Now, this is scary....

Not only is this my third post for the day, but I VOLUNTARILY used Pumpkin Pie!!!!!I whipped up a very quick Halloween card....thought I should use the scary skeleton stamp I won a while back....and I wanted to post it while it was still actually Halloween. So, Happy All Souls Night....hope it's not too scary for you all :)

Supplies:
Paper: Neenah Solar Crest; SU- Basic Black, Elegant Eggplant, Pumpkin Pie
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers, Elegant Eggplant
Accessories: American Crafts Black Velvet Thickers, Prima Playmate Tropical flowers, black brads, Basic Black narrow grosgrain ribbon, Cutter Kit

Kristie

Really cute blog thing.....

What Your Cute Monster Says About You

You are a simply happy person. You still view the world with a childlike innocence. You have an easy going attitude, and you value harmony. You love freely and inspire others to love. You inner demon is frailty. You are easily beaten down by life. People think you're cute because you are optimistic. Your outlook on life is charming.

The Cute Monster Test

This is kinda scary really.....my optimism is one of the things that people always comment on...that and the fact that I have never really *grown up*! How do these people come up with these things?????

Kristie

The big reveal....LOL!

Once again I want to thank you all for your lovely comments and encouragement on the button tree project....I only hope you're not disappointed by the end result :)

In this last pic you can see one of the buttons that I accidentally stuck on upside down....I only realized when I went to type this up and I can't be bother retaking the picture....though I did pull it off and stick it on the right way! I have added in some gold brads to fill up the larger gaps between the buttons and at the top I have punched out 2 small stars from some Brushed Gold Metallic CS and stuck them either side of a toothpick, which I then slid into the top of the tree. I always have a gold star on the top of my real Christmas tree, so this seemed appropriate.

As I'm sitting here looking at it I'm thinking that maybe I should have sprinkled some glitter over it....but I'll have to think about that a bit.....I don't want to end up with (more) glitter all over my room :)

So for any of you who are crazy enough to attempt the project yourselves.....the foam cone came from Riot Arts and Crafts, the buttons were from a big pack of mixed buttons I picked up in the haberdashery department at Big W (the pack with the most green in it for me), the brads and CS are from Stampin' Up!, as are all the different adhesives....glue dots, Dimensionals and pop-up glue dots.

So there you have it....the button tree! I'd love to know your honest opinions on the finished product....I'm not entirely convinced that it was worth the time it actually took to complete, but then I might just be a teeny tiny bit sick of the sight of it at the moment....LOL!

I actually hope to get some cards made this weekend....after concentrating on this tree all week I need to do some *proper* paper craft. I'm also hoping to stop by at the Paper Crafts show some time on the weekend as well....though that's probably a bit dangerous for my wallet :)

Hope you all have an awesome Friday,
Kristie

It's FINISHED!!!

Hi there, just a quick update to let you all know that I've finished the button tree :) Actually just right this minute, and seeing as it's dark and I don't have proper lighting to take pictures at night, you're all going to have to wait til tomorrow to see it.

I think it turned out ok, kinda cute really, but I wouldn't be in a hurry to go making another one, or recommend that anyone else make one either....unless you have the patience of a saint or nothing else to do and you're wanting to waste many, many hours :) There are probably easier ways of doing it though....like leaving your buttons nekkid for a start!

So, all in all it's been a learning experience....the main thing I've learned is to ALWAYS listen to my sister when she tells me that something is difficult and frustrating....you were sooooooo right Mad.

Until the big reveal tomorrow....
Kristie

Another rain card....but it didn't work :(

Hi everyone! Sorry I didn't post yesterday...it was kind of a crazy day. Thanks for all your comments on the button tree....I thought you might be interested in an update.....it's NOT FINISHED!!!! I really should have listened when Madonna told me that it would be an exercise in frustration....sorry Mad!!! Half the buttons are stuck on....but it's a lot trickier than you would think to try and get them to fit together and look good....but it is coming along. I hope to get it finished tonight while I watch Criminal Minds :) {but that could be wishful thinking!}

Ok, enough about the tree...onto a card. I made this one last week and didn't want to put it here until I knew that the lovely Kay had received it...which she has. But unfortunately it didn't bring her any rain, but I'm still hoping for a delayed reaction. Kay lives in a part of Australia that has been hit really hard by the drought and they are in desperate need of rain....so as I'm sitting here in Sydney it's raining and I am sending serious prayers up that the rain will pack up and go visit Kay instead :)
I used the Rain Days Hanna again for this one, but I decided that I would make a little scene with it. I started with a Soft Sky base and used my wavy ruler to cut some hills out of Wild Wasabi. I sponged on the clouds with White Craft ink and added in some Basic Gray to make sure those babies were full of nice rain. I stamped heaps of droplets too. I made the fence by punching out some Choc Chip scraps with the Word Window punch and cutting them in half. I stuck them on and drew in the *wires* with Choc marker. The duck was stamped onto some Close to Cocoa and bits of him coloured with Choc Chip. Both Hanna and the puddle were stamped onto Neenah Solar White and coloured with Copics.

