A Simple Get Well...

Several days ago I started making this card only to find that the standard sized card was going to be WAY too small. So today I decided I should use the left over bits and make another card.

Once again the base is Not Quite Navy, layer with a piece of Very Vanilla embossed with 'Textile' embossing folder. The rectangle panel is some 'Bella Bleu' paper matted with NQN and tied some ivory grosgrain ribbon around it. The main panel is a piece of VV that has been cut using the Label 4 dies (Spellbinders). I embossed the edge and then ran my NQN marker around it (in hindsight, probably not the best thing to do since it seems a little uneven) and grabbed my new 'Thoughts and Prayers' stamp set. The tree has been stamped in Old Olive and the sentiment in NQN. I've become very fond of Very Vanilla, Not Quite Navy and Old Olive together!! I finished off by adding a couple of 'Blush' pearls to the corners.

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

Hot Pink and Super Fast!!!

Ever have one of those cards that has to be made super fast --- this is one of mine! A friend asked me for a card, but it wasn't needed until next week (excellent......you know I've been busy enjoying this week after all!!!) - until I get a phone call asking if I could make it that day.....to post in 2 hours!!! YIKES!!! All I knew was that it was for a 50th birthday for someone called Helen who loved Hot Pink, Black and White!

The first thing I had to do was find some hot pink and scored when I found this fab damask pink and black paper lurking in my paper box. I have no idea where I found it, but it's by 'Glitz' and called 'Hot Mama Brocade'. I set to work --- I had 1 1/2 hrs! I started with a base of white, layered with black, pink and the brocade paper. I love Just Rite Stampers for this sort of thing, it personalises and can become the focal point of a card. I used the Small Letter Set to create the outer sentiment and the Special Occasions Font for the '50'. It was cut out with my circle nestabilities (the 50 was punched with a 1 1/4in punch and popped up). I used the next size up to cut a pink layer that I embossed with 'Textile' EF. Finally I mounted it all on the black layer that has been cut using the Label 3 nestabilities. Add a wide sheer ribbon and lots of pink bling on the centre piece and corners and hey presto, one super fast card!!! I got the card to her just in time.....and she said it would be perfect for her hot pink loving friend! Whew!!

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

What a week!!!

Well, what an amazing couple of days it has been!! To date there have been 103 cards made casing (Copying And Sharing with Everyone) the cards in my SCS gallery! I feel so honoured and yet humbled by the amount of congratulations, love and support shown by my cyber friends. THANK-YOU so much!!! :)

I have been soooooo busy commenting on cards I really haven't had time to make any, so I'm going to post one I made a while ago. This was made for a young girl in our church who won the Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford, England! We are so proud of her!!! The request was, could I make something that had multiple pages for everyone to sign in? Hmmmmm......after thinking for a while I decided on this idea where the smaller pink square panel is actually like a book with the pages held with some silver cord and tied closed with some ribbon. The second picture shows it open.

It's been a while since I made this so the details are not going to be as good as they normally are -

Paper - 2 shades pink bazzill, green bazzill, Chatterbox DSP
Stamps - Live your Dream (SU)
Ink - Pink, green and brown versacolor
Other - silver cord, pink gingham ribbon and white pearls.

Once again thank-you everyone and welcome to my new followers and subscribers!!!
That's all for now, thanks for visiting!!! :)

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!!

As regular readers of this blog would know, Sunday is Featured Stamper Challenge day over at Splitcoaststampers (SCS). Today, to my complete surprise its....... ME !!!!!!!! What an honour it is to be chosen and I can't wait to see what everyone does!!!! If you join in and upload to SCS, remember to put FS116 in the keywords so I can find it. If you upload to your blog instead, come here and leave a link on this post so I can check out your creations!!!!

Many thanks to my friends who have already left their congratulations at SCS on the thread, PM or via email!!!!! You just make my day even better!!!!! :)

Featured Stamper - Jaymerz!!!

