Easter Blog Hop

Well its time again for another Art with Heart team blog hop - Easter is our theme this month. Our team has over 90 members; we enjoy the added benefit of an extremely active forum - here is just the work of a few of us.

You may have just come from the very talented DI Dunk, but if you are starting here, don’t worry … you can make the complete journey just by following the links at the end of each post. There are 14 stops along the way and we hope you will visit each one to see the wonderful creations we have to show you!

Now I have a confession to make ... I don't own any Easter stamps and I was worrying that I wouldn't be able to pull this one off ... but its amazing how creative you can be when there is a deadline!

I've used the Outline Alphabet on watercolour paper to create the word Easter, the word 'happy' is from the 'happy birthday' stamp in the Saleabration set Happy Moments and the birdie and butterfly are from the Summer Mini set For Everything.

The 'eggs' are punched with the large oval punch and I have stamped the Perfect Plum egg with a stamp from the Circle Circus set (love this set sooooo very versatile) and added some ribbon and a little sparkly brad.  The letters have been coloured in using the marker pens and a blender pen.  Now you may be asking why bother using a blender pen ... well the marker pens give a continual shade of colour and I like the blender pens as they give a more 'watercolour' effect ... and I find I have greater control over the colour than with the aqua-painter when colouring fine details like alphabets.

I've moved right out of my comfort zone into the Subtles range of colours, Sage Shadow, Perfect Plum and Apricot Appeal. Being a 'Northern Hemisphere' girl, Easter signifies the start of spring ... although I did stop at creating the odd daffodil or two ... stop smiling all you Aussie / NZ girls ... I'm learning that Easter now means Autumn and not Spring!

 At a recent workshop a customer told us all that she wouldn't be without her Stampin' Up! Paper Snips - I am ashamed to say at that point I didn't own them ... so I added them to my next order and yes she is quite right ... they are the best thing ever for cutting out little shapes ... so thanks Tammy S for the advice!

So do you like it?  Leave me a comment if you do .... if you leave a comment on each and every blog in the hop and then email me at nikki@inkyart.com.au, your name will be put into the hat to win some beautiful blog candy. There is a deadline of 72 hours to leave your comments (that's 6.00am AEST 3 March) and only non SU demos are eligible to win - although we'd love all visitors to leave some comments please - thanks girls.

Well, that’s all from me. Now you’re off to enjoy the beautiful creations of Judy May who is another Melbourne based demonstrator - love her work - you will be in for a treat!

Next month's theme is the new Autumn mini ... which I am calling the new maxi-mini because I want / need / have to have something from every page - LOL.

 

Here's the full list if you get lost along the way:

Ros Davidson
http://rosdavidson.typepad.com/ros_davi ... g-hop.html

Kristine Thompson
http://inkspotcreations.typepad.com/ink ... g-hop.html

Sue Madex
http://www.madexcreations.com/madex_cre ... g-hop.html 

Di Dunk
http://stampartbydi.typepad.com/my-blog ... theme.html 

Nikki Sadler
http://www.inkyart.com.au/inkyart/2010/ ... g-hop.html 

Judy May
http://judymay.typepad.com/just_judy_de ... g-hop.html 

Erica Boxall
http://www.ericaboxall.com/2010/02/east ... p-hop.html 

Christine Blain
http://christineblain.typepad.com/happy ... g-hop.html

Kathryn Lowe
http://www.katlodesigns.com/stamping_wi ... g-hop.html

Kim Meiklejohn
http://www.paperenchantment.com.au

Gayatri Murali
http://scrapawayg3.blogspot.com/2010/02 ... g-hop.html

Kathryn Mangelsdorf
http://klm55.blogspot.com/2010/02/art-w ... g-hop.html 

Tanja Westwood
http://tanjawestwood.wordpress.com/2010 ... -blog-hop/ 

Tina Gillespie
http://scissorspapercard.blogspot.com/2 ... g-hop.html

SAM Layout - Less is More

Here's a sneek peek of a scrapbooking layout I have published on our Stampamemory site - head on over and have a closer look ....  

