#TGIFc52 Motherly Love

The Stampin' Up! retirement list has been released and I thought it would be fun to throw a Retirement Party here on my blog for some of my favourite sets that made the list this year - starting with this beautiful Swallowtail butterfly.

I've stamped the base white card with the Swallowtail in basic gray and then sponged around it in smoky slate.  On another piece of white card I've stamped the same butterfly in lost lagoon - one of the colours that is set to retire.  I've added a little watercolour effect to this one using an aquapainter in the same lagoon tone.

In keeping with the TGIF challenge, 'love you Mom' theme, I've added a sentiment from the And Many More set, another retiring product.

Speaking of the TGIF challenge,  the site is officially a year old today!  Come on over to wish us a happy birthday, not to mention learn how you can win a free stamp set.

If you are in Australia and hoping to stock up on some of the retiring list goodies, I'd love your support - head on over to my Stampin' Up! store for the full list of items on sale now.  My current hostess code is Z94FJDUR.

Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock

[140490]

Swallowtail Clear Stamp Set

[129216]

Basic Gray Archival Stampin’ Pad

[140932]

Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad

[131179]

Sponge Daubers

[133773]

Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad

[133644]

Aqua Painters

[103954]

White Stampin' Emboss Powder

[109132]

Versamark Pad

[102283]

And Many More Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[134276]

Basic Gray A4 Card Stock

[121689]

Heat Tool

[129056]

Silver Metallic Thread

[138402]

Love Blossoms Embellishment Kit

[140551]

#TGIFc52 Motherly Love

April 22, 2016

Lamb among the blooms, Stampin' Up! Artisan Blog Hop

I had some fun playing with the new Easter Lamb and Birthday Blooms stamps for this round of the Stampin' Up! Artisan Blog Hop.  I first stamped the Easter Lamb on Shimmery White card in basic gray.  I then masked this cute image before adding some flowers from the Birthday Blooms set.  I coloured with blender pens in blushing bride and mint macaron. I also lightly sponged a little Soft Sky blue around some masked clouds in the background.

I went with the 'Here for You' sentiment from the And Many More stamp set for this first project.  I used my Alphabet Rotary stamp to change the 'you' to 'ewe' - a little play on words to tie in with the little lamb.

Of course, the clever Stampin' Up! designers already paired a fabulous sentiment with this pretty image so I thought I'd change the composition a little and create a design to celebrate Easter too.

While in my first design I used pool party card stock embossed with the Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, in this second card I switched the background to mint macaron to tie in with the panel of Birthday Bouquet designer series paper featured.

It occurred to me that this lovely subtle palette and pretty imagery would also be perfect for a baby card.  I couldn't resist creating just one more variation to showcase this idea.

I hope you like this set of cards I've shared today.  The rest of the team have been busy working on inspiring creations with these products that are sure to feed your creative spirit! The clever Jessica Williams is next on the Artisan blog hop journey - click along the link at the bottom to find more great projects featuring these products.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Lamb among the blooms, Stampin' Up! Artisan Blog Hop

February 18, 2016

Stampin' Up! On Stage Convention Swaps #2

Layered stamping, crumb cake, some paper piercing, a touch of vellum, a little twine and designs that include tags on them - these are just a few of my favourite things!  So I thought it was fitting that I create a swap to share Stampin' Up!'s On Stage convention event this weekend that brought all these elements together.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Stampin' Up! On Stage Convention Swaps #2

November 15, 2015

New holiday catalogue

I was certain I would not need another Christmas themed stamp set this year.  I have the current Wondrous Wreath set which is perfect for projects celebrating the upcoming holiday season. But then I received my copy of the newest Holiday catalogue and OMG, so much inspiration and an instant wish list!!

The release of the holiday catalogue has turned my mind to Christmas themed projects.  In an effort to try and better prepare for the hectic festive season I thought it would be fun to start having a few classes featuring Christmas goodies a bit early this year.

Participants will create the three tags and the one card featured in this post at my Sunday 13th September workshop.  Check out the Facebook events page HERE for more details.

New holiday catalogue

August 27, 2015

Published!

