November 15, 2010
Just hanging around!
It’s been so long since I completed a scrap page – I have LOTS of un-completed pages and I can’t even count how many ‘stacks’ of photos, papers and embellishments that are simply lying on my scrap desk waiting for me to do something with them. LOL. However, here is one that I DID complete and it was super quick.
Life is a Matter of Moments. Design by Julia. Stamped Images © Stampin’ Up!
I’ve used the very bright and funky Melon Mambo as my base page, with a Pink Pirouette Top Note shape (gently sponged with Melon Mambo around the edges). I’ve used Early Espresso as a feature strip with a scallop Trim border and then finished it off witha layered paper daisy that has been embossed in the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. The leaves are from Stampin’ Up! also. The stamped saying is from the Elements of Style stamp set, punched out with the Modern Label punch.
I was telling my friend Maria a little while ago that I was just going to “do it” and start scrapping…. sorry Maria, I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Why is it so hard to get on with scrapbooking? Does anyone have any tricks to get things moving along a little bit quicker and easier? Will it always be so hard to dedicate time to scrapping?
Thanks for visiting.
The Nicest things…
It was “Grandparents and Special Friends” Day at our children’s school today. My mum and dad were able to come up and visit the children and listen to them explaining their school work and showing them their special pieces of art. It was so lovely. Little Master 7 showed Poppa all his maths work and took great pride in explaining each page – he always says he’s a “Reading Machine” and now he’s a “Math’s Machine” (he must get his maths ‘genes’ from his dad ‘cos he sure doesn’t get them from me!!!LOL.) Little Miss 9 made a pottery pencil holder with Gran and showed her all around the computers and they played some maths challenge games together. My dear friend Linda surprised Little Miss 9 by arriving at 10.30am… Little Miss 9 had invited our friend Linda but as she lives in Bridgewater, I thought it would be a real stretch for her to make it (and so had prepared Little Miss 9 so as to avoid disappointment)… but I had secretly been TEXTing with Linda and knew she could make it afterall!! YAY!!!!!
Having a friend like Linda is such a special gift and I’m so thankful for knowing her… this card is in honour of friendships, even if distance keeps us apart, we are not apart in our hearts.
The Nicest Things. Design by Julia. Stamped Images © Stampin’ Up!
The stamped image is from the set “The Nicest Things”, and I’ve watercoloured the image on Stampin’ Up! watercolour paper. This is a lovely simple design and very quick to put together. I ran a Stampin’ Up! paper daisy through my Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder which I had inked with Marina Mist ink. It’s a pretty effect, yes? I also punched a border with the Scallop Trim border and corner punches – I just adore these punches!!! (SPOILER ALERT….. You wait until the December Summer mini….. there is another GORGEOUS punch design – corner and matching edge- coming out!!!! OHhhhhhhh, soooo pretty!) But you’ll just have to wait, tee hee.
Thankyou for visiting.
November 9, 2010
Oh so delicate.
Here’s another sample card of one of my Demonstrations at the Regional Training Day . This one is of my Window Sheet Butterflies. I just LOVE this technique.
Delicate Butterflies
I used a Stampin’ Up! Window Sheet and ran it though the Big Shot on my Beautiful Butterflies die. The Window Sheets cut beautifully and have a very crisp edge. I then placed the larger butterfly in my Elegant Bouquet embossing folder and embossed it in the Big Shot. I felt that the butterflies needed a bit more definition (especially if you’re putting them on a light-coloured background), so I gently sponged the edges of the window sheet with my White StazOn ink. The StazOn will also help camoflage the mini glue dots that you’ll need to use to adhere the butterfly to your projects. You’ll find that the butterflies stand out better on darker coloured cardstock, but experiment and see how it looks on other colours! I then layered the smaller butterfly on the top of the larger one and finished them off with Basic Pearls. *sigh*
I’ve used Elegant Eggplant textured cardstock and embossed the corner of it with the same embossing folder (Elegant Bouquet). Oh, if you like the size of this card, it’s one of Stampin’ Up!’s Note Cards which is SOOOO cute. They are 8.9cm x 12.7cm and come with matching envelopes too.
