Live in the Moment

This is a Tim Holtz Configuration (the small one) and I have been holding on to it and playing around since they arrived with not many ideas on how to use one. My problem was I was having trouble working in such small boxes so I figured I would think outside the box and put them on the outside so I have more room to decorate!

The big section has a stick with wire and beads and a brass owl sitting on it. There is also a 7 Gypsies Mini Key there too.
Some of the compartments have little vials in them and I just stamped and inked some paper with some PaperArtsy Ephemera stamps and rolled it up. The corners have some beads stacked up and I just used some Multi Medium in Matte and you can't even see it when it dries. It is a great glue too... it is really quite thick so it holds really well and I have officially replaced my mod podge and Super Tack with it! The great thing is, you can remove the top of the little squeeze bottle and refill it with the big pot too!

The 'Live in the Moment' stamp is gorgeous and it is from the Tim Holtz set, Urban Chic.
The big flower is made from the Spellbinders Poinsettia die and I used all of the sizes and constructed them in much the same way as Tim Holtz makes the Grunge Flowers.

The swirl and leaves are Magnolia Doohickey dies and ended up being perfect sizes for the flower!

Metal Letters

This year I actually had time to make Christmas presents for a few people and what is even better is, I did it all with a week to spare!

I got some paper mache letters from Spotlight this year and covered them with Ten Second Studio metal that I embossed with a mixture of molds. A few of the letters have Grungeboard Alphabet Soup names that have been inked with Alcohol Ink.

This is the first time I have 'collaged' the molds and it was easier than I thought. When you are rubbing the metal sheet over the mold you sit there and tend to wonder if it is going to turn out but when you burnish the top, it all seems to work and you can't even see the bits you were concerned about!

Here is the video from Cheryl and Megan that I watched before attempting to mix and match molds! It is quite helpful!
I used some Tim Holtz Sprocket Gears for my brother's 'J'.

Believe

I made this tag a few weeks ago but I have only just gotten around to posting it! I used a 2008 12 Tags of Christmas as inspiration but then messed around with the background a bit more. It is pretty basic and uses stamps from Mini Holidays, Rockstar and Mini Ornates.

The Journey Awakens the Soul

I got a Bind-It-All a few weeks ago so mini albums may just be my new obsession but this is my first go. It took a couple weeks and three seasons of Supernatural playing in the background but I finally finished it during the week.

I used a heap of Graphic 45 paper from a few different collections to cover some chipboard sheets. Then I went embellishment happy until it was full and the O'wires weren't big enough to close it! That problem was solved by taking out one page and although it was a really hard decision, it was able to close after that!

The closure on the front cover is called a Perfect Closure and it is from Zutter, the company that makes the Bind-It-All.
The pictures are quite small but if you click on them it will come up larger so you can actually see a bit better. I got the idea for the binding on both sides and the split pages from my friend, Bec who just so happens to have quite a lot of good ideas! She also convinced me I needed a Cricut so that is my Christmas pressie this year. I can't wait to play with my new toy!

The stamps used throughout are the Ephemera sets from PaperArtsy, Tim Holtz Mini Muse, Mini Classics and Shabby French. The rub-ons (or rubbings, as they like to call them) are from multiple packs and are all from 7 Gypsies.
I also used sprocket gears and a brass pair of scissors.
This page has a small keyhole on one small page and the hole goes right through to the other side where there is another chipboard key hole.
This is the back page where the book is bound twice. I used some brads and got the idea for a little corset look from FollowthePaperTrail on you-tube. She makes some AMAZING stuff so you should check her channel out.
The corset went really well because a few of the pattern papers are about fashion and have corsets on them.

Happy Birthday

It's Lenny again! I made this sunny card for a friend for her birthday last week and I am really happy with how it turned out. It is oh, so, bright! I LOOOVE that paper. The colours are so me! The stamp is Lenny's Love Me Not's and Amuse, Relax... It's your day.

I have been getting a few people ask me how I watercolour lately so if you want to know, check out the tutorial here. I am going to update it soon with some new piccies too. Stampin' Stuff is a bit low on Twinkling H2O's but I should have more in in the next week or two.

Consider Yourself Hugged

Hugging the cat like this is something our dog would do if the cat would let her. The dog LOVES that cat but the cat doesn't really feel the same. Sometimes she is caring and lets the dog lick her but other times she runs like a crazy woman away. I'd probably be the same if I weighed a couple of kilos and 40kg came bounding at me.

Anyway, to the card. This adorable little dog and cat is an Inky Antics clear rubber set and there are some sets still available at Stampin' Stuff and they are 30% off!

Happy Halloween!

