Milk carton Die???

Firstly I am sorry about the slight delay in posting, however I have returned to paid employment and my time is not my own any more :-(

This gorgeous little box was made using the Milk Carton Die.... yes it really was. It was designed by the gorgeous Martha Gomez for the Spring and Easter session of Inkspirations 4U.


I used the Love Defined stamp set to decorate this set and although it was current when I made it, it has since retired.... oh that's just a tease, isn't it?

Again I've used my favourite method of inking up stamps, with Stampin' Write Marker® to stamp image.


Card: Baja Breeze, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Baja Breeze, Pink Pirrouette
Punches: 1" Circle, Medium Jewellery Tag
Ribbon: Elegant Eggplant 1/4" Grosgrain
Tools: Crop-A-Dile, Big Shot, Milk Carton Die
Stamp Sets: Love Defined (retired), Tiny Tags

Till next time, happy stamping...

Another picture challenge!

I think that Madeline over at Inkspirations 4U has found my weakness! Picture challenges!

Sorry about the size of this picture, but I wasn't able to make it any bigger without major distortion! Anyway if you squint enough you'll be able to make another lovely bed, with pillows and owls on it! Owls, I hear you say! That should be easy! Use the new owl punch.... but I don't have it! So back to the drawing board for me.

Finally I decided to look in the background, so to speak! And what should I see but patchwork! Now if you know me you'll know that I actually enjoy this craft. It's my other creative passion! So would you now beleive that I haven't ever made a patchwork card before? I hadn't and thought that it was obviously time to do something about that!


Most of the cards that I have seen using this technique butt all their squares up together, but I thought I'd leave a wee bit of a gap to give a 'sashing' effect! I also sponged around all the squares in their corresponding colour!

To finish the project off I decided it needed a ruffle around the edge. This is really easy to make. Just punch the eyelet border and then run it through your crimper a couple of times to soften it up!

Card: Wild Wasabi, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Pink Pirouette, Bashful Blue
Ink: Rose Red, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Pink Pirouette, Bashful Blue
Punch: Eyelet Border
Tools: Big Shot, Top Note Die, Crimper
Stamp Sets: Tiny Tags, Short and Sweet, Fun and Fast Notes

Till next time, happy stamping...

A Holly Krautkremer Design

Today I have a lovely set made from a Holly Krautkremer tutorial! Holly is another Design Team member at Inkspirations 4U. Really you should head on over their and join in all the fun! We have daily challenges and projects! It's so good to see how everyone interprets these and the positive interactive comments are inspiring!


Now I shall not be putting the details of ingredients up here since it is in the class notes. I am sure you understand!

On another note, we can be glad that the Brisbane River didn't reach the expected peak! Unfortunately this didn't stop the millions of dollars worth of damage and the unfortunate loss of life. My heart goes out to those who are dealing with grief at this time. At a time like this when words can't help, please know that you are in our thoughts and prayers!

Stampin' Up!® is such a wonderful company and as such have released today that they will be donating $2 from every stamp set (over $30 value), sold between 15th January 2011 to 15th February 2011, will be going to the Queensland State Emergency Services! I can't think of a better excuse to buy myself some more rubber, knowing that it will be helping someone else.

I can say that I have had some really positive responses to the Help Aussie Demos In Need group (see post above) and hope that if you are a demo you will also join us!

I'll be back soon with more Inkspirations 4U photo's!

Till next time, happy stamping...

Baby showers galore!

Well I seem to have my computer back again - Yippee!

Anyway I am going to be an aunty again soon - two more times, so I had to make baby shower cards for my sisters.


I whipped these up before I had totally unpacked my craft room, so I had to use whatever cardstock I could find. Strangely enough it was Groovy Guava (aka Gruesome Guava), now retired, and Real Red.

I love this baby tees roller, as it is so versatile and you can cut the images out to give a totally different look. I know of lots of demo's who have unmounted theirs from the roller and mounted them flat too!



I seem to be using up a bit of retired product of late, which is probably because I've had to pack it and unpack and have been reminded that I have it. I hope you don't mind! I'll be back into the new stuff soon enough, although I think I am going to have to keep using retired product in order to make room for lots of new stuff.

Card: Groovy Guava (retired), Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Kraft White, Real Red, Bold Brights markers
Ribbon: Real Red Polka Dot 5/8' grosgrain (retired)
Tools: Big Shot, Polka Dot embossing folder
Stamps: Baby Tees roller, Curly Cute, Polka Dot Background, Baby Tees roller

Till next time, happy stamping...

