Stamping revisited!

Sorry I've been neglecting you all, but when I say I'm flat out on this big project that I'm working on, I'm not lying! I'm hoping to have it all ready to go early this week, but in the meantime, I've had a bit of a muck around with a random idea that I've had, and struck gold!
I'm sure lots of you are like me, in as much as that you've got a whole stash of fabulous stamps, that you never use enough.
I'm a bit of a stamp hoarder, I fall in lust, then I HAVE to have them... so I've got quite a collection.  I've often thought "oh, wouldn't that gorgeous stamp look great on a t-shirt!"  So I've finally gotten around to having a shot at it... and guess what!!! It works!

If you're going to try this, you'll need a shirt (I just used one of Stephie's that had a few marks on it, I thought the design would hide the little stains a bit!), some stamps (and acrylic block) and an ink pad.  

For this I used a permanent ink, I chose Ancient Page, but I'm sure StazOn or something similar would work well.  I only have black, at the moment, but rest assured, I'll be NEEDING a rainbow of these inks soon!
I popped a magazine inside the shirt to stop it bleeding through, and to give the stamp a firmer surface to work on.

 I chose my design, 2 butterflies and a flourish, and then stamped each section individually, making sure each time I stamped, I had an even cover of ink on the stamp.  No going back with this type of ink!

 Once that was all done, I ironed the shirt (to heat set it - it didn't really need to be heat set, but I think better safe than sorry!)  It's machine washable, ironable, and SO much prettier than just a plain old purple t-shirt!  If you wanted to you could add some glittery fabric paint or whatever you like to it, but I like the simple print for this one.
Now... what else can I stamp onto.... hehehe
Hope you're having a great week!
x Rita

I just thought I'd add a photo of my little model showing off her nice new old t-shirt :)
She's pretty impressed with the butterflies, and every time I see her, she throws her hands up in the air and yells "Ta Dah!" hehe

Blog Love!

While I'm busily working on my latest project, I thought I'd post links to a few of my favourite blogs for you to check out while! (and a completely self indulgent picture of my 3 favourite people in the world)! :)

First of all, Sew and the City  - Irina creates the most gorgeous little projects! Like me, she's fairly new to this blogging thing, so pop on over and say hi!

You've been living under a rock if you haven't visited Darla over at Bakingdom - every time I click on her blog, I swear I put on a kilo or three!

For my daily belly laughs, I check out Cake Wrecks - as the name implies - it's full of terrible cakes, that are made "professionally" :o  The commentary is hilarous, and you'll get lost for weeks browsing through the archives!

And finally (for today anyways), is LilaLoa - Georgeanne makes the most amazing, mind blowingly creative cookies!  Like the other day, she made graduate cookies... using a goldfish cookie cutter.  This girl has some serious creative talent! 

Check them out - you won't be sorry!
x Rita

Something big is cooking...

This means that this week, my posts on here will probably be a bit sporadic!  I'm working my little backside off on something that I hope will blow your minds! 
Here's a little sneak peek to keep you all going....

That reminds me... it's time for a cuppa!
x Rita

Making use of leftovers!

I'm a pretty firm believer in waste not want not.  So when it comes to all the little bits and pieces of scraps that are accumulated through papercrafts, I try to use up what I can on smaller projects, like cards.

This card was made entirely through scraps - I keep a tub handy and throw all my little bits and pieces in there, and when it comes time to whip up a card, my first port of call is my scraps bucket. 
With a little bit of paper piecing, and a leftover little bird from another project (I had cut out a stack of them, and had a few leftover - rather than binning them, I put them aside in ANOTHER container, specifically to use as card toppers!) . 
And when the scraps bucket gets a bit too full, I go and take a load of the offcuts to Gracie's kindy, where they are always very grateful for colourful bits and pieces of paper, fabric or ribbon!
Oh.. and the giant jar of lollies behind it? Well that was a birthday present for a lucky friend!  Yummo!
x Rita

She loves yellow best!

My youngest daughter, Stephanie, has a major thing for the colour yellow.  Doesn't matter what it is, if it's yellow, she loves it.  And the way she points at anything yellow and shouts "YALLOW!" at the top of her lungs, it's almost too cute to stand. 

