Paper smooches blog hop, your chance to win!

over at the paper smooches blog they have their blog hop going on. just click on the link to take you there. lots of great cards etc to check out and a prize or 2!!
Tara:)

Lily Pad Cards Virginia's View #3

Another round of virginia's view! i just love the inspiration!!!! if you want to check out the challenge you can go to lily pad cards.
Now what to do for this card. i mean i just HAD to use buttons!!! so i have raided my sewing box and found a few that match.
grabbed some paper smooches stamps and made this card.......

what do you think?
there is still a day or 2 to get you entry in so click on the above link and have a go.
Oh and don't forget, i am over at lily pad cards tomorrow as guest designer!

Tara:)

Lawnscaping challenge #30 inspired by....

This time Lawnscaping challenges has given us a doozy! it is creating a card  with the style that is someone that inspired you -craft wise that is!!
I love heidi grace. from the moment she made papers etc for fiskars i just loved her brightly coloured papers and whimsical style. she is never to busy on her pages and cards and she is not want i call a "fluffy bunny"meaning it is not all flowers and lace!
you can check out her blog Here.
So with her great style in mind here is my card.

I have used lawn fawn critters ever after,bon voyage and happy birthday(the set for their 1st birthday.) I have used jillibean soup papers, and Fiskars grass,groovy rainbow and up in the clouds border punches. I have coloured with copics, including giving the clouds some shading. lastly a bit of doodletwine to finish the card off.

I hope you like the card. i just am in love with that dragon. it reminds me of when i lived in wales for 3 years!!!

Tara:)

Lily pad cards Guest Designer....sneek peek!

Good Morning everyone! Today i have a little sneek peek for you from my up coming stint on lily pad cards as a guest designer! intrigued????
well here are couple of cheeky sneek peeks!
Enjoy.

If you would like to check out my cards here is the link for Lily pad cards

Tara:)

And we have our winners........

Hi ya all! wow! what a great blog hop it was. i have over 50 people comment on my blog and many of those lovely comments wanted to be in the draw for the 2 prizes up for grabs!

Now first things first i have to announce the winners...........

After trying to figure out how the whole RANDOM.ORG thing worked....... i finally used the online one they had! and for the life of me i could not work out how to copy and paste the results! i tried honestly i did but it would not seem to copy and save as an image! who knows what i was doing wrong!

And our winners are.....drum roll if you please..............

Jennifer Ashley De Gough for the International prize.

 Jennifer Ashley DeGough said...

Gorgeous projects. Love the use of punches.

I would say right now the Kaliedescope border punch is my favorite right now but I really want to get my hands on the crafty drill. They add so much to projects! :) Love them!

U.S. Fiskateer #6361

Annette Bowes for the Australian prize.

 Annette Bowes said...

Gorgeous cards Tara! Especially love your 2nd card, beautiful paper piercing, papers and love the lacy border. I wouldn't be without my fiskars soft touch scissors, love them, have a wonderful weekend, take careX:)

Congratulations to you both, ladies! if you could email me at osirisandloki@gmail.com with your details, I will get your prizes out to ASAP!!!

Tara:)

Fisk-a-teers Spring Blog hop....

Hello there Every one!
Glad to see you have made it from Tracy M #6773 over at the Australian and New Zealand Fiskars blog.

If you have just arrived and would like to start from the beginning, and you are a Fisk-a-teer the whole list for the blog hop is over at the  Fisk-a-teer website.

If you are thinking "Fisk-a- What??!!!!", thats ok, you should know that Fisk-a-teers is an online community of craftiness (paper craft,sewing, gardening etc) all based around our love and appreciation of Fiskars....you know...the orange handled scissors you see EVERYWHERE!!!!!.
There is a Blog, gallery, and message board led by 4 lovely lead Fisk-a-teers, who along with the other members are great at getting creativity flowing through chats,challenges, on-line crops, and interviews with other crafty celebrities.
If you would like to join in the inspiration of the Fisk-a-teers,you can head over to the Fisk-a-teers/join. Then you too can join in all the fun!!!!!

