Bitter Sweet

My post today is a bit bitter sweet.  Sweet because I think my mojo might have come back, I saw the Mojo Monday sketch challenge this week and immediately had a plan of what I wanted to do.  The bitter part comes because of the reason for making this card, I found out today that one of my colleagues lost her grandmother last weekend.

Butterflies are so lovely to use on a card, to me they symbolise freedom and beauty, but also change and growth, and so I wanted to use them as the feature for the card.  I hunted through my retired DSP and found a sheet of Newsprint with a butterfly print and it was just perfect.  I love using vellum when I do butterflies, and because I wanted a fairly simple design without lots of busy colour or stamping it seemed the right thing to make the butterfly layer from.  What you can't see in the photo very easily is that I stamped and punched a fourth butterfly and have adhered it over the centre one, so that one lifts off the page.  The sentiment from Sweet Essentials was just right also, a obvious sympathy sentiment didn't seem right somehow.

Happy Stamping

Proud Parents

If you visit regularly you will know I don't often post personal photos on my blog, keeping it more for my creative endeavours.  Sometimes there is an occasion or family celebration that I just have to share.  This time it is the graduation of our beautiful daughter from school.

Doesn't she look so elegant in her formal frock, hair all done, matching bag and shoes?  I think the scariest part is how grown up she looks.  We are both so proud of our 'little' girl, school hasn't be the easiest journey for her and there were times I wondered if she would stick with it. I think the turning point came when she discovered the field of Hospitality which gave her a spark and passion strong enough to not only 'make it through' but to succeed.  She is planning on going further in this field and is working to secure a Baker's apprenticeship in 2014, and we wish her all the best.

 To celebrate this proud occasion I wanted to make a card that reflected some of the struggles she had overcome, particularly in high school years. The Feel Goods sentiment was just right for this.  I took inspiration for this card from a card made by Sharon Burkert that I found on Pinterest, though I can't find the directly link now.  I added the year in silver glimmer paper which I highlighted by carefully drawing around each number with a Stampin' Write Marker.  Finished off with stamped and punched images from Flower Shop and Papilion Potpourri.  I also made a belly band for her gift with the flowers and in these colours (you might be able to make out the watch and bracelet set on her wrist).

Happy Stamping

One thing leads to another.

Again with a little bit of free time on my hands I went in search of a challenge to inspire me.  Mojo Monday have an interesting one this week so I decided to join in.

I had thought about using the flower from Everything Eleanor for the feature shape but it just wasn't quite right so I decided to use the journaling badge and added the sentiment from Chalk Talk. I wanted to use Midnight Muse and went in search of a complementary colour, was directed toward Summer Starfruit and this is the result.

I wasn't really taken with the end result, so decided to try again with a different colour combo, this time matching Midnight Muse with Soft Suede.  I had initially thought Crumb Cake but it was a little washed out. I also chose to cut out the journalling badge with the scallop circle punch rather than fussy cutting it, and added a bow to the top ribbon. I am much happier with this one.

It always amazes me how changing up the colour scheme can make such a difference to the way a card looks!

Happy Stamping

Time Flies

There is nothing quite like popping by to write a blog post to show how quickly time has been flying by this year.  I can't believe its been 6 weeks since my last post! Looking back I have had my daughter's graduation from school, a sick cat, and all the Christmas planning (though even that took a bit of a back seat this year).

Anyway, onto this post.  Boxing day provided me with some time to just relax and create and this sketch challenge from Freshly Made Sketches took my eye.

I haven't used the Beautifully Baroque stamp for ages, and it was the perfect pairing for Elegant Elegance DSP.  I love the fun colours of Eastern Elegance the sentiment seemed to just right for this card. Now just to choose who to send it too.

Happy Stamping