Best Wishes, To My Friend

Time for another card swap - CM June swap cards – Christmas & Sketch (once again, I was extremely late in making and sending these cards)

Card #1 – Black & White + 1 colour

I knew which direction I was going to go with this one - black & white + Gold

 

Thanks to my swap partner for taking the photo :)

 

I die cut a selection of flowers, leaves and stems from the Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms die set using my Cuttlebug.

 

I die cut a black cardfront using my Waffle Flower A6 Nesting Rectangles.

 

I played with the layout of flowers for a while until I was happy, then proceeded to attach flowers using a combination of glue and foam squares.

 

I attached the black cardfront to the white cardbase, then finished with gold sticker 'best wishes' sentiment.

 

No added bling for this card.

 

Linking Card #1 with the following challenges:

 

AAA birthday #88 - flowers 

 

 Just Us Girls #835 - Die Week

 

 

Card #2 – Tic Tac Toe

I went with the middle column - Bright Colours, Friend, Gems

 

 

I settled on the 'bright colours' option and knew I wanted to utilise a rainbow and as I was browsing through my stamps, I came across my Altenew Mini Delight Mini Paintbox .... perfect!  I have had this stamp in my stash for a little while, and I don't think I have used it yet!

I positioned the paintbox and sentiments then stamped using the Couture Creations stamp positioner so that I could stamp twice and get a good impression.

 

I coloured in the 'paint pots' using Altenew Inks and then stencilled the background using the same Altenew Ink colours, then added Crystal Accents to the paint pots.   I then trimmed and attached the cardfront to the cardbase.

 

I added gems with glue, the final element in the Tic Tac Toe.

 

This card came together quite quickly, and I am very happy with the way it turned out.

 

Linking Card #2 with the following challenges:

NBUS Challenge #89  - 'stencils'  I have had a huge pile of stencils in my stash for quite some time now and have only used 2 or 3.  I am aiming to use each stencil, at least once before Christmas!  LOL

Neglected Stuff Challenge - August 2026 

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Guest Designer Post - CAS on Sunday Challenge #329

The card I submitted to a recent CAS on Friday Challenge #327 was selected as a Top Image, and I have been invited to be a Guest Designer for their next challenge - which is Challenge #329

 

We were provided with a sketch for this particular challenge and here is my take on that sketch.

 

I confess I do struggle a little with 'CAS' ...... I always wonder whether a card looks 'finished' enough LOL

 

aNYWAY .......

 

I recently purchased some new Spellbinder number dies - 'Classy Numbers' and was looking for an excuse to use them.  

 

As soon as I saw the sketch, I knew I wanted to use some lovely ribbons I have had in my stash for as long as I can remember, so I pulled that out.

 

I also came across the last of some lovely 'red mirror/foil cardstock' and die cut several copies of numbers from it.  I layered those numbers three times, and mounted onto a circle die cut. 

 

I cut some 210 gsm white cardstock with Waffle Flower Nesting rectangles, then embossed using the ProvoCraft 'Number Collage' embossing folder, and smudged some Candied Apple Distress Ink along the outer edge of the cardfront and across the top of raised numbers.  I then applied the two strips of red crossgrain ribbon and glued to the back of the cardfront.  The Cardfront was attached to 300 gsm white A6 cardbase with foam tape, and the white circle with the '60' was placed on the front with foam tape as well.

 

this is the sketch we were provided:

 

I would like to thank Janneke Dijkstra - de Jong  & Team for picking my card as a winner and for the invitation to be a Guest Designer.  I look forward to seeing the other Design Team's cards.

 

Please visit the CAS on Friday blog to see their new challenge.

 

Linking with:

AAA Birthday #83 - Use Die Cuts 

Can you Handle the Pressure 2/2026 - Anything goes

Allsorts Challenge #844 - Ribbons & Bows
 

 

 

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday & Happy 35th Anniversary

Another family gathering, another round of birthdays - this time for the November & December birthdays.

 

Brother-in-law & Sister-in-law celebrated their 35th Wedding Anniversary in November, so an extra special card was made.

