Who would have guessed

that grey is such a verstile colour?  Last week I used lemon and grey together, and this afternoon I made a pink and grey card.  I’m really liking these colours together:

This morning I taught a scrapbooking class at Chandon Craft.  Not that I’m biased or anything ( ), but I really do think we constantly try to provide informative, fun classes where the students get to try techniques and tools they might not try otherwise.  Recently we have used the Making Memories Slice, the Cuttlebug, and various paper techniques.  Today we got to use the Cricut and Heidi Swapp masks, to make this layout:

 

Barbara designed this double page layout, and it was really fun to do.  The Basic Grey papers are always great to work with, and the masks were a bit of a challenge, but well worth the effort.  Wouldn’t I just love a Cricut of my own to play with…

Thanks for stopping by,

Anthea

Yo-yos aren’t just for eating…

Firstly, a huge congratulations to Ros, because she’s having some of her layouts published, as well as being commissioned to do extra magazine work.  Ros designs lots of layouts for Chandon Craft, as well as teaching and designing classes.  I’ve taught a few of her classes so far and she does beautiful work. I’m so glad they’re recognising real talent, so take the time to pop over and have a look at her stuff. Well done, Ros!

I have a few cards to show today. Here’s a sympathy card I made whilst watching the Oscars last night:

I think I’ve mentioned it before, but I have made the odd yo-yo in my time; very yummy.  Today I made a different kind, to use in my card making.  I wanted something different to embellish my cards with, (and something that wasn’t expensive ), so I tried a few of these fabric yo-yos.  I went through my fabrics, and ended up making a little pile really quickly; they’re so simple.  So, once I had my yo-yos I had to try them on cards, here’s what I’ve made so far:

They’re cool to use as an alternative to flowers, and look good layered.  I have more ideas for these little pretties…

Also, I submitted some more layouts and cards that have been accepted into the Basic Grey Gallery.  There’s the two layouts I posted yesterday, as well as one of my birthday cards I made for the Basic Grey Challenge blog.  It’s a little thing, but it did make me smile.  Thanks for stopping by,

Anthea

Oh my goodness people…

Today I SCRAPBOOKED SOME LAYOUTS!  Yes, just in case you thought I’d forgotten how, I haven’t; I just didn’t have any photos to scrapbook.  Now I do, and it’s great because all the new stuff is coming out…

I especially love the two latest release ranges from Basic Grey; Marrakech & Porcelain. Of course I love all Basic Grey products, but these ranges really are beautiful.  Both different, but beautiful designs and colours. 

I’ve used the Marrakech range for this layout of Selwood, our cat;

I think the colours match him really well, as he’s a tabby…I’ve used a few papers from the range, as well as Basic Grey letter stickers and chipboard.  The layered flowers are just circles cut from scraps and old book paper, with distressing around the edges.  I’ve also used some Kaisercraft rhinestones for a bit of sparkle.

From brights to pastels, that’s what Porcelain is all about.  I’ve used this girly range for my first layout of Heidi, my gorgeous goddaughter;

For this layout I’ve used distress inks, machine stitching, and old sheet music for a warm look to match the sepia toned photo.   The title is my favourite font, blossom from Quickutz.  The little bits and pieces are Porcelain brads, flowers from Maya Road and Melissa Frances, among others.

You can get all these things from Chandon Craft, but you really need to see them in person because photos don’t do them justice.  I’ve also bought some other new stuff from My Mind’s Eye and Autumn Leaves, can’t wait to use it next…

Anthea

Basic Grey + Cupcakes = My kind of happy

Challenge 23 has just gone up at the Basic Grey Challenges blog.

The challenge is to choose one of 3 colour combos; pink & brown, pink & green, or blue & brown, and to use only those colours (along with white or natural colours) on our creations.  And, as always, at least one Basic Grey item.

Our sponsor this week is

This site has unreal ‘printable stamps’ in heaps of different designs.  We, the Blog designers, were very lucky and given the ‘All about Cupcakes’ designs to use on our creations.

