Hi again :)

This year seems to be getting busier and busier! I've got a few projects done that I can't share because they're either for swaps that haven't finished yet or for classes that I'm teaching at Scrapfest 2010... and I've even got one that I've submitted to a magazine.

Over the past 2 months I've been down to Wellington to visit Esther (and felt very creatively inspired while I was there!) Esther challenged me to do a few 'different' things so here's what I came up with.

This first card was made using Tim Holtz stamps and LOADS of ink! I also used some cotton cord and the wee embellishments on the cord is from a pair of earrings that I bought at the $2 shop and took apart!
The next card used some more Tim Holtz stamps and Esther's 'Tattered Rose' crackle paint! I don't usually like paint but I really liked it for this card. One of the images was stamped onto thin cork from the $2 shop and love how it turned out :)
Card #3 was totally done using Tattered Rose ink with just a touch of Vintage Photo (still my all time favourite!) A bit more cork and a wonderful Bingo stamp from Scrapbook Dreams. The embellishments in the flower centres are from a necklace that I took apart for the flowers!
This next card involved stamping, inking and sewing! After stamping the flowersI coloured them in with some Distress Ink and a watercolour brush... then I popped them up on foam dots. I sewed a few beads on with wire and really liked the look!
Then I did some multi colour stamping! Loved this colour mix (Dusty Concord and Shabby Shutters). I 'sewed' some purple wire onto the card to hold the ribbon in place and FINALLY managed to do a bow that I really liked :)
This final card from my Wellington trip involved more stamping and inking... along with some embellishments :)
When I got home I made a wee card for Esther to say 'thanks' and really liked how it turned out! Lots of inking of course along with some more watercolour painting!
When I got back from Wellington I had a couple of days to myself and then it was off to SENZ with my sister! We had a GREAT time... and so did my wee nephew who just loved the wide aisles and the fact that everyone thought he was VERY cute! We also met up with Mum while we were there and had some fun shopping! Here's SOME of what I brought home with me:
If you love these flowers (Prima) then check out the shop at Scrapbook Dreams because we've got heaps of these lovely flowers in stock now :)

I also bought some cute cupcake stamps at SENZ and made me niece and nephew one each before I went home!
While I was at my sister's place I finally got around to putting some paint on a layout. I LOVE ink but paint on layouts has never really been my thing but I'm slowly changing my mind! I started out with plain black cardstock... added paint using a Tim Holtz mask and then some bubble wrap and then kept it simple with a photo, stamped journaling block and title.
A few weekends ago my BIL ran in the Tough Guy challenge (and did REALLY well!) I wanted to record the moment with a fun layout and this is what I came up with!

I finally made use of some alpha stamps I had along with some cool Scrap FX embellishments from Scrapbook Dreams which I inked to match the colours of the layout :)

So although I haven't been updating my blog as often as I want I have definitely been creative!!

Hopefully I'll be back soon with some other projects I've been working on.... and in the meantime hope you're all surviving the winter chills :)