Festive Friday #42

Hi again, time for another Festive Friday challenge, and this week it is a colour challenge.  I have to be honest and was a bit scared by this mix of colours, especially for a Christmas card!  But isn't that what challenges are all about - the challenge?  If you are struggling a little for inspiration on this one pop over to Nicole's Festive Friday post and see what the other Design Team members have come up with.

This is my little creation for the challenge.  I decided to use Gumball Green DSP as the base for my criss-cross card, then add the Summer Starfruit and Elegant Eggplant in smaller amounts.  Ideally I would have loved this ribbon in Elegant Eggplant, but settled for the Summer Starfruit.  I just love these new In-Colour Ribbons, they are so soft and easy to tie into a bow.

Now just a peek at how this card opens so you can see the full effect of the criss-cross design.  Having the sentiment slid into the doily helps hold the card together when it is closed.  A little trick in punching a circle out of the centre of the doily ... first punch the circle out of a post-it note, then adhere the sticky circle exactly on the doily where you want it.  Then line that circle up with the opening in your punch and you will have the circle exactly where you want it each and every time!  This works with any punch out shape and has saved me a lot of frustration!

Hopefully that has inspired you to embrace the challenge and join in this week, there aren't many more weeks to go to get your Christmas cards made!

Happy Stamping

Merry Mojo

Just a short post tonight as I can't wait to get back to actually creating with my new items from the Holiday catalogue that is to be released on Saturday.  This card I have made to enter in the Mojo Monday challenge this week.

I kept it fairly simple, wanting the cute little gingerbread man to be the focal point.  I was pondering how to add a sentiment and decided it would be cute to make him a little flag to hold.

I used the Tiny Tags for the sentiment, needing something fairly small to fit into the flag that I cut with the Bitty Banners Framelits dies.  This is the smallest of the banners and so cute, I cut off one end and adhered to a tooth pick that I coloured with Early Espresso and chopped down to size.  A few rhinestones and a spray of shimmer mist adds a little bling.

Happy Stamping

Merry and Bright

When someone wishes you a Christmas that is Merry and Bright I wonder if my creation today is what they had in mind!  I took inspiration from three challenges for this one Festive Friday for the colours, Mojo Monday for the sketch, and Friday Mashup which was a mash up of Christmas and a card decorated on the inside.

Aren't these great bright colours for Christmas?  I wanted to use a Christmas DSP, but not surprisingly didn't have any in the required colours!  I chose the black and white DSP from Letters to Santa, and cut it to the required size for the sketch.  I then coloured each piece separately using my brayer, I love the brayer for nice clean consistent colouring of paper.  

Here is the inside of the card, decorated with one of the stamps from Delightful Decorations, stamped in Melon Mambo and coloured with a combination of silver, Lucky Limeade and Tempting Turquoise markers.  Now all I have to do is decide who will get this bright Christmas Greeting!

Happy Stamping

Anything Goes Birthday

Stampin' Royalty have an "Anything Goes" challenge this week and I am entering with the gift made for my ex-upline and always friend Kasey.  It was so great to be able to share her birthday with her in person this year, a great night out at an Ethiopian Restaurant.

If you have read any of the comments Kasey leaves on the blog you might know that she calls me the queen of 3D, so I knew I just had to make her something 3D for her birthday.  I wanted a soft feminine look to the project so chose DSP from Attic Boutique which I cut out with the Fancy Favour die. I cut a second strip from the same set of papers to create a band for the centre of the box, and added some pearls to the band. 

I made the pennant using the Pennant Parade die and cut the biggest triangle from Soft Suede, then layered the two doilies in Daffodil Delight and Pool Party.  I found that even though Daffodil Delight is a very bright colour, teaming it with Soft Suede and Pool Party, with the help of a little sponging, really tones down the brightness.  I used the Circles #2 die to cut a 2" circle out of the matching DSP and layered a "K" cut from Soft Suede.  The 'K' is covered with a mix of Dazzling Diamonds and Crystal Effects (I know Kasey loves the sparkle!).   To the top of the flag pole I adhered a collection of ribbons, tying one into a bow. 

