You're a Gem

Over at StampNation I took part in a Sursee Swap.  (Sursee means small unexpected gift)
Our theme was You're a Gem - use bling on your card.

My card went to Tracey in Australia.

For my bling I used some Gold Glitter paste through a stencil..  I use a Catherine Pooler Grateful Heart stamp for my flower.  I gold embossed the sentiment on black card.  Added some pretty gems to finish my card. 

Wishing you all, the best wishes for Christmas... I'll be back tomorrow with a Christmas card.

September Sursee

Over at StampNation there is a swap called the Sursee Swap.   It is not your traditional swap... if  you join for the swap, you get to send an encouragement card to someone.... but not every month will you get one back..... Sursee mean a small, thoughtful gift, unexpected gift, just because.

September Sursee was to be inspired by Craft for a Cause-   September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness month and Erica put together this Teal Ovarian Cancer awareness board in honor of one of her dear survivor friends. 

My card went to Betty in the States.  I was inspired by the teal bicycle so here's what I did

Thanks Betty for taking a photo of this as I forgot!  The bike stamp was a freebie from a magazine.  The sentiment is from Kaisercraft.

It's a great and thoughtful idea and I love taking part.  

EDITED:  The day after I wrote this I got a gorgeous card in the post from Kathleen...

Very pretty and so unexpected.

Mood Board inspiration at StampNation

It's time for another challenge at StampNation.   This time round we have a Mood Board Inspiration

Here's a sneak peek at my card

Full reveal is over at the StampNation

I also did a tag for challenge.

Supplies:
Stamps: Christmas Carol (Kaisercraft)
Inks: Versamark ink (Tsukineko) Icing on the cake (Catherine Pooler Designs)
Paper: White (generic) Patterned Paper (Christmas This & That- Echo Park) Black (scrap) Vellum
Accessories: Cuttlebug Distress Embossing Folder, Nuvo Drops (Light Gold), Liquid Platinum embossing powder (Ranger), Poinsettia Die (Kaisercraft) Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers, ) Stitched circle die (Simon Says Stamp)

thanks for stopping by

Wreath Challenge at StampNation

Hi.... Our latest Christmas challenge is up at StampNation - Wreaths

Here is a sneak peek at my card.  Join us at StampNation to see the full reveal and those of my team mates. 

A very Sad Day.....

I am very sad today... My darling Mum passed this morning.....  Lots of tears and sadness.  And not being in the same country to support my Dad is making it even worse.   I am so glad I was able to visit last month.  It really hasn't  hit me yet.   Until we know more details, we can't make plans for our flight over to Australia.   RIP Mum.  LOVE YOU


To take my mind of things, I made card this afternoon for StampNation's WCMD challenge #1 - Make a scene. 

I used a Dark Room Door scene stamp - used some Altenew inks to stamp and sponge onto the scene.  The sentiment is from a Catherine Pooler stamp set.  This is for my hubby's birthday on the 16th. 

My posts might be a bit spasmodic for the next little while. 

There's Rainbows at StampNation

The latest challenge at StampNation is underway.  And it's all about Rainbows....  Here's a sneak peek

To see all the Design Team cards come and join us at StampNation

and get ready for some fun

Inspired by StampNation Masterclass - Spectrum Aqua Markers

The latest StampNation Masterclass is under way.  It's about using Spectrum Aqua Markers.    Our first tutorial is about using the markers to do a watercolour wash background.  I did an interpretation of this on my card.

I used  blue and blue-green markers to make my background and splatters.  The sentiment is from a Spectrum Noir stamp set.  I used the markers directly on the little heart stamps.

Will be trying out some more backgrounds using my Spectrum markers  - I have some neutral sets so they will make lovely backgrounds.

new challenge at StampNation

Hi there . The "NEW" challenge is up at StampNation......yes it's about using NEW productsearch or items

Here's a sneak peek of the designers cards

Can you guess which is mine?

If you are  member of StampNation you can check it out here

Two for One technique piece with Marching Leaves

My Stamp of Approval, Counting Blessing box finally arrived at my place on Friday evening and come Sunday I got some time to play.  I have some lovely Cosmic Shimmer Glitter Kiss in Golden Sand and decided it might look good through the Marching Leaves stencil..... and it did!

I took the technique piece and made two cards out of it.

 

I cut the panel into two with a Spellbinders edge die and then cut a matching scallop from Kraft card.  The sentiment was embossed with Platinum powder and I added the panel with pop dots

And for this one, I used the other half of the panel.  I die cut a strip of bronze glitter paper and then another Spellbinders edge die.  This time I white embossed the sentiment. 

I'm loving the Stamp of Approval box and can't wait to get a few more cards made, although, I'm taking a break for a few days....I'm going away from Thurs to Monday evening... 

Rustic Christmas over at StampNation

Hi.  Rustic Christmas challenge is underway at StampNation.  Here's a sneak peek at my card

for more details come and join us at StampNation

 

Sketch challenge at StampNation.

Another challenge at StampNation.  And this week,  the lovely Michelle from CAS-ual Fridays has a $50 voucher for one lovely participant. 

Here's a sneak peek of my card. 

Do hop over to StampNation and see my card and those of my teamies.

Rainbow cards....