 

It's not an original idea, but I did consult the internet on just how many days, weeks, months etc were in 35 years! 

'35 years' anniversary is Coral (Traditional) or Jade (Modern) anniversary.  I didn't have any Jade cardstock, so Coral it had to be LOL  I even searched to find the right RGB code for the font colour (MV Boli).  The Champagne bottle & glasses were purchased from ETSY back in May 2025.  The cardfront was printed with an inkjet printer on 210 gsm cardstock, trimmed down to suit the A6 Cardbase using the Waffle Flower A6 Layers die, then highlighted with just a touch of Kindy Glitz/Stickles.

 

The inside of the card says 'but who's counting?'

 

Linking the above card with the following challenge:

Word Power - December 2025 

 

Next is a card for the brother-in-law, Greg.

 

I diecut a heap of diamonds out of my stash of cardstock (snippets), printed a sentiment with the computer and cut out by hand.  I then 'splashed'  a white background with black ink and placed the diamonds in rainbow order (ROYGBIV) with foam tabs on the front.  I strategically placed the sentiment and added some black bling as a final touch.

 

The white cardfront seemed to disappear on the white cardbase, so I edged the cardfront with black Copics to give it a rough edge.

Quite happy with the way the card turned out.   I have CASED a card I saw on someone's blog a few years ago - I can't find it now, but it had 'handmade by Tasha'.  They used several dies from the Altenew Fine Fames set, but I have chosen the centre diamond, and I used bling/gems whereas I think they used sequins.  I love working with the rainbow colours, and I love any opportunity to work through my snippets stash!

 

Linking the above card with the following challenges:

Cut it Up Challenge #345 - from your stash 

Snippets Playground #521 - use up snippets 

Allsorts Challenge #838 - Anything Goes 

 

I also needed a card for the Sister-in-law, so I duplicated a card I made earlier for a swap, this time using different DP, but everything else was done the same.

 

Colorado Craft Company Sundae Funday image stamped and heat embossed, then hand coloured with Copics.  Spellbinders Circle Dies and offcuts/snippets layered on the background from my stash, and a touch of bling. 

 

This is about as CAS as I get.  I did use an old FMS sketch for the layout.

Linking the above card with the following challenges:

Critter Crazy Challenge #105 

 

 

It felt good to be in the craft room making card for my family :)

 

 

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Cheers - celebrate the New Year

With the Cricket on the TV, I get to spend some time in the craft room ...........
Mr Fixit is happy, I'm happy!

Using my own handmade stencil cut with Spellbinders circle dies, I made my own background by ink blending some random 'bubbles' on 210gsm cardstock, highlighted with white gel pen for the background, which was then trimmed with Waffle Flower A6 layer dies, and added to Green 300gsm cardbase.

 

SugarPea 'Cheers to You' Champagne bottle and glasses stamped in black and clear heat embossed, hand coloured with Copics, then die cut with matching dies, placed strategically on the cardfront with foam squares.  

 

Sentiment 'Cheers' stamped directly onto background in black and clear heat embossed with a final touch of Kindy Glitz added to bubbles for sparkle.

 

Linking with the following Challenges:

Sweet Stampin' Challenge Blog - Something New (celebrate the New Year)

Just Us Girls Challenge #756 - Die Week

My Time To Craft #550 - Something New (celebrate the New Year)

Time Out Challenges #279 - New Beginnings (New Year)

 

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Happy New Year

Time for another crafting session!  The Cricket is on the TV, air-con on, nibbles and wine is flowing ... what more could a girl want!

 

I am very late with my December swap cards for CraftMad Swappers :)

Card#1 - Merry Christmas

 

Using a Kraft cardbase, ribbon was added across the middle with glue, Scrap Boys 'Christmas Day' DP was die-cut using WaffleFlower A6 Layer dies and added to cardbase.  KaiserCraft Christmas Tree was stamped on green cardstock, heat embossed with VersaMark & clear embossing powder, then die-cut with a slightly smaller Waffle Flower A6 Layer die.

