Hello Simple Stems

Welcome to Winter here in Melbourne - although so far it doesn't quite feel like it yet :-) Still 19 degrees (Celsius) today and I'd love it if it continues like this! Though you can tell by the plants in the garden that they are confused - I have some beautiful (elegant eggplant ) Irises that have just decided to flower thinking it must be Spring already :-)

Today's card is for the sketch at the Paper Craft Crew this week. The Design Team have made some wonderful cards to inspire you so I hope you have time to pop over and see them :-)

I really like that it is so open to interpretation and that meant I had too many ideas really!  And I also wanted to use some of my favourite retiring products.

So I started from the beautiful Watercolor Wonder DSP and also wanted to use the Simple Stems stamp set. I stamped the flower image on a piece of Whisper White card stock for the tag background and then stamped it again three times to layer for the main flower. For the greeting I stamped onto a piece of the DSP using some Black Stazon ink and then cut it out with the Word Bubble framelits and layered it onto a piece of card stock for strength. 

Card stock: Calypso Coral, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Watercolor Wonder

Inks: Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry, Black Stazon

Stamps: Simple Stems, Four You

Accessories: Big Shot, Word bubble Framelits, Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, White Organza Ribbon, Gold sequins (Non-SU)

Now I did say I had too many ideas….so here is another of them:

With this one I turned the card base 90 degrees and used another two favourite retiring sets….

Card stock: Island Indigo, Whisper White, Silver Foil Specialty

Inks: Island Indigo, Black Stazon, Smoky Slate

Stamps: Rev Up the Fun, Gorgeous Grunge, Hello Lovely (arrow)

Accessories: Big Shot, Argyle EF, Word Bubble Framelits, Tag Topper punch, Basic Rhinestones, Black Satin Ribbon, Black permanent marker

Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope you have time to check out the fun cards the Design Team at the Paper Craft Crew have to inspire you this week and I look forward to seeing what you create for this challenge!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Just Add Mother's Day

With Mother's Day less than two weeks away it's definitely time to get started making some cards! Though I won't need one for my Mum ( who passed away over 20 years ago now) I do get requests for cards for others and for this card used the Colour Challenge this week at Just Add Ink

Now for those that visited yesterday and saw another card I made with these colours that I didn't think was up to the Challenge, YES, I am regretting not entering that card now - and you can see it here:-) (EDITED to ADD - the Plane card has now been entered too - thanks Christine :-) )

And here is today's card…

For the card base I used Bermuda Bay card and the next layer has some Very Vanilla embossed with the Polka Dots EF and some Crumb Cake stamped with the Hardwood background stamp.

To cut the frame for the flowers I used the Square Framelits and some more Crumb Cake card - just by layering the framelits inside each other.

The happy Tulips are stamped twice and then fussy cut to add a layer to each one. For the greeting I used a much loved but long retired stamp set called Well Scripted and stamped this straight onto the Hardwood using the Baked Brown Sugar ink.  I am a bit out of practice at almost Shabby chic cards these days but I thought the style might suit the colours and the theme too :-)

Card stock: Bermuda Bay, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla

Ink: Bermuda Bay, Crumb Cake, Baked Brown Sugar

Stamps: Hardwood, Simple Stems, Well Scripted ( Retired)

Accessories: Square Framelits, Polka Dots EF, Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon, Basic Pearls

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you have time to check out the fabulous cards the Team at Just Add Ink have made to inspire you and maybe you too will be excited to join in!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Happy Easter

Its been a lovely Good Friday - starting out with clouds that later delivered the rain that was promised and finishing with sunshine. Lots of people going to Church today - including me :-) and a busy day for the Fish Mongers in town!

And so fittingly, today's card has a Good Friday theme for Easter too.

