These past few days, I have watched more daytime TV than could usually be considered healthy, thanks to a dose of shingles that started out in my right eyebrow and has made its was onto my eyelid as well as spreading its painful feelers across my forehead, temple and cheek.

Not to mention that its allowing me to do a very passable impression of the Elephant Man thanks to the swelling around my eye.

Yep, I’m smokin’ HOT right about now, let me tell you…

So I have been spending quite a bit of time inside, partly because I have been feeling so wretched and partly so as not to give nightmares to any small children that I might cross paths with on the street.

I thought it might be an ideal time to get on  here with some stamped creations that I made some time ago and have photographed, edited and all, just not managed to share.

This card was one that I made for a very special wedding back in January – one of the five weddings we went to between September last year and February this year (never have I been so very aware of a “wedding season” in my life..)

The gal getting married was someone I have known since she was about four years old and her dad used to coach my brother’s junior cricket team.  Her parents and mine are still the best of friends all these years later – wonderful people, all of them

With so many weddings to go to, I found myself with a go-to card design that I made for a couple of them, but for this one, I wanted to do something a bit different and special.

I started out (as I very often do) at the Clean and Simple Stamping blog and used this sketch as my starting point…

After changing the orientation, I set about deciding what to decorate my four squares with and hunted through  my stamp and embellishment collection for anything ‘”wedding-y”.

Here’s a closer look at the combination of elements I ended up with…

It was one of those times that I was happy to have a variety of embellishments on hand, as it was the little touches that finished if off I think.  Things like the Dazzling Diamonds glitter in the champagne glasses and the tiny heart-shaped clear button with a punched out Cherry Cobbler heart stuck on the top.

If you’d like more details on any of the products or techniques I’ve employed on this card, please don’t hestitate to get in touch.

And who knows, depending on what Brooke is up to these days on the Bold and the Beautiful, I may even be back later with more…  (Assuming that Brooke is still around that is – surely she’s not finished marrying every bloke on the show yet…?)

“Congrats Nat & Dave – Wedding card
Stamps: Cheers to You, Always, Simply Said, Occasional Greetings, Playful Pieces (L3 hostess), Basic Phrases
Paper: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Whisper White, In-Color Patterns DSP (Blushing Bride)
Ink: Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: 1-1/4 and 1-3/8 Square Punches, 1-1/4 Circle Punch, Two Step Owl Punch (heart), Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Early Espresso Marker, Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin Dimensionals

I‘m finding it hard to believe that we are a mere day away from the end of August, and I feel as though I haven’t done some of the retiring items justice.

There are some stamp sets that I have loved a lot and will really miss so I thought I would take a minute to show you some projects that I have made with some particular faves…

I loved Frames with a Flourish from the start and have pulled it out on many an occasion when I have needed a frame of some description in whatever project I was stamping at the time.

This one is a little box made with two Scallop Envelope die cut-outs and an extra strip of cardstock to form the base.  I have been demonstrating this at most of my workshops this past month, with a little set of four cards to go inside using the Frames plus Pocket Silhouettes as well.

This is a card that I made absolute ages ago after I had an idea to use the dotted swirly frame in the set as a background.  I made the card, was satisfied that I had got the idea out of my brain and onto paper and never did anything else with it, hence the delay in putting it up here

The smudgy effect of the stamping was achieved by first stamping onto Kraft (soon to be Crumb Cake) cardstock in Chocolate Chip ink, then running over the top of the image with an Aquapainter to soften the lines a bit.

Here are some previously blogged cards (and a couple of books!) that I have made using Frames with a Flourish too.

