Stamping With Monique

Better Late Than Never ...

2012-03-04T22:46:00.000+11:00

I was running so much behind last week I messed submitting my card for the Paper Lovin' Gals Design Team. But, better late than never, I made this one today!

I loved this inspirational photo as soon as I saw it, the colour is just awesome and I love the buttons, it reminded me to use more buttons on my projects. What inspires you? Have a go and join in this week.

I chose the round shape of the embroidery hoop and of course the colour and the buttons. I made my first Scallop Circle easel card ... what do you think? Easel cards are quite easy once you understand the basic mechanics of them. I have made a rectangle one before and followed the same theory for making this one. The original tutorial I got from SplitCoastStampers, a great resource.

Happy Stamping

Bright and Beautiful

2012-02-23T19:00:00.006+11:00

Isn't this a great inspirational photo at Paper Lovin' Gals this week??? How bright and cheerful are those flowers! To join in with the challenge is easy, just pick whatever inspires you in this picture and then create a project around it. It could be colours, the flowers, the layout, or some other feature of the picture that captures you attention.

I chose all three - flowers, colours and layout. Well sort of the lay out I actually also used the layout from Freshly Made Sketches because it went so well with my plan for the card. The beautiful flowers are from Creative Elements and are inked up using Daffodil Delight and then Melon Mambo using the Rock n Roll technique. I used both the leaves from the 2-Step Bird Punch and the Little Leaves Sizzlet. The sentiment is one of the stamps in Pretty Postage. These are not colours I use often and certainly not together but I actually like the way it turned out.

Come join us and see what the other Design Team members have made to help get your creative juices flowing!

Happy Stamping

Mashup Vintage

2012-02-22T21:15:00.001+11:00

Time to play with Friday Mashup again, I liked the simplicity of this layout because I am trying to be a bit more clean and simple in my creations and I struggle a bit with that.

I have stayed with the sketch fairly closely except for the corners which are on opposite sides to the sketch! I wanted to focus on the details of this card, making it a bit vintagey (if that's even a word) by sanding the DSP layer and adding some sponging and sanding again until I was happy with the look. I used some of the Crochet Trim and sponged it with Soft Suede to give it a bit more colour. The butterflies were an easy edition, and I wanted to keep the centre fairly simple so used a small sentiment and soft colours. The pearls on the butterflies and the corners were the final touch.

Happy Stamping

Celebrate Under the Big Top ...

2012-02-19T09:05:00.007+11:00

I was a bit inspired when I saw the sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches, not only to join in but to use a set I haven't inked up often! I knew also that it would fit well with Crazy 4 Challenges this week which is to use polka dots and stripes!

I knew I wanted to use the Big Top Birthday set, and I chose the clown stamp for this one. To stamp without using the sentiment that usually accompanies the clown I used a post-it note as a mask and then added the Celebrate stamp from Outlined Occasions, I chose some nice bright colours and did some simple colouring in - I didn't think water colouring really fitted with the card.

Happy Stamping

Simple Christmas

2012-02-18T21:04:00.001+11:00

I might have missed January but I am on track with my Christmas cards for February having joined the Merry Monday Challenge for the second week.

My creation is fairly simple, but given a bit of a lift with a silver Glimmer Paper enhanced star on the top of the tree. The tree is from Seasons of Joy and the sentiment from Short & Sweet, the DSP is from this year's Letters to Santa collection.

Only a short post for me today, I have a few more projects I have done that need photographing and uploading, so pop back over the next few days.

Happy Stamping

Butterfly Frames

2012-02-16T19:00:00.000+11:00

Another week has passed so it's time for another Paper Lovin' Gals challenge, the design team have come up with some great creations to provide additional inspiration so please consider joining in with us. All you need to do is to make a project taking some inspiration from the picture, for me it was the colour and the frames, and of course the butterfly.

Surprise, surprise, surprise ... I used the Fresh Vintage stamp set again!!! This time however I chose to down play the floral image, and used the stamp image which I haven't used before. Instead of cutting it out directly with the postage stamp punch I cut free hand and then mounted on a black postage stamp frame. I kept to the main colours in the photo and used Naturals Ivory for the base, and then Very Vanilla, Cajun Craze and Basic Black. The red colouring on the butterflies is actually Cajun Craze coloured with a blender pen, it brought out more of the red tones!

'Til Next Time ... Happy Stamping

Retirement Card

2012-02-15T10:00:00.001+11:00

I don't know if you remember the card I put up on Sunday with the spotlighting technique on it, and I mentioned that I had thought of using the little bird from the set? Well this is the card that the little bird ended up on!

I love water colouring this image, so stamped with StazOn ink onto Water Colour Paper, designed specifically for water colouring. I stamped the background with the flourish from Creative Elements in Old Olive, and masked an area for the sentiment. I then reverse masked the area and sponged it with Old Olive to make more of a frame around the sentiment. I was thinking of making this a sympathy card, but ended up going with retirement instead.

Happy Stamping

A Blog Award ...

2012-02-13T09:00:00.000+11:00

I got a lovely surprise the other day when my good friend Kasey at Kasey's Craft Corner nominated my blog for a Liebster Award! I happily do my blogging and sharing of my creations and I always get a buzz when the creations are recognised by others, whether it is a comment at the end of a post, or in this case an actual Blog Award.

I would in turn like to pass the award to five ladies who inspire me on a regular basis, in no particular order they are ...

Shirley at Stamping Elephants - I love Shirley's work, it is usually bright and cheerful, she often uses bright colours that I find a challenge to use. I was lucky enough to meet Shirley at Convention last year, and stayed with her just a couple of weeks ago.

Tina at Scissors Paper Card - Tina has a 'can do' attitude and nothing seems to get her down. She inspires me with all of her creations - I think it might just be her scrapbook pages that will one day get me scrapping again!

Deb Fearns - Deb is a fellow demonstrator here in Canberra, and while I don't see her in person I love following her blog, and am hoping we might catch up at Convention this year. I love the way Deb adds the extra details to a card, she has a real knack for making a simple card extra special with a piece of ribbon or twine, brad or hand cut embellishment.

Paula at Stampinantics - Paula has a simple elegance to her creations that I find really beautiful. I also love the way she decorates the inside of her cards, not overstated but in a softly complimentary way. I also got to meet Paula at Convention last year which was great.

Ann at A Perfect Day For ... - Ann is another Canberra demonstrator who I met for the first time last year at Convention. She is so friendly and such a genuine person. Ann does beautiful work, whether it is on a card or scrapbook page, her attention to detail is something that inspires me.

I would ask that each of these lovely ladies pass the award on to five creative blogs that inspire them, or that they feel deserve a special mention. Ideally this award is for the lesser known bloggers, with less than 200 followers, it is funny because I didn't think any of my recipients would have less than 200 but all of them do! Please visit them and let them know how much you too enjoy their work.

Happy Stamping

A Christmas Challenge

2012-02-12T14:45:00.000+11:00

I have come across a couple of blogs lately that have Christmas challenges, now you might think that it is too early to be doing Christmas cards in February. I thought the same until I realised that if I made a card or two a week I would have all my Christmas cards finished ready to post by the end of November. As well as making the cards I am addressing the envelopes and putting the card inside that way there is an even better chance that the people on my Christmas mailing list will actually see a card this year - many missed out last year because Christmas crept up on me all too fast.

This is my first entry in the Merry Monday Challenge, and I thought it was a good way to feature the DSP from this year's catalogue. I also left it a bit late to enter the challenge so wanted a nice quick card with not too much stamping, and that I achieved nicely! The stamped sentiment is from Four the Holidays, and I have blinged the card up a bit with a Red Glimmer Paper ornament punched with the ornament punch. I took this photo and decided it needed something else to give it a bit of a lift, so ...

I added a small bow from the 1/8" Old Olive ribbon which I attached with a Glue Dot, and I may add a couple of rhinestones on the DSP ornaments. Now to write the envelope and tick the first name off my Christmas Card List!!!

I am going to try and join in each week with this challenge and get my Christmas Card stack built up over the year ... wish me luck!

Happy Stamping

I'm Feeling Blue - In A Good Way!

2012-02-12T11:53:00.001+11:00

The colour combo on Hand Stamped Sentiments this week just caught my eye and I knew I had to do an entry, I still can't believe that there was a time that I didn't like Not Quite Navy or Baja Breeze!!! Now I love them and put together with Crumb Cake and Marina Mist - yummy. The layout is from Crazy 4 Challenges, and I liked the simplicity of this one, allowing the stamped image to really stand out on the card.

This is the first time I have inked up any of the images from the Sale-A-Bration set you can earn for FREE - Elementary Elegance. I think it goes really well with the Extreme Elements set and so I used that for the gold crown in the centre of the image, as well as to stamp the back ground of the main card and the two strips of card behind the main image. The sentiment is also from Elementary Elegance and I just love the script they have used on this set, the sentiment does fit inside the main image but I wanted to stick with the layout and am happy with the result.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Stamping

Every Moment

2012-02-12T11:41:00.001+11:00

I just love the picture for Friday Mashup this week, isn't he just a cutie? Sadly I didn't have any penguins to add to my layout so I just did the spotlighting technique on my card. The sketch came from Freshly Made Sketches challenge - I have to say these are two of my favourite challenge sites and it was nice to be able to do a card that fit with both two weeks in a row!

I haven't inked up my Every Moment stamp set in a while, but knew I wanted to do so for this card. I was initially going to use the little bird stamp from the set, but changed my mind and used him on another card I will put up later in the week. I love masking and layering the flowers in this set, I keep the masks stuck to the top of the stamp set container because they are fiddly to cut out, but well worth it don't you think? I used Daffodil Delight and Wild Wasabi, not a combo I use often, in fact I don't use these colours often at all but the did fit with this card. I added a little Vellum butterfly with some pearls - I have only just recently purchased the card stock weight Vellum and am really happy with it for projects like this as it is more robust.

Happy Stamping

Love You 24/7

2012-02-09T19:00:00.004+11:00

With Valentine's Day just around the corner love remains in the air and the inspiration I took from this week's picture at Paper Lovin' Gals. I am also entering this one in Simply Stampin' Challenge a new challenge blog I discovered after the lovely Kelly left a comment on my last post - their challenge is "Heartfelt"! The third challenge I am entering this card into is the Stampin' Up! Only Challenge which is to make a valentines card using only two main colours - with a neutral or two; and 4 Crafty Chicks for their Valentine's Day creation.

I chose to be inspired by the picture to use the colours and the blocks and the bow. The tiny heart was stamped using a stamp from A Happy Heart and punched out with the small heart punch, it actually has the word 'love' written in it, but is difficult to see in this picture because I covered the heart and the 'u' with a mix of Dazzling Diamonds and Crystal Effects.

I hope you take the opportunity to pop over and check out the creations of the other Design Team members and be inspired to join in this week, whether it is the colours, layout, or theme of the picture, or just one element of it.

Happy Stamping

Fresh Vintage Valentine

2012-02-03T21:06:00.001+11:00

Time for another challenge, or three! This time I am entering in Colour Q, Freshly Made Sketches, and The Friday Mashup. Have you noticed lately all the cards I am doing that feature the Fresh Vintage stamp set? I just love the flower in particular from this set, and can't believe that when I first saw the set in the Sale-A-Bration catalogue I didn't think I liked it much at all!!!

I liked the "go long" theme at Freshly Made Sketches so made a card that will fit into the Small Open Ended Envelopes. Now the name of these initially had me not even thinking of buying them until we got to use them at Convention last year, although called 'small' they are actually 17cm x 8.9cm. I have used the flower from Fresh Vintage again here both in the feature and again stamped in VersaMark on the Real Red card stock.

Here is a close up of the featured heart. In my last post I featured a little box with a heart on the front which I had made by stamping the flower from Fresh Vintage and punching out the majority of the flower with the heart punch. When I was doing the clean up on my desk I found the scrap of card stock that was left over and I noticed how good the little swirls looked coming out of the punch out heart. That was the inspiration for the feature of this card, what do you think? I am really happy with the way it turned out, and even more happy that I have found yet another way to use this beautiful stamp.

Happy Stamping

Love Is In The Air

2012-02-02T19:00:00.008+11:00

Here I am again, back from my holiday away, and what a holiday it was. I got to visit my Sister-In-Law and her family, my bestie from my old home town, my family and my lovely stamping buddies Steph and Tess. Of all of it my favourite part was attending my 'baby' brother's wedding on 28th January, even though the day was wet their smiles never faded and it was a beautiful service and a fun reception. Even my little niece was perfect on the day, looking and behaving like an angel. I was so busy I didn't get chance to miss creating but now I am home with a few days off until I start back at work I have some time to put ink to paper and this project is my DT entry for the Paper Lovin' Gals. I have also entered this project in the Just Us Girls, Hand Stamped Sentiments and Color Throwdown challenges.

If you have never played along with Paper Lovin' Gals before the rules are pretty simple, each week there is an inspirational photo and you use this as the basis of your creation for the week. In this week's picture it was the hearts that inspired me - I have to say if we had the lovely new Heart dies that the US have I would have made a heart mobile using different sized hearts out of brown packing paper and DSP. But as that wasn't an option I went for a cute little chocolate holder using the Box #2 die with my Big Shot, I left the top flap up and covered it with Melon Mambo and Whisper White to cover the crease, I also trimmed off the two small top flaps. The pink hearts on the front are actually punched out of the white card stock to allow the Melon Mambo to show through. I love the flower in the Fresh Vintage Sale-A-Bration set and thought it would make a great centre to the feature heart on the front of the box. The "Love" sentiment is also from a Sale-A-Bration stamp set Outlined Occasions.

Pop over and see what the other DT members have come up with this week to inspire you, and join in with the fun by entering your own creation in the challenge.

Happy Stamping

ESAD Sale-A-Bration Blog Hop

2012-01-24T10:00:00.009+11:00

Today marks the release of the Sale-A-Bration promotion at Stampin' Up! I have to say this is one of my favourite times of the year because Stampin' Up! give away FREE stamps, yep totally free when you purchase $100 in product. The super exciting thing about Sale-A-Bration this year is that not only are there four great stamp sets to choose from but we also have the option of a full pack of 12'x12' Designer series paper, or a cute Brads and Ribbons bundle, so there really is something for everyone. If you don't already have a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and are interested in learning more please contact me 0412 064 670.

