Luv To Stamp

Table Favours!

2011-12-08T09:03:00.000+10:00

Yesterday Maddy and I sat and made 25 table favours for a Christmas party we're going to tonight. They were so easy to make and I'm sure will be a lovely surprise for the group!

I've used the pillow box die, some DSP and Maddy made all the poinsettia flowers for me while I was assembling the boxes. We filled them with a mini mentos roll, a butterscotch lolly and a mint chew lolly!

Hope you like them!

My 10 Minute Christmas Card!

2011-12-06T11:30:00.000+10:00

I thought I'd post a pic of this card I made a bunch of yesterday because if you're anything like me, you just don't seem to have enough hours in the day come this time of year, and making Christmas cards NEEDS to be easy and most of all quick!

This little number I guarantee you can whip up in under 10 minutes! Check it out!

It's pretty much the same colour scheme as my previous post, however I've used Real Red this time instead of Cherry Cobbler!

Hope you like it and that perhaps it helps you out of a tight spot with your Christmas cards this year!

Trying Out My New Dies!

2011-12-03T14:12:00.001+10:00

Hi all!

Just popping in to show you the card I just finished making using my new Spellbinders Poinsettia dies that I picked up this morning! I've been eyeing these off for ages, and have seen some lovely cards made using them so thought I'd better get me some! lol

Lucy Dillon/Crafty Cat has another 3 sets in stock right now here in Mackay, so be quick to grab a set if you like them cause I reckon they will sell fast!:)

Here's my card anyway!

I kept it really simple cause I wanted the flower to be the show stopper. I've used a lovely Christmas colour combo of Vanilla, Cherry Cobler and Garden Green with a hint of So Saffron. You can't really see it in the photo, but the cream panel has been embossed using my Linen Impression plate from Papertrey Ink! It just gives it a gentle texture I find and it would probably be my absolute favourite impression plate!

At lease I now have a grand total of 1 Christmas cards done! GO ME! lol Now to just find the time to get a few more complete!

Catch ya later!

I'm Back!

2011-11-14T12:01:00.000+10:00

Hi Folks!

Well the painting is all done (apart from the laundry cause that's gonna be a HUGE job) and it looks really lovely! I'm so excited to finally have my little house all the one shade of cream, and looking just like I've always dreamed it would one day!

In between the painting, I also did a fair bit of shopping last week replacing some old bits and pieces, and I finally got my new dining room suite that matches all our other furniture too! So all in all it was a big week in the Thomas house hold and I'm glad to be getting back to normal! I think it would be safe to say that 'Santa' definitely arrived at our house early! lol

My first crafty job to tackle was some little christmas gifts for Maddi's small group of school friends. Each year she gets me to make them a little something, and this year, I bought a pile of lip glosses from Avon, and attached them to a little candry wrapper box filled with a few chocolates and soft lollies! I had to make 12 of these this morning and let me just say........ I'm definitely ready to move onto something other than making boxes! lol

That beautiful striped paper is a 'freebie' in this months Better Homes And Gardens Magazine! Each candy wrapper box is decorated with the same paper, I just changed the colour of the box. I've made 4 green, 4 pink and 4 orange. I then cut a pile of little tages (4 of each colour) and made sure each colour group had a different colour tag attached to it!

Simple little gifts that all up cost about $2.00 each - ya can't beat that hey!

Back Soon...........

2011-11-03T17:37:00.000+10:00

Hey everyone!

Just stopping by to let you know that things will be a bit quiet on the blog front until the week after next. I've been busy cleaning walls and ceilings in preparation for my hubby and I to paint next week, and crafting has just been put on the back burner! All is good though, because I'm very much looking forward to having my nicely painted interior in time for Christmas! YAY!

A Fun Teachers Gift!

2011-10-27T07:11:00.001+10:00

Good Morning Friends!

It's Teachers Day in Australia on Friday, so yesterday I sat myself down to get a start on some gifts for Brocks Teachers. This year he has 2, so I thought I'd go all out and make them something a little different from the norm! I got one gift done yesterday for his main teacher (she only works Monday to Thursday) and today I'll have to get the other gift done for his Friday Teacher!

I ended up finding the most cute little gift box template online.............keep reading cause I'll post the link at the end of my post so you can buy one for yourself! They are CUTE!!

This is the gift box by itself which I filled with chocolates! You open it by flipping back the end of the pencil!

Next is the card I made. I wanted to make something that matched the pencil box, so I used one of my Papertrey Ink tag dies, and dressed it up to match! The Black bit on the end of the pencil for the card, is actually the same part you use for the box, only I flattened it, instead of 'poofing' it out to fit over the end. Make sense?

Then lastly, the photo of both the box and card together!

It was a pretty easy project to make because you just print the template out onto your cardstock, cut, and assemble. I think it probably took me about 2 hours all up to do both items.

Now, incase you'd like to make one of these for your kids teachers, here is where you'll find the link - just look under tutorials. It's only $6.50 to buy the template which you download instantly!

Well that's it for me today, hope you like my little pencil prezzie!

A Card For The Boys!

2011-10-16T17:00:00.000+10:00

Hi Folks!

Last time I posted I said I needed to make a card for my daughters friend at school, and I actually got to sit and make that today! It was a pretty quick and easy card thanks to the inspiration I found online here. I loved this lady's card so much that I really didn't change all that much as you can see! Thank you Colleen for inpiring me with your great card!

Here's my version, as I said, pretty much the same.......I just used a different sentiment and I also added some black cord to the game remote rather than keeping the stamped version!

It's a really simple card to make......took me no more than 1/2 an hour from start to finish. Wish I could make more cards in this kind of time frame! lol

Hope you like it!

A 'Sweet' Birthday Card!

2011-10-10T12:49:00.000+10:00

Just thought I'd pop in quickly with a card I finished just now. My daughter asked me to make her friend a birthday card, and I tried desperately to get it done over the weekend, however inspiration was not flowing for this little chickadee!

I ended up finding a really cute card in my 'must CASE file' this morning, and basically copied the idea, only I used a different ice cream cone set to what she had, and I used a big blue button where she had used a big blue crystal type brad! Unfortuately the card I saved was not watermarked, so at this point in time I have no clue who to give credit to!

This is my card!

I've used some felt for the actual icecream to give it some texture, and the cones were die cut from Blush Blossom coloured card stock and then I used a texture plate on them to kinda spruce them up a bit!

I was really pleased with how it turned out in the end, but now I have to make a card for a 14 year old boy. Good grief, I think I might need help from google with that one! lol

A Simple CASE!

2011-10-02T14:55:00.003+10:00

I had good intentions of getting back here yesterday with another card or 2 to show you.....unfortunately my inspiration was no longer flowing so I packed up and watched Big Bang Theory with my daughter instead.

Today however is another day, and I thought it would be easier to kick things off by finding myself a card I admire that someone else created and then do my own version of it! That idea worked a treat!

This is the card I drew my inspiration from today, and it was created by my friend Laurie in the US! She nails the CAS style so well each and every time, and I could spend hours just looking at her blog. I urge you to pop over and visit her land of Clean And Simpleness and be sure to have a cuppa in your hand or even a packed lunch cause you might be there for a while.......just sayin!

Let me show you what I came up with based on her card!

I'm not sure what excited me more about this card, whether it was the fact that I busted open my new reel of denim ribbon from SU or the sheer excitement of making a card in less than 1/2 an hour! lol

The little tag is actually cream, although it shows hear as white thanks to my excellent photography skills (yes I'm joking!) and the little rose I bought from Lucy Dillons For Brides which is a great little craft shop here in Mackay.

I think overall it's a pretty self explanitory card, but if you do have any questions please feel free to email me! Hope you like it!

Have a great day!

Happy World Cardmaking Day!!

2011-10-01T07:39:00.000+10:00

Good morning everyone!

Well, today is October 1st here in Australia and its also World Cardmaking Day! YAY!!

I've been looking forward to this day all week, and I plan to just make cards all day while listening to music and watching a few episodes of the Big Bang Theory! Bazinga.......my kind of day!!lol

I've also joined a Blog Tour as well which I've never done before, so if you'd like to spend a little bit of time blog surfing this World Cardmaking Day, head over here and see all the cardmakers who have linked up!

I was actually lucky enough to sit down yesterday and get a card made as well which I really like. Inspiration was not flowing at first, so I got out my new SU catalogue cause its got some great ideas in it and I found a flower in there that I wanted to make using the Modern Label Punch! It turned out really cute, but definitely NOT mailable! lol

Let me show you what I mean!

The colour scheme I got from my Su colour coach, and it's Cherry Cobler, Pink Pirouette, White, Pool Party (new In Colour), Pear Pizazz and I threw in a light shade of yellow for good measure!

The background has had texture applied to it by using a word texture plate. I'd never used it before yesterday, but it gave just the effect that I wanted........nice and subtle!

Anyhooooooooo I hope you all have a really great day celebrating this awesome hobby that we all love share! I'm off to get my own celebrations started! lol

Just A Note...........

2011-09-29T12:15:00.000+10:00

It's been a few weeks since I've made a card - hence why I haven't updated the ol' blog! Things have been really busy, and added to that we have school holidays happening here as well - not enough hours in my day I'm afraid! lol

Anyhoooooooo, I wanted to make something really pretty today.......not for any particular reason........just because I could! lol

I chose a nice soft pallet to work with, and I think over all it turned out quite nicely!

This card would be lovely done in a few different colour schemes just to have on hand for occassions that pop up unexpectedly don't you think? Maybe I need to put that idea into action! lol

Have a great day and WELCOME to my new followers. I noticed I had a few newbies......no prizes for guessing how you found me! lol Thanks for the support - much appreciated!!

JAI Challenge #84

2011-09-10T11:06:00.001+10:00

I've been up bright and early this morning getting all my chores done and decided I had well and truely earned myself some craftin' time! lol

I thought I'd play along with the JAI girls this week and tackle their challenge..............and lordy me.......it WAS a challenge! lol Check it out:

We could only use White and one other colour and if that wasn't enough of a challenge, I chose to use Cameo Coral for my colour choice - definitely not a colour I work with much! lol

This is what I came up with though and I was really happy with it in the end! Simplicity is definitely the key in challenges like this!

I was even more proud of myself because I inked up some of the Papertrey Ink stamp sets I ordered a while back! To create this card, I've used stamps from Mat Stack 1 Collection, Retro Backgrounds and Gracious Vases.

And just before I go, I recently had a comment left by my friend Debbie, telling me I hadn't posted a photo of my little Ragdoll baby, Teddy for a while! Well, here ya go Deb, this ones for you! lol

Another Card......And Some EXCITING News!

2011-09-08T07:26:00.001+10:00

I actually made 2 cards yesterday and this one wasn't going to be blogged cause at the time...........it didn't float my boat much - it was too 'patterney' or something! lol

My daughter, who is my biggest fan/critic really liked it, so I thought I'd blog it anyway for ya! What doesn't appeal to me much, might inspire someone else, right?

I actually made it for my entry into Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday, so I better go link it up now its blogged! The background was made by stamping one of the small images in a stamp set called Iconic Images which we earned for free a while back just by spending $100!

My friend Cara in Canada sent me a few of the gorgeous flower die cuts using a brand new little die that PTI bought out last month called Bloom Builders #3! I have actually ordered that die and it should be here tomorrow thanks to my lovely friend Gayatri posting it over from WA! THANKS GAYATRI!

Now..... onto my EXCITING NEWS! I was recently contacted by Michelle at The Stamp Spot and asked if I would join her Design Team!!! I've been thinking for the past few months that I'd like to join one, so I was SO EXCITED when she asked me - it was perfect timing!! I'll be posting to The Stamp Spot blog along with the other designers, so be sure to pop over and leave a cheery comment......we'd all love to hear from you!

Righto, before my excitment carries me away, I better go and get the kids organised for school! I'm still sitting here in my jammies and bed hair........NOT A GOOD LOOK! lol

Fun With Pinwheels!

2011-09-07T13:28:00.002+10:00

Hi all!

I've been a bit busy these past few weeks and I just haven't had time to sit down and craft until today.....and I have to admit that I struggled! lol

It's my sons birthday at the end of this month and I just know if I didn't get a start on his birthday card soon....his birthday would be here in the blink of an eye and I would probably end up buying a store bought one for convenience. I know 'store bought' are very much swear words in the world of card makers, but sometimes ya just gotta do what ya gotta do! lol

Anyhoooooooo to avoid such a situation, I set to work and just kept his card very plain and simple. However, I just HAD to include red because it's his favourite colour!

You can't see it in the photo but I've added texture to my base card stock using my Papertrey Ink Linen Impressions plate! That plate is my all time fave.....LOVE IT!

I kept wanting to add a few different elements to this card, but I knew he'd love it just the way it was. He isn't into all the fancy schmancy kinda stuff and while I thought all the additions would look rather cool.....at the end of the day the card isn't for me, it's for him - so this is how it shall stay! lol

Hope you like it!