Finally!!!! On Monday I received the most awesome RAK from my friend Pam (aka Pam124) and I've had such a bad week (see the post below) that it's taken until now (Friday night for me) to actually have the chance to play with them!!! I've also decided to take the opportunity to join in this week's Featured Stamper Challenge. The honour this week goes to Jaymerz . I've decided to case This Card and changed the colours, paper, image, left off the ribbon and added some pearls.......26 pearls in fact!!! :-)
I started with a base of Very Vanilla, layered with Not Quite Navy (pierced the edge) and more VV, this one embossed with Swiss Dots. The rectangle layer is some 'Bella Bleu' DSP by SU, matted with NQN. The circular layer has been stamped using SU's 'Thoughts and Prayers' in NQN and Old Olive markers on VV card. I've cut it out using the largest Circle nestabilities and pierced each scallop and popped it up with foam tape. I've finished off by adding some Chino pearls to the corners and each flower centre. (Told you I was missing my pearls!! LOL!!) A big thank-you goes to Pam for the 'Thoughts and Prayers' stamp set and the devine 'Bella Bleu' paper!!! You're the BESTEST Pam!!! ;)
That's all for now, thanks for visiting!!! :)

WSC77 Another Man Card...

*SIGH* Yes, it's yet ANOTHER man card!! I am seriously going into pearl withdrawal!! This card is for my Father-in-law whose birthday is next week and I think this is the last masculine card I need to make for a little while!!!
This time I've use this week's Weekend Sketch Challenge - I am very late and missed out on having it done in time for the prize, but it's been a rough week.
Once again, being a masculine card I've gone with earthy colours, starting with a base of cream, layering with Chocolate Chip, some green bazzill and some striped Kaisercraft paper from their 'Cafe Culture' range. The image is from SU's 'For Father' set, coloured with markers and a blender pen and sponged the edges with some Close to Cocoa, matting it with green and Chocolate Chip. The sentiment is from SU's 'Short and Sweet', stamped in Always Artichoke and matted on more Chocolate Chip. Finished off by adding some copper brads to the corners.
Many thanks to all those who have been concerned for my son. It turns out he had quickly developed a lung infection which was triggering the asthma. He has been on anti-biotics, a steroid to strengthen the lung and a preventer for the asthma. Thankfully he is now off the steroid and the doctor is very happy with his progress. We had further drama on Tuesday night where the same son had a bit of an accident (I won't go into details) which required us to be in the ER at the hospital for most of the night! He has since recovered from this as well. Needless to say I have been very tired and busy with family this week. I hope to be back creating more regularly!!! It has been exciting to see so many new people lately, I appreciate you visiting and especially those who leave such lovely encouraging comments!!! :)
That's all for today, thanks for visiting!!! :)

Masculine 40th Birthday

I have just received a whole lot of exciting things in the mail over the last couple of days and sadly have not had time to play with them. School went back this week after the Easter break and my 3yr old son is struggling with asthma. Last night he had a bad attack that nearly had us going to the hospital. Today we are seeing the doctor to have him checked.
I made this card the other day as a friend needed a 40th birthday card for her male friend. I decided (being a male card) to go with a fairly basic design.
I started with a base of Always Artichoke, layered with Very Vanilla (pierced of course!), and again with some Close to Cocoa. Then I took a piece of Le Jardin paper (retired) and cut it in half and used each side, putting some yummy Close to Cocoa satin ribbon (retired) over the join. The main panel is VV matted with C to C and pierced. The 'FORTY' has been stamped in AA with the retired Headline Alphabet, cut out and popped up on foam squares. The sentiment below was made using the Just Rite Brayton Font and the rectangular stamper. Finished off by adding some copper brads to the corners.
That's all for today, thanks for visiting!!! :)

