Bird Punch Christmas tree

I went a bit mad with the bling today - I love lots of sparkle on my cards and Christmas is the one time of the year you can go really indulge these 'secret passions' without all the guilt - a bit like Christmas dinner really: the diet goes out the window and you go for it!

It's another card from the Australian Papercraft and Cardmaking mag, a companion to the bird card.

My interpretation of the card [click for a larger view]

Card in magazine

What I used:

Card:  Chocolate Chip, White, Old Olive, Play Date DSP [retired]

Ink:  Chocolate Chip

Stamp Set:  Sincere Salutations

Tools and other fun stuff:  Square Lattice EF, Bird punch, Small Star punch [retired], Lots of Tags Sizzlets die, Spellbinders Label 1 die, rhinestones and glitter paper, Stampin' Dimensionals.

Emboss Resist Birthday

I had this idea in my head about how this card would work out but it wasn't quite to be - I don't think the clear embossing was thick enough as I was visualizing quite a contrast between the black and white embossed images, but I still like the end result.

What I used:

Card:  White, Rose Red, Old Olive

Ink: Versamark Watermark ink, Rose Red, Old Olive, Basic Black

Stamp Sets: Easter Blossoms, Sincere Salutations

Tools and other fun stuff:  Top Note die, Vintage Wallpaper EF, Clear embossing powder, black embossing powder, 1/4" white grossgrain ribbon, square rhinestone brad, stampin' sponges.

Still on the subject of rockets...

Well, after all the amazing work the teachers at kindy put in to the Rocket Festival I thought I'd better make them a thank you card to accompany a little gift - and of course it had to feature rockets!

I did a quick search on Splitcoast Stampers and found the idea for the moon (with a whole lot of craters on it!) and sort of got an idea how to make a rocket and I was ready to make my card.

Punch art was the way to go today and with only three punches I made the rocket - if you have the "Pennants" punch you could use that one too for the tip, fins, etc.  (hmmm do rockets have 'fins'?  I know fish do, not so sure about rockets....)

I'll be making a few more of these to keep on hand for birthdays, that's for sure!

What I used:

Card:  Pacific Point, White, Bashful Blue, Real Red, Daffodil Delight.

Ink:  Riding Hood Red, Versamark Watermark ink.

Stamp Sets: Sincere Salutations, Starring You (retired)

Tools and other fun stuff:  Wide Oval punch, Large Oval punch, 1/2" circle punch. Stampin' Dimensionals, Small Star punch (retired), non SU embossing folder, embossing buddy, heat tool, gold embossing powder.

Nature Walk birthday

Have been having quite a crafty weekend making cards, using up bits and pieces and I came across the gold embossed images from Nature Walk which I did way back in April for my Aunt and Uncle's Golden Wedding anniversary.

I thought I'd use the extra embossed image I had made that day (just in case I mucked one up, always have a spare!) and found a base card in Ruby Red (retired) which I thought would be just right as a base.  Of course I could have used a current colour but the idea was to use up old stock...

I sponged the edges of the Very Vanilla embossed card with Old Olive, scalloped a 1" piece of Old Olive and embossed that with Square Lattice EF - thought about adding ribbons and bows but in the end opted for a simpler version.

Anyway, it was the perfect opportunity to use the fancy oval die from Lots of Tags - the main reason I'd bought that set of dies but which I had never used till today...

I also used a little Ruby Red pastel to shade the gold embossed images and around the edges of the tulip frame.

What I used:

Card:  Ruby Red (retired), Very Vanilla, Old Olive.

Ink:  Soft Suede, Old Olive, Versamark watermark pad.

Stamp Sets:  Nature Walk, Sincere Salutations.

Tools and other fun stuff:  Framed Tulips EF, Square Lattice EF, Lots of Tags dies, Scalloped Border punch, Dimensionals, pastels, gold embossing powder.

Soon to retire - Eastern Blooms

A very short post today!

Here a a few cards I made this past year using the Eastern Blooms set retiring at the end of this month.

It is a lovely set and quite versatile, if you'd like to order one please get in touch with me.

Samples of soon-to-retire products - Petal Pizazz

Just thought I'd show you some samples of cards I made with the Petal Pizazz set which retires at the end of the month.


If you love bold coloured images this set is for you!  I've loved using it and am sad it is retiring, but on the bright side there will be lots of new sets to fall in love with in the new catalogue due out on 1st September.


