Two challenges in one day!

Hi again,

I was going to set this to post tomorrow but then I forget to come back and link it to the challenge site, so you get 2 posts in one day (it's either feast or famine with me LOL).

I really liked the simplicity of this week's sketch over at Just Add Ink. I'm not sure, but this may be the 1st of their challenges that I've entered.

Firstly, the sketch:

And now my interpretation:

As usual, I am pretty literal with sketches, some people get so creative but I'm pretty much a 'take it as it comes' 'KISS' sort of stamper.

I inked up my 'Very Vintage' jumbo wheel in 'Rich Razzleberry' ink and stamped onto 'Very Vanilla' CS. I love this wheel, I should reach for it more often. Would like to try it in 'Marina Mist' on 'Very Vanilla' as well, hmmmm. I stamped the section of the wheel with the butterfly onto some scrap VV CS and cut it out (so much cutting today, at least more than I like to do LOL).  I stamped the flowers from 'Very Vintage' in RR and added some pearls, the smaller is from the new, fabbo, stick on pearls, the larger is from my (retired) Pretties Kit. Finally I finished off with a sentiment from the classic 'Sincere Salutations' set and added some (retired) RR ribbon. I can't wait to put it my next order (patiently, or not so, waiting until the new SU quarter) and get some of the new 'Rich Razzleberry' satin ribbon, yummo!!!!

Must head off, I desperately need a haircut and to buy some groceries, so must leave the land of stamping fun & go back to the real world :-(

Cheers,
Fi xox

Another birthday and a challenge

Hi Guys,

I've had fun playing with some more challenges. I needed to make a card for a 3yo and was going to use last week's Mojo Monday sketch again (see this post, 2nd card) however I came upon the Sweet Sunday challenge which was to use a favourite past sketch. I already had in mind making a card with a rectangle panel using 'Choo Choo' so searched til I found a suitable sketch.

This is the one I decided on:

And my card:

I am so in love with this Celebrations DSP for boy's cards. I will need to order more 'Pacific Point' & 'Real Red' CS as I think I'll be using it a lot. The hills are cut from 'Pear Pizazz' CS layered over 'Bashful Blue'. I did the grass with the 'Wonderfully Worn' BG stamp, another new love. The '3' is made using my Big Shot. I always think "can I be bothered using it to cut out just one thing", but with my fairly organised stamping area it takes less than 5 mins to do, so very easy. The track is from the 'Right on track' wheel, so cute.

I covered the train windows & my '3' with Crystal Effects. Only prob is that I sat something down unintentionally on the card before the windows were quite dry so they're not real smooth, DUH!!! The ribbon is retired, it came wrapped around a free stamp set that i received at Convention. Waste not... I wish they had Pacific Point ribbon in the new catty, oh well.

Must keep moving. I am hoping to post another card I made for the JAI challenge.

catch ya,
Fi xox

Mum's order

Hi Guys,

Mum needed a birthday card for her prayer partner. I saw this one on Splitcoast (I'm a shocker for CASEing everything but my work week sucks up all my brain power & I need to use other people's brains on my days off LOL). I loved the simple 2-tone use of the '5th Avenue Floral' daisy. It also gave me a reason to break out my new marina Mist CS, it is such a pretty blue, I love it. I used it with Not Quite Navy and So Saffron for the flower centres.

I decided against the embossing, instead I added some interest with the new 'Wonderfully Worn' background stamp, I really like the effect it gives. A sentiment (retired US) and one of the new rhinestones and I was done. I hope Mum finds it ok for the intended recipient.

Must run, off to have morning tea with my neighbour,

Cheers,
Fi xox

Baja Birthdays

Hi there,

The birthday bonanza continues. I will be so glad to see October, I think it's pretty birthday free. I still have one to go for September after the three cards I made today.

My friend Lou, whose daughter's Christening I attended last week, had her birthday on Sunday. We're meeting for coffee tomorrow to celebrate. I saw this card (the first one) ages ago on Splitcoast and fell in love with it and had to CASE it. I love the 'Friends Never Fade' set and am really growing to love the 'Greenhouse gala' DSP so it was a given I suppose. I only changed one DSP pattern & the ribbon, plus I didn't own the stamp set she used for the leaves, so substituted a stamp from the 'Cottage Garden' set. I used my markers to ink the flower stamp, am so happy to have a Baja Breeze marker at last (doing happy dance). I left off a sentiment as I think it would've been too busy. Am wondering if I should have stuck with the wider 'Certainly Celery' ribbon though....

