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.

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!

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!

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.

Getting ahead

Nothing wrong with planning ahead . Wish I had the chance to do it more often.






The chipboard heart is one cut with my Cuttlebug with a Thick Cuts die, painted with some of Tim's crackle paint. The trick to this crackle paint is to lay it on thick (and I mean thick!) , and wait until it's started cracking before applying heat to speed up the drying. I accentuate the cracks by sponging with some Distress Ink. Making Memories ribbon, and the sentiment by justjohanna.

The flower there is from a stem of artifical flowers someone was throwing away. I thought I would be able to use them in a future project, and I (finally) have. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Yeah.

Sketchy

Here's a card I made using the April sketch. You can see heaps more cards by clicking on the justjohanna forum button in the sidebar of my blog.

Moooooo!

What could be more punny than a cow on a MOO card? Ha!

Fun with Daisy

Daisy D's diecuts that is. These are from the Wonder Years range - you can find out more about the designer of this range by visiting Stephanie Dosreis' blog. You'd be really missing out if you were colourblind!

These are a couple of cards I whipped up. Seriously - it took no time at all to get some real impact because of these gorgeous colours. (The green/blue card: I used the reverse of the diecuts. I thought it was a waste not to use the fabulous design on the back.)

Notice the faux stitching? I used my white gel pen for that. To use real stitching would involve a drive to my Mum's house, and sometimes I haven't got time for that!

Dress ups

As a challenge, Johanna sent us a photo of a girl wearing nothing but a bikini and practical shoes. (I know - she looks exactly like me, only not as good).

We had to dress her using justjohanna stamps. I had my fun with her, I did! I used part of the Eiffel tower for her hat, part of the Chicklet table for the belt, Cherry cupcake for her skirt, and the Witches shoes for her white pointers.

We have a winner!

Congratulations to Annelies! This is the card she made as part of my Colours of the Earth challenge:




My liking of birds is now bordering on fetish!


Thanks to everyone who participated - your names have been entered into a draw to win the following fantastic prizes:


One (1) grand prize of a $ 250 justjohanna shopping spree

One (1) second prize of a $ 50 justjohanna gift certificate

Five (5) third prizes of 25% off coupons for the justjohanna online store



Woo hoo! Best of luck to everyone.

My Earth Day Challenge

OK - here goes - my Earth Day Challenge.

My theme is "Colours of the Earth." All you have to do to be in the running for some fabulous prizes is make a card (using justjohanna stamps if you have them, or other stamps if you don't) using colours you'd find in nature. I stuck with blue, green, brown and white in these samples, but I'd love to see your very own interpretation.

Once you've finished your creation, upload it to your blog, and leave a comment here. I'll choose a winner for the special Earth Day stamp from justjohanna, and all participants will go into the draw for $250 worth of justjohanna stamps and other great prizes.

There are heaps of challenges happening today - check them out here at the justjohanna forum.