Bleeding Hearts

My rather awesome - and very arty and talented - niece turned 18 recently and of course I had to send her a card...

 

I decided to use one of Rebecca Sinz's awesome digi stamps from Sweet Pea Stamps and for this card I chose Bleeding Hearts:

 

 

I love Rebecca's striking women and in particular her series of flower-themed portraits. I coloured Bleeding Hearts with my Promarkers and added some accents with a white gel pen.

 

 

I teamed the image with some gorgeous papers in rich, purple shades and lots and lots of pretty die-cuts and punches. I embellished the edge of my card using a decorative scrollwork die and then layered over bronze coloured cardstock, which I edged with a scroll edge punch.

 

 

I cut a delicate lattice using a Marianne Creatables die and layered this over the left side of the card.

 

 

I matted my image onto bronze card and attached it with foam pads, layering a decorative die-cut corner under it.

 

 

To finish I added layered metal and paper flowers and a greeting stamped and heat embossed and cut into a pennant shape.

 

 

I also decorated the inside of the card, to increase the contrast behind the die-cut edge.

 

 

This gorgeous image is available in red rubber or digi format from the Sweet Pea Stamps store.

 

 

Whoops! Bit late!

The new challenge went live at Sweet Pea Stampers yesterday and somehow, in the chaos of getting back into our routine after a week's holiday, I forgot all about it! :lol:

 

Still, better late than never, here's my card for the Birds of a Feather challenge:

 

 

I used Ching-Chou Kuik's Scarlett Holly image and coloured it with my Prismacolor pencils (am really enjoying using these pencils - it's a different technique that colouring with Promarkers but the effects are at once lovely and soft and yet vibrant in colour):

 

 

I covered a plain white card blank with a mixture of patterned paper and embossed white card (of which I'd inked the edges) and used some pretty ribbon to cover the join and I stamped and punched out a sentiment using coordinating Stampin' Up! stamp and punch.

 

 

I finished things off with some flowers and, in a last-minute burst of inspiration (cos the packet was lying around on my desk - see, being untidy can sometimes actually be useful! :D), a little chipboard bird which I covered with Versamark ink and heat embossed with sparkly gold embossing powder.

 

 

The challenge runs for a month and you don't have to use a Sweet Pea Stamps image to enter, though of course we'd love it if you did (and doing so will get you an extra chance to win).

 

Happy birthday GAM

GAM - otherwise known as Great Aunt Marion - turned an impressive 83 years old this weekend.

 

So, I dug out my Stampin' Up! goodies (some old, some new) and made her a pretty card. :)

 

 

I used Wisteria Wonder and Pool Party (from the 2011-2013 In Color collection - I shall be sad to see these go in September!) for my colour scheme, double-matting my cardstock panels for extra colour and definition:

 

 

I also added some texture and dimension with some both dry and heat embossing... I used my Simply Scored board with the Borders Scoring Plate to dry emboss some detail onto my Whisper White cardstock panel and I stamped a panel of Wisteria Wonder cardstock with  the Bella Toile background stamp (now sadly discontinued) using Wisteria Wonder ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. I stamped flourishes from the Style Beautiful and SAB Bliss stamp sets and fussy cut around them, layering them up with a greeting stamped from the Itty Bitty Banners stamp set (and cut out with the coordinating die).

 

 

I added some ruffled Pool Party seam binding ribbon and some butterflies stamped with the SAB Bliss set and punched out with the Elegant Butterfly punch and finished things off with some Rhinestone Jewels.

 

 

A vintagey but still quite clean and fresh result. Hope GAM likes it! :)

 

 

 

 

WOYWW 201

Ooops. The mess is starting to encroach a little again!

 

 

In my defence, it's been a crazy busy couple of weeks, with Easter and then my DD1's birthday (and birthday party). So much so that I've not done much crafting for the past few days... although I have spent this evening finishing up a scrapbook page (woot, an actual paper scrapbook page - I never seem to get around to doing those much anymore!) which is sitting on the desk while some silicone glue dries. It's not something I can share just yet though, hence why I've haphazardly covered it with a random instruction leaflet (from the kiddy digital camera I got DD1 for her birthday! :lol:)!

 

Ooh I did do one other bit of crafting in the past few days though... I managed to find time in the day before DD1's birthday to make her a birthday card!

 

 

I was struggling for inspiration at first but she had been banging on for weeks about wanting an Octonauts birthday cake for her party so I thought, why not go with the same theme for her card? :) I googled for the image and used a SU stamp (it reminds me of bubbles!) for the background and cut the name and number 4 on my Cameo. Simple, but effective - and she loved it.

 

Oh and the Octonauts cake? Was. Awesome.

