Sweet Dreams Moon

In the middle of December we had a morning tea to celebrate one of my colleagues heading off on a years Maternity Leave.  For this card I had seen an image that I wanted to use and spent a good couple of hours trawling digi sites trying to find it.  Well I found it and it was a rubber stamp :(  I was so disappointed I needed the card in two days so no time to order it from America.  I had my heart set on this image I had seen and now had to do something else.

As I am googling and searching for new and different digi companies I came across a fabulous site Meljen's Design's.  The images on this site are gorgeous and unique and I ended up walking away with two, which was using major restraint.

For my baby card I bought this gorgeous image called Sweet Dreams Moon.  So by now I had wasted a whole night shopping for a digi and had left myself one night to make my card - nothing like working under pressure!!

Generally I do my best work under pressure, and whilst the gradients are smooth in my colouring, the colours on my picture weren't exactly what I was after, but they work ok.

Copic Colours used - 

Moon - E40, E42, E43 and E44

Stars - Y15, Y19 and Y38

Hat - G20, G21, G24, G28 and G29

Thanks for looking

xx

a Vintage Baby Shower

For my final update today I have a vintage style Baby Shower card to share.  This project was a commission piece, and I was given a copy of the invitation and the thank you card as inspiration to work with.  I think it worked out really well as I had a VERY happy customer!!

Using Baby Tilda from the Prince and Princesses collection, and Kaisercraft papers from their Magnolia Grove collection.  Little Tilda was painted using Distress Inks.

The following is a picture of the gorgeous lace I found at my local Spotlight store, so pretty!!!

Thanks for looking

xx

Welcome to the world Sebastian

This project I have to share was for another one of my colleagues on the arrival of baby Sebastian.  I was so excited to be able to use my gorgeous new Lili of the Valley stamp for the first time.  I tried to make the front of the card look like a cute baby's room wall.  I still look at it and I am not quite happy with the colour green I used, but in the wee hours of the morning while I was finishing it off it looked good ;)

The gorgeous die cut shape is from the Spellbinders Majestic Elements set, and was absolutely perfect!!

I coloured the image using distress inks, and tried to keep it reasonably 'soft' with only a few bold touches which is really hard for me!!

Love, love that Magnolia Blue Ducky paper :)

and finally, a picture of the inside of the card..

Congratulations Shaun, Rosie and Eloise on the birth of your son/little brother :)

Thanks for looking

xx

Baby Shower Invites

Good Evening Bloggers,

So my friend Jess' Baby Shower Invites are done.  An afternoon and an evening later and all 25 invites were reading for being written on and sent out, and I  must say they are cute!!  

So the invites started out with many plaques with owls that needed to be die cut and inked in. The little owl is part of the Kaisercraft Tiny Woods clear stamp collection, and is just too cute.

Did anyone lose an Owl ;o)  These are started before I got there, and we were way to busy making the invites to take any more photos as we were going along, so here is the finished product - 

The template came from a website, that you can find in a previous post.  The ribbon on the finished version worked so well and really finished them off.  The inserts were made using Imaginisce Baby Shower Stamps, and they worked perfectly!

Just after Mother's Day, one of the lads rang me at work to ask if I could make him a card.  He had been sick on Mother's Day and spent the day in bed, not spoiling his wife as he wanted, and it was her Birthday that week so he wanted a special card to be able to give her.

Using Lilyrose the Dragon from the Prince and Princesses collection and the Wild Rose Studio Bella Paper Pack.

Just adorable isn't she!!  I painted her using Milled Lavender and Dusty Concord with Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick for the accents, the colours work so well with the Bella Papers.

Add some Prima Flowers and Die Cut Shapes and you have a very cute card which Shaun really appreciated, and his wife loved :o)

Finally I was at my Ma's this afternoon and her partner Denis needed a Thank You card that wasn't to over the top and girly, Ma checked her stash and she had nothing that would work, so Denis said he would just buy one... you can't say that around card makers!!  So while Ma updated her blog I made a card for him.  Using her Kaszazz Stamps, cards and embellishments I came up with a lovely understated Thank You card, perfect for who Denis needed to give it to.

Thanks for looking xx

It's been awhile....

Wow, well it has been almost 3 months since I have been to Blogspot... and a lot has happened in that time!!

Some highlights... My sister's birthday at the end of January, I had my 30th birthday in February and we welcomed a new family member on 20th March with the birth of my 3rd nephew Alexander Lucas.  

Even though I haven't been on blogger the crafting has still been happening, and I will share some projects with you that I have worked on in my absence from blogging.

First up it was my friend Nicky's birthday and i made this for her.  Definitely very different colours from what I would normally use but very striking, and of course I wanted the image to be the focal point of the card...  This image is called Rose of Fire by Molly Harrison.

So next up is the card I made for my Sister for her birthday.  I wanted to try and ink in subtly..for once and i was really happy with the result.  I used two stamps for this - first up is the Tilda Sending Love from the Sweet Crazy Love collection and I have masked her over a Kaszazz stamp - Daisy Garden Edge.

The next two cards are simply beautiful.  First up is a card that my 3 and a half year old Nephew made for his mother.  With only a little help and guidance from me this is what he made - 

William tells me that is HIS motorbike ;o)

Next up is a car made by my 7 and a half year old Nephew James - also for his Mum's birthday.  I helped by painting the image, although he picked it out and told me exactly what colours he wanted me to use.  Everything else though was pretty much done by James with a little help from me.  You should have seen the concentration on his face when he was putting the smooch and glitter on the die cut frame!!

Pity Aunty Milly couldn't take a crystal clear photo for him!  Here's hoping me might have another Tim Holtz in the making!!

Next up we had a "we're not having a baby shower, baby shower" for my Sister.  Being pregnant with her third child she didn't really want a huge fuss made, but my Ma and I had to do something for her.  So one Sunday afternoon we sat down together to make cards for her.  First up is a card I made for her, it has both pink and blue on it as we didn't know what my Sister was having.

I love the little Chipboard teddy - she reminds me of Popcorn the Bear. I also used my gorgeous new Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page set called Flower Bunch.

I also made a cute little gift tag for her present - written on the back is "Welcome to our newest little cub" ;o)  Wild Tilda is also part of the Sweet Crazy love collection and simply adorable!!

Next up it was a good friend from work's birthday.  I've said it before and I will say it again, I find boys cards difficult!!  However I had my new Distress Stains in Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap and Weathered Wood I wanted to try, so I decided to make my own patterned card and tag to add.  I used my Kaszazz Compass Stamp, and my Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page set called Ribbon Loop.  The shiny edge on the tag was achieved with the Pewter Distress Crackle Paint.

So baby Alexander made his way into the world at 8:52 am on Tuesday March 20, weighing in at 9 pounds and measuring 53cm.  My sister had seen this stamp and told me she would like this inked up for the Baby's card.  Easy done - saved me having to decide which one of my stamps I was going to pick!!  Once again I have used Blues and Pinks as we weren't sure what flavour baby was going to be.

 The "Welcome Little One" is part of an uncut Kaszazz set called Adorable Friends.  The Unique wording is part of a Kaisercraft rub-on set.  The little metal charm was given to me by my friend Sammy and has Hugs & Kisses written on it.

Finally, I have a card I made for my mate to give his Mum for her Birthday.  I used my new Prime Nature Garden paper, a stamp from the Kaisercraft Chapter One Collection embossed with Kaszazz Coffee Bean, flowers from Prima and some I had in my stash and Tilda with Hawaii Flower from the Butterfly Wishes Collection.  

I was really happy with this card, I have struggled of late to put my pieces together and this one just flowed.  Everything just seemed to work and was easy, I finally feel like I might be back in the zone.  

So there we are - up to date and ready for me to share with you what I am working on next.  Here's hoping I don't leave it another 3 months!!

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Thanks for looking

xx Milly

Practice, practice........practice!!

Good Evening Bloggers,

Well it seems like the last half of 2011 has been sent to test me and my close group of friends.  Since a colleagues sudden passing in early August, we lost another 2 lovely souls.  This past 3 weeks has seen my friends and I lose another 3 kindred spirits.  Two of the people that have passed I didn't know, but they were very special to two of my very dear friends, and at this time my heart is with you as you re-piece your world.
The third person to pass was another work colleague and friend of mine.  Tony was with us only 4 months after his diagnosis of skin cancer, the end came around all to quickly.  Tony in the time that I knew you thank you for your kindness, your smile, and your assistance with my studies.  Hopefully in 50 years or so we will be able to share a beer again one day.

I guess we had better get back to what this blog is all about - the scrapbooking of course!!

So in this first post tonight I will show you some of the items I have been working on lately ready to make cards with.  First up is one that I finished a few weeks ago now and has been sitting in my stash ready to be used.  This is the Magnolia Bird Background from the Sweet Rainbow Collection.  I am not so happy with the sun, as I realised once I had inked it up it was a little more orange than I wanted, but it really is a beautiful stamp.

All it needs now is the perfect Tilda ready to be made into a lovely card.  I have some birthdays coming up in January and I think this is perfect for one of them... I guess more on that later :o)

Next up is a stamp my Ma ordered from the Bildmalarna range, this little cutie is called Mimosa Christmas Flower.  I have two photos to show you the progress through the colouring stage.  She has been stamped initially with the Timber Brown Staz-On.  I am liking the brown a lot more these days as it seems to soften the images just that little.

This image has been coloured with Distress Ink Re-Inkers, lets have a look at the colour recipe so far -

Skin - Antique Linen and Tattered rose for her cheeks
Hair - Scattered Straw, Wild Honey and a small amount of Frayed Burlap
Flowers - Barn Door
Foliage - Crushed Olive to start with, then some Peeled Paint and Forest Moss
Leaves - Shabby Shutters with Peeled Paint
Stems  - Bundled Sage, Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo at the top for shading, and then Forest Moss along the stems for shading to give the 3D effect.

And the finished picture, minus a final 'deep shadow' shading - I was going to do that today, but got too busy with the new Big Shot and dies and embossing folders that were bought :o)

So additions to the colours shown above.

Flowers - Fired Brick to add Shadow and scattered straw and mustard seed for the centres.
Dress, Bow and Hair Tie - Barn Door with Fired Brick for shading
Apron - Antique Linen with Frayed Burlap for shading
Shoes - Walnut Stain

Next we will move on to another version of one of my Favourite Stamps at the moment, Hannah Lynn's Genevieve.  The recent technique I used on my Rose of Fire Stamp inspired to me to try and colour Genevieve the same way.  So the base colour is as bold and strong as I can make it, and then shadowed in using the Black Soot Ink.




So this photo shows stage 1.  

Skin - Antique Linen
Cheeks - Tattered Rose, Victorian Velvet and Aged Mahogany
Hair and Lips - Barn Door

Then I started using Black Soot to shadow in the hair.  The effect is quite remarkable, and it looks even better in person

The other colours used were - 

Eyes - Weathered Wood with Frayed Burlap and Walnut Stain for eyeshadow
Gloves - Fired Brick, also shadowed with the Black Soot, Victorian Velvet for the dots.

Next we move on to what I was working on this afternoon.  My friend Miss Nicky came over to Ma's this afternoon to sit with us to get a few pointers on painting with the Distress Inks.  So to show her how I do it (let me say I am definitely no expert, but I have a lot of failed colouring attempts that have taught me a lot!!) I got out a Butterfly Tilda from the Butterfly Wishes Collection to ink in.  I decided to paint her in very different colours to see how this would work, it may have something to do with that I have always wanted to dye my hair purple..??!?!?!  and I keep telling Ma that I am going to do it one day...she doesn't believe me though.  Anyway I am digressing, lets have a look at Butterfly Tilda - 

The Colour recipe

Skin - Antique Linen
Cheeks - Tattered Rose, Victorian Velvet and Aged Mahogany
Hair - Milled Lavender and Dusty Concord
Wings - Spun Sugar, Bundled Sage and Victorian Velvet
Dress - Worn Lipstick with Tattered Rose covered in Stickles for the frill
Butterfly - Tumbled Glass

She looks very different with purple hair, and has made me think about what I can do with my other stamps I have now to make them really different by not sticking to the "normal" colours.

Finally lets finish with a card for a very Happy Occasion.  One of my work mates Shaun and his Wife Rosie had a beautiful baby girl two weeks ago, and the lads at work all put in to send them a present - a giant baby cake, made with nappies and rugs and clothes and more.  If you are in South Australia - check out The Gift Specialist  I have used them a few times now, and they have been fantastic each and every time!!!

I have had this card in my stash for quite awhile, and knew it would be perfect.  I did have to add some sparkle and pearls and a flower though just to Girly it up a bit more for the gorgeous little Eloise.

The base of the card is coloured using a very easy technique. You will need a mister or spray bottle filled with plain water. A sheet of Acetate or any type of plastic really, and a distress ink pad, I used two - Spun Sugar and Stormy Sky.

Swipe the Distress Ink pad directly across the acetate to cover the area required, if you are using two colours be careful not to mix them.  Then spritz some water over (you could also use a glimmer mist spray or similar to add some sparkle to your background) then once the water is added drop your card on top, peel off and lay flat to dry.  This gives a really unique  almost "tie dye" effect and lovely subtle background.

The teddy is actually paper pieced and 3D.  I downloaded an image from the web, and traced him on to card, then I selected the areas I wanted to raise... and you have the finished Teddy.  This next photo shows the layering of the Teddy

I think for now that is all.  I will be back in just a little while with a card I made today for the Magnolia Down Under Challenge # 122.  My first challenge I will enter so fingers crossed for me :o)

Thanks for looking

xx Milly