Sweet Baby for FMS

Good morning! I hope it is a beautiful day wherever you are today. Here in Melbourne we have woken to the sun occasionally peeking through the clouds - so nice after the cold, wet and definitely wintery weekend!! Brrr…it has been so cold!!

Yesterday we were spoilt with visitors popping in to see us bringing fruit from their own trees and cake - so spoilt! It has been difficult to get out during the last week with Sally (labrador) needing pretty constant care after her surgery to both her hind legs, and then I toppled over on Thursday and dislocated a bone in my left foot - we have been a good looking pair with our matching ice packs :-)

And so with Sally having a little snooze after her tiny allowed walk out to the letter box and back it is the perfect time to make a card :-) And I love the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week!!

I love how this is such a versatile sketch and I knew what I wanted to do as I had a Skype call on the weekend…I won't share who from yet and there are a couple of people it could be…. but pretty exciting news!!

Yes! A baby is on the way :-)

So for this card I started with the background which is from the fabulous Moonlight DSP paper stack. 

The lovely pram image is from the new Something For Baby stamp set which I love as it comes with matching framelits - so no fussy cutting needed :-)

And the greeting and cute bunny are from the Baby We've Grown set and I coloured these with the new Blendabilities (Blendies for short )  markers. To stamp the images for colouring you can use our regular Classic inks or the Memento Tuxedo Black ink, just make sure the images are really dry first. 

For the greeting I stamped in Lost Lagoon, and coloured with the Coastal Cabana Blendies and for the cute bunny, I stamped in Basic Grey and coloured with the Daffodil Delight markers - and used the medium Coastal Cabana marker for the bow tie :-) I was quite pleased with how the colouring turned out - all new for me, I've never been good at drawing or colouring - that's why I use stamps LOL! So if I can do it anyone can :-)

Card stock: Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Moonlight Stack

Inks: Hello Honey, Lost Lagoon, Basic Grey, Coastal Cabana and Daffodil Delight Blendabilities Markers

Stamps: Baby We've Grown, Something For Baby

Accessories: Big Shot,  Project Life Corner punch, Baby's First Framelits, Project Life Corner punch, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I do hope you have a great day and can take some time to pop by Freshly Made Sketches  and check out the awesome cards the Design team have made and the full gallery of challenge entrants -maybe you too might be inspired to enter :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Hello Love for The Paper Craft Crew

Welcome to a wild, wintery and wet Wednesday in Melbourne! Yes, some might say "its about time" especially those looking to ski for the School Holidays starting this coming weekend :-) And those people would be happy - with Mt Bulla catching 50mm of snow overnight. As you might now have guessed….I am NOT one of those people!!!! So lets look at this week's sketch from The Paper Craft Crew instead :-)

An interesting sketch….and here is my take on it:

There are several "Sneak Peeks" of products that will be available in the new Catalogue from July 1.

Firstly, the colours are based on the beautiful Moonlight DSP stack - perfectly sized for card fronts :-) and I also added some more of the new In Colours. And then there is the stamp set - a Hostess set which is just so cute! The "A little birdie told me" saying was a favourite in our household and so I know this is going to get plenty of use :-) And of course with wintery colours outside, I had to work to make the sun shine inside instead  - and this was easy using the new Blendabilities markers  - and some Bling of course :-)

As you can see, I only used one of the Word Bubbles in the sketch - replacing the other with the Sun image. And the three circles at the bottom left have been replaced with some scattered Basic Rhinestones.

Card stock: Lost Lagoon, Blackberry Bliss, Whisper White

Designer Series paper: Moonlight Designer series stack

Inks: Lost Lagoon, Blackberry Bliss, Hello Honey, Daffodil Delight and Rich Razzleberry Blendabilities Markers, Colour Lifter marker 

Stamps: Hello Love ( Hostess)

Accessories: Big Shot, Square Framelits,Word Bubble Framelits, Coastal Cabana Twine, Basic Rhinestones

Thank you so much for stopping by today -  and I do hope you have time to check out all the cards by the Team at The Paper Craft Crew this week and maybe you too may be inspired to enter the Challenge :-)

And for those wondering how Sally is recovering…she is much more like herself since the Fentanyl patch was removed. That said…she doesn't like to go outside unless she has to….so that meant a whole 16 hours! And of course she was whimpering near the end though still refusing to get up until she was ready…..(patience is the most helpful tool in her recovery!) and afterwards, the relief! Here she is fast asleep afterwards ….sshh! Don't wake her :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Work of Footy and Sally update

Well it has definitely been a full on few days since my last post!! With Sally having surgery on Thursday and ending up having to stay overnight. Life got seriously busy when she came home Friday not being able to walk at all well and there has been a lot of whimpering, cuddling, cajoling,  sleepless nights etc since….She had a complicated operation on her Left hind leg that involved cutting the tibia bone and fixing with pins and plates (TPLO) as her anterior cruciate ligament had ruptured…and a scope of her Right knee which was clear of injury. Worryingly, she was walking worse on her Right leg than her left - until yesterday.  So in 8 weeks, when she has largely recovered from the Left knee surgery, there will be more investigations happening for her Right leg limp. In the meantime, we have been very blessed with lots of help from our wonderful neighbours and friends to lift and shop, help out etc etc.

