happy valentines day!

Happy valentines day everyone. i hope your loved ones spoiled you rotten :)
I have a cute card i created for valentines day using my fiskars shape express and labels template.

I created this card by using my Shape express and labels template to cut out the 2 different shapes from cream card stock and then stamp a sentiment on it. then using my black marker i added the edge pattern to finish it off. I then layered using 3D foam pads and adhered this on to my card. I added some ribbon and embellishments.
I hope you had a great valentines day..
Tara :)

Another quick valentines day card :)

 So this is a quick valentines day card to share with you all today.
I was in a bit of a rush when i did this card, so it shows you can get one made in 10 mins :)

Very quick and simple to make!
I took a 5 inch card and then with my Fiskars trimmer i cut out several squares smaller than the one before so i could mat and layer on to my card.
I then took some off white cardstock and stamped and embossed my image with the Fiskars stamp press. Once this was dome i took my Fiskars interchangeable border punch and the groovy rainbow cartridge and punched the side of the off white card stock.
I attached a piece of ribbon i cut with my Fiskars scissors and placed on the left side of the card as a tab. a few embellishments and the card was finished.
Quick, simple and easy to do in 10 mins.
I will share 1 more valentines card tomorrow using the Fiskars tabs and labels stamp express template.
Tara :)

Fiskars Stamp press tutorial

Hello there. Today i have another valentines day card to share with you and i little tutorial to create a chalkboard effect with your Fiskars Stamp Press.
Here is the card that i have made.

This was a simple little card to make.
First up you need to grab some off cut strips of patterned paper. cut 3 strips and adhere them to your card. Your Fiskars trimmer is great for this.
Once the patterned paper is glued onto your card add some stitching by either drawing it, stamping and embossing it (which i did using a paper smooches set called needle a little love) or even had sew your card. This is now the background of your card.
Next is the chalkboard technique.
This is very popular at the moment and i thought i would share it with you. All you will need is black card stock, your Fiskars trimmer, Fiskars stamp press, a stamp to use( i have used a valentines day set from My favourite things) clear embossing ink pad, white ink pad,white embossing powder and a white marker.
First up trim your black card stock to a size to fit your stamp.

Then with some talc and a paintbrush or a tool that does the same thing, brush your card stock so you do not get any oil or finger prints on it when embossing.

Now you can stamp and emboss with out getting stray embossing powder.
Put your stamp onto your Fiskars stamp press. Then stamp with clear embossing powder onto your card stock.

(excuse the reflection of the light in the stamp press :) )
Once you have stamped, sprinkle on your embossing powder and heat set.

 This is now where your Fiskars stamp press is a great tool to have in your stash.
Ink up your stamp on your Fiskars stamp press with white ink. i used staz on opaque white as i know it stands out well on black card stock. but any white ink pad will do.
Place the Fiskars stamp press over your stamped and embossed card stock and line up just to the right of the already stamped image. this is easily done because the stamp press allows you to take your time and line up just right with the foam legs that hold your inked stamp over your card stock.
Once lined up press down and stamp.

 Now you have a stamped piece of card stock which has a kind of 3D effect on it. this gives it the look of an old chalkboard.

To add some more "chalk"on the card stock grab a old paintbrush and flick some white ink onto the card stock.

Then with a white marker add the finishing touches. I drew a border around the card stock or you could even mat this onto a bit of brown card to create a "real"chalkboard!

After all this is done i took my Fiskars scalloped border punch and added a little pink border on the bottom of the chalkboard.
Using 3D foam pads i adhered it to the card.

This technique is super easy with the Fiskars stamp press! and it can be used for many other card styles too!
I will be back tomorrow with another valentines card to share!
tara :)

Valentines Day card

Valentines day is almost upon us and for anyone who is leaving it last minute to create a card for their loved one, you can whip a card up quick smart with just a few basic Fiskars tools.
Over the next few days i will be posting a few quick ways to make a valentines day card with Fiskars tools like your Fiskars trimmer,Squeeze punches and Fiskars Stamp press.
So ok..... first up is a great way to make the most of your Fiskars trimmer.
Here is a card i made with just a couple of my Fiskars tools,but mainly my Fiskars trimmer.

I Really loved making this card with just a few off cuts of paper and card stock.
I cut with my Fiskars trimmer 6 matching squares for my patchwork design and then glued them to my card. Then i embossed the stitching on the card. For added embellishment i punched a Scalloped heart using my Fiskars Squeeze punch, and made it like a button by punching 4 holes with my Fiskars eyelet setter tool. I added a button and then using my new Fiskars interchangeable border punch cartridge called feathered friends i dded the little birds in black.
THis card took no time at all to make and i got to use up a bunch of oddment papers i had sitting around.
Tomorrow i will share with you another way to use your Fiskars trimmer and also a great technique using your Fiskars stamppress.
Tara :)

Some Odd Girl monthly sketch challenge for Feb 2013

Hey everyone!
So i was lucky enough to get my polished pinkies onto the new some odd girl set called Love Bandits.
This is truly an Awesome set!!! i fell in love with it as soon as i saw the sneak peeks on the Some Odd Girl Blog.

so i thought why not use the little critters on my sketch challenge that SOG have going at the moment.
Here is the Sketch.

And here is my interpretation of the sketch.....

I made sure i used all the elements from the sketch but just resized them a little.
Thats what i love about the sketches. they can give you just that little bit of inspiration when you have a brain freeze!!!
I used Bella! embossed cardstock in pink, and several different coloured core'dinations  cardstock. i used Lil Inker Designs stitched rectangle mats, and their stitched banner. i also used Fiskars kaleidoscope border punch.
The copic markers i used are as follows-  E71,74,77,R32,35,37,E50 and E02.

If you would like to join the sketch challenge why not head over to Some Odd Girl Feb Challenge and enter!

Tara :)

Fiskars interchangeable border punch lattice tutorial

Hello there everyone!

Today I am going to share with you a tutorial on how to make a lattice type background using yourFiskars interchangeable border punch and the cartridge dream weaving.

First you need to grab a piece of patterned or plain paper 6 x 6 inches square. you can do different sizes but this size when folding seems to work well. when you pick your paper make sure it is not too thick other wise you will not be able to punch double.

Fold your paper in 1/2 and pop in the punch.

Next punch along your paper almost to the end on both sides but not quite.Open the paper up.

Next, fold the outside edge into the middle of the paper.

Put the folded edge into the punch and once again lunch to almost the edge on both sides.

Open the paper up and do the same thing on the other side.

Once you have done this you can trim the paper to fit your card.

With my card i used Helmars liquid scrap dots (i am in love with this product!) and attached my lattice to my card so it was raised up.

Then all i needed to do was decorate the card! 

I used My Fiskars jenni Bowlin jester border punch for the tab to put the sentiment on. The sentiment is from Paper Smooches. I used Fiskars oak leaf squeeze punch and a Die to cut out the Felt heart.

The Stamped image is from Some odd girl and i coloured with copics.

With the different colours behind the lattice i made it becomes quite an effective background.

Just remember.....

* Do not use to thick paper or scrapbooking paper as it will be too hard to punch.

* When folding your paper to punch you do not have to crease it just fold enough to fit in the punch.

* THink about what colour you are going to use when punching as the patter can get lost in the papers pattern.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and have a go!

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:)

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:)

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:)

It's Virginia's View challenge #2

This is the second challenge in the lily pad cards Virginia's View. and i just love the colours in the pic.

and if you need some more inspiration there was an optional sketch too. but i did not use this.

Here is my card.

I used my favorite things flower die, Fiskars bubbles border punch, Paper Smooches sentiment sampler, and some gems
it turned out quite nice!

Tara:)

Jay Gee's Nook Challenge #16

I do not know what it was today, maybe the weather but my brain was on a creative holiday today! i must have coloured in maybe 10 images before i decided on what i would do for this challenge over at Jay Gee's Nook and i still after making the card have to be honest with myself.... am not 100% happy with the card but with new submissions due for the papercrafts mag i totally need to do a few cards for that while Poppy is quiet!

So to get on the challenge.....
Here is the inspiration. god knows why i had brain freeze the colour array is great!!!

and here is the card i made.

I used a fiskars set of cling stamps, and various paper smooches stamp sets to find the correct letters.
The paper was from echo park and jillibean soup. and i coloured with copics.

Tara:)

Colouring with R's and RV's challenge part 2

Hello everyone!
Today i am going to share with you a cute little birthday card i made using the Balloon Kaylee stamp from Some odd girl,and as it is Mad 4 Markers birthday this month its perfect timing!

If you like the stamp you can purchase it at Mad 4 Markers.

I wanted to also use my new Fiskars Border punch with this card as i got the punch hot from USA and is not getting released here in Australia (so i was REALLY excited when it arrived.) The punch went well with the birthday theme and as we are all celebrating Mad 4 Markers 2nd birthday why not use it!

So i coloured Kaylee as you can see above used an array of different RV'S and other colours.
These is the Copics i used.

Then i created a background with my Border punch and some patterned paper. If you would like to see how i made the background you can by going to the Fiskars blog.
Then i used some My Favorite Things die-namic dies for the pink label and word 'party'  and adhered it all together.
The combo of bright RV's work really well together with the paper and really do make Kaylee pop!

So why not grab a few copic markers and a stamp and have a go at our challenge this month, on the right sidebar. If you do not have many RV's never fear, Mad 4 Markers have got you covered just click on the link to purchase what you need!
And do not forget all the great prizes and challenges that will be on the blog all month celebrating our 2nd birthday!

Tara:)

CAS-ual Fridays #39- Love ya to pieces

It is another week and another great challenge at  CAS-ual Fridays And it is all about paper piecing.

I thought of a simple card to do with this technique.

I used a Fiskars cling stamp set called fresh fruit. and paper pieced with My Minds Eye paper range-12 days of Christmas. * i love Christmas papers for non Christmas projects!!*
I also used doodlebug doodle twine Christmas as well!
I really like this card!
if you would love to have a go at this challenge click on the above link to enter.
Tara:)