Cards by Karen

Another Altered Frame

2012-01-28T17:54:00.003+10:00

Well as the title suggests I have been having another play with photo frames and after checking out my local reject shop I came across a lovely set of three white frames which I thought would be perfect for this new crafting craze I am going through. I can see so many possibilities with these frames :)

So here is my second frame:-

I went for something a bit girly and came up with this cute little number frame. I stamped and cut out small animals, fish, flowers and jelly beans for each number and attached them accordingly.

After I had it all together initially I found it was lacking something so I decided to add the strips in the middle to divide each number off which just set it all off very nicely.

Now I have two more frames to do but I just can't decide where to start. I'm thinking a nice bathroom type one using the very lovely Ocean Commotion so stay tuned to see what I come up with next.

Happy Stamping,

A Boy Card

2012-01-16T09:36:00.005+10:00

As I haven't made any cards of late I thought I would keep this blog updated and add a pic of a card I had made some time ago when I was playing with my new PTI stamps last year.

I don't usually make many boy cards (even though I have three of my own!!!) I thought I would make use of this lovely set "Fly Away" and the co-ordinating die and also the cloud die as well.

So here is a birthday boy card to add to my stash:-

After running low on inspiration I made this card from a similar design in the current Stampin' Up Idea Book & Catalogue which is found on page 12 but I had to change the direction due to way my plane is facing. I have used Tempting Turquoise teamed up with Pumpkin Pie and also added a little green touch with the button and the colouring of the plane.

I could be feeling a litte creative today so maybe I just might have a play, that is after I attend to the covering of the school books!!! Not one of my favourite jobs in the world - I always fight with the contact and sometimes it wins.

Happy stamping,

A New Look

2012-01-09T13:22:00.002+10:00

To match in with a new year I thought a new blog look was on the cards. I have been meaning to update for a while but kept putting it in the too hard basket - until today that is!!!

So I have decided to go with a totally different colour scheme, one which uses mustards, greys and black and I can say that I am quite liking it.

Now I just have to track down my missing mojo which I believe has gone on an extended holiday!!!! Hopefully I will get to have a play in my "play room" and be able to share some of my creations with you.

So stay tuned and hopefully I will be back with some regular sharing.

Happy stamping,

Something Different

2012-01-07T11:11:00.009+10:00

Wow, it seems like forever that I have been here and updated this poor, sad, neglected blog!!! Sometimes life just gets too busy and things have to be put on the backburner and unfortunately for me that seems to be my crafting.

However, I did manage to have a play in my "play room" yesterday and tackled a first for me. It is the art of altering a photo frame. I came across this gorgeous photo frame in our local reject shop and just had to have it :)

Anyway, here is my first attempt at "photo framing" (don't know if that's what you call it but it sounds good) :-

It took me forever to work out what kind of theme and colour scheme I wanted to go with and as the frame has a kind of "off-whiteish" look I decided to go with black and vanilla. Now I have used several stamp sets, punches, embellishments, ribbons and papers that have all come together quite nicely.

I really wanted to put the glass back into the frame and therefore have kind of squashed some of the ruffled flowers but I still think it looks okay. I will definitely be keeping my eye out for any kind of frames that I come across and have so many possibilities floating around in my head.

Hopefully it won't take me so long to get back here again :) I really do want to get back into my crafting this year as the last year we had was not a good one for me or my family. Things can only get better so they say so bring it on!!!!

Happy stamping,

P.S. Blogger is not playing nice and won't let me space anything out!!! Arrgghh, this looks awful.

A Very Simple Card

2011-11-11T09:12:00.001+10:00

As the title suggests the card I am about to display was very simple and came together quite quickly. So without anything else much to say here it is:-

Now I was inspired to make this card by another that I had come across while blog surfing but for the life of me can not find it now!!! There was no watermark on the original card so if anyone knows the artwork from a particular stamper please pass on my acknowledgement.

Now as you can tell the base of the card was plain Whisper White and I had stamped the leaves from a Papertrey Ink stamp set called "Everyday Button Bits" in Old Olive. The sentiment is stamped with Pretty in Pink to match the buttons from the Papertrey Ink Spring Mix Vintage collection. I wanted to mix the buttons up a bit and that's why I added a couple of yellow ones in there as well. A very apt spring card don't you think? The ribbon came from my stash which I managed to tie up into a nice bow.

Happy stamping,

Some Birds

2011-11-02T13:52:00.002+10:00

One day while I had a spare hour I wandered around town and decided to pop into a lovely craft store just to have a bit of a sticky. Well I ended up coming out with some new papers and an embossing folder that I had in my hands and kept putting it back, and picking it up again until I finally made the decision to get it.

It has some lovely aviaries on it and birds in the aviaries and I knew I had the stamp set that would work perfectly with it, hence my title "Some Birds".

Well here is my creation using the Aviary stamp set and the embossing folder:-

I have gone with a piece of River Rock that I used for my base and added a layer of the very lovely Kaisercraft paper that I have been fond of lately. I then stamped my aviaries and the birds onto a top note die and then ran it through my big shot with the embossing folder. I then finished it off with a small sentiment, a couple of layered paper daisies and a button.

Now I am off to scour some idea books and create some more.

Happy stamping,

Just Add Ink - Colour Challenge #91

2011-10-30T15:15:00.004+10:00

Well two posts in one day, I must be on a creative roll. It has been quite some time since I joined in any challenges, so when this one came up for Just Add Ink I knew it was about time I had a play and entered.

Here is the colours that we had to work with this time:-

I immediately thought baby and just had to try out another Papertrey Ink stamp set called "Baby Button Bits" so here is my card:-

I have gone with Very Vanilla for the neutral colour and have stamped the pea pod in Cherry Cobbler and then ran through a piece of Blushing Bride with the polka dot embossing folder. The buttons are also from Papertrey Ink that suited the colour choice quite well. It ended up being quite simple as I think I like that style.

Now off to go and enter it.

Happy stamping,

A Friendship Card

2011-10-30T11:11:00.006+10:00

Do you believe it!!! I'm back again with another card, woohoo!!! This one goes out to all of my lovely friends who have been helping me through a bit of a rough patch and without them I don't think I would have come through so well.

So this one is for some of my besties:-

So for the recipe I have used Very Vanilla as the base of the card followed by some very lovely Kaisercraft paper (which I might add I have had in my stash for quite a few years!!!). I have also used Papertrey Ink "On My Couch" and a Mat also from Papertrey Ink which I have cut out in Very Vanilla. The couch has been stamped on a piece of co-ordinating Kaisercraft paper in black ink and I have also inked up the cute little button cushion.

Then I have finished it all off with some lovely ribbon layers, a paper daisy and a couple of pearls. I just love the saying as well, just perfect.

I now have a new crafting space (unfortunately tried to add pics but blogger won't let me!!!) so hopefully my creativity keeps flowing. I have no excuses now!!!

Happy stamping,

I'm Back... And With My Very First Papertrey Ink Card

2011-10-27T09:01:00.004+10:00

Well hello out there to you all :) I have finally made a comeback after such a long break - hope you can forgive me. I have now set up a new craft area in an upstairs part of my house and it's now nice and fresh and all set out very lovely (even if I say so myself!!).

Now, don't fall over with the shock but I have managed to make a card - my very first Papertrey Ink card, after having had these lovely stamps in my possession for about 4 months (sheesh, has it been that long).

Well without further suspense here it is:-

I had fun with this cute little set called "Fly Away" and also the very lovely Cloud 1 & 2 Die as well. I also have used some gorgeous paper from Kaisercraft (Little Man Collection). After I had finished the card I showed my daughter, Emily, and she said "Mum, it needs something else - how about some embellishments in the corner?" So I ended up using a couple of cute little buttons also from Papertrey Ink.

I think I can really see more of these cards coming together as it didn't take too long at all. Nice and simple is a good style that I am going to stick with.

So now I hope you can all stay tuned and keep me honest so I will have no excuse but to make more cards!!! I promise I will be making a comeback :)

Happy stamping,

Taking Some Time Out

2011-08-04T12:47:00.002+10:00

Well as you can tell I haven't updated this poor sad, neglected blog for some time and the time has come for me to make some changes.

At present I am having a break from my cardmaking and have realised that it is time for me to have some "time out" for myself. I was contemplating deleting my blog altogether but have had some good advice from my lovely friend, Karen Thomas, and have decided to leave it running but will not be adding anything new for a little bit.

Please feel free to stop by and have a look in every now and then and hopefully you may find some inspiration in some of my previous posts.

Hopefully I will still be able to do some creating but as for now I really need to concentrate on "me". I hope you can all understand my decision and rest assured I will still be doing some blog surfing and commenting every now and then just to see what my lovely followers have been creating.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for sticking by me and leaving all those lovely comments which really have put a smile on my dial!!!

Keep stamping,

Birthday Cupcakes

2011-06-23T10:05:00.004+10:00

Well I'm back again, didn't take long this time!!! I had a play with some new toys over the last couple of days and I couldn't wait to have a play of the lovely cupcake set and co-ordinating punch which makes it so much easier to cut out :)

So here is the card I made:-
It's a bit colourful don't you think?? The pic just doesn't do it justice - it didn't matter how much I tried to tweak it it just didn't seem to come out right. I have also used some very yummy new papers as well and the colour scheme is Pear Pizzazz, Real Red, Bashful Blue and Whisper White and also a little Chocolate Chip for the chips on the cupcakes.

I will be heading down to my craft room today to hopefully do some more creating but not sure how much I will get done. Still can't seem to find that missing mojo. I agree with my lovely friend, Karen and think that our mojos are off having a lovely coffee and chat together!!! Hope they come back soon :)

Happy stamping,

MIA and Lost Mojo

2011-06-17T15:57:00.004+10:00

Wow, it has been quite a long time since I have updated this poor, sad, neglected blog!!! I have been a little busy and have tried to sit down and create something but, alas, I think my mojo has gone AWOL.

I did however receive a very lovely card sent to me by the very lovely and talented Tammy for my birthday and told her that I could see a CASE coming up which is exactly what I did.

So here is the card that I decided to make from Tammy's gorgeous pink and kraft creation:-

Now when I was looking for a sentiment to use I decided to turn my creation into a wedding card to put in my stash, actually I think this would probably be the first in my wedding stash!!! I ended up using a very old piece of lace which, would you believe, came from the leftover bits of my wedding dress.

