Moving Along With The Times..Get Sketchy...

Hi,

It's the turn of Team B over at Moving Along With The Times this week. Hazel our hostess has chosen a sketch as the theme for this week -

I decided to turn the sketch on it's side, so the 4 little panels are at the bottom.

This card was made on a remote playdate with Jessie and it was the first time I had paper pieced part of an image..

I chose a Big Eared Bunny digital stamp by Zlotena as my focal point and worked from there. Coloured with Promarkers of course!
All the papers are spotty ones by Pink Petticoat. As you can see I printed the balloon onto some spotty paper and cut it out and pieced it on to the stamp - clever technique that I now love!
I decided to not use 4 individual panels, I took a strip of paper and cut notches to create 'faux' panels. As I was anticipating a bigger sentiment, I ended up with a bit of blank space to the left of the card, so punched a star in the same paper as the balloon, added some bling and voila! space issue resolved..

There are lots of fun interpretations of the sketch by the team this week, so pop on over to MAWTT to have a look and join in the fun.

Cx

WOYWW #269...I told you...

Happy WOYWW..yep, a week has already passed and it is time to join Julia over at her blog Stamping Ground, for a weekly reunion and desk nose..

I told you I wasn't an outdoor kind of girl last week and I was right...following the hike and the rafting, it would appear that I now have a hairline fracture of my right 5th metatarsal..

So I am officially over outside and officially over the pain in my foot!

My desk is very tidy right now, as I had a clean up to help me focus. It's only 2 weeks until we leave for London and I have a list to tackle!
Then as I was editing the photo I realised I could have fun with the barren nature of my desk by adding words! It also prompted a little Pinterest idea...

Most of what you see on my desk is left over from 3 fun sessions at my desk and there are a couple of 'newish' purchases kicking around.

As usual, here is a little card for you. I came across this stamp on Hambo Stamps and it made me smile, so I bought it. I do dream of cupcake rain (the name of the stamp), unfortunately it hasn't happened yet!

I dream of Cupcake Rain...

Have a great day. Hubby and I are going to eat large quantities of Chinese food with our neighbours tonight - yums!

Cx

Lulu loves poppies..

Hi,

I recently got given a cute Stamping Bella stamp - Lulu Loves Poppies.

As I am working on a batch of things to take home for Ma, I decided to have a play with this stamp for her. I think she will like the more traditional nature of the stamp.

I've been learning how to blend, so the poppies were the perfect place for a practice.. I added an embossed red panel - folder by Couture Creations and a chevon circle to match Lulu's dress. Final touch was a little strip of bling!

It all came together quite well and I like the accidental x4 colour theme - red, white, blue and black.

I am so happy with it, I decided to enter it into The Pink Elephant challenge #261 Anything Goes

Cx

Drumrolls please.....

...as today is the day of my 150th post this year!! Whoo hoo!!

Every year I am essentially running a competition with myself..can I improve the quality of my posts and the number of them every year.

This year I want to post 200 times..it takes some serious dedication to get to 200 posts. I've had to up my craft game.

I have learnt so much this year and I can only say thanks to the talented craft bloggers out there that have inspired me to learn and be better.

One of the places that has been a constant for a long time in my craft life is CAS-ual Fridays. The talented DT and Michele have kept me inspired. They have taught me to embrace CAS.

I was sad to hear that they are taking a break until 2015, but can understand the need for a recharge.

I am entering their challenge #134 Tic Tac Toe

I went for the top line - Chevrons, Black, Sequins.

I am just a little bit smiley about my card. I like the touch of red in the sentiment and the sequins. The chevron stamp is by Bo Bunny.

I think I have to enter this again...it's such fun and it's great CAS practise :)

Cx

Simon Says Stamp...July Card Kit...

Hi,

Yesterday during WOYWW I showed one of the cards I have made using parts of the SSS July card kit.

I am currently away with work.hiking or something (Sadface)..I will be home later tonight, then I can comment on WOYWW.

My main photo is one of a batch of cards I made for OWH using the envelope and sentiment stamps from the set. I stamped the envelopes on scraps and then cut them out. Aren't they pretty!

Little Stack of Envelopes

I played with the layouts a LOT, finally I settled on placing the envelopes in the right place, stamping the sentiment - checking it a million times and THEN sticking them in place :)  I raised one envelope on a foam pad for a teeny bit of dimension.

Here's a different layout..

Portrait green envelopes

Because of the colour of the scraps I chose, I decided to make the focus colour of the cards either green or pink.

I love the sentiment stamps from this set, they are so elegant.  These were fun cards to make..I am loving this kit, it was made for OWH.

They both feel like Happy Mail :)

Cx

WOYWW #268...I'm not an outdoors kind of girl...

Hi,

I missed WOYWW last week...just too much going on!! But I am back - although we are going on a work 'fun' trip today for 2 days, so no comments from me until tomorrow.

The trip is what sparked my post title..there will be hiking and rafting, neither of which enthrall me...

Back to WOYWW..hope over to join our hostess Julia at her blog Stamping Ground for the weekly global desk nosy.

My desk photo is a slight cheat...I took it late Sunday night (yoga night on a Tues)..it still looks like this to be fair.

I had a great play at my desk on Sunday...so you can see the remains of that..some paper, some Silhouette cut outs - looking for DT inspiration, there is a small rolled flower drying before I finish assembly, glasses, glue, scissors, my Fitbit, stamp press and the back of my Ma's card.

I visited my new local Michael's on Sunday and won an OttLite..so super excited about colouring with it..I have one, but its at the lower end of their range, the new one is way more impressive.

Here's a little card for you WOYWWer's - it's actually a make for OWH that I thought you would all like. I made a whole bunch of them using the sentiment stamps from the SSS July card kit and my new Martha Stewart balloon punch.

Balloon OWH card

I'll show you the ones I made with the mini envelope stamps tomorrow.

Happy WOYWW - remember I'll comment on your blogs on Thurs.

Wish me luck!

Cx

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Hi,

Hope you all had a nice weekend.

Hubby and I had fun in Atlantic City, getting an early start on his birthday celebrations.

We are going to take advantage of Summer Restaurant Week here in NYC and go and have dinner somewhere special tonight.

My main card is for Hubby..a watercolour background with calligraphy writing...the nib was wrong so the text is a bit fine, but I still like it.

I actually made another one quite similar to this for my Auntie Connie, the calligraphy is better here. I love the orangey / red tones I used here, it feels really summery.

Auntie Connie's Watercolour Birthday

I chose this style of card for Hubby, because a few weeks ago I was working on watercolour cards and he said how nice he thought they were and how he likes the clean feel of them. I made his a bit special by using corrugated card for the Happy.

Hope he likes it!!

Have a great day.

Cx

Using neutral tones...

Hi,

Happy Friday!!

Hubby and I are off to Atlantic City tonight, to start his birthday celebrations.

Last weekend, I decided I would work with only papers from my overflowing 'brown' paper drawer!!

I am really pleased with them both. The main card has an added bit of texture with the corrugated card. I like all the layers and different papers. I used pearls and bling for the cake and the corner of the card. The cake stamp and die and the sentiment are by SSS.

The next card has a funny story associated with it..I used my shiny new Memory Box feather die to make the card and then promptly lost the die...I kid you not, I cannot find it anywhere?!

Feather Birthday

Well, at least I got to use it once!! I made a small mistake with the heat embossing, as you can see, I kind of knocked the top off of the word happy! I love the little bunch of feathers, they are so cute..shame that I won't get to do this again until I find/replace the die..

Have a great weekend everyone..

Cx

Clean & Graphic Hello...

Hi,

I missed WOYWW yesterday = sad face..I was busy on Tues evening and then really not very well yesterday, so kind of missed my slot..

Anyway lets put a smile on that sad face by entering this week's Card Concept #14 challenge -

Yummy colours.. The Card Concept team are also looking for DT members..amazing opportunity! I did send off my details..so let's see what happens.

I loved Geri Greening's Clean & Graphic style..it inspired my card. I love chunks of colour. I am very happy with my card, I love how the red 'Hello' pops off of the card and the teeny bits of black bling make me smile :)

My die is by SSS, bling from AC Moore and papers by American Crafts.

Oh and did I tell you the most awesome news I've had this week? A Michael's is opening on my fave local shopping street, as of Friday I can walk to MICHAELs..I am super dooper excited..but I don't think my wallet is :)

Cx

Happy Birthday Darnell...you ROCK!!!

Second post from me today, as I did not want to miss the opportunity to wish my good blogland friend Darnell HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Ardyth a very talented cardmaker and blogger (and one of my many, many crushes) has organised a link-up for Darnell..

Darnell is awesome, she makes amazing cards, writes hilarious posts and finds the time somehow to make us all feel special and loved!

Thank you Darnell..from the bottom of my heart I wish you a very Happy Fun Filled Birthday.

Cx

p.s I chose this card for Darnell, as I reckon she'd say something like this on her blog :)

Sketch + hearts in summer colours...

Hi,

I saw 2 more challenges that I wanted to try and enter/play this week, but when I started looking at them I decided they would work really well if I combined them...

They are -
CAS-ual Fridays #133 - create a CAS project that uses hearts in Summer colours.

CAS(E) this sketch #84 -

I faffed around for ages trying to decide what to make..then I spied the SSS July card kit stamp set on my desk and an idea was born.

The sending lots of love sentiment is from the stamp set and the hearts are from my stash. The inks are all Studio G (Michael's $1 each), the card blank is from a box of American Crafts everyday solid cards.

This is the first time I have masked off an area and got it to work properly for me - so I am really pleased!

Also as there is no glitter, this card will be going into my OWH box..SCORE!

Cx

300 colour combos...

Hi,

Hope you all had a good weekend.

I won the work World Cup Sweepstakes thanks to Germany, so my week is starting right :)

I saw that Color Throwdown this week was number 300!! Amazing achievement to be able to come up with so many engaging colour combos.

This week is no exception -

I am pleased with my card, I tried a couple of different things, but this was the one that worked..although underneath the flower was another heat embossed Hello..unfortunately I make a mistake and added the flower to cover that :)

The flowers are all from my stash, the papers are all from my local craft store Paper Presentation and the Hello die is by SSS and the Hello stamp is by Pink Paislee..the embossing powder is by Stampendous.

Have a great week.

Cx

Something with wings...

Hi,

Hope you are having a good weekend.

I am relaxing, working (boo) and watching the last games of the World Cup.

I loved the title of the I Love Promakers challenge #227 this week - 'Something with wings' it made me smile and as luck would have it, I have just finished making a whole batch of cards that feature wings!!

I made the main card and 3 others for my Ma, I am making cards for her to take to work for their birthdays..there have been some quibbles over what kind to buy :) I thought I'd solve that for her...

Anyway..I got the stamps free via Pinterest, I am not normally a fan of fairies or these kind of fantasy images, but I loved these.

They were fun to work with, I really enjoyed colouring them and then turning them into cards.

The main card is my favourite and the one I am entering into the challenge. I used a journaling card from a set by Lunch Box Love - I got a few on sale at Michael's, the sentiment was a freebie from a magazine, glitter glue on her wings and the Promarkers are :
Dress - Peony / Cerise
Butterflies - Peony / Island Lagoon
Skin - Ivory / Pale Pink
Wings - Daffodil Bloom / Fresh Meadow / Pink Mittens / Morning Mist
Hair - Ginger
Flowers - Cerise

Here are 2 of the other cards - also coloured with Promarkers.

Blue/Green Fairy

Yellow Fairy

For both I used Recollections papers, glitterglue on the wings, all other items from my stash.

Do you love my new bargain card stand that I got last night at TJ Maxx - I love it!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Cx

Inchies...

Hi,

Happy Friday.

This post is the last one from my 2 days of fun at my desk last weekend.

A while back I posted this beauty onto a Pinterest board of mine -

Inchies card from Ellen Hutson blog c.2011

It's actually quite an old make, but I love it and thought I'd dig through my scrap box and make a few variations of it.

I stuck with a colour theme for each card and the main photo today is 'brown'.

I decided as I don't have an inch square punch, that I would use my scalloped 11/4 inch punch. All the inchies are cut from scraps and all the embellishments on the squares were either already punched (butterflies from JT's punch) or laying around on my desk waiting to be used.. The happy sentiment was cut a while back with my Silhouette and has been languishing on my desk..

Here are the Pink and Green versions.

Green Inchies card

I decided to stamp the sentiment for the green card..not my best idea ever, but it kind of works! The heart is left over from the watercolour punch outs that I did using an 'oops'. The sentiment stamp is by SSS and from the July card kit, the enamel hearts are from My Minds Eye.

Pink Inchies card

The pink card is already earmarked for someone. The big blingy heart is from JT and once again uses one of the butterflies she punched for me.

All the patterned papers I used are by American Crafts and Recollections by Michaels, all plain papers are just from my stash.

This is so simple to do and putting a big die cut word really makes the cards pop.

Have a great weekend.

Cx

See it...want it...

Hi,

Recently I was having a nose around Amber's blog - Damask Love. I really like her work and she has taught me a lot!

She used these lovely Dahlia dies by SSS

I decided I had to have them and ordered them, they turned up on Saturday morning, so I settled down to play..

I followed Amber's post and made the main photo and these cards.

I love them and working with Gelatos is such fun. The delicate die is a bit fiddly, but worth the effort. I also used my Xyron here, for getting adhesive onto the back of the delicate Dahlia..making them much easier to stick down.

Cx

WOYWW #266...IT IS SO HOT..

Hi,

First of all let me start by wishing Julia our wonderful WOYWW leader a Happy 50th Birthday..

If you don't know what WOYWW is then pop over to Julia's blog Stamping Ground and join the weekly global desk nose.

My desk is a bit random today...headphones as I was listening to music whilst working at my desk. You can also see a finished card, a set of AI stamps and a colour wheel - to help me with watercolours.

It is so HOT right now in NYC that I am struggling to sleep, so my craft output is through the roof! I have managed to complete several of the items that I had mentioned in last weeks WOYWW post, this makes me very happy and slightly less cray cray!!

Before I go and stick my head in the freezer, here's a little card for you -

Die Cut Thank You

I made a whole set of these cards - the die cuts were bought on sale at Michaels.

Cx

Watercolours + Sentiment dies..

Hi,

I have been seeing lots of lovely cards around that use watercolours and sentiment dies. I have been playing with watercolours lately with varying results.

So I decided to invest a bit of time this weekend learning some 'how to watercolour' tricks.

I have learnt 3 key things -

1 - it's a good idea to wet your paper before you paint, it helps you put the paint on lighter and more evenly
2 - have multiple pots of water - keep at least one clean for wetting your paper
3 - don't be afraid to practice..if your 'image' comes out weird, use small punches to create little watercoloured items - the card below is an example of this.

Watercolour hearts

My main card is one of 3 using the SSS congrats sentiment die. I tried out 2 different watercoloured backgrounds and I think they look fab. Here are the other 2 cards.

Watercolour Pink Congrats

Watercolour Swirly Congrats

The next set was my attempt to blend colours - varying levels of success, but I am happy with the end results. The hello is also a die by SSS.

Watercolour multi hello

Watercolour multi tones hello

I used an angled watercolour brush, pearlescent paints by Artists Loft (from Michaels for $4.99), Strathmore mixed media paper and all the other papers are by Recollections at Michaels.

Inspiration, techniques and tips came from CMA Tam Hess Jennifer McGuire and Jen Rzasa and Pinterest! Big thanks to Tam and Jen's for making things less scary for me..

These cards are totally CAS. Hubby loved them, which is high praise indeed!!

Cx

Featured Artist...

Hi,

Hope you all had a nice weekend. It was a holiday here, so a 3 day weekend for me..yay!

Today, I am a featured artist, over at Tam Hess's blog cardmakingartists. I was so pleased when Tam asked me if I would like to be featured. She does such a great job when featuring people, I have discovered some new craft crushes via her blog.

In honour of this I wanted to make a card featuring one of Tam's kitty digital stamps. This one is actually my fave of them all..kitty looks so pleased at having caught the fish!

I used a fave Cuttlebug fishes embossing folder, the checked paper and ribbon are by Papermania, Kitty was coloured using Promarkers and the sentiment was punched using my much loved EK Success punch.

I am also entering Kitty into the I Love Promarkers challenge this week #226 Anything Goes

I hope Tam approves of my use of Kitty!

Cx

Shaking things up...

Hi,

So I have been having a fun long weekend, hanging out with Hubby and playing at my desk.

Today's makes came about because Simon Says Stamp is running a 'Make a shaker card' challenge this week. I was intrigued..these have always looked fun, but difficult.

So after watching about 2,000 YouTube videos and reading Pinterest tutorials I felt ready yesterday afternoon to try and make one.

I ended up with two!!

The main card is my entry for the challenge and is actually my second attempt. I used a stamp from the SSS July kit and the papers are from the June kit. The ribbon is by Papermania and the confetti in the shaker is just stuff from my stash!

I am pretty darn pleased with how this card came out..I need more practice, but they are fun and so cool when finished.

Here is the second one.

Shaker Card!!

For this one, I used American Crafts Papers, a stamp by Craftwork Cards from my buddy Carole that I coloured with Promarkers, circle dies by Sizzix and hello die by SSS. Once again the confetti is from my stash. I think it will be going to my Grandma!

Oh and the acetate for the windows came from my local Blick/Utrecht - super VFM, as I got a huge sheet for $2.59

Big thanks to Amy R of Prairie Ink & Paper for this tutorial and all the lovely inspiration from the SSS DT.

Sometimes its nice to step out of your craft comfort zone...

Cx

Moving Along With The Times - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Hi,

Well wasn't that Birthday Blog hop fun last week!!

Congratulations to all the winners over on the MAWTT blog.

Thanks for all your lovely comments, I put all the people that commented on my blog in a hat and got Hubby to pull the winners..drum roll please...

The winners are Carmen M and Becky - congratulations ladies. Email me at hamnmulenyc@gmxDOTcom and I will get your prizes out to you.

Ok, so now it is time for Team B again over at MAWTT..

The theme is Girls Just Wanna Have Fun..hosted by the lovely Janice.

This is the perfect theme for one of my favourite Stamping Bella stamps..Victoria and Juliette's Night out.

I coloured the stamp using Promarkers and added touches of glitter glue, the backing paper is Pink Petticoat's tiny leopard paper, the black sparkly paper is by DCWV and the letters are foam glitter Thickers. Tammy used a great photo corner die on a Team B challenge and so I hunted down a photo corner punch - for a bargain $4 and I think it is a great accent detail here.

To join in the fun and see all the other great Team B makes..go to MAWTT.

Have a great 4th of July if you are in the US and celebrating..I am heading to a boat party tonight with Hubby and friends, to get the weekend started right!

Cx

WOYWW #265..Looking forward to a 3 day weekend..

Hi,

It is Hump Day, but it's actually my Thursday, as it is July the 4th on Friday, so we are off here in the US. WHOOP WHOOP!! Can you feel my excitement? 3 whole yummy days off, crafting, hanging with Hubby, eating bad food..amazing!!

Back to today..here in blogland it is time for WOYWW - joining Julia, who I hope is well on the road to recovery now and the gang over at her blog Stamping Ground for our weekly global desk nose.

My desk is a complete tip..I am attempting to do the following all at once -
1- make a stash of cards for my Ma
2 - make all the July/Aug cards for work birthdays
3 - make 50 more OWH cards (at least) before I leave for London on Aug 14th
4 - make some cards for a friends birthday
5 - make some cards for the Mother of the Groom (from Sat)
6 - get my card book (personal birthdays etc) up to date
7 - do more of the Online Card Course that I bought for JT and I

Yeah..I know what you are thinking...but it is all possible...along with sewing x2 new dresses...

So on my desk, are some partially made fairy cards for Ma, 2 pairs of glasses..not a good sign (this means a pair are not they should be..), some Promarkers, a new set of AI stamps, tons of printed images for the list above..other craft crap stuff and a bonus shot of me!

Ugh! I hate my desk being this untidy.

Here is a little card for you WOYWWer's to say 'Happy 4th of July'

Happy 4th of July

Stamp is by Whimsie Doodles, stripey paper by DCWV, star paper by Bo Bunny, coloured with Promarkers and Stickles. Twine and button are from my stash, star punched with a EKSuccess mini star punch.

Have a great day, I'll be a late visitor today.

Cx