Reflections

Happy Birthday! Random Act Of Kindness!

Yes!  It's my birthday today and what a lovely day I've had too!  I have been overwhelmed by the number of messages on my Facebook Page AND that I've received via SMS on my mobile!  Thank-you everyone - you've certainly made me feel so very special today!  I have indeed had a lovely day and it looks like I've got some serious shopping to do with several vouchers to spend - yippee!  My parents came for lunch and we enjoyed some of my homemade Pea & Ham Soup AS WELL AS homebaked Ciabatta Garlic Bread AND a Caramel Cheesecake compliments of the Cheesecake Shop in Traralgon that Mum & Dad picked up on the way!  Mmm - so yummy!  We've finished off the day with dinner in town and now Stuart & I are enjoying a lovely glass (or two) of wine!  Heaven!

Oh - I can't resist taking the opportunity to share a photo of a gorgeous handmade card that my dear "I'm not going to start papercrafting" friend Donna made for me . . . yes - she's been papercrafting!  *grin*  I love it Donna and I love the photo of us from our reunion that you included on it too!  Thank-you!  Mwah!

 

 
I've enjoyed such a wonderful Birthday and everyone both near & far has made me feel so very special!  Thank-you everyone!

Actually . . . that gives me an idea . . . a way to make one of my blog readers feel special too!  In honour of my birthday, I'm going to host a little giveaway here on my blog.  Now I won't tell you what the giveaway is going to be BUT I can assure you that the random drawn winner will receive something in the mail that is handmade from me!

To be in the running to win, please leave a comment to this post and tell how your friends & family make you feel special!

Good luck everyone!  I'll announce the winner next Wednesday!

Handstitched Greeting Card

With the weather being really cold & windy so far these school holidays, there's been lots of time spent indoors.  The Pool Table, Wii and Playstation are all getting a good workout BUT it's also been great to see the boys taking time to draw, play games with one another and to read!  Speaking of reading - James is progressing well with his MS Readathon goals - many thanks to everyone who has offered to support his fundraising goals!  It's great to see him with his head in a book - even if he does have a head cold as well!

Anyway - I've just got a quick post today to share another card that uses up a few more supplies that I've had sitting around.

 
As you can see, I couldn't resist adding a little hand stitching to this one!  The quote and flower images are both Kaszazz rubons which were simply added directly onto the card background once the stitching was complete.

 
To create the ribbon trim, I took a length of ribbon and tied it into a knot (you end up with a circle).  Then I carefully worked out where I wanted the knot to be on my card and cut the ribbon so that I had enough to take to the back of the card and secure it in place with a little tape.

I then chose two co-ordianting buttons and hand stitched them in place, one directly over the knot and the second just slightly off to one side!

The final step I always apply to my ribbons, aside from trimming them to size, is to add a little glossy accents to the cut edge to stop any fraying of the ribbon!

Time to get busy in the kitchen - Red Lentil & Ham Soup with Ciabatta Bread for dinner tonight AND Pea & Ham Soup to get cooked for tomorrow's lunch as we have visitors joining us and I don't want to be cooking that first thing tomorrow morning!

Kaszazz - Blended Sunset Card

It would seem that everyone enjoyed another fantastic Longford Crafters day and whilst I may have only got one card complete, because I was busy helping Adam to complete his set of cards, it was certainly a fun technique to play around with and something that I'll definitely try again!

 
I have to admit that my distress ink blending was probably a little on the dark side - there's a little too much of the red down low in the sky for my liking BUT it has given the effect of a bushfire sunset I suppose - *grin*

 
The first step in making this card was to tear a hill (the approximate size of your background) from scrap paper and then use the top section to create a mask for the inking of the hill itself.  Once you achieve the desired depth of colour on your hill, you then commence working on the sky by applying a light layer of yellow ink, followed by a sun mask (a punched circle) to which you apply blended layers of orange & red ink over the top.  Once you are happy with the rest, you peel off the sun maskto reveal the un inked sun!  I love the sharp edge of colour around the sun!

 
A blossom branch stamp was then applied using black ink and then the blossom flowers coloured with a little distress ink and an aqua brush!  I love the delicate shading that this technique results in!  I also chose to colour in more of the stamped branch using my Zig Pen too!

After mounting the image onto some co-ordinating cardstock and then onto a white blank card, I added a few Kaisercraft pearls for a little finishing touch along with a clear greeting sticker!

Thanks again Jan for another fun workshop - I think everyone had a great day!

Wordless Wednesday

 Created by James Fyfe

Kaszazz - Tree Hugs Greeting Card

I've got another greeting card complete and tucked away in my stash!  This one, like my previous post, also features Kaszazz goodies - particularly rubons!

 
The background for the card was was created by cutting a Kaszazz Rubon Frame into pieces and then re-assembling it to the desired size of my cream cardstock background.

The rubon word HUGS was applied to the background before moving onto the next step where I created the transparency tree.

 
I applied the tree rubon to a clear transparency sheet, cut it out, leaving a border around the whole image and then attached it to the background using some silicon glue.  I chose silicon glue because it added a little dimension by lifting the tree off the background as opposed to it being flat on the surface!

 
I finished off the card with a couple of co-ordinating buttons stitched in place in the bottom right hand corner.  It's a simple design but the card has come together quite nicely!

Kaszazz - Country Patchwork Card

Today I thought I would share a tweaked Kaszazz Country Patchwork Card that has been sitting around needing completing for a white - you know me . . . I can't just follow the instructions - I've always got to add my own little touches here and there! *grin*

 
All the patchwork pieces have all been lightly inked around the edges and either had rubons applied to them - the two little birds - or have had a swirl stamp stamped in the middle.  Of course I couldn't resist adding a little hand stitching to frame the smaller sections of the patchwork - it's just a plain white backstitch but I think it adds a lovely finishing touch to the overall look!

 
A word greeting rubon was added on the lower left pieces and just two buttons in colours that compliment those used on the card were added near the centre - I tried adding 3 (my favourite number to work with) BUT it just didn't seem to work - I think it's because there are now already 3 groups of the pink/orange combination on the card - the two bird squares and the buttons.  Anyway - I just decided on two buttons and hand stitched them into place.

 
When it came to the assembly of the card, I framed the white background piece onto brown cardstock before then attaching it to my cream square card.  They're just a few subtle changes but I love the end result.

Now . . . onto the next project that needs completing - there seems to be quite a number of them about at the moment and I'm very determined to make some progress on getting them done and out of the way - *grin*

Newborough High School Reunion

Last night I attended a reunion for Newborough High School - it has been 25 years since we all finished Year 12, or HSC as it was known back then.

We had held a get together at 20 years but much to the surprise of many, that was 5 years ago now!  Time certainly does fly by doesn't it?  It was great to catch up with everyone again and to see some people who had been unable to attend our last get together.

 Image compliments of Donna Niewenhuys

Whilst there were a few faces I had trouble remembering (and they of me too - *grin*), it was amazing to see how very little everyone had changed over the years.  Thanks to Donna & Sally for all their organisation, a fantastic night was enjoyed by all!

Hero Arts - Watercolour Background

Here's another gorgeous card that features a Hero Arts stamp.  How lovely is this card and I do so like the technique that they've used to create the background too!  I think I might have to try that one!

 
Here's the YouTube Video that takes you step-by-step through the creating process!  Love it! 

 

Hero Arts - Inked Snowflakes

Here's a very effective stamping idea!

 
Why not watch the YouTube Video and learn how simple this technique is to replicate?  Enjoy!