Kaisercraft August Challenge

Hello There,

The August Kaiser Sketch Challenge inspired me to put a page together.  I turned the sketch around for my page and it works really well.  Here is the sketch:

And here is my page:

This page came together well using a couple of different paper packs from Kaiser.  I even did some wet embossing on a page, which I very rarely do.  I am really chuffed with my man page!

Thanks for stopping by and may the crafting force be with you.

Perfectly Rustics - Something that Moves

Hello There,

I have always wanted to make a shaker card, but it was something that I just had not gotten around to. So with the current challenge at Perfectly Rustics being "something that moves" it was the perfect time to make a shaker card.  I made a card for a friends birthday and was happy with the end result.

Here is my card:

 

I look forward to seeing all of your "moving" creations over at Perfectly Rustics.

 

As always, thanks for stopping by and may the crafting force be with you.

 

 

Perfectly Rustics - Colour Challenge

Hello There,

The current challenge at Perfectly Rustics is a colour combination.  Here are the colours:

 

As with any colour challenges, you are also allowed to use neutrals with the colours, such as white and black. The colours are Stampin' Up! colours, if you don't have them, then it is ok to use colours that are similar to them.  I made a thank you card using the colours, utilising the masking tape technique to create my background.  Such a simple technique but very effective.  Here is my card:

 

I look forward to seeing your colourful creations at Perfectly Rustics.

 

Thanks for stopping by and may the crafting force be with you.

Perfectly Rustics - Letters or Symbols

Hello There,

I know, I know, I have been slack with my posts, but this thing called life is keeping me busy, especially my two beautiful children.  Abbey is now 5 months old, not sure where that time has gone and I am starting to think about what I will do for Owen's 4th birthday in September.  Before we know it they will be all grown up, moving out of home and we won't know what to do with ourselves.

The good thing is that I have managed to keep up with my paper crafting, making cards and scrapping.  I believe this hobby of mine keeps me sane! 

With this in mind the current challenge over at Perfectly Rustics is Letters or Symbols.  I did a scrap book page, which is a little different to my normal style, but I am quite happy with the result.  The title is a real feature on this layout, which is why I chose it for this challenge.

Here is my page:

 

I look forward to seeing your creations over at Perfectly Rustics.

 

Thanks for stopping by and may the crafting force be with you!

Perfectly Rustics - New Technique

Hello There,

Another fortnight has disappeared so that means that it is time for a new challenge over at Perfectly Rustics.  This time we are asking you to try a new technique.  Finding a new technique to try gave me an excuse to trawl through Pintrest, there are so many new techniques to try, it was hard to choose just one! I did pin many, so have future inspiration. The technique I decided to try was faux embossing, check it out here.  So simple to do yet it looks totally awesome!  Here is my card:

It is now your turn to try your hand at a new technique and enter the challenge.  I look forward to seeing your creations.

Thanks for stopping by and may the crafting force be with you!

Perfectly Rustics - Remember

 

Hello There,

Another challenge over at Perfectly Rustics and in honour of Anzac day we are asking that you incorporate the word Remembrance or Remember in your project.  I did a scrapbook page, I am so loving scrapbooking at the moment.  If I get a few minutes, I duck into the craft room and work on another page, even if it is only to pick papers and embellishments, it means I am one step closer to getting a page completed.  True it could take a number of days to finish one page, but at least it is a page and one that I wouldn't have done if I hadn't used my little pockets of time for scrapbooking.  I think scrapping keeps me sane!  So here is my page, which I put together in the company of my two Scrapping Besties, Jayne and Sharnee - love you guys!

 

I look forward to seeing your projects.

 

Thanks for stopping by and may the crafting force be with you!

Perfectly Rustics - Eggs

Hello There,

The current challenge over at Perfectly Rustics is Eggs.  Hard to believe that it is Easter time again. Time is certainly zooming past very quickly.  I am not really into giving out Easter cards so I included an egg on a birthday card, which I think worked well.  Here is my card:

 

I would love to see your eggy creations over at Perfectly Rustics.

 

Thanks for stopping by and may the crafting force be with you!

Perfectly Rustics - Make It Better

Hello There,

Challenge time over at Perfectly Rustics, and this time the aim is to take a project you have done in the past that you have not been completely happy with, you know the one that you look at and screw up your face and go, did I really do that?  Well I had a scrap booking page like that, I initially started off as a scrapper, but then got into cards and didn't do any scrapping for a while. When I got back into it, it was a bit of a struggle, so my technique has evolved over the past three years since starting scrapbooking again.  This is my before page:

 

So many things that I dislike about this, it is kind of embarrassing to put this up.  Here is my page after some work:

 

 

I am much happier with this page.  So now is the time for you to go back and revisit some dodgy projects and make them better!

