Girls Just Want to Have Sun

 

Time Out Challenge #315 has just gone live and it's another Pick 2 Challenge!

The concept of a Pick 2 Challenge is simple - we give you 6 word prompts to choose from and you use at least 2 to inspire your creation!  To be clear, you can pick more than 2 if you like - all 6 if you really want a challenge but just make sure to pick at least 2!

The Word Prompts for this challenge are

Summer, Vacation, Camping, Water, Sun and Ice Cream

You can interpret these words any way you like but please explain if it isn't obvious and please remember we only allow a total of 5 challenges - ours plus 4 others!  I hope you enjoy our challenge and that you can take a little Time Out and join us for some fun!  

Challenge #315 is generously being sponsored by Newton's Nook and our Top Pick as chosen by the design team a $25 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 Sherri of Sherrisonline, our winner of Challenge #310!  Be sure to check out the Time Out Blog to see how how Sherri and my talented team mates were inspired by these six words!

Finally, I had a reason to pull out this Beach Bag die set (PTI)!  I raided my paper pads and found this pretty design which gave me ideas for colours and then I raided my snippets boxes for suitable bits to make the bag and everything it holds! 

As the bag is actually a gift card holder, I just popped all the beach items into the bag rather than gluing them down - I did make sure they were packed in tightly so they won't come adrift in the post (I hope)!

It seemed a shame to have them partially obscured and now the card is interactive and a little more special!

I especially loved the sunglasses - I cut the base layer from grey vellum so you could see through them to the little crossed temples behind - so cute!

In fact, I couldn't resist making a few more of this design (especially as I had 3 other sheets of this lovely paper)!

The sentiment "GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE SUN" is from the Poppystamps Whittle Sea Life Sentiments stamp set!

So I incorporated Sun, Summer and Water into my design!  How do our 6 words inspire you?  I can't wait to see your creations in the gallery!

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

NBUS Challenge #87 - NBUS Beachbag;

Snippets Playground Challenge #534 - loads of snippets used;

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Add a Sentiment;

Four Seasons June Challenge- Anything Goes Summer;

Double D Challenges - Add a bow (there's a tiny bow on the hat);

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 how to find you!

Kate

Clever Cogs

A new challenge has just gone live at Time Out Challenges and we would like to see how you are inspired by Your Favourite Card Making Technique!

Challenge #305 is generously being sponsored by Top Flight Stamps and they are offering our Top Pick as chosen by the design teams a $25 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 Gundi of Papierelle our winner from Challenge #300!   You can check out how Gundi and my talented team mates were inspired by their favourite card making techniques over on the Time Out Blog!

If you've ever scrolled to the very bottom of my blog you may have come across my (verbose) About Me entry squirrelled away at the bottom of the left hand column describing my crafting journey and how I love to "move it" - that is to make interactive cards not to exercise!  So when I had to make a card inspired by my favourite card-making technique, it was really just a matter of how not what!  

As is usually the case, I first examined my ever increasing pile of NBUS stash and these gears (included in the Gummuiapan 2024 Christmas Advent Calendar) seemed like a great idea for a masculine card and I desperately needed ideas for my son's fast approaching 30th birthday!   Then I found this witty sentiment on the Gummiapan FB page and it went from being a great idea to being the perfect idea for my son  (he really is a "clever cogs" or at least a "clever clogs" as the expression goes) and I could imagine the cogs turning and this clever sentiment popping out the side!  

In the end I also used some other gears (Sizzix Mini Gears Movers and Shapers) which weren't as elegant but meshed better and these were the only two that actually moved - the other gears are just there for show!

Since my son was turning 30, I thought it only fitting that I place "30" (Gummiapan Numbers Set) on one of the gears that actually turned and placed the "30" so that it was straight when the sentiment was revealed and therefore at a 90° angle when the sentiment was hidden (if that makes sense) - I hoped that as the 30 wasn't straight, it would be obvious that it needed to be turned.  He was staying here on the morning of his birthday so I was able to straighten the crooked cog and watch his surprise as the little "clever cogs" sentiment popped out the side.  It wasn't perfect but it worked well enough.  

