Christmas Gatefold

 Christmas will be here before we know it, so I thought I best be getting some cards done and also for the girls to make in their class. We usually make one Christmas Card each class, and that gives them a bit of head start. This one I used Cherry Cobbler for the card base, and Old Olive from the Brights Collection of DSP. The Poinsettias were stamped in Cherry Cobbler and the Holly was stamped in  Old Olive on the DSP. The flowers were cut out an placed on dimensionals and I added a little dot of the Silver Dazzling Details to the stamens. Decorative Label Punch was used to punch out both the Whisper White and the Cherry Cobbler Card Stock, the latter I cut in 1/2 on the horizontal and layered it behind the Whisper white that I had stamped the sentiment on and also lightly sponged around the edges with the Cherry Cobbler and the same ink was used for the sentiment which is from the retired set Beautiful Season. The insert of the card I off stamped the portion of the Holly Stamp twice then stamped on each diagonal corner in Old Olive and the verse from Snow Swirled is also stamped in Old Olive. Its good to have a play, and I doubly enjoy what crafting time I can grab, not nearly enough these days I am afraid. Till next time, Happy Stamping.

Another Wetlands Creation

The Wetlands stamp set has really grabbed my imagination! This is a true 'bloke' stamp set, and so versatile too. It caters for Birthday, Anniversary, Sympathy, Get Well and even Fathers Day! It is not often that an idea will come to me in the early hours as this did. I stamped the centre image then created a mask and stamped the other two birds. I watercoloured the ground using the Aqau Painter and Old Olive. I sponged the sky with Marina Mist, then over the top of that with Smoky Slate to give the appearance of an over cast day. Garden Green Stamp n Write Marker was used to highlight the grass under the birds. The birds themselves I coloured using Soft Suede, Crumb Cake and two retired colours More Mustard and River Rock. The eyes I put a spot of Tempting Turquoise. I decided to use my Oval framelits and cut out an oval in the  Soft Suede card front, then cut an oval frame from Cherry Cobbler. The inside of the card I lined with Very Vanilla on both sides. The greeting is stamped in Soft Suede from the Gifts of Kindness set, and punched out with the Modern Label Punch, and to finish it off put to mini silver brads on each end of the frame and popped the sentiment up on dimensionals. I loved creating this card, and hope you like it too, Till next time, happy stamping.

Sunny Challenges and Creations Card Share 047/12

Goodness, another week has passed and here we are with yet another fabulous sketch and challenge from Kris. Along with the sketch this week, Kris set the challenge to use the colours River Rock, Cherry Cobbler and Marina Mist. My card base is of River Rock and I matted it with a piece of Marina Mist and also a piece of Cherry Cobbler that I had punched using the Eyelet Border Punch. The Whisper White mat I randomly stamped the leaves from the Confetti stamp set in all three colours. Using Cherry Cobbler I stamped the main image from Friends never Fade and matted that onto a piece of River Rock and mounted it onto the background using dimensionals. Kris, Vicky and our guest designers would love for you to play along with us this week at Sunny Challenges and Creations. Till next time have lots of fun stamping and creating!

Sunny Challenges and Creations....weeks 40 and 41

Hi there stampers, I am so sorry that I have been absent this last couple of weeks but family matters have been calling, and we all know that they simply must come first! My first card is from my sketch in week 40, and there was no additional challenge attached to it. My card base was Pretty in Pink and I then added a layer of Sahara Sand which I stamped in the same colour an image from Artistic Etchings. This was topped with a piece of Cherry Cobbler and a piece of First Edition DSP was attached. The sentiment was stamped using Basic Black as was the Tower on Whisper White, which was matted on Pretty In Pink. This was such a simple card to make and for all its simplicity I really really like the way it finished.

Week 41 saw the sketch coming from our very talented Kris and the second part of the challenge was to use the In Colours from 2010 - 2012, which are retiring this year. I chose to use Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait and a touch of Concord Crush and Poppy Parade. First I rolled my Very Vintage wheel across the Whisper White base using Peach Parfait, I embossed a piece of Pear Pizzazz using the Textured Impressions embossing folder with the hearts. A piece of Peach Parfait Stitched ribbon was placed around the centre of that and I stamped the pile of cups from the set Morning Cup onto Whisper White then coloured it using my trusty Aqua Painter. The oval is the middle size oval on the Sizzix die and the edging around the oval is made from using the eyelet border punch and attaching it to the back of the stamped oval. This was then  attached to the card front using dimensionals. The sentiment too is from the Morning Cup set, and this I stamped in Concord Crush.

Week 18 Sunny Challenges and Creations

Hello again everyone, this week's sketch was by Kris, and as soon as I saw the sketch I knew what I was going to do (doesnt happent very often). I decided that I would do the 'Black Magic' Technique because Upsy Daisy is one stamp set that really lends itself to so many different options. This is probably the reason it is my most favourite of stamp sets! To make my card I used Cherry Cobbler as my base. I ran a piece of Whisper White through the Big Shot using the tulips embossing folder. I stamped my image on Basic Black card stock using White Craft ink and when it was thoroughly dry I used my SU Watercolour Pencils to colour in the image. When I had finished I matted it onto a piece of Old  Olive card stock and ran a band of White Tafetta ribbon that I had dyed Cherry Cobbler around the botton of the card. The sentiment is also from Upsy Daisy and that was stamped using cherry Cobbler ink, punched out using the large oval and sponged and them placed on a scallop oval in Old Olive. I attached the scallop oval to the card using dimensionals. I love the 'Black Magic' Technique and I am really happy as to how this turned out. Dont forget to play along with us this week at Sunny Challenges and Creations and especially dont forget to check out Kris and Vicky's blogs and see what they too have done with the sketch for this week. Bye for now... 

Sunny Challenges and Creations Week 13 Sketch Challenge

This week it was my turn to supply the sketch and the challenge for this round. I have been under the weather for a few weeks now with a bad back and now sinus infection :( Please check out Kris and Vicky's blogs for inspiration and also to see what they have done for this challenge. Please play along with us at Sunny Challenges and Creations and who knows you may just be our next Ray of Sunshine!

The challenge this week is really very simple, all you had to do was to follow the sketch there were no added stipulations this week, so go for your life and have a bit of fun with the challenge and dont forget to share it with us! My card base was Very Vanilla which I matted using a piece of Cherry Cobbler and run through the Big Shot using  the Houndstooth embossing folder. I topped that with a piece of Vanilla satin ribbon across the card and then layerd a piece of Pear Pizazz which had been embossed using the Square Lattice embossing folder. The image was also stamped onto Very Vanilla Cardstock, I coloured the images with my blender pens, the sentiment I stamped using Cherry Cobbler ink and then punched it out using the scallop oval punch, then running the scallop oval from the movers and shapers Punch Windows. I think it made a very pretty Christmas card and on the inside I added a Scallop Trim Border in Cherry Cobbler along with the verse from the set Beautiful Season.

Season of Joy at Sunny Challenges and Creations

This week the challenge  at Sunny Challenges and Creationswas set by our wonderfully talented Kris. Along with the sketch the stamp set we had to use was Season of Joy. We would love it if you would play along with us this week and enter our challenge. While you are checking out Kris and Vicky's  blogs you can see all the other wonderful creations they have there. I am so lucky to have both these ladies as my mentor! Back to the challenge .....my card started with a base of Very Vanilla, and I used a piece of the Letters to Santa DSP on the bottom section of the card. The top section I placed a piece of Cherry Cobbler. Using the Season of Joy set I stamped the flourish onto Old Olive cardstock using ink of the same colour. I then ran it through the Big Shot using the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. That was matted onto Very Vanilla card stock. The lower panel was again mounted onto the Very Vanilla but this time I used Cherry Cobbler as the top mat. I stamped the Christmas tree in Old Olive and cut it out, then used my Cherry Cobbler Stamp and Write Marker to outline the decorations on the tree. I adhered this directly to the mat, but used dimensionals to place it on the card front.  The greeting on the front of the card is also from Season of Joy and it was stamped in Old Olive once again. It was then punched out using the Modern Label Punch and adhered to another shape the same that I had cut using the Big Shot and the Movers and Shapers die  from the set Punch Windows.I also used a piece of the crochet lace across the top of the card which was also a part of the challenge. The inside of the card I used Very Vanilla cardstock and placed a strip of the Letters to Santa DSP along the bottom that I had punched using the Scallop Border Trim Punch. The poinsettia's were stamped in Cherry Cobbler, cut out and just placed on the angle. The sentiment is from the set Heard from the Heart and that was punched in Old Olive.

Vintaged Watercolours

This card took me so far out of my comfort zone! If you have not already noticed I like neat and uniform. This creation using the Seaworthy Set of Stamps was anything but neat and unifrom! I must admit I struggled to distress the edges of both the watrcolour paper and the Cherry Cobbler cardstock. I must admit though I do like the end result, hope you do too. Bye for now. Gwen

But Wait.............theres more!!

Sounds a bit like a TV add, doesn't it? Here are some Pics of my "Twisted End Box" that I created some months ago. I had no idea what to call these beautiful little boxes, so thats how they come to

be called what they are. I also created what I called the "Tobla Twist" for the obvious reason that Snak size Tobla's will fit in them, and they are the right shape as well. Those I created in error I suppose you could say, but error or not they are really lovely as well. If you would like the Tutorial on either of these boxes let mer know and I will send them to you. I used Crumb Cake, Old Olive and Cherry Cobbler Cardstock, the decorative panels in the centre are made from the Jolly Holidays Designer Paper. This DSP is Christmas! The colours are rich and inviting, and bring you to think about that Hollly Jolly time of the year! I have used various stamp sets and punches to finish these little beauties off. You could hang them from the tree, or use them to place little treasures in for Christmas. The tutorial I made for these boxes, gives measurements for 5 different sizes, and I feel that the largest of them could well be used as a Christmas Bon Bon with the addition of a small gift and the "cracker" strip. That is all for this time, I hope you have enjoyed reading about the samples that I made for the Regionals, and if you go to  Kris' blog you will see on there the beautiful altered note book that she made for me. There is also a matching pen to go with it and there were choccies as well but they are long gone! Thank you Kris!