Click on the thumbnails to see them in full size and in their original posts…

So there was a little trip down Frames with a Flourish lane.  If you love this set as much as I do, I encourage you to get in touch with me before the end of tomorrow and I’d be happy to place an order for it, plus any other retiring products that you find yourself in need of

*Retiring products in red*

“Scallop Envelope Box”
Stamps: Frames with a Flourish, Pocket Silhouettes, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Paper: Kraft, Naturals Ivory
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Scallop Envelope Die, Word Window Punch, Horizontal Slot Punch, Kraft Taffeta Ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals

“Thank you card”
Stamps: Frames with a Flourish, Occasional Greetings
Paper: Baja Breeze, Naturals Ivory, Chocolate Chip, Kraft
Ink: Chocolate Chip, White craft ink
Accessories: Pretties Kit, Very Vanilla 5/8″ grosgrain, Aquapainter, Stampin’ Sponge

So I mentioned in a previous post that I would be back the next day with an additional card showcasing a similar look to that day’s card but in a different colour scheme.

And I had the best intentions in the world of doing so, but as it turns out, not a single spare second to fulfill my promise, between a super fun Saturday afternoon workshop (hi Sharima and girls!) and a school fete all day Sunday.

But I’m here now, just in time so that you can all rush at me to purchase Framed with Love before it is no longer available after tomorrow…

Here’s the card:

You can see that I used the same wallpaper-ish effect of stamping the scroll-y image repeatedly in the same way as the previous card, but that’s pretty much where the similarity ends.

Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip and Kraft would have to be one of my absolute favourite colour combinations and was perfect for this birthday card for my dear Mum-in-law and Mama to my girls, whose birthday was back in December.

Now if you would all form an orderly virtual queue, I can take your last minute orders for Framed with Love or any other set that you will be requiring from the Summer Mini, as well any Sale-a-bration sets that you might qualify for should your order be in excess of $100.

No pushing now, I will get to you all in time, and while you’re waiting, you might like to check out the next post due to pop up tomorrow showing you a sweet project with another Summer Mini set

“Mama’s Baja Birthday Card”
Stamps: Framed with Love, Occasional Greetings
Paper: Baja Breeze, Kraft, Naturals Ivory, Chocolate Chip, Parisian Breeze DSP (retired)
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Baja Breeze 1″ Double Stitched Ribbon, Kraft Taffeta Ribbon, Button Latte, Linen Thread, Stampin’ Sponges

It’s been ages since I’ve been here and to be honest it’s been a refreshing little break, although I must apologise for not mentioning that I would be taking a little blogging hiatus.

I didn’t really plan to, but with Christmas, New Year and extended school holidays and everything that goes along with it, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying just hanging out and doing nothing in particular.

Except swimming.  Lots of swimming, plus discovering new parks with the girls and generally having a lovely summer!

You may have noticed that my banner is back to normal and I am dressed in my usual Cameo Coral attire again and have done away with the Christmas hat, hence the title of this post.

Had I myself been wearing a Santa hat for two months, aside from an exceedingly itchy scalp, I’d have had the most atrocious case of hat hair you’ve ever seen.

Thank goodness for digi-me in all my bouffant and hat hair-less glory

Despite not having been blogging, I have still been creating and gearing up for some fun stampin’ stuff in 2010.

I’ve been editing photos galore of some long-ago projects and will be sharing these in the next little while, as well as some newer stuff as well.

How about a little something to get the 2010 party started….?

My Christmas card designs for 2009!

You’ll notice I stayed well away from the Trendy Christmas Tree debacle of last year…

Forgive me for not adding in the materials lists for these cards – I may pop back in with that information, plus a little ‘how-to’ on the Christmas trees in the first cards, but I’m going to spend some reading time with my chickens before they pop off to bed.

What I will do is leave you with a little poll though, as it’s something that I’ve been thinking about a bit lately and thought I would throw the question out there, although possibly the Trendy Christmas Trees comment fest should warn me otherwise…

Anyways, here goes…

As promised, here are the whole cards that I gave you a brief sampling of yesterday.  I know that one of the cards has been received due to the very sweet and enthusiastic comment left earlier (*waving* SJ!) and I’m going to take a chance that the other two will have been found before the recipients check in here….

