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

Easter Eggs

Today the sun has come out at last! After the last four days of quite heavy rain it is wonderful to be able to enjoy some sunshine and take the dog for a longer walk :-) And of course it is also only one week to Easter so another fabulous reason to celebrate!
Unfortunately my health has not been great recently but today is a better day and so am joining in the fun at Can You Case It. Where the theme this week is "Bunnies, chicks and eggs."

Now this card didn't quite turn out how I had envisioned it  - of an egg falling down steps and cracking open but its nearly there :-)

For the card base I used some Whisper White with some Coastal Cabana card between the layers.

To make the "steps" I stamped the wonderful Hardwood onto some Sahara Sand card and cut the steps and rounded the corners. I had some left over grass from a previous project and added it here to give an outdoorsy feel along with some Gorgeous Grunge stamped in Gumball Green.

Next the egg and chick were stamped in Baked Brown Sugar and the insides with some Calypso coral and the the little chickadee was coloured with Crushed Curry ink using a Blender pen and added with dimensionals.

And finally a little bling with (just a few!) sequins :-) Yes, I still love the bling!!

Card stock: Coastal Cabana, Gumball Green, Sahara Sand, Whisper White

Inks: Baked Brown Sugar, Gumball Green, Coastal Cabana, Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry

Stamps: A Good Egg (Retired), Hardwood, Gorgeous Grunge

Accessories: Hexagon Punch (flag ends), Blender pens, Non-SU sequins

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you pop over to Can You Case It and see what the wonderful designers there have made and maybe you could have a go too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Dinoroar for the Paper Craft Crew

Well it would seem that Summer is indeed over! It has been raining non-stop for well over 24 hours now and we are expecting rain all week long. So strange as it has been such a long, hot and dry Summer - and we need this rain - but I am ready for the sun to come back anytime :-)

Being Wednesday, it is also time for another sketch from the Paper Craft Crew.

And of course the rain gives a great excuse to stay in and make a card - or in this case, a card and a bookmark! But first, the card…

I will admit I found this sketch a bit tricky at first - having so many elements - so is a good challenge for me! But then I found the black embossed images from Dinoroar that needed colouring and the idea of a grass scene came to life :-) And I know that Dinoroar is a retired (or Vintage!) set, but I had my Nephew in mind whilst making this card and he is about to turn 6 and like most 6 year old boys he just loves Dinosaurs!

So for the card base I used some Gumball Green card and then a layer of Sahara Sand that I embossed with the Decorative Dots EF.

The grass strips are also pieces of Gumball Green that I cut using my scissors leaving about 1/4 cm with which to apply some Snail to attach. For the tag I again used the green and then some of the fun and ever so grungy Epic Day DSP.

To colour the dinosaurs which were embossed with Black EP, I used my blender pens and some Sahara Sand, Summer Starfruit, Coastal Cabana and the beautifully bright Calypso Coral ink.They are then added with dimensionals to really stand up :-) The greeting is also embossed in black and for the "black stones"…they are simply some Basic Rhinestones that I coloured with a Sharpie marker - so easy!

Inside the card is another Dino on dimensionals, along with the 6 which is cut from the same piece of DSP and the little Word Bubble from the fun Just Sayin stamp set.

Card stock: Gumball Green, Sahara Sand, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Epic Day

Inks: Sahara Sand, Coastal Cabana, Calypso Coral, Summer Starfruit, Versamark

Stamps: Dinoroar ( Sadly retired), Just Sayin'

Accessories: Big Shot, Decorative Dots EF, Timeless Type Alphabet dies (retired), Word Bubble Framelits, Black Embossing Powder, Blender Pens, Scissors, Coastal Cabana Stretch Trim ribbon, Baic Rhinestones, black Sharpie marker

Now when I had finished the card I did think the tag looked a little like a book mark and as my favourite Nephew is an exceptional reader for his age, I decided to make a matching one for him.

So I coloured some more Dinos and cut some more grass and Voila!! A little book mark to brighten the page of any good book :-)

Card stock: Gumball Green, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Epic Day

Inks: Versamark, Coastal Cabana, Sahara Sand, Calypso coral, Read Red

Stamps: Dinoroar, Just Sayin'

Accessories: Big Shot, Word Bubble Framelits, Basic Rhinestones, Black sharpie marker, Scissors, Coastal Cabana Stretch Trim ribbon

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you can take time to check out what the other Design Team members have created to inspire you this week. And I look forward to seeing what you have created with this sketch from the Paper Craft Crew this week!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Doggie Coasters

Today I have something other than a card to share for a change! It is a little gift I made for one of our dog loving friends that was calling in today. I was inspired by seeing the coasters Justin Krieger made using the By the Tide stamp set that you can see here. I just LOVED these as an idea and when I needed a quick gift I knew that using the "D is for Dog"stamp set borrowed from another good friend would be perfect! But I'll let you be the judge :-)

So I had previously managed to find the Mason's Jar lids at a local Matchbox store - and bought all they had :-)

The cork I sourced from my local craft store and to make sure it would stick well to the Jar lids I used the Multipurpose Adhesive backing sheets prior to stamping with the Stazon ink. You may notice that the ink seems a bit uneven? Well, that is just the slightly uneven surface of the cork and can't really be helped. Next I used my Circle Framelits to cut the cork to fit inside - it is a little bit smaller than the lid size but still looks ok. 

