Happy Easter 2011

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter, and for those of you here in Australia that you were able to enjoy our extra-long weekend. In the NT we're a bit lucky and also have a long weekend this coming weekend.

I didn't actually have time to do any crafting over the break as I was visiting family, but I was able to buy up BIG at the KaiserCraft clearance store!! I'm almost glad I don't live any closer as that could be very dangerous :) I did make up some Easter cards before we left though for our nearest and dearest, using this weeks Stampin' Celebration challenge for inspiration - Easter Eggs of course, and I also pulled the colours of Pink Pirouette and Cool Carribean.

This card proved quite a challenge for me - I really didn't know what to do. The trusty egg from A Good Egg came to the rescue using retired Candy Lane DSP! I teamed it with 'Happy Easter' from Well Scripted which featured in the retired Summer Mini and the lovely butterfly from Thanks for Caring in the current Autumn-Winter Mini. I used Pink Pirouette and Orchid Opulence markers to ink up the butterfly and rock'n'rolled the wings in Cool Carribean - I was very happy with the result. The wing was popped up with a dimensional. The background was wheeled with Baroque Border in Crumb Cake on card of the same and mounted on a Cool Carribean base. I pulled some Orchid grosgrain ribbon out of the bottom of my ribbon box to provdie the finishing touch.

And here are the little bundles of eggs I quickly whipped up for colleagues and child care and preschool teachers - cute, if I do say so myself!

Enjoy the rest of your week and thanks for visiting!!

Stamps: A Good Egg, Well Scripted (retired), Thanks for Caring , Baroque Border Wheel
Card: Cool Carribean (retired), Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Candy Lane DSP (retired)

Ink: Pink Pirouette, Cool Carribean (retired), Orchid Opulence (retired), Crumb Cake
Other: Orchid Grosgrain Ribbon (retired)

Flower Bunch

The weather is getting cooler here in the Centre, but I know it's warming up on the other side of the world, so it's fun to play with all the Spring themed challenges that are around at the moment.

This bunch of flowers is for a friend of mine who lives quite some distance away - we did actually see her on her actual birthday, but as we were away from home I didn't have her card made. Luana helped her plant some flowers while we were visiting so a flower pot card was perfect for her - using this weeks Colour Q challenge for the colours, and Stampin' Royalty's Spring challenge as inspiration.

I found the tutorial for this flower pot card on Splitcoast Stamper's quite some time ago, but didn't save the link - sorry. I have made my own adjustments over time too :) I inked up the large flower from Punched Posies (hostess - retired) in Tangerine Tango, then rock 'n' rolled it in Cherry Cobbler, and used the Fancy Flower punch to save me cutting!! The 5 petal flower from the same stamp set was stamped in Kiwi Kiss ink on cardstock the same colour and punched out using the 5 petal flower punch for the leaves. The centre of the middle flower is a 1" circle of Cherry Cobbler flower punched out and attached with a dimensional. The pot is Kraft/Crumb Cake cardstock and tied together with some retired Kiwi Kiss Satin Ribbon. Finally, I stamped Happy Birthday from Well Scripted (retired) in Cherry Cobbler straight onto the pot.

I hope this little piece of Spring brings a smile to my friend's face - and yours too!

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Punched Posies (retired), Well Scripted (retired)

Card: Crumb Cake, Kiwi Kiss, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White

Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Tangerine Tango, Cherry Cobbler

Punches: Fancy Flower, 5 Petal Flower, Scallop Edge, 1" Circle

Other: Kiwi Kiss Satin Ribbon

Welcome Henry

Hello All,

I hope you've had a lovely relaxing weekend. Tonight I have a couple of cards to share with you - this first one is to welcome a gorgeous little boy into the world; the son of a friend of mine from my Uni days (many moons ago).

I used the colour challenge from Scrapmaster's Paradise Colour Challenge - it's been a while since I've played over there - and ended up using almost all retired product.... Isn't is great when you can use bits and bobs up?!

