Blossom Designs

Jen's Sketch For You To Try - 29th March 08

We had visitors yesterday so I didn't get to do Jen's challenge until today.  I was wondering what to do but I also received my new cuttlebug embossing folders so I knew I had to use one of them.

Here is my finished card.  I have a few birthday's coming up in April and one of them is MINE but alas this card is not for me !!  LOL  My 3 year old son will make my card with the help of my husband.

I DO like my flowers don't I ??  I also seem to like the SU! DP.  I was going to use brads along the side but it was an after thought (after I had already stuck the cardstock down) so I just HAD to use my gems.  LOL

Here is Jen's sketch.

Happy Crafting,

.

Supplies
Stamps: SU! - Happy Everything.
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black.
Paper: SU! - Real Red, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink SU! DP - Petals & Paisleys.
Accessories: Linen Thread, Red Grosgrain Ribbon (department store), Prima Flowers, Red Gems.

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #41

My wonderful friend Monica who lives in Mexico, recently had a baby girl (girls are all around at the moment!) so I used Beate's sketch to make this card.  I love the Designer Paper I used in THIS card back in February and it was for another baby girl card so I thought I would use it again.

Here is a close up of the teddy bear.  I used my new SU! watercolour crayons in Pink Passion.  I really do need to practise watercolouring more and normally I can colour in the line but for some reason put a brush in my hand and all my neatness goes out the window !!  I also used my polka dot stamp on the Pixie Pink cardstock.

As you can see I have lifted the teddy off the page.

Here is Beate's sketch.  Give it a go !!

Happy Crafting,

.

Supplies
Stamps: SU! - Bundle of Joy, Polka Dot.
Ink: SU! - Pixie Pink, Crayons - Pink Passion.
Paper: SU! - Pixie Pink. So Saffron, DP = Petals & Paisleys.
Accessories: SU! Ribbon Originals - Fairy Tale, 1/4" Whisper White Grosgrain..

SCS Sketch Card Challenge #169

SCS Sketch Challenge time.  A lot of people were using tall flowers as their image but I decided to use my Ahoy, Matey stamp set.  A friend of Oliver's birthday is coming up soon so I thought this set would be a good one to use for him.

Here is a close up of the pirate ship.  I used my new distressing tool around the edges of the cardstock - the first time I have used it and I LOVE it.

Here is the sketch we had to follow.

Happy Crafting,

.

Supplies
Stamps: SU! - Ahoy, Matey.
Ink: SU! Crayons - Brilliant Blue, Charcoal.
Paper: SU! - Bashful Blue, Brilliant Blue, Ballet Blue, DP - Cutie Pie.
Accessories: SU! Distressing Tool, Bling.

SCS Colour Challenge #159

I looked at SCS today and the colour challenge really appealed to me.  Bashful Blue, Whisper White and Basic Gray.  I went out with my friend today and we somehow managed to go to a craft shop......actually we went to two.  I don't know how it happened - I think I might need some help !  LOL  I bought 2 new cuttlebug embossing folders - stylized flowers and d'vine swirl.  There are a few more I would like to get.

I used the Happy Birthday stamp out of Occasional Greetings.  I needed a small stamp.

Happy Crafting,

.

Supplies
Stamps: SU! - Garden Silhouettes, Occasional Greetings.
Ink: SU! - Bashful Blue.
Paper: SU! - Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Basic Gray.
Accessories: SU! Brads, 1/4" White Grosgrain Ribbon.

Easter Egg Hunt

I don't have any 'easter' stamps but as tomorrow will be a treasure hunt of sorts, I used my Ahoy, Matey stamp set.  I also used 'Crab & Company' plus 'Unfrogettable'.  I didn't go over the top as Oliver is only 3 and we have only just been telling him about the 'easter bunny' coming.

Jayne, my upline made this container at a workshop I had with her before I joined SU!, but it was only when Marelle Taylor had it on her blog, I remembered Jayne making it.  I thought it was a good idea to put chocolate eggs in them and hide them for Oliver to find.  I made 6 containers.

You can see the treasure chest with the parrot.  Oliver won't worry too much about the packaging but will want what is inside !! LOL

Happy Easter to everyone.

.

Jen's Sketch For You To Try - 22nd March 08

It's Saturday, so that means it is Jen's turn for her sketch challenge.  I really enjoyed this one.  My card is pretty 'busy' but I like the end result.  I don't normally do 'busy' cards so it is nice to do for a change.

I used my prima flowers again which was nice and the DP is new so I already know what colours to use today.  Phew !! 

As you can see I put the three scalloped squares on dimensional's and then the origianl chipboard flower I was going to use, I couldn't so I used the prima's instead.

