The colours of an Uluru sunset

I made myself a little colour challenge last week, and finally had a chance to play along on the weekend...once I had managed to unpack a few of my craft goodies! I still haven't found everything though, so don't be looking too close, because there was some craftin' bodgy-ness going on (OH THE SHAME ;-)...

...And here is the card that I put together...

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Soft Suede (textured), Whisper White (textured), Marina Mist, Pumpkin Pie (textured) and Summer Sun (all SU).
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie and Summer Sun Classic Inks (all SU).
Stamps: Small Sayings (SU).
Punches: Large Oval (SU) - for the grass and Photo Corners (SU) - for the banner notch.
Accessories: D'Vine Swirl Embossing Folder (Provocraft), Giraffe Pattern Embossing Folder (Darice), Bronze Brad (SU), Dimensionals (SU) and Tombow Adhesive (Penwa).

Maybe someone else will feel inspired by these colours and/or the picture. If you are, I'd love to see what you create!

I'll leave you with a weekend snap taken at Simpson's Gap...it is such a pretty place, and my picture does not begin to do it justice.

Have a great week.

Blogged to: The Final Countdown - Europe, Baby Baby - Corona, This Afternoon - Nickelback and You (Wes Carr).

BLOG COMP WINNERS...

First, I want to say a huge thank you to all the ladies who made an entry for my 20K Blog Hits Celebration. I have had so much fun receiving your entries, and checking them all out. I have some wonderful new ideas to work with now too :-).

This morning I compiled all 17 entries into a mosaic in Photoshop:


I fit this to my laptop screen then took it to show hubby. He was being extra considerate this morning (I think he could tell I couldn't wait all day!!) and he agreed to do his judging straight away! The images looked much nicer IRL, than they do above...they were at higher resolution....I had to reduce this for posting here.

I did have the opportunity to see some of these beautiful entries IRL, and have even received one in the mail...(thank you so much), but I restricted hubby to the digital images to keep it a level playing field. I did not tell him who made what, and I did ask him that he disregard image and colour quality totally. He had not seen any of the cards before this morning.

I gave him the laptop and I sat with him for about 2 minutes while he had a scan, then I had to go and get the kids dressed. When I came back, about 10 minutes later, he was still checking them out. He zoomed, he scrutinised, he tilted the screen...he took it very seriously! He even went through the things he liked about various cards. He did change his mind once, it was a close call (I should have run it like Deal or No Deal...but I wanted him to take his time)...in the end, this was his choice:




The little flowerpot card by Robyn Clarke. Congratulations Robyn! Can have a think about what you would like from the current Stampin' Up! catalogues, to the value of AUD$20, and let me know via email: navarino@yahoo.com

I did not let the kids watch daddy making his choice (mean mummy), because I wanted their completely unbiased and fresh take on them. Miss 4 chose:





Jean McKenzie's beautiful creation! Miss 4 was adamant...no mucking about here. Jean, if you send me your postal address there will be a little something in the mail for you.

I couldn't let everyone else have a pick, and not Mr 2....so he chose:




Kim B.'s fabulous flower (he is quite partial to a fabulous flower, my little man). Kim, there will be a little gift for you too.

I love all of the entries that I received, and am so glad that I did not decide to elect myself judge (I considered it for a microsecond). Picking just one winner out of these wonderful submissions would have been very hard work indeed!

Thanks again everyone. I hope that you enjoyed participating.
Have a great day.
Sam.

PS. No, I have not made a card for my own challenge....NAUGHTY! I'll work on that ;-).

Blog Comp Entries Part 6...

A few more entries for my blog comp!

This beautiful card is from my cyber-friend Kristie:


Then there is this lovely contribution from my great stamping buddy Di:



And, finally (for now) there is this wonderful card from Debbie:


I have had so much fun receiving all of your entries girls...thank you! I might have to hold one of these comps again....SOON!

It is not too late to enter...I will accept entries until midnight AEST tonight (30th September 2008). The full details can be found here.

Talk to you again soon,
Sam.

PS. I think that I am up-to-date with posting all of the entries that I have received notice of so far. So if you have made an entry, and you haven't seen it on my blog yet, please drop me a line tonight on: navarino@yahoo.com and let me know. Thank you!

Blog Comp Entries Part 5...

I've got some more pretties to show you!

