Fun Folded Fanks For Friend...

I was surfing the web at some point in the recent past, and I came across a lovely card by Julie Davison...check it out here. I think it was probably a link from Kim Score's blog that got me to Julie's blog in the first place.

I needed a thank you card (for Patrice, after she gave me those lovely Smash goodies), so I thought I'd go ahead and use Julie's card as the inspiration for mine. I think it is a type of gate fold...but whatever it is, I was very happy with how it turned out!

This card was an absolute shocker to photograph as it was popping and flopping about all over the place. I ended up using some matching Washi Tapes to stop it from landing in the pool. I thought it was appropriate to have Washi in the photos, because that is what I gave Patrice by way of a small thank you gift. I didn't actually give her these Washis though...these were the prop-Washis, and they'd been used (couldn't really pass along half used Washis as a gift now...could I?).

The black background stamp behind the sentiment is by Waltzingmouse Stamps, and is one of their sets designed to go with the Spellbinders Nestabilities. I have also used Spellbinders Nested Labels Fourteen (love this set, it reminds me of clouds), which I got from Bizzy Becs. Bec is my go-to-gal for all things Spellbinders. The bling, patterned paper and cardstock is all by Stampin' Up!

Well, once again I have gone off on a tangent. If you made it this far, thanks and have a lovely afternoon.

Blogged to: That Don't Impress Me Much - Shania Twain, Hung Up - Madonna, Why Can't This Be Love - Van Halen and Get Ready for This - 2 Unlimited.

Fabulously funky felt flowers for...

...Mother's Day! I had a lot of fun making this Mother's Day card for my mum:

List of Ingredients:

Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss Textured, Whisper White and Chocolate Chip
Ink: Kiwi Kiss Classic Ink
Stamps: Itty Bitty Backgrounds (retired)
Accessories: Felt (brown, green and blue), Spellbinders Nestabilities (blossom, plain circles and scalloped circles), Cuttlebug, Chit Chat Rub-ons, Button Latte Designer Buttons, paper piercer, white gel pen, miscellaneous green spotted ribbon, green embroidery thread, SNAIL adhesive and dimensionals.

The felt is just el-cheapo stuff (70 cents per A4 sheet) from the local craft store. I was amazed at how well it cut using the cuttlebug and nestabilities...very little fuzziness at all!

Gotta run now. Have a lovely afternoon,

(Blogged to: Do You Mind - Robbie Williams).

A bit on the riotous side...

This is a birthday card I recently made for my little boy. It is a bit on the riotous side, and I nearly wasn't going to put it up here, but it has kinda grown on me:


The cardstock I have used here is Tangerine Tango, Basic Black and Brushed Silver. I have stamped the rocket image in Black Stazon on watercolour paper and coloured it with an aquapainter and classic ink (in Tangerine Tango, Pacific Point and Baja Blue).

The black ribbon is from the Valet Ribbon Originals pack. The sentiment is from the Think Happy Thoughts set and has been punched out using the 1 1/4" circle punch and mounted on a metal edge tag.

I also wanted to show you a couple of shots from our Mother's day bushwalk today:




Who knew tomatoes could be so much fun?



We found this lovely grassy meadow...and what better thing to do, but have a little snooze!



...or a run, take you pick ;-).

Hope you had a lovely weekend.

Thanks again for visiting.
Sam.

Somewhere over the rainbow...

...the skies are full of fireworks!




We took the boat out onto Lake Burley Griffin tonight, to watch the Australia Day fireworks. It was SO much fun!! It was possibly the most amazing vantage point I have ever had for fireworks. We anchored just off Commonwealth Bridge, and many of the fireworks actually went off from the bridge, and also from the roof of the nearby National Library building. It was a balmy, beautiful evening on the water, and a simply perfect way to wrap up Australia Day 2009 (for the Oz Day police: yes we also had lamb on the BBQ, and pavlova for dessert..YUMMY).

We've only just got home now and it is 11 pm. The kids were amazing...dozed in the car on the way home, and straight to bed with no fuss at all. Bless their sleepy little hearts.

I started another CSCC card last night while watching Jelena Dokic play an awesome Australian Open fourth round game of tennis against Alisa Kleybanova. Jelena won, but Alisa didn't give away the match easily. It was hard fought and won on Jelena's part, but made for excellent viewing. I was sitting on the floor right in front of the telly during the last set, bouncing up and down and squeaking in excitement (if that doesn't give you scary mental pictures, nothing will ;-)!


(image sourced from this webpage).

