Woman

This months theme at Inkurable Stampers is women. Here's my entry:

It's actually a portfolio. I just find that being a mum, bill payer and holder of all cash, I tend to spend any cash or vouchers I receive as gifts on the family, or even worse, at the supermarket!

I made this portfolio large enough to hold bills and also gift cards. If I completely bypass my purse (aka the black hole), and put any gifts I receive in here, there's a better chance I'll actually get to spend something on myself.

The gold-embossed scroll stamp is my fave from justjohanna.

Pins

These are some pins I made for a(nother!) swap I joined. I like to occasionally do something that isn't an ATC - this swap certainly qualified for that!

These pins were weeks in the making. I kept having to stop and start because of other committments, or unavailability of product. I'm a bit glad I've finished them! I saw Niamh from Pipedreamink demo something like this at the last Paperific show. I was in awe.....until Niamh asked me to stop dribbling into her UTEE ;). Seriously tho - she made it look sooo easy, and the result was so effective that I decided to join this swap and try out this technique.

I started of with a small piece of really really thick chipboard. I put three coats of Opals UTEE (the colour is called Lady Barron), then while it was still molten, I pressed a swirly background stamp into it. When this cooled, I put a bit of Fantasy Film over the top and heated that with my heat gun. It melted into the little valleys formed by the swirly stamp. That bit was so mesmerising, that I over-cooked some of them!

I put copper Krylon on all the edges, then wound some copper wire with beads threaded on to it around and around the chipboard. I stuck a pin back to it with Liquid Nails and voila! All done.

Now all that's left to do is find someone to wear one - I'll start with my Mum - she'll wear anything. Let me know if you see anyone famous wearing one of these pins, won't you? He he.

ETA: the photo. Thanks for the gentle reminder LOL! At 2am, the save button can look exactly like the publish button. That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!

Collections swap

This ATC is for a swap. We had to use only Collections products, so I used a little chipboard house, some of the new 6x6 paper, a picture of one of the sisters, a chipboard heart, a word, a number stamp and the script stamp in the background. I also added some ribbon and trims, and some Ranger crackle paint on the heart.

No wonder I love the paper - it's in blues and browns. Gorgeous stuff.

New design team announced!

As one justjohanna design team term finishes, another one begins. Hip hip hooray - I'm in for a third term! The only other thing I've done three times in my life is have a baby. No wait, that might not be entirely true......I can think of a couple of other things I've done three times ;)

Anyway, the complete list of design team members can be found here. Congratulations everyone! I look forward to working with you all.



Here's a card I made using the long-awaited Eiffel Tower stamp (it always seemed to be out of stock when I went to order it, so I consider it a bit of an achievement to have it in my hands now). I've also used a bejewelled Gigi. I left a sentiment off this time - I thought Gigi looking back longingly at the Eiffel Tower told enough of a story.

Nesting

Not the insane behaviour associated with the last bit of pregnancy......I'm talking about Nestabilities dies. I got a set this week, and as soon as I started using them, I realised - I'm going to NEED MORE SETS!! These flat little dies are getting a bit of a workout at the moment, let me tell you!

This is a card I made using the dies and some glitter for added bling. Stamps are by justjohanna.

Cupcake love

Is anyone else out there still in love with cupcakes? I know I am!
This is another card using the swirly background stamp by justjohanna. I'm STILL in love with that too!

The ribbon tied like that - with a fat knot on the front, adds an extra touch of decadence to it. It's a patterned grosgrain I had in my stash from goodness knows when.

Background twinkle

I got this justjohanna stamp the other day - the swirly background, and have been using it on anything that will sit still long enough. I love it! I've been looking at it for ages, wondering if I should get it or not, and I'm so glad I did!

This is a birthday card I made with no one in particular in mind (for a change!). I embossed the swirly background with clear EP, so it shows the colour of the cardstock underneath. Then I got out my Twinkling H2Os, and used a couple of blue colours over the embossed pattern. You can just make out the shimmer in the photo, and to compliment that I used some candy floss Stickles on the little flowers in the background as well as the Collections chipboard heart.

Apart from the drying times for paint and Stickles, this card was pretty quick to make. All stamps by - you guessed it - justjohanna.

sketching

I think I've mentioned before how much I love a sketch. It's sooooo easy to mass-produce all sorts of different cards at the one sitting. I love anything that'll save me time!

Here are some cards I made using the May sketch at the Lime Tart blog (stamps are by justjohanna of course). Take a wander over to the blog to see some samples from a bunch of other dt members. I love seeing the variety of work that can come from the one sketch.

what a pair!

In the past year or so, I've had a couple of ladies come into my life and they both happen to have birthdays coming up. Here are the cards I made for them using the Collections owls I so love:





They might not know it, but they are a real driving force and with their inspiration and encouragement I am going further than I ever thought I could. Thanks ever so J and P!

Caitlyn's first birthday

This is a little card I made for our little neighbour who turned one a couple of weeks ago (yeah, I know, a little bit late, but her party was only yesterday).






Her mum and aunt liked it - little Caitlyn was more interested in playing with all the wrapping paper from her presents!


Stamps are by Hero Arts

It's almost that time of the month

....the reveal of the May gallery at Lime Tart (what were you thinking?). I can't wait - I love seeing what the DT comes up with. I'm never disappointed. Here's a little sneak of a card I made using some of the delicious Basic Grey papers included in this month's A la Tarte.

That stamp is by justjohanna, not the one included in the A la Tarte kit this month.

Happy Mother's Day

It's very early in the morning, and I'm up and ready to go to work. I'm debating on whether to wake the children or not. If I do I'll be late for work, but if I don't then there will be three disappointed children. What to do, what to do.

Here's the card Rachel and I made last night for my mum. Stamps by justjohanna, chipboard bird by Collections. I dropped some flowers in to her last night so that she would have them all day today (this also means I got in waaaaay before my sister, he he).

I hope everyone enjoys today, whether you're a mum or not!

A special deal for May

justjohanna is doing this every month - a little colleciton of stamps at 25% off. This is the offering for May:

and here's a sample of what you can do with them (cards by Kim Frantz on the left, Debbie Scheunemann in the middle and on the right):

Arent' they beautiful? This special deal is available during May only (obviously), and available from both justjohanna and Lime Tart here in Australia.

Here's another couple of ideas from Dianne McInrue - she's made the heart stamp into flowers - don't they look like freesias? Too clever!

A first birthday

It's Zest blog's first birthday (this is the Lime Tart blog). To celebrate, Philippa has put ALL old kits on special at Lime Tart!

In addition there's a little contest. All you need to do is make a birthday card for Zest blog, post it on your blog, then leave a comment on Zest blog (here). Easy! The winner will be drawn on 31st May, and they will receive an A la Tarte kit as a prize. Sounds good to me - what a shame I can't enter!

Whatcha waitin for?

What's in the box?

Ahhhh - you'll have to wait until the May gallery opening at Lime Tart to find out what's in this box, but for now, here's a peek at the outside of it.





As they say in the classics, "Stay tuned." Can't wait to see what the rest of the design team did with their kits this month!

Pssst: see that little polka dot heart? It's actually a ceramic embellishment made by Bernie. Check them out at The Painted Plate, they are absolutely gorgeous!

Down on the Farm

justjohanna released the most gorgeous little cow stamps recently. I put this one (Frontal cow) hanging out of a barn. She looks like she'd rather be out in a field.

My family would be pleased with this card - it's in the colours of their football team HAWTHORN. They have some of the best players in the competition. Did I say best players? I meant best-looking players. Oh - I suppose they know how to play, but honestly, who cares - even if they couldn't play I'd still watch them in their little shorts, running around, panting, sweating......oh gosh, I'm off to take a cold shower.

Wherefore art thou Little Houses?

I'm in (another!) swap, and this time we had to use the little Collections Houses on an ATC. Here's what I came up with, using the colours I subsequently used on the owl card. I also used some Core'dinations cardstock, some Cavallini and justjohanna stamps, and some gauze:





That's my middle child Rachel holding it up for me. She woke up one night last week and told me she was too hot. A 2am walk around a cold house looking for a parent cured that! I asked her to hold the ATC while I took a picture, then sent her back to (a now cold) bed. She didn't remember a thing about it the next morning. Maybe I should get her doing housework next time she wakes up!


I posted these off a few days ago to Tasmania, and they haven't arrived yet. Hopefully they are just MIA for a wee while and they'll show up soon. Aaaah - gotta love Australia Post!

Enjoying green

I think I'm in love.......isn't green just a great colour? So fresh and crisp. This is a Stampin' Up colour called somethin or other Celery. I'm so good with names!

Stamps by justjohanna: Flower garland S background, Michelle's big scroll, Enjoy.