Midnight Madness #5

Paula is running another Midnight Madness challenge this week and it's an inspiration challenge.I had lots of ideas for this one, but just couldn't seem to make them come together! So after lots of fussing, stamping and discarding of bits that didn't work, this is what I came up with:
I've used one of the new sets that's in the Summer mini starting Monday, called (appropriately enough) *Embrace Life*, as well as some of the Flower Fusion felt flowers & Rose Red double stitched ribbon, both in the new mini too.

The colours are Rose Red & Taken with Teal, the branch is stamped in Chocolate Chip and the white brads came from Anna's Craft cupboard...but I don't know the manufacturer as I threw the packaging away...ooops! I've also used the large oval and designer label punches.

Thanks for the responses to yesterday's post about why we craft. It was all very thought provoking :) I've been thinking about it a bit and for me it's really pretty simple....all day long I have to think logically and intellectually and it's a nice change to use the other side of my brain and be creative. I think for many of us the creative outlet is the most important thing. We all have to be so practical in our day to day lives that it's nice to be able to *play* with arty things...in a way it's a bit like letting our inner child out. Also, from a lot of the posts I've read over the past few days talking about things that people are thankful for, one of the things that jumped out at me is that it gives us time for ourselves....quiet time to indulge in a passion, to escape from our daily responsibilities, and time to recharge through an almost meditative experience. But I shall continue to think about it....I definitely think there's more to it and it deserves some attention.

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend,
Kristie

All glittered up! (and a little philosophy)

So, Madonna got her rather large and glittery Christmas card yesterday, and now I can show it to you.
The tag reads: Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful - Norman Vincent Peale.

Supplies:
Cardstock: SU! Old Olive & Ruby Red, Bazill yellow textured CS
Other stuff: House from Creative Imaginations mini book, various buttons, LIME glitter, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, RW Laser Cuts tree, Crystal Effects, DP & tag Fancy Pants 8x8 Happy Holidays, Cosmo Cricket Mr Campy velvet ribbon, hemp twine, Ruby Red brad, Scallop circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, Small Star punch.

I liked how it looked....though Mad was apparently not expecting what she got :) It is a little out of the ordinary...but that's probably why I liked it so much.

Now, a warning....I'm going to get a little philosophical on you all....so feel free to continue on to something else :)
Yesterday I was reading a rather long and involved article on the social construction of gender...and it got me thinking about papercrafts (don't ask me how my brain works....it's a genuine mystery of the universe!). What got me thinking was the feminist theory that ideas about gender, that is the way we think about ourselves as masculine or feminine, are NOT reliant on our biology, but rather are social constructions...we think of ourselves as women because we are taught to. The way we dress, the way we walk & talk and interact with others is all a construct of the society in which we are raised. OK, enough of the theory...what I started thinking about (rather than my thesis) was the world of papercrafts and papercraft blogging. This is a world that is dominated by women. Very few men either participate in the activity or blog about it...though there are a few exceptions. So I started wondering why....why is it that so many women are involved in papercrafts and why don't men generally get involved? Obviously not ALL women are interested....I for one have friends that think my obsession with paper/ink/stamps/ribbon/glitter is completely incomprehensible! No, really!!! So, what is it about what we do that is so appealing to women and not to men? What is it that attracts us to these activities? Is it the 21st century equivalent of the Victorian obsession with decoupage, or my grandmother's generation's practice of embroidery? What is it about these activities that we find so compulsively appealing? I mean, it's not just stay at home mums who do this stuff....there are working women, women with degrees and women who have demanding full time careers....but we all feel the same way about what we do.

OK, enough of the philosophising....leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Why do YOU love it so much and invest so much time and money in doing it? And maybe tomorrow I might have worked out what it is that I love so much about it all :)

Have a great Friday,
Kristie

Kristina's CI #32

Wow, I can't believe it's up to number 32!!! It's pretty impressive that Kristina has been able to find so many gorgeous things to inspire us to create and this week is no different. This gorgeous Christmas display is making me wish for a beautiful tree with lots of lovely presents underneath....guess I'm just going to have to wait for that!!!I really liked this combination of colours and ended up making two cards for the challenge. The first one is, of course, a Christmas card. I didn't actually need anymore Christmas cards, so I might have to send a card to someone that I normally wouldn't....LOL! As we don't have Riding Hood Red here I went with Real Red instead, and I was mainly inspired by that gorgeous hanging ornament.
It's hard to see in the photo, but the Red BG has snowflakes stamped in Versamark, and that chunky glitter is very pretty IRL.

