Friday 21 December 2012

Fun Concertina Fold

Hi there,
I'm sharing a new creation today, using a fun fold I saw online recently. I found Beate Johns's video tutorial on how to do this fold and you can have a look at it over here. I liked this folds so much that I had to give it a try!


I just love how this card turned out! This fold is so cute and very, very effective!
Thanks for popping in!

Hugs,
M

PS: I'm also entering this card in the Timeless Twine December Challenge 

Tools & Products used:
Cardstock: GinaK Designs Pure Luxury Heavy Based cardstock in White, Ocean & Red Hot
DP: GinaK Designs Winter Whimsey
Image: GinaK Designs Celebrate the Season
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Peacock Feathers & Faded Jeans and Momento Tuxedo Black
Stickles, rhinestones & buttons from my stash
Twine: Timeless Twine
Cuttlebug & Spellbinders Nestabilities
Ledah TM-10 Paper trimmer
Spin-Eco permanent glue

Wednesday 19 December 2012

Thank You Flowers

Hi there,
I'm sharing some thank you cards with you today. I spotted a card yesterday I just had to CASE, and since I had to make some thank you's, I thought this card was perfect. The card I saw was on Ally's blog, Laughadaisy, and you can visit her here. Needless to say, I've become an instant follower of her work!!

Here are my versions of the same card:

 


The stamps I used are all by GinaK Designs. The spring flowers (in pink) are from the Whimsical Spring set, the boat is from the 'Follow Your Dreams' set and the Peony stamp was in a GinaK grab bag - sorry no idea which set it belongs to. The sentiment is from the 'Nature's Greetings' set.

I coloured all the images with Copic Markers and layered it onto GinaK Designs Pure Luxury Heavy Based cardstock in white, and Kraft.
Images were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto GKD Pure Luxury Layering Weight cardstock in White.
The twine and rhinestones are from my stash.
I used four different embossing folders for the card base and ran it through my Cuttlebug.

Thanks for popping by!
Hugs,
M

PS: I just realised that these cards qualify for this week's Mix it up Monday Challenge over on StampTV!

Tuesday 18 December 2012

Challenge Entry

Hi there,
I'm back today, sharing my entry for this week's 'Oldies but Goodies' Challenge over on StampTV. The challenge this week is to 'frame it'. You can use a proper frame, or frame the image using Spellbinders, ribbon, anything really. This is what I've come up with:

I recently purchased this frame from a local discount store (only $7!!!)

I stamped the images and sentiments using the 'City of David' stamp set by GinaK Designs. I also used GKD cardstock in Ivory. The stamping was done using Versamark ink and it was heat embossed with gold embossing powder.

 


   

I apologise for the glare in the photos - its hard photographing something with a glass front! LOL
I also hadn't realised how hard it would be to line up the images perfectly with the pre-cut shapes! Phew! Even looking at it now, I probably need to take them out and re-align again! LOL

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Hugs,

Sunday 16 December 2012

Eclectic Ellapu - Anything Goes

Eclectic Ellapu - Anything Goes

We decided to turn this week's challenge into a three week challenge, since its the holidays and everyone is busy with getting things organised. We've also decided to combine the Pink and Purple teams and have a combined challenge.This will give everyone enough time to play along during this busy time. Weekly challenges will commence again on 6 January 2013. (Yes, next year!)

The following birthday cards were made for two of my son's friends who had a combined party:

This image is by Saturated Canary and I just love it - I coloured her with Copics and sponged some Tim Holtz distress ink over the background! All cardstocks are by GinaK Designs and the ribbons and flowers are from my stash.

Making 'boy' cards are so hard sometimes, especially for teenagers! The guitar and sentiment are from Tami Mayberry's 'You Rock' stamp set, which is available from GinaK Designs/StampTV.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Do hop by the Eclectic Ellapu blog and have a look what the other DT members have created!

