Sunny Challenges 87/13 - Framelits

This week it was my turn to set the challenge, and so I chose to make it something to do with Framelits. They are such fun to use, and especially if you have one of the New Magnetic Platforms. They take away the need to use Post it Notes to keep your Framelit in place. I chose to use the Labels Collection Framelits that I received when they first became available to us at Stampin Up. Originally when I made my card I used a negative from another time and sponged the background area, using Crushed Curry, Cajun Craze and Melon Mambo. I thought it looked a bit 'flat' so I cut it out using the framelits. My colour combo is pure Colour Coach, and to be honest I had forgotten how lovely Melon Mambo looked against a back ground of Old Olive and Elegant Eggplant. The Old Olive I ran through the Big Shot using a new embossing folder which is available from the 1st September. The image from Serene Silhouettes I stamped in Black Stazon and the sentiment I stamped using Elegant Eggplant was Occasional Quotes. On the inside of the card I used the Scallop Punch and punched along the bottom edge of the Whisper White insert and also along the edge of a piece of Old Olive which I put behind the Whisper White. The sentiment, when stamped I punched out with the Modern Label Punch and sponged the edges with Melon Mambo. I do hope you will find time to play along with week at Sunny Challenges and Creations, and please pop along and have a look at Kris and Vicky's Creations as well as our guest designers. Till next time Happy Stamping.

Washi Tape Frame

Hi there stampers, I have had my Washi tape for a little while now and haven't been adventurous enough to have a play! Made a frame using the yellow check gingham tape from the Gingham Garden Designer Washi Tape Trio, and went to my "Another Day Box" and dug out some flowers from the Flower Shop stamp set, that I had stamped onto Window Sheet. I cut these out with my paper snips because I forgot to order the co-coordinating Pansy Punch!! Poked around a little more in that little treasure trove and found some leaves that were left over from another project that were punched out using the Bird Builder Punch, these I attached using a small amount of Tombow on the stem of each. To finish the flowers off I just attached 3 of the Brights Candy Dots, One Daffodil Delight, one Melon Mambo and the other Tempting Turquoise. Attached the flowers with Mini Glue Dots and it was done! Really only took 10 minutes to make and I reckon if I had the Pansy Punch it would have been 3 or 4 minutes tops! Hope you like this happy little card made from goodies in my "Another Day Box". Till next time, Happy Stamping.

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.

Retired Stock, but I love it

Today I was cleaning out my craft area trying to make room for the new goodies from the latest Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue, and came across all sorts of things that had sort of been pushed to the back of the cupboard. Didnt realise I had so much Not Quite Navy Cardstock and Baja Breeze, and more than one packet of Twitterpad I thought "Blow it, I am going to play!" I decided to make a Z Fold card, havent made one of them for ages. Dont know why I dont make more of them they are so quick and easy and they look lovely too. I used the Not Quite Navy for my card base and for the inside and also the outside flap. I layered it with the DSP and Baja Breeze. Then for the front panel I used Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze and Whisper White. For the inside panel I made it the same size as the one on the front so that when it was closed the top panel would sit over the bottom one. My intention was to use my new Flower Shop Stamp set to decorate the front when I glanced across my desk and what did I see but a "Pretties Kit" tin. Now these have been retired for at least a couple of years, and I think I have used one or two pearls and thats about it :(
This tin has been sitting there for quite some time, and I was going to put it in a garage sale that I have been contemplating having. I grabbed three of the flowers in different sizes and coloured them with Baja Breeze Ink Refill and water. Old olive and the Bird Builder punch took care of the leaves and basic Rhinestone in the centre of the flower. Sentiment stamped with Well Scripted stamp set in Not Quite Navy. I think this is a really pretty card, and I am so glad that I got to have a play. Now its back to cleaning the craft cupboard to get ready for the delivery I am expecting this week.....much excitement, cant wait. Till then, 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 Week 48

I loved doing this challenge. Vicky set the sketch and the challenge was to use Old Olive and Choc Chip. It was good to reach for the old 'comfort' colours and use them for a bit. I think they are the ideal colours for Christmas cards, so that is what I decided to use. I used an Old Olive base and matted that with a piece of Choc Chip. The Brights Collection DP is fantastic and it is one I tend to reach for often. I decided too to emboss the star in gold and sponged the edge with Old Olive ink and this was matted onto Old Olive and Choc Chip. To add a bit of interest I placed a piece of Old Olive grosgrain ribbon around the centre and it was finished off with the sentiment from Teen Tiny Sentiments which I stamped in Real Red (another fabulous Christmas colour) and matted that onto a Piece of Choc Chip card stock. Please check out Vicky and Kris's blogs for more inspiration and we would love you to play along with us each week at Sunny Challenges and Creations

Sunny Challenges Week 46

Hi Stampers,

Here we are another week of Sunny Challenges and Creations. I was the one to set the challenge this week and the card was to be a Fancy Fold, but using any stamp set or colour combination that you wanted. I must apologise for the quality of the sketch picture...but that is another story lol. The stamp set I used was Fresh Vintage from the Sale-a-bration catalogue this year. The card base is Concord Crush from the 2010-12 In Colours. After I had folded my card base I stamped a piece of Whisper White card stock using off stamped Concord Crush and the large blossom from the Fresh Vintage set randomly over the entire piece. I then placed it  into the Very Vintage embossing folder and ran it through the Big Shot, then cut it in half. The focal area was a mat of Melon Mambo, Concord Crush and the Whisper White mat onto which the image was stamped. The image was coloured using Blender Pens and then was sponged with Old Olive around the edges. This is such a pretty card and was so quick and easy to make. Check out Kris and Vicky's entries this week as well as our guest designers and dont forget to have a bit of fun and play along with us each week, and who knows you may well be our next Ray of Sunshine! Till next time.....

