COLOR THROWDOWN #152

Ooh, I think I've found a new favourite colour combo!!  This week's challenge at The Color Throwdown is to use these colours together:

 

I've been for a walk, with the dog and my little man, in the beautiful sunshine, and now have time to sit down and play again!

It is a loooooong time since I've used my Eastern Blooms set; time to give it some love.  I randomly stamped the small flowers, on Whisper White card, using ink in all four of the challenge colours.  They look beautiful together, which I must say came as a pleasant surprise!  I especially love how River Rock and Melon Mambo complement one another.

Here is the finished result, which looks so much better (really crisp) in real life!

Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Afterthoughts

Card: Melon Mambo, Whisper White, River Rock textured, Soft Suede

Ink: Melon Mambo, River Rock, Rose Red and Soft Suede stampin' pads, white gel pen

Other: Wide Oval punch, sponge dauber, Mat Pack and Paper Piercing tool, Sweet Stitches Designer Button, mini glue dots

JUST ADD INK #78

This week at Just Add Ink, it's colour challenge time.

Great masculine colours, I think; and I needed a little push to get organised for Father's Day!  With August shaping up to be a very busy month, it's likely I'd leave my father's and father-in-law's cards until the last minute if I didn't make a start now. 

I think my Autumn Days stamp set has been inked up only once, so I was determined to use it, and use a bit of creative licence when colouring the pheasant!  I love how these colours worked together.

Stamps: Autumn Days, Sanded, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Card: Not Quite Navy, Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

DSP: Certainly Celery Patterns Designer Series Paper

Ink: Sahara Sand stampin' pad, Chocolate Chip marker, Certainly Celery marker, Not Quite Navy stampin' pad and marker

Other: Top Note die, paper snips, Word Window punch, Jumbo brads, sponge dauber, aquapainter

STAMPIN' UP!'S ELEMENTS OF STYLE - BLEACHED

The fabulous Kirsty Brown, stamper extraordinaire, has a lot to answer for!  She "wowed" us all at Stampin' Up! Convention with a demonstration on how to use bleach with stamping, and a whole new movement has started around the country.  This nifty technique is addictive!!

A couple of special friends celebrated their birthdays this past week, and I decided what I'll call "Kirsty's technique" was the perfect starting point for their cards.

Firstly, for my darling friend (and now sometime travelling companion) Jane, who loves blue, I made this card:

Stamps: Elements of Style, Teeny Tiny Sentiments, En Francais

Card: Shimmery White, Baja Breeze

Ink: Versamark inkpad, Baja Breeze stampin' pad

Other: White embossing powder, Very Vanilla satin ribbon, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, Basic Pearls, sponge dauber, mini glue dots, aquapainter containing neat bleach

I ran outside to catch a very brief spell of sunshine to photograph these cards; the photos aren't great, but they're the best I could manage.  It's a bit hard to make out the subtly stamped background, and the beautiful shimmery cardstock, but just use your imagination!

Using the same layout and ideas, but the beautifully dramatic Perfect Plum colour from Stampin' Up!'s range, I made a card for one of my special class 'regulars', and lovely friend, Kathy:

Stamps: Elements of Style, Teeny Tiny Sentiments, En Francais

Card: Shimmery White, Perfect Plum

Ink: Versamark inkpad, Perfect Plum stampin' pad

Other: White embossing powder, Very Vanilla satin ribbon, Basic Pearls, sponge dauber, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, mini glue dots, aquapainter filled with neat bleach

JAC-INKS CHALLENGE #13 - MONOTONE

The current challenge from the Jac-inks team is to make a papercraft project in monotone.  I further challenged myself to use yellow (not one of my most-used colours, and only a few shades available in Stampin' Up!'s range).

Do you have your sunglasses at the ready?  I thought of Hawaii when I made this!

Stamps: Greenhouse Garden, Perfect Punches, Daisy Dash jumbo wheel

Card: Daffodil Delight, Whisper White

Ink: So Saffron stampin' pad and marker, More Mustard stampin' pad, Daffodil Delight stampin' pad

Other: Color Spritzer tool, Curly Label punch, Boho Blossoms punch, Daffodil Delight brad, sponge daubers, Daffodil Delight pompom trim, stampin' dimensionals

INKSPIRATIONS CHALLENGE #79

Post number 2 for the day - I'm on a roll!  The sketch at Inkspirations this week helped me ease back into my card-making after a bit of an absence.  Here's the sketch:

I decided to continue my love affair with Stampin' Up!'s Autumn Spice DSP, and create a rustic-looking card.  This one has very little stamping (in fact, only the sentiment).  I let the papers do the talking.

Stamps: Sincere Salutations

Card: Naturals Ivory, Cajun Craze

DSP: Autumn Spice Specialty Designer Series Paper

Ink: Early Espresso stampin' pad

Other: Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die, Beautiful Wings embosslits die, Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, Victoria crochet trim, Old Olive brad, sponge dauber, Stamp-a-ma-jig

JUST ADD INK #77

I am feeling much happier now that I'm getting back into my normal routines, post-holiday.  I've made a card for this week's sketch challenge at Just Add Ink.   Woohoo!  I've really missed playing along at JAI.   Here's the sketch to use as a starting point:

Being the rather 'literal' girl I am, I was inspired by the flower in the bottom corner.  On my card, I've replaced one of the squares with a dramatic, shimmery, flower.  Here's what I came up with:

Stamps: Very Vintage jumbo Stampin' Around wheel, Because I Care, Always Elegant, Love & Care (sentiment)

Card: Melon Mambo, Basic Black, Whisper White

Ink: Melon Mambo and Basic Black stampin' pads, Basic Black marker

Other: Two-Step Owl punch (tiny heart), Basic Rhinestone, Basic Black satin ribbon, 1 1/4" square punch, 1 3/8" square punch, Scallop Squares Duo Bigz Die, sponge dauber, 1 3/4" x 7/8" Oval punch, Scallop Oval punch, Fancy Flower punch, 5-Petal Flower punch, Boho Blossoms punch, Champagne Mist shimmer paint (mixed with rubbing alcohol to make a shimmer spray), Metallic brad, mini glue dots, Sticky Strip

STAMPIN' UP!'S AUTUMN-WINTER MINI CATALOGUE

Sadly, there's only a week to go until the Autumn-Winter mini catalogue from Stampin' Up! is no longer current.  I am hopeful that a number of the beautiful  products from the mini will carry over into our new Idea Book & Catalogue coming out in September, but at this stage there are no guarantees.

This past week I taught a couple of classes, using products from the Autumn-Winter mini.  I thought, that since my blog posts are a bit few and far between these days, I'd share with you a few of the cards we made.

First up is a little card made using Stampin' Up!'s fabulous notecards (only $9.50 for 20 notecards and envelopes - very sweet, and great value).  The butterfly from Strength & Hope is the focal point:

Stamps: Strength & Hope, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Card: Whisper White, Early Espresso, Pretty in Pink textured, Whisper White notecard

DSP: Pretty in Pink Patterns Designer Series Paper

Ink: Early Espresso and Pretty in Pink stampin' pads

Other: Pretty in Pink 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Whisper White 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, 1 3/4" circle punch, 2 3/8" Scallop circle punch, Circles #2 die, Word Window punch, Basic Pearls, sponge daubers, mini glue dots, stampin' dimensionals

When I first saw the Autumn Spice Specialty Designer Series Paper in the mini catalogue, it didn't appeal to me at all.  However, one look at it in real life, and it won me over - it is really beautiful.  The next card I have to share is a card in autumnal colours, inspired entirely by this card that my friend Sue made.  I hadn't used my Build-A-Brads for a while, and they were a bit of a hit.

Stamps: French Foliage, Sincere Salutations

Card: More Mustard, Early Espresso, Cajun Craze

DSP: Autumn Spice Specialty Designer Series Paper

Ink: More Mustard and Early Espresso stampin' pads

Other: Wide Oval punch, Decorative Label punch, Early Espresso 1 1/4" striped grosgrain ribbon, Build-A-Brad, 1/2" circle punch, sponge daubers, mini glue dots, 1 3/8" square punch

Lastly, I have a card to show you using some of the very sweet stamps from the Clearly For You stamp set.    Rich Razzleberry is such a gorgeous colour; I must use it more.

Stamps: Clearly For You, En Francais, Very Vintage jumbo stampin' around wheel

Card: Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Rich Razzleberry

Ink: Crumb Cake stampin' pad, Rich Razzleberry stampin' pad and marker, Jet Black Staz-on inkpad

Other: Scallop Edge border punch, 1 3/8" x 5/8" Oval punch, 1 3/4" x 7/8" Oval punch, 2 x 1 3/8" Oval punch, Lots of Tags sizzlits die, Basic Black 3/8" taffeta ribbon, sponge dauber, Stampin' dimensionals, mini glue dots

FINALLY, A CARD!

Since returning from our holiday in the sun, I have really struggled to feel creative.  However, after sharing some time with friends, in my first class I've taught this month, I am ready and raring to go with my stamping again.  Oh, how I've missed it!

July is a very busy birthday month in my circle of family and friends.  (Truth be told, not many months aren't busy!)  It was my pleasure to make a birthday card for my very special friend, Chris, this week. 

Here is the card, which unfortunately I've had to photograph at night, as I had to get it posted the next morning.  The base card has been stamped with En Francais, and I'm not sure if you can see on the main panel the pale stamped images (from my Funky Four and Apple Blossoms stamp sets) in Blushing Bride.  I'm very happy with the 'soft' look of the card.  I was tempted to add lots more pearls, but decided against it so I could post the card and be confident it'd arrive in one piece.

Stamps: En Francais, Clearly For You, Funky Four, Apple Blossoms, Afterthoughts

Card: Blushing Bride, Shimmery White

Ink: Blushing Bride and Crumb Cake stampin' pads

Other: Blushing Bride ribbon, Decorative Label punch, Basic Pearls, sponge daubers, mini glue dots, butterfly punch and border punch (not SU!)

JUST THOUGHT I'D LET YOU KNOW I'M STILL ALIVE!!

Hello my friends (if any of you are still checking my blog)!  I disappeared for a little while, thanks to a rather hastily-arranged trip to Hawaii, but am now back home.  No cards as yet to share ...... I am hoping my mojo returns when I've caught up with all the mountains of washing, and managed to prepare for my upcoming classes.

Just so I share something pictorial in this post, here are a few photos from our lovely warm break away from Melbourne's winter.  My parents-in-law made it possible for our whole family to go to Hawaii with them (a few nights in Honolulu, and a 7-night cruise around the islands).

First stop was Waikiki for a couple of nights:

We then embarked on a cruise around a few of the islands.

Jack (my 15-year-old) was very happy to get the chance to sun himself on Wailea Beach:

One of the touristy things we did was visit a Macadamia nut processing plant:

Saw some awesome sights in Volcanoes National Park:

Here's my littlest buddy, Ethan, in Kona (one of our day stops).  Our cruise ship is in the background:

 My two boys one night on the ship (aren't they handsome?!):

..... and a parting shot, of Waikiki Beach at night:

It's good to be home, and I hope to settle into a crafting routine this coming week.  I'll be back when I have something to share :)