Right, I have a ton of work to get through today, but with it being so dismal I'd really rather just curl up in bed with a good book :( Ah well, no rest for the wicked, right?

Hope your day is full of wonderful things {which does or doesn't include rain depending on what you need},

Kristie

How to drive yourself completely insane in 3 easy steps....

Step 1:
Decide that making a Button Tree a la Ali Edwards in this post is a really cool idea.

Step 2:
Go to the shops and purchase a Styrofoam cone and a big bag of mixed buttons. Decide that although Ali's tree is really rather awesome, your abhorrence of nekkid buttons means that you don't want to just stick them on the cone with pins and that it would be a really good plan to clothe said buttons with some embroidery floss and stick them onto the cone with various adhesives. Paint the cone *Pine Green* just in case there are any gaps, so that there's no white showing through.

Step 3:
Spend many hours watching episodes from Season 1 of Supernatural while threading floss onto the buttons so that your tree is not covered in nekkid buttons.

After watching about 8 episodes of Supernatural and threading buttons you are left with this:
You are also left doubting your sanity in starting this project, left with nothing else created over the weekend, and left thinking that you need to make an appointment with the optometrist to have your eyes checked {and perhaps also with a psychiatrist to have your sanity checked}.

The pile of buttons seems rather small for the amount of time it took to thread them all and I'm thinking that this tree better be seriously freakin' gorgeous when I'm finished with it!!!

I hope to have it finished in the next couple of days....you may not see much from me until then. But if you don't hear from me within a few days then you will know that I've completely lost the plot and have been locked up in a nice soothing institution where everything is done up with straps and there are no buttons in sight :)

Right, better get to work....my amazing theory is in need of some work to convince the other academics that I'm not completely insane {at this point the veracity of which is extremely doubtful}.....

Wishing you a lovely ~button free~ day,
Kristie

Lots of challenges

I've got two cards to share with you today....and again blogger has loaded them in reverse order! I saw that mentioned on someone else's blog, so I know it's not just me :)

The first one is for the weekly challenge over at Our Creative Corner. This week the challenge was a sketch, and I've done mine using the cute little Imaginisce Chick stamp that I won from Paula's Midnight Madness challenge....how cute is it?
I've used Blue Bayou, Always Artichoke and So Saffron CS to match the Basic Grey Offbeat 'impromptu' DP that I chose....I am totally loving the retro feel of those papers. The Chick was stamped with Memento ink on Neenah Solar White and coloured with Copics....though I think it would look really cute paper pieced as well. The sentiment is from 'One of a Kind' and is stamped in Blue Bayou. The brads are Saffron and the ribbon is Apricot Appeal grosgrain {because there's no narrow Saffron :( }. This card is already in the mail and on it's way somewhere...but I won't say where, because I don't want to spoil the surprise!

This next card actually fulfils the criteria for 3 different challenges! Yep, I was multi-tasking with this one! The first challenge it fits is Kristina Werner's CI for this week (#27), which is to use RED or pink on your creation. This card uses Rose Red, Regal Rose & Pretty in Pink, so I think that qualifies :) The sketch is from Julee Tilman's Mojo Monday for this week (#57), and the other challenge it fits is for the mid-week challenge at OCC which is to use the "Vintage Values" technique.
Vintage Values How-To: Requires 2-3 shades of the same color of ink and a craft sponge. Starting with your lightest shade of ink, use a craft sponge to sweep ink from the outer edges of your cardstock inward as far as you want your glow to touch. Repeat with your next shade of ink, but only sweep about 2/3 as far in (so some of the lighter color still shows in the inner sections). Repeat with the darkest shade of ink (if desired), sweeping with short strokes, only about 1/3 of the way in. I took this *how-to* from the OCC blog....this is what I've tried to do here....not sure that I was entirely successful, and it sure doesn't look as cool as when Julee does it, but I tried!

The butterfly is from SU's Garden Whimsy, the sentiment is Odd Bird Planet, as are the little hearts. Oh, and the ribbon is the wide Rose Red double stitched from the Fairytale ribbon originals and some narrow Pretty in Pink grosgrain.

I was actually rather creative last night and there are a few people who I think read my blog who are going to find a brand new Kristie creation in their mailboxes next week :) BTW: If you are after one of my *famous* rain-bringing cards just let me know and send me an email with you address if I don't already have it....you never know, it might just actually work!!!

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend,
Kristie

Make & Take swap card

I don't know what's going on with Blogger today, it keeps putting my pictures in reverse order!!!

This is the card that I made for the Artful Stampers Make & Take swap. It was really hard for me to try and keep this simple and not add a lot of layers and ribbon etc. Sometimes I can do it and other times I just want to bling it up.

