Like to know more?  Then visit the blog today where you will find all about the challenge, what you need to do and the most exciting part, the prize up for grabs for the winner :)  So join Colleen, Danielle, Alyce, Amanda and myself on the blog and goodluck if you enter!!

Before I go, I thought I’d leave you with a sneak peak of what I created.  Enjoy!!

The base of the card and my version of clouds were both cut from American Crafts cardstock using Accent Essentials Cricut cartridge.  I used Accent 48 and cut it at 5 inches from yellow cardstock.  It was then scored down the middle, folded and creased.  Using the same base shape, I cut it at 4 3/4 inches in blue cardstock and 4 1/2 inches in the flower patterned paper by October Afternoon.  They were cut down the middle and layered ontop of each other.  For the cloud (things lol), I chose Accent 46 and cut one at 3 inches in AC yellow cardstock and one at 2 3/4 inches in white.

I diecut a 2 inch circle from another October Afternoon paper and stamped the umbrella in Whisper dye ink.  I then stamped it on the same flower paper and paper pieced it using 3D foam.  I decorated the umbrella and the cloud with a couple of buttons.  With a leftover piece of the white cardstock, I stamped the sentiment in the same black ink and attached it to the card using 3D foam.  The buttons were adhered to the card using Helmar’s 450 Quick Dry glue.

Using the left over pieces of the blue cardstock and flower patterned paper, I lined the inside of the card.

ALWAYS & FOREVER:

For the next card, I used the same Cricut cartridge, Accent Essentials and this time used Accent 47 at a size of 5 1/4 inches and cut it from white American Crafts cardstock.  It was scored down the middle, folded and creased.

I then cut the same shape in blue cardstock at 5 inches.  I cut it in half then dry embossed it with the Budding Vine embossing folder by Craft Concepts.  I accented the raised embossed parts using Memento Dew Drop dye ink in Summer Sky.

You will find this stamp also in the Feb KOTM kit and I coloured in the decorative A using a Sakura Stardust Pen.  I love the subtle glitter effect.  The flowers used on the card are both from Kaisercraft, white and buttercream and I covered them all in Kindy Glitz glitter glue.

The lace used was snagged from Lincraft and the other ribbon is by Stampin’ Up.  Rhinestones are from Kaiser.

Thats it for now… I’m off to work on my next facebook giveaway which is happening once I hit 100 fans.  Thanks for visiting and I’ll see you soon xx

I decided I wanted to use some of the pretty lace edging I picked up at Lincraft.  I had bought 4 different types and this particular lace was around $1.30 a metre and I really love it.  I will be going back soon to buy much more of it because I didn’t realise how pretty it would look on cards and tags.

I used some MFT ‘Sew Nifty’ dies for the dress stand and cotton reel and had a tough choice as to what papers I was going to use to go with them.  Browsing my drawers, I came across some of my all time favourite papers by October Afternoon.  They came from the 8×8 paper pad Fly a Kite and that will be another paper pad I will miss when I’ve finally used up what I have left.  I remember when it first came out, I ended up buying 4 each of Fly a Kite and Thrift Shop and sadly, I don’t have much of each left.  Oh well, some papers I will just have to reminisce about :)

Although you can’t see it, I hand sewed the crepe paper ribbon onto the dress form since that was the theme I was going for.  In the My Mind’s Eye ribbon packs, there was also the thinest of twines, so instead of wrapping plain cotton around the diecut reels, I used that instead.  I stamped a Stampin’ Up sentiment onto the tag and added a few Kaisercraft Rhinestones to the dress form.  I finished off the swing tags with a threaded bead.

Thanks for visiting and I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!!!

AFTER:

BEFORE:

Just thought I’d include a couple of before photos – (I know, who doesn’t know what a coffee tin looks like) :)

After cleaning the inside with a few baby wipes, I was ready to go.  I couldn’t clean it the conventional way as the sides of the tin weren’t really metal… I think they are cardboard or something that looks like tin but I know if definately wasn’t metal but anyway, on to the altering….

First off, I had to work out exactly what I was going to do with it apart from cover it with patterned paper.  I wanted it to be based on 2 stamps from the Unity December 2011 Kit of the Month stamp set bought from Craft-A-Lot and since I knew I was altering it for my beautiful 16yr old daughter, I knew the main colours would be purple and yellow/lemon, 2 colours she loves.  Next came the tough part (some would say  not after rummaging through my craft drawers) – finding supplies in those colours which was easier than I thought as most of them I already had on my craft table – lazy me didn’t clean up after my last couple of crafting sessions.

The 2 stamps used from the December 2011 Unity KOTM stamp set are the sentiment and the heart which isn’t shown properly here, both were stamped using Whispers Archival Black ink.  The first thing I did to the tin, was use 2 patterned papers from Kaisercraft and they were Buttercream from the Sugar Sugar collection and Lattice from the Garden Arabesque, both of which are old paper ranges but loved both the purples and the yellows/creams.  I adhered the Buttercream to the base of the tin using Modge Podge and then I used a Cheery Lynn Die called Border Carnivale to diecut 6 x 8″ border pieces from the Lattice paper and adhered 2 of them around the top.

Next, which was quite daunting to me, was to stamp a border around the bottom of the tin.  Not something I thought was going to be easy because of the shape but turned out ok.  I used 1 of the stamps in the the Butterfly Garden – Impressions No.14 stamp set by Pink Paislee.  I had to use a rolling technique because of the shape of the tin and there are a few parts that weren’t stamped perfectly but as they say ‘there is no wrong in art’.  Again I used Whispers Archival Black ink because it gave parts of the stamped images a faded look but that could have been me not inking the stamp fully :) – either way, I love the end result.  The purple ink sponged on the centre diecut is Dusty Concord distress ink.

Using the birdcage from the same Pink Paislee stamp set, I stamped a cage where the top border diecuts didn’t quite meet.  I then punched some leaf stems using a Martha Stewart punch out of some Echo Park paper from the Victoria’s Garden 6×6 paper pad, adhered them to the join and then covered them with a few paper blooms from Kaisercraft.   I then added a pretty purple Kaisercraft rhinestone to the cage to finish it off.

On some parts of the tin, I stamped a butterflies, again from the same Pink Paislee stamp set and then layered a Martha Stewart punched butterfly on top…

… then finished it with a little Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue.  I did that to all the butterflies on the tin, including…

… all the Kaisercraft paper blooms.

I’ll finish with a few photos from different angles.

…and another view…

If you have any questions, don’t be shy, ask me :)

Thanks for visiting xx

Finally!! We have a blog!

And you know what that means???

CHALLENGE’S ARE COMING !!

Seriously! That’s cause for a butt shaking dance….. oh yeah… Crump It baby!!

Craft-A-Lot Blog

http://blog.craftalot.com.au

To Celebrate this uber cool event – the first 20 PEOPLE to follow our BLOG will get sent a FREE little Grab Bag filled with various UNITY STAMPS….

Goodluck everyone!!

I used Echo Park’s Victoria’s Garden 6×6 paper pad again for all of the patterned paper.  I just love all the pretty papers in this pad and I know it will be one that is missed when I’ve used it all.

