When the Red, Red, Robin

Challenge #326 has just gone live has just gone live at Time Out Challenges and this Inspired By challenge celebrates Gratitude. 

Our challenge is generously being sponsored by Poppystamps and they are offering our Top Pick as chosen by the design teams $20 credit to their store!  

The Top Pick will also be invited to join Time Out as a guest designer in a future challenge.  Speaking of guest designers, our guest designer this fortnight is Stef Perry of Perry Papercrafts, and winner of Time Out #321.  Be sure to check out the Time Out Blog to see how how Stef and my talented team mates were inspired by gratitude!  

As an Australian, we don't celebrate Thanksgiving, so this card was a difficult one for me.  I didn't want to make something I'd never have a use for, but I thought this lovely sentiment (WMS Big Day Everyday Sentiments) might also work for a rather fancy thank you card and I always need Thank You cards!  So, instead of prevaricating about the bush any longer, I cut a panel and stamped the sentiment in the upper third with Memento Cocoa ink - though brown would look more rustic!

Next I went through my Autumn stash to find something that might fit the theme of Gratitude and this mushroom duo (Poppystamps Nordic Swirl Mushrooms) seemed like a good choice plus it's been languishing in my NBUS pile for far too long!

 Since I wanted a rustic feel, I cut everything from plain cardstock and used Distress Inks to colour the pieces - Antique Linen, Gathered Twigs, Carved Pumpkin and Mustard Seed.   Once coloured, the pieces assembled quickly and easily - as with all the other Poppystamps Nordic die sets I've had the good fortune to work with.  

I added the mushrooms to the base of the card raising the smaller mushroom with a piece of foam tape and then I realised my mistake - the sentiment was too far away, it needed something to sit in between!  

Rather than tossing the panel into my UFO box, I went in search of something to fill the gap ... perhaps a cloud ... or a butterfly.  The Nordic Butterfly I own was far too big (and wasn't NBUS) but I remembered I still had a set of birds (Poppystamps Nordic Birds of a Feather) that were small enough to sit on the top mushroom with the added benefit of being NBUS.

So I cut the whole bunch from plain card stock and used Distress Inks - adding a little Barn Door and Pumice Stone to his breast until I was happy with my little Red Robin ... and it filled the gap nicely.  

It was only when I was writing up this post that I realised Poppystamps was sponsoring this challenge so that was a happy coincidence!  

When my children were young, they used to ask me insist I sing to them each night.  My eldest came up with the idea of "colour" songs - he kept coming up with different colours which I knew was his way of delaying bedtime for as long as possible but I didn't mind most of the time!  Red, red, Robin was our red song so I don't know why I didn't think of putting this little robin up on a wobbler so he can go bob, bob, bobbing along - but I think I can still safely do that so will!  

I hope you can find some  Time Out  to come join us this fortnight and celebrate Gratitude!

I am grateful for and would like to enter the following challenges

NBUS Challenge #92 - NBUS Mushroom and Bird sets;

Ellibelle's I Spy With My Little Eye Challenge #42 - Autumn in the Woods;

Poppystamps Challenge PSC#144 - Warm and Cozy;

Triple B November Challenge - Just a bird;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and hopefully be able to find you!

Kate

Oriental Ornamental

 

Sparkles Christmas Challenge 188 has just gone live and the theme this month as chosen by Billy is 

✨ Ornament and a Bow ✨

 These days my designs are mostly influenced by my NBUS items - I have so many things in my stash that haven't been tried out yet and this little ornament die is one of them - in fact to was the only ornament die I had that was still NBUS!  Gummiapan dies are wonderfully intricate in detail but they're also tiny and I also felt it resembled something you'd find at a Chinese New Year Celebration rather than a Christmas Ornament!  I was about to abandon the idea altogether but because I had spent such a long time prevaricating about the bush, I had very little time left so pushed aside my doubts and pushed forward with this design!  

I started by cutting a window (Yvonne Christmas Window) from a white panel (Crealies Rectangles 44) that had been sitting in my UFO box,  Then I cut another two windows, adhered a snippet of night sky behind the aperture and then popped the three stacked windows back into the aperture.  I was pleasantly surprised with this window and it's a nice size - can't think why I haven't used it before!

I cut the ornament (Gummiapan Advent Calendar 2023 Day 7) from a snippet of silver and added some holly (Gummiapan Advent Calendar 2024 Day 6) and then this gorgeous bow (which came on Day1 of the 2024 Spellbinders Advent Calendar).  

Originally I thought I'd stamp a sentiment on the window sill but didn't want to risk it on the assembled window so added some foliage (Gummiapan Advent25 Day 02) cut from white and coloured with alcohol markers.  

Now I just needed a sentiment and this "merry Christmas" die (freebie from a magazine in 2024) was the smallest one I had.  It's still a little too much IMO, and if I make this design again I'll stamp a sentiment instead.

I am grateful for and would like to enter the following challenges

Snippets Playground Challenge #544 - loads of snippets used;

NBUS Challenge #92 - NBUS Ornament and Window dies;

ABC Christmas Challenge - U is for Unused Stash;

Outlawz Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes;

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes;

Krafty Chicks Challenge #844 - Week 5, Anything Goes;

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and hopefully be able to find you!

Kate

Kintsugi and Ikebana

Challenge #325 has just gone live at Time Out Challenges and this fortnight we have a theme challenge and it's 

Friendship/Encouragement/Support

Challenge #325 is generously being sponsored by Birch Press and they are offering our Top Pick as chosen by the design team a $20 credit to their store!  

The Top Pick will also be invited to join Time Out as a guest designer in a future challenge!  Speaking of guest designers, our guest designer this fortnight is the very talented Rita Wright of CardsbyRita, our winner of Challenge #320!   You can check out how Rita and my talented team mates have interpreted this theme over on the Time Out Blog!

I've had this marbled gold card stock in my stash for a while now and I thought it would be perfect for some Ikebana vases (Sizzix Ikebana) since it made me think of Kintsugi - the Japanese art of mending pottery with gold.  

It came together quickly (for a change) though I did cut several vases before I was happy with the arrangement but I'll use them at a later date.  Teamed with a foiled sentiment (Spellbinders GLP-380) it's perfect for any occasion and you can never have too many of these in your stash IMO!

I hope you can find some  Time Out  to come join us this fortnight!

I am grateful for and would like to enter the following challenges

Fab'n'Funky Challenge #320 - Three of Something;

Allsorts Challenge #851 - Feminine;

Ellibelle's Garden Party #20 - Anything in or from a garden;

Triple B October Challenge - Birds, Bees or Blooms;

Love those Pretty Papers October Challenge - I hope the paper used to create these Kintsugi vases qualifies (even though there isn't much used it was integral to the design)!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and hopefully be able to find you!

Kate