Turtle Soup August Mini Crop

I might have been absent from this blog lately, but I promise you I have been creating!  Not a lot of scrapbooking going on, but I have been making cards in between work and family life.

In August the team at Turtle Soup hosted a "Back-to-School" themed Mini Crop and I made the following projects.....

Thanks for stopping by!

Feeling Sketchy | Sketch #147

Oh my goodness, has it really been that long since I blogged?!  As some of you know, I returned to work in April and I am loving being back in the consulting room and reconnecting with patients that I haven't seen in a long time.  I have been catching up on all the changes in the industry and learning how to utilise all the new technology.  I have been doing very little crafting except for trying to finish a crocheted blanket for Master 9 while I relax in the evenings.  However, I had a bit of time yesterday to do some cardmaking and turned to Feeling Sketchy for inspiration.

Here is the sketch I played along with......

I used some hexagon dies from MFT, Stampin' Up cardstocks in shades of grey and sentiments from Avery Elle to make these very clean and simple masculine cards.  I don't know where the enamel dots are from- they were lurking in my stash of gems and pearls.

The card bases are actually white- I photographed them on a black background- but I am thinking maybe I should have used black cardbases?  The black border looks cool......

Anyhoo, I will try to be a better blogger from now on......that reminds me.....I should probably try a Project Life layout this weekend too!

Feeling Sketchy | Sketch #142

I am playing along at Feeling Sketchy again and this is the sketch they're using to inspire us.....

I decided on a bold black and white colour scheme and some some stamps from Mama Elephant's "We Click" stamp set.  

I white heat embossed the sentiment, camera and washi tape stamps onto black cardstock and stamped the polaroid frame onto white before fussy cutting everything and adding to my card base with foam tape.  Some baker's twine added some texture.  Quick and easy!

Turtle Soup | Spring Blog Hop

Hi everyone and welcome to the Turtle Soup Spring themed Blog Hop. We hope you enjoy everyone’s inspirational and creative projects. Here is the full list in case you lose your way. See you back here again to leave a finishing comment to get your ballot to win a random prize. Enjoy and off you go hopping!

1. Sara - (using Turtle blog) http://turtlesoupmagazine.blogspot.com/

2. Bev http://beeceecreativity.blogspot.com/

3. Deb P http://tassiedeb.blogspot.com.au/

YOU ARE HERE 4. LouiseB http://madeatnumber27.blogspot.com.au/

5. Lisa Moen http://lisasscrappyhideaway.blogspot.com/

6. LouiseT http://timelesscraftmumma.blogspot.com.au/

7. Chris  http://ole682000.blogspot.com

8. Toni http://memoriesonpages.blogspot.com/

9. Phillis http://justfindtimetoscrap.blogspot.com/

10. Colleen http://scrappingranny-colleen.blogspot.com/

11. Elisa http://2crazycrafters.blogspot.com.au/

12. Karen http://calmcreations.blogspot.com/

13. Joan http://thegovsplace.blogspot.com/

14. TURTLE SOUP BLOG http://turtlesoupmagazine.blogspot.com/

Although we're well into Autumn here in Australia, there is still plenty of sunshine around and the days are warm. I was inspired to create some cards using flowers and pretty soft spring colours.

I have made a set of three cards using the Flower Patch stamp set from Stampin' Up as well as Stampin' Up inks for my stamping and watercoloured stripes.

Thanks for hopping along- your next stop on the Blog Hop is the lovely Lisa Moen at  http://lisasscrappyhideaway.blogspot.com/.

Feeling Sketchy | Sketch #140

I am playing along with  Feeling Sketchy's Sketch #140......

My card measures 8.25" x 4.125" and I used stamps and inks from Stampin' Up and a border stamp from Avery Elle.  I used a square die from Spellbinders to make my windows.

Be sure to stop by Feeling Sketchy for all the challenge details and for some great inspiration!

CAS-ual Fridays | CFC144

I decided to play along with CAS-ual Friday's TicTacToe Challenge this month, and I made a card featuring stencilling, die-cutting and embossing.

I started with some watercolour paper and a Stampin' Up star stencil.  I applied Versamark Ink through the stencil and then white heat embossed the stars.  I then watercoloured the background with Distress Inks in Peacock Feathers, Cracked Pistachio and Fossilized Amber.

I die-cut some balloons from plain white cardstock with dies from MFT and then coloured those with the same Distress Inks using a foam ink blending tool.

I took a sentiment from Avery Elle and white heat embossed it on some vellum before trimming it to a banner shape.

Some silver thread for the balloon tails were the final finishing touch.

Thanks for dropping by!

Just Add Ink | #283

I'm playing along with Just Add Ink again as I needed a birthday card and I spotted their sketch to inspire me.

I started with some Tim Holtz Watercolour Paper and a Heidi Swapp stencil through which I applied some Texture Paste in a random fashion.  Once that had dried I used various pink and mauve shades of Distress Inks to watercolour around the dried paste.

I then took a piece of white cardstock and gold heat embossed a background stamp from Hero Arts and cut it to a banner shape.

Using the same Distress Inks I used on the background, I stamped and diecut images from Stampin' Up's Flower Patch set.  After applying the ink, I spritzed the stamps a couple of times with water to create a looser look to my stamping.  

I gold heat embossed a sentiment from the Flower Patch set and cut it into another banner shape.

A loose nest of gold thread and some gold sequins were the final finishing touches.

This was a fun card to make as it's not my usual clean and simple style, but I know the recipient will love it :-)

Feeling Sketchy | World Cardmaking Day Challenge

The Feeling Sketchy Team are running a special challenge to celebrate World Cardmaking Day and here is the inspiration photo.....

Although it's not Autumn here in Australia, I decided to play along with these gorgeous colours and make a birthday card.

I added Distress Inks in Bundled Sage, Wild Honey and Spiced Marmalade to some watercolour paper, then diecut a tag from the panel.  I then diecut another four tags from white cardstock to add dimension before popping it all back into the negative space.  I painted and clear embossed a chipboard "happy" from 2Crafty and white heat embossed a sentiment from Avery Elle on a strip of black cardstock.

I added some black and white twine to the tag to co-ordinate with the sentiment strip.

Thanks for stopping by- all the challenge details can be found on the Feeling Sketchy blog.

Feeling Sketchy | Sketch #128

Hi everyone!  Although I am no longer on the Feeling Sketchy Design Team, I am going to try to play along whenever I can- I just can't resist a sketch!

I am joining in for Sketch #128.....

.....and using some scraps of paper I had on my desk after finishing a scrapbooking layout, I created this......

The papers are from an old Cosmo Cricket collection and the red heat-embossed stamped sentiment is from Avery Elle's Winter Wreath Stamp Set.

Thanks for stopping by!

Just Add Ink | #271

I needed to whip up a birthday card today so I thought I'd play along with the current challenge over at Just Add Ink.  Here is the challenge sketch.....

I took some patterned papers from the Amy Tangerine Plus One 6x6 Paper Pad and combined them with the Three Amigos Stamp Set from Mama Elephant.  I started by stamping and masking the scrunched up paper balls and then stamping the critter, sentiment and pencil.  I coloured everything very simply with Copic markers.  

Here are some close-ups...

Some twine and Glossy Accents on the eyes and nose were the only finishing touches needed :-)

CAS-ology | Nautical Challenge

I mentioned in my previous post that I was playing along with some card challenges to get the creative juices flowing and here is a card inspired by the Nautical theme over at the CAS-ology Blog.

I decided to do some watercolouring with Distress Inks to create a softer colour palette than I usually use.  I also stamped in Versafine Sepia Ink instead of my usual black, and I heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.  The stamps were from Stampin' Up, the wood veneer anchor from Studio Calico and the tag die from Sizzix/Tim Holtz.

Thanks for stopping by!

Feeling Sketchy | Sketch #121

It's time for another sketch challenge at Feeling Sketchy and here is the sketch we're playing with.....

This challenge is sponsored by Bugaboo Digi Stamps and they kindly let me use this digital stamp called "Best Buds" for my card. 

I started by re-sizing my stamp in Photoshop and printing on Neenah Solar White cardstock with a laser printer.  I coloured the image with Copic Markers which work very well with the toner-printed image.  

I stamped and white embossed my sentiment from an old stamp set by Jane's Doodles and rummaged through my box of paper scraps to put together the layers for my card.

I hope you'll pop over to the Feeling Sketchy Blog to see all the projects from the DT and to check out the challenge details.