Card No. 2

Hello!
Back again with my second card in my gift sets. I was going to originally make a set of 10 cards all with the same design, but as usual I have decided to take on a mammoth task and come up with 10 different designs. Oh well, I have made 4 - only 6 to go! Here is card number 2:

This is probably the one that I am least happy with. I used Stampers Select White for my base and some old Kaisercraft paper for the bottom half. I cut some blue ribbon and looped it on either side along the join. To create my focal image, I die cut a circle from white cardstock and also a couple of grey circles. I then cut some hill shapes out of the grey cardstock and held them on my white circle to work out where to position my trees. I had to use my trusty Stamp-a-ma-jig to position the trunks of the trees and then the tree tops, with some light blue pigment ink and some darker blue rolled along the edges. I then straight stitched along the border of the hills. This was then matted on a black border die cut with my dizzy doily die. Finally I die cut a tag, stamped my sentiment and tied it to my doily border with some Twilley's blue thread.

On the inside I used some more of the pattterned paper along the bottom as a border and then stamped my sentiment and decorative motifs either side.

Okay, I will be back soon tomorrow with card no. 3!

Supplies
Stamps: Mat Stack 1 (PTI); Trendy Trees (SU)
Cardstock: Stampers Select White, True Black (PTI); Basic Grey (SU); Miscellaneous DP (Kaisercraft)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Cyan pigment ink (Versacolor); dark blue pigment ink (Martha Stewart); Night of Navy (SU)
Accessories: Dizzy Doily die (MFT); Circle nestability (Spellbinders); Tiny tags die (Cuttlebug); blue ribbon (Kaisercraft); Blue Goldfingering yarn (Twilleys)

RCC27 - Anything Goes

Hi!
I'm back today with a card that I have entered into the Ribbon Carousel challenge RCC27 -  Anything Goes.

I made this card for a friend and was wanting to use soft, pretty colours so I have slightly CASED Ashley Newell's card here. Here is my card:

I cut four different shades of pink card - Pink Pirouhette, Pretty In Pink, Regal Rose and Rose Red and adhered them to a white panel. Following this, I used the flower image from Stampin Up's Saleabration set - Bliss and stamped this repeatedly over the panel in Versamark ink. This layer was then adhered to a Kraft mat and some Fresh Snow ribbon looped around the middle. I punched out my sentiment panel using my Curly Label Punch and then hand cut a slightly larger Kraft border. I stamped my sentiment from the Trendy Trees set in Melon Mambo ink and highlighted this with some pink rhinestones. Both pieces of card were then adhered to my Fresh Snow ribbon. Finally, all of these layers were adhered to my white base.

I will have to try this gradient look again, as I love the effect it creates!

Back soon with more!!

Supplies
Stamps: Bliss, Trendy Trees (SU)
Cardstock: Select White, Kraft (PTI); Pink Pirouhette, Pretty In Pink, Regal Rose, Rose Red (SU)
Ink: Melon Mambo (SU); Versamark
Accessories: Fresh Snow ribbon (PTI); Curly Label punch (SU); pink rhinestones

CSAYL- Inspiration Photo

Hi everyone,
Sorry it has been such a long time between posts - I woke up on Sunday morning with a terrible headache and I soon realised that I had come down with the flu! I then have been off work for the last 4 days, totally out of it and only today have been right to go back. What a horrible experience - it really knocked me about and I just had no energy to create any cards! I missed yesterday's Colour Create Challenge, but I do have that card nearly made, so I will still post it over the weekend.

Anyway today it's Friday, so I do have a card to share for this week's CSAYL challenge. This week is a fun week - we have an inspiration photo and the challenge is to use this to create your card. The winner of the challenge will get the chance to be a guest designer for a week in September. Here's the pic:

Here's my creation:

I used Snow Swirled by Stampin' Up for all my stamping. I randomly stamped my pastel snowflakes on white card, adding a silver rhinestone to the centre of each. The sentiment was stamped using Smokey Shadow ink and then the whole layer was embossed with my Linen impression plate. I adhered this layer to some Lemon Zest cardstock before mounting onto my white base. To finish off the front, I used my glue pen to run a thin line of glue around the edge and dipped the sides in Dazzling Diamonds glitter.

