Turning Three… Party Hearty

I had two birthday cards to make in September for two little girls who happened to be turning 3.

The first little girl to be turning 3 was my delightful little niece Sophie Violet – you can check out all her cuteness here.

Soph is such a character, she has real spunk  and gets up to some serious mischief on occasions, but one of the things I love soooooooo much about her is her little voice.  When she opens her mouth and talks out come the sweetest most adorable little voice you have ever heard – it melts you heart and you just want to pick her up and squeeze her… she is just edible.

…And here is her birthday card… aren’t these cupcakes just edible too?

The second little girl to turn three was Charlotte (who belongs to one of my kindy mums). I used the same design for this card, just a different colour combination.

Well, would you look at that…. I managed to post twice before Friday! No butt kicking for me this week  Yay!

Enjoy

Sophie’s 3rd Birthday Card

• Stamps: Party Hearty
• Paper: Regal Rose, Rose Red, So Saffron, Whisper White
• Inks: Regal Rose, Rose Red, So Saffron
• Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, Eyelet Boarder Punch, Rose Red double stitched grosgrain ribbon, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack,  dimensionals

Charlotte’s 3rd Birthday Card

• Stamps: Party Hearty
• Paper: Pixie Pink, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip
• Inks: Pixie Pink, Chocolate Chip Marker, Pink Passion Marker, YoYo Yellow Marker
• Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, Eyelet Boarder Punch, Mat Pack, Paper Piercer, Stampin’ Glitter dazzling diamonds, dimensionals, White Grosgrain Ribbon





A Special Thanks

Every now and then the kindy mums get together whether it be for dinner or coffee. On one of these occasions I mentioned that I had just signed up as a SU demonstrator. Not expecting much of a response I proceeded to get very excited when one of the mums said that she had been to a few workshops and that she would host a workshop with me, and then another mum also said she would be interested in having a workshop too…  just like that!!!… I could hardly contain my excitement.

So to say thanks to Gayle, who hosted her workshop in October, I thought I’d best make a card – of course!

Cheep Talk was a must have when it showed up in the 2009-2010 IB&C, but in saying that I hadn’t done a lot with it. I knew I wanted to make a card using a stamp set that was new to the catalogue and once I narrowed them down … this was the pick.

Isn’t this little bird is just too cute?

So onto the making of this card… I inked up the leaves in Kiwi Kiss and went over the branch with my Chocolate Chip marker. The little bird has been inked in Ballet Blue – I don’t actually own the Rich Regals markers (yet) so I had to use my ink pad, but I wanted his beak and legs to be yellow so I just wiped the blue ink off them with a tissue or a cotton tip (truth be told it could have even been the top I was wearing at the time whatever was in easy reach ) I then went over the legs and beak with my Summer Sun marker and  stamped the little bird on top of his  branch using my Stamp-a-ma-jig (that tool is a God send!).  I then stamped him again in Ballet Blue and cut him out and stuck him down with some dimensionals . I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig again to add the sentiment and then backed it onto to some Tangerine Tango, added some paper piercing, as well as Linen Thread and a button from the Button Latte pack.  I used the little flower from the same set and stamped using Versamark randomly on a piece of Kiwi Kiss, wrapped some Chocolate Chip double stitched grosgrain around it and popped that onto the Naturals Ivory card that had been waiting patiently. Last of all  – some Dimensionals on the back of the Tangerine Tango with all the bits ‘n’ pieces stuck to it… and done.

I really had no idea where I was going with this card to start with… all I had decided was that the bird was going to be blue and that I wanted to use some of the in-colours and I guess that is how it all came together. I actually used this design for one of my Regionals swaps using the Trendy Trees stamp set.

See…

Sorry about the crooked photo… I can assure you that every other aspect of the card was (mostly) straight

BTW I’m sticking to my NYR… patting myself on the back here … just got to keep it up… and I will ’cause there wont be much sitting down and stamping or blogging with a bruised butt lol!

Hope your week has started off well and thanks for dropping by.

Gayle’s Thank-you card

• Stamps: Cheep Talk
  
• Paper: Naturals Ivory, Kiwi Kiss, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White
  
• Inks: Ballet Blue, Kiwi Kiss, Versamark
  
• Accessories: Chocolate Chip Marker, Summer Sun Marker, Linen Thread, Chocolate Chip Button,  Chocolate Chip double stitched grosgrain ribbon, mat pack, paper piercer, dimensionals, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Regionals Swap card

• Stamps: Trendy Tress
  
• Paper: Naturals Ivory, Kiwi Kiss, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White
  
• Inks: Riding Hood Red, Pumpkin Pie, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, Versamark
  
• Accessories: Chocolate Chip double stitched grosgrain ribbon, mat pack, paper piercer, Stamp-a-ma-jig, word window punch, dimensionals

Here it is…

Well… lucky you didn’t all hold your breath!!!! Sorry, I have no excuses. I have finally come to the realisation (took a while I know) that I just have to make blogging part of my daily jobs rather than an “if I get a spare second” job, because when it comes to spare seconds you may have noticed that I don’t seem to get too many and if I do I’m not using them here!

SO… in front of you all I am announcing that I am turning over a new leaf  – I am starting my New Years Resolutions 50 days early and if you would all be so kind I am going to need your help to achieve this.  So a bit of a drum roll if you wouldn’t mind…. * announcing *…

There will be something new to see here at least once a week!

And if there is not this is where I need your help!  So if you drop by and there isn’t something new to see at the start of another week  (lets make the start of each posting week Friday) then leave me a message to tell me you stopped by but there wasn’t anything new to see. That will make me feel terrible and give me the kick in the backside I need to get back on track.  So as much as it is putting a fair bit of pressure on myself  I think this is what is required to get things moving on here…. so lets all move right along because I actually have something to show.

This here card is the first I made with the Great Friend stamp set from the spring mini (which I might add has only 19 days left so if there are any goodies you need just let me know) and it happens to be for my very lovely and extremely talented sister (in -law) Sarah who I have to thank for getting my love of stamping and scrapbooking back on track.

I used the colours from the ‘Walk in the Park’ DSP as my starting point . Never in a million years would I have thought of putting Kiwi Kiss, Basic Grey, Baja Breeze, So Saffron and Cameo Coral together but the DSP told me I could and so I did and I was quite happy with how it all came together. It is a fairly simple design, although there was a fair bit of fiddly cutting out, especially the little branches but as you get to know me better you will see that I am quite a fan of cutting out stamped images! Along with this card went a little gift which I packaged up in coordinating paper … a couple of cakes of soap that smelt equally as yummy as they looked.

And while we are on the subject of Thank-you cards and gifts. This here below is another card and gift I made for Sarah earlier in the year, as you can see when it comes to Sarah I have a lot to be thankful for.

This card was a case from one of my absolute favourite blogs Kirsty’s cards ‘n’ scrapping (you will need to go to March 2009 in archives and scroll down a bit to find the card I cased). Check out her work, she is super talented! I am constantly amazed by her work and what is even more amazing to me is that she does all of this with four kids!

I loved the colour combo – you can’t go wrong with Pretty in Pink and Chocolate Chip nor with Baroque Motifs, it is such a beautiful stamp set -  must get that one out again. I stamped the Linen background stamp onto white then stamped over it with the Baroque Motifs flourish. I then added the small flowers from that stamp set – as you can see I used rock n roll technique and for the first time too! I rock n rolled the main flower, cut it out and added a rhinestone. Put it all together with some ribbon, scallop edging and some faux stitching and Bob’s your uncle (or in my case my dad). I  then put together a little bag of goodies to go with the card using the same colour combination and stamp set.

Well there you have it… hope you enjoyed these creations and please help me to stick to my blogging plan -  that means I want to hear from you if I am falling behind, but it would also be really nice to hear from you when I achieve my goals.

Thanks for dropping by and let me know what you think…

Sarah’s Great Friend Card

Stamps: Great Friend
Paper: Basic Grey, Baja Breeze, So Saffron, Cameo Coral, Walk in the Park DSP
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Cameo Coral, Baja Breeze
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Eyelet Border Punch

Sarah’s Baroque Motifs Card

Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Linen Background (retired)
Paper: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, Rhinestone brad, white gel pen

It’s coming… stay tuned

Here’s a sneak peek… promise to come back really soon… got an announcement to make and some show n tell!

See you soon

Janice

Priceless

I’m back… can you believe it?… two posts in a week! This time with a card.

I made this card quite some time ago (actually close to a year ago!) for a very dear friend of mine (Hi Pina!). It uses the ever so pretty Priceless stamp set. If my memory serves me correct, I chose this SS because I wanted to make a pretty/girly card

and, well…

Flowers, butterflies and a pink and green colour combo makes for a pretty girly card don’t you think?   I also thought the ‘So Kind’ sentiment was very appropriate too seeing Pina very kindly made Ivy’s Christening invitations for me (Yes, that’s right I didn’t make them but I am sure I had a good excuse at the time).

Aaanyway… back to the card

As you can see I stamped the swirl about 3 times and added a few of the little flowers here and there. I then stamped the flowers and cut them out and popped a brad in the center. I used some dimensional just to make them stand up a bit. I did the same with the butterfly (minus the brad).

