Father's Day #1

I am back, as promised! The new catalogue has so many amazing cards in it that when I saw this one, I knew it would be perfect for David's card. It was really simple to do, and uses the star jumbo wheel. I rolled it out in pumpkin pie and then did a so saffron, real red and garden green one, cut the stars out and mounted them on dimensionals.

The sentiment is from the teeny tiny sentiments stamp set (which I love) punched out with the word window punch.

Our new catalogue goes "live" tomorrow and I can't wait. I have my "must have" list all written out and I will be placing my order as soon as I can. If you would like to receive one of the new catalogues please email me at nickyadamson@ymail.com.

I have a christmas card to share with you next time ... using a brand new christmas stamp set.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Wheel: Star jumbo
Card: Tempting turquoise, whisper white, real red, so saffron, garden green
Ink: Tempting turquoise, pumpkin pie, real red, so saffron, garden green
Other: Large and small star punches, word window punch, stampin dimensionals

New wheel...

Well I have been home a whole week but trying to find time to take photos of all the cards I made while I was away, edit them and blog them has been difficult. Life seems to be so busy at the moment.

What a fantastic weekend it was. There were 27 amazingly talented ladies, loads of inspiration, new goodies to play with, great food and not much sleep!

First up is a sneak peak of a new jumbo wheel that is in the new catalogue which is released on Wednesday. I had seen it in the US catalogue and fell in love with it then, so when it was included in our pre-order, it was at the top of my wish list.

For this card I used pretty in pink, pink pirouette and chocolate chip. I inked the wheel with stazon ink and then rolled out two images, the first I cut to fit the card front then coloured it and the second I just coloured the duck jumpsuit. I cut it out and mounted it onto the first one. Here is a close up of the duck suit.

For the sentiment I stamped the outline from tiny tags and stamped the baby in the middle then used the matching punch to punch it out - gotta love that, so quick and easy. I then used linen thread to tie it onto the coathanger. Here is a close up.

I have a father's day card to show you next, so be sure to check back in a couple of days to see it.

Til next time,

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Supplies:
Stamps: Tiny tags
Wheel: Baby Tees jumbo wheel
Card: Chocolate chip, pretty in pink, pink pirouette, whisper white

Ink: Chocolate chip, pretty in pink, pink pirouette, so saffron

Big Shot: Perfect polka dots embossing folder
Other: Jewellery tag punch, stampin dimensionals, blender pen, linen thread

Weekend away

We have our annual INKlings weekend away this weekend and I cannot wait! My mojo seems to be taking a break at the moment, so I am hoping that a whole weekend away with some like minded crafty people will bring it flooding back! I will be back early next week to start sharing some of the amazing creations I have made ... not to mention the swap card I made.

Til next week.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

It has been a bad week in our house. David's Nan passed away at the grand old age of 98. What a fantastic lady she was. She was still living by herself and was fit and active right up until the last few months. I wish I had half the energy she seemed to have. I remember her telling me a story a few years ago about the people she was delivering meals on wheels to, and how they were 20 years younger than her! We will miss her so much, especially christmas with the whole extended family at her house.
I have also had Jess off school this week with a really bad bout of conjunctivitous. The noise and mess has been out of this world. Unfortunately Jess likes talking as much as me, and she has constant conversations with imaginary people!

So.... not surprisingly I haven't felt like creating much ... hopefully my blue mood will lift soon and I will get back to my craft desk. I have a few projects I want to get done and new pre-order stamp sets to play with ... I will see how I go.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

New Medallion stamp

When I first got the new mini catalogue, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to buy the large medallion stamp, but I have seen some amazing things done with it, so of course I just had to get it! For this card I stamped the medallion in regal rose ink on the white card and then inked up the en francais stamp with a dauber in mellow moss ink, making it darker in patches and very light in others. I then stamped it over the top of the medallion. I used the dauber to put some ink around the edge of the white block. I then mounted it onto mellow moss card, and mounted that onto an always artichoke card base.

I used the vintage vogue flowers and a sentiment from the sincere salutations set for the main panel.

