Friday 30 September 2016

Elegant Christmas card plus a colourful playful one

Two more Christmas cards using the SOA Candy Cane Lane Collection.

The first one is an elegant one that uses the Peppermint Stripe background stamped in a beautiful dark green ink


I used the Merry Labels die - look at that beautiful embossed detail on it.  Stamped the holly and berries as well as the sentiment from the Merry and Bright stamp set.  Coloured the holly with Copic markers.   
Entering into the the "Anything Goes" Challenge at Simon Says Stamp

My next card is a fun playful one - again using the Peppermint Stick background,


I stamped the background with a rainbow ink pad by Colorbox.  I then used the colours from ink pad to make the candies and the little stars on the frame which was made using the smaller Merry Label die.    Entering into the Pastel Challenge at Southern Girls Challenge.

World Cardmaking Day is tomorrow - but there is lots happening over the entire weekend.  My first official duties as a Guest Designer at StampNation are over the weekend. 

Here's a little sneak peek of what's coming up 

See you over the weekend.

Thursday 29 September 2016

It's time to Celebrate with Die Cut Divas

If you haven't seen my exciting news about my new guest designer spot... please see HERE

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It's my day at Die Cut Divas again....

So here's my Fall inspired card using some Hero Arts stamps and a Spellbinders circle die.


Here's how I made this one
1. Die cut Spellbinders Die circle die out of scrap card to make a mask
2. Sponge on Distress inks in Peeled Paint and Tumbled Glass through the mask
3. Remove mask and stamp the trees (Hero Arts Color Layering Fall Tree)  in Hero Arts Cup o'Joe ink.
4. Stamp the layering leaves in Frayed Burlap, Spiced Marmalade, Aged Mahogany, Mustard Seed inks
5. Stamp the sentiment - From an older Hero Arts set
6. Layer onto black mat and then white card base.

I do hope you will join us at Die Cut Divas for the last few days of our Fall themed holiday. 

It's Offical.... I'm a Guest Designer over at StampNation!!!!

Yep, little old me.  I was very excited to be asked to guest design for October to December.... starting with Word Card Making Day this coming weekend.  So look out for some inspiration from me for the challenges during the day (or should that be weekend!)

Anyway to celebrate I have started by using some the the Stamp of Approval Candy Cane Lane collection.


This one uses the Peppermint Stick background stamped in Delicata Golden Glitz and clear embossed.  I used this with my Sizzix Flip Card die to make the base.  I then stamped and embossed the deer (Hip Holiday) before die cutting with the matching die set (Hip Holiday dies).  I used the Merry die (Merry Labels Die) to cut some of the stripy background. Off set it with some black card so it would pop a bit more and added the Christmas (Merry and Bright Boughs) sentiment.

and a second card I did and posted at StampNation


I used a piece of the golden stamped background from the first card to added down the side of my card and then used a few of the leaves, candy canes and peppermint lollies  and little bitty bits from the Candy Cane Lane stamp and matching die sets and the Hip Holiday stamp set which is where the sentiment came from.  A thin piece of gold mirror card finished it off before matting onto the red card and then the white base.

I'm having such fun with this Collection and if you set a chance to purchase it over at cpstampofapproval.com   I can recommend it.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you can share my excitement with me for the next few months.

Wednesday 28 September 2016

Beautiful Quotes from Altenew

I was happy to get my latest Altenew parcel yesterday.  I ordered two new stamp sets and one lot of new ink cubes.  I got Beautiful Quotes and Best Mom stamp sets and just had to make a card last night. 


I stamped the flower from the Best Mom set with Memento Black ink and coloured with some Faber Castell  basic pencils and Gamsol mineral spirits to smooth it out.    I added the Beautiful Quotes with Versafine Onyx Black.  I matted it onto some hot pink card and then onto the card base.  The little dots were made previously with some 3D Liquid Pearls and added with some dots of glue to the card.

I love that this came together really quickly.  I've been watching some colouring videos and am happy with the results of leaving some white spaces on the images.