Best Wishes Card!

2011-08-18T12:56:00.001+10:00

Hi Folks!

Just a really quick post from me today to show you a card I just finished making! I chose to challenge myself to use the dreaded 'Yoyo Yellow' in a card today, and I have to admit to being quite happy with it! lol

I teamed the yellow up with very earthy tones and I think it worked really well! It would have to be the hardest colour to work with though I think.....it's just so 'in your face'!

What do you think? Do you like it?

Havin' A Whale Of A Time Stampin'!

2011-08-14T15:01:00.003+10:00

Happy Sunday everyone!

Hope you all had a great week - I certainly did although I seemed to be pretty busy for most of it! lol

Friday saw me take delivery of another box of Papertrey Ink goodies! It was like Christmas going through all my new things, and today I made sure I sat down and inked some of that new rubber!

This is what I made........it's really simple, but pretty cute I think! A perfect 'just because' type of card!

I've used the little whale from the 'Whale Wishes' stamp set and get this.........it's another one of those $5 sets AND it comes with a matching die which is only a couple of bucks extra!! I was sitting on the fence a bit when this set was released - wasn't sure if I liked it or not, but I'm really glad I have it now......it's fun to play with! lol

Well that's it from me - I hope you like my little whale card! If you do have any questions, you can email me or leave a comment and I'll reply to you there!

Quick And Simple 'Boys' Card!

2011-08-08T12:39:00.000+10:00

Happy Monday everyone!

I've been having a great time at my craft desk today inking up a little stamp set from Papertrey Ink that I've had for ages........but hadn't yet cracked open!

This particular little stamp set is only 5 bucks......BARGAIN if you ask me.....and it's called Game On! If you have a 'gamer' in your household.....I think you'd better buy it! lol

Now, I've kept this VERY SIMPLE because lets face it.........boys really don't care about the card all that much! lol

I've gone with the colour scheme of Kiwi Kiss, Basic Grey, White, Black and Riding Hood Red. The little game controller is actually popped up on a dimensional to make it that little bit more interesting!

Over all, super simple and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask!

Also, I've had people ask me to keep showing the odd photo of my little Teddy! Gosh he's a gorgeous kitten......just love the little fella! So, my parting photo is of what he was doing today while I crafted..........he certainly has the life! lol

Make It Monday #26

2011-08-02T14:56:00.001+10:00

Good golly anyone would think there was something wrong with me considering this is post number 3 for the week! lol

I thought it was about time I played along with Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday since I haven't for god knows how long! This weeks challenge is to make a card using the Decreasing Apertures technique.........quite fun I have to admit!

I sat and made this card I'm about to show you, but I'm spewin' because in all my excitement of actually stamping the sentiment STRAIGHT for once, I smudged a bit of it with my finger somehow! I've fixed it up now, but I can't be bothered to re-photgraph to you'll just have to pretend it's not there!! ;)

I got the colour combination from the SU colour coach and I reckon its pretty nice! The Pink Pirouette piece has had the Linen Impressions plate run over it (again) just to give it a bit of interest, but it would appear you can't see it much in the pic. Again.........just pretend you see it! lol

Righto, well I'm off to boil the kettle. I promised I'd have it boiled for when Maddy walks home from school. We often have a cuppa together in the arvo to catch up on the days happenings!

Thanks for stopping by!

Another Card!

2011-08-01T12:55:00.000+10:00

Ok don't fall over......but I'm back with another card to share! I've had a lovely time at my desk this morning puddling around and I'm really happy with what I produced. Wanna see??

It's a realllllllly simple card, but simple is my 'thang' as you know! I've used Sahara Sand, Bravo Burgundy and Pink Pirouette as my colour scheme and for a bit of colour, I added some So Saffron and Certainly Celery! Can you see the texture on the top Sahara Sand piece of card? I got that by using my Linen Impressions plate from PTI - LOVE IT!

Alrighty, well I hope that was a nice little surprise for you today! Hope you're having a goodie wherever you are!

Back Again!

2011-07-31T11:30:00.004+10:00

Good morning!!!

Lordy me yet again its been a while since I've blogged - I really shouldn't make promises to return quickly because it would appear I just can't keep them! Luckily I have a few facebook girlfriends who keep tally on how many days I'm absent and give me a shove when its getting a bit too long! lol

No, seriously, since I last blogged I was quite sick with a nasty case of the flu which saw me laid up for about 10 days and THEN we got our new little furbaby Teddy who has more then kept me on my toes! It really is like going back to having a toddler in the house with this little boy I tell ya! lol I'll show you a few pics of him in a sec, but for now I wanted to show you the card I made just now!

My good friend Laurie has a gorgeous cardmaking style that I admire greatly. I have many of her cards saved on my computer to CASE cause I just love em', and so I decided to do this one today!

Mine is somewhat different to Laurie's as she's stamped flowers where I've used die cuts and punched flowers, and I also added a strip of grass just below my little fence just to give it a bit of character! I was really happy with it and it felt good to stamp again!

Now onto my little Teddy! We've had him over a week now and he is absolutely beautiful! He has the best nature (not at all like a normal cat) and follows me around the house like a puppy. If he can't see me, he cries until I call him and then he comes barrelling down to where ever I am! He's settled in really well and makes us laugh with his antics each and every day!

This is Teddy enjoying a bit of facebooking with Maddison and Brock! lol

Look at his beautiful face!!!

This is when I get most of my jobs done........when he's fast asleep! lol I know the peace and quiet is only short lived, cause when he's all napped out........it's on like Donkey Kong and he's into everything again! lol

Well thats it for me today! Thanks for stopping by!

Happy 13th AND Our New Baby!!

2011-07-01T07:11:00.000+10:00

I know, I know............long time see huh! Dunno whats wrong with me here, but in all honesty I just couldn't be bothered crafting since I last posted.............so I just didn't! lol

Maddy is going to a friends birthday party on the weekend and she asked me to make her a card. Actually, she asked me weeks ago to do it, but I put it in the too hard basket for another day and then I realised Saturday was almost on my doorstep (which is the day of the party) so I promptly whipped something up! I did have strict instructions to not make it too girly, so this is what I came up with!

I was really happy with how it turned out and today I plan on making a matching tag to hang from her gift!

On a more exciting note, I want to show you our new baby which we'll be getting in just a few weeks time!

This is 'Teddy' and he's a purebred Ragdoll Kitten! I've wanted one forever and a day and I found a breeder here in Mackay who happened to have one Seal Point boy in her newest litter! He is just the sweetest little thing........ so full of cheekiness as kittens always are!

We're actually going out to visit him today which is really exciting and then it'll only be 2 weeks till I can bring him home! Can't wait!

Hope you have a super day and I'll try not to make it too long between posts next time! lol

Papertrey Ink Make It Monday Entry!

2011-06-09T10:51:00.001+10:00

Hi Folks!

Here's a card I finished a few minutes ago that I made for Papertrey Inks Make it Monday #18 which is called Adding Texture Using Tissue Paper! Not sure why, but I had no wrinkly bits on mine like the video sample but it looks pretty spiffy just the same and its great way to tone down some DSP that you really have no clue what to do with!

Here's my card!

I've stuck the tissue paper over a piece of DSP from SU's Woodland Walk pack and then I sewed around the edge which was fun! I even inked up a few Papertrey Ink stamp sets that I got a month or so back so at least I can say I've used them now! lol

This particular card is being sent to a really good friend of mine who's just come through a rough couple of years and who is now free to enjoy her life the way she wants to!

Anyhow, I hope you're having a great day! I think I'm gonna go and make a cuppa after I link this card up to Papertrey!

Well Hello There.........

2011-06-02T11:29:00.000+10:00

Hi Friends!

I thought I'd pop in with a card I finished just now. I wanted to try this new ribbon I bought yesterday which you cut to length and then pull the stitching which is only along one edge and it folds itself into a little ruffle flower! Let me show you the card so you can get the drift!

Isn't it cool? It's probably been availble for 100 years, but it was a fun discovery for me yesterday and it's only $1.20 a metre! BARGAIN! It comes in 3 colours - White, Pink and Blue and I got a few metres of each.

I've used Elegant Eggplant, Kraft, Melon Mambo, Kiwi Kiss and Lavender Lace on this card as well as stamps by Papertrey Ink! I don't think I have EVER used Lavender Lace before but it looks quite ok here I think!

Anyhooooooo just a simple little card today which I hope you'll like! With any luck I'll be back later in the week! Thanks for stopping by today!

Some More Cards!

2011-05-22T00:01:00.002+10:00

Wow!! 2 posts in 2 days.......that's somewhat of a miracle! lol

Ok, so these are the other 2 cards I made which are embellished CASE's of Gretchens! I have a whole folder on my computer dedicated to Gretchens work because I find it's just so inspirational especially when my own brain just does not want to function! Her card making style is like mine...SIMPLE and I LOVE that!!

Here's a really cute one using the comfy little lounge from Papertrey Ink!

And then there's this one! Here I've used that Martha Stewart Doily Edge punch which I love again!

So that was the fruits of my labour for Friday's stamping day! I hope you've enjoyed them and I'll be back at some point this coming week with more to share!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Great Card Making Day For Me!

2011-05-21T12:56:00.001+10:00

Hey there friends!

Hope you've all had a fantastic week. I've had the busiest week I've had in a very long time - appointments every single day except for YESTERDAY!! Sooooooo, what's a girl to do when she has a free day..........why STAMP of course! lol

In case you don't already know, my cards are available for purchase over at Aussie Cards For Sale. I work along side a heap of talented ladies, each with their own stamping style and we make cards for all occassions - it's really fun and I love being a part of the group! Anyhow, things have been going so well over there lately and cards are selling like hotcakes for all of us, so I thought I'd better get busy and make some more!

Sometimes my brain does gets fried trying to think of new ideas, but luckily for me, my VERY talented friend Gretchen has given me permission to CASE any of her card ideas (with a bit of a Karen tweak of course!) to use for selling. THANK YOU GRETCHEN!

These are 2 of the 4 cards I got made today! YES I said 4!! You can thank Gretchen for that! lol

Then I made the card again, this time using the original colours that Gretchen had done her card in. and I just switched the sentiments! I decided to add that cute little doily strip to both of my cards because I was dying to try out my new Martha Stewart Punch! Gosh its pretty!!

They are both such simple little cards, but I really love them! Many thanks again to Gretchen because without her..............I don't think I would have gotten 1 card finished yesterday let alone 4! lol

Have a great weekend - catch you next week!

Baby Cards!

2011-05-14T16:56:00.000+10:00

Hi Folks........how's things in your neck of the woods?

I spent the day making cards today - something which I don't do nearly as often as I'd like, and I had a ball! I even got more than one card made...........are you surprised? lol

Today I was focused on getting some baby cards made to sell over at Aussie Cards For Sale and I've used the most cutest little Sizzix Die cut outs. I don't own this die and its now retired, but these cut outs were gifted to me and I've been dying to make something with them!

This is the first one I did!

Isn't that die gorgeous!!! I've had to order special sized envelopes to fit them (which should be here next week) because they are a very odd sized card!

Here's the next one!

This one is just plain and simple, but I think it's really cute! I also did a little girl version in pink but the photo of that isn't very good so I won't upload that today!

I was pretty pleased with my efforts today I have to admit, although you should have seen the mess I was working in! lol

Anyhoooooo hope you have a super weekend, I'm off to organise dinner! Steak and salad here tonight - YUM!

3 Little Butterflies!

2011-05-10T16:41:00.000+10:00

Hey there friends!

I made time to stamp today and thought I'd quickly pop in here and blog my card!

Its super simple, nothing flash, but I really like how it turned out. I even used some of my new PTI goodies that I got last week.........can you spy what they are? lol

I thought I'd break open my new Butterfly Dreams stamp set. I've been eyeing it off for a while and decided to pop it in with my last order! There are so many pretty little butterflies to use in that set - pefect for mixing and matching AND it's got a matching die!!

One of the other new things I got was the Eyelet Lace Border die. It's really cool, and again I've had my eye on it for a while. Here I've used it to make a little scalloped edge under the butterflies!

Okey dokey, it's a brief post today because I've got to go and prep the vegies for dinner. Thanks for stopping by today and for all the lovely comments you leave. They're always fun to read!

Simple Mothers Day Card!

2011-05-07T11:54:00.000+10:00

Happy Saturday Friends! Hope your having a lovely day wherever you are!

Today I'm here to show you a very simple Mothers Day card I just finished making! The ol' mojo hasn't been flowing much of late as you can very well tell by my lack of posting, so I looked for some inspiration elsewhere in order to make my card!

I found this beautiful creation by Gretchen Clark who's work I greatly admire! I have many of her cards saved to CASE at a later date. Simplicity is her style and I LIKE IT!! lol

I don't like to CASE every detail to the 't' if I can help it, it's fun to find inspiration but then put your own spin on things I reckon! I did love her colour choice though so I confess to keeping that element.

Here's what I made!

