Too much white?

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments about my published work. You guys sure are good for my ego! Seriously, I felt so supported when I read all the lovely things you had to say, and I'm only where I am today because of all of you, so thank you!
I've really been enjoying this set "Eastern Blooms" from the Summer Mini.

I really love the possibilities that Bold stamp images have. You can make the same bold flower look so different, depending on what technique you use to stamp it. Here I inked the flower in Regal Rose ink, and then drew straight onto the stamp with a Rose Red marker, and then stamped it on Whisper White cardstock and cut it out. The colour inspiration came straight from this gorgeous patterned paper. It's "Bali Breeze" from the Summer Mini. I've also used a 'tab' of Regal Rose Wide Double-stitched ribbon (also from the mini) and Chunky glitter on the flower centre from (you guessed it) - the mini! I wanted to balance the strong pinks and reds with crisp white, but now I think there's too much white on there...what do you think?

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: Eastern Blooms, Occasional Greetings
ink: Regal Rose, Rose Red
cardstock: Regal Rose, Rose Red, Whisper White
other: Bali Breeze DSP, Regal Rose Wide Double-stitched ribbon, Chunky Glitter, Dimensionals

Covergirl :o)

I've got lots more Mini Catalogue and Sale-a-Bration stuff to show you, but I'm going to interrupt that to blow my own trumpet just a little. These are the cards I had published in this month's Australian Cardmaking, Stamping and Papercraft magazine. I was even lucky enough to be on the cover (although my son Jacob was very disappointed when I squealed "I'm on the cover!" and he said "where? where?" and I pointed at a card. LOL)

I used the set "Forever in my Heart" for these, and there are full instructions in the magazine (Vol 14 No 7)
The colours I have used are Pale Plum, Purely Pomegranate and Old Olive, and all the supplies are Stampin' Up! and available from me :o)

Not Me!

I made this card for Keesh's Inspiration Challenge, and it didn't come out at all how I saw it in my head. It's not a very "me" card at all, and I can't say I like it much!! Ah well, we all have creations like that sometimes...

I've used "Eastern Blooms", and punched the flowers out with the 5-petal flower punch (isn't it cool that you can do that? It changes the shape of the flower, and you need to sponge the teeniest tip of the petals, but it sure beats cutting out 12 flowers!!). I layered 2 flowers on top of each other, and then a smaller one (which I did have to cut out!) on top of that.

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)

stamps: Weathered background, Occasional Greetings, Eastern Blooms

ink: Cameo Coral, Ruby Red, Tempting Turquoise, Taken with teal, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive

cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Old olive, Whisper White

other: 5-petal flower punch, Bali Breeze DS paper, sponge daubers, dimensionals

Flowers and More Flowers

Happy Australia Day! I really should be showing you something patriotic, or at least green and gold, but I've never made an Australia Day card, so I'll just pull out another Sale-a-Bration card instead!

I've used the 'Botanical Blooms' set and the 'Congrats' set on this one to make a wedding card, but you could switch the greeting and make this for any occasion, really. Who knew that you could say Congratulations for so many things? I reckon you pretty much have it all covered with this set...anniversaries, retirement, marriage, baby, birthday and just a general 'well done'.
To do the background panel of this card, I stamped the leaves first (in Sage Shadow) and then used a Regal Rose marker to ink just the inner part of the flower. You can see the whole flower where I cut it out and attached it, but for this background, I wanted a more delicate bud-like bloom. My trusty markers came in handy again to colour the White Taffeta ribbon Regal Rose. I used the Scallop Edge punch and pierced a hole in each scallop to give it a more lacy feel.

Now, for more flowers! If you're very observant, you'll notice 2 new names on my "Downlines Blog Roll" over there --->
I feel very lucky to have 2 lovely and talented ladies join my team.... Sandy and Fiona both joined Stampin' Up! this month. They both have blogs already where you can see their work. Check out THIS gorgeous Paper Flower tutorial by Sandy and THESE Origami flowers by Fiona. Aren't they clever?!

