New rubber

As part of Stampin' Up's recent consistency counts promotion, I was fortunate enough to earn a free stamp set. I have spent the past couple of months agonizing over which set to get, and finally the other day I decided on Lovely as a Tree. It is a stamp set that didn't really appeal to me when I first saw it, but over recent weeks I have seen some lovely cards made with it and recognised its potential for making masculine cards and even christmas cards. It arrived last week and within hours of it arriving, I whipped up this card.

The tree stamped absolutely beautifully as it has very fine lines so is quite delicate when stamped. I coloured it in very easily with my watercolour crayons and an aqua painter. I wanted a natural look for the card, so I made a sheet of faux woodgrain to put behind the image.

Our team leader Jayne Mercer showed us the faux woodgrain technique at our recent Inklings weekend away. It is very easy to do, once you know how, and can be adapted to all sorts of colours.

If you would like to learn how to make a card like the one above, or how to do the faux woodgrain technique, why not get a group of friends together and I can come around and show you how easy it is.

Til next time...

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Supplies:

Stamps: lovely as a tree
Ink: black stazon, close to cocoa, more mustard, creamy caramel, whisper white
Card: very vanilla, more mustard, close to cocoa, chocolate chip
Accessories: chocolate chip marker, earth elements watercolour crayons, aqua painter, stampin' dimensionals

Flight of the butterfly #2

Hi all. Time for another flight of the butterfly card as promised. This was the first card I did for Sam's friend, but once it was finished I wasn't sure if the colours were right for a 4 year old, so I ended up doing the one in my last post. Jess has a friend who is having a birthday in October, so I thought we could give this one to her - which also means one less thing for me to have to do in the next couple of weeks.

For this card I started off by choosing the raspberry tart dsp and then used colours from the paper for the card. The base card is cameo coral. I placed a block of the raspberry tart dsp along the bottom of the card and then covered the join with a strip of real red card, which I paper pierced along both sides. I then added some old olive ribbon.

I stamped the butterflies in cameo coral, and used real red to place the flowers over the bottom one, with the help of my stamp-a-majig. I then stamped the small butterfly on a scrap of paper and cut it out, then mounted it over the large butterfly with some stampin' dimensionals to lift the wings up. Lastly, I added the sentiment, again with the help of my stamp-a-majig.

For the inside of the card, I cut a piece of white card and then stamped the outline butterfly randomly over it in cameo coral ink. I then stamped the happy birthday sentiment in real red ink.

If you would like to purchase any of the supplies I used to make this card, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Supplies:

Stamps: Flight of the butterfly, it's your birthday

Ink: Cameo coral, real red

Card: Cameo coral, real red, whisper white

DSP: Raspberry tart

Accessories: old olive 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, stampin' dimensionals, stamp-a-ma-jig

Flight of the Butterfly #1

Good morning. Another birthday card today - this one for one of Sam's friends at daycare. She had her party at a park in Stanmore on Sunday and you couldn't have asked for a better day.

For this card I used the flight of the butterfly stamp set which one of my good friends Sandra purchased and has kindly been letting me "borrow" for a couple of weeks.
I used pink pirouette, certainly celery and whisper white for the colour scheme. I started off by make a card base from the pink pirouette card. I stamped the outline butterfly randomly over it with the pink pirouette ink.

To make the butterflies I inked the solid stamp with pink pirouette ink and then stamped off once (where you stamp onto a scrap piece of paper before stamping onto your original - so you end up with a lighter version of the original colour), then I stamped the spots and flowers over the top in "full strength" pink pirouette with the help of my stamp-a-majig. I cut the butterflies out and mounted them with stampin dimensionals. Here is a close up of the butterfly.


I used the happy birthday sentiment from the Think Happy Thoughts set and my circle punches for the greeting on the right hand side.

For the inside of the card I stamped the happy birthday sentiment from the retired pretty princess stamp set and then stamped the butterflies randomly over the page. I mounted one of the solid butterflies in the bottom right corner to finish off the inside.

Unfortunately the pictures are a little washed out as it was such a sunny day when I was taking the photos.

I have another flight of the butterfly card to show you next time.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Supplies:

Stamps: Flight of the Butterfly, Think Happy Thoughts, Pretty Princess(R)

Ink: Pink Pirouette, Certainly Celery

Card: Pink Pirouette, Certainly Celery, Whisper White

Accessories: Punches: 1 1/4" circle, 1 3/8" circle, scallop circle; stampin dimensionals

Hi all, we are having a bit of a run on birthdays this week. The card I have to show you today is one I made for David's Auntie's 60th birthday.I knew I wanted to use the Eastern Blooms stamp set, but wasn't sure what colour scheme to use. An easy way to decide on a colour scheme is to look at the colours used in our designer series paper sets. I had a look through my papers and decided on this paper out of the Washington Apple dsp.

