Friday 30 April 2010

Inkspiration Inspiration Challenge #21

Happy hello's to you all on this Friday.  Today's challenge from Makeesha's Inkspirations is a beautiful and pretty Inspiration picture.  I think it could be a great inspiration for a Mothers Day card!
Here's the picture:
And here's my card for this challenge:
I was inspired by the very pretty roses, so I've used a Kraftin Kimmie stamp called Posy and coloured her in with Copic markers.
The paper is Basic Grey and I've used a piece of wide lace from my ribbon/lace stash.  The roses and leaf are from Bizzy Becs - she has a beautiful range of flowers for your cards.
I've used a sentiment from Best Yet (SU) and punched out with SU oval and scallop oval punches.
The I've finished off with some paper piercing along the edges.
Here's a closer look:

I think I'll save this one for Mothers Day! 
I hope you are inspired to join in with this challenge.  If you would love to join in this week, then you need to pop in at Kirsty's - she is hosting this week.  Be sure to link your creation so we can all see what you've made.
Here are the links to the fabulous design team - I'm sure they have all come up with something wonderful:



Thanks for coming by and enjoy the weekend.

More delightful doilies have been added to my shop.

Who would have thought that the humble doily could ever be so popular again.  These pretty pieces of lace with intricate patterns. When I first got married.....  I said that I didn't want that 'stuff' in my house coz it was old-fashioned. 
Now I have a whole big pile of them, nearly taking up every bit of table-space; even some with ornaments on them.  But they are mostly for my scrapbook pages and Etsy store.  So here's some more goodies that I've recently uploaded. 

Enjoy looking and I'll be back a bit later with my card for the latest Inkspiration challenge.

Thursday 29 April 2010

Mad for Markers - Colour Challenge #2

Sammi from Mad for Markers has come up with a fun #2 challenge - using shades of the one colour.  I decided to go with shades of PINK.  Here's my card:
I used a new stamp that I just received in the post the other day from Tracey at Specsh Designer Stamps - this one is Bonnie.  Isn't she just the sweetest?
I've used cardstock by Stampin' Up: Pink Pirouette and Regal Rose and some pattern paper from one of the Designer Packs - Pink Flamingo.
The sentiment is from Best Yet and I've used the SU circle punches and pink rhinestones for this embellishment.  I've poped up the image onto a pink doily from my stash and I've added some ribbon in Regal Rose.
Here's a closer look:



Thanks for poping by and I hope you are all having a wonderful day.

Wednesday 28 April 2010

Just add Ink - Vintage

The latest challenge over at Just Add Ink is Vintage. I LOVE this eclectic style that is right in at the moment - a bit of old, a bit of new and everything inbetween.
This is what I've created for this challenge:

I've used one of the new colours from Stampin'Up - Soft Suede and combined this with Kraft and some Pink Pirouette.  I've used the SU set I (heart) Hearts.
For a bit of vintage: I've added some lace doily trim from my Etsy store, some vintage bookprint and a ruffled heart with I've made with vintage bookprint, punched out using the SU heart punch.  I've added a Basic Grey stitched brad to the centre.
The word 'mother' is from Wonderful Favourites!
Here's a close up of the ruffled heart embellishment:

I think this card will be used for Mother's Day coming up.  Ooooh, I'm feeling a little bit organised for a change.  Thanks for poping by.

Tuesday 27 April 2010

Scrapbooking

I'm here with a couple of scrapbook layouts that I wanted to share with you all.  With my new-found love of fabric, doilies, buttons and other Etsy finds, my scrapbooking has changed and this family album for 2010 will be full of texture and fun embellishments.  Another thing I'm concentrating on is 'true' scrapbooking - reflecting on the little things, lots of journalling and telling my story and including pictures of me!

This first one is of Caden with his beautiful smile.

The background cardstock is Real Red - I love using strong colours which I pick up from my pictures.  I've been experimenting with glimmer mist - the photo doesn't pick it up so well but it adds some glimmer and sparkles to your pages.
I've used some lace doily trims and crochet flowers from my Etsy store and some buttons from Lil Red Rocket.

Another piece of doily trim added behind the photo and a cute retro story book token which I've purchased from Etsy, printed out and then used a SU circle punch to cut out.

