More Outlined For Fun...

I am enjoying having the Outlined For Fun stamp set out on my desk. It really is a fun set, and gives the project a fresh and happy look!

I still had cardstock strewn all over the dining room table from the past few days' crafting efforts ...including a huge amount of Pink Pirouette ;-)...so I decided to go with the flow and just go right ahead and keep using it!

List of Ingredients (all from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Cardstock: Pink Pirouette and Whisper White
Ink: Chocolate Chip Classic Ink
Stamps: Outlined For Fun
Accessories: Baja Breeze Patterns DSP, Bella Rose DSP, Metal Edge Tags, Pink Pirouette Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, 5/16" Jumbo Brads, Scallop Edge Punch, Crimper, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots and SNAIL Adhesive.

I love these colours together! They definitely say Spring/Summer to me...

While I'm here...I also want to say thanks to Aneesh for his tutorial on how to add a 'Related Posts' Widget to your Blogger Template. This is an alternative to using the LinkWithin widget. I'll let you know how it goes after I've run it for a while. Just FYI, the 'related-ness' is determined using the Post Labels that I apply to each of my blog posts.

Last, but not least...some of my favourite little furry friends were very busy in the garden today:

LOVE THEM!

Thanks so much for visiting me, and thank you for all of your lovely comments. You guys are the best!

Sam.

A Good Egg and some chit chat...

Today I have been a busy bee...making my swap cards for the SOS swap I am taking part in. The idea is to use only things from the current IBC that are NOT retiring, and this is my card:


As I only had to make five of these cards I decided to add lots of layers and fiddly stuff. I am very happy with they way they turned out.

Here is the full list of ingredients:

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Pretty in Pink and Close to Cocoa
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Basic Brown, Close to Cocoa and Pretty in Pink Classic Inks
Stamps: A Good Egg
Accessories: Crimper, Stampin' Sponges, Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon, Choclolate Chip 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Aqua Painter, Watercolour Paper, Crystal Effects, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals, SNAIL and Sticky Strip.


I made a second card in the same theme, but in a large, square layout, and this is how it turned out:


Also, I mentioned to you last week that we were going to the Canberra Show, and that I'd grab a shot of one of my favourite bovine friends for you. Et volia, Belted Galloway, or Humbug Cow ;-)...isn't she cute?


I have also been meaning to show you one of my first attempts at jewellery making:


The focal beads are hand made, glass beads, made by Melissa Rediger. The rest of the bracelet comprises Sterling silver bali beads and Swarovski crystals. I had so much fun making this bracelet, there will definitely be more ;-). I call it my 'Fiesta' bracelet because it is so bright and happy. I can't stop looking at it when it is on my wrist (and yes, I have walked into stuff because of this ;-)!

Thanks for dropping by!
Sam.

Kristina's Color Inspiration #31

It is time for Kristina's weekly Colour Inspiration, and this week's colours are:


This is the card I made using these colours:


Now, I hope you will forgive my lack of creativity. I have a cold, and feel blah! I think this card is a bit blah too, well it looks bland to me!

The ingredients are:

Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant and Watercolour Paper.
Inks: Black Stazon, Versamark, Elegant Eggplant, So Saffron and Pumpkin Pie Classic Ink.
Stamps: Embrace Life.
Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder
Other: Crimper, Aquapainter, SNAIL adhesive, Sticky Strip, Dimensionals.

I have embossed the whole of the main image (using the reverse masking technique) and the leaves on the background image (using a Versamark pen). You can see the embossing a bit better in this close-up image:


See you later!
Sam.

Color Throwdown #18

I know I've missed the boat on this challenge, but thought I'd do it anyway, as I really love the colour combo!

The Color Throwdown challenges can be found here, and this week's is:



My card is:


I've added a teensie bit of Whisper White too.

Gonna run now, my internet connection is being a bit weird today.

Have a good one!
Sam.

A little Cirque-inspiration

We went to see Dralion here in the ACT last night. It was my first ever Cirque du Soleil experience, and WOW...it was amazing! Fantastic skill, wonderful choreography, gorgeous costumes, fabulous music, the list goes on...

