Welcome to 2011 - Happy New Year!!!

Hello to everyone out here in Blogland and welcome to 2011.  For those of you who haven't quite made it past the date line - hurry up! - you're missing out!  Haa haa!

Okay, now I know I've been totally slack about the whole posting thing for two weeks, but I've managed to get some stuff done which, while still relating to crafting, didn't have a lot to do with postable, commentable achievements.  I have tidied my studio, which was a long, tedious but overdue job and now I have at least some of my table back for actual creativity.  I always find it amazing (and I know it's not just me) that the creating spirit grabs hold of us and gets us into such a frenzy that there is no time to put things away.  So even if you are lucky like me and have table space which is 180 cm square (6x6 foot), you work in a patch which might, if you are very very good about keeping it clear, be the size of a 12x12 piece of paper!!!  We're all insane :)

Have also had time to catch up on a swag of magazines which needed reading and I got some inspiration from the most recent Take Ten.  I have been playing with making my own backgrounds again, with DTP work using dye inks (Adirondacks and spritzes of Tattered Angels' Glimmer Mist mostly - yummy combos).

Throw down a shadow stamp and a sentiment, mount it on to a couple of layers and see what you get:

Not too shabby, huh?!

Now I spose you'll be after some details - and today I actually took notice of what I was doing.  I'll wait for you all to pick yourselves up, now, LOL.

Cardstock is SU! Elegant Eggplant and Blush Blossom

Patterned paper is Black market Paper Society's 6x6 pad called "Let it Bloom"

DTP was done with Adirondack Eggplant and Butterscotch, and Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Antique Brass and possibly the leftover of the Juneberry Wine

Stamps are SU! Just Believe (flowers), Happy Harmony (sentiment) and the dragonfly came from Sunday International - an unmounted rubber sheet set I bought waaaay back when (we're talking 2002, maybe) and I have no idea of the name of the set, or if it's even produced anymore.

And although you can't see it particularly well, I have gone over some of the Eggplant coloured specks with Ranger's Stickles glitter glue "Golden Rod".

The ribbon and brads are from my stash - have no idea which companies - the ribbon was lurking down the bottom of my scarily out of control ribbon mess and peeped out at me, then dove out of sight and had me searching for it for another 10 minutes.  An off cut about 20 cms long, but the perfect colour.  Sometimes it's good to be a hoarder :)

Ooooh, and another thing I almost forgot to tell you:
I made the coolest little flags to put into my little pots of condiments for the Christmas ham - you know what I mean?  The little pots of mustard and chutney and pickle and relish...
Well, they were all looking kind of mushy and unappetizing, plus I didn't want anyone confused over what was available.  I was wondering how to let everyone know what each one was and I had a rush of blood to the head, raced to my studio, punched out 4 tags a big tag punch (Paper Shapers), punched two little holes into the tapered end of the tag with the SU! Double Circle punch, wrote what the condiment was and put a skewer/round toothpick through the holes - it worked a treat:

I received lots of comments telling me what a good idea it was.  And now I'm thinking - flag for a ship card, flag on top of a castle, pennant held by a knight or in some kind of sports themed card (basketball, baseball...).  And then there are little flags with kids (or adults, for that matter) names on them to put into cupcakes to let them know where to sit at the table at parties.  Bling them up a bit, maybe some patterned paper... even get them to make their own - that would keep 'em occupied for a little while.  Oh yeah - I'm having fun with this one...

Okay - enough brainstorming for one day - especially for the first day of the year.

Happy crafting,
Bron

I'm going to see Bon Jovi!!!

Yep - I'm off tomorrow and heading to Sydney to see Bon Jovi in concert.  Am totally stoked (not least because I'm going with a friend and we're leaving the fellas and the kids behind - whoooo hooo!)

So, in anticipation of not being able to post for a couple of days, if not more, I have put together another card.  Still another of the talented Mo Manning's many offerings - this one is part of a set: North Pole Employees.  Just too cute to resist for this holiday season!

Don't ask me what Copics I used.  The cardstock is SU! Taken with Teal, the aqua background paper is from a 6x6 paper pad by Black Market Paper Society called "Lucky n Love" and the other background paper has been done using Adirondack ink "Wild Plum" and a SU! jumbo roller "Petals", and then smudged slightly (it's not quite so intense as it looks).

I have also just received my first three Tilda stamps, one of which (Silent Night Tilda) I just had to have once I had seen Carole over at Apples & Pears use her so many times - go have a look: Apples & Pears.  Isn't her colouring amazing?  I'm jealous as all get out, but it gives me something to aspire to *grin*.