Searching for inspiration!

Do you sometimes get a block? Can't think of what to create? Well that happens to me too! To get myself back into the swing of things, I've been doing a big of casing... it really does work to get your brain going.

Today's case is from page 38 of the Idea Book and Catalogue. The certainly don't call it an Idea Book for no reason.... there is heaps of inspiration in there!

I don't actually have any Dafffodil Delight cardstock (how can that be?), so I decided to dab some Whisper White on the Daffodil Delight Classic Ink Pad and I think I prefer the effect that I managed to get. It's a little splotchy and gives more texture than plain cardstock would have.


Of course true to form, I just couldn't keep with their colours. I wanted to try out my new colour coach and must say that I quite like it. I wouldn't have used these colours together myself, but enjoyed what I created.

Sometimes I get a little excited and stamp on the inside too!


Okay so as I was saying.... inspiration and action = mojo! As I was building the card above the one below was forming in my mind. To challenge myself even further, I decided that I'd stick with using the same colours again! As you can see I have two very different cards.

I wanted to have a see through component of this card and it was mighty difficult to photograph well. Sorry!

There was a bit of measuring to make sure that I got the four sections exactly placed and although that may sound a little fiddly, I am pleased as the result was pretty much symmetrical.


And again, since I had the see through cut out, I had already decorated the inside of the card! Talk about killing two bird with one stone! It just needed a verse to complete it!

The little bows are made using the no tie method, which involves wrapping a brad around the ribbon and since this ribbon was so thin, the brads were hanging out the back everywhere so I got my trusty Craft and Rubber scissors and cut the extra metal bits off. I love these scissors! It's almost like having something from hubbys tool box in my hand, but definitely much cleaner and easier to use! LOL!


Alright I am going to be horrible and lump all the ingredients together again, since most of them double up!

Card:Whisper White, Pacific Point, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo
Ink:Pacific Point, Old Olive, RIch Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight
Ribbons: 5/8" Pacific Point Striped Grosgrain (retired), 1/8" Daffodil Delight Taffeta
Punches: Full Heart, Ornament Punch, Jewellery Tag Medium
Embellishments: Heart Treat Cups, Buttons (non-SU), Clear Rhinestone Brads
Stamp Sets:Tiny Tags, Occasional Quotes (hostess set), Sweetheart, Delightful Decorations

Till next time, happy stamping...

Stuck on Asian Artistry

I am having a little run on Asian Artistry at the moment. Can you tell? I was truly inspired by all the lovely creations at convention. To be honest it hadn't really jumped out at me as a set I had to have!


I think I have now shown you all of the stamps in the Asian Artistry stamp set. Yep, every single one of them. That's how fantastic this hostess set is!


I've used a lot of the same materials to make both of these cards, so I'll list all their ingredients together.

Card: Basic Black, Whisper White, Pacific Point.
DSP: Good Morning Sunshine
Ink: Basic Black, Whisper White, Pacific Point (via blender)
Punches: Wide Oval, Designer Label, Eyelet Border
Tools: Crimper
Stamp Set: Asian Artistry (hostess set)

Don't forget to keep checking out my other website for deals of the week - starting each Wednesday in June.

Till next time, happy stamping...

First swap for convention!

Well as I type this I am dreaming of travelling to Sydney for Convention. And although I am dreaming this as I type, I will actually be doing this as you read. So yep, I am on my way! Yippee!!!

This is the first card that I made to swap at convention. I really wanted to try out this half cut technique from Lynn Pratt. It was a wee tad difficult but worked okay!

I have a post set up for each day that I am away, so that you will not be lonely without me!

Card: Bashful Blue, Close to Cocoa, Rich Razzleberry
Ink: Kraft White, Rich Razzleberry, Bashful Blue, Close to Cocoa
Punch: Curly Label Punch
Big Shot: Top Note Die
Stamp Sets: Echoes of Kindess, Pocket Silhouettes, Tiny Tags

Till next time, happy stamping...

I finally finished the OSW!!!

If you have been following my blog you'll know that I decided to do Linda Cravens OSW. I got a bit ahead of myself and thought I could do three sheets at the same time, instead of one. Rather than make each card the same, I challenged myself to make 27 different cards.


I have recently finished the final six cards. I think my two favourites out of all the cards I have made are the Riding Hood Red and Pink Pirouette cards in the picture above. I am glad that I finished on a happy note.