 

 

I'd never had a cake professionally made before but I googled for local cake makers and called Sara's Celebration Cakes. I'd left it a bit late to order but, bless her, she said she could squeeze us in. She'd never heard of the Octonauts (it's an animated show on the pre-schoolers cBeebies channel, for those not in the know!) but she went away and googled it and came back and suggested that she could make the Gup-B ship with the 3 main characters sitting in it. And that's exactly what she did. I was - and, quite frankly, still am -  amazed by it! It totally exceeded my expectations. The level of detail was incredible (down to teeny tiny icing Octonauts logos on the tailfin of the ship!) and it also tasted great! DD1 *loved* it. :)

 

 

So thank you, Sara, for helping to make my little girl's first proper birthday party absolutely brilliant. :)

 

And on that note, I shall sign off and head to bed. Hope you enjoy your skip around the craft desks of blogland and that Wednesday is good to you.

WOYWW 200

Wow! 200! Where do the weeks go, eh? :)

 

This is a quick WOYWW post from me before I head to bed (as per usual, much later than planned!).

 

The desk has remained reasonably tidy... the bits and bobs on ongoing crafting are building up a bit around the edges but I'm keeping fairly on top of it and a workable crafting space remains:

 

 

There are a few projects in-progress on the desk - coloured digi stamps, a completed card (turned away from the camera, I'm afraid, as it's a DT one), and a newly-made card blank. And can I just say, once again, how freaking awesome my Cameo is? :D The card blank sitting on the desk is a centre stepper card. And instead of the usual fiffing and faffing of measuring and scoring and cutting, I simply cut it out on the Cameo. Bish bosh bash, done! :D

 

I'm busy not only with crafting these days but also with planning and organisation for what's turning out to be a very busy month! We're off for a week's holiday en famille at the end of the month, including attending a family birthday celebration, hubby and I are leaving the kids with my mum overnight to swan off to a friend's weekend in a couple of weeks.... and on Friday of this week, this wild-haired little lady is going to be turning 4:

4 years old. Wow. How on earth did that happen? I can't believe she's so grown up. She's going to be starting full-time school in September! Eeep!

 

So, on top of everything else, I'm busily organising a party for 15 or so 3-4 year olds, sorting out and wrapping presents, ordering a cake etc etc etc! :D

 

Oooh I did find time tonight though to make a very quick card.... I had ended up with lots of bits and bobs of scraps lying around on the desk from various projects and I decided to challenge myself to make a card using nothing but what was sitting on my desk - that includes paper scraps and tools:

 

 

So I used a white card blank, a pale pink inkpad and a Stampin' Up! stamp (from the Lovely Trees set), some pink Stickles and some negative leaf flourishes and punched butterflies. I quite like how the leaf flourishes turned out... they started out as scraps of card from which I had die-cut leaf flourishes and I decided to fussy cut around the cut-out sections to give myself a sort of outline shape.

 

 

The butterflies I punched from the remaining scraps of card using a Stampin' Up! punch which was still on the desk. :)

 

 

Anyhow, that's enough from me. A busy Wednesday awaits so I really must head to bed! Thanks for stopping by - hope you're having a fab WOYWW.

Use a Digi

This week's challenge at One Stitch at a Time is a perennial favourite - Use a Digi.

 

It couldn't be easier to enter - just use a digi element (a digi stamp or digi paper - anything digital!) somewhere on your creation and link your entry up at the OSAAT blog.

 

For my card I got to work with this fabulous image by BeeBee Kakes - isn't he just so cute? :)

 

 

I coloured him with my Promarkers..

 

 

...and kept the card bright and bold to match with the fun image, adding detail with some brads and gemstones:

 

 

I was also very frugal with this card - every single bit of card and paper on this card came from my scraps bags! :) I have to remind myself now and then to try and use up some of my scraps collection, rather than just continually adding to it! :lol:

 

You don't need to use a Stitchy Bear digi stamp to enter the challenge but if you do you'll be entered into the draw to win our main prize of a bumper collection of Stitchy Bear digi stamps. Entries without a Stitchy Bear product will have a chance to win a $3 gift voucher to the Stitchy Bear Store.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:
Eclectic Ellapu - Whimsy/funny
Robyn's Fetish - Food or Drink
Brown Sugar - Anything Goes
Clearly Inspired - Anything Goes
Stampin' For The Weekend - Child's Play
Southern Girls - The Kids Are Alright
Addicted to Stamps and More - Make Your Mark

 

Quiet Contemplation

It's time for an Anything Goes challenge again at One Stitch at a Time - it couldn't be easier to enter, you can make any project you like and just link it up at the OSAAT blog to be in with a chance to win. You don't have to use a Stitchy Bear image but if you do you'll be in with a chance to win a bunch of fabulous Stitchy Bear stamps. If you enter without a Stitchy Bear image you'll be entered into a draw to win a $3 gift certificate to the Stitchy Bear store.

 

For my card this week I used this gorgeous Quiet Contemplation image by Delicious Doodles:

 

 

I coloured the image with my Promarkers except for the kimono, which I paper pieced. I used some gorgeous floral fantasy papers that came free with a craft magazine and added some faux stitching with a fineliner pen.

 

 

I tucked a sentiment behind the image and finished things off with some die-cut flourishes (Marianne dies) and some pretty flowers.