In the last couple of days I did have good intentions but I only ended up making three cards over two days!!! Come back soon mojo :)

Happy stamping,

Some Easel Cards

2011-05-12T08:36:00.000+10:00

Well I'm back to show you some easel cards that I had on display at my market stall. I love these cards as they always catch the eye.

Now the instructions I used allowed me to get three cards out of one sheet of A4 card so hence why the base of the card is all the same, my favourite Concord Crush.

This first one is made with the very lovey Aviary set and I have matched it up with some of the gorgeous DSP from the Elegant Soiree pack.

This next one is made with the Bliss set teamed up with Very Vanilla, Pink Pirouette and Lap of Luxury DSP.Lastly, this has been made using Flight of the Butterfly teamed up with Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla and So Saffron. I also used up a piece of scrap paper that I had in my old scrapbooking stash which matched these colours perfectly.

Now to share some news - I have scored myself a full-time job working school hours (9 to 3) at a Solicitor's office and can't wait to start on Monday. I am so looking forward to having some adult company but will miss the lovely time I have had with my four year old :( Hopefully I will be able to fit in some crafting time somewhere in between working, housework and running kids around. Good luck with that I'm thinking!!!

Will have to get off this computer and spend some time doing a major houseclean so it will all help in preparation for next week. Hopefully I can have things all run like clockwork but time will tell!!

Happy stamping,

Some Market Items

2011-05-02T09:27:00.008+10:00

I have been really busy the last couple of months making all kinds of things for a new market that is starting up in my region that is just for handmade items. Perfect for me to get an opportunity to sell some of my beloved card stuff!!

Now I have been trying to add a little variety so therefore I ended up making some very lovely Tissue Box holders and also some cute little tea bag holders as well. So here we go:-
Here is one of the Tissue Box holders made from a tutorial by the very talented Nikki Stalker. You can find this tutotial here. I have used Crumb Cake as the base for the box and covered it with the very gorgeous Elegant Soiree DSP. The blue band is Marina Mist and I have stamped the cute little bird and aviary from the Aviary set.
This is the tea bag holder that I made from Makeesha's site (tutorial found here). I ended up modifying mine a little bit because I didn't have the envelopes Makeesha had used so I changed them for the Scallop Envelope die. You can pop three tea bags into the envelopes. The ribbon will be all tied up when I put the tea bags in. I have used Pink Piroutte teamed up with the very lovely Lap of Luxury DSP. It's hard to see the little sentiment but it says "take care of yourself".

Now I just need to make a few final Mother's Day cards this week and add the final touches to make my stall perfect.

Now for anyone who is interested and is on Facebook, I have created a page to showcase my card craft, called "Card Craft" which you can find here. If you would like to visit my page I would really love you to "like" it.

Happy stamping,

Just Add Ink Challenge #66

2011-04-30T09:34:00.004+10:00

Wow, it feels like it's been awhile since I have updated this poor neglected blog!!! I ended up checking in with the Just Add Ink blog and have decided to enter the challenge this week, which is Just Add a Flower - I can definitely enter this one :)

I have been really busy doing market bits, so busy in fact I haven't even managed to get around to photographing my creative bits. This is high up on my "must do today list".

Anyway here is the card that I am entering for the Just Add Ink Challenge:-

Now I can say that I cannot take full credit for this card as I was inspired by this one from Deb Fearns. I did however change the colour scheme by going with Crumb Cake, Concord Crush, Old Olive and Very Vanilla. I absolutey love this Cottage Garden set, it is so pretty!!!

Now I'm off to enter the challenge and then get my camera out so hopefully over the next few weeks I will be able to update my blog more regularly.

Happy stamping,

Another Mother's Day Set

2011-04-17T09:37:00.009+10:00

Good Sunday morning to you all :) What a weird day we had yesterday, who would have thought that us here in Mackay would feel the effects of an earthquake!!! I was sitting at my dining table when all of a sudden my huge side windows starting shaking uncontrollably. I was seeing which kid I was going to get cranky at for running in the house but they were all in the lounge watching a DVD.

We found out later that Bowen which is south of Townsville suffered the effects of a 5.2 earthquake which was felt all the way from Townsville to us here in Mackay. How freaky is that!!

Anyway, enough of these crazy weather patterns and onto some more Mother's Day creations. I have another set to show you which includes a box and a small gift card so on with the show:-

Now I'm finding one of the most difficult colour to photograph is the very gorgeous Concord Crush and it didn't help that I took these pics on a day when the weather wasn't too favourable either. I did take photos of the set together but they look downright terrible - the brads I used are of a So Saffron colour but in my pics they came out really yellow. Also the ribbon isn't blue either, I swear it is a lovely purple colour. My colour combination consists of Very Vanilla, Concord Crush and Pale Plum. Both of these creations were inspired by the very lovely Mary Fish and you can find Mary's creations here which also includes a video tutorial of the cute folded flower.

That's it for me today and now to tackle the washing and after that, some crafting!!

Happy Stamping,

Mother's Day Roses

2011-04-14T08:57:00.004+10:00

I'm back again with another Mother's Day project to share, this time I have made another set with a box and a card. I am in the process of making some more of these sets which makes gift giving so much easier. So here is the next gift set to share with you:- I have used the very lovely Rose is a Rose set and have chosen the soft Pink Pirouette teamed up with Very Vanilla and Old Olive. The card is finished off with a lovely clear button that I happened to find in my stash (hope it's not needed for someone's clothes!!). I have stamped the rose in two steps, firstly in Pink Pirouette then followed by Rose Red.

So there we have it, another Mother's Day set and this box would be perfect for chocolates, jewellery or anything small that you can think of. Hopefully in the next few days I should be able to make some more cards and sets and have a nice little stash for my market stall.

Happy stamping,

A Card and a Can

2011-04-10T18:25:00.007+10:00

You may recall a couple of posts back where I entered a Just Add Ink Challenge and made a cute little watering can which can be found here. Now I decided to make a few sets for Mother's Day and ended up making a card to match the watering can.

Here is the card:-Now I think the watering can looks more finished off now with a lovely card to match. As you can see I kept to the same colours and the same stamps with the card.

We have finally had a break in the weather and have enjoyed a few days with no rain and some very lovely sunshine. I have been itching to get into my poor neglected gardens and have spent most of my day pruning, weeding and re-planting so it now looks like it should, all nice and very green.

Well as I have mentioned before I am really looking forward to my new market stall which is coming up in May ready for Mother's Day so I have a month to do some more lovely items which I hope to share along the way. Well, I'm off to get my dinner out of the oven and feed the starving mob.

Happy stamping,

The Owl Did It!!!

2011-04-05T08:36:00.004+10:00

I kept looking at the lovely Aviary set in the mini catalogue and couldn't decided whether to get this stamp set or not so I left it to the last minute and in the end I caved in - it was the cute little owl that did it!!! He is so adorably cute. The day this stamp set arrived on my doorstep I couldn't wait to make a card and of course I just had to use the owl. Here he is in all his cuteness...Now I can say this card was not my original idea and I had it saved on my laptop but it didn't contain a watermark so not sure who to give credit to. If anyone out there knows of the original creator please pass on my thanks. I did change it slightly from the original but the concept is the same.

Anyway, I have chosen a colour that I have never used before "Marina Mist" and have teamed it up with Very Vanilla, Not Quite Navy and River Rock. I can say that I did get some input from my lovely friend Tammy so I know that she will be waiting for this one to make it's appearance here (smiling at you, Tammy!!).

It is looking promising for some sunshine today after having two weeks of constant rain any little bit would be good. Not sure how long it will last though but I can say that it has been good weather to stay indoors and reconnect with my cardmaking.

Happy stamping,

Inkspirations Colour Challenge #64

2011-04-02T19:00:00.006+10:00

Back again, this time to share with you a card I made for the latest Inkspiration Challenge which I ended up turning into another Mother's Day Card. Hopefully I will end up with a nice little stash soon. Anyway here are the colours that were chosen this week:- I struggled a bit with these colours but in the end I settled on a stamp set and just went with it. I also was inspired by a layout of a card in the latest Stampin' Up! catalogue which made it a little bit easier. Here is my entry card:- I seem to grab the "In Full Bloom" stamp set when I see colours that are "autumnish", don't know why!!! Anyway, it's pretty straight forward - I have gone with the Cajun Craze for the base of the card followed by a polka dotted piece of More Mustard. I have stamped the leaves in More Mustard and the flowers in Poppy Parade. They say we are still in for more rain which, although is very annoying after having it for more than a week, it does make for good card making!!! I have been on such a stamping journey at the moment so hopefully I can keep it going. Happy stamping, (P.S. The blogger "gremlins" are back again!!!)

Just Add Ink Challenge #62

2011-04-01T14:33:00.006+10:00

After seeing the new challenge at Just Add Ink (Just Add a Box or a Bag) I knew exactly what I was going to submit. I have been making a few little bits and pieces for a market stall I am going to attend in May before Mother's Day so have been busy making Mother's Day related things. Now I can say that I have had a template for a "Watering Can" for some time but have never made it up until now. So here is my entry:- I have used Crumb Cake and have stamped the vine from Vintage Vogue around the bottom in Chocolate Chip. The flowers have been stamped with Rich Razzleberry and Blushing Bride. I have also stamped the small flower with Blusing Bride on the tag and have stamped "happy mother's day" over the top. This is such a cute little box and I think it would look lovely with a nice packet or two of Mum's favourite plant seeds. Also I have to give a big wave to my stamping friend, Tammy, as I have managed to update my blog so now she will have something to look at. Happy stamping, (P.S. Blogger is not playing nice today so my post is not spaced out the way I would like it and it has also mucked up my signature!!)

Inkspirations Challenge #63

2011-03-27T14:33:00.009+10:00

Well, I did say I would be back and I have been on a such a cardmaking roll over the last few days. I even managed to make one that is hot off the press for the latest Inkspirations Challenge. This one was a sketch challenge and you can find their blog here:-

I found this sketch really easy to work with and didn't have too many dramas. I think the only thing I had to think about was what butterfly I wanted to use!!!

So here is my card:-

The base is made using Crumb Cake followed by Baja Breeze and papers from the very gorgeous Elegant Soiree DSP. I decided to add the flowers after I had stamped the butterfly because I felt that it needed something else apart from just the butterfly. As you can see I have also turned this into another Mother's Day card. Nothing like getting in early to have a nice little stash :)

Anyway, it is still raining here so a good excuse to get settled down at my crafting desk and make some more cards seeing as I have been on such a roll of late.

