GETTING READY FOR FATHER'S DAY....

I have been asked by a friend if I'd make some Father's Day cards, seeing as it's Father's Day next weekend.  While I was in the process of stamping out the fantastic sentiment from the Occasional Greetings stamp set, I decided to get a bit of a production line going.  I'm up to my fifth card, and need a little break, so decided to upload some photos to share with you.

The first few cards are made using the colours Always Artichoke and Mellow Moss, with either Whisper White or Very Vanilla as the neutral - such a beautiful colour scheme, and nice and earthy for cards for men.  This first card is all Stampin' Up! :



Stamps:  Occasional Greetings, Lovely As A Tree, Linen (retired)

Card: Always Artichoke, Whisper White, Mellow Moss

Ink: Always Artichoke and Mellow Moss stampin' pads

Other: Always Artichoke and Mellow Moss 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Always Artichoke brads, sponge daubers, dimensionals, 1 1/4" square punch, 1 3/8" square punch

For my second card I combined Very Vanilla with the two greens.  On the main panel I stamped the trees first in Always Artichoke ink, then (using my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig) slightly offset the image to the right, and stamped again in Very Vanilla ink.  I like the soft effect that resulted.



Stamps: Weathered, Occasional Greetings, Lovely As A Tree

Card: Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss

Ink: Mellow Moss and Always Artichoke classic stampin' pads, Very Vanilla craft stampin' pad (retired)

Other: Dimensionals, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, corner rounder punch, edge distresser, sponge daubers, brads (not Stampin' Up!) from stash

The last card I'll share from my 'green series' incorporates Jumbo Eyelets, which are a favourite embellishment of mine, when it comes to cards for males.  They are so easy to set in place using the Crop-A-Dile - love that tool!  If you are tired of noisy or labour-intensive ways of setting eyelets, please talk to me - I can change your life in this regard!



Stamps: Occasional Greetings, Lovely As A Tree, Weathered

Card: Always Artichoke, Whisper White, Mellow Moss

Ink: Always Artichoke and Mellow Moss stampin' pads

Other: Dimensionals, sponge daubers, Jumbo Eyelets (set with Crop-A-Dile), string from stash



Finally, I have something completely different.  I recently bought a new Checkerplate embossing folder for my Cuttlebug - it's great!  It really does make silver or grey cardstock look like metal.  Here's what I made:



Stamps: Occasional Greetings, Weathered

Card: Whisper White, Brushed Silver, Riding Hood Red, Coredinations Black

Ink: Basic Black and Riding Hood Red stampin' pads, Versamark

Other: Jumbo Eyelet (set with Crop-A-Dile), 5/8" silver brad, Riding Hood Red striped grosgrain ribbon, sponge dauber, Cuttlebug and checkerplate embossing folder

BROWN AND TEAL PLANTS

My post title today conjures up images of rather sickly flora, but that's not really the picture I wanted to convey!  Last night I was getting ready to go to bed, at what was a reasonable time, when I had a burst of inspiration to create with the colours Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip and Taken With Teal.  Since I have been a bit tired to make much in the way of cards this week, I decided to grab the opportunity to create (and in the process I stayed up way too late).

The key focus of my first card is the divine stamp set Organic Outlines.  The small flower on the oval panel is also from this set - I just stamped it off four times (!) on scrap paper before stamping it on Very Vanilla card, so it produced a subtle impression.  I love the look of a soft image over-stamped with a sentiment.  All of the stamps used on this card are from Organic Outlines set.



Stamps: Organic Outlines

Card: Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Taken with Teal, Very Vanilla

Ink: Close to Cocoa stampin' pad, Taken with Teal stampin' pad and marker, Chocolate Chip stampin' pad and marker

Other: Sponge daubers, wide oval punch, chocolate chip taffeta ribbon, scallop edge punch, ice circles rhinestone brads, dimensionals

Please excuse the totally un-thought-out photography; I didn't even notice the rather gawdy contrast with the green walls until I uploaded the photos, and I'm altogether too lazy to re-take and upload the shot (our computer is soooooo sloooooow)!