I know Halloween isn't huge in Australia but that doesn't mean we can't get excited by the colours, right? I love this time of year for craft almost as much as Christmas. I don't do anything about Halloween but I just love looking at blogs and seeing the fun bold, bright purples, greens and oranges.

This year I decided I was going to make some cards so here is the first one, hopefully I will have a chance to make more! The stamp I used is from High Hopes and is called Witchy Poo Stirrin' Brew and I also used Silly Spider and Happy Halloween. I added a bit of Artistic Wire to the card and used some old paper I have in my stash... I don't even remember which brand it was but it had the colours I was looking for.

There is a category at Stampin' Stuff dedicated to Halloween and spooky stuff so, even if you aren't getting into Halloween this year, why not have a blast with the colours anyway... that's my plan!

The High Hopes Challenge for this week is also to make a Halloween card so if you want to go into the draw to win some rubber, hop on over there and take a look at what the Diva's have come up with!

Hoo, Hoo, Hoo

How cute is this little owl?! He is the Stitched Owl from Pink Cat Studio and he is just adorable like the QT Hooty Owls! I whipped this card up this afternoon and realised at the speed I am creating these days I really should get cracking with Christmas now! If you are after some Christmas goodies, check out the Christmas category at Stampin' Stuff. I have linked everything Christmassy to that category so you only have to go to one spot to see it all!

I used some old Kaisercraft paper for this one. The colours are so nice so you might see more of it as I work through my left overs! I have also used Kaisercraft pearls, Prima Holly and some Polar White Flower Soft for the hat.

The Village

I made this little village using a bunch of goodies from Collections Elements. I think in the time it took for me to make the houses I could have built a real village but that is just because I kept changing my mind and changing things around.

The houses themselves were covered in Collections Pattern Paper (a mixture of all of the packs) and the windows have little pieces of transparency in them so you can see through them. I used both house kits so there were a whole bunch of the little things!

I used a Collections Tree behind the houses and put some bent metal foliage on the branches too. When I was gluing it on a thought crossed my mind.... Cairns City Council would be right on to the owner of that house... if that came down in a cyclone there would be nothing left of the little thing! Matt had the idea to add a chimney to the big house so that is just made using left over chipboard from around the pieces of the kit and glued it on.

Discover Yourself

Look what I found! A tag that I haven't shown anyone on my blog. A long time ago I had my very first attempt at a Tim Holtz tag turned out to be pretty plain so I tried harder with my second attempt using Tim's Perfect Distress video for help because I had no ideas myself. I came up with this and it is so grungy that I quite like it.

The background is a few layers of Distress Ink where you rub the tag through ink that has been spritzed with water on the non-stick craft sheet. I love the blotchy look.

The bird is from Urban Tapestry and I stamped him in black ink and then put Glossy Accents all over the black bits so he stood out against the background a bit better.
I stamped the red branches then brushed Perfect Pearls all over them then sprayed it with water just like Tim did to make the red ink bleed out from underneath.

The bold words on the Discover stamp (raised on mounting foam) are accentuated with Glossy Accents and then I finished it off with some Rock Candy Crackle Paint at the bottom and top with Walnut Distress Ink rubbed in the cracks.

Embrace Imperfection

Last time my mum visited she kept looking at the mini clipboards that I had and saying they were really cute so I thought I would make one for her. I covered this one with Collections pattern paper and inked it up! I LOVE doing that! Everything looks great inked, I think. The Heart and Wings are also covered with Collections PP with a cute little crown charm on the top.

On the back I stamped 'Embrace Imperfection' from Mini Muse and cut out the little words from Collections Mini Melange which is a little sheet with heaps of words that are just perfect for embellishing this sort of thing.

Farmer Clemmm had a farm....

I just realised I completely forgot to show a piccie of the farm yard cards that were published recently! It was in Cardmaking, Stamping & Papercraft and the issue was Vol. 16 No. 3.

The three cards were using Party Cow, Party Pig and Farmer Clem!

Here are my pics so you can see them more closely.

The Journey

It has been a long time between posts, hey! Well, I had a nice break and caught up on things so I had a bit of an experiment today with my Tim Holtz stuff. I am a collector and I tend to think I should save things for a special project but I decided today that I am just going to use the stuff!

I will admit, gee it was fun just making a mess! I scrunched and ripped and just made things look tatty and it was great! I cut a piece of paper from Tim's paperstack without even thinking it though and.... I used scissors! The line is not even straight and I didn't even neaten it up... I just stuck it down just as I cut it... after some distressing of course! That is a big thing for me because I always think things over for at least a half hour before committing to cutting a piece of paper... and I ALWAYS use a guillotine so it is straight. I am way too particular and I can't be random with things that don't match properly. Ahhh.... it's great. I feel like I have been on a journey too!

Do you want to know what goodies I used? I used a piece from Lost & Found Paperstack, Mini Muse Stamp Set, a tag, Distress Ink, some Making Memories Postage Stamps, Long Fasteners and Washers (in random metal colours that don't match! Yay... but... eek!). I squished those with the Texture Hammer and I stapled ribbon on with the Tiny Attacher and put a Mini Pin in the top too.

Blog Hoppin'

I hope you have had a rest after the Dustin release Blog Hop because there is another one on right now!

Do you want win some fantastic MelJen's Design rubber? If you said yes (and who wouldn't!) go to the High Hopes Blog for the details and start the hopping! In order to go into the draw to win you need to leave a comment on each Diva blog including the High Hopes blog as there will be winners drawn randomly from random blogs so you wont know which ones!

The next blog from here is the amazingly, fabulous, brilliant..... LACEY!

HOP... HOP... HOP!

MelJen's Designs - Sneak Peek!

WOOHOO! High Hopes has another artist! Joining Dustin is Melissa Jenkins. Here is my very first MelJen's card and it is using Sunflower Buggies. I had a ball colouring this flower. It is so flourished and cute... ah! It was great!

NEW High Hopes Artist!

LOOK! High Hopes has a new artist! Melissa Jenkins is joining the ever growing High Hopes family and she has created the most beautiful stamps to keep the girly girls in their element! The line is called MelJen's Designs and they will be on sale on Friday 18 June 2010 at Stampin' Stuff!

Would you like to win a package of MelJen stamps? Head over to the High Hopes blog for details and there will also be a second Blog Hop so get ready for even more opportunities to win!

High Hopes Blog Hop

It's time to hop! If you would like to go into the draw to win some amazing High Hopes Rubber than head on over to the High Hopes Blog and start the hop.

To go into the draw, follow the hop order (starting at the HH Blog) to each of the Diva blogs and leave a comment on each one. Make sure you leave a comment on each blog because FOUR WINNERS will be drawn randomly from four Diva blogs and you won't know which one!

Now to my card! The stamp I used is quite a favourite of mine because a BBQ'ing dragon is just so funny and everyone knows Australian's like to BBQ! The stamp is called Flame Broilin' and the sentiment is Fire up the Grill. The card is pretty straight forward, watercolouring (tutorial here) with inks and Twinkling H2O's. I also hand drew some little sausages and glued them to some artistic wire so they could be twisted into shape.

Alright... that's enough from me... I don't want to hold up up along the way!

The next blog to visit from here is the lovely Alex's blog!

New Release - High Hopes Rubber Stamps

It's sneaky peeky time! Here is just one of the brand new High Hopes stamps that is being released on Monday. Dustin draws the cutest little animals and this one is one of my favourites of the release. The stamp is called Bear-ly Inspired.

All of the High Hopes Diva's are posting creations using the different stamps from this release so be sure to check them out!

The new stamps will be on sale on Monday 14 June 2010 at Stampin' Stuff.

Do you want to win some new release High Hopes stamps?

Then we would love you to help us spread the news about our blog hop and release.

To be entered into the draw:

1. Grab our blinkie from the sidebar of the High Hopes Blog and place on your blog. You just need to copy and paste the text underneath the blinkie into a html gadget. (In blogger click Customise in the top right of your blog then click add gadget and select HTML/Javascript). If you prefer please grab the static image below and remember to link to the High Hopes blog :-)

2. Please tell your friends about the news, blog hop and release on Monday, June 14th.

3. Become a follower of the High Hopes Blog. You don't want to miss out on the fun and there will be tons of prizes along the blog hop!!!

4. Leave a comment on Nikki's post with a link to your blog post spreading the word.

The contest ends 8pm EST (Midnight GMT) on Tuesday, June 15th!!

One for the men

This weeks High Hopes challenge is hosted by Danielle and it is to make a masculine card. I think it might be Fathers Day soon somewhere across the other side of the world! For us it is in October... I think... I should probably look in to that.

I used Tractor, Rocks and Sun on my card this week. The tractor was supposed to be red but comes across a bit pink after I put the Twinkling H2o's on. The paper is my trusty Crate Paper... GEE I love that stuff! I am getting a bit low now and it is pretty old so eventually I am going to have to part with it!

As always, if you are going to join in on the High Hopes Challenge, go by the High Hopes Blog for the details and to link to your card. Then you will go in the draw to win the weekly rubber prize from Tina! WOOHOO!