OKAY Sam...enough jabbering! Just to remind you, this week's Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge movie is The Wizard of Oz...because, because, because, because, because:


...and here is a pic of my card:


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

Cardstock: Elegant Eggplant, Only Orange, Whisper White, Yoyo Yellow, Gable Green, Real Red, Green Galore, Glorious Green, Brilliant Blue, Tempting Turquoise
Ink: Soft Sky Classic Ink
Accessories: Cuttlebug folders (Mosaic and Swirls), Spellbinders Nestabilities Circles, scallop circle punch, crystal effects, liquid pearls, miscellaneous floral bling, sponge, SNAIL, glue dots.

The birds flying 'over the rainbow' were made using the scallop circle punch. The cloud effect was made using a mask of scallop circle edges and sponging over this in Soft Sky classic ink (see here for a great tutorial on this technique). The Emerald City (and the sky immediately around it) has been painted with Liquid Pearls in White Opal (to give a shimmery, magical feel). The yellow brick road has been cut out freehand using a craft knife. The 'bricks' on the road have been painted with crystal effects for...a brick-like effect:


There is no sentiment. I toyed with printing something out...but decided the card didn't need it...and besides, the card could be used for a number of different events this way. The metallic element could be either the liquid pearls, which give a slightly metallic effect IMO...or the bling flowers (whose backs are painted with sliver paint)...ok! I'm stretching it here, but its late, and I need to go to bed!

Another thing, the colours may be a just a little bit more vibrant than those on the silver screen, but it is called a creative challenge...'nuf said ;-).

Well, now it is after midnight and it is waaaaay past this little cookie's bedtime. Nighty night stampers!

Sam.

PS. To all those who asked about the state of my craft room after the creation of yesterday's ruby red slipper...YES, it is COVERED in romantic red glitter. So am I, my kids, hubby, the cat, and my mum....ooops :-).
PPS. If you made it this far...well done. Sorry for the long winded post, with so many sidetracks!

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #1

I've been a big admirer of Karen Giron's beautiful blog, the sweetest thing, for a while now...it comes under the special heading 'favourite US SU blogs' in my Google reader :-). Please go take a look at her lovely work, I think you will agree that her designs are the sweetest things!

But I digress...what I came here to show/tell you about is another card that I have made for Karen's first sketch challenge, sweet sunday sketch challenge #1:


I made my card last night while watching NCIS...but I didn't finish it because I wanted to get to bed a bit early so I could get up at 3:30 am and watch Barack Obama's inauguration. After making that big effort, I forgot to set my alarm (DOH!), and slept right through until 6 am...but I'm catching up on the events now instead :-). What an exciting day! To my US readers..congratulations on the inauguration of your new President.

There I go again..off on a tangent...sorry. I am sure you didn't come here to read about my TV watching schedule, so I'll get back to business. Here is my card:


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

Cardstock: Whisper White, Textured Basic Black
Paper: Bali Breeze Designer Series Paper
Stamps: Cheery Chat
Ink: Basic Black Classic Ink
Accessories: Scallop edge punch, crop-a-dile, Francheville black grosgrain ribbon, Provo Craft Asterisks dies, Spellbinders Nestabilities square and scalloped square dies, two-way glue pen, dazzling diamonds, SNAIL, glue dots, The Robin's Nest Hardy Ivy Dew Drops.

Hope you all have a lovely day, thanks for dropping by!

Sam.

Mojo Monday 69

...well, I guess it is actually Mojo Tuesday on this side of the globe, but who's going to quibble a day ;-).

This week's Mojo Monday sketch is:


...and here is my card:


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

Cardstock: Textured Basic Black, Textured Whisper White, Real Red, Whisper White and Basic Black plain cardstock
Stamps: Little Lady by Papertrey Ink
Ink: Real Red and Basic Black Classic Ink, Versamark
Accessories: Paper piercer, piercing template and mat, white gel pen, Swiss Dots and Swirls Cuttlebug embossing folders by Provocraft, Circle and Scallops Nestabilities by Spellbinders, large oval punch, wireworks (retired), black grosgrain ribbon by Francheville, 'A Perfect Day' rub-ons, miscellaneous bling, Pretties kit, clear embossing powder, heat tool, SNAIL, dimensionals, crystal effects and mini glue dots!

FAR OUT! I might have been better off detailing the accessories I did not use for this card.

Thanks for visiting!
Sam.

BTW...you remember a couple of posts ago, I mentioned the local hoods laying rubber somewhere nearby in the middle of the night? Well, last night they laid it in our driveway:


Nah...just kidding, this is what made that mess:


My cat is in awe (you can just see him in the bottom right of the photo), and he has decided this is what he wants to be when he grows up....shame his name is not Bob...hehehehehehe (I crack myself up sometimes ;-).

