Andrea's Stampin' Moments

Wine Bottle Topper

It's getting very exciting now...we wrapped most of our gifts today!  I'm starting to feel very organised and relaxed which is a wonderful thing I must say!  I can't remember ever feeling like this before lol!

Sue K had a fabulous spread in the Australian Cardmaking Stamping and Papercraft magazine a couple of months ago, and she did a wine bottle topper which I have never done before but I needed one, so I knew exactly where to go for the instructions!

Mine is very CAS and I seem to have moved from my earlier blue stage to green in the last couple of weeks of card making!

Thanks for visiting today :)  It's raining just a little here but it's been enough to move our local Carols indoors tonight!

Hugs,

Say It With...Christmas 2 - Boxes

I thought to put myself a little in front I would decorate one of our Kraft boxes ready for Nathan to give his teacher!!  I don't think I've ever been this organised lol!

I've vaguely used the sketch from Clean & Simple this week and used the same theme as this card so it all tied in together :)

And I even thought to line the base of the inside of the box before placing some yummy Lindt chocolates inside :)

Here's how to play along with the challenge :

About our challenges: 

- We post our challenges every Friday at 12:00pm AEST (AEDT during Daylight Savings).

- Each challenge runs for a week, and will close on the Friday 10.00am so that we can announce and showcase our weekly winners prior to the next challenge. 

- Each weeks winner will receive our special blinkie to display on their blog and a $10.00 Gift Voucher to spend in store at AnnaBelle Stamps (or something equivalent).  

How To Play Along : 

- Copy and save our challenge banner and include it and a link back to the ABS blog in your post.

- Please link directly to your entry not just to your blog.

- Please don't link to postings made prior to the date of our current challenge.  All projects submitted must be new.

- A maximum of 7 challenges may be combined including this one.        

- You may enter any of our challenges several times as long as each submission is with a new creation.

- We would love you to use AnnaBelle Stamps and embellishments, but you can play along without using them, it’s all about sharing ideas :)

Can't wait to see what you share with us this week :)

Hugs for now,

Release 1 - Lil Monster Gone Fishing

Hello friends and welcome to the March AnnaBelle Stamps Blog Hop!  If you've come from the ABS blog then you are on the right track :)

I have to say that I have had such fun colouring this little guy!  I think I have made him just about every colour, and I still don't have a favourite....although I have done two green ones lol!!  Hand drawn by Helen Pickup, I just know you are going to love him as well :)

Lil Monster Gone Fishing :

And here are a couple of my cards :)

I may have mentioned that I purchased a Black Cat Cougar cutter just before Christmas, and I hadn't had much time to have a play...well last Friday night I spent a bit of time (over Skype) with Karen Strong the lovely lady I bought it off and I'm now on my way....well nearly lol!  I've managed to make an svg file for our Lil Monster - no more fussy cutting - and I found it easy enough to stamp on the die cut by laying it on a dark piece of cardstock!  He's lined up pretty well don't you think?  I hope to have files available for some of our sets very soon!

I made the box from a file I purchased :)

I've used this weeks sketch from Card Patterns Challenge blog sketch 106, and my card is 14cm x 14cm.  

 

 

 

 

 

My second card is  smaller than the first and I've used a Spellbinders die to cut the shape then watercoloured him :)

From here you will very much want to visit the wonderful Sue W to see her gorgeous creations, but before you go, check all the details on the hop below! 

How the Hop works :

You will need to begin at the ABS blog if you haven't already, and follow the links to each of the DT blogs.  Leave a comment on each as you go and you will end up back at the ABS blog where you can add your name to the Inlinkz widget.  Each hop will run for only 24hrs and random winners will be chosen from the names added to the Inlinkz that have completed the hop.  The names of the winners will be posted on the AnnaBelle Stamps blog on the 17th March.

Happy Hopping!

Triangle Boxes

I love making these boxes!  I put them together this morning for a lunch I was going to - it's a great time of year to catch up with people - and they come together so quickly.  This year I thought I would make these for the Christmas table as well, and have everyones name on each box, as a sort of place setting, with some yummie goodies inside.

I've put together a tutorial HERE and hope that you find it useful.  I did a silly thing and started writing the tutorial before tea not thinking to save it, and the computer was turned off on me, I'll remember next time :)

The stamp today is from the Holly Branch set which is still on special through until 7th December!

Thanks for stopping by, and if you get a chance don't forget the sketch challenge at AnnaBelle Stamps Blog it finishes late tonight, but if you get a chance to enter there's a $20.00 voucher up for grabs!

See you tomorrow with a new sketch!

Sour Cream Boxes

I needed to make some gift boxes for our P & F so I decided on the Sour Cream Box.  This quick idea looks effective I think, and comes together easily.  I've put together a tutorial HERE if you'd like to see how it, and the gift tag are made.