So here we go….

This card was sent to my lovely Aunty Mary, sister of my mum, frequent blog commenter, enthusiastic cheerleader and a wonderful influence in my life.  I wanted her to know just how much I love and appreciate her.

For the card itself, I stamped the birdie using Versamark and embossed with white embossing powder.  Then I used markers in the colours of the cardstock I had chosen and coloured in the little “carved out” bits through to the cardstock below.

“A card for Aunty Mair”
Stamps: Always, Best Yet, Sanded
Paper: Old Olive, Cameo Coral, Pink Pirouette
Ink: Versamark, Old Olive
Accessories: White Embossing Powder, Old Olive wide grosgrain, Old Olive & Cameo Coral Markers, Stampin’ Sponges

Here’s the next one…

This one landed in the mailbox of my dear friend and fellow demonstrator, Sarah Jane Kalé, one of many friends I have made due to my association with Stampin’ Up! and one of the reasons I am thankful that I became a demonstrator at all.

During the recent school holidays, SJ and I were meant to catch up with our little ones but on the morning in question I woke up with a raging migraine and had to cancel to spend the day on the couch with an ice-pack on my head.  Sarah offered to have the girls for me so that I could ice my thumping head in peace – just one example of the sweetness that is Sarah, not to mention that she is one of the most talented stampers I know!  Love ya SJ!

The sentiment on this card is perfect and I wanted to use a bunch of vibrant colours, so I chose a combination of markers that I liked based on the colours in my small girl’s current favourite dress and coloured the words all differently.  The Baroque background stamp is embossed with clear embossing powder.

“A card for Sarah Jane”
Stamps: Occasional Greetings, Baroque
Paper: Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Pink Passion, Whisper White
Ink: Versamark
Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder, Certainly Celery wide grosgrain, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Pink Passion, Pixie Pink & Apricot Appeal Markers, Eyelet Border Punch, Button Bouquet Designer Buttons, Linen Thread, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Now for the last one…

This one went to Makeesha, another demonstrator and gorgeous friend who endlessly shares her boundless stamping talents.  I was looking forward to catching up with her at the Perth Regionals last weekend, but this time the migraine monster came visiting her and she wasn’t able to attend.

I wasn’t the only disappointed one, as I know many Perth stampers were busting for the opportunity to breathe the same air and maybe even exchange a word or two with Keesh, stamp-star that she is, and I’m sure she was also saddened to have to miss out on such a fun day of stamping.

For this card I inked up Garden Whimsy, which I haven’t done for quite some time, and was happy with how it turned out.  You might notice that the layout is pretty much the same as Aunty Mary’s birdie card, just different stamps and colours

“A card for Keesh”
Stamps: Garden Whimsy, Best Yet, Sanded
Paper: Bashful Blue, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Kiwi Kiss, Bashful Blue
Accessories: Pumpkin Pie striped ribbon, Pumpkin Pie Marker, Eyelet Border Punch, Stampin’ Sponges, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I hope you enjoyed checking out my cards as much as I enjoyed making them   If you’d like further information about any of the techniques or products involved in the creation of these cards, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Mother’s Day came and went a good month ago now and I have yet to share the cards I made for my delightful mum and mum-in-law, so here they are!

My mum has always loved all things owl-related, looong before they became the next big thing in stamping and scrapbooking!  She is a setter of the trends rather than a follower, as you will read all about in an upcoming post about her brush with fame, Trinny and Susannah style, but that’s a WHOLE other story!

Back to the owl….

This guy is from the Level 3 hostess bundle Hand Drawn, more specifically he is one of the Loop to Loop rub-ons.  Isn’t he adorable?!

In order to incorporate the two different styles of Designer Series Paper, I carefully cut the wings away from the rest of the owl before I rubbed on the rub-on.

