Tuesday, 31 July 2007

Scallops

This card I cased earlier in the year (can't remember where) when I received my embossing folders and scallop punches. I just had to sit down and make it. Absolutely loved everything about it, especially the colour combinations. The black background is also embossed with the same folder.

Sunday, 29 July 2007

1st Tutorial

My first tutorial! This is for Sibylle who I met Wednesday night at her friend Rachelle's workshop. She absolutely loved this purse card just like I did when I first saw it. This is also for Julanne Rostran from Glitter Freak who inspired me to not put off a tutorial as too hard. Check her out at http://glitterfreak.blogspot.com - Thanx! The first template I got was off Linda (Annabelle's friend) which was a photocopy on an A4 sheet of paper. Too big as I needed to make 50 cards and too fiddly so I had to find another solution. So here is what I did. 1.Cut A4 sheet into two and place one in portrait position to you. 2.Fold down flap of about 3-4cm (an inch). 3. Take bottom and bring it up just below that fold line. Crease. This is the body. 4.Open flap. Measure 2cm (3 quarter inch) from sides and mark. 5.Line up the mark and corner of bottom folded edge of body and cut both sides. This way all sides are perfectly aligned. (The rest is per instructions). 6.Measure 2cm in from sides of flap fold on both sides and cut slits of about 1cm (half inch). These are for the handles. 7.Stamp other side of card to your design. 8.Thread fiber/ribbon through the 2 cut cut slits so the ends are on the inside and tape about 2cm down and towards the middle so it would be hidden. 9.Inside part: Square off piece of A4 (normal copy paper) fold diagonally twice so you get an x. 10.Turn it so that the folds are on top and creases at the bottom. Bring the bottom edge up to meet the top making a rectangle. 11. Bring the two newly creased lines together and everything should fold neatly in together to make a triangle. 12.Fold sides into middle. Crease well. 13.Center and align folded paper to the inside of card making sure that bottom point does not go over the middle fold. Mark paper just underneath flap fold where the pencil is. This is where you need to cut so that the paper can sit nicely inside. 14.Open paper to cut as it may be too thick for the bladed to go through. Refold and push the sides inward and crease well. 15.Place sentiment inside. Note that folded rectangle line are the side parts. 16. Center velcro at top flap - this is the fastner. Tape one side of paper, center and place just underneath fold line, making sure handles are not seen underneath. 17.Tape top, bring bottom of card up, press into place. Take backing off velcro, close and we're finished. Hope I made sense. ROCKIN GIRL BLOGGER - My first nomination for this tag is: Julanne Rostran. Congratulations girl!

Saturday, 28 July 2007

Today at Makare's

Our swap meet at Makare's today was cool. The challenge came from the Summer edition of the Take Ten Sampler. None of us had done it till this morning and I for one bemoaned the fact that I had set it. Very difficult especially if one had to cut out the diamonds by hand. There was no way I was going to do that two hours before the meeting so I just punched out 3cm squares which meant that I had to make the card longer to fit all four in. Only two things came to mind yesterday was that it had to be my new Montaga Maori stamp and the colour had to be green. Above was the result with the first two cards only having three diamonds. I used only one ink colour which was handsome hunter - at long last as I never use this colour. The other stamp set was French Flair. The cs was handsome hunter, old olive, and garden green. Accessories were black ribbon, gold wire and fun fiber. This is Joeleen's effort. I was intrigued by her colour combinations. Bashful blue, cameo, barely banana and certainly celery. Such a complete contrast from mine. Cool!I received my 'Bind it all' this week and this is what we made today out of chip board coasters. This was so I can get someone to read the instructions of the 'bind it all' and show us how to use it. Joeleen did the honours - Thanx!

Tuesday, 24 July 2007

Woop! Woop! I'm a Rockin' Girl Blogger

Thanx Maria for nominating me to be a Rockin' Girl Blogger. How cool!! (Haven't a clue what it means but I'm jumping up and down:). I'll have to think about who to pass this fun award on to. Hey doesn't it match my letterhead.

Happy Birthday Maria!

Maria (student in my class) turns 13 today and all of last week and especially yesterday she has been reminding me. I remembered last night at 10pm when I was going to bed. :) An hour later I completed a Jacobs Ladder card for her. I figured it had to be something over the top and special because she has been noting the cards for the other girls in the class. Maria is a twin to Burnadette who features with her on the 3rd and 1st pictures going up the ladder. They are gorgeous girls and very tall (towers over me). Big hugs!

