Pretties etc

Last week , I was blessed to receive

 these lovely hand dyed crochet doilies 

in the mail all the way from NSW, Australia

 from the lovely Sandra Gerdes , 

an Australian Scrapbooking Master( 2006) -

{just to mention one of a million crafty talents she has ! ;) }

 Check out her blog  here to see what I mean 

I couldn't wait to make some cards with these pretties - 

here's one I  finished today .

I've also used the latest Making Memories'

 metal embellies to complete the card .

I have used an MM  embossed star charm,

a  metal flower on top of the scrunched ribbon

 & a glittery copper deco brad for the doily center-

all freshly brought home from our LSS  today ! ;)

I didn't have the heart to cover up the pink doily too much -

I thought the pattern has such wonderful, pretty details ! 

I am loving the combo of MM's embellies 

with this WRMK Tiffany papers . 

Again , to show off the lovely doily patterns I have used 2 together here,

with an MM pearl brad to finish the flower off .

Sandra has the most reasonably priced hand dyed crochet doilies at the mo - 

be sure to check out her etsy store here .

http://www.etsy.com/shop/prettiesetc

Here's a sampling of other colors she has in store : 

Thank you soo much , Sandra,  for the very happy mail ! 

ICSketches #75

As always , we have a great sketch to play with this week 

over at ICS . 

Here's my take using 

WRMK Tiffany again . 

The pearl butterfly is from Prima, 

crochet trim from American Crafts, 

& I stamped the sentiment using 

a Technique Tuesday set. 

ICS is also having a DT call 

which is ending July 24th . 

The Scrappiest layout sketch 74

Sketch 74 is up & running over at the Scrappiest this week. 

I am so loving this latest Creative Imaginations/ IOD Design line. 

Just so easy to work with in terms of color scheme 

& I love the doodly , fresh graphic design . 

Something totally different from all that's available out there. 

I used stickles on the swirls here as well as on the die cut background.

And kept the whole layout clean & light.

This month , there's a yummy kit prize to play for , sponsored by Apron Strings.

Little Shop of Sketches - sketch 66

The new Universal Studios here is such a great place for photos, 

needless to say . 

DD & friends sure had a whole bunch for me to scrap up . 

Here they are at 

 the Far Far Away Castle which is a world's first.

 The castle hosts attractions such as Shrek 4-D and

 Donkey Live featuring the voice talents of 

Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas and Cameron Diaz.

I have used mainly Webster's Pages papers from different lines 

to capture the colors and theme of the photo. 

& decided to use lots of differnent kinds of stickles

 for a change all over the layout ! ;) 

The hot air balloon theme I have noticed

 is continuing even with the CHA Summer releases. 

Remember The Little Shop of Sketches are looking for 6 new design team members

 to join the team so Little Shop can go weekly.

 Just pick 3 sketches from Little Shop to design your layouts around and email to

littleshopofsketches@xtra.co.nz

Please also send the sketches in with your layouts.

TCR#15 - Enjoy this Day

Trying out a quick layout

 with my altered Daisy D pattern paper here. 

See post below  for other altered patterned paper fun 

with the new Fall Glimmer Mist colors . 

Glimmer misted KaiserCraft wooden flourish

 in the new Dragonfly ,

which is basically a teal color.

And a rather rich one too ! yums !!

I had an extra of this photo to use 

and decided to try it out with  this 

color scheme, which is 

inspired by The Color Room's latest palette.

Layout design was inspired by Stuck Sketch's July 15th sketch.  

Fall colors in July ?

Did you catch Tattered Angels' latest video 

featuring Heidi Swapp & founder , Wendy Stenger 

demonstrating techniques with the latest Glimmer Mists in 

Fall colors !

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/8281793

I sure did !
& then ran out to my LSS ,
which was very conveniently freshly stocked
with the new yummy colors yesterday !

Inspired by what Heidi demoed ,
I promptly altered some olde
Daisy D patterned papers
with the newfound colors :

I sprayed 5 colors here - 

there's Autumn Midnight( navy blue) , Pomegranate ( a dusky pink purple ) ,

Sugar Maple ( sorta rust ) 

& my fave colors of all - Dragonfly & Apple .

4 colors here - Sugar Maple , Apple, Pomegranate, Autumn Night

Dragonfly + Apple
Check out the layout samples that was created for the video
over at Heidi Swapp's blog here.

Apple + Dragonfly 

Dragonfly +Apple + Maya Mist 

I used KaiserCraft's wooden flourishes as a mask here. 

& that rounds off my misting fun with these new colors ! woot ! 

I can imagine these colors will go well with these new CHA releases : 

What do you think ? 

Just us

I thought I'd cut into some Lily Bee Hello Sunshine pps to go 

with this particularly bright pic in similar happy color tones 

as the line. 

Nothing like a mix of new & old stash 

for the feel good factor after creating ! 

Some old Primas with the latest 

Hambly needlepoint rub on .

I even tried stamping on stitches on each twinchie square ! 

Layout design was inspired by this sketch by Julie Bonner . :)

icSketches #74

My take this week for ICS#74

using an all time fave 6x6 paper pad WRMK Tiffany.

There is a timeless quality to the colors & design for this paper line,

it simply looks good all the time !;)

The stamped sentiment is by Technique Tuesday

and I've also used my fave Fontwerks stitched stamps.

Buttons are by Such Sweet Tierney.

ICS is having a DT call right now

for card sketch designers.

Check out the deets here .

Happy together

My take this week for the Scrappiest Sketch 73. 

Some trends have been pretty long lasting this year - 

clouds , birds, banners , woodlands/ florals 

and it doesn't seem to me that they're going away anytime soon . 

Most supplies here are Pebbles' Inc Treehouse line -

 papers, cardstock sticker,chipboard shape. 

The Scrappiest is also looking out for a new layout DT -

so check out the details here 

if you would like to be a part of a fab sketch site ! 

Helen's World Cup RAK / The Final Countdown : world cup fever - how will it end ?

"Oracle Octopus" Paul has spoken !!! 

All bets are on Spain tonight surely !! ;) 

I didn't miss the last 2 World Cup Finals -

so why miss this one ?! 

Need to see if "Oracle"Paul is right, you know !

Edited to say : 

Eight picks of winners in a row , eight tentacled Paul
is a winner over & over again
at this World Cup !
Only at such a time as this !!!!
Well, I never !

& Congrats to the newest World Cup champs , Spain,
who are all set up to party lavishly for their next 36 hours !!!
Can't blame them !

Helen in good ole South Africa 
is doing a fabulous World Cup RAK
just to keep the fever going a little while longer
before we get into withdrawal syndrome mode
 from the World Cup ! lol

Here's what she's giving away ! 

One lucky winner {local or international} will receive a genuine SA vuvuzela, 

4 FIFA endorsed official licenced products {keyring, bangle & 2 pens},

 some real SA sweeties

 & some tourist booklets to encourage you to come & visit her !

LOL! 

Little Shop of Sketches DT Call

That’s right, Little Shop of Sketches 

is looking for 6 new design team members

 to add to the current team. 

Send Tanya Leigh 3 layouts

 from 3 of Little Shop of Sketches, sketches 

by end of July to

littleshopofsketches@xtra.co.nz

Little Shop of Sketches is fortnightly 

but we want to go weekly 

so that’s why we are looking for new members. 

When you email your layouts please attach the sketches with each layout.

ICSketches #73

Check out the latest sketch here .

Supplies : Pebbles Inc treehouse pps , 

7 Gypsies' Avignon pp,

Scrunched vintage seam binding ,

Such Sweet Tierney buttons

This week our sponsor is 

 Fairy Knoll.

A place where fairies fly and dreams come

alive. Fairy Knoll offers digital stamps 

filled with fantasy and magic 

Up for grabs is 3 free digi images of the winner's choice.

The Scrappiest Sketch 72

For the Scrappiest this week , 

I went with some of last year's 

Prima papers from the 

 CHA Summer releases .

I splattered with quite a bit of Charcoal Maya Mist 

unto the background paper 

to add a bit more interest .

To finish off , I added some floral cutouts
from a Prima flocked transparency ,

some Prima pearl butterflies ,

and a stamped butterfly 

with an MS Monarch butterfly punch out on top of it . 

Featured Member Monday on AMM's blog

AMM's DT member, Staci Taylor,

picked my layout for the Color Room Challenge #12 

for AMM's Member Monday feature

 over at the AMM blog today.

You can check out the rest of the blog post here .

Thank you soo much , Staci !!!

The 7 Most Generous Websites for Free Photography Lessons

The 7 Most Generous Websites for Free Photography Lessons

check out the above link 
for some more lessons and concepts 
to keep moving your photography forward.

to

all American blogging friends too ! ;)

ICSketches #72

My card this week for ICS #72.

Buttons by Such Sweet Tierney,

papers are Pebbles Inc's Treehouse line

with a little 7 Gypsies' Avignon music pp .

There is blog candy, sponsored by Debra on the ICS DT,

 to play for this week : 

which includes 

26 sheets of 6"x6" paper
30 ribbon roses
1 pack doodlebugs clear stamps