Verve Release Challenge Number 4

Ever have one of those days when you know what you want to try and do, but things just don't come together?? I had one of those days! Honestly I very nearly threw this card in the bin and started over! However, I need to get the final card in for the Verve Release Challenge so I persevered, although I don't know if I'm entirely happy with it.
The challenge is to create a card using soft yellow, soft blue and brown.....I decided to use this week's Mojo Monday sketch as well.
I started with a base of So Saffron, layered with some Fawn Bazzill (edge pierced and bottom punched with the Fiskars 'Lace' punch) and layered again with Paper Salon Enamored:fleur de lis paper (bottom punched). At the bottom I've added some blue satin ribbon, layered yellow and blue flowers and used the Martha Stewart 'Branch' punch for some foliage and a blue rhinestone for the centre. The main panel has been stamped using Verve's 'Beautiful You' set, inked in Cocoa versacolour, cut out and embossed with square nestabilities and layered on some SS (edge pierced). The bottom square is more SS with the edges pierced and the whole panel has been popped up on foam tape. Finished off by adding a couple of clear dew drops that arrived in the mail today from ODBD (I was SO excited!! You have no idea how hard these are to find in Australia!!).
The other interesting thing today is that I had a request via SCS (*waving to Jill*) to add a 'Subscribe by email' function to the blog - after a lot of looking around and checking things out I finally added one, so if you want to get updates in your inbox you can!
Well that's all for today - wish me luck in the Verve Challenges, maybe I'll get lucky this time!!! :) Thanks for visiting!!! :)

VSAPR2 Celebrate With Cupcakes!

Another card for the Verve Release Challenge!! I swear this card started as fairly simple and it grew and grew and got a life of it's own!! I hope I haven't over done it!!!
I started with a base of white, layered with a deep dusty pink bazzill that was lurking in my cardstock box and then layered again with a very pale pink bazzill. The two horizontal layers are made of Basic Grey's Urban Prairie paper, matted with white and then the dark pink, with corners from provocraft's 'Vintage' die set and a small chocolate pearl (Kaisercraft). The middle panel is made up of the Label 3 and circle nestabilities dies from Spellbinders. The largest layers has a little bit of piercing in each corner, the pale layer has a circle of piercing. The circle panel has been embossed with the 'Devine Swirl' embossing folder. Finally popped up in the middle is the yummy cupcake by Verve that has been coloured with markers and a fine layer of kindyglitz (like stickles but not so thick) over the icing (frosting). The top flower has been popped again and it's finished off with some large chocolate pearls in the middle.
That's all for today, thanks for visiting!!!! :)

Verve Release Challenge Number 1

My niece Kaia (pronounced Ky-ah) is turning 1 year old next week, so I decided to use another of the Verve Release Party Challenges to make a card for her. This little girl was premature and had a bit of a rough start to life, but is now doing very well......thank God!!
I started with a light green base, matted with white (pierced of course!!) and then matted with pink that has been embossed with 'Swiss Dots' embossing folder. The large rectangle panel is a piece of Urban Prairie paper by Basic Grey, matted with white and green. The princess is from Lizzie Anne Designs, has been stamped in black and coloured with markers and cut out. It was then stuck onto a Label 4 die cut that had been cut out of white, embossed the edge and sponged some pink onto it while still in the die so that it has a pink background and white edge. The horizontal slot punch was used on the side to add some ribbon and a clear rhinestone. Finally the circle has been stamped from Verve's 'Fairy Tales' set in green and cut out. The '1' has been stamped using the Just Rite Special Occasions Font and the whole circle has been popped up on foam tape.
That's two challenges down and two to go!! :) Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!! :)

Verve Release Challenge Number 3

Today's card is for the Verse Stamps April Release Challenge (VSAPR3) and the details can be found on SCS here . This card is going to a friend of mine having her birthday on Sunday. :)
I started with a white base, layered with some blue bazzill and layered again with one of my favourite papers by Little Yellow Bicycle (Delightful range). The horizontal layer is the reverse side of the same paper matted with the same blue bazzill and the edge punched with the Fiskars 'Lace' punch (that I got at ABSA). The square panel has been cut using rectangle nestabilities, the smallest square has been stamped using SU's Pocket Silhouettes in Tempting Turquoise (stamped off once), added a butterfly punched out with the Martha Stewart Royal Butterfly punch and some pearls for the body. (I really liked the look of this on my last card and decided to do it again for this card.) Finished off by adding some white grosgrain to the square, silver brads to the corner and a simple birthday sentiment to the bottom.
I just realised that this card is also suitable for the Flutter by Wednesday Challenge to use a butterfly or fairy and punches or die cuts!!! :)
That's all for now, thanks for visiting!! :)

