My first award!!!!!!!!! - so chuffed!

Hey there everyone

I've received my first award!! I can't tell you how chuffed I am! I have seen these awards on other blogs and thought 'wow...it must be lovely to receive one of those'...and lo and behold, the lovely Linda from Pinklilacs sent me this award. Go visit her blog....she has done some beautiful work!

I have passed this on to 7 people and listed 7 of my favourite things.

I have passed this award to:

1. Amy at Tsuruta Designs - gorgeous blog…very creative & fun!

2. Ms Dee - a very creative lady…her blog is fabulous!

3. Lexie - a beautiful blog – gorgeous layouts! … and a fellow Aussie! J

4. Natty - one of the first to leave a comment on my blog – thanks so much – your blog is so creative and you are one talented lady!

5. Lillie - a blog blooming with artistic vibrancy….gorgeous!

6. Lori Boyd - incredibly talented lady…if you haven’t visited her blog, you need to…NOW! She is inspirational!!

7. CeeCee’s Creations - beautiful work!!

My seven favourite things....

1. My beautiful, divine, wonderful baby son who is 13 weeks old tomorrow. He is such a rich blessing in my life!! I am so very honoured to be his mummy.

2. My gorgeous husband who "keeps it real" and makes me laugh. He is a very beautiful spirit and I love him so much!

3. My Mum & Dad who I love heaps & heaps - they are a constant source of love and support - I don't know what I'd do without them.

4. My cardmaking. Since giving up music some time back, cardmaking has re-kindled my creative energy. I find it very meditative...I can go into my own space and it gives me so much pleasure.

5. Music festivals - I only go to one a year now (I'm a bit old for more than that)...but I love

Splendour in the Grass at Byron Bay. It is so much fun and Byron Bay is the best place on earth!

6.

McVities Dark Chocolate Digestives ...my favourite biscuits EVER!! Imagine my delight when I discovered this fabulous British biscuit on Australian shores!!

7. My new found addiction of blogging & card sketches - so much fun & so addictive! I get to meet lots of lovely cardmakers & crafters....who appreciate paper-addiction in all its forms and are always so encouraging and forthcoming with great advice!

'Mwah' xxx

CPS Challenge #100

Greetings bloggers!

CPS is celebrating their 2nd anniversary and their 100th Challenge!! To celebrate this milestone, CPS is giving their bloggers a chance to get published in Cardmakers Magazine. Check out CPS for all the details. It is VERY exciting!!!
For my card, I wanted to create something lush with my Basic Grey Infuse papers. I was hoping for a bit of a "Moulin Rouge" kind of feel...very decadent & over-the-top! I embossed the middle plate in Swiss Dots for the brown frame & Textile Textures for the "Purify" PP. I lightly dusted the "Swiss Dots" with Versamagic Pixie Dust.

Here's my interpretation of the sketch.....I sorta ran out of room on the card for the literal sketch layout though....

materials used:
Bazzill CS - red, fuschia, dark brown
PP - Basic Grey - Infuse - Purify & Lace & die-cut flower
Flowers - Kaisercraft - red, pink & mint
Brad - Delish diamante
Kaisercraft - red rhinestone
Cuttlebug - Swiss Dots, Textile Texture
Ribbon - Queen & Co - red scroll
Misc red feather
Ink - VersaMagic - Pixie Dust

Queen & Co Giveaway

Queen & Co are going green & are launching their new 'bucket' lines....they are celebrating with a giveaway HERE ON THEIR BLOG

Blog Candy!!!

Blog candy alert!

Mina has a beautiful blog and she has candy on offer until Tue 27 Jan. Please visit her HERE She is a very talented lady!!

Kim at Crafts by Kim also has some Valentine's Day Blog Candy to celebrate her 12,000 hits ....visit her HERE. Great stuff!!!

Peace & love
Alison xx

Cuttlebug Challenge - Sketch Hour

Greetings & Salutations!!

This week’s Sketch Hour from The Cuttlebug Challenge is a woven card tutorial from the very talented Lori Boyd

It is well worth visiting the links above to learn how to do this marvellous technique and to visit Lori’s inspirational gallery.

For my card, I cut ¼” strips of Basic Grey Vanilla, Posey & Queen Ann (8 pieces each) & 4 pieces of the green PP from the same set to put at the top & bottom & sides.I wove them together as per the tutorial, then stuck it all with scotch tape on the back. I then embossed the piece in my Cuttlebug using the Floral Fantasy EF.

