A Very Vanilla card For the Newlyweds

 Hi My Stamping Friends!

We had the privilege of being present at the wedding of my husband's cousin yesterday. It was rather special, as it was in Melbourne, and now that we live here, we were able to attend!

It was an elegant wedding and I based the card on elements of the wedding invitation. It was a simple ivory invitation with beautiful calligraphy in black. So I decided to start with Very vanilla and only use this one colour with a touch of silver and black.

 

I have been enjoying embossing the flap of the Stampin' up! envelopes which are available in Whisper white and Very vanilla. Naturally for this occasion, I chose Very vanilla to match the card. I have used the Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions Embossing folder on the card and envelope. The butterflies were cut out using the Big shot and Beautiful Wings Embosslit. The embosslits cut out the shapes as well as embossing them.  The Leaves are cut using the big shot and the Little leaves sizzlit die. The sizzlit dies just cut out the shapes. I also used the Itty bitty banners framelits to cut out the "For the Newlyweds" sentiment which comes from the Teeny tiny sentiments stamp set.

The little tags were made with the Tiny tags stamp set and punch.

 The card is finished off with some beautiful Very vanilla Seam binding ribbon and a rhinestone brad.
Thanks for looking!
I've been organising my stamping desk and have some pictures to share with you over the next few days so stay tuned!
Happy Stamping!!
Love, Claire

Happy New Year!

 Happy New Year my Stamping Friends! 

I hope you had a festive New years eve celebration with your loved ones. 'Twas a quiet one for us with our three little people but I was thankful to have hubby by my side when the clock struck midnight!

This is a little New years card that I thought I would make as I have been terribly disorganised with Christmas cards this year. I figure that a new years card could be received all January long so that is what I am going for here!

I've used the Betsy's blossoms stamp set and that gorgeous and bright Floral district DSP.  The colours used here are Rich razzleberry, Baja breeze and Daffodil delight. An interesting combo but it's light and bright and a perfect way to start the year I think!

The words come from the Teeny tiny sentiments stamp set that has a greeting for almost every occasion and I have cut the words out using the Bitty banners framelits.

 

Stampin' Up! is running a sale at the moment too! Lots of amazing savings on retired items from last year's catalogue. Click here to view the lists of what is available when. The current specials finish on January 3rd, so if you would like anything please email me and let me know what you'd like and how I can contact you to confirm your order details. There are further specials available from January 4th-10th and then from January 11th- 21st and you can view all of them via the link above.

 

Happy Stamping and Happy New year!!

Love, Claire

My sister, the newlywed

Hi my friends!

So much to share with you all! I have had an amazing week away with my two little sisters in Thailand as Laura (my middle sister) tied the knot with her man, Joel! My youngest sister, Olivia and I were bridesmaids with three of Laura's close friends.

My favourite photo from the trip. (L-R Olivia, Laura and me!)

Of course, I had to make the lovely couple a card and with the wedding colours being a lovely grey and yellow combo I could not resist following this theme in my card.
I used the cute little stamp set, You are loved, and heat embossed it using Clear embossing powder and versamark with Daffodil delight ink. This made the heart image pop and look a bit more special. The best way to do this with our inks is to ink up your stamp in versamark, then on top of that ink up with the colour of choice (here, daffodil delight). Then once you have stamped your image, sprinkle on the clear embossing powder and heat set. Simple! :)
The greeting is from my favourite greetings set, Teeny tiny Sentiments. For a little bit of extra texture and bling I have used the hearts embossing folders from the new Adorning accents embossing folders set (In the current mini catalogue) and some stick on rhinestones.
The colours are Basic grey and Daffodil delight on Whisper white.

Then, as a gift for the lovely couple I saw this idea on another blog and thought it was perfect as they were having a destination wedding! I thought it might be a nice little picture to hang up in their home somewhere. I decided to stick with the wedding colours again as I decorated it. They ended up putting the picture up on their guest book table at the wedding which was totally unexpected but I was blessed to see that they liked it :)

 

Close up, the maps are printed from Google maps and cut out freehand.

The guest book table at the wedding. Laura had a gorgeous photo book printed up in black and white which all the guests signed in silver pen! A lovely idea as a momento from their day.

