A Card for Mia - Inkspirations Sketch 55

Hello,

Here I am back as promised (can you believe it???) with a birthday card for lovely little Mia who turns four this week. Mia is the daughter of a good friend of ours and I absolutely, completely cannot believe she is turning four as I truly feel like she was born just yesterday. Is that a sign that I'm getting older?

So for my card I decided to use this week's sketch challenge by the girls over at Inkspirations. Here is the sketch:

 

 The idea for this card popped straight into my head and I used this card by the fabulous Teneale Williams for inspiration yet again. I LOVE this little penguin and the beautiful, bright Sweet and Sour DSP.....oooh and the shiny balloons.

Enough babbling now, here is my card:

And here is the inside:

Project Recipe

Stamp Sets:    Party this Way; Party Hearty; Crazy for Cupcakes

Inks:                Rose Red; Pumpkin Pie; Basic Black

Card/Paper:    Rose Red; Pumpkin Pie; Very Vanilla; Sweet & Sour DSP

Accessories:   Two-step Owl Punch; Square Punches; 1-3/4" Circle Punch; Scallop Circle Punch; Word Window Punch; Big Shot; Alphabet Dies; Crystal Effects; Pumpkin Pie Satin Ribbon; String

 

Well that's all for today, but I am in the midst of an inspiration-returned crafting spree so watch this space. Off to pop this card in the post so it gets there for Mia's special day.

  

Sunflowers- Just Add Ink Inspiration Challenge

Happy Sunday everyone,

Just popping in with a quick post today. 

Just Add Ink has it's first ever inspiration challenge this week and I just had to play along. Here is the gorgeous picture for inspiration.

As soon as I saw this beautiful sunflower and the stunning colours the idea for my card popped into my head. I knew I just had to ink up the 'Every Moment' stamp set and watercolour using Daffodil Delight and Early Espresso. I wanted my card to be more than just yellow and brown though so used Marina Mist and Kraft to mix it up a bit. The layout for this card was inspired by the lovely swap card my gorgeous friend Sarah-Jane Kale (**Hi SJ xx**) made for our recent team day. Here is my card:

Project Recipe
Stamp sets:      Every Moment; Curly Cute
Ink:                    Daffodil Delight; Early Espresso; Pear Pizzazz: White gel pen
Card/Paper:      Kraft; Marina Mist; Early Espresso; Daffodil Deligh DSP; Marina Mist DSP; Watercolour paper
Accessories:     Marina Mist Satin Ribbon; 1-3/4" Circle Punch; Scallop Circle Punch; Corner rounder punch

I do hope you like my card. I have to say I really like it. It makes me feel happy and cheerful. Let me know what you think.

I'll be popping back again tonight or tomorrow to post a card for a special little girl who is turning 4.

              

YIPPEEE!!! It's time to SALE-A-BRATE......

 

Sale-a-bration is here!!!!

Today marks the start of one of the most exciting, fun and rewarding times of the stamping year. 

Sale-a-bration runs from today until 31st of March and during this time there are fantastic stamp sets available whether you are a customer, workshop hostess or a budding demonstrator yourself.

 

You can get your little hands on these fabulous FREE stamp sets by doing any (or all!) of the following:

Spend 

Every time you spend $100 on stamping goodies you will receive a Sale-a-bration stamp set for FREE ($100 net sales before P&H). There are no limits so for each $100 you spend you get to choose another FREE set.

Host
You will receive a free Sale-a-bration stamp set when you host a workshop of at least $600 (net sales before P&H). This is in addition to all of the regular hostess benefits you will receive and the Sale-a-bration sets you will earn with your own order.

Join
During Sale-A-Bration, anyone who joins as a demonstrator can choose any stamp set –  up to a value of up to $79.95- from the current Idea Book and Catalogue!

I'm really excited about this once a year Stampin' Up! event and can't wait to share it with you. 

Contact me TODAY to place an order, book a workshop or discuss joining up as a demonstrator (the best decision I ever made)...........or all of the above at once (*Smile*).

 

Baby Pink Monochromatic- JAI Challenge Entry 2

I loved this week's Just Add Ink challenge SO much and the lovely effect that using shades of one colour on a card has, that I had to have another play.

 Project Recipe   (All materials Stampin' Up! unless otherwise stated)
Stamp Sets:     Nursery Necessities
Ink:                   Pretty In Pink
Card/Paper:     Pink Pirouette; Pretty In Pink; Regal Rose; Sweet Always DSP; Regal Rose DSP; Pink Pirouette DSP
Accessories:   Ric Rac ribbon (non-SU); Designer Button

I CASE'd the idea for this card from one of the showcase cards that Stampin' Up! makes available on each demonstrator's DBWS under the ideas tab. Have a looky at my site here.

I LOVE this card and am going to make one for a little baby boy too as I know a few storks that will be bringing new little ones into some friend's lives this year.

Let me know what you think of this little card of mine.

Pretty Blue Monochromatic- JAI Challenge 51

Happy Sunday inky friends,

One of my 2011 resolutions is to participate in more card/scrapping challenges and more often. Okay, so it has taken me until the third week of this sparkly new year to participate in my first challenge, but it's onward from here.

My first challenge of this year is for one of my most favourite challenge sites Just Add Ink. I love this site so much that I get excited every Thursday to see the week's Top Picks and later, in the evening, to see the new challenge and the inspirational work from the Design Team. Thank you Amanda and Danielle for keeping this amazing site going. 

This week's challenge at JAI is Just Add Monochromatic. At first I thought "Huh? What does that mean?" - hahaha. Then after checking the sites of the fabulous JAI Design Team I realise it means to use only one colour or shades of one colour. After that my brain started to work over time with ideas. I knew straight away that I wanted to use blues and the 'Silhouette Sentiments' stamp set (one of the hostess sets from the 2010-11 Idea Book & Catalogue) which was yet to see ink.


This is what I came up with:

Project Recipe    (All materials Stampin' Up! unless stated otherwise) 
Stamp Sets:    Silhouette Sentiments; Priceless
Ink:                  Not Quite Navy; Marina Mist; Versamark
Card/Paper:    Bashful Blue; Marina Mist; Not Quite Navy; Bashful Blue DSP (from Subtles DSP stack)
Accessories:   Big Shot; Top Note Die; 3/4" Circle Punch; Marina Mist Satin Ribbon; Clear Embossing Powder; Heat Tool; Half Pearls; Butterfly 
                         Punch (by Martha Stewart)

This card is a lot busier than my usual style but I love the colours together and the monochromatic effect. I'm completely in love with these flowers from 'Silhouette Sentiments' too- I can see them getting a lot more use.

I'd love to know what you think of my card. I've already had one comment on it- this afternoon when photographing it Elliot picked it up, studied it and announced "Oooh Mummy....NICE!!!!". I'll ask his opinion on every card I think- hahahaha.

Queensland Flood Appeal- A Helping Hand From Stampin' Up!

What a terrible week it has been for those in Queensland. The floods that have ravaged these areas have caused so much despair and destruction. I, like so many others, have sat here, on the other side of the country, helplessly tuned into the news and special broadcasts with my heart hurting for all those affected. 

As it turns out the wonderful people at Stampin' Up!'s Australian and International offices have been feeling exactly the same. This fantastic, caring and generous company that I am a part of have announced the wonderful way that they are going to help those affected by this terrible natural disaster.

This is the announcement they made this morning:

Australia Flood Appeal

13 January 2011

As flood waters continue to inundate Australia in what has been described as the worst flooding in 37 years, we express our deepest sympathies to those who have lost loved ones and homes and to those whose lives have been changed forever. We, like so many of you, feel a compelling need to lend support to all those who have been affected.

Stampin’ Up! demonstrators have a long history of making a difference in the lives of others – especially when disaster strikes and the need is greatest. Nearly two years ago, we watched another tragedy unfold in Australia. Our hearts were touched as demonstrators, customers and friends joined together in support of the Bushfire Appeal. We’ve done it before and we can certainly do it again!

Please join with us by supporting the Australia Flood Appeal – a cause in which Stampin’ Up! will donate $2 AUD of the retail value of sales from any stamp set (with a retail value of $30 or more) sold in Australia and New Zealand from 15 January through 15 February to the State Emergency Services in Queensland.

So, if you have had your eye on a stamp set or THREE then now is the time to buy them and help out flood-affected Australians in the process.

Check out the online catalogues HERE and then email me at inkyloulou@live.com and I'll place your order for you. Or if you want to get your friends together for some stamping fun and fundraise in the process, email me and we can book a workshop together.

I'm sure that together we can all do our little bit to help some brave and needy Australians.

Aussie Cards For Sale- Designer Search.....

I have just discovered a fabulous website called Aussie Cards For Sale. It is a site where Australian card designers can sell their cards online within Australia and overseas. What a fantastic idea!!!! To make it even better they're looking for new designers at the moment.

I would love the opportunity to design for this site and have my cards available for people all over Australia and the world to buy. Oooooh exciting!!!

Here are the cards I am showcasing for Alicia (who runs Aussie Cards for Sale) to consider. You will have seen most of these before on my blog but they are some of my favourites to hopefully the will be Alicia's too.  

Fingers and toes crossed!!!!

Happy 2011!!!!

Happy 2011 everyone!!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and fun New Year celebrations. We had a really lovely, special time.......how magical Christmas becomes again when sharing it with a two year old. Christmas and New Year were made all the more special by my little brother flying home from London for ten days. So lovely to see him.

So it has been a very busy few weeks- as you probably guessed from my absence- but with the New Year comes new enthusiasm, excitement and lots of things to share.

So I look forward to sharing my creations with you and hopefully to some lovely comments and getting to know some of my blog watchers a lot better.