Another update on sold out products from the Last Chance list:

1. Stamp: Sanded
2. Stamp: Full Calendar
3. Stamp set: Garden Whimsy
4. Stamp set: Choo choo 
5. 12"x12" Card:  Bashful Blue
6. 12"x12" Card:  Rich Razzleberry
7. 12"x12" Card:  Chocolate Chip
8. 12"x12" Card:  Crumb Cake
9. 12"x12" Card:  Very Vanilla
10. 12"x12" Card:  Early Espresso
11. 12"x12" Card:  Night of Navy
12. 12"x12" Card: Marina Mist
13. Punch:  Spiral
14. Punch: Corner
15. Punch: Large Star
16. Punch: 1 3/8" x 5/8" Oval
17. Embellishments:  Pewter Jumbo Eyelets
18. Embellishments: Antique Brass Jumbo Eyelets
19. Embellishments: Metallic Eyelets

If there is anything you need to purchase before the retire/sell out please get in touch with me as soon as possible.

Nature Walk Clean and Simple

The sketches over at Clean and Simple really caught my eye a few days ago so I decided to play along and make some cards for it, the first one I posted here and this is the second card.

I used the same stamp set and colours - they go really well together.

What I used:

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

Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose and Old Olive Stampin' Write markers.

Stamp Sets:  Nature Walk, Sincere Salutations

Tools and other fun stuff:  Top Note die

Nature Walk and an update on the Last Chance list

At the last minute I decided to make a card for a Clean and Simple challenge which involved a banner - and there is a matching card that I'll show you tomorrow.

I used the Nature Walk stamp set which I love but have not used nearly enough as I should have, and coloured my image with markers to get the multicoloured image.  I also used the butterfly to stamp a 'ghost' image behind the greeting, I think I need to take some better photos tomorrow morning in daylight though.

Following is an update on sold out products from the Last Chance list:

1. Stamp: Sanded
2. Stamp: Full Calendar
3. Stamp set: Garden Whimsy
4. Stamp set: Choo choo 
5. 12"x12" Card:  Bashful Blue
6. 12"x12" Card:  Early Espresso
7. 12"x12" Card:  Night of Navy
8. 12"x12" Card: Marina Mist
9. Punch:  Spiral
10. Punch: Corner
11. Punch: Large Star
12. Punch: 1 3/8" x 5/8" Oval
13. Embellishments:  Pewter Jumbo Eyelets
14. Embellishments: Antique Brass Jumbo Eyelets
15. Embellishments: Metallic Eyelets

If there is anything you need to purchase before the retire/sell out please get in touch with me as soon as possible.

What I used:

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

Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Regal Rose and Old Olive Stampin' Write markers.

Stamp Sets:  Nature Walk, Sincere Salutations

Tools and other fun stuff:  Scallop Border punch, Wide Oval punch, Square Lattice embossing folder, Regal Rose 5/8" grosgrain ribbon (retired), Stampin' dimensionals.

Soon to retire - Fresh Cuts

I thought I'd show you a few of the cards I've made during this year which use some of the retiring products.  Today I've chosen the "Fresh Cuts" stamp set and there are different techniques on each card.   

The Fresh Cuts set consists of 3 images and 2 sentiments: 'for you' and 'thank you'.  The last card has a sentiment from Sincere Salutations, which has been carried over to the next brochure.

For this card I applied different colours directly onto the stamp using Stampin' Write Markers in three different colours.   

This time I stamped the image in Soft Suede on Very Vanilla and then used my Stampin' Write Markers to colour in selected parts of the image.

For this card I stamped the image in Versamark Watermark ink and then used a mix of black and gold embossing powders to heat emboss it.

What I used:

Card:  Riding Hood Red, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Black, Crumb Cake

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Old Olive, Soft Suede, Pretty in Pink, Versamark Watercolour ink.

Stamp Sets:  Fresh Cuts ($35.21 for set of 5 stamps)m, Sincere Salutations ($47.95 for set of 8 stamps)

Tools and other fun stuff:  Scallop Oval punch, Large Oval punch, Wide Oval punch, Scallop Border punch, 1/8" Old Olive Taffeta ribbon, gold embossing powder, black embossing powder, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, heat tool, Floral Fusion Sizzlits die, basic pearls.

Bright Birdie Birthday

I came across a very bright colour combo in Colour Q last evening, and I thought that punches would be the way to go this time.  The only substitution I made was I used Old Olive instead of Green Galore which is a retired colour I don't have - but I think Old Olive worked very nicely as a substitute.