I chose the blue & brown combination, and here’s what I came up with:

I’ve used papers from the Sugared, Lilykate, and Bittersweet ranges, and I’ve embossed and machine stitched the background.

The little stand I printed off and cut, and the cupcakes I pieced using the cupcake downloads as a template.  The greeting is also downloaded.  This was really fun to make, I want to try all the rest of the cupcake downloads now!  So, if you have time, I really encourage you to give this week’s challenge a go!

Anthea

 

Wednesday cards

I haven’t had anything to post the past few days because I’ve been working on Basic Grey Challenges cards, but I’ve just finished these to show:

I’ve used up some more leftover bits and pieces for these cards, but I don’t think you notice that…  If anyone’s ever interested in knowing exactly what I’ve used, I post a picture on my flickr too, which is linked in my sidebar.  I list all the materials etc below each picture.

Thanks for stopping by!

Anthea

Call me crazy,

but I do think the weather is changing.  Even though it’s still hot, it’s different now, soon it will be autumn, fantastic!

Tomorrow is my Mum’s birthday so I made a couple of cards from my sister and me:

The next one I finished yesterday.  Someone asked me about get well cards and I realised I haven’t made any before.  So I made this one, using a rubon from the new sets released by Kaisercraft;

I really appreciate those who take the time to stop by; thankyou for your comments, they’re very much appreciated. 

Now, onto the latest challenge from the Basic Grey Challenges blog.   For this week’s challenge we had to use hearts somewhere on our creations, in the spirit of Valentine’s Day.  Unfortunately, this is as close as I get to a valentine (lol), but I had fun making this card:

Enjoy the rest of your weekend,

Anthea

CPS Card of the week

This card sketch at the Card Positioning Systems blog is so cute. 

 I got inspired last night to make mine, here it is:

I’ve tried some different things with paper for this one.  The bottom edge is pleated and filed, the flowers is all drawn by hand, stuck together & curled, and the background is embossed.  This was fun to make.

Thanks for having a look,

Anthea

Wow,

I’ve now reached over 10,000 hits on my little blog!  It’s not a lot compared with some blogs out there, but it means a lot to me.  Thankyou to everyone out there in computerland who takes the time to pop over for a look; it’s much appreciated…:)

Just a couple of cards to share today; I’m going to print some photos later and scrap some pages (don’t faint on me, anyone, just because I haven’t scrapped for myself in awhile .  I’ve been waiting on the new stuff to come in, and now it’s starting to arrive at Chandon I want to scrap some photos of my family, our newest cat, etc.  I can’t wait to use the new designs.

This one shows just how much you can do with tools you’ve already got (and the ever lovely Basic Grey papers).  I’ve used a Fiskars border punch, my Cuttlebug butterfly die and embossing folder, a Cuttlebug embossing border, my Basic Grey file set, and a corner rounder.  This is made with scraps that are really plain, but then you get to create other cool effects with embossing and punches.

This one is made with Sassafras Lass and Cosmo Cricket papers.  I’ve used a Kaisercraft wood shape for the greeting, and lots of different flowers. I love the Prima leaf; these come in a cool set of heaps of different sizes and varying shades to match your project.

Have a lovely day,

Anthea

Tuesday thoughts…

How’s your week going so far?  I’ve spent the last couple of days in front of the TV watching coverage of the bushfires.  It’s truly horriffic watching it at all, but the fact it’s happening just a few hours away is unbelievable.  I am filled with admiration for those who put out the fires, as I know I could never fight fires.   There isn’t really anything to say, it all sounds so trite and useless in the face of such devastation.  My prayers are focussed right with all those amazing heroes. 

I’m still making cards from scraps; I made this baby card with Making Memories Paperie.  I love the patterns on these papers, very versatile.

Thankyou for stopping by,

Anthea

Some more

bits and pieces, used to make this card.

It doesn’t show up that well, but I’ve punched the border from pink glitter paper with my Fiskars punch, stitched along the edges and across the hearts, and put rhinestones on the borders.  Simple, but I like the different textures from the embossing, stitching, distressing, and glitter paper.

Thanks for stopping by,

Anthea