Papertracer

Hello friend card

2012-02-14T21:39:00.000+11:00

Hi hi!

Just sharing another card wtih you again quickly before I head off the computer!

While I still had my Amy Tangerine stamp set out, I decided to make this one. I was in a 'misty' mood too so I pulled out my Mr Huey's Piglet mist--such a cute colour!

All I did, was cut a piece of white cardstock to size, mist quickly with Mr Hueys (I mean, i pushed the pump quickly, this gives a more eevn spray that pushing it down slowly). Next I stamped the image and sentiment, added some rhinestones and some cute pink saddlestitch-type ribbon from my stash and rounded 3 of the ccorners! Finally I adhered that onto a cardbase, which also had 3 corners rounded (but different ones) to give a nice little something-something.

That's it! a cute, quick little card.

I'll be back tomorrow with my piece for the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog!

See you soon!

Linda xxx

InLinkz.com

Oh snap!

2012-02-12T20:27:00.002+11:00

Hello!

Just thought I'd pop in quickly to share a card I made :) and to thank those of you who commented on my last post :) It was lovely to see what you were grateful for along side me!!

Here it is:

I cut and scored a piece of kraft cardstock then rounded all four corners with my corner chomper.

I stamped the Amy Tangerine camera stamp with Memento Tuxedo Black, and then repeatedly stamped it 4 more times without re-inking it. I love this fading effect and I'll definitely be using it again soon! I trimmed the white cardstock and then mounted it onto a slightly wider strip of aqua AC cardstock, before adhering the lot to the kraft cardbase.

Next I stamped the letters for the sentiment onto a sticky note (you could use masking paper but I couldn't find mine!) and then cut them out--if I'm being completely honest, I only cut out the right hand side of them as this was the only bit I'd be using. Then I stamped the sentiment onto the card one letter at a time, making sure to slightly overlap the letters a little.

Then I took my beloved Prismacolour pencils and coloured in the left of the letters with a beautiful teal green pencil. I was going to leave it at that but then decided to add some nice crisp white to the opposite side and I. LOVE. the effect this gives. The letters just pop off the page, see??.....

Lastly I thought the edges of the card needed some definition, so I used a white gel pen to create a faux stitch line.

That's it! Very simple and some fun, easy colouring.

I'll be back soon with more to share :)

*sending smiles*

InLinkz.com

PS I couldn't find an inlinkz-friendly aqua cardstock, but Hero Arts pool layering paper would be perfect :)

I'm grateful

2012-02-10T13:39:00.001+11:00

hey there

I rarely do non-crafty posts because...well, frankly I'm never sure if it's what anyone wants to read/see, but it's my blog so I can do what I want to right?! lol

This past week has been one of *those* weeks. It just feels like every time I think things are 'levelling out' or going back to 'normal', that something ELSE goes wrong, some other barrier gets in the way, some annoyance crops up. You know the ones.
You know when you read peoples blogs/tweets and they just WAKE you up and LIFT you up?? That's how it is for me with Ali Edwards and Stephanie Howell. They teach me, they move me. They make me grateful.

Then last night before bed, i read THIS post by the amazing Stephanie. Now, not only is she an amazing crafter, she's mama to 4 BEEEUTIFUL girls, husband to a military man and so humble (and SO FUNNY) that you can't help but love her. I seriously do NOT know how she does it, but she does--and with a bucketload of grace might I add. As I went to sleep I thought about all the things I'm grateful for :)

Today was another one of *those* days, where one little annoying thing after another lined up to poke me in the eye (if you know what i mean lol) and I just about sunk into the duldrums. Then I remembered how Steph's post made me feel and I decided to take all my annoyances and frustrations, and try to turn them into a positive. (TRY being the operative word).

So I wrote down some, and I'll be adding a few here:

I'm grateful for the neverending sink full of dishes to wash and dry--because it means we've had enough food to eat.
I'm grateful for the garbage truck who's brakes are screeching as it roams my neighbourhood emptying our overflowing bins--because it means we've had TOO MUCH.
I'm grateful for my daughters screaming, playing, yelling at each other and generally tiring me out--because it means they are healthy, alive and MINE.
I'm grateful that I have weight I want to lose, for it means I have eaten too much, not TOO LITTLE. *though I do plan on losing it :)*
I'm grateful for my broken vaccuum cleaner--because it means I have a home to clean.
I'm grateful that I hate my husbands' work hours--because it means he has a job.
I'm grateful that I never have the "right" embellishment for my scrapbooking layout/card--because it means my life is bountiful enough that I have a hobby.
I'm grateful for the lousy $200 we got for our smashed up car when the wrecker came to take it--because it wasn't my husbands' life insurance cheque if HE'D been the thing wrecked and not the car he drove.
I'm grateful for when my internet goes out--because it means I have (online and far away) friends who I'm anxious and excited to talk to again soon.
I'm grateful that I hate all my cheap, ratty clothes--because I have something to clothe myself in.
I'm grateful that my daughter talks my ear off instead of having an afternoon nap--because it means she has interests and opinions
I'm grateful for the (stupid) argument I had with my hubs the other day--because it means I have the freedom to speak.
I'm grateful for people being ridiculous and thoughtless and selfish--because it means I know that those things are NOT right, rather than the norm.
I'm grateful for the stinking plants in our front yard that just keep growing back again and again, because it means that they (and we) have water, food and somewhere to grow.

