The Cutest Ballerina

I have to admit that this is just the cutest ballerina in town! I absolutely love this little bear in her tutu. Isn't she just too adorable for words.

I coloured her just for the fun of it. I couldn't wait for the day that I had a specific occasion to need this image. Once she was coloured up I made a birthday card for a colleague's niece who's turning eleven. I hope she loves her as much as I do.

A little confession here... I coloured two of her, one in a pink dress and one in a green dress. I'm about to go and make something with the other one. Just because they are so cute.

She was coloured with my prismacolor pencils and blended with sansador. Then cut out with nesties, and mounted on 3D pads. The sentiment is by Stampingbella and also cut out with nesties. The border was done with my brand new Fiskars border punch! I don't know for the rest of you, but here in Jo'burg, the good quality punches are very expensive. But I wanted it so I had to spend the money.....

I put lots of glitter on the dress and shoes and the background paper. I am not sure the photo does it too much justice, but some of it can at least be seen.

I heard such devastating news earlier today. There are 55 Pilot Whales beached at Kommetjie beach in the Cape, here in South Africa. People are trying to get them back into the sea and keeping them alive with water. Apparently there are more coming ashore. They don't know yet what caused this. It's terrible, I wish I was there to help, but it's pretty far from Jo'burg. At least the sea rescue people are there doing something. I just hope they will all be okay. My heart just breaks when I hear of something like this.

Anyone feel like a bit of blog surfing, go see what everyone got up to for the latest Bella challenge. It was a sketch again, there are some gorgeous creations to ooooh and aaah over. Then Elzybells is celebrating their blog-a-versary, yip it's one year old in June, and they're planning all sorts of exciting stuff during the month.

Oh one other thing I wanted to share, my mother's been crocheting flowers for me, to use as embellishments. I can't wait to use one or two, she's nearly done with them. Hopefully soon I will post a card with a homemade, handmade crocheted flower on it :-))

Have a great weekend. Till later.....

Just because...

As the sentiment says, this card was made just because.... I bought this Elzybells stamp with my last order, and I just had to colour it up as soon as possible. It had such appeal to me and I couldn't resist not using it, even though I had no reason to make such a romantic card. I figured if some people (I mention no names), can make Christmas cards in May, I can make a Valentine style cards too - LOL!!!

The image was coloured with my Prismacolor pencils and blended with Sansador. I cut the bears out and put them on 3D pads, the mat was cut with my nesties long rectangle and also placed on 3D pads. There's a bit of glitter on the butterflies, but as usual the photo doesn't show it.

The flower was punched out with my brand new punch I bought yesterday. It's a Chiswick, I think that is a local company. I nearly forgot something very important, the paper was a free download from Two Peas in a Bucket. I love it.

Now if anyone is wanting to try and become a design team member, Nutshells are looking for new members. Maybe some of you are keen to do that, become a 'celebrity' in the craft world :-)

That is it for this post. (ps: those of you subscribed via email, might have received a mail with half a post, that's because I pressed enter on the wrong screen and it published my post before I was done. Do excuse my little boo boo.....)

Cheers for now. I'm off to do some more crafting.

Double take

I have two cards to share today. Typical me... nothing in over a week and now two at once. I had such a busy weekend that I got no time to make any cards, it depressed me terribly - hahaha.

I have made one for the Bella challenge this week, must not forget to email it to Emily, and the other was going to be for another challenge to win some Elzy stamps, but I didn't get that far. I ended up doing my own little sketch.

Talking of Elzybells, they have a new release tomorrow. The most gorgeous, precious, adorable, lovable, hugable - okay I'm sure you get my point - bears! There are some great ones for Father's day if anyone is still looking for inspiration. I am definitely going to be ordering some. If you want to see some stunning sneak peaks go see Elzybells or Paula's blogs. You can also find some on the other DT members, there are links on both their blogs.

I tried something different when I coloured these two little bears. I coloured them a lot more solid and darker than I usually would. I also didn't give them their usual rosy cheeks. I think they came out okay, it's just strange for me to look at.

They were coloured with my Prismacolor pencils and blended with Sansador, cut out with my nesties and then layered on 3D pads. I am not 100% sure yet that I like the happy birthday tag where it's hanging... it might still get removed or maybe moved. I just cannot decide where though.

I put some glitter glue on the bubbles, and the flowers.

The Bella card is for my niece's school teacher. My sister just loved the Bella fairy, so a fairy it had to be. Hopefully the teacher also likes fairies - she is turning 60 after all.

I coloured her with Prismas too, and mounted on a nestie on 3D pads. The mat was put through the cuttlebug birthday template. How ironic my sentiments turned out. The Bella image has an Elzybells sentiment and the Elzy image has a Bella sentiment - LOL!

That's about it as far as the cards go. Have to share with you all, Debbi, has been accepted as a design team member for the Passion for Promarkers Challenge blog. She colours beautifully with those promarkers, she has also done a little tutorial on her blog, if any of you are looking for some help with those.

Well, I am now officially VERY late for work. Do I look stressed - okay I'll tell you cause you can't see me - NO, I am not stressed. I have been made redundant, so why should I be stressed, LOL!

Have a great day.

Green & Blue again

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, my niece asked for a green and blue card, so this is the second of her two green and blue cards she'll be getting - if you ask shall receive ;-)

I made this card for my mom to give to my niece, and it took me forever to come up with the layout, does it show - hehehe..... I know my '9' is not too clear, but I actually liked it that way. I didn't want it to stand out too much, otherwise it overpowers everything else about the card.

I coloured this little Magnolia with my prismacolor pencils and blended it with Sansador. I cut the image out and then mounted it on 3D dots. The blue mat was out lined with a silver pen. I had to do something to break the blue on blue.

That's it for the weekend, can't believe it is Monday again tomorrow. So sad, but at least if the time goes by quickly it means I get nearer and nearer to summer - whoooohooo - can't wait!!!

Mother's day was good today. I managed to make breakfast without burning anything. My mom loved her cards, and her gift, which was a CD of a local Afrikaans singer, called Theuns Jordaan. I'm pretty sure none of you have ever heard of him, he does have some good songs.

Off to bed I go... till next time, have a great week.

Final Mother's Day card

and here's my final Mother's Day card for the year. Nothing like last minute.....

This one is for my sister to give to my mom. Only last night did it come to my attention that I had to make it. Luckily I had this little Gorjuss girl all coloured up and after shopping today I quickly, okay my quickly (which is pretty slow), put this card together. Hopefully my sister likes it.

I coloured this image with my Lyras, it's one of only a few remaining images I coloured during my 'production mode' phase, without chosing paper. The mat was cut with the nestie oval and then put through my cuttlebug. Not much more to say about this card, oh the paper I bought this morning - hehehe, nothing like using the new stuff immediately.

Now I'm off to go and get ready for the choir performance. Have a fabulous evening.

'Replacement' Mother's Day

As I mentioned before, the other mother's day card I made my mom got snatched up when I took it to work. Last night I managed to finish the 'replacement' card. Ironically, while I was making it my mom came and chatted to me several times. Never when I'm making other cards does she come into my room to chat, but last night when I am trying to make a card for her, she just had to come visit, often - luckily she didn't even pay attention to what I was doing, as she usually does when I'm busy making cards. (It's not really her thing :-) )

I chose this image as it is actually so much more fitting than the other card I made, guess everything happens for a reason. I'm not sure of the colours though, as I don't think this is really her taste. The stamp & sentiment are both from Stamping Bella, and was one of the ones I ordered, which I just had to have. I love this image, and the sentiment is perfect! It is called Stella with an olive on top.

The image was coloured with my prismacolor pencils, just for a change, cut out with my nestibilities, and it and the sentiment were mounted on 3D foam.

I didn't manage to make something for the Bella challenge this week. Too many mother's day cards I had to fit in. But go check all the entries, I'm sure you'll have great fun - I sure did!!! I love seeing what other people make, it's so inspiring.

Now I'm off to the shops, I'll be making breakfast for my mom and sister for Mother's Day tomorrow. Seeing they are both mothers (and I'm not), I figured I'll give them the morning off.

Tonight I have to go to my niece's school for a choir performance. They practice like a million times a week, so this should be good, I think I should take an iPod just in case not ;-) I'll let you know when I next post something.....

Mother's day again

Famous last words. The last mother's day card (and the only one), I posted, I said my sentiment stamp will probably not see any ink until next year this time. Look, I was wrong, it saw ink again today.

I was asked by a colleague to make a mother's day card for her, last minute, so in between not getting any sleep last night, we had such a storm and I was stressing about everything, and mostly the birds and how they manage during storms, that I couldn't sleep. Somehow I at least managed to make this card for her. It looks a little like a Valentine's day card, but it's from two little girls for their mom, so I think it's okay.

The image is one which was sent to me by the very talented Paula, and it's from Stamping Bella. I was so happy when I came across it seeing I wanted something from two girls. I figured they're allowed to 'toast' with a cup-a-tea as they are far too young for a cosmopolitan.

I added some crackle medium to the tea cup to make it look a little authentic and aged. And lots of glitter, which the photo obviously doesn't show well. I've said it before, the stuff looks so much better in real life.

Oh, my mother's day sentiment will see ink again this weekend, as the card I made for my mom, got snatched up this week when I took it to work.

I'm off to bed now. It's gone my bedtime and I need lots of beauty sleep.....

My very first sketch

Finally I managed to make a card based on a sketch. I always love it when I see sketches and even save them to a special folder called 'sketches', lol! But I have never used one. Somehow, things just never want to workout. Even this card is not exactly the same as the sketch. I thought they were supposed to make our lives easier. Maybe it's just me! Anyhow, if you wanna try it, this is where I found the sketch, and check Bev's gorgeous cards while you're there.

This little image was one of the many I coloured without having paper in mind. Fortunately it did not take me too long to find something to match these two cuties.

I coloured the image with my lyras and blended it with Sansador. All the cut outs where done with nesties, aren't they just the best thing since sliced bread.

I think the image is meant for Easter, but this is way tooooooo late for that, and besides, who says you can only kiss a bunny at Easter. If I had a bunny I would kiss it everyday, just like I do my dogs ;-)

I added a flower to the card, but removed it again. I think it looks better without it. Although I still think something is missing.... oh well, this is how it will stay now. I have spent a long time with this card and am now moving on to some colouring.

Winter is really upon us today. It is not pleasant at all, and I have been trying to keep active to not freeze to death. Interesting how making cards instead of sitting on the couch can actually keep a person's blood flowing.

Have a great week ahead. Hopefully I'll find some time to make some new creations.

Michelle is 9

Wow, I cannot believe that my niece, Michelle, is turning nine. It's always easy to remember her age cause she was born in 2000! Even old people like me can manage....

She requested a green and blue card. I have no idea why, and I also have NO idea who chooses to mix green and blue, other than my nine year old niece. This was as close to green and blue as I could manage. I have another project I've sort of put together which is a LOT more green and blue, but I will ask my mother tomorrow if I pass with this card :-)

This is one of the Sugar Nellie stamps I ordered from Funky Kits. I just had to have Rory the lion, cause lions are from Africa you know. I coloured him with my lyras and blended with Sansador. He was also coloured before choosing the paper, but it was luckily not too hard to find something to match him, especially seeing he's going to a girl. I put some liquid crystal on the water drops just to make it look a bit more real and mounted the image on 3D dots.

I did not put a '9' on the card. Is that bad, should I have.... I couldn't decide and felt it would just have made the card too busy, guess I'll ask my mother that too tomorrow.

I went looking for the lizard today, but couldn't see him. I saw lots of others, climbing up my walls to get a bit of sun, but not the poor 'slow' one which I freed yesterday. I just hope he is not in pain, that is my worst fear. The poor thing didn't make a sound, do lizards make sounds. I guess not. Pity, how do we tell if they are in pain....!?

I've impressed myself today, two cards in one day.... I'm getting faster whoooohoooo!

Oh, we have mother's day next Sunday, I think it's the same as the Americans. So my card is still on time Mar, thanks for checking.

Till tomorrow - I hope.

Mother's Day

I'm back! I told ya I won't be here for a while, got to work, unfortunately. But I'm back and was hoping to post yesterday already, but I had to save a lizard that got stuck to glue, I just hope it's okay. I'm so upset about it and too afraid to go outside where I left it in case I find it dead :-(

Believe it or not, but this is my very first mother's day card for my mom. I've been making cards for a few years now, but have just never been organised enough to make a card on time. Okay, I didn't buy one, like some people I know - hehehe Mar got to tease you. But still it is pretty poor that I've only now managed it. Better late than never hey!

This image was sent to me by Paula, and I chose the paper BEFORE colouring this time... I coloured it with my Prismacolor pencils and blended it with Sansador. The sentiment is from Micia, it was the first time it saw some ink, and probably won't again until next year....

I layered the image on 3D dots and it was cut out using my nestabilities. I love this pinking circles, and can't believe it's the first time I've used mine. I've been wanting to use it for the last 3 cards I made, but it wouldn't work out.

That's it for now, not a lot to share today. Got to go clean the bird's cages, play ball with my babies and make something to eat, I'm star-ving!

Oops nearly forgot. Stamping Bella has free shipping, to ANYWHERE! If you want to get some of their new releases, or even the old ones, they're all fabulous go have a look. The offer is on until 4 May and the code is happyweek.

Enjoy!!!