For You (again) + AnnaBelle Stamps release!

It's such a pleasant day today (the clouds have come along to give some reprieve from the hot, Summer sun) that I want to be outside but before I go and tackle the errant rosemary I thought I would share another card I made for AnnaBelle Stamps' latest challenge but opted for the one in this post.



I simply didn't like it when I first stamped it - maybe because of the stem being black - too much black, perhaps? However, my liking for it increased with a second viewing (when I found it in the pile of paper and bits that I was about to chuck away) and I like the black more now than when I first stamped it. Anyway, what do you think?


I stamped the flower with Hyacinth Versacolor ink. The stem and sentiment are stamped with Versafine Onyx Black ink. The cardbase is 4" x 6" top folding using Bazzil cardstock for texture.

And the new sets by AnnaBelle Stamps have been released today (including the one I used for the card above - Fanciful Flowers). Andrea from AnnaBelle stamps is also giving away the following set:

Garden Silhouettes

Go to the AnnaBelle Stamps blog for more info on the new release, and to enter for a chance to win the above set.

Okay, now I'm off to have some fun in the garden. Hope you're enjoying lovely weather wherever you are in the world ;)

For You

I'm back again to share another AnnaBelle Stamps challenge with you. This week is Anything Goes which means you can let your creativity go wherever it wants to take you!

I am showing a sneak peek of another beautiful new set from AnnaBelle stamps called 'Fanciful Flowers'. It has loads of beautiful sentiments and silhouette flowers and stems - my favourite things!

I stamped the sentiment first on a 4x4 white cardbase using Versafine Onyx Black ink. I then stamped the flowers in Ash Rose and Petal Pink Versacolor ink. The stems were stamped last using Kaiser ink in Splice.

Super simple card! I think the hardest thing was working out which colours to use ;)

The new sets will be released on the 14th of January so make sure to check the AnnaBelle Stamps blog then for the big reveal! In the meantime check out the rest of the beautiful creations by the Belles:

Marion
Sue K
Therese
Sue W
Andrea
Kylie
Patti
Cath (Guest Belle)
Hope you have a wonderful day!




About our challenges:

• We post our challenges every Friday at 12:00pm AEST (AEDT during Daylight Savings).
• Each challenge runs for a week, and will close on the Friday 10.00am so that we can announce and showcase our weekly winners prior to the next challenge.
  
• Each weeks winner will receive our special blinkie to display on their blog and a $10.00 Gift Voucher to spend in store at AnnaBelle Stamps (or something equivalent).

How To Play Along:

• Copy and save our challenge banner and include it and a link back to the ABS blog in your post.
• Please link directly to your entry not just to your blog.
• Please don't link to postings made prior to the date of our current challenge. All projects submitted must be new.
• A maximum of 7 challenges may be combined including this one.
• You may enter any of our challenges several times as long as each submission is with a new creation.
• We would love you to use AnnaBelle Stamps and embellishments, but you can play along without using them, it’s all about sharing ideas :)

Baby mini cards

Boy was it hot today! It was absolutely awful. I had a really lazy day today for obvious reasons, but managed to get into the craft room for a bit.

I wanted to play along with Wee Memories since the challenges are ending soon. Have absolutely loved their challenges (I think I may even have had an honourable mention there once or twice) and I am sad to see them go...

This week they (Wee Memories) are challenging us to make mini cards. Well I seem to only ever make mini cards these days (except for a couple of exceptions here and there) but I did something a bit different (for me)- no sentiment! And coloured pencil on coloured cardstock!



I used stamps from two Fiskars sets - on the card above I used one of the stamps from the 'Baby Shower' stamp set. The elephant is from the 'Baby Announcement' set.



I stamped both in Versafine Onyx Black ink on Bazzil cardstock (cut and scored to make 3x3 cards) and coloured with White Prismacolor pencil. My tip when colouring something with Prismacolor pencils that has black outlines - go around afterwards with a black Prismacolor pencil on any lines that get that telltale 'wax bloom'.

So that's all I have to share... Hope you have a wonderful day!

Congratulations + Exciting news!

I've been keeping this piece of news under my hat for a while but I'm so glad that I can tell you now - I consider myself very honoured to have been asked by Andrea to join the AnnaBelle Stamps design team!

So this is my first post as a member of the AnnaBelle Stamps DT and I'm showing a sneak peek of a set that will be released later this month as well as playing along with this week's challenge...

