Summer Solstice for JAI

Hi Guys,
Today I have made a card using the fabulous new Summer Solstice stamp set from Stampin' Up!
Bronwyn Eastwell has done a great sketch over at Just Add Ink so I thought I would play along.

The colour combo I have used here is Basic Grey, Rose Red and the new in colour Island Indigo. They work so well together. The butterfly has been generational stamped and masked.

Generational stamping! What's that? I here you ask, well that is simply where you ink your stamp and then stamp it several times without re-inking or at least stamping off before stamping the next image.

Another new product from Stampin' Up! is the Seam binding ribbon. It is soooo soft and lovely it almost feels like silk and it is great for doing the ruched effect as I have done here.

 
 I hope you like today's card. Thanks for stopping by.


Until next time Happy Crafting................Cheers Dani  xoxox

Supplies List
Cardstock: Basic Grey, Island Indigo, Very Vanilla

Inks: Rose Red, Island Indigo, Basic Grey

Other: Very Vanilla & Rose Red Seam Binding ribbon, Polka Dots embossing folder, Curly label punch. Pinking Hearts Border Punch.

JAI Challenge #85 Just add Baby

What a perfect time to enter a baby card challenge. It just so happens that I have been busy making cards for my Sister-in-laws children's' clothing boutique so when this challenge came up I decided to enter one of my creations.
The challenge at Just Add Ink is to just add baby and that is all you need to do!
Here is the card that I am entering.

A nice crisp colour combo of Bashful Blue and Whisper White. The stamp is a retired SU! stamp called Baby Steps which I have masked out the congratulations, stamped and cut out on my Big Shot. The delightful Pinking Hearts Punch on a strip of BB with a great ribbon bow finishes of a simple but lovely card. Of course a matching envelope is always a nice touch.
Check out the other great cards at Just Add Ink for some baby card inspiration.

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY,

Cheers, Dani xoxo

Supplies list
Card stock; Whisper White, Bashful Blue

Ink: Bashful Blue

Tools: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Oval & Scallop Oval Nesties, Pinking Hearts Border Punch.

Other: Whisper White Satin Ribbon

It's been how long??

What better way to find the motivation to blog than a New Stampin' Up! catalogue.  My change of roster and work responsibility has greatly impacted on my time (and motivation) to blog, but now things have settled at work and I have just aquired a new laptop, I plan to change that.

Today, being Father's Day here in Australia, I thought I would share the card I have made my Dad using the fabulous French Foliage stamp set from Stampin' Up! I absolutely love the versatility of this stamp set and the watermark stamp just about never leaves my desk atm.

 

To create this card you first need to cut a square to your desired size to use as a mask. Place mark on card and using a sponge fill in with colour. Here I have used crumb Cake. Than, keeping the mark in place, stamp the script stamp and Paris mark from the set in a slightly darker shade such as Soft Suede. Using the rocking technique, colour up the leaf stamp in Cajun Craze and Always Artichoke. Stamp and emboss in clear. Cut this piece to size and mount on CC and AA card.

The sentiment was then inked in Always Arti and using the blender pen to remove ink I have highlighted the key words in CC.This was stamped onto a 13cm x 13cm square card.

Add a few strips of co-coordinating card (don't you just LOVE SU!'s Co-coordinating inks and card stock) and your card is finished.

The card was a hit!! Happy Father's Day DAD xoxo

Cheers Dani

One card, two ways!

Hi guys,

A quick share for you today. When I have time I have been attending a local craft group with my Mum, these two cards are ones that my talented Mum taught to the group a few weeks ago. I love how different the same card can turn out, depending on the choice of colour combo you use.

I must admit the black grey and white is my favourite and who would have thought that image would look so good in those tones!

Have a great day.....

Cheers Dani xoxox

EMAIL COMPROMISED

Hello, I would like to inform all my friends and contacts that my yahoo email account has been hacked and someone is sending fraudulent emails claiming I am stranded in Spain. I can assure you I am right here at home in Australia. Please do not respond  to these emails and under no circumstance send money. IT IS NOT ME.

