Stamping!!!!!

Stamping on Nails!!!!

Seriously, was I living under a rock.....how did I not know about this.!     Do you?  

Yes, even us Aussies can get in on the fun (stockist in Australia & great overseas sellers).   If you want to know more leave a comment and I'll do a little info ie best deals & comparisons.     This took 10 minutes to do......and I only got it yesterday!

Scrapbuggy Challenge #7

As you might know if you are an Aussie....we are going mad buying up big on the internet.    One of the reasons is lack of choice here and shockingly expensive items that are sometimes a third of the price overseas.    Because of the extra spending, post is taking an infuriatingly long time to get here.   Normally a package from the US would take 9 days....(yes I do pace and stalk the postman so I know).     My latest package from Scrapbuggy took  39 days....!!!!!     Why am I telling you all of this...well, I'd ordered the Scrapbuggy exclusive Kids die and without it I couldn't enter the challenge.....lol....So finally with only 2 days left of the challenge I managed to put this card together.      A bit of a rush but overall I just adore this die and so glad I bought it.    

Thanks for looking.

Buggy Challenge #6

I was so very lucky to win the last Buggy challenge (doing happy dance...sorry no pics you'll just have to imagine).    It was fun to have a plan to work to so when I saw the next challenge I had to join in.
 
One of the hardest cards to make for me are cards for men.   So with a birthday coming up for my brother in law and a new Scrapbuggy Challenge, they made the perfect mix.

The challenge was to use a Layout.   

I used the following dies from Quickutz -                       and from Cuttlebug

  Thanks so much for stopping by and having a look.  


 A.J

Stampsmith Challenge #19

While wandering around the Blogiverse for inspiration I came across the Stampsmith Challenge.

The challenge is to use any stamp and use Teal & yellow as the colours.

I decided to use Lucy from the Stampsmith Lucy set.   I just love her expressions.  

I chalked a lemon yellow around the edge but it hasn't shown up on the photo.   The frame and insert are from a Spellbinders combo set and Lucy's hat is a cuttlebug die.

I curled some paper up in gold and teal to around the leaf sticker and added some bling in gold and amber.

For Lucy's realistic colouring I stamped using Versafine in black and after drying my preferred method of colouring is water colours.   I use a really cheap set of paints but they work really well and blending colour is easy.    I would love Copic pens but they are not easy to find in Australia....well, I've never seen them.....

Thanks for looking.

A.J

Buggy Challenge #5

After a long, long break I've jumped back into card making with a challenge.    I urgently needed a birthday card for my wonderful cousin Karen, who is a very glamourous lady indeed.     Sometimes inspiration is hard to find after a hiatus so having a starting point is great for a kick into action.

One of my favorite places to buy Quickutz from is Scrapbuggy

After having a wander around the site I noticed there is a scrapping challenge.   The challenge is to design something using the layout found here  Buggy Challenge #5

Okay, so it's not a scrapbooking page but I used my artistic license to use it for a card layout.   Lots to fit on to a small space but I think it still worked.

These are the Quickutz dies I used.......

 

And some Cuttlebug bits, I also used several other embossing folders.   Got to love those.!

As always, after being so careful with the gluing and colouring, as I picked it up I got a lovely big black mark  on the side.   What's a girl to do!!!!     An extra piece of sticky lace covered this up nicely.    This is the same holey lace that I used across the bottom, inking it with a silver green ink. 

Hope you enjoy and find some ideas and inspiration as I do when I wander around the blogiverse.

Stampsmith's December Challenge.

 

Items Used:

Stamps from Stampsmith -Wording -  Say it with Flair set

Picture stamp from Marilyn 2 set

Quickutz Nesting Star set

Cuttlebug - Round tag from he Baby Face Alphabet set

The challenge for the December Stampsmith Yahoo group was to make a Christmas card for a person who provides a service.

Can you guess who I've made the card for?.......    Here's a hint, once you start getting a bit older, this person becomes very, VERY important........especially to fight off the grey's and I'm not talking the little Alien variety of Grey's...lol either, whom in most cases have no need for the services of this person!  

Making - A very Hairy Christmas card.......

First step was to stamp the Marilyn with versafine black.  Wait a while so it's dries or else you will get smudging even though it is waterproof ink.    I use a cheap set of children's watercolour paints but they are just as good for this purpose.   I have gouache paints but they offer a more solid colour rather than a wash of colour so I prefer to use the watercolours.   I used glitter on the dress and earrings  and gave her a lick of mascara with a very fine black pen.

 The wording was stamped using a combination of words from the "Say it with Flair" stamp set.   I used an acrylic block and some double sided tape and arranged the words in a staggered pattern, embossed with gold Zing.    You can go back and fill in any gaps with a smaller word or object.   I filled the space with a little Christmas tree punch out.

The bauble is made using the tag punch from the Cuttlebug Baby face set.   If you look at my Quick Birthday wish card you can see I used the flower die.   I hate to throw anything out so I used the left over negative cutout as the top decoration on the bauble.   The first version just didn't work for me.   The string was to small and the colour was too washed out.....So I added colour with a bit of glitter and used a thicker ribbon through the loop, some bling......instant bauble!!!.    It is slightly raised  on the card

Right Picture (Before)

Below Picture (After changes)

I thought this would be an easier challenge than the last two as we do have Christmas here in Australia....but I found this one the hardest.!    I think having lots of ideas rather than no idea has served as a bit of a hindrance.   A wonderful friend of mine in the US has sent me a "Care Package" of lots of Halloween goodies so I'll be ready for that one next year.!   

Thanks for looking and a Merry Christmas to all.    

Quick Birthday Wishes

 

Items Used

Matha Stewart Happy Birthday punch

Cuttlebug Dies -  2 x 4" Flowers Dies (37-1508)

Leaf from the Combo Persia set (37-1919)

This was a fairly simple and quick card to make.   Many colour combinations would work great with this style of card too.    Assembling the flowers first makes it easier to arrange them.    For the leaves I manually cut the a darker colour leaf to stick behind the leaf cutout as it's much easier to do this than to fit all the little pieces into the cut outs.

Thanks for looking.   Comments are always appreciated, even the anonymous ones...lol !