Opening Door...

Here's another card made using the new 'Ask, Seek, Knock' by Our Daily Bread Designs!!! This fabulous new set and 'Quiet Waters' are being released on 1 June!!

Believe it or not, this card was orginially going to be blue and grey!!! Yeah, I know.....it's yellow!!! :) In the end I started with a base of More Mustard layered with white, Not Quite Navy and paper by Graphic 45. I stamped the verse in three parts, highlighting the Ask, Seek, Knock in NQN and cutting them out with square nestabilities and matting them with a long strip of NQN. The door was stamped in black stazon on watercolour paper and coloured with markers and I added a silver cross charm to the door. I cut the door line and popped it up on foam tape so it looks like it is opening for you. The panel was cut out with

rectangle nestabilities and matting on the scallop nesties. Finished off by adding some mustard butterflies with chocolate pearl bodies and a few chocolate pearls to the bottom!!

Stamps - Ask, Seek, Knock (ODBD)

Paper - More Mustard, Not Quite Navy, Graphic 45

Ink - Black, Not Quite Navy

Accessories - Martha Steward Butterfly punch, chocolate pearls (Kaisercraft), markers, pop dots, scalpal, square and rectangle nestabilities, silver cross charm

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

EDITED TO ADD --- I've had a few questions about the door on this card. To be honest the stamp does all the work, I simply used a marker (I think it was Close to Cocoa) and blender pen to colour the door and the bricks (Creamy Caramel) and then carefully with a scalpel cut from the top hinge to the bottom of the door and then used some pop dots under the open side as shown. The hinges, handle and knocker has been coloured with a gold gel pen and then I simply glued a silver cross charm to the front just under the knocker. I hope this helps!! :)

Thanks for the RAKS!!!!

Today I'd like to stop and thank a whole lot of people for blessing me with the most awesome RAKS (Random Act of Kindness)!!!!!

This first one is from my Bestie of almost 20yrs -Edna15!!!!

She made this especially to congratulate and celebrate the start of my time on the Our Daily Bread Designs Design Team as a Guest Designer!!! Isn't it AWESOME!!!!

This next RAK comes from Pam (aka Pam124 on Splitcoast). Check out this amazing bundle of goodies!!!! All that RIBBON, flowers, silver pearls (you know I love my pearls!!!), buttons (especially those awesome vintage/pearly ones), dew drops and that beautiful CARD!!!! Thanks Pam you know that your the BESTEST!!!!!!

The next RAK comes from Heather (aka Isaiah40:31 on Splitcoast). She went to so much effort during my Featured Stamper week to make a card using a Wattle image (my user name on Splitcoast and also the National Floral Emblem of Australia) --- and then she sent it to me along with some Top Note Die cuts using the gorgeous Parisian Breeze paper (SU) that isn't available in Australia yet!!!!

And last but definitely not least, this stunning card from Cindy (aka Mothermark on SCS) who also made a card for my Featured Stamper week --- highlighting my user name!!!! How wild is this with the fab colours and all the dimension....and of course a few DOTS!!! :)

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

Mojo88 Ask, Seek, Knock...

Here's another sneak peek at the soon to be released 'Ask, Seek, Knock' stamp set from Our Daily Bread Designs!! This fabulous stamp set will be available from 1 June!!!

I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch for this card and some of my favourite colours and papers!!

I started with a Not Quite Navy base, layered with Very Vanilla (pierced) and some Bella Bleu paper. The horizontal layer is NQN punched with 'Lace' edge punch by Fiskars, layered with VV (pierced again) and a piece of this YUMMY blue ric rak ribbon that I found at Bee Crafty in Maryborough. The circle panel has been stamped with the Ask, Seek, Knock verse from Our Daily Bread Designs twice. Once in NQN, the other in versamark and embossed with gold. The gold words were then cut out and popped up. The whole panel was cut with circle nestabilities and layered on Bella Bleu paper and NQN. I finished off by adding blush pearls (Kaisercraft) to the corners of the main panel, layered vanilla and blue prima flowers, pearl centre and some NQN branches punched with the Martha Stewart Branch punch.

Stamps - Ask, Seek, Knock (ODBD)

Paper - Not Quite Navy, Very Vanilla, Bella Bleu DSP

Ink - Not Quite Navy, Versamark

Accessories - Gold EP, circle nestabilities, 'Lace' punch - Fiskars, 'Branch' punch - Martha Stewart, prima flowers, Blush pearls - Kaisercraft, blue ric rak ribbon, paper piercer and mat pack.

