Thanks For Bee-ing A Great Teacher...

So I've spent a little time re-thinking my teacher-gift cards! I've now made three of these cards, so this will be the card they get...regardless of whether it can be identified or not ;-). I think they'll get my drift...

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight and Vellum Cardstock (all Stampin' Up!)
Punches: Two-Step Owl [for the bee eyes] and Medium Oval [for the bee legs] (both from Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Nestie Eggs (Spellbinders), Nestie Labels 10 (Spellbinders), Nestie Blossoms 1 (Spellbinders), Swiss Dots Embossing Folders (Provocraft), D'vine Swirls Embossing Folder (Provocraft), Sunshine Impression Plate (PTI), Neutrals Brads (Stampin' Up!), Wireworks (Stampin' Up!) and Olivia Alphabet Dies (Provocraft).

Gotta go back to watching Mystic Pizza now...I'm enjoying the big hair and 80's flashbacks!

ETA: I was so tired when I wrote this up last night that I forgot to add that the ...For Bee-ing a Great Teacher sentiment inside the card is just one I typed up in Photoshop, then printed onto cardstock and die-cut using my nesties. I didn't have that sentiment on any of my stamps or rub-ons.

Also note that my Cuttlebug sandwich for the vellum embossing was a bit too tight on the last bee's wings....that is what has caused the random creases in the vellum, plus the fact that I had the embossing mat direct on my vellum...prolly should have a paper shim between the embossing mat and the vellum (but I'd had enough by then and wasn't prepared to re-make them...besides I think it gives them a bit of character ;-).

Blogged to: Mystic Pizza (1988).

I'm thinking you'll know what this is...

 ...Oh please, PLEASE know what it is!

I think the inside layer needs a little more bling or something. I'm still thinking about that.

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip and Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Papers: Patterns In Colours DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Chocolate Chip Classic Ink (Stampin' Up)
Stamps: Yummy (Stampin' Up!)
Punches: Scalloped Circle (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Tin foil (misc), Labels Fourteen Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Nestie Squares (Spellbinders), Nestie Long Rectangles (Spellbinders), Starry Night Embossing Folder (Craft Concepts) and Traffic Jam Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug).


Sooooooooo, it's a bit less ambiguous than my poor old, totally misunderstood cocoa pod. Isn't it? I hope so, I'm kinda running out of mojo here. It is another easel card, so there is still the distinct chance no-one will be able to work out how it opens/works, but I'm going to have to live with that possibility.

Just writing this post up has made me hungry. I've got some delish minestrone on the stove and a crusty fresh bread roll to go with it....drool. Guess where I'm headed...

Have a lovely afternoon.

Blogged to: Put Your Hands Up For Detroit - Fedde le Grand, California Gurls - Katy Perry and It's The End of the World As We Know It - R.E.M.

Cocoa Pod MkII

This morning, while the little man was asleep (he still is actually), I decided I'd quickly re-make the cocoa pod from yesterday (I realised late last night that the beans are the individual little do-dahs inside the pod...ooops). I have used up my last sheet of Early Expresso to make this one, and I really do think it looks better.

With the Koko Black tin there next to it, I think you can see more clearly the effect I was hoping to achieve. The cocoa pod and big leaf is on their packaging. Now it looks less like a coconut...doesn't it?

There are a few other small changes too. I lost the ribbon, It was annoying me. I hand scored and distressed the outer pod, I like it better than the distressed stripes embossing effect. I used a Craft Concepts Woodgrain embossing folder to do the Early Expresso layers on the inside of the card. I also hand scored and shaped the leaf and left off the So Swirly embossing there, it looks more leaf-like to me now. The two little Close to Cocoa ovals on the inside (used to prop up the easel) are supposed to be individual cocoa beans, from inside the pod, not choc-coated almonds!

I am very happy with the end result, and very, very happy that my leopard spots embossing folder resembles cocoa beans in a pod so well...whodathunkit?

HMmmmmmm, so it still looks a little like a coconut here. Sigh. It's the best I can do ;-).

Have a lovely day!

Blogged to: Sweet About Me - Gabriella Cilmi, Hammerhead - James Reyne, Love Shack - The B-52's and Total Eclipse Of The Heart - Bonnie Tyler.

I hope you can tell what this is...

I'm kinda using you guys as guinea pigs. I'm hoping you can tell right up front what this is...

NOPE...not a poop on a stick! Sorry for the horrendous colour blow-out...that is Kiwi Kiss up there, not that you'd know it from my pic. Do you need another pic to help you make up your mind?

Yes, it is on an easel card...whatever it is. No, it isn't a dead olive! Ooooh look, there's a 'mini-me' on the inside too.

Would it help you to know that it was being delivered with a beautiful tin of Koko Black Chocolate Shavings? Quite simply the richest, most decadent and delicious hot chocolate I have ever tasted. Most likely the most delicious hot chocolate known to mankind (this is my story...prove me wrong ;-).

If you're still stumped...I've blown it big-time, and you should click away right now (and I'll hang my head in shame)...

It's a COCOA POD!

I have to make at least four of these babies in the next few weeks. They are to be teacher gifts (I'm fairly confident they don't frequent my blog...so I should be safe with the spoiler)! But if you couldn't tell what it was, then perhaps I should re-think my strategy. I don't think it'd be nice for the teachers to think I was giving them dead olives (or any other icky stuff) as part of a thank you. That'd give the wrong impression entirely. These teachers rock! Totally. I want them to feel appreciated.

I plan on scoring a central vein in the Kiwi Kiss leaf next time, I think it needs that. The cocoa bean shell and stem will be in Early Expresso in the final products, not Choc Chip. I just didn't have enough of that on hand today. Early Expresso matches the Koko Black packaging perfectly.

The thanks die-cut sentiment was a real shocker to stick down. I ended up picking little glue globs off the end of my snail with my paper piercer and delicately sticking them to the back of the die-cut in random places to hold it down...talk about labour intensive!

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Kiwi Kiss and Confetti White (all Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Chocolate Chip and Kiwi Kiss Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!)
Punches: Small Oval and Blossom Builder (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Ovals Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Distressed Stripes and So Swirly Embossing Folders (Provo Craft) and Leopard Print Embossing Folder (Darice), Olivia Alphabet Dies (for the 'thanks' Provo Craft), Chocolate Chip brads (Stampin' Up!) and the green ribbon is also an old one of SUs, from a promo I think (maybe SAB?).

The main stem and large leaf are hand cut. I didn't have a leaf die or punch that looked right. The central pod split has also bean hand cut (a ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...I crack myself up). It must be time for me to go now.

Ciao, ciao!

Blogged to: Till The World Ends - Britney Spears, Discolights - Darren Styles, You Get What You Give - New Radicals and The Key, The Secret - Urban Cookie Collective.

Homemade Thongs...

I hope you didn't come looking here for the wrong reason... In Australia thongs are what we call our (generally) cheap, rubber footwear. Great for wearing to the beach, but not the sort of thing you'd wear for a night out on the town! I believe that they are also known as flip-flops or jandals in some other countries.

Now that the tricky business is all sorted, the reason I am posting today is to take part in the colourQ challenge #138:

I was inspired to take part in this week's challenge after seeing a groovy entry by Jo Eades in my Google Reader this morning. Thanks for the inspiration Jo!

As the challenge image is a rather glam shoe, I thought I'd try and make my card a shoe too. This is what I came up with:

I had to sketch out the thong base and parts by hand, but I think they came out pretty well. I had one or two false-starts with engineering the easel mechanism for this one, but I managed to get it right eventually. It was fun, and very rewarding to have it work properly in the end!

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Poppy Parade, Kraft, Pool Party (Textured), More Mustard and Confetti White (all by Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Sahara Sand and Poppy Parade (Stampin' Up!) and Tuxedo Black Memento (Tsukineko)
Stamps: Birthday Wish (Stampin' Up!) and Flower (Misc.)
Accessories: Textured Embossing Folder (Stampin' Up!), White Gel Pen, Paper Piercer, Floral Dies (Misc.), Number Die (Misc.) and Rhinestone Brad (Stampin' Up!).

Hope the rest of your Sunday is quiet and relaxing!

Blogged to: Total Control - The Motels, All the Lovers - Kylie Minogue, Into the Groove - Madonna and We Are Golden - MIKA.

Hey, Little Lady...

Just a rooley, trooley quick one today...

I have been dreaming of making an easel card ever since I set eyes on Bronwyn's simply gorgeous creations.

This is what I came up with over hot cross buns this weekend...

No time to explain...hubby is now marching about and pointedly looking at the time. I need to go!

Have a great day.

Blogged to: Where the Streets Have No Name - U2, Halo/Walking on Sunshine - Glee Cast, Addicted to Bass - Puretone and Vienna - Ultravox.