Celebrate in Style

I came across a challenge site called Stampin Celebration & thought it was such a gorgeous picture for inspiration that I should make a card to celebrate the New Year in, but somehow I missed the deadline for submitting my card. So here it is anyway. It is certainly a card that looks better in real life.
Edited to add it is now on the challege site must have been the gremlins at work.

ENJOY!!!

Happy Stamping

Fiona

My daughters Graduation

Sorry a non stamping related post.
One of the many things happening in the lead up to Christmas was my daughters graduation from Primary school. It was such a lovely night which started with Mass, then an awards ceremony & cutting of the cake, Emily was lucky to be chosen to cut the cake with one of the boys, it was then onto dinner prepared by the year 5 parents & finally a disco for the year 6 students.

Emily looked just gorgeous & It's hard to believe she will be going of to High School in a months time where has the time gone, it just feels like yesterday she started school.

I just had to include this photo above as Emily thinks her Dad looks grumpy & this is the best of 4 photos (he is trying to give James directions on taking the photo, not that he needed any)

Happy Stamping

Fiona

Stylish Blogger Award

Over the Christmas break I was lucky to receive this Stylish blogger award (not that I deserve when I can't even keep up regular posts) from the talented Sonia.

part of this award is to tell you 8 things about me.

1:One of my new years resolutions is to loose weight for my nieces' wedding in Bali in June & possibly even a couple of kilos for my cousins wedding in mid February will keep you posted with my progress.
2: another new year resolution is to post more regularly to my blog.
3: I don't like vegetables (not for my parents lack of trying either).
4: I went overseas for the first time last September.
5: I love to visit theme parks & go on most of the rides (California Screamin at Disneyland is one of the best)
6: the best job I had was Manager of Bed Bath n' Table in Canberra a position I held for 4 years prior to having kids.
7: I am a director of a company that supplies Wind Turbines, Parts & Services in Australia
8: I am the only one in our family who can't ride a motorbike.

I am supposed to pass this onto 8 people but Sonia has included some of those I would choose & I can't pick anyone special out of all the blogs I visit ( I know I was never any good at choosing). maybe that should have been on my list above.

Bye for now
Happy Stamping
Fiona

Happy New Year

Hi hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas & celebrated the New Year in style, I am still recovering from a very late night early morning after we hosted a New Years Eve party at our house.

I can't believe its been so long between posts again but hopefully I can keep up some regular posts this year. The end of last year ended in a big rush to finish some Wedding invites, End of year class with gifts for everyone ( I didn't even take a photo this year) & my Christmas cards which made the mail in the final week.

The card I have to show is one I made for the new weekly challenge happening over at Stampin Up In OZ. This Yahoo group is open to all Australian residents who love to create with Stampin Up products. The challenge was water colouring which I can honestly say is not one of my forte'.

Card Recipe:

Stamp Sets: Because I Care & Whimsical Words

Cardstock & Inks: Basic Black Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Going Grey & Pumpkin Pie.

Accessories: Scallop Trim Border punch.

Bye for Now

Happy Stamping

Fiona

Festive Banner

Today I have a festive banner to share with that I made with one of the tutorials available at We Stamp For Lara, there is still time to sign up & receive a month of tutorials whilst helping the beautiful little girl Lara.

For my banner I chose the non traditional colours of Rich Razzleberry & Melon Mambo & I love how it turned out. I may now have make some more decorations in these colours to add to the Christmas tree in the Studio.
Happy Stamping
Fiona

Another Xmas card

Hi ,
Just back with my second card I made for the Just Add Ink Challenge. Again this was very hard to photograph & looks way better in real life. With this card I actually brayed the embossing folder with Crumb Cake ink, before putting it through the Bigshot.

I am in a bit of a rush for dinner so if you would like more details feel free to Email me.
Happy Stamping
Fiona

Just Add Ink #43

Hi,
Today I here to share a card I made for the Just Add Ink challenge which was Just Add Christmas.
My card is a very simple card using the Bauble from the Contempo Christmas Stamp set

For this card I have applied the Shimmer Paint to the embossed background with a Dauber, I have also applied the shimmer paint to the bauble as well as some bling. I then finished the card with a gorgeous bow & antique brad. The card looks much better in real life, I can't seem to pick up the shimmer background in any of the photos I took.

Will be back later tonight with another Christmas card similar to Thursdays card .

Happy Stamping

Fiona

Have you got your sunglasses on

Hi ,
Today I want to share a card I have made for my classes tonight. It's a part case of a card I saved a picture of from Splitcoatstampers, the picture doesn't have a watermark & I not exactually sure where I found it, please let me know if you know of the original creator.

I have made the card in a much brighter yellow Daffodil Delight than the original. I have also used different ribbon, punched flowers, embossing folders & sentiment & Guess What I love it!!!!!!!!. It reminds me of my mum for some reason so I think I will be saving it for her birthday.
I know it won't be everyones cup of tea , but that doesn't matter.
Let me know what you think.

Happy Stamping
Fiona

Stampin Royalty #44 second entry

Hi I am back with another card I made for the Stampin Royalty Challenge, this was the first card I made, but I am just not 100% happy with & I don't know why. So I thought the least I could do is show everyone & let you all be the judge

I have used the brayer to ink up Vintage wallpaper embossing folder with So Safron ink & have added a hand made rose, the edges have been daubed with the new shimmer ink to finish them off.

 

Happy Stamping

Fiona

Stampin Royalty Challenge #44

I can't believe it has taken me 4 days to create a card for the Stampin Royalty challenge.Last week was my first ever entry into their challenge & I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the top 3 Goddess picks. this weeks challenge was a colour challenge & these colours had me totally stumped, for some reason I just couldn't get the balance of colours to something I was happy with.
In the end I settled on a birthday card using the Party This Way Stamp set.

Thanks for looking

Happy Stamping

Fiona

 

Clean & Simple

Yes I am back!!!!!!  I am finding the challenges a great way to get some creative flair happening, although today's card is a very easy card I made for the Clean & Simple challenge.

 The Challenge was to make a one layer card sounds simple doesn't . Well the card was but trying to photograph it took twice as long.The detail on the butterflies & the glittery background of the black made it very hard to photograph & the colours look really washed out. So here it is

The card was made using the Beautiful Wings Embossilit from Stampin Up & scraps of the brights colour family.

Happy Stamping
Fiona

Taylored Expressions Challenge

Hi Everyone,

Today I would like to share a couple of cards I made the first one is for a challenge over at the Taylored Expressions blog.

I have been at home with the dreaded lurgy ever since coming back from holidays, so I have had lots of time to create although nothing much else has been done.

 

The card I have made to today uses the Welcome Christmas Stamp Set the colours I have chosen are Early Espresso & Cherry Cobbler. I just love these 2 colours together! The second card was made for our  Demonstrator swap last weekend & uses the Dasher stamp

Sorry about the quality of the photo its early evening & I have taken the photo inside the house.

Happy Stamping

Fiona

Stampin' Royalty Challenge #43

Hi Everyone
I just popped into to share a quick card I made for a challenge site I just discovered Stampin' Royalty .

I really like the card I have made using the new In Colours Concord Crush & Blushing Bride along with the new Embosslit Beautiful Wings.

Please let me know what you think, the comments I receive are few & far between, maybe nobody likes what they see!

Happy Stamping
Fiona

Inkspirations Sketch challenge #45

Hi,

I am back to share another card, this one was made for Makeesha's Inkspiraion Challenge

 

Card Recipe:

Stamp Sets:  Friends 24-7, Woodgrain & Teeny Tiny sentiments.

Ink: Versamark, Soft Suede & Marina Mist.

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, & Marina Mist.

DSP: Elegant Soiree

Accessories: Scallop Trim Punch, Word Window Punch & Marina Mist satin ribbon.

Happy Stamping

Fiona

Pink Ribbon Day

The card I have to share today is one I have made for Pink Ribbon day.


One in every nine Australian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer by the age of 85. It could be a mother, sister, aunt, cousin, niece or friend. Whoever they are, one thing they have in common is that they will all need our help and support.

This October, Cancer Council’s Pink Ribbon Day is your chance to help raise money and awareness for all Australian women affected by breast cancer.
For as much as we do to help improve survival rates and treatments, the fact is there is still so much more to be done in the fight against this terrible disease.
To show you support follow the link to make a donation.

Happy Stamping
Fiona

Just Add Ink Challenge

Wow I am back with a third post for the day, I do seem to be on a roll. This post is an entry for the Just add Ink  challenge.

This weeks challenge was to Just add Blue, make the card with someone in mind & then send it off.
 As this month is Anxiety and Depression Awareness Month 
its a great time to make a card just to let someone know you are thinking of them.

Over a million people in Australia live with depression. Over two million have an anxiety disorder. With the right treatment, most people recover.

It's easy to help raise awareness. Sometimes the simplest acts have the greatest impact - just talking openly about anxiety and depression helps reduce the stigma.

beyondblue Anxiety and Depression Awareness Month provides an opportunity for workplaces, community groups and individuals to take part in activities to raise awareness of anxiety and depression, and help reduce the associated stigma.
 
To find out more go to beyondblue.org.au

I made this card using the new Blueberry Crisp DSP , the Vintage Vogue set (one of my favourites) & the sentiment from Occasional greetings I have also used our gorgeous new Antique brads.
I hope you enjoy my card I think it's the best card I have made today.

Happy Stamping
Fiona

Inkspirations Challenge take 2

I can't believe it I am back with another entry into Makeesha's Inkspirations challenge.

This card came together very quickly & I am really happy with it, I am meeting up this week with two friends who celebrated their birthday whilst I was on holidays & this card will be just perfect for one of them.

I have used the Simply Said stamp set & sentiment from Best Yet set, Simply Said is a set I bought yonks ago but really haven't used it much. The white background has been embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper folder & i have stamped EnFrancis onto the blue & tore across the bottom & again finished with daffodil Delight satin ribbon.
It was very hard to photograph as the flowers are much brighter in real life & I have also placed a bit of bling to one of the large yellow flowers but it's hard to see.

I would love to know what you think.

Happy Stamping
Fiona

Inkspirations colour challenge 44

Well I finally found some time to stamp the house is lovely & quiet, hubby has taken the kids to the Murrumbateman Field Day. I would normally go but still feeling a little unwell.

I found the colours from Makeesha's colour challenge a little difficult, even though I love them all. I had decided straight up I wasn't going to use flowers & that's probably where I have gone wrong. After searching through the piles of stamp sets I decided on Circle Circus, to give it a little bit of a wow I added lots of bling &the gorgeous Daffodil delight satin ribbon.

It's not what I imagined making, so I have set myself a challenge to make another card using these colours by the end of the day.

Happy Stamping

Fiona

Holiday Wrap up Part 2

The next leg of our holiday was12 nights in Anaheim home to Disneyland.

From Anaheim we made several day trips into LA & Universal Studios. LA suffered a mini heatwave whilst we were there reaching the highest temperature ever recorded 113F or 45C on our scale needless to say that day was spent at an air conditioned shopping centre, most days the temperature was over 35C but for me who hates the heat survived quite well after buying a mist water bottle with fan attached.

The kids absolutely loved Disneyland & we probably spent close to six days making sure we went on every ride & saw every show.

Kids cooling off on Hollywood Boulevard

 We found some stars on the Hollywood walk of fame

Meeting Bart Simpson at Universal Studios

Hubby thinking he the Terminator at Universal Studio

Everything Mickey Mouse at Disneyland

Of course meeting the Mouse himself.

The last leg of our holiday was spent in Las Vegas. We had a great time here with the milder weather, again though we ran out of time do all that was planned.

Family photo at the Grand Canyon

The mighty Colorado river a lovely Really Rust colour after flash floods earlier in the week .

My photos of the canyon are certainly not as awe inspiring as being there, it is certainly one amazing place that hopefully we can fly over next time, Helicopter & plane flights were cancelled earlier in the week due to storms so they were taking all the resheduled tours & those pre booked first.



I hope you have enjoyed my holiday overview & I hope to be back in the next few days with some new creations.

Happy Stamping

Fiona

Where have I been

Wow it's been 2 months since my last post, I don't know what happened to the first month, although I have agood excuse fr the 2nd month. Our family was lucky enough to spend 3 1/2 weeks in the US having a lovely holiday. We arrived home Monday morning & I seem to have been chained to the washing machie ever since.

The first week of our holiday was spent in San Diego, it was such a beautiful place we ran out of time to do all that was planned.

This photo was from our trip to Seaworld the best part of the day was the Killer Whale show.

Well Blogger won't let me add any more photos so I will start a new post with more photos.

Happy Stamping

Fiona

Another Challenge Entry

Don't fall off your chair that I made it back today with another card.

This card has also been made with someone special in mind, it's such a cute girly card just like the little girl who will receive it for her birthday.

I hope you have enjoyed both cards but I do really need to get back to sorting & tidying my craft room & preparing for this weeks class.

Happy Stamping

Fiona

Inkspirations Challenge #34

Hi Everyone,

Well its been longer than I wished since my last post life seems to be extremely busy, so again I have turned to Makeesha's Inspiration Challenge for some inspiration.

I loved this sketch  & am really happy with my finished card. I flipped the sketch for this particular card but hope to be back with another card as per layout of the posted challenge.

I made this card with a some friends in mind who have just returned from Paris as a Thank You for a gorgeous gift my husband & I received. I am sure they will love it too.

Let me know what you think.

Happy Stamping

Fiona

Inkspiration Challenge #34

Wow I can't believe it's been a month, I have been out of action as far as stamping  & computers go for 3 weeks(Doctors orders) due to my hands playing up. I think while I was taking a break so did my Mojo & it still hasn't returned.
So I thought I should take this opportunity to participate in Makeesha's Inkspirations Challenge .

Boy this weeks colours had me totally stumped i am still not 100% happy with my card it's very basic but I guess it's a start.

Let Me know what you think.

Happy Stamping

Fiona

Quick Kiddies card

Well to be truthful I have pulled out a kiddies card I made a long time ago to rephotogragh. I have been playing around with my camera settings this afternoon & I have changed my image size because I was loosing a lot in the quality of the photo  I have also changed it to the indoor seting & used my OTE light with no flash.

I am slightly happier with the photo as it hasn't gone through any other editing at this stage. I have photoshop editing software but don't know how to use it, I think I need to buy one of those Photoshop for DUMMIES book.

Let me know what you think or if there are particular settings I should have my camera  on  (i have just been using my Olympus point & shoot but I also own a Digital Canon SLR just thought the picture size would be too big to use it)  feel free to leave me a message.

Happy Stamping

Fiona

Just Add Ink Challenge #24

Hi,
I have a very quick post today for the Just Add Ink Challenge.

I have been sifting through all my DSP & trying to come up with some creative uses it before the new Stampin Up Catalogue due Sept. The DSP I used was from the now retired Walk in the Park. I have team it with the Little leaves Sizzlet  & the flower from the Embrace Life Set.

Let me know what you think, I like the simplicity of it.

Happy Stamping

Fiona