This next page is of me with Tyson and Liam.
I've doubled-mounted the same colour cardstock, just cutting the top layer a bit shorter, then distressing the edges.  Again, I've had some fun with the glimmer mist, getting a bit more adventurous and using two colours in the background.
I've used another retro story book token, adhering it to layers of vintage bookprint to make it 3D. 
I've also added in this bingo card - I found this FREE on the internet - it's amazing what freebies you can find - I've just printed this out onto some cardstock, then added some sprays of glimmer-mist.
A few more buttons from Lil Red Rocket - these are two little robots!
The title has been stamped using some clear stamps by Kaisercraft - Distressed Alphabet.
I hope you enjoyed these - thanks for poping by.

Monday 26 April 2010

Give-away winner.

I hope you've all had a fabulous weekend.  Thank you to all who joined in with this giveaway - we only had a small number of 20, but I certainly appreciate you all leaving a comment and taking the time to let me know the products you love in my shop.
So I've used Random.Org to draw a winner and it came up with #12 which is Karen:

Hi Chan!
I'm so glad your little store is going so well for you - thats just awesome!
I personally just LOVE all your little doily bits and bobs, and you've now got me looking for crochet tablecloths at op shops! lol
I'd LOVE to win this gorgeous little bundle!
Karen
x

Generator

Min: 1
Max: 20
Result:
12
Powered by RANDOM.ORG
 
Congrats Karen - send me an email with your postal address and I will get these goodies out to you. I'm sure you will enjoy them.

Friday 23 April 2010

Inkspiration Colour Challenge #21

This week has really felt like a 'catch up week' for everything, kids have gone back to school and normal routines are happening again.  Not alot of stamping has been done, but I have done some very cute scrapbook pages which I will share with you next week.  Have also been making some more flowers for my Etsy store.  But for now, I will share my card for the latest Inkspiration Challenge from Makeesha.  This week, we had these fun colours to work with:
I chose to make a cute little boy card with a new Stampin'Up set I recently got - Lots of Bots.  With four boys, I know this set will get HEAPS of use.  So here's my card:

I have a base card in White, then I've added a layer of Bashful Blue and stamped the 'nuts and bolts' image onto the bottom half as a background.
I've added strips of olive and red and also some of the wide polka-dot Real Red ribbon which I've tied with some of the Hodgepodge hardware.
I've used the CM oval cutters to get the various layers of ovals.
Then I've added some paper piercing along the top.
And have you noticed - for once, not a single doily and lace trim in sight!!  It was fun to do 'simple and sweet'!!  I think this is one of those cards you could mass produce in different colours. 
Here's a closer look:


The robot image has been coloured with these Copic markers:

Hope you enjoyed seeing my inspiration for the challenge - now we would love to see what you come up with.  Head over to Makeesha's post to view the details of how you can join in and be sure to link up your creation.  She will also have a gorgeous card for you to view. For more lovely creations you can check out the Design Team work:
Sarah-Jane
Kirsty
Teneale
Renee
Cindy
Louise - guest designer for April

You have a few more days to make a comment on the previous post for my Etsy store GIVEAWAY.  I will be drawing a winner when we get back from our weekend away, on Monday night.  See you then.

Sunday 18 April 2010

Simply cards and creative bits - GIVEAWAY!!

Simply cards and creative bits - that's the name of my Etsy store which I've been enjoying for the past three months.  It feels like my house is constantly covered in doilies and fabric - no sooner I clean it up, I find some more treasures to start creating with.  All my embellishments are made from recycled fabrics and re-purposed crochet doilies and table-cloths.  Thankfully, I have a very supportive husband and kids who love what I do - my oldest boy even helps me cut out doilies!  And they love seeing what I create with the fabrics and doilies that I find.  I'm amazed by the many different patterns of these crochet delights - and I love finding vintage fabrics for my fabric layered flowers.
I have made these embellishments with scrapbooking in mind, but there are many other ways to use them too. Patchwork pillows and cushions, hair accessories - there are so many talented people out there and they create amazing things!
I have been enjoying a little sucess too - I really didn't know what to expect when I opened it and if I would even make some sales.  But I'm happy to say that I have made a little over 30 sales - so thank you to my wonderful customers.  I've even had a few custom orders - which I'm more than happy to do.  If there's anything that you LOVE, let me know and I'd be happy to help you out.
So in saying all that, I'd like to have a little GIVEAWAY, in celebration of my little shop.
Here's the goodies you will recieve:

* Fabric flowers
* Fabric covered buttons
* Mini doilies - rainbow
* Doily delights - rainbow
* Crochet trim - white and watermelon red

All you need to do is leave me a comment - let me know what you think of these embellishments and your favourite items in the shop.  And if you are one of my Followers, I will add an extra gift!! A winner will be drawn on Monday, 26th April.

