....and Some More Christmas Cards...

Hey there,

I am still persisting with my Christmas cards, in the hope that it may give you some inspiration for this coming Christmas!!

Today's cards were inspired but this one I saw on someone's Pintrest board. One think I like to do is see a card and, CASE it and then see what other ways I can twist it a little to make it different from the original card. These are my efforts......

Traditional Olive and Red..... (the difference is the embossed backings!!)

Vintage or neutrals.......

 

And a selection all together.

 

These were a hoot to do and went together very easy en masse too.  Thanks for popping by. 1 more lot of Christmas cards to go and then a WHOLE heap of birthdays!!

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Old Olive, Real Red, Whisper White, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla

Ink: (SU) Old Olive, Real Red, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake

Stamps: (SU) Ornament Keepsakes, Lovely Letters 

Embossing Folders: SU Chevron and Fancy Fan EF's, Cuttlebug Snowflake and Wickerweave EF's

Punches and Dies: (SU) Scallop Square Punch, Holiday Ornament Dies, Carla Craft CP20 Square

Other Bits: Dimensionals, Gold and Silver Cord fm Stash.

Lynda xx

From a Topper to........

Afternoon all,

 

Last year here I had some fun with some punch art. This year I thought I would put these cute guys on some Christmas cards. I also gave wee Rudolph a makeover and updated his antlers. I used the Snow Flurry die and used 2 of the "arms" of the snowflake for the antlers. Here is what I came up with.....

 

 

These (I think anyhow) are really cute. Each of them have a bit of bling as seen here.....

 

 

.....and here.....

 

 

The punch art critters are sitting on a WW matt and vellum overlay with "Merry Christmas" in various fonts, hence no need for a sentiment. A really easy card. A little texture on the large white matt and all done and dusted.

 

The "stuff used" for the punches is basically the same with the exception of the reindeer antlers.

 

Thanks for popping by.

 

E mail update....still NO ACCESS....turns out Microsoft were sending access codes to the e mail of the blocked account....DER!!!!!! So...once again I wait 3-5 working days...which PS will be Christmas...and I am really not overly confident. To all those blogs of whom I subscribe, I promise to comment really soon!!!

 

Stuff used:

CS: (SU) Real Red, Handsome Hunter (ret), Whisper White, Basic Black, Chocolate Chip. Red, White, Green Glimmer CS and Merry Christmas Vellum all fm Alice's.

Punches: See linked post at beginning, plus Snow Flurry Bigz Die (SU), Carla Craft 3/16" circle punch

Other Bits: Dimensionals, Glue Dots

Embossing Folders: (SU) Fancy Fan EF, Cuttlebug Wicker Weave and African Weave EFs

 

Lynda xx

 

 

The Blues at 60

Morning all.

Now the title is not as morbid as you may think. Our beautiful Practice Manager Turned 60 last week and her favourite hues are blues. Therefore I did not have to go far to come up with a colour palate for her card. The problem arose when I had done a special card from me, and then work asked me to make one that all of them could sign!!! OOoooooooooookkkkkkkkkkk...thinking cap on.......

The one I made for her from the practice was a square card. I think there is something very elegant about blue and silver together. This is what I came up with......

 

I used Vintage Vogue for the flowers and a little fussy cutting. I teamed the flowers with the Fancy Flourish Die from MFT. The curls sat on petals, it was such a pretty effect.

 

 

The "60" perhaps was a little obvious in silver glitter card stock, but hey.....whatcha gunna do??

 

My card was a standard size and I (yup) still went with blue flowers. I found this card by Dawn Olchefske here and thought it'd look OK in blues too. This was my version of Dawn's card......

 

 

As you can see I changed up the sentiment, textured the main background but still used the beautiful Springtime Vintage DSP, which sadly we did not get out here (sniff). The "60" this time was cut in a beautiful sky blue glitter CS from Alice's. I also love the distressed flowers. I had not tried these before, but seriously, they are REALLY easy-peasy. The flowers are cut, spritzed with water and then crumpled, uncrumpled and then let to dry naturally and layered. The affect is magical.

 

 

 

Thanks for popping by again. I hope you liked my blue cards. I will list the "stuff used" separately for these cards as there is both a bit in them.

 

Stuff Used:

Square Card:

CS: (SU) Night of Navy, Whisper White, Soft Sky (ret), Bazzil textured white, Stardream Silver paper and Silver Glitter CS fm Alice's

Ink: (SU) Night Of Navy, Bashful Blue, Island Indigo (stamped off)

Stamps: (SU) Vintage Vogue

Dies: (SU) Window Framelit Dies, Simple Type Alphabet Numbers Dies (ret), MFT Fancy Flourish Die

Other Bits: Dimensionals, Clear Rhinestones fm stash

 

Standard Card

CS: (SU) Very Vanilla, Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Springtime Vintage DSP, Sky Blue Glitter CS fm Alice's 

Ink: NONE!!!

Dies and Punches: (SU) Fun Flowers Bigz L Die, Lots of Tags Sizzlits Dies, Scallop Circle Bigz Die, Wide Oval Punch, Nestabilities Classic Circles Dies

Other Stuff: Cuttlebug Olivia Alphabet, SU Fancy Fan EF, Dimensionals, Lace fm stash, Brads fm Reject Shop

 

Lynda xx

 

 

 

Expanding My Cultural Horizons - Diwali II

Morning all.

Today I am sharing the 2nd design of cards I made for Diwali. Again, they use a lot of bright colours, but this time these cards are based around the small candles and the beautiful shapes they come in.

The first cards - well...sometimes it pays to be a hoarder!!! Many years ago (2009 I think) SU had a DSP called Bali Breeze. One of the designs reminded me of the wisps of smoke coming off a flame, so I went with it. So glad I did.....

 

 

The bases are Wide Oval Punches and then the DSP is punched with a Butterfly Punch to make the curves!! The flames were another "accidental" find. I used the "flame" shaped die from the Holiday Ornaments Die set and then double die cut it...does that make sense? The red part of the flame is the heel from the Stocking Builder Punch. Aren't punches wonderful?? I also sponged all the flame edges.







The 2nd card was based around the same layout, but one was in portrait and the other in landscape. I also had another light bulb "flame" idea. For these I used the Daydream Medallion stamp set and Floral Frames Framelits. I cut the stamped and die cut images in half. On the Poppy one, it reminds me of a chandelier.

 

They are so pretty layered all together.

 

 

 

 

Now for that light bulb....the flames were this time done with the Blossom Petals Builder Punch. The end result was a beautiful elongated flame with a delicate tip.

 

 

 

The candle bases were basically the same as the ones above, except this time I tried to do one with the top of a heart punch and the other was part of 2 circles cut into the oval.

 

            Heart                                                                                                                     Circles

 

 

Here are the last batch of cards all together.

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed this out-of-my-comfort zone Diwali cards. I learnt so much whilst reaching these cards. Both ladies that these cards were for were over the moon with the cards and have sent them home to India to their families to let them know they are also celebrating here in Australia.

 

Also...I must also say a BIG thank you to Angela Sargeant again for lending me this wonderful stamp set!!

 

Thanks again for popping by.

 

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Tempting Turquoise, Poppy Parade (ret), Summer Starfruit, Whisper White, Rose Red, So Saffron,  Bali Breeze DSP (LONG ret....LOL!!)

Ink: (SU) Tempting Turquoise, Summer Starfruit, Poppy Parade (ret), Wild Wasabi, So Saffron and Pumpkin Pie (sponging flame)

Stamps: (SU) Daydream Medallions

Punches and Dies: (SU) Holiday Ornament Die Set, Floral Frames Framelits, Window Framelits,Blossom Petals Builder Punch, Stocking Builder Punch, Butterfly Punch (ret), Carla Craft CP2 1" Circle Punch, Carla Craft CP21 Heart Punch

Embossing Folder: SU Fancy Fan Folder

Other Bits: Dimensionals, Sponging, Clear Rhinestones fm stash

 

Lynda xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heartfelt with Stampin' Up in Sydney

Morning all.

A bonus post of sorts.......

Yesterday I attended the Heartfelt Stampin' Up event at Darling Harbour with Angela Sargeant. I had heard much about such gatherings and read many blogs extolling the wonder of Conventions and the like, but this was my first real experience with SU at this level.

First perk.....I met a couple of blog pals, many of whom I have "known" (ie read and e mailed...some for nearly 3 years!!!!). A big shout out to Nicole Derendorf, Leonie Schroder and (by no means least) Jenny Hayward. Jenny and I took the opportunity to have a memento picture to mark the event....I am on the left!!!

 

Second perk....free stamps!!! ( I will share the make and takes and the stamps used very soon!!

 

The next task was to put something on the Inspiration Board. These are display boards where soooooo many ideas are and you can take pictures of the ones that appeal to you (dah hence the name inspiration board I guess!!) This is the card I made for the occasion.....