Thank you to everyone who has rang to see if I am OK. I appreciate your care and I apologise for the inconvenience. Although I was able to claim back my account my contact list had been deleted so I fear that they may have some more sinister ideas up their sleeves. I will not be sending emails to anyone with the address of daniellefrendo@yahoo.com.au
So if you receive anything it is false.

Cheers Danielle xoxox

Swing Easel Card

Hiya,
Today I am sharing a card I have made for my Niece, Amelia, turning two.

I have used the girl on a swing from the retired stamp set A Kind Word. I just had to do an open easel card to really set this swinging girl off. The blue area has been sponged using the cupcake punch (cake top) as a mask. This is my favorite way to create clouds.

 Simply punch out the top in scrap card and then place it where you would like the cloud to appear and sponge over the top section. I have used Bashful Blue ink on the same coloured cardstock but also works great using white cardstock. Move mask and repeat until you are happy with the coverage.


Little Leaves layered over each over form the tree at the top and Certainly Celery cardstock double punched with the scallop border punch creates the grass. There is also another grassy section at the back that shows through under the girls feet! Itty Bitty punched flowers scatter the lawn and also the tree so the vine running down the swing ropes all ties in together. And what flower would be complete without a basic pearl to center it? How cute is this card!

Thanks for stopping by. Cheers Dani xoxox

SUPPLIES LIST
Stamp Sets: A Kind Word (RETIRED), Trendy Trees, Bring on the Cake.
Inks: Bashful Blue, Pear Pizazz, Pink Pirouette
Card stock: Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette.
Other: Itty Bitty Bits Punch, Scallop Punch, Little Leaves sizzlit, Basic Pearls, Window sheet, Sponges.

Black & White for JAI

Hello, how time flys when you are busy!
Today is my first blog for weeks and I can't tell you how nice it has been spending a day in my craft room.

I definitely needed some help to get my mojo flowing so I turned to one of my favorite challenge sites for inspiration, Just Add Ink. The challenge over there this week is simple, Black & White, and since it is my son's birthday on Sunday, I decided to make him a black and white birthday card.
I had no idea what I was going to do, but I did know I wanted to use the fab watermark stamp out of the French Foliage Stamp Set in the SU winter mini. Jacob is turning 19 so I decided to use the "directions of your dreams" stamp from Word Play, which I embossed in black onto Whisper White card stock and that became the focal point of the card.

A couple of layers and some spritzing and one grungy 19 year olds card, done!

What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by Dani xoxox

Inside sentiment

Supplies List

Stamp sets:
Word play, French Foliage, Teeny Tiny Sentiments, Create a Cupcake
Cardstock:
Whisper White, Basic Black, Basic Black DSP
Inks and others:
Black Stazon, Vera Mark, Black and White Embossing powder,  Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker
Techniques: Spritzing, Sponging, Heat Embossing

Wedding Thanks for Paper Arts Pals

Hello, it feels like ages since I had a chance to sit at my computer and share some of my work with you. Well in honest truth it has been ages!!

Today I am going to share a lovely little card idea that I got from Splitcoast Stampers, using an envelope as the clever outer to this note card.

 It is made by simply sealing an envelope and cutting down the side and running the remainder through the crimper. Very clever and effective idea.

This is my entry this week for Paper Arts Pals challenge which is anything to do with weddings, I think this would make a lovely Thankyou card for the guests.

Cheers Dani xoxox

 Supply List
Stamp Set: Nature Walk

Inks: Crumb Cake

Card stock: Very Vanilla, Pink Pirouette

Other: Vanilla envelope, Basic Pearls, Crimper, Sponges, Oval Punch, Scallop Punch.

I'm still here!!

Good Morning my lovely paper craft friends, can you believe it has been a month since last we chatted!
I hope you all had a lovely Easter/ Anzac break. Well, I have been a little pre occupied fitting into my new role as Manager at the Moe practice so thing have been a bit quiet on the card making front and then to top it off, my computer decided to loose a few important running files and only gave me a black screen advising me of this fact. OH GREAT!
Luckily, I have a very talented nephew who managed to save all our files that were on the hard drive, so no photo's or music were harmed in this meltdown!! After two and a half weeks and the death of the portable hard drive, we now have the computer back and so far it seems to be happy.

Anyway just wanted to touch base and let you know I am still out here in cyberland, best be off to work.
Look out for some new posts coming soon.

Cheers Dani xoxox

Just Stamping for JAI

Hello friends, the card I am sharing with you today was made for the lovely Anna from the Angel ATC swap group I am in. It was her birthday yesterday.

 The colours I have combined on this simple card are River Rock and Rich Razzelberry which look fantastic together. The ovals where cut on the Big Shot with nesties and I simply stamped the flower from the Every Moment set, added the butterfly, also from the set and coloured using my blender pens. I then stamped the butterfly from the soon to be released Strength and Hope set and cut it out. The sentiment on both the front and insert are from the also soon to be released Bring on the Cake set. No card is complete without a beautifully coordinated insert, so again I stamped the flower and butterfly and coloured to the inside. I have decided to enter this into this week Just Add Ink challenge number 61 as it is clean and simple with no embellishments although I am not sure if the scallop oval is breaking the rules??
I hope you like my card, Anna certainly did!


Cheers Dani xoxox

Supplies List:
Stamp Sets:  Every Moment, Strength & Hope, Bring on the Cake

Cardstock:  River Rock, Rich Razzelberry

Inks:  Black Stazon, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive

Other:  Big Shot, Blender Pens

PP39 in Two Minutes Flat!

While I was cleaning up my room I had an idea to make a really quick card for The Paper Players challenge. I  threw this card together in about two minutes flat, simply using some DSP and accents from the Celebrations range, and that's decorating inside and out.
This is taking the Clean and Simple idea literally! A great card to show off how simple elements can still make a fab card.

Self adhesive Accents makes it quick and easy to embellish a card.

Embellishing the inside give a simple card a little WOW factor.

Supplies List:

Card stock: Real Red, Whisper White, Celebrations DSP

Stamp Set: Itty Bitty Bits (Summer Mini) Love heart

Ink: Bashful Blue

Other:  Celebrations quick Accents

Cheers Dani xoxo

Clean and Simple PP39

Today the card I am sharing is for The Paper Players challenge which is a Clean and Simple sketch. Again I am playing with the soon to be released stamp sets from the Australian Autumn- Winter Mini which comes out on April 1.
As the sketch suggest I have used lots of white space, literally, and just add a cute choc/cupcake stamped center. I made this using the no quitter stamp from Eat Chocolate set which I know you are just gonna love!! The candles are from the Create a Cupcake set and the saying from the Bring on the Cake set. Do you see a theme happening here.........but wait there is more. The Cupcake has been punched out with, yep you guessed it, the coordinating Build a Cupcake Punch that makes building these cute little cakes soooo much easier. Anyway I don't want to give too much away but you will definitely need to stay tuned for the release of all these wonderful new products from Stampin' Up! due out April1st.

Now for my card.....................

The colour here are Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Soft Suede, Pretty in Pink with a touch of More Mustard for the flames. All the stamps where coloured with Stampin' Write Markers. Alternate Melon Mambo and Pretty in Pink candles where stamped onto a white strip and then fussy cut, mounted to Melon Mambo and cut around. A few Basic Pearls to top the cupcake off and my creation is finished.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Cheers Dani xoxo

Supplies List
Stamp Sets: Create a Cupcake, Eat Chocolate, Bring on the Cake
 
Cardstock: Whisper White, Melon Mambo

Stampin' Write Markers: Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, Soft Suede, More Mustard.

Others: Build a Cupcake punch, Basic Pearls

Hope card for PPA85

Hello there,
Today I am going to share with you a card I have made using the new Strength & Hope stamp set from Stampin' Up! This set will be released next month and $2 from every set purchased will raise funds for Breast Cancer Research and what a lovely set it is.

I have made this card for the Pals Paper Arts sketch challenge. You can check out all of the fabulous entries right here. I really enjoyed working with this sketch and took some inspiration from the fabulous Ann Schach, using a bit more of a distressed look than I normally have been doing of late.

I have used the good old neutral tones as I find this works best for me when I am trying to achieve a soft distressed look. The embossed background stamp on the Early Espresso piece is from the SAB Bliss set, but the Butterfly, Hope and scroll wording are all from the S & H set. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that butterfly!

Stay tuned for the release of this fabulous stamp set, April 1st. Contact me to find out more about the great Fund Raising events that I am holding in April to raise money fro Breast Cancer Research, thanks to Stampin' Up!

            Cheers Dani xoxo

Supplies List

Stamp Sets: Strength and Hope (released April 1st 2011) SAB Bliss

Inks: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Versa Mark

Card Stock: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla

Tools and Other: Clear Embossing powder, Basic Pearls, Spritzer, Daubers, 1" circle punch. Dimensionals, Snail

Sweet 16 JAI Sketch

Hello I'm back! Sorry it's been a little quiet on my blog of late but I have been a little pre-occupied with work and not too much has been happening in the craft room! However, I do have some exciting news to share. I have been given a promotion to Practice Manager at our Moe branch. This means I will be leaving Warragul in a few weeks, to go and work at Moe and take over the running of the Practice there. Although it will be hard to leave the great bunch of ladies we have at Warragul, I look forward to the challenge of Managing a practice. My Mum and Sister are very excited to have me back in my home town so we can catch up for lunch more often and the shorter travel time is very appealing. Anyway enough about work, lets move on to some cards!

Today I am going to share this sweet sixteen card that I made with my daughter in mind. I thought I would use the Just Add Ink sketch challenge to get my mojo back and this is what I came up with. Alix's favorite colour is blue so I had to add a touch of it in there somewhere. I have used Marina Mist, Blushing Bride and Very Vanilla for the colour combo of this Birthday Bakery card. This sketch works great flipped on its side.

 

 I went with simple and let the cakes become the highlight of the card. Thanks JAI for helping find my mojo to get back into the craft room!

Cheers Dani xoxox

Supplies List:

Cardstock: Marina Mist, Very Vanilla, Blushing Bride DSP

Inks: Marina Mist, Blushing Bride, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Black Stazon.

Stampin' Write Markers: Chocolate Chip, Cherry Cobbler.


Others:       Blender Pens, Sponges, White Gel Pen, Corner Punch, Itty Bitty Bits circle punch, Satin Ribbon, Big Shot

A card for Bailie

He has arrived! My very close friend, Lisa, finally became a Grandmother (Nonna) at 3.15 am on Sunday morning when her daughter Stacy gave birth to "Bailie James" at a healthy weight of 7 pounds 15oz. Both are doing well, although Mum had to spend the night without her new bub as he has quite low blood sugar levels and they just need to keep an eye on him. Anyway, as soon as I got the message I set to work on a card for Bailie.
I have had the Baby Bundle stamp set waiting for just this occasion, admittedly I haven't hardly used it before doing this card!! With all the delightful bits and pieces I just had to create a chest of draws to display them in/on.