I've used the Blooming Button Bits stamp set from Papertrey ink for my card. I really love all the pretty little pieces in that set that you can add buttons too - it makes a card more fun don't ya think?

Anyhooooo I won't stay and rave today, I've got things to do, people to see........you know how it is! lol

Until next time.............

Stamp Sets Still Available For Sale!

2011-05-04T12:52:00.003+10:00

Hi Folks,

I'm just posting an updated list of what SU stamps I still have available for sale. I've sold alot, but there's still some great bargains to be found. I've also reduced some of the prices because I really want these gone if possible.

Please note that prices DO NOT include postage. I will use express post only as its proven 100% reliable in the past. For a 500 gram satchel it will be $9 and for a 3kg satchel it will be $12.

Payment by direct deposit into my CBA bank account promptly please. Stamps will be posted upon the funds appearing in my account.

STAMP SET FROM SU IN THE USA:

Sweet Scoops (this is the little icecream cone set) $35

OTHER SU STAMP SETS:

Frames With A Flourish - $30
Enjoy Every Moment - $15
Wonderful Favourites - $20
Stem Sayings - $15
Spotlight On Christmas - $20
One Of A Kind - $15
Think Happy Thoughts - $10
Seeing Spots - $10
Happy Everything - $10
Party Punch (retired hostess set)- $5

If there's anything here that tickles your fancy, just email me and I'll get back to you ASAP!

Very Simple With Lots Of White!

2011-04-28T13:05:00.000+10:00

I've had a busy day with house work today, but I did manage to get time to make a quick little card!

My card was totally inspired by one that appeared in the US Papercrafts Magazine called 350 Cards And Gifts. The Artist of the card is Maile Belles! She's one of the Papertrey Ink Designers and I just LOVE her simple style!

Anyhow my card layout is exactly the same as hers, but I've changed my colour scheme and added the strip of orange card stock and all the ribbons on the side! I just love the background which I achieved by using using my Linen/Canvas Impression plate - also from Papertrey Ink!

Here's my super simple card with LOTS of white for you to gander at!

I really like the look of cards that have lots of white space on them. They tend to look crisp and clean or something and they are definitely cards you keep clean and simple - my kinda thaaang really don't ya think!! lol

Anyhooooo, gotta go and hook into my ironing now before I get the kids from school, then all my jobs are done for today! Yeeha!

Leaves And Button Flowers!

2011-04-25T15:57:00.000+10:00

Hi Folks!

For the first time in a week or so I finally sat down to stamp, only to realise after 4 hours that my card really wasn't working out like I'd planned, so I packed everything up and put it all away!
I was so frustrated with the darn thing, but it kept playing on my mind all afternoon and I was determined not to let it beat me........or end up in the bin! lol

After coming back into my room and staring at it for a bit, I pulled off a few elements and replaced them with some others, and I was finally pleased with how it turned out!

Have a peek!

This card actually came about because I wanted to use that cute little yellow flower button that I found in a big jar of buttons I recently purchased from an op shop! Funny how something so small can spark your creativity hey! lol

I love the earthy colour combo of Peach Parfait, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip and Old Olive with a little bit of Daffodil Delight thrown in there to compliment my little button!!

Hope you like it anyway. At least I'll be able to sleep tonight without this card haunting me! lol

STAMPS FOR SALE!

2011-04-20T11:38:00.011+10:00

Ok everyone, as per my previous post - here's what's for sale!

Please not that prices DO NOT include postage. I will use express post only as its proven 100% reliable in the past. For a 500 gram satchel it will be $9 and for a 3kg satchel it will be $12.

Payment by direct deposit into my CBA bank account promptly please. Stamps will be posted upon the funds appearing in my account.

STAMP SET FROM SU IN THE USA:

Sweet Scoops (this is the little icecream cone set) $40

OTHER SU STAMP SETS:

Butterfly Prints (includes matching butterly punch) $30
Frames With A Flourish - $30
Enjoy Every Moment - $20
Wonderful Words - $20
Stem Sayings - $20
Spotlight On Christmas - $20
One Of A Kind - $20
Think Happy Thoughts - $15
Seeing Spots - $15
Happy Everything - $10
Party Punch - $10

So thats it - just email me if your're interested in anything!

Still Here!

2011-04-20T08:10:00.001+10:00

Hi Friends!I

Just popping in to let you know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth! lol

It's currently school holidays here and apart from enjoying time with my kids and hubby (who also took the week off) I've been trying to finish off this cleaning. It's seriously amazing where you will find mould after so much rain! lol

I've also got another pile of SU stamps and a Big Shot die to sell as well! You'll have noticed that I am totally in love with Papertrey Ink stuff, so I've decided to part with the majority of my stamp sets and reinvest in stamps I know will get a 'work out'! In amongst all these sets, I have 2 stamp sets and a Big Shot Bigz XL Die which have never been released in Australia. I'm thinking these will be on my blog for only a few minutes before they're sold, so you'll need to be quick!

When will I list them all I hear you ask?

Well I'm hoping that will be today at some point. I have a few things to do this morning, so in all honesty I think it will be more likely that it's this afternoon!

Alrighty, I'm off to start my day! Hope you have a good one and I'll be back later!

More Cupcake Cards!

2011-04-13T10:15:00.002+10:00

Morning Folks!

I've been playing around some more with that gorgeous little Papertrey Ink Cupcake Die this morning and I thought you might like to see the fruits of my labour!

My daughter needed 2 birthday cards for her friends who are twins, and so asked me to make 2 cards that are the same but different!

This is what I came up with!

To make them 'different' all I did as you can see was to alter the 'icing' colour which I've also given some pattern by using the Sunshine Impression Plate by PTI. The numbers are cut from some gorgeous sparkly paper that I had in my stash which seemed perfect for these cards!

This die is so much fun to work with! Unfortunately blogger isn't letting me insert links this morning, but if you go to my previous post, I have linked to the product there at Papertrey Ink so YOU can buy one! lol

That's my crafty efforts for today anyway - hope you like them!

Happy Birthday Cupcake!

2011-04-10T09:54:00.002+10:00

Happy Sunday Friends!

Gosh it's been a bit of a big week for me here. We've finally seen a break in this relentless rain, so I've been busy spring cleaning my house. While I love cleaning, this is such a huge job, so I'm just tackling it bit by bit each day. I've cleaned walls and washed curtains this week but I still have so much to do and it feels like it's gonna take me forever. So just bear with me if posts are all over the place, but I just HAVE to get this house nice and clean again cause it drives me nuts! lol

Alrighty, so this week I got 2 boxes of Papertrey goodness, (one of which was my birthday pressie from Keesh as she had given me some gift vouchers!) and I was just busting at the seams to sit down and play with what I'd ordered but haven't had time till today. I have a few birthdays this month so I'm trying to get those cards done today and this is the first one I've just finished using one of my NEW dies!!

I'd been eyeing this die off for a while and when I got that pressie from Keesh I knew exactly what was gonna go in my shopping cart first! You'll find this die here and I'm tellin' ya.....you MUST get it cause it cuts the cutest shaped cupcake card you ever did see!

The die comes in 2 seperate parts, one that cuts the actual card shape and then the little wrapper overlay. The fun part of this die is that you can decorate the cupcake however you want.....put a colourful wrapper on it if that floats your boat.

For this particular card though, I went with a plain Kraft coloured wrapper which I layered over a Cameo Coral Card base. I then stamped some dots from the Beautiful Blooms II stamp set in versamark ink, cut some Harvest Gold felt flowers, added a Celery Bow and a tag from my new Tiny Tags stamp set. Ooooooooo this is a little cutie of a stamp set too - another that comes highly recommended by me.

Okey dokey, well I must keep going with these other cards. I really hope you like this one as much as I do!

Searching For A Sizzix Die?

2011-04-06T10:17:00.000+10:00

Hey there friends!

Sorry - I'm not back with anything crafty today (maybe tomorrow!) but I am on a bit of a search for a now discontinued Sizzix Die! It's a Sizzix Bigz XL Die and it's a Baby Onesie suit!

If anyone (preferably someone in Australia) has this die and no longer has a use for it - can you PLEASE contact me as I would love to buy it from you!

Maddison's Decorated Cake!

2011-04-03T17:27:00.000+10:00

Hey there.........I'm back again!

I just wanted to show you the GORGEOUS cake Maddy ended up making today in class! She had an absolute ball and is so keen to keep doing more! For her first time at ever decorating a cake, I think it's absolutely beautiful and it's gonna be soooooo hard putting a knife through it! lol

Isn't it pretty? In the class they learned to cover the cake, pipe little shells around the bottom, attach ribbon to the cake, make small blossom flowers and a rose. They also learned how to apply a colouring dust to the flowers! She loves purple so dusted hers in a light purple!

It was so fun just sitting with her and watching her cake come to life as she learned each new step!

Be sure to let her know what you think. I know she'll love to read your thoughts!

See you in a few days!

Inkspirations Colour Challenge #64

2011-04-02T15:53:00.000+10:00

Happy Saturday Friends!

Today I'm here to show you a card I made for Keesh's Inkspiration Challenge for this week! Let me tell ya......when I first saw these colours I literally said out loud 'you've gotta be kidding me Keesh'! lol
While I'm all for earthy colours, I really didn't think that I could work with these humdingers.

Check them out for peats sake! lol

I fiddled around for ages as per usual, but I ended up coming up with something that I really like. What do you think?

It's a really simple card with regards to the layout, but I just made a feature of those gorgeous big leaves from the Leaf Prints stamp set. Now, I did add a bit of Chocolate Chip to the scene here, but I checked, and one of the DT added some brown too, so I figured I could get away with it! lol

Considering I didn't think I had a hope in heck of making anything with those colours, it just goes to show that you can if you take the time to think a little bit...or in my case ALOT!

Anyhoooooo, I probably won't be back until early in the week. I'm taking my daughter to an all day Cake Decorating course tomorrow that she's really excited about. She's been at me for AGES to see if I could find someone who would teach her how to do it and I finally did, so there will be no creating for me tomorrow! The good news is that the class is above a scrapbooking shop, so I can shop while she decorates her cake! Win, Win I say! lol

Until next time.............

Pot Of Tea Anyone?

2011-03-31T13:53:00.001+10:00

Hiya Folks!

Another small interval between posts..........geese this is becoming a bit of a habit hey! lol

Just a really quick post today to show you the card I finished up just now! I thought I'd better get a bit of a Mothers Day stash started since really it's not all that far away!

The colour scheme is probably something that I'd not normally put together, but I'd kept a fun tag off some clothing we'd bought recently which used this very colour combo, so I thought I'd see if I could get it to work for me on a card! I think it did.........what do you reckon?

The colours are Peach Parfait, So Saffron, Perfect Plum, Pretty In Pink and Certainly Celery! The sentiments have all been stamped in Bravo Burgundy as black just seemed way too harsh!

I also encorporated pattern everywhere using background stamps instead of using DSP which was really fun too!

Well, sorry its a short and sweet post today, but it won't be long before I have to do the school pick up run and I have a few things to get done before I go!

Hope you like my card and thanks so much for all the lovely comments you leave!

2 Cards........2 Challenges = FUN!

2011-03-27T13:39:00.000+10:00

Hello again!

It's been pretty much raining all day today and I've been glued to my stamp desk getting some challenges done. I've printed out 4 and I've completed 2 which is a pretty good effort for me!

Let me get this show on the road by showing you the first challenge I got done which was for the Less Is More Challenge Site. This is my first time playing along with them and since my style is very much simple, it was a challenge I really enjoyed!

This is the sketch we had to follow!

And this is what I came up with!

The stamps I've used are Distressed Stripes, On My Couch and On My Couch Additions which are all available from Papertrey Ink and I've used Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight, White and Raspberry Fizz
card stock. Aren't they happy colours together? The sentiment and the outline on the lounge are stamped in Early Espresso Ink........not black as it would appear by my photo! lol

Next Up, I tackled the Clean And Simple Challenge for this week. I really loved the layout and since I still had my little Lounge Chair stamp sets out, I used them again! I love those little lounges.......they're TOTALLY adorable! lol

This was their sketch for this week!

And here's my card!

Aren't those little button cushions cute? I love adding those when I use this set.

So those are the 2 challenges I got done this morning and now I'm trying to tackle the Just Add Ink challenge for this week and boy o boy it has me flustered. I actually took a break from it to photograph and edit these cards and get them blogged, so hopefully by the time I sit back down at my desk again......inspiration shall be flowing in abundance!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you enjoy my cards!

Wishing You........

2011-03-25T12:17:00.003+10:00

Hi Folks!

Not much has happened in the way of stamping this past week due to me feeling pretty slack and not wanting to drag out the stamps.........I think they also call that being lazy, but I prefer calling myself 'chilled'! lol
I think it's good for you to allow yourself to be like that every so often don't you?