For my second card, I used another of my favourite stamp sets, Pocket Silhouettes, that has been rather neglected lately.  This is a great little set; I had a lot of fun making this card.  For the rhinestone centre in the felt flower, I didn't want the bulk of a brad, so I splayed the prongs of the brad wide open, and removed the rhinestone from its claw setting (sounds complicated, but it was very easy).  This was a tip I found on Mary Fish's Stampin' Pretty blog - Mary's a bit of a Stampin' Up! guru, and has lots of simple and fun tips to share.



Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes, Great Friend

Card: Chocolate Chip, Taken With Teal, Kraft, Very Vanilla

Ink: Chocolate Chip stampin' pad and marker, Taken With Teal stampin' pad and marker, Sahara Sand stampin' pad

Other: Felt flower from Flower Fusion Too, ice circle rhinestone brad (removed from casing), scallop circle punch, dimensionals, stamp-a-ma-jig, Valet Ribbon

I am looking forward to having some 'play time' over the weekend, as work is pretty stressful at the moment.  Have half a day of my eldest son's football tomorrow, but other than that very few commitments - just how I like it!  I must get my craft room tidied up a bit so I have some space in which to stamp.  I'll be back soon to share some more cards. Thanks for visiting!

SNOW SWIRLED ..........the blue series

Whilst I still have the Snow Swirled stamp set on loan, I am trying to come up with a few different cards.  I haven't used silver for a loooooong time, but decided to combine a bit of silver embossing, with Whisper White, and Bashful Blue - I think the result is really lovely, and soft. 

My photo of this first card is a bit blurry (sorry), but I was pleased with the 'clean' result.  I started off with a Whisper White card base, and attached a panel of Bashful Blue card on which I had randomly stamped the large snowflake from the set, using Versamark ink to create a subtle background.  I distressed the top and bottom edges of this panel.  On the main panel, I stamped the large snowflake in Versamark on Whisper White, then used Silver embossing powder - how striking does that look?  I added a blue rhinestone brad to the centre of the snowflake, and stamped the sentiment in Bashful Blue ink.  A bit more edge distressing and use of punches finished off that part.  I rounded the bottom corners of the two panels, and did a bit of paper piercing to complement the pattern of the eyelet border punch.  Is this too much waffle?  Should I just show you what I made?  Okay, here it is ...



Stamps: Snow Swirled

Card: Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Brushed Silver

Ink: Bashful Blue stampin' pad, Versamark ink pad

Other: Silver embossing powder (& heat gun), Eyelet Border Punch, corner rounder punch, piercing tool, edge distresser, Bashful Blue taffeta ribbon, blue rhinestone brad (from Ice Circles selection), stampin' dimensionals


While I had all the supplies out, I made a card that appealed much more to my husband's symmetrical brain.  To create the white panel on the bottom part of the card, I inked up the large snowflake stamp in Bashful Blue ink, then stamped the image off twice onto scrap paper before stamping the image on Whisper White card - love the soft result of this.  I did the same on the white panel on which I then overstamped the sentiment, in Basic Gray ink.  For the square snowflake panels, I white-embossed the snowflakes onto Brushed Silver card, which I think looks beautiful.  Here's the card, followed by all the details:



Stamps: Snow Swirled, Occasional Greetings

Card: Bashful Blue, Brushed Silver, Whisper White

Ink: Bashful Blue and Basic Gray stampin' pads, Versamark inkpad

Other: White embossing powder (& heat gun), sponge daubers, stampin' dimensionals, Bashful Blue 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, 1 1/4" square punch, 1 3/8" square punch, 2-way glue pen, dazzling diamonds (glitter)



Right, lastly (hope you're not too saturated by blue-hued Snow Swirled cards yet!) I would like to share my personal favourite of the series.  Not surprisingly, Andrew (darling husband) doesn't like it.  I don't think six brads on one card is over-embellishing - do you?? 



Stamps: Snow Swirled, Short & Sweet

Card: Very Vanilla, Brocade Blue, Sahara Sand

DSP: Bella Bleu

Ink: Brocade Blue and Sahara Sand stampin' pads

Other: Sponge daubers, Word Window Punch, Ice Circles Rhinestone brad (blue), Clear Rhinestone brads, stampin' dimensionals.