So there you go - an update for the weekend, while I go paint the town red in Sydney.  Wish me luck - Sydney had an incredible amount of rain today - from what Will was telling me, two nasty storm cells met in the middle and then tried to float the city into the harbour.  Hopefully it will have sorted itself out by tomorrow, both for the trip up there (I'm driving) and for the concert (at the Sydney Football Stadium).

I might wander over to the Bureau of Meteorology site and have a look...

Happy crafting,
Bron

The silly season cometh

For some reason, I am seriously behind the eight ball when it comes to Christmas this year.  I have almost no presents bought, I cancelled the "putting up the tree" party I always throw on the weekend in December closest to the 1st and even though the tree went up, it was a quiet and fairly uneventful day which left me feeling a bit... anticlimactic - a bit "is that IT?" about the whole thing.  It hasn't helped that a drought which has lasted for over a decade has broken (and how!) here on the east coast of Australia, and Will (and I, to a lesser extent) have been twitchy, waiting for the calls for him to go and help man a crew to aid with the clean up (he belongs to the volunteer Rural Fire Service, a part of Emergency Services and as such, gets called out to fight fires, clean up disaster sites or mop up floods - depending on which hissy fit Mother Nature is throwing at the time).

So it's been a little chaotic around here for a week or two, although they are saying that we are looking at some decent weather for the next 4 days or so, which is a real relief.  Perhaps I can clean my house and get rid of the quantities of mud which has been tracked in (not to mention getting some clothes out on the line and actually still having them there, and dry, a few hours later - the wind has been revolting, too).

Will has taken the girls out to see the Christmas lights in suburbs close by, so I've taken this chance to blog and upload the card I made out of Mo Manning's image:

Ink: Stampin Up "Glorious Green" and "Real Red"
Paper: Inque Boutique "Memoirs" (grey under the image)
Crate Paper "Restorations Collection" (red under the grey)
Stampin Up "Glorious Green" cardstock
Stamp set Stampin Up "Tiny Tags"
Tiny Tag punch from Stampin Up
Silver brads and metallic pipecleaners from my stash.

I did some extra shading with Copic C5 and C9 underneath the image.

Happy crafting,
Bron

Catching up

Haven't posted for a couple of days.  Don't know if that is correct or not - how often do bloggers post?  What is the norm, do you think?  I think it is too much to ask for a daily post, but I was kinda hoping to make it at least every other day.  And now I'm thinking I need to revise that goal down to "when I can".  Considering I am basing my knowledge of blogging on movies like "Julie & Julia", my expectations are pretty high, I guess.  That chick was not just posting, but cooking on a daily basis.  Hell of a way to start your blogging life.  So yeah, time for a blogging reality check, methinks.

My youngest daughter (I have two) was not feeling well yesterday, so her dad stayed home with her.  And today I was home - so I'm taking the chance to blog this evening, just in case life, the universe and everything gets in my way tomorrow.  Or the next day....

I finished the card using the image of the bear with the Christmas cracker I posted the other day.  Wanna see?

Not too bad, huh?  The cardstock is Stampin Up (Lovely Lilac and Summer Sun), the sentiment is from the SU set "Best Yet" and the paper is from the Basic Grey 6x6 pad "Sugar Rush".  All the other details are in my previous post.

Now I've got to work on the next card - it's using an image by Mo Manning, who is totally, awesomely talented and I love her sketches.  I've coloured the image with Copics:

R-46 (Strong Red) for the hat, B00 (Frost Blue) for shading on the pom pom and the hatband, G16 (Malachite) and G19 (Bright Parrot Green) for the bow and C-3, C-5, W-4 and W-6 for the fur.

Now it's time to put him (her?) on a card.  Someone posted a comment asking if I colour with papers and cardstock already chosen.  I don't.  I just colour the picture (the easy part) and then start going through my stash of stuff to find papers, cardstock, ribbon and other embellishments which work.  This is the hard part, for me.  I sometimes get so swamped with all the choices, I stall and the card doesn't get made for ages.  Or sometimes it just doesn't "speak to me" and the card doesn't get made for ages.  I get a great deal of pleasure out of colouring images - making the cards is usually a much more difficult process for me.  Of course, there are always the cards which pop into my head fully formed - and that's when I spend hours chasing down that paper or ribbon or embellishment I am absolutely certain I have, but can't for the life of me find.  Drives me out of my gourd with frustration.  So the card doesn't get made for ages.  Hmmmmmm... I'm sensing a pattern here.

So that's my process *grin*.  Good thing I'm not in it for the money, or I'd be living in a cardboard box (a very prettily coloured and embellished cardboard box, but still....)

Until next time, happy crafting,
Bron