I have all these doilies sitting in one of my drawers and thought it was about time I started using them in my craft projects (because that is the reason I originally bought them for over a year ago lol).  I thought about glimmer misting them but by the time that thought registered, I had already stuck them to the card and I thought if I tried to mist them, I would have one huge mess, so I didn’t bother – maybe next time!!  The seam binding ribbon is by Stampin’ Up.

These Kaisercraft mini paper blooms are about $3.00 for a pack of 10 and I bought 6 packs of various colours a few weeks ago.  Very economical and I did notice that when I added a little Kindyglitz glitter glue to the petals, it made them a little translucent and gave them a soft, delicate kind of look and I love it!! (you can’t really see it in the photo though).  I puched some leaf branches from a Martha Stewart punch and layered them under the flowers.  The butterfly punch is also by Martha Stewart.

The bird sentiment was stamped with Versafine Onyx Black ink onto a diecut shape I cut from some lemon/yellow Victoria’s Garden patterned paper.  I layered that onto the doily using 3d foam and then added a few yellow Kaisercraft pearls to accent parts of the stamped image.  The butterflies were also edged with Kindyglitz glitter glue.

I used a Signo uniball white pen to draw a couple of lines around the outside of the card as I thought it was missing a little something when I had finished.

I’ll finish it there for tonight… thanks for visiting!!

HEART and SOUL:

Using the chipboard hearts as a focal point, I decided to create the card around that.  I used a patterned paper from Kaisercraft’s 6 1/2″ paper pad called Sweet Nothings on the Kraft card base.

I coloured the scalloped heart in Barn Door Distress Stain and the plain heart in Picket Fence Distress crackle paint.  After the crackle paint had done it’s job and dried, I covered the heart in a light coating of Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue.

Using a scalloped diecut from the Sweet Nothing’s paper pad, I adhered a beautiful fabric flower by Bella! onto it and adhered them to the heart using 3d foam.  I picked a few matching buttons from my button jar and adhered them using small Zots Dots.

For the flourish pieces, I cut them from a yellow patterned paper in Echo Park’s Victoria Garden 6×6 paper pad using a My Favourite Thing’s die called Vintage Flourish.  I chose another diecut piece from Kaisercraft’s Sweet Nothings paper pad and stamped the sentiment using Onyx Black Versafine Ink then layered the diecut onto the card base using 3d foam.

Finishing off the card, I chose a couple of mini paper blooms by Kaisercraft and again, used a little Kindyglitz to give them a bit of sparkle.

OTHER:

A couple of other crafty things I’ve made lately…

Thanks for the memories card using a sentiment from Unity Company’s Jan 2012 KOTM stamp set.

That’s it for today so I’ll see you next time!!

CARD 1:

The sentiment stamp is from the kit and I love how it’s so versatile because you can more or less put anything on the end of it depending on what or who you’re making the card for.  It’s stamped using Onyx Black Versafine ink.

I’ve used papers from the Times & Seasons Collection Pack by Echo Park.  I’ve also used the alphabet stickers and the border sticker from the same pack.

The pretty fabric flower is from Bella! and it’s sitting on a couple of basic circles which I’ve cut using my Martha Stewart Circle Cutter (yes I still have all my fingers).  I’ve distressed them using a Heidi Swapp edge distresser and adhered them to the card using 3d foam.

CARD 2:

All the patterned paper used is from the Be Loved Paper Kit by My Mind’s Eye.  I’ve also used the squigly border diecut from the same kit.  Of all the KOTM kits I’ve bought so far, this butterfly is one of my faves.  I got a nice surprise when I stamped it onto the patterned paper because it has a beautiful watercolour effect.  I’m sure it will become a stamp you see me use often.

The ribbon is from My Mind’s Eye, the button is from American Crafts and the pearls are Kaisercraft.

I’ve outlined the butterfly with a little Kindyglitz glitter glue and layered it using 3d foam.  The ‘thank you’ stamp is from Stampin’ Up… both the butterfly and the other sentiment stamp are from the Jan 2012 KOTM stamp set.  If you would like to learn a little more information about how to join the Kit of the Month club, visit Colleen at Craft-A-Lot and she will be happy to help you.

To finish off today, I just thought I’d show you a Card Sketch notebook I made using Kristina Werner’s video tutorial. It’s a nice way to keep all of your card sketches together and if you are a card maker, it will become your best friend especially when you need a little inspiration to kickstart a card or perhaps a scrapbook layout.

Here’s mine:

Thanks for visiting xx.

And here’s the Notecard Box:

All paper used is from Stampin’ Up.  I cut out the sentiment using George Font and Basic Shapes cricut cartridge and the flowers and the leaves using Plantin Schoolbook Font cricut cartridge.

I covered the sentiment in Glossy Accents.  I also inked all the flower petals and the 2  leaves  in Brushed Corduroy distress ink.  The pompom trim was from my stash and the box I bought from Spotlight for $6.00.  Love these boxes because they are reasonably priced and are a quality product.

Cards I’ve made lately:

Thanks for visiting…

NOTECARD 7:

NOTECARD 8:

NOTECARD 9:

NOTECARD 10:

ALL NOTECARDS:

Appologies for not blogging these photos properly but it may be a relief to some who visit my blog and read my endless waffle :)

I will announce the winner tomorrow and I really hope it goes to someone who appreciates handmade stationery!!

Thanks for visiting XX

Again, I am using Unity Co. December’s 2011 KOTM stamp set from Craft-A-Lot and I was looking over the set to decide what I’d like to use and for the first notecard, I decided to use the buildings stamp where I could practice a tiny bit of copic colouring – I am still a beginner at colouring so decided to only do minor splashes of colour on the clouds and trees, practicing my blending.

NOTECARD 5:

I’m not sure I like the green in the trees because I wanted it a little more subtle but I was limited to what I could use as I am still building my collection of Copic Ciao and only have 3 greens.  Looking at the card, the green is not as bright as the photo shows.  I’ve used G05 & G07 for the tree tops, E21 & E35 for the tree trunks, B000 & B02 for the clouds &…

T4 – Toner Gray no.4 Copic Sketch marker for the road.  I also used the Colorless Blender because I wanted it to be a pebble type road and I saw a technique in this book, where if you dot the blender around your image, it pushes the colour away.  Unfortunately, you can’t see the texture clearly on the road as I have coloured over it in a ‘Clear Star’ Sakura glitter pen, which isn’t that clear… it’s more silver which was dissapointing (only because the pen said it was a clear glitter when it isn’t). If you win the notecard set, you will definately see the texture on the road – I just couldn’t photo it without the glare/shine.

I’ve used a strip of felt ric rac by My Mind’s Eye and added some pretty Kaisercraft pearls. I also paper-pieced the buildings because I wasn’t confident enough in my colouring to colour them in copics as well.

You can see a little of the colorless blender texturing better in this photo.  I have layered the road onto the card using 3d foam.

I’ve stamped the matching sentiment inside the card using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

…with the matching envelope.

NOTECARD 6:

Another pink notecard (geez, I hope the winner likes pink!!), kept very simple.  I think the hardest part of this was punching a hole for the brad :)

The paper flower is from American Crafts from an older range of theirs called City Park.  I have drew some pen lines around the outside because when I had finished the card, it was missing something.

