Another hobby!!!

Hi Guys,

This is a non-stamping post. Just thought I'd show you a few pics of my latest hobby (which I need like a hole in the head, I know LOL). In my recent hols I went down to Sydney for the weekend and attended a Resin Jewellery workshop. It was great fun and now my wallet is a few hundred $$$ lighter. I have been pouring resin like crazy practising mixing colours and using the moulds. I've even sold one bangle to a doctor at work (if she ever pays me, that is).

I made these teal bangles for a friend's birthday:

My Aunt wants an orange bath mat for her birthday, we've ended up buying matching towels and so I've made a matching bowl to sit on her vanity:

I then played with blues:

And finally a pinky/mauvey swirly bowl:

These are only small bowls, about 8cm in diameter and are not food safe, but they are rather sweet and fun to make.

Thanks for looking at something not related to stamping :-)
Cheers,
Fi x

Birthday cards for Aunts

Hi Guys,

As I mentioned previously, July holds lots of birthdays. I made this card for my Aunty Shirley's 80th but then we decided to buy her a tea based gift (lovely goodies from Whittards of Chelsea) so I made another card, with a tea theme. I used the same basic idea but added teacups instead of the rose. The original idea came from this card and the idea for the teacups came from here, and from this card by Keesh.

I must admit that I was pretty chuffed with how it came out. I used Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink & Rose Red (stamped off once). The white CS is shimmer CS cut with a PTI die, as are the numbers, which are Pink Pirouette dabbed with shimmer paint . The stamps are also PTI (and have a matching die, cool). The DSP is retired SU. I just wish I could stamp sentiments in a straight line LOL.

I also made a second card from my Aunty Helen and gave Mum the other one to give her. She likes Hydrangeas and I really wanted to use the Because I Care stamp set. I found this card on Splitcoast and had to CASE it. I changed it to Concord Crush and used a different sentiment.

Actually, this sentiment looks a bit crooked too, I really hope we get the guideline stickers for the acrylic blocks that have just come out in the US catty (and if not I might have to send an SOS to the lovely Lavonne, wink). I hope my Aunt likes it. Her birthday is on the 28th, the day after mine, busy time, lots of cake :-)

Better run, thanks for popping by.
Cheers,
Fi x

Even more birthday cards....

Hi,

I thought I'd show you a few more of the cards I've been making. It was my wonderful Mum's birthday yesterday and we had a very yummy seafood platter for tea. We all love seafood. I made her two cards, one from me and one from Dad, but Dad had made one for her already (might have to buy him some stamps LOL) so I have one left over. Mum is wonderful to me and the glue in our family, and I love her dearly, so I always like to take extra special time and effort with her cards.

This is the supposed one from Dad, that Mum actually hasn't seen (until she reads this blog LOL):

I must say, the picture makes the image look more 'blurry' than IRL. I CASEd this from this card on Splitcoast. I'd been wanting to try the 'Mother of Pearl' (MOP) technique for a while and really liked it combined with 'Elements of Style'. It is done by dipping scrunched up Gladwrap into Frost white shimmer paint and then dabbing it onto white CS. After drying, you then sponge or brayer colour over the top. I sponged a mix of Pretty in Pink and Baja Breeze to echo natural MOP colours. I then stamped the Elements of Style in Stazon Black ink and coloured with markers and a blender pen.

Here is a close up showing the shimmer:

Then I made a card from me. Mum is a fabulous 'sewer' and she made many of our clothes when I was growing up. She even owned one of the dressmaker's dummies (or 'dress form' as they seem to be known now). I saw this yummy card by Helen and had to CASE it for Mum.

I made a few small changes. The dress form is a die by PTI. I originally paper pieced the dress form stamp from SU's Sew Suite but decided I liked the bigger die-cut image. I added buttons to the button card (the longest part of the whole process (partly due to the ages I spent searching for my embroidery floss which I no longer seem to own?!?). I stamped the tape measure image onto Very Vanilla satin ribbon. The background is the In Stitches wheel and the 'ric-rac' is from the Tasteful Trim die. Mum seemed to like it. I think she would have liked the other one too, oh well.

Ta for popping by.
Cheers,
Fi x

More July birthdays...

Hi Guys,

Here's a couple more birthday cards.

Another of my Aunts has a July birthday and this year she is turning 80 (although you would never pick it). Mum's request was for a pretty card so it left me a lot of scope. In my blog travels I spied this card and thought I could remake it using '5th Avenue Floral'.

I used the floating re-inker technique (if that's the right name) on shimmer CS using Pink Pirouette & Pale Plum, I added Pear Pizazz leaves made using the medium Oval Punch. The background DSP is from the Subtles pack. The white layer is Shimmer CS cut using a PTI die. The numbers are also PTI dies and I used the co-ordinating stamp set. I cut the numbers from Pink Pirouette CS, sponged the edges in Pale Plum and then sponged over with Champagne Shimmer paint. It is a shame that the pic doesn't do the shimmer justice.

Now, for something completely different...

My eldest nephew turns 17 on the 25th, where have those years gone??? He plays in a band with his brother and some mates so I always make him guitar related 'grungey' cards.

This is another CASE from here. I changed the background to Kiwi Kiss CS, adding Basic Black and metallic Silver highlights. I used SU's Grunge Rock and a PTI set. The star is cut using SU's large Star Punch. I hope he likes it, I better get it sent this week as it needs to get to Russia.

Better go and hang out my washing and then maybe I can find some more stamping time.
Have a great day,
Fi xox

Crazy for poppies

Hi Guys,

I stamped up a storm last week (a storm for me, anyway, probably only a light shower for most of you LOL). I stamped six cards in two days, and have one more to do today. It is all due to the run of July birthdays. I went to lunch with a group of friends yesterday and five of us had July birthdays!

Anyway, I have been having a load of fun playing with one of my new acquisitions, a PTI floral stamp set. It is not available for purchase (unless you source a popular online auction site, wink).

Firstly, one for my favourite Aunt whose birthday is the day after mine. She likes purples and greens.

I CASEd it from here. I love the original pink but went for my Aunt's colours instead. Might have to make a pink one too ;-). I used Perfect Plum and Pear Pizazz, took the pic at night so the colours don't show up quite right.

This is for my friend Jen who has always liked bright blues, greens and purples. I just played around with Tempting Turquoise, Rich Razzleberry and Pear Pizazz. I really like the fonts in the sentiments that come with this stamp set.

I want to play some more with this set as it is great for quick simple cards.

Have a fab day,
Cheers,
Fi xox

Inkspiration Colour #76

Hi Guys,

This is super quick as of to work. I have 7 b'days in July and it is a perfect time to use some challenge ideas. The Inkspirations team have a fun and cheery colour combo this week of "Poppy Parade", "Peach Parfait", Baja Breeze" & "Whisper White":

I combined it, after a fashion, with a past Clean and Simple layout:

And here is the result:

I was really pleased with how it turned out. I did some "rock and roll" technique with the flowers using the "Peach Parfait" & "Poppy Parfait". I wasn't sure how the Baja would go as stems but it isn't too bad being a slightly greenish blue. The buttons are made using a sizzlet die & I covered them with "Crystal Effects".

Must run, email me if you have any questions.

Cheers,
fi x