I created a few more samples using this technique so stay tuned for more examples.
Enjoy.
Hello little Blog…
Oh my goodness me, I do apologise for such a long break between posts…. (you know what it’s like…. life *sigh*) but anyway, let’s get right back into things, shall we?
Last Saturday was the Adelaide Regional Seminar (training day) and I was lucky enough (hah! I drew the short straw I think!!!) to be asked to present a demonstration up on stage (oh the terror!). I had such a fun day meeting up with other Demonstrators (*waves to fellow demos I met on the day*), learning lots of fun techniques, playing with our stamp set for the FOUR Make & Takes and sitting with such a great bunch of friends. If you’d like to join me next year, contact me about how you can do it too!
Anyway, back to the fun stuff…. As many of you who know me, know…. I LOVE my Big Shot and so I decided to demonstrate some cute embellishments that you can create to adorn your cards and scrap pages. Here’s a sneak peek at what I demonstrated:
This technique is called “Ink to Embossing Folder” (or something similar. LOL.)
Bashful Blue Butterflies
The photo is a little bit fuzzy, but you can see the beautiful deep embossed areas. Want to know how I did it? It’s super easy and so much fun!
- Cut out your chosen shape (in this case, I used my Big Shot to cut out the butterflies with the Beuatiful Butterflies Bigz die)
- Choose an embossing folder (mine was Vintage Wallpaper)
- Choose a complimentary ink colour to your cardstock (mine is Marina Mist ink on Bashful Blue cardstock)
- Use a brayer to roll ink onto one side of your embossing folder (or you could just use an ink pad to swipe over the folder)
- Position your butterfly on the folder and run it through the Big Shot.
- Ta Daaaa! Oooh pretty.
- To clean, simply run your embossing folder under running water as Stampin’ Up!’s inks are water-based, they make cleaning up super dooper easy.
I love ths simplicity of this card design and there’s almost no stamping! I like to sponge the edges of my butterflies to give them some definition – it just “finishes them off” I think.
Enjoy.
Keep posted for more samples.
April 8, 2010
Birthday card for a bloke.
Design by Julia. Stamped Images © Stampin’ Up!
I really like the look of these colours together (Sage Shadow, Old Olive, So Saffron and Chocolate Chip.) I was a bit unsure about using yellow on a masculine card, but I think it works! So Saffron is such a soft tone of yellow that it doesn’t look out of place.
A bit of metal hardware and smal piece of ribbon really finished it off.
Julia xx
April 4, 2010
Easter Wishes!!
Happy Easter everyone!
The Easter Bunny visited us this morning, leaving sweet treats for the children down amongst the gum trees in our back block… what a lot of fun it was watching the children racing from tree to tree to see if there were any tiny eggs hidden in the undergrowth.
Hunting for Easter Eggs
Earlier, we had a lovely lunch of Roast Lamb and yummy veggies (oohh I think I ate too much!!!) and we’re all ‘relaxing’ in our various ways – the children are outside playing, Shane’s in his shed and I’ve taken a quiet moment to upload some Easter cards…
Design by Julia. Stamped Images © Stampin’ Up!
Oh noooooo, now that it’s uploaded, I see that the photo quality isn’t as good as I thought – sorry ’bout that! *DOH!*
This card uses Wagon Full of Fun from the Summer mini (now retired), and the Bold Brights inks and cardstock – Real Red, Green Galore, Tempting Turquoise and Yoyo Yellow. Don’t you just love the glitter on the eggs? I’ve also embossed the top layers of cardstock with Polka Dots in the Big Shot.
Design by Julia. Stamped Images © Stampin’ Up!
This is such a cute duck. I’ve gone for a very clean and simple look here. Only Orange, Yoyo Yellow and Whisper White. I’ve coloured both the ducky and the eggs in the previous card with my Blender Pens and the ink pads.
Design by Julia. Stamped Images © Stampin’ Up!
I thought I’d use the Loads of Love accessories set and put a little pile of Easter Eggs on the window sill of the Window Dressing Hostess set. Cute.
GAH – the quality of the photos is awful! I’ll see if I can get better shots and edit this later for you.
Design by Julia. Stamped Images © Stampin’ Up!
Again, I’ve kept the design very simple and the colour scheme is minimal. If you can just make it out, I’ve embossed the Whisper White cardstock with Polka Dots. If you like the bow on the top right hand side, I learnt how to make it by following Teneale Williams’ instructions. You’ll have to check out her blog for her Tutorial on how she makes her perfect bows. Stunning!!
I hope you had a wonderful Easter Sunday and that the Easter Bunny brought you a little something too. Yum.
Julia. XX
March 31, 2010
Male Birthday Card
It was my brother’s and nephew’s birthdays last week, so I thought I’d share with you the cards I made. This is the card for my brother:
Design by Julia. Stamped Images © Stampin’ Up! 1990-2010
I started with the patterned paper (Windsor Knot DSP) and pulled the colours from that to use for the cardstock and inks (Sage Shadow, Old Olive, So Saffron and Chocolate Chip).
The stamp is from the Sale-a-Bration set Happy Moments – which is very cute. This stack of birthday presents has come in very handy for masculine birthdays. I stamped the image a couple of times on co-ordinating patterned paper and cut out the presents I wanted, and glued them over the stamped image – this saved colouring in all the presents!
You can just about see the Polka Dots embossed cardstock – that’s made with the Sizzix Big Shot which is available as from tomorrow!!! WooHoo!!
This next card is a fun boy’s card. My nephew turned 12 during the week (gosh, getting so grown up!!), but I thought he’d still appreciate the fun of robots. Twelve is a tricky age – not quite old enough for being “really cool”, but too old for really childish cards. I’ve used a NEW stamp set here, Lots of Bots from the Autumn-Winter mini. Here’s my effort anyway.
Design by Julia. Stamped Images © Stampin’ Up! 1990-2010
Here’s a closer look. I used the Polka Dots embossing folder and also die- cut the numbers with my Stampin’ Up! Medium Sizzlits “Timeless Type Junior Alphabet” die and my Big Shot. A quick turn of the handle and I had these PERFECT numbers! It couldn’t have been easier.
Design by Julia. Stamped Images © Stampin’ Up! 1990-2010
I stamped the inside too. The paperclip is to hold some money!
Design by Julia. Stamped Images © Stampin’ Up! 1990-2010
I think the Lots of Bots stamp set will get a fair bit of use…. it’s great for boy cards and also ‘fun’ cards. The colours for the robot card are; Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss (both current In-Colors), and Tempting Turquoise (with a splash of Tangerine Tango for some of the robot detail.)
XX
March 24, 2010
Magical Birthday Wishes.
I made it! I managed to do the shopping and get home in time to make the birthday card. If I hurry, I can upload it and still be on time for the school pick-up (woohoo!).
This is a Sneak Peak at a NEW stamp set from the Stampin’ Up! Autumn-Winter catalogue…. It’s called Pony Party and is a lot of fun to play around with and create many different-looking ponies and unicorns.
Design by Julia. Stamped Images © Stampin’ Up! 1990-2010
Awwwww – how cute is that pony? The beauty with this stamp set is that the wings, flowers/hearts/stars/butterflies etc… are all on separate stamps so you can play around with the pony and give her wings, a unicorn horn and add cute accessories to her rump. LOL.
I even stamped the trio of flowers onto the grass image to be flowers!
I coloured her in with ink and my Blender Pens. I wasn’t that happy with how the colouring turned out at first, but now that the whole card is assembled and the colours of the cardstock match the ink, I think I’m happy with it.
Design by Julia. Stamped Images © Stampin’ Up! 1990-2010
I bought the special Birthday Girl some craft supplies (and added a few items from my own stash, Tee Hee) and I want to make her a box to put everything in – if I manage to do it I’ll show you how it turns out. 
XX