Here is Jen's sketch. Give it a go !!

Happy Crafting,

.

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #40

I finally got around the creating today.  I had no idea what colours I wanted to use so I went over to SCS Tuesday's Colour Challenge which was to use SU! Kraft, Sage Shadow & Orchid Opulence.

I also got to use my prima flowers.  I haven't bought them out in a while.  Can you see the ribbon ??  It is 1/4" whisper white......really it is !!  I just coloured it with my orchid opulence marker.  The background stamp is 'Petals' jumbo wheel stamped in versamark ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  I had to emboss it because I think my son has hidden my large versamark ink pad and I only had the very small one to ink up the wheel which didn't turn out the way I'd hoped, so I quickly whipped out my embossing powder and sprinkled it on.  Now, where to look to find my ink pad !! LOL

Here is Beate's sketch.

Happy Crafting,

.

Unofficially - I've done it !

Yes, while attending another of my exercise classes last night, I jumped on the scales to see how my progress was going and since Monday night's weigh in, I've lost 2 1/2lbs which means I have lost just over 2 stone !!  Whoo hoo !!!  I like to keep my weigh in night to Monday so then I get an accurate indication of how much I've lost each week but I decided to have a sneak peek last night as for the past few weeks, I've haven't lost weight but I also haven't put it on, just stayed the same and it is a little disappointing.  Now that I know I am losing again, I will be good over the easter break (or at least try to be good!!).  I am sooooo pleased that I have done this.  It has taken 1 year and 1 month to lose the 2 stone and if anyone is thinking of dieting - JUST DO IT.

Exciting for me but not so much for you !!

We are having people over for a bbq this afternoon so I will try to get Beate's sketch done before they arrive otherwise, it will be tomorrow before I post again.

Have a nice 'Good Friday'.

Summer Mini Retiring Stamps

Yes, come the 1st April, you will not be able to purchase any of the stamps from the Summer Mini as they are retiring for good.

Here's the list of what's retiring from the Summer Mini Catalogue.

• Love Matters
• Shore Thing
• Edgy Eloquence
• Big Blooms
• Stem Silhouettes
• Long Time Friend
• Sage Advice
• Easy Elegance
• French Flair
• Happy Thoughts
• Sweet on You
• Best Bar Codes
• Bunny Hugs
• Small Sayings
• Pocket Notes
• Loves me, Enchante & Au Chocolat Designer Series Paper

I'm sad that Stem Silhouettes didn't make the Idea Book & Catalogue as they are such lovely stamps.

Don't forget to get your orders in by 31st March for both catalogues.  There are still a number of sets available from the IB&C but some have already sold out. See the retiring list to find out if the stamps you like are still available.

Download retired_list_20072008.xlsx

Happy Crafting,

.

Something Different

Okay, so this jar is where I hold all my tools that I use frequently.  Pretty boring really !!  I forgot to take a before photo but I think you all know what it looks like without the white paint on it !!  LOL  So, yes, I painted the top of the jar white with acrylic paint and then varnished it as the paint would just scratch off the glass anytime something sharp came in contact with it.  Hopefully the varnish will minimise this.

I then cut some scrap paper I had and as I LOVE pink and really love this striped paper, I wanted to use this one.  The width of the paper is 2 1/2" but I don't know how long the paper is as I cut it by hand once I wrapped it around the jar.  The paper overlaps by about 1/2".  I then placed the adhesive around the top and bottom of the jar ready for the ribbon.

Here is the ribbon stuck on and where they join is, I placed the bow made of ribbon so it makes it nice and tidy.  I added some bling too.  I have on order some chipboard, so once that comes it will paint it too and put it in between the two bows - probably the letter "T" for tools.

Just a close up of the gems.

I have been wanting to do this for weeks as I was sick of looking at that glass jar naked !! LOL  I have never done anything like this before and I am really pleased with how it turned out.  I get so much inspiration from all the bloggers out there - thank you to you all !!

Happy Crafting,

.

Supplies
Paper: KI Memories - Wild Thing Stripe.
Accessories: Red Grosgrain Ribbon (department store), Gems.

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #39

Sketch challenge weekend time!!  I wanted to use some of the scraps I have and I cannot remember where I got it from or who it is from.  I like putting brown and pink together............with a splash of yellow !!

I don't know if you can see on the chocolate chip carstock, I have stamped with versamark ink.  I was being really lazy and used my Hero Arts stamps instead of my SU! spot on jumbo wheel because the hero arts stamps are right next to me and the jumbo wheel is at the bottom of the pile.

Here is Beate's sketch.

Happy Crafting,

.

