Inkspiration Challenge Time Again!

I can't believe it's Friday and time to upload another card for Keesh's Inkspiration Challenge! Where on earth do the day's go, that's my question? I certainly haven't spent many of them chained to my stamp desk that's one thing I do know for sure! lol

Okey, Dokey, this particular sketch I really enjoyed working with this week, and I hope it's one that you guys will try out as well. It's a great sketch to 'dress up' if you want to, and you'll see what I mean in a sec!

Here's the sketch!

And here's my card I did for the challenge. I kept it very crisp and clean as the sketch itself suggests!

I've used Kiwi Kiss as the base card, and wheeled just the very tops of the tree's along the bottom by rolling the wheel in versamark ink. Up further, you'll see I wheeled the whole row of tree's, just so I had some contrasting interest happening! Then I chose myself some papers from the Good morning sunshine pack and added some Riding Hood Red, Kraft, Pacific Point and white cardstock to finish it off!

Remember my card earlier this week featuring Jemima the sock monkey? Well, if you look closely, you'll see I used this exact same sketch to make that card, but I just dressed it up a bit.

I absolutely love sketch challenges, and I find myself doing more and more of them, especially when I need cards in a hurry! It saves your mind ALOT of hassle believe me! lol

Be sure to check out the other Design Team creations too! I can't wait to come back a little after dinner tonight and have a peep at what they've been up to. Their blog links are on my side bar for you!

Thanks for another awesome challenge Keesh, it's been fun!

Hank's Little Adventure!

Just me again!

Thought you might like to see what Hank got up to this morning while I was out!!

Then I get this photo sent to me via my mobile phone..........he saw a party happening and thought he'd wander in, say G'day, and help himself to some party food! lol

Seriously though, these are some more projects I had completed before I left for convention! The little ute was one of the projects offered if you participated in UStamp! It's so much fun to make - and the back part is actually a box so you can put some goodies in there if you want - cool huh?

And the card, well, it was one of those creations that happened by pure accident, as it certainly isn't at all how I imagined it in my mind to be!

I can't remember now what I did, but I somehow ended up with black marks on the cardstock at the top and was having quite the panick attack as to how they go there, and how I was going to get rid of them! Suddenly I had the brain wave of using my punches, and I punched out the balloons which fixed the problem instantly! Phew!

Hope you like these -it's so nice to finally be uploading them!

More Sock Monkey Fun!

Good morning everyone! Just a super quick post today before I head out the door to get the kidiwinkles to school!

This morning I thought I'd introduce to you my little friend, Hank! He's Jemima's bo!
Now, poor little hank was born with a very rare skin condition - so if you see him appear in some cards in various different colour shades, just know his skin is probably feeling a little irritated! lol

This card I've had made since wayyyyyyyyyyy before convention! As Keesh has said on her website this morning...........this little guy is our replacement of the BOUF! I made her buy it, but she sooooooo wasn't keen to! I reckon now she loves him to death though! lol

I thought he'd be really fun to make into a spinner card, so here's what I came up with!

Then I wanted to create a little gift box to match the card, so this is what eventuated from that thought! lol

I've used Chocolate Chip, So Saffron and Ruby Red and a touch of Close To Cocoa as my colour scheme and I was so happy with the outcome! The banana I drew freehand just by looking at the stamp, so I was pretty happy with that effort too!

So, now you've met both Hank and Jemima! They will both make regular appearances on my blog as we have some fun and get up to some mischief with Keesh's little mate Stan!!

If you have a challenge you'd like to issue us with first time round, feel free to post it in a comment here! You just never know whose challenge we might pick!:)

Another Tick Off The "To Do List"!

This is card I finished just this morning - it's a card for my newphew, whose birthday is next Monday, and he'll be 15! How time flies.......I remember when he was born! Geese!

My card is a bit of a CASE from this one here that I found on SCS, but I just changed a few things around to make it my own version! I've used Circle Circus, and I also did a bit of Embossing which was really fun for a change!

The colour scheme is Kiwi Kiss, Basic Grey, Riding Hood Red and Whisper White! It's just a nice simple card, but I'm so happy with how it turned out! Hope you like it too!

A Fun Monkey Birthday!

With my last couple of weeks having been quite the whirl wind, I'm now trying to get caught up on all the things that seem to have fell by the way side in my card making world! I don't know why I didn't start a proper "to do" list sooner, rather than leaving myself post it notes all over the place! It's amazing what you can get done in a day when you actually have it all listed down!

