Silver Calm

Before I get to what has been happening today I have this card to share with you that I made yesterday. Its inspired by the lovely sketch at The Paper Players this week. And there is still a little time to enter it into the challenge!! As I still have LOTS of Christmas cards to make it was always going to be one :-)

It came down to which stamp set to use for the focal image…and I thought I'd try the dove from the Calm Christmas set and use some of the lovely Winter's Frost Specialty DSP and thats how this card came along!

The base layer is Whisper White followed by Coastal Cabana. The beautiful metallic and blue striped piece of DSP is layered onto some Pool Party card stock and the banners are hand cut and made from the same DSP, more Pool Party card stock and the new and gorgeous Silver Foil all embossed with the Pretty Print EF.

For the dove I tried a number of variations (White embossed, foil stamped…) before finally settling on the Silver embossed  version and gave him a pearl for an eye. The greeting too is Silver embossed.

Card Stock: Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Pool Party, Silver Foil
Designer Series Paper: Winter Frost Specialty
Inks: Versamark,
Stamps: Calm Christmas
Accessories: Big Shot, Pretty Print EF, Silver Embossing Powder, Organza Ribbon, Basic Pearls

I had some lovely card making friends come over today and they even brought Lunch!! How spoilt am I?! We had a lovely time together. Thank you so much Ladies!!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

White Christmas

I hope you are having a good Monday! It has been a bit of a crazy day here - rather busy and even the weather doesn't seem to know what its doing next  with sun - cloud - rain - sun….okay, a typical Spring day here in Melbourne! The card I have to share with you today is for a sketch challenge at  Pals Paper Arts.

This is the first time I have entered any of their Challenges but when I saw this Sketch, a card idea started to form so I knew I had to try it. I apologise for the poor lighting in the photos  - the sun has gone for the day!

The base of the card is Whisper White Card stock and the next layer is some Designer Series Paper from the Winter Frost Specialty pack backed with Pool party card stock. the top layer is Smoky Slate embossed with the Print Poetry EF and added with dimensionals.

The Poinsettia is Vellum card stock embossed with White embossing Powder and topped with Basic Pearls. The Merry greeting is part of a stamp from the now retired Many Merry Messages stamp set and is topped with some pool party satin ribbon and another Basic pearl. 

Card stock: Whisper White, Pool Party, Smoky Slate, Vellum Card stock

Designer Series Paper: Winter Frost Specialty

Inks: Versamark, Pool Party

Stamps: Joyful Christmas, Many Merry messages (retired)

Accessories: Big Shot, Print Poetry EF, White EP,  Corner Rounder punch, Basic Pearls, Ribbon (retired) dimensionals,

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Calm Christmas for FMS #109

Today's has ben a busy day - as soon as Sally (dog) jumped off the bed just before 6am to go and hide in the bathroom  - a sure sign of rain - I had a feeling it was going to be one of "those" days…and it was! Yet I still have a card to share with you today so that is good! And its inspired by a great sketch at  Freshly Made Sketches this week.

After having a look at my required list of close to 50 Christmas cards this year…I decided it was time to really concentrate on making them!!

The base of the card is Real Red card stock and the vertical layer is a piece of Crumb cake embossed with the Print Poetry EF and added with Dimensionals.

The Dove image is first inked with Real Red ink and then the branch cleaned and inked with a Gumball green marker and then stamped onto white card stock and cut out.

Its then added with Dimensionals on top of a piece of Burlap Ribbon which has been cut in half horizontally. A small pearl is used for the Dove's eye and three more adorn the ribbon.

Card stock: Real Red, Crumb Cake, Whisper White

Inks: Real Red, Gumball Green (marker)

Stamps: Calm Christmas

Accessories: Big Shot, Print Poetry EF, Basic Pearls, Burlap Ribbon

In between the rain today we managed to get to the Park and let the dogs have a play. They love the rough and tumble!

And then they just love to love :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Baby Grunge

Well its GRUNGE week at Just Add Ink this week!!!

I've only recently started playing with the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set and  just in case you haven't noticed :-) it has been a feature of just about every card of the last few weeks!!! So my challenge REALLY was: which of the several flavours of cards currently needed ie thank you, Christmas etc would I make?? When a good friend suggested doing a Baby card I initially wasn't sure but the idea stayed with me and when I sat down needing a baby card TODAY...this is what resulted.

I started with the Lines stamps from the Gorgeous Grunge set in the corner in Smoky Slate ink and then added the "splatters" with both Pool Party ad Pacific Point inks. the Jumpsuit is from the Baby Tees Jumbo wheel and is inked in Pacific Point and then the outline and star coloured with a marker and is then cut out and added with a Silver brad and dimensionals. The "Boy" is from the now retired Timeless Type Sizzlits dies.

And the arrow is from the Hello Lovely stamp set and is also raised on dimensionals - as is one of the three stars - inked with images from Gorgeous Grunge and cut out with a retired small Star punch.

And now I am off to deliver it to happy Grandparents...I hope they like it.

Card stock: Whisper White, Pacific Point, Smokey Slate, Pool Party

Inks: Pacific Point, Smokey Slate, Pool Party

Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Baby Tees (Jumbo Wheel) Hello Lovely

Accessories: Big Shot: Timeless Type Sizzlits (retired), Small star punch (retired), Metallic Brads (retired), Scissors, dimensionals

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Dr Who for Fab Friday #29

It has been a strange afternoon in Melbourne - sun comes out for five minutes, goes away, it rains and then the sun returns - over and over. Just the sort of strange occurrence that Dr Who would take in his stride!! I have a couple of friends who are big fans of the Dr :-)  so I have been meaning to add another Tardis card to the collection and have used the Sketch this week at Fab Friday. Its the first time I've entered one of their challenges:-)

When I saw the Chevron punch idea I decided it was time that  mine came out of its packaging!

The Tardis ( or Phone Booth from the now retired Feeling Sentimental set) is first inked with Pacific Point ink and then I ran a Midnight Muse Marker around the edges and some details before stamping.

The "flying mud" is a stamp in the Gorgeous Grunge set used after I made a mask for the Tardis with a post it note and is stamped in Smokey slate ink - as is the striped image at the bottom of the chevron. 

The chevrons are added with dimensionals.....with the Itty Bitty Banners greetings also raised up.

Hopefully Dr Who fans will approve  :-)

Card stock: Smokey Slate, Pacific Point, Basic Black, Whisper White

Inks: Pacific Point, Smokey Slate, Black Stazon, Midnight Muse (marker)

Stamps: Feeling Sentimental ( Saleabration 2013) Itty Bitty Banners

Accessories: Big Shot, Itty Bitty Banner Framelts, Chevron Punch, Corner Rounder punch, Post it note

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

More Rev Up the Fun

Today's card is inspired by the Sketch challenge at Just Add Ink this week

AND to create a Clean and Simple Masculine card from The Paper Players

 Yesterday i was joined by wonderful friends for some lunch and card making to celebrate a little birthday of mine:-) We had lots of fun  - and even made some cards!! A card with Rev Up the Fun was top of my list and it was fabulous that Katerina came ( and brought her set!!) to play along.
I also just had an order arrive with some Silver Foil paper and just couldn't wait to use it :-)

So we ended up making the same card - together and pooling our ideas too. One of the best things about working together!! We turned the Sketch on its side so there could be a "road" for the bike and then decided to use the Sentiment as a Bridge. This was a fun card to make and love the Silver Foil background - it adds a little Bling while still appearing clean and simple :-)

Card stock: Real Red, Whisper White, Basic Black, Silver Foil

Ink: Black Stazon, Real Red

Stamps: Rev Up the Fun, Gorgeous Grunge, Itty Bitty Banners

Accessories: Big Shot, Houndstooth EF, Itty Bitty Banner Framelits

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Practice for FMS

I hope you are having a wonderful relaxing Sunday. As promised yesterday, here are two cards made as practice for the Freshly Made Sketch challenge. I thought they might be too busy for the "clean" requirement  - with the embossing and the Bling in the centre panel.

The Burlap ribbon was the starting point for this card...such a lovely earthy texture! The Peace greeting is from the Calm Christmas stamp set and I used a Versamark pen ( sadly now retired) to ink just the Peace portion of the stamp and embossed with Gold EP

But I thought it was TOO much white (or Vanilla, actually) so I removed the bottom layer

What do you think?

Card Stock: Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green, Very Vanilla

Designer Series Paper: Be Of Good Cheer (Retired)

Ink: Versamark

Stamps; Joyful Christmas, Calm Christmas

Access: Gold Embossing powder, Burlap Ribbon, Frosted Finishes Embellishments

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Peace Ornament for FMS 108

Its another glorious spring day - a warm 27 degrees and after a busy morning out and about it is time to get back to making Christmas cards. Today's card is inspired by the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week.

This is my first entry for one of their challenges so I hope I have captured the "Clean" look ok!! This is the third card - come back tomorrow to see the cards I thought might be a little too busy for this sketch :-)

The Ornament is from the Holiday Ornaments stamp set and  is cut out with the co-ordinating Framelits - and even easier this year with the addition of the Magnetic Platform to keep the dies in place!

The DSP is from the Winter Frost Specialty pack and the Peace is part of a stamp from the Calm Christmas set - inked with Versamark and embossed with Silver EP.  And I did still try to find some room for bling :-) - Some Rhinestones on the ornament and the lovely Silver Glimmer Paper!

Card Stock: Basic Slate, Pool Party, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer 

Designer Series Paper : Winter Frost Specialty

Stamps: Holiday Ornaments, Calm Christmas

Inks: Bermuda Bay, Versamark

Accessories: Big Shot, Holiday Ornaments Framelits, Silver embossing powder, Basic Rhinestones, Silver Ribbon, Fancy Fan ( I think that's its name, now retired) Border Punch 

Nothing like a spot of exercise on a nice sunny day!

After all it IS a lovely green paddock - especially after the Council took out again the trees that were planted just yesterday...and already watered :-) 

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Butterfly Bling

Before I show you today's card here are a couple of pictures taken of the hail storm we had here on Thursday.

This is a quick shot of the front porch taken during the brief storm - it only lasted 10 mins or so and we were lucky that the stones were really small.

And a couple of HOURS later, when it was time for the doggie walk we came out to find this ice block still intact!!

Oops! I see now I could've removed the twig :-0

At least we were tucked up inside ( after a quick dash to put the car safely in the garage!!) so had the best excuse to make another card :-)

This card is a case of a card by last weeks Just Add Ink's winner, Amy White.  You can check Amy's card out here.

It was the red frame that caught my attention as I "recently" acquired the Square Framelits from SU so it was time to get them out!

The base of the card is Whisper White and the DSP is from the Epic Day This and That pack. The Gold glimmer paper is cut with Bigz die and the next layer is Pool Party card stock using the Elegant Butterfly punch . The top layer is punched from the DSP with the Bitty Butterfly punch.

And the Raspberry Ripple frame was made by first stamping with the Dictionary stamp using Black Stazon ink and then cutting it with the Square Framelits to create the frame.

The Hello Lovely greeting was stamped using a marker to ink the words only part  of the stamp.

And, as always, lots of dimensionals were used in the making of this card ( but no animals :-))

Card stock: Whisper White, Raspberry Ripple, Pool Party, Gold Glimmer

Designer Series Paper: Epic Day This & That

Stamps: Hello Lovely, Dictionary 

Access: Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz, Square Framelits, Elegant and Bitty Butterfly punches, Basic Rhinestones, White Bakers Twine

Happy Stamping until next time,

Jan

Hello Lovely, feel better!

The sun has come out finally just as I am ready to share todays' cards with you. Its been a chilly, windy and showery day so far so it is lovely to see the sun!
Todays cards are in honour of a sketch at the Paper Craft Crew this week - thats right, there are TWO cards! One a "basic" version and then a "stepped up" version which I will be entering in the Challenge.

So here is the basic version - first play with the Hello Lovely stamp set :-)

So a bit of monotone elegance and a touch of Rhinestone bling....