Shades of Blue...

We have some birthday's coming up shortly for some little friends of ours (CSCC girls, if you are reading, I'm not talking about hobbits here ;-), so I thought I'd try and get a head start on their cards.

I have also recently stumbled on another challenge blog called Our Creative Corner, and this week's challenge is to use make a card using only two shades of blue and a neutral colour...check out the details and some beautiful samples here.

So last night, while watching 'While You Were Sleeping' I made one of the birthday cards that I need, using the OCC colours:


Ingredients (all products Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Cardstock: Textured and plain Night of Navy, textured and plain Whisper White
Paper: Spring Silhouettes and Notebook Designer Series Paper
Ink: Night of Navy and Soft Sky Classic Inks
Stamps: Classic Numbers and Space Ships & Robots by My Cute Stamps
Accessories: A Perfect Day rub-ons, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots emboss folder, Spellbinders Circle Nestabilities, Pewter Jumbo Eyelets, Crop-a-dile, clear emboss powder, heat tool, two-way glue pen, dazzling diamonds glitter, 1/2" circle punch, SNAIL, dimensionals and craft knife.

Thanks for dropping by, I hope you have a good day!
Sam.

PS. Speaking of shades of blue...if you ever need a really good chuckle you should check out Lydia's blog Understand Blue. This lady is not only a very talented stamper...she tells the funniest stories. Thanks so much for making me laugh Lydia, I really look forward to your posts popping up in my reader!

An Affair To Remember

First of all, I feel so honoured to have been asked to create a card for this week's Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge....so huge thanks go to Sankari and Brooke for asking me :-). Anthonette was also asked to be a guest designer this week, you can see her fabulous card here.

This week's movie is 'An Affair To Remember':


...and it almost turned into a drama of epic proportions. I've never seen it (yes, I live in a cave) so I zipped down to the local Civic Video store and tried to borrow it. No luck! They didn't have it. I then looked online to see if I could borrow it through iTunes. Again, no luck...they didn't have it either. Starting to feel a tad deseperate I checked YouTube hoping some naughty person had posted it....ARGHHHHHHHHH, no luck!

I was starting to wave goodbye to my first-ever guest designer appearance. On Christmas eve, I bit the bullet and headed down to the mall in a last ditch effort to find it. I went to Virgin...no luck, Sanity...no luck, EzyDVD...no luck, Target...no luck. I was hyperventilating (along with all the other last minute Christmas shoppers ;-). My last stop was Kmart...I was feeling defeated. I was flicking through the racks without enthusiasm, already composing my tragic email to Sankari in my head. I was so absorbed in my defeat I actually flicked right past the movie and had to go back to it! EUREKA!! I did a little happy dance right there in the aisle....a bit of Christmas eve entertainment for the security camera dude :-).

Now, before you get tired of all my waffling...here is my card:


I think you can guess where my inspiration comes from. I have used Stampin' Up!'s 'Boatloads of Love' boat stamp set to recreate the Constitution...as seen through a porthole (created using Spellbinders Nestabilities circles and my Cuttlebug). I've decked the boat out with a love theme...of course. Perfect for Valentine's Day!

I deliberately kept the colours muted...a la a colourised black and white movie. The boat has been watercoloured with Night of Navy Classic ink and an aquapainter. The sky is Soft Sky and the water is very light Night of Navy. I have used some retired 'Loves Me' Designer Series Paper to cover the heart and then painted it with Crystal Effects. I have also added Crystal Effects onto the water and fenders for some added texture. I have used white Liquid Applique on the exhaust cloud above the stack and I have recreated portholes on the Constitution using eyelets.


And, that's all there is to it! A simple little card which reminds me of An Affair to Remember.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope that you and your family had a lovely Christmas. Best wishes for 2009!

Sam.

PS. Thanks for all the comments on my Twilight post. I read the first book last weekend, read the partial draft of Midnight Sun (which is the first 12 chapters of the Twilight story from Edward's perspective...it is available on Stephenie Meyer's website....PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE finish it Stephenie, I promise to buy it), then I went and saw the movie again (I enjoyed it even more the second time around)! I'm listening to the Movie Score as I type (but my favourite song is from the Soundtrack not the Score, and is Supermassive Black Hole by Muse...the baseball game theme song :-). Yep...completely hooked!

Polka Dot Heart

Last night while I started watching The Last Samurai I made a little card:


I've sneaked you a peek of a stamp from one of the Sale-A-Bration 2009 stamp sets. I think you'll like the sets on offer this time....I do!! It has been embossed in white, on Real Red cardstock, then cut out and mounted up on a Metal Edged Tag...and I really like how it turned out. The Chocolate Chip ribbon is in our new Summer Mini catalogue, and is just plain YUMMY!


