It’s Official

By | September 3, 2011

Hi there

I am so excited – I am now a Stampin’ Up!® demonstrator 🙂  I have placed my order and should recieve my starter kit next week – can’t wait to get my new goodies and have a play.


So – watch this space for some new designs.

Paula

And the winner is …

By | September 2, 2011

Well I have finally got round to drawing a winner for a FREE pass to the next event of Stampin Fun and Friends.  So without further ado – congratulations to Sharna Russell.  Thank you for participating and I hope to see you all over at Stampin Fun and Friends.

Over at Try Stampin on Tuesday the card I made for last weeks challenge got picked in the Top 3 – so here’s my badge.  I was really pleased with the card.  Well done to the other two winners.

I hope you all have a great weekend – and don’t forget it’s Father’s Day on Sunday in NZ.

Paula

Try Stampin on Tuesday # 30

By | August 31, 2011

Hi there

Well only one more sleep until we get the new catalogue – can’t wait to see what new things we are getting for the year ahead.

The challenge sketchs over at Try Stampin on Tuesday just get better with each week.  If you haven’t participated yet why don’t you give this weeks one a go.  This one just seemed to come together which is always good.  I’ll let you in on a secret – I didn’t have a big enough piece of DSP so ended up using 3 pieces – you wouldn’t know as the ribbon covers the joins nicely :).  Here is the sketch:


and here’s my card:

I’m not normally a ‘bling’ girl but I am liking the rhinestones – so you just might see a few more of these on my cards!
Supplies:
Stamp – Flower Fancy
Card Stock – Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
Ink – Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery
Other – Early Espresso Ribbon, Rhinestones, Trio Flower Punch, Scallop Cirlce #2 Die, Washington Apple DSP
If you would like to be in the draw for a FREE pass to the next event at Stampin Fun and Friends leave me a comment here.  I will be doing the draw tomorrow morning.
TFL
Paula

Fifth Avenue Floral

By | August 28, 2011

Hi there

The weather here in Auckland today was beautiful – we were able to sit outside in the sun and have lunch on the deck.  I’m sure Spring is round the corner especially now that you can see blossoms on the trees.

I’ve been meaning to post this card and gift box for weeks – I made this for one of the ladies at work.

I stamped the image on watercolour paper, then used blender pens and ink to get the required shading.  I have yet to master the aqua pens – maybe that will be my next challenge.


The gift box is a Pizza Box.  I love how the look can change depending on how you decorate them.  They are great for filling with chocolates as a little gift.

Supplies:
Stamp – Fifth Avenue Floral
Card Stock – Early Espresso, Baja Breeze Textured, Watercolour paper
DSP – Urban Garden
Ink – Baja Breeze, Early Espresso
Other – Scallop Edge Border Punch, Baja Breeze Ribbon

Don’t forget to visit my post here to be in to win a FREE pass to the next Stampin Fun and Friends event – Autumn Artistry.

Have a good week – roll on 1st September and the new catalogue!
Paula

Try Stampin on Tuesday #29

By | August 25, 2011

Hi there

Well here we are again with another fantastic layout for TST.  I love this layout and it works so well with the set I’ve used – Bugs and Kisses.  It will be sad to see this one go.  I used it for our work birthday cards last year.  Here is the layout:

and here’s my finished card

For this card I’ve used the colours from the paper – Old Olive, Bashful Blue & Pumpkin Pie and rotated them round so that every image uses all three colours and I’ve finally managed to use up all my Summer Picnic DSP on this card :).  I love how it has turned out so thanks CherylAnn for yet another great layout.

Supplies:
Stamp – Bugs & Kisses
Card Stock – Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Whisper White
Ink – Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive
DSP – Summer Picnic
Other – Big Shot, Junior Alphabet Dies, Curly Label Punch, Dimensionals

Don’t forget to leave a comment on my post here to be in to win a FREE pass to the next Stampin Fun and Friends event.

