A Technique Previously Untried

Good afternoon everyone,

Today, I had a little play at a tech previously untried. After the length of time I have been stamping, not too many techs pass me by without me at least having a little play with them. I am known for being a bit of a tech mad stamper....

This is the wood grain technique and is achieved using a toothbrush, reinkers and plain white cardstock. The results, as you can see, certainly mimic a wood panelling and is pretty neat IRL.

I do not know the maker of the main image but the sentiment is from SU. I do hope you enjoy this one. It was a pleasure to muck around doing the backgrounds, which as some of you know, I LOVE to do.

I think farm stuff....horses, cows, tractors etc. would look good using this as a backdrop. My only horses were too big to show off the b/g in its glory, so I have put that thought on hold for a bit.

Baby Card for Little Lily

Good Morning everyone,

I am early today with my post as I have a tonne of things to do and not enough hours within the day to do them!

Here is a card for a friend of mine who had her daughter Lily Beth last week. I bought a gorgeous doll at the markets yesterday. If you look at the doll she is smiling and then when you turn her dress inside out, there she is again but not happy. What a cool idea. Must have taken the creator ages coz it was really fiddly, so I definitely got myself a bargain!

All these soft colours are in direct contrast to the cards presented in the last few days!

Stamps: SU Baby Firsts, Hero Arts Wording Inks: StazOn Black Card: Bazzill Other: Ribbon Unknown, Kiwi H2O

House Mouse Happy Birthday

Afternoon all,

Today, I have a House Mouse Birthday card to share with you. I have coloured the image with Prisma pencils and blended them with Odourless Mineral Solvent.

The really yummy background you can see is made with alcohol inks and glossy cardstock....very more-ish! The little sentiment was the thing which gave me grief with this card, as I had trouble deciding on one which was the right size for the card AND which also would fit in the word window punch by SU.

And you can see I have located my distressing tool...which meant I HAD to use it. I have now taken to hanging it from my work chair. I will just see how long it takes me to misplace it!

A Little Construction

Afternoon ladies,

Today, I made a little teabag holder which is an excellent gift for those who have everything or for those who enjoy a cuppa! Actually, I think it would make a great little prezzie for the male in the house!

I stamped the front in Colourbox Dark Brown "Butterfly Dreams" by Paper Inspirations,
which is a beautiful collage of a lady, script and butterflies.

For the inside pocket, I made a plain sheet of light white card into something a tad more special by whipping out the distress inks, in particular Brushed Corduroy and Dried Marigold and overstamping and sponging the edges with the Colourbox Dark Brown again using I Brake for Stamps Tea Plate.

I don't work with orange overly much, but have decided this one turned out quite well and also that orange doesn't look half bad teamed up with brown! What do you think?

Box Card

Afternoon everyone,

This is a card I found in a few pieces whilst cleaning up and decided to brush it off, give it some finishing touches and tape it all together. It is actually a box card and will stand on its own when you crease the folds near the kitty's paws.

I do not remember the manufacturer of the stamps just now....but they all belong to a set. I am thinking Pink Cat Studios but I could be mistaken. I am more than partial to cards with interesting openings, construction or aspects, and this one fits that bill nicely.

Yet Another Wedding Card

Afternoon everyone...

Well , I think I am now doing a roaring trade with wedding cards. I don't think I have ever made so many in so little a time frame.

This time I have utilised one of the Outlines stamps I purchased whilst in Brisbane. They are very full on...as in they are a lot of work, I have decided. I had to stamp and emboss like 5 times (oh and a few more times coz I wasn't happy with the quality!).

The cutting was pretty therapeutic, though.The colouring was done with my aqua brush and H2Os. I found the little "forever" charm in the drawer and it fitted much, much better than ANY wording I could find and I so love those weeny, weeny brads which are holding it in place.

I ran one background layer through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots folder....which I am totally beginning to think lends itself to wedding cards superbly! I added some ribbon and grosgrain and it was all done. Oh and let's not forget lots and lots of pale pink diamantes to the flower centres!