 

 

Something a little different, but I was sooooooooo happy that the ideas I had bouncing around my head came out nearly the same on paper. The card was inspired by combining 2 cards I had seen. The first is by the uber talented Ellen Kemper and her card seen here. The second card was if you like an adaptation of an inspiration that Diane Giarrusso received at Convention in the USA as a swap seen here. I went back to my pre-stamping roots for a bit and did some punch art. Here is a close up of the lady....

 

 

The "garden" was stamped and sponged to create a feel of looking out of a window. The scene was stamped off twice and three times to give a little depth and the sky was sponged using my very well used acetate cloud template!!

 

 

I had so much fun adding dry embossing to bits and pieces. I am always blown away by what punches can do and deeply admire those out there who can see a shape and use it for something else soooo out-of-the-box!!

 

Third perk......I was sooooooo inspired by what I saw and learnt today it was beyond belief. I was surrounded by such creativity and inspiration....I loved every minute of it. Thanks so much to Angela for taking me and sharing such an awesome day.

 

Thanks for popping by. There will be some new posts fairly soon in conjunction with Diwali, so please drop by again.

 

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Midnight Muse, Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Primrose Petals, Soft Suede, Sahara Sand, Blush Blossom (ret)

Ink: (SU) Baja Breeze, Bashful Blue, Primrose Petals, Lucky Limeade, Gumball Green, Wisteria Wonder, Summer Starfruit

Stamps: (SU) Summer Silhouettes, Pennant Parade

Punches: (SU) Pennant Builder, Butterfly (ret), Scallop Oval, Large Oval, 1" circle, 1/2" circle, Eyelet Border, Carla Craft CP2 Heart Punch

Embossing Folders: (SU) Tulip Border, Square Lattice, Fancy Fan

Dies: (SU) Beautiful Wings Embosslit

Other Bits: 3mm white satin Ribbon fm stash, Dimensionals

 

Lynda xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Zero celebrations

Hi all.

In the upcoming posts, I will be sharing a multitude of same concept, different spin ideas that I have done for friends with ZERO birthdays.

Recently I have a Blog Buddy that celebrated one such milestone!!! I have never met this gal, but she has a passion of coffee (a kindred spirit indeed)...take a bow Leonie Schroder. Now I had to take a bit of a stab-in-the-dark with a colour scheme, because trawling through Leonie's blog did not really give up any real clues!!!

The idea I had in mind was this FAB and super cute Bird House post it holder by Cynthia Richards. I downloaded the tute and started to work. Essentially it is easy peasy to put together, the only real modification I made was at the base with adding a Round Tab Punch to help it sit up a little better. I also added a wee slip for the pen to go to through at the base. Given the gift was based around an easel format, I made a matching card too. Here are the two together.......

closed.......

 

 

 

...and open in all their easel wonder......

 

 

 

The bird houses are made identically for both the card and holder. I sponged ALL edges which made a big difference actually!!! There is fine detail all over with texture in the bird wing, the roof and even the letterbox lid!! Here is the card and the post it holder detail close up......

 

 

 The flowers were stamped with the "dotty centre" from the Mixed Bunch stamp set and then the flowers were punched out and layered.

 

 

The bird sits pretty on a branch from the XL bird punch and the post box was done with the 1 1/4 inch square punch, double punched just to nip a corner....if that makes sense. The post is a word window punch cut lengthwise and trimmed. on the second pic you can see how the addition of the round tab punch helps the whole thing sit.

 

 

There are MANY punches, pieces and things used in this and I will try to list them all. If I have missed anything out, ask the question when you leave a comment and I will get back to you with an answer!!

 

Thanks for popping by....much more to share very soon....including a fab teen male card!!!

 

Stuff Used:

CS: (SU) Crumb Cake, River Rock (roof), Soft Suede (main house), Bashful Blue, Pear Pizzaz (grass), Old Olive (branch)

Ink: (CS) River Rock, Soft Suede, Bashful Blue, Pear Pizzaz

Stamps: (SU) Sincere Salutations, Mixed Bunch

Punches: (SU) XL Bird Punch, 1 3/4" circle Punch, 1 1/4" Square Punch, Word Window Punch, Round Tab Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Border Punch,  Martha Stewart Grass Punch, Carla Craft CP2 and CP1 Daisy punches

Other Bits: SU Fancy Fan Embossing Folder, Crimper, Sponges, Metallic Gold number stickers fm stash, Clear Rhinestones, Dimensionals, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Post it notes, small blue glitter gel pen

 

Lynda xx