I used Echo Park papers from the "Little Girl" range to create this simple layout.  I wanted to keep it clean and simple, but still bright and fun, so these papers were perfect! 
I loved the yellow base paper with white hearts on it (cupcake casey), as soon as I saw that paper I thought "OHHHH Stephie would just LOVE that!" The purple paper is called raspberry/purple, and gave a better contrast with the yellow than the raspberry on the other side.  I cut a strip from the reverse of the Journaling Cards sheet, and layered that just below the photo - something about all those itty bitty hearts that I just loved! 

I cut a journal card from the page as well, and added a little bit of journalling. 
For the title, I used Bella Chipz letters in hot pink.
This layout is so quick and simple, but makes me smile every time I look at it - I think it might be on display for a little while in our home! :)
Perhaps I should do one in reply for Gracie, how she loves pink the best!
x Rita

Welcome!

I'd like to take a moment to thank each and every person that visits this blog!  It means a lot to me that you take time out of your day to check out what kinds of crafty mischief I've been up to.  :)
I'd also especially like to welsome all my overseas readers - it's a bit overwhelming (and exciting!) to see how far abroad my little blog has reached! 
So WELCOME! And I hope you enjoy my blog.  I love each and every one of your comments, they really make my day!
I started this blog partially as a challenge to myself, if you like, but most importantly, I decided to "give back " a little of the inspiration that I've gathered over the years from many other bloggers, and as I'm getting near the 4000 page views, it's starting to hit home that people like what I'm doing - and don't worry, I'm in no hurry to give it up!
I hope you're having a lovely week, wherever in the world you are, and that you find a little gem of inspiration somewhere within my work! 
x Rita
P.S. Leave a comment and tell me where you're from! I'd love to see where my readers hail from! :)

New pretties

I've been having a little play, and have decided to get making on some new hair accessories to sell.  Two trends that I'm loving at the moment is the fabric rolled flowers, and felt flowers!  These guys here are just the start of my obsession, I've got lots and lots more planned! 

You'll be able to find these on my facebook page in the coming week or so, HERE!:)

 Sage ruffly clip (hot pink coming soon!)

 Stephie's yellow sparkly rose (her favourite colour is yellow!)

 I love this purple one, with it's little wispy threads giving it a soft, shabby chic feel.

 Felt fun!  This one is about 8 cm across, and would be gorgeous as a clip or clipped onto a jacket or top as a bit of colour.

 

pale pink fabric flower

 

hot pink printed yummy little flower

 

And the plain hot pink one which conveniently matches the outfit that I'm planning on wearing today... :)

Best of all, they'll be nice and cheap - I'm looking at $5 a clip, and will throw in a headband to clip them onto for an extra dollar!  Even better - I can make them in any colour of the rainbow - your wish is my command! :P
You can also choose to have them mounted on a bobby pin instead of a lined alligator clip. 
Which one's your favourite?
x Rita

Some itty bitty furniture

(Blogger ate this post, so I'm reposting it today)
I'm planning on taking my doll house down to Scrapbook Shenanigans (If you're in Townsville, check it out!) to go on display for a while, so I thought I'd better build some furniture to go inside the house!

To start with I thought I'd work on the bed - I covered a small box with paper, and then made a bedspread from the "Florence" paper (Kaisercraft, English Rose, the same collection as the rest of the dolls house).  I added a little ruffle of lace peeking out from underneath the hem, and make a little pillow from paper as well, using a pillow gift box style, and decorating it with a scrap of leftover lace.  I'm so in love with this bed! The way the paper falls over the corners of the bed reminds me of a heavy quilt!

 

The lamp was a little more involved - I cut a 6x1 inch strip of "Estelle", and scored it at 1/8th of an inch intervals.  I then concertina folded it, and glued the ends together.  Once that was dry, I used hot glue to glue the top to a small button (to keep the shade lamp shaped!).

 

I rolled a cut off skewer up in the reverse of the Estelle paper, and hot glued it to a brass embellishment that I'd picked up along the way many moons ago.  I then put a blob of hot glue on the top of the "lamp post" and popped the lampshade on the top of that.

