I left my laptop open and now I can't find my mouse......

 Hi blogging friends,

Sorry I haven't been around for almost 2 weeks.  My loved one has been unwell so I haven't had time for crafting - and then on Sunday night, after having a lovely Mother's Day, something I ate didn't agree with me and I was sick all night and only just started eating properly again today.  Not quite what I needed when I was caring for my loved one at the same time!

Anyway, I thought I would share a little photo of Ruby I took a couple of weeks ago.  I had put my laptop down to do something and when I returned, this is what I saw:

I had a great deal of difficulty getting her off too because she didn't want to move - it was warm and that's where she wanted to be!  I am very careful now what website I leave open in case Ruby buys something on EBay LOL!

I am taking my loved one to hospital tomorrow (Friday) for some tests which are just routine and on Saturday, I will be going to the Picture to Page Scrapbook Show at East Burwood.  It will be wonderful to have some "me time" - a whole day to myself - which hasn't happened for ages:  I can't wait!!  Hopefully I will get some time in my craft room soon

Have a great weekend!

Jocelyn

Wild Rose Studio - Teddy Topper birthday card

Hi blogging friends

It's a chilly Saturday night here where I live in Australia and I am sitting in front of the slow-combustion fire whilst I type this and watching my AFL footy team Geelong Cats play Richmond on TV - and Geelong is winning so I am very happy!  We had a roast for dinner - yum - and now I am having a cup of tea.  Perhaps it doesn't sound very interesting - even boring - but compared to last year when I was spending much of my time at hospital with my loved one, it is bliss!   I didn't even notice the seasons last year because when you live at hospital, the seasons lose any meaning as it is always warm at the hospital and you are stuck inside.   Dealing with a life-threatening illness changes you and your outlook on life:  simple things bring so much joy to me and these days, I tend to live in the moment and don't worry about tomorrow.  It's been unseasonably warm this autumn and I am really hanging out for cold days and (hopefully) plenty of rain as I have had to water the garden alot recently because we haven't had the usual autumn rains.  Anyway, I shall stop chatting now and get on with my card........

Wild Rose Studio recently released some gorgeous stamps along with some pre-coloured toppers - and of course, being a lover of anything teddy bear, somehow a set of the Teddy Toppers found its way into my shopping basket....happy sigh..... 

The topper was square but I wanted it a bit more fancy so diecut it using my Lifestyle/Quickutz Nesting Frames dies and my Big Shot.

The side panel was embossed using my Crafter's Companion Embossalicious Die'sire 6" x 6" Floral Square embossing folder and my Big Shot.

The designer paper on the card base is by Prima - Meadow Lark - so pretty.  The side panel is from the other side of the designer paper.  I have been doing well using my stash of designer papers rather than buying new papers - one of my New Year resolutions for 2013.  Mind you, that may all change when I go to the Picture to Page Scrapbooking and Card Making Show at East Burwood on the weekend of the 18th/19th May, as I may be tempted by lots of pretty papers.......LOL!!    If you have never been to this show, I highly recommend it.  Parking is free and it is very well organised.  Check out the organiser's blog with all the info:  Picture to Page Scrapbook Show

Here is a close-up of the sweet image:

I added some Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the edges of the flower petals and the teddy's cheeks.  The glitteriness doesn't look as gaudy in real life. 

The pink organza ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  I added Fray Stop to the cut ends to stop them from fraying.  I sewed on a pink flower button to the bow then glued the bow on with fabric glue.  I really love the softness that the organza ribbon adds to the card.

I used my Perfect Layers Tools to edge the layers with a 1/8" border.