The next card is NOT Christmasy...but it does use one of the new stamps in the Summer mini, which I thought would look cute coloured in Red and Silver....
So there you have it. Things are still super crazy round here and I'm doing the countdown til I leave for holidays....ONE WEEK AND ONE DAY TO GO!!! Woohooo!!!!!!

Supplies:
Warmest Holiday Wishes
CS: Real Red, Brushed Silver, Whisper White & Very Vanilla
Stamps: Holiday Wishes, Very Merry
Ink: Versamark, Real Red
Other: Real Red brads, Clear Embossing powder, Silver Embossing powder, Crystal Iris chunky glitter, Tombow glue, Dimensionals

Time For You
CS: Real Red, Brushed Silver, Whisper White & Very Vanilla
Stamps: Time For You
Ink: Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black, Silver
Other: Real Red brads, White brads, Silver Embossing powder, Real Red Ribbon, Slot punch

Hope you all have a lovely Thursday....and for my American friends, Happy Thanksgiving :)
Kristie

A Sneak Peak

It's only 5 days til the start of the new Summer Mini catalogue and since I got some lovely goodies yesterday I couldn't help but give you a sneak peak of one of the sets in the catty.This set has this lovely sentiment and three gorgeous line drawn images, perfect for colouring. So this afternoon, after my brain had just about exploded from reading Paul Ricoeur (French philosopher....tres scary!), I sat down and coloured this cute little image with my Copic markers. Isn't that puppy just adorable?
The main reason that I got this set is that the images are perfect for masculine cards....which this was meant to be...do you think it's too girly with the flower? It just needed a little something and when it comes to my Primas I just can't help myself :)

Supplies:
CS: Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Neenah Solar White.
Stamps: For Father
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Chocolate Chip
Other: Stampin' Pastels (the green background), Copic markers, Prima flowers, Old Olive button & Hemp twine, Cutter kit, & Double-stitched Choc Chip ribbon (also in the new mini)

Anyway, I hope to finish my little mini book tonight....though no promises....lol. I spent the evening making swap cards yesterday...so for the swap girls you'll be happy to know that they're done and ready to go as soon as I get the rest of them in. I also finished up my Secret Santa stuff....which I obviously can't show you cause it's SECRET!!!! And Madonna's fabbo sparkly Christmas card is on it's way to her house, so I can maybe show you that by the end of the week....I can't wait for you all to see it's glittery wonderfulness....pmsl!!!!

Hope you're all having a fantastic Tuesday,
Kristie

The most beautiful things

Nah, not my card....the quote stamp I used for it:
I got this stamp (by Kaiser) at a little shop up the road...you know, one of those stores that has a bit of everything. Anyway, I thought this quote was lovely and I finally inked it up to use on this card. The base is some Bazzil that came in a Lime Tart kit, along with that gorgeous Basic Grey Urban Prairie DP...I love that line of DP and I'm in the middle of making a little mini book with it :) The green lace paper is the same one from the last LT kit, the flowers are Prima, the button American Crafts and the ribbon is SU Pretty in Pink. The quote was stamped in Ruby Red on Pretty in Pink {yes Lauren I am LOVING that colour combo right now} and layered onto some lime-ish Bazzil.

Right now I'm waiting for the parcel man to deliver my pre-order from the Summer mini, so that I can stay up late tonight and get all my swap cards finished....oh yeah, I have to actually design them first!!!!