The box was filled with Lindt Chocolates, and I also included this little tag which contains a gift voucher.  To make the tag I cut two of the rectangle tags from Soft Suede then cut another from a piece of DSP folded in half with the crease just inside the base of the tag die.  I used this piece of DSP as the outer layer of the tag so that it opens like a book.  On the front I used a combination of the Four Frames and Pettite Pairs stamps, colouring them with markers. 

Here is the inside of the gift card tag, and you can see how I added the gift card to one side and the sentiment to the other.  I just love Petite Pairs with the two matching sentiments it makes it easy to decorate the inside as well as the outside of your cards.   

I love creating projects and I get so much pleasure making something special for someone special.

Happy Stamping
  

Welcome Baby

Last week one of the ladies from work had her baby!  Welcome to the world little Maeve, who by all reports is a sweet little girl who is very well behaved and doesn't mind being handed around for lots of cuddles.  I decided to make a card for the team to sign to send out good wishes, I started out with the sketch at Pals Paper Arts.

I was particularly inspired by Cindy Halls card.  I really, really love the Twitterpated DSP, and who could resist using a little bunny.  I dressed young Thumper in pink for this card and gave 'her' a little pink flower instead of the Easter Egg that is part of this stamp.  I used the Organza ribbon over a piece of Melon Mambo card stock punched each side with the Scallop Border Punch to match the scallop circle from the Pennant Parade die.

Happy Stamping

Almost Easter

If you are a regular visitor to my blog you will know that I have had some fun recently with the Everybunny stamp set in preparation for Easter.  This week Paper Lovin' Gals have another great challenge that screamed out for me to use this cute set once again.

What does this picture inspire you to create? Something with an Easter theme or using the colours like I have, or will something else in the picture take your fancy - a basket, ribbons and bows, just the bunny or something completely different?  That is the great thing about the PLG challenges it doesn't matter what in the photo inspires you, just create away and join in! 

Usually at Easter time as a family we do an Easter Egg hunt, but this year with two cats (one of which will get into anything) I was a bit worried about leaving chocolate eggs lying around - especially as we routinely don't find all the eggs on Easter Sunday!  I decided to make this little door hanger to get around the problem of leaving chocolates out overnight.  The base is made from the Fancy Favour die, and I have added a panel of cardstock to the inside of the box and punched out a circle using the large circle punch.  I have created a window in the front of the box so that the eggs will be visable once the Easter Bunny has visited.  The cute little mushroom stamped image is of course from the Everybunny stamp set, as is the sentiment which I inked up part of and punched out.  I just love the mini brads on this punch, they seem just the right size to give a bit of pop without being over the top.

I hope I have helped to inspire you to join in with us this week, if you need a bit of extra inspiration pop on er to Paper Lovin' Gals blog to see what the other design team members have made.

I am also entering this item in Hand Stamped Sentiments and 4 Crafty Chicks Easter challenges.

Happy Stamping

ESAD Sale-A-Bration Blog Hop

Today marks the release of the Sale-A-Bration promotion at Stampin' Up!  I have to say this is one of my favourite times of the year because Stampin' Up! give away FREE stamps, yep totally free when you purchase $100 in product.  The super exciting thing about Sale-A-Bration this year is that not only are there four great stamp sets to choose from but we also have the option of a full pack of 12'x12' Designer series paper, or a cute Brads and Ribbons bundle, so there really is something for everyone.  If you don't already have a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and are interested in learning more please contact me 0412 064 670.

The other exciting thing about Sale-A-Bration is that it is time for another ESAD Blog Hop, where you get to hop around and see what some of the ESAD girls have created with these great FREE products.  You might be starting here or you might have hopped on over from Pauline Bennetts' Blog

What is ESAD?  ESAD stands for "Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators" and it is an on-line group just for Australian and New Zealand Stampin Up demonstrators.  We so love what we do and not only do we love to share it with our customers, friends, and wonderful blog visitors, but we share our love for what we do with each other as demonstrators. We run swaps, challenges, tutorials, product know-how, and cyberstamps, and we are always there to help and support each other when it is needed.  So if you are a Stampin' Up! demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand, then please feel free to click here to join our wonderful group

Here is the first item I made for the blog hop, a DSP sampler to show off not only the beautiful DSP available but also can you see the little brad holding it together?  That is one of the brads from the Free Ribbon and Brad bundle.  Doesn't it go so well with the Blossom Boquet Triple Layer Punch!  I purposefully chose the colours for the front of the DSP sampler because they are the coordinating colours for the DSP, and that will help remind me!

