ADDINKTIVE DESIGNS

Have you seen the 'twirly Linen Thread' craze that has popped up on cards all over Blogland?  It's fun to see the different ways designers have used it to add texture to an embellishment. I first spotted a sample on the Stampin' Up! ® Website and 'pinned' it for future reference.  You can see it HERE . Wow!  That was 26 weeks ago and I've just got around to 'CASE'ing the gorgeous design.  Instead of the Dictionary Background Stamp , I used Off the Grid in my first project and the beautiful flourish stamp from Creative Elements for the second card. 1 - Off the Grid Bitty Butterfly 2 - Creative Elements Bitty Butterfly Thanks SU for giving demos an amazing array of sample projects to use as a 'springboard' for our own! Project Recipe: Stamps: Off the Grid (1), Creative Elements (2), Six-Sided Sampler (sentiment for both) Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Pool Party, Old Olive (1), Wild Wasabi (2) Ink:   Soft Suede, Smo...

It's time for another Stampin' Up! ® Only Challenge (SUO) and this week we're asking you to create a one-layer card .  The idea is to use just a single card base and embellishments are allowed. I actually made a set of tags.  They certainly have only one layer of card stock but there are many 'layers' of ink - I think the technical term is 'collage stamping'. SUO 89 - One-Layer Challenge These litttle beauties were made using a brand new product (only just released TODAY in Australia) called the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch .  You just cut your card stock 2" wide and it slides through the punch and cuts the scallop bit at the top.  This allows you to cut the tag to the length you need - brilliant! My one-layer tags were made using a variety of stamp sets (please refer to the 'Labels' below) and stamped with Metallic Gold, Crumb Cake, White StazOn, Basic Black, Always Artichoke, Soft Sky and Marina Mist inks onto Soft Sky Core'...

I came across a new challenge blog (for me) through my friend, Christine , called Sunny Challenges.   After all the rain we've been having lately, that sounded inviting and so did the theme, SHAPED CARDS.   Sunny Challenges (086/13) Shaped Cards - Butterfly Easel I enjoy making shaped cards and already had a Butterfly Easel Card which was e-cut just waiting to be put together.  Ever since I bought the Artisan Embellishments' Kit months ago (NLA), I've been wanting to use the gorgeous lace across the butterfly wings. I can now tick that off my list.         I've made quite a few butterfly easel cards over the years but I'm thinking that this one might actually be my favourite :)  I just love all the vintage lace and buttons etc. in the kit as they coordinate beautifully.  This card will be winging its way to my newest recruit, Jo, to thank her for joining up.  Fun times ahead! Project Recipe: Stamp Set:...

With Sympathy (JAI 143 - Colour Challenge) I needed to make a sympathy card for a friend who's mother passed away at the grand old age of 100 years + 3 days.  She and her hubby went all the way to the USA for the big birthday party but ended up spending most of the time at her mother's bed side, in intensive care, on that special day. ................................................................................. I  already had an idea for a very CAS layout for a sympathy card but I needed some colour inspiration.  I saw the combo at Just Add Ink and thought, why not? Here's the Project Recipe: Stamp Sets:  Creative Elements, Teeny Tiny Sentiments Ink:   Sahara Sand, Early Espresso Card Stock:  Tangerine Tango, Sahara Sand, Marina Mist Accessories:   Square Lattice EF, Basic Pearls, Bitty Banners Framelits, Stamping Sponges, Dimensionals Thanks for stopping by,

Did any one else spend countless hours pouring through your mother's magazines, Woman's Weekly, New Idea etc and cutting out all the really cool pics and gluing them into a scrap book?  That was a favourite past time of mine way back in the 60's and 70's.  Fast forward forty years and things haven't really changed that much.  I'm still collecting pics for inspiration but it's a lot less messy without the scissors and glue thanks to the wonderful world wide web and a great site called Pinterest. I often get inspiration from other card makers, but rarely CASE.  However, the following cards are pretty much a copy of someone else's designs which I had 'pinned' on my Pinterest Boards .  There's some slight variations but why mess with perfection? Click on the links below to take you to the original cards. http://heythererosigrl.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/just-three-please.html http://stampandscrapwithmaureen.blogspot.com.au/2012/...

My mum asked me to make her a card for a 60th Wedding Anniversary that she is going to attend.  I bought these Scallop Heart Nesties about 14 months ago and had never used them so I thought this was a good time to bust open the packet.  Love Birds ... ... Scallop Heart Easel Project Recipe: Stamp Set:   Creative Elements (SU) Ink:  So Saffron, Pool Party, Soft Suede (SU) Card Stock:   So Saffron, Pool Party, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla (SU) Accessories:   Classic Scallop Heart Nestabilities (Spellbinders),  Spice Cake DSP, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Two-Step Bird Punch, Dimensionals, Sponge Daubers (all SU), Rolled Rose Die (Marianne Design Creatables), Frond Punch (Martha Stewart) Another easel card to add to the collection :) PS:  Thank you, Kim, for including this card in your Punch Inspiration for the 9th April 2012 post.  It is always appreciated.

Some fantastic challenges got me back into my craft room to create this card that features the very first stamp set that I ever bought, Seaside by SU! Shimmery Shells I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the colour combo at the Color Throwdown this week as it features a selection of my all time favourite colours. The second challenge at Just Add Ink , was to CASE one of their talented DT Members, Kathy from Stamping Still. I've had the first 2 cards of Kathy's in my CASE folder for a while (see below) so I thought it was a good opportunity to try out one of her gorgeous 'grid' cards. I love the sepia tones that she has used and the faux pearl on the last card. Stunning! So ... I stuck to the beautiful layout of all three cards to create my CASE card for JAI #102. I am also entering this card in the challenge at Sentimental Sundays which is to add some dry embossing to your project. I only just recently came across this challenge site and have been keen to play ...

Day 7 of the online CAS Card Making Class is entitled, Plainly White . Julie Ebersole demonstrated how to use the expanse of white space on a card to your advantage. I made the flower accent this afternoon so tonight I decided to pop it onto a clean and simple card that demonstrated some of the techniques from day 7. If you've been following my journey, you'll realise I have skipped a few days of class in my blog posts as I haven't had a lot of time to keep up with my 'homework' this week. The good thing is, I have access to it 'forever' and that's a relief because there are SO many more ideas and techniques that I want to play around with in the near future. Plainly White I used Confetti White Card Stock as it needed to match the off white colour in the flower. Flower Accent Not having done any crocheting for a few months, I went around to a friend's place and got another lesson today. I was a bit rusty but was able to g...

It's good to know that there are still some romantics left in the world. A work colleague of mine wanted me to make him a blue butterfly card to give to his lovely wife. Apparently she loves butterflies! So, naturally I had to make one of my butterfly easel cards. He wanted a certain shade of blue and I found some textured Bazzill Cardstock that seemed to match his request. I hope she likes it. Project Recipe: Stamp Sets: Precious Butterflies, Creative Elements, Elements of Style Ink: Basic Gray, Versa Mark Card Stock: Bazzill Textured, Whisper White (SU) Accessories: Beautiful Butterflies Die, Antique Brad, CB embossing folder, Large Oval and Scallop Oval punches, Note Card Whisper White Envelopes, Dimensionals You can purchase my tutorial, HERE .

JAI 86 Hi there. This week at Just Add Ink I have a sketch challenge for you. I love putting sketches together and hope you'll be inspired by this one, along with all the gorgeous work from the rest of the DT. The Sketch I actually made this about three weeks ago for a friend who was in need of a 'pick-me-up'. She loves butterflies and so do I! Project Recipe: Stamp Set: Bliss (retired SAB set), Creative Elements Ink: Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry Card Stock: Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry (rolled rose) Accessories: Beau Chateau DSP, Corner Rounder Punch, Dimensionals Non-SU: Kaiser Sentiment, Flourish and Rose Dies from Marianne Creatables, White Frame Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your weekend.

Here's a closer look at the projects that I presented at our recent Stampin' Up! Regionals in Hobart. Box Bag - Chocolate Holder Easel Card Bag Topper Tag Card Gift Card Holder Update:  I wrote an accompanying tutorial which ACROBAT.COM hosted.  Unfortunately they do not offer a free service any more so my Two Tags Die Tutorial has been added onto my Tutorials for Sale .