I'm pretty excited to see some furniture going in there!  I've got plans for a little scrap room, as well as a dining room and lounge downstairs!
What else do you think I should put in here?
(I am planning on wallpapering the inside to hide some of the structural bits!)
x Rita

Tim Holtz Configurations

My sister and I picked up one of these Tim Holtz Configurations printer trays each the other day.  I knew instantly that I wanted to do it up as part of my husband's birthday present!

 

I wanted to keep it feeling quite masculine, so I lined each of the boxes with Bo Bunny paper, from the Mama-Razzi collection (one is Mama-Razzi stripe, the other is Mama-Razzi Dot).
I have since been scouring the house for little bits and pieces to go in here.  Bits and pieces of memorabillia that are just US.  Things we've done together, things that were a big part of our lives, and helped to shape who we are today. 

A few bits and pieces you'll see in there are the necklaces we traded just after we met, and Pete was sent over to East Timor for 6 months. (we were only 18 in these pics!)

The National Parks Pass from our honeymoon in Tasmania. 

The memory card from our first digital camera - Pete paid close on $100 for this little fella in 2003!

And some Lego... Pete loves his lego! 
There's a few empty spots that I've still gotta fill, I want to add a newborn photo of each of the girls, and a fw other bits and pieces, but I think this is going to be a work in progress - I'm not going to rush to fill it, and end up with something not so meaningful in there. 
Once it's all done, I'm going to cover it with acetate, and display it on the wall. 
 I think they're a great idea for displaying bits and pieces of memorabillia that would normally get tucked away in a box.  You can get a few different sizes, this is the largest (by a long way!) but also the shallowest.  The smaller ones also come with a cover to keep all your goodies in place. 
And perhaps for our 50th wedding anniversary we'll trot this little baby out and see how many people remember what the bits and pieces are all about! :)
x Rita

A little bouquet of memories

I actually made this on Mothers Day with the girls.  They were BORED, and mummy, being sick, wanted them to sit down and be quiet for a minute!  I stumbled across this gorgeous idea on A Little Bit Funky, and decide that rather than making a corsage, I'd turn it into a bright little bouquet to sit in the cute little owl vase that I picked up at the op shop when we last visited Mum and Dad in Cardwell. 

For these, I traced out a handprint from each of the girls, and then cut out two of each colour that I wanted.  (I wanted 4 flowers, so I cut out 2 sets of 2 from each handprint.)  I also needed to cut 4 rectangles from a contrasting colour to form the stamens.  For that, you cut a rectangle and snip into it to make it spiky.
The girls helped with the next bit - rolling the stamen, first, then wrapping the first felt handprint (pinky first) around the stamen.  We then slightly offset the second handprint, and wrapped that too (keeping it fairly tight), and then tied the hands in place with a piece of string, tied super tight. 
Once that's all done, it's as easy as feathering out the "petals" to curve like you like them, and popping them in a vase!  I wanted mine to sit a bit firmer in the vase (and was too lazy to make some more), so I used a scrap of the purple felt to make a collar.  I cut it like a grass border, and then wrapped it around my posy, and pushed it into the vase! 

I think it's really cute, and doubly special because it's made from my girls handprints, and it's now taking pride of place beside my computer. 
:)
 x Rita

My Mummy's Mothers Day Card

I couldn't really post this earlier because Mum would've seen it :) 

For this card I used the easel card style, and topped it with a piece of patterned paper from the Kaisercraft Chanteuse 6 1/2" paper pad.  I used a fiskars scallop border punch on some of the leftover paper to give me a white scallopped border beneath the text block. 

I got the text block from the divided paper, "Marcato". This was a super simple card to make, just layering up the papers, and then to hold the card open, I used two flowers from the printed chipboard pack, and a border layout just to anchor the design.  I put the chipboard flowers up on foam tape just to add a bit of interest when the card is open.
And I'm not showing what I wrote inside! :)

x Rita

Felt notebook cover

I made this little notebook cover for a friend for her birthday. 

Obviously, her name is Bri!
To do this, I took a length of purple felt, and cut it to wrap around the cover of the book, leaving a few inches to slip the front and back covers into. 

