Christmas Theme Blog Hop

Hi!

Welcome to another blog hop from a small but inspirational group of Stampin' Up! Demonstrators.  Today's blog hop showcases some great ideas for Christmas projects.  The blog before me is Kristine Thompson's, but if you've started here that's ok.  Just keep hopping 'til you get round all 11 blogs and back to the start.

Today I have a layout for you.  Every year in Adelaide on the second Saturday in November we have the Christmas Pageant.  It's a massive parade full of crazy clowns, exciting floats, fabulous marching bands and a whole lot more!  We love to take the kids, especially when we are lucky enough to get seats in the Lord Mayor's Stand, which we did this year.  We also get to go to the Lord Mayor's Christmas Party after the Pageant.

Anyway, here's the layout.  Would you believe there are 27 photos in the layout?

Are you scratching your head and thinking "But I can only see one photo"?  Here's some of the rest of the photos:

I'm actually missing a photo of Santa in his sleigh for that part of the layout.  It will go on the panel where my watermark is sitting.

And some more:

And even more! I used some small pieces of DSP to fill any gaps I had on these pages.

I have adhered two layers of acetate to the layout - one on either side of the base card stock.  On each sheet of acetate I have adhered cardstock as a basis for the photos.  Each layer of cardstock is slightly bigger than the one on top.  When the layout is fully closed the top photo looks as if it has triple matt.  I also stamped the acetate with snowflake stamps using White Stazon ink.

Because there are so many photos I decided to label them.  I used some retired Rub Ons called Anchored from about 2 years ago.  I used the white letters on the photos, and then the matching black letters on the journalling spot:

So that's my crazy layout of the 2010 Adelaide Christmas Pageant.  It took a whole day to put together but it's ended up as a fantastic memento of a wonderful day.

Stamps: Snow Swirled
Ink: White Stazon, Basic Black Stampin' Write Journaller
DSP/Card Stock: Jolly Holiday DSP, Old Olive Textured 12 x 12, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla
Other: Acetate, Anchored Rub Ons (retired)

Next on the hop is Di Dunk.  Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment before you hop away!

Here are all the blogs in case a link isn't working:

Di Dunk
Judy May
Sue Madex
Amy Buchanan
Gardenia Pepworth
Alisha Watson
Ros Davidson
Christine Blain
Nikki Sadler
Kristine Thompson

Catch you later,

Tina

I'm Back With a Sneak Peek!

Hi!

Today's card is the first card I have made in over a week - which is a long time for me!  The mojo just hasn't been there.  I have seen a lot of these cards floating around in cyberworld for a little while, so I don't know where to give credit for the design. Sorry!

It's a rainy day here so I couldn't get a fantastic photo.  But I won't complain about the rain - the last few days have been around 32 degrees so a cool change is most welcome!

I have used a stamp from the upcoming Summer Mini Catalogue for the sentiment.  It's a lovely set of sentiments in a beautiful script style font.  The catalogue goes live on the 1st of December and you will be able to see and buy lots of lovely goodies.

Stamps: Well Scripted (Summer Mini), Baroque Motifs
Ink: Old Olive, Peach Parfait
DSP/Card Stock: Peach Parfait Hostess DSP, Very Vanilla
Other: 1/4" Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon, Stamp Positioner, Corner Rounder Punch

Before I go I thought I'd let you know I'm participating in a blog hop on Saturday that has a Christmas theme.  So please pop back for a look on Saturday!

Catch you later,

Tina

Sorry!

Hi!

I just wanted to let you know that I'm still around and will start posting again soon.  I had to dash off to see my Grandma late last week and just got back home last night.  It was an unexpected trip and I have come home quite exhausted.  But life goes on and my house needs to be put back in some kind of order, so you may need to wait a bit longer for some more creations from me.  I'll get back into the papercrafting as soon as I can find my mojo (maybe it's under the pile of washing waiting for me in the laundry!).

Catch you later,

Tina

Birthday Mini Album

Hi!

Today I have a mini album to show you.  I have only made the album and decorated the front page, as it is a demonstration piece for a class I am running next week.  I will probably decorate a couple of other pages before the class so that I can show a few different ideas for decorating the pages.

The album celebrates Hudson's recent birthday.  He turned 3 and it was his first 'real' party where we invited some of his friends rather than just family.  I have used a retired Simply Scrappin' kit called Party Pieces.  I won it recently in a silent auction that was raising money as a part of the Girl's Night In fundraisers.

I love using the Simply Scrappin' kits for a project like this.  Almost everything I need comes in the one pack and it's all coordinating.  The only thing I have had to use that was not part of the pack was some Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain ribbon.

Here you can see I used 3 of the die cut border stickers to create a wider border, over which I adhered letters cut with the Big Shot.  Easy peasy!  I cut the border stickers different lengths to create a subtle point of interest for the page.

Materials: Party Pieces Simply Scrappin' Kit (retired), Big Shot, Timeless Type Alphabet Die, 1/4" Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain ribbon

Catch you later,

Tina

Tropical Cottage Garden

Hi!

Today's card was made using the newest sketch at Card Patterns.

I had a few ideas in mind but they all felt very heavy.  In the end I went with a light, summery card.  It's been lovely lately in Adelaide with temperatures in the mid to high 20's.  Perfect weather!

So instead of a strip of DSP I used a chain of flowers and I swapped the three circles for the three butterflies.  The flowers took a while, but I think they were worth the effort.  They are two separate stamps and each flower was masked.  I then trimmed around the chain and popped it up on dimensionals.  Doesn't it just scream 'lazy summer' to you?

