PENNY BLACK SATURDAY CHALLENGE JUL'25 Reminder

 It's the 3rd Saturday of the month, so it's time to remind you about  Penny Black Saturday Challenge.  This month our theme is 'ANYTHING GOES' or Optional: 'On or In the Water'.

I'm going wit Anything Goes...

I used Karin Markers and blended with water on the stamp.

Stamp: penny Black Spring Blossom Cling

If you'd like to be considered for a guest designer spot for a future challenge, please add 'GDT' after your name on the link-up...and remember to check back to see if you've been chosen!

 You can see more inspiration from our talented DT at our blog. I hope you have the opportunity to join in our challenge.

                               Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog! I love to read your comments:)

                                                                

My YEAR SO FAR...

 Hi there Crafty Friends. It hasn't been a very Crafty year for me. Here's an update for those who don't know what I've been up to. 

At the start of the year I was very preoccupied planning a 6 week trip to Europe. In my working life I was a Travel Agent, so I really enjoy researching every little detail and finding the perfect places to stay. 

Then I was a good Mum and flew to Queensland to mind my Daughter's cats for a few weeks whilst she went to Japan. 

I travelled with a very good friend to Greece, France and Belgium. I also spent 4 days in Helsinki and spent time with two wonderful Crafty Friends - Shirley (Shirley-Bee's Stamping Stuff) and Nonni (Nonni's Handmade Cards) on the way over and visited Family in Scotland. My last sop was Copenhagen. 

The holiday was absolutely fantastic, with one exception - I had a fall, when my case got stuck on something and took me with it! I visited an Orthopaedic Doctor who confirmed a fracture, but despite the Xray she didn't see the extent of the damage. So with a boot, walking stick, lots of encouragement and sheer determination I continued my journey with lots of stops to elevate my foot. I amazed myself at what I managed to do. Hey, it's a long way from Australia and I'm not getting any younger!!!

Arriving at station in Athens and you're immediately struck by the incredible History!

Breathtaking Meteora Monastries

Stunning Hydra ( felt sorry for donkeys!)

Atmospheric Antibes

I did it!!! Stunning gardens and view from Eze

No explanation needed

Beautiful Bruges

Colourful Copenhagen

The pain did get worse by the end of the trip. When I got back I had more Xrays and a CT Scan and visited a Surgeon. So now I'm recovering from a Mid-foot Fusion surgery. I'll be non weight-bearing for minimum 6 weeks and then 50% weight bearing for another month or so. 

This means I won't be getting back to card-making for awhile yet. You'll still see some DT cards, that I made earlier in the year and I may post some cards that have been sitting in my un-shared stash. 

I have also been slack at visiting blogs and leaving comments, so I apologise and hope to get back to visiting you all soon. 

   Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog! I love to read your comments:)

                                                                

TIME OUT CHALLENGE #293 INSPIRED BY ....

 Hi there Crafty Friends!  It's time for a new Time Out Challenge and this week we want you to be Inspired by: Your Favourite Song.

Two of my favourite Australian Singer/Song Writers are Missy Higgins and Nick Cave, so I've made a card inspired by a song from each artist.

Missy Higgins - Sound of White

Nick Cave - Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow

The only times I've experienced falling snow, it seemed to be almost silent, but when I looked for videos, it sounded like heavy rain. Maybe my Northern friends can enlighten me.

Anyway these songs inspired me to make a White on White card.

I've used an Embossing Folders from Stampin Up and Simon Says Stamp. The dies are from Memory Box Co, Papertrey Ink and Alexandra Renke.  I can't remember the origin of the sentiment. 

The winner of our challenge will win a $25 credit from our wonderful sponsor -Lawn Fawn and also have the chance to be Guest Designer in a future challenge.

You can see more inspiration from our fabulous DT at the TIME OUT CHALLENGE blog. 

I hope you have the opportunity to join in our challenge.

 Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog! I love to read your comments:)

                                                                

  

Seize the Birthday #308

 Hi there Crafty Friends! It's time for another Seize The Birthday Challenge.

