Special Fish Birthday

Hello and happy Monday to you :-) Today's card is for another family member's birthday - we have so many this month and it's a challenge to keep up but we are getting there!
As the recipient for this one loves to go fishing, I knew I'd be using the now retired By the Tide stamp set. So what I needed was inspiration for a design and that's where Jen B's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches  came in and the ideas began to flow....love that :-)  It's been a while since I've had a moment to play and enter a challenge but FMS has long been a favourite so it is exciting to be able to be join in today and hopefully it won't be long til I'm back again.

Here is the sketch:

And here is my card:

Yes, this is a masculine birthday card that has pink on it!! That is because I've coloured the fish to be Rainbow Trout - a favourite of the recipient to catch and eat :-) The design idea was a version of the  "spotlight" technique for the raised panel with the fish seeming to come from behind it. Hence the stamping of the seaweed...but now questioning whether a black layer behind it would've been better.

The silver 70 is run through an embossing folder before being added onto 3 layers of white card stock to give it height and strength to go through the mail.

The fish are coloured with Pencils and an Aqua Painter on ordinary White card stock - so just a tiny amount of water is used and then some Wink of Stella has been flicked over the background and 70's panel to add some water - like bubbles and sparkle.

Card stock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Silver Foil

Ink: Black Archival, Bermuda Bay, Versamark. Water color Pencils: Old Olive, Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay

Stamps: By the Tide (Retired), Sunshine Sayings

Accessories: Big Shot, Large Number Framelits, Stitched Shapes Framelits, Argyle EF (Retired),White EP, Metallic Enamel Shapes, Aqua Painter, Wink of Stella

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment to pop on over to Freshly Made Sketches and join in the fun too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Rev Up for a Sketch

Welcome to a hot Sunday evening in Melbourne!! Yes, I know there are some people who are experiencing major snow falls….and that's something I sure wouldn't want to be in. But let me tell that you that the car at one point today was reading 39.5 degrees Celsius and when the car stopped it felt like we were melting!! Thank goodness we came home to Air Con and it meant I had the best excuse to make a card as it was too hot to move too much :-)

I needed a masculine "Thank You" card and with a stamp set in mind to use, found the perfect sketch to inspire me by Kim at Freshly Made Sketches :-)

I have some DSP on my table from the last card I made and it will suit this sketch and my theme perfectly - don't you just love it when that happens :-)

Yes, a retired favourite stamp set but what else do you give a professed "car enthusiast" aka Rev head??

To help this be slightly less retired looking I added the fresh "Back to Black" DSP and the teamed it with the Large Polka Dots EF. The randomly placed "black dots" are Basic Pearls coloured with a black Permanent marker. In the past I have teamed this stamp with Gorgeous Grunge and simply couldn't resist doing it again.

And the greeting itself is also covered in Crystal Effects - as is the little heart  to give it a little shine :-)

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

Designer Series Paper: Back to Black

Inks: Momento Tuxedo Black, Smoky Slate, Real Red

Stamps: Rev Up The Fun, Gorgeous Grunge

Accessories: Big Shot, Large Polka Dot EF, Crystal Effects, Owl Punch (heart), Basic Pearls, Black Permanent Marker, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you have a moment to go and check out all the fabulous cards by the Freshly Made Sketches Design Team and maybe you might be the next to enter the challenge.

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

FMS Baby

Welcome to another hot Summer's day in Melbourne - last night we suffered through our hottest night on record - the lowest it got to was 28 degrees! (Celsius) And today will be 42 before the cool change arrives about 8pm. In the meantime it is quite windy outside too so our thoughts are with all those fighting the bush fires today in both South Australia and Victoria - a very difficult day ahead for them.

For us, it is a day of staying inside out of the heat - and so what better thing to do could there be than to make a card? None of course :-) So today I am using the great sketch this week by Narelle at Freshly Made Sketches 

And I've made a much needed baby card as I am about to become an Aunty again….and wanted to use the Pom Pom trim….:-)

I'm sure this would've been easier if I had stuck to pink as I struggled with this one but I think we got there in the end :-) 

Card stock: Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, So Saffron, Whisper White

Designer Series paper: Lullaby

Inks: So Saffron, Calypso Coral

Stamps: Something For Baby, A Dozen thoughts

Accessories: Big Shot, Baby's Firsts Framlelits, Calypso coral Pom Pom trim

Talking of babies, in a bush in our yard in view of our back door, a Native Pigeon has been sitting on her nest and her chicks hatched yesterday - so not an easy day for them either. But she is being an awesome mother - I popped out to take a photo a moment ago and she was gone - soon to return with a cool worm or two for her hungry chicks when I'm sure she would rather be staying out of the sun. And yes - I have put a bowl of water out for her :-)

Here she is keeping her chicks safe despite the high wind:

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have time to check out the great inspiration by the Designers at Freshly Made Sketches and maybe you too might be the next to enter :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Happy Engagement

It has been a very pleasant sunny day here in Melbourne and I have been blessed to hear some wonderful news - that of a good friend's  - more like a sister really - engagement. I have known the Bride to Be since she was about 10 years of age…and I wasn't that much older and now she is preparing for a wonderful new beginning in April next year. So a special time and a special card is of course needed.

And there is a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week that just fits the bill :-)

Yesterday's card had 3 vertical panels and today's is 3 horizontal - how fun is that :-)

The card base is Brushed Silver and is topped with a layer of Whisper White card which has the lovely Silver Foil Vellum hearts on top. And to attach the Vellum to the white card without showing the adhesive I simply used a little Two Way Glue behind each little heart.

The two hearts are each embossed - the Silver with the Chevon EF and the White with the a now retired (Christmas ) Embossing folder that I have forgotten the name of - it is a lovely oval frame that left room for the dasher or tree etc to sit inside, so if you can remember it's name please let me know!!

And the little pink stones are Basic Rhinestones that have been coloured with a Melon Mambo Blendabilities marker.

Card stock: Brushed Sliver, Whisper White, Silver Foil

Designer Series Paper: Vellum Specialty Silver Foil

Ink: Versamark, Melon Mambo Blendabilities marker

Stamp: Good Greetings

Accessories: Big Shot, Chevron EF, Retired (name?) EF, Silver EP, Basic Rhinestones, Silver ribbon, Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a moment to go and check out the great sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches and the wonderful cards the Design Team have made to inspire you and maybe you will be the next to enter :-)

Happy stamping until next time

Jan

Thank You Again

Today has been one of "those" days when I felt a little behind most of the time…our Sally (black Lab) was not impressed to find she got no breakfast this morning and straight away she knew that meant a trip to the Vet (Specialist) And she was absolutely right! A couple of months ago she was diagnosed with a "most likely benign"mass behind her Right knee. There was no need at the time to hurry removal because it was benign, was cutback during Biopsy and she stopped limping. But lately the limp has returned so she is having a CT scan today and the Specialist and staff are so patient and good with her - she is not an easy patient, due to her former life prior to adoption she gets very scared and has been known to snap at Vets in the past  - but not here which is testament to their good care.
So today's card is for the Vet hospital staff. I needed some inspiration….and in a hurry, so I turned to Freshly Made Sketches as I have already used this sketch this week and it has inspired me again!

This time I changed the Twine and button to a ribbon and bow…

And yes, it features the long retired "D is for Dog" stamp set but as dear Sally is a black Lab and wears a red collar there really was nothing else more suitable :-)

So to "update"this card, I added the new Polka Dots EF, the wonderful Back to Black DSP, black Satin ribbon AND some sequins of course :-)

The main dog image is embossed in Black with the collar coloured with a Red Marker. The greeting is embossed using Clear EP over the Red ink to give it a lovely shine and textural feel also.

Card stock: Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Back to Black

Inks: Versamark, Momento Tuxedo black, Real Red

Stamps: D is For Dog (Retired) Sassy Salutations

Accessories: Big Shot, Polka Dot EF, Black Satin Ribbon, Black and Clear EP, Silver Sequins (non SU)

Thanks so much for stopping by today - for those wondering, Sally is happy and home although of course we are still waiting on the Scan results for now.

  I do hope you have time to check out all the great inspiration at Freshly Made Sketches  and maybe you too might be inspired to enter the challenge this week!!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Festival of Trees for FMS

Good afternoon and welcome! It is a hot day today here in Melbourne - 33 degrees and a good incentive to stay inside in the Air Con and out of the heat. And after taking Sally the Lab for an early morning walk and watering the veggie garden I thought I'd earned a bit of time for paper crafting :-)

And for inspiration I used the wonderful sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week -by Kin and  so fun!

Such a great sketch - is so open to interpretation  - and I chose to go for a Christmas card :-)

The starting point of this card for me was the DSP - the Trim the Tree Stack. Lovely modern twists on traditional colours :-)

I stamped the Trees in Garden Green and then stamped the middle with some Cherry Cobbler and added some of the fun Dazzling Details over that. And a punched Gold Glimmer star on top to match the Gold twine below  :-)

Card stock: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Gold Glimmer

Designer Series Paper: Trim the Tree Stack

Inks: Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler

Stamps: Festival of Trees

Access: Big Shot, On Point EF, Tree Punch, Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details, Gold Twine, Gold button and Dimensionals (lots of), Snail

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have time to check out the great inspiration from the team at Freshly Made Sketches this week and maybe you too will be inspired to enter :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

First Feathers for FMS

Good morning and welcome! Today has the promise of being a wonderful Spring Day - you know the type, a cool night but a beautifully clear and warm sunny day :-) We are expecting a lovely 24 degrees Celsius - the warmest since Winter  - and it is time to get into the garden and get the summer veggies planted - am so looking forward to doing that later this afternoon with a couple of good friends who are popping over to help :-)

For today's card I was inspired to use the new Four Feathers stamp set after going to the Nutcracker Ballet on Thursday evening! The last time I saw this Ballet was for my 10th Birthday present  ( so a little while ago) from my lovely Uncle and Godfather who knew I had been studying the music and the ballet at school. I was treated like a Princess for the evening and I have never forgotten it :-)
And this time, I went with some lovely friends and we too had a great night :-) As soon as I saw the wonderful costumes of the Flowers -  a beautiful mix of white, pale to dark crimson pinks and silver and sequins - I knew I wanted to make a card using the feathers to try and capture the magic of the night :-)

And the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches helped my tie all the ideas together - here it is:

And here is my card:

I see I have mixed up the height of the side pieces of the sketch - oh dear!

To create the richness of colour of the feathers I embossed them all - the silver and Cherry on white card stock and the black on vellum to give it a soft feel :-) And for the Cherry embossed one I also sponged it with pinks to try and create an ombre type feel - Pink Pirouette at the bottom to Cherry Cobbler at the top.

And the background is stamped randomly using my favourite background stamp (of all time!) Gorgeous Grunge using the Encore Silver ink.

This was my first play with this stamp and it was such fun to do and so easy to cut out using the matching framelits. I can already see this stamp that I initially wasn't that excited about is going to become a favourite :-)

Card stock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Vellum, Silver Glimmer

Ink: Versamark, Encore Silver, Pink Pirouette, Strawberry Slush, Cherry Cobbler

Stamps: Four Feathers, Gorgeous Grunge, A Dozen Thoughts

Accessories: Big Shot, Feather's Framelits, Square Framelits, Cherry Cobbler EP, Silver EP, Black EP, Basic rhinestones

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you have time to check out the great cards by the Freshly Made Sketches team and maybe you too may be inspired to enter and join in the fun!

Also don't forget to pop back later today as I will be posting as part of the Creative Blog Hop and have a lovely friend to introduce to you whose work you will really want to check out :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

  

Flower Fair for FMS

Today began chilly and foggy but eventually blossomed into a gorgeous sunny Spring day! I do love Spring - it's like a sneak peek of summer :-)
And when I saw the great sketch by Cindy at Freshly Made Sketches this week I knew which stamp set I wanted to use. Here is the sketch:

And eventually I decided on this colour scheme for a friend whose favourite colour is "purple" followed by pink :-)

So the card base is Blackberry Bliss to match the piece of DSP used across the card.  The flower images are from the wonderful Flower Patch stamp set that are so easy to cut with their matching framelits and are layered on dimensionals.

Card stock: Blackberry Bliss, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Moonlight Stack

Inks: Lost Lagoon, Strawberry Slush, Crushed Curry, Pear Pizazz

Stamps: Flower Patch, Four You

Accessories: Big Shot, Flower Fair Framelits, Hexagon EF, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you have time to go and check out all the great inspiration at Freshly Made Sketches this week and maybe you too might be inspired to join in the fun!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Be you (tiful) for Freshly Made Sketches

Well, I know it is still August - so officially still Winter here in Melbourne - but with beautiful sunshine and our highest temperature in 3 months (21 degrees Celsius!) it is impossible to deny that Spring is in the air! And I must say that makes me happy :-) Whilst I can cope with Winter…like most people, I much prefer Spring :-)

So when I saw this week's fabulous sketch at Freshly Made Sketches by Linda, I knew which stamp set I wanted to use…all that remained was the colours to choose. I  do hope you have time to check out the great cards their Design Team have made to inspire us!

Here is the sketch:

And here is my card:

Unfortunately the shadows are in play as it is evening here now but hopefully they don't detract too much from the colours. Please see the next photo as its clearer!

So I used the new Flower Patch stamp set and a combination of fussy cutting and the fabulous Framelits that co-ordinate with it. And bling - of course!! What is Spring without some shine LOL!

Card stock: Whisper White, Silver Glimmer 

Inks: Strawberry Slush, Coastal Cabana, Smoky Slate, Crushed Curry, Old Olive

Stamps: Flower Patch

Accessories: Big Shot, Flower Fair Framelits, Basic Rhinestones, Paper snips and dimensionals

And yes. I decided to take another photo without the pink background :-) I usually photograph my cards with a white base and background…but then what to do when the card is mainly white?? So I've tried wood and white as I found the pink background painful on my eyes!! And it distracted from the card I thought….

Anyway, thanks so much for stopping by today. And thanks also to those who have enquired after Sally - will have an update in the next post. 

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Fathers Day is Coming

It is a gorgeous Sunny Winter's day today - so nice to be able to enjoy it after the crisp morning but so worth the wait :-).
Here in Australia, we celebrate Father's Day on the first Sunday in September - so its not very far away! So when I saw the fabulous sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week I knew I had to give it a go :-)

Such an elegant sketch!

For my card I started by choosing papers from the Moonlight DSP Stack - and then cut out my letters using the retired Timeless Type Dies.

To add some interest I stamped with the addictive Gorgeous Grunge on the white card and to tie it all together ( literally!) I coloured some Whisper White Bakers Twine with the Mid colour of the Daffodil Delight Belendabilities Markers. So easy to get matching twine for all your colours now! And as usual, I couldn't resist a little bit of bling - despite the masculine feel of the card :-)

Card stock: Crushed Curry, Smoky Slate, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Moonlight Stack

Inks: Crushed Curry, Daffodil Delight Blendabilities Markers

Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge

Accessories: Big Shot, Baby's First Framelits, Timeless Type Sizlits (Retired) Whisper White Bakers Twine, Silver Sequins (Non-SU)

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I do hope you have time to check out the great cards fro the Design Team at Freshly Made Sketches and maybe you too may be inspired to join in :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Sea Street Shaker

Welcome to a chilly Sunday evening in Melbourne. A real Four seasons in One day kind of day - just like we are famous for having :-) And so when the rain started it was the perfect time to join in some challenges and make a card - now that we have a little more time with Sally the dog needing less intensive nursing :-)

Today's card is for TWO challenges :  to "Just Add a shaker" at Just Add Ink and the fabulous sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.

Here is the card:

Doesn't the DSP just look like little waves?

In retrospect the window could've been a little higher….hence I felt the need to add the Twine to the top of the card.

The window is filled with a little mixture of Dazzling Diamonds glitter and some silver and blue sequins. And the little fish are stamped to replicate one of the layers in the sketch.

Card stock: Real Red, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Maritime

Inks: Island Indigo, Coastal Cabana, Real Red

Stamps: Sea Street, Happiest Birthday (Retired)

Accessories: Circle Framelits, Hexagon punch, Acetate sheet, Coastal Cabana Twine, Dazzling Diamonds, Silver and blue sequins (Non-SU)

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today and I hope you have time to check out the two challenge blogs for inspiration as they have some amazing cards for you : Just Add Ink and Freshly Made Sketches.

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Sweet Baby for FMS

Good morning! I hope it is a beautiful day wherever you are today. Here in Melbourne we have woken to the sun occasionally peeking through the clouds - so nice after the cold, wet and definitely wintery weekend!! Brrr…it has been so cold!!

Yesterday we were spoilt with visitors popping in to see us bringing fruit from their own trees and cake - so spoilt! It has been difficult to get out during the last week with Sally (labrador) needing pretty constant care after her surgery to both her hind legs, and then I toppled over on Thursday and dislocated a bone in my left foot - we have been a good looking pair with our matching ice packs :-)

And so with Sally having a little snooze after her tiny allowed walk out to the letter box and back it is the perfect time to make a card :-) And I love the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week!!

I love how this is such a versatile sketch and I knew what I wanted to do as I had a Skype call on the weekend…I won't share who from yet and there are a couple of people it could be…. but pretty exciting news!!

Yes! A baby is on the way :-)

So for this card I started with the background which is from the fabulous Moonlight DSP paper stack. 

The lovely pram image is from the new Something For Baby stamp set which I love as it comes with matching framelits - so no fussy cutting needed :-)

And the greeting and cute bunny are from the Baby We've Grown set and I coloured these with the new Blendabilities (Blendies for short )  markers. To stamp the images for colouring you can use our regular Classic inks or the Memento Tuxedo Black ink, just make sure the images are really dry first. 

For the greeting I stamped in Lost Lagoon, and coloured with the Coastal Cabana Blendies and for the cute bunny, I stamped in Basic Grey and coloured with the Daffodil Delight markers - and used the medium Coastal Cabana marker for the bow tie :-) I was quite pleased with how the colouring turned out - all new for me, I've never been good at drawing or colouring - that's why I use stamps LOL! So if I can do it anyone can :-)

Card stock: Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Moonlight Stack

Inks: Hello Honey, Lost Lagoon, Basic Grey, Coastal Cabana and Daffodil Delight Blendabilities Markers

Stamps: Baby We've Grown, Something For Baby

Accessories: Big Shot,  Project Life Corner punch, Baby's First Framelits, Project Life Corner punch, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I do hope you have a great day and can take some time to pop by Freshly Made Sketches  and check out the awesome cards the Design team have made and the full gallery of challenge entrants -maybe you too might be inspired to enter :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Simple Stems for FMS

Autumn is truly in the morning and evening air today but we cannot complain especially as the northern part of Queensland has been hit by Cyclone Ita. There has thankfully been no loss of life despite a lot of damage to many communities. So this card is inspired by the resilient people of Queensland :-)
And it helped to follow yet another great sketch from Freshly Made Sketches this week.

Just click on the picture below to see it better 

Yes, I know, it is kind of pushing the boundaries a bit. I hope thats ok? There were two main reasons…

  1) I was really ("peachy") keen to use the On Film Framelits which arrived the other day and

  2) I have a friend who is "challenging" me to use more of Gorgeous Grunge than I already do ( which is a lot!!) 

So the card base is some Sahara Sand with a layer of Whisper White on top. I used the "splatter" of green for my horizontal band across the card and later added a touch of the little dots in Strawberry Slush.

To make the frame, I cut two of the Film pieces and layered them over each other to create a longer frame and added the on some dimensionals.

Next the tulip from Simple Stems is stamped twice and cut out and layered on each other and then finally a little banner is cut from some more White card and stamped with a greeting from a Dozen Thoughts.

