Another kind of daisy

Hi again!

A quick post to show you another card using a 2-step set called Petal Prints.  I was actually practicing my 2-step stamping technique and liked the result so much it seemed a pity to throw it out...  It is a retired set but there is a very similar one in the current catalogue which is a Hostess level 2 set.

What I used:

Card:  Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, So Saffron

Ink:  Riding Hood Red, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip.

Stamp Sets:  Petal Prints, Sincere Salutations

Tools and other fun stuff:  Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Scallop Border punch, Scallop Oval punch, Wide Oval punch.

Bird Punch Play Date

Here is the second of the cards made for Christchurch.  I'm also using this layout for as a Make and Take for my first "Craft and My Place" event on the 5th of March - if you live in Wellington and would like to come along that day, let me know so I can give the address details.

What I used:

Card:  Tempting Turquoise, So Saffron, Real Red, Old Olive, Play Date DSP

Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Basic Black Stampin' Write marker.

Stamp Set:  Sincere Salutations

Tools and other fun stuff::  2 Step Bird Punch, Scallop Border punch, Wide Oval Punch, Scallop Oval punch.

Thinking of You

Cardmakers are getting together and making cards to send to Christchurch to be distributed by Victim Support and though it seems such a little thing to do, I sincerely hope my cards bring a little peace to someone amidst the chaos down there at the moment.  I sat at my desk and made some yesterday which I'll show to you over the next couple of days.

The following message came via the Just Add Ink blog:
"Victim Support are a group affiliated with the NZ police force and are trained in dealing everyday with adversity, helping and supporting people in need.
We thought they would appreciate some cards that they could write in and to take to victims of this devastating quake.
If you would like to do the same then you can send a home made card (blank inside with envelope if possible) to -


Victim Support
PO Box 2109
Christchurch
New Zealand


Thinking of you, get well soon, with sympathy or just a plain blank card would be appreciated"


I wanted to made a nice bright card so chose my favourite DSP called Play Date to feature in this card, and as Christchurch is the city of flowers thought it was very appropriate. 

What I used:


Card:  Tempting Turquoise, Read Red, Whisper White, Play Date DSP


Ink:  Chocolate Chip


Stamp Set:  Sincere Salutations


Tools and other fun stuff:  Butterfly punch, Wide Oval punch, Scalloped Oval punch, Rhinestone.

Daisy, daisy!

Here is the third and final sympathy card, I thought I had finished it a couple of days ago but wasn't 100% happy with it, it seemed to lack 'something' so this morning I added the scalloped strip of Soft Suede and now am much happier with it, it looks a lot more balanced to me now.  This stamp set was part of our kit at our Regional Training last year and I really need to use it more.  It also includes a pretty bird image, I'll see if I can find a photo to show you too!

I did manage to find photos of the other cards, it is a great image for using your watercolouring technique, and the wee bird (a finch perhaps?) can be coloured any colour you like!

What I used for the Daisy sympathy card:

Card:  Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede, Whisper White

Ink:  So Saffron, Soft Suede, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive

Stamp Sets:  Every Moment, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Tools and other fun Stuff:  Scallop Border punch, aquapainter, Paper Piercing tool and mat, Word Window punch, corner rounder punch.

No card today

First of all just want to say how saddened I am at the latest quake in Christchurch yesterday afternoon, my heart goes out to all those affected - I understand there are at this stage 75 confirmed deaths and 300 people still missing, what a tragic time for all the people of Canterbury.  (If you want to find out more details about this major event you can find info at www.stuff.co.nz )

Secondly, I am having visitors soon!  Why do I tell you?  Well, my parents are coming to stay for 4 months so am pretty sure I won't be able to post as regularly as I've been doing so until now - but I'll do my best!  Then again, I might get mum interested in stampin' and there may be heaps of cards to share with you all LOL!

And lastly, my brother received his birthday card and it was in one piece, hurray!  He was very happy with it, I sent it to his work and they were all very interested in it - he owns a printing business!  He couldn't believe I'd use my sewing machine on it hehehe...

Bye for now, thoughts and prayers for the people in Christchurch.

With Sympathy

Now, I'm very grateful I don't need any sympathy cards at the moment but I'm counting on "Sod's law" that if I have some already made I won't need to use them!  On the other hand, I'm also pretty sure that if and when the time comes that I do need one I probably won't feel like making one so this morning I made a couple.  I actually made one yesterday and liked the layout so much I made two more in the same vein, just varying the stamp sets and very slight changes to the overall composition.