That's all for today, if you want to see more sneak peeks - check out the other design team girls stunning work.....you'll be glad you did!!!! Thanks for visiting!!!! :)

WSC82 Antique Waters...

Here it is.....the first Sneak Peek at the soon to be released 'Quiet Waters' from Our Daily Bread Designs!!!

I was inspired by this week's WSC over at Mary Jo's. After looking at this stamp for a while, it occurred to me that it looks like it could have been an old sepia print found in a frame at an antique store (and I love antiques), so I set about trying the Cracked Glass technique.

I started with a base of Chocolate Chip, layered with Close to Cocoa (pierced) and Basic Grey 'Wisteria' paper (found at ODBD). I wound three strands of twine around the panel and knotted them offset. The image has been stamped in Close to Cocoa on Very Vanilla, cut out with Label 4 nesties and clear embossed several times until a thick layer was over the image, then popped it in the freezer. When cold, took it out and snapped it in a few places and rubbed a little ink into the cracks so they would show up. I glued this to some Chocolate Chip and hand cut a thin mat around it and popped it up on some foam tape. The verse was stamped in Chocolate Chip and Perfect Plum on Very Vanilla. I cut a notch in the end and bent it to give the panel a wave and even sponged and sanded a bit (see Linda - told you I COULD do it!!) and added a brown button to the side to anchor it.

Stamps - Quiet Waters (Our Daily Bread Designs)

Paper - Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla, Basic Grey (Wisteria paper pad)

Ink - Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Perfect Plum

Accessories - Label 4 Nestabilities, twine, brown button, clear embossing powder, heat tool, paper piercer and mat pack

Hope you enjoyed this sneak peek - remember you can see more by visiting the other Design Team girls!!!! Thanks for visiting!!! :)

And the BIG News is......

I can FINALLY tell you that I have been asked to join Our Daily Bread Designs as a Guest Designer along with Grace Nywening. I am so excited to join this group of incredibly talented women! They are such a wonderful, welcoming group!!!! Thank-you so much Kelley for this wonderful honour and to all the girls for making me feel so welcome!!!

The links to Our Daily Bread Designs and all the Design Team members can now be found on the left sidebar, so I hope you pop by often and don't forget to leave them all some love!!! :)

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

FS120 Housewarming

It's Featured Stamper Sunday and I was actually able to play straight away!!! :) Today the honour goes to mkstampin74 (aka Mercy) who has a fabulous gallery!!! I was inspired by her Cuppyland card and it reminded me that I had to make a Housewarming card for our Chaplain and his family. I changed the image, sentiment, colours and paper, but kept the house theme, layout and location of the sentiment.
I started with a base of Old Olive, layered with white (pierced), So Saffron and some Windsor Knot DSP. The strip through the middle is more OO and SS (pierced) and some light blue double stitched grosgrain ribbon. The main image is from the retired SU set 'Right and Home', stamped in black stazon on watercolour paper. (I recently discovered how good watercolour paper is --- I'm definitely using it more when a lot of colouring is required!!!) It was coloured with SU markers and a blender pen for the houses and grass and sponge for the sky, cut out with circle nestabilities and popped up with foam tape. The sentiment is from Stampabilities that my friend Kristina sent me and finished off with corners cut using the CB 'Vintage' die set.
Stamps - Right at Home (ret), Stampabilities
Paper - Old Olive, So Saffron, White, white watercolour paper, Windsor Knot DSP
Ink - Stazon Jet Black
Accessories - SU markers, paper piercer and mat pack, circle nestabilities, 'Vintage' die set, grosgrain ribbon, foam tape
That's all for now ---- I'll be back later with some big news!!! :)

SC229 Thinking of Gardens

Finally the chaos at my place seems to be settling down! Thanks to everyone who have left such kind comments. The roof will be fine for now that the worst is over and it should be repaired in a couple of weeks and cost a few hundred dollars. *SIGH* Oh well, at least it can sustain regular rain!

I think my mojo has been sodden along with my house, so I tried to kick start it with this week's SCS Sketch Challenge . I also decided to use this to join in with this week's Flutterby Wednesday Challenge to use 2 types of patterned paper and a butterfly or fairy. It turned out OK considering I've just realised that one panel is upside down!!!

I started with a Very Vanilla base and layered with Not Quite Navy, Old Olive (pierced) and some Urban Garden DSP. The next panels are more paper from the Urban Garden pack, mounted on VV. The main panel has been stamped using 'Thoughts and Prayers' that my bestest friend Pam sent me. The tree is stamped in Old Olive and the sentiment in NQN on VV card. Then I cut it out using oval nestabilites,pierced the edge and added some cream grosgrain ribbon loops to the sides. Finished off by adding a Baja Breeze butterfly complete with Kasiercraft Latte pearl body and some silver brads to the corners!

