A Challenging Challenge

Created by Lorna
Images ©1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®

This is Alisa's latest colour challenge. The colours: Not Quite Navy, Soft Sky and Certainly Celery. When I initially saw the colours, I thought there was no way I could make a card without a red, brown, yellow or white, but I pulled out the colours and started looking at the different combinations. I found that Not Quite Navy and Certainly Celery go really well together, but are quite dark. So, the Soft Sky helped to make the card a bit lighter. I used stamps from Boho Backgrounds (p97) and brads from the Ice range (p145). My close friend and fellow card-maker came over as I was making the card and she suggested using the strip of Certainly Celery behind the scalloped edge to make the edge stand out more. This is the result, which I'm quite pleased with. Let me know what you think.

New Mini Catalogue

Don't forget that the new Spring Mini Catalogue is now available and, in my opinion, is the best mini yet. Send me an email and I'll put one in the mail for you. There are some great new stamp sets (one with a coordinating punch!), patterned paper and embellishments. I can place an order for you from next Friday, 1 August and can have your order delivered to anywhere in Australia.

In The Garden

Created by Lorna
Images ©1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®

I was so glad that I was able to do this week's colour challenge by Kristina Werner. The colours are Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Sky and Very Vanilla. I've used the Garden Whimsy stamp set. You can hardly see it in the photo, but I've versamarked the little lady bird stamp and stamped along the Certainly Celery piece on the bottom of the card and on the background Pumpkin Pie card.

Exciting Times

I don't have any new cards to show you, but I've had a very exciting week. The Pope is in Sydney for World Youth Day 08 and he arrived at Barangaroo by boat this afternoon. I'm lucky enough to work in one of the buildings directly behind Barangaroo. My desk overlooks the water. As I'm so high up (Level 20), I couldn't really make out the Pope from the crowd, but I got to see most of what was going on and thought I'd share it with you. Here are some of the boats a couple of hours before the Pope arrived - I guess they were going over to meet him, but can't be sure about this.
Here is a picture of the boat that the Pope arrived on. You can see his Popemobile waiting for him just beside the other car at the dock.

I know the footage on the news is (a lot) better than these photos, but it's hard not to get caught up in the excitement in Sydney at the moment. Enjoy the rest of your week everyone.

A Touch of Elegance

Created by Lorna
Images ©1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®

This is my attempt at Alisa's 3rd colour challenge using Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Purely Pomegranate and Whisper White. I had a piece of Purely Pomegranate cardstock with a scallop punched out of it, so I folded it and turned it into the base for my card. In the "window" I attached a scallop punched out of Creamy Caramel, then layered 2 circles - the 1-3/8" in Chocolate Chip and the 1-1/4" in Whisper White. The stamped flower is from the Priceless set on p105. The flowers around the window and the design behind the greeting are from the Carte Postale set on p94 and the greeting is from the Occasional Greetings set on p121. I placed some wide grosgrain ribbon in Chocolate Chip on the left of the card and attached 3 half-circle embellishments from the Pretties Kit on the ribbon. The card seemed a bit unbalanced before I added the 3 embellishments, and they seemed to add some elegance to it. I found that Chocolate Chip and Purely Pomegranate paired up surprisingly well.

Workshop Special - last days

A quick reminder about the additional $50 worth of free goodies for qualifying workshops hosted by 15 July. Why not get a group of friends together this weekend for a couple of hours of great stampin' fun. It's a great excuse to catch up with friends you haven't seen for a while. Email me to book.

Priceless

Created by Lorna
Images ©1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®

Here is my attempt at Alisa Tilsner's latest colour challenge.

We had to use Purely Pomegranate, Pretty In Pink and Barely Banana. I've used the Priceless Stamp Set and the So Swirly jumbo wheel. The brad in the centre of the flower is from the Fire set of Circle Rhinestones.

My favourite new tool is the Crop-A-Dile™ on page 145 of the Idea Book and Catalogue. It allowed me to place the three eyelets on the card without any hammering or force. It also pierces holes through several layers of cardstock (as well as other materials like ribbon, chipboard and tin) very easily and does dry-embossing as well.

I would like everyone to see how easy it is to use this tool, so for this month only, I'm having a Blog Special! Include the Crop-A-Dile in a total order of $100 or more and I will give you your choice of Eyelets from p145 of the catalogue - worth $11.50 - absolutely free. Email me with your order to make the most of this offer and don't forget to let me know which eyelets you would like.

Wonderful In-Laws

Created by Lorna
Images ©1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®

This page is a collage of my husband's family. The three little angels on the bottom left of the page are his nieces and the other pictures feature his grandmother, his parents and his baby nephew. I've been blessed with fantastic in-laws, so the name of this page is very fitting. I love the Wonderful Favourites set which is where I got the title from. The ribbon is Chocolate Chip and the flowers are from the Pretties Kit daubed in Blue Bayou. I attached them to the ribbon using brads.

A Stitch in Time

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I had a cross stitch that I've been working on for ages - well, it's finally finished and here it is. I love cross stitching because you can be creative without being inventive (you're copying someone else's design!), so I find it really relaxing. If you're looking for some easy card making kits, Stampin' Up! have 5 different kits on pages 12-14 of the Idea Book and Catalogue. All 5 have everything needed to make several different cards (just add a pair of scissors)! They all include stamps, ink, cardstock, adhesives and some great embellishments. It's a great way to get started on Card Making and once you've made all the suggested cards in the kit, you've still got the stamps and ink to keep you going. They also make great gifts. If you'd like more information on these kits, send me an email.