Challenge #30 Christmas Stampin' All Year Long

Over on Christmas Stampin' All Year Long there's a photo inspiration challenge.  These can often present far too many choices - colours, patterns, shapes, etc, but that's one of the reason's they're good to have a crack at.  Focus, focus, focus!

   

Inspiration Photo

 While this was intended as a Christmas card, I realise there's no greeting - oops!  I'll have to add it later!!

Lovin' the ribbon?  Wide, soft & really easy to tie into a knot or a bow. It's in the upcoming holiday catty.

Are you coming to the launch on Saturday?  No? Well get your skates on and reserve your spot.  You'll go home with some super ideas and lots of goodies!

Good heavens, is that Washi AGAIN?  What is this woman doing?  It's all about washi and Gorgeous Grunge isn't it?!

Have a great day.
Cheers
Karen

Thought I'd whip up another masculine birthday card using the annual catalogue for inspiration again - this time from page 101.

TIP: Cut the banner or flag ends on your cardstock by centre-ing a square punch.  Then curl the ends up with a bone folder and only apply glue to the flat area of the banner, not the curly end.

I'm really into combining stamp images from different sets at the moment, and I think that's the great thing about playing with your stamps;  you can find all sorts of different combinations that work well together, so don't think you can only use stamps from one set on a project.  Mix it up!  In this card, I've used the map log as a background and the compass which all reflect travel for a cyclist friend of mine - and that's where the bike comes in!

And seriously, is there anything that Gorgeous Grunge DOESN'T go with?!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Set:  Postage Due, Clockworks & Memorable Moments, Gorgeous Grunge
Cardstock: Night of Navy, Coastal Cabana, Pistachio Pudding, Whisper White
Ink:  Night of Navy, Coastal Cabana
Paper Clay - for the button, coloured with Night of Navy marker when dry.
Apothecary Accents Framelits for the Big Shot

Christmas Stampin All Year Round Challenge 26 Inspiration

I stumbled on this challenge blog and thought how perfect it is to keep me on track year long for Christmas Cards for Australian Armed Forces!

The inspiration for this challenge was a photograph:

 I decided to stick with the red/white colour combo, so here's my card:

While there's a lot of stamping on it, it's still quite a clean looking card.  And I've used the Gorgeous Grunge set.....again....which means it's versatility is ever-increasing.

Supplies Used:
Stamp Set:  Gorgeous Grunge, Snow Swirled (R), Easy Events (R)
Cardstock: Whisper White
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Staz On Black
Adorning Accents embossing folder and Big Shot
Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding.

I love to read your comments, so please leave one below.
Cheers
Karen

Convention 2013 Make & Takes

Just a quick post this morning with a couple of pics of the make & takes I did at Convention this year.

The first one is a card and uses the new stamp set Gorgeous Grunge.  This is a fabulous set for layering and I can see lots of background possibilities for it with the different patterns & textures.  The greeting is from Hello Lovely, as is the ampersand.  And those cute new lacy vintage buttons are definitely going to be popular!

No card is complete without a stamped envelope!

These are our new boxes from the Tag a Bag range.   I mentioned in a previous post that they come in a pack of 8 including acetate sleeves.  But on this one, we added a cardstock cover before slipping the acetate sleeve over the top.  A great idea if you want the contents to be a complete surprise.   Do you like the little "leaves"?  They are oval punched shapes folded in half and snipped with scissors.

Have a great mid-week and go make something gorgeous!
Cheers
Karen