Sunny Challenges Week 37

Hi there fellow Stampers! This week it was Kris's turn to supply the sketch and it was one that would let the imagination go wild! We had a completely blank canvas to work with and the added challenge to meet the criteria this week was we had to make a window. I was so excited when I saw that, I have been really itching to use my new Framelits and what a better way to showcase these dies than to make a window! My card is Perfect Plum, and as I said, I cut my window out using the Framelits, I then turned the whole piece over and embossed it as well. The inside of the card uses a piece of Whisper White and the greeting is from one of my favourite sets Well Scripted, and this I stamped using Elegant Eggplant. Vintage Vogue was my choice of stamps for the flowers I needed for the front of the card and the flowers were stamped in Perfect Plum and Rose Red, the large flowers were off stamped first. After these were cut out I I attached them around the edge of the cut out. In the centre of each flower I added a rhinestone, and then attached 2 small butterflies to the card insert using mini glue dots. I really like the way this card turned out and I hope you do too! Make sure that you hop over to Sunny Challenges and Creations and see Kris and Vicky's Creations. Bye for now,

Sunny Challenges Week 36

Hi there stampers! Here we are with another challenge for Sunny Challenges and Creations. I am back and this week it was my turn to supply the sketch. Being my first week back after a lengthy absence I thought I would make it nice and easy for you. Just follow the sketch! You are free to do whatever you wish with it. I apologise for the quality of the sketch pic but when the photo was taken I was having all sorts of trouble with my camera, and being very unco when it comes to technical stuff I did the best I could at the time. I love Poppy Parade and I really hope it is not one of the colours to go this year, I matted the Whisper White Card stock onto Basic Black after I had run the two smaller pieces through the Big Shot using the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. The stamp set I used was Field Flowers, and The Frame was from the Designer Frames embossing set, I cut around the frame after embossing it and put it up on dimensionals  to make it pop. The little heart was punched from the Owl punch. This card looks beautiful in so many colours and  I know you will have a lot of fun doing this sketch. Please come and play with us this week, its a lot of fun and you could be our next Ray of Sunshine!!

Delft Tile Technique

Hi again stampers, today the weather here on the coast has been to say the least very very ordinary, so what else is a girl to do when the chores are done, husband is comfortable and dogs are sleeping.....Craft of course!! I receive a newsletter from the lovely Angie Shen, which is always full of the most interesting information and tutorials and shares. Angie this month shared not one, but three projects and they are all lovely. It has been a while since I have had the embossing powders out and this project makes good use of them. I used the same set at Angie (Elements of Style) for my card, but really when you think about it Stampin Up have so many sets that would be suited to this technique. It really was a quick and easy card to make and lots of fun too. Till next time

Michelle Zhindorf says "Eat My Dust"

I know that I am amongst the thousands who just simply love Michelle Zhindorf's creations, and I must admit I have tried quite a few times have my finished project look just a tiny bit like Michelle's! Well today I tried her tutorial using the Need for Speed stamp set, and her creation which she aptly called Eat My Dust. Her tutorial was so easy to follow and I am so happy with the end result! I used Soft Suede as the base and then matted that with More Mustard and a piece of Woodland Walk (retired) DSP. Check out Michelle's Tutorial, I think its fantastic for those so hard to make masculine cards! Till next time

Baby Shower 15th January 2012

On the 15th January, I was invited to a baby shower for the daughter of some very old friends. I left making the card till the last minute because I really didnt think that I would be able to make it. I decided to use So Saffron for the base of the card which I made in a DL size (2/3 of an A$ sheet) I topped that with Whisper White Card stock and randomly stamped images from the Baby Bundle stamp set all over it in various pastel colours. I used the pram as the main image, and coloured it using the pastels that I had stamped with. I looked in my little scraps of card stock and found four pieces in Wild Wasabi, So Saffron, Bashful Blue and Pretty in Pink and using the Big Shot and the Alphabet dies I cut out the word Baby. This was such a quick card to make and Tracey loved it. Young Max decided to arrive 8 weeks early on the 19th January and weighed in at a tiny 3lbs. He spent the first 5 weeks of his little life in Rockhampton Hospital but he is home now and is absolutely gorgeous, and he is a real charmer. Till next time

Special Request

A little while ago I was asked to make a birthday card for a young man’s mum who lives in Sweden. He gave me a piece of patterned paper and asked that I use this on the card because it had all his mum’s favourite colours in it, and also it had to have flowers. When I looked at it I saw Tempting Turquoise, Brushed Gold, and Bashful Blue.  I decided to use the Elements of Style stamp set and also the Four Frames. I made the card an A5 size, using a base of Bashful Blue, then matted it with Brushed Gold and Bashful Blue again. I stamped the image on Whisper White with Stazon because I was using my Aqua Painter to colour the image. The colours I used were Tempting Turquoise, Bashful Blue, Marina Mist and even a touch of Baja Breeze, Old Olive was used for the leaves and the stems. The Four Frames stamp I used and the sentiment from Sincere Salutations were all stamped using Stazon Ink as was the greeting on the inside of the card and the small portions of the main stamp. I punched the front sentiment out using the Decorative Label Punch, then punched it out again but this time in the Bushed Gold and layered them together. To finish the card off I used a strip of the paper that I was given to use and punched a decorative edge using the Eyelette Border Punch, then repeated the same but this time using Bashful Blue cardstock.  He loved the card, and so did his mum, and I thought it turned out pretty well too.

Time for me

This Easter weekend I have been really busy and I have had a real 'hankering' to go to the beach, like its only just down the road really about 3 kilometers and I never go there any more. I am so lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world, and it really pulled me up short a couple of weeks ago when I realised it has been at least 5 years since I have actually gone to the beach to have a swim in the ocean. so  I did go to the beach for a bit today ... 1 whole hour woo hoo. 

Made several notes to self. Remember the following:

1. Mooloolaba has the hardest sand in the whole world
2. Do not under any circumstances lay on your tummy because you really do get to smell the sand which smells like the deck of an old fishing trawler!
3. Dont go to the beach at 11am on a public holiday
4. Dont forget your sunscreen
5. Remember to take your camera
6. Make sure the battery in your kindle isnt going to run out one page before the end of your book
7. Take 2 bottles of water to the beach 1 to drink there and the other to drink when you leave the beach
8. Remember not to put aforementioned 2nd bottle in the boot/back of the car for the drive home in the midday heat and previously mentioned Public Holiday
9. Enjoy the sand free pool that you dive into as soon as you get home

I think that after today's excursion I will make more of them, but will take into consideration all of the above notes to myself that I made, now all I have to do is figure out how to get a picture from my mobile to the computer. Till next time, Gwen

Sunny Challenges Week 35

 Hi there! After quite a while of not being in here due to family commitments....I'm back!!!! Hopefully I will be able to at least post each week and continue working with Kris and Vicky at Sunny Challenges and Creations. I must firstly thank the girls for carrying the load while I have not been able to work on the Challenges with them. Not forgetting too the Guest designers that have stepped into the breech on short notice to help out , and a big thank you goes to all those ladies. I will never forget your kindness and your friendship is something that I will always value and cherish. I am so excited that I am able to partake in the challenge this week which was supplied by Vicky. She always makes me put my thinking cap on! The challenge this week had to have something to do with 'mums' on it and as Mothers day is fast approaching it is a particularly good choice of theme. I started with a plain white background and cut a piece of Flirtatious DSP and having the Wisteria Wonder colour and pattern on top. I stamped two flowers from the Fifth Avenue Floral and coloured them using my Aqua Painter and Wisteria Wonder again. The word Mother came from the set Blessed Mother that I won at Regional's and havent really used that much. I cut the flowers out and placed them on the Whisper White card stock, which I had backed wiht a piece of Wisteria Wonder card stock. I then went fossicking around in my another day box and found some Little Leaves that I had cut out on my Big Shot some time before when I was using up scraps. I decided to use the Wisteria Wonder again for the band at the bottom which I punched using the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch. I stamped the word Love from the Tiny Tags stamp set and punched it out using the Small Jewelry Tag Punch, and attached that to the Wisteria Wonder using a Fire Square Rhinestone Brad. On the inside of the card I used the sentiment from Blessed Mother and then off stamped the flower from the Fifth Avenue Floral several times using Wisteria Wonder and Lucky Limeade. I had fun making this card for the challenge and look forward to many more.