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)

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

A Couple of ColourQ Cards

There are always awesome colours to work with over at ColourQ, and this week Arielle has given an additional task of challenging a friend to play along as well, so I challenged my good friend Nerine to join in! I know she's been stamping and scrapping a bit lately, and I know I always find challenges great inspiration.

As we don't have Crushed Curry, I have substituted Summer Sun - I think it works better than Marigold Morning which I tried last time....

I wanted the flower to be THE focus of the card above so have kept everything else simple and understated. I did add a couple of rows of paper piercing to the top and the bottom of the Brilliant Blue base to tie in with the flower.

I almost wasn't going to post this card, but when I came back and looked at it again after a few hours I thought 'yeah, I do like it'... VERY simple, just a little bit of paper piecing. A wonderful friend found and sent me this Just Beakause stamp set for my birthday because I love toucans (I'm toucantash on SCS!) and was really disappointed I didn't get this set before it retired. This is the first time I have used it in a card - I've only inked it up once before but that toucan is in my UFO stash. Isn't that little toucan SO cute though?!

This card could suit for either a male or a female birthday - such versatile colours!

Thanks for visiting again!

Happy Birthday

Stamps: All Year Cheer II (retired), Friendly Flowers (retired)

Card: Brilliant Blue, Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun, Certainly Celery, Whisper White

Ink: Brilliant Blue, Summer Sun, Tempting Turquoise

Other: Filigree Designer Brads, Certainly Celery Ribbon (retired), paper piercer

Birds of a Feather

Stamps: Just Beakause (retired)

Card: Brilliant Blue, Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun, Whisper White

Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Brillant Blue, Summer Sun, Certainly Celery

Punchy Punches

It took me a little while to get around to venturing into using punches, and now I use them on almost every project, which is particularly handy when a challenge is around punches like over at Stampin' Royalty at the moment.

I've seen these Onesie cards featuring on a few blogs over the last year or so and thought they would be good to make for a friend who has recently given birth to BEAUTIFUL twin girls. I like to make a card for each baby, both different as each baby is unique. The 'press studs' at the bottom were a handy way to use up a few retired eyelets too :) I've kept them quite simple, with most of the details being punch-derived.

I couldn't resist posting this little cutie for this challenge either. I love making this little stegosaurus!! This time he's featuring in Baja Breeze and Soft Suede (which are very boy-ish colours, so this fits with the criteria of Pile It On this week), with DSP from the Level 3 Hostess Set - Hand Drawn Bundle. Details on what was used to make this little fellow can be found at this post.

And last but not least, here's a creation by Luana (remember, she's 3!) for her Nanny for Mother's Day!! I now have no loose hearts floating around the craft area!

Thanks for visiting!

Onesie Cards

Stamps: Nursery Necessities, Big Deal Alphabet

Card: Blush Blossom, Almost Amythest, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Whisper White

Ink: Blush Blossom, Almost Amethyst, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery

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

Other: Soft Subtles Eyelets (retired)

Sweet Cherries for You

Just a simple card tonight using Inkspiration's lovely colour challenge and Taylored Expressions' fabulous sketch. I'm quite a fan of the multiple-square sketches - I find they are good to work with especially when the mojo has decided to take a break for a bit, and it's a fabulous way to use up small pieces of DSP.

This card was really born out of this weeks Pile It On Challenge - Make it Sweet. My first thought was cakes... maybe because of the gorgeous cupcake logo this week. But, being a dietitian, I then thought 'cherries are sweet too' so decided to use them paired with the Summer Picnic DSP, which suited Keesh's colour challenge perfectly too. Gotta keep the everyday foods front of mind :)

The cherries have a little bit of sparkle on them, and the greeting has been popped up with dimensionals in the middle, but taped down at either end to give a banner-type effect. The Whisper White circle under the cherries has been sponged with Bashful Blue to soften it.

Thank you for visiting again!

Stamps: Tart and Tangy, One of a Kind

Card: Real Red, Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Whisper White

DSP: Summer Picnic (retired)

Ink: Real Red, Old Olive, Bashful Blue

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

Other: Blooms Die Cuts, Dazzling Diamonds

Colour Q plus

This weekend so far has been great; lots of cuddles/sleeps/watching movies together on the couch with my girl (Toy Story 1 and 2 have been on Playhouse Disney), a bit of housework, coffee with friends and plenty of opportunity to stamp! I have finally made a few cards that have been on my list for a while, and will be in the post Tuesday (we have the Anzac Day public holiday tomorrow).

I always have intentions to play along with Colour Q each week, but the best intentions don't always come to fruition... this week is different! And to make the most of it, this card also fits in with three other challenges: ABC Challenge - S for Sparkle, KWernerDesign - one layer and (again) Pile It On - Is Spring Finally Here? Four challenges in one project is a record for me (I've only managed it once before).

Gee, one layer cards are a challenge indeed!! I did lots of masking with this one and added a border with some scoring. Dazzling Diamonds added the sparkle in the middle of the flowers - I'll try to take a better photo in the sunlight tomorrow to catch the sparkle a bit more.

Another card I'm quite pleased with this weekend! Let's see what tomorrow will bring.

Thanks for visiting.

Stamps: Embrace Life, Cheer and Wishes

Card: Whisper White

Ink: Tangerine Tango, Bravo Burgandy, Yoyo Yellow, Green Galore

Other: Dazzling Diamonds

Curtain Call Act 26 with Sweet Sunday Sketch 65

Another quick post this morning using Stacey's Curtain Call Colour Challenge with Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch; now that Karen has extended the submission date to Friday, I might be able to play along a bit more often. I don't know about you but time during the week seems to disappear at an amazing rate for me.

I have subsituted Marigold Morning for Crushed Curry as it's that bit brighter that More Mustard.

I find it quite hard to work with yellow, particularly the 'duller' hues, so I spent a bit of time pondering over this card, which will be making it's way to my mother-in-law for Mother's Day soon.

With the flowers, I think this card can also qualify for the Pile It On Challenge - Is Spring here Yet? In Australia, no, we're in Autumn (and it will be my first Winter this year for 4 years) :) but I don't mind playing with flowers at any time of the year.
I was also a Top Scoop over at Pile It On last week with this card - many thanks girls!!

Must go. Thanks for visiting!





Stamps: Bud Basics (retired), Wonderful Favourites
Card: Basic Grey, Going Grey, Marigold Morning (retired), Whisper White
DSP: Basic Grey Patterns (Level 1 Hostess)
Ink: Basic Grey, Marigold Morning
Other: 5/8" Jumbo Brads, Whisper White Grosgrain Ribbon, Word Window Punch, Scallop Edge Punch

Never More than a Thought

Whimsical Words would have to have been my favourite of the Sale-a-Bration stamp sets that were available this year. The sentiments are so lovely and versatile. Living so far away from family and many friends, one in particular means more to me than the others.... "You're never more than a thought away"

I made this card for a friend and hostess who requested a Mother's Day card for her workshop - this was one of the options I offered her. Not strictly Mother's Day-ish, but I thought it could pass :) I wanted to keep the card quite simple too as there were a few people BRAND new to stamping joining us. Thus, it fits the current 'Keep It Simple, Sweetie' Challenge happening over at Stampin' Royalty. To make it even simpler in the workshop, I had planned to swap the Very Vanilla card for Whisper White and use the Pink Pirouette striped ribbon instead of card stock behind the sentiment, but this wasn't the chosen card.

As the sentiment is the focus, this card also fits the current challenge over at Pile It On, (which I discovered this week) 'No Images as Focal Point', plus using as many other challenges as possible. I have only teamed it with one other challenge, but it's a start :)

Thanks for visiting.




Stamps: Whimsical Words (SAB retired), Fifth Avenue Floral
Card: Pink Pirouette, Very Vanilla, Pale Plum
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum
Other: Scallop Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, 1 3/4" Circle Punch