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Saturday, August 14, 2010

Just Us Girls Technique Challenge

It's techniques week over at Just Us Girls this week.  And this week they have decided to go with a THEME of the 'Wild Wild West'.  Now as I live in WESTERN Australia, Pam said I could do "my" wild west if I wanted!  I had the perfect occasion to make a card for - One of my girlfriends is returning from the UK to live out here again, so I wanted to make her a Welcome Back card.

The area we live in is called The Pilbara and I have chosen typical Pilbara colours for this challenge: Terracotta; Brown; Olive Green; and Sky Blue.  I thought I'd tell you a little about where I live so you see where I'm coming from too.  It's very hot here, with Summers reaching as high as 47 degrees Celcius (117 degrees Fahrenheit) the heat stays with us for about 6 months when it is pretty much always in the 40's.  Winters are beautiful, with lows of 26 degrees Celcius (79 degrees Fahrenheit).  It's very dry here and the earth is red due to the iron ore in the soil.  Skies are pretty much always clear and we rarely see rain so the greens are not vibrant.

I took some pictures when my husband was out mountain biking a few weeks ago.



So now onto the card.  Geckos are something of a symbol here so I went with a gecko on the card.  I stepped outside of my comfort zone and made a free standing pop up card.  I found the tutorial on Splitcoast here.


Here is a close up.  I made the gecko pop up on dimensionals. I typed the sentiment on my PC and just printed it out.  I used the Captain Howdy font for the word 'Outback' that can be downloaded for free here.  The star stamp is Unity, not sure the brand of the Gecko.  Ribbon is Fancy Pants.  To make the tab I used the scallop punch from SU, folded it in half and just used part of a circle punch to snip off the edges.


And here it is when folded flat.


So now you've seen mine, check out the rest of the inspiration and then get busy making a Wild Wild West card for the JUGs challenge.  Can't wait to see them all.

Have a great day.  Remember there is still time to enter my 'Little Lady' challenge and snag yourselves a freebie Digi Image, just scroll back through the entries to find it.

10 comments:

  1. This is totally adorable, Jo! The colors you chose are fantastic together. I love the embossed polka dots on the card base, that cute gecko, and the clever way you made the tab from the scalloped circle.

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  2. This is fabulous, Jo, and your friend will definitely appreciate the welcome, I'm sure! The colors are lovely...so fitting for your part of the country. The pictures are also so beautiful! I've only made this type of card once at a class, but I'll have to make one soon...so fun! Thanks for being a great Guest Designer at JUGs!

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  3. JO!!! This is fabulous - what wonderful pictures of where you live - My mom traveled to Australia several times and it's HIGH on my list of places to go. I LOVE the free standing pop up card you made - HOW COOL - I must try one one of these days. Thanks for such a fabulous JUGS wild west entry!!! YOU ROCK.

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  4. Oh, how very cool to see an Australian western card! Love the free standing pop up card. What a beautiful design!

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  5. Oh so very cool! Love what you did! Fabulous job!!!

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  6. Howdy Jo!!! This is one fab card I just love your pop-up card! I must try making one of these...so cool!!! I love your photos and hearing a little bit about your part of the world I've always wanted to visit Australia...some day when I retire! LOL!!! Love your gecko and the colors you used are beautiful! So glad to have you as our guest designer this month! ;0)

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  7. Wow Jo! The pics of the outback are amazing. I love the landscape :) I can't believe it gets up to 47 degrees in the summer!!!! Ack! I'm originally from Canada so I'm built much more for the cold :D But seriously, I would love to visit Australia - so much natural and topographic variety and beauty!
    Your project is FABULOUS!!!! I'm sure your friend will adore it. The gecko is so cute. Girl, your details and textures are fantastic :) And the design is nothing short of stunning! I'll have to give it a go! Thanks for the amazing inspiration and for joining JUGS as a guest DT!

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  8. Holy crow! This is SO cool! I love the pop up card setup and your ultra cool gecko. If a real live gecko had craft gems on it, I *might* be tempted to even hold the little creature...but I like your paper version MUCH better! ;)

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  9. WOW!!!! This is some seriously tactile-iscious card craft and WONDERFUL for the wild west theme with the JUGS! I'm SO inspired by this lil' beauty and your wonderful photos! Thanks for sharing the "giddy-up" factor! Yeee Haw!

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  10. Jo, you really did a amazing job on this card! Everything matches perfectly. So nice you gave this type of card a try!

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It makes my day to hear your comments, thanks so much for taking the time to leave a message! Jo :o)