Scrapbook boutique Challenge

I'm here today with a card for the July Scrapbook Boutique challenge. Each month they use a cupcake as an inspiration for their challenge. This month's is a yummy chocolatey/coffee looking cake and this is how I was inspired ....

I've used 3 journal cards from Kaisercraft to make this card and a Hero Arts stamp. The sentiment is cut from one of the journal cards - it made me laugh when I saw it and reminded me of a very funny childrens book called 'Don't let the Pigeon drive the bus'.

Fusion Card Challenge

Hi, just a quick post from my iPad.

I'm trying to get back to my favourite challenges  and I loved the sketch and photo for this week's Fusion challenge and this is what I came up with ...

I do apologise for the poor photo quality, but my computer 's Iphoto has crashed :( and is currently in repair mode, so I've used the ipad camera. Anyhow, I started with a white card base, which I embossed with a PTI impression plate and then partially covered with the DP. Then I stamped the rose and other images. The bird is made with a tim Holtz die.  I hi-lighted it with white gel pen and stamped on that as well. I then attached the ribbon, sentiment,bird and flower to the card and added a few splatters to finish it off.

I'd Like To Be Under Sea ...

Ok, well I tell a fib! Only if it was shallow! I wouldn't mind being on a tropical beach though, at a lovely resort. Koh Samui maybe...

I've seeing lots of gorgeous tags with a Seahorse on them, around blog land and I discovered they're inspired by Tim Holtz's Tags of 2014 - July. So I decided to have a play. This is what I created.

I don't have the seahorse die and although I could have used a Silhouette cut file, I decided to use something that's been in my little box of treasures for a long time. It's the skeleton of a real Seahorse, found on the beach.  I sprayed it with gold Heidi Swapp Color Shine.

Back to the tag. I embossed it with a wood grain folder and then painted it with a thick gesso. Next I coloured it with distress paints. I like the way the gesso makes it streaky. 

I have something hidden in the background - can you see it? I used a stencil and distress ink to have a couple more Seahorses subtly floating in the background. 

I used Silhouette to die cut some seaweed and a few leaf die cuts.

To finish it off I added some bling and a bow, which means it's not grungy like Tim's!

The strange thing is, I was planning to make a couple of summer Mixed Media projects already, before I knew about Tim's challenge, so I already had the shells and had collected sand weeks ago. If you check back on 01 August (US time) you'll see my other project.

ETA: I'm entering this tag in the Inspired by Stamping challenge

PS: I apologise to anyone who has that Beatles song stuck in their head! I've been singing it all day!

Another Tag!

The thing about tags, is that they're addictive - I think it's because they're small and cute! So I couldn't stop at one tag for the Tag You're it #2 challenge, I had to make another one.

Another thing that is addictive, is playing with Heidi Swapp stencils, because they are cute and small too!

The tag was made with a Papertrey Ink die again. The butterfly stamp is from Darkroom Door and the gorgeous sentiment is from Stamplorations.

It's hard to tell from the photo, but after I stamped the butterfly and fussy cut it, I swiped Versamark ink over it and clear embossed it, because I was too impatient to wait for glossy accents too dry! 

I'm entering this in the Simon Wednesday challenge which is to Emboss it!

NB: In case you noticed the white specks on the butterfly, that's what happens when you use the same piece of paper that was previously used with white embossing powder! Lucky I don't mind the effect here!

New challenge for tags!

Good morning! It's a beautiful sunny Winter's day on Melbourne! I should be outside , but I had the urge to make a tag for the new challenge Tag You're it! I missed the 1st one, but I'm very excited, because I love making tags! This week the tag they have an amazing tag from the uber talented Laura Bassen as our inspiration.

The tag is a cutie from Papertrey Ink and I broke out my new mini stencils from Heidi Swapp to make the background. After I stencilled the background, I spritzed it with water to activiate the distress ink and give it more of a watercolour effect. The bird stamp is my new favourite from hero Arts (I've been eyeing it off for a while and succumbed to temptation) and the flowers are cut with a Memory Box die. 

Case Study #201 Casing Shari

Hello friends! It's Sunday afternoon and I'm enjoying some relaxing crafting after recovering from Gastro.

It is Shari Caroll's last week as the muse at Case study challenge , so I didn't want to miss the chance to case her stunning card.

I began with a piece of SSS blue card stock and stamped the Hero Arts Friends text background.
Next I did some layer stamping with the butterfly from Darkroom Door and the leaves from Clearly Besotted. When the panel was dry, I stamped the white sentiment from Kaisercraft and the black sentiment from Hero Arts. I die cut the butterflies from the panel and mounted it on a black base.
Then I die cut the butterflies again from white glitter paper and  placed them in the negative space.
At this stage, I realised it really needed a border, so I did some stitching and then added a few sequins.
NB: Murphies Law - If you do the stitching after everything else is finished, you will most likely suff things up! Yep, the thread kept getting jammed and the tension was all over the place! You should see the back!
ETA: I'm entring this card in Simon Says Wednesday Challenge where the theme is to Emboss.