Anyway, this one uses the tree stamp from Holiday Wishes stamped in Old Olive, but with the words "Love', 'Hope' and 'Peace' coloured with Real Red marker. It's stamped onto Very Vanilla and there's Dazzling Diamonds glitter on all the stars :) The corners were punched out with the 1/2" circle and it's mounted onto Old Olive with gold brads in the corners. The base of the card is Real Red, with the Gifts Galore wheel in Real Red (that's a bit hard to see, but IRL it looks awesome!), and a strip of Dashing polka dot paper along the bottom.
This was the original card I came up with...but I didn't really like it. I was trying to keep it simple enough for a Make and Take, but it felt a little bland and boring to me. So I asked my Stamping Guru (ie: my darling sister Madonna) for some advice and she suggested the changes you see in the card above.....took it from bland to WOW in my opinion. She's totally brilliant like that :)
Anyway, the girls who've received theirs back seemed to like it and I think it was pretty easy to make....so if I need a few quick Christmas cards I'll probably go with that design. I did actually make an even more complex version where I mounted it all onto a Very Vanilla card base and tied on some Real Red ribbon...I did take a picture, but I can't find where I put it...so i might have a better look later when I have more time and show you then.

In other news, I got my *Stamping makes you Pretty* tee today and it is GORGEOUS!!! When I have a bit of time over the weekend I shall make myself look presentable, put on the shirt and get one of the housemates to take a photo of me for the blog....I plan to use it for my profile picture, of which I don't currently have one. I am also looking forward to wearing it out to the shopping centre and seeing how people react....I might find some fellow stampers that way :)

OK, best go do some more work. Hope your day is more pleasant than it is here :)
Kristie

A Thank you and the card that brought rain....

As I mentioned previously, I have been the coordinator for the swaps that we do as part of the SU team, The Artful Stampers, that I belong to. On Friday all the swaps were in, sorted and sent back out to all the participants. I like to make them a little thank you for playing in the swap and this is the card I came up with for this group:It's pretty simple and I whipped up 5 of these in less than an hour!!! Seriously, it was that easy. I had to do it quickly, because I had forgotten to make them with everything that was going on, and I felt bad not sending one with the returned swaps.

For this card I used the 'Live Your Dream' set that we got at Regionals and inked up the flower image with Mellow Moss, So Saffron and Pretty in Pink markers. I then stamped the gorgeous little butterfly and the Thanks sentiment in Pretty in Pink all onto Whisper White CS and mounted it on a layer of Pretty in Pink. I tied around some Pink narrow grosgrain ribbon and mounted that panel with Dimensionals onto the card base. For the base I used So Saffron layered with some gorgeous DSP from 'Spring Flowers'...the Pink floral and the Saffron spots are the same sheet, just reverse sides, so it was easy just to cut out the panel then cut it at 5cm to have both sides showing.

I STILL haven't made anything new to show you, so tomorrow I will be showing you the card that I made for the swap :)

In other news you may remember the Hanna Rain Days card from this post. I made it for my best friend who needed some rain....well the card brought it!!! I didn't get it into the post until Friday (yes I'm a slacker!) and she called me yesterday to say that she had gotten the slightly soggy card out of her mailbox in the rain! The first rain that they'd had in ages. She thought it was completely hilarious and knew that I would too...but now she wants me to send her one everyday for the next two weeks :) So, if any of you are in desperate need of rain I don't actually need to be there in person....a Rain Day card does the trick just as well, just let me know and I'll make you one too...LMBO!!!

It's actually raining here today :( and it's making me feel lazy and I'm procrastinating about all the work I have to do...so I'm off to give myself a stern talking to and try and get something accomplished.

Hope you are having a nicer day wherever you are,
Kristie

June's birthday card

Now that I know that my lovely friend June has received her birthday card I can show it to you here.I used my gorgeous Hanna "Perfect Package" stamp for this one, stamped in Memento ink on Neenah Solar White and coloured with Copics...this time I even managed to remember to take a photo to show which ones I used:
The *42!* is because that's how old June claims to be, but if you've seen her photo on her blog then you'll know why the exclamation mark...she doesn't look even close :)

The paper is Cosmo Cricket "Honey Pie", some SU! Pretty in Pink and Very Vanilla and the flowers are, of course, by Prima. The flower centres are Pretty in Pink brads and the sentiment was also stamped in Pretty in Pink. The 42 is done with "Daiquiri" Thickers, very appropriate for a birthday card I thought :)

I've been very slack in the card making department the past couple of days....my creativity seems to be sucked up by this darn article I'm trying to write. I wish that writing was a painless as card making, but unfortunately I find it to be a torturous experience, full of frustration and the saying of many bad words. However, I hope that I can salvage some spark of my mojo to make something new tonight....but I won't count on it.

Hope your day is much more creative and fruitful than mine :)
Kristie

Weekend Sketch Challenges

Before I get into the pretty pictures, I just want to say a big thanks to Paula for picking me as the WINNER of the Midnight Madness challenge for the 2nd week in a row....you can see my new trophy over there on the right :)


OK, the first card I have for you today is for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #62.
I've used Really Rust, river Rock and Choc Chip CS and inks, some of the delicious Apple Cider DSP from the Spring Mini and "Spring Solitude" stamp set. The sentiment is from "Wonderful Words", the ribbon is Choc Chip taffeta and the buttons a Really Rust, tied with some linen thread. I used the thumping technique on the trees to give a sort of mottled autumn effect...must be the influence of all the "fall" cards I've been seeing from the US :)

This next card is a bit more "Spring" like with the colours I've used and it's for Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #38.
The CS is Pretty in Pink, Sage Shadow and So Saffron, the DSP is from "Spring Fling", the ribbon is Pretty in Pink grosgrain, and the buttons are from the Soft Subtles. I coloured the cupcake plate stamp from Impression Obsession with my Copic markers and the sentiment was stamped in Sage and punched with the scalloped circle.

