Starburst Wedding PCCCSC #146

Well, the last few days have flown past pretty quickly for me - yesterday was my first full day out of bed after being really unwell after a seemingly "dodgy"Calamari Salad that I had when out with a friend just before the weekend.  Incredibly high temperatures and the usual gastro symptoms….we've all been there I'm sure!  And now nearly a week later am still rather tentative with food which is not going to be that helpful later as I am supposed to be going out for dinner before a little show :-) Evening nights out are a bit of a rarity of late but this is one night we have been looking forward to for a while now. I've been a fan of Neil Finn (Crowded House and Split Enz) for longer than I can remember…(cue the rolling eyes of the siblings about now :-)) and tonight is a small venue solo show which will be something a little different and special. I am going with some friends for dinner beforehand and will catch up with others at the show itself. So it should be a lovely night!

And in the meantime, I have what you really want to hear about - this week's sketch from The Paper Craft Crew :-) The Team have created a great variety of cards to inspire you this week so I hope you can take a moment and take a look and be inspired.

And here's my take on it:

 The Starburst Sayings image was the first thought that came on seeing the sketch this week and I've long learned the value in going with that first idea. It's been a little while since I've played with this set and am still getting used to the idea of it Retiring so it seemed the perfect time to use it with a new colour combo. Fabulous white and silver and the new Mint Macaron - one of the new In Colours that is coming in the new Catalogue available next week.

Card stock: Mint Macaron, Whisper White

Inks: Versamark, Mint Macaron, Silver Encore

Stamps: Starburst Sayings, Gorgeous Grunge, Papillon Potpourri, Hearts a Flutter

Accessories: Big Shot, Starburst Framelits, Hearts a Flutter Framelits, Mint Macaron Lace Trim, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you can take a moment and pop over to The Paper Craft Crew and be inspired to enter this week's challenge too :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Starburst Sayings and World Map

Today began with a thunder storm that had Sally the Lab shivering and shaking with fear - but it didn't last long and soon the sun was out and we headed to the Park before the temperature hit a lovely 28 degrees Celsius - very warm for this time of year but we are not complaining :-)

And being Wednesday it is time for another sketch from The Paper Craft Crew. The team have made a great variety of projects to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment and pop on over to check them out. Here is the sketch:

And here's what I made this week:

Something a little bit different! I wanted to team up the sunburst sayings sentiment with the World Map and so have gone ahead with that but it didn't quite turn out how I imagined it.

Card stock: Lost Lagoon, Whisper White, Silver Foil

Inks: Lost Lagoon, Strawberry Slush, Versamark

Stamps: Starburst Sayings, World Map

Accessories: Big Shot, Starburst and Circle Framelits, And Heart Framelits, White EP, Banner Punch, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a moment to pop on over and see what the rest of the Team have made to inspire you this week at The Paper Craft Crew. And I look forward to seeing what you will make with the sketch too :-)

Happy stamping until next week,

Jan

Just Add a Colour Challenge

Welcome to another fabulous Melbourne Friday - yes, a coolish night but a gorgeous day ahead and that is what we love about Autumn - warm days but cool enough at night to sleep well :-) And with no fallen leaves yet,  it must still be early in the season despite the way it feels. And as a friend in Canada reminded me the other day - who is still experiencing snow and barely above freezing temperatures - it could be a whole lot worse so we are not going to complain :-)

 This week at  Just Add Ink we have a gorgeous colour challenge for you chosen by Kim. Such vibrant and earthy colours -  great Autumnal (or Spring-ish ) tones don't you think?
And the Team have created a fabulous variety of projects with these awesome colours so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and be inspired :-)

And here is what I've made:

This card is for a friend preparing to have an operation this week - and not surprisingly - he is not looking forward to being out of action for a little while. These things always seem so much worse when we have to wait for them too don't they -  more time to think about it which is not always helpful! So this phrase from Really Good Greetings seemed the perfect choice as a little encouragement :-) And whilst the butterfly and the touches of bling aren't too masculine (and I did hold off from scattering a few extra) ) I know his wife will appreciate them ;-)

Card stock: Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, Tangelo Twist, Baked Brown Sugar, Whisper White

Inks: Mossy Meadow, Tangelo Twist, Old Olive Blendabilities Markers

Stamps: Really Good Greetings, Starburst Sayings, Butterfly Basics, Gorgeous Grunge

Accessories: Big Shot, On Film Framelits, Starburst Framelits, Butterfly Framelits, Basic rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a moment to pop on over to see what the Team at Just Add Ink have created to inspire you this week and I look forward to seeing what you will make for this challenge too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Happy 4th Birthday

Welcome to a very hot Summer's day in Melbourne - 36 degrees Celsius! We got our doggie walk in nice and early and are now enjoying an afternoon in aircon.The forecast is for a dry cool change tonight - which will be a change from the usual stormy versions we get - just in time for sleep hopefully :-) So strange to think that many in the Northern Hemisphere are covered with snow while we are positively melting!!

