It's that time of year...

Things have been flat out here in the lead up to Christmas, and I don't think I'll have a chance to make anything for a couple of weeks until the chaos settles down again. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy 2009!

FS97 - Cards by America!!!

This week's Featured Stamper on SCS is Cards By America!!! She has the most stunning gallery for you to check out!! Normally it takes me forever to decide on which card to case, but as soon as I saw this card I knew it was the one for me!
I changed the colours, the image and sentiment and kept the layout, similar corners and the ribbon underneath. I just had to use scallops though!! :)
I started with a white card base, matted with Bashful Blue (pierced of course!) and topped with some beautiful paper by Little Yellow Bicycle (I've nearly run out of it, so I have to track some more down!!). In the corners I've used the dies from the 'Vintage' Cuttlebug die set and cut them out in white (in hindsight, I guess I should have used blue...) and put pearls in each corner. The main panel is made of the largest circle scallop nestabilites and cut out two white scallop panels and offset them and pierced the scallops. Topped with some Bashful Blue cut with the plain circle nestabilities and pierced around the edge and stamped the sentiment to one side in Close to Cocoa. The image was stamped in versacolor black and clear embossed, coloured with markers and a blender pen (creamy caramel, brocade blue and a soft grey tombow), cut out and popped up on foam tape to the side of the sentiment. The whole circular panel is popped on foam tape on top of some sheer white organdy ribbon. The beautiful image and sentiment are from Our Daily Bread Designs and were part of the order that arrived this week!!!
Thats all for today, thanks for visiting!! :)

A Christmas Church

This week I received some brand new toys in the mail!!! Firstly it was fours sets from Our Daily Bread Designs , the second was the Martha Stewart Branch punch which I bought via ebay since you can't buy MS products in Australia. :( Sadly I didn't get the chance to play with them sooner due to end of year events, end of school etc...
Finally last night I set to work! The base is some red Bazzill I found in my box, matted with white (I must have been tired I forgot to paper pierce it!!!!), then topped with a piece of Soft Sky that I embossed with my 'Devine Swirl' embossing folder and cuttlebug. I added some paper by Wild Asparagus to the bottom.
I then stamped my brand new church (from ODBD's 'Worship the Lord' set) in black and embossed with clear powder. Then I used markers and blender to colour the image. I don't have any liquid applique (I really must find some), so I settled on highlighting the snow with Liquid Pearls (opal) by Ranger and then matted it with red. I also don't have any poisettia flowers, so I had to settle for a couple of red flowers centred with a gold brad with some green branches (MS punch) that I put in the top corner. Finished off with a big red Christmassy bow.
That's all for today, thanks for visiting!! :)

Featured Stamper - Annascreations!

I am loving the Featured Stamper challenge each week. This week the honour goes to Annascreations who has an awesome gallery!!
I chose this card to case. I changed the colours, embellishments, sentiment, added some paper, took away a layer and made the butterfly panel a circle instead of a square.
I started with a base of blue/aqua card, matted with sage green and topped with Very Vanilla that had been embossed with 'Swiss Dots' embossing folder through the cuttlebug. The middle panel is some paper by DCWV, matted with the blue/aqua and then again with the sage green. I used the 'Daisy Chain' border punch by fiskars for the edges and then put silver circle brads on the sides. The sentiment is from 'All Year Cheer 1' (now retired), stamped in Sage Shadow on Very Vanilla, matted with the blue/aqua card, punched out with circle punches and placed under the floral panel. The centre panel is Very Vanilla cut with circle nestabilities (3rd circle) and matted with the blue/aqua card that was punched out with a 2in circle punch (also fiskars) and popped the panel up with foam tape. The butterfly is from SU's 'Touch of Nature' which is still available in the Australian Catalogue, stamped in Sage Shadow, cut out and popped up with foam tape.
This one is heading out to a special person needing cheering up. That's all for today, thanks for visiting!! :)

Another Teacher Thank You...

What do you do when someone calls and desperately asks for a really nice card....oh, and can you have it for me in a couple of hours??? YIKES!!! Well, I turn to other designers for inspiration and that was the case here. I found this most gorgeous card by the incredibly talented Amy Sheffer aka Pickletree . I just love her elegant style and thought it would be perfect for what I needed. I managed to make this in time thank goodness!!

