Say It With.........Polka Dots!

Hi there! My card for today uses Annabelle Stamps 'Say it with........Polka Dots' Challenge. I used a new technique from the Technique Junkie Newsletter Feb/Mar 2011 called 'Curled Corners'


My stamps are all from Annabelle Stamps 'All Things Grow' set, including the little butterfly you can see peeking out from behind my Curled Corner. The patterned papers are from the Crate Paper 6 x 6 Restoration pad and I stamped directly onto it.

Thanks for stopping by today!

OSA Sketch Challenge Layout #91

I have a quick post today for this week's OSA Sketch Challenge Layout #91. I used a Penny Black brush flower stamp as my main image, the background I stamped it on is a technique from one of the Technique Junkie Newsletters, sorry I don't remember what it's called as I made it some time ago. The greeting stamp is an EK Success one. I used an Asian Cuttlebug embossing folder and also embossed the black cardstock strip with a polka dot border folder and added some green grosgrain ribbon over it. Also used a Martha Stewart butterfly punch, the green cardstock is Bazzil, the embossed cardstock is Stampin' Up Creamy Caramel, the black is Pedigree Paper.

Thanks so much for looking, I have to run now, I'm off to the local Sunday Market. Hope you all enjoy the rest of the weekend, it's back to Wintry weather again here, brrr!

Brush Flower Card.

I seem to be using green and brown shades a lot lately, here's a card I've made for the latest Annabelle's Bling Sketch Challenge over at Annabelle Stamps Blog. For once, I've even finished my card early! If you'd like to enter this challenge you have until Friday June 18th, and there's also a prize up for grabs!

For my background piece I've used a technique from the latest Technique Junkie Newsletter called 'Glimmer Marbling'. I've stamped directly onto my background piece, all the stamps are by Penny Black, then layered the pieces onto black cardstock. I've added a strip of green grosgrain ribbon underneath and a row of Kaiser black rhinestones at the bottom of the card. The cardstock is from Pedigree Paper - if you happen to live in Melbourne, Pedigree Paper has a factory outlet shop that you can visit, just click on the link for the address.

On a personal note, my new chemotherapy regime seems to be much better for me. I have an infusion that lasts for around 45mins.......much better than the 4 hours for the previous regime, and it's so far so good with the new chemo tablets. I'm certainly not as tired and I've not had any nausea either......fingers crossed it stays that way!

Thanks for stopping by today, hope you are all having a lovely day!

Two Oriental challenges.

Just a quickie post tonight, I'm a little late getting these done, but here they are! The first card is for OSA's theme challenge, 'Asian Vases'. I used an old Inkadinkado stamp, which I coloured with Sakura Souffle pens. The pink and white background is another of the Technique Junkies 'Simple Whitewash' technique.



The 2nd card is for OSA's card layout challenge #59. The butterfly and quote stamps are by Darkroom Door, the Oriental calligraphy is by Stonehouse Stamps and the blossom branch is by Cards Unlimited.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Seeing Spots!

It's taken me a few days to get this card posted, too many distractions lately, but here it is at last! I decided to kill two challenges with the one card -
Saturday Spotlight: the challenge was for "teeny tiny" interpreted how you want. I used tiny spotted Heidi Grace designer paper, tiny flowers stamp and tiny bling.
Annabelle Stamps: Bling Sketch challenge. Not a lot of bling as I changed what I was going to do with the swirls - I traced the swirls onto tracing paper and then pin pricked the pattern onto the DP...I was going to use the black gems over the pin pricks, but discovered I didn't leave enough room between them for the size of my gems, so decided to just sew black embroidery thread through the pin pricks instead. It took a lot longer to do it that way too, but I'm pleased with the overall look.

My flower stamp is from a Darkroom Door set and my technique for this piece is called Burnt Edges from one of the Technique Junkie Newsletters.....this has to be one of my favourite TJ techniques!

The greeting stamp is by Hero Arts, I used some Nestabilities shapes, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, spotted organza ribbon, black Kaiser gems and a bit of Tim Holtz distress ink on the card and Heidi Grace DP borders.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Mojo Monday #111

I've used this week's sketch from the Mojo Monday blog for this card.

I know I was going to make more Christmas cards, but this image has been sitting on my desk top since before I had surgery! I watercoloured a number of images using Tim Holtz Distress inks and this is one of them. The stamp is by Inkadinkado and it's one of the first stamps I ever bought....thought it was about time it got used again.

