Inkspirations sketch challenge #39 {Sweet Treat Flower}

Hello stampin' friends!

It's been aaaaaaaaaages since I've managed to submit a card for a challenge, but I just couldn't let this stunning sketch go by without having a go! After all, it's a nice simple sketch right? Then why did it take me about 4 hours to put this cheeky lil card together? Well, for some reason, whenever I'm using the sweet treat cups, I always end up working backwards... oh well, it's still fun! I've used the 2 smaller oval punches to make the petals of my flower, and the 2 leaves peeking out. I've filled the treat cup with 'Magin Fairy Dust' cupcake sprinkles by Dollarsweets. I'm thinking the rest might be self explanatory? If not, let me know what you want to know, and I'll digress...

and here's Makeesha's beautiful sketch

I hope you like it :)

Lee x

Perth Stampin' Up! regionals

Yesterday saw hundreds of crafty women squeezed into the Perth Convention Centre for some training, stamping and socialising! It was a great day out, and we came home armed with lots of different stamping techniques to try, and some beautiful projects too.

I have to admit that the new stamp set, Every Moment, we received on the day didn't excite me much, but after using it, I'm in LOVE!!!!! Isn't it an amazing phenomenon that we can fall in love with a set after using it, or seeing beautiful creations made with it, even though our initial reaction was a bit 'meh'? Haha!




Here are three of the four we made yesterday. I didn't get around to making the darling little scrap page, as I was too busy chit chatting :) The daisy card uses the new Daffodil ink colour, and I ADORE it! Yellow is my favourite colour anyway, but I just love this shade. The little bird on the bullrushes is actually a little box, made with one of SU's new dies.

Can you see the darling little pearls on the flowers? Oooohhhhh! I just can't wait to put a pack of those on order!

We had an awesome day, and if you're in the Perth area, we will be making one of these cards at my next Stamp-A-Stack! I can't wait!

Lee x

August Stamp-A-Stack!

Hello stampin' friends!

Now that we're well into September, I've finally found a wee hour to myself to upload our last bunch of SAS cards :) I'm realising that blogging is a bit like ironing... if you don't get on to it right away, the pile of cards, like washing, just gets too big!

First up we have a Fathers' Day card, or two versions of it, the other being great for an all purpose masculine card. I love the images form Totally Tool, they're great for any guy-related occasion! I don't know if you can tell, but the Crumb Cake c/stock is meant to be a kind of tool pin up board, storage thingy :)

Next up we have a sweet little card that uses the now retired Flower Trio punch, and the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set. A very simple, all occasion card.

The sesame street characters card was a favourite with our SAS stampers, and was made almost entirely with punches! It's amazing how realistic they are! I have CASED these little cuties from a card by the amazingly talented Karen Thomas, and you can see her version here.

Last but not least, was this pretty little 3D flower card. These flowers are deceptively simple to make, and were a real WOW at our workshop. The filigree backkground was stamped with an image from the retired Frames With a Flourish set, and the little dots have been paper pierced for a bit of extra detail. For details on any of the above cards, please give me a hoy, and I'll be glad to share :)

Thanks for looking,
Lee x

July SAS cards

Hiya Stampin' friends!

Long time no blog huh! A few lovely stampers have popped by and wondered if I'd fallen off the face of the earth, but I assure you, my absence is due to nothing more than toddler-itis ;)
These following cards were featured at last months' Stamp-A-Stack. Well, there were actually six projects, but I've given two of them away meanwhile :) Note to self: take pictures of them first! Oh well.

I'm not going to write out recipes this time as I just don't have the time, and it is either something, or nothing at all! But if you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to leave me a comment, and I'll get back to you.

I have another Stamp-A-Stack planned for this Friday night, so if you're in perth, and would like to come along, again, comment & I'll pass along the details.

Enjoy x

Inkspirations Challenge #29 {Sketch}

Hello Stampin' friends!

and here is Makeeshas fabulously versatile sketch!

This is my last card as Makeeshas June Guest Designer, and I've had a great time playing! Thankyou all for your lovely visits to my blog, and for the encouraging comments you've left.