Hugs,
M

Sunday 2 December 2012

Eclectic Ellapu - Another Purple Team Challenge

Eclectic Ellapu - Purple Team Challenge:
Santa Paws & Snowflakes


Welcome to another week of challenges at Eclectic Ellapu!
This week, your challenge is to use animals and/or snowflakes in your project.
The penguin image on my card is by Penny Black and the sentiment is by GinaK Designs (Wishing You Joy). Both were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and the image was coloured with Copic markers.
The orange DP is 'For the Record' by Echo Park and the turquoise cardstock is Ocean Mist by GinaK Designs.
I used my Cuttlebug to cut the snowflakes, using a Marianne Designs snowflake die (DP - Jillibean Soup - Apple Cheddar Soup). The cardstock for the sentiment was cut using a Labels 16 die.
Lastly, I sponged the edge of the image with some Tim Holtz distress ink in Tumbled Glass, added some stickles to the snowflakes and rhinestones to the sentiment.

Thanks so much for looking. Do hop over to the blog and check out the design team's creations and don't forget to play along!

Hugs,
M

Saturday 1 December 2012

Crafty Card Gallery - Using Stationery Items

Office Supply Challenge


Our challenge this month, was to use an office supply item/s on our project. I chose to use the bull clip and in keeping with the theme, chose DP and embellies from the Echo Park 'For the Record' range. The tag has been recycled (it came with one of my husband's shirts) and I punched the blue, green and craft circles to cover the company logo.

Thanks for popping in, and do hop over to the Crafty Card Gallery blog to see the team's projects.

Tools & Products:
Cardstock: GinaK Designs Pure Luxury cardstock in Kraft & Little Boy Blue
Circle craft punches in various sizes
Scorpal & Ledah TM10 paper trimmer
Echo Park 'For the Record' DP & embellishments
Bull clip, ribbon & jute twine = stash

Sunday 18 November 2012

Eclectic Ellapu: Purple Team Challenge

If you have popped in to hop with us during the Blog Hop for Foster Kids Birthday Banners, please scroll down to see my previous post.
Thanks!

Eclectic Ellapu: Purple Team Challenge:

Layering/Openable/Interactive

I recently attended a class at my local stamp shop, and we were given Kaisercraft kits to create our own version of a Christmas display box. I love how we were all given the same 'goodies' but the end results differed so much. I also thought this idea would be ideal for this week's challenge:


We started off with the wooden frame which we had to paint, using green paint. We then layered the 12x12 paper onto the backing board before gluing the 'frame' on top.
Once that was all in place, we were able to decorate each 'box' to our own liking.


 


 



The idea of the 'display boxes' also lends itself to adding family photos, small trinkets, etc. I would love to create another one of these frames, using a Nativity scene!

Thanks for popping in! Do hop over to the Eclectic Ellapu blog and have a look at what the other ladies have dreamed up!



Tools & Products - Kaisercraft:
Wooden Shape/Frame
12x12 Paper (Twig & Berry Collection)
1x Packet of Collectibles (Twig & Berry Collection)
Flowers
Wooden Flourish & Star

Tools & Products - Other:
Wooden peg - Bella Creationz
Rhinestones, Ribbon, Cross pendant & Twine - Stash
Start on folded Christmas tree and heart button: BoBunny
Glossy Accents
Glimmer Mist (Gold)
Green & Gold paint (provided by the store)




Banners for Foster Kids Blog Hop

Banners for Foster Kids Birthday Party's
Blog Hop

Hi! Welcome to Foster Kids Birthday Party's Blog Hop! Here is a bit of background info from Jennifer about the hop:

Many of you may be familiar with CardMonkey's awesome banner hops for kids. I was so inspired by them that I wanted to find another opportunity to do good with my crafting. I happened upon a volunteer at Birthday Magic at a work event & followed up with them. They loved the idea of handmade birthday banners, so I put out the call and I was lucky to have 15 awesome crafters join me! So today you will get to see everyone's creations!


If you've never heard of Birthday Magic, you can see their site here - 
BirthdayMAGIC is a program of the Volunteer Center of Sacramento, which provides personalized monthly birthday parties to children currently living in Sacramento area homeless shelters, transitional living facilities, community programs or residential treatment centers.

The goal of BirthdayMAGIC is to brighten the lives of children by providing fun, meaningful and memorable birthday parties during what can be an awkward and challenging experience in their lives.

Each month, children living in these shelters will celebrate birthdays – through financial support, volunteer help and the BirthdayMAGIC program, these wonderful children will receive a birthday party thrown in their honor.