I wanted to make a desk set with some of the exclusive SAB products, and had my first play with adhering DSP to chipboard and putting it through the Big Shot.  I then used my Crop-A-Dial to punch the holes in the chipboard and threaded them together with the Lucky Limeade Ribbon that comes in the Ribbon and Brad bundle.  To add some detail I wrapped some of the Calypso Coral ribbon around the corners of the Scallop Square.  I am loving this ribbon, it is so delicate and pretty it is the perfect addition to any project.  And I have to say the value in the Ribbon and Brad bundle is amazing - 2 rolls each containing 9.1m of ribbon and a pack of 30 brads with 5 different patterns on them!  Can you see the little butterfly brads that I have used to hold my calendar on with - they are so cute and match the little butterflies on the DSP perfectly.  

My final project was going to be a picture frame, but I decided to use it instead to hold one of the stamps from the Fresh Vintage set also available at SAB.  I used my markers to colour in the rubber and then stamped the image, you can just see how well the image on the stamp matches the pattern on the DSP.  I added some butterflies from the Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die, and of course some pearls to give it that something special.  You will see I have used the Curly Label Punch and cut slits in the corners to create photo corners for my frame, I just love how well these go with the Top Note Die.  Again this is DSP adhered to chipboard and run through the Big Shot, something that was demonstrated at our Regional Training day in Canberra. 

I hope you enjoy the Bog Hop, don't forget to follow the links at the bottom of each post to hop around all the blogs.  Next on your journey is the lovely and talented Bron Heslop, don't forget to leave some comments as you hop around so the ladies know how much you are enjoying the hop.

Happy Hoppy Stamping

Vintage Mashup

When I submitted my entry for the Friday Mash Up challenge #38 I noticed that they were leaving the entries for challenge #37 open until next week!  I was a bit intrigued by this challenge which was to use chipboard or distressing techniques, or mash them up and make a card using both distressing and chipboard. I am also entering this card into the 4 Crafty Chics challenge to use something new - new DSP from the upcoming Sale-A-Bration event.

For this post I have taken a few photos to show off different aspects of this card., this first one shows the card completely closed. I knew I wanted to use some of the DSP that is going to be available as part of Sale-A-Bration 2012, there are so many colours in this paper stack but I chose to keep it fairly simple and use two that use Calypso Coral and Pool Party.  The smaller butterfly is cut from DSP adhered to chipboard and then put through the Big Shot, the larger butterfly has been cut using the same die but with DSP only.  I added the sentiment and Crochet Trim to keep with the vintage feel of the card.

I wanted to take a close up of the butterfly accent because it shows off the distressing that I did.  I have to say I struggled a bit with this because I don't usually use distressing techniques.  I decided to use two on this card, one was to crumple the big butterfly and then drag the Crumb Cake ink pad over the creases to highlight them - I was a bit nervous about this but was happy with how it turned out.  On both of the butterflies I sanded back the edges of the DSP to give it a worn look. 

Now to the card itself ...  This picture shows the card partially open.  This was such a fun card to make and was the tutorial by Patty Bombyk and is featured on Splitcoaststampers this week, I wanted to try something a bit different and this certainly fit the bill.  The top 2/3 of the card opens up and the bottom splits in half and opens sideways!  

Here is a picture of the inside to show both how it opens and the insert I made.  I don't usually make an insert for my cards, but this one just needed something on the inside.  I am not sure if it was the expanse of Calypso Coral, or the general vintage feel of the card, but it seemed bare, so I added a piece of Pool Party card stock sponged around the edges and used the image from Creative Elements to create a border at the top and bottom.

Happy Stamping