Just Add Ink 40...

Shock horror I know, two posts in one weekend.  I only wish we had long weekends more often. With colours as pretty as these who could resist playing along.

Christmas Elf...

It's felt like ages since I've had the chance to get my fingers all inky.  Most of my stamping gear is packed away in storage in preparation of our move next month.  The good thing is we are only moving across town.

 

I have been wanting to make one of these cute little elves ever since I came across a tutorial by Sophia Landry late last year.  The tutorial is in two parts. You can check it out by clicking on the links below;

Christmas Elf - Part 1

Christmas Elf - Part 2

Anyway, It's along weekend here in New Zealand and the sun is shinning so I'm off outside to kick a ball round with the kids.

Let it Snow....

I would have to say that this weekend has been like no other.  It's the first time I've seen snow in Invercargill, well snow that's settled that is. Luckily we escaped with no damage to our property, however it's a different story for some of our local businesses with roofs collapsing under the pressure of the snow.

Today is the Official Launch...

Of the 'Helping Hudson, A Wheely Great Cause' fundraiser.

I've attached a link below to the official 'Helping Hudson' blog page where you will be able to browse the various tabs, read the story behind this awesome cause, and of course purchase tutorials to help raise the funds required to purchase this wee guy a mobility walker.

http://helpinghudson.blogspot.com/

Helping Hudson, A Wheelie Great Cause...

I received an email a week ago from Genna Gifford asking me if I would write a tutorial in support of raising money for the Helping Hudson fund.

Helping Hudson , A wheelie Great Cause is fundraiser for fellow demonstrator Tina Gillespie from Adelaide, Australia and her 2 year old son, Hudson. Hudson has been diagnosed with multiple disabilities and is in desperate need of a wheelchair/walker to help him learn to move around. 

The event will run from August 1 through to August 22, during which time there will be tutorial bundles available for purchase. Each bundle will contain 10 tutorials and will be available for $10 AUS - all of which will go into the Helping Hudson fund.

Below is an example of the bundles/ themes

1. Christmas
2. Kids' Birthdays (incl. invitations, gifts, party favours, etc.)
3. Scrapbooking
4. Punch Art
5. Bags & Boxes
6. Projects for Men and Boys

There will also be some really great competitions and challenges running during this time so keep an eye out for these also.

Details on how to purchase these bundles will be available in the next day or two.

For Him...

The one thing I really struggle with is making masculine cards, so when I came across this idea by Paperbabe I knew I had to give it a go. Although I didn't have a tutorial to work from, Kim had posted lots of photo's at different angles making this little project very easy to recreate.

My Favourite Things...

Baja breeze cardstock, ribbon and buttons, these are a few of my favourite things. This little gift box would have to be one of the quickest projects I've made in a while. In fact I think it probably took longer to watch the video tutorial by Angie Kennnedy Juda, than making the box itself. And the great thing about this style of box is it folds flat for storage.

By the way, do you recognise the sentiment stamp? I'll let you in on a little secret, it's actually from the jumbo roller wheel 'Friendly Words'. Teneale Williams posted a great tutorial a while back on how to take the rubber off your roller wheels and convert them into clear mount stamps. It is such a great idea and I would have to say that my wheel has had more use this way than it ever did as a roller wheel.

Just Add Ink...

It's new and it's exciting. The Design Team consists of Australian and New Zealand Stampin' Up! Demonstrators who love to share what they love and inspire others to create.

Every Friday a new challenge will be set and you have until the following Wednesday to link your creation using Mr Linky on the Just Add Ink Blog.

This weeks challenge was to use the following colours. For my entry I decided to create a Joy Fold Card.

Better Late Than Never...

Okay I know Christmas has been and gone, but I really wanted to show you the 'Poop Boxes' I made our family and friends for Christmas.

The box itself is very simple in design. Debbie Airey had them featured on her blog just prior to Christmas, along with some very easy to follow instructions on how to make them. You can check her blog post out here. I used a 4 x 8" piece of card stock to get a slightly larger finished box. I then stamped it using the snow flake from the 'Winter Post' set.

I then decorated the boxes with punch art. The reindeer is a case from Heather Summer's while the snowman I created myself.

His body was constructed using the 3 large circle punches from Stampin' Up! and then sponged with basic gray to give a little definition. His arms were created by stamping both the right and left arms form the 'All in the Family' Set on a piece of whisper white. His hat; the round tab punch. Lastly two eye's were punched from a scrap of black card stock using a 1/4" circle punch. A slither of groovy guava for his nose and to finish him off a few dots to create a mouth.

The boxes were then filled with snowman poop (marshmallows) and reindeer poop (chocolate coated peanuts). All in all I made 4 snowmen and 48 reindeer, so needless to say I was rather pleased when they were all finished.

A Fond Farewell...

At the end of the year one of Connor's morning kindy teachers finished up. As a big thank you to her for all she did with the children during the year I made a thank you card and with a matching 6" x 6" album. The album was filled with photo's from throughout the year of both the children and the teachers.

To package the album I made a box slightly larger than the ablum and added a clear lid using acetate.

Let's Party...

My sister asked me if I could make up some party bags for my nieces eighth birthday which was on the 10 of October. I hunted through my paper stash and found these cute prints that I thought would be ideal. I then matched them up with some gorgeous ribbon from Stampin' Up!.

To personalise the bags a little for each of the girls I made up little tags with their first initial. To make the tags I used both the large and small tag punches by Stampin' Up! The tags themselves I think are pretty self explanatory.

And finally a pic of the finished product.

Roses Are Red...

I have wanted to make one of these paper roses for so long but never had the right punch until the other day. They are so simple to make and look spectacular when finished. This one was created using ' Rose Red' card stock. The edges were sponged prior to assembly using 'Rose Red' ink to add a little depth to the flower. On completion I added a touch of red glitter and a little crystal effects to give a dew droplet effect.

I had an order for one of my customers sitting on the table. Knowing her favourite colours I decided to package her order up using some retired paper and ribbon from my stash. I finished it off by adding the rose.

Edited 24th October 2009
The punch used to make the rose is a 6 Petal Marvy Giga Punch.

A Very Merry Christmas...

Tonight I decided to challenge myself to use what was within reach of my crafting area. I had earlier been working on a couple of Christmas projects and still had the stamps sitting on the table in front of me.

Okay, so it's not your usual traditional Christmas card, but I like it and surprisingly it came together really quickly.

Waterfall Album with Co-ordinating Card...

I can now show you all the swaps that I made for my swap sister Heather O'Keefe during the last round of UStamp. I'd have to say being my first swap it was all a little daunting, not knowing what to make or to what degree.

The first part of my project was this waterfall album (below). It measures 6 x 5 7/8 inches. Basically it work by the same principal as the waterfall card.

As you pull the tab the pages turn exposing a hidden panel at the back of the album. The album itself is made using 'Chocolate Chip' and 'Whisper White' Card Stock, 'Parisian Breeze' Specialty Designer Paper from the Spring Mini and a combination of stamps from 'Friends 24-7' and 'Baroque Motifs'.

The second part of my project was this coordinating card (Below). I used the same coloured card stock and specialty designer paper as that in the waterfall album. The stamps used were again 'Friends 24-7' along with the sentiment 'To You From Me' from the Level 1 Hostess set, Best Yet.

I've already joined up for the next round of UStamp and am looking forward to participating once again in the swap.

Ben 10, Alien Force - Part 2...

On Monday Connor turned four. Although the day was solely family orientated it was still busy leading up to the day. As I mentioned in a previous post, Ben 10 is the flavour of the month in our house and one wee man was lucky enough to get a Ben 10 scooter from his Nana and Grandy.

Connor taking his scooter for a test drive. (Below)

I also took on the tedious task of making him a Ben 10 Birthday Cake. I have no ambition of ever becoming a cake decorator. Three hours later and this was the end result. I must admit I am really wrapped with the way it turned out.

I kept telling Connor all day that mummy just ran out of time to make him a cake. When we suprised him with his cake the look on his face was priceless.

The birthday boy blowing out his candle.

Swaps from Canada...

I received my swaps last week from Heather O'Keefe who was my swap sister for this round of UStamp. The set criteria for the swap was that we had to make 2 card/3D items. As you'll see from the photo's below I was very spoilt receiving not 2 but 3 cards and 3 gift tags.

Although I love all 3 cards I think that this one (above) would have to be my favourite.

Please note that the products shown in this post are not available in the Aus/NZ Stampin' Up! Catalogue.

Ben 10, Alien Force - Part 1...

It's hard to beleive that yet another year has past and that on Monday Connor is turning four. This year has been a busy one for him, firstly starting Kindy and then the arival of his new brother. He's also enjoying having me at home. Anyway this is the card I have made him for his birthday. If you ask him what his favourite program is at the moment he will tell you 'Ben 10, Alien Force'.

To make the card I did a search on the net for an image. I found a black and white colouring in page which I reduced in size and printed off half a dozen times on coloured paper. I then cut out each piece in the relevant colour and pieced it back together. I'm sure he is going to love it.

Itty Bitty Box...

One for you, one for me, one for me, one for me, one for you, one for mummy...
This little itty bitty box is one of the projects from the current round of UStamp. The original design of this box uses the Big Shot and Bitty Box & Envelope Bigz Die from Stampin' Up! which we don't currently have available here in New Zealand. With this in mind I decided to sit down and create my own template, one that I could print directly onto my cardstock and just cut around.

Yay, the template worked and I have to say, they really are cute little boxes. This one I made for Pop. The top of the box was decorated using one of the stamps out of the 'Greetings Eight' Stamp Set. The image was stamped upside down and then touched up with a Stampin' Write marker and White Signo Gel pen to alter the wording to read Pop.Then with a little help from Connor we managed to get a couple of scorched almonds wrapped.