Baubles with bling!

These cards are for a challenge on the Pernickety blog - the challenge was to do a card with a Christmas decoration or bauble with lots of layering and bling!

I decided to get out my Twinkling H2O's for this one......I ended up colouring a few images while I had the Twinks out, so did 2 cards.

The one above hasn't got a lot of layering, just some faux layering that I did with my square Nestabilities and I cut and layered the bauble onto it. Added some Kaiser rhinestones to the bauble and around the top right corner of the card. The bauble and the sentiment are stamped with Versamark ink and gold embossed. The bauble stamp if from Fran the Frantic Stamper, the sentiment is a Hero Arts one.

The second card has lots more layers to it. I stamped the baubles twice and painted them with the Twinkling H2O's, then cut out the middle one from one of the images and layered it over the other baubles image, I popped it up on dimensional dots but it's a bit hard to see. (Click image for a larger view.)

I used a Nestabilities Labels 1 die to cut the image out, then layered it onto a lime green square, then onto a shimmery white paper embossed with the D'vine Swirls Cuttlebug folder. Layered this onto some gold ribbed cardstock, then onto a lime green folded card. Bit hard to see, but I edged the Cuttlebugged paper with a line of Frosted Lace Stickles.

The baubles and sentiment are again stamped with Versamark and gold embossed, then coloured with the Twinks. The baubles stamp is unbranded, the sentiment is from a Stampin' Up set. Used my oval Nesties to cut out the sentiment and the lime green layer.

Gold organza ribbon and Kaiser rhinestones added for extra bling.

Thanks for dropping by, enjoy the rest of your weekend!

The 11th day of Christmas!

It's been a such busy day today, I almost forgot to post the card from yesterday's challenge! Sandie's challenge for this one was to use scallops on a Christmas card.

I used my Fiskars Water Threading Punch to do my scalloped border. The stamp is by Stamp-It (Australian company) - I coloured the holly leaves with Tim Holtz Shabby Shutters Distress Ink and the berries with a red Marvy Marker, the edges are sponged with Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink. The green patterned paper is by Basic Grey.

Only one more challenge to finish with the 12 Days of Christmas now!

The 10th day of Christmas challenge.

Sandie's challenge - use a chipboard frame....either a purchased one or handmade. Mine is cut using a Cuttlebug die.....I think it's called Concentric squares, it cuts a whole nest of squares. I painted it with metallic blue Lumiere paint.

My background paper is a torn piece of vintage music paper which included some wintery images on it. I coloured the 2 iceskaters with Tim Holtz Distress ink then went over them with a Versamark pen and embossed them with clear EP. I then gessoed the paper lightly so I could still see the images, when it was dry I sponged lightly with Tim Holtz China Blue Distress Ink. I wiped the ink and gesso from my ice skaters and placed the blue frame around them as a spotlight. Before I stuck the frame down I sewed the music paper to some textured white handmade paper (it had a snowy look to it!), and added lots of Crystalline Kindy Glitz over the stitching and highlighting the snow and the children's hats.

Added some blinged up punched snowflakes, some buttons and a stamped sentiment....I think it's a Stampington one from a clear Christmas set.....I'm too lazy to go check!

I did get the challenge for the 11th day done too, but you will have to wait until tomorrow to see it.......it's late and I'm making too many typos right now!

Thanks for dropping by and goodnight from me!

The 9th day of Christmas challenge.

Sandie's challenge was to use some wire and beads on a Christmas card.

Woo Hoo! Finally, a card with some stamping.....I even used TWO stamps! Not only that, but I had some new toys to play with too! After having them on pre-order since August I finally got my new Nestabilities......I got the Label 1 set and the Curved Rectangle set. I used the Label 1 set for this card.

I stamped the wreath with Versamark and embossed with gold EP, then coloured it with Marvy markers. I then wrapped the wire, while threading some tiny red and green beads, around the wreath. The smaller Label 1 piece is white cardstock which I sponged with Antique Linen Distress Ink - I sponged it while it was still sitting in the die, so when I popped it out of the die it still had a white embossed border - I need to practice my sponging, it turned out a bit darker than I wanted! I trimmed around the wreath and popped it up on dimensional dots.

The 'Christmas' stamp is from Stampa Rosa, the wreath is a cheapie (unbranded wood mounted stamp). The design paper is by Making Memories - Boho range- Olivia Floral Lattice.