Sunny Challenges Week 45

Hello Stampers,

I am posting this challenge a whole week late!! Why you might ask? We changed Telco's, and my haven't things changed since we last did that! No longer it seems are your telephone service and internet services linked. You change your telephone service one one day and your internet you get to have access to up to 14...yes you read that right 14 days later. It is made even more unpalatable by the fact that we werent told this would happen before we signed up with them.............grrrrrrrrrr. Nevermind that is all behind us now so now I can play a bit of catch up for last week and then I will post the challenge for this week. The winners for this challenge have been announced and this week it was given to our two most regular contributors Alison and Margaret who did a wonderful job with the challenge that was set by Vicky. As always please pop on over to Sunny Challenges and Creations and check out the beautiful samples by our very own Miss Vicky and Kris and also those of our guest designers. The challenge was that we had to use ribbon along with the sketch provided. I used Basic Black card stock for the base and layered that with som DP from the Brights Collection. The image I stamped in basic black and very lightly added some Marina Mist sponging in the sky and around the base of the boat. The boat itself I put a coat of Crystal Effects over it and the sails. I threaded a small piece of gold wire from the top of the mast to the boast and then I tied a small Nautical (I hope) knot and placed it on the top right hand corner of the image. Using the Edgelit die I cut 2 one in Basic Black and the other in Old Olive and used black brads to secure it to the Left Hand edge of the card front. The ribbon part of the challenge I laid the Basic Black Taffeta Ribbon onto Whisper White Card Stock into what I thought looked like 'waves'. I hope you like what I have done for this challenge it was a lot of fun. Till next time......

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... 

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.

Brand New Challenge from Sunny Challenges and Creations

 Here we are into week 4 of  Sunny Challenges and Creations.  Kris Vicky and I hope you will play along with us this week. The challenge this week is to create a card using the sketch on the left, but you  must  use  at least one embossing folder, and the theme is Christmas. You can use any or even no stamp set, as long as the finished creation is of a Christmas theme. That gives everyone a really wide scope, to put forward some beautiful entries. For my card I used Real Red cardstock, which I ran through the Big Shot using the Framed Tulips embossing folder. I then cut panels from the Holly Jolly Designer Paper and topped that with some Whisper White that was also run through the Big Shot using the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. I had a scrap of Real Red cardstock on my desk and had punched out the Lace Border, so I put it on top of the Whisper White (which I know has covered the polka dots) and I really like the look of it. The stamp set I used was Contemp Christmas. The sentiment was stamped in Real Red and the tree was stamped onto a  white medium oval in Old Olive.I matted this onto an Old Olive small scallop oval (not SU). I think you will have a lot of fun playing with the sketch this week, so dont forget to go to Sunny Challenges and enter your creations. I really like how my card turned out and I would love to hear what you think too. Bye for now

Self Challenge with Daffodil Delight and Friends 24/7

Here I am back again! I have had my card made since Thursday last week but have not had time to get in here to post it! Sounds a bit sad doesnt it? Last Friday I had a class and the ladies were making flowers of all kinds. It was a marathon session but they all went home very very happy with what the created. On Saturday I went to a class held by a fellow Deomo and it was my turn to be the student and I loved it. We all had a lot of fun but I was very very tired by the time I got home. Sunday I went to the local farmer markets here on the coast and had a thoroughly enjoyable time. In between all this I have been designing my daughter'w wedding invitations and all the other bits that go along with it. I would love to share those with you, but not just yet, that will be another day in th not too distant future.

Friends Never Fade

This card uses the beautiful sets Friends Never Fade, Very Vintage Jumbo Wheel and Perfect Punches which was used for the sentiment. It also uses the leaves from the 2 Step XL Bird Punch and the Scallop Trim Punch. It would have not been complete without the Pretty in Pink cardstock panel embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder in the Big Shot. The base cardstock used was Very Vanilla, just to soften the card. I felt that to use Whisper White would have made the card too stark. The flowers from the Friends Never Fade set were stamed using Pretty in Pink Classic Stampin Ink Pad, then cut out using the the paper snips leaving a small showing of the Very Vanilla around the edges. The Scallop Trim Edge was punched twice once on Very Vanilla and the other on Pretty in Pink. The Background was stamped using the Very Vintage Jumbo Wheel and Pretty in Pink ink. The leave are punched in Old Olive using the 2 Step XL Bird Punch. The sentiment was stamped using Soft Suede Ink then punched out using the Wide Oval Punch then attached to the card using dimensionals. The sentiment can be changed to suit any occasion