I sketched out the owl and branch, and cut them from contrasting felt, and hand stitched them onto the purple, as I also did with the letters.  I backstitched in the green leaves for a bit extra detail.

Once I was finished with this, I blanket stitched all around the edges to neaten it, and to sew down the pockets at the end! It's not 100% perfect, but I thought it was pretty sweet for a first timer!
x Rita

What I love most about my home

This isn't really a craft as such... 

I found this gorgeous printable over at eighteen25 blog.  Each season they have a sweet little subway art that you can print off, and frame inside an 8x10" frame.  I've been meaning to do this for ages, but I finally bought a frame to use for it!  And lo and behold, this week they introduced their "Filler print", for the months where there's no special event.  It really struck a chord with me, so I printed it off, and framed it, and love it! 
Head on over and check out all the different colours you can get it in, and best of all, it'll only cost you what it costs to print it! (and I printed mine at home! Bargain!)
Have a fabulous weekend!
x Rita

Another Party Animals Card!

I had loads of fun making the party animals cards the other day, so I thought I'd try another one tonight.  I decided to use the easel card style - I cut a strip of cardstock 12" long and 4" wide, and then scored it at 4,6 and 8 inches.  There's a great tutorial on how to make them Here, at Andrea's Stampin' Moments, so I won't go into all the nuts and bolts of it.  It's pretty simple, but very effective! 
For the topper I trimmed a square of white cardstock down to a shade smaller than 4", and then the patterned paper, from the 6 1/2" paper pad down a little bit smaller than that, just to leave a small border. 

I wanted to use the balloon stamps again (I love them!), so I cut out the lion from one of the glittered sheets in the pad, and guesstimated where I should have the knot sit on the lion's tail.  I stamped the balloons, using Ancient Page black ink, and then stamped the balloons 3 times each on a separate scrap of paper. 
To decorate the balloons, I covered one balloon in each bunch with glossy accents.  I then used 3 different colours of superfine glitter to cover the glossy accents completely, and left this to dry before I tapped it off. 
Once it was dry, I trimmed out each balloon, and layered it over the stamped outline on the patterned paper, and then positioned my lion. 

I decided to use a scallop strip from the paper pad, and a little piece of lace to hold the front of the card upright.  I added a little group of buttons for a bit of extra interest at the front, and used a rub on sentiment for the "Happy Birthday".  

After all the fiddly bits were done, I used a hairclip to keep the card closed while i put a thick layer of glossy accents all over the glittery balloons.  I really wanted a glossy, glittery effect, and it's turned out pretty nice!  (If you try this, just make sure you clip your card together so it doesn't pop open, and make your glossy accents run! 

I know a little boy who's turning 1 today, and guess who this card is for!
Happy Birthday Lincoln!

x Rita

Junk, Mail, Bills and Pens!

I've got this strange little black hole on my desk, near my computer space.  It's a nothing space, where things go to and hide, and get lost forever.  I've tried a number of ways of organising this space, but as the computer tower sits behind it, most organisers are too tall. 
When I spotted this little organiser at bunnings, I thought that it'd be perfect to turn into a charging station for beside the bed, but alas, it was too low to fit a powerboard underneath it.  *Sigh...*  So I just had to make it into something for myself. 

I kept it simple, because, after all, this is going to be a bit of a workhorse piece of desk furniture.  As I type this, I've had it on my desk about 15 minutes, and it's already nearly full!
The organiser itself is "Woodworx" brand, and it was pretty simple to put together.  Not as refined as I'm used to with the Kaisercraft projects, this has no tabs or slots, and is just held together with glue, but it looks pretty good to me.
I gave it a coat of black spray paint, and then covered the main bits with the gorgeous Calypso paper, from kaisercraft's "Bubblegum Hills" Collection.
I used American Crafts Thickers letter stickers to label each section, and as they were a pale seafoam green, I recoloured them to be silver so they stood out a little bit more.

And then.... I filled it up!  (it's much more full now, than when I took these piccies!)
But it does look much tidier there than it did before! :)
x Rita

Post Removed

Today's layout - "How Tweet It Is", has been removed, as I am submitting it to Scrapbooking Memories magazine, and to comply with policies, I have to remove it from public view.  How exciting! I'll repost it once I'm allowed to (I think it's 2 months after it's printed).

x Rita

Kaisercraft Design Team Call Out Post

This post runs through the projects that I am submitting as part of my entry to try out for Kaisercraft's Design Team!  I would so love to be on the team for a year, to challenge myself, and to have a decent excuse for staying up so late at night!
Without further ado, my 8 projects :

1: Beautiful Simplicity - Chapter One

As soon as I saw this printed Acetate, I knew that it would be perfect for scrapbooking some wedding photos. I love the simplicity of printed acetate - this layout virtually put itself together.
I chose the paler green "Reflect" paper for the background, and layered up two photos from my wedding day.  I really loved the quote "Nothing is worth more than this day", so I layered that (cut from the "Belief" paper).  Finally, I placed my printed acetate sheet over the top of it all, and used a couple of tiny spots of glue to hold it in place - making sure that the glue spots were only placed where it would be concealed by the printing.

Materials used: Strength (PS149), Reflect (P668), Belief (P671). Other - Kindyglitz (Crystallina), Clear Craft Glue. 

2: Kaisercraft Memo Board

I created this as a gift for my Sister In Law - I love to give gifts that are handmade, and useful! Firstly, as with all Kaisercraft kits, I sanded the edges using fine sandpaper.  I then gave the edges a good coat of pink paint, and left it to dry.  For the base, I chose to use the Apple Spritz paper.  I applied this using mod podge, and then carefully trimmed the excess away with a craft knife and the round file from the Kaisercraft set.  (If you like doing off the page projects, the file sets are well worth the investment!)
I then covered the little shelf with bits and pieces from the Candy Confetti sheet, and attached that.

 I wanted to add a bit of interest behind the notepad, so that once the notepad was used, the board would still be pretty and useful.  I added a rectangle of the pink (Candy Confetti's reverse side), with rounded corners, and over that, I used some of the gorgeous colour rubon's.  These are all but hidden when the notepad is place, but when it's long gone and forgotten, the rubons will add a sweet little bit of detail.

I desperately wanted to use some of the printed and layered chipboard on this project, so I chose the hot pink and orange flower, and trimmed off one of the petals to allow it to sit on the little protruding edge of the shelf.  It wasn't quite enough, so I added the centre of one of the other flowers, which I layered on foam tape for extra dimension.
To finish the board off, I trimmed the hot pink scallop from the Candy Confetti paper, and used that to back the area where I wanted to fix in the screw hooks, and trimmed the edges of the top section with pearl strips, for a bit of bling.
I enhanced a few spots here and there with a little bit of glossy accents too (especially under the key hooks), not only for looks, but to make that section a little bit more durable.

To finish the project off professionally, once I had screwed in the hooks, I filed the tips off the screws where they protruded through the back, and gave the back a light coat of paint.

Materials Used : Bubblegum Hills Collection - Apple Spritz (P632), Candy Confetti (P635), Rubon, colour (RB898), Printed Layered Chipboard (CB124). Kaisercraft Other - Memo Board (SB2037), File Set (T306).

3: Chanteuse "Love" page

I have been trying to document some family history, and this paper screamed out to me to be used for this gorgeous shot of my late Grandmother on her wedding day. (wasn't she beautiful?) 

I then carefully trimmed the centre section out of the paper (it's called "Rondo" and is a specialty die cut paper), making sure I kept the flowers intact. The deep brown of the "Con Brio" paper was ideal to anchor the whole design, so I used this as the base of the layout.
I then positioned the photo, and the frame over the top, and stuck it all down.

As the photo was A4 size, there was a small gap on one side of the frame.  I used a piece of the timeless collection paper "newsprint" to both hide that, and to add a feature block to place the title on. I distressed 3 edges of this, to give it a slightly aged and worn feel.
I also inked a wooden flourish in a brown that matched the Con Brio paper, to use as my title.  Using ink rather than paint allowed the timber texture to show through.

 

 Once everything was all stuck in place, I added a few extra flowers cut from another sheet just to add a bit of interest below the title.  I also edged the frame, and covered the word "Love" in glossy accents - I really wanted to give it the feel of an old fashioned, carved picture frame. 