This week I was settling in, getting ready to think about what stamps and colours etc to use for this card, when I realised that my previous entry used the EXACT SAME sketch layout as this weeks'!!! Believe me, it was purely coincidental, and I DID think of entering the same card twice (no, not really), (ok, just for a minute), when it was 11:32 last night and I was scrambling to find my mojo. I do like this card, but I had grandiose plans for a show-stopping technique, and I just didn't have the headspace to plan something amazing :) Obviously I didn't spend long enough in the shower. See the previous post for an explanation on that one!

Recipe -

Stamps - Blooming button bits by PTI, Everyday button bits also by PTI.

Ink - Wild wasabi, bashful blue, real red & chocolate chip stampin' write marker.

Cardstock & Paper - Real red c/s, whisper white c/s, Summer Picnic DSP (retired)

Tools & Embellishments - Satin ribbon in New Leaf by PTI, buttons 'playground', Fiskars' Apron Lace punch, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Big Shot, Polkadot embossing folder, corner rounding punch, Spritzer tool, word window punch, dimensionals.

For some more sensational inspiration using this sketch, pop on over for a visit to the blogs of these fabulously talented ladies, and leave some comment love! And funnest of all, have a go yourself! I'd love to see what you come up with.

Chantelle

Cindy

Kirsty

Renee

Sarah-Jane

Teneale

last weeks' challenge winner Lynn Mangan

and of course Makeesha.

All materials Stampin' Up! unless noted.

Lee x

Inkspiration 28!

Hello Stampin' friends!

Welcome to Makeeshas Inkspiration Challenge #28, and this week it's a colour challenge! These ones are my favourite, as you can make whatever you please, as long as it incorporates the challenge colours. I came up with this design in the shower last night, as it's often the only place I have five minutes of head space :) I am really enjoying using Organic Outlines at the moment. You may have to just trust me when I tell you that I HAVE indeed used Elegant Eggplant, in the form of two ice rhinestone brads! The light hasn't caught the colour too well, but it's there :)

To see some wonderful creations using these colours, pop on over to visit the rest of the Design Team, and leave some comment love on their blogs :)

Chantelle

Cindy

Kirsty

Renee

Sarah-Jane

Teneale

and of course Makeesha!

Recipe -

Stamps - Organic Outlines

Ink - Craft whisper white, pumpkin pie, chocolate chip

Cardstock & Paper - Chocolate chip, whisper white, pumpkin pie DPP (retired)

Tools & Embellishments - Satin chocolate chip ribbon (retired), ice rhinestone brads, scallop border punch, Spellbinders Nestabilities, stampin' sponges

All materials Stampin' Up! unless noted

Lee x

Inkspiration #27!

Hello stampin' friends! Welcome to another fabulous sketch from Makeesha! Oh, how I love Fridays, and the wait to see what she'll come up with next, is near intoxicating! I have to admit that having the privilege of being a guest designer, I got all 4 sketches and colour combo's UP FRONT!! That's like opening Christmas pressies early :D So get your best stampin' hat on, and maybe it will be YOUR turn next week!

I have been itching to use my new Minivanabella stamp by Stampingbella for some time, and when I saw this sketch, the first thing I though of, was to put the mini van in the little oval. I had to take a little liberty with the sketch layout to make it work, but that's what it's all about right? Inspiration! I bought this stamp because it repesents my little family PERFECTLY!!! There is me, with my sleek & streaked 'do, with baby Isabella in my arms, Kade stuck to my leg, and Sarah skipping along happily alongside! (hubby is parking the SUV, lol) I just couldn't resist! Who I'd send a card like this to, I have no idea, but I love it anyways :D

I may have overdone the brightness & contrast in my edit, but I have just discovered these amazing tools, and cannot believe the difference a little tweak makes to the photo! So, I've lost a little of my shading on the colouring, but it was worth it to lose the shadows :)

I've coloured my little Bella family with Stampin' Write markers, and slathered the mini van in crystal effects to make it look like a brand new shiny Tarago!

And here is Makeeshas sketch...

Pop on over to visit the rest of the Inkspirations Designers for some fabulous ideas & eye candy!

Chantelle

Cindy

Kirsty

Renee

Teneale

Sarah-Jane

last weeks challenge winner Kim Badelt

and of course Makeesha!

Recipe for 'Enjoy the little things' card:

Stamps - Enjoy Every Moment, Minivanabella by Stampingbella, Cheep Talk (heart).

