Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Magnetic Memo Pads

Hello there!

Sneaking in with a quick post. Things have been hectic around here for a short while and I have not had time to do much blogging....sorry! I promise to try to get back up to speed soon!

In the mean time, I can show you a fabulous gift idea I shared with friends last week. This 'gift' was inspired by my dear friend Paola, who shared what she had done when making these up for a shop in her area. Thank you dear heart!

I modified mine slightly, by adding a firm strip of plastic underneath the sentiment so that the paper would be able to tear of easily. Basically, this is a memo pad with a very strong magnetic sheet on the back, that will stay firmly in place on your refrigerator. Ideal for everyone to write down when the 'last' item has been used....ha-ha-ha! In real life, we know that does not happen, but we can only try.....lol!


Three different versions! I could not stop making them......

I used ordinary gift wrap, applied with Modge and neatly folded to the back. The Magnet hid the paper ends and ribbon back perfectly.

This is the one I shared with friends.
This is my favorite one and needless to say, the 'girls' loved it as well. They all got stuck in and played all morning. It was such fun and we will be doing it again soon!

Thanks for popping in to see what I have been up to.

See you then and thanks so much for stopping in.

Hugz
Moz

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Birds, Nests & Sweet Children!

Hello! So good of you to stop by to see what I'm busy with.
This Fortnight's challenge, #71, at Sugar Creek Hollow is "Bird's of a Feather". 

I found a lovely image, on my travels some time ago and saved it to my computer. Unfortunately, I did not record the source...Sorry! It is the sweetest, old fashioned image and a lovely verse, which unfortunately, I was not able to include. Because the image is small and there is a sweetness about it, I decided to keep the card in proportion and went with an easel card.



 I created the easel using a Joy die 6002/0147 cut out of Opale Wove Diamond White card. The patterned paper, both floral and blue spots, are from my box of scraps, so no names, sorry, and die cut with Nellie's Multi-Frame Circles. Everything was giving a soft 'touch' of Distress Ink in either Burlap or Old Paper.





I highlighted the eggs in the nest with Glossy Accents and the birds where cut, using Memory Box Resting Birds die, out of Cor'dinations and lightly sanded.

I used beautiful seam binding called Rancho Red, that was gifted to me a very dear friend. At first I thought it was too strong a color and tried out a softer pink, but realised that this color seemed to lift the card somewhat. I tied a double bow, using my Bow Maker (love that gadget!)

Onto the inside of the easel. I wanted some flowers, but fairly flat flowers because of the card closure, so turned to my awesome Olba Punch set. I absolutely love this set as it somehow fits into my idea of  'all things miniature'. I punched out and shaped these little flowers, mounted them and added a little pearl to the centers. I then punched out some leaves, lay then onto the card and arranged the flowers on top of them. They needed a touch of sparkle, so added some Stickles to the flowers with a toothpick!


I wanted a sentiment that was thoughtful and found this lovely one in my stash from Verve. It is VS-09-PJ029 and I stamped it using Hero Arts 'Charcoal' Ink. Much softer than black and I was very happy with the way it looked on the mottled blue card. Such a beautiful verse and one that I should have foremost in my mind. The last touches added were some more birds and of course, pearls!

Please do pop in and visit my teamies - links on the right side of the blog - to see their amazing creations and then get your thinking caps on and please enter our challenge! We ask you to please use both Birds & Nests on your projects and they need to be a Vintage and/or Shabby Chic creation to qualify for the prize or guest designer spot. We also have a guest designer, Anne Marie Governale and you can see her stunning work at on her blog My Eclectic Spirit.

It is so good to pop in and visit you all when you do link to a challenge.

Till next we chat dear friends, keep well, keep creating and God Bless!

Hugz
Moz


Sunday, October 13, 2013

Advent Calendar 2013

Hello there!

Good of you to pop in for a visit! Today I am sharing this years Advent Calendar I made up and taught a few weeks ago. 

This is what really got me going with using my lovely Silhouette, which is now a year old (*blush*) and I am so thrilled that I have made a start. I have signed up for an online class, but need to schedule a day or two to just concentrate on it, without interruptions (?) so I can focus and absorb! However, I was able to download the files I wanted to use, re size/duplicate images etc. with using the computer skills I already have and everything worked out just fine! What a fantastic tool this machine is and I need to remind myself of it's many uses and applications as I work on my classes.

Right, onto this calendar. I used the Graphics 45 Christmas Emporium papers from last year exclusively on this calendar. Because there are so many small images in this set, it worked out beautifully!

The front, closed.
6th December


I had to break up the numbers into two sections, because, with the layers of card on each number, the bulk built up and made the number collection protrude and it looked out of proportion. So splitting them up reduced the bulk somewhat. The middle section has numbers 1 to 12 and the cover, which you see above and the numbers on the left are from 13 to 25 with a cover as you see above and with the number showing, as below.

25th December!
Below is a back view of the calendar. I really did not want to have a boring back view, so carried on adding cut outs from the papers to the backs of each page.

Back view

I cut the "Countdown to Christmas" and the number flags/tags with the Silhouette, used lovely background papers from Nitwit Collection, good old Kraft card for the calendar base and flag/tags and then red, green and gold card stock for the rest of the project. 

Of course Christmas for me has to have Poinsettia flowers (my version of a hot Christmas' Snowflakes...lol) so out came my Nellie Snellen punch and emboss sets, with the holly one as well and gold Flowersoft for the centers. The border of the red card is made with a EK Success punch - sorry don't have the name (wish they would put the names on each punch as I forget to!). Lots of Distress Ink in Vintage Stain and some careful measuring and punching finished it all off with a binding wire at the top.

It was a lot of work, but so worth it. I know my ladies absolutely loved the finished calendar and I ignored the grumbling during the repetitive work it took to get it done...lol!

Well, I'm now very happy that I have another item that will go into my Christmas Collection this festive season. There is another one in the pipeline, but you will have to wait for that one!

I love everything 'Christmas' and have always tried to make something special for my collection, in the hope that when I am no longer with my family, they will have some part of 'me' with them every year at my favorite time. My wish is that my children and grandchildren, one day, will look at all these projects, made with so much love, and somehow 'feel' that I am part of their Christmas every year!

Wishing you all a lovely, happy, crafty week, with lots of love and laughter to help you through!

Warm Hugz
Moz

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Fairy Tangles!

Hello everyone! 

Thank you so much to all who sent get well wishes and hugs. Amazing what the power of prayer and caring from so many lovely folks can do. I am feeling so much better. The eyes are clear - YAY! - and the inflammation in the throat has settled. The chest is still a little 'gunky' but generally I'm feeling good.

Welcome to all my new followers as well! I'm truly humbled that you lovely people find something on my blog sufficiently interesting/inspiring that you wish to keep up to date with the postings! Thank you!

I cancelled my classes for this week as I had not been able to do any preps and was not sure how I would be feeling, so need to catch up in that department. Also to share just a little - changes are coming around in my little world and I am going to be doing what my heart has always been set on and should have done several years ago! Will share more soon.

For now, I'd like to show you the cards I sent out to two of my online Rubber Stamping Group ladies. We undertook to send out two cards for WCMD and I have already shared the two I have received. I had to wait until the second card reached it's destination before posting them on the blog as I did not want to spoil the surprise!

One of the ladies is crazy for Zentangles and I had recently come across a blog belonging to Norma J. Burnell called Fairy Tangles and yes, you guessed it, she tangles in her drawings. Until recently, her work was only available in red rubber, so I was holding back becasue of the cost of the stamps and then, some of them became available in Digital Format from Sweetpea Stamps, so I was able to buy a couple of them.

Here are the cards I sent out:
Poppy & Owl

Poppy and Flutters
I had so much fun coloring these images and know that I can improve immensely, so will keep at it till I'm happy!

There is a digi sale on at $3 each at Sweetpea Stamps right now, if you want to pop over and buy a few of these amazing works of art.

Thanks so much for the visit folks and once again a big Thank You for the care and kind messages!

Warm Hugz
Moz

Saturday, October 5, 2013

We all Adore "Romance"

Welcome to another "Sugar Creek Hollow" Challenge # 71!
This week the theme is "Romance" - something we all enjoy and try to make the most of!  


Our wonderful sponsor is  Really Reasonable Ribbons who is offering $15 gift certificate to their store!

Please remember that your creation must be in the vintage or shabby chic style.

They have such a wonderful selection of amazing ribbons and cords, it is well worth settling down with a cup of your favorite brew and browsing their amazing site!



This week I was in a 'blue' mood, in may ways, so without too much thought seemed to gravitate towards the color. I found this lovely digital image over at Artcult and is one from a set called Couples. Lovely images there, so do take a look. 



Going with the blue dress, it was easy to link up my ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbons and I went with Lace Blue from their amazing selection of seam bindings. 


The paper is from a pad made by docrafts Papermania Capsule Collection - Aqua Paper Pack.
I matted each layer with a lovely soft silvery blue card so that there was just a hint of blue carrying through the layers. 


Here is a close up of the triple bow I attempted using my Bowmaker.


I added the stunning oval from Joy! 6002/0258, which I cut in half, to the side of the image, as well as a snippet from the Curved Butterfly Strip from Memory Box. The Adore tag is from PTI as is the stamp.


The flowers are a mix of some I made and from a dear friend as is the pearls and pearl hearts. The rose leaves are from my favorite Olba punch set - love that set!


Please do play along and enter the challenge this week. Pop over to visit my 'teamies' blogs for more inspiration - links in the side bar!

Also, May I wish you all a wonderful World Card Making Day, hopefully spent with great creative friends. Have fun!






On a personal note, I won't be making a card this year on WCMD, as I've been battling with a horrendously inflamed and infected throat, and the infection spread to my ears and chest. On top of that I've had 'pink eye' - really miffed that I should get sick! 
I live with chronic nerve pain continuously and one would think that it would make me strong and brave, but somehow, this kind of thing totally floors me. Perhaps I have learnt to deal with chronic pain and the side effects of the horrendous pain control medication over the many years, so when something like this comes along I am taken by total surprise. I had no voice for three days and then croaked like a frog for two more. But, the voice is back and I am sure the medication will kick in, but for now, off to lay down and take a nap.

Thanks for the visit my dear friends!
Hugz
Moz

World Card Making Day 2013

To all my card making friends, I wish you a happy day.
Create and enjoy!

I received these two fabulous cards from friends in my online Rubber Stamping Group.

Aren't they such perfect Spring cards? Bright and cheerful and oh so pretty!



This card is from Angela. 

The butterfly and toadstool have been given a treatment of Glossy Accent and the butterfly has been fussy cut and 3 D'd with glitter added to the black areas.  

The cream background of the card is beautifully embossed with butterflies. Such a lovely card.
Thank you Angela! 






This lovely pink creation is from Lincey!

I love how she has used pretty papers for the background and added these lovely punched butterflies in complimentary pinks!

The clear dew drops just seem so real - you want to touch them!

Thank you so much Lincey!











Wishing you all a happy, creative day, hopefully with wonderful friends who share you passion!

I'll be back later with my Sugar Creek Hollow Challenge post.

Hugz
Moz.