I’ve used trim by My Mind’s Eye from the ranges Abbey Road (Whirlybird) and Lost & Found (Union Square) and adhered them to the card using Helmar’s 450 Quick Dry adhesive.   Even though I find this glue messy to work with, I haven’t come across another that holds bulky type embellishments as strong as this adhesive does… I love it!  I stamped the main sentiment (KOTM December 2011) in Versafine Onyx Black ink, drew pen lines around the outside, added a couple of Kaisercraft rhinestones and finished it by adding a My Mind’s Eye (Abbey Road) brad and layered the whole thing onto the card using 3d foam.

…with the matching envelope.

That’s it for today.  Join me again tomorrow for day 4 of my notecard giveaway where you will find out if it’s more pink or something different :)

Thanks for visiting xx

I sat down at 10.30 last night and hadn’t a clue what to make for todays addition to the set.  I had made the envelopes and notecard bases on the weekend… I just had to embellish them a little.  I’m trying not to add too many embellishments, as I want them to be simple, flat notecards, so here’s the next 2 and I hope you like them.

NOTECARD 3:

Both the jar and the sentiment stamps are in the latest (here in Oz) Unity KOTM stamp set.  I haven’t filled the jar enough I don’t think, but what’s there was definately put there with a little love in mind… my partner is away at the moment and whilst I was making this card last night, I wished I could have thrown the bottle into the ocean and let it drift away to him because I really miss him when he’s gone….

The pretty ribbon and trim are by My Mind’s Eye, Lost & Found – Market Street “Adore”.  It  took a few goes, but I finally managed to tie a bow that I was happy with.  If you saw me tying bows, you would have a good laugh… I never seem to have enough fingers to do it with!!

Instead of going through the process of applying Tombow glue to each heart, I ran them through my small Xyron… much easier and quicker and a lot less messy for me.

Again I have used paper from Bella!. I am glad to say, that by the time I have finished this set of notecards, I have used almost all of the 8×8 paper pad… a first for me.  I am trying to use what I have and cut down on buying new papers because otherwise, I will never use it all and this year, I plan to make a dent in my older stash and try not to add too much new crafting goodness until I do.

NOTECARD 4:

Again using the December 2011 Kit of the Month stamp set, I’ve chosen the chair and matching sentiment.  I stamped the chair onto white cardstock using Versafine Onyx Black ink then diecut it using a die I had in my stash.

The glitter trim came from MME Lost & Found, Portobello Road ‘Party’.  The buttons are from my button jar which holds thousands of buttons (thankfully it’s nowhere near full) :)

Again I have used Whisper Dye Ink ‘Green Green’ to stamp the sentiment.  I didn’t need an ink that  ‘sticks’ to these rubber stamps because I find any ink I have does a great job but used it because it’s one of my favourite shades.

Here’s the notecard with the matching envelope.  Normally, I would have skipped over paper with this pattern, but I’m trying to challenge myself a lot this year which for me, means to stop being so picky because I have obviously bought it for a reason other than to just look at it :)

That’s the 2 notecards for today and remember, if you’d like a chance to win the whole set, all you have to do is like me on Facebook.  My international blog visitors are quite welcome to enter.

Thanks for visiting and I will see you tomorrow with day 3′s notecards.

NOTECARD 1:

These are not the average c6 sized cards I normally make.  They measure 14cm x 8.5cm, so they’re just a little smaller.  I have used patterned paper by Bella! and stamped the Love sentiment onto the yellow paper in Whispers Port Wine dye ink. It was included in this set of 30…

…which I bought at Kmart about 6-7 years ago and have only really been using it the last year and a half. It’s one of my favourite sets of inks and I’m going to be sad when all the pads dry out (some have started to), because I don’t think it can be bought anymore and it has been my go to ink in the past when none other’s will ‘stick’ to my stamps how I’d like.  I’m quite surprised they’re still able to ink my stamps but I’m happy about that :)

Instead of decorating the sweet little flowers with pearls, I decided to sew french knots in the middle of them, just to tie in with the sentiment you will see further down the post, not to mention that I find hand stitching therapeutic and I certainly have needed a little therapy lately lol (short version of a long story… 2 boys (3yr old & 10yr old), stubborn in-denial partner, his family history of adhd & austism = therapy needed for me ;) )

I think these are the neatest French Knots I’ve ever done and I love how they’ve turned out.

I have handstitched the bottom of this sentiment in DMC floss and as much as I love hand sewing on paper, I wasn’t in the mood at the time to handstitch the outside so I drew pen lines instead (forgive my laziness).

I made a matching handmade envelope which I have painted the flap with envelope gum (took me forever to find an online shop in Australia that sold it).

NOTECARD 2:

Also in the latest KOTM stamp set was the word LOVE in big, bold letters so I have used that as a focal point for this simple card.  Just remember (if you win the giveaway), these notecards can be used in other ways than just be given as a valentine’s card.

I have used my latest die purchase from Craft-A-Lot which I really love (and have probably mentioned that already), some pearls and punched hearts.

Again I have made a matching envelope from pretty Bella! paper. I am finding that making envelopes is a good way of using up my patterned paper and I really need to make a lot more envelopes to reduce the size of my paper stash.  I can’t believe I have bought so much in the past *blush*.

That’s it for today but each day this week, I will have another 2 notecards to show you, so I will see you tomorrow!!

I’m absolutely in love with this border die and didn’t even mind when it took me half an hour to poke out all the little diecut pieces!

I chose a chipboard heart and covered it in Picket Fence Distress crackle paint, inked the edges with a little Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink then covered it in Kindyglitz glitter glue.

The pretty ribbon is Stampin Up’s seam binding and the paper flowers, which are Kindyglitz’d as well, are from Kaisercraft.

The beautiful patterned paper is from the 6×6 Portrait paper pad by Crate Paper. Rhinestones are from Kaisercraft and I’ve used a Martha Stewart punch to cut the leaf branches.

Don’t forget, we are having a Unity Company stamp sale at Craft-A-Lot, so pop on over because you may find a stamp or set you just can’t live without :)

Thanks for visiting xx

For Jess’s Mum:

Made from beautiful Bella! paper from the 8×8 Heritage paper stack. I bought mine from Spotlight.

After diecutting the roses, there was a tiny scrap of paper left which had this cute little butterfly on it so I thought it would make a nice edition to the card. I couldn’t resist making a handmade envelope to match.

Envelope Back:

Envelope Front:

I always find it hard to come up with male cards so I kept this one more or less plain (but bright/happy).

For Jess’s Dad:

For Jess’s In-Laws:

I bought this beautiful flower trim ages ago (also from Spotlight) so thought I would use it to accent this card. I love how it turned out.

I glued a few large Little Yellow Bicycle pearls to the trim to make it even more pretty.

I’ve finished with a pretty Prima Flower… who doesn’t love Prima :)

I know I haven’t talked about every supply I used, but if you really want to know about something, ask me and I will list the supplies.

Thanks for visiting xx

I’ve used a sentiment stamp out of the Unity November 2011 Kit of the Month stamp set found at Craft-A-Lot.

All other supplies, I’ve used from my stash. Did a little machine stitching and finished with a few drops of Platinum Pearl Liquid Pearls.

I also made a matching envelope and if you’d like a short tutorial showing how I made it, leave me a comment. All you need is a paper trimmer, bone folder, scissors and some double-sided tape. The decorative punch is optional.

Thanks for visiting xx

Ever since I can remember, Kody has always followed his dad Scott around the house… where ever he went, Kody was not too far behind (he was walking by 9 and a half months). These days, they love getting down in the garage/shed together – Kody playing with some old fishing rods and Scott being kept busy by a bombarding of questions about fishing, the army, hunting and guns. In the beginning, I did everything I could to try and take the focus off of army/guns/hunting talk because I was an overly-protected mother who couldn’t see any other side of guns but the dangerous side… these days, I’d prefer to spend my energy doing other things because believe me when I say, try to curb Kody out of liking the same things (gun wise) as Dad, was more than a fulltime job.

When dad’s not looking, I like to throw in a makeup/beauty session occassionally and Kody just loves days when my daughter and I try and teach him how to walk in stilettos :)

I’ve used the ‘Sweet Heart‘ Digital Scrapbook Kit by Jodie Lee purchased from www.jessicasprague.com. You can also find her beautiful blog here.

Thanks for visiting! xx

I hope you like it and if there’s any questions, don’t hessitate to contact me.

TOOLS:

Starting off with a couple of basic craft items, you will need a punch, some twill tape, a button, a piece of string or jute, a scrap piece of cardstock and some glue of your choice. Mine isn’t shown, but I have used Helmar Quick Dry 450. It’s my favourite glue for adhering most things to my cards and tags.

Start by cutting a 25cm piece of twill tape and pull on one end until your hearts content. You will notice that it will unravel quite easily. Once you have pulled it all, there will be 2 quite distinct piles of what once was your twill tape. Both will be used as I am using this flower on a tag so put the pile that looks like plaited hair to the side. I’ve used white twill tape because that’s the colour I was using at the time but you can also buy it in other colours or you can colour it with distress inks or copic markers and let the twill dry before you make your flower.

This is the part I will be using next. As I have a 2 inch scallop punch, I then punched out a scallop from a piece of white cardstock, covered it in glue and adhered this pile of ‘formally-know-as-twill-tape’ making sure that the edges were covered as well. If you wanted more scruffiness, you would use a longer length of twill tape but I found 25cm was a good size for a 2 inch scallop. It’s totally up to you what sizes you use.

It’s looking a little neater but there will be a few loose ends which I don’t mind but if they bother you, either cut them off or add a little more glue in hidden spots and try to tame their wild behaviour!

The last step is to add a tied button. You could also add a big brad or other things… it’s totally up to you how you want to decorate the middle.

This is my end result. If you notice, I have used the ‘plaited hair’ part of the twill in my punched tag so nothing really was wasted. I adhered the flower to a chipboard piece which I have glittered and then heat embossed with clear embossing. I don’t think I quite heated the embossing powder enough because it looks like raindrops but I like that anyhow. I have used a sentiment from the November Unity Kit of the Month stamp set which you can get at Craft-A-Lot. I finished the tag with a few rhinestones from Kaisercraft….

Thanks for visiting xx

Paper used are from the 6×6 paper pad by My Mind’s Eye from the Lost & Found range called Sunshine.

I made the mistake of thinking these cute little houses would be easy to paper piece but when it came to cutting the grass, I struggled. As you can see, I still can’t seem to stamp straight lol…

The last thing I did was add some punched hearts, glued them together down the middle and ‘fluffed’ them to give a little dimension.

This last photo was taken last night (early afternoon) when my partner walked into the lounge and found our beautiful son like this :)

Thanks for visiting xx

Haven’t we all had days like these where nothing seems to be going right… I know I have had plenty of those in 2011… hurry up 2012 :)

I made the rolled roses from wool felt (unsure of brand) using a MFT die and added some Kaisercraft pearls to the centre. The paper is from the A Botanical Christmas/Winter Fairy Tales paper pad from Craft-A-Lot. The ribbon was sent to me in my design kit from Colleen.

The rhinestones are from Kaisercraft, ink from Stampin Up and Memento and the diecut was cut from a cheap $10 set of dies… there’s 4 in this set and when they came in the post, I was a little worried because of the cheapness (yes I’m a scrouge :) ) but they cut and emboss beautifully.

Anyway, I hope you all had a great Christmas because I know I did. This year I decided to cook a baked lunch because we were having it at home and there were just the 3 of us (well only 2 who eats baked dinners). The last 3 years we have either travelled interstate or had it at my parents-in-laws but this year we decided to have it on our own. Last time I cooked christmas lunch it was over done and really not very edible (heavily pregnant with Kody, decided to have a nap and leave it in my partner’s capable hands (or so I thought lol))and apart from the fact that my 3yr old son woke up with a bad case of spoilt-brat-itis (although he did behave at grandma’s house for tea), we had a wonderful day ;-)

Thanks for visiting!!

from my family to yours,

I hope life is treating you kindly

and you have a very safe and

Merry Christmas!!!

Anyway, here’s the first one….

The first thing my 3 year old son Kody said when he saw me doodling the frame was ‘Mum! why can’t I scribble on the card too’ LOL. ‘Oh sweety, yes you can call it a form of scribbling in a neater kind of way but only mummy’s know how to do it’ I replied to him. I don’t think he quite understood going by the bewildered frowning look he gave me :)

I have used paper and a diecut by Bo Bunny from the Blitzen range, seam binding ribbon from Stampin Up, a button from my stash, jute twine from May Arts, rhinestones from Kaisercraft, scallop punch from Fiskars, Brushed Corduroy distress ink, Lipstick Red chalk ink from Colorbox and the sentiment stamp was sent to me from the lovely Colleen at Craft-A-Lot and it’s from a set called Christmas Sparkles by Crafty Sentiments Designs.

…and here’s the second card.

The paper, alpha stickers, tag cutout and the little flower sticker is from the Seasons Greetings collection pack by Echo Park. I love buying paper this way because of the extras you get with it to match the papers you are using. It’s also a more economical way of trying paper ranges.

More seam binding ribbon from Stampin up, jute twine by May Arts, button from my stash and ice blue Rhinestones from Kaisercraft. I aged the edges of both cards with Brushed Corduroy distress ink.

Well I am off to lay down with my son and watch a fairies dvd… shhhh don’t tell his Dad lol

Thanks for visiting xx

The paper used is from Websters Pages called Botanical Christmas/Winter Fairy Tales and you will find the paper pads at Craft-A-Lot.

I tried my hand at making pearls using Liquid Pearls… didn’t exactly turn out perfectly because as I was embellishing the card with other things, my hand smudged a couple of them and then I realised that I should have put them on last (obviously)!! lol

The seam binding ribbon and sentiment stamp are from Stampin Up, paper flowers are from my stash (don’t know who made them sorry) and I punched a few leaf branches using a Martha Stewart punch.

Thanks for visiting xx

I was sent these beautiful Holiday Silhouettes by Websters Pages from Colleen at Craft-A-Lot and since I had never used them before, was really trying to think of a way to use them. I also didn’t know if I had the right glue to adhere it with and in the end, I used Glossy Accents by Ranger and it has seemed to hold really well.

The paper used is Season’s Greetings by Echo Park; Mini Rosettes die by Tim Holtz;  sentiment stamp by Stampin Up;  Lipstick Red chalk ink by ColorBox;  Open Scallop punch by EK Success;  shipping tag, ribbon and foam dots from my stash.