I'm grateful for a lot of things. Even though I might not show it enough. I am.

I'm grateful for my family and my home. I'm grateful for my friends--especially the ones who are as weird as I am lol (you know who you are). I'm grateful that despite the fact that all of my friends are VERY far away from me, I know theyre 'there' for me too:) I'm even grateful for my pair of stinky dogs who REALLY need a bath and to stop waking me up at 4am EVERY DAY to go out to pee--but I doubt they read my blog, so they wont know to stop.

I'm grateful for my blog and its readers (that's YOU!).

What are you grateful for?

*love*

Linda xxx

Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog Guest Designer Week 2!!!

2012-02-08T20:13:00.000+11:00

Hello friends!

I'm here today to share with you my second creation for the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog!! This week we are showcasing Prima, with a theme of Love is in the Air!! (yay!!)

Our gorgeous sponsors are the ever-fabulous

So here is my card:

Starting with a Hero Arts piece of layering paper that I cut to size and scored, I then inked up my Hero Arts Houndstooth CLing stamp with Latte chalk ink and stamped the cardfront.

Next I added a doily, the gorgeous Prima Flower (which is no longer available, but I've linked to a similar one below that would be just perfect). Next I took some paper from the my Minds Eye Lost & Found Sunshine collection, and diecut the two hears using a Tim Holtz die. I inked around the edges of the hearts with some distress ink, before adhering them to the doily, just nestled in behind each other.
For the sentiment, I wanted something custom, so I printed it out on my PC and then cut it into the flag shape.

Dont forget to play along with us this week for the chance to win!!! (How amazingly generous are they?!)

Thanks so much for popping by!

*hugs*

Linda xx

InLinkz.com

Project Life Weeks 1-4

2012-02-04T22:19:00.000+11:00

Hi!

I had planned to bring you weekly posts of Project Life, but January just didn't work that way, so we'll see what February throws at me :) I will attempt it.

I'm not going to go into massive detail overall because SO SO many people are doing Project Life. I'm far from the most inventive or ingenious at it, but I'm happy with what I've done and my children will have something to look at when they're grown.

This year I'm taking quite a different approach to how i completed the album last year. Last year I tried to keep up almost daily. It didn't work. The overall album lacks visual cohesion, there isn't much 'craftiness' in it. (If you know what I mean). Its still going to be an amazing keepsake for years to come, but I wanted this years' to be much more crafty/artistic (whatever word you choose).

I've been watching how Michelle Wooderson does hers and my goodness are there some amazing pages there!! She really is an incredibly talented woman! This year I've also found a few other amazing artists who have very different styles but I'm still so inspired.

Anyhoo, here are the pages I've done. I'll be including closeup pics of anything I feel warrants 'special attention'.

Week 1

In this spread you can see several receipts. One is just for groceries (how interesting it will be to know the price of goods in twenty years time!), one for postage (i had to send my vacuum cleaner back to be fixed) and also the receipt for my paying Isabella's enrollment fee into Kindergarten--something normally I would have thrown away, but a special piece of ephemera from a big occasion.

To make one of the journalling cards fit the content better, I 'personalised' it, using Papertrey ink stamps.

Week 2

(left side)

Here is a closeup of a journalling card I stamped to customise it for the event''. It's fun little pieces like this one that make Project Life yours. I'm remembering to put my own mark on every page this year, rather than worrying about capturing every single day individually and missing the chance to play wtih the layouts a bit more.

(right side)

this entire right side is devoted to a wedding we went to. It was such a special occasion!

Some Hero Arts and Lawn Fawn stamping to customise :)

Week 3

I must admit, I'm not as happy with this two page spread as I'd like to be. The two sides don't match as I'd first intended them to (I ended up moving a few things around) but anyway, moving on!!

Week 4 (left side)

By the time I made this spread I was finally feeling in the swing of Project Life. I'm so so happy wtih these two pages :)

I spent the week reading The Hunger Games trilogy, (which, by the way, are AMAZING). I went onto google images and saved a copy of each of the books' covers. Using a Pink Paislee template, I placed them into the one 4x6 space and printed them out as you see here.

The top right hand side is using an Ali Edwards 4x6 layer. I simply added a text box (and the journalling) and then altered the outline colour to suit the page.

The chair on the left is a Hero Arts one that I paper pieced using Basic Grey Picadilly paper.

The bottom left is another Pink Paislee template (which split the 4x6 space into two). I then dropped a quote I saw on Pinterest recently that I loved, into the left space, on the right I simply changed the background colour and added a couple of Ali Edwards digital overlays (sentiments). *love*

(Right side)

Some more customising on this page (yay!)

The date insert is just a white piece of cardstock stamped with Papertrey Ink Basic Backgrounds stamp repetitively in Red chalk ink from Hero Arts.

Ali Edwards Technique Tuesday stamps make another appearance on the right hand inserts.

The central images are pictures Izzie and Charlotte drew for me (too cute not to include!)

The bottom row is just a business card I cut down to size, adhered onto a journalling card and then I added a Papertrey Ink cupcake stamp :) The photo collages were done using Diptick on my iPhone.

Well!! That's it for me PHEW! *are you still awake*?!

I'll aim to bring you just one two page spread each week from now on in.

