Fox and Friends Invitations

I made these cards last week but hadn't had a chance to show them to you until now.  Our little boy turns 4 in a couple of weeks and we will be having a very low key celebration - that's all I can cope with at the moment! - so only two invites will be going out to his little friends.  My dad has a hard enough time keeping calm will master 3 running around, here's hoping 3 more little ones on the party day  don't send him into early hibernation!

I did the sentiments slightly different, and added an irregular 'saw-tooth' border down one side: to make this border I punched out a scalloped border and then punched it again making sure the scallops were offset to create the jagged edge.

I also added a little texture with an embossing folder and a spot of paper piercing.

What I used:

Card:  Tempting turquoise, Soft Suede, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White

Ink:  Soft Suede, Pumpkin Pie

Stamp Sets:  Fox and Friends, Sincere Salutations

Tools and other fun stuff:  Wide Oval punch, Scalloped Oval punch, Large Oval punch, Scalloped Border punch, 1 3/4" Circle punch, Square Lattice embossing folder, Paper Piercing tool and Mat Pack, Stampin' Dimensionals.

Mum's first card!

Well, here it is, my mum's first card!  She chose all the colours and elements from the bits and pieces on my craft area and I glued it all together but it is definitely her design, I was going to put the scalloped border somewhere else but no, it had to go up the side LOL!

I think she did really well, she was a bit worried about the Sweet Summer flowers she stamped on the background, but in the end it all turned out really well - can't guarantee it's 100% SU but most of it is (I think she got the background card from my pre-SU stash...)

What she used:

Card:  Haiku DSP (retured), Old Olive, Whisper White

Ink:  Old Olive, not quite sure what she used to stamp the flowers with though

Stamp Sets:  Sincere Salutations, Sweet Summer

Tools and other fun stuff:  Scalloped Oval punch, Wide Oval punch, Scalloped Border punch, Floral Fusion Sizzlits die, Stampin' Dimensionals.

Best wishes

Back again!  It has taken a while for things to settle down here, but for the next couple of months I won't be posting so often as it is just not possible with visitors - I am really enjoying having them here but don't get much time to 'chill' and make my cards...

Anyway, they've just gone out for a walk so a quick post to show you this card, not my best effort but at least I've completed it - and I do love how those colours work together!

(It took me about three days to get it to the finished stage - shocking!)

What I used:

Card:  Rose Red, Baja Breeze, Old Olive, White

Ink:  Rose Red, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip

Stamp Sets:  Sincere Salutations, Priceless, Butterfly Prints

Tools and other fun stuff:  Large Oval punch, Scalloped Oval Punch, Butterfly punch, Old Olive taffeta ribbon, Basic Pearls, Stampin' sponges.

Bright and Breezy

Not quite sure why that title sprung to mind, I just find this colour combination quite tropical with the turquoise, orange and pink.

I started making it yesterday with a vague idea of what I wanted to achieve but no definite purpose - like a lot of things in my life lately LOL!

This morning I popped into my old workplace for a 'pre-birthday' morning tea and the card took on a whole new purpose!   I came home with renewed enthusiasm and turned it into a thank you card for al my friends there, thanks for the lovely cake, biscuits (cookies) and finger food - it was delicious as usual!   (My birthday is actually tomorrow but as my parents are arriving then the morning tea was brought forward - thanks guys!)

So, back to the card....

Lots of fun stamping the flowers and punching them out, double-punched a border, punched a couple of flowers and here is the result.

What I used:

Card:  Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie, Regal Rose, White.

Ink:  Regal Rose, Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black.

Stamp Sets:  Eastern Blooms, Sincere Salutations

Tools and other fun stuff:  1" Circle punch, Wide Oval punch, Scalloped Circle punch, Scalloped Border punch, Boho Blossoms punch, Basic Pearls, Square Lattice embossing folder, Stampin' dimensionals.

Trying out a new technique today

Hello again, nice to see you back here!

For ages I've been meaning to try the technique where you emboss a design with clear embossing powder and then sponge over the top with inks to reveal the design and today I had a chance to do so.  I wasn't too sure what would happen, I hadn't really seen any tutorials but sort of guessed what people had done and went from there!