For more information on sponsoring a party please contact us at info@volunteersac.org or call (916) 567-3100.

I'm looking forward to dropping off all the amazing banners for them to use in the parties!

So now, sit back & enjoy all the great banners!!!


The guidelines we were given for the banners were:
Gender neutral
Suitable for ages 3-12
Fairly sturdy

I chose bright colours and decided on a Disney theme as all kids love Disney and it's suitable for both boys and girls.
I cut the triangle pennants using my Spellbinders Nested Lacey Pennants but had to cut two shapes for each pennant to ensure that it was sturdy enough.
The letters for happy birthday were cut at 4", using my Slice machine.
I used my 'Mickey' punch by EK Success to add the 'Disney' element.
All the materials used were from my stash.

Here are some close-ups:

 


 

You should have started the hop at: Jennifer Restivo's Blog and the next person on the blog is Jamie Moore


Here is the blog line-up:


Madeleen Field (you are here)



Tonia Williams www.twcards.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much for hopping with us.


Sunday 4 November 2012

Eclectic Ellapu - Vintage

Hello there and welcome back!

Today I'm sharing my latest project for the Purple Team over at the Eclectic Ellapu Challenge Blog. The theme for this week is:

Vintage!


The image and sentiment are from the 'Old Fashioned Afternoon' set by the Sweet Stamp Shop.
To make the ruffled ribbon, I ran the black ribbon under the sewing machine scrunching it as it stitched. I then added the cream ribbon on top, glueing it down onto the black ribbon using Tombow Mono Multi Glue.
I stamped the image and sentiment using Versamark ink and embossed it with my heat gun using black embossing powder.
Lastly, I added the black rhinestones.
Cardstock is Black Onyx and Ivory by GinaK Designs.

I can't wait to see what our lovely peeps come up with, so do play along and add your creations to Miss Linky over on our challenge blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Hugs,
M

Saturday 3 November 2012

Gift

Hi there,

Welcome back to this week's challenge on The Outlawz Paper a la Mode Team. Your challenge is to create a gift - it doesn't have to be Christmas and can be anything but it cannot be a card! I chose to make a Christmas tree decoration, using my Slice machine after seeing a video tutorial on YouTube.


 

The large star measures 4" (approx. 10cm) and the smaller one (from the center cut of the larger one) measures 1.5" (approx. 4cm). I cut 8 stars and layered them, although the video only shows 4. You can choose how many layers you'd like to add.

Here is a link to the tutorial video on YouTube by Two Peas in a Bucket: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jsRVdYLnC4

That's me for now. Thanks for visiting!
Hugs,
M

Sunday 28 October 2012

Crafty Card Gallery

Hi there,

Welcome back! I have some very exciting news to share with you today: My friend Jennifer has asked me to be part of a brand new design team - The Crafty Card Gallery! I am super excited to be a part of this team and today I'm showing off my very first creation for this DT.

Jen's challenge for the DT this month was to create something with the things we already have - either sitting in your stash or sitting on your craft desk. No going out and buying new things! Well, when I first saw the challenge, I knew just what I'd use! I recently ordered some really cute clear stamps from Karber Stamps and they've been sitting on my craft desk just waiting to be played with!

Let's see if you recognise these characters:


Yes! It's the super cute guys from 'The Wizard of Oz'!

Thanks so much for popping in!
Hugs,
M

Tools ; Products used:
Cardstock: GinaK Design pure luxury in White & Turquoise Sea
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Copic Markers
Stickles (cloud & Dorothy's shoes) & Glossy Accents (everyone's eyes)
Pink Paislee: London Market (Clouds) & Indigo Bleu (yellow tiles & background DP)
Dies: Clouds (MFT) Yellow tiles (Sweet Stamp Shop)
Foam tape & glue dots

Saturday 27 October 2012

Puppy Love

Hi there and welcome back to another week's challenge.

I'm back this week with my creation for the latest challenge over on The Outlawz (Paper a la Mode team). This week, your challenge is to use the negative cuts from your die cuts.