My good work friend, Eileen, also had her birthday on Sunday. She loves her coffee, I think that is what she exists on during our busy shifts. I had to use the new 'Morning Cup' set, of course. It is one of my favs, being a great tea drinker myself and loving all things tea related. I was browsing the web trying to come up with a layout, when I came across the latest Mojo Monday sketch. I haven't done one of their challenges for ages & I really liked the sketch.

I used the new 'Elegant Soiree' DSP as I thought Eileen would like those colours. I inked the images using Stazon on watercolour paper (I stamped it rather crookedly, oops) and then used my aquapainter with my markers & inks. I chose the Scallop Trim border as I felt the little holes echoed the DSP pattern. The sentiment is from the retired set 'Think Happy Thoughts', with a piece of DSP cut out using the small heart punch (to echo the heart on the mug image) and the buttons from the retired 'Latte' collection. I think the part that took the longest was 'threading' the buttons with the little strips of Baja Breeze CS, fiddly! I don't think it is as crooked as it looks in the pic LOL.

I will save my other card for a new day, need to spin this out a bit LOL.

Have a great day,

Love Fi xox

Wow, 4 posts in one week!!!

Hi there.

Don't faint, I just thought I'd better get all these cards that I've been making onto my blog. Andrea won't believe her eyes *waving*!

As you would know if you'd wandered past here recently,  I have been up to ears in birthday cards. I don't remember July-Sept being this crazy before, maybe I've just been more diligent in making & sending cards, I'm not sure. Anyway, every spare minute seems to have been spent making cards. It has been fun, especially with the release of the new Catty & thus new goodies to play with :-)

My cousin Mikki had a birthday in August and she is very creative. I decided to use the new 'Newsprint' DSP as I thought it was a bit arty. Here is her card:

I had seen a tutorial for this accordion flower on Mary Fish's blog & decided to have a go using our scallop circle punch (the US now has a larger one as well, covet!). It was really easy to do. I added a 'Build-a-Brad' and then stamped some images from 'Artistic Etchings' in black & Rich Razzleberry.

Next, Mikki & Adam's son, Byron, turned 3. I used a sketch of Keesh's that I'd wanted to play with ages ago but ran out of time. I had this cute non-Su paper and combined it with 'Lots of Bots'.

The papers co-ordinated well with my SU cardstock but I used some non-SU ribbon I had lying around. I used the Timeless Type sizzlet for the '3' and covered it in glitter popping it up on a star that I punched out. The silver star brad was the finishing touch. The sentiment is from the new 'Party this Way' set.

I had one more card to make on this day so decided to stick with the same sketch. My good mate Ian was also having a birthday and he is a mad 4WDer. He & his family are planing a trip around part of Oz next year so I figured the map paper from the 'Newsprint' DSP would be appropriate, and added the music notes as he has a great voice and works on the Church sound desk. I added the 4WD image from 'Just Beachy' (ret) and some twill tape, distressing it with some sponging to keep it 'blokey'. I hope he liked it.

Thanks for calling by, I think that's all for now,

Love Fi xox

Sarah's Christening.

I was blessed to be the midwife for my good friends Louise & Chris (Lou is a midwife too) when Lou birthed her gorgeous daughter Sarah back in February, and was thrilled to be able to attend Sarah's Christening on Sunday. I had made a Name Frame for one of my friend's daughters a while back & thought that would be a nice idea for Sarah. For reasons that I won't go into to, many midwives do not like images of butterflies and I wasn't quite sure what else to do. Finally I thought of my heart punch and thought that would be ok. I printed the text on my computer using this fantastic website to get the right RGB values for SU colours. I used 'Raspberry Tart' DSP (ret) as I love the colours and Sarah has bright pink 'In the Night Garden' sheets. The frame came from Big W.

Forgive the photo, I took it in a hurry on my phone as I was about to leave, as my camera batteries were playing up. You can see my reflection in the glass :-(
(The verse is Jeremiah 29:11, a fav of mine).

I didn't have any Christening type stamps so went with a card that co-ordinated with the frame:

I got the inspiration for the layout from this post. I can't stop using the 'Modern Label' punch, I have been wanting it for so long and it is fab for giving a frame to the 'Word Window' punch.

Lou seemed happy with the frame, I also added a little book from Koorong to complete the gift. It was a lovely morning despite the fact that I worked the night before and ended up being awake for about 20 hrs before crashing out on the lounge!

Thanks for visiting,
Cheers,
Fi xox

Sweet Sunday Sketch #85

Can you believe it, another post. I should have 4 days off more often. I had a gorgeous day on Tuesday, using a voucher for a Day Spa treatment that was a birthday present. I was buffed, polished, massaged into blissful relaxation. What a wonderful gift!!!! Anyway, all that relaxing seems to have unleashed the blogging monster LOL.

I liked the Sweet Sunday Sketch this week. I always see it on Sarah-Jane's blog, but the original source is Karen Giron's blog. It has been ages since I was able to play along with a challenge and had fun with this one. Here is the sketch from karen's blog:

And here is card:

After I'd put it together I realised it would've looked better if I'd punched out consecutive images, but I couldn't be bothered re-doing it (slacker). I have used the ever so cute Level 1 hostess gift 'Birthday Bakery'. It has such cute images and sentiments. I used the now retired 'Sweet Always' DSP. I love it for girly cards & stocked up on an extra packet before the last catty finished. At least the colours in it are still current. I'm not completely happy with this card but it is passable I think.

Thanks for looking,
Cheers,
Fi xox

Keesh Sketch 39 take two, and this makes 3 posts in one day!!!

Here is my 2nd play at Keesh's latest sketch challenge.

 I wanted to make a card that fit the sketch more closely. I decided to make the 'suede effect' flower on page 2 of the new catty. I went looking for my new 'Fancy Flower' punch but couldn't find it. Turns out that I didn't order it LOL. I must add it to my next order. I had to resort to a non-SU punch that I had. I 'sueded' some baja Breeze CS and punched out 3 flowers and put them together with one of the beautiful new Antique Brads (yummy), then cut some Pear Pizazz leaves using my Sizzlet die & Big Shot. The DSP is from the new set, "Greenhouse Gala' which I also love. I didn't have any thin Baja Breeze ribbon so popped some CS through my crimper. Finally the sentiment is from one of the new Level 3 hostess sets, "Occasional Quotes". One advantage of being a demo is that we can purchase some of the hostess sets that we are unlikely to otherwise be able to get.

I must admit, I was pretty happy with how it turned out. I have a friend with a b'day this Sunday (I know, there has been no end to birthdays for about 3 months!!!).

I really enjoyed playing with this sketch, and hope to have the time to keep doing them.

Thanks for popping by,

Cheers,

Fi xox

A baby shower & some sympathy.

Two post in one day, heck!!!

My Mum is going to a baby shower this Saturday (hi Mum) and asked me to make a card. It was a great excuse to get the new 'Baby Bundle' set. I saw this card when searching on Splitcoast & thought I'd CASE it. I didn't need the box so stuck with the card. I'm not 100% happy with it & the pic doesn't do it justice. Maybe it is just too busy with the pram filled with goodies. What do you think?

I changed the colours to Pink Pirouette & Baja Breeze as I love them together. The ribbon is retired baja satin and I used the modern Label punch (again, LOL). The sentiment is from the ever reliable 'Short & Sweet' set. I hope Mum likes it.

On the other extreme, my friend Sarah lost her 98yo grandmother this week. I wanted to make a simple Sympathy card using 'Thoughts & Prayers'. I returned to Splitcoast & came upon this card. I loved the unusual use of the stamp. I'm not very good with too much white though, so added a 'Pear Pizazz' background (I love this new In-Color) and changed it to a rectangle card. It is a bit hard to see, but I also stamped the top of the tree in white on the bottom corner. It is also hard to see, but I added tiny pearls from the new SU 'Basic Pearls'. The main image is popped up on dimensionals to give some, well, some dimension! It was hard for me to stop & not add anything more, I'm not good at CAS.

I hope you're having a great week. Thanks for visiting,
Love Fi xox

Finally, time for some challenges.

Hi There,
I have really missed playing my fav challenges like Keesh's and Sweet Sunday. I finally took the time to have a play.