I've been a bit quiet lately as I've been full of a cold and coughing.  Earlier in the month I had a bout of pneumonia and a night in hospital and I thought I was all over it.. but I picked up another bug and for the last 6 days have been feeling like shite!  Slowly improving.  Plus I've been working on some "secret" stuff.   - I can share later in the week.   

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you are gearing up for an exciting weekend, with World Card Making Day - which does seem to turn into a whole of creating.  I'll be doing as many challenges as I can fit in... there's some at StampNation, Winnie and Walter and lots of other blogs

Thursday 22 September 2016

Hero Arts Wreath card and tags

I'm sharing over at A2ZScrapbooking today. And here is the card I have made with Hero Arts Wreath stamp and die set (SB120 - they can also be purchased separately CL970 stamps and DI152 die cuts)

Hero Arts Wreath

I die cut a panel using a Kaisercraft die.  I stamped the layering wreath using a variety of inks - Hero Arts and Altenew and then added some red embossed dots and a few gold embossed stars.   I gold embossed the bow and die cut it.  The sentiment was stamped with red ink and clear embossed.   I'm very thankful for the help from MISTI.  It really makes layering stamps easy.   I then used some stamps from Hero Arts DC 187 Peace Stamp & Cut set to stamp the little bird (fussy cut) and the remainder of the sentiment.

And of course as our challenge this month is "Tags"  I couldn't resist to use the Wreath set to make a couple of tags
Wreath Tags

One was stamped directly as a one layer tag and the second on used a die cut wreath, bow and berries.  Die cut using a CAS-ual Fridays die.  (Hero Arts have some lovely tag dies as well HERE)

Card and Tags - Christmas wreath

Some of my supplies are currently out of stock at A2Z scrapbooking but you can do a special order.  Just see the side bar for the request a custom order button.  And of course if you do order you can use code Dawn15 at checkout to receive 15% off your purchase of $25 or more. (before tax and shipping)  And don’t forget that we are on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.  Follow us on these different social media outlets so you won’t miss out on any fun promotions!

Supplies:

Tuesday 20 September 2016

Autumn cards...

It might be Spring where I live, but it's going to Fall/Autumn in the North Hemisphere and lots of the current challenges out there are all about moving from Summer to Fall. 

So I have two Fall/Autumn cards to share today.

First up is the card I sent to LaVon as part of the September CCC - Deborah is unwell and Gail is assisting her.  I used the sketch that Deborah had designed. 


The leaves are from an older Hero Arts set which I embossed and then coloured with watercolours, before fussy cutting.  The sentiment is from a freebie set.  Finished with some sequins.

My second card uses the same embossing folder

 This time I had done some watercolouring on the background before embossing.  The leaves were die cut from old book pages with Tattered Leaves die from Tim Holtz/Sizzix.  I used a variety of distress inks to sponge on them.  Sentiment is from a Winnie & Walter set.  

Although it's Spring here and Daylight Saving starts this weekend, it has been a bit wintery with some heavy rain and wind lately.  Hoping for some nicer weather coming.

Thanks for stopping by.  I really appreciated all of my visitors.

Wednesday 14 September 2016

Another Poinsettia on a spray and splatter card

I'm just loving my new Hero Arts Antique Poinsettia.  I decided to make another card for Virginia's View challenge.


I started with a piece of watercolour paper and stamped the poinsettia.  I used Zig Markers to watercolour.  I die cut it and added it to the card base.  I then took the Hero Arts Peace stamp and die set, stamping the peace with red ink and then with MISTI's help, I then stamped some versamark over the top and clear embossed.  Once it was heat set, I added the two little sentiments from the set.   I cut a mask for the flower and then using my Tim Holtz Spritzer I sprayed around the flower with some Green Zig marker and then a Distress marker for the red spray. 

Thanks for stopping by.  




Tuesday 13 September 2016

A Christmas Poinsettia

I'm sharing my card over at Die Cut Divas today.  Although our challenge this month is about Fall/Autumn, I have chosen to make a Christmas card as it's the time of the year I start thinking about making these types of cards (except it's Spring time where I live!)


