Winner!

I opened up my email to read my comments at 3am this morning (don't ask!) and was surprised to discover that Marion (my fellow DT member of AnnaBelle Stamps) was the first to comment AND she guessed correctly - my influence for this card was the amazingly talented Jennifer McGuire. I was doing the Inspiration Showcase class at the time.

Marion I've emailed you! Thanks to everyone who commented, it means alot :)

Have a great evening,

You are so special + giveaway!

I hope everyone is enjoying a lovely and relaxing Sunday wherever they are! Here in Brisbane it's been raining for the past week but I think it's finally stopped!

I haven't been very productive in the craft room lately... so I thought I would share a card that I created for a magazine call that wasn't picked up...

I embossed the quilt pattern from the V&A Museum stamp set called 'Cornfield' with Ultra Fine embossing powder from Hero Arts on some white cardstock. I stamped one of the greetings from the Essential Messages set by Hero Arts on a strip of white cardstock in Onyx Black Versafine ink. The background panel and the sentiment strip were matted with Mi Tientes cardstock in 'Dawn Pink'.
I assembled the flower using white and pink paper flowers I found in my stash along with some sewing thread and a cardstock button cut with one of the buttons from the Buttons Quartet die set from Die-Namics using the Dawn Pink cardstock.
I think it's pretty obvious who I was influenced by when I made this card, but I thought it would make a fun giveaway question... so the first person to guess right in my comments will win a brand new jar of this fantastic stuff which I used on the above card:

I'll draw a random winner on Thursday 2nd Feb at 7pm (AEST) if nobody answers correctly before then.

Edited to add: This giveaway is open to everyone, everywhere, no matter where you are in the world ;)
Further edited to add: Embossing powder has been won - Marion was the first to comment and guessed it right in one!! - Jennifer McGuire was the correct answer ;)

Good luck and hope you have a great day!

In my Heart Forever

Hello again! Today I'm here to share this week's AnnaBelle Stamps challenge. It's a very clean and simple sketch today - right up my alley!

Here's my take on it:

I used the birdhouse stamp from the Love Birds set by AnnaBelle Stamps stamped in Versafine Black Onyx ink on a white cardstock circle which I die cut using my Bigshot with a circle nestability. The heart from the same set was stamped in Scarlet Versacolor ink and cut out freehand. I popped it up with a foam dot for dimension.

The sentiment is from the same set, stamped in Versafine Black Onyx ink on a 6x4 top folding white card. The ribbon is from Kaisercraft.

I hope you get time to play along with us this week, and if you need inspiration why not take a look at what the other Belles have created:


Marion
Sue K
Therese
Sue W
Andrea
Kylie
Patti
Cath (Guest Belle)
Have a great 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 :)

Hugs & Kisses

Happy Australia Day! Today most folk get together and celebrate the day with a BBQ, but we are just hanging out at home, enjoying the lovely day off work.

I'm here to share a card I made a short time ago while playing around with the new releases by AnnaBelle Stamps. This one came together so easily with a few bits and pieces that were sitting on my craft table.


The cardbase is Canson Vivaldi (4x4). I adhered the square panel (Crumbcake from Stampin' Up) which I white embossed with the Gingham background stamp from BBD7 by AnnaBelle Stamps. I adhered the sentiment strip (also Crumbcake) over it which I had also white embossed with a sentiment from the Fanciful Flowers set by AnnaBelle Stamps.


The scribbly heart is from the Love Birds set which I cut out freehand and popped up on the card using foam dots.

Hope you enjoyed taking a look! I will be back tomorrow with this week's AnnaBelle Stamps challenge.

Hello Friend

So glad that it's Friday today...I can't wait for the weekend, how about you?

I'm here to share this week's AnnaBelle Stamps challenge with you.

This is a great colour combination... so bright and cheerful!

I used the new Garden Silhouettes set by AnnaBelle Stamps for this card. I stamped the large branch image three times in Versacolor inks Canary and Turquoise inks as well as Kaiser ink in Splice.

 

I used my Bigshot and Square Nestabilities to cut out the windows (took a few goes to get everything centered and straight... I recommend using an electronic die cutter if you have one!) and arranged the coloured branches behind them. I stamped the sentiment from the same set using Versafine Onyx Black ink and adhered the panel to the cardbase (4"x4") using foam dots.

I hope you get time to play along with us this week, and if you need inspiration why not take a look at what the other Belles have created:
Marion
Sue K
Therese
Sue W
Andrea
Kylie
Patti
Cath (Guest Belle)
Have a great 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 :)

For You

This is just a quick one as it's nearly bedtime and the CAS-ual Fridays challenge for this week ends in a couple of hours! Really pushing it this time!

I actually created this on the weekend but typical me, I have to wait until the last minute to post...


The challenge is to use scallops. I used my Fiskars scallop punch on a piece of cardstock that I coloured with Scarlet Versacolor ink (please ignore the 'rough' look that the scallops have, I did sand them, but obviously not well enough!). The sentiment is from Fanciful Flowers by AnnaBelle Stamps stamped in Versafine Onyx Black ink.


I stamped the heart with the smaller gingham pattern from BBD7 by AnnaBelle Stamps in Scarlet Versacolor ink and punched it out with a large heart punch by Sullivans. I adhered it to a piece of white cardstock (same as the cardbase) and cut around it leaving a thin border with my Cutterbee scissors. Popped it up with foam dots to complete the card.

Well that's it from me (told you I would be quick!). Thanks for looking and have a fabulous day!

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! :)