Happy Birthday Thoughts

On Saturday night Jayne hosted a cyber-stamp for the Elite Stampers. The first challenge was to use the colours from this month's Elite blog colour challenge to make a birthday card. I have to say I struggled with this one, because I was trying to resist using a tree again with these colours. In the end I gave in.

Quite a simple card, but it seemed to want to be for a guy and most of them don't like things too fussy. It's not very birthday either... no presents, no cake, no balloons or banners... except it does make me think of the Party Tree in Lord Of The Rings, so it is really a birthday card in more than just the words! The layer behind the sentiment was achieved by punching a Decorative Label out of Chocolate Chip cardstock, then instering one end back into the punch and punching it a second time.

All supplies by Stampin' Up!
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, textured Very Vanilla, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake
Stamp Sets: Thoughts & Prayers, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Inks: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Wild Wasabi marker, Chocolate Chip marker, neutrals brads, Decorative Label punch, Word Window punch, dimensionals

I've also caught up on March challenges over at the Elite Challenges blog, you can see those cards here and here.

Elite Blog Catch-Up

I've just uploaded three cards to the Elite Challenge blog: a card for the last June challenge and two cards for April challenges. I'll be playing more catch-up over the coming weeks but I promise the next thing I post here will be more than a snipet of something posted in full elsewhere! And hey, today there are three cards... that's gotta count for something, right?

For the April challenges I seem to have combined the stamp set challenge with both the colour challenge and sketch challenge. I always seemed to come back to Nature Walk when mulling over what I'd like to do for each one.
For the colour challenge I went back to one of my favourite techniques of inking with markers. This card is pretty straight forward really, Old Olive on the stems and leaves, Marina Mist on the flowers with a dab of Rich Razzleberry in the middle.

You could say this card has been years in the making. I'm quite a fan of Tori Amos, and she has a song called Butterfly with the lyric "they like you better, framed and dried" that have been kicking around in my head as an idea for a card. With the bevelled windowpanes in the Autumn/Winter mini, I realised now was the time to make it.

And here's the snippet from my card for the third June challenge. Next time I'll share with you another use of that number 6 die

As always, head over to the Elite Challenge blog to check out the full cards and all their details (and cards from other Elite stampers as well).

Butterflies For You

Yes, again with the butterflies! And again with a card for the Elite Challenge Blog.

This one was a stamp set challenge, Clearly For You, but I feel like it should have been a colour challenge! I had the swatches for these colours sitting out of my Colour Coach as possibilities for the main colour of this card, but the more I looked at them the more I thought they would work nicely together. It wasn't a sure bet, but I think I pulled it off. As always, to see the full card and all the details, see my post at the Elite Challenge Blog.

Hello June

It's a new month, which means there are new challenges over at the Elite Challenges blog. The first challenge I tackled was the colour challenge, of which there is a sampling below.

I've used two punches in this card, the Curly Label punch (with "Hello" on it), and the new Decorative Label punch. Quite often I want my punched piece to have another colour around it giving a contrasting edge and helping to make it stand out. A little trick I do often is to punch two more shapes in my contrasting colour and off-setting them in different directions, behind the main punched piece. Above you can see the Wild Wasabi punches layered behind the top Very Vanilla punched piece. To see the full card (squirrels and all!) head over to the Elite Challenges blog.

Because I Like Butterflies

(I really hope this post makes sense... really, really tired but wanted to get this done tonight)

Here's a snippet of my card for the third Elite Challenges challenge this month:


The thing that should be most obvious in this snippet is the little butterfly. He is tiny! I'd forgotten how small the smallest butterfly on the Beautiful Wings embosslit was, but really he was perfect for what I wanted. You can also see a bit of the hydrangea flower from the "Beacuase I Care" hostess set. For something different I stamped this on coloured cardstock (Baja Breeze to be precise), after carefully inking the top with Marina Mist and the bottom with Wild Wasabi ink pads. I then lightly went over the image with a sponge dauber and the appropriate colour ink to add some more colour. To see the full card and all the details, head over to the Elite Challenges blog.

Cupcakes and Candles

Posting two days in a row - I can guarentee it won't last forever! Today I am again just sharing a snippet of an Elite Challenges card.

