Drunk Flowers

I found a scrap of background, so quickly whizzed this gorgeous Hero Arts stamp on to it and layered it up.

Still falling into the CAS range, I think.

The scan seems to make it look like it is smudged, bit IRL it isn't.

Having a few shadow stamps on your collection is great for showing off pretty backgrounds. I think this one lends itself to the alcohol inks just nicely. What do you reckon?

Little Stamp Big Punch

Afternoon all,

On a very hot and steamy Saturday afternoon I have been hidden away in my art room. My back still gives me trouble sitting at my desk, so into the CAS style I go....well at least try to go! Tried punching the SU ribbon punch and it got stuck, so spent ten minutes with the craft knife making the holes. Would have been far faster to just stamp up another image....but NO...stampers rarely give up!

True to what I decided, this card comes completely from left overs. I love the set the Hero Arts watercolour flower comes from, but I love their wording even more. If you haven't had a chance to check their new sets out, I would well advise it!

Truly Appreciated CAS

Afternoon all,

Here is a CAS (Clean and Simple) card using my newly arrived Hero Arts stamps. The new catalogue is out and brimming with lots of must haves. (If in Australia, give me a buzz, as I do carry them!)

Also, I am on a yearly mission of using up the tonne of scraps I acquire throughout time. For the next little while, I am going to endeavour to not cut into a full sheet of anything....Methinks, this will be SOME challenge! I get a tick for this one, though, coz everything came out of the seconds drawers.

Cheers!

Old Gum Tree

Today brings a change of scenery. I was rummaging around the stamping drawers and found one of the very first stamps I ever bought and decided to condition it with these results.

The image is a Print Blocks one and is stamped in StazOn black. It has been coloured using Tombows. (Who still has Tombows??). The gum leaves stamped in the background are from the now defunct Stamp World and the wording is from SU.

I love the barbed wire ribbon and have been itching to use it on a card. What better way than with a tumbled down fence image!

Emerson Funnies

Hi there,

Yesterday was filled with doctors and a funeral and I didn't get to post.

I made up this quickie using a serviette, and the freezer paper technique. Pretty cool, hey? The stamping was done with Brilliance and an old Amazing Creations heart. I also lightly sponged around the edges.

I love these humorous sayings and know just the person I am going to give this too. She has a wicked sense of humour!

A Picture in Pink

Evening all.

A simple card for today as I have damaged my back, once again, and don't like to sit too long.

The stamp is, of course, a Hero Arts one. It is one I have owned for a few years now and still comes in handy for a quick and easy card.

Add the diamantes to the Cuttlebugged card and a bit of ribbon and we are done.

Pearlex Background

More Hero Arts!!!! This time, flourish flowers with wording from one of the mini sets.

I made the background using PE and spray webbing which has been sealed. Everything was stamped with StazOn black ink with the edges being swiped with the pad as well.

To finish off, a few SU butterfly punches with wee diamantes attached and some gold brads.

For those of you who have held in there through my absence...Thanks...HEAPS!

Pearlescent Backgrounds

Good morning all,

Today, I my card shows a pearlescent background. You can just see it in the picture. Such a pity the camera loses the sheen on things so easily.

I used a little Hero Arts stamp which I stamped in StaZon ink. The butterfly was an embellishment I picked up at Spotlight not long ago.

I should hear word soon if I have made the number attending a photographic course. Hope I don't have to wait until the next one. I am keen to develop a bit better knowledge in this area! (Especially the Photoshop component!) Pretty much a doofus all round on the subject.

(( I have a new shipment of Hero Arts for my little business coming in, so if you are interested and love Hero Arts, feel free to contact me.))

Gesso Scene

The background today was made using Gesso and Pearl Ex. I pulled out the Sew Mini to try out its paces again to attach the background piece to the final layer and used the SU butterfly punch with wee pearls to finish it off. The Hero Arts stamp was stamped with StaZon Black. The sheen of the PE makes this look so much prettier IRL.

To answer a few questions about the Cold Laminate:

1. Rice paper is usually found in specialist stationery shops along with the tissue paper. The texture of it reminds me of really fine tissue paper.

2. Tissue paper can be used also.

3. Cold laminate is to be found in stationery shops also.

4. Peel the backing off the cold laminate and carefully attach to the rice/tissue paper. That is truly all you have to do. (You can purposely scrunch the rice/tissue paper up to give a different effect.)

5. Stamp on the shiny acetate looking side...NOT the rice/tissue paper side.

6. Experiment with a background card. The effect and the colour you will see will depend what you layer this to.

It is one of the quickest background making techs out there. It is very cheap and very effective! Give it a go. You will be pleasantly surprised!

Revisit A Very Old Technique

I am going to run with flowers as they seem to be catching my eye more than anything else in my extensive collection at the moment.

This card revisits a very old technique using cold laminate and rice paper. It is the really pretty background behind the Penny Black flower. The wording is SU with the teal background being Cuttlebugged with one of their new larger sized embossing folders which are sooo much better to use than the small ones!

T'was a little tricky trying to photograph and not get the laminate all shiny. I hope you can see enough of it as is. I was outside in a flash, between the many storms we had today. Another one is brewing now!

I know it is simple, but I think it turned out OK in the end.

Pretties my hubby bought me for our wedding anniversary on Tuesday! Anyone who knows my hubby, knows this is not in character...SO, I have to show them off!

Penny Black...Again!

Hi there,

Accounts all done. The tax man will be happy. Husband is, for sure!

Now, on to another floral card. Flowers seem to be my absolute favourites. BUT!!!! You can't go wrong with flowers. Can you??

Penny Black flower with HA wording...again! I find the two companies seem to complement each other perfectly.

The Cuttlebugged background really makes the card, I think.

Monochromatic Flowers

Good morning everyone,

This is a product of yesterday's sojourn to the cool climes of my art room.

I love to work in monochromatic tones and think this is a good example of that type of work. The main image is by Hero Arts, as is the wording. (I just received the new 2011 catalogue for Hero Arts. YUMMO!) The flowers in the background are by SU.

The sketch is a tried and true one but is always a great one to fall back on. I am hoping to regain my mojo fully and am pleased with the start I have made!

"Side Note" : TODAY, is my 25th wedding anniversary!!!!

New Year New Focus!

Hi all,

After having another hiatus, I am sincerely hoping to stay on track.

It has been difficult to become motivated given the weather conditions and the failure to get all our crop off...BUT....New Year....New Focus!

I have been asked quite a few times to take some piccies of my new stamping area, so I have started the year off with just that. I took over my daughter's room and just love the space and size of the room. (Magella is now living away from home, so I didn't kick her out of her room. I DID tell her she can't come back, coz I am now not giving it up for quids.) I inherited the purple, but decided I quite liked it. Magella helped me with the lime green curtains too, much to the disgust of her father!

Having JUST finished sorting through stuff, the room is really neat....well...as neat as it ever would get. In another half an hour it will not look like this as I am off to settle to the tennis and some stamping in the cool of the room.

It's funny....Neil is still calling the area Shell's Dungeon....I have been trying to re-educate him to Shell's artroom...or Shell's Studio.....but he is really hard to budge on his little catch phrase.

So here it is....

This is my teaching desk (but also general dumping ground when not teaching!)

My most favourite part of my house....My stamping table!

I really must do something with all the cards i have made. They are in all the little blue baskets. Under them is all my A4 card and paper.

All of the cardstock I have on sale.

Note the shoe hanger has a new mission in life....to store my punches.

Personal storage space. You gotta love those cabinets....My stars! You can fit a tonne of stuff in them! The Brisbane Open Tennis for 2011 is playing on the telly (the Aussie lass is currently in the lead.)

Hero Arts...Yet Again

Hi there everyone,

Another very simple card, also fashioned after a card I saw in the current Hero Arts catalogue.

The flower is stamped on various coloured card, cut and layered, with each petal being fingernail distressed and layered using very fine DSFT. The stem I made from a scrap bit of black card. Having the Cuttlebug layer underneath was really necessary to lift this card.

I nearly always tie bows, or knots where you see the ends, so I really like the look of this particular way of presenting the ribbon. I love different!!!

Rustic Flowers

Good afternoon all,

This card was fashioned after a card I saw when flipping through the current Hero Arts catalogue.

The flowers, come from one of the Hero Arts clear sets and is proving to be quite versatile. Add string, buttons and a strip of card which I ran through the corrugator and the top part of the card is done. I loaded the base card into the Cuttlebug so the entire front was embossed.

Simple, yet appealing.

A Hint of Spring

Hi there on this miserable rainy day!

Here is the same Hero Arts flower which I used yesterday. This time I stamped it up on a brayered piece of gloss card, cut and raised it. The centre of the flower has mini micro beads.

The Martha Stewart punch makes an excellent fence, don't you agree? I punched the fence from a scrap piece of a background I made some time ago, using salt, dye inks and gloss card. Pearls were added to give it some pizzazz.

The flower is backed by a Cuttlebugged piece of Bazzill which I have swiped with Brilliance Ink. To finish it off, I attached a few SU butterflies with little diamantes.

I know the quality of the picture leaves something to be desired. Please bear with me on this. I will endeavour to grab my camera as soon as I can. I figure I best give my poor old blog some love and attention, so scanning is better than nothing.

Black, White and a Touch of Red

Hello all,

Not the best of scans here. My daughter still has my camera, so I scanned it. Being dimensional it hasn't done so well, but hey! Better than nothing!

This is such a simple card but I like it!

The wording is by Stampin Up and the flower is by Hero Arts.

Sailing Adventure

Hi there,

I have been away for a little stamping sojourn with my mate Cheryll. I did come home Monday, but have been helping my daughter clean a rental house in order for her to have her bond returned. On top of that, I have a new computer with only half my stuff set up on it. I DO have the printer/scanner/copier working, but NO Photoshop.

Here is one of the cards I made with Cheryll. This is her design which she was doing in class. I have darkened mine somewhat. I tore the card with the mask when removing said mask. So then, I had to stamp the sails out twice, watercolour twice and layer ...just so I could cover the tear. The other things I did a wee differently....I burned the ends of the twill and attached them with brads and furred up all the edges in a big way and inked the top layer up.

A Lifetime is Not Enough

This has turned out to be a really lovely sympathy card. I do hope I don't have to use it any time soon!!!!

The stamps used are by Stamp It Australia and were stamped with StazOn black ink. All card throughout is Bazzill (the lemon, brown and vanilla base).

So Hot!

Well, it is heating up in my neck of the woods and with the coming of summer, this card seems to be quite appropriate.

It is a photoscape using a Stamp It Australia stamp. The sentiment is by Darkroom Door. Both were stamped using StazOn black. The scape was mounted on lemon, black, vanilla and finally to a black Bazzill base. I finished it off with a few black blings.