Happy stamping,

Just Add Ink Challenge #61

2011-03-25T17:18:00.004+10:00

Woohoo, don't fall over in surprise but I can say that I actually made a card or two today!!! It feels like it has been so long since I have actually made a card and it also feels like a long time since I joined in a Just Add Ink Challenge.

After seeing this challenge I must admit that I couldn't resist. The challenge this week was to Just Add Stamps and nothing else. You can find this challenge here.

So onto my entry card:-
This card was inspired by a blog I came across belonging to Patty and you can find her inspiration card here. I loved the simplicity of Patty's card and new it would be perfect for this challenge.

I have used Very Vanilla as the base of my card followed by a piece of Crumb Cake which has been versamarked with the image from the Bliss set and have torn the top. I have also added a little stamping onto the small strip of Concord Crush. The main image has been stamped off with Close to Cocoa to give it a more softer look and the butterfly is stamped in Concord Crush. It is all nicely finished off with a "happy mother's day" stamp and ready to put into my stash for this next upcoming occasion.

So there we have it (finally!!), a lovely quick and easy card. It is so nice sometimes to just get back to the basics.

Now you will have to stay tuned for the next card. At the moment it is literally bucketing down rain so any chance of getting good pics is definitely out of the question. I am so over this rain - I just want to be able to walk in my yard without sinking in the mud.

Happy stamping,

More Easter Baskets

2011-03-16T09:17:00.005+10:00

I have been quite distracted lately and have been busy making Easter baskets for my market stall. I think I have seen quite enough of these baskets to last me awhile!!! I ended up making some baskets with the Lauren Meader "Pack a Picnic" template found here.

I just love the size of these baskets, they can be filled with lots and lots of yummy chocolate!!! Or even one big one which will fit quite nicely.

This first one is made with Pink Passion cardstock and the mat layer is a very lovely DSP layered onto a piece of So Saffron.

This second one is made using some yellow cardstock that I had from my scrapbooking stash and teamed up with Pink Passion and a lovely So Saffron DSP. It's hard to see but the top flowers have been layered onto Pink Passion and So Saffron circles and popped up.

Now I decided to do this one a little differently without the handles and lid. I placed eyelets into the corners and tied my ribbon to hold it all together, very cute!! This is also using some blue cardstock from my stash teamed up with a very lovely DSP.

So there we have it, easter baskets all done and dusted!!!

I haven't made an actual card for so long now but I have just placed a nice little order so hopefully next week I will have some new stamps to play with and some pretty papers too.

Happy stamping,

Some More Candles

2011-03-08T11:01:00.005+10:00

After posting a pic of my first candle on Facebook I had so many lovely comments including one from my lovely cousin, Marlene, who sells "Real Safe Candles" and asked me if I would have a go at stamping on her candles.

Now these candles are flameless and are still made with wax but the beauty of these candles is that they don't melt!! My cousin has her own Beauty Salon and she also sells her candles through this outlet. The link to Marlene's site is here and you can read all about the candles.

They come packaged in a set of three varying sizes so yesterday we had a go at stamping on them and here are the results:-
This one is stamped with the gorgeous swirl from Baroque Motifs using Concord Crush and the flowers are stamped with Kiwi Kiss with a small gold brad inserted in the middle.

This next one is the smallest size and we went with an image from A Little Bit of Happiness stamp set. The colours were Tempting Turquoise and Not Quite Navy.

For the third candle which is the medium size we chose the Embrace Life set and stamped the main flower in Pumpkin Pie and the leaves in Old Olive. The "embrace life" is stamped in Chocolate Chip.

Now here is a pic of the set of three and I can say that Marlene was very happy with the results.

Tomorrow we will be doing another set so stay tuned and I will have some more to show you. I have been having so much fun stamping on candles and even making easter baskets that I have forgotten how to make a card!!! I will have to take a look at some challenge sites and hopefully might have a card to share.

Happy stamping,

Ready for Easter

2011-02-28T16:28:00.004+10:00

I wanted to make some Easter goodies for my market stall so after going through some of my templates I finally decided on the Pretty Petal Pocket from the very talented Lauren Meader which you can find here.

Now here is one of my easter baskets and I will end up making some more because they are so easy and I love how they are a good size for a few yummy chocolate easter eggs.

The petal pocket is made up of some of my old cardstock that is no longer available. I had quite a stash of this Glorious Green cardstock so thought I would put it to good use. The DSP is also some from my stash of assorted Tangerine Tango designs. I made the little grass pieces on the bottom with the Oval punch and scored them in half to give them a bit of a 3D look.

It's hard to tell from the pic but I have stamped one of the stamps from Sprinkles with Tangerine Tango and the sentiment is stamped in Melon Mambo over the top. The ribbons which hold the handles together are also from my stash (gotta love that!!).

So now I can say I have started with some Easter goodies!!! Now I have a lot more templates that I printed out today so hopefully over the next week or so I should have a nice little collection.

Happy stamping,

Candle Stamping

2011-02-20T11:16:00.005+10:00

I have always wanted to stamp on candles and after seeing how easy it was to do I thought I would give it a go.

So here is my first attempt of candle stamping:-

So what do you think? I ended up adding some more bits to it this morning as I wasn't quite happy with it. It still looked too white so after filling in some more spaces I think it came up a treat.

After realising how easy this is to do I think I will be getting myself some more candles and have a bigger play. Unfortunately it has been far too hot over this last week or so and I just can't seem to get the energy to do much stamping. Hopefully the weather gets a bit kinder otherwise I will start relocating to my outdoor back table!!!

Happy stamping,

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T08:52:00.005+10:00

A Happy Valentine's Day to all today!!! I have a couple of more Valentine's cards to share with you today and here they are:-
This first card is the one that my daughter chose to give to her Valentine today. Aww, young love, ain't it sweet!!! As per most of my Valentine's Day cards I have gone with Cherry Cobbler followed by a piece of Vanilla cardstock and then some of that gorgeous spotty paper from the Love Letters DSP. The hearts are from Polka Dot Punches and punched out with a heart punch, so easy!!
Now this next one I will give to my other half when I see him later tonight. No surprises, but I have used Cherry Cobbler again followed by a piece of Crumb Cake and the same spotty paper as the previous card. With a lovely heart and a lovely sentiment it is pretty much all you need to finish off the perfect Valentine's card.

Enjoy your day and passing on some Happy Anniversary wishes today to a couple of my relatives and friends who are also celebrating today.

Happy stamping,

Just Add Ink Challenge #55

2011-02-12T07:41:00.005+10:00

This week's Just Add Ink Challenge is "Just Add Love", so something made for Valentine's Day is the go.

Now for my entry this week:-A cute little "Goody Bag" filled with some very yummy choccies. I made this little bag to cover a small cellophane bag. The bag is made with my all time favourite colour, Cherry Cobbler, and I also used papers from the Jolly Holiday range.

Now this bag had a very sad demise I'm afraid to say!!! It was "hiding" in my fridge until some little person (aged 3) decided that the chocolates were too tempting. It was later discovered all ripped open and only the empty choccie wrappers left!!! The funny thing was the whole box of chocolates had been "hidden" in the fridge without anyone noticing them at all. At least I got to have a couple before the rest of them got demolished.

Anyway, I am off to do some housework and then hopefully some creating today, yay!!!

Happy stamping,

Mojo Monday #177

2011-02-10T12:40:00.006+10:00

Wow, two posts in one day!!! As the title suggests I think my mojo is making a comeback (no pun intended!!). It has been quite some time since I entered the Mojo Monday sketch challenge so after seeing this sketch I decided to give it a go:-Now here is my challenge card:-

Not my usual colours as I am not a huge fan of anything orange but I do so love Pear Pizzazz which works beautifully with Pumpkin Pie and the gorgeous Greenhouse Gala DSP. I have polka dotted the white background which is layered onto Pear Pizzazz. I have also incorporated Real Red into this card which brings out the red on the flowers. I have stamped the Circle of Friendship saying in both Real Red and Pear Pizzazz and punched out the little circle in the middle, layering it on top.

Now don't get too excited when you see the little stitches - I am not a big fan of sewing so have just done some faux stitching to keep in line with the sketch. So there we have it another challenge done and dusted!!!

Happy stamping,

Inkspirations Colour Challenge #56

2011-02-10T10:38:00.005+10:00

I was determined to make some cards today and so far have made just one!!! This card I have made is for the following Inkspirations Challenge:-

When I first saw this colour combo I had no idea what I was going to do let alone what stamp set to choose. After sitting at my desk for a while something finally came to me (maybe my missing mojo!!!). So here we have my challenge card:-

Not sure if I am totally happy with it in the end but hey at least I stamped something!!! I have gone with the Baja Breeze as the base of my card followed by Cherry Cobbler. I ended up settling on the lovely Vintage Vogue stamp set (one of my favourites). To incorporate the Basic Black I have inserted black brads into the flowers and have stamped my sentiment in black as well.

Now off to enter this challenge and hopefully make a couple of more cards while I am in the mood.

Happy stamping,

A Couple of Valentine's Day Cards

2011-02-09T12:40:00.004+10:00

Well after having a very uneventful week with no sign of any creativity I thought I had better update my blog with some more of my Valentine's Day cards.

I even tried to sit down this morning and make a couple of cards for some current challenges but alas, even that wasn't a happening thing. My mojo has definitely packed up and moved on to greener pastures!!!

Well here we go:-
This card was inspired by a lovely creation belonging to my wonderful friend Karen. You can find the inspiration card here. For mine I have stamped the Canvas background onto Certainly Celery cardstock. The piece of Pink Pirouette has been stamped with a saying from So Many Sayings (the one that has all the love sentiments). Now the heart "flower" was made using the Full Heart punch, punched 5 times then kind of crumpled and had the edges rolled over.

This next one is very plain and simple, not too much on this one. The background is Cherry Cobbler followed by a piece of Crumb Cake and then a gorgeous spotty paper from Love Letters DSP. The "love" sentiment is stamped onto a strip of Very Vanilla and the heart was stamped with Cherry Cobbler.

Now I might just go and do some blog surfing and hopefully come up with some kind of inspiration to make a couple of challenge cards later on.

Happy stamping,

Inkspirations Sketch Challenge #55

2011-02-01T10:29:00.007+10:00

Well I did manage to make a card for the latest Inkspiration Challenge, this time being a sketch which is as follows:-
Now it's been awhile since I have made a card with this kind of orientation so I can say it was a bit of a challenge for me so it made me get out of my comfort zone.

