Christmas in July

 Hi everyone, can you believe tomorrow we're into August? More than halfway through 2010 already! I have to tell ya, I'm already looking forward to Christmas & the New Year and a visit from my family. So this week's OCC challenge was perfect - create a Christmas card or project.

  I love these little cats - but despite them sitting in my MFT drawer for years, they hadn't been inky till now! Good things are worth the wait though. The image was coloured with inkpads on watercolour paper with white gel pen and Stickles accents.

I'm keeping this short and sweet, it's movie night tonight, can't wait! So head on over to see what the awesome OCC gals have in store - have a great weekend!



Paper & Card: Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss
Ink: Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette, Summer Sun
Punches: Square punch
Other: Riding Hood Red Ribbon, Kiwi Kiss Button, Linen Thread

Stamps: Peppermint Cats - MFT
Other: Stickles, Embossing Folder

Shimmery Watercolour

Happy Thursday everyone! Today I have my card for OCC Sketch #26 to share with you.

I used the colours from Color Throwdown #103 - Riding Hood Red (my fav red at the moment) Certainly Celery and River Rock. I'm SO glad River Rock is one of our new Colour Collection colours, it's such a pretty neutral.

I wanted to create a pretty panel for the main part of the card, so sprayed my image with Glimmermist to make the colours run and add some sparkle. I LOVE this effect! It came out lovely and soft, almost like stamping on tissue paper. Isn't the colour combo beautiful? I'll definitely have to use this one again for a Christmas card.

Head on over to see what the wonderful design team have come up with to inspire you this week!




Stamps: Best Yet, Inspired by Nature
Paper & Card: Riding Hood Red, River Rock, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Ink: Riding Hood Red, River Rock, Certainly Celery
Punches: Circle, Scalloped Circle & Photo Corner punches
Other: Certainly Celery Ribbon, Hemp Twine, Ruby Red Button & Brads, Paper Crimper

Other: Pearl Glimmermist

OCC - Colour Challenge

This week Jennifer has given us a summery colour challenge - the colours of a watermelon! Use Red, Green, White and Black on your card or papercrafting project.

I wanted to make a Clean & Simple thank you card - and those cute Tart & Tangy strawberries were perfect. Strawberries are my favourite fruit, never yummier than right from my Nana's garden!

Head on over and check out the amazing design team creations at the OCC blog!

Stamps: Tart & Tangy, Wonderful Words
Paper & Card: Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Real Red, Basic Black, Garden Green
Punches: Large Corner Rounder, Circle Punches
Other: Stamp-a-ma-jig

In Colour Love

Hi everyone - time for a new OCC Sketch! This week you can make a fun round card, or add your circle to the front of a square card like some members of the design team have.

One of the things I'm most excited about craft wise is the launch of the new colour collections in NZ in September. I can't wait to get my hands on some new ink!

In the meantime, I'm trying to embrace colours that we've had previously and are returning, like Wild Wasabi. I didn't use this colour that much when it was current, but today I think I came up with a combo I love it in, Wild Wasabi, Melon Mambo & Rich Razzleberry.

I knew what I wanted to do with this sketch as soon as I saw it - and yup, there's Vintage Vogue again. I'm getting more use out of this set than I thought I would, and I'm LOVING the clear mount option for stamping like this - no positioner needed! The Wasabi has more pop in real life - it's one of those colours I can never get to photograph spot on.

Inside I've repeated the stamped frame, this is a smaller card, so I've left the rest open to write my message.

I hope you'll play along with the OCC Sketch design team this week, pop on over to see their wonderful creations!

Stamps: Vintage Vogue, Butterfly Prints
Paper & Card: Wild Wasabi, Whisper White
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry
Other: Melon Mambo Ribbon, Dimensionals

Other: Rhinestones, Nestabilities

Rolled Flower Pomander

Hi everyone, hope you had a great weekend! The Project Tuesday challenge this week is a fun one - we're making rolled paper flowers, these are everywhere in the papercraft industry right now. In case you've never made one, pop on over and see Lolly's video tutorial, she's one of my top three favourite craft bloggers!

I decided to make a Pomander (or kissing ball) to hang above the doorway in my studio (hubby often pops his head in as he passes by, now I have an excuse to give him a smooch!) I have to say.....after rolling enough flowers to cover the 5" ball, I won't be rolling anymore anytime soon!

I wish you could see this in person, it's so sparkly and pretty in real life. I used paper from the Cottage Garden pack, and there are 100+ flowers on this baby! Each one is sprayed with Olive or Juneberry Wine Glimmermist, and the butterflies were sprayed with Pearl.

Here's a close up of one of the flowers so you can see the sparkle. I randomly placed pearl centers in some of the flowers, which is a good tip if you have any with quite open centers. 

Head on over to Project Tuesday, the design team have some gorgeous creations for you this week!




Paper & Card: Whisper White, Cottage Garden DP
Other: Rich Razzleberry Ribbon

Other: Gimmermist in Pearl, Juneberry Wine & Olive. Glue Gun, Adhesive Pearls, 5" Styrofoam Ball, Cuttlebug Butterfly Die

Springy Sketch

Hi everyone - it's time for a fun OCC sketch. I flipped this week's sketch, putting the smaller panel at the bottom of my card.

I wanted a soft colour combo with a little pop, so I've used Certainly Celery, Basic Gray, Pretty in Pink, Groovy Guava, Very Vanilla and a hint of Sage Shadow.

I've used a couple of stamp sets - Whimsical Words and Vintage Vogue - love those flowers! I've used the Rock and Roll technique, inking the flowers first in pink, then lightly rolling the edges in guava before stamping. The background was created by repeatedly stamping the flourish from Vintage Vogue then using the Colour Spritzer tool with a Sage Shadow marker to add some speckles of colour before sponging the edges.

I've repeated the flower on the inside of the card, as well as the spritzing after masking the area with paper.

Head on over to the OCC Sketch Blog and see what my awesome stamping buddies have created with this sketch!


Stamps: Vintage Vogue, Whimsical Words
Paper & Card: Certainly Celery, Basic Gray, & Very Vanilla Card
Ink: Certainly Celery, Basic Gray, Pretty in Pink, Groovy Guava & Sage Shadow
Punches: Large Corner Rounder
Other: Colour Spritzer Tool, Guava Ribbon, Celery Ribbon, Cutter Kit

Other: Dew Drops, Oval Nestabilities

Explosion Box

Today I thought I'd share an Explosion Box I made for Project Tuesday last month but unfortunately didn't get photographed before I got the flu. There was lots of stamping in this one - no designer paper at all and it's a Stampin' Up! only project.

First, here's the stamped background card I came up with...

I've used the Medallion stamp & Itty Bitty Backgrounds as well as some sponging. The colour combo for this project was Riding Hood Red, Soft Suede and Baja Breeze.

Here's my box all folded up and decorated. I love the way these colours look together.

These wee boxes are great, they're like packaging and a card all in one. I'll definitely be replicating that background again in different colours, sometimes it's fun to focus on the special effects you can achieve using just ink.



Stamps: Medallion, Wanted, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Paper & Card: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze
Ink: Soft Suede, Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze
Punches: Scalloped Oval Punch, Large Oval, Eyelet Border
Other: Soft Suede Ribbon, Sponge Daubers

Project Tuesday: Easel Card

Hi everyone - it's time for a fun Project Tuesday challenge - this week we're making Easel Cards. I've been meaning to try one of these forever, and they are so simple and effective - I'll definitely be making more.

I added to my little stack of Christmas cards, I swear this year I'll have them done early!

Here's the card open. I like the idea of displaying cards this way - especially Christmas cards where they can add to the festive atmosphere.

I added an oval sentiment panel to the inside portion of the card - I like that you don't have to have the written sentiment showing when the card is displayed. I'll definitely be making another card or two with the Tree Trimmings set soon - it's so simple but cute.

Speaking of cute, how sweet are these Hello Kitty-ish candies? I had to make some of my Chocolate Cheescake Cupcakes to pop them on, I have some adorable little penguins too which I'll try to save for Christmas.

Head on over to Project Tuesday to see the creations by my stampin' buddies!



Stamps: Tree Trimmings, Heard from the Heart
Paper & Card: Always Artichoke, Whisper White, Soft Sky
Ink: Always Artichoke, Soft Sky
Punches: Photo Corner Punch,
Other: Corduroy Brads, White Taffeta Ribbon, Glitter

Other: Quickie Glue Pen, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Oval Nestabilities

OCC Sketch 22 - Always

Hi everyone! I finally felt like stamping again - yippee for found mojo! Winter finds me spending lots of time doing other crafts in front of the fire, but I have missed stamping.

This week's OCC sketch is perfect for last minute Fourth of July cards or switch out the stars for other shapes for a great multi-purpose sketch.

My colour combo is from this weeks Color Dare - Soft Sky, Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum & Whisper White. 

Always is still one of my favourite stamp sets of all time - I just love the combo of images and sentiments.

 

The inside of this card is nice and simple - more of those gorgeous sentiments and the organic image from the set.

This card's for Shanan - we just had a wonderful weekend for his 28th birthday. I made an 8 layer Chocolate Gateaux with whipped dark chocolate ganache (just sounds good right?) We caught a basketball game then headed to Taupo and got a gorgeous suite to relax in. Heaven!

Head on over to the OCC Sketch blog and see what the awesome design team has come up with!





Stamps: Always
Paper & Card: Soft Sky, Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum & Whisper WhiteFall Flowers DP
Ink: Soft Sky, Elegant Eggplant & Perfect Plum
Punches: Scallop Edge, Large Corner Rounder, Scallop Circle, 1 1/4" Circle, 1 3/8" Circle & 1/2" Circle
Other: Elegant Eggplant Ribbon