 

We have also welcomed a new design team member over at Perfectly Rustics, Lisa Babitz, please stop by and check out her wonderful work.  The lovely Sharnee is stepping down from the design team, to spend more time with her beautiful family.  Thank you for being a part of the design team, your wonderful creations will be missed. 

 

Thanks for stopping by and may the crafting force be with you!

Perfectly Rustics - Little Boy or Girl

Hello There,

I don't know about you, but I always love creating projects for the precious little ones in our lives, so that is exactly what the challenge is over at Perfectly Rustics this fortnight.  I made a Birthday card for a special little man who turned one.  I used Tangerine Tango and Tempting Turquoise together, which are awesome together for a little boy.  I also used a stamp set from Heartfelt Creations, I just loved the plane and the clouds in this set.  I added colour with a blender pen.  I am so chuffed with this card, here it is:

So break out the inner child and get creating and enter the challenge at Perfectly Rustics.  

 

Thanks for stopping by and may the crafting force be with you.

Perfectly Rustics - Wings

Hello There,

Challenge time again over at Perfectly Rustics and this time we are asking you to get your wings on!  So many things have wings, birds, butterflies, dragon flies, fairies and planes, so many possibilities for this one.  I used a butterfly image, which I water coloured to make a congratulations card.  My colour scheme was black and Bermuda Bay, I used some of the new sequin trim available in the current Stampin' Up! Occassions catalogue, you can't really tell in the picture, but the sequins are the Bermuda Bay colour and are awesome.  Here is my card:

 

Hope to see you over at Perfectly Rustics. 

 

Thanks for stopping by and may the crafting force be with you.

 

 

Our Beautiful Abbey

Hi There,

Our beautiful little girl arrived on Tuesday 6 January at 8.33am, by planned C-section. She weighed 7 pound 12 ounces or around 3.5kg. Abbey will be four weeks old tomorrow. I cannot believe how quickly that time has passed. We are both doing well, she is gaining weight nicely, some days I feel like a dairy cow with her wanting to feed a lot. Nights are going ok, I am up twice with her at the moment.  She does make a lot of noise when she sleeps, grunting and snorting! Owen seems to be excited about his little sister. Here are some snapshots of our princess.

Perfectly Rustics - Hugs and Kisses

Hello There,

It is coming up for that time of year when we show just how much we love everyone, especially the significant other in your life, mind you I think we should do this all year round.  So with Valentines Day fast approaching the challenge over at Perfectly Rustics is Hugs and Kisses.  I decided to create a scrapbooking page for this challenge using a photo from our wedding.  I used to some washi tape on this page, which always makes me happy and an embossing folder for the 'and' sign, which I have had for a while but had not yet used.   Here is my page:

I look forward to seeing your Hugs and Kisses creations over at Perfectly Rustics.

 

Thanks for stopping by and may the crafting force be with you.

Perfectly Rustics - Animals

Hello There,

This fortnight over at Perfectly Rustics the challenge is to include an animal in your creation.  I used one of the stamps from a favourite Stampin' Up! set called Storybook Friends, which is ideal to use for water colouring.  All the animals are so cute in this set so it is always hard to choose just one to use.  I went with the duck for a thank you card and stamped it with Staz On ink on water colour paper and set to work with an aqua painter to colour up the image. Some sponging around the edges, ribbon and a greeting and the card was done.  Here is my card:

Hope to see your creations over at Perfectly Rustics.

 

Thanks for stopping by and may the crafting force be with you.

Perfectly Rustics - Trees

Hello There,

Not long until Christmas now!  I cannot believe it.  Our little man of 3 is getting quite excited this year, which makes Christmas just that little more special.

I don't now about you but I have been pumping at Christmas cards this month and was most pleased when I popped them in the post or handed them out last week! Sense of achievement right there.  The current challenge over at Perfectly Rustics is Trees, which most of my Christmas cards seem to have on them this year.  Here is a sample of two of my cards:



I am really happy with both of them, but I especially like the black and gold number.  So easy to make, but very effective.  The challenge is open for a month this time to account for holidays so get creating and entering at Perfectly Rustics.

Thanks for stopping by and may the crafting force be with you.