I stamped the background of the main panel with the en francais again (only this time I stamped off the ink twice before stamping on my panel). I cut the flowers out and then adhered them with a brad.

For the block through the centre of the card, I had a go at the "suede" technique. It is an awesome technique and one I am sure I am going to use a lot. You rough the paper up a lot and then peel it apart, using the inside fluffy portion as the "suede" panel. Here is a close up:Well that's it from me today, I will be back in a couple of days to share more.

Til next time, keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Supplies:

Stamp set: Medallion, en francais, very vintage, sincere salutations
Ink: Mellow moss, always artichoke, regal rose
Card: Always artichoke, mellow moss, whisper white
Other: Silver brad, sponge dauber

It's your last chance...

to get hold of some fabulous products that are being retired and will not be in Stampin' Up!'s new catalogue which is released next month. With the colour renovation and new punch body shape, the last chance list is a whopping 8 pages long, which is the biggest ever. To view the list, click on the link here.

Products in the last chance list are only available until 31 August or while stocks last, whichever occurs first.

Demonstrators have been advised that some items have very low stock levels, so if there are any items you absolutely cannot live without, please email me or call me on 0407-418-063 with your order as soon as possible, so you don't miss out.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Best Wishes

I told you I would be back!

The card I have to share with you today is one a fellow INKlings team-mate made at a recent get together. Ryn was making them for a school fete. If you want to check out some of her other amazing creations, view her blog here.


This card is so easy and very effective when finished. All you do is make a card base out of whisper white card, stamp the medallion stamp in the top left hand corner, use the curly label punch on the bottom of the right hand side and then stamp the sentiment in the hole. I used my stamp-a-ma-jig for this to ensure it was perfectly placed. The last thing I did was use some tombow glue on the middle of the medallion and put some dazzling diamonds on top.

Here is a close up of the sentiment window.

I made mine in rich razzleberry ink, but Ryn was making all different colours and they looked fabulous.

These cards are so quick to make and not something I would normally do, as I end up with lots of layers on my cards, but I loved making it and will definately be making lots more. Thank's Ryn for the inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Supplies:

Stamps: Medallion, curly label punch bundle
Ink: Rich razzleberry
Cardstock: Whisper white
Punches: Curly label
Other: Tombow glue, dazzling diamonds, stamp-a-ma-jig

I'm back!

Well it's been a long time between posts. We have had school holidays here for two weeks, with me having a cold for the first week. We were supposed to go away for the second week, but decided to stay home and do some fun stuff in Sydney. We had a ball and went iceskating, to the Australian Museum, to Imax, the bike park and lots more. I even managed to get in some crafting with my friends.

My Auntie arrived to stay from New Zealand this week and last week I decided to finally finish off unpacking and sorting the kids room and my craft room. I have attempted this a couple of times but every time I have been to Ikea to buy the bookcases they haven't had them in stock. However this time I went they did have them, so I have had a major cleanout and unpacked all the boxes we had left from when we moved. Unfortunately when I do these major clean outs, I have more mess than ever and it seemed as if it was never going to get tidy again, but fortunately by 2.30pm on Monday afternoon it was all sorted (which was lucky as I had to leave home at 2.50pm to collect Jess from school and then go straight to the airport!).

Sam is home sick today, he woke me up at 4am this morning and has been vomitting every 20 mins. Poor little thing, but he seems to be on the mend now. It is a cold miserable rainy day here in Sydney, so it has been nice to be curled up on the couch with him watching a movie.

The card I have to share with you today is one I made for a friend who recently took possession of her newly built home. It was case'd from one I saw on the convention swap board, but unfortunately I have no idea who to credit for it.


I started off by stamping the neighbourhood jumbo wheel across a piece of basic gray cardstock and another one across some barely banana card (you only need to cut a window out of the banana one). I then cut around the buildings and adhered them onto a piece of basic black card. I punched out a moon from the barely banana card and stamped the owl wih basic gray ink onto whisper white card and cut it out. I used the Big Shot and cut out two of the little leaves dies and stuck it all together. The last thing I did was stamp "congratulations" from the teeny tiny sentiment stamp set and punch it out with the word window punch and adhered that.

