Polka dot baby

Just a quick post to show you a baby card I made for my cousin & her husband in Scotland, who have just had a beautiful baby boy.

I went with a combination of celery (but of course!), so saffron & vanilla, using some polka dot paper from the so fresh Palette of Prints designer paper pack that was available back in May. I think these colours are great for either a boy or girl. The pram image is from 'Fun & Fast Notes', which has 8 stamps with cute outline images & greetings To add a bit more 'pretty' to the card, I added some vanilla scalloped edges, made using the corner rounder punch (guard removed) & some vanilla taffeta ribbon.

The pram is stamped on watercolour paper with Stayz-On ink (a must!) & water-coloured with Stampin' Write markers & my Aqua Painter™. This was one of my first attempts at water-colouring with markers, so don't look too closely. I think I need a lot more practice, but I still enjot doing it. I've coloured some more images with the same technique, but I haven't had time to turn them into cards yet...so you'll have to wait for some more.

Supplies:
Stamps: Fun & Fast Notes
Card/Paper: Very Vanilla, certainly celery, so saffron, Prints paper – celery & so saffron, watercolour paper
Ink: Black Stayz-On, Soft Subtles® Stampin' Write® markers.
Accessories: very vanilla taffeta ribbon, dimensionals

KW's Colour Challenge 17 - Kind of Boho

Wow, where did the last week go? It’s Kristina’s colour challenge 17 already, so here we go again! This week’s colours are rose red, regal rose, sage shadow & whisper white & here’s the pic.And here’s my card.I didn’t have a full picture of what I wanted the card to look like initially, so I just played with a few ideas & hoped it would come together. The belt & buckle made me think of the new Styled Silver Hodgepodge ribbon slide, so I used it with 2 stylised flowers (from ‘One of a Kind’ – another new Spring Mini set, & ‘Boho Backgrounds. I used a sueding technique (that I saw Shelli Gardner demo on a scrapbooking tv show ages ago) to soften the look of the sage & rose cards & used textured white cardstock to give...well more texture! For the greeting, I used some flower & greeting rub-ons to finish it off. I soooo love that SU has rub ons, as they’re one of my scrapping essentials.

The detail is a bit hard to see, as things usually are around midnight, but hopefully they’re a bit clearer here. I'll try for a better pic in the daylight! Edited: what a difference the light of day makes. I've added some better pics (I think anyway!)Anyway, hope you like it. Have a great Friday....& weekend too!

Supplies:
Stamps: One of a Kind, Boho Backgrounds
Card: Whisper white (textured), sage shadow, rose red, regal rose
Ink: regal rose, rose red
Accessories: Rub Ons – Cherished Memories, Boho West, ribbon slide – styled silver hodgepodge
Tools: circle punches – 1 ¼ inch, 1/2 inch, white grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

KW’s Colour Challenge 16 – I heart friends

Yep, it's that time again for Kristina's colour challenge. Here's the challenge pic – soooo cute! The colours are soft sky, certainly celery, very vanilla & pumpkin pie. And here's my attempt.
I like the colour combination (OK, I was a bit scared of the pumpkin), but I found this card more difficult than I thought it would be. I'm happy with the card, but not loving it, if you know what I mean!

I should also be making dinner right now so now time to waffle. Just wanted to say that the base is textured soft sky (trust me, it's yummy IRL), I hand cut the hearts, the scallops are ¼ inch circles (I got the idea from this card of Kristina's). The stamped & base hearts are raised on dimensionals. I glittered the 'Priceless' butterflies (& me) with dazzling diamonds glitter. For the friend greeting, I used a brand spanking new styled silver hodgepodge frame (coming in the Spring Mini). Here's a closer pic of the layers.

Anyway, hope you like it. Definitely off to make dinner now! If I have time later, I'll try for a better pic. Edited: I've changed the main pic. I think it's a bit better now.

PS: I do love love love Kellie's challenge cards from this week, so if you haven't seen them yet, check them out here.