I love the giraffe from Wild About You (retired), and he suited the So Saffron perfectly. I edged the Whisper White in Not Quite Navy ink, and mounted it on Not Quite Navy card. The card base was Sahara Sand, which I stamped with the background circle stamp from Delight in Life (retired) and mounted a panel of retired So Saffron Prints DSP on this, onto which I directly stamped Henry's name using Best Friends Alphabet (retired) in Not Quite Navy ink. A couple of stars and So Saffron brads provided the finishing touch.

Thanks for visiting tonight!

Stamps: Wild About You (retired), Best Friends Alphabet (retired), Delight in Life (retired)

Card: Sahara Sand, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White, So Saffron Prints DSP (retired)

Ink: Sahara Sand, Not Quite Navy, So Saffron

Other: Small Star Punch (retired), Subtles brads

Sing

Tonight I have yet another 6x6 page to share with you. This one I am ever thankful to the latest Inkspirations Challenge for - this sketch was perfect!! (Although I did rotate it)

I'm not a fan of red and pink together, but this photo needed it! Luana just HAD to wear her pink headband with this dress, so I ran with those colours - Pretty in Pink, Real Red, Night of Navy and Whisper White. A Scallop Circle from the Big Shot matted the photo, and I wanted to keep with the music theme, so used the Music Notes wheel for the panel across the page. This was layered with (retired) Real Red Polka Dot ribbon - the reverse side - and Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon. I pulled out some retired Berry Bliss DSP for the background - the watermark flowers provided just the softness I was after - on a thin Pretty in Pink border and mounted everything on Night of Navy. Lucky last, the Big Shot came to the rescue again for the title!

Thanks so much for visiting!

Stamps: Music Notes Wheel

Card: Night of Navy, Whisper White, Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Berry Bliss DSP (retired)

Ink: Night of Navy

Big Shot Dies: Scallop Circle, Timelss Type Alphabet Junior Sizzlits

Other: Real Red Polka Dot Grosgrain (retired), Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon

For Mamma

My Mamma is having an operation this week, so I thought I'd make a card for her to let her know we're thinking of her at this time.

She really likes earthy tones, so I used this week's Inkspirations Colour challenge - although the Poppy Parade did throw me a bit.... but I think this has worked!

I stamped the For You stamp from Punch Bunch (Sale-a-Bration; retired) three times in each of the colours - Poppy Parade, More Mustard and Cajun Craze - punching out the scallop circle, then the circle and fussy cutting the flowers (the big one also had a little bit of Dazzling Diamonds added). I then inked up the Sanded background stamp with More Mustard and Cajun Craze, and created a faux suede strip in Poppy Parade. The edges of the Very Vanilla were sponged in Cajun Craze, and everything mounted on background card of the same. A few Antique Brass brads and some paper piercing finished it all off.

We're thinking of you Mamma and hope you're back on your feet super soon!

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Punch Bunch (SAB retired), Sanded

Card: Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla, Poppy Parade

Ink: Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Poppy Parade

Punches: Scallop Circle, 1 3/4" Circle

Other: Metallic Brads, Dazzling Diamonds

Magical Pony

I am ever so slowly catching up on my backlog of cards that I have - February is now done!! Just have March and the 5 birthdays for this week (yes, that's right, 5 birthdays this week!), plus finishing my calendars..... maybe by Easter.....

This is one of the cards I made last night for a special friend of Luana's who turned 5 (better late than never I say), and I am rather happy with it, I must say. Many thanks to the latest Mojo Monday sketch and ColourQ Challenge for the inspiration.

I wanted to make this card just a touch more special than usual as turning 5 is a big deal!! The pony from Pony Party was stamped in Early Espresso and I coloured her mane using a Pink Pirouette marker (and her hooves) and blender pen with ink pads for the Crumb Cake and Early Espresso (so the colour was a bit softer) before adding some sparkle with Dazzling Diamonds (sparkle always makes things more special! and you can *just* see it in the pic). I also very lightly sponged around the grass in Certainly Celery. The rest just really fell into place from the sketch - such a great one to use - thanks girls! I did reach for a little bit of retired product in the Certainly Celery Prints DSP and Pink Pirouette striped ribbon (actually the first time it has been used.... oops).