I added a Vintage Faceted Button and made a bow with some Linen Thread and teased out the layers of thread to almost give the impression of a double bow.

Finallly a little butterfly with a Rhinestone to finish and add a little balance.

Card stock: Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Strawberry Slush

Inks: Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding

Stamp: Simple Stems, Gorgeous Grunge, A Dozen Thoughts

Accessories: Big Shot, On Film Framelits, Beautiful Wings Embosilits die, Hexagon punch, Vintage Faceted Button, Linen Thread

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you have time to check out the fabulous cards by the team at Freshly Made Sketches and maybe you too might just be inspired to enter too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Freshly Made Saleabration

With only a few days of Saleabration left I thought it a great time to celebrate some of my favourite free products while playing with some new ones :-). And also wanted to use the fabulous sketch this week from Freshly Made Sketches!

For once I decided to stick rather closely to the sketch so it is - and it isn't - more pared back than usual :-)

Well, it would be - if it weren't for that vibrant DSP and the obligatory little pops of bling :-)

For the card base I used some Sahara Sand card and then some Whisper White before the two vibrant DSP strips. And then the Film Framelit is cut out of the gorgeous Gold Foil card stock and added with some dimensionals.

A little trick I noticed when playing with this Framelit for the first time is that you get a perfectly cut rectangle that pops out from the inside - so I used the Framelit with Whisper White Card stock over the "Thanks" to get the same sized rectangle for the greeting. That way some of the DSP still shows through the little holes!

The largest flower from Petal Parade was stamped in Calypso Coral ink and then punched out with a 11/4" circle punch before it too was added with dimensionals…and the little gold sequins for the final touch of bling :-)

Card stock: Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Gold Foil Specialty

Designer Series Paper: Sweet Sorbet

Inks: Black Stazon, Calypso Coral

Stamps: Hip Notes, Petal Parade

Accessories: Big Shot, On Film Framelits, 11/4" Circle Punch, Gold sequins (Non-SU)

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you feel inspired to check out the fabulous sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and maybe have a go too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

A touch of gold

Well its the "day after" a wonderful Stamp and Chat night and now I can share with you a card from last night. With this card I introduced some of the ladies to working with a sketch challenge for the first time and I know some are keen to do more which is fabulous. So this card is inspired by the fun shaped sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week.

Aren't those angles fabulous!!

So a floral card featuring the beautiful Sweet Sorbet DSP and Decorative Dots EF - both available for FREE till the end of the month as part of Saleabration.
The embossed layer is added with dimensionals and the flower is made by simply stamping the image from Simple Stems x3 and cutting out the layers and adding more dimensionals and a touch of gold with a Sequin :-)

For the middle band there is some of the gorgeous Gold Foil card stock to pick up the sequin and the little banner stamped from the Happy Watercolor stamp set. For the banner ends I find using my hexagon punch makes these so easy - just find the middle of your piece of card and line that up with a corner in the Hexagon punch and you have a perfect banner every time :-)

Card stock: Calypso Coral, Whisper White, Gold Foil

Designer Series Paper: Sweet Sorbet

Ink: Calypso Coral

Stamps: Simple Stems, Happy Watercolor

Accessories: Big Shot, Decorative Dots EF, Hexagon punch, non-SU sequins

Now the friendss that came last night are all experienced stampers but they definitely did "feel the challenge" too as I left the DSP and Whisper White card stock in rectangles so they could cut the shapes themselves :-) It might have taken them a little longer to finish the card than usual but I think they all appreciated the challenge! And of course it also meant they could choose which corners of the vibrant DSP they would show ;-)

I hope you too feel inspired to check out the sketch this week at Freshly Made sketches and see what the fabulous designers have made and maybe even try your hand at joining in too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Dinoroar for FMS

What a beautiful morning it is in Melbourne - no sign of the forecast showers (although we need the rain) and it is the morning after a busy Stamp and chat night that I held here at home. It is wonderful to have friends come and join in the fun of making cards and I love the "show and tell" to see what they have been up to too... But the day after is a REST day :-)

So here is a card I made a little earlier in the week using the fabulous sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week.