I had lots of fun with both these sketches and think I'll be saving them in my idea folder for future use.

Hope you're all having a fabulous weekend,
Kristie

Midnight Madness #2

Cutting it close again with this one! As I mentioned earlier in the week, Paula is running another MM challenge this week with the colours Cameo Coral, Close to Cocoa and Whisper White.

Cameo Coral is one of those colours I rarely use and find rather difficult to work with, so this one was much harder than the last challenge. But I did manage to come up with this card:
I've used Bloomin' with Beauty and watercoloured the pot of flowers with Cocoa and Coral {I did *cheat* and use some Olive for the leaves}. This was mounted onto some Coral CS and I added a scalloped border in White along the bottom and tied some Cocoa ribbon around it. The base is Cocoa and the DP is from Spring Flowers. I stamped the *Bloom* sentiment in Cocoa and it was done. It's actually rather pretty IRL...but when I took the picture I was running out of light and it looks a little washed out :)

OK, that's it for now....off to play with some weekend sketch challenges,
Kristie

I *may* need to recant.....

....my statement about Pumpkin Pie!!! I know, it's a bit radical, but it's all Treez's fault! She is so talented and clever {and just a tiny little bit evil}, because she sent me a PP card that arrived at my house yesterday. It is so stunningly beautiful, even with the PP, that I *may* just have to say that I like PP.....but only when done by my fabulous friend Miss Treez!See what I mean....how could any sane person say they don't like PP when they have this stunning creation before them...and it's even more beautiful IRL. So Treez, you win....you made me like PP! {maybe it helps that there's a tiny bit of purple there too :) }

I have also been the recipient of a few other RAKs the past couple of weeks. This next one is by my lovely customer and friend Yasamin. She's a bit of a newbie to the whole card making thing...but she has great taste in glitter :)
Lastly, but certainly not least is this monochromatic beauty, made by none other than my awesomely talented and super nice sister, Madonna. I admired this enormously when she posted it on her blog, and I was thrilled when it turned up in my mailbox this week :) How clever is my baby sister???? Even more she made this using limited supplies as her brand new craft room is in the process of being constructed and she's been working in a corner of her room!!!
So there you go. There are a couple more floating around here somewhere too...but my room looks like a small cyclone went through it and I'm going to have to stop procrastinating and do some cleaning up! The problem is I've been seriously addicted to the TV show True Blood....any of my American friends watching this one? I've been hooked and I'm thinking that on my trip to the bookstore next week I may have to search out the novels that this show is based on! I love a good VAMPIRE story :)

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend,
Kristie

The Queen of ???

I have to say first up that this card is somewhat odd.... It just kind of came together and it appeals to my wacky sense of humour. I'm not sure who I'd ever give it to, but it had to be made:I started out with that gorgeous DP...Basic Grey Two Scoops "spumoni". I got the matching Two Scoops rub-ons (all 40% off!) because they had some cute Princess and Girly-girl sentiments that will be perfect for cards for the nieces, and this 'Queen' one matched the DP perfectly, so I had to use it! Then it occurred to me that by itself it was a bit odd....so I had these Making Memories mini shimmer alpha stickers from the Lime Tart kit and the sentiment was born....aren't they lovely and sparkly:
So then I just layered it up and added in the Primas (Tea & Silk) and I had a card.
The button is Saffras, the CS is SU! Sage Shadow and Blush Blossom and some retired narrow Choc Chip ribbon. It makes me smile, but what I'll do with it I don't know,,,,if you have any ideas, or think you should have it, then let me know and it's yours :)

Kristie

Hello

Some more Lime Tart goodness for you today....but first I need to make a confession. When I went to the Lime Tart site last week with the intention of getting a kit, I found it very difficult to decide which one I wanted...the Half Tart, the Full Tart, or the A La Tart. Then I discovered that I could be a Greedy Tart :) By ordering all three kits I got a 15% discount, and who doesn't love a bargain???? Today's offering uses mostly stuff from the October Full Tart:I did use SU! Pink Passion CS for the base and the ribbon is Old Olive. The Primas are *Playmate - Spring*, but the rest comes from the Full Tart. There's Bo Bunny "My Darling Bella" DP, KI Hula Envy lace cardstock {seriously delicious}, American Crafts pink Thickers and Clear Daisy Dew Droplets {which I coloured pink with a Copic Marker - you can always get whatever colour you like that way}.

This card is really much cuter in real life! I just love that lace CS and will be trying to find out where I can get it in other colours now :) I'm totally hopeless! I actually made another card as well yesterday afternoon but it's with some of the bargain stuff I got from Anna's Craft Cupboard, so I'll wait til tomorrow to show you that.

After my little card making frenzy - the card here only took about 15 mins! - I sat and watched the 4 part miniseries from the UK called "Lost in Austen". Have you seen it? If not and you like Jane Austen novels and are NOT a literary purist, then I would thoroughly recommend it. It was laugh out loud funny and a real tribute to Jane Austen IMO.

