dino.......rawr!!!!

i ALWAYS  have to buy the latest dinosaur stamp set...it is a given in my house with my dino-obsessed son

no bones about it is an awesome set with plenty of scope for fun stuff

 here i have used the acorn punch to make a dinosaur-it is perfect for the head shape

i have used the tree builder punch for the arms and tail and the latest flower builder punch for the leaves 

fringe scissors for the grass and chevron punch for the arrows

skating by with my addiction

card in a box

skating by style

my name is cow

i have an addiction

i love cards in a box

get well dude

here is a card in a box

for a surfer boy who is not a 100%

 surfer is made using the bow tie punch for his body with a circle punch for his head

the boogie board is freehand as i had previously made one out of the feather dies but it looked as if it had been munched on by a hungry shark lololol

 the waves were cut out with small circles and dude was cut out with the little abc thinlits

 a space was left at the back of the card to write on

to make the waves i layered marina mist and coastal cabana with a stencil i made from card and punches

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

male cards

lets face it

blokes cards are tricky

here are a few i made for father's day but are easily adaptable to the bloke in your life

 hexagon punch and die cut letters-easily swapped for person's name

 dapper dad stamp

 dapper dad stamp

 used an old rekorderling (cider) bottle top for the watch

 for the doctor who fan

 punch art tools and washi tape

cheers ears

just add ink challenge

over at just add ink this week 

we have been given the challenge to get out our scissors and get cutting!

 i had a birthday card to make for a little friend so thought who better than bob the builder to make!

 for bob i have used a variety of punches

1 1/4 circle (face, hat)

1/2"circle (hand)

owl (shirt body, ears, eyes, nose, shoes)

slit (fingers)

word window (belt, arms)

decorative label punch (overalls)

i have also used the party this way stamp set

and a brick embossing folder

i also decorated the inside using similar elements

can you guess how old the birthday boy is going to be?

if you would like to know how to make bob 

please come back next week 

and a free tutorial will be up on my tutorials page 

(hopefully i will have a link organised by then :>)

cheers ears

on the eighth day of christmas my crafty cow made for me.....

 ...a bigger calendar using a scrapbooking page!!!!

 

 this present is made from one of those nauseatingly cute kitten calendars 

you can pick up at any cheap shop for $2. 

just buy one and quickly...oh so very quickly...cover it with a scrapbooking page please!!!

i tried to make this have a masculine feel to it as, lets face it, those boys of ours are hard to buy/make things for aren't they?

 i made a small 6x6 then added that to an A4 page.

i have used the travel journal paper and my scallop square punch to make my page more interesting.

i am planning on putting some small photos on the big peice of orange and will probably print them out in a sepia tone.

here i added a simple tag and tied it onto a brad.

to bling this up you can add some smooch spray or more diamantes.

a couple of co-ordinating buttons would also be nice.

if you would like to make this calendar (amongst other things!!)

feel free to come along to my summer mini catalogue launch this thursday night.

for more details please contact me

okies remember to leave a comment here or on facebook to recieve some home made goodies from me!

cheers ears

cards for men

lets face it

masculine / male/ men cards are a complete arse to do, i find. little boy cards are easy peasy but when they grow up they start to become harder to please.

being the girl that i am i always end up making them look a bit too 'gay' thankfully i have my hubby who has his gaydar on and happily lets me know if my masculine cards aren't manly enough lol so here are some i made recently. see if you can spot the one that made hubby's gaydar go off lol

put your guess in the comments section and if it is the right one then i'll send some masculine themed card/scrapbooking embellishments your way. cheers ears