Keesh's latest sketch challenge, #39, (can you believe it?) is very cute and I have had 2 plays (I know, shock, horror). Firstly, here is the sketch:

My first play is a Birthday card for my friend's son who is turning 7. I have been hanging to get my hands on the new fab 'Celebrations' DSP as it is perfect for boys. I've been wanting to combine it with "Lots of Bots" and figure that would be fine for a big 7 y.o. boy. So, the image isn't a flower but figure challenges are all about poetic licence. I love the paper with the numbers, so used it & the cut out an extra '7' and popped it up on dimensionals and added Crystal Effects. I coloured the bot with my inks and a blender pen as it is a bit more subtle than straight markers.

 ETA: I realised that I need to put the next card in a separate post so that I can link both with thumbnails.

Cheers,

Fi xox

Father's Day Cards

Hi,

My Dad loves to spend most of his time in the shed and loves new tools, he asked for new Drill Bits for Father's Day. Last time I was in his shed he had a huge pile of screws & nuts & bolts everywhere. Thus, when I saw this card I just had to make it for Mum to give him as a Father's Day card.
Here is my version. I covered it in the nuts & bolts stamp from 'Lots of Bots' in homage to his shed LOL.

And the inside, which uses the tool images, without the text, from 'Totally Tool'.

Next, I made Dad a card featuring a Punch Art VW Beetle that I CASEd from here. Dad had a Beetle in his youth and has an affection for them. I used the Wide Oval, Large & small Ovals, Horizontal Slot, Word Window and Scallop Circle (cut down for the tires) punches. The headlights are made from a Build-a-Brad with no image glued to the backing. Dad seemed quite chuffed with both cards.

I'll be back soon with yet more birthday cards. What's with the July-September birthday madness??? I need to go hang out my washing (yes, excitement plus), clean my house (more excitement), make some body butter (at last some fun) & make a Christening gift & card (yeah, more fun).

Have a great day,
Love Fi xox

Get well for Mum

Hi All,
Hope you're all excited about the new catty. I thought I could post this card now that the new catty is out.

I made it for Mum as she had to have an operation recently. Thankfully she is making a wonderful recovery (hi Mum, xox). I used a set that the gorgeous Lavonne brought me on her recent visit from the US (she's headed back home *sob*, miss you Lavonne!). I was very glad to see it turn up in our new catty. It is called 'Morning Cup'. I love any images to do with teapots, cups etc, so this set is sure to be a favourite. Of course I CASEd it, from this card made by Ilina Crouse. I have had no time to think, and am not terribly good at coming up with ideas with at the best of times. I once again used colours from the 'Cottage Garden" DSP, Orchid Opulence (now retired), Old Olive & Rich Razzleberry. We don't have the punch here that Ilina used so I added a piece of CS cut using the Curly Label punch. I used versamark for the background images. I thought the sentiment 'Perk Up' was appropriate for a get well card. Mum seemed to like it, and that was the main thing, she took it into the hospital to set on her night stand.
That's it for today. I'll pop back soon with some pics of yet more birthday cards & two that i've made for Dad's day. The occasions just keep coming. i've no time to enter a challenge in months :-(  
I really wanted to enter Andrea's blog candy challenge but had a last minute Union meeting to attend (see roster comment 2 posts ago) and a new mobile phone to figure out. Time just got away, I can't believe it is nearly 10pm.


Enough raving, sleep well,
Fi xox

New Catty and a blog change!

Well, it is finally that wonderful time of the year. After waiting an extra 5 months, it is the launch of the new catalogue!!!! I have included a link to the left if you want to view it on-line. It is full of lots of lovely new goodies and the new 'Colour Renovation' colours. I can't wait to get my hands on them. I love the new 'Birthday Bash' suite for kids.

You might have noticed that my blog has changed a bit. I didn't really mean for it to change. I was fiddling around on Blogger but then couldn't get it to go back. Oops, *blush*. Will now have to do a new header. I might wait til I get some new goodies to play with. It is about time for a change anyway.

Have a great day & please check out the new catty. Throw me an email, see link to right, if you'd like me to send you a yummy new Idea Book & Catalogue ('catty' to those of us addicted to all things Stampin' Up!).

Cheers,
Fi xox