Finally, thanks for all the sympathy and suggestions re: the annoying phone junkie housemate. Part of the problem is that I have a cordless phone in my room so that SHE can't use it and wreck the battery like she did on the last one I had! SHE was supposed to get her own cordless....for the last 3 months she's been putting it off...because clearly it's more important to buy dresses that cost $100 rather than a $40 cordless phone! So, there's not really a whole lot I can do at the moment. Luckily I shall be leaving for Queensland in 2 weeks and I won't have to put up with it for a whole month! And thankfully she started a new job today, so at least during the day I'm back to some peace and quiet to work in....and speaking of which I better get back to it :)

Have a great Monday {if that's possible???},
Kristie

WSC67

After a busy day working {on a SATURDAY no less} I got some time last night to have a play with Beate's weekend sketch challenge. I don't know what it is about TV stations that think it's acceptable to put rubbish on weekend nights, but at least it gave me time to play :)

Anyway, I wanted to use the "Live Your Dream" set that I got at Regionals and that will be in the new Summer mini that starts on 1st December. This is what I came up with:
I had lots of fun making this one. I just played around with stamps and ink and sponges and punches...all the fun stuff, even the distressing tool on the cutter kit came out. I was rather happy with how it turned out, but I'm not sure what I'll do with it. Seriously, I have so many cards just sitting there that I don't know what to do with. I'm going to have to find some way of reducing the pile....start an etsy store maybe?

Now, for a whinge....what is it with people who phone up at inappropriate times? I don't mean telemarketers, though I've hung up on a few of those this week. I have a housemate who is addicted to the phone. Seriously, when she is home she is on the phone almost the whole time, she literally never shuts up! If it's not her mobile then it's the house phone. This morning one of her friends rang at 8.30am....seriously people, it's Sunday!!!!!! Then she proceeded to talk on the phone for 2 hours! And the phone is in the living room, right outside my bedroom door and all I could hear for 2 whole hours was blah, blah, blah!!!! I am so not a morning person and I was ready to go out there and rip the phone out of the wall and beat her senseless with it. Violent??? Me??? If only you knew. This is the same girl who thinks it's ok to call at 10pm at night too. I am going to have words with my housemate and some of them will not be pretty!!!!

OK, if you've made it this far then you deserve a prize :) Better just give you the supply list and go do some work, right?

Supplies:
CS: Very Vanilla, So Saffron, Old Olive
Stamps: Live Your Dream
Ink: Old Olive, So Saffron
Other Stuff: DSP from 'Fall Flowers', Die Cut Blooms, Rhinestone and Old Olive brads, Corner rounder, Scallop circle punch, Five Petal Flower punch, Sponge dauber, Old Olive wide grosgrain ribbon

Hoping you have a peaceful Sunday,
Kristie

A Daily Affirmation

This is something a bit different from my usual. I took an old frame that used to have a bunch of pictures in it and had some fun with paint. White, then purple and finally gold. Then I took to it with a sanding block. It doesn't look as cool in the picture as it does in real life though :(

The affirmation was printed out on Very Vanilla CS and I added a few embellishments. Now it's sitting above my desk where I can see it all the time.

The affirmation is from the Dalai Lama and if you can't read it in this post let me know and I can send it to you.
Just something a little different from all the Christmas cards :) I will be so glad to have those all done and into the mail next week!!!!

Not much to say today, too tired from working so hard {poor me} so that I can get everything done before I head off to sunny Queensland for a nice long holiday with my family....including getting in some baby Lara hugs and kisses...can't wait!

Hope you all have a great weekend,
Kristie

November Cyberstamp

Before I get onto today's post I just want to address a couple of comments from yesterday's Kristina CI....I know that I have been rather vocal about my dislike of Pumpkin Pie in the past and have boycotted a few of Kristina's challenges due to the fact that they contained PP. However, I decided that the frequency with which she uses this colour in her challenges means that I'm going to miss a lot of challenges if I continue to do so....therefore, I bit the bullet and just did it! I am still not enamoured of the colour, but I was actually quite happy with the way that yesterday's card turned out. Secondly, yes Leslie I did cut out all those tiny leaves and berries by hand....and the answer to your unasked question is....yes, I am completely insane :)

Last night Alisa ran another team cyberstamp and the first challenge was to use a STAR on your card or layout. This is what I came up with:Seeing as I was still in need of a couple of Christmas cards I thought this would be a good one. The chipboard star (On Board Accents) is inked up with Ruby Red and then smothered in VersaMark and Heat & stick powder....then madly glittered. The picture doesn't really do it justice, as it's very, very sparkly IRL. I've used some Ruby Red and Old Olive CS, the Gifts Galore wheel in Ruby Red ink, and Happy Everything for the sentiment, which is embossed in white embossing powder.