I wish I could say it was a half an hour job...but alas, by the time I stopped farting around about three hours had elapsed. It was really enjoyable just to putter around with no sense of haste necessary. I think I took longer just because I could!

A Card Kit

Hi ladies. I am back into the swing of things today! I finished off a card kit begun at the Paperarts Expo in Brisbane a couple of weeks ago.

These were all stamped up in an absolute flurry in an hour's class by Michelle of Michelle's Cards and Stamps (NOT me) http://www.michellescardsandstamps.com.au/ . I finally put them all together this morning....not quite as per instructions, but near enough.

Now, I don't normally finish off stuff half done in classes but I was quite taken with the stamps from Darkroom Door http://shop.darkroomdoor.com/catalogue/c4 (Reindeer Set).

I had just attended a camp with the owner of Darkroom door as the tutor, so I felt it was a natural follow on to make these up :). They are a great set of cards using a fabulous stamp set.

Cased Folded Card

Here is a great card I cased from Jackie. It is all in the folding for this little beauty. The card is made with a single piece of heavy weight patterned paper.

Lots of folding. Once you have the triangle happening, to close it you fold the two sides of the triangle in over the stamped verse. After that the top flap you use to slip under the flower so it stays all together.

I love anything to do with construction, so I really did have a lot of fun with this one. Unfortunately I do not know the manufacturer of the stamped verse.

Distress Ink Sample

Having seen one done by our tutor, Rachel, my friend Jackie and I decided it would be lovely to have a sample of the distress ink colours too. It took a few hours to make them up, but worth it I think in the end! Such a pretty array of colours.

Cards from Rachel Grieg Camp

Hello everyone,

Today I would like to show you a series of cards I made at stamp camp. Horrors!!! I have not stamped a single one!!!! We were playing with some of Rachel's great filmstrips adding colour, using glossy accents with them in bottletops and generally having a grand old time.

You can view Rachel's products here http://www.darkroomdoor.com/ .

Hello everyone,

Long time between posts, eh?

I am home now, so I will be able to get back into the swing of things again. My apologies to those regular readers of mine. I DID have intentions of posting whilst away, but HOLY COW, Jackie had me way too busy.

Here are the three pieces of jewellery I made during stamp camp with Rachel Grieg. Please feel free to click on the piccie to see more detail.

I AM BACK!

I am home from my holiday!!!! Tired...mega, mega tired, but happy with all the experiences I was able to have.

The camp organised by Jane Norrish http://ozartattack.blogspot.com/ who is with the Stamping Inkstinct Stamping Group and I was lucky enough to be invited. I have already expressed an interest in attending next year, as well.

I was also lucky enough to be hosted by Jackie McGee http://jackiemcgee.blogspot.com/ for the fortnight I was away along with her lovely husband Mike. Whilst there, I set Jackie up with a blog. Now, I am gunna hound her to post on it!

I hope to get back into posting regularly...as soon as I sleep and give my hubby some time.

Kaleidascope Card

Hello everyone,

I have been ultra busy (holidaying) and just haven't squeezed in the time to come blogging. I DID make this Kaleidascope card this morning, though, made fully with Kaiser papers. The stamp on the front is a Hero Arts. The verse in the middle ?? It is downstairs...dunno....

Yesterday, we spent 13 hours away from home (Jackie's home, that is!). My goodness, 9 hours of classes at Printblocks. I was a veritable zombie by the end of it, though. I am so pleased I went...Just for the fact that I got a gander at the new Cuttlebug Embossing Folders which are coming out soon...There are 9 in a lovely packaging with 2 bonus folders...A limited edition, so if one doesn't order it now, one misses out. Any Aussies out there who want them, feel free to email me...Just be aware that it will be a package of 11, so you will need to save up!

Ok, now we are off to a Cuttlebug class tonight (Jackie is teaching), so I had better get a move along!