Stamps: Cottage Garden, Curly Cute
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Poppy Parade, Concord Crush
Card Stock: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Concord Crush
Other: Paper Snips, Dimensionals, Stamp Positioner, Post It Note

Catch you later,

Tina

A Birthday Card and an Unusual Visitor

Hi!

Today's card is a birthday card for my Uncle.  It's a pretty simple card as I was trying to make it while watching Packed To The Rafters.  If you watched last night's episode you can understand why I was a little distracted while making the card!

My uncle is quite a gardener, so I went with that theme for his card.  I got stumped though in regards to a sentiment - does it need one and if so where do I put it????

I also had a special visitor yesterday.  A little panic at first, because I though he was a snake when he popped his head out.  Then he climbed all the way out of his hidey-hole and I relaxed that it was only a Blue Tongue Lizard.

He most kindly obliged me by stopping still so I could take a few photos.  I took them through the window as I didn't want to scare him by going outside.  The kids were very disappointed that he was long gone by the time they got home from school.  Hopefully he'll come wandering back on the weekend so they can see him too.

Stamps: Trendy Trees
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso
Card Stock: Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso, Whisper White
Other: Dimensionals, Stamp Positioner

Catch you later,

Tina

Season of Joy CASE

Hi!

I'm back into the Christmas card mode today!  The card I made was inspired by a card designed by Melinda Rowe.  I saw her card on a Stampin' Up! Demonstrators only forum and I can't find her in the blogging world, so I can't link to her original card.

Anyway, here's my card:

Very simple, but very effective.  I've used one of the FREE Mistletoe Ribbons across the middle of the card.  Gotta love a freebie!  The Christmas tree has been cut out and popped up on some dimensionals.

Stamps: Season of Joy
Ink: Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler
DSP/Card Stock: Jolly Holiday DSP, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Other: Old Olive Mistletoe Ribbon, Paper Snips, Dimensionals, Stamp Positioner

Catch you later,

Tina

A Quick Little Card

Hi!

I've just popped in quickly today with a little card to show you. 

I only got the twine in my last order and wanted to have a bit of a play with it.  Twine is great for those masculine cards that need a little something, but ribbon just won't do.  The house stamp is from this year's SaleABration promotion.

Stamps: Good Neighbor (2010 SAB)
Ink: Not Quite Navy, River Rock
Card Stock: River Rock, Not Quite Navy, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White
Other: Twine, Crimper, Stamp Positioner, Dimensionals

Catch you later,

Tina

A break from the Christmas Cards

Hi!

Today I have a card for you that I made on commission.  My brief was for a blue and green card that was to be given to a woman celebrating a cultural holiday.  No other information - just that!  So here's what I came up with.

Sorry about the poor photos - I had to take the pictures at night before I handed over the card.

I don't think I have ever stamped this stamp with a solid colour!  I love the look of the two colours, which I achieved by colouring the stamp with my Stampin' Write Markers.

Just a little stamping on the inside and I was done.

Stamps: Just Believe
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Garden Green
Card Stock: Not Quite Navy, Garden Green, Very Vanilla
Other: Scallop Trim Border Punch, Dimensionals

Catch you later,

Tina

Tree Trimmings

Hi!

I'm really on a roll with these Christmas cards lately!  Today I have another quick and easy design that would be perfect for mass producing.

Nice and simple!

Stamps: Tree Trimmings
Ink: Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler
DSP/Card Stock: Jolly Holiday DSP, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive textured
Other: Old Olive Mistletoe Originals Ribbon, Stamp Positioner, Sponge Daubers, Corner Rounder Punch

Catch you later,

Tina

Wild Wasabi Christmas Card

Hi!

The inspiration for this card came from three places.  The layout was inspired by a card on page 59 of Volume 16 No 7 of the magazine Australian Cardmaking Stamping and Papercraft.  I liked the simplicity of the card.  The colour combination came from two sources - a customer and the Dress Up Christmas Promotion.  My customer, Jan, had purchased a Wild Wasabi ink pad to make her Christmas cards with.  I hadn't ever considered Wild Wasabi to be a Christmassy green, but I decided to give it a go.  I teamed it up with Whisper White and Real Red, which are the colours in the second of the Mistletoe Ribbon pack which you can earn for FREE.

Anyway, enough waffling, here's the card.

I think you'll agree with me that Wild Wasabi makes a wonderful Christmas green!  Thanks Jan!

Stamps: Snow Swirled
Ink: Wild Wasabi
Card Stock: Wild Wasabi, Real Red, Whisper White
Other: Mistletoe Originals Ribbon, Sponge Dauber, Dimensionals

Catch you later,

Tina

Gifted with Mistletoe Ribbon

Hi!

Back again with another Christmas card.  The plan as I was making this one last night was to make one and if I liked how it turned out I'd make another 4.  I've been doing this with my Christmas cards to build up my stash a bit more quickly.  In the end though I only got the one made as I got slightly distracted by Packed to the Rafters.  Fantastic episode, but very sad.

Anyway, here's my card.  Maybe I'll get the other 4 done tonight!

I started out by using the card on page 20 of the 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalogue for inspiration.  In the end though, only the So Swirly across the bottom is the same.  I had received my Stampin' Up! order yesterday so I used some new goodies: the Scallop Trim border punch, Gifted stamp set and the FREE Mistletoe Ribbon from the Dress Up Christmas promotion.

Stamps: Gifted, So Swirly
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive
DSP/Card Stock: Jolly Holiday DSP, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler
Other: Scallop Trim Border Punch, Sponge Dauber, Dimensionals, Old Olive Mistletoe Ribbon

Catch you later,

Tina