with to 'just add a bows' in our project.

Stamp set(s): serene silhouettes
Card: wisteria wonder, smoky slate, lucky limade
Ink: smoky slate, wisteria wonder
Accessories: wisteria wonder chevon ribbon, spongers

I had some fun with my spongers on this project and also practicing a very fun technique called the reflection technique. Using a piece of acetate, you can stamp the same image in the reverse or in the reflection.  I was chaffed with the effect on this project.  I added a bow with the yummy new chevon ribbon that is new in the current catalogue. Loving how it make a statement!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

A few weeks ago, I made this card for a recent JAI challenge, but I missed the cut-off... still, I wanted to blog it and it's better late than never, right?!

I had some snowflakes (retired card) that I thought would work really well on a card.

Card: pool party, whisper white, pool party cord'dinations card stock
Stamp(s): snowflake soriree
Ink: pool parter
Accessories: snow flurry die, pool part ribbon, rhinestones, honeycomb embossing folder, big-shot

I stacked up three different sized snowflakes to give the project some dimension and added some embossing with the cord-dinations card stock to create some texture.  You may not be able to see it very well, but I love how the embossed cord-dinations card creates two different colours.  The ribbon and rhinestones give it a certain 'wow' that I'm loving.  Can't wait to pass this on at Christmas time!

It's Christmas!

Stamp sets: mosaic madness, snowflake soiree
Ink: midnight muse, versa mark
Card: midnight muse, whisper white
Accessories: white embossing powder, embossing buddy, heating tool, stamp-a-ma-jig, rhinestones, mosaic punch, dimensionals

I love the simplicity of this project!  I've used the new mosaic madness stamp-set and co-ordinating punch to emboss and punch out the decorations on midnight muse card.  I added them with dimensionals for some extra dimension. A sentiment and rhinestones lift this card to 'wow'!  I still haven't decided if I'll use this design for my Christmas Cards yet...it's a fun design, and it'll lends itself to a "production line" card-making session(s).

I know it's a little early to think about Christmas, but since I love Christmas, in my world, it's never too early for the holidays...  Just wait until the new Holiday Catalogue comes out in a few weeks...watch this space!

Mosaic madness!

Card: strawberry slush, costal cabana
Ink: strawberry blush, costal cabana
Stamp set(s): mosaic madness, create a cupcake
Accesseries: mosaic punch, rhinestones, stamp-a-ma-jig, dimensionals

I know it's been awhile (I'm saying this a lot these days...), but I've been having fun with some new goodies!  I'm in love with this stamp set and the co-ordinating punch - they are perfect to play around with!  I decided to use two of the new in-colours to create this birthday card.  Of course, I had to stamp the inside, and I added a fun sentiment to go with the 'happy birthday' on the front.  I created a quick and simple banner to add the main sentiment, and finished it off with some bling to give it some 'wow'.

This has already been sold to a friend for a birthday celebration today!  Hope she likes it!

I've set myself a challenge to blog once a week for the next little while, so we'll see how it goes. It always feels good to set some goals and actually see them being achieved.  I'm looking forward to seeing how this challenge can bring some positive motivation to my creativity.  Wish me luck!

Thank you Mum!

Stamp set(s): because I care, bliss, curly cute
Ink: crumb cake, raspberry ripple, primrose petals, old olive
Card: chocolate chip, raspberry ripple, primrose petals, very vanilla
DSP: print poetry DS paper stack
Accessories: sponges, very vanilla seam binding, pearls

Here is a card that I've made for my mum to simply say "thank you".  We have just been on an amazing trip to Europe and Italy together, which is why I haven't been around blog-land for awhile...  We had a fantastic 4 weeks away, saw lots, and caught up with family.  So grateful for this opportunity!

Anyway, this project has been CASE'd from Teneale Williams - love her work! I wanted to make mum an extra-special card, and I think the layers, the sponging, seam binding and pearls do it all.  Enjoy!

