Signature Book

Good morning everyone,

I could say on a fine morning but we are enveloped in a smoke haze and I cannot see any hills! At this point in time, we are hoping Neil does not have to go out fighting fires.

Here is the signature book I made for my son's girlfriend for her 21st birthday bash tomorrow night. It isn't QUITE finished as the youngsters are yet to send me along some piccie files. I want to cut them with my nesties and mount them on my nesties inside each of the covers.

I began with a Kaiser chipboard book in three pieces, painted the edges in Kaiser Pink, covered all three pieces with pretty DP and spent a huge amount of time sanding them back to the edges.

Then, I glued the 21 to the top board, stamped the Inkadinkadoo Flourishes and Hero Arts Happy Birthday in StazOn ink. I then sat, for what seemed like forever and stuck all the pearls and diamantes on the front. The name was created using Thickers and I added a few other embellishments as well. The key hanging from the book was the most frustrating part of the whole exercise. The cropodile did the hole beautifully but then it all went belly up! The key kept falling off...the pliers were working overtime! Hopefully, it will stay together now!

The inside pages were inked and sponged with Colour Box Pastel Pink with the owl and tree (both Hero Arts) stamped in Colour Box Lime Pastel and Pink Pastel. I thought the owl appropriate as people will be adding their words of wisdom to the book throughout the night!

Still to make the actual card!

Embossing Medium

Hello there,

After doing accounts for two days solid, I thought I would play around with Photoshop Elements with a card I made a while ago. The results aren't too bad!

I made the background hibiscus with white embossing medium and a hibiscus stencil from Dreamweavers. I stamped the wording feature (from Hero Arts) with StazOn white ink, twice, so I could raise the middle bit with foam dots. Then added lots of diamantes for effect. All card used is Bazzill.

T'is a simple card, but really pretty IRL!

Hedgies in a Row

Hello everyone!

I am bright and early with this one today. I am about to head off to Mackay to get my windscreen replaced and do a tonne of stuff!

I made this last Hedgie card late last night whilst listening/watching NCIS. My Cuttlebug ruled supreme with this creation...Lots of Nesties shapes and embossing with one of the new folders, more colouring with Prisma pencils with, lastly, the little wording..... being SU (along with the scallop frame it is sitting on!)

I have enjoyed giving this little stamp a workout but will be putting him away now for a while....Phew, say you all! ROFL!

Check out the Difference!

This is the right colouring!

This is the really sad one!!!!

Oh I have been playing with PSE7.

This has made a major difference to my photos.....to the better. Here is Carly's Wedding photo as I posted it back in May and as it is today....the one today is actually dead to rights on the colouring. I think I may like PSE7 after all!

Yet another PB Hedgie

Good morning everyone,

Here is yet another Penny Black Hedgie card. I used the same materials as yesterday except for the Hero Arts wording, which was stamped in StazOn black, the Hero Arts Swirl stamp, which was stamped in Adirondack Beachball Yellow and the paper piercing add-on.

In using the same materials, I am trying to cut down on all the scraps I end up with....the storage of scrap is becoming an issue of magnificent proportions!

I am going to see if I can make headway on my calendar pages today, since the entire day is my own! Have an idea....Now to see if it will work!

A Trip Down Penny Black Lane

Good morning everyone on this fine hot day in the tropics!

Here is a little trip down memory lane. I came across a very OLD stamp of mine and decided to dust it off and give it a whirl around the inkpads. Yesterday was the first outcome and it looked OK so I kept it out and did another few....all of which will be seen in good time! This one has a totally different feel to yesterday's, don't you think?

Penny Black hedgies are SO cute!

SS Card for October

Afternoon all,

I have finally spent some time carding!

Here is my SS card to go in the mail tomorrow. All is cool. The lady it is going to does not know I have a blog, so I am safe to post! Of course, she is going to work it out like straight away anyway...because of the postmark!

The challenges this month were:

1. Cute animals...check.

2. DL size card....check. and

3. Pastel colouring...check.

I have stamped the good old standby Hedgies by Penny Black in StazOn Black and coloured with Prisma Pencils and Odourless Mineral Solvent. (I noticed when I was uploading that I didn't colour the flowers, so will do that in a jiffy.) I tied some gorgeous pale teal ribbon and tied a bow.

I distressed the image layer and mounted onto the pink Cuttlebugged layer with black DSFT. I LOVE black. It is so much better than white foam tape, as it is less noticeable underneath! Go figure.

I popped all that on a distressed mauve layer and attached to the very pretty pale teal base.

Ok...another commitment out of the way! I found some card perfect for the calendar swap, so I can get those printed out ready to work on to....only, it is so nice and cool in this room with the aircon on, that I really don't want to leave it!

Ladies, Ink October Challenge

Good afternoon all...just...by a minute to be exact! It is a hot, dry, windy and unpleasant day in Koumala today. I wish it would rain just to settle the fires and the dust!

Ok...Today, I have my October challenge for my blogging group all done and dusted! Christyne would be proud of me!

The challenge was to have just the one layer (the base), one colour ink and the one embellishment.

Ok, I pulled out my old Amazing Creations stamps (all the stamps are by this company!) and this is the final result. I used Adirondack Eggplant and stamped the shadow stamp OFF three times before stamping onto the front of the card. All the other bibs and bobs....the corner frames, the butterfly and the wording were inked and stamped immediately using the Adirondack Eggplant once more. This gives you the variance using the one ink pad.

I added a wee flower to the wording and a tiny bit of glitter here and there and Voilà! T'is done.

Christyne, I have been studying the online PSE and mucking around here with it all....However...I could not figure out how to get rid of the two shadows on the left of the card. I managed to get one to be white...but not the same as the rest of the card and the other in the corner I could not do anything with....Beginning to think PSE is not for me!

Blog Candy

http://cabioscraftcorner.blogspot.com/

I was enthralled with the Tech Junkies Blog Hop this morning and chanced upon this excellent blog candy!!!!!!

Xmas Acetate

Evening all!

Here is a very quick Xmas card. I have used a Bazzill red base card with a Kaiser Paper overlay and finally an acetate layer which has been stamped in black StazOn ink. PHEW!!!!!! Say that three times backwards! Studio G stamp...hohoho....was stamped in Cotton White StazOn on black Bazzill and used to cover the acetate join to the DP. The main image is a Stamp It stamp...from one of their UM Xmas sets.

Here's hoping you all had an enjoyable day!

Still In Xmas Mode

Yes, I am still living. It has been pretty much a wipe out week, this last one! Here's hoping this new one will be full of creation!

I pulled out my SU Snowflakes this morning and here is what I have come up with. The little wording is a G Studios acrylic stamp and I have added some red bling from Kaiser to some of the flakes. The ribbon...yeah...no clue to its origin! All cardstock is Bazzill. Stamping was done using Colourbox Lipstick Rad and StazOn Black. I am looking for a nice, quick and easy Xmas card which I can make lots of, so am playing around a bit seeing what looks good and what doesn't.

I am watching over my little dog this afternoon. She is very woozy and not herself after having been knocked out to investigate a sore leg. Luckily, there is no need for surgery.

More Xmas Traditional This Time!

Remember me?

What a blitz of a week. I came down with a migraine on Monday afternoon which has ruled everything since then. Definitely no stamping done in that time.

But I am back on deck after calling everything quits for the rest of the time.

I am playing with my new Photoshop Elements 7. I am going to need lots of encouragement to keep having a go at this. Christyne...You PROMISED it was easy! I am going a bit ga-ga here.

I have managed to get this one uploaded, though, so brownie points to Shell! (It is an awfully BIG file ... like over 900kb)

I am hoping the next week will bring lots more production from me...fingers crossed!

Secret Sister Card for September 2009

Hi there,

This is my very first picture through Photoshop Elements 7 !!!!!!!!!! I think I have a ways to go in the learning curve but I couldn't resist trying it out.

This card was made for a Secret Sister programme (I am pretty sure the intended recipient does not know about my blog!). The requirements were to use one or more of the following: paisleys/swirls/flourishes....monochromatic....and/or a piece through the Cuttlebug. I had great intentions of doing all three just for the heck of it...but as I was constructing ....I felt I had to stop before getting to the Cuttlebug.

I have used the gorgeous Stamp It stamps for the flourishes and swirls on the background piece and for the butterfly and worked with tones of blue throughout. The wording is from Hero Arts. I thought the little bit of ribbon with the swirl pattern suited pretty well so I added it too....raised the butterflies with pop dots and added a few diamantes for effect.

I have spent most of my day becoming up to date with the farm accounts. Tomorrow we are going to town to pick up my new double oven, check out the kitchen plans and maybe pick out the cooktop and rangehood. Tuesday, I have designated to stamp...so nobody better interrupt that thought pattern!!!!!!

Have a good one!

On a Roll With Xmas

Good morning everyone on this fine, hot Saturday!

Here is another little Xmas card. I am edging closer to Xmas colours, I see. It IS very simple but actually looks quite OK IRL. I have brushed off the paper distresser and used it on each of the Bazzill red layers and raised the centre piece with pop dots.

I made the background with repeat stamping and have added Kindy Glitz to all the little dots. I couldn't find a red star in amongst my VERY vast supply of brads, so inked another one with StazOn. I have used SU Festive Favourites as the stamps of choice.

