Happy Birthday Brother

Good morning all.

I've got a few posts scheduled for this week...I'll try to catch up with you all in the next few days once we're settled back home and sorted out.

This is the card I made my brother...he supports Newcastle Falcons so it is designed loosely using their strip colours!

Sentiments from Whimsy stamps. Brother was a magazine freebie. Stripes from Clearly Besotted. Mat dies from Spellbinders and Lawn Fawn. Sequins from my stash,

Rudolph Day 2

Good morning all.

We've finally been cleared to fly so will arrive home on Sunday, thank goodness common sense eventually prevailed!

Yesterday was Rudolph Day so I'm going to join Maureen in sharing a Christmas card.

Another decoupage sheet from Joanna Sheen, die cut with a Spellbinders die and mounted onto a die from Wplus9. Sentiment from Clearly Besotted.

Challenges entered:

12 Today (or tomorrow as the case may be!)

Good morning all.

Time to go home...we should be headed towards Melbourne as this goes live. We've had a fabulous trip despite not being able to do everything we planned, I think a return visit could be on the cards in the not too distant future.....all change!!!!....Emirates won't let me fly today so we're here for another two nights at least until they decide I'm medically fit!!! Worse places to be stuck I suppose!!

Both my brother and youngest nephew have birthdays tomorrow, this one was for my nephew who currently supports Arsenal so I've used their strip colours.

Happy die and stamps from Whimsy stamps...one of my favourite stamp sets and my all time favourite sentiment die! Mat dies from Spellbinders and Lawn Fawn.

Love

Good morning all.

Last day of our mammoth road trip before our return to Auckland and we've had a thoroughly lazy day! Car has been mucked out and we're now wondering how to fit everything into the suitcases lol!! A relatively easy drive to Auckland tomorrow for a two night stay before we head home on Thursday.

Today is my nephew's 2nd anniversary...a similar card to my valentine one I showed earlier this month, different colours and lots of upside down stamping!

Background script and border stamp from STAMPlorations Mixed Media Elements set. Love stamp was a magazine freebie...all stamped and heat embossed with silver EP. Dies from Spellbinders and Lawn Fawn.

Christmas Card Club "Icicles"

Good morning all.

We're staying near Hamilton at the moment for a few nights before returning to Auckland and flying home later this week. Managed a trip to Hobbiton earlier today...they put on a golf cart to transport us around, it was like being on a private tour! Sam our driver acted as our personal guide and we also got to see parts not open to the public...a fabulous time was had :)

Kate has set us a theme of "Icicles" this time at our little Christmas Card Club....hmmm I've strayed a little off theme and gone with snowflakes, I hope you don't mind Kate?

Snowflake frame die from Memory Box which was a recent purchase and needed test driven. Background is smooshed distress paint. Sentiment die from Woodware. Gems from my stash.

If you'd like to see what the other girls made you'll find their links in my sidebar.

Happy Birthday

Good morning all. Hope everyone is well.

I was discharged from hospital earlier this week, so taking things easy for the rest of our stay. 

 Driving over to near Hamilton today for a three night stay, hoping I'm up to a trip to Hobbiton tomorrow.

My nephew's girlfriend has a birthday tomorrow, here is the card I made.

Card from Kanban...the stash is slowly disappearing! Square stitched die from Lawn Fawn. Happy die from Whimsy stamps. Stamps and sentiment from Happy Little Stampers. Sequins from my stash.

Stencil Sunday #33

Good evening all. Hope you've all had a lovely Valentine day and someone you love spoiled you.

Spending a long weekend in Taupo on the Lakeside. Lots to see and do without needing the car...have to give the chauffeur a rest sometime! This was the supposed plan, all change on Friday evening when I took what they think was a slight stroke, so I've been in hospital all weekend! Waiting for more tests but a scan yesterday showed my brain is fine. Being well looked after but a ride in an ambulance wasn't on my to do list!!

My turn to provide some Stencil Sunday inspiration over at STAMPlorations today. Today I have a tag to inspire you.

Tag die is from Die-namics...a Christmas present from one of the kids :) I used watercolour card for the tag and secured the Butterfly Prints stencil and stamped all over with versamark ink, then heat embossed with white EP. Background was coloured with smooshed DI in abandoned coral, dried marigold and fired brick...once everything was dried off I used the background script stamp from the Mixed Media Elements stamp set wiping it off the embossing.

I used a piece of waste card to mop up the excess inks then stamped my butterfly from the Blossom Like a Butterfly set adding more colour with distress pens. Sentiment is from the Hello & Company stencil and I used Sparkle Medium to emboss. Tag was finished with a fancy bow made using a fork.

And the February Mixed Media Challenge runs until the end of the month! If you want to play, you still have a few days left to get messy and share your non-card mixed media projects. It's anything mixed media goes except a card...and you must use a stencil (any brand or even a homemade one!) in your project(s). For the complete challenge info + prizes, click here.

Stencil Sunday #32 + February Challenge

Good evening all.

My second post for today, you'll find my Christmas Card Club post here.

Time once again for a new Stencil Sunday challenge at STAMPlorations. We loved seeing your projects last month and hope you'll join us again this month.

This is the memento I made my friend on the birth of her grandson...she loved it and ordered two more to be made - one for the parents and one for the other set of grandparents.

The background was made with my gelli plate and used the following ARTplorations stencils along with Paper Artsy acrylic paints: Bubbles, Foiled, Nestled Circles and Hearts all Over.

Wording on the back was computer generated and printed onto tissue paper and adhered with gel medium. Baby die is from SSS, boy stamp from STAMPlorations Heaven Sent and border stamps from the Mixed Media Elements set. Photo holder, bow and nail heads from my stash.

  

The theme is always anything mixed media goes except a card and you must use at least one stencil (any brand) in your project. Linky closes at the end of the month. I hope you can join us!

Prizes: $15 gift certificate OR choice of any 2 small or 1 large ARTplorations stencils to the winner

choice of 1 small ARTplorations stencil to the top picks

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the other girls mixed media designs, you won't be disappointed.

Christmas Card Club "Texture"

Good morning all.

We should have moved towards Picton for our final two nights on South Island if all has gone to plan, we're spoiling ourselves in a luxury lodge overlooking the Sound.

It was Rachel's turn to pick the theme for challenge 3 at the Christmas Card Club ad she asked to see some "Texture".

My texture comes from this EF folder from Marianne Designs which hasn't seen the light of day for many a while, other dies all from Spellbinders. Sentiment from LOTV; raffia and gems from my stash. This is definitely one of my favourite colour combos for Christmas....just wish I'd cut the red card larger so it actually matted the white layer as I feel the colours aren't balanced!

You'll find the ladies in my sidebar if you'd like to see their creations too. I'll be back later with my post for the February Stencil Sunday challenge.

HLS Mixed Media Challenge February "Paint"

Good evening all.

Still relaxing at the beach here on South Island!

Time once again to inspire you for this month's Mixed Media Challenge at Happy Little Stampers. Our theme for February is:

This challenge is sponsored by

Winner receives a $15 discount from HLS

I've made a start on next years Christmas tags for this challenge.

The tag was smooshed with several colours of distress paints, once dry I used the same colours of DI to fill in the gaps and add an edge to the tag. Snowflake stamps and dies are from Paper Smooches....stamping has been heat embossed and layered up; dies have been cut from waste smooshing....all topped with stickles.  Fibres are from my stash.

Sentiment from the Mixed Christmas Sentiments set.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the inspiration from the other girls, you won't be disappointed.

Challenges entered:

Discover Life's Wonders

Good afternoon/evening all.

Enjoying some down time in the Abel Tasman National Park for a few days...much needed after all the driving this last week. Weather has been perfect for spending a little time at the beach, in and on the water. We enjoyed a lovely boat trip through the national park today.

It's my turn to share a tutorial over at ARTplorations today, I hope you enjoy seeing how I decorated this wooden stamp block.

HLS Christmas Challenge February "Tic Tac Toe"

Good evening all.

We should have reached the north of South Island today and have 5 nights to relax and chill out before we head back over to Wellington on the ferry on Tuesday.

Another month has passed and it's time for the second Christmas challenge of the year at Happy Little Stampers. We do hope you'll join us getting those pesky Christmas makes out of the way early this year. The theme this month is:

This challenge is sponsored by



Winner will receive a $15 discount from HLS.

I choose the top line for my car, although it also fits column one too:

I used the script stamp from the Thinking of You set and heat embossed with gold EP onto a piece of card which had been smooshed with distress paints, then added a couple of accent stamps before die cutting with a die from Spellbinders. This was mounted onto the Wplus9 die with foam tape after positioning the gold thread. Background is a Spellbinders pierced die cut from the same smooshed cardstock. Tree stamp and die are from Clearly Besotted, this has also been heat embossed with gold EP. Sentiment from Mixed Christmas Sentiments set.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the inspiration from the rest of the team, I'm sure you won't be disappointed. 

Eclectic Ellapu "Love Actually"

Good morning all.

Had a fabulous week...weather started out exceedingly wet and cold but it's been glorious the past few days. We got very wet in Milford on Monday but took a scenic flight from Lake Tekapo round Mount Cook, the Glaciers and down to Milford in sunshine on Thursday...a fabulous trip and well worth the cost. Walked up to the Franz Joseph glacier yesterday, can't get enough of the west coast scenery.

Leaving the glaciers and driving further up the West Coast then through Arthur's Pass and on towards Christchurch today...it's going to be a long day, or it will have been by the time you read this!

Welcome to our first challenge of 2016 at Eclectic Ellapu. I got to set the theme for the Pink Team this month and since it's the month of love I chose "Love Actually". This is the card I've made hubby for Valentine Day...and carried all the way to New Zealand!

Large die from Spellbinders, small one from Lawn Fawn (stacked three high to give dimension). Love stamp was a freebie in last months Craft Stamper. Edge stamp and background script are from STAMPlorations Mixed Media Elements set. All stamping has been heat embossed with gold detail EP...and looks lovely IRL!

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the inspiration from the rest of the team, you won't be disappointed.