Love Grows

Thank you for visiting my blog today and a big welcome if it you haven't been here before. . 

The Embellish It Scrap Camp at Raincliff has been and gone.  With such a busy time at work I was worried I would be too tired to enjoy it but I am glad I made the effort as it was probably just what I needed.  Arriving and meeting up with the lovely Oamaru ladies and fellow scrappers at my table I couldn't help but think "This is what it is all about - super like-minded people enjoying what we do and each other's company".   I did slip away for a snooze late on Saturday afternoon but achieved 3 layouts and two cards while there.  We were superbly looked after by Joanne and her family - Sean and Christy with wonderful goodie bags and being well fed for the weekend.   Thank you everyone. 

Joanne had lots of challenges and one was to make a Valentines card using a stamped image and die-cut from the goodie bag and thanks to inspiration from Lynn H I came up with this card which I will enter in the Lili's Little Fairies Challenge "A Touch of Romance" this week since the image is Lili of the Valley.

This was a new style 6x6 card for me.  

 I didn't colour the image which had been stamped and embossed as I quite liked it natural with the papers used but I did cut around it which made it fit better with the heart shape. The corner cuts are a Martha Stewart Punch and I added black liquid pearls to finish the heart and a couple of little Wild Orchid pearl hearts as well.  

 Flowers are Wild Orchid and little trinkets are available at Embellish It.

 I added a resin bird to hold the upright piece of card.  The die-cut is Cherry Lynn.

I hope your week is going well.    That's all for today but I will be back with the other weekend creations when they are photographed.

Until next time.....

Lots of Photos - Double Page LO

Hello Readers.  The weather has been superb here today - the last day of my holidays - where have the past five weeks gone?  Unfortunately I did not achieve as much scrapbooking as I would have liked.  Our camping holiday plans were not viable due to the lowering of the hydro lakes which floods the access to our normal site so we ended up renting a holiday home at Lake Ohau for 7 nights It was a lovely home and much appreciated on the windy days and nights but we did have some wonderful days too visiting Mount Cook on a perfect day and also the Clay Cliffs at Omarama.

Before going away I finished this page of the Christmas Photo Shoot taken by my DD of Zac.  The papers are Kaisercraft and card stock Bazzil.
 
 The stars are Pink Paislee Artisian Chipboard which are resist printed and I left  as they were  and some painted with distress pen ink to reveal the spots.

 The journalling is in a little Christmas tag card.

 The photos are placed in sequence from beginning to end.

 The title is Dusty Attic DA0646 painted with dabber paint. The bow was recycled from a Christmas present.

 What a dear wee patient boy he was throughout the shoot.  I was given three of the photos in a frame for Christmas - so cute.  There were another 10 photos which I did not have room for. 

The Embellish It Raincliff Retreat is to be held in just two weeks - 8-10 February.  Contact Joanne if you would still like to join us for a catered for scrappy weekend.

Thank you so much for visiting today.  Have a wonderful week.

Until next time........

 

Secret Admirer Cards

Half way through January already...   I am pre-writing the post as by the time of the scheduled post  I could be a very tired Granny as Zac and me will be hanging out together for  thirty-something hours.

As mentioned in an earlier post I have been doing some design team work for Embellish It with the Kaisercraft Secret Admirer Collection of papers and embellishments.  After making three layouts seen here I then created 5 cards from the remaining bits and pieces as follows. 
 
Card 1   - 4 You

This is a new style of card for me - the idea lifted from a lovely Christmas card I received from a friend.  All the Kaisercraft chippies are very suitable for a card like this one.

 Below - the inside - the message can be written on the plain side with say a voucher put in the pocket on the right.

Card 2 - Happy Birthday

A step card

Once again the chippies are ideal for embellishing the steps of the card as are the trims from the papers such as the butterflies above. 

 Flowers and lace from Wild Orchid Crafts.

Card 3

 

 For this one I used some pieces from the sticker sheet together with the paper strips. The inside below....

Card 4 - Mini Card

Once again the cut off strips from the paper were used together with a doily chippie, some lace, pearls and flowers.  A handy one to have on hand for a little gift card or thank you.  

Card No 5 - Thank You.

This one was created with the pre-printed 6 x 4 papers on one of the sheets.  I added some pearls to the bunting, a few flowers, ribbon roses, a butterfly cut from other scraps.  half a chippie doily and some leaf flourishes.  The 'thank you' was from the Kaisercraft word sticker sheet.

 Remember the Kaisercraft 'Secret Admirer' range is available to purchase at Embellish It and the cards can be viewed there too.  Which one did you like best?  Joanne couldn't decide when she collected them yesterday so I said she could think about it and choose one for her birthday on Wednesday lol.

Are you still looking (lots of photos) thank you for visiting my blog today.  

I would love to hear what you think of these cards so please leave a comment.  

Until next time.......

Bundle of Joy

This card has winged its way to some brand new parents near Sydney today. 
It was  created it with the Fabscraps Baby Vintage range that Joanne has in stock at Embellish It.  She has some very cute papers and chippies in the range. 

 

Flowers and pearl hearts are Wild Orchids, and pearl strip Kaisercraft. 

 The word chippie was covered with a mix of Glimmer mist and dabber paint. 

 This cute little chick is probably as old as me.  I bought a page of them at a market and they used to be used on baby blankets etc in the 'old days' lol. I put the chick on the inside as below.  It was nice to use a few old white rubons and the words are newer ones from a Kaisercraft sheet.  

It is a lovely day in South Canterbury today - the nor'west wind has stayed away so far thank goodness.  I spent about 4 hours at work and it is amazing how much one gets done when there is no one else there.

Last night I finished the Christmas Photo-shoot page so will get it photographed to share soon.

Until next time.....

A Scrapbook Mug

Thanks for visiting today.  DH has just had another birthday so I decided it was time for me to scrap a scrapbook mug that he was given either last year or the year before so I retrieved the leftovers from the male layout and card class from the last Embellish It Raincliff retreat and a lovely photo I discovered in some I downloaded from DD's camera and this is what I came up with.

 There was only one problem.  With all the layering it would not now fit in the cylinder - oh no.  So......

 I copied it on the colour printer onto a piece of card and put that one in the cylinder so I was left with the original which was then used to make a layout. 

 I enjoyed doing a very boyish layout for a change.  No doubt there will be many more to come.  The 'Grandson' word is from Imaginence and cogs are Prima.  The main part of the layout was mainly Kaisercraft and the background miscellaneous papers.

 

 I hope your week is going well.  I only have two more days to wait to see the above little man.  Can't wait until he visits.

Until next time......

Secret Admirer

Thank you for stopping by today.  Has the title caught your attention LOL?

As part of my design team commitment for Embellish It,  I have been creating with Kaisercraft "Secret Admirer" Collection so I have been busy over the past week.  It just took a while to get the photos loaded on the computer and I am not that pleased with some of the photos but the pages are now on display at Embellish It for those who would like a closer look.

I guess this could be classed as a 'REVEAL' as I will blog all three layouts at the same time.  I have also created five cards which I will include in another post as the photos still require editing.   With my pages I like to make the most of the paper and show off the beautiful designs that these companies have created.  All three of these layouts are making the most of the paper and complementing what is already there.  So here goes......

 No. 1. "Cherish"  - my dear GS and his Aunt

Random punching on edge

 I used lots of chippies - layered and the trim off the paper.

 The bunting is also made from chippie pieces and finished with liquid pearls.

LAYOUT NO 2 - "LOVE IS SWEET"
 - a bright Heritage one which was inspired by the first Kaisercraft Sketch challenge of the year here.
 

This one is of my grandparents in their courting days.  I love the happy expressions on their faces.

 This phrase below is so apt for their relationship.  Grandma passed away just short of their 65th Wedding anniversary and Grandad actually died on the date of their 69th Wedding anniversary.

 I added a resin frame (Martha Stewart mold) and flower together with some Wild Orchid flowers. pearl hearts and lace. 

 Once again lots of Kaisercraft 'Secret Admirer' printed chipboard shapes

And No 3 of one of my gorgeous great nieces 

 The above quote are on a page of quote stickers that come with the range.

 On this layout I was inspired by a layout by Karola Witczak which can be seen here.  I adore Karola's work (she will be teaching at Scrapfest by the Sea in Nelson in August - Really wish I was going!!!!)  Below I did some fussy cutting to frame one side of the photo.

 Some fussy cut flowers and Kaiser flowers were added to the flowers on the paper.

 For the Karola W scraplifted idea I used puff paint and have to say that the one below my hand wasn't as steady as it could have been.  Puff paint is in my opinion 'artsy' and I have a long way to go being artsy.

 The piece below was more successful.  The half circles of the bunting are from the Secret Admirer sticker sheet.

The paper range and most of the embellishments are  available at Embellish It.  Contact Joanne if you would like any.  They will also be on display at the Embellish It Raincliff Retreat on 8-10 February.  Also Contact Joanne if you are interested in joining a dedicated group of like minded people for a creative weekend where you do not have to think about anything else except crafting and enjoying the lovely food supplied by the wonderful team in the kitchen.

Whew!  that was a marathon (it's taken around an hour so far).

Today Timaru has reached 32 degrees so a good day for staying inside.  I have to say that the Kathmandhu 'Coolie neck tie' has been a valuable addition to the comfort zone of the heat and 'hot flushes' - works a treat for nights.

That's all for today.    Feel free to leave your comments - I really appreciate your comments (but not the increasing volume of spammers).  I am persisting without word verification for the meantime. 

Until next time.......Enjoy the warm weather while it lasts.