My young nephew is into dinosaurs currently (and Diggers, and Minecraft!) and his birthday is coming up soon so this is inspired by him too :-)

The fabulously grungy Epic Day DSP really sets the scene for a dinosaur - and a cheery looking fellow he is too!

The card base is Baked Brown Sugar and I added a layer of Gumball Green card to set off the DSP which I embossed using the fun Decorative Dots EF which is still available for FREE until the end of the month as part of Saleabration.

To cut the DSP to shape I started with two rectangles and then cut the angles to fit the sketch. I'm sure there may be a more mathematical way but I just cut by eye :-)

Little Dino is first stamped in Versamark and then Baked Brown Sugar ink and Clear embossed so he could be coloured using an Aqua Painter and then he is hand cut out and layered onto an embossed Starburst.

For the banners, a little trick I use to make the ends these days is my Hexagon punch - just measure the middle of the banner, and line up the middle corner of the punch with the middle of the banner and voilla - perfect banners every time :-)

 Card stock: Baked Brown Sugar, Gumball Green, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Epic Day

Ink: Gumball Green, Baked Brown Sugar, Crushed Curry, Versamark

Accessories: Big Shot, Decorative Dots Ef, Starbursts Framelits, Hexagon Punch, Clear Embossing Powder, Aqua Painter

I hope you too feel inspired to join in the great sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week and do come back later to see the other card I have for this sketch and more fun cards and projects from last nights' Stamp and Chat too!

Happy Stamping until next time,

Jan

Lobster birthday

Welcome everyone to another beautiful Autumn day - or Spring if you are in the Northern Hemisphere. Down here in Melbourne today we have another gorgeous warm sunny 28 degrees C - my favourite kind of weather - and comfortably cool enough overnight for sleeping too, hooray!!

This morning was spent at a funeral for a relative of good friends so this afternoon it was time to make a   cheerful card and play along with the lovely team at Freshly Made Sketches.

Narelle who set the great sketch this week suggested it might be a "good one to show off some DSP or create a scene." Well, I'm not great at using the brayer yet so had a go at creating a water scene with the Painters Tape technique……and settled on the DSP idea :-)

The DSP here is pretty plain but I was hoping the colour was sea -ish to compliment the Lobster which was first stamped and then coloured a little more with an Aqua painter and there are circles which could be bubbles :-)

The card base is embossed with the pretty Decorative Dots EF still available for free as part of Saleabration till the 28th of this month. And the banners ends are cut using the Hexagon punch :-)

Card stock: Island Indigo. Whisper White

Designer SeriesPaper: Retro Fresh 

Ink: Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana

Stamps: By the Tide, (Retired Saleabration set)

Accessories: Big Shot, Decorative Dots EF, Hexagon Punch, Basic Rhinestones

I hope you are having a fabulous day whatever the weather where you are and maybe you might like to  check out the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and join in the fun took :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Music Concert Birthday

Today's card is for a friend who is a seasoned music fan and concert goer  - and also uses the fabulous sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week.

This great sketch can lend itself to many themes I think - even this one!

And I know this card's recipient's favourite artist is Neil Finn who is a guitarist and  coming to Australia on tour next month so the sadly retired Extreme Guitar stamp was the obvious choice :-) 

The bright chevron stripes are supposed to represent some vibrant stage lighting….and what star wouldn't benefit from the odd sequin :-) And the tickets are hand cut  - although there is a punch available it hasn't made it's way here yet!

Card stock: Island Indigo, Whisper white

Designer Series Paper: Watercolor Wonder

Ink: Island Indigo, Crisp Cantaloupe, Gumball Green

Stamps: Extreme Guitar, Just Sayin', Take the Ticket

Accessories: Big Shot, Word Bubble Framelits, Crisp Cantaloupe Twine*, Sequins (non SU)

* Available as part of the freebie items during Saleabration

With the welcome cooler weather and touch of rain the dogs have enjoyed some good play time this week.

Lots of love amongst the rough and tumble

And young Monty will lie on his back and beg for Sally's attention who pretends to ignore him

Happy stamping until next time

Jan