Then I applied the body portion to the pale pink spotty paper from the Candy Lane series of DSP, and the wings to a darker spotty piece from Raspberry Tart and popped the wings up on Stampin’ Dimensionals for some, well, dimension

“Nanny’s Happy Mother’s Day Card”
Stamps: None!
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red, Chocolate Chip, Holiday Treasures, Candy Lane & Raspberry Tart DSP, Kiwi Kiss Patterns DSP
Ink: None!
Accessories: Loop to Loop rub-ons (Level 3 Hostess Bundle), Double-Stitched Rose Red Ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals

This next one was for for my dear MIL, beloved ‘Mama’ to my girls and amazing crafter too!  She is the most incredible quilter and has recently applied her crafty hand to papery pursuits, with large amounts of success I will add!

This one was inspired by the card on the back cover of the current Idea Book & Catalogue.  I am loving this colour combination and the Sweet Stems set is the sweetest!

“Mama’s Happy Mother’s Day Card”
Stamps: Sweet Stems, Occasional Greetings
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Rose Red, Watercolour Paper, Raspberry Tart DSP
Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Wide Oval Punch, Chocolate Chip wide grosgrain, Aquapainter, White Gel Pen

The catalogue is such a wonderful place for inspiration, be it for a layout idea, or a colour combination as I have used it for here.  Make sure you make use of the wonderful resource that it is and save yourself the trouble of re-inventing the wheel every time you sit down to stamp!

It feels as though I haven’t blogged about anything creative for eons, which is very likely due to the fact that I haven’t blogged about anything creative for eons.  I recently created a folder on my computer called “to blog”, where I store photos that I have edited until such time as I can find a moment to post them here.  So rest assured, there be some stampin’ a comin’.  Sometime soon….

In fact here comes some now!

As demonstrators, we had the opportunity to pre-order a select few stamp sets in March, prior to the catalogue being released to customers in April.  It’s one of the many benefits of being a demonstrator – you can read some more such benefits here, and after you’re done there, you might be interested to know that YOU could become a demonstrator this month for the bargain price of $150.

But I digress…

One of the stamp sets that I pre-ordered was Good Friend, and the very day it arrived, I busted it open and set about putting it through its paces along with the brand new and delightful range of In-Colors.  I have posted a couple of these previously here and here.

And here are some more quite varied examples of the use of this very versatile stamp set!

Additional Stamp Set: Short & Sweet
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Certainly Celery, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Certainly Celery, Close to Cocoa, Baja Breeze
Accessories: Large & Small Oval Punches, Certainly Celery wide grosgrain, Linen Thread, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Additional Stamp Set: Occasional Greetings
Paper: Riding Hood Red, More Mustard, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White
Ink: Riding Hood Red, More Mustard, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss
Accessories: 1-3/8″  Square Punch, 1/2″ Circle Punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Paper: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Watercolour Paper, Good Morning Sunshine DSP
Ink: Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red
Accessories: Aquapainter, Stampin’ Dimensionals
This card was inspired by one by Shanan Hambrick that I saw on Splitcoast Stampers. The use of the bird leg as flower stem was ingenious I thought!

Paper: Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, Watercolour Paper
Ink: Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hoof Red, Summer Sun
Accessories: Whisper White grosgrain, Aquapainter, Stampin’ Dimensionals

This next one is my favourite of the bunch and I used it as one of the designs for my Convention swaps.  It was one of those “came to me in the middle of the night” ideas – to use white ink for the ‘puffy’ stamp and thereby make them into dandelions.  The last one has been blown away, hence the ‘wish’ greeting.  Geddit?!!

Additional Stamp Set: Life Definitions
Paper: Baja Breeze, Naturals Ivory, Kraft
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Whisper White Craft, Baja Breeze
Accessories: Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon, Stampin’ Sponges, Stampin’ Dimensionals

So there you have it – a quite varied variety (is there any other kind of variety?) of cards made with a single stamp set.

Which one is your favourite….?