Trifold Wonder

I am often coming across some very talented peoples blog sites and I see some amazing creations. Last night I found this wonderful site (Bonnie) and amongst her many fabulous cards I saw a trifold card which inspired me. Today I was faced with housework or having a "play" day and quess what won out!!! I set about making this card not realising that it was going to engross me for almost 2 hours.

I fiddled with different papers and stamp sets and finally settled on my new Petal Pizzaz set. I then struggled with what words to use and after thinking who would I want to give this card to that I had turned into such a labour of love and realised it had to be a friend card so used the Wonderful Favourites set.

I am not usually an Orangy person but I love the freshness of Tangerine Tango and it goes really well with Kiwi Kiss. I have fallen in love with all the new In Colours as I knew I would eventually.

The papers are from the Haiku Designer Series papers. I also used a brad from the Fire Rhinestones and the 1", 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches. The card base is Basic Black and there are small amounts of Very Vanilla.

I did have fun making it and Bonnie has very kindly put instructions on her blog site. I am sure that the next one won't take anywhere near as long to make and I don't know if I will ever part with this one but I will do another as they are really effective. Have a go if you are game.

Boys & Train Sets

I don't think there are many boys (young & not so young) that have never had or dreamt of having a train set. There is always something quite fasinating about watching a train in motion. I have an ambition of travelling from the East to West coast of Australia by train one of these days.

This is a sneak peak from the new Spring Mini that goes live on 1st August. It is called "Choo Choo" and is a set of 5 stamps. The track is a matching small wheel and I couldn't resist either when I saw them.

The colours are Whisper White, Not Quite Navy and Kiwi Kiss. It doesn't show up in the photo unfortunately but I put Chrystal Effects on the clouds to add a bit of interest.

Christmas In July

I hope everyone has been enjoying the school holidays. I would actually like them to go for another week, crazy I know, but I have really enjoyed the time off. No homework, packed lunches and a little less running around.
I am starting the Christmas In July theme this Saturday night with a dinner party with some friends. We have done this for a few years now and I am looking forward to the great company and the sticky date pudding we are having for dessert - my all time fav!

Now down to business!! Classes will start back next week and I will be continueing the Christmas theme with Christmas Cards. This will help get everyone ready for that mad rush time at the end of the year. Without starting now I know I would have to do the unthinkable and buy cards - and how would I explain that one away.....

Can't wait to see everyones projects you have been working on over the holidays. If you want to attend classes, contact me to book in.

Keeping It Simple

This was juts a quick card that I put together to have as a spare back up card. I used the tree from "Thoughts & Prayers". The cardstock is Whisper White and Always Artichoke. I finally got around to using some of the great papers from the Level 1 Hostess DSP Patterns Pack. There are some beautiful papers in this pad and I will have to get around to using more of them. Too many projects and not enough hours in the day!!!
I purposely kept this simple so that it could be used for any occassion and also it could be a male or female card.

Recognise These Cards

Do the images on these cards look familiar?? If you check down a few postings to More Spring Flowers you can see the similarity. I was making up a second card from a spare pack but scored the Pink card base too heavily and it fell apart. Rather than waste my hard work I turned it into 2 cards. It just goes to show that there really are no mistakes, just creative opportunities.

The Same But Different

It may be hard to believe but these two cards were made from the same packs.
The first card was created for a work shop. The main card is Not Quite Navy with Kiwi Kiss and Baja Breeze. The patterned paper is from the Urban Garden pack.
We stamped with Versamark and the Inspired By Nature set and then embossed with White embossing powder.
The strip of Kiwi Kiss was torn and edged with the sponge daubers and Kiwi Kiss ink. The words are from the Inspired By Nature set also and the edges of strip were rounded with the corner rounder punch. We made a ribbon tag with the Kiwi Kiss satin ribbon. These colours work really well together and create a peaceful look.
When I was putting some things away I found a spare pack from this work shop. I was going to make up another of the same cards but then thought I should try and make it different. I think I achieved that.
I used exactly the same cardstock but turned the patterned paper over which made it more male orientated. I used the words from the Starring You set on page 141 which are easy to look over but are really handy. I punched out a few small stars with the punch and as you can see it is very different from the first. You should try doing this yourself and see what you come up with. If you have a blog send me the link so I can see what you have created.

More Spring Flowers

This is the other card made in classes this week. The stamp set is Eastern Blooms and the words are from Upsy Daisy.

The card stock colours are Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla. Inks used were Pink Pirouette & Riding Hood Red. The ribbon is the new Pink Pirrouette stiped grosgrain.

There was quite a bit of cutting for this card but other than that it was a quick and easy one to make with a bit of a twist on a normal folded card.

Love To Hear From You

I really enjoy being able to share what I love doing with others that enjoy my hobby. It is so rewarding when someone leaves a comment letting me know what they think of my creations and knowing that people are looking. This is also a great way of creating new friendships with someone who shares your passion. Thanks for visiting my site and I hope to hear from you soon.

Fields of Flowers

I am not a winter person at all and I can't wait for spring to come along. Hopefully this card will help inspire the warmer weather to come sooner. This is a version of one of the cards made in this weeks classes. It is using the Inspired By Nature set which is one of my favourites from the new catalogue.

I have used Rose Red, Always Arthichoke and Whisper White card stock. Inks are Rose Red, Always Artichoke, Tangerine Tango and Versamark. We used daubers to apply the ink to the stamps and then put Crystal Effects over the centres of the flowers and sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds to create some sparkle. This might be a little hard to see in the photo.

The corners have been rounded using the eyelet border punch.

The inside of the card has a "pop-up" centre for a bit of WOW effect! I haven't added a sentiment to this card so that I can use it for one of those last minute emergencies we all have.

A Few Thank You's

I haven't had much time to play and create this week with 2 children home sick and now it seems I have caught the flu. I really don't like winter and can't wait for the warmer weather to set in.

A friend of mine asked me to do some thank you cards for an event he has been taking part in. He needed 15 cards and gave me a copy of a logo that he wanted to try and use. It was one of the most challenging things I have been given and I have to admit under the foggy flu cloud I failed him. I couldn't come up with anything that I felt looked right. I even showed some of the talented ladies that were at a class on Tuesday night and they all wished me well with it.

I tried again on Wednesday night and still nothing. Time was running out and I was getting a little stressed. I gave up working with the logo and put some cards together last night.

As it was for a corporate event I had a vision of simple and elegant in mind. I haven't used much Stampin' Up! products in these but in the end I was happy with them. My friend collected them today and was pleased with the result.

Hopefully I will get some enthusism to play over the weekend as I have so many projects in my head that I want to get done.