Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #7

Another cool colour challenge!  This one is the Raspberry Suite Color Challenge, and is run by Dawn McVey on her blog.  This is my first go at this challenge, but I think it’s one I will visit again… Here’s the colours and my card:

 I love the colours of this challenge; hot pink, pale green and olive.  Also, it gave me a chance to use my new Papertrey Ink papers.  Yes, I finally bit the bullet and bought some of their products from America.  Sometimes it’s frustrating being in Australia when it comes to craft; our market is so much smaller, and we just don’t have the products, eg. Papertrey and Martha Stewart.  Okay, I’ve had my whinge ( ).  But these papers are lovely, and there’s colours to go with everything!  Now I can’t wait until I receive the stamps I’ve ordered…

Thanks for looking at my card,

Anthea

Color Inspiration #53

This is my first entry in the kwerner design blog color challenges.  I love putting things together according to colour, so I had fun with this one.  Here’s the colours for the challenge, and my take on it:

I’ve gone with something rather simple (especially by my standards!), but I like the complex houndstooth paper contrasted with the bright buttons and thread.  The paper is Heidi Swapp, and the buttons are vintage.

Thanks for stopping by!

Anthea

The Sound of Music

I love that movie; the music, the scenery, the story… but that’s not what my title is referring to (but I still recommend the movie!).  It’s actually… my latest published article!!  The music comes into the picture because that was my theme; I made 5 cards of varying skill level, all with music somehow added.  I used sheet music, chipboard music notes, etc.

Here’s the first page of the article; there’s lots more to look at, as well as lots of tips and techniques.  When I see my article in print, it really makes my day…

Have a lovely evening,

Anthea

Card Patterns #16

I’ve also made a card for this week’s sketch at the Card Patterns blog, and here it is:

I’ve used kraft cardstock that I embossed with my Cuttlebug for the base of this little card, and added Girl Friday paper from Cosmo Cricket.  My embellishments are brads, buttons, and hemp, and the strip has a scalloped border.  The rub on is from Kaisercraft. Of course there’s some machine stitching too… I like all the different textures on this little card; ‘happy’ is the feeling I get from this card .

Thanks for stopping by,

Anthea

CPS #117

I’ve made a card for this week’s sketch at the Card Positioning Systems blog, and here it is:

 

For this card I’ve used Basic Grey papers, with glitter paper and a glitter sticker.  I love the pink and brown colour combination.  This sketch was a bit of a challenge, but I do love a challenge…

Thanks for looking at my card,

Anthea

Basic Grey Challenge #36

It’s Challenge Saturday at Basic Grey Challenges and here’s the latest:

This week we would love to see some doodling on your creations, this can be any type of doodling you can think of so let your imaginations run wild , but please remember to use at least 1 item from BasicGrey somewhere on your creations

This was a challenge for me, as I don’t use much doodling on my cards, but I like the final result.  I’ve used Lime Rickey papers behind my froggie picture, and I’ve doodled around the white border and edge of the yellow paper.  I also added some machine and hand stitching.  It’s good doing things out of the ordinary; I encourage you to have a go…

Don’t forget, this challenge is our last for the time being, as the Basic Grey Challenges blog will be closing down for a few weeks, to come back bigger and better than ever.  We’ll have a new look, new rules, new format, I can’t wait!  I’ll let you know when I know when we’ll be back ‘on the air’

Enjoy the rest of your weekend,

Anthea

 

Lots of stuff happening…

Firstly, my apologies; I know I haven’t been as ‘present’ this week on my blog.  I’ve been working on a magazine article, and then our computer was very sick and had to be made better again.  Thanks to my wonderful friends (you know who you are ) computer is better again and ready to catch up on some stuff.

I’ve had some great op-shopping trips in the last fortnight, so I thought I would share pics of some of my cool finds here.  When I go op-shopping I’m open to anything I might find, but some things I have in the back of my mind that I’m really looking for and when I find one of these it’s very exciting. 

This desk is one of those type of finds.  I’ve been wanting a desk for ages to put my sewing machine on, out of the way of everything, and this is exactly what I wanted.  It’s fairly simple, with drawers, side shelves, and it’s even been painted my white!  I just had to clean it up a bit; now I just need a chair…

I love finding retro children’s books, and I often use them for my cardmaking.  I found this one this week, and I don’t think I’ll be cutting into this one.  It’s got heaps of great stories, and nothing beats the old illustrations; I think they’re much better than most children’s books these days.  Oh yeah, this one cost me $1.

I also like looking through the retro craft books, and I found these this week.  I like to crochet, and these have some good patterns, and how cool is the vintage soft toy book?  They all cost me $1 each too.

I have also managed to make some cards in the past few days:

A couple of bright birthday cards; I used Marrakech by Basic Grey for the first, and Heidi Swapp with Autumn Leaves paper for the second. I like the hot pink and houndstooth combination.

Phew! There you have it, hope you’re still awake… Thanks for stopping by,

Anthea

Basic Grey Challenge #35

The latest challenge is up at the Basic Grey Challenges blog, and this is it:

This weeks challenge is a really tasty one , as its nearly summer what better way to celebrate than to have a challenge inspired by a hot summers day favourite treat , that’s right Ice cream , this weeks challenge we would like you to be inspired by your favourite ice cream flavour, you can be inspired many ways by your favourite ice cream (as you will see by our DT creations), so let your imaginations run wild, and we cant wait to see your tasty creations

So, strictly speaking my favourite ice cream is mint choc chip, but I already used these colours for the recent chocolate soft centres challenge, so I went for another flavour I really like: butterscotch. I tried to use the caramel/white colours for my card, here’s what I ended up with:

One of my more simple cards, I used kraft and a sheet of Wisteria paper for the background, a Cuttlebug embossing border along the bottom, and a big white flower.  I also like the eyelets which I threaded the leather through.  So, what are your favourite icecream flavours?

Have a great week,

Anthea

Butterflies everywhere…

I’ve got a couple more cards I made using the K&Co Madeline range to show you:

Aren’t these butterflies the cutest?  Well, there was something like 28 in the box so I’ve got plenty left still to use… I’ve combined the K&Co papers with some Autumn leaves hot pink paper, and lots of braids, stitching, and flowers.

I’m also loving my buttons at the moment-my Nan was so lovely and let me go through her enormous jar of buttons to pick out any I might use on my cards.  I had a lot of fun, let me tell you!

I’ve been commissioned to write another article for Papercraft Essentials, and I’ve got Sugar and Spice this weekend, so I’ve got some planning to do…

Have a great weekend,

Anthea

CPS #115

I’ve made a card for the latest Card Positioning Systems blog challenge.  Here’s the sketch and my card:

A rather simple card, but I like the patterns of this Offbeat paper by Basic Grey, so I just filed around the edges and added a machine stitched border.  The lovely chocolate ribbon is American Crafts, and I’ve tied on some clear buttons.

Have a great Friday!

Anthea