What I used:

Card:  Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Whisper White

Ink:  Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie

Stamp Sets:  Autumn Days, Petal Prints (retired), Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Tools and other fun stuff:  Word Window punch, corner rounder punch, Scallop Border punch, Certainly Celery 1/4" grosgrain ribbon (retired), Old Olive 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Stampa-ma-jig.

P is for Plum - jam that is!

Not a card today, but a totally domestic and useful bit of stamping!

My parents are coming to stay very soon so for once I have decided to label the jams I have made to make life a little easier.  Not many jars yet mind you, but still, six jars is better than an empty larder.  Anyway, I do hope to make a  little more before autumn rolls in and fruit becomes more expensive.

Normally I bottle the jam, pop in a cupboard and then the guessing game begins - is it plum?  is it apricot, is it something else??  This time I've made little labels for my jars, 'a' is for apricot, 'p' is for plum....

What I used:

Card:  White

Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Pumplin Pie, So Saffron, Old Olive, Regal Rose

Stamp Sets:  Big Deal alphabet (retired), Sweet Summer (what could be more appropriate when bottling all the goodness of the season!)

Tools and other fun stuff:  1 3/4" circle punch, double sided tape, sponges.

Apple Tree

The embossed 'apple tree' panel on this card really started out as an exercise, I wasn't intending to put in to good use.  Even when it was finished, it sat on my cutting board for a couple of days until I decided to give it a good home - a nice Riding Hood Red base!  I hadn't realized how fantastic this particular red looks with the Certainly Celery - will be using it again in the future that's for sure!

It was the first time I got to try my Square Lattice embossing folder, I had seen quite a few examples of this technique, usually involving hearts or flowers, and was keen to try it out.

I punched the tree out of Certainly Celery with the Wide Oval Punch, punched some red 'apples' with a 1/4" punch, hand-cut the tree trunk, did some sponging with Old Olive and Bashful Blue - glued it all together and rolled it through the Cuttlebug using an embossing folder.  And that's pretty much it really, I matted it with Certainly Celery and then glued it onto Riding Hood Red.  It's just right for this time of the year when apples are coming into season!

What I used:

Card:  Riding Hood Red, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip, White

Ink: Old Olive, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery

Stamp Sets: None

Tools and other fun stuff:  Wide Oval punch, 1/4" punch (non SU), Stampin' sponges, Square Lattice embossing folder.

Warm Wishes

(OMG - you almost got three posts yesterday - did you know that if you press Control +P it publishes your post????   Well, I certainly know now!   Anyway, by clicking on "save as draft" it sent it back into the draft status.... lucky!)

The card you are seeing today was made for a Shabby Tearoom challenge, and it is the first 'theme' card I've attempted.  I have to say it is quite different from the cards already posted on their website, it's not very shabby, no bows or hearts, but differences are the spice of life, right?

The theme was KEEPING WARM and the ideas was to convey the feeling of warmth somehow - so I used the word WARM as my focal point.  I had all these fancy ideas about adding buttons, wrapping yarn and ribbons around the letters, make it really 'homespun' etc, etc.... In my mind the letters were somewhat larger and could cope with buttons and wool, but once I cut them out reality took a grip so I just left them plain (if you can call plain a stamped, cut out, sponged and ultimately embossed letter!)  So, I really had a lot of fun putting it together, it took a while but here it is.

(Of course the (retired) alphabet set is really for Leo to use, but he's having a hard time getting his hands on it as I keep using it - the scrapbook page I did for his Kindy a couple of weeks ago went down a treat!)

What I used (what didn't I use!!)

Card:  Riding Hood Red, Crumb Cake, Pumpkin Pie, Haiku DSP (retired)

Ink:  Riding Hood Red, Soft Suede, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Crumb Cake, Versamark watermark, Chocolate Chip

Stamp Sets:  Big Deal Alphabet (retired), Sincere Salutations, Simply Said

Tools and other fun stuff:  Large Oval punch, Scalloped Oval punch, Floral Fusion Sizzlits die, 2-step Bird punch, Scalloped Border punch, Stampin' Sponges, Sqaure Lattice embossing folder,  Peach Parfait polystitched ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Basic Pearls, embossing buddy, clear embossing powder, heat gun, pheww!

Red Butterflies

I know.... second post today!

Just a quick card to show you today, I like the little butterflies made with the Heart to Heart punch, thought they turned out very cute.