The other exciting thing about Sale-A-Bration is that it is time for another ESAD Blog Hop, where you get to hop around and see what some of the ESAD girls have created with these great FREE products. You might be starting here or you might have hopped on over from Pauline Bennetts' Blog

What is ESAD? ESAD stands for "Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators" and it is an on-line group just for Australian and New Zealand Stampin Up demonstrators. We so love what we do and not only do we love to share it with our customers, friends, and wonderful blog visitors, but we share our love for what we do with each other as demonstrators. We run swaps, challenges, tutorials, product know-how, and cyberstamps, and we are always there to help and support each other when it is needed. So if you are a Stampin' Up! demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand, then please feel free to click here to join our wonderful group

Here is the first item I made for the blog hop, a DSP sampler to show off not only the beautiful DSP available but also can you see the little brad holding it together? That is one of the brads from the Free Ribbon and Brad bundle. Doesn't it go so well with the Blossom Boquet Triple Layer Punch! I purposefully chose the colours for the front of the DSP sampler because they are the coordinating colours for the DSP, and that will help remind me!

I wanted to make a desk set with some of the exclusive SAB products, and had my first play with adhering DSP to chipboard and putting it through the Big Shot. I then used my Crop-A-Dial to punch the holes in the chipboard and threaded them together with the Lucky Limeade Ribbon that comes in the Ribbon and Brad bundle. To add some detail I wrapped some of the Calypso Coral ribbon around the corners of the Scallop Square. I am loving this ribbon, it is so delicate and pretty it is the perfect addition to any project. And I have to say the value in the Ribbon and Brad bundle is amazing - 2 rolls each containing 9.1m of ribbon and a pack of 30 brads with 5 different patterns on them! Can you see the little butterfly brads that I have used to hold my calendar on with - they are so cute and match the little butterflies on the DSP perfectly.

My final project was going to be a picture frame, but I decided to use it instead to hold one of the stamps from the Fresh Vintage set also available at SAB. I used my markers to colour in the rubber and then stamped the image, you can just see how well the image on the stamp matches the pattern on the DSP. I added some butterflies from the Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die, and of course some pearls to give it that something special. You will see I have used the Curly Label Punch and cut slits in the corners to create photo corners for my frame, I just love how well these go with the Top Note Die. Again this is DSP adhered to chipboard and run through the Big Shot, something that was demonstrated at our Regional Training day in Canberra.

I hope you enjoy the Bog Hop, don't forget to follow the links at the bottom of each post to hop around all the blogs. Next on your journey is the lovely and talented Bron Heslop, don't forget to leave some comments as you hop around so the ladies know how much you are enjoying the hop.

~~Happy~~ Hoppy Stamping

Sale-A-Bration

2012-01-24T09:26:00.000+11:00

Today marks the start of Sale-A-Bration. I think it's the best time of the year in the Stampin' Up! Calendar as it is the time when we get to give away FREE stamps or accessories with any order of $100!! Check out the options in the SAB catalogue widget on the tool bar to the right. There are 4 great stamp sets; a Designer Series paper pack that is to die for; or a Ribbon and Brad bundle which are so cute.

The best part is that for every $100 you spend you get to choose another FREE item from the SAB catalogue! Hostesses who have a workshop with a total of $600 in sales will get a bonus SAB item in addition to all the regular hostess benefits!!!

If you are thinking of joining the Stampin' Up! Family as a demonstrator, whether it is to build as a business or just to get the great benefits for your own use, now is the time to do so. The starter kit valued at $610 is being offered at a discount price of just $249 (usually $289); in addition to that you also get a stamp set of your choice from the main catalogue. This is an amazing offer - I joined in SAB in 2010 and haven't looked back.

Contact me for more details monique0368@gmail.com
Happy Stamping

Black and White Sympathy

2012-01-20T22:19:00.000+11:00

Today is the first day of a two week holiday for me, and I am looking forward to the break, partly because it's a holiday and partly because I will be catching up with family and attending my brother's wedding! It seems that the upcoming wedding however didn't inspire my creation for this weeks CAS-ual Fridays #36 and Splitcoast Sketch Challenge #368.

It wasn't until I went to find a sentiment that I decided to make this a sympathy card, I think the sombre black and white make it fitting. I think the layout and stamp choices would look great with bright colours, I may just re-create it to test the theory. The stamps are from the Sale-A-Bration set Fresh Vintage, I am loving the flower and finding all sorts of uses for the stamp I used in the decorative panel.

Happy Stamping

Vintage Flowers

2012-01-19T18:00:00.003+11:00

Time for another challenge over at Paper Lovin' Gals, this week we have another picture to inspire your creations. As usual it doesn't matter what about the picture inspires you, it could be the flowers, the colours or even the little glass jars! That is the beauty of these challenges. I would also like to enter my card in the Freshly Made Sketches challenge this week.

For me this week it was a few things that caught my eye, the colours, the flowers and even the little ribbon that holds them together. The stamp I have used is from Fresh Vintage, one of the sets available FREE as part of Sale-A-Bration which starts on the 24th January. I wanted to give the idea of a vine climbing over a trellis or lattice fence with the flower reaching for the sun. I coloured the stamp with my Stampin' Write Markers and used the smaller flower in the set with Versa Mark to create the subtle flowers on the right of the card. A few carefully positioned pearls to add that special something and I was complete.

Don't forget to pop over and see what the other Design Team members have created to help inspire you to join in the challenge this week.

Happy Stamping

Sunny Lovin'

2012-01-18T22:12:00.000+11:00

One of my lovely on-line friends, Shirley McAvoy, has been asked to be a guest on the Design Team for Sunny Challenges & Creations blog, so for her first challenge I decided I definitely had to play along. Pop over to her blog as well as the challenge site, I just love her creations she has a bright fun style, which really matches her personality! One of my highlights in going to Stampin' Up! Convention last year was that I got to meet some of my on-line friends, and Shirley was one of those ladies. Any-hoo on with the challenge! This week was to create a card filled with Love - I guess with Valentine's Day not too far away it is a great time to make a card for someone you love.

I decided to use one of the stamps from up-coming Sale-A-Bration called Outlined Occasions. I just love the fun feel of this set so you will be seeing more cards featuring it over the next weeks and months. I kept the card fairly simple as I am trying to do more Clean and Simple cards. I have raised all the hearts up on Dimensionals to give some added depth and spritzed them with a mix of rubbing alcohol and Champaign Shimmer Paint. Usually this doesn't photograph well but I think this picture managed to capture some of the sparkle. The line of stamping along the bottom of the card is a stamp in another Sale-A-Bration set called Fresh Vintage, again expect to see a fair bit of this set on my blog as well!

Happy Stamping

More Butterflies

2012-01-15T11:48:00.000+11:00

As I went to title this post I realised that the image on my card is again butterflies, maybe it is time for me to get out in the garden! Mind you it is a bit cold and overcast today, who knows what has happened to summer this year, just last week it dropped to 1.6 Celsius (that is 34 Fahrenheit for my US visitors) - maybe that is why I am craving butterflies, they have all hidden from the cold!

I have taken inspiration from three different challenges for this card, Just Us Girls challenge is to use collage stamping, Friday Mashup was to make a thank you card using DSP, and Colour Throwdown gave me my colours although I had to change Soft Sky to Pool Party.

I joined today with On-line Card Classes for Clean and Simple Card Making. The reason I mention this is because one of the first techniques was to use masking to add a layer to a card without actually adding a physical layer, and I wanted to try this out. In the class they used the masking to create a frame, I used it to add feature to the centre leaving a blank frame around the outside - which left it less clean and simple lol. On reflection I could have stamped off the En Francais image so it wasn't as strong, but I think the All a Flutter butterfly stands out enough. To bring in a little more of the Daffodil Delight I added some extra little butterflies from the Clearly for You stamp set and used some 1/8" Daffodil Delight Taffeta Ribbon over a piece of the 3/8" Soft Suede Taffeta Ribbon. The Thanks So Much sentiment comes from the Pocket Silhouettes set.

Hopefully I will get a few more cards made today as I am off to do some of the on-line classes and try a few Clean and Simple cards.

Happy Stamping

Beautiful Butterflies

2012-01-14T20:45:00.000+11:00

This weekend I have the house to myself, which is something that almost never happens. I started the day by doing a bit of housework, mostly to justify spending the rest of my day creating! Unfortunately you will have to wait a little while to see most of my creations as I was working on projects for the ESAD Blog Hop to celebrate the start of Sale-A-Bration, so pop back on 24th to check them out.

I did get make a couple of other things that I can show you, the first of which was a card inspired by three challenge blogs - the colours are from the challenge at Colour Q, the sketch is from Freshly Made Sketches, and I am also joining in Stampin' Royalty's challenge to add fabric to a project.

I was a bit worried the Flirtatious fabric wouldn't go with the image, but after cutting some strips 1.5cm wide I frayed the edges and then added some pearls and I think it actually goes quite well. The image of course is from Elements of Style which I stamped on water colour paper and coloured using my Aqua Painters. I finished off with some butterflies and more pearls. I have left a sentiment off this card it would be a good card for a number of occasions - Birthday, Thank You, Mother's Day, even a Sympathy card.

Happy Stamping

Silhouettes and Dresser Draws

2012-01-12T18:00:00.008+11:00

Well it is definitely 2012, and it seems time is flying faster this year than last! Another week has gone by and so I have another inspirational picture from Paper Lovin' Gals for you.

I love this old dresser, doesn't it have great character? I was initially going to get very crafty and actually try and re-create a set of draws but I didn't quite have the time to do that, so I decided to utalise the draws on the dresser for inspiration. Then I saw the challenge at City Crafter Challenge Blog which is to use a black silhouette image, and I knew which stamp I would use.

I recently used this stamp from Just Believe on another card and have decided I love it in silhouette, this time instead of little butterflies, I added some pearls to the centre of the flowers to give it some lift. The little black brads are similar to the knobs on the draws and I like what they add to the card. I also wanted to pick up some of the blue from the wall behind the dresser and so used Night of Navy ribbon and stamped the sentiment from Elements of style in it also.

I hope you have enjoyed my creation make sure you pop over to Paper Lovin' Gals and check out the creations the Design Team have come up with. As usual you can use anything in the picture to inspire your creation, so let your creativity run wild and join us.

Happy Stamping

Bird of Friendship

2012-01-05T18:00:00.032+11:00

Isn't this a cute picture? It's the inspiratinal picture from Paper Lovin' Gals this week and I used it as well as the sketch from Stamping 411 for my card this week. Come and play along taking anything from the picture you like to inspire your creativity. It certainly wasn't the snow that inspired me as I sit here in the middle of an Australian summer with the air conditioner on lol. But that is the great thing about having a picture, you can take whatever you like, layout, colours, theme, or a combination to inspire your creativity.

I was so excited when I saw the stamp set Language of Friendship in the 2011-12 Stampin' Up! catalogue, I just love my 2-Step Bird Punch and this set fits perfectly with him, there is even a stamp to give him legs! In my card however I see him just taking off in flight from the vines, so he doesn't need legs. I wanted a touch of the deep red of the berries so used Cherry Cobbler to colour in the flowers and the detail near the bird's eye. The sentiment is also from the Language of Friendship set, and the vines are from Elements of Style.

Pop over to Paper Lovin' Gals to see what the rest of the design team have made to help inspire you this week then join in with us.

Happy Stamping

Vintage Mashup

2011-12-30T07:51:00.001+11:00

When I submitted my entry for the Friday Mash Up challenge #38 I noticed that they were leaving the entries for challenge #37 open until next week! I was a bit intrigued by this challenge which was to use chipboard or distressing techniques, or mash them up and make a card using both distressing and chipboard. I am also entering this card into the 4 Crafty Chics challenge to use something new - new DSP from the upcoming Sale-A-Bration event.

For this post I have taken a few photos to show off different aspects of this card., this first one shows the card completely closed. I knew I wanted to use some of the DSP that is going to be available as part of Sale-A-Bration 2012, there are so many colours in this paper stack but I chose to keep it fairly simple and use two that use Calypso Coral and Pool Party. The smaller butterfly is cut from DSP adhered to chipboard and then put through the Big Shot, the larger butterfly has been cut using the same die but with DSP only. I added the sentiment and Crochet Trim to keep with the vintage feel of the card.

I wanted to take a close up of the butterfly accent because it shows off the distressing that I did. I have to say I struggled a bit with this because I don't usually use distressing techniques. I decided to use two on this card, one was to crumple the big butterfly and then drag the Crumb Cake ink pad over the creases to highlight them - I was a bit nervous about this but was happy with how it turned out. On both of the butterflies I sanded back the edges of the DSP to give it a worn look.

Now to the card itself ... This picture shows the card partially open. This was such a fun card to make and was the tutorial by Patty Bombyk and is featured on Splitcoaststampers this week, I wanted to try something a bit different and this certainly fit the bill. The top 2/3 of the card opens up and the bottom splits in half and opens sideways!

Here is a picture of the inside to show both how it opens and the insert I made. I don't usually make an insert for my cards, but this one just needed something on the inside. I am not sure if it was the expanse of Calypso Coral, or the general vintage feel of the card, but it seemed bare, so I added a piece of Pool Party card stock sponged around the edges and used the image from Creative Elements to create a border at the top and bottom.

Happy Stamping

Paper Lovin' Mojo

2011-12-29T18:00:00.002+11:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and for those of you who get the whole week off I hope you are relaxing and enjoying whatever you are doing. I have spent a lovely few days with my husband and daughter, eating Christmas food, and enjoying the time away from work.

One of the things I do to relax is to create, and this week at Paper Lovin' Gals there is a great inspirational picture to help the creativity flow. I think this picture is a great break away from the Christmas theme we have had for a few weeks, and a reminder that 2012 is just a few short days away. The inspiration I have taken from this picture is the rosette and the colours - what will inspire you? The layout, colours, theme ... it doesn't matter really because you can join in by creating anything that was inspired by this picture, a scrap page, card, 3D item or even something not paper craft related! So pop over and join in this week.

I also took inspiration from the Mojo Monday sketch this week.