Whilst 'chilling' I've also been reading a great little book. I don't read that much (except for craft magazines! lol) but this book I'm really enjoying. It's called 'Don't Sweat The Small Stuff' by Richard Carlson? Anyone ever read it?

Anyhow I'm actually here to show you this SUPER SIMPLE card I made this morning - it literally took me 20 minutes from start to finish......my kinda card really! lol

I've used Kraft as the base, and teamed that up with Cherry Cobler and some Harvest Gold Felt from Papertrey Ink! The sentiment and flower stem are stamped in Close To Cocoa to keep the tones even!

It's a very, very simple little card, but I really like it! What do you think?

Lollipop Ladies Challenge #16

2011-03-20T15:04:00.002+10:00

Happy Sunday Friends!

Gosh it feels like forever since I posted, but this past week just zipped by in the blink of an eye!

Anyhow, today I finally sat and made a little card for the Lollipop Ladies challenge.......it took me nearly all day, but I was really happy with how it turned out!

It's just a super simple and cute card where I got to use some more PTI goodness! I'm officially addicted I think you could say! I wonder if there is some kind of support group for people like me? lol

Thank you so much for all the lovely blog messages, emails, cards and PRESENTS that I received for my birthday on Friday! I had the most fun day and got to spend it with people who make my life happy! Today though it's my beautiful friend Patrice's Birthday, so pop on over and leave her a cheeky message - I know she'd love it!

Alrighty, it's coffee time. I'll be back later in the week!

Fun Balloons!

2011-03-15T10:58:00.000+10:00

Hi Folks!

Hope you're having a great week so far - I certainly am!

Today I'm here to show you a fun card I made using another PTI stamp set I got last week! I'd been eyeing off this beautiful balloons set for soooooo long and can you believe when I finally decided to bite the bullet and buy it..........it was out of stock! lol Always the way isn't it!

Anyhow I eventually snavelled it when stocks were replenished, and used it to make this card over the weekend!

This stamp set called Up Up And Away has a matching die that goes with it that cuts your little balloons for you! Gotta love that!

Believe it or not this card started off being for the Clean and Simple sketch challenge this week, but things went a bit haywire and their sketch soon went out the window! I do like how it ended up though - nice, simple and perfect for a male!

Hope you like it!

A Wedding Card!

2011-03-13T16:51:00.000+10:00

I wasn't going to blog this until during the week, but I'm just to happy with how it turned out that I thought I'd share it with you today!

In my cardmaking frenzy yesterday (and yes I do call it a frenzy because I made 3 cards! roflol) I used my brand spankin' new Giga Guidelines stamp set from Papertrey! I was talked into this set by fellow PTI lovers over on the forum, and I have to say that I'm SO HAPPY I got it! This card came together so quickly, and really the hardest part for me was tying that darn bow! lol

Lets see what I made shall we?!

See how simple and pretty it is? Well....I think it's pretty anyway, you might beg to differ! lol

I've used the colour scheme of Blushing Bride, Close To Cocoa and Vanilla and encorporated a few pearls and also a nice strip of glitter to give it the wedding bling! Very, VERY simple!

I'm hoping this one will eventually end up at Aussie Cards For Sale. So if you like it, keep your eye out, you never know what Alicia will choose to buy from me!

Enjoy what's left of your Sunday. It's been a bit of a miserable ol' day here in Mackay that's for sure!

My Card........Maddy's Colour Combo!

2011-03-13T09:14:00.000+10:00

Thanks so much for all the lovely comments on Maddy's card. She woke this morning asking if anyone had liked it, and she was so surprised to see 15 comments! As I said in my previous post, I just LOVED her colour combo and was keen to try it out myself!

Here's what I made!

I did add a little bit of Kiwi Kiss for the leaves which I think looks ok! I mean, I really didn't have a choice cause a flower with pink or purple leaves would have looked.......well a little odd! lol

For my card I've used some new PTI goodies I received this week! I got 2 new boxes of the stuff and I was just in heaven opening it all! To say I'm a little addicted would be an understatement and it would appear I've helped others get on board the PTI band wagon too which is fun !! (Waving at YOU Tammy! lol)

Before I go, don't forget to visit the Aussie Cards For Sale website today. This is where I sell my cards along with alot of other lovely designers from around Australia. I have a few new cards listed at the moment and Alicia will even post internationally if you ask! Thank you to those who have purchased my cards from the website already.

Alrighty, well I'm off to make a few more cards today as well as photograph and edit them so they'll be ready to blog. I hope you all have a great day and thanks again for stopping by!

Guest Blogger!

2011-03-12T17:39:00.002+10:00

Hey there everyone, I hope your enjoying your Saturday!

I've had an awesome day at my craft desk today. I say 'Awesome' because I got 3 cards done (it usually takes me a week to make 3 cards, so I'm sure you can understand my excitement!!) AND my daughter Maddy sat with me and churned out the cutest card which I just couldn't wait to blog on her behalf!

She hasn't sat with me in a while, so it was really lovely to have a crafting buddy. Let me show you what she made!

She found a card I'd made ages ago, and put her own spin on it with a fabo colour combination. Who would have thought that Apricot Appeal, Pixie Pink, Orchid Opulance and a dash of White would look so darn cute! I loved her colour combo so much that I made a card using it as well, which I'll blog later in the week! Gotta love a stamping buddy for inspiration! lol

Well that's it for me today. I hope you love this card as much as I do. Thanks for taking the time to leave her some comment love, she'll love to read them all!

It's YOUR Day!

2011-03-10T12:54:00.000+10:00

Hey there folks - hows things?

I thought I'd pop in here with a little card I made just now! My daughter came home yesterday and asked me if I could make a card for her friends birthday which is on Tuesday, so I thought I'd hook in and get it done today! Well that sounds all good in theory doesn't it, except for the fact that I just could not put anything together that looked half decent! lol

So, I walked away from my desk for a little while and when I came back, I decided to make things a little easier on myself and kinda CASED something I had done a few posts below this one!

This is what I ended up with!

I've used some of my beautiful Papertrey Ink cardstock in Plum Pudding and Aqua Mist, but then I really wanted a nice pop of colour so I used some Pumpkin Pie from my SU stash!

The card itself is pretty basic really isn't it, but I was so happy with how it turned out........except for the bow which seemed to have a mind of its own! I eventually gave up on trying to tie something perfect, but I hear whimsical looking bows are all the rage anyway.....not! lol

So let me know what you think! Do you like it, do you not? Do you happen to love my whimsical looking bow maybe? lol

Have a great day and thanks so much for taking the time to peek in on my little ol' blog!

Inkspiration Challenge #60

2011-03-07T10:57:00.001+10:00

It's been so long since I've entered one of Keesh's challenges, so I thought I'd have a go at this one since the colours were so pretty! When Keesh first put the challenge up on Friday night I had a vision in my head of what I'd do, but with my current creative funk........lets just say that idea didn't turn out real well! lol

Sooooo, it was back to the drawing board with another idea, only in order to make my card 'work', I had to include some Early Espresso. Boy oh boy that colour is dark though isnt it? You'd swear going by my photo that I'd added black, but I promise you it's not! lol

Ok, incase you'd like to play along too, these are the colours for this week!

And here's what I created!

Again I kept things very simple with my flower being the main focus of the card.............or maybe it's the Early Espresso colour that's taking centre stage! lol

I was pretty pleased with the over all card and it was fun playing along with Keesh and crew this week even if I did be a bit naughty and add another colour to the mix! lol

Have a great day everyone - I'm off to make a coffee.......anyone else want one while I'm at it?

Play Date Cafe Challenge #71

2011-03-06T14:41:00.000+10:00

Happy Sunday everyone!

I've been in a bit of a creative funk since I last posted and I just haven't had the inclination to stamp, so to try and get myself out of this rut, I decided to have a go at a few challenges.

I have an A4 page printed out with challenges to try.........and I've only managed to make just one card in 4 hours! lol Pretty typical of me these days really and still I'm not sure I got it right with this one, but I thought I'd post it for you anyway! It seems a little boring to me or something...........hmmmmm not sure really what the problem is!

Anyhoooooooo, this card is for challenge #71 over at the Play Date Cafe and we had to make a card using Black and White with a splash of colour! This is what I came up with!

I kept things pretty simple and my splash of colour was Rich Razzleberry! It's such a beautiful colour and teamed with black and white, definitely makes for a lovely wedding card I think!

Well, I guess I'd better get back to these challenges or I'll have nothing more to post this week! lol

Thanks for stopping by today!

A Boys Card!

2011-03-01T14:01:00.000+10:00

Hi all,

I made time to sit down and stamp today - I've still got another 9 or so birthday cards to get done after all! lol

Anyhow, I had to make another 12th birthday card, this time it's for my newphew. I used more of my new Papertrey Ink goodies - check out those beautiful big numbers.........I LOVE em'!

I kept things pretty simple because those numbers are HUGE so they really are the main focus of the card!

The colour scheme I went with is Kraft, Night of Navy, Old Olive, More Mustard, and that gorgeous Distressed Dots paper is pretty similar to Ruby Red in the world of Stampin' Up!

I've used my Limitless Layers dies, Mat Stack 5, Banner Dies, Fillable Frames #11 Die, Number Dies and the Numbers Impression Folder which are all available from Papertrey Ink!

I think thats it, but if you have any questions at all, I'm only an email away!

Another Girly Birthday Card!

2011-02-27T13:12:00.004+10:00

I finally got a few minutes to sit down and stamp today (I thought I'd try and make a dent in the cards that I need for upcoming birthdays) and it just so happens that todays creation fits the bill for the challenge over at CR84FN! Thanks for the heads up there Trishy! lol

I need about 10 cards for various people, and I made just one today, so not much progress made unfortunately. Not to worry, I'm sure I'll get there eventually! One can't rush these things! lol

Here's the card I made today for my cousins daughter who is 12 in a few weeks time!

I was so pleased with how it turned out and I used some of my new PTI goodies I got this week to create it!

When I first started the card I was staying with a pink and green theme, but as the card came together, I knew I needed to give it a little lift, so I added a few nice bright colours to do the job!

Anyway hope you like it. Sorry for the quick post, but I'm off to have my Sunday afternoon nanna nap - I really need it today! lol

Same Colours Different Card!

2011-02-22T09:17:00.001+10:00

Well hellooooooo again!

I thought I'd show you the card I made on Sunday for my friends little girl who was celebrating a birthday yesterday! I used pretty much the same colour scheme as the post before this one so as I could use up a few scraps. She'll get it in the mail today (hopefully in one piece and only 1 day late) and I'm pretty sure she'll like it cause its sooooo her!

I even used a little alphabet stamp set and personalised it for her too - cute hey! The little party hat I made using the Banner Building stamp set and matching dies from Papertrey Ink! That stamp set is so fun and provides never ending possabilities for cute cards I think!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY for yesterday Harriet, hope you had a super fun day!

Bright And Fun!

2011-02-20T09:46:00.000+10:00

Happy Sunday everyone!

Sorry I haven't posted much in the way of craftiness this week, but in all honesty I've just had other things to do and not much time to sit and play! All that aside, it's also been stinkin' hot here and that really doesn't make me want to get creative! lol

Yesterday afternoon though, I didn't have much planned, so I pulled out some stamps and created something bright and fun which I really loved! What do you think?

I've used some Distressed Dots paper from Papertrey Ink and teamed that up with some Crumb Cake, Tempting Turrquoise, and Kiwi Kiss Carstock! I just love this fun colour combination!

The flower is a PTI ink Die called Beautiful Blooms 2 #1 Die, which I cut out of Rasberry Fizz Felt! This felt is nothing short of DIVINE in quality!!! I've then mounted my flower onto a Martha Steward doily which I bought from Scrapbook Boutique and then that went on top of a Mat Stack #4 die cut!

The Sentiments are from two different sets - Birthday Bash Sentiments and Blooming Button Bits and they've both been stamped using Early Espresso Ink!

I hope you like my card anyway.........I really do! I've done all my housework this morning so I'm planning on catching up on a little blog surfing and then crafting this afternoon so I'll have more to share with you this week!

Don't forget, I still have a few BARGAIN stamp sets for sale in the post below this one too! Just email me if you're interested in any of them!

Stamps For Sale!

2011-02-15T19:02:00.011+10:00

Hi everyone!

I have the following for sale if anyone is interested. Postage is extra, and will be done by Express Post! Small satchel is $8.40 and the larger one is $11.70! Payment is to be into my Commonwealth Bank Account! If you're interested, please email me!

Happy Everything - $10
Enjoy Every Moment - $25
One Of A Kind - $20
Wonderful Favourites - $25
Whimsical Words - $5
Party Punch - $5

Look What You Can Do In 5 Hours!!

2011-02-13T16:37:00.001+10:00

Oh lordy me - what a day! lol

I've sat at my stamp desk since 10 this morning trying to get this darn card done - seriously, it's beyond ridiculous when you see how simple it is! I chose all the wrong colours to start off with I think, however I was determined to get it done.