Anyhow, this is a fun card I made last night using the Sock Monkey stamp set! I absolutely LOVE this little character, and although it's body isn't all that attractive, you sure can do cute things with it's head - ha ha! I love how you can turn it into a boy or girl monkey too, just by paper piercing some cute clothes on it out of co-ordinating DSP!

Allow me to introduce to you..............Jemima!

Isn't she just the cheekiest little thing with her yummy cupcake?

She's off to a very special birthday celebration next week, and asked to be dressed pretty for the occassion, so I decked her out in clothes that (as luck would have it!) match the Bella Rose Papers perfectly! Jemima is of the opinion that she look's quite the princess (this monkey has attitude I think!) and can't wait to head off to the party! She wants to know if you all think she's scrubbed up alright - I think she's out to impress a certain little someone! lol

I hope you have enjoyed today's post - I'm off to tackle more on my "to do" list!

I LOVE Getting Happy Mail!

Morning everyone!

I just got home from having a lovely coffee with my cousin, to find a gorgeous hand made card in the mail from my friend Amanda who I did the workshop for on the weekend! Inside she thanks me for doing the workshop for her, and said all her friends had a great time and that they're now"hooked"! I know so many of you can relate to that "hooked" feeling.............been there done that I can hear you say!! lol

Amanda is so much like me, in that she pays attention to detail in everything she does - this card is just a perfect reflection of that!

Amanda, it was my absolute pleasure to come and spend an afternoon with you and your friends! I have a feeling we will be spending quite a few Saturday arvy's together in the coming months! lol

Thank you so much........

Yesterday's Workshop Fun!

Morning everyone!

Wow! What a fantastic afternoon I had yesterday doing a workshop for some lovely new friends of mine! I had so much fun, that I thought I'd share some pics of the afternoon with you all! Many thanks to Amanda (my fantastic Hostess!) for emailing me through the pics late last night!

Amanda actually found me via the Demonstrator Locator last year and has come along to a few of my in home workshops since then. She asked me if I would do a workshop for her and a few friends in her home and considering I love any opportunity to share Stampin' Up! products with people, the workshop was booked and the rest is history really! lol

Here's one table in action - I think they're finished their first creation here and are busy trawling the catalogue! lol

This is the other table of busy crafters!

Oh, and here are some of the girls with their first finished creation! They each made a card, a lolly wrap and also a sunny boy container!

So all in all, I feel confident to say everyone had a wonderful time! Thank you for your awesome company girls, and I look forward to doing it alllll again next month at Renee's house!

Inkspiration Challenge!

Well, here it is Friday night........not sure I'll actually be home when this uploads, I think we might venture out for tea somewhere! That's the plan as I type this out in preparation anyway! lol

Ok, so this week, Keesh has a gorgeous bed setting for us to draw our inspiration from! My daughter Maddy just loved this picture, and actually was a great help to me when I was making my card! She has the best eye for colour, I'd call her in every so often and say should I have this in this colour or that one? She'd say, mum try this, I reckon it will look heaps better - and sure enough it did! lol

Then I had the dilema of which colour ribbon to tie on it! So I emailed my card pic to my good friend Jean who ALWAYS gives me an honest opinion (I love that about her!) and she gave me a few colours she thought would work, and when i actually found the time to sit down and try them...........Pink Pirouette seemed to do the job best! I originally had a lovely yellow ribbon around it, and while it did look good - it seemed to be the focal point of the card and that wasn't what I wanted!

So, here's the inspiration pic!

And here's my card!

As you can see, I really took everything I could from the bed setting and put it onto my card! The only thing I didn't put on because I felt it would have been too much, was a butterfly or 2! I toyed with the idea of stamping a sentiment on the card as well, but decided against that because sometimes a card easily do without one I find!

So that's my card for this week, hope you like it! I hope to be back soon with some new creations for you, but in the mean time be sure to check out my DT girl friends to see what gorgeous creations they've whipped up this week! They're blogs are listed on my side bar for you!

ETA - A little girl by the name of Kezzi has left me a message telling me how much she liked my card. Kezzie, please get mummy to email me your address, and I will put this card in the mail for you! ;)

Just Something Quick!

I know I said I wouldn't be back till Friday, but I just had to show you this card I finished just now!

This idea has been floating around in my head ever since we got the Circle Circus stamp set at convention! At first I really thought the set wasn't my cup of tea, but I'm starting to like it more and more!

Here's how you can make a quick male 'golf themed' card using Circle Circus! What do you think?


