Deck the Palms Blog Hop

 Welcome to the Australasian CTMH Deck the Palms blog hop, if you arrived here from Megan at Crop Craft Create you are in the right place. If you arrived by chance I hope you get some inspiration from  my projects and you can continue the hop by clicking on the link at the end of this post.

 

This paper pack and stickers are a real fun collection, I love the colours and designs. they can be used for Christmas projects but also for many other themes. Isn't CTMH wonderful for releasing this summer Christmas paper pack which is perfect for us here in Australia and New Zealand as many people spend their Christmas day on or by the water

As soon as I saw this collection I knew what photos I was going to use, Mia's dress has flamingos on it. They live in Florida and the tropical vibe of these papers were perfect. I love it when my niece sends me photos of her and her daughter.

These papers are so pretty I had to use more than one of them on this card. There is a birthday coming up February next year and I know someone who will love this card. Each of the pieces of pattern paper are cut at 1 1/4" x 5 1/4" These stamps are now discontinued but there is always something similar available in the current catalogue.

Thanks again for stopping by, now hop along to Shaunna's Passionate about Pages and see what she has to share, I am sure it will be something wonderful.

Please take a moment and leave a comment, they are always appreciated.

Happy crafting!

Buildable Tags Blog Hop

 Welcome to our CTMH Australasian blog hop, if you arrived here from Doreen's blog you are in the right place. If you arrived by chance I hope my projects inspire you, and you can continue the hop by clicking on the link at the end of this post.

Today we are showcasing the fantastic buildable tags thin cuts, wow the possibilities are endless with this collection of  9 different dies. You can layer them or use them as individual dies.

The wonder and excitement of children when they believe in Santa is fantastic. When they write a letter to Santa it shows their absolute belief. Here are photos of my niece's daughter's excitement of posting her letter to Santa last year. I have used a few of the different dies, many thanks to Janice Gilhooley for her inspirational video using these tags. You can find her video here  I loved her idea of using the frame die and adding the gorgeous garden gnomes that have been coloured to create Christmas elves. I also used one of the tags to hold my title.

This second layout uses the basic tag that I have added a PLM card that I cut down to fit it. I love this quote "Collect Moments not Things" I am guilty of collecting things like heaps of scrapping supplies but really when you think about it they are not just things, they are essentials. Some of you may know this gorgeous baby, it's my niece Laura Beacham. I have delved into my stash of beautiful past papers and embellishments to create this layout. As I have said before one of the things I love about CTMH is their core colours remain the same, so different collections from different years all still match beautifully. 

 Thanks for stopping by, now for some more great ideas hop along to Alison at Scissors Paper Heart  I am sure she will have something wonderful to share.

Your comments are always appreciated, so please take a moment and leave one.

Happy crafting!

Candid Moments Blog Hop

 Welcome to the CTMH Australasian blog hop, if you have arrived here from Doreen's blog you are in the right place. If you arrived by chance I hope you see something you like and can continue the hop by clicking on the link at the end of this post.

Today we are showcasing the Candid Moments collection, aren't these colours beautiful? These papers will be so versatile and can be used for any type of project.

This gorgeous young boy is now in his forties, this is the first time I have tried the smooshing technique. To do this I pressed my ink pad directly on a large stamping block or you can use the all purpose mat, then spray a little water onto the ink and using a piece of cellophane or acetate and smoosh the cellophane onto the block. Then lightly fold the cellophane or acetate and place where you want on your paper, repeat as often as you want. It gives a lovely watercolour effect, I used Carolina and Sundance inks.

I am so happy with how this card turned out, after stamping and colouring the image I fussy cut it out. When you cut close to the edge of an image it's a good idea to then run around the edge of the image with a black marker it gives it a better looking image, no white bits showing. I added a gold sparkly star at the top. 

These photos were also taken many years ago, my mum and dad took my younger sister and a family friend down south during the school holidays. I have used sapphire cardstock for the background and sundance to mat the photos.

Thank you for stopping by, now hop along to Alison's Scissors Paper Heart and see what great project she has to share.

Please take a moment and leave a comment before you leave, they are always appreciated.

