Just Add .... Baby

The challenge this week over at Just Add Ink is Just Add.... Baby. My baby is the whole reason I haven't been crafting much lately :) But, I thought I'd share with you the thank you card I made for the midwife who helped welcome our darling Bethanie into the world - she was fabulous!

I used the Clean and Simple Fall To Layout 140 and pulled the colours from the Nursery Necessities DSP - with Pretty in Pink as the base colour of course! The little bodysuit from the (now retired) hostess set A Slice of Life is a bit cute and a couple of buttons next to the Family Phrases greeting just add that little something.

Thanks for visiting and hopefully I'll have a bit more to share with you soon!

Welcome Henry

Hello All,

I hope you've had a lovely relaxing weekend. Tonight I have a couple of cards to share with you - this first one is to welcome a gorgeous little boy into the world; the son of a friend of mine from my Uni days (many moons ago).

I used the colour challenge from Scrapmaster's Paradise Colour Challenge - it's been a while since I've played over there - and ended up using almost all retired product.... Isn't is great when you can use bits and bobs up?!

I love the giraffe from Wild About You (retired), and he suited the So Saffron perfectly. I edged the Whisper White in Not Quite Navy ink, and mounted it on Not Quite Navy card. The card base was Sahara Sand, which I stamped with the background circle stamp from Delight in Life (retired) and mounted a panel of retired So Saffron Prints DSP on this, onto which I directly stamped Henry's name using Best Friends Alphabet (retired) in Not Quite Navy ink. A couple of stars and So Saffron brads provided the finishing touch.

Thanks for visiting tonight!

Stamps: Wild About You (retired), Best Friends Alphabet (retired), Delight in Life (retired)

Card: Sahara Sand, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White, So Saffron Prints DSP (retired)

Ink: Sahara Sand, Not Quite Navy, So Saffron

Other: Small Star Punch (retired), Subtles brads

Welcome Emmy

Wow! Two posts in two days - maybe this is the start of what used to be :0) It's amazing what wonders a four day weekend can provide!

As I said yesterday, I have quite a backlog of cards to get through (better late than never!) and this card was made to welcome a darling little girl into the world who is the daughter of a good (school) friend of mine. My friend is NOT a fan of pink - and I did warn her when Emmy was born that it is very difficult to get little girl clothes that aren't pink... So, I turned to the trusty Sweet Always DSP for the colour palette (still girly and bright pinks are ok). Emmy turned out to be a bit longer than I thought with the Big Deal Alphabet, so the card evolved into the latest Just Add Ink sketch (which is fab I must say).

I stamped 'e' a second time, fussy cut it out and popped it up to add a little more dimension; some sponging softened the edges. I added the 'not-pink' flowers from Flower fusion and a flower brad, and the thin Chocolate Chip ribbon from Seaside provided the final touch.

The post office is only open two days this week up here, so I'd better get a wriggle on and get this parcel sorted so it does reach Emmy before her first birthday.

Thanks for visiting!




Stamps: Big Deal Alphabet (retired)
Card: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Summer Picnic DSP (retired), Sweet Always DSP (retired)
Ink: Regal Rose, Pumpkin Pie
Other: 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Flower Fusion (retired), flower brad, Seaside Ribbon Originals (retired)

Baby Lachlan Thanks

It is cold, wet and dreary here again in the Red Centre - I certainly was NOT expecting this type of weather when we moved here (almost a year ago now!). We were teased on the weekend with some lovely hot days (but it did not stay for too long)..... so, I was out in the sunshine, not inside crafting.

I have been working on a project for a friend of mine though. She asked me to make some thank you/announcement cards for her little man who arrived a couple months ago. He really is a darling little boy; dark hair, blue eyes, and I'm sure he's been here before. He has been very spoiled, so she asked for quite a few cards. I wanted to make them cute, but keep it simple enough to make a whole stack without sending myself cross-eyed.

I pulled out the ever trusty and oh-so-cute Bundle of Joy and used traditional boy colours - Night of Navy, Bashful Blue and Crumb Cake (which also fit the Annabelle Stamps Say It With.... Brown and Blue challenge this week). I used my blender pen to colour the giraffe, and added a bit of depth by adding a second layer of colour to the middle of the spots.

Even though I haven't shown it here, the front is quite simple, just a Night of Navy panel torn at the bottom for a photo to be mounted on (and it's a very cute one!).

This project also fits the bill for Pixie Dust Studios 'Sweet Baby' Challenge this week. I have only just found their blog and it features some very talented crafters!

Thank you for visiting and when I finish these thank yous, I have a ton more cards I need to make before the end of the month that hopefully I'll be able to share sooner rather than later!

Stamps: Bundle of Joy (retired)

Card: Crumb Cake, Night of Navy, Whisper White

Ink: Night of Navy, Bashful Blue

Ribbon Rose for Annika

I have been a very bad friend and have not yet made a welcome card for a good friend's little girl who arrived into the world a few months ago.... I have had every intention, but lacking inspiration, until the Just Add Ink colour challenge from a few weeks ago (Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Crumb Cake), which I didn't play along with due to lack of time (and the move may have had something to do with it to!!). I was stoked when the Challenge appeared again on ESAD - one of the Stampin' Community groups I am on (albeit using ONLY those colours, no neutrals!). Plus, this gorgeous inspiration from Stampin' Celebration helped too:

The colours linked in and I drew inspiration from the gorgeous flowers and made a ribbon rose:

I'm so please with how this turned out. Annika took up a bit more space on the card than I had planned, so my rose stem didn't make it to the card.

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Petals Jumbo Wheel (retired)

Card: Crumb Cake, So Saffron, Afternoon Tea DSP (retired)

Ink: Versamark

Other: Pretty in Pink Grosgrain Ribbon, Certainly Celery Grosgrain Ribbon, Timeless Type Alphabet

Welcome Baby Girl

Yay! I have been able to sit down tonight to play! A colleague of mine asked me to make a couple of baby girl cards, and it's taken me a while to get around to making the second one, but tonight was the night.

I have been visiting a new challenge site CASE Study Challenge Blog for a few weeks now and have been meaning to play along; tonight is my debut! Each month a muse is chosen (this month is Mariana Grigsby) and each week they provide a gorgeous card to inspire us! I have worked with the layout as my inspiration for this card.

This card is also a bit of a homage to retired product - a couple of stamp sets, DSP and Close to Cocoa (such a good colour for baby projects). I stamped the teddy from Bundle of Joy onto some Candy Lane DSP and fussy cut it out before mounting it on a 1 3/4" circle that had been sponged with Close to Cocoa ink and edged with Riding Hood Red and Pink Pirouette Scallops. A panel of the reverse side of the Candy Lane DSP was taped across the Close to Cocoa card base, with scallop edges of Riding Hood Red and Pink Pirouette. A sweet greeting from Nursery Necessities and some Pink Pirouette ribbon provided the finishing touches.

Head on over to the CASE Study Challenge Blog and check out what the muse and Design Team have to offer - it's sure to inspire!

Thanks for visiting.

Stamps: Nursery Necessities (retired), Bundle of Joy (retired)

Card: Close to Cocoa (retired), Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla, Candy Lane DSP (retired)

Ink: Close to Cocoa (retired)

Punches: Scallop Edge, 1 3/4" Circle, Word Window

Other: Pink Pirouette Striped Grosgrain Ribbon (retired)

Sweet Elephant

We still have a few boxes to be unpacked (most of them being my craft boxes), but I still found enough to be able to make a card to celebrate the birth of a baby girl. It's a bit of a homage to retired product too - I'm really going to miss having Wild About You in the catalogue - it will still be getting a workout from me, and Sweet Always DSP, well, maybe I should have ordered a few more packs to keep me going!

I used the Just Add Ink sketch challenge as inspiration - isn't the bow so sweet?

Using the Sweet Always DSP for colour inspiration, I stamped the elephant twice - cutting out just the ear from one and mounting it with dimensionals. The background stamps on the small panel from Always third generation stamped in Regal Rose and Pumpkin Pie so they didn't over power the elephant, which was also mounted using dimensionals. The corners of the panel were rounded with the Corner Rounder punch and I used the Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon for the cute little bow - it's fabulous to work with!

Hopefully I'll get more unpacked this weekend and have a bit more to share with you over the next few weeks.

Thanks for visiting!









Stamps: Wild About You, Always

Card: Pink Pirouette, Pumpkin Pie, Sweet Always DSP

Ink: Regal Rose, Pumpkin Pie
Other: Corner Rounder Punch, Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon

Helping Hudson

One of the things I love about being part of Stampin' Up! is the community spirit and support.

Helping Hudson is a fundraising project established to help the son of a fellow demonstrator.

Gorgeous Hudson has complex medical conditions and has had a challenging start to life. He has recently been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and receives extensive physiotherapy. His parents have noticed his frustration with not being able to make his body do what he wants it to and have looked into purchasing a KidWalker. A KidWalker is a mobility aid that will help him learn to walk and take him another step further on the journey to independence.

Helping Hudson is a fundraising project put together by a group of stampers to help raise the funds needed to purchase this valuable piece of equipment. Hop on over to the Helping Hudson blog to make a donation and purchase fabulous tutorial packages, and there are blog challenges and giveaways too.

One of the challenges this week is a colour challenge, so I put together a welcome card for another wonderful little boy who has just joined the world - Jasper.

I used little images from Nursery Necessities to create a background, and pulled out my BigShot for the letters. It's such a cool machine!

Thanks for visiting and head on over to the Helping Hudson blog and make a donation!

Stamps: Nursery Necessities

Card: Baja Breeze, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

Ink: Baja Breeze, So Saffron

Other: Baja Breeze Striped Grosgrain, Large Star Punch, Timeless Type Junior Alphabet

Punchy Punches

It took me a little while to get around to venturing into using punches, and now I use them on almost every project, which is particularly handy when a challenge is around punches like over at Stampin' Royalty at the moment.

I've seen these Onesie cards featuring on a few blogs over the last year or so and thought they would be good to make for a friend who has recently given birth to BEAUTIFUL twin girls. I like to make a card for each baby, both different as each baby is unique. The 'press studs' at the bottom were a handy way to use up a few retired eyelets too :) I've kept them quite simple, with most of the details being punch-derived.

I couldn't resist posting this little cutie for this challenge either. I love making this little stegosaurus!! This time he's featuring in Baja Breeze and Soft Suede (which are very boy-ish colours, so this fits with the criteria of Pile It On this week), with DSP from the Level 3 Hostess Set - Hand Drawn Bundle. Details on what was used to make this little fellow can be found at this post.

And last but not least, here's a creation by Luana (remember, she's 3!) for her Nanny for Mother's Day!! I now have no loose hearts floating around the craft area!

Thanks for visiting!

Onesie Cards

Stamps: Nursery Necessities, Big Deal Alphabet

Card: Blush Blossom, Almost Amythest, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Whisper White

Ink: Blush Blossom, Almost Amethyst, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery

Punches: 1 3/8" Circle, Scallop Circle, 1 1/4" Circle, Wide Oval

Other: Soft Subtles Eyelets (retired)

Welcome Tayah

The girl I used to job share with had a gorgeous little girl a few weeks ago, and I finally sat down to make her welcome card today using this weeks Sketch 'n' Color Challenge as inspiration.

I have been stalking Sketch 'n' Color for a few weeks now as one of the creators (Andrea) is one of the very talented members of the Curtain Call Crew over at Stacey's Stamping Stage, which is how I came upon the blog. Now, my German is VERY bad, so I don't understand very many words of what is written, but I guess that's one of the great things about craft is that it transcends language :) There have been some lovely colour challenges and this is the third sketch challenge, but the very first one I've participated in.

As you can see, I've rotated the sketch and used the butterfly wings (Pale Plum rock'n rolled in Perfect Plum, plus sparkle) as the 'bow'. I wanted a pretty girly colour combo, and this was one I was playing around with a few weeks ago with some Mother's Day cards.

This card also meet the criteria for the current Caardvarks challenge - a baby card - another blog I found blog hopping recently.

Thanks for visiting.

Stamps: Defining Alphabet, Garden Whimsy

Card: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Very Vanilla

Ink: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Pretty in Pink

Other: Eyelet Border Punch, Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds, Soft Subtles Brads

Welcome Ella

My cousin welcomed a beautiful little girl, Ella, into the world a few weeks ago - a tad early so I wasn't quite expecting the text. My cousin isn't a girly-girl, so I didn't want to make a full-on pink card. Leah's latest Colour Wheel Challenge fit the bill: Pretty in Pink, Perfect Plum, So Saffron and Mellow Moss. I also used the most recent Mojo Monday challenge as inspiration...

I stamped the adorable elephant from Animal Stories in Pretty in Pink, then rock'n rolled it in Perfect Plum before popping her up with dimensionals on layered Whisper White and Mellow Moss circles. I felt the square 'bit' on the sketch was a bit sharp for a baby card, so adapted it to a circle. The Whisper White scallop circle has been sponged in Pretty in Pink around the edges to soften it. A few Pretty in Pink brads added the finishing touch I was looking for.

I think my cousin will get a kick out of this! I'm looking forward to meeting darling Ella next visit home.

Stamps: Animal Stories (Summer Mini), Jumbo Bold Alphabet, Short & Sweet

Card: So Saffron, Pretty in Pink, Mellow Moss, Whisper White

DSP: Afternoon Tea

Ink: Pretty in Pink, Perfect Plum

Punches: 1 3/4 " circle (Summer Mini), Scallop circle, 1 3/8" circle, 1 1/4" circle

Other: So Saffron 3/8" Grosgrain ribbon (from Ribbon Bundle, retired), Prety in Pink Grosgrain ribbon, Soft Subtles brads

Welcome Kiannah

Yet another bundle of joy has entered the world - and there are MANY more to come over the next months in our world. It feels like almost every woman (remotely my age) I know is expecting another miracle (including my sister - I'm going to be an auntie!!). Lots of baby cards coming up!

I thought this weeks Color Throwdown challenge suited a baby card. Kiannah's Mum was my Body Balance instructor (pre-Luana when I actually went to the gym!) and is quite bright and funky, so pastels weren't quite right... I've used Pixie Pink instead of Positively Pink.

Apologies for the atrocious photo - will try to remedy that tomorrow.

This has ended up being a bit of a blast from the past card. I inked up the gorgeous butterfly from Reason to Smile (retired) in Pixie Pink and stamped it off before going over the bigger flowers with a Stampin' Write Marker, and taking the ink off the middle flowers with a blender pen and inking them with a Bashful Blue marker. I also used the Pixie Pink marker to run around the edges of the butterfly wings. I love Best Friends Alphabet (retired), so used it with the Stamp-a-ma-jig for the names. The little flowers in Bashful Blue are also from Reason to Smile, and I edged the names with Certainly Celery ink. A little bit of interest was added around the edge of the Certainly Celery Prints DSP (also retired) with some paper piercing and faux stitching with the white gel pen. Some more faux stitching (this time free hand) was added to the Blooms Die Cut. The names and the butterfly were popped up with dimensionals and the butterfly wings curled up just a tad.

We're looking forward to meeting Kiannah this week!

Stamps: Reason to Smile (retired), Best Friends Alphabet (retired)
Card: Pixie Pink, Whisper White
DSP: Certainly Celery Prints (retired)
Ink: Pixie Pink, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery
Other: Blooms Die Cut Flowers, white gel pen, paper piercer

Raspberry Suite Colour Challenge 4

While I was blog-hopping the other night I came across Dawn McVey's blog. She has some gorgeous cards featured, and holds the Raspberry Suite Colour Challenge - I just had to play as I love raspberries!! Here's this weeks inspiration:

I just love this colour combo and hadn't yet had a chance to play with Baja Breeze, so thought I would use that as my soft aqua, as well as Chocolate Chip and Whisper White. I added one extra challenge by choosing these colours - I only have Baja Breeze cardstock, and some Hand Drawn DSP from the Level 3 Hostess Set....

I ended up making 2 cards (when I really should be finishing Mother's Day cards - I NEED to send them Tuesday at the latest).

This was my first one. I love the new set Upsy Daisy and thought it could work quite well with these colours. I used Weathered on the base card to add a bit of interest. I edged the centre Baja Breeze panel with Chocolate Chip ink, and added a greeting from Fresh Cuts mounted with Styled Silver Hodgpodge Hardware. Last but not least, I added alittle bit of white grosgrain ribbon. I think this could almost get away with being a male card, even though it has flowers on it....

I had also been mulling over using the elephant from Wild About You with this colour combo and this is what eventuated. I used the following sketch as inspiration:

I'm really sorry but I can't remember where I saved this from, so if it's you, please leave a comment and I'll add your details in. I used Hand Drawn DSP (I thought it looks a little reminiscent of elephant skin!!) as well as a greeting from Family Phrases and a little bit of white ribbon. I've just found out my bridesmaid is having a baby in October, so I guess that's been playing on my mind a bit!

Thanks for a gret challenge Dawn. I look forward to playing more often!

Another One of Nerine's Sketches

Apologies for the lack of posts lately, but long story short we have been attempting to retrieve 1000's of photos that were deleted when someone was a bit gung-ho in cleaning up the hard drive while I was sleeping. What was thought to be back up file of photos for our camera software, was actually THE photos. We have only been able to retrieve a small number of photos (as someone decided to download a movie after the deleting spree...). We had backed up a few months ago, but not that particular folder as we thought it was just a boring sample folder.... However, I had saved all photos of Luana to separate files, and my sister's wedding, and our family holidays to Kakadu and Kununurra, so they are safe. I'm just missing almost all other photos that don't feature Luana, including virtually all my photos of our family farm which Mum and Dad moved off a few weeks ago, and Paul's Tiger Experience at the Melbourne Zoo
:(
Facebook is a bit of a blessing too, but I had SO many more photos than that..... Moral of the story is always back up even what you don't think is really important.

Anyways, before this saga happened, I was actually able to make a HEAP of cards last weekend. Here area couple that fit Nerine's sketch. I love it!

This little one for the arrival of Malakai used Wild About You in the gorgeous baby colours of Barely Banana, Bashful Blue, Apricot Appeal, Certainly Celery and Close to Cocoa. Each animal was first generation stamped for the feature image, and second generation stamped for the background images. I also cut out a little part of each animal and mounted it with dimensionals. I stamped the card base with Weathered and Malakai's name with Tidy Alphabet (retired). All was finished off with a couple of Bashful Blue brads.

I also wanted to make a few samples using In Colours and new stamp sets for my catalogue launch, so here's one I came up with using Fresh Cuts and Pink Pirouette (love the softness of this colour!!)

Quite self explanatory, but I did Versamark the branch next to the scallop circle punch:



very subtle, but I like it. I was also happy with the way the mounting same colour on same colour worked too.
I will be taking my camera into the photo shop tomorrow to see if they can retrieve any more photos from that - wish me luck!!

Irish Luck for Lachlan

Believe it or not, this is a baby card (yes, for the same Lachlan Luana made her card for the other weekend). Not traditional I know, but I wanted to give a nod to this little man's Irish heritage and strong Irish name.
Also, I wanted to use a Sale-a-Bration set before they finish - today's your last chance to get these great sets!!



I used the heart from Polka Dot Punches to make a lucky four leaf clover, stamped in Green Galore. This was mounted on Whisper White card which had been pierced around the edge, swiped and sponged with Green Galore, mounted on Green Galore and mounted on a Glorious Green card base. To finish the clover I just cut a stem from Green Galore card. I stamped Lachlan's name using the retired Pure & Simple Alphabet Upper and mounted each letter with dimensionals.

Welcome to the world little man, we cannot wait to meet you, and always be proud of your heritage.

Luana's Weekend Stamping

Luana loves to 'paint' with me when I'm stamping, so this weekend we sat down and made a few cards for a few special people in her life:

For one of her godmothers, Kerry who we think of and love just a little bit more in February (but we still think of and love her the rest of the year too!).

For baby Lach-an (she misses the second 'l') who arrived last Wednesday and

for Luana's best buddy Brendan who has just become a Big Brother.

Luana chose each of the stamps she wanted to use (from a small selection), and which colours she would use for each (with only a touch of guidance). She also decided which colour stars for Brendan's card and where to put them!

Well done my darling girl!

KWernerDesign Colour Inspiration #38 for Aleiah

A week seems to come around rather quickly at the moment and it's time again for Kristina's latest challenge. A former work colleague's partner had a gorgeous little girl this week (only 48cm and 6lb 6oz - she's tiny!!) and I thought Kristina's latest colour inspiration could work for a baby girl card:

I've never been a huge fan of Pumpkin Pie, but with it featuring so much in colour inspirations lately, I must say it's growing on me! So much so I decided to use it for the card base. I have substituted Rose Red for Ruby Red to make it just a little more baby girlish too.

This has turned out a bit different than what I had in my head, but I think that's because Aleiah ended up being longer than I thought and I changed the profile of the card to make it fit better. Her parents loved it though, which is the main thing.

I kissed the elephant from Wild About You with Paisley in both Pumpkin Pie and Pretty in Pink. The elephant is mounted on Whisper White sponged with Pretty in Pink, which was layered on Pretty in Pink. Aleiah uses Best Friends Upper Alphabet (loving this alphabet at the moment!) on Whisper White layered on Pretty in Pink as well. I have used the Pretty in Pink marker to faux pierce the edge and I attached a bit of grosgrain ribbon with a brad, both Pretty in Pink. Both the panels were mounted on Rose Red Prints DSP which had been mounted on Pretty in Pink and then Pumpkin Pie card base. The gorgeous felt fusion flowers and Pretty in Pink brads help to finish it all off.

Aleiah is such a beautiful little girl - welcome to the world darling!

KWernerDesign Colour Inspiration #35

I love to see what inspiration Kristina comes up with each week, and also seeing other people's entries. I have finally found the time to be able to make an entry for her latest challenge, but am not sure if I'll be able to get it in on time (I can never remember how far behind the USA is to us).... Here's this weeks inspiration

We don't have Baja Breeze here yet, so I substituted the retired Cool Caribbean. As ANOTHER friend has had a baby (I need to be careful of the company I keep I think!! No pitter patter of little feet in our house any time soon), I thought these colours would be nice for a welcome card. Here's what I came up with:

I used Sanded to add a bit of texture to the card base, Nursery Necessities provided the cute little elephant, the phrases and the caribbean stars, and the background stars in the cut out is from Season of Joy (from the finished Spring Mini; I love how you can use seasonal stamps all year round!). Cooper's name is created with the retired Pure and Simple Upper Alphabet. I thought the scalloping (using the fantastic new scallop punch) added a bit of softness to the card. I had to use some creative thinking to cut out the circle as I used the round tab punch, but it really doesn't like punching through more than 2 layers. A suggestion, if you would like to try this, punch out the circle on the base card first, then layer your strips, then cut them out with a craft knife! The last little extra I included was clear embossing the caribbean elephant and attaching him with Dimensionals.

This little elephant will be in the post today on his way down to meet little Cooper - congrats Kel!! I'm looking forward to meeting your little man soon!!

Giraffe for Baby Harry

The owner/director of Luana's childcare centre had a baby boy yesterday morning, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to pull out my card and stamp stash - especially since I didn't do anything last week. I also wanted to participate in Mel and Makeesha's latest challenges, and thought I could make something to fit all 3. Here 'tis



Mel's latest challenge was to use distressing and include at least 1 eyelet, and Makeesha's was this sketch challenge.

The Summer Picnic DSP provided the colour inspiration for this one; Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Pumkpin Pie and Whisper White. I originally wanted to use the elephant from Wild About You but he was facing the wrong way, so the giraffe it was! Bashful Blue of course for boys. I used the very technical technique of tracing around whatever circular object looked right for the circles, and distressed the bigger one. I wheeled Nursery Letters in Bashful Blue, distressed the edges too and mounted it on Old Olive. I attached Bashful Blue ribbon to Old Olive cardstock using Aged Brass eyelets and stamped Harry with Pure and Simple Upper Alphabet (retired) in Pumpkin Pie and ran the letters through the Xyron to help tham stick to the ribbon.

The photo I have seen of Harry looks so cute, so we're looking forward to meeting him in the flesh (as are all the other kids in the centre!!)