Another post in a week - what the????

Yes it is true readers, I have managed to drag myself here and make another post this week - strange, but true!!!!! I wanted to share another special little card that I discovered this week. This is a "Never Ending Card" - there's directions everywhere for it and I found mine on SCS - Dawn3577 - what a legend. This card is so simple when you know how. The picture at the top doesn't do it justice, so I've added a video for you to see how it actually "works". If anyone is interested in learning how to make these, let me know and I'll be happy to demo it for you.

Nothing much has been happening this week apart from lots of illness here at home. We rushed Maggie to hospital on Friday night with a very high temp. I spent a good portion of this week in bed absolutely knocked out with sinusitis (yuck!!!!!) - it's a good thing Jerry is well!!!!!

OK, I'm off to get ready for some VSN action this weekend on SCS. If you haven't experienced it yet, you should. It kicks of at 6pm (CT) Friday night in the US (22nd August) which is 8am EST Australian Time Saturday morning. We now only have about 14 hours to go - guess who's excited????

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about - VSN stands for "Virtual Stamping Night" - except it goes for 2 days LOL!!!!! There are usually around 18 challenges posted. 6 on Friday night (US time) and 12 on Saturday, every hour on the hour from set times. The challenges range from sketches/layouts to techniques and themes. The overall weekend has a theme and this weekend is Book weekend. We have 45 minutes to complete each challenge and then 15 minutes to photograph, upload the photo to SCS and clean up, ready for the next challenge. Sounds constrictive, but it's not. It's done on the honour system. If you're late starting, that's fine - you start the challenges whenever you can, but once you start, you time yourself to make sure you don't go over the 45 minutes.

It should be heaps of fun and I hope to be able to share with you all next week some of the cards I make.

Until then, I hope you all have a great weekend and Happy Stamping!!!!!

Cav

I sure hope it's been worth the wait ........

Well, again, it's been a long time between drinks my friends. But I certainly hope that this little project will have been worth the wait for you!!!! A Flip Book - another fabulous 3-D item that I'm sure will appeal to Scrapbookers - and it makes a totally do-able gift. (Christmas is just around the corner people!!!)

I discovered this awesome little project while surfing a few crafty blogs the other day. This gem comes from the very talented Amy Celona. You can check out her blog here. It's truly awesome what Amy has there - in fact, you can even go there and check out her original Flip Book and get the full directions on how to make it. And, if you're interested in seeing more pic's of my Flip Book, then check out my gallery on SCS sometime tomorrow (to give me a chance to upload all the pic's).

The subject for my Flip Book is the first ever Petting Zoo Maggie visited. It was at one of her best friend's 1st Birthday Party and Naming Day. It was a circus themed party - and Oh what a party - it will certainly be a long time before that effort will be topped!!!!! But the one thing that Maggie really got into was the Petting Zoo. And it was a great opportunity for her Daddy to share some quality time with her. I thought that the series of photos that I'd taken deserved a special presentation. Ta-dah - the Flip Book!!!!!

Now that I've done one, I'm thinking that this would be an awesome way for me to spread the word about what we've been up to this year - you know, a Christmas gift for family members living far away. Well, I only have a few short months left to get them done if that's the case - LOL!!!!!

In other news - I've been very busy working on my Stamp Camp coming up in September. I've actually extended the numbers to 10 people from 8 as I had another 2 friends who were interested. I'm extremely excited and have this week put in my order with SU for all the supplies I will need. Of course, the Stamp Camp meant that I had to buy 4 new stamp sets - how terrible!!!!!! Hehehehehe - can't wait to get my hands on them. And I had to purchase some more DSP - such a shame!!!!!!!

Well, that's all for now I guess. As Stamp Camp nears closer, I will try my best to get some more entries here for you all to read. In the meantime, happy stamping to all of you!!!!

Cav

I hope no-one was holding their breath .........

I really need to get better at this blogging caper!!!!! I apologise to my "avid readers" for not posting for a number of weeks - again. But I have been very, VERY busy. In addition to making heaps of cards and doing a few Workshops, I have actually been completing some requirements for some Recognised Prior Learning towards a Certificate I need in order to further my career in my "real" job. And of course I've been doing my "real" job, in addition to being a stay-at-home-Mum to Maggie, wife, chief cook and bottle washer - you all know how it is!!!!!