Happy Birthday to a very grown up girl - you will be receiving this in the post VERY soon.

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Pony Party, Great Friend

Card: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Certainly Celery Prints DSP (retired)

Ink: Pink Pirouette, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Certainly Celery

Other: Pink Pirouette Striped Grosgrain ribbon (retired), Dazzling Diamonds, Scallop Trim Edge Punch, Timeless Type Alphabet Junior Sizzlits

Happiness

My goodness, time does fly.... I didn't realise it had been so long since I posted on here. The last six or so weeks have definitely been full-on; we had a couple of great weeks away catching up with family and friends, we moved house (last time for a LONG time now!) and yes, I'm growing bigger every day! Less than 7 weeks of work now. I have also been trying hard (when I have the energy) to finish some pages for calendars before the middle of the year this year! I *may* just get there (and then should start next year's calendars so this doesn't happen again!).

This fortnight over at jac-inks Papercraft Challenges, the challenge is to use any combination of the current In Colours. So, I used the colour of Luana's dress as inspiration and used Blushing Bride and Pear Pizzazz for this page (with a hint of Early Espresso) - gorgeous combo if I do say so myself! I used markers to ink up 'happiness' from the Tres Chic (retired) background stamp for the title and the flower down the bottom was created using the fabulous line flower from Punched Posies, which is only available until tomorrow! I am really happy with how this page turned out - pure happiness! Thanks for visiting. Stamps: Tres Chic (retired), Punched Posies (Level 2 Hostess - Summer Mini), Great Friend Card: Blushing Bride DSP, Early Espresso, Whisper White Ink: Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz Other: Scallop Trim Border Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Clear Rhinestone Brad

Love is in the Air!!

There are so many heart, love and Valentine related challenges around at the moment, you can't help but smile! I haven't yet made Paul's card and the day will be lucky to be acknowledged in our house as it will be a SUPER busy day for us (we're moving into our OWN home!). However, I do have a love card to share with you that fits a number of challenges....

I have used the hearts, Rose Red and chocolate elements of this weeks Stampin' Celebration inspiration - don't those cakes look scrummy?! And the colours also fit the first challenge for jac-inks Papercraft Challenges (neutrals plus one) - go check them out!! Just Add Ink, Stampin' Royalty and Pixie Dust Studio all have love and heart challenges this week, so I just had to throw my hat in the ring too.

I am really happy with how the card turned out. I have previously only used Sense of Time for masculine cards, but thought the clocks were perfect for this sentiment from Occasional Greetings. I turned my hand to collage stamping again and distressed and inked the edges to keep with the vintage theme. I highlighted the key words of the sentiment using my Rose Red marker, and coloured the rest with the Chocolate Chip one. The main heart was stamped off in Rose Red then rock'n rolled to give a bit of dimension and 'warmth' and a couple of stamped off hearts were stamped on the clock and background. The brads in the corners and the middle of the clock added the finishing touch.

I'm doubt I'll get back on here over the weekend, so I wish you all a wonderful Valentines Day with those you care about.

Thanks for visiting!





Stamps: Sense of Time, Occasional Greetings, I {Heart} Hearts
Card: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Rose Red
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Rose Red
Other: Brights Brads, Jumbo Brads

Magical Princess

We attended another party for one of Luana's child care friends today, and my brief for the card was 'princess' and 'pink'. At least this one made the grade this time!! (The last time I made a card for a birthday party I was told it wasn't pretty enough!). Thank you to Annabelle Stamps for the awesome sketch and Scrapmaster's Colour Combos for the colours!

I did add a tiny bit of Certainly Celery so the princess wasn't 'floating' and some Blush Blossom for her skin, but apart from that stuck to the colour combo - perfect for a pretty princess!! I used my Stampin' Write markers to colour this lovely lady and added some sparkle to her crown and wand with Dazzling Diamonds.

Hope you have had a great weekend and thanks for visiting!!

Stamps: Pretty Princess (retired), Scribble Jumbo Wheel, Pony Party

Card: Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Regal Rose Patterns DSP (retired)

Ink: Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Crumb Cake, Certainly Celery, Blush Blossom

Other: Word Window punch, corner rounder punch, Circle Scissors Plus, Dazzling Diamonds, Subtles Brads

Let's Party!

Stampin' Celebration is another blog I check every week, and it has been WAY too long since I've played along. They have the most awesome inspiration collages and I have been lucky enough to be featured as a Pick of the Party a couple of times :)

This week, they've had a bit of a makeover and are celebrating in a big way, so I wanted to try real hard to play along to show my support. Here's the inspiration pic - birthday!!

I decided to run with the party theme and share with you a couple of 6x6 pages I made for Luana's third (Party Time - above) and second (happy birthday - below) birthdays.

Party Time links in a bit more with the bright colours of the balloons in the inspiration pic. I used one of my go to stamp sets, Eastern Blooms, with my Stampin' Write markers to add highlights to parts of the petals after they had been stamped off - love the two tone effect!

I must admit this would have to be one of my favourite pages; so bright and cheery - just like my girl!!

This page obviously links in with the balloons (2 balloons for birthday #2) and also the more muted colours of the bottom left pic. There's a little bit of sparkle on the balloons too which the photo hasn't picked up too well.

Head on over and visit the girls at Stampin' Celebration - it's a lot of fun!!

Thanks for visiting!

Bright Birthday

Today I have a card for you that was inspired by two challenge blogs I look at every week but don't get to play along with as much as I'd like. The sketch was provided by Papercraft Star:

and the colour combo by Scrapmaster's Paradise Color Challenge:

I adore these colours together (and of course, there's Rich Razzleberry). I pulled out quite a bit of retired product for this one, and my Printed Petals which hasn't seen ink since Convention - oops. I am really happy with how this turned out - thanks girls!

This bright, happy card will be making it's way to Germany this week for a dear friend's birthday (that I remember every year, and make a card for but never send. It will happen this year!).

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Printed Petals, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Card: Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Regal Rose

DSP: Pink Flamingo (retired), Regal Rose Printed (retired)

Other: Word Window Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Playground Buttons (retired), Brights Brads, Fairytale Ribbons (retired)

First Dance Concert

Happy New Year to you!! I hope 2011 is filled with love, laughs and adventure!

Today I have one of my favourite pages that I did of Luana just before her first dance concert. She was SO excited!! As her hair is so curly (and short then) I wasn't able to put it up in a 'proper' ballerina bun, so I curled it as tight as I could. She adored dressing up and wearing make up too! I was a VERY proud Mum that night, albeit a little sad as Paul couldn't make.

I have had this page done for quite some time, but not posted it. Stampin' Royalty gave me the prompt this week with their scrapbooking challenge! Thanks girls.

Scrapping this page was a little harder than I first thought; I think it was the shimmery dress, so I ended up with a black background with Brushed Silver, Tempting Turquoise and Melon Mambo highlights, and lots of Dazzling Diamonds!! My memory is a little fuzzy at the moment, so I won't write a recipe, but if you want details, let me know and I'll put them in.

Must head off to bed as we're back to work tomorrow after the long weekend.

Thanks for visiting!

Welcome Emmy

Wow! Two posts in two days - maybe this is the start of what used to be :0) It's amazing what wonders a four day weekend can provide!

As I said yesterday, I have quite a backlog of cards to get through (better late than never!) and this card was made to welcome a darling little girl into the world who is the daughter of a good (school) friend of mine. My friend is NOT a fan of pink - and I did warn her when Emmy was born that it is very difficult to get little girl clothes that aren't pink... So, I turned to the trusty Sweet Always DSP for the colour palette (still girly and bright pinks are ok). Emmy turned out to be a bit longer than I thought with the Big Deal Alphabet, so the card evolved into the latest Just Add Ink sketch (which is fab I must say).

