Sunflower Birthday

I'm glad to say that it's a gorgeous sunny & warm day in Sydney today, so it seems a appropriate to show you this happy little sunflower card I made in August.I really love the layout, which was cased from this cute card by Sherri Barron. I'm not sure how I stumbled upon Sherri's blog, but I really like her style. The image is from a very cute little set of 4 stamps called 'A Flower for all Seasons', which I received from SU at Convention (you can see the others at the bottom of the post).

I water-coloured the image with my some Stampin' Write® markers & Aqua Painter™ on some watercolour paper & was pretty happy with how it turned out. Here is a close-up of the image, so you can see it better. The colour combo is a different one for me, but I think it works.Anyway, I have to get busy with some housework, so no more time to waffle. If you'd like any more info, please let me know. Bye for now.

Inky wishes
Di

Supplies
Stamps: A Flower for All Seasons, On Your Birthday, Trendy Trees
Card/Paper: Tangerine Tango, more mustard, old olive, watercolour paper, Washington Apple DSP,
Ink: Black stayz on ink pad, Earth Elements® Stampin' Write® markers: really rust, pumpkin pie, old olive, ruby red, summer sun
Accessories: circle rhinestone brads – fire pack, very vanilla taffeta ribbon

A Flower for all Seasons - $24.95

Bella Bleu Blossoms

I'm back with a card I made for a friend in August.

I wanted an elegant & peaceful look, so I thought my fave blues – brocade & bashful - would fit the bill & added some Bella Bleu DSP. The beautiful blossom image is from 'Thoughts & Prayers' & is stamped with bashful blue & brocade blue markers. The flowers are topped with Crystal Effects® to make them shine...& they're not messy IRL like they do in the pic.

I was happy to see that the greeting from Thoughts & Prayers fitted perfectly in my newest punch – the wide oval punch – you gotta love new punches! I think the rest is pretty self explanatory, but just let me know if you need any info.

Amazingly, this was my first play with 'Thoughts & Prayers', even though it was in my first new catty order back in April. Crazy I know! I was actually a little put off, as it's a double mounted set, (2 stamps go on either side of the block), but I finally got over myself & used it anyway. I'm pleased to say it wasn't as inconvenient as I thought....but I still much prefer single mounted ones.

Tip: To make using double mounted sets easier to use, stamp each image on vellum card with your stamp -a-ma-jig, so you can place the image perfectly when you want to.

Anyhoo, moving right along, I'll be back with more tomorrow.
Inky wishes
Di

Supplies
Stamps: Thought & Prayers
Cards/Paper: Brocade blue, bashful blue & very vanilla card, Bella Bleu DSP
Ink: brocade blue, bashful blue Stampin' Write® markers, brocade blue ink pad
Accessories: kraft taffeta ribbon, Crystal Effects®
Tools: wide oval punch, scallop edge punch

Tea Party Tri-Shutter

Well, it's been a looong time between posts but I'm trying to get back into the swing now. I've lots to show you if I can just get some posts written, so with no further waffle...

Here's a tri-shutter card I made way back at the start of August for an Aunties 80^th birthday (see how behind I am?). I used a whole A4 sheet for this one, so it's 21cm tall & fitted into a DL sized envelope.

The base is barely banana & is decorated with Tea Party DSP. The flower images from 'Sweet Stems' are stamped in basic grey & coloured with markers. The greeting is from 'Great Friend'. It's hard to see, but I added some Crystal Effects® to the flower centres. You can maybe see a bit better in this pic. Here are some final pics of the card closed...& flattened out so you can see the panels better.
We made a smaller tri-shutter card at my fancy folds class this month, which I'll show you another time. You can also find a tutorial to make your own tri-shutter card here on Splitcoast.

I'm trying to schedule some posts for each day, so hopefully I'll be back with more then. Inky wishes
Di

Supplies
Stamps: Sweet Stems, Great Friend
Card/Paper: barely banana, certainly celery, pretty in pink, whisper white
Ink: basic grey ink pad, certainly celery, pretty in pink, barely banana, always amethyst Stampin' Write® markers
Accessories: 5/8 inch certainly celery grosgrain, pretty in pink taffeta ribbon, Crystal Effects®

Origami Shirts

This is the second card we made at my Father's Day classes & was a very popular one with the girls.

I'm sure many of you have seen origami shirts before, but they were new to me until last year. I was shown how to make them last September by a lovely Thai couple at our church family camp. They showed us some of the origami things they learned to make as kids in Thailand & my eyes just about popped out of my head when they made the shirt, as I thought it would be perfect for Fathers Day. Thankfully, I managed to figure out how to make them again when I started planning this year's class. I did change the method for the sleeve, once I found Cambria Turnbow's Tutorial, as it was a bit easier than the way I was shown.

The pic just doesn't do justice to the colours & I don't have the energy today to take more pics, so I'll just say it looked much better IRL. The base is certainly celery (missed you! – stamped with the 'Sanded' background again). In case you're wondering, my shirt was made with a 9cm x 15.2cm piece of designer paper (so you can get 6 from one sheet). Both paper designs are from the 'Windsor Knot' pack, which is perfect for male cards (but has neutral gender prints too).

The shirt front & buttons are drawn with a choc chip marker. The mats are chocolate chip (pierced with the mat pack template - my current obsession). The whole shirt panel is popped off the front with dimensionals. Finally, the 'love you' greeting is from 'Short & Sweet' & includes a combination of 3 punches (curly label & large & small ovals).

Gary's Birthday Shirt

Here's another version of the shirt card, which I made for my dear father in law Gary's birthday in August. This was actually the first shirt card I made once I figured how to & the shirt is a little bigger than the class version (paper size was 10cm x 18cm). I used some retired 'Spring Showers' DSP on a brocade blue base (again with the Sanded background – are you getting I love this for manly cards?). I snuck in some kraft taffeta ribbon on this one & think it still looks manly enough. The greeting is from 'On your Birthday'.

Anyhoo, thanks for popping in to visit. If you'd like any more info, just drop me an e-mail. I still have one more father's day card to show you, but it'll have to wait. No pics yet!

Inky wishes
Di

Supplies:
Windsor Knot shirt
Stamps: Short & Sweet, Sanded background
Card: certainly celery, choc chip, old olive, Windsor Knot DSP
Ink: certainly celery & choc chip ink pads, choc chip marker
Tools: mat pack piercing template & mat, piercing tool

Gary's Birthday Shirt
Stamps: On Your Birthday, Sanded background
Card: brocade blue, choc chip, Spring Showers DSP
Ink: brocade blue ink pad
Accessories: kraft taffeta ribbon

Sense of Time for Fathers day

Hi there & a very happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there. Hope you wowed them with some fab cards & lots of spoiling today.
I'm here to share the first card we made at my Father's Day classes this month, using the 'Sense of Time' set from the Spring Mini. It's a different style set for me, but I thought it would be great for those masculine cards that I usually find quite difficult... & I really enjoyed using it.

The colours I chose were night of navy, baja breeze & ivory. I stamped the base with the 'Sanded' background (fab for adding some texture to male cards) & the cog stamp from 'Sense of Time'. The baja piece has been stamped first with the 'En Francais' background & more cogs in baja breeze ink, then over-stamped with the large clock face & more cogs in night of navy (some stamped off first). Then, I ran the piece through the crimper for more texture & mounted it on some naturals ivory card. The father's day greeting was rock & rolled in baja & navy ink & stamped on more ivory card & mounted on some navy card. Then I punched 2 holes with the crop-a-dile, & added some brad & hemp twine. For the class cards, I changed the thread to linen thread, which I liked better, but I haven't got a good pic of a card using it, so you'll have to imagine the difference. You can see more detail in this close-up pic.So where did I get this idea from?......Well, I totally have one of the lovely girls in my team to thank – Cathy McLean, as my card was a case of this card she made using the Seaworthy set.

