Farewell to the Spring Mini!

I have been trying to do some last minute creating with the products from the Spring Mini…. before they disappear in 2 days!

I had some ideas for making some gift bags using Keesh’s template (again!) with the gorgeous Parisian Breeze DSP filled with some yummy choccies for some thankyou gifts for school. I wanted a slightly bigger giftbag, so I adjusted the template slightly! The front and back are 20 x 15cm and the inside box is bigger as well. This way I can fit even more goodies inside!

This is the bag (before it is filled with choccies):

I paired it with a Great Friend butterfly, some Chocolate Chip ribbon and some Hemp Twine. I also used the wonderful, new 1 3/4″ Circle Punch to create a tag for the butterfly – this is available in 2 days from the new Summer Mini! I also punched some contrasting DSP with the Eyelet Border Punch to add some more decoration.

Last chance to order your goodies from the Spring Mini!

Inkspirations Sketch Challenge #16

Wow! I’ve been able to take part in two Inspirations Challenges in a row! That has never happened before!

Here’s my card for Keesh’s current challenge, and once again, my need for a birthday card for one of the girls at school created a reason for having a play with a stamping challenge!

I simply HAD to pull out my Great Friend to use it before it is unavailable… in only a few days! I am very excited about the new Summer Mini, which has some grogeous new products, but I do love my Great Friend stamp set and Walk in the Park DSP!

I was able to use my new Circle Scissors Plus again… whatever did I do before that came… oh that’s right, I traced around cups! It’s so much easier now!

I also used some more Walk in the Park DSP and made antennae for the butterflies using Linen Thread:

If you still want to get anything from the Spring Mini, you are running out of time!!

You have 5 days to get your order in before the end of the Spring Mini!!

Also, if you would like to get your hands on a brand NEW Summer Mini, make sure you are on my mailing list and you will receive one very very soon!

“Butterflies in the Park”
Stamps: Great Friend
Paper: Cameo Coral, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Walk in the Park DSP
Ink: Cameo Coral, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Basic Grey
Accessories: Scallop Border Punch, Linen Thread, Baja Breeze Striped Ribbon, Circle Scissors Plus (*new – Summer Mini*), Stampin Dimensionals

Parisian Breeze Box

My lovely sister-in-law and brother-in-law are over from New Zealand at the moment and staying with us for 2 weeks, so I wanted to make a little something to leave in their bedroom to say “Welcome”… with some choccies of course! I decided to use this box template that Nicole showed us at Team Day to make a box using my fave-but-soon-to-be-unavailable Parisian Breeze DSP!

It’s great using this paper for 3D projects because it is a bit thicker than the rest of the DSPs, so it holds up perfectly on it’s own!  The list of materials isn’t that large – Parisian Breeze DSP, Best Yet (sentiment), some Circle & Scallop Circle Punches & some Hemp Twine! Easy!

I need to make some more boxes and giftbags for Christmas gifts and thankyous, and I think I might be using this template a few more times!

If you would like to get your hands on the gorgeous Parisian Breeze DSP or any other products from the Spring Mini, then contact me before November 30th to place your order.

Inkspirations Inspiration Challenge #15

I had quite a stamping challenge with this card – and the difficulty wasn’t just from Keesh’s challenge pic!

I needed to make a wedding card for a man from work (our IT guy), who is getting married soon and today was his last day at school before the wedding. Even though the card was for the happy couple, we only really know the groom and we were giving the card to him today. So my card needed to be not too girly, but appropriate for a wedding, and possibly manly…?! That was a challenge!

I sat down at my stamping desk and stared blankly at it for awhile, until I remembered that Keesh’s challenge for this week included colours that were appropriate for a wedding and that also weren’t too girly! I thought I could use that as my inspiration to make my “manly” wedding card!

Here’s the Inspiration pic:

Love that bling and those cushions are gorgeous!

Of course, I had to use my Circle Scissors Plus again and make some lovely circles! I rolled over them with the So Swirly wheel (which always says weddings to me!) and used a retired sentiment stamp for the Congratulations. I used a heart from a new stampset from the Summer Mini – Hello Again – and added some rhinestones to “bling” up the card and also to fit in with the Challenge.

The card was well-received – I think he was surprised to get a card at all, let alone a handmade one with messages from everyone!

And now I can say that I can make a “manly” wedding card!!

“Congratulations”
Stamps: Congratulations (retired), Hello Again (*new – Summer Mini*), So Swirly wheel
Paper: Basic Black, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Sweet Slumber DSP
Ink: Basic Black, Ruby Red
Accessories: Clear Rhinestones, Circle Scissors Plus (*new – Summer Mini*), Stampin Dimensionals

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #44

I was making a card for a special stamping buddy of mine today and decided to use Karen Giron’s Sketch Challenge for inspiration. The best part was that I was able to use my NEW Circle Scissors Plus!! Yay! I LOVE this new tool and have been happily cutting circles… for no particular reason… so now I have a pile of circles and I don’t know what to do with them!!