I've also used some of my recently acquired Spellbinders Nestabilities dies. These are from the Labels Two set, and I think they are so groovy. If you are interested in checking some of these cutting dies out for yourself, you should head on over to Bizzy Becs.

The 'Love You' sentiment is from the Cherished Memories Rub-Ons pack. The base cardstock is Textured Chocolate Chip. Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhh....I could use textured cardstock ALL the time given half the chance ;-).

Now, I've just previewed this card on the monitor and the first thing that popped into my head is - a tin of Heinz Tomato Soup......hmmmmmm, I wonder, is that a bad thing?

Thanks for popping by! Have a relaxing Saturday.

Sam.

Merry, Merry Christmas

I've had this window/shaker card in my head for a while now......and no, there wasn't a lot of spare space up there while it was 'on the inside' ;-). It didn't come out exactly like I'd imagined...but I can always tinker with it later...



The cardstock is Night of Navy and the stamps are from Stampin' Up!'s Merry Merry set. Merry, Merry is available during September as part of a promotion where you buy the set, and get the matching jumbo Stampin Around wheel free. There are five other sets and matching jumbo wheel available as part of this deal click here for more information.

But back to my card...The front panel is mounted up on a double layer of dimensional edging (the left-over strips from around the edges of sheets of dimensionals). I have also inked the edge of this piece using a sponge and Whisper White craft ink. The window was cut out using one of the Nestabilities Petite Oval Dies in my Cuttlebug. I have stamped images from the Merry, Merry set on a piece of acetate using Cotton White Stazon, and then stuck it over the window with sticky strip (on the underside). I did try to emboss the acetate in white, but the heat of the heat tool melted the acetate...DOH! I am going to get some different types of acetate and give them a try, apparently the old OHP acetate works, as might the laser printer acetate.

I stamped the large baubles from Merry, Merry in Versamark Ink, onto the background cardstock, and then embossed these white. I dumped a GINORMOUS pile of Dazzling Diamonds onto the background cardstock (a la Derek! - if you were at the recent Regionals you might know what I mean) before I stuck down the window layer on top. If you find you have any Dazzling Diamond 'leaks' in the corners of the window you can 'fix' them using Crystal Effects (it is all hidden under the top layer, so you won't see it). I have tied a piece of White Taffeta ribbon around the base of the card. The sentiment is a Rub-On from the Cherished Memories set.

...and thats's it! Definitely not one to be making 50 of though....imagine the mess...UGH!!!!!
Ciao,
Sam.

I Kinda Got Carried Away...

I think I would have been better off leaving this card without the three bling bits on the Stem Silhouettes...but when you stick stuff on with Pritt Gel...it ain't goin' NOWHERE ;-).

Materials used for this card are:
Perfect Plum, Pale Plum and Whisper White Cardstock
Petals and Paisleys Designer Series Double-Sided Paper
Stem Silhouettes
Linen Background Stamp
Perfect Plum and Pale Plum Classic Ink
Dimensionals, SNAIL adhesive and Mini Glue Dots
Paper Piercer
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Emboss Folder
Nestabilities Oval Dies
Hodge Podge Hardware - Pewter
Bling and Ribbon.

New Nesties Today!

I am so amazed that they arrived so quickly...my Nestabilities dies, from Papertrey Ink. It only took about a week and a half for them to arrive from the US. Happy Christmas to me, Happy Christmas to me.....lalalalalalalalalalalala.

So...I had to have a play tonight...and here is where I need to thank someone profusely! Tracy...you are a champ. Poor girl has had to spoon feed me the instructions for making the correct Cuttlebug sandwiches for the Nesties...not once, BUT TWICE. I still managed to cut a hole in my magnetic mat (absolutely nothing to do with Tracy's instructions..they were crystal...my head on the other hand...is not). Insert shaking-head and rolling-eyes smilies here!!!

Not a prize-winning card by any means...but that's what you get when you are too busy playing with a new toy to notice whether the colours go together, right? The colours are: Ruby Red, Marigold Morning, Basic Black and Whisper White. The muy lindo pinguino is from the Wild About You stamp set, and is stamped in Basic Black on Whisper White. There has been lots of Nestie and Cuttlebug Embossing going on...and the ribbon is Black Gingham. There are dimensionals (it goes without saying ;-), glue dots and SNAIL...all secretly tucked away behind the scenes.

Nighty night stampers!
Sam.