Supplies
Stamps: Priceless, In the Spotlight
Card: soft sky (textured), vanilla, pumpkin pie, certainly celery
Ink: certainly celery
Accessories: styled silver hodgepodge, celery grosgrain ribbon, dazzling diamonds glitter
Tools: circle punches (1 inch, 1/4 inch), 2 way glue pen

A wild card box

As it's school hols here, I haven't had time for much stamping in the past week, but I did make this little box of cards as a thank you for Renee, who hosted a great workshop last weekend. If you're reading this, thanks again Renee for a lovely afternoon.To make the set, I combined the super cute animal images from 'Wild About You' & the bright colours from the 'Jersey Shore designer paper pack. Co-ordinating the colours couldn't have been easier, as I just followed the colours in the paper, being wild wasabi, brilliant blue, bashful blue, pumpkin pie & white.

I made a card with each of the 'Wild About You' animals (OK Mr Elephant snuck in twice, as he's just so cute). They're all really simple & use only card, paper & ink. I used mainly 'It's Your Birthday' for the greetings. The card fronts are 9.9cm x 9.9cm square (about 4 inches). While this may seem an odd size, it's really practical, as you get 3 card bases from one A4 sheet.

I made envelopes to fit the cards using Lin Mei Yap's really easy to follow tutorials, which you can find here & here. By the way, I used 16cm x 16cm paper for my envelopes. I also included some animal stickers to seal the envelopes, which I stamped & punched with square punches & ran through my little xyron.

The box is 11cm x 11cm x 3cm, which fits 6 cards & envelopes nicely, without squashing the raised pieces. The basic box is wild wasabi. I decorated it with a band of brilliant blue card & Striped 'Jersey Shore' paper. Then, I added a raised motif with Mr Elephant making another appearance in the scallop circle centre. Here's some individual pics of the cards:

Jersey Double Pocket Bag

Before, I go, here's another quick 'Jersey Shore' paper project that would also work perfectly with this card set.

Kellie, showed me a little double pocket bag she made & I just had to try one too, as they are so cool. You just need a 12 x 12 inch double sided sheet of paper to make it. I used this tutorial from SplitcoastStampers for mine. I just changed the first step, as I wanted to see the 2 sides of the paper on the right side of the bag. I think I might just have to make another set of 'wild' cards to put in it!

Hope you're having great week. Bye for now :0)

Quick PS: In case you missed my last more subtle 'Wild' card, check out this card I made for one of Kristina's colour challenges.

Supplies:
Stamps: Wild About You, It's Your Birthday, Short & Sweet
Card: whisper white, brilliant blue, wild wasabi, bashful blue, pumpkin pie
Paper: Jersey Shore pack
Ink: brilliant blue, wild wasabi, bashful blue, pumpkin pie, Stampin' write markers - pumpkin pie & brilliant blue (elephant flowers, lion nose & mouth, penguins)
Accessories: dimensionals, whisper white grosgrain (bag)
Tools: square punches - 1 3/8 inch. 1 1/4 inch (alligator card window, stickers, envelopes)
Circle Scallop Punch, Circle punches - 1 3/8 inch, 1 1/4 inch (box)
Percing template & piercer ( brilliant blue elephant & giraffe)

Colour Challenge 15 – block birthday

Here's the second card I was working on last night for Kristina's colour challenge. You can see the inspiration pic here:With this one, I tried to mimic the stitching on the pillows. I think it would be a good masculine card, which I usually find quite hard to do. Gorgeous hubby Damien liked it anyway (well the almost finished one he saw the morning), so I'm happy with that. This card is a nod to my fave scrapper Cathy Zielske & her love of common margins & straight placement. No tilting here! Shock horror, the only stamping is the very contemporary happy birthday greeting from 'Occasional Greetings'. I made the white chain using the small & large oval punches. Anyway enough said, hope you like it. Have a great day. Off to see Mamma Mia at the movies with Cara.