And here is the Stepped Up, Challenge entry version using the same stamp sets plus...

Again I used the Hello Lovely stamp set for the three squares and arrow and a touch of Hearts a Flutter and some red ribbon and larger rhinestones. The Pretty Print EF is used to emboss the top 2/3rds of the white card stock too.

The arrow is vaguely aimed towards the greeting :-)

Card stock: Basic Black, Whisper White

Stamps: Hello Lovely, Sassy Salutations, Hearts a Flutter

Inks: Black Stazon, Real Red

Accessories: Big Shot, Hearts a Flutter Framelits, Pretty Print EF, Postage Stamp Punch,1" Square Punch, Red Polka Dot ribbon (wrong side up), Basic Rhinestones

When we were walking at Hays Paddock park this morning we came across another Indian Miner chick that had fallen out of its nest. There was another chick on the ground nearby that had sadly given up its fight for life but its Mother was still keeping close, dive bombing us. So we placed the live chick back in the tree and its mother came over so hopefully this one will be ok. I guess we will find out tomorrow! 

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

First Double Challenge Entry

Good afternoon, I hope you are having a great day!
Today's card is a bit of a milestone for me - the first card entered in TWO challenges!! Now I know some people do this all the time.....but I am new to the world of challenges and it came about by accident really - but a happy accident!
Since Friday I had been struggling with coming up with an idea for the Photo challenge over at Just Add Ink this week  - such a gorgeous wreath but I wasn't sure what I could do as I don't own a wreath stamp yet...

Until I saw the Colour Challenge this week at The Paper Players!!

Then I KNEW what stamp set I could use - another new favourite, (aren't they all favourites when they are new? :-) )Wonderful Blessing!! Whilst not quite a wreath, this stamp is a circle :-)

This beautiful stamp is inked in Midnight Muse and then some Dazzling Diamonds glitter is added with a Glue Pen to the angels and stars hanging from the stable and then cut out with the Circle Framelits. Of course further Bling was required :-) so added a Basic Rhinestone to the star. I just  love how this stamp comes with an image and a greeting all in one making it a quick and easy choice for Christmas multiples!!

Card stock: Midnight Muse, Pool Party, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper :Winter Frost Specialty

Ink: Midnight Muse

Accessories: Big Shot, Circle Framelits, Dazzling Diamonds, Basic Rhinestones, Ribbon, Corner Rounder Punch, Glue dots, Dimensionals

On a slightly different note...some of you may know that I enjoy a wee spot of gardening - especially growing veggies. Though  I am a complete novice and am learning more by trial and lots of errors - any success is usually unexpected and greatly celebrated :-) This year I put in my first ever crop of carrots and parsnips and this week it was time to harvest as I wanted to make room in my small patch for summer vegetables. I was quite surprised at the result but i did learn something : the value of "thinning" out the plants as seedlings. Something I more than obviously didn't get around to doing as they look like something out of an Alien movie!!!

However, all cleaned up they did roast well even if some needed a little "beheading" first :-). 

At least the silver beet  that also was harvested came out looking as it should ( first time for planting that too!! ) and tasted fabulous when paired with the roast chicken....YUM!! A happy day of firsts!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Rev Up the Teenager

This is a card that we made this Friday at our "Stamp & Chat" night. We had a lot of fun with lots of show $ tell. I so love having the friends over once a month or so as they really inspire me too!
And I've also seen that this card meets the challenge criteria over at Stampin Up Only Challenges this week to make something masculine, Yay!! So please jump over and have a look at the great cards there  and have a go!

I used the tyre stamp from Rev Up the Fun ( thanks Katerina for letting me borrow your stamp set! I miss it already!!)  as a 4th Washi tape here and decided to cut the ends of the Washi to make an almost arrow shape. And then had fun adding some Gorgeous Grunge taking the colours from the Washi - Calypso Coral and Crumb Cake. The Rhinestones are just Basic Rhinestones coloured with a marker - it seems I can't make a card - even a masculine one - without some bling!! The banners were cut with scissors.