Thanks for visiting xx

For the Christmas tree, I did a little emboss resist, which I’m getting more braver at and trying it more often. The stamp came from Unity Company’s September KOTM stamp set and the sentiment stamp is from Stampin Up. You will find all the in stock Unity stamps here at Craft-A-Lot.

For the papers, I used 12 Days of Christmas by MME. I wasn’t sure about the blue, red and green but I think it goes ok together on this tag. I will leave it there for now because I need to go lay down or something and wait to my partner’s ADHD/Austistic son to come over. Should make for an interesting weekend because we are putting up the Christmas Tree… a little late this year but it’s never too late to fill kids with a little decorating the tree happy!!

Thanks for visiting!

GIFT BAG 1:

Apologies for the photos because they aren’t the best. I do know that Santa is buying me a new camera for Chrissy… well according to my 3yr old son Kody he is (I’m pretty sure he was supposed to keep that a secret) lol

You can get these bags at Spotlight for around $4.00 for a pack of 5 which I thought was very economical if you are on a budget. They come in a range of colours including black, white, kraft (shown), a deep red, purple and I have forgotten the others… sorry!!

GIFT BAG 2:

I’m not completely happy with this one because of my stamping but then I’m really picky but I’m sure the receiver will like it more than me.

The thing I like most, is that I finally got my white ink to stamp properly. I have gone through a few different brands of white ink but this one which is Versa Color seems to be working the best.

GIFT BAG 3:

Yes I know we don’t have snow at Christmas, but I love these stamps and haven’t really used the snowflakes in the past.  They are from an old Making Memories Stamp set called Fa La La and there’s 17 stamps to the set (not just the snowflakes).

To finish off today’s post, I will leave you with the following photo…

…it’s never to early to teach them household chores fun things to do LOL

SET 1:

I’ve kept these tags really simple so a whole bunch can be knocked up at once. I’ve used Kraft cardstock as the base and papers from ‘Holly Jolly Christmas‘ paper pad and ‘Christmas Dots & Stripes‘ paper pad, both of which are available from Craft-A-Lot. Using a 12inch by 12inch piece of cardstock, you can get around 24 of these 7cm x 5cm tags with a 1 inch length left over.

SET 2:

These were made using ’25 Days of Christmas’ by Simple-Stories on a base of Kraft. More or less the same as the first set of tags, just with different papers.

SET 3:

Seeing that I bought a few Whimsy Christmas stamps in the last month, I thought I had better start using atleast  some of them. The stamped ornament on these tags are from the set ‘Seasonal Ornaments’. They have sold out at Craft-A-Lot but you will find a while bunch of other beautiful Whimsy Stamps, including Christmas ones here.

For the paper, I used ‘Father Christmas’ 6×6 paper pad by Bo Bunny on a comfy bed of Kraft cardstock (apologies if you are sick of seeing it). I stamped the ornament on a lighter pattern paper from the same paper pad using Versafine ‘Onyx Black’. I love this ink, especially if you want  to capture all the fine details on stamps.

You can’t see it here but I’ve used a little Clear Spica pen on the ornaments. It has given them a light sprinkle of glitter and I love the subtle effect. I just wish the photos showed how nice it looks. Maybe Santa (if you’re reading my blog… hmm what are the chances of that? LOL) will buy me a special camera for Chrissy!! The stamped to: and from: come from a stamp set called ‘Blossom Stackers’ by Unity Stamp Company. Why not join the Kit of the Month club at Craft-A-Lot where you will receive an A4 sized set of foam backed rubber stamps or maybe you’d like to try out a few before you join. You will find a great range here.

Other things I’ve made lately:

I won’t say much about this tag because I have really over done it with the white dash lines LOL… what more can I say!!

Umm after I had finished this card, I noticed I forgot to put in an ‘I’ just before the love you part and now I don’t know where I should put it because without it, I’m not sure it makes sense. But anyway, I still like the colours and the card. The stamped Flower and the word Grandma are from the October 2011 Unity Kit of the Month stamp set.

That’s all for me tonight and thanks for visiting. I’m off to start on my blog facelift!!

Focusing on the Love.

I could be quite critical about parts of it, but I will do that privately as other parts I’m quite happy about. I will say though, thanks Amanda, the Yellow Pages did wonders :)

I won’t explain the steps I used because I more or less followed every step on Kristina’s video and she does it way better than I, but I will let you know the supplies I used. Music paper from ‘12 Days of Christmas‘ by My Minds Eye, Kraft cardstock for the base card, the flower  and sentiment stamp from Unity’s October KOTM stamp set, Barn Door and Antique Linen Distress Stain by Tim Holtz, a Kaisercraft Rhinestone, white embossing powder and beautiful red ribbon from Colleen at Craft-A-Lot.

I have a long way to go and ALOT of practising before I will be completely comfortable with heat embossing so I made a pact with myself to stop being a procrastinator and experiment more. We will see in the coming weeks if I have listened to my own advice :)

So why not try a new (or old) technique today that has intimidated you in the past… you may surprise yourself :)

xxx

…no photo = no fish!! hmm what kind of rule is that!!!… perhaps the kind of rule where Dad got beaten but didn’t want anyone to know lol… I caught 2, Kody caught 2 and aww, Scott only 1 but sadly, we only took photos of Kody’s fish but that’s ok because I didn’t mind being beaten by my sweet son… and he LOVED his new CamoKids rod… just between you and me, I think he snapped his old one on purpose because he’d been eyeing this one off for quite a while.

Have a great day!!

A few goodies came in the mail yesterday… actually a lot!! I had forgotten how many things I had on order from Craft-A-Lot but they arrived yesterday. Thank you Colleen, oh! and thank you for all the box stuffing… I had a lot of fun picking it all up after Kody kicked it around the house LOL… he had a great time and it was a nice distraction while mummy looked at all the nice things she bought ;-)

Amongst all the great things (which you will see in the months to come) were a bunch of design team goodies and included papers from ‘12 Days of Christmas‘ by My Minds Eye,  ‘Forever Fall‘ Noteworthy Diecuts by Bo Bunny, ‘Summers End‘ Buttons by Fancy Pants, gorgeous ‘Holiday Silhouettes‘ by Websters Pages, ‘Botanical Christmas/Winter Fairy Tales‘ paper by Websters Pages and lots of beautiful ribbon and stamps which will be in future posts. There was also my new October Unity KOTM stamp set ‘Faith, Hope, Love…live by it’.

The hardest part of the card & tag was choosing what to use from everything I received, so I decided on a checked paper and a cream paper from MME ’12 Days of Christmas’, one of the larger diecuts and a scalloped oval from Bo Bunny’s ‘Forever Fall’ collection, a ‘Summers End’ button from Fancy Pants and of course, a butterfly stamp and sentiment from my new Unity KOTM stamp set and a few things from my stash.

IMAGINE. DREAM. FLY.:

I’m not one to really design around the ‘Fall/Autumn’ season but after seeing and loving the intense colours of Bo Bunny’s Forever Fall diecuts, I thought ‘why not’. The butterfly stamp & sentiment I chose from the October KOTM really went well with the diecuts and I found it easy to come up with a card and tag I liked (probably because I have been quite slack the last month or so… sorry Danielle & Amanda). Getting in the right head space helps… so does lots of alcohol!!! lol just kidding :)

I punched some butterflies using a Martha Stewart punch for the small butterflies and a Christina Re punch for the larger butterflies. I used a little glitter glue and rhinestones to give them a little more dimension. Sorry for the photo… my camera doesn’t photo glitter that well but it’s there :).

I finished off the card with a little dyed seam binding, a tied button, some random sewing and dashed lines (thanks Kristina).

the Tag:

After starting card & tag making last year, I would have thought I could glue something in a straight line by now, but as you can see (or not),  I haven’t quite got there. I am so fussy when it comes to that and do notice it when I don’t get it ‘quite right’ but who cares… the beauty of making something by hand means that it isn’t always going to be perfect and it doesn’t have to be… I am learning to like my ‘mistakes’, slowly albeit….

…when it’s on an angle, no one can notice anyway lol.

For the tag, I used the leftover piece of the diecut and added scalloped borders in a matching colour. If you were wondering why the random 2 eyelets are added to the middle of the card, that’s where I was going to tie the seam binding in a bow but it looked ugly so I didn’t bother with it. I liked it better this way anyhow. As you can see… (well no you can’t), but there’s glitter on this little butterfly too and I also used Sakura Stardust glitter pens on the stamped butterflies and stars. If anyone knows where I can buy clear Sakura Stardust pens from, could you please let me know.

Well that’s all from me today… hope you enjoyed your visit and hopefully tonight I will have a few photos of my 3yr old son, his rod and the fish he caught a couple of weeks ago (his Dad is still hogging them and told me to wait) lol… I guess it’s a male thing !!

xxx

Starting off with a folded 9 inch x 4.5 inch Bazzill cardstock, I laid the largest blossom die ontop of the cardstock, making sure that it over hung the edge so it wouldn’t cut the fold, and ran it through my Bigshot. The end result was a 10cm x 9.5cm flower shaped card. Using my Martha Stewart’s Circle Cutter, I cut a 3 inch circle in patterned paper from Authentiques’ 6×6 ‘Journey’ paper pad. I then chose the matching cream paper, and cut a 2.5 inch circle. On the cream paper, I penned in some lines using a black Zig Millennium pen.

From the August 2011 KOTM Stamp Set ‘What I Know’, I chose the cute dress stamp and the sentiment stamp. I stamped the sentiment onto the cream patterned paper in Versafines’ Onyx Black Ink. Using the same ink, I stamped the dress onto some scrap paper, then onto the blue patterned paper. I did this because I wanted the dress outline a little subtle. I cut the dress out and layered it onto the cream paper using 3D foam dots. I poked a couple of holes in the paper and tied a piece of Natural Jute twine from May Arts into a bow then added a few Kaisercraft ‘Ice Blue’ rhinestones to balance the card. I layered this onto the 3inch blue patterned paper with foam dots and then adhered the whole lot to the base of the card using double-sided tape. Finishing off the outside, I penned in some dots.

For the inside of the card, I cut a 3 inch circle out of white paper and then cut a 1.5cm off the edge of a patterned paper circle and adhered it to the white. I then penned in some black dash lines.

Lastly, I made a matching envelope to go with it. A tutorial on making this envelope from scratch will be for a future post. And here’s a couple of other similiar cards using the same flower shape and more Authentique paper.

Friend to Friend:

Thinking of You:

Thanks for visiting and happy crafting!!

Here’s my card:

… based on this sketch:

I started with a standard A5 sized card base (14.8cm x 10.5cm) in Kraft cardstock, sewed a piece of patterned paper from ‘Times & Seasons’ Collection Kit by Echo Park to a piece of cream cardstock, then using some May Arts twine, I wrapped it twice and tied a bow and adhered the whole thing to the base using double-sided tape.

Using Versafine’s Onyx Black ink, I then chose 2 stamps from the August Unity KOTM stamp set ‘ What I Know’ which you can buy from Craft-A-Lot and stamped them on a piece of cream cardstock, added a little colour to the popcorn cups then layered it onto some black and cream cardstock which was then adhered to the card using 3D foam dots (please excuse the un-even circles because they were handcut with scissors – circle dies are on my 2012 wishlist).

Using another strip of cream cardstock, I punched a decorative edge to 2 sides and sewed another piece of patterned paper from the Time & Seasons Collection kit. I also used 3 of the circle stickers from the kit and adhered them to more cream cardstock then layered them across the bottom using 3D foam. Finishing off the outside of the card, I added some pearls to the centres of the stickers.

For the inside of the card, I cut a piece of cream cardstock, punched a strip of the same blue patterned paper I used on the front of the card and adhered the last remaining circle sticker.

To finish off my post today, I’m excited to tell you that 3 of my cards…

will be in Craft-A-Lots’ ad in the lastest edition of Australian Cardmaking, Stamping and Papercraft… very honoured that Colleen has chosen them to be featured amongst other beautiful cards by another Craft-A-Lot design team member, Danielle.  And here’s the ad incase you haven’t seen it yet:

Thank you Colleen… this means alot xxx

Until next time, happy crafting!!!

p.s. Will post soon about our fishing trip yesterday – Me 2, Scott 1, Kody 2 (and you should see his brand new fishing rod – it’s as bright as his beautiful smile)

Here’s the sketch:

…and here’s my card:

Both the ferris wheel and the sentiment stamps came from the August Unity Kit of the Month stamp set – What I Know, which you can purchase from Craft-A-Lot. While you’re there, you may even consider joining the Kit of the Month club where you will receive an A4 sized rubber stamp sheet full of wonderful stamps. Talk to the very lovely Colleen who can help you with any questions you may have.

Started out with a 14.8cm x 10.5cm kraft base, I’ve used patterned paper from Echo Park’s ‘Time & Seasons’ Collection Kit layered on chocolate cardstock and zig-zagged around the edges. I originally bought this collection kit thinking it was christmas paper but it’s not. Silly me didn’t bother looking at the individual papers but I still love it… kind of dark and moody (much like me these days lol).

The little flower was made using a length of felt ribbon, sewing it along the edges and pulling it until it gathered into a flower-like shape. I then sewed a matching button to the centre and adhered it to the ferris wheel using Helmar 450 Quick Dry adhesive. I added a decorative strip punched from an E K Success punch called Parisian, a piece of black pom pom ribbon and finished the card with a few Kaisercraft gemstones.

I’m off now to get a few things ready for tomorrow. My partner and I are taking our 3yr old son, Kody, fishing tomorrow. If tonight is anything to go by, we may not catch a lot. Kody was mucking with the top half of his rod and ended up snapping it in 2 – Dad was not impressed LOL!!

Thanks for visiting xx

I recently purchased the magazine Papercraft Inspirations and on the cover was a free gift of a colour & cut stack of 20 Lily of the Valley ready-stamped designs to colour so I thought since I really only have 1 stamp which is an outline stamp, I would give these ago.

Before I started, I knew that I wanted to make shades of Orange/Peach my dominant colour, so I based the colouring around shades that would match that.

I used Faber-Castell colouring pencils, paper stumps and a little Gamsol. I found colouring a little intimdating at first but the more I coloured, the less nervous I was about stuffing up the picture. The hardest part for me is shadows and shading which will get better with time hopefully.