Stamps - Thoughts and Prayers (SU)

Paper - Very Vanilla, Not Quite Navy, Old Olive, Baja Breeze,Urban Garden DSP (SU)

Ink - Old Olive, Not Quite Navy

Accessories - MS Butterfly punch, Latte pearls, silver brads, Oval Nestabilities, paper piercer and mat pack, cream grosgrain ribbon

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

SFYTT Haiku Birthday

Hi everyone! I'm sorry this week has been so hit and miss everything went a bit crazy on Wednesday. As the Aussies would know, a massive rain storm hit our city on Wednesday (my son's birthday no less), parts of the city have been declared natural disasters!! We got an incredible amount of rain --- a whole year's worth ended up in the dam in 24hrs!!! Some parts received 500mm in 3 days! Our dramas surrounded our roof --- smack in the middle of our lounge room and over our deck. I've spent so much time emptying buckets and drying towels and then drying carpet it's not funny (especially when you are still suffering from a sprained finger!) We've had a roof person out and thankfully it shouldn't take much to fix!!! To top that off my hubby had corrective eye surgery yesterday - both eyes. They are still a bit tender but his eyesight is now better than 20-20 and he's like a kid a Christmas being able to see so clearly!!!

Enough about all the chaos at my house.....on with the card! This card is inspired by this week's SFYTT Challenge . It was such a fun looking sketch that I decided to get out my brand new Haiku DSP and since I went that far - why not make it Tangerine Tango based??!! Orange is NOT my normal colour, but it seems to work!! :) I used a Tangerine base, layered with So Saffron and the Haiku paper. The main panel is more Tangerine, Saffron and the flip side of the Haiku paper. I punched the bottom of the Tangerine with the SU Scallop Edge Punch and then tied some white grosgrain ribbon around it all. Then I grabbed some orange and yellow flowers and in the centre I've used my 1 5/8th circle Just Rite Stamper and the 10 Designer Centers and Borders to stamp the sentiment. The sentiment has been cut out using circle nestabilities. Then I finished off with some gold swirl clips and gold brads for the the other flower centres. I think it looks like a pretty cheerful birthday card - what do you think?

Stamps - Just Rite (10 Designer Centers and Borders)

Paper - Tangerine Tango, So Saffron, Old Olive, Haiku DSP

Ink - Orange versacolor

Accessories - Flowers (Bag of Blooms - Papercraft), circle nestabilities, gold swirl clips, gold brads, white grosgrain ribbon.

That's all for today, here's hoping the drama settles down and I get the chance to play more often!! Thanks for visiting!! :)

Our Ben is 4yrs!!!

In a few hours we'll be getting up to celebrate our little man's 4th Birthday!! I can't believe he is 4 already!!! Now anyone who reads this blog knows that I use soft colours, pearls and the like for my cards, so this is way out into left field for me.....where's my sunglasses??? :) I thought I'd use this week's Week-end Sketch Challenge as inspiration for his card.

I started with a base of vibrant green, layered with white and mid blue and topped with some Jasart paper. Used the same blue for the vertical strip and embossed with Spots and Dots EF. The white layer has been stamped using the small star from In the Stars by SU and the popped up Rocket is by Sandylion coloured in Ballet Blue and So Saffron. The sentiment panel is made using Just Rite Stampers. I've used the Small Letter Set for the writing around the edge and Times New Roman Font and stamper from the Damask DIY monogram set. Cut them out with circle nestabilities and a 1 1/4in punch for the 'B' (which is popped up) and the pinking nesties for the green layer. Finished off by adding a touch of spotted grosgrain ribbon to the bottom. (Yes I know the sketch says to put it at the top of my rocket panel.....but it just wouldn't go there!!! Do you think they'll mind??)