I then cut out a window in my Basic Grey …… piece. Originally I used the 2nd largest Nestie scallop and I intended to emboss around this using the largest Nestie scallop…but it didn’t work. It kinda half cut, half embossed so I must have done something wrong here..but I can’t quite work out what I did. The window ended up being the largest size and I tore around the edges of the window to create a distressed look to try and cover up the mistake. I then inked the torn edges with Versa Chalk – Hint of Pesto.

I put the window over my embossed woven piece but it was missing something…it seemed to blend in a bit much with the main PP. I decided to chalk over the woven embossed piece with Versa Chalk – Perfect Plumeria….and it came up brilliant!!!

I fixed the window over my embossed piece with double-sided scrapbooking tape and then spent AGES trying to figure out an embellishment. I messed about with buttons, large flowers, large brads…nothing was coming to me until I fished about in my crate of felt fusion! The vine ‘spoke’ to me….and it worked!!! I finished it off with some Kaiser flowers, some mini flowers…then inked the edge of the card with Versa Chalk Perfect Plumeria. YEAY!!! My first woven card!!!!! THANKS LORI!!

Materials used:
PP in woven piece – Basic Grey – Lilykate (6” x 6” pad) – Vanilla, Queen Ann & Posey (and a green paper that I can’t find the name for)
Main PP - Chenille
Ribbon – Queen & Co – Green Vine Felt Fusion
Cuttlebug – Floral Fantasy Embossing Folder
Nesties – Petite Scallop Circle Large
Flowers – Kaiser flowers & misc mini flowers

Basic Grey Challenge #19

Hello everyone!

This week’s challenge from Basic Grey Challenge #19 is a card recipe:

2 Patterned paper

1 button
1 ribbon & bow

3 brads

On the day that this challenge was issued, I found out that my husband’s uncle is to receive a Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia award today - Australia Day (26 January). This award is such an honour for a citizen of Australia to receive – we are all very proud of him!!!

fyi…the award is of a similar level of the “Order of Canada” or one of the US government medals/decorations. Click these links for more info on the The Australia Day Honours List or The Order of Australia

My card consists of Basic Grey – LilyKate – Chocolate & Vanilla. I embossed the vanilla PP with Cuttlebug Script texture. The sentiment plates are cut from my Nestabilities Standard Circle Large & Petite Scallop Circle Large. I inked the outside of the vanilla CS with VersaColor – Copper.

Congratulations Uncle Bill!! – hope you like my card!

Materials used:

PP – Basic Grey – Lilykate – Chocolate & Vanilla

Button – Basic Grey – Mellow

Ribbon & bow – misc ribbon from my stash

Brads – misc copper finish brads….they could be ‘Trimmings” brand

Cuttlebug – script texture Embossing Folder

Nesties – Standard Circle Large & Petite Scallop Circle Large
Sentiment - Deja Views - Wonderful Words "Graduation"

My first stamping class...

Hi there blog-land!

I went to my first class on stamping on Thursday - very exciting!!

I learned how to do embossing using the powder & the heat gun...I was terrified of burning myself ,however all was well & I walked out with 10 digits intact and this card...




I used some watercolour pencils then blended with the "water pen" (not sure what this is actually called) It is a bit more of a traditional card than what I am used to but I think I will have to play around with some stamps & colours.....I can tell it will be addictive. :)

At this same class, the teacher introduced me to the wonders of Nestabilites - I left the shop the proud owner of a set!!! :)

Cuttlebug Be Inspired #15 & my first set of NESTABILITIES!!!! Whoo-hoo!

Hi there!

This week's Cuttlebug Be Inspired challenge was issued by Betty Fleck from PageMaps. It was a fantastic sketch and one that really challenged my creativity - it was great! I'm not used to making DL sized cards so it was good for me to try something different :)

I decided to make a card for my best friend who is the most wonderful, special, warm person. She has been going through some personal stuff recently so I thought I'd dedicate this card to her and surprise her in the mail. I believe that women don't tell each other how beautiful they are....I think it is important that we look after one another in this world. Tell your friends how divine they are...hopefully it will catch on and we will see a new wave of confident happy women around us. {hugs all round}

...back to the card...

