Yay It's the Weekend!

I love surfing the web and checking out Pinterest and craft blogs for new ideas. There are so many very creative people out there who are willing to share freely their creations. Here are a few of my recent cards.

When I saw a similar card to this card online I really wanted to try and replicate it,and this is how it turned out.

It's my niece's daughter's first birthday soon and I made this cute card for her. I love this stamp set with all the cute animals.

A friend was unwell a few weeks ago and I hoped to cheer her up with this Get Well Soon card. I received a lovely note from her telling me when she received this card in the mail it really brightened her day.

Have a great weekend and happy crafting.

Close To My Heart Zoe Blog Hop

Welcome to our "Zoe" blog hop, if you arrived here from Shaunna's blog  you are in the right place, it's a pleasure to have you stop by. Zoe is one of the new products in the 2015/16 Annul Inspirations Catalogue which will be available for early purchase this month. The new catalogue will be released in September.

I have used the Zoe Workshop on the Go G1096 for my projects. The papers, stamps, and compliments are beautiful and it is available for early purchase this month. There are lots of great stamps in this set and I looked forward to using them. I decorated one of the Display Trays Z1570, inspiration for this project came from the CTMH Make It From the Heart site. I also used the Seaside Greetings stamp set D1609 and Treasured Friendship set C1594 as they complimented these photos  perfectly. The Glacier Extra Thick Twine Z3039 was used to make the fishing net in the bottom right corner.

I have also made two cards using the Zoe papers and the inks recommended for this set. This first one was a lot of fun to do, creating a scene was easier than I thought. I love all of the papers in this set, they are so colourful. Various stamp sets were used to make this card.

This card is a really easy one, the circles are cut using the cricut and the Happy Birthday stamp is from the Happy to be Friends stamp set C1605. The little flowers are made with punch which I have had for a number of years, and the Bitty Sparkles Z1263 look so pretty.                                  

To continue this hop click here to go to Maz's Inky Fingers, I am sure she has a fantastic creation to share.

My Weekend Visitor

 My niece's daughter Lucy spent a weekend with me a few weeks ago and we had a great time together. On the Saturday we baked cookies and on the Sunday we did some gardening. It's such a pleasure having her stay with me, she is happy playing on her own for awhile and always tidied up afterwards. I have a toy box with a variety of toys, for the kids when they come. The toy box has dolls, cars, puzzles and even a doctor's bag with a stethescope and reflex hammer. We planted a selection of flower seedlings in my old wheelbarrow and I can't wait until they are all flowering I am sure it will look really nice.

Our chocolate cookies not long out of the oven, they were very yummy. We went to visit my mum Saturday afternoon and took some of our cookies for afternoon tea.

Lucy showing off  our wheelbarrow flower project.

Weekend Crafting

This past weekend was cold and rainy so I decided to spend sometime making cards. My table is set up looking out my lounge room window.  It gives me much pleasure to sit at my table crafting and watch the native birds splashing in the birdbath and the doves feeding from a bird feeder hanging in a bottlebrush tree in my front garden.

Here are four of the cards that I made last weekend. Inspiration for these cards came from Pinterest, there are so many very talented ladies out there that are willing share their great ideas. I love the bright colours of this first card, I used honey cardstock for the card then stamped the flowers on daisy white cardstock and inked the flower centres with honey ink.

I really like how this card turned out, it was fun doing the colouring and the sentiment brings back memories of watching "Friends" with Joey saying "How You Doing".

Making masculine cards is always a bit of a challenge but I love the simplicity of this card, I sponged white ink directly onto the brown cardstock, then added the stamped image, a narrow strip of paper, black twine and the embellishment.

Another simple but colourful card, the ity bity sparkles adds just the right amount of bling.

Happy crafting.

Get Organised with Close To My Heart

During the month of August, get your hands on the latest and greatest in organisation products from Close To My Heart—with a few perks thrown in! Simply place an order for the new marker roll-up at full retail price and receive the new D-size stamp set  Balloon Wishes FREE! Or place an order for the new accessory roll-up at full retail price and receive two new Base & Bling style sheets, Affirmations and Lovely Blooms, FREE! All of the items offered as part of this campaign are featured in the Annual Inspirations 2015–2016 idea book, but are available for early purchase during August only as part of this campaign. The marker roll-up will be your new best friend, providing storage space for up to 25 ShinHan Touch Twin markers. The  Balloon Wishes stamp set is perfect for colouring, making them a practical pairing. The accessory roll-up is ideal for sorting and storing accessories, Base & Bling items, and embellishments, while the new Base & Bling style sheets are full of gorgeous floral designs and hip icons and sentiments perfectly suited for creating stunning jewelry pieces. Place your order for one—or both—deals and get an exciting sneak peek at just a few of the many new products found within Annual Inspirations’ pages!

CTMH August Stamp of the Month

Hello and welcome to this month's Blog Hop. If you arrived here from  Marguerite's blog  you are in the right place, if you happened upon this hop by accident no worries just continue on by following the link at the end of the post.

This month's stamp is  Framed S1508, it has 12 stamps with three different frames and nine sentiments. I love how each sentiment is a different font. Notice the red line around the frames, well this means you can cut these shapes with the Cricut Artistry cartridge that is also released this month.

 I have made three cards and a Pillow Box this month each one is quite different to the other. This first card is a classic cream and black colour combination. I love this particular stamp it is so elegant and deserved a simple but beautiful design. The colonial white cardstock is embossed using the Damask Embossing Folder Z1927 and the black sequin ribbon and stick pin are from the Black Mini Medley Accent Kit Z1862. The crotchet flower is no longer available but I felt it added just the right touch for this card and the crown is one of the Base and Bling charms.

As Father's Day is just over a month away I thought I would make a card to celebrate this occasion. All it takes is just a small amount of sponging to bring the lighthouse stamp to life. The lighthouse stamp comes from the Seaside Greetings Set D1609. By adhering the two pieces of white cardstock together with just the smallest amount of adhesive you can stamp the image so it overlaps onto both pieces of cardstock. After stamping the image remove the smaller piece of cardstock and mat it with black and then adhere to the larger white piece. I sponged  the sky with Crystal Blue ink Z2117 using a sponge dauber and then repeated the process with Desert Sand ink Z2118 for the sand. Another of the great frames was used for the sentiment.

We all love receiving little gifts and this pillow box will hold all manner of treats. The pillow box was cut using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge. I chose papers from the National Scrapbook Day "Taste of Summer" pack. I decided to use this stamp as a real frame, after stamping the image I then fussy cut out the center so I could place the stamped flowers from the Shower Flowers stamp set C1612 under the frame. The little butterfly and bling adds a nice touch. The"Thinking of You" sentiment was stamped on a circle and then matted with a scalloped circle. The ribbon is from my stash.

My niece's daughter is having her birthday soon and I wanted to make a special card for her. I have had the paper doll stamp set for awhile but this is first time that I have used it. Unfortunately this stamp set is no longer available. The Shin Han markers are perfect for colouring in these items. I am a bit of a novice using these markers but I think they turned out al-right. This side step card is great for making a look alike dresser and this particular frame stamp makes very cute drawers for the dresser.

I hope you are enjoying this hop so please continue on and check out Wendy's blog  I am sure she has a great project to share. We all really appreciate your comments so if you see anything you like please leave a comment. 

"Jump on it July"

During the month of July, when you purchase $32.50 in current, retail priced stamps, you qualify to receive either the July Stamp of the Month, Life Is Wonderful, FREE or any one of the Hostess Rewards stamp sets featured in Annual Inspirations 2014–2015 or Seasonal Expressions 2 for only $6.50! That is a savings of up to $27!  The Hostess Rewards stamp sets have previously only been available as part of the Hostess Rewards program, which means now is the perfect opportunity to get those special stamp sets you’ve had your eye on! To get your FREE stamp set or your $6.50 AUD Hostess Rewards stamp set, simply place an order for $32.50 AUD of any current, retail priced stamps. This offer is available only during the month of July and applies only to the July Stamp of the Month and current Hostess rewards stamp sets, so spring into action and jump on this deal before it’s gone! Use the Shop Now button to check out my CTMH webite to purchase these specials, you can view the Annual Inspirations catalogue and the Seasonal Expressions 2 catalogue on my website to see the different hostess stamp sets.

This is July's Stamp of the Month "Life is Wonderful"

These two cards are made with the hostess stamp sets that you can get in this month's special offer. The first one is from the Seasonal Expressions 2 catalogue, This stamp set is called Paper Bird Z1613 and has this beautiful butterfly, a bird, a heart and two sentiments. I used one of the papers from Seaside Paper Pack X7192B and the Carnival Washi Tape Z3067

This lovely stamp set is from the Annual Inspirations catalogue and is called Better with a Friend D1608 and has three images of trendy women and two sentiments. The papers used are from the Blossom Paper Pack X7196B.

Have a great weekend

Cards

 I was away for the June Stamp of the Month blog hop and just couldn't get myself organised for the July blog hop either. I really suffered with jet lag once we arrived home and my sleeping pattern was all out of wack. Not only that but I didn't have any inclination or inspiration to work on any cards so here are a few that I made before I went away. I have so much fun searching for new ideas on Pinterest and crafting blogs and these cards were made from ideas that I saved.

I really like the Kraft Cardstock Z1375 and in this first card I love how using the same ink colour as the cardstock really makes the stamped image pop. You can view a video here on how to make this type of card. It is called Triple Time Stamping, it may look difficult but it is quite easy. This flower stamp is one of the many different flower stamps available from CTMH so this card would be easy to duplicate.

 As I have said before I sometimes struggle to make masculine cards, but this one was quick and easy. The clock stamp is from the hostess stamp set C1593 called "Hats Off" it may only be available until the end of August as a new product catalogue will be released in September.

I do love the look of embossing, this card was stamped with Versa Mark ink Z991 and embossed with the Ranger Clear Embossing Powder Z2088.  The sentiment is from The Happy Couple D1539 stamp set. I think the butterfly adds just the right amount of colour to the card. The pearls and bling are from my stash.

You can check out the July Stamp of the Month blog hop starting with Denise Tarlington's blog just follow along and you will be amazed at how talented these ladies are.

Birthday Cards

My niece's triplets had their birthday while I was away, and I have only just finished making birthday cards for them. They turned 11 this year and are mad keen Harry Potter fans, I found these great journals while I was overseas and thought they would be a great birthday present.

As in every family each child is very different to the others, and it's no different with the triplets. There are two boys and a girl, Max is  keen on sports and loves everything that goes fast, Atticus prefers the piano and loves entertaining. Where as Gretel really enjoys reading and often has more than one book on the go at the same time. Consequently I have made three completely different birthday cards for them. What do you think?

The typewriter card is an unusual one, when you open it it has a perforated section that I have made into a bookmark, that can be torn off and used.

I hope you enjoy your weekend, whatever you have planned maybe some crafting or gardening.