The little tee is just one of the points of our large star punch! The golf club I drew free hand and cut out (yeah, yeah I know it's a bit poxy! lol) but I reckon it works a treat and the sentiment is from the Enjoy Every Moment stamp set!

If you think about it, and you desperately needed a soccer ball on your card, this set could help you with that too! Gotta look outside the box people! lol

So there ya go - hope you enjoy this one! Back Friday! (for real this time!)

A Stamp Club Project!

Well, I managed to find a few photo's I'd been meaning to upload and forgot I even had them ready to go! Seriously, I feel like I'm losing my mind lately! lol

This is one of the 3 projects I had my stamp club girls make on Saturday! I have them come over for a FREE afternoon of crafting every month, where I design a few fun projects for them to make and enjoy! We chat and giggle and have a lovely afternoon of relaxed fun! I try to spoilt these girls a little too;)

As soon as I saw this You Tube video , I knew it was the perfect project for the girls to make! They got to play with the large die cut flowers, flower fusion and also the build a brads - products none of them had experienced previously!

This is the side view below! You can fill it with choccies or anything that tickles your fancy really! Isn't it the cutest thing! lol

Hope you enjoyed this quick little post! I'll be back Friday night after 6pm with my Inkspirations Design Team project!

Have a great day everyone!

Ribbon/Designer Brad/Clip Share!

Hi all,

While I still have nothing new card wise to share (not until Friday night anyways:) I do have a few spots available in the Ribbon, Designer Brads and Clip Shares I'm running!

Here's the details:

In Colour 5/8" Ribbon Share (1 spot remaining)

You will receive 2 meters of each of the 6 In Colour Ribbons - so a total of 12 meters!
Cost - $20.50 including postage.

Grosgrain 1/4" Ribbon (2 spots remaining in group 2)

You will receive 2 meters of each of the 17 ribbon colours - so a total of 34 meters of ribbon!
Cost - $32.60 including postage.

Designer Brad/Clip Share (1 spot remaining)

You will receive 16 of the new Designer Brads (2 of each size of the Flower, Filigree, Circle &Star found on page 148) plus 6 clips (2 each of 3 different types also on page 148)

Cost - $15.30 including postage

If you would like to secure a spot in any or all of these groups, please email me ASAP!

The order will be placed on the 30th of May, so you would need to direct deposit your payment into my account before that date! Upon joining I'll email you my account details! Demonstrators are most welcome to join!

Slack Blogger!

Morning everyone!

I just wanted to pop on here quickly just to ask you all to bear with me while I get through the month of May! At the moment, I'm just finding it really hard to find enough hours in the day to get done what I need to, and it's leaving very little crafting time for me! I'm also trying to get back into my exercise routine, which has been put on the back burner for way too long, so adding that into my already busy days is proving quite the mission for me! lol

So in saying that, for a few more weeks all you might see from me are my DT cards for Keesh's weekly challenges, which I upload after 6pm Friday nights! I promise come June though, things will be heaps better as my work load is alot lighter! Bring it on I say! lol

Thanks for your patience - I hope you came back and visit me soon:)

Inkspirations Colour Challenge!

Can someone please tell me where the week has gone? I woke up and it was Monday, and now it's the end of the week - crikey!lol

Ok, so it's time for another Inkspiration Challenge, and this week Keesh has chosen some gorgeous colours for us to work with as you can see below!

I had so much fun making my square card last week, that I thought I'd do another this week - even the layout is a bit similar to last week's sketch which I'm sure you'll notice! lol

Here's what I created!

I actually did some convention swaps a bit like this, so some of you might recognise the bugs stamped randomly over the card, and then the magnifying glass punched out as a feature!

Now, as I stated on the back of my swaps, the whole magnifying glass idea is not mine (unfortunately I'm not that clever:) I found a card about 2 years ago on the net and saved it to my computer along with the name of the original creator for future reference. Unfortunately, since getting a new laptop, I no longer have this information in order to give credit where it's due.

I've used the Bugs And Kisses stamp set, along with the Really Retro Stamp set for the sentiment! The button comes from the Button Latte pack - gosh they are nice buttons!

So there ya have it - another one bites the dust! Be sure to check out the designs the rest of the team has put together, you'll find their blog links on my right hand side bar!

A Pretty Covered Journal!

Morning all! Hope your all having a great start to your Wednesday morning!

I've been up and water colouring early this morning in order to get this journal completed! It's all done now, so I thought I would quickly upload it for you before hooking into my daily chores! They never seem to go away do they! lol

I was asked last week, if I would cover a journal which will be a 21st birthday gift for a young girl. The ladies in her yoga group intend on writing beautiful things about her in it, and then presenting her with it. How's that for a lovely idea!