I couldn't make up my mind how to layer the greeting, I'm not sure if I like what I ended up doing, but I put it on a metallic green strip, rounded the corners and added some red rhinestones and a red button threaded with ribbon.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

The 8th day of Christmas - Oriental baubles.

This is yesterday's challenge, I didn't get time to do it then as it was my DH's birthday, so I spent the day shopping, cleaning the house and cooking! He didn't want to go out for dinner so I invited the family over instead....we had roast pork followed by chocolate mousse cake...yummo!

Ok, on to the card, Sandie's challenge was to use fabric anywhere on a card. I used my fabric as Christmas baubles.........hey Sandie, do you recognize those "baubles"?? FYI, Sandie gave me those fabric circles to use on my Oriental cards!

Other supplies: thin ribbon, Cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder,oriental joy sticker.

I'm feeling so guilty......it's yet another NO stamping card!

The 6th and 7th day of Christmas!

Just 2 quickies today for Sandie's challenges to catch up again. Similar cards and NO stamping again!

The card above is for the 6th day......the challenge was to use a star or stars on a Christmas card. My star is punched from gold cardstock. I just cut a triangle for the tree from Core'dinations cardstock and run it through my Cuttlebug in the snowflakes folder, I then lightly sanded the embossed bits to show through the core colour of the cardstock, then added a few pink rhinestones to the snowflake centres. I think it needs a greeting so I will probably add one later.......just wanted to get it finished quickly!

This is the card for the 7th day of Christmas, the challenge was to use ribbon, ric-rac or both on a Christmas card. I cut my tree from some very bright green metallic cardstock and "decorated" it with an assortment of ribbons and a piece of ric-rac. I layered the tree onto a white piece of cardstock cuttlebugged with the swiss dots folder. The greeting at the bottom is also a piece of ribbon. The green layer is stuck onto a white folded card, which is a bit hard to see.......I should have taken the photo against a coloured background so the white would stand out, but I was in too much of a hurry to finish!

The 5th day of Christmas!

A bit behind again, but this is Sandie's challenge from yesterday. The challenge was to use five gold brads on a card.......I've used four small brads and one large brad.

I used Laura's sketch 13 from the 2 sketches 4 You blog......... I nearly fell off my chair when I saw that the bonus sketch for this week was almost the same as the card I did for the 4th day of Christmas challenge a few days ago LOL..........I swear I didn't copy it though, I thought that layout up all by myself!

Sandie hasn't put up the sketch for day 6 yet, so that will have to wait for tomorrow as I'm leaving to go out with my DH for a night at the velodrome for the last night of the cycling world cup. We went last night too and really enjoyed the night - this was an early birthday pressie for my DH, it's his birthday on Monday....he is so hard to buy for, but he loves cycling so it was the perfect present...and I get to share it too LOL!

Do you notice something about this card? There's NO stamping on it at all!

On the 4th day of Christmas......

Sandie's challenge today was to use 4 squares of anything on a card.....design paper, brads, stamps....large or small.

I've used a few more than 4 squares though.....the layers just kept growing LOL! My beautiful "design paper" is actually cut from a box......my DD gave me some lovely French perfume when she came home from her recent trip to Europe, the box that it came in was just too pretty to throw away so I've re-cycled it onto this card. It was hard to get a good photo of it, but it's a mauvy grey colour with gold foiling on it. I've cut the squares with my Nestabilities so they have a nice embossed edge to them. The cardstock I backed it with is a really nice dark purple metallic cardstock.....which really doesn't show through in the photo either, it's so much nicer IRL! The design paper layer under that is a light green that's layered on another piece of the purple metallic cardstock then onto a red square card.

The red flower is by Inque boutique........use your imagination and pretend it's a poinsettia! Added some red Kaiser rhinestones to the flower centre, some silk leaves and a red organza bow. The greeting is also a piece of ribbon.

Click on the photos for a better view. Thanks for visiting my blog....it's near midnight here so it's past my bedtime!

Card Crazy Chicks - First Challenge!

This challenge is for a Christmas sketch from Tanja - I think I've pretty much kept to the sketch......well, I guess I added the stitching, some bling and a few more card layers LOL!

Stamps used: The angel stamp is by PSX, the greeting is from a Hero Arts clear Christmas set, the swirly stamp is from a very cheap clear set.....could be Grant Archival, not too sure.

