ICS#92 Merry Xmas

I have used the weekly sketch from Inspirational Card Sketches for the card below. It is an easy sketch to follow and can be interpreted in many ways.

It is very 'pinky' for a christmas card! I have used Up Up & Away stamps from Verve and BG papers.
Thanks for looking.

Mojo Monday#166 merry christmas

It is a wet day here in Victoria and so I hid in the craftroom to play! I made a quick card using the sketch from Mojo Monday I love the simplicity of the sketch.

here is a close up as I have cut out extra holly leaves and made them a bit more 3D.

The ribbon bow is bigger than what I thought it would be so I think this card will have to be hand delivered rather than sent in the post .. I can just imagine the bulge of the bow jamming the postal sorting machine ... Postal sorting places in all countries must hate us card makers!!!

Thanks for looking.

2S4Y#66 Dinner Recipes

Thought I would do something different this week for 2 Sketches 4 You. I wanted to make a little recipe book for a friend of my sisters as a way to say thankyou (as we are staying at her house when we go over to NZ to visit the family). I rotated Lauras sketch 180 degrees - basically flipped it upside down! Here is the result -

below is inside the book - I have divided the book into sections - meat, chicken, pork, fish and vege so that when she comes across a recipe she likes she can write it in its' own section.

and this is a side view - it stands up by itself!

I enjoyed making this little book and hand cut 100 105mm x 105mm pages - not individually off course and then bound it all together with my zutter - I love that machine!
I'm hoping she likes it!
Thanks for looking.

CPS #194 Birthday wishes

I love the sketch this week from Card Positioning Systems as it is nice and basic and open for interpretation in any way! Here is what I did ...

I have a window stamp that I have no idea where I got it from but I use it to death (so to speak) and thought that it suited the sketch. I have cut out the windows and backed it with acetate, made a little planter window box and attached flowers around the bottom of the window. It is a nice and quick card to make!

Thanks for lookimg.

Clean & Simple #117 Happy Buzz-day

Here is a card I made following sketch #117 from Clean & Simple. I really like the sketches from this blog. And I have to admit to keep a card clean and simple is incredibly hard!!! you feel like you always have to add something!

I forgot to take a close up of the bees but they are stamped on yellow paper and I have cut out the six sided shape from the card and inset a black frame and then attached the yellow paper inside the front cover so that they are all inset from the card.

Thanks for looking.

Scrapbook Boutique xmas challenge

The challenge over at Scrapbook Boutique blog this month is anything xmas so it could be a layout or OTP or what I love doing ... a card!

off course I have chosen non traditional colours of pink and brown and have added a santa hat to my Bull stamp (Ferngully Stamps) and have played around with the title "moo-rry christmas" - I love doing my chrissy cards with animals and playing around with the sounds they make and incorporating it into the title!

Thanks for looking.

Jay Gees Challenge

I found a lovely Australian online store recently called Jay Gee's Nook and they have some great products and some of the stamp brands are not found in other stores - I like that because it is refreshing to see different stamp images - KWIM?
They have a monthly challenge on their blog and this month you are to create a card based on a photograph of theirs ... the first time I saw the photo I was struck by the colours so I used that as my inspiration for the following card

and a close up of the flowers which have been covered with dimensional magic to give it a glossy look to it.

I like the colour blue and have used Lime Ricky papers and Bazzill cardstock which I have embossed.

Thanks for looking.

PWC#128 thanks a bunch

Here is a thankyou card I made for Paper Pretties weekly challenge.

I have used Stampendous Changito monkey stamps and the little fella is hanging in mid air from the rope so the orange in the background is actually the back of the card. I am really fond of this colour combo (orange and green).

Thanks for looking.

Sharons' Book

Sharon here is the little note book that I have made you ...
This is the front of the note book

This is the inside

and this is the back of it!

Now it has been awhile since I have made a notebook with my zutter machine and sometimes when you use papers that have a definite way to view them, ie - a right side up versus upside down ... well it is important to punch the holes so that all the sides are facing the correct way ... well I managed it for the front, inside but sort of forgot the back side and realised once I had punched the holes that the butterfly on the paper on the back cover was upside down! So having many an experience with making mistakes I quickly solved the problem by stamping a bigger butterfly and cutting it out and sticking it over the upside down butterfly!

So Sharon you can't tell but you know because I have told you! Hope you still like it thou!

ICS#91 Merry Christmas

I struggled this week with the sketch from Inspirational Card Sketches - I had this idea to have something coming 'out' from the largest triangle (like a pouch) but I don't think I quite pulled it off!

and a close up

These are old papers from kaisercraft 'wish upon a star' papers - I have always liked the colours - pink, green and light blue, it is a break from the traditional christmas colours.

Thanks for looking

Cardabilities #15 You make life bright

A nice easy sketch from Cardabilities this week. I have a fetish about spots so I decided to try and incorporate as many spots as I could on this card without over doing it!

The title and lampshade is from the Shine On stamp set from Unity Stamps. I love that set, I have used Basic Grey paper, Core'dinations cardstock and off course Cuttlebug spot embossing folder.

Thanks for taking time to view my work.

Mojo Monday #165 Just for You

Here's a quick card I did following a sketch from Mojo Monday #165. I thought it was great how the original sketch had the bulk of the card at an angle and since I always make cards flush and straight it was a little unusual to place things at angles! Here is the result.

I must admit I love the colour combo I have chosen - an apricoty orange, a light shade of teal with a splash of white. Thanks for looking.

2S4Y Moo'rry Christmas

Continuing on with my 'animal theme' christmas cards I have used Kazans' sketch from over at 2 sketches 4 you to make the card below:

The blue paper is pleated and the red ribbon hangs loose below the bull image and off course I have played around with the title opting for 'moo-rry' instead of 'merry'!!!

Thanks for looking.

ABS #032 say it with Gold

I cannot believe that I have used products that I haven't used for a looooooooooong time! The challenge over at Annabelle Stamps Blog was to use gold. Here is the resulting card:

I had to dig out my gold ink pad (at the bottom of my ink draw), my gold embossing powder (in a draw along with all the other embossing powders that hasn't been open in years!) and my heat tool which I found easily as I used it the other week!

I was a bit rusty with embossing this way but I am happy with the result!

Thanks for looking.

CPS#193 - From our Home

I have made yet another christmas card following the sketch from Card Positioning Systems. This weeks sketch is great as it is relatively basic but can be interpreted many ways and I will definitely be redoing this sketch again with variations to it.
Here is my card ...

I have used papers from Kaiser Country Grove collection, Stampendous Holiday Home stamps, Stazon black ink, Spellbinders scalloped circle dies, Liquid pearls, Marvy Pens and a blender pen.
Thanks for looking.

The Lollipop Ladies #8 - Just for You

The Lollipop Ladies have a great challenge (running fornightly) and the theme for this fortnight is Jellybeans and you have to add some gloss.
I run away from multi colour cards but lately I have been making some and I must admit that I didn't mind doing this challenge and loved the colours in the end. I had some paper left over from a scrapbooking page I did of my neice when she was a little girl and I thought that it had jellybean colours! Here is the result ...

and a close up to show that I have used papier glass finish (like dimensional magic) on the flowers.

Before applying the glass finish I placed the flowers on a small foam mat and using a broad tip embossing tool I rubbed the flowers in a circular motion so that the petals curl up.
I have used papers from Kaisercraft Fun in the Sun and Playtime collections, Core'dinations Lime cardstock, Kaisercraft flower stamp and silver bling, black Stazon ink, grossgrain ribbon and Spellbinders labels 4 dies.
Thanks for looking.

Clean & Simple #116 - Christmas greetings

I found yet another challenge blog and this one I really like! why? because of the name Clean & Simple and all the design team card examples are what I like making - clean, simple and uncomplicated cards - actually I wouldn't exactly say they are uncomplicated cards because all cards are complicated when you calculate the time and effort put into them! but lets just say the 'look' uncomplicated!!!
The following card is based on a sketch

The rule was to use a diecut shape as the main background paper hence I have used my favourite Spellbinders scalloped circle dies and used the smaller scalloped circles as my bauble embellishments. The stamps (snowman and title) are from Stampendous Holiday Home and the paper is an oldie but goodie - Basic Grey Lilykate Collection. The white dots are liquid pearls and the bling is from Kaisercraft.

Thanks for looking!

Paper Pretties Weekly Challenge - Christmas Greetings

Paper Pretties is having a challenge this week and it is all about embossing! I loved doing this card it was great to get the good ole embossing folders out and off course I choose my favourite one (dots).

I have embossed the outside of the card only to create a border. Below is a close up.

I have used Core'dinations cardstock, Stampendous Holiday Home stamps, Marvy pens, Piggytales 'billy goats gruff' paper, scallop scissors and off course Cuttlebug dot embossing folder.

Thanks for looking

Annabelle Stamps Blog - Hoo Hoo Hoo

I found an Australian stamp company! It is Annabelle Stamps and it is an online store and they have some great stamp sets at excellent prices. They also have a blog site associated with the online store and they have challenges - here is one for ABS #031 and it is a sketch challenge and they also have another one for this month and that is a 'gold' challenge (will have to give that one a go too!)

I have used a paper from Home for Christmas (Kaisercraft), Spellbinders labels 4 die cutter, Prima owl stamp, Marvy markers, Carolee Creations flirtacious alphabet stickers, Kaisercraft bling and Liquid pearls.
It was a lovely simple sketch from Annabelle Stamps blog and using the sketch you can make quick and easy cards.
Thanks for looking.

ICS #90 Recycled Xmas

Over at Inspirational Card Sketches they had a great sketch this week and initally I sketched this card with their sketch in mind but as I progressed it sort of went off the sketch at bit!
Instead of using a circle card I put the circle part on a square card and tried to keep to the sketch from there.

For our xmas cards this year I thought I would go non traditional and really personalise them beyond the uniqueness because they are hand made.

In this card Neil and I are advid cyclists and have just returned from a 7 month cycle tour with our dog Kouta in tow so I stamped a scene using Stampin Up All in the family stamps and masked alot and stamped a bike stamp that I have no idea where I got it from! The title 'have a recycled xmas' came from a hat that Neil wears over his helmet to block out the sun and it had 'recycled' on it so that gave me the idea for the title. I love the way the scene came out and who ever gets this christmas card will definitely know who it is from!

Thanks for looking.

CPS #192 xmas joy

I had an absolute ball with the sketch from Card Positioning Systems #192. At first I was rather stumped and so left it for a few days and while sitting at my desk this afternoon it hit me - I turned the sketch on its side and I have done this sort of thing before with the title cut out from the card and I have always thought that it was a great way to embellish a card and create a title at the same time.

and from a slightly different angle ...

It is a great way to use old chipboard letters as a stencil and works particularly well with chunky/block style letters (easier to cut out). Basically the each letter is cut away from the edge of the card and you leave the top of each letter uncut.
I have also used scrap paper that has been lying around in my stash and it is paper from Sei -
Roxbury range. I am not sure where the Joy definition stamp came from.
Thanks for looking.

Mojo Monday #164 Have a micey xmas

I had a very productive day today with xmas cards - I have based the card on Mojo Monday sketch #164.
I am into animal xmas cards this year - I have a very versatile santa hat that I use on 'normal' animal stamps to make most of my xmas cards and then have a play around with words.

I am also using alot of scrap paper that I have lying around - the above paper is an old range from Sei - Roxbury. The mice stamp is from Inky Antics - teacup mousie #2 - if you look at other card postings that I have done I am sort off into Mice this week!

Thanks for looking and have a great week everyone!

2S4Y - Hey there cookie merry christmas

There is a great sketch by Laura over at 2 Sketches 4 You and I seem to be into mice stamps at the moment and more than likely I will do what I normally do and that is 'flog' (use it all the time) it to death! So here is the resulting card ...

and a close up

I love this set from Inky Antics - teacup mousie #2 and I couldn't help but make this christmas card for Neils cousin as her surname is Cooke and typical in Australia nearly every surname (if it is possible) there is a 'y' sound added to the end - Neils' surname is Jones so he is known as "Jonesy" so Neils' cousins husband is known as "Cookie" so this card is perfect for them!!!
I enjoyed making this card and Lauras' sketch is perfect and easy to use for cards.
Thanks for looking.

Paper Pretties Weekly Challenge

I was checking out the new sketch over at Card Positioning systems and I saw that this weeks sponsor was Paper Pretties so I went over and had a look around the shop and blog and saw that they are doing new releases all this week and they also have a weekly challenge and this week it is a sketch.
This is my card based on their sketch.

and a close up

I loved the friendly sketch Paper Pretties has created and the Design Team has made some fabulous cards and I must admit the Paper Pretties new release stamps are gorgeous! I wonder if the stamping products will come to Australia? I hope so!
Anyway the materials used for the above card are: Core'dinations Flame cardstock, Cosmo Cricket Pixie-Licious papers (love the colours in that range!), Inky Antics Teacup Mousie stamps, Marvey Plume II markers, Dove Blender pen, Black Stazon ink, Versa color Topaz ink and Spellbinders small scalloped die.
Thanks for taking a look and have a great week.

Scrapbook Boutique butterfly challenge

When I was online shopping at Scrapbook Boutique this week saw that they had a blog so I popped on over to have a looksie and saw that they had a butterfly challenge. Now I have a sister that adores butterflies (and angels) so I thought I would create a card for her using butterflies.

and here is a close up

I have used White cardstock, Bo Bunny Flutter Butter papers, Just for You and large butterfly Stamps from Grant Archival designed by Grace Taylor, Postage stamp and smaller butterfly is from Bella, Stazon ink Olive green and Timber brown and Celebrate ribbon.
I have stamped the butterfly on Vellum and cut out the image and applied double sided tape to the body part of the butterfly and then creased the wings so that they are raised up so that the butterfly appears to have 'landed' on the card!

Mojo Monday 163 - Just for You

Here is a card I did for the sketch from Mojo Monday #163. I have been making alot of Xmas cards so for a change I decided to do a 'normal' card!

I have used Core'dinations cardstock, Basic Grey Paper (Urban Prairie), Verve Up, Up & Away stamps (love that set!), Stazon ink, Kaiser Pearls, Francheville ribbon and Spellbinders scalloped circle dies.

I like the colours in the Basic Grey Urban Prairie collection and have used alot of papers in this range. I might even go and do a Mothers Day card now - it doesn't matter if I am 7 months early!!!

CPS - Tis the season

Thought I would give the sketch from Card Positioning Systems sketch #191.

I have used Bo Bunny paper, a santa claus sizzix die that I picked up somewhere, a xmas bottle cap I had lying around, Kaiser stamps and Carolee Creations red alpha stickers.
It was fun doing this card and it felt like I was back at kindergarten doing it when playing with Santas' cotton wool beard!!!
Thanks for taking the time to view my card.

2S4Y - Beary Merry Christmas

I thought I would start early this week on Kazans' sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You
Being a some what non traditionalist when it comes to christmas I decided to use non christmassy colours for this card ... I must admit I actually love the colour combo of pink and teal with a hint of green!

I have used Kaiser sugar syrup paper and teal pearls, Core 'dinations Orchid pink cardstock, Carolee Creations teal & pink alphabet stickers, Ferngully beary christmas stamp, Spellbinders scallop die, Making Memories vintage ruby ribbon, Dove blender pen, Marvy Plume II pens, Stazon ink

Thanks for taking the time to view my work.

Coming to town

Here is a card I made using sketch #14 from Cardabilities I stumbled across this great blog by accident and have definitely made it one of my favourites - the design team examples are really stunning cards and provide an endless supply of inspiration.
For the card below I have used Kaiser Countdown papers, Bazzill cardstock, Creative Stamp Collection "coming to town", Ferngully Stamps "curtains", All night media "snowflakes" and unfortunately I have no idea where the window and santa stamps came from! I have also used Prima flowers, Kaiser swirl bling, Stazon ink, Marvy Plume II pens, Dove blender pen and Shrinky dink.

and here is a close up

The curtains and window have been mounted on foam tape to give it more dimension.
Thanks for taking the time to view my work and see you next week!