I'll be back soon with some cards to share with you!

Thanks so much for stopping by :)

*hugs*

Linda x

Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog Guest Designer Week 1!!!

2012-02-01T19:24:00.001+11:00

Hi!

I'm so super excited to be showing you what I made for my first week at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog!!

This week the challenge is "Animal Antics" !!! Cute huh?! I decided to go wtih House Mouse stamps because they're SO SO gorgeous.

As always, our sponsors are the fabulous, amazing

So here are my creations (yup, I made 2--just couldn't stop at one!)

I just loved this little mouse image so much, as soon as I saw it in the store, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it!!

Here are a couple of closeups so you can see the different mice (I had to make them all different!).

And for my second card, the stamp image is just so gorgeous, I wanted to leave the background (everything other than the image itself) very simple and muted.

I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks to watercolour the image in.
Simply press the ink pad into your craft sheet, spritz with water and then paint!! I love the soft effect it gives!

On the inside I stamped the sentiment "Looking forward to spending time together" in Memento London Fog Ink

That's it for me!

Be sure to pop over to the Challenge blog now to see what the Design Team has made--I'm sure they'll all be gorgeous as always!

And dont forget to enter your own creations, for the chance to win:

Thanks for joining me!

I'll be back soon with my Project Life weeks 1-4 spreads. As always, the products I used for these cards are shown below :)

Linda xx

InLinkz.com

InLinkz.com

Nerdy Snowmen

2012-01-28T21:17:00.000+11:00

Hello!

Just popping in really quickly to share with you the card I sent to my beautiful friend Kelly Marie for Christmas. I forgot to show it :)

I made this card for her after we'd had a chat one day about being nerds in high school haha. I thought the googly eyes made the snowmen look kinda goofy. The sentiment makes me laugh because it's so perfect for a nerdy card. (even though it wasn't specifically meant for that kind of meaning)

Here's the inside:

Here's what I used to make it:

InLinkz.com

That's it for me! Just a quick one today :) I"ll be back soon with my Project Life!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

*hugs*

Linda x

i'm still alive!

2012-01-25T21:47:00.000+11:00

Hi there!

Sorry it's been a few days since I've posted, I've been working furiously in my crafty corner to get my Project Life 2011 finished off and Project Life 2012 up to date (I'm almost there with both projects) I've also made about, oh 15 cards etc in the past few days, I'll be sharing them with you soon too.

Here's what we've been up to this past week or two:

Teaching Isabella to write her name...

Going to the shop/post office (apparently this requires a small suitcase for both girls LOL)

Driving to the local city council and applying for Izzie's Kindergarten placement (she got in to the one we wanted :) Now time for Mama to start sobbing!)

Reading The Gruffalo (best book :))

Playing together

Wishing the girls would be quiet for 5 minutes and we could escape LOL

Hiding while they showed an eye surgery on Grey's Anatomy

Getting dolled up and going to a wedding :)

Taking a drive, having a picnic in the sunshine and feeding the ducks. PERFECT DAY

The drive home :) This is what I want the view from my front door to look like!!

Having a special guest (Horsey) over for Breakfast. He even ate some grapes haha! Charlotte fed him a little bit of everything.

Anyway, now my mum and dad have arrived from Perth for a visit. We haven't seen them in well over 6 weeks (which is a long time given that I used to live with them!) lol. SO, I'm stepping away from my craft table for a couple of days but I'll be back VERY soon with lots and lots of craftiness :)

My guest designer spot over at the amazing Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog will start on Wednesday and I'm SO excited andmorethanalittlenervous.

BUT for now, here is a card that I made for the recent Papercraft Magazine submission call but it wasn't picked up, so I can show you :)

and another

Both very different cards for me--that's what it's all about though right?!

Anyway, that's me off for tonight. I'll talk to you again real soon

take care and thanks for stopping by!

*hugs*

Linda x

CAS card Class

2012-01-20T14:33:00.000+11:00

Greetings and salutations!!

I'm back again today with some CAS cards I made after watching and being SO inspired by Julie Ebersole's card on Day 2 with her Perfectly Flat Cards tutorial in the Clean And Simple Card Class.

These cards aren't quite perfectly flat (there are a few gemstones in one corner) but they come close :) and I love em anyway.

I made a set of them, but only photographed them separately, so here they are :)

SUPER simple to make (yay!). Here's how I did them:

Cut white cardstock to 6x4 and score down the centre (but don't fold yet)
Using masking tape/paper or post--it notes, mask off about 2/3 of the front of the card and all of the back of the card (be sure to keep your post-it OVER the scoreline or that will get ink on it)
Take your chosen ink colour, ink up the Hero Arts Zig Zag cling stamp and press onto the cardstock that is still visible.
Remove your masks and the ink will only be on one portion of the card.
Using a scoreboard, score a little line right down the edge of the stamped area. This helps to really 'finish' off the image as it doesn't really have a border otherwise.
Round the edges of your card with a corner chomper
Stamp the sentiment on the bottom right hand corner of the card, in Memento Tuxedo Black ink.
Add 2-3 gemstones as suits the sentiment.
Fold the card :)

That's it!!

So fun to make, NO stress, and you've got a perfect little gift for someone!! I'm going to box mine up and send them to my best friend. Everyone needs notecards and using various sentiments on each card, gives them a range of occasions to be suitable for.

