turtles

we had a birthday party to go to this weekend 

and the birthday child LOVES turtles

so a turtle name banner was made for them

 i normally make this turtle a tad smaller using punches

but this time i ramped it up a bit

and used the circle thinlits to make it banner sized

 i attached them together with black satin ribbon 

and drew a variety of facial expressions on their mouths

 the birthday card was done using the same turtle but with a sentiment n the middle

cheers ears

a pretty little tree

i bought myself a new die this week

a pretty little tree

so i just HAD to make a card with it asap

luckily the ladies at colour me gave me some colour inspiration for my new toy lol

daffodil delight

tempting turquoise

calypso coral

melon mambo

to get the background the way it is i just sponged some tempting turquoise on whisper white

another card for a special birthday frind this month

cheers ears

creative blog hop

this week it is my turn for the creative blog hop!!

woohoo!

thanks christine!

this week i have been working on a card swap that i do every month with a group of friends including the clever miss sally 

our challenge for this month was herringbone and male birthday

can i just say that herringbone was not that easy and i found it hard to create something that was 'me'

here is what i came up with...still not entirely happy but there comes a point when you just have to let go and leave it hey?!

 a gate fold card with a herringbone design on the background using some black and white paper scraps.

in front is a rather spiffing gentleman using the age circle punch and word window for the hat, 1' and 3/4" circle punches for the monocle (punch the 3/4"first and then the 1" around the hole), and heart punch for his moustache

 inside i have used my rotary stamp for the sentiment

 here's a view of the herringbone pattern using scraps of dsp.

to make it i cut 1cm strips of dsp out. i stuck wide dst to the card and then slowly stuck down the strips

 when i finished making those i had another go at another herringbone card because i was not enjoying the process. this time i tried it on a circle just for kicks lol as you do. 

not entirely happy with this one either but wanted a crack at something different using the technique.

 here you can see all the different layers on the card.....and how wonky my sticking things on straight is lmao

now for the questions....

What are you working on now?

i  am currently designing some adult punch art classes utilising the owl punch in unusual ways. i also have another blog hop coming using stuff from the latest stampin up occasions catalogue so am waiting rather impatiently for my postie to arrive so i can play. later on this month i am at a stamp camp with my new zealand stampin up family so have to make up some card swaps for that

How does your work differ from others in your genre?.

i think my stuff is probably a bit weirder and quirkier than most stampin up demos. i am a self-confessed geek and LOVE punch art so a lot of my stuff reflects that. now and again i'll do a 2 stamp flower card just to freak everyone out and then go back to my punch art quirky stuff

Why do you create what you do?

i have 4 kids...i need some creative outlet!!! otherwise i think i would go mental. i have always created stuff from the early days of making models with plastercine, mosaics, painting, to my visual arts/education degree at uni to being a stampin up demo.

How does your creative process work? 

often i will see something and want to make it in punch art. i am inspired by those around me too and am an avid pinner of ideas of interest. i will also get asked/dared to make something...south park characters, pop-up penises, minecraft creepers to name a few. i am also inspired by my kids-my eldest in particular. when i get a new punch she is always in there cutting and jiggling it around and giving me ideas of what to make with it because...shock horror...we actually use it for its intended purpose lmao

hope that was interesting

stay tuned for the next blogs in line

cheers ears

slumber party invites

my daughter is having a slumber party for her birthday soon

so i made these as the invites.

 simple envelope cards with inserts.
approx 7cm across and 9cm down
with a 2cm strip across the top.

i used the very perky and bright sweet taffy dsp from stampin up

 the girl was made from a small tag punch (top), 

1"circle (face) plus word windows(hands and feet) 

and modern label (sleeves + pants). 

hair was scraps from a blossom punch. 

pillow is a decorative label punch 

with the pointy bits cut off.
mattress was approx 6.5cm x 12cm with the edges cut with a corner rounder

if you decide to case this

make sure you have her arms up or right down

otherwise she wont fit into bed :)

information about the party 

was stuck to the back of the 'mattress' the girl was stuck to.

cheers ears

pocketful of posies

another card in a box

with some purple flowers with a retro feel to them

 i used the pansy 

and the blossom punches 

with a variety of the smaller circle punches

 side view

 back of the card where a message can be written on

hope the customer likes it

cheers ears

how to make a skylander pinata

this is eruptor

he is a skylander

my son wanted him as a pinata for his birthday

so we got a balloon

covered it with a layer of newspaper and glue

glue was half water/half pva

next layer was lined white paper

then another layer of newspaper
 when it was dry
(a good 24 hours seeing ti was pouring with rain here)
i also ahve to admit to
trying to speed up the drying process by
putting it near the oven as it cooled down
...bad move..
the balloon popped
and pinata imploded
like a black hole..
.so we had to start again...sigh

next layer was adding the arms, legs and fin using a cereal box and a heap of masking tape

arms were cones and legs were cylinders

 

then we covered all of that with lined paper

 when that had dried (24 hours-no oven...i learnt my lesson lmao)

 we glued down the crepe paper

this is easiest done by using a brush and paintign the glue onto teh pinata nd then adding the paper

complete pain in the butt doing it with your fingers

sticks every-freaking-where!

 addded eyes and mouth with coloured card and left it to dry for 24 hours

fin had yellow crepe paper over the red

arms were shoved full of newspaper and just the top bits had crepe paper shoved in and covered

nice sharp triangle teeth lol

 then i cut a small incision in the back of his head to squeeze the lollies in

 just like this-all the lollies were in packets 

so they didn't get all dirty when they fell on the floor

i put in about 6 different packets

 for each of the kids so 

eruptor weighed quite a bit 

by the time we were finshed and he was quite full!!!

here's the birthday boy having a smash!

eruptor lasted about 12 smashes

he was not as strong as previous years-only 3 layers which was good

his arms and legs fell off pretty quick though lololololol

cheers ears

minecraft birthday card

my son is obsessed with minecraft

so are all his friends

so it was just a matter of time before  

i was asked to make a card and a name plaque lol

 card in a box minecraft birthday card

used the square punches A LOT!!!

plus tag it set and the blast off stamp set and hexagon punch

 brick texture on grey was made using a brick embossing folder

 i dig you from tag it stamp set and arrows made using hexagon punch

 card in a box is a 6cmx6cm square size

embossing texture inked up with some basic grey ink

font for name from internet and adapted into card with some basic grey ink

creeper is done in gumball green

pick axe handle was made using the zigzag from tasteful trim die

hope the birthday boy loves it as much as the giver lolol

cheers ears

ps more minecraft party ideas here

COOL FUNKY WOOHOO!!!

let's go eat cake

celebrate

YAY

happy birthday to you

these are some of the sayings on the a la carte birthday stamp from stampin up

one stamp...alll by itself...cool huh?

 got me a cool funky chick standing by the cool funky stamp with some cool funky dsp in the background

waaaay funky dude :>

 inside the card are some co-ordinating bits-the ribbon sticks out just a little teeny tiny bit to see when the card is folded 

 the top of the sentiment/tag with some clips, string (free from a sab kit) and more ribbon

check out the funky tights

wish they made those in MY size

cheers ears

a mouse tail

i quite like mice

-not in my kitchen you understand

but on cards they are just adorable lolol

although this one may have eaten all the cake already given its belly

 here's a birthday mouse 

using colours i wouldn't normally use 

thanks to the girls over at just add ink 

and their colour challenge for this week

pistachio, crumb cake and gold

i have also included a decorated an envelope to match

 missy mouse is doen in crumb cake

balloon done in pistachio

and the string is done with gold

i have also sponged all around the mouse in gold too

 balloon was made using the owl punch with the sketched birthday stamp for the sentiment

inside i have used washi tape to make it pretty and matchy matchy

hopefully this mouse doesn't scare its recipient lol

cheers ears

exterminate crappy birthday presents!!!!

got a special order in this week from my son

he wanted me to make a purple dalek name plaque for his bestie

so like any adoring mother i did as i was told

lololol

 basic dalek punch art figure

 plenty of sponging to give it some extra depth

 added it to a piece of chipboard with dsp and kids name

dalek lazer blasts are made with glitter card

i added crystal effects to get it all shiny and more awesome looking

gave it to birthday boy today and first time in my life i have seen him speechless with mouth open and nothing coming out

awesome :> 

my job here is done :>

cheers ears

supreme dalek birthday

daleks do not take orders

but i do

especially when it involves a 10 year old boy 

who is slightly obsessed by doctor who

this is an updated version of a dalek compared to the old one i did a while back.

this one is bigger and has more details

 i must admit to hardly using any punches-mainly the little circles for it's domes, circle die for it's head and the mosaic punch for it's arm.

the rest is strips of card

 circle upon circle for the domey womey knobbley wobbley bits 

(that's time lord lingo fwiw)

 i also used a bit of silver ink daubered around the edges of stuff to give it a bit of a lift and some depth.

 here's the very simple card front

inspired by the folks at retro sketches

stamp is from lots of bots-now sadly retired

 the inside is inspired by a building block card tutorial from split coast stampers

card from the top

the inside with the dalek saying ce-le-brate, ce-le-brate instead of exterminate

far nicer for the birthday child methinks lol

so that is the card done

now to make the gift

stay tuned :>

cheers ears