I just love making rosettes, and this was no exception, this one is made using 2 pieces of 6" x 1" card stock which I scored at 1/8" and then fan-folded and joined. The next part is a bit fiddly, you need to adhere the ends together to form one loop then wiggle it until you lay it flat. I adhere mine to a 1" circle at the back to help me keep it in shape while the glue dries. I added a Calypso Coral flower using the Triple Layer Blossom Bouquet. Can you spot the two new products that will be part of the Sale-A-Bration rewards in January? The little brad and the Lucky Limeade Organdy ribbon that I have layered over some Calypso Coral ruffled ribbon and a small strip of white card stock. I am loving the effect this gives.

Thanks for dropping by.

Happy Stamping

Another Challenge Card

2011-12-28T20:49:00.001+11:00

I have had some fun today, but I have to say my creative mojo is a bit lacking and I seem to have slowed down in the speed at which I create things - a day to make 2 cards isn't very speedy lol. But I enjoyed making them and that is the important thing.

I made this card with three challenges in mind - The Friday Mash Up, CAS-ual Friday, and Less Is More. I struggle with the Less is More challenges, I don't often like leaving large spaces unfilled in my cards, but with the sketch at the Mash Up I thought I might be able to pull it off ... let me know what you think.

The Friday Mash Up this week was to use the sketch and/or use water painting. Now while I didn't actually use water colouring with the card, the DSP I chose for the top note does look like a water colour, so I guess that sort of counts! To attach the Cherry Cobbler bakers twine I wrapped it around the card and through a small hole punched in the spine of the card, it did have a little bow but I accidentally cut it off when trimming the ends lol.

Added for clarification: The Less Is More challenge was to use a single word sentiment, in this card I chose the 'create' that comes from the Creative Elements stamp set, and paired it with the frame stamp from the same set.

Happy Stamping

Black and White and Red All Over

2011-12-28T12:54:00.001+11:00

When I was younger I used to love the riddle "What is black and white and red all over?" the answer was "A newspaper" (read instead of red)! The colour challenge at Colour Q reminded me of this so I just had to add Red as my additional colour this week. I was also intrigued by the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches as well so used that as my basis for this card. I am also entering this card in the SUO Challenge "Feeling a bit Punchy" I have added butterflies from the Beautiful Wings die for this part.

I have been itching to use some of the flocked DSP in the Mocha Morning Specialty DSP, and this seemed just the right time to do so. I love the black, red and white together and knew I wanted to use the stamp from Just Believe as a silhouette image with butterflies to add a splash of colour. It was all a bit dark so I added some Real Red mats to the DSP and I am really happy with the outcome.

It is so nice to have time and energy to be creative and play along with some challenges again. I am hoping to get a few more done in the next day or so before I have to go back to work, so pop back and check them out.

Happy Stamping

Christmas Trees

2011-12-22T18:00:00.002+11:00

Isn't this a beautiful elegant inspirational picture this week at Paper Lovin' Gals? I love the way that each week people look at the picture and are inspired in so many different ways - how will you be inspired this week? Will it be the colours, layout, content or one element of the picture?

For me it was the colours and the three little Christmas trees. I knew what I wanted to do when I saw this and yes, it involved glimmer paper! I cut three triangles out of card stock - 2 from Always Artichoke and one from Very Vanilla. I put them all through the Big Shot using the Lattice Embossing Folder, with the Very Vanilla one I first adhered some circles I punched out using my Crop-A-Dial and 3/8" Circle Punch. Once they had the lattice embossing on them I rubbed the surface of each with Platinum Shimmer Paint. I also used the Shimmer Paint directly on the rubber to stamp the sentiment. I was really pleased with the way this card photographed, often it is difficult to pick up the look of the glimmer and shimmer on a card, but this shows it off almost as good as in real life.

Happy Stamping

Christmas Yummies

2011-12-15T18:00:00.004+11:00

Christmas Yummies was my first thought when I saw the inspirational photo at Paper Lovin' Gals this week. Cooking treats is one of my favourite things about Christmas, I am a little behind the cooking this Christmas, but I do have my dried fruit soaking ready to make my pudding and fruit mince pies this weekend. Then the Rum Balls and White Christmas (the closest thing we have to snow in Australia!), my daughter and I often cook together and sing "It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas" as the aromas of baking pies and rum balls fill the air. Anyway ... that is what this picture reminded me of ... what does it make you think of? How does it inspire you to create? Come play along this week at Paper Lovin' Gals.

I knew I wanted to use the little snowman out of the Tags Til Christmas set, and played around with a few ideas until it came to me to use him as decoration on the icing of a cupcake!!! The icing on the biscuits at the front of the photo reminded me of show and so I replicated this in the two snowflakes on the card. Ever since I started playing with the Silver Glimmer paper I have not been able to put it down! On the centre circle I have sponged the edges which I think worked quite well, though you may need to click on the photo to see it properly.

I hope you have been inspired to join in this week, if you need a bit more pop over to Paper Lovin' Gals and see what the other Design Team members have created.

Happy Stamping

Colours of Christmas

2011-12-08T18:00:00.009+11:00

Don't you find that at this time of year time goes so fast! It went so fast for me that I completely missed last week's challenge at Paper Lovin' Gals! This week there is a great inspirational photo to inspire creativity, a bit different to what you might see in an Aussie Christmas, although we have had some unseasonably cold weather lately.

I love inspirational photos because there is no limitations, whatever the photo inspires you to create is just fine, whether it is colours, layout, theme, or one element of the picture. Let this picture inspire you and join us in this week's challenge. I love the colours in this picture and it made me want to use my favourite Christmas colours, which just happens to be the challenge theme for Stampin Up Only Challenges.

From the picture I was also quite taken with the windows, and wanted to recreate them in some way on my card. I used the Lace Ribbon Border Punch to make the frame, I have seen this done with smaller border punches and just wanted to give it a go with this one. You need to start with a 5" square piece of card stock and punch once in the middle of each side. In the corners I have used the Postage Stamp Punch in Cherry Cobbler and then the 1" Square Punch in the centre of each. Can you pick what I punched out? It is the ornament punch in the Tags 'Til Christmas stamp set, isn't it cute? I also used this set to stamp the feature in the centre of the card, and backed this with a stamped doily from Delicate Doilies. I finished off with some Rhinestones to add a bit of bling.

Happy Stamping

Anything But A Card

2011-12-02T22:03:00.000+11:00

I wanted to make this ever since I saw the Glimmer Paper in the new Summer Mini Catalogue and how please was I to see that this week the Friday Mash Up was to make something wintry, and over at Stampin' Royalty the challenge was to make 'anything but a card' ... perfect.

Now the photo just doesn't do them justice, but they are so pretty in real life and catch the light beautifully. I can't wait to wear them as my Christmas earrings this year.

To make them was super easy, I just punched 4 snowflakes using the Doily Triple Layer punch from the Silver Glimmer Paper. I adhered these back to back to make two snowflakes (I think they look far more like snowflakes than doilies!!!). I grabbed a few supplies that I had in storage from my jewellery making days and hey-presto ... a beautiful pair of glittery, wintry Christmassy earrings.

Happy Stamping

ESAD Summer Mini Blog Hop

2011-12-01T10:00:00.036+11:00

Today marks the release of the new Summer Mini Catalogue and my fellowdemonstrators at ESAD have created some amazing items with some of the newproducts. What is ESAD? ESAD stands for "Extra Special AustralasianDemonstrators" and it is an on-line group just for Australian and NewZealand Stampin Up demonstrators. We so love what we do and not only do we love to share it with ourcustomers, friends, and wonderful blog visitors, but we share our love for whatwe do with each other as demonstrators. We run swaps, challenges, tutorials,product know-how, and cyberstamps, and we are always there to help and supporteach other when it is needed.

So if you are a Stampin' Up! demonstrator located in Australia or NewZealand, then please feel free to click here tojoin our wonderful group

You might have arrived here from Libby's blog LibbyStampz, or you may be starting here, either is fine, just follow thelink at the bottom of each post to hop to the next blog. There are 25 inall so grab a cuppa, sit back and enjoy the creativity.

I was so excited at Regional Training this year because I won a doorprize which was the Pretty Postage stamp set, so I chose that to feature in mypost for this hop. In this card I paired it with the raspberry stamp fromthe Clearly For You stamp set, don't they go so well together? I usedanother couple of the new products - the 1" Square Punch, and the PostageStamp Punch, again they go really well together. I have also used the Bevelled Window Pane as a feature with Crumb Cake Seam Binding.

Here is another stamp from the Pretty Postage set, I like the concept ofhaving a friend 24-7, someone you can count on to be there for you no matterwhat, so I paired the 24-7 stamp with the friends from the Tiny Tags set and matching punch. I think sometimes these special people in our lives deserve a reminderand I think this little gift box is just the thing. I have also used theamazing Spice Cake DSP to create a feature strip on the box.

My final project also uses the Spice Cake DSP, it matches the TripleFlower Stamp, for this I wanted to use the sheet that is covered with thesebeautiful little flowers, because I wanted to make a set of little cards. I have made a set like this before, and again the idea came from ourRegional Training day, I made the card holder using the two tag die. These little sets are so quick and easy to make and are the perfect thingto either have on your desk to attach to a gift, or to give as a gift to someonespecial.

That is it from me, please keep hopping to see the great projects that Joanne Kechagias has to show you on her blog Joanne's Stamping Creations. Don'tforget to leave some comments as you hop around, a bit of blog love is always appreciated.

If you don't have a current Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and would like a copy of the new Summer Mini please send me an email. I have added a link to an electronic version up on the left side bar if you want to have a look through all the products.

Happy Stamping

Time to Give Thanks

2011-11-24T18:00:00.009+11:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American visitors. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia, but I think it is nice to have a day where you take time out to focus on things that you are thankful for. Before I get onto this weeks challenge I thought I would share a few of the things I am thankful for at the moment ... I am so very thankful for my family, my wonderful husband of 20years and beautiful daughter; I am thankful that I am in a job and field that I love and makes a difference in people's lives; and I am thankful that I have stability and a degree of security in my life that fewer people have these days.

Now onto this week's inspirational picture, you can use this picture in any way to inspire your creation. You can use the colours, theme, layout, or just part of the picture like the clouds or the rays. I look forward to seeing your entry so pop over to Paper Lovin' Gals and see what the other Design Team members have come up with and add your entry.

I chose to use the layout and colours, and kept "Thanks" as the sentiment. I sponged over punched out scallop circles with So Saffron and More Mustard to make the clouds. I also used More Mustard on a sponge to lightly colour the Velvet Designer Ribbon from the upcoming Summer Mini Catalogue that goes live here in Australia on 1st December. I was happily surprised at how well it took the colour. The sentiment, from Short and Sweet is on a piece that has been doubly cut with the Decorative Label Punch.

I stamped the sentiment and then punched once, ensuring the sentiment was toward the bottom of the punch. I stuck the punch out onto the back of a post it note to give me something to guide it into the punch with and lined it up and re-punched. The picture shows how this lines up, and the little tabs on the sides are just perfect for pearls, bling or brads. I just love finding extra uses for the tools I have, it makes them really versatile and great value.

Happy Stamping

Playing With New Toys

2011-11-20T11:00:00.001+11:00

Don't you just love playing with a new stamp set for the first time? I certainly do, and it was definitely the case on this card, my first with the Kindness Matters stamp set. I received this set as part of my final gift from my Secret Sister, and so happy she sent it to me, it's such a cute little set with pretty butterflies, swirls and sentiments I think it will be getting a real work out.

I was inspired to use it in the Freshly Made Sketches challenge this week. I enjoy the simple lines of the Freshly Made Sketches, not too many layers and there is a lot of room to be creative. I chose much softer colours than I would normally put together, I think the delicate nature of the butterflies steered me in that direction.

I used a Baja Breeze base for my card and layered the First Edition Specialty DSP which I gave a spot of colour to using my Stampin' Pastels. I find Pastels give a softer finish than sponging and that was just what I was looking for with this card. If you look closely the typed passage is all about butterflies, so it went really well with this card. I stamped the three butterflies onto Very Vanilla and then ran it through the Big Shot with the rectangle Designer Frames embossing folder and trimmed off the excess. I usually would only use an image that fits within the frame, but lately I have seen so many where the image is larger than the frame I thought I would give it a go! I used Pastels again on this piece on the edge of the frame and in the centre to match it up with the Baja Breeze and So Saffron that I used on the DSP. I also used some sponging right on the edges of the frame, and used my Stampin' Write Marker to highlight the inner crease of the frame.

I finished the card off using the Lace Ribbon Border Punch layered with Crochet Trim, and then a single piece from the same punch as the embellishment with one of the flower shaped buttons from the Subtles Buttons.

Happy Stamping

Back to Mashing Things Up!

2011-11-19T21:52:00.000+11:00

I went to look at which Friday Mash Up we were up to and was shocked to see it is challenge number 33 this week, wow how time flies! Anyway, onto the challenge "Everything's Coming Up Rosettes!" ...

This week we had to use the sketch, or use a rosette, or mash it up and use the sketch with a rosette.

As I often do I chose to mash it up and do both. My rosette is made from the Cherry Cobbler Striped Grossgrain Ribbon, it lost some of it's ruffles when I adhered it to the card! I used the Flower Fest stamp embossed in gold and cut them out using the 5-Petal Flower. The DSP is from the Letters to Santa, blue isn't a traditional Christmas colour but I am really liking it, especially with the Early Espresso.

I enjoyed playing along with the challenge again, pop over to the Friday Mash Up to check out what the Design Team and other entrants have come up with this week.

Happy Stamping

Paper Lovin' Bookmark!

2011-11-17T18:00:00.014+11:00

I was a bit fascinated by this square wreath in the inspirational picture at Paper Lovin' Gals, and just knew it was what I wanted to feature on my card. What inspires you in this picture? The colours, shapes, theme, layout, or something else? What ever it is come and join in this week's challenge. If nothing immediately pops out at you visit Paper Lovin' Gals and see what the other Design Team members have been inspired to create.

Now, as you can see I didn't make a card at all. I got a bit stuck with how to incorporate this into a card, I had a few false starts and nothing was coming together for me at all. It happens like that sometimes, so I put it aside and did some other things and then when I came back I threw out the idea of a card and decided to do a book mark instead. Part of the inspiration for this came from one of the presentations at our recent Stampin' Up! Regional Training, one on the long list of things I have been wanting to try.

