A gift from me to you....

This is the first card in a bundle of 12, I have made as a Christmas present for my son's partner Amy. Amy commented to me once that she loved the way I made the handmade cards....and I've always thought I would do her a mixed bundle of cards as part of her gift this year. I purchased a little box with a Christmas tree on the front to place them in. As the box was narrower than the standard envelopes I usually use, I had to make the cards slightly smaller to fit inside the box with a smaller standard envelope to go with them.

The first three cards use the SU set called 'Just Believe'. It is a gorgeous set, which has become one of my favourites, and has so many possibilities for its use.  I got the ideas for these cards by purchasing a kit from one of my favourite stampers, namely Chat Wszelaki.  It was the October 2010 Kit Tutorial available on her website.

This one was created quickly with the Elegant Lines embossing folder and the Beautiful Wings embosslits Dies, I just love these and the SU ones gives such a deep and crisp image.  The die comes with 5 differently sized butterflies, 4 embossed and one left plain.  The blue mounting piece behind the 'happy birthday' image is a sizzlit from the 'lots of tags' pack.

These little 3" x 3" cards are from another favourite card maker Stampin-Style with Mike. Here you will find all the info to case them if you wish. I just love mini cards and feel they can give just as much pleasure as a larger card. These mini's also use another little addition to my card resources, namely the 'movers and shapers die cutting system'. I haven't played with it much, except to make these cards, but can see again a lot of possibilities.

 

 

And finally, a little hedgehog from the SU 'Fun and Fast Notes' set.  The 3" x 3" cards are unable to be posted through Australia Post obviously because of their size.  Sometimes I don't put them in an envelope, but just adhere them to the top of the present for added pleasure. 

Thanks for looking.  Keep smiling, Ann

Birthday Blessings

Two postings in the one day, this will be a first...this card is for my mother-in-law for her 80th birthday.  It's another cased card by another favourite blogger No Time To Stamp; thanks Sharon.  She does some amazing cards and and has some great stuff to add to your wish list.  But I think her biggest favourite is her love of beautiful ribbons which are a delight to work with.  The one opposite is 1.25" Ivory pure silk and I used the large bow easy to make it.  If you zoom in you can see it is a double bow.

This was a large card (base 14 x 21 cm) due to the 'birthday blessings' sentiment (9 x8.5 cm) which was stamped in Night of Navy on Very Vanilla c/s.  The DSP is called Blue Awning and Sharon has the matching adhesive flowers which really do the card justice.  The little cut out in the top LH corner was a spellbinders die called Vintage Dies, there are 4 in the set and each are 2" x 2". I have been wanting to have a go at these for a while; they are excellent and to make it even better I purchased some time ago a little machine called a Xyron that turns them into stickers.  It takes cut outs up to 1.5" wide and you simply drop your cut out, right side up, down a little slot, pull on the tape at the other end and it draws your cut out through and places adhesive on the back of it....absolutely brillant for these fiddly little morsels.  I also had a go at using my new scallop trim punch too....just on the corners.  On the inside of the card I placed a strip of the blue poka dot DSP across the bottom, about 3cm in width, and placed in the centre of this a repeat of the spellbinder cut outs.  So yes as you can see I've had a great time in my little space of the house.

Thanks for dropping by, take care and keep smiling.....Ann

Just for you...Just Believe

My goodness it seems that long since I've actually made a card and posted on my blog, that for a minute there I completely forgot the process....has that happened to you??  DH has been away with work and of course I took the opportunity to stay up until midnight most nights catching up on some cleaning, ironing and more importantly creating, reading and learning how to use some new additions to my growing stamping collection.

This gorgeous simple card was made using the SU set called 'Just Believe'.  I absolutely love it!  This little creation was cased from one of my favourite sites Me, My Stamps and I, also found in the blogs I follow; thanks Chat.  It was Chat's October kit which I purchased and reproduced just to get back into the knack of making a card again.  Presently I'm feeling pretty flat, just tired, but so want to create and find casing a card for me, is the best way to go....at least something gets made.

