Plywood Mansion!

This was one monster of a project but it is now complete... after only five days and three trips to get more paper! (You can click the pictures to see them larger)

My friend called me the other day and said that Cotton On Kids in DFO Cairns has plywood doll house kits marked down from $39.95 to only $5.00! I raced in there (luckily I was parked just on the other side of the road anyway) and picked one up. I had NO idea how big it was! The picture on the box was only a black and white sketch and there were no real instructions so it was quite interesting seeing it take shape. Quite a surprise to find it had a bay window on the side because the box didn't have one of those!

So anyway, I covered it all in Ruby Rock It paper and put some transparencies in the windows and some artificial vines on the sides with some little paper flowers.
The mansion before:

Top Secret

The final Rock Chic card is Luscious Linda! The background stamp is Bricks and the sentiment is from the Darkroom Door set, Mail Art.

Evidence

Say hello to Rock Chic card number 2! This stamp is called Star by Whimsy Stamps... again, colouring her hair was sooo fun! I really enjoyed not making a 'cute' card for once! The background stamp is Bricks and the sentiment is from the Darkroom Door set, Mail Art.

This is Art

This is a great stamp also! It was so fun colouring Kitty Katastrophe by Whimsy Stamps... I could go crazy with the hair and bold colours. I made this card as a set of three. The background stamp is Bricks and goes well with the theme I was going for. The sentiment is from the Darkroom Door set, Mail Art.

1000 miles and a parking space

I just finished covering a high heel in Ten Second Studio Metal and I am so excited by it I had to post immediately! The inside of the shoe says 'A journey of 1000 miles starts with finding a parking space'.

I made a rough template of the side of the shoe from tracing paper then embossed the silver side of the metal with the new Kabuka Mold #15. When I had agonised over the colour for about two hours I jumped in and inked it with Cranberry and Lettuce Alcohol Ink and burnished the raised areas.

Then came the fun part! Had I have known before I started I wouldn't have spent so many hours trying to make my first template of the shoe and just got to work but I put some Humungo Killer Adhesive on the back of the metal which is CRAZY strong then pressed it into shape. Turns out, you don't need the cut lines exactly right, just lay it on with some overhang then use a craft or stanley knife to cut it to shape. The part where the shoe and the sole come together is really thick so you can use that groove to cut a nice clean line without cutting into the shoe.

If you are new to Ten Second Studio, they have a bunch of great videos on how to work with the metal.

Paris, New York, London

I'm back! There has been a massive gap in my crafting and blogging recently because I have done some damage to the nerves and tendons in my wrists and hands making pretty much everything difficult so I have spent some quality time with the TV for the last couple months but things are looking up so I am hoping to get some more craft projects done! I have heaps in my head... now I just need to actually do them!

I made this tag way back when Tim Holtz first released these new stamps but typing is quite hard with my hands so I have been a bit slack posting it. I used the Haberdashery and Urban Tapestry for the background stamp which can also be found in the Shabby French set.

The main picture is stamped in Aged Mahogany ink with Walnut Stain dabbed over the edges before I stamped it. I then covered it in Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint. There is also some hand stitching and muslin that I dyed with some Antique Linen reinker and finally, the Paris stamp from the Papillon set that I embossed in Vintage Photo Distress Embossing Powder so it looks aged!

Dancing Girls!

The lovely dancing girls are now in print in Cardmaking, Stamping & Papercraft Vol 17 No 1 which is on sale at the moment. They look like they are having a whole lot of fun hey!

This gorgeous babe is Suzette:
And the lovely Babette:
And Vivienne!

Ribbon Spools

I made these ribbon spools using a Collections Elements Ribbon Spool kit and a whole lot of paper, ribbon and other bits and pieces.

It is also now available for purchase as a class at Stampin' Stuff and it comes with a kit and private link to the class instructional video so you can take part no matter where in the world you live!

Heard you were a little dragon

I made this card for a friend of mine that was really sick just after new years. There seemed to be a lot of sickness around then. I spent two of the three weeks I had off from work sick!

This is Seymore's Sick Day and Tail Not Waggin' and I made it as bright as I could while still managing to fit in as much of my beloved olive green as possible! At some stage I will try and move away from olive green but it is my favourite colour so that is tough!

NEW STAMPS and you can win some!

VERY PUNNY COLLECTION

Get ready for the Limited Edition Very Punny Collection of stamps from Stampin' Stuff! There are six stamps to choose from covering a range of occasions and everyday 'just because' themes. Check them out here!

BACKGROUND STAMPS!

They aren't your ordinary background stamp though, this stamp size is big enough to completely cover a 5.5" x 5.5" square card and also an A2 card (A4 cut in half and folded). No more trying to line up that stamp again to fill the entire piece of card!

Check out all of the new stamps at Stampin' Stuff!

WIN SOME STAMPS!

Would you like to win one of every stamp in the Very Punny Collection? All you need to do to go into the draw is:

• 'Like' the Stampin' Stuff Facebook group
• Leave a comment on this post letting me know
  

WIN MORE STAMPS!

To go into the draw to win one each of the entire Very Punny Collection AND 3 Background Stamps of your choice:

• Put the Stampin' Stuff banner below on your blog with a link to www.StampinStuff.com.au and let your friends know about this post
  
• Leave a comment on this post letting me know what you have done

Entries close midnight Sunday 23 January 2011 (Australian EST)

Stampin' Stuff has donated a heap of cool TIM HOLTZ goodies to raise money for the
RSPCA QLD FLOOD RELIEF

CHECK IT OUT AND BID for great goodies and an even better cause!

High Hopes Challenge #100

The gang is back with art and MEGA PRIZES!

• 1st prize is $100 worth of High Hopes Stamps*
• 2nd prize is $50 worth of High Hopes stamps*
• 3rd and 4th prizes will each receive $25 worth of High Hopes stamps*

* retail value. Unmounted or cling mount.

This week is the High Hopes Challenge #100 and it spins me out because I remember our very first one! I haven't joined in in a challenge for quite some time but for this one I didn't really want to make a card. I have been a bit hooked on 3D stuff lately so I made a little scene on a mini canvas.

To cut a long story with a craft knife short, I used the cutie Dwight, Remembrance Tree and Rocks and cut them all out! I always start these things before I realise how long it will take to do it. For a tutorial on how I watercoloured the little guy, click here.

TO THE BLOG HOP! The next person on the list is Andrea so head on over to her blog. If you have come in half way you can find the details on the hop at the High Hopes Blog.

Houses for Birds

No one said that the houses had to be for mini little humans! How about mini little birds? This project evolved and seemed to get more complex every day but eventually turned out really fun and really quite constructive.

The birds, flowers and grass are cut from chipboard using my Circut that I got for Christmas. Gee that machine is fun!

The houses are house kit #1 from Collections Elements and the leaves are the Leaf and Swirl Magnolia Doohickey die.

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!