I stamped the background using More Mustard, which I then coloured in patches with my Stampin' Pastels in More Mustard and Old Olive. I just love my pastels for this kind of thing. I then stamped on the cute little birds from the same stamp set, Clearly For You. I finished it off by attaching a large Bevelled Window Pane to the image using Adhesive Sheet and added Old Olive Satin Ribbon doubled over, tied with some twine and covered with an Antique Brad.

I was really pleased with the result. I look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with for this week's challenge.

Happy Stamping

Inspired by Love

2011-11-10T18:00:00.004+11:00

Time for another inspirational photo over at Paper Lovin' Gals! I just love the white picket fence, and the red hearts against the white of the flags, and of course the word 'love'.

What inspires you? Is it the texture, colours, theme, or the layout? Let your creativity flow and come join us this week. The thing I like most about inspirational photos is that there is no wrong interpretation!

As I said, it was the picket fence that inspired me and I just knew I wanted to make a fence made from the Tiny Tags Punch, to make the pailings I took a piece of Whisper White card stock and dragged my Choc Chip ink pad over it creating the lines which I think look a bit like wood grain. Then I cut it into strips 9mm wide, then put one end of the strip into the punch from underneath, so just the end was inside the top of the tag and punched it out, then cut to length. I guess I could have just made the join lie under the cross beam but that would take too much lining up! Instead of the hearts I was inspired to use the butterfly and sentiment from the Butterfly Prints stamp set, highlighting the Love with a Real Red marker.

I hope this has inspired you to come and join in this week, or if you need more inspiration pop on over and check out what the other Design Team have made.

Stamp: Butterfly Prints
Colours: Lucky Limeade, Real Red, Whisper White, Choc Chip.
Other: Punch - Jewelry Tag, Punch - Decorative Label, Punch - Butterfly, In-Colour Paper Stack, Pearls

Happy Stamping

Fancy Fold Christmas

2011-11-10T09:00:00.000+11:00

A couple of years ago I recieved a Christmas card and the design had me intrigued, so I kept the card and recently used it as the make and take for a workshop I had with a couple of friends. I just love cards that look a bit different, and this one is no exception.

The top picture is the card closed up, I had to put it into a bag so I could take the photo, these cards just don't like being contained! You can see what it looks like in the bottom picture, it sits up on the front point. You can embellish the sides of the card, or as I did, use a decorative paper as a feature. I used the stamp from Tags til Christmas that goes with the Ornament Punch, and embossed it in gold, and embellished it with pearls.

Here is another one I made with the Jolly Holiday DSP from last catalogue. These cards will fit into a regular C6 envelope for easy posting.

Happy Stamping

Another SS Gift

2011-11-09T09:00:00.001+11:00

I hope you liked the last lot of things my Secret Sister sent to me, I know I did :) This time I want to share with you my October gift which completely blew me away. Isn't she a clever lady! I want to show you each of them separately so you can see what work has gone into them.

Firstly the little packet of thank you cards. These are the ones I copied for my last workshop I was so taken by them. My SS has used the Morning Mocha Speciality paper, why is it special? Because the black pattern is made from velvet, it feels amazing - I am quite tactile and just love the richness of these. She has even stamped the bag topper with the matching stamp from Elements of Style set.

The next part of the gift was a cute little soap in a tin, which my lovely SS has decorated with the same DSP. The soap is scented lightly with Grapefruit and Mandarin and smells so fresh, I think I will just take it out of the wrapper and leave it on my desk to add the soft citrus scent to the room.

Finally this is a beautiful 2012 diary which has been covered with the same amazing paper, it almost is too good to use ... almost! But good news is I have been able to put my first workshop booking for 2012 in it already so the timing was great. The ribbon on the front with the flower is actually a bookmark made from a length of ribbon, a hair elastic, and the beautiful flower. I have been wanting to try one of these for a while (on my very very long to do list), they are so neat. The hair elastic allows some give in the book mark for when you are sliding it over the pages.

Here is a close up of the flower, you can see my SS has embossed it with the Petals-A-Plenty embossing folder, and cut the layers of the flower with the Fun Flowers Big Shot Die. You might not be able to see in the picture but she has actually cut them out of black leather, and then spritzed them to give that effect, they look so great in person, and the Antique Brad in the centre of the flower is a great finishing touch.

As you can imagine I feel pretty spoiled right now, I can't wait to find out who made these lovely gifts for me. We have the big reveal at the end of November so I don't have to wait too much longer.

Happy Stamping

Workshop Cards

2011-11-07T09:00:00.002+11:00

I wanted to take some time out from challenges to share a couple of projects that I presented at two workshops I did recently. I love doing workshops and sharing new techniques with people, because I know how much I love it when I get shown something new.

Belinda's Card

My Take on Belinda's Card

The first one is a card inspired by a fellow Stampin' Up! Demonstrator Belinda Neil, I kept most of the card identical to hers but changed the colours because I wanted to showcase the bleaching technique. I used Baja Breeze for the base and Soft Suede for the embossed panel. I just love the satin ribbon put on as a little feature. I think the "Just For You" stamp from Tagtastic set is such a good stamp to show off the bleaching technique because of that lovely banner in the centre.

This is the project from the second workshop I did, also using the Tagtastic stamp set. The cards were inspired by the lovely Secret Sister gift I received in October (I will post a picture of that in the next few days), and the little card holder was inspired by something we were shown at our Regional training day - I told you I love learning new things! The little card holder is made from the Two Tags die and holds 4 little 3"x3" cards and envelopes. I used the bleaching on the embossing as well on the stamp to highlight it.

The little cards are quite easy to make, the embossed oval is the perfect size to hold a piece of DSP or even a stamped image punched out with the large oval punch. For these ones I punched the flourish from one of the sheets in the Beau Château Designer Series Paper.

Happy Stamping

Treat Yourself ...

2011-11-03T17:00:00.002+11:00

Paper Lovin' Girls #4

This is my first creation as part of the Design Team for Paper Lovin' Gals, and what a great picture we have this week to inspire your creativity. You can use the colours, lay out, or just pick one feature of the photo and use it to inspire your creation. I just love all those balls hanging down and knew immediately they would be my inspiration and the focal point of the card.

I made these balls from some of the DSP paper stacks, there was of course a limit to the number I could fit on the card, so I stopped at three!!! The scene in the picture made me want a room just like this so that I could just spend the whole day in bed reading, dozing and nibbling on chocolate. With this in mind I knew exactly which sentiment I wanted to put with this card "treat yourself like your own best company". The bed cover reminded me of the new SU fabric from the Beau Chateau collection and I just had to re-create that centre cushion by using a button and pearl.

I hope you join us in this week's challenge, pop over to Paper Lovin' Gals blog and see what the other talented DT members have made to inspire you this week.

Happy Stamping

Pick Me, Pick Me

2011-11-02T20:47:00.000+11:00

Have you ever said that, without really believing you would be picked? Well this time the silent wishing has actually paid off. Well if it wasn't the wishing it was the entries I put into the last three challenges at Paper Lovin' Gals because I have been chosen as one of the three new Design Team members! I got the email today and was so very excited, yes there is a happy dance and a little song that goes with it, but I really don't need to share that with you all!

Anyway here is my new badge, and please come and join in at Paper Lovin' Gals.

Happy Stamping

Recycling Sketch

2011-10-30T13:48:00.000+11:00

It is nice to have the pressure off, life is getting back to normal which also means that I have more time to create. I am finding that my mojo is definitely back, I look at challenges now and ideas just pop into my head where I had been struggling before, it is so nice.

This week's Friday Mash Up challenge was

Make a project with the sketch
Make a project using recycled or re-purposed materials or supplies
or Mash It Up and create a project using the sketch and recycled or re-purposed materials or supplies

I chose to mash it up, and used mostly retired items from Stampin' Up!, I can't bear to part with them but really don't often use them as I use current products on my projects. Can you spot the one thing on my card that is current? The butterfly and flourish are from the Sale-A-Bration set Bliss, the DSP are from a retired set I can't remember the name of, and the brads are Square Ice brads, such a shame these are no longer current, they are so pretty. Which of course leaves the sentiment as the only current item, it's from the Elements of Style stamp set.

Happy Stamping

Spooky PLG Challenge

2011-10-30T10:55:00.000+11:00

We don't really celebrate Halloween here in Australia, so my stamp sets for that holiday are just non-existent. I didn't let that stop me again this week when I saw the cool photo supplied by the DT at Paper Lovin' Gals. How great does this look? I knew straight away I wanted to get out my brayer for this one, but wasn't sure what I had in mind would work. So a number of trials later this is what I created.

I know it looks a bit plain and not overly exciting but it is a luminaire, so you don't really see the true effect until you turn out the lights ...

I found a picture of the haunted house on the internet, and traced and then very carefully cut out the little bits and pieces to let the light through. I realised after I had finished that I should have cut it out of Basic Black, not Pumpkin Pie, but by then it was all put together and I couldn't face more carving (it was also about midnight lol). So out with the Stampin' Write Marker and some careful colouring in. I put the little had cut bat behind the vellum so that it would be a bit blurred with the light behind, to give an effect of movement. The vellum behind the house has be brayered in Tangerine Tango so that it gets that lovely orange glow.

I really enjoyed making this, and I just know my teenage daughter is going to love it when she sees it all lit up in her room tonight!

I am also going to be entering this project in the Stampin' Royalty "Spooky/Creepy/Halloween" themed challenge.

Happy Stamping

Secret Sister Swap - September Cards

2011-10-28T09:00:00.000+11:00

As promised here are two of the cards my ESAD Secret Sister has sent me in September. I have been meaning to post pictures of these for some time now, but better late than never!

This is the first card I received, I love the technique my SS has used here, initially stamping onto the Certainly Celery card-stock and embossing it with white embossing powder, and then stamping the same image onto the white card stock in Certainly Celery and embossing it with clear. This could also be done using the new coloured embossing powders.

This is another card from my SS, and I love the attention to detail on this one. Notice how the embossed image on the pink panel is lined up with the embossing on the back panel? The colours on this remind me of Neapolitan Ice-cream, and my SS can't have known that my favourite flavour is the strawberry one, and that is the main colour on this card too! I love the ruffled ribbon feature and stamped images.

I am feeling very spoiled at the moment!

Happy Stamping

Secret Sister Swap - September Gift

2011-10-26T09:00:00.000+11:00

Here is another great Secret Sister gift I received from my ESAD (Extra Special Australiasinan Stampin' Up Demonstrators), now this swap goes for 3 months so I don't know who my SS is just yet. All I know is that she comes from New Zealand!

Aren't these cute? I love this little set, there is a small pack of tissues, a mini hand sanitiser, a post-it note and pen set, and at the front on the right is a cute little match book with emery boards in it! I just love these, and love the way they all match and that my lovely SS has coloured the Organza Ribbon to match the card-stock. I love the Vintage Vogue flowers and Antique Brads she has used to decorate each item.

My SS has also sent me some lovely cards and I will be posting those up over the next week or so. When I find out who she is I will share that with you.

Happy Stamping

Secret Sister Swap - Crafters Anonymous

2011-10-24T09:00:00.002+11:00

Today I want to share the first of my Secret Sister gifts. A Secret Sister Swap is one in which you make a card and/or gift for someone but they have no idea who you are until the end of the swap. Some are done over three months and some are just a one item swap. I am currently in 2 such swaps, one through Crafters Anonymous and one with a group of fellow demonstrators at Extra Special Australasian Stampin' Up! Demonstrators, and I will be sharing all my 'happy mail' with you.

These are from my Secret Sister in the Crafter's Anonymous swap, aren't they beautiful? The little box on at the back has a beautiful scented candle in it the fragrance is Orchidberry, and is a similar colour to Rich Razzleberry so now I will always think of this scent when I see that colour! The item at the back right is a covered 2012 calendar, a month to a page, so great to have in your handbag to keep track of special dates. The two flowers are actually two magnet clips with the beautiful die-cut flowers adhered to the front. Can you see the little glimmer brad in the centre of each flower? Aren't they so cute, I just have to own some now!

This was a one off swap, and so I now know who my SS was. It was the lovely Steph who is one of my on-line stamping buddies. It was extra special to find out that it was made by a cyber friend! I love the colours Steph has used, so soft and pretty.

Happy Stamping

Pals Paper Christmas

2011-10-22T23:01:00.003+11:00

Don't you just love it when you see a sketch and immediately know what you want to do, grab the supplies, and within 15 minutes have completed the card??? It happens so very rarely but tonight as soon as I saw this sketch from Pals Paper Arts it all just fell into place.

I haven't used my Seasons of Joy stamp set in a while but after dusting it off it made the perfect centre feature to this Christmas card.

I inked up the image using Cherry Cobbler, and then using a cotton bud wiped off the ink on the tree, star and snowflake, then coloured them in using Garden Green, Daffodil Delight and Marina Mist. The addition of some sponging, mini pearls, and a touch of embossing on the Cherry Cobbler layer were the finishing touches.

Don't forget to pop over to Pals Paper Arts and check out the other great cards.

Happy Stamping

Butterflies Inspired by Pumpkins!

2011-10-22T22:02:00.003+11:00

Isn't this a great photo! Over at Paper Lovin' Gals this is the inspriational photo for this week's project. Now I have to say I struggled a bit with this as I use pumpkins more for soup than I do for Halloween! But I was determined to join in again this week and so started to think about which elements of the card I would use to inspire me. I decided I really loved the colours and the layout of the images, but not so much the pumpkins.

So I swapped out the pumpkins and made them into a flight of butterflies, the elegant lines embossing folder reminds me of the twisting vines of the pumpkins and gave the card the texture it needed. I used Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango and More Mustard as my three colours for the butterflies. The sentiment from Cottage Garden fit so well in the frame and with the vine twisting through it seemed perfect for this card.

I am again using my entry into the challenge as an application to be on the Design Team at Paper Lovin' Gals, and while I am not as happy with it as I was with the vase of pink flowers card I do like my interpretation on the photo.

Happy Stamping

PLG Challenge Winner!

2011-10-21T22:20:00.002+11:00

I am super excited right now because my card was chosen as the challenge winner this week for the Paper Lovin' Gals. It was great to be chosen, particularly this week as it was their very first challenge! Here is another look at the winning card ...

I was in some great company with Linda from The Stamper's Touch and Karen from Karen's Crafty Creations as the runners up this week. Pop over and check out their lovely creations.

I have just completed my card for the next challenge so please pop back tomorrow after I have had a chance to post a picture.

Happy Stamping

Oops I Did It Again ...

2011-10-21T09:50:00.004+11:00

I might not be a Britney Spears fan but that song came to mind with this card. What did I do again? I made another card with the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge sketch, it wasn't really a mistake, I woke up this morning and just knew I had to create a bright fun card with the now retired Ice Cream Parlor ribbons and buttons!

I usually don't do bright cards, but I do love seeing bright cards. I am really happy with the way this card has turned out, the Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight and Melon Mambo are so bright and cheery, just perfect for a cheery birthday card don't you think? I used the Cup Cake Punch and ran the 'icing' through the elegant lines embossing folder and sponged some Melon Mambo over it to give some swirls in the icing. The cupcake is finished off by a cute little cherry and layered onto a star-burst punched out of the Fancy Flower Punch that I re- punched slightly off-set.

I posted a picture of this card and then started thinking maybe it could do with 'a little more', more what I wasn't sure, but I thought the Daffodil Delight was a bit plain, bright but plain. I wanted to add something to it to give it some texture, I then remembered that in the Short and Sweet stamp set there is a cute little itsy bitsy cupcake, how perfect to stamp in both VersaMark and Daffodil Delight to make two shades of colour. I then added some sponging to the edges of the card - I love sponging.

Hope you like this entry into the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge, I am off to do some washing then back for some more creativity.

Happy Stamping

Freshly Made Sketches

2011-10-20T23:23:00.002+11:00

I had a bit of inspiration this evening as I was flicking through the blogs I am following when I found the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge with this layout ...

I have been looking at this new challenge blog lately and just haven't had the time to participate, but life has settled a little so I wanted to join in.

I had made up the stamped background a while ago and thought that it would be great for this card, as I could just see the doilies and snowflakes working together with the elements of the sketch. I am so loving the colour combo of Pool Party, Concord Crush and Wisteria Wonder together, and although you can't see it easily the doilies have been stamped onto shimmer white card stock which gives them an added frosty feel. I just had to add a couple of rhinestones to help bling it up.

I have a bit of time on my hands the next few days, so you can expect a few more creations from me, as well as some pictures over the next week or so of the lovely gifts I have received as part of Secret Sister Swaps.

Happy Stamping

Paper Lovin' Gals

2011-10-16T17:16:00.002+11:00

Knowing how I love my challenge blogs, imagine my excitement when I found out that there was a new one about to start up! I found the link on my lovely friend Kasey's blog and was even more excited when I found out they are still looking for a few more Design Team members! The challenge was to create a project taking inspiration from this picture ...

I quite like these types of challenges, they allow for lots of variation, you can take the colours, the layout, the theme, or anything really that inspires you.

I was inspired by the colours and by the lovely bright pink flowers. I just knew I wanted to use my new Triple Layer Flower Punch for this one, and what better than yellow and orange brads to give them cute little centre. I mixed it up a bit and used the blue of the jug as the inspiration for my Baja Blue background card and dsp, and the orange from the wall for my vase. I made the vase out of the Ornament Punch with the bottom cut off and stamped with a small flourish from Tiny Tags stamp set. Then it was simply layering the flowers in Rose Red and Melon Mambo.

I hope you like my creation, and entry into the design team, and are inspired to join in with this new challenge blog. Pop over to Paper Lovin' Gals (don't you just love the name) and join in, or at the very least see what everyone else has created with this lively picture as inspiration.

Happy Stamping

Back In the Groove

2011-10-08T21:41:00.001+11:00

2 days and 2 posts ... I am back in the swing of creativity!! This time my inspiration came from Sketch Frenzy Friday, Just Add Ink and The Color Throwdown. I didn't have any Barely Banana or Creamy Caramel so used So Saffron and Crumb Cake instead.

Initially when I saw JAI challenge to Just Add a Die Cut I skipped over it, however when I was thinking about this card and had decided on the stamp I would use my new Scribbles Swirls die came to mind. This is such a versatile little die, great for adding a swirl or splash to any number of projects, in this one I have used a mix of Crystal Effects with Dazzling Diamonds to give it that extra watery look. The stamp set Sunny Fun is so cute, and in these muted colours reminds me of an old photo!

Stamp: Sunny Fun
Colours: Pool Party, So Saffron, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake
Other: Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds, Scribbles Swirls Sizzlits Die, Aqua Painter

Happy Stamping

Trick or Treat

2011-10-07T22:58:00.009+11:00

For the last two weeks I have been working with a different team and I have thoroughly enjoyed working with them, and getting to know them all. Next week it is back to my usual job, and back to part time work, which will leave more time for crafting! Tonight I decided to have a look at my fav challenge blogs, with the thought of planning a card to make tomorrow, that was until I came across The Friday Mashup and was totally inspired by this week's challenge. This week was a colour and theme challenge, and I decided to do both, creating a Halloween themed card using Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Lucky Limeade and Concord Crush.

Now in Australia we don't really celebrate Halloween, certainly not to the extent that it is celebrated in the US or UK, this is reflected in the limited Halloween products in our IB&C. However I did not want to let that get me down, and I think it was the little owl in the Warmest Wishes set that FMU are giving away this week.

I used the owl punch and added some bat wings to give him more of a Halloween look, and a little green vest to match the new Lucky Limeade ruffle ribbon on the card. I decided to use my new Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch (boy that is a mouthful!!) and used two strips of it under the ruffle ribbon, I think the two of them go very well together. Can you spot the little bit of extra ruffled ribbon I have used to framed the Concord Crush circle? I cut a piece of ribbon in half lengthwise and then attached it to the back of the circle using SNAIL.

I did learn an important lesson on this card ... Use your black glitter before you add the letters to a multi-layered, embossed card! Boy does that stuff get everywhere!

Stamps: none!
Paper: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Lucky Limeade, Concord Crush and Naturals Ivory; Lucky Limeade DSP Stack
Other: 2-step Owl Punch, 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon, Timeless Type Junior Alphabet die, black super fine glitter.

Happy Stamping

Touching Base

2011-10-06T21:15:00.000+11:00

Hi All, I just wanted to let you know that I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth, I have just been super busy with work the last month. I have done a little bit of crafting but can't show you because the things I have made are for two lovely ladies who are part of Secret Sister rounds. So the things I have made have to stay secret until the lovely ladies in question receive their gifts!

I will be able to post up some pictures of the lovely things that I have been sent this month, and will do that over the weekend. Life has slowed down a bit too and I will get back to participating in a few challenges I hope.

Happy Stamping

A Different Kind of Challenge

2011-09-12T09:00:00.002+10:00

Today my 'baby' turns 16 ... a challenge on so many levels!

She is a great girl, and in herself not that much of a challenge, I am so proud of the young lady she is growing into. The challenging part comes from the age and all that it brings - social expectations, a relaxing of rules while still maintaining boundaries, learning to drive (though that will primarily be hubby's challenge lol), and just the support needed for 16 year olds these days - maintaining that balance between mother and friend.

Here is the card I made for her. I used some of her favourite products, firstly the rose image from Fifth Avenue Floral, she loves this stamp set, particularly the rose. Her other favourite on the card is the new In-Colour Island Indigo, which I paired with Pool Party, lastly is glitter - what girl doesn't like glitter!!! I used my new alphabet die to cut out the letters and numbers and embossed them into the extended bookmark with the square lattice die. The "16" I cut out of adhesive sheet and applied super fine glitter, ideally I would have used the new Sticky Sheets as they would have held the glitter better, but sadly had none on hand! I hope she likes it and has a wonderful 16th Birthday.

Happy Stamping

Baby Card

2011-09-11T14:50:00.001+10:00

My second sketch inspired card was inspired by my favourite challenge site Friday Mash Up but I only used the stitching part of the challenge as in Australia we are headed toward the end of the school year! The colour came from Just Add Ink which was White and one other colour, and finally the sketch came from Utah Divas Saturday Sketch.

I made this card for a friend who has recently had a beautiful baby girl, and I knew when I got my hands on the new Stocking Punch that is going to be available for Australia and New Zealand customers from 1st October. One of the benefits of being a demonstrator for Stampin' Up! is that you get sneak peeks, and pre-order for promotions, how good is that! While the traditional use for the punch is for Christmas, I have turned it into a pair of pretty pink booties.

The idea for the Modern Label Punch came from Donna over at Butternut Sage Designs, isn't it cool! The mechanism of the punch is to cut from the outside so you just have to punch carefully and stop after it has cut only part of the shape. Then slide a strip of ribbon under and there you have it, a cute little accent for your card.

Happy Stamping

Three in One ...

2011-09-11T14:46:00.001+10:00

Inspired by the Blog Hop yesterday I have had a surge of creativity making 3 cards, two I can show you today and the 3rd I will post tomorrow as it is a surprise for my daughter's birthday. I went flicking through my usual challenge blogs and inspiration was just popping into my hear. I decided to start with the Sketch from Saturday 411, the colours from Crazy for Challenges, and the theme from CAS-ual Fridays "Falling to Pieces".

I have seen these cute little trees popping up all over the place since the release of the Doily Triple Layer Punch. The trunk of the tree is a rectangle with ovals punched out of the sides, and one petal of the 5-Petal Flower Punch. While the theme was Fall with paper piecing, here in Australia it is heading into spring, so while I kept to the theme, I did use the green as the primary colour on the card!

Happy Stamping

ESAD New IB&C Blog Hop

2011-09-10T13:00:00.027+10:00

Wow what an exciting time it has been here in Australia, on 1st September the new Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalogue went live. No one loves a new catalogue more than my fellow Stampin' Up! Demonstrators, and those of us at ESAD have put together a Blog Hop to share some of our favourites with you. What is ESAD?

ESAD stands for "Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators" and it is an on-line group just for Australian and New Zealand Stmapin' Up! Demonstrators. We so love what we do, and not only do we love to share it with our customers, friends, and wonderful blog visitors, but we share our love for what we do with each other as demonstrators. We run swaps, challenges, tutorials, product know-how and cyber-stamps, and we are always there to help and support each other when it is needed. So if you are a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand, then please feel free to leave me a message and I will invite you to our Facebook group.

You might have started here at my blog, or come from Sharlene's blog Magpie Creates, it doesn't really matter to play along all you need to do is follow the link at the end of each blog and it will hop you right on over to the next blog in the circle.

Now onto the projects I have to show you, for this hop I have done 4 items. The first one is a card using the Flower Fest stamp set and I managed to use 4 of the 5 new In-Colours on this card! Now if you have visited my blog before you might know that I am someone who loves stamps that have matching punches, well Flower Fest is one such set, of the eight stamps in the set, five of them have matching punches, how cool is that. For this card I used the leaves on the background, then layered the largest flower in alternating Calypso Coral and Wisteria Wonder. I finished them off with the new (and I have to say stunning) Designer Printed Brads that match the new In-Colours. The sentiment is from "It's Your Day" which is a set of two sentiments that are easy to miss because they are found with the Simply Sent kits on page 136 of the Catalogue.

This next little project is a straight copy of one that I saw on Angie Kennedy Juda's blog Chic n Scratch. I love her blog and having just this morning bought my first ever Hershey Nuggets just had to give this a go. For my American visitors, Hershey Nuggets are not easily available in Australia, however Cost Co have just opened up a store where I live and they stock them, I had to buy almost 1.5kg of them, but I am sure I will find so many projects for them now! I made the belly band for the nugget from Island Indigo and topped it with one of the flowers from the Language of Friendship (another set that matches our punches!!) and used the largest flower on the Boho Blossoms Punch then water coloured it with Calypso Coral. The little nugget fits perfectly into the tiny purse, so very cute.

This next project is another one I got from Angie over at Chic n Scratch, she had made her's for Halloween, however I changed it up a bit and will use this as a special little thank you gift. It is made from two of the tags from the new Big Shot Die "Two Tags". This one holds a Stampin' Spot, and it was an accident that I picked up my Taken with Teal from my old set of Spots! Doesn't it match well?? Those who were sad to see Take With Teal retire, will be very happy with this new In-Colour as it is quite similar. I have used the new Designer Frames Embossing Folder to get the frame image on my Lucky Limeade card stock, and then stamped an image from yet another punch friendly set, Tagtastic. Tagtastic is one of the exclusive hostess sets available this catalogue. I have emphasised the little flowers with my Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Write Marker to tie it in with the double piece of Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding. I absolutely love how these three colours look together.

My final project was going to be another card, but for some reason my mojo just would not go in the 2D direction! I wanted to show you another use for the Two Tags die, so went searching for inspiration. This cute little 3D Post-It Note holder fit the bill nicely. The idea came from Holly Stampin Mania, I have made mine more simple and used the Four Frames stamp set - yes there is a theme here with stamps and matching punches - this stamp set has four beautiful frames that all go with the Designer Label punch and look amazing. I paired the Wisteria Wonder with Concord Crush and a touch of Lucky Limeade for the leaves. Isn't it great that In-Colours last for 2 years now??? We get to keep last years colours for another 12 months.

I hope you have enjoyed my creations, I certainly had a great time making them, and will continue to post up lots of projects with the new products, so be sure to stop by from time to time and see what I have been up to.

We will be offering Blog Candy on this Blog Hop. It is easy to get into the draw, simply leave a comment on each blog then email Sharlene and a winner will be drawn. Sorry but only residents of Australia and New Zealand are eligible for the Blog Candy and one winner from each country will be drawn. If you are a visitor from overseas we would love to hear your comments too :)

Now it's time to hop on over to Juliette Chapman's blog Jules Krafty Krafts and see her wonderful items.

Happy Stamping

Friday Mash Up #22

2011-09-07T22:17:00.000+10:00

Just a quick post tonight as I am soooo tired. I had made a card on Saturday but just couldn't seem to get myself organised to post it up! So a bit of a rushed post to make sure I get it submitted in time.

This week's Friday Mash Up was to make a Gate Fold Card and/or use numbers on the card. Well for me it was an easy decision not to do the mash up, as I realised I had no numbered stamps, or chipboard or anything really! So straight into a Father's Day card for my husband. I wanted to use his favourite colour Red, and because Cherry Cobbler goes so well with Not Quite Navy I chose that as my second colour. Quite by accident ... I mean completely on purpose ... I discovered that by sanding the card stock it gives it a faux suede look and feel. I embossed the Father's Day sentiment from the now retired Well Scripted set onto the side panels to give them some texture, and then used the same stamp as the feature on the gate. I was happy with the result and think the antique brad sets it off nicely. Hubby seemed pleased!