For this card, I used papers from Echo Park’s Victoria Gardens 6×6 paper pad which I purchased from Craft-A-Lot. To give the little flowers more dimension, I Kindyglitzed them as usual. Love this stuff!! I diecut the sweet picture using my new Blossom Tags and Accents Spellbinders Shapeabilities set which Colleen from Craft-A-Lot ordered in for me. There’s a great video here by Lesley Langdon if you would like to see what you can do with both the Shapeabilities set and the matching stamp set (which I have as well)

I layered the coloured picture on a strip of white ribbon from my stash. I finished off the card with a sentiment stamped from the September Unity Kit of the Month ‘All Seasons’, added some gemstones by Kaisercraft and a bow from dyed seam binding which is accented with a tied button from my stash.

Thanks for taking the time to visit and I’ll see you next time!!

I haven’t been one to use vellum in the past but decided to stamp and colour it. I’m not completely happy with how it turned out because it did go a wonky shape after I had glued parts of the flower pots onto it but I still loved how it turned out. I guess a little more experimenting is called for.

The flower pots and the arrow came from the August 2011 Kit of the Month, ‘What I Know’ which I purchased from the lovely Colleen at Craft-A-Lot. I put a little colour on them using Pergamo pens I found hidden away in one of my craft drawers. I paper pieced the top of the pot just to give a touch of dimension.

Using papers from Kaisercraft’s ‘Miss Nelly’ 6 1/2″ paper pad, I machine stitched a few pieces to the card. I then chose a chipboard frame from Bella, stamped a polka dot pattern on it using the ‘Cling Dots’ stamp from Hero Arts in ‘Rose Red’ ink from Stampin’ Up. I then covered the frame in Glossy Accents by Ranger.

I adhered yellow flowers by Papermania to the frame and gave them a little lift by accenting them with Kindyglitz Glitter Glue in ‘Crystalina’.

I finished off the card using a bow tied from dyed seam binding. I then adhered a big beautiful accent flower by Prima to the middle of the bow and added a little more Kindyglitz to the petals.

Thanks for visiting!

Here’s the sketch:

And here’s my card… ( I will update the photo tomorrow when I can photo it in natural light).

Thanks Unity for your wonderful stamps :)

Happy crafting!!

A quick post this morning and another digital layout from me using a digital scrapbooking kit from Julia at Everyday Mom Ideas Design. This kit is called Lil’ Monster and it suits my little munchkin down to the ground.

Always full of mischief and ALWAYS into something he shouldn’t be ;-)

Have a great day!!

If you search the web, you will find an amazing choice of free kits a long with a lot of kits you can purchase. Some websites which you can purchase from, offer different types of licenses, especially if you want to use them commercially.

Please click on each layout for a larger view.

Sweet Girl:

I made this layout using the Autumn Sampler kit by Tracie Stroud Designs. Like my cards, I think I have a simple no-fuss style (which I’m trying to expand on). I based the layout on doing a little day dreaming about the days when Renee used to come home crying because she was being teased at school for being over weight. Nothing hurts more than seeing your child hurt by words because they sometimes leave the deepest wounds. I was really worried for her when she started High School because I thought the teasing would be worse, but I’m so glad she found friends who accepted her for who she is… a loving, generous friend. I love you Sweet Girl xx

Kody:

My little explorer, always using his imagination. I have noticed this alot more with Kody than with Renee when she was his age. I guess it’s because boys, I think, have a lot more energy to burn and especially with Kody, he bores easily so on this day when I was about to recycle a shoebox, he grabbed it, sat his toosh in it in front of his magnets on the freezer and played for ages. It ended up breaking (because his little bum was too big) but it just goes to show that no matter how many toys are in the stores, something as simple as a box can entertain him for so much longer.

I designed the layout using elements from the Just My Type digital scrapbooking kit from Everyday Mom Ideas Design. The bright, cheery colours reminding me of Kody’s personality, including the firey red :) If you love to digitally scrapbook, Julia has a lot of free kits in many themes so try one today.

Thanks for visiting!!

This card is based on the range Blissful. It’s not one of their new ranges, but I love the shades of yellow, pinks and greys in this beautiful range. I also bought all of the matching alphabet stickers and diecut sheets so mixing and matching was a little easier.

I punched out a couple of flowers, added a glitter brad to the centre and layered them using Zots 3-D clear adhesive dots in Ultra Strength. My first time using these glue dots and was surprisingly happy with how they worked as I am very fussy about the adhesives I use. I have tried a few and a few have failed months down the track so I was surprised at how sticky these dots are. Fabulous!!

I have added a couple of buttons, a diecut from the Blissful range and penned in a little faux stitching.

Finishing the card, I’ve added a strip of pattern paper adhered to white cardstock, some more faux stitching and finished with a small punched flower. A little different to how I do the inside of my cards but I think I will keep it going for future cards.

Thanks for visiting and happy crafting!

So… this card is a tribute to all the ladies (and men) out there who are survivors of breast cancer. Celebrate you :)

The sentiment used is from the September KOTM stamp set which you can purchase from the beautiful Colleen at Craft-A-Lot.

The inks used are Rose Red & Elegant Eggplant from Stampin Up, paper flowers are from Docrafts Papermania, red ribbon is May Arts, gingham ribbon is American Crafts, cardstock is Bazzil and all the other supplies are from my stash.

Thanks for visiting!!

I used paper from Bo Bunny’s Father Christmas 6×6 Paper Pad, Bazzil Basics Kraft cardstock as the base for the card, Stampin Up’s ruffled ribbon, a few pearls from Kaisercraft and some generic white ribbon.

… and the inside of the card.

Thanks for looking!

There’s no time like today to start adding to your Christmas Card collection because before you know it, Mr Claus will be visiting :) If you have joined the Unity Kit of the Month club at Craft-A-Lot, you would have received your September KOTM kit and included in that stamp set are a few christmas stamps. The next 2 cards were made using 3 of them from the kit.

Using part of a diecut paper edge, a couple of stamps and some twine, you could easily make these 2 cards in bulk.

If you don’t have any diecut paper, you could easily cut whatever shape you need just with a pair of decorative scissors and a little imagination.

Take a look around you and you will see that there are plenty of objects you could trace around. In the past, I have used the edge of a mini album, stencils, scrapbooking supplies packaging, dinner plates, cups or if you want to get artsy, try a little freehand doodling. Let your imagination go wild :)

Thanks for visiting! xox

Congratulations to Andria :) I will be contacting you as soon as I finish this blog post.

Tune in tomorrow where I will be starting a new competition. I still haven’t made up my mind what theme I will base it on, but I am sure I will come up with something.

Thanks for visiting!!

Starting off with another simple card from me using the December KOTM Stamp Set ‘Just Be You’ which you can purchase from the beautiful Colleen at Craft-A-Lot. This stamp set has been one of my favourites to date. I think I have used nearly every stamp in the set and I am sure you will get a lot of use out of it too!

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.     Cut a piece of white cardstock to 21cm x 15cm. Score down the 21cm side and fold. This will give you a normal c6 sized card base to work on.

2.     From the ‘Chanteuse’ 6.5 x 6.5 inch Paper Pad by Kaisercraft, cut a piece of the green patterned paper 15cm x 10.5cm and adhere to card base. Cut a piece of the flower patterned paper 10.5cm x 5.5cm and adhere to the left side of the card base.