Perfectly Rustics - Embossing

Hello There,

Another challenge over at Perfectly Rustics and this fortnight it is embossing, wet, dry or both.  I made a card for my mothers birthday using an embossing folder and versa mark ink then heat setting embossing powder.  I coloured it in with a chalk pen. I was really happy with the end result and more importantly my mother liked the card and she can be a tough crowd!  Here is my card:

I look forward to seeing your embossed creations at Perfectly Rustics.

 

Thanks for stopping by and may the crafting force be with you!

Stuck on U Sketches

Hello There,

I had the opportunity to complete a scrapbook page this morning so I sought out a layout challenge for some inspiration and found it at Stuck on U Sketches.   Here is the layout design:

 

And here is my page:

 

 

 

I had so much fun with this page, cracking out a few of my many rolls of washi tape and stamping on vellum.

 

Thanks for stopping by and may the crafting force be with you!

 

 

Perfectly Rustics - Stitching Challenge

Hello There,

I love cracking out the sewing machine to add some stitching to a project, especially a scrapbook page.  Sometimes I think it is not worth the effort, but once you do it, it is totally worth the effort.  This fortnight over at Perfectly Rustics it is all about the stitching.  I have done a scrapbook page using some photos of my little man when he was a baby, here it is:



I did draw the semi circle on in pencil before sewing it, I really like what the sewing has added to this page.  So dust of those sewing machines people and try some stitching on a card or page, once you try it you will be hooked.

Thanks for stopping by and may the crafting force be with you.

Just Add Ink - Add Clear Block Stamping

Hello There,

I have not partaken in any challenges for quite some time now, so I thought I would give the current Just Add Ink challenge - add clear block stamping ago.  I was playing with this technique last week and took it as a sign that the Just Add Ink team set it as a challenge that I should make a card using this technique.  I wanted to make a birthday card for a good friend of mine.  Here is the card:

I used clear blocks to create the background for the flowers as well as the backing piece for the flowers and the outline that you can see on the card.  So many ways to use clear blocks and inks in stamping.  The colours I used are pistachio pudding and blackberry bliss as well as wild wasabi and pear pizazz.

Thanks for stopping by and may the crafting force be with you!

Perfectly Rustics - Holiday Challenge

Hello there,

With Christmas fast approaching I thought I would take the opportunity to get in and make some Christmas cards for the current challenge over at Perfectly Rustics, which is Holidays, so it can include Christmas, Halloween and Thanksgiving and whatever other holiday you are planning for, who knows you could be super organised and up to making Easter projects!  I made a trio of white on white Christmas cards.  I am really happy with the cards and they are quite different to the normal cards I would make.  Here they are:



So break out those holiday stamps and get creating and enter your creation in the Perfectly Rustics Challenge.

 

Happy crafting and may the crafting force be with you!

Owen's Third Birthday

Hello There,

We recently celebrated our little man's third birthday, hard to believe.  He decided he wanted a Gruffalo party with a "big cake", which is what he said when I asked him who he would like to come to his birthday party.  After much searching on Pinterest I found lots of inspiration for the cake, food and gift bags here are some photos from the party.

 

Colin managed to get a picture of Owen's face when he first clapped eyes on the finished cake!

The all important "Big Cake"  I was quite pleased with the end result and Owen was very happy with it.  Plus it tasted really good!

 



 

Owen giving his Gruffalo, that he got for his birthday a cuddle.

 

The party bags.

 

Assortment of Gruffalo inspired food, including Gruffalo Crumble (chocolate crackles with orange M&M's for eyes), scrambled snake (popcorn), Purple Prickle Juice (blackcurrant juice) Terrible Tusks (cheese puffs), Toadstools (marshmallow with a strawberry), Owl ice cream (cup cakes make in ice cream cones), Roasted Fox (Sweet Potato Wedges), Log Pile House (chocolate finger biscuits) and Poisonous Warts (grapes).  I made signs for all the food.

 

Owl Ice Creams - Owen helped me decorate some, which is why a few of them have multiple beaks.

 

Poisonous Warts!

 

The table with all the food!

 

Owen in his circus tent which was one of his presents.

 

Owen running through the balloons that we put over in the doorway, the kids had great fun running through them.  He is also wearing a t-shirt he got for his birthday.

 

The cake with the candles on it.

The big moment when everyone sang and Owen blew out the candles.  After everyone had finished singing he turned to and said "Thank you my friends" which was very sweet and funny at the same time.

 

 

Owen had a great day and enjoyed his Gruffalo Party, I meanwhile took two days to recover from it, must be something to do with being pregnant!