Puppy Party Punchie...

I am still working away on all those birthday cards we're needing here soon. This time I have gone back to another of Jackie Topa's fabulous punch art creations...and have dubbed it puppy party.

List of Ingredients:

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip (Textured), Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss (Textured), Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Basic Black and Real Red
Stamps: Lots of Thoughts (SU)
Ink: Whisper White Craft Ink
Punches: Word Window, Wide Oval, Large Oval, Small Oval, 3/4" Circle, 1 3/8" Circle, 1/2" Circle, 1/4" Circle, Heart to Heart
Accessories: Pure Poppy Bakers Twine (PTI), Woodgrain Embossing Folder (Craft Concepts), Divine Swirl Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug), Vintage Cream Pure Wool Felt (PTI), Brown Lettering (CM), Cloud 1 & 2 Die Collection (PTI), Mounting Foam (Kaisercraft), Mini Glue Dots (SU), Crystal Effects (SU), White Gel Pen and SNAIL Adhesive.

I have hand cut the long grass at the kennel door since I don't have a punch for that...but I know there are some groovy ones out there that do that too! I have also hand cut the kite. The puppy (I know...he is large for a puppy ;-) originally had horizontal slot eyebrows too....but no matter which orientation I put them in, he seemed to look either sad or angry. So I ditched them. BTW...in case you were wondering...the 'R' stands for Rover...of course!

Overall, I am pretty pleased with how this one turned out. Hope the birthday boy likes him too!

Hope you have a lovely Sunday!

(Blogged to: Video Killed the Radio Star - The Buggles and Decode - Paramore).

These cards got the thumbs down...

...from Hubby. He thought they were too busy and he wasn't overly fond of the colours (yes, I did ask for his opinion) and he could be right, but I'm going to blog them anyway, because I can ;-).










The colours I have used for these cards are: Riding Hood Red, Pumpkin Pie, Bashful Blue, So Saffron and Whisper White. The Designer Series paper is from the Washington Apple pack and the stamps are from Stampin' Up!'s Nursery Necessities and Party Hearty stamp sets. I have also used the new eyelet border punch and the Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon.

Also, I wanted to say a big thank you for all the lovely comments about the cards in my last post...the Inspired by Nature Emerging Colour/Emboss Resist cards. I made up another card using the same theme/colours, because I had extra stuff cut out and lying around (left overs from the workshop). I have not used any embossing on this one, instead, I have just stamped the daisies in Close to Cocoa ink, directly onto the En Francais background, which is in Riding Hood Red:


It is windy and cold here in Canberra today, so over lunch my mind started wandering...I was thinking of places I'd like to visit today. So, if you had a magic carpet that could take you absolutely anywhere (I'm talking about the magic carpets that can go into outer space, and do time travel too)...where would you go today? I would revisit the Mont St. Michel, and I'd take the kids too, I think they'd enjoy it:


Mont St. Michel, France

Hope you are well.
Have a lovely weekend,
Sam.

Shades of Blue...

We have some birthday's coming up shortly for some little friends of ours (CSCC girls, if you are reading, I'm not talking about hobbits here ;-), so I thought I'd try and get a head start on their cards.

I have also recently stumbled on another challenge blog called Our Creative Corner, and this week's challenge is to use make a card using only two shades of blue and a neutral colour...check out the details and some beautiful samples here.

So last night, while watching 'While You Were Sleeping' I made one of the birthday cards that I need, using the OCC colours:


Ingredients (all products Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Cardstock: Textured and plain Night of Navy, textured and plain Whisper White
Paper: Spring Silhouettes and Notebook Designer Series Paper
Ink: Night of Navy and Soft Sky Classic Inks
Stamps: Classic Numbers and Space Ships & Robots by My Cute Stamps
Accessories: A Perfect Day rub-ons, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots emboss folder, Spellbinders Circle Nestabilities, Pewter Jumbo Eyelets, Crop-a-dile, clear emboss powder, heat tool, two-way glue pen, dazzling diamonds glitter, 1/2" circle punch, SNAIL, dimensionals and craft knife.

Thanks for dropping by, I hope you have a good day!
Sam.

PS. Speaking of shades of blue...if you ever need a really good chuckle you should check out Lydia's blog Understand Blue. This lady is not only a very talented stamper...she tells the funniest stories. Thanks so much for making me laugh Lydia, I really look forward to your posts popping up in my reader!

Wild About You...Girl!

Here is a little new baby card I made last night:


The layout is a CASE of this one by Karen Giron, and I'm still entranced by Karen Thomas' colours from here.