Happy Stamping

Sailing Away

2011-08-28T19:17:00.000+10:00

I was inspired by a few challenges today, and for this project it was easy to combine three of them in one. Friday Mash Up this week challenged to use dry embossing with a sketch challenge; Crazy for Challenges had a male themed challenge; and Our Creative Corner's challenge this week was to use Real Red, Basic Gray and Basic Black.

I have made this card for my dad for Father's Day this weekend, the choice of stamp was so easy. Why? Because when I was just 2 years old my parents bought a yacht called "Spindrift" and it became my home for the next 5 years, even after that we used to go sailing for holidays, sometimes long holidays and I would have to do correspondence school. It was only a few years ago that my parents made the decision to sell her, and while she is no longer part of our life, the sea and ocean definitely is. The colour challenge this week just seemed perfect for a masculine card, and of course, the sketch gave me the inspiration I needed. I have sneakily added the dry embossing in the form of the crimped DSP.

Stamps: Sail Away, Whimsical Words
Paper: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Real Red, Neutrals DSP Stack
Ink: Basic Black, Basic Gray and Real Red
Technique: I used the scallop circle punch to make a template for the clouds in the sky and sponged them with a combination of Real Red and Basic Gray.

Happy Stamping

More Challenges!!!

2011-08-20T21:26:00.001+10:00

I like it when I sit down, pick a colour challenge, a sketch and a theme challenge or two, and then everything else just falls into place. Well that is what happened making this card. The challenges were Scrapmaster's Paridise Colour Combo Challenge, Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge, Friday Mash Up, and Hand Stamped Sentiments. Had I set out to make 4 challenges in one card I think I would have struggled, I knew I wanted to do a card for each of these at some point this weekend. Isn't it funny how sometimes things just "work"? A sure sign the mojo is back.

I didn't realise how soft and pretty the colours in the colour challenge would look together, I wanted to layer the card stock and DSP to make them stand out from each other a little bit. When I did I realised how much they reminded me of a quilt, perhaps it was my visit to the Craft and Quilt Expo last weekend that made me have quilts on my mind. I also had in mind the HSS faux stitching challenge in the back of my mind, and it all just fit together nicely. I even wanted to give an applique look to the cup cake, the button also adds to the general quilty theme.

Paper: Pink Pirouette and Baja Breeze DSP, Wisteria Wonder, Baja Breeze, Pink Pirouette and Whisper White Card
Ink: Silver Pen
Tools: 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, Circle Scissor, Itty Bitty Shape Punch, Build a Cup Cake Punch, Mat Pack and Paper Piercer.
Special Touches: Silver Pen, Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon and Bitty Buttons.

Happy Stamping

On A Roll

2011-08-20T10:29:00.000+10:00

Having been out of mojo for a little while now I am pleased that I have created another card for a double challenge entry. This one is for Just Add Ink colour challenge and Pals Paper Arts sketch challenge.

I used to absolutely love these earthy tones when I first started with Stampin' Up! but lately for some reason they have found themselves on my barely used pile! Even when I did use them I tended to team them up with my old favourite Old Olive, so I was excited to try them with Bashful Blue instead. I think the lighter blue really gives them a lift. These colours together remind me of the poem "My Country" by Dorothea Mackellar I think it is mental images of the blue of our Australian skies paired with the red dust of our outback. Even the picture that is with the poem in that link has these colours in it!!

Stamps: Button Buddies, Perfect Punches

Paper: Cajun Craze, Bashful Blue and Very Vanilla Card Stock

Ink: Cajun Craze, Peach Parfait, Bashful Blue

Tools: , Scallop Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch

Special Touches: Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Champaigne Shimmer Mist, Dazzling Diamonds, Crystal Effects

Happy Stamping

Creative Colour Sketch

2011-08-19T20:53:00.001+10:00

I was looking around at my favourite challenge blogs, as I often do on a Friday, and found two that I thought would go well together. Colour Q colour challenge and Stampin' Royalty sketch challenge.

I have to say I loved the look of the colour combo but struggled a bit with putting it together myself, but decided to stick at it and I am very pleased I did. I have to say that the sketch really helped me keep focus, I initially had the Soft Suede as the base card, but with using wrapped bakers twine I needed to add a layer, I think the Island Indigo as the base gives the card a lift, and ties the colours together. I am LOVING the new In-Colours, I have only used two of the five on this card and can't wait to share the other three with you.

Happy Stamping

2 Mash Ups And A Sketch

2011-08-14T15:38:00.001+10:00

I have been trying to play along each week with the Friday Mash Up Challenges, partly because they chose me as a guest designer in May this year, but mostly because I really do enjoy them. Last week was no exception, and I struggled a bit with it, but I forgot to post a picture and enter it! One of the reasons was because I was hiding it from my husband, it is our 20th wedding anniversary at the end of the month so this challenge came at a great time! Anyway here is the card, better late than never, and shhhh don't tell him what it looks like :)

Now onto this week ...

This week the challenge was set by one of my favourite stampers and my friend Kasey! Now if you know Kasey you only had to look at the challenge to know she was involved ... Butterflies and Bling! and blues and purples!!!!!

Because Kasey set the challenge I just knew I wanted to do the mash up and I knew I wanted to use one of these butterflies on the card. The only tricky thing was then choosing a layout, so off I went in search of inspiration and I found the sketch challenge at Just Add Ink! Now this challenge was set by the lovely and talented Bronwyn Eastley, who I always think of when I see this particular butterfly die used because she has made the most beautiful easel cards with it (I sometimes thing of her as Bronwyn Easeley!). I also took inspiration from a card Kasey had made in the past, not sucking up at all, lol.

I love the technique of layering the butterflies, we were shown at convention by Kirsty Brown, check out her blog for details, but basically you cut the big butterfly then re-position it to cut the next layer out and then add the smallest butterfly. She also used the bleach to card stock method which I have used here (a sneaky way of getting an extra colour into a colour challenge lol).

Here is a quick peek inside the card. I used a masking technique so that stamps and sponging didn't get onto the area I want to write on. I used the sentiment from Butterfly Prints as the font and words just seemed to fit well. When I was finished I sat back and looked at my creation and it made me think of Kasey, so I figured I had done her challenge justice.

Please pop over to both Friday Mash Up and Just Add Ink to see the lovely creations by design teams and by the other entrants.

Happy Stamping

ESAD Retired List Blog Hop

2011-08-06T13:00:00.009+10:00

Welcome to the ESAD Retiring Products Blog Hop, whether you have arrived from Sherylee Tutt's Stampin' Up! Blog or are starting out here, please enjoy this blog hop by following the links at the bottom of each post.

This is a very exciting time of year for Stampin' Up! as the release of the new Idea Book & Catalogue is just around the corner, and to clear room for some amazing new products a number of products in the current IB&C are retired. This is a bitter sweet time as often we have to say good bye to some old favourites for ever - Yes forever. Once they are gone they are gone :-( I know there are a few sets going this year that I will really miss. A number of us over at ESAD wanted to do a blog hop as a chance to showcase some of these retiring items before they are gone for good. If you would like to order any make sure you get in quick as once they are sold out they won't be restocking.

What is ESAD?

ESAD stands for "Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators" and it is an on-line group just for Australian and New Zealand Stampin' Up! demonstrators.

We so love what we do and not only do we love to share it with our customers, friends, and wonderful blog visitors, but we share our love for what we do with each other as demonstrators. We run swaps, challenges, tutorials, product know-how, and cyberstamps, and we are always there to help and support each other when it is needed.

So if you are a Stampin' Up! demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand, then please fee free to click here to join our wonderful group

I chose to base my blog entry around Eastern Blooms, this was one of the stamps I got in my starter kit when I joined up as a demonstrator, and I have to say it was my favourite set for a long time. I did a card similar to this when I first got the set, so thought I would do a farewell version now. I chose Pretty in Pink, Early Espresso and Regal Rose as my base colours, I just love how the pinks go so well with the Espresso. I used a rock n roll technique on the big flowers, with the small ones on the background I inked up the stamp on the stamp pad and then coloured the centre of the flowers with my Stampin' Write Marker. The sentiment is from Basic Phrases, another set I got in my starter kit, and another that is retiring at the end of the month. I also used a couple of 5/8" Jumbo Brads in the centre of the main flowers (but they aren't retiring thank goodness!).

For this next card I was inspired to team Eastern Blooms with the Elegant Soiree DSP, making a feature panel from stamps in the set and then stamping the main flower in VersaMark and then embossing with Gold Embossing Powder straight onto Soft Suede card stock. 3/8" Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon gives it a more feminine feel and this ribbon, along with many others, is also on the retiring products list. Again the sentiment is done using Basic Phrases.

My final card was a bit of a fun one to do, I started off with a concept in my head but then it took on a life of it's own as I kept finding more retiring products to use on this card! Firstly the Designer Label Punch is about to leave us, this one has always reminded me of trains - I am not sure if the shape of it reminds me of the front of a train or the station signs across London!!! I have stamped the small flowers and punched them out with the 1" Circle Punch (not retiring), I used small metal eyelets (retiring) to attach them to the punch out shapes. I wanted a band of colour along the bottom so used the 5/8" Certainly Celery Grosgrain ribbon (retiring) over a strip of Soft Suede. Another retiring product is the Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware, now 40% off, and I have used this to frame the sentiment from the Great Friends set, which is another favourite of mine and also retiring. To tie in the Certainly Celery I stamped over the sentiment with the large stamp in the Fresh Cuts retiring stamp set, this is easier to see if you enlarge the picture of the card.

I hope you have enjoyed my creations as much as I did making them. From here visit Juliette Chapman's Blog - Jules Krafti Krafts - to see what she has created. Don't forget to leave some comments as you pop around visiting the blogs, we all love to hear what you think of our creations.

Just in case there are any missing posts, or issues with links here is a list of all the participants.

1. Keryn Campbell – http://www.kerynscards.blogspot.com/

2. Michelle Martin – http://www.ministamper.com/

3. Richelle Fletcher – http://www.stampingwithrichelle.blogspot.com/

4. Sharlene Meyer – http://www.magpiecreates.com/

5. Karen Southwell – http://kareniescrafts.blogspot.com/

6. Carole Stedman – http://www.carolestamping.com/

7. Sherylee Tutt – http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/sherylee/blog

8. Monique Fielder – http://stamping-with-moni-q.blogspot.com/

9. Juliette Chapman – http://www.juleskraftikrafts.blogspot.com/

10. Rebecca Scurr – http://www.stampinwithrebecca.wordpress.com/

11. Yvonne Walker – http://www.yvonnescreativecorner.blogspot.com/

12. Karen Rogers – http://www.karenstampz.co.nz/

13. Dani Fender – http://www.danifender.blogspot.com/

14. Cathy Clark – http://www.cathyclark.com.au/

15. Tanya Bell – http://www.stampingt.com.au/

16. Kelly Nelson – http://www.kellysstampinspot.wordpress.com/

17. Sharlene Torres – http://www.stampwithsharlene.com/

18. Kari Hughes – http://www.karigail.wordpress.com/

19. Mel Sharp – http://www.astampaddiction.blogspot.com/

20. Christie Kunkel – http://www.christiescreativecorner.blogspot.com/

21. Debbie Lamb – http://debstampinstyle.blogspot.com/

22. Clare McIlhatton – http://www.crafty-cow.com/

23. Michelle Halling – http://michellehcreations.blogspot.com/

24. Nicole VanSteelandt Derendorf –

http://www.stampingdownunder.wordpress.com/

25. Elizabeth Dyson - http://www.libbystampz.blogspot.com/

26. Joanne Kechagias – http://www.joannekechagias.blogspot.com/

Happy Stamping

Fan Fav at the Friday Mash Up ...

2011-08-02T09:00:00.005+10:00

On a weekend full of challenges it would not feel right to skip the Friday Mash Up Challenge, especially this week as it is the first Fan Favourite. A little congratulations to Teresa Kline for her mash up being chosen.

The challenge this week is to ...

Create a "hand made flower or flowers" on your project
Create a project using "turquoise, red and black"
Or Mash It Up and create a project with hand made flowers that uses red, turquoise and black.

My project for this week is a side step card inspired by Marion Benfield who is a fellow Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. One of the things I love about being a demonstrator is the support and inspiration I get from other demonstrators, it really is a great community. While her original card is stunning I immediately knew I wanted to CASE it using a side step layout, and super perfect that it has a hand made flower! I used a Basic Black circle as a background for the flower to make it "pop".

Here is Marion's original card ...

Card by Marion Benfield

Don't forget to pop over to Friday Mash Up and leave some comments for the design team and other creators. I too love to hear what you think of my creations.

Happy Stamping

Another Challenge ..

2011-07-31T19:32:00.001+10:00

It seems that this week is Challenge Week for me - both in my creativity and my non-creative life. I have been taken with a few challenges this week, as well as the challenge of returning to work after holidays, and returning to diet after two weeks of my mum's cooking!!!

The card challenges that I worked on for this card come from Less Is More and Stamping 411. I don't often join in the less is more, because I have a habit of filling up the card and not leaving enough blank space, but the 411 sketch challenge gave me a layout that had a fair bit of space.

The Less Is More challenge was to add something fruity, because I don't have any fruity stamps, I immediately thought of this strawberry made from the Heart Embosslit Die, the 5-petal flower, 2-step bird and boho blossoms punches. The idea came from Denise Willerton who was a featured artist on Stamping 411, there is a link to the tutorial on that site. I chose Real Red, Pear Pizzazz and Aways Artichoke as the colours on the card. The centres of the three flowers are little brads, which give some dimension to them.

Happy Stamping

A Touch of Old and New

2011-07-29T17:17:00.001+10:00

I can't believe it has been a week since I got home from my holiday in QLD, and that I have only made one card since coming home! It prompted me to go searching for inspiration and I found a couple, well three, challenges that took my fancy.

Mojo Monday, Colour Throw Down, and Hand Stamped Sentiments. There were a couple of others that caught my eye, but you can only fit so much onto one card! Don't forget to pop over and check out what all the design teams have come up with to inspire us.

