Bella Rose Blooms...

Challenge #5 over at the beautiful Just add Ink blog is to 'Just Add Dimension'. So today, I got busy and did just that. I might add that I added dimension WITHOUT using dimensionals...which, given the nature of the challenge, and my quite well known penchant for those adorable little bits of foam, is something of a miracle...

...I should also mention at this point that I used Dawn Olchefske's Accordion Flower Rosette Tutorial to make my Bella Rose blooms. In addition to dimensionals, I also have a penchant for Dawn's blog. You rock Dawn, thank you!

 

 

List of ingredients:

Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss and Riding Hood Red
Accessories: Bella Rose DSP, Boho Blossoms punch, 1 1/4 inch circle punch, large oval punch, 1 1/4 inch Pink Pirouette Grosgrain ribbon, Kiwi Kiss Corduroy Buttons, Pop-up glue dots, Mini glue dots, sticky strip and SNAIL adhesive.

My Bella Rose blooms are looking very pretty on my table at the moment. I guess you could even spritz them lightly with some perfume and make them sweet smelling blooms to boot. I have stuck two blooms back to back, so they are double-sided flowers...and you can't see any nasty gluey mess on the back this way either ;-).

Must go...the lunch dishes are calling.

 

(Blogged to: All Summer Long - Kid Rock).

More Tri-Shutter Tinkering

I had a friend over yesterday afternoon and we managed to get a little Christmas card-making done in between eating, chatting and swimming with our four kids. It was a lot of fun!

 

 

List of Ingredients:

Cardstock: Cranberry Crisp (retired), True Thyme (retired) and Very Vanilla
Ink: Cranberry Crisp and True Thyme Classic Ink
Stamps: Christmas Classics
Accessories: Holiday Thyme DSP (retired), Spellbinders Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, paper piercer, SNAIL adhesive and Dimensionals.

The instructions for the Tri-Shutter card can be found on Splitcoaststampers, here. Instead of 5.5 x 12 inches, I use half a sheet of 12 x 12 for my base card (6 x 12 inches) and cut at 1.75 inches from each long end (instead of 1.5 inches, as they do on SCS). All the other measurements (ie the scores at 2, 4, 8 and 10 inches...I do the same).

I'd like to add at this point that I was very impressed with my Cranberry Crisp and True Thyme Classic Ink pads. They haven't been used since Christmas 2007....and two years later they were as juicy and fresh as the day they were bought! The Holiday Thyme DSP was a Christmas special from Stampin' Up! in 2007.

Thanks for stopping in my little corner of cyber-space. I hope you had a lovely weekend.

Best wishes,
Sam.

Another case of CASEing...

...and this time I am CASEing the beautiful work of Paula from Precioso Designs

Now I am not sure about these colours exactly. They are a bit of a mish mash, as I challenged myself to use only scrap bits of DSP. As a result, I was a bit limited with colour choice...and it also made working out which DSPs I'd used (for the ingredients list) somewhat of a challenge too!

List of ingredients (all from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip and Whisper White plain cardstock
Ink: Chocolate Chip Classic Ink
Stamps: Good Friend
Accessories: White Gel Pen, Paper Piercer, Good Morning Sunshine DSP, Bali Breeze DSP, Summer Picnic DSP, Bright Delights Rub-ons, Button Bouquet Designer Buttons, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Sticky Strip and SNAIL adhesive.

I think I got all those DSPs right....I had to go back through some of the old minis to work out what they were!

Thanks so much for the inspiration Paula, I had a lot of fun making this wee birdie!

I won't say have a nice day again...just in case I come back AGAIN! Not likely, but then two posts in one day wasn't likely either!

Ciao,
Sam.

Happy Tri-Shutter Birthday Kim!

 I have been meaning, and meaning, and meaning to make one of these fabulous tri-shutter cards for AGES...and finally, with my friend Kim's birthday as added inspiration, I did it!

I used Beate's great video tutorial, available on Splitcoaststampers here. It is so easy to follow...I didn't even have to write any of the instructions down after the video...it really is a simple card, but so effective-looking. In terms of design/embellishment, I have borrowed heavily from Beate's tutorial card...so a big thank-you to Beate for the instruction and inspiration...

 

I have used Stampin' Up!'s Parisian Breeze Specialty DSP, along with Baja Breeze, Whisper White and textured Chocolate Chip cardstock. The birthday sentiment is from SU's Sincere Salutations stamp set, and the butterfly antennae are made from some retired wireworks wire. There is also a little white SU taffeta ribbon on there too.

The plain and scalloped ovals were cut using Spellbinder Nestabilities (Petite) and my Cuttlebug (you can buy Nestabilities from Bizzy Bec in Australia...and she even has a 12% discount special going at the moment). The butterflies are from Papertrey Ink's gorgeous Butterfly Kisses stamp set, and have been stamped in Baja Breeze and Chocolate Chip Classic ink.

A few more holiday pics too...because it is still cold and windy down here...and I felt like some bright colours:

Musket Cove - Perfect palm

 

Musket Cove - Clusters of coconuts

 

 Musket Cove - Fragrant frangipani

 Musket Cove - Mmmmmm mango!

