PEACHY KEEN - CHILL BABY CHILL SNOWMAN SET

Why I have an attraction to snowmen stamps I will never know.  Perhaps it is because I have never actually seen a snowman in real life !

This Peachy Keen stamp is rather cute and I decided to paper piece his waistcoat.  The balance of the image was coloured in using my normal mix of markers.  I used Nestabilities ovals classic and scalloped to stick the cut out snowman onto.  The background paper is SU with the edges sponged with Tea Dye distress ink.

The label is a Nesties die and I found the SU oval punch fits rather nicely onto it.  The sentiment is also SU.

PUNCH ART - CHEERY FLOWERS

When I spotted this card on Kim Score's site Paper Punch Addiction I just knew I had to give it a bash.  What makes it so delightful is the Peachy Keen face stamps.  I have quite a few of them and they come in so handy.

The background papers are from a SU pad I got as a freebie, the ribbons (green one glued onto the beige) is from Flourishes, the grass is a MS border punch, the circles were cut using the CM cutting system and the punches used were a number of different ones.

I still have to add a sentiment and will do so when I want to use the card. 

FLOURISHES - BABY LOVE

As I have had to do two baby cards in the past week (one for a boy and one for a girl) I decided to do them with the same image just changing the colours.

This stamp from a Flourishes set is easy to cut out and simple to colour in.  I paper pieced the frill and then used the same paper for the background.  I put the image on rises and adhered it to a Nestabilities label, then added another label and finished it off with a scalloped rectangle.  The buttons are from my stash and I have used embroidery thread for the cotton.

 STAMPIN UP - SCALLOP SQUARE DIE

I have been wanting to do some quilting for a long while and when I saw this bag made using SU's Square Die on the Big Shot machine I thought it would not get any easier than this.

I followed the video on the Chic 'n Scratch website and could not believe how simple it was to cut out the pieces using the die.  The material used is from discontinued swatches I picked up at a bargain from an interior design store and the handle is cord used in curtaining.  The sides and underneath of the bag are one square's width and it turned out to be a decent sized bag for me.

 

CRAFTY INDIVIDUALS STAMP

Another plain and simple card (and quick) using an unnamed Crafty Individuals stamp and a Hero Arts sentiment.  I was trying to decide what colour to use on the bird stamp and thought the black might be different.

STAIR STEP FOLD CARD - ART IMPRESSIONS - EARL

I have been wanting to make another stair step fold card for a while and thought this was a good opportunity.  DH has a golfing friend who is 70 this month and I was given the wording to be used.  How good is it for our spouses to have a greeting card maker on tap for personalised cards ??

Anyway, I paper pieced the golfer's jacket and shirt and coloured in the rest using a combination of markers.  The numbers come from a chipboard pack my sister gave me and the letters are from a CB alphabet die.  The 'grass' is a MS punch, the trees in the foreground are from Clear Dollar and the flag and trees are from a retired SU set.  Here is the rear of the card which can be written on :

CREATIVE MEMORIES PAPER

Well, this has to be the fastest and easiest card I have ever made ! 

I was looking through my considerable stash of CM paper and found this piece as is.  I trimmed it to fit the card, stamped on a sentiment and the card was finished.  Sometimes I really like easy and uncomplicated.

CRAFT UK - CHRISTMAS CUTE 2

This is the second large stamp in this set and is one of my favourite snowmen.

The card was cut from beige cardstock sourced locally and I used my Zutter corner chomper for the rounded corners.  I stamped the image on 70g white bleedproof paper and coloured it in using Copics.  It helps having the image coloured in on the stamp packet !  The snowflakes were made using a white gel pen.

The background papers are SU as is the sentiment and wide oval punch used to punch it out.

HERO ARTS - SILHOUETTE GRASS

This is another wooden stamp recently purchased from Simply Creative.  I only used the top of the stamp as it is rather large and would not fit onto the whole card.  I'm thinking it would probably have more use for scrapbooking.

This is a very quick card - stamp the wheat with sepia ink, sponge the bottom with Tea Dye Distress ink, stamp the Hero Arts owl and cut it out.  The only colouring in I did was on the owl's wing and eyes.

ART IMPRESSIONS - GOLFERS

I just love the Art Impressions stamps and this one is no exception.  With DH being an avid golfer I have quite a collection of golfing stamps. 

The background is from a thick pad of 12 x 12 paper which I am getting quite a bit of use out of, the fence is a MS border punch and the image was stamped onto cardstock and coloured in using Copics.  I did paper piece the blue pants and the ladies top and skirt.  After cutting it out the image was mounted on rises.

ZEBRA STAMP - ORIGIN UNKNOWN

I bought this rather large stamp in a craft store in Melbourne and it had no name on the packet.  When I travel I have a habit of discarding all extra bits of packaging so perhaps I threw the details of the company away !

Anyway, for this card I took an A4 piece of cardstock and folded it in half, fortunately I had purchased a couple of really large envelopes, otherwise I would have had to make one up.  I used sepia ink, stamped the image and mounted it on a scrap piece of brown paper.  The label is a Nestabilities one using SU Word Window punch for the inside and the sentiment is from Clear Dollar.

CRAFT UK - CHRISTMAS CUTE 2

This set of stamps is rather cute for a Christmas image and there is very little to colour in.  I used thin locally purchased 70g bleed proof paper and Copics and did the scarf and hat speckles with a white gel pen.

The hole punch on the left hand side is from SU and the paper is CM plus from my stash.  Snowflakes are from a MS border punch.

 STAMPIN UP - FOX & FRIENDS

I have a pad of cardstock called Paint Strips in all different colours and I thought it would be perfect for small stamps.

The autumn shade Paint Strip was framed using a SU scallop border punch, the leaves have been cut using my brand new Cricut and the stamp is Hero Arts.  The background paper comes from my stash.

TIM HOLTZ DIE - HANGING SIGN

The two pieces to this die have been sitting on my craft table for a couple of weeks now just waiting to be used.  The problem is I was unable to find a suitable background paper until I bought a Crafty Individuals stamp from Simpy Creative, cut the stamp up (not sure that was what one was supposed to do) and made the background myself using sepia ink.

I sponged the edges and put dabs of ink in the middle using Tea Dye Distress ink.  The actual sign was stamped with a Hero Arts woodgrain stamp and the sentiment is from Kaszazz.

POPCORN THE BEAR - DEAR SANTA

My plan is to make a Christmas card a week between now and December to try and ease the inevitable rush of making a whole batch at once.

I bought this image from a wonderful craft store in Melbourne, Heavenscent Crafts - the ladies running the shop are seriously talented and have the most wonderful selection of stamps.  When they realised I was a Popcorn the Bear fan they made a concerted effort to get in some of the new Christmas stamp sets before I left and this was one of them.

I used Copics to colour in the image which I stamped on a non bleed pad purchased locally.  The only problem is the paper is lightweight - I would say less than 80g which made it a bit flimsy to work with when I cut it out.  The sentiment is from Kazazz and the background paper is my usual CM.

  HERO ARTS - ARTIST'S BUTTERFLY

It is rare these days for me to buy a wooden block stamp but this one appealed to me.

I used mainly SU markers and Smooches to colour the image in, pierced the border and did the "stitch" marks with a marker.  I sponged the edges with Tea Dye Distress ink (my favourite at the moment) and used 4 SU brads to complete the picture.

The edge is a Martha Stewart border punch and I decided to do something different with the brown paper.  The sentiment is also from Hero Arts and setting it off centre was done on purpose in case you think I made a mistake !

  SARAH KAY - ROSE'S GARDEN

Being a lover of Sarah Kay stamps I was delighted when I came across this image in a Melbourne store.

I coloured the stamp in using Copics and sponged around the Nestabilities label die with Distress ink.  The darker blue mat directly underneath shows off my newly purchased Martha Stewart straight and corner punches (purchased locally).  The lighter blue cardstock is embossed with a CB folder and the corner edges are the pieces from the MS corner punch used.

HERO ARTS - SIMPLE THINGS

When I popped into see Ronita of Simply Creative, I found this rather large house in the Hero Arts Simple Things stamp set.  I have a number of different size house stamps and just knew this would go well with some free SU paper I had been given.

The house is coloured in using SU markers.  The image was really easy to cut out and I put it on rises for a better effect.  As the paper was a bit sparse on clouds I cut out some more from another sheet and added them onto the top for a better effect.  The tag is from Nestabilities - Fancy Tags.

BOOKMARKS

We have quite a few bookmarks in the house and when we ran out the other day (both reading a number of books simultaneously) I decided to get out the laminator, raid my stash and make some up.

The duck is punch art with SU punches and the "You quack me up" is a Clear Dollar stamp.  The car is a Gina K Designs stamp placed onto CM paper.

The Asian dolls are Hero Arts and the circus train stamp is, I think, SU.  Not too sure as these were all stamped out and coloured in ages ago.  I know the lamination is not perfect but I am pleased to have a few more bookmarks available and it did not cost anything !