I just bought my first set of Nestabilities only two days ago!! I had been reading about these little treasures on all your blogs and thought "what are these creatures??? - they must be the key to satisfying my quest for the perfect card!". I went to a card-making class to learn stamping and the shop owner introduced me to Nestabilities and I was SOLD! What a great invention!

Anyway, these "Nesties" were made for this card....I used them for the first time and it all seemed to work out perfectly!!! :)

I hope you like what I've done! I think it's come out a very pretty card....thanks to the artistry of Becky Fleck of course!!!! I've uploaded a few photos as the flash didn't really work so well...



Materials used:
CS - White Bazzill (linen finish) & Hot Pink Bazzill
PP - Basic Grey - Gypsy/Romani (6" x 6") - Dali, Archangel & Dragonfly; misc Japanese paper
Flowers - Queen & Co Felt Fusion - Tropical Pink; Kaiser flowers
Brads - MM crystal brads
Misc buttons
Ink - Versa Chalk "Perfect Plumeria"
Sentiment - MM rub on from "Happy Birthday" booklet
Cuttlebug - Swiss Dots, Perfect Paisley, Floral Fantasy
Nestabilites for circles & scallops

The Cuttlebug Spot Challenge #14

Hello fellow cardmakers!

The challenge from The Cuttlebug Spot this week is to create a Valentine's card without pink or red.

I decide to go with some paper that I have had stashed away for some time now. It is a bit 'folk/country' & quite cute so I thought I'd make a Valentine's card out of it. The colours are lovely earthy tones...rust orange, browns & a soft pale blue that really contrasts nicely.

The paper is Crate Paper - Cowgirl Collection. The paper underneath the corrugated heart is actually some handmade paper that my Mum made....she bought a paper-making kit and learned how to do it from scratch....I'm not sure what the flecks in the paper are though.




I used Cuttlebug Swiss Dots on the small folk heart (which is a Cuttlebug 2 step die "Heart #2" without the 2nd die of course). I then inked the small heart with Versa Color - Bronze to highlight the dots. I also inked around the sentiment with Versa Magic Chalk - Aspen Mist, then a finer border with Versa Color - Bronze.

TIP - I find corrugated card a little thick to cut with my Fiskars Shape Cutter so I put it through my Cuttlebug with a random folder just sitting on top of it (don't put the corrugated card in the folder) - run it through the 'bug, and it flattens it a little bit without taking away from the corrugated look.

Hope you like my card!! :)


Materials used:
Paper - Crate Paper - Cowgirl Collection (Sidesaddle, Red Boots, Buckle)
Paper - misc. handmade paper from my Mum; corrugated card
Flower - Prima
Hearts - Fiskars (large corrugated heart); Cuttlebug 2 step die "Hearts #2" for the small blue heart
Brads - MM hearts (Love Story??); MM Springtime Med Circle (blue brad)
Sentiment - MM Defined "Romance"
Inks - Versa Magic Chalk "Aspen Mist"; Versa Color "Bronze"

CPS - Reader's Choice Challenge

Greetings cardmakers!

Here is my card for this week's CPS Reader’s Choice Challenge.

I chose Challenge #34 as my favourite sketch - I liked the fact it had a star in it!! I made this card for my Dad's birthday coming up - because I think he is a 'star'!! I hope he likes it.

The thing I like about this card is that this is the FIRST TIME I HAVE EVER USED A STAMP!!! Yeay for me!! I bought a set of basic stamps and used my Versa Color with the Happy Birthday one. I am going to go to my first stamping class on Thursday - I hope to learn some tips. I inked all the edges of the papers with Versa Color Copper - it gave it a lovely vintage look. I did put some rhinestones on the stars but they didn't really work well with the copper brads so I took them off....I do think the card is missing a certain something though...I toyed with some ribbon too but I couldn't figure out what to do.

Apologies for the photo image...don't know what was going on with the flash here....they look like entirely different colours....I can assure you it is the same card. :)

Materials used:
Paper - We R Memory Keepers - Vintage Brass (Verdant, Brooch & Picket)
Brads - MM Cityscape Med Circle
Stamp - Hero Arts "Happy Birthday"
Ink - Versa Color - Copper
Cuttlebug - Swiss Dots & Mesh Texture embossing folders, Starburst 2 step cutting die
Buttons - Basic Grey 'Infuse'

The Cuttlebug Spot - Challenge 13

The challenge from The Cuttlebug Spot was to create a card featuring a heart.

