A Different Kind of Challenge

Today my 'baby' turns 16 ... a challenge on so many levels!  

She is a great girl, and in herself not that much of a challenge, I am so proud of the young lady she is growing into.  The challenging part comes from the age and all that it brings - social expectations, a relaxing of rules while still maintaining boundaries, learning to drive (though that will primarily be hubby's challenge lol), and just the support needed for 16 year olds these days - maintaining that balance between mother and friend.  

Here is the card I made for her.  I used some of her favourite products, firstly the rose image from Fifth Avenue Floral, she loves this stamp set, particularly the rose.  Her other favourite on the card is the new In-Colour Island Indigo, which I paired with Pool Party, lastly is glitter - what girl doesn't like glitter!!!  I used my new alphabet die to cut out the letters and numbers and embossed them into the extended bookmark with the square lattice die.  The "16" I cut out of adhesive sheet and applied super fine glitter, ideally I would have used the new Sticky Sheets as they would have held the glitter better, but sadly had none on hand!  I hope she likes it and has a wonderful 16th Birthday.

Happy Stamping

Baby Card

My second sketch inspired card was inspired by my favourite challenge site Friday Mash Up but I only used the stitching part of the challenge as in Australia we are headed toward the end of the school year!  The colour came from Just Add Ink which was White and one other colour, and finally the sketch came from Utah Divas Saturday Sketch.

I made this card for a friend who has recently had a beautiful baby girl, and I knew when I got my hands on the new Stocking Punch that is going to be available for Australia and New Zealand customers from 1st October.  One of the benefits of being a demonstrator for Stampin' Up! is that you get sneak peeks, and pre-order for promotions, how good is that! While the traditional use for the punch is for Christmas, I have turned it into a pair of pretty pink booties. 

The idea for the Modern Label Punch came from Donna over at Butternut Sage Designs, isn't it cool! The mechanism of the punch is to cut from the outside so you just have to punch carefully and stop after it has cut only part of the shape.  Then slide a strip of ribbon under and there you have it, a cute little accent for your card. 

Happy Stamping

Three in One ...

Inspired by the Blog Hop yesterday I have had a surge of creativity making 3 cards, two I can show you today and the 3rd I will post tomorrow as it is a surprise for my daughter's birthday.  I went flicking through my usual challenge blogs and inspiration was just popping into my hear.  I decided to start with the Sketch from Saturday 411, the colours from Crazy for Challenges, and the theme from CAS-ual Fridays "Falling to Pieces".  

I have seen these cute little trees popping up all over the place since the release of the Doily Triple Layer Punch.  The trunk of the tree is a rectangle with ovals punched out of the sides, and one petal of the 5-Petal Flower Punch.   While the theme was Fall with paper piecing, here in Australia it is heading into spring, so while I kept to the theme, I did use the green as the primary colour on the card!

Happy Stamping