Delightful Dahlia FMS#156 CMCC#40

I've surprised myself today, by using the monochrome colours at Colour Me! for this sketch by Narelle at  Freshly Made Sketches. Strangely, I find Calypso Coral (really any of the orange shades) a little bit overwhelming on cards, and yet I wear a LOT of orange and coral??! Doesn't really make much sense, does it?


Tea For Two was a BIG favourite from the mini catalogue nearly two years ago because of the 'tea' theme and the lovely patchwork patterns it incorporated. It also has a number of pieces featuring Calypso Coral, like the sweet spot here. It's a bargain in the Clearance Rack at the moment.

Lately, because I have so many new stamps, I have neglected old favourites like Regarding Dahlias. This flower is always stunning, I love cutting it out, and imagine how gorgeous it would look coloured with Blendabilities!

I didn't want a greeting to overwhelm the big blossom and an outline from Mosaic Madness, punched was about the right size. I was happy to find the Banner Banter greetings were quite a good fit, and obviously I could have just punched with a banner punch too.

The Mosaic Madness Embossing Folder was an easy choice after using the punched shape for the sentiment. I love the way either side of the paper looks fabulous after embossing.
Lastly,some leaves cut with Flower Fair Framelits, which might have been nice to stamp with the matching stamp in Flower Patch to give some more definition. With all these ifs and maybes, I can almost feel another card coming on!!!!

There are two great blogs for you to look at more inspiration, Freshly Made Sketches and Colour Me! Click on the link and check them out.

I must get a wriggle on because I am taking hubby to 'test-drive' a lunch at the restaurant where we are celebrating my Big O birthday in two months. Hope you have a wonderful day!

Rachel

Regarding Dahlias Wood Stamp Set

$34.95

Regarding Dahlias Clear Stamp Set

$27.95

Mosaic Madness Wood Stamp Set

$46.95

Mosaic Madness Clear Stamp Set

$36.95

Banner Banter Wood-Mount Stamp Set

$30.95

Banner Banter Clear-Mount Stamp Set

$23.95

Tea For Two Designer Series Paper

$16.95

Mosaic Punch

$27.95

Stampin' Trimmer

$49.95

Paper Snips Scissors

$16.95

Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad

$9.95

Calypso Coral A4 Card Stock

$11.95

Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock

$14.95

Modern Mosaic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

$13.95

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

Wedding Cake and Flowers FMS #128

This wedding card uses a simple masking technique to 'layer without layering', if you know what I mean. I've stamped Off The Grid in gold ink, over the word cake from Love & Laughter. While the mask remained in place, I inked up a stamp from Mosaic Madness with Calypso Coral and stamped from side to side. No worries about whether the lines match up, it was all done in one! I do wish that I had stamped the cake in something other than Crumb Cake though, as it is very difficult to distinguish the cake from the grid, unless it catches the light.I punched out blossoms in Crisp Cantaloupe and Pool Party with the Itty Bitty Shapes Punches, and finished each one with a tiny pearl. There's just one Petite Petals flower stamped in Pool Party too.

Another closer photo gives a better idea of the detail. I thought I was making this card for two challenges, but when I went back to link up the post, I discovered that it was meant to be a birthday card! I may have to make another card, perhaps.

The sketch at Freshly Made Sketches was the starting point for my inspiration. Pop on over to see what the Design Team produced, and the other contributions are sure to be great too.
I must get a move on, enjoy your day...
Rachel

Birthday Sketch RS#100

Happy 100th sketch Retrosketches!

That's an awful lot of inspiration, and week after week I visit their blog to get some for me. Anyone can take part, why don't you challenge yourself too?

I love DSP and always buy it, and then I have trouble cutting it. I've had even more trouble with Quatrefancy DSP, which matches the Mosaic Madness stamp set, because it has 2 sheets of acetate window sheets in it. I love it but find it hard to use. I decided to take the plunge and cut into it for this lovely sketch, and overnight all sorts of other inspiration has popped into my head!

The pretty paper is also from the Quatrefancy pack, in my favourite colour too - Pool Party. Teamed with Island Indigo, such a cool combination. The two pieces of the flower were left over from another project, and using them made sense. I smudged the petal edges using a sponge dauber with Island Indigo ink, and popped a button in the centre. The three Pool Party buttons on the left were in last year's SALE-A-BRATION, its on again now too.

I haven't decided the occasion this card is destined for, so I've left the greeting off at this stage. It could even be placed on the bottom strip of Island Indigo, using white embossing powder.