Glenda is our host for this challenge and she wants has chosen 'FOOD &/or DRINK' as her Topping.   If you are not in to our "toppings" option, you can make any kind of  Birthday Card.

I have used all Altenew products in this card, including 

Altenew Mini Delight: Birthday Wishes Dies and  Hotfoil plate for the background. 

It's a very sparkly card!

You can see more from our talented Surprise Party Guest, Karen Letchworth, as well as Julia Ashton our Guest Designer and the rest of the team at  Seize the Birthday Challenge blog.

I hope you'll find time to join us. Remember, the topping is optional, so if you prefer Anything Goes, that's fine,  so long as it's birthday themed. 

   Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog! I love to read your comments:)

                                                                

TIME OUT CHALLENGE #292 TRAVEL

 Welcome back Crafty Friends. It's time for a new Time Out Challenge and this week we have a THEME challenge - the prompt is TRAVEL.

I have used a fun aeroplane patterned Embossing Folder, a background stamp  and sentiment stamp from Kaisercraft. The globe stamp is from Impression Obsession.  The watercolour background was made with my favourite Cosmic Shimmer Pixie Dust.

This winner of our challenge will win a $20 credit from our wonderful sponsor - Angie Blom Digital Designs, and will also have the chance to be Guest Designer in a future challenge.

We are joined by Sherri Schmidt, as Guest Designer. You can see her gorgeous card 

and more inspiration from our fabulous DT at the TIME OUT CHALLENGE blog. 

Sherri posts her work on Flickr as Sherrisonline.

I hope you have the opportunity to join in our challenge.

 Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog! I love to read your comments:)

                                                                

Time Out Challenge #291 Photo Inspiration

   Hi there Crafty Friends! It's time for a new challenge at Time Out and this time it is a 'Photo Inspiration Challenge.  It's a gorgeous photo from a fabulous Instagram a/c @romantheocean.

I stamped the shells with Distress Oxide Ink and embossed with Pearl Embossing Powder.

The images were then die-cut and placed on the co-ordinating dry embossed background.

To finish I added the die-cut sentiment and a bit of bling.

Stamps: Stampin Up 'Friends are Like Seashells'

EF: Stampin Up 3D Seashells

Die: Altenew Sweet Sentiments 

Our generous sponsor is The Frantic Stamper. The challenge winner as chosen by the Design Team will receive a  $20 Store Credit as a prize from The Frantic Stamper.

You can see more inspiration from our  fabulous DT at the TIME OUT CHALLENGES blog. 

I hope you'll  have the opportunity to join in the fun and enter our challenge.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog! I love to read your comments:)

Seize the Birthday #307 - Fancy Fold

 Hi there Crafty Friends! It's time for another Seize The Birthday Challenge.

Barb is our host for this challenge and she wants us to include a 'FANCY FOLD' on our Birthday Card.   If you are not in to our "toppings" option, you can make any kind of  Birthday Card.

I am very challenged by these types of cards, possibly because I have a problem with adhesives and fiddly things:) But I own a fun box card die from Lawn Fawn, so here is my attempt at Fancy Fold.

The pretty paper is from my unfinished stash and the stamp set is MFT Otterly Love You. I actually deconstructed an old card to get the stamped Otters. I used a MFT Die for the waves. The sentiment is from Altenew.

You can see more from our own talented Surprise Party Guest and the rest of the team at  Seize the Birthday Challenge blog.

I hope you'll find time to join us. Remember, the topping is optional, so if you prefer Anything Goes, that's fine,  so long as it's birthday themed. 

   Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog! I love to read your comments:)

                                                                

The Card Concept #218

 Welcome Crafty Friends. It's time for another challenge at The Card concept.  The theme is Summer Days and there's a gorgeous picture to spark your creativity. You can be inspired by the colours,the Theme or any element of the photo.

I used the Black Out Technique, but instead of black ink, I used Distress Oxide and Kraft cardstock, inking the debossed side of the card. 

Embossing Folder:- Stampin Up

Die: Altenew

I was inspired by the shells  and the colours in the photo, to make a CLEAN & LAYERED card.

Remember, an inspiration photo is exactly that- a starting point for inspiration. Will it be the colours, the overall theme, the texture, the actual items and/or something else that will inspire your card? 

I hope you'll visit The Card Concept Challenge Blog to see what the rest of the team has created and will be inspired to play along in the challenge with us. 

Choose a design style (or combine styles), create a card, and in your blog post, let us know what inspired you from the photo, what style and/or styles you chose and don't forget to display our inspiration photo and link back to our challenge.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog! I love to read your comments:)

                                                                

Seize the Birthday #306 Use a Frame

 Hi there Crafty Friends! It's time for another Seize The Birthday Challenge.

Ashwini is our host for this challenge and she wants us to include a 'FRAME' on our Birthday Card.   If you are not in to our "toppings" option, you can make any kind of  Birthday Card.

I used Pinkfresh Decorative Frames Press Plate with Gold Foil - it worked beautifully!

The flowers and sentiment were also Hot-Foiled. 

You can see more from our own talented Surprise Party Guest and the rest of the team at  Seize the Birthday Challenge blog.

I hope you'll find time to join us. Remember, the topping is optional, so if you prefer Anything Goes, that's fine,  so long as it's birthday themed. 

   Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog! I love to read your comments:)

                                                                

Time Out Challenge #289 Inspired By Challenge

 Hi there Crafty Friends!  It's time for a new Time Out Challenge and this week we want you to be Inspired by: Your Favourite Winged Thing.

The background was made with an Altenew Embossing Folder. 

I stamped the Stampers Anonymous Butterfly on a smooshed background (with some speckles of Brushos) and fussy cut the image. The leaves were die-cut from an inked panel.

Our wonderful sponsor is Lawn Fawn.  Our Challenge winner will receive  as a prize and an inviation to join us as Guest Designer for a future challenge.

You can see more inspiration from our GD and the rest of our DT at the Time Out Challenge blog

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog! I love to read your comments:)

PENNY BLACK SATURDAY CHALLENGE MAY '25 Reminder

 It's the 3rd Saturday of the month, so it's time to remind you about  Penny Black Saturday Challenge.  This month our theme is 'ANYTHING GOES' or Optional: 'MONOCHROME'. It's still Autumn in Australia, so I'm sharing a Fall themed card. 

This beautiful Cling stamp from Penny Black is called Golden.

I used Karin Markers direct to stamp and clear embossed. The image was coloured with the same markers. 

I then embossed the panel for some gorgeous texture. 

If you'd like to be considered for a guest designer spot for a future challenge, please add 'GDT' after your name on the link-up...and remember to check back to see if you've been chosen!

 You can see more inspiration from our talented Design Team at our blog. 

I hope you have the opportunity to join in our challenge.

                               Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog! I love to read your comments:)

                                                                

The Card Concept #217 Patriotic Decor

 Welcome Crafty Friends. It's time for another challenge at The Card concept. 

The theme is Patriotic Decor and there's a gorgeous picture to spark your creativity or you can be inspired by the colours and any element of the photo like I was.

I decided to use some of my patterned paper stash to make a 'quilt' pattern, like the runner in the photo. 

The papers are from Kaisercraft and all the dies and stamps are from The Greetery.

I was inspired by the pattern of the runner in the photo and the colours to make a CLEAN & LAYERED card.

Remember, an inspiration photo is exactly that- a starting point for inspiration. Will it be the colours, the overall theme, the texture, the actual items and/or something else that will inspire your card? 

I hope you'll visit The Card Concept Challenge Blog to see what the rest of the team has created and will be inspired to play along in the challenge with us. 

Choose a design style (or combine styles), create a card, and in your blog post, let us know what inspired you from the photo, what style and/or styles you chose and don't forget to display our inspiration photo and link back to our challenge.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog! I love to read your comments:)