And today, in between cries from attention from "the patient" my lovely friend Katerina came over bringing some supplies and we managed to make some cards. Ok, Katerina managed to make some cards…it wasn't easy today to concentrate for either of us and thankfully Sally settled later in the afternoon so I did just one card:-) for a young, female Essendon footy fan…and no, I am still  not a watcher of footy or AFL (Australian Football League) but  sometimes you just have to go with the flow….

Anyway, here's the card - and apologies for all the shadows, it was taken quickly and a big thanks to Katerina for taking this to post too :-)

This card came together really quickly - and honestly, as Sally was wanting almost constant attention,  possibly due to the unsettled weather - it needed to :-)

I used the long image from Work of Art and stamped with the Essendon Red and black colours and then punched out an oval for the ball. And to give this almost one layer card a little lift, stamped the hearts in the set too and added with the Hemp twine and a scattering of rhinestones. And I am loving the new Memento Tuxedo Black ink - it scrubs clean with Stampin' Mist and gives a lovely strong image.

Card stock: Real Red, Whisper White

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Real Red

Stamps: Work of Art, Sassy Salutations 

Accessories: Hemp Twine, Basic rhinestones, Oval punch, Black marker, dimensionals

Thanks so much for stopping by today and thanks also for the many well wishers for Sally too :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Bloom with Hope ( Sneak Peek)

Welcome to another Wonderful Wednesday! Today's card is for a special friend who is travelling to say good bye to a family member. Such a sad time but so nice to be able to make a card especially for her and the family :-)
And I used this week's sketch at The Paper Craft Crew. I do hope you have time to check out all the wonderful samples the Design Team have made to inspire you this week. Here is the sketch :-)

And here is my card featuring a Sneak Peak of one of the new Hostess stamp sets in the new Annual Catalogue:

Ok… so there is more than just the stamp set that is new and up coming :-)

The beautiful DSP is from the Lullaby pack and the stamp is stamped in Tuxedo Memento black ink and then coloured with the new Blendibilities markers - and they are such fun to use! I am not a colourist usually so if I can make this look ok, anyone can :-) Oh and the stamp set is called Bloom with Hope and comes with several images and greetings so is really worthwhile and I can see I am going to get a lot of use out of it. 

For this card, I coloured and then cut out the largest flower and added to some Whisper white card. I did use the Banner framelits for the largest banner and then cut the smaller one by hand to blend in with the other layers.

The greeting is from the same stamp set and is punched with the 13/8 punch and then the 11/4 punch for the Coastal cabana layer.

Because I wanted the flower to be the focus for the card, I decided to scatter the "3 circles" part of the sketch and used some blue sequins that go so well with this pretty DSP.

Card stock: Whisper White, Coastal Cabana

Designer Series Paper: Lullaby

Inks: Memento Black Tuxedo, Coastal Cabana and Daffodil Delight  Blendabilities markers

Stamps: Bloom With Hope ( Hostess)

Accessories: Big Shot, Banner Framelits, 13/8 and 11/4" circle punches, Blue sequins (Non-SU)

So I hope you have time to check out the wonderful cards by the Design Team this week at the Paper Craft Crew and look forward to seeing what you create for this challenge too!

Now for anyone wondering how our Sally is doing….she will be having surgery on both her knees tomorrow- whilst she initially was limping on the Right leg, her Left cruciate ligament has also torn so in order for her to get back to playing with her best mate she will need an involved procedure on that as well as a small procedure on the Right. So I expect late and rather sleepless nights ahead for a little while but am so grateful to all our friends for their kind thoughts and support. And soon our fun loving girl should be back ready to play with her best friend again!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Just Add Cup Cakes and a sketch

What a beautiful Winter's day it has been here in Melbourne today! It was a crisp and cool morning but so lovely to have the sun out for the whole day :-)

And now for today's card! It uses the sketch this week from The Paper Craft Crew

and the inspiration from Just Add Ink to add "Cup cakes or dessert".

