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