To give the gears an aged patina I cut them from black cardstock (stacked 3 high) and went over them gilding wax using a finger dauber and I did the same with the sentiment (Poppy Stamps Happy Birthday Script)!

To add interest to the background panel I second-generation stamped a blueprint for a bicyclette hirondelle (Stampers Anonymous Steampunk CMS107) - an NBUS set still in its original packaging that I had completely forgotten I owned and came across accidentally while looking for a different rubber stamp.  

The  computer generated sentiment (Freaking Awesome Font) was printed and cut with a fishtail tag (Love2Craft Multi Frame Die Set)!  

I punched a hole in the front panel using a 1cm punch (my circle dies were all too large) and stacked a few circles which acted as a spindle connecting the gear on the lower right corner of the panel to the fishtail banner underneath.  It was important to make sure the stacked circles moved comfortably within the punched hole so I shaved them a little with a file.  It was also important to make sure the gear was only attached to the spindle of stacked circles so it moved freely on the panel.  Then I needed to work out where to punch a tiny hole to attach the other moving gear to the panel with a brad ... the hole in the gear was too big so I so I had to add a false bottom and punched a hole in that for the brad!  

You can see why I only ended up making just two of the gears movable!  Note to self ... next time don't overcomplicate the design and just make one of the gears moveable!  

Finally I added the panel to the card base with foam tape so there was room for the swing out sentiment to move underneath being careful not to impede the movement.

We'd love to see how your favourite card making technique inspires you and hope you can take some Time Out and come play cards with us this fortnight.

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

NBUS Challenge #82 - NBUS Gears, Happy Birthday sentiment and background stamp set;

Neglected Stuff Challenge January - this background stamp set has been neglected since it was bought at a craft fair in 2011 I think;

Shopping Our Stash SOS#305- Something old (background stamp set, Sizzix Gears) and new (Gummiapan Gears, Birthday Sentiment);

The Male Room Challenge #206 - Add a tag (the swing out sentiment is on a fishtail tag);

Allsorts Challenge #841 - For the Boys (or Men);

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 how to find you!

Kate

Hip Hippo Hooray

I recently received a a Guest Designer Star at Traumfabrik (for this card).  Traumfabrik (The Dream Factory) chooses a movie each month as a source of inspiration and this month they have chosen the movie Inside Out or its German title Alles Steht Kopf (which Google translates as Everything is Upside Down).

Here is the movie poster (both English and German versions) and they would like us to create something Upside Down or perhaps be inspired by the colours and layout of the poster(s).  Traumfabrik welcomes any kind of handmade projects - card, art journal page, ATC, canvas or 3D project!  

When I recently asked my youngest son Simon what he wanted for his upcoming birthday, he jokingly replied "a hippo"!  He loves Christmas and spends much of the year listening to Christmas music and he especially loves that corny old Christmas song "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas (look it up on Youtube but I'm warning you it's both very corny and very catchy)!   Well a hippo may be out of the question, but a hippo birthday card was definitely within the realms of possibility.  So I was already planning a hippo birthday card when Rosi invited me to join Traumfabrik as a guest!  And the upside down prompt gave me just the inspiration I needed - a spinning hippo card - and slowly this design evolved.

I coloured my tumbling hippo (Poppy Stamps Happy Hippo) with alcohol markers and then liberally coated him with Glossy Accents so he'd be nice and plump and blubbery!  I cut a blue lagoon for my hippo to frolic in (Memory Box Underwater Collage) which caused a problem as it's only meant to be an aperture die so there were two unattractive spots on the lagoon shoreline.   But I managed to hide those with a life preserver ring (from the 2024 Gummiapan Advent Calendar) and a younger smaller hippo (Poppy Stamps Whittle Floating Hippo which came with its own life preserver).  

