Time to be more adventurous!

I'm feeling very brave and entering two challenges.  I decided to have a go at making something for Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge 61.

Whilst I was wandering around the blogosphere I came across the The Play Date Cafe pdcc95. 

My initial thought was to run away as I'm not a girl for pink but when I got some cardstock out I found the Play Date Cafe colours in my hand. So here goes:

Unfortunately I'm limited on the third dimension as I currently have to scan in the card rather than photograph it; camera and computer won't talk to one another.  I must sort it out as the real life colours are more vibrant.

I started by stamping the background with the little strip from Waltzingmouse Stamps Very Vintage Christmas with Distress Inks in Crushed Olive and Chipped Sapphire onto some Bazzill cardstock.  The botanical card is from a Mariposa Mat Stack.  The sentiment is Waltzingmouse Stamp Set Vintage Labels 18 and Fancy Phrases again using Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink stamped onto a Spellbinders die.  The flowers were made using a Marianne Creatable die and were rising nicely in my palm when I rolled them around - then I had to squash them, c'est la vie.

All I've got to do now is use the Inlinz bit. All these challenges are more daunting than you first think!  However,this has all been much more fun than decorating.   I keep sneaking things back downstairs having packed it all up so that I can get on.  Perhaps tomorrow I shall feel inspired to put up wall paper rather than make cards. Maybe.

I won!!!!

I am amazed.

I took part in the Waltzing Mouse Waltz and was a winner.  You will only understand my amazement if you are like me and buy raffle tickets and never win. Thank you everybody for welcoming me to the world of blogging.  I am getting around lots of blogs and trying to leave comments but sometimes I'm not allowed to and haven't yet worked out why. Don't worry, I'll get there!

My relatively new HP laptop has gone off to have the mouse sorted and so I shall be able to copy and paste properly.  In the meantime my trusty old Sony is keeping me in touch.

...and two for tea at the Waltzing Mouse blog Waltz

Technology can be so unkind - the blues match at home!  When I started papercrafting I didn't think stamping was what I wanted to do but here I am enjoying it most.

I do hope I've managed to post this properly.  I will have to be online with my old laptop from thursday onwards as Hewlett Packard need to have a play with my mouse.  Not looking forward to "old technology" but it will be better than nothing.

Cardstock:  Bazzill

Ink:  Ranger Distress Ink
Die:  Sihouette
Embossing folder:  Cuttlebug All in One Alpha Monogram

Embossing Week 3 - Two for Tea...

 

For week 3 of my online course (All About Embossing at My Creative Classroom ) I decided to have a go at some heat embossing.  Having embossed a design using one of the new Cuttlebug All-in-One folders I used a Distress Ink to colour the cardstock and then used a clear extra deep embossing powder. Whilst it was hot and soft  I sprinkled in some fine glitter and then finished heating it.  I got more glitter on Sumo, my Lakeland Terrier, than on the card and so it's not as striking a look as it should be.  I have to say this was not my favourite week on the course and the bit of the card I like best is the bee on the teacup.

Cardstock:  Bazzill

Ink:  Rangers Distress Ink

Embossing folders:  Cuttlebug All-in-One

Die - Silhouette

Embossing Week 2 Project

This card was using a chipboard template to exclude an area from the embossing folder so that I could stamp in the middle.  I had inked on embossing folders before but this time spent ages trying out differant papers and different inks.  In the end I settled on a "Big and Juicy" ink pad and a piece of "Bazzill " cardstock.

Embossing Folder - Sizzix

Stamps - Waltzing Mouse.

Learning curve difficulties

I'm thoroughly enjoying my embossing course and hope to post something tomorrow.  I've struggling to overcome a couple of technical difficulties:

I bought my digital camera in 2003 and this year changed my laptop which is now running on Windows 7.  Cannon tell me that they no longer support my camera.  They were happy enough to take a lot of money off me when I bought it but expect me to join the disposable age.  I'm not happy with this attitude and fortunately have still got the old laptop which will have to remain my "photo lab."

I'm also having difficulty getting the laptop to copy and paste as the mouse has a touchpad and right click doesn't work.  Waiting for Hewlett Packard to get back to me on this but I have found out how to use the keyboard buttons and was therefore able to add the Waltzing Mouse Challenge button to my blog.  Better get to work.

My First Post - Wow!

Well I think I have been pussyfooting around long enough so here goes.

I've just started doing an online course with My Creative Classroom about embossing and this is my offering for Week 1.

Apart from the stress of producing a card that is going on public display to your class mates around the world there were additional complications. My camera software worked perfectly well on the old computer but of course nothing is compatible with Windows 7.  Thank goodness I've got a scanner printer - although I did think I had cropped the photo better than that.  There is sooo much to learn.

Enough wittering on.  the embossing folder is a Marianne design Creatable, the stamp from Waltzing Mouse, the die from Spellbinders and the cardstock was Core'dinations (Ranger/Tim Holtz Adirondack Collection) and DCWV's Mariposa Matstack.

Lesson two looks exciting but I have also just taken delivery of some Cuttlebug All-in-one embossing folders so I'm going to have a lot to play with.