OCC homework

Today I'm showing cards inspired by day 8 and 9 of CLEAN&SIMPLE online card class.

The first was inspired by Dawn's watercoloring made easy card. I just love the effect masking creates on this card. I used KaiserCraft stamps and Mont Marte watercolour pencils to colour the rose and Hero Art shadow inks for the butterfly. I softened the outline of the butterfly using a Copic colorless blender pen. I scored a frame to complete the card. Don't look to hard as the bone folder slipped as I was scoring the top line, hehe

 

 

The second was inspired by Stephanie's card "Time to celebrate". She embossed and glittered party balloons to create a stunning card. Unfortunately the only balloon stamps I could find were hot air ones so I placed them high in the sky using Stephs border inking technique, adding clouds for dimension. Again I coloured the balloons using Mont Marte watercolour pencils but with a twist. Instead of using water used Wink of Stella to add highlights to the balloon.

 

.Thanks for stopping by.

Another Online Card Class

Hi all.
Just a very short post today to show one of the cards I created for the latest online card class I'm taking, Clean and Simple 3.

After spending several days making wedding invitations for dd#3, cardmaking was not high on my todo list, but after watching the first few days of class videos I was ready to get back to the craftroom.
As always, the classes provide so much inspiration.

Friendship card

I decided to create another card inspired by the online card class I've participated in over the past 4 days. I've enjoyed watching the daily video tutorials and the girls are talented and fun A1 instructors but unfortunately I was on top of every technique that was demonstrated and nothing new popped out at me. I guess that's what happens when you watch too many YouTube videos, lol. All the same I'll more than likely go back and do a refresher course every now and then as I have lifetime access to the content. Not bad for $12.

Anyhoo, here's the card.
I used HeroArts Red Royal ink to stencil the focal image and the tone on tone stenciled background. I created the Harlequin stencil on my Silhouette from a piece of acetate. I drew the gold lines with a Signo broard gel pen and white heat embossed the KaiserCraft sentiment, then covered the focal image with clear Wink of Stella. Finally mounted the panel on a gold glitter note card.

Thanks for calling in.

Couldn't help myself

Just one more card before I retire for the night.

Three layers of stenciling were used to create this card. Firstly I inked the harlequin background stencil with 4 shades of Hero Arts shadow inks, bubblegum, fresh peach, pale tomato and raspberry jam, then clear embossed the paint splatter stencil by Tim Holtz and finally inked the butterfly stencil with Memento rich cocoa ink. I stamped the sentiment with black stazon ink and then placed the panel on an A2 Hero Arts kraft card base. Loving the distress look I acheived with those stencils.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Australia Day 2014

The weather could not be more perfect for our national day of celebration. It's a warm 24degrees, blue skies, a slight breeze and bbqs are sizzling all over the country. Heaven!

And then there's me, doing what every obsessed papercrafter does on a public holiday...CRAFT! lol.
Well not just craft but also re-arrange  my studio and stash and order more supplies from my fave store, SSS. Which brings me to the true reason for updating my blog after 8 months mia.

I've signed up for another online card class which allows students a discount at several online stores. With the Aussie dollar dropping like a fly any discount is most welcome. If the shipping doesn't get you the exchange rate will, but hey, it's all worth it when you're opening that box of goodies.

This time the class focuses on STENCILS.
I must admit that many of mine rarely see the light of day but that's all about to change, thanks to this informative class. My poor old Silhouette has been working overtime cutting stencils so as I can experiment  with mist, paints, inks and embossing pastes. I'm having soooo much fun! I've even started an art journal thanks to stencils. I just love the dimension they add to a page. The photos below show 4 of my latest journaling papes, a card which features a stenciled firework design, lots of stickles, stella and glitter on that one, and finally a damask stencil I inked on the background behind the birdcage. Sorry it's hard to see.

I must head outside now and get some rays, vitamin D is good for the bones you know! Where's that BBQ?

Have a good one.

WHAT...Two posts in one day!!

Yes, I've been busy in the craft room after being inspired by a challenge over on A Blog Named Hero.
The challenge requires anything glittery, shiny, blingy...you get the idea, lol, so here is my entry.
I gold embossed the HA Classic Floral Design background stamp on red cardstock, added a gold embossed sentiment, gold border stickers and pearls. I was a little heavy handed with the glossy accents when attaching the pearls...those babies are going NOWHERE! Lol!

Gone craft crazy!

I don't know what's in the water at present but it sure has my creative juices flowing, lol.

I've neglected so much housework lately, preferring to spend all day, and night, in the craft room!
So I thought I would share a few of my creations here.