3.     Cut a piece of matching ribbon and adhere on the right edge of the flower paper.

4.     From the December 2010 KOTM Stamp Set, ink up the bee stamp in Memento ‘Tuxedo Black’ ink. Stamp it once on the card where you want it and then ink it up again and stamp it on a matching piece of scrap paper for the body of the bee. Ink it once more and then stamp it onto another matching piece of patterned paper for the wings. Cut out the body and the pair of wings with a knife or if you are more talented than I, you can use your scissors. I still haven’t quite got the hang of this especially when it comes to curves :) You should have the following pieces.

5.     Adhere the wings to the stamped bee on the card using your favourite glue. For this card, I used Glossy Accents by Ranger. Using a foam dot which I had cut in half, I adhered it to the back of the bee body and then adhered that piece over the wings. I found my KindyGlitz ‘Crystalina’ glitter glue and glittered her wings to give her a pretty little sparkle.

6.     Using one of the ‘Chanteuse’ Journal Tags from Kaisercraft, I stamped the ‘Just Be You’ sentiment from the December 2010 KOTM Stamp Set in ‘Port Wine’ dye ink by Whisper onto the top left side of it. Looking at it now, I probably should have used a darker ink but I still like the subtleness of it. Using a ‘Rose’ Zig memory writer pen, I added a few dots around the journal tag just to give it a little more interest.

7.     Before I added the journal tag, I drew lines around 3 of the edges. You don’t need to do this. I just thought it needed to be ‘tied’ in a little more. When that was done, I put a heap of 3D foam on the back of the tag and then adhered it to the front. The position of this is totally up to you. To finish of the card, I used a couple of tiny pink rhinestones on the Bee’s antennae.

As with all of my cards, you can sustitute what I have used with what you have available. That’s it for this card. I hope you enjoyed!!

If you would like to join the Unity Stamp Company’s Kit Of The Month club in Australia, visit Colleen at Craft-A-Lot where she can tell you all about it. For just $35.00, you will received an A4 sized stamp sheet full of rubber cling bliss :)

Thanks for visiting and I will see you next time xx

xox

The theme for this giveaway is Artist Trading Cards or ATCs. I bought a few kits earlier in the year thinking that I would have time to sit down and try my hand at ATC’s but as yet, I am still trying to find some good solid quiet time so off to a new home they go. I have also added plenty of other things so if you don’t make ATC’s, you can always use the supplies for other crafting.

There’s also some hidden surprises which aren’t shown (such as paper, metal embellishments, chipboard etc…) and please remember, this is from my own stash… it’s all brand new, un-used items from my craft drawers.

Good luck for those who enter.

Congratulations go to Melinda from Creative Wishes .  An email is on the way to you :)

I’ll be back later with a new giveaway!!

For this card, I didn’t want it to make a bold statement, rather, more of a subtle heartfelt gesture,  especially since it will be given as a sympathy card. Using cream as the main colour, you can pretty much put any other colour/colours with it and it is sure to match so my flavours for today are cream, a splash of blue and shades of green.

When I sit down to make cards, I usually don’t have a set design in my head. I let the paper tell me how it wants to look on a card (yes that probably sounds crazy to some ;-) which is ok.) but I have been asked in the past how I come up with designs… my answer to that is I am normally inspired by the paper I’ve chosen to make a card with and what I thought was the intended design, usually changes because I can’t quite sync my cards with my card sketch in my head. In other words, what I see in my head as a card design doesn’t come out the same way when I create. If only there was a card doctor because I would love to just freely create like painters paint masterpieces… Anway, if that didn’t make sense to anyone (I’m not sure it made sense to me lol), I hope the rest of the post does!!

I started with a 15cm x 10.5cm folded card and chose an embossed piece of paper from the Devonshire 6″ Paper Pad by Kaisercraft and cut it to the size of the card. I adhered it to the card using double-sided tape.

For the flower, I punched out two green daisies from a matching paper in the paper pad using an EK Sucess punch. I then scored down the middle of each petal and pinched it so it gave the petals a little dimension instead of being flat. I layered them onto each other using 3D foam. I then stamped a button flower from the July Unity KOTM (Kit of the Month) stamp set onto a foil sheet of paper from the 6″ paper pad and cut it out using a craft knife. I punched 4 holes in the flower, added a matching button and then tied Jute twine through both the paper flower and button. I layered that piece ontop of the other 2 petals using 3D foam again.

Using a sentiment from the same July 2011 KOTM stamp set which you can purchase from Craft-A-Lot, I stamped it using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I then cut a length of my dyed seam binding and finished the card with a tied bow.

Another easy card which could be made in quantities… you could always swap a sympathy sentiment for others.

Thanks for visiting and just a reminder, there’s only a little over 4 days left before I draw my christmas destash goodies.

Have a great evening!!

For this card, I found a couple of whimsy looking christmas papers in Prima’s Jack & Jill 6″ x 6″ paper stack and thought the stamps that I had chosen would match nicely. The stamps are from the Unity KOTM December 2010 stamp set which Colleen from Craft-A-Lot sent me to play with. :)  I chose 2 different papers but used the same stamps and style on each card. Both are simple and you could always substitute what I have used for what you have available. The other card will be shown at the end of the post.

Starting with a 15cm x 10.5cm folded card base, I cut the patterned paper to the same size as the card and then adhered it to the base using double-sided tape.

I then stamped the sentiment onto the card using Versafine Smokey Gray ink purchased from Craft-A-Lot. When I chose the snowman, I knew I wanted to paper piece him so I stamped him twice using Versafine Onyx Black ink onto white cardstock and cut him out. I stamped him again 4 more times – twice on red cardstock for his hat and mittens and twice on orange cardstock for his cute little nose.

I paper pieced his hat, mittens and nose and layered the snowman onto the card using 3D foam. You don’t have to do this but it gives him a little more dimension not to mention, it makes him the star of the card :)

To finish off the card, I got out the Kindyglitz glitter glue (you could use an alternative) and glittered the snowman hat, mittens, loveheart and all the snowflakes on the patterned paper.

CARD 2

Another simple card you could make in quantities. Cardmaking doesn’t have to be complex which I’m slowly learning :)

Thanks for taking the time to visit. xx

Starting with my favourite sized card c6 (I really need to expand my repertoire of card shapes and sizes), I cut the patterned paper to size and adhered it to the card using double sided tape.

I then stamped the sweet bees and the sentiment onto the card using Versafine Onyx Black ink. Both the stamps are from the July 2011 KOTM stamp set ‘Better Together’ from Craft-A-Lot. I then stamped the bees onto other papers from the same paper pad and cut their cute little bodies out and layered them onto the card using 3D foam. They fitted in so well with this patterened paper.

Using a length of my dyed seam binding, I tied a double bow to the card. I then embellished the bow with a matching button tied with jute twine. I adhered it down using 45o Quick Dry Adhesive, my favourite bulky embellishment glue. Although I really don’t like the nozzle on this glue or the fact that it spews out of the bottle randomly, I really haven’t been able to find a glue that matches it’s holding power when dry. Any suggestions for another type of glue??

Anyway, I loved making this card and it’s another card you could duplicate in quantities.

Thanks for visiting! xx