I started off by making a card base out of so saffron card, which I stamped with the En Francais background stamp with so saffron ink. I inked the flower image with my so saffron and pumpkin pie markers, which allowed me to make the image multi coloured. It looked nice but I thought it needed something extra to make it a bit more special. I remembered I had a pack of flower fusion felt flowers that hadn't been opened yet, so I used a few pumpkin pie felt flowers, which I adhered with white brads.
Next I stamped the happy birthday sentiment from the Think Happy Thoughts stamp set with pumpkin pie ink. I punched it out with the 1 1/4" punch. I like to personalise my cards a little, so I used an old number set I have had sitting in my drawer and stamped 60 with riding hood red ink. I then cut it out and mounted it with stampin dimensionals. I also punched out a 1 3/8" circle from so saffron card and the scallop circle from pumpkin pie card and layered them all together.

This card is all about the layering, so I mounted the main stamped image and the dsp onto pumpkin pie card before attaching them to the card front with stampin dimensionals. A piece of riding hood red ribbon was used to finish the card off.

I like to do an insert for the inside of my cards, the one I made for this one is really simple. I just cut a piece of white card to fit the inside, then stamped Happy Birthday (from the retired It's Your Birthday stamp set). I inked the three flowers from the Eastern Blooms set with pumpkin pie ink and then blended it with a little riding hood red with a sponge dauber and stamped them onto a scrap of whisper white card. I attached them to the bottom right hand side with stampin dimensionals.

I hope you like it.

Sam and I are off to a 4th birthday party this morning, so I will have that card to show you next time.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Supplies:

Stamp sets: En Francais, Eastern Blooms, Think Happy Thoughts, It's Your Birthday (retired), unknown number set
Ink: Pumpkin pie, so saffron, riding hood red
Card: So saffron, pumpkin pie, whisper white
DSP: Washington Apple
Accessories: Flower fusion, 5/8" striped grosgrain ribbon, scallop circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, stampin dimensionals, sponge dauber, scissors, markers, white brads

Upsy Daisy Card Compendium

I made this card compendium as a thank you gift for one of my lovely hostesses (hi Rhonda).

The base is made from kraft cardstock which I stamped the upsy daisy stamp onto with versamark ink. I then made a belly band out of chocolate chip card and holiday treasures dsp. The sentiment from the best yet hostess set was stamped with chocolate chip ink and then punched out with the designer label punch, which was then layered onto a large oval and wide oval.

I made six cards to place inside, using each of the in colours for a card. I stamped the upsy daisy image twice across the bottom of the card and the sentiment on a scrap of card which was punched out with the large oval punch and then layered onto the scallop oval. I attached these to the card with stampin dimensionals to give it a bit of depth.

I was really pleased with how it turned out, and hopefully Rhonda liked it too.

See the recipe below for details of what I have used.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Supplies:

Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Best Yet (hostess set)

Ink: versamark, chocolate chip, tangerine tango, pacific point

Card & dsp: kraft, chocolate chip, whisper white, tangerine tango, pacific point, holiday treasures dsp

Accessories: punches: designer label, large oval, wide oval, scallop oval; stampin dimensionals

A sweet cupcake

Jess had a sixth birthday party for two of her friends at Five Dock yesterday. She said I could make the cards if she got to pick what I made them with, so we had a look through my stamps and dsp on Saturday.

Early on Saturday morning I got up and made two of these cards. They were both the same, I took the colours from the dsp and just alternated the cardstock, with one girl getting a pink base and the other getting an orange one. I stamped the image in stazon and then coloured it in with my markers and a blender pen. I used a versamark pen and heat and stick powder to put dazzling diamonds all over the frosting on the cake. I also added crystal effects to the flame on the candle.

I stamped the sentiment on a scrap of white card and punched it out with the large oval punch, then punched out a chocolate chip scallop oval and layered it underneath the sentiment. I just love the large oval and scallop oval punch together, and a surprising number of stamps fit into the large oval punch.

For the inside, I stamped some balloons on whisper white card with stazon and Jess coloured them in and wrote her message to the girls.

It was a pretty quick card to put together, and definately got a "wow - you made this" from the Mums of the two girls.

If you would like to make some amazing cards like this, email me and I can show you how.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Supplies:

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes
Ink: Black stazon, Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette
Card & dsp: Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, Sweet Always dsp
Accessories: Crystal effects, heat & stick powder, versamark pen, stampin' dimensionals, large oval punch, scallop oval punch, scallop edge punch

Happy Father's Day

Jessica being a mini-me and loving all things crafty decided she wanted to make Daddy a card for Father's Day all by herself. We had a look through my supplies and after much umming and aaahing she decided she wanted to use the All in the Family set, the jumbo outline alphabet, the striped paper from Washington Apple and pumpkin pie for the card base.



With everything picked out we set about our creating ... I was allowed to do the stamping only! Jess chose the heads and bodies for the people, which I stamped onto whisper white card with Stazon ink. I stamped the DAD and after trying really hard to cut the letters out nicely herself (she is only 5) she finally gave up and I was given that job too.


As soon as I was done stamping and cutting I was told "I can do it now Mummy". She sat for ages colouring the people in and sticking everything together. She is so proud of her card and Daddy was pretty impressed too.



Here's a list of the products we used. If you would like to purchase any Stampin' Up products, please email me.



Keep on creating.



xx Nicky



Supplies:



Stamps: All in the Family, Jumbo Outline Alphabet

Ink: Black stazon

Card & Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Washington Apple

Accessories: Stampin Dimensionals, textas

Joshua's first birthday card

My nephew Joshua turned 1 on 30 August and this is the card I made for him. Unfortunately he hasn't seen it yet as he and his Mum are in China.

The idea came from a design I saw on Splitcoast. I started with an A5 piece of white card and stamped the right on track wheel all along the bottom. I sponged the background randomly with bashful blue ink to make it look like clouds. I then stamped the train and animals onto card, cut them out then mounted them with dimensionals on top of the train lines.

I used the Birthday Wish stamp from the spring mini with my markers for the sentiment. I stamped the Happy first, then used an old set of number stamps to put the 1st in then inked up Birthday and stamped that (all with the help of my trusty stamp-a-majig).

The finishing touch was to stamp six smoke puffs and place each letter of Joshua's name in them with a white gel pen.

I mounted the white card onto some riding hood red and then placed it on a very large night of navy card. The whole card is just a little smaller than an A5 piece of card. It is very large but I am very happy with the results.

I absolutely love this little train as it is very versatile and you can use the open carriage to hold all sorts of things.

Here's a list of the products I have used. If you would like to purchase any Stampin' Up! products, please email me.

Keep on creating

xx Nicky

Supplies:

Stamps: Birthday Wish, Wild About You, Choo Choo
Ink: Black Stazon, Night of Navy, Riding Hood Red, So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Baja
Breeze, Pacific Point, Going Gray, Really Rust, Pumpkin Pie
Card: Whisper White, Night of Navy, Riding Hood Red
Accessories: Stampin Dimensionals

Welcome, little one

After our team weekend away a couple of weeks ago, I have been so inspired. I have been on a bit of a creating frenzy the last week, so I have lots and lots to share. I am going to try and publish posts more frequently, we will see how I go ...

The card I have to share today is one I made for a friend who needed a baby girl card. It was CASE'd from one made by Belinda at our weekend away.

It uses the forest friends stamp set, with the "grass" at the bottom being one of the stamps from pocket silhouettes. I have also used the flower out of wild about you and the new flower brads which are in the Spring Mini Catalogue. The deer and bunny have been cut out and popped up on dimensionals. I stamped the sentiment from nursery necessities at the top with the help of the stamp-a-ma-jig to make sure it was straight.

The stamp-a-ma-jig is one tool I reach for again and again, as there is nothing worse than finishing a beautiful card, with only the sentiment to add, then not putting it on straight.

Here's a list of the products I've used. If you would like to purchase any Stampin' Up! products, please email me.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Supplies:

Stamp sets: Forest Friends, Pocket Silhouettes, Wild About You, Nursery Necessities
Ink: Chocloate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive, Regal Rose
Card: Pirouette Pink, Regal Rose, Whisper White
Accessories: Flower Designer Brads

Upsy Daisy

This stamp set has been on my wish list since I saw it in the US catalogue last year. But with so many other beautiful stamp sets to choose from, I have only just purchased it. I got it out to play with last week and I must say I am not been disappointed with my choice. With it being a solid stamp, there is no colouring required so making a card with it is very quick.

On the card above I inked the stamp in tangerine tango ink and then coloured in the stems with my chocolate chip marker. After a couple of "huffs" to remoisten the ink, I stamped the image on the left. I then repeated the process and stamped it again on the right, this time I only used a small portion of the stamp and positioned it lower than on the left hand side so I had room to place the sentiment at the top.

I used the beautiful eyelet border punch (another recent addition to my stash) and finished the card off with chocolate chip taffeta ribbon.

Here’s a list of products I’ve used, if you have any questions or would like to purchase any Stampin’ Up! products please email me.

Keep on creating.


xx Nicky

Supplies:

Stamps: Upsy Daisy
Ink: Tangerine Tango, Chocolate Chip
Cardstock: Tangerine Tango, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Accessories: Chocolate chip taffeta ribbon
Tools: Eyelet border punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig (to help with placement of the sentiment)

Forest Friends

I must apologise for the large gap between posts, with school holidays and school going back and at least one of us being sick over the past couple of weeks, things have just got away on me. We are heading away for a few days tomorrow, so hopefully we will all wake up feeling better in the morning.

My card to show you today is one I made for a recent team training day. It uses the new stamp set Forest Friends from the spring mini. If you would like a copy of the spring mini catalogue sent to you, please email me. There are lots of fabulous new products which are only available for a limited time.

For the card I have stamped the deer and rabbit, using my stamp-a-ma-jig for precise placement. Then I inked the tree in kiwi kiss and coloured in the branches and trunk with my chocolate chip marker. I masked off one side of the tree and stamped it. I then stamped the owl on the side where I had taken the branches off. I have stamped "welcome, little one" from the nursery necessities stamp set and then sponged kiwi kiss ink on the bottom of the card and baja breeze on the top. For the background on the card I have used the weathered background stamp on kiwi kiss card with kiwi kiss ink.

If you have any questions or would like to purchase any Stampin’ Up! products please email me.

Well must go and pack.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Supplies: (all Stampin Up unless otherwise noted)

Card: chocolate chip, kiwi kiss, very vanilla

Stamps: forest friends, nursery necessities, weathered background

Ink: kiwi kiss, really rust, creamy caramel, chocolate chip, baja breeze

Accessories: stamp-a-ma-jig, sponge dauber, snail adhesive

Wow it has been over a week since my last post!

We have been away for the past week up to The Entrance on the beautiful NSW central coast. We had a great time relaxing, eating way too much and hanging out with the kids (I even managed to have a play with my new mini catalogue stamps).

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and we are back home and to the grindstone this week. It is an exceptionally hectic week for me, so I doubt you will be hearing from me again until next week when hopefully things will return to normal!

I made this card for a friend who had a baby girl a couple of weeks ago. I think if I made it again I would make it slightly smaller, as it is very large. I have used the candy lane dsp papers and the pram from the fun and fast notes stamp set. I stamped the pram directly onto the dsp and then popped the hood up to give it a 3d effect. I grounded the pram on the card by colouring under the wheels with sahara sand ink and a blender pen. The sentiment was from the nursery necessities set and was punched out with the small oval punch. A lot of layering, but I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

Must go and make my 15 card in a box card kits for my training day on Wednesday!

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Supplies (all Stampin Up unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: Fun and fast notes, nursery necessities

Ink: Black stazon, basic grey, sahara sand

Card: Chocolate chip, Candy Lane dsp

Accessories: Blender pen, stampin dimensionals, ribbon (unknown)

Cupcakes anyone?

Wow this is my first real post.

The school holidays have just started here in NSW so I have a very excited 5 year old running around the house. We are going away next week and Jess has been dying to go to the Hannah Montana movie, not to be left out Sam wants to go to Ice Age 3. I think it is going to be a very busy couple of weeks!

When I first saw this stamp set in the catalogue I knew I had to have it. Who doesn't like cupcakes, they are so versatile, and can be used for so many different occasions.

On this card I have used the beautiful sweet always papers. I stamped the image in stazon ink and then coloured it with my markers and blender pen. I have then added crystal effects to the cherries and dazzling diamonds to the frosting. After adding a little chocolate ribbon and some layers of cardstock, my card was finished and I was very happy with it.

I hope you have enjoyed my first post.

Keep on creating.

xx Nicky

Supplies:
Stamps: Crazy for cupcakes
Ink: Black stazon, chocolate chip, pumpkin pie, real red and pink pirouette
Paper: Sweet always dsp, pink pirouette, chocolate chip and whisper white
Accessories: Crystal effects, dazzling diamonds, dimensionals, brown ribbon, blender pen

Birthday Celebrations

Supplies
Stamps: Upsy Daisy.

Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango.

Paper: Whisper White, Sweet Always DSP, Tangerine Tango.

Accessories: 5/8" Tangerine Tango Striped Grosgrain Ribbon.

Welcome

Welcome to my brand new and first blog.

Hope to see you back again soon!

Nicky