I used the colour combination on Diva Coffee Break's challenge this week - Real Red, Basic Gray and Pink Pirouette -  as I don't actually have any of the ink pads in those three particular colours I went for a 'punch up' instead!

What I used:

Card:  Pink Pirouette, Real Red, Basic Gray

Ink:  Basic Black

Stamp Sets:  Butterfly Prints, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Tools and other fun stuff:  Heart to Heart punch, Wide Oval punch, Large Oval punch, Scalloped Oval punch.

Another Sale-a-Bration set

I received this lovely card late last week from Keryn, congratulating me on becoming a Senior Associate!  It was a lovely surprise to get a gorgeous handmade card in the post - thanks Keryn!  I know she has been having a lot of fun lately creating with her Punch Bunch stamp set, you can see more of her creations here.

What Keryn used (I may have to guess at some of the products!)

Card:  Concord Crush, Concord Crush DSP (hostess Level one gift I think)

Ink:  Concord Crush

Stamp Set:  Punch Bunch, So Happy for You (both these are FREE sale-a-bration sets)

Tools and other fun stuff:  2-step Owl Punch, Scalloped Square punch, 1 1/4" Square puch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stampin' sponges,

Crumb Cake Sweet Summer

For today's card I've used once again the Sweet Summer stamp set which I'm really enjoying!  It makes a wonderful background like you can see here, I stamped one of the flower images plus a tiny bee in Crumb Cake on Very Vanilla, scalloped two edges and sponged them with Crumb Cake as well to soften them.  I had embossed the base card with the Textured Impressions embossing folder to add interest to that part of the card. Once again I have used a blender pen to 'pull in' the colour on the red flower and bee, an effect I really like.

The other set I'm using a lot lately is the Teeny Tiny Sentiments - with 24 different sentiments you just can't go wrong, there's something appropriate for almost every event!

This card meets the requirements of three (or is it four!) challenges - I'm learning to combine them now!  First of all the colour is from ColorLab, the sketch is from GAB and the embellishments are for the Daring Cardmakers challenge (on this occasion sponsored by The Ribbon Reel).

Anyway, once again, hope you like it!

What I used:

Card:  Crumb Cake (first time I've used this colour), Real Red and Very Vanilla

Ink:  Crumb Cake, Riding Hood Red.

Stamp Sets:  Sweet Summer, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Tools and other fun stuff:  Heart to Heart punch, Buttons #5 Sizzlits die, Square Lattice embossing folder, Scallop Border punch, Real Red 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, blender pens, Stampin' sponges, red twine from my stash.

Sweet Summer

Sorry I've been away for a few days, was feeling rather tired and uninspired but today woke up to a gorgeous day so got motivated to make this card.  I will be sending it to a friend's mother who has just had an operation, hope it cheers her up a bit!

One again I used colouring in techniques, I tried two different approaches on this card.  First I coloured in the flowers by using the ink from the inkpad and a blender pen, and it worked okay, but what I'm really pleased with was something I hadn't tried before and that was of stamping the image (in this case the leaves and little bird) and then using the blender pen to drag the colour in from the sides.  It worked really well as Garden Green is a very intense colour and it created a lighter tone in the middle, really pleased with that effect!

The colour combination came from the Color Dare challenge this week, and the sketch is from
Stamping 411 again.  I'm pleased I found both these sites as they seem to work for me and my way of crafting!

What I used:

Card:  White, Bashful Blue, Peach Parfait

Ink:  Garden Green, Bashful Blue plus a hint of So Saffron

Stamp Sets:  Sweet Summer, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Tools and other fun stuff:  Scallop Border punch, Square Lattice embossing folder, Word Window punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Peach Parfait ribbon, blender pens.

Loads of Love

Another card for a sketch challenge, it looked quite simple to start with but I tend to have a habit of complicating things sometimes!  So after deciding to use the truck image I thought of building a scene to go with it and after some stamping, masking, stamping again, sponging on 'hills' and clouds, etc here is the result!

I used a sketch from Stamping 411 again, you're most welcome to pop over to their blog if you want to see what other people made with the sketch.

What I used:

Card:  White, Riding Hood Red, Soft Suede

Ink:  Soft Suede, Riding Hood Red, Garden Green, Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Pacific Point.

Stamp Sets:  Loads of Love, Basic Phrases

Tools and other fun stuff:  Large Oval punch, blender pens, Stampin' sponges, non SU embossing folder.

Another thank you card

I was in need of a couple of thank you cards hence yesterday and today's posts - little 'Emily' once again has become the focus of today's card.