And, because these are likely to get wet, I gave each coaster 2 coats of Modge Modge to seal.

Inks: Black Stazon

Stamps: D is For Dog

Accessories: Big Shot, Circle Framelits, Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets, Non -SU Cork, Mason Jar Lids

Now you can't have a gift without some packaging….so that was my next job:-)

I really wanted to make a bag using DSP and the Scallop Tag Topper punch - but at 3 inches in circumference, the coasters seemed too big. So instead I made a little box and a bookmark…

For the box I just cut a 12"x12" piece of DSP to 9"x9" and then scored at 3" and 6" on all sides and put together. For the lid I used the same DSP and cut a 4" square and scored at 1/2" on all sides. Next I used the same size circle Framelit as for the coasters in the middle and then cut a 3" x3" square from the Window Sheets and attached that to the inside of the lid using glue dots.

The little book mark has a Black card stock base and I used the other side of the same DSP page to cover it after Punching with the Scallop Tag Topper punch and stamped with the same images as the Coasters.

Card stock: Basic black, Whisper White

DSP : Sweet Sorbet

Inks: Black Stazon, Calypso Coral

Accessories: Scallop Tag Topper Punch, 1/14 and 13/8 Circle punches, Sweet Sorbet Accessories Pack, White Organza ribbon

The surprise gift was well received and so I might just have to make some more! 

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Just Because for Just Add Ink

It has been a strange day today - warm overnight and quite humid and then as the afternoon came so did the rain! So it was a good opportunity to create a card for the lovely colour combo at Just Add Ink this week.

What a fabulous combination! Calypso Coral is my favourite colour of late so I decided to make it the hero in my almost one layer card.

For the background I turned to my favourite background stamp - Gorgeous Grunge and stamped the lines stamps to form a frame in Smoky slate and I wonder if it was the fact that it was raining outside that helped with the dotted images in the middle??

The largest butterfly from Papillon Potpourri was stamped in Versamark and then Smoky Slate before being Clear Embossed to enable colouring with an Aqua painter - and yes, I'm loving adding extra colour to the butterflies lately!! I then stamped and coloured the butterfly on the base card stock as well so as to be able to see the Antennae and added the brighter version on a dimensional.

For the Sentiment I used the lovely scripted words from A Dozen Thoughts and added a Navy Bakers Twine bow onto a Vintage Faceted button for a little touch of bling :-) 

Card stock: Whisper White, Smoky Slate

Inks: Smoky Slate, Pacific Point, Calypso Coral, Versamark

Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Papillon Potpourri, A Dozen Thoughts

Accessories: Aqua Painter, Clear Embossing Powder, Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons, Not Quite Navy Bakers Twine, Hexagon punch

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you can take time to check out the lovely cards the Design Team at Just Add Ink this week and maybe you are inspired to enter the Challenge too!

Happy stamping until next time,

Jan

Baby Boy for Paper Craft Crew

Well its another warm Wednesday in Melbourne - I'm sure it can't last much longer but will enjoy the warmth while we can :-) And so it is time for a new sketch at the Paper Craft Crew.

There are lots of elements to the sketch this week and I think I used most of them :-)

Originally I had the idea of the T-shirts hanging on a washing line in front of a fence….so I modified that a little here. The fence was in fact quite labour intensive(pun intended LOL!) - the Hardwood stamp was stamped twice onto two sheets of card as on the stamp, the fence would've been on its's side. I then cut the planks out individually and sponged the edges before adding to a piece of Smoky Slate card leaving a little Slate showing between each plank.

The pretty little T-shirt wheel was inked up in Island Indigo ink and then I coloured in using a Blender pen and some Pool Party ink - and a Real Red marker for the little heart. After cutting out is layered onto the Oval after adding some Gorgeous Grunge.

I cut a banner using the beautiful Sweet Sorbet DSP from Saleabration and layered onto some more Pool Party card stock. And used the greeting from A Dozen Thoughts for the "announcement." And  a few little blue sequins to add to the celebratory theme.

Card stock: Pool Party, Smoky Slate, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Sweet Sorbet *

Inks: Island Indigo, Pool Party, Smoky Slate

Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, A Dozen thoughts, Banner Blast*, Baby T'ees Jumbo Wheel

Accessories: Big Shot, Oval Framelits, Hexagon Punch ( for flag ends), Sweet Sorbet Accessories Pack ( Pool Party Twine),Banner Punch Non -SU sequins

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you can take the time to see what the Design Team have created to inspire you this week at the Paper Craft Crew and I look forward to seeing what you will create!

Happy stamping,

Jan