A Birthday in Paris

Doesn't everyone dream of visiting Paris.. It is the city of love and dreams.

My lucky niece has been working abroad for the past 3 years, but  for the past 12months, she has been living in Paris with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop on her morning run.  For her birthday, I decided to include something about Paris and Australia in her card. A tutorial on Splitcoaststampers came at just the right time and I created this peekaboo card for her.
 
The paper is from  'Handmade' by Hot Off the Press and the Eiffel Tower stamped from WaltzingMouse Stamps - Paris Nouveau. On the inside, I stamped 'Matilda with the Koala'  by Magnolia Stamps and coloured her with copics. The stamp was a special addition in 2012 and unfortunately is no longer available..The oval and Labels 28 dies from Spellbinders, were used to create the borders around the opening in the card.  Have a go at this type of card as it is so versatile for so many occasions.

I hope you are having a creative day,

xx   Liz

First Birthdays

Any one that has children knows, that the first birthday is always a very special occasion. It has been a year of firsts, with many ups and downs and their birthday marks the start of much growing up that is about to begin.

A dear friend contacted me the other day and asked me to create a card for her granddaughter's first birthday, so I knew that it had to be something special. I chose to colour  'Marci on a Swing" from LaLa Land craft stamps with copic markers. Using simply pressed clay and the alphabet mold from Stampin Up, I custom made her name and also coloured the letters with copic markers and glossy accents. Here is the card I made and I hope it gives you some inspiration to customise your cards too.

The background is stamped from a stitched border stamp from Waltzingmouse stamps in Hero Arts 'Mint Julep" shadow ink. Japanese designer paper is used down the left side for an accent. Sentiment stamp is from Inspired by Stamping.

I hope you are having a creative day,

xx   Liz

Autumn is Here!

March for us in Australia, means that autumn has arrived. Although the days have been lovely and warm, with the sun shining brightly, the nights have just got a hint of coolness about them. This makes sleeping just that little bit easier.

    Therefore with lots of sleeping behind me I am being very productive during the days when I am not working, that is..... I have fallen in love with the gilding flakes put out by Creative Expressions.
(I have linked to the video on how to use them in an older post) The colours that they bring to the front of a card is amazing. I found them a bit difficult at first to handle, but with patience, I think the effort is worth it.

You apply a light layer of the special glue to the stamp of choice, which you then stamp onto cardstock and when tacky, apply the flakes to the image and see the transformation. Remember to was the stamp immediately to get the glue off the rubber.  Once the flakes have 'set', you buff off the excess with a course sponge. Here are the results.

The flakes I used is called ' Harvest Moon'

The verse is from a set by Verve Stamps called "Let It Be". I embossed a cream button with clear embossing ink and then used 'Verdigris ' embossing powder by Ranger to give it a bit of texture and colour. The stamp I used for the Gilding flakes is from Hero Arts "Leaf and Floral Background".

I am off to do some more creating, so I will catch you all later.

I hope you are having a creative day,

XX   Liz

Another card for Another Birthday

Well, I am back again today with a card made for my best friend. Today is her birthday, and I am here wishing you a wonderful day Gail. Sorry I can't give you a hug in person.

Gail is into everything green, but also elephants. Her elephant collection must be in the thousands by now, and they are in all shapes and sizes. That is the reason that I had to use this delightful stamp from Sheena Douglas's collection, called A Taste of India.

 The gold edging on the rug is done with Smooch Accent paint. The rest is coloured in using copic markers. The sentiment came from a free set that I received with a magazine and fits perfectly with this set.

I hope you are having a creative day,

xx   Liz

Happy Birthday to my Husband

Today, is the day that I get to celebrate with the man that I love. It is his birthday and I am taking him out for dinner and to watch the new movie, "The Second Best Marigold Hotel". I get to have a great night out with my man and a good laugh too.

     Happy birthday to Iain and I wish you all the best for the year ahead, I am sharing his birthday with you, because I made a card copying one that I saw on You-tube. It is done by the very talented  Jennifer McGuire. Every night he has a bowl of ice cream and so I thought this appropriate. However, he didn't get the joke!  Never mind, I still enjoyed making it. I have coloured texture paste for the scoops of ice cream but I think I could have made them a bit darker. The waffle cone is embossed and then coloured with copic markers.

I hope you are having a creative day,

xx  Liz

Completed Art Journal

Today, I can finally post pictures of the completed art journal I have made.

 I coloured the embossed faux leather with distress inks in Spiced Marmalade, Crushed Olive, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain. When that was completely dry I sprayed it with a Mat varnish to seal it. I then lined the inside with a lovely piece of butterfly fabric that I have in my quilting stash and sewed in the beautiful leaves of water colour paper rounding all the corners for a finished
 look.

A button on elastic keeps the journal securely closed.

The beautiful butterfly fabric I chose for the inside.

To see the full video by Sheena Douglas on how to put this journal together click here.

I hope you are having a creative day,

xx  Liz

Art Journal

The rain and mist is swirling around the Blue Mountains today and it is an ideal day to spend holed up in my creative parlour. This morning, I am starting to make faux leather which will be turned into the cover for an art journal, I have done this technique before but decided to revisit it again.  Here is a link to the Faux Leather technique by Sheena Douglas.

I have embossed it with Sheena's beautiful folder called "Flying Beauties"

It is sitting around trying to dry on this wet day, which is happening oh so slowly, so I will be back with another post later.

Hope you are having a creative day,

xx Liz