Christmas is coming.......

I don't know where the time goes.  This is not just days, its months.  Somehow I got out of the habit of taking photographs (note to self, catch up on shuttercal too) and TOTALLY out of the habit of making cards, except the ones I had to rush off to attach to a present that was due NOW.  

But the holidays loom.... the reports are finished, the puddings are made, the Christmas cards are the next thing on the list (writing them not making them) and then I'll start baking goodies.  If I can find a day at home.

This card is for my dearest (well, to tell the truth, ONLY, but she's very dear to me too) niece who lives on the other side of the world where it actually gets cold for Christmas.  It could be just about any sort of weather in Melbourne, but it certainly wont snow, whereas in beautiful downtown Hertfordshire, it just might.

All the papers are from last December's TE Key Ingredients kit, which goes to show how much of a hoarder I am....and the snowflake brads were just waiting for me to open the right drawer.

Merry Christmas KT!

Cards for friends

I know why I don't have to time to make Christmas cards in the middle of the year (Electra, are you listening??)..... everyone I know is having a birthday this month,  Herewith two cards made with the contents of the latest Key Ingredients kit from Taylored Expressions........ 

I love the summery colours even if here in Melbourne its cold and wintery (and it snowed somewhere very close to home last night).  The patterned paper is just beautiful no matter which side I turn it, and the name of the pack "Sweet Threads" doesn't really give you a hint of the lovely things inside. It looks like linen because of the cross-hatching all over it.  Love it, and as usual I get carried away with the paper and dont use all the embellishments.

.....but there are brads, and pieces of ribbon, and for once the only things from the shelves of the busy room are the white cards I've used as the bases and two SU embossed flowers.

Happy Birthday Ann and Maureen.

Special destinations

I've been lucky enough to have made several friends across the world through the simplicity of paper and the entries of this blog, and every now and then comes a chance to send something across the ocean in thanks.  I like to think of these other women always in good spirits and smiling at their world, but of course like me, they have great times and grumpy ones, smiling happy days and dark miserable ones too.  We never know what mood our readers are in, just as they never know what lies behind the posts or the comments we make.  

I love to open my browser to find notification that a comment has been left on one of my posts, but I never open that email because I want to read the comment where it was added - thus many a time online begins with "I'll just check my email and then I'll start dinner..." - and ends much later while I follow threads of conversations and comments from my distant friends.  It got me thinking about the importance of keeping in touch, and how small things can make a difference. 

The cards in this posts today were made for people I've never met in person, yet.  There's a lot of meaning in that one tiny word........who knows what lies ahead?

Special destination 1:  This card used a piece from the La Creme stack which came in the post many many months ago.  I was aiming for something elegant and rich, but as always I am seduced by the paper and probably don't add enough elements.  Paper designers go to so much trouble and I often cant bear to show only a tiny piece, but maybe this was bit too much?  Its felt-textured too, so I continued the richness with silver gilt paper and ribbon.  Even the rik-rak is velvet.....

Then I got a bit carried away when another of the TE kits arrived in the post and I ventured back out into the rainbow.  

Special destination 2:  This card is still a celebration of the fabulous floral paper, but I did allow a bit of room for some restrained greens.........  More ribbon (you should see how much lies spooling in the corners of this space) and a butterfly of sorts, just because.....

The two greens came from the 2010 August and September kits, and the floral DP has a lovely linen texture and is from a collection called "Restoration" which also came with the September kit.   This is one paper that I'm hoarding every last scrap to use.

Messages for friends

I love it when I can make a card with someone particular in mind....in principle.......but when it comes to actually sitting up to the desk and choosing colours, papers, ribbons etc, I can't make up my mind.  Here are two cards I made recently - both for good friends of mine.  The first is for a lovely lady going through some sad times.  She makes beautiful things for other people, and is one of those empathetic people who know just when to post you a little present when you need a lift.  My favourite is a box of chocolate frogs she sent me, along with an apology from her sons who had to taste test a couple to check that the packet wasn't past its "Use By" date........  Boys.

I think the two pieces of DP are from Stampin' Up and are a perfect match for the Kaiser flowers.  The brads are from a multi-coloured pack I found at Spotlight, and the ribbon could be from anywhere.  This Busy Room is getting more overloaded than ever before.

This next card had to match a truly exotic beach bag my friend chose from a stall at the Healesville Market last month.  She wandered past and exclaimed over it so much that I had to go back and buy it for her BIG SPECIAL UMENTIONABLE birthday which was last week.  We went out today to celebrate at a local winery where they served us a great lunch with some good wines.  Despite the low clouds we enjoyed the magic views across the vineyards.  Three tables of friends and family made for a lovely l-o-n-g day. 

Everything I've used, except the big green brad, is from one or other of the magical TE Key Ingredients kits I've been gathering over the last few months.  Don't know what I'd have done with out these little packets of surprises which wing their way over every month.  The hardest part was sticking on the tiny sequin stars......I need better glasses, and smaller fingers!!

Happy Birthday Katie

It doesn't seem like 12 months since I made the last card for Katie, but it must be.  My son asked me to make something for his friend, and its a pleasure.  Katie has been a good friend to Simon for a long time, and calls herself  "an honorary boy" because she's the only girl in the group which regularly drops in for pizza..... so much for my Friday nights home alone, not that I'm complaining very loudly.

.All the elements on this card are courtesy of a kit from Taylored Expressions, the extra one that came at the end of my 6 month subscription to her Key Ingredients sets.  I started with my usual black CS (cant move too far out of the zone) but the other lovely papers and flowers and leaves are from the kit.  I love the retro colours and psychedelic pattern of the DP.  This is going to be a kit I'll be using a lot and soon it will all be gone!!

TE Sketch Challenge #108

Cant seem to break away from the busy room today, despite the large basket of ironing, the complaining cats ("Food... NOW"), the parsley and rosemary pots I should have planted (tomorrow.....).  I needed a special card for a good friend and came across this sketch to motivate me.  It will appeal to my friend because she's very obsessive about lines and spacing, but she'd have been horrified to see me winging the positioning without a ruler.  The way I see it, I try to get it right and if its a little off centre, then its clearly handmade and unique!  Any old machine can get perfection!

It was also the perfect way to use lots of black and white scraps which I cant bear to throw away just in case, and here's the case in question.  Two pieces are from a sheet of Bella! Grace Paperz called Dandy, and the image across the bottom is from a little pad of squares with a holiday theme.  There are a few brads and sequins and a little bow just because...  The only thing that hasn't shown up is the real colour of the background which isn't blue at all but rather a lovely shade of purple.

Opus Gluei # 49 Sparkle

I hate how my camera has a mind of its own and doesn't see the colours I do.... have been wandering the house searching for good light because my usual spot "Doesn't do yellow".  Now there ladies (I'm addressing this to the Poobahs), that's one VERY GOOD REASON why monochrome is me!  Its so easy to photograph! 

Okay, whinge over.....

So the card.... well it looks better in real life, bit like its maker, and it has a huge list of ingredients.  There's some Francheville Tangerine Flowers DP, assorted bits of custard coloured card bits, and the SU sentiment from their Inspired by nature set.  I matched the iridescent embossing of the flowers by stamping the sentiment in the background as well as in copper on the centre strip.  The butterfly escaped from my March kit from Taylored Expressions, and the gold gauze ribbon was hanging about looking for a home and so was the foil.

I wanted to avoid anything remotely black and white, but I think this would look more "passionate" if the tangerine leapt off a black page.  Next time.

Dragonfly Card Drive

Its the little gestures that really matter in times of great stress, and particularly when we deal with the sickness or loss of someone we love.  Life seems to stop for us, and we cannot understand how other people around us can still laugh, sit in the sun with a coffee, or even find matching shoes......  Taylor over at Taylored Expressions has a habit of finding good causes to support, and this one is such a simple idea, bringing with it the chance to gift a little light into a sad time.  She writes:My sister-in-law and a high school friend both work as labor and delivery nurses at Sanford Medical Center in Sioux Falls, SD. When they told me about the wonderful work they're doing for parents suffering the loss of a newborn, I knew we could help! The cards we gather will be donated to the Neonatal Intensive Care nurses where they use the dragonfly as a symbol of hope for families who have lost a child during delivery or in the early stages of life. Families are given a dragonfly card while they are in the hospital as something to hold on to, cherish, and comfort them after the quiet time spent with their son or daughter. In addition to a card, the parents receive a small ring with a poem, a prayer shawl for the mother (to symbolize God wrapping his loving arms around her), along with baby footprints and baby molds.   

 
The full story is on this special entry from her blog.  Find the details of what to make and where to send it there.

I bought these dragonflies many years ago at the first ever Stitches & Craft Show I went to and I've struggled to find a way to use them.  They were forgotten at the bottom of my come-in-handy box.  I used a couple of different ways to attach them, with glue featuring VERY HEAVILY because I'd hate them to fall off before the cards were passed on.  I used some ribbon from my friends Rosemary and Jana at Opus Gluei and a collection of flowers, brads, diamonds and card scraps.  The stamp is one of the SU Pocket Silhouettes in my favourite olive green.

Last year when I needed the help of my friends to help me come to terms with overwhelming sadness, it was little things that made the difference on really dark days.  I hope I can repay their kindness and love by paying it forward.

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.

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.

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.

Creative Cinema Saturday Challenge #31 Steel Magnolias - the PINK version!!

This is my second attempt, trying to keep to the requirements of the Challenge (using pink), instead of branching off on my first magnolia tangent which was a bit orange!! I seem to be on a roll here, concentrating on the importance friends play in life. The sentiment reads "it takes a long time to grow an old friend".

So this second card is definitely PINK, and uses some DP from Sandylion, more of the Branching Out stamps from Taylored Expressions, a circle of acetate sheet, my cuttlebug and some sparkling bits too. I was thinking that if friendships are like leaves on a tree, even when it looks like the tree is bare, there are still diamonds.... Apologies for feeling very sentimental tonight.

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #31 Steel Magnolias

I am always moved by the scenes at the funeral where it seems to me that the women re-discover what is important about their lives and their friendship, and affirm their feelings with passion. It always makes me grateful for the women in my life and the strength we provide for eachother when life gets messy, and the laughter we share every day. Laughter or tears can be so close to the surface, just under the face we show the world - sunshine and shade in truth.

So I began with a single strong flower as similar to a magnolia as I had. I used the SU Fifth Avenue Floral stamp in chalk on the black CS, and also in black over a slim piece of Bali Breeze DP. There are strips of black and gray Dandy DP from Grace Paperz, and a matching piece of thin black satin ribbon. The sentiment is from Taylored Expressions "Branching Out" and I stamped it in gold to match the stamens of the main flower. I got carried away and added some colour to the inside too.