The inside uses another sentiment from Snow Swirled stamped in Smokey Shadow ink and then the layer was embossed again with my Linen impresssion plate before mounting on Lemon Zest cardstock and adhering to the inside.

Have a look over at the CSAYL blog and check out the other designers' cards. Be sure to link up your creation for your chance to be a guest designer in September! Don't forget, there are only 19 weeks till Christmas, so  now is a great time to start your Christmas stash!!

Supplies
Stamps: Snow Swirled (SU)
Cardstock: Select White, Lemon Zest (PTI)
Ink: Lemon Zest, Smokey Shadow (PTI); New Sprout Dew Drop (Memento); Rouge Chalk ink (Colorbox); Blue pigment ink (Martha Stewart)
Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds glitter (SU); Linen impression plate (PTI); glue pen (Zig); silver rhinestones

Colour Q Challenge #78

Hello,
I hope you have had a lovely weekend so far - I have! I have had sooooo much stamping time and finished quite a few projects, so I feel that I have accomplished a lot! I decided that I would have a go at entering a card in Colour Q's Challenge #78 and here are the colours to work with:

I have all the colours required except for Early Espresso, so I had to pick the next closest colour for me which was Chocolate Chip. I have had the cutest digi image - Daffodil Fun - that I have wanted to ink up that my fellow Colour Create Design Team Member Di has created. You can visit her online store here - you should check it out - she has some gorgeous images!

I used Chocolate Chip for my base and then a layer of white which I ran through my Cuttlebug with my Linen Impression Plate. I then added some Green Tea Leaves Designer Paper to the bottom half to break up all the white and tied some Pink Pirouhette ribbon along the join. My image was printed on white cardstock and then coloured with Copics (not my best colouring on the bear). Once I had finished, I also ran this layer through the Cuttlebug with my Linen Impression Plate. I found an old reliable stamp set in my collection - Short and Sweet and thought this sentiment suited this whimsical image, so I stamped this in Kraft ink. I finished off this panel by paper piercing along the bottom. This layer was then matted on Kraft cardstock with some punched Certainly Celery card along the bottom and popped up on dimensionals.

The sentiment on the inside was again stamped in Kraft ink on white card and a border added along the bottom with  my Green Tea Leaves paper and Certainly Celery punched card.

Off to go and collect my kids - my sister in law has taken them out to the museum and science centre for the day, so I had better rescue her as they were so excited and I am sure she will be worn out!!

Supplies

Stamps: Daffodil Fun Digi (Di's Digi Downloads); Short and Sweet, Best Yet (SU)

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Kraft/Crumb Cake (SU) Green Tea Leaves DP (PTI)

Ink: Kraft (SU)

Accessories: Linen impression plate (PTI); Pink Pirouhette ribbon, dimensionals (SU); Copics; Upper Crest border punch (Fiskars); paper piercer; green rhinestones (Kaisercraft)

Birthday cards

Hello,
Just a quick post to show some cards that I recently made with some family and friends who came over for a cardmaking night. We created 4 cards with the same layout - we just changed the embossing folders, stamps and colour scheme.

Back soon!

Supplies
Stamps: Round and Round, Birthday Basics (PTI)
Cardstock: Stampers Select White, Kraft, Lemon Zest, Aqua Mist (PTI); Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouhette (SU)
Ink: Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Baja Breeze, Melon Mambo (SU)
Accessories: Certainly Celery ribbon, Pink Pirouhette ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, dimensionals (SU); Argyle Impression Plate, Mat Stack 1 die, Hawaiian Shores ribbon, Lemon Zest ribbon (PTI); Swiss Dots embossing folder, Bloom Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug); Elegant Bouquest embossing folder (Sizzix); 1 3/4 " circle punch (Carl); Quickie glue pen; Apron Lace border punch (Fiskars)

Totally Hues #4

Hello!
I hope you have all had a great weekend - mine was crazy again, but only three more weeks left till I get a week's break for the Easter Holidays - its been so hectic and can't wait to have a break and perhaps catch up on some much neglected Spring Cleaning!!!