The second challenge was to make a Pull treat holder, but as the only chocolate at my house is half eaten I have to wait to buy another block before I can make it...maybe two blocks so I don't eat my project before it's finished :)

The third challenge was this gorgeous inspiration piece:
How yummy is that bed....makes you want to just crawl on in with a good book (and maybe some chocolate). Anyway, here's the card I made for it:
I've used Purely Pomegranate, Creamy Caramel and Choc Chip CS, Baroque Motifs stamp set embossed with white, some Cocoa ribbon (Theatre Ribbon Originals), and a couple of flowers from the Pretties kit (one coloured Choc Chip) and a Cocoa button tied with linen thread to finish it. It's kind of hard to be super creative that late at night :)

I also made a couple of other things yesterday....it's one of the most creative days I've had in ages! I made the most glittery, ginormous, amazing Christmas card....but I can't show you yet, because it's for Madonna! I might even just get it in the mail to her later today (all wrapped in bubble wrap to protect it's amazingness) so that I can show you all next week....I am so in love with it, I'm almost tempted to keep it for myself ;)

OK, better go do some more work....I SO can't wait for the holidays! My poor brain is just tired :)

Have a great Thursday,
Kristie

Kristina's CI #31

I know...nothing for two days, then two posts in one day!! I had a minute to make something for Kristina's latest Colour Inspiration Challenge so I did. This is the inspiration piece, a wreath that she made:

And here's the card I made:Supplies:
Cardstock: So Saffron, Close to Cocoa, Pumpkin Pie, Elegant Eggplant & Whisper White.
Ink: So Saffron, Close to Cocoa, Pumpkin Pie & Elegant Eggplant.
Stamps: Spring Solitude (leaves) & Oh, So Lovely (berries).
Other: Scallop & 1 1/4" circle punches, Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon, American Crafts Puffy 'chit chat' Thickers.

OK, short and sweet...gotta go make more stuff :)

Kristie

For my Gran

My poor Gran is in the hospital at the moment so I made her this card last night. I used 'Bloomin' with Beauty' from the Spring mini that's about to finish at the end of the month. I watercoloured the flowers with inks from the lids, using Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Mellow Moss & Bashful Blue, then cut it out and popped it up with Dimensionals. The base is Very Vanilla and the other CS is Bashful Blue and Pale Plum. The spiral clips are Antique Brass and tied with some Bashful Blue grosgrain....a la Jessie Rone. There's also some gorgeous Purple rhinestone brads in the corners of the Plum CS...my last 4 to be exact...see how much I love my Gran :)

ETA: Almost forgot to add that this card was based on Beate's WSC66. I had to flip the sketch to get the image in and then I didn't have room at the bottom to add a sentiment...so it had to go without!

OK, that's it for now....things are crazy around here....not helped by the fact that I decided to tidy my desk before the books and papers on it fell on top of me and killed me. So I needed somewhere to put them, which led to me moving stuff around, packing up novels to store in the garage, foolishly carrying boxes of books around, and inevitably a sore back. BTW, my desk is still not properly tidy!!!!! Anyway, I'd better go attempt some real work.

Have a great Wednesday,
Kristie

The Sweetest Things

This is the scrapbook page I finished this week. You would never think that so simple a page would have taken so long! But I love this photo of my nephew and nieces and I wanted it to be perfect....unfortunately, I had a little rub-on mishap...so don't look too closely at the bottom right corner :)

I wanted the main focus to be the photo and so I ended up keeping it pretty simple, but I'm happy with the way it turned out. All supplies for this one are SU!, except for the black brads, which came from my stash and I can't remember the manufacturer. The rub-ons are Urban West, the stars were made with the small star punch, the scallop is the Scallop circle punch, and the ric rac is from the 'Beachfront' ribbon originals.