Supplies:
Stamps: Occasional Greetings
Card: choc chip, close to cocoa, certainly celery, really rust, whisper white
Ink: Choc chip
Tools: small & large oval punch

KW's colour challenge 15 – always fun

OK, you know the drill by now! – Kristina, colours, picture, make a card!...yay! This week's colours are choc chip, close to cocoa, really rust, certainly celery & white. Not really 'my colours' except for my beloved celery. Anyway, here's the inspiration pic:

& here's my card:

What's that set you say?....It's a newie called 'Always' from the Spring Mini' coming in August. I guarantee you're going to see more of this one. Oh, & how did I get it? - As a Demonstrator, I got to pre-order this month (yes, so cool, I know!). Why am I talking to myself? Well, it's 1 in the morning & I really should be in bed...clearly LOL :)

Just a few details, which may not be clear in the pic. The flowers & greeting were clear embossed with versamark on white card & then burnished with rust & celery ink & a sponge dauber. I punched them out with the 1 ¼ inch circle punch & mounted them with dimensionals on choc chip card. The spotty cocoa paper is from the Designer Prints series. Here's another pic to try to show the detail better....& I just like funny angles pics!

I'm really happy with it even though it didn't come out like my initial idea. I have another one almost done too, so I'll try to post that one tomorrow....or today I should say! Nightie night for now.

Supplies:
Stamps: Always
Card/Paper: close to cocoa, whisper white, cocoa designer prints paper
Ink: really rust, certainly celery, versamark
Accessories/Tools: clear embossing powder, heat gun, 1 ¼ inch circle punch, dimensionals

I’m blushing

So why am I blushing?...
...Well, it's because I've been nominated for these two blog awards by two very kind & talented ladies & fellow bloggers: - an Arte y Pico award from Kerry & a Brillante Weblog Prize from Chrissie.

Thank you both so much for thinking of my little blog. There are so many fabulous blogs out there & I have so much to learn about this blogging thing, so it's very encouraging to receive these nominations.

So...the rules for the Arte y Pico Award are:
1. Pick five blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribute to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone. Remember to leave the person a comment or email to let them know they received the award.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and the link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4. Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

The rules for the Brillante Weblog Prize seem pretty similar, so I'll combine my nominations for both. I've chosen to nominate some fellow SU demonstrators, who provide me with inspiration in lots of ways. Thanks so much ladies! Hope you enjoy visiting their blogs as much as I do.

Kellie Jupe – Cool card maker, inspiration sharer & buddy I'm most likely to be talking with if my phone is engaged.

Sam Post – Kristina challenge guru, all round amazing card maker & buddy. Check out all her lovely details.

Sarah Klass – I just love Sarah's style & she really is as nice in person as she seems on her blog.

Karen – Karen has so many great ideas that I don't know where to start!

Andrea – Andrea's blog is full of fab techniques....& a favourite gift card holder too.

....and before I go, please check out Kerry & Chrissie's blogs if you haven't found them already.

Happy spring colours

It may be the middle of winter in Sydney, but as far as this card goes, I think it feels much more like spring.This one came about when I found some extra card kits left from past workshops. I was initially going to make them up in the same designs as the original, but then I thought it would be much more fun to try to make something different with the pieces. There's not a lot of stamping, but you don't need a lot when you have beautiful patterned paper to start with.

It was super simple to make:
Attach the patterned paper & grosgrain ribbon to the base. Stamp & punch the greeting & flower centre (with 'Think Happy Thoughts' set), add a brad & mount on another punched circle & 2 scallop circles with lots of dimensionals.Attach the motif to the base with more dimensionals & you're ready to brighten someone's day... which I hope it did when it arrived at my friend Sam's place!

Just to compare, here's the original card, which I made for my World Cardmaking Day workshop last October.In this one, I used the reverse side of the striped paper, chocolate grosgrain ribbon (now retired), stamped & punched flowers & friend greeting from the 'Looks Like Spring' set & gold brads.

The card was actually a simplified case of this one, which was a Stampin' Up! project in October. Good News: Spring Showers designer series paper (& Spring Flowers paper too) is not shown in the current Idea Book & Catalogue, but it is still available to purchase. It's designed to coordinate beautifully with the 'Looks Like Spring' stamp set & 'Spring Bouquet' punch too, which I love too. Contact me if you'd like more information.

Supplies: Spring Happy Thoughts
Stamps: Think Happy Thoughts Card/Paper: Very vanilla, bashful blue, brocade blue, Spring Showers Designer Series Paper Ink: brocade blue, so saffron Accessories: brocade blue brad (Rich Regals® brads), brocade blue grosgrain
Tools: scallop circle punch, circle punches (1 3/8 inch, 1 ¼ inch, ¾ inch)

Supplies: Spring Friend
Stamps: Looks Like Spring Card/Paper: Kraft, very vanilla, bashful blue, chocolate chip, spring Showers Designer Series Paper Ink: bashful blue, basic brown Accessories: gold brads, chocolate grosgrain Tools: Spring Bouquet punchSupplies: Spring Friend

Besties Birthday

I realised I'd totally forgot to show you this card I made for my best buddy Nette's birthday a few weeks ago. Hi Nette if you're reading!It's a case of this lovely card by Penny O'Brien aka 'myhobbyisstamping'. My regulars know that one of my design quirks is that is generally can't tilt anything on a card or layout (not that there's anything wrong with it!), so this is a bit of a departure for me, but I do like the final card. I really like this colour combination too, so don't be surprised if you see it again.

Just a couple of details on the card:
The large pink flower has a pewter jumbo eyelet in the centre (thanks to my crop-a-dile) & both flowers are raised on dimensionals.
The bracketed piece is also cut out & raised on dimensionals.
I used the spiral punch to punch the holes down the side of the flower stamped whisper white piece & the tab is punched with the round tab punch.

Supplies:

Stamps: Office Accoutrements, Everyday Flexible Phrases
Card: Close to cocoa, pretty in pink, whisper white
Ink: Close to cocoa, pretty in pink, sage shadow, whisper white
Accessories: Silver brads. Pewter jumbo eyelets
Tools: round tab punch, spiral punch, crop-a-dile

Apologies also for the blurry pic - another midnight pic!

Colour Inspiration 14 - mojo!

Well, here I am again with another & very different attempt at colour challenge 14. Kristina said to go for a "high contrast & bold creation", so I sat down tonight & had another go &....this is it!This is quite a few steps out of my comfort zone but it was really fun to do. Who knew I would enjoy black & grey (although thank goodness for the ruby red!).

Mojo is a favourite word of mine in relation to my papercrafting inspiration (& sometimes the lack of it!), so I thought it was perfect for my bold creation. Co-credit goes to my gorgeous hubby, as I came up with using mojo (more on that later) & he suggested the square layout with a letter in each square. Go Damo!

It's a little hard to see in my midnight photo, but the letters are embossed in black & silver (grey!) & raised on dimensionals. All 4 squares are also raised off the ruby red piece on dimensionals. The black, grey & white card is all textured cardstock too (yum!)

This card is dedicated to my dear dear friend Ngaire in London! Missing you heaps buddy & hope your stamping stuff arrives soon! xxx

Supplies:

Stamps: Big Deal alphabet, Big Pieces
Card: Basic black, basic gray & whisper white textured cardstock, ruby red, river , rock card
Ink: versamark, river rock
Accessories, ruby red brad (Earth Elements®), silver brad, black gingham ribbon
Tools: 1 3/8 inch circle punch, large star punch, star punch

Edited 6 July: Thanks so much to everyone who has left lovely comments on my blog about my challenge cards. They are all really appreciated. Hope you are all having a great weekend. Best wishes, Di :0)

Colour Inspiration Challenge 14

I gulped when I saw this week's challenge colours: basic black, basic gray, going gray, river rock & ruby red. I'm not normally a black & grey sort of girl, so this one was a real challenge for me. Here's the inspiration pic...

...and here's my card:I cheated & included white for my card too, but Kristina has for previous challenges too, so I guess it's OK. The phrase is from the Kindness jumbo wheel. I just inked up the phrase I wanted with a basic gray marker & rolled it on the card. Then I stamped Mr Elephant in going gray ink & his flower in river rock & ruby red. I added a little rhinestone brad in the centre of the flower. To make the grass, I just snipped a strip of river rock card. Then I knotted & wrapped some black gingham ribbon around it. I mounted the whole piece on ruby red card with dimensionals, then some textured basic gray card. The base is basic black textured card stock.

It's not the bold creation that Kristina mentioned, but I think it's more me. Hope you like it too.
I do have another more bold idea that I'll try if I have time. Must run for now though.

Edited: Eek! Just had a minor heart attack. I went back to Kristina's blog & the challenge colours have changed to include whisper white instead of going gray! Mr Elephant will be staying going gray though, but at least I don't feel like I'm cheating anymore with the white!

Supplies:

Stamps: Wild about you, Kindness wheel
Card: Basic black, basic gray, going gray, ruby red, river rock
Ink: basic gray, going gray, ruby red, river rock
Accessories: ruby rhinestone, black gingham ribbon

Baroque for the road

I'm sure you're thinking "when will she just get over 'Baroque Motifs'", so apologies in advance to those visitors! I do LOVE this set, but I promise this will be the last post with it for a while. I have too many other stamps feeling unloved.

I made these cards for a June workshop & class. I really wanted to show the girls how to make a super quick but elegant card & a 'stepped up' version with some extra detail. Lets face it, sometimes we have more time than others to create. Again, you'll notice I've used the luscious 'in colours'. I just LOVE how they work together.

Super Quick Baroque

So here's my no fail quick card made just with card & ink...OK & 1 basic punch!). There are no cut outs (for once - LOL) & no raised layers.

The steps: - Use corner rounder punch to create scallop on bottom of whisper white card (remove guard to make scallops). - Stamp swirl in river rock ink on whisper white card across card. - Stamp large flower in blue bayou ink. - Stamp small flowers in soft sky & groovy guava ink. - Stamp greeting in blue bayou ink. - Add a narrow strip of groovy guava card to top of whisper white piece. - Mount on soft sky base.

Mini step up: To easily step-up this version, just exchange the groovy guava strip for some groovy guava double stitched ribbon – lovely for some simple texture.

Baroque Plus

Here's a stepped up, but still very quick version. The basic layout is the same as before. I've added a thicker guava strip & some blue bayou double stitched ribbon at the top. Then, I couldn't resist cutting out an extra guava motif, adding a not quite navy brad (fab with blue bayou too!) & popping it on dimensionals.

Baroque to Go (OK I'll stop it now!)

Here's a final super quick one for the road.
Again, it's the same basic layout as before. I just left out the large motif on this one & changed the base to river rock. I actually made 5 variations of this basic design in a set as a gift for my hostess Melissa, using different combinations of the colours. I also made matching envelopes for each the cards as a finishing touch.

Love gone baroque

Oops – didn't quite get back to posting my other love note until now. Baroque Motifs has to make an appearance somewhere, so here it is.I actually made this one while I was making some other full size baroque cards for a workshop....but as I forgot to take pics of the finished pack of cards, you'll just have to trust me...or ask Melissa!
I cased the design from page 3 of the Idea Book & Catalogue. For my version, I used groovy guava, river rock & old olive & a very vanilla Love Note. I stamped the base with the swirl & small flower & attached a strip of groovy guava double stitched ribbon. Then, I cut out 2 large motifs (yep, I love cutting those out!), added a celery rhinestone brad & mounted them with dimensionals on an old olive square with a silver brad in each corner & popped it up on dimensionals too. To carry the design inside the note, I stamped a bit of the swirl & small flower there too.
...and that's it for the love notes for now. Sorry about blurry & dodgy colours in this pic. I think it looks much nicer IRL. My camera doesn't seen to be coping with the small Love Notes.
Supplies
Stamps: Baroque Motifs
Card: Very vanilla card & Love Note, old olive
Ink: River rock, groovy guava
Accessories, rhinestone brads ('Ice' pack), silver brads, groovy guava double stitched ribbon