And it is time for another sketch from The Paper Craft Crew. The team have a very varied and awesome collection of cards to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment and pop over to see them :-)

So here is the sketch:

And here is my card - for my oldest Niece  :-)

Yes, I have resisted the urge to do a "Frozen" card ;-) and instead went with pinks and silver sparkle for her 4th Birthday card! Hopefully she will like it! It still has stars and sparkle which hopefully will appeal to her  as she loves anything Princess related :-)

For the background I first stamped with both Gorgeous Grunge and Work of Art before punching some silver and and red Glimmer Paper and adding some of the stars to the background.

Card stock: Strawberry Slush, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Silver Glimmer, Red Glimmer

Inks: Strawberry Slush, Pink Pirouette, 

Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Work of Art, Starburst Sayings

Accessories: Big Shot, Starburst Framelits, Circle Framelits, Timeless Type Alphabet Sizzlits (Retired), Itty Bitty Banner Framelits, Star Border Punch, Silver Twine

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you have a moment to check out all the great inspiration the Team at The Paper Craft Crew and I look forward to seeing what you create with this sketch!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

World Map for the Paper Craft Cew

Welcome to a lovely Spring day in Melbourne! As usual in Spring, the mornings and nights are a bit chilly still but the days themselves can be glorious - and that has been the case today. So wonderful as we had another long trip to the Vet surgeon today for Sally's suture removal after a biopsy on a mass found in her leg two weeks ago. I will share the card I made for them tomorrow but it was lovely to be able to make the drive in good weather :-)

But in the meantime it is time for another sketch from The Paper Craft Crew! The Design Team have really outdone themselves to show the variety of cards you can make with the sketch this week so I do hope you can take a minute and check them out :-)

For my card I was keen to ink up a new stamp : the World Map for the first time :-)

and to pair it with the Starburst Sayings set!

Maybe not the best Map colours but this is the first play :-) I may need to brush up on my geography to get the colours right for the next one :-)

And the blue looking dots are Basic Rhinestones coloured with the Blendabilities markers.

Card stock: Pacific Point, Pear Pizazz, Whisper White

Inks: Pear Pizzazz, Pacific Point, Baked Brown Sugar, Crushed Curry

Stamps: World Map, Starburst Sayings

Accessories: Big Shot, Starburst Framelits, Large Polka Dots EF, Basic Rhinestones, Navy Blendabilities Markers

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I do hope you can check out the rest of the Team's inspiration at the Paper Craft Crew  and we look forward to seeing what you will make this week too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Starbursts for the Paper Craft Crew

Good evening everyone! Well, what another beautiful Autumn day in Melbourne. Yes, that's right, I am not at Convention! And although I'd love to be there, it has worked out for the best as my best doggie friend, Sally is not very well and I wouldn't have been able to leave her to go anyway. She spent the day at the Lort Smith Animal Hospital yesterday and is wanting to stay very close to Mum today.
So like most Mums, I'm taking advantage of the fact that she is sleeping to share a card for the Paper Craft Crew! I hope you are able to check out all the fabulous cards the Design Team have made to inspire you this week. Here is the sketch:

And here is my take on it :

 I decided to make a standard sized (fits a C6 Envelope ) card and use one of my favourite stamp sets - Starburst Sayings. Now ideally I would've paired this with the World map background stamp….but as that's still on the Wish List I found this lovely (retired) DSP instead! It is from the Fan Fare pack and I was saving it for something special - such as this :-) The colours I took from the DSP - and I will miss both these retiring In Colours - esp Midnight Muse, which has been my "go to" navy colour the last two years! The World image is inked in both colours and then the "World" in green was cut out and added with dimensionals to the Midnight version.
The Chevron cork pieces are from the Saleabration Sweet Sorbet Accessories pack and so I cut the banner using Framelits from a Cork sheet too.
Both the arrows and heart are made from the gorgeous Silver Foil card stock. Cork and silver - just loving all the texture available! For the arrows I used the Label Card Thinlits and shortened both of them. And the heart is punched from the (retired) 3 heart punch.

