Bright Celebration

Second post tonight!! I think I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things, but we'll see how the next couple of months go.... I think this is also the earliest I have EVER made an entry for the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge (and I've missed the last few weeks too...).

I teamed this sketch with the latest Scrapmaster's Paradise Colour Challenge:

Once again, I've had to substitute colours - Pixie Pink for Melon Mambo and Tempting Turquoise for Bermuda Bay.

I quite like this colour combo - I actually used Pixie Pink and Tempting Turquoise for Luana's First birthday invites, and for her second Christmas cards (wasn't into cardmaking for the first). Have never thought to team it with Orange though...

I rotated the sketch and used a flower for the dreaded circle - I really should invest in a circle cutting system - any recommendations? I will have better access to papercraft supplies soon...
I put this card together for a friend who has a birthday coming up. Really quite simple tonight - two different Tempting Turquoise DSP's from Pink Flamingo, and a few petals and centres from Pick-a-Petal. I inked just 'celebrate' on one of the greetings from Sweet Little Sentiments (Level 1 Hostess Set) with an Only Orange Stampin' Write marker and stamped it discretely in one corner. Done! I love straight forward cards.


If you're up for some blog candy, head over to SPCC and become a follower for your chance to win! Samantha puts together great colour combos, with great prizes to boot!








Stamps: Pick-a-Petal, Sweet Little Sentiments (Level 1 Hostess Set)
Card: Only Orange, Whisper White
DSP: Pink Flamingo
Ink: Only Orange, Pixie Pink

Welcome Kiannah

Yet another bundle of joy has entered the world - and there are MANY more to come over the next months in our world. It feels like almost every woman (remotely my age) I know is expecting another miracle (including my sister - I'm going to be an auntie!!). Lots of baby cards coming up!

I thought this weeks Color Throwdown challenge suited a baby card. Kiannah's Mum was my Body Balance instructor (pre-Luana when I actually went to the gym!) and is quite bright and funky, so pastels weren't quite right... I've used Pixie Pink instead of Positively Pink.

Apologies for the atrocious photo - will try to remedy that tomorrow.

This has ended up being a bit of a blast from the past card. I inked up the gorgeous butterfly from Reason to Smile (retired) in Pixie Pink and stamped it off before going over the bigger flowers with a Stampin' Write Marker, and taking the ink off the middle flowers with a blender pen and inking them with a Bashful Blue marker. I also used the Pixie Pink marker to run around the edges of the butterfly wings. I love Best Friends Alphabet (retired), so used it with the Stamp-a-ma-jig for the names. The little flowers in Bashful Blue are also from Reason to Smile, and I edged the names with Certainly Celery ink. A little bit of interest was added around the edge of the Certainly Celery Prints DSP (also retired) with some paper piercing and faux stitching with the white gel pen. Some more faux stitching (this time free hand) was added to the Blooms Die Cut. The names and the butterfly were popped up with dimensionals and the butterfly wings curled up just a tad.

We're looking forward to meeting Kiannah this week!

Stamps: Reason to Smile (retired), Best Friends Alphabet (retired)
Card: Pixie Pink, Whisper White
DSP: Certainly Celery Prints (retired)
Ink: Pixie Pink, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery
Other: Blooms Die Cut Flowers, white gel pen, paper piercer

Flutterby Tea Party

August used a be a quiet-on-the-birthday-front month for me, so when I found out Baby Murray (aka Luana) was due in August I was quite happy (I'm a Christmas time baby - I'm sure you other Christmas babies out there understand!). However, in recent years more bubbies have been born and friends added to our circle who all celebrate in August, so it's now become quite a busy month!! (I'm not going to write on here the ONLY month where there are no special events in our family for fear of a baby boom next year!). Tonight's card has been made for a gorgeous little girl who joined the ranks of Leo babies last year (I've been a bit slack on promptness this year...).

I have used Makeesha Inskpirations Sketch Challenge #12, rotated and with a touch of artistic licence:

The gorgeous birthday girl had a purple butterfly cake, so I didn't need any encouragement to run with that theme!! I didn't actually plan for this card to be a no stamp card, but that's how it evolved. I used Lovely Lilac and Almost Amethyst as the starting colours and added others found in the Tea Party DSP - love the soft colours! The ribbon is from the retired Flirty Ribbon Originals pack, and the oval (aka the number '0') and number 1 are courtesy of the retired Simon On Board Chipboard 0 those big numbers a fantastic. I distressed and inked in Certainly Celery in edges of the '0', as well as adding some light sponging. I used a Lovely Lilac Stampin' Write Marker to run around the edge of the 1 for a bit more definition and popped it up with dimensionals.

