Its Baby Time!

Hi there! Its been impossible to get to my blog in the past three weeks.  Life has been so busy and there are just not enough hours in the day.  I guess if there were more hours then I would be more tired. What I really need is to split myself in two. That would work.
Anyway I am here now and I thought you would like to see what I have made for my niece and her husband on the birth of their new little bundle of joy. I sat up till 2am on Sunday morning to try to get this finished but had to get up early to finish it off the next morning.
I bought the frame from Ikea for $14.95.  Each background piece is 5.5 x 5.5cm. The actual pictures are 5 x 5cm. I have used various stamp sets and I am sure you will recognise that most of them are discontinued.  There are others that I could have used but all too big. I hope they like it.

This card is actually a copy of Alisa Tilsner from Port Lincoln, South Australia. I found the idea in the Australian Cardmaking Stamping & Papercraft magazine in Vol 19, No 1.
Alisa has coloured her flowers in using SU! Rose Red.  I love the technique Alisa has used.
What you need to do is stamp your image using Whisper White Craft Ink Pad and then using White Embossing powder to emboss the image. Using your Aqua Pen along with the Whisper White Ink, colour in the whole image trying not to go out of the lines. Once that has dried you then need to clean your Aqua Pen and I used Baja Breeze ink to colour my flowers starting off lighter and then darker highlighting the areas I wanted darker. I love the image all coloured in white too. Very delicate.
I have used Crumb Cake Cardstock and the stamp sets I have used are Bordering on Romance and Loving Thoughts.

The next card is the one I am using for Ngaire Anderson's Stamparoo swaps.  The theme is the new mini catalogue. I have used Cherry Cobbler and Midnight Muse cardstock. Cherry Cobbler stamp Pad for the image. The DSP is called Parker's Patterns. The stamp set is Just Thinking. A very simple card and the girls will be pleased tonight as I have prepared everything so they only need to piece it together.  We usually have quite a few swaps to make on the night so it can get quite late. I quite like the colours of this card and nice to have one that you can use as a masculine card.

I made the next one for our grandson whose birthday is next Tuesday. I found a card online that had 16 cupcakes in the pop up inside. I started to make this card but thought it was too difficult for my workshop on the weekend so I designed one that had only four. I have made the gift box pop up card before but I found this needed a little more effort.  Because I used three different coloured glitters and due to the pop up section I decided to prep this one a bit more. The girls only had to make the cupcake on the front. I thought too much different coloured glitter would be too much floating around. One of my girls does not like working with glitter and lucky this time she was unable to attend due to a course she was on. I have used Window Frame Framelits for this card. The Create a Cupcake Stamp set and the punch to go with it. On my original card I used Crystal Effects on the cherry but omitted it from this card. Might do it later.  My daughter always wanted a pop up book when she was little so she will appreciate this card for her son.

 The last card is one that I made for our niece's baby.  I found this one online Creations by AR here.  Adela has made up a tutorial where you can buy it for $5.00. Her card is a very tiny one which measures 11x9cms closed.  I enlarged my pattern to 16.5x14cms. Where Adela's card will fit onto an A4 size cardstock all in one piece, mine does not.  I made the join at the bottom and just extended the button up part to the back which form the part that does not open. The card opens at the top. All you need to do is life the collar out from the Brad and walla! there you have it. The tiny ones that Adela made are just gorgeous. Adela also does a little Gift box pattern which is included with your purchase. There is also a gorgeous baby girl card with tulle. There are different designs of jumpsuits as well. Go ahead check her site out. You may find something else you like.


Baby jumpsuit card closed.

Baby jumpsuit card open.



 

Well thats about it for now. Remember Sale-A-Bration ends this Friday 22nd March so if you need anything and you spend over $100 you will be entitled to a free gift. Thanks for popping by:)

 



It's Autumn!

Hello fellow stampers! We are well into Autumn now and aren't you just loving this weather? The mornings are fresh and invigorating. A little bit of rain and a taste of what is to come during winter. I can see you cringe with the mention of winter.
Well before Autumn is over I thought I would make a card that represents it. This was my design for the last Sketch Stamparoo Swap Challenge. The challenge was in the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue on page 14, top left. The technique that is used in this card was from DarleneDesign.com. First of all you need to use your Embossing Buddy and rub over your cardstock (Confetti White) and using Versamark to stamp your image then Black Embossing Powder. Heat with heat gun but dont over do it as you will lose your shiny embossing if you heat too much.  The next step for this technique is to use four colour co-ordinating markers and colour in the area you wish to then spray some water into your hands and flick it onto the card that you have just coloured in. Leave it to dry.  It will depend on how much water you flick on as to how much your colouring will change. You will see further down another card I have made using this technique. The colours I have used for this card are Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, Cajun Craze and Pumpkin Pie.
I have used Confetti White as it allows the water to soak in. Other cardstock used are Cajun Craze and More Mustard.  For the circles I have used Circles #2 Dies and distressed the edges. For the leaf on the circles I have used the Confettie White the same way as the original card. Its as easy as that. What a lovely effect. Thanks Darlene.  My first try with this technique was by using the same colours as Darlene but I wanted to do something different for the swaps so chose the autumn colours. I love the colours Darlene chose for her card. They are Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake and Marina Mist. I have also used the circle from Perfect Pennants.
My in home workshop was yesterday and we had a lovely bunch of ladies, 12 in fact.  It was like a beehive full of action and laughter as usual.  We even had a little rain at the end which didnt last long.  The first card I am about to show you I cased from Kathy from Stamping Still. Kathy I love this card. You are so talented and thanks so much for sharing. I decided to make this card smaller for my workshop as I found the dimensions only allowed me to get one card from an A4 piece of cardstock. My measurements for the base of the card are 21 x 10.5cm. Of course the images are a lot closer together but the idea is there. I love Not Quite Navy so I have used the same as Kathy. Hope you dont mind Kathy. For this card you need your Embossing Buddy and then using French Foliage (one of my very favourite stamp sets) with Versamark, White Embossing Powder and your heat gun. You can then use En Francais stamp and before stamping it onto your cardstock just using a tissue wipe away a bit here and there to give it the light and dark effect. You will then need a dauber and Not Quite Navy Stamp Pad and starting on your embossing areas gently rub in circles toward the edges and then to the rest of the card. You need the veins to show. You will also need a piece of Not Quite Navy cardstock for the extra leaf and embossing the same. I have used the 4 You from Tiny Tags along with the Tag punch. I am sure if you pop onto Kathy's site you will agree that she is a very talented lady. Thanks again Kathy for a gorgeous card.
Our next card I decided to do a simple one just in time for Mother's Day. I have once again used Confetti White cardstock as it is a lot thicker than Whisper White and will stand up a lot better. Firstly I have used the Adorned Accents Edgelits Dies to cut the shape into the bottom of the front of the card.
A WORD OF WARNING!!! When using the Edgelits Dies be sure that both ends of the Dies are in line with the plates.  If not, when you run the plates through the Big Shot they will catch on the side and flick and bend the Dies out of shape.
I then used my Adorning Accents Embossing Folder for the embossed area above the cut. Both the Edgelits and Embossing Folders are in the new Autumn - Winter mini catalogue.
I have used Field Flowers Stamp Set.  For the outline of the image I have used Pumpkin Pie. For the fill in I have used Peach Parfait but stamped it off once and then onto my card. With the Confetti White you may need to do this three times to get the shade you want. I have finished off with Pumpkin Pie Satin Ribbon. Very simple but effective.
The last card was also cased from Catherine Pooler. Catherine used Mocha Morning Specialty DSP.  Catherines blog is so interesting so just pop on over and have a look.
I had three lots of kits done up for this card using Bashful Blue, Regal Rose and So Saffron. It all depended on who wanted which colour and who was quick enough to get the colour they chose.
For the card here I have used the following:-
Cardstock - Chocolate Chip, So Saffron
DSP - Love Sparkels (discontinued)
Stamp Set - Punches Three (discontinued)
Accessories - Crumb Cake ribbon, Framed Tulips Embossing Folder, Two Tags Dies.
If you pop over to Catherines Blog she has a video presentation of this card as it gives a great new idea of how to use the Two Tags Dies. Once again thank you Catherine for sharing your lovely card.
The sentiment I used in this card was found over 21 years ago when a dear friend of mine had her first child. I have used this sentiment ever since in my homemade cards.
Here it is:-

CHILDBIRTH
Nobody tells you about childbirth
Sure they tell you about the pain
The Piles, the veins, the heartburn, the always full bladder,
the tender breasts, the stretch marks, the fatigue, the cravings, the backache, the tearing, the stitches,
the pain, the pain, the pain,
.......But not about the heart,
How it is captured forever,
by one small glimpse of a fuzzy head emerging.
How it is tied with silken, iron-strong bonds to a wrinkled pruny face, a tightly curled fist,
a nuzzling rosebud mouth, a periwinkle eye tear drenched.
Nobody tells you you're hooked for the next twenty years at least on the most powerful drug of all.
Love.
Nobody tells you at all.

The next card is a masculine slider card. I did a demo at one of our stamp camps and it is such a hit and so easy to do. If you wish to see my original card then go to August 29th 2011 on this blog.
For this card you will need the following items:-
Stamp Set - Lovely As A Tree, Perfect Punches
Cardstock - Basic Black, Confetti White (for leaf image)
Stamp Pad - Versamark, Basic Black
DSP - Well Worn
Markers - Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard, Cajun Craze
Accessories - Corner Rounder, 3/4" circle punch, Wide Oval Punch, Daubers, Black Embossing Powder, Water for flicking.
Use the same technique as mentioned earlier in this post for the leaf. 
Rather than giving you the instructions it might be better if you went to Beate Johns instructions on Splitcoast Stampers.  She gives a very good tutorial and easy to follow. If you wish to watch her video tutorial then scroll down to the bottom of her instructions.

Well thats about it for this time. I cant seem to get on here each week and have to cram it all in when I get the time. I have locked myself in my craft room while my grandchildren are in the lounge room watching Beaconsfield. 

I hope you like my selection of cards and would like to thank you for stopping by:)
See you next time!

November Swap - Baby/Wedding

Hello all! Well we have certainly had all types of weather this month have'nt we! We are now back to warmer weather after the gusty, rainy days last week. Great for the lawns. The Cicadas are getting noisier which means summer is on its way. Hope you are all organised for Christmas. I am getting there slowly. It always creeps up on you.

Well we have just had our November Swap and we could do either a baby or wedding card. I chose to do a baby card. This card is a good one if you want to use up some scrap card.

You will need:-

Stamp Sets - Sprinkles (heart), Curvy Verses

Ink - Brocade Blue

Cardstock - Brocade Blue, Whisper White, Bashful Blue

Accessories - Wide Oval Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Whisper White Tafetta Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, White Gel Pen, 2-Way Glue, Dazzling Diamonds, Stamp-a-ma-jig. On my swap cards I decided not to use the Baby stamp from Lovely Labels but brought down the little verse a little lower and left the bottom blank. It looked a lot simpler and smart.

Hope you like my card. Thanks for popping by.