Crab Number 3!

This one is actually my favourite. Joanna inspired me to try one of these Spinning Window cards. The little circle is suspended on Dental Floss, and spins around. This is what's on the other side:

These colours are from my head again (see, I told you I have a strange head!). Really Rust, Marigold Morning, Old Olive and Tempting Turquoise. I would never have thought these colours would work together, but I think they do...I just started colouring the crab in Really Rust, and the other colours flowed from there. The background swirls on the Tempting Turquoise piece are from "Fun Filled", a cute little set, with lots of possibilities. I've watercoloured with my Inkpad lids and Aquapainter again, and used the Going Grey Inkpad and blender pen to add dimension.

This was such a fun card to make! I'd love to hear what you think...

Cranberry Crisp Crab anyone?

Sounds quite delicious, doesn't it?! A perfect Christmas dish. Well, this little guy is happy just being a Christmas card, I think. This is another image that Karen sent me.They're so much fun, and stepping me out of my colour comfort zone....forcing me to use reds and oranges! (although I always manage to sneak some blue or green in there somehow!). I stamped Paisley Background in Real Red onto the Cranberry Crisp card, and sponged the edges with a dauber. I've stamped Big and Little Pieces in Sahara Sand onto the Sahara Sand piece, and sponged the edges with True Thyme. I used the large oval punch to punch the greeting (I LOVE this punch...it stands so well on it's own, without layering or embellishment), stamped Canvas background a couple of times on there, and sponged the edges in True Thyme. I used the Slit punch to make the 'ticket corners', and the scalloped edge. I watercoloured Mr Crabby with Inkpad lids and Aquapainter. I like to give some dimension to my watercolouring by using a Blender Pen on my Going Gray Inkpad lid to go around the image.
Check back tomorrow for another crab!
Colours: Cranberry Crisp, Bordering Blue, Sahara sand, Real Red, Whisper White.
Accessories: Cranberry Stitched Ribbon, Antique Brass Hodgepodge

More to resist!

Here we have a little 'Wild About You' Elephant showcasing the Emboss Resist technique. This card was inspired by Teneale. This is such a WOW technique!

First, I stamped Paisley Background onto Whisper White cardstock, then I clear-embossed the elephant on top. Then with a brayer, roll ink over the top of the whole shebang and wipe off excess ink with a tissue. I've stamped and cut out his ear separately, and I've also punched out an eye and stuck it on, and glossed it up with Crystal Effects. Some paper piercing, some slit punch scallops and some faux stitching finish him off. I love this Colour Combo!: Vintage Violet, Brocade Blue, Bordering Blue, Sage Shadow

I'm dying to show you the other 2 crabby cards I made yesterday, so I thought I'd show you the other resist card we did at my class and get it out of the way! This one is Versamark Resist. The photo doesn't show it off particularly well (click on it to get a closer look), but the bold flower/fern image was stamped in Versamark onto glossy cardstock and allowed to dry. Then Pale Plum ink was sponged over the top. Next, the bold and the outline images were over-stamped in Perfect Plum. You get a really dimensional effect. A greeting on the word window punch and a piece of Organdy Ribbon to finish it off.

More Crabbies tomorrow!

A small detour...

...before I show you the other 'resist' cards.

We have Crabbies! Thanks to Karen. She's been waiting so patiently to see what I do with these. I gave her some help with her blog, and she said how could she ever thank me? and the answer was easy...send me some crabs!

This cute set is in the mini catalogue, but my budget just didn't stretch far enough. This is my first play with them, and I have lots more crabs still to play with. I used a sketch by Beate. The colours are from my head (yes I have a strange head that way) Apricot Appeal, Barely Banana, Cool Caribbean and Tempting Turquoise. I've watercoloured with my Aquapainter and Inkpad lids. I've used the circles from 'Riveting' for the background, stamped in Versamark. I've stamped 'Canvas' a few times, crookedly on the Barely Banana piece, and done some paper piercing. Lots of punches- 1 3/8" circle, Corner rounder, Large Oval (edges sponged with a dauber). A piece of Cream Grosgrain Ribbon with a knot in it finishes it off and makes the central image longer, to suit the sketch.

How could you resist?

Resist techniques, that is! I taught a class this week called "Ir-resist-able" and we did 3 resist techniques. This one is crayon resist, and we also did versamark resist and emboss resist. I'll show you those cards over the next couple of days. To make this card, stamp the leaf from 'Natural Beauty' in Chocolate Chip ink on a piece of white gloss cardstock. (I prefer to use a piece that's larger than I actually want it and then trim it to size. That way you avoid getting fingerprints which also resist the ink!). Next, colour the parts of the leaf that you want to remain white using an ordinary kids white crayon. The next step is to brayer ink from the 'Pumpkin Patch' Kaleidacolour inkpad onto your glossy card. Trim to size, embellish with gold organdy ribbon and Hodgepodge, and attach to a Chocolate Chip base card.

Happy Anniversary

Here's a card I made for my Mum and Dad's Wedding Anniversary last month (34 years!!). I was really unsure about this one, but I know Mum and Dad favour neutral, classic colour schemes. I'd always stamped this wheel in pretty, spring colours, so it was interesting to try something different with it. The colours are black and Sahara Sand. I've coloured with my neutrals Watercolour crayons. There's some black grosgrain ribbon and some vintage brads for a touch of class, and then some scallops done with the Corner Rounder (guard removed). One of the flowers have been popped up on Dimensionals.

And now, some really exciting news...Look what we got!!
This is Coco (aka CocoPops), the newest member of our family. It feels like he's always been here already. He's just slotted straight into our lives. We picked him up yesterday from Monika's Doggie Rescues. He's a 2yo Maltese cross who was rescued from a pound, and was waiting to be adopted by us! He's been just amazing. He hasn't barked (yet), loves the kids, LOVES pats and cuddles, and just wants to be where we are. He's obviously had some training, and can fetch, sit, walk on a lead, come, drop and stay and he's house-trained too. Why anyone would let this treasure go is beyond me! If you're looking for a pet, I would highly recommend a rescued dog!

Welcome Darcy Rose!

I hadn't pulled out this set 'Wild About You' for a little while (I've been giving it a rest after just about wearing it out! LOL), but then a dear friend of mine had a baby, so that was all the excuse I needed! I've been enjoying this layout lately. It was a layout challenge on Splitcoast a while ago (SC97). It just seems to fit a lot of images. I've used some of the gorgeous Petals and Paisley paper from the mini catalogue, along with the Hostess set 'Riveting'....The sentiment "Welcome Little One" is so sweet. A little tab using the Round Tab Punch and some pink faux stitching finish it off. The base card is Pretty in Pink, with Regal Rose accents.
Hope she likes it!

Another Scribbly Christmas

I just love taking sets and using them for something that they weren't necessarily designed for. Here's another Christmas card using the "Scribble This" Set. I've stamped the swirly Season's Greetings stamp from Many Merry Messages in Cranberry Crisp ink onto Very Vanilla Cardstock, and sponged around the edges using a dauber. Then I used 2-way glue to make a temporary bond, and adhered it temporarily to my cardfront (also Cranberry Crisp). Next I stamped the background swirl from Scribble This in Versamark ink and embossed in gold powder. Then I removed my temporary bond, and mounted the middle piece onto some brushed gold metallic cardstock.
...And I'm not even going to ask if it's Christmassy enough ;-)

CaSEing Michele

This gorgeous card of Michele's has inspired me to do some more faux tearing. That Paisley pattern you see there is not stamped on a separate piece of cardstock and then mounted; it's actually just stamped straight onto the base card. It's a really simple technique and so effective. It makes me run my finger over the "torn" edge every time! You can learn this technique in my "Art of Faking It" class on 6th September. Email me if you're interested!
Cardstock: Cool Caribbean, Cameo Coral, Whisper White
Ink: Taken with Teal
Stamps: Reason to Smile (Hostess), Paisley background, Polka Dots and Paisley
Other: Celery Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals, Stampin' markers: Taken with Teal, Certainly Celery, Cameo Coral, Tempting Turquoise (stamped off once)

Spring is in the Air

Something about the warmer weather makes me throw open all the windows, and strip the sheets off the beds...and make cards with flowers on them!
This is one of those cards that looks more complicated than it is (gotta love those!). I've used the Tagger's Dozen set from the Spring Mini. I mounted a lot of the phrases from this set on the side of the woodblock, so that I could use the images on their own if I want to. Stamping the little flower into the diamond spaces of the Print Pattern stamp was surprisingly easy. I didn't even use the Stamp-a-ma-jig! Some white gel pen highlights finish it off.

