Merry Christmas!

Hi!

I've decided to give myself a couple of weeks off over the Christmas/New Year period to recharge the batteries a little.  Please have a very Merry and Safe Christmas and I'll see you back here in the New Year.

Catch you later,

Tina

Christmas Basket

Hi!

Today's project is a little Christmas basket.  I designed it to hold some little baked treats that will be given as a little Christmas gift.

 It was relatively quick and simple to make.  I used some retired Ski Slope DSP to decorate the sides and some Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon for a handle.

To jazz up the front a little I used a Christmas stamp from Perfect Punches with the coordinating Scallop Circle punch.  Easy!

Inside the basket are some little packets of gingerbread men and gingerbread angels.  I popped them in SU's small cellophane bags and tied a bit of metallic gift wrap ribbon around the top.

Stamps: Perfect Punches
Ink: Real Red
DSP/Card Stock: Ski Slope DSP (retired), Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Other: Scallop Circle XL punch, Dimensionals, 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon (retired), Crop-A-Dile, Small Flat Cellophane Bags, Metallic Ribbon (non SU)

Oh Dear!

Hi!

This post is called Oh Dear! for two reasons.  The first is because it has been a week since I posted last.  Oh Dear! - where does the time go?  I think we all know the answer to that at this time of year!

The second Oh Dear! is this:

 Ada has lovely long straight hair that is almost to her waist.  As a result we have a lot of hair 'pretties' that seem to float around the bathroom and bedroom.  I got a little tired of the mess and so decided to make this:

It's a tin that those scrumptious straw wafers come in - you know the ones that are lined in chocolate?  Yum!  I bought a few tins last year and kept them thinking that I'd alter them 'one day'.  Well, yesterday was 'one day'!  I just wrapped a half sheet of DSP around the tin, a ribbon around the top and her name in die cut letters (which may have ended up with a quick coat of shimmer paint after the photo!)

The lid looked a little plain, so I cut a circle from the same DSP and used a few card stock offcuts to punch a bird and branch.  The tin looks much nicer sitting on the bathroom bench than all that mess!  And it has plenty of room for all the hair pretties Ada has collected.

DSP/Card Stock: Sweet Always DSP (retired), Rose Red, Wild Wasabi
Other: Regal Rose Grosgrain Ribbon (retired), Big Shot, Timeless Type Alphabet Die, Two Step Bird XL Punch, Rhinestone, Circle Cutter

Catch you later,

Tina

Teacher Gifts

Hi!

Once again the kids decided at the last minute that they wanted to give their teachers a gift.  We had already given them a card and chocolate, but that wasn't quite enough apparently!

So I stamped on some tea light candles using one of the snowflake images from Snow Swirled, popped them in a gift box and tied it up with some ribbon.

 The kids chose four colour each for their teachers, so they ended up with 2 tea lights of each colour.  Alex chose feminine colours for his female teacher and Ada chose primary colours for her male teacher.

The best thing about stamping on tea lights is that you don't need the waxed paper - the wick holds the tissue paper in place for the heat gun.  Too easy!

Catch you later,

Tina

Quick Kid's Christmas Cards

Hi!

My children decided this afternoon that they HAD to have some Christmas cards to hand out to friends this week at school.  As it is the last week of school in South Australia I didn't have much choice.  They had to be done today as I couldn't hold them off 'til next weekend.  Ada decided that hers had to be pink and Alex wanted red.  Here's what I came up with:

The Real Red version is on the left and the Melon Mambo version is on the right.

They are little cards: half the normal size, so that I can get 4 out of one sheet of card stock.  As I was making a lot in a very short period of time they needed to be small!  I think I made 30 in about an hour and a half.

 I just stamped the snowflake on the card base, Dasher on a second piece of card, matted with coordinating cardstock and I was done!

So now all we need to do is add some little chocolate Santas to the envelope and they are good to go.