      KASZAZZ - PANDA HUG

Yes, I know I am using another Kaszazz stamp but they are really super stamps. 

The background is a combination of Penny Black and Hero Art bamboo stamps stamped onto a creamy coloured cardstock using sepia ink.  The banner is cut using my Slice and the sentiment is also Kaszazz.  The bottom part of the paper was sponged using Tea Dye Distress Ink.

GINA K DESIGNS - QUITE A CATCH

This card is the last of the Gina K Designs kit I received when purchasing the stamp set.  In fact, when I had completed the cards I made another batch using my own papers and had a great deal of fun putting together combinations which I would normally avoid.  It's great to step outside one's comfort zone every now and again and using a card kit is the ideal way to do this.

   CLEAR DOLLAR - PIPPIN MOUSE FAMILY

One of our IT chaps has recently had an addition to his family of 2 little girls.  I thought the mice would make for a different baby card.

The pink matting on which the mice are placed is made with my new Martha Stewart straight and corner edge punches.  The papers are from my stash and I even had the mice made up and cut out so it was an easy card to put together.

KASZAZZ - FLOWER BEAR

As I am fussy with the type of teddy bear images I like I was pleased to find this one in the Kaszazz catalogue.

One of the problems using Copic markers is having to stamp on a specific type of paper which I have only found in white, hence the white background used on this card.

The sentiment is on a Nestabilities tag die which I also bought in Australia.

POST-IT NOTE HOLDER

Whilst browsing on the web the other night I came across this idea and remembered I had a few rectangle coasters in my stash.

The background paper is from my stash, the stamp is Girls Rule from Victoria Case Art Designs coloured in using Copic markers.  I did put a couple of magnet strips on the back but when I tried it out on our fridge DH managed to pull it down.  Why are men always so heavy handed ???  Anyway, he convinced me to add another magnet strip which means it will now never fall off the fridge !

KASZAZZ - TRAIN

I bought this stamp in Australia from my sister (she is a consultant for Kaszazz) and I am delighted with it.  Making a card for a male can sometimes be a bit of a challenge and I had that in mind when I saw the stamp.  The sentiment is also from Kaszazz - vertical sentiments make a lot of sense to me as I often run out of space at the bottom of a card.

The train was stamped onto cream cardstock using sepia ink, I then used my new distressing tool (also Kaszazz) around the edges.  Using Distress Ink - Tea Dye - I sponged the edges and fixed it onto a piece of brown cardstock on which I also used the distressing tool.  I then used a bit of twine to frame the train and popped it onto a piece of bazzill cardstock.

      GUEST CARD - KASZAZZ

A card to match the scrapbook page made by my sister for a workshop she was giving.

Not too sure if the background paper is patterned or plain paper stamped and sponged.  Perhaps my sister can leave a comment on this. 

Should be able to get some of my own creations on soon - been having computer problems.

SCRAPBOOK PAGE - A KASZAZZ WORKSHOP

My sister was preparing for a workshop a couple of days before I left and I could not resist taking a photograph of this beautiful scrapbook page she made.

I just love the way the edges of the lighter coloured paper were distressed (yes, I bought the distressing tool) and then sponged.  The butterflies are so different done in 2 colours and I do recall Stickles being added to the wings.  Tearing the paper in a couple of places is something new to me and I think it makes for a great effect.

Thanks for letting me take a photo Debs - it has inspired me to dust off the family scrapbook and get started once again.

PUNCH ART - ANNIE CARD

A while back I posted my punch art Annie character.  This is how I put it onto a card - plain and simple for a 12 year old boy.  The wording has glitter on it, the background papers are CM and from my stash. 

GINA K DESIGNS - QUITE A CATCH

This another card from the free kit which came with the Quite a Catch stamp set.  Normally I would not put this colour combination together but I think the card it quite a fun one.

Should be back to normal next week, jet lag permitting.  I did buy just a few new stamps and can't wait to get back to my craft table.  Also bought a couple of rollagraph wheels and plan to replicate a technique my sister showed me.  I picked up a number of new ideas here, now just to remember them !

GINA K DESIGNS - GIFTS FROM THE SEA

Ever feel like creating a totally plain and simple card ?  I was in one of those moods and thought this stamp set allowed me to do exactly that.

I stamped the image in a blue ink and lightly coloured in the one type of shell using a pencil crayon.  The sentiment was stamped in the same ink and then the shells were mounted onto a darker blue mat and placed on the card.  Very simple and easy.

The inside of the card is stamped with a sentiment from the same set.  I just love the saying and can see I will be using it quite a bit.