Tools and products I used are linked below as always!

I'll have more for you VERY soon :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

*hugs*

Linda xxx

InLinkz.com

Lawnscaping Guest Designer!

2012-01-17T00:00:00.011+11:00

Hello everyone!!

Today I'm SO SO Excited to be guest designing on the Lawnscaping Blog!!

As you all know, I just adore Lawn Fawn stamps (i can't wait to see their new releases!!) and Lawnscaping is ALL about Lawn Fawn!

Today's challenge theme is


fabulous theme!!!

Our generous sponsor this week is the amazing Lawn Fawn!!! YIPPEE!!

OK! Onto the card!

Here's how I made it

Cut layering paper to size, score and fold to create the cardbase.
Cut white cardstock 1/4" smaller than cardbase (front) for background.
Swipe Distress Stain (Weathered Wood) across the white cardstock to create sky (leave bottom 1/3 blank) **dont be too perfect with this. A little streaking makes it look like wind/blizzard-type sky!
Swipe Crushed Olive Distress Stain across bottom 1/3 of paper (to create grass). (Feel free to make hills/peaks and troughs--not just a straight line)
When dry, stamp snowflakes using white ink all over the sky (be sure to be a bit random with placement!)
Stamp the animals, hats, mittens and barn onto cardstock and colour with Copic Markers.
Stamp the Fence image onto a long strip of cardstock repetitively, being sure to join them up. Use Distress Ink to colour the fence (I just pounced a very inky foam blending tool up and down along the fence image, it gives it character and variation in colour :))
Cut everything out! (I used scissors for the outside of the fence, but went back in with my craft knife to cut out the centre holes in between each panel)
Adhere the mittens, hat & googly eyes onto the animals.
Using your versamark ink pad, swipe across the top of the barn, along the tips of the fence and swipe across the lawn area. Add white embossing powder and heat set. (I scratched small amounts off in random places to make the snow less perfect--i think it makes it more realistic).
Adhere the animals, fence and bard down to the cardstock using dimensional adhesive.
Stamp sentiment onto a small strip of cardstock, cut 'banner tail' into end of cardstock and add a rhinestone.

Adhere it all to the front of the cardbase!

It's a lot of steps, but none of them are overly difficult!!

Well I hope you enjoyed!! I had so much fun making this card and I'm so thrilled to be presenting it to you as a Guest Designer on one of my very favourite blogs. Thanks so much for having me ladies!!

Take care and be sure to head over to the Lawnscaping blog now to see what the other Design Team members made--I'm sure they'll be astounding as always!!

Dont' forget to participate too, make a card with Winter Wonderland as the theme (If you've got Lawn Fawn stamps, feel free to use them, if not, you can still join in!!)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

*hugs*

Linda xx

InLinkz.com

CAS card Class

2012-01-11T14:06:00.000+11:00

Hello again!

This is my second post of the day, so if you're looking for the first, (my card inspired by Julie Ebersole, just go HERE)

I'm participating/taking the Clean And Simple Card Class HERE and it's only day 3, but WOWEE are there some amazing inspirational ideas there! (It's not too late to sign up either, so join in!)

These two cards are based on a sketch they offered on day 1. I decided to make 2 versions of the same card, just to show how altering one thing can make such a difference. I love both cards equally though :)

I'd like to add in a disclaimer, CLEARLY I need to purchase an embossing buddy (one of those tools that keep static off your card so that you dont get embossing powder where you dont want it...there is one in my cart at Simon Says Stamp as we speak lol)

Card #1 is the more basic, super CAS style:

To make this, I stamped the Flower Dot Pattern stamp onto some patterned paper from Crate Paper and white heat embossed it. I love that there is a layer of pattern now :) I cut a small strip of the paper and adhered it to a piece of Hero Arts Mocha layering Paper, which had been cut to size, scored and folded into a notecard.
Next I heat embossed the sentiment, added the ribbon and punched hearts and finished off with some faux stitching around the edges.

SUPER DUPER SIMPLE!

Card #2 is a slightly less simple style, but took almost no additional time to the first one. VERY simple to make.

For this one, I stamped & heat embossed the Flower Dot Pattern background stamp from Hero Arts onto the Mocha layering paper (which was cut down to a standard sized card, scored and folded).To leave space for the sentiment, I simply masked off a small section, before stamping, so that the embossing ink didn't get on that part of the cardstock.

Next I added a strip of patterned paper, the ribbon and the two little punched hearts. Finally, I heat embossed the sentiment. SIMPLE!!

well! that's it for me folks!

I'll be back soon :)

Have an amazing day!

*hugs*

Linda xx

InLinkz.com

CAS card inspired by Julie Ebersole

2012-01-11T13:38:00.000+11:00

Hello friends!

I'll be posting twice today, so be sure to check out both posts :)

This is a card I made after seeing the AMAZINGLY talented Julie Ebersole's card HERE. I'm only new to Julie's work but my goodness is she one talented lady!! wow. genius at work here people! Be sure to check out her blog :)

To make colour this card, I used my Memento Markers. WOW. they work beautifully. I'm definitely going to need to increase my collection!

This card will be being submitted to the current Simon Says Stamp Challenge for "New Something". Well this stamp from Hero Arts is new to me, and this technique is new too :) I'm definitely going to be making more of this style card ASAP!!
In much the same way as you would colour with copic markers, I just started wtih my lightest colour first, covering the whole flower petal, then added in darker shades before re-blending back over the whole thing wtih the lightest one again. Super simple but oh-so-effective.

Here is a bit of a close up.

Well I hope you liked it as much as I do!! I'm very much in love wtih this technique!!

I'll be back shortly with post #2!!

Take care and I'll see you in a bit--

*hugs*

Linda x

InLinkz.com

My Kraft cardstock is from HERE, as is my white cardstock (HERE)

Friendship Jar

2012-01-10T14:17:00.000+11:00

Hi there!

Today I've got a card I made last week, using on of my favourite stamp sets--funnily enough this is the first time I've used it despite loving it to bits.

The Papertrey Ink Friendship Jar series is by the uber talented Michelle Wooderson and just so so beautiful. I love all the additional elements you get with the extra sets you can buy to go along with it.

Today I've used the Spring Fillers set to go with the original Jar image.

I saw a tutorial on Youtube about how to get the flower petals to have the two colours (I'm sorry I can't find it again--i'll be sure to link it up if I do find where I saw it!) and I really loved the effect, so thought I'd give it a go. I didn't overblend the two colours, because I think flowers often do have quite a strong line where they move from red to yellow (or white to pink etc etc).

To make the jar look like actual glass, I covered it in Glossy Accents and allowed it to dry. I love how the bubbles from the GA make it look as though the glass is real.

The patterned paper is from a small 6x6 collection I've had for years and I'm unable to find the label for (it was a loose collection not a pad) so I'm sorry for the lack of link down the bottom for it.

Anyhoo, that's it for me! Thanks so much for stopping by!!

I'll be back again soon with some more to share :)

I hope your 2012 is going beautifully!

*hugs*

Linda x

InLinkz.com

Lawn Fawn CHA entries #2 and #3!!

2012-01-05T15:55:00.000+11:00

Hello again everyone!!

I'm here again today to show you some creations I made for the Lawn Fawn CHA competition. Both very simple cards, and easy to produce :)

But first, some VERY exciting news! I will be guest designing over at the Lawnscaping Blog on January 16th AND I'll be Guest Designer at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge blog for the WHOLE of February!!! That's 5 weeks!! I'm so so so so so excited! (You should have seen me when I got the news!) I'm also a WHOLE lot of nervous lol.

OK! That's my news, so onto the cards!

Here is card number 1.

I stamped the tickets onto a strip of white cardstock, then used a perforator tool to run between each ticket, so it looked like a real strip of tickets (which would be ripped off as you enter the fair). I cut the little notches into the corners too (You could use a corner rounder for this too)

I then cut a small square of cardstock, used the Stub/Deco Corner Chomper to make the centre piece of the card match the tickets. I then stamped the Carousel image and coloured it in with Copic Markers.

Next I cut a larger piece of cardstock (1/4" smaller all the way around the edges than a standard sized card). I stamped the ticket image repeatedly on an angle, across the whole piece, using Jenny Bowlin Inks.

Finally I adhered the piece to a card base using dimensional adhesive.

Here are the products I used:

InLinkz.com

And Card #2:

Here is the inside:

I simply stamped the card base with Teeny Tiny Background stamps, leaving a strip of white. Then I stamped the Ferris Wheel Image and coloured it in with copic markers, before cutting it out. I added some glossy accents to the windows.

I added red ink to three little hearts (to show the couple who are kissin' in the top car) and a little stickles to the hearts too.

Next I stamped the sentiment using Sally's ABC's in the blank space and on the inside. To finish the card, I added some faux stitching with a black pen.

Here are the products I used:

InLinkz.com

That's it for today!!

See you again soon :)

*hugs*

Linda xx

Hello from 2012!!!

2012-01-04T22:37:00.002+11:00

Greetings to you all from this a New Year!!

I hope you had a really wonderful Christmas and New Years. Ours was lovely and understated but we had a really nice time.

WOW I have been busy this past week! Apologies for the few days where my blog looked like a construction site--it's better now. (I hope you like it!) 

Well a LOT has been happening!! 

There is a competition open over at the Lawn Fawn Blog, where you can enter cards in to be chosen for display at the upcoming CHA booth this year in Anaheim! HOW EXCITING!!

I've made a few cards for the occasion, which I'll share wtih you over the next few days :) Today's card is this one:

I've struggled wtih this Critters in the Sea stamp set for such a long time. I LOVE it...but can just never complete a card when I try to use it. I seem to have a mental block with it!! So I challenged myself this time to do it!!

So you can see the waves better:

Most of the card is fairly self explanatory, but for the waves.  I simply punched a piece of scrap paper with the scalloped border punch and then used distress ink (in varying pressure) to make the waves and the colour gradient. Slowly I worked my way (with the border diecut) up the page, to create waves with the ink.  I then added some Picket Fence Distress Inks to the waves to give the impression of foam.

Here is the inside (and you can see the dimension too):

Here are the products I used to create this card:

InLinkz.com

I hope you like it!

I'll be back tomorrow with another card and some exciting news :)

*hugs*

Linda xx

Blog re-do

2012-01-02T15:06:00.000+11:00

Please be patient while I update my bloggedy blog!! I'll be back to posting in a day or two!!