What I used:

Card:  White, So Saffron, Riding Hood Red

Ink:  So Saffron, Riding Hood Red.

Stamp Sets:  Eastern Blossoms, Sincere Salutations

Tools and other fun stuff:  Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Scallop Border punch, Scalloped Oval punch, Wide Oval punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stampin' sponges.

Navy and Red thanks

I had a reasonably quiet week in the crafting department last week so this morning I decided I'd try a new technique that was showcased in one of Stampin' Up!s demonstrator magazines a couple of months ago, called "Faux Silk".  I used the latest Clean and Simple sketch as my inspiration.

It involves stamping an image on tissue paper, crumpling,  smoothing, glueing, etc.  I think the tissue I chose was a little too fine as you can barely see it, but still, it was good to try it out.  I've attached photos of the process as well in case you were interested in trying it.  I will definitely try it again but with gift wrap tissue which is slightly thicker than what I had on hand this morning.

Do you know I've given this little girl a name?  It just seemed a little sad to be referring to her as 'the little girl' so from now on she will be knows as Emily on my blog!  Don't ask me why I chose that name, it just popped into my mind, slightly old-fashioned perhaps?  She looks like an Emily to me anyway LOL!  And don't worry, I won't be naming all my other stamps!

 First stamp your image on tissue and prepare a base for it to be glued to.

 Crumple up your stamped tissue paper.

 Smooth it out, but not too much, you want those wrinkles, really!

 Roughly cut it to size, allowing for an overhang to tuck around the back

 Apply glue to the base with your glue stick - I have sponged around the background with Riding Hood Red - just experimenting, again!

 Carefully lay the image on the base and smooth it out - I think this is where I went wrong because I smoothed it out too much, removing all the wrinkles...

 When happy with the front, turn over and apply more glue with your glue stick to the back and start glueing down the overhang.

 Finished back, no one will see this part!

Finished 'medallion' ready for your use.


What I used:

Card:  White, Night of Navy

Ink:  Riding Hood Red, Night of Navy

Stamp sets:  Easter Blossoms, Sincere Salutations

Tools and other fun stuff:  Stamp-a-ma-jig, glue stick, Stampin' Sponges, non SU circle and scallop dies/templates.

Birthday Bakery - Happy Waitangi Day to all!

This is the last of the cards I made at Keryn's last Sunday and it uses yet another Level 1 Hostess set called Birthday Bakery.  Very bright and summery, just the thing to accompany some homemade goodies for someone special!  It is a lovely stamp set, full of cakes and 'sweet' sentiments, it can be yours when you host a qualifying workshop!

What I used:

Card:  Daffodil Delight, Rose Red, Tempting Turquoise, Pretty in Pink

Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink and Daffodil Delight Stampin' Write Markers.

Stamp Set::  Birthday Bakery

Tools and other fun stuff:  1 1/4' Square punch, Stampin' sponges.

February birthdays

Second post of the day!

For some reason February seems to be rather full of birthdays in our family, a niece, a nephew, my brother, two of my sister-in-laws plus a cousin of Carlos (and I may have even missed some off that list!).

Anyway, both my brother and one of my SILs are turning 50 this month, I've already posted one card off to Chile, and today I got stuck into the enjoyable task of creating a card for my brother who lives in Melbourne.  It is quite a different thought process when you are creating with a specific person in mind, I spent an enjoyable hour reminiscing about teenage years whilst I created, yet all the time bearing in mind that the last card I sent him arrived in pieces!!   Not sure what the postie did but this time it is NOT going to happen!  I glued, then I sewed, then I glued it again all together with WOODWORK glue (I know, terrible thing to admit to!....).  Now, if this birthday card falls to bits in the post I know what he is getting next year - a single layer card!

It was great to have an excuse to follow a sketch on Stamping 411 AND ink up a new set called Autumn Days - I tend to choose nature inspired stamp sets so this was perfect when I saw it in the catalogue.  Not sure if you can see it in the photo but I embossed the DSP and then sponged it a little with Old Olive, I also did some tone on tone stamping on the bottom area of the card for an added layer of interest.  All I needed to really be true to the sketch was three little brads but I don't own any - yet - so will leave them off 'till next time.

(I think the camera was playing tricks today, the card is definitely square and trim, it looks a bit strange in this photo!)

What I used:

Card:  Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Pumpkin Pie, Play Date DSP

Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive

Stamp sets:  Autumn Days, Teeny Tiny Sentiments (I'm getting a lot of mileage out of this set!)