Ink - Memento Tuxedo black, Riding hood red, Whisper white craft, Stampin' Write markers in real red, basic black, not quite navy, certainly celery, more mustard, creamy caramel, pretty in pink and chocolate chip. Copic T1 marker.

Card stock & paper - Baja breeze, whisper white, kraft, Hand Drawn DSP (hostess).

Tools & Embellishments - Spiral punch, corner rounder punch, Riding hood red taffeta ribbon, crystal effects, dimensionals.

All materials Stampin' Up! unless noted.

Lee x

Like-O-Meter for JAI & SSSC

Good morning! I had a little play last night and made a card for JAI's current challenge... Just Add Stitching! Faux stitching of course as the little el-cheapo sewing machine I bought to try sewing on my cards, remains in its box, never threaded! I've used the current SSSC #72 for the sketch layout. I really loved this stamp as soon as I saw it at SU Perth Regionals last year, and wouldn't you know it, this is the first time I've used it! Of course it has long since retired :)

and the lovely sketch from Karen over at The Sweetest Thing. I've reversed it to suit the stamp :)

Recipe:

Stamps - Like-O-Meter

Cardstock & Paper - Red ridinghood red textured c/s, kiwi kiss c/s, whisper white c/s, pink pirouette DSPP, red ridinghood red DSPP

Ink - Red ridinghood red

Tools & Embellishments - Spellbinders Nestabilities, Sherbet (retired) & bouquet buttons, silver cord (retired), fine super nova glitter in pink, corner rounder punch, mat pack, white gel pen, 2 way glue pen, dimensionals

All materials Stampin' Up! unless noted

Edited to add...

Thankyou to the girls at Just Add Ink for choosing my humble card! I'm honoured and surpirised as there were some crackin' entries with REAL stitching! Head on over to JAI and check out all the talent!

Lee x

Inkspirations Challenge 26!

Good afternoon stampin' friends! I have some exciting news! Makeesha has asked me to be her guest designer for the month of June over at Inkspirations! To say I am honoured is an understatement, and to say I perspired just a little when trying to make an acceptable card, is an outright lie, hehe. But we got there, and this is only my second attempt!

The colours we were challenged to use, and again 'challenged' is an understatement, are from this awesome palette. I say I was particularly challenged, as I just didn't know what to do with the basic gray! But, they do go very nicely together, and I'm somewhat pleased with the result :)

Recipe:

Stamps - Scribble This, Always, French Script (retired)

Cardstock - Kraft, whisper white, real red.

Ink - Versamark, real red, basic gray, craft whisper white.

Tools & Embellishments - scallop punch, basic gray taffeta ribbon.

All materials Stampin' Up!

For some more wonderful Inkspirations Inspiration, pop the kettle on and mosey over to check out the cards by the rest of the amazingly talented Design Team!

Teneale

Cindy

Kirsty

Renee

Chantelle

Sarah- Jane

and of course Makeesha!

I hope you likey!

Lee x

Welcome baby Brianna!

I made this little cutie for a gorgeous bubba girl who's just entered the world! She's my newest little cousin, and I just met her today :) There is NOTHING nicer than cuddles of a newborn.

Recipe:

Stamps - Fun & Fast Notes, So Many Sayings (retired hostess), Big Bold Birthday.

Cardstock & Paper - Kraft c/s, whisper white c/s, regal rose c/s & pink pirouette DP.

Ink - Craft white, regal rose & regal rose Stampin' Write marker.

Tools & Embellishments - Spellbinders Nestabilities, Big Shot, word window punch, soft subtles brad, crop-a-dile, Fiskars Apron Lace punch, Pink satin ribbon from Spotlight, linen thread, dazzling diamonds, dimensionals.

All materials Stampin' Up! unless noted.

Lee x

May SAS creations!

Hello! I haven't posted for a wee while, but to make up for it, here are six new projects! I had a lovely day yesterday, stamping with friends, and this is what we made..

This lovely melon mambo easel card was made using the Big Bold Birthday stamp set.

Here's a close-up of this card, to show the crimped cupcake case.

This Vintage Vogue & razzleberrry card uses the top note die and the little leaves die. I should mention that the theme of this SAS was the BIG SHOT! So I tried to incorporate it as many ways as I could :)

and a matching bookmark using the same set & colours, also featuring some bling from the Pretties Kit.

Something for the boys :) A polkadot embossed card using Lots of Bots.