I'm having so much fun with this set, I don't think I'll give it back to its rightful owner!  I have a super-busy week at work coming up, so may not get to create and/or blog for a little while, but I'll be back soon.  Thanks for visiting my little corner of blogland. :)

OH MY - I'M IN RIBBON HEAVEN!!

Now, some of you (and I pity you, really I do) will look at the photos below and think "big deal, ribbon on card".  Those of you, however, who share the wonderful obsession I have with ribbon, will hopefully appreciate the shots I want to share with you today.

I belong to THE best team of Stampin' Up! demonstrators, who willingly share ideas, information and templates with one another.  Lisa, one of our Western Australian girls (who doesn't have a blog - yet!!), put in an enormous amount of work with a ribbon share for our team.  She put together sample lengths of EVERY ribbon available in the Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalogue, and the Spring Mini Catalogue, and sent them to the share participants.  Not only that, but she created a set of fantastic templates to print on card, and attach the ribbon to. 

Take a look at my finished product:

 

These cards represent only half of the display cards we've ended up with.  Pretty, don't you think?

Here's a close-up of one of the cards:

 

How great is that, that you can see and feel exactly what every ribbon is like?  Thanks Lisa!

SNOW SWIRLED

My friend Anita posts a new Christmas card design on her blog every Monday, but, despite my best intentions, I can't keep up with the challenge!  I know it's Tuesday, and Anita is encouraging Making Merry Mondays, but I thought I'd share a card with you anyway. 

This card is inspired by the pretty, girly creations that Anita has come up with lately.  I have used only one stamp set, called Snow Swirled - I think this is a 'must have' Christmas set.  Unfortunately, I don't have it - I've borrowed it!  Not sure if you can see the detail, but I started off stamping one of the set's snowflake images in Versamark (clear) ink on the bottom half of the kraft card.  I stamped the same snowflake on the Pink Pirouette card, using Pink Pirouette ink.  The tree image is white-embossed on kraft, and the sentiment is stamped in Chocolate Chip ink on kraft card.  This was a quick card to make, but I hope you agree it's a pretty one.



Stamps: Snow Swirled

Card: Kraft, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette

Ink: Versamark, Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip

Other: White Embossing Powder, Eyelet Border Punch, Wide Oval Punch, Pink Pirouette striped grosgrain ribbon, Kraft taffeta ribbon, stampin' dimensionals, sponge dauber

FRIENDS 24-7 MAKE & TAKE

Sorry for the lack of blogging, folks; I needed a bit of a rest after all the excitement of my birthday!  Thank you to all my lovely friends and family for making me feel so loved.  And to my two brothers .... where are my birthday cards???  Love you, Mark and Dean :)

Yesterday I demonstrated at my first-ever Stampin' Up! workshop, which was a pretty momentous occasion!  It all went really well, and I was lucky to have a group of 8 really lovely women to present to - thank you Leanne, Laura, Josie, Jo, Trudy, Leanne, Renee and Annette, for making it such an enjoyable experience.  I look forward to getting to know you all better!

I thought I'd share with you all the card everyone got to make at the workshop.  I have used the Friends 24-7 stamp set, one of my favourites from the Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalogue, that is current until September 2010.  The Parisian Breeze Designer Series paper is available only for a limited time, from our Spring Mini Catalogue, that is current until the end of November this year.  I LOVE this paper - I am already onto my second pack, and it was only released in Australia at the beginning of August. It co-ordinates beautifully with both Kraft and Baja Breeze - two colours that appear in lots of my cards.

Stamps: Friends 24-7
Card: Kraft, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Versamark, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa
DSP: Parisian Breeze
Other: Baja Breeze striped grosgrain ribbon, eyelet border punch, stampin' dimensionals, stamp-a-ma-jig
I took along to the workshop three other 'stepped-up' versions of this card, on which I'd switched around the ribbon and paper used. I showed how different punches would look, and how the addition of buttons, Build-A-Brad, and/or a felt flower would look. I also used the Friendly Words jumbo wheel, in Whisper White craft ink, to create an alternative background. Hope you like them!



