April Stamp of the Month "O-fish-ally Awesome"

Welcome to the Australasian Stamp of the Month blog hop, if you arrived here from Doreen's blog  you are in the right place. If you arrived by chance to continue the hop, click on the link at the end of this post.

This stamp set is  O-fish-ally Awesome, lots of great images that I can see being used for many different projects. My projects are all pretty different.

I've had cats for most of my adult life, and they brought much fun to my life, but after the last one died about six years ago I decided that I wouldn't have anymore pets. It was now so much easier if I wanted to go away, I didn't need to get someone to look after them for me. Then about five years ago I thought maybe I would get some goldfish. I first got six but for some reason two died but the remaining four lived happily together and grew bigger and fatter in my pond. 

I thought I would try to manipulate the fish bowl stamp to see if I could create a bowl vase and I am very happy with how it turned out. I used the February stamp of the month for the bunch of flowers in the vase. I water coloured the flowers and used the clear shimmer brush to give them some sparkle but unfortunately it doesn't show in my photo. It really is very pretty in real life.

In these uncertain times with this terrible virus affecting all of us in some way or another, even if  it's just  isolating ourselves, we have to remember to "just keep swimming" and get on with our lives the best way possible. Keep in touch with family and friends and for some of us we have more time to craft than we ever did. I stamped and coloured the fish, then embossed it. It's a really easy card to make.

Thank you for stopping by, please hop over to Danielle's Scrappy Chicks to see some more great ideas. I am sure she will have something wonderful to share.

Have a wonderful day and please take a moment and leave a comment they are always appreciated.

These are My People blog hop

Welcome to the CTMH Australasian blog hop, if you arrived here from Maz Wood's blog you are in the right place. If you arrived here by chance I hope you get some inspiration from what I have created. You will be able to continue the hop by clicking on the link at the end of this post.

We are showcasing the lovely "These are My People" collection the papers have wonderful patterns and colours and the sticker sheet is just gorgeous.

This layout uses the beautiful yellow paper, the zip strip and some of the stickers. These photos were taken at The House of Honey in the Swan Valley during our Christmas holiday break, the bee hive and honey combe on display were amazing. I love this bee stamp and got it in last month's sale.

The second layout shows my amazing niece's birthday photos. I used a layout I saw on Pinterest for inspiration, but I am unable to give credit to the person as I didn't pay attention their name and I have been unable to find it again.

I am very happy with how this card turned out, I have used the frame from sticker sheet and the lovely green paper.

Thank you for stopping by to see more great ideas hop along to Shaunna's Passionate About Pages, I am sure she will have some wonderful to share. Please take a moment and leave a comment, they are always appreciated.

Yesterday and Today Blog Hop

Welcome to the CTMH Australasian blog hop, if you arrived here from Shaunna's Passionate About Pages you are in the right place. If you arrived here by chance you can continue the hop by clicking on the link at the end of this post.

I do love all things vintage and this collection is so lovely. Even though the papers are lovely I really felt with my photos to use just them in a layout may make the look too dark so I have added papers from other collections.

I love this photo of my grandfather, dad, brother and nephew, four generations of Taylor males. I have used one of the Mix In papers, some of the stickers and a wonderful stamp set called Then and Now that unfortunately is now discontinued.

My nephew in the above photo is now married and has two amazing daughters and I am told he and his wife are unlikely to have any more children. I am hoping one of my other nephews may soon get married and start a family and have a son to carry on this line of the Taylor name. So maybe one day soon an engagement may be in wings and I will have need of this card.

I am one of six children, we are all relatively close in age and I am sure we were a handful growing up. Thankfully my mum and dad always had help from my grandparents. I believe this photo was taken about 1959-60 during the summer holidays.

Thank you for stopping by I hope you got some inspiration from my projects. To see more ideas please go to Arty Maz's blog, I am sure she will have something wonderful to share. Please take a moment and leave a comment they are always appreciated.

March Stamp of the Month "Family Legacy"

Welcome to the Australasian CTMH 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 you like what I have created, you can continue the hop by clicking on the link at the end of the post.

This very heritage looking stamp is wonderful, it is called Family Legacy and will be great for layouts with old photos but of course it can also be used with more traditional colours and projects. I have plans for using this stamp set with many old photos of my mum and dad's but I have to sort through them before I can start. So I have used what I have on hand at the moment.

One of the gifts my parents handed down to me was the love of family time spent together. I remember fondly the many occasions my immediate family spent with my grandparents and the extended family. I can see this legacy has been passed down to my nieces and nephews as well.

With this card this card I have used the lovely flourish stamp and the flower stamp which I have heat embossed with daisy white ink on sapphire cardstock. This reminded me of the beautiful toile fabrics you see in many heritage homes. I fussy cut the flower image to fit just on the corner edge. I really like how it turned out.

This is such a pretty card, I have used the flower stamp again with one of the small flourish stamps. I  coloured the clear sparkle gems to match the paper. I love this blush ribbon and how it looks on this card.

To see more great ideas go to  Lauren Moore's blog, I am sure she has something lovely to share. Please take moment and leave a comment, they are always appreciated.

Keep Your Head Up Blog Hop

Welcome to this special blog hop, if you have arrived here from Shaunna's Passionate About Pages you are in the right place, if you have arrived by chance, I hope you like what I have created. You can continue the hop by clicking on the link at the end of this post.

We are showcasing a stamp set that CTMH have produced especially in response to the terrible bushfires around Australia. The proceeds from the sale of this stamp will be donated to the Australian Red Cross. This lovely stamp is only $10.00.

I love all of the sentiments and images, we all need to remember to keep our heads up and our hearts strong. Don't you just love that heart stamp and the great thing is the sentiment fits inside the heart.

This was a very easy to card to make, I wanted the stamps to be the focus of the card so I stamped both using sugarplum ink and left it as is. I duplicated the flowers on the paper using the complimenting cardstocks.

This little pouch will hold all sorts of goodies, I have used the same stamped heart but have coloured it with our markers and added the flower stamps to the middle of the heart. I stamped the heart again on a pretty pale pink paper and then cut out just the heart shape and placed it on top before adding the flowers.

This is my lovely niece who is no longer with us.

Thank you for stopping by, you can get more ideas using this stamp set by continuing the hop. Just hop along to Lauren Moore's blog to see what wonderful project she has created.

Celebrate Today Blog Hop

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

We are showcasing the Celebrate Today collection, there are some beautiful papers and also great complimenting stickers. This collection is so lovely and so easy to work with, all of the elements are bright and cheery.

These papers looked great with these photos, there's nothing like a short holiday to recharge the tired bodies and soothe the soul. This is a really simple and easy layout, I used two of the papers the zip strips, some decorations and the most important, the story that goes with the photos.

Split Coast Stampers is a wonderful resource with lots of great card making tutorials. I came across  this one to make an easel card. You can find the step by step tutorial and a video here  This card is 4.25" x 4.25" but when opened it can be displayed like an easel. The flower sticker was too large for my card, so I fussy cut it so it had no white edge and also cut the leaves away from the flower. I was then able to rearrange the leaves behind the flower and it fitted on my card.

Thank you for stopping by, to see more great ideas check out what Lauren Moore has created, here at laurenctmhcraftings  Please take a moment and leave a comment, they are always appreciated.

February Stamp of the Month Blog Hop "Cherishing Her"

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

This beautiful stamp has been a pleasure to work with, some great sentiments and what a lovely bouquet of flowers. I really like the script font as well as the typewriter font, these stamps will be used again and again. Please note that this stamp set uses the English spelling for mum instead of the American mom. So make sure when you order this stamp set you use the code S2002 E.

Sometimes it's nice to have a card without a sentiment and I really like how this embossed bunch of flowers look. It's a pretty simple card just heat embossed and a few gems and it can be used for just about any occasion. 

I love how the multiple sentiments add a little fun to this layout, especially how the photos are about the girls having fun.

Thank you for stopping by I hope you like what I have created, to see more great ideas head off to Danielle's Scrappy Chicks blog I am sure she will have something wonderful to share.

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

Happy Crafting!

Bring Back My Pack "Urban" Blog Hop

Welcome to the Australasian CTMH Blog Hop, if you arrived here from Shaunna's Passionate About Pages you are in the right place. If you arrived by chance you can continue the hop by clicking on the link at the end of this post.

It's great that CTMH have been bringing back some of the past favourite collections. We are showcasing the Urban collection today. At first glance it seems very rustic and outdoorsy, but as with all of CTMH's papers the possibilities are endless. When mixed with other products you can create something very different.

I loved the challenge of creating a pretty card using these papers. The colours of peacock and slate look beautiful together.

I had a short getaway locally last weekend and the unit we rented backed onto a golf course, which was home to many kangaroos. I am an early riser and was having my cuppa when I first noticed the kangaroos in the distance, and after awhile they came closer. Finally they were very close and I got these great photos. 

I took inspiration from the title sticker and used the sapphire cardstock as the accent colour with the decorative papers. These lovely kangaroo stamps are from a few years ago and are no longer available.

Thank you for stopping by, I hope I have given you some inspiration to use this superb collection. To get more great ideas hop along to Lauren Moore's blog and see what she has created. Before you leave please take a moment and leave a comment, they are always appreciated.

January Stamp of the Month "Every Day Magic"

Welcome to the CTMH Australasian Stamp of the Month blog hop, if you arrived here from  Danielle Edwards Scrappy Chicks you are in the right place. If you arrived here by chance I hope you like what you see and you can continue the hop by clicking on the link at the end of this post.

This is a lovely stamp set with wonderful sentiments that will be great with your projects both scrapbooking as well as card making.

I really like how versatile these sentiments are, sometimes I like to encourage my friends to not only remain positive when life becomes more complicated but also to reinforce just how well they are coping with certain situations. With CTMH's acrylic stamps it is easy to add extra words to a stamp to change it slightly. I received the Spruced Up stamp and thin cuts set for Christmas and had great fun using it in this card.

Creating this layout was rather cathartic, seeing Margo and Mia happy and smiling was a real joy after what they endured during Hurricane Dorian. They were able to be evacuated to Florida once the hurricane was over and are still there. There was great devastation and destruction in their home town in the Bahamas and unfortunately little has changed in the past three months.

My final project is another card that was fun and easy to make. I really do think butterflies are some of the most beautiful creatures. I just love them both in real life as well as a stamped image. We all need to be reminded to be ourselves and not a copy of someone else as we are all so unique. This combination of colours are so pretty. I have used Eggplant and Sugarplum inks for the butterflies and black for the sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by, to get more ideas hop along to Lauren Moore's blog  and see what great project she has created.

Before you leave please take a moment and leave a comment it is always appreciated.