Ok...off to tackle some farm accounts...sigh...got to pay the piper! Me...I would like to string the piper over a very large ant nest!!!!!! Whoever invented all this paperwork??.Bet your bottom dollar it wasn't a woman!

September Challenge for Ladies, Ink Part 3

Here is the third and last challenge for my blogging group this month!

This card is very similar to one I found in one of the Stamp It catalogues. I wanted to see if it looked as good IRL as in the catalogue, mainly because with a little tweaking it could become a good base for all my Xmas cards! The stamp used, of course, is by Stamp It. The cardstock is Bazzill and the DP is Kaiser.

My apologies for my absence. I have been taking time out camping with my family. September is such a lovely time to camp....read here....1. In September I do not usually get carried away by sandflies, so I don't mind going....and 2. The oppressive heat hasn't quite settled yet.

Again, we saw some whales breaching and playing in the shallows not 600 metres away from our little tinny. It is quite special to see these glorious animals in the wild. Also saw heaps of huge sea turtles, a few sharks on the end of our lines and a few good sized grunter ....yum...yum! We only scored the one mud crab......I have a couple of photos of where we went, but I do need to do some stuff around the house before I can sit to edit and upload.

September Challenge for Ladies, Ink Part 2

Good morning everyone,

Here is my second part of the September Challenge. I have used the same stamp as yesterday - Stamp It Xmas stamp (Christmas Round 3681F) as the focus. This time, I pulled out a very old technique, so simple as to be silly!

Did you think I MADE that background?.... Well, I did...but NOT how you might think!

NOPE! I merely put rice paper on to cold laminate (on the sticky side, of course!). ...AKA The Cold Laminate Technique...anyone remember this one, from years ago?? Then I stamped the image with StazOn black ink. I did stamp the image three times, to get all the layering done and added some Kaiser diamantes to the middle.

Again, I have ventured away from the "normal" Xmas colours and really, I am enjoying the trip. Now, the question is....Will I do a traditional one for tomorrow??????

September Challenge for Ladies, Ink Part 1

Good morning everyone,

Here is the first part of a three part challenge for September with the Ladies, Ink Blogging Group. This month we are to make 3 Xmas cards......So, here is my first one! Very non-traditional. I reckon this one would look pretty in the usual Xmassy colours too, but I wanted to try it in something different!

What do you think?I have used a gorgeous StampIt Xmas stamp here (Christmas Round 3681F) which I have stamped multiple times in order to get all the layering. The Merry Xmas in the middle is raised with dimensionals. The paper is by Kaiser as are the fancy brads and the little buckle by Finishing Touch Ideas. The grosgrain ribbon, I think is SU. The rest is Bazzill. I laid the card on a blue background so you could see the white base card clearly, just for the photo opportunity!

For anyone who is interested and cannot source any of these things, I do sell them :). Just whizz off an email and I can see if I can help you out.

Change of Pace

Afternoon all,

I have the afternoon to myself on this fine Father's Day, so have decided to try and get to some stamping. I found this stamped Liquid Appliquéd piece in my image box and decided to put it to card after tearing around the edges and inking with India Ink.

For those unfamiliar with Liquid Appliqué, there ARE other things you can do with it besides Santa's beards and this particular technique is one of my favourites. Simply brayer on to white cardstock and heat...you get faux suede very neatly!

The stamps are My Stamps and Kunjani is an African greeting for those not in the know. I have had the lovely tassel for ages and thought it would suit this card very well and I am thinking I was right.

I am still using up some DCWV card as you can see with the Cuttlebugged and sanded piece. I think I will be making cards into the next century before I DO use all that stash!...But we have to have it for the rainy day that is acomin, don't we now?

Connolly Wedding Card

Ok. I have broken the drought for this week. YAY!

I have managed to sit at my stamping table for at least half an hour and come up with this for the wedding I will be attending tomorrow. I have stamped and embossed the lovely Judikins Wedding Couple stamp in black and added a few pearls from Kaisercraft. The background layer is DCWV flocked paper which is very, very pretty! To finish off, I have tied a ribbon to the side with the aid of the SU little window punch (probably NOT what it is called!)

And, wouldn't you know it....as soon as I sat to do up this post, I was required to go help shift gear from one farm to the other. Some days, I just can't win!

We are having Father's Day at our house tonight as the weekend is loaded for everyone any other time with weddings, parties and football will all taking precedence. So, tonight wins. I wonder if I have stuff for them all to eat...LOL....My next mission!

Brayered Rubber

Just a quick brayered background here using Kaleidacolour Inkpads - Spectrum, I think, with rubber bands tied around the roller. Overstamped with SU Cone Flower in India Ink. I stamped this in Canberra and just found it! Lucky, for it has been a dry week for me, so far, stamping wise.

Hopefully the weekend will bring on some creative time...or I just may have to hole up in the dungeon and lock the door!