Winnie & Walter Premiere of Scenery: V for cheVron

Welcome back for the final day of the current release of Winnie & Walter Stamps.

Todays stamp set is so cool - it has so many possibilities!

I love graphics and florals together, so this is what I created for my first card.

 

I stamped the BIG cheVron with white ink and white embossed on watercolour paper. The stripes look a bit textured, but thats because of the paper, not the stamp.  I then used some yummy watercolour paint as a wash over the embossing. The sentiment is from The Big, the Bold and Seasons set, which premiered yesterday.
The roses are from the Big, the Bold and Extras set. 
EYA: I'm entering this in Simon's Wednesday challenge which is to Emboss it!

I'll have to confess that I am a bit challenged when it comes to stamping geometric shapes etc in a repeated pattern, because it never seems to turn out straight, if you know what I mean! However I couldn't resist giving it another try with Gold Delicata Ink. I am embracing the imperfections as proof that the card is hand made!!!

The sentiment is from The Big, the Bold and You set and of course the  chevrons are from Scenery: V for cheVron.

Thanks again for visiting and helping me enjoy my guest designer gig with W&W!

Now head on over to Winnie & Walter's blog 
to see what Dianne and the Talent have come up with!

Winnie & Walter - Seasons!

It's the 3rd day of Winnie & Walter's new release and today's premiere set is The Big, the Bold and Seasons. These stamps are fabulous for cards and of course fantastic for scrapbooking!

This is another one-layer card. I die-cut a leaf and then used the negative as a stencil.
The small leaves and the sentiment, both come with the new stamp set. 

This one is a CAS easy card. I embossed the card with my Big-Shot and then stamped the flower and leaf from the featured set around the oval. Then I stamped the banner from The Big, the Bold and Extras set and stamped the sentiment from the Big, the Bold and Seasons.  I couldn't resist adding the Studio Calico birds.

To create this card, I began by partially embossing a piece of white card stock. Then I sponged  and spritzed various inks  to get the background. The sentiments are from the today's featured set. I finished the card by adding the twine, seahorse embellishment and the die-cut sun.
ETA: I'm entering this card in the Simon Monday Challenge - A Mid-Summer challenge.

Here are a couple of fun tags I made.

The winter tag is made from shrink plastic. I die-cut the tag,  stamped the sentiment and snowflakes and then used my heat gun to shrink the tag. It always feels like a magic trick when I do this!

I had so much fun making these cards. Now, don't forget to pop over to Winnie & Walter's Blog to see what Dianne and the Talent have created.

CASE STUDY #200

Hello there! This is a very last minute card, because life has been busy, for the 200th challenge at Case Study. The muse is Shari Caroll - love her style.

I didn't have time to think too much, so I looked in my scraps box of un-used die-cuts etc and found the bird. So this is what I came up with…

The bird is made with a Tim Holtz die and painted with lumber paint. The leaves stamps are from Clearly Besotted and the flower is from Stamplorations Eclectic Flowers set.
Then of course I had to add some splatters and sequins.

Winnie & Walter Premier of Scenery: It's a Wonderful Pennant

Hi there. I'm back today with more cards for my Guest Star spot at Winnie & Walter. Today is the premiere of Scenery: It's a Wonderful Pennant. I'm not sure if we're allowed favourites, but if so, then this is it!

The first thing I thought of when I saw this set was christmas!  I made a one layer card with stamping and masking  - pretty straight forward! The sentiment and stars are stamped with Gold Delicata and they do shimmer, but I couldn't capture it in the photo.
Sadly, I have lost the small star stamp! My DH found the acrylic block in the dogs mouth and the stamp was chewed up! 

In this card you cannot see a pennant! But wait, I have used the pattern of the smaller pennants  to create the border and the pattern on the butterflies.
The sentiment is from the The Big, the Bold and You and the stamped bling is from Scenery: Big Bang Confetti.

This one is a very CAS masculine card - I never seem to have any cards in my stash suitable for the men in my life.

The pennant was stamped twice - once with the plain pennant and then again with the zig zag.
I drew the green on a piece of scrap paper and then sponged and stencilled over it.
The sentiment is from The Big , the Bold and You.

One more, just to show how versatile this set is....

I stamped the pennants and sentiment with pink pigment ink and embossed with a pearl embossing powder.
The paper is from Heidi Swapp ( I got carried away at our local craft store and bought lots of HS stuff today) and the chipboard house was an oldie from my stash. I inked the house up with white ink and embossed with the pearl powder.
The sentiment is from yesterday's set The Big, the Bold and the Blessings.

Now why don't you pop over to Winnie & Walter's blog to see what Dianne
and the Talent have created.

Winnie & Walter Guest Designing Gig!!!! Blessings!

Yep! You read it correctly! Today and for the next 3 days, I am one of the guest designers at Winnie & Walter, my new favourite stamp company! I first heard about W&W through Facebook and when I saw their 1st release, it was love at first sight. I now own 9 sets and they make me soooo happy!

Today is the premier of  The Big, the Bold and Blessings.

I began with a piece of white card stock and sponged and sprayed Worn lipstick, Spun sugar and Shabby Shutters to get the background. I Stamped the sentiment on a piece of scrap card and fussy cut, leaving some white border for extra pop.  The leaf  was die-cut and the edges sponged with various inks . I stitched the green border, mounted the panel on a white card and added a touch of bling!

While I had the stamps and the distress inks out I made another card.

All the sentiments,  except the 'so', come from the Big, the Bold and the Blessings. The flower, leaves  come from the Big, the Bold and Extras and the 'so; is from the Big, the Bold and You set.

Thank you so much for visiting - I hope you like my creations with the fabulous W&W stamps. 
Don't forget to go over to Winnie & Walter's blog to see the amazing projects created by Dianne Jaquay (the other Guest Designer) and the The Talent.

Sharing more love at Winnie & Walter

Here is another card for Share the love week at Winnie & Walter in their collab with Ranger Distress Inks.
This card is for Day 1 - Watercolour.

This one is a minnie card. I have stamped the flowers with Picked Raspberry and the leaves with Mowed Lawn, clear embossed and ten water coloured. The centre of the flower is stamped with Hero Arts black ink and clear embossed (this is a newbie and I'm happy with it). The background was coloured with Broken China . The stamps are from W&W The Big, The Bold and Extras.

ETA: I am also entering this card in Virginia's View challenge #5 - Die-cuts.

Getting My Mojo Back!

 Sorry I've been away from my blog for so long, but we've been entertaining our Niece for the last couple of weeks, including taking her to Queensland for 8 days. I did take a few supplies, but didn't manage to complete a card - just played around a bit.

So I figured the best way to get back in to card making was to dive in without thinking! I saw that Winnie & Walter have a collab with Tim Holtz Distress Inks so I literally got out my supplies and played without ant planning.

This card is for Day 4, which is to use stencils.

I started with a piece of white card stock and sponged various colours of distress ink. Then I used 3 different stencils and sponged again. I stamped stamped the background with W & W Scenery : Big Bang Confetti. Next I used my brand new die from Simon Says stamp to cut the butterflies (I love it). I used white gel pen around the edges and then stamped the W & W sentiment from  the Big the Bold and You, gold embossed and fussy cut it.
Mounted sentiment and inked panel and then added a few sequins to finish.
ETA: I am entering this card in Virginia's View challenge #5 - Die-cuts.
Also entering this card in the Case Study Challenge #199

Here are a few snaps from our holiday in Queensland.

Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast

View from Appartment

Yum - Lamb pizza with Hummus, pine-nuts and Pomegranate seeds

Apartment in Noosa Heads- wouldn't mind living here!

View from Apartment at sunset

At Australia Zoo!

Mixed Media Card Challenge - The FUN Begins!

Hello there! Today is very exciting because it's the first challenge for the Mixed Media Card Challenge and it's my first design team position!!!

 I die-cut a tag, painted it with gesso, dry embossed it and then coloured it with Gelatos. The reason I used the gesso, is because I find it makes it easier to blend the Gelatos.

Then I stamped the butterflies and coloured them with a combination of watercolour paint, Inktense pencils and distress markers. I fussy cut them and the covered them with glossy accents and left to dry for a few hours.
I've use a but of thread for the antennae.
I stamped the sentiment and cut up to place on the tag.

My next decision was whether to add bling, but decided on splatter!
So I've definitely used a mixture of media and I hope you like it!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Now go on over to MMCC to see what the rest of the design team have created - I'm sure you'll be inspired!

I am entering this card in the Simon Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge.

Casing Pamela - Week 4

It's the last week of Pamela Ho as the muse at Case Study challenge #197, so I just had to play along.

It's very busy here with school holidays and my niece arrived from the UK this morning so this is a short post.

I love the camera craze and when I thought about what I could use as a repeated image, I immediately thought of cameras. I think one of the stamps is from American Crafts and I'm not sure about the other. The awesome sentiment is a newbie from Stamplorations - I love the shadow effect!

Did you see that it's Case Study's 197th challenge - I'm guessing there could be some celebrations in a few weeks!

The Mixed Media Card Challenge
begins today 6.00am Los Angeles time so don't forget to check it out.