paper smooches sparks challenge 26th-8th feb

It is another Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge and here is the great inspiration for this week.

I just love the stripes! so with the stripes in mine i created this card.

I used surf and turf, party posse and sentiment sampler paper smooches set,  but to be honest i would have loves a stamp with "whale to go"instead. that pun would have been perfect. unfortunately paper smooches do not do an alphabet set so i could not make my own up :(
**edit.... i have just been informed that paper smooches do have an alphabet! i am VERY excited!!**
If you would like to join in with this challenge just click on my above link to enter!

Tara:)

Tutorial- making a pencil roll

If you are like me and have a BUNCH of colouring in pencils.......and not the cheap ones........You,like me will hate it when they get banged about in a pencil case and the lead breaks within the pencil, then every time you go to sharpen it it breaks again! 
I have solved this problem with a idea that i saw. A pencil roll.


It is really simple, all you will need is some scrap fabric, wadding, 2 metres elastic and some old ribbon or binding tape.
Firstly, Cut yourself 2 pieces of fabric size 70cm x 35cm with your pinking shears or a rotary cutter. then cut yourself a piece of wadding the same size.
Make a sandwich with fabric- wadding - fabric with the wrong sides of the fabric touching the wadding.
(sorry i should have taken a pic of this...i forgot!!)
Sew around the outside edge of the whole rectangle.
Take your elastic and cut in 1/2 (2 lots of 1 mtr) place across the fabric rectangle approx 1/4 from the bottom and then 1/2 way. pin.


Sew across the fabric and elastic the whole length down every 11/2 - 2 cm (depending on the thickness of your pencils) keep doing this the whole way till the end. You should get approx 45 -50 places depending on your spacing.
Trim off excess elastic.
Hem your whole rectangle of fabric with either binding tape or like me some ribbon. I used grosgrain ribbon as it is a little stronger.

And you are done. You can use a bit of ribbon to roll and tie it together like i did or you can even fold it instead.
Here is mine all filled up with my aqua pencils.

And here are my trusty Fiskars tools that i used THe Pinking shears are Great to stop fraying and the rotary cutter is great to cut those long straight lines!!!


Tara:)

Lily Pad Cards Virginia's View #1

So, over at Lily Pad Cards They have a new challenge. Virginia's View. This first challenge has some inspiration from a martha stewart pic.

I just love the paint splatted look of this image, and the colours are lovely. So i took this inspiration and created this card.

I used an A la mode stamp and paper pieced the 4 leaf clover then punched some little hearts, added some definition  by drawing the creases on them and shading them with copic markers W1 and W3. Then coloured the rest of the girl with copics.
To create the Spat effect i took 2 distress ink pads- ripe persimmon and barn door, then put some of the ink on my wipe off mat. i then spritz the ink with perfect pearl mist in biscotti . once i had done this i picked up some of the ink mixture with a toothbrush and flicked it onto my card. then heat set it. It gave such a perfect colour with just that little bit of sparkle! I stamped the sentiment from paper smooches stamp set sentiment sampler
and i was finished!

Don't forget if you would like to have a go with this challenge ,head on over to Lily Pad Cards and add your link with your card!

Tara:)

Moxie Fab World Punchs Challenge

This challenge at Moxie Fab World is a punching challenge.
For this challenge Challenge i have used my trusty Fiskars border punches! They are great on most cards but with this monochromatic card the kaleidoscope border punch looks even better!

The image is from The greeting Farm and is a digital image. You can also buy rubber Greeting Farm stamps from Mad 4 Markers along with the copic markers i used with this image. (W1,3,5,7)
The sentiment was from a My Favorite Things - a la mode-wishing you luck stamp set.

If you would like to have a go at this challenge check out the above link before the 13th feb.

Tara:)

Moxie Fab World Embossing and Debossing Challenge

This Moxie Fab World Challenge is Embossing and Debossing.

So out came the cuttlebug embossing plates and i set to work!
Here is my card.

I used a dot embossing folder to emboss the card, and a postage heart stamp embossing folder. I embossed several different card colours and then cut out bits of each to give the different colours. i then added stickles into the word love and finished off with some twine and some bling.

If you would like to have a go on this challenge click the above link before the 13th feb.

Tara:)

I'm a gnome on lawnscaping! Yeah!

Yeah! 2 weeks running i'm on a roll! it must me the new year! i got a honorable gnome this week in the winter wonderland challenge over at Lawn Fawn Lawnscaping Challenge Yeah!! again!!

Tara:)

Lawn Fawn's got a new range..........

I will be honest with you from the start...... i love  Lawn Fawn.... i have 24 of their sets. i would have every set if i could but some how i do not think i could justify this to my hubby.
So when i clicked on the lawn fawn blog this morning, i think i almost had a heart attack!

Lawn Fawn are.........wait for it.............
MAKING PAPERS,STICKERS, AND TWINE!!!!!!!
I almost fell off my chair when i saw the video sneek peek!

It was like Lawn Fawn let their stamps get together with their inks and they went and had babies!!!!!