Happy crafting!

November Stamp of the Month "Created to Shine"

 Welcome to the CTMH Australasian stamp of the month blog hop, if you arrived here from Doreen's blog you are in the right place. If you arrived here by chance I hope my projects inspires you to use this stamp set. You can continue the hop by clicking on the link at the end of this post.

This stamp set is called Created to Shine, I really like the old fashioned look of the string of lights. These sentiments are lovely as well. I had fun creating with this stamp set.

Little girls love to pose for the camera and these three were having a great time. I felt this sentiment suited the layout perfectly. I wanted to make this a really pretty layout and these flower stamps from the Stitched Florals Z3698 fitted the bill. The delicate leaf dies adds a real softness to the flowers. Various gems were used for the centres of the flowers. I coloured the clear sparkles Z3274 with the coral Shin Han marker.

For this Christmas card I used the light stamps, I was able to ink up individual lights with Versa mark ink and heat emboss them with White Embossing powder Z2068 on the black stitched circles. The holly stamps can be found in a number of different CTMH Christmas stamps.

This last layout is my niece's recent birthday celebration at a rather fancy restaurant, the chandeliers are pretty amazing. The girls all shone brightly that night. I have used a variety of papers from my stash, and the gold Sparkle word die cut and the gold butterflies are from a previous kit.  

Thanks for stopping by please hop along and see what Dannielle at scrappychicks has to share, I am sure it is something wonderful.

Please take a moment and leave a comment they are always appreciated.

Happy crafting.

Layered Flowers Blog Hop

 Welcome to the CTMH Australasian Layered Flowers blog hop, if you arrived here from Doreen's blog you are in the right place. If you arrived here by chance I hope you find some inspiration from my projects and you can continue the hop by clicking on the link at the end of this post.

The layered flowers thin cuts will be a great addition to your collection of dies, there are 17 different shapes in this set of flowers and leaves. These cut beautifully with CTMH cardstock with just one pass through my Cuttlebug. I am sure you will be using them over and over again!

All little girls love a sleep over with their friends and it looks like Mia and her friend had a great time. After cutting the flowers I dry embossed them to give them some texture, I did tone on tone stamping on the pink cardstock and I am so happy with how it looks.

These photos gives you a better look at the embossed flowers, aren't they so pretty and the tone on tone stamping. I used thin 3D foam tape to adhere the flowers and leaves. A little bling always goes a long way to embellish a pretty layout.

 

This beautiful spot is only about 10 minutes from where I live and to make it even better there is a lovely cafe there that serves yummy food. It's the perfect spot for a light lunch or afternoon tea with friends. The black swans raise a family here most years. The title is made using the Block Alphabet thin cuts which are still available on clearance for just $44.00. I have cut two of each of the letters to make the title more sturdy.

To give the flowers a different look again I have drawn lines and circles with the CTMH dual tip stylus and then sanded the raised lines using an emery board. You can also highlight the lines with ink if you wanted but I like just the sanded look.

After cutting lots of different flowers I had a few left over and thought I would make a small box and use one of the flowers as a decoration. I have had this button in my stash since I first joined CTMH and it looks great on the flower. This is a very easy box to make it all it uses one piece of cardstock 11"x4" and a piece of pattern paper 3.5"x8" I have used the new red double sided adhesive tape to make this box and it works a treat. Any 3D project that you use this tape on will definitely not be coming apart. Check out this video for easy to follow instructions Succulent Garden Tent Box - Stampin' Up! UK #1 Demonstrator Sam Hammond (pootles.co.uk)

Thank you for stopping by, to see more great ideas hop along to Danielle's scrappychicks and see what she has to share.

Please take a moment and leave a comment, they are always appreciated.

Happy crafting!

Holly and Ivy Blog Hop

 Welcome to our CTMH Australasian blog hop, if you arrived here from Doreen's blog you are in the right place. If you arrived by chance I hope you get some inspiration from my projects. You can continue the hop by clicking on the link at the end of this post.

Today we are showcasing the lovely Christmas collection Holly and Ivy which has some beautiful papers and embellishments. I very much enjoyed using this collection with my Christmas photos.

