Buttons, Buttons, Buttons

I have a bit of a bright card on offer for you today, and I think it's quite cute! This card actually turned out not much at all like I had in my head when I first sat down at my craft desk...Almost every aspect of it apart from the colour of the base card is different!

When I first saw the following sketch from Taylored Expressions, I wasn't quite sure where to go with it. I made another card based on this sketch using circles, but wasn't 100% happy with the colours.... so, I pulled it out again for this card.

My inspiration stemmed from a container of Big Buttons I have on my shelf from last year's Summer Mini - love those bright colours! - and I teamed it with the co-ordinating Sweet Stitches DSP. After a bit of swapping and changing of the size of the buttons, and whether I'd use Melon Mambo butterflies or buttons, here's the final result!

Thanks for visiting and have a great rest of the week.

Birthdays are Always Sweet

I thought I'd run out of time to officially play with this weeks Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge - but I've just made it!

For tonight's card Ihave kept it VERY simple and have not embellished, as this is for a friend who loves DSP, but doesn't really like fancy and fussy designs (you may recall me making a couple of cards for her last yeat before I was happy!). So, I focussed in the Sweet Always DSP and used a rather sweet stamp from Time to Party with some paper piecing.

Another July birthday taken care of!

On a completely separate note, we went to the Show today and Luana had a great time - patting cows, checking out the other animals, slipping over in the mud (ok, not such a great time then....), playing on a HUGE bouncy 'castle', collecting stamps and goodies for the Yellow Brick Road Showbag (and whatever else she could score) and riding on the same ride (a train convoy thing) she has chosen for her ride every year since she has been able to make a choice!!

Here she is playing a fishing game at the Emergency Services display....

She was strapped into a hoist and there was at least half a metre between her feet and the ground!! She 'caught' a frog and was so proud of herself - Mummy and Daddy were very proud too at how brave she was!! We weren't sure how she'd go with it.

Hope you're having a great weekend too! Thanks for visiting.

Stamps: Time to Party

Card: Regal Rose, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Sweet Always DSP

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie

Punches: 1 3/8" Circle, Scallop Circle, Scallop Edge, Corner Rounder

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

More Mother's Day

I really wanted to make a Mother's Day card for Mum that featured green, as it's her favourite colour. My favourite colour is purple (in case you hadn't realised - I think Rich Razzleberry is my new favourite), so this weeks Colour Throwdown was perfect - it has both!! Teamed with yet another gorgeous sketch from Taylored Expressions, I am stoked with the result.

I played with putting brads in the centre of the flowers, but ended up leaving them off as it looked a bit 'heavy'. With the edging around the sentiment, I just snipped into the valleys of the eyelet border so it would fold a bit and guided it around the circle. I'm happy with the result!

Thank you ladies for helping me make such a special card for such a special woman.

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Vintage Vogue (Autumn Winter Mini), All Year Cheer II (retired)

Card: Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Pale Plum, Whisper White

DSP: Cottage Garden (Autumn Winter Mini)

Ink: Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Barely Banana, Pale Plum

Other: Eyelet Border Punch, Corner Rounder Punch (non-SU), Circle Scissors Plus

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

Circle Circus Celebration

Circle Circus is one of those sets I love. I have stages where I'll use it heaps, then it has a little bit of a rest, then it gets pulled out again for a workout. I'm in one of those using it heaps again phases!!

I love the bright colours in Luana's dress in this photo, so wanted to pull them for the page. The Chocolate Chip and spots come from my dress. The Circle Circus elements fit with Taylored Expressions latest sketch too!! I've rotated it, adjusted it a bit and replaced the circle with the photo though... I know it's not a card, so I hope Taylor doesn't mind :)

This is one of my favourite photos, and I'm so happy with how this turned out.

Thanks for visiting.

Stamps: Circle Circus, Sweet Serendipity (retired)

Card: Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Summer Sun, Pixie Pink, Green Galore

DSP: Bella Rose

Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun, Pixie Pink, Gable Green

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

Other: Filagree Designer Brads, Vintage Brads

Is there anything better than Chocolate?

I think this little 6x6 page is the most challenges I've managed to put in to one project - Makeesha's Inkspirations Colour Challenge, Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge, Just Add Ink Easter Challenge and ABC P is for Paper Piecing!! How about that?!

I must admit, I really like this sweet page. Luana LOVES chocolate (have no idea where she get that from {GRIN}) and I managed to get this photo of her last year devouring an egg. We had made the decision to stick to only a few little eggs from Easter Bunny... wise of us!! She didn't end up anywhere near as covered in chocolate as the year before.

These colours from Keesh are FANTASTIC and gave me the perfect excuse to pull out my retired Loves Me DSP and the coordinating Flirty ribbons. I have another project in mind for these colours, but will have to see if I have the time to make it . I thought the ribbon was a cheeky way to add the 'scallops' from Taylor's sketch too, as it's a bit frilly :)

I know it's only little, but the Easter Egg has been paper pieced - I stamped it in Chocolate Chip ink on DSP and Taken with Teal, cut the zig zags out of the Teal and pieced it together.

Can't wait to play with the photos I take this coming Easter!

Stamps: Wagon Full of Fun (Summer Mini), Tidy Alphabet (retired)

Card: Regal Rose, Taken with Teal, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

DSP: Love Always (retired)

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Other: Flirty Ribbon (retired)

An Unexpected Post

I wasn't planning on being able to join in with this weeks Scrapmaster's Paradise Colour Challenge, but I have been home today with a little girl who is not 100%. We've done a bit of resting, a bit of crafting and a bit of playing.

I must admit I was quite apprehensive about this colour combo - such bright colours! But the being woken up multiple times in the early hours of this morning must have worked for me, as I though they would work well with the citrus from Tart & Tangy and I think this latest Taylored Expressions sketch works well with the colours too.

For the base card I actually used glad/cling wrap to create the mottled effect - so happy with how it turned out!! I used the citrus stamp in the three challenge colours to represent oranges, lemon and limes :) A little bit of ribbon and a little bit of bling down the bottom and we're done!

Taylor is running a card drive over for the Neonatal Intensive Care Nurses from Sanford Medical Centre in Sioux Falls at the moment, to give cards to parents who have lost newborns. Please pop on over to her blog to check it out and donate. I will try to make a dragonfly card later in the week.

Stamps: Tart & Tangy, Best Yet (Level 1 Hostess)

Card: Green Galore, Only Orange, Summer Sun, Whisper White

Ink: Green Galore, Only Orange, Summer Sun

Other: Corner Rounder Punch, White Grosgrain Ribbon, Clear Rhinestone brads

Listen to the chorus of the Brontesaurus....

Remember that song? I sang it all week when I was making my cute little stegosaurus cards (see this post and this one), and I've been singing it all this week since I made this super cute brontesaurus card for my Godson's 1st birthday.

This weeks colour challenge from Makeesha worked really well with what I was wanting to do, and I paired it with Taylored Expressions 100th Sketch (Taylor's celebrating this week (and rightly so!), so go and check out her blog).

I had so much fun designing this dino, and he's not quite as fiddly as the stegosaurus. The hardest part was trying to get the small oval into the right place in the punch to trim it down a bit.

The circles in the sketch let me pull out my brand spanking new circle scissors plus - it's great!! I distressed and inked the edges of the 'hill', and popped up the dino circle as well as the dino with dimensionals.

Thanks girls for helping me make this special card. Our little man had a great birthday party on the weekend; Happy First Birthday buddy!!! XXXXX

Stamps: Family Phrases, Itty Bitty Backgrounds (retired)

Card: Brocade Blue, Mellow Moss, Ruby Red, Very Vanilla

DSP: Brocade Blue Prints (Level 1 Hostess)

Ink: Brocade Blue, Mellow Moss

Punches: Small Oval, Wide Oval, Word Window, Crop-o-Dile, Small Star

Other: Circle Scissors Plus, Paper Piercer, Vintage Brads, Lots of Letters On Board Chipboard, Journalling marker

Super Bright

You know how there are times when you think 'wow, those colours are bright'? Well, this is one of those times :) This weeks Scrapmaster's Paradise Colour Combo is SUPER bright!

I think kid's birthday cards are a great excuse to use bright colours, so put these ones to work on a card for a 4 year little girl using this weeks Taylored Expressions sketch. Pink Flamingo DSP was the obvious choice for me to pull out, and I paired it with a flower from Blooms Die Cuts - big, bold and beautiful!!

Stamps: A Little Birthdy Cheer, Best Friends Numbers (retired)

Card: Pink Passion, Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun, Whisper White

DSP: Pink Flamingo

Ink: Pink Passion, Tempting Turquoise

Punches: Word Window, 1 3/4" circle (Summer Mini)

Other: Blooms Die Cuts, Playground buttons (Summer Mini), Real Red Polka Dot Ribbon (Summer Mini), Circle Scissors Plus (Summer Mini)

Stars for a 7 Year Old

You know I can't go past stars for boy cards - such a safe option - so I adjusted the circles in the Taylored Expression's latest sketch challenge to stars....

I really wanted to pull out Pacific Point for this card - such a great colour but I don't use it nearly enough - and the Good Morning Sunshine DSP provided the rest of the colour combo.

I must wrap this up and write in the card so I can pop it in the post tomorrow - this young man's birthday was last week - oops!!

Stamps: Big, Bold Birthday

Card: Kiwi Kiss, Pacific Point, Summer Sun, Whisper White

DSP: Good Morning Sunshine

Ink: Pacific Point

Other: On Board Simon Lower (retired), Large Star Punch, Small Star Punch

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