Ingredients:

Cardstock: Textured Pumpkin Pie, Smooth Whisper White and Rose Red
Papers: Bali Breeze Designer Series Paper
Stamps: Wild About You and Nursery Necessities
Ink: Pumpkin Pie and Rose Red Classic Ink, Black Stazon
Accessories: Rose Red 1" Double-Stitched Grosgrain, Whisper White Taffeta, Styled Silver Hodgepodge, SNAIL, Dimensionals, White Opal Liquid Pearls, Glue Dots, Versamark, Clear Emboss Powder, Heat Gun and Stamp-a-ma-jig
Techniques: Baby wipe inking - See Beate's tutorial here.

Kristina's Color Inspiration #31

It is time for Kristina's weekly Colour Inspiration, and this week's colours are:


This is the card I made using these colours:


Now, I hope you will forgive my lack of creativity. I have a cold, and feel blah! I think this card is a bit blah too, well it looks bland to me!

The ingredients are:

Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant and Watercolour Paper.
Inks: Black Stazon, Versamark, Elegant Eggplant, So Saffron and Pumpkin Pie Classic Ink.
Stamps: Embrace Life.
Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder
Other: Crimper, Aquapainter, SNAIL adhesive, Sticky Strip, Dimensionals.

I have embossed the whole of the main image (using the reverse masking technique) and the leaves on the background image (using a Versamark pen). You can see the embossing a bit better in this close-up image:


See you later!
Sam.

More Textured Boats

I'm kinda hung up on these colours right now....and little boats....but that's a whole other story:


The background cardstock is Ruby Red, and I have stamped it with the Canvas background stamp. There is then a layer of Pumpkin Pie, which is mounted up on Dimensionals. The next layer is Soft Sky and it has been crimped.

The ribbon is from the retired Rustic Retreat Ribbon Originals pack. The two squares consist of a layer of Ruby Red then Whisper White and they are mounted up on Dimensionals.

The boat is from the 'Nursery Necessities' stamp set and is inked in Old Olive. I have stamped it off once on a scrap piece of textured cardstock before stamping it onto the Whisper White square. This results in a nice textured effect. I have also clear embossed both little boats.

Thanks for looking. Nighty night!
Sam.

CASEing Cupcakes...

I have a category in my Google Reader that is for cards I want to CASE. Then, when I'm feeling a bit low on imagination I go to this list and choose one that jumps out at me! The card I made tonight is a CASE of a beautiful card by Ashley at Design With Ink.


The colours are Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink and Whisper White. The stamp set is Big Bold Birthday. I've crimped the cupcake patty pan which I think adds authenticity. The cupcake icing is inked in Pretty in Pink and rock n' rolled in Regal Rose, then clear embossed. The two candles have Dazzling Diamonds on their flames. The ribbon is from the retired Flirty ribbon originals pack.

I'm positively stoked with how this card turned out. Thanks Ashley!

Sam.

Merry, Merry Christmas

I've had this window/shaker card in my head for a while now......and no, there wasn't a lot of spare space up there while it was 'on the inside' ;-). It didn't come out exactly like I'd imagined...but I can always tinker with it later...



The cardstock is Night of Navy and the stamps are from Stampin' Up!'s Merry Merry set. Merry, Merry is available during September as part of a promotion where you buy the set, and get the matching jumbo Stampin Around wheel free. There are five other sets and matching jumbo wheel available as part of this deal click here for more information.

But back to my card...The front panel is mounted up on a double layer of dimensional edging (the left-over strips from around the edges of sheets of dimensionals). I have also inked the edge of this piece using a sponge and Whisper White craft ink. The window was cut out using one of the Nestabilities Petite Oval Dies in my Cuttlebug. I have stamped images from the Merry, Merry set on a piece of acetate using Cotton White Stazon, and then stuck it over the window with sticky strip (on the underside). I did try to emboss the acetate in white, but the heat of the heat tool melted the acetate...DOH! I am going to get some different types of acetate and give them a try, apparently the old OHP acetate works, as might the laser printer acetate.

I stamped the large baubles from Merry, Merry in Versamark Ink, onto the background cardstock, and then embossed these white. I dumped a GINORMOUS pile of Dazzling Diamonds onto the background cardstock (a la Derek! - if you were at the recent Regionals you might know what I mean) before I stuck down the window layer on top. If you find you have any Dazzling Diamond 'leaks' in the corners of the window you can 'fix' them using Crystal Effects (it is all hidden under the top layer, so you won't see it). I have tied a piece of White Taffeta ribbon around the base of the card. The sentiment is a Rub-On from the Cherished Memories set.

...and thats's it! Definitely not one to be making 50 of though....imagine the mess...UGH!!!!!
Ciao,
Sam.

Happy Birthday...to me!

Hello stampers, cardmakers, scrappers, blog readers, and those who ended up here by mistake!