Pop on over to my shop, I've just uploaded a couple of new items.  I look forward to reading your comments.

Magnolia Down Under Challenge #42

I hope you are all having a beautiful day.  Today I have a creation for the Magnolia Down Under Challenges - it's #42 and the theme is MASKING.  I haven't done this technique in ages, so it was lots of fun.  For this challenge I decided to make something for me and my craft room.  Something that I can hang on my wall and see these beautiful Magnolia images.  So here it is:
I used some paper from Basic Grey - Bitersweet 6x6 paper pad to make up the background - it has a vintage feel about it, especially with the muted colours I've chosen, in browns and pinks.
The middle image is Tilda in water, which I've masked off, then stamped Tilda with long flowing hair and Tilda with skipping rope, to each side.
Then I've coloured with Copic markers. I've used the CM cutters to create the circles.  I've matted this onto a paper lace doily and then a choc lace doily from my stash.
I've arranged some leaves and Magnolia flowers to one side of the circle and then finished off with some buttons to the corner - pink and brown and stitched onto the layout.
Here is a closer look:

I really enjoyed making this one - it looks really nice 'in real life', especially hanging on the wall.
Pop over to the Magnolia Down Under Challenge blog to view all the details if you wish to join in with the fun.  There's plenty more inspiration from the Design Team girls - be sure to check them all out.

Enjoy your day and come back soon - I have a little surprise planned. Til then......

Friday 16 April 2010

Inkspiration Sketch Challenge #21

Happy hello's on this sketch challenge Friday; yes, it's a sketch from Makeesha today!
Here's what we've had to work with:

And here's my creation for the challenge - When I saw the sketch is said 'scrapbooking' to me!! I think it was the big blank space which I thought would be perfect for a photo and then all the different shaped elements from the sketch I could add in as embellishments.  So I've made up an 8x8" scrapbook page and used this BEAUTIFUL photo of Amber which has been taken by my very talented sister Aimee.
I've printed up the photo as a 5x7" so it's takes up most of the page.  The photo has been matted onto Rose Red cardstock.  I've made up a strip along the bottom using Regal Rose and used a Fiskars punch along the edge.  There's lots of cute details:
* a fabric covered button and pink pom-pom rope from Lil Red Rocket
* a hand-made rosette flower with a vintage button, made by me, poped up on a mint green doily
* some sparkly rhinestones
* and two other cute pink buttons
Here's a closer look at the details:

Love the look of this sketch and want to play along?  Well, all you need to do is pop over to Makeesha's post to view the details - be sure to link your card so we can all see what you've made.
For more inspiration, check out the fabulous work from the Inkspiration Design Team and give them some comment love:
    Renee
    Cindy
    Kirsty
    Sarah-Jane
    Teneale
    Makeesha
    Louise (guest designer for April)

Thanks for poping by and enjoy the weekend.

Thursday 15 April 2010

and there's more.....

........ more coloured doilies and lace trims in White, Mint Green, Bright Blue, Watermelon Red and Lavender - really happy with these warm colours.  Also an embellishment pack - Regal Flowers.


Thanks for coming by.

Wednesday 14 April 2010

Mad for Markers Challenge #1

Sammi from Mad for Markers is having her very first challenge and it's a colour one.  She has picked out three colours to use:
BG 15         R 20           E00
Aqua           Blush          Skin White  
(if you don't have these exact colours, then the closest ones are okay too!)

I chose to use: R20, E000 and BG10 - here's what I came up with for my card:
(I don't have E00 & BG15)

I've used a sweet stamp by CC Sweet November Baby Bunny Butterfly.
I've used the following colours for my Copic creation:
Skin: E000 & E02
Clothes: BG10 & 0-colourless blender
Hair: E31 & E33
Butterly: R20 & RV21
I've used papers from Basic Grey along with some pretty lace and a Fiscar punch along the bottom edge.
The sentiment has been cut out with SU punches and I've matted this onto a blue doily finished off with a brad.
Here's a closer look:
Have a look over at Sammi's blog to view all the details - she has a fun prize to win with this challenge.

Tuesday 13 April 2010

Sneak Peak!!