Colours: Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
Stamps: Print Pattern Background, Tagger's Dozen
Other: Rich Regals Brads, ! 1/4" Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, White Organdy Ribbon, White Gel Pen

Dad's Shirt

I saw this great card on Cambria's Blog and since Father's Day is just around the corner, I thought some of you might like to make one too. They're really easy to make and Cambria's done such a fantastic job on the instructions. I've used Stampin' Up!'s "Sarah" paper, which has some great shirt-y patterns. I also cut down the front of mine, and added some brad buttons. The base card is Brocade Blue, with more "Sarah" paper on the bottom half of the card. I've used Big Deal Alphabet to stamp 'dad' in Ballet Blue ink. To finish off, some Ribbon from "Prep School" Ribbon Originals, and a few words from Expressive Flexible Phrases (in case you can't read it, it says "best, favourite, special.....my")
P.S. Thanks for all your lovely comments on my Christmas card...it was such a relief to pass muster! phew!

Take Two...

OK, a few minor changes and hopefully a Christmassy-er result??

You know when you've looked at something for so long that you can't even see it anymore? Well that's me at the moment. Ignore the blur in the photo. I didn't even notice it until I'd already cropped, adjusted, etc. I think I need to get my eyes checked.

I just couldn't bring myself to do full-on RED, so this is Cranberry Crisp with Red direct-to-papered on top. I've used watercolour paper for the poinsettia to get more depth of colour.

So come on, (and I can't believe I'm saying this! *sigh*) be honest...is this Christmassy?

Deck the Halls...errr Giraffe!

Thanks for all your comments on my last effort. I think I'll re-make the card in slightly more Christmassy colours and see what you all think.
In the meantime, here's another Christmas card in very non-traditional colours! This was actually my swap card for a Christmas swap hosted by the lovely and talented Claire Daly. I decided to see if I could hang some baubles on the Wild About You giraffe, and turn him Christmassy.
I've stamped the giraffe in Cool Caribbean ink onto White gloss cardstock, and hand-drawn a star on top, and his eye, mouth and bauble hangers with the fine tip of a Stampin' marker. I've also used the marker to ink up part of the sentiment from Crazy for Christmas (very handy, those markers!) I've filled in some of his spots with brad-baubles. The spotty background has been done with a white gel pen and the Paper piercing template. Some Chocolate Grosgrain ribbon finishes it off.
So, what do you think of this one??

Christmassy enough???

OK I need you guys to settle a debate between hubby and I. I've used Scribble This to make a Christmas card, and according to hubby (bless him!) I've come up with a "Birthday card with Season's Greetings on it"
So, I need some second opinions... Does this say Christmas to you, or do I need to make it more Christmassy? I could add more green to it, or make the red redder (I'm really not much of a red girl, and tend to shy away from Real Red).
Be honest! (*gulp* did I just say that?)

All About U, Dad

Here's one from the archives (Father's Day last year, in fact), but since Father's Day is coming up, and since All About U features in this month's promotion, I thought it was a good time to drag it out!

The card base is Sahara Sand, with Canvas Background stamped in Creamy Caramel on top. The other colours are Not Quite Navy, Ruby Red and Old Olive.

I've used quite a few direct-to-paper techniques, and applied ink to the paper straight from the inkpad. This is where the finger grips on the sides of the inkpads come in really handy...much less chance of me dropping my inkpad in my lap!

I've also used paper ribbon on the tag. It's easy to tie it in a knot if you run it along the edge of your table a few times to loosen the fibres.

To stamp the heart, I've first stamped in ruby red, then inked just the edges of the stamp in Not Quite Navy, and overstamped, slightly off the first heart.

It's Up!

You can check out the new mini here

There's also a new promotion for August too, and it's just the excuse you've been looking for to have a Stampin' Up! workshop ;-)
Here's another card made using sets from the mini, and some In Colors: Bashful Blue, Vintage Violet and Marigold Morning. I've used Big pieces and the stem from Bodacious Bouquet to mimic a little stamp from Tagger's Dozen.
I "drew" the holes on the Vintage Violet flowerpot with my white gel pen and Paper Piercing Template.
I used my Blender Pen and Inkpad lids to colour the little Tagger's Dozen stamp, since there are no In Color markers. These little stamps are the perfect size, not only for tags, but for punching out squares and circles too!