I had a lot of fun making this card, and it was one of those rare ones that pretty much turned out as planned. I finally broke out the Create A Cupcake set and coordinating Build A Cupcake punch, two things I've been wanting to play with for some time but never quite got to. For my colours I turned to the Stampin' Up! colour coach for inspiration, after deciding it was time to use Blushing Bride. The colour coach suggested Perfect Plum and Sahara Sand for a "Sweet Set" combination... but the thought of sandy cupcakes was not very appealing so I opted for Crumb Cake instead - much more appealing and appropriate! In the image above you can the little candle flame, that was punched from Blushing Bride cardstock that I then coloured over with the Blushing Bride marker. To see the full card and all the details, head over to the Elite Challenges blog.

Dies With Butterflies

Very long time since I last posted... sorry about that chief! Here's a little something to ease back into it, a snippet of a card I just uploaded for the Elite Challenges Blog


The card is essentially what my swap card was supposed to be for the recent Stampin' Up! Convention, however I ran out of Peach Parfait cardstock (yes, I was very organised ). Once my order arrives with more Peachy goodness I'll remake the card the way it was supposed to be. Anyway, you can still enjoy it as it is

Woot(ten)!

Hello again! Yes it's been a while since I posted (yet again!), had a bit of a break from stamping & completely fell out of the habit of taking photos of things when I did create (let alone the editing, uploading & composing...). But I have finally made it back, and tonight I'd like to introduce you to a little friend of mine.

This is Wootten. You may recall me previously mentioning that my Big Shot was named "Barry" the moment I opened his box. Since then I have dubbed my Circle Scissors "Cecil". Well, the latest tool that I am on a first-name basis with is Wootten the two-step owl punch. The punch itself doesn't look that cute, so the name applies more to the owls I make with it (yet to make a girly one, could be in for some adventures there!). This particular owl was made using the colours from this months Elite Challenges Blog colour challenge. To see the full card and product details, head over to the Elite Challenges Blog. If you attend any of my workshops this month you will see me make a very similar card to this, and see how cute he is for yourself!

Bleu Medallion

Here's a snippet from another card I did on the weekend for the Elite Challenges blog. I'd been working on samples for my Emboss Resist class last week an had really been enjoying myself, so I decided to use it on this card and combine it with DSP. I'm quite happy with how this turned out, with the colours, the patterns, the shapes... To finish the card off I wanted to add a little feature in the middle of the Medallion image and went through a few options before I settled on punching out a circle from another Bella Bleu sheet (and I chose this specific section because it looks like a little bug face to me, heeheehee). I was going to stick it on a Antique Brass Build-A-Brad brad, but the rim of the brad covered up too much of the underlying patter for me, so I just used the adhesive dome instead.

To see the whole card and read all the product details, head over to the Elite Challenges blog. If you are interested in finding out more about next weeks emboss resist class (there are still places available), you can email me or call 0422 936 139.

Cottage Garden Wall

Here's a snippet of a card I just uploaded to the Elite Challenges blog. I had started on this card in May, then had to set it aside to get ready for Convention. On the weekend I decided it was high time I finish it off, but I just couldn't remember where I was going with it! I know this wasn't quite it, but I am glad I thought of using Frames With A Flourish. Head over to the Elite Challenges blog to see the whole card and read all the details.

En Vogue

One of the many new sets in the Autumn/Winter mini from Stampin' Up! is Vintage Vogue, and I think there is a very strong posibility that it will be the most popular set in the mini! For that reason I chose it as this months Stamp Set Challenge over at the Elite Challenges Blog. Above you can see a snipet of my card for the challenge, for which I also used the new Top Note die for the Big Shot die cutter, both of which are available in the Aut/Wint mini as well. For the rhinestone center of my flower I have used a pumpkin brad from the Fire Circle Rhinestone pack, however I have removed the rhinestone from the brad and attached it with a mini glue dot as I felt the whole brad backing would make things a little too bulky.

For complete product info and a full image of the card, head over to the Elite Challenges blog.

Dancing Medallion

This months colour challenge over at the Elite Challenges blog is "Mambo Kisses Tango", hence the title of this post . For my card I inked the brand new Medallion stamp with So Saffron before sponging the other colours around it. The bright colours are probably not what you'd expect with this image, but I think they work well and I was really happy with how it came out. To see the full card and product details, head over to the Elite Challenges blog.