Anyway… here’s the challenge & my take on it:

There are a few sneaky sneak peeks on here… Check out the closeup…

Hmmm… anyone spot a new butterfly stamp and butterfly punch…?!

I decided to mix the currently available Parisian Breeze DSP with the soon to be available Butterfly Prints stampset and I love how well they go together! Wish these were available at the same time!!

This is a nice big square 14.8 x 14.8cm card which was filled out nicely with a 5″ circle of DSP and then a strip across the bottom in a different piece of DSP. I added some Baja Breeze striped ribbon and some Half Pearls to finish it off.

I hope my friend likes her special “sneak peek” card!

If you would like a copy of the new Summer Mini to peruse before it comes out on December 1, make sure you are on my mailing list. Just email me to be added to the list and I will pop a copy in the post! If you are already on my mailing list, you should be receiving your copy soon!

“Butterfly Love”
Stamps: Butterfly Prints (*new – Summer Mini*)
Paper: Kraft, Whisper White, Parisian Breeze DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze
Accessories: Butterfly Punch (*new – Summer Mini*), Circle Scissors Plus (*new – Summer Mini*), Baja Breeze Striped Ribbon, Wide Oval Punch, Eyelet Border Punch, Half Pearls, Stampin Dimensionals

Christmas Stamp-a-Stack Cards

I’ve been a bit busy lately with plenty of crafting and stamping!

I was so busy that my new pre-order products from the brand new Summer Mini arrived on Wednesday and I didn’t get a chance to play with them til late Friday night!! I have a sneak peeks that I want to show you as well, so stay tuned…!

I had a wonderful group of girls over for a Christmas Stamp-a-Stack on Wednesday and we had a great time, as we always do! These are the Christmas cards that the girls made, using the Season of Joy stamp set (my fave all-rounder Christmas set because it is so versatile) and my new Punch Pals stamp set (my new fave because it is just so cute!).

The first four are Season of Joy cards:

These two cards used the Real Red, Old Olive & Chocolate Chip markers to create a multi-coloured image that is simple but gives a great effect.

Some Christmas baubles using the snowflake and swirl image and some Circle Punches:

Some pretty Christmassy flowers (this is a great design to make in bulk – just stamp lots of swirls on pieces of white card, a page full of flowers, cut them out and voila!).

The next four cards used the Punch Pals set with some cute snowmen and penguins – the girls fell in love with these cuties! I’m not normally a huge fan of snow images for Christmas, seeing as we don’t really get anything remotely snow-like at Christmas in Australia, but these stamps won me over!

Meet Mr Snowman:

And his friend, Mr Penguin:

Mr Snowman with his Christmas tree and a little bit of faux snow!

And the forest where Mr Snowman lives… or a whole bunch of Christmas trees, I’m not sure! Maybe this is the Tree Farm where you go to pick out your Christmas tree… !!

If you need to get supplies to make your own Christmas cards, then just call or email me to place your order so you can get started soon.

If you would like to make it even easier to make your own Christmas cards, just choose one of my Christmas cards that you like, tell me the number of cards you want to make and I can design a pack for you with all the supplies you need and have it delivered to your door!! I’ll even include your own copy of the card you want to use for inspiration!

Now that definitely takes the stress out of Christmas planning!!

Happy Christmas stamping!

“Season of Joy 1&2”
Stamps: Season of Joy, Best Yet
Paper: Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Real Red, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, VersaMark
Accessories: Real Red/ Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon, Scallop Border Punch, Stampin Dimensionals

“Season of Joy 3 & 4”
Stamps: Season of Joy
Paper: Real Red, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Real Red, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: 11/4” & 13/8” Circle Punch, Stampin Dimensionals

“Punch Pals 1&2”
Stamps: Punch Pals
Paper: Ruby Red, Basic Grey, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Ski Slope DSP
Ink: Ruby Red, Basic Grey, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Large Tag Punch, Word Window Punch, 13/8” Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Silver Cord, Stampin Dimensionals

“Punch Pals 3&4”
Stamps: Punch Pals, Cute & Curly, Occasional Greetings
Paper: Ruby Red, Old Olive, Basic Grey, Whisper White
Ink: Ruby Red, Basic Grey, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Summer Sun
Accessories: Curvy Label Punch, Wide Oval Punch, White Gel Pen, Sponge, Stampin Dimensionals

For a really Great Friend

I wanted to make a special thankyou gift for one of my dear friends, Tilly, who has been helping me out with lots of stamping lately!

We have been doing lots of stamping together and she has helped me make my swaps for Regionals and Team Day and helped me at a recent class as well, so I wanted to give her a little something to show her how much I appreciate her and thank her for how wonderful she is!

I decided to use the template for the gift box that we made at Team Day last week with my favourite stamp set – Great Friend. I reduced the template in the printer so it was a smaller box that fit on an A4 sheet. I made the box using a Cameo Coral sheet and decorated it with the Walk in the Park DSP.

I also made a Card Box using a design that the lovely and hilarious Bonnie, from the US, demonstrated at Regionals. It involved making a shallow box with some walls designed to separate the box into four sections. I made my box a bit larger than the one that she demonstrated – it is a 6″ x 6″ box.  Then I used the Great Friend stamp set to make some little 3″ x 3″ cards, which I put in two of the sections and some 2″ x 3″ tags. In the last section, I added some Kiwi Kiss ribbon to use with the tags. I wrapped the box up and tied it with some Baja Breeze ribbon and added a little tag with a butterfly with some half pearls to the front.

Remember – if you want to get your hands on the Great Friend stamp set or anything else in the Spring Mini Catalogue, you must get your orders in by November 30th. Email or call me to place your orders!

“Great Friend Gift Box & Card Box”
Stamps: Great Friend
Paper: Cameo Coral, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, Walk in the Park DSP
Ink: Cameo Coral, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Basic Grey, VersaMark
Accessories: Scallop Border Punch, Half Pearls, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8” Punch, 1 ¼” Punch, Kiwi Kiss/ Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon, Baja Breeze Double Stitched Ribbon, Hemp Twine, Paper Piercer, Hole Punch, Stampin Dimensionals

Heart to Heart

My lovely friend, Tam, was married on Friday and it was such a beautiful wedding! Tam looked gorgeous and was just glowing – the way only a bride can glow! It was a lovely night and I was so glad I was able to celebrate with her!

Here’s a photo of myself and the beautiful bride:

I needed to make a very special card for her to celebrate this very special occasion… and make it different to the wedding card I made for her from the staff!

The inspiration for this card came from the swap that Tracey made for our Team Day last week. She used the Simply Said flower heart to make one window, so I changed it slightly to have four heart images using the different hearts in the set. I punched some Scallop Squares for underneath each image and punched a Scallop Square Window in the top right hand corner (it’s a bit hard to see but the flower heart in that corner is actually stuck on the inside of the card). I used a pink theme – Rose Red, Regal Rose & Pretty in Pink and coloured in the little flowers in the hearts with markers. I also added some little half pearls to the heart on the inside and coloured the centres of the flowers with a White Gel Pen.

“Heart to Heart”
Stamps: Simply Said, Sweet Little Sentiments
Paper: Rose Red, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
Ink: Rose Red, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Basic Black, VersaMark
Accessories: Scallop Square Punch, Half Pearls, White Gel Pen, Stampin Dimensionals

Rock Star card

I needed a male birthday card, last week, for one of the guys at work who was celebrating his birthday on Friday. I ummed and ahhed and finally decided to go with my new Rock Star Simply Sent Card Kit and matching Rock Star stamp set.

I LOVE this kit – it is so easy to use! And so quick to put together fun cards for boys of any age! This is a nice big card (A5 size) so that all the staff could sign, and uses nice boy’s colours like Brilliant Blue, Old Olive and More Mustard. Plus stars, checks and dots always work for boys!

“Rock Star”
Stamps: Starring You
Paper: Rock Star Simply Sent Kit & Old Olive
Ink: Old Olive
Accessories: Rock Star Simply Sent Kit – More Mustard Ribbon, Diecuts, Stampin Dimensionals

Love Always

My friend Tam, from work, is getting married tomorrow, so I have been busy making cards for her! This card is one that I made for the staff to sign for her goodbye morning tea today (well it was a goodbye to her singledom and goodbye while she goes off on her honeymoon! She will be back to teach in 2 weeks!).

For this card, I took a lot of inspiration (in other words, I pretty much copied!) from Keesh’s gorgeous card here. I saw this card and fell in love with it, so I set about making my own version.

This card uses the Sweet Always DSP as a feature with the heart and the always stamp from the Always set. I coloured these with the gorgeous Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip & Pumpkin Pie markers and used some Half Pearls as accents. I made a circle feature in the middle of the card using…. some cups and glasses from around the house!

I CAN’T wait until the new Summer Mini catalogue comes out on the 1st Dec because one of my favourite things in the catalogue is this item here:

This amazing creature is called the Circle Scissors Plus and it will stop you from ever having to trace around cups again!! It cuts circles from 1″ – 6″ and is super easy to use! I have one coming to me very soon (one of the many benefits of being a Demonstrator!) so I will be showing you some projects I make using my new baby very soon!

Can’t wait to see my friend get married tomorrow! Yay! Congrats, Tam!

“Love Always”
Stamps: Always, Congratulations (retired)
Paper: Regal Rose, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Sweet Always DSP
Ink: Regal Rose, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: ½” and 1 ¼” and  13/8” Circle Punch, Half Pearls, Scallop Border Punch, Stampin Dimensionals