Taylored Expressions Blog Hop: At Christmas.

Hi everyone, I am excited to be a part of Taylored Expressions blog hop. Their stamps are new to me, and I find these cling stamps very good, with great images and sentiments. For this blog hop, I have used the Christmas set stamps. I have also used the wonderful sketch of Sankari. Since the birth of Christ is my focal point, I have done layers of colour by sponging the background before stamping the image. I have added title to the image using silver EP with heated gun. Papers are from the retired SU christmas designer paper. And for the added detail, instead of using flowers or buttons, I have used a sentiment which captures the essence of Christmas. The detailing I have done is the embossing on the background and piercing. Hope you enjoy this blog hop. See the other amazing creations by clicking the link below as I couldn't figure it out.Thanks for looking!

http://www.inlinkz.com/cs.php?id=4237

For You SNTODBD8 challenge

This week, Marcelle Schauer hosted ODBD Stamping in Time challenge 8 by giving us a challenge of either using coloured brads or colored pencils. Check out the Our Daily Bread Blog for details. I was up for this challenge as I haven't used my watercolour pencils for a long time. I have used a lot of sponging here for the sentiments and the edges of the paper. I have used 3 SU brads to accentuate the page. The hardest part was cutting along the delicate flower image after colouring with the pencil. I have also used SU blender pen to soften the strong hues, to blend the colours beautifully. As my main entiment is about my mom, I have torn the kraft cardstock and sponged it to give it a distress look. This card can have a photo of mom or a greeting of Happy Mother's Day bedie the flower image. The best part about this card is that you can display it on a coffee table a it appears as a brag bag, cute but personal. Hope you like my creation, Mom. Thanks for stopping by.

Stamps: ODBD Mom set
Paper: SU close to cocoa, K & Co papers
Ink: Tim Holtz distress inks
Accessories: SU large eyelets and brads, ribbon,
Tools: coloured pencils (derwent), SU blender pen, and crop-a-dile, nestabilities, Martha stewart edge puncher, dots embossing folder

My Mom

I have been thinking for the past few days what  to give my mum on Mother's Day. I am kind of predictable with my gifts, as she knows that it is usually, handmade. But this is my first time to join this challenge, ODBDSLC10, by using a recycled acetate packaging. Over at Stampin Sisters in Christ, the challenge was to use flowers on your creation. I thought of using silk flowers  and branches from the SU bird punch to add that special touch to the card. What I loved most is the sentiment that came with it from Proverbs 34:95-96 "She is clothes with strength and dignity, she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue."  Thanks for stopping by.

Projects for Swap Sisters

I have done many projects over the last week for swap sisters, but haven't had time to do some blogging. For a change, I have been inspired to do more scrapbook pages than cards. I think its a personal challenge for me to keep up with my scrapbook backlog.

For the first project, I made this cute scarecrow and tractor with fellow ladies at sap sisters last Tuesday during  Melissa's punch art class. Let me know if you want an invite. I'm sure, you'll enjoy the challenges we have.

The next challenge is Top 10 things, events, places, or people by doing a scrapbook page for a month which you consider the best. So far, this is what I came up with:

Hope you have fun looking. Thanks for stopping by.

My first ATC

I recently joined swap sisters (thanks Anne for inviting me!) and I am having fun participating as much as I can in some of the challenges, wednesday nights is ATC, and tuesday nights is punch art. If you want to join swap sisters, email me, and I am sure you'll enjoy the projects and inspiration that we share. The first project is my first ATC with a spring theme. Thanks Courtney for the ideas and inspiration. For the secont project, I made a scrapbook layout using the punch art key. I didn't know that we could have so many uses with our SU punches. Thanks Melissa Davies, the inspiration behind the Punch art tuesdays. Thanks for looking!

Bunny Hideout UStamp inspired

This is my take for the Bunny Hideout project of Lynn Pratt at UStamp. I wanted a bright box for spring, so I used taken with teal, and decorated it using whisper white and certainly celery. I didn't have all the punches for the bunny, so I did some freehand cutting for some parts. I am making at least 5 boxes of chocolates to give away as treats for Sunday. Hope I finish these in time. I have added a door which hides the basket of carrots form the bunny (a twist of the bunny hideout). Check out my next post, my other box, another Ustamp inspired one by Natasha Zandbergen. Thanks for looking and happy crafting!

JAI10 post it cover

I have been learning some vintage this week, thanks to Swap Sisters, they have inspired me to do something new, and I just loved it. For this week's challenge, I thought of using this technique in this week's colour combo. I have used the new Vintage Vogue (set, coming out this Aptil 1) and the Summer set from the past spring mini catty. The SU cutter was very handy in roughening up the edges, and the sponging also helped.

Hope you like what I came up with. Thanks for looking.

UStamp Master plan challenge

I haven't done a scrapbook page in ages. I am glad that the challenge at UStamp motivated me to get back to it again. I have recorded a special occasion marking my stepfather's 80th birthday. It was a great time to come together as a family.
Cardstock: cameo coral, baja breeze, black, brocade blue, whisper white
Stamp: always friends (retired from the spring mini)
Accessories: 2 way glue, SU hardware bards, white gel pen, boho punch scallop edge and punch
non SU: title (stamp)

JAI7 Spinning card

For the JAI challenge, I thought to myself that after doing this project, anything that's IMPOSSIBLE could be POSSIBLE with perseverance and creative thinking. My niece is having her 4th birthday soon, so I thought that this challenge could be good to give her. I only used that prescribed colours with cardstock, but no ink (except for so saffron) as I am not a bold fan. Luckily, the pastels are a big help for this challenge which I used on the girl. I like cards with movement so I made a spinning birthday card that shows the 4 colours when you turn the wheel each time. I embossed the party hats, the gift, and the cupcake on the inside card.

I just made the inside simple, but still clear embossed it and added dimension to it for greater effect.

Stamps: Party hearty, Vintage labels (happy birthdy), Kids at play (retired).

Sponged March calendar

I tend to forget birthdays, and to help me get organised, I decided to make a calendar which will help me remember those important dates. I have been experimenting with sponging and masking and using different tones of colours to create the background. I don't normally use purple, but now am convinced that any colour will do, just depends on the colour combo used. I was a bit lazy changing my post it mask and used the same tear to layer the horizon. I think it still created a nice background. Lovely as a Tree still is my favourite, and this time, I embossed it the clear EP, and am surprised with the textured effect.

Exploding box of Goodies

Thanks Paula for introducing this box, i had fun making it this afternoon, hope this is the start to keep my mojo going. I have decided to use the good neighbours stamp set as I really love this set from the SAB. I also complimented it with the Kids at play (retired) set as I thought of kids on the tree or hiding at the back of the hedge using the green strip of paper. I used mainly markers to add colour to the house, and used the sentiment Happy Birthday from the Vintage Labels set (anothe SAB). To decorate the top of my box, I just used the tree stamp without the trunk from the Good Neighbours set as well.