Well, it's high time for me to get off the computer now - I have spent far too much time on ebay today (listing items to sell), and am OVER it!  I hope you've all had a lovely weekend, and have much to look forward to in the week ahead.  To my friends Claire, and Sue, who are heading up to Noosa on an all-expenses-paid trip courtesy of Stampin' Up!, I'd just like to say "TRY NOT TO MISS THOSE OF US LEFT BEHIND IN THE COLD WET WEATHER!!!!".  Have a ball, girls, and I look forward to hearing all about it on your return.

Now **THIS** is what I call a cake!

For those of you who expressed concern over my 'special' birthday cake (thanks Claire!), take a look at this:

 

I went out for a delicious Thai meal last night with some girlfriends, and my friend Sue (our very own local Martha Stewart) had made this divine creation for us to enjoy at the end of the meal.  Take a look at all that chocolatey-creamy-buttery goodness!  This is a vanilla sponge, with custard cream and white chocolate, topped with strawberries marinated in raspberry coulis. (Sue thought I'd appreciate the glitzy bow!)  Took 3 cake tins to make it that big!

Now, Ethan was a little concerned that I didn't allow him to explain how he made my birthday card, since it was 'exclusively Stampin' Up!', so I'm now going to post a photo of the gorgeous card on its own, and Ethan (8) will explain how you can replicate it, if you so desire.

 

Start off with a Whisper White card, then put on the bird paper from a pack called good morning sunshine. Then get out the saying a special note of thanks from Cheep Talk stamp set, stamp it in Basic Black on some Whisper White paper. Punch it out with the wide oval punch, then get out the little bird and stamp it with Basic Black on Wisper White paper and punch it out with the circle punch repeat another three times. Then stick it down with double sided sticky tape, that's all.

So, there you have it - thanks buddy!  Ethan is my self-appointed Stampin' Up! assistant, and he gets just as excited as I do about the boxes full of goodies that arrive on our doorstep.  He is familiar with all the colours and punches (as you can see - he didn't need need help with the details in his instructions).  Isn't he beautiful??!!!      

BIRTHDAY PHOTOS

I can now share with you some photos of a few things that helped make my birthday special.  I have been overwhelmed by my family and friends expressing their love for me - thank you all, special people!  Since my blog is devoted to crafty pursuits, I'll show you some of the handmade cards I received. 

First up is the card made by Ethan (the bird one, just in case you're not sure, ha ha) - a 'thank you' card, for all that I do.  What a little honey he is.  I photographed it alongside the card my sister Lynda made for me, which I just love (how gorgeous does that heart look?!). 

 

Next is a photo of the cards I received from some of my dear and talented stamping group friends, Kerry, Judy, and Claire.  Aren't they beautiful?

 

I also received two other handmade cards.  The gorgeous balloon card is from a fellow Stampin' Up! "Art With Heart" team member, Sheryll, who I've never met (thanks Sheryll!).  My sister-in-law, Janette, who is a very talented artist, made the bird card - cute, hey?

 

I was very spoilt with flowers, including a boxed arrangement and a colourful bunch from thoughtful employees.  This bunch was from Kerry (my stamping friend):

 

and these sweet flowers were from Claire:

Thanks again, girls, for spoiling me - it made for a very happy birthday.

Ethan was a little disheartened that I didn't have a birthday cake, so I made a point of bringing home some cake from work (I buy cake whenever it's anyone's birthday).  Ethan put candles in it (we had only 4 candles in the house, so that had to do!), and here is the result - special, don't you agree??

 

(I think only a mother of young children would be happy with that!  I was!)

