Hip-Hippo-Thankyou!!! JAI Challenge 37

Happy Sunday............


I have to tell you I have completely and totally fallen in love with creating again!!! I don't know what happened there for a while but I just felt that I was creating because I HAD to (for orders, stamp club, etc) not because I WANTED to. But something amazing happened for no reason at all and I am back doing what I love most because I truly want to. It's fantastic!!!


The joy that comes with loving stamping again is that ideas just bounce into my head without really having to think about them. And that is exactly what happened with this card for this week's Just Add Ink  challenge. The girls have set a colour challenge this week and when I first looked at them I thought "Whoa!!!" but that quickly turned into "Wow Fun Colours!!!". Here they are:

This is actually the first time EVER that I have used Always Artichoke and I would never have thought of putting it with the other colours. This is the fun (and just a little bit cute!) card I came up with using these fun colours:

Project Redipe

Stamp Sets:     Pun Fun; Short and Sweet

Inks:               Rose Red; Pumpkin Pie; Old Olive; Always Artichoke; StazOn Black

Card/Paper:    Rose Red; Always Artichoke; Pumpkin Pie; Old Olive; Watercolour Paper

Accessories:    Circle Scissors Plus; Big Shot; Polka Dot Embossing Folder; Trio Flower Punch (retired); Word Window Punch; Scallop Oval Punch (for the cute little tab around the sentiment); Designer Buttons (Brights); Adhesive Pearls; Rose Red Double Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon; Aqua Painter

Now this little hippo with her balloon is meant for a birthday card of course but I happened to need a thank you card so I changed her cute little balloon into a cute little button flower. I don't actually own the Scallop Circle Die for the Big Shot so I traced my Rose Red Scallop from a Carousel Note (retired) in my stash- not bad hey?!?!? I've been practicing, what I like to call, my Teneale Williams' bows and I think they are starting to look quite snazzy- what do you think????

Well that's enough from me for now. My parents arrive home from England today- Yippee- Elliot and I are both so excited to have them back. I'm also in the middle of making some goodies for the little guy's 2nd birthday party on Wednesday. I promise to come back and share them soon.

Have a lovely day.

Inkspirations Guest Designer- That's Me!!!

What a wonderful surprise it was last Friday when my card was announced the winner of the Inkspirations challenge.........very exciting!!! And what made it more exciting was the opportunity to be the Guest Designer for this week's challenge.
Makeesha has set this colour challenge for this week:

I have to admit I really struggled for a while with these colours. The bold navy and red are two colours that I would not normally think of putting together. Then I couldn't get the idea of flowers out of my head.......no matter how hard I tried. So here is my flowery card using the challenge colours:

Project Recipe

Stamp Sets:   Vintage Vogue; Flower Fancy; Curly Cute

Inks:             Not Quite Navy; Kiwi Kiss (retired); Riding Hood Red

Card/Paper:  Not Quite Navy; Very Vanilla; Kiwi Kiss (retired); Bella Bleu DSP (retired); Watercolour Paper

Accessories:  Circle Scissors Plus; Scallop Oval Punch; Corner Rounder Punch; Stampin Pastels; Kiwi Kiss/Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon (retired)

I'm actually really, really happy with how it has turned out. To get the muted effect of the Not Quite Navy flourishes on the circle I firstly slightly dampened some watercolour paper  and then stamped off the image twice before stamping on the circle. The scallop around the edge of the circle is created using the scallop oval punch. The little tab for the sentiment is made using the scallop oval punch and cutting off the top and bottom, an idea I got from Lisa Jansen. I was so excited to get the chance to use the truly gorgeous (and now retired) Kiwi Kiss and Very Vanilla satin ribbon again.


Thank you Makeesha for choosing my card as the winner and for the opportunity to guest design this week. Have loved every second xxx


Will be back later to show you Elliot's super cute 2nd birthday party invites that I have been working on this week.

Monkeying Around for JAI 36

Wowee I'm running late with my entry to Just Add Ink's challenge this week. Here is the sketch for this week's challenge:

You know when you have one of those weeks where you look at a sketch over and over but you come up with nothing- well that was what happened to me this week. Until today when this little idea popped into my head.............

