Monthly Archives: October 2012

Beautiful Butterflies

Posted in Big Shot, Cards by

I love Papillon Potpourri stamp set, such beautiful butterflies!
And I have seen this idea around on the net in a few places so thought I would make a couple of different ones.  What I really wanted to do was to show you just how easy it is to change a couple of elements and come up with a completely different card.

So, as you can see, I have change the colours, the first card uses Midnight Muse, Cajun Craze and Summer Starfruit.

I used a different piece of patterned paper, although both are from the Comfort Cafe Designer Series Paper.  The greetings on both cards are from the Curly Cute set.

 

The colours in the second card are Whisteria Wonder, Pool Party and So Saffron.

I have also used a different butterfly to achieve a different look, but both are from the Papillon Potpourri stamp set.

I like this design, I think I will make a Christmas card using it 🙂

I also want to let all of my lovely followers know that there are going to be some pretty major changes going on over the next couple of months. My son and I have decided that it is time to move back home to Canberra.  We have started packing,  but we don’t have an exact date to move yet, but imagine it will take place before Christmas.  So I will attempt to continue to craft and blog over that time, but I hope you will understand if it’s not as frequent as it has been.

Happy Stamping!
Chris

Masking for Halloween Challenge

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This week’s Our Creative Corner challenge from Marcy, is to create a scary creation in the theme of Halloween, and using a masking technique.

Oh dear, this one was a challenge for me, I don’t have any Halloween stamps (this seems to be happening a lot lately!!) so I went scouring the local craft stores.  Halloween is not big in Australia like it is in the US, however it is becoming bigger and more people are celebrating it, so I was not entirely without hope of finding something that I could use. Hmmm famous last words.  The best I could come up with were some stickers.  My son likes creating craft projects and uses stickers sometimes, so I knew they wouldn’t go to waste, and that he wouldn’t mind if I used one or two.
I’m not really sure that this little witch is particularly scary, she looks rather cute really.
I have used Serene Silhouettes stamp set in Midnight Muse and Basic Black inks, and used the masking technique to get that layered effect, where some of the trees look like they are behind others.  The spider web is from Mixed Medley stamp set, (yes, it does have a couple of halloween stamps in that set) and is stamped using the Illuminate Glimmer Ink Pad (Page 23 of the Holiday Catalogue).  The moon was punched out of the silver Glimmer paper, and the stars are just some half-backed Rhinestones.
I hope you will have a Happy Halloween, and hope you play along with all of us at Our Creative Corner this week.
Happy stamping!
Chris

Candy Canes

Posted in 3D, Big Shot by

I promised yesterday that I would share the decorated Candy Canes that I have been making, so here they are…

I have used the same things as I did on the card from yesterday.  I am looking forward to hanging these on the Christmas tree this year.

Well, just a short post today, but I do have lots of things to share with you, so promise to be back real soon.
Happy Stamping!
Chris

Freshly Made Sketches #57

Posted in Cards, Christmas by

I have made a Christmas card for this week’s sketch from Freshly Made Sketches. I am really enjoying getting into the spirit of Christmas this year, I have done a lot of Christmas shopping already, so thought it would be good to get started on some Christmas cards too.

I have made quite a few of these ornaments, to go on some Candy Canes to hang on the Christmas tree, and as I was making them, I thought how nice they would look on a card, and here is the result.  I will show you the Candy Canes in another post.
The card uses the Candlelight Christmas Specialty Papers, and the Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder.  And for the ornament I have used the Snow Flurry die, Real Red Glimmer Paper punched out with the scallop circle punch, and the greeting comes from the Mixed Medley hostess set.
Here is the sketch:    

Happy Stamping!

Chris

Christmas Gift Tag Class

Posted in Big Shot, Tags by

Christmas Gift Tag Class

These are just a few of the designs you can make at this class.

Friday 2nd November at 10.30am

Saturday 3rd November at 2pm

Where: My house (details at time of booking)

Cost: $16

Make a stack of gift tags to go on your pressies for this Christmas, using a range of colours and images.  The class is suitable for all levels, and beginners are welcome.
Seating is limited, so please contact me asap to book your place.

Like to come along but the dates don’t work for you?  Why not get a group of friends, family and work colleagues together and I will bring the class to you.  Alternatively, contact me to see if we can work out another date for you and some friends to come to my place for the class.