Lastly, I added 3 pink self-adhesive Sparklets to the bottom right-hand side:

I couldn't figure out where to add a sentiment and whatever I tried just didn't look right so I (obviously) left it off - and really, the Teddy Topper says it all with the present.  This card is going to my niece who is turning 11.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenge -

The ABC Challenge - M for Make It Sparkle

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a fab weekend!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  None

Ink:  None

Designer paper:  Prima Meadow Lark Windsong 12" x 12"

Accessories:  Pre-coloured Topper - Wild Rose Studio - Teddies, Lifestyle/Quickutz Nesting Frames 10, Big Shot, Perfect Layers Tools, Crafter's Companion Die-sire Embossalicious 6" x 6" EF6 Floral square embossing folder, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, pink organza ribbon, Fray Stop, pink flower button - Spotlight, pink sewing thread, fabric glue, Kaisercraft RS415 Princess sparklets, cardstock - pink, white

Sympathy card for an Auntie

Hi blogging friends

The card I am sharing today is a Sympathy card.  My husband's last remaining Auntie passed away aged 97.  I found the card quite difficult to make because we really don't know that side of the family - and we had no idea whether any of the children (my husband's cousins) have any sort of faith or not - and therefore wanted to be very respectful as I never push my beliefs on anyone nor preach - there's nothing worse!  I personally, had only seen the Auntie once at a funeral and have never met any of her children.  

It took ages to make the card which seems odd when the finished result is so simple - but I just seemed to faff around and couldn't make up my mind what colour ribbon I should use and then after putting a white ribbon on, I promptly took it off again because it just didn't look right - and then wondered whether I should add the hearts next to the sentiment - uggh - just didn't come together easily - one of those difficult cards!  I left it at my desk numerous times and kept going back to it with a 'fresh' mind and finally things came together and I settled on a soft lavender organza ribbon to contrast the white - and here is the result:

I had a hard time photographing my card - and no matter whether I photographed it in the sun or with a cloudy sky, the white card base still looks a bit lavendery (not sure if that's a word - if it isn't, it is now!) - and no amount of fiddling with my photo editing program made it look white.....sigh.....oh well!

The card is a Matchbook card but turned on its side.  You can see another Matchbook Sympathy card HERE on my blog which I made ages ago.  Note that I bought this card already made up as a Matchbook card in a pack of 10 from Riot Art and Craft and the scalloped edge was already done - but it is easy to make one yourself and if you look at the link for my previous Matchbook card, I have given some instructions - just scroll down.  Please note that at this link, I called the card a Matchbox card which is incorrect - however the instructions etc. are all correct - I just had the name wrong!

The right-hand side of the card was embossed using my Cuttlebug and Roses embossing folder.

I used my Scor-Pal to score two lines on the left-hand side of the card then added the ribbon in 2 separate elements.  The bow itself was made with my Bow Easy and I added some Fray Stop to the cut ends to stop them from fraying.  I glued this side panel down so it doesn't open and the embossed side just tucks into this flap - but made sure that I left enough of the flap unstuck so that the embossed side tucks in enough to hold it.

I stamped the sentiment using London Fog Memento ink, added two punched lavender hearts (I used an MS Looped Hearts edge punch - they are the leftover punchies) then popped this panel up on dimensionals.  This is my first time stamping using grey ink and I really love the softness it added to the card as opposed to using black ink.

For the card inside, I again stamped the sentiment with London Fog ink and added hearts to mirror the card front.

So simple - don't know why it took me so long!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stamp-It Australia siset014 sentiment set (both sentiments)

Ink:  Memento London Fog

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Roses embossing folder, Scor-Pal, lavender organza ribbon, Bow Easy, Fray Stop, Lifestyle Nesting Ovals die, dimensionals, Matchbook card - Riot Art and Craft, white cardstock scrap for sentiment panel, lavender cardstock

Punches:  Martha Stewart Looped Hearts edge (lavender hearts)

I have joined Bloglovin'

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Hi blogging friends,

Did you know that Google Reader is ending in July?   I am sure that most of you would know by now and many other Bloggers have recommended Bloglovin' to me - which is another type of 'Reader'.  I looked into it and only heard great things so thought I would give it a whirl.  It seems very user friendly and you can import all the blogs that you follow in Google Reader straight into Bloglovin' - all in one simple easy step:  only took me a few minutes and thankfully, there was nothing difficult or technical about it.

Of course, if you are new to my blog, I would love you to add my blog to Bloglovin' so that you can stay updated with my posts.

I have also provided a button at the top left-hand side of my sidebar which you can click on to follow me.

Any questions?  Please feel free to leave a comment below.