Project Recipe

Stamp Set:     Fox and Friends; Crazy for Cupcakes

Inks:              Regal Rose; Baja Breeze; So Saffron; Pear Pizzazz; Pretty In Pink; Chocolate Chip

Card/Paper:   Pink Pirouette; So Saffron; Whisper White; Pear Pizzazz; Baja Breeze

Accessories:  Big Shot & Alphabet Dies; 1 3/8" Circle Punch; Circle Scissors Plus (to cut So Saffron circle); Regal Rose 5/8' Grosgrain ribbon; Baja Breeze button; Crystal Effects

This card honestly took me FOREVER!!! I stamped those little monkeys on a range of different cardstock and in a range of different coloured inks until I finally settled on these colourful little monkeys. What do you think of this little colour combo??? They are the colours from the new Nursery Suite designer series papers. I think they are cute, cute, cute.

Ok time to post my card before I miss the deadline.

Come back Friday to see my super special surprise.........My chance to be this week's Inkspirations Guest Designer. Soooo exciting.

 

A Few Things To Send On Holiday

As promised I'm back again to show some of the things I have been busy doing over the couple of months that I have been missing in action.......

At the moment my parents are over in England visiting my youngest brother and his partner who are living over there. I am missing them but also feeling very proud of how well I am coping all on my own. Elliot and I are actually having a really great time, just the two of us. Anyway....before Mum left she asked if I could make a couple of birthday cards and one of my baby frames for her to take with her to gift while she is over there.

The first one is for my cousin's daughter, Amy, who will be turning 11. I had been wanting to give one of these lollipop cards a go ever since seeing THIS card by the fabulous Sarah-Jane Kale. I was planning to make the lollipop just the same as SJ did but after stamping out the swirly image from Trendy Trees I realised I don't have the one inch punch. Poo!!! So instead I punched out the 1&3/8" circle and ran it through the big shot using the polka dot embossing folder and then sponged Whisper White ink on top- WhaLaa!!! My own lollipop.

Project Recipe

Stamps Sets:      Party This Way

Ink:                     Regal Rose; Whisper White

Card/Paper:     Pink Pirouette; Regal Rose; Whisper White; Sweet Always DSP (retired)

Accessories:      13/8" Circle Punch; Big Shot & Polka Dot Embossing Folder; Scallop Oval Punch; Oval Punch; Paper Piercing Tool; Pretty in Pink Grosgrain Ribbon; 

The next card is for my brother's partner, Scott, who celebrated his 22nd birthday with Mum and Dad over there. Happy Birthday Scott- miss you xxx. I case'd a card from the front page of the new Idea Book and Catalogue for this one. After putting the piece of card with all the bits of DSPs lined up through the Big Shot it left this really cute frame which I then put inside the card (but forgot to take a photo of).

Project Recipe

Stamp Set:       Perfect Punches

Ink:                   Chocolate Chip

Card/Paper:   Crumb Cake; Baja Breeze; Sweet Slumber DSP (retired); Chocolate Chip DSP (retired); Parisian Breeze DSP (retired); Baja Breeze DSP (retired); Big Shot & Top Note Die; Designer Button; Linen Thread; Baja Breeze 5/8" Double-stitched ribbon

Last but not least is one of my baby frames that I made for Mum's best friend's brand new grandson, Thomas. The proud new parents and Nanny and Grandad all live in England at the moment so this special frame was bubble-wrapped and suitcase packed for its long flight. Little Thomas's nursery is apparently decorated in egg-shell blue and cream hence the beautiful colour combo I chose of Baja Breeze; Very Vanilla and Soft Suede. Too cute!!!!

Project Recipe

Stamp Set:        Fox and Friends

Ink:                    Basic Grey; Baja Breeze; Soft Suede; Crumb Cake

Card/Paper:    Baja Breeze; Soft Suede; Baja Breeze DSP (retired)

Accessories:     Scallop Oval Punch; Oval Punch; Various ribbons & buttons; Rub-ons

Wow that was a mammoth post wasn't it??? Hope you like what I had to show today. More to come.

More Every Moment Flowers for Inkspirations Colour Challenge 40

I'm back again..........told you I have been creating!!!

This card and the one in my previous post are creations from my weekend. I have used the gorgeous Every Moment set for this card too. This card I made for the Inkspirations colour challenge set by Makeesha this week.

These are the gorgeous colours for this week:



And here is my card:



Not sure if you can see in this close up but the butterfly and the centre of the flowers are shimmering with Dazzling Diamonds.



Project Recipe:

Stamp Sets: Every Moment; Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Ink: Basic Grey; So Saffron; Rose Red; Old Olive
Card/Paper: Basic Grey; Rose Red; So Saffron; Whisper White; Raspberry Tart DSP (retired)
Accessories: Aqua Painter; Dazzling Diamonds; White Gel Pen; Scallop Edge Punch; Fiskars Apron Lace Border Punch; White Taffeta Ribbon; Brights Buttons (gorgeous!!!); Adhesive Pearls

You may also notice that my little page in blogland is undergoing a little makeover (it's a work in progress) thanks to my fabulously talented and lovely brother, Brett. He's been doing all sorts of little bits and pieces for my inkyloulou business. Thanks Brett xxx.

Looking forward to seeing what you think of my card.

Will be back tomorrow to post some past creations.

With Sympathy- Just Add Ink Theme Challenge 35

Hello inky friends,

I hope I still have some inky friends after my very long absence from my blog. The last few months have been just a little bit crazy- moved house; market stall; Klass Act Team Day; 85 birth announcements; finally divorced; Father's Day; SU Regionals (40 swap cards); 3 baby frames; fun times with Elliot; cards, cards, cards; birthday party planning; parents overseas (very much a single mummy at the moment!!!)- you get the picture. It seems like a very long time since I have had the chance to create for the joy of creating and just for me. However, this week I have found the time to jump back into the swing of creating and I am loving it....absolutely loving it.

And what better way to enjoy creating just for me than to have a play with this week's Just Add Ink Challenge. I have been really missing entering the JAI challenges and have had to be happy with just looking at everyone elses creations.

So this week's challenge is a theme challenge- to Just Add Sympathy and create a sympathy card. I decided to use the 'Every Moment' stamp set we were given at Stampin' Up Regionals a couple of weeks ago. I, like so many others, wasn't too keen on the set when I saw it in the catalogue but after playing with it at regionals I am in LOVE with it!!! I am really practising my watercolouring when working with this set too. I also used one of the new Stampin' Up! colours too- Marina Mist- and I can already tell it is going to be a favourite- so pretty!!!

Here is my card:





Project Recipe:
Stamp Sets: Every Moment; Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Ink: Marina Mist; So Saffron; More Mustard; Old Olive; StazOn Black
Card/Paper: Marina Mist; Bashful Blue; Very Vanilla; Watercolour Paper
Accessories: Aqua Painter; White gel pen; Word Window Punch; Fiskars Apron Lace Border Punch; Paper Piercer; Adhesive Pearls


I hope you like it. Let me know what you think- I LOVE getting comments.

I am planning, over the next few days, to share some photos of projects that have been sitting here all lonely waiting to be blogged.

It's Here!! It's Here!! The New Catalogue is Here!!

Hello, Hello...........

Ok so let's not waste any blog space discussing my absence from my little spot in blogland. It happened AGAIN and it's done with......

INSTEAD let's discuss the fact that it is September 1 and that means IT'S finally here.......

The Brand New Stampin Up 2010-2011 Catalogue is HERE.....Woo Hoo!!!!



Check out the whole catalogue HERE. You can also find the link in my side bar over there -->

One of the most exciting things about the new catalogue is the amazing new colours that have been introduced. They are just gorgeous and I can't wait to get them in my craft room and have a play. Stampin Up! have released some new colour kits and you can have a squizzy at those HERE.



If you have any questions OR would like to order your own catalogue to have in your own little hands to look at over and over OR would like to order some of the fabulous products in the new catalogue then please email me at inkyloulou@live.com.

I hope you are as excited about the new catalogue release as I am!!!!

Louise x