 

Musket Cove - Heavenly heliconia

 

Warwick Resort - Nadi Pool

Now that feels more like Summer, doesn't it?

Thanks for visiting me in cyber-space!

Sam.

P.S. We cracked out the iSnack 2.0 today and had it on toast...it tasted kinda odd, but it did spread very easily! I kept waiting for the Vegemite tang, but it never came. I love Vegemite, but am not yet convinced about iSnack 2.0/Cheesybite...or whatever the heck it is.

The ski slope just keeps on appearing from nowhere...

I've used the beautiful never ending card that Di recently sent me (also shown here, with links to instructions)...as inspiration, and made one myself.

I used lots of my new favourite Designer Series Paper (DSP)...Ski Slope, and my new favourite Christmas stamp set, Christmas Classics:










List of Ingredients (all from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted, stamped images © Stampin' Up!):

Stamps: Christmas Classics
Inks: Riding Hood Red Classic Ink
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip and Whisper White plain cardstock, Baja Breeze Textured cardstock
Accessories: Ski Slope DSP, stamp-a-ma-jig and SNAIL adhesive (zowie..that has gotr to be the shortest list of ingredients I've ever written up).

The Stampin' Up! Spring Mini catalogue says that Real Red is the colour in the paper...but I beg to disagree. The 'red' in the paper appears to me to have a bit of a pinkish tinge...so I've used Riding Hood Red, although Rose Red would also have done the trick in a pinch.

I found the panels a bit tricksy to line up...and they were kind of catching on each other at first...so I needed to do a bit of post-sticking trimming (UMMMM AHHHHH ;-)...but it worked in the end.


Just some more photoshop tinkering above, using Pioneer Woman's Photoshop actions. This one has had the B&W Beauty applied, followed by the quick edge burn. Love these little cuties so much :-)....the kids I mean (although the actions are pretty cute too)...hehehehe.


This one has had the Heartland action applied. That food wasn't all his...it just happened to end up in front of him. Mr 3 has a decent appetite...but not THAT big!

Have a lovely Sunday everyone,
Sam.

My Stepper Box

...and no, I'm not talking about aerobics! As I mentioned in my last post, these cute little boxes are called Stepper Boxes, or Fantasy Boxes. I used the instructions by Terri, found here, and my friend Kim also gave me a link to the instructions she used, here.

So here is my first attempt:






List of Ingredients (all from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Cardstock: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip and Baja Breeze
Stamps: Merry Merry
Ink: Chocolate Chip Classic Ink
Accessories: Ski Slope DSP, Valet Ribbon Originals, On Board Lots of Letters, On Board Essentials, Dimensionals, Sticky Strip, Mini Glue Dots, Anywhere Glue Stick, SNAIL, 1 inch Circle Punch and 1-1/4 inch circle punch.

I am very pleased with the way it turned out. Kim also said she had increased the size of the piece of cardstock used for the lid, from the listed 6 3/4 inches square, to 7 1/4 inches square. I made mine 7 1/4 inches square, and it fits perfectly.


A sample of the Ski Slope DSP...available from the current Spring Mini: Aug - Nov 2009.

I was outside this afternoon, and it looked so pretty out there, so I quickly got a few snaps. I thought I'd show them to you now, because after the gale force winds the ACT is expecting around midnight tonight...there will probably be no pretty blossoms left on my trees :-(. I love my backyard so much.


ETA: The grass is faux....we are not wasting tonnes of H2O here...just in case you were worried ;-). It is fabulous stuff...really soft and lovely to lie on.

Accccckkkkk, NCIS has started...I have to run. Sorry...
Thanks for stopping by!
Sam.

Stuff that makes me Smile...

Just thought I'd show you my 'Smile' journal:




List of Ingredients (all from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Cardstock: Whisper White textured cardstock
Ink: Tangerine Tango classic ink
Accessories: Urban Garden DSP (my favourite of course), On Board Timeless Type, On Board Essentials, On Board Art Journal, Versamark, Heat and Stick powder, heat tool, Fine Supernova Stampin' Glitter, Spiral punch, Pigtails Ribbon Originals, Beachfront Ribbon Originals (retired), crop-a-dile, eyelets, sanding block, craft knife, SNAIL adhesive, sticky strip, mini glue dots and Anywhere glue stick.

The chipboard heart is tied onto the top of the journal spine with a long piece of the ricrac ribbon, and acts as a bookmark.

This journal is for putting down the things that make me smile (pictures, lyrics, poems, reminders, anything...a mini scrapbook of sorts), so when I'm not feeling so smiley...I can go look at it for inspiration. It is especially good because it is a craft project in itself...and crafting makes me smile. Two birds, one stone! :-).

Speaking of birds...here are a few snaps of some of the local avian pretties (more things that make me smile):




Have a smiley day!