The cardstock is GinaK Designs pure luxury in White, Little Boy Blue and Kraft. The image is by Penny Black, and the sentiment from the 'Whimsical Spring' stamp set by Theresa Momber and also available from GinaK Designs. Image and sentiment stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.
I coloured the puppy using Copic markers and sponged the edges with Tim Holtz distress ink in Tumbled Glass (not quite the right blue), so I sponged Faded Jeans over the top.
You can't see it in the picture but I popped the image up on foam tape to highlight it more. Before layering the cardstock, I die cut the scalloped circle from the Kraft, using my Cuttlebug and layered it onto the blue cardstock before using foam tape to adhere the layers to the white card base.

Thanks for popping in!
Hugs,
M

Sunday 21 October 2012

Eclectic Ellapu: Purple Team Challenge (Week 2)

Hi there,
I'm back with my creation for this week's Eclectic Ellapu Challenge. This awesome challenge blog started for the first time last week and the DT is super excited about all the entries we received!

This week's challenge is all about Halloween. Since I don't own any Halloween stamps or goodies, I had to improvise. Have a look:



I cut the large orange circle, the scalloped circle and the yellow moon with my Cuttlebug and some Spellbinders dies and used some circle punches (different sizes) to make the spider's head and body. I wanted the spider to have a fuzzy look, and added black flock (you can't really see that too well in the picture). I used Tombow liquid glue for the flock. Lastly, I added the googly eyes and some baker's twine from The Twinery for the legs. The silver twine is some embroidery thread from my stash. I added the sentiment using some glittery alphabet also stickers from my stash. All cardstock is by GinaK Designs.

Thanks for popping in. Do hop over to the other ladies' blogs to have a nosey and don't forget to play along!

Hugs,
M

Saturday 20 October 2012

Nature Inspiration Challenge - The Outlawz

Hi there,

Welcome back! Today I would like to show you my latest creation for this week's Paper a la Mode Challenge over on The Outlawz. I'm hosting this week's challenge, and I decided to make it a nature inspiration challenge after taking a walk in my neighbourhood earlier in the week. This is a picture I took of my neighbour's tree:


The tree is covered in millions of small blooms and they are just gorgeous!
I decided to use a Penny Black stamp image for this card, together with a sentiment by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.


I cut the image and pink matting layer using the Deckled Rectangles by Spellbinders (together with my Cuttlebug). The flourish was cut using a die by My Favourite Things. The image was coloured with Copic Markers.
All cardstock is by GinaK Designs.

Thanks for popping in!
Hugs,
M

Monday 15 October 2012

Exciting News: Eclectic Ellapu Challenge Blog

Hi there,

I'm here today to share some SUPER EXCITING news: There is a new challenge blog starting today:


And the best news is, that Elaine has invited me to be a part of her DT!! She has two DT teams, a Pink team and a Purple team and I am so privileged to be a member of the Purple team!

The theme kicking us off on our very first challenge is 

Anything Goes

I can't wait to see what some of you will come up with!
Catch you later!

Saturday 13 October 2012

'Use What You Don't' Challenge

Hi there,

I'm back today with this week's Paper a la Mode Challenge: 'Use What You Don't'

How many of you have been collecting crafty 'stuff' for a number of years now, and find that there's a few items you've never used? I know I have a few of those goodies floating around my craft room! Well, this week Theresa is challenging us to use those neglected goodies and be creative with it!

Before I show you my creation though, I have to share my exciting news! I won the main prize on the Digistamps4Joy blog hop and I was gifted the awesome 'Fall Fairy' digi as my prize! I couldn't wait to use that gorgeous fairy and decided to use her for today's challenge.

This is what I've come up with:


The cardstock is GinaK Designs pure luxury in Ivory, Sweet Corn & Sweet Mango and the DP is by BasicGrey (Indie Bloom).

Here is the list of 'what I don't':
  • Digi - I never use digis because I've always had issues with the ink from my printer smearing/smudging when I use Copic markers to colour. Well, I've tried a new technique: heat setting the digis after printing, using my heat gun. Voila! It worked! I've now printed and heat set a whole heap of cute digis to colour in front of the TV at night!
  • I received the green seam binding ribbon in an assorted pack about a year ago and never liked the colour! It just didn't inspire me! LOL Anyway, It was the ideal colour to combine with the fall leaves in the digi! (Sadly the picture doesn't do it any justice, but believe me, it looks great in real life!)
  • The BasicGrey DP - I've had that pack sitting here for almost a year and have never used the fall colours.
  • I really wanted to add some skeleton leaves, but since the challenge is to use the stuff we usually don't (and I didn't want to go and buy leaves), I used my Tim Holtz distress markers to make some leaves with the GinaK 'Fall Foliage' stamp set. I used the kiss technique to create the leaves. I've had the distress markers for about 3 months now and this was my first time using them - I know, that's really sad! LOL
Lastly, I added some stickles to her wings - all fairies have shiny wings!! LOL

That's me for today! Please hop over again soon!
Hugs,
M

Saturday 6 October 2012

Thinking of You

Hi there and welcome back!

As promised, I'm back today with this week's Paper a la Mode Challenge - making a 'Thinking of You' card. This week's sketch by MojoMonday really got my creative juices flowing:

 

and this is my creation for the challenge:


The cardstock is GinaK Designs Pure Luxury in White, Vibrant Violet, Lovely Lavender, Wild Lilac and Passionate Pink (butterflies). The  DP is 'Parisian Garden' also by GinaK Designs. The image and sentiment are from 'Buds & Vases' illustrated by Melanie Muenchinger and available from StampTV. Both were stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and the image was coloured using Copic Markers. The lilac seam binding ribbon is from The Cat's Pajamas. I punched the pink butterflies with my Letack butterfly punch. Oh yes, and I added stickles and pink pearlies from my stash.

I'll be sending this card to a very special friend! I'm also entering this card into this week's  "Mix it up Monday Challenge" over on StampTV.

That's me for today folks!
Hugs,
M


Friday 5 October 2012

Sweet Stamp Shop Challenge

Hi there and welcome back!

We've come to the end of our first week of the school holidays and I can't believe we only have one more week left! In today's post, I'll share the two cards I made for the latest challenge over at the Sweet Stamp Shop.
Our Current Bi-Weekly Challenge

Nicole and the Sweet Tooth ladies now run a bi-weekly challenge and the latest challenge require some form of embossing. The SSS now also design their own metal dies and I jumped at the opportunity to order the 'Snapshot Fun' die, which can turn any stamped image into an instant 'polaroid'! I couldn't wait to use it!

For my first card, I used both dry and heat embossing. I stamped the image (from 'Under the Sea') in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured it using Copic markers. I cut the frame using 'Snapshot Fun'. The background paper was embossed in my Cuttlebug, using the Swiss Dots folder (Soft Sand by GinaK Designs) and the sentiment was heat embossed with black embossing powder. I also added some  Smooch and Stickles. The twine is Timeless Twine by Bella Creationz. The DP is from the Indigo Bleu pack by Pink Paislee.


I really liked the 'polaroid' look of the first card and wanted to use 'Snapshot Fun' again on my next card. I stamped the images in Memento Tuxedo Black (both images from the 'Lil Sweet Peps' set). I stamped the girl twice, once on the cardstock and again on a post-it note, which I then used as a mask before stamping the boy. I coloured the image using Copic markers. The white cardstock is GinaK Designs pure luxury White and the DP is by BoBunny (Alora Collection). I also heat embossed the sentiment and added some glossy accents to the heart-shaped clip in her hair.


Thanks so much for popping in! Please remember to come back again tomorrow as I'll be telling you all about the latest Paper a la Mode Challenge over on The Outlawz!

Hugs,
M

Saturday 29 September 2012

Embossing Challenge & News

Hi there and welcome back for another week's challenge on The Outlawz (Paper a la Mode Team). For this week's challenge, we would like you to create a stamped or embossed background. This is what I have come up with:


I used cardstock in Ivory and Black Onyx by GinaK Designs. The stamped rose image is from "A Year of Flowers" by Melanie Muenchinger and the sentiment is from the "Various Verses" stamp set. Both sets are available from GinaK Designs (here). I heat embossed both the images and the sentiment using versamark ink and black embossing powder. The ribbon is pure luxury, also from GinaK Designs.

I'm also entering this card in this week's Live Chat Challenge over on StampTV (STVLIVECHAT9).


The Sweet Stamp Shop has some very exciting news this week:

Visit The Store

Nicole has teamed up with Epiphany Crafts for this week and they have some SWEET stuff to share with one very lucky person. Do hop over there and show them some sweet to get yourself in the draw! They're also having a sale - their stamps are super cool and I highly recommend them! I'll be sharing some of my own creations using their stamps in the very near future (since the school holidays have just started!).

Thanks for popping in!
Hugs,
M

Wednesday 26 September 2012

BLOG CANDY WINNER!!!!
SEPTEMBER BLOG HOP WITH SEAN & REGINA

Hi and welcome back,
Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments on our recent blog hop! I get a buzz every time someone comments on one of my blog posts. I had a fabulous time with all of you and would like to also thank Sean and Regina for everything they do to make these hops happen. Now without further ado, the winner of my special blog candy for this month's hop is ......... drumroll please ......

Cheryl Wright

Cheryl will receive the Various Verses stamp set by GinaK Designs as her prize.

I had so much fun, that I decided to draw a second prize winner, who will receive the card I made for the hop. That lucky person is 

Elaine (Ellapu)

Thank you so much for hopping along with us. We will have another hop for you next month. In the mean time, please pop in often as I continue to share my creations.

Big hugs,
M

Saturday 22 September 2012

September Blog Hop with Sean & Regina



WELCOME TO THE SEPTEMBER BLOG HOP!
“Haunted Hop”

Hi everyone!  Thanks for playing along in our September blog hop!  The Blog Hop with Sean & Regina is featuring cards and sentiments celebrating HALLOWEEN this month! 
Join us on our haunting hop!  Each host/hostess will have a card creation posted with a Halloween theme.

OUR BLOG HOP SPONSOR!


Scrapbook Stamp Society is our blog hop sponsor!  The overall winner will receive digi’s from our sponsor.  Please visit them at http://scrapbookstampsociety.com/index.php?! Also some of our blog hop host/hostess designers will be offering blog candy as prizes on their blog sites, so please do not forget to visit his/her blog (and leave a comment) to be eligible for bonus blog hop prizes!

CARDS SAMPLES FOR OUR BLOG HOPPERS!


The dark purple and orange cardstock are from GinaK Designs. The purple and white DP is by Basic Grey (Indie Bloom) and the dress-up image is by My Favourite Things (Funny Bunny - colouring with Copic markers). The sentiment is hand written and cut with Spellbinders' Fancy Tags. The twine is by The Twinery.

LET'S GET HOPPING.....
Now it is your turn to blog hop with all of our friends!   
The rules are simple:
  1. Leave a comment on my blog first (and become a follower to enter a chance to win the grand prize from Scrapbook Stamp Society)!  In addition, I am giving away some BONUS BLOG CANDY
  2. Go down the list of blogs visiting all of them (see below).  Leave comments on their blog pages to be eligible for bonus blog candy from select blog hosts. The blog hop host/hostee offering bonus blog candy will indicate that he/she has a bonus blog candy prize so read their blog post carefully.  Each blog will have the name and blog address for the next host/hostess in line for the blog hop.  Our number 2 on the list is Regina at http://cardsbyregina.blogspot.com (The next blog will be Regina’s and so on).
  3. At the end of the hop, a random winner will be chosen for the Blog Hop Grand Prize from our sponsor and select blog hop hosts for Bonus Blog Candy.  The deadline for leaving comments is Monday, September 24, 2012 at 8pm CST.   Winners of the Grand Prize and bonus Blog Candy will be announced Tuesday, September 25, 2012.
The Blog Hop with Sean & Regina participants are as follows:
Sean Fetterman
Regina Hardy
Zenita Smith
Lori McAree
Angela Bonnano
Patti Gilliam
Michele Smith
Jennifer Restivo
Nancy Leppek
Nancy Mullins
Madeleen Field
Roxie Nitti
Linda Brace Drozd

******** BONUS BLOG CANDY HERE ********
One lucky blog hopper will receive a prize from me in the form of a GinaK stamp set entitled Various Verses


Please sign up and leave a comment to be eligible to win blog candy here!

Thank you for visiting my blog.  Please hop over to Roxie’s blog at: http://roxiesstampingroom.blogspot.com and show her some love!

Hugs,
M