Featured Stamper - **INGE**

It's time for the Featured Stamper Challenge over at SCS!! This week the honour goes to **INGE**! Congrats Inge!! I've chosen THIS CARD to case.
I started with a base of Very Vanilla, layered with some pink Bazzill (pierced of course! :) ) and layered again with this yummy 'Bittersweet' Basic Grey paper. Then (shock, horror!!) I actually got out the sewing machine and zig zag stitched around the edge!! I added some of my favourite corner embellishments (Provocraft 'Vintage' dies) and the sentiment (from SU's Occassional Greetings, or All Holidays if in North America). I found the idea for this stunning Filigree Medallion at Becca Feeken's Blog - she has the most amazing ideas for punches and dies and her card designs are stunning! I used the 'Floral Accent' die set by Spellbinders to cut out each piece and then glued them together to make the medallion, then I added some 'Blush' pearls by Kaiser craft. The panel it sits on is the Label 4 die set - I cut the largest one out and then cut the middle with the next size down. Underneath that is some vellum so the paper shows through. I finished off by adding some ribbon to each side.
Once again for the Aussies, the Bazzill, Spellbinders Dies and Provocraft cuttlebug dies are available through my friends at ABSA - click on 'craft' on the left hand side. They are slowly updating their website, so if you can't find what you are looking for contact them via phone, fax or email and they'll be more than willing to help.
I know I made this all sound easy, but honestly this card took FOREVER and nearly drove me insane trying different things. I'm sending this card to my Mum for Mother's Day, as another cardmaker, I know she'll appreciate it!! :)
That's all for today, thanks for visiting!! :)

SFYTT Butterfly 40th

I am so, so late doing this week's SFYTT challenge - so late the next one is almost due to be posted. I really wanted to do this a bit earlier but with school holidays and Easter, time really got away from me this week. This one is for a good friend of mine having her 40th Birthday this week! :)
I started this card with a Very Vanilla base, layered with some teal cardstock I found somewhere (world win papers) that was pierced and layered again with this pretty paper by DCWV (Nana's Nursery - Boy). The rectangle layer is from the same paper pack, matted with more teal and punched the edge using the Fiskars 'Lace' Border Punch and tied with some ivory satin ribbon around it. The small squares are VV, matted with more teal and stamped using SU's 'Pocket Silhouettes' in Versacolor - Celadon. The butterflies have been punched using Martha Stewart's Royal Butterfly punch (you still can't buy MS anywhere in Australia :( ) and embellished with some Kaisercraft 'Blush' pearls. Finally the main panel has been cut using the new Label 3 dies by Spellbinders - I pierced the curves and put some pearls in the corners and popped it up. Then I used the Circle Nestabilities to cut the floral circle. The sentiment has been made using the Just Rite Stampers - Small Letter Set and Special Occasions Font. I love that the Just Rite Stampers co-ordinate perfectly with the circle Nestabilities!!! I did punch out the '40' using a 1 1/4in punch so that it didn't obscure part of the sentiment and popped it up.
For the Aussies - the Spellbinders, Just Rite and Fiskars products are all available through my friends at ABSA , if you can't see what you are looking for contact them and they'll be more than willing to help!!
I guess that's all for me today. I wish you all a very blessed and happy Easter!!! Thanks for stopping by!! :)

A Pink Confirmation

I can't believe I've gone so long without making anything!! Today I got some new toys to play with, so what better to get that sluggish mojo going!! :)

Today's card started with a pink Bazzill base, layered with white (pierced of course!! :) ) and then layered with this cute paper by Pebbles Inc. The main panel has been cute using my BRAND NEW Label 4 die set by Spellbinders!!! I have been waiting for these for ages!! I used the largest die to cut a piece of pink and also a piece of white. The white was then cut again using the next size down to make it into a frame and embossed the edge. The edge was popped on foam tape and embellished with white Kaiser pearls. The cross is by Rubber Stampede and was stamped three times in Versamark on white and heat embossed with silver embossing powder. Then I cut them out in layers and popped them up. The sentiment was stamped using the Rectangular Stamper, Small Letter Set and Special Occasions Font by Just Rite, cut out with the Ribbon Tags Trio (by Spellbinders) and attached using some pink satin ribbon.

For my fellow Aussies, all the Spellbinders, Bazzill and Just Rite products are available through my friends at ABSA .

I have to say it was great to get back into the craft room and create again!!! That's all for today, thanks for visiting!!! :)

An Award!!!!

Today I had the honour of being selected for an award on Chris' Blog . What an awesome surprise!!! Chris is so talented and her generous, uplifting comments know no bounds! Thank-you so very much Chris!!!! I know I've been out of action for a few days (thanks to those who've been asking about me) - I've had a big week-end, you know the kind that remind you that you aren't as young as you used to be!!!! On top of that school holidays have started for Easter, so kids are home. I really need to kick my mojo into gear and get creating again!!!!

If I had to pick 10 of my favourite blogs to award it would be really hard, but I will do my best (I would name you Chris, but that would seem a bit weird don't you think??!! LOL!!)

Amy is one of the most talented people I've ever seen and I am constantly inspired by her amazing creativity!!!

Angella who I only discovered fairly recently who has the most awesome flair and has such a kind, generous heart!

Laurie who probably doesn't even know who I am. She was one of the first designers I discovered when I started out and have been following her blog ever since.

Julee who is so talented and has an amazing following.

Holly who not only is so creative, has the greatest sense of humour!!

Sita who has such flair and all her designs are so classy!

Becca who does the most extraordinary things with Spellbinders products (and you all know how much I love Spellbinders).

Denise I love her clean, simple and fun style!

Michelle who is simply amazing!!! I love her style, her fun personality and she gives me such encouragement.

Edna my BFF!!! We've known each other almost 20yrs and it's her fault (I mean because of her) I started cardmaking in the first place. Her friendship and creativity never cease to encourage and inspire me!!!

There are so many people who constantly inspired me, I'm sorry I can't name you all!!! Please visit all these amazing, creative ladies and leave a comment - you'll make their day, just as you always make mine!!!

{HUGS}

SC222 - Brother Birthday

It's the dreaded MAN CARD!!! Am I the only one that struggles with cards for men? I've decided to use this week's Sketch Challenge over at SCS to make a birthday card for my brother who is a very handyman/earthy kind of guy!
I started with a base of brown bazzill, topped with some Very Vanilla (pierced of course!) and then some dark green bazzill that I embossed with 'Distressed Stripes' embossing folder. Across the bottom I've added some paper by Heidi Grace, stamped the sentiment from SU's 'Occasional Greetings' (All Holidays) and then put copper brads in each corner. The main image is from SU's 'For Father' that I stamped in black on white card and coloured with markers and a blender using the same green and brown tones and then the edges were sponged with Creamy Caramel and Close to Cocoa. It was then layered on some green and brown bazzill, punched the side and added some ribbon and more brads.
That's all for today, thanks for visiting!!! :)

A Sage Wedding

Today I had to make a wedding card. The colours for this special occasion were white and a green that was VERY close to Sage Shadow I went digging to see what I could come up with.
The base is some gorgeous Bazzill from their 'Wedding' collection - it has a soft sheen like satin and has a very soft stripe through it. Then I topped it with some silver card. I used some foam tape to pop the whole square layer on top of that - a layer of Sage Shadow and some more Bazzill from the 'Wedding' collection - this time it still has that soft sheen, but it is covered in embossed butterflies!! Around this layer I've added some 1 inch white grosgrain ribbon, some sage satin ribbon and then this gorgeous sage and white rose braid that matched perfectly!! Then I tied some white organza ribbon into a bow and added some silver cord and a white rose bud. The main panel I stamped using the Just Rite Stampers - the Brayton Font and the Rectangular Block - in black ink. The '&' is from SU's 'Together Forever' set and stamped in Sage Shadow. (Thanks HEAPS to my BFF Edna who let me borrow her set!) It was cut out using the Label 1 Nestabilities dies and then it was glued to some Sage Shadow card and I hand cut a fine edge around it. Finished off by adding some white Kaisercraft Pearls to the corner!
If you are in Australia - the Nestabilities, Just Rite Stampers and Bazzill cardstock are all available through my friends at ABSA .
That's all for today, thanks for visiting!!! :)