The card base is Baked Brown Sugar stamped with the Hardwood in the same colour. Then there is a piece of white card before the delightful piece of the Watercolor Wonder DSP - which just seems so colourful and celebratory for Easter!
The Cross is another piece of Baked Brown Sugar stamped with Hardwood - and the individual Planks are cut to size and layered with dimensionals.
Unfortunately, even though it is embossed with White Embossing powder, the greeting doesn't really stand out but in some ways that is good as the Cross remains the star.
Next there are two lovely Tulips from the Simple Stems set and then there are the leaves. Now ideally I would've used my Bird Punch for these but it has not yet been released from the punch "hospital" after an admission for a paper jam - fortunately it has been repaired, just not quite home yet :-) So the last resort was indeed the stems front the Simple Stems set - with the top of the stem removed.

So I hope you are having a very good Good Friday wherever you are today and whatever you are doing and wishing you all a very Happy Easter!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Blue and White for the Paper Craft Crew

Its a beautiful Autumn day here in Melbourne today - a little crispy this morning but bright and sunny! The schools are on holiday and its sort of a relaxed time as we gear up for Easter.
And today being Wednesday, its time for another sketch from the Paper Craft Crew.

For my card I decided to use some of the Polka Dot Parade DSP before it retires soon (and I will miss it!) and also the wonderful Square framelits  -  so that was my starting point from the sketch.

And also because of the square frame, I decided to make this a square card to match it :-)

For the card base I used Marina Mist and then layered the Whisper White with the DSP on top. To cut the Frame I layered the Framelits on the beautiful Silver Foil card stock inside each other and then I used some dimensionals to pop it up onto a square of White cut with the largest of the two framelits I used. The prettyTulips were each stamped twice and hand cut and added with dimensionals between them and the soft Organza ribbon just literally ties the bunch together :-)

I think this greeting is my favourite Birthday stamp still - such a shame it is retired!! To flag the end of the banner I used my Hexagon punch as I find it so much easier than trying to cut by hand!! Simply measure the width of the banner and place a little pencil mark at half way, and slide the mark into one of the corners on the punch and you have perfect flags every time :-)

Finally, I added three little rhinestones inside the bottom corner of the frame and two to the banner as I do love a little Bling!!

Card stock: Marina Mist, Whisper White, Silver Foil Card

Designer Series Paper: Polka Dot Parade

Inks: Marina Mist, Gumball Green

Stamps: Simple Stems, Happiest Birthday Wishes ( Retired)

Accessories: Big Shot, Square Framelits, Hexagon Punch, Decorative Dots EF, White Organza Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones

Now I'm thinking I might just have to make another of these soon for Mother's Day…its not that far way!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and  I hope you have time to check out all the cards from the talented Designers and join in the fun this week with the Paper Craft Crew :-)

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

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

Easter is coming

Welcome everyone to a wonderful Wednesday! It is the last week of summer and I will be sad to see it go for another year but in the meantime, today has brought some gentle sunshine after some cooling light rain overnight. And it is time for another sketch from the Paper Craft Crew!

This sketch has several layers and I'd love you to check out the wonderful examples the Design Team have created and feel inspired to join us this week :-)

For my card I decided to get ready for the next big season - Easter! And to use some of the gorgeous DSP available for Free as part of Saleabration until the end of next month.

The DSP is layered together - using the Scallop border punch on the River Rock layer - and added onto a piece of Whisper White card so that it can be added with dimensionals above another white layer.

Seeing as the  middle strip of paper here is so colourful it doesn't really need much added to it I think - just one flower from the lovely Simple Stems set and a gold sequin for the starfruit flower :-)

For the greeting I used a retired stamp set with the Banner Framelits - the greeting is actually cut with them too and then trimmed down using my paper cutter to sit within the Cantaloupe one. And the little banners are cut from the same DSP as used in the horizontal strips. 

Card stock: Crisp Cantaloupe, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Sweet Sorbet *

Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe

Stamps: Simple Stems, Seasonal Wishes ( Retired)

Accessories: Big Shot, Banner Framelits, Crisp Cantaloupe Twine ( Sweet Sorbet Accessories Pack*), Non SU Sequin

*Available during Saleabration

I actually made TWO Easter cards using this sketch this week!! So here is the other card too. It uses the same sketch of course and the same layout, just different designer series paper to create a different look

You can see the similarities here to the first card I am sure :-) 

The starting point here was the beautiful Watercolor Wonder (USA spelling) DSP with its subtle blues and greens. The middle strip uses the Hardwood background stamp and the lower card layer is embossed using the Decorative Dots EF.

Card stock: Island Indigo, Whisper White,

Designer Series Paper: Watercolor Wonder

Inks: Pool Party, Island Indigo, Summer Starfruit

Stamps: Simple Stems, Hardwood, Seasonal Wishes (retired)

Accessories: Big Shot, Decorative Dots EF*, Banner Framelits, Coastal Cabana Twine (Sweet Sorbet Accessories Pack*)

*Available during Saleabration

So I hope you feel inspired  to check out the beautiful samples from the rest of the Team members and come and join us this week at the Paper Craft Crew!

Happy Stamping until next time,

Jan

A Colour Challenge

Earlier in the week I ordered some new products including some inks that I have been meaning to get for sometime. Today, I decided I couldn't wait any longer for the Crisp Cantaloupe to arrive to attempt this gorgeous colour challenge at The Paper Players this week.

I knew I had some DSP and card and was searching through my oldest inks to see if anything might match and lo and behold the door bell rang! Yes, you guessed it! Australia Post with my delivery!! So a little happy dance we did :-)

So it didn't take long to unwrap the inks and make a start as I knew I wanted to make a Wedding card for a good friend getting married next month.

Of course the Twine came in the box today as well ( a lovely Freebie as part of Saleabration) so that "had" to be used too :-)

Underneath the Gold Vellum is some white card stock embossed with the Woodgrain EF although that detail is really hard to see.

I really love the Bundles in the new Occasions Catalogue - just makes it so easy to stamp and cut and look good! Although the flowers here are hand cut - no framelit for that one yet but maybe next year :-)

Card Stock: Midnight Muse, Whisper White, Gold Foil

Designer Series Paper: Gold Fancy Foil Designer Vellum

Inks: Crisp Cantoloupe, Midnight Muse

Stamps: Starburst Sayings, Simple Stems

Accessories:Big Shot, Starburst Framelits,Woodgrain EF, Crisp Cantaloupe Twine*

*A FREE item available as part of Saleabration when you spend $90

Happy Stamping until next time,

Jan

Another Card in a Box

Today I have a special card to share with you - its a special one for my Sister-in-law…she has the best garden EVER so I thought I'd have a go at another of these Card in a Boxes with a flower and butterfly theme - but with NEW Products!!
You can see an excellent video tutorial by Tanya Bell with all the measurements here. But here is my version :-)

The Designer Series Paper is where i started and got my colour ideas from - its the gorgeous Watercolor Wonder pack. And the colours are great for a spring or summer theme! the base of the card is therefore Gumball Green, and the DSP is matted onto So Safron.

The flowers are all from the Simple Stems set and seeing as I as yet don't have Island Indigo ink, I stamped the spikier flowers with Midnight Muse - stamped off onto scrap paper once before stamping onto card stock.

The birthday banner is from the Hostess set, Banner Greetings and I cut the end leaving a little extra card to wrap around the toothpick  flag pole. The Love You is from the cute Just Sayin stamp set. And the heart is actually from a Saleabration set, Banner Bast. 

Do you recognise the butterflies? They are not so new!!And are from the Papillon Potpourri set - and finished with some rhinestones :-)

Card stock: Gumball Green, So Safron, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Watercolor Wonder

Ink:Tangerine Tango, So Safron, Midnight Muse, Real Red

Stamps: Simple Stems, Papillon Potpourri, Just Sayin, Banner Blast, Banner Greetings

Accessories: Big Shot, Word Bubble Framelits, Basic Rhinestones

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan