Sally's Story - more Project Life.

Hello and happy Wednesday!! Today is officially the last day of Winter and the weather seems one step ahead - 17 degrees and the Wattle and all it's pollens is out. So looking forward to being able to say tomorrow that Spring is finally here :-)

But in the meantime, thought I'd share the first pages in the story of Sally the Lab. You can read about our Project Life challenge at Just Add Ink this week here - that's what got me started on creating these pages, that and a nudge from a lovely friend!

Sally, was adopted in September 2010 from the Lort Smith Animal Hospital's Shelter where she had been called "Cougar". She had been there 5 weeks after being surrendered. All we knew for sure was that she was 6 years old,  and had at least one litter of puppies and was very scared of people. So she became Sally (imagine calling out "'Cougar" at the park....eek!!) and it took 2 weeks to get any photos of her because as soon as she saw a camera or phone (or tv remote) raised she ran away, thinking it was going to be thrown at her...

For the first 24hours she didn't want to be touched...she would move away. But the second morning she seemed to realise she was safe and rolled over onto her back for the first of many tummy rubs....the third morning her tail wagged to greet us....and slowly but surely over the next 2 years, this sad, depressed and anxious girl blossomed into the confident, happy, cheeky and very loving girl we know today. The only time now she reverts back to being anxious and a little fearfully snappy is at the local vets. She's not keen on the idea of being left behind....she's had good experiences (though several surgeries) at the Vet Specialist's in Hallam and is much loved there - no wonder she smooches all the nurses when she's out the back :-)

After a couple of weeks we went to visit our friend Bernie and her lovely Lab, Mixie and they quickly became good friends. Sally relished the opportunity to explore with her new friend and roll in the grass. One thing she is now known for is loving to give a surprise kiss - on the lips!!  Here she caught Aunty Bernie by surprise before being tuckered out and enjoying a cuddle on Mum's lap :-)

Seeing her blossom a little more each week with her gentle and cheeky personality allowed to show through was such a blessing to witness. I'd had 2 dogs before but helping Sally was a huge dog behaviour learning curve. Although it's hard to think of why anyone might abuse an otherwise loving and super intelligent animal  - to see her change and start going up to people looking for a pat instead of barking in fear and trying to hide as she first did - was such a delight and so worth the early moments of heartbreak on discovering that she had suffered cruelty. "Super Sally" was the name coined by Bernie and it has definitely stuck :-)

And the stamping....lol:
Hello Lovely Project Life Kit - cards and accessories
Card stock: Pool Party, Basic Black, Whisper White
Stamps: Alphabet Labeller
Accessories: Big Shot, Sunshine Wishes thinlits

There are a few more pages and friends to introduce in amongst the usual card posts so stay tuned!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Project Life Pages JAI #326

Happy Friday to you and welcome! Its been quite a full and busy week and this weekend sees Paperific come to Melbourne. A paper crafters' dream exhibition with many different supply companies attending.

And whilst you are thinking about which exhibit you would like to see, its time to share our new challenge at Just Add Ink. This week, Rochelle has suggested we "Just Add....Project Life!" Our lovely and talented team have all used PL in beautiful and varied ways so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and be inspired to join us.

 I must admit, the idea of Project Life had me shaking in my boots somewhat. I've never been a scrap booker - cards are my comfort zone :-) So my first instinct was to use this lovely kit to make a card...
But then I remembered how a friend had challenged me long ago to tell the story of Sally the Lab. She was adopted coming up 6 years ago now and was a frightened, depressed and rather anxious 6yr old girl when she first came home as she had been abused and had at least one litter of puppies. It took close to 2 years for the full transformation to the relaxed, confident and happy girl to be complete  - influenced by lovely friends along the way.

Once I got going....I made 6 double pages!! I couldn't believe how much easier it was than I had expected!! This spread is one of the latter ones and shows Sally (black Lab) in play with her best mate, Monty, a Golden Retriever - he is 6years her junior and 10kg heavier but she uses her greater agility to her advantage and they are easily equals at play.

(Left side)

The colours in the photos went so well with the colour of the cards in the pack - I tried to keep to greens and black and white. And decided on embellishing just one card per page - that kept it somewhat CAS. And I did save some pieces to use on cards at a later date :-)

So Sally and Monty "met" at the Park one February evening about 6 months after she came home from the Shelter. She immediately took to chasing Monty, encouraging him to play. He soon learned to love the rough stuff as much as she does. Often lying on his back and barking until she eventually heads over and pays him attention. She is quite a tease though - often ignoring him til he is getting rather wound up....there could be a human comparison there lol!