I have a get well card to share that I made following Heather Pulvirenti's Totally Hues Challenge #4. Heather has a knack for picking gorgeous colour combinations and I finally had time to join in!

For this challenge, the only colour I was missing was Raspberry Fizz so I went with my next closest colour which was Stampin Up's Melon Mambo.

The white panel was run through my Cuttlebug with my Bloom Dots embossing folder, only embossing one strip down the side. I then used my Quickie glue pen to add some glitter to the panel. The flowers were stamped using the Beautiful Blooms ll set (one of my all time faves!) in Plum Pudding, Melon Mambo and Lemon Zest ink. I still don't own the matching dies so I had to hand cut them all, and then layered them with dimensionals. The leaves were die cut using my Sizzix Little Leaves die cut and New Leaf cardstock. To assemble the front, I wrapped around my white panel some Lemon Zest ribbon and added the layer to my Lemon Zest card base. The Thinking of You sentiment was stamped in Plum Pudding ink using my Up, Up and Away set. I bent the stamp to create a wave instead of stamping it straight.

The inside sentiment is from Stampin Up's Thoughts and Prayers set and stamped in Plum Pudding ink. I ran the white layer through my Cuttlebug again with my Bloom Dots die, again adding some glitter. I then cut a thin strip of New Leaft cardstock and added this along with some blooms stamped in Plum Pudding ink. Silver rhinestones were added to all of my flowers both inside and out.

I will definately be joining in more of these wonderful challenges - check it out - the colour combos are awesome!!

Have a great week,

Supplies
Stamps: Beautiful Blooms ll, Up, Up and Away (PTI); Thoughts and Prayers (SU)
Cardstock: Lemon Zest, Stampers Select White, New Leaf (PTI)
Ink: Plum Pudding, Lemon Zest (PTI); Melon Mambo (SU)
Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Little Leaves die set, dimensionals (SU); Bloom Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug); Lemon Zest ribbon (PTI)

CSAYL Challenge - Create Patterned Paper

Its Friday, so that means another fantastic CSAYL challenge. This week the challenge is sponsored by A Perfect Presentation:

The challenge is to create your own patterned paper with stamps to embellish your template. The winner of this challenge will be able to choose a free template of their choice and their templates are gorgeous and so easy to work with! Here is my creation - I used the Cute Carton template:

I decided to create my background paper directly on the template base and for this I used Kraft cardstock. I printed the template out and then first stamped a grid in Versmark ink using my Guidelines ll grid stamp. Once I had done this, I stamped one medallion in Crumb Cake ink and a second medallion in Cherry Cobbler ink.

To add some Christmas sparkle, I individuallly stamped the third medallion in Whisper White Craft ink, added Heat and Stick powder, set it with my heat gun, added Dazzling Diamonds glitter and heat set it again. It looked much more effective than just adding my white ink and was worth the extra time.

The label was created by punching my white cardstock with my Curly Label punch, stamping the striped background with Cherry Cobbler ink and then hand cutting a slightly larger Scarlet Jewel piece as a mat. The sentiment is from the Short and Sweet stamp set, also stamped in Cherry Cobbler ink. I added this to the carton on some white ribbon. To keep the carton closed, I punched holes and threaded through some Scarlet Jewel ribbon (which is a very close match to Cherry Cobbler).

I will be making heaps more of these cartons, not only for Christmas, but for other occasions throughout the year as the template is so user friendly. I'm now off to look at the CSAYL blog to see what all the other designers have created, so have a look too and have a go at this awesome challenge!

Have a great weekend!

Supplies
Stamps: Guidlines ll (PTI); Short and Sweet, Curly Label image (SU)
Cardstock: Kraft, Scarlet Jewel, Stampers Select White (PTI)
Ink: Versamark, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White (SU)
Accessories: Cute Carton template (A Perfect Presentation); Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Heat and Stick powder, Curly Label Punch, dimensionals (SU); white ribbon; Scarlet Jewel ribbon (PTI); ScorPal

Wedding Card

Wow, I'm on a roll!!!
I just remembered that I haven't posted my wedding card that I made last week, so here it is:

I won't go in to too much detail as I have to go and watch 'So You Think You Can Dance', but the colours I have used are Pink Pirouhette and Crumb Cake ink, stamped using my Guidelines Two set(one of my all time favourite sets). To stamp it evenly, I used my Scor Pal to score diagonal lines, creating a grid. I also used the Papertrey Ink Anniverary Set - Round and Round for my sentiment and behind it.

Okay, off to watch Dance with my daughter!

Supplies
Stamps: Round and Round Anniversary Set, Guidelines Two (PTI)
Cardstock: Sweet Blush, Stampers Select White (PTI); Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake (SU)
Ink: Pink Pirouhette, Crumb Cake (SU)
Accessories: Pearls (Kaisercraft); Mat Stack 1 Die (PTI); Scor Pal; Chocolate Chip Ribbon (SU); Lace Border Punch (Fiskars)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hi,
I have found the most beautiful colour combo over at the ColourQ Challenge 71 and I couldn't resist joining in!

The only colour I don't have is Blushing Bride so I used some pink cardstock that was the closest match. It also ties in well with Just Add Ink's Challenge 55 this week to add love to our cards.  Any excuse to go all sentimental and add some hearts is okay with me!!

Today I thought I would llist the steps on how I put the card together, rather than rambling on with all the details as there were quite a few steps involved:

1. Create base from Pretty In Pink cardstock and sponge edges with Pink Pirouhette ink.
2. Cut Kraft layer and stamp Damask image from Fancy Flourishes set in Versamark ink.  Layer Scor- tape along edges for a border and sprinkle Dazzling Diamonds glitter over this. Adhere this layer to white card layer.
3. Use Mat Stack 1 die to cut Pretty In Pink card and stamp tiny heart background from Background Basics Hearts and Versamark.  Sew a pink button on either side with Kraft coloured thread.
4. Use Cursive script from Background Basics Hearts and stamp on white adhesive sheet with Crumb Cake ink. Cut this with a  Spellbinders circle die. Cut a larger circle from Pink Pirouhette card and adhere these together. Run these through Xyron  and adhere to Mat Stack 1 base.
5. Use rock and roll technique to stamp Bliss butterfly Pink Pirouhette and Pretty In Pink ink. Cut this out and adhere to Mat Stack, bending up wings.
6. Stamp With Love sentiment from Yummy set in Crumb Cake ink and cut into a banner. Punch a Kraft heart and adhere these under butterfly.
7. Stamp argyle and heart pattern on Pink Pirouhette card and punch 3 hearts. Use darker card to punch 2 plain hearts. Adhere these to front, popping two up on dimensionals.
8. Add white ribbon to Kraft layer, looping over a couple of times and attach Mat stack image over the top. Attach all layers card base.

Inside of card
1. Layer white cardstock on Kraft card.  Stamp tiny heart background image from Background Basics hearts in Crumb Cake ink. Add a small Kraft strip, punch 2 pink hearts from Pink Pirouhette card and adhere to strip.
2. Stamp sentiment from Heartfelt Basics set in Crumb Cake ink and adhere all layers to inside of card.

Voila - finished!! This card started off quite simple but seemed to take on a life of its own, but I am very happy with the result.

Back soon!

Supplies

Stamps: Fancy Flourishes (Kaisercraft); Yummy - retired, Bliss - Saleabration (SU); Background Basics: Hearts, A Little Argyle, Heartfelt Basics (PTI)

Cardstock: Stampers Select White, White Adhesive Cardstock (PTI); Pink Pirouhette, Pretty In Pink, Kraft (SU); dark pink card

Ink: Versamark, Pretty In Pink, Pink Pirouhette, Crumb Cake (SU)

Accessories: Xyron; Scor-Tape; Dazzling Diamonds glitter, heart punch, dimensionals (SU); Sweet Blush buttons, Mat Stack 1 Die (PTI); Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders); white ribbon; Kraft thread



Inkspirations Sketch Challenge #55

Hi there!
My eldest son Rohan is turning 10 on Saturday (sob, sob - all I hear from him is he is turning double figures and all I keep thinking is he's not my little baby anymore!). As he is getting to that age where I can no longer go down the cute road when making a card, I needed some inspiration so I turned to this week's Inkspirations Sketch Challenge #55 which is a fantastic one!! The options with this sketch are endless! Here it is:

I started with a white base and added a Kraft mat for the square grid. I found some Riding Hood Red and Baja Breeze designer paper and decided to add some yellow designer paper from October Afternoon's Thrift shop collection (love this paper!). I then cut my stars from chipboard and also punched out 5 stars from acetate to layer on top. Before adhering  the acetate, I used some White Staz On ink to stamp different patterns on each. I then added some glue dots behind the ink before positioning them on top of the chipboard stars.

To vary the grid, I used two Lemon Zest buttons tied with twine and cross stitched the other squares with the same twine.  The sentiment was stamped using Birthday Basics set from Papertrey Ink in Riding Hood Red ink and cut into a banner which I tucked in behind my main circle image after it had been popped up on foam adhesive.

On the inside, I carried the patterned paper theme, but cutting smaller squares from the same paper and layering my sentiment, also from the Birthday Basics set on top.

I think I just made the cut off for this week's challenge - my card was put on hold while I followed Cyclone Yasi - we have many friends in Cairns as we lived there up until 2 years ago and we were very concerned as some have properties on the Northern Beaches. We have heard today that they are all safe, although they did get battered with fierce winds, causing damage to a lot of the area around them and loss of power. Our thoughts are with those who were in the direct path of the Cyclone though who have suffered unimaginable damage to agriculture and properties. We were there in Cyclone Larry, which was a frightening experience, but the impact of Yasi is so much more devastating for these small towns. 

Supplies

Stamps: Birthday Basics, Around and About Sentiments (PTI)

Cardstock: Stampers Select White (PTI); Thrift Shop Collection (October Afternoon); Kraft, Riding Hood Red, Riding Hood Red designer paper, Baja Breeze designer paper (SU)

Ink: Riding Hood Red (SU); Cotton White Stazon (Tsukineko)

Accessories: Acetate; twine, dimensionals, Star Punch (SU);circle nestabilities (Spellbinders); Lemon Zest button (PTI); American Craft thickers

TCP Tuesday 139

Hello!

Today I have yet another non-Christmas card to share but one that I found quite challenging. My mum needed a birthday card for my nephew who is turning 13 tomorrow. I have to say that teenage boys are THE hardest male cards to make - I have no appropriate images and I just itch to add the bling and ribbons etc. Then I remembered that I had ordered October Afternoon's Thrift Shop paper pad and found this great black and cream paper which just screamed out to be used!! Everything for the rest of the card just seemed to flow naturally and I also found it very easy to incorporate into The Cat's Pajamas Tuesday Challenge 139:

I decided to make an easel card (tutorial  here) to add a bit of interest to quite a simple card. The first step was to make the base of the easel from Kraft cardstock. After this, I layered some black cardstock on the designer paper and used a Spellbinder circle die cut a circle through both layers. I then lightly adhered these layers to some Very Vanilla card and sewed a border around this using some Kraft coloured thread.

I then diecut a smaller circle from the patterned paper and a smaller circle from Kraft card and finished off with the number 13 using some American Craft thickers. I only had white, so I used a black marker to colour them. The circles were then popped up on some dimensionals and added to the front of the card. To finish off the front, I added some cream twill tape and adhered this inside the circle opening with Scor-tape.

On the inside of the card, I diecut another patterned paper circle and a smaller vaniila circle. I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment in Versafine Vintage Sepia ink using the Birthday Basics set from Papertrey Ink. The circles were then adhered to the centre of some Very Vanilla cardstock on dimensionals to ensure that the front of the card is held in place when opened up. Voila! Such a simple card, but I am really happy with the outcome and will definately follow this sketch again. The card does look much better IRL - it was hard to capture it properly on camera.

I have to go now and finish watching the Santa Clause 3 with my kids tonight. Even though things are slowing down there out in blogland, I can't stay away from my craft room for long or I miss it like crazy, so I will hopefully have a Christmas card to share with a new stamp I am itching to ink up and also some 3D projects that are Christmas gifts (yes I have left it till the last minute!!!)

Thanks for visiting!

Supplies
Stamps: Birthday Basics (PTI)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Kraft (SU); Thrift Shop Designer Paper (October Afternoon);Black cardstock
Ink: Vintage Sepia (Versafine)
Accessories: Circle Nestablities (Spellbinders); Scor-tape; Kraft thread; Twill ribbon (SU)

Wedding Card - Sweet Sunday Sketch #96

Wow! Two posts in one day - I am on a roll! A friend of mine has asked me to make her a cute wedding card for a girl at her work and I had to think and think about what image I could use as I don't have many wedding stamps. Then I remembered that I had seen so many cute images at DigiStamp Boutique and I found the perfect 'cute' stamp for my card. I really enjoyed making this card as I was able to add lots of detail to it, while still coming up with quite a simple card.

For this card, I chose to use Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #96 as my inspiration which I decided to flip:

I started by using some white basics cardstock and adding a scalloped edge to the front base. I then used my Guidelines Two background set to stamp a strip of patterned paper on some Papertrey Ink Guidelines Gridsheet cardstock with Certainly Celery and Pretty In Pink ink. The beauty of this paper is that you can't go wrong when positioning your images as its all lined up for you. This strip was matted on some Certainly Celery cardstock which has been cross stitched across the top with white DMC thread, the bottom punched with a scallop border punch and some glitter added with Scor-Tape. I then adhered some pink ribbon and thread it through a diamante buckle.

The image that I used for the card is Henry and Zoe Get Wed digital stamp from DigiStamp Boutique. I coloured the image with my Copic markers and then printed out a second copy of the image, cutting out the car. Once the car was cut out, I used my Craft Knife to remove the sentiment number plate. I coloured the remainder of the second car piece with my Copic markers and then ran the image through my Xyron and sprinkled it with glitter. I then adhered this second car image to the original coloured image and inserted the sentiment back  in with adhesive.

I coloured in the veil with my Copic Clear Atyou pen to add some sparkle. The hearts were coated with glossy accents to add some dimension. The image was then adhered to some Pretty In Pink cardstock and added to the front with dimensionals. To view the details clearer, just click on the images.

The inside of the card consists of some white basics cardstock adhered to a Certainly Celery mat. The sentiment was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink with Papertrey Ink's Heartfelt Basics set. I find this set really flexible as you can choose certain words you wish to insert in the sentiment to suit the occasion and in this case I inserted 'happiness' and 'always'. To finish off the inside I added a small row of tiny silver rhinestones.

Sorry about the long winded post but I had so much fun making this card and I wanted to explain how I put it all together. I will definately be CASEing this card again myself in the future.

I have decided to devote tomorrow to the kids with no stamping time until tomorrow night (I am having withdrawals thinking about it!!). I have promised them a morning at the shops and then we are spending tomorrow afternoon playing board games and having some real family time. I will be back in a couple of days though as I have to create two birthday cards for my nephew and also finish my dear friend's daughter's 18th birthday card.

Have a good week!! 11 sleeps to go!!!!

Supplies

Stamps: Henry and Zoe Get Wed (Digistamp Boutique); Heartfelt Basics, Guidelines Two (PTI)

Cardstock: White Basics, Guidelines Gridsheets (PTI); Certainly Celery, Pretty In Pink (SU)

Ink: Certainly Celery, Pretty In Pink (SU); Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Scallop Border Punch, Dimensionals (SU); Apron Lace Punch (Fiskars); Silver Rhinestones;DMC white thread; Paper Piercer; Pink Ribbon; Xyron Sticker Machine; Scor-Tape; Clear Copic glitter pen; Copic Markers; Glossy Accents, Silver Buckle