I'm going to try and get some creating done today...I want to make just a couple more Christmas cards for the kids....I like the idea of sending them each a card, rather than just one to the whole family, so that's on my to do list for today.

Hope you're all having a nice weekend,
Kristie

More Purple Christmas Cards

As I mentioned earlier in the week, I made a couple of other purple Christmas Cards when I made the one for the challenge. This first one uses Hanna Stamps 'Tis The Season' and coloured with Copics. Lots of glitter on this one....and I love the sentiment...it's a little hard to see in this picture, but it reads "Tis the season to be pretty"! I think I'll send this one to my niece Katelin....she loves purple too and she sure is pretty!This one uses the snowflake stamps from 'Tis The Season' for the background....they were stamped with Versamark, sprinkled with Heat and Stick and then glittered up. It's really pretty IRL. The little tree is from Celebrate Everyday (SU!) and coloured with Copics. I'm really loving this colour combo of Lavender Lace and Sage Shadow....mmmm purple and green! The ribbon is white taffeta and the brads are silver.
I even got a new scrapbook page finished....I don't know why but they seem to take me hours before I'm happy with them....so I'll show you that one tomorrow.

Kristie

I have the nicest friends....

Today I got this lovely Pink and Pomegranate creation in the mail from my friend Kay, to congratulate me on become an aunt again....how sweet is that?I've been feeling a bit yucky with a *hangover* from a nasty migraine last night and it cheered me up immensely....thanks Kay, you are so sweet!

Also, my hit counter went over 10 000 yesterday! So a big thanks to all of you who visit me and leave such lovely comments....I truly appreciate you all.

I'm going to go back to bed now....I hate feeling like this and maybe a little nap might make me feel better :)

Kristie

CI #30 (times 2)

Good morning! As I said yesterday, I thought I should participate in Kristina's challenge this week seeing as there was no Pumpkin Pie.....here's the gorgeous inspiration piece:And here is the card I made for it....I'm really happy with the way it turned out!
I know that I said I wasn't going to make a Christmas card....but the CS was just sitting there on my desk after I'd finished my card and I started thinking....dangerous I know....and came up with this very simple and elegant Christmas card:
It was really nice to sit and make 2 cards....I actually loved these colours so much I could have made more, but time ran out. So you might see this colour combo again in the near future! It's a bit hard to see, but there's actually lots of glitter on this Christmas one....very sparkly in real life!

Supplies:
"Follow Your Heart"
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Sahara Sand.
Other: Eastern Elegance rub-ons, Certainly Celery wide grosgrain ribbon
(that's it...no stamping, nothin' fancy happening here!)

"Love, Hope, Peace"
Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Old Olive, Whisper White
Stamps: Holiday Wishes
Ink: Certainly Celery + Old Olive Marker for the highlighted words
Other: Old Olive/River Rock double sided satin ribbon (Theatre ribbon originals), two-way glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds glitter.

Hope you all have a great day,
Kristie

For Lara

Seeing as my gorgeous new niece Lara is one week old today, I thought I had better show you the card that I made for her:This one is BIG....a whole A4 sheet, folded in half. I made it big partly because such a momentous event needed something spectacular, and partly because the chipboard letters I used to spell her name are quite large and would have overwhelmed a smaller card.

I have no information on whether Lara liked it, but her mummy does and that's the main thing :)

Supplies:
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Ruby Red, Very Vanilla
Stamps: Bold Butterfly, Warm Words
Ink: Ruby Red, Pretty in Pink
Other: Basic Grey "Two Scoops" DP, chipboard letters & heart, Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon, Prima flowers, Ruby Red brads, Corner rounder, two-way glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds glitter


I am really looking forward to seeing Miss Lara in a few weeks time, until then I have to make do with pictures....which is not quite the same! I can't wait to get home and give her lots of cuddles and smell that delicious new baby smell....isn't that the yummiest smell in the whole world?

OK, work is finished for the day and I'm going to go make a card for Kristina Werner's CI challenge...no Pumpkin Pie this week so I'm happy :) I'm not even going to make it a Christmas card, although those colours are very tempting!

Hope your Wednesday was/is awesome,
Kristie

Two for One

Seeing as I'm so short on play-time at the moment, I'm trying to incorporate as many challenges as possible into one card! This one is for both Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #41 and the current Caardvarks challenge....CHOCOLATE! Seriously, what could be better than cupcakes and chocolate...or in this case, chocolate cupcakes.I did deviate from the sketch a tiny little bit, in that I didn't make a square card, and it also looks that the DSP on the background is the same....but it's actually not. It's two different ones; same pattern, different colours....though I have managed to cut it and place the image panel in such a way that you can't actually tell that the piece on the right has blue & cocoa flowers while the left has pink & green! Very clever of me, huh?

Supplies:
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Pretty in Pink (SU!), Neenah Solar White.
Stamps: Impression Obsession.
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers, Chocolate Chip.
Other stuff: Pretty in Pink grosgrain ribbon, So Saffron brads, Designer Label Punch, Corner Rounder.

OK, now I'm going to indulge in a rant about city living...if you just come here for the cards feel free to go look at some other blog!

Today I went to Uni to do some research and managed to accidentally loose track of the time and ended up coming home in peak hour traffic. This totally sucks!!!! It's one of the main reasons I hate living in the city. I was squished onto the bus with fifty gazillion other people and crawled home in the bumper to bumper traffic, driven by one of the most insane bus drivers I've encountered so far....taking five times longer than it normally takes without this horrendous chaos. Seriously.....how do these people stand driving in that mess day after day? I could never do it....even if they'd let me drive, which they won't, I'd still take the bus or the train. At least then I can sit (hopefully) and listen to my ipod and stare out the window.

OK, now I feel much better. I'm going to go eat some pizza and watch True Blood and hopefully that will take away all the stress of the trip home. I know I said I'd show Lara's card today, but I wanted to post this challenge card first....so maybe tomorrow????

Kristie

A purple kind of day...

Yesterday I sat down and made a few more Christmas cards. I started off with this one, using Jen's Sketch For You To Try.I think it needs glitter....mmmmm, definitely glitter! I was wanted a kind of monochromatic look, but maybe it's too much for anyone who doesn't like purple....I think I'll send this one to my brother :) Anyway, after I had finished this one I went on and made a couple more using lots more purple...but not quite as purple as this one :) I will try to spread them out over the next few days, depending on what else I get made in the meantime. Tomorrow I should be able to show you the ginormous card I made for baby Lara, so at least you'll get a little break from Christmas for a bit.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Almost Amethyst, Lovely Lilac, Lavender Lace, Elegant Eggplant.
Ink: Almost Amethyst, Elegant Eggplant, Silver.
Stamps: Holiday Wishes, Gifts Galore wheel.
Other: Almost Amethyst ribbon, Elegant Eggplant ribbon, Large Star Punch, Mat pack and piercing tool, Star spiral clip.

Yesterday when I posted the awesome award I forgot that I was supposed to choose five people to pass the award onto....so, in my usual non-conformist way, I'm going to have to say that I can't choose just five people who inspire me....you guys are all so talented!!! I'll just say to all those who read this blog... thanks for inspiring me to keep creating and posting stuff for you to look at. I really appreciate all your lovely comments too!

BTW: Leslie....Santa definitely does NOT wear a speedo!!!! Though as a child I recall asking my mum if Santa wasn't dying from the heat in that red suit :) I can't remember what she told me, something about Santa being magical and not feeling the heat! I wish that was the case for me as well! Also, we don't get snow at all here in Sydney, nor in Queensland (waaay north of here) where I grew up. But in Armidale (where I lived for the past 5 years before moving here in January), it does snow, as it's up on top of the mountains....usually in July and August. So, there's your geography lesson on Australia for the day :)

Hope your Monday is not too dreadful :)

Kristie

Another Christmas card & an Award!

It's probably going to be totally boring around here for the next little while if you don't like Christmas cards! I still have a few more to get done...I really need to write a list and work out just how many....plus a few little gifts for my supervisors and fellow PhD students (they deserve something for listening to me whinge!). This all needs to be finished and sent out before I head off to Qld for a much deserved break, and with family stuff going on right now I may need to head off a bit earlier than first thought...so I really need to get moving!

Ok, here's another Christmas card that I did for the Elite challenges...this one was a colour challenge - to use Taken with Teal, Soft Sky and Purely Pomegranate.Cardstock: Taken with Teal, Soft Sky, Purely Pomegranate.
Ink: Taken with Teal, Purely Pomegranate, VersaMark.
Stamps: Merry, Merry
Other, Pomegranate polka dot ribbon from Sherbet Ribbon Originals, Slit Punch, Corner Rounder, Scallop Circle, 1 3/8" & 1 1/4" Circle Punches, Clear Embossing Powder.

Pretty simple really. I liked these colours for a Christmas card...again very non-traditional, but with the snowflakes it works IMO. It does feel kinda weird making Christmas cards with snow on them when it's going to be stinking hot here....but I guess most of the stamps are made in the Northern Hemisphere....anyway, some of these snowy ones might just find their way to some of my lovely PSF's who do actually get snow at Christmas :)

OK, on to the award. This one was a total surprise to me. I was given this Kreativ Blogger award from the very talented Holly at Hog Wild About Stamping. I am so flattered, because Holly is a pretty creative blogger herself and to have her give me this really made my day, so thanks Holly!!!
Right, I think that's it for today. I'm feeling so tired at the moment, I feel like I could sleep for a week at least! But that's not going to happen, so I best go make another coffee and try to get a few things finished before Monday crashes down on top of me and it all gets crazy all over again! Hope your Sunday is a peaceful one :)

Kristie

A Very Merry Christmas

Today I got the chance to complete a couple of the challenges issued every month over at the Elite Challenges site. For those of you new to this blog, the Elite Stampers is the very large group of SU! demos to which I belong, and every month we have 3 different challenges. Unfortunately, I have been rather lax in my participation and so thought I should rectify that! Anyway, here is one of the challenges that I got done today:This card was for the sketch challenge and used Beate's sketch from last weekend. There's nothing too fancy going on here, so I'll just list the supplies.

Cardstock: Sage Shadow, Always Artichoke, Certainly Celery
Ink: Always Artichoke
Stamps: Short & Sweet
Other: Wintergreen DSP, Slit punch, Scalloped circle punch, 1 3/8" & 1 1/4" circle punches, Celery wide grosgrain ribbon.

I quite like these different greens all together like that....*Christmasy* without being too much IYKWIM?

I hope you all have a really lovely weekend, and I should be back tomorrow with another one of the challenge cards I completed. But if you can't wait you can always check out the Elite site and see what the other girls have been up to as well :)

Kristie

Can't think of a catchy title....

My poor old brain has been on information overload this week and I just can't come up with a title for this post at all. I have made a ginormous card to celebrate the arrival of Miss Lara, but I can't show you til it arrives in Brisbane, so you'll just have to make do with this one for now :)
It's one I made last week and hadn't posted yet, and actually forgot it was there! I've used some of the Lime Tart kit goodies for it: Bo Bunny DP, Safrass buttons and the clear journal label from American Crafts. The clear flower is Heidi Swapp and the Chocolate and Lime flowers are Prima (chocolate primas Miss Kristy!). The CS is Choc Chip and Regal Rose, the ribbon is narrow Choc Chip and the 'sparkle' sentiment is from Warm Words in Regal Rose ink(SU).

As much as I'd love to be able to continue to post everyday, things are going to be super crazy over the next few weeks. I have so much work to get through before I go on holidays to Qld to visit with my family that craft may have to take a bit of a back seat for a while. That's not to say that I won't be doing any...cause I would go mad without that creative outlet...but it won't be as much as I normally can get done. I'm sure you all understand that sometimes life just gets in the way and that you'll stick with me until things return to some semblance of normality :)

Hope you are having a great day,
Kristie

I was soooooo wrong!

It's a GIRL!!!!