For this layout, I have a small amount of journalling on the back of the layout, which is always a good option if you either don't like your handwriting, or adding a journal block just doesn't look right.
I love the softness, and the romantic feel of these papers with vintage photos - it really adds a timeless elegance to a beautiful photo.Materials Used: Chanteuse - Con Brio (P637), Rondo (PS142), Staccato (P638).  Timeless - Newsprint (P654) Love and Cherish wood flourish (FL319).  Other - Brown Versacolour Ink, Inkssentials Glossy Accents.

4.  I do believe in fairies, I do! I do! I do!

This layout features the Kaisercraft Magic Happens collection.  It's all fairies and butterflies, and just perfect for some pretty pics of the girls.
For this layout, I've chosen a sheet of purple bazzil basics cardstock as my base.

I chose 4 different sheets of paper from the 6x6" paper stack, and trimmed them down to 4x4", making sure to save the scraps to make some cute little cards from!  I arranged these squares into a block, and inked the outside two edges of each one before sticking them in place.

I got my hands on this nifty little paper piercing tool online.  It makes stitching evenly really easy - still time consuming, but much neater than just winging it.

 

I really like Kaisercraft rub ons, (they always work!) so I chose to use the rub on border that says "magic, dreams, wish, believe" to add a bit extra to the page, and placed it as shown.
Then using one of the phrases from the diecut sheets in the 6x6" paper pad, I wrapped a little bit of green tara vine around it, and stuck that down in an freeform curve.  

I took another sheet of paper from the 6x6" block and popped out one of the bracket die cuts from the back of the book.  I used the bracket to lightly draw the outline of a shaped block. I stamped one of the flourishes from the Magic Happens clear stamp set onto the printed side of the paper with a glue pad, and then sprinkled some pretty lilac superfine glitter onto it.  This is a great technique to bling up some paper in a subtle, yet effective manner.

Next I trimmed my photos down, to about 2.5x4", and rounded the corners using a corner rounder punch.  To add a bit of dimension, I used foam tape to raise the shaped block up, and adhered my photos on top of that. 

Last but not least, I used one of the journal tags from the little booklet  added my journalling, and then using my needle, poked a hole and threaded some leftover thread through it, and tied a little bow.  To finish the bow, and to stop it coming undone, I added a little dot of Glossy Accents to it.  As I don't want my text to clutter this layout, it can be slipped in behind the patterned paper!

 A beautiful little layout for pictures of two beautiful little fairy girls :)  Materials Used: Magic Happens: Paper Pad (PP838), Journal Tags (JT614), Rubons (RB896), Clear Stamps (CS772). Other : Bazzill Cardstock, DMC Vareigated embroidery floss, Lilac Superfine Glitter, Green Tara Vine. 

5: La Di Da Layout!

This double page layout uses the Kaisercraft La Di Da range  - It's been out for a little while now, but the colours and funky design lends itself to being used for a cute little layout of my girls.

To begin, I cut out a full page of the little shapes from the "skip" design, and half a page of the green shapes from the "sing" design.

I wanted to create a whimsical, layered, textured cluster of elements at the bottom corners of the layout with these, so I kept them in a safe place (after having to wrestle my almost 2 year old for them, when she decided they were HERS!)

To put the layout together, I ran a strip of the Kaisercraft Lace along the top, and then adhered a fat strip of the green and white polkadot "skip" paper just overlapping that slightly.  I matted my photos, and then arranged them a little wonkily along the strip. I then messed around a bit, layering up the little cutout pieces, before I decided how I wanted them to sit.  After that, it was as simple as sticking them all down, using foam tape here and there to add a bit of texture.  To finish, I used a rub on to title the layout, and journalled on a tag from the "Bubblegum Hills" collection (which I layered a few flowers from la di da over the top of, to make it match a bit more). I also added a little strip of "Sing" paper, down the left hand side, to add a bit of balance to the layout.

I really wanted to add a bit extra texture, so I thought I'd try out the new "Polystyrene Posies" from the Chanteuse collection.  I love the little fluffy one, it reminds me of grass seeds in the long grass. :) I also added a tea dyed doily on the right hand side, just to add a little bit more texture. 