A final touch of bling added at bottom of card.   I couldn't find the right sentiment stamp, so I used my new T-square ruler and wrote it by hand.

 

This card was inspired by a 2016 Sketch from my CraftMad swap group.

 

Card#2 - Happy New Year

 

Using my own handmade stencil cut with Spellbinders circle dies, I ink blended some random 'bubbles', highlighted with white gel pen for the background, which was then trimmed with Waffle Flower A6 layer dies, and added to Navy cardbase.

SugarPea 'Cheers to You' Champagne bottle and glasses stamped in black and clear heat embossed, hand coloured with Copics, then die cut with matching dies, placed strategically on cardfront with foam tabs.  Gold PeelOff stickers '2025' added, and a final touch of Kindy Glitz added for sparkle.

This Card was inspired by the CraftMad Swappers December TicTacToe - Diagonal Down L-R - Numbers, Gold, Sparkle

Linking Card#2 with the following challenges:

My Time To Craft Christmas #102 - Sweet Treats 

Inkspirational Challenge #331 - use stencils

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Thanks so Much

Having another play with my new Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms dies ..... 

 

I am really enjoying playing with these dies and die cuts.

 

 

 

I started with rummaging through my offcuts/snippets ..... and made a selection of colours that I thought might work well.  I die-cut the flowers and leaves multiple times in multiple colours and then set about making up various combinations of flowers, stems and leaves.

The background is left over from a previous card - I think that might be the last of the gorgeous dark blue. I used the Waffle Flower A6 Layers die to cut the cardfront to the perfect size.  

Playing with the layout is lots of fun. 

 

A final touch of bling added randomly around the card ...... if you call playing with the positioning for a good 5 minutes before deciding on final layout random LOL

 

I am really pleased with the way this card turned out .... especially considering it is made entirely with snippets/offcuts (except the white 300gsm cardbase).
 

Linking this card with the following challenges:

Snippets Playground Challenge $493

My Time to Craft - #547 - Thank You 

The Flower Challenge #97 - Thanks

Creative Knockouts #534 - Thankful

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

World Cardmaking Day - 5th October 2024

I had a bit of a car accident on 17th September 2024. Thankfully, I was not hurt, but it is proving frustrating being without my car and relying on Mr Fixit to run me around.  I am not comfortable driving his car, which is a V6 Holden Commodore, as it is just so big.  My car is being repaired, so I am without a car for the next 8 weeks or so. 

Anyway .......  back to World Cardmaking Day :)

I think it is such a fun idea having a day dedicated to cardmaking  LOL so I took the opportunity to have a play with some of my recent purchases.

 

I have been keeping a lookout for Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms dies ..... usually they are over A$35 depending where you get them from, and with the added cost of postage, it makes it a very expensive purchase.   I was lucky enough to come across a great deal on Amazon - A$23 with free postage!  SOLD!

 

 

I started with rummaging through my offcuts/snippets ..... and made a selection of colours that I thought might work well.

 

I die-cut the flowers and leaves multiple times in multiple colours.

I then set about making up various combinations of flowers, stems and leaves.

Once I had finished that, I then sorted through my stash of cardstock for the background, and I finally settled on the dark blue that was in my 'off-cut' bin. 

My 'go to' cardbase is A6, which is half of an A4, folded in half.  I used the Waffle Flower A6 Layers die to cut the cardfront to the perfect size.  

 

Playing with the layout was lots of fun.  I chose to stick fairly closely to the sample in the packaging for my first layout, while I got familiar with the blooms.  I have some pre-foiled/pre-cut sentiments that I have had for absolutely ages and was quite pleased that one of them worked with the layout.

 

A final touch of bling added randomly around the card ...... if you call playing with the positioning for a good 5 minutes before deciding on final layout random LOL

 

I am really pleased with the way this card turned out .... especially considering it is made entirely with snippets/offcuts (except the white 300gsm cardbase).
 