I'm making it all pretty and new for the New Year.

happy 2012 everyone!!!

Linda xx

Christmas Wishes

2011-12-25T00:00:00.000+11:00

Hello friends,

I just wanted to pop in quickly to wish you a very Merry Christmas. 

I realise that for many (if not most) of you, it's still Christmas Eve, but for me, it's the big day :)

I hope your day is filled with the magic, love and light that you all hope for. I hope that, even though you're (no doubt) no longer a child, you can still find something incredible, unbelievable and totally wondrous about this special day :)

If you aren't celebrating Christmas, I still wish you all the good things that SHOULD be associated with this time of year, for those of us who do celebrate it.

I'm no doubt knee-deep in ripped wrapping paper all over the floor and (hopefully) excited, happy children running around me :) Or I've fallen over from drinking too much home-made Sangria after realising we've over extended ourselves with the menu we have planned haha! (not really :))

Here's a little Michael Buble *hubba hubba* magic for you to enjoy before you go :)

or maybe this is more your speed :)

Well that's it for now, I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful day.

Merry Christmas sweet friends.

*hugs*

Linda xx

Mini album for my mother in law

2011-12-24T08:32:00.000+11:00

Hello!  Merry Christmas Eve! :)

I was chatting with my friends Chari & Laurel on twitter the other day about the Amy Tangerine Daybooks *adorable* and I was saying how easy it is to make your own mini book, so I did! 

Firstly there are a few step by step photos (it's super simple) and then a quick video for you to see inside it--I haev to apologise for the video, it was my second go at it (trying to keep it short) and I was a bit rambly as it was quite late when I filmed it :) So please ignore the weirdness in my voice and the slight rambliy-ness... 

Here are the photos of putting the actual body of the book together:

First of all just choose your papers--I'm using an old Studio Calico Kit "Into the Woods"--and cut them down to the size you want (I like slightly different sized pages throughout my minis). Score them as you wish (not all of mine were scored in the centre.)

Get all your papers lined up how you want them. You can see here I have some offset from centre (it gives some interest without adding bulk--it's unexpected :) which is always a good thing!

Using Bulldog clips (or heavy paperclips), hold all your papers in place, but be sure to keep them folded a bit or the binding will be off (THIS IS IMPORTANT!!)

**If you want to machine stitch (which I would reccommend as it's SUPER easy and fast, you wont need to keep your papers folded, you can flatten them out and just stitch up the scoreline. You would also NOT want to use more than maybe 5-6 layers in total as it kills your machine/needle (unless you have an industiral strength one!)**

For 'hand-stitched  binding, do the following:

Using an Awl (a pokey tool) or a paper piercer, carefully poke holes through your scored crease. Be sure to poke right in the centre of the scoreline (not above or below) as it will affect the way the book sits/closes.

NOT like this: 

Thread a large embroidery sized needle with twine/thread/ribbon and basically, sew the book together. (I started on the outside because I wanted the little knots on the end of the twine to show, i like how they look) I just used a simple straight stitch (in one hole, out the other)  but you could use a blanket stitch or anything you like if you have the time/ability--i have to learn how to do a blanket stitch before I can do that!)

Once finished, put some heavy paperclips on all sides of your book (or just put something heavy on top of it) to really help it to stay creased and 'closed'.  It will still pop open a little because the seam is so small, but this helps.

That's it!! The next step is to embellish :) I just stuck wtih what was in my SC kit and added one or two extra things I had lying around. Made is much quicker.

Here is the video showing you the inside: 

OK Well I hear my 2 year old is awake so I'd better go get her!

Hope you like :)

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you again soon

*hugs*

Linda

December Daily days 8-17

2011-12-20T22:55:00.000+11:00

Hi!

I'm going to cut straight to the chase today--lots of December Daily photos to share, so let's get to it!

December 8-11 went by really fast and busily, but nothing seemed noteworthy or very christmassy (apart from doing Christmas cards) so I decided to make a collage of the several days compiled into one page.

The photo on the left I shared with you last time, it's a photo of the drive to my hubby's work (and is quite close to our home). I'm finding this landscape is really calling to me lately. I want to live with this kind of view outside every window in my home (except the road lol)

Day 12 

So you can see the insert page 

This page's journalling is all about my memories as a child swimming the WHOLE day on Christmas day.

I wanted the stamped word at the bottom of the page reflect what was written, so I coloured it in with three blue copic markers, in gradually darkening shades, to replicate the look of a pool (given that I was talking about swimming in a pool).  I'm SO happy with how this turned out :)

I felt the full page of handwritten journalling was a bit bare, so I added some Lawn Fawn cloud stamps using Jenny Bowlin ink. I think it's the perfect finishing touch as all my memories of Christmas are of blue skies. 

As I'm sure all of you remember, December 13th was Joy Taylor's birthday, so I decided to include that in my December Daily (given that I started organising the blog hop in about October I felt it deserved a page LOL!)

I did a collage using Ali Edwards templates, of all the cards that the wonderful ladies who hopped along with me, made for Joy.