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. Here in beautiful downtown Canberry, Australia (the Nation's shining capital), it was a lovely cloudless day, and reached a balmy (well...maybe not exactly balmy) 14.8 degrees celcius (I even broke out a T.shirt in honour of it almost being spring ;-).

But I digress....the reason I come to you in such high spirits is that I recently celebrated a birthday, and I operate under the school of 'celebrate your birthday the week before, the week during and the week after...the big day ;-)'...so suffice to say it is STILL my birthday and that makes me happy!

Just wanted to post a couple of pics in honour of my special day (if I don't...who will??, so don't you be rolling your eyes at my self-indulgence!!!).



This photo shows one of my birthday gifts from my hubby and kids. The photo does not really do it justice. The vase and stems are made out of aluminium, and the flowers are made out of glass. The flowers screw into the stems, so you can move them around. Hubby brought this back for me from Albuquerque (please excuse any spelling errors...this is an extraordinarily hard name to spell), New Mexico. It was SUCH a lovely surprise!



On my birthday hubby stayed home from work and we all went to visit the National Botanic Gardens, here in the ACT. I LOVE these gardens. The trees and flowers are magnificent. The shot above shows some gorgeous paper daisies growing by the rock pool where we usually see the water dragons...but they must have been visiting abroad that day, as they were nowhere to be seen. We also enjoyed a delicious lunch at Hudson's in the gardens. I had Thai Fish cakes and a scrumptious salad that included couscous..YUMMO!



This pic shows the birthday card given to me by my good friend Kim (Hi Kim!). Isn't it lovely? The base of the card is Confetti White, stamped with Purely Pomegranate Classic Ink and the Paisley background stamp. There is then a layer of Purely Pomegranate, then Regal Rose, then more Confetti White.

The Happy Birthday is stamped in Purely Pomegranate ink and clear embossed. The flower stem is made of double-stitched Wild Wasabi ribbon, and the leaves are Wild Wasabi cardstock which has been crimped, cut and folded (and looks fabulous!!!). The flower petals are made from Purely Pomegranate, Regal Rose and Pretty in Pink cardstock, all of which have been stamped with the Paisley background stamp, clear embossed and then punched out with the Round Tab punch. The flower centre is a So Saffron flower punched using the Spring Bouquet punch, and then a Pretty in Pink Button, with some thread tied through.

Thank you Kim, I love this card :-).

Ciao,
Sam.

The Emboss Resist Card

Here is the second card that we made at my Technique Class last night. This card was made primarily utilising the emboss resist technique



It is difficult to see on the photo, but the boat, sun, fish and waves are all clear embossed. Various colours have then been brayered over the top to create the scene.

I would like to play a little more with getting some gradation of colour in the sky...but as a first pass I am very happy with the way this card turned out.

Sam.

Dandelion Puffs...

This card was inspired by one I recently saw on Kerri Hunter's blog here. I love what she has done with the Stem Silhouttes stamp, and when I saw it, I knew I'd have to CASE it soon :-).



My colours are: Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss, Pumpkin Pie and Naturals Ivory. I have spritzered (my spell-checker is trying to tell me this isn't a word...but as of now...IT IS ;-) Chocolate Chip around the edges of the Chocolate Chip background. The Always Artichoke layer is mounted up on Dimensionals. The next layer is Mellow Moss, and I have stamped one of the Stem Silhouttes stamps on it in Mellow Moss Classic ink, and then I have distressed it. The next layer is Pumpkin Pie, and it has been run through the crimper and mounted up on Dimensionals (yes, I do go through a tonne of these ;-).

Last, but certainly not least, is the Naturals Ivory layer. I have stamped the Stem Silhouettes stamp in Basic Brown ink. Then I have used a sponge Dauber to dab a daub of Always Artichoke Classic Ink on the ends. I've then over-stamped this in Versamark, sprinkled on clear emboss powder and heated using the heat tool. You can't see the embossing, but it is kind of speckledy...just like you would expect a Dandelion Puff to be, it looks cool (IMHO). I have then spritzered the cardstock using Always Artichoke ink, and inked the edges in the same colour. This layer is also mounted up on Dimensionals (I do use up all the scrappy bits around the edge of the sheets...makes 'em go a bit further ;-).

The 'Many Thanks' sentiment is from the SAB 2008 Lots of Thoughts stamp set. It is a very versatile set! I've stamped in Chocolate Chip ink (I inked the individual line on the stamp using a Choc Chip Stampin' Write Marker), and stamped on Choc Chip cardstock. This has been mounted in a piece of Antique Brass Hodge Podge, and secured with brads.

Again, I tried to squeeze in some ribbon, but alas I couldn't make it work. I hope I am not developing some sort of ribbon-a-phobia. That would be TRAGIC!

See ya,
Sam.