I stamped the two sentiments on the front panel (Poppy Stamps Whittle Wild Animal Sentiments), worked out where I wanted my lagoon to go, I cut a track in the lagoon and the front panel and added the lagoon to the panel (lining up the track) and added the panel to the card base with foam tape.   I've devised a mechanism for my spinner cards that utilises magnets.  I find the magnet system is sturdier and the spinner element can be easily added to or removed from the card - if you're interested, you can see how this system works in this blog post.

Here's the hippo in action

and the right way up!

As I was about to pack everything away, I suddenly had yet another idea ... based on the English title of the movie - Inside Out! 

For this card I made an aperture card so that the inside was on the outside!  I cut an aperture (Poppy Stamps Whittle Wave) from the card front and coloured this blue and added some waves with a white Posca Pen.  I then added it to the inside of the card so it lined up with the aperture.  I used the hippos again though the smaller one is now wading while his mama looks on from the edge of the lagoon.  I used the same life ring I used on the first card but also added a beach umbrella and a palm tree from the same set (Gummiapan Advent Calendar 2023 Day 5).

Here's the inside

 I do hope you will be inspired by Traumfabrik's movie title this month and I do look forward to seeing your upturned creations in Traumfabrik's gallery!

I'd like to enter the following fabulous challenges

NBUS Challenge #63 - NBUS Happy Hippo, Floating Hippo, Underwater Collage and Gummiapan Advent Calendar Day 5;

Crafty Animals Challenge #84 - Anything with an animal;

Four Seasons June 2024 Challenge - Anything Summer Goes;

Seize the Birthday #284 - no topping;

Thanks for stopping by - your visits and comments are always a joy and always appreciated!  And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and will (hopefully) be able to find and visit you!

Kate

My Little Unicorn

 

Challenge #260 has just gone live at  Time Out Challenges and this fortnight we challenge you to be 

Striped!

This challenge is generously being sponsored by Lawn Fawn and they are offering our Top Pick as chosen by the design teams a $25 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, we are joined this challenge by Karen our winner of Challenge 256!  If you're still stuck for ideas, Karen and the rest of the team have plenty of inspiration for you over on the Challenge Blog!

I cut a background panel from some candy stripe patterned paper, then cut an aperture using a WMS Pretty Circles die - which is exactly what I needed to provide a pretty focal space for my little unicorn scene and plenty of room for the stamped sentiment. 

I wanted to create a few of these unicorns for future projects (they're so darned cute) so I created a jig and cut some unicorns and fairies with Lawn Fawn A Little Sparkle Lawn Cuts from white card stock.  I then placed my jig in my stamping platform and aligned the matching stamps perfectly and stamped all the blanks I'd cut. 

I coloured the fairies' dresses and the unicorns mane, tail and hooves with some alcohol markers.  Then added a little sparkle with some glossy accents and glitter!

I stamped the sentiment from the set on the panel with black Memento ink and then again with Versamark (what would I do without a stamping platform) and embossed with a holographic embossing powder.

I wanted my aperture to be recessed, so I laid foam tape strips around the aperture and around the edges and a few other strategic places.  Then I cut some puffy clouds (Lawn Fawn Puffy Clouds Border) from some pink vellum and laid these across the base of the aperture so that they would be flat on the card base. Not sure why, but at the time I felt the sky should to be blue so I laid a circle of blue just large enough to cover the aperture and then attached the panel to the card base.  