Here is my entry:-
The size of my card is 14cm square starting with a base of my favourite colour "Cherry Cobbler". This is then followed by a square of vanilla and squares of papers from the Jolly Holiday and Love Letter ranges.

I have cut out five scallop circles which have been stamped with the "because" saying from Life Definitions in both Cherry Cobbler and Basic Black. I then crumpled them up to make my flower look "fluffy".

Now I am off to do some major cyclone preparations for the "monster cyclone" that is heading our way. I am really not looking forward to this one, some of our lower lying areas have been asked to evacuate today due to storm surges. Luckily for us we are quite high but not sure how the winds are going to effect us. Time will tell!!!

Happy stamping,

Valentine's Day cards & Roses and More Roses

2011-01-31T10:51:00.006+10:00

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

2011-01-28T13:48:00.004+10:00

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

2011-01-26T21:15:00.005+10:00

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

2011-01-22T12:18:00.007+10:00

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

2011-01-22T12:01:00.008+10:00

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

2011-01-15T12:36:00.006+10:00

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

2011-01-08T08:30:00.007+10:00

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

2011-01-04T19:29:00.005+10:00

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:

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

Okay where do I start:-

Like Patrice, I have a few craft items still uncomplete (one day!!);
I enjoy peace and quiet, but with 4 kids that is hard;
I don't mind grocery shopping, but hate working out meals for the week;
I am the most unco-ordinated person but this year I would like to try Zumba;
After many "almost" attempts I finally signed up to Facebook;
I really used to like the rain but after having so much of it the last few months, I dislike it!!
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!!!
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:-

Happy stamping,

Just Add Ink Challenge #49

2011-01-03T14:55:00.004+10:00

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

2011-01-02T23:34:00.004+10:00

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,

Some Christmas Boxes

2010-12-29T18:16:00.015+10:00

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas with family, presents, food and fun. We had a very wet Christmas Day this year and still haven't seen too much sun, although it was out for a bit today but not looking good now. My heart goes out to all of those people who are in the terrible flood zones.

After searching for something to post I came across some of the boxes that I had made for the markets and thought I would share them with you. The boxes were a huge hit and it is lovely to hear what some of the buyers were going to put in them.

So here we go:-

As you can tell I absolutely love this Fancy Favour Box die. I have made the box with Very Vanilla and stamped part of the big tree from Lovely as a Tree onto vanilla and then mounted it onto Old Olive. The little tag in the front is also made with the Big Shot and I have stamped part of the vine from Vintage Vogue onto the vanilla oval and stamped over that with the greeting. All finished off with a lovely piece of satin ribbon.

This next one is made using a piece of the Ski Slope DSP, wrapped with a ribbon and a tag made with the big shot in Chocolate Chip and then the lovely bauble stamped in Real Red. Very plain and simple.
This is also a quick and easy way to make a box just that extra special for someone. The ribbon is tied around the whole of the box and then tied up the top with a small piece of ribbon. The main box is made with Poppy Parade and a strip of Dashing DSP. The tag is made using the scallop circle in Very Vanilla, layered with a circle of Poppy Parade and the image stamped on Very Vanilla with Old Olive.

Hopefully I will get some stamping time soon so I can have something else to show you instead of Christmas bits.

Happy stamping,

Showcasing Christmas Cards

2010-12-22T08:30:00.009+10:00

I thought it was about time I showcased some of the Christmas cards I made for family and friends this year. I ended up making quite a few cards for my local market day and was very successful in selling them so I had to quickly make some more for me to use.

My first one was a card that I had cased from somewhere and unfortunately it didn't have a watermark so if it looks familiar to someone out there please know that I give credit for this idea.I have gone with Crumb Cake as the base and then my next layer is, of course, another piece of the very gorgeous Jolly Holiday DSP. The stamp I used is from Spotlight on Christmas which I coloured with markers.

This next one uses Old Olive as the background, embossed with the Polka Dot folder. I then stamped the image from the Gifted set and coloured in the little baubles with markers. I layered this onto a piece of Chocolate Chip. The ribbon is non-SU and the flowers have been made with the Boho Blossoms punch in Cherry Cobbler and Chocolate Chip.

For this one I tried to get the wreath thing happening with the Little Leaves die cut and when I look at it now I think it could have done with a bit of pruning!!! The base is Baja Breeze followed by a piece of Crumb Cake with a small strip of Real Red. I have also used a lovely strip of Ski Slope DSP. The flowers are also made using the Boho Blossoms punch, pressed down in the middle to give a nice effect.Now I just love the combination of Elegant Eggplant, Pear Pizzazz and Very Vanilla for Christmas cards. This card is using the same idea for the card you can find on a previous post here.

So there we have it, some Christmas cards (mind you I haven't sent them all out yet - my mission for today!!).

I will now take this opportunity to wish you all:

A Very Merry Christmas

And A Happy New Year

Happy stamping,

Inkspirations Christmas Blog Tour

2010-12-17T18:00:00.000+10:00

I am so excited to be a part of the "Inkspirations Christmas Gift Blog Tour" and this is also a first for me!! There are 28 stops on this tour so make a cuppa and put your feet up.

You may have arrived here from Maureen's (Crazy Stamping Lady) blog, but if you are starting here, don't worry... you can make the complete tour just by following the links at the end of each post.

I am sharing with you some very lovely Gift Tags and their packaging, which I had made for my local markets. I was so happy with how they came together.

I have made them by using a small scrapbooking sleeve from my stash. The bottoms have been sealed to make a pouch. Each pouch contains 8 tags.

There are 3 in total so here they are:-

This first one is made using Old Olive and the very lovely Jolly Holiday DSP. The tags are made using Cranberry Crisp and Old Olive with teared pieces of the DSP. I have used the Gifted and Sparkly & Bright stamp sets.

Next up is this set made with Very Vanilla and Dashing DSP. I have used Old Olive and Real Red as the combo for the tags. The back of the tags have been stamped with a "to-from" image from the Gifted Set.
For the final tag pouch, I have used Old Olive, Chocolate Chip and Baja Breeze teamed up with the Ski Slope DSP. I have also used the same stamp sets as the previous ones.

Well that's all from me and I hope you enjoy the rest of the Blog Tour. Now you're off to see the creations of Tracey (My Creative Side). Thanks for visiting!!

Happy stamping,

Something Exciting!!!

2010-12-16T10:54:00.005+10:00

I am super excited to be a part of this:-

Tomorrow (Friday 17th December) at 6 p.m. (Qld time) I am contributing to this Blog Tour and can't wait to show you all my Christmas goodies.

So while you are waiting here is a little Christmas box I made to tempt you with a little something so that you will come back and join the Blog Tour!!

I have used the Fancy Favour Box and have gone with the Elegant Eggplant and Very Vanilla (I love this combination). I have inked the baubles with Elegant Eggplant, Pear Pizzazz and Poppy Parade. For the tree I have used the edges of the lovely tree out of Lovely as a Tree set.

So don't forget to come back tomorrow night, make yourselves a cuppa and enjoy this amazing Blog Tour.

Happy stamping,

Christmas Gift Card Pockets

2010-12-13T10:30:00.019+10:00

Over the past few weeks I have been busy getting things together to do a market stall at my local markets which was held yesterday. I had an awesome day and sold most of my Christmas bits, but the one thing that I sold six out of seven were the Christmas Gift Card pockets.

I bought a tutorial some time back to help raise funds for a little boy called "Hudson". You can read more about this amazing little boy and the hardships his family has endured by checking out their blog here. Anyway, in this bundle I received were some terrific ideas, one of them being a Gift Card pocket by Monique Fielder.

Here are the ones I made:-

The top pick is the pocket all closed up with a belly band and the bottom one is opened up with a gift card inside and a space to write a greeting.

A lovely Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip and Baja Breeze version.

This one is made using Very Vanilla and a spotty Christmas DSP.

One with Rose Red cardstock and the very lovely Jolly Holiday DSP.

The very cheeky reindeer from Holiday Lineup complimented this one.

This next one is made with Kiwi Kiss and a lovely stripey DSP.

And last, but not least, this lovely Baja Breeze and the cute snowmen.

Wow, this was a long post. Hope you didn't mind scrolling down. I had so much fun making these and they are just perfect for Christmas gift cards for the "hard to buy for" person.

Happy staming,

Teachers' Christmas Gifts Part 2

2010-12-07T08:08:00.003+10:00

Here is the second post for the day with my son's Teachers' Christmas gifts. As he has two teachers I made two sets so here is the second set. After having my little argument with blogger I needed to do this in two posts. You can scroll down to see the first post.

Without further ado here is the second set:-
I have used Cherry Cobbler as the base for this set and also used some of the gorgeous Jolly Holiday papers. It is all so very pretty!!! The poinsettia flowers are made using the 5 petal punch.

I have just raced them up to the school to give to the Teachers this morning and they just loved the packaging. One of the teachers said she still has the little box I made for them at Easter!!!

Anyway I am off to do some "Learner" driving this morning with my daughter so that should be fun :)

Happy stamping,

Teachers' Christmas Gifts Part 1

2010-12-07T07:45:00.008+10:00

As promised I am back with something Chrissmasy!!! I finally managed to get my camera back which ended up having a holiday with one of my daughter's friends after her school camp :(

Now I am having a bit of a fight with blogger at the moment and am having so much trouble trying to move my pics around so am going to do this post in two parts.

I have made my son's Teachers' Christmas gifts this year and decided not to go with the usual chocolates instead I am giving them Christmas ornaments as well as the choccies.
For this set I have gone with Very Vanilla as the base followed by the very gorgeous Jolly Holiday DSP. Now I can tell you that I had sooo much trouble cutting into these absolutely lovely papers, they are just too nice to chop up!!!

The box is the very lovely Tucked Away design which you can find on Lauren Meader's Timeless Templates blog found here.

Now off to do my second post.

Happy stamping,

A Couple of Quick Cards

2010-11-25T08:13:00.009+10:00

As the title suggests the following two cards were made in about 10 minutes. I absolutely love plain and simple and sometimes that's all a card needs to be.

Here they are:-
The colours I have gone with were Pink Passion, Green Galore, Real Red and Tangerine Tango. I coloured "the more candles the bigger the wish!" in various markers. I thought they ended up really nice indeed.

I have been working on lots of Christmas gift boxes and cards at the moment but haven't been able to photograph anything at the moment, compliments of my lovely daughter taking my camera to her school camp!!!

So stay tuned and I should be all Christmasy (is that a word!!) soon.

Happy stamping,

A Couple of Bugs!!

2010-11-19T06:59:00.004+10:00

While I was going through my stash of cards I realised that I didn't have many kid's cards so I started working on some to add to my collection. I just love the cute bugs from Bugs & Kisses so decided to do a couple with this set.

The first one is a boy's version:-

I have always wanted to do one of these cute magnifying glass and my inspiration from this one came from my very lovely friend, Karen, and you can find her card here. I have added a piece of acetate to make the little magnifying window.

My next card is a girly version of the bugs:-

I loved how this one turned out. Now my inspiration for this card came while doing a bit of blog surfing and you can find that card in the post here. I loved the inspiration card so much that I only managed to change the colours.

Hopefully over the weekend I am able to work on some Christmas items so I can make my blog look all Christmasy.

Happy stamping,

A Beautiful Lily Box

2010-11-09T08:32:00.004+10:00

I have been making so many boxes of late and just wanted to share this one with you. The box is made using the Big Shot Scallop Envelope Die. I can't remember exactly where I found the tutorial but it's quite easy. It uses 4 Scallop Envelopes which are then all attached together to form a box.

Here it is:-

I have used Melon Mambo as the base and have teamed it up with Certainly Celery for the scallop lid. You will also need to cut another 4 envelopes if you wanted to make the scallops a contrasting colour and attach them to the inside of the lid.

Now for the wow factor take a look at the gorgeous lily flowers!!! Aren't they fantastic. Now I came across Valita's Designs & Fresh Folds where she has a tutorial on how to make these flowers. You can find the post for it here.

Here is a close up of the lillies:-

I think these lillies are perfect to use on tops of boxes, they just give it that extra lift. So stay tuned and I will endeavour to add some more boxes made with this die.

Happy stamping,

The Final Instalment

2010-11-02T08:34:00.006+10:00

Here is the final instalment to my All Boxed Up project, the 3in x 3in mini cards and tags that can be tied to gifts. If you have missed the first post just scroll down a couple of posts and you will see what I am referring to.
These ended up being quite simple as well. I really had no idea what I was going to put together, they just sort of happened!!! I so loved this project, might even be adventurous and make some more, one day soon :) (or should I say one or two weeks).

Good luck to all the horsey punters out there who are having a flutter on the Melbourne Cup today. It's quite funny that this is the one and only horse race that I actually watch, but I guess I am not the only one!!!!

Happy stamping,

All Boxed Up Cards

2010-11-01T07:18:00.006+10:00

I am finally getting around to posting some of the contents I had made for the All Boxed Up project in my previous post.

These are the four cards which I kept simple so that they could fit into the envelope pockets without too much trouble, less is better so they say!!

Here they are:-
I went with a few different sentiments so there is a variety of cards for all occasions. I so love the Parisian Breeze papers and sadly I have not much left now, just a few scraps which might show up on some more projects.

Stay tuned for the rest of the project bits which I will pop on here later. I would also like to thank everyone who left comments on my blog for this project. I am so humbled that there are some lovely people out there who check into my little blog.

Happy stamping,

A Beautiful Gift Package

2010-10-30T17:54:00.004+10:00

Well here I am, back as promised, to show you what I have been working on for the past few days. As the title suggests this is a lovely gift package put together by using a template which you can purchase through Lauren Meader's Timeless Templates. This one is called All Boxed Up.

Here it is:-
This is the front of the box which I have made using Soft Suede. My colour scheme for this project is Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, Taken With Teal and Close to Cocoa. I have also used the very lovely Parisian Breeze papers (what I have left, anyway!!). The stamped images are from Vintage Vogue.
Here is the box all opened up containing 4 standard sized cards, 4 small cards (measuring 3in x 3in) and 4 gift tags.
These are all the cards and tags set out on display. I will endeavour to put them on separate posts at a later date so you can see them better. So there we have it!!! In the end I ended up getting cramps in my fingers from cutting out so many flowers but in the end I think it was well worth it!!!

Happy stamping,

An Award - Who Me?

2010-10-29T21:10:00.005+10:00

I was most excited to receive this gorgeous award from two very talented stampers, Patrice and Jodene. A very big thank you to both. Here is the beautiful award:-

Isn't it gorgeous!!! Now there are so many talented stampers I don't know where to start so there may be a couple of you who have already received this award so I hope you don't mind if I also pass it on.

Karen Thomas (Luv to Stamp)

Tammy Hanlon (Stamp with Tam)

Kerri Donsky (KerriD's Blog)

Kirsty Brown (Kirsty's Card n Scrap)

I would like to thank you all for the inspiration that keeps me card making and also those of you who visit my blog and leave all of the lovely comments.

Hopefully I will be back here over the weekend to show you what I have been working on for the last few days. Sorry to be such a spoil sport but I haven't managed to take pics yet.

Happy stamping,

Some Pun Fun

2010-10-23T11:23:00.004+10:00

I have been in the process of updating my stash of cards and have made a couple more kid's cards to add. A while ago my lovely friend, Karen, bought around her Pun Fun stamp set and I managed to stamp up some of the images to use for a rainy day. Well, as we have had so many rainy days it was about time I used them!!!

So here are two cute cards made with this set:-

Here is the girl version using the very gorgeous hippo, isn't she the cutest!!! I have used Pink Pirouette as the base of my card followed by a lovely piece of DSP from Candy Lane. The flowers were cut with the Boho Blossoms punch and layered together. My colour choices were Pink Piroutte, Very Vanilla, Pale Plum and Riding Hood Red. I have also mounted the stamped image onto Riding Hood Red card.

Not to forget the boys here is one for them. I have gone with Baja Breeze as the base card followed by the very lovely DSP Sweet Slumber. For the circles and stars I have used Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze, Whisper White and Apricot Appeal (didn't have any So Saffron!!).

So there we have it, two very different cards for the kids using the same style. This makes it so much easier when you need to make quite a few cards.

Happy stamping,

Just Add Ink Challenge #39

2010-10-16T12:14:00.004+10:00

Wow, it seems like it has been awhile since I participated in a Just Add Ink Challenge so this time I was determined to join in.

This week the challenge is set with the Anxiety and Depression Awareness Month which runs for the month of October. The challenge is to Just Add Blue and there was also an extra challenge to send the card you had made to someone "Just Because". I sat for awhile and thought about my card but I already knew exactly who I was going to send it to.

So here is my challenge entry:- I went with a set that I haven't inked up in awhile (only because I was too lazy and still sick to cut out all the flowers!!!). I have chosen Not Quite Navy for the base card followed by Baja Breeze then Very Vanilla. The flowers are stamped in Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze and Bashful Blue. The card is then finished off with a lovely ribbon that was from my stash, it's very soft.

Now to enter the challenge and send it to my "special someone".

Happy stamping,

More Sympathy Cards

2010-10-06T08:33:00.007+10:00

We arrived back safe and sound from Brisbane ready for the children to head back to school on Monday. I think I need a holiday from being so busy on our holiday!!!! There was a lot of walking and a lot of driving involved.

Anyway, as in my previous post I was updating my stash of cards and needed a bit of variety so ended up making a few sympathy and get well cards to have on hand.

Here is the first card I have to show you:-

Now I have to tell that this card is mostly a complete CASE from a very lovely card made by the very talented Nikki Stalker. You can find Nikki's card here. I borrowed this lovely Brocade Basics stamp set from a friend and just had to re-create this card. I ended up using Mellow Moss as the base for my card followed by a lovely piece of DSP from Parisian Breeze then followed by a layer of Chocolate Chip and stamped the image on white card. I finished it off with a gorgeous piece of ribbon that I had in my stash.

And for the next:-

This card was also a CASE but unfortunately I can't for the life of me find the creator to give them credit. If anyone recognises this similar card please know that I was totally inspired by your creation. For this card I used Pink Pirouette as the base card followed by a piece of DSP from a pack I just can't remember at the moment (think it might have been Bella Rose). I have again gone with the lovely Brocade Basics and have stamped up the leaves in Certainly Celery and the flowers in Pink Pirouette.

So there we have it, a couple of Sympathy cards to have on hand, hopefully I won't need to use them for some time.

Happy stamping,

Adding some variety

2010-09-27T09:04:00.006+10:00

As I mentioned in my previous post I ended up making a few sympathy and get well cards to add some variety to my card stash. It is always handy to have these type of cards on hand as you just never know when they could be needed. I just recently lost a cousin to a horrible cancer disease. My cousin was just such an outgoing person and he loved life, his family and just everything in general. But we can be sure that he is now in peace and no longer suffering anymore.

I have a couple of different cards to show you, the first one here is a Sympathy card:-
I have chosen Not Quite Navy as the base of my card followed by Very Vanilla. I have used Certainly Celery as the base of the mat piece followed by the polka dot paper. I have stamped my flower image with Certainly Celery, Baja Breeze and Not Quite Navy. This is then layered onto a piece of Not Quite Navy. It is then all finished off with a lovely chocolate ribbon, tied with a celery bow.

My next card is a Get Well card:-

Now for this card I have chosen Kiwi Kiss, Kraft (Crumb Cake), Very Vanilla and Elegant Eggplant. I just absolutely loved this colour combo even though Kiwi Kiss is no longer available I still have a fair bit in my stash as it is one of my favourite greens. I have to add in here that I also used River Rock to stamp the big flower petals. I then stamped Elegant Eggplant over the top of them.

I was inspired by a gorgeous card by my lovely friend Karen Thomas and you can see her inspiration card here. I didn't change it too much as I just loved Karen's card when I first spied it on her blog and have had it saved to my computer for a one day card.

Anyway, I am off to do some more packing. We are heading to Brisbane to catch up with my husband's family. It will be the first time in a very long time that both of his sisters and brother will be in the same place at the same time!!!

Happy stamping,

Just Add Ink - Challenge #35

2010-09-20T09:15:00.004+10:00

The theme for the challenge at Just Add Ink this week is Sympathy. It just so happened that I was going through my stash of cards and really needed to make some more Sympathy and Get Well cards so that was on my to-do-list. I ended up making about 5 sympathy cards but just chose one to enter this challenge. You can find the Just Add Ink challenge here.