Supplies
Stamps: SU! - Wild About You.
Ink: SU! - Apricot Appeal, Mellow Moss, Pixie Pink.
Paper: SU! - Chocolate Chip, Pixie Pink, Apricot Appeal, Paper Salon - Sweet Shoppe:pink dotted swirl.
Accessories: SU! Brads, Yellow ribbon.

Papertrey Ink Apprentice - update

Just to let you know that I have been in contact with Nichole Heady of Papertrey Ink.

I gave Nichole some suggestions of stamps and she has interrupted them and put them on paper.  I have just been sent the final images and I am really, really pleased.  Nichole is a very talented lady - I'm sure you already know that !!

Tonight is this months release for PTI so come tomorrow (for me), I will be able to purchase all the fabulous stamps from the designers.  Check out Nichole's blog for the countdown to this release.  There are some great tutorials with links to the designers tutorials.

Happy Crafting,

.

SU! Summer Mini is nearly over......

You have only 2 more weeks to get your order in from the Summer Mini Catalogue.  The last day for ordering is the 31st March.  I have ordered the Stem Silhouettes set on page 10, now I just need to break them free of their box and make a card !!  If you love to watercolour, then Long-Time Friend set on page 11 would be perfect.  There are also some great sentiments in the catalogue.  Go and take a look now, then email me with your order and I will have it sent straight to your door.  Simple !!

Don't forget that the current Idea Book & Catalogue will also end on the 31st March with a load of stamps and accessories retiring to make way for brand new sets - how exciting.  If you would like to pre-order your new 2008-2009 catalogue for $10 plus postage (normally $12.95 + p&p), email me and I will send you one come the 1st April.

I will be back later with Beate's sketch challenge.

Have a good weekend.

Happy Crafting,

.

SU! Retired List

....updated 14th March 2008....

This is the time of year that SU! release the stamps and accessories to be retired from the current Idea Book & Catalogue. The 1st April the new Idea Book & Catalogue 2008-2009 catalogue will be released.

If there is anything on here that you would like, get in quick with your order as some items already have a limited quantity or are no longer available. Contact me with your order.

Download retired_list_20072008.xlsx

Happy Crafting,
K.

Jen's Sketch For You To Try - 8th March 08

I'm late..........I mean for posting my card for Jen's sketch challenge !!  LOL

Okay, here it is!  I made the background pattern a while ago following Nichole's tutorial HERE and some left over from the project so I thought I would use it for this card.  Again it is a 'dark' card for me, I usually like light and bright but these colours are so nice they just needed to come out of their box.  I added some bling (gotta love it!).

Don't adjust your eyes......it is blurry.  The sentiment didn't quite turn out how I wanted it to.  I think I should have only stamped once or stamped the light colour closer as it seems to be too far away which is making it blurry.

Here is Jen's sketch.

Happy Crafting,

.

Supplies
Stamps: Papertrey Ink - Beautiful Blooms, Hero Arts - From The Heart Greetings.
Ink: SU! - Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, Adirondack - Cranberry.
Paper: SU! - Chocolate Chip, Really Rust.
Accessories: SU! - 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, More Mustard Brads, Gems, Oval Nestabilities.

Bind It All - Project 2

This was our second project.  I haven't named it yet but Kim had hers as a receipt book which is a really good idea.  The inside pages are two 12x12 bazzil cardstock but you could add as many pages as you like.  You could even make it into a card holder - add more pages and put each month of the year at the top of each page.

This is the inside view.

Happy Crafting,

Bind It All - Project 1

I attended a Bind It All class the other Friday and I wanted to share our projects.  Our first project was this notebook.  The front and back covers are chipboard covered in Basic Grey paper. LOVE my basic Grey!  The notebook size is 14cm x 11cm (5 1/2" x 4 3/8").  The inside pages are just copy paper cut to size and the "O" rings are 3/8".

If you take a closer look at the top blossom layer, the edges aren't sharp but tatty.  I didn't do this on purpose but by accident.  I forgot to pack my trimmer in my craft bag so I used Kim's but her cutter needed replacing so this is what you get........but I really like it.  I have seen some cards HERE and HERE from Jayne where she has used the SU! cutter kit which has the distressing tool.

Not bad for a first attempt at using the Bind It All !!

Happy Crafting,

Signature

I was blog surfing this morning and visited Alli Miles - Card Metaphors.  I saw she had a signature and she kindly pointed me in the direction of this blog HERE from Katie.  Katie found THIS website in which you can make 'your own' signautre.  How brilliant.

I made 3 signatures:

Although, for some reason the loop from the "L" seems to have been cut off.  I might make the font smaller.

Give it a go if you want a signature - they are fab !!

Happy Crafting,

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #38

Woo Hoo.....it's Friday, which means it is sketch challenge time.

What do you think of my card - it is a little dark for me but I am happy with the end result.

I decided not to use an image on the white cardstock but instead I used a sentiment. I'm a little short on sentiment stamps (at the moment *wink*) so I didn't really have anything that was more than 2 lines which would have fit perfectly. Oh well, I will have to do something about that won't I ?? LOL

Here is Beate's sketch.

Thanks Beate !!

Happy Crafting,

Supplies
Stamps: SU! - Welcoming Words, Papertrey Ink - Faux Ribbon.
Ink: SU! - Bravo Burgundy, Adirondack - Cranberry.
Paper: Basic Grey, SU! - Bravo Burgundy.
Accessories: SU! - Hodgepodge, White Ribbon coloured with Bravo Burgundy Marker.

Faux Tiles

I thought I would give this technique a go !! I kind of succeeded for most of it. I think I need to press harder when scoring the lines to make them deeper and maybe not press so hard when putting stamp to paper. Not bad though for my first attempt. I will give this another go.

Here is a close up of the butterfly. The lighter pink stamp (Pixie Pink) stamped well and didn't go into the score line but the outline stamp (Pink Passion) went into the score line but I doesn't look too bad, does it??

I added some bling with my gems. I wonder if I'd known I was going to use pink this week as I only bought the gems on Saturday.

Happy Crafting,
.


Supplies
Stamps: SU! - Bold Butterfly, Welcoming Words.
Ink: su1 - Pink Passion, Pixie Pink, Tempting Turquoise.
Paper: SU! - Pink Passion, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White.
Accessories: Pink Gems.

Colour Challenge

Our third and last challenge is a colour challenge. We are to use Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss, Cameo Coral, So Saffron and Very Vanilla. OMG!!! What do I do ?? LOL I will be back later to start on this challenge.

Inspiration Card

This card was for our second team challenge. We had to use a particular card as inspiration. It could have been tearing, water colouring or using dimensionals.

I used my SU! Markers to colour in the images. They are actually 3 separate flowers I made to look like one bunch.

I stamped the sentiment in versamark but I didn't press hard enough as the image didn't come out clearly enough so I used my marker to go over the wording.

Happy Crafting,
.

Supplies
Stamps: SU! - Oh So Lovely, Wonderful Words.
Ink: Black Stazon, SU! Markers - So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Mellow Moss, Pumpkin Pie, Close To Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Brocade Blue.
Paper: SU! - Brocade Blue, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Whisper White.
Accessories: 1/4" Certainly Celery Grosgrain Ribbon, Brocade Blue Brads.

Pop Up Card

I participated in a team challenge yesterday and the first challenge was to make a pop up card.

Again, a first for me as I have never made one of these cards before. The instructions were pretty straight forward. Go HERE to Dawn's blog to follow her tutorial.

I thought I would use my 'Bold Butterfly' set as they haven't been out of the box for a while. I also wanted to use some colours I wouldn't normally pick first.

Happy Crafting,
K.

Supplies
Stamps: SU! - Bold Butterfly, Wonderful Words.
Ink: SU! - Really Rust, More Mustard, Versafine - Onyx Black.
Paper: SU! - Really Rust, Whisper White, More Mustard.

Acetate Card

I saw Nichole's acetate matchbook card on her blog HERE and just had to make one. It seems to be the week for first's for me as I have never made a matchbook type card before.

I followed Nichole's tutorial - give it a go.

Can you see (if you look carefully) the scalloped edge of the acetate. The papers are from K&Co Hannah series. I have the 6x6 pad.

Here is view from the top. You can see the white cardstock folded back while it is held in place with 3 brads. I think I will also try to make this with cardstock but using contracting colours instead of the acetate. I'm curious to see what it would look like now.

The 'Happy Birthday' senitment is from Papertrey Ink.

Happy Crafting,

K.

Supplies

Stamps: Papertrey Ink - Paper Tray.

Ink: Adirondack - Lettuce

Paper: Acetate, White cardstock, K&CO - Hannah.

Accessories: Olive Organza Ribbon, SU! brads

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #37

I finally finished my card for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge !! PHEW !

It is also my very first acetate card - can you believe that !! I also finally got to use my SU! hodgepodge.

Happy Crafting,
K.

Supplies
Stamps: Papertrey Ink - Women Of Life.
Ink: SU! - Really Rust.
Paper: SU! DP - Fall Flowers, SU! - Really Rust, Mellow Moss, Whisper White.
Accessories: SU! Hodgepodge.

Melissa Frances Blog

Anyone a Melissa Frances fan ???

http://www.melissafrances.typepad.com/ I have just found the Melissa Frances Blog and that would be because it only started last month !!

This is her website http://www.melissafrances.com/.

Happy Crafting,
K.