I started with a Close to Cocoa base, matted with a very pale pink bazzill and topped with some Chatterbox DSP. The middle layer uses the same brown and pink and topped with white that I stamped the branch from SU's 'Artfully Asian' set which is still available from the Australian SU catalogue. I stamped the image in Close to Cocoa and coloured with markers. The butterflies were punched out with the Royal Butterfly Martha Stewart Punch (which a kind friend sent me from the USA, since you can't find MS stuff ANYWHERE in Australia.....and believe me, I've looked!) in the DSP and put some little Kaiser pearls down the body. The sentiment is from Pocket Silhouettes (not in Australia yet) and punched out with the Curly Label Punch set (also not in Australia yet). Finished off with some white and brown organdy ribbon and paper pierced the corners (there had to be piercing there somewhere!!! LOL!!!)

That's all for today, thanks for visiting!!! :)

A Teacher Thank You

Here in Australia it is the end of the school year and my son is finishing grade one! How the year has flown. I was asked by the Mums if I would make a card on behalf of the class to give to the teacher.
I started with a pink bazzill base, matted with white (with piercing of course!), matted again with some deep green bazzill and then topped with some striped paper by Clover. Then I put some pink through the cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots embossing folder and matted it with white (with more piercing), placing some green gingham that I found at Bee Crafty in Maryborough (QLD) across the bottom. The sentiment is from the now retired set, 'Short and Sweet' and punched out with oval punches by SU.
The main image is from 'Bloomin' with Beauty' (or Bloomin' Beautiful in the US), stamped in stazon and coloured with markers and then cut out with circle Nestabilities, piercing the scallops with a paper piercer. The corners are made using the 'Vintage' die set by Provocraft and run through the cuttlebug and embellished with white pearls.
I hope they are happy with the finished product!!! That's all for today, thanks for visiting. :)

Another Featured Stamper and a Birthday...

I needed to make my cousin a birthday card for her 40th! Now she's not normally into the 'girly' types of cards so I thought I'd pull out the super cute 'Smells Like Cake' swanky set by The Cats Pajamas , then I thought I combine it with another Featured Stamper challenge over at SCS .

I chose this card by Flowergal36 to case. Changed the background from embossed to stamped, changed the image and sentiment and changed the colours.

I started with a blue bazzill base, matted with a dark pink/red bazzill and matted again with an apricot/yellow bazill. Then I put a white layer on the top stamped with the streamers from the TCP set in stazon and coloured them with markers (Brocade Blue, Rose Red, Apricot Appeal, Old Olive from SU these are still available singularly in Australia until Dec 14th! I really loved the way my 'DP' turned out!! The main image was stamped in black versacolour and clear embossed for a shiny finish and coloured in the same markers, adding Creamy Caramel for the cake base and a soft grey tombow pen for the surrounding shadow. The sentiment comes from the same set, stamped in black and cut out with my circle nestabilities and popped up at the corner. Finished off with some cute blue spotted grosgrain. I think this will appeal to her sense of humour!!!

That's all for today - I've come down with a bad headcold so I might go and lie down. Thanks so much for visiting!! :)

Can you believe it????

I actually won second place for this card that I posted on my blog last week!!! WOOHOO!!! I was the second person drawn out of the hat and win a prize pack worth $25 which should be sent out this week! Many thanks to Bec from Bizzy Becs !!!! What a fabulous way to start the week!!! :)

Featured Stamper - Flowergal36!

Sunday means it's Featured Stamper challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers and this week it is Flowergal36 who has the most amazing gallery!!! You should stop by and have a look if you haven't seen it already! I have chosen this card by her to case.
I've change the image, one colour (used red instead of sage), added paper and a sentiment and embossed instead of stamped the vertical panel.
I started off with a Chocolate Chip base card, matted with Very Vanilla (pierced of course! :) ) and then matted again in red and topped with some yummy Wassail paper by Basic Grey. The red bazzill vertical panel was embossed with the Christmas Ornaments embossing folder and then matted with Chocolate Chip and knotted some ivory satin ribbon around it like Flowergal36. The other panel was stamped using The Cats Pajamas reindeer (which is think is gone now, but you should check out their stunning new release, either the clear Elegant Christmas or the rubber reindeers Big Reindeer and Small Reindeer which I just love....will have to save my pennies I think! ) in Close to Cocoa. Then for the first time EVER I actually sponged the edges! Not normally the sort of thing I do, but I have to say.....I kinda like it! I sponged in Creamy Caramel and then Close to Cocoa and then added some ivory pearls to the flourishes in the horns. Then I cut out the scalloped panel with my nestabilities in chocolate chip to mat it on and popped it up. I decided to add a subtle sentiment by Lizzie Anne Designs in Close to Cocoa in the bottom corner to finish it off.
That's all for today, thanks for visiting! :)

Another Farewell...

