Valentine's Day cards & Roses and More Roses

Well I am back as promised to show you some Valentine's Day cards that I have been making for my local market stall. It is not that far away, 1st February tomorrow (why is the year going so fast!!).

Now I have made these cards with a similar style but they are quite different. Here are my first two to share:-
Now the first one was inspired by this lovely creation belonging to Petronela (Keep Stamping) which you can find here. I have used Cherry Cobbler as the base followed by a Pink Pirouette layer which I have run through the Polka Dot embossing folder. The scallop envelope has also been made using the Big Shot. I have stamped up a variety of hearts with Cherry Cobbler, Pear Pizzazz and Chocolate Chip. I have also punched out three big hearts and a couple of smaller ones.

The second card is using the basic style as the first but instead of adding hearts to my envelope I stamped one of the stamps from Life Definitions and adding a couple of hearts for good measure. The base of this card is Pear Pizzazz.

Now as my title suggests I am going to show you roses and more roses. As I stated in my previous post I was asked by a lovely friend if I could stamp some roses for invitations and boxes for her sister's wedding.

Well this is what 60 buds and stems, 100 roses and 200 leaves look like:-


Now here is where I say that I can definitely be tempted by chocolate to help in the cutting out of all of them!!!

I might have a play with a couple of challenges this morning but I won't count my chickens just yet. So far I have looked but nothing seems to be jumping out at me.

Happy stamping,

Just Add Ink Challenge #53

The lovely ladies at Just Add Ink have come up with a new challenge this week - an inspiration challenge. Now I will admit that I usually shy away from inspiration pictures and very rarely participate in them until, that is, when I saw this gorgeous picture:-

Now the challenge card could contain the colours, or flowers, or just something that makes you happy. After looking at this photo I have decided to go with the actual photo inspiration and here is my card:-As soon as I saw it I just knew the Pick a Petal was coming out of retirement (I haven't used this set for sooo long!!). I have used the very lovely Daffodil Delight as the base followed by a piece of Pear Pizzazz. Now for the main image I decided to blow all the cobwebs of my heat gun and do some embossing (something I also haven't done for sooo long!!).

When my flower image was all stamped and embossed I then decided to run it through the Polka Dot embossing folder. Now here is where I am going to make a confession - I did the silly thing and embossed it back to front and thought oh no how am I going to fix this boo boo and luckily enough I was able to put it back in the folder again and ever so carefully line all the little dots up and hey presto, problem fixed :)

Now my card was definitely inspired by the picture itself and tried to replicate the sunflower. I also added a little bit of greenery with the leaves and also the bow represents the blue of the background.

I'm now off to enter the challenge, get off the computer and start stamping 55 rose buds with stems for wedding invitations for a friend. I said I would do it but only if my friend cut them all out, teehee!! - guess I could help with the cutting (might be tempted with chocolate!!!).

Happy stamping,

Clean & Simple FTL#124

After umming and aahing for a while I decided that I would give the latest Clean & Simple FTL#124 sketch challenge a go. Here is the challenge layout which you can also find here:-

When I saw this sketch I struggled to find an image that I would be happy with and in the end I settled on this:-Now this is a set that I haven't inked up in quite a while and for some reason I always seem to go for this kind of colour scheme with it. I have gone with Cajun Craze for the base followed by a piece of More Mustard, which I have stamped with the Canvas background. My flower image is coloured using blender pens and ink pads.

While I was not 100% happy with this card to start with it has kind of grown on me. It is very "clean & simple" so exactly what I had set out to achieve.

Now I'm off to make a coffee and put my feet up for a bit. The younger boys and I went for a long walk along the beach this afternoon, something very Australian for the day.

Happy stamping,

Just Add Ink Challenge #52

I have been on a roll, two posts in one day (scroll down to see my previous challenge card)!!! Now this card is for the Just Add Ink Challenge which this week is this sketch:-

So following this sketch here is my entry card for this challenge:-Now because I went with the Top Note die this card is just a little over 4in x 4in. A nice size for a note. The colours I have chosen were Whisper White for the base of the card followed by the Top Note piece which is Cajun Craze. The gorgeous flower paper is from the Greenhouse Gala DSP. All finished off with the sentiment stamped with Pear Pizzazz onto a piece of Pear Pizzazz and tied with a bow of Certainly Celery ribbon.

As promised in a previous post I will be showcasing some of my Valentine's Day cards (which is not too far away!!).

Happy stamping,

Inkspirations Colour Challenge #54

This time the team at Inskpirations Challenges have set a gorgeous colour challenge the colours being:
Aren't they just lovely!!! For some reason I looked at these colours and thought of the Share a Cup set (not sure why!!!) so I went with it and here is my card:-

I have used the Pear Pizzazz as the base colour and then followed by a piece of Vanilla (sorry non-SU here - I seem to have depleted my stock of Very Vanilla). The envelope is made with Blushing Bride and polka dotted to give it that extra touch. I then tied a lovely piece of pink stripey ribbon around it and used the little tea cup as the tag.

Now I have placed a tea bag inside the envelope but I forgot to take a pic of that but you get the idea. The label is made from the Big Shot "Lots of Tags" die layered over an Early Espresso curly label punch. Also, I don't know if you can tell but I have stamped the little cloud from the "Good Neighbours" set so that it looks like a little froth on top of the cup.

Now off to enter the challenge.

Happy Stamping,

Just Add Ink Challenge #51 and Clean & Simple FTL123

I have managed to get around to making a card for the current Just Add Ink Challenge #51 and after scratching around deciding what to do I came across the Clean & Simple sketch challenge. I thought why not make a card and combine both challenges.

The Just Add Ink Challenge this time is Just Add Monochrome and you can find their blog here. Now the sketch I used is from the latest Clean & Simple Stamping blog (here) which is:-

Now for my entry card:-

I'm not 100% sure if this is monochromatic but I have used a few different papers from the Love Letter DSP. The base of the card is Cherry Cobbler (a favourite) followed by a piece of vanilla cardstock that I had in my stash that is non-Stampin Up. This is the start of my Valentine's Day cards that will be appearing on here shortly.

While I am here I would like to take this opportunity to think of all those Australians (not just Queenslanders) who have been affected by these terrible floods . My heart goes out to all those who have lost loved ones. I hope your lives and homes can be rebuilt and you have the support of family and friends.

Until next time,

A Couple of Birthday Cards

I needed to update my stash of cards some time ago and found that I was lacking quite a few cards in the kid's department. So after going through my many stamp sets I settled on Party Hearty and came up with two versions of the one card.

Here is the girly version:-This card uses Rich Razzleberry as the base followed by Kraft (Crumb Cake) and a lovely stripey piece of DSP.

This next one is the boy version:-I have gone with Baja Breeze for the base followed by Kraft (Crumb Cake) and the gorgeous, very colourful, stripey DSP.

It is so much easier to make a couple of the same design when you need cards to add to your stash. I think these cards would be suitable for any age children, particularly young teenagers.

I'm off to hopefully do some more creating this weekend and will have some more things to share. My computer folder that has my pics of my cards to add to my blog is looking a little sad so will have to rectify that!!

Happy stamping,

A Stylish Blogger Award

I am more than honoured to receive this lovely Award from Patrice (Spring Blossom Musings):-
A big thank you goes out to everyone who checks into my blog and makes me feel special. I just love reading all the comments.

Now the rules are:

1. That I thank and link to the person who passed the Award my way (waving to Patrice);
2. Share 8 things about myself (had to scratch really hard here);
3. Pass it on to 8 others (now there are so many lovely blogs but I only put 4); and
4. Let them know about the Award (will do).

Okay where do I start:-

1. Like Patrice, I have a few craft items still uncomplete (one day!!);
2. I enjoy peace and quiet, but with 4 kids that is hard;
3. I don't mind grocery shopping, but hate working out meals for the week;
4. I am the most unco-ordinated person but this year I would like to try Zumba;
5. After many "almost" attempts I finally signed up to Facebook;
6. I really used to like the rain but after having so much of it the last few months, I dislike it!!
7. I am very much a "homebody", and venture out once a week to grocery shop. Having a mischevious 3 year old can do that to you!!!
8. The only thing I detest about school holidays is the covering of school books. I have many fights with the contact.

Now for the four bloggers I would like to pass this Award on to:-

1. Karen T
2. Tammy
3. Jodene
4. Fiona

Happy stamping,

Just Add Ink Challenge #49

Well as it has been quite some time since I joined in a Just Add Ink Challenge I thought I would give this one a go. The challenge is "Just Add Summer" so after going through my stamp sets I decided the one I am using was just perfect.

So here is my "Just Add Summer" card:-

So what do you think - Summery enough!! I chose More Mustard as the base for this card followed by a lovely piece of the Sweet Slumber DSP and a small strip of Pacific Point. It's hard to tell from the pic but I have stamped "sun fun" onto the DSP. It also looks from this pic that it is not straight but I swear to you that it is!!!

Happy stamping,

A New Year and a New Blog

Well I thought it was about time my blog had a revamp and after much umming and aahing I finally decided on this style. What do you think? I ended up chopping and changing quite a few colours and elements and am happy with how it all came together in the end.

Now I thought I should have something to share after all this fiddling around today so I went through my card photo stash and decided on these cute post-it-note holders. These were quite a good market item.

I found some cute post-it-notes from my local Officeworks store so decided to decorate the covers accordingly.

Hopefully I will have something new to share for you soon. I hope to tackle the Just Add Ink challenge and am working on some Valentine's Day bits (not too far away!!).

Happy stamping,