Fifth Avenue Rose with Dimension

I really should be heading to bed, but I'll just share this card with you tonight too...

For the first time, I have been a bit organised and actually registered to enter a couple of cards in the local show.... then the hard part was deciding which cards to actually put in; I haven't been to an Alice Springs Show, so have no idea what the standard is like or what the judges look for. Anyways, this is one of the cards I put together as an option, but it didn't make the cut (Paul preferred a different one).... but it fits a couple of challenges: Just Add Ink - Just Add Patterned Paper and ABC - X is for Xtra Dimension (there are 4 layers to that rose - I tried 6 but it looked a bit weird!!).

I used last weeks Mojo Monday Sketch (#144) as a basis. The satin ribbon is folded a bit at the edges, but the square panels are a bit big to show the full effect.

I'm quite happy with how this one turned out (especially as it was a late night effort). I just guess Paul doesn't like flowery/girly cards :)

Thanks again for visiting!

Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral

Card: Kraft, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Urban Oasis DSP

Ink: Baja Breeze

Other: Vintage Brads, Kiwi Kiss Satin Ribbon, Fashion District Rubons (retired)

Girly Birthday Cake

Luana had her first Alice Springs birthday party on the weekend. She had an awesome time on the bouncy castle and the climbing wall, and it was great to meet some more parents in town. The theme was Princess Party, and I had every intention of using Pretty Princess, but then saw this Inspiration Challenge from Stampin' Celebration and just had to play along:

The cupcakes and flowers were just too sweet to pass by..... I have been visiting Stampin' Celebration since they started a couple of months ago and love the Inspiration Challenges they come up with, but must admit this is my first time playing. Isn't this weeks Inspiration just so girly and gorgeous?!

I teamed this challenge with the latest Inkspirations sketch challenge, being hosted by Cindy this week.

Cindy has issued an additional challenge of 'using something from your stash you have been hoarding for a long time'. Well, I pulled out two stashed products - Certainly Celery Prints DSP (I think it's about 2 years old now....) and Pink Pirouette Striped Grosgrain Ribbon (this is the first time it's seen the light if day since I bought it!!).

It's really hard to see and it hasn't come out as well in the Pink Pirouette as it does with darker colours like Chocolate Chip, but I used the small swirl from Priceless to kiss the cupcake icing to simulate the swirls of the knife (my icing is NEVER smooth!).

Hope you're having a great week and thanks for visiting!!

Stamps: Big Bold Birthday. Priceless

Card: Pale Plum, Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Certainly Celery Prints DSP (retired)

Ink: Pale Plum, Barely Banana, Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette, Rose Red

Other: Clear Rhinestone Brads, Dazzling Diamonds, Pink Pirouette Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Scallop Oval Punch, Scallop Circle Punch

Warm Wishes with Roses

I love the fact that there is so much in Stampin' Up! that coordinates, so it makes it quite easy to put together effective projects without too much stress! I had this rose from A Rose is a Rose floating around as a UFO when the box it was originally on did not survive the move. Put it together with some Bella Rose DSP, add a few half pearls and a greeting and you're done!

Plus have great sketches to work with helps too - thanks Karen and the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge!!

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: A Rose is a Rose, Cheer & Wishes

Card: Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette, Bella Rose DSP

Ink: Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss

Other: Pretties Kit

Retro Pears

It was another colleague/friend's birthday this week, but I was having difficulty trying to figure out what type of card to make... The other girls were relatively easy - one is more 'classic' and the other quite girly - but putting my finger on the right style this time.... one of the other girls suggested I go 'retro', so this is what I came up with (quite fitting for a dietitian with the pears too!!).

I have kept it quite simple as my friend isn't into frills and flounces; I quite like the effect of the layered ribbon and this is the first time I've used my corduroy buttons!!

I realised after I finished it that although I made this for a female, it could quite easily be suitable for a male too (I think it's the colours...), so it fits the Stampin' Royalty 'Masculine' challenge this week.

Now to get cracking on my brother's birthday card...

Thanks for visiting!







Stamp: Birthday Wish (retired)
Card: Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, Good Morning Sunshine DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss
Other: Corner Rounder Punch (non-SU), Kiwi Kiss Corduroy Buttons (retired), 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon

A Little Bird Told Me.....

Since this years IB&C came out, I've been looking Cheep Talk and a little while ago I finally bought it, but today is the first time it's seen my ink pads!! It's been a little while since I've played with Color Throwdown and I LOVE these colours!!

I have no less than 12 birthdays in July, so this will take care of one!! Better get cracking on the others too now.....

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Cheep Talk, A Little Birthday Cheer

Card: Night of Navy, Certainly Celery, Whisper White

DSP: Urban Garden, Pink Flamingo, Certainly Celery Prints (retired)

Ink: Certainly Celery, Cameo Coral, Night of Navy

Punches: Scallop Circle, 1 3/4" Circle

Other: Paper Piercer

Faux Suede Flowers

I've seen faux suede used quite a bit around the blogs lately, and Shelli also demonstrated it at Convention, so I thought I'd give it a go with this card to add more texture to the flowers, and the backing ovals behind the greeting. I think the flowers would pop a bit more with more layers, but I made it as an option for a friend's grandmother, so I wanted to keep it flattish for the International post.

Tonight my inspiration has come from Colour Q and Sketch'n'Color; I didn't realise it had been so long since I'd played along with Colour Q....

The flowers actually look quite sweet with the scallop circles and the larger flower flower from Boho Blossoms; I gently swiped the edges of the Apricot Appeal layer with Cameo Coral ink, and the layers were gently scrunched a bit to add some extra texture.

Thanks for visting!

Stamps: Priceless, Vintage Labels (retired), So Swirly Jumbo Wheel

Card: Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla, Ruby Red, Cameo Coral, Apricot Appeal

Ink: Cameo Coral, Ruby Red, Always Artichoke

Other: Cream Grosgrain ribbon, 5/16" Jumbo Brads, Scallop Circle Punch, Small Oval Punch, Boho Blossoms Punch

Mmmm... Melon Mambo

I know I am lamenting the retirement of Pixie Pink, but I am seriously loving playing with Melon Mambo, so my loss may not be as difficult as I first thought (plus, I've started to order more cardstock to keep me going....).

This weeks Sketch'n'Color Challenge gave me the excuse to play with Melon Mambo in a colour combination I never would have thought to use:

I'm quite happy with how this card turned out, but I do think it's hard to go wrong with Pick-a-Petal!

Hope you had a great weekend - we're enjoying the long weekend here!

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Pick a Petal

Card: Soft Suede, Kraft, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White

Ink: Melon Mambo

Other: Hidden Garden Rubons (retired), Sherbet Designer Buttons (retired), linen thread, scallop edge punch

Curtain Call Colour Challenge Act 33

Another week has flown by and here we are heading into a long weekend. Our original plans for camping this weekend have been postponed to later in the year, but we may head out to the Finke Desert Race for a bit; it's such a huge part of the Alice Springs culture, we really should participate a bit while we're here.

Tonight's simple offering is for a friend whose birthday was a few weeks ago and I hadn't yet made a card.... Thanks Stacey for the great colours once again!

For the flowers, I inked up the retired set Blooming with Happiness for the very first time! I used the skirt from the dress to create a background and layered a couple of the 5 petal flowers onto a Night of Navy one. I was reading a Fifi and the Flowertots book with Luana last night, and the cornflowers in it made me think of these flowers... you might see a few more of these over the next few weeks!

I'll pop this in the post for my friend this weekend, so hopefully it will get there before next weekend - better late than never!

Thanks for visiting!









Stamps: Blooming with Happiness (retired), A Little Birthday Cheer
Card: Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, Whisper White, Summer Picnic DSP (retired)
Ink: Night of Navy
Other: Certainly Celery 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, 5/8" Jumbo Brads, 5 petal flower punch

Luana and Pop

Last weekend I finally did a few more scrapbook pages I have been meaning to for AGES, including this one. It was taken at Christmas time, hence Luana in red and white striped leggings(!!), so red in the layout was a given. This weeks Inkspiration Colour Challenge provided the other colours, which I hadn't considered before the challenge - sometimes I get so caught up in colour I forget about the neutrals...