 

Punch Art Monsters

How cute are these little fellas?  I first saw these at the Regional event in Melbourne and then I kept seeing them everywhere.  So I just had to give them a go.  There's a little chocolate coin in between the two layers - perfect little gift the kids can help make for their friends.

The first time I saw these cute little fellas I thought I'd missed a new punch from Stampin' Up! but no ... this little spiky character is made using the scallop circle punch.  All you do is punch one scallop circle and then repunch it ... off centre to create spikes.  Now I know what you are thinking ... how on earth do you line it up ... well you attach a temporary 'handle' using temporary adhesive so that you can 'steer' the punched piece into the right place.

I recently spent a really lovely day with my best friend's girls Ash and Tess along with Olivia making these little cuties. Now if you are an 11 year old boy who would rather be playing sport what do you ... well you say  'oh well if that's what we are doing today I 'suppose' I could join in but I'm not really in the mood I'd rather be playing sport' and then this is what you make ....

 How cute are they?  I love the guitar and ability to create something just by picking up the scissors and snipping away - he did have fun but he wasn't going to admit it!  Well not within earshot of the girls!

Hope you are finding some time to be creative today.  Back soon with more to keep you inspired.

 

  

SAM Challenge # 4 and Joining The Design Team!

Over the Christmas break I wrote down a list of goals for 2010, these ranged from the usual lose weight and get fit, to read more books and complete two scrapbooking layouts a month. 

The very next day I received an email from the lovely Stampamemory (affectionally known as SAM) girls asking if I would like to join SAM as a member of their Design Team. Well if you could have seen me dancing and cheering you would have laughed. I was so chuffed to be asked ... and accepted without hesitation ... afterall this meant that I couldn't really fail to achieve one of my New Year's resolutions! 

I am so honoured to be part of such a brilliant and talented team of girls - I just hope that I can live up to their very high standards.

SAM started in August 2009, with six Art with Heart team demonstrators planning to inspire us all with their beautiful pages created exclusively with the versatile Stampin' Up! product range. I've been an avid fan.

So here is my very first layout completed for the SAM challenge ... here's the brief ....

Colour challenge. Black and White plus one other colour of your choice. You can have as many shades of the additional colour, but only black and white besides that.

This photo has been sitting on my desk for ages waiting to be scrapped - and the title has been in my head for just as long.

The journalling reads:

Max loves to be with you, to run off with your tennis balls so that you will chase him!

You share your lollies with Max!

Max sleeps on your bed - under the covers if he can!  He loves you x

Firstly I covered the chipboard letters with the paper, using the Tombow Multi Purpose Adhesive and then used some fine grade sandpaper to remove the paper around the edges and make them look a little 'dog-eared' (sorry very bad joke!).  I don't cut close to the chipboard and then sand ... I just sand the paper away - I find it gives a better finish.  I then used the dauber to ink the edges of the letters with Whisper White ink and added the Crystal Effects for added gloss.

I like to mix up alphabets, so I have also stamped a few of the letters too, either onto patterned paper or onto cardstock, cut around these and added the Crystal Effects too.

The edging strip is made up of several sheets of patterned paper which I have 'roughed up' using the distressing tool (which is part of the Cutter Kit) - I've then layered these together and attached these to the page on a slight angle.

Materials Used:

Stamp Set: Jumbo Alphabet, Outline Alphabet

Cardstock:  Whisper White, Basic Black and Tempting Turquoise

Designer Series Paper:  Pink Flamingo

Ink: Craft Whisper White, Basic Black

Embellishments:  Jumbo Brads 5/16" still available from Spring Mini 09 (item number 112534, $15.50 for 80), On Board Timeless Type chipboard letters and Crystal Effects

Tools: Cutter Kit (distressing tool to rough up the edges of the papers and card), dauber for sponging and some sandpaper from the local DIY store.

Hope this inspires you to pull out your favourite photo and enter our challenge ... check out the details here.