Christmas really is a magical time when you have children in the family. My nephew lives in London with his wife and family and it was so wonderful to have them visit Australia for Christmas. Yes I am behind with my Christmas layouts, this was Christmas 2018. I loved working with this collection, this layout came together really easily. I used the red shimmer brush to add the splatters. The glitter presents are from a retired collection.

This layout is the same year and I wanted to make the family photo the focus of the page so I decided to create  a one photo layout which is something I rarely do. Because I was using just one photo I thought I would showcase all of the papers from this collection. Adding the pen lines around the edges of the papers defines the smaller pieces of paper so they are more noticeable.

 

Even though this collection is Christmas themed,  the toffee and red striped papers can be used for other occasions. I've had the Macaron stamp set for awhile and haven't used it yet so I set myself a challenge to use for this hop. When I saw the sentiment "Ooh La La" I wanted to use the retired Eiffel Tower stamp  as well as the macarons. The Bitty Sparklers are coloured with the tri blend markers. 

Thanks for stopping by, now hop along to Danielle's Scrappychicks blog and see what wonderful project she has to share.

Please take a moment and leave a comment, they are always appreciated.

Happy crafting.

October Stamp of the Month

 Welcome to the CTMH Australasian stamp of the month blog hop, if you arrived here from Artymaz you are in the right place. If you arrived here by chance I hope you get some inspiration from my project and you can continue the hop by clicking on the link at the end of this post.

This month's stamp of the month is Wildflower Friendship, aren't these animals just the cutest. The floral clusters are so pretty.

I was given these photos of Lucy's primary school graduation a few weeks ago and decided to use them with this stamp set. I found the quote "become a little wiser every day" online and thought it was perfect for the layout. The quote was stamped using the Stacy's Hand alphabet stamps with sapphire ink on two of the tag thin cuts. The owl and the other sentiment are also stamped with sapphire ink. The book page for my journalling is a cricut cut from the CTMH Artbooking cartridge. The papers are from the July - August Mix In paper pack which I ink destressed with sapphire ink. The other decorations are from my ever growing stash of retired products.

Doesn't he look like a wise old owl and pretty cute at the same time. Lucy looks too young to be going to high school the following year. At this age they have so much to look forward to, their whole lives ahead of them with unlimited possibilities. 

I really like how simple this card is and I love the colours, I was originally planning on doing a black and white card but when I saw this grey and black plaid I fell in love with it. It is also from one of the Mix In paper packs, these paper packs are always so lovely. By only stamping the fox's head I was able to use the lace doily thin cut which I am so sorry to say is now discontinued. What a lovely face the fox has.

 

Thank you for stopping by, now hop along to Shaunna's Passionate about Pages and see what great project she has to share. 

Please take a moment and leave a comment, they are always appreciated.

Happy crafting,

Doris

September Stamp of the Month "Grateful for This Life"

 Welcome to the Australasian CTMH stamp of the month blog hop, if you arrived here from Lauren Moore's blog you are in the right place. If you arrived by chance I hope you will get some inspiration from my projects and you can continue the hop by clicking on the link at the end of this post.

The September stamp of the month is Grateful for This life and and it has so may great sentiments that you will be using them time and time again.

I have created two layouts and card with the stamp set, this first layout is of my niece who had a car accident earlier this year. Thankfully she was not injured but her car was a right off, this meant a new car and who doesn't love a new car. She and her husband decided it would be a brand new Mazda! I used pattern 13 from the Volume 3 Make It From Your Heart ideas book as inspiration for this layout. I stamped grateful on the page and used various papers and decorations from my stash.

 This is the first time I have used the stunning Black Ore specialty paper and it is truly beautiful, this photo does not do it justice. It has a shimmery metallic finish, I have used it to mat the pattern paper and also for the die cut thanks. I only had the larger size gold glitter gems and they were too big for the smaller flowers, so I coloured the smaller silver ones with a tri blend marker. Isn't it great that you can mix the stamped sentiments with any of the many word Thin Cuts that CTMH offer

I love that the younger generation fathers share the parenting role much more these days. This is my niece's husband having breakfast with their girls at the kids table. It's obvious that Frank is enjoying himself. I am very happy with how this layout turned out, after adding the floral decorations I came across the older stamp set with the kitchen utensils and great sentiments, I think they bring a bit of whimsy to the page. 

Thank you for stopping by, now hop along to Danielle's Scrappy Chicks and see what great project she has to share.

Please take a moment and leave a comment, they are always appreciated.

Happy crafting!

Isabella Blog Hop

 Hello and welcome to the CTMH Australasian blog hop, if you have arrived from Kimberley's blog you are in the right place. If you have arrived by chance I hope my projects can inspire you. You can continue the hop by clicking on the link at the end of this post.

Today we are showcasing the Isabella collection, these papers are so yummy they are bright and colourful and I so enjoyed working with them. Blue is my favourite colour and the colour bluebird features prominently in this collection and I am pleased to say it isn't one of the retiring colours so it will be available for at least the next 12 months.

After forty seven years of nursing I decided it was time to retire late last year, so many memories both good and not so good. My last position was as a pre admission nurse, which means I would ring patients booked for elective surgery, go through their medical history, answer any questions and do whatever I could to help prepare them their stay in hospital. It was a welcome change from the hectic and busy ward work.

I came across a similar card on Pintrest, it is 5"x5" and uses four of the six different pattern papers from this collection. After colouring the butterflies I have used the clear shimmer brush and they look so pretty unfortunately it's not so visible in the photo.

 Some days it's hard to believe that I have a grandniece that is 19 years old, and has been driving for over two years. This layout is of her and her new car. 

The title was cut using the Block Alphabet Thin Cuts which can be found in the clearance section on my website for only $44.00 at the moment, that's a great saving. I love these thin cuts they are the best for creating titles. 

I used toffee cardstock and heat embossed the letters with white embossing powder and a discontinued pattern stamp to match the star. I am trying to use up my stash of older embellishments before the new catalogues are released in September, these diecuts worked perfectly for this layout.

 Thank you for stopping by, now hop along to Shaunna's Passionate About Pages  and see what great project she has to share.

Please take a moment and leave a comment, they are always appreciated.

Happy crafting!

August Stamp of the Month "Tutti Fruitti Summer"

Hello and welcome to the CTMH Australasian stamp of the month blog hop, if you arrived here from Lauren's CTMH Craftings you are in the right place. If you arrived by chance I hope you will get some inspiration from my project.. 

The August stamp of the month is called tutti Fruitti Summer and I am sure we will all love using this stamp set. There are some great sentiments plus the fruit icons are all so cute.

I immediately thought of these photos when I was thinking of what project to create with this stamp set. My nephew, his wife and beautiful girls visited from England at Christmas 2019. We had a family Christmas celebration at another niece's home and they have a pool, the kids loved spending time in the pool with their cousins. 

Close To My Heart are releasing a new core catalogue as well as the bimonthly catalogue in September so I am trying to use up my stash of older products. The "fun in the sun" title is perfect for this layout. This layout uses discontinued papers and embellishments but they worked really well with the stamp of the month.

Thanks again for stopping by now hop along to  Danielle's Scrappychicks  and see what great project she has created.

Happy crafting.

July Stamp of the Month "Strong Roots"

 Welcome to the Australasian CTMH Stamp of the Month blog hop, if you have arrived here from Danielle's Scrappychicksart  you are in the right place. If you arrived by chance I hope you will get some inspiration to use this stamp set. 

This set is titled Strong Roots with some lovely vintage look images and sentiments, which looked great with the layout I have created but will also  will work for other themes. Such as a card for a new home owner or heritage layouts. 

I visited Washington DC in 1978 and we went to George and Martha Washington's home Mount Vernon, this historic mansion has been preserved to the year 1799. George Washington is the first American president. When I saw this stamp set I immediately thought of these photos.

Thank you for stopping by now hop along to LaurenCTMHcraftings and see what great project Lauren  has created.

Please take a moment and leave a comment, they are always appreciated.

Happy crafting!