Card stock:Basic Black, Calypso Coral, Whisper White

Inks: Black Stazon, Calypso Coral, Crumb Cake

Stamps: Rev Up The Fun, Gorgeous Grunge

Accessories: Basic Rhinestones, Epic Day Washi Tape

It's Spring and the doggy friends are loving the warmer temperatures - though being Melbourne it is 25 one day and 17 the next so good to enjoy it when its "good." And obviously its such a hard life being a dog :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Girly Grunge

Today's card is for a special friend having a birthday and as I had a new set, Gorgeous Grunge already on the table it seemed a nice challenge to make it a bit 'girly" so I paired it with the lovely Chalk Talk...what do you think?

The base layer is Coastal Cabana and is paired with Raspberry Ripple and So Saffron inks. The ribbon is from a retired pack that was available in the last Summer Mini catalog that contained ribbon, lace and some doilies. I layered the Chalk Talk greeting and label images and cut them with the co-ordinating framelits and added some now retired So Saffron brads and a butterfly from Papillon Potpourri and some Rhinestone bling. I'm falling for the Grunge set - it is proving so versatile!

Card Stock: Coastal Cabana, Raspberry Ripple, Whisper White

Inks: Coastal Cabana, Raspberry Ripple, So Saffron

Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Chalk Talk, Papillon Potpourri

Accessories: Big Shot, Chalk Talk Framelits, Elegant Butterfly punch, Basic Rhinestones, Ribbon (retired) , So saffron brads (retired

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

More Rev Up The Fun and Christmas

Its been a busy few days getting ready for the friends to come to a stamping night this coming Friday. "Stamp and Chat" we call it - because we do a lot of both :-) Sometimes we even do more chatting than stamping!! But we have some new goodies to play with and so I wanted to get a head start on things.

The first card is another case I saw on line but I forget who created it - I made a few changes from memory but the basics of being Washi tape based remains.

The fun part was all the fussy cutting - especially around the greeting but I think it was worth it? The Washi Tape is from the Epic Day kit - three rolls for one price!

Card stock: Crumb cake, Calypso Coral, Whisper White

Ink: Crumb cake, Calypso Coral, Black Stazon

Stamps:Rev Up the Fun, Gorgeous Grunge

Access: ( Big shot...no, must be the first card in ages without it! ;-) ) Washi Tape..that's it!

The last card today is a Christmas one. I have been waiting for the Joyful Christmas set to CASE a card in the Seasonal Catalog that I loved.

I love the embossed Poinsettia!!

I inked a clear block in Crumb cake ink and stamped the middle of the Vanilla card stock several times before embossing with the Pretty Print EF. I then stamped the Poinsettia stamp  twice with Versamark ink and embossed with Gold EP and cut the centre of the second image out to layer on the first. Its topped with a Frosted Finishes embellishment. The Merry is cut with the Expressions Framelits from Gold Foil card stock and the Christmas is stamped from a retired set and cut out with the Bitty Banner Framelits.

Card stock: Cherry Cobbler, Brushed Gold, Very Vanilla, Gold Foil

Ink: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler

Stamps: Joyful Christmas, Many Merry Messages (retired)

Accessories: Big Shot, Pretty Print EF, Expressions Framelits, Bitty Banners Framelits, Gold EP, Frosted Finishes Embellishments

Well I hope that makes up for my blog silence over the last week :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Stamping Catch Up

On Tuesday one of my best friends came over and we went out for a quick lunch - at a new place we may not go back to...nice food but quite noisy.... and then we came home and had a fun stamping time together - and even had some new goodies to play with! We had a lovely time and here is some of what we made.

My friend Bernie, made this very pretty card using her Flower Shop set and some Gingham Washi tape. She punched the flower centres with the 1/2" circle punch and layered them with dimensionals. Isn't it so pretty? The greating is from Curly Cute.

And I concentrated on some male themed cards in preparation for a "Stamp & Chat" this Friday night. Both are CASED from another SU demo, Justin Krieger. The first card I didn't change a thing...