The pink background piece is a technique from the Technique Junkie Newsletter, called Simple Whitewash. The design paper is by Heidi Grace, flower by Green Tara and the greeting is a Hero Arts one.

Thanks for visiting today!

Summer Fun!

Challenge #28
at
The Pink Elephant

This week the THEME of our challenge is...

SUMMER

Design anything you like using a fun summer theme!!

My background is a stamped technique from the Technique Junkies Newsletter called 'Depth of Field'from the June/July 2009 Newsletter. The stamps used in the background are from a Fiskars clear unmounted set called 'Let's Party', the main image and greeting are Stamping Bellas. The image is coloured with re-inkers and marker pens.

I hope summer hurries up and arrives here, the wind has been blowing straight up from the Antarctica the last few days!

Card Patterns Sketch #27

I used another of the Al Foil (Technique Junkie Newsletter - August/September 2009) Cuttlebugged pieces for this Father's Day card. The Card Patterns Sketch #27 was a simple design, the only stamps used are the Stamp-It 'Father's Day' and the small 'Dad' made with JustRite Stampers alphas.

Thanks for looking! We are having an early bit of Spring weather today and tomorrow...yay! Hope you have a great weekend wherever you are in the world!

Teenage birthday card.

I almost forgot it was my nephew's birthday this month! He will be 16 years old, and not having very many suitable stamps to use, this is what I came up with.

I combined two blog challenges to make the card, the 1st challenge is using the sketch from CPS sketch #128, and the 2nd challenge is from The Pink Elephant blog...a colour challenge - use the colours brown, turquoise and neutral.

My background Cuttlebug embossed piece uses a technique from the Aug/Sep 2009 Technique Junkies Newsletter called Al Foil.

For the chocolate background piece I used sequin waste as a stencil with Linen coloured acrylic paint.

FYI: Sequin waste is what's left over after sequins have been punched out of it.

Thanks for visiting today, it's very cold and bleak here today.....hope Spring hurries up and arrives!

Heavenly Butterfly.

This is my card for this weeks CPS sketch, CPS121.


I used a new technique from the latest issue of the Technique Junkies Newsletter called "Heavenly Holes". My background stamp is a Stampington Christine Adolph one called "Elegant Ledger" - I stamped it twice, the 2nd time it's upside down so there are scrolls on the top and on the bottom of the SU Baja Blue cardstock.

The layered butterfly is made using die-cuts, inked with blue ink and embossed with 3 different Cuttlebug embossing folders and topped with a metal butterfly embellishment.

Thanks for stopping by today!

I'm back!

Sorry for being MIA lately! I've been working on some OSA swaps and a special project for Inkurable Stampers! I was lucky enough to be chosen by Inkurable Stampers and Orange Jelly Stamps to receive a brand new stamp that hasn't been released yet and participate in a challenge along with 9 other stampers! I finally completed my project last night but I can't show it until it has appeared over at Inkurable Stampers.......so you're just going to have to wait for it!

Just so I do have some artwork to show you here, like they say on the cooking shows,.......Here's one I prepared earlier! I made this one for a friend's recent 40th birthday.

The owl and branch are by October Afternoon, I think the decorative swirly thing is too! I used my Justrite Stamper to make the 40th greeting and the 'happy birthday' is from an Image Tree alpha. The green background is a Technique Junkie Newsletter tech called Two Toned Crunch from the Dec 2008 issue.

Thanks for looking!

Card Patterns Sketch #9

I've done this card for the sketch challenge #9 at Card Patterns blog. I chose an Oriental theme.



I used a new technique called Newsprint Reveal from the latest April/May issue of The Technique Junkies Newsletter. I put my own twist on the technique by using a page from a Chinese book instead of newspaper.

My silhouette stamp is from the Stonehouse Stamps Oriental Plate 10 and the 'Esteem' definition is from the Leave Memories 'Japanese Lessons' stamp plate. I've added thin red satin ribbon, a red flower gem, cherry blossom washi paper and I raised the definition on dimensional squares.

Thanks for dropping by my blog today!

Inkurable Stampers birthday celebrations!

April 1 was the 1st anniversary for the Inkurable Stampers blog and Sarah has been celebrating with fun, games and challenges since Friday!

The 1st card here is what I did for Challenge 1 - "Your challenge is to create a birthday card using this card sketch from Pagemaps as inspiration:"



I decided to make a birthday card for my Dad, who turns 80 in a few months time. I stamped one of the stamps from Inque Boutique Story Boards set onto a piece of acrylic and layered this over Basic Grey and Kaisercraft papers and chocolate coloured Bazzil cardstock. The swirl stamp in the bottom left side is also from the Story Boards stamp set, the 'Birthday Wishes' greeting is by Stampin' Up and 'celebrate' is a clear stamp by Clear Expressions.

Other supplies used: Thickers foam numbers, Tattered Angels Bronze Glimmer Mist, thin brown satin ribbon, Kaiser rhinestones and some brass coloured brads. I used a Fiskars template to trace the decorative design onto the unknown brand word patterned paper and inked the edges with black distress ink.

This is Challenge 2 - "Your challenge is to create something (anything!) using 5 DIFFERENT STAMPS!"

I've made a child's birthday card. My background paper is made using the Bingo Blast technique from the latest Technique Junkie Newsletter . I thought it would make a perfect background for the Sassafras Lass rocket ship stamp. I used a Dymo labeller to make the greeting.

My 5 stamps used for the challenge are:- Sassafras Lass rocket ship, 3 different arrow stamps from Inque Boutique "Every Which Way" stamp set and the tiny star is from a Stampendous "Fluffles" clear unmounted set.

I hope I didn't break the rules by using the tiny star stamp 3 times, but it looked funny with only one star!

OK, here's the last challenge, Challenge 3 - "Your challenge is to create a TWINCHIE!!", also it had to be photographed on my hand!

FYI, a twinchie is a 2" x 2" piece of art. I finally found a use for the bag of Stampboard pieces that I've had in my stash for ever and not used yet! My background is made with Vintage Pink and Bronze Tattered Angels Glimmer mist, then I stamped on the Cornish Heritage Farms - Gum Tulips stamp with black StazOn ink. When the ink was dry I used the Stampboard scratching tool to create the white highlight lines in the stamped image, then added a Collections word. You probably can't see it, but I edged the whole piece with a gold Krylon pen.

OK, that's all folks! Thanks for visiting my blog, and I'd love to see your comments on what I've made today!

Anniversary card - Inkurable Stampers March Challenge

It's 'Bring a Friend' month at Inkurable Stampers! If you enter the March challenge, which is to use Alphabet stamps somewhere on your card or ATC, and mention my name as the friend who referred you, then I get to win a great stamp prize! What's in it for you? Well, you can bring another friend and also be eligible, but you can also win one of the other great prizes on offer, which you can see HERE ! Easy huh, but you better hurry as you only have until midnight on Tuesday to enter!

OK, onto my card I have made for the challenge! It's my 35th wedding anniversary next month, (Yes, I was a child bride!) so this is the card I've made for my DH. You will probably think I have a very warped sense of humour, but I think it will make DH chuckle......he is such an unromantic!


This is the front of the card...........looks pretty innocuous, but take note of the 'We were made for each other' greeting. Before you move on, I'll just tell you what I've used here. The background is a Technique Junkies technique, which I did ages ago and can't remember what it is called, (I know, I should write on the back when I do them!) but it involves glossy cardstock, Kaleidacolour inkpad and a metallic re-inker (I think!). The 'Happy Anniversary' is made with Image Tree Antique Typewriter alphabet stamps - I stamped them on white cardstock, then punched out with a small circle punch and sponged the edges with Tim Holtz Shabby Shutters Distress ink. I mounted them onto burgundy grosgrain ribbon.

The 'We were made for each other' was stamped with the JustRite stampers small letter alphabet set - cut this out with a Nestabilities scalloped circle die and sponged it with the same ink. I've added a punched heart, which I inked with Tim Holtz Aged Mahogany Distress Ink, and embossed with the Textile Cuttlebug folder.....actually I inked up the embossing folder to get that effect!

I used a Stamp-It 'Distressed Swirl' stamp on the top right side of the card and added a button and embroidery thread to it.

OK, here's the inside of the card...........

Don't we make a lovely couple? The stamps are by Stampotique,(these are available at The Stamping Queen) the man is called 'Heart Throb' and the female is called 'Moth Fab'. I used another alphabet set to make the 'I {heart} You' - it's a clear set by Card Stamp & Scrap. The background for this is another Technique Junkies technique called Al Float, I sponged the edges with Tim Holtz Shabby Shutters Distress Ink.