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: Botanical Blooms, Congrats
inks: Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose
cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, Very Vanilla, Close to Cocoa
other: White Taffeta Ribbon, Regal Rose marker, Scallop edge punch, Paper Piercer and Mat pack.

A Colour Challenge

I haven't participated in any challenges for a while, but I'm back in the swing of things now, and I feel ready to take some on! It's still school holidays here for one more week, so my challenge cards have had to be quick ones. This is the latest colour challenge from Makeesha (fondly known as 'why make one card when you can make five') Byl.

4 colours that I haven't put together before...a nice masculine combo. This Polka Dot Punches SAB set makes really quick cards, and it's fun getting some layering happening with the punches. I caved last week and finally bought the Sanded background. I love it!

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
Stamps: Polka Dot Punches, Cheer and Wishes, Sanded background
Ink: Versamark, Blue Bayou, Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip
Cardstock: Blue Bayou, Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Other: Ginger Blossom DS paper, Wide Chocolate Double-stitched ribbon, Scallop circle punch, 5-petal flower punch, 1" circle, 3/4" circle, 1/2" circle, Dimensionals

Blokey!

I know a lot of people struggle with Masculine cards, and I think that's why the "For Father" set in the Summer Mini has been so popular. You can't get more masculine than this image - a box of tools. I stamped mine on Watercolour paper, and coloured with Watercolour crayons and an Aquapainter. The panel on the left is designer series paper "Afternoon Tea". Yes, in amongst all the pretty floral designs there is this lovely Chocolate Chip hessian-ish design that's perfect for more blokey cards.
I used some Hodgepodge to jazz up this otherwise fairly plain layout (I always seem to reach for Hodgepodge to jazz up masculine designs!). Instead of ribbon, I used twill tape to complement the texture in the patterned paper.

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: For Father, Sincere Salutations
Cardstock: Blue Bayou, Always Artichoke, Watercolour paper
ink: Black Stazon
Other: Aged Copper Hodgepodge hardware, Twill Tape, Afternoon Tea DSP, Watercolour Crayons, Aquapainter

More Blooms

Here's another card made using my favourite SAB set "Botanical Blooms". I made a few of these in some different colour schemes for some special December and January birthdays. I'm not sure if you can tell from the pic, but I stamped the Linen background on most of the pieces of this card. I just love the subtle texture it gives. It was Teneale who got me addicted to this stamp!
The colours I've used here are Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive. I embossed the greeting (from "In the Stars") with white powder so it would be nice and crisp. The photo corner punch comes in really handy when you need that extra balance to a design. It punches a large and small photo corner in one go.

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: Botanical Blooms, In the Stars
ink: Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Versamark
cardstock: Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive
Other: Photo corner punch, silver brads, White Embossing powder, Wide Old Olive grosgrain ribbon

Polka Dot Punches

Participating in challenges is a great way to get the creative juices flowing. When I received my Sale-a-Bration sets, I decided to do some old challenges that I didn't have time to participate in at the time. This particular card is a combination of this sketch challenge of Makeesha's and this colour challenge, also by Keesh.
I used one of the Sale-a-Bration sets, "Polka Dot Punches". I think this one is pretty self-explanatory, so here's the list of materials (all Stampin' Up!):

stamps: Polka Dot Punches
cardstock: Certainly Celery, Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
ink: Regal Rose, Certainly Celery
other: Soft Subtle brads, Scallop circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1/2" circle punch, 5-petal flower punch, stampin' dimensionals

Let the Cute begin

I'm back! Hopefully good and regular for a while now. I've had a lovely time away with my family (although it was HOT where we were...40+ every day) and am feeling refreshed and ready to take on a new year!

There has been a fair bit of cute happening around here lately, with my twin nieces just hitting the 7 week mark. They are just adorable, and very good babies too (what a blessing!). I have even had them overnight to give my SIL and BIL a break. I just love the sentiment on this card, and I made one similar to this for my SIL when she had her girls:

I stamped the main image in Black stazon ink, and watercoloured with my Aquapainter and Watercolour crayons. These are my favourite way to colour, and give the most fool-proof results on regular cardstock (in my opinion). I wanted some Barely Banana ribbon, and Stampin' Up! don't have any, so I just pulled out my standby White Taffeta ribbon, and coloured it with a Barely Banana marker. The Polka dot paper is "Bali Breeze" (from the Summer Mini). I felt like the card needed a little extra something to balance the right-hand side, so I trimmed the edge off, attached a piece of Whisper White cardstock inside, and stamped 'All Scallops' in Regal Rose ink. The little jumpsuit was crying out for some bling, so I used some Tombow glue and Chunky glitter on it. It's lovely and pink and sparkly in real life.

