Fancy Favor Gift Box

I love the Stampin Up Bigshot! It's an amazing tool to use to quickly create gifts, scrapbooking pages and cards. This week I've been having a play with the Fancy Favor die which, even though it's one of the more costly dies, will pay itself off in no time with all the birthdays, Christmas gifts and party favors I intend to make with it.


I made a little box to hold some cookies to give to my mother in law to thank her for helping babysit my son this week. Isn't it cute?

I used the gorgeous brights patterns paper stack and stuck a sheet of pumpkin pie and melon mambo together so that the inside is a different colour. I then cut out a circle with my 1 3/4 punch to make a window before using sticky strip to stick it together. Cute huh! Some pumpkin pie grosgrain ribbon and a tiny tag using the retired stamp from Vintage Labels and I was done. So quick and easy- and cute!

Stampin Up Christmas Promotion

Create beautiful packaging to fit any Christmas gift with exclusive products from Stampin Up! From 16 October to 30 November there are two ways to get free ribbon:

One: Purchase one of the gorgeous Christmas bundles below, or
Two: Host a successful card or scrapbooking workshop- call or email me for details.
Three: Put together your own Christmas card-making pack- I'm happy to help!

There are four gorgeous Christmas ribbon designs to choose from. Don't miss out on this awesome deal, call me on 0421 226 332 or email Tennille.Koelma2@det.nsw.edu.au

For more details, you can also visit http://tennillekoelma.stampinup.net/- my demonstrator website.

I received a blog award!

Thanks so much Nerida, fellow Stampin Up Demonstrator on the Central Coast for sending me a blog award! I am so excited. It feels lovely to know that others are visting and enjoying what I share.

As award recipient I have to share this award with 8 other blog friends. Here are a few of the blogs I have been visiting lately and want to share my appreciation for their gorgeous work and creativity:

Fiona Platzer Vineyard Stamper
Inkurable Krafter
Stamping With Rachel
Bee Divine Designs
Coffee at Claire's
Lynn Powell
Bits and Pieces by Jessica Theodore
Jane B

There! Go and have a look, you won't be disappointed!

Just Add Ink... and Blue

I have finally gotten my act together to complete a second card challenge this week. I spent a fair bit of time yesterday sorting out my crafting space... ready to take the plunge to become a Stampin Up! demonstrator. My (soon to be) upline Linda Higgins is visiting today to get the paperwork sorted. I hope this means more opportunities to meet fellow crafters and make cards, as I really love it and I particularly love Stampin Up products. Sooo fun!

Anyway... I better write about my card now. This one is for this week's Just Add Ink challenge: just add blue for depression and anxiety awareness month.

I don't make masculine cards often but bought the woodgrain background stamp for this purpose. I like the look of the colours together- whisper white, basic grey, night of navy and crumb cake- very masculine. I wondered if it needed some sort of picture stamp but I think its simplicity makes it nice. I need to slow down with my whisper white craft ink though, it's like paint and looks gorgeous but needs drying time!

I used my Big Shot for this card- the top note die and oval shape- it certainly is paying itself off! The circle is a 1 3/4 punch. The only thing non Stampin Up is the button from a local craft shop.

Well, thanks for peeking!

Inkspirations Colour Challenge #44

I have finally had time to complete a challenge, after returning back to work post school holidys and celebrating my birthday! Makeesha's colour challenge was another really lovely combo:

This colour pallete screams baby card to me, but I really needed a thank you card, so I'll just have to have another play with these colours another time! This is what I did:

I love the Ornate Blossom stamp and finally inked it up for this card in Daffodil Delight, then used crystal effects over the whole stamp. I used the beautiful Greenhouse Gala DSP and cut a Marina Mist top note into two smaller sections with a piece of Whisper White cardstock to hide the join. I sponged the edges of this with craft Whisper White ink and used my gel pen to add dots for accent.

I hope you enjoyed my card!

Just Add Ink 38

This week's challenge at Just Add Ink is in line with Breast cancer awareness month. The theme is just add pink and bling... and my guess is there won't be a masculine project in sight! I had a go at making a top note box for my submission:

The colours I used are Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride and Whisper White. I used a satin gold ribbon to close my box and to tie in the gold bling on the embellishment.

I used my 1 3/4 circle punch to make the box easier to open.

I lined the inside with Whisper White stamped with the flower from Friends Never Fade. Now I just need to find something cute to add inside. I hope you like my little box, thanks for having a look!



A cute gift with the Big Shot Milk Carton die

It's my mother in law's birthday today so I thought it was the perfect time to use my mini milk carton die for the first time... well I had a little play with it as soon as I got it, but haven't used it for a gift yet. I decided to use Really Rust and Close to Cocoa cardstock, with some Whisper White, because these colours suit Grandma really well. I think they're really pretty together. I also made a matching card:

I have seen the mini milk carton box over all over the net, created by the talented Becky Roberts. I also used stamp set Birthday Bakery and Sincere Salutations. I filled my milk cartons with a variety of chockies from Darrell Lea. I ended up eating way too many myself!

I used the top note die to create this card. The ribbon is from a local craft shop. I hope you enjoyed my creations, thanks for looking!

Mojo Monday 159- October Contest

As soon as I saw this month's Mojo Monday sketch contest ideas started pouring in... but sitting at the crafting table I think I had so many ideas I had to slow down and focus on one thing at a time! Here is the sketch we were given:

 It's hard to choose the different elements of a card- do you start with the colour scheme, the stamps or the sketch? I already had the gorgeous sketch to work with so this time I went with the colours first- a pretty floral arrangement of rose red, blushing bride, peach parfait and very vanilla, with a little pear pizzazz (if you could call it that) for embellishment. I fiddled around for a bit and thus here's my card:

I used rose red and whisper white (craft) inks, as well as the top note die and the manhattan flower embossing folder. I sponged every layer to soften it up. The green jewels and white scalloped ribbon (which is actually a sticky tape- very cool) are non Stampin Up. I again used the Friends Never Fade set which is a star on my blog at the moment- it's so lovely to use with so many colours. The central flower is first stamped in white, then rose red to achieve a shadow effect.

I also decorated the inside of my card:

You kinda need glasses for that photo, but you get the idea. I wanted to keep it simple on the inside, but it does make the card feel very spesh.

I hope you like my card, thanks for having a look!

Mojo Monday... on a Sunday!

Oh so I'm just squeezing this challenge in! Oh well, better late than never, right? Here's Mojo Monday's sketch challenge this week:

Hmmm, round or square? Well, I'm not really a round card person, so I went the easier option and did square. I really liked doing this sketch. Here's my card:

I used the manhattan flower embossing folder to give the three panels some detail. There's not much stampin on this card, but I did use Sincere Salutations which I love to use, and sponge daubed the edges of my oval. I made the three square buttons using three layers of real red cardstock, glued together, pierced with my paper piercer, threaded with crumb cake and finally layered with crystal effects.

It took a lot of patience waiting for these babies to dry, they're smothered in CE! I'm pretty happy with my card. Thanks for peeking! Now check out the others (if you haven't already) HERE.

A congratulations card

My sister and brother in law are moving to Argentina to work for a while and see the world! Such an exciting thing for them. I made this congratulations card for the occasion...

It was my husband's idea to use the Argentinian flag colours- bashful blue and whisper white. I used the top note die, ovals die and the manhattan flower embossing folder for this card. I hope you enjoy my card!

Another little box project... plus a magnet!

My brother in law's girlfriend is having  housewarming with a fun twist... bring a magnet as the gift! I was excited to see if the Big Shot could make this project quick and easy, and it was.

I bought a set of magnet sheets from Ebay ( $4.95- you can buy them HERE) and cut them down using scissors. It was then only a matter of choosing a cute photo, sticking it to the magnet and running it through the Big Shot.

Of course I couldn't resist using Makeesha's box template to contain my magnet, and I added a little card to complete the gift!

Have a go at making magnets using your Big Shot- it's so much fun!

Just Add Ink challenge 37

Time for another challenge! The colours at Just Add Ink this week are...

Hmmm, an interesting combination! I would never choose these colours on my own, so it's fun to be given a challenge which stretches you. Here's what I came up with:

It took me a while to work out what I was going to do with these colours. This was the first time I used Friends Never Fade, it's a gorgeous stamp set. I used crystal effects on the flower in the oval, which adds a nice contrasting texture. I distressed my edges and stamped off first to achieve a slightly more faded Rose Red on the Top Note die. I finished it off with three rhinestone brads.

The other entrants are just so gorgeous this week. You should definately check them all out. Thanks for stopping by!