Hope you have a great evening.
Paula

Four Challenges in Two Cards

By | August 21, 2011

Hi there

Be prepared – this may be a long post.
As there was nothing of interest on TV last night I sat down and made two cards.  I checked out the various challenge sights and found that over at Stamping 411 they had two challenges.  The next dilemma was the colour combination – in step JAI and Color Throw Down.  They worked perfectly with the sketches.  So here’s my first combination:

and my card:

I’ve used another of the retiring stamp sets – Choo Choo and the coordinating roller – Right on Track.  I love how the smoke from the engine gets lighter as it goes higher.  I was really pleased with how these two challenges came together.
Supplies:
Stamps – Choo Choo, Right on Track, Loads of Love Accessories, Good Neighbour, Happy Moments
Card Stock – Peach Parfait, Cajun Craze, Whisper White
Ink – Cajun Craze, Bashful Blue, Not Quite Navy, Early Espresso
Markers – Cajun Craze, Bashful Blue
Other – Bashful Blue Ribbon, Small Oval, Dimensionals
And here’s the second combination:
and my card:

As soon as I saw this layout I knew straight away which stamp set to use – again another retiring set Tart & Tangy.  I have also used some retired DSP – Summer Picnic.  The colour combination worked perfectly with this stamp set.  I used my markers to colour in the images as it is way easier when you want multipe colours on the one image.  I swapped Kiwi Kiss with Old Olive.  Again another card I am pleased with.

Supplies:
Stamps – Tart & Tangy, Punch Bunch
Card Stock – Early Espresso, Whisper White
Markers – Early Espresso, Rose Red, Barely Banana, Old Olive
Other – Summer Picnic DSP, Dimensionals

I hope you enjoyed this post.  Don’t forget to check my earlier post here to enter for a FREE pass to the next event at Stampin Fun and Friends.

Have a good week.
Paula

FREE pass to give away

By | August 21, 2011

Hi there

I hope your weekend is going well.  We finally have some beautiful weather here in Auckland – the sun is shining so it’s got to be good.

I have a FREE pass to give away to the next session over at Stampin Fun and Friends.  The theme for this session is Autumn Artistry.  So if you would like a FREE pass to join us then leave me a comment stating what your favourite thing is about Autumn.

I will be doing the draw on the 31st August.

Catch you later with some cards I made last night.
Paula

Try Stampin on Tuesday #28

By | August 19, 2011

Hi there

Well it’s a beautiful day in Auckland – crisp but the sun is shining.

I love the sketch that CherylAnn has given us this week – I knew straight away what I would do.

Again I have used a stamp set that is retiring – A Flower For All Seasons.  I LOVE this set and am very sad to see it go.  I have also used a retiring punch – Designer Label and some old retired DSP – Summer Picnic.
So here’s my card:

I’m going to give this to my parents who are just about to head to the Sunshine Coast for a well deserved holiday.
Supplies:
Stamp – A Flower for All Seasons, Loads of Love
Card Stock – Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
DSP – Summer Picnic
Markers – Pumpkin Pie, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Old Olive
Other – Designer Label Punch, Circle Punches, Pumpkin Pie Ribbon

Have a great weekend.
Paula

Thanks

By | August 18, 2011

Hi there

Well this has got to have been the coldest week in Auckland and we are set for another cold night – just 2 degrees!  There are signs though that Spring is just around the corner.  I’ve seen some trees starting to get their leaves so that’s got to be good AND this time in two weeks we’ll have our new catalogue 🙂

Over at Try Stampin on Tuesday the card I made for last weeks challenge got picked in the Top 3 – so here’s my badge.  Hopefully I’ll be back tomorrow with this weeks challenge.

We have a new round of Stampin Fun and Friends starting on 20th September – watch this space for details of how you could win a FREE pass.

And now for some cards I’ve made recently.  I’ve had this layout for ages and finally got round to making it up for myself.  I saw it over at Andrea Walford’s blog – it’s a great way to use up those leftover bits of DSP.

I’m going to use this layout for my Father’s Day card but only use 3 squares of DSP and stamp my greeting in the lower right-hand corner – you’ll have to check back in a couple of weeks to see the final result 🙂

I love this layout – thanks Andrea for sharing this with us.

Supplies:
Stamp – Thank You Kindly
Card Stock – Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black, Whisper White, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
DSP – Cottage Wall, Haiku, Windsor Knot
Ink – Rich Razzleberry, Chocolate Chip
Other – Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Dimensionals

TFL
Paula

Crab & Co

By | August 13, 2011

Hi there

Just a quick post today.  Here’s a card & 3D gift I made for our neighbour’s 40th ages ago but never got round to posting.  Even though Crab & Co has been retired for awhile it’s still one of my favourite sets.

