Girls' Day Out Folios # 2

Hello again everyone and welcome to my blog.  So happy to have you visit and hope you are having a fabulous day!

In a previous post I explained about a fabulous day out I had recently with some wonderful scrapping friends of mine .. Adriana Bolzon, Astrid Maclean, Heather Jacob and Helen Wallace.    We all exchanged handmade gifts on the day.  I shared the gifts I received in this post HERE and the first of the photo folios I made HERE and now I would like to share the second of my folios.  This one was made for Astrid Maclean.

The papers used are from Kaisercraft's Heirloom 6.5 x6.5 Paper Pad.

The design is similar to the Tim Holtz Collection Folios but my version is smaller.  The outside measurement is 6.75" x 5". 

 As in the first folio I shared, I only added some stamping, stenciling, washi tape and a few chipboard pieces from Scrapmatts.
The pocket on the inside front cover holds a photo mat ..
 

.. and the first page is a pocket that holds a small folded card ..

.. which was ideal for all of us to write a personal message.  The paper on the inside of the card is from Prima.

Next are two small half pockets ..

.. each holds a journaling card which, I thought, would be ideal for recording the details of the day.

The next page is a full sized pocket.  The flap is held down with a magnet ..

 
.. and there is another photo mat inside.

The last page folds out ..

.. once ..

.. twice, so there is plenty of room on both sides for photos.

The last page ..

 .. and the back cover.

Not much in the way of embellishment in these booklets as I feel it is much easier to add them after the photos are in and, besides, the ladies know what they themselves prefer and can decide whether they want to embellish, or not.

So, this was the second of my folios.  I will share the other in the next week or so and then, hopefully, soon after that I will share the final ones and the step by step instructions.  Hope you will return to take a look.

Thank you so much for dropping by and, if you would like to take a look at the work done by these fabulous ladies here, in alphabetical order, are the links.

Adriana Bolzon - AB Inspirations
Astrid Maclean - Astrid's Artistic Efforts
Heather Jacob - Art and Life
Helen Wallace - Textures and Tales

Hope you enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.

A Nephew's Birthday Card!

Hello sweet crafty friends and welcome to my blog!  So pleased you dropped by.
A very special welcome to my new followers.  So very pleased you decided to follow me and I hope I can give you a little inspiration now and then.

I'd like to share a card made for my nephew's birthday.

Still using up some older Kaisercraft papers.  Still have lots, so I'll be using them for a long time to come me thinks!   Distressed the edges and did a bit of inking with Gathered Twigs and Ground Espresso Distress Inks.

I had cut a panel with one of the new Tim Holtz dies but it didn't really fit into the design of my card so I got out my crackle paste and used it as a stencil instead .. am very happy with the result. 

Used one of the pop out labels from the paper pad as a graphic on the front.

 I also added in a couple of scraps from some Prima papers and a couple of Tim Holtz tickets as well.

 

The inside with pockets for a gift voucher and a tag on which I will write a personal message.

 .. and my card is done!!

Thank you so much for dropping by and taking a look at my creations and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

For everyone in Aus who is caught up in the terrible storms we are having at the moment .. stay warm, stay dry, stay safe.

Take care and God Bless.

Girls Day Out

Hello sweet peeps and welcome to my blog.  Hope you are all having a fabulous day.

A little while ago, I mentioned that I had a fantastic day out with four amazing ladies .. Heather Jacob, Astrid Maclean, Adriana Bolzon and Helen Wallace.   Not only are these ladies amazingly talented as scrappers but they are also the sweetest, loveliest people you could ever hope to meet.  I feel so blessed to be able to call them all 'friend' and to have been included in this wonderful day.
The main reason for this 'Girl's Day Out' was so we could meet with Astrid in person.  Heather and Astrid had already met a few years ago, but the rest of us only knew her online.  Those of you who are familiar with Astrid will know that she actually lives in Scotland but, at the moment she is in Australia visiting relatives in Melbourne.  Luckily for us, she was able to come to Adelaide for a few days and Heather arranged for all of us to get together.  We ended up in Hahndorf and had the most wonderful day just chatting .. laughing .. chatting .. eating .. shopping .. chatting (LOL!!) ..  it was awesome!!
 A kind passer-by took this photo for us.

For those of you who don't know us from right to left is Adriana Bolzon, Helen Wallace, Astrid Maclean, Heather Jacob and myself.

We also exchanged some handmade gifts and I thought I would share them with you.
 First up is this amazing card by Adriana.

I love the embossing on this card, especially the gold heat embossing on the front .. absolutely  gorgeous.  

Lots of inking and I love that sweet little swallow ..

.. and the flower cluster is so very pretty!! 

I also love the die cut words .. love, faith, hope, blessings.  Such beautiful sentiments ..

.. and the angel wings in the center.  Absolutely stunning.

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Next is a small booklet created by Astrid.
It was presented in this lovely little hessian bag.

Anyone who knows Astrid's work knows she is a master at mixed media and this little booklet was made in her distinctive style.

She blends and matches colours to perfection ..

so many different techniques and mediums used in creating this booklet .. simply awesome!

I adore the quotes Astrid used as well .. so inspiring.

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Last, but certainly not least, is this stunning tag by Heather.

Heather also presented her gifts tucked into a gift bag. 

Love the warm subtle colour with that touch of black .. and she added our initial on top of those gorgeous layers .. fabulous!

Just look at all those layers .. awesome!!

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We all wrote some personal messages on the backs of our gifts as well.

You've probably noticed that Helen didn't have a project and that's because she had been on holiday and didn't think she would be able to make it.  As it turned out, she rang Heather the day before to say she was able to join us after all.   We were all so very glad she could come along but, as it was at the last minute, we were not able to exchange gifts with her though her presence was certainly gift enough for all of us.

I created a small photo folio for the girls and I will be sharing those with you in the weeks to come.  In the meantime, here are the links so you can take a look at these 'uberly' talented ladies creations.

ADRIANA BOLZON - AB Inspirations
ASTRID MACLEAN - Astrid's Artistic Efforts
HEATHER JACOB - Art and Life
HELEN WALLACE - Textures and Tales

Here's a few more photos from a fabulous 'Day Out'.
The first one is from Heather's camera.  The last two are from mine.

Thank you so much my gorgeous friends for an absolutely wonderful day.  It was such a great  pleasure to finally meet Astrid in the flesh, so to speak, and she is even more lovely in real life than she is online.  I will treasure the memories and the beautiful gifts you all gave for always.  Love and hugs to you all.

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And thank you all so much for dropping by and making it through this very long post.
Hope you enjoy the rest of your day and that the weather is being kind to you.
Take care and God Bless.

Friends are connected heart to heart ..
Distance and time cannot break them apart.

Christmas in August #2

Hello sweet visitors and welcome to my blog.  I hope everyone is having a lovely day.  

Our weather here in Adelaide has been really lovely the last couple of days.   I hope it lasts a bit longer ..  loving it!!

I'm back today to share another of my early Christmas cards.  This one is a little bit different.  I  haven't made one quite like this before but I really like it so I know I'll be doing it again.

The papers are from Kaisercraft.  I have so many of their 6 x 6 pads, I thought it was time to start using it up.  So, even though they are not Christmas papers per se, I'm finding them quite suitable for these cards.

 A little bit of stenciling ..

.. and a touch of glitter.  

The flower is a White Apple Blossom by Green Tara  which is available at Megs Garden.  I simply sprayed it with Dylusion Ink.  I think the colour is called Cherry Pie but, unfortunately, I can't put my hands on it at the moment.  Obviously wasn't put back in it's right place last time I used it.  Have to have a treasure hunt me thinks, LOL!!

Used the pine branch die again .. really love that for Chrissy cards!

Used a Distress Ink pad to colour the gauze underneath the cluster.  So easy to do!

Added a few prills too!!  Not easy to see but you can just make them out here I think.

The inside, ready for a personal message.

I was ready to add this to my stash of cards  but thought that side flap just needed something.  Had a light bulb moment  (Yes, I know, it's really obvious what should go there isn't it?? )  So I added a gold sticker sentiment .. (Duh!!) ..

.. and, 'Voila!'  Done!!

Thought I'd throw my hat in the ring with this one and entered it into a couple of challenges

Christmas Card Challenges # 36 - Optional Challenge - Angels
12 Months of Christmas Link Up # 20 - Optional theme - Christmas Confectionery 




Thank you so much for dropping by and taking a look at my little creations.
Have a lovely day and enjoy the rest of the week.
Take care and God Bless.