Saturday, 21 July 2007

Puzzled

Judy from Stamp and Create showed this technique one night using a special embossing powder that seems to float on top of normal ep making the work look very metallic and substantial yet you only use a very small amount. It comes from an Australian company called Pipe Dream Ink I think. An image was stamped on a white sheet of paper and after embossing an old piece of jigsaw puzzle, the same stamp is inked, (in this case in black) and placed lightly on top of the jig saw and after a few minutes, taken off. The puzzle piece is then placed on top and matched with the stamped image below. This is the technique I like to use on the monograms. I thought it would have been better if the black image was done in brown then it wouldn't look so photo copy - ish. Fun tho!

Wednesday, 18 July 2007

Tuihana

I would like to feature another artist today. This is my friend Tuihana Whites' earlier work.

Sunday, 15 July 2007

Fame

Stamped with a hilarious bunch of ladies yesterday at a pre-school called Fame in Whangaparoa. We did two projects and one was a purse card that I keep meaning to do a tutorial on. It probably already has been done but hey, it will be a first for me. (I usually do the pleated frock as a first lesson - less thinking). I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did. They are scrapbookers and it showed in their work that they knew what they were doing. Great work ladies and thanks Jane. I hope they invite me back. :) (I'm smiling because I told them to check my blog out lol).
I also stopped at a Scrapbooking shop at Silverdale and raided their bargain bin. The metal embellishments were going for four packets for $2. Couldn't pass that up plus they had these packets of gorgeous glitter cards. So much for just looking. :) I also gave Ashlee's mom the frame below that I had made for her daughter. She loved it. UUggh - back to school tomorrow. Better go and do some planning.

Wednesday, 11 July 2007

Holiday Programme

This is one of todays projects of our two day holiday programme in Highbury. I forgot to take the camera so I don't have any pics but they did some great work. I was very impressed with these future stampers in the making. Awesome. I loved being with them. There were 24 girls with the oldest being 13 and the youngest seven. We used the Headline Alphabet and I had the girls put down their birth dates yesterday (which I typed up and printed last night) then had them use the large oval or key tag to them punch out. We also did a purse card and a book of coupons using the Create a Coupon set. These are my 12 and 11 year olds who were very keen and quite capable of taking instructions so they were able to move forward a little faster. Yesterday we did the pleated skirt and then after lunch I let them create their own. Interesting! My little seven year olds took a little bit more work but I so loved their enthusiasm. Yesterday they all stuck their work up on the counter top for display and I just had to take a shot of them. After that I just completely forgot to take photos so I was so glad to get these which is a shame because each of the four tables had a different set of inks, cs colours and stamp sets with same project. Well done girls.

Monday, 9 July 2007

Birthday in Hawaii

This is my oldest girl, Dani, working her way through school at the Polynesian Cultural Center at BYU Hawaii. Last year she turned 20 and was her first birthday away from home so I made her a special birthday card below.
It was one of those concertina cards in a box and I made an extra long box on the side to house the silver bracelet that I got her.
This is one of the segments. I think I got carried away and tried to put everything in it that I thought she would love and laugh over. That's a shaker box on the right. She loved it! Most of the stamps I used were from SU. This post is in celebration of Maria Bell over at http://www.cardinspired.blogspot.com/ who has a really fun weekly challenge called (TIC) the 'Tuesday's Inspirational Challenge.' I submitted my '$2.00 Orchid' cards last night:). Fun! She is also from Hawaii but has moved to California (I think). So go on over and check my cards out . . . Aloha Maria!!

Saturday, 7 July 2007

Tiki

This is one of my favourite cards from Joeleen. She went through a tiki phase . . . I think she is still on it. She absolutely loves them. I think this stamp is from Kiwi Impressionz. I love her understated colours and clean lines which she offsets with a dark crumbled frame, heat embossed copper image and koru shaped embellishement (nice authentic touch there). The dark chocolate twill gives the card weight and substance. Her colours are: mellow moss, chocolate chip, and close to cocoa. Perhaps she can comment next time she is passing through. Kia ora koutou. . . did I get that right? Check this site out if you have the time: http://www.islandpaperie.com/