A little sneak peak of a new item I have in my shop - I have two of these embellish delight 'mini' kits - this one is called Fairy Tale. 
I have more kits to come - some larger, some smaller.  I will keep you posted as I update.  Thanks for poping by.

Out of the Hat - April Challenge.

Out of the Hat Scrapbook Challenges have a fantastic challenge for the month of April - they pulled some fun things out of the hat:
*Use stamps
*Use foam dots/tape
*Use a B&W photo
Here's is my submission for this challenge:
I always LOVED these series of photo's of Caden whilst he was sleeping and was waiting for the right time to scrap them.  This challenge was perfect!
I've used the ONE B & W picture and kept the other two in colour.  These decided the colours for my page - green being the main one.
I've used two stamps: the 'rock-a-bye baby' wording along the top and
a doily image stamp on the green cardstock.  You can see this in the next picture:
The cute little boat embellishment is from the Chip Chop ShopThey have lots of fun chipboard products for your scrapbooking.   You can also see a green doily and blue doily trim which are all from my Etsy store.  These really add some texture to your pages.
I've been making these story-book tokens from collage sheets and vintage book print. I've added a few of these to my layout, poping them up with foam dots.  I hope to add these to some embellishment kits I'm making for my shop in the next few weeks!!
I got another little package from Lil Red Rocket today, so I quickly poped on this gorgeous spotty button.  Love these!!

Thanks for a wonderful challenge Amanda and team - another layout done for my scrapbook - it's coming together very nicely.

Anya Ink Challenge #1

Kirsty Young is now the proud owner of Anya Ink and she is running this challenge at the moment:
Anything Goes.
And here's the card I've created:
I've used Dahlia from the Wild Sprouts Series - she is super cute.
Lately I've had a liking for green/purple colour combination which happens to be the same colour combo for the Basic Grey 6x6 pad Lilac Avenue Collection.
This is a square card, 13cm x 13c m in size.  I've layered the base with a pretty pattern from the pad and then added a piece of Certain Celery cardstock.
I've used my circle cutters to cut out the circles and then matted onto a paper lace doily.  I've also used some remnant doily lace behind this.
The sentiment is from Family Phrases by SU - I've used the circle punches and then matted onto a green doily - you can find these here in my Etsy store
Lastly, I've added some rhinestones and paper piercing.
Here's a closer look at the details:
There's a few more days left for this challenge.  Head on over to Anya Ink to view the details of how to join in.

Whilst on our camping trip last week, I managed to take my Copic markers and my paper pad with pre-stamped images so I could colour a few of these cuties.  And I actually managed a few.  So you will be seeing some more Copic Creations very soon.

Speaking of Copic Markers - I have found the perfect storage container - thanks to Marcia from the Stamping Spot.  I saw this post on her blog.  Yesterday we were in Bunbury and I stopped by Office Works and they had two left.  Now I think I need more markers and it looks quite empty!
Here's a pic anyway;  I LOVE the divided sections!

Monday 12 April 2010

Inkspiration Inspiration Challenge #20

We've come back from camping and also visiting family up in Perth; now it's back to a quiet week at home with the kids and to enjoy the last week of school holidays.  I sat down to do my card as DT member for Inkspiration last night.  Here is the gorgeous picture we had to work with. The colours are so rich and warm; perfect for our cooler weather here:
And here's the card I came up with:

I LOVE the colours in the picture and the flower print reminded me of the SU set - Organic Outlines - so I went with that.
I've layered various cardstock in caramel and choc chip onto Very Vanilla cardstock base. 
Then I've stamped the 'leaf' image in Close to Cocoa onto the strip of Vanilla cardstock.  Onto a seperate piece, I've stamped the outline image in Choc Chip, then cut out and poped up onto the card with foam dots.  I've gently sponged the edges and then added a choc doily and brad from Basic Grey.
The sentiment is from Upsy Daisy and I've used the oval punches to cut out, added a blue rhinestone to finish off.
Here's a closer look at the details:

There are lots of ways to interpret this inspiration picture.  I'm looking forward to seeing all the entries.
The DT have all made amazing creations too - here are their links:





    Cindy

    Kirsty

    Chantelle

    Sarah-Jane

    Teneale

    Makeesha

Louise (guest designer)

Be sure to link your creations to Makeesha's post so we can all view your creations. 
Thanks for poping by.

school @ home

Hello, I definitely wanted to record this little moment!  School @ home due to stay at home restrictions because of COVID-19.  It was certai...