Sketch With No Stamping

For this months sketch challenge over at the Elite Challenges blog I decided to do something I don't do very often: I made a card with no stamping on it! Above you can see a snippet of my card. The feature piece was made by shaping scallop square punches into cones. Something to note about the centre of the flower that these cones made is the rhinestone brad. I removed the rhinestone from the brad so it would sit right in the depression in the middle of the button. Normally I don't bother taking the brad part off, but on this occasion I realised the prongs were going to be in the way and while it was a bit of fuss it ultimately worked out better than the alternative!

Pop over to the Elite Challenges blog to see the full card and all the product details.

Bashful Thanks

This month's colour challenge over at thr Elite Challenge Blog is a little different to normal. As you can see above, the colours are Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango and Bashful Blue. My thinking was these were "masculine" colours, great for a boys card... and what do I go and make? A girly card with flowers on it! OK, the colours alone make it anything BUT a prissy girly card, still I could have persisted and made something for a guy! I may yet do it, I had one or two other ideas but this one developed faster. To check out the full card and all it's details head over to the Elite Challenges blog.

Everything is Sketchy

Above is a snippet of the card I just uploaded to the Elite Challenges Blog, for this months sketch challenge. For this card I used markers to colour my image in. As you can see, I didn't worry about being really neat for this as you can get away with it thanks to the style of image in the For Everything set. Pop over to the Elite Challenges blog for all the details.

Love is Like a Butterfly

Another day, another butterfly card for the Elite Challenges blog! And another card that uses markers over already inked stamps... I'll see if the next card I upload can be a bit different in topic and technique . I've used another Summer Mini set on this card, in conjunction with a matching punch and Circle Scissors. Yes, Circle Scissors. Oh how I have loved playing with this fantastic tool... no longer am I circle challenged! I can now cut circles in any size from 1" up to 6" - I'm loving how easy and versatile it is. Anyway, to see the full card and all the product details, check it out at the Elite Challenges blog. If you like to see the circle scissors in action, just contact me to book a workshop.

Hello Butterfly

As I mentioned yesterday, I recently attended Stampin' Up! regionals in Sydney. You may not know that part of the deal in attending is receiving a stamp set to use in make & takes on the day, and to take home with us (considering everything else that is involved in regionals, receiving a stamp set just for going along really does seem like a a great perk!). The stamp set we received this year is the one you can see used above, Hello Again (we also received the matching wheel, Retro Remix, along with a wheel handle and cartridge - the deal just gets better and better!). I've employed the same technique as yesterday in parts of this card, using markers over the top of lighter coloured ink, to get the different colours on the butterfly. To see the full card and all it's product details, head over to the Elite Challenge Blog.

Dazzling Sugar Plum

The above image is a snippet from a card I made as a swap for our recent SU regionals in Sydney. I mentioned to a few team members that it was a sneak peak at an Elite Challenge blog challenge for December, but didn't tell them what challenge it would be for (I'm such a tease, I know!). Well I've now uploaded it over there so all is revealed - it's for the colour challenge "Sugar Plum Fairy" (Plums & Pirouette... what else could it be called???). To get this look I originally inked the stamp with Pink Pirouette ink, used a cotton bud to remove where I wanted Pale Plum then coloured, and used the Perfect Plum straight over the Pink Pirouette ink. The set I have used is brand new in the Summer Mini: Razzle Dazzle. Hop on over to the Elite Challenges blog to check out the rest of the card details.

Thinking of Paris

Here's a detail shot of a card I've uploaded to the Elite Challenges blog for this month's sketch challenge. This card uses a few products from the Spring mini, however what stands out for me in this section is how I have used the Rock n Roll technique by stamping off and then re-inking the edges of the decorative motif with the same ink. To see the full card and the list of products used, head on over to the Elite Challenges blog.

Elite Challenges blog

Tuesday night the Inklings had their March cyberstamp. The second challenge was a colour challenge: to use Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss, So Saffron and Cameo Coral - the current colour challenge on the Elite Stampers blog. You can see my card here. I have quite a few cards over there that I haven't posted here so I thought I had better post about it again, in case anyone has missed the link in my sidebar.

The previous card I posted to Elite Challenges was for the Red Summer colour challenge, and can be found here. The design for this card was based on an Amy Rysavy sketch.

And while you're over at the Elite Challenges blog check out all the other very talented artists, and tackle a challenge or two yourself!