Right, back to the grind, lunch break is over and it's time to do some work. Have an awesome day and I'll *see* you all tomorrow.

Kristie

Sweet as can be

Oh, talk about SWEET!!! Those Lime Tart kits are just full of yummy goodness....I could hardly decide what to play with first. But the one thing I kept coming back to was this gorgeous DP by Websters Pages....Flutterby....I *almost* couldn't bear to cut it, but in the end I decided that it had to be done! There were also some Heidi Swapp felt butterflies in the kit and so this card was born...
I love it....I know, my bad, but I can't help myself....it has so much deliciousness on it that I think I might just keep it for myself :)

Supplies:
Paper: Websters Pages "Flutterby", Bazzil textured CS, SU Chocolate Chip & Very Vanilla
Ink: Choc Chip
Stamp: Odd Bird Planet
Other stuff: Choc Chip Satin Ribbon, Heidi Swapp Felt butterfly and Ghost Flower, Saffras Brown button, American Crafts cranberry button, Prima Artful Collage flowers, Designer label punch.

Not all of this came from the kit of course...there's some SU! stuff and the ghost flower, American Crafts button and the Primas I got from Anna's Craft Cupboard....she always has two great discount sections where there's stuff marked down by 40 & 70%....too much fun!

I have some great ideas for using the kit, unfortunately I have to work on uni stuff. I had a meeting with my supervisor yesterday and apparently I am much more clever than I realised :) I have come up with a theory about something that I'm working on for my thesis and it's a bit radical, but I might just have discovered something exciting!!! Unfortunately that means I now have to write up an article by the end of the academic year (which is the end of November!!!) and so I'm gonna be working my butt off to get it done....see that's what you get for being smart- more work!!!!

Hope you all have a lovely day full of creativity,
Kristie

Challenge and Candy links

Sorry people...nothing to show today :(
I got caught up watching Supernatural downloads from the States (I hate waiting for stuff!) and didn't get anything made! And the stuff I have *saved* up can't be shown yet.

But Paula has put up a new challenge over on her blog...and there's a PRIZE!!! It's the one I so graciously declined from my winning card...there weren't many entries and I didn't think it was fair to take the prize...the trophy was cool enough for me :)
So go on over and check it out...Cameo Coral, Whisper White and Close to Cocoa...that's a REAL challenge for me to make a card with Cameo Coral, so if you enter you will probably find it waaaaayyyy easier to make a better card than I will :)

There's also an awesome blog candy giveaway over on Julia Aston's blog. She has some fantastic creations as well, so go have a look :)

I'm going to make something tonight for sure....I got some new stuff in the mail today some kit stuff from Lime Tart.....delicious!!!! and some new Primas, so look out for something flowery tomorrow...LOL!!!

OK, I'm off to sort out the massive mess on my craft table and try to decide what to play with first! Hope you are having fun :)
Kristie

I WON!!!!

Yep....I won the first Midnight Madness challenge and this is my gorgeous trophy. Paula is going to be putting up a new challenge later on today, so you should go on over and check it out....I'll be playing again and you really don't want me to win all the time, now do you?

I've edited the post to note that the sketch I used was from Jen del Muro, 4th October. I forgot to add it yesterday in my hurry to post the card before the deadline! So, sorry if you thought I was THAT talented....LOL...I had the colours and the sketch, there wasn't really much for me to have to think up on my own :)

On to other things..... My lovely and hilariously funny friend Lydia at Understand Blue has the most gorgeous t-shirts for sale. Check these out:
And this is the one that I ordered yesterday! How cute is that?
Now I just need the *Stamping makes you smart* & *Stamping makes you thin* ones and I'll be all set! You should go have a look, she has other funny ones too. And not only that, she has her very own LOLCATS resident in the house....the antics of Splotchy and Maddie are sure to keep you entertained in between checking out her fabulous creations...not only is she funny, but talented too....seriously unfair ;)

OK, I'm going to go have a play with my stamps. I've got a busy week this week with uni stuff, so I'm not sure how much time I'll get to play, so I best make the most of my Sunday. Hope yours has lots of fun stuff in it.

Kristie

Midnight Madness #1

My lovely PSF Kristy's sister Paula has this cool challenge up on her blog. You needed to make a Christmas Card using Silver, White, Close to Cocoa and a colour of your choice.At first I thought of going with PINK, but then it occurred to me that it might be a little predictable....and sometimes I just like to change it up a bit and get a little daring! So I chose Tempting Turquoise. Here's the card I made....very last minute it is too...just in the spirit of the challenge, right?
I actually really liked these colours together....though mine should be called embossing madness, as I used three different embossing powders for this one! Anyway, it's another Chrissy card done and dusted and you never know....I might just win ;)

Recipe:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Close To Cocoa, Tempting Turquoise, Silver.
Ink: VersaMark, Turquoise.
Stamps: Merry, Merry
Other stuff: Clear, White & Silver embossing powders, Turquoise ribbon, Turquoise brads, Dimensionals.

ETA: The sketch I used was from Jen's Sketch for you to try, October 4th.
Kristie

Kristina's Colour Inspiration #25

I decided to play in Kristina's CI challenge this week, as I really like these colours....and NO Pumpkin Pie in sight!!! My first thought when I saw the swatch was a quilt inspired card or a kids card. Unfortunately for me, by the time I actually had the chance to make something, I'd already seen a bunch of entries through google reader....featuring both ideas!!! I don't like to feel like I've copied someone else and so I went in a different direction. Here's the swatch:How cute is that froggy? Anyways, I decided that I would be inspired by the *stack* of quilts and the polka dots. Here's my take on it:
The colours are Ballet Blue, Ruby Red, So Saffron and Certainly Celery for the CS, Saffron and Celery DSP and Celery Brads. The ribbon is gorgeous Saffron embroidered from the "Fairytale" ribbon originals and the stamp is from "Celebrate Everyday". I stamped it on the Saffron CS in Ballet Blue and coloured the dots with Ruby marker. It's really pretty simple, but I love the way these colours look together and I was pretty happy with the end result.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend,
Kristie

More Christmas Cards...

I'm really churning through these Christmas cards....I think only a few more and I'll have enough! I've actually loaded these pictures round the wrong way and blogger is being difficult about moving them about, so you'll have to bear with me.

This first card was actually inspired by the second one. I've used my new favourite Christmas set, Holiday Wishes. I kept thinking that the tree would look really nice embossed in gold on Night of Navy cardstock, so I went with it. After I made the card that is second in this post, I decided to amp it up a bit and add some stuff....as you do when you're addicted to ribbon, buttons and flowers :)

I embossed the tree and sentiment in gold on the Navy CS and after rounding the corners, I distressed the edges with some gold ink. I then mounted that onto some Gold CS that I distressed with the Cutter kit and popped it onto a Ruby Red base. I dyed some white grosgrain narrow ribbon with gold ink....because with ALL the ribbon I have, there was NO GOLD...I know, I'll have to remedy that!!! I used a Prima flower that matches the Ruby Red almost perfectly and a RR button. The blue flower originally started out as a creamy colour, but I coloured it with a B39, Prussian Blue Copic marker...a perfect match for the Navy!!! The Linen thread through the button was also coloured with the gold ink...but it's kinda hard to tell.
I really liked how it turned out. A little different from the *normal* Christmas colours, but in real life it's very pretty!

This second card is the one that I did first. I'd been thinking about a no layer card for easy mass production if I needed it, but something that would still look nice. It's a bit plain for my taste, but I think it's alright :)
I made a scored border 1cm in from the edges using a metal ruler and my bone folder tip, then just stamped the tree and embossed in gold. Here's a better view of the scoring:
If anyone has any good tips on how to stop the CS buckling when you heat it up, please let me know. This card spent the night under my massive pile of DSP to try and flatten it back out again, which did help a little.

On another note, it was my lovely PSF June's birthday earlier this week! I made her an awesome card last night, but I won't show it until I know she has it...don't want to spoil the surprise! So, go on over to her blog and wish her a big happy birthday...she really is one of the loveliest people I've *met* in the blogging world and deserves lots of birthday cheer!!!

OK then, back to work for me! I hope you all have a marvellous day....it's lovely here, sunny and warm and it seems such a shame to be stuck inside working, so I hope you all get to do something more fun :)

Kristie

Rain Days, Dancing Skeletons & Cockatoos

I have a real mixed bag for you all today. First up, I got some new Hanna stamps in the mail yesterday....I am soooo addicted to these stamps, they are all just too cute. I had to have this Rain Days set for a couple of reasons....the first one is that it's just gorgeous, and the second is...well it's a bit of a secret, but I'm sure you guys won't tell anyone...right? The thing is that wherever I go, it rains! It's a well known fact amongst my friends and family....weird, I know, but it's true. If I plan on doing some activity that involves being outdoors, it will almost always rain. My mum swears that the drought that had been ravaging the country only got really bad in my hometown after I left, and the other day my best friend begged me to go back to Armidale for a visit because her water tank was almost empty and she says that it's hardly rained at all since I left!!! As I can't go for a visit just yet, I thought that I'd make this card to send her in the hope that it brings her some much needed rain...I've stamped the image on Neenah Solar White in Memento ink and coloured it with my Copics in various shades of purple....if anyone knows where I can get some cute purple rain gear like this, then let me know!!! I've mounted the image on Perfect Plum and rounded off the corners. The card base is Pale Plum and the sentiment is stamped in Perfect Plum. A bit of Elegant Eggplant ribbon finished it off. I coloured the puddle with some Cool Shadow (BG10) and Cool Grey No 1 and then covered it with Crystal Effects to make it all shiny...unfortunately that doesn't show up too well in the photo!

I figure Helene will know this is meant to be me bringing her some much needed rain....even though this Hanna is much blonder than I am...it's the purple outfit that counts!!!

In other news, I have won a couple of Blog candy prizes lately and one of them arrived in the mail this morning. I won this hilarious dancing skeletons stamp from Susan at MyEyeQ. I just wanted to show you all....I LOVE IT!!! Even though we don't really do the Halloween thing here in Australia, this stamp just appeals to my wacky sense of humour! So, look out for some strange creations with this one in the near future:
Finally, seeing as you enjoyed the Kookaburra yesterday I thought you might like another peak into my backyard wildlife. Yesterday afternoon there were about 20 Cockatoos feasting on grass seeds out in the back yard. So I grabbed the camera and took a few photos...unfortunately they weren't cooperative enough to gather altogether so I could get a good photo, but here's 3 of them:
OK, that's it for today. I got a couple of Christmasy Hanna stamps in that order yesterday, so I might have something to show you from those tomorrow....but Heroes starts back on TV tonight, so there's no guarantees that there will be anything at all to show!!!

Have a great day
Kristie

Crazy for Christmas

It seems that all I've been making lately are Christmas cards! I am trying to be good and organised and have a few made every week so that when it comes time to send them out I'm not rushing like a madwoman trying to get them all finished. I really get bored making them all the same, so I made a few over the weekend using some of the sketches for WCMD, these two are from 2S4Y. I am not entirely thrilled with them, but I don't want to make them too bulky to post....I'm even going to try making some NO layer cards {insert shocked face here!}, but for now I have 2 more to show you.This first one uses the Holiday Harmony DSP, "Merry, Merry" & Holiday Spirit sets, and the Ink and cardstock is Always Artichoke, Purely Pomegranate and River Rock (CS only). The only bling here is a couple of gold brads.
This one uses Regal Rose, Wild Wasabi and Silver CS, VersaMark with Silver embossing powder and some Dazzling Diamonds for bling. The ribbon is double stitched Wasabi. The "Celebrate" sentiment comes from Wonderful Words and the ornaments and snowflakes are from Merry, Merry. It's a bit boring in my opinion, but there you go.

Finally, for all my international readers I thought I'd include a photo of one of my local birds, Nikki will like this one ;)....I saw this Kookaburra sitting on the clothesline on Sunday morning and it stayed there while I went and got the camera and took a bunch of photos of him. At one point I'm quite certain it was looking at me through the window...probably wondering what on earth I was doing....
Gorgeous isn't he/she?

OK, better go do some more work :( Hopefully I will have something NOT Christmas to share tomorrow!!!

Have a brilliant day,
Kristie

Hi!

Hello there...I'm back with my brand new, super fast computer...WOW! It is completely amazing. Everything just happens instantly, no more waiting for stuff to load up, no more freezing up and not playing nice....it's brilliant.

But you're not here to listen to me waffle on about the computer....you want to see cards right? Well, one card anyway....I don't want to spoil you too much :) Plus there's a few things that I've made over the weekend when I was computerless (amazing what you can get done without that distraction!) that I can't show just yet....don't want to spoil the surprise for the swaps girls who read the blog!

So, before I lost computer access Sunday morning, I downloaded a couple of sketch challenges. I missed the deadlines for most of them, but I do want to show you one that I really love. I probably shouldn't be so egotistical and tell you I love my own stuff...but it's not my work so much as the DP. See what I mean:
This card was done for a sketch Carla put up for WCMD at http://moralia.wordpress.com/. Now, I needed to flip this sketch because I wanted to show off this gorgeous Basic Grey DP...how amazing is that bird? There's some Celery and Choc Chip ribbon, Prima flowers in Pink and Chocolate with a Celery brad, some PINK thickers (American Crafts) and the cardstock is Regal Rose and Choc Chip. Now, there is a certain lady that I know out there in blogland that has a bit of a birdy fetish, and I've been thinking that she might really like this one....so, if she correctly guesses who I'm talking about I just might send it to her instead of keeping it and admiring it myself :)

Right, gotta go get ready for my weekly acupuncture torture.....I will be back tomorrow with an ongoing instalment of the multitudes of Christmas cards I've been making.

Have a great day,
Kristie

How very ironic!

Happy World Card Making Day my cyber friends!

Where is the irony in that?.... well I have spent the past few hours shopping for the bits for a new computer, along with my personal *IT experts*. Apparently if you want something GOOD you don't just go to an electronics store and buy any old thing off the shelf. No, no, no! You get your very own IT experts to build you one from scratch! It's cheaper and will be better than anything you can buy for the same price that's ready to go. Of course if you don't have your very own IT experts then you have a problem.

Luckily for me {remember people...Ancient Historian=Luddite}, I have my own experts who work very cheap...for baked goods and handmade cards in fact! So, as I type they are building me a computer that will make the current one look like a shabby 4-cylinder car in comparison to my new souped up V-8 model.

However, this means that instead of making cards today I shall be busy backing up all of the essential things on this computer just in case. And then tomorrow I shall be computer-less for the day while they transfer all of the stuff on this one over to the new one. I will be able to indulge in a card making frenzy though, as I won't have the ever present attractions of my Google reader calling to me :)

So, the irony is that it's WCMD and I have no cards I can show you and won't be able to show you anything until Monday (hopefully). But I hope you all have a wonderful time and when I am back online I will have my belated WCMD items for your view pleasure.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Kristie

It's a boycott!!!