So I've got cirque on the brain, and what better source of inspiration:


Oceane, goddess of water, queen of movement (my abs look a bit like hers ;-)...I WISH):


And then there is beautiful Azala, goddess of air, guardian of the sun:




But my favourite act was the single hand-balancing. This young girl balanced on one hand for AGES, and contorted herself into all sorts of shapes...she could eat dinner with her toes while lying on her belly watching telly if she felt the whim to do so. INCREDIBLE!


I hope you get to enjoy Dralion too...I can not wait until Cirque bring their next show to Canberra!

Have a lovely day,
Sam.

A Tricky Color Inspiration!

I'm not afraid to say that I found Kristina's latest Colour Inspiration REALLY HARD! REALLY, REALLY HARD!!


I measure 'HARD' by the state of my workspace at the end of creating...and suffice to say this was one of the hardest...


WOT A MESSY SAMMY!

Anyhoo....I got it done, and I think it is even within deadline.


The background cardstock is Whisper White. The next layer is textured Wild Wasabi (still loving textured ;-). The Rose Red ribbon is from the Fairy Tale ribbon originals set. The 'You make me SMILE' sentiment is from the 'Anchored' Rub-Ons pack. I've then mounted a large square aluminium edged tag up on dimensionals. The next layer is Bashful Blue cardstock which has been punched out with the scallop punch and pierced around the petals. Then there is a piece of So Saffron cardstock which has been crimped and punched out using the 1 3/8" circle punch, then there is a layer of Rose Red cardstock, punched out using 3/4" circle punch and mounted up on dimensionals, and last...but certainly NOT least, is the smiley face Rub-On, from the 'A Perfect Day' pack in the current Spring Mini Catalogue.

Have a great day.....we are going to have a top of 25 degrees celcius here...BLISS!

Sam.

Three Black Cats

We don't celebrate Halloween in Australia...well, no one in my neighbourhood seems to at any rate...but I really wanted to participate in Shelli's Creative Challenge. Because it is not widely celebrated we don't have much in the way of Halloween-type stamps and embellishments...so I've been pondering this problem for some time. Then, as I was browsing through my Google Reader the other day I came across this amazing card by Karen Thomas....where she has used punch-art to get the Halloween theme happening. Such a clever girl she is!!!

Soooooo, to cut a long story short, I have spent this afternoon mucking about with my punches and have come up with this card. I am really pleased with the end product...and I don't think you can get much spookier than three black cats...can you?




All products used are from Stampin' Up! The background cardstock is Basic Black Textured Cardstock (I have a 'thing' for textured cardstock at the moment...LOVE IT). The next layer is Lavender Lace, and has been mounted up on dimensionals. Then there is a Pumpkin Pie layer that has been crimped.

The black fiber is from Stampin' Up!'s retired Neutrals Fancy Fibers pack. The 'Happy Halloween' sentiment is from the Occasional Greetings stamp set, and has been stamped in Basic Black ink, in two parts (using the Stamp-a-ma-jig to align), so that it will fit inside the Designer Label punch. The Hodgepodge frame is from the Styled Silver set, currently available in the Australian Spring Mini Catalogue.

The three square boxes are made using Lavender Lace and textured Whisper White cardstock, and are punched out using the 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" square punches. These squares are also mounted up on dimensionals.

My three black cats are made using a variety of Stampin' Up!'s punches. Their heads are a combination of the 3/4" circle, and the small oval punches. Their eyes are made using the 1/16" circle punch. The cats' bodies and tails are made using just the small oval punch. It is all in the placement of the punch! The cats are mounted up on dimensionals too.

and PRESTO...Halloween......by punches!

Thanks for looking,
Sam.

More Textured Boats

I'm kinda hung up on these colours right now....and little boats....but that's a whole other story:


The background cardstock is Ruby Red, and I have stamped it with the Canvas background stamp. There is then a layer of Pumpkin Pie, which is mounted up on Dimensionals. The next layer is Soft Sky and it has been crimped.

The ribbon is from the retired Rustic Retreat Ribbon Originals pack. The two squares consist of a layer of Ruby Red then Whisper White and they are mounted up on Dimensionals.

The boat is from the 'Nursery Necessities' stamp set and is inked in Old Olive. I have stamped it off once on a scrap piece of textured cardstock before stamping it onto the Whisper White square. This results in a nice textured effect. I have also clear embossed both little boats.

Thanks for looking. Nighty night!
Sam.

Boats for Baby Boys

I was tinkering around last night, and came up with this little card:


The colours are Ruby Red, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Sky and Whisper White. The Soft Sky and Whisper White layers are textured cardstock and I have stamped the Nursery Necessities boat onto them giving the following groovy effect:


I used the Crop-a-dile to set the silver eyelets which act as portholes for the boats. The Crop-a-dile wouldn't reach the portholes on the middle boat, so I had to get out my trusty Crafter's Toolkit and set them with my hammer and punches. I had to wait until this morning to do this as I find I need to go out and do this on the concrete slab outside. When I try this inside (on a wooden floor) I seem to have 'issues' which I put down to the flexing of the floor....or perhaps I just don't hit as hard inside because I worried about the noise ;-).

The Pumpkin Pie layer has been crimped and the upper three layers are mounted up on dimensionals. The hardware is Styled Silver from the current Stampin' Up! Spring mini catalogue.

Have a great day stampers!
Sam.

I WANT A CUPCAKE!!!

I went to bed thinking about cupcakes...and I woke up thinking about cupcakes...and in the absence of any real cupcakes, I made another cupcake card using Ashley's card as inspiration again!


I used the Ruby Red and So Saffron colours with the Choc Chip this time...because they were still hanging about after Kristina's challenge!

The So Saffron DSP is from the Palette O' Prints pack that was available as part of a Stampin' Up! promotion earlier this year. The cupcake is from the Big Bold Birthday set...currently available at 20% off the retail price. I crimped the patty pan to make it look like a real patty pan.

I made some tiny choc chip sprinkles on the cupcake icing using a template and the 1/16" circle punch, then I dabbed Crystal Effects on these. There is also Crystal Effects on the candle flame, although it's pretty hard to see in the photo.


The background cardstock has been stamped using the Happy, Happy Birthday Jumbo wheel. The Choc Chip ribbon is from the Flirty Ribbon Originals pack and the 'Birthdays are the BEST' sentiment is from the 'It's Your Birthday' stamp set.

The plate is made using Stampin' Up!'s two oval punches. I needed to put the cupcake on a plate because I stuck the patty pan too far up the card...so there was this blank space between the patty pan and the ribbon. A plate filled in the space nicely IMO ;-).

Have a lovely day!
Sam.

CASEing Cupcakes...

I have a category in my Google Reader that is for cards I want to CASE. Then, when I'm feeling a bit low on imagination I go to this list and choose one that jumps out at me! The card I made tonight is a CASE of a beautiful card by Ashley at Design With Ink.


The colours are Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink and Whisper White. The stamp set is Big Bold Birthday. I've crimped the cupcake patty pan which I think adds authenticity. The cupcake icing is inked in Pretty in Pink and rock n' rolled in Regal Rose, then clear embossed. The two candles have Dazzling Diamonds on their flames. The ribbon is from the retired Flirty ribbon originals pack.

I'm positively stoked with how this card turned out. Thanks Ashley!

Sam.

My second card class card...

This is the second card we made at my card class here last Wednesday night...


This card is a CASE of one shown to us at our recent Stampin' Up! Regional training event in Sydney. We were shown how to make this card by a very talented fellow demonstrator, Tracey Eaton. I believe that she said she got the idea for it from Kerri Hunter. Thank you very much for this groovy idea ladies!

This card uses the masking and reverse masking techniques, and gives a fabulous effect IMO! The card uses: Blue Bayou, Soft Sky and Whisper White cardstock. I have rolled the Blue Bayou cardstock with the Speckled wheel (repeatedly)...which gives, what I call, the 'blizzard' background effect ;-). I crimped the Soft Sky layer using....drum roll please...the crimper! WOW, bet you never saw that coming. This layer is also mounted up on dimensionals.

The baubles are made using both the Round Tab punch (punched at right angles to create a large circle mask), and the 1 3/8" circle punch. The baubles are sponged using Soft Sky ink first, then the shadow effect is added (in this case in the bottom left hand corner) using Blue Bayou ink...also sponged on.

The bauble decorations are stamped on, with the outer mask still in place, using the Snow Burst stamp set. The bauble string is from the Hung Up on Christmas stamp set, but you could easily freehand these in with a marker too. The Merry Christmas sentiment is from the Many Merry Messages stamp set, and has been stamped in Basic Black ink.

Once the card is fully assembled I have traced over some of the Snow Burst snow flakes using the two-way glue pen, and sprinkled on some Dazzling Diamonds...because a bitty bit of bling is a very Christmassy thing!

Thanks again Tracey for a fabulous demo!

Sam.

I like these colours!

My apologies if you are over them. This will be the last one...I promise!

This card is pretty plain, but I like it better than the flowery one. I haven't stamped on it though...UMMMMM AHHHHH! The rub-on is from the SAB 2008 Love and Happiness pack, and is in Old Olive. I've used the Crimper, the Spiral punch the Small and Large Square punches and the Small Star punch. The brads are from various collections. The ribbon is Tempting Turquoise.

Sam.

A second attempt.....

I couldn't let it go...I had to have another go at Colour Inspiration #9. I tried to bend those colours to flowers, but feel that I fell short of the mark. That Tempting Turquoise just didn't want a bar of my card...and I felt the same way about it (the Tempting Turquoise that is ;-).

I think the ingredients are mostly obvious. The felt flowers are from Stampin' Up!'s Flower Fusion (I sooooo hope that it comes here sooner rather than later...notice that I don't entertain the possibility that it won't show here at all...).

The brads are Circle Rhinestone Brads...I LOVE these. The vine on the So Saffron piece is the Watercolour Vine Jumbo Wheel, in Old Olive. The background Real Red cardstock is stamped with the Linen Background stamp. The sentiment is from the 'So Many Sayings' Level I Hostess set (again). This is SUCH a versatile set!!! Mine are mounted separately on Jenga blocks. I can't remember exactly where this idea came from...but it was another blog I found out there in cyber-land...THANKS!

Have a great day!
Sam.

Colour Inspiration #6

I was feeling a little motivation-less last night, so I thought I'd take part in another Kristina Werner Color Inspiration challenge, Color Inspiration #6.

This is the challenge that she set:



I realised when I had finished with it that my card is VERY similar in style to the last one that I made...albeit with the new colours! Stuck in a rut as well as motivation-less! WOE is me ;-).



I still think it looks nice, and hope that you do too!

I've used some of Stampin' Up!'s, soon-to-be-available-in-Australia, 'Palette o' Prints' Designer Series Paper (stay tuned for more information on that promotion ;-). I've also used the crimper, some striped Grosgrain in Pumpkin Pie, the five-petal flower punch and a large Pewter brad (for which I had to use my recently acquired CROP-A-DILE. It is LOVE!). The 'ALL MY LOVE' sentiment is from the Level I Hostess Set, So Many Sayings, and it has been stamped in Basic Gray Classic Ink (a new favourite of mine).

Thanks for stopping by.
Sam.

Colour Inspiration #5

I was browsing some blogs today and stumbled across Kristina Werner's Colour Inspiration #5 challenge. She has taken inspiration from this photo:



Which translates into the following Stampin' Up! colours:


(Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Close to Cocoa)

This is my creation using these colours:



Aside from the colours, I've used the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug Folder, some Vellum Cardstock, Stampin' Up!'s Love and Happiness Rub-Ons in Chocolate Chip (US SAB08), some Petals & Paisleys DSP, the crimper, the paper piercing tool, dimensionals, the Scallop, 3/4" Circle and 5-Petal Flower Punches and an Antique Brass Jumbo Eyelet.

I was pleased with the results.
Thanks for the inspiration Kristina!
Sam.

My Convention 2008 Swap card...

...ok, as promised, here is the recipe for my swap card. As it turns out, I had help from some Stampin' Friends up in Brissy and we got the remaining 18 cards made on Friday night...THANK YOU DIANE AND JANINE. You guys are the BEST!

I did have to fire them both a few times, for various appalling card-making infractions (e.g. a dimensional with its cover still on...and one, where the recipe was upside down!!!...well that was almost the last straw ;-), but in the end they put up with me (everyone should have friends like them) and we got the cards put together in about an hour!



The cardstock colours are Elegant Eggplant, Real Red and Whisper White. The background cardstock has Faux Stitching around the edge. The Real Red layer is mounted up on Dimensionals and has been crimped.

