Hocus Pocus!!

Ahhhh, dont you just love it when the comfort zone returns!! Created this card for Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge and for Opus Gluei.... a little magic goes a longer way sometimes.

I had fun with the cuttlebug cobweb folder and then went over all the lines with a fine point calligraphy pen, and added some raindrops for effect. I was puzzling over whether to use a black cat (very Thackery Binx, not to mention chat noir) when I chanced upon this image in my decoupage folders. "Escape" seemed the perfect sentiment given that the strange trio are perhaps beside a door or window....and that poor man looks terrified. As well he should. Blood red seemed the obvious choice for embossing. I think they have a ghoulish almost zombie look, I love their hair and outstretched hands.

This is definitely BLACK magic but I'm really only guessing!

Opus Gluei Challenge #28 Blue

I was so pleased with my plan for this card which meant I'd actually have the right thing for Dad next year, but when I put it all together..... well, it doesn't really do what I wanted. So I'll put it on the bottom of the learning curve, and maybe I'll stick to black and white instead!!

Cant give many specifics about the DP I used because I was really clever and cut off the label, but the side I DIDN'T use is shades of sepia with faded images of ropes and compasses, and the other side is this old blue-print style with ships' plans all over it. My Dad is one of those Wind in the Willows "messing about in boats" sort of man, so the paper is just his style. The boat is layered on two shades of blue CS along with a length of sea-blue satin ribbon. The cogs are from the SU Sense of Time set, embossed with hologram dust. The sentiment is from Sweet 'n' Sassy.

It could have been better, but now I've run out of blue!

Opus Gluei Challenge #26 *bling*

*Bling* indeed...... not feeling in a bling mood now after getting sparkles all over the place except where they were meant to be, and upending a pot of embossing powder, and being totally unable to find the diamond thingies.... Grrr

Okay, take two. Calming thoughts, deep breathing, and inspiration strikes! Haven't taken up the pliers and wires for a while but DO need a decent bookmark that I wont lose under the bed. Or if I do, it will be obvious when I shine a torch into that dark and dusty space. So here's my bookmark hook with a collection of silvery *bling*.

Proof that a card isn't always the solution to a problem!

Happy Birthday Michelle

More motivation to get out the ribbons and card stock.... the daughter of a friend will be 18 this week. I like the Grant pearlescent CS so here it is again.

The creamy figured paper is from a lovely collection sent to me from my dear friend Lisa at The Craft's Meow: a big stack from La Creme which is full of my favourite non-colours (black and white, and cream and gray). She also sent the ribbon and I've just noticed that I put the bow on back-to-front. Ah well, nobody's perfect, least of all me!! I added some cream and gray pearls and a birthday greeting on a scrap of cream parchment that was lurking at the bottom of a box.

Thankyou Lisa for the inspiration. I think you could say its working, and........Happy Birthday Michelle!

Opus Glue Challenge #25

You'll have to forgive my soft take on the theme this week..... its there in spirit! We had to add something to do with sewing and if you look REALLY closely with one eye shut, maybe....

I used Grant pearlescent CS in charcoal gray, with a piece of Kagaz handmade paper featuring stitched (well, almost!!) stems. The flower is a glittery little surprise from the Poobahs which I mounted on a Kaiser cutout for a bit more depth. There are pearly sequins with a bit of purple so that inspired the ribbon (STITCHED on the edges!!) and the sentiment which glitters too. Then I couldn't resist one last touch so there's a tiny white tipped dressmaker's pin down in the corner.

Yes I know I should have got out the sewing machine and quilted a tiny square, or painstakingly cross-stitched a black cat stretching in the sun.......but in the spirit of Opus Gluei, here it is.

with thanks....

One afternoon I spent the hours in the company of my dear friends Ali and Ev, making these cards to thank so many friends who helped us to celebrate Peter's life. Even the thought of picking up paper and scissors had been too hard, but friends bolster you in ways I dont understand but accept with thanks.

It was fitting that the ingredients came from other friends.... a store of images stamped with Debbies SU Embrace Life, and lengths of ribbon from the Poobahs. I played with a little bit of colour and my blender pens, sometimes added gold or pearls, and found extra images from the SU Fifth Avenue Florals.

Who could know that the time spent stamping multiple copies of beautiful flowers would be needed so soon?

"To" and "From"

One of the many things that happened last month was a decadent morning tea at the National Gallery, celebrating birthdays for two good friends. This is the card I made for Debbie.

Just had to use the SU Eastern Bloom, which is a bit of a joke between us, and also found this lovely textured paper for the background. I wanted the card to be distinctively coloured and stylish, because Debbie makes such lovely cards herself that anything less than hand-made wouldn't do. Then of course there was the stress of getting it right.

The red flocked paper is another Paper Chic DP from Officeworks, and its layered on black before being mounted on the white card. The ribbon is a present from the Poobahs, and has a satin sheen. I love it.

The second part of the post refers to a beautiful present to us which was organised by Debbie on behalf of three good friends. I forgot to include it in my last post, so here it is in solitary splendour! Its beautiful, and clearly loves being at my front door because its thriving. Thankyou Deb, Lisa and Debbie.

Katie's 21st

Katie says she's "one of the boys" but she's also a stylish intelligent switched-on young woman. My son asked me to make her card and it was a pleasure.

I used Paper Chic DP from Officeworks. It has a silvery satin finish background and a great lacy design. The other bits are from the scrap box, except for the flower which is 3 layers of Kaiser shapes, secured with a split pin. It looked a bit dark so I coloured the centre with a silver gel pen. The stamps are a mixture of things that I bought with Ali when we snuck off to the Stitches and Craft Show earlier this year.

Peter - 31July 2009

So much can happen in one month. Thankyou for your messages and support which have helped us through the days, and will continue to help us as we get used to a a life we never expected.

Challenge for a Sunday Afternoon #1

A new Challenge!! My friend Lisa from The Craft's Meow has started up a challenge and the first one is good for me since I'm on a "clean-up" (not that you'd know from the amount of stuff still on my desk!!). You have to use something that's been lying about, waiting for your inspiration..... so I decided to try and find a use for the orange things I like but can never quite manage.

The DP is Bali Breeze from SU, and the terracotta scrap and orange ribbon are both from my "what-will-I-do-with-this?" folder, all on cream CS 4.5" square. The lovely flower is a SU Fifth Avenue Floral with some colouring and gold gel pen to pick up the stamens. The embossed sentiment is a bargain-box find, and the graduated pearls are from Creative Charms.

Opus Gluei #17 Christmas in July

Hope the Poobahs forgive me this non-glue entry... I never make Christmas cards because I often don't send them til the last minute, and unless they're ready to go, well, I'd never send any at all. So when I read the Christmas theme of this challenge I almost (ALMOST, but not quite) gave up before I started...... but since the philosophy of the Opus Gluei is such a creative and forgiving one I thought some beading was in order.

I found some nice solid trees at my favourite bead stall in the market, and put them with silver baubles and some big pieces of something mysterious and red. Some kind of nut maybe, there are veins and odd cracks here and there.... Think this might be something I put on AFTER I've cooked the dinner on Christmas Day in case it gets caught in the oven door!!

Suddenly remembered that I'd borrowed a beautiful stamp from Debbie a couple of weeks ago, so had to make a couple of cards just to show I could. The lovely red tree is her SU stamp and the scribble tree is one of mine from Fern Gully. Lots of embossing because its the season for tinsel and sparkle. Merry Christmas!!

Birthday wishes

Had to make something special for my friend whose birthday is next week....not you Ali, or Debbie. I couldn't possibly post anything here for you so early!! You two had better hope I have some time this week so you do actually get cards, not just pieces of folded CS with a quick note scribbled inside!! Anyway, back to my OTHER friend.... she's got lots to celebrate this week, the end of her chemo for one thing, and her birthday for another. There's still a way to go before her cancer treatment is over but I wanted to make her something bright and sparkly, just like the glasses of bubbly we'll be sharing.

I had fun with the versamark and embossing powders and glitter, and used a variety of bits from the busy room. The gold paper is a hangover from my early card making days when I relied more heavily on the texture of papers and less on stamps and embellishments. Couldn't resist using it here, and its nearly the last piece. I had fun with the sentiment stamp which had some outlined letters so I played with my new versamark pen too.

Pink, Green and Yellow somethings...

Just how far out of one's comfort zone can a person step with one card? A l-o-n-g way!! Boy did I struggle with this, and it probably looks like it. STOP, enough waffle... to the point. The challenge from Stamp Something was to use pink, green and yellow in any shade....

This is a 6" card with addition of olive CS and a slip of Kaiser party twirl DP. I was able to match the colours with scraps for the circles, and also a piece of ribbon from the busy room boxes. I added some extra texture to the linen CS with versamark using a leaf frond acrylic stamp that I picked up in Lincraft, and embossed the sentiment using iridescent powder.

I dont think it looks too childish, maybe just a cheery little card for a blue day?

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #39

So fancy that, another black and white challenge!! The movie this week is To Kill A Mockingbird which was a great movie staring the wonderful Gregory Peck. I hunted in my bookshelves and came up with the copy I read in school, my name and 1968 inscribed on the flyleaf.

I really wanted to highlight a theme from the story as well as indulge my delight in black and white, and the result is perhaps darker than I expected, but I like it. The bird and sentiment are SU images I borrowed from Debbie during our stamping day yesterday. I ran one panel of black CS through the cuttlebug, then re-mounted it on another panel of white. The flower is a double bloom I made from Kaiser pieces, and the pearl centre is a collection from the busy-room boxes. It picks up the floral detail on the bird which has been embossed to make it glossy. The black petals looked very dull so I drew in details with a white gel pen. The slender gingham ribbon is part of a gift from the GPs at Opus Gluei.

I chose the sentiment because I think it reflects something of Harper Lee's positive message about having the confidence to do what you believe is right, even in the face of opposition.

ABC Challenge - U for USA

...and a belated Opus Gluei Challenge 14 Patriotic

Since I'm not even remotely American, and my only US-related relative is my Dad's cousin (and her US husband died years ago........) this wasn't really a challenge that jumped up and grabbed me. But, then I spent the day with my friends Debbie and Ali, stamping and browsing the SU catalogue and eating and laughing, and suddenly inspiration struck!! Might have something to do with being able to use Debbie's red and blue stamp pads too, or was it the beautiful soup she made for lunch?

The stars and sentiment are from SU In The Stars, and heaven only knows which inks I used (Debbie will know!!). Cant always get my head around coloured CS, so its all on a white C6 card from a pack on my shelves. I played around with navy blue CS to make the stripes, and punched out all the stars which saved me endless snipping with the decoupage scissors. I showed it to my son to see what he'd make of it, and his reaction was "Why have you made a card for the USA?" so I guess it looks right to him at least.

Friday Fill-ins #131

1. When I heard that ridiculous air-horn I knew my son was finally home.

2. Chocolate and a good book is my very best medicine.

3. It's late, but who cares, I'm still eating Easter eggs.

4. Winter always.

5. My eyes have seen too many new books and I'm leaving this book shop now before my credit card melts.

6. Stilton smells strongly.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to catching up with my friend Ann, tomorrow my plans include having lunch with my parents and Sunday, I want to plant the things I bought from the nursery!

Opus Gluei # 15 Nice day for a .....

...white wedding. Well this wasn't tricky to make, but it WAS tricky to photograph. My son (the expert) went out to deliver pizzas and left me to my own devices. Oh well...

Following instructions from the Poobahs, I used white, white and more white. The CS is textured and from my busy room, ditto the last piece of grosgrain ribbon. I used the beautiful SU Baroque Motif for the background image, embossed in white pearl, and a little SU Figures of Speech sentiment. Had to add the diamond of course, and it echoes the hologram embossing powder I used. Its quite legible in real life, but hard to see here. The sentiment reads "to have and to hold".

Another new baby!!

This card took ages to think about and minutes to make. My friend's daughter has just had her first child, Jasmine, and I wanted something very feminine and not too frilly.

I've used sparkly Francheville DP which is barely pink, and topped it with a tiny cuttlebug embossed square. I love this little present, carried by the heart, so I made it glisten with SU Crystal Effects too.. The bow is a piece of grosgrain ribbon from a very deep box!

ABC Challenge:Two-tone

Finally found time to make up a card for the ABC Challenges, they're up to T so its taken me a while!! This week the request is to keep it simple and make a card in two tones.

I've used some terracotta and black CS, and put the black through a cuttlebug folder before placing it. The tree branch stamp is Taylored Expressions and its been embossed with black hologram powder. The sentiment is SU, and embossed in terracotta. I added some black pearls to tie the sentiment strip to the base, and reflect something of the shine of the tree.

It would have been so much easier to use black and white, but not so much of a challenge.

Friday Fill-ins #130

1. She had a great idea for getting out of working one day last term, so that's what we did and boy did we get caught out.

2. This laptop is by my side, always, because my life is on it.

3. I know this: your laptop battery will always die in the middle of the most important thing you've used it for today, when there isn't a power-point within reach.

4. This morning, when I went out to scrape the ice off my windscreen, there was barely a breath of wind, the sun was just an idea and my street was completely still.

5. These words apply to me: bibliophile, star-gazer, gardener, hoarder, inquisitive, non-swimming, green-tea drinker.

6. Today, when I stepped out into the playground to umpire a soccer-match, the sun was shining.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to sharing a meal with friends, tomorrow my plans include sharing another meal with friends and Sunday, I want to refrain from eating!

Black, white & one colour somethings

Followed some links the other night and came across this challenge on Stamp Something which I have to admit was made for me. Black and white... what could be easier?? Finding the other colour, that's what!!

I was able to use some strips of a lovely DP from Grace Paperz which is doublesided: delicate tracery on one side and funky daisies and stripes on the other. The central flower is cut from a wrapping paper sample and embellished with black pearls. The sentiment is part of a Kaiser acrylic set and it gave me a chance to play with my SU Heat & Stick Powder and some glitter thats been lurking in a box for a year or ten. At the last minute I added some velvet ric-rac and square black brads because I always err on the side of plain. Old habits die hard.

And the other colour? Gold.

Happy Birthday Oscar!

You know how you read in magazines about the difficulty of cooking dinner for a friend who's a chef? Well, the father of this little boy is a designer and printer. He looks at things like the grain on card stock and comments on the difference one point in font size makes (of course he knows the name of the font and how much ink was left in the printer!!) and examines the card minutely to see how its made. Aghhhhhhhh....

So after a few years, you just have to shrug your shoulders and make cards for his family anyway!

I cut present shapes from scraps of CS to match the wrapping paper, well ALMOST match, and decorated them with scraps of ribbon and circles punched from some DP. The number is meant to look old and grainy, and I used Versamark and old gold embossing powder.

Opus Gluei #13 ...all about growing

Nearly didn't make it for this challenge, but here it is.

The instructions were to create something about growing, and included thoughts about farmers markets, gardening catalogues, and just enjoying the sight of a garden. I had these seed-packet shaped pictures cut out for ages, meaning to decoupage them onto a box for my green-fingered cousin...... but they're still sitting in the folder. So now there's one less!!

I hunted in my local $2 shop for the right colour ribbon, and matched it to some Sassafras and SU papers, added some brads and it was done. Maybe the card will make its way to my cousin instead!

Friday Fill-ins #129

1. All children alarm their parents, if only because you are forever expecting them to do some of the things you did!

2. Show me a good loser and I will show you a someone who cares more about how other people feel than themselves.

3. Being totally indulgent is (like) eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs at one time, or what I'd prefer which is a whole box of Belgian chocolate sea-shells.

4. Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy organising families and working at full-time paid jobs simultaneously.

5. I have yet to hear a man ask for advice on how to combine listening to the football and checking the oil and water in his car.

6. It is impossible to think of any good meal, no matter how plain or elegant, without bread or fresh fruit in it.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to salt & pepper calamari for dinner, tomorrow my plans include picking up my husband from his latest adventure and Sunday, I want to sleep in!

Happy Birthday Luca!

Everybody wants to be a Super Hero, especially when you're only 2 years old!! Spiderman to the rescue (giving me a chance to use that spider-web embossing folder at last). There's not a lot going on here, but I did have fun finding the right graphic and printing it out. The papers match the super-hero suit, and the black jewels of the spider-web are....... well, I don't know, flies?? Couldn't get too serious here; does it show?

Happy Birthday Alexandra!!

Tuesday, June 16th. Guess who turns 9? This is for the daughter of a friend and colleague, a very girly girl who loves pink. Since this is SO far outside my comfort zone, I had to post a picture of it to prove I can make something light and frothy. The main paper is a piece of saved handmade paper with some satin stitching. I added some DP, pink gauze ribbon and some pearls. Hope she likes it.

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #36

The movie this week is Beauty and the Beast, and the instruction is to use some fantasy for inspiration. I thought of Belle wishing for so many things in her life: change, love, freedom amongst them. Wishing brings stars to mind and so came my idea for the card.

There is lots of sparkle to represent stars twinkling, and a delicate pattern of dew drops on the background. The black and silver represents the evenings when stars shine through the castle windows. When I was little, my Mum always recited the sentiment "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight" whenever the Evening Star came out. When I grew up I found out this was always Venus, a big romantic star indeed. Finding a stamp with this verse was a special treat.

The card is a big 6in square one, with Francheville DP Pink Diamond Bling for background. The stamps are SU Stars (standard wheel), Stamp It! star, and the words are from the SU In The Stars set. The deep rose paper scrap and gauze ribbon are from my busy-room boxes. The little stars are embossed with dark hologram dust, there are a few diamonds in there too, and the big star has an acetate sheet cover to make it shine.

Friday Fill-ins #128

1. I grew up thinking my football team would always win.

2. The internet movie database (imdb) was the last website I was at before coming here.

3. Why don't you move over and let me have some of the blankets because its only 5 degrees outside and there's only so much of me that the cat can keep warm?

4. A massage, someone else cooking my meal, a cold glass of champagne, and an open fire help me relax, which explains why generally I don't..........

5. Thanks for the coffee, cookie and laughter this afternoon Lorraine.

6. I find high-pressure sales ladies in clothing shops, trying to talk me out of black and into "something to bring out my colouring" very off-putting.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to curling up in front of the television, watching Silent Witness, tomorrow my plans include thanking my mum for buying me a stunning pair of boots for my birthday and Sunday, I want to catch up with my brother-in-law who's flying back to Hobart!

Blairgowrie

Dusk, winter, low tide.

We've driven down the road to the Yacht Squadron, pulled in to park behind the bathing boxes, and scrambled down the remains of a set of wooden steps to get onto the beach. The bay is calm, the wind has died away and when its too dark to keep walking, we'll head home for tea by the open fire. My friends are busy photographing the dying light across the water but I keep walking.

Thought I'd post this to give the non-Oz readers a tiny view into the parts of Melbourne I love most.

Opus Gluei #12 Sand & Shells

Since I'm sitting here in woollen trousers, long-sleeved jumper, fur-lined vest and my woolliest socks, even THINKING about sand and shells is difficult. I love the beach in winter, but its such a warm-weather destination for the most part.

So this is a card to evoke memories of walking along the sandy beaches at Blairgowrie, right at the edge of the water as it recedes, leaving the sand wet and glistening. I'd have left my thongs in the sand just far enough out of the water to avoid losing them when the waves wash back, and I'd be walking, head bent, looking for shells or jellies or tiny interesting pieces of driftwood. Hours pass, and I'm late for lunch......................

I used a piece of sandy coloured CS, some Colleen King Ocean Sands DP and some scraps for the thongs which have been embossed and then coloured with a gold gel pen. The stamps are from my local discount store specials bin, and the pieces of ribbon have finally come in handy!! I left them loose and cut the sentiment card to look a little like a banner pulled across the sky by a small plane. The tiny shells are from Blairgowrie beach one summer.

Unfortunately...

Have to thank Rosemary over at "Free advice worth every penny" for this idea. Basically you open a google search option and type in "unfortunately (your name)" and see what comes up. I tried my name, but no-one really has that one spelled the same way, and Chat Noir was a bit of a fizzer too, which is not surprising since most of the options would be in french. That left black cat and here are some of the options.....

Unfortunately, training a black cat is not rocket science.
Who on earth would try and train a cat anyway? I love them just the way they are (elegant, selfish, alert, hungry and bossy).

Unfortunately the black cat hadn't seen the film, or if he had, he'd slept through it.
Clearly this cat doesn't waste his time on mediocrity. Falling alseep gets you out of lots of situations, and maybe into a few others. Wouldn't help for a Cinema Challenge though...

Unfortunately black cats have a frightful reputation.
Now that's totally undeserved, I have two beautiful ones who are part of the family.

Unfortunately black cats do suffer from the stigma of their colour.
Well, since its about the only colour I wear (living in Melbourne is SOOO predictable), I take exception to there being ANY stigma about black.

Unfortunately black kitties find it harder than others to be re-homed.
Kitties? Little sort-of-cute-furry things that fit in a handbag? Now a CAT is an independent thoughtful and articulate animal who might choose to sit near your handbag but only if it matched!

Unfortunately Black Cat still has her targeted, and he never misses a target.
Sounds like every black cat I've had.

Thanks Rosemary. I liked this!!

Gemini birthday explosion #2

This is slightly mis-named because one is for a June Gemini, but the other is my sister-in-law whose birthday fell a few weeks ago when she was away. The Japanese influenced one is for my brother-in-law whose birthday is any day now. I've put them together because the family is all getting together this week to celebrate the other two Gemini birthdays, mine and my son's, over the next couple of days. Haven't made my son's card this year as I found the perfect quirky one at Readings (in Carlton) the other day....hope he remembers to sneak into the busy room to make one for me.

I love the Taylored Expressions window and I think it looks better with these flowers with it. They're SU Eastern Blooms with a grey pearl in the centre of each one. The background went through the cuttlebug to simulate timber. Looks like I was drawn to these colours for both... even the ink for the monkey which is from a set of chinese stamps featuring the 12 years. I looked up the characteristics of people born in the year of the monkey, and it suits my brother-in-law to a T. The creamy coloured paper is the last piece of papyrus in my stash.

Gemini birthday explosion #1

First for two dear friends whose birthdays are at the end of May. Doing really well this year... forgot to send the early one, and took the later one a week early. Just as well they both know me well!! Happy Birthday Sue and Ev.

The green one has pieces of SU Old Olive that I embossed one day at Debbie's place, as well as some Bali Breeze CS, a slip of satin ribbon and some half pearls. The blue one is really a celebration of blue because that's Ev's favourite colour. I picked out the circular shapes for the sentiment and echoed them inside too.

Friday Fill-ins #126

Another Friday, another set of cloze exercises!!

1. It's cold and my socks aren't long enough.

2. Mostly in winter I prefer pumpkin, but sometimes I might eat tomatoes.

3. My favorite health and beauty product is too expensive so I'll settle for a cup of green tea.

4. Travelling by tram gives me a nice long ride and time to read my book.

5. Well, first of all, this is going to be a l-o-n-g story, so sit down and get comfortable.

6. My students, some staff, and three old motorbikes; those were the cast of characters in a recent dream and it was a scary awakening.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to tea with friends, tomorrow my plans include spending time at Debbie's house playing with inks and stamps and Sunday, I want to put the new plants in the garden!

Opus Gluei #10 Off Colour

I hate green, I never wear it, I never buy it, I eat it with my eyes closed.......... and I love it in the garden. So that's why its my choice for an "off colour" challenge - to use a colour you dont normally think of. I tried closing my eyes and reaching into my CS, determined to use whatever I touched first, but it was black and white patterned, so I had to put it back.

Cant say I'm all that thrilled with the result, although I LOVE my new Taylored Expressions window and shutters, but when I make it in black and white it will look different, just wait and see. I used SU Old Olive for the ink, Bali Breeze CS, some heart shaped brads and a wisp of stone coloured ribbon from my "come-in-handy" box.