Hi all, I apologise if you have come here today expecting to see pretty cards. Normally I would have a card for Kristina Werner's Colour Inspiration challenge at this time. However, I am refusing to play this week! Why? you ask.....it's Pumpkin Pie!

Everywhere I go at the moment I keep seeing it....even my own beloved sister has been torturing me with PP this week. It's the final straw that Kristina has included this dreaded colour in 2 challenges in a row!!!

I will not participate. I refuse to condone this excessive use of PP. I realise that it is Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, but this must stop. Surely there are other colours you can use....what is with the PP obsession????? What is wrong with some PINK, or PURPLE, or even blue or green...or anything but PP?

So, I am going to go and make some cards for the swap I am in....NO PP in sight (red, olive and vanilla....can you guess what kind of cards they are?). Then I'm going to make a couple of cards for some Hanna forum challenges on SCS. There will be no usage of PP in MY house today....or any other day in the near future....I am over it!

Hope you are all having a lovely (PP free) day, wherever you are.
Kristie

Mojo Monday on a Thursday

Last night I finally coloured my "Bookworm Hanna" to my satisfaction, so I decided to make a card with it! I love this stamp set...it has heaps of cool "accessory" images, most of which I didn't use on this card, but when I get some more Copics (insert evil laugh) I will do a little *scene* with the lamp, table, etc.

For this card I used Julee's Mojo Monday sketch #55....it's underneath the card details.
I stamped my image onto Neenah Solar White with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured it with my Copics...I probably should write down the colours that I use....nevermind! I used my Watercolour Wonder crayons and aquapainter to put in some lovely purple carpet and pale pink walls so that she wasn't just floating in space :) I mounted the image on Certainly Celery CS. The back panel is some lovely pink DP from Basic Grey's Sugared mounted onto some Pretty in Pink and stamped with the pile of books from the set in Chocolate Chip ink and tied around with some Celery ribbon.

The sentiment was stamped in Choc Chip as well, on Pretty in Pink and layered onto some Celery with Celery brads at the end. The flowers up top are Primas and held together with another Celery brad to tie it all together.

Here's the sketch. You will notice it should be a square card....but I wasn't in the mood for that so I just made it a normal A5 one.
OK, better go back to work, break time is OVER!!! LOL.

Have a lovely day,
Kristie

Why I hate Spring (Pt 2) & being tagged (again)

I mentioned last week that I've been suffering really badly from allergies....well, here's the reason why. All of these gorgeous flowers are within 25 metres of my house!!

Firstly we have wisteria....gorgeous and in my favourite colour, purple. Not so good for my poor head though!
Not sure exactly what the rest of these are, but I am sure they are contributing to my evil sinus problem!


Ok, this last one is probably not too bad...it sure is gorgeous though. These are growing along my next door neighbour's front fence (footpath side) I've been tempted to nick out one night with the scissors, but I'm too afraid that bringing flowers into the house might tip me over the edge into real insanity.
The reason I put these pictures up is that I've been taking heaps of photos for Ali Edwards' project *Week in the Life*. My life is really pretty boring, but it is Spring and all these gorgeous plants are all around my house, so they're part of my life for this week that I'm documenting. I think this is an awesome project and I'm certain that one day, in the far distant future, I will look through the little book that I'm making and remember all kinds of things about this particular time in my life.

So, onto the tagging bit. My lovely PSF Lydia tagged me yesterday.

The rules are as follows:

I have to share 7 random facts about myself and tag 7 people. If you have been tagged, you just post a link to your tagger and pay it forward! If you've been reading my blog for any length of time you'd know that I was tagged back in May and shared 7 random facts on this post.

I had to go check and see what I'd told you before, and now I have to come up with another 7 random things....these are going to be super random so be prepared :)

1. My second toes are heaps longer than my big toes...sometimes they just dislocate themselves for no discernible reason. It hurts like anything until I pop them back in again :)

2. I love being surrounded by pictures of my family. I have photo frames everywhere...so many in fact that I can't fit them all into my room and some are still packed up in boxes.

3. I don't DO mornings...I am seriously not worth even trying to communicate with until I've been awake for an hour and have had 3 cups of coffee....try before this and you may regret it :)

4. I am seriously addicted to chapstick, moisturiser and hand cream...gotta have it. In fact I just found the BEST new hand cream...Dove pro-age....it's lovely and moist without being greasy and it apparently will help *re-surface* my skin...nice! Plus it smells really good.

5. I love to bake....cakes, biscuits, brownies....whatever, then I give most of it away to other people....I really get a lot of pleasure from people enjoying something that I've made.

6. I read all of the Jane Austen novels every year, usually on my Christmas holidays. Thanks to my fabulous sister Madonna I have them all in an omnibus and so I just start at the beginning and then read them all in order. Every single year. I want to be Elinor from Sense & Sensibility. See the box there on the side....told you ;)

7. I collect quotes. One day I'll get around to making a little book of all my favourites. I like odd ones that make me laugh.

On that note I shall leave you with one:
Sometimes the appropriate response to reality is to go insane.
- Philip K. Dick

I think everyone I *know* has been tagged at least once, so no links to other people from me. However, leave me a comment with something weird about yourself....I'd enjoy that :)

Kristie