I used an AE long Journaller, added a text box then basically cut and paste the writing I'd had here on my blog as the first stop of the Blog Hop (which introduced it, explained what was happening etc) I think it's so perfect. I'll be doing this again. I love how it's half size in comparison to the other pages and you can see the other cards peeking out from behind it. :)

Some stamping to finish off the page :)

this next page is currently a 'free page'.  I'll be adding journalling to the little 'Memories'  tag, as the month progresses, but as it's about favourites, I wanted to wait till close to the end so I can think back and choose my faves. The page on the left (where you can see the copic marker's bled through) doesn't bother me at. all.  I may cover it over, i may not. I think it gives a much needed rest to the eyes!

This next page might seem a bit strange to some, but it's important to me that I put it in.  I never. NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS thought I would get into Twitter. I totally didn't see the point, thought it was ridiculous. Now....I love it. And I've made some really gorgeous friends on there (you girls know who you are :)) so I wanted to capture that. it's such an important part of my day now, chatting with these girls throughout the day, that I wanted it in my album.

I just used the Diptick and Instagram applications on my iPhone and then took a few screen shots of some recent convos we'd had in the past few weeks. I love this page. 

the journalling reads:

"Sometimes we talk about (not) ironing, sometimes we talk about stamps and pretty paper. Sometimes we talk movies, sometimes we joke and sometimes we're serious. But for me, these girls I talk to on TWITTER, they're my real friends. And I'm so thankful for them."

I am. I really am so thankful :) They make being a stay at home mum a little bit less stir-crazy inducing. They get me. They speak like adults (not like a 2 and 4 year old :) and help me keep my sanity!) I treasure them!

Dec 16th

Another collage. We went into the city to see the Christmas display all the big department stores put up (which, incidentally were a BUST), but we had a really nice day. The collage is just some of my favourite shots.

Right hand page:

showing a street performer who was being a Santa Rock Statue. he was so amazing to look at.

December 17th was when I helped out Mary Dawn with my Bauble wreath tutorial. I thought it was fitting (the spirit of Christmas IS all about goodwill towards others right?!)

PHEW!!!  That's it!

I'll be back soon with more photos and pages :)

Hope you liked!!

Speak to you soon

*hugs*

Linda xx

Sending you Love Ruffled Flower

2011-12-18T21:25:00.000+11:00

Hi!

First of all, I wanted to let you know I will be back soon with another update of my December Daily, I'm finding it much easier to take photgraphs and post about several days at once rather than a small amount every day. It's been a bit busy lately (as I'm sure it is for everyone), but I'm JUST managing to keep afloat in this project!

Secondly I want to thank you all so much for all the sweet, encouraging and downright FANTASTIC comments you've been leaving me lately. it's so so exciting for me to see the words you've taken time out of your day to write and to encourage me so much. It just makes my heart swell. Thank you.

Thirdly, please pop over to THIS blog, where a lovely lady named Stacy did a really gorgeous take on my Bunny Snowglobe card that I did for the Lawnscaping blog hop. She's only a beginner (so she says) but wow does she have a gift!

OK on to the card!

I wanted to play around with my distress stains a bit so I made this:

Something nice and bright and summery to suit the season here (although it's been quite cold some days! Typical crazy Melbourne weather).

Using a technique I've seen Jennifer McGuire use many times, I added a few sprays of Pearlised water (basically just a few scoops of perfect pearl powder in water, which is spritzed using a mini mister or similar)

Here you can see the shine: 

It's hard to catch in a photo, but all those flecks that look a little bit white?! They're shine :) So so pretty.

Well I hope you liked it!

Here are the products I used:

InLinkz.com

Thanks so much for looking!

Take care and I'll talk to you soon

*hugs*

Linda xx

Guest post for My Pink Mexico

2011-12-17T08:42:00.000+11:00

Hi everyone!

A good friend of mine Mary Dawn has been hosting a 12 15 days of Christmas crafts over on her fabulous blog.

Unfortunately, a medical issue has arisen and put her in a bit of a bind, so she's asked me to help out! Of course I jumped at the chance!

Now there has been a Christmas craft I've been meaning to do for AGES but just never gotten around to, so this was my chance.

A bauble door wreath.

Each year I like to make a different wreath and this year is no different!

Here are photos to show you how I did it (it's SUPER simple!)

Step 1: Remove the cap from  your bauble (if you can)

Step 2: Use hot-glue gun to add glue to the 'neck' of the bauble

Step 3: Replace the cap (the hot glue will ensure the bauble will stay on when strung up :))

Step 4: String your baubles along your wire/tie

Normally you would use a wire coat hanger, untwist it and form it into a circle shape, however I couldn't find any wire coat hangers ANYWHERE lately!! So I had to be inventive :)

I found some cable ties that I thought would do the trick as they're stiff enough to hold the circular shape. 

Step 4_b: 

Step 5: Keep going! 

Look at all that glitter and gleam :) 

Step 7: Twist your coat hanger back together at the ends/seal your cable tie

Cut off excess tie 'tail' if there is any.

Step 8: I added some thick satin ribbon to give a 'tail' look, but a big bow up the top would look sweet too. You could string it up using fishing wire (or similar) but I just used my ribbon for this photo.

That's it!! Super easy and effective. I'll definitely be making another of these with larger baubles.

One note though: you'll need a LOT of baubles. This wreath is small (only about 9 inches in diameter and used around 50 smaller baubles.

Another fun option if you were using a cable tie/thick string like I did, would be just to make a long string of baubles to hang from your ceiling. (Like a banner)

I hope you enjoyed!!

