I have been tagged!!!

I've been tagged! Thanks Nikki. I am not sure on how to do the tagging, but I can at least add the links that I think are my favorite (including the ones listed in my blog of course). I will have to get your help Nikki to keep this tag going. Hope you like the links.

ALL are invited to join in the Links fun! PLEASE just follow the rules! Just copy paste THIS and everything below up until my Five links:

"I thought it would be cool to have a meme where we post links. We can post up to five. Then we tell five more people to share their links. If we all share who tagged us, our links are sure to be seen!
They can be business links, favorite sites, affiliate links, whatever you want…

There are Five Rules:
1. MUST be clean. No R rated sites.
2. Only FIVE links.
3. MUST tell 5 people.
4. A link back to the person who tagged you
5. Lara’s Place is the meme originator. (an active link is appreciated)

so join in the Links fun!"

My Five Links:

Well most of my favorite links are listed to the left of my blog. My top five would be:

1. Scrapbooking Quotes which has excellent quotes for your scrapbooking pages and cards
2. Inspirational Quotes same as above
3. thINKspot which is Marelle Taylor's blogspot. She is an Independant Demonstrator for Stampin' Up and I think her designs are fantastic for inspiration
4. BBC - CBeebies For those of you with young children, this site is an excellent place for kids to play games, listen to songs or stories, make and do, download colouring pages etc and it's all the ABC kids shows ie Postman Pat, Tellietubbies, Lunar Jim etc plus some that must be in the UK. So check it out, my boy loves it. He is better on the computer then me.
5. Free recycling A friend put me onto this site, which looks really interesting. It's as the title suggests, getting rid or purchasing things for free. It is trying to prevent unnecessary landfill, by encouraging people to advertise unwanted stuff, that can be collected for free. You really need to look at it to see what I mean

The person who tagged me was my good friend Nikki

Face Paint Creations

My children had their faces painted at playgroup one day. I just had to scrapbook the photos as they are beautiful memories to keep. I really enjoyed doing the Batman page for my son, particularly the POW and BAM. Unfortunately, the Headline Alphabet that I used in his page will retire from Stampin' Up as of midnight tonight. The good news is that the new catalogue is officially available to order from us of tomorrow. I am very excited to place my order. The large butterflies on my daughter's layout are using one of the Hostess level 3 stamp sets available in the
new catalogue. I have stamped the buterfly onto coordinating pieces of cardstock, and then paper pieced the butterflies together. I have used a white gel pen to add detail to the butterflies. I have listed all other materials I have used in these two pages below. Catch you later.


Butterfly page:

Stamp sets: Time well spent (hostess Level 3 set from new catalogue), rough edges alphabet and small sayings
Stamp pad : Chocolate chip and always artichoke
Cardstock: Sage shadow, bravo burgundy, close to cocoa, elegant eggplant and blush blossom



Batman page:

Stamp sets: Headline alphabet
Stamp pads: basic black
Cardstock: Real red, basic blackand yoyo yellow

Princess Jessica turns Two!

Well my best friend's daughter turns two next week and I wanted to make a girly card. I recently purchased Pretty Princess so decided to use it for the basis of this card. I went to Splitcoast Stampers for inspiration, and found this design (I apologise for the photo, not as clear as I would like). The card is pretty in pink, which I have stamped with images from the stamp set in rose red ink. The mattes are regal rose, rose red and whisper white. I have stamped the sentiment and princess in basic black. I then have used the lids of my stamp pads and blender pens to colour the princess in. Colours used were always artichoke, so saffron and rose red. It may be difficult to see, but I have used some glitter glue on the wand, crown and shoes to give added sparkle. I hope Miss Jessica that you have a wonderful 2nd birthday with all your family and friends. Sending you my love and best wishes.

It's Arrived!!! Idea Book & Catalogue 2008-2009

I was so excited when I went out to the mail yesterday and found my new Stampin' Up catalogue!! I just had to take a photo of it and upload it for you. I am telling you that there is so much awesome stuff - stamps, ribbons, rub-ons, chipboard accents, punches, papers (including the new In Colour range), textured papers and so much more. Not to mention the fantastic ideas and inspiration on every page. So if you would like to get your hands on this new catalogue, let me know. They cost $12.95 + postage and handling. Otherwise, why not have a workshop, invite your family and friends and score a catalogue for free as a gift from me to you. In addition, there are many benefits to receive as a hostess including free merchandise. Items can be purchased from the catalogue as of the 1st April 2008, so not long!!!! Look forward to hearing from you. Happy stamping.....