Stamps - Just Rite DIY Monogram Set - Damask and Small Letter Set, Sandylion

Paper- Green and blue bazzill, white, Jasart DSP

Ink - Black, Royal Blue Versacolor

Accessories - Circle and pinking circle nestabilities, pop dots, markers, 1 1/4in circle punch, spotted grosgrain ribbon, Spots and Dots embossing folder

Thank you so much to everyone who have asked about my finger. Thankfully the swelling has gone down, but it's still a lovely shade of purple and green!! With all the rain we are getting here at the moment softball could well be called off this week, and that would suit me just fine right now!!! Well tomorrow is going to be a big day so I'm going to get some sleep, thanks for visiting!!! :)

SC228 Here for You

I needed to make a card for someone who likes purple and planned to finally get to that over the week-end......however, things haven't gone to plan over the week-end at all!!! I was playing softball and among grazes and bruises, I've managed to sprain the little finger on my right hand. Today it is swollen and absolutely black! :( Still I thought I'd attempt this week's sketch challenge and although one panel is a little crooked I think I managed pretty well.

I started with a Very Vanilla base, topped with Elegant Eggplant (pierced), some pale green bazzill and some Kaisercraft 'Garden Arabesque' paper. I wrapped some chocolate ribbon around it and made a flat bow, topping it with three flowers and a chocolate pearl (also Kaisercraft). The two other paper panels are more of the same range of paper layered with EE. The main panel is VV cut with the Label 4 dies. Both the image and sentiment come from SU's 'Friends 24-7' set. The bird has been stamped in Close to Cocoa, coloured with Creamy Caramel and Mellow Moss and cut and popped up. The sentiment has been stamped in Violet versacolor. Finished off by adding a couple of chocolate pearls to the corners and a tiny one for the bird's eye.

Stamps - Friends 24-7 (SU)

Paper - Kaisercraft (Garden Arabesque), Elegant Eggplant, Very Vanilla, pale green bazzill

Ink - Close to Cocoa, Violet versacolor

Accessories - Label 4 dies, Chocolate Pearls, paper peircer, mat pack, chocolate ribbon, flowers, pop dots

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

Featured Stamper - dbdoodle!!!

I feel very bad that I haven't uploaded for most of the week. It really has just been one of THOSE weeks where things get crazy and time gets away from you. Finally things are sorting themselves out and I had a chance to play today. I was asked if I could make a green 30th Birthday card and I was inspired by this card by dbdoodle who is the Featured Stamper this week.
I started with a base of Very Vanilla, topped with some green bazzill (pierced), more vanilla and some DCWV paper from the Boy Nursery Pack. The corners were done using the 'Vintage' CB die and some more green bazzill and the horiztonal panel is from the same paper pack with the edges punched with Fiskars 'Lazy Days of Summer' punch. The main panel is made using the Spellbinders Label 3 die set, circle nestabilities and a 1 1/4in punch for the popped middle piece. The letters are done using the 1 5/8in Just Rite stamper and the Small Letter Set, the numbers are from the 'Special Occaions' Font set. Finished off with some ivory satin ribbon through the middle and some looped pieces on top, Latte Kaiser pearls in the corners of the Label 3 die and the vintage dies in the corners.
I'm not normally a green kinda girl, but I do like how this turned out.
That's all for today, thanks for visiting!!! :)

SFYTT Sympathy Bella

Sadly today I found that I had to make a Sympathy card as an extended member of my family passed away. Estelle was a true lady in every sense of the word and will be missed very much.

Once again I reached for my new 'Thoughts and Prayers' set along with the Bella Bleu paper from Stampin Up! However this time I've decided to go with the Neutral colours rather than the blues. I've also used this week's SFYTT for the layout.

I started with a base of Very Vanilla and layered with some Kraft (pierced) that I got from my BFF Edna and then a layer of Bella Bleu paper. The larger rectangle is the co-ordinating paper matted with Vanilla (pierced). The main image has been stamped in Creamy Caramel and Mellow Moss on Vanilla (pierced again) and matted with Kraft. The sentiment is from the same set, cut with oval nestabilities and popped on foam tape. Finished off by tying some ivory satin ribbon around it, adding some tiny Latte pearls to each of the flowers and a couple of larger ones to the corners.

Thank you to everyone who has sent messages of support for Herb, the good news is that he is recovering well all things considered!! He will still be in hospital for some time, but he is doing well. Thank you so much for all your prayers, thoughts and good wishes!

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

WSC80 This One's For Herb...

This card has been made using this week's Week-end Sketch Challenge found on Cambria's Blog. It has also been made for Herb and his wife Amelia. Herb is a long time member, the secretary and patriarch of three generations at our church. On Thursday he had surgery for pancreatic cancer. Praise God, the surgery was successful and the doctors are cautiously optimistic. Please keep them in your prayers through the coming weeks as this time will be critical in his recovery. I orginally looked at this verse, but decided to try other things......they all failed, and what do you know this verse was a perfect fit......maybe I was being told something??

I started with a base of Old Olive, topped with Baja Breeze and Very Vanilla and a piece of my brand new Windsor Knot DSP. The square panel is VV topped with three strips of co-ordinating paper from the same pack. The main panel has been stamped using ODBD's Scripture Collection 2 in Close to Cocoa and cut out using circle nestabilites. I finished off by tying some Close to Cocoa satin ribbon (retired) around it. I kept it fairly simple and neutral since it is for a couple --- I hope they like it.

That's all for today and for all the mother's out there Happy Mother's Day!!!! Thanks for visiting!! :)

ODBD Sketch 3 - Everything Beautiful

This card is for the Our Daily Bread Designs sketch challenge. Isn't it a fabulous sketch? I really enjoyed this one and will probably use it again and again. If you want to join in the fun and have the chance to win some prizes, entries have to be in by May 15th.

I started with a dark purple bazzill base and layered with a lighter shade (pierced of course!) and some Very Vanilla (SU). The I topped that with this goregeous new Basic Grey 'Wisteria' paper! I just love this range and it is so nice to see some beautiful purple paper available! The square panel has been embossed using the Floral Screen embossing folder and matted with VV. The smaller rectangular panel is another piece from the Wisteria range, matted with VV and tied with some ivory satin ribbon. The sentiment panel has been stamped using ODBD's Scripture Collection 1 in Violet versacolor on VV card, cut out with Label 4 dies and embossed the edge (not that it showed up very well in this photo). I finished off with a Martha Stewart butterfly with some pearls on the body and in the corner.

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

SC227 - Flowers For MIL

This card is for this week's SCS Sketch Challenge which is good timing because I just realised how close Mother's Day actually is (what....it's May already???) and needed to make a card for my MIL. Is it just me that always seems to make cards at the last minute when they need to be posted??
I decided to dig deep into last year's SU In Colours since she likes them so much. I started with a base of Groovy Guava, topped with white (pierced of course!) and some retired Afternoon Tea DSP. The main panel is made of GG with the edge punched with the Fiskars 'Lazy Days of Summer' punch and the white panel embossed with the cuttlebug EF 'Floral Screen'. The flowers are from SU's 'Live Your Dream' stamped in GG and Old Olive. The sentiment stamp is from 'Occasional Greetings' (or All Holidays if in Northern America) and cut out with the Label 4 dies and I've carefully used my OO marker around the edge. Finished off with some wide white grosgrain and some knotted GG grosgrain and a couple of pearls in the corners and flower centres.
Many thanks to all of you who have asked about the health of my family of late. Although my eldest had to come home early from school today, it's more from exhaustion than anything else and he seems to be so much better.
That's all for today, thanks for visiting!!! :)

Mojo85 - Praying for Comfort

I know it's been a few days since my last post, unfortunately my other son caught a nasty tummy bug and has been very sick. He is recovering now, but the last couple of days haven't been much fun.
I decided to kickstart the mojo with this week's Mojo Monday Challenge , I am always inspired by sketches! I just can't seem to go past my new 'Thoughts and Prayers' set and Bella Bleu paper (SU) that my dear friend Pam sent me!!!
I started with a base of Very Vanilla, layered with Not Quite Navy (pierced - not that you can tell in this pic) and then took a piece of Bella Bleu, cut it in two and flipped one side over. The vanilla piece has been mounted on a piece of VV and punched the edge with the Fiskars 'Lace' border punch. I've then added some ivory satin ribbon around it and some blush pearls to the corners! I've stamped the large panel using 'Thoughts and Prayers' in Old Olive and NQN and matted it with NQN card. The sentiment is from the same set, stamped in NQN, cut using the Label 1 dies and dotted the edge with a NQN marker and popped it up on some foam tape.
This project has certainly kickstarted the mojo and hope that I will have time to play some more soon! That's all for today, thanks for visiting!!! :)

Serenity....

Over a week ago I received my order from Our Daily Bread Designs, sadly it's taken until now for me to have the chance to really enjoy them!!! I was inspired by a recent SFYTT sketch that I didn't have the chance to do at the time.

I started with a base of dark pink bazzill, topped with Very Vanilla (pierced of course!! :) ) and some Basic Grey 'Bittersweet' paper. I then stamped the Serenity Prayer in Rose Red on Very Vanilla, cut it out with my oval nesties and pierced the edge. The oval was popped on foam tape on some more dark pink mounted on vanilla with Kaisercraft 'Blush' pearls in the corners. To finish I added some ivory satin ribbon, looped a couple of times and topped with a triple layered flower and a Making Memories pewter brad.

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