Materials Used : La Di Da - Skip (P472), Sing (P475). Kaisercraft Other - Polystyrene Posies -Chanteuse (EM960), Crochet Doilies (EM947). Lace Pack (EM926) Other : Inkssentials Glossy Accents, Purple Bazzill Cardstock, White Bazzill Cardstock. 

6: Party Animals Cards Set

This set of sweet cards was made with the Party Animals collection.  I burned the midnight oil last night because once I got started on these little guys, I just couldn't stop!
The fun colours and cute little animals are perfect for children's birthday cards, but also, as shown with the penguin Congratulations card, are great for cards for the young at heart too.

Have a grreat day!-

This card is a very simple card, using the journal tab as the main embellishment.  I added a bow of orange organza ribbon, and a tab from the 6 1/2" paper pad.  Inside the card is a cute little tiger cut from a sheet of paper in the paper pad as well.  I edged the tab with kindyglitz, and glossy accented the tiger and the star, to help them stand out a little bit more. 

Happy Birthday circus top card - 

This card features stamped and embossed accents, watercolour painting and hand drawn detail, using a Sakura glaze pen.  I wanted this card to have a whimsical, children's storybook feel. I love how the little zebra is jumping out the doors of the big top!

Congratulations Penguins - 

For this card, I stamped two penguins and embossed with black embossing powder. I watercolour painted in the beaks and the top hat, and then cut the penguins out, snipping off the top of the top hat for my lady penguin.  I used an orange card base, and the pale blue and white spotty background paper from the paper pad, and perched my two little penguins on a die cut scallop from the same paper pad.
To create a girly little fascinator for Mrs Penguin, I gathered a small scrap of soft tulle, and attached it to a small rose, and glued that over the top of where the top hat used to be.  I finished the card off with a "congratulations" rubon.

Happy Birthday Spinner Card - 

This card gave me heartburn! I was so anxious to get it right that I almost put it in the too hard basket! I'm glad I didn't though, because it's just so sweet.  I used the smallest of my Spellbinder Scallop Dies to cut three windows in the front of the card, and through the patterned paper. I then cut 6 circles from the foiled paper in the 6 1/2" paper pad,   and using some orange embroidery floss, stuck them back to back (with the inside animal upside down, so that when the card is opened, they're up the right way).  Once these were in place, I glued the patterned paper down over the top, making sure my animals were centred, and the strings were taut.  I added a doodled line around the edges of each scallop cut out, and also around the edge of the patterned paper, and used a Happy Birthday Rubon to finish. 
Last but not least:

Happy Happy Happy Birthday! Elephant card - 

I used a slightly uneven gate fold card for this base - One side had to be slightly longer to accommodate the cute little elephant.  I used a deep orange bazzill for the base, which I cut at 4 1/2" wide x 12" long, and then folded in to suit my elephant.  I cut the elephant from a sheet of glittered paper in the paper pad, and outlined him with a sakura glaze pen (black).  I stamped the balloons onto an offcut of the yellow spotty paper that I used as a background for this card, and watercolour painted them in, as I also did for the bunting.  While I waited for that to dry, I carefully lined up where I wanted the balloons to sit, and stamped the balloons down on the yellow background.  I also very carefully stamped the bow onto the elephant's trunk, and drew in a string wrapping around the bottom of his trunk (to make sure the balloons don't fly away!) Once the painted elements were dry, I carefully cut them out, and attached the pennants first, trimming to fit the gatefold.  I carefully lined the balloons up with their stamped underlay, and added a shiny coat of glossy accents.
I gave the elephant a little red party hat (stamped and painted from the pennant stamp), and added a few little rhinestones to bling it up a little.
I finished with the words "Happy Happy Happy Birthday", which I cut from a rubon set.
Looks like I'm set for the next few birthday parties now! :)
Materials Used: Party Animals: Journal Tags (JT618), Paper Pad (PP842), Clear Stamps (CS776), Mini Clear Stamp - Penguin (CS956). Mini Alpha (MA504), Rhinestones (SB700), Rubons - (RB811, RB838). Other : Bazzill basics cardstock, Orange, deep orange & sage. Tulle offcut, Green Tara rose.  Faber Castell Watercolour paints, Sakura Glaze Pen - Black, DMC embroidery floss, orange, Spellbinders Petite Scallop Dies. 

