May Card Class

By | May 21, 2015
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Hi there

This week I’ve held my card classes and these are the cards we made.

I wanted to do a masculine card to showcase the great DSP pack – Adventure Bound.  This design of card (by Julia Leece) can be used for any occasion – just change the DSP for a different look. Depending on the length of the name you can make this card in a portrait or landscape orientation.

This first one is for my brother whose birthday is next month – how organised is that.

And this one if for a friend of ours

This card style has been great as I seem to have had a heap of masculine birthdays in the last couple of months – I still have a few more creations to show.  I’ve loved using the Adventure Bound DSP for these cards.
The second card is a technique called Bokeh – first you ink your card stock then create a template and apply Whisper White Craft ink.  I used the heat tool to dry off the ink before applying the Craft ink and then used the heat tool again as the Craft ink takes ages to dry.  I’ve been a bit late getting on board with this technique but better late than never.  It’s a fun technique although you do get a bit inky 🙂
This was my first attempt using a sponge to apply the colour – Blackberry Bliss and Lost Lagoon

For my second card I used a dauber – quite a different effect.  Here I’ve used Daffodil Delight, Bermuda Bay and Old Olive

Altered Notebooks

By | May 19, 2015
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Hi there

I’ve cleared all the photos from my camera (in preparation of our holiday) and found these which I took ages ago.  They’re some more altered notebooks using the 3B1 notebooks.  I just cut them in half with my Table Top Cutter and covered them with DSP and then the fun begins to add the embellishments.

For the bottom pad in the photo above I adhered the DSP to a piece of Coaster Board (pg 192 of the AC) and then punched it out using the Pansy Punch.  It gives the flower a bit of dimension off the notebook.  The small flowers are stamped with the Pictogram Punches set and then punched out with the Petite Petals Punch.

These pens are great – you can get them at Warehouse Stationery or The Warehouse.  The end comes off allowing you to wrap a piece of DSP around the cartridge and then putting it back in the barrel of the pen to give the pretty pattern to match the notebook.

These make great gifts to give away.

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Pictogram Punches, Embellished Events
Card Stock – Whisper White
DSP – A variety of retired papers
Other – Brads, Coaster Board, Pansy Punch, Petite Petals Punch, Label Framelits, Buttons

Happy 5th Birthday Jake

By | May 18, 2015
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Hi there

Last Tuesday our neighbours eldest son turned 5 and headed off to school 🙂  He had a great first day and is still enjoying it.

At the moment he’s really into Ninja Turtles which was the theme for his party.  So I’ve kept with the theme for our card to him.  I CASED this card from Pinterest – not sure who the original creator was but ‘thanks’.

Supplies:
Stamp set – Sketched Birthday
Card Stock – Naturals White, Early Espresso, Gumball Green (retired), Real Red, Elegant Eggplant, Bermuda Bay, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Basic Black
Other – 1 3/4″ Circle, Large Oval, Owl Builder Punch, Itty Bitty Banner Framelits, Little Letter Framelits, Junior Typeset Alphabet (retired), Honeycomb Embossing Folder

April Card Class Project

By | May 17, 2015
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Hi there

Where have the weeks gone!  I have my May card classes this week and I haven’t even shown you what we made last month!

One Sheet Wonders (OSW) are a great way to create cards.  Most OSW use a sheet of 12 x 12 cards stock or DSP but last year I created one that uses an A4 sheet of card stock.  Depending on the stamp set you use you can create some very different cards.  Here’s one I did last year with a Christmas theme (and the template).  For my class last month I used one of the retiring sets – Mixed Bunch and the retiring In Colours 2013-2015 – you get a totally different look.

With my OSW you can also create a bag to hold your four cards and envelopes.  If you didn’t want to make the bag you could create more cards just by cutting the panels into different sections.  Maybe I should do another template with that option?

Supplies:
Stamp – Mixed Bunch, Crazy about You
Card Stock- Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding, Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Baked Brown Sugar, Smoky Slate, Whisper White
Ink – Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding, Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Baked Brown Sugar
Other – 1 1/4″ Circle, Large Oval, Scallop Oval, Decorative Label Punch, 1/8″ Mini Brads, Hexagon EF, Chevron EF, Decorative Dots EF, Baked Brown Sugar Thick Bakers Twine

Mothers Day Gifts

By | May 11, 2015
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Hi there

Here are the little Mothers Day gifts I made for a local Mainly Music and our ladies at Church – they went down really well.  In all I made 120 of these 🙂

These are really easy and quick to make and make a cute gift.

I’ve used up quite a bit of my card stock scraps and retired products – got to make way for new products which should be arriving shortly )

Enjoy

Happy Mother’s Day

By | May 10, 2015
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Hi there

Happy Mother’s Day Mum and also to all the mums, aunts and those of us that play a ‘mothering’ part in childrens lives.  We celebrated with a family lunch at my brothers today which was lovely.

Here’s the card I made for my Mum:

It’s similar to the card I taught at a recent workshop – same colours and layout just change the sentiment and embossing folder and the card takes on a new look.

Check back tomorrow to see the little gifts (120 of them!!) I made for a local Mainly Music and our Church ladies for Mother’s Day.

Stamp Camp 2015 Projects

By | May 3, 2015
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Hi there

I hope you’ve all had a good weekend.  We have our inorganic collection happening in a couple of weeks so yesterday Phil and I did a clean out in preparation.  Our storage area looks way tidier than it did at the beginning of the day 🙂

Todays post should have been done months ago – these are some of the projects we made at Stamp Camp (which was back in February!).

The first project is one that Heather Stewart taught – a ‘fancy fold’ card and an envelope made using the Mini Treat Bag Die.

The second project was taught by Juliette Riddell – a wedding card/album using the lovely Something Borrowed DSP and a cool technique with the Circle Card Thinlits die.

Thanks ladies for some great projects.

Your Perfect Day – Fold Over Card

By | April 27, 2015
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Hi there

I hope you didn’t get blown or washed away today – a good indoors craft day.  I managed to get some projects finished that had been sitting half made on my desk for weeks!

Yesterday I had a workshop at a friends place and this is the card we made.  I CASED the design from Dawn Olchefske – she called it a ‘Fold Over’ card – and did a few tweaks so that it fitted our metric card stock.

This set works beautifully with this design.  Some of the ladies changed the sentiment and embossing folder and created birthday cards – I really like this stamp set and it can be used for more than just wedding themes.  I added an additional mat around the circle cut out for some contrast to the front.

My measurements are:
Sahara Sand – 10.5cm x 14.5cm
Elegant Eggplant – 9.5cm x 14.5cm
Very Vanilla – 8cm x 14.5cm
Wisteria Wonder – 29.7cm x 8.5cm

Check back on Mother’s Day to see another version 🙂

Masculine Birthday Cards

By | April 21, 2015
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Hi there

Here are two more cards I’ve made recently in the same style as yesterdays post.

This paper is so cool I decided to use the ‘cut out’ bit for the inside of the card.

Julia also showed us how to make the same style but in a landscape orientation – how cool is that!

 And a box with chocolates in it – of course.

Supplies:
Stamp – Big Day (SAB)
Card Stock – Old Olive, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake
DSP – Adventure Bound DSP Stack
Ink – Early Espresso
Other – Little Letters Thinlits, Timeless Type Alphabet Sizzlits (Retired), Acetate, Tag a Bag Gift Boxes

Retiring List is out

By | April 21, 2015
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Hi there

The Retiring List has now been posted – check out my website for the list of stamps and accessories that won’t be carried over to the new catalogue – there are some good discounts so be in early

Retiring Stamps

Retiring Accessories

The easiest way to purchase any of these items is via an online order.

If you have any questions or need any help just contact me.

Happy Birthday Dad

By | April 20, 2015
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Hi there

Today is my Dad’s 82nd birthday – happy birthday to the best dad in the world 🙂  He (and Mum) are always there for us in so many ways – it’s hard to put into words the gratitude and love we have for them.  We celebrated Dad’s birthday on Friday night and this is the card I made for him.

This really cool card was taught to us by Julia Leece at our Stamp Camp back in February (sorry – couldn’t show this until now).  It uses a piece of acetate to create the clear ‘window’.  Check back tomorrow for some other cards I’ve made recently using this technique.

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Big Day (SAB)
Card Stock – Early Espresso
DSP – Adventure Bound DSP Stack
Ink – Early Espresso
Other – Little Letters Framelits, Baked Brown Sugar Thick Bakers Twine, Acetate

Don’t forget to check back tomorrow for some more samples.