Then I mounted my unicorn on a wobble spring and placed him on top of the clouds (which is why the clouds needed to be flat against the base) and placed the fairies around him.  Here he is in action

I'd like to enter My Little Unicorn into the following fabulous challenges

The Heart's Quest Fantasy Challenge #3 - Anything Fantasy Goes;

Cut It Up Challenge #300 - Happy Birthday;

We Love Stamping March Challenge - Feminine;

Dragonfly Dreams March Challenge - Circles;

Colourful Options March 2024 Challenge - Rainbow Option!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you go away a little inspired!  Your comments are always appreciated and always bring me joy and if you do leave a comment, I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

Shake Your Tail Feather

 

If you read my last post you'll know I had one or two birds left over from false starts when creating a DT project for Challenge #259 at Time Out!

This is yet another bird!  But I noticed that Colour Hues Challenge #83 has a cream/blue theme and as this bird was cream and blue, I thought I'd have a go at making him into a card sooner rather than later ... I also needed a birthday card for my wonderful choir director hence the musical theme!

I used the same Spellbinder Cherry Blossom branch to give this little birdie somewhere to roost that I used for my last 2 birds ... what can I say it was already out and it remains one of my favourite branch dies despite being one of the first dies I ever bought!

I wanted to make this card a little special since it's going to someone very special so I mounted the birdie on a wobble spring which in turn gave me the idea for the sentiment!  I used the font "Are You Freakin' Serious" to create the sentiment and cut it with a speech bubble die from a Deco Time Set (which I've just realised is NBUS so I'd like to also enter NBUS Challenge #60)!

Here is the wobble spring in action!

I stamped the musical score background (Stempelwinkel) onto a piece of vellum.  I cut a frame using the two largest dies in the Pink Fresh Essentials Diagonal Stitched Rectangles set and laid it over the vellum score and trimmed the excess.  Then added this to the card base.  

Once I'd laid down the branch and my bird I added a smattering of quavers and the card was finished!

I'd also like to enter these fabulous challenges

The Card Concept Challenge #205 which has this lovely inspiration

The Four Seasons March Spring Challenge;

The Triple B (Birds/Blooms/Butterflies) March 2024 Challenge;

Crafty Animals Challenge #81!

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 how to find you!

Kate

Cozy Christmas Snowman

Challenge #256 has just gone live at The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge.  I know it's a bit early to start thinking about Christmas but it's always good to be prepared!

Isn't this little guy cute!  Best of all I attached him to the card front with an action wobbler so he shivers.

  

I was inspired by the Jingle Belles Challenge to use a lot of red on the card!

I was also inspired by Bastel Traum Challenge #128 to use a snowman on my card.

I was also inspired by the red berries in this inspiration pic from Four Season February Challenge to create a lacy border.

I've used new dies (Poppystamps Nordic Snowman and Nordic Borders; Gummiapan Nesting Labels) so I'd like to enter the NBUS Challenge #59!

I'd also like to enter Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - 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 how to find you!

Kate

Christmas Candy

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #151 has just gone live and and I'm expecting the gallery to be filling up with loads of festive inspiration - we're really getting close to December now!   This post was scheduled before I left to visit family in Australia - by the time it goes live I'll be enjoying the sunshine (hopefully)!

These peppermint candies (WMS Elf Made) were stamped last year but I never got around to cutting them out and putting them to use.  They resurfaced during a recent tidy up and I thought I'd have a go at making up some quick spinner cards.  I cut them out with a spellbinders circle slightly smaller than the diameter of the candy so I didn't have any border - nothing worse than having an uneven border around  an image IMO and these Spellbinders Nestabilities Circles (the only non-stitched circles I own) are very difficult to work with owing to their large inner border.  I stacked a few plain circles under the stamped image and then coated them with glossy accents for some candy shine and some were sprinkled with glitter for some sugary candy shine!   I found a 12x12 sheet of red gingham DP that made me think of festive table cloths and I cut it into 6 panels and cut spinner tracks into these panels.  I die cut some "Sweet" sentiments (Love2Craft Home Sweet Home set) from red card stock and stamped some "christmas wishes" on some plain white and cut these with a suitable frame (Spellbinders Resplendent Rectangles was a perfect fit) ... and that was as far as my mojo was willing to cooperate!

   I wanted to make up quick cards, but this was waaay too plain so I added some boughs of holly (Sizzix Winter Foliage) to the bottoms half of the panel in an effort to break up the tedium of the design.

Not one of my more inspired cards but a lot of fun to play with!

After sleeping on it, I tried adding a little more holly around the upper sentiment  - it was already stuck down so not a lot I could do with it.

Better ... but still not happy with and I still had 5 other gingham panels, peppermint candies, holly and "Sweet" sentiments ready to go!  So I fiddled and slept on it and fiddled some more ... and this was what I came up with!

I added another two boughs of holly behind that "sweet" sentiment plus a few little single leaves to fill in empty spots.  I also added some shine to the "sweet" with some glossy accents so it didn't get lost in all that green. 

Lots of snippets of green here and even the white for the stamped and die cut sentiments were snippets left over from cutting card bases so I’d like to enter the Snippets Playground Challenge #466!  

I’d also like to enter the following challenges

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #53 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Peace On Earth Challenge #50 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Use Your Stuff Challenge #496 - 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 the upside of leaving a comment is that I’ll know you were here and how to find you!

Kate

Hoppy Birthday

Challenge #247 has just gone live at Time Out Challenges and it's an Inspiration Photo Challenge!

Here's a closer look at all that Fall Fabulousness!

This challenge is being generously being sponsored by Lawn Fawn and they are offering our Top Pick as chosen by the design team a $25 voucher to their store.  

Our top pick will also be invited to guest design with us at a future date so I hope you will take some Time Out of your busy schedule and come play cards with us!  

Where will our inspiration photo lead you, what has grabbed your attention - I 

can't wait to seeing how you will be inspired!

The autumnal colours, particularly that orange tent were what caught my eye and I pulled out this NBUS Lawn Fawn Acorn House to begin with.   The musical instruments gave me the idea to add a grass hopper from A Bug Deal (also NBUS) because I love the sound of grasshoppers (not too crazy about the actual critters mind you)!  And of course he's going to hop right over that little house ... so I went with a spinner card and a "Hoppy Birthday" sentiment!

I used another Lawn Fawn set (Puffy Clouds Border) to cut some cloud stencils from a sheet of repurposed acetate packaging and used these to create my blended sky then cut a curved spinner channel in this.  I stamped and embossed my grasshopper and coloured him with alcohol inks and added some highlights with a white Posca pen.  Can't you just hear his "wheeee" as he sails over the house?

I cut all the pieces for the acorn house from Bristol Paper and coloured with various DIs.  The Acorn body I coloured with Carved Pumpkin DI and then overstamped it with a woodgrain stamp from my stash.  The door and roof were coloured with Ground Espresso and Gathered Twig DIs and the computer generated sentiment was cut with one of the first dies I ever bought (Spellbinders Small Tag S3) and distressed with Gathered Twig DI.  I coloured a little bit of twine with Carved Pumkin DI and used it to attach the little sentiment tag around the stalk of the acorn.  I also added yellow vellum behind the windows.

The grass was cut from Bristol Paper using another NBUS set (Lawn Fawn Meadow Borders) and  coloured with Mowed Lawn DI.   I cut some leaves using the Acorn House set and blended with Mowed Grass, Apple Red, Carved Pumpkin and Gathered Twig DIs - and yes my fingertips and nails were a lovely mess!  I cut the dinky little keyhole for the door from a teeny snippet of gold mirri card - I now have a reason to keep even the really teeny snippets of gold now!

 

Challenge #247, we're joined by the extremely talented Trina Pham as our guest designer and her blog is well worth a visit as well as those of my talented team mates!

I'd like to enter the following challenges

NBUS Challenge #54;

The Four Seasons September Challenge;

Simons Says Wednesday Challenge - Make it Cute is the theme and Lawn Fawn = cute!

Snippets Playground Challenge #462 

- the leaves were cut from a snippet of card stock that I'd blended with various autumnal tones for a previous project and of course there was a snippet of gold for the key hole!

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 how to find you!

Kate

Blue Christmas

 

Challenge #144 has just gone live at The Holly and Ivy Challenge and now it's only 5 months to Christmas and I'm beginning to panic!  I've decided to go to Australia late October and as most of my cards are headed there, I need to have them finished before I go so I can take them with me!  And I won't have much time to create the rest of them when I get back either, so I really need to get cracking!  

I went through my stash of Christmas papers and found a 12x12 sheet of navy blue card stock with gold foiled snowflakes from which I was able to cut 4 panels.   I thought I'd make some quick spinner cards up but unfortunately this (unbranded) snowflake die was not a good choice - it's far too finicky plus there was a large hole in the middle which made made it very difficult to attach a magnet!  I did manage to plug that hole with a navy blue flat backed crystal that sparkles as it spins!  Seeing it finished, it does look magnificent but I will be using a different snowflake die for the other 3 other panels!

 Here it is in action!

I'd like to enter the following challenges

Sparkles Christmas Challenge #150 - include Gold;

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #51 - Anything Christmas Goes;

12 Months of Christmas Challenge #102 - Anything Christmas Goes;

Scrappy Mo's July Rudolph Challenge

Double D Challenges - Christmas in July;

Happy Little Stampers July Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes;

Little Red Wagon - Brrr.. It's Cold Over Here.

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 how to find you!

Kate

Polka Dot Dress

Onefer:

This dress was inpired by Library Challenge #82 and it's ending soon.  For some weeks now I've been trying to find time to make up this party dress - but like my mother used to say, when you can't find time you have to make time!  Who needs sleep anyway?  

I love the Library Challenges - I love the inspiration a book title or cover photo might provide ... or the story itself if I've read it!

I haven't read this one but the cover and the title were enough to kick my mojo into gear and I just happened to eye a large piece of blue polka dot in my scraps from a previous project.

  

Some of you may recognize this dress - it was cut with one of the original Sizzix thick cut dies and must be getting close to 20 years old now!  It's actually on a dress making dummy but it's easy to trim off stand and you're left with this fabulous dress ... and the shoes!  I mean if you're going to have a fabulous dress, you've got to have a pair of matching shoes too - am I right!  There is a handbag too, but I always struggle to fit it on an A7 card front!

I love this cover plate die (Simon Says Stamp Bohemian Detail) because it adds a little background interest but I can still stamp a sentiment directly on the panel (before the detail cut is done).  The sentiment stamp is also very old - a no name mounted on a wooden block which I picked up in a bargain bin if my memory serves me right (which it rarely does these days I should point out)!  It still stamps well though (which worried me as I usually rely heavily on my stamping platform these days)!

The die also cuts pieces for the neckline and waistband and I thought I'd add a pop of colour!  The flip side of this DP has sunflowers so I guess that's where I got my inspiration to cut these in yellow ... and to add the sunflower corsage!  With the corsage, I thought it might work for a birthday or graduation - I know a few people who are graduating from high school this year!  This lovely teeny sunflower is from a recently acquired set called Garden Shed by Sophie Guilar (Sizzix Brand).  Amazon kindly suggested I might be interested in this die set on one of my recent visits - so nice of them to encourage me to buy new dies (like I need any help in that department)!  For this reason, I'd like to enter it in NBUS Challenge #52 (Darnell must be getting heartily sick of me over there but I've barely scratched the surface of things I haven't used)!

I'd also like to enter the As You Like It Challenge which asks Plain or Patterned Paper.  There's nothing like patterned paper for speeding up a project - whether it be for a background panel or for paper piecing a large die image as here!  

Challenge Up Your Life Challenge #160 also has a Patterned Paper Challenge!

And finally I'd like to enter the Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies Challenge!

Twofer :

This was a pretty quick A5 card made up over the weekend for a young woman just graduated from the European School and is off to follow her musical dream next September in London! If you want to know HOW talented she is, you can listen to two (so far) of her original songs on her YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChXrRlLvi1I1C3LiD7kZ9Tw) and Spotify - written, sung and played be her (did I mention she plays multiple instruments as well). 

I've known this young lady had talent since she sang a solo at her (and my youngest's) First Communion 9 years ago and it has been a privilege to watch her evolve as a performer!  She has a beautiful rich voice but mostly prefers to accompany our choir on the violin - if you listen to her singing you can only image how good she is on the violin!

I just figured out how to download a video her mother took of her Bac performance from Whatsapp and have added it here.  It's an ABBA song and the performance was A M A Z I N G!  Considering this is a live recording taken with her mother's phone, I can on;y imagine how good this girl is going to sound once she hits London and has access to the equipment at The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance!

Eva's favourite colour is green which is why the colour scheme if fairly monotonal!  This gorgeous butterfly (Memory Box Gypsy Butterfly) is meant to represent her beautiful self creating a melody as she flits back and forth on the treble stave - can you see the hidden channel in between the two highest lines on the stave?  Unfortunately it didn't spin as well as I would have liked which is why I didn't bother trying to take a video.  Plus I had very little time before I had to take it in and have all the choir members sign it on Sunday morning!  I could have used one of the more symmetrical butterflies die in my stash but this butterfly is sooo her - tall, elegant and commanding and it's NBUS as well!

I'd like to enter this card in the Triple B Challenge July Challenge!

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 how to find you!

Kate

Charming Paris

 

I was thrilled to be asked to guest design for Traumfabrik (The Dream Factory) this month.  Each month Traumfabrik selects a movie as a prompt to inspire us to create something - and the movie this month is Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain.

I haven't seen the movie but according to Wikipedia, it is a whimsical depiction of contemporary Parisian life, received widespread critical acclaim with major praise for Tautou's performance, the cinematography, production design, and writing and it was nominated for five Academy Awards. According to BBC Culture, the movie is perhaps the most stylish ever made and describes Amélie Poulain as "a waitress with a big imagination". 

Here is the Official Trailer  on YouTube.  Of course you don't have to watch the movie or even the trailer - you might be inspired by the movie poster or anything Parisienne ... or anything French for that matter!  Perhaps a French sentiment or something typically French!

Nothing quite says French and in particular Paris like The Eiffel Tower and I may have one or two Eiffel Tower images in my stash (in fact I think I have 6 but I may have missed one or two)!  For my project today, I've included an Eiffel Tower charm from a NBUS set (Elizabeth Craft Dies Hanging Charm Pull Tab).  After stacking the charm for sturdiness, I double embossed it with Woven Tapestry Embossing Powder to give it a metallc appearance.  Then I cut small and medium tags (WMS Stitched Tags) and stamped them with French sentiments from a Katzelkraft set (French Quotes).  I then hid a magnet on the back of the larger tag so that it could be attached and detached from the card and used as a bookmark.  Here it is with the tags detached - there's another magnet under that globe.

This card will be going to my great nephew in Australia born last month.  It may be a few years before he will be needing a book mark, but I hope it encourages a sense of adventure!  Coincidentally, when this post goes live it will be exactly 33 years since my first trip to Paris and the Eiffel Tower in particular where I was finally able to call home to Australia from the Eiffel Tower Visitor Centre and learnt of the safe arrival of his mother - aah the good old days before mobile phones or even internet!  

I'd like to enter the following challenges

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge prompt is Lots of Layers

NBUS Challenge #51 - as mentioned, the charm die set was unused;

As You See It Challenge #300 which has an Adventure/Travel theme;

I was also inspired by the muted tones, machinery and metallics in the following photo inspiration from The Card Concept Challenge Challenge #197a

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 how to find you!

Kate