I've also been busy organising my first ever Stamp Camp - I'm soooooo excited!!!! It will be a small affair with just 8 lovely ladies joining me (I believe I have 7 confirmed at this stage with one more spot to fill!!!) It is all happening in September and we are doing a Christmas Theme. I have 8 projects planned - some are really quick and easy and others are a little more involved (yes, the Double Pocket Bag will be making a special return - this time in Christmas form!!!) I have so much to plan, but I love doing that side of it. And I want the day to be a heap of fun, so I'm planning on doing some special door prizes for my guests. I intend keeping everyone updated on my plans here.

Anyhooooo, needless to say, there's been so much going on all over the place, that I have neglected my blog. Until now!!!

So, the above card is one I made today for the SCS Colour and Sketch challenges for this week (I combined the challenges to make one card). Once I'd finished it, I thought it worthy of a special blog post as I used a technique I hadn't tried before.

The technique involves inking a stamp in Versamark before inking it in a colour (here I used Barely Banana and Groovy Guava). I then stamped the images and added some Heat & Stick powder before hitting it with the heat gun. This allowed me to then add some Dazzling Diamonds, heated the images again, and viola - a couple of very sparkly, pretty flowers - don't ya' think?????? Well, I liked it anyway.

So, the Sketch challenge on SCS simply provides me with the layout of the card and the colour challenge this week was to use Barely Banana, Groovy Guava and Chocolate Chip. With any colour challenge, we can add in neutrals so here, I used Very Vanilla - it's a lot softer with these colours as Whisper White can sometimes look a little too, "clean"!!!!!

I hope you like the card and if you're not quite sure on the technique and would like to know more, then please let me know. For those lucky ladies attending my Stamp Camp in September, rest assured, that you will be using this technique on one of the projects we'll be doing - I'm sure you will absolutely love it!!!!!

Well, I believe I've rambled on long enough now. I would like to post a special mention for a dear friend of our family in Perth who lost her father-in-law on Sunday. It was a bit of a shock and comes just under 6 months of her losing her mother-in-law. My thoughts are with Rhonda, her husband Garry and their family at this time.

OK - now this time I absolutely PROMISE, I won't be away for so long - especially now that I have my Stamp Camp to write about!!!!

Happy Stamping everyone!!!!!

It's been how long?????

OMGoodness!!!!! I've just realised it's been over a month since I last updated my Blog. I have been lazy, haven't I???? LOL!!!!

Well, I have been busy - working, doing some workshops, more working, family - you all know how it is. Most importantly though, I've maintained my stamping regime. I think I'm only about 10 or 15 cards off of my goal (1 card a day for the year!!!) Not too bad with all things considered.

But I realised I hadn't posted here for ages and, after completing today's SCS Challenge (Technique Lover's Challenge), I thought that this would be the perfect project to post here.

This is a Double Pocket Bag - and you wouldn't believe how easy it is to make. If you'd like to have a go at one yourself, then check out this link:

Double Pocket Bag Tutorial (SCS)

I used some of my Spring Flowers DSP for this one and I chose this particular piece because the paper reminded me of a well-used handbag. The inside is So Saffron and Mellow Moss with Very Vanilla and so those are the colours I chose for the decorative front panel. I cheated a little bit here and used some Non SU diamentes to decorate my sentiment. But I did take the opportunity to use two of my new sets (Baroque Motifs and For a Friend) and I used one of my new Rhinestone Brads (Circle - Ice). Love these new products!!!!!

Well, life for us has been, as I said before, pretty busy over the last few weeks. The most important development for me is that I have booked a trip to Perth for October to see my family and friends - and I'm taking Maggie with me!!!! I'm pretty excited as she's never flown, I haven't been to Perth since January 2005 and (this is the biggie), my Dad is yet to meet his one and only grandchild!!!!!! Maggie will 3 months shy of turning 3 by the time we get there. I can't wait. It will be fantastic to catch up with friends and family that I haven't seen in almost 3 years (in some cases longer!!!!). We've all had babies and so it will be great to meet each other's little ones too. Unfortunately, Jerry won't be able to come along, but as he said, "someone has to stay behind to look after the dogs and the cat and the house" - he's a sweetheart!!!!!!

So, over the coming months, I'm sure you'll notice a countdown somewhere on this blog (if I can figure out how to do that!!!!). In the meantime, I will try to make it back here a bit more regularly. And thanks to everyone who has left comments - including those that tagged me (I will get around to doing that by the way!!!!!)

Have a great day everyone!!!

Hugs!!

Cav

White Chocolate Limited - mmmmmmmm!!!!

Well, the title sounds yummy doesn't it??? The card featured here is for today's SCS Limited Supplies Challenge. Basically, these challenges provide us with a limited amount of supplies to use to make our cards. In this case the challenge was to use White plus any other colour. But, we could only use ONE other colour!!! That sort of ruled out the use of DSP because it usually has sooooo many colours in it.

So, I opted to use Chocolate Chip (my favourite colour, I have to admit, even thought I'm not really a brown fan!!!!). It gave me an excuse to use some of my yummy WIDE Chocolate Chip Ribbon. I am soooo thankful that this made it into our new Catty!!!!! (More about that in a minute!!)

I tried something a little different with this card. For the first time, I inked my stamp in Versamark before I inked it in the Chocolate Chip. I then added clear Embossing Powder to the image once it was stamped and heated it and viola!!!! An embossed image with colour!!!!

I have in the past always stamped the image in colour, then stamped over it with Versamark (using my Stamp-a-ma-jig to get it just right - most of the time - lol!!!!!!), then adding the clear Embossing Powder and heating it. Using this new method cuts out a fairly big step in the process which means time will be saved in future card making efforts - hooorahh!!!! I really can't believe this method works and had been meaning to try it for a while. Well, it works!!!!

Now, enough about today's challenge card and on to more important things.

Tuesday this week saw the launch of the new 2008-2009 Idea Book & Catalogue from Stampin' Up!!! And can I just say WOW!!!!!! There are so many new products in there - The Pretties Kit, Textured Cardstock, Rhinestone Brads, NEW Punches, so many gorgeous Double Sided Designer Papers - the list is endless!!! I'm so excited! There's over a hundred new stamp sets and over a dozen new standard and jumbo Wheel designs. Oh, and did I mention rub-ons?? Well we've got some of them too now!!!!

PLUS our new In Color Range - just stunning.

If you'd like to see the catalogue for yourself, just click on the Stampin' Up link to the top right of this page.

Well, I'm off to prepare for this weekend's Virtual Stamp Night (which lasts all weekend!!) on SCS. 18 different challenges over 2 and a half days - be prepared for lots of new posts next week.

Until then ............. have a great weekend!!!!

Cav

Paper Tole

Happy Monday everyone!!!!

Well, I had a semi- good weekend. I didn't have to do any work, so I didn't. There wasn't a lot of housework to do, so that was easy. But Maggie was a little out of sorts and so that meant I didn't get much sleep - especially with this being Jerry's sleep over weekend!!!!

Of course, the weekend started off really well with our Card Making night on Friday night. There were 7 of us - a nice sized group. We all made a few cards, had lots to eat and talked way too much!!!! The last girls left at about 1.30 Saturday morning. Guess I was already behind the 8-ball as far as sleep went!!

Anyway, enough about my drab and dreary life - onto more important things. Like today's Technique Lover's Challenge on SCS. Paper Tole - I really love this technique and the end result, but by golly, it can be a little time consuming. I'm glad I have my trusty SU! Craft & Rubber scissors now - makes cutting out small things very, very easy.

The above card was my effort for the challenge. I have paper-toled all but 4 of those little lady bugs (oh yes, you read it right, all but 4!!!!!!) I've also paper-toled the froggie's legs, the lid he's sitting on and the glass jar. I coloured the jar slightly using Bashful Blue and a blender pen and added a dash of colour at the bottom of the main image to "ground" it. That way, it doesn't look like my froggie and the jar are flying through the air - just the little bugs!!!! I kept the rest of the card fairly simple so as not to distract from the main image. What do you think?

Please leave a comment as I love reading your messages. And if anyone wants to see a particular type of technique or card of mine, then please, let me know!!!!

Well, I'm off to make some more cards - I saw a really wonderful technique today involving scenery ......................... bye for now!!!!

Cav

Another Day, Another Card

Hello all!!!

I thought I'd give myself a day's break between blog entries. And as usual, this entry begins with another card. I've been on a bit of a roll this week.

This card was for the weekly Sketch Challenge on SCS. I love sketch challenges as it means all I have to do is come up with the stamps I want to use and the colours - I don't have to figure out where everything has to go!!!!!! I particularly like the layers in this sketch. They're all just a little bit off centre which gives the overall card a very balanced look, surprisingly enough.

Anyway, I tried a new technique with this card - "out of the box" - basically, the main image is stamped then cut so I have my straight edge border on each side up to the flowers, then I cut around the flowers so it looks like their "out of the box" so to speak. (Goodness, I don't know if I've explained that very well at all!!!!!!). Anyway, it was my first attempt at the technique and I think I need to practice some more, but overall, I'm happy with the result.

I decided to use blues on this card as I always tend to lean towards pinks and purples. Especially when I'm stamping flowers. Well, I hope you like my card.

I've had an up and down sort of week this week. Stamping and card making and work have all been fine and dandy. But I've had some sad news too. A lovely man I used to work with in my previous job unfortunately, succumbed to the big C this week. I know he'd been ill and well, it's horrible to say, but it was just a matter of time. But, even knowing that, doesn't make it any easier when it happens.

He was a funny bloke - I could always have a laugh with him. Usually it was at either his expense or my expense, but he was just so good natured, quietly spoken and just an all round good guy. He will be greatly missed by his wife and children and his many friends. I'm in the process of making a Sympathy card for his family and I will post it here when I've finished. These cards are always difficult to make and are usually the cards we make only when we "have" to. I want this one to be special, so I'm taking my time and thinking very carefully about design and colour.

Well, I don't want to end on a sad note - my old mate wouldn't care for that at all!!!!! So, happy stamping to you all, and I'll leave you with this thought from Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back (yes, I AM that nerdy!!!!!!!) "Do, or do not. There is no try."

Cheers!!!!

This Week's SCS Colour Challenge

Well hello all!!! So much for trying to limit myself to weekly blog entries. Here it is, day two and I'm already adding my second entry - ho-hum!!!!!

This card is for the weekly Colour Challenge posted on SCS. We had to use Soft Sky (Bashful Blue), Basic Grey (Basic Black) and Whisper White. The original colours are the current US In Colour Range for SU! Of course, these colours will be available to us in Australia next week when the new Catalogue comes in. (Only 7 more sleeps to go!!!!)

I also chose this really elegant stamp set, "Elegant Notes", which will also make an appearance in the new Australian Catalogue. Oh, we have so much to look forward to!!!!

Well, apart from making this card today for the challenge, I've also done a heap of work while Maggie was in Childcare. She's really enjoying her time there with the other kids and just runs herself ragged!!! It's fantastic for her - not to mention it gives me a whole day of being able to get some "real" work done.

During some spare time today, I also tried a new stamping technique which I'm planning on demo'ing at an upcoming Workshop. It's super easy and super fun - and of course, the results are "super"!!!!! And I also found a recipe for home made glue today. Not that I'll be using it in my projects, but I do intend to make some up so Maggie can start her obsession, I mean, so Maggie can start having fun in sticking bits of paper to other bits of paper!!!!!!

Well, that's all from me for today - Happy Tuesday all!!!!!

Cav

Welcome to my Blog!!!!

Hey there and welcome to my Blog. This is my first ever post, so I guess we'll have to see how this goes. Not too sure how often I'll be able to get back here and post, but it is my intention to get back here at least weekly!!!!!!

I thought I'd start off easy and include the most recent card I've made in my first blog. And here it is ....................... Pickle Friendship Blooms. This was a challenge card from Splitcoaststampers (SCS). For anyone who is unfamiliar with the SCS Website, you should take the time to have a look at some absolutely wonderful creations from some very talented people. The link is off to the right of this page.

Every Sunday they do a Featured Stamper challenge. Quite simply a very talented stamper is chosen and their SCS gallery is featured. The challenge is to choose one of their cards to CASE (or copy) making only a few minor adjustments.

This week's featured stamper is Amy Sheffer (PickleTree) and her SCS Gallery can be found here. The card of Amy's that I chose to "CASE" is here.

The card pictured above is my take on Amy's card. With the challenge, I had to change at least two aspects of the original card. I decided to change the colour and the background of the card base and I also changed the sentiment slightly.

OK, this is going to be a short and to the point blog entry, just to get me started. Over the coming months I hope to add more photos of my card creations and also share a little of what's happening in the world of Cav (Maggie's Mummy).

Thanks so much for stopping by!!!!

Cav