Japanese girls.

Hello!

Wow, I haven't posted since Monday, what a slacker! I've been falling asleep early on the lounge every night, I feel good for the extra sleep but I haven't been getting anything done!

I made these cards last week cos I always had plans for this Paisley paper to end up on cards so I decided to finally make that happen as part of trying to use up more papers for my New Year's Resolution. The paper itself is quite busy with a big pattern, so I didn't want to cover up too much of the paper, it was the feature after all! So I decided to make them minimalist cards so you could still enjoy the BG PP. I hope they don't come off as too boring!

I love the "Hello dear friend" speach bubble on the second card, it's just so cute! I was able to position it pretty well behind the little Jap girl on a scallop oval I punched with my giga Marvy punch. Where would I be without those punches? I dunno!!

Then not to be too same-same I made another card but with my Bella stamps. Poor bella's haven't seen too much ink lately. Probably cos I have more stamps than any sane person should, so I can't get around and use them all, all the time!! I steered away from the turquoise for this one and back to pink and brown (which I seem to always stick to- I should try to break that mold!) I uncovered the "Lets do lunch" stamp which is from a Stampendous set I got years ago where you stamp each part of the girl separately to make a whole body. You can change up her dress, arms, legs, etc... It sounds awesome in theory, IRL it is totally HARD and annoying to try to line everything up and it takes AGES to stamp even one image! I have only used them once, then given up. But at least now I have used one of the sentiments again! And it goes really well with this image :) Hmmm... sounds like something I should get up to tomorrow- shopping and lunch out! {wink!}

:) C

Bridesmaid Invitation

Good Morning!

Well I have actually snapped mostly out of my Melancholy mood, you will be happy to know! I have had 2 excellent days at work without too much drama or stress and it has done wonders for my mental state... WOOT {Cheering and blowing on paper hooters :)} so hopefully it will extend to today and into the weekend. Finger's crossed!

You know how Will and I are getting married in April (lol, I wont let you forget!), well it is about time to choose our bridal party! Mine was easy to pic- I have 3 sisters, therefore I have 3 bridesmaids... no competition! Will chose his guys pretty easily too, so we're all set with people now! I wanted to make a card to ask my girls and knew instantly I wanted to use the Bridalpartybellas from Stamping Bella. I had to "un-ink out" one of the bridesmaids cos there were actually 5 girls in the stamp! I whipped the idea up in about 5 mins sitting at my desk at work one day, came home and made them the same night!

They are long cards- I cut an A4 sheet into 3rds length wise, measured how much room the stamp would need then folded the right side over itself to make the gate-fold so that you could still see the stamp. I cut the PP to fit the folded piece, stuck it down then punched the edge with my Fiskars threading water punch. I also punched a hole with the SU double slot punch to thread the ribbon through and hold the card shut. Then I coloured the girls (one with brown hair for Fliss and the other 3 blonde), mounted the whole card on a piece of Rose Red cardstock and then sat down to think of some journalling. I had fun trying to come up with ideas of what I wanted from my bridesmaids! And yes, I'm sure I'll need all of the tasks at some point or another in the next 9 months!!

I loved how the cards turned out and so did the girls! You'll be happy to know they all said yes :) so now it's full steam ahead for wedding planning!

Yay for the weekend tomorrow!

:)C

Some Creative Stuff

This is for you Fliss, for hassling me into posting yesterday! I'll reward you with a card post today :)
I made these cards last week before holidays, but I only took pretty crap photos of them late one night, so I apologise in advance! I uncovered my Bella stamps and coloured a whole bunch to go with this colour scheme. This is my all time fave Bella, I use her all the time (you may have noticed!) She is such a perfect girl and goes with so many sentiments! I'll have to dig out my Coco Chanel phrase again cos that one is the best! I cut out the BG paper with my new Labels 1 Nestabilitie die {love!} for a bit of interest. I am working on using up all my scraps as well as the solid sheets of paper. I am going to have to be totally self controlled on Saturday cos I'm going to Craft Fest at Olympic Park with Mum. Eeek! How will I stop myself buying papers? We'll see ;)

And you know I stick by the rule, "when making one card, make two!" It truly works a charm. And it means if you (are a sucker like me... ahem.. I mean no...) happen to like to keep your cards cos they're so cute, you can give one away and keep one for a little longer, then give it away. This last step is vitally important or you get stuck with a mountain of cards you'll never give up! Kinda like my plasic bag collection... but that's another story. I like to do one blonde and one brunette card. I haven't broken out into doing Bella with purple hair yet! Maybe one day.

And then the final card which I made using the negative of the Labels 1 cut outs from the above cards. Genious! I knew I wanted to use it as a window once cut out so I made sure I cut it down one end of the paper and not right in the middle. I think its quite cool! The shoe is a 3D sticker, but it is so hot! And it reminds me of Alicia, so it must be fashionable ;) {wink!} I love this sentiment, it's from Bella too.

Happy Hump Day of the Week!

:) C

Ladies...

I love the Ladies and Gents images (you know, the toilet ones.. Lol!) and they even make an appearance on my Blog banner! I love that in the Honolulu Airport the Ladies and Gents people on the toilet doors are wearing a MuMu (spelling?) and a Hawaiian Shirt! Ha! So I was happy to find that Scenic Route have them in acrylic stamp form :) {happy happy!}

So I made this card for a little fun..

I got to use my Fiskars Threading Water punch for the first time here too, it's so cool! I predict I will use it a lot! Or just enjoy looking at it on my desk which is what happens with most of my stuff! {sigh}. I stuck a cute little heart jewel in the centre of the "Ladies" Lady's chest, I was going to put it off to the left like a real heart but I thought people might have thought I just didn't stick it on straight. Haha. So in the middle it went. The ribbon is so pretty IRL and is just tied in a knot in the middle.

Then I made this quick card cos I had a wee bit of time left before I had to blog, shower and get to work!

How cool is the zig zag down the side?!! It's a Martha Stewart border punch Alicia brought me back from Walmart {love to you (Alicia and Walmart.. LOL!)!!}. I love it!! It's super funky. I got the gorgeous pink ribbon at the Stitches and Craft show and it's so luxurious! But I forced myself to use it cos I have just so much stuff I can't hoard it all forever! The cute sentiment is from Studio G and I bought it specifically for this Bella, she's so cute!

Gotta run and shower!! Happy Hump Day of the Week BTW!

:) C

Lets hear it for the Boys

I can hear you now..."More boy cards? uggghhh {sigh}" Well I'm sorry but the Rocket Ship was the only thing that inspired me last night! Thats right people, after another whole day of laying on the lounge willing myself out of the flu I finally got some energy to create something! {happy dance}.

The rocket is from the Inque Boutique set: "Out of this world" but funny enough it doesn't include that little sentiment! The sentiment is by Studio G, they had a whole bunch of new mini sets out when I went to Lincraft and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this one, I knew I had to have it to go with this rocket. It also came with the cutest tiny rocket in the set! I am trying to use up my ever growing pile of PP scraps cos the paper keeper they're in has broken once already, and I ain't just buying a new keeper just for scraps! In the end I thought these 2 papers do pretty well together!

Then I finally inked up this cute little Webber BBQ stamp also by Studio G (but a wood mounted one- who knew they made them?!) and made this fun Father's Day card. I have had the red chequered paper for ever but have used it on so many picnic pages/cards. I think I may be sad to see it all finally used up... wait... nah, I'm good. I made the sentiment using Stampendous clear alphabet I've had for yonks. It's a totally simple card, clearly in my flu-ey state I didn't have too much imagination, but I was happy to finally get something done!

Hope y'all are having a good weekend!

:) C

A Couple of Quickie Boy Cards

Hello!

I'm sitting here watching Pirates of the Carribean 2 while creating a few things at my desk (the main one is a giant mess, as usual...) I watched POTC 1 last week while I was sick and then I really had a hankering to watch 2 & 3 so I rushed out to BigW and bought them (on sale.. hehe!!). I haven't seen POTC 3 yet cos I missed it at the movies so it's down to watch this arvo before work or tomorrow. I love these movies, they're so rich in settings and costumes as well as being funny, entertaining and action packed!

So I've just made 2 quick boy cards for my card box. I hope you like them!

This first one uses one of my favourite clear stamp sets by Wordsworth. I love these stick people! I have the wedding one in the same series, it's so cute! The ribbon along the bottom is die cut along one edge with baby things like a bottle, pram, bib, dummy little feet etc. It's really gorgeous! I got it at Art Stamps (recently moved to Pymble) and used it exactly how I had imagined (along the bottom edge of the card) I love the die cut edge, so pretty! I punched the ribbon hole with my SU double slot punch which is awesome for putting a little ribbon as an accent. An of course, there's one of Fliss's frames (the negative frames from my Nestabilities dies). I have them hanging all around my desk and their scallop edges get caught on everything so I have to use them all up so they're not hanging around anymore!!

This second card uses a Hero Arts stamps (the pram) and the sentiment is from the boy clear set by KI Memories. I coloured the pram in with my blender pens and SU inks (I spent ages this morning drooling over Copics on the net... soon.. yes soon... they will be mine {cue scary music}). The cute little "button" brads are by Making Memories and the scallop oval is a Marvy punch. Do I have to reference my Scallop Nestabilities or are you all over them now?!

:)

C

No Pink Cards- even with Bella!

Yay, I'm still on the "No Pink" bandwagon {smiles}, and yesterday's page together with today's cards aren't even boy related so I haven't cheated!

I'm home sick from work today with the beginnings of the flu. When I'm sick I always have these grand plans that I will make heaps of cards and pages cos I have a whole day at home. The actuality is that I spend most of my day in a flu-induced daze, aimlessly wandering around the house wondering what I'm supposed to be doing with myself. I actually got off to a good start today, making 3 cards before the flu-induced stupor kicked in. Now I'm useless. I really want to just lay on the lounge and watch TV but that seems such a waste...

Anywho, I managed these cards before I turned into a zombie so I hope you like them!

The first 2 are made with my favourite Bella stamps and the beautiful Baroque Style paper is by American Crafts. This Nestabilities die is my fave size for cards cos you still get to see a good bit of background paper, but it's just a little short for the white piece with bella on it. (Bella just fits if you stamp her straight onto the scallop piece but I wanted it as a matt). So I cut the black scallop rectangle right under where the ribbon is, stuck the 2 pieces down about 5mm apart and covered the gap with the spotty ribbon. Very very sneaky ;) You can't tell I've cut it at all! BTW the Bella in the second card is wearing a "Ruby Red" top, just in case you think it's a little pink.. it's not!

The last card is made with my new October Afternoon Owl stamps from AMLT. I have been wanting owl stamps for ages, yes I know they're hot right now and I'm just jumping on the band wagon, but it's a great wagon to be on cos they are sooo beautiful! The sentiment is by Hero Arts and I picked it up for $2 at Art Stamps when I popped in the other day before they moved away from near me {sobs} and cos I knew my owl stamps were on their way I was so excited! I stamped this little guy on patterned paper then cut him out and mounted him on foam tape so he sits up above the branch. The "ribbon" I have had for ages, it just came from a crap shop (AKA 'el cheapo' store, Hot Dollar etc) but it fit so good here with the owl! The paper is Heidi Grace from Big W- the pack of 24 papers was on special for $5 on the weekend (down from almost $14!!) so although I didn't need more papers I had to buy it. And look... I've used it already! {Clapping hands}

Well, back to the desk to see if any more creativity can flow through me, I hope so anyway!

:) C

Same Layout, 2 Cards

Yay, I managed to squeeze in a little play time before work!! Woo Hoo!!
I had to get some more girly cards in my card box and I just LOVE these Cupcake stamps I got off ebay. You can scroll down to a few posts ago and you will see the big cupcake from the same set, and now here are 2 others. The set also comes with the "delicious" sentiment plus a few others. It is such a fun set to use, glad I bought it!
I coloured them using my SU inks and blender pens and stuck a Kaiser Jewel as the Cherry on top. The background card is more pink IRL (it's Purely Pomegranate) not as red as here.


So I've gotta start work at 12 and wanted to make more than 1 card (cos that's not such a great effort for a morning!) so I decided to make the same layout, same papers and everything, and just changed the image.
I pulled out a Bella, coloured her to match the paper, attached Prima flowers (cos for some reason I can't do a Bella card without them!!) and voila- card #2!! Yay! 2 cards in under an hour and still time to get ready for work! Lol.
I hope y'all have a great Friday!!
:)C

Bellas

Ooohhh... I love Bellas! They are all soooo fantastically funky with their modern looks (you can even get one with an ipod!) and they make awesome cards. They are so much fun to colour in too, I've just used my SU inks and blender pens. One day I will get Copics... one day. I'll save my pennies ;)

This first one I made for Yvettes birthday. It was so much fun to colour her into an outfit I thought would suit Yvette! Lol.

And this one is for someone's birthday later on in the year. I love her cool sunnies on her head!

I'm off to the Craft and Quilt Fair at Darling Harbour tomorrow, hopefully I'll pick up some new and exciting stuff, as well as some bargains!

:) C