Cardabilities Sketch #36

Hello lovely ladies (and gents if you are reading!) today Cardabilities sketch #36 begins. Karan
has created a very user friendly sketch for you. You don't have to use the elements she has used (so you don't have to have hearts and swirls like her sketch) but you do have to stick to the basic sketch form.

as you can see from my example I substituted the hearts and flowers for animals and the bracket border is my fence. For the extension of the swirls I have used clouds and sun! So have a go!

here is a close up of my little farm animals.

and my clouds.

I enjoyed making this card - in fact I love to use these farm animal stamps from Ferngully Stamps - they are perfect for all cards whether feminine, masculine or for kids!

materials - American Crafts white, powder, cricket, canary, Bazzill cheddar, honeycomb; Ferngully Stamps - cow, sheep, pig, Annabelle Stamps 'party animals 1', Hero Arts ' be happy' stamps; Stazon timber brown, Versa Color topaz inks; Marvy pens - blender 0, orche 13, pale orange 16, dark brown 18, leaf green 48, citrus yellow 69, Tombow grey N75; MFT flat bottom clouds; Ranger liquid pearls, Prima flowers.

I am also submitting this card for the animal challenges over at Diecut Dreams and Creative Card Crew.

Life is Sweet

Hi there bloggers - I made a very bright and cheery card this afternoon for the challenge over at The Stamp Spot blog. There challenge this month (and I am cutting it fine since it is the end of the month tomorrow!) was to draw inspiration from a photo so I took several elements from it - the first is the patchwork, then the bird and colours. This also worked well with the challenge from Kaboodle Doodles and that was stitching - real or faux - so I did both - the black stitched border (stamp from Sassafras Lass) and I actually hand stitched the squares to make it look like patchwork (I really stuck the patterned paper on plain paper and then stitched between the squares to make it look like they are sewn together!)
I have used the sketch from Inspirational Card Sketches #124 - I swapped everything over!
here is a close up of everything including the hand stitching ...

I love the brightness of this card and I have to admit that I am liking yellow at the moment.
materials - American Crafts - canary, spinach card, Bazzill - whirlpool card; Echo Park 'for the record' papers; Prima 'life is sweet', Annabelle Stamps 'party animals 1', Sassafras Lass 'stitched borders' stamps; Stazon jet black ink; Basic Grey 'urban prairie' brad; Spellbinders petite scalloped circles; Ranger liquid pearls.

Christmas Greetings

Hi there - it has been a week since I last made a card - I took the week off as my mother and youngest nephew came over from NZ for a visit ... I tell you an 11 year old boy is simply exhausting to have around! I have played footy, done heaps of maths equations (yeah it felt like being back in school!), I patiently (!) let my nephew assist me in baking and cooking (he said he loved that but I think he loved making a mess!!!) and have had to play scrabble and deliberately LOOSE so I don't thrash him by 400 points!!! I loved having him here and enjoyed it so much ... it is a pity he doesn't like craft!
So I entered the craft room this afternoon to create this simple christmas card

here is a close up of the metal charm.

materials - Bazzill pine green cardstock; Cosmo Cricket 'mitten weather' papers; Stampendous 'home for christmas' stamps; Stazon timber brown ink; paper flowers; metal charm; 4mm split ring; 10mm white organza; Ranger liquid pearls; Spellbinders labels 4.

I have followed the sketch from Card Positioning Systems #228. The theme of xmas comes from Crafty Creations. The shaped card (Spellbinders labels 4) is for Simon Says. I have included an organza ribbon for Crafts & Me and I am also entering it for Party Time Tuesdays - anything goes and Totally Stampalicious - anything goes.

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend ... me I am going to recover!

Aussie Cards For Sale

Like many a cardmaker out there I have quite a few cards in my pile and there is only so many I can give away! There is an online web shop here in Australia called Aussie Cards for Sale that specialises in selling handmade cards - they already have 20 designers and they are currently looking for more designers and cards so I thought why not give it a go and apply! Are you like me and have heaps of cards in stock and not sure what to do with them? why not check out the details on Alicias' blog Time to Create.
Here are a preview of cards that I have available for sale (fingers crossed!).

I have included a range of cards from female birthday, male birthday, get well, love, thanks and even a 'miss you'.

Well I hope you all have a great weekend!

with much thanks

Hi Ya! just one card this afternoon - I began it this morning and then stopped to chat to the family on Skype (again!) and then finished it off this afternoon. I was trawling the internet looking at cards in general and some talented person out there (not me!) had made these gorgeous flowers out of (well what looked like) scalloped circles and just cut small slots around the circle to create petals - genius!!! so I thought I would give it a go.

a close up of the flower - I used foam tape to attach the flower to the card and then just lifted the petals a bit to give them more dimension. I also handmade the button to co-ordinate with the card.

It is a very 'feminine' card for me but I liked how it turned out. The background is made by alternating green and pink scalloped edge papers by layering them.

Inspiration for this card came from quite a few places! The sketch is from Inspirational card sketches. The colours and layers were from the photo of a Princess cake over at Lollipop Ladies.

The newspaper print flower is for the challenge over at Simon Says - had to use newspaper. The flower itself is from Crafts & Me - add a flower so I did to my sentiment! The reason for 2 flowers is for the challenge over at Crafty Creations which was to double up (that is a great idea for a challenge!) and the scalloped easel card is for Top Tip Tuesday blog and that was to make a shaped card.

And my Top Tip Tuesday tip: to make your own buttons to co-ordinate with your papers that you are using simply layer a piece of patterned paper on chipboard, run it through a die cutting machine using the smallest cuttlebug circle die, punch 2 small holes in the center, as an option you can thread your favourite cord through and tie a bow at the back, attach to flower center and then apply glossy accents to give it a more of an authentic button look ... to easy!

Oh well thanks for looking and your kind comments.

Happy Birthday puppy dog

I am trying to increase my male cards in my stash so I thought the sketch from Card Patterns and a dog image would be perfect for a male card. It is easy to use animals for male cards as I don't think flowers and girlie images would be well received! So I made this card based on the theme from Diecut Dreams and Card Creative Crew which both had 'animal antics' as their themes.

You can't quite see it in the photo but the dog bones to the left of the dog have glossy accents on them.
a close up of the paws which are actually Francheville brads.


I am very happy with the way the card turned out and I really like the colour combo of brown and teal - gorgeous!
materials - AC coffee cardstock; Paper Studio 'family' papers; Paper Studio 'puppy love' stamps, Annabelle Stamps 'party animals 1' stamps; Stazon timber brown, Versa Color turquoise inks; Marvy pens - blender 0, dark brown 18 and Tombow grey N75; Francheville paw brads; Dog bone twill; Inkssentials glossy accents, Cuttlebug circle dies, 1/8" brass eyelet; 7mm split ring; Fiskars 'round the bend' punch.
Thanks for looking.

Happy Birthday

Here is this mornings' 2nd card - I made it very bright and cheery! The main theme of the card is CAS from the challenge over at Wee Memories. I have included a star as a button for the challenge over at Cupcake Craft 'wish upon a star'. I have also used dry embossing for Kaboodle Doodles and made it a birthday card for Birthday Sundaes 'anything goes birthday'.

a close up of the bow and button

I seem to be into big bows at the moment and enjoyed making this very quick clean line card.
materials - American Crafts coffee, cricket, melon cardstock; Kaisercraft 'playtime' & 'fun in the sun' papers; Chipboard; Queen Kat Design 'star' stamps; Annabelle Stamps 'party animals 1' stamps; Stazon jet black and timber brown inks; Marvy dark brown 18 pen; Inkssentials glossy accents; American Crafts ribbon; Sizzix oval tags; Cuttlebug dot embossing folder.
Thanks for looking.

Christmas Greetings

Woo hoo I was on a role this morning - I managed 2 cards! Here is the first for the morning following the theme of 'christmas in july' which quite a few challenge blogs had this week - Scrapbook Boutique had this challenge as did Paper Sundaes. The sketch is from Sweet Stop Sketches which had the spin of 'christmas in july'. I am also submitting it for Totally Stampalicious challenge this week which is buttons and bows.

here is a close up of the tag and bow. The tag is made from a Spellbinders labels 4 die - I trimmed the sides and bottom.

I like these colours - purple, light blue and dark green.
materials - Bazzill javelina, American Crafts geyser, wine cardstock; Cosmo Cricket 'mitten weather' papers; Stampendous 'holiday home' stamps; Stazon jet black ink; Marvy pens - blender 0, aqua grey 51, spring green 71, amethyst 106; Spellbinders labels 4 dies; Cuttlebug circle dies; Ranger liquid pearls; 16mm lilac ribbon; Bazzill button.
Thanks for looking.

Friends like flowers ...