If you have any questions or comments, let me know!

Speak to you all soon thanks so much for stopping by!

*hugs*

Linda xx

Florida Snowmen

2011-12-15T15:36:00.000+11:00

**this is my second post for today. for the first, go HERE** 

Yep, I'm back with another kooky snowman card...there will be more too, I can't help myself lol

This card is dedicated to my gorgeous friend Laurel, who was having a bad day and a sneek peek of this really made her laugh out loud--guess I know which christmas card to send her now! heehee

So here it is:

LOL. i can't stop laughing at them.

So i stamped the snowmen (and women :)) and then added some copic oclouring for shading and the noses. I then paper pieces the bathing suits/floaty. 

My 4 year old daughter Izzie saw the cut out bikini top and said "oh look mummy, these look like sunglasses!" and she put them on the snowman's face. *facepalm* BRILLIANT!!! So I immediately pulled out some acetate, stamped the bikini onto it using Staz on, then on the back of the acetate I coloured in using a brown Copic Marker so the glasses looked like sunglasses (they were tinted I mean). 

Next I just cut a white piceee of cardstock with a curve, to make the snowbank and added a line of stickles. Then I added some snowflakes using white PTI ink and added the setniment to the bottom (which is clearly a shortened version of "heading south for the winter"--hope that makes sense!)

Finally I just adhered it all together, matted the main piece and then put it onto a piece of scored Mocha layering paper!

On the inside it says:

Here are the products I used:

InLinkz.com

Well that's it for me today!

Thanks so much for stoppign by!

See you soon

*hugs*

Linda xx

Lawnscaping challenge #23

2011-12-15T15:11:00.000+11:00

Hello Hello!!

First up, a HUGE thank you to everyone who left such lovely comments for the blog hop I organised for Joy's birthday--both to Joy, wishing her a fabulous day, but also to me about the card I made (and the early birthday wishes!!) It was a huge success and I'm so pleased everyone liked it (especially Joy--thought she might drive down to my house and give me a smack for telling everyone it was her b-day!)

ANyhoo, on to the card!

This is my submission to the current Lawnscaping Challenge,

Here is my tag:

Get it?! Keep Cool...they're snowmen, so they can't exactly be hot?! *is everyone else giggling*?! lol I think I've lost my mind...

Please feel free to notice that the bottle of wine isn't full lol! (don't worry, it's not a gift that I've drunk out of haha!)

I simply cut a piece of white cardstock 3"x 5" and rounded the edges with my corner chomper. Next I punched a circle out, and stamped my imgaes on. I paper pieced the hat, scarves and earmuffs. A little copic colouring on the snowmen to give shadowing and nose-colour.

Everything on this tag is from the Lawn Fawn Making Frosty Friends stamp set (my new fave clearly!) except for the setniment which is Sally's ABCs.

Finally I added a little scoremark on either side of the circle, so the tag would sit on the bottle properly (if you dont fold it , the tag sticks out horizontally). 

Here are the tools and products I used:

InLinkz.com

Surprise!!

2011-12-13T09:00:00.014+11:00

Hi there!!

I'm so very excited to be writing to you today, because it's a very SPECIAL day. Today is Joy Taylor's birthday!!! :)

A little while ago Joy and I were discussing how as December babies (my birthday is just after Christmas), our birthdays tend to be a bit of a non-event. Everyone is so exhausted after Christmas or gearing up for New Years (or both!) birthdays in December have a nasty habit of either being forgotten, blended with christmas (anyone born this month will be nodding I'm sure) or just generally minimised. (Not that we're complaining lol)

Anyhoo, after our talk I thought it would be nice to make a *bit* of a fuss over this lovely lady and so, I contacted some of Joy's favourite artists and twitter friends to do a bit of a blog hop in honour of her birthday. 

Here is the list of gorgeous (and may I say UBER talented) ladies who I'm honoured to be hopping with;

Linda <<---that's me!

Jennifer

Mary Dawn

Latrice

Laurel

Britta

Jill

Kathy

Danielle

Chari

If at any point during the hop you get lost or encounter a broken link, please come back to my blog for the whole list :)

And on with the card!

Very simple, I used distress stains on the stamp which I spritzed with water before stamping. Then I added the Papertrey Ink diecut Dress form. 

Next I stamped the sentiment on a strip of My Minds Eye paper, added some twine and adhered it all to the notecard on top of a doily which I trimmed the edge off.

Finally (in true Joy Taylor style), I added some bling :)

Here are the products I used:

                                                                
InLinkz.com

Hope you enjoyed! 

Please hop along with me to the amazingly giving, super talented Jennifer McGuire's blog to see what magic she has whipped up!

Thanks so much for stopping by and

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOY!!! XXX

Linda xx

Snowglobe tutorial video

2011-12-12T12:03:00.000+11:00

Hi everyone!

Just a quick post today because i've got a video (well 2 actually, I wasn't able to put it into 1) for you to all see how I made the Snowglobe card I made for the Lawnscaping Blog hop!

Part 1: 

Part 2:

I hope you enjoy and these answer any questions you have about the process!

If you have any more comments or questions, as always, PLEASE feel free to leave me a line in the comments section below!

Be sure to pop back tomorrow for something special :)

*hugs*

Linda xx