7: Craft Room Sign

This project has been on my mind for a long time now.  I've been wanting to do a sign for the door of my craft room, but wanted it to be something a bit more "special" and textural than I'd done in the past.

When I saw the "Marmalade" paper from Kaisercraft's Nan's Favourites collection, I thought that it would be perfect for my craft room.  (It ties in beautifully with my gorgeous red chair!).  The "Dress Form" paper from the Timeless collection anchored my theme of handmade, so I squirreled my chosen papers away, while I collected bits and pieces to complete the project.

I used a 12x16 inch stretched canvas as my base, which I painted with two coats of red paint.  I trimmed my Marmalade paper down to leave a 1/2 inch border all the way around the page (I needed to cut a strip from a second sheet of paper to make the patterned paper continue across the width of the canvas).  I then distressed the edges of the Dress Form paper, and inked them with Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Walnut Stain).

 As a base for my flowers, I wanted to tie in the red theme again, so I used two large red Green Tara flowers, which I then topped with a bunch of Kaisercraft paper blooms. I chose the Buttercream pallette, and "pinked" some of them up with some My Tattered Angels Glimmermist (Vintage Pink).  Across the bottom, I used some vintage crocheted lace - my mother in law brought up a huge roll of this lace for me, that she'd been hanging onto for 20 something years!  I ruffled this along the bottom edge, to add a girly touch to the hanging.
A swirl of chocolate pearl flourishes, and a few pink sprigs from the Chanteuse Range of Polystyrene Posies, and I was almost done.

I had been busting to use one of Kaisercraft's dress forms for ages, so it was an easy choice to use this as the centrepiece of my floral flourish.  I trimmed the lower corner with a broken dangly earring (reuse, recyle and all that!) and now only have one thing left to do...
My title...

It makes me smile just looking at it!

 Materials Used: Nan's Favourites - Marmalade (P613), Timeless - Dress Form (P654), Chipboard Alphas - large (CB105), Kaiser Colour Red (KC009), Pearl Flourish - Chocolate (PL509), Manequins Wooden Flourish (FL335), Polystyrene Posies (EM960), Paper Blooms - Buttercream (F629).  Other - Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Walnut Stain, Green Tara Large Red flowers, My Tattered Angels Glimmermist - Vintage Pink, Broken earring, Vintage Lace. 

8: Dolls House

This has been by far the most ambitious craft project I've undertaken.  It's taken a few months, chipping away at it here and there, but I'm finally done with it!  And I'm so excited to share it with you all!
Won't you join me on a little tour? 

Here's what I started with... a $10 dolls house from Cotton On Kids, and a whole stack of dreams!

 The shingled roof, each shingle inked and attached individually by some crazy lady...

 If you look closely, you just might see a little kitty peeking out the bay window!

 

And another little kitty pouncing on a flower on the little tiled front porch.

Home sweet home... 
I love the colours of the English Rose Collection - they worked perfectly with the romantic feel of the house.  All the roof is shingled in "Thelma" paper, while the walls are wallpapered in the soft tones of "Lillian".  The windows and doors are cut from "Thelma", and the frames are from the reverse of "Estelle".  The tiles on the front porch were punched out of scraps of "Thelma", and coated in glossy accents to give it more of a tiled feel.  Planter boxes were created from bazzill cardstock, with a few antique copper brads for good measure. All the painted surfaces were mixed from different shades of Kaiser colour paints. 
Believe it or not, in the roof alone, there is 7 sheets of Thelma paper!

Materials Used: English Rose - Thelma (P597), Lillian (P599), Estelle (P598).  Kaisercraft Other :  Polystyrene Posies (EM960) Kaisercolour Terracotta (KC034), White (KC001), Dusty Pink (KC013), Eggshell (KC035).  Other : Inkssentials Glossy Accents, Green Tara Flowers & Ferns, Bazzill Cardstock, Francheville Brads.

I hope you've enjoyed my collection of projects!
x Rita