Smile

This is a card I have made for one of my close friends. I have to admit that I CASeD the colour combination and design (partially) from Stampin' Up's impression publication (available to Stampin' Up demonstrators only). I have used the stamp set Big Blooms, which is featured in the Summer mini catalogue.I have stamped the big bloom flowers onto whisper white cardstock using bashful blue, so saffron and rose red ink. I then have cut out the flowers and adhered with brads to a whisper white matte, which inturn has been adhered to a rose red matte. The rose red matte has been attached to certainly celery cardstock using Stampin' dimensionals. I then have stamped some leaves in certainly celery and placed under flowers. The word 'smile', which is part of wonderful words stamp set, has also been stamped in certainly celery. I then have added some Stampin' Up apple green grosgrain ribbon to finish the card off. For summary of materials used refer below.

Stamp sets: Big blooms, friendship blooms & wonderful words

Stamp pads: Rose red, bashful blue, so saffron & certainly celery.

Cardstock: Certainly celery, rose red & whisper white

Accessories: Brads, Stampin' dimensionals & grosgrain ribbon

NOTE: Just a reminder that you have until March 31st to purchase anything from the Summer Mini catalogue, so if you particularly like this set, don't waste any time. Call me and place an order today.

Celebrate

This is a baby card I made for my friend. I used the stamp set 'Baby Firsts' which also retires at the end of March. So many great stamps going.....but hopefully some awesome ones to come!!! I have used my stampin' pastels and blender pen to colour in the images, and some glitter glue for added sparkle. The remaining materials used are listed below.

Stamp sets: Riveting, wonderful words, baby firsts & fresh fillers

Stamp pads: Basic black & versamark

Cardstock: Not quite navy, barely banana, bashful blue, gable green & whisper white

Accessories: Stampin' dimensionals, stampin' pastels, blender pens & glitter glue

Braydon's Christening Invitation

One of my girlfriend's sister asked me if I could help design an invitation for her son's christening. I was so honoured to be asked, that I made a sample the same day. Together we have tweeked the layout, and this is the end result. I think it is very adorable. Let me know your thoughts.

To make this card, we have taken an A4 piece of brocade blue cardstock and cut it lengthways. I have used the paisley background stamp and white craft stamp pad to create pattern. The bottom third of the card has been folded to create a flap. The little patterned anchors my girlfriend's sister located at Spotlight (I don't think we could have matched it any better). We used a brocade blue brad to adhere to the card. Decorative scissors have been used along the fold of the brocade blue. The matte used on the front is close to cocoa and natural ivory. The personalisation and verse has been done on the computer. The insert for the card is made from natural ivory cardstock. We have punched the corners of the insert using the slit punch. The word 'Celebrate' has been taken from the All about U stamp set. We have double stamped using brocade blue and chocolate chip ink to create a shadowing. The Teddy bear has been taken from Favorite Teddy Bear which is a set due to retire shortly (Boo Hoo)! All of the pieces have been stamped with chocolate chip and then cut out and adhered to the card. The colours used include: close to cocoa, so saffron and old olive. The scarf has been highlighted in certain places using a white gel pen. The date/time/place/RSVP stamp was taken from the Backyard BBQ stamp set which is in the current Summer mini catalogue (which expires at the end of the month). I think that is all the details I can give.....what an essay. Hope you like.

Wishing You the Best

I have made this card for my father-in-law who is having some health concerns. It is quite hard to make a masculine card, and I am not sure whether I achieved the look (let me know what you think). The colours used are night of navy, brocade blue, old olive, more mustard and very vanilla. I used a stamp from petal prints to create branch design. The branch colours have been done using old olive ink, and just continually stamped to create different shades of the same colour. The sentiment has been taken from the hostess set 'Riveting' which will soon be retired. I have stamped the sentiment on more mustard and then old olive cardstock, and then cut star from old olive image and mounted onto more mustard. I then have used stampin' dimensionals to lift design off from card (which may be difficult to see in photo). The brocade blue cardstock has been stamped with image from fresh fillers in brocade blue ink to give added interest.

Surprise! Surprise!