 

Heart to Heart

If you subscribe to the newsletter you will have seen this card last month ... its a CASE of the card on page 15 of the Summer Mini and when I saw it I thought ... what a great idea.  

You can use this idea for any of the punches ... all I have done is to use the Heart to Heart punch twice on a piece of Whisper White and then attach ribbon pieces onto the back of the card to 'fill in' the punched shapes.  It can be a bit fiddly to get just the right look with the ribbon but it is well worth the effort.

I also stamped and punched the three little hearts from the I {Heart} Hearts set and attached just one with Dimensionals. The Happy Birthday sentiment is from the FREE SAB collection - but you could change this to be any sentiment you wish.

SUPPLIES
Stamp Set	I {Heart} Hearts, Happy Moments
Card and Paper	Kraft, Choc Chip, Baja Breeze and Whisper White
Ink	Choc Chip and Real Red
Embellishments	Bits of ribbon
Tools	Scallop Edge Punch, Dimensionals

It's good to CASE sometimes ... and in this case this card was a for a very special friend for her birthday and as soon as I saw it in the new catalogue I knew who I was going to be making it for.

Don't forget that between now and the end of February, if you purchase the I {Heart} Heart set Stampin' Up! will donate $2 to the Red Cross who are helping in Haiti.

 

And The Winner Is ...

Thank you to everyone who entered into the prize draw following the Art With Heart Team blog hop ... the lucky winner is Monica Van Empel.

Isn't that prize just so cute ... don't forget there will be another chance to win at the end of the month with our Easter Hop.

 

Punched Circles

I was playing with the punches the other day and thought that creating a pattern using the crop-o-dile and little 3/4" circle punch made for an interesting pattern on the card - which I then layered with a complementary colour to create a different look.  I have also used some of the larger circles that I punched out to add interest to the other half of the card too. 

I also shortened the card front and added a small strip of Whisper White to the edge and sponged it for added interest. 

SUPPLIES
Stamp Set	Happy Moments
Card and Paper	Whisper White, Rose Red and Kiwi Kiss
Ink	Rose Red
Embellishments	5/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon
Tools	Crop-o-Dile, 3/4" circle punch

 

 

Happy Moments

Good morning, how are you?  I've been playing with the Happy Moments set again ... this time inspired by the lovely Co-Founder and CEO of Stampin' Up! who has been stamping onto pattern paper - you can see her cards here - they really are lovely.  

I thought that this was such a cool idea and not something I had tried before so I put ink to rubber to paper and I like it.  

When I took part in the Sale-A-Bration mini hop I found this lovely card with the birdie in the cage inked in a different colour, created by Amy Waters ... I loved it and just had to give that idea a go too.

Of course once I get started ... I can't stop trying new things so then I created the little 'suspended' sentiment (there has to be a better to describe that but for now my mind is blank!)  ... that was so easy too.

I should have taken a photo of the inside to show you how I have finished off the ribbon - I don't like there to be 'loose ends' so I punched the chocolate chip oval piece twice and sandwiched the ribbon between it.  So the ribbon is stuck down on the front of the card with snail ... wrapped around the back and snailed again to finish up in between the two oval punched shapes.  Now if this makes no sense whatsoever (well it is past my bedtime) - leave me a comment and I'll photograph the back of the card in the daylight :o)

SUPPLIES
Stamp Set	Happy Moments
Card and Paper	Choc Chip, Always Artichoke, Urban Garden DSP
Ink	Choc Chip
Embellishments	Brad, Markers, Blender Pen, Choc Chip Tafetta Ribbon
Tools	Large, Medium and small oval punches, Scallop Edge Punch Dauber for the sponging

Hope this inspires you to find yourself some creative time and try out some new ideas.

And finally, if you entered into the Blog Candy competition following our first ever Art With Heart Team Blog Hop - the winner will be announced very soon ... so watch your inboxes for an important message from team and good luck! 

Oh and thanks to everyone who took part and left so many lovely comments ... if you requested the template for the box this should now be in your inbox too :o)