My favourite part of this card would have to be the butterflies. I saw these while I was blog-hopping one day, but I cannot remember who's blog it was - please leave a comment if it's you so I can give you credit where it's due!! They're made using the 5 petal flower punch - super easy and super cute!! I drew little circles in a line for the body and added some antennae too.

We took Luana to a butterfly farm today which was so much fun. Ulysses butterflies are just STUNNING but SO hard to photograph... I think Mum and I ended up with some good photos between us though.

Have a great weekend!

Card: Lovely Lilac, Whisper White

DSP: Tea Party
Ink: Certainly Celery, Lovely Lilac
Punch: 5 petal flower
Other: On Board Simon Chipboard (retired), silver gel pen (non-SU), silver brads, Flirty ribbon (retired)

Cocoa Daisies

We have had a busy weekend (to finish a heavy week), and the next few won't be any more relaxing than this one I'm sure! We did one of the walks at Edith Falls yesterday that we've been meaning to do for AGES. Paul has done it with the School Holiday program before, but I hadn't ventured in that direction yet - and the last time I did a walk at Edith Falls I was 8 1/2 months pregnant with Luana!!
We had a lovely day paddling (me slipping on wet rocks into the water!), laughing and picnicking, only to find out just as we were walking back we'd only made it to Long Hole Pool, not Sweetwater Pool like we had intended... that was still a further 2km on. Oh well, it was a lovely spot to pass a few hours and we'll head back to Sweetwater when Luana is a bit older and won't have to be on Paul's shoulders quite so much!

After such an energetic day yesterday, we just caught up with a few things around the house and had coffee with a friend today. I was able to sit down tonight to make a card after Luana had gone to bed. It feels like ages since I've sat down and felt somewhat inspired.

Tonight I put together a card using the latest Scrapmaster's Paradise Colour Challenge and Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge:

I substituted Close to Cocoa for Soft Suede, although I do think this combo would work better with the Soft Suede. I shadow stamped the daisies from Upsy Daisy by using first and second generation stamping in Close to Cocoa, moving the stamped to the right a bit in between. This was mounted on a thin border of Close to Cocoa card. I also inked up the greeting from Great Friend in the Spring Mini with Close to Cocoa and used a blender pen to take the ink off 'friend' before using my Green Galore Stampin' Write marker to add colour. This was punched with the 1 3/8" circle punch and mounted just off a Close to Cocoa punched circle the same size. The strip of DSP comes from Candy Lane, and it's a bit hard to see but the edges of the Green Galore are sponged and swiped to soften the effect a little.

I'm not sure about the green, but I thinks it's a sweet card non-the-less.

I'm off to bed now for a well earned sleep! Pity I need to work tomorrow!

Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Great Friend (Spring Mini)

Card: Close to Cocoa, Green Galore, Whisper White

DSP: Candy Lane

Ink: Close to Cocoa, Green Galore

Punches: 1 3/8" circle

Roaring Thanks!

I must apologise for my lack of posting recently. I have not had time to play much, with Luana's birthday and my parent's visiting, but this week motivation has deserted me - the reason why will become apparent in the next couple of months (and no, I'm not expecting). Life changing decisions can do that to you I guess!

I have made one card this week though, for one of Luana's carers using Makeesha's latest Inspiration Challenge.

I've taken inspiration from the colours, the cupboards, and the curve of the chairs and bowls on the breakfast bar. I was going to use Baja Breeze or Bashful Blue to tie in with the bowls, but Luana loves pink so used Pink Pirouette instead.

I've 'reversed' the colour scheme and made Close to Cocoa window/cupboard frames instead of White like in the picture. I punched the windows out using 1 3/8" square punch and used dimensionals to mount the animals so theyare recessed a bit (cheats way of doing the gorgeous recessed frame card on SCS last week!). The mane of the lion (roar!!) - first generation stamp, the body and face were second generation - was fussy cut and mounted with dimensionals and some Dazzling Diamonds added sparkle to the giraffe (also reminiscent of the crystalware in the cupboards!!). The oval greeting filled the curve inspiration - even the writing is curvy!

I think this lion is so cute! Luana has a thing about tigers and there's lots of roaring going on in our house these days, so the lion is the closest I have!

Luana's carer loved it and Luana proudly announced to anyone in earshot that "My Mummy made the card" - gotta love kids for an ego boost!

Stamps: Wild About You, Short & Sweet

Card: Close to Cocoa, Whisper White

DSP: Candy Lane

Ink: Close to Cocoa, Pink Pirouette

Punches: Scallop Oval, Small Oval, Large Oval, 1 3/8" square

Other: Dazzling Diamonds

Revisiting Bodacious Bouquet

As you know, I have been laying a bit low this week; I have had the intention of completing a few cards for challenges, but have missed the cut offs.... oops. I have, however, organised myself to get a card made for the latest Scrapmaster's Paradise Colour Challenge. I was a bit lucky and made the Top 5 a few weeks ago for SPCC #6 (see the other winner's here) but haven't been able to enter in any other challenges until now. Samantha put together some great combos!


We don't have Crushed Curry here (yet - I'm still keeping my fingers crossed it will arrive at some stage), so I've used the retired Marigold Morning - I thought it was just a bit more subdued than Summer Sun. I also thought flowers were the way to go for this combo, so out came Bodacious Bouquet - such a great set!

I have left it a bit late in the day again for the is photograph properly (we went to a Teddy Bear's Picnic this morning - such fun!) - but each of the flowers has Dazzling Diamonds in the centre which adds a nice bit of sparkle. Lots of fussy cutting with this one, and all card layers were distressed too. The sentiment and layered flower on the corner of it have been popped up by dimensionals.

Hope you've enjoyed this blast from the past!




Stamps: Bodacious Bouquet (retired), Fifth Avenue Floral
Card: Pumpkin Pie, Pale Plum, Marigold Morning (retired), Whisper White

Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Pale Plum, Marigold Morning (retired)

Other: Dazzling Diamonds

Spring Mini 2009 Launch

I know it's been a little while since I've posted, but I do have a good excuse - my parents are visiting! They came up for Miss Luana's birthday and it's been great to have some time off work and spend some time with them. Nothing exciting, just hanging around the house (in between me running around town for meetings... even though it was my week off...). I also held a Spring Mini Catalogue launch last weekend, which Mum was here in time for.

Our first project was this cute little page corner bookmark from the July Impressions (our Stampin' Up! demonstrator newsletter - one of the bonuses of being a demo!). I made the So Saffron one as the sample, and the Basic Grey one on the day. The technique featured on this project was masking, to keep everything as flat as possible for use in a book! They work wonderfully!! (I've just finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)

For our second project we made a Father's Day card (thanks for the reminder Sharon) using Sense of Time and LOTS of distressing. The main clock face was unceremoniously scrunched after stamping and after 'flattening back out', a litle bit of Close to Cocoa pastel was rubbed on (with fingers) to add to the aged effect. All edges were distressed with scissors, and Sanded provided the perfect background. The cogs in the greeting panel were second generation stamped, as well as being scrunched and pasteled, and the word window was edged in Close to Cocoa (greeting was in Old Olive). This sketch was based on the Mojo Monday #98 one which I didn't get photographed in time to enter...

I love the dino I made for Leah's July challenge so much I just had to use him again! I also wanted to show that Christmas DSP can be used for non-Christmas projects. I ended up offering the option of making this little fella with Chocolate Chip spine plates in the workshop and he looked really good (I didn't get mine finished :) - we only had one SNAIL between 5 of us by the end of the afternoon, and he takes a bit of time to stick together...). Due to adhesive supply issues, this card took the longest of all the projects!!

We had a great afternoon - leave a comment or e-mail me if you would like me to contact you about my next workshop.

Butterfly Bookmark

Stamps: Great Friend (Spring Mini)

Card: So Saffron/Basic Grey

DSP: Walk in the Park (Spring Mini)

Ink: Baja Breeze, Cameo Coral

Other: paper piercer

Time for Father

Stamps: Sense of Time (Spring Mini), Wonderful Favourites, Sanded

Card: More Mustard, Old Olive, Very Vanilla

DSP: Haiku

Ink: Close to Cocoa, Old Olive

Other: Stampin' Pastels, Aged Brass brad, word window punch

Happy Birthday Dino

Stamps: Birthday Wish (Spring Mini)

Card: Baja Breeze, Real Red, Old Olive

DSP: Ski Slope (Spring Mini)

Ink: Old Olive

Punches: 1 1/4" square, 1 3/8" square, 1 3/8" circle, 5 petal flower, small oval, large oval, word window, crop-o-dile

Other: paper piercer

One Cupcake....

It's Luana's birthday coming up and I've been playing around with what to do for her card. I used Crazy for Cupcakes for her invites, and thought I'd use it for her card too but have had a bit of a block as to how. Karen's latest Sweet Sunday Sketch (No. 29) provided some inspiration...

I don't have any buttons in my stash, so have substituted one ofthe funky new Flower Assortment Designer brads from the brand new Spring Mini.

I paper pieced the bottom of the large cupcake from Crazy for Cupcakes using Sweet Always DSP, glitter-fied the cake part and popped it up using dimensionals. The Pumpkin Pie base has some paper piercing around the edge for a bit of interest. I used Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon either side of the Sweet Always spotty panel for a bit of texture. For the banner sentiment, I used a pop up glue dot in the middle to make it look as though it's waving in the breeze.

I think I may have OD'd on the chunky glitter, I'm not quite sure. This one will be going into my display box as it's not quite right for my precious little one - stay tuned to see what I come up with!

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes, Sweet Little Sentiments (Level 1 Hostess Set)
Card: Regal Rose, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
Paper: Sweet Always
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie
Other: Chunky glitter, Flower Assortment Designer Brad (Summer Mini), Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, pop up glue dots, paper piercer

Curtain Call Colour Challenge Act 2 with Inkspirations Sketch #11

I've had a busy few days that haven't allowed much time for stamping, so I was quite please with myself when I figured out I could pair up Stacey's Curtain Call Colour Challenge Act 2 with Keesh's latest (gorgeous) sketch for her Inkspirations Challenge.

Bravo Burgandy is a colour I don't pull out all that often, but gee it looks good in this combo.

More circles!! I rotated Keesh's sketch and moved the circles/brads down closer to the panel. I only received my Sense of Time this week so I've been itching to play with it; Paul used to work with watches, so I couldn't not add this set to my collection!

I stamped the clock in Bravo Burgandy on So Saffron, and the 'Learn, Live, Hope' quote in Mellow Moss on Whisper White. Next to the quote I stamped the cogs in So Saffron, using the Stamp-a-ma-jig to line the cogs up so it looks like they are all working together. I continued the cog line for to the top of the card. The bottom cog was cut out separately and mounted with a dimensioal after popping a pewter brad through the centre. Three pewter brads finished the sketch.

This card is actually quite a small one (3 1/2" square), and I think it's worked out not too badly at all!

Stamps: Sense of Time (Spring Mini)

Card: Mellow Moss, Bravo Burgandy, So Saffron, Whisper White

Ink: Mellow Moss, Bravo Burgandy, So Saffron

Other: Pewter brads

Here Comes the Stegosaurus

I think dinosaurs are pretty cool and the stegosaurus is my favourite. When I was pregnant I found a shop that sold plush dinos, but no stegosaurus :( I'm quite happy Luana has got into 'Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs' - she was actually telling me all their names today! So, I was a bit excited about Leah's July Challenge and had planned what I was going to make weeks ago, but it was left 'til today to actually make the card - oops! And Luana was having a velcro day, so not much time for stamping...

Leah pulled the colours Pacific Point. Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red and Whisper White. I (of course) had to run with the dinosaur theme too!

I know there are some very talented paper crafters out there, and using punches to create critters is not one of my strong points, so I did a bit of a search and found this cute little fellow on Kristen's Kreations and as an added bonus, it was a stegosaurus!! I tried really hard to think how I could do a triceratops using the scallop circle punch too, but creativity eluded me... If you know, could you please leave a comment!! Thanks!
I've made a couple of little adjustments to Kristen's original - I added in an extra layer of spine plates to emulate the double row, and I've added in tail spikes too which I just cut free hand. The reason Luana was telling me all about Harry's Dinosaurs is because I went on-line to double check Steggy's colours - he's a light blue with purple spine plates, so my little fella became Baja Breeze with Pacific Point spine plates! (I made an all Kiwi Kiss one as a prototype, so I'll pop him on a card and show you all at some stage). The rest of the card is quite straight forward - many thanks to my brother for humouring me and giving me suggestions on the layout!!

Thanks again Leah - this was a lot of fun!!

Stamps: Birthday Wish

Card: Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White

Paper: Urban Oasis, Washington Apple, Hand Drawn (from the Level 3 Hostess Bundle Hand Drawn)

Ink: Riding Hood Red

Punches: word window, 1 3/8" circle, small oval, large oval, 5 petal flower, Crop-o-dile, 1 1/4" square, 1 3/8" square

Other: paper piercer, Basic Black Stampin' Write Journaller