Jocelyn

Woodware Space Cadet - nephew's 8th birthday card

Hi blogging friends

It's been a busy couple of weeks since I last posted as it has been school holidays here where I live in Australia.  Inbetween medical appointments and various outings plus family over from interstate, there hasn't been a lot of crafting going on!  I was going to blog about my card yesterday but with the awful bombings at the Boston Marathon, it just didn't seem appropriate.   I shall never understand what goes on in the mind of someone wanting to plant bombs to injure or kill innocent people - it makes no logical sense.  My ♥ heart ♥ goes out to all those affected by this tragedy and I hope that those responsible will be brought to justice very quickly.

The card I am sharing today is for my nephew's 8th birthday - well, technically, he is my GREAT-nephew - but is a year younger than my own daughter!  There is a big generation gap in my husband's extended family and all my nephews and nieces are grown up and many are married with children.   And of course, that makes me a GREAT-Aunt which makes me feel like I am 150 years old - so I just sign my cards "Aunty Jocelyn" which I like a whole lot better!

My (great) nephew loves all things Star Wars which is why I went with the 'Space' theme for my card.   The rocket, stars and sentiment are from one of my favourite stamps sets:  Woodware Space Cadet.  I used this set last year for my nephew's 7th birthday which you can see HERE. 

The images/sentiment were stamped onto watercolour paper using Versafine Onyx Black ink and coloured with Derwent watercolour pencils and a small round #2 paintbrush.  I added Glossy Accents to the rocket and Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the rocket's flame and to the stars.  I lightly chalked around the image with blue chalk.  Here is a close-up - love the shiny effect on the rocket:

I cut the prongs off the 3 glitter star brads and then attached them to the card with Glossy Accents.  I read on the forum at Splitcoaststampers that you can use Glossy Accents for adhering things to your card so I tried it and it works super-well.  My star brads were definitely not going to fall off - yay!  I dislike poking holes into my card to push through the prongs of a brad and find it almost impossible to get several of them to line up perfectly with each other - too much of a fiddle and so frustrating!  I'll be using Glossy Accents from now on!

The middle green panel was embossed using my Big Shot and Crafts Too Stars embossing folder and then I attached some silver/green ric-rac which I found in my stash.  The blue border on this green panel was trimmed to 1/8" using my Perfect Layers Tools. 

I used my Paper Piercer to pierce holes in my blue scalloped circle card base.  Here is a side shot so you can see the layers:

I used one of my Lifestyle Nesting Circle dies to make a white cardstock circle card then attached my finished front panel to it.  You can see my tutorial on how to make a circle card HERE on my blog - just scroll down a little.

And here is pic of the inside.  Very simply done.  The sentiment is by My Memories which I bought from Riot Art and Craft and I used a star punch to punch 3 stars from glitter cardstock in matching colours to the star brads on the card front.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

My Time to Craft - Challenge #217 'In the Sky' where you can use butterflies, birds, balloons, planes etc. but they must be the main image.

Splitcoaststampers Free for All Friday Challenge F4A163 Glittery Happy Birthday from earlier in April - where you need to make a birthday card with glitter.  I purposely chose this particular designer paper because it has lots of glitter on it but it is hard to see the sparkliness other than in the 2nd photo.  Oh well:  at least you can see where I used glitter glue!   Note there are no time limits for playing Splitcoaststampers challenges. 

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope to see you again soon!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Woodware FRCL097 Space Cadet clear set, sentiment card inside - My Memories #141502 Happy Birthday Script MMSWHB wood mount (Riot Art and Craft)

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Designer Paper:  Birch Haberdashery and Craft (Australian company) SP183 (no name on paper)

Accessories:  Big Shot, Lifestyle Scalloped Circle and Circle Nesting Dies, Crafts Too Stars embossing folder, blue Kaisercolour chalk, dimensionals, silver/green ric-rac, Perfect Layers Tools, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, Glossy Accents, Star brads by Making Memories - green from Mini Shimmer Star brads set - red and blue from Stars in Bloom Shimmer set, 140lb watercolour paper, small round #2 paintbrush, Derwent watercolour pencils, paper piercer, cardstock - white, grass green, dark sky blue, green glitter, blue glitter, red glitter

Punches:  Carl CP-1 Star

Circular Side Step Easter Penny Black card

Hi blogging friends

ETA:  I have just fixed the link to Norma's blog for the Circular Side Step card tutorial.  Sorry about that.