Firstly, I've been tossing up wether or not to buy a set of Gelatos to add to the stash but they are just a little expensive for the amount of times I would use them. PROBLEM SOLVED. I found a pack of 8 Mont Marte Pastel Gliders at my local craft store for $5.99! SCORE!! They are soooo creamy smooth and blend beautifully.
Here is a card and tag I created using the Gliders.

 

 

Next I used vellum, white embossing and copic colouring to make a card for my mother inlaw for Mothers' Day.

 

 

Finally, a simple thank you card using Hero Arts Lotus background and Thanks stamps, washi tape and a glossy accents covered heart.

 



His & Hers Online Card Class

It's day 5 of class and I have been so inspired by all the wonderful cards created by the very talented teachers. After spending a lovely afternoon in the studio I managed to create a few cards of my own.
Here is my take on an anniversary card for Him, with owls and for Her, with a butterfly.

Lots of white embossing and broken china distress inking on both cards, along with Silhouette die cuts.

OOPS! Where did May & June go?

I cannot believe it's July already!

So where are we up to with the house you ask. Well I'm happy to say that TODAY bedrooms 2 and 3 are complete, only curtains to be hung and carpet to be laid. I hope to paint bedroom 1 and the hallway tomorrow. I've been totally slack at taking photos lately so nothing to show, sorry but I'll try to have some for the next post.

I've decided to take another Online Card Class. I enjoyed the previous one so much and hope to learn a few more tricks of the trade in this class that concentrates on Stretching your Stamps! Should be a hoot!

Just to get in the mood I created a few cards prior to taking the class. Here they are.

I'll be back next week with an update on both the house and class. Have a great weekend!

House and Tags

Sorry for the long delay in posting but as you can see from the photo below I have been a little busy, lol.
Bricking was finished yesterday and plastering is almost complete. Hopefully the renderer will be starting this week, so before we know it the exterior will be done. YEAH!

I love the garage door. Just hope any future tenants don't reverse their car into it as has happened previously.

I have had few moments here and there to do a little crafting and below is what makes me happy, lots of distress inking. LOVE 'EM

I find it interesting that I began crafting 12x12 scrapbook pages, then switched to 8.5x11 layouts, later moving on to card making and now I'm loving TAGS! What next, inchies?

Till next time.

Happy anniversary to me and my man!

No, it's not our wedding anniversary but a day that is just as important to us. Thirty four years ago today we went on our very first date! My memory has faded, or completely gone of so many events over those 34 years, but standing on the clay bank at Carrick speedway on St Patricks Day 1978 is as clear as crystal. What a ride it has been and continues to be, and one that I wouldn't change for the world. Here's to another 34!

The house is slowly progressing. The windows were delayed by the manufacturer and only arrived on site yesterday. The bricklayer has also been delayed by one week so everything should start to move again next week.

Here's a few recent photos.

Fitting the roof

 No windows yet but the entrance doors are in.

See you next time.

Roof update



This is the partially constructed roof this morning   and      here it is several hours later completed.


Stay tuned for updates.

My two plastered boys

This is not the sort of photo I was wanting to share today, lol, but such is life.

Obviously no building is happening at present as DH fell and broke his wrist when the ladder collapsed from under him! He's bruised, sore and in plaster for 4 weeks but otherwise fine. We've contracted a building crew to complete the half finished roof so as we don't fall too far behind schedule.

The other injury to Rob, DD Katie's partner, happened 2 days earlier while he was racing his motorbike at Symons Plains. Luckily no break, just a severe sprain. His motorbike didn't fair so well but can be repaired.

There is always a silver lining to every grey cloud...I get to play in my craftroom for a few days!

House update and an inspiration alert.

Building has come to a standstill over the weekend as we await the arrival, on Tuesday of the roof trusses. Today I marked out where the kitchen cabinets will be situated and also where power points will go. Other than that it was just a general tidy up of the site and a tip run.

Here's the completed walls.

Sooo, I was able to spend a lazy afternoon in my studio surfing the net and getting inky!

One of my fave blogs to visit is 'Less is More' where Joy never fails to inspire with her awesome cards.

Well yesterdays card blew me away and I knew I had to create my own version. I followed Joys instructions for the background then added my own stamp and sentiment. The border I created by drawing a solid black line with a marker and then added small dashes of Rangers white enamel accents. I coloured the butterflies with markers then coated in Glossy Accents. I'm thrilled with how this turned out!

Here's Joy's card,

and here is mine.

I'm going to spend the evening playing with this design, changing the colours and just having fun!

See you next time, when we hopefully have a roof!

Here we go again

Scrapping and cardmaking will be taking a back seat for a few months as I put my building skills into practice again.

This morning the foundation was poured for our next building project. There have been a few delays in the past week, so it was nice to finally have the slab completed.

This is the second of three houses that will be built on this particular block of land. The first was completed 10 months ago and we hope to have this house finished by July. Now that hubby has retired from work he can spend more time on the building site, not just his days off like with the 4 previous houses we've built.

Here's a pic from this morning.

I'll be back with regular updates.

Hugs,
Glenda

Inspiration Showcase

I am so excited to taking this online class, taught by Jennifer McGuire.
It has opened my eyes to many new techniques and others that I had completely forgotten!

The class commenced on my birthday and runs through till the 23rd of September. I can tell you that by the end of each video tutorial my creative juices are flowing and I can't wait to get my hands inky.

Here are a few of the cards I've created so far using ideas from the class.

Oh, and as you can see by the photos, it is a glorious Spring day here in Tassie. It's so nice to see blue sky after a long wet Winter.

The bug has a new home...

...Cuttlebug, that is!









Dh built a shelf into the unused hanging space of the closet in my scrap room. It is at an ideal height for me to stand and use my cuttlebug, so I have it set up, ready to use at a moments notice. The magnetic board at the back holds all my Nestabillities and other metal dies, embossing folders are to the right and spare plates to the left. Hanging from the rail above are my embossing folder templates.



It is so nice to have everything at my fingertips, and when I'm finished a project I just close the sliding mirror door. Heaven, I tell ya!

More storage ideas

Now that I have this wonderful new storage system, I needed something to fill it with. The answer... stackable trays! Here'a my favourite, it holds all my Distress and Stazon inks! Each tray is arranged by colour, and being clear, the ink colour can be seen from all sides. Each ink has a foam blending pad attached to the base with velcro. This eliminates the need for individual ink blending tools, (I have just 4!).


The matching unit next to the inks hold all my printer/photo paper as well as specialty card used for Copic colouring.

A whole new look!

I am one very happy scrapper! Dh recently built this wonderful storage system for my freshly painted scrap room! For the first time in many, many years, I have all my patterned paper and cardstock on display and in easy reach of my work space. I'm in heaven!!

Ok, so my last post said "I'll be back in 6 months." HAHAHAHA, that was 2 years ago!

So what has happened in that 2 year hiatus you may ask? PLENTY!

Last year saw the marriages or 2dd's within 5 weeks of one another, PHEW! Both were beautiful affairs and everyone has settled into married life nicely.

Another holiday was had in the good old US of A. Dh and I had a relaxing few weeks driving through 5 states. The highlight for me was 2 full days in Provo, Utah, the scrapbooking capital of the universe! I went absolutely bonkers, lol! I filled a suitcase with delicious scrappy loot, and emptied my bank account in the process! Luckily, on our last day in Las Vegas, I hit the jackpot on a 1 cent slot machine and recouped, almost to the cent, what I had spent in Provo! Now I call that fate, lol!

My scrapbooking has taken a back seat to card making of late. I'm finding I use my hundreds of clear stamps more that way. At last count I had over 200 cards in my stash!

Another collection that has grown extensively over the past few years is my GSD cutting files for the Silhouette. This is what I made today. I made this using cardstock but you'll be happy to know that my vinyl collection has grown considerably from the 3 colours I owned in my previous post. Current count 23 colours!

Speaking of Sydney, lol, dd #2 won a competition recently, to take 10 of her friends on an all expences paid trip to Syney, including airfares and accommodation, for a Pringles Pirate party. Apparently dh and I are classed as 'friends', so off we went for the night! It was an interesting insight into the behaviors of 20-30something year olds,when they are plied with unlimited amounts of free alcohol, while floating on a party barge, in the middle of Sydney Harbour! Being the elderly couple in the crowd, dh and I thought we may have been the odd ones out BUT nothing could be further from the truth. The youngins loved us! We even got up on the dance floor, not easy on a rockin boat, and moved with the music. I think being tipsy helped, lol! We called it a night by 9pm and spent the next 4 hours at the casino. All the kids got back to the hotel at midnight exhausted, we were still going strong at 1am! Go figure, lol!

Seeing as this blog is primarily about scrapping, I guess I had better post a few pics of my recent creations, lol!

Another new addition to my ever growing stash is Copic sketch markers. I love them!

I have nowhere near the 324 colours available, but I'm working on it! LOL

They are expensive little buggers, but I've managed to pick up several bulk lots on Ebay, at bargain prices. I refuse to pay $6-$10 a marker, in stores.

An added bonus to winning Ebay auctions was the friendship I've made with an online seller. Rebecca, the seller and I became online friends after 2 markers where accidently omitted from my order. She and I communicate regularly and hope to one day meet in person. Hope she's not an axe murderer! LOL!