More Unfrogettable

Last night I sat down to make another card. As I already had all of Kristina's lovely Colour Inspiration cardstock colours strewn about my work space, and my watercolouring paraphenalia and Unfrogettable stamp set still at hand, I decided another card along the same lines as yesterday's was in order ;-). SLACKER!!!!!!!!


The TV pickings weren't quite so engrossing last night. Aeon Flux.....which I've seen before...but does kinda make me wish I'd taken up gymnastics at some point. GO Charlize!

Anyhoo, this card...I used the Snail this time. Cute little guy isn't he? Not much else to say. I used Crystal Effects again, but just on the snail's shell, his eyes, and the centres of the little flowers. The So Saffron DSP is one of the sheets from the Palette O' Prints pack. I have stamped the Canvas stamp on the background cardstock. The 'Thank You' sentiment is from one of Stampin' Up!'s Rub-On packs. I am pleased with the end product!


Yesterday, a simply magnificent Spring day here in the ACT, Miss 4 and I went to visit a friend of mine and her horse. Miss 4 got to have her first ever horse meet and greet, and she had a wonderful time. She got to have a little ride too....I'll spare you the pic of me perched precariously up there on Teddy's back....let's just say I was holding on tight :-).



Have a good one!
Sam.

Kristina's Color Inspiration #25

I have not had a chance to participate in one of Kristina Werner's colour inspirations for quite some time, but when I saw this challenge on my Google Reader last night I couldn't help myself.



The Shawshank Redemption was on telly here, and I had never seen it before, so I decide to watch it while working on this card. If you look closely at the watercolouring you will see what a large mistake that was. The movie was so good I kept getting sidetracked and stuffing up my colouring :-(



I only applied the Crystal Effects this morning, so it is still wet...and I was worried that it would kind of slide down the card while I was photographing it, but it seems to have stayed in place!



These colours were a lot of fun to work with. Very cheery indeed. I think the Hoppy Birthday frog suited this challenge very well.

Thanks Kristina!
Sam.

Another 'Sending Happy Thoughts' card

Just another quick layout idea for the Sending Happy Thoughts Simply Sent Kit.

I have sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds on the centre of the red flower petals. Other than this I think the photo pretty much speaks for itself.

:-)
Sam.

Wintergreen Christmas Trees

I've seen this idea of making simple triangle Christmas trees out of Designer Series Paper in a few places, and have been wanting to give it a go myself.

The background cardstock is Chocolate Chip and has been stamped with the Linen background stamp. The next layers are Always Artichoke, Brushed Gold, and the Whisper White.

I have cut Wintergreen DSP into triangles and then sponged the edges with Always Artichoke ink for depth. The tree trunks are Chocolate Chip cardstock which has been scratched with scissor tips to make it look like bark. The Christmas baubles on the trees are Brushed Gold cardstock punched using the 1/4" circle punch. The outer two trees are raised up on dimensionals.

The star at the top of the centre tree is stamped in Gold Encore ink and is from the 'Season of Joy' stamp set. The 'Very Merry' greeting is from the 'Short & Sweet' stamp set.

My apologies for the poor lighting in the photo. I'll try and take a better photo tomorrow...this one is quite yellow!

See you later,
Sam.

Sending Happy Thoughts - Simply Sent Kit

As you are probably aware Stampin' Up! currently has an offer, in recognition of World Card Making Day, where their Simply Sent kits are available for 20% off the regular catalogue price. This offer is valid until 11th October, 2008. If you are interested in purchasing one of these kits, send me an email at: navarino@yahoo.com

I thought I'd have a tinker with my own Sending Happy Thoughts kit, and this is the card I came up with:



Not exactly one of the two card designs that are included in the kit, but made using only the kit contents...just to demonstrate that you can make pretty much anything you like using the kit...not just the two suggested designs. I have rock n' rolled the flower, inking it in Pum pkin Pie ink first, then rolling it in Real red. The centre of the flower has Dazzling Diamonds glitter applied using the two-way glue pen.

While I was in the garden I saw this beautiful Camellia coming into full bloom. Isn't it beautiful?!



Think I might go take another look around the garden. There are a few different plants flowering at the moment, including some awesome, vibrant purple Hardenbergia, and some deliciously fragrant Lavender.

Sam.

Beate's Be Inspired Challenge #26

Beate runs lots of inspiration challenges on her blog, and I have been meaning to give one a go for ages now. With a little time to muck around, I decided today would be the day.

The challenge is to use the picture below...colours, pattern, whatever, to inspire your card:


My card took a little longer to come together than I would have liked. I got a bit overwhelmed at one point, and nearly gave it up...but came through it in the end....just ;-).


I've used Night of Navy textured cardstock for the background. Then Kraft, Whisper White, Real red, Night of Navy and Ballet Blue cardstock for the layers and embellishments. I think Pacific Point blue would have been a better bet, but we don't have it here in Oz yet. I'm looking forward to that one :-).

The circles are punched out using various Stampin' Up! punches. The stripes on the smallest Night of Navy circles are stamped on using Whisper White craft ink and the striped stamp from the 'Background Sampler' stamp set, and then embossed white. The white dashed line and 'Thank You' sentiment are from Stampin'Up!'s 'A Perfect Day' Rub-Ons set (available in our current Australian Spring Mini Catalogue).



Thanks for looking,
Sam.

Cute Candle Case

This card is pretty much a 100% case of one of Karen Thomas' beautiful cards.

I don't have the 'Happy, Happy Birthday' wheel (yet ;-) so I used the 'All About Birthdays' jumbo wheel (from the Level 3 Hostess bundle - All About Occasions). The candle flame is from the 'Pick a Petal' stamp set, the wick is hand drawn with a Stampin' Write Journaler and the candle is just a strip of cardstock.

The spotty DSP is from the Jersey Shore pack. The cardstock colours are Pumpkin Pie, Brilliant Blue, Wild Wasabi and Whisper White. The ribbon is Wild Wasabi Double Stitched Grosgrain.

And that's it! Easy card to make...but looks so nice :-). Thanks Karen!!

Pretty Princess

This little card serves two purposes:

1/ It is made using the colours I chose for my recent blog comp....so this will be my contribution to that :-)

2/ I needed a birthday card for a good friend...et volia!


The cardstock colours are: Perfect Plum, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Soft Sky and Whisper White. I have stamped the background cardstock with the Linen background stamp. The princess is stamped on watercolour paper in black Stazon ink and coloured with an Aquapainter and Classic Ink. I have also highlighted her crown, wand and dress with Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamonds.

The ribbons are from the Fairy Tale and Flirty (retired) Ribbon Originals packs, and the 'Make a Wish' sentiment is from the Eastern Elegance Rub-Ons pack (in the Spring Mini Catalogue).

Have a great day,
Sam.

Wish Big!

Stampin' Up!'s October promotion: Spend $20 on regular catalogue merchandise and get 20% off these select birthday stamp sets

112594 Big Bold Birthday Retail Price $53.95 20% Off Price $43.16
108894 Pretty Princess Retail Price $45.95 20% Off Price $36.76
108753 Birthday Best Retail Price $25.95 20% Off Price $20.76
110246 Crab & Company Retail Price $52.95 20% Off Price $42.36
112318 Short & Sweet Retail Price $29.95 20% Off Price $23.96

Contact me if you'd like to purchase any of these stamp sets.

I had a little play with Pretty Princess this afternoon, and this is what I came up with.


The cardstock colours are: Rose Red, Whisper White, Soft Sky and Pretty in Pink. The Soft Sky layer has been cuttlebugged. The cake is from the Pretty Princess stamp set, and has been stamped on watercolour paper in black Stazon, and then coloured with an Aquapainter and Classic Ink. I have highlighted some of the cake icing with Crystal Effects, and the candle flame has Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamonds on it.

The pink ribbon is from the retired Flirty Ribbon Originals pack, the 'Wish Big' sentiment is from the Short & Sweet stamp set, and the frame is Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware (in the current Spring Mini Catalogue).

I've got another card to show you, but it might have to wait until tomorrow. Sooooooo sleepy :-).

Nighty, night!
Sam.

East Coast Birthday

My daughter has a birthday party to attend on the weekend, so I've just made this little card for her to give the birthday boy.


The cardstock colours are: Real Red, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Wild Wasabi and More Mustard. The patterned paper is East Coast Prep, and the stamps are Linen Background (hard to see in the photo), ABC Alphabet Upper and My ABCs wheel.

I have traced over the name using Crystal Effects. Unfortunately this has made the Real Red ink flouresce a bit. I have also used the 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" square punches, a white gel pen, a paper piercer and dimensionals to mount the name plaque.

Thanks for looking.

Sam.