Thanks for stopping by to share in my excitement.  My birthday will be strung out until the end of next week -the way it should be every year, don't you think?  I'll be back with more photos soon.  Really must get some stamping done. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME .... :)

I've had a super-happy day today, celebrating my *ahem* 41st birthday.  Despite the fact that I had to go to work, I still managed to enjoy my day!  I have been very spoilt, by dear friends hand-delivering flowers, cards and chocolates (which have been stashed away, out of hubby's reach!).  My darling little 8-year-old made me a gorgeous card (hijacked by his brother and father, so they wouldn't have to worry about getting me a separate one, bless them) and even made the bed for me this morning!  Ethan was so sweet, about wanting to do 'all my jobs', and couldn't get enough of singing 'happy birthday'.  His enthusiasm was infectious, and it truly made me feel special.  Jack (13) has (somewhat reluctantly, under duress from his pouting mother) made me cups of tea this evening, although I suspect he will now use that as 'ammunition' and expect something in return!  Kids - gotta love 'em!

Our house looks somewhat like a florist's, and the perfume of the flowers is divine.  It's so nice to have a 'girly' touch to our house, as with two sons and a husband I do often feel a little overwhelmed by the testosterone.  Unfortunately, my camera battery died just as I decided to document the evidence of the love my friends feel for me.  I will, in the light of day tomorrow, take some photos, and promise to share them on here soon!

My sister, Lynda, turned 40 yesterday, and we had a big family dinner last night to mark the special occasion.  I am so proud to be part of the family I have; I love my sister and brothers, parents, nieces and nephews to bits, and we always leave it too long between get-togethers.  I was so focussed on remembering to take all Lynda's presents along to the restaurant (I was co-ordinator of a HUGE stash of Stampin' Up! goodies that the family all gave her) that I totally forgot to take my camera!!! I'm relying on my siblings and parents to come up with some photos for me - hopefully I'll be able to share some of those with you too.  (Just don't hold your breath on that one!) 

I do, however, have a photo that I took earlier of the birthday card I made for Lynda, so this post won't be entirely picture-less!  I have used paper, stamps and accessories from the new Mini Catalogue, as well as some favourites from the Idea Book & Catalogue.  I'm just loving these colours, and hope you like it too! Here it is:



Stamps:  On Your Birthday, Great Friend

Ink: Baja Breeze stampin' pad; Basic Gray stampin' pad and marker; Cameo Coral stampin' pad and marker

Card: Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Basic Gray

DSP: Walk in the Park, Parisian Breeze

Other: Eyelet border punch, Basic Gray taffeta ribbon, clear rhinestone brads, Basic Gray and Baja Breeze corduroy brads, large white eyelet (WeRMemoryKeepers brand), crop-a-dile, dimensionals, sponge dauber

I'll be back with 'my' birthday photos over the weekend, as I prepare to continue celebrating turning a year older!  I am going out for a meal with friends tomorrow night (a girls' night out while the boys are at the football), and am also looking forward to stretching my birthday out to Tuesday, when my special 'stamp group' friends and I are going to 'do lunch'.  I am very blessed to have so many lovely friends; life is good!

MAKING MERRY WEDNESDAY

Hi friends

My post title today is a little laugh, in reference to my friend Anita's "Making Merry Monday" challenge.  Anita posts a new Christmas card on her blog every Monday, and has invited anyone and everyone to join in - this has been going for WEEKS now, and I haven't managed to get organised enough to participate.  So, here is my little contribution, posted way late!  I have been busy making Christmas cards, but haven't been busy taking photos of them - I will try to share some more with you in coming days.

Another of my lovely friends, Nikki, inspired me to make a card with colours I wouldn't have normally chosen.  I have CASEd her card that you can see here.  In Stampin' Up!'s new mini catalogue, there is a beautiful range of designer series papers called Ski Slope - that is what I have used on my card, below.



Stamps: Season of Joy

Card: Old Olive, Whisper White textured, Chocolate Chip

Ink: Old Olive stampin' pad, Chocolate Chip stampin' write marker, Whisper White craft stampin' pad

Other: Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon, Ski Slope DSP, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, dimensionals, filigree brad, corner rounder punch, sponge dauber

That's it for today, folks - I'm off to have a girls' day with my baby sister (well, she's the baby of our family, which must make Mum and Dad feel their age), who turns 40 tomorrow.  It is my birthday the day after (and, incidentally, my brother-in-law's today), so this is always a very busy, but lovely, week of the year.

I hope your day is as happy as I'm sure mine will be!

Christine x