I've been taking part in the OCC Rainbow marker class - or at least watching the videos.  I did manage to get one card done for my homework.  As part of the Altenew sale, I purchased the Simple Flowers stamps and dies and had an idea to stamp the flowers in different rainbow colours.  I decided to use Catherine Pooler inks as they are so vibrant and will make the flowers pop.  

And I was super pleased with the result.  I added lots of Spectrum Noir glitter pen on the flowers to give it a shimmery shine.  

And here's a bit of a sneak peek of the latest Challenge at StampNation... it's all about using your border stamps and I did a rainbow card

Full reveal is over at StampNation.  Do come and join.  It is well worth it. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Weekend stamping and a Christmas Tag

Hi all.  Hope you have all had a great weekend.  I did some stamping... a few cards for my design teams and some just for fun. 

Sunday morning I took part in Hero Arts Flickr group 90 mins scramble.  I really had a struggle.  The challenge was to use a frame on your card.   I decided I'd use some oxide inks for a background, smooshing on a stamping block ... but oh my goodness....what a mess!  After several goes, I gave that a miss.... and then decided to use an older HA stamp called Flower Box.  Started by stamping and colouring and then added my sentiment with Versafine Onyx black.   But I forgot that this ink takes time to dry - so don't go and trim it up too soon....

ARRRG... by this time it I flagged it and came back half an hour later and started again!

Still not 100% happy but it got finished.

My next project was a tag to enter into the current Christmas challenge at StampNation. 

I used a tag die cut with a Catherine Pooler SOA die, and used a Sunny Studio stamp set.  The branches were stamped with Altenew Evergreen ink.  The bells are stamped with Catherine Pooler inks in Garden Party, Lime Rickey and Grass Skirt   They really look shiny

I did some testing of different inks for the bells

I'll be sure to be trying out some different colour schemes for my Christmas cards this year.

Use your little bitty stamps....

New challenge at StampNation today.... to use those little bitty stamps that came with lots of our stamp sets...

Here's a sneak peek - hop over to StampNation for the full reveal and to see what my team mates came up with.

Not a member.... it's a great place to be...

Color challenge at StampNation

Time for a teaser again....

It's challenge time at StampNation and this week we have a colour challenge.

Here's a sneak peek at what I've created

Join us at StampNation to see my full card and those of my team mates.   Not a member? - It's easy to join and well worth the price. 

Inside Out

The latest challenge is underway at StampNation and I'm here to show a peek of my card

I often don't decorate the inside of my cards as I sell them.    So it was fun to to get this one done. 

Full reveal is over at StampNation.  Not a member - come and join us... it's well worth it.

Christmas Card Sneak Peeks

Hi there.... a couple of sneak peeks....

For StampNation our latest Christmas Card challenge is underway... so here's a little peek

Members can view & play along with the challenge HERE! 
Not a member.... head over to StampNation and join the fun.

And coming up on Die Cut Divas in a few days - a sneak peek 

I hope to see you back in a few days.

Summer Time over at StampNation

Yes it's time for my first card as part of the StampNation Challenge design team.   And our challenge is Summer....

Are you a member of StampNation?   If not, please check it out... it's a great place to hang out and craft with friends all over the world.   

Thanks for stopping by.

Deck the Halls

For my guest spot at StampNation this week, our challenge is called Deck the Halls - add a little decoration to them in the spirit of this season.  Need ideas? Ornaments, tinsel, lights, banners, tags, wreath, garland, bows, glitter etc. They don't have to be 3-D, but this would be a great place to use those Christmas items with extra dimension.

I decided I needed to make a really 3-D card and I had bought some mini bells recently - just in case I might need to use them - so here's what I came up with...

 

I started by making my background.   I used a soft grey card and embossed with a Tim Holtz/Sizzix folder.  I made my base card out of a darker grey and used some of the scraps to embossed the sentiment in white.  It's a sentiment from Hero Arts Color Layering Wreath.  I made a wreath using some green Altenew inks and the layers in the set.  I die cut with the matching die and fussy cut out the centre.  I wound the tinsel around the wreath and then using some thread and a needle sewed the bells onto the wreath.  I used some dimensional tape to add it to the card. 

I must admit to really liking this card.  It turned out exactly as I envisioned it would.

I'm going to be busy for the next few days as I got an order to make some cards.... the lady went through my Flickr page and chose a few she want to to make with a few modifications.  2 down - 8 to go!

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great weekend all. 

StampNation Candy Cane Christmas

It's weekly challenge time over at StampNation and I'm a Guest Designer.  Our challenge was to make a sweet card using SOA Candy Cane Lane Peppermint Stick background and candies... or as an alternative instead of candy you can do any sweet treat: cookies, cakes, pie, cocoa etc. or even a sweet sentiment or sweet image.


I was lucky enough to get hold of the Candy Cane Lane collection and here is the card I made

I have used all SOA Candy Cane Lane Collections stamps.   The background is the Peppermint Stripe stamped in Altenew Coral Berry.  I used Ruby Red ink to stamp the candy canes.  I used the coordinating dies to cut them out as the holly and leaves.  The sentiment is stamped in the Coral Berry ink.  Finished with a satin ribbon.


If you aren't a member at StampNation, I can highly recommend it... There is so much inspiration from all the members.  See all about it here.

thanks for stopping by.