Stamps: Snow Swirled, Dasher
Ink: Real Red, Melon Mambo
Card Stock: Real Red, Melon Mambo

Catch you later,

Tina

Lovely As A Tree

Hi!

Today's card was made for the challenge at Stampin' Royalty.  They have a fab colour combination to work with this week.

 I needed to make a masculine birthday card, so this combo suited my needs perfectly.

I stamped the tree in Early Espresso ink on River Rock card stock.  I also sponged around the River Rock card stock with River Rock ink.  It's a bit hard to see in the photo, but I love the aged look it gives to the main panel.

Stamps: Lovely As A Tree, Basic Phrases
Ink: Early Espresso, River Rock
Card Stock: Marina Mist, Early Espresso, River Rock, Rich Razzleberry
Other: Hemp Twine, Dimensionals, Big Shot, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Stamp Positioner, Blue Eyelets

Catch you later,

Tina

Curly Cute Thank You Card

Hi!

Today's card is a quick and simple card.  We wanted to send a thank you card to a couple who had recently sent us some lovely photos they'd taken of my family.

The photos were Christmassy ones, so I selected the diagonal striped DSP from the Hostess pack as it reminded me of Candy Canes.

Stamps: Curly Cute
Ink: Poppy Parade
DSP/Card Stock: Hostess In Colour DSP, Crumb Cake, Poppy Parade, Whisper White, Old Olive
Other: Scallop Trim Border Punch, Two Step Bird XL Punch, 1/8" Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon, Dimensionals, Stamp Positioner

Catch you later,

Tina

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

All A Flutter Birthday Card

Hi!

Today's card is for a very special woman - my mother-in-law.  It's her birthday tomorrow and so I needed to make her a card.  I've also decided to enter it in Just Add Ink's challenge, which is to Just Add Birthdays.

I chose the colour combination of Marina Mist, Perfect Plum and Sahara Sand, which I think looks quite pretty together.  I have had the All A Flutter butterfly stamp for a little while, but I hadn't even mounted it until I made this card.  I love this little butterfly and I can see myself using it lots.

The butterfly is popped up on a Dimensional to give it a bit of a lift.  And isn't that satin ribbon so lovely?

Stamps: All A Flutter, Baroque Motifs, Perfect Punches
Ink: Perfect Plum, Marina Mist
Card Stock: Sahara Sand, Marina Mist, Perfect Plum, Whisper White
Other: 5/8" Marina Mist Satin Ribbon, Marina Mist Designer Button, Scallop Edge Border Punch, 2" x 1 3/8" (Wide) Oval XL Punch, Stamp Positioner, Dimensionals, Sponge Dauber, Paper Snips, Embroidery Floss

Catch you later,

Tina

A Couple of Christmas Cards

Hi!

Today I thought I'd share with you two Christmas cards I made recently.  Both were pretty easy to mass produce and I ended up making 5 of each.  I needed to make a dent in my Christmas card list!  The first card uses the lovely Dasher stamp paired with the new Jolly Holiday DSP.

 

Next I decided to try something a little different.  This striped paper from the Celebrations DSP pack reminded me of Candy Cane so I used it as the basis of my card.  I paired it with one of the free ribbons you can earn with a purchase of Christmas themed products.  Click on the Dress Up Christmas flyer in my sidebar to find out more.

I hope these cards inspire you with some ideas for your Christmas cards.

Card 1
Stamps: Dasher, Curly Cute
Ink: Cherry Cobbler
DSP/Card Stock: Jolly Holiday DSP, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Other: Scallop Edge Border Punch

Card 2
Stamps: Snow Swirled
Ink: Real Red
DSP/Card Stock: Celebrations DSP, Real Red, Whisper White
Other: Red Circle Rhinestone Brad, Rhinestones, Real Red 3/4" Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon

Catch you later,

Tina

Stampin' Royalty Take 2

Hi!

I managed to sneak in some crafting time today so I thought I'd have another go at the Stampin' Royalty sketch.  This one is a much closer fit to the sketch!