The layout changed so many times I can't recall, but I was really happy with how it turned out in the end ......although I do need a panadol or something right about now! lol

Righto, lets look at what gave me such grief!

Yep.........seriously this baby is a 5 hour labour of love! Now you might understand why I don't blog every single day.............it just takes me way too long to get a card done in the first place! lol

You can probably see that I do have my Big Shot up and running again! After much chasing around after those bearings, it would appear that they are made exclusively for the Big Shot and they are not readily available to purchase which is a real pain. So what we did is greased up the old one with vaseline, and put it all back together and I reckon it's working better and smoother than it ever was! My hubby says if the bearings fail again, he'll get me brass bushes made up for it...........whatever the heck they are! lol

Well thats it for me today. I really need to have a shower and get this desk tidied up cause it's an absolute mess! Oops almost forgot again........all stamps used are by Papertrey Ink, but you probably guessed that already huh?

Thanks for stoppin' by!

Simple Baby Cards!

2011-02-10T14:08:00.002+10:00

I had to make a few simple baby cards today for the Aussie Cards For Sale website! I haven't made a baby card in quite a while, so it felt kinda weird to be doing it! lol

Anyway, I sat and did one basic design, and just changed colour schemes and DSP on each one!

This is the first one in Lemon and Blue!

Next we have Blue, Pink and Kraft!

And the last one is Lemon with Pink (it actually looks more purple than pink IRL)

They were really easy to do once I had the initial design done and apart from the card bases, the rest was done with left over scraps! I LOVE using left over's up to make cute cards!

Sorry the photos aren't larger today, but they exceded my column width when I made them bigger. It seems I can make the portrait ones nice and large though with no problems............more excuse to stick to portrait cards huh! lol

Oh and before I forget, all stamps I used on these cards are by Papertrey Ink except for the Polkadot background stamp which is by SU!!

Colour Lab Challenge!

2011-02-07T14:11:00.000+10:00

I've been sitting and crafting again this morning and I have to tell ya - not having my big shot is making things so hard. lol! My hubby has been chasing up those bearings for me today and as luck would have it..........they aren't something that are normally in stock, so he has people chasing them up for me! Here I was thinking I might have my 'shottie' back up and running today! lol

I've had the Colour Lab Challenge printed out and ready to do, but gee it was a hard one.........well for me it was, probably not for most other people though! he he!

Anyway, after way too long playing around with it, I finally left it at this!

Here's a close up of the bottom detail!

All stamps I've used are from Papertrey Ink! The flower is really easy and is made by punching out a few different size circles, scrunching them up and then layering them. All the beautiful flowers I wanted to make required me to use my shottie, so I had to make something instead!

I'd love to know what you think of it. To be honest, I wasn't sure about it at first, but the more I sit and stare at it, the more I think it's ok!

Okey dokey - time to get a few little jobs done and then it'll be time for the school pick up run!

Mojo Monday #176

2011-02-06T14:29:00.001+10:00

Well hello there again!

I've spent the day crafting and it's been pure bliss! While I haven't gotten masses of cards done, I've been really pleased with what I have managed to accomplish! Having said that, today was rather hard crafting without my beloved Big Shot. It seems every idea I had in my head needed the darn thing, so it really was back to basics for me today! lol

I had a few sketches printed out, but I thought I'd start off by doing Mojo Monday #176. You could do either a square or a circle card OR you could adapt the sketch to your project, so I chose to do a regular sized card for mine!

Here's the first card I made in beautiful earthy tones - a perfect male card!

Then I went for something a little brighter. I even got out my little Janome Sew Mini for this one and sewed myself a ribbon ruffle! Woohoo go me! lol

This was such a fun sketch to play along with and I've stored a copy of it away in my Visual Diary for future reference or for when my brain just can't think!

I hope you're having a great day! I'm off to make a coffee, sit in the airconditioning and do some blog surfing!

Found The Problem!!

2011-02-05T21:09:00.000+10:00

I spent the majority of the day cardmaking, having a dandy ol' time here at my desk, but I was noticing that each time I used my Big Shot, it became increasingly harder to turn the handle and it was making a very odd grinding kinda noise! I have heard of people actually snapping their handle off altogether when they got this type of friction, so rather than risk that myself, I thought I'd give it to my hubby to see if he could take a look...........and take a look he did! lol

This is what my Big Shot looks like tonight!

This is what the problem is!

My hubby is holding the 'problem' in his pliers - it's a little bearing, and it comes out of that hole above the large sprocket thingy! There are actually 2 of these, one on either side and over time, they wear down and in my case are rusted out.

When you remove them, there is the tiniest part number written on them and they are easily purchased from a bearing shop. My handy hubby is going to get me 2 brand new ones on Monday, but in the interim, I'll have to go back to pre Big Shot days - however will I cope! lol

Anyhow, I just wanted to post this tonight along with some visual images, in the hope that it might help someone else who has this problem in the future. You'll know when the little bearings are failing just by the noise it makes, so whatever you do...........DON'T PUSH IT, because make no mistake, you WILL snap your handle off if you do!

Nighty Night All!

Play Date Cafe Challenge!

2011-02-05T13:17:00.000+10:00

Afternoon Folks!

Today I sat and played around with a fun challenge over at the Play Date Cafe Challenge Site! I have to admit to being a bit stumped with the colour challenge at first, but once I settled on a stamp set to use, things seemed to fall together nicely!

Here's the challenge for those of you who might like to play along!

Now depending on your screen resolution, you might see purple or blue...........I see Brilliant Blue my end so thats what I used, along with Rich Razzleberry, Pretty In Pink, Cherry Cobbler and of course White.

Here's my card!

As usual I went with something super simple!

I've stamped the base with the Music Background from PTI, which I then wrapped with some pretty satin ribbon! I used my Mat Stack 3 Die as the focal object , and then mounted onto that is a yummy cupcake from the Cupcake Collection stamp set which has had wording from the Birthday Bash Sentiments set stamped below it! Then, to finish it off, I popped 3 little Brilliant Blue Brads along the bottom, just to tie everything in together!

I hope you like this card as much as I do! At first I didn't think those colours were going to work for me, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out in the end!

Cards For Sale Online!

2011-02-04T10:45:00.000+10:00

Well, with all the stress of the cyclone Yasi this week, I totally forgot to mention that I was selected as one of the new Designers to sell my cards online at Aussie Cards For Sale!

Previously, I pretty much sold to family and friends which most of us card makers do, so I'm really excited about this little venture! And what's even MORE exciting is that Alicia only listed my cards this week and one has already sold!!

You might have already noticed the logo uploaded on my RH margin which links directly to the store, so pop on over and check out what I have over there - as they sell, new ones will appear. There are many other talented ladies selling their handmade cards too, so you might find something just perfect for an upcoming occassion!

I'd also like to take a second to thank my AWESOME Blog tech Heather in the US who fixed the positioning of the store logo for me in 5 seconds flat! If you need help with anything to do with your blog, be sure to give the job to her, I can't recommend her highly enough! Just tell her Karen sent ya! lol

Have a great day everyone! I'm off to do some post cyclone clean up so that my weekend is free for card making!

What A Night......

2011-02-03T07:19:00.000+10:00

Thank you so much for all the comments in my previous post and for all the texts I got from around Australia last night - my iPhone got a work out thats for sure!! I really appreciate you all thinking of us and we are all fine!

Mackay very much dodged a bullet with this one I think, as there are so many up north that are waking up to alot of damage and loss. I'm just waiting for live broadcasts from either Tully or Mission beach as I believe that is where it has caused the most destruction as it crossed land.

I went to bed a at 11 last night, but couldn't sleep, so I got up and watched tv till 4am to see what this cyclone was doing. I was in constant contact with my friend Makeesha, and I've gotten a text from her this morning saying they are all ok! I think they are without power though, so I thought I'd post that here because I know so many of you would be wondering about her and her family!

I'll go and park my bum on the lounge again now and have another coffee (or 12), but I just wanted to pop in here and let you know all is good in Mackay!

Cyclone On The Horizon!

2011-01-31T18:56:00.001+10:00

Hey there friends,

I just wanted to pop in and let you know that I won't be updating my blog at all for the most part of this week due to us having a HUGE cyclone approaching us which will hit the coast Wednesday night/Thursday morning! As you can imagine my priority at the moment is to make sure our home and family and pets (of which I have a few! lol) are as safe and secure as possible!

I stocked up on food today, and bought just about the only remaining generator in Mackay! lol
Tomorrow I'll be taking photos of all our possessions incase it's needed for insurance purposes! You just never know if we might need those types of things and its better to be prepared than not!

Cyclones are pretty normal for my part of the world, but the size of this one has me totally freaking out - you can see it here!

So I'll sign off for now and hopefully I'll be back on in the coming days with some good news! Think of us all in North Queesland!

Just Add Ink #53

2011-01-28T14:21:00.001+10:00

It's been soooooo long since I've played along in the challenges over at Just Add Ink, but when I saw todays challenge.............I couldn't resist!

This week the girls have given an Inspiration pic and it's so pretty - take a look!

I'm pretty partial to sunflowers, just looking at them makes you happy don't ya think?

So based on that gorgeous pic,I made this..........

I've kept it clean and simple and while it's probably not a card you'd want to pop in the post, you could certainly just pop in on a beautifully wrapped gift just the way it is!

I'm keeping this post short and sweet today because I have a few things I want to get done before picking Brock up from school and time is getting away from me.

If you do have any questions as to what I've used to make this card though, please email me!

Hey There!!

2011-01-23T13:46:00.000+10:00

I know, I know, it's been a while since I updated my blog, but the ol' mojo did a bit of a runner, so rather than try and find it............I thought I'd wait until it found it's way back to me! lol

Thankfully today though it did come back, and I sat down and played with my new Papertrey Ink goodies. My HUGE box of stuff arrived last Wednesday, but it's taken me this long to sit down and make something with it - that's bad isn't it? lol

Anyhow, enough of my rambling - here's what I made today!

It's a pretty simple card really.... with lots of cutting out! lol

I've used PTI card stock called Ripe Avocado and I've stamped the Woodgrain Background stamp over it in versamark ink. I TOTALLY love this woodgrain background, because it comes as 3 individual stamps and you can interchange them, making a different background each and every time you use it.

Next, I stamped a few of the different leaves in versamark ink on Avocado and Choc Chip card stock and cut those out, then mounted them behind the flower (Beautiful Blooms #1) which I die cut from PTI Rasberry Fizz Felt. I didn't believe all the hype about this felt until I got some this time round, but it is so beautiful and thick and cuts like a dream with any dies and doesn't leave fuzzy edges! I'll be grabbing more on my next order for sure!

Lastly I mounted my flower arrangement onto a piece of the Distressed Dots paper, did some paper piercing along the top edge and finished with the Hey There sentiment from the Big And Bold Wishes Stamp Set!

I think that's pretty much it, but if you have any questions, just ask me!

Well, tomorrow will see my kids go back to school for another year - Maddy is in year 8 (high school) and Brock year 6. I'm always sad to send them off because we have such a nice christmas break together and it seems to go way to fast!

I do still have my hubby off on holidays for most of this week though which will be nice. We plan on going to lunch and catching up on a few last jobs that didn't get done because of all the rain we had over Christmas!

Anyway, thanks for stopping by today - hope you like my little card!

Nice And Simple!

2011-01-13T17:21:00.000+10:00

I've been playing around again today and managed to make this sweet little card in under 1/2 an hour - my kind of stampin'! lol

What do you think?

What's probably most exciting for me is it's in the LANDSCAPE orientation - you all know how I really don't do landscape! lol

I used some of Papertrey Inks cardstock today in Aqua Mist and Lemon Tart along with some Perfect Plum by SU! I don't have PTI inks, but wanted to give their colours a bit of depth, so I sponged the Aquamist card with SU's Soft Sky inkpad and the Lemon Tart with SU's Daffodil Delight ink! As for Perfect Plum.......well thats sponged with it's own matching inkpad! lol

I really LOVE the US sized card stock, I like the size of the card it makes.

I've used PTI's gorgeous flower die's, the Rick Rack Border, Mat Stack 1 and it's co-ordinating stamp set as well as the little flourish which goes with the bee from Baby Button Bits! The button, brad and the crochet ribbon are from SU!

I hope you like this one.........I have to admit to being rather stoked with it!

School Books On My Mind!

2011-01-12T18:34:00.000+10:00

Afternoon All!

As per my post title, I must be thinking about all the school books I have to cover for my kids for their return to school (one job I absolutely detest!) because even though I didn't mean to...........I've made a card this arvy that resembles something you could quite easily give a teacher! lol

You have no idea how long it took me to make this card........seriously it was beyond ridiculous! lol

Anyhow here it is in all it's glory!

I won't go into a huge description at the moment because I really want to sit down and watch the tv with the latest news on all the floods down south! It's such a sad situation, and my thoughts are with all those poor people who have lost everything!

If you do have any questions though, you can either email me or leave me a comment and I'll reply there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Something Simple!

2011-01-11T19:00:00.000+10:00

Hellooooooooo Friends!

My apologies for the slight break in transmission, but I've been enjoying some lovely time with my little fam this week, as well as enjoying birthday celebrations for my daughter who turned 13!! I can't believe I have a teenager in the house now - crikey that makes me feel old! lol

Righto - well today I'm showing you the card that I finished up only an hour or so ago. I'm not totally inlove with it, but I thought I'd blog it anyways cause it just might inspire someone!

I've gone for total simplicity with this one, mainly because nothing else was working! lol The colour scheme is Baja Breeze, Barely Banana, White and Crumb Cake. Such pretty colours together I think!

Here's a close up of the flower.

I've used the swirly bit from the little bee in the Baby Button Bits from PTI to create a kind of stem for the flower. I think it looks rather cute and whimsical and added a fun touch to an otherwise boring corner!

The flower is a sizzix die called Flower Daisy's #2 and I bought it from Scrapbook Boutique a while back, the butterfly is a sizzlet die from SU and the from Die I used is a PTI one called Mat Stack 1.

Well thats it from me today - hope you like it!

Aussie Cards For Sale!

2011-01-06T13:31:00.003+10:00

Today I discovered this awesome website called Aussie Cards For Sale and they're looking for new designers to sell their cards online!

I recently had my very first card sale from a blog viewer (Hi Sharon!!) and it's given me such a confidence boost that I thought I'd try out for a position and see if I could get my cards selling online! I usually only sell my cards to family and friends, so I this might be a fun little venture if I'm lucky enough to get accepted!

Now, we have to showcase 4 cards (you will have already seen these here on my blogo) and then I just have to cross my fingers and hope things go well! lol

Alrighty - so here are my 4 cards for Alicia to consider!

Wish me luck!

It's a NEW YEAR - Time To Declutter!

2011-01-04T12:17:00.010+10:00

If you're into bargains, I still have the following stamp sets for sale!

Postage will be by Express Post - up to 500grams will be $8.40 (that's usually a small stamp set) and up to 3kg's will be $11.70.

If you're interested in anything, just email me and I'll get back to you ASAP!

Happy Everything (well used) $10
Petal Pizazz (only a few stamps used)$30
Wonderful Favourites (well used) $20

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011-01-01T09:50:00.000+10:00

Hey there everyone!! HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!!! I can't believe we are now in 2011!!

I've just popped in quickly today to share this card that I made late yesterday arvy. It has some elements which are the same as the card from my previous post, but this time I challenged myself to use colours that really aren't my favourite to work with........ones that I personally struggle with.

Here it is!

It's definitely not one of the most beautiful cards I've ever made, but I think it's passable! lol
I actually emailed it to my friend Patrice yesterday to check it was blog worthy first - that's how unsure about it I was!

As you would have guessed, the colours I've used and struggle to work with are Concord Crush and Peach Parfait. However, I did team them up with 2 colours that I absolutely LOVE - Crumb Cake and PTI's Cream!

The sentiment I thought was perfect for todays post and that's from the stamp set called Signature Greetings which is available from Papertrey Ink!

Hope you have a great New Years Day wherever you are in the world!

Very Little Stamping On This One!

2010-12-31T11:51:00.000+10:00

Hi Folks!

I've had a dandy ol' time at my craft desk this morning making a card for a lady over in the US who sadly was diagnosed with stomach cancer just before Christmas - so very sad!

She has a young family, so heaps of us over on the Papertrey Ink Forum have banded together so that she will received hand made cards every single day of every single month! We all have our rostered days as to when we are to post our cards, and although mine will take alot longer to reach her, I know each and every card will make her struggles a little easier and take her mind to somewhere happy even if its just for 5 minutes while she undergoes treatment! Many thanks to Jen over at PTI for organising it all!

So moving on, while I was making her card, I issued myself with a little challenge. I had to use only 2 colours plus a neutral! I didn't think it would be quite so hard, but I got there in the end.......I think! lol

Here's a nice close up too!

I've used Pear Pizazz and teamed it up with some matching SU Papers, and for the complimentary colour I chose Blushing Bride. The neutral I used is from Papertrey Ink - it's such a beautiful Cream. I always thought that SU had the best cream coloured card stock (Very Vanilla), but after using Papertrey's for the first time today, I'm not so sure now. If you've used both, I'd love to know which you prefer!

Well that's it for me today! I've cleaned up my desk in order to photograph and edit these pics and now it's time to get it all messy again and make another card! lol

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Sweet And Simple!

2010-12-30T04:00:00.001+10:00

After I blogged yesterday, I sat and made another card. It's so lovely to just be able to sit and create and not have to do everything in between the school pick up and drop offs!

The more I stamp, the more I realise my style is that of simplicity, without all the fancy extras. If I keep things simple, I don't have to think much and I love that! lol

Anyhow, here's the card I made yesterday arvy. The stamps are Papertrey Ink's and the card stock and inks are Stampin' Up!

See..........I told you it was simple didn't I? This card took me about 15 minutes to make - gotta love that! Imagine making a bunch of these in all different colours, and just changing the sentiment on the bottom of the card! They'd be as cute as a button I reckon! Pardon the pun! lol

Well I hope you all have a great day! Not sure what I'll be doing and as this post goes live I probably won't even be awake yet! I hope to get more cardmaking done though cause I am so enjoying it right now!

Something Fun!

2010-12-29T14:11:00.001+10:00

I thought I'd pop in today to show you a very quick card I made for Maddison's 13th birthday next week!

My card was totally inspired by one that I had seen on Dawn McVey's blog during the Papertrey Ink release count down in November. If you go to this post of hers and then scroll down a bit, you'll see the card that caught my eye!

For mine I've used a base of Melon Mambo, and then I found various fun coloured left over bits of DSP that I cut out using my little Banner Builder Dies from Papertrey Ink! Love those!! The sentiments are from two different PTI stamp sets - Enjoy The Ride and Signature Greetings!

This was such a fun little card to make and one I think Maddy will love!

Feeling Refreshed!

2010-12-28T13:40:00.002+10:00

Hey there Friends!

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and that Santa was good to you all! We had a lovely day (couldn't exactly do a great deal with all the rain we had!) and the kids had heaps of fun with all their new things! I can't believe it's all over now though, however we do have a heap of Apricot and Rum Balls left if anyone wants to drop by for a cuppa! lol

Anyhoooooo, I wasn't going to blog until the new year, but I kinda feel refreshed and ready to go again, so I thought I'd share with you the card I made today.

It's just a simple one - nothing too fancy schmancy, and I followed the sketch over at Clean And Simple Stamping.

Here's the sketch!

And here's my super simple 'male card'! I thought I'd better get a little stash made for 2011! As you can see, I added a strip of ribbon to my card and secured it with a staple - other than that, it's the same as the sketch!

I've used the ever so cute stamp set from Papertrey Ink called 'Enjoy The Ride'. I just LOVE their stamps and have just today ordered myself another big load of stamps, papers and some of their gorgeous felt - so EXCITING! Gotta make the most of the Aussie dollar at the moment, right? lol

I hope you're having a great day where ever you are - I'll be back in a day or so with more to share!

Back After Christmas!

2010-12-08T10:06:00.000+10:00

Hi Everyone!

Just popping in here to let you all know that I've decided to take a few weeks off blogging and resume with it again in early January! I just have so much on at the moment and I'm finding it hard to create, so this will certainly make it easier for me. I'm sure alot of you are feeling exactly the same way with Christmas fast approaching!

That being said, I'd like to thank each and every one of my awesome blog readers who take the time to leave me such fun comments, and I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a fabo 2011!

See you all back here in January!

Graduation Done and Dusted!

2010-12-05T14:16:00.000+10:00

Hi all,

Not much stampin' happening in the Thomas household this past week I have to say, but I thought you might like to see a photo of our beautiful girl dressed for her graduation which we celebrated on Thursday night!

She looked absolutely gorgeous and we all had a great night, but I can't believe she's off to high school next year though - a whole new adventure is about to start! lol

Because it was bucketing down rain on the night, I couldn't take any photos outside which was a real pain, but I did get this lovely shot not long before we left.

This week is her very last one at primary school, so no doubt it will be a little sad for her. She's going to a different high school than most of her friends too, so Friday will be a day for lots of good-byes!

As her mum I'm just so proud of the her, and I know her future holds lots of great things!

Thanks for letting me share my proud mummy moment with you all!

A Little Thank You Gift!

2010-11-30T13:18:00.001+10:00

Hi everyone!

This Thursday night we have to attend the Year 7 Graduation for our daughter Maddy! We bought her a beautiful dress back in September, and I thought as a special treat, I'd take her and have her hair professionally done by our hairdresser for the night! She can't wait!

Anyhow, our hairdresser only works Monday's and Tuesdays, but she so graciously said she'd love to do Maddy's hair on Thursday. I wanted to make her a little something just to show our appreciation, so I whipped up a cute little box of choccies which attaches to a pocket card. It's the cutest thing - take a look!

I've done it in Red and Black which are the colours of her salon, and because the Ferrero Rochers are gold, I added a couple of gold brads just to tie everything together!

The tutorial for this little project is available from Becky Roberts website. It's included in this years 12 days of Christmas tutorial, so if you'd like to make one yourself, pop over and grab the tutorial - it's a great one!

Have a great day!

Just Add Ink #45

2010-11-26T13:03:00.000+10:00

Happy Friday everyone! I'm so ready for the weekend..........are you? lol

I sat down and stamped for the first time in days, and I have to admit I struggled in the creative department! You see, it was Awards Night at our kids school last night, and I feel like I need a little bit more sleep today - enough said!!

Thankfully though, the girls over at Just Add Ink had put up a great sketch challenge this morning, and it certainly helped me not have to think quite so much when it came to creating this card!

Here's the sketch!

And here's my card!

This card is made using alot of Papertrey Ink products (have I told you how much I love them!) and there's a little bit of Stampin' Up! used as well! Nothing like a real mix-n-match kinda card! lol

The card is so very simple that I won't go into all the details, but if you do want to know anything, I'm only an email away!

Thanks for stopping by.........I think I might go and make myself a nice strong cuppa in the hope that it will give me the 'pick me up' I so desperately need! lol

Clean And Simple #117

2010-11-21T15:50:00.000+10:00

I thought I'd share with you all a pretty quick card I made today! My daughter has just arrived home from a sleep over birthday party and she had an absolutely awesome time! There were 4 little girls at this sleep over and I thought it might be nice to send the mum a little thank you card - after all I can imagine the joys of 4 little girls over night! lol

I used this weeks sketch from over at Clean And Simple Stamping to get me started, and I just added a piece of ribbon because the top part of the card looked kinda empty to me!

Here's the sketch!

And here's what I made based on the sketch minus ribbon treatment! lol

I've used Poppy Parade and Blushing Bride as my colour scheme, and basically all I did was stamp the solid image of Organice Outlines in Versamark ink onto Blushing Bride card stock. Then I stamped the outline image in Poppy Parade, and stamped 3 flowers, cut them out, put co-ordinating brads in the centre and stuck them on with dimensionals. Super Easy!

Oh, and I stamped the card base with the Polka Dot background by Stampin' Up! and the DSP I used is also from the SU range of products called Sunny Garden - better not forget that! lol

I was really happy with how the card turned out and it was lovely to try out some of the new In colours too!

Hope you like it!

Finally I Stamped!

2010-11-19T16:49:00.002+10:00

As I said in my previous post, I had planned to spend the whole day stamping - sounded good in theory - but after fiddling about all day.............I made one darn card!! How ridiculous is that? lol Sometimes I wish I could just slap stuff together in 5 minutes and have it look nice, but unfortunately, I'm just not programmed that way!

Here's my one and only card for the day anyway! I think I might enter it in the Scrapbook Boutique's challenge this week!

I wanted to make something in non tradional Christmas colours, so I went with Crumb Cake, Bashful Blue and Pear Pizzaz and they look so lovely together I think!

The wreath was something I've been wanting to try forever and a day! There's a great video tutorial on how to do it here and its soooooo easy! It only took me a few minutes to make the actual wreath, but it was the decorating of it that I procrastinated over for far too long! I had pearls, buttons and ribbons everywhere over my desk until I finally settled on what your looking at! I drive myself nuts sometimes! lol

I hope you like this one. I haven't watermarked my card because in all honestly it just wouldn't fit, but if you do happen to CASE it (which I'm more than happy for anyone to do!) please be a sport, and give credit to my original design!

Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by!

Just Add Christmas!!!

2010-11-12T12:05:00.000+10:00

Time for another wonderful challenge over at the Just Add Ink Blog, and this week it's all about CHRISTMAS.

While I won't be sending out all that many cards this year, I did take the opportunity to make a card to add to my small Christmas card stash.

I've kept the card pretty simple because I wanted my fuzzy little tree to be the main feature and I was so pleased with how it turned out!