60th Birthday Card

By | April 19, 2015
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Hi there

I hope you’ve all had a good weekend.  The weather yesterday didn’t start out that great – cold and wet but today has been like summer and 22 degrees :).

Back in February my friend celebrated her 60th birthday – I’m sure she’s pulling our leg as she doesn’t look 60.  We had a lovely dinner out and it was a great evening.  I had forgotten to take some photos off my camera hence the delay in showing you the card I made for her.

I had no idea what she would be wearing on the night but the colours from my card matched her beautiful dress – she looked gorgeous.
Supplies:
Stamp Set – Apothecary Art, Flowering Flourishes, Memorable Moments
Card Stock – Pool Party, Island Indigo, Soft Sky, Watercolour Paper, Naturals White
Ink – Pool Party, Island Indigo, Pear Pizzazz

Other – Labels Framelits, Festive Paper Piercing, Pearls, Aqua Painters, Fancy Fan Embossing Folder

Well I’m off to bed as I have an early start tomorrow morning.

Happy Birthday Dominic

By | April 15, 2015
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Hi there

It’s funny – if you hold on to things long enough they will come back into fashion.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are back!

Over the weekend I helped my neighbour make TMNT birthday invites for Mr 5 – he’s really into them.  Then I needed to make a card for a friends four year old.  I sent his Mum a text to check what he’s into this year (check out his previous birthday cards here and here) and found out ‘Super heros’ so here’s this years card:

This is a CASE from Kelly Kent – thanks Kelly for the great instructions for making these guys.  I changed the ‘shell’ from being 3/4″ squares to the 3/4″ circle punch but otherwise it’s the same.

Supplies:
Card Stock – Gumball Green (retired), Early Espresso, So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Basic Black
Punches – 1 3/8″ Circle, 1 3/4″ Circle, 1″ Cirlce, 3/4″ Circle, Small Oval, Large Oval, 7/8″ Scallop Circle, 1 3/4″ Scallop Circle, Owl Builder
Other – Honeycomb Embossing Folder

Bon Voyage Hanna

By | April 14, 2015
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Hi there

My almost 19 year old niece left today for her OE to Europe and the UK :(.  She and a friend from school are heading to London first to begin their OE and see the other side of the world.  We will miss her heaps but with Skype, Facebook and email she won’t seem so far away.

We had a family lunch on Sunday and this is the card I made for her.

Punch art is great when you don’t have a stamp for a particular occasion.
Supplies:
Card Stock – Basic Grey, Basic Black, Island Indigo, Strawberry Slush, Whisper White
Punches – Word Window, 1 3/8″ Circle, 1/4″ Circle, Small Oval, Owl Builder Punch
Other – Timeless Type Alphabet Die (retired), Basic Black Brad (retired)

Hanna – have a wonderful time and enjoy every minute of it.  We love you heaps 🙂

Happy 21st Birthday (times two)

By | April 12, 2015
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Hi there

It’s a while since I’ve been to a 21st birthday party – but last night we attended one for our friends twin sons.  They had a theme of American Gangster so Phil and I hired costumes – what do you think?  Love Phil’s shoes.

Now we all know how hard it is to make masculine cards but these two were easy – one is a builders apprentice and the other is studying graphics at Uni.  Two stamps set sprung to mind immediately – Totally Tools (retired) and Work of Art.  So here are my creations:

Supplies:
Stamp – Totally Tools (retired), Hardwood, Four You
Card Stock – Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake
Ink – Momento Black, Crumb Cake
Other – Black Embossing Powder, Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Watercolour Pencils, Mini Brads, Timeless Type Alphabet (retired)

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Work of Art, Four You
Card Stock – Whisper White, Tangelo Twist, Mossy Meadow, Hello Honey, Lost Lagoon, Blackberry Bliss, Basic Black, Crumb Cake
Ink – Tangelo Twist, Mossy Meadow, Hello Honey, Lost Lagoon, Blackberry Bliss, Momento Black
Other – Owl Punch, Word Window Punch, Oval Framelits, 1/2″ Circle Punch, Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Timeless Type Alphabet (retired)
Leave me a comment – would love to hear what you think of these cards (and our costume).