Regional Swaps

Hello there!

Back again to share the swaps I made for regional training on the 21st of November. It was a fun day and my first time at a regional day. I was unsure how many swaps to make. I ended up doing 20 and received 20 beautiful swaps in return from other demos. I should have made double though, because I ran out fairly quickly and therefore didn't get some of the other great swaps I saw.

Anyway, for my swap I made a Christmas card using my new set Snow Swirled. I made the cards the same design, but in 3 colours - Riding Hood Red, Not Quite Navy and Certainly Celery. The glitter is adhered with sticky strip in the straight line and crystal effects in the centre of the snowflakes. I am quite happy with them and am using this as one of my Christmas card designs.

Thanks for looking,

Nicole

It's been a while

What a terrible blogger I am! I've been so the last month I don't even know where November went. I have been busy the last few days though and have some cards to share. I am hoping to have more Christmas projects to share once I finish them too. The cards I am posting today are a very mixed bunch. Just trying out my new stamp set, which was given to us at Stampin' Up! regional training day in Sydney (I'll share my swaps for that next).

So here they are - first, a wedding card for a friend/colleague who is getting married this Saturday.

Some birthday cards for my stash.

A Christmas card.

Sorry, the photos make the colours look a bit washed out. I hope you like them and I will be back soon to share my regional training swaps.

Nicole

Inkspirations Inspirations Challenge #14

The challenge on Makeesha's blog this week was an inspiration challenge with a masculine colour scheme. So this week I decided to make a masculine card. I don't have many stamp sets that I use for masculine cards so I pulled out the good old Circle Circus again.

I used versamark and clear embossing powder to emboss the Circle Circus images and the 'celebrate' sentiment in the centre. I didn't think this would photograph very well but having the flash on seems to have really picked up on the shine of the embossing, even if the rest of the card looks a bit washed out.

This is the inspiration image:

And here is my card:

Not sure if I am happy with this card. Lately I have barely found the time to do any stamping, so my goal this week is to get some cards and some scrapbook pages done. I also have some MDF letters to cover in scrapbooking papers - my gift to a friend who has just had a baby. So hopefully I will have some more to share next week if I stick to my goal!

Thanks for looking!

Nicole

Inspirations Colour Challenge #14

This week has been a busy one, with me needing lots of nanna naps to recover from the excitement of the Close to My Heart night and also returning to work this week after 2 weeks on holidays. So I've just managed to get this card done in time for Makeesha's colour challenge.

I always admire how neatly some people can tie various types on bows. I read this tutorial by Pine on making granny and square knots. I really wanted a square knot for this card but somehow I think I managed a granny knot instead. Hehe! Oh well, it's still a know of some sort. What is your favourite knot/bow? Have you come across some other good tutorials on this subject?

I'm not sure how clear it is in the photo but I have used some cute little pink rhinestones in the centre of some of the small flowers and a larger rhinestone on the big flower.

Here are the colour for this week's challenge:

And here is my card:

Bye!

Nicole

Materials

Cardstock and Ink - Pretty in pink, Basic Gray, Basic Black, Whisper White
Stamps - Baroque Motifs, Basic Phrases
Accessories - Pretty in Pink grosgrain ribbon, pink rhinestones

A Successful Night

Last Friday night was our Close To My Heart craft night to raise funds for SIDs and Kids. The night was a great success, with around 50 people joining in the crafting fun - make and takes by each Stampin' Up! demo, My Footprint scrapbook pages to donate to the hospital, an auction of craft goodies, raffles prizes and plenty of time to get their own projects done.

Erin and Jacinda also shared their experiences of the stillbirth of their babies - they did so very bravely and this added a very personal touch to the night.

The demonstrators - Alex, Erin, Jacinda, Denise, Liz, Kristen and myself, were excited to find out we had raised over $3000 for this worthy cause. We hope to make this an annual event.

First of the Christmas cards and Inkspirations Sketch Challenge # 14….

Hi there!

I have a child-free day at home today for the first time since Madeleine was born. I am not achieving as much as I had hoped but I am getting some stampin done and preparing for the Close to My Heart craft night on Friday. If you would like to come along you can contact me on

0411 311 495 or nicprz@hotmail.com.

For Makeesha's Inkspirations Sketch Challnge this week I decided to make my very first Christmas card using my Tree Trimmings stamp set. I went with traditional red as a base and then added Sage Shadow and Brocade Blue to the card. I think these colours look great together.

Here is the sketch:

And here is my Christmas card:

I made 4 different versions of this card while I was playing with my stamps so I suppose I already have a small stash of cards ready to go for Chrismas!!

Thanks for visiting,

Nicole

Materials

Card - Riding Hood Red, Kraft, Brocade Blue, Sage Shadow

Ink - Riding Hood Red, Brocade Blue, Sage Shadow, Whisper White

Stamps - Tree Trimmings, Best Yet

Accessories - Riding Hood Red satin ribbon

Inkspirations Inspiration Challenge # 13

So far I have managed to keep up with the blog challenges I have wanted to do. It could be because I am on holidays now for 2 weeks or maybe it is because I went to Ikea twice over the long weekend. Yes, it was wet outside and crazy in that place but I love it there. Anyway, I got myself some hanging rails, hanging pots and baskets to store my stamping gear in. It is such a novelty, firstly, to have a craft room in our new house and, secondly, to have it semi-organised now! Whatever the reason hopefully I can keep making time to stamp!

I played along with Makeesha's Inspiration Challenge this week. I love the colours in the inspiration picture and had the chance to use my new Real Red striped ribbon. Here is the inspiration:

And here is the card I made:

Thanks for looking!

Nicole

Materials

Cardstock - kraft, red bazzill dots, chocolate chip, whisper white

Ink - real red, chocolate chip, sahara sand

Stamps - circle circus, short & sweet

Accessories - real red striped ribbon, scallop border punch, cropodile, corner rounder

WCMD Challenge #4: Australia

The final country for the PTI challenge is Australia. Yay! Using Aboriginal art as an inspiration for cardmaking was fun.

I used white dotted outlines a few times and chose earthy colours for my card. Also, the white stamping on Kraft cardstock reminds me of the rock art.

And a close up:

I have enjoyed participating in these challenges, even though I only just scraped in with them!Hope you have enjoyed looking at my cards.


Nicole

Materials
Cardstock - Chocolate Chip, Kraft, Always Artichoke
Ink - Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke
Stamps - Eastern Blooms, Great Friend
Accessories - Martha Stewart twill ribbon, white gel pen

WCMD Challenge #3: India

India is the 3rd country in the PTI WCMD Challenge. The India inspiration showed lots of bright colours, see below:

I thought the flower stamp in Baroque Motifs suited this challenge, so I used 3 colours and made a tesselating pattern using this stamp. The colours are not normally what I'd use but I think they go well together. Here is my card for India:

Nicole

Materials
Cardstock - Kiwi Kiss, rertired Taken with Teal and Tangerine Tango DSP, Whisper White
Ink - Kiwi Kiss, Taken with Teal, Tangerine Tango
Stamps - Baroque Motifs, Great Friend
Accessories - Rhinestone brad, silver brads, Taken with Teal grosgrain ribbon

WCMD Challenge #2: Mexico

The 2nd country for the PTI WCMD Challenge is Mexico. Here is the inspiration posted on Nichole's blog:

Following Nichole's suggestion of finding inspiration in the decor and colours I made a tile type pattern by stamping using bright colours on 1 1/4" paper squares and placing these in a grid.
Here is my card for the Mexico challenge:

Nicole


Materials
Cardstock - Regal Rose, Taken with Teal, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Stamps - Circle Circus, Short & Sweet
Ink - Regal Rose, Taken with Teal, Certainly Celery
Accessories - Certainly Celery twill ribbon

Papertrey Ink WCMD Challenge #1: Japan

I have been following Nichole Heady's blog, as well as the other Papertrey designers' blogs, for a while now and decided to take part in the World Card Making Day Challenges. The first challenge was to create a card inspired by Japan.

For the Japan challenge I decided to focus on the colour red and the design of a cherry blossom plant. Here is my card:

I used a very similar design to the card I made for Makeesha's colour challenge last week and adjusted the colours and stamp sets. I hope you like it.

Nicole

Materials

Cardstock - Whisper White, red Bazill dots, Urban Garden DSP

Ink - Ruby Red, Basic Grey

Stamps - Embrace Life, Eastern Blooms, Short & Sweet

Accessories - Basic Grey satin ribbon, clear button, linen twine, crystal effects

Inkspirations Colour Challenge #13

Today I have a card to share that I made for Makeesha's colour challenge. I like the colours in this challenge and came up with a card that was realy quick and simple to make but still looks pretty.

Here is the Colour Challenge #13:

And here is the card I came up with:

I used the following materials (from Stampin' Up! unless specified) -

Stamps Eastern Blooms, Sincere Salutations

Cardstock Vanilla, Old Olive, Urban Garden DSP

Ink Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Not Quite Navy

Accessories Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, clear button, linen thread, scallop border punch

Thanks for looking,

Nicole

Close To My Heart - Fundraiser for SIDS and Kids

I am excited to be involved in an upcoming craft event, a fundraiser for SIDS and Kids. If you live on the Central Coast it would be wonderful to see you on the night to help raise funds for this worthwhile cause.

Please see the flyer below for details and be sure to contact me as soon as possible to book a place.

If you would like to read more information about SIDS and Kids head to their website here.

I hope to see you on the night.

Nicole

Inkspirations Sketch Challenge # 13

Since I went back to work in July, after being on maternity leave for over a year, I feel as though I've hardly had time to stamp. I am only working 2 days a week but this seems to take up lots of time in preparation (and recovery, lol). Anyway, to get back in the mood to create I thought I'd take part in some of the blog challenges out there. I chose to do Makeesha Byl's Inkspirations Sketch Challenge first up. I am usually more of a 'free range' stamper, deciding on my colours and playing around with the layout as I go'. I had heaps of fun doing this sketch though.

Here is Makeesha's sketch:

And here is my card:

The supplies are as follows:
Stamps - Great Friend, Eastern Blooms
Ink - Regal Rose, So Saffron, Certainly Celery
Cardstock - Natural Vanilla, Regal Rose, So Saffron, Whisper White
Ribbon - So Saffron grosgrain

Thanks so much for looking!

Blown away...almost.

Hello!

This week I have been trying to improve my photos of my cards after receiving some tips from my lovely upline Alex, who suggested taking them outside in daylight. Well, I achieved some better photos as opposed to my indoor, night time ones, but it was a task! Especially since I chose today of all days to venture out and give it a go. First, I had to wait for all the dust from the dust storm to clear. Once I could see some blue sky I took my cards outside and discovered just how windy it was. Luckily, I got a few photos of each card before they had a chance to blow away.

This card uses the Parisian Breeze DSP and the Great Friend stamp set, both from Stampin Up! This layout was actually one I found in the current Idea Book and Catalogue. I just adjusted it by using a different stamp set and selection of colours.

I'll be back later with a card I made for a challenge.

Bye!

Clean and simple wedding and more

Hello!

Just thought I would share 2 cards I made with some friends at the card class I held at home last weekend. One special request was for a wedding card. I kept the card clean and simple, given that not all my guests were heading to a wedding in the near future and may have wanted to change the card to suit another occasion. I think the card below would make a beautiful baby card - just change the sentiment, the ribbon colour and the glittered image to suit. My apologies for the poor photography. This card really is much prettier in real life.

The swirl image is from the Priceless set from Stampin Up! It has been placed on a back ground of natural cardstock then a swiss dots embossed background. The twill ribbon is by Martha Stewart, which I bought from Spotlight.

Another card we made was an all occasion card using one of my favourite colour combinations right now - kraft, chocolate chip and baja breeze. Along with some beautiful textured cardstock from the Stampin Up! Spring Mini we used the flower from the Embrace Life stamp set and the cute little label from my new set Great Friend.

Well, that's all from me. I am off to take Maddy for a walk around the lake and enjoy this lovely sunshine we are having.

Welcome to my stamp nest!

Well, I finally did it - started a stamping blog, that is! I have been following blogs of all descriptions (stamping, craft, decorating, cooking etc etc etc) for a long time and have always admired how productive the bloggers seem to be when all I manage is to keep up with the new posts on all of my favourite blogs!! So, starting a blog has been one of the things on my to do list for a while and I hope that by doing this I will be pushed to be a bit more productive with my spare time, especially before baby number 2 comes along. I will be using this blog to share the creations that come from my stamping room. I welcome your comments and feedback.

Here is one of the designs I did for a recent card class with some friends. It uses the Circle Circus stamp set from Stampin' Up. The colours used are Riding Hood Red and Basic Grey on Naturals Ivory cardstock. I also heat embossed the images on the 'flowers' using clear embossing powder over Riding Hood Red ink.

The second card I have to show you today I made to send to a friend for her birthday. I really like how this colour combination turned out and I think I'll be using this combination a lot more. The colours are Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette and Certainly Celery. I used my new Great Friend stamp set from the Spring Mini Catalogue. I just love the butterfly!

Thanks for looking at my new blog and I hope to see you back here soon.

Nicole