Card stock: Gumball Green, Whisper White, Silver Foil
Designer Series paper: Fan Fair (retired)
Inks: Midnight Muse, Gumball Green
Stamps: Starburst Sayings
Accessories: Big Shot, Label Card Thinlits, Starburst Framelits, Banner Framelits, Sweet Sorbet Accessories Pack, 3 Heart punch (retired), Silver Sequin (Non-SU)

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by today and I look forward to seeing what you create for the Challenge this week at the Paper Craft Crew :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Oh happy day for the Paper Craft Crew

Welcome to another fabulous Wednesday - it was a crisp Autumn morning here in Melbourne but we've had a lovely sunny day and now its time for another sketch from the Paper Craft Crew - and what a fun sketch it is too!

When I saw this sketch I knew I wanted to use the Starburst Sayings stamp set for the main image instead of a heart and the rest just kind of flowed from there :-)

The card base is Calypso Coral with a little layer of Pool Party card under the Whisper White too. For the background there is a little random stamping of Gorgeous Grunge just to soften the otherwise all white background. Then everything is added on Dimensionals - from the Pool Party Chevrons to the greetings and arrows :-)

To align the Chevrons too I used the squares on my Grid Paper - makes it much easier to get the distance between them even :-) And to make the banner for the Wish Big - I simply cut it out with the Itty Bitty Banners Framelits and straightened one end!

Card stock: Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Whisper White

Ink: Calypso Coral, Pool Party

Stamps: Starburst Sayings, Peachy Keen, A Dozen Thoughts, Gorgeous Grunge

Accessories: Big Shot, Starburst Framelits, Itty Bitty Banners Framelits, Chevron Punch, On Film Framelits ( arrow), Vintage Faceted designer button, Whisper White Bakers Twine and orange sequins ( Non - SU)

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you might have time to visit the Paper Craft Crew to see the amazing cards the designers have come up with to inspire you and maybe you might like to join in too :-)

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Scalloped Tag Closure

Well its been a bit of a busy day today but while Sally the Lab's dulcet snores resonate from the couch I have a card to show you for the Paper Players challenge this week :-)

It does feel a little bit sad to be creating a "Spring" card when here in Australia it is now Autumn…sad only because I LOVE Spring and I don't like Winter and guess which Season we will be facing next here?? But it has been a beautifully sunny and warm 27 degrees (Celsius!) today so Winter might be a little way off yet :-)

And I had the opportunity to play with the fabulous Scalloped Tag Topper punch today too! So I used a great tutorial by a very talented Aussie stamper, Tanya Bell for the basic measurements of this card.

The card base is Sahara Sand and the pretty DSP is from the Watercolor Wonder pack. I suspect that is what inspired me to then water colour the Papillon Potpourri butterflies :-)

For the sentiment I stamped the Starburst Saying in both Sumer Starfruit and then Calypso Coral and cut out the " world" by hand before layering with dimensionals.

And while this is to be a Clean and Simple card, I didn't want the card to be all "one sided" if you get what I mean :-) so I added a little Gorgeous Grunge and a second butterfly on what is also the inside.

Card stock: Sahara Sand, Calypso Coral, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Watercolor Wonder

Inks: Summer Starfruit, Calypso Coral, Sahara Sand, Black Stazon

Stamps: Starburst Sayings, Papillon Potpourri, Gorgeous Grunge

Accessories: Big Shot, Starburst Framelits, Scallop Tag Topper Punch, Sweet Sorbet Accessories Pack (Twine), Aqua Painter

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you too can visit the Paper Players this week and be inspired to enter the challenge too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Oh Happy Wedding Day

What a beautiful Thursday it has been today -warm sun, blue sky and a pleasant 28 degrees!

Today's card is a Wedding card in traditional colours. Sketch wise, it is based on a card I created for a Colour challenge a few weeks back that you can see here.

The card base here is Whisper White card stock and the next layer is another piece of White card with the gorgeous Gold Foil Vellum on top. So yes, White on white!! I wanted to wrap the ribbon ends behind the top layer so it needed to be done and also means the whole card can be raised on dimensionals :-)

I next took a piece of the Gold Foil card stock and cut the scallops with the Adorning Accents die and then layered some White organza ribbon over the top and the bow.

The beautiful "oh happy day" is stamped in Versamark ink and then embossed with gold embossing powder to make it shine :-) Especially as it is the only stamping on the card too!!

For the two hearts - both are punched with a now retired heart punch and both embossed with embossing folders and although it is pretty hard to see the Stripes on the black heart, the pearls are placed in the middle of a stripe. The white heart was placed in the folder so the two circles would be good neckline places for pearls too! 

