Rollercoaster week

Sorry I've been MIA. Last week was one heck of a week! First of all there was an earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand! Did I ever tell you that my brother and his family live in Christchurch? No? Well, he does.
Luckily for him (and us) he wasn't at work on Tuesday because he was off sick with gastroenteritis. My brother's work place is in downtown Christchurch and the earthquake destroyed his building trapping some  co-workers until they could be rescued. Two of his team are still missing! On the morning of the quake he was at the doctors with my sister-in-law and I am soooo glad that he got sick (so are they!) Atfer the doctors they had decided to go into town to the library to return a book, but my brother forgot to take the book with him so they decided to go to a their local library and check out the books there. This is where they were when the quake hit at 12.50 instead of the downtown library which got seriously damaged. Someone up there was looking out for them (twice) and I am really grateful! Our hearts go out to all those who lost loved ones!

Sadly, we had bad news this week anyway. On Thursday evening we got a phone call informing us that my husband's brother-in-law had just died of heart failure while playing sports, at only 53 years of age leaving four children ages 23-10 years old. This was so unexpected and we are still in shock!
The funeral will take place on Wednesday. I cannot grasp the feelings that they all must be having. It makes me even more grateful for what I have!
I've used all my condolence cards so have to make some more. I wanted something simple yet elegant and I thought about the lovely HA flower stamp that I bought last year (and haven't yet used) and started inking it up and this is what I came up with. I have two more to make.

Card recipe:
Papers: DCWV / HOTP
Stamps. Hero Arts Stencil Flower CG194 / Everyday Sayings CL342
Inks: Memento Tuxedxo Black / Copics: YG03 G82
Punches: Fiskars Lace Border
Ribbon: Knorr prandell
Flat back pearl and doily from my stash

Thanks for listening to my ramblings and wish you all a lovely Monday. Hug your loved one because you never know what is around the corner!

Hugs to you all,
Becca

Baby girl

Happy First Advent! How did this come around so quickly? Only four Sundays until Christmas...well three after this one......

Anyhow.....here is the second baby girl card that I made for my great-niece, Liliana Elizabeth.

Once again I used the Hero Arts "Adorable Baby Girl" stamp set and coloured them in with spun sugar Distress Ink. The background paper is from HOTP Girls: Baby &Toddler, the ribbon is from Michaels and the clear rhinestones were from my stash. It's quite a simple card but I think it works effectively. I love the glitter!

Thanks for looking.

Hugs,
Becca

Merry Tilda

What do you do when a blog challenge comes from a photo with these colours? Not easy, eh?

Well this is what I came up with: Tilda with gifts on blue and purple with silver peel-offs (gold just didn't match with the card).

I know she is not perfect, but I'm still learning and will hopefully improve with time and practice (I find the hair and face sooo difficult!)

Materials:
Papers: HOPT Cardmaker's Christmas creative pack (blue) / Bazzill cardstock (purple)
Die cuts: Nestabilities Labels #8
Stamp: Tilda with gifts
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black
Tilda: Distress Inks - blue jeans, old paper, milled lavendar, dusty concord, tattered rose, victorian velvet, black soot, peeled paint, shabby shutters and walnut stain
Organza ribbon: Knorr prandell - lilac
Silver peel-offs
Snowflake punch and clear rhinestones


Thanks for stopping by. I'd love to hear your comments.

Hugs,
Becca

Color Inspiration #4

I had so much fun doing Kristina Werner's previous colour challenge, I thought I'd have another go!

These colours were a lot harder for me but I managed none the less :)

I had to dig deep into my stash to find papers that would match the colours but finally found some HOTP background papers from their Artsy Collage pad that fit! The Sarah Kay "Spring is Back" image was coloured in with copic marker and distress ink, and layered on white and pale blue Bazzill papers. The frame was cut out with the Cricut Storybook cartridge and the flowers from Hero Arts were coloured in with copic markers. The sentiment is from Melissa Frances "Simply Said" stamp set, and the bottom paper has been punched with the Fiskars Lace Border punch.

Phew!

Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoy my card.

Hugs,
Becca

Hello

Every month Kristina Werner gives a class over at twopeasinabucket.com called "A Year In Cards" and I really enjoy watching her tutorials. This month's theme was "Hello" cards, so I decided to have a go at making a hello card using colours that I wouldn't usually use. 

The cardstock is Bazzill Basics and the blue background card has been embossed with the Divine Swirl embossing folder. I used my last piece from the HOTP Vintage papers (shame they don't make it anymore) and used the colours in it to make the rest of the card. The alphabet stickers are from Basic Grey Blush collection and the red card has been punched with a Fiskars Sentiment Scallop punch. The green ribbon was from my stash.

So this is me saying "hello" to you!

Have a lovely day.

Hugs,
Becca