CCMC-OCC4 and Sunday Stamps Up, Up and Away

Here is another quick, easy card for a birthday using some of my favourite colours from Create with Connie and Mary together with Hayley's sketch at Sunday Stamps. You can click on the links to go direct to their blogs.

Straight away I thought of the hot air balloons in Up, Up & Away,  and found that the card came together without too much trouble. The birthday greeting is from the Delightful Dozen, and as the name suggests, has twelve great greetings for all occasions.

Up, Up and Away Birthday
 

I sponged around a small scallop to create the clouds in the sky and raised the balloons on Stampin' Up Dimensionals. A small length of Daffodil yellow ribbon, simply knotted, added a bit more colour.

So glad you dropped by today, email me if you have any questions. If you would like to order some Stampin' Up! supplies, get a catalogue mailed or become an independent Stampin' Up! demo yourself, and you live in Australia, it's easy - just email or call on 0417 500 681

Happy stamping!

Rachel

Moving Forward....

When I saw Retro Sketches#51 this week I immediately thought of the Moving Forward stamp set from Stampin' Up! It just might be my current favourite, I think. I can't say NEW favourite because it has been around in Australia since our Annual catalogue was released last September, but I seem to be using it once or twice each week at the moment.
The image in the sketch looks like something moving off the page, but then after I had coloured in my stamp, I couldn't quite bring myself to do that, oh dear! I probably should try that though, to push my boundaries a little, LOL.

Well, actually, I did challenge myself by using the colours presented at ColourQ#177  this week. Not at all a combination I would have readily chosen, but the Cherry Cobbler decided that I was using the cute trike image and not the sailboat! And then I needed the frog and some stems for Always Artichoke, and where to add the Pool Party?

I used the "ink to rubber" technique to colour this stamp in so many different colours. It isn't as technical as it might sound, and gives a more subtle watercolour-like finish, and Moving Forward is a perfect set to use this technique with,  even though the frog, flowers, and a little bird are all separate images to make it easier to colour them differently.
Well, you'll notice that I layered Pool Party under Cherry Cobbler and used some natural buttons and Bakers twine in Cherry Cobbler and white to finish off.

Its quite a simple little card for this challenge, hope you like it and don't forget to take a look at the challenge sites for lots more inspiration. If you're quick, you can enter too. Happy stamping!

Rachel

New Babies and Birthdays SSC35

I love 'country' colours, and when I was a patchworker I usually made quilts in these shades, so I was thrilled when I saw the colours on the Sunday Stamps color Challenge for this week. These are perfect colours for a masculine card, so I pulled out Clockworks, Daring Adventure and Feeling Sentimental stamp sets. The first two are available in the current Annual Catalogue and Feeling Sentimental is one of the Sale-a-bration stamps sets, yours free with an order of $100. With those three sets you could make an enormous range of cards.

Whoops! I nearly forgot that I also used a ticket stamp from That's the Ticket, NEW in the 25th Anniversary catalogue out now. A ticket seemed the appropriate place to stamp the other greeting, what with the giant ferris (?) wheel.The card has been finished off with bakers twine and a wooden button.

I also have been making baby cards lately, because I will need one shortly for a new family member, whose gender will be a surprise. My stocks of cards for new arrivals was running pretty low too, so I have made quite a few for both little girls or boys.

Next is a card in the challenge colours for a wee boy. Quite a simple card using Moving Forward, from the Annual catalogue and Itty Bitty Banners, which can be purchased from the catalogue for $27.95 (wood mount) or chosen as your Free selection in the Sale-a-bration promotion. I used an embossing folder to texture a piece of Marina Mist card with a zig zag pattern, so it isn't completely plain.

Exciting news for me again! 

The baby card, above, was a Sunday Stamps Top Pick!

How adorable is that sweet Sail Boat? Great use of the Challenge Colors Rachel and I really like the texture you added with the embossing folder. Congrats! 

Lastly, is a pretty card for a little girl with some of the new flower trim, tinted by rubbing on a stamp pad. I used the diagonal plate on my Simply Scored to score the card front at regular intervals, then turned it over and used the other side. I placed the tiniest of the Basic Jewel pearls on every second junction. This greeting, "baby, welcome to the world" is from another great stamp set, A Word For You, with greetings for a number of different occasions. The tiny bird is from Aviary, it looks so sweet sitting on the end of the flourish!

Remember to call me if you have any questions, want catalogues or would like to place an order. You can have your order delivered anywhere in Australia for 5% of the order value, minimum $5.95.

You can phone 0417 500 681 or email .

Happy stamping, Rachel

These are some of the stampsets used.

Moving Forward

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Clockworks

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Daring Adventure

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Aviary

Aviary Baby for CQC175 & Retro sketches

I've admired Retro sketches for quite a few months, but didn't have enough time last year to take part in their challenges.

 Nearly ran out of time this week too, as I struggle to clean up my craft room! I teamed it with the ColourQ challenge too, to make this baby card.


I've used Aviary and a greeting from Itty Bitty Banners, cut with its matching die on my Big Shot. Whatever would I do without the Big Shot?

This card was a winner of Colour Q courtier!
Check it out.

Have a great weekend, thanks for visiting my blog. Why don't you let me know you've been here, and if you have a blog, I'll visit you too.

Rachel

Birthday card for SSC34 and cQc175

I happily started making the gogeous flower by cutting Pink Pirouette with the Bigz L Fun Flower die on my Big Shot. I was using the lovely sketch provided by Holly at Sunday Stamps, but although pretty, my card was looking rather bland in the two sweet shades of pink I'd chosen. I have to admit that I am slightly scared of colour, so the ColourQ palette is VERY challenging. Eventually I decided I could try ColourQ's selection, substituting Melon Mambo (the "hottest" pink I have) for Pink Passion, if I only used small amounts of Cherry Cobbler and Tangerine Tango.

I have inked the edges of the petals, and curled them using the now-retired file from Distressing Essentials. Before I bought that little kit, I used my husband's rusty ones in his tool kit!  Itty Bitty Banners is the birthday greeting on this card, cut with the matching die. Lastly, I added a large rhinestone to the flower centre. I think I know who this card will be for - a work colleague who is quite partial to pink!

Rachel's card is simple and true to the sketch and I really like how she keep the clean lines and really amp'd up that flower with all the dimension! 

Tea Shoppe CCMC -OCC2

I still love this stamp set, Tea Shoppe, which was introduced in April 2012 in the Autumn-Winter catalogue, and then appeared in the Annual catalogue. I've used it lots, and I think it really suits the Tea For Two Paper in the current catalogue.

 I thought the sketch for the challenge at Create with Connie and Mary was quite interesting this week. I was guided by the colour palette used on the patterned paper, and used a piece of So Saffron after dry embossing with Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions folder, introduced in the Holiday catalogue but carried over for now. I already had a tea cup image stamped in Not Quite Navy so I went with that for the card base.

  

I added a Subtles Glimmer brad (no longer available) to one end of the label and placed that on another shaped label also embossed with the Lacy Brocade folder, a little bakers twine and a little teapot trinket, in the 25th Anniversary catalogue, out now. The teacup is quite easy to hand cut, except for the inside of the handle and I heard a very handy hint to solve that problem just recently. The wing from the bird punch fits quite easily into that spot!

Some of the Stampin Up! products used.

ColourQ 174 and Freshly Made Sketches 71

Initially, I thought the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches was difficult, but after the first card, the second was easy. I decided to use the colour challenge from ColourQ so that I expanded my colour choice for a change. I always feel more comfortable with only three colours, but after all, these three shades of pink do go beautifully together, so it wasn't too tricky.

I chose Primrose Petals for my base and added a NEW dry embossed border, one of the two in the Needlepoint Border folder (page 5) available in the 25th Anniversary Catalogue. Next, with the Big Shot, I cut the wider tag from the Two Tags die in Very Vanilla card. There is a crease just above the greeting, so I could have folded the tag and made a little pocket and these two dies are able to be used not only as tags, but as gift holders for small gifts. Ask me, I'm happy to show you how.
 


Summer Silhouette/ Daydream Medallions



I twice-stamped the lovely leaves from Summer Silhouettes, without re-inking between stamping, which gave two shades to the Early Espresso. This sweet little greeting is from a lovely little set of three stamps called Made For You. I really like this font, so fresh and young.

Next I stamped some Pink Pirouette card with Primrose Petals and Raspberry Ripple using the Daydream Medallions stamps, before using Floral Frames Framelit die to cut matching floral shapes, which I layered up after hand turning the petals, and finished off with the NEW Large Rhinestone.

Lastly, a piece of Raspberry Ripple ribbon and an Antique Brad were the finishing touches.

Cheerio for now,
Rachel

FMS 71

I've had a hectic 3 days away at my son's home, helping out with their two lively little men, 'cos their dad had surgery last week and they needed Poppy and Gran to take them fishing and to the park to run off some of the energy that Dad usually takes care of.

Since we arrived home my other two grandsons have visited, and when they left, I decided to have an hour or two of "me-time" to recharge before fronting up to some more darling children at school tomorrow!!

I've missed deadlines for some challenges that I had bookmarked (that happens a lot....LOL) but still have time for Freshly Made Sketches, one of my absolute favourites! If you click on that link you will see heaps more great cards by very talented players.

I have used some patterned paper from Sale-a-bration, it's called Sycamore Street, to set the colours for my card. Inks used are Pool Party, Tangerine Tango and I substituted Marina Mist for Island Indigo for a more subtle deep blue. The tag was cut with the Two-Tags die on my Big Shot using Whisper White card. I had tried it in Pool Party but it didn't look "clean" enough. The flower and leaf is from a Sale-a-bration set called Bloomin' Marvellous, and then I stamped a flower centre in Tangerine Tango with a little stamp from the Summer Silhouettes set. The same colour was used to stamp a stamp from the Papillon Potpourri and it was punched with its matching punch.

There's a new petite sized butterfly punch in the 25th Anniversary Catalogue (page 13) which punches the smaller butterflies from the Papillon Potpourri set and also the wee butterfly in Bloomin' Marvellous. I love the way everything mixes and matches. I was going to include one of the Bitty Butterflies too, but it made it a bit busy, I'm sure I'll use the other ones I punched very soon anyway.

At the top of the tag I have placed an Antique Brad over some Pool Party Seam Binding, which unfortunately covers the pretty scalloped top of the tag and the butterfly has three Rhinestone Basic Jewels.

Oh, and the greeting I used is from a Itty Bitty Banners stamp set that is available both as a sale-a-bration bonus (Free with a $100 order, before shipping) or it can be purchased from the Annual catalogue for $27.95 for wood mount. It's on page 134, where you can see that there are three shapes and sizes, six different greetings. Also available are Bitty Banners Framelits dies if you happen to have a Big Shot.

I'll say ciao for now,

Rachel