Sweet Slumber Calendar

The other day I found this great tutorial for a 12 x 12 calendar page on Tina's blog Travelingmama. Her beautiful work inspired me to make my own calendar page:


Ingredients used for this page (all from Stampin' Up! unless otheriwse noted, and Images © Stampin' Up!):

Cardstock: So Saffron plain and Baja Breeze textured
Ink: Whisper White Craft ink, Baja Breeze Classic ink and Tuxedo Black Momento ink by Tsukineko
Stamps: Calendar Alphabet and Numbers
Accessories: Sweet Slumber Specialty Designer Series Paper, On Board Timeless Type and On Board So Tweet, White embossing powder, heat tool, scallop edge and 1 3/8" square punches, sponge daubers, SNAIL adhesive and mini glue dots.

You might note that some of the numbers are a bit wonky....I was having a bit of a brain malfunction, and forgot that Stampin' Up!'s Calendar Alphabet and Numbers set actually comes with complete numbers right up to 31 (they were sitting right in front of me the entire time)...but I went and created all my numbers using the digits 1 - 9. You would think I would have cottoned on when I had to use the 'o' from the alphabet to make 10, 20 and 30 (because there is no zero...but I didn't! DOH!).

The groovy thing about this page is that once the month is over, you can print out a few favourite pics of the things you did, and punch them out and stick them into some of the days and then put the page in your scrap album.

Also, the other day I saw this lovely box on Debbie's blog and I was inspired to make my own box to go with a card I made some time ago:


I used the instructions by Laurie Schmidlin on Splitcoaststampers here, and you can see the original post for the little birdie card here.

The box, which measures 6 x 6 x 3 inches, is now filled with beautiful Paddington Chocolates, as part of a birthday gift. I won't show you those because you might throw cyber-tomatoes at me (too many naughty goodies popping up on here eh?).

Thanks so much for the inspiration Tina and Debbie!
Have a great day everyone.

Enchanté

I've recently made a decision to USE some of my older, retired Designer Series Papers (DSP), rather than hording it endlessly for the proverbial rainy day. So, when I recently needed some purple-toned paper to make a box and card, I immediately thought of the pretty Enchanté DSP (from the Summer 2007|2008 Stampin' Up! Mini Catalogue).


The ingredients (all from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Cardstock: Basic Black and Whisper White
Stamps: On Your Birthday
Ink: Black Stazon
Accessories: Enchanté Designer Series Paper (retired), True Black Luxe Satin Ribbon (Papertrey Ink), Clear Rhinestones (Kaiser), Eyelet Border punch, SNAIL adhesive and mini glue dots.


The beautiful beads are handmade glass lampwork lentils by Terry of Silverfish Designs on Etsy. I really love the unusual shapes, patterns and colours that Terry works into her beads. They are truly unique!

While I am here...I wanted to show you how the cake that I was making yesterday turned out:


It is an Orange Poppyseed cake, and for a packet mix it tastes pretty good!

Better go bring in the washing before it gets damp again (and yes, by 2 in the afternoon, it is almost damp again...BRING ON SPRING!!!!!!!!! :-).

Thanks for dropping by.
Sam.

Urban Garden Flowers

I think I have described my scrapbooking process before. My pages take a long time to come together. This page has been out on my dining room table for almost two weeks. This is how it started...a quick sketch, made one night during ad breaks while watching NCIS the week before last:


After a week of umming and ahhhing, trying colours and then changing them, moving the flowers, moving the leaves, moving the butterflies, moving the photos...this is the final product:


I LOVE how the bottom two thirds of the page came together (it feels like a secret garden), but I think I've missed the mark in the top third. The photos are cute, but I'm not at all convinced that the layout of the photos matches the rest of the page (the fact that they are stuck on crooked probably does not help my analysis here ;-). Aside from this, I'm feeling pleased. It was definitely worth the time and effort, and I had FUN!! I have blurred some personal text from under the four images (that is the black dotty stuff). The images are of my daughter at 1 week, 1 year, 3 years and 5 years old. I used colour images, and applied Pioneer Woman's (aka Ree Drummond) 'B&W Beauty' Photoshop Action from Action Set 1 (scroll to the bottom of the post HERE for a link to these actions).

List of Ingredients (all from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Basic Gray and Not Quite Navy plain cardstock, Whisper White textured cardstock
Stamps: Flight of the Butterfly and Inspired by Nature
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze and Basic Gray Classic Ink
Accessories: Urban Garden DSP, On Board Lots of Letters, On Board Batch of Blooms, Flower Designer Brads, Button Bouquet Designer Buttons, Hemp Twine, Kaiser Clear Rhinestones (you could also use the SU Clear Rhinestone brads, as brads or with the rhinestone removed from its setting), White Vellum Cardstock, crystal effects, edge distresser, dimensionals, glue dots, sticky strip and SNAIL adhesive.

I have another 12 x 12 sketch here...so hopefully I'll get to work on that one soon too. I am pleased to be back on the scrapbooking track...it means a lot to me, and my husband loves looking at the pages, which is very nice.

Another www.allposters.com moment:


Amalfi Coast, Coastal View and Village, Positano, Campania, Italy

Have a great week.
Sam.