I stamped 'e' a second time, fussy cut it out and popped it up to add a little more dimension; some sponging softened the edges. I added the 'not-pink' flowers from Flower fusion and a flower brad, and the thin Chocolate Chip ribbon from Seaside provided the final touch.

The post office is only open two days this week up here, so I'd better get a wriggle on and get this parcel sorted so it does reach Emmy before her first birthday.

Thanks for visiting!




Stamps: Big Deal Alphabet (retired)
Card: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Summer Picnic DSP (retired), Sweet Always DSP (retired)
Ink: Regal Rose, Pumpkin Pie
Other: 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Flower Fusion (retired), flower brad, Seaside Ribbon Originals (retired)

First Birthday Butterflies

I hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas with loved ones! We have been very lucky here to have a 4 day weekend which has been fabulous (and a much needed break) - we still have one day to go! I'm not sure I want to go back to work this week..... Even though it's only for 2 days, then it's another 3 day weekend! Yay!

I have had a very busy few weeks with my celebrating my birthday (my Mum flew up and surprised me for our trip out to Uluru and Kata Tjuta - here's a quick pic of my little family with 'The Rock'. I'll put some more up later) and now Christmas and all the festivities that go along with it. I'll be putting up a post in the next week with my Christmas Card that I sent to family and some other cards I put together. But for tonight, I have a first birthday card for you created using Stampin' Royalty Challenge 51 - a sketch and ColourQ 64.

I have some serious catching up to do on the card making front as I have not been able to create much lately, so these two challenges provided the perfect inspiration for a darling first birthday card. I love all the layers of the sketch and those butterflies are too cute - I don't yet have the butterfly punch (shock!) so I used the 5 petal flower for mine. The flower is scallop circles in Pink Pirouette and Real Red layered (the top layer popped up and the petals cut so they create more dimension).

Thanks for visting and I will try not to leave it so long between posts now energy levels are returning!!

Stamps: Best Friends Numbers (retired)

Card: Real Red, Pear Pizzazz, Regal Rose, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Sweet Always DSP (retired), Patterns DSP

Ink: Real Red, Regal Rose

Punches: 5 Petal Flower, Scallop Circle, 1 3/8" Circle, 1 1/4" Circle

Other: Beachfront Ribbons Originals (retired)

It's a Boy Baby Shower

Hello again!

I must apologise for being MIA for so long. We went away for a well earned family break and it has taken me longer than anticipated to a) recover from it and b) find my mojo again and be inspired to play. I am slowly getting there and have made a few bits and pieces over the last few weeks, but hopefully I will be back to posting at least once a week very soon.

So, after such a long hiatus, today's creation is quite simple for a friend's baby shower. After 2 girls she has found out she is having a boy and is understandably very excited. I couldn't go past this week Colour Throwdown challenge for colour inspiration, and the current Sketch 'n' Color sketch was just perfect for the 'boy':

I am loving Marina Mist - it's such a great colour and due to my lack of creating, this is the first time I have used it. I can assure you, you're likely to be seeing A LOT more of it in the future!!

I started with a base of Marina Mist and attached on top a background of Summer Picnic DSP (retired) which had been pierced around the edge and layered on a thin base of Whisper White.

'Baby' from All Year Cheer II (retired) was stamped in Marina Mist, as well as the 'b' and 'y' from Big Deal Alphabet (retired). The 'o' was created using the 1 3/4" and 1 1/4" circle punches and finshed off with a cute little monkey from Fox & Friends stamped in Chocolate Chip. The 'o' and the monkey were popped up with dimensionals.

I know this is quite basic, but I hope this is not a disappointing return :)

I will be back in the next day or two - promise!

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: All Year Cheer II (retired), Big Deal Alphabet (retired), Fox & Friends

Card: Marina Mist, Whisper White, Summer Picnic DSP (retired)

Ink: Marina Mist, Chocolate Chip

Other: 1 3/4" Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Paper Piercer