More challenges and new things to try

Being such a newbie and not entirely sure what I'm doing, I like to take inspiration from challenges and from stuff I see in the magazines. This first card is a combination of two challenges from SCS. I used Colour challenge 163: Certainly Pretty Chocolate and SC 169. I don't really like brown (SHOCK/HORROR), but this combo is kinda nice. I did 'cheat' a little and use Rose Red for the flower because the Pretty in Pink was a bit washed out. So, the c/s is Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery and Chocolate Chip. The stamps were Tres Chic for the BG, Be Happy for the sentiment, and Bodacious Bouquet for the flower, stem and leaves, and of course CC ink.

This second card was inspired from Stamping and Papercraft, Vol 12, No 12. Kirsten Butts did a piece on Punched Motifs using an anywhere hole punch on a design traced onto DSP. I thought it looked really cool so I gave it a try. I'm sure my housemates probably wondered what all the banging noises coming from my room were all about, but no-one said anything, LOL!

The card base and middle matting piece are Pale Plum and the other c/s is Mellow Moss. The DSP is from a pack of retired stuff that my darling sister gave me and as I threw away the packaging, I have no idea what it's called! The sentiment 'Adore' is a word from the Tres Chic BG stamp coloured in Mellow Moss marker (yes, I do LOVE this BG - it's so versatile), and the flower is from the Pretties Kit coloured with the Pale Plum marker. I think this might actually be my favourite card of all of the ones I've made so far, it's simple, yet pretty and I think I'll keep it for my stash.

I actually read the manual for my camera last night (I've only had it for about three months LOL) and found out that it has a setting for taking pictures of documents. When I tried it out I discovered that it makes the cards, especially the colours, come out much better!

Anyway, thanks for looking,

Kristie

April Cyber Challenge

On Tuesday night my upline's upline (I'm not really sure if that's the right way to put it!), the talented Alisa Tilsner, hosted a Cyberstamp night for all of us on her forum. There were three challenges: 1) Bling, 2) Colour challenge, and 3) a sketch challenge. I completed the first two on the night and the third on Wednesday night, but due to the rain didn't get a chance to take a pic. Anyway, the rain let up for about two and a half mins of sun, so I quickly took some photos and thought I'd post them here for you to check out.

This card was for the first challenge - BLING - and clearly I took the concept of bling very seriously. The card stock is Elegant Eggplant, Pink Passion and Pixie Pink, and the images and sentiment are from the "Time Well Spent" hostess set. There's silver embossing, Dazzling Diamonds glitter and rhinestone brads from the Pretties Kit. Very bling!

This card was for the colour challenge - Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White. The paper piecing was done using the SU mat pack and the choc chip faux ribbon with a white gel pen. The images are from "Symbols of Solicitude" and these stamps call for some simplicity in design, IMO. Very different from the bling card, hey?

This one was for the sketch challenge. I used River Rock, Groovy Guava, and Ballet Blue. The BG is the So Swirly wheel in Ballet blue ink and the sentiment is from "Wonderful Favourites". The hardware is Antique Brass Hodgepodge. I was a bit challenged indeed by this one and not entirely sure I like it.... but the spiral clips do go well with the Swirly wheel.

I'm just a beginner, but I'm learning all the time and I love to take inspiration from my blog hopping expeditions. My newest find is the talented Mish at 'Mish Mash' - see the favs list to the right - so go check out her blog, it's awesome.

Thanks for looking,

Kristie

For Nikki

Well, it's still raining/overcast here and I still haven't been able to take any decent pics. So I decided to take some inspiration from Nikki at http://militarywifestampinspot.blogspot.com/. She has lots of pictures of the amazing birds that she spots in her yard. Now, she says that she's a bit of a nerd for getting excited about birds but.... if that's true then so am I!! When I first moved to Sydney I was so excited that the suburb I live in is very green and leafy and there are heaps of amazing birds. Sulphur-crested cockatoos in the hundreds, rosellas, mountain parrots, magpies and more that I don't know the names of (yet). So Nikki, I thought you might like to see a few pics that I took a while back of the bird life in my street. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

This is a couple of cockatoos in the tree across the street.

This is one of the many rosellas that are always flying around and chatting to one another early in the mornings.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed looking at some of our unique Aussie birds Nikki. Keep posting your bird pics, cause I really enjoy them!!!

Kristie

Quote of the Day

It's still raining here in Sydney, so no pics today. However, I get quotes on my google homepage and just had to share this one - very, very appropriate as any of my friends and family would tell you!

Historians are like deaf people who go on answering questions that no one has asked them. - Leo Tolstoy

Might just have to print that out and put it up on the notice board in the History dept at Uni - anonymously of course!!!

Things I have learned...

This past few days I have learned some very important things:

* I am not a great photographer!


* As I am making cards I really, really, really should write down what I've used!


* My memory is not as good as I thought it was!





I finally got a few minutes of semi-sunny weather this morning and took some photos of the cards I've made over the past few days. Please believe me when I say that they really do look much nicer in real life :)






The first card is for my Gran. It's in the mail on the way to her now. It's pretty safe to post it here because I'm fairly certain she doesn't even know what a blog is, let alone reads this one! The words come from Wonderful Favourites and the flower and butterfly are from Time Well Spent. I know I used Purely Pomegranate, Ballet Blue and Basic Black. I think the Green is Certainly Celery and the pink is probably Regal Rose but I'm not completely sure. The pearls are from my delicious Pretties kit - if you don't have this yet, you should order it for sure.



This card however, I am sure I used Wild Wasabi, Regal Rose and Pretty in Pink. The ric-rak is from the Crew Kids Girl Simply Scrappin' kit and the stamps are Symbols of Solicitude embossed in Silver. It's very simple and I'm not entirely sure if it needs something else on the top or not...what do you think?? I kinda like it plain, just the way it is but......

Anyway, I can't post the other pics here because they are a pressie for my bestie, Helene, and I know she knows how to find my blog...LOL. I'll post them after she's got her package.

Thanks for looking,

Kristie

Will it ever stop raining??

Hi there everyone, well I have had a very busy weekend and have made a ton of cards (about 15 actually), however I have no pics to post here because I don't like the way they look scanned and we have hardly had more than two minutes of sunshine here in Sydney for days and days and days.....

I hope that tomorrow I can take some pictures and put them up here for you all to see. I've been making a pack of assorted cards as a present for my friend Helene (see her lovely picture below). My gorgeous upline (and sister) made some for our Gran and she loved them so much. It's a really practical gift to give someone, cause it's always good to have birthday cards on hand for when you need them, and of course handmade ones are sooooo much nicer than anything you can get in the shops (well at least I hope so in the case of my work!).

My next project is Mother's Day cards. I have a few to make because although I am not a mother myself, I really admire all my friends and family who do such a great job raising their kids - it looks like REALLY hard work to me...LOL. So, after I hand in my nasty translation assignment tomorrow I'm going to get started. If anyone has any great ideas for Mother's Day cards or gifts, please leave a comment here....all help is much appreciated.

First Project

This card was my first project with my new Stampin' Up! goodies. I had so much new stuff I was a little over whelmed and couldn't decide what to make! LOL

So I turned to Kristina Werner's Colour Challenge No 5 (see here: http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/ ) for the colours and the Elite Challenges, http://elitechallenges.wordpress.com/category/sc-1/ for the layout. So, this is what I came up with.

I used So Saffron for the base card, Certainly Celery for the greeting panel, Bashful Blue for the large rectangle and Close to Cocoa for the matting and the side strip. The stamps are the Thank you from 'Cheery Chat' (stamped in Certainly Celery), the butterfly from the 'Time Well Spent' hostess set (stamped in Bashful Blue and coloured with Bashful Blue & So Saffron markers), and the flowers on the Bashful Blue are from 'Sprinkles' (stamped in Versmark, although it doesn't show up very well on the scan & is much nicer IRL!).

This isn't a colour combo I would have thought of myself - I'm more a pinks and purples kinda girl, but I think it looks really nice.

Hope you like it.

My New Stuff

Well, the stuff didn't arrive til Tuesday afternoon and I was so busy unpacking it all I haven't had time to post. Not only did my Starter Kit and Scrappin' Memories add on arrive, but also the order I placed online on Sunday afternoon! My room kinda looked like the SU! catalogue came to life and exploded all over my floor!

I am now the proud owner of 11 stamp sets, every colour cardstock SU! makes, and enough markers, pastels, watercolour crayons and tools to keep me happy for a while. I also got some Hodgepodge Hardware (very nice) and a Pretties Kit (sooooo yummy), not to mention some wheels, punches, embossing powder, heat tool and a brand new paper trimmer (which is so much better than my old one & super easy to use!). I hardly knew where to begin.....

I've mounted a few of the stamp sets but still have more to go..... I did have time to play with a few things last night, of course, but I'm going now to play some more....... hopefully tomorrow I might have something to show.

Happy News

I just checked my order status and my Starter Kit is 'shipped'! I am so excited because I live in the same city and it should arrive on my doorstep tomorrow. I am REALLY looking forward to getting it and getting started making stuff with all the yummy goodies inside. I will take some pics and upload them here so that you can all drool over how nice the stamps and things are. In addition to the Starter Kit I also ordered the Stampin' Memories add on - so I'll have an alphabet, some 12 x 12 card stock and the most delicious Simply Scrappin' kit - 'Crew Kids Girl'. I'm not particularly looking forward to mounting the alpha though - it's 'Short Order', a massive 56 pieces, but as I'm not a scrapbooker (is that the right term?) and I wanted it mainly for cards and paper craft projects, I thought it was the best one..... clearly wasn't thinking about having to mount it.

I am soooooo excited, I can't wait to get started!

My Best Friend

My best friend graduated as a teacher on Friday. Her name is Helene and I am so proud to be her friend - she is amazing! I just wanted to put a pic up here before I sent her the blog address - I'll probably be in trouble, but I want everyone to see how great she looked.

First Post

Hi and welcome to my brand new blog.

I've just joined Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator and thought that I should get myself a blog so I'd have somewhere to post all the fabulous cards and things I'm going to be making..... when my starter kit arrives!

I have been so tempted to get online and order a whole bunch of stuff from the catalogue, which I've had for 2 weeks thanks to my sister... But I have refrained so far....anyone who's seen the amazing stamps, papers, markers etc, would know just how hard that's been!

My sister is the main reason I signed up in the first place. I spent the weekend with her in Brisbane and got to play in her "toy room" (that's what I call it 'cause it's full of fun stuff!) and now I'm totally addicted!!!! I am studying full time for my PhD and in desperate need of some fun R&R and stamping certainly is that!

Anyway, I hope that I'll have something to show you all soon.

Kristie