I have used the new Hero Arts Antique Poinsettia to stamp with Versafine Onyx Black ink onto red and green card and then used the matching Dies to cut out the flower layers.  I have not done anything about colouring the stamping just making the most of the coloured card.   I have used some PP from a very old MME Lost and Found Christmas pack and layered it onto some red card and then the white base.  One very quick and fun card done.

thanks for stopping by today.

Sunday 11 September 2016

LIttle Christams Elves

I manged to get some crafty time this weekend and after doing some DT work I decided to have a quick play and make a serious start to my Christmas cards.  I wanted to make some whimsical cards for the great nieces and nephews so pulled out my Hero Arts Elves stamp and die set

 
With the help of my MISTI I stamped the little Elf 4 times before colouring with Copics and then die cutting.  I then pulled out a variety of PP's and together with my Sizzix Flip die set, put together these four cards together.  I used a variety of Kaisercraft sentiments to finish them off.  I did have fun making these. 

Hope you all managed some crafty time over the weekend. 

 

Saturday 10 September 2016

Happy Birthday to my Dad

Today is my Dad's birthday.  I made him a card using some of the Lovely Notes Collection from StampNation.  As he lives in Australia I made this a while ago to send over to him. 


My background is clear embossed on Grey card using the Lovely Lattice.  The bottom half of the grey was stamped with the polka dots stamp.  I used a Chalkboard technique to make the tag - stamped with the Fill in the blanks birthday stamps.  I used a white Prisma pencil to doodle around the edge.   Entering this into the challenge at Seize The Birthday.

I spoke with my Dad today.  I miss not being able to see him as often as I would like.

And my little man has headed off with his parents to LA for the rest of their holiday.  Weather much warmer for them as Thursday was the coldest day we've had all year.  It was only 6degrees C at midday!   I'll leave you with a photo of my two children with baby Archer and my son's dog Butch.


Have a blessed weekend

Wednesday 7 September 2016

Beautiful Day flower

I have managed another quick card with the  Beautiful Day flower from Altenew.  The other day I picked up a set of watercolour paints - in the kids section at Kmart - for $3.  It has lovely pastel colours.  I thought that the colours would look good as a flower and I'm pleased to say they do!


 I die cut the leaves and flower and spritzed with Shimmer Mist.  It's hard to see on my photo but in real life it's very shimmery.   The PP is from a pack I also picked up at Kmart.  The stamped part of the sentiment is from Altenew's Label Love set and the die cut Friend is from CAS-ual Fridays. 



Entering into the Spray Mist and Splatter challenge at Virginia's View.    
Also the Photo Inspiration over at City Crafter Challenge.  The flowers inspired me with this one and the yellow stripes (my golden dots)
and Happy Birthday challenge at Crafting when we can. 

Poor little Archer has got a cold... he is not feeling very well at all.  Coughing and snuffling and very unhappy.  Hope he is better by tomorrow night when they all fly off to spend time in LA and San Diego.  11 hours on the plane with a grumpy baby isn't going to be fun!

Thanks for stopping by.


Hope you chirp up soon

It's time for another project I made for A2Z Scrapbooking.  Our monthly challenge for September is all about TAGS.   This was quite good for me as I needed a tag to add to a little gift bag.

IMG_1962

This little gift is for a friend who is not feeling the best at the moment.  I used WRMK's gift bag punch board to make my bag and made the the little tag to go on it.   I used a CAS-ual Fridays die to make my tag and with the help of MISTI, I inked up the bird from Hero Arts CL866 Color Layering Bird and Branch.   I used my favourite stencil Asian Flower (not in store at the moment, but there are lots of amazing stencils  HERE) to make a soft background.  Finished with the sentiment from the set

IMG_1962close up

Remember if you are in need of any items from the a2z Scrapbooking store  you can use code Dawn15 at checkout to receive 15% off your purchase of $25 or more. (before tax and shipping)  And don’t forget that we are on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.  Follow us on these different social media outlets so you won’t miss out on any fun promotions! And the new catalogue items are in stock..  There are some awesome stamps and dies for Christmas.Dawn
Supplies:

Sunday 4 September 2016

Scramble and splatters....

It's been a busy week for me.  Starting with a cough and sore rib over the weekend that led to a visit to the doctor on Monday, a chest xray and blood test ending with a visit to the North Shore Hospital on Monday night with IV antibiotics for Pneumonia.  Overnight stay led to a wait the next day for a CT scan to check for clots (I've had a pulmonary embolism in the past) and finally at 6pm Tuesday the all clear and got to go home.

We had overseas visitors arrive later that night.   It was my daughter's in-laws.  A lovely couple who stayed with us till Saturday afternoon.  Very early Saturday morning we picked up our daughter, her hubby and baby Archer for a 5 day visit.   So you can see it's been full on.

This morning, baby was sleeping,Mummy and Daddy having a sleep in and hubby out for a walk, so snuck into craft room to join in Kim's Scramble over on the HA Flickr group.  She set a real challenge - a card with matching tag and decorated envelope.  All in 90 mins.


I had DC182 sitting on my desk and a bright blue card base.  I took some Bristol paper and stamped the butterflies.  I used Zig Markers in bright blue and green to colour the butterflies.  I used the matching die to cut three of the butterflies.  The die doesn't cut all the way through, so you can lift the wings.  Added a sentiment from the set as well.   The tag was cut from some Bristol with a CAS-ual Friday die.  I used the smaller of the two butterflies and did a similar design, which I replicated on the blue envelope.  Entering this into the All Kinds of Everything at Moving With the Times Challenge

And here is my little man who came to see me just as I was finishing..


And yes at 10.30am Nana is still in her PJ's!  We'd had a nice sleep in and breakfast and I hadn't got dressed before scrambling!

We had a lovely lunch with our son coming over with some of his friends to meet the little dude. The weather held off  and we got to eat outside.  Hubby barbecued sausages and chicken wings.

Later this afternoon, I was catching up on some blogs and I saw that Virginia's new challenge was underway over on Virginia's View.  It's "Spray, Mist and Splatter". I was very inspired by Virginia's samples... so CASE'd it.

I started by using some Lindy's Gang Spray in Green and pink onto some creamy card before stamping the flower from Altenew Beautiful Day and the leaves from the set.  I used some purple and green inks to stamp.  I like the design Virginia used so did something similar with some washi tape.  The background has drops of the pink spray and mist of white Decor spray(which is very  and splatters made with watered down Hickory Smoke distress ink.  The sentiment is from the Beautiful day set as well. 

And here's another pic of Archer


Full of smiles this morning.  He has a second tooth cutting through but you wouldn't know it.  He is such a good boy

Looking forward to another day off with them tomorrow then back to work for a couple of days and then spending Thursday with them before they fly out to LA on Thursday night for their holiday. 

thanks for stopping by today.

Friday 2 September 2016

Fall Layering Tree

It's a new month so a new Challenge at A2Z Scrapbooking... and our theme is"Make it a Tag"

My order has been held up with one of the items on back order so I'm still working with some older stamps.  I have chosen to use the Fall Layering Tree (currently out of stock in our store, but you could use the Snowy Layering Tree for a similar tag)  However did you know if you really wanted this stamp you can request a custom order - just see the button on our site.

So here is my tag


I started by use a Tim Holtz/Sizzix die to cut the tag.   I then used a number of distress inks to make my background.   I stamped the trees with Hero Arts Cup'o'Joe ink and then used a variety of distress inks to do the various layers on them.  I used the layering stamps to stamp the "leaves" on the ground as well.  The sentiment is from the same set, again stamped with the Cup'o'Joe ink.  I finished with a bit of ribbon and twine.



So it's time for you to join us with your tags... by themselves or on a card.... looking forward to seeing them all.

This tag also doubles as my sample for Die Cut Divas where our challenge is "Fall"