Saturday 28 November 2015

Paper Smooches Design Team Blog Hop - December release

It's Pep Rally Week on the Paper Smooches Blog.
Kim and the DT will be sharing fun and fabulous projects using the
new stamps and dies from the December release,
 
CREATIVE INSPIRATION

CRAFTY TEMPTATION

AND the chance to WIN
one of FOUR $25 Paper Smooches gift certificates too!!!
AWESOME!!!

Head on over to the
Paper Smooches Blog
and get hopping now,
GOOD LUCK :)


Here are some links to their store if you want to check out other crafty delights they have to tempt and inspire:

 

Wednesday 25 November 2015

#sharehandmadekindness - Week Four

Week Four of the Share Handmade Kindness Challenge
has been posted HERE on the SUPER KIND Jennifer McGuire's blog.

week4

THIS week we have been challenged to

"MAKE something and GIVE IT"
sharing any kind of handmade kindness with strangers

This week's challenge has only just been posted, so I haven't made or done anything yet.
I will add pics with details when I've created something or updates when I have done something.

=> I'm posting today because I want to help spread the word and
encourage you to take up the challenge to #sharehandmadekindness

*****
Not sure what the Share Handmade Kindness Challenge is all about?
Click on the image below to learn more.


don't forget to
BE CREATIVE
and
SHARE HANDMADE KINDNESS

Thursday 19 November 2015

seeing STARS

yes, you guessed it, there are lots of stars in my card today


  


EDITED
At long last, here is a photo of my card.  The phone & internet lines have been down all morning and the connection has only just been restored.  Sadly I missed the deadline for the link-up to this challenge but I'm happy to have Ben's birthday card ready in time.


There are five balloons, as the birthday boy is turning five.
The Balloon String Die has three strings, so I cut an extra one and trimmed off two strings to add to the other balloons in the background.
This is a colour combo that I look forward to using again :)

Lil' Inker Designs dies used to create this card include:

Other ingredients:
star patterned paper - Kaisercraft Blast Off Paper Pad
textured cardstock - Kaisercraft - Moss, Papaya and Navy

Tuesday 17 November 2015

#sharehandmadekindness - Week Three

Week Three of the Share Handmade Kindness Challenge
has been posted HERE on the SUPER KIND Jennifer McGuire's blog.

kindness 3

THIS week we have been challenged to

"MAKE something WITH a child
and/or
GIVE something TO a child"

This week's challenge has only just been posted, so I haven't made anything yet.
I will add pics with details when I've created something.

=> I'm posting today because I want to help spread the word and
encourage you to take up the challenge to #sharehandmadekindness


*****
Not sure what the Share Handmade Kindness Challenge is all about?
Click on the image below to learn more.


~~~ update 19th November ~~~
Here is the fun starry 5th birthday card I have created and entered in this week's challenge, perfect birthday timing for the kids theme.



This CAS card was LOTS of FUN to make because included several FIRSTS.

This card started as an A4 sheet of 280gsm cardstock, scored in half using my Martha Stewart Scoreboard (first time scoring with this AWESOME new-to-me tool).  I trimmed the folded card down so that it stands 7 1/2" tall and have half an inch of matted layers around the patterned paper panel.  The starry patterned paper is from the Kaisercraft Blast Off 6 1/2" paper pad.  The cardstock is Kaisercraft Weave Navy, Moss & Papaya and American Crafts White textured (from a bulk 60 sheet pack).

Check out those narrow borders on the layers
... it is SO COOL to see 1/16" borders and everything so straight isn't it?
Another FIRST was using my Perfect Layers Rulers.  Usually I measure and cut all my layers, using the grid on my craft mat to make sure everything stays square & straight.  I have to confess that it was pretty exciting to start with my patterned paper panel and just cut.  I adhered it to some white cardstock, lined up the 1/16" Perfect Layers ruler edge, cut with my craft knife, repeated three more times and - WOW - PERFECT 1/16" border all round ... another AWESOME FIRST.  All my layers were adhered with Helmar 450 Quick Dry - I find this liquid adhesive to be one of my two GO-TO glues.  Apart from making it easy to make any adjustments to align layers perfectly, it is great for attaching ribbons & embellishments, drying clear and fast, just like a hot glue gun without the hot.

The dies are all from Lil' Inker Designs and include the
Balloon Dies, Balloon String Die and Mixed & Stitched Alphabet Die Set.
The balloon strings got their FIRST workout and I think they're AWESOME too.  It's so much easier to anchor the balloons with these die cuts than it is to tie each one and knot together.  The die has 3 strings, so I cut another one and trimmed off two extra strings to make up the five I needed.  I adhered the balloons and alphas in place using Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue (my other GO-TO glue).  At first I applied a tiny amount to the back of each piece, allowing it to dry, then fiddled around with the placement ... the best thing about this is that the Tombow becomes repositionable when used this way, so once I adjusted the placement, I went back and applied some Tombow and put each piece in place as I went, so when it dried, they were all securely in place.  I popped the small balloons and the large green balloon using foam dots for extra dimension, with the balloon strings adhered to the base of each balloon.

QUESTION - do you think I should take my white gel pen and mark a little white line across the "knot" on each balloon to make it look like they're attached to the balloon strings?

I really enjoyed creating these easy matted layers and using this colour combo,
looking forward to trying my hand at matting different shapes real soon,
you never know, I might even get to put some card, tag or bookmark kits together for kids to make.  We have lots of kids in our street and I was thinking that they might come in handy for a too-hot or too-wet weather activity.


don't forget to
BE CREATIVE
and
SHARE HANDMADE KINDNESS

Tuesday 10 November 2015

#sharehandmadekindness - Week Two

Week Two of the Share Handmade Kindness Challenge
has been posted HERE on the SUPER KIND Jennifer McGuire's blog.

SHK-Week-2

THIS week we have been challenged to
"MAKE and GIVE something to someone who works in our community"

The challenge has only just been posted, so I haven't made anything yet.
I will think about who to make a card for and will add pics with details when it's done

=> I'm posting today because I want to help spread the word and
encourage you to take up the challenge to #sharehandmadekindness

Not sure what it's all about?
Click on the image below to learn more.

don't forget to
BE CREATIVE
and
SHARE HANDMADE KINDNESS

Monday 9 November 2015

#sharehandmadekindness - Week One

Week One of the Share Handmade Kindness Challenge
has been posted HERE on the SUPER KIND Jennifer McGuire's blog.


THIS week we have been challenged to
"MAKE and GIVE something to a friend or family"

Here are the cards that I created and mailed out today.

photos to be inserted soon

It feels wonderful to create special cards for special people and to
#sharehandmadekindness

Not sure what it's all about?
Click on the image below to learn more.

don't forget to
BE CREATIVE
and
SHARE HANDMADE KINDNESS

Monday 2 November 2015

I'm joining the "Share Handmade Kindness" Challenge

Have you heard the latest?

The amazing Jennifer McGuire has launched the most wonderful challenge for us all to
transform our
JOY of CREATING
in to the
KINDNESS of GIVING
during the month of November.
#sharehandmadekindness

Here is the link to learn all about it

There will be a new challenge announced each week (Mondays)
and I am looking forward to seeing how Jennifer prompts us to reach out and
SHARE HANDMADE KINDNESS.

Jennifer has a giveaway offered as part of the launch of this event on her blog
"Welcome to the Share Handmade Kindness (and Giveaway)"
ANOTHER piece of exciting news is that Jennifer has collaborated with Hero Arts to create two beautiful stamps to helps us share handmade kindness, with 25% of the profits going to the Kind Campaign, so it's a win-win for everyone!!!

I am joining the challenge and hope you will too.



BE CREATIVE
and
SHARE HANDMADE KINDNESS