Check out this fantastic card by Kellie:


Averil L. has sent me another entry...aren't these gorgeous?


Love the candle Averil...I will have to find out how you did that!

And check out the work that went into this beautiful card by Kim B....


Thank you so much for your entries girls!

Not long to go now :-).

Sam

Blog Comp Entries Part 4...

I have a few more entries for my blog comp to show you:

The first card is by Averil L. It is so pretty!



And this beautiful creation is by Mandy...



Thank you so much for your entries girls!

The comp finishes tomorrow, 30th September....then I'll get hubby to pick the winner!

Talk to you all soon,
Sam.

Blog Comp Entries Part 3...

Hey everyone,

Just thought I'd pop on here and show you some more beautiful cards that have been made for my blog competition.

These two very pretty cards have been made by Dani:



Thanks Dani!

Sam.

More lovely Blog comp entries...

Having a little competition on my blog has been very exciting! I am loving getting new entries. It is not too late to enter, so if you are keen to have a go the details can be found in this post.

The latest entries are all beautiful!! Poor hubby is going to have such a hard time choosing. I've told him what his duties are, and he is up for it. I may also ask Miss 4, who loves checking out cards, to choose her favourite too...and there might be a little something in it for that person too :-).

Ok.....the first lovely card I have to show you is by Caroline:



Then there are two beautiful cards by Karen...you can also see them both on her blog here and here:





and the final gorgeous entry for now is by Jean:



Thanks again girls for taking the time to create for my challenge. I love your cards...and they are giving me lots of inspiration :-).

Have a great day,
Sam.

Some blog comp entries...

I was very excited to receive some entries in my 20K blog competition last week...see this post for the details. Ladies, I am so sorry it has taken me this long to post the pictures here.

The first entry comes from Angela K. Thanks Angela....your card is beautiful!



The second entry is by Robyn Clarke, a fellow Stampin' Up! Independent Demonstrator. Isn't it gorgeous?!



Ngaire has also taken up my challenge, and this is her lovely card!



(Unfortunately Ngaire can't win due to the comp only being open to current Oz residents, but I am so pleased that she submitted a card anyway!).

Thank you again ladies for taking up my challenge! For those still thinking about entering...the comp closes Tuesday 30th September, so there is still plenty of time to get your entry photo to me ;-).

Cheers,
Sam.

20K Blog Hits - Celebration

I've been feeling like I need to get on the blog candy band-wagon, and with 20,000 hits looming, I thought...what better reason?

I am going to run it like a challenge, using the following image as inspiration:



The fabric swatch image comes from Kelani Fabric. I know the blue in the fabric is closer to Tempting Turquoise, but I wanted Soft Sky! I haven't even used all the colours in the swatch..but hey, I'm making the rules here ;-).

All you need to do is make a card, any style, size and fold you like, but Stampin' Up! products only please. You do not have to use all of the Stampin' Up! colours listed above, but you must not use any other colour (strict aren't I??).

Then either:

a/ load a picture of your creation on your blog (along with a link to my blog), and leave a comment here letting me know that you have made an entry;

b/ email me a picture of your creation (and leave a comment here), and I will load your picture onto my blog; or

c/ send me your creation and I will photograph it and load it here (please also leave a comment on here letting me know that you are doing this). I will not be able to return items submitted this way...but I will treasure them :-).

You may enter as many times as you like. I was going to make it a random drawing, using comment numbers, but Blogger does not appear to number the comments, so I am going to ask Hubby to be the judge instead..it'll be kinda random anyway ;-). I'll ask him to choose a winner based on design and craftsmanship. He will not know who the card creators are.

The prize is: up to $20 (AUD) worth of Stampin' Up! products, redeemable through me, to be chosen from either of the current Australian Stampin' Up! catalogues. The winner will have 1 month from the date of winning to redeem their prize. This challenge is open to Australian residents only, and I will cover the cost of postage and packaging to an Australian address. Stampin' Up! demonstrators and non-demonstrators are welcome to enter.

The closing date for entries is midnight (AEST), Tuesday 30th September. The challenge winner will be announced on my blog on the weekend of 4 - 5th October, 2008.

I think that's all. If you have any questions please comment here or send me an email. Thanks for visiting, and I hope you'll make an entry!

All the best,
Sam.