A Girly Christmas

Just Us Girls Challenge this week was to add a 3D holiday embellishment to your card. I decided I would make mine using some diamontes I bought to make my son's Christmas singlet- I'll post pics of this one when I can.

My card is a very girly take on Christmas and I really like how it turned out. I have a few girly-girl friends so I will have no problems finding an owner for this creation!

The colours I used are Blushing Bride, Poppy Parade, Rich Razzleberry and Pumpkin Pie, with Pretty in Pink satin ribbon and non SU! diamontes with crystal effects for the wreath. The stamp set is the very versatile Christmas Greetings. As always, you can order these products from me here if you live anywhere in Australia!

Ok, I'm off to make a late dinner... oh how time flies when you're having fun!

A Little Treat

I have combined two of my favourite challenges- Inkspirations challenge 50 and Just Add Ink 45. A colour pallete combined with a sketch- lots of inspiration! Here are the challenges-

So here is my card...

Hmm, I'm not too sure about it but there are bits I like. I threaded linen thread through the scallop edge and added a no-knot bow underneath the panel. The sentiment is from 'Afterthoughts' which is a hostess set (click here to find out how you can get it for free!), and the stamps which make up the balloon are A Little Treat and Circle Circus. I've also used crystal effects and dazzling diamonds glitter to the balloon.

Well, enjoy your Saturday- it's lovely here so I may just go out for a picnic!

Sweetest Stem Wreath

Inkspirations have a sketch challenge this week, which I got a chance to do today. I love doing challenges and have managed three this week, despite having a cold!

So here is my card...

I have used Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Early Espresso, Real Red and Whisper White colours, including the beautiful paper patterns stack which you can order from me if you live in Australia, as with all products I use. The Big Shot die- Sweetest Stem- was used to create this wreath which also has twine wrapped around it and brads as holly berries. I took some words from a stamp from the set 'Christmas Greetings' to make the teeny tag. A stamp from Circle Circus completes the sketch and adds a cute look to the bottom of the card.

I hope you like it! Now I just have to find an owner for this one at Christmas time. I think it's masculine enough so I might give it to a male family member.

Fancy Favor Box

After seeing new ideas and getting a new stamp set to play with at regional training, I have been keeping busy! I thought I would do Just Add Ink's colour challenge this week-

Lovely colours! I had a go at watercolouring using my new stamp set, Every Moment.

I used the Fancy Favor box to make this:

I have used the perfect polkadots embossing folder, as well as the curly label punch which adds a nice effect. The circles down the bottom are from Circle Circus and the greeting is from a stamp set which you can earn for free at the moment by having a workshop.

I cheated a little and used early espresso for the button and ribbon- but it's pretty close!

I did three layers of watercolouring to achieve this effect, and used crystal effects to add "dew drops" on the bullrushes. My box is actually based on one of the four make and takes from regional training:

Let me know what you think! Thanks for stopping by.

A Vintage Christmas

I have been working on a range of vintage feel Christmas Cards in preparation to some classes I will be presenting in December. If you are interested in attending one, call me on 0421226332 or email tennillekoelma@y7mail.com to book your spot!

This card uses the Mojo Monday 166 sketch which is really nice- I always enjoy working with a sketch or colour challenge and applying my own creativity. This card uses real red, crumb cake, very vanilla and early espresso, with the Welcome Christmas stamp set and Music Notes wheel. See that gold shimmer? That's a brand new product from Stampin' Up! available from December 1. And don't you just love that striped ribbon! So perfect for Christmas. I inked my three real red brads in Stazon to get that half dark half red look.

I should also mention that the bow is made using the technique that Teneale Williams demonstrated at Sydney regional training last Saturday. Thanks Teneale! Check out her stunning work here.

My husband just arrived back from an overseas trip and bought me a brand new camera to use for my blog. I think it makes a huge difference- now I just have to learn how to get the most out of it (that's where my father comes in, he's a photographer)!

I hope you enjoy my card. If you are interested in any of the products used to make it, you can buy them from me.

Regional Training day in Sydney

I have been keeping myself as busy as possible while hubby is away overseas on business. On Saturday Stampin Up! held its Sydney regional training day at the Sofitel Wentworth. I had such a great time on my first ever training day- the venue was stunning and the ladies I shared the day with were lovely.

This is a shot of some of the team I belong to- the Inksomniacs: Denielle, myself, Linda and Nerida. For some gorgeous crafty inspiration, go and check out their blogs!

When we all sat down, the room was buzzing- people were catching up with friends and making new ones.

We were so lucky to watch so many talented people inspire us with new ideas and clever ways to use Stampin Up products. The highlights for me were watching the amazingly talented Teneale Williams steal the show with her brilliant slider cards, and SU trainer Sophie Zadeh and her creative ways of using inks.

I'll post some pics of the swaps I made and received soon too! I was impressed by how much work other demos went to with their swaps. It was a great day!

Marina Mist Christmas Tags

So this week I am aiming to post lots of new Christmas ideas. Here's one I did on the weekend using crumb cake and marina mist.

The stamp set 'Welcome Christmas' is wonderfully versatile and I've used ech of the four images to create a set of matching tags. The image is stamped in crumb cake, with the greeting from 'Sincere Salutations' in chocolate chip.

The snowflakes are from 'Every Little Bit' and look really cute in marina mist ink, which matches the taffeta ribbon nicely. My corner rounder and crop-a-dile finishes the card.

If you are keen to make your own tags and cards this year, call me on 0421226332 to order these products- they can be sent anywhere in Australia. Have a nice day!

Morning Cup Stack

I am still enjoying playing with the brights paper patterns stack, there are so many ways to use it! Here's a set of matching cards using Morning Cup:

I will repost this one with a more detailed picture of the whole card- it was so windy today that I couldn't get em to stand upright and I hate taking pictures indoors.

I used my Stampin Write markers to highlight parts of each card. The Big Shot circles die was used, as well as my 1 3/4 circle punch.

I'm loving those polka dots- so cute right?

Vintage Cards

I have been busy making lots of cards lately, here's another style I've been working on. Stay tuned next week for a series of posts on Christmas ideas!

For today's post, I made some vintage cards using the Greenhouse Gala DSP, along with the exquisite stamp set, Friends Never Fade, and Sincere Salutations. Lots of sponging and scrunching to make these! I'm loving the colour combination of Baja Breeze and Crumb Cake. The top note die using the Big Shot really makes this card beautiful, don't you think?

If you'd like to buy my cards (they're $4.50 each including postage), arrange a demonstration workshop or order any of these products, call me on 0421226332.

Have a lovely day!

Petal Pizzazz rocks!

I think this is my favourite stamp set that Stampin Up! does. Oh, I love Sincere Salutations too- and used it on these cards as well. It's bold, fun and looks great in any colour. It is of course Petal Pizzazz and I have been having fun making a stack of cards for all sorts of occasions.

The brights papers patterns stack featured again in these cards to make them pretty and colourful. There was a little bit of cutting involved in these cards but I actually don't mind, it is a labour of love.

This one is my favourite colour combo- old olive, daffodil elight, real red and elegnt eggplant. My envelope is stamped to match.

I had fun making these ones, hope you like em!

My First Christmas card for the Year!

I am finally getting my act together and starting the big job of all of my Chrissy cards- I plan to do one for all of my family, and many friends and colleagues. Eep! I am thinking of doing quite a few using the colours elegant eggplant and crumb cake. It's not a traditional look but I'm not that into the traditional red, green and white thing.

I love the vintage feel of the stampset 'Welcome Christmas'. It's a good buy at $39.95 clear mount or $49.95 wood because you can get away without buying another set for a greeting. I used my big shot with the vintage wallpaper embossing folder (and sponged it with craft whisper white ink) and ovals die.

I made my bow using a stray button I had from a craft store and the lovely basic black satin ribbon.

If you're interested in making your own cards and want to buy gorgeous supplies like these, or even have me come to your home and do a demonstration of some techniques, give me a call on 0421226332.

Thanks for peeking!

Morning Cup in Rich Razzleberry

I absolutely love the brights paper patterns stack of 12 x 12 designer series papers from Stampin Up! At 37.95 it's a great buy because you get ten different colours, and 4 doubled-sided pieces for each colour. You can make so many different things with them. Here's one I made earlier in the week:

For this card I used the very pretty teapot from 'Morning Cup', along with the greeting from Sincere Salutations, which sure gets a work out on my cards! My 1 3/4 circle punch is perfect for the teapot. I used matching razzleberry satin ribbon, with a pumpkin pie button to finish it off. I reckon it looks great as a square card. I hope you like it!

Birthday Bakery Stack

I am working on making lots of cards to sell at upcoming markets on the Central Coast, so I have been busy busy busy stamping away! Here is a set I made earlier this week using the hostess set, Birthday Bakery.

I have almost finished making the whole set of matching In Colours- peach parfait, concord crush, poppy pirade, blushing bride and pear pizzazz. I'll update this blog when I have a matching stack of five with a new photo. I can't believe I have already used up most of my In Colour cardstock need more! They are gorgeous colours though.

It's a tad hard to see but the stamp in white reads, "if you are what you eat, eat something sweet". He he he!