Stamp A Memory December Challenge

Hi!

Wow!  I can't believe another month has flown by!  I guess at this time of year time does seem to speed up and catch us out.  The last month has certainly flown past in a blur for me.

Anyway, the challenge this month at Stamp A Memory is to scrap a layout that is inspired by this photo:

Can't you just imagine sitting down to Christmas lunch at a table like that?  I took inspiration from a couple of different elements of the photo.  Firstly, that's it Christmas, and secondly the colour scheme.  Having said that though, I took a few liberties with the colours!  Here's my layout:

I turned the colour scheme around.  The inspiration photo is mostly white with a splash of green and gold. I changed this to be green with a splash of white and sliver.  I'm much more of a silver person!  The big white space is for this year's Santa photo.  The plan was to have it done before now so that it could go on the layout but I have had a very sick household for the past month, so Santa photos just didn't happen yet.  You'll just have to imagine one there for now!

The tree was inspired by a card made by the very clever Judy May.  You can see her card here.  It's a whole lot of circle punchies arranged in the shape of a Christmas tree and then popped up on Dimensionals.  If you look closely you can see that some of the Glimmer circles are a little darker than the others.  I coloured these punchies using my Lucky Limeade reinker.  I saw this technique for colouring Sliver Glimmer paper on Mary Fish's blog.  You can watch her video here.

The title of the layout was die cut out or more of the Silver Glimmer Paper.  Can you tell how much I love this stuff?  I'm almost half way through my first pack of it!

I hope you can find time to play along this month - take some time out from the craziness that is Christmas and find an hour or so to scrap a Christmas photo.  You can find the challenge here, along with the rest of the design team entries.

Ink: Lucky Limeade reinker
Cardstock: Silver Glimmer Paper, Garden Green Textured 12 x 12, Whisper White
Other: Big Shot, Simple Letters Alphabets Dies, White Baker's Twine, Dimensionals, Paper Snips, Sponge Dauber, Heat Tool, Circle Punches (Itty Bitty Circle, 1/2", 1", 1 1/4", 1 3/8", 1 3/4"), Small Star Punch (retired)

Catch you later,

Tina

The Nicest Things Card

Hi!

I've been showing you a lot of male cards this week, so I thought I'd balance that out a bit by showing you a girly card I made for one of Ada's friends who was turning 6.  She and Ada are very good friends, so I thought the main image from The Nicest Things stamp set would be perfect for the card.

I stamped it on some watercolour paper and coloured it using my inkpads and blender pen.  It was a little while ago and I forgot to write down the colours at the time, so I can only guess at what I might have used.

I think that on the blonde girl I used So Saffron and More Mustard for her hair, Wisteria Wonder and So Saffron for her dress and Blushing Bride for the skin.  On the Brunette I used More Mustard and Chocolate Chip for her hair, Lucky Limeade for her dress and More Mustard for her basket.  The ground was Lucky Limeade and I think I used Rose Red for the apron and the flowers.  It may be Melon Mambo though!

I wasn't entirely sure about the Lucky Limeade/So Saffron colour combo for the card, but in the end I like the softness of the colours.

Stamps: The Nicest Things, Happiest Birthday Wishes (hostess)
Ink: Stazon, Versamark and the colours listed above
DSP/Cardstock: In Colour Lucky Limeade Patterns Stack, Lucky Limeade, So Saffron, Whisper White, Watercolour Paper
Other: Whisper White Satin Ribbon, Blender Pen, White Embossing Powder, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch, Sponge Dauber, Paper Snips

Tomorrow I have a new layout for you for the December Stamp A Memory challenge.  I hope you can find a moment amongst the Christmas preparations to play along!

Catch you later,

Tina

Soccer Ball Birthday Card

Hi!

Today's card is another male card, but this time for a 6 year old.  The card was a commission and my brief was a birthday card for a six year old soccer mad boy.  He is a big fan of the local Adelaide United team, so I was asked to include their colours.

I decided to make a soccer ball shaped card, and after a bit of googling to see how a soccer ball was constructed this is how it turned out.  I used a hexagon punch to recreate the ball, which is not strictly accurate but it is the only way to flatten a soccer ball for a card.  The word 'six' is popped up on some dimensionals.

I used the Adelaide United colours on the inside - white, red and blue.  Their logo is a group of stars that are in a soccer ball shape, so I added the stars as the best approximation I could do!

Stamps: Curly Cute
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red, Not Quite Navy
Other: Big Shot, Timeless Type Alphabet Dies, Small Star Punch (retired), Circle Cutter, Hexagon punch (non SU)

Catch you later,

Tina

Well Worn Need For Speed

Hi!

In my last blog post I mentioned I'd made two cards using the Need For Speed stamp set while I had all my gear out.  This is the second card, made for my brother in law.  He has a little quad bike that the kids all have a fun time riding when we go to visit, so naturally the card had to use the quad bike stamp!

I stamped the quad bike, fussy cut around it and popped it up on dimensionals.  I adhered it to a panel that I'd stamped with the Texture Jumbo wheel.  I thought it looked a bit like the quad bike was hooning through some mud!

I kept the Texture theme going on the inside too.

Stamps: Need For Speed, Happiest Birthday Wishes (Hostess), Texture Jumbo Wheel
Ink: More Mustard, Not Quite Navy, Versamark
DSP/Cardstock: Well Worn DSP, Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, More Mustard
Other: Blue Denim Jean Ribbon, White Embossing Powder, Paper Snips, Dimensionals, Sponge Daubers

Catch you later,

Tina

Need For Speed Birthday Card

Hi!

Today I have a card for you that I made for my Uncle's Birthday  I decided to use the new stamp set, Need For Speed, which is perfect for adult male cards.

I kept the layout fairly simple to let the car be the star of the show!

Another car to finish off the inside too. I chose my colour combination based on the Well Worn DSP, as I already had it all out on my desk after making a birthday card for my brother in law.  I'll post his card later in the week.

Stamps: Need For Speed, Happiest Birthday Wishes (Hostess)
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Cajun Craze
DSP/Cardstock: First Edition Speciality DSP, Very Vanilla, Not Quite Navy, Cajun Craze
Other: Blue Denim Jean Ribbon, Jumbo Eyelets (retired), Crop-a-Dile, Dimensionals

Catch you later,

Tina

Christmas Blog Hop

Hi!

Welcome to our last blog hop of the year.  We're doing a Christmas theme this month to give you some inspiration in the final charge into Christmas.  Did you know there are only 29 days to go????

The blog before mine was Ros Davidson's, but you can start anywhere and just keep hopping 'til you get back to where you started.  I'm sure you're going to see a heap of lovely ideas along the way.

I decided to do a scrapbook layout of the family putting up the Christmas tree. In Adelaide it seems to be the tradition that the tree goes up on Pageant Day (the second Saturday in November).  Most families either go into the city to watch the parade and then come home to put up the tree, or they stay at home and watch the parade on TV while putting up the tree.  The advantage of putting the tree up this early is that you have plenty of time to scrap the photos before the craziness that is December!

There are some sneak peeks on this layout of products coming out in the upcoming Summer Mini Catalogue.  The postage stamp shaped layout was inspired by a new punch.  I just used my 1" Circle punch to create the 'perforations' aroun d the edge of the layout.

I kept the postage stamp theme going with a fussy cut postage stamp image from the Letters To Santa DSP.  The baubles were also fussy cut from the same DSP pack, and there's another peek - some gorgeous Baker's Twine from the Mini catalogue.

More fussy cut baubles and Baker's Twine to decorate the journalling spot.  I decided to 'hang' one of the baubles from the letter 'e' in the title.

A little more Baker's Twine and another bauble to finish off the layout.  Can you tell how much I love the twine?

Ink: Early Espresso Stampin' Write Marker
DSP: Letters To Santa DSP, First Edition Specialty DSP, Early Espresso, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White
Other: Big Shot, Timeless Type Junior Alphabet Dies, Top Note Die, 1" Circle Punch, Early Espresso Baker's Twine, Early Espresso Taffeta Ribbon,  Paper Snips, Dimensionals
Digital: PS5, Photo Booth Photo Frame

I'd love for you to hop off to Nikki Sadler's blog now to continue the Blog Hop.

Catch you later,

Tina

Blogs in the hop:

Nikki Sadler
http://www.inkyart.com.au/

Sue Madex
http://www.madexcreations.com/

Di Dunk
http://www.stampartbydi.typepad.com/

Judy May
http://www/judymay.typepad.com

Kathryn Mangelsdorf
http://klm55.blogspot.com/

Alisha Watson
http://www.ratherbstampin.typepad.com/

Christine Blain
http://www.christineblain.blogspot.com/

Ros Davidson
http://www.rosdavidson.typepad.com/

Sewing with Stampin' Up! Fabric

Hi!

I got a chance on Friday to sit down and do some sewing.  I had a particular project in mind that I've been wanting to sew for about 6 months.  Can't believe it's taken that long for me to find the time to sew it up!

Isn't it a cute little bag?  It's called a project tote, and I think it would look adorable on a craft desk with things like your snail, paper snips, bone folder, etc tucked away inside.

The button fabric is Stampin' Up!, but it is not available in Australia.  You could make this tote with any of the fabrics we stock though.  The tote is quite small, and if you make it as I have with the contrasting fabric you would be able to make 24 of these bags using one pack of fabric.

I popped the ribbons in to give you an idea of the size.  I'm currently using mine to store ribbons, but I think I will use it for bits and pieces at my classes and workshops.  I'm also going to try doubling the measurements to make myself a bigger bag.  Hopefully it won't take another 6 months to find some more sewing time!

If you are a sewer and would like to have a go at this tote you can find the pattern here.

Catch you later,

Tina