Thank you for visiting my blog, I'd love you to leave a comment.

Happy crafting!

Rachel

Pink and Pretty DD#61

 It's surprising how difficult I found this challenge to use Pink Pirouette and Sahara Sand, do you ever find that?
I've had a couple of attempts to make something through the week, but it was only last night when I couldn't sleep, that this idea came to me. Hasn't it turned out so soft and subtle? Almost suitable for a sweet baby girl, but I went with birthday, 'cos you can never have too many birthday cards.

I went all-out for Mosaic Madness: stamps, embossing folder and punch. Add Label Love and the matching Artisan Label punch. You have to love stamp sets with matching punches, it just makes the job of creating so..o..o..o... easy.


The label was inked with Stampin' Write markers in Sahara Sand and Pink Pirouette. I'm getting lots of use from this stamp.A Bitty Butterfly added the finishing touch to the label along with flowers punched with one of the Itty Bitty Shapes punches with lots of pearls to finish everything off nicely. I'm quite happy with how this pretty card ended up. The colour inspiration was courtesy of Dynamic Duos challenge.

I'm looking forward to my Pick and Mix Class at home here tomorrow night, still places available at the table and a chance to try some new stamp sets, punches and the Big Shot Magnetic Platform if you like. Give me a call 0417 500 681 if you'd like to join me at 7pm Friday night in South Morang (north of Melbourne).
Enjoy your weekend
Rachel

All About You! FMS92

I had partially made this card before we went away this weekend, but hadn't had time to photograph it or blog, so it's catch-up time now.

I think Bermuda Bay might just be my new favourite colour, I'm even wearing a top and cardigan in those colours as I type this. {smile}



I stamped one of the border stamps from Mosaic Madness onto the Bermuda Bay base and used Coastal Cabana to stamp three of the cute little shapes onto Whisper White and then punched them out with the Mosaic Punch. Don't you just LOVE it when Stampin' Up! make it that easy, with a punch to match a shape?
Those shapes are lined up on the left and look gorgeous with a little added bling. The right side is simply stamped in Bermuda Bay with a stamp from Really Good Greetings and underlined with another stamp from Mosaic Madness. I added some more rhinestones to that and called it finished.

There are so many variations in that stamp set, 11 stamps in total! You will find it on page 123 of the new catalogue. I used Mosaic Madness for this card too.

I'm back from a delightful, but exhausting weekend with three of my grandchildren. Always lovely to spend time with any of my children, and their wives and children, we are very blessed.

I have two weeks holiday so I'm looking forward with excitement to the release of the new catalogue on Tuesday, I've had plenty of time to browse through it and make lists. Do you want to see the new catalogue too?
I expect I will have time to create, catch up with friends, visit the Monet exhibition currently visiting Melbourne, and finish planning the trip to Ireland and England that my husband and I are taking very soon.

Feel free to contact me if you need a new catalogue, information or to place an order. I'll be very happy to chat. Phone 0417 500 681 rpalmieri5@bigpond.com
Cheers - Rachel

My Mosaic Madness! CCMC255 & SSC51

A lovely, long weekend in Australia, and I have really been enjoying my extra free time!

My big, brown box of Stampin' Up! goodies from the upcoming New Catalogue release arrived just in time for my playtime today, and I chose to use the sketch from Create with Connie and Mary, together with the fresh, bright colours at Sunday Stamps.

I loved the fact that the new Specialty Designer Series Paper, Quatrefancy, has Daffodil Delight and Strawberry Slush (a new colour similar to Melon Mambo) and this piece of DSP is the same sheet showing both sides.

(I have to confess at this point, that I thought it was Melon Mambo, and used MM ink. I've only found out because I referred to the back of the pack to check the colours, and I don't know the difference after only playing for one day. But oh dear! I CAN definitely see the difference now, please forgive me?)

I should have just used Gingham Garden, it has Melon Mambo and Daffodil Delight!

Trouble is, I was so keen to try out the Mosaic Madness stamp set and the matching punch, and that is why I rushed off to use the Quatrefancy DSP! I love to bits the way it all coordinates - thanks Stampin' Up!

I added a little texture with the Fancy Fan Embossing Folder on a layer of Sahara Sand card, rounded the corners and attached it to a matching card base. The dimensionals were perfect to give some height to the punched shapes and the Apothecary Accents label, with the greeting, and then just a few Rhinestones.

Are you excited to see the new colours, stamps etc that Stampin' Up! has for us at the beginning of July?
Thanks for passing by,
Rachel