Stationery Gift for Mel

I made this stationery box for my sister Demo, Mel, who is moving in a couple of weeks. I got the pattern and instructions from Jackie Topa. I used Old Olive and Bashful Blue cardstock, Summer Picnic DSP and the hostess stamp set "In the Spotlight".

The box has a pen, an address book, some stamps, 4 small cards, 4 gift tags and 8 "normal" sized cards. I thought it had everything she needs to keep in touch with her friends after she moves.

This was really fun to make!

Just for fun!

What Sharon Means

You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong. You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know. You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do. You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out. Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia. Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life. You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you. At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Tag - you're it!

I've been tagged by one of new SBS sisters, Debby. Here are the rules:

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Now for 7 facts about myself:

1. My taste in music can only be described as "eclectic" - anything from hard rock to show tunes.
2. I have too much "stuff".
3. I would love to have a clutter free house - but see 2. above.
4. I am arachnaphobic - don't ask me to be in the same room as anything hairy, with 8 legs. Even dead ones!
5. My favourite colour is blue.
6. I respond really well to praise and recognition.
7. I have a small collection of Cherished Teddies.

Now to tag 7 others.

Susie

Michelle

Theresa

Leslie

Kristen

Stephanie

Karen

I'm off now to let these lovely ladies know that they've been tagged. I'll be back later today with some of my recent creations.

Enjoy every moment!

My daughter's teacher is finishing up this Friday (NT schools have one week holiday next week). She is going home to Queensland to have her baby! I wanted to make a card that was a combination of Thank You (she has been fabulous this year and Charis loves her) and Good Luck. What do you think? Have I done it?

The base cardstock is Blue Bayou. I used the stamp set Enjoy Every Moment. I stamped the dotted circle from this set randomly around the edge of the base card. I stamped the "enjoy" in Blue Bayou on Soft Sky, replacing the "o" with the large flower image (which was inked in Soft Sky and then rolled in Blue Bayou - I did this 3 times until I was happy with the result). The centre of the flower has been punched out using the 3/4" circle punch. I then used the Glitter Window technique to give some sparkle. The main image was then mounted on Groovy Guava (the bottom of which I stamped using the small flower image in Groovy Guava ink) which in turn was mounted on DSP from the Secret Garden Scrappin' Kit. I stamped "every moment" in Blue Bayou on Soft Sky and punched it with the Word Window punch. The edges of all the cardstock were sponged with the matching colour ink and sponge daubers.

I hope that Mrs Read likes this card. I spent ages coming up with the design - or at least translating it from the picture in my head to real life. I'm very happy with the result.

Sisterhood of the Blogging Stampers # 25

I've joined! SBS is a great group of fellow blogging stampers who give great support to each other, as well as issuing challenges, sending RAK's etc. I'm really excited to be a part of this. If you would like to join too just go to the SBSblog and sign up.

A little bit about myself for my Sisters:

• I live near Katherine, in the Northern Territory, Australia
• I am an RAAF wife - my husband is an RAAF chaplain
• I work full-time as an accountant with in local government
• I am a craft-addict - I have tried just about every craft there is (except anything that involves painting - I'm not good at that)
• I have been an SU demo for 4 months and am loving it
• I have one daughter who is 11 years old (I almost wrote 10!)

I'm really looking forward to this experience.

(I have listed all the current SBS #25 members in the sidebar and will add to it as more people join.)

One Sheet Wonder

This is my first attemp at the technique known as One Sheet Wonder. It doesn't really take only one sheet of cardstock to make these 8 cards however, all the atmping (except for the sentiments) is done on one sheet of Whisper White which is then cut up and used as the main image or background on the 8 different cards. The colours I used were Chocolate Chip, Rose Red, Almost Amethyst and Certainly Celery. The stamp sets were Basics wheel, Bud Basics and Cheery Chat (love this sentiment set!).

If you would like to make 8 cards in one afternoon using this same technique then come along to my One Sheet Wonder workshop - details are as follows:

Date: 28th September 2008

Time: 1.30pm

Place: my house

Bring: own SNAIL or similar adhesive, a trimmer if you have one

Cost: $20 if you bring your own adhesive or $25 is you use mine

How's that? Only $20 to make 8 eights with envelopes. That's only $2.50 per card. And you have an afternoon filled with fun (and chocolate) as well. Cheap at twice the price!

Seriously, places are limited so if you want to come please contact me ASAP to book your place.

VSN Challenge 3

The last challenge!

This card uses my 2 favourite colours from our current In-Colour range - Purely Pomegranate and Wild Wasabi. I think they work so well together for a Christmas Card. I haven't used the wide Satin ribbon much so I just had to use it for this card - and it comes in Purely Pomegranate!

The stamp set is Season of Joy - just gorgeous. I stamped the swirl twice along the bottom and top, changing the orientation each time. The image was stamped in Wild Wasabi and Purely Pomegranate on Whisper White. I cut out one of the flowers, the inside of the tree and the letters J and Y from the Purely Pomegranate image and glued them onto the Wild Wasabi one to add some interest.