Now, to make the tree, all I did was cut a piece of Old Olive card stock into a triangle 'tree' shape. Then, I punched heaps of the little leaves out (the punch I used is a Martha Stewart one) and randomly glued them to the triangle, so that eventually it was fully covered and resemembed a little Christmas Tree!

Next, I raided my stash of gold cord and wrapped that around the tree, and then I placed some small Rose Red coloured half pearls (also from my stash) over the gold cord to resemble baubles! I used my Papertrey Ink Die to cut a base for my tree to be put onto since I wanted it to be the main feature of my card and once I'd finished sticking down all my layers of DSP ect, I mounted it all onto a Vanilla card base.

The DSP I've used is a new one from SU and it's called Sweet And Sour Specialty. I just love the patterns and colours in that particular pack.

Well, that's it from me for today. I've been playing around with that card all morning, so now it's time to iron and fold washing! lol

Clean And Simple Stamping #115

2010-11-09T10:22:00.001+10:00

Another challenge I tackled over the weekend was the one over at Clean And Simple Stamping! I just love doing their sketches and I really enjoy looking at the way everyone interprets the challenges!

This is the sketch for this week incase you haven't already seen it!

I had a birthday card to make for one of my daughters little friends, so I used this sketch and came up with this......

Cute huh? See that lovely Martha Stewart tag (doiley)? They are now available from the Scrapbook Boutique here in Australia! Go grab yourself a few packs (like I did!) cause they are really lovely and there are a few different styles in each pack!

The stamps I've used here are Signature Greetings and Baby Button Bits all by Papertrey Ink, and I've used Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip and Regal Rose as my colour scheme.

Alrighty, time to hook into my normal daily duties and then I'd better get to making some more cards since I've run out of ones to blog! lol

From Me To You!

2010-11-08T11:07:00.001+10:00

I sat down last night with a bunch of my Papertrey Ink stamp sets trying to decide on a set to use to whip up something nice and simple.

Anyhow, I was looking at all the little stamps in the Baby Button Bits stamp set, and it dawned on me that the baby rattle could also be used as a bubble blowing wand. With that thought in mind, I set to work and created this cute little 3 x 3 note card!

All I did was punch out the centre of the rattle and the handle as well. To give a 3D look to the card, I attached the 'wand' with double sided tape on the handle, and then a small dimensional where the handle meets the round part so it sits out from the card a little.

The bubbles are just small circles punched out of the thicker vellum paper, and then I've punched out a little red heart to finish it off.

A really simple but cute little card, and it took me next to no time to whip it up - gotta LOVE that!

Hope you like it!

Just Add Ink #42

2010-11-07T13:20:00.002+10:00

Hidey Ho Friends - hope your having a lovely relaxing Sunday! I've been having a fantastic time here at my craft desk today and I've even managed to get a couple of challenges done! YAY ME!!! lol

Okay, so challenge number one that I tackled was for the girls over at Just Add Ink, and this weeks it's a sketch challenge! In addition to this fabo sketch, I wanted to challenge myself to use colours I normally wouldn't touch with a 10ft barge pole, so be warned........this card won't appeal to everyone! lol

I got out my trusty colour wheel and instantly went to Summer Sun - that colour really does my head in and I just HAD to use it and a few colours that apparently matched it - in this case it was Elegant Eggplant and Really Rust! I know what your thinking (and I was too!)..........that is one freakin' ugly colour combination! lol

Let's take a look at the sketch first, while you pop your sunnies on to protect your eyes from the YELLOW!

I loved the sketch - so simple, but has lots of possibilities! Here's my card now!

Now if anyone had of suggested I use those colours together, I would have wondered what planet they were on, but seriously don't they look great together?? I was really quite surprised to be honest! It's amazing what the colour wheel thingy tells you will match and it DEFINITELY gets you out of your snug little comfort zone! lol

So there you have it for today - challenge number 1. I've also made a card for the Clean And Simple Stamping challenge too, but I'll upload that during the week sometime!

ETA - So I've uploaded my JAI challenge card only to realize the strip along the bottom was meant to stretch the full width of the card! Aaaaaggh - that'll teach me for trying to remember a sketch in my head instead of printing it out and working from it! lol

Christmas Card!

2010-11-04T11:04:00.001+10:00

Wowzers 2 posts in 2 days - I'm on fire! lol

Today I'm showing you a Christmas card I made and I wanted to use colours that we don't necessarily associate with Christmas, so I chose Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red, Chocolate Chip and Old Olive!

I've used some Stampin' Up! DSP called Sweet And Sour - just beautiful. The Die I've used is by Papertrey Ink and I've also used part of a PTI stamp set called All Booked Up which is designed to be used with that die - love that for convenience!

The little wreath was made using my Martha Stewart Punch which I absolutely love! The leaf is just so delicate and you can whip up a wreath in minutes - I think I punched out about 10 little leaves for mine.

The baubles on the wreath are just some coloured pearls that I found in my stash, and I've added a Pumpkin Pie Ribbon just to finish it all off! The 'Christmas' wording is from the Basic Phrases Stamp Set.

You can't really see in the photo, but under the narrow strip of choc chip card stock down the bottom, I've added a scored line with my score-pal just for some interest and texture!

I think I've covered everything, but if you have any questions, you're more than welcome to flick me an email! Sorry for the quick post - got lots to do today!

My 15 Minute Baby Girl Card!

2010-11-03T11:47:00.000+10:00

Hey Everyone!

Finally, I had a little time to sit down and stamp today and I thought I'd show you the fruits of my labour!

One of my hubby's work mates daughters (are you with me here! lol) had a baby girl last week and I thought I'd sit down and make a card for the little cutie!

Anyhow, after trying to tackle the sketch over at Clean And Simple stamping this week without much success, I threw what I'd created into the bin (yep it was THAT bad! lol) and I started again!

Let me show you wanted I ended up making in about 15 minutes flat though!

I've made this card in what you'd probably consider as Valentines Day Colours, but I reckon it turned out really cute AND it was EASY!!

The base card is Ivory Naturals and the other colours are Rose Red, Regal Rose and the last little heart is punched from Riding Hood Red! I've used parts from 3 different stamp sets - Think Happy Thoughts, Seeing Spots and Nursery Necessities. Basically you just stamp, punch and assemble to make this card - very, very easy!

I hope you like it anyway and if you ever CASE my card for a baby boy - I'd love to see your version!

Have a great day everyone!

Curtain Call Challenge #54

2010-10-31T15:00:00.072+10:00

Happy Sunday everyone!

I had hoped to be back here this week but unfortunately life got in the way (AGAIN!!) and my stampin' time was very limited (AGAIN!!) - don't ya hate that? lol

Anyhow, with the limited time I had available, I had to create my very last card for my Guest Designer Postition with the Curtain Call Crew! I've had an absolute ball making these little projects each week, and I thank Stacey for the wonderful opportunity, and also the gorgeous 'crew' who do magnificent work each and every week!

This weeks colours made me automatically think of Autumn, and I knew immediately which stamp set would help me out with my creation! But before I show you my card, I think it might be a good idea if I show you the colours we're working with huh! lol

And here's my card in all it's Autumn tones!

At first when I made this card, I wasn't totally inlove with it, but I think that's because it's such a simple design, that some might even class as boring!

However, after looking at it on my craft desk for a few days, I really quite like it now. Yeah, it's simple - but simple is GOOD and simple is MY style. I must remember that when I'm critiquing myself in future! lol

So basically, all I've done is randomly stamped the large leaves from Lovely As A Tree all over my Very Vanilla card stock in Cujan Craze, Pumpkin Pie and More Mustard Ink. Then I've gently spritzed a little bit of Chocolate Chip Ink over it using my spritzer tool and marker. I know Chocolate Chip isn't in the colour palette, but there are some dark shadowy bits in the inspiration pic so I added some 'dark' colour to my creation! lol

Next, I did the Faux Suede technique on a More Mustard strip of card, wrapped a length of linen thread around it and secured it with some Cujan Craze brads before sticking it down. Then, I've used my Big Shot to cut out a label, and my large oval punch to cut out a Vanilla overlay which has been stamped with the sentiment from the Best Yet stamp set! That's it - SO EASY!

Now, I'd love you to pop over to all the crew and leave them some comment love - they so deserve it! You can then play along yourself by uploading your creation using Mr Linky over at Stacey's Blog!

Christina MacLaren at Seaglass & Sentiments

Jean Martin at Stampin' Scrapper

Julie Lacey at Stamps & Taxes

Laurel Seabrook at Seabrook Designs

Makiko Jones at MakInk Studio

Monika Davis at M.A.D. Stamper

Piali Biswas at Touch of Creation

Silke Ledlow at My Life

Stacey Schafer at Stacey's Stamping Stage

Teresa Kline at Enjoy the VA Sunshine

Curtain Call Challenge #53

2010-10-24T15:00:00.048+10:00

Hi all!

Sorry for the lack of posts this week - it's been a bit of a big one for me! I've been at the Eisteddfod with my kids alot this week, and any free time I had was used for catching me up with housework chores that fall behind - it never ends does it? lol

Anyhooooooo, Sunday sees us with another fabo Curtain Call Challenge. I loved the colours this week and went a bit 'halloweeny' with my card after seeing the inspiration pic for the colours!

Here's the colours!

And here's my card!

What do you think? I was really happy with how it turned, out and I totally like these colours together!! You can't really see by looking at the photo, but I've clear embossed the flourish from Baroque Motifs before I plonked my pumpkin on it, just to give it a bit of 'oomph'!

Other than that, it's a pretty simple and self explanatory card I think. However, if you do have any questions, flick me an email and I'll get back to you!

Be sure to pop along and check out my fellow Design Team members to see what they've come up with and leave them some comment love too! Then, enter your own creation by using Mr Linky over at Stacey's Stamping Stage!

Christina MacLaren at Seaglass & Sentiments

Jean Martin at Stampin' Scrapper

Julie Lacey at Stamps & Taxes

Laurel Seabrook at Seabrook Designs

Makiko Jones at MakInk Studio

Monika Davis at M.A.D. Stamper

Piali Biswas at Touch of Creation

Silke Ledlow at My Life

Stacey Schafer at Stacey's Stamping Stage

Teresa Kline at Enjoy the VA Sunshine

Hope you all have an awesome week and hopefully (fingers crossed) I'll be back before next Sunday with something new for you!

Curtain Call Challenge #52

2010-10-17T15:00:00.087+10:00

Can you believe this is my 3rd week as a Guest Designer for the Curtain Call Challenge? I can't believe how quickly the weeks have wizzed by!!

This week Stacey gave us a very pretty colour combo, but I have to admit to being stumped for a little while with it. I tried a few things which ended up in the bin, until I realised I still had to make a little gift for a friend, so I combined both the challenge with my card and gift packaging and then things got easier - not sure why! lol!

Ok, these are the beautiful colours for this week!

See...... they really are pretty, and I can't belive they had me tricked up!

Since we don't have the Barmuda Bay colour in Australia, I used Taken With Teal for my creations.

First off, I made a little love note sized card.

Obviously because of their size you can't go overboard with what you put on them, so I just did a bit of layering, combining stamp sets and punches until I came up with something I was happy with! Simple, but effective in these colours I thought!

Next you'll see how I did exactly the same layering and stamping, but this time turned it into a little tag to hang off my gift packaging!

Time to look at them both together now.

My gorgeous friend Ngaire sent me these tiny little white paperbags that she got from over in WA somewhere, and I embossed mine with the square lattice embossing folder. Then I just tied a big choc chip ribbon around it and added my little tag! It's a very simple little ensemble to put together, and they look really lovely IRL! Now I just have to put it all in the post and things will be rosey! lol

The Curtain Call Crew has samples to show you today too, so make sure you stop by to see:

Christina MacLaren at Seaglass & Sentiments

Jean Martin at Stampin' Scrapper

Julie Lacey at Stamps & Taxes

Laurel Seabrook at Seabrook Designs

Makiko Jones at MakInk Studio

Monika Davis at M.A.D. Stamper

Piali Biswas at Touch of Creation

Silke Ledlow at My Life

Stacey Schafer at Stacey's Stamping Stage

Teresa Kline at Enjoy the VA Sunshine

...then play along with us and post your Curtain Call Color Challenge creation using Mr. Linky over at Stacey's Stamping Stage.

I hope you've enjoyed my projects for this weeks challenge and will give this colour combo a try yourself. I can't wait to see what you all come up with!

Just Add Ink Card # 2

2010-10-15T16:57:00.000+10:00

Alrighty, so I've LOVED this weeks challenge over at Just Add Ink so much, that I've made another card today which I actually love more than my first! lol

What do you think?

I've gone for clean and simple with this little number, and if you can't tell already, I LOVE that Aviary stamp set! I think I might have to get me this one! lol

Well that's it for me today. Don't forget to come back on Sunday arvy around 3pm for my Curtain Call Colour challenge projects!

Enjoy!

Just Add Ink #39!