I love that whilst there is the element of some grunge it is basically a clean card with little embellishment. I did use Stamp-a -ma-jig to line up the tyre marks which are stamped on a piece of white card stock and then cut out. the greeting is embossed with white EP and cut out with my new oval Framelits - in fact everything used here needed a packet opened! ( such fun too!) The Rev Up the Fun stamp set is not actually mine - it belongs to another good friend who is very kind to let me borrow it :-)

Card stock: Whisper White, Smoky Slate, Pacific Point

Ink: Pacific Point, Smoky Slate, Black Stazon, Versamark

Stamps: Rev Up the Fun, Gorgeous Grunge, Positively Chevron

Accessories: Big Shot, Oval Framelits, White EP, Corner rounder Punch

The next card is also one of Justin's that I added some bling to:

And yes, I really AM a fan of blue! I tried this in the traditional red and green for Christmas but didn't really like it as much. This is a new Single Stamp called Wonderful Blessing and it is beautiful! Its lovely that it has an image and a greeting all in the same stamp!! It will make for quick and easy Christmas cards:-) 

 I added a Rhinestone to the star and the two navy brads in addition to Justin's original design - I still have a drawer of retired brads - these are from the Earth Elements. The doily is sponged with Midnight Muse ink and I love the new Hesham ribbon!

Card stock: Soft Suede, River Rock, Very Vanilla

Ink: Midnight Muse

Stamp: Wonderful Blessing

Accessories: Big Shot, Circle Framelits, hesham ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, Not Quite Navy brads (retired)

And of course the day is not over until the two dog friends have a play....this time we paid a short visit to Monty at his home. The friends had a good romp and then just lay chewing on sticks together ("sticking" together LOL!) enjoying each others company.

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Thinking of Hexagons

Its been a few days between posts....but am back with a thinking of you card based on an old Just Add Ink sketch - its a female version of the male card I submitted a couple of weeks back.

I'm sorry its not such a good photo - taken just before putting it in an envelope for a friend who'd had some bad news. I know she likes these colours and hope is a little something to bring comfort.

 The clay flower was made using Simply pressed clay molds with some Dazzling Diamonds glitter sprinkled into the mold before adding the clay. Then it was coloured with a marker. The pool party banner is stamped with a butterfly from the papillon set and then put through the Big Shot with the Woodgrain EF

Card stock: Pool party, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Polka Dot Parade

Inks: Rich  Razzleberry, Pool Party, Crumbcake

Stamps: Six Sided Sampler, Papillon Potpourri, So Happy For You (retired)

Accessories: Big Shot, Hexagon Punch, Wood grain EF, Basic Rhinestones, Simply Pressed Clay and molds, Dazzling Diamonds

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Hello Baby - SUO #80

Its another gorgeous day in Melbourne after a chilly start of only 6 degrees it has turned out to be a warm and sunny 21!
Today's card is an opportunity to take a short break from Christmas cards and to join in with SUO Challenges and make a Baby card. I know of a few people expecting babies in the next week or so - so it is good timing! So this card is for a boy - 50% chance it will be needed :-)

The Baby Tees's wheel is inked in Marina Mist and then coloured with a blender pen and cut out individually. I wanted the Tees to look like they were on a washing line.

So used a neutral brad (retired) and some Island Indigo Bakers Twine to make the "line". The background DSP is first run through the Big Shot with the honeycomb EF and then lightly sanded to make the hexagons stand out a bit more.

The individual Hexagon is stamped with the Six Sided Sampler stamp set using the polka dot image and the greeting is from the Tiny Tags set and is cut out with the Bitty Banner Framelits.

And the inside of the card is just run over with the Baby Tees wheel too.

Card stock: Marina Mist, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Polka Dot Parade

Stamps: Baby Tee's Jumbo Wheel, Tiny Tags, Six Sided Sampler

Accessories: Big Shot, Honeycomb EF, Bitty Banner Framelits, Basic pearls, Organza Ribbon, Island Indigo Bakers Twine, Blender Pen, Hexagon Punch, Corner Rounder punch, Neutral Brads (retired)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan