Ribbon Rose for Annika

I have been a very bad friend and have not yet made a welcome card for a good friend's little girl who arrived into the world a few months ago.... I have had every intention, but lacking inspiration, until the Just Add Ink colour challenge from a few weeks ago (Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Crumb Cake), which I didn't play along with due to lack of time (and the move may have had something to do with it to!!). I was stoked when the Challenge appeared again on ESAD - one of the Stampin' Community groups I am on (albeit using ONLY those colours, no neutrals!). Plus, this gorgeous inspiration from Stampin' Celebration helped too:

The colours linked in and I drew inspiration from the gorgeous flowers and made a ribbon rose:

I'm so please with how this turned out. Annika took up a bit more space on the card than I had planned, so my rose stem didn't make it to the card.

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Petals Jumbo Wheel (retired)

Card: Crumb Cake, So Saffron, Afternoon Tea DSP (retired)

Ink: Versamark

Other: Pretty in Pink Grosgrain Ribbon, Certainly Celery Grosgrain Ribbon, Timeless Type Alphabet

Christmas Scrapping

I held a Christmas in July cardmaking session back in July using half an I Wish Simply Scrappin' kit. There is SO much in those kits that I also made a few other projects with only a couple of extra pieces of cardstock - including a couple of scrapbook pages - and still have bits and pieces left over!

The Nipper page is 12"x12" and is actually the first Christmas page I have scrapped for Luana. This was her first visit ride on Nipper at the Magic Cave and she had a ball (but didn't think too much at all of the Santa visit). I added a bit of interest across the page using the snowflakes from Snow Swirled stamped in the same colour as the cardstock. The Nipper title was done using the Big Shot.

I also had enough bits and pieces to put together this 6"x6" page of us with my grandparents. They met us at the airport when we flew in, just before Grandad went to his second to last chemo treatment, so it really was a special Christmas - being with the ones I love.

Thank you to the Stampin' Royalty DT for giving me the push to share these with you. Their challenge this week is 'Anything but a Card'.

Thanks for visiting!!

Stamps: Snow Swirled
Card: I Wish Simply Scrappin' Kit (retired), Chocolate Chip, Old Olive

Ink: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip

Punches: Scallop Circle, 1 3/8" Circle, 1 1/4" Circle

Other: Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, Timeless Type Alphabet

Papercraft Star Debut

We have been hit by some nasty bugs this week in our house, so I was happy to be able to sit down today to make a card. However, I am writing this post slowly in between settling a little person back to sleep.

I have been introduced to another great challenge blog recently, Papercraft Star, and have been able to play along with their recipe challenge this week:

- 5.5" x 5.5" card base

- 5" x 5" mat

- score mat 5 times at 1/4"

- 3 flowers (die cut or punch)

- 3 buttons and twine

I teamed the recipe with the colour challenge over at Pile It On (haven't played with them for a while): red, yellow, brown and green - I've used Riding Hood Red, So Saffron, Soft Suede and Certainly Celery.

I still haven't unpacked all my craft gear, so originally thought to use some of the Blooms Die Cuts for the recipe but still can't find them. However, I did find some old Accents and Elements that had self adhesive die cuts that fit the colour challenge and paired them with some Riding Hood Red buttons from Button Bouquet. Instead of threading hemp twine through the button holes, I 'wove' the twine behind the petals of the flowers to create another layer of the flower. Here's a close up:

I scored the Certainly Celery Prints DSP three times across the bottom and twice along the right hand side - you can just see it in the photo.

As this card was made for someone special who is a bit under the weather at the moment, the sentiment from Like It a Latte was just right.

Fingers crossed all are on the mend now....

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Like It a Latte (retired)

Card: Soft Suede, Certainly Celery, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Certainly Celery Prints DSP (retired)

Ink: Riding Hood Red

Punches: Oval, Scallop Oval

Other: Button Bouquet (retired), Hemp Twine, Accents and Elements (retired)

Welcome Baby Girl

Yay! I have been able to sit down tonight to play! A colleague of mine asked me to make a couple of baby girl cards, and it's taken me a while to get around to making the second one, but tonight was the night.

I have been visiting a new challenge site CASE Study Challenge Blog for a few weeks now and have been meaning to play along; tonight is my debut! Each month a muse is chosen (this month is Mariana Grigsby) and each week they provide a gorgeous card to inspire us! I have worked with the layout as my inspiration for this card.

This card is also a bit of a homage to retired product - a couple of stamp sets, DSP and Close to Cocoa (such a good colour for baby projects). I stamped the teddy from Bundle of Joy onto some Candy Lane DSP and fussy cut it out before mounting it on a 1 3/4" circle that had been sponged with Close to Cocoa ink and edged with Riding Hood Red and Pink Pirouette Scallops. A panel of the reverse side of the Candy Lane DSP was taped across the Close to Cocoa card base, with scallop edges of Riding Hood Red and Pink Pirouette. A sweet greeting from Nursery Necessities and some Pink Pirouette ribbon provided the finishing touches.

Head on over to the CASE Study Challenge Blog and check out what the muse and Design Team have to offer - it's sure to inspire!

Thanks for visiting.

Stamps: Nursery Necessities (retired), Bundle of Joy (retired)

Card: Close to Cocoa (retired), Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla, Candy Lane DSP (retired)

Ink: Close to Cocoa (retired)

Punches: Scallop Edge, 1 3/4" Circle, Word Window

Other: Pink Pirouette Striped Grosgrain Ribbon (retired)

Fourth Birthday Party This Way

We've had a busy day of birthday parties today - two in the one day, overlapping in time and thank goodness at the same location! So, last night I stayed up making cards for the birthday boys.

My card today was for the first party and this picture featured over at Stampin' Royalty for this weeks challenge provided the inspiration (and it's also in the current catalogue!):

I took inspiration from the pennants and the colours of the lollies in the jars - nice and bright for a 4 year old full of energy!

As this card was for a boy, I cut the scallops off the pennant stamp from the new set Party This Way and strung them together with hemp twine (and mounted them with dimensionals); the '4' comes from the BDay Party RubOns - a great collection of birthday rubons. I created a bit more of a party fell with a cluster of balloons, and used Stampin' Write markers to colour the arrow.

This card contains 5 layers, so also fits the bill for this weeks Pile It On Challenge - Layers. It's been a while since I joined in over there.

It's still raining here; I thought living in the desert we'd hardly see rain, but apparently it's the third wettest year in recorded history.... So here's hoping it settles soon.

Thanks for visiting.

Stamps: Party This Way

Card: Yoyo Yellow, Real Red, Bashful Blue, Whisper White

Ink: Yoyo Yellow, Real Red, Bashful Blue, Green Galore

Other: Hemp Twine, Bday Party Rub-Ons

Sweet Elephant

We still have a few boxes to be unpacked (most of them being my craft boxes), but I still found enough to be able to make a card to celebrate the birth of a baby girl. It's a bit of a homage to retired product too - I'm really going to miss having Wild About You in the catalogue - it will still be getting a workout from me, and Sweet Always DSP, well, maybe I should have ordered a few more packs to keep me going!

I used the Just Add Ink sketch challenge as inspiration - isn't the bow so sweet?

Using the Sweet Always DSP for colour inspiration, I stamped the elephant twice - cutting out just the ear from one and mounting it with dimensionals. The background stamps on the small panel from Always third generation stamped in Regal Rose and Pumpkin Pie so they didn't over power the elephant, which was also mounted using dimensionals. The corners of the panel were rounded with the Corner Rounder punch and I used the Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon for the cute little bow - it's fabulous to work with!

Hopefully I'll get more unpacked this weekend and have a bit more to share with you over the next few weeks.

Thanks for visiting!









Stamps: Wild About You, Always

Card: Pink Pirouette, Pumpkin Pie, Sweet Always DSP

Ink: Regal Rose, Pumpkin Pie
Other: Corner Rounder Punch, Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon

Birthday Unicorn

I'm sorry it's been a while since my last post - we moved house at very short notice, so I had to pack up my stamping gear (I didn't realise how much I actually have until packing it all!), and we are slowly getting through the unpacking. I'm hoping to get some stamping done this weekend; maybe tomorrow while Paul watches his team in the footy (AFL) final.

Anyway, I have a card for you that I made for a gorgeous little girl who turned 2 at the start of July. She's the twin to the little darling who received this card. I bought Pretty Pony for Luana, but couldn't resist inking it up for the girls; a unicorn for one, and a pegasus for the other. I used my blender pen to add some colour to the mane and added some magic with Dazzling Diamonds.

This almost didn't make it to the intended recipient as Luana saw it and fell in love with it.

Hopefully it won't be so long to my next post.

Thanks for visiting.

Stamps: Pretty Pony

Card: Pixie Pink, Pink Passion, Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Certainly Celery Prints DSP (retired)

Ink: Pixie Pink, Pink Passion

Other: Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Word Window Punch, Linen Thread, Sherbert Buttons (retired), Soft Subtles Brads (retired), Dazzling Diamonds