My first attempt at scrapbooking

In January we went to Japan on a ski holiday.  On our way to the northern island of Hokaido we stopped over in Tokyo for a few nights. 

I decided to try my hand at some scrapbooking and I thought some of my photos along with my "Kimino Kids" stamps would work well together.

I have also used some beautiful Japanese rice paper, not Stampin' Up I know, but bought in Tokyo so it only seemed right to use it.

We are hoping the situation in Japan improves over time so that we can visit again to ski and enjoy the culture and food of that country.

Now that I have started scrapbooking I keep thinking of more photos to use to create more pages.  It looks like I have created another monster for myself.

 

Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue

I have recently received some goodies that are now available in the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue. 

Today was my first opportunity to play with one of the stamps.  It is called "Motorcycle" and I have discovered it stamps beautifully.  It comes as an individual stamp and costs $13.95.

Sometimes it is difficult to come up with ideas for more masculine cards but this works perfectly.  For these cards I have stamped and then embossed the image before using Designer Series paper as a part of the layout.

If you are interested in having a look through the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue I have included a link on the right hand side of this blog or, if you prefer, please give me a call and I will get a copy to you

 

A Trip to Paris

One of my Stamp Club girls is travelling to Paris over Easter.  I made her this card to wish her luck on her trip. 

Of course, none of the group were at all jealous when she was telling us about her holiday.  Well not much anyway.

A new Driver in the Family

My nephew Matt has just turned 17, the age of the driving license!!!!  He passed his test first go and is extremely excited to be allowed out on his own - a worrying time for his mother (my sister Denise).

I have sent him this card with a congratulatory message inside.  The stamp is not from Stampin' Up but is so appropriate for the occasion that I just had to use it.  All other products are from the Stampin' Up range including the Alphabet dies which I am having lots of fun using.

Enjoy the driving Matt and keep safe.

A Simple Card Wallet

This week I received another Stampin' Up box full of goodies.  Among them was the stamp set called "Simply Said".  Normally I am not into lots of hearts and flowers but I was looking at this set with one of my Stamp Club girls and thought it had lots of potential.

I have also been wanting to make this card wallet which I have cased from Marelle Taylor.  It is very easy - made out of a sheet of A4 card stock with 4 score lines.  It comfortably holds four cards with matching envelopes.

So the final result is a set of four cards using only stamps from the "Simply Said" set with a matching card wallet.  Colour scheme - Baja Breaze & Night of Navy.

I will be offering a Project Class later in the year (probably June) to make this set.  Once I have set a date I will let you know.

A "Moving" Card for my niece

My niece Melissa has just taken up her first teaching position at Charters Towers in Queensland.  This meant a move away from her family home on the Gold Coast 1400 kms north.  When she was packing to go my brother made the comment that he didn't know that so many boxes could come out of one small bedroom.

This made me start thinking about using the truck from "Loads of Love" for a card and adding a number of trailers all full of gear.  I turned this concept into the waterfall card below and am sending her all our best wishes with this card and hope she enjoys the start of what I know will be a great career in teaching.

Design Challenge

During the week my sister posted a design challenge on her card making blog.  It was from Inkspirations and the design plan looked like this.


I decided to have a go at this design concept and made the card below.  I used a stamp from the Eastern Blooms set and enjoyed the challenge of playing with a new design idea.

Technique Class - Background Stamps

On Saturday 30 April I will be holding a Technique Class looking at ways of using background stamps.  Each person will go home with 3 different cards made using various techniques but all with background stamps.  We will be using the medium sized Fine Flourish stamp and the large background stamps, En Francais and Medallion.  Cost of this class will be $10.00.  Examples of the cards we will be making are shown here.  If you are interested in joining in this session please contact me by email  or phone.

May Stamp-A-Stack -- Using a patchwork theme

The May Stamp-A-Stack (SAS) will be held on Saturday 21 May from 2.00pm - 5.00pm.  We will be making 8 cards using a patchwork theme.  I have Cased the idea for these cards from Marelle Taylor and found that although they are easy to make, the final product is extremely effective.  I have used the Vintage Vogue stamp set and Designer Series paper to create the patchwork effect.  We will be making the 4 different cards shown here and everyone will go home with 2 cards of each design.  The cost for this SAS is $20.00.  Please contact me if you are interested in joining this class. 

Stamp-A-Stack -- KISS (Keep It Simple Silly) cards

My next Stamp-A-Stack (SAS) class will be held on Saturday 16 April from 2.00pm - 5.00pm.  We will be making 8 cards based on the two designs shown here.  Each card is simple but elegant.  The aim of this SAS is to show how you can make great cards in a short time and with a limited amount of gear.  Please come along and join this session and take home 8 useful cards to add to your collection.  Cost of the SAS is $20.00.