AnnaBelle Stamps Blog

I stamped the largest heart using Versacolor 'Silver' ink on grey Bazzill cardstock to add some shine and texture and embossed the smaller heart with Hero Arts embossing powder (ultra fine) in White on the same grey bazzil cardstock. Cut both hearts out with scissors.

I adhered both hearts to the front of a 3.5" x 3.5" white card, popping the smaller heart up on a foam dot for some dimension. I stamped the sentiment using Versafine 'Onyx Black' ink. Since the sentiment is just one word I thought I would play along with the Less Is More 'Just One Word' challenge this week.

So that's it from me! I hope you've enjoyed taking a peek at one of the new sets which will be released on the 14th of January on the AnnaBelle Stamps blog. Click through to the blog now to see what the other DT Belle's have created - you will not be disappointed!

Oh and before I forget - the AnnaBelle Stamps 12 Days of Christmas sale ends today (6th of Jan) so hurry to the shop to get 20% off stamps and sprinkles.

Take care!



About our challenges:

• We post our challenges every Friday at 12:00pm AEST (AEDT during Daylight Savings).
• Each challenge runs for a week, and will close on the Friday 10.00am so that we can announce and showcase our weekly winners prior to the next challenge.
  
• Each weeks winner will receive our special blinkie to display on their blog and a $10.00 Gift Voucher to spend in store at AnnaBelle Stamps (or something equivalent).

How To Play Along:

• Copy and save our challenge banner and include it and a link back to the ABS blog in your post.
• Please link directly to your entry not just to your blog.
• Please don't link to postings made prior to the date of our current challenge. All projects submitted must be new.
• A maximum of 7 challenges may be combined including this one.
• You may enter any of our challenges several times as long as each submission is with a new creation.
• We would love you to use AnnaBelle Stamps and embellishments, but you can play along without using them, it’s all about sharing ideas :)

With Love

I think my crafting mojo has returned with a vengeance! I created the card I am sharing today for AnnaBelle Stamps' current sketch challenge in no time at all. Don't you love it when inspiration hits right when you need it? :)

Here is the sketch:

And here is my take on it:

I used silhouette stamps from both All Things Grow and the Squared Mother's Day sets from AnnaBelle Stamps. (Love how these two sets go together!)

I stamped both silhouette stamps using Chateau Grey Versacolor ink and the sentiment (from All Things Grow) with Versafine Onyx Black ink. I cut the circles using Nestabilities in my Bigshot. The left hand circle as well as the sentiment strip are popped up with foam dots to give some dimension. The pearls are from Kaisercraft and the cardfront measures 6"x4" (top folding).

That's it from me, I think it's bedtime :)


PS - I'll be back on Friday with some exciting news...  :)

Happy Birthday

Good day to you! I don't know about you, but the New Year is off to a great start for me. I was able to spend some quality time in my craft room during the Christmas/New Year break (which ends today, sadly) and so I have a card to share with you today.

One of my nieces turns two this month so this little 3x3 card is for her. I'm also playing along with the latest CAS-ual Fridays challenge - to use kraft and twine.



I don't have any bakers twine in pink (something I really should rectify!) so I used Caribbean Blue from The Twinery.


I tried my hand at using coloured pencils on kraft which Dorcas always does so well and I've always admired but never tried. I stamped the little flower stamp from Sophie's Sentiments by Lawn Fawn in Versamark ink. I then coloured each flower with Prismacolor pencils. I used White first, over that some Light Aqua, then Kelly Green in the centres because it didn't match the twine quite right, and then added a little bit of Aquamarine here and there for a bit of contrast.



I do love the effect of coloured pencil on kraft and will have to use the technique again soon! I just realised that this can qualify for this week's Wee Memories challenge - to try something new (in this case, a new technique!).

I stamped the sentiment (also from Sophie's Sentiments by Lawn Fawn) in Versacolor Black Onyx ink and attached the twine to the card with a double knot. Now all that's left to do is make an envelope to match!

Thanks so much for taking a look. Hope you have a great day! :)

Happy New Year!

Hi all! It's been a little while since I've posted... again...

I've seen lots of people do posts of their favourite cards for 2011 so I thought I'd do the same. I haven't posted much this year (42 as opposed to 134 in 2010!)

Here they are in no particular order (click on the image to see the original entry):












I really enjoyed going through my posts and selecting these, and I hope you enjoyed looking at them too!

I don't know about anyone else, but I am looking forward to seeing what 2012 holds. It's going to be awesome, I can feel it! :)