( if you would like to start from the first stop on the hop head on over to Kelly, and let the fun begin!!!)

There are a lot of Fisk-a-goodness along the way and some hops will have prizes too! so make sure that you read carefully to make sure you do not miss out on a prize or two!

Now all the formalities are done, let me share with you some fisk-a- goodness!!!

You may or may not know but Fiskars have some FANTASTIC new interchangeable border punches.
They are available in the USA and will be available in Australia in APRIL from Spotlight.
I have been lucky enough to have a play with them.
Check them out......

There is a variety of choices in cartridges for this great new tool you can check them all out Here.

I have used the Up in the clouds for the card i have made.

I have layered several different papers cut with the up in the clouds border punch then used the punch again to create a 'tab'for my sentiment. I have also used my shape express and shape template for the backing of my stamped image.
The image i used is from Some odd girl, and the sentiment is from paper smooches. The beautiful paper is from Fynmark called heritage by Bella!

The next card i have to share with you, is using another of the great interchangeable border punches called lacy doubles.

It does not take a lot of punching to create a great effect. the border punches work well as an accent as well as the main focus!
I have used a Some odd girl stamp image for this card my Fiskars trimmer and Jillibean soup papers.

Both of these cards images were coloured with copic markers. i buy mine from Mad 4 Markers they have good prices for Australians and they stock all the Some odd Girl stamps i used today.

OK! Now for some giveaways........
I have 2 prizes up for grabs.
Firstly, for all the Australians out there. A new Fiskars Corner punch. peacock. I have this punch it is great. you can do corners AND take out the corner bits and use it as a border punch.

And i am not forgetting you international folk!
I have for you guys.........

A new set of Fiskars stamps called country petals. This set is great for backgrounds and also stamping several times and layering to get that 3D effect!

"What do I have to do to win a prize?"i hear you ask??????

Well all you have to do is either "follow me"on Google or subscribe via email. Once you have done this leave a comment answering this question......... "what is your favorite Fiskars tool and Why?" and do not forget to comment if you are Australian or international so i know what prize draw to put you in.
Simple!!!
I will announce the winners on Tuesday 27th March . this will give all the international peeps a full weekend to comment.

Well i hope you have enjoyed my creations.
Thanks for hopping by!!  your next stop is Jean # 7358  thanks for visiting me! don't forget to pop back on Tuesday to see who is the winner of my giveaway.

Tara:)

Mad 4 Markers 2nd birthday blog hop.

Hello there Everyone!  Phew! what a great amount of fantastic inspiration to take in. I hope you are not too tired yet from checking out all of the blogs, cause i have 3 cards to share with you hoppers!

Firstly you should have just arrived from Billies blog. If you have gotten lost along the way, no problems you can always head on over to the Mad 4 Markers challenge blog and find where you are at.

Now lets all sing Happy Birthday to you one more time for Mad 4 markers! ready........go............
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to mad 4 markers( yes you sammi)
Happy birthday to you!

Now that is done, here is my first card.

This is one of Sammis great digi images. She made this for the birthday. If you like them and want to see or even buy a image or 2 you can find them here.

This took ages! to colour!!!
Here are the markers i used.

Next is a card i made for the monochromatic challenge to post today. but as we are having birthday celebrations i thought "why not include it in the birthday post!"

I have used Some odd girl Nutsy Kaylee set. You can buy this set here over at mad 4 markers.
I coloured with copics of course! then to get a fur look i put some colourless blender onto a bit of towel then dabbed on my image to he looks a little fury!I also used some old stamping up papers, hemp twine and some grosgrain ribbon.

Here are the colours i used.

Lastly, i have a greetings farm card that i created.

For this card i used The greeting farm sweet and toxic set.You can find a HUGE range of Greeting farm stamps here over at mad 4 markers.
I also used the NEW Fiskars interchangeable border punches(banner and groovy rainbow)
Bo bunny papers and of course my copics.
Here are the colours i used.