Linking this card with the following challenges:

Snippets Playground Challenge #490

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge  #21

As You Like it Challenge:  Fave card shape & why

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

Craft Mad Card Swaps - September

As mentioned in my previous post, I was LATE with my card swap for my partner for September ...  I struggled with motivation

The theme for September was 1 card using a 'Sketch' and 1 card using TIC-TAC-TOE

 

Card #1 - sketch

 

I received a lovely Scrap Boys 'Christmas Day' paper pad from my Secret Santa last year, so that formed the basis of my choices for this swap.

 

I chose three different papers and cut the tags by hand.  A large snowflake was die cut from silver mirror card.  Sentiment & little holly leaves were stamped & clear heat embossed.  The leaves and berries were hand coloured with Copics and die cut.  Sentiment was die cut using the centre circle of the snowflake.

Card was assembled according to sketch, using 3D foam tabs for added dimension.

 

 

Card #2 - Tic Tac Toe - Patterned Paper, Die Cut, Embossing

 

Selecting another page from the 'Christmas Day' paper pad, I layered it onto red leathergrain cardstock using the Waffle Flower A6 layers die, and then layered that onto the white cardbase.

Hero Arts 'Merry' Stamp & Cut - 'Merry' was die cut twice out of the red cardstock and layered to add dimension, with the other sentiments stamped in black.  Stars were stamped in red & embossed, but they don't show up very well in the photo.

 

And in answer to your question ......... yes, I was humming the song all the time I was making the card!

 

A very big thank you to my partner for being patient with me!

 

Linking Card #2 with the following Challenges:

Sparkles Christmas Challenge #165 - use the word 'Christmas'

Cut it Up Challenge #314 - inspired by a song

 

 

Also included, was another one of the cards I made previously especially for my swapping partners - see my post in June on how they were made

 

PS:  Cardstock was purchased from BlueEdge Crafts  (no affiliation arrangements with this store, I just want to let fellow Aussies know of a good store :) )

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.

CraftMad Card Swap - August

I was so VERY LATE with my card swap for my partner for August .............  
I just couldn't get motivated

When September hit, I knew I had to pull my finger out!

 

The theme for August was 1 card using TIC-TAC-TOE and 1 card using 'INKS'

 

I have been a bit 'forgetful' lately, so the card is fitting.  Once I settled on which stamp set to use, the ideas came fairly quickly.  

 

Card #1

 

Image of elephant was stamped, coloured in by hand, then fussy cut.

Background row of circles ink-blended with home made stencil using Spellbinders circle dies, highlighted with Kindy Glitz/Stickles.

Small balloon diecut, coloured and highlighted with Kindy Glitz/Stickles.

Gold fine cord added to hold balloon, and 'unforgettable' stamped on vellum then cut to form a tag and attached to cord.  Elephant and balloon were then mounted to cardfront with 3D foam tape to add dimension.  Image 'grounded' with the addition of grey shadow, then final touch of bling/jewels added.

 

Inspiration for the above card was found on Pinterest, but I found the original author's blog TaeEun Yoo using My Favourite Things Adorable Elephant stamp set.

 

Card #2

 

Handmade background - 

Technique:  Emboss Resist - Couture Creations Star Burst - stamped with VersaMark and clear embossed.  Background rainbow created using blending brushes and Altenew inks.

Background was cut to size using Waffle Flower A6 layers die and added to cardbase using 2mm foam tabs.

 

Uniquely Creative Cake Builder - Birthday cake stamped with Versafine Onyx Black pigment ink & clear embossed, then die cut.

 

Cake was then assembled and mounted to card front using 3D foam dots.

 

Thank you so much to my partner for being so very patient with me!

 

Also included, was another one of the cards I made previously especially for swapping partners - see my post in June on how they were made

 

Stay tuned for my September Swap ......... it was so very late as well!

PS:  Cardstock & Couture Creations stamps purchased from BlueEdge Crafts  (no affiliation arrangements with this store, I just want to let fellow Aussies know of a good store :) )

Thank you for visiting my blog today - I hope you have a good day.

Remember, any day doing something you love makes it a good day ;-)

Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.