Both these cards are exactly the same.  Both use the Woodland Walk DSP.  Products used were Very Vanilla as the base card, then topped with Kraft and then Very Vanilla embossed using the square lattice folder.  The four squares were Chocolate Chip c/s with the lovely Woodland Walk DSP.  It's topped off with the centre floral stamp and I used flowers from another set which I cut out and topped with an adhesive pearl, but Chat has used the itty bitty punch for her flowers - mine's in the mail!  The centre piece is also raised with a dimension as is the scallop oval on the top centre piece.  The top centre piece is made using the oval and scallop punches with the modern label punch carrying the sentiment.  It all comes together with a little chocolate chip 1/4" grosgrain ribbon.  Hope you like it.  Take care and keep smiling....Ann

Happy Birthday - Let's rock!

Let the music rock on....a birthday card for a special son who loves his music and does DJ-ing as a sideline.

A very simple design and I would have loved a little more time to play.  The base card was black cardstock highlighted with the music theme DSP purchased locally, some black grosgrain ribbon with the beautiful spellbinder die made from some at home rusty red cardstock, then the cirle and scallop necessability cutouts were added with a dimension and of course a couple of black adhesive pearls to help balance it all out.

I jazzed up the back flap of the envelope with the DSP. Just place a little glue to hold paper on flap and then trim around.  Really makes a difference.  Another idea I've tried is to run the envelope flap through my bigshot placing the flap in an embossing folder, now that really does look nice!

Another alternative design to the above would be to do a card around the 10 or 12 cm square, just play around with sizing to see what suits you.  Place the DSP on two-thirds of the front and place a series of scor lines on the black cardstock at the bottom.  Attach your ribbon and centre pieces.  This way I think the card would be more balanced and it would soften the starkness of the white background of the DSP.  What do you think....would love to hear your ideas?

Thanks for stopping by....take care and keep smiling...regards, Ann

Happy Father's Day

Oh how good if feels to make a card after what feels like such a long time.

It's an exciting time for DH and me as our eldest son is celebrating his first Father's Day on Sunday. The cards are made using the SU Build-A-Roo stamp set which I love. The text on Mark's card (right) was done in MS Publisher using the WordArt feature.  I had intended typing Happy First Father's Day but didn't want to take the limelight away from his partner Amy.  My hubby's card uses one of the arched quote stamps - the set comes with a great assortment of extra stamps for versatility.

The colour of the cards is real red with a textured grey cardstock; I'm disappointed with the photo though as they look more orange than red, but believe me the colour combo looks great - zoom in on them and they'll almost jump out at you!

I stamped the image twice using Staz On Jet Black which always gives a crisp result, and then glued the top roo on but left the hands, ears, nose and tail end free.  The hearts are stamped onto real red and then snipped out and adhered with a SU dimension and then the finishing touches of the self adhesive red kaiser pearl and stay put bow - this link will show you a great tutorial on the stay put bow http://wannastamp.blogspot.com/2007/11/stay-put-bow-video-and-blog-candy.html

Thanks for taking a peep and I hope your Father's Day is a memorable one.....Take care and keep smiling, Ann

Lamb Shank & Vegetable Soup

Another quick but delicious recipe.  It is a full bodied soup that is just wonderful for those cooler winter nights or ideal for a weekend when you want a little more time for you.  I made mine on low in the slow cooker which made it so simple.  Just prepare and press the button. 

Ingredients (serves 6)

4 lamb shanks, french trimmed
3 celery sticks, trimmed, cut into 1cm pieces
2 medium carrots, peeled, cut into 1 cm pieces
1 (about 300g) swede, peeled, cut into 1cm pieces
1 (about 160g) parsnip, peeled, cut into 1cm cubes
2 x 420g cans condensed tomato soup
1.5L (6 cups) cold water
1/3 cup loosely packed coarsely chopped fresh parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Combine lamb shanks, celery, carrot, swede, parsnip, tomato soup and water in a large saucepan over high heat and bring to the boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, for 2-1/4 hours or until lamb is tender and falling away from the bone.

Remove from heat and stir in parsley.  Use tongs to remove the bones.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.  Ladle soup into bowls and serve with crusty bread, if desired. 

If you can't get the french trimmed shanks use untrimmed but you will find there will be more fat in the soup.  You can let it stand overnight if preferred and then scoup this off.  I serve it with a sliced turkish loaf topped with grated parmesan cheese which has been lightly grilled.  Bon Appetite!