Is it a bunny or a bear?

My good friend came to visit today, bringing a box that was labeled Build A Bear. Last year as a community event Quota International of Carindale had taken a group of children to the Build a Bear shop at Carindale. These children have special needs and it was wonderful to be able to give them a fun day. "That's a interesting box!" I say. Her granddaughter had, had an accident at school and she wanted to cheer her up with a pressie and one of my cards. I had expected a bear when she opened the box but WOW how cute is this...

My friend just wanted to look through my stash of cards for a cheer up one. Well that wasn't going to happen, I had just the card in mind. Quite a while back I had made a similar one and so out came all the punches and in no time we had this little cutie (sorry a bit blurry).

So do you think this will cheer up a sad little girl?

March card classes

Time has flown and it is now March, are you ready for Easter?

The March class is about Easter and we will look at using the Scallop Circle punch in a few innovative ways. You will also learn how to make a Tri Shutter card, looks tricky but don't worry I have instructions for you to follow and take home.

When:
Wednesday 6th March 7pm start
Friday 8th March 7pm start

Where:
My studio at Wellington Point

Cost: $ 10

What to bring:

Bring your own basic tool kit, adhesives and dimentionals If you do not have any adhesives or dimentionals they can be purchased from me on the night if you wish.

Please confirm if you are coming so I have enough kits prepared.

Convention background

While at Convention one of the Workshop WOW's presented by Liz Hicks was a special background. Now that we are back home Ursula, one of our Paper Angels tried it out and created some georgous scrapbook pages. So I have decided to give it a go myself and make some unique cards. I chose Vanilla card stock. Then I randomly sponged on Calypso Coral, Old Olive and Soft Suede all over the card. Next I rolled over the card randomly with the Jumbo Stampin Around. Then I stamped again randomly with  bleach and a background stamp and then filled in a few spots with a smaller stamp.

Card stock: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Whisper White
Tools: Big Shot, Designer Frames, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Jumbo Stampin Around
Ink: Old Olive, Soft Suede, Calypso Coral, Rich Razzleberry
Ribbon: Crumb Cake Seam Binding

Another reason why I love Stampin Up

The other night I found yet another reason why I love Stampin Up. Everything coordinates. The card stock, the inks, the ribbons, the brads. It just makes things so easy.

The other night I had a friend over to have a play in my art room. She wanted to make a special 50th birthday card. She had heaps of card of her own but it was not Stampin Up card so nothing really coordinated very well.  I asked her what she had in mind. She wanted a cake that had a 50 on the top and kinda exploded with stars.  I drew up some designs for her and she tried various ways of getting things to look nice. By the end of the night she had tried various combinations but nothing quite worked. She had so desperately wanted to use her own card but realised that maybe using coordinating products would have helped.

Once she left I got out my card and worked on the designs I had suggested to her. I changed the cake to a stack of parcels and put it on the inside of the card instead of the front. I created a Pop-up with the parcels and a 40 (my dear SIL is turning 40 ) on the top with scrolls* coming out of the top parcel.
I added some pennants to the top to make it look like a celebration and looped them through linen thread. The front I used the same Pool Party card stock then layered  Attic Boutique DSP from the Autumn Winter mini catalogue. I stamped the cute little Seal from Under the Big Top stamp set on page 33 and coloured it with the Aqua painters.  Cut it out with the large oval punch and mounted it on a Soft Suede, Designer Frame found on page 157 which I then distressed. Stamping "Happy Birthday (to you)" also from the Under the Big Top stamp set, on the bottom to complete the card.

All of this went together so easily as everything coordinated. Just another reason why I love Stampin Up.

* Scrolls were created using my 1 3/4 inch circle punch and then cutting round and round like you were peeling an apple or orange.

A trip to Sydney

I went to Sydney recently for a girls weekend to see the Picasso collection at the Art Gallery. We stayed right in Darling Harbour and had the best time exploring the sites. It has been 35 years since I was last in Sydney and I was pleasantly surprised. It is a lovely city and I intend another trip to take in more of the sites.

Of course staying in this beautiful Darling Harbour apartment gave me an excuse to make a Thank You card for the generous couple who let us use their unit. I used Real Red cardstock and the retired skin tone that I can't remember the name of just at this moment. The face was the medium oval punch, the body was just hand cut. The panels of the dress were made using beautiful silk material from China. I had a non SU stamp with Japanese writing. It said "Thank You"  I only hope I had it up the right way :(