These clamshell boxes are fun to make – I filled this one with chocolates.

Supplies:
Stamps – Crab & Co, Bring on the Cake
Card Stock – Basic Gray, Not Quite Navy, Bashful Blue, Whisper White
DSP – Urban Oasis
Other – Kiwi Kiss Ribbon, Markers

If you’re in New Zealand – keep warm and safe
Paula

Sketch Frenzy Friday – 080511

By | August 12, 2011

Hi

Here’s another card I made the other night.  I’ve used this layout to make a thank you card – I never have enough of these.  I made a pact with myself not to buy anymore DSP until I’d used up my old supplies – it’s almost gone and just in time for the new catalogue :).  This was a good layout for using DSP.

Here is the layout:

and here’s my card:

Supplies:
Stamps – Starring You, Thank You Kindly
Card Stock – Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
DSP – Jersey Shore
Ink – Pumpkin Pie
Other – Word Window punch, Modern Label punch

Paula

Try Stampin on Tuesday – #27

By | August 11, 2011

Hi there

I’ve been a bit under the weather since Saturday with a head cold but finally seem to be coming right.  I haven’t even felt like crafting which is not like me.  But last night I was back into creating 🙂

Here is the layout for this weeks challenge – they just seem to get better and better each week:

I’ve changed the oval to a rectangle as this suited the stamp I wanted to use. I’m trying to use my soon to retire sets for the next couple of weeks challenges and also finish off my old paper supplies. 

I started with the paper as my base then checked the colour coach to see what other colours to use.  I love the brightness of this card – the hope that Spring is just round the corner for those of us in the southern hemisphere.  I used my markers to colour in the flowers then added a touch of glitter to the centre of the flowers (doesn’t show up that well in the photo – sorry).  I’m not really a ‘blingy’ sort of girl but I like the rhinestones in the top corner – adds a bit of WOW.  All in all I am really pleased with how this turned out.
Supplies:
Stamps – Simply Said, A Word for You
Card Stock – Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White
DSP – Washington Apple
Markers – Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight
Other – Rhinestones, Glitter, Modern Label punch
TFL and have a great day.
Paula

Stampin Fun & Friends – sketch challenge

By | August 6, 2011

Hi

Over at SFF CherylAnn has given us a sketch challenge to do.  So here’s the sketch:

and here’s my card:

The colour combination I’ve used is to go with the below gift – a covered tissue box.

This project has used up my final stocks of Urban Garden DSP and Orchid Opulence card stock.  I’m really looking forward to being able to order new DSP come 1st September.

Supplies:
Card Stock – Basic Grey, Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry
DSP – Urban Garden
Other – Blossom Flower Die, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Basic Grey Brad

I hope you have a great weekend.
Paula

I made the Top 3 and Try Stampin on Tuesday #26

By | August 4, 2011

Hi

Well it’s a beautiful day here in Auckland – let’s hope it lasts until the weekend.

The card I made for last weeks challenge won me a place in the ‘Top 3’ 🙂  and here’s my badge.  Congratulations to the other two winners.

I love the layout for this weeks challenge over at Try Stampin on Tuesday and couldn’t wait to get a card made – so here it is:

I was able to use up some more of my retired paper (not much left now) and now its only 4 weeks till the new catalogue is out 🙂

Here’s my finished card:

I’ve added half pearl’s to the centres of the flowers for some depth.  This just came together which is always rewarding.

Supplies:
Stamp – Simply Said
Card Stock – Real Red, Old Olive, Whisper White
DSP – Summer Picnic
Other – Pearls

Have a great day
Paula

More Stampin Fun and Friends Projects

By | August 3, 2011

Hi there

Here are another two projects that we have over at Stampin Fun and Friends.  The first is one that I’ve designed.  You may have seen a sneak peak in my post in July – well here is the full project.  I had to create Christmas gift tags and some form of bag or box to put them in.  I was really pleased with how this turned out.  The bag is quite versatile and would lend itself to a number of gift uses.

 

 

The next project is another one from Amy keeping with the Christmas theme.  It’s a great gift wallet.  All I have to do now is add the voucher & I’ve got my first Christmas gift done!

It’s still not too late to join us – just click here to register.

Thanks for looking and have a great day.
Paula