Next time I have a very simple single layer card to share with you. I have already done the post and it is scheduled to come up on Friday, so don't forget to stop by and check it out.

Til next time, keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Supplies:

Stamp Sets: Fox and Friends, Teeny Tiny Sentiments, Neighbourhood jumbo roller wheel
Ink: Basic Gray, Stazon
Cardstock: Basic black, basic gray, whisper white, barely banana
Big Shot: Little leaves die
Punches: 1" circle, word window

INKlings Christmas In July Blog Hop

Welcome to The INKlings’ Team’s Christmas in July blog hop. You may have arrived here from Beth Stewart's blog or just be visiting my blog, whichever way once you’ve checked out my creations you can continue the hop through the link at the end of this post to the next team member.

How quick is this year going! Have you started to think about your Christmas cards and projects yet? The INKlings team has and we thought that this month was the perfect time to host a Christmas in July blog hop. You'll find lots of great ideas provided by 19 team members’ fantastic blogs.

Want to win some Blog Candy? Simply leave a comment on each blog and then email Christie Wallace HERE and let her know you’ve done so and you’ll be in the running for a fantastic prize of 19 handmade cards plus other goodies.

Sorry Blog Candy prize not available to SU! demonstrators but you're more than welcome to leave us a comment!

When I was trying to decide what to do for this blog hop I had a look through my stash for some inspiration. First up I decided on the holiday lineup stamp set. I love this set because as you may already know I love colouring in! Unfortunately I don't have much dsp left, and I am trying not to buy any more before the new catalogue comes out, so when I came across the ski skope paper I decided to use that. The ski slope paper really appeals to me as I love papers with white in them. I love the freshness that white adds to any project.

These are my creations:

For the card I stamped the image onto some whisper white cardstock and coloured it with my inkpads and blender pen. I cut the image panel out and then mounted it onto some real red card, added some ribbon and then mounted it onto the card front.
My next project is a fantasy box. I made one of these for my Mum's birthday last year and really enjoyed making it. They are great for putting small presents in.
Here is a picture of the inside and the lid:
Last up is some reindeer food. A couple of years ago when we were in New Zealand for Christmas Jess and Sam were very concerned that Santa wouldn't know where to stop to leave their presents. We sprinkled reindeer food on the lawn and have done it every year since. I made some and placed it in a plastic bag, then put a topper on the bag.

Well that’s all from me. Next stop on the INKlings’ Team Blog Hop is Clare McIllhatton. Have fun and don't forget to leave a comment on each blog to win some great Blog Candy.

Til next time.

Keep on Creating

xx Nicky

Supplies:
Stamp sets: Holiday Lineup
Ink: Black stazon, close to cocoa, creamy caramel, real red
Card: Real red, baja breeze, whisper white
DSP: Ski Slope(R)
Punches: Scallop circle, 1 3/8" circle, 1 1/4" circle
Big Shot: Top note die
Other: Corduroy button(R), baja breeze ribbon, chocolate chip ribbon, staple

Sesame St inspired card

Paula and Brent's daughter turned 2 in January this year and since we were on holiday I completely missed her birthday. When I found out about their wedding, I decided to take Diaz a belated birthday present.

I made these Sesame Street characters a while ago, so decided to use them on her card. They are all really easy to make, as they are made using Stampin' Up! punches.

And a close up of Big Bird (Diaz loved playing with his beak!).

School holidays start this week in New South Wales and we have lots of activites planned. I hope to get some blogging done too. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Wedding Card

David and I have just been to Hamilton Island for one of my best friends' wedding. Paula and Brent won their wedding through a radio station competition in New Zealand! How lucky were they... What an awesome time we had. Unfortunately the break away without the kids was way too short, but nice to get away and recharge the batteries.

This is the card I made for Paula. It uses the for the bride stamp set. I wanted an elegant card, so I used a cream and gold colour scheme.

I stamped the image with a gold inkpad and then made a mixture of clear embossing powder and dazzling diamonds, to give it some bling. This is what the embossed image looks like (unfortunately the bling didn't photograph very well).