Happy Easter!  It is the beginning of school holidays here in Victoria and it will be wonderful to spend time together as a family.   My garden is also desperately needing some work having not had much done other than the basics such as trimming edges, mowing the lawn and the occasional bit of pruning over the past year due to the ongoing care of my loved one.   I love bulbs and being autumn here, it is time to plant them so I had better grab some from my nearest nursery and pop them in the ground before it is too late!  Great rewards for such little effort and I like something that I don't have to worry about watering because I forget to water things all the time......oops.....anyway, I am digressing as usual.......

Each year, I make an Easter card for my daughter and this year, I thought I would try and make a different shaped card.  I have seen a lot of various styles of Stepper Cards around blogland and looked for a tutorial for a Circular Side Step card.  I found a fantastic tutorial from a blog "From my Craft Room" by Norma - and thankfully, Norma had a step-by-step detailed photo tutorial and I was able to make the card at my first attempt.  No mean feat for someone like me who is pretty useless at understanding how to make anything other than a basic shaped card!  You can check out Norma's tutorial HERE.  Thanks Norma!

I used my Big Shot and largest circle die from my Lifestyle (formerly Quickutz) Nesting Circle Die Set to cut the buttercream circle base.  From there, I followed Norma's tutorial but cut the slit 2.5cm (or 1 inch if you are imperial) from the circle centre and used my Scor Pal for the scoring.  I then used my 2nd largest die and diecut the Doodlebug designer paper (which has been in my stash forever) and then proceeded as per the buttercream circle base and attached it to the circle base. 

I stamped the adorable Penny Black Bunny Kiss image onto watercolour paper with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink and coloured the image with Derwent Watercolour pencils and a small round #2 paintbrush.  I chalked around the sky with blue chalk and the ground with a mix of brown, grey and green chalk.  Here is a close-up of the image:

 

I added some Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the orange flowers as well as the bunny's and chick's cheek.  I punched some tiny hearts using my EK Success Arrows border punch (they are the leftover punchies that look like tiny hearts to me) using green, orange and buttercream cardstock and glued them on with Tombow glue.

Probably the hardest thing I found with the card was how to embellish it to make it all look 'balanced' because it was so different to my regular cards and out of my comfort zone.  In the end, I settled for something simple and just added the organza ribbon and the 3 coloured buttons.  The buttons have had matching sewing thread sewn through and then glued them onto the card with Crafter's Pick Incredibly Tacky glue.  The ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  I added some Fray Stop to the cut ribbon edges.

The sentiment is by Lili of the Valley (UK) and was stamped with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink.  The tiny flower on each side of the sentiment panel was coloured with watercolour pencils and then had some Kindyglitz added.  This sentiment panel was diecut using my Spellbinder Circle and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities.  Here is photo at a different angle of my card:

Here is a photo of the inside:

The sentiment on the card inside is by Pink Gem Designs and was stamped with Vintage Sepia Ink.  I used my Martha Stewart Looped Hearts edge punch to punch hearts in the same colour cardstock as the tiny hearts on the card front and then added some Kindyglitz.

The white sentiment panel was diecut and scored as per the card front but using a smaller circle die, but I trimmed off a section on the far right-hand side because when you closed the card front, that part of the white cardstock was visible and it didn't look very nice:  I thought it looked a lot better by just having the buttercream cardstock visible.

Here is a photo of the back of the card:

 

The 'Handmade by Jocelyn' stamp I had made by Jemac Rubber Stamps who are located in Sydney, Australia.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

The Squirrel and the Fox Challenge #40 - Easter or Passover

Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Anything Goes

Splitcoaststampers Technique Lovers Challenge TLC418 - Gotta Love Circles

Splitcoaststampers March Fan Club challenge - Central Theme of 'Just Hatched' and 'Word Play' (sorry I can't give you any more details on the Fan Club challenge as you have to be a member of the Fan Club)

Thanks for stopping by!  Wishing you a very Happy Easter!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:   Penny Black Bunny Kiss! 2563H wood mount, round sentiment by LOTV from their Set 7 - Circular Sentiments (card front), Easter Wishes (card inside) Pink Gem Designs, Custom-made stamp on back of card by Jemac Rubber Stamps Australia

Ink:  Versafine Vintage Sepia

Designer Paper:  Doodlebug Design Inc 1706 citrus squeeze polka dots

Accessories:    Big Shot, Lifestyle Nesting Circles + Nesting Scalloped Circles, Spellbinder Circle + Scalloped Circle Nestabilities, lemon organza ribbon with white dots, Bow Easy, Fray Stop, Scor-Pal, 140lb watercolour paper, #2 round paintbrush, Derwent watercolour pencils, Kaisercolour chalks, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, 3 x buttons from stash with matching sewing thread, Crafter's Pick Incredibly Tacky glue, Tombow glue, cardstock - buttercream, pale green, pale orange, white

Punches:  EK Success Arrows border, Martha Stewart Looped Hearts edge

A Mini birthday card for my nephew

Hi blogging friends

My nephew's birthday is next week and this is the card that I made for him.  Because he drives a Mini and is in a Car Club, I specifically chose this image from a Classic Cars A4 papertole (decoupage if you are in the UK) sheet which I bought on EBay Australia.  The Mini image is very reflective as it is coloured silver and metallic dark blue so was a bit hard to take a photo of; it was perhaps fortunate that it was cloudy!

The Mini pieces were diecut so I popped them out and because the pieces weren't diecut perfectly and there were some white bits showing, I used a Faber-Castell blue metallic texta to colour in the white bits to match the Mini.  All the pieces were put together with 1mm dimensionals. 

I wanted to layer the Mini onto an oval base but the largest die in my Spellbinder Large Oval set wasn't quite big enough so I traced around the outside of the die and hand-cut it.  I stamped the Happy Birthday Background onto the oval using Versamagic Night Sky ink.  Because the stamp image didn't completely cover the oval (because the stamp image is a rectangle), I re-stamped those parts that were missed and used a Stamp Positioner to line them up perfectly.  I inked around the oval with the Night Sky ink to hide any imperfections from handcutting the oval.  Here is a close-up of the dimension:

The designer paper on the card base is by Basic Grey - Granola - and has been in my stash for ages.  I layered it onto navy blue then kraft cardstock.  The side panel was punched with my Fiskars Threading Water border punch (love this punch for masculine cards) and then I added a Scor-Pal line before attaching the dry embossed navy blue panel.

I added some navy blue Candi Dots from the 'Charming' pack to the bottom right-hand side using 2mm dimensionals.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

The ABC Challenge - Just as you like - Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly Challenge - 1-2-3 - where you need to use 1 of one thing, 2 of another and 3 of another - I used 1 designer paper, 2 cardstock colours and 3 Card Candi dots

*************************



As I type this, I am listening to the sound of pouring rain and it is COLD at long last- YAY!  After having weeks and weeks of unbearably hot weather including ridiculously warm and humid nights for sleeping, I am totally over summer (even though technically it's autumn).   We are having a roast dinner for tea tonight - yum - can't wait!   I am totally over salads as well and if I eat another salad, I'm sure I will turn into one LOL!  Probably the only one who isn't happy about the cold weather is our cat Ruby who is snuggled up against the edge of my laptop because the fan is blowing warm air!  Ruby can get quite grumpy when it is cold and I have no doubt she will be curled up on my bed tonight keeping my little tootsies warm which I don't mind one bit.  And I am sure I will sleep a whole lot better snuggled under my blanket.

Here's hoping we start getting "normal" March weather from now on when we should be having much cooler nights and autumn rains.........  

Thanks for stopping by - have a great weekend!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampabilities Happy Birthday Background JR1061 wood-mount

Ink:  Versamagic Night Sky

Designer Paper:  Basic Grey Granola

Accessories:  Spellbinder Large Oval Nestabilities, Big Shot, Scor-Pal, Crafts Too dots square embossing folder, Charming candi dots, 1mm/2mm dimensionals, gingham ribbon, Fray Stop, A4 Classic Cars decoupage/papertole sheet, stamp positioner, cardstock - kraft, navy blue

Punches:  Fiskars Threading Water border