I know what you must all be thinking......not another Album in a Box. I can't promise this will be the last you will ever see, but it will be the last for awhile. Following the last two workshops I have been inspired to create a couple as gifts. As you know, I made one for a friend who has just had a baby and this one I made for my sister for her 30th Birthday. I wanted to do something special, that would also provide some memories of our lives thus far. I filled the box with photos and lovely sister quotes (which can be seen in the bottom two photos). I have decided to put The Stamper's Versalog website in my links to the left, as many guests at my sisters party thought the quotes I had were awesome. I let them in on the site, and thought you may also like to use it for your own cards, scrapbook pages or gift ideas.

There were also many comments about the box design itself, and my sister thought it was beautiful!!! This was not an expensive gift to make by any means, but when time and thought are given, I think it is of equal value and just as precious to a person.

To give a description of how I made the box would take another post!! So I have just given a list of materials that I have used for your own reference.

Materials used:

Stamp sets: Baby firsts, friendship blooms, time well spent, wild about you, fresh fillers, reason to smil and bud basics.

Stamp pads: Chocolate chip, always artichoke, basic black and rose red.

Cardstock: Always artichoke, confetti cream, bravo burgundy, very vanilla and so saffron.

Accessories: Stampin' pastels, blender pens, stampin' dimensionals, mini glue dots, stamper's versalog and miscellaneous ribbon and brads.

Album in a Box Overload!!!

Well, we had another fun night yesterday at the second workshop for the Album in a Box. The girls were so creative, that I decided that their work needs to be shown off to everyone out there. So I hope you enjoy this post full of photos. Remember, there is one last workshop I am holding for this on the 17th March (Monday @ 7.30pm). So book your spot if you haven't already. They are a great Mother's Day present as well as birthday present, baby present, just because present etc. Thanks so much to Rachel, Donna and Anne who gave me the priviledge to upload their creations here.

Wild about you...Kurt!

Well as promised, this is the album in a box I have just completed for a friend from playgroup. She had a baby boy on Saturday who she called Kurt. I have to admit that I CASeD this design from one of my friends who made this box for her sister at my last workshop. I fell in love with the elephant and just couldn't wait to try it out for myself. The sun is one of the flower stamps from the 'Looks like Spring' stamp set. The remainder of the picture has been created using the 'Wild About You' stamp set. The elephant has been stamped in buckaroo blue. The flower in his trunk was quite easy to do. I just inked the petals in cranberry crisp and the stem in true thyme, then stamped directly onto the cardstock. The grass (also in true thyme) was created by inking just the stem (without petals) and stamping free hand across bottom of cardstock. All other material used to create this project are listed at the end of the post.

I decided that I would add a personal touch to this album, and place baby quotes in the box. I have provided a close up of one of these quotes. I found an excellent site called The Stamper's Versalog, which provides verses and quotes for all occasions. There are some other great sites also such as Scrapbooking Quotes, but if you Google the words scrapbooking quotes, you will be amazed at the number of sites available. If your anything like me, trying to find the perfect quote for a card, scrapbooking page or project can be quite hard, and it's nice to be able to access such sites.

All the box needs now is some gorgeous photos of the new bundle of joy, which I will leave for the new parents, and they will have a lovely little memory box to show and display.

Material used:

Stamp sets: Wild about you, looks like spring, headline alphabet

Stamp pads: Buckaroo blue, cranberry crisp, true thyme, marigold morning

Cardstock: Vintage violet, cool carribean, sage shadow & very vanilla

Accessories: Fonts from computer, stamper's versalog, album in a box template & adhesive

Friendship Blooms

Well Sale-A-Bration is officially over, but I wanted to show you a card I made using Friendship Blooms for my sister on the weekend. I have stamped the swirls onto the lavender lace card using versamark. I have then stamped the flowers onto cameo coral cardstock with rose red ink (nice combination I think), cut them out and used my white gel pen to accent petals. The word 'Celebrate' comes from wonderful words stamp set, and has been stamped in certainly celery onto certainly celery cardstock....VOILA!! Very quick and easy card, but elegant at the same time.
On another note, I still have some spaces available for the Album in a Box workshops on Tues 4th March and Monday 17th March. Please let me know if you are interested in attending. The last class held on Friday 22nd February was a blast, and everyone had fun. I hope to post some of their creations on here (there is creativity in all of us)!!! I have been inspired to make one for a friend who has just had a baby. I will make sure to take a photo and upload it! Till next time.....have a great day!!!