Hi ya bloggers - just one card this afternoon. I wasn't sure how this card was going to turn out but when I started it I sort off had a bad feeling that it wasn't going to work but in the end I loved how it turned out! I sort off was fiddling with the long bits of the ribbon and was about to trim them when I thought why don't I try curling them - even though this ribbon has no beading along the edge I still managed to secure the curls by double sided tape!

here is a close up of the bow, butterflies and that fabulous ballerina stamp from Annabelle Stamps!

I have made this sketch following the sketch from Card Positioning Systems #227, the circles are from the challenge over at Annabelle Stamps blog. The bow is for the challenge at What's that theme throwdown and the butterflies is for CRAFT's challenge this week.
materials - Bazzill dark scarlet cardstock, white cardstock; Paper Inklings 'family' papers; Opaque vellum; Annabelle Stamps 'ballerina rose' stamps, Bella 'impressions' stamps; Crayola colouring pencils; Marvy pens - blender 0, leaf green 48, cherry 65, 10mm maroon satin ribbon.
Thanks for looking and enjoy your week!

Cardabilities sketch 35

Hi ya everyone - this is my first post as part of the Cardabilities design team. I am part of this very talented team for the months of July through to end of September. So on the 15 and 30 of the month check out the sketch from Cardabilities. The sketch for July 15 is the following:

Karan has done a fantastic job of designing this sketch and it is so versatile and easy to use! Here is my card -

here is a close up ...

I sort of did a bit of creating my own paper by using one of the stamps from Annabelle Stamps 'Background By Design 2' set. I have even made my own flower buttons using the smallest flower die from cuttlebug flowers - I covered chipboard with patterned paper, ran it through the bigshot, inked the edges and used a hole punch to make to holes - once the card is all assembled I applied glossy accents to the buttons to give them a bit of a shine just like real buttons!

I suppose you could say that this is a bit 'shabby chic' for me but I love the MME Stella & Rose

'gertie' papers and I even managed to stick down a bit of lace courtesy of my mother in law cleaning out her sewing box - although I don't use lace alot I actually liked what she gave me!

I am also entering this in the 'anything goes' challenge over at Simon Says.

materials - Kraft cardstock; MME Stella & Rose 'gertie' papers; Hero Arts 'wish you were here' and Annabelle Stamps 'BBD2' stamps; Stazon timber brown ink; Spellbinders petite scalloped circles large nesties; Cuttlebug flower dies; Fiskars 'round the bend' punch; Ranger glossy accents; Lace; hole punch; light chipboard; natural cord.

So don't forget ladies check out the talented ladies on the Cardabilities design team by visiting the Cardabilities sketch blog.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Simply Wonderful

I am liking the aqua at the moment and I made a 'summery' card using this beautiful colour.

I have followed the sketch from Mojo Monday #199. The summer theme (strawberries - yummmmmy!) is from Crafts & Me and I have made it a birthday card for the Southern Girls challenge this fortnight.

I have used MFT polka dot greetings die and stamp set which is simply wonderful to use to make simle but stylish cards.

materials - Bazzill sandcastle cardstock; Kaisercraft 'nan's favourite' papers; MFT 'polka dot greetings die and stamp set'; Stazon timber brown, Versa Color turquoise and scarlet inks; American Crafts elements 'aqua essentials' ribbon; Kaisercraft brad; Cuttlebug circle dies.

Thanks for looking.

Beach Santa!

You are probably wondering why I have done a christmas card in the middle of the year? well the challenges for this card all had a similar theme (with the exception of the sketch!) - summer, beach and sunny days - and since down here in the Southern hemisphere in Australia it is winter and in our summer we have our christmas. So I had this stamp image of santa at the beach for ages and since my confidence in 'colouring in' is growing I decided I would have a go at this summer theme with a christmas angle.

I even mucked around with the frames in my photo editting program!

I have made this card following one of the sketches from Top Tip Tuesday, the beach scene is the challenge from Totally Papercrafts, Paper playtime challenge theme is Summer (hence the christmas card in our summer!) and Party Time Tuesdays challenge is blue skies and sunny days.
materials - Bazzill white, red devil, whirlpool cardstock; Echo Park 'everybody loves christmas' papers and element stickers; Beach santa stamp unknown, Lawn Fawn 'swimsuit season', Hero Arts 'be happy' stamps; Stazon jet black, Versa Color sky blue inks; Marvy pens - blender 0, orche 13, pale orange 16, dark brown 18, leaf green 48, peacock green 58, cherry 65, yellow 69, sky blue 75, persimmon 89, tombow grey N75; MFT flat bottom clouds die.