Here is my card:-
I have used Very Vanilla as the base of the card and also for the Top Note die as well. The stamped image is from Thoughts & Prayers which I have coloured with the markers. I haven't used this set for so long so it was good to get it out and get the dust off it!! I just love the simplicity of this card which I think is always good when making such cards like this.

The photo is again not so great. I made quite a few cards over the last couple of days and thought I would leave them all to photograph at a later date (today) but we have had constant rain since the early hours of this morning and it hasn't stopped since!!!

My husband bought me a new laptop last weekend but I am still waiting for him to install a couple of programs for me so that I can edit my pics and add the watermarks to my cards. At present I am using the "old dinosaur" to update my blog today.

Happy stamping,

A Birthday Card for a Birthday Boy

2010-09-16T11:27:00.004+10:00

Today is my middle son's birthday and he is now 11 years old. My golly time does go so fast, I can even remember vividly the early morning when he decided to make his entrance in such a big rush. I reckon that's why he can never walk anywhere, always runs!!!

As always I have been busy making lots of other projects and cards but left his birthday card until yesterday to make!! After much deliberating I finally came up with this:-

He absolutely loved it and told me it was "wicked", I presume this means he liked it!!!

Now I can't take the credit for this idea and I was inspired by this lovely creation by the equally lovely and talented Teneale Williams and you can find her card here, which I did change a bit to make it more "boyish". I loved Teneale's card so much when I first spied it on her blog and set myself a challenge to give it a go. Even though I enjoyed making this card for my son I don't think I will be in a hurry to reproduce it.

Hopefully I will get around to some more card making over the school holidays and will have some more cards to share with you.

Happy stamping,

Just Add Ink - Challenge #34

2010-09-11T14:50:00.005+10:00

Time for another Just Add Ink challenge and this time it is a gorgeous colour combo just perfect for spring. Here is the combo:-
Gorgeous aren't they? I don't have any Crumb Cake but substituted with Kraft which I think is close enough. As soon as I saw these colours I thought of butterflies and flowers so ended up going with a bit of a spring theme.

Here is my card:-
Again I must apologise for the bad pic. It is so windy outside today and I wanted to use some natural light so had to take it quickly before the wind took it away!!

I have started off with a Kraft base followed by a Certainly Celery top not die which I then embossed with the polka dot folder. It's hard to tell but the butterfly has been stamped in Pretty in Pink then layered onto a piece of Pretty in Pink underneath. I kind of folded the wings up a bit. Looking at my ribbon there it doesn't look quite straight but I swear it doesn't look like that in real life!!! I have also versa-marked the little leaves from the Sprinkles set on the Kraft card.

Happy stamping,

The Lollipop Ladies - Challenge #3

2010-09-08T06:41:00.003+10:00

I told you my mojo is making a slow return!! I have often looked at these gorgeous Lollipop Ladies challenges but haven't got around to having a go until I saw this challenge which was to use cellophane or acetate on your project. I must admit I did sit and scratch my head for ages trying to think of something.

So here is my challenge card and I can tell you there were a couple of ideas that I cased so that this project came together.

Sorry about the pic, it doesn't look so great. We have had not such nice weather here at the moment so I have been taking my pics inside where the light isn't the best.

Anyway my inspiration came from this lovely card here on Lorri Heiling's blog. Aren't those icecreams just so delicious!!! My other inspiration for the lollipops came from my lovely friend Karen Thomas and you can find her card here.

I have chosen Rich Razzleberry, Tangerine Tango and Kiwi Kiss for the lollipops. They are then wrapped in parts of a cello bag and all adhered with glue dots. It's hard to tell but I have stamped "sweet treats" on the bottom from the Teeny Tiny Sentiments set.

Now off to enter this gorgeous challenge.

Happy stamping,

Just Add Ink - Challenge #33

2010-09-07T13:29:00.004+10:00

I think my mojo might be making a bit of a return!!! I decided that today was the day that I would tackle the latest Just Add Ink Challenge and surprised myself with a card that I think fits the bill.

Here is the sketch that the lovely ladies at Just Add Ink had for us this week:-

I loved this sketch and it was so easy to work with. So without further ado here is my entry card:-

I have used Chocolate Chip as the base card followed by a layer of Riding Hood Red then a layer of vanilla. I stamped the bottom of my card with a lovely stamp from Vintage Vogue in Chocolate Chip. The label is Lots of Tags from the Sizzlits range cut with the Big Shot.

I have then stamped up the large flower from Vintage Vogue in Chocolate Chip then the smaller flower in Riding Hood Red. I have also used a red rhinestone brad in the middle of the flowers. The ribbon is some that I have had in my stash.

Happy stamping,

Just Add Ink - Challenge #32 - Material

2010-08-30T16:05:00.003+10:00

It feels like it's been a while since I have updated this poor blog. I have had so much going on in the last few weeks with my daughter's Deb ball, then our family all getting sick with the flu over the past couple of weeks. Then throw in a couple of birthdays as well.

In the middle of all that I seemed to have lost my mojo somewhere and would sit at my desk for ages just thinking of what I could create!!!

I kept thinking about the new Just Add Ink Challenge and decided that today was the day that I would create something. I cringed when I saw material as I am not an avid sewer (can't sew to save myself!!!) or have a lot of material on hand. I scrummaged through my old sewing box (yes I do have one of them!!) and came up with some lovely lace bits that I used to use when making knitted coathangers. My goodness that seems like so long ago, I even found one that was finished that just needed to be put onto a hanger!!!

Anyway, here is my entry for the Just Add Ink Challenge #32 which you can find here:-
It's hard to see in the photo but I have ruffled the lace under the polka dot paper. This is the lace that has the holes in the middle which I have hidden underneath.

Here is a close up of the lace that I have used to make some leaves underneath the rose but when I had finished it I didn't like it because you couldn't see it properly so then I just slotted the leaves underneath the lace.

Not sure if my mojo is back but I ended up being happy with this creation after it all came together although I wasn't too confident. Now off to enter the challenge.

Happy stamping,

More Fancy Favour Boxes

2010-08-15T11:22:00.004+10:00

I was going through my pics to find something to update my blog with and found a couple of pics of some Fancy Favour boxes I had made while having a play with the Big Shot. I just love this die, it is so very handy to use for any kind of box.

So here we have it:-

What do you think - a little bit beachy!!! I think they would make a beach party just that little bit more perfect. I have used Kraft and then randomly stamped the lovely little fish, bubbles and seashells over it. The little tags are tied onto the ribbon with string.

Happy stamping,

Birthday Invites

2010-08-10T10:11:00.004+10:00

I have been asked by a lovely friend if I would make her invitations for her 30th birthday and the request was colourful and dragons!! Well colourful I could do, but dragons??? (even though my kids think I could be one!!!) - lucky my friend had a couple of dragon stamps on hand so all was good.

We ended up deciding on 10 different colours with eight invites of each colour. Anyway, here they all ready to be written on:-
From left to right we have Purple, Orange, Yellow and Black. We have colour co-ordinated the invitations to match each other.

This next lot we have are Silver, Red, Teal and Pink.
For the last two colours we have chosen Blue and Green. Now some of the colours are Stampin' Up! but as I did not have enough of some colours to do the whole lot we ended up using a variety of other cardstock but all the ink pads we used were Stampin' Up! It's hard to tell from the pics but we did clear emboss the bottom dragon in Basic Black and coloured them with blender pens and the ink pads. The top dragons are stamped in colours and then clear embossed.

They are not the best of photos as we have had some overcast days here and I took these ones indoors.

Happy stamping,

Just Add Ink - Challenge #29

2010-08-06T13:49:00.007+10:00

Well I told you I would be back and this time I have completed the new Just Add Ink Challenge. Here is the colour challenge which is absolutely gorgeous!!!:-

When I saw Always Artichoke I must admit that I did cringe as this is a colour I don't use very often. I ended up searching through my scraps and managed to scrape up a couple of small pieces.

So I went on my merry way with my challenge project and lo and behold when I was almost finished I realised, with horror, that I had used Regal Rose instead of Rose Red. I managed to rip off the offending colour and fixed it up with the right one, phew!!

Here is my entry:-
This is the cutest little bird house and the template you can find here. It is very easy to put together. This is the front view and you will notice that I have the top of the roof sticking out a bit and that is because I haven't filled it with anything yet so will look at closing it down with something later on. I'm not sure what kind of bird this is meant to be but it does look cute.

Here is a view of the top. I have versamarked the Canvas background on the roof and then used the word window punch to jazz it up a bit and make it stripey. This roof part was the bit where I had accidentally used the wrong colour so it was quite easy to fix.

Now to enter this lovely challenge.

Happy stamping,

A Card with Seahorses

2010-08-06T08:01:00.002+10:00

A while ago I had made a card for a Just Add Ink challenge with the Ocean Commotion set and was stoked to be placed in the top 5!!! I then decided to make another card using the same set, this time with the seahorses.

Here are the seahorses:-

I have used Pacific Point as the base of my card followed by Soft Suede and then Baja Breeze. I have also polka dot embossed the top not die after stamping the lovely swirls with Pacific Point, Baja Breeze and Soft Suede. After looking at this card I am not sure of the positioning of the ribbon, it looks a bit odd!!

I am off to have a go at the new Just Add Ink colour challenge so if I'm lucky I may have two posts in one day, woohoo!!!

Happy stamping,

Just Add Ink #28 - A Man Card

2010-07-31T13:12:00.004+10:00

When I saw this challenge I let out a big sigh because I do struggle with male cards but the girls at Just Add Ink made this challenge easier by giving us the colours to use as well. Half the problem was solved.

I decided to make a card for Father's Day seeing that it is not too far away. My goodness where is this year going!!!

So here are the colours:- And here is my card:-
When I look at it now, I think I should have stamped up my image on white cardstock or even vanilla but anyway I am happy with it. I hope my Dad will like this one!!!

Happy stamping,

Fancy Favour Fun

2010-07-30T07:49:00.013+10:00

I am so in love with the Fancy Favour Box, so much so that I have made a few boxes to share with you all. I love how easy it is to whip up a couple in no time!!! (A big plug here for the Big Shot, yay!!!).

Here are a couple of boxes that I made yesterday:-

This one is using the gorgeous Sweet Always paper (sorry about the pic!! - not the best).

This is the side view with the very lovely Boho Blossoms flower that I used on the handles.

(Now that I look at this pic I think I should have stuck a bit more tape where the Curly Label punch is!!!).

Now for the next one (bright warning here!!!):-

See, told you it was a bit bright!!! I have used the very bright Pink Passion and mixed it up with a few other bright colours for the lollies.

See my neat trick with the lollies? I was too lazy to cut out all of the little circles and hearts so I punched them out!!!

Here is the back of the box with all the lollies.

So there we have it, two fancy favour boxes!!! I do have some more to show but that's for another post.

Happy stamping,

Another Card

2010-07-26T08:30:00.005+10:00

I just loved the sketch at Just Add Ink so while I was doing my entry card I also had a play around with the sketch and made another card.

So here it is:-I decided to use the very cute Fox & Friends set and went with the colours of Not Quite Navy, Soft Suede and Pumpkin Pie. I don't think I have ever seen a blue turtle but, hey, there just may be one out there somewhere!!!

This sketch is definitely one I will be saving for future cards, it is just so easy to work with. I love it when you don't have to think too much!! I have decided not to enter this one, it was just for fun.

Happy stamping,

Just Add Ink - Challenge #27

2010-07-24T10:07:00.004+10:00

I have really been enjoying these challenges set by the lovely team at Just Add Ink and this sketch was no exception. Here is where you can find this sketch:-I had just received the very gorgeous Vintage Vogue set so decided to ink it up for the first time with this sketch challenge. So here is my entry for this week's challenge:-

I inked up one of the stamps in Soft Suede and made a background with it and then cut the circles out of it. The small flowers are inked in Perfect Plum and the bigger one in Rich Razzleberry. This was a lovely sketch to work with and I didn't have too much trouble!!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Just Add Ink - Top 5

2010-07-22T19:05:00.008+10:00

Woohoo, I am so super excited!! Take a look at my achievement:-

I was out and about this afternoon and my gorgeous friend, Karen, sent me a text to tell me that I was chosen as one of the Top 5 Picks for the latest Just Add Ink Challenge. I couldn't wait to come home and take a peek and I even found some time to update my blog.

I was so priviliged to be amongst the other lovely winners, my friend Karen, included. Thanks to the girls at Just Add Ink, I am absolutely honoured. Can't wait to have a peek at the next challenge!!!

Just Add Ink - Challenge #26

2010-07-18T18:20:00.004+10:00

Two posts in one day, woohoo!!! I managed to have a play with the Just Add Ink challenge for this week (embossing) and, even though I haven't heat embossed for some time, I thought I would give it a try. You can find the link for the Just Add Ink challenge here.

In the end I decided on two types of embossing, heat and dry. I met my gorgeous friend, Karen, today and I bought the Ocean Commotion set from her so I just had to have a play with it as soon as I came home!!!

So here is my entry:-

It's a bit hard to see in the pic, but I have embossed the swirls with versa mark using Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy and Basic Gray. I have also embossed the fish, one with Not Quite Navy and the other one with a silver embossing powder. I then popped the whole layer into the polka dot embossing folder. The gorgeous ribbon (non-Stampin' Up!) was purchased from my local Spotlight.

I was very happy with this card in the end. After not having embossed for so long it was very refreshing for a change. Might bring it out more often!!!

Now I'm off to enter my card.

Hmm... Do I... or Don't I?

2010-07-18T09:08:00.005+10:00

I don't know if I am game to show this card!! It was my first attempt at a previous Just Add Ink colour challenge but when it all came together I wasn't fussed on it at all!!!

It started out in my head as something completely different but when I starting putting it all together it just wasn't what I had in mind :(

So here is my failed attempt:-

So there we have it!!! I did use a new technique however... the ruffles behind the oval punch out. This was made using the scallop edge punch and then running it through a crimper, and very tediously placing it around the oval.

Anyway, I have stashed it away in my stash so someone out there might like it!!!

Clean & Simple Challenge #98

2010-07-12T17:41:00.005+10:00

See, told you I would be back!!! Here is the sketch challenge from the lovely gals at Clean and Simple Stamping, which you can find here:-

I tried to make a card using this sketch, but alas, I wasn't happy with the way it was coming together, so in the end I ditched that card and started afresh. So without further ado here is my entry for this lovely challenge:-
I have used the same base as the other card, Not Quite Navy, and have embossed the gorgeous Manhattan Flower onto my vanilla card. I have also teamed it up with the very lovely Fifth Avenue Floral flower and have added a bit of Chocolate Chip and Baja Breeze in there as well.

So there we have it, two challenge cards made this morning and entered this afternoon.

Inkspiration Sketch Challenge #31

2010-07-12T17:28:00.005+10:00

I really have been on a cardmaking roll of late and have managed to make 6 RAK cards, 1 birthday card and several challenge cards, phew!!!

I loved the sketch that Makeesha had put up and had a play with this one first. This is the sketch which you can find here:-I tried with this sketch a couple of times but was happy with my result in the end. I think I could spend way too much time with these sketches, but decided to keep it simple.

Here is my entry:-
It doesn't photograph too well, but I used Not Quite Navy for the base of the card and then mixed and matched up some DSP. I have pierced holes in the top and bottom of the card as well. Now I'm off to enter this card.

I have also made another card for another challenge which I will be posting after this one, so two posts in one day, yay!!!

Just Add Ink - Challenge #25

2010-07-11T18:42:00.004+10:00

The very talented ladies at Just Add Ink have put together a gorgeous colour combo for this challenge which is:-Isn't it a fantastic combo. I can tell you that I did have such a struggle and couldn't decide what stamp set to use. In the end I came up with something that I'm not all entirely happy with but I will enter it anyway, someone might like it!!!

Here is my entry:-

I must confess I did make another card for this challenge but after all it wasn't how I imagined it to be so I gave up on it and started this one instead. I will show you in a later post the failed attempt!!!

It might be hard to tell but I stamped the stem up in Soft Suede and I stamped up the sentiment on the bottom with it as well. I even managed to scrap up a little scrap of eggplant!! Well I'm off to add it as an entry.

Keep stamping,

Three More RAK's

2010-07-07T08:47:00.004+10:00

As promised here are a few more RAK's I had made and sent to some of the wonderful members of a group that I have joined. I can post them here now as I know they have been received so I won't spoil the surprise!!!

The following cards are all using the same layout, just changing the colours and stamp sets. I find it quicker to make cards when they are roughly all the same as you can cut everything out all together and then just whip them all up.

Here they are:-This first one is using Kiwi Kiss and the very lovely new colour, Soft Suede. I think this owl is just the cutest!!!
I have used the very bright Melon Mambo for the base of this card and teamed it up with Kiwi Kiss and some very lovel DSP.

This one is made with Baja Breeze and also Soft Suede matching it up with that very beautiful DSP from the parisian breeze pack. I just love this little teacup!!!

Happy stamping,

Inkspiration Colour Challenge #30

2010-07-04T10:59:00.005+10:00

Well it's been a while since I have entered one of Makeesha's Inkspirations Challenges but when I saw these gorgeous colours I just couldn't resist. And guess what - it has Rich Razzleberry (my favourite!!!). Here is the challenge:-

And here is my entry for the challenge:-

Don't you just love the cute flower which is made using the scallop circle punch and also one of the flowers from the boho blossoms punch. It's a bit hard to tell but the scallop circle is actually two that are layered together. I managed to whip this card together in no time, just love the big shot!!!

Now I'm off to enter the challenge!!!

Happy stamping,

Just Add Ink - Challenge #24

2010-07-02T15:26:00.006+10:00

Wow, two posts in one day - I'm on a roll!!! I checked out the Just Add Ink Challenge and thought that I could quickly whip something up in between the washing and the rest of the housework, so I did!!!

Here is the sketch challenge:-
So nice and simple, don't you think. And here is my card that I am entering for this Challenge:-
I realised I didn't have room to add the sentiment at the bottom so I stamped mine at the top. As per previous cards of late I have used Rich Razzleberry again.

Happy stamping,

A Couple of RAK Cards

2010-07-02T09:26:00.004+10:00

Good morning all. I'm back to show you a couple of RAK (Random Act of Kindness) cards that I had made for members of a group that I am also a member of. I can show them to you now as I know the receipients have received them. One of the cards was displayed on a fellow member's blog and I was so excited to see it there.

I have two to show you today and the rest will follow:-

I am really loving the Rich Razzleberry colour and it goes beautifully with a lot of different combinations. It is so much fun making cards for people who also enjoy cardmaking. You know that they will be appreciated.

I'm off to take my middle son to the dentist, he has a toothache that he has been complaining of since late last night. Aahh, this child seriously does not have much luck with teeth. He had his front two teeth knocked out by his older brother when he was four. Last year (also in the school holidays) he managed to knock a tooth out when mucking around on his scooter, lucky it was only a baby tooth, phew!!

Happy stamping,

Eclipse - Twilight Saga

2010-07-01T08:00:00.003+10:00

Wow, what an amazing night. My lovely daughter, Emily, and I went to the midnight screening of the new Twilight Saga - Eclipse movie. I can say, without a doubt, that this would have to be the best movie so far, absolutely beautiful!!!!

I won't spoil it for any other fans out there but I would have to say that it was kept pretty much true to the book.

Sorry this post is not card-related but I just had to share that little snippet of news. It was the first time we have managed to get to the midnight screening and it was definitely well worth the wait. I can say that I am still "Team Edward"!!!!

Bye for now,

Enjoy... Another Card

2010-06-28T08:42:00.007+10:00

I couldn't wait to share with you another card using the Enjoy Every Moment set and I am also having a play with a signature I want to add to the bottom of my posts. Here's hoping it works!!

So here is the card:- It's hard to tell but the base card is using Certainly Celery, which I find can be a really hard colour to photograph. It just never comes out just right. I am also using the Cottage Garden DSP as well.

Anyway, here we go with the signature:-

Enjoy...

2010-06-27T08:09:00.014+10:00

I couldn't resist this stamp set when it came up as a special price for June and just had to have it!!! I even managed to have a play with it yesterday and made a couple of lovely cards with it. I have been eyeing off this set for so long now and wonder why it took me so long to get it. It was one of those "one day" sets.

I am also loving the new cottage wall papers and seem to be grabbing for them when I am creating.

So here is my card using the lovely Enjoy Every Moment stamp set:-

I have used Rich Razzleberry for the base of my card followed by a layer of Pale Plum and the lovely DSP. The strip of green is Old Olive layered with another piece of the DSP. And, I finally got around to using one of the grommets, took me a while!!! The purple button is one I had in my sewing stash and I threaded through some olive cardstock.

I thought it was a bit too much when I started putting it all together but I think it fitted in perfectly. I will be adding the other card I made with this set later on this week so stay tuned!!

Happy stamping.

Testing a Watermark

2010-06-23T16:11:00.003+10:00

I have been having so much fun with photoshop and have decided to make my own watermark. Well I have learnt something new in the last couple of days thanks with help from my eldest son, a friend and the many tutorials on You Tube!!! It's good to know that the old brain can learn new tricks after all.

So here we go with a couple of cards I had sitting in my stash which I believe were inspired by an example in a Stampin Up catalogue (just can't remember which one!!). I am so proud of myself for achieving this small task and I even managed to download some brushes with nice little pics of ladybugs and butterflies, super cool!!!

So there we have it, my very own "handmade" watermark. What do you think? I hope it's not too big. I am just so proud of myself and the lovely people who helped me (without them I probably wouldn't have any hair left!!!).

Good Neighbour Cards

2010-06-17T08:07:00.006+10:00

Some time ago I CASED a beautiful card using the Good Neighbour set which a friend had saved onto her computer. It didn't have a watermark on it so we couldn't find it!! Anyway, yesterday when I had a few spare minutes I did a bit of blog surfing and lo and behold I found the lovely blog of a very talented US demonstrator who had made this card.

Now this blog is called Card Scraps operated by two talented ladies, Brenda and Lianne. The link to their blog can be found here. The card that I created from the original pic I had can be found in Project Sheets where you can download some gorgeous projects. If only I had have found that before trying to make this card from scratch!!!

I just loved this card so much that I decided to make two and I sent one to my lovely friend, who moved away from here last year.

Here they are:-
The first one uses Rich Razzleberry and Kraft and the second card is using Melon Mambo (this is the one I sent to my friend). Although the photos don't do them justice they are gorgeous cards.

Happy stamping.

Some Sketch Challenges

2010-06-14T12:49:00.006+10:00

Well, this morning I took my lovely daughter for her first drive and decided to do it in our automatic landcruiser. Thought we would just stick with the feel of the car and the road before we let her use a manual car. She did very well considering the size of our 4WD but I suppose if she can manage that then she can manage anything!!! I think I had some fingernail squeeze marks on the palm of my hand from holding onto my side door handle - don't tell her that!!

Anyway on with the cards. I am a member of a lovely yahoo group and have managed to get around to doing some of the sketch challenges - I love these challenges because there is no time limit and you can do them at your own leisure.

I have made three cards so without further ado here they are:-

I love doing sketches because sometimes you can just tell what stamp set to use for certain sketches. I really like the one that looks a bit beachy, the flow of the paper just reminds me of the beach.

Happy stamping.

Happy Birthday - My Beautiful Emily

2010-06-09T13:56:00.004+10:00

It is my only daughter's birthday today and she is "Sweet 16" (and never been kissed, hahaha!!). My children are growing up so fast, kind of brings a tear to the eye.

After handing out the pressies this morning I realised, once she had left for school, that I forgot to give her the cards that I had made.

So here they are, one from Mum and Dad and the other from her three brothers:-

I ended up casing both of these cards as I haven't been able to put anything together lately. The first one from Melissa which you can find here and the second one is from my very lovely and talented friend Karen.

We have planned a dinner date for the family tonight, so that should be a lot of fun.

Enjoy your birthday, my gorgeous Emily, we love you very very much!!!!

A Cute Purse on a Card

2010-06-07T16:42:00.005+10:00

It's been awhile but I lost my mojo there for a bit and then my whole family (of 6) ending up getting a horrible gastro bug over the last few days so that hasn't been much fun at all!!! In the middle of all that I had a birthday and received a lovely new camera, so hopefully you will be able to see some improvements in my photography - maybe :)

Anyway, one day while I was checking out ideas for the Top Note Die I came across a lovely card by Amanda Coughlin (from the U.S.) and new I would just have to case it. Here is where you can find the inspired card and some other lovely ideas as well.

Now, here is the card I made with a few little changes:-

The photo doesn't really do it justice, but it is such a cute card. At least it's a handbag you can't fill up with junk!!!

Hopefully my mojo makes a return soon so I can show you some more of my creativeness (is that even a word!!).

Happy stamping!

Last One... for now!!

2010-05-28T08:58:00.003+10:00

I am back with another card made with the very cute Fox & Friends set as promised and, for the moment, the last one!!

Here it is:-

It's hard to tell in the photo but the background card is actually Soft Suede and I have teamed it up with Not Quite Navy, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive and Kraft. I popped up the tortoise's shell and head, the lions mane and face and also the monkey's tail.

I am having a bit of a lost mojo happening at the moment and just can't seem to get into it :( I tried to make a couple of cards this morning but after a few little mishaps (won't go there!!!) I decided that today was just not the day.

Bye for now :)

Another Cute Card

2010-05-22T07:18:00.005+10:00

I am back again with another card made with the adorable Fox & Friends set. I so enjoyed having a play with this set, it is just so cute. As promised here is my next cute card:-

I think this makes the perfect little boy's card. I have used Not Quite Navy as the base card and the polka dot embossing folder to do the next layer. I also used Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Old Olive and Basic Gray. It's hard to see in the photo but the fox is stamped with Basic Gray.

Happy stamping

Three Cheeky Monkeys

2010-05-14T14:04:00.005+10:00

I received a new stamp set yesterday and thought I would set aside some time today for a play. It is the lovely Fox & Friends set and I just love the cuteness of these animals.

The following card is a case from one that I had saved onto my computer but I don't know who belonged to it. I would like to say a big thank you for whoever it was and if anybody knows please pass on my thanks.
Aren't they just the cutest cheeky monkeys!!! I even used yellow, brown and green together which I must confess I am not a big fan of yellow but I thought, with monkeys, why not!!! The background of the white is actually stamped with Barely Banana and the polka dot background.

I ended up making three cards with this set so will save the other two for another post. Can't get too excited now :)

Happy stamping!

A Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-10T07:59:00.007+10:00

I hope all of the Mothers out there had a great day yesterday. I know I was very spoilt for the day. My daughter gave me a slow cooker which I can't wait to try out. I also received Julie Goodwin's recipe book (she was the first winner of Master Chef) and a beautiful ladybug charm for my bracelet.

Julie's recipe book is just amazing, I will definitely be trying most of them (I love using my family as guinea pigs when I'm trying new things!! - although it is an idea to have something else on hand just in case).

I was most surprised with my middle son's choice of gifts that he bought for me from his school Mother's Day stall (should give him $10 more often!!). He came home with a necklace/earring set, a coffee mug filled with all sorts of coffee delights, some bath salts and a bath bomb and also a cute little crystal flower hanger. Wow, a very spoilt Mum. My eldest son made me a lovely chocolate cake as well and he did a great job with it as well as the icing, yummy!!!

Anyway on with the show and tell - my mum's mother's day card which was almost completely cased from the very lovely Nikki Stalker which you can find here but I decided to make mine a full size card.

It's not the best of photos as I tried taking this inside because it was too windy on my back table. The card base is made with Not Quite Navy and I used the very quick and easy Manhattan Flower embossing folder with my Big Shot.

We had my parent's come over for dinner last night and it was really nice to have the both of us Mums not having to do anything.

Happy Stamping

What Can I Say...

2010-05-07T19:21:00.004+10:00

My title of this post pretty much sums it up as sometimes I just can't think of anything to put!!! I sometimes look at a card and can pretty much name it something but the following card I am showing you is just that... a card.

This card is made from a previous Just Add Ink Sketch Challenge which you can find here.

The base of this card is the gorgeous new Melon Mambo followed by a layer of Rich Razzleberry and Very Vanilla. The eyelet border has been punched onto Pink Pirouette. I just love these flowers from Petal Pizzazz, just perfect. Oh, and I can't forget the very lovely felt flowers now can I? It's hard to tell from the pic but I have stamped "happy birthday" in Rich Razzleberry on the bottom.

My lovely friend, Karen, also let me use her Sanded Background stamp to jazz up the base card a little, thanks Karen :)

Happy Stamping

An Award - Who Me?

2010-05-04T14:54:00.005+10:00

I was most surprised to receive this award from the very lovely and talented Nikki Stalker and am told to pass it on to 10 other bloggers that I admire and also state 10 things about myself. I was most flattered with this as I am not a Demonstrator but I do so love all of the Stampin Up products. So without further ado here I go:-

Here are the 10 other blogs I have decided to pass this award on to and I must also apologise to anyone if they have already received one (just think yourself extra special!!). In no particular order:-

1. Karen Thomas;

2. Jodene Tripp;

3. Tammy Hanlon;

4. Fiona Platzer;

5. Sonia Garbutt;

6. Kerri Donsky;

7. Linda Craven;

8. Sharlene Meyer;

9. Kirsty Brown;

10. Louise Ryan.

Although I only know Karen personally, I can admit to being a blog stalker of the others who are all such an inspiration to me.

Now for the 10 things about me:-

1. I am a 40 year old mum of four children, 3 boys and 1 girl, ranging in age from 17 to 3.

2. My husband and I have been together for 23 years and married for 19 1/2 years.

3. I was previously a Legal Secretary before staying at home with my children.

4. I, like Nikki, am a Gemini and so is my daughter.

5. I am a big Twilight fan (can I admit that at my age!!).

6. I also enjoy cross stitch as well as my passion for card making.

7. I love camping although don't seem to get there as often as I would like.

8. I love going to the movies with my daughter, especially when it's just the two of us.

9. My favourite TV shows are Grey's Anatomy, Brothers & Sisters, Master Chef (although I would love to cook like them but it will never happen) and Castle.

10. My favourite flowers would be Gardenias, Frangipanis and Roses (only I can't seem to grow them!!)

Top Note Die Box

2010-05-01T09:38:00.004+10:00

Well, as you can see my lovely Big Shot arrived yesterday and I couldn't wait to have a play. I cut a trial run of the Top Note die and also ran through a sheet using the Polka Dot embossing folder as well, just to have a go.

Then I got so excited I thought I might go ahead and make a lovely Top Note Die Box so ran through a couple more. I have seen these around for awhile and they are so easy to make.

Here is my version:-

Well there you have it my first attempt at Big Shotting (is that a word!!). I am sure there will be many more creations made using this lovely machine.

Happy Stamping