I pulled out my great little set from JustRite Stampers, A Merry Little Christmas - I hope to have this back in stock very soon! - and stamped on Smooth White cardstock with SU! Rose Red, and Old Olive.

The DSP is also from SU!, and I finished them off with some co-ordinating ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by today, and if you get a chance to join in our sketch challenge at the AnnaBelle Stamps blog, we would love to see your designs.

Have a great day,

Holly Wreath

I have loved seeing the Easel cards on Splitcoast and all the blogs lately, and they are just so easy you won't believe!  Check out a brief tutorial HERE.

Using three of the holly designs from the soon to be released set Holly Branch - 1st November!! - from AnnaBelle Stamps, I shaped them into a semi-circle and stamped them once using Palette Noir on Smooth White Cardstock. Re-inking the stamps and turning them around I stamped again to form the circle. 

I went with beautiful bright colours for the holly this time and so used Copics YG05, YG07 and R24.  Cut the circle from the largest Spellbinders Circles and Scallop.  The pinkish cardstock is actually a metallic card and is so pretty IRL.

To match the card I decorated a small take away box, wrapping some silver thread around the box and tieing it off with some pink organza.  The wording on both projects are from another one of the new release sets that I will start show casing this week :)

I hope you enjoy the brief tutorial and give this card a go!

Happy stamping,

All Boxed Up!

I have a confession to make...and no it's not that I kept these choccies for myself...Over Easter I received some orders for Spellbinders...so I thought it was time I had some new ones as well!  Now the real person I have to blame for this is an incredible crafter by the name of Becca Feeken at Amazing Paper Grace and the tutorial for this flower medalion can be found HERE!  I found her blog via a Spellbinders add in a magazine that simply had her name under the project you see in her tutorial, and with the wonder of google I found her.

Now once you have experienced her incredible talent don't forget to pop back and see me once in a while!..LOL  Can you guess from the other projects she has done which other Spellbinder I now have?  You don't need advertising when you have incredibly gifted people like Becca...people like me will buy!

This was such fun and I can see it made in vellum adorning a very special gift.  It uses the new  Large Scalloped Octagons from Spellbinders.

Until next time,

Bunnie Surprise

   

I made this little gift box/bag last week using an idea that I had seen before many times but was inspired to do it when I saw this one.  Isn't it just beautiful!  Mine is no where as elegant but what a great idea for our Spellbinders!

I started with the largest die from the Labels one collection - there has been an urgent order placed for these and they should be back in stock with the supplier soon.  I used glossy white cardstock and ran the dies back through to emboss the edge.  Using the dots from a Papertrey Ink set I stamped both die cuts with Versamark, then used a brayer to roll on the ink.  Once done I gently wiped any excess ink off with a tissue.

This gorgeous little bunnie is a stamp that I have had for about 7 years and hadn't used it for some time, but he was fun to use again, is from SonLight Impression.  Stamped once again with Palette Burnt Umber and then coloured with Copics and cut out.  The words and little eggs are from Papertrey Ink.

For the bag in the centre I used the bag-a-lope technique and trimmed to fit. Don't forget to leave a comment on the Freebie Friday post for your chance to win the blog candy!

No Easter eggs in it just yet...I would find them too tempting!

Have a great Sunday afternoon.

Andrea

Chocolate.. With Love

  It's never a bad idea to say it with chocolates.  Chocolates are most definitely better than flowers, unless they're flower stamps of course!

Over at Splitcoast Stampers they had this fantastic tutorial on this box using clear acetate.  I have a pack of transparency film in the draw that I picked up from Officeworks for things like this - just be sure that your hands are clean with this as finger prints are easily left behind - and it works fine.

The dimensions of my box were perfect because I was left with half a dozen Raffaellos once the box was filled....yum.  I made my box 6cm x 6cm and 18cm tall.

But enough about chocolate!  The stamp set I used today is from Our Craft Lounge called 'So In Love'.  I stamped two long strips using one of the borders, and five hearts - two with the centre words you see - using Palette Noir Black ink, on Smooth White cardstock.  The red cardstock is BBP Smoothies Cherry Splash.

Everything was coloured in with Copics, and the top tied off with red polka dot ribbon.

I hope all is well in your part of this world.  There has been some rain in eastern parts of Victoria, and the smoke has cleared completely today here, all of which I hope means that the fire situation has eased.  The response to the Bush Fire Appeal has been incredible, and it isn't over yet!   

See you tomorrow with the weekend sketches!

Another Box

  When I made the two boxes last week I had in mind that the gift cards would be the 'normal' size, and as it turned out one stores gift card is approx. 19cm x 10cm!  So I set about making another using the same paper and method as in this post, but in a rectangle.

I am having the final 'Freebie Friday' for this year tomorrow, and it will be open to all, near and far!  So pop on over some time over the weekend to see what is up for grabs.

Happy Stamping!

Boxes for Men!

  I was aked to make a couple of boxes for a friend, that would suit men and big enough to put in a gift card and maybe just a few choccies.  This is what I came up with, and I have simply used the same design and size as the ones in this tutorial.

Using DSP from SU! that I had in my collection I set out stamping the outer rims using the borders from the JustRite Stampers Christmas Ensemble.  I then cut them out with the Spellbinders Circles. 

The tree in this image is from the SU! Holiday Spirit set, which is stamped with Palette Burnt Umber and coloured with Copic Sketch Markers.  All the edges of the box bottom and top have been sponged, as well as both stamped images.

This box uses the Christmas Tree set from Kitchen Sink Stamps, and has been stamped using SU! Always Artichoke.

The Dew Drops are from the Rose collection, but looked a little pink for this project so once attached I coloured them with my Copic markers to make them more red.  Don't you just love these markers?

The ribbon holding the box together is newsatin edged organza I now have in stock and will be online very soon.

Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope your Christmas preparations are moving along steadily.

Tutorial Tuesday - Box measurements

  Firstly, I have to give a huge thank you to everyone that left a comment on yesterdays card, you are all so kind with your words, and taking the time to write them.

Today I had been asked to give a bit of a description on how to put a box together, and although I don't make complicated boxes, I think you can dress them up to be very special.

To work out what size I am wanting, I write down the inner base size that I would like - I draw either a little square or rectangle and put beside each side the length.  Then I decide how deep it is going to be and I write that down in each corner.  The box today is square - 12cm x 12cm with 4.5cm sides so I need a 21cm square piece of cardstock scored at 4.5cm in from each side.

I then simply clip in to the score line on two sides.

Add some adhesive and you are done.

To work out the lid I take the centre measurement and add 2.5mm so in this case it will be 12.25cm x 12.25cm so that it easily slips over the top.  I like the sides of the lid to be shorter so that I can see the base for a bit of contrast, but you don't have to.  With this box the sides of the lid are 2.5cm, so I will need a square of 17.25cm and I would score in from each side 2.5cm.

This particular designer paper was very sturdy so it didn't need any additional support, but when I use a lighter weight paper I add double the border so that I can fold it over twice to give the sides strength....hope that makes sense!

I still had some of this paper over which is why I thought I would use it to make a matching box, and I had such fun with the Touch of Nature set, it made the decision easy.

Have a great day!

All Boxed Up....JustRite

  O.k. every one, let's get excited....it's raining!!  Now I can't remember the last time it rained like this, so I have the door and windows open so I can hear it trickle down the pipes and in to the tanks....it's an incredible sound that we give thanks for.

So on to today's little project.  The stamped centre is from the JustRite Baking Stamp Ensemble, and life certainly is sweet.

I have stamped the centre on white cardstock using markers to colour the different parts, and die cut with circle Spellbinders.  Once cut I coloured with a Copic marker keeping the die in place to form the outer white border.

The outer border is stamped on Creative Memories DSP and cut with a scallop from the Spellbinders circles.

I made the box because I wanted to match the lid with the DSP I used in the centre.  I had placed my finished centre piece on different boxes, but I simply wanted it to match.  I have used a very simple basic box pattern, so let me know if you would like to see a tutorial, I would be happy to share.

The gorgeous button is from the new range of buttons from Buttons Galore over at The Little Online Card Shop, so be sure to drop by and take a look at those.

The base of the box is made from SU! Real Red and wrapped with red grosgrain ribbon.

Looking forward to tomorrows sketch challenges, and maybe even a wet weekend!

Thanks for stopping by today and saying Hi!

Kraft Box - WSC64

 Happy Monday!  My son Nathan has randomly drawn a name from a very large bag - he could barely reach the bottom! - and has pulled out Chris L - congratulations!  I shall get those goodies to you. 

Rather than doing a card for this challenge, I decided to decorate one of the kraft boxes with my new JustRite Baking Stamp Ensemble.  Do you think it gives away what might be inside!?!  From the new sets that are available, this was one I new I had to have.  I love to bake and give handmade goodies at Christmas, it's the simple things.

These kraft boxes come together very quickly, and are great to stamp directly on as well, before assembling.   I stamped the outer border is in Moulin Rouge and cut using my Spellbinders,  and the centre is stamped in Burnt Umber, both Palette Hybrid inks.

Thanks for stopping by today, and I wish all you punters great success in tomorrows Melbourne Cup.

Christmas Tree Box

  We have had a very busy weekend, and I am still to start the second challenge, so I thought I would show you another Triangle Christmas Box.

This time I have made it a little smaller and used the dimensions 21cm x 10.5cm, and I really like this size.  The Christmas Tree is from the Papertrey Ink set Believe, which I have stamped in Noir Black by Palette and coloured with my Copic markers.  I have secured the top with red grosgrain, and wrapped white Satin China Cord around the centre and held it in place with some tape hidden under the tree.

Now a cup of coffee before I start cooking tea, and I hope to fit in some play time after that!!