Card stock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Gold Foil

Designer Specialty Paper: Gold Fancy Foil Vellum

Stamps: Starburst Sayings

Accessories: Big Shot, Starburst Framelits,Adorning Accents Framelits,  Stripes EF, Elegant Lines EF (retired), White organza ribbon, Basic pearls

I hope you are having a wonderful thursday too whatever you are doing today,

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Label Thinlit Cards

A happy Labour Day to all those in Victoria and happy Anniversary weekend  to those in Taranaki (NZ) too! Always great to have a public holiday and here we had an early hot start and a great Moomba Parade in the city :-)

Now today's card is not for any challenge - other than getting to work out the newish Label Thinlit card dies :-)  And to make a special card for a special girl! Natalie has been coming to stamping days with her mum since she was 6 years old and now she is 10!! Yippee!! This version was made in February, when I had to evacuate for a weekend so had somewhat limited resources - just took my latest order in its box with me!

Here is how the card folds to fit into a standard C6 envelope, so is the 'front"

The 10 is first coated with Crystal Effects before being added to the card with dimensionals (once I came home!)

Here is the inside of the card and you can see there is a third panel created by cutting the card a third longer than the framelit and leaving the back end on top of the framelit. This means that you get a faux score line on which to fold the third panel. You can see there are a range of framelits and Occasions Catalogue stamps and the fabulous Retro Fresh DSP. To cut the scallop to decorate the card I cut a rectangle piece of paper and then held it in place before turning it over and tracing the edge of the scallop on the card onto the paper before cutting out with the scallop that comes with the Framelit pack.

And "hi" is a favourite saying of Natalie's :-)

Card stock: Coastal Cabana, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry

Designer Series Paper: Retro Fresh

Inks: Coastal Cabana, Tangerine Tango, Rich Razzleberry

Stamps: Just Sayin", Starburst Sayings, Perfect Pennants, Petal Parade

Accessories:Big Shot, Word Bubble Framelits, Starburst Framelits, Circle Framelits, Label Thinlit Card Framelits, Banner Framelits, Basic Rhinestones

Though when I had finished, I did wonder if it wasn't "girly enough "so I made another version using Rich Razzleberry and Tangerine Tango :-)

And this time, being back home I was able to use some other of her favourite stamps - the Banners and Cupcake :-)

The greeting is from the Sassy Salutations set and I love how this too fits the fabulous Word Bubble framelits!! The little flowers are part of the Create a cupcake set and the Razzleberry DSP is part of one of my favourites from the main Catalogue - Polka Dot Parade.

I used the same sets and layout for the inside - the wonderful arrows and "hi" are all are part of the Label Thinlit Card dies,  just LOVE that!!

And the back view :-)

Card stock: Rich Razzleberry, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper, Polka Dot Parade, Retro Fresh

Inks: Rich Razzleberry, Tangerine Tango, Baked Brown Sugar

Stamps: Just Sayin, Perfect Pennants, Starburst Sayings, Create a Cupckake, Banner Blast

Accessories: Big Shot, Label Thinlit Card, Starburst Framelits, Word Bubble Framelits, Banner Framelits, Cupcake Builder Punch, Banner Punch, Basic Rhinestones

So which card to give? In the end…. BOTH! Nothing like a surprise of a couple of cards for a card lover.  And amazingly she did like them both!!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Shoe stars for the Paper Craft Crew

Welcome everyone to another happy Wednesday! This morning I had a lovely time of coffee and catching up with a friend while Sally had a great time playing with her best friend Monty too and now its time for another sketch from the Paper Craft Crew.

The card I made is for a great friend who loves her shoes and its a subject we have talked a lot about lately - nearly as often as card making!!And also her favourite colour combo is red and black so the stamp choice for the main image was easy!

For this card I decided to turn the sketch around to the side a bit to suit the shoe and it just fits :-)
Both the images are embossed with black embossing powder and it really does help them stand out clearly. The three little black chevrons are punched using the Chevron punch and then their ends trimmed in a little and are added with some dimensionals before the obligatory bling topping.

The little Celebrate is one of the Starburst sayings and is cut out with the co-ordinating framelits and then is layered onto a circle framelit. Some Grosgrain ribbon and largest of the Basic Rhinestones top the shoe to continue the Bling theme :-)

Card stock: Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White

Ink: Versamark

Stamps: Fabulous You, Starburst Sayings

Accessories: Big Shot, Starburst and Circle framelits, Scallop Border punch,Chevron Punch, Grosgrain Ribbon, Basic rhinestones

Thank you for taking the time to look at my card today and I hope you feel inspired to head on over the Paper Craft Crew and join us in this week's challenge too!