Thanks for looking everyone! I hope this has brightened your day... and maybe given you an idea for a wedding or anniversary gift, or even a gift for your other half perhaps?
Happy stamping!
Love,
Claire  

CASEing Teneale Williams - Tree Trimmings Christmas Card

I really do admire Teneale Williams style! I found this card on her blog, here. It was such a lovely bright Christmas card that I just had to do my take on it... which wasn't a lot different really! I have subsituted all of the colours though. Teneale used Old olive, Baja breeze and Real red whilst I chose to use some of our current in colours - Lucky limeade, Pool party and Poppy Parade. My sentiment is also different as I used the current Teeny tiny sentiments stamp set on my card.

 

Hope you enjoy and go have a little look at Teneale's beautiful creations.

Happy Stamping!

Love, Claire

Upsy Daisy thank you card

Hi my stamping friends!!

I have a simple little card to show you today using one of my favourite techniques which is using your markers directly onto the stamp. It works beautifully with this big Upsy Daisy stamp.
The background on the So saffron and Peach parfait was achieved using the ink pad pressed lightly onto the cardstock.



If you have any questions, just ask! Thanks for stopping by and Happy Stamping!
Love Claire

Something quick and fun!

These cards were so quick to make!
The key is to choose some designer series paper and use that as your colour base and then add a matching stamped image. I have come up with two very different cards here with the same layout and concept here.
The first is a friendship card which I gave to my bestie here in Cairns.





This second version is a male birthday card - the look here was a bit more rough and manly with the map DSP a bit roughed up to look like a well used road map!

And yes, you're all going to go nuts at me because neither of these papers are available any more for purchase! eek! But my challenge here is this, go dig out some of your favourite dsp and a matching stamp set and inks. Then go get crafty ~ I'd love to see your results! Leave me a link in your comments if you give this a go!

Happy Stamping!
Love, Claire

Just believe in Monochrome for Just add ink!

This week at Just add ink the challenge is to just add Monochrome. My friend and upline, Paula has lent me this delicious stamp set, Just believe and I thought it would look great in a monochromatic colour scheme. I have made two cards, but the first one pictured is my entry for this weeks challenge.

This first card has a Baja breeze base with Not quite navy and whisper white card stock on top. The ribbon is Marina mist in grosgrain and the ink is Night of navy - I managed to use lots of different blues here but I think it all works. Baja breeze and Marina mist are such soothing colours to me, I just love them.

The main stamp has a faux silk effect on it using scrunched up tissue paper. It gives a really nice effect, making it look a bit more special.

This second card is very similar, here the card base is Marina mist with Not quite navy and whisper white cardstock and the ink is Night of Navy. I have just used the eyelet border punch down the side. Again, there is the faux silk effect on the main stamp. For the sentiment here i have used the Teeny tiny sentiments stamp set and the markers with the stamp-a-majig to position it all in the right place!

I thought I'd photograph my cards in front of our very lush garden! It is so wet up here at the moment (I am not complaining though, we are not flooded) but the ground is so soft and muddy and everything especially the weeds are growing like crazy and so green!

Thinking of all those who are in flood affected areas, now extending further down south :( God bless you all.

Love, Claire

Happy Birthday....

To me!

Yep, 28 years old today. And sitting at home with a sick hubby and three challenging little people! But, I have settled bubby Samuel (now 9 weeks old) and have the older two playing happily out in the garden so I thought I would visit with all my blog friends and share a little card - a birthday card!

This card was made for my lovely friend who celebrated her birthday at the end of December. I know she likes the Stampin' up! Love leter DSP so I made this card with similar colours. I used cherry cobbler, basic black and very vanilla cardstock. The ribbon is the gorgeous 5/8" black satin ribbon. I have embossed the Cherry cobbler CS with the Manhattan Flower textured impressions and the little butterfly from the Great friend stamp set has been embossed for a glossy finish. The sentiment comes from the set, Teeny tiny sentiments - such a useful set!

I hope you all have a happy day. My plan, to enjoy the day as it comes, doing what I love, being a mum. I hope this card inspires you to create something fun today!

Happy Stamping!

Love, Claire

Some Birthday Cheer

Hello Girls!

Well, for those of you in blogland who have not yet heard, our dear baby boy Samuel arrived on Sunday November 7th @ 1.45am! So he is just over 1 week old and so lovely! He is going so well, feeding and sleeping wonderfully.

I thought I would pop by today to share a couple of Birthday cards with you. The first one was for a little girl at Ethan's school. It uses the stamp sets For Everything and Perfect punches. The colours are Pear pizzazz, Blushing bride, Marina mist and So saffron.

This next little card was made for a good friends little boy who turned 3 a couple of weeks ago. I love all the blues that we have in the Stampin Up! Colour collections now but my favourite would have to be Marina Mist. This card uses the stamp sets Teeny tiny sentiments and Fox and friends. The colours are Bashful blue, Marina mist and Tempting turquoise.

I have had my gorgeous sister Laura here for the last week and she has been a wonderful help to me as well as a great companion. Tomorrow we have to finish making 100 Christmas cards for her to send to her customers and friends! Wow! We'll be busy that's for sure. I will take some photos to share with you all next time.

Happy Stamping!

Love, Claire

Christmas Inkspirations!

Hello girls!!

Well I am just going all festive at the moment! I think with our baby due in November I am determined to be on top of things this Christmas so I have actually begun on making some Christmas cards. When I saw Makeesha's Inkspirations sketch challenge this week I thought of this Christmas wreath straight away. It is from the new stamp set, Welcome Christmas which I am loving playing with as it also has some beautiful little silhouette stamps of children toboganning and a family decorating the Christmas tree.

This really is quite a simple card - I am desperately missing having background stamps at the moment, I really need to get some new ones... and I also need to get some of the beautiful big shot embossing folders so that I can be back on board with decorating the backs of my cards! But to add a little interest I first stamped the wreath in Pear Pizzazz (One of the SU delicious new In colours) and used the Poppy Parade (another new In colour) Marker to highlight the berries. You may also notice if you look closely a few tiny little pearl berries. These are the new Basic Pearls - they are adhesive and just gorgeous :). The Merry Christmas comes from Teeny Tiny Sentiments. The ribbons are Real red Satin and Old olive taffeta.

Hope this has been a little bit of inspiration for you! Happy Stamping!

Love, Claire

Sunny Fox and friends - Just add ink 27

It is time again for a little challenge over at Just add ink. This week is a sketch challenge. Click here to check out the current challenge and why not give it a go yourself?

I just love these little animals from Fox and Friends, a new stamp set in our Autumn/Winter mini catalogue. They each have such different personalities which makes for a very versatile set or you can use a few together like I have today.

This is my first version of the card using a Tempting Turquoise background. I have used DSP from the Sunny Days Simply Scrappin' kit (also in the current mini catalogue) and have used the colours from this pack in my choice of ink and cardstock (Tempting turquoise, Pink passion, Old olive and Pumpkin pie).

My second version is oh so close but uses a Pink passion background for a more girly version. The sentiments are stamped from the set called Teeny tiny sentiments. I love a simple card!

Happy Stamping!

Love, Claire

Just Add Embossing!

Hello Girls!

Today I have a couple of cards to share with you. Both are inspired by the challenge over at Just Add Ink which is to Just add embossing. The first card uses two of my favourite colours, Not quite navy and Baja breeze. I was in awe of Danielle Daws take on this beautiful technique using clear embossing and brayering so I had to give it a go myself.

Project 1 supplies:

CS: Not quite navy, Baja breeze, Whisper white, Walk in the park DSP. Ink: Versamark, Not quite navy. Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Teeny tiny sentiments. Accessories: Baja breeze striped grosgrain riboon, scallop oval punch, brayer, heat tool, clear embossing powder.

My second project is a bit of a challenge to myself but I have included embossing on it. I used colours that don't normally appeal to me and also my Organic Grace stamp set which I have not used a lot. I am quite happy with the final outcome even though it's quite different for me. This project uses all retiring colours.

Project 2 supplies:

CS: Really rust, Handsome hunter, Mellow moss, Apricot appeal. Ink: Versamark, Apricot Appeal, Handsome hunter, Mellow moss. Stamps: Weathered (background stamp), Best yet (hostess set), Organic Grace (hostess set). Accessories: Hemp twine, stampin' dimensionals, heat tool, clear embossing powder.

Please remember that at the end of August many colours will be retiring with Stampin' Up. Please check with me to see which colours are leaving us and what you need to stock up on!

Happy Stamping!

Love, Claire