With the new Idea Book & Catalogue just around the corner the current hostess sets will be retiring so I thought I would take this opportunity to give them another inking up before saying good bye. I wasn't sure if there was too much pink, but I think the Soft Suede breaks it up sufficiently. The flourish is from the Creative Elements stamp and I think it works well on the back panel. I know a few birthday girls at the moment, now I just have to pick who to send this to!

Happy Stamping

At Thing of Beauty ...

2011-07-27T21:18:00.000+10:00

Can you imagine my surprise when I found out that my lovely up-line and friend Kasey awarded my blog "A Thing of Beauty Award"!!! Perhaps you have to understand how wonderful her creations are to fully appreciate it, so please pop over and check out her wonderful creations.

As part of receiving this award I have to do two things. The first is to tell you five things about myself, and the other is to share this award with five blogs that I find inspiring. First things first ... Things you might not know about me ...

I love to cook
I am currently trying to lose almost 30kg (doesn't always go well with the love of cooking!!!)
My favourite colour is purple
I love to read
I spent a number of my childhood years living on a yacht, cruising up and down the QLD coast.

Onto the super fun part of the award, the part where I get to pass it on to 5 fellow bloggers. These ladies have blogs that I frequently visit, in fact I have them on "follow" so I don't miss any of their up dates!

Shirley ~ Stamping Elephants
Deb ~ Deb Fearns, Stampin' Up! Independent Demonstrator
Andrea ~ Enchantink
Sandra ~ Sandra's Stamping Spot
Leonie ~ Stamp a Latte

I would like to give these ladies a special "thank you" for all of your constant inspiration. Please pop by and see their lovely blogs and wonderful creations.

Happy Stamping

Challenge Time ...

2011-07-23T09:45:00.002+10:00

Well I am back home from a lovely visit to my family in Central Queensland, sooooo much warmer up there than here, will be warmer still when we go up in January for my brother's wedding!!!!! No stamping or creating for 2 weeks meant I came home and had itchy fingers so got straight into creating.

Now you know by now I love The Friday Mashup Challenges, and this week is no exception, but I didn't do the full mashup. The theme this week was a colour challenge and a birthday challenge, I just couldn't get my head around the colours for the birthday card I wanted to use so also headed over to The Colour Throwdown which was to use a rainbow of colours. I also took inspiration from Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge and came up with this little card.

Not my 'usual' style but I was in an experimental mood! I liked the layout and as soon as I saw it I thought of the Party Hearty stamp "celebrate you" which I stamped in Pacific Point, cut out with the scallop circle punch and layered on another scallop circle cut from Pumpkin Pie. The centre I also layered with Daffodil Delight and a little present stamp from the same set, which I added some bling with Dazzling Diamonds.

Using the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig I split the row of cakes from Birthday Bakery Hostess set so they would fit into the layout better. I used some of the Pacific Point DSP from the Brights Patterns Stack to add some extra colour and then spent some time deciding on what to do for the background. I was so happy when the idea to use News Print DSP came to me, I had overlooked it initially as black and vanilla DSP doesn't really lift a rainbow themed card!!! But then it struck me that I could sponge colour over the DSP to give it the boost I needed - what do you think? I was really happy, randomly sponging on Pacific Point, Real Red, and Daffodil Delight.

Don't forget to pop over to the Challenge Blogs to see what their design teams have come up with as well as the participants in each challenge.

Happy Stamping

The Last Three

2011-07-20T09:00:00.001+10:00

For these last three I have again used a similar layout...

These cute little butterflies are just perfect for cutting out and adding with a Dimensional. I am just loving Melon Mambo paired with Not Quite Navy! I would not have paired these together under normal circumstances, I think I found them because I had some scraps on my desk from the other cards I was making. I think they make a really stunning combo.

I added a little button onto the centre of the flower, what do you think? I wasn't quite sure initially but am happy with it now I have had time to get used to it! I wanted the "belly band" to be a bit different on this one so layered the Pear Pizzazz under the Crochet Trim.

Being inspired by the previous card I again wanted the band to be something special so stamped the flourish onto Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon. This is the first time I have tried stamping onto ribbon, and I was so pleased that the ink didn't bleed!

So that is the end of the cards made for mum, I hope you have liked them, leave me a comment and let me know what you think. I really do love this set and have really loved creating these for mum, I hope she loves them too.

Happy Stamping

Yet More Cards for Mum

2011-07-18T09:00:00.002+10:00

I hope you are liking the cards I made for my mum's birthday gift. Here are a couple more, again same layout just in different colours ...

For this one I wanted the flower to be present but part of the background and used Melon Mambo on the butterfly so it would be the focal point of the card. The flourish has been coloured to match rather than left as a line image, I just love that it is so flexible.

Not Quite Navy is the focal colour on this card, and for this one I cut out the flower instead of stamping directly onto the card.

There are another couple of cards to go so pop back in a couple of days and check them out.

Happy Stamping

Three More Cards for Mum

2011-07-16T09:00:00.005+10:00

Here is the next installment of cards in the set I made for my mum. I kept to a similar layout for these so thought I would share them at the same time.

This one is a little different, I used Peach Parfait and Melon Mambo using the rock n roll technique on the flower on the main part of the card, and also a masking technique. The other is stamped in Cajun Craze onto Peach Parfait cardstock and sponged with both colours, then cut out and put on the card with Dimensionals.

On this card I wanted to bring in the Not Quite Navy, I stamped the decorative strip all the way across on this one using the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to line them up nice and straight. I like the soft subtle Blushing Bride on this, both in the images on the base of the card, and as the base of the cut out flower, stamped with Melon Mambo.

This was actually one of the first cards I made for this set! I masked some of the flowers on the base of the card, and used my Stampin' Pastels on the flower. I have to say I am loving the subtle effect of the pastels, they allow me to add soft colour just where I want it.

Happy Stamping

Mum's Birthday Gift

2011-07-14T09:00:00.021+10:00

This week is my mum's birthday and I am lucky enough to be able to travel up to see her. In fact I am writing this post the night before I leave, and will schedule it for her birthday just in case she peeks at my blog I don't want to spoil the surprise!

Because I am traveling up to see her, I know she would not want me to spend any money on a gift, and I know she loves getting hand made items. Luckily I make cards!!!! I decided to make her a set of cards in a box so that she can use them for special occasions that come up. The base of the box is quite sturdy being made from the backing sheet that comes with the DSP, I used a technique learned at Convention, you get some glad wrap all bunched up and dipped into Platinum Shimmer Paint and dab it all over the card stock. When it dries you sponge your chosen colours over the top and it gives a great look. I will be posting a picture of another card made with this technique soon.

I have kept the sentiments separate so that she can choose herself which card to give for which occasion, I do so hope she likes them. Because there are a few cards, and I am away for a couple of weeks I will schedule them over the course of the next week so keep popping back.

This is the first of the cards in the cute little box. Having had so much fun recently playing with Creative Elements I just had to use it on this set also. Here I have matched Not Quite Navy with Peach Parfait and Pear Pizzazz. On this card I have put a sentiment, but it is easily covered by one of the little ones in the bag.

Happy Stamping

A Special Gift

2011-07-12T09:00:00.004+10:00

Recently we had a lovely lady join our team for 3 weeks placement for her prac for her University study, and what do you know but she loves Stampin' Up! Do you remember that desk set I made for work? Well she recognised it and from there the conversation just flowed! I was so touched when she made me a special thank you gift, and just had to share it with you all.

Made for me by Nicole

Part of our chatting involved me telling Nicole how much I loved the Baroque Motifs stamp set, so imagine how special it was when she used it to decorate my gift. I love this little box and am going to have to try one myself in the near future. She also used one of my favourite colours Rich Razzleberry.

So thank you very much Nicole, it really was a special gift.

Happy Stamping

Christmas in July Class

2011-07-10T21:51:00.000+10:00

Last weekend I held my first stamping class, I have thought about doing classes for a while, and the theme of Christmas in July was enough to get me organised. I had a lovely group of ladies come over and everyone seemed to have a great afternoon. It went so well I will be planning more for the future! I wanted to use Delightful Decorations and the Ornament Punch as the featured products for this, the goal was to show the ladies a variety of uses for a single set and punch. I also used a couple of Big Shot products and Four the Holidays stamp set, a great set with four Christmas sentiments, all in different fonts.

This is the first card we made, it is inspired by a swap I received at Canberra Regionals last year, but sadly I seem to have misplaced the original in all the mess on my desk so can't give credit to the designer. If it's yours please let me know and will update the post. I like this especially because it uses up that little bit of card stock that is left over from the leaves die when you put it through the Big Shot - I just love things like this. I spritzed the Cherry Cobbler to give it some sparkle, and after adhering the Old Olive piece to it rubbed the edges with the Adhesive Remover which took the sparkle off the edges. It doesn't get rid of it all but it does a pretty good job.

This is the second card we made, it's basic layout was from one I did last year with the Reindeer stamp, and converted for this project. I used 3 punch outs of DSP, folded them in half and adhered them together. The great thing about this is that it will lie flat to go through the post. The panel I spritzed with Shimmer Mist and then put through the Big Shot using an embossing folder to give it texture.

Finally there was this one, another CASE from Regionals Swaps, this time I didn't lose the original, so thank you to Maggie-Anne Coffison for this one. I love the simplicity of this layout, you can bling it up with Rhinestones like I have here, use stamps or DSP for the ornaments.

Happy Stamping

Last Minute Mashup!

2011-07-07T23:14:00.000+10:00

I don't know where time has gone these days, but somehow we are in July, half of 2011 has slipped by and it's been ages since I made a post! Today when I got home I had a quick look at The Friday Mashup! and discovered I still had time to do a quick entry.

The theme this week was Red, White and Blue, Patriotic. Now while we Aussies are patriotic it is not usually with the Red White and Blue theme, more Green and Yellow, or Green and Gold as we like to call it. So this week for the first time ever, I am not doing the whole mashup challenge!!!

I have been wanting to ink up the Button Buddies set ever since Shelli announced at Convention that we were all going to be lucky enough to take it home. You should have heard the roar around the convention hall. Each of the stamps works well on it's own, but even better with one of the Stampin' Up! buttons as a feature. In this card I have used the flower stamp and done both red (cherry cobbler) and blue (night of navy) flowers, with a contrasting button in the middle flower. The two outside flowers I left plain to show off their centres which I highlighted with some sponging.

I hope you have enjoyed this creation. I hope to get a couple more done over the weekend, but I am heading off to visit my family for a couple of weeks so won't be doing stamping, and it is possible you won't hear from me again until I return.

Happy Stamping

Crafter's Technique Class

2011-06-23T21:17:00.000+10:00

Just a quick post tonight, as I have just finished an on-line class on Crafters Anonymous - and I wanted to prove I can use a different stamp!!! Tonight was a technique class, and we learned the Magic Ink technique.

I used a combination of Regal Rose and Daffodil Delight on this card. After embossing the butterflies onto glossy white cardstock, using white embossing powder, I used re-inkers on an alcohol soaked cotton ball to make the background, dabbing it all over the cardstock. I also used the re-inker to colour a piece of white gross grain ribbon to match, although it has come out a little darker than planned.

Happy Stamping

Convention Make n Take - Scrapbook Page

2011-06-23T09:00:00.001+10:00

As you might know I am not much of a scrapbooker any more, not for a good number of years now. However one of the make n takes we did at Stampin' Up! Convention was a scrapbook page, and I found a picture that I thought went with the colours of the page.

I really liked the layout of this page, the half scallop circle, the layering of the stamped image behind the circle. Can you spot the new stamp in the Creative Elements set that has been used on this page? It's been stamped onto the Old Olive banner at the bottom of the page. If you look really closely you will spot another two sneak peek products on this page. The first is the ribbon, it is a Crumb Cake Seam Binding, it is a nice soft product that will be great for making beautiful bows and ruffles on cards and projects. The other is the little bit of Not Quite Navy peeking out from under the Old Olive banner, this is cut from the Polka Dot Ribbon Punch, it is so cute, punching a strip of "ribbon" with matching scallop edges and a hole punched out of each scallop. Quite a bit smaller than our current scallop border punch, it is certainly on my wish list.

Happy Stamping

Even More Creative Elements

2011-06-22T09:00:00.002+10:00

Please let me know if you are getting sick of this set and I will try to post something different, I am just having such a good time playing with it! This card I made for my ESAD Secret Sister, Jenn Roberts, I ~~blame~~ give credit to Jenn for making me see how great a colour Baja Breeze truly is, so it was only fitting to make the card in these colours for her.

This is another CASE of the cards on the display boards at Convention, again this time I have made a couple of adjustments, adding the gold embossing to the flourish before punching out with the decorative label punch. I also ran the VersaMark pen around the edge of the butterfly and embossed in gold - I didn't shake off all the embossing powder on purpose to give the wings a gold speckling. You might need to click on the picture to zoom in to see it properly. The flourish you can see each side of the punch out is another stamp from the set, you can see both ends of it here - in the centre is a space for putting a sentiment. I just love how well it fits each side of the decorative label punch.

I like the simple yet effective edging on the card, simply punch a border using the scallop border punch and curl up the edges to give some depth. I also sponged them to add some extra definition.

I really hope you are not tired of this set yet, I have a couple more projects to share with you, and one in mind to show off that flourish frame a bit better. I also want to post up a couple of the make n takes we did at Convention also.

Happy Stamping

More Creative Elements ...

2011-06-20T09:00:00.003+10:00

Anyone would think I like this stamp set!!! Well I do, and best of all I haven't even shown you all the stamps in the set yet! Creative Elements will be available in the next Idea Book & Catalogue which for us Aussie and New Zealanders comes out on 1st September, which the way this year is going, is not that far away.

For this card I used a Baja Breeze base card with some Peach Parfait scalloped edge peeping out the bottom. I have used a masking technique on this one to create a sense of layering of the images. The secret with this is to stamp the top image first and then work backward. I have also used the Itty Bitty Button and matching punch to create an embellishment, I love that these little buttons are clear so you can match them to any project just by punching out a coordinating colour and layering it underneath. Best of all they are still available to purchase in the Cary Over List right up until 31st August. The Crochet Trim is also an item from the last mini catalogue that is carrying over and still available, here I have used something we were shown at Convention to coordinate it with my card. You cut a very fine strip of card stock and thread it through the edges of the crochet trim - you may need to enlarge the picture by clicking on it to get a better look.

