Gotta love a long weekend!

It's the last few hours of the Labour Day long weekend and just as I suspected, the study is still in a state of utter chaos! I did walk in a few times, sighed and left! One must not rush into these things!!!

Number one on my to do list this weekend was to make a RAK card for the mother of a girl in the Stampin' Up! Facebook group I belong to... She has been having a really hard time of late, suffering from a terminal illness and we are hoping that flooding her letterbox with handmade goodness will bring a smile to her face!  The challenge was to make a blue card.  I will freely admit that its not a colour I think of for a feminine card, so after messing about with various bit of patterned paper for most of the weekend, I think I have come up with a winner.

Eek....I ran out of my absolute favourite ribbon for card making, hug snug seam binding. It drapes like a dream, and makes the all time bestest bows!  So in true pack rate style, I dug around in my stash and found some navy ribbon that is a little on the stiff side, but still kinda worked!  I cant deiced whether I prefer the navy or the white bow now!  You cant really tell from the picture (I am definitely no photographer!), but the ribbon across the middle is a navy blue velvet. I adore velvet on cards....the feel is pure magic!  The butterflies are shaped and attached with foam tape, as is the stamp in in the middle. Yep, it does look familiar!  It's the same as in the card I made last week, but I really loved the combination and wasn't quite finished playing with it!

 

Supplies Used:

• Papers & Card stock -
• Stampin' Up! Whisper White Card
• Kaisercraft Marine Card
• Little Yellow Bicycle  Blue Reverie
• Stamps -
• Stampin' Up! Papillion Potpourri
• JustRite Cling Stamp Fleur De Lis Labels Twenty
• JustRite Cling Stamp Musical Notes Labels Twenty
• Dies -
• Spellbinders Labels Twenty
• Spellbinders Majestic Elements
• Stampin' Up! Midnight Muse Ink

Oh, before I go, I just have to say how excited I am that I have my very first follower, even if it is my dad!! Woo-hoo!! Thanks Dad! Here's hoping you will start a trend!

Enjoy your week,

Hugs, Samantha
 

we all scream for ice-cream....even the dog!

There's nothing better than a bowl of cold, creamy ice-cream...especially when its coupled with mixed berries in syrup...yum!  And as I type, even my beautiful fury baby (a Maltese, Tibetan spaniel X) has her face buried in a bowl of ice-cream! I'm sure its not vet recommended, but we are suffering through a record breaking heat wave and she gave me that "you know you cant resist me, I'm beautiful" face.  I was powerless to resist!

Anyway.....This week I have been playing around with a design inspired by the spectacularly talented Becca Feeken, one of my absolute favourite designers.  Everything she creates makes me ooh and aah!! My cousin is celebrating her 60th birthday next week - a milestone which deserves, ribbon, pearls and all the trimmings, along with a Becca inspired paper creation! 

It's the first time  I have had a play with the "all over the page" punch range by Martha Stewart.  It took a few tries before I got each punch lined up, but wow, it looks quite spectacular as a window! Well worth the effort and the strange faces I pulled as I measured, re-measured and measured again!  Now, if I can only find the perfect present for my cousin!

Supplies Used:

• Kaisercraft Kaisercard - Rose
• Kaisercraft Lakehouse Paper
• Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla Card
• Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla Seam Binding
• JustRite Cling Stamp Fleur De Lis Labels  Twenty
• JustRite Cling Stamp Musical Notes Labels Twenty
• Spellbinders Labels Twenty Dies
• Stampin' Up! Memorable Moments Cling Stamps
• Stampin' Up! Jewels Basic Pearls
• Bella! Bling Stickers Pearls
• Handmade Hatpin

Here's hoping my cousin doesn't read my blog!

Enjoy the rest of your week. It's a long weekend coming up here in Melbourne and I am trying to talk myself into tacking the unearthly mess in the study/room where I stick anything that I don't know where to put and turning it into a craft room....that is unless I can procrastinate long enough...and even if I do say so myself, I could win an Olympic medal in procrastination!!

