Andrea's Stampin' Moments

Freebie Friday and the Bow Easy

The Bow Easy is now available!  Follow this link to purchase here in Australia.

Thanks so much for coming along today and joining in the fun!  From today and across the weekend just leave a comment on this post for your chance at this months Freebie give-away.  I think I have said many times before how tieing a bow is something that I am not very good at - hence the knots rather than bows - but I recently came across a groovy little gadget, and I just love gadgets!  The Bow Easy gives you the ability to tie 7 different sized bows, and won't take up much space in your craft draw.  I have included a fantastic Youtube video just to show you how easy the Bow Easy is!  Jerri from A Touch of Grace makes the most incredibly beautiful cards I have ever seen, and she has put together an incredible video that you can view on her site.

 

Retro Mojo

I love the flexibility of photopolymer stamps, or clear stamps as they're known.  With the main image I was able to curve the sentiment - from Papertrey Ink - to fit in with the centre circle!  The beautiful flower was stamped with Palette Burnt Umber and is from Jolies Fleurs from Lizzie Anne Designs, and I have coloured this with Copics.

The cardstock is SU!'s Mellow Moss, Cranberry Crisp and Pumpkin Pie, and I wish I could tell you where the DSP came from - I love it! (which is probably why I bought it)

I finished with some buttons from the Birthday mix.

Check out the other great Mojo Monday projects here for some incredible inspiration!

Happy stamping everyone,

All Things Grow - TECC 69

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  Weekends are the best when there is nothing else on, and you can pick and choose what you want to do first.  I had this card started on Saturday, and ended up by spending my entire Sunday afternoon cooking and so didn't finish it.

Using the sketch from Taylored Expressions I pulled out a Papertrey Ink set I haven't used in a while - Garden of Life.  The DSP from Scrapbook Walls set the colours for this card, and really it all came together fairly quickly, I just must have had too much time on my hands...LOL

Spellbinders Classic Rectangles gave me my centre as well as the corner to this card. 

I added Rose Dew Drops in the corner and buttons on the flowers, and I was done.  I have a whole new shipment of buttons hopefully arriving this week and another little surprise next week....but I will hold you in suspense for that one!  Don't forget this Friday starts the weekend blog candy give-away and I hope to see lots of you drop by and leave a comment.

Thanks for stopping by,

Groovy Girl - SK051609

I have found a great new site for Copic  Marker challenges, and you can find it here.  They do a new challenge each fortnight and have some incredible video tutorials. The last one was using purple tones - of which I have none - so I waited patiently for the next one....and it is colouring blonde hair...but wouldn't you believe it, I have no colours for blonde hair...gggrrrr.  So now I have a new Copic wish list.....*wink*....and I went ahead and used my Copics that I do have for last Saturdays Paper Craft Planet Sketch.

I started with my Sarah Kay stamp and stamped her with Palette Burnt Umber on Smooth White cardstock, and then coloured her with Copics.  The flowers either side of her have been coloured with a soft pink and then at the last I have applied Flower Soft Sweet Pea.

I found this 'groovy' paper in my stash, and it seemed to tie in with the colours I used on the stamped image...just lucky today!  Usually when I do it the wrong way round I can never co-ordinate the paper!

I finished off with a paper flower and sentiment in the centre, and a couple of Ka-Jinker flowers down the side.

Enjoy your weekend!

Bind-It-All Fun

A friend emailed me just the other day wanting to know if I had heard much about the Bind-It-All machine...and I had to be honest and say that I had one - I just love gadgets!  This is great little machine if you like making things, which I do, and I had great intentions, but I have only used mine twice in over 12 months (this is the second time!).  So I thought what better time to throw something together very quickly to share.

I covered two front covers very quickly with DSP from SU!, used their set Time Well Spent for the flower, coloured it with Copics, and there it was.

It is a lot of fun and is apparently on sale at Spotlight!  I will take a bit more time with my next project and see if I can't come up with something else.

Have a great day!

Friends - Mojo 87

Well today I fiddled, and fiddled with this card.  Do you have those days?!?  I stuck it on, I took it off...I stamped in blue, green chocolate, and then blue again...I even stuck the ribbon on, and had to carefully take it off again...and on and on it went.  But here is the final, and I would love to hear what you think!  I may need to take it apart once more!..LOL

This is my card for the Mojo Monday sketch for this week, and I love the colours in this paper...but then I love anything with chocolate in it.

I decided before I get any of the new JustRite stamps I would use some that I already have, and so pulled out  a favourite in the Harmony Classic Circle Stamper II.   I used the Friends centre and stamped it in Bordering Blue (SU!) and Palette Burnt Umber, and the decorative border in Old Olive (SU!).  All these pieces were then cut with Spellbinders Circles. 

The second image on this card was made using a set called Jolies Fleurs from Lizzie Anne Designs, and I have coloured this with Copics.  The smaller flower was stamped again, coloured, cut out and raised with dimensional foam.