Wow! thats it! you have finally finished the Mad 4 Markers 2nd birthday blog hop.
Make sure you comment on everyone's blog as there are prizes up for grabs throughout the hop.

Now for the encore.....Head on over to mad 4 markers blog and check out our birthday post there!

I really hope you had fun!

Tara :)

Oh and P.S. head on over back to my blog on the weekend for a Fiskars blog hop and more prizes up for grabs!

Paper smooches Sparks challenge 8th - 21st March

Another Paper smooches Sparks challenge this week and it was quite a good one. i just loved the inspiration!

Felt! i just love the texture. so i thought i would certainly use felt in my card this challenge!

Here is my Card.

I used several Paper smooches Stamp sets for this card.  The apple and sentiment is from falling for you set. I stamped with stazon brown ink onto the cream felt then sewed on a button with some beige hemp cord. i colored the stem with a copic marker and cut out a little green leaf. The border i stamped with the new paper smooches set Whimsical. i used embossing pad and a clear embossing powder. i added a bit more of hemp string on the edge of the card .
The card is Kraft card stock that i purchased from Alice in paper land.

There are still a few more days to enter the challenge so why not go over and have a go!!!

Tara:)

Party ensembles week at paper crafts connection.

Over at paper crafts connection they have a great challenge to win a bunch of prizes. You have to make a party ensemble . Well i am always making stuff for the girls parties and so i thought i would make a ensemble especially for this challenge. and them maybe i can use it to have a little surprise for Zoe!
Here is what i created.

I used Echo park Summer days range for this ensemble along with plenty of bling ribbon and flowers.

here are the little invites i made. i used the echo park papers along with fiskars grass border punch, MFT dienamic alphabet set, a bunch of 3d foam and my Xyron 510 machine to adhere all the letters and embellishments i made. the little goodies bag was echo park paper too and fiskars lacy doubles punch for the edge. and a bo bunny flower.

the cupcake covers are echo park paper, along with the little signs in the cakes. i make these on Photoshop with the digital version of echo park papers.I cut them all out and then glued them with my xyron runner,which was the quickest to use. the cupcakes are choc marble with caramel icing YUM!!!. none for me im on weight watchers :(.........

The little drink sign i made again on photo shop added some bobble eyes and bling.I cut out the hearts and ran both sides through my Xyron 510 then glued together and made the slit to hang on the glass.
 the windmill toy is echo park papers and i used a straw for the handle. getting the windmill to stand in the glass was quite the task. i think there is like 100 glue dots in the bottom of the glass now. Rob is going to go mad when he tries to wash the glass up!!!LOL!!

The napkin rings were echo park papers with a cut out strip for the kids names on it. i also popped some prima flowers on them for some added umph!

And lastly the banner, i made it then cut out some letters i did in Photoshop. i printed them 2 times and layered them for dimension. by this time i had ran out of 3d foam so i got some white fun foam and ran it through my xyron 150 twice(once on each side) to make some "extra" foam. i then added some bling and some sparkly pen on the stitches. you cannot see it that well sorry!


using the combination of echo park papers and also the digital papers that matched was i thought a great idea as some of the things i wanted to do i really needed card stock and a larger print.

All in all i think Zoe will love it!
Don't you???

Tara:)

lily pad cards colour challenge

It's that time again when Lily Pad Cards have another colour challenge!
This month the colours are...........

Pale pink, and beige!
Lovely!!!!!!
I do not have a lot of purple onion stamps, actually i brought my first 3 from Jay Gee's nook last week so i thought i would christen them!

Here is my card.

I used purple onion design stamps for the tickets and sentiments inside them, i used a MFT die-namic die for the hearts, stampin up weathered wood background stamp. and distress inks from tim holtz ( spun sugar, tattered rose, antique linen) some copic markers, memento ink in rich cocoa and some seam binding which i dyed with the distress inks.
There are still a few days to enter the challenge so head on over to Lily Pad Cards and have a go!