I knew it would probably be more of a keepsake for her than anything, so I decided to make the flowers from the 5th Avenue Floral stamp set a real feature on the journal!

What I did was water colour each individual flower, and when the water is absorbed and it dries fully, I find the watercolor paper goes quite stiff! This is then perfect for moulding the petals in the direction which you'd like them!

The photo doesn't show it at all well, but I've moulded each flower by either gently bending the petals, or in the case of the rose I have bent the edges up and over and then folded the very edges over! Gosh, that description must be as clear as mud, but it gives the flowers a really nice 3d effect! If you need any further clarification, please flick me an email and I'll see if I can explain it any better! lol

The paper I've used is from the Bella Bleu DSP range and I've teamed it up with the gorgeous soft colours of Pink Pirouette, Baja Breeze, Kraft and Vanilla! I lined the inside barrel of a pen with some DSP as well so it all matches in really well!

Hope you like it, and if you have any questions at all, I'm more than happy to help you!

A Super Quick Card!

Good morning everyone!

I thought you might like to see the card I whipped up in literally 15 minutes yesterday!

I have a few workshops coming up this month, and was on the phone chatting to one of my 'Hostess's' yesterday afternoon. While we were chatting away, Amanda happened to mention it had been her birthday last week, something I was not aware of, but certainly wanted to make a card for none the less!

I've been admiring the gorgeous card on page 83 of our catalouge using Flight Of A Butterfly, and I thought I would take the oppotunity to make it for her! I changed a few things slightly like the colour scheme, the way I've tied the bow, the border punch used, and the sentiment, but gosh it looks pretty and I am really happy with it!


I've used Riding Hood Red, Kraft, Pink Pirouette and Whisper White and that's one colour scheme I will definitely be using again - it's just gorgeous!

Never be afraid to use the catalogue and copy ideas from it - that's exactly what it's there for! It certainly pulled me out of a tight spot yesterday, and I can't wait to give it to her this morning!

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY AMANDA!

A Quick Mothers Day Card!

Hi everyone!

I've been at my stamp desk again for most of today, just trying to get ahead on a few things as well as prepping for upcoming workshops and stamp club get togethers! I'm almost done with everything which is a really nice feeling I have to say! On Monday after getting back from convention, I was feeling rather overwhelmed by it all and I honestly didn't have a clue where to start, hence me only just realising that I hadn't made a Mothers Day card for Tony to give to his mum! Oops!

I needed something that would be really quick to get done and so I chose the Upsy Daisy Stamp set which I truely love! You can make a really pretty card in minutes with this set, so I honestly recommend you add it to your wish list IF it's not already on it!":)

My friend Jean had done a gorgeous convention swap card using this set, and it was very much the inspiration for my card today! You can see her card here! Thanks heaps Jean!

I thought I'd try the bleaching technique just as Jean had - actually I tried it out quite a few times trying to get just the right look I wanted! Jean's card had a very different effect - mine is quite blotchy compared to hers. I'm not sure if that's exactly how it's suppose to look, but considering it was the same every single time I did it, I figured it might even be the card stock making it do that! Needless to say, I do kinda like the blotchy look, it adds interest to the flowers! That's my story and I'm stickin' to it anyhow! lol

So here it is anyway! I've used Kraft, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum and Pink Pirouette for my colour scheme, which is just so soft and pretty I think!

I've also stamped along the bottom of the card using the same image, this time in Sahara Sand which was stamped off once just so it looked more subtle!

I hope you like it, and perhaps it might be the perfect card for you to CASE if your just like me and in need of a Mother's Day Card really quickly!

If your a mum, I really hope you have a beautiful day tomorrow! My mother's day's are always special, and something I really look forward to each and every year!

Launching The Inkspirations Design Team!

Wow!! This is one heck of an exciting day for me because I'm FINALLY able to reveal that I'm one of Keesh's new design team members! Good lord, I'm just busting at the seams with excitment..........there are also a few nerves playing havoc in my stomache too I do have to admit! lol

Being apart of a design team has always been in the back of my mind as something I would love to do 'one day'! When the opportunity came up for me to possibly work along side Keesh in her new little venture, I jumped at the chance! I almost fell off my chair when she told me the position was mine if I wanted it, as I can only imagine how many absolutely gorgeous pieces of work she received as submissions!

Thanks so much Keesh for the opportunity, and I'm looking forward to having a blast with anything you throw my way.

Alrighty, so our very first challenge is a sketch which you can see below!

