Wishing you....

It's a gorgeous day here in Wellington, lots of sun and blue sky, so I'm running out the door on my way to a picnic, but I thought I'd quickly leave you some clean and simple eye candy...

Love this stamp from A Happy Heart! I've inked it with Basic Gray and Real Red Markers. The paper is Basic Grey Ambrosia and the ribbon is SU Basic Gray Taffeta.

Wishing you a wonderful day!


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Inspired by Challenges....

I have a busy day coming up, so thought I'd blog nice and early. This is a card I whipped up last night - it was fun to do some straight stamping - no colouring this time. I'm enjoying my silhouette stamps at the moment.

Before I move on - Happy Birthday Michelle! (I'm not sure you'll see this as you're busy with the move, but if you do, love ya) I can't wait to show you what I've done for my little sister - it won't be until March though after I've hand delivered her present.

I love challenges - it's great to have a colour combo, sketch or inspiration piece to jump off from. This card uses two challenges, SCS Sketch 269 and Color Throwdown 81. My specific colours are Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette and Old Olive.

I've used the Inspired by Nature flower stamp - I inked it with Pink Pirouette first, sponged on some Pretty in Pink, sponged on Chocolate Chip then finished with an Old Olive marker. You can get great effects combining inking techniques like this!

I think this sentiment from Occasional Greetings might be my fav ever. It's so fun to ink it up with markers and get this beautiful result.

To embellish I've used some discount store ribbon, Old Olive and Chocolate Chip designer paper, the Polka Dot background stamp and some grommets/jumbo brads. This is my newest embellisment addiction! I wanted to further decorate something I'd used grommets on last week and found that jumbo brads sit beautifully in the middle! I think I've made three cards doing this already - I'll have to share the others soon.

Here's the inside. I love all the sentiments in On Your Birthday. It's one of those large sentiment sets you can use again and again forever.

Have a wonderful day!


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Triangle Heart Box

Stampin' Up! have released more details about the Haiti relief effort...

"Until 28 February, 2010, Stampin′ Up! is setting aside $2 from the sale of select stamp sets to be donated to the Red Cross’ Haiti Relief and Development Fund. So far, demonstrators around the world have sold 11,895 sets, which equates to over $20,000 to be donated to this fund"

What a great response! You still have time to order the I {Heart} Hearts stamp set, or the February Beautiful Bundle to help add your contribution to this campaign.

In light of the update, I thought it was time to share another project with this set!

These Triangle boxes look complicated, but follow this tutorial and they are really simple. I added a window to mine using the Circle Scissors Plus. The window is covered with acetate so the kisses don't fall out! The papers on my box are from the Bella Bleu pack.

I've used a Valentin-ey sentiment, but change it to "thanks" or "for you" and you have a great general gift...or perhaps wedding favor?



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Embrace Life

It's Mojo Monday time again! For this week's sketch, I used an old Carousel Note as my card base, and one of my favourite stamp set and paper combos - Embrace Life and Ginger Blossom. It's been awhile since I used this stamp set, I'd forgotten how nice it is!

I had some extra time (while I played a poker tournament at Full Tilt! I love online poker) so I cut out more flowers while I played and made a matching envelope.

Here's the card. This is just the card front, there is a square card base glued underneath. I used a bunch of the Ginger Blossom paper as well as Ruby Red & Groovy Guava card. The circle layers were cut with the Circle Scissors plus - I love this tool! The glitter is copper stickles.

Here's the inside. I've used ink pads and a blender pen to quickly colour the images for a bit of pop.

The envelope features a Very Vanilla label and a couple of the same cut-out flowers from the card. Simple, but oh so pretty!

Happy Stampin'


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Giftcard Holder

Happy Monday everyone! I have a few projects made over the weekend and today that I'll be sharing as soon as I get the photos taken, but in the meantime, here's a little giftcard holder I made last week.

The colour combo is Lavender Lace, Summer Sun and Regal Rose. I've used stamps from the SAB set Happy Moments. The sentiment is from It's Your Birthday. I coloured the image with markers on watercolour paper. The background "happy birthday" was stamped with Versamark.

Here's a rushed shot of the inside - I put my Spotlight card there just so you can see what it looks like when filled, but I obviously didn't check to see if it was straight first! I use the Slit punch primarily to make large scallops, but it's nice to use it the way it was intended every now and then!

Have a great week!


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Anniversary Heart

Hi everyone. I've just been doing some clean and simple stamping, and remembered this card I made last week and needed to share with you. I told you I {Heart} Hearts was great for things other than Valentines! I've used it here for an elegant Anniversary Card.

The colour combo here is Purely Pomegranate, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White. The heart image was stamped twice, once on the square layer and once on a scrap for cutting out. After stamping the solid image, I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the dotted heart, which is sized as a perfect border.

Both the square layer and heart are popped up on dimensionals. I've used the Eyelet Border punch for the focal border. The sentiment is from Cheer and Wishes - I love this simple font. I added the dots underneath with a Chocolate Chip marker and the piercing template from the mat pack.

Right, time to go pop some popcorn and watch a DVD!

Have a great weekend,


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You're a Blast!

Yesterday when I had some inkpads out to colour an image, I saw these three colours together - Real Red, Tempting Turqoise and Apricot Appeal. Love them!! I put aside what I was doing and got to work on this card. I pulled out lots of new goodies - and love the result.

Pun Fun (I'm sure I've said this before - deja vu) is one of my favourite sets ever. The images are SO cute. This is my first time using the adorable rocket, and it was lots of fun to colour with inkpads and glitter. I made the background paper using an embossed image and my brayer. The sketch is Mojo 126.

I used lots of punches on this one - Scalloped Circle, Word Window, and the Slit punch for the large scallops. I love these new Playground buttons, they're a great finishing touch for any card, as is the Real Red Polka dot ribbon.

I've repeated the colours and shapes from the card on this inside - but no sentiment yet as I'm not sure what I'll use this for. I've used my white gel pen for a bit of faux stitching here too.

Whatever you're doing, have a blast today!


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February Calendar

I thought today I better share with you my simple hanging calendar for February, before anymore of the month ticks away! In my last SU! order I grabbed the sets to make my own calenders, knowing I'll get a lot of use out of them personally and when making gifts.

I wanted a simple reference I could hang on my stamping desk and I'm really pleased with how well it works for me.

Cute right? It's just the right size for a small wall calender or desk calender. I stamped the grid on Candy Lane paper and layered it on Riding Hood Red. After stamping the month and dates in Riding Hood Red, I decorated it simply with stamps from this month's Beautiful Bundle - I {Heart} Hearts, making sure to denote Valentine's Day of course!

I added hanging ribbon tabs with the Pink Pirouette grosgrain ribbon from the Summer Mini and silver brads from the Hodgepodge Hardware kit.

To create the hanger, I sponged a bamboo skewer with Riding Hood Red, blunted the sharp end, attached a mini glue dot to each end and added a wide hole silver bead from my jewellery making stash. Because I don't usually plan my projects from start to finish before I begin, I love it when I can find the perfect embellishment solution lurking somewhere in my craft room!

The clip is from the Clips Assortment pack, and I've just stuck it to the door with a pop-up glue dot. I'll probably use this same configuration every month - recycling the hardware each time.

Have a great afternoon,


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Simple Spring Thanks

Here's a quick wee note card I whipped up this afternoon with the A Flower For All Seasons set. I love using smaller images on mini cards like this, and the stamps in this set are adorable.

Very simple card - I coloured the image with markers and a waterbrush. The windows in the Bashful Blue and Pretty in Pink layers were cut with square punches. The sentiment, stamped in Bashful Blue is from the Happy Moments SAB set. I've also got another card I made today with that set (so much fun for colouring!) that I'll share soon.

Happy Stampin'


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Some Yummy Valentine Treats!

Hi everyone! I hope you had a relaxing weekend. The weather was pretty wild here in Wellington, a lot of wind and rain, so I was able to get a lot of crafting done! I'll have lots to show you over the coming weeks.

Tonight I thought I'd share my other Valentine's crafting project....

Cupcakes! I've been making and decorating cupcakes for years now, I have a shelf in my craft room dedicated to all my supplies. This Valentines though, I decided to pair my love of cupcake decorating with my love of papercrafting for a special surprise treat for Shanan!

Here they are...chocolate cupcakes with a soft chocolate buttercream icing. What's Valentine's Day without a little chocolate? Yup, they taste as good as they look!

I've used the I {Heart} Hearts stamp set from the February Beautiful Bundle! This is the first of many projects I have to show with this bundle - trust me, you are going to want this set! I love it, and I promise, it's not just for Valentine's Day.

For the toppers, I've used the Scallop Circle Punch, Word Window Punch, Candy Lane Paper, Riding Hood Red Card and Ink, White Gel Pen, Pretty in Pink ribbon and Dimensionals. The sentiment is from the So Many Sayings stamp set (retired - but I do have a brand new one I should get around to finding a new home for!)

The best thing is I was able to take the decorated part of the topper to use on some cute cards. In fact, I have four - so the first four people to purchase the I {Heart} Hearts bundle will receive a pretty card from me, in addition to all the great things in the bundle!

Have a wonderful evening,


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Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you're having a wonderful day with your significant other, or if you're single, I think today is the day to treat yourself to something special!

Instead of cards this year, Shanan and I (ok, well, it was my idea - but he played along!) decided to alter a couple of those cute clear paint cans - and fill them with our favourite chocolates. That means.....yup....he had to play with my craft supplies! So for the first time ever, we're having a guest designer here at thINKingstamps!

This is the tin I decorated for him. Tell me that monkey isn't just the cutest thing ever?! The stamps on my tin are from Gina K's Just So Hippy set. The papers are SU's Candy Lane.

One of my favourite things at the moment is the new 1 3/4" circle punch. I LOVE that it fits our large aluminum tag perfectly. I'm also oh so in love with the wide Pink Pirouette ribbon, omgosh does it tie beautifully.

I used the Circle Scissors Plus to cut the circles for the lid. I LOVE this tool (I know I'm saying love a lot...but it's the day for it after all). I have other circle cutting systems, but it's so quick and easy to get a circle any size you want.

I coloured my flirty ape with ink pads and watercolour paper. The ape and balloon are stuck on with dimensionals, and if you click the photo for the extra large view you'll see I pierced a couple of holes to poke the linen thread through, so she could hold the balloon.

The sentiment was stamped with my Stamp-a-ma-jig (it's a long sentiment, stamped in two parts to change the layout) and cut out with the large oval punch then matted on a Riding Hood Red scalloped oval.

So....onto Shanan's tin....

Isn't it cute?!? I gave him free reign of my craft room - which was understandably a little overwhelming! (if you've ever seen it, you'll know why) I think he's done great. Sticking to Stampin' Up! products he couldn't go wrong, it makes coordinating your project a breeze.

He's used Bella Rose paper, Riding Hood Red ribbon, a Playground Button and one of my favourite sets, Riveting. He also used the Circle Scissors plus for the lid circle.

Perhaps my favourite part of the tin he decorated is the bow. He didn't want to tie it - so went the ingenious kiwi male route and used Snail adhesive to stick it all together. I LOVE that he put the button on the bow - when he told me he thought "it's weird to put a button on a bow" I had to explain just how on point trend wise he is!

That's it from me today, I have a traditional English beef roast to prepare for our special Valentine's dinner. Tomorrow I'll share my other Valentine's project, it's such a great occasion for crafting! I also have a BUNCH of projects I've made this past week to share along with the relaunch of Beautiful Bundles!

Have a wonderful day,


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Simple Sympathy

Sympathy cards are never fun to make, but they are a necessity unfortunately - and a handmade, from the heart card can bring more comfort than we often realise. I don't have any pre-made sympathy cards in my stash because you always hope to not need them, but also because it's nice to focus on the recipient as you work.

This card has to travel a long way, so I went nice and simple. I started with Jen's sketch and didn't mat layers where I normally would to achieve a clean look.

The stamps from Comfort and Peace by Gina K. were all stamped and embossed with clear embossing powder. I've used Certainly Celery and Cool Caribbean ink. The paper is from Basic Grey, the ribbon was a gift. I've punched out the circles using the 1 3/4" Circle Punch.



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Butterfly Overload!

Yup, I'm on a butterfly kick at the moment. Every second project seems to feature them! But I'm a sucker for punches, and this one is too cute! This is a colour combo that popped into my sleepy head one night, and I had no idea how it would look till I pulled out the cardstock. I really like it! The colours are Bashful Blue, Summer Sun, Tangerine Tango and Regal Rose.

I've used the SCS sketch for this week. I flipped it - and may have cheated just a teeny bit with that designer paper on my base layer, but I just had to have it!

The Butterflies are from the Butterfly Prints set, and I've used the matching punch. I stamped and glittered the bodies before cutting them out and adhering with Tombow adhesive. The Tangerine Tango layer was stamped with the Polka Dot background, the Bashful Blue layer went through a houndstooth embossing folder to match the butterflies. All the layers were sponged with the corresponding inks.

The sentiment is from the So Many Sayings hostess set (retired). I punched it out with the Word Window punch - still one of my favs! The ribbon was attached to a clip from the Clips Assortment embellishment pack. The designer paper is from the Good Morning Sunshine pack.

I've added another butterfly on the inside of the card, as well as a sentiment from the Whimsical Words SAB set, punched out with the Wide Oval punch.

I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend - I need to get some Valentine projects finished started, and with the weather we have in Wellington right now, staying in and stamping/creating sounds perfect!

Happy Stampin'


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