I have been very restrained with glitter lately, so today I got it out and sprinkled the centers of the flowers with it, not sure if it will show up in the photos though.

What I used:

Card:  Rich Razzleberry, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, White, Old Olive.

Ink:  Rich Razzleberry

Stamp Sets: Sincere Salutations

Tools and other fun stuff:  Top Note Die, Bird punch, Boho Blossoms punch, Stamp-a-majig, glitter.

Why don't you pop over to Colour Q to see what other interpretations of these colours people have come up with!

Mojo Monday Rich Razzleberry

I've finally been inspired to play along with a challenge and seeing as this week marks the 200th challenge for Mojo Monday I thought I'd give it a go!

It took me ages to make it work, but I am pleased with the end result, I was quite worried there for a while LOL!

I think these colours work really well together, why don't you go visit their site and play along this week as well?

What I used:

Card:  Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink and a snippet of Regal Rose

Ink:  Rich Razzleberry, Certainly Celery

Stamp Sets:  Vintage Vogue, Sincere Salutations

Tools and other fun stuff:  Boho Blossoms Punch, Wide Oval punch, Lots of tags Sizzlits dies, Scallop Border punch, 1/8" Old Olive tafetta ribbon, Square Lattice embossing folder, Stampin' dimensionals, rhinestones

Find me on Facebook here.

CAS Birthday card

Lovely sunny day here today so felt inspired to go looking for a challenge and found one at the Clean and Simple blog - hope you like it - pretty and feminine was the outcome today!

What I used:

Card:  Regal Rose, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight

Ink:  Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip

Stamp Sets:  Petal Pizazz, Sincere Salutations

Tools and other fun stuff:  Stamp-a-Majig, Stampin' dimensionals, Scallop Border punch. Buttons #5 Sizzlits die

Happy Birthday Keryn

Yesterday was Keryn's birthday and as I know she has already received this in the post I can show it to all of you now!

I received the latest Impressions magazine a few days ago and wanted to try out a new technique they showcased on the cover regarding mixing embossing powders to create a dappled effect.  They used black and white but I chose to mix gold and black (you guessed it, I don't have white!) to try and recreate the effect.  You may not be able to see the results too well in the photos but it did work and looks very nice.  As I was using black and gold I decided to go for a vintage/shabby chic look so used Rose Red, Crumb Cake and a hint of black to finish off the card.

(Click on cards for larger view)

What I used:

Card:  Very Vanilla, Black, Rose Red, Crumb Cake

Ink:  Crumb Cake, Versamark Watermark.

Stamp Sets:  Fresh Cuts, Sincere Salutations

Tools and other fun stuff:  Floral Fusion Sizzlets die, Basic Pearls, Stampin' Dimensionals, gold embossing powder, black embossing powder, embossing buddy, heat gun, Scalloped Border punch, Scalloped Oval punch, Wide Oval punch.

More from the challenge...CAS this time

You can tell this was the last card, can't you?!  All I had left by this stage were two flowers and was craving for something relatively 'clean and simple' - hope you like it!

I embossed the last Night of Navy flower with the Square Lattice embossing folder, added the cork flower and a rhinestone as a centre.  I did a 'partial embossing' on the Very Vanilla with the Framed Tulips folder (not sure of the proper name for that technique!) so I ended up with a smaller embossed square than I used for card number two,

I added a snipped of Old Olive Ribbon, sponged the edges with Night of Navy and used my Stamp-a-majig for perfect positioning of the greeting - and voilà!

{PS - did you notice the window in the background has finally been cleaned??  Which also explains the scaffolding outside that window - Carlos was doing some work which involved cutting quite a few branches off the neighbours' trees (shhhh... don't tell the neighbours!) and then cleaning the gutters in readiness for the winter - and it was too good an opportunity to pass up so he also cleaned that window - now I won't have to jump up and down with a wet broom trying to clean it this season and that's got to be a good thing LOL!}

What I used:

Card:  Night of Navy, Very Vanilla

Ink:  Night of Navy

Stamp Sets:  Sincere Salutations

Tools and other fun stuff:  Big Shot, Blossom Party Originals Die, Square Lattice embossing folder, Framed Tulips embossing folder, 1/8" Old Olive tafetta ribbon, sheet of cork, Stampin' dimensionals, rhinestone, Stampin' sponges, Stamp-a-majig.

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.

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.

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.