... and just in case you don't have your glasses on, a CLOSE-UP, hehe.

These two sensational seaweed-like creations are basically the same card with different orientations. I couldn't decide which I preferred, so I gave the ladies a choice! I adore Kraft cardstock, and white craft ink looks awesome on it. Oh, I'd better not call them seaweed, they're really called Organic Outlines :)

Now, this little cutie patootie was a lotta fun to make! We made the clouds by punching out a scallop circle and sponging with craft white ink around the inside. Awesome huh! Then this little birdie from Fun & Fast Notes was paper pieced with DSP, and sat atop a grassy knoll. (in my imagination he was atop a grassy knoll, anyways...)

I didn't go into a lot of detail with materials and such, but if you'd like to know how these lovelies were created, please leave a comment and I shall digress!

All materials Stampin' Up!

Lee x

Beautiful Blog Awards

Hello my crafty friends! I have been gifted this great award by both Fi and Keesh over the past couple of weeks, and have seen lots of them popping up over blog-dom. The best bit about them is that the awarder(?), gifter(?), or plain person who sent it, hehe, has to share 10 things about themselves! Then in turn the awardee, or giftee, or just the person who receives it(!) can forward their award on to 10 more inspiring blogs and share 10 things about themselves! I'm soooo looking forward to hearing all about some of my blog friends :)

So, 10 things about me...

1. I am married to a handsome Canadian, and lived in beautiful Canada for 3 years.

2. We have 3 gorgeous children, DD4, DS2 & DD9months.

3. Before children I worked as a Metallurgical Lab. Technician.

4. Post children I'd like to study Midwifrey.

5. I loathe scrubbing showers :(

6. I LOVE warm sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce and vanilla bean ice cream!

7. I observe the time to be 11:11 often.

8. I'm not a morning person, and can often be found stamping into the wee hours.

9. I'm interested in Naturopathy, homeopathy, RELAXology & chocotherapy :)

10. My favourite stamp set at the moment would have to be... Pocket Silhouettes by SU, but there are sooooo many favourites!


Ok, so there is all you might ever want to know about me, but what about YOU?

Kristin Fiddyment
Lin Mei Yap
Caroline Cassidy
Lee-Anne Barry
Richelle Fletcher
Charmaine Black
Amanda Reddicliffe
Tanya Kitto
Andrea Buckland
Sarah Klass

Lee x

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #68

Today (well, actually last night) I mounted my new Lots Of Bots stamp set and got busy with Karens fabulous sketch! I needed to make a 3rd birthday card for a very special little boy, so what better excuse to break out the 'bots! As much as I love this layout, lining up the little rectangles and cutting the mats to fit drove me just a tad insane, and I swear I must have made the task a lot harder than it needed to be! But I like the finished product, although next time I make a similar layout, I think I'll use punches & make them all square!

I have hand stamped the background using markers & the little stamps that come with this set, and aren't the barcodes, nuts & bolts just perfect for little boys!

And another fabulous sketch from Mrs Giron:

Recipe :

Stamps - Lots of Bots, Big Deal Numbers (retired)

Cardstock - Basic gray, bashful blue, real red, whisper white

Ink - Basic gray, real red, and the following markers, real red, pumpkin pie & bashful blue

Tolls & accessories - Real red 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, spellbinders nestabilities (deckled rectangle), dimensionals

All materials Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Lee x

Inkspirations Sketch #22 {Tea for Two}

I haven't participated in any sketches in a few weeks, and was suffering withdrawls, so with the excuse of using some new stamps, cardstock, papers, buttons AND ribbons (whew) I've just received, I got happily busy. I really liked how this card turned out, especially as it's using my FAVOURITE colour, yellow! Although it's my fave, I have to admit to not using it in my cardmaking very often. But with the DP having yellow & kraft, you can't go wrong!

Thanks Keesha for another fabulous inspiration sketch!

