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

Christmas Yummies

Christmas Yummies was my first thought when I saw the inspirational photo at Paper Lovin' Gals this week.  Cooking treats is one of my favourite things about Christmas, I am a little behind the cooking this Christmas, but I do have my dried fruit soaking ready to make my pudding and fruit mince pies this weekend.  Then the Rum Balls and White Christmas (the closest thing we have to snow in Australia!), my daughter and I often cook together and sing "It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas" as the aromas of baking pies and rum balls fill the air.  Anyway ... that is what this picture reminded me of ... what does it make you think of?  How does it inspire you to create? Come play along this week at Paper Lovin' Gals.

I knew I wanted to use the little snowman out of the Tags Til Christmas set, and played around with a few ideas until it came to me to use him as decoration on the icing of a cupcake!!!  The icing on the biscuits at the front of the photo reminded me of show and so I replicated this in the two snowflakes on the card.  Ever since I started playing with the Silver Glimmer paper I have not been able to put it down!  On the centre circle I have sponged the edges which I think worked quite well, though you may need to click on the photo to see it properly.

I hope you have been inspired to join in this week, if you need a bit more pop over to Paper Lovin' Gals and see what the other Design Team members have created.

Happy Stamping

Treat Yourself ...

Paper Lovin' Girls  #4

This is my first creation as part of the Design Team for Paper Lovin' Gals, and what a great picture we have this week to inspire your creativity.  You can use the colours, lay out, or just pick one feature of the photo and use it to inspire your creation.  I just love all those balls hanging down and knew immediately they would be my inspiration and the focal point of  the card.

I made these balls from some of the DSP paper stacks, there was of course a limit to the number I could fit on the card, so I stopped at three!!!  The scene in the picture made me want a room just like this so that I could just spend the whole day in bed reading, dozing and nibbling on chocolate.  With this in mind I knew exactly which sentiment I wanted to put with this card "treat yourself like your own best company".  The bed cover reminded me of the new SU fabric from the Beau Chateau collection and I just had to re-create that centre cushion by using a button and pearl.

I hope you join us in this week's challenge, pop over to Paper Lovin' Gals blog and see what the other talented DT members have made to inspire you this week. 

Happy Stamping

Trick or Treat

For the last two weeks I have been working with a different team and I have thoroughly enjoyed working with them, and getting to know them all.  Next week it is back to my usual job, and back to part time work, which will leave more time for crafting!  Tonight I decided to have a look at my fav challenge blogs, with the thought of planning a card to make tomorrow, that was until I came across The Friday Mashup and was totally inspired by this week's challenge.  This week was a colour and theme challenge, and I decided to do both, creating a Halloween themed card using Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Lucky Limeade and Concord Crush.

Now in Australia we don't really celebrate Halloween, certainly not to the extent that it is celebrated in the US or UK, this is reflected in the limited Halloween products in our IB&C. However I did not want to let that get me down, and I think it was the little owl in the Warmest Wishes set that FMU are giving away this week. 

I used the owl punch and added some bat wings to give him more of a Halloween look, and a little green vest to match the new Lucky Limeade ruffle ribbon on the card.  I decided to use my new Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch (boy that is a mouthful!!) and used two strips of it under the ruffle ribbon, I think the two of them go very well together. Can you spot the little bit of extra ruffled ribbon I have used to framed the Concord Crush circle? I cut a piece of ribbon in half lengthwise and then attached it to the back of the circle using SNAIL.

I did learn an important lesson on this card ... Use your black glitter before you add the letters to a multi-layered, embossed card! Boy does that stuff get everywhere!

Stamps: none!
Paper: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Lucky Limeade, Concord Crush and Naturals Ivory; Lucky Limeade DSP Stack
Other: 2-step Owl Punch, 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon, Timeless Type Junior Alphabet die, black super fine glitter.


Happy Stamping

We Stamp (Cupcakes) For Lara

I have joined up the We Stamp For Lara, a great cause for a great little girl.  Please head over to Madonna Dunn's Blog for more information.

One of the challenges over there is to make a cupcake card because this month its Lara's 2nd birthday.  There was a lovely picture of Lara posted up on the website and I used her dress as the inspiration behind this card.

I hope you enjoy, and consider joining in for the month.  Each day there is a tutorial and challenges and a daily lucky door prize.  At the end of the month all participants will go into the draw for a Big Shot, yep you heard it right, a Big Shot!  All of this for only $25.  If you are interested in joining pop over to Madonna's blog for details, there are some issues with Pay Pal not releasing funds, so Madonna has made other arrangements for payment.  Its a great cause.