Although I didn't use the Jolly Holiday DSP I used the colours that are in the DSP.  Probably because they were still on my craft desk!

Stamps: En Francais Background, Baroque Motifs, Curly Cute
Ink: Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler
Card Stock: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Other: Rhinestones, 3/8" Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon, Oval Cutter, Stamp Positioner

Catch you later,

Tina

Snow Swirled Holiday

Hi!

You know how sometimes when you sit down to create a card based on a sketch everything just falls into place and the card ends up looking like the sketch?  Well, this is not one of those cards!  I started out with the newest sketch at Stampin' Royalty but my finished card can best be described as a loose interpretation.

Here's my card:

Yes, I know, it's so loose it would blow away on a gentle breeze lol.  It is a pretty cute card though, and it was inspired by the SR sketch!

Sigh, back to the drawing board....

Stamps: Snow Swirled, Tree Trimmings
Ink: Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler
DSP/Card Stock: Jolly Holiday DSP, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla
Other: Old Olive 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Rhinestones, Dimensionals, Circle Cutter, Paper Snips

Catch you later,

Tina

Anyone for Icecream?

Hi!

This week's challenge at Just Add Ink is a colour challenge.  It was a colour combination I found particularly challenging.

When I do a colour challenge I usually pull out the supplies I have in the colours and just play around with them until I am inspired.  I reckon this time I sat there for a full hour before I was inspired.  Here's what I eventually came up with:

I used the technique where you turn the inkpad upside down and bang it on your cardstock on the Sahara Sand cone.  It gave it a nice visual texture that made it look like a waffle cone.  Sorry - I can't remember the name of the technique.  I used Crystal Effects and glitter on the icecream to give it a bit of texture too.

Stamps: Curly Cute
Ink: Bashful Blue, Sahara Sand
DSP/Card Stock: Celebrations DSP, Bashful Blue, Blushing Bride, Whisper White
Other: Big Shot, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Scallop Edge Border Punch, 1 3/4" Circle XL Punch, Crystal Effects, Glitter, Dimensionals, 1/4" Bashful Blue Grosgrain Ribbon (retired)

Catch you later,

Tina

Jayne Mercer's Girls Night In Challenge #3

Hi!

Here's the last of my challenge cards.  The third challenge was to CASE any card out of the current Idea Book and Catalogue, but also to turn it pink.  Any excuse to flip through the catalogue!  I chose the thank you card from page 111.  I don't have that stamp set, so I had to dig through all my sets to find various thank you stamps.

I was quite pleased with how this one turned out!

A nice and simple card that was quite easy to reproduce.

Stamps: Curly Cute, Just Believe, Happy Moments (2010 SAB), Basic Phrases
Ink: Melon Mambo
Card Stock: Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, Whisper White
Other: Stamp Positioner, Pink Pirouette 1 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon (retired), White Embroidery Floss, Slot Punch (retired)

Catch you later,

Tina

Jayne Mercer's Girls Night In Challenge #2

Hi!

This was actually the first of Jayne's challenges that I tried.  The challenge was to CASE the baby card on page 56 of the current Idea Book and Catalogue, but to turn it pink.  I decided to flip the card around and make it a tall card.

Sorry the photo isn't brilliant - the soft colours just don't show up well and the auto adjust totally washed out the card. I coloured Just Believe with markers and layered in on matching cardstock.  The sentiment was layered over that.  On the bottom was a strip of crimped cardstock with Taffeta Ribbon wrapped around it.  Here's a slightly better picture:

I'm really loving these softer colour combinations right now.

Stamps: Just Believe
Ink: Pretty In Pink and Pear Pizzazz Stampin' Write Markers
Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Pretty In Pink, Pear Pizzazz
Other: Paper Crimper, 3/8" Pretty In Pink Taffeta Ribbon, Scallop Edge Border Punch, Dimensionals

Catch you later,

Tina