Clean and Simple Kitchen

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No, I am not asking you to go clean up your kitchen, it is this week’s challenge theme at Our Creative Corner.  Meihsia’s challenge is to create a Clean and Simple card featuring something you would see in the kitchen.

I have used the coffee cup from the fantastic Scentsational Season stamp set (page 16 Holiday Catalogue), and while this is definitely meant to be a Christmas set, I didn’t want to make a Christmas card this time, so I punched out the For You sentiment from the Mixed Medley stamp set, one of the new Hostess Sets in the Holiday Catalogue, and layered that over the snowflake image.  The image is cut using the matching dies, which can be bought in a bundle with the stamp set.
The patterned paper is from the Festival of Prints Designer Series Paper Stack, and also the woodgrain is from the Natural Composition Specialty papers.

So please join in this week, we always love to see what you come up with for our challenges.  The rest of the projects from the Design Team can be seen here.

Happy Stamping!
Chris

Fall in the Circle

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This week at Our Creative Corner, Meihsia has challenged us to create a circle card or project with a Fall (Autumn) theme – Autumn colours or objects.
I really like this challenge, even though it is Spring here in Australia, I love Autumn colours and the leaves falling from the trees.  And I rarely make circle cards, so it was good to do something a little different again.
I have used the Scallop Circle Die to make the card base in Whisper White, then done a reverse mask to colour the centre area.  The tree is from Serene Silhouettes stamp set and is stamped in Black Stazon ink. The Stazon ink allowed me to sponge the background colours over the top, without the black ink smudging and blending in with the colours.
The bow is made with Always Artichoke Seam Binding ribbon which is held together with a Vintage Brad, and the leaves around the edge are from the French Foliage stamp set.  I have inked the leaves in one colour (i.e. Old Olive), and then sponged around the edge using a different colour (Riding Hood Red) using a sponge dauber.
I do hope you will join in with this great challenge, we love seeing the projects you have made using our challenges.  And make sure you check out what the rest of the Design Team have come up with.
Happy Stamping!
Chris

The Tango

Posted in Big Shot, Cards by

There are some colours within the Stampin’ Up! colour families that I don’t often use, most of them seem to be yellows and oranges, so I took this week’s Dynamic Duos Challenge of using the colours Tangerine Tango and Old Olive.  Now, Old Olive is a long time favourite, but combining it with Tangerine  Tango, hmmmm.
But I am glad I had a go at this one, I am pleased with how it turned out and think I may be using this colour a little more from now on.
The image is from the Serene Silhouettes stamp set, which has been coloured with markers.  And I have used the Two Tags die and the Apothecary Accents Framelits, both very useful and versatile.


I hope this inspires you to have a go at using a different colour combination.
Happy stamping!
Chris

October Stamp of the Month

Posted in Stamp of the Month Club by

I do apologise that this month I am running a little late, so Stamp of the Month for October will run until the end of November, so that you get extra projects to make with your stamp set.  This month’s stamp set is the very cute Bug Me (Page 66 of the Annual Catalogue).  This month’s cost will just be for the stamp set plus postage, so $22.95 plus $6.50 postage.  You will also get the kit to make up this cute card set, along with other ideas throughout the next month and a half.

If you wish to make the most of the Stampin’ Up! promotion for October, and wish to add  more to your order, then I can certainly help you with some suggestions so that you can get a free spool of gorgeous ribbon.

Be sure to send me an email so that I can get your goodies to you asap.  And I look forward to sharing some really cute ideas with you.
Happy stamping!
Chris

Freshly Made Sketches #55

Posted in Cards, Christmas, Uncategorized by

I took some time out this afternoon to do some creating just for the fun of it, and thought I would have a go at this week’s sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  I also thought it was time I got on and made some Christmas cards, since it won’t  be long before Christmas is here.

I have used a few new goodies for this card, the patterned papers come from the Festival of Prints Designer Series Paper Stack, they are gorgeous and great for card making (Page 20 of the Holiday Catalogue). The embossing folder is also new and is called Northern Flurry (Page 189 Annual Catalogue).  The stamp set is For the Birds (Page 34 of the Annual catalogue) – a fabulously versatile set with something for just about every occasion.  And the Cotton Ribbon and Slide are from the Holiday Catalogue.
Here is the sketch that I have used:
If you have any questions about how I have made this card, or if you would like to place an or

Hope you had a crafty weekend.
Happy stamping!
Chris