I hope you are enjoying my sneak peeks, I have certainly had fun making them

Happy Stamping

Fan Favourite At Friday Mashup

2011-06-18T21:16:00.001+10:00

This month at Friday Mashup not only do they have great challenges, but they are also calling for a fans of the site to come up with a mashup theme. How exciting. I had a long hard think about this one and finally came up with this one.

My Mashup Challenge, would be to:

1. Create a project with a Friend theme.
2. Create a project using a Faux technique.
3. Or "Mash it Up!" and create a Friend themed project that uses a Faux technique!

A great place to start for faux techniques is over at Split Coast Stampers.

I am glad to be back on track and have a chance to have my challenge picked.

Happy Stamping

Challenges Past & Present ...

2011-06-18T20:29:00.001+10:00

I have actually missed the last two Friday Mashups! Having been a Guest Designer for May I feel quite bad that I didn't get to put in an entry for the last two Mashups, especially since I had actually made a project for one of them!!! Luckily I am back on track. I thought I would still share with you the one I missed, and then the current one. The one I missed was the Colourful Kids Challenge ...

I have to say I am cranky at myself for not getting this posted in time - it was a bit of a struggle for me to complete the project having found I don't have any "kid" stamps and these are just not my usual colours! However I did get the project done in time but was waiting for some sunny weather to take a decent picture, and here in Canberra in winter that is not such an easy thing. At least I can now take pics at night with my new natural light lamp! Anyway onto my attempt ... not a card this time but rather a little decorated dvd box. I hope we get these empty cases in our next Idea Book & Catalogue here in Australia, they are so great.

This is the outside of the case. I used the Colour Collections Stack of dsp and made the binding with the Daffodil Delight. The little owl was just too cute not to put on the front of this one. The idea of the parachute was from a Secret Santa gift I received last year, and I think it just looks really adorable. My daughter however took one look and said "why would an owl need a parachute? Owls have wings!"

Inside the case I put a matching decorated notebook and two matching mini gel pens. My plan for this was to give it to my sister to keep in her hand bag for those times when they are out shopping and my adorable little niece is being not so adorable! I am thinking of doing up one for my own handbag to keep a notebook and pen handy and neat and tidy.

Now onto this week's challenge

The challenge this week was to

Create a Summer Theme Project
Create a project using Polka Dots
Or Mash It Up and create a Summer Themed Project using Polka Dots

I decided, as usual to go for the Mashup. I picked nice summery colours Melon Mambo and Peach Parfait and used the Eastern Blooms set to make the feature flowers and to make the matching background paper. The sentiment is from the Short & Sweet stamp set, I love this little set, great little sentiments that go with so many projects, and fit inside the word window punch (not used here). The polka dots are a bit of a stretch but if you look closely at the centre of each flower you will see that they are covered in polka dots!

I am also entering this card in the Stamping 411 sketch challenge this week.

Pop over to both sites and see what others have done with these challenges, let them know what you think when you visit their blogs. I love comments too so please let me know what you think of my creations.

Happy Stamping

Another Convention CASE

2011-06-18T09:00:00.001+10:00

I wanted to show off another CASE from the display boards at Convention. This one again uses the Creative Elements set, and isn't the butterfly just to die for? I liked the simplicity of this card when I first saw it on the display board, and it is one that I think I will do again with different colour combinations.

This card uses Melon Mambo and Peach Parfait card stock and ink with the addition of Marina Mist ink for the third butterfly. So bright and cheery, just what I need in this cold weather we have been having of late. I might well use these colours in this weeks Friday Mashup challenge ... you will just have to pop back over the weekend and see what I have come up with. Keep an eye out also for some of my other creations with this great set.

Happy Stamping

One CASE Two Colours

2011-06-16T09:00:00.001+10:00

Hi again. Today I wanted to share with you two cards I made which were CASEd off the display boards at Convention. I find when mojo is running low CASEing is a good way to get back on track. CASE of course stands for Copy And Share Everything, of course making sure to give the original artist the credit for the idea. Now because these were on the display board I can't say who the original designer was I am assuming someone from Head Office.

This is the one that was a reasonably close CASE, although I changed the dimensions of the card from the original but kept the layout and colours. I used the Creative Elements set again, and the sentiment comes from another new set called "It's Your Day", a simple set with two sentiments. The flower I have stamped Melon Mambo onto Blushing Bride and cut out in layers and adhered with a glue dot, then a pearl in the centre to finish it off. If you look closely you will see some of the flourish stamp have been coloured in subtly - for this I used the Stampin' Pastels to carefully add just a touch of colour. The flourish is yet another stamp in the Creative Elements set.

This is my second take on the card. This time I started by using the Stampin' Pastels just for some fun and then decided to pair that up with more earthy tones, Choc Chip, More Mustard and Soft Suede. I really like how the flower turned out on this one, and the layering gives nice dimension to the card. To cut a neat "V" in the sentiment attachment I used the square corner of my Tag Punch, it is a great way to get a neat end to these. The More Mustard is punched with the Scallop Border Punch and using the Paper Piercer to add the holes in each scallop.

Happy Stamping

Hope it's worth the wait

2011-06-14T09:00:00.003+10:00

Well it's been a while since I posted, I have had a bit of a lack of mojo of late, not sure why but I think the drought is over, or at least I have had some mojo rain! I want to share a couple of cards today, one by me and one by another lovely stamper.

First one is my online class project at Crafter's Anonymous this week. It was a two part class, first the easy part, we made the cute little box. Great size for cards or to store photos ready to scrapbook. Mine is currently empty but I hope to fill it up soon. I used Old Olive and stamped it with one of the stamps from Creative Elements, a beautiful set we got at Stampin' Up! Convention this year - it really is full of creative elements, 8 in all. I have used the flower and the "No. 3" from the set. The second part of the project was the bow on the band around the box. Now let me tell you it was no mean feat getting this right in an online class! So glad I persisted because I was really pleased with the outcome, and I will make more in the future.

The second card I wanted to post today arrived in the mail from Rebecca Tipace, she is another Stampin Up! Demonstrator who is on a RAK list with me. RAK stands for Random Acts of Kindness, we send each other cards and small things in the mail. It is so nice to open the letter box and get a nice surprise instead of just window envelopes. I love the way she has used the Cute By The Inch stamp and the matching punch to make the note and envelope. I love the colours and it was really nice to get this one.

I have a few more posts scheduled over the next week to showcase some more samples with the Creative Elements set, so stay tuned for a sneak peek - it will be available for purchase when the new Idea Book & Catalogue comes out in September.

Happy Stamping

Friday Mashup #8

2011-05-27T14:00:00.004+10:00

Well today is my last day of being a Guest Designer for The Friday Mashup, and I am a little sad. But I will keep playing along with the challenges so keep checking back each week to see what I come up with. Before I get onto that though just a quick update on Sharon, the amazing lady who has not only conquered breast cancer but made it her goal to conquer the highest point on the planet and climb to the top of Mt Everest ... she made it!!! You can read her account of that last push here.

Now onto this week's card challenge, you can join in by doing any one of the three options:

Make a card using Night of Navy, Pear Pizzazz and Pretty in Pink
Make a card using the sketch
Or mash it up and make a card using both the colour combo and the sketch

Again I have chosen to do the mashup of the challenges - Initially I looked at these colours and could not really picture them in my mind, so I took out my scrap card and lay them on the desk and just started to fiddle around with them. I decided the base of the card should be the Night of Navy and then it was just a matter of fitting the colours to the sketch. Wow what a sketch, there are a lot of elements on this one, and I was trying to work out what stamp would go nicely into the circle. I think it was a combination of standing in front of my stamp sets and thinking that the Pear Pizzaz would be a great colour for leaves, and BAM I saw the 5th Avenue Floral and decided that the big rose was close enough to a circle to count.

For the rose I stamped in Basic Black onto Pretty in Pink card stock, then when the ink was well dry I used the aqua painter with bleach and ran it around the edge of the petals which bleached the colour out of the card stock and gave it a nice accent. I had tried this technique previously, but like many others it had slipped to the back of my mind until it was demonstrated again at Convention. I think it really works for this card.

Please pop over to The Friday Mashup to check out the other cards the Design Team have come up with to inspire you this week. Check out the entries to the challenge too, and don't forget to leave a little comment to let the artists know what you think.

The great thing with the mashup is that you can pick and choose with the challenge, so don't be shy, give it a try and join in for some fun.

Happy Stamping

Friday Mash Up #7

2011-05-20T19:41:00.001+10:00

Well here I am back from my very first Stampin' Up! Convention, and have been a bit unwell so haven't been here to update my blog since then. I hope you liked my swaps and gifts for Convention, I did manage to trade all my swaps and now have a big box of some really great work - some I will feature here over the next few weeks. So much to tell from Convention, but for now I want to focus on this week's Friday Mashup.

This week it's all about Ribbons, and Pearls, and all things Girls! Now, I am not usually a "girly" card maker but one of the things that Shelli Gardener, founder of Stampin' Up!, spoke about at the Stampin' Up! Convention was a lady from Cairns, Sharon Cohrs, who had her own struggle with breast cancer and who had made some of these cards to raise awareness of this disease that affects so many women. Now Sharon is also a mountain climber and as part of her recovery she and her husband Alan plan to climb Mt Everest, and coincidentally is due to arrive at the peak in mid May (right about now). One of the things Shelli told us about this story was that when you climb Mt Everest and reach the peak it is traditional to bury something of meaning at the top. Sharon is planning on leaving one of these cards up there! That story really touched me in so many ways, but the thing I really take away is that no mountain is too high if you have the right determination. You can follow Sharon's journey via her facebook page. As of 19th May they had begun the final push up the mountain.

Having heard that story just last weekend it seemed just perfect to recreate one of these cards for hte Friday Mashup, what could be more girly than that. And of course it was easy to add ribbon and pearls! I got the template for this great card from Stamp Owl's Studio and was so happy with how it turned out. I think the crochet trim gives just the right lacey look to this card, who wouldn't want to own a cute little bra like this?

Now what is a cute bra without a matching pair of knickers? This is the back of the card and you might notice that the pieces that have been cut out for the legs are actually the pieces you use for the front of the bra! How clever is that design. I just love these, and might just be making a few more 'pairs'!

I would encourage you to join in over at the Friday Mashup, it really is a lot of fun and I am totally loveing my experience as a guest designer for May. Don't forget to pop over and see what the rest of the design team have come up with to inspire your creativity, and check out the other entries while you are there. Don't forget to leave a little message here or there to let the various artists know you like their work, we all love that little bit of encouragement.

Happy Stamping

My Other Convention Creations ...

2011-05-15T09:00:00.016+10:00

I wanted to make this post to show you some of the other things I made for special reasons this convention.

Firstly my room mate gifts, I will be sharing with two ladies who I have never met before except for chatting on-line, and wanted to make them a little something extra than the usual swaps. Now I know from our many chats that Leonie is a lover of coffee, so what could be more perfect than a decorated take-away coffee cup? I saw these in Office Works and just knew I had to bring them home and decorate them up! Each one is filled with coffee bags and favourites chocolates. I hope they liked them :)

These gifts are for special ladies who I have met through Stampin' Up! and each one holds a little charm made from the Hodge Podge, and each has the recipient's name on the back - great for popping on scissors, or even our convention bags. As I said these are gifts for the special ladies who have enriched my life in the past 15 months. I knew I would love the Stampin' Up! products, but no one ever told me I would make such good friends when I joined as a demonstrator! .

These last two are special birthday gifts, one for my room mate Libby, and one for the room mate of my other close friends, Sharon. It is amazing how many people have birthdays this convention, including one of the ladies coming over from head office in America! These little boxes are just the right size to fit a box of Guylian chocolates, and the scrunched flower on the boxes is detachable. Why? Because the ESAD ladies all agreed to wear one at Convention so we could easily find each other in the crowd, I have mounted each one onto a broach clip for convenience.

Keep watching my blog, I am going to be posting some of the photos from convention, including some of my favourite swaps.

Happy Stamping

My Convention Swaps ..... Part 3

2011-05-14T09:00:00.005+10:00

Final post while I am at Convention, my final swap for the event another masculine card, but this time with a slightly different feel ...

This one also uses Sail Away. I knew I wanted to use the Polished Stone technique to make the ocean for this card, the photo doesn't do justice to the technique. Polished Stone is achieved by putting some rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball, then dropping different colours of re-inker onto the ball. In this case I used Pacific Point and Tempting Turquoise, and then just a small amount of Platinum Shimmer Paint. Then you dab this onto your cardstock, Glossy cardstock works best as the ink doesn't immediately absorb and sort of blurs together. I found through trial and error and advice from others, if you use too much alcohol the colours dull a little. Cardstock is Basic Black and Pacific Point. I have used one of the Teeny Tiny Sentiments on this card, it would be very easy to change this to suit the occasion.

Happy Stamping

Friday Mashup #6

2011-05-13T14:00:00.007+10:00

It's mash-up time again with the new challenge from Friday Mash Up. This week the challenge is all about Monochromatic Man!

You can do one of three things for this

Make a card using a monochrome colour scheme - different shades of the same colour, or neutrals with one colour.
Make a masculine card
Mash the two together and make a masculine card using a monochromatic colour scheme

As usual I have done the Mash Up. This is a fancy fold card, we made one of these on the online class on Crafters Anonymous on Monday night and the inspiration struck me to use it for this week's challenge. I have used the lovely Sail Away stamp. You can see I have used water colouring in shades of blues for the water, highlighting the waves in different colours.

This is a side view of the fancy fold card, my up-line, and Design Team member also showed this to me when she last came to visit. I altered the dimensions of this slightly, just so that it would better fit with the Sail Away stamp. I hope you don't get sick of this one, as you will see it a bit on my blog over Convention weekend. If you have a look at my swaps both of them also fit the Monochromatic Man criteria!!!! What a fluke that was, I hope you can get some inspiration from one of these!

Don't forget to check out the rest of the Design Team's creations at The Friday Mashup and the other entries in this week's challenge. Don't forget to show a little love when you visit blogs, let them know how much you like their designs by leaving them a comment.

Happy Stamping