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
Stamps: Big on Spring, All Scallops
Ink: Black Stazon, Regal Rose
Cardstock: Barely Banana, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Whisper White
Other: White Taffeta ribbon, Barely Banana marker, Watercolour Wonder Crayons (Regal Rose, Rose Red, Barely Banana), Chunky Sprinkles glitter, Tombow multi adhesive

Happy New Year!

I just love the start of a New Year. New beginnings and starting afresh always give me a burst of energy. It's my favourite part of the Stampin' Up! calendar too - Sale-a-Bration. It's such fun giving away free stamps!

For those of you who haven't experienced Sale-a-Bration before, you can read all about it HERE and check out the free stamp sets HERE. There are 4 gorgeous sets to choose from, and each one is absolutely free when you place an order for $100. And there are no limits to how many you can earn. Look at what you get when you place a $300 order: $300 worth of goodies, plus $30 in FREE merchandise (from any catalogue), a FREE Level 1 Hostess Set, and 3 FREE Sale-a-Bration sets. So that's 4 stamp sets absolutely free!

It's a fantastic time to join Stampin' Up! too, and I have a few ladies doing just that this month. Email me if you'd like some more info.

Now, a card....I haven't had a lot of time to play with the Sale-a-Bration sets yet, but I thought I'd show you a very quick a simple card I made using my favourite set (so far!), Botanical Blooms.

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
Stamps: Botanical Blooms, Congrats
Ink: River rock, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa
Cardstock: River Rock, Whisper White
Other: Corner rounder Punch, Wide Chocolate Chip Double-Stitched ribbon, Linen thread, Dimensionals

We're heading up North tomorrow for a family holiday for a week, but I'll be well and truly back after that!

My Christmas Card

This is the Christmas card I sent out this year. I sent 120 out to friends and family, and I would love to have been able to send out more! To those of you who didn't receive one, consider this your Cyber-card, with my warmest Christmas wishes!
I kept it simple this year and didn't even use a Christmas set, or Christmas colours. The set I used is called "Sweet Sampler". I inked the main image in River Rock, and then rolled the edges of the stamp in Mellow Moss ink before stamping on Naturals Ivory cardstock. I then sponged the edges of the cardstock in River Rock ink. The word 'joy' is actually the word 'enjoy' from the same set. I just inked 'joy' with a Not Quite Navy marker. I tore the bottom edge of the Blue Bayou piece, and sponged the edges in Blue Bayou ink. The ribbon is Mellow Moss Taffeta. I stamped En Francais in River Rock ink for the background, and I designed these cards to have the 'spine' at the top. I know a lot of people hang their Chrissy cards on blinds or tinsel, so this way the card doesn't have to hang sideways.
I probably won't be on here again before Christmas, so I'll wish you all a very safe and merry Christmas, surrounded by those you love!

Finally!

I really didn't mean to have such a long break from posting. Hopefully you've all been as busy as I have and not even noticed that I haven't been around!

BUT... I have good news. I've finally taken those photos so I actually have some new things to show you!

I thought I'd start with a card made using a set that I don't own. My lovely downline and friend Dorothy kindly lent me hers so I could stamp some images. "For Father" is on the last page of the Summer Mini, and I didn't think it was really my style, but I must say I really enjoyed watercolouring it! It's a great set for masculine cards, but this doggie would make a good card for anyone. I was trying to make this one a bit teenager-y. My sister had a pair of Cherry-red Doc Martens when she was a teenager that looked a lot like these!

I used BlackStazon to stamp on watercolour paper. I think watercolour paper is a must to get a good result with these images. You can get so much more depth to your colouring. I used watercolour crayons and my Aquapainter to colour with, and then added some deeper tones by taking colour straight from the inkpad (Ruby Red for the boots, and Creamy Caramel for the dog).

The patterned paper I have used is Ginger Blossom. The other colours are Basic Grey, Creamy Caramel and Chocolate Chip. I used some Aged Copper Hodgepodge Hardware to embellish. I wanted the Kraft Taffeta ribbon to look a bit girly and ruffled, but I didn't want a bow on there, so I attached a row of Sticky Strip, and gathered the ribbon along the Sticky Strip.

Here are the colour matches for the papers in the Summer Mini, so you can match your colours exactly:

Bali Breeze

· Old Olive
· Pumpkin Pie
· Rose Red
· Taken with Teal

Afternoon Tea

· Chocolate Chip
· Groovy Guava
· Soft Sky
· Wild Wasabi

Ginger Blossom

· Cameo Coral
· Groovy Guava
· River Rock
· Ruby Red

I'll try and get some more blog posts happening over the next few days. We do have house guests arriving today, staying over Christmas with their 3 kids, so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to get on the computer!

Last day to order markers!

Thanks for all your comments to Amy. She's loving feeling so popular!
...now, you all know that I really like comments too, don't you? ;o)

As Amy reminded you yesterday, Sunday the 14th (that's tomorrow!) is the last day to order markers individually. I have a special offer for my local customers. If you would like to order some markers, let me know by 9pm tomorrow night (14th December) and you will pay NO shipping, when you pick your order up from me. This means you are free to order just a couple of markers, and you won't get the minimum $5.95 shipping charge! Email me to take advantage of this offer

A card by Amy!

I made this card for my Grandmother's birthday in November. She is my grandmother but I call her Peri. I chose lots of purple colours because she likes purple and so do I. It is Lavender Lace and Almost Amethyst. The stamp set I used is called Petal Prints, and I chose the flower that looks like lavender. I stamped the outline bit and then the other part. Mum said it didn't matter if I didn't line it up perfectly. I stamped Birthday Wishes (from Sincere Salutations) in Elegant Eggplant ink. I wanted some purple ribbon, but there wasn't the colour I wanted, so Mum showed me how to make my own coloured ribbon by using White Taffeta ribbon and colouring it in with markers. I didn't want the ribbon to be just one colour, so I asked her if I could make it rainbow, and she said OK so I coloured one edge in Almost Amethyst, and then the middle in Lavender Lace and then the other edge in Elegant Eggplant. I think it looks pretty. Peri liked my card and I hope you do too (leave me some comments please!)
Mum says there are only 2 more days to buy the markers individually so you can make ribbon like this too.

from Amy Y

NOTHING!

I feel very sorry for my loyal blog readers who come to check what I've been up to, and find there is NOTHING! I have actually been doing a fair bit of nothing, and enjoying it thoroughly!! That's one of the things I love about my job...I can decide when I need a break. I've been looking after my adorable baby nieces, playing games with my kids (Top Trumps anyone??), attending school presentations, and making cards with my new Sale-a-Bration sets (can't show you those yet, but I love 'em, and I know you are going to as well!!). I also (shock, horror!) finished a book that I started aaages ago (after I finished I had to go back and re-read the start, because I'd forgotten it! Anyone read "Three Wishes" by Liane Moriarty? It's a light-hearted fun read, set in Sydney)
So, since I have still not taken those pictures (I keep moving that job to the bottom of my to-do list), I thought I'd tell you about some clever people who have not been doing nothing!
Check out what Kerry has been doing with carousel notes. What a clever chick!
Kirrily has also been busy. Have a look at the cute flower she made and the purse we all admired (and coveted) at our Team dinner.
And Look! Teneale has updated her blog. Yippee!

One more thing I wanted to tell you all - If you have a spare 5 minutes, and if you have an opinion about Stampin' Up!'s colours (who doesn't??), and if you are an Aussie Stampin' Up! customer, you might like to take THIS survey, and let Stampin' Up! know what you think.

Amy is going to pop on here this afternoon and show you a card she made recently, so check back later!