Below is a picture of the whole 27 cards together. It became a bit of a jumbly mess, but my lense wasn't wide enough to capture them all if I spaced them out....lol.

Now I am only going to include the ingredients for the cards in the two top pictures. If you are curious about any of the other cards please check here, here, here or here to find out more details.

Card: Whisper White, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Kraft White, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
DSP: Bella Rose
Punches: Wide Oval, Scallop Oval, Large Oval, 1 3/8" Circle, 1 1/4" Circle, 1" Circle, Scallop Edge Border, Eyelet Border, Photo Corner, Large Star, Curly Label
Embellishments: Filigree Brads, Rhinestone Brads, Fire Circle Rhinestone, Vintage Brad
Stamp Sets: Priceless, Always, Tiny Tags, Short and Sweet, Cute and Curly

Till next time, happy stamping...

OSW Part 4

I am sure that you've been wondering where I am.... well.... Linda Cravens OSW created 4 pieces of Designer papers measuring 4.5cm x 14.8cm. So I thought rather than showing you 4 cards at a time, I would make up all of them and show you together.

I really like the bottom card in the chocolate chip selection. I used the Manhattan Flower embossing folder and then cut around one rose. I then sponged a bit of chocolate chip on the raised sections. I missed occasionally and got the actual petals, but it worked well.

I just received the Occasional Greetings stamp set as a gift for Stampin' Up!® for my sales during Sale-A-Bration and have used it heaps in these selections.

I think my favourite card in the Old Olive selection is the key ring one. I just punched circles in different sizes out and made rings. I then cut two of these rings to be able to link them all together. I used a metal edge tag for the part you would hold onto. I can't think of it's technical name - do you know it?

I love the star card in the Riding Hood Red selection. It's just so funky - and easy to make!

Ingredients:

Card: Riding Hood Red, Old Olive, Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Stazon White, Riding Hood Red, Old Olive, Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip
Ribbon: 1 1/4" Riding Hood Red striped grosgrain, Riding Hood Red Taffeta
Punches: Just about all of them!
Embellishments: Metal Edge Tags, Button Bouquet, Pretties Kit
Stamp Sets: Priceless, Occasional Greetings, Life Definitions, Rustic Rooster (hostess set), Pocket Silhouettes, Illuminations, Sweet Little Sentiments, Echoes of Kindness (hostess set), Polka Dot Background, Tiny Tags

Till next time, happy stamping...

Extended OSW!

I am sure that you are wondering what the title means! Well basically I saw this fantastic OSW (One Sheet Wonder) on Linda Cravens blog and thought to myself, "I am going to do that!"

Okay that sounds simple enough, pick a stamp set and choose four colours. I thought I'd concentrate on colours that are staying with us after 1st September 2010, as I had seen lots recently from the farewell list.

So quite innocently I picked four adorable colours and after I'd made my own specialty paper, I realised that these were the colours that complimented Bella Rose. So I figured, while I was on this trip, I'd make an extra set and then I couldn't decide on which paper to use, so decided to make two.

Alright, my mission sounds simple, but I just find it very difficult to make the same thing, so I decided that's I'd switch the base card colours around and make each one unique. So what started out as making nine cards, suddenly got extended to 27 unique cards! Well that's what I am aiming for!

Now I am sure that if I blogged 27 unique cards at once you'd be bomboozled with too much information, so I thought I'd show you what I'd made from each cut of the OSW in each post. This adorable selection started with four 3.5cm squares and the rest of the card was built around that.

I think this has been an excellent way to demonstrate that even using the same colourways and starting point, you can create some truly unique peices of artwork!

I like all three of these cards, but I think the chocolate chip one is my favourite! What's yours?

Alright I am going to list all the ingredients needed for this group of cards together, as there would be a lot of doubling up otherwise.

Card: Old Olive, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Old Olive, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip
DSP: Bella Rose
Ribbon: 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain
Punches: Scallop Edge, Scallop Oval, Large Oval, Small Oval, 5-Petal Flower, Boho Blossoms, Eyelet Border, Large Heart, Medium Jewellery Tag
Embellishments: Circle Fire Rhinestones
Stamp Sets: Priceless, Sweet Little Sentiments (hostess set), It's Your Birthday (retired), Tiny Tags

Okay well I hope you like this instalment and look forward to showing you the next batch of creativity.

Till next time, happy stamping...