Happy!

Hello!

In my photo life, today's challenge was to capture "How You Are Feeling Today". So I created this little postcard.

I have many reasons to be happy (and grateful) today. One of the big reasons is that this afternoon I am taking a drive down to the Gold Coast to visit with a long-time friend who lives in Newcastle (NSW), but is holidaying in Qld. We don't see each other, or talk, often enough. We have been friends since we were 18, young, and silly at university. No matter how little we see each other, the friendship endures, deep and strong. :-)

Another reason is that I have again been honoured with the Liebster Blog award. What amazes me with this award, is that the people who award me are people who I admire greatly. It really triples the delight at receiving it. This time I received it from Nikki at My Sandbox.  I'm sure you all already know Nikki Spencer, but just in case you don't, or if you haven't visited her recently, go take a look. In particular, don't miss THIS CARD.

I have been honoured with the Liebster Blog before, see my big post HERE. You can see my list on my Recognition page. Receiving it already does not dilute how happy it makes me to receive it, believe me!

I am being kicked off the computer by the 4 year old tyrant... so I must go.  I hope you are all happy today also!  I will come back to edit and share a list of other blogs that I love to visit.

Okay, I'm back, after my day out catching up with friends, and a big sleep. We didn't get home until 10pm because my friend and I really could keep on talking for five days straight without stopping. I so wish she lived close by. When we were at university, we lived in residential college together, in rooms next door to each other. I never tired of having my friend close by pretty much 24 hours a day. It's probably lucky we were studying different courses, LOL!

Anyway, onto my Liebster Blog list.

1. Michelle Mathey at Pigment of My Imagination. Michelle does make cards, and I totally love her cards, but it is her amazing art adventures that have me entranced. Michelle is so talented and so inspiring.

2. Jen W at JENerally Speaking.  Jen does CAS perfectly, and every card is something new and different. I think Jen AND her cards are awesome. I know I received the Liebster Blog award from Jen earlier, but I wanted to acknowledge her anyway. :-)

3. Agata at Under Construction. Agata thrills me with every card she makes. And unusually, her scrapbook layouts get me excited also (I'm really not a scrapbooker, LOL!).

4. Rochelle at Two Tears in My Bucket. Rochelle is totally cool. She makes CAS cards, but completely differently to me, which I love. She's super creative which provides me super inspiration.

5. Susan Goetter at Keeping in Touch.  I "met" Susan over at Less Is More, early in my blogging life. Susan was brave enough to give me some tips on how to improve my photography and other tips (without actually saying that I needed to improve). I love that! Susan not only makes cards, she scapbbooks as well. She also draws/creates zentangles. Her zentangle journey has fascinated me. Go check her out, you'll see what I mean.

Okay, end of edit! :-)  Thanks for dropping by, and please do visit these wonderful ladies, it's really worth your time.

Michelle
xxx

Happy Tulips for Tuesday Trigger

Hello!

Bringing you a card to look at today... surprise! :-)

When I saw the Tuesday Trigger: Happy Happy Joy Joy, I was in love. I had an instant idea. I love it when that happens. Take a look at the inspiration photo.

I love it. The colours, the patterns, the NEATNESS of it. Yum!

Things were looking positive, I stamped out that tulip background and was VERY happy with how it looked. All those gorgeous earthy colours. Then I got stuck... and I sat and stared at it for a while... and I cut a couple of pieces of ribbon... and I die-cut and fussy cut the frames... and sat... and stared... and then I cut that mustard banner... and sat staring at it all... and then I sent up some prayers... because I seriously had crafters block!!!!  Can you tell this was a frustrating process? LOL! Each and every part of this card took long hard work.  When I finished I thought it looked too plain. Then I looked at the photo again and thought maybe it wasn't plain enough? And THEN I decided to just live with it the way it is and call it finished. Phew!

Here is the card again.

Despite the angst, I like it. :-)

I used PTI Think Big Favorites #12, Fillable Frames #10, Flower Fusion #11, SU! inks (daffodil delight, really rust, more mustard, soft suede, crumb cake, pumpkin pie, old olive), ribbon is SU! taffeta. Card is SU! early espresso, and the panel is white. That little button and bow is tied onto my ribbon with a piece of twine (this allowed me to fiddle with the placement before sticking everything down).

Before I go, I wanted to say a big thank-you to Lisa from I'm in Haven for nominating me for the Liebster Blog Award.  I did receive and forward this award a little while ago, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to thank Lisa and to offer you the opportunity to go and check out her awesome work. In fact I am not sure why I didn't nominate Lisa myself, perhaps I thought she had over 200 followers? I'm surprised she doesn't! Lisa is one of my favourite card makers and she is a totally inspirational woman way beyond her cards. Please make a little time to pay her a visit and let her know I sent you. :-)

Thanks for coming to visit today.

Michelle
xxx

Liebster Blog Award

Hello!

This week I have been honoured to receive the Liebster Blog Award from two bloggers that I admire greatly - Jen from JENerally Speaking and Gayatri from Handmade by G3. Thank-you, ladies. You both inspire me constantly, and I absolutely love receiving your comments on my own work on a regular basis. :-)  If you haven't yet visited Jen and Gayatri, please do pop over to visit them and tell them I sent you! Their work is creative, beautiful, and inspiring.

What is the Liebster Blog award? Here is a quick explanation.   'Liebster' is German for 'dearest'. The award is a 'share-the-love' arrangement, given to inspirational bloggers with less than 200 followers (based on Google followers).


Here's the to-do list of any Liebster award recipient:
1) Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you
2) Reveal your five blogger picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog
3) Copy and paste the award on your blog (see above)
4) Hope that those you award forward it to their favorite bloggers!

Without further ado, here are the five inspirational bloggers that I have chosen to forward this award to. They not only create beautiful work, but they also spread the love by leaving lovely comments on a regular basis.

1) Cassandra of Paper Addiction - The person who inspired me to start blogging in the first place, inspired me to enter my first challenge, who creates the most elegant cards I've ever seen, a great stamping buddy, and who is a wonderful friend.

2) Tessa of Happy - Tessa posts all sorts of projects on her blog. She doesn't post many cards, but those she does are always creative and trying new ideas. Her baking, parties, and building (furniture) posts amaze me with her creativity.

3) Ann of Kingston Mama Crafts - Ann is a CAS stamper and she always comes up with ideas that I hadn't even thought of. Her style is different to mine, but similar enough for me to take direct inspiration. I love visiting her blog as I always come away inspired.

4) Karen of Made by Meadie - I actually "met" Karen on Flickr in the Jane's Doodles Group. I always loved her cards, and she often visited me and commented on mine. Then I managed to find her blog here on Blogger and I became a follower immediately. I LOVE looking at her cards.

5) Judith of Jay Gee's Nook - How is it that Judith has (just) under 200 followers? I know that the Jay Gee's Nook blog is attached to Judith's store, and that she has her design team posts there, but it is also where she posts her personal work, and that is what I am linking Judith for. I am a big fan of Judith. She makes great cards, her colouring is awesome (I want to be able to colour like Judith when I grow up), and she takes great photos.

I hope you take some time to visit the lovely ladies on my list. When you do, please let them know I sent you. They are definitely worth a visit.

Michelle
xxx