Tools and other fun stuff:  Scallop border punch, Large Oval punch, Scalloped Oval punch, swiss dots EF, Stampin' Sponges, 1/4" Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon (retired), Stampin' Dimensionals, sewing machine.

Box of tricks

I know I tend to focus on cards because I love making them, but of course there are so many things to can do with a piece of gorgeous card or paper.  I am yet to make my first scrapbook page (well, I have made a scrapbook before but more on at a later date), but the other avenue I need to explore a little more is 3D papercrafts.  As I was tidying up my craft area the other day it dawned on me that I had a project there that I had not shared with anyone yet, and I really like it as it is useful and practical!

Some time ago I needed a container for my bits and pieces so I cut down an empty box and covered and decorated it.  What I used to cover the base was the paper that Stampin' Up! uses to pack its orders with, I crumpled it up and then smoothed it out, patted the Old Olive ink pad over it to highlight the creases and covered my box.  Then I stamped some Petal Pizazz flowers and leaves, cut them out and glued them securely to it - and it was ready!

I used the 'rock'n'roll' technique for two of the flowers - I can demonstrate it in your next workshop if you like!

What I used:

Card:  Very Vanilla, Stampin' Up! packing paper

Ink:  Old Olive, Rose Red, So Safron, Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery

Stamp Set:  Petal Pizazz

Tools and other fun stuff:  Scissors, glue.

I love Hydrangeas!

I love Hydrangeas, they remind me of when I was little and we lived in Chile - we had a very pretty garden with a centre medallion with a big linden tree surrounded by blue hydrangeas, how they survived in all the shade I don't know but year after year they were covered in blooms.  And even after moving to town mum always seemed to manage to have hydrangeas somewhere in the garden.  Now I have my first three very small bushes, but I'm hoping they will flourish as hers did.

There is a beautiful Level 1 Hostess set in the current catalogue called "Because I care" which has a lovely hydrangea flowerhead stamp in it which I really like and is used to make my card today.

Here is the card designed by Keryn.

(And this is the real one in my garden!)

What I used:

Card:  Whisper White, Rose Red, Island Oasis DSP

Ink:  Rose Red

Stamp Sets:  Because I Care,  Sincere Salutations

Tools and other fun stuff:  Stampin' sponges.

Clean and Simple Stripes

I saw this sketch here a couple of days ago and the stripes appealed to me so thought I'd try it out.

Now, what I've learnt with challenges is that the earlier you join in the more scope as far as ideas you have as you always like to come up with something a little different.  As of yesterday I hadn't seen anyone use the Stampin' Around Wheels to make their card so I thought I'd use them as they are ideal for making stripes of designs.I'm really pleased how the overall design turned out, hope you like it too.

What I used:

Card:  Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Whisper White

Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron

Stamp Sets:  Vine and Blossom Wheel, Fresh Cuts

Tools and other fun stuff:  Stampin' sponges, Stampin' Around standard wheel handle, ruler, adhesive, cutting mat and craft knife.

Showcasing Celebrations DSP and Mojo Monday

At the weekend I went to visit Keryn for a crafting session and made a few cards which I'll show you over the next few days.

This is the first one designed by Keryn, made with the Celebrations DSP, a riot of bright colours including Real Red, Pear Pizazz, pacific Point and Bashful Blue.

Come and join me on my Facebook page too!

What I used:

Card:  Pacific Point, Pear Pizazz, Real Red, Bashful Blue, Celebrations DSP

Ink:  Pacific Point

Stamp Sets:  Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Tools and other fun stuff:  Scallop circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, Pear Pizazz poly-stitched ribbon.


Mojo Monday 176

Two cards in one post today!

I've never made a round card until now so had to figure out a few things along the way, how to cut it, how to make it stand up, etc.  For the background I crumpled up a piece of SU's packaging paper, smoothed it out and dabbed it with Soft Suede and Old Olive ink pads.  I also added some faux stitching around the edge with a Chocolate Chip marker.   Looking at the card now I feel it needs a layer of red between the background inked paper and the Soft Suede card base, maybe next time!  I took my cue from this week's Mojo Monday sketch and here is what I made:

What I used:

Card:  Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Haiku DSP (retired), Real Red, SU packaging craft paper.

Ink:  Soft Suede, Old Olive, Basic Black and Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write marker.

Stamp Set:  Basic Phrases.

Tools and other fun stuff:  2-Step Bird punch, Word Window punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stampin' sponges.