(Right side)

As owners, we of course love to watch their joyful play, but more so we have all noticed that both dogs are so much more relaxed and happy afterwards. And if they don't see each for a while - they both pine! When, a couple of years ago, Sally had surgery and couldn't come to the park for a few weeks, Monty went off his food and we were asked if we could take her around to say hello to him through the gate....which they did - lots of kisses thru the bars as we couldn't risk Sally being knocked over at the time...True love  indeed :-) 

Card stock: Tangerine Tango, Old Olive

PL: Hello Lovely Card and Accessory Kit

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop over to Just Add Ink and see the lovely projects the rest of the team have made to inspire you and I look forward to seeing how you will use Project Life in your creations this week. Keep an eye out for other pages in Sally's story in coming weeks too!!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Aussie Farmers' Thank You

Hello and welcome to you this Monday morning:-) I needed a quick card recently to say a big thank you to someone I have never - and probably will never - meet, but am very grateful to. Over the last few weeks we have been ordering a box of beautifully fresh meat and veggies from Aussie Farmers Direct. The delivery time is not what you'd expect - it's in the middle of the night!! From 12 Midnight to 7am is what they say....But here's the special part - we are number 5 up a long driveway and we NEVER hear them come!! We are quite light sleepers - even Sally the Lab doesn't make a sound - they must park on the road and walk up the shared drive so as not to disturb the neighbours - so incredibly thoughtful!! It deserved a block of chocolate to keep the energy up on night shift as well as a card as these boxes are heavy and we never expected they wouldn't drive up the drive - the Postie does after all :-)

After taking this photo I added some gold twine - you can see that in the next one ...
It seemed so appropriate to use the Thoughtful Branches and an apple tree.
Both the card and the chocolate were gone in the morning so we hope they liked it :-) It is a little reminiscent of the tooth fairy experience - although this time the farmer "fairy" got a surprise too :-)

Card stock: Chocolate Chip, Real Red, WW (behind the DSP for strength)
Designer Series Paper: Serene Scenery Stack
Ink: Garden Green, Real Red, Chocolate Chip
Stamps: Thoughtful Branches
Access: Big Shot, Beautiful Branches Thinlits, Wink of Stella, Bakers Twine Trio Pack (Gold),

Thanks for stopping by today - in this day and age where it is becoming the norm for people to think only of themselves it is really lovely to be able to share a story of someone thinking of others :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Joyful Ornament for JAI #325

Welcome and a very happy Friday to you! This week in Melbourne we have been blessed with sunshine and unseasonably warm temperatures - we thought that Spring had come early!  But with a big storm on the horizon it now feels as though we were only dreaming - pleasant dreams they were though :-)

And it's time for a new challenge at Just Add Ink. This week, Tina has designed a beautifully CAS and fun sketch for us all to use. The design team have all made such gorgeous projects - it's obvious we all really enjoyed using it and we hope that you can take a moment to pop on over and take a look and join us.

Here is the sketch:

And here is my card - one of two :-)

As soon as I saw the sketch I knew I wanted to make a shaker ornament and I was delighted to find that this one  (available 1st Sept ) also fits inside the "O" of the Joy from the Joyful Nativity set!! This opens the door to so many variations :-)

Do you notice that the red "Joy" seems a little 'bumpy"? That is because it is the new Red Glitter Embossing Powder - it has a thick, uneven texture from the "shards" of glitter and also a real sparkle! So lovely in real life but rather hard to capture in a photo.

Here is another version. I can't decide which I like best -  the snow in this but also the stamped background of the previous ornament. Possibly a third version is waiting to be made - after all, it is only four months to Christmas...and I've decided to not let it creep up on me this year. More on that, another time...

There are a few sneak peek items from the upcoming Holidays Catalogue here - the star on the first card, the ornaments  and snow, Glitter Embossing powder and the shiny Gold Twine too :-)

Here you can see I added a strip of gold foil to complete the side of the ornament and hopefully the added texture and shine of the Glitter Embossing on the "Y."

Card stock: Real Red, Whisper White, Gold Foil, Red Foil (retired)

Inks: Versamark, Real Red

Stamps: Joyful Nativity, Star of Light, Merriest Wishes, White Christmas (retired)

Accessories: Big Shot, Merry Tags Framelits, Circle Framelits (retired), Gold EP, Red Glitter EP, Star Border Punch, Bakers Twine Trio Pack (Gold), Window sheets

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope that you can take a moment to pop on over to Just Add Ink and I look forward to seeing your project with this clean and fun sketch this week.