In the meantime, the dogs had a good play today - there was plenty of the usual  loving and rough and tumble

And then Sally found a log she wasn't inclined to share

And Monty was not happy!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Have Fun with the Paper Craft Crew

Today is Wednesday so it is time for a new sketch at the Paper Craft Crew! I've had a busy day - off to the Dentist and a few errands but clean and happy teeth :-) And so it is nice to be able to sit down and make a card.

I think this sketch is a great one - it made me think outside my usual box which is something I love about Challenges. After several different card stock colours and umpteen stamp sets were tried I came back to this one - my second idea out of about 4-5!! And I do quite like it. So you see, we all need to be challenged a bit sometimes - it is good!!

I took inspiration from the colours in the beautiful DSP and used the Hardwood stamp as a background. The Tangerine Tango image is from the Starburst Framelits. It's  added with some dimensionals on top of the lovely Gold Foil card stock which has been cut with the Circle framelits. The "Thank You"greeting is from the Happy Watercolor stamp set.

 Two of the little banners are punched from the DSP and the middle one is stamped onto Pool Party card stock. All have a little Rhinestone and the ends have White Bakers twine bows added with Glue dots. And finally, a rhinestone is added to the flower in the DSP banner too :-)

Card Stock: Tangerine Tango, Pool Party,Whisper White, Gold Foil

Designer Series Paper: Sweet Sorbet*

Ink: Pool Party, Tangerine Tango

Stamps: Hardwood, Starburst Sayings, Happy Water, Banner Blast

Accessories: Big Shot, Starburst Framelits, Circle Framlits, Hexagon punch ( for banners), Banner Punch, Basic Rhinestones, White Bakers Twine.

I hope you too feel inspired to check out what the rest of the Design Team have shared for you and come and join in too! I so look forward to seeing what you create with this weeks's sketch 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

Oh Happy Day..

Well I must say it has been a busy and strange week for me. I had intended to enjoy making some cards and entering a few Challenges…but all hope of that faded when on Friday the Air Con died - just at the start of a 4 day heat wave - and threw normal life out the window! Amazingly I was able to rent an apartment for a few days at short notice until the replacement machine went in on Tuesday. And spent Sunday with a good friend crafting….so hopefully this week will be more normal!!

In the meantime, its already time for a new sketch at The Paper Craft Crew and a lovely one it is too! Do go and have a look at the wonderful cards the Design Team have made and hopefully you will be inspired to join in this week too!

My card was created during the stay in the Apartment where they had a little table…so I took my newly arrived order still in its big box to have a play…..so some limitations in supplies did exist :-)

The base of the card is Tangerine Tango to go with the orange in the DSP. The next layer is the wonderful Hardwood stamped in Smoky slate - doesn't it make you just want to touch it? I love this stamp :-)

For the Banners I used some Soft Sky card stock embossed with the Chevron EF and the gorgeous Sweet Sorbet DSP available as part of Saleabration.

The strip of Tangerine Tango is actually embossed with the Stripes EF and cut with the Adorning Accent framelits…but I know thats hard to see.

The main sentiment is from one of my favourite sets in the Occasions Catalogue - Starburst Sayings which comes with co-ordinating Framelits. I love that a Happy Day can be so versatile, from birthday to Wedding to encouraging….just fabulous!!

And the three little banners at the side are also Freebies as part of Saleabration (just love that :-) ) the Banner Blast stamp set and co-ordinating punch. And yes, I LOVE co-ordinating products!! The more that can be cut out without needing a pair of scissors the better I say :-)

Card stock: Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Soft Sky

Designer Series Paper: Sweet Sorbet

Ink: Smoky Slate, Tangerine Tango, Gumball Green

Accessories: Big Shot, Stripes EF, Chevron EF, Starburst Framelits,Adorning Accents Framelits Banner punch, Silver Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones

I do hope you feel inspired to come and check out The Paper Craft Crew and join in the fun - I can't wait to see what you create!

And in the meantime….here are some photos of the doggie best friends - my girl Sally and her big white friend  Monty. Its hot here today (again!) in Melbourne, Australia and so they are playing in the shade a bit. But I think you can see that they are still having fun….

A little cuddle for starters...

Followed by a little kiss and nibble of chin...

Oh someone's happy and relaxed!

And happily tired out, thanks Mum!

Happy stamping until next time.

Jan