Thanks for looking.

Birthday wishes

It sure turned out to be a wet miserable afternoon today ... perfect to be in the craft room! I made this card following the sketch from Card Patterns #123. The colours are from Birthday Sundaes (orange, green and white), the theme comes from Magic in the air with cupcakes - birthday card. Paper Sundaes had the challenge of paper piecing and I love this technique so I pieced Birgittas' dress and a similar challenge over at Kaboodle Doodles which was use your scissors - ie. fussy cut and I loooooooooooooove fussy cutting so I fussy cut the Birgitta and stone wall image.

the flower ensemble is made up of cuttlebug flower dies - I die cut the XL, large and medium size flowers, stamped the title on the medium flower and then used a broad embossing tool on the front of each flower and rubbed it in a circular motion so it begins to curl up and secured all 3 together using foam tape.

I love this colour combo and I have to admit the papers I used are incredibly old!

materials - Bazzill white cardstock; Cloud 9 Design 'resort' papers; CC Designs 'cute Birgitta', 'stone wall', Annabelle stamps 'party animals 1' (title), Sassafras Lass 'stitched borders' stamps; Stazon jet black ink; Marvy pens - blender 0, orche 13, pale orange 16, dark brown 18, leaf green 48, yellow green 52, butterscotch 83; orange trim; cuttlebug flower dies.
Thanks for looking.

Get Well

Hi ya bloggers just one card this afternoon. Inspiration comes from Secret Crafter challenge which is make a get well card. Colors are based on the challenge over at Annabelle Stamps blog and that is to use Kraft, white and green. The shape of the card is based on Totally Stampalicious - anything but a square or rectangle (so I made a circular easel card - just love those!!!) and also to celebrate Cupcake Crafts 150th challenge we got to choose a previous challenge so I chose challenge 44 - shaped card and last but not least the sketch is from Card Positioning Systems #226.

a close up of Annabelle stamps 'daisy delight' stamps which I coloured in with colouring pencils.

materials - Bazzill kraft, lilly pad and kraft cardstock; MME Stella & Rose 'gertie' papers; Annabelle Stamps 'daisy delight', Heidi Swapp 'love journalling spots' stamps; Stazon timber brown ink; Crayola colouring pencils; Creative Memories circle cutters; Spellbinders petite scalloped circle large nesties; Ranger white opal liquid pearls.
Thanks for looking a have a great week everyone.

Happy Anniversry

Neil downloaded a photo editting program and I have been playing around with it and realised that I can frame my photos! ... you have to love technology sometimes!
Anyway Top Tip Tuesday challenge this week is wedding/anniversary and it must be karma that I went to that challenge this week as it was a reminder for me that my 14th anniversary is next tuesday and I hadn't realised that it was that close!!! So it was a good excuse to do this card for Neil.

I have followed the sketch from There's magic in the air with paper cupcakes. I am also entering it for Kaboodle Doodles challenge this week which is 'celebration' - my anniversary - although the joke with Neil now is that he follows all 'loving 14 year' statements with ..."you get less for murder" LOL - what annoys me is that I taught him that saying as I said it to him once but now he beats me to it!!!

I am including this card in Digital Tuesday challenge which is bling (on the chipboard heart) and off course use a digital image (from Teddy Bo). Also for What's that theme throwdown which is 'teddy bears' and last but not least Diecut Dreams which has a 3-2-1 recipe (3 shapes - circle, hear and rectangle, 2 colours - red & blue, 1 - ribbon - bow above title).

materials - Bazzill white, whirlpool cardstock; MME Stella & Rose 'gertie' papers; Teddy Bo digital stamp; Crayola colouring pencils; Stazon jet black, Versa Color old rose inks; MFT little open scalloped edge, Cuttlebug circle dies, Sizzix tipsy heart dies; Kaiser rhinestones; 15mm denim ribbon; white heart button.
Thanks for looking and have a great weekend.

Love (frame)

Sometimes KIS (keep it simple) can be such a refreshing card! I wanted to do the challenge from Cupcake Crafts - make a single layer card and thought the only way to do one is to keep it really simple. So I love to colour with pencils on kraft card and thought that is what I would do for this card. Of course I chose one of my favorite stamps at the moment (one of many!) from Annabelle Stamps and used it as a focal point and thought it would be a nice card to submit for Moxie Fab World: stamp it! card week where stamping is the predominant element.

materials - Kraft cardstock; Annabelle Stamps 'daisy delight', Heidi Swapp 'love journalling spots' clear stamps; Stazon jet black ink; Crayola colouring pencils.

I enjoy being with you

This card is incredibly bright and cheery considering today is grey, cold and miserable - so I thought making a bright sunny summery card would add a little colour to me day!
I made is following the sketch from Mojo Monday #198, inspiration comes from Crafts & Me and that was to use a favourite stamp (oh that was hard to choose but I decided on Hero Arts 'be happy'set). I am also submitting it for Simon Says - stitching - so I did a little faux stitching around the title and also the join between the 2 papers.

and a close up

materials - American Crafts ladybug, powder and melon cardstock; MLSB 'farmers market' papers; Hero Arts 'be happy', Sassafras Lass 'stitched borders' stamps; Stazon jet black ink, Versa Color sky blue ink; Marvy pens - blender 0, orche 13, leaf green 48, iris purple 55, cherry 65, citrus yellow 69, pine green 72, sky blue 75; Kaiser rhinestones; 10mm cream grossgrain; 16mm light blue floral ribbon.
thanks for looking.

To the moon and back

Here my 2nd card for the afternoon. I made it following the sketch from Card Patterns #122. I got a set of Verve Stamps (to the moon) and thought it would be perfect for this card. Inspiration comes from Totally Stampalicious - stars and stripes and I have also included gems, glitter and ribbon for the challenge at Totally papercrafts.

I layered the elephant to give it a more 3D effect

I love the title! and off course I had to hang it!!! despite this being primarily a 'baby' set there are aspects of it that can be used in other cards - for small children and even adults if you feel like making a 'cheeky' card!

materials - wheat cardstock, American Crafts spinach card; MME Stella & Rose 'gertie' papers; Verve 'to the moon' stamps; Stazon jet black ink; MFT little open scalloped edging die; 10mm olive ribbon; 10mm split ring, 1/8" red eyelet; Derivan crystalina kindy glitz; Ranger glossy accents.

Laugh often

It is a cold wet miserable afternoon here in Melbourne today ... perfect to have the heater on and in the craft room! I managed 2 cards and here is the first.
I followed a sketch from Insprational Card Sketches - we had to choose a sketch and I chose #44. I am also submitting it for Party Time Tuesdays where you had to make a square card and I have also incorporated a little stitching for Paper Sundaes - I am not a great sewer on the machine so I did a little hand sewing!

I love my animal stamps from Ferngully stamps

I have had this rather wide red and white gingham ribbon for a while and I finally managed to make a card that suits it.
materials - American Crafts powder and crimson cardstock; MME Stella & Rose 'gertie' papers; Ferngully stamps cow and fence, Studio g 'laugh often' stamps; Stazon timber brown, Versa Color sky blue ink; 23mm red/white gingham ribbon; embroidery thread; Marvy pens - blender 0, orche 13, dark brown 18, leaf green 48, cherry 65, sky blue 75.

Birthday bash

And here is my 2nd card to the day - nice and bright this one! Since it is Summer in the northern hemisphere I have noticed alot of 'summery' themed challenges lately - it is nice making these sorts of cards while we here in the Southern hemisphere are in our winter!!!
I have followed the sketch from Card Positioning Systems #225, inspiration comes from Secret Crafter 'here comes summer' and Wee Memories - summertime. I have made it a birthday card for Birthday Sundaes - anything goes and gave it a bit of a party theme for Designed 2 Delight - 'it's my party'.

I made it as an easel card

unfortunately the photos don't show it but this is a very 'touchy feely' card as I have used flocking on the waves (made them using scalloped scissors - inversed!) so they feel very velvety.

and the area under the ball and thongs is actually sand!

I loved making this card with its bright colours - actually I watched the Tour De France last night and one of the teams has the colour combo of blue and orange - so I have to admit my eyes were drawn to these papers and colours today!

To flock and apply the sand I layered jac paper (which is a double sided sticker) on cardstock and peeled the protective covering off and sprinkled the flocking and sand over it and tapped off the excess.

materials - American Crafts sapphire & melon cardstock; Jillibean Soup 'watermelon gazpacho' papers; Lawn Fawn 'swimsuit season' stamps, Grant Archival 'small birthday set' & 'it's a party' stamps; Stazon black ink; Doodlebug flocking; sand; Jac paper; MFT 'flat bottom clouds'; Ranger 'white opal' liquid pearls.