I adhered a Purely Pomegranate mat to the card base. Then I layered the ribbons (Wild Wasabi double-stitched over the Purely Pomegranate satin). Lastly, I layered the image with Wild Wasabi textured cardstock and used Stampin' Dimensionals to adhere them down.

I really love this set for Christmas. I can see me making a lot of cards something like this.

VSN Challenge 2

Finally! Blogger didn't want to load this photo the first time I tried so I'm a little late but I promise the project was completed before 9pm.

This is a great gift bag made from 2 pieces of 12x12 DSP - what a great size!

I used the Apple Cider DSP and teamed it with Really Rust cardstock and River Rock double stitched grosgrain ribbon. The stamped image is from True Friend and matches with the printed image on the paper. I coloured it to coordinate with Eart Elements SU Markers.

Just one more to go!

Virtual Stamping Night (VSN) Part 1

Tonight is the SUPER-Stampers first Virtual Stamping Night. We are only a small group but we are spread across Australia so our leader Nerine has organised 3 challenges for us to complete at the same time tonight. For more details you can visit her blog here.

This is my card for the first challenge. The rules were simple - use Elegant Eggplant, Taken with Teal and Old Olive to make a card.

The set "Close as a Memory" was sitting on my desk so I thought "Why not?" I do love the way the bunch of flowers has come out. I coloured on the stamp with Watercolour Wonder Crayons (Elegant Eggplant and Old Olive) and then misted the stamp very lightly with water. It was then stamped onto Naturals Ivory cardstock. The resultant image is very soft and like a watercolour. I then stamped the same image on a Taken with Teal scrap using Versamark ink. The sentiment is stamped in Old Olive on the Ivory again and mounted on Old Olve. This is then adhered to the card over the ribbon (Old Olive wide grosgrain) using Stampin' Dimensionals.

Sympathy cards are not the easiest to make but it always good to have a few on hand. You never know when you need them, and when you do is when you feel least like making them.

Check out Nerine's blog for her card and those made by the other SUPER-Stampers.

Come back in an hour (about 9pm Australian CST) to check out the result of the next challenge.

Father's Day

This is the card I sent my Dad for Father's Day. I shamelessly CASEd it from someone but I can't remember who! I'll come back and add her name if I remember.

The base of the card is Close to Cocoa. Inside it looks just a wallet and includes a space to place a store gift card.

I used a Jumbo Eyelet to simulate a snap-closure.

I think this is sure-cute and my Mum and Dad both loved it.

I'm participating in a SUPER-Stampers VSN (Virtual Stamping Night) tonight so there should be at least 3 posts from me overnight. I can't wait! This is my first VSN and I'm looking forward to the challenges.

He's Coming Home!

I'm off to Darwin this afternoon as Alan is coming home!

I'll be back with more stamping at the weekend.

Mel's Fortnightly Challenge

My "aunt" in SU - Mel - has issued a colour challenge this fortnight - Ballet Blue, Regal Rose and Barely Banana, inspired by a spectacular sunset picture. Here is my contribution:

The base card is Ballet Blue. I stamped the Brocade background onto Whisper White cardstock and cut out the one flourish. The flowers are from the Pretties Kit - coloured with (in order from the biggest to the smallest) Regal Rose marker, Regal Rose Watercolour Wonder crayon and Barely Banana marker. I fastened them together with a Rhinstone brad from the Pretties Kit and adhered them to the card with a Pop-Up Glue Dot. The sentiment is from the Sweet Serendipity set, stamped in Ballet Blue on Barely Banana with a Regal Rose Designer Label punch behind it.

That's it. Simple, hey?

More Father's Day cards

Just a few Father's Day cards I've made over the week. We have a large market here this weekend and I'm hoping to sell these, and others.

I won't leave any details of these cards but if you would like to know anything just leave a comment or send me an email and I'd be happy to help.

Thanks for visiting.

Workshop Cards

Finally! I have been trying since Sunday last week to upload these photos to blogger.

These are 2 cards I made with a group of ladies at a workshop last Saturday. I knew they would all be mothers of young children and would always need children's birthday cards.

The Princess card is Perfect Plum, Mellow Moss and Pretty in Pink. We stamped the crown from the Perfect Princess set in Versamark on Whisper White cardstock and heat embossed it in silver. We added Dazzling Diamonds to the jewels for some more bling. The backgound uses the Perfectly Pretty wheel. The ribbon is Mellow Moss taffeta. A card perfect for a little princess.

The card on the right is for the boys. We used the By Land set and inked the car with SU Markers - Brilliant Blue and Basic Black - and stamped it on Whisper White. We then used the Crop-a-dile to add Jumbo eyelets to the wheels for hubcaps. The Beep Beep was stamped on Whisper White and cut into a tag shape. Both images were mounted on More Mustard cardstock. A small eyelet was set in the top of the tag and it was tied through one of the "hubcaps" using Linen Thread. The card background is Garden Green with Brilliant Blue DSP and another small piece of Garden Green. Sure to delight any small boy.

If blogger continues to behave, I'll be back with some Father's Day cards I have been making.