Lara May Dunn, 6lb 9oz, born at 2.59 EST, Wednesday November 5th.

Mum and bub are doing well and I'm thrilled to have a new niece to be making girlie girl stuff for :)

Will have something card related for you all tomorrow....promise!

Kristie

Sorry.....

...for not having anything card like to show you. I hope you'll accept these flowers as my apology :) Actually, I bought them for myself last weekend as a little treat and they were gorgeous....until the 37C day on Friday, after which they rapidly deteriorated!

The reason I have nothing in the way of cards to show you is because I've been busy preparing for a meeting that I had with my supervisors today....I needed to be well prepared to convince them that my radical new theory is not completely insane and deserves further looking into. So, it went well and they're going to keep giving me money to study...seriously the best job in the universe!!!!

So, I don't normally talk much about my studies here on the blog, basically because it's incredibly boring for anyone who's not completely fascinated by ancient religion....but this LOLcat that I found a while back seemed rather appropriate today....
See, I study Manichaeism, which is a dualistic religion....they believed that in the very beginning existed Light and Darkness and that the time in which we live is a battle between the two (kinda simplified, but you get the drift). When I saw this pic I totally cracked up, because it sort of sums up Manichaeism in a way....well if you have a warped and twisted sense of humour anyway :)

The other big news of the day is that tomorrow is the day slated for the arrival of my new little niece or nephew....and in celebration Madonna is giving away some BLOG CANDY!!!! All you need to do is go on over and guess the gender and weight of the new arrival and the person that gets the gender right and closest to the actual weight will win! I have made my guess....but I'm thinking she probably won't give me the prize if I'm right, so you've got a good chance of winning...what are you waiting for?????

Kristie

...can't wait!

First up let me just say.....Madonna, please don't be cross with me for putting this picture up....I think you look so very, very beautiful and I wanted to share this page :)

I haven't done much scrapbooking, but I'm trying really hard to get more pages done for my book. Madonna sent me this picture last week, and it was taken by her eldest daughter, who's only 6. I loved it so much, but it also makes me sad...because I live soooooo far away from my family and I'm missing out on all the exciting things that are happening.

If you don't know, my beloved sister Madonna is pregnant with her fourth child...and is actually going to have the baby THIS WEEK. I am so excited, but also sad that I can't be there and I won't get to see them until the middle of December. So, I made this page about how I can't wait to be an aunt again, to find out if it's a boy or a girl (my guess is a boy, but who knows), and to finally meet this new addition to our family.

Supplies:
Paper: Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Spring Fling DSP.
Accessories: Prima flowers, SU Soft Subtles buttons, Safrass Buttons, American Crafts buttons & Pink Thickers, SU! 'Cherished Memories' rub-ons, Pink embroidery floss, CK Becky font {journalling}.

I hope you liked my little foray into scrapbooking....I hope to share more pages with you as I get them done....but they take much longer than making a card!!!!

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday,
Kristie

Midnight Madness #3 & TECC40

Darn Blogger is still being weird and loading up the photos in reverse order and I'm afraid I don't have time to go back and load them again! So firstly, I did some baking last night and thought I'd share my tasty treats with all my lovely blog friends :) Want a brownie?????Mmmmmm, they are totally delicious....I just finished one off while I was waiting for the pics to upload! If you want the recipe, just email me and I'll send it off to you....best brownie recipe ever....thanks Mad!

For today's card I combined Paula's Midnight Madness challenge with Taylor's Cupcake Challenge sketch for this week. When I first saw Paula's colour choices for this week I was a bit stumped....how on earth was I going to do anything with that combo???? But they actually go really well together and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out:
Here's the colours:
Supplies:
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Very Vanilla, Ruby Red & Pixie Pink
Ink: Soft Sky, Ruby Red & Pixie Pink
Stamps: Garden Whimsy, French Script BG stamp
Accessories: Ruby Red Brads, Scallop circle punch, Mat Pack and Piercing tool, Antique Brass spiral clip, Soft Sky ribbon

I'm thinking that I might have to use Ruby Red and Pixie Pink together again....I think they go really well together :)

Hope you all have a great weekend,
Kristie