Not sure if you can see but I added some stampin’ glitter (dazzling diamonds) because all girls need bling… even if it is just a little glitter stuck to a card

So there you have it, let me know if you like it.

I just got up off the couch and away from the heater – its FREEZING! I think it is going to only be about 4 degrees tonight, brrr… I ‘m hanging out for summer!

Enjoy your great weekend and you never know I may just get back here before its over… just don’t hold your breath!

“Pina’s Priceless Card”

Stamps: Priceless
Paper: Whisper White, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Old Olive
Ink: Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Old Olive
Accessories: Regal Rose wide grosgrain, Stampin’ Dimensional, Stampin’ Glitter, 2-way Glue Pen, brads (non SU!)

Team Day Layout

SORRY…I know I have been a very bad blogger… I have had intentions to get on here but it has always been at the bottom of a very long list of things to do and truth be told I kinda thought that as I had only just started there would hardly be anyone stopping by this blog . As it so happens I was wrong and there are a few people that actually do check out my blog (thanks Karlee for letting me in on this little secret   So I thought I best get myself on here so there is something new to check out!

So lets get onto some show ‘n’ tell.

This is the A4 layout I created for our team day in August for the girls to make. When I put my hand up to do the scrapbook layout I knew I would be using the Great Friend Stamp Set from the mini catalogue. It’s my favourite SS at the moment.

I also used one of my favourite colour combos – Baja Breeze, Kraft and/or Sahara Sand, and Pink Pirouette.  I used the inks and the little branch stamp from Great Friend to make my own strip of patterned paper and the  frame stamp as a tab and popped it behind the photo.

I also added a definition from the Life Definitions stamp set – I would have to say that along with the alphabet stamps this is a must have for scrapbooking . You will notice (when I eventually get around to posting them… soon I promise) that I use them on almost all of my layouts.

I then stepped it up and turned it into a 12×12 just by adding a tiny strip of stamped patterned paper at the top and a scallop edge at the bottom and then backed it onto black textured 12×12 and added a couple of extra butterflies. Just to show a really quick and easy way to turn an A4 into a 12×12.

I just love the butterfly from Great Friend… my favourite thing to do is cut it out and add linen thread and tie a knot to make antennae …. see?

So there we have it… I have finally added another post (I am averaging one a month – at least I’m consistent !) … I ‘ll try and get back here really soon. In the meantime if you do drop by I would love if you left me a comment.

Thanks for dropping by

Janice

Team Day Layout

• Stamp Set: Great Friend, Life Definitions
• Paper: Kraft, Baja Breeze, Sahara Sand, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Basic Black textured
• Inks: Baja Breeze, Sahara Sand, Pink Pirouette, Versa Mark
• Accessories: Linen Thread, Eyelet border punch, Scallop border punch, Stampin Dimensional

Whisper Sweet Nothings

When I ordered my starter kit I also got the stampin’ memories add on…  as an incentive to get some scrapping done (well that’s how I sold it to myself!).  And guess what??  It worked.  I have done more layouts in the past month than I have done in the past year!

And here is the proof… sorry the pictures are not the best quality – I promise I will get better!

And here’s a few close ups

This layout was completed using the Sweet Nothings scrappin’ kit and I am really pleased with how it turned out. I am loving this kit, it is absolutely gorgeous. I have done 7 layouts so far and while I am getting low on the cardstock I still have heaps of the die cut stickers left.  It has also been fun to challenge myself to use only what is in the kit – and on most layouts I have achieved this.

The best part about it is that I’m having a great time getting pages DONE! I might even be able to start calling myself a scrapbooker again!

I will be back to show just how versatile this kit is.

“Whisper Sweet Nothings 12×12 Layout”
Ink: Chocolate chip ink
Accessories: Whisper Sweet Nothings Scrappin Kit, Chocolate chip wide grosgrain ribbon

I signed my name on the dotted line!

Sent my paper work off today so very soon it will be official! I will be an Independent Stampin’ Up! demonstator.  After a couple years of my lovely and also extremely talented sister in law Sarah’s gentle coaxing I finally said four very magical words…. Alright… I’ll sign up! Quickly followed by don’t tell my husband!

I’m looking forward to seeing where this opportunity will take me and I’m getting quite excited about it.  I’m very new and very nervous about all this blog stuff so bear with me as I  get my head around it but I am really excited to have somewhere to share the things I LOVE to make.

BTW don’t you just LOVE  LOVE  LOVE  my blog banner … well I do … LOTS!  A huge THANK YOU to Sarah yet again for her amazing talents that go beyond the Stampin’ Up! world! She may live to regret signing me up! I do love her lots… she is just the best.