We don't get to see Paul's Pop very often (actually, we've only seen him 3 times since Luana was born), and Luana is his only great grandchild, so the time we spend with him is super special; I know it drives Paul's Auntie nuts, but I try to take as many photos as possible when we're with them.

I'm looking forward to our next visit down there early next year - Luana will REALLY be able to hold a decent conversation with Pop then :)

Stamps: Big Deal Alphabet, Tidy Alphabet (retired)

Card: Kraft, Real Red, Whisper White, Basic Grey Patterns II (Hostess Gift 09/10)

Ink: Real Red, Basic Grey

Other: Playground Buttons (retired), linen thread

Warm Birthday Wishes

I am very much drawn to cool colours, so this week's Curtain Call Colour Challenge is certainly one with colours I wouldn't normally reach for, especially in that combination (what?! no blue or green in there!). It is quite a lovely colour scheme though.

I also thought this weeks Sketch'n'Color challenge was a bit of a doozy when I first saw it, but was pleasantly surprised at how the card came together with using the different sized felt flowers from Flower Fusion.

I also thought I'd try gathering ribbon on this card too, which was a bit of fun and I like the effect!

Not sure who this card is going to be for, but I have a lot of birthdays coming up in July, so I'm sure it won't have trouble finding who it belongs to.

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Vintage Labels (retired)

Card: Summer Sun, Regal Rose, Apricot Appeal, Patterns Pack II DSP

Ink: Regal Rose

Other: Flower Fusion, Vintage Brads, Rose Ribbon (non-SU)

Vintage Spring Flowers

Vintage is one of those styles you may have noticed I've been trying my hand at a bit lately. Shelli held a great session on Vintage Style at Convention, and I was happy to learn that basically 'anything goes', so I'm quite happy to be finding MY vintage style. I figure I'm on the right with this card as Paul said it looks "old".....

This fortnight's challenge over at ABC Challenge is V is for Vintage and I really wanted to use the flower I had made, so the Taylored Expressions sketch this week was just right - and it came together quite easily using the DSP as the main panel. I thought the half scallop circles were enough detail without adding brads too.

One of the aspects I think of when thinking Vintage is texture, so I used my fingernail to roughen the edges of the greeting panel, and I am so happy with how the flower turned out!

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: A Little Birthday Cheer

Card: Old Olive, So Saffron, Springs Flowers DSP (retired)

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Other: Scallop Circle Punch, Jumbo 5/16" Brads

Baby 'K'

It's been great this week to get back into some cardmaking again and some challenges! Seriously, last week I was so tired from having a blast at Convention (not to mention the midnight hot chocolate at St Moritz cafe - YUM) that I fell asleep on the couch every day after work and my bedtime averaged 8pm.... Must be getting old... But tonight I havea sweet little card for you that I made for a colleague to take to a baby shower. Mum-to-be knows she is have a little girl, and they have chosen a name starting with K. This weeks Scrapmasters Paradise Colour Challenge is just perfect for baby girl cards (you might even see it used again over the weekend yet; plus it's been ages since I've been able to play along), and the Inkspirations sketch this week was perfect for a monogram.

Thanks for visiting!!

Stamps: Nursery Necessities, Jumbo Outline Alphabet

Card: Creamy Caramel, Pretty in Pink, Blush Blossom, Very Vanilla

Ink: Blush Blossom, Pretty in Pink

Punches: Scallop Circle, 1 3/4" Circle, 1 1/4" Circle

Other: Soft Subtles Brads

Tini's New House!

A work colleague (and friend of mine) has just taken the plunge and entered the property market, so I made this little card for her housewarming.

I HAD to use this week's Just Add Ink Colour Challenge of Taken with Teal, Elegant Eggplant and Melon Mambo, because she has recently purchased a Taken with Teal coloured top for work that I adore, so I bought one too, to not wear to work - but they do have different neck lines!!

Good Neighbours was the perfect little stamp set for this card (and the first time it's seen ink to be honest), finished with some of the gorgeous Melon Mambo polka dot grograin ribbon.

Just a quick one tonight but thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Good Neighbour (retired)

Card: Taken with Teal, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White

Ink: Taken with Teal, Elegant Eggplant, Melon Mambo

Other: Melon Mambo Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon