Wild About You...Girl!

Here is a little new baby card I made last night:


The layout is a CASE of this one by Karen Giron, and I'm still entranced by Karen Thomas' colours from here.

Ingredients:

Cardstock: Textured Pumpkin Pie, Smooth Whisper White and Rose Red
Papers: Bali Breeze Designer Series Paper
Stamps: Wild About You and Nursery Necessities
Ink: Pumpkin Pie and Rose Red Classic Ink, Black Stazon
Accessories: Rose Red 1" Double-Stitched Grosgrain, Whisper White Taffeta, Styled Silver Hodgepodge, SNAIL, Dimensionals, White Opal Liquid Pearls, Glue Dots, Versamark, Clear Emboss Powder, Heat Gun and Stamp-a-ma-jig
Techniques: Baby wipe inking - See Beate's tutorial here.

Mojo Monday 68

I've never participated in one of these Mojo Monday sketch challenges before, but was feeling in need of some Mojo...and it happened to pop up on my Google Reader.

This is the Mojo Monday Sketch #68 for Monday 5th January 2009:


...and this is my card:


Now, first I have to give thanks to the wonderfully talented Karen Thomas. This fabulous card she recently made was my inspiration for the colours.

The list of ingredients for this card is:

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Rose Red and Pumpkin Pie
Paper: Bali Breeze Designer Series Paper and Watercolour paper
Stamps: Hero Arts - Seize The Cupcake and Stampin' Up! Family Phrases
Inks: Timber Brown Stazon, Stampin' Up! Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie & Regal Rose Classic Ink
Accessories: Stampin' Up! 1" Rose Red Double Stitched Ribbon, Pebbles Inc. I kan-dee Orange ribbon, Stampin' Up! Styled Silver Hodgepodge, miscellaneous orange eyelets, Crystal Effects, White Opal Liquid Pearls, AED Pink Soda Glitter, Stampin' Up! Ticket Corner Punch, Crimper, Aquapainter, Crop-a-dile, SNAIL adhesive, Dimensionals and Glue Dots.


Now, my kids are stage diving off the couch...onto each other...so I'd better go see about that ;-).

Have a great day,
Sam.

Happy New Year!

I hope that 2009 is full of happiness and good health for you all!!

I just have a couple of pics to share with you. I was motivated to use pinks, blues and greys by this little Pumpkin Patch skirt I got for my daughter:


I scrunched up a whole bunch of cardstock, trying to recreate a fabric effect. The idea never quite came together, but I had fun trying:


Materials used:
Textured Basic Gray cardstock, Going Gray cardstock, Rose Red cardstock, Basic Gray cardstock, Regal Rose cardstock, Cuttlebug Dies and Folders, Eastern Elegance Rub-Ons, Filigree Designer Brads, Dimensionals and SNAIL adhesive.

For this next card I used some of the scrunched up cardstock, punched out various sized hearts using some old punches I have here, glued them onto a piece of cardstock and then painted them with Crystal Effects for the high gloss finish. The heart is a piece of Stampin' Up! chipboard which I have coloured with Tempting Turquoise classic ink and then covered with Light Blue Chunky Sprinkles:




Materials Used:
Rose Red cardstock, Tempting Turquoise cardstock, Regal Rose cardstock, Linen Background stamp, Tempting Turquoise classic ink, Tempting Turquoise brads, Rose Red 1" Double-Stitched Ribbon, On Board Accents chipboard, Crystal Effects, Light Blue Chunky Sprinkles Glitter, Dimensionals and SNAIL adhesive.

And last for tonight, I wanted to show you a pic of a beautiful visitor we had in our garden this morning. I did a bit of research, and apparently this is an Orchard Swallowtail Butterfly - Papilo Aegeus:


She was sunning herself on my Photinia hedge. Isn't she magnificent?

All the best,
Sam.

Polka Dot Heart

Last night while I started watching The Last Samurai I made a little card:


I've sneaked you a peek of a stamp from one of the Sale-A-Bration 2009 stamp sets. I think you'll like the sets on offer this time....I do!! It has been embossed in white, on Real Red cardstock, then cut out and mounted up on a Metal Edged Tag...and I really like how it turned out. The Chocolate Chip ribbon is in our new Summer Mini catalogue, and is just plain YUMMY!


I've also used some of my recently acquired Spellbinders Nestabilities dies. These are from the Labels Two set, and I think they are so groovy. If you are interested in checking some of these cutting dies out for yourself, you should head on over to Bizzy Becs.

The 'Love You' sentiment is from the Cherished Memories Rub-Ons pack. The base cardstock is Textured Chocolate Chip. Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhh....I could use textured cardstock ALL the time given half the chance ;-).

Now, I've just previewed this card on the monitor and the first thing that popped into my head is - a tin of Heinz Tomato Soup......hmmmmmm, I wonder, is that a bad thing?

Thanks for popping by! Have a relaxing Saturday.

Sam.

Time For You...

Here is another little creation that I made a short while ago. I made it for a Stampin' Up! demo friend, and I wanted to hold on to it until she had received it in the mail:


Materials Used (all from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: 'Time For You' and 'Short and Sweet'
Cardstock: Always Artichoke, River Rock, Very Vanilla and Watercolour Paper
Designer Series Paper: from Secret Garden Simply Scrappin' kit
Accessories: Classic Inks (Always Artichoke, Black Stazon Ink, River Rock and Groovy Guava), Theatre Ribbon Originals, Beachfront Ribbon Originals, Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware, Crystal Effects and Aquapainter
Adhesives: SNAIL, Sticky Strip and Dimensionals.

...and now I think it must be time for bed!

Nighty night :-),
Sam.

Cute Anna Mae

My apologies for the general lack of new things to look at on here. My other half brought back a lovely gift for me from the UK...a hideous cold. Two weeks of feeling BLERGGGHhhhhhh and now I'm on antibiotics for a sinus infection and eye drops for conjunctivitus. Did I mention how sorry for myself I've been feeling? This, and it's Summer...NOT FAIR!

Anyway, I just thought I'd show you a little birthday card I made recently. I have used a brand new stamp set that I got from Our Craft Lounge (PS. I have just discovered that you can also buy these locally HERE). I've never used clear stamps before, being a huge fan of Stampin' Up!'s lovely red rubber, but I thought I should at least try the competition and see how they went (...I like them, and there is definately a place for them in my stash ;-):


Materials Used (all from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Cardstock: Soft Sky, Regal Rose, Whisper White and Pretty in Pink
Stamps: Anna Mae stamp set - by Our Craft Lounge, Think Happy Thoughts stamp set, Short Order Numbers stamp set and Linen background stamp
Designer Series Patterned Paper: Spring Fling
Ribbon: Flirty Ribbon Originals
Accessories: Metal Edged Tags, Pretty in Pink Eyelets, Watercolour Paper, Black Stazon Ink, Classic Ink (Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Soft Sky, Creamy Caramel, Pumpkin Pie and Blush Blossom), Aquapainter, Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds, crop-a-dile, 1 1/4 inch circle punch and 3/4 inch circle punch
Adhesives: SNAIL, Two-Way Glue Pen, Sticky Strip and Dimensionals.

Here is a little close up so you can see the Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamonds:


Thanks for stopping by!
Sam.

A couple more Christmas cards

While playing with Kristina's colours today, I also made these two cards:





The first one is the right colours, but the second one does not have any Very Vanilla in it...I just couldn't make it fit, and decided it was too annoying so I'd best stop!

Hope your day was fabuloso :-).
Sam.

Color Throwdown #18

I know I've missed the boat on this challenge, but thought I'd do it anyway, as I really love the colour combo!

The Color Throwdown challenges can be found here, and this week's is:



My card is:


I've added a teensie bit of Whisper White too.

Gonna run now, my internet connection is being a bit weird today.

Have a good one!
Sam.

NO MORE SURFING SANTAS....d'ya hear me?

This is what 20 Surfing Santas looks like! There will be no more Surfing Santas in this household. Not today, not tomorrow, not next week! I am all Surfing Santa'd out. COMPRENDE?

It is such a good feeling having this job completed though! It took a while, even with Mum helping (she coloured 10 of those Santas for me last week while she was visiting).....thanks Ma, you rock :-)!

I sent the parcel off to my brother today. So his Christmas cards will be out by the end of the week. Hope he likes them!


I played around with the water colour, and have made 10 with Blue Bayou surf, and 10 with Brilliant Blue surf. I also changed from a Whisper White background layer and envelope to Very Vanilla, because it matched better with the off white colouring of the watercolour paper and the twill tape. On two of the cards I had a small tinker with adding some Liquid Applique to the breaking water of the wave, but thought it ended up being a bit too busy for my liking.

Now I can get back to mucking around with my new Summer Mini catalogue goodies :-).

Have a great day!
Sam.

Kristina's Latest Colours...

These are the colours Kristina has chosen for her 29th Color Inspiration:



and this is my little card:


I've used Brilliant Blue instead of Pacific Point, as we don't yet have that colour in Australia.

Thanks for popping by :-),
Sam.

PS. I know it is Elegant EGGPLANT, not Elegant LAVENDER...but I don't have any eggplants growing in my garden to use as a backdrop. If only Stampin' up! would release colours called Tentatively Tomato, Scrap of Strawberry, Case of Coriander, Sometimes Spinach, Plump Pea or Oh, Oh, Oh Onion...then I could start themeing all my card photos.

Some Pumpkin Pie and Ruby Red Happiness...

Same old story...all the stuff from Kristina's latest colour inspiration were still scattered about my desk...so I used them, again!


It is another simple card. I've used the Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder on the Pumpkin Pie layer. The main image has been stamped onto watercolour paper in Black Stazon, and watercoloured with an aquapainter and classic ink. I have highlighted the flowers with Crystal Effetcs, because I really enjoy doing that! The Sage Shadow ribbon is from the District ribbon originals pack.


I have a cold, so I'm gonna go curl up on the couch and watch K-PAX.

See ya,
Sam.

PS. Happy Halloween!

A Tricky Color Inspiration!

I'm not afraid to say that I found Kristina's latest Colour Inspiration REALLY HARD! REALLY, REALLY HARD!!


I measure 'HARD' by the state of my workspace at the end of creating...and suffice to say this was one of the hardest...


WOT A MESSY SAMMY!

Anyhoo....I got it done, and I think it is even within deadline.


The background cardstock is Whisper White. The next layer is textured Wild Wasabi (still loving textured ;-). The Rose Red ribbon is from the Fairy Tale ribbon originals set. The 'You make me SMILE' sentiment is from the 'Anchored' Rub-Ons pack. I've then mounted a large square aluminium edged tag up on dimensionals. The next layer is Bashful Blue cardstock which has been punched out with the scallop punch and pierced around the petals. Then there is a piece of So Saffron cardstock which has been crimped and punched out using the 1 3/8" circle punch, then there is a layer of Rose Red cardstock, punched out using 3/4" circle punch and mounted up on dimensionals, and last...but certainly NOT least, is the smiley face Rub-On, from the 'A Perfect Day' pack in the current Spring Mini Catalogue.

Have a great day.....we are going to have a top of 25 degrees celcius here...BLISS!

Sam.

Three Black Cats

We don't celebrate Halloween in Australia...well, no one in my neighbourhood seems to at any rate...but I really wanted to participate in Shelli's Creative Challenge. Because it is not widely celebrated we don't have much in the way of Halloween-type stamps and embellishments...so I've been pondering this problem for some time. Then, as I was browsing through my Google Reader the other day I came across this amazing card by Karen Thomas....where she has used punch-art to get the Halloween theme happening. Such a clever girl she is!!!

Soooooo, to cut a long story short, I have spent this afternoon mucking about with my punches and have come up with this card. I am really pleased with the end product...and I don't think you can get much spookier than three black cats...can you?




All products used are from Stampin' Up! The background cardstock is Basic Black Textured Cardstock (I have a 'thing' for textured cardstock at the moment...LOVE IT). The next layer is Lavender Lace, and has been mounted up on dimensionals. Then there is a Pumpkin Pie layer that has been crimped.

The black fiber is from Stampin' Up!'s retired Neutrals Fancy Fibers pack. The 'Happy Halloween' sentiment is from the Occasional Greetings stamp set, and has been stamped in Basic Black ink, in two parts (using the Stamp-a-ma-jig to align), so that it will fit inside the Designer Label punch. The Hodgepodge frame is from the Styled Silver set, currently available in the Australian Spring Mini Catalogue.

The three square boxes are made using Lavender Lace and textured Whisper White cardstock, and are punched out using the 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" square punches. These squares are also mounted up on dimensionals.

My three black cats are made using a variety of Stampin' Up!'s punches. Their heads are a combination of the 3/4" circle, and the small oval punches. Their eyes are made using the 1/16" circle punch. The cats' bodies and tails are made using just the small oval punch. It is all in the placement of the punch! The cats are mounted up on dimensionals too.

and PRESTO...Halloween......by punches!

Thanks for looking,
Sam.

More Textured Boats

I'm kinda hung up on these colours right now....and little boats....but that's a whole other story:


The background cardstock is Ruby Red, and I have stamped it with the Canvas background stamp. There is then a layer of Pumpkin Pie, which is mounted up on Dimensionals. The next layer is Soft Sky and it has been crimped.

The ribbon is from the retired Rustic Retreat Ribbon Originals pack. The two squares consist of a layer of Ruby Red then Whisper White and they are mounted up on Dimensionals.

The boat is from the 'Nursery Necessities' stamp set and is inked in Old Olive. I have stamped it off once on a scrap piece of textured cardstock before stamping it onto the Whisper White square. This results in a nice textured effect. I have also clear embossed both little boats.

Thanks for looking. Nighty night!
Sam.

I WANT A CUPCAKE!!!

I went to bed thinking about cupcakes...and I woke up thinking about cupcakes...and in the absence of any real cupcakes, I made another cupcake card using Ashley's card as inspiration again!


I used the Ruby Red and So Saffron colours with the Choc Chip this time...because they were still hanging about after Kristina's challenge!

The So Saffron DSP is from the Palette O' Prints pack that was available as part of a Stampin' Up! promotion earlier this year. The cupcake is from the Big Bold Birthday set...currently available at 20% off the retail price. I crimped the patty pan to make it look like a real patty pan.

I made some tiny choc chip sprinkles on the cupcake icing using a template and the 1/16" circle punch, then I dabbed Crystal Effects on these. There is also Crystal Effects on the candle flame, although it's pretty hard to see in the photo.


The background cardstock has been stamped using the Happy, Happy Birthday Jumbo wheel. The Choc Chip ribbon is from the Flirty Ribbon Originals pack and the 'Birthdays are the BEST' sentiment is from the 'It's Your Birthday' stamp set.

The plate is made using Stampin' Up!'s two oval punches. I needed to put the cupcake on a plate because I stuck the patty pan too far up the card...so there was this blank space between the patty pan and the ribbon. A plate filled in the space nicely IMO ;-).

Have a lovely day!
Sam.

CASEing Cupcakes...

I have a category in my Google Reader that is for cards I want to CASE. Then, when I'm feeling a bit low on imagination I go to this list and choose one that jumps out at me! The card I made tonight is a CASE of a beautiful card by Ashley at Design With Ink.


The colours are Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink and Whisper White. The stamp set is Big Bold Birthday. I've crimped the cupcake patty pan which I think adds authenticity. The cupcake icing is inked in Pretty in Pink and rock n' rolled in Regal Rose, then clear embossed. The two candles have Dazzling Diamonds on their flames. The ribbon is from the retired Flirty ribbon originals pack.

I'm positively stoked with how this card turned out. Thanks Ashley!

Sam.

More Unfrogettable

Last night I sat down to make another card. As I already had all of Kristina's lovely Colour Inspiration cardstock colours strewn about my work space, and my watercolouring paraphenalia and Unfrogettable stamp set still at hand, I decided another card along the same lines as yesterday's was in order ;-). SLACKER!!!!!!!!


The TV pickings weren't quite so engrossing last night. Aeon Flux.....which I've seen before...but does kinda make me wish I'd taken up gymnastics at some point. GO Charlize!

Anyhoo, this card...I used the Snail this time. Cute little guy isn't he? Not much else to say. I used Crystal Effects again, but just on the snail's shell, his eyes, and the centres of the little flowers. The So Saffron DSP is one of the sheets from the Palette O' Prints pack. I have stamped the Canvas stamp on the background cardstock. The 'Thank You' sentiment is from one of Stampin' Up!'s Rub-On packs. I am pleased with the end product!


Yesterday, a simply magnificent Spring day here in the ACT, Miss 4 and I went to visit a friend of mine and her horse. Miss 4 got to have her first ever horse meet and greet, and she had a wonderful time. She got to have a little ride too....I'll spare you the pic of me perched precariously up there on Teddy's back....let's just say I was holding on tight :-).



Have a good one!
Sam.

Kristina's Color Inspiration #25

I have not had a chance to participate in one of Kristina Werner's colour inspirations for quite some time, but when I saw this challenge on my Google Reader last night I couldn't help myself.



The Shawshank Redemption was on telly here, and I had never seen it before, so I decide to watch it while working on this card. If you look closely at the watercolouring you will see what a large mistake that was. The movie was so good I kept getting sidetracked and stuffing up my colouring :-(



I only applied the Crystal Effects this morning, so it is still wet...and I was worried that it would kind of slide down the card while I was photographing it, but it seems to have stayed in place!



These colours were a lot of fun to work with. Very cheery indeed. I think the Hoppy Birthday frog suited this challenge very well.

Thanks Kristina!
Sam.

Cute Candle Case

This card is pretty much a 100% case of one of Karen Thomas' beautiful cards.

I don't have the 'Happy, Happy Birthday' wheel (yet ;-) so I used the 'All About Birthdays' jumbo wheel (from the Level 3 Hostess bundle - All About Occasions). The candle flame is from the 'Pick a Petal' stamp set, the wick is hand drawn with a Stampin' Write Journaler and the candle is just a strip of cardstock.

The spotty DSP is from the Jersey Shore pack. The cardstock colours are Pumpkin Pie, Brilliant Blue, Wild Wasabi and Whisper White. The ribbon is Wild Wasabi Double Stitched Grosgrain.

And that's it! Easy card to make...but looks so nice :-). Thanks Karen!!

Pretty Princess

This little card serves two purposes:

1/ It is made using the colours I chose for my recent blog comp....so this will be my contribution to that :-)

2/ I needed a birthday card for a good friend...et volia!


The cardstock colours are: Perfect Plum, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Soft Sky and Whisper White. I have stamped the background cardstock with the Linen background stamp. The princess is stamped on watercolour paper in black Stazon ink and coloured with an Aquapainter and Classic Ink. I have also highlighted her crown, wand and dress with Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamonds.

The ribbons are from the Fairy Tale and Flirty (retired) Ribbon Originals packs, and the 'Make a Wish' sentiment is from the Eastern Elegance Rub-Ons pack (in the Spring Mini Catalogue).

Have a great day,
Sam.