ATSM Challenge #112

Hi everyone and welcome back. Over at Addicted to Stamps and More! we have a fun and popular challenge for you this week -

MAKE YOUR MARK

Here you can make anything you like but you must use something that will make a mark on your project.

Today I have opted to use one of our sponsors images and colour in with my Spectrun Noir markers.

Our sponsor is

who are offering 3 images up to the value of $10 to their store.

I loved the Poinsettia image by Scrappers Delight. It was really fun to colour -

Here is my DT card -

Once I coloured the poinsettia, I fussy cut it out and popped it up in the corner with foam squares. I added pearls to the center. The sentiment is from SU. I rounded the corners as the finishing touch.

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges -

Ooh La La Creations - Clean and Simple

Glitter and Sparkle - Use a Digi

ABC Christmas Challenge - R is for Red Poinsettia

613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes with optional twist (colour chart)

Thanks so much for looking xx

Happy Fathers Day

Good morning everyone!

Today I wanted to share a card with you that I have made for my dad. Sunday just gone was Fathers Day here in Australia. It's funny you know. I never usually make masculine cards. I really only ever make cards for the women in my life. I just don't think the boys appreciate them as much, somehow.

Anyway, one bloke that does appreciate what goes into making a card is my dad. At times he is my harshest critic when it comes to card making lol. I ask him to be honest when I ask his opinion about what I have made and honest he is. He is a cool dad and very supportive of my hobby.

He has not long undergone major back surgery. He spent over 9 hours on the operating table so he has a long way to go with recovery. Thanks to all of you lovely ladies who kept up the prayers and well wishes through this time.

Using awesome Inspired by Stamping products, here is my card for dad -

Starting with a white panel, I smeared Distress Inks onto my large acrylic block, misted it with water and pressed it onto the cardstock.

I grabbed the Chevron set and arranged three of the stamps on my block so I could repeat stamp. Then I heat embossed them in three different colours. The top chevron is from a different set - Pretty Planners.

 I Love you Because is such a beautiful set with lots of wonderful sayings. I chose ones that were close to my heart. 

There you go - a very masculine card for Fathers Day using goodies from Inspired by Stamping. 

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges -

Crafty Catz - One for the Boys

Just Add Ink - Dad

Thanks so much for looking xx

ATCAS #47 - Oriental

Hi there!

Today is the start of a new challenge over at Addicted to CAS. Sylvia is your hostess this week and she has chosen a really cool code word for us this fortnight.

Here is my DT card -

A few weeks ago I won a challenge and received a prize from A Day for Daisies. I thought this 'Green Lady' image was beautiful. Out came my Spectrum Noir markers and I went to town.
The sentiment is from STAMPlorations and from the Trendy Feathers set.

Here are the markers that I have used on this image -

Hair - IG1, IG3, IG6, IG8, IG10

Skin - FS3, FS4, FS9, CR3, CR5

Dress (red) - DR1, DR2, DR4, DR6

Dress (blue) - TB3, TB4, TB5

Flowers - DRI, DR4, DR7

Hair ornaments - GB4

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges -

Spectrum Noir - Friendship
Fan-tastic Tuesday - Anything Goes
Clear it out Challenge - Anything Goes



I made a second card for this challenge today and for this one I used the sketch from Happy Little Stampers.

The cherry blossom is from Lavinia Stamps. I embossed it with white powder and then sponged Distress Inks over the top (Tattered Rose and Spun Sugar). The sentiment is from STAMPlorations and from the Trendy Feathers set. I moved my pearls to the left hand side to symbolise the stars in the sketch. I did this mainly due to an inky boo boo ;)

Our fabulous sponsor for this challenge is



and Kathryne is offering 5 free digis to our winner!


We also have an awesome Guest Designer for the month of September. Tenia from Jazzy Paper Designs!!


Pop on over to the challenge blog and check out the amazing inspiration we have for you!

STAMPlorations Monthly Challenge

Hi everyone and welcome back to a brand new monthly challenge over at STAMPlorations!

You are going to love this one!

We all love colouring in and I have used my Spectrum Noirs to colour up this new release stamp called Holiday Sketches: Christmas Bells

Here is my DT card -

The background was created by embossing stamps from the Vignette: Christmas Block set. 

Once I had coloured my Christmas Bells, I cut them out and popped them up with foam tape. Easy peasy. The panel was cut using a Lil' Inker Stitched Rectangle die.

Did you know that STAMPlorations now has a stamp club? 

Every other month (in between our official stamp release months), we put out a 5" by 7" stamp set. 

If you love unique images with a sketchy/artsy feel, you'll love the 5" by 7" stamp sets we'll be releasing in the coming months!

When when you sign up for our stamp club, you'll:

- save $5-$7 off the price of the stamp set

- get FREE shipping wherever you are in the world

- receive up to 15% off on stamp sets in the shop (you'll receive a special code just for your use for whenever you wish to order additional stamps)

- get to preview the upcoming 5" by 7" stamp set so you can decide whether you want to receive it OR substitute a previously released 5" by 7" set OR 3 stamp sets (you pick from stamp sets priced at $6.50 each or less)

- receive an exclusive 4" by 6" stamp set ($12 value) FREE every 3rd shipment (that's for every 6 months you remain a club member)

Click HERE to sign up

We also have a wonderful Guest Designer for this challenge - Chris G

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Dream it Up - Christmas and the Holidays

Thanks so much for looking xx

ATSM #111 - Anything Goes {Just for you Mrs P Ugly Bum Marie}

Good morning everyone! Today is the start of a new challenge over at Addicted to Stamps and More! where we have an Anything Goes challenge but with an optional twist.

We are having a special linky party for my very, very, very good friend, Marie from baileyrosy. 

Marie had the good fortune to meet me when I was in Spain. Oh! Did I just say that?? I meant to say that I had the good fortune to have Marie fly from Greece especially for me when I was in Spain ;) We had an AMAZING time while staying with Florence and Freddie and made memories we will certainly never forget.

Now, Marie has been quite under the weather lately and still has a ways to go. 

Thanks to the amazing Darnell from djkardkreations for emailing me and talking about Marie behind her back... we love doing that! We colluded and colluded and decided that a special Get Well/Thinking of You party was required for Marie.

If you know Marie (or even if you don't) and would like to play along, just pop on over to ATSM and link up your project this week.

Here is my card

I have used heaps of goodies from Inspired by Stamping for this one.

Spring Lilacs Paper Pad

Fancy Label 3

Fancy Label Dies 1

I used two of the dies to create a frame for my shaker card. 

(Who knew I had purple sequins?? I didn't! Guess I know now lol)

Mwah! There are go, ugly bum Marie. I hope you like and have fun seeing all the cards that are especially for you over at ATSM!

Thanks so much for looking xx

Merry Christmas with Fusion

Hi everyone. An unexpected post for me today. Why? I decided to have a look around at the challenge available to enter at the moment and crafted just for fun. 

I have been talking to a couple of friends/teamies from ATSM and discussing what sort of challenges inspire us. High on the list were photo challenges and then at some point a sketch may help with the inspiration. 

I decided to have my first go at playing over at Fusion. Here we have a sketch and a photo to help us. I know this is a popular challenge among my friends but I have never had a chance to play along.

Here is the inspiration that Fusion has to offer -

I decided to go the whole hog and use BOTH :)

The colours in the photo are so lovely and would be perfect for a Christmas Card. I used the red, brown and cream colours and also Distress Ink (Antique Linen) around the edges of my card to symbolise the distressed look of the wood in the photo.

Here is my card -

I couldn't resist adding the stars (like in the photo) as I have just got some new Lil' Inker dies in the mail. The sentiment is from SU and was embossed with Cherry Cobbler powder. I substituted the banner on the sketch for twine.

I would also like to enter this card into the following challenges -

A Creative Romance - A Touch of Kraft

Marinas Christmas Card Challenge
Allsorts - Early Christmas makes

Thanks so much for looking xx

STAMPlorations Sketch #19 {Happy Birthday Nonni}

Hi there everyone, today is the start of a brand new sketch challenge over at STAMPlorations. 

My card is also a belated birthday card for fellow teamie, Nonni! Sandie organised a surprise birthday linky party for Nonni but I was away from home and couldn't get something in on time. So, sorry it is late but HAPPY BIRTHDAY Nonni!

Firstly, here is the sketch (which I rotated)

and here is my DT card -

Nonni loves flowers and I was so lucky to receive my brand new release stamps for STAMPlorations in time to make up this card using the new Bloom Sketches: Daisy 2 set.

I started with a piece of watercolour card and stamped my Daisy and masking as I went. Then I used Distress Inks, water and a paint brush to colour them. Once dry, I masked them again and brushed ink on for the background. I used a stencil (a gift from my good friend Loll) and then stamped the sentiment. The last thing to do was flick white and blue ink/paint over the finished panel.

My main inspiration for this card is the wonderful Shery (owner of STAMPlorations). While I was away from home, I was able to watch her video tutorials. I still have much to learn but I was really happy with how this turned out. Thanks Shery!!!

Have you seen the new release pre-sale? You should check it out because up until the 5th of September you can get 29% off the entire bundle!

More details HERE

I can't wait to see what you come up with using our sketch!

Thanks so much for looking xx

Happy Little Stampers Sketch Challenge

Hi everyone, over at Happy Little Stampers there is a monthly sketch challenge for you to play along with. 

Here it is -

and here is my card -

I have used Inspired by Stamping - Cherish.

The red pearl in the middle was coloured using an alcohol marker.

Pop on over to Happy Little Stampers to join in and be in the running to win a $5 gift certificate from

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges -

CAS on Sunday - Black/White and one other colour
Marks Finest Paper - Use a silhouette


Thanks so much for looking xx

ATCAS #46 - Luxury

Hello everyone! I hope you are enjoying your weekend so far.

Today we have a brand new challenge starting over at ATCAS and our amazing, cas loving Sandie is your hostess this time around.

Here is the code word that she has chosen for you -

Hmmm luxury! That's a corker of a code word, Sandie. It really made me get my thinking cap on. 

Does Luxury make you think of fine foods, first class travel, first class accommodation or maybe jewellry? Perhaps the simpler things in life are a luxury to you - just being able to sit down and read a book after a busy day or even spending time with the kids. It's a busy world out there and I'm sure you will find something that will inspire you for this challenge.

I decided to go with Gold and Friendship as luxury. Not that the two are necessarily connected, lol.

I had been sent some die cut butterflies by the beautiful and generous Barb (my teamie over at ATSM) that were within my birthday card. They are wonderful die cuts and I used one for this card -

Here it is -

The backing butterfly was embossed with gold powder. It is so pretty!

The sentiment is from Inspired by Stamping who is our amazing sponsor for this challenge. I love this sentiment and embossed in gold it is just stunning! You can find the stamp set (Friends Forever) HERE

Again, our sponsor -

Joanna is offering a $15 gift certificate to her store!

That's it from me. Pop on over to the challenge blog and have a look at the spectacular inspiration from the Design Team.

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges -

Daring Cardmakers - Clean and Simple
Sister Act Challenge - Anything Goes
Fairytale Challenges - Clean and Simple

Summer Flowers with Inspired by Stamping

Hi everyone! How are you all today? 

I am going to share with you a card today that combines two wonderful sets from Inspired by Stamping.

Summer Flowers and the Newly Released Summer Fun

I started off by creating my background using Distress Inks directly onto an acrylic block, spritzing them with water and pressing the block onto my cardstock. A piece of paper towel was used to pat the colour. I sped up the drying process by using my heat gun.

I am really happy with how my background colours worked out. It is obviously very random so it is always cool to see how it ends up.

Here is a close up of the flowers (from the Summer Flowers set). They have been heat embossed with white powder.

I stamped the hello from the Summer Fun set. How awesome is it that these sets combine so beautifully!

The finishing touch for this card was adding the three little pearls to the top right hand corner.

I hope you have been enjoying the New Release sets from Inspired by Stamping. I know I have!!

Thanks so much for looking xx

ATSM - Challenge #109 CAS

Hi everyone!!!

Welcome back to Wednesday. It is a brand new challenge over at Addicted to Stamps and More! and today we have a

CLEAN AND SIMPLE

challenge for you!

Here is my DT card -

I have used really cool new release stamps from Inspired by Stamping. 

This gorgeous pack of Chevrons has so many designs to choose from. I arranged 4 of the stamps onto an acrylic block so they became a 'block' stamp. Then it was really easy to create repetative stamping!

The sentiment is from my favourite set Summer Fun. There are so many cool images in this one!

Here are my homemade enamel dots again! Aren't they cool? You can find out how to make them by clicking HERE

Pop on over to ATSM to enter our CAS challenge and don't forget to visit the Design Teams blogs for inspiration!

Over at Addicted to CAS, our current challenge is Geometric so I am going to link up there as DT.

Thanks so much for looking xx

ATCAS #45 - Geometric

Hi there everyone and Happy Saturday!

Ready for a brand new challenge over at Addicted to CAS?

Harriet is your hostess this week and she has chosen this awesome code word for you -

Need a little help? Here are some definitions for you -

Geometry - the branch of mathematics concerned with the properties and relations of points, lines, surfaces, solids, and higher dimensional analogs.

Geometric - 1. of or relating to geometry, or according to its methods. 2. (of a design) characterized by or decorated with regular lines and shapes.

I decided to ink up a set from Inspired by Stamping - Hexagons

Here is my DT card -

I stamped the strip of Hexagons first and then used one of the patterned Hexagons in different colours and fussy cut each one. They are popped up with foam tape.

I love this sentiment from the Summer Fun set. The font is beautiful!

There you go! There is my Geometric card with lots of white space. Pop on over to the challenge blog to see what the other ladies have come up with to inspire you!

I would also like to enter this card into the following challenges -

Time Out - CASE with your own twist

Art Impressions - Show off your Sentiment

Cute Card Thursday - Clean and Simple

Thanks so much for looking xx

ATSM Challenge #108

Hello! How are we all on this fine Wednesday?

We are back for a brand new challenge over at Addicted to Stamps and More! and this week we are up to our Holiday Challenge. 

Make anything you want as long as you follow our Holiday theme.

Here are my DT cards (I made two this week!)

I love this image from Rick St. Dennis (our sponsor this week). This Cocoa and Cookies Santa is so perfect and jolly. I have coloured him with my Spectrum Noirs.

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges -

Stamps and Fun - Christmas
Inkspirational - Markers or Pencils
Marina at My Perfect Life has a Christmas Challenge

Here is my 2nd card -

I don't usually do Halloween cards but Rick St. Dennis was so kind to provide us with these wonderful images that I just had to give Hannah Halloween a go! Coloured with Spectrum Noirs. The bats are die cuts from Impression Obsession.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges -

Eureka Stamps - Things with Wings
My Time to Create - Coloured Hair

Our amazing sponsor this week -

Pop on over to ATSM to see the wonderful inspiration provided by the DT 

Thanks so much for looking xx

Mixed Media with Inspired by Stamping

Hi everyone! I'm so glad you could join me today.

I would like to share a card with you that I have made using one of my favourite stamps available at Inspired by Stamping. I have used many techniques for this card and can't wait to share them with you.

Firstly,  created my background. I used distress inks straight onto an acrylic block and then sprtized them with water. I randomly placed them onto my cardstock and then used some paper towel to pat the colour. To speed up the drying process I ran my heat gun over the finished cardstock.

Using the Summer Fun stamp set (New Release), I stamped the umbrella and two sentiments with Versamark and heat embossed using white powder. 

Next I used the wave stamp and used a couple of different colours and repeated my stamping.

Then I used a couple of stencils. One I sponged ink over and the next I used a Gloss Gel medium over the stencil to create texture.

The final touch was having fun by taking a wet paintbrush and added a bit of reinker to it and splattering ink everywhere!

The whole panel was then attached with strips of foam tape.

There you have it! A mixed media card which was lots of fun to make!

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges -

613 Avenue Create - I have used the option for Sights/Sounds/Smells or Tastes of Summer

Thanks so much for looking xx

STAMPlorations Monthly Challenge

Welcome back everyone and Happy Friday to you all. 

Today marks the start of the monthly challenge over at STAMPlorations.

You are going to LOVE this one!

That's right! Just use stamps and die cuts on your project to enter.

(Don't forget that you don't have to use STAMPlorations stamps to enter. All brands are welcome)

Here is my DT card -

 I have been using this background technique a bit lately. It really is a great way to use your favourite colours in a Mixed Media sort of way. I applied ink straight onto an acrylic block, misted it with water and pressed it onto my watercolour paper (I have been using normal cardstock too).

Once it was dry (helped with my trusty heat gun), I glued my die cut sentiment (Happy Birthday background from Poppy Stamps) on and then started stamping using the VIGNETTE: Retro Mod Shapes and Chevron and Arrows . 

The last thing I did was dampen a paint brush and squeeze reinker onto the brush and with graceful air starting flapping my arm about to send splotches of ink over the panel. I'm sure I looked like an unco-ordinated conductor!

We have a wonderful Guest Designer joining us for this challenge. She shouldn't really need any introduction as her work is very well known - Karen Dunbrook. Don't forget to stop by and check out her amazing card!

I would also like to enter into the following challenges -

DRS Challenge - Chevrons and/or Arrows

AAA Cards - Watercolours + CAS

Come and Get It Challenges - Use a Die

Eclectic Ellapu - Anything Goes with option of Watercolours

Thanks so much for looking xx