Tuesday, 23 January 2024

Elk Family


Challenge #254 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!

This card was a quick make using a panel I had left over from last Christmas.  After adding this rather large sentiment ( LDRS Christmas Wishes Word) there wasn't a lot of room, however these "whittle" guys fit in perfectly underneath (Poppystamps Whittle Elk and Whittle Deer)!  

I'd like to join the following challenges

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #82 - The Midas Touch (add a touch of gold);
Peace on Earth Challenge #56 - Anything Christmas Goes;
Merry Little Christmas Challenge #54 - Anything Christmas Goes;
Crafty Animals Challenge #79 - Anything Goes with an Animal;
12 Months of Christmas Challenge #108 - Anything Christmas Goes Optional Die Cuts

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

Thursday, 18 January 2024

Winter Solitude

Challenge #255 at Time Out Challenges has just gone live and this fortnight it's an Inspired By Words Challenge with this beautiful haiku from Matsuo Bashō

"Winter Solitude-
in a world of one colour
the sound of the wind"



An Inspired By Words challenge works exactly as you would expect - you take the words from the featured quote and use them to inspire your creation!   You can use one word, multiple words or just the general idea of the quote and if it isn't immediately obvious, please explain how you were inspired! 

 This fortnight we are generously being sponsored by Stamp Simply and they are offering our Top Pick as chosen by the design team a very generous $25 store credit.  

Our Top Pick will also be invited to Guest Design with us in a future challenge.  We're joined this challenge by the very talented Fran Wing of FranMadeInOregon as our guest!  Be sure to check out her gorgeous interpretation of this haiku as well as the rest of the team on the Time Out Blog!

How do these words inspire you and where do they lead your imagination?  We hope you can take Time Out of your busy schedule to come play cards with us!


I was inspired by the words "solitude" and "wind" and the notion of everything being white in Winter and this is what I came up with.  I didn't start out with a Christmas card in mind but the lovely sentiments in this old stamp set (Waltzing Mouse Seasonal Flourish) looked a little wind swept to me and this one fitted the space perfectly so I went with it.  

The whole card came together pretty quickly!  The deer (Poppystamps Nordic Deer) is ever so elegant with its lace collar and saddle!   It does come with a shadow die, but I preferred it without in such a simple setting.  The foliage on the base of the card is from the same set.  The intention is to decorate the deer if you don't want to use the lace collar and saddle - hence the curve!  But I thought it looked windswept!  


I'd like to enter the following Challenges

Crafty Animals Challenge #79 - Anything with Animals 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

Wednesday, 17 January 2024

Under His Wings



We had the most horrible shock this week when we lost a dear friend and member of our community under terrible circumstances.  She went out late in the afternoon on Monday (the first sunny day we'd had in months) and never returned.  With the sub-zero temperatures we have been experiencing this last week, we had hoped she had ended up in a shelter or was visiting a friend and had forgotten to mention it.  It was a tough few days for her family and loved ones as hundreds of volunteers pored through the neighbouring forests as well as neighbouring villages and bus depots looking for signs of her.  She wasn't discovered until Friday afternoon.  

She was such a sweet lady, with a razor sharp wit and a ready smile.   I toyed with the idea of this card during the days she was missing but I couldn't bring myself to start on it until yesterday.  I thought perhaps it might bring me some comfort to make something for her.  I also thought the rest of our choir would appreciate a way to express our grief - her late husband was our former choir director.  And I also wanted to express our sympathy to her family and remind them how loved their mother was.

The angel wings are from the Gummiapan Advent Calendar (Day 8) -  I cut them four times and separated the layers of feathers (it only takes a snip or two) and layered them up for dimension - adding gilding wax to each layer before adhering it to the layer underneath.

The bow is from a Greetery set (Mini Posy Pocket) and I layered this up 3 times for stability as I knew it would be sitting astride the wings.  I added gilding wax to this too.  The bow reminded me of a cardigan Anne would wear.

The sentiment is from one of my old Waltzing Mouse Stamps sets - Fine Feathers.  I heat embossed it with WOW! Metallic Gold Rich Pale Regular onto some off-white cardstock, then cut it with this lovely torn page die (Day 13 from the Gummiapan Advent Calendar).   

I then added more gilding wax around the edges and adhered it to a trifold card I made up specially so there would be plenty of room for everyone in the choir to sign.

Inside I paraphrased something one of our choir members shared earlier in the week when we were desperate for news of her and feared the worst - it offered us all a little comfort!  The wing stamp is from the same set as the sentiment.

I'd like to enter the following challenges

Alphabet Challenge Challenge - U is for Under Something;

Word Power Challenge #1 - I hope this lovely scripture text is appropriate for this new challenge which focusses on sentiments and text;

NBUS Challenge #58 - NBUS Torn Page Frame, Angel Wings and Mini Posy sets;

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 how to find you!

Kate