Happiness is....

A card that comes together quickly and as planned!! :-)

Welcome, and thank you for visiting.

This card is needed for a birthday celebration, and I wanted it to be bold in it's colours.  I also used a current sketch pattern as my base.

The center panel is a bright gold card, and the image is from a set put out by The Crafts Meow called Happiness is.... The edges of the panel were sponged with Cantaloupe ink.

I gold embossed the main image on white card and painted it using ink from my Memento pads dandelion and cantaloupe. The leaves were stamped with Memento Bamboo leaves.  These images were popped up on foam to give some dimension. The sentiment is unknown and embossed with gold. 

The blue panel at the end has three paper flowers on it which have been smudged with Cantaloupe ink to match the rose, and then I added some half pearls.  The ribbon has gold hearts on it as the card is for a dear friend.

The final panel is some handmade paper that I bought as part of a pack at the local Warehouse (Think Michaels or K Mart in USA)

These three panels were mounted on white card which I sponged the edges of with  bamboo leaves ink before layering it onto the green base.  A few more pearls were added to the main panel as a finishing touch.

I am linking this to:

Card Patterns Sketch Challenge # 124

Thank you for visiting, and may your day be blessed.

Garden Door and Meet Me At The Rhine

Greetings to you, my visitors - it is a cold bleak day here, but I have some lovely images to share that remind me that summer will come again :-)

Both images are from McMahon Vintage Digitals and are totally different!

Firstly Garden Door

I just love this image - it reminds me of some books that once belonged to my grandparents, which were probably published circa 1900, some of which I read   in my early teens.

What fascinates me is that the lady has an envelope in her hand, as though she has just retrieved it, or is about to hid it, under the greenery by the gate...  a letter to or from her secret beau??

After colouring the image with chalks I trimmed it leaving a small white border that I sponged with Whisper Plum ink. The image and lace were mounted over a scrap strip of dp that I embossed with the Stylized Flowers folder, and then onto a maroon dp and a kraft card stock base.

The lace came from McMahon Five Designs online store, and the rhinestones are from a Zva packet - also available at McMahon Five Design.

Unfortunately due to a technicality involving incompatibility between Blogger and a new program that I used to watermark my cards, I cannot bring you any close-up views of this card.

Next is a rather whimsical image entitled Meet Me At The Rhine

Again I used chalks to colour this image. Which gives it a lovely soft, spring feel - it can't be summer as the people are wearing scarves, although one hardy soul is in short sleeves!!

The image was then mounted onto a mid green card base and I chose to use the current Card Patterns sketch to complete the card!!

The base panel  was embossed using the Retro Squares folder, and the lace was an edge cut off a crochet doily... bought from a thrift shop for only a couple of dollars.

The corner embellishment was made from a couple of cuts from the Vintage Corner Dies by Cuttlebug.

The first one was tucked behind the panel, and the second one was a square, cut on the diagonal and placed over the image.

Remember these are only two of numerous releases over at McMahon Five Design blog - do feel free to visit this home blog as well as all the Design Team members who's names are listed (and linked) on my side bar

I am linking this to:

Card Patterns Sketch #122 (2nd Card)

Bearly Mine challenge #14 - Anything Goes

Crazy Amigo challenge - Lazy Days(2nd card)

Deep Ocean Challnege #3 - Cards (both)

Anything Goes Challenge #44 - the Letter D - Garden Door

Digital Tuesday #118 - Bling it Up - (Garden Door)

Going Grey with Scrap Creations - Summer (Garden Door)

The Stamping boutique Clallenge#10 - Summer scene - Garden Door

Thank you for visiting - I hope you enjoyed your time here.

May your day be blessed.

Quilling and Card Pattern #99

Greetings folk, today is going to be a quick post - the dreaded ironing is calling :-), never mind various other domestic chores ...

I made the quilled elements of this card for another project, but the colours were not 'right', so they got saved for what turned out to be this card.

The flowers were mounted onto a dotted circle cut and embossed with a Spellbinders die and sponged with Tsukineko Pearlescent Lavender ink.

This was then mounted onto the base which had been designed using the Card Patterns challenge for this week, and includes some lace and ribbon.

A quilled butterfly was added along with some mauve rhinestones on the wings and in the corners.  The sentiment was stamped in violet ink and clear embossed.

That's it folks, as a certain cartoon bunny would say :-)

I am linking this to 

Card Patterns Challenge #99

Crafty creations - heat it up - heat embossing
belli challenge #109 - Letter P - pink, petals

P.S.  Remember to keep February the 23rd free for the cake decorating Party - it is going to be soooo  much fun, and we will not over eat, as it will all be eye-candy :-)  How sweet is that!!

  Thanks for visiting, and may your day be blessed.

Natural Flourish

Thank you for visiting - it has been a week since I wrote anything here, but I have been busy making cards!!  
Can't do everything at once.... well that is my excuse - I can multi-task, but with the computer in one room and my craft area well away, it is a little difficult :-)

I chose to feature this card this week as Stamping Sisters In Christ have a challenge to use red and/or blue in a card this week.  

The challenge is is based on  

2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." 

This is a scripture that applies to all nations, as we all fall well short of what is godly, both as individuals, and those who lead us, and we as Christians need to pray for our nations, no matter where we live.

I had made this card using blue inks and the Layers of Color stencil, Natural Flourish - I have been experimenting with these stencils and love what you can do with them - before I saw the challenge, as I wanted to send a card to a family who have just welcomed a son. 

The crib stamp is one from my daughters stash, but it is unmarked.  The full stamp has a star suspended over the crib, but I masked that part of the stamp for this card.  The crib was coloured with chalks and blender pen.

The edges of the main panel were distressed and sponged and the corners pierced before it was mounted on a pale blue base.  A simple card, but quite effective, I felt.

I then went on to make this card, using the same stencil but different inks.

The anniversary it is for is a Ruby one, hence the touch of red on the butterfly (from Layers of Colors, Flutterescent set) and the pearls - one for each decade.

I stitched the main panel, as well as distressing and sponging the edges, then mounted it on a dark green base.  Not quite as quick and easy as the description may imply, but I enjoyed my time and was pleased with the outcomes.

Thank you for calling by again, and I trust your day is as lovely as our day is today, here in the middle of an antipodean winter.

Flowers this time :-)

Greetings all - the joys of being a world community of paper crafters is that we are all on different time zones, so I thought a salutation of good afternoon may not be appropriate for some. :-)  But you are all welcome here, no matter what the time is where you are.


This card started off some time ago as an experiment with the chalkboard technique - to stamp in white on a dark background, and then colour that image.  The image is from Stampin' Up's Baroque Motifs set.  I used the main flourish and the small flower.


After colouring it, the experiment sat on my desk for some months, but always begging to be used, so when I needed a card for a gardener, this jumped out and said 'use me'...... well, what else could I do?

The layout was a challenge that I saw on the Card Patterns blog, and I decided that it was ideal to use for this sample.  The base card matches the blue in the flowers, so I layered the brown floral piece onto white and then the blue base, added the white strips and popped on the blue rhinestones.  Hmm, the pattern now looked overwhelmed.  Ahh, inspiration, and small, gold rhinestones went into the centre of the flowers.  Volia!!  Quick and easy, and dare I say it, effective.


The most awkward part was the sentiment - I stamped it in blue and went to clear emboss it, but the powder did not adhere well......... out came the stamp-a-ma-jig and I over-stamped it in white, just off the original which gave a shadow effect - as though it was always supposed to be like that ;-).  Shhh, don't tell!


Thanks for calling by - I do love reading your comments, they really bless me.