I love lawn fawn and this just did it for me! If my hubby ever wants to get his leg over at some point all he needs to do is bring home some of this new paper range !LOL!!!! (boy!i hope he does not read this... i will come home one night to find the house covered in lawn fawn papers!!!..........then maybe that not a bad thing!!)

Anyway here is the lawn fawn link  and a little sneak peek of the range.

Tara:)

Moxie Fab World Cutting and Trimming Challenge

It's Moxie Fab World Challenge again and this challenge is Cutting and Trimming

It is funny,cutting and trimming is not always as simple as it seems! i use a few techniques on most cards i do so to think of just cutting and trimming...... it was HARD!
After a lot of playing about i make this card.

I used Tim Toltz Seasonal paper pad and cut using my Fiskars sure-cut trimmers all the little Easter bunnies of a 12 x 12 page. I stuck them onto my card,Blended with distress ink in bundled sage and old paper, dyed my lace with bundled sage distress ink and perfect pearls mist heirloom gold, spritz my card as well, then cut out the word Easter with MFT alphabet dies. simple but effective i think!

If you would like to enter this challenge click on the above link.

Tara :)

Mad for markers...A new colour combo

I love bright colours and especially blues and greens, so i thought, with this challenge a new colour combo,why not do the complete opposite and go for black and grey! you cannot get more of a different colour combo that that for me! So i Decided to scrap my daughters latest fancy dress outfit and use TGF CC Wednesday from the Creeper Crew stamp set.
I tried to colour her in only C colours and black(100) but i had to give a little colour to her face.
I also used several Fiskars border punches,(Happy Jacks, Upper crest) and i made up the photo frames on the PC and cut them out.Then by running them through my Xyron 510i could stick the pics under them and still have enough adhesive to stick them to my page.Once all attached to my page i then added the buttons and the words. i do not know what was going on but for some reason the glue was not sticking so i had to run then all through my xyron 150 to get more glue on them. success!! then now stuck The paper range was from Making memories-Toil and Trouble.

                                            Here is the colours i used to colour Wednesday.

I did use AtYouSpica in silver and clear on the stamp as well. and a Copic multiliner to give Wednesdays hair more definition.

Make sure you check out the Design teams other great creations for this Challenge and If you require any of the above markers or a stamp or 2 you can find all you need at the Mad for Markers Online Store.

And lastly....Don't forget to have a go and enter the challenge too!

Tara :)

Copic Oz new colours challenge

I love R59 in the Copic range, i do not know why i just do. So when i heard that they are bring out a new colour that will go with R59 i was really excited. I mean i still shade with R59. i tend to use R43 and R46. But they just do not flow as well as the should. But NOW............. we have a new colour to the mix..........R56!
Yeah! a better blending option!
So with this in mind, and the fact that i had to make my parents a 40th wedding anniversary card i decided to enter the Copic Oz New Colour Challenge
There are 12 new copic sketch colours coming for 2012 and you can win them all by entering the above challenge.
I had already picked out a image for my parents card. A cute image from The Greeting Farm  it looks very much like the image my parents had on their wedding invites in 1972 so it seemed perfect. next was what to colour the image???? And it just happened my parents wedding was burgundy so GREAT! i used my R83,85 and 59 to colour the image in along with several other colours.
All the colours i used can be found at Mad 4 Markers online store to purchase.

Here is the image coloured.

And here is my finished card. I used Basic grey papers, created my own sentiment with Lawn Fawn alphabet set of stamps-sally's ABC's and several My Favorite Things die-namics dies.

I did not really want to do too much on the card as the papers were quite busy and to be honest i wanted the focus to be the image. That was what it's all about, the happy couple!

Here is mum and Dad before they got married. and where i got the inspiration for the hair colours etc.

I can't believe that is over 40 years ago!!!

Tara:)

Moxie Fab World Die Cutting Challenge

It's a Moxie Fab World Die cutting Challenge  and i wanted to use a die that i had not what it was intended for, so i grabbed my Die-namics from My Favorite Things and got cutting!

And after a little of creating licence i made this card!

I used the Christmas ornament die to use as petals for a flower. i then added a few other die cuts and a button, a bit of perfect pearls mist and Done! a cute little card using Christmas dies not for Christmas!
Click on the above link if you would like to join in with this challenge!!!
Tara:)

Paper smooches Sparks challenge January 12th...

Another week another challenge and this week the photo for inspiration  is as follows

I love the bright red and green in the pic so i went with these colours and make this card.

I used Paper Smooches stamp set "wake up" and coloured with copics. ( R22,24,27-G02,05,07 & 0)
I also used my Fiskars Double Bubble Border Punch and My Favourite Things Grass border die and film strip die. The paper is My minds eye.

Tara:)

Lawnscaping challenge #26 winter wonderland

This weeks Lawnscaping Challenge is winter wonderland.

I love winter, it is sad we do not get snow where i live but  i can drive to some if i need to!

So with the love of snow in mind and all of the great animals that are fond of the snow too i created 2 cards for this challenge.

For both these cards i used critters in the snow, and making frosty friends, i also used the sentiment from winter fox and fanciful frames. I also used a memory box die with velum for the snowflake border at the bottom and a bit of glossy accents. I also used a bunch of 3D tape to get the 3 layers of dimension on the cards I purchased all my lawn Fawn stamps from Lawn Fawn.For $15 bucks a set they are SOOO worth the money! and cheap international postage too! (For all you aussies out there!)

Copic markers were used to colour in as well.
Here are the copic colours i used. If you need to purchase any of the above copic markers that i used. don't forget you can get them all at a really good price over at the Mad 4 Markers online shop

Well i hope you liked my 2 cards!
Tara :)

Map to Your Heart Challenge in the Moxie Fab World

Here is my card for the Map to your heart Challenge on Moxie Fab World.

I photocopied a map of the world and shrunk it. then stamped with a Hero Arts stamp CG140 poppy background in black (thinking about it maybe i should have used chocolate brown.......) then embossed with clear embossing powder. mat and layered it tied some twine from the twinery around the pic, then added some patterned paper from stampin up! I used my fiskars kaleidoscopic border punch and My Favorite Things tabs die and a MFT stamp sentiment.

 The challenge is open till the 23rd January so get creating!!!

Tara :)

Bella! January Challenge...finally got it finished and not a moment too soon!

I had been planning to do this challenge all month but with one day to go i finally finished my 3 cards! if you want to check out the challenge it is on the Bella! blog Here.

The First card i used the Bella Australia Paper pad. I also used ruby rocket gems,and a zipper flower from Bella! too. The little sentiment was from My Favorite things.

The Second card (my favorite card of the 3) I used the Oriental chic paper pad from Bella! Along with Bella fundamentals card stock as the base. The stamp was from my cute stamps- Ni Hao I coloured with copics and the dress was paper pieced with the Bella paper too.

The third card i made i used the Boy range from Bella. I also used the coordinating embellishments and some Bella gems. I used My Favorite Things Dienamics alphabet dies to make the 'birthday' on the card.I used the Fundamentals cardstock for this card also.

The 3 cards are all different which is what i wanted. a lot of the time when you get a 3 card challenge many peoples cards all look really similar. i did not want this for my cards. i really wanted to show the different ranges of paper collections that Bella have.

Fingers crossed!

Tara :)

 

It's Sketch time at the Fisk-a-teers.....

Hello There! 

It's sketch time at the Fisk-a-teers blog and Rebecca has given us a Layout and Card Sketch to work with.

You can find the post Here.

So firstly Rebecca gave us the card sketch.

Lawnscaping challenge...i won top mow-it-all! Yeah!!!

I cannot believe it! i actually won on the lawnscaping challenge blog! i got a top mow- it - all for my birthday challenge card..

I am so proud of myself! what a great year it is beginning to be! thanks lawnscaping!!!
Tara:)

Fiskars sighting on the lawn fawn blog!

I love many things and of course my most loved thing crafting wise are all my fiskars tools,so when i see a Fiskars tool being used with something else i love it's like the jackpot!!!! So today while i was reading the Lawn Fawn Stamp Blog (and i just LOOOVE their stamps!) I got really excited when they showed a great technique with the Fiskars stamp press. The best way to describe it was mirror stamping. Ever had a stamp that you think...ï wish it was facing the other way"well the video on the http://lawnfawn.blogspot.com/2012/01/lawn-clippings-wednesday-with-chari.html shows you exactly how to do it.
I watched the video and straight away got stamping!
This is what i created.

I used my Fiskars sure-cut recycled trimmer,Fiskars scissors,Fiskars medium cloud squeeze punch,Fiskars Grass border punch and of course my Fiskars Stamp press to make the owls face each other.
THe stamps i used were Lawn Fawn Critters in the forest ,My cute stamps eieio(for the sun) and a my cute stamp sentiment.
And for colouring i used copic markers.

So pop on over to the Lawn fawn blog and check out the video for another really great way to use yourFiskars stamp press.
Tara:)

Mad For Markers Challenge Blog...I'm on the Design Team!!!

Well What can i say???? I am on a design team! YEAH!!!!. I was asked this week to join the Mad for Markers Challenge Blog Design Team! I cannot wait to get started.
If you are not aware. Mad For Markers is an Australian based online shop which stocks Copic markers,consumables to work with Copics and many different stamps.These include; Some Odd Girl, The Greeting Farm and La La Land stamps.
Their prices are reasonable and along with their shop they also have a blog with ideas and tutorials on it and of course the challenge blog which regularly has different challenges. Just click the link above or the badge on my side bar to be taken to the Challenge blog.

Boy! i am so exctited!!!!

Tara:)

Happy Birthday Lawnscaping Challenge #25

Happy Birthday to lawnscaping challenge blog!!! and to celebrate lawnscaping have a little treat for us all....a FREE set of digi stamps. you can get them Here.
So this weeks challenge is all about birthdays...of course! and i thought i would go ahead and create a simple birthday card.
I used Lawn Fawn Quinn's ABC's, banneriffic, Admit one, and sallys ABC's. i then coloured with copics and Done! a simple hip hip hooray!

Tara:)