I just loved the layout & the effect Cathy created with the crimped piece. Cathy's a marvel with kraft cardstock & beautiful soft colours, so I hope she can start sharing some of her work with you when she finishes putting her blog together.

Anyway, thanks for dropping by, Back tomorrow hopefully with my second father's day class card.
Inky wishes
Di

Supplies:
Stamps: Sense of Time, Sanded & En Francais backgrounds, Occasional Greetings
Card: night of navy, baja breeze, naturals ivory
Accessories: hemp twine or linen thread, silver brads
Tools: crimper, crop-a-dile

Ribbons - Free - Yum!

I'm reeeally excited to tell you about the fab gift offer Stampin' Up has announced for September, so I can't wait any longer to tell you....

It's FREE RIBBON!!!!!

From 1-30 September, order $100 of products or host a $600 workshop & you'll receive this gorgeous ribbon bundle as a gift from Stampin' Up!This ribbon bundle includes two 9.1 metre rolls of ribbon:

1. Certainly Celery 5/8" (1.59 cm) poly-twill ribbon
2. So Saffron 5/8" (1.59 cm) grosgrain ribbon

These ribbons are not normally available, so this month is your only opportunity to get them. Contact me for more info or to place your order.

Inky wishes

Di

PS: I'm almost finished my newsletter (OK, don't faint!) & will also be sending out some great ribbon & brad share offers with it, so keep an eye out for it in your in box over the next day or two. If you don't get my newsletter already, please e-mail me at colourmehappy@optusnet.com.au to join my mailing list.

Never ending friend

Well helloooo again.
I'm back with a card I made for the fabulous Sam's birthday last week. Now I have to confess that I felt more than a bit of creative pressure to make a special card for Sam, being the paper guru that she is. Thankfully though, I had just made my first never ending card, (after seeing this one by very clever Karen), & hoped that Sam would like them as much as I did.

So what is never-ending-card? It's a card with different panels that turn & show you a new view, again & again & again until you're back to the first view again. I found myself just sitting turning it again & again just because it's fun (plus a little OCD maybe?).

Anyway, to show you what I mean, here are all the views. This is the front:

This is the second view: & the third:& the fourth:

& here it is standing up with the front & second view open.
It's pretty easy to make once you get the hang of the folding. Accurate cutting, scoring & folding make a difference too. The thing that takes the longest is decorating it...especially if you're as indecisive as me. My version is 14.1cm square (that extra 1mm helps it to fold easier!) & the 4 individual card pieces you need are 7cm x 14.1cm each, so you only need an A4 sheet of card.

Karen explains how to layout the card here, but I also found Dawn Griffiths video really helped the pennies to drop, or in this case the card to fold. Thanks so much ladies for sharing your wisdom. You rock!

If you'd like any other info, just drop me a line. I also have another version to show you, which I made with Trendy Trees. Still need to take some pics though, so it'll have to wait for another time. In the meantime...

Bye for now & inky wishes
Di

Supplies:
Stamps: Great Friend, Always, Best Yet
Card: choc chip card, Sweet Always DSP
Ink: choc chip, regal rose, pretty in pink, pink pirouette

A little odd...but funny

Quick & fun post ahead....Here's another card I made for my gorgeous friend Ngaire, just because I thought it would make her laugh.The stamped image is from a slightly left of field little set called "That's Funny', which I was lucky to win at Convention. I hadn't ordered it as I wasn't sure that I would use it a lot, but it's a fun one to have. I coloured the image with my Aqua Painter™ & kiwi, baja, not quite navy & blush blossom ink pads. Here's a closer shot. The layout is very simple, so I won't waffle about it, but please let me know if you have any questions.