This is for my parent's-in-law's 40th wedding anniversary..

Materials used:
Cuttlebug embossing folders - Swiss Dots & Argyle
Misc PP - I can't remember the brand :(
Ribbon - Basic Grey 'infuse' & Making Memories 'Love Story'
Rub-on - Basic Grey
Heart - Fiskars
Kaisercraft Pearls
Misc. Brad from my stash

CPS #99

Hello blog land & card nerds!

I so enjoyed using my Basic Grey Gypsy papers for the previous challenge that I thought I would use them for this week's CPS Challenge #99.

.....

Materials used:

Basic Grey PP - Gypsy "Dragonfly" & "Harlow"

Basic Grey PP - Color Me Silly "Celebrate"
Versa Chalk - Aspen Mist
Kaiserflowers
Making Memories Brads
Chatterbox ribbon
Cuttlebug - Bloom Dots embossing folder

Cuttlebug - Be Inspired #14

Hi there!

The challenge today from Cuttlebug Challenge is to use your favourite embossing folder to make a card. I must confess that Divine Swirls was the first folder that I bought and even though I now have about 15 or so folders, it is still my all time favourite - I just keep going back to it time & time again.

I love this paper from "Nana's Kids" - way cute!!

Materials used:
Nana's Kids - Green Dots & Lady Bug
Hot Pink & White Bazzill CS
Cuttlebug Divine Swirls & 2-step flower die cut
Misc pink buttons

Cuttlebug Challenge Sketch Hour & Basic Grey Challenge #17

Greetings!

I decided to combine a couple of challenges on the weekend....the Cuttlebug Challenge Sketch Hour and the Basic Grey Challenge 17.

The Basic Grey Challenge required the use of chipboard, but suggested if you don't have any chipboard, then cardboard would also suffice. Since I don't own any chipboard, I used a piece of corrugated cardboard to which I adhered a piece of Basic Grey Gypsy paper, then I covered this in Dimensional Magic. It worked ok, but I think I need to broaden my materials to include chipboard...it would have looked much better.

Here is my card:

Materials used:
Basic Grey Gypsy PP - DragonFly, Harlow, "Striped Paper"
Basic Grey Color Me Silly PP - Celebrate
Maroon Bazzill CS
FancyPants Ribbon (green)
AMM Expressions Ribbon (dark red)
Versa Magic Chalk - Perfect Plumeria & Aspen Mist
Prima Flowers
Kaisercraft Rhinestones
Cuttlebug - Swiss Dots & Divine Swirls embossing folders; 2 step butterfly die; Vintage 2 inch corner die

Cuttlebug Challenge #13

Hi! So excited to do this Cuttlebug Challenge #13

The challenge was to make an 'all white' card. I came up with this card as I wanted to use up some of my small white cardstock pieces. The collage look was ideal. This was the first time that I have used Dimensional Magic - I coated the surface of the retro flower to make it stand out. I inked the edges of each white panel to give the
card a vintage feel.

Forgive my images - the camera didn't like the 'white' look - the flash came out too strong so I had to go without the flash.

Materials used:
Misc. white cardstock
Cuttlebug embossing folders - Divine Swirls, Swiss Dots, Textile Texture
Retro Flower Punch
Small Flower Punch
Versa Colour - Copper for edges
Kaisercraft Pearls
Dimensional Magic for Retro Flower surface

I've been framed!!!

My beautiful friend took some of the cards that I've given her family over the last 12 months and put them in frames to hang in her house. Such an honour!

I think they look lovely!!

CPS #98

Hi there!

Here is my card for the CPS #98 challenge sponsored by Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps.

It is a card for a friend's daughter's birthday coming up. It's a bit OTT on the pink but I really like it. Unfortunately, as a card making novice, I don't own any stamps yet, so I embossed some cardstock with a cuttlebug plate and chalked over the Happy Birthday design.

Materials used:
Light pink & hot pink Bazzill CS
Karen Neuberger Patterned Paper
Queen & Co felt ribbon
Kaisercraft & Prima flowers
Cuttlebug embossing plate "Happy Birthday"

CPS #97

Hi there.

Long time no blog...but then again I am in the grips of new motherhood and cardmaking has slowed somewhat and my blogging is non-existent.

Here is my CPS #97 card....it was created for a friend's engagment party: