to a good friend...thinking of you

needed a card for a nana today 

and came up with this

 loads of layers and simple colours and flowers and butterflies

 simple design using some dsp on the background ad a little bit in the centre of the flowers

 i used an embossing folder for some texture on the background

added some boho blossoms, bird punch and circles for the flowers

large scallop circle die that i pierced some holes in

cute little button with matching yellow cotton

for a little bit of whimsy i added in some string and some matching beads 

not my normal kind of card

do you think i got my nana on enough?

bliss

i don't generally do clean and simple

i am more of a crazy and colourful kinda chick

so when i saw the challenge at casology this week

involving the TROPICAL theme

i had to do a picture that has been 

playing around in my head for awhile

so here is my idea-still not quite right but this can be a work in progress-a beginning of an idea

i have been playing around with the smooshing technique

-basically put i splodged ink all over my glass cutting mat, 

spritzed with water,

 jiggled with the ink to make them all run nicely together

and then plonked a piece of paper on top of it.

simple really and a very cool random technique

my girl's dress was made using the bow tie punch

hat with an oval

hair and arms with the bird punch

waves were just randomly torn out of dsp

sentiment done with the rotary stamp

cheers ears

steam punk creative crew challenge

steam punk and stampin up are 2 words that seemingly go together in my world but...meh...

the world is obviously tilting on its axis a bit this month and we have the combination!!

i was inspired by this amazing lady

hazel fisher

she does amazing paintings of animals

here is my take on two of her bird paintings

 i have used the 2 step bird punch to make these birds.

i have also used a variety of stamps from various sets

artisitc etchings-key, crown

lots of bots-nuts and bolts

hope and strength-words

tiny tags-corner images

welcome christmas-seasons greetings

each bird was punched out several times and then each one was cut into segments.

these segments were inked and glued carefully into place with tombow and fine tweezers!

some nuts and bolts were cut out and added to wings

then i added rivets with a marker pen for more details and added some crystal effects to make it shiny.

finally the key was coloured in and added to the back

 

  

hope you feel inspired to try out steam punk with stampin up products too

feel free to post your ideas up at split coast stampers 

cheers ears

esad winter blog hop

brrrr the nights here in sydney are getting cooler and my slippers are starting to be my constant companions in the evenings sitting at my craft table

hence why us chicks at esad have decided that a winter blog hop is in order

a wonderful way to warm up your creative mojo with all the fabulous goodies that stampin up have to offer

jacinta has already given you some awesome inspiration with the tulip embossing folder so

my job is to get that old brain thinking about how else you can use those punches we have apart from the obvious so you can get more out of them...which is always good huh?!

i want to show you my dancing girls 

 my hula girl is made from mainly 

the cupcake punch (hair, eyes, bra, skirt, decorations, neck,flower middle)

but also the bird punch (legs, feet, arms)

the small oval (torso)

trio flowers (flower in hair)

3/4" circle (face)

her maori friend from new zealand

uses the cupcake punch (skirt, top, hair, poi, neck, eyes)

bird punch (legs, arms, feet)

3/4" circle (face)

the ballet dancer uses the cupcake punch (tutu, top, hair, tiara, neck)

bird punch (arms, legs)

3/4" circle (face)

 here's how i make the hands-just carefully cut the branch at the intersection.

the leftover leaves are great for feet

 here are all the girls together-all happily dancing together

but then you ask

what do i do with them now?

well...you can put them on a card of course

or you can give them to a little girl who loves to dance

i used the musical noted standard roller to go over the back ground and frame.

then i put them all into a nice cheap ikea frame and added one of my favourite sayings:

LIFE IS A DANCE. LOVE IS THE MUSIC.

this now stands proudly in my eldest daughter's room as she fancies herself as angelina ballerina

isn't it cool what else you can do with that one little punch?

next on my list was the new label punch

here's what initially came to mind when i first got it!

the hulk!!!

i stuck him onto a clip for the fridge-

maybe that might scare me away from it and help me lose a few kilos!!!!

i also made this very easy and very quick and very cute little name banner for 

my youngest to hang in her room

i thought i had also better show you some cards too

the label punch has some really great uses 

here i have used it in a card gift box (recycling ye olde hodge podge hardware tin!) 

 on the tin i have used it as part of a bigger fancier label 

and also as a edging for the white strip along the middle

 

on this card the label is used 2 ways

-edging down the bottom

-turned into a smaller label lengthways

this was done by punching out a label and then putting it back in, 

wriggling it around a bit, lining it up and then punching through it to get something extra!

 here the punch is used as a basket for the balloon and as the little tag on the side

-this time the punch was done twice widthwise

 inspired by a card in the latest catty i used it as a window

 here i have just used it as normal but i have trimmed a teeny tiny bit around it and then crimped it

on this last card i have just used it as part of a label combo thing

hope you feel inspired and rush out to get those punches now

feel free to buy them off me !!

What is ESAD?

ESAD stands for Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators and it is an online group just for Australian and New Zealand demonstrators for Stampin’ Up!

We so love what we do and not only do we love to share it with our customers, friends, and wonderful blog visitors but we share our love for what we do with each other as Demonstrators. We run swaps, challenges, tutorials, product know how and cyberstamps and we are always there to help and support each other when its needed.

So if you are a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand then please feel free to click here to join our wonderful group.

now it is time to head over to leonie's blog at stamp-a-latte to see her creations using the beautiful nature walk collection of stamps and dsp

cheers ears

little bird

another card designed and made during my inklings weekend away. it was for a sketch challenge our fearless leader jayne had presented us with. i copied the sketch exactly (apart from it being portrait and the original being landscape) including the stamp used but did it all in punch art instead. big kisses and hugs to those inklings who voted mine the winner ....blushes... it made me feel all warm and fuzzy!!!

here's a close up showing you all the lovely detail i put into the bird's body and wings now seeing i am nearly at 10,000 hits i am offering you a cool prize let me know via the comments the stamp set i have been inspired by and a winner will be randomly drawn out by next saturday(8pm sydney time) and they will win this card!!! how cool is that??!! cheers ears

bird on a branch

going to watch the kids swim and do soccer training can make me itchy to do stuff

and i would prefer it not to be of the eating chocolate variety lol

so i take crafty stuff to do

one of the things i did last week was to take the bird punch and some scrap dsp and make these 3d birds from the 2-step bird punch

just make a couple of holes with a cropadile,

make little fans with the dsp

and poke the dsp through the hole

add fishing twine and dangle from a stick!

easy

cheap

and it looks really cool

on my dining table

and lasts longer than flowers lol

but sssh don't tell hubby or he will stop bringing me some!

cheers ears

2-step bird punch..ooo and blog candy!

did i mention how cool this punch is? WAAAAAAAAAAAY COOL!

this card was made with a small 3d frame i also used plenty of detail on the bird's body and leaves some crystal effects and dazzling diamonds for stars and some yummy choc chip ribbon that's all folks from me however if you have found a way of using the bird punch differently i would love to know how send your ideas in to me by the end of the month and be in to win some blog candy aka cool stampin up stuff for free! offer is open to other su demos :> cheers ears