That's it! Thanks for visiting........hope I didn't scare you all off! We don't really look like that.........I'm not that skinny, and my hair is short! DH is taller than me.........but his head is starting to look a bit like 'Heart Throb's'!

OSA Sketch Challenge #4

I'm on a roll here, I've just completed another challenge, the OSA Sketch Challenge #4.....and almost right on the deadline too! You can see the sketch HERE

I used the Pierced Spotlight Technique from the latest Technique Junkies Newsletter. My stamp is from Pink Cat Studio and I coloured the spotlighted image with Prismacolor Pencils. I used colours to match the wide Stampin' Up ribbon and Cuttlebugged the background piece with two different embossing folders.

Thanks for visiting!

Wintery blues.............and where have I been lately?

This is my card for the OSA card challenge #3. This weeks' theme is to use the colour blue. The stamp I've used is from a plate by Stonehouse Stamps, it's a large stamp and it's the 1st time it's seen ink as I didn't have an acrylic block large enough to fit it until recently. The background is done using the Technique Junkie Spritz and Flick technique, hopefully it looks like it's snowing! It's such a large stamp I've just added a dark blue card layer and some fibres before adhering to a light blue card.

....Can you guess where I am? That's me on the right with my daughter Hayley. This is such a direct contrast to my card above showing a cold wintery scene. Well, it's the middle of summer down here in Australia and boy is it hot!!

So, have you guessed where I am yet..........is that a tennis court in the background??

Yes, it is and we spent Monday and Tuesday at The Australian Open Grand Slam event. The player who is serving the ball is Marcus Bagdadis from Cyprus. He has quite a large following here in Melbourne by the Greek-Cypriot population - FYI the city of Melbourne has the largest Greek population outside of Athens!

I've been reading a number of blogs from the Northern Hemisphere who are suffering with blizzards, ice storms and generally being snowed in with bad weather......well it's just the opposite here. On Monday the temperature was 36 degrees centigrade (96.8 Fahrenheit), we thought that was pretty hot sitting out in the hot sun all day, but Tuesday's temp was 40.5 deg. centigrade (104.9 deg. Fahrenheit)! I did feel sorry for the poor players having to compete in those temperatures. We did eventually get a few clouds and a cooler breeze come through after 2pm though to make things a bit more comfy. It was so funny when the first cloud came over to give us all a bit of shade.......a collective "Aaaahh!" was heard by the whole crowd!

We both love our tennis and spend at least 2 days at the Australian Open each summer. I'm a bit pooped from the hot weather of the last 2 days though....must be getting old!

Hope you are having a great day where ever you are in the world!

Another Naughty Penguin card

I made this one for my nephew.....I think he'll like it!

I used the Technique Junkies masked frame technique again with this card. I remembered to do it right this time! All stamps, except the snowflake are by Firecracker Designs by Pamela ('Be Naughty' stamp plate), the snowflake is from a clear stamp set- Holiday Accents by Limited Edition.

Other supplies: Watercolour pencils, Crystalline Kindy Glitz, Impress Cerulean Blue ink, Brilliance Starlite Black ink.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day!

Naughty penguin!!

I was very lucky to win some blog candy from Pamela, the owner of Firecracker Designs by Pamela stamps! I won a fun stamp sheet called 'Be Naughty', along with 8 gorgeous cards which were made for Pamela's blog hop by her Design Team! How special is that?!! Of course I couldn't resist buying 2 more sheets of Pamela's stamps as well..............shh, don't tell my DH!

This is the 1st card I've made with those naughty penguins, hope you like it! I made the card 5" x 7", which is a bit larger than my usual size, but I wanted to fit all the elements in so had to use a bigger card.


I used the masked frame technique from the latest issue of the Technique Junkies Newsletter to make the frame around the penguin. I stamped the penguin twice with Brilliance Starlite Black ink - this is not your regular black ink, it's more of a dark charcoal grey with a shimmery pearlescence....really nice, but I don't think it shows up well in the photo! I cut the snowball, earmuffs and scarf from one of the images, coloured/glittered them, then layered over the top of the 2nd penguin image. The bucket of snowballs is also layered - see the photo below for a close-up of the layering.

The black cuttlebugged layer is Black Magic Core'dinations cardstock - the core is a pale blue colour, I added some Kaiser blue gemstones to the snowflake centres. The stars on the blue layer is another stamp from the 'Be Naughty' stamp sheet, I used a Cuttlebug edge embossing folder to do the scallop along the bottom.

Thanks for visiting today!

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.