And this is my creation!

For my card, I chose to use a Kraft card stock base as it matches perfectly with the Urban Oasis DSP! I then teamed the Kraft up with Going Grey, Baja Breeze and Kiwi Kiss! I've used the large antique brass eyelets to secure my ribbon to one side just for a festive kinda look and I've popped the large centre square as well as the 3 accents on it up on dimensionals! Paper Piercing has also been a feature of my card...............actually it's a feature on anything I make really isn't it?

The stamp set I used is Party Hearty, which is closely becoming one of my fave sets I have to say, and even more so after I saw the lovely projects Marelle Taylor had on hand as part of her display at convention! They were simply beautiful!

Anyway I won't rave on much more (although with my excitment I really could!), but be sure to pop over and check out the rest of the design team's work. I'm certain they'll produce some knock out work for you with their talents! I'll be loading their blogs onto a seperate section of my sidebar tonight, but in the mean time, they are below for you! Enjoy!

Renee

Cindy

Kirsty

Amy

Gift's Galore!

Well, after a very early night last night back in my own bed, I actually feel like I'm back in the land of the living, and thought for today's post I would share some of the gorgeous gifts I was given at convention! Talk about making a girl feel rather spesh! lol

Alrighty, the first gorgeous gift I'm showing you is from the lovely Jane Norrish! I met Jane for the first time at convention, although I had heard so many lovely things about her well before then! She is an absolute hoot to be in the company of and is also a VERY talented stamper!!

So, this is the pressie she gave me. It's a gorgeous little inventory book listing all the products from our SU catalogue! You know how sometimes you can't remember if you have a certain product in your stash, well you just mark it off the list in this little book and you'll never have that problem again! Thanks Janey, I love it!


The next gift is from a beautiful lady named Linda Craven! I received an email from Linda just a few days before I left asking if we could meet up as she had a little something for me! I have to say, I got a little bit excited wondering what the heck it could be!lol

So anyway, I found her quite easily, and after a big hug she presented me with this absolutely stunning gift bag below.

And if the bag wasn't gorgeous enough, this is what the bag had inside!!

The little scallop box has a box of choccies inside, which FYI are still totally full! lol

Then there is a little box of tic tacs decorated, a chocolate slider with a Kit Kat inside (and also still in there!!!lol), a little pouch with some Maltesers, and lastly there is a gorgeous little flip up pouch which holds a packet of tissues and also some lip balm!!

Thank you so much Linda - it was an absolute joy to have met you! Mwah!!

Next, we have the Convention Survival kit Keesh gave me - how cool is it! I loved it so much I couldn't bear to rip it open to get the chocolate out even when I had an attack of the munchies!

Next is the pressie that my gorgeous little mate Mel Hanlon gave me!!! She came up to our room with Karen Robinson on Thursday night and we chatted, laughed and swapped cards, and then Mel presented me with this gorgeous little pack of note papers she had made up for me!

They are so beautiful and I know they will definitely come in really handy! Thanks Melly and 'Rock On'! (Sorry folks, that's a 'you had to be there joke!)

And lastly, I have the gorgeous tin that the beautiful Ngaire Anderson gave me! It was filled with some very yummy baking she had done and placed in a cello bag! You'll notice that the baking is no longer in the tin though............wonder who ate that? lol

I do have another lovely pressie to show you that Carol Dunstan gave to me!! I haven't had 3 seconds to assemble it yet, but when I do, it'll be up here for you to see as well, cause I just love it AND she made it on the bus on her way to convention!! Luv ya Carol - Mwah!

I hope to be back a little later!

Home From Convention!

Wow!!! What an absolutely incredible couple of days I've just had in Canberra at our Stampin' Up! Convention! I arrived home just after lunch today, and as much as I was very ready to come home to my kids and Tony, I also feel a little sad knowing I won't see alot of the fantastic people I met for another year, until we meet again in SYDNEY!!!!!!! I'm stoked with that destination I have to say, cause at least that's one place I can fly direct to from Mackay!! Yay!

While I have so much I want to tell you about, I'm just so tired this afternoon, due to a very big lack of sleep, and in all honesty, my brain is a little fried!

So, instead I'll share with you what I think is my favourite photo from convention. This is me, Ngaire Anderson and Keesh! How colour co-ordinated are we in this photo? We were all wearing some kind of 'Real Red'! lol

As you can see, I'm proudly wearing my BOUF badge and while Keesh is certainly wearing an absolutely huge flower on her chest, rest assured her BOUF was just inside her jacket! lol