On a personal note (I seem to be doing a lot of these at the moment!) I saw my oncologist last week, and she doesn't want to see me for another 3 months, unless I need to, and if I start displaying the same symptoms as I was before being diagnosed.  It's been just over a year, which is hard to believe.  I am now working 20 hours a week which feels great, and I'm slowly but surely getting my energy back.  It's all good!  I think the trip was a fantastic way to build up my stamina to cope with extra hours at work.  It's been a long journey, but I'm doing well - yay!

ANZAC Day remembered

Hello!

I've been wondering how to begin this post for awhile, as it's been ages since my last post...  I figured I should just start and go from there!

But first things first...  Health-wise, things are going really well.  I finished chemo in February and I had a post-treatment MRI last month, and it came back clear!!  Yay!  I don't see the oncologist again until June, unless something comes up in the meantime, so it's looking positive.  I've been given the "all clear" to travel, so my mother and I are making the long trip to the UK to visit with family, then to Italy to visit Rome and Florence.  Can't wait to come home and scrap the photos!  Other than that, I'm slowly increasing my hours at work, and will be on 15 hours a week when I get back from our trip.  Physically, I'm feeling really good, but I do get tired pretty easily so I have to pace myself. After everything that's been happening, I've feeling blessed that it's gone so well.  But enough about me...

I have a project to share that I created a few days ago on ANZAC Day. For the last few years, I have created a card on ANZAC Day to remember the fallen, and to commemorate the freedom we have in this country.  This one came together pretty quickly.

Card: real red, basic black, whisper white

Ink: real red, cherry cobbler, basic black, real red marker, basic black marker

Stamp set(s): awash with flowers, word play

Accessories: sponges, rhinestones

I sponged real red and cherry cobbler on the left bottom corner, stamped the poppy, marked up the sentiment with the two different colours and stamped it at the top of the project.  You can't go wrong with rhinestones, so I added a line of rhinestones on the sentiment, and a few on the poppy.  I just had to do the inside, so I stamped a smaller poppy twice on the inside panel.

Hope you like it!

Lovely as a tree birthday

Card: very vanilla, pool party, soft suede
DSP: spice cake
Ink: pool party, soft suede
Stamp set(s): lovely as a tree, curly cute
Accessories: pool party ruffled ribbon

This was a quick and easy project, but I love use of dsp and ribbon to bring some colour and texture.  I've stamped a sentiment, added three squares of dsp, and layered the very vanilla onto pool party, then on to the base of soft suede.  I sponged the dsp squares to highlight the patterns, then stamped a leaf on the inside panel with the rock 'n' roll technique.  Add some ribbon and you're done!

I put this card together for my mother's card tin as she said she was running out of cards...  A stamper in the family is alway handy!  I made a number of other cards for her and gave them all to her for her birthday.  I'm thinking she'll love handing this one on to someone :-)

It's all about blossoms!

Card: whisper white, crumb cake
Ink: midnight muse, gumball green, primrose petals, raspberry ripple, summer starfruit
Stamp set: betsy's blossoms
Accessories: rhinestone, dimensionals

I've been enjoying other people's projects lately, and I've CAS'd this one... I can't remember who did this originally, but I loved it too much not to do my own!  This card highlights the new 2012 in-colours beautifully and I love the design.  I've used a new stamp set here, too, which I'm falling in love with!

I have used four squares of whisper white and stamped these with the different in-colour colours with the gorgeous large blossom.  Then, I have stamped a smaller, coordinating flower from the same stamp set with summer starfruit and fussing-cut this out before adding it to the middle of the project with dimensionals.  I couldn't leave the card without something inside, so I stamped the large blossom in midnight muse to finish this off. Simple but effective.  There are lots of layers, but this makes it pop.  Loving it!

Happy Birthday Mum!

Card: lucky limeade, wisteria wonder, whisper white
Ink: lucky limeade, wisteria wonder
Stamp set: delicate doilies
Accessories: old olive button, wisteria wonder baker's twine, ornament punch, tombow

I know it's been ages since I've added anything here...more on that in a mo.

I had made this amazing wisteria wonder flower awhile back, and since my mother was having a birthday (and she loves purple!), I decided to use it on her birthday card.  She loved it! A very quick and easy project for me to complete...

For the flower, I punched out lots of petals with the ornament punch and crumpled them to split the card-stock.  It was just a matter of building up the flower from the base with the petals, using tombow, and moving the petals around to fill it out. The button and baker's twine added some interest.  Lots of fun!  The stamping was a matter of using two of the delicate doily stamps in two different colours on the whisper white.  Loving this colour combo, and the big flower!

Well, that said, I've been laying low while I've been on more chemo treatment...  It's gone well, and is only for 5 days of the month (at the end of the month, I would have gone through this regime 3 times).  But chemo isn't fun - it leaves me tired, nauseas, with a metalic taste in my mouth, and feeling a little achy. But, the good thing is, it doesn't last long, and the med's I can take for the side-effects are fantastic!  I've started back at work for a few hours on Monday's, Wednesday's and Friday's, which has been great.  I'm enjoying getting back into some structure and routines, and thinking about some different things.  Not much else to report, except to say that my hair has finally stopped falling out, and has started to grow back - yay!  I'm grabbing those positive things with two hands right now!

Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers...they've been so appreciated!

Just add winter!

Card: island indigo, pool party, whisper white
Ink: island indigo, pool party
Stamp set(s): lovely as a tree, silhouette sentiments
Accessories: brayer, dazzling diamonds, island indigo ruffled ribbon, linen thread, jewelry tag punch

I missed the challenge at JAI a few weeks ago, but I thought I would share this project anyway.  This was my take on adding winter to a project, because it's been soooo cold lately...

I used my brayer to add some colour to the whisper white panel, then I stamped the trees, but I stamped the image twice without re-inking the stamp, and I moved the image a little to create a shadow look. Loving how it created depth to the image!  Then, I just had to add some dazzling diamonds as snow to the whole panel - you may not be able to see this very well on the photo, but it looks amazing in real life (trust me!).  The ribbon and wee tag finish it off, along with an inside panel to add a message.

Best wishes with french foliage

Card: very vanilla, early expresso
Ink: old olive, early expresso, cajun craze
Stamp set(s): french foliage, silhouette sentiments
Accessories: early expresso striped ribbon, old olive grosgrain ribbon, linen thread, circle punch

I CASEd this from Dawn awhile back and had to share it here...!  I love Dawn's work, and this project was no exception!  It lent itself to the french foliage stamp set (my fav!) so they got a bit of work out.  I randomly stamped the main panel with the different stamps of the set, layered a square panel with very vanilla, then a circle that has been stamped.  I just had to add some texture with the ribbons and the wee tag that holds the sentiment.  Simple but has some 'wow'!

On a personal note, I have now completed 3 weeks of treatment, so I'm half-way through!  Yay!!  I have noticed I'm a little more tired than usual, and my hair has begun to fall out where the radiation beams are (yikes!), but otherwise I'm doing well.  I'm so thankful I'm not working at the moment to have the space to rest and recover and process everything.  Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!

Welcome baby girl!

Card: blushing bride, wisteria wonder, whisper white
Ink: blushing bride, wisteria wonder
Stamp set (s): punch bunch, well scripted
Accessories: pearls, whisper white grosgrain ribbon, blushing bride stitched-poly ribbon, perfect polka dot embossing folder, big shot

A good friend asked me to make a card for her new grand-daughter who was born just before I had surgery just over 6 weeks ago.  It was special to spend some time creating this card for her, and with some online inspiration, this came together quite quickly.  My friend had told me she wanted a card that was pink/purple and that was all I needed to get started!

I added some texture on the wisteria wonder, and layered up the tags before adding ribbon.  I added some ribbon and pearls for the girly look.  A sentiment inside finished it off.  And my friend loved it!

Best wishes!

