Paper Hugs

I have been on a 'bender' recently, making some cute baby cards, and today I have continued that trend with even more!  On this post   you will find one of the elephant cards that I had made for a commission, and using this stamp, I made several more with the paper piecing technique.  Each one was different, and all very cute!  Today I decided to colour the stamped image instead, and this is the result. It is such a different look to my previous card (below) and by adding the sentiment 'sweet boy', I felt it could be used for a young child, as well as a new baby. Well, my baby cards didn't stop there - with a new die in my possession, called Baby Onesie from MFT, I created four more cards - two bright and crisp and two with a softer feel.  Now, are there any newborns out there that a need a welcoming card? Let me know what you think of my efforts, if you visit - I love to hear from you!

Just thought I'd share with you the results of the latest 'tidy-up' in my craft space.  I found I was trying to create on the space of my craft mat - everything else had been encroaching on my desk top, so it was definitely time to tidy!  I bought a set of small drawers from Officeworks, and I went from there.  I like to have a place for everything, and most of my supplies can easily be found in their rightful place, but the bits and pieces used for making (or considered for making) often stay around on my desk and clutter both the desk and my head!  Of course this is only one wall!  on the opposite wall is our desktop computer, which is nominally my husband's area - and I also use the cupboards in this room for my put-away stuff.  I carry out my die cutting in another room, so my dies and embossing folders are kept in there.  You can see that I have now reclaimed more of my desk than just the working mat and I am much happier!

As most cardmakers would love to do, I make a card (or two) almost every day, and I do this because I love to create.  However, the down side of this is that I have lots of cards sitting in a box, which I would love to find a home for, and in order to get them out in circulation, I am trying my hand at a market stall.  Last weekend, I held my first stall (not counting one other market which was totally unsuitable) and was thrilled to sell 20 of my cards to appreciative customers.  So I will continue with this for a little while, to see if I can develop a market base.  In addition to this, I am taking orders from friends, who love to be able to give a card that has been specially made for the recipient.  I am thrilled to take on these orders, as they stretch my creativity and challenge me in unexpected ways.  This post will show some of my latest orders, and you will see that the range is extensive - from unborn babies to 80 year-olds!  This card is ...

Today at Sweet n' Sassy Digi Challenge , we are saying farewell after 100 challenges!  What an achievement that is - and we know you have loved seeing the many digi stamps being used by the DT members over all those weeks.  For this final challenge, we are asked to look back over past challenges, and choose one that appeals, so my card is Challenge #73 - Hip to be Square!  I love square cards, and for my image I chose a Bethany stamp, called Sending Love.  I enjoyed colouring Bethany, and choosing the pink and red dp to complement the pretty scene.  I hope you have enjoyed seeing the cards made by the DT and all the wonderful entries that are received each week.  If you have not visited before, do call in to the Sweet Stop Sketch challenge   where you can continue to participate in Sweet n' Sassy challenges each week.  We may see you there!

I have been making a few cards ready for Mothers' Day, which is celebrated in May in Australia.  For these first three, I was inspired by a card I found on a Stampin Up demonstrator's site, which was so simple yet so classy - as a lot of Stampin Up designs can be.   Catherine Pooler is the name of this creative person, who also posts videos, so a great place to visit for inspiration. I used a Verve stamp set called 'Because of You' - stamping the corner spray of flowers over a masked oval, stamped with a background stamp by Annabelle Stamps.  I was aiming for a one layer card, which I achieved with the first two cards, giving extra dimension to the second card by adding a frame.  The sentiment was from the Verve set also. This card required me to cut out an oval, and adhere a chevron stamped background behind it.  I added  flower stems from another Annabelle Stamp set called Stemmed Flowers. My next group of cards uses beautiful paper from a pa...

Today's card has been created with two challenges in mind - firstly at Addicted to CAS, challenge #10, where the code word is Friend, and secondly, at Less is More, where the colour challenge is Lime and Black.  Those colours really sparked my imagination, as I have been playing with some new dies by Memory Box lately, using just one colour and white, and I was sure this was the way to go with this challenge.  The sentiment is from a Gina K stamp set, One in a Million, which has some lovely 'friend' sentiments written in an informal handwriting font.  The Tessatina die was first cut out of lime cardstock, then cut again from the front of the card, with shiny black card then adhered behind it.  The lime piece was then carefully adhered to the negative space on the white front.  Being die cut, it fit perfectly of course! phew!  I used more Memory Box dies for the larger butterflies, and added a smaller Martha Stewart punched butterfly - I am thinking I could...

Challenge # 99 at Sweet n' Sassy Digi stamps is to make a card using 'critters' - the cute and cuddly kind. The digi image I chose to use is Filmore Fox, and I think he's enjoying a party!  This digi stamp came pre-coloured and I am thrilled with how it turned out.  You should really try a coloured digi if you have never used one before - they make the card so quick and easy to make.  We'd love to see what critters you can find to use in your cards!