Stamping 411 - Colour Inspiration #103

Another card challenge!  This time I'm playing along with Stamping 411 - Colour Inspiration #103.  It's a great challenge website - make sure you have a look if you haven't already!

Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry are Stampin' Up! In Colours in the US and aren't available in Australia, so I had to make do with some substitutes.  I used Rose Red instead of Melon Mambo and a Bazzill colour called Sweetheart instead of Rich Razzleberry.  I think they're pretty close!

This is the challenge picture:

 
 
And here is my card.  Hope you like it!

 
 

Materials:

Cardstock - Sweetheart by Bazzill, Rose Red and Pumpkin Pie by Stampin' Up!

Stamp Set - Boho Backgrounds

Inks - Versamark, Rose Red

Accessories - Assorted punches, Stampin' Dimensionals, Rub-ons, clear embossing powder

 
Click HERE to visit my Stampin' Up! website.

The Emerging Artist

My daughter Olivia is 2 and 8 months, and she's just starting to show glimpses of her drawings telling a story.  It's so cute!  So I thought I'd share a picture she drew yesterday.  I've included little arrows to help make sense of it all!

I'm not quite sure what the scribbled out bits are, but there's a bit of background information about the other parts that's relevant here. 

My dad (Pop) hasn't been to Hobart for a few months, but Olivia still talks about him as though he's been just recently.  In particular, she talks about him in reference to the computer because he brought his laptop with him in September.  So whenever she sees a laptop she mentions Pop and Thomas (as in Thomas the Tank Engine - a game that Dad brought with him).  My husband brought his laptop home from work over the Christmas break so she's been talking about Pop and Thomas again!

The other part that has a story is the cat and the fiddle part.  My husband took Olivia out shopping one day (quite a few months ago!) and took her to the Cat and Fiddle Arcade in Hobart, where there's an enormous clock of the cat and the fiddle rhyme.  Every half an hour it plays the song and the parts move.  The whole thing couldn't last longer than 30 seconds.  Olivia was absolutely blown away and has talked about it ever since!  For a while it's all she'd say to anyone on the phone.  I'd ask her to say hello to Nan and Pop and she'd say: "Hello.  The cow jumped over the moon!"  Very sweet.  We saw it again recently and she was spellbound all over again.

So that concludes my interpretation of Olivia's latest artwork.  :-)

October Afternoon Collection 2

I thought I'd share another set of cards I finished recently. The designer papers I've used are from October Afternoon again, and I've stuck to paper layering rather than stamping.  It's nice to mix it up a little!

These cards will also be making their way to the shelves at Funky Homes in Liverpool Street Hobart.

Hope you like them!

 

Upsy Daisy Collection

One of my absolute favourite Stampin' Up! stamp sets is Upsy Daisy.  It's so cute and can be used for so many different types of cards.  I never get sick of using it!

Just before Christmas I finished a set of four Upsy Daisy cards that I had been working on, but didn't get to photograph them until today.  I've stuck to a few basic colours - Whisper White, Basic Gray, Baja Breeze and Kiwi Kiss, and I've also incorporated the Urban Garden range of Designer Series Papers.  I'm really happy with them.  I hope you like them!

The first card I have to show you has been CASEd from Shelley Starkis.  Her collection of cards based on this stamp set was published in Vol 15 No 4 edition of the Australian Cardmaking Stamping & Papercraft Magazine.  The other three cards are my own creations.

Materials:

Cardstock - Baja Breeze, Basic Grey, Whisper White

Stamp Set - Upsy Daisy

Inks - Baja Breeze, Basic Gray

Designer Series Paper - Urban Garden

Accessories - Stampin' Dimensionals, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Materials:

Cardstock - Kiwi Kiss, Basic Gray

Stamp Set - Upsy Daisy
Inks - Versamark, Basic Gray
Designer Series Paper - Urban Garden

 

Materials:

Cardstock - Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, Basic Gray

Stamp Set - Upsy Daisy
Inks - Basic Gray
Designer Series Paper - Urban Garden
Accessories - Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Materials:
Cardstock - Baja Breeze, Whisper White
Stamp Set - Upsy Daisy
Inks - Basic Gray, Not Quite Navy
Designer Series Paper - Urban Garden
Accessories - Whisper White ribbon


I'd love to know what you think! 
 
Click HERE to visit my Stampin' Up! website.

October Afternoon Collection 1

I thought I'd share some non-Christmas cards that I finished yesterday.  They're a bit different from my usual style (not that I've figured out what that style is!), but I'm really happy with them.  I wanted to try using mainly designer papers and layering.  It was also a good opportunity to use some products that I've had stashed but hadn't used.  The designer papers I've used are from October Afternoon.

These cards will be making their way to the shelves at Funky Homes in Liverpool Street Hobart.

Hope you like them!

Dylan Moran

If you haven't heard of him before, Dylan Moran is a brilliant Irish comedian.  I got his new DVD for Christmas (yep, from myself!) and I thought I'd see if there were any YouTube videos that I could put here of some of my favourite bits from the other DVDs I have.  I couldn't find the bits I had in mind, but I found a couple of snippets to share with you!

Just a warning - there's quite a bit of swearing in Dylan Moran's stand up work!

This is a piece about kids...

This is a section on prejudice - very clever!

Olivia's First Christmas Present for 2009

A parcel from my parents arrived yesterday with Christmas presents for Olivia.  She's very excited about having presents under the tree.  She's been pretty good about leaving them there too, although her curiosity gets the better of her at times!  So we decided to let her open one each day leading up to Christmas.  Here are some pictures of her opening her first gift...

"Look!  It's a secret box!"

"It's a rabbit! And a tiny rabbit and another tiny rabbit!"

Nan and Pop (my parents) had sent her a musical Peter Rabbit figurine with "Mrs Rabbit and babies" in a rocking chair on top of a pile of books.  The rocking chair slowly turns to pretty music - it's adorable!  Olivia is very taken with it.  :-)

It's going to be an exciting Christmas this year!

Cheers To You - SPCC #28 Challenge

You know those days when nothing in particular is wrong, but nothing is going right?  I'm having one of those days today.  So I'm not unhappy with this card, but I'm not exactly happy either.

The card I have to share is one I've done for yet another challenge (keeps me on my toes!).  The challenge this time was for the Scrapmaster's Paradise Color Combo #28, which is this:

I found it very challenging!  No matter what I tried, I just couldn't seem to get the colour balance right.  But seeing as I set out to complete the challenge, I figured I'd post it anyway!  Here's my card...

And a close up of the drink (I'm imagining a luscious daiquiri...).  It was my first time using the Watercolour Crayons and I have to say I'm quite taken with them!  They're so easy to blend.  I used Crystal Effects over the top of the image to give a glass like quality - it's not showing up terribly well in the photo though!

Materials:
Cardstock - Always Artichoke, Bordering Blue, Pumpkin Pie
Stamp Set - Cheers To You
Inks - Black Stazon, Bordering Blue marker
Watercolour Crayons - Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red, Summer Sun
Accessories - Always Artichoke ribbon, cloud edge scissors


Click HERE to visit my Stampin' Up! website.

Olivia's Artwork

Sometimes Olivia likes to sit with me and do craft.  She loves cutting and pasting, she loves glitter and sometimes she likes to draw.  I thought I'd share two faces that she drew today.  Don't forget, she's only 2 and 8 months!  She loves seeing smiling faces, but hasn't quite mastered the art of drawing smiles herself.

I think she's done a pretty good job!  :-)

Leaving a Comment on a Blog

A few people have mentioned to me that they're unsure of how to leave a message on a blog, so I thought I'd put together a simple tutorial to help.  I hope it's of use!  Please note that every blog is different, so the finer details differ from site to site.

BLOG TUTORIAL

Leaving a Comment on a Blog

Step One
At the bottom of a blog post, there are details about the post.  When you move your mouse over these details, the word comments should highlight indicating a hyperlink.  Click on this (the word comments at the bottom of the post you'd like to comment on).

Step Two
What will come up on your screen next looks like the picture below.  If there have been previous comments made, they will also appear.  All you need to worry about is what you see in the picture below.  Click on the drop down menu that says select profile.

Step Three
When the drop down menu appears, you'll see this:

Step Four
For the purposes of this tutorial, I am assuming that the viewer does not have a Google Account or any other type of blog.  You can select Anonymous, but it's much nicer to leave your name (assuming you're leaving a nice comment!).  So, select Name/URL.  This screen will appear:

Step Five
Enter your name in the Name field (where I've put Enter Your Name Here), and leave the URL field blank.  This means that your name will appear with your comment, but there won't be a hyperlink attached to your name.  Click Continue.

Step Six
Write your comment in the Post a Comment box provided (where I have written Leave your comment!).

Step Seven
When you have finished writing your comment, click Post Comment.  You should see this:

Please Note

• If for some reason your screen says a message like: "Comment could not be published", just try again.  I don't know why, but sometimes the comments don't go through first go.
• Some bloggers have security measures on their sites.  For instance, you may be required to type in a security word.  This is just because the blogger is avoiding spam comments from being placed on their blog - it does happen!
• Some blogs save your comment but don't publish it.  There should be a message nearby that says something like "Comment will be posted after author approval".  It's just another security measure.

That's it!  I hope this little tutorial has been of use.  Leave me a message if you want to have a go!

Pictures of You - Olivia's digital storybook

I recently completed my first digital album - of course it was for (and about) Olivia!  I'm posting it as a Picasa Slideshow, but you can also view it by clicking on the picture (in case you find the slideshow moves too quickly).

As always, I'd love to know what you think!

Olivia and Bronte

When Olivia was born, we were a bit concerned about how our cat Bronte, the first baby, would deal with it.  He'd spent a lot of time laying on my belly while I was pregnant, and he used to purr whenever Olivia kicked.  But having a baby in the house who was taking all the attention was a very different scenario! 

But we were pleasantly surprised.  He's been absolutely brilliant with Olivia, and now that she's a bit older, (she's 2 and 8 months now), he follows her wherever she goes.  It's amusing at times, like when she uses the potty, Bronte is right there by her side!  But today we caught some very cute photos that I wanted to share.  Olivia walked over to look out our loungeroom windows, so Bronte did too...

Too cute!

Embellish Snowflakes Color Challenge

I have another card challenge entry to share with you!  This time I've entered the Embellish Snowflakes Color Challenge from the Embellish Magazine blog.  The challenge was to incorporate snowflakes and use four colours (pictured below) which were Yoyo Yellow, Tempting Turquoise, Chocolate Chip and Kraft.

The challenge proved to be a bit more difficult than I anticipated!  The four colours look stunning together, but can easily overwhelm each other. 

Here's my entry:

I used Kraft as my base and stamped it with Versamark and Tempting Turquoise.  I also used a section of Kraft stamped with Versamark and Whisper White craft ink.  There's not a lot of yellow in this design as it quickly overwhelmed the softness of the images, but I really like the element that it adds.  The yellow circles were the idea of my good friend Dimity (Thanks Dim!) and it really ties the yellow in to the whole card.

Hope you like it!

Materials:

Cardstock - Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise, Yoyo Yellow

Stamp Set - Snow Swirled

Inks - Versamark, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise

Accessories - Turquoise ribbon, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch

Click HERE to visit my Stampin' Up! website.