 

 

I've sent this card to my Grandma for her birthday (which is tomorrow, as it happens). I hope she likes it. :)

 

I'm also entering this card into the following challenges:
Passion For Promarkers - One For The Ladies

2 Sisters - Pastels
A Gem of a Challenge - Floral Frenzy
A Creative Need - Birthdays
Lady Anne's Challenges - Sentimental Friday - Anything Goes
Delicious Doodles - Use Die-Cuts
Sparkle and Glitter - Spring Is In The Air
Stampin With The Dragon - Anything Goes
4 Crafty Chicks - Die For Dies
Craft Us Crazy - Anything Goes

I love my hubby! :)

My hubby is officially awesome.

 

He has only gone and got me a Silhoutte Cameo for my birthday! :D

 

I'm so suprised - and impressed! He's not into crafting and I didn't think he had any idea what a Cameo was, let alone that I wanted one! :D

 

But he's gone and researched die-cutting machines and decided the Cameo was the one I'd like... and he's even got me some extra cutting mats, as his research included checking customer reviews, several of which mentioned that you can go through cutting mats quite quickly.

 

Heee! Am a bit giddy!

 

Now all I need to do is have a major tidy up in the craft room to try and make space for it! :lol:

 

Happy Birthday Eleanor!

My niece had her birthday this week and I made a card to send to her (sorry it's a bit late, Nor - hope it's gotten to you by now! :D).

 

Sweet Pea Stamps have started selling some of their gorgeous images as digi stamps and I took advantage of their fab introductory offer of a $6 store voucher if you buy 10 digi stamps. I was immediately drawn to this striking Black Hellebore image by Rebecca Sinz - it actually reminded me a bit of Nor, so I decided to colour it with her dark blonde hair colour:

 

 

 

 

I also gave her a bit of the de rigeur teenage gothy eye make-up. ;)

 

I absolutely love this image. It looks stunning coloured in. I teamed it with some pink floral patterned paper, with contrasting black cardstock die-cuts, a few flowers and a whole lot of pink bling! :)

 

I hope Nor likes it. :D

 

Now, if anyone needs me, I'll be in my craft room colouring in more scrummy Sweet Pea digi stamps! :lol:

 

Happy Birthday Marie-Ann

My niece turns 21 this month. Unfortunately we can't make it to the "do" as small children and evening events over 2 hours drive away are not a good combination. So we're heading down to the wilds of Lincolnshire this afternoon to say hello and drop off a card and gift.

 

And this is the card I've made for her:

 

 

This pretty image is an A Day for Daisies digi stamp and I coloured her with Promarkers and inked the edges with Distress Inks. I used an old book page (from The Iliad, if anyone's interested! :D) for the background and coloured it with Distress Inks and Perfect Pearls (it has a lovely shimmer in real life). I used Tim Holtz Idea-ology numbers, coloured with alcohol ink, and added a die cut flourish (from a Memory Box die) and some flowers and a stamped greeting to finish.

 

I think this came out really bright and pretty but without being too little girly. I hope. :)

 

I'm entering this card into a couple of challenges:

A Day For Daises - School supplies

Simon Says Stamp and Show - Read All About It

Happy Birthday, Paul!

Tomorrow, my brother-in-law hits the big 4-0!

He's coming up for a visit at the weekend but in the meantime I thought I'd send him a card to arrive on the big day.

So I made him this:

I went all Tim Holtz/grungy/steampunky with kraft resist cardstock, Distress Stains, steampunk/vintage stamps and metal numbers coloured with alcohol inks.

I hope BIL will appreciate the subtle placement of elements that leaves the word "Antiques" from one of the background stamps nicely visible on the card. ;)

I'm entering this card into the "What Do You Say?" challenge at Simon Says Stamp and Show.

Grrr... men!

Why are they so difficult to make cards for?! :lol:

And while I'm ranting... grrr... weather! It's July and we're currently experiencing what seems to be a monsoon out there! The front drive is a boating lake, it's so dark we've got all the lights turned on and (I'm not sure whether this is related) our landline has stopped working - it's just making awful crackling noises.

It's also a real pain trying to photograph craft projects when the light is so poor. Even in my nice, light and airy conservatory, the light is very dull and grey today.

So I've had to resort to photographing this card on my craft desk with the daylight lamp on:

As a comparison, this is how it looked when I tried to photograph it in the consevatory:

Anyway, crummy weather aside, this is a funky little card that I've made for my mum's partner's birthday. Men's cards can be difficult so I decided to keep it simple and bold, using a funky Stampotique stamp and a background made by colouring a piece of card with Promarkers and dripping/squirting alcohol ink blending fluid onto it (a technique I've not tried before). I used my Stampin' Up! postage stamp punch to punch a hole in the card front and stamped the greeting inside the card so it was visible through the hole.

I'm entering this card into the current challenge ("outside the box" - the very clean and simple look is a bit different for me and I've also used a technique I've never tried before) at the Stampotique Designers Challenge. :)