This time I remembered to use the anti-static pad and it made a huge difference!  When I heat-embossed the last two butterflies I forgot to wipe the card with the afore mentioned pad and then I had to find a paintbrush to brush off all the stray black powder, not something I recommend having to do!

Randomly stamped with Versamark Watermark ink the daisy image from Petals Prints on the lower left corner of my white card and up and accross to form a half-frame, poured the embossing powder over it and set it with the heat gun.  It sort of creates your very own Presto Paper if you like!

I used a couple of colours for the sponging, I started with Regal Rose at the bottom of the white card and worked up one side and across the bottom edge too, then I used So Saffron to fill in the rest of the card.  It is a little pale, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

The three flowers were cut with the Floral Fusion die, and embossed with the Square Lattice embossing folder.  I also used the same embossing folder for the scallop border, I personally think it makes the border look a little like lace!

Close up of the dry-embossed Floral Fusion flowers.

Close up of the heat-embossed daisies.

What I used:

Card:  Rose Red, White, So Saffron

Ink:  Regal Rose, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Versamark Watermark ink

Stamp Set:  Sincere Salutations, Petal Prints

\Tools and other fun stuff:  Scalloped Border punch, Scalloped Oval punch, Wide Oval punch,
Square Lattice embossing folder, Floral Fusion die, Basic Pearls, anti-static pad, clear embossing powder, heat gun, Stampin' sponges.

Friend to Friend

As you may have already guessed I still had the same materials on my desk from yesterday's card when I decided to make this one!

What happened yesterday was that I heat embossed two butterflies, one on Very Vanilla and one on Riding Hood Red as I wasn't exactly sure which one I'd use at the time, which of course meant I had one left over.  It seemed such a shame to waste it that I built today's card around it (whereas yesterday the butterfly was the last element I decided to add - funny how the creative process works at times!)

I've always liked the sheet of DSP with the floral flourish in one corner and this was the perfect time to showcase it as well.

What I used:

Card:  Riding Hood Red, Crumb Cake, Very Venilla, Love Letters DSP

Ink:  Crumb Cake, Riding Hood Red, Versamark Watermark Pad.

Stamp Sets:  Teeny Tiny Sentiments, Butterfly Prints

Tools and other fun stuff:  Butterfly punch, Wide Oval punch, Basic Pearls, Square Lattice embossing folder, Scallop Border punch, Word Window punch, Stampin' dimensionals, Stampin' sponges, paper piercing tool and mat pack.

Butterfly Love Letter

It's been a while since I last posted and my parents aren't even here yet!  Too much going on this week plus a total lack of inspiration I feel has been to blame, but today I managed to get to my crafty corner and make a card.  I had been meaning to use some more of my Love Letters DSP and in this card have combined that paper with the Buttlerfly Prints stamp set and am very pleased with the result.

And I was quite pleased how one of the Butterfly Prints actually matched the DSP houndstooth design!

I used quite a few techniques including heat embossing, dry embossing, sponging and background stamping.

What I used:

Card:  Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Love Letters DSP

Ink:  Riding Hood Red, Crumb Cake, Versamark Watermark ink.

Stamp set:  Butterfly prints

Tools and other fun stuff:  Square Scallop punch, Butterfly Punch, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Basic Pearls, Stampin' sponges, embossing heat tool, black embossing powder, Stampin' dimensionals.

A few more "Thinking of You" cards

I have always loved this particular sheet of Haiku DSP (sadly retired) but was never quite sure what to do with it exactly so when I decided to feature DSP on my cards for Christchurch this one came to mind.  I'm really happy how they turned out, they are super simple but quite striking too - love that Tangerine Tango!

Once again, I combined beautiful DSP with the bird punch, added a punched greeting and voilà!  I did emboss the bird and branch for a little bit of texture too.

What I used:

Card:  Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, So Saffron, Whisper White, Haiku DSP (retired)

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

Stamp Set:  Sincere Salutations

Tools and other fun stuff:  2 Step Bird punch, Wide Oval punch, Scalloped Oval punch, Square Lattice embossing folder.