Magnolia Down Under Challenge #18 - Christmas in July

Well the year is half over and we Aussie's love to celebrate Christmas in July. The weather is cold outside so it's the perfect time to have your ovens on and the smells of baking permeating the house.

Over at Magnolia Down Under Challenges we are also celebrating the "season". So go check out what the DT has come up with and think about joining in the festivities!

I found this gorgeous sleigh over at Alota Stamps - you can find it here. I've also used a couple of new items being released in our Spring Mini Catalogue which is starting August 1st. I've used some of the gorgeous Ski Slope DP - a series I have loved for some time on the U.S. blogs, how wonderful to see it in our mini!!! I've also used the Scallop Oval Punch under the sentiment - another fantastic product I was excited to see released here.

You can't tell from the photos but I've blinged the card up with some Dazzling Diamonds - the sleigh's runner and Santa's white fur trim on his suit all sparkle in the light - Christmas and sparkle just GO together! You may see the effect better in the close-up. The bell also has some mini red rhinestones on and there are 2 gold rhinestones on the sleigh too.

I hope I've inspired you to come along and play too - and Merry Christmas in July!

xXx

Just Christmas and Birthday Cards Sketch Challenge #39

This week's sketch over at Just Christmas and Birthday Cards is by Amanda. I must admit to being really glad that they are posting their challenges fortnightly for July and August - otherwise I certainly wouldn't have made the deadline!

I got the idea of using the tree from Thoughts & Prayers on a Christmas card from Paula over at Precioso Designs. I haven't followed the sketch exactly but I'm pleased with the final card I ended up with, it's not traditional but I think that's one reason I like it.

The tree has been embossed with white EP and the DPs are from Ski Slope - appearing in our Spring Mini from August 1st! The other images are from Winter Post.

I was checking out how many Christmas cards I have made already thanx to fabulous challenges like this one - I'm really happy to know I've made a GREAT start and hope I'll actually be organised this year - a first for me - LOL.

xXx

Patrick Police Car Hits Town!

Didn't I tell you Sunshine's latest free digital offering was great!?!?! Please meet Patrick Police Car and his macho officer driver - not sure HE has a name - I think I'll call him Sergeant Oz (I'll tell you why later!). Anyway - these guys are hitting the road on a birthday blitz - way more fun than rounding up drunk drivers and road rule breakers - LOL!! The thing I LOVE about Sunshine's stamps is how versatile they are for young boys right through to the older gents. You can colour and do the layouts to suit ANY age group! I can't wait to see what comes next!!!

Now onto why I think the officer should be called Sergeant Oz - you may notice if you check out the original digital image on offer, that mine is a mirror image. The reason - we drive on the left hand side of the road here in Australia so I thought my officer should be sitting on the proper side of Patrick to be patrolling our Aussie streets for birthday suspects!! I did also have to flip the 911 and the number plate words "PULL OVR" - and the 911 SHOULD read 000 - but that was just way too hard for THIS little computer duffer - LOL.

All the best and stay safe on the roads...

xXx

Another Sunshine Stamp - Lenny Loader

The ultra talented Chris over at Sunshine's Stamps has another winner in her 2nd release digital stamp, and it's free if you email her and ask for it!!! I wasn't sure I was going to get Lenny - and then I saw all the fabulous cards, and other bits'n'pieces being produced by the Sunshine Stampers. You really should pop over - Chris has their work linked so you can check it out! Isn't it amazing how many stamps we end up getting after seeing them used and not just seeing the image in black and white!

I've used my Twin Touch markers again and the sentiment was also produced on the computer - thanx to my lovely daughter Sarah who "patiently" told me to use Word Art and then had to show me how!!! I cut the sentiment out with an oval nestie and then traced around the inside edge of the nestie to trim it down - the black oval is the original size! One of my favourite DPs - SUs Urban Oasis looks fabulous in the background teamed with Summer Sun CS.

Chris has just released Patrick Police Car too - if you're too impatient to see what I get up to with him when he arrives in my inbox, go and check him out here. It's fabulous to have such fun images for the boys - thanx Chris

xXx

Keesh's Inkspiration Sketch Challenge #10

This week's challenge from Keesh is a sketch. I have my FIL's 84th birthday this weekend so decided to use the sketch for a masculine card. I'm also giving you a sneak peek at one of the new sets in the Spring Mini - it's a fabulous set for those gentlemen in your life! Mind you - I can also imagine my Magnolia stamps sitting around with some time - LOL. The set is called A Sense of Time and will be available from August 1st.

I used my Speckled wheel to age some Very Vanilla CS and then stamped my images and sentiment on in Chocolate Chip. The centre of the clocks and cogs have been defined by brads, and the smaller clock is covered with Crystal Effects to give the impression of an old glass cover. I also used my Cuttlebug on some Pumpkin Pie CS and on the faux woodgrain CS. There's also some distressing around the edges of the clock and the main panel. I think texture is fabulous on men's cards!

After I put it all together - which I have discovered you shouldn't do while watching TV!!! - I realised some of my layers aren't quite straight!! My picture is a little skewed too - ah well. I just wish it was my FIL's eyesight and not his hearing that was failing - LOL. My hubby assured me it just added to the "rustic" look!

xXx

Workshop Fun!

I had a wonderful workshop yesterday at my friend Chris' house. I met Chris through being a SU demonstrator - another perk of this job! The sun was streaming in through the windows and the room we were in was full of fun and laughter - making us forget how cold and frosty the morning had been when we headed out for the day!

Most of the ladies were familiar with Stampin' Up and papercrafting so Chris and I decided to make it a real "hands on" day. Everyone went home with a box and a card.

The box was CASE'd from this wonderful tutorial by Laurie Schmidlin on SCS. I changed it slightly by using a smaller square of DP on the top and using a layered scallop medallion for the image. I also added a 3D butterfly - how can I resist it it's sooo cute! Nancy Riley (iStamp) was the inspiration for the medallions with this fabulous tutorial. I made the set of 4 notecards and envelopes as a hostess gift for Chris so she could pop them into her new box!


The girls also made this card - which was inspired by the wonderful Convention swaps I got from Kristy Young and Kellie Winnell - it has elements from both these lovely ladies cards. I'd had a request to use a wheel stamp and find it very hard to go past this one at the moment! It was great to see some wonderful variations on this with the other stamps from the set getting used too - it was a great way to show how SU sets work together soo well.

I also made these 2 chocolate boxes - they had little chocolates and a couple of stamps in. The Chocolate Chip box was a Thank-You gift for Chris and the Real Red one was a door prize.

The video tutorial for these are by Dannie (Dannie's Designs) and can be found here. The only thing I did differently was to use my largest oval nestie for the ovals - I did have to cut a small piece off the end of my strips too.

Stamps sets used - Dreams du Jour, Friends 24-7, Friendly Words Wheel


I had a wonderful day with a lovely group of ladies - so an extra BIG thank you goes out to Chris for organising the day!

xXx

A New Blog!

I'd like to introduce a fabulous new blogger to you - Alison is my new downline and if my stamping journey and blog had started as beautifully as hers I would have been rapt! She's a very talented young lady with some fabulous ideas. Please pop in and say HI - her new blog is called Stampin' Alley - and you can check it out here!

I also have a HUGE apology - I was honoured by a couple of blog awards while I was in the middle of sewing the costume for the play - I wrote them down to acknowledge them and pass them on when I got the chance. My kids actually CLEANED during the holidays and my list was deemed rubbish by the rugrats!!!!!! Noooooooooo. I had every intention of passing them on - I really appreciate being honoured by these awards and don't want those who gave them to me to feel I take them lightly.

Just for a bit of a giggle at my expense here's a picture Kristy Young took of me at Convention. We were lined up outside the main room waiting for the dinner to begin and Kristy was getting ready to snap a pic. The doors opened and there was a rush in - so I moved off while having my pic taken - it's a shocker of a pic but we've certainly had a few laughs over it. Posting it on my blog is my penance for not passing on those awards!!! Hope it gives you a good laugh too!!

xXx

Angus Argus and a Belated Birthday!

I have been feeling guilty about only phoning my BIL for his birthday. I had every intention of doing more - I just don't know where the time goes sometimes!!! I got inspired to finally do something when I saw this fabulous image used on Sue's blog (Tillymint of A Consuming Passion). It's a free digital image from Christine Bower (aka Sunshine), her very talented husband designed it! I also saw this fabulous card on Kerrie's blog (Kezzam).

I knew this was the right image for my BIL. He got his pilot's licence a while ago, but now most of his flying these days is via Flight Simulator games on his PC. He has surround monitors to simulate a cockpit - it's a truly amazing set-up! I know the sentiment is a bit cutsey, I printed it out on my computer and freehand cut the banner - but I had printed out Angus in 2 sizes to play with and it just seemed to fit - especially as I am sooo far behind in getting a birthday card and present out - LOL.

Everything just seemed to come together after that. I popped some gold brads in the middle of the engines to give them a lift - pardon the pun!!! I also popped the smaller plane and the banner up on dimensionals. The DP is from SU's Windsor Knot.

xXx

Edit - I've been asked a couple of times what I'm using to colour. I have a few Copics - which I love!!! But most of my markers are Twin Touch markers and I use these in conjuction with my copics. They are readily available from my local shopping centre at RIOT Art and Craft stores and I got most of mine on sale for around AU$3ea. Hope that helps!!

My First Card with Digital Stamps!

My 7 year old niece has recently begun horse riding and was proudly showing me all her ribbons and medals! The day after this my good friend Lisa over at The Craft's Meow posted this card made with the same digital stamp I've used here! I've shared many cyber chats and emails with Lisa about digital stamps and my worry over colouring and ink smudges. I was mainly a watercolorist then and thought my printer ink would bleed when wet - let alone the worry of how I was going to get watercolour paper to go through my printer.

This set of digital stamps has launched me into trying them though. This "Cowgirl Ava" stamp and a "Cowboy Ethan" stamp, and a couple of sentiments, have been designed by Pink Cat Studio to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. They were designed to honour a gorgeous little boy called Ethan Weiman who passed away earlier this year at the age of 5, after a battle with neuroblastoma. The cowgirl gets her name from Ethan's sister. As Lisa said "Even if you don't stamp, you can still download, print and let your kids color these adorable pictures! Only US$6 for the entire set!". How could I resist - a fabulous cause to honour an amazing little boy - and then there was the fact I now had my first digi stamps to try!

I tried young Ava out first - I think I'll send her to my niece to let her know how proud I am of her achievements! I've enjoyed the challenge and have a couple of "freebies" to try out too. The possibilities when you can change the size to suit, or flip an image, is a lot of fun too!! It just means MORE computer time - nooooooo!! Although I must admit I still love the moment of inking up a stamp and stamping it off....

xXx

Keesh's Inspiration Challenge #9

Keesh's Inspiration Challenge certainly made me put my thinking cap on this week - I had several ideas floating around my head - none of which translated onto paper! It's soooo frustating when this happens because the reality can never measure up!!! Never mind - I actually don't mind the card I ended up with!

The inspiration picture brought to my mind the High Tea at the National Gallery that I'm going to in a couple of weeks. I'm going with a group of my closest girlfriends to celebrate a couple of birthdays within the group. We figured a High Tea would be more our style than a Pub Crawl - LOL. The colours are Whisper White, Pretty in Pink and Purely Pomegranate. The Basic Black trim picks up the teapot colour.

I've stamped the cupcakes from Crazy for Cupcakes onto some SU DP and coloured them in with my SU markers. I tried to use my Touch markers but they bled outside the lines with the lightweight paper. The cakes were "iced" with my versamark pen and white embossing powder. The table of cupcakes has been "framed" in an embossed nestie oval to represent both the gallery we're going to, and the painting in the inspiration picture. And there's 6 cupcakes - one for each person invited! It's going to be a great afternoon I'm sure!

Hope you all have something to look forward to too.

xXx