Our school principal (and member of our church) is leaving after many years to take up a position overseeing schools. He has laid a wonderful foundation for our school and he and his wife (who is also a teacher there) will be greatly missed.
I was approached by Admin if I could cover a book that will be used for parents and friends to write their farewell's in.
I began with a basic A5 sized Spirax book that I got from ABSA and covered it with some Always Artichoke striped paper from the 'Holiday Harmony' DSP set that will retire on Monday (I think I should order some more before then!!). The I cut a piece of Chocolate Chip Card, matted it with Always Artichoke and then topped with Very Vanilla. I then stamped the large flourish from 'Baroque Motifs' (SU) in Always Artichoke (stamped off once) in the centre. The sentiment was made with my much loved, Just Rite Stampers, found at The Little Online Card Shop using the Small Letter set for the border (in Chocolate Chip) and Special Occasions Font for the centre (in Always Artichoke). Cut the scallop circle and large circle with nestabilites, the inner circle with a 1 1/4in punch and popped the centre with pop dots. Finished off by adding some chocolate coloured satin ribbon to the corners, making one into a flat bow and topping with a cream pearl from Kaiser.
I sure hope they like it! That's all for today, thanks for visiting! :)

A Guava Birthday...

Today's card was made fairly quickly as I needed to make some birthday cards in a hurry.
I started with some bazzill that was a really close match to Groovy Guava that I found in my scrap box. Then I found some green that was very similar to Always Artichoke and then topped it with some pale yellow/cream coloured card that matched in well with the Heidi Grace 'Orchard' stripe paper that I was using. The main image is from 'Bloomin' with Beauty' (or Bloomin' Beautiful for the USA) - I really love these flowers! - coloured it with my Groovy Guava and Always Artichoke stamp pads and a blender, pierced the border and matted on the same green and guava cardstock. For Australians, 'Bloomin' with Beauty is only available from Stampin Up! until the end of November. The sentiment panel is from Just Rite . I've used the birthday sentiment from their '10 Designer Centers and Borders' which I found at The Little Online Card Shop that I stamped in Groovy Guava and cut it and the scalloped border with circle nestabilities. Finished off the card with some green gingham ribbon and some silver brads.
That's all for today, thanks for visiting!! :)

Featured Stamper - Ebethneu

This week the Featured Stamper at SCS is Ebethneu who has a huge gallery of great ideas to wander through. Congratulations Elizebeth! I have chosen her Stay Goldencard to case. As per the rules, I've changed the colours, paper, sentiment and embellishments. I didn't have the exact stamp, but used something similar.
I started with a Very Vanilla card base, matted with Chocolate Chip (pierced edges), Close to Cocoa and Creamy Caramel and then a layer of paper from the "Outlaw" DSP (which is still available in Australia's main catalogue). Along the bottom is a strip of Creamy Caramel card that I've punched with my Threading Water Punch (Fiskars), knotted some ribbon and pierced the bottom. The corners are from the 'Vintage' die set and used with the cuttlebug and I've added a cream pearl in each corner. The main image is from 'Pocket Silhouettes' (sorry not available in Australia yet) and stamped in Creamy Caramel and Chocolate Chip on Very Vanilla and pierced the top edges and matted on Creamy Caramel and a Chocolate Chip scalloped layer using rectangle nestabilities. The sentiment is from 'Short and Sweet' (retired), stamped in Chocolate Chip on VV, matted on Chocolate Chip and punched out with oval punches.
Stamps - Pocket Silhouettes, Short and Sweet
Paper - Outlaw, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel
Accessories - 'Vintage' die set, Threading Water punch, ribbon, cream pearls, rectangle nestabilities, mat pack and piercing tool, sm and lg oval punches.
That's all for today, thanks for visiting!! :)

Competition Entry...

I ordered some things from Bizzy Becs this month which enabled me to play in this month's competition. This month it was a sketch challenge and all entries had to be in by this Friday, 28th November. I decided to use this sketch as a good-bye card for a couple at our church who are moving to a new town.

