Good bye to Orchid Opulence...

Oh dear, it really is time to say good-bye to some favourites. I am a bit of a girly girl - probably 'cause I had two daughters, but I really enjoyed working with Orchid Opulence. I didn't buy a huge stack of cardstock to replace my rapidly diminishing supply, as I want to concentrate on some of the fantastic new colours that are coming in.

The medallion centrepeice of this card is made by punching the Scallop Edge Border punch halfway along four sides of a square. It gives a fantastic effect! And I love the Simply Said stamp set. It almost seems made for this colour...

Card: Orchid Opulence (retiring), Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Orchid Opulence (retiring)
DSP: Cottage Wall
Punch: Scallop Edge Border
Stamp Set: Simply Said

Till next time, happy stamping...

Let's hope she doesn't check my blog....

This card is for a fabulous friend, who is having a special birthday this week. I know that she doesn't check my blog unless I tell her to, so I should be okay posting this a couple of days early!

Anyway it's that fantastic black magic technique again! Basically I stamped a section of black paper with white and coloured all the butterflies in and then checked which area I wanted as my background! It worked really, really, really well! Or at least I think so!

I don't think a butterfly card looks any good without a 3D one to make it pop! I used my classic ink pads and a blender pen to colour these in.


Do you also love the sentiment? It's from the NEW stamp set, Perfect Punches. This is one of the sets we were given, yes given, at Convention! And we've had to keep it under wraps for months. Talk about painful!

Card: Elegant Eggplant, Taken With Teal (retiring), Basic Black, Pale Plum (retiring), Whisper White
Ink: Whisper White, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum (retiring)
Tools: Big Shot, Top Note Die, Watercolour pencils
Embellishments: Vintage Brads (retiring)
Stamp Sets: All A Flutter, Perfect Punches

On the off chance, that my friend has popped onto my blog, HAPPY BIRTHDAY STACEY!

Till next time, happy stamping...

A pile of pillows!

Sorry for not being here for a wee while - things are busy again! I had my mum visit from Sydney for five days. And boy were we busy! We went to Gemfest, which is a festival of gems - I guess you probably could have gathered that from the name! LOL! We saw lots of fascinating gems and peices of jewellery. Mum and Miss 7 fossicked but only came up with some cracked sapphires that were too small to do anything with! Oh well they enjoyed playing in the dirt anyway!

I had a party over the weekend and the hostess wanted something special on each participants place, so I whipped up these cute little pillow boxes and put some SU!® supplies in them. Very cute and popular!

Anyway I am sorry that this post is so quick... but I have a gazillion things to do tonight. I'll try to get back sooner.

Till next time, happy stamping...

Thanks Leah!

I was suprised to receive an Award from Leah Weir last week - sorry for taking so long to pop it up on my blog!



Okay as with all awards you usually have to do something when you receive them. In this case, I have to:

Thank Leah - I am glad you like visiting my blog

Tell you three things about myself that I love:

My inability to lie to save my life - luckily haven't been put in that position
My ability to search out answers and self teach myself.
My desire to travel!

Next I have to post a picture that I love;

Here it is - one of those special bonding moments! Perhaps it's a littla MA rated!

And finally I have to pass the award onto five fabulous people!

Kerri Donsky
Valita's Fresh Folds
EnchantINK
Nikki Stalker
Leonie Schroder

Phew... I am glad that's over.... so many names were wandering around my head and to whittle it down to five was excruciating!

Till next time, happy stamping...

Black Magic

Well every now and then I like to try a new technique. Sometimes I try it without knowing what I am going to do with the artwork. This was such an excursion. So a couple of months ago - yes I did this that long ago, I decided to try black magic. It's really cool. Basically you stamp your image in Kraft White Ink on black cardstock. And then when the ink is dry you colour it using your watercolour pencils.

Now please take know that you MUST let your ink dry before handling and as it is pigment ink, it will take a little longer than usual. In the card above I was a tad impatient and ended up with a smudge on it. Hence the ribbon across the top to try and hide it. This ribbon was white. I used some Sage Shadow ink to take the starkness of it!

I used the reverse masking technique to create the moon in the card above. The oval in the card below was made using the normal masking technique.

So I actually made the stamped images a couple of months ago and they have been sitting patiently on my desk for me to mount and make them into cards. I will give you the ingredients for both cards at once as they are very similar.

Card: Whisper White, Sage Shadow, Soft Sky (retired), Night of Navy, Ballet Blue
Ink: Kraft White, Night of Navy
Ribbon: Whisper White 3/8" Taffeta
Punches: 1" Circle, Small Oval, Large Oval, Scallop Oval
Stamp sets:Lovely As A Tree, Warm Words

Till next time, happy stamping...

Inkspirations colour challenge!

Well in case you haven't noticed I am linked into the INKspirations Early Fall Edition. Gotta love those in the Northern Hemisphere who are on different seasons to us! LOL! Anyway not only do they have great tutorials, they also have challenges.

The colours to be used were Tempting Turquoise, Tangerine Tango and Real Red.

Now these aren't colours I would normally put together. Actually Tangerine Tango is a colour I rarely use. And Tangerine Tango's contribution here is minimal too! LOL!

I stamped the rose in Real Red and then using a blender pen and Classic Ink pad, I coloured in starting from the outside and working my way in. It was very therapeutic! And a good way to be quiet while I waited for the kids to fall asleep.

Card: Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Tangerine Tango
Punches: Small Oval, Large Oval, Scallop Oval
Stamp sets: Fifth Avenue Floral, Short and Sweet

Till next time, happy stamping...

So simple!

Yes I am here actually showing you some of my own artwork! I finally found the craft desk today and boy did I have lots of half started projects. I buckled down (it was hard...not) and finished a heap of cards. As a result of my creative completion my desk was obtainable! I could see it again. I felt so good. I got the camera out and realised that I had so much more to take photo's of than I realised! Anyway that job is now done... and I am unveiling this simple one first!


This card was cut using the Big Shot and Movers and Shapers. I love these! Firstly it cuts the card and scores it for you - I mean really could we ask for more than that? And then I put a piece of DSP over the card front and as I hadn't moved the 'Shaper' it cut it exactly as the card, so I was able to just place my DSP right on top, without having to worry about lining it up etc. So easy!

I held the card shut as I stamped my image! Yes I used my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to get it perfect and then just tied a bow and adhered it to the front. I don't think my picture taking does it any justice as it looks quite stunning in person.

Card: Pink Pirouette
DSP: Kaleidoscope (retired)
Ribbon: Rose Red 1" Double Stitched Grosgrain
Tools: Big Shot, Holiday Windows Movers and Shapers
Stamp Set: Best Yet (hostess set)

Till next time, happy stamping...