Back soon with some more inkiness.
Di

Supplies:
Stamps: That's Funny
Card: baja breeze, kiwi kiss, not quite navy & whisper white card, Urban Garden DSP
Ink: black stayz-on ink pad, kiwi kiss, baja breeze, not quite navy & blush blossom ink pads
Tools: piercing tool & mat pack piercing template

Hippos, birdy & a rocket too

Here I am again with the long promised second watercolour class card plus some more final 'Pun Fun' projects. Warning - this is a looong post! Anyhoo, here are all the hippos I made:

The layout probably looks familiar, as I really liked the layout on this pink hippo card, & used it again here. I swapped the baby colours too for riding hood red, tangerine tango, old olive & so saffron - & voila, a much bolder & flexible combo. I chose to use Mr Hippo at the classes, but I had some other examples to show the girls, which I'll show you here too.

Everyone chose their own 'Pun Fun' image & ink colours. I wish I'd taken a pic of all their creations, as it was great to see all the different hippos, rocket & cats. The DSP is a lovely print from the Haiku pack & the ribbon is vanilla grosgrain. The olive panel etc is popped up on dimensionals. The greeting was washed over with the olive crayon.

This was my original hippo – coloured with not quite navy, old olive & tangerine tango.

Then, for the first first class, I gave the tangerine tango a squeeze (sorry!) with some olive & riding hood red:For the second class, I went for old olive, riding hood red & tangerine tango:

Ngaire's Birdy

I also made this version using Mr Birdy for my darling friend Ngaire's birthday (Ngaire from the UK in most of her comments on my blog).Mr Birdy was coloured in pumpkin pie & so saffron with an old olive & riding hood red hat. I added some ribbon tabs (I know Ngai loves a good ribbon tab) & my fave greeting from 'On Your Birthday'. Love your work Ngai!

Tip: Never throw out scraps of ribbon 3cm or more long, as they are perfect for ribbon tabs. The red & kiwi were actually scraps left from my convention make & takes).

Scrappy Rocket

And finally (this really is the last Pun Fun project for now)...
Here's a little rocket card I made using similar colours that the girls at the class liked. This was made with scraps on my desk when I initially coloured all my 'Pun Fun' images, so the card size is a bit one-offish. My colour-in-ning wasn't so good on the whisper white, but you get the idea! As for the rest of the card, there's some 'Sanded' background stamping on the base & the tangerine square is pierced with the mat pack (hadn't pierced for ages but I feel a new phase coming on!).The greeting is the matching greeting for the rocket.

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed seeing my 'Pun Fun' projects. Let me know which one was your favourite (if you have one).

Inky wishes
Di

Supplies:
Pun Fun class hippos & Ngaire's birdy
Stamps: Pun Fun, On Your Birthday
Card/paper: watercolour paper, riding hood red, tangerine tango, so saffron, old olive, Haiku DSP
Ink: black stayz on ink pad, riding hood red, tangerine tango, ink pads, old olive, not quite navy, so saffron, pumpkin pie Watercolor Wonder™ crayons (non in-colours) or ink pads
Accessories: celery grosgrain ribbon (class), kiwi, tangerine & riding hood red striped ribbon

Tools: Aquapainter

Scrappy Rocket
Stamps: Pun Fun
Card/paper: watercolour paper, riding hood red, tangerine tango, kiwi kiss
Ink: black: stayz on ,ink pad ruby red, garden green & pumpkin pie Watercolor Wonder™ crayons
Accessories: tangerine tango striped ribbon
Tools: Aquapainter, Mat pack piercing template & mat, piercing tool

Spring comes early

It's a gorgeous blue sky morning in Sydney today, which makes me hopeful that some Spring weather is on it's way soon. Spring has definitely arrived a month early at Stampin' Up! though, with today's launch of the Spring Mini Catalogue. It's full of new stamps, papers, brads, ribbon & lots of ideas to get you in the mood for some warmer weather. I have lots of new goodies to play with....when I get a chance.

Click on the picture or here to view the catalogue online. I'll be mailing copies shortly to all customers who haven't been to a July class. Contact me at colourmehappy@optusnet.com.au if you're not on my mailing list & would like a free one too.

I'm also in the process of organising some ribbon & accessory shares. Stay tuned to your mail box for more info coming soon.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Inky wishes

Di

PS: I have actually taken pics of the last watercolour class project, so will be ready to post it once I get a bit of editing done.