Design paper is the same double sided paper from yesterday's card - Kaisercraft.

Thanks for looking!

12 Days of Christmas - Challenge 2 and 3.

I missed making yesterday's card so had to make 2 quick ones today to catch up again with Sandie's challenges.


This is challenge 2 - you had to use 2 tags and 2 different patterned papers on a card. The PP was a double sided piece from Kaisercraft and the stamps are from a Hero Arts mini set. I added some buttons, ribbons, a punched holly leaf and a metal Santa embellishment.

Challenge 3 was to use 3 Christmas trees on a card. Kind of cheated with this by using Patterned Paper :)

The patterned paper is by Alison Ellis Designs, the stamp is the same Hero Arts one from the Challenge 2 card. I've also added Kaiser gems and some star brads which I covered in Kindy Glitz.

Sorry about the crappy photos, it was getting late in the day, and the tree card was rather difficult to get a good angle with all the silver in the paper and sparkly gems - the paper colour is not right either!

Partridge in a Pear Tree!

Sandie has started a blog challenge over at Sandie's Place called 'The 12 days of Christmas Challenge'. There will be a different challenge each day and a small prize at the end for one lucky person who has completed all the challenges - everyone is welcome to enter. Day one's challenge is to make a card with a 'partridge in a pear tree.'

I used a bird and a branch stamp from a Hero Arts set.....I didn't have a pear stamp the right size, so I hand drew one, coloured it gold with a gel pen and cut it out and stuck it on with a glue dot. The cuttlebug folder, I think it's called Birds and Swirls, worked in perfectly with this theme! I used the Technique Junkies Cuttlebug Highlights tech from the Oct 2008 Newsletter.

Other supplies: Stampin' Up Purely Pomegranite cardstock and ribbon (I really love this colour!), green handmade card from my stash and gold paper (Pedigree Paper). The greeting is also by Stampin' Up, I used Nestabilities to cut the circle and scalloped circle.

I really like how this card turned out, hope you like it as much as I do!

Another Christmas card!

I'm such a procrastinator when it comes to making Christmas cards! I hate mass producing the same card so I've been doing some sketch/technique challenges to slowly build up my stash for this year. This card is made from a card sketch over at my friend Sandie's blog. The sketch was for a landscape card, but I've turned it around to make a portrait card, and Sandie requested that we use lots of bling!

Can you believe I've only used that one little Hero Arts greeting stamp?? The trees are made from corrugated card, I used Slick white glossy Kindy Glitz sprinkled with glitter for the snow, the trunks are just scraps of brown cardstock. The star is white cardstock inked up with Tim Holtz Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and covered in Crystallina Kindy Glitz for bling! The swirly bit at the bottom of the card is a cuttlebugged piece, trimmed, and I highlighted the swirls with the Spiced Marmalade ink. I also used Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink to just add a little grunge around the edges of the greeting circle, the Patterned Paper and the cardstock. Kaiser rhinestone gems are added for some more bling!

This is not your normal colour combination for Christmas, but I like how it turned out.Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!

Birdie hi!

I've been coveting the 'Always' Stampin' Up set for a while now, along with the Purely Pomegranite 'in colour'.....I finally put in an order and got the stamp set, cardstock, ink and ribbon in Purely Pomegranite! This is the first card I've made using them. I used a sketch for a challenge at the Pernickety blog.

Other supplies: Wendy Irving Clear Expressions greeting, SU Pretty in Pink cardstock and Fiskars water threading punch.

Hope you are having a great day wherever you are in the world! It has been sooo hot here today 35 degrees C (not sure what that is in Farenheit, I think it's in the 90's). We only have evaporative cooling and it just isn't coping with the humidity, it's still 28C inside and it's 5.30pm! Not a good night for sleep I'm thinking!

Lucky me!

I was lucky enough to win some blog candy from Jenn's (AKA Captain Scrappy) blog, by posting a card in the very first challenge on the Cuttlebug Challenge blog. Jenn's daughter chose my card as the winner! This is what I won, Jenn included a Cuttlebug embossing folder, her cute card and some little extras. Thanks again Jenn for your generosity!

Photos from the weekend.

..........Just a few photos from our weekend in Bright.


This is what my DH came to see, it was a hot rodders weekend! Lucky for me there were quite a few lovely craft/specialty shops, so I went shopping while he ogled the cars! DH has a 1956 Chev, but he chose not to drive it up there.

What I came to see............peace and tranquility!

This is the house we rented for the weekend......it looks like it's way out in the country, but it was only a 2 minute walk to the centre of town!

An award for moi!

I was given this AWARD by Erin, AKA Fishlips, a few days ago and how special do I feel!Check out Erin's blog Cards by Fishlips ........don't you just love the name of her blog, it just cracks me up!

The Rules are :-
1. The winner may put the logo on their blog.
2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award.
3. Nominate 5 blogs.
4. Put links to their blogs.
5. Leave a message for your nominees.

Now the hard part to choose only 5 blogs. I have decided to choose:Sandie, Vicky, Beth, Jenn and Marie!

I'm back!

Just letting everyone know that we got back from our weekend away last night. I'm feeling OK now too.........well, apart from waking up at 3am with a coughing fit! The weather wasn't too bad either, most of the rain was on Friday night with just a few showers during the day. Of course yesterday when we left Bright, the weather was just perfect!

Well, I have lots to catch up on.......gotta go grocery shopping and have a mountain of laundry to do. I hope to have some time to post a few things later on today so........I'll be back!

Long weekend

Just a quick post to let you all know that I'm going away this morning for a long weekend to Bright, a beautiful town in country Victoria. Unfortunately I don't feel very "bright" at the moment..............I have the worst sore throat and my voice is very raspy! If that's not bad enough it's going to rain most of today and tomorrow.....................ah well, we do need the rain though!

See you when I get back, hope everyone has a great weekend!

Rainbow Cuttlebug cards.

Psst............wanna see a real quick technique using your Cuttlebug and some rainbow ink? Well have a look at Pat Huntoon's blog, The Technique Trail, for a tutorial that will have you making super quick cards in no time!

..........But wait, there's more! If you post a link to your card on Pat's blog or email it to Pat, you will go into the draw for THREE copies of her fabulous newsletter, The Technique Junkie Newsletter. Hurry, there is still time to do it!




For this card I used the Snowflakes embossing folder, Kaleidacolor Blue Breeze ink, Denami Design greeting stamp, ribbon and Kaiser gems.

For the 2nd card I used the Floral Fantasy folder, Kaleidacolor Berry Blaze ink, birthday greeting from Stampin' Up Sincere Salutations set , oval Nestabilities, ribbons, punched daisy, white signo gel pen and Kaiser gem.

Apologies!

It's just been brought to my attention that my blog isn't allowing comments at the moment. I've altered my comments box to a pop-up one and that seems to be working OK for now........I think it is a Blogger issue, so hope it's just a temporary glitch! Sorry for the inconvenience if you've been trying to comment today.

Metallic Snowman card.

This card features embossing on a metallic finish for the Cuttlebug Challenge #5. I used blue metallic cardstock. This is a cross between two Technique Junkie techniques - Cuttlebug Highlights from the Oct 2008 newsletter and Aged Metal from the Feb 2008 Newsletter.

The little snowman is by Hero Arts stamps. The photo below shows the dimension of the circles, scalloped circle and snowman.

Thanks for visiting, and have a great day!

Technique Junkies - 'Just One' October

I haven't had much of a chance to use some of my 'artier' stamps, but I decided to join in the Technique Junkies 'Just One' swap for October. You submit your name and are partnered up with another TJ member, so you are only required to send one card to each other using at least one technique from any of the Technique Junkie newsletters.

The 1st card pictured is my card, I chose to use the Patina technique from the current Oct 2008 Newsletter. I'm quite pleased with how this technique turned out and it was not too difficult to do. The Mona Lisa stamp is by Stylish Images Australia, I'm afraid I don't know the makers of the quote and the key stamps, they are from a clear set of stamps I purchased on Ebay. I stamped all the images using Brilliance Versafine Vintage Sepia ink.

The 2nd card is from my partner Rose A. who lives in New Mexico, USA. Rose chose to use two different TJ techniques for her card. The wishing well image is from 'I Brake For Stamps' and is coloured using the Marker Water Color technique from the June 2008 newsletter, and the background is made using the Createx Creations technique from the April 2008 newsletter. Unfortunately my photo doesn't show how nice and shimmery Rose's card is in real life.

Thanks again Rose for being my 'Just One' partner and for your lovely card!