2010-10-15T11:21:00.000+10:00

Happy Friday everyone! Don't ya just love Fridays? I do - it's my fave day of the week because no school lunches have to be made for 2 days, I get to spend time with my beautiful hubby and kids (had to say that cause I know he reads my blog while at work!!), Keesh puts up another Inkspirations Challenge, and the girls over at Just Add Ink put up a new challenge too! LOVE Fridays! lol

This week over at Just Add Ink, they have a FABO challenge that I hope alot of people will take part in! You see, this month is Anxiety and Depression Awareness Month - something that's very close to my heart and their challenge is to Just Add Blue to your creation. Not only that, but we're encouraged to send our card on to a special someone. It could be someone you know who is going through a rough patch, it could be someone who has done something nice for you lately, or it could even be your favourite blog star - it's totally up to you!!

I have to admit to getting rather excited when I saw this challenge this morning, so as soon as I dropped my kidlets off at school, I came home and scratched around my supplies looking for anything 'blue'. I decided to use some Blueberry Crisp DSP which is a new one from SU and I used the colours that co-ordinated with it to come up with this little cutie!

I wanted it to be a fun card, so I used the Aviary stamp set that Keesh so kindly popped in the post for me to borrow for a little while. How cute is that little owl with his googly eyes? lol You can't really tell in the pic, but the bird cage is stamped in Not Quite Navy and the owl is stamped in Pacific Point with a little Sahara Sand belly, just so it all ties in together!

It's a pretty simple little card, but I hope it will brighten the day of my chosen recipent! Thanks Just Add Ink girls for a really great challenge!

Christmas Card!

2010-10-13T12:02:00.000+10:00

Hi Folks!

Well here it is Wednesday already and I finally managed to sit down and make a card! I had great ambitions this morning of whipping up a few to get some scheduled postings done, but the card I'm about to show you took me way to long and now I have to get on with my ironing ect for the day! lol

So here's what took me most of the morning to make.

I can just imagine many of you shaking your head and saying "why did that take her all morning?!" lol

Well, most normal people I know could whip this up in 10 minutes flat, but I chop and change things around, redo my bow about 400 times, restamp images cause they aren't 'right', take 30 photos of the darn thing and then don't even get me started on the editing! lol

Ok, so basically it's just a Rich Razzleberry card base which I've stamped with the Sanded background in versamark ink. Then I've taken the lovely as a tree image and randomly stamped that using Rich Razzleberry ink, stamping off as I go to get lighter shades of the tree! I've then sponged around that whole card base in Razzleberry ink just to give it some depth.

Then I've used a piece of DSP from the Woodland Park range (which is Wild Wasabi with cream polkadots) and I've stamped a few of the pretty flourishes that are from the Vintage Vogue stamp set using Razzleberry Ink over that. The reindeer is from the Winter Post stamp set which I've stamped in Soft Suede ink, and the sentiment is from a stamp set callled Best Yet. I'ts also been stamped in Soft Suede Ink!

Going back to the reindeer for a sec, he isn't missing part of his nose - I've just applied the tiniest drop of Crystal Effects and sprinkled that with glitter. lol! I thought I'd better clarify that anyone was wondering! lol

I think that's it, but if you do have any questions, just flick me an email! I'm hoping to get back here before the weekend, but if for some reason I don't, I have my next DT project for the Curtain Call Challenge ready to upload at about 3pm on Sunday!

Catch ya later gator!

Curtain Call Colour Challenge #51

2010-10-10T14:40:00.000+10:00

WOWSERS what a big week!! I haven't been at my stamp desk all week and I've missed it. I thought for sure I'd get a chance to whip something new up, but it wasn't to be!

I was clever though, and did my DT card for the Curtain Call Colour Challenge last weekend when I had time. Thank goodness I'd done that or otherwise who knows what you might have seen on my blog for this weeks challenge! lol

Speaking of this week - how's about we check out what colours we're playing with?

Aren't they just lovely? I took alot of the inspiration for my card from that gorgeous blue bed head in the photo as you'll see!

I tried to recreate the look of the 'bed head' by stamping the squarish image from the Baroque Motifs stamp set onto Marina Mist card stock, and then punched it out with my square punch - I did that 9 times. Then, I arranged it in a similar pattern to the bed head . That was a very simple way to make a fancy looking background I thought! lol!

I know you'll want to know how I made the flower too. I had alot of questions when I made one similar on this card. It's honestly so simple. You'll need the Daisy Flower # 2 die to make it, which has 3 different size flowers on it. This die was available in the US through Stampin' Up!, but I purchased mine from here! It's a gorgeous die - you must buy it! lol

Now, all I've done to make the flower, is run it through the big shot using Whisper White card. Then, I've cut each flower in half (you'll get 2 flowers made by doing this!) layered them on top of each other and secured them with a 1" circle cut out of So Saffron card! I then made the base of the flower stem by using a another 1" circle cut out of Crumb Cake card. I've done the Faux Suede technique to that and kind of pleated it to give it some texture. I then drew the actual stem onto some Crumb Cake Card, cut it out and did the Faux Suede technique to that too and then wrapped some linen thread around it. Not sure why I did that but it looks cool! lol The leaves were also drawn free hand!

Be sure to pop on over and visit all the Curtain Call Crew and check out their creations because these ladies sure know how to impress! Just follow the links below, be blown away with their creations, and then
play along with us and post your Curtain Call Color Challenge creation using Mr. Linky over at Stacey's Stamping Stage.

Christina MacLaren at Seaglass & Sentiments

Jean Martin at Stampin' Scrapper

Julie Lacey at Stamps & Taxes

Laurel Seabrook at Seabrook Designs

Makiko Jones at MakInk Studio

Monika Davis at M.A.D. Stamper

Piali Biswas at Touch of Creation

Silke Ledlow at My Life

Stacey Schafer at Stacey's Stamping Stage

Teresa Kline at Enjoy the VA Sunshine

Cherry On Top Blog Award!

2010-10-07T10:46:00.000+10:00

Hi everyone!

I promised I'd be back during the week with something new to show you, but instead I've been busy cleaning my BIL's 2 rental properties. My back is killing me, and to say every muscle in my body is aching would be an understatement SO............ I gave myself the day off today! lol
Thankfully I do have my DT card done for this weeks Curtain Call Challenge (I was smart and did that last weekend while I had time) so be sure to come back at about 3pm on Sunday for that one!

In the mean time, I've been awarded this cute little Cherry On Top Blog award 3 times in the past couple of weeks and have been a little busy to do anything about it, and then when I do remember, I get side tracked with something else and promptly forget again! lol

I'd like to thank Makeesha, Petronela and also Donna for passing it onto me. It excites me to know that what I do is inspiring to some people, even if my blog updates aren't all that regular at the moment.

Now, aparently I have to tell you 3 things about myself, but crikey - I'm really not that much of an interesting person, so you all might be asleep by the time you read the 3rd one! lol

I'm very much a loner and enjoy being that way. While I love the company of friends sometimes, it doesn't bother me in the slightest if I don't speak to anyone all day! Weird, but true!
I use to religiously watch Dr Phil, but now I'm glued to Martha Stewart every single day while I do my ironing!
I absolutely LOVE animals and have quite the little farm going on here! lol

I know I'm suppose to pass this one on, but there are so many blogs that inspire me, that it would just be too hard to narrow it down to just a few. Instead I'll just say Thank You, and hope that I continue to inspire those that regularly stop by and always leave me such lovely comments!

My October Design Team Gig!

2010-10-03T15:01:00.002+10:00

Happy Sunday everyone!

I'm so excited to announce that for the month of October, I'm a Guest Designer for the Curtain Call Challenges - how AWESOME is that!! I nearly fell of my chair when Stacey asked me if I'd jump on board, but I'm certainly up for the challenge and I'd love for you to play along too!

Alrighty, so to kick off our October challenges, let me show you the beautiful colours we have to work with this week.

How gorgeous are they?? I even got to break open my new Cujan Craze Inkpad for this challenge, and this is what I came up with!

Now, I definitely can't take credit for the layout of this card because if you flip to page 82 of the Australian SU Catalogue, you'll find the card there that inspired me! I loved it when I saw it, so I thought I'd tweak it just a little to make it mine!

I've clear embossed the flourish from Baroque Motifs, and then cut out a few little butterflies with my sizzix embosslit which you can get from your favourite SU Demonstrator if you don't have it already! What I also added was a mini paperclip with ribbon attached as well as a small tiny stamped tag! I was so pleased with how it turned out - I just love those warm earthy tones!!

Now, the Curtain Call Crew has samples to show you today, too, so make sure you stop by to see:

Introducing...

Christina MacLaren at Seaglass & Sentiments

Jean Martin at Stampin' Scrapper

Julie Lacey at Stamps & Taxes

Laurel Seabrook at Seabrook Designs

Makiko Jones at MakInk Studio

Monika Davis at M.A.D. Stamper

Piali Biswas at Touch of Creation

Silke Ledlow at My Life

Stacey Schafer at Stacey's Stamping Stage

Teresa Kline at Enjoy the VA Sunshine

Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope to be back during the week with another creation or two!

Simple Flower Card!

2010-09-26T14:44:00.000+10:00

Happy Sunday!!

I thought I'd show you the card I finished just now. I actually started it some hours ago while on the phone to my friend good friend Kirsty Brown, and while I didn't have a clue what I was doing really, I just stamped random bits and pieces and when I hung up the phone, I pieced something together! I should have actually taken a picci of my desk here too - good lord what a mess!!

So here's my simple, but pretty birthday card!

What I did first ,was stamp one of the frames from the 'Frames With a Flourish' stamp set onto my Crumb Cake card using Crumb Cake ink! That gave for a nice subtle background!

Then I stamped the large rectangle frame (from the same stamp set) onto Vanilla card, cut it out and then using my slit punch I created two slits for the Kraft ribbon to thread through!

Next, I cut out some leaves using my sizzlet die from Mellow Moss card and a flower using the Flower Fusion sizzlet die! I spritzed the leaves using the matching marker and I sponged the flower (which is Pink Pirouette) using Blushing Bride Ink - just to give it a darker shading! The flower is secured with a clear rhinestone brad!

Now onto the wording! That looks like its stamped in black doesn't it, but infact it's Early Espresso. If I had my time over, I'd have stamped it off once, just so it wasn't that dark! Oh well, live and learn hey!

All in all I really like this card, and it was fun doing it while chatting to Kirsty.........even if it was for 2 hours and 23 minutes! lol

Just Add Ink #36

2010-09-24T16:00:00.000+10:00

Well hello again!

Two posts in two days...........not bad! lol

I've just finished the sketch challenge over at Just Add Ink so I thought I'd quickly pop in here and show you! I had a heck of a time with this challenge, but yet it's so simple - go figure!

Ok, so here's the sketch for this week!

Since you all know I have 'issues' with making cards in a landscape orientation, I flipped it and came up with this little creation!

I chose the DSP first which is probably where I went wrong. I really love it and was desperate to work with it, but maybe I should have chosen something else to make it easier on myself! lol

When it came time to thinking about the 2 little bits I needed to add which represented where the butterflies are on the sketch, I had absolutely no idea what to add!

I sat and I thought........and I thought while I sat, until I finally figured out I needed to focus on circles, since there's heaps of them on the DSP! Once I had that sorted, things seemed to fall into place nicely!

That's my entry for this week. I'll pop on over and enter it now and then get started on our meatloaf for dinner!

10th Birthday Card!

2010-09-23T14:25:00.000+10:00

Hi all!

Can you believe we are almost done with the first week of school holidays here in Queensland? I really enjoy having the kids at home and we've been having some lovely time together, so today was the first time I've sat down and stamped!!

Our little boy is Brock is turning 10 on Tuesday, so I thought I'd better get a wriggle on and make him a card before time got away from me! His favourite colour in the world is Red and he also loves anything that has to do with aeroplanes, so I used that as the basis for my card today!

Here it is!

I actually used some of my new Stampin' Up! goodies today too. I broke open my new Pear Pizzazz Inkpad and used the matching card stock, as well as a little bit of 'Celebrations' DSP - all of which are very nice!!

I made my own background of planes using a Papertrey Inks stamp set called Fly Away - it's a total bargain at just $5! I also used used the Mat Stack 3 die from Papertrey Ink to act as a focal point for my numbers which are sizzix dies by SU! To make my numbers really pop, I went around them with my versamark pen.

All in all, another simple card which was heaps of fun to make! Hope you like it!

Party Invites!

2010-09-19T08:27:00.001+10:00

Happy Sunday!!

Crikey - another week done and dusted! My kids are school holidays now which I LOVE! I always look forward to the lazy days and just plain chillin' out! Maybe I'll even get a bit of stampin' in too if I'm lucky! lol

Yesterday I sat down and got the party invites done for Maddison's 13th birthday! I didn't want to go with the norm, so I made something a little bit cute. The details of the party will be rolled up and secured with a ribbon inside.

Maddison just loves them so I'd say mission accomplished! What do you think?