Tara:)

Lawnscaping challenge # 29 sketch challenge

Ok. i will be honest... i hate sketch challenges for card :( if it was scrapbooking-no dramas! but cards... i do not know what it it but sketches for cards seem to block my flow of design and i ALWAYS get stumped.
This challenge was no different. After colouring about 100 images and making cards, none of them seemed to be right :( my mojo had just all dried up....whaaaaaaah........
so here is my card. it is like the 5th one i made and though i am still not happy with it, it is the best i have done.
roll on some colour inspiration next week!!!

 i used the sketch upside down and used the new lawn fawn papers. i also used lawn fawn stamps- critters i the forest,bon voyage,lunar lights,admit one,turkey day.
I do not know if you can see but i needed a sun so i used the rosette middle and the feathers from turkey day to make the sun.
all i can say is meh.......
not my best creation.....
check out the challenge here you still have a few days to enter!

Tara:)

Moxie fab world -the cure for the winter blues challenge

Ok ....over at Moxie Fab World they have a challenge that is finishing on sunday 11th March.

It id all about blues..... there was heaps of inspiration i loved this rug....

so i took out my copic markers and the NEW set of Paper smooches stamps i got over at Jay Gee's Nook called word salad, and came up with this card.

Here are the copics i used to make this card.

Quite a simple card to make but i just love those blues! it reminds me of my nan's china she had in a cabinet when i was a kid!

so head on over to  Moxie Fab World and enter the challenge!!!

Tara:)

March is monochromatic at mad 4 markers

Good Morning everyone!,

Monochromatic colouring...hmmmmmm...... this was not my favorite choice when i heard our march line up! but honestly, by the time i finished colouring in Birthday Mae my mind was totally changed!
If you colour with the correct combo of colours it is quite effective!
But what choice of colours to pick? well after much sampling of colours from my collection of copics, i went with the Warm Greys and a couple of E's. You see just because it is monochromatic it does not stop you from mixing it up a bit to get the right shading of colours.

Here is my Birthday Mae coloured in.

Here are the colours i used.

And with a little help from some My minds eye papers(stella and rose), Fiskars interchangeable border punch(lacy doubles),My favorite things die-namics  and Lawn Fawn alphabet stamp set. my card was complete!

Don't forget, you can buy all the copic markers and the some odd girl stamp i used from the Mad 4 Markers online store and remember to keep an eye out this month on the Blog and facebook page for birthday giveaways and surprises!

Tara:)

moxie fab world tuesday trigger- home sweet home

It's tuesday trigger time again and this weeks the pic is sooo cute! so with a bit of thinking and a couple of Fiskars punches including the new jenni bowlin jester punch i created this card.

I used several brands of papers, a some odd girl clear stamps coloured with copics. you can buy the stamp at Mad 4 Markers and i also used some doodle bug twine.

dont forget to have a go with the tuesday trigger Here.

Tara:)

Pokemon nails

I have finally finished off zoes nails. I promised her i would paint them for her and i did. pokemon and pokeballs. she thinks she is the ants pantz now!!! and they actually look ok. I think i might just have a go on mine now. i am thinking Doctor whos TARDIS. i just brought some polish from Dolly polish a few weeks ago and it is called"ïts bigger on the inside" and when on your nails it is exactly the same colour as the blue box itself.
you got to love franken polishes!!!
anyway here are zoes finished nails.

Tara:)

I am cheering from the rooftops for Zoe!

Guess what?
Zoe got an....... wait for it........

In the latest lawnscaping challenge! I am so proud of her. And she was so funny about it too!
You just have to love Autism! Zoe is just so positive about everything. and when i showed her that she came...well i said 3rd as she did not quite get the whole gnome thing........ she was really excited and said to me "mum. i am glad i came third. 3 is my lucky number" how great was that!
I also want to big up lawnscaping. as they included Zoe to their competition. thanks lawnscaping. it really means a lot to me .

Tara:)