Here is Makeesha's Sketch:

Recipe:

Stamps - Tea for Two (PTI), Sanded

Card stock & Paper - Kraft c/s, basic black c/s, whisper white c/s, lemon tart c/s (PTI), Dotty Biscotti DP (PTI)

Ink - Basic black, Versa Mark, C1 Copic marker

Tools & Accessories - Little leaves Sizzlits Die, Big Shot, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Lemon Tart polkadot satin ribbon (PTI), Spring Vintage buttons (PTI), linen thread, oval punch, mini glue dots, dimensionals

Materials Stampin' Up! unless noted

Lee x

Seaworthy

This is the last SAS project from last month's workshop. I really like this little masculine number, and my stampin' friends did too :) He was one of the fave's. I have used the 'paper piecing' technique, which involves stamping the image twice, once on whisper white, and again on patterned paper. I have then cut out a portion of the sail from the DSP, and popped it over the original image on dimensionals, to give it, um, well, dimension!


A side view to see all that billowing dimension!

Recipe:

Stamps - Seaworthy, Occasional Greetings

Cardstock & Paper - Basic gray c/s, whisper white c/s, Windsor Knot DSP

Ink - Basic gray, sage shadow

Tools & Embellishments - Dazzling diamonds glitter, 2 way glue pen, silver brads, aqua painter, dimensionals

All materials Stampin' Up!

Lee x

Happy Mum's Day!

Happy Wednesday folks! No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you, these here are two different cards, well, at least the sentiments are different. This card was another SAS project, and I made up the 'So lucky..' one with rub ons I received as part of a level 3 hostess package. I don't generally demonstrate rub ons as there are generally only one of each sentiment in a pack, making it difficult for each person to have the same card. So I jumped at the opportunity to make up an extra card from the SAS using them. I know, I know, you've seen 3 or 4 variations of this card on my blog in the last 2 weeks, but I promise this is the last one!


Rub ons above, and Happy Mothers' Day below.

I'm not going to go into the recipe for this one as it can be found a few posts previous for a very similar card, but if there are any questions, please comment & I'll get back to you.

Thanks for looking!

Lee x

Cheerfully Cheep!

Hello there! I have another 5 minute window of opportunity to share a SAS card from last weekends workshop. I felt almost guilty that this cute little card was sooooo easy to make, I mean, stamp, punch & stick, and you're DONE! But he was many people's favourite :D These colours go wonderfully together, and I'm going dotty over all those gorgeous spots!

And not that this card really needs a close-up, but I can, so I will, hehe. Plus, we need to see the bling!

Recipe:

Stamps - Cheep Talk

Card stock & Paper -Kiwi kiss c/s, melon mambo c/s, whisper white c/s, Good Morning Sunshine DSP

Tools & embellishments - Melon mambo polkadot ribbon, 1 1/4 circle punch, square scallop punch, dimensionals, 2 way glue pen, dazzling diamonds glitter

All materials Stampin' Up!

Lee x

Baja Party!

This is another one of the SAS projects we made last week. I wanted to show how the greeting fit perfectly into the scallop circle punch, and also how to Build-a-Brad! I have to concede that Tangerine Tango is a difficult colour for me to use, but I wanted to have a 'bright' card to break up all the natural, earthy colours I've been using a lot of lately. TT goes nicely with Baja Breeze, so I'm happy how it turned out. What frustrated me about using the Party Hearty stamp set though, is that I just couldn't use more of the stamps on the one card! They're all so fabulous, and I had a hard time choosing which stamps to use :) We'll just have to use it again at another SAS.

Recipe:

Stamps - Party Hearty

Cardstock & Paper - Tangerine Tango c/s, baja breeze c/s, whisper white c/s, baja breeze patterns DP

Ink - Baja Breeze, Tangerine Tango

Accessories & Tools -Build-a-Brad, 1/2" circle punch, scallop circle punch, baja breeze striped ribbon, dimensionals

All materials Stampin' Up!

Lee x

Big Shot Birdie!

Hi folks, I'm only now getting 5 minutes to load a couple of photos of cards we made at last Sunday's SAS. I'll load the rest when I get another 5 minutes :)

This one was one of my favourites, as it was soooo quick and easy to make with the new 2 step bird punch. Just punch it on double sided DSP, and you have instant contrasting patterns for bird & wing! Too easy. I like the natural colours and textures of the linen thread and pearl.

Recipe -

Stamps: Sanded, Wonderful Favourites

Cardstock & paper: Kraft c/s, very vanilla, chocolate chip, not quite navy, Bella Bleu DSP

Ink: Close to cocoa, not quite navy

Tools & Accessories: BIG SHOT!!! Top note die, 2 step bird punch, linen thread, pearl from Pretties Kit, stampin' sponges

All materials Stampin' Up!

Lee x