I stamped the flower petals from Pick A Petal on Whisper White cardstock using Ballet Blue, Summer Sun, Real Red and Elegant Eggplant Classic Ink. Each petal has been stamped off once, and I used the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to align them. I then did the Two-Step Stamping, using the loopy overlay stamp in Elegant Eggplant and the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig. Each flower therefore involved 15 stamps! I then cut it out using the paper snips and mounted it up on Dimensionals, on another piece of Whisper White cardstock.

I traced the flower using the paper piercer (these holes are just eyeballed in). The 'Thank You' sentiment is from Cheery Chat and is in Elegant Eggplant Classic Ink. I ran the Two-Way Glue pen over each petal and then sprinkled on Dazzling Diamonds. Last, but not least I affixed a Green Galore (or Real Red) Button from the Bold Brights Buttons selection, to the flower centre using a Mini Glue Dot.

More Buckle Creations

Just a couple more Buckle Cards to show you!




We made this card at a recent workshop. The Stampin' Up! ingredients/tools used are:

Perfect Plum, Pale Plum and Confetti White Cardstock
Enchante Designer Series Double-Sided Paper (DSP)
Carte Postale Stamp Set
Much Appreciated Stamp Set
Perfect Plum and Pale Plum Classic Ink
Small Corner-Rounder and Word Window Punches
Fiskars Crimper
Paper Piercer and Template from Crafter's Toolkit
White Gel Pen
Stamp-A-Ma-Jig
SNAIL Adhesive
Sticky Strip

...and I think that is about it!

While I'm at it, here is another version:



I have used mostly the same ingredients, except instead of the Enchante DSP I have used the Bud Basics Stamp set from the Summer Mini, in Perfect Plum, Pale Plum and Certainly Celery Classic Ink. The original design was from one of Diane Barnes' cards, over at colour me happy (thanks again Diane).

Have a great weekend everyone!

Hostess and Door Prizes

Here are some more little goodies I have used for Hostess gifts and Lucky Door prizes. I always have so much fun making these little things...but I will have to come up with some different ideas soon. Back to Splitcoaststampers methinks!





The different packages contain cardstock samples (colours are Ruby Red, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum and Whisper White), Dimensional sheets, and a small sample of brads and buttons.

I was so chuffed to hear from some of my customers (waves), that they keep the bag toppers for their own cards etc. How cool is that?

Talk to you soon,
Sam.

Chipboard Valentine's Make n' Take

I have just arrived home after demonstrating at a fun workshop, where we made the card above...and another one, but that'll have to wait for tomorrow for uploading ;-).

The background card colour is Taken with Teal. We have hand drawn the small hearts around the card using a White Gel Pen. The next layer is Whisper White, and then there is a piece of Loves Me Designer Series Double-Sided Paper (DSP). We have stamped the 'I Love You the Most' sentiment, from the Love Matters stamp set, in Chocolate Chip Classic Ink, and used the Stamp-a-ma-Jig to align it.

The next layer is a small piece of Whisper White and it has been run through the crimper, and then we used the paper piercer, template and foam mat from the Crafter's Tool kit to poke the triangle of holes on the diagonal corners. We mounted the crimped piece of cardstock using the Stampin' Up! red-backed Sticky Strip...I find it does a better job when you have a reduced surface area for sticking, as you do on a crimped piece of card.

The centre-piece s a piece of chipboard, like those in the Stampin' Up! Accents and Elements range. We adhered a piece of the Loves Me DSP to the top of the tag using Crystal Effects, then when it was dry we trimmed it back using a craft knife, then sanded back the edges using a Sanding Block. We mounted the tag up on Dimensionals.

The two ribbons are Chocolate and Pink Grosgrain. The two circles of cardstock are punched using the large circle punch on Chocolate Chip cardstock and the small circle punch on whisper White cardstock. Then we stamped a heart from the...hmmmmm will have to get back to you on that..stamp set, in Pretty in Pink Classic Ink on Whisper White cardstock, and trimmed it with the paper snips. The heart was then mounted up on Dimensionals and, as you can see in the image below, covered with Crystal Effects.



I think everyone enjoyed making this card. I know I did :-).
Sam.