So here is my card:

And there are TWO Sneak Peek products from the upcoming Catalogue available here in Australia from July 1. Can you see them?

Yes! The DSP is from the new Lullaby* pack and the greeting - quickly becoming my favourite stamp set - is from Work of Art* :-)

Card stock: WW, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Silver Glimmer Paper

Designer Series Paper: Lullaby*

Stamps: Create a Cupcake, Work of Art*

Access: Big Shot, Starbursts Framelits, Create a Cupcake punch, Chevron Border punch,Decorative Label punch, Three Flower punch (Retired), Sequins (Non-SU)

* Available in the 2014 Idea Book and Catalogue

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you have time to check out the great Design Teams cards at Just Add Ink and The Paper Craft Crew and maybe you too might be inspired to join in the Challenges too!

And just letting you know that Sally my gorgeous Labrador is heading back to Lort Smith Animal Hospital tomorrow for surgery potentially on both her knees so Mum might be away for a few days :-)

In the meantime...

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Sneak Peek and The Paper Craft Crew

Welcome to another beautiful Melbourne day- a pretty chilly start to a Winter's morning, but a gorgeous sunny day! And being Wednesday it is also time for another sketch from The Paper Craft Crew - the Design Team have come up with some fabulous samples to inspire you so I do hope you time to check them all out :-)

So here is the sketch:

And here is my card

So there are THREE sneak peek products used here  - can you guess which ones they are?

YES! The DSP is one, and the two stamps used are the others!

The bright and happy DSP is from the new Maritime pack. The colours in it here are Not Quite Navy, Real Red and Coastal Cabana and of so the colour palette for the card was decided :-)

Next I stamped the smiling octopus from the Sea Street stamp set and fussy cut him and the two starfish out.

For the greeting I turned to a new set that is quickly becoming my favourite - Work of Art. Because the words are on two different stamps it makes interchanging the greetings so fun and easy! And then I layered this onto two punched pieces from the decorative label punch.

And whilst the sketch calls for a 1/2 circle doily - I decided to substitute this for a Starburst - embossed with the Decorative Dots EF for this children's card :-)

And finally, a touch of sequins to complete this rather busy card :-) 

Card stock: Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Maritime*

Inks: Night of Navy, Coastal Cabana, Real Red

Stamps: Sea Street*, Work of Art*

Accessories: Big Shot, Decorative Dots EF, Starbursts Framelits, Chevron border punch, Decorative Label Punch, Silver Sequins - non SU

*Available in the New Annual Ideas Book and Catalogue available July 1

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I do hope you have time to check out the wonderful samples the Design Team at The Paper Craft Crew have created to inspire you this week and maybe you too might be next to join in the Challenge!

Happy stamping until next time

Jan

Hello Simple Stems

Welcome to Winter here in Melbourne - although so far it doesn't quite feel like it yet :-) Still 19 degrees (Celsius) today and I'd love it if it continues like this! Though you can tell by the plants in the garden that they are confused - I have some beautiful (elegant eggplant ) Irises that have just decided to flower thinking it must be Spring already :-)

Today's card is for the sketch at the Paper Craft Crew this week. The Design Team have made some wonderful cards to inspire you so I hope you have time to pop over and see them :-)

I really like that it is so open to interpretation and that meant I had too many ideas really!  And I also wanted to use some of my favourite retiring products.

So I started from the beautiful Watercolor Wonder DSP and also wanted to use the Simple Stems stamp set. I stamped the flower image on a piece of Whisper White card stock for the tag background and then stamped it again three times to layer for the main flower. For the greeting I stamped onto a piece of the DSP using some Black Stazon ink and then cut it out with the Word Bubble framelits and layered it onto a piece of card stock for strength. 

Card stock: Calypso Coral, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Watercolor Wonder

Inks: Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry, Black Stazon

Stamps: Simple Stems, Four You

Accessories: Big Shot, Word bubble Framelits, Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, White Organza Ribbon, Gold sequins (Non-SU)

Now I did say I had too many ideas….so here is another of them:

With this one I turned the card base 90 degrees and used another two favourite retiring sets….

Card stock: Island Indigo, Whisper White, Silver Foil Specialty

Inks: Island Indigo, Black Stazon, Smoky Slate

Stamps: Rev Up the Fun, Gorgeous Grunge, Hello Lovely (arrow)

Accessories: Big Shot, Argyle EF, Word Bubble Framelits, Tag Topper punch, Basic Rhinestones, Black Satin Ribbon, Black permanent marker

Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope you have time to check out the fun cards the Design Team at the Paper Craft Crew have to inspire you this week and I look forward to seeing what you create for this challenge!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan