A Journey

Life is a journey that sometimes goes where you would never have expected or planned. That has been the case for me, and is partly the reason I haven't blogged for so long. In September last year my husband and I separated. It has been a long and difficult road, both in the months leading up to that point, and since. I am doing okay though, trying to take one day at a time, and am blessed to have a wonderful network of family and friends who are loving and supportive.

At the end of last year I also made a decision to go back to Uni. It is busy, but I am loving what I'm doing (Bachelor of Midwifery at the University of Canberra).  It seems to be working in with my circumstances fairly well and I feel it is the right thing for me at this point.

And now for some cards...

I thought it appropriate to share these few as the first blog entry since last year. 

Stamps: The Open Sea (Summer Mini Catalogue), Life Definitions, French Foliage

Card: Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla

Ink: Soft Suede, Early Espresso

Other: Linen Thread

The next card I made for this One-Layer-Wednesday challenge, "Dudes Rule", but I didn't get it uplaoded in time to enter it. Oh well, the whole point is to inspire creativity, which it did.

Stamps: The Open Sea (Summer Mini Catalogue), Bring on the cake, French Foliage

Card: Shimmery White

Ink: Soft Suede, Early Espresso

Other: Linen Thread

Here is a multi-layer version, which I prefer!

Stamps: The Open Sea (Summer Mini Catalogue), Bring on the cake, French Foliage

Card: Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Shimmery White

Ink: Soft Suede, Early Espresso

Other: Linen Thread

I have made many more cards over the months, and hope to share some of them with you before another ten months pass by!!! 


It's so good to be back :)

A Challenge & a Birthday!

This week's Less is More challenge is to make a card using the colours of your nation's flag. I love the combination of red, white and blue, so this was fun, and I just loooooove red so I have used it as the main colour…

Stamps: Just believe

Card: Whisper White, Night of Navy, Riding Hood Red (textured)

Ink: Riding Hood Red, Versa Mark

Other: White Embossing Powder

The next card is not for the LIM challenge, but I wanted to share with you what else I've been creating this weekend. It was my precious friend Toni's birthday yesterday and she celebrated last night with a small group of friends — one of those relaxed evenings chatting, eating chocolatey desserts, drinking coffee… LOVELY!

It was a big "0" birthday, so I decided it would be fun to put that many candles on the card. It took forever to stick all the bits together and those candles were soooooooo tedious — I had to use tweezers to stick the flames on! But it was definitely well worth the effort ;)

Stamps: Solid Stripes, Bring on the Cake

Card: Whisper White, Night of Navy, Brocade Blue, Bashful Blue,

Crumb Cake, Peach Parfait

Ink: Crumb Cake, Night of Navy

Other: Night of Navy 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Linen Thread,

Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder,

Cupcake Builder and Scallop Trim Border Punches

Something Fruity

Hi there bloggers! Just popping in quick to enter a couple of challenges. Inkspirations have a colour challenge and over at Less is More they are "Feeling Fruity"! I thought the colours would suit the fruit theme.

Once again I was in a dilemma over whether or not to add ribbon — I felt that the sentiment was floating a bit and needed to be more grounded. Now that they're on the screen in front of me here, I think I prefer it without…

Stamps: Tart & Tangy

Card: Whisper White, Concord Crush

Ink: Concord Crush, Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz

Other: 1 1/4"Square Punch, A Perfect Day Rub-Ons

Concord Crush 1/2" Stitched-poly Ribbon (Card 2)

More or Less…

The other day I was discussing design with my graphic designer hubby. We commented on how some card makers feel the need to use everything they own on the one card, possibly because it's there — they have purchased it and want to use it. Sometimes I'm guilty of the same thing. Often, if I show my hubby a card I've made he says something like "if you get rid of the ribbon it would be great". Too many design elements can overcrowd each other and look messy, which has lead me to believe that limiting the number of elements helps keep a card clean and simple. Although hubby agrees with me, he also believes that you can have a design with lots of elements that also looks good. So… he challenged me to create a good design using lots of stuff!

When I saw that this week's Less is More challenge involves buttons and ribbon, I thought it a great opportunity to enter the challenge and also take on hubby's :)

Stamps: Love & Care, Heard From the Heart

Card: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Pink Pirouette

Ink: Pretty in Pink, Soft Suede

Other: Light Pink Gingham Ribbon, Designer Button,

Scallop Trim Border Punch, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter

In this card I have managed to include ribbon, a button, a punched border edge, glitter and a sentiment that uses two different fonts! I wonder if I could have squeezed in a couple of different patterned papers somewhere as well!

Anyway, I am pleased with the result… a good amount of "white space" to balance the other stuff definitely helps.

Okay… so I have shown hubby the card and he likes the design, but feels I misinterpreted the brief. What? What does he mean then? Well… I will try again to create something that uses LOTS of stuff. Can I do it? We will see ;)

LIM — Circles

This week's Less is More Challenge is circles. After making a card and being disappointed with the outcome, I went to the web for some inspiration. I searched for "circles in design" in google images, and was very inspired — there were so many great ideas including a spiral bookshelf! Anyway, I came across this image of a business card and it just cried out to me.

Orange and lime green are not usually colours I would put together (too "seventies" for my liking), but they are colours that a friend of mine loves. She is a real fan of orange and has a collection of funky orange things in her home. And when she and another friend visited me in hospital, they brought some gorgeous orange tulips!

So… I decided to use the design of the business card (with some small alterations) to make a card for my friend Dylan ;)

After a little stamping and a lot of fiddling with circle punches, the card finally came together — and I am really pleased with the end result…

Stamps: Seeing Spots

Card: Whisper White, Soft Suede, Pumpkin Pie, Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive

Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede

Other: The full range of SU's Circle Punches