I have sponged most of the different sections to this card - I love doing this - using a sponge dauber, to keep with the look of the DSP I have used.

I added piercing around the square - cut with Classic Square Spellbinders - as well as the bottom section.  The ribbon is double sided satin -Latte.

I hope your week has started well, and you find time to play in your 'office'!

Happy stamping,

Cupcake Frenzy - TECC 68

The colours in this card are sure to brighten your day...because they are most definitely bright!  This is my take on the TECC sketch challenge for this weekend.

I went Designer Paper free today, and made my own co-ordinated paper.  I started with the left hand side panel which set the colours for the card.  Using glossy white cardstock I stamped the small circle image from Inque Boutiques Party Cupcake using Versamark.  Taking my brayer I then rolled the cardstock with SU! Pumpkin Pie and added the dots using Ruby Red.

The second piece was made using the smallest cupcake from the set and stamping it randomly over Smooth White Cardstock with Palette Noir Ink.  This along with the main image were coloured using Copic markers.

I stamped the main image twice and cut the second one out and raised it using dimensional foam.  The 'Happy Birthday' words are from another little Inque Boutique set.

To get the zig-zag effect down the side I used my new Spellbinders Pinking Border - would you believe I don't have different border scissors..LOL ..And finished off the side with buttons from the Summertime and Boy collections.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Happy stamping everyone,

Cast All Your Cares....

Todays card uses the sketch from Paper Craft Planet for this week.  I had in my mind chosen this paper from my stash as the one I wanted to use, so I worked from there.  The words are from a Papertrey Ink set called Everyday Blessings, and they are beautiful.  Stamped on Vixen White using Palette Noir, I then cut them out with my Spellbinders No.2 Die and matted it on to Cameo Coral by SU!

The Flowers were made with Sweet Pea Flower Soft, and I simply followed the directions from the Starter Kit, and these can be found on their web site.  I stamped a solid image from Inque Boutique along the bottom and added a little more Flower Soft.

I haven't used my sewing machine for a card in a very long time, because I simply don't have the knack.  I have this inability to sew crooked lines, as much as I love the effect, and I tend to follow exactly where I have been before, but I tried very hard here.  I love it everytime I see it, and as they say, practice and then practice some more.

Today I also have some cards to share with you from Sandie, the winner of last months Freebie Friday Candy.  Sandie has also sent me a lot of fantastic links to other cards made using Flower Soft.  Thanks Sandie!

http://stamping-cooking-knitting.blogspot.com/2009/04/praying-for-you.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orxRLVP0iao&feature=related

http://leslierich.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2009/04/24/flourishes-friday-focus-flower-soft/

http://www.scrapnextras.com/scrapnextras/2009/04/flourishes-friday-focus-on-flowersoft.html

http://christinecreations.blogspot.com/2009/04/flourishes-friday-focus-soft-and.html

I hope you enjoy looking at these incredible projects.  Have a great day.

Just Because - Mojo 86

This stamp set from Stampin' Up! I think was from their first catalogue here in Australia.  Called 'Gentler Times' it has a lovely 'olden days' feel about it, although I perhaps shouldn't use those words, as my boys are increasingly saying to me "back in your time", and really, I say to them, it wasn't that long ago!  And so too it would be for others..

Today I have stamped the images using Palette Burnt Umber on to Vixen Cream Cardstock, and coloured using Copics.

The DSP is from CM, and is the set I used at Christmas for some cards.  It is very pretty and fitted in well with the stamps I thought.  The ribbon across the centre is double sided cream satin.

I used the Oval Spellbinders for the centre image, and a scallop blade for my cutter along the bottom edge.

Altogether it was a very quick card :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Cupcake Delight - TECC67

I received stock of some Impressabilities on Friday, and just had to give one a go!...but deciding which one was the hardest choice!

For this card using the TECC sketch challenge I started with some SU! DSP and using the Flower Impressabilities, ran it through my Cuttlebug, and then lightly sanded the image to expose the centre and make the design really stand out.

The designs look incredible, and I can't wait to try them using some Core-dination cardstock that I hope to have in stock very soon.

I didn't want to hide the detail too much so I have gone for vellum for parts of the design.  The bottom vellum piece was cut using Spellbinders Piercerabilities 5 1/2" Pinking Border, which I have also used to pierce.  I used the same template to pierce down each side of the card.

The cupcake is from the Our Craft Lounge set Life Is Sweet, and this has been a favourite of mine.  I coloured the image once again with Copics, then added some Liquid Applique to the frosting....and does it look like frosting! Yum!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Happy stamping,

Make a Wish!

As chance would have it, I have two cards to show you today.  The first is using the Mojo Monday sketch...again. 

I have used the stamp set Big Bold Birthday from SU! for this card.  The base of the cake was stamped using Pumpkin Pie and Versamark, coated with clear ep and heat embossed.  The top of the cake I stamped so that I would have the outline of the frosting to work with and then coated with Liquid Applique.  I let this dry overnight and then heat set it to give this 'fluffed up' effect...it looks and feels so cool!

The frame the cake is set on is a new one from Spellbinders called Polka Dot Frame, and I simply cut it twice to change the centre.

I layed it all on Smooth white cardstock to give it a firm base and distressed the edges using a Paper Distresser.

I didn't have any plain Ric Rac so I simply used the wrong side to theflowered version I have and adhered it with 3mm double sided tape.

Now on to the second 'quickie' card I had to do this afternoon.  A friends son who is partnering a girl tonight in her deb, hadn't thought of the card to go with the gift....so here it is.

The cardstock is Vixen Bright White, although it does look creamer here than what it is.  It has a beautiful texture that is also difficult to see in the photo.  The dress from the set Blooming with Happiness was embossed with Silver ep and heat set, and then little amethyst rhinestones were added, and they give a lovely sparkle.

The young girls name was printed on plain Vellum, and this was attached with rhinestone brads.

All done in less than half an hour!

Have a great Saturday...what's left of it, and a wonderful Mother's Day tomorrow to all of you.

Mother's Day - Mojo 85

Some of you that have known me for a little while will know that I lost my Mum a couple of years ago, but I still love to create Mother's Day cards.  She loved hand made cards and presents having been a knitter and dress maker all her life..she didn't stop until the last 2 years, and I hope I keep going as long as well!  What a gift that would be.

This card was made using the Mojo Monday Sketch, and as soon as I saw it I knew I loved it, and have started another card using the same sketch!

I started by finding the stamps I wanted to use, then the papers, and finally the Spellbinders!  You can just make out in the background I have a new one from the Pierceabilities range and it's the 5 1/2" Pinking Border.  It cuts, embosses, stencils and has a piercing guide!  How clever!

The images were stamped using Always Artichoke from SU!, and the flower was coloured using Copic markers.  I've cut out  an extra flower and both the leaves to give dimension.

Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope you can join in with this sketch challenge - there are prizes to be won!

Thank You - sk050209

I went for soft and subtle today!  This card is for the Paper Craft Planet Sketch this week.  I spent an entire day - yesterday - going through my designer papers and sorting them, and came across this one I hadn't used - one of many.  I started by cutting the two DSP's to size and then using my Spellbinders I cut out the centres.  I wrapped the SU! ribbon around and placed dimensional tape over the back so that this section was raised on the white linen cardstock.  When I have a large area that I want to raise I use the 12mm dimensional tape on a roll - it's just a more economical way to go.

The flower pot is from the OCL set Growing Gratitude, and I stamped this twice using Palette noir and cut the flowers out to raise.  I coloured them using Copics and added Liquid Pearls - Gold pearl - to the centres.

The sentiment is from the same set and I stamped this on the cut out section of the DSP.  Now I was going to trim the sides straight, but liked how it just happened to fit in - some things are meant to be.. :)

The buttons are from the Clear Shapes collection - Cotton Candy Flowers.

Hope you had a great weekend! 

Celebrate Today - TECC66

I kept it simple for this weekends TECC sketch, and did a little bit of watercolouring.

If you haven't already heard Our Craft Lounge is having their Summer launch of 24 new stamp sets, so be sure to do a bit of blog hopping for your chance to win one of the new sets.  Start at Cambria's and take it from there!

I have used the same OCL set as yesterday, Growing Gratitude, and stamped it with Burnt Umber Palette Ink.  To colour I used my Stampin' Up! Watercolour Crayons, and I had forgotten how much I love these little gems.  The cardstock is Bazzill Fawn and Java and the two larger buttons are from the Girl and Chocolate Blues collections.

I cut the two layers out with Spellbinders Rectangle Classics, and mounted it with foam dimensional tape.  The little sentiment is from Papertrey Ink and was stamped with Burnt Umber.  I adhered tiny little rhinestones under the words as well as in the scalloped edge.

I hope you get a chance to play along as well today....by the way my office is about half done, and isn't it always those last few bits and pieces that just don't want to fit in?!?

Have a great day,

Flower Pots

I've been wanting to try this new set I have from Our Craft Lounge, and finally had time today to do something.  I just needed to find some space to do it!

I decided last Monday that I needed two additional shelves made for my office, just to give me a little more space.  So I've had everything on the floor since then and left myself about 6" square working space on my desk.  They arrived yesterday and wouldn't you know it one was too big, so it had to be cut down and arrived this afternoon.  My office is however still in a shambles, but by the end of tomorrow it will be spick and span!

This set - Growing Gratitude - is going to become one of my favourites.  I love all the little elements.

I started by stamping the images using Palette noir on Smooth white cardstock, and colouring with my Copics.  Then I simply cut the images out, and  using my Spellbinders Label No1 cut out the two largest labels with Inque Boutique DSP.  The smaller image has been matted on to cardstock and cut out by hand.  I pierced around the edge and added white gel pen for the stitiched effect.

I've made the opening to the card down the centre and included on the inside a large label die with a stamped image in the corner.

I hope you'll join me tomorrow for one of the weekend sketches.  Have a great evening.