As you can see there are lots of little elements going on with this card. The feet of the draws I created by using the Word Window Punch I then just layered draw fronts and a top to give it depth and a real 3D effect.
The top draw is popped on double mini glue dots whilst the bottom draw is mounted with dimensionals as I wanted this draw to be a little more 'open'. I stamped all of the bits and pieces on whisper white cardstock and then coloured and cut them out.
To give it as much 3D as I could I folded the little bib over the top of the draws and stuck teddy inside the bottom draw. The blanket is made by simply running a piece of the Pear Pizzazz hostess DSP through the Big Shot using the Square Lattice embossing folder. I really played with this to soften it up and give it a soft material feel! A few antique brass brads from the metallic set worked perfectly for knobs.
The pram was stamped directly onto the card front and then again onto whisper white with the carriage being coloured and cut out. Again to give 3D I popped that with dimensionals and added a silver brad to the hood pivot and also the center of the spokes. The picture frame on the wall was created by printing Bailie's name on the computer on normal white paper which I then mounted onto Crumb Cake. I added two hearts which I punched from the Two Step Owl punch, stuck and covered with window sheet.
Then I added the frame, cutting mitre joins to give it realism. Of course all of the Crumb Cake, including the draws, was given the sponge treatment. I really love how this card came up. I am defiantly going to make one for my Demo display board. Would make a great class.  hmmmm!! Leave me a comment and tell me what you think.

Supplies List:

Stamp Set:  Baby Bundle

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Marina Mist

Inks & Markers:  Black Stazon, Marina Mist, Pear Pizzazz,  Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede

Others:  Metallic Brads, Square Lattice embossing folder, Window Sheet, Word Window punch, Two Step Owl punch, Corner Punch, Dimensionals, Mini Glue dots

Red, Black & White

How dynamic do the colours Red, Black and White look together! I have wanted to do this colour combo ever since I got the Punch Bunch set with the For You stamp but just hadn't made time to create something. This weeks sketch at The Paper Players inspired me to sit down and do something in these colours.

The simple block layering of Real Red and Basic Black onto a Whisper White background has a very Dynamic effect with the help of this great sketch by Lesley from the Players crew. This is my very first entry into a Paper Players Challenge even though I have been checking out the creative art on this site for a while now, I get very inspired by the DT team!!

Here is my interpretation of the sketch, this card is on the way to an Artist Trading friend in Queensland. I hope she likes it.

 

TIP: Finish the border effect by ruling lines with your Stampin' Write marker. This helps tie the plain white area in with the rest of the design.

   

Supplies List  

Cardstock:      Whisper White, Real Red, Basic Black, Real Red DSP

Inks:   Black Stazon, Real Red

Stampin' Write Markers: Real Red, Basic Black

Stamp set:  SAB Punch Bunch, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Other: Square Lattice Texture folder, Label Punch, White Silk Ribbon, Dimensional.

Cheers Dani xoxox

                                     

PPA challenge

  Hello,
 I decided to have a go at the sketch over at Pals Paper Arts this week.
I love what the DT come up with on this site so thought it was about time to play along too!
I made this card using the Bliss Set from the SAB promo from Stampin' Up! A few touches of clear embossing just gave the card a lift. I'm not completely happy with the DSP I used as it is a bit to whimsy for this distressed style but it's OK.

TIP: Don't shy away from using border DSP such as the one in the Hostess DSP pack, try cutting around the images like I have with the flower strip to add something different to you cards than plain straight edge cut papers.



 Supplies List 

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz and Very Vanilla. DSP (Hostess Level 1)

Stamp set: SAB Bliss

Inks: Crumb Cake, Pear Pizzazz, Versa Mark

Other: Clear Emboss Powder, 1 3/4" circle punch. Heat Gun, Sponge Daubers

Happy Stampin'
Cheers Dani xoxo

Engagement Congrats

Well I have been putting my new space to good use. Today I have created this card for my friends son who has announced his engagement. I have seen some very cute owl cards about and decided I probably don't use this punch anywhere near enough, so enter Mr & Mrs owl! Normally I prefer to make square or standard sized cards but just wasn't happy with the dimensions if I used the "congratulations" stamp from the the Curly Cute set. I decided to do a DL sized card instead and must say I am very pleased with the result even though I realised after I finished that I had glue their wings on upside down.....dah.....oh well so they have fluffy wings, that's OK.

There a few steps on this card that I am not sure you will be able to see in the photographs, in the background behind the owls I have stamped the Be Mine heart, from the Sweetheart stamp set, in Versa mark and then clear embossed it. I then took a scrap of card and punched out the Heart using the Full Heart Punch and created a stencil which was then inked with a sponge in a circular motion with Poppy Parade ink.
The Owls clothing are from the Level 1 Hostess In Color Designer Series Paper pack. Mrs Owl (to be) has lovely eyelashes which are simply created by punching an extra large circle from the Two- step Owl Punch and then taking you Paper Snips cut the circle in half and then cut a fringe along each straight edge. I have added Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint for eyeshadow. What girl doesn't love a pretty flower to wear. This little one tucked in her ear was created using the Itty Bitty Shapes punches and a silver brad. here are a few quick instructions on how to make it.

 Using the Itty scallop circle punch one in Poppy Parade and One in Concord Crush, then using the owl punch, punch out a medium circle in  Poppy Parade.

 Take your scorer and rub over the pieces a few times to soften the fibres in the card. Now you should be able to gently pull each flower apart so you have two of each colour. This is called Faux Felting. Discard one poppy parade flower and circle so you are left with 1 each in poppy parade and two Concord crush flowers.

Layer all the pieces on top of each other in alternative colours finishing with the circle. Using your paper piercer, pierce through all pieces and insert a silver brad. Scrunch up all these pieces and then carefully pull each flower apart.  Add a little shimmer to the edges with your Shimmer Paint and a fine paint brush and if you like colour the brad as well.

Add a little shimmer to the edges with your Shimmer Paint and a fine paint brush and if you like colour the brad as well. Now you have a cute little flower to pop on your Owls Ear.

I am going to enter this card into this weeks  Just Add Ink challenge which is all about LOVE and this fits perfectly.

Supplies List:
Stamp Sets: Sweethearts 121576, Curly Cute 120510


Inks: Concord Crush , Poppy Parade  and Versa Mark

Cardstock;Concord Crush, Poppy Parade, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, In Colour mini DSP (Hostess)

Punches: Two-Step Owl Punch, Full Heart Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes, Scalloped Oval Punch, Scallop Trim Border

Other: Clear Embossing powder, Shimmer Paint- Champagne Mist, silver brad

Tools: Heat Gun, Paper piercer, Snail, Mini glue dots,

Cheers from Dani xoxox

Finally, my new craft space is complete.

Hi friends,
As I mentioned last time I popped in, my craft room has been under going a major reno. Well as major a reno that a new house needs!! Up until now my space has consisted of odd desks and tables. That situation had become more and more frustration as I added tools and gadgets to my craft stash, well not really stash as they are the tools I use all the time such as my score pal and my big shot. Even the simple things like my cutter had to live on the floor in between stamping and distressing and embossing and all those yummy techniques we like to use on our creations, as I just didn't have enough room on my little meter by meter or 3.5 foot by 3.5 foot square work table. One day I had had enough and decided to design a new work area for my room. After months at the cabinet makers (family member- I wasn't a priority!) it finally arrived. After a few hiccups (such as a flooded shed and draws not quite cut right) it is finally done and I can't tell you how very happy I am with the results.

 You can see one the old timber desks that  I had been using.

The carcass of the first cabinet. Handy Hubby put it all together.

 I now have a station for cutting, distressing, and the Big Shot.

The natural day light coming through the window is great.

I love Dymo labels...everything has one!

And check out those draws. I'm in organisation heaven!!!

A file for every colour.....Oh what joy

Now all that's left is to get in there and create, oh and a touch of decorating and a few shelves to display my work and that of my fabulous group friends. I hope you have enjoyed checking out my new space. Let's see if it helps my be more creative......... until next time.

Cheers from Dani xoxox