I'm back and playing with Crazy 4 Challenges today!

It has been forever and a day since my last post. I have been soooo busy getting ready to move, moving and now in the chaos of unpacking that blogging got a vacation. I have to admit I missed crafting and blogging my creations as it really does keep me sane. And moving really tests the old sanity let me tell you!

I dug out a few supplies in my new but far from unpacked craft room to play along with this week's challenge over at the Crazy 4 Challenges blog. Now I am going to be upfront and share that in the group emails I had heard some talk about this week's challenge and some hair being pulled out. I didn't think much of it- I mean I make 2 layered cards all the time. A card base- then my 2 layers. Easy Peasy!

Except I was wrong. So very very wrong. 

A 2 layer card is the card base and one more layer. That is it. Sounds easy right? Now plan a card in your head and when you go to add more papers...remember to stop. See what I mean? It really is a challenge! After some swearing, temper tantrums and my own hair pulling an idea floated through. And truth be told I LOVE being challenged to step outside of my box so obviously the temper tantrums are just part of my creative process hee hee. To help meet the challenge requirements I just made my nice thick patterned paper from Bo Bunny into my card base. PHEW!

The design on my card was inspired by a design I found on my newest obsession/addiction Pinterest. The exception being it did use 2 layers plus a card base. The simplicity of the design but the eye catching impact totally rocked my world! This is my 2 layer take on it. Here is the original card I found on Pinterest that I think Amber Kroening was the original artist- if I am wrong my apologies!

http://pinterest.com/pin/280771357988762727/

See what I mean! Stunning!

I used Bo Bunny's GORGEOUS Almanac paper from the Country Garden line as my card base. I think I may need to buy a basquillion sheets of this particular paper cause I can't get over how much I love it! I had originally planned to use another sheet from that line as my 2nd piece but then this cool blue wood grain piece from MME caught my eye. To create my butterfly cut outs I used Martha Stewart's punch all over the page butterfly punch. Not sure why I haven't use these punches before because they are brilliant! It was missing something so I added a sentiment and some bling and then decided to walk away to keep the simplicity of the card. I am happy with how it turned out. 

Then I had to find my photography equipment- Oi Vey!!!!!

So come on and get crazy with us at the C4C challenge blog. Let us know how you did with the 2 layer challenge!

Cheers- Andrea 

Crazy 4 Challenges gets sketchy!

It is my second week on the Crazy 4 Challenges team and it is a sketch. Love sketches- they just take the stress right out of my body. Especially simple sketches like the one our fabulous hostess Lynda has provided us. To add a twist to the sketch she is asking that you make a card for someone you love...and actually send it to them. GASP! That is something that I plan to do...but rarely happens. This time it is going to happen though cause I am sending it to my hubby and I am actually going to mail it to our house hee hee! He rarely gets mail so I know he will get a kick out of it. 

I am using a stamp set from MFT that I fell in love with the moment I saw it and obsessed over it till I owned it. Then I promptly stored it and forgot about it. When I saw this amazing paper 'Yours Truly' by Echo Park and it reminded me of my beloved stamp set and die and I dug it out for this challenge. Luckily it wasn't packed yet as we are moving next week and most of my stuff is packed. Speaking of moving and living in a house filled with boxes I did manage to convince hubby that if all my crafting items were packed I could have a serious meltdown if I didn't have at least some of my 'happy room' available to me. Lovely guy that he is he totally understood. He has his video games for his stress relief and relaxation so he 'gets it'. 

In fact that is why I chose this sentiment to go with my card- it actually comes with the set too. We both have our favourite ways to pass time and we have even found a way to do it together at the new house. Currently I have a small craft room and I leave him in the livingroom when I am crafting. He hates that because he always likes to be close to each other even if we are doing our own things. It used to drive me crazy but now I find it cute. In our new house my craftroom is going to be in our HUGE office where I get 90% of the space for my craft studio and he is taking 10% to set up an armchair and his video games so that we can hang out together while we each do our favourite things. How cute is that! I have to admit I agreed to this on the condition that he invest in some of those wireless headphones so that I don't have to hear his games. Honestly- hearing the same words repeated over and over again in his war game sets my teeth on edge so this gives us the best of both worlds. I am sure some of you know exactly what I am talking about!

So here's to you hubby- you are just my type. Love you.

Cheers, Andrea

It's time for a High Hopes new Release with a new Artist!!

So happy to share that High Hopes Stamps is having a new release this week and features a sweet Alien set from Dustin Pike and sentiments from Karen- one of the new HHS owners! How cool is that! I am so happy for Karen and her hubby as they embark on this new adventure in their lives and I am honoured to be a part of it. Karen's sentiments have a 'folk art' feel to them which is why I gave this card a shabby look with some of my new MME papers. I coloured it up with my copics and went over some of the areas I wanted black with my copic multi-liner pen to really darken it up. I love love love folk art and these new sentiments have inspired me in many ways! 

I hope you are hopping along on our new release blog hop today as there are prizes along with way. You should have arrived from the talented Anna's blog and from here you go to so crafty Alex's blog. To win some of the new releases for yourself make sure you visit each blog and leave a comment as you don't know which the 'secret' prize blogs will be. 

Now if you can't wait a second longer to own the Alien set or some of the new sentiments please click here to go right to the HHS store and scoop some up! To start at the beginning just pop over to the HHS challenge blog. 

So go grab another cuppa and see all the lovely samples the High Hopes Divas have for you today!

Cheers, Andrea

Making a Scene with Magnolia Stamps

I received a very exciting email this week that sent me over the moon- the lovely and very talented Frances from the Crazy 4 Challenges blog asked if I would like to join their team....OKAY! I have used their challenges many times to kickstart my mojo and the ladies on the team are ones I have long admired so that fact that I am now 'hob knobbing' with this bunch of 'crazies' is amazing news! Yippeeeeeeee!!!!! 

When Frances asked when I would like to jump in of course I said 'Right Away Thank you Very Much' I mean- you would have too right! I had no idea that in a few hours the horrid flu would come knocking on my door and wipe me out this week- taking ten lbs with it so I can't totally complain. Even though I probably could have gotten a pass if I had asked due to being sick- NO WAY. This girl badly needed some crafting time plus the challenge is so fun!

The Lovely Lynda is the challenge hostess for this month and she is asking us to 'Make A Scene'. Something I am very very good at. Could probably teach lessons actually. Now I have never made a scene on a card before but in real life- it is a skill ;). 

My stamping bff Sarah had me try her Magnolia stamps a few months ago and I was not really into them but I stamped the shop window and Tilda with her shopping bags (under duress I might add). I coloured her hair....and was hooked. I have since purchased an alarming amount of Magnolia stamps just based on colouring her hair all the while shaking my fist in the air and yelling 'Drat you Sarah!'. Since I can apparently take full blame for her copic marker obsession I guess it fair. 

I coloured in these images to match my paper and then kept the rest of the card simple so the focus was on the 'scene'. That was of course decided after I filled my desk with a mountain of various flowers and doodads to only sweep them off in a huff. I found this sweet Stamping Bella sentiment I had bought years before and using a spellbinder shape made price tag of sorts. I also added Tim Holtz rock candy stickles to the brick and her shopping bags. Honestly I had no idea what it does at the time that I added it but I can say I do like the effect when it was all dry. I also figured if Tim made it- it is probably good hee hee!

So please take a moment after muddling through my long winded post today to hop on over to the Crazy for Challenges blog and see the full deets and the AMAZING samples they have made. Seriously amazing- like I need to pull up my socks to hang with these ladies kind of amazing. Gulp. hee hee!

Alright- you deserve a nice hot cuppa after reading all that babble and extraneous use of "" symbols..Have an amazing day!

cheers! Andi

Playing with Hero Arts and Color Me Creative

I love this card. Love it. The fact that I made it is just a bonus. Loooooovvvee it. Might have something to do with my addiction to hot drinks and donuts. 

I wanted something fun and funky for my 3rd contribution for Color Me Creative DT posts and when this Hero Arts set hit SGD I had visions of sugar plums dancing in my head. Actually it was double chocolate donuts, jelly donuts, French crullers and my fave chocolate walnut crunches dancing in my head hee hee!

So with this 'Have a Donut' set in my hands I stamped the images in Memento tuxedo black to get them ready for my copics. I then used the following copic colours to keep it simple:

R-24, 27, 29, 39

E-23, 25, 27, 29, 33, 35, 50

WG-3

I used my scor-buddy to add dimension to my white card by scoring just around the inside of the card. I have been seeing this more and more on cards especially with the resurgence lately of the clean and simple card style which I am trying to do along with my over the top cards I still love doing lol. 

If you are unfamiliar with the CMC (Color Me Creative) site I talk about click here to be introduced to a colorers dream haven! We have tons of online courses for you to take and lots of fun amazing like minded crafters who love to chat it up and give each other suggestions and support. Come and join us!!

Cheers, Andi