As Brent and Paula were staying for a few days after the weeking, we decided to give them some AUS$ for their present. This is the money wallet I made.

And finally, a photo of the happy couple.

Til next time,

Keep on Creating.

xx Nicky

Swap card

Our team, the INKlings, regularly have training days and at these training days we quite often exchange swap cards. The card I have to share with you today, was one that I designed for our most recent swap. I knew what I wanted to do, but was unsure of what colours to make the card with. After a quick flick through my dsp stash to see what papers I had enough of, I had three choices, and in the end I chose this paper from the Bella Rose paper pack. Here is my card. It is made using one of my favourite colour combinations, riding hood red and pirouette pink. The design is a Mojo Monday sketch from a while ago that I had saved onto my computer. Using sketches are great, as it takes all the thinking out of designing your cards.

For the white panels, I stamped the Birthday Cheer and Wishes sentiment first and then put them through the Big Shot with the perfect polka dots embossing folder. The top panel was done by punching out a 1 1/4" circle and placing it over the end of the panel. I then had to use the crop-a-dile to punch some small holes to put the ribbon through.

The cocktail glass was stamped in stazon on some whisper white card and then coloured with my blender pen and inkpads. I used the 1 1/4" circle punch to punch it out, and mounted it onto a 1 3/8" pirouette pink circle and a riding hood red scallop circle. To give it a little dimension, I stamped the umbrella again on a scrap of card, coloured it in, cut it out and then mounted it over the original with dimensionals. Here is a close up of the cocktail glass.

I should have used some crystal effects or dazzling diamonds on the glass, but as I was running out of time to get them finished, this had to do. What do you think I would love to hear your comments.

Wow I have done a good job posting this week - three posts - maybe I am back on track again - here's hoping!

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Supplies:

Stamps: Cheers to You, Cheer and Wishes
Card: Whisper White, Riding Hood Red, Pirouette Pink

DSP: Bella Rose

Ink: Black stazon, Riding Hood Red, Pirouette Pink, Tangerine Tango, Pacific Point

Punches: Scallop circle, 1 3/8" circle, 1 1/4" circle

Other: Big Shot Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, Crop-A-Dile, Stampin' Dimensionals, Blender Pen

6x6 scrapbook page

I recently joined a 6x6 scrapbook page swap with some of my INKlings team-mates. I admit I struggle making 12x12 pages and since I don't print photos, I don't complete that many layouts. However I found the 6x6 page much easier to put together. Here is my page.

I used the Urban Garden dsp as my starting point and designed the page using not quite navy and kiwi kiss.

I background stamped the grass from the Inspired by Nature stamp set all over the not quite navy base with versamark ink, and used the outline alphabet stamp set to do my title. I cut around it and then mounted it with dimensionals. Here is a close up of the title.

I was really happy with my page and it came together really quickly. I think I might be going to make a lot more 6x6 scrapbook pages.

Next time, I have a swap card to share, so make sure you call back in a couple of days.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Supplies:

Stamp sets: Inspired by Nature, Jumbo Outline Alphabet
Card: Not Quite Navy, Whisper White
DSP: Urban Garden, Bella Rose
Big Shot dies: Little leaves
Other: Scallop edge punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Happy Birthday Riley

My best friend's little boy Riley turned 2 a few weeks ago. He is a very special little boy and since we share a birthday, I had to make sure he got a very special card. They had his party at the Train shed and all the kids got to ride the Thomas the Tank Engine trains. Unfortunately his party was on during convention so I couldn't go, but Jess and Sam went and had a ball. When I found out what they were doing for his party, it didn't take long for me to decide what I wanted to do for his card. This is what I came up with. I used the Choo Choo stamp set and the people from All in the Family. The presents are from the Loads of Love Accessories stamp set. I was unsure of what colours to use, but Jess suggested tempting turquoise as it is the same colour as Thomas.

I started by using the track roller wheel and then sponged some kiwi kiss and bashful blue lightly over it to make it look like a field. I stamped the people and presents on scrap card then coloured them with my blender pens and inks and cut them out. I mounted them with dimensionals. Here is a close up of "Jess" and the presents.

I wrote Riley's name in white gel pen in the smoke to personalise the card. Here is a close up of "Sam" and the smoke. I was really happy with how it turned out and Belinda loved it.

Thanks for stopping by. Til next time.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Supplies:

Stamps: Choo Choo, All in the Family, Loads of Love Accessories, It's Your Birthday, Track roller wheel
Card: Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Black Stazon, Kiwi Kiss, Bashful Blue, Tempting Turquoise, Riding Hood Red, Basic Grey

Other: Stampin dimensionals

I'm back ....

Well my break from blogging was a little longer than I had anticipated, but the cold I have had has just wiped me out, and I have been absolutely exhausted. However I am on the mend now, and have a new card to share with you.

This is the card I have been doing in my workshops this month. It uses lots of new products from the Autumn/Winter mini catalogue.The card base is rich razzleberry, which I have teamed up with the new cottage wall dsp, the vintage vogue stamp set and the very vintage wheel. I love the very vintage wheel. It has a beautiful butterfly in it, which was a surprise when I used it the first time, as it is not shown in the catalogue.

Here is a close up of the friends panel.
I stamped the image twice and then cut out one of the "Fs" and mounted it over the other with dimensionals. A very simple card, but I like it.

I will have another card to show you in a couple of days (I promise!).

Keep on creating

xx Nicky

Supplies

Stamp set: vintage vogue
Ink: Rich razzleberry
Card: Rich razzleberry
DSP: Cottage wall
Other: Very vintage wheel, stampin dimensionals

AWOL

As many of you may have noticed, I have not been posting much in the past couple of weeks. Things have been extremely hectic as I have had my Mum visiting from New Zealand and have been ill with a very bad cold. The annual Stampin' Up! Convention starts tomorrow and I have also been furiously trying to get swaps made for this.

I have now made 75 swaps, put my Mum on a plane at 6.15am this morning and am feeling slightly more human than I was a couple of days ago!

So...I will be back with regular posts from next week, and I am sure I will get plenty of inspiration at Convention.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend.

xx Nicky

The INKlings blog hop

Welcome to The INKlings' Team's first ever blog hop. You may have arrived from Beth's blog, or you may just be visiting my blog, whichever way once you have checked out my creations, you can continue the hop through the link at the end of this post, to the next team member.

What style of cards do we frequently get asked for inspiration for? More often than not it's masculine cards, be it little boys or grandfathers, everyone seems to struggle with cards for the males in our lives. So, as a team, we thought we'd help you out by providing you with 20 team members' fantastic blogs that you can hop through and get lots of fantastic ideas from.

We also have some Blog Candy to give away. All you need to do is leave a comment on each blog in the hop and then email Michelle Dyson and let her know you've done so. You will be in the running for a fantastic prize of 20 handmade cards plus other goodies. (Sorry blog candy is not available to SU! demonstrators).

Now onto my project ... when masculine cards were first mentioned, I immediately thought of the Owl Together Now stamp set, which I think is a good one for male cards. Colour wise, I went for my favourite male colours, chocolate chip (of course), always artichoke and mellow moss. Here is what I created:

For the first card I stamped the branch and the owls on a scrap of white card. I coloured them with my blender pens, cut the owls out and adhered them, with the middle one being on dimensionals. I used the weathered background stamp over all the background layers and used a dauber to ink around all the edges. The sentiment is from the fantastic new set from the autumn/winter mini catalogue, Teeny Tiny Sentiments.

For the next card I punched out three squares and mounted an owl on each one, again coloured with my blender pens. I paper pieced the middle owl into three layers.

The last project I made was a money wallet. I have made quite a few of these over the past couple of years. They are very simple, but are a nice way of giving cash to someone.

The belly band keeps it all closed, and this is what it looks like open.

Well that's all from me. Next stop on the INKlings' Team Blog Hop is Dani Fender who I'm sure will have something fabulous to show you. Don't forget to leave a comment to win our awesome blog candy.

Til next time,

Keep on creating
xx Nicky
Supplies:

Stamp sets: Owl Together Now, Weathered Background, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Card: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss

Ink: Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Mellow Moss, Brillian Blue

Other: Choc Chip 1" ribbon, stampin dimensionals, blender pens, dauber

Are you ready for another blog hop?

Time seems to be getting away on me this week and I have so much I need to be doing ... but my motivation is somewhat lacking.

I thought I would drop by and let you know that I am participating in another blog hop which starts at 8pm tomorrow night. The theme for this blog hop is masculine, as I'm sure most of us struggle with what to do for the males in our lives. If you get a chance, call back tomorrow night, as I am sure there will be some fabulous projects, and with 20 people participating, a lot of inspiration.

Keep on creating

xx Nicky

Welcome Baby Micah

My brother-in-law Andy and his partner Jade have welcomed another little boy into their family, a little brother for Joshua. This is the card I made for them.
I used the wash day wheel (which I borrowed off my good friend Kylie ages ago). I really like the simplicity of this wheel, and since I love colouring in, it was the obvious choice. I made the card base from brilliant blue card, and used some bashful blue with it. I stamped the baby's name with my jumbo outline stamp set and mounted it along the bottom of the card with dimensionals. I double stamped the overalls image and mounted it up on dimensionals too. Here is a close up.

I left the inside blank, just adding a strip of bashful blue cardstock along the bottom, and an all-in-one suit.

I was really happy with how the card turned out, and Jade and Andy loved it too.

Just a short post today as I have some first birthday invitations I am trying to get done. Hope you all have a fabulous day.

Til next time, keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Supplies:

Stamp sets: Jumbo outline alphabet, wash day wheel (R), polka dot background, nursery necessitites

Ink: black stazon, certainly celery, bashful blue, blush blossom, barely banana, almost amethyst, versamark

Card: Brilliant blue, bashful blue, whisper white

Accessories: blender pens, stampin dimensionals

Pony Party birthday invitations and Crown cake

Finally, Jessica's birthday celebrations are over. With her birthday being during the school holidays, and me being somewhat disorganised when it came to sorting out her party, the celebrations have been stretched out over a month! However, we had her party on Sunday, and it was a fabulous day, with lots of friends, great food and some very tired children at the end of the day.

We had a look through my stamp sets and Jess picked out the pony party set for her invitations. I decided to make a gate fold card, but kept it pretty simple as I had to make 20 of them. Here it is.

Jess wanted to design the card herself and of course she wanted the card to be pink. As I was running extremely low on cardstock, we didn't have too many colours to pick from - it was regal rose or regal rose! When we were discussing what other colour to put with it she said "orange mummy, because that's your favourite colour" - bless her. So regal rose and pumpkin pie it was.

Jess knew exactly what she wanted the image on the card to look like, and when she caught me trying to add more grass, she wasn't very happy. I decided it wasn't worth the agro, so just did what she wanted me to do, it was her party invitation after all. I stamped the card base with the polka dot background stamp in versamark, then stamped the pony image in stazon and coloured it with my blender pens. A small mat of pumpkin pie and then I adhered it to the left hand side of the card. I stamped the party hat out on some scrap card, and once I had coloured it, mounted it on the pony's head with some dimensionals.

Here is a close up of the pony:

On the inside I did another sheet of whisper white card and used the stamps from the cheer and wishes set, to put the details in. Here is a picture of the inside:

We have a few children's cake books and after much deliberation Jess decided she wanted a crown cake. I had a bit of a disaster with the first cake I made, it broke into three (well disintegrated more like) when I took it out of my roasting dish, so I had to make another one before the decorating could begin. Here is a picture of the finished cake.

And one of Jess with the cake-

Well that's it from me today. I have the card I made for my new nephew to show you next time.

Thanks for stopping by.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Supplies:

Stamp Sets: Pony Party, Polka Dot background, Cheer and Wishes

Ink: Black stazon, pumpkin pie, regal rose, certainly celery

Card: Regal rose, pumpkin pie, whisper white

Accessories: blender pen, stampin' dimensionals