Phindy's Grande Dame

The new Phindy's Place Challenge Blog was launched last week and the first challenge is very friendly - Anything Goes.  Of course you must use one of Phindy's images on your project but that is easy because there are so many great ones to choose from. 

I am a bit frustrated because the colour on this photo does not do the card justice and no matter how much I played with it in Photoshop I could not make it look the actual card.  The purple rose looks a bit dark but if I lighten it, the mat and image look too light.  I finally gave up and have decided I need to take either photography lessons or Photoshop lessons.  Although come to think of it, the real problem could be my fancy homemade photo booth - a white sheet wrapped around a cookie sheet leaning against the wall on my kitchen counter so I can take advantage of the under cabinet lighting - lol.  Because of the thickness of the lace, everything is popped up and very dimensional.

I am also entering this card in the following challenges:

Creative Belli - Die Cuts
Cooking It Up With Katie - Purple and 3 of something (Flowers)
Scrappy Frogs - Pick 3 (Die Cut, Lace, Digi Image)

The image from Phindy's Place is called Grande Dame and has been coloured using a combination of Prismacolor & Koh-I-Noor pencil crayons.  The paper is from Paper Pizazz.  The cardstock is Recollections (Michaels) and my stash.  Other supplies used:  Flowers (bridal supply store), Ribbon (Fabricland), Lace (my stash), Pearl Stickers (Recollections from Michaels), Leaf & Branch Punches (Martha Stewart), Chalk (Mungyo) and Die Cut Mat (cut from Cricut Sentimentals cartridge).

Phindy's New Challenge Blog

I want to remind you that the new Phindy's Place Challenge Blog is set to launch on Monday, April 12th.  For every 50 followers that sign up, Phindy is putting a brand new, unreleased stamp into a draw on opening day.  I just checked and if four more followers sign up there will be three new stamps so if you aren't a follower yet, do not delay.

Now, get ready for lots of fun because the first activity on launch day is a blog hop.  Mark your calendar, make a note, tie a string around your finger but do not forget to visit the new challenge blog on Monday and participate in all the fun.

Phindy's New Challenge Blog

I am a huge fan of Philomena O'Neill and the digital images she creates that can be purchased here.  Over 700 of us are followers of her group on Paper Craft Planet but now we are fortunate to follow her on the new Phindy's Place Challenge Blog. 

The Design Team will be announced next week and the first challenge will follow.  If you haven't signed up to be a follower on the challenge blog do not delay.  For every 50 followers of the challenge blog, Phindy will put names into a random draw for unreleased stamps - woohoo more quality digis.

In the meantime there is one more challenge on Paper Craft Planet for her followers there and I will be working on my challenge card tomorrow so stay tuned.

Easter Card

I'm back - hope you missed me!  I was out in Medicine Hat, Alberta to visit my Mother-in-Law and while I was there we looked at alternative living space for her since she is finding it stressful living alone in her home now that she is 88 and not as well.  We also eliminated as much paperwork as we could so the bills aren't as confusing to her.

After catching up on house cleaning, grocery shopping and a pile of errands I am finally able to craft again and have something to show you.  Since it is Easter weekend, I thought I better tackle a couple cards for my grandchildren.  I am a bit disappointed in them though because I tried a different paper and while I didn't get any smearing, it didn't blend as nicely so I won't be using that again.

This card features an image from Phindy's Place and is one I will be able to use over and over on cards for all ages.  Scroll down to the next post to see the second card I made.

The image is called Easter Tree and has been coloured using a combination of Koh-I-Noor and Prismacolor pencil crayons.  The papers and cardstock are from my stash.  Other supplies used:  Pearl Stickers (Dollarama), Ribbon (Michaels), Branch Punch (Martha Stewart), Silk Flowers (Michaels), Paper Flowers (Bridal Supply Store), Nestabilities (Spellbinders) and Pearl Ex.

Phindy Challenge

The new challenge for the Phindy's Place group on Paper Craft Planet is to create more than one card using the same image.  Since I had just made a card using Phindy's Cozy Evening image this morning I decided I should whip up a simple second one and create a Valentine's card with it.  I know there is no sentiment but trust me with all those hearts it can be used for Valentine's Day (or to tell someone you love them).

I wanted to get this done this afternoon because I am leaving before dawn tomorrow to fly out to Alberta to check on my Mother-in-Law.  While I am there I won't be doing any crafting (see Cec crying) and won't be able to do any posts so I will be anxious to get back at it when I return.

The image from Phindy's Place has been coloured using a combination of Prismacolor and Koh-I-Noor pencil crayons.  The papers are from my stash and the cardstock is Recollections (Michaels).  Other supplies used: Border Punch (Martha Stewart) and Gems (Dollar Store).

Happy Anniversary

Some time ago I made a card with an image that I had purchased from Phindy's Place and while I think the image is adorable, I found it difficult to colour and did not like that first effort.  I gave it another go today and am happier with the output.  I also decided to make the card itself a little cleaner so the image would be the star.

I even found a couple of challenges that I could enter:

My Time To Craft - Lovely Lace
Cute Card Thursday - Happy Anniversary

The image is called Cozy Evening and has been coloured using a combination of Prismacolor and Koh-I-Noor pencil crayons.  The paper is from Kally Panacci for Sandylion Sticker Designs.  The cardstock is Recollections (Michaels) and some that my local printer ordered in for me.  The sentiment is computer generated.  Other supplies used: Lace (my stash) and Ribbon (Fabricland).

Friends

Yesterday my day started out to be one thing and ended up as something else.  I decided on the spur of the moment to go into Toronto with my husband and had a great time shopping.  Now my husband regrets calling me before he left because it was a far more expensive day than he anticipated but I sure had fun. 

Today I went for another walk around the neighbourhood since we were having a glorious day and the weatherman is predicting rain for the next three days.  It is sad how ugly things look this time of year what with the brown grass, the deflated Christmas blow-up lawn decorations and the mud everywhere.  I often wish I lived in the warm, lush Caribbean but that isn't going to happen unless I win a lottery.

I never have cards for friends on hand so I decided I would make one and enter it in the challenge at Phindy's Group on PCP , which required that we combine two Phindy images.

Inside the card I put the following verse:

I see you when I look in the mirror of friendship.

The images are called Grande Dame and Digi Piggy Diva and were coloured using a combination of Prismacolor and Koh-I-Noor pencil crayons.  The paper is called Euphoria from Basic Grey.  The cardstock is Recollections (Michaels) and my stash.  Other supplies used:  Chalk (Mungyo), Punches (Martha Stewart), Flowers (Prima and a bridal supply store), Ribbon (Kate's Paperie), Nestabilities (Spellbinders).

Phindy's Favourites

Today I can't do much crafting because I have to murder dust bunnies (lol) so here is something I made a couple of weeks ago.

Recently the group at Phindy's Place on Paper Craft Planet reached 500 and to celebrate Phindy held a week-long party.  One of the activities was a challenge to make a card with one of her images but using her favourite colours. 

The image is called Rainy Day Friend  from  Phindy's Place and was coloured with a combination of Prismacolour and Koh-In-Noor pencil crayons.  The papers are from my stash while the cardstock is Recollections (Michaels).  The sentiments were computer generated.  Other supplies used: Recollections Pearl Stickers  (Michaels), Flowers (Wal Mart), Pearl Ex, Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Punches (Martha Stewart & Marvy Uchida)

Phindy's Place Challenge

The challenge this week at Phindy's Place on Paper Craft Planet is to create a card using one of her images and the colours blue, green and orange.  Since I have already used that colour scheme I had to be careful not to make this one look the same.

I didn't put a sentiment on the front this time but inside it says:

Bringing a bunch of good wishes your way. 

Happy Birthday

The image is called Flower Wagon and can be purchased along with other wonderful digis at Phindy's Etsy Shop.  I coloured it with a combination of Prismacolour and Koh-In-Noor pencil crayons.  The paper is from Sandylion Sticker Designs, Recollections (Michaels) and Free Digital Scrapbooking (online).  The last paper was called Green Swirl but when I printed it I didn't realize that my ink cartridge was almost empty and it ended up as turquoise with a fine green stripe.  The cardstock is Recollections (Michaels).  Other supplies used:  Doily Border Punch (Martha Stewart), Flower Punch (EK Paper Shaper), Corner Punch (Fiskars), Brads (Making Memories), Pearl Stickers (Recollections from Michaels), Ink (Color Box).

Phindy's Place Birthday Challenge Card

I am proud to be a member of the Phindy's Place group over on Paper Craft Planet.  A couple of weeks ago they had a challenge to make a birthday card using one of Phindy's super images with a colour scheme of red and brown.  Well, I had never entered a challenge card before but I thought I would give it a try.  I did it quickly so I could submit it on time but I don't think it turned out too badly for my first effort.  My red is a real deep raspberry colour and I used a lighter brown than they probably were looking for but it was accepted.  Just to let you know, it has been a long time since I've done any colouring and it is hard to stay inside the lines.  My 3 yr. old granddaughter is as good as I am - hmmm does that say something about her or me.

The card has the Miss Mouse’s Tea image from Phindy's Etsy shop coloured with a combination of Prismacolour and Koh-In-Noor pencils.  The papers are Marooned Daisies (Kelly Panacci for Sandylion Sticker Designs) and a red paper from a Provo Craft Christmas Scrap Pack.  The cardstock, both plain and striped,  are from my stash (don’t remember the source).  The lollipop flower is handmade and the sentiment is computer generated.  Other supplies are Buttons (my stash), Chalk (Mungyo), Border Punch (Martha Stewart) and Brad (Making Memories).