There is lots of Father's Day inspiration in the current Australian Cardmaking, Stamping & Papercraft mag - including this design created by yours truly. Read more about how this design came together in the mag's 'Inspiration Board' on page 39.

If you are in Australia you can pick up a copy in supermarkets and newsagents. Or find out about subscribing here.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Published!

August 12, 2015

#TGIFc12 Brand New

I must admit that when I first glimpsed this week's TGIF challenge I interpreted the theme as 'baby'.  Oops - the cue was actually to feature one of your favourite new products from the latest catalogue! Luckily I'd done this inadvertently - phew!!

The brand new Stampin' Up! catalogue was released last month and has just so many gorgeous new tempting goodies inside.  Needless to say I have a huge wishlist!  One of the first stamp sets I crossed off my list was the Silhouettes & Script hostess set - so many great sentiments.  For my design today I've featured the 'hello baby' stamp from this set, applying pink and orange tones with sponge daubers onto the stamp before stamping to achieve the multi-tonal image.

The wreath sitting in behind comes from the new Hello Baby set.  I've combined this with stamps from existing favourite set 'And Many More...' (to decorate the tag) and Zoo Babies (for that super cute giraffe).

Pop on over to TGIF challenges this week to join us for this wonderful challenge.  I can't wait to see all the designs this week but I'm a bit nervous seeing all your favourites products in action is going to make my list even bigger.

#TGIFc12 Brand New

July 15, 2015

Floral inspiration challenge #TGIFC04

There is an inspiring pretty picture this week at the TGIF challenge blog.

For me, I saw blooms in an array of pretty tones - Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, slashes of Real Red and deeper Cherry Cobbler.  I chose to make flowers from the Everything Eleanor stamp set in these colours.

I tried to find a patterned paper in my collection that would compliment these shades - maybe a grid style like in the background of the TGIF image.  I came across this piece from the retired Sent with Love pack and thought it was perfect for my background.  I just added the Everything Eleanor swirl in red to tie in the red from the blooms and the Riding Hood red card stock I chose to border it with.

There are lots of yellow flowers sprinkled throughout the inspiration picture.  I added yellow colouring to the centre of my blooms and then paper punched some additional yellow flowers to scatter around to finish the design.

I love challenges like these, that help me put together designs I might never have otherwise.  Can't wait to see what others in the stamping community come up with!

Floral inspiration challenge #TGIFC04

May 23, 2015

Brand New TGIF Challenge Blog #tgifc01

Have you seen that there is a brand new challenge blog?  I love a good challenge, they get you thinking about layouts and concepts you might never have thought of otherwise!  This particular blog, TGIF is particularly special because of the amazingly talented design team they've brought together.  

The very first challenge is a colour challenge.  For this design I've used a panel of pool party cardstock, sponging it in tones of pool party and a little island indigo for interest.  This forms the perfect background for this super cute fox from the Life's Adventure stamp set.  I masked the image, then spritzed with a shimmer spray and added some Gorgeous Grunge spots with white craft ink. 

I added some sequins and a few clouds inspired by the Cupcake Builder punch.   

I'm so glad that I got a chance to play with this stamp set again - it's on the retiring list and will be gone very soon.  I  hope you've enjoyed this project.  Head over and take a peek at the TGIF Challenge blog, your sure to be inspired!  

As it happens, I have been chosen to be the very first guest star at the challenge next week. I'm so excited to be invited to 'play' with this super talented group!!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Brand New TGIF Challenge Blog #tgifc01

May 4, 2015

Creation Station, Mother's Day

Mother's Day is the theme for this week's Creation Station blog hop.  I created these design's for the occasion this year.  They were both well received in class last weekend!

This first design features the Swallowtail stamp heat embossed in black on Naturals Ivory cardstock.  I then coloured the stunning butterfly with sponge daubers in a range of purple hues - Wisteria Wonder, Rich Razzleberry and a little Blackberry Bliss.  I added splashes of Blackberry Bliss and Hello Honey ink with an aqua painter to achieve the watercoloured spots effect.  To finish I chose a sentiment from the And Many More set, then a strip of gold foil card and some gold sequins.

I loved the gold and purple colour scheme of the first project so much I made another design featuring these tones.  This card layers gold patterned vellum, dry embossed wisteria wonder card and a doily beneath a tag of Naturals Ivory card.  Flowers from the Bloom with Hope set decorate the tag.  These were coloured with Wisteria Wonder blendabilities and a touch of Rich Razzleberry.  The sentiment is from the versatile Teeny Tiny Sentiments set.

Thank you for visiting my blog!  Be sure to follow the links below for some more great Mother's Day inspiration from the Creation Station team.

 

Creation Station, Mother's Day

May 3, 2015

Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall... this is the fourth design in my Nursery Times adventure.  The brick wall embossing folder added a nice tie in with the imagery.  To colour, I've used the blender pen with marina mist blue and riding hood red.  For the touches of off-white, I've stamped Humpty a second time on Vanilla card stock and fussy cut his head, arms and top of the wall, sticking them on the image.

Humpty Dumpty

December 2, 2014

Creation Station - Gift Card Holder

One of the challenges of this round of the Creation Station blog hop is to put together a Gift Card Holder. I recently came across a fabulous template by Nadine HöBrich and have used this as the basis for this design.

The Gift Card Holder is held together with a belly band featuring imagery from the exclusive hostess "Bloom with Hope" stamp set. I've coloured my flower with Blendabilities in shades of Melon Mambo and Daffodil Delight.  The sentiment is from the "And many more"set.

I kept the decoration of the actual holder very clean - adding a few of matching flowers to the inside. I've imitated Sandi MacIver in my colouring for this project.  She shared an amazing tutorial for using Blendabilities with this image on her blog earlier this year.

To see more Gift Card Holder ideas and projects featuring challenge stamp set 'Seasonally Scattered', click the link to follow the hop!

   

Shop Stampin' Up! with me online

Place an online order with me in November using the hostess code 

V9UHAKSR 

receive a mystery kit of 6"x 4" designer series papers.

Creation Station - Gift Card Holder

November 2, 2014

In Class - August 2014

Stampin' Up! have some wonderful paper punches but none as cute as their Owl Builder punch.  The possibilities are endless with this fun little tool - as a quick search on pinterest will fast reveal!  In class this month, participants created an adorable little nurse inspired owl embellishment for a get well card.  I stepped away from the usual A5 sized card for this design and created a tall card.  Now that I have the Envelope Punch Board I can whip up envelopes real easy for a variety of card sizes so feel I can break away a little bit from the usual size.

In this class participants were also introduced to Stampin' Up!'s newest colouring tools - Blendabilities markers.  I can only share one of the two projects we made with this tool at this time.  This design featuring the fox from the Life in the Forrest set was coloured with the Pumpkin Pie markers.  The layout for this card was inspired by a design by Katie Melhus. The polaroid shape was cut with the On Film framelits die.

My next class is scheduled for 6th of September.  To register your interest in attending please contact me as soon as possible! See my facebook page for more details: https://www.facebook.com/events/1515924305290681/

In Class - August 2014

August 24, 2014

Creation Station Blog Hop #8 - Kinda Eclectic

The Kinda Eclectic stamp set was one of those that really jumped out at me when I first browsed the new 2014/15 annual catalogue earlier this year.  I'm so glad for the excuse to play with it for this round of the Creation Station Blog Hop!  I set myself the extra challenge to also play with the brand new green in-colour, Mossy Meadow.  In this first project, I've combined this tone with greys and purples.

Notice the spotty background?  I've taken a page from Teneale's book and pulled out my Stamp-a-ma-jig to create some interest in the background, repeating the dotty stamp several times using this great tool to help position the next set of rows exactly where I wanted them.

The sentiment is from the 'A Happy Hooray' set.  I wanted to create a type of 'winners ribbon' to pin to the top corner there and loved this circle sentiment as the centre piece for this.

For my second project I've gone with Mossy Meadow again but this time combining it with warmer tones of hello honey yellow and crumb cake light brown tones.

The sentiment this time is from the 'And many more...' set.

Be sure to visit my Creation Station team mates for more inspiration with this fabulous set.

   

Creation Station Blog Hop #8 - Kinda Eclectic

August 17, 2014