Hugs, Samantha

But I'm built for cold climates!

I love living in Australia, and no matter where I travel, its always a brilliant feeling when I get back home...the bright skies, Vegemite on my toast (what is it that we Aussies love about a spread that other countries liken to axle grease?!?!?!) and vast open spaces...BUT....the heat...oh my giddy aunt!  I'm built for places like Alaska, Norway, Antarctica...plenty of insulation!  Not so good in an Australian summer! 

So here I am perched comfortably under the air conditioner,  papers, cardstock, ribbons and all manner of tools littered around my feet and my newest design ready to share with the world! This card started out with a masculine theme, but all of the sudden, there were flowers! I'm yet to put a greeting on the card. Cant decide if it will be a birthday, mothers day or just a general "hi, how you doin' ?" card, but I'm quite pleased with it...hope you are too!

Supplies Used

Kaisercraft Papers: Velvet Ensemble, Hunt & Gather
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics, Gold Invitation Card
Prima Flowers
My Favorite Things Leafy Flourish Die
Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 18 Die

Now I should leave this chair, advance to the study and try and convert the chaos into a well ordered craft room...but...to prove that my procrastination skills  are worthy of an Olympic gold medal, I am going to sit in this chair and see if a 60th birthday card idea appears! Hope you are all enjoying your weekend!

Hugs, Samantha

To peacock feather, or not to peacock feather - that is the question!

I usually have terrible trouble making male cards. Stick some pretty heritage floral paper, some ribbons and a few flowers in front of me and I'm in my element, but ask me to create a masculine card and I stare at you blankly!

So I set myself a challenge, firstly to come up with something my dad wouldn't open and say "that's girly!" and secondly, to finally find a use for the stash of peacock feathers I picked up on eBay. To say I've struggled with this is an understatement. I've stared long and hard at the card putting the peacock feather in, taking it out...and repeat...several hundred times!!!  Also, I'm pushing the boundaries with the ribbon...a wee bit on the girly side, but it may still pass the 'dad test'!

So I'll leave it up to the wonderful world of blog readers to decide... that is, if I have any blog readers yet!?! ... onto one of life's big questions - to peacock feather, or not to peacock feather!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

• Just Thinking Stamp Set
• Itty Bitty Banners Stamp Set
• Tea Time DSP
• Regals Collection Cardstock (Not Quite Navy & Always Artichoke)
• Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon
• Vintage Brads
• Button

I also added a triple dome turquoise hat pin to tie in with the blue card layer

Thanks for looking!

Hugs, Samantha

Oh dear, now I have a blog, what on earth do I do with it?

Welcome to my very first blog post! I've whittled the day away trying to add a touch of shabby to the blog and now, when I need divine inspiration to strike to help me create a captivating and witty literary masterpiece, I find I've got terrible stage fright and am at a loss for words! Those of you that know me will know that's an incredibly rare event!

I can't promise I will faithfully blog every day, after all I've had a zillion attempts at keeping a diary, which has resulted in several beautiful books with only four or five entries in them! I will try to add a new paper creation at least once a week though.

For those of you who have stumbled upon this blog by accident, there is still time to RUN AWAY!!!  But for those that are still with me (a thousand million thank-yous!) - without any further ramblings - here is my very first card created from Stampin' Up! products. This one uses card stock from the Regals Collection and the new DSP Print Poetry. Stamp set is World Treasures. I hope you like it!

It started out as something completely different in my mind, but I am quite happy with how it turned out!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

• World Treasures Stamp Set
• Regals Collection Cardstock (More Mustard and Not Quite Navy)
• DSP Print Poetry
• Designer Silver Basics Buttons
• Itty Bitty Banners Stamp Set
• Very Vanilla Cardstock
• Round Tab Punch (Retired)
• Party Punch Stamp Set (Retired)

I hope your weekend was fabulous and I sincerely thank you for looking!

Hugs, Samantha