This card started with a Soft Sky base, matted with Wild Wasabi and Groovy Guava (pierced edges) and then some of this gorgeous new Afternoon Tea paper. The small squares in the corners are Soft Sky matted with some matching paper. The long rectangle panel is Soft Sky matted with Wild Wasabi that has been embossed with the cuttlebug and the Swiss Dots embossing folder and the ribbon around it is also Soft Sky. The main image panel is Groovy Guava, matted with Wild Wasabi and then the white layer has been stamped with the vase of flowers from "Bloomin' with Beauty" and coloured with markers and Groovy Guava (and more piercing!) and popped up. The sentiment panel has been stamped using Just Rite products which can by found at The Little Online Card Shop . The edge came from the '10 Designer Centers and Borders Set' stamped in Groovy Guava and the letters from the 'Small Letter Set' stamped in Black. The scalloped edge and the designer border were cut out using the large circle nestabilites and the centre was punched out with a 1 1/4in circle punch and popped up.

That's all for today, thanks for visiting! :)

Just Rite Set

Well so far we have been spared any further storm activity, here's hoping it stays that way!!

Today's project is a journal and matching card that a friend asked me to make for her sister-in-law's 40th birthday. The request was for "girly, pretty, pink and green", so this is the finished product.

Isn't this pretty paper? In a cheap pack of Clover paper that I found in a discount store. I've used a pink base for the card, matted with white (and pierced the edges with my SU mat pack :) ), then matted with green and then the paper. Then I stamped the single flower from Stampin Up's "Bloomin' with Beauty" (or Bloomin' Beautiful for North Americans) in black and coloured with markers, matting with pink and green (and more piercing!). The sentiment is done with the 1 5/8 Just Rite stamper and the small alphabet around the outside and the '40' is done using the Special Occasions font. The centre has been punched out with a 1 1/4 circle punch and popped on top. The rest were cut out with the circle nestabilites. The card was finished off with kaiser pearls in the corners and some green gingham under the image panel.

The journal followed the same process as the card to make it look like a matching set, although I covered the Spirex book with the paper and used the Spiral Punch from Stampin Up so that the paper goes around the spiral binding. Instead of using the same sentiment panel, I've used a border from Just Rite's '10 Designer Centers and Borders' and the receipient's initials for a traditional monogram.

The Just Rite products are hard to find in Australia at the moment, although you can get them through Andrea at the little online cardshop but you have to be quick, they are selling fast! Secondly the "Bloomin' with Beauty" set from Stampin Up is only available in the current mini catalogue (in Australia) until 30 November.

Thanks for visiting!!! :)

We prayed for rain....

and boy did it come!! For those of you who don't know, most of the state of Queensland has been in severe drought for many years, I live in the captial and our dam supplies got down to 16% at one stage. We have had some rain to boost supplies and then this week it all happened...

Sunday we had a severe electrical storm that caused huge amounts of damage to a suburb barely 30mins away. We thought it was over --- nope Wednesday the mother of all storms came through and dumped up to 200mm of rain in some places (the main dam got 75mm) - our roof leaked but that was all luckily. There was flooding everywhere, roads and rail lines were cut, yet more damage to already affected areas. Surely that was the end of it? Nope, last night down it came again, causing more flooding and destruction in various parts of the city. Thankfully the roof was fixed that afternoon and held, so no leaks, even with the hail that came down. I'm thankful it wasn't the size of the hail that hit Blackwater in central Queensland where it was reported that some were 7 inches across and the size of rockmelons! So today we breathe and say what else will happen. The forecast is for yet more storms tonight and tomorrow and rain next week!!!! Reminds me of a 1921 poem by PJ Hartigan "Said Hanrahan"........"...We'll all be rooned if this rain don't stop." Or perhaps the classic by Dorothea MacKellar written in 1904 My Country ..."Of droughts and flooding rains..." which reminds us that this wild weather has been around for centuries.

Here's hoping that the coming storms not as bad as they think, pray for us, we're probably going to need it!!!

Lunchbox Tin

A friend of mine asked me to make a lunchbox tin for a boy. Now I find boys much harder to make for than girls, but I think it turned out OK.

The tin is by Provocraft and can be found or ordered from most local scrap stores. I've used Stampin Up's Outlaw designer paper (currently available in the Australian Catalogue), choosing two co-ordinating papers, one for the top (including the lid) and the stripe for the bottom. I've used the small and large tag punches for the tag hanging off the handle, one in Chocolate Chip, the other in Very Vanilla. The star is from "Toy Box" that I've stamped in Sage Shadow and popped up, the 'c' is from "Tidy Alphabet" which has been stamped in Close to Cocoa. Both of these sets are now retired. The name on the front has been stamped with Headline Alphabet (now retired) in Close to Cocoa on Very Vanilla, cut out and popped with pop dots.

Stamps - Headline Alphabet, Tidy Alphabet, Toy Box

Paper - Outlaw Designer Paper

Ink - Close to Cocoa, Sage Shadow

Accessories - Twine, Chocolate grosgrain ribbon, pop dots.

Thanks for visiting! :)

A Card for My Grandma

My Grandma's 87th birthday is this week-end - we've always been very close so I had to make something pretty for her. Unlike most people I know she's not into pinks, purples or blues.... instead she prefers 'Autumn Tones', which is always difficult for me.

I decided to use this pretty vase of flowers from Stampin Up's 'Bloomin' with Beauty' (or Bloomin' Beautiful if you are in the US/Canada - if you are in Australia you have until November 30th to get this set!), colouring it with Groovy Guava, Always Artichoke and Close to Cocoa. I've used the Circle Nestabilites by Spellbinders to cut out the circles and added a pewter spiral clip knotted with Groovy Guava ribbon. The base card is Always Artichoke, matted with Groovy Guava which I then put through the Cuttlebug with the 'Birds and Swirls' Embossing Folder. The stripe paper is from Heidi Grace "Orchard" range and I finished off with some pewter brads in the corners and the sentiment from 'Elegant Cheer' (sorry this isn't available in Australia yet --- I'm very lucky to have some friends in the US!). I think it turned out OK, I'm not sure if it is really 'Autumn Tones' but I hope Grandma likes it anyway!

Thanks for visiting!! :)

Featured Stamper - Kendra

This week's Featured Stamper over at SCS is Kendra. I chose this card to case from her huge gallery!
I've change the embellishments and sentiment and moved the sentiment panel and also changed the colours.
The base card is pale pink bazzill, matted with white (and pierced the edges) and matted with green. Then I've placed a layer of Clover paper over the top and tied some pink gingham ribbon around it. I've used my mega rectangle nestabilities dies to cut the scallop layer (and pierced the scallops) then used the Swiss Dots embossing folder for the white layer. The flower is from the "Live Your Dream" from Stampin Up! - it has been stamped using orchid and sage versacolor cubes and cut out and glued on top. The centres are Kaiser pearls and smaller ones have been put in the corners. Finished off by stamping the sentiment from "Short and Sweet" (now retired SU), punched out with the small and large oval punches (added some more piercing.....yeah I know, I couldn't help myself :) ) and popped it up with foam squares.
That's all for now, thanks for visiting! :)

Featured Stamper Challenge

This card was made for the Splitcoaststampers Featured Stamper Challenge. This week the featured stamper was Wendybell, you can find details here . I started with a black Bazzill card, matted with River Rock from Stampin Up and White. The white layer has paper piercing around it, done with my Mat Pack (Stampin Up). The paper is River Rock stripe, found in the Holiday Harmony Paper pack (now available until Nov.30 from Stampin Up), and added some white Francheville brads in the corners. The main panel has been cut out with my Rectangle Nestabilities (Aussies can find these at Bizzy Becs ). The main image is from the Upsy Daisy set from Stampin Up (sorry, this isn't available in Australia yet), stamped in black. The sentiment is from Short and Sweet and punched out with the small and large oval punches (all SU). Finished off with a silver spiral clip and knotted River Rock ribbon.

Black and White Christmas

Christmas is coming and lately I've become very fond of Black and White Christmas cards. This one was done with a sketch from Verve Stamps . It starts with a black bazzill card base, matted with white. Then the small black layer to the top left is stamped in Versamark and embossed in white, using 'Snow Swirled' by Stampin Up. The white layer to the right is matted with black and the same image is stamped in black and clear embossed. The sentiment is stamped in black from the same set. The scallop border is done using the Threading Water Punch from Fiskars. The main image is done using two sets from Verve Stamps .... Artful Elegance and Fairy Tales . The flourishes outline and hanger are stamped in black onto the white layer - the circle is stamped in Versamark and white embossed, punched out and popped up for a bit of dimension.

It all begins somewhere...

Well, I've finally done it --- I've leapt off and joined the Blog world. Can't guarantee how it will go, but I'm sure it will be an interesting ride!! :)