Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Pals Paper Arts Challenge #221

In getting back into blogging I have recently stumbled across a heap of sites that run awesome challenges; one of these sites is Pals Paper Arts and this is their sketch challenge for this week:
Sketch Challenge #PPA221 is due sometime within the next couple of hours so I am leaving my run a bit late lol.

I was impressed with how flexible the rules are for this design team and their creations were very inspiring. Have to say my favourite was an autumn creation by Amy Lazzell using one of my favourite stamp sets, Lovely as a Tree.

This is my take on the challenge:
I was a little stumped on how to approach this sketch - the options were to punch or cut out the square or other components or perhaps make a frame for over the top of the image and of course the stamped images need not be square - you will see from the link that some people opted for circles or even fussy cut ghosts and other ghouls for Halloween.

In the end I decided to use Blendabilities with a stamped image. Its a square card - Cherry Cobbler base card mounted with Blushing Bride and Whisper White card stock. I have mirrored the square shape with the stamped area and mounted it with the same colour scheme.
The flower images are from the background stamp Corner Garden, stamped in Momento Ink. I coloured the large flower at the front centre with the medium and light Rich Razzleberry pens and the "nude" pen from the Skin Tones set.

The red poppy style flowers are coloured with all three of the Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities and the little snap dragons are coloured with the "nude" Skin Tone Blendabilities and the medium Rich Razzleberry pen.  I coloured the daisy with the medium and light Smoky Slate Blendabilities pens and the centre with the Daffodil Delight set.

I love the "just because" sentiment from A Dozen Thoughts because it is such a versatile greeting and means that the card can be used for any occasion.

Enjoy!
Shanni

Paper Craft Crew Challenge No. 111

The best way to start back in the blogging routine is to pick up some challenges and I couldn't resist the Paper Craft Crew challenge this week. Can you believe they are up to #111?!

This is the sketch:
And here is my take on it:
The base card is Smoky Slate and I have mounted a piece of Whisper White on it embossed using the Perfect Polka Dots TIEF. The dotted Pistachio Pudding DSP is from the All Abloom Designer Series Paper Stack in the new Annual Catalogue.

I separated the DSP and the Whisper White cardstock with a piece of the new Silver Satin ribbon. I also used a piece of the discontinued Stretch Ruffled Pistachio Pudding Ribbon from last season because I adore texture!

The textured frame in the background is the Fun Frames TIEF which I have fussy cut out and daubed the edges with Smoky Slate Classic Ink pad. On top of this I layered the dotted frame from Four Frames stamped in Smoky Slate and punched out with the matching Decorative Label punch.
The leaves have been stamped using the stamp from Kinda Eclectic (which I love, love, love) in the rock and roll technique using Pistachio Pudding and Smoky Slate Classic Ink pads. I fussy cut them out  because I wanted a minimalist appeal. the flowers are of course from Stippled Blossoms ~ stamped in Blushing Bride and Strawberry Slush Classic Ink. The flowers were all fussy cut and then dimensionalised for texture and interest.

The sentiment "thanks" is from the And Many More stamp set but I have only inked up half of the stamp as it says "give thanks".  It is stamped in Smoky Slate - I hand cut the pennant shape and daubed the edges so that it would fit the theme. The three pearls on the bottom right hand side are on top of the embossed polka dots which made placement really easy lol!

Not bad for my first non-essential card in months. . .

Cheers
Shanni

It's been a busy time. . .

So six months since my last post. . . for those who followed my blog up until May, you would be aware that I was fortunate enough to earn the West Caribbean Cruise with Stampin' Up! in April - May, came back and traveled immediately to Melbourne for the South Pacific Convention for Stampin' Up! . . . what you wouldn't be aware of is that in the time that I was overseas my beautiful mum got sick subsequent to a knee replacement.

We (my dad, six brothers, sister, sixteen grandchildren and I) nearly lost mum in May due to clotting and hemorrhaging conditions and things did not progress smoothly during June and July. Mum was finally released home to me in July (despite needing round the clock care) and I nursed her in the same way that she would me - 24/7 and with 100% dedication to making sure that she would be healthy enough to return home to independent living with my dad. I am pleased to say that she is almost back to her usual vigour and zest for life.

My sister became engaged in May whilst we were overseas - an event that was much looked forward to by all of us. We were unaware at that time of just how unwell mum was so in retrospect it has all been quite timely.

Zarnie's wedding was last Thursday (25th of September) and it all went off without a hitch ~ the weather was perfect, the bridesmaids, grooms men and flower girls all well behaved and beautiful and the bride and groom glowing in their delight.  I was in charge of decorations as you would have expected and the comments seemed to suggest that they were pretty impressive.
Mum continues to have ongoing health problems which, we hope, will improve although the long term prospects are not so great BUT the wonderful part was that we gathered as a family to celebrate life and love. The wedding has only emphasized how important it is to live, laugh, love and share with friends and family ~ life is so short.

So no longer nursemaid or chief wedding planner I have time to create and get back into Stampin' Up!. That is one of the most wonderful things about this company; you can take a break through necessity or choice and pick up the reins and create again without hassle. Word on the street ~ I am back in the game!

Stay tuned,
Shanni xx