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Sunshine Engagement

Hello, a very happy Wednesday to you and welcome :-)  It's a bit of an overcast and damp morning here in Melbourne so what better way to brighten the day than to share a card made to celebrate a lovely friend's happy news!!

The inspiration came from a couple of sources - I love this card by JAI's lovely Nikki .
And without giving too much away, the surprise happened on a beautiful relaxing holiday and this DSP reminded me of the view from an aeroplane window...and so the lovely story itself is literally behind this one :-)
The hearts - a little like smoke ones you often see in the sky....and although I opened the Sunshine Sayings stamp with a phrase in mind,  this sentiment just popped out at me and had to be used! So this card came together very quickly and was a delight to make for this lovely couple :-)

Card stock: Real Red, Soft Sky, Whisper White (thick), Pink Pirouette, Pear Pizzazz, Gold Foil
Designer Series Paper: Serene Scenery Stack
Ink: Versamak
Stamps: Sunshine Sayings
Accessories: Big Shot: Sunshine Wishes Thinlits, Botanical Builder Framelits (leaf), Itty Bitty Punch Pack (retired), Brights and Metallic Enamel Shapes, Gold EP, Dimensionals and a little Snail.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are inspired to create something you like today too :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Thankful Hydrangea for JAI #324

Happy Friday to you and I hope your week has gone well. With the sun rise slowly getting earlier and sunset later, it is encouraging - the daffodils are starting to sprout and the garden is beginning to show some positive signs of new growth. Just waiting on the temperatures to warm up :-)

We have a new challenge for you at Just Add Ink where Trish has suggested this soft and pretty floral pic to inspire our crafting this week. The design team have created gorgeous cards and have many ideas to inspire you with so I hope you can take a moment and pop over to take a look and join us.

Here is the photo:

And here is my card:

There were some new products on my craft table - the lovely new Copper Embossing powder and metallic thread and the Thoughtful Branches stamp set all begging to be used :-) So, I created a background scene by sponging ink onto white card and then created the 3 layers of colour for the hydrangea from water colour paper - lightest on top and gradually darker and offset - with some Razzleberry card as the base layer. Then it was just a matter of adding some (ok maybe too much? ) bling!

Card stock: Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Garden Green, Watercolor Paper

Designer Series Paper: Serene Scenery Stack

Inks:Rich Razzleberry, Versamark, Pear Pizazz, Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, Tempting Turquoise

Stamps: Thoughtful Branches, Flourishing Phrases, Jar of Love

Accessories: Big Shot, Beautiful Branches Thinlits, Everyday Jars Framelits (bow), Copper EP, Copper Metallic Thread, Linen Thread, In colour sequins (2013-2015, Retired), Aquapainter.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop on over to Just Add Ink and see the gorgeous cards our team has made to inspire you and I look forward to seeing what you will create with this beautiful scene too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Flourishing Easel for JAI #323

Welcome and a very happy Friday to you! Today, Sally the Lab is having some tests done on spots on her nose...there was just one for ages but suddenly it's changed colour and multiplied so fingers crossed it's not too bad, poor girl :-(  In the meantime, the sun is shining and I'm having a lovely day crafting with a good friend - we have a few projects that I will share with you soon :-)

To encourage your crafting this week, we have a new challenge for you at Just Add Ink. This week, Tina has suggested we Just add....F. So what do we mean by "F"? Anything that you would like to use that starts with the letter F. It may be a stamp set, a technique, a colour...our lovely design team have created beautiful projects to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment and pop on over and take a look.

For my F elements I used a Fancy Fold (Easel card), Flourishing Phrases stamp and matching Framelits, some Flirty Flamingo ink to stamp a Flower and gold Foil card - so just a few things  :-)
After last week's challenge to use one of the new In- Colours, I decided to jump right in and try some more - so we have the lovely Dapper Denim ( looks a little like the old Not Quite Navy or is just me?), and Flirty Flamingo.
This upright Easel is very easy to do, on a top folding card, just score and then fold horizontally halfway down the front panel. The key is to only attach your image panel to the bottom half and then decorate the inside in a way to hold up the panel - here that is done by the flower framelit and the gold panel.

And it folds flat ready for posting too :-)

Card stock: Whisper White (thick and standard), Dapper Denim, Flirty Flamingo, Gold Foil

Ink: Versamark, Flirty Flamingo, Dapper Denim

Stamps: Flourishing Phrases, Rose Wonder, Crazy About You

Accessories: Big Shot, Flourish Thinlits, White EP, Burlap Ribbon, In Colour Enamel Shapes 

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop on over to Just Add Ink and see all the fabulous cards our lovely team have made to inspire you and I look forward to seeing what you will create using the letter "F" this week too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan