African Charm

 The sunset blazes orange over the wide grassy plains.

The waterhole beckons to the thirsty animals. 

The midday heat of the African sun is tempered by the evening breeze. 

The animals begin to make their way towards the water.

A perfect setting for inspiration at it's best...

The Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga, South Africa.  The biggest zoological gardens of its kind in the world - right here on our doorstep!  There is so much there to serve as inspiration for making cards, it is hard to know where to begin. The rough textures of bark, soil, and rock, the earthy colours of browns, greens and greys, combine so naturally with the bright colours of the birds and flowers. The  turquoise blue and purple of the Lilac Breasted Roller, the true red of the Crimson Breasted Shrike and the emerald green of the Diederick's Cuckoo all blend together beautifully. 

Yet once I was home, the ideas did not flow as rapidly as I would have expected.  I have come to realise that once you are transfixed by the Park's magical spell, your brain and body just collapse into "ultra-relax mode" and all parts of your previous life cease to exist. 
Only once I found these delightful metal animal charms, some interesting textured wall paper samples and a mixed bag of coulourful beads, only then did some carding ideas (and memories) come creeping to the fore.   


Buffalo

Buffalo move in enormous herds.  Their movements are slow and deliberate.  Their coats are dark and grey. Yet they command respect and caution.  This greyness and tranquility is perfectly reflected in the simplicity of this card.

Elephant

Elephants, a symbol of great strength. The strong African earthy colours and textures serve as the background to the elephant charm, commanding a strength and a presence.

Leopard

In this card of the Leopard, the pale green accents allude to the leafy hide outs of the leopard. 

All the while, the bead detail, refers to the beauty of South Africa. The rough string detail, refers to the strong ties that bind us, as children of Africa, to this great country of ours.

Forever Carding
Michelle

Down in the Jungle



Chicken = Reece



Bird = Douglas



Lion = Adam

 I have not had much time lately to create any cards - although this is very sad, my "escape from the world" time has been replaced by other (successful and highly enjoyable) crafty type efforts that I would like to share with you. 

Douglas's cub pack, Florida Lake Sea Scouts, recently hosted the annual Pensioner's Candlelight Event.  We hosted 150 old age darlings, who were treated to an afternoon filled with scrumptious tea goodies to eat, gorgeous fashion shows, hilarious scout skits, lucky draws, goodie bags, sing alongs, bagpipes, and dancing.  The cubs put on a really cute mini play, entitled Down in the Jungle.  I volunteered for the task of making the animal masks for each of the 7 children. Douglas and I had a grand time making the masks. 

Despite the fact the kids were on the stage for no longer than about 10 minutes, the amount of work we put into these masks was way out of proportion. The faces of the kids, their cute little comments and the fact that each one proudly claimed their mask, was thanks enough for all our efforts.  Go FLSS,  You are Stars!

"When friends pitch in

good times follow!"

Monkey = Lesego

 

Lizard = Kayden



Rabbit = Megan



Zebra = Cordelia



Forever Crafting

Michelle

LOVEly bits and pieces

     "It is not how much we do,

but how much love

we put into doing it."

Silvery Love

 When I received a sudden but most exciting engagement announcement I had to spring into action quickly - without the aid of my local craft haven.

This card was received with such amazing joy and wonder that I couldn’t help feeling a little embarrassed. After all, it had simply been made from all sorts of bits and pieces of thingies and doo dahs I had accumulated in my craft cupboard! Over the many years that crafters fiddle, buy, create, buy some more, faddle, buy yet again and enjoy, they tend to end up with 'one of this', 'half a packet of that' and 'a couple of these'; nothing of which generally matches anything else (so you have to go and buy some more!).

I hope you agree that the end product isn't half bad.  The love and happiness that fills this card, more than makes up for the odds and ends! 

Forever Carding
Michelle

PS The craft cupboard never even noticed the bare spaces - they were quickly filled up again.

Pop-up Motorbikes

Tristan thought he had 'died and gone to heaven' when he saw his birthday card! A pop-up card with a motorbike! 

I had such fun creating this card!  I seemed to have all the right bits and pieces in my stash all at once.
The paper that really grabbed my attention for this project, was the 'embossed metal non slip'  sheet - it was just perfect for the macho, boy and his bike theme.
The motorbikes were cut out from a 3D decoupage sheet and mounted onto a stiffer card to make them rigid.  Silver foiling was applied to the shiny bits of the exhaust and the engine parts to really make an impression. 

The torn edges of the matching papers were edged in black ink.  this created a clearly defined edge and an interesting texture for each of the layers.  Silver Peel-Offs completed the look, with Tristan's name and the raised birthday greeting.

The detail was focused entirely on the inner of the card, with just a matching belly wrap around the outside of the card.  This wrap doubled up as the envelope and the gift tag! 

Forever Carding

Michelle

Cards to Remember

There are times, especially after a really successful inspirational session, that your creative card ideas just seem to dry up! The problem with this is, the people in your life don't go away!  Meaning? Those that you care about the most, still need your love, support and the absolute pleasure that one of your cards brings to them when they receive it in the post.

How do I solve this problem?  In one of two ways, either, I have a stock of generic cards on hand, that would be able to fit with any occasion or I make something really simple. 

This card was the result of going the really simple route, because I wanted a specific message on the outside that would tell my friend I was thinking about a specific event in her life - remembering her dad on the first anniversary of his death. 

I know for a fact that this card was hugely appreciated.  Despite the fact it came out of a period of my life when I felt completely drained and lacked any enthusiasm for anything, let alone creative card making!

Forever Carding
Michelle

Green and Gold

Hello friends, this is what I have been doing during that time that I referred to in my last blog, remember when 'time was flying...'  Suddenly the inspiration came to me and the result is just Wow!  Take a closer look.

I saw this pack of stunning green tags at the CNA on the specials table about a year ago.  As my favourite colour is green, I could not resist them.  As always, as soon as I have purchased something 'crafty', my hands started to itch (as my mam-in-law used to say).  Once home and in the quiet confines of my craft table, I discovered, that I had no paper (in my huge stash) that even remotely matched or contrasted with my bargain find! 

A year later, I dragged my poor, well travelled labels, into a newly opened shop in Cresta, Paper Paradise.  The shop assistant there was far too nice, efficient and amazingly talented.  Within minutes, she had matched 5 sheets of gorgeous paper and 4 bundles of 'to-die-for' organza ribbon, to my rather, apparently, unusual green tags!  My hands moved from itching to throbbing within seconds, at which point the rest of my shopping trip was abandoned and my trusty car managed to get me back to my craft table without breaking the law!

I hope you enjoy these cards as much as I have enjoyed making them.
Till next time

Forever Carding

Pink Pig; Cool Cat

 Time really flies when you are not watching, or when you get inspired by something amazing - but more about that next time...

This is the last in the series of the fridge magnets.  This adorable Pink Pig just had to go 'girly'.  Her bold black and white, highlighted with the pretty pink and flashing silver, just begs to be admired. Hope the lucky birthday girl loves her too.

Cool Cat and his racy red make for an eyecatching statement.  The bold weaving design was not as simple as it looks, but was well worth the effort.  The chequered button was a real find - not in the crafty store, but at the trusty habby!

I'm off to investigate my latest inspiration further...watch out for the Green and Gold.  Till next time - Forever Carding, Michelle