Card: early expresso, very vanilla

Ink: early expresso, crumb cake (marker)

Stamp set(s): creative elements, silhouette sentiments
Accessories: early expresso bakers twine, sweet buttons embosslit, big shot

When Dawn shared her take on this project, I just knew I had to give it a go!  Dawn calls this technique triple time stamping, and her video is a must see if you want to give it a go.  I love how it creates so much depth and the layers are just gorgeous!  It's a very easy technique, but I would suggest you use dotto to hold the layers of very vanilla together before you do the stamping...
I didn't have the button that Dawn used on her project, or any others that matched, so I used my sweet button emposslit and layered up several buttons to create a cool embellishment.  I'm loving how this came out and I think I'll be using this technique lots :-)

Butterfly thanks

Card: cherry cobbler, old olive, whisper white
DSP: old olive patterned dsp
Ink: cherry cobbler, old olive
Stamp set(s): so happy for you, fresh vintage
Accessories: pearls, beautiful butterflies die cut, beautiful wings embosslit, top note die cut, big shot, sponge

Well, I managed to pull this card together as a thank you for a dear friend who came and talked to a support group I below to.  It was perfect to go with the gift we presented to her!  She loved it :-)

I've given my big shot a bit of a work out here, and I have used the rock n' technique on the image inside, which gives it some extra colour.  The pearls and distressing finish it off.  It's a simple card that I felt I was able to cope with at the moment...  I can say that it felt good to get back into my creative groove - yay!

JAI colour challenge

Card: whisper white, daffodil delight, so saffron
Ink: daffodil delight marker
Accessories: beautiful wings embosslit, big shot, petals-a-plenty embossing folder, pearls

When I saw the JAI challenge for this week, I wanted to enter something even though I almost don't have any whisper white cardstock in my stash right now!  A problem when the challenge is to just add daffodil delight, so saffron and whisper white!  I only had a small butterfly in so saffron, too, which made this challenge quite the challenge!  It there, even if you it's had to spot!

This is my take on the challenge, and it's a small 3" card that I have embossed.  I decided to add the rest of the butterflies with a pearl inside.  I used my marker to bring out the flower stamens, so there is no actual stamping on this project, either.  I think it has a fresh, spring feel, which I'm needing right now :-)

Mainly music gift

Card: confetti white, blushing bride, pear pizzazz, very vanilla
Ink: blushing bride, pear pizzazz
Stamp set: mixed bunch
Accessories: petals-a-plenty embossing folder, big shot, blossom punch, pearl, vellum

Someone at my church asked me last Sunday if I would do a wee card for the Mainly Music Mothers for Mother's Day...  Didn't have much time, but with some help (yes, I enlisted the help of my sister!) I made 30 of these wee cards.  There is a scripture verse inside, which I printed off in vellum.  I was pretty happy when I had decided on the designed as I was then able to prep them all, and I've just managed to finish them!  It's been a small labour of love, and I hope the mothers will treasure the verse that is included.

I used the rock 'n' roll technique to stamp the blossom, then added some layers, with one layer being embossed.  The blossom centre just lifts it, with the pearl.

JAI challenge - just add mother

Card: rich razzleberry, old olive, early expresso, whisper white
Ink: rich razzleberry, old olive
Stamp set(s): because I care, well scripted
Accessories: rich razzleberry satin ribbon, dazzling diamonds, frost white shimmer paint

Over at Just Add Ink, the challenge this week was to just add mother.   I wanted to try out the mother of pearl technique, and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to create something beautiful to honour my Mum.  I love my first attempt at this new technique - the frost white shimmer paint gives the perfect sheen to the whisper white cardstock.  I decided to give the flower some bling with dazzling diamonds, and I couldn't resist adding some ribbon.  I'm hoping Mum will love it (shhsh! don't tell her!).

Blossom birthday

Card: pear pizazz, blushing bride, confetti white, whisper white
Ink: pear pizazz, blushing bride
Stamp set(s): creative elements, so happy for you, mixed bunch
Accessories: perfect polka dot embossing folder, top note die cut, big shot, blushing bride poly-stitched ribbon

 A lady from church has a birthday on Saturday, but I gave this card to her tonight to help her celebrate, so I don't mind sharing this project.  I've used the top note to cut out the confetti white on the front - cool technique where you cut the main shape, then turn it 90 degrees and cut again to create an unusual shape.  I've just quickly stamped and mounted a scrunched up blossom, embossed the blushing bride, and stamped inside on confetti white (the confetti has a gorgeous flecked look).  The pearl and ribbon were added to finish.  A quick and easy project to make.  Happy birthday Gayle!