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Friday, March 25, 2011

Inkspirations Challenge #63 - Penguin Gift Card Holder

Ready for another challenge?  This week Keesh & the Inkspirations Team have a sketch for you to try:-


We had a special 18th birthday to celebrate this week (Happy Birthday Ryan!), so I made a gift card holder with this layout:-


 Which opens like this:-


 



I cut the basic holder from a single A4 sheet of Bashful Blue cardstock.  The top & bottom flaps are 2" & 1" respectively.  The flap on the right hand side is the full width of the gift card & the one on the left is 1/16" bigger than half the width of the gift card (this made the 1/8" blue vertical border line up perfectly in the centre of the holder).  I also added a small spine to each of the side folds, to accommodate the bulk of the gift card plus the top & bottom flaps.

I embossed SU's Shimmery White paper to look (hopefully) like snow flurries.  The inside panels are also Shimmery White paper & there was plenty of room for a greeting on the panel on the right.  :)

I chose the penguin theme for the holder as Ryan is a keen snowboarder.  Here is the birthday card I made to go with it:-


Ryan was very impressed with his snowy ensemble & I got away with using lots of Dazzling Diamonds!  :)

The penguins & the snowman were made with the Owl Punch (love that punch), plus a few others for various bits & pieces.  I have details of the basic penguin structure in this post (here) if you are interested.

Here's a close up of the little dudes:-



Hope this has you all inspired to play along.  Please make sure you go & check out the inspiration from the rest of the Team:-
The Challenge Site


Cindy
Kirsty
Makeesha
Renée







Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Lee-Anne
Marisa




Card Components:   (All SU except as noted)

Cardstock:  Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Pacific Point, Choc Chip, Shimmery White paper
Stamps:  Playful Pieces, Afterthoughts
Inks:  Pacific Point, Versamark
Other:  Owl Punch, Bird Punch, Large Oval Punch, Wide Oval Punch, Punch Pack, Word Window Punch, Dazzling Diamonds, Dimensionals, Clear Embossing Powder
Non SU:  Balloon Punch, JAC paper, Wire, Embossing Folder, Clear Glaze Pen

Friday, March 18, 2011

Inkspirations Challenge #62 - One Layer Card!!!

Hello & welcome to my favourite night of the week.  It's Inkspirations night & Keesh has an awesome colour challenge for you to work with:-


Aren't these colours yummy?

Last time we had a colour challenge, I had a go at a CAS card, but it just didn't work, so this week I was determined to try again & this is the result:-


Woohoo, I have made a one layer card!!  I started with a sheet of white Bazzill, so at least I had a little texture.  I have added wavy Espresso stitching lines with a clear cling stamp & then added punched flowers, with pearl centres.  I have also added a little heart which has been covered with a bitty button, tied with embroidery floss.  The sentiment has been stamped directly onto the card.

To raise the flowers & the heart, to give some form of dimension, I punched the corresponding shapes from very thin dimensional dots.  This lifts them up off the backing card & leaves a nice neat finish but gives them a good firm grip.


Here's a neat tip when working with skinny stamps - I find they are prone to "rocking" & giving a poor imprint, so when working with a narrow stamp, I add another uninked stamp to the block (use one from the same set so it is the same height).  This will result in a nice flat stamp surface & a clean stamped image.


Make sure you check out the rest of the Design Team's inspiration pieces, & take some time to come & play along:-
 The Challenge Site


Cindy
Kirsty
Makeesha
Renée






Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Lee-Anne
Marisa

Card Components:
Cardstock:  Bazzill Linen White, SU Rose Red & Daffodil Delight
Stamps:  SU Sock Monkey (sentiment), Stitching (Old Clear Cling set - sorry, don't know manufacturer)
Inks:  SU Early Espresso
Other:  SU Bitty Buttons & Punch Pack, Dimensional Dots, Kaiser Pearls, Embroidery Floss

Blog Award Thank Yous

Well, I have been one lucky girl over recent weeks & have had a little collection of Blog Awards find their way to my inbox.

The Stylish Blogger award has been sent my way by these lovely ladies:-

Kim Singdahlsen at Joyful Creations with Kim

Makeesha Byl at Inkspirations

Nikki Spencer at My Sandbox  (BTW, Nikki has just joined the DT at JAI - Congratulations Nikki!)

Fiona Harrison at Inkurable Krafter
& I have also been sent the Leibster Blog award by Christine Blain at Happy Heart Cards (who is also very lovely & I have had the pleasure of meeting IRL).

I would like to say a really big "thank you" for this recognition to each & everyone of you, & to thank you also for the inspiration, ideas & techniques you provide on your wonderful blogs as well as for your lovely comments.

The Stylish Blogger Award requires that I tell you 8-10 things about myself & then forward the award on, so here goes with the possibly damning information:-
  1. I am allergic to bees.  I had a couple of nasty bites & reactions as a kid, so now I keep my distance from them.
  2. I think I am allergic to housework (unfortunately this is yet to be medically proven, lol.)
  3. I am a totally messy crafter but I like everything stored away & out of sight when I'm done.
  4. I've loved paper & rubber stamps since I was young - a trip to the stationers/newsagent was much more exciting than a trip to the toyshop.
  5. I am a reformed Chocoholic....  (over 2 months & counting!!)
  6. I love Pixar animated movies & have the whole collection.
  7. H2 comes from my initials.  I was called H at work & when I moved workplaces to one which already had a Helen (known as H), whose surname also started with H, I was christened H2.  :)
  8. My parents ingrained in me that "if I was going to do something, to do it properly", which now equates to me being totally AR about things....  (eg. I have serious trouble coping with anything crooked!)
  9. I am an accredited Semen Handler - bet I've got you thinking now!!  (Think dairy industry!  Think cows!  I have even handled a few frozen equine embryos in my time.)
  10. I have an awesome family - My darling hubby is totally supportive of my papercrafting addiction, my wonderful son accepts it & my gorgeous daughter joins me in it.   :)
Phew, now that wasn't too scary for me (or you I hope)!

Now seeing as it has taken me a while to pass on these awards, & I definitely would have given them to the ladies above, but they have beaten me to it, I have decided to pass on the Liebster Blog to some ladies you might not have heard of yet.

The Liebster Blog which translates, from German, into "Dearest Blog" is designed to bring attention to new blogs, or blogs with fewer than 300 followers.  


I would like to give this award to three bloggers who I have come across playing in the Inkspirations Challenges.  They are either fledgling blogs, or blogs that have a small group of followers.  I have also chosen these bloggers as they either haven't received an award in a while, or have not had this lovely honour bestowed upon them as yet.  I hope they get a kick out of receiving this award.

Please make sure you go & check out the work of these very talented ladies:-

Diane Barnes at Colour Me Happy
Sarah Milbourne at Sarah's Stamping Style &
Suzanne Barnard at Suzie's Papercraft

Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Helen  (aka H2)  :)

Friday, March 11, 2011

Inkspirations Challenge #61 - Laugh, Love, Create....

Well hello, I hope everyone has had a fantastic week.  Keesh has another wonderful sketch for you today & you must, must, must check out the awesome inspiration pieces from the DT.  Here's the sketch:-


I have chosen to make a little decor piece this week & have used my take on the "live, laugh, love" quote.  I am ecstatic about how this little baby turned out & it makes me smile every time I look at it.  Hopefully the recipient will like it half as much.  :)


I've used a gorgeous Country Road, 3D frame, adding a Regal Rose Mat just under the glass.  The flower has had each petal individually stamped, using the rock 'n' roll technique.  They have then been coated in glue & covered in dazzling diamonds.  Once I had them assembled into a flower shape, I added a cute, clear pink button & thread.  It's very sparkly.  :)


The letters were die-cut on my Robo:-


I scalloped the bottom edge of the white panel & added cute little pearls.

Here are the links so you can play along & leave the DT some comment love:-
The Challenge Site
 

Cindy
Kirsty
Makeesha
Renée






Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Lee-Anne
Marisa
 

Card Components
Cardstock:  SU Whisper White, Regal Rose, Peach Parfait & Pretty in Pink
DSP:  SU Sweet Always (retired)
Stamps:  Large petal stamp from SU Playful Pieces Hostess Set
Inks:  SU Regal Rose & Peach Parfait
Other:  Peach Parfait Ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds, Button, Thread, Scallop Edge Punch, Dimensionals, Pearls, Picture Frame

Friday, March 4, 2011

Inkspirations Colour Challenge #60 - Bliss Butterflies

Well, another week has flown by & it's time for a challenge!

Keesh has set these gorgeous colours - Wild Wasabi, Rose Red, So Saffron & Whisper White.

Seeing as I only have one of these coloured inkpads I envisioned making one of those lovely CAS cards - you know the ones - all white, with a few pops of colour!  Sadly, it just didn't work for me....

So I made this one this instead:-


Can you guess where the inspiration came from (*wink*)?  Here's a hint:-

I stamped each of the butterflies in Versamark ink, clear embossed & then cut them out.  They have been attached to a strip of white Shimmer paper, which has a lovely sparkly sheen.  The rose layer has been stamped in Versamark with the large Baroque swirl, had the edges sponged (with Pomegranate) & then added to the black base card.  It's still a reasonably simple card, but I think it turned out a treat - Thanks for the wonderful inspiration piece Keesh!!  :)

Here's another look at those butterflies:-



Maybe now I should head back to my craft table & have another go at the "all white" version!  :)

Please make sure you check out all the gorgeous creations the DT have created to inspire you & pop your creation in the challenge.  Here are the links:-
Inkspirations Challenges Site Makeesha Brandi Carrie Cindy Helen Ilina Kirsty Lee-Anne Marisa Renée
Card Components
Cardstock:  Rose Red, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, So Saffron, Basic Black & SU Shimmer White
Stamps:  SU Short & Sweet, Baroque Motifs, Bliss
Inks:  Versamark, Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate
Other:  Clear Embossing Powder, Sticky Strip, SU Pearls