Magnolia Down Under Challenges has moved!!

Hello happy bloggers, thought I would leave a little linky-loo for
Magnolia Down Under Challenges
as the challenge blog was recently moved from Wordpress to Blogger, I hope to see you all there!! This week there is an Easter Challenge taking place and the design team has made some truly inspiring creations to check out!! And Aussie girls, if you haven't already secured your new Maggies from their Easter collection, be sure to pop in over at Magnolia Down Under and let Kellie tempt your pallette with gorgeous stamps and embellies!!


So I know I am on the low-end as far as posts go ordinarily as it is, but I guess this is worse or less than normal. I have been having a hard time lately, too much going on all at once, my time-management has taken a crap, I find myself coming over here to bloghop and just staring at the screen. Boohooing aside, I will have some creations to share this coming week, and I hope to get back on the horse with commenting as soon as I can get my golden tongue back in full swing. Until then, I will leave you a little something to look at.
Lover Cats.


Take Care,
Stephanne

Creative Inspirations Monochome Challenge--More Calender...

Hi there lovely bloggers,
today is Wednesday,
time for a new challenge
over at Creative Inspirations.
This week, we'd like to see your
Monochrome Masterpieces!!
Make something using various shades
of the same colour!!
We have a delicious prize from
Dotty About Crafts this week
and the works from the DT are exquisite,
I hope you can stop by and take a looksie,
better yet, join in!!!


I've used a Whiff of Joy image that Sue stamped for me, she also supplied the doily and fabric flowers, Sue to the rescue, once again!! This is my second go with WOJ but already, I feel a great love coming on, lol. The DP is K & Company, punches used are martha stewart and ek success retro flower and fern. I've distressed in Faded Jeans and the shadowy aura looking background with a Milled Lavender Brushed Corduroy mixture. I picked up that most excellent shadowing technique from Mary, you will find loads of inspiration and techniques on her blog My Cardz, My Passion, My Therapy, and although my cloudy background thingy isn't nearly as fab as what you'll find her doing, she was definitely the source of inspiration behind it/them. More handmade scrolls, hahaha, I likes what I likes... April will have a weekly pull-off type of calender rather than the list on other pages. The raindrops are gooped in Stickles and I went inside the circles on the embrella with a white gel pen, then I distressed the entire embrella in Old Paper to give it some age, then I added Liquid Pearls in pewter to the hardware. The pictures all stink but I can't seem to get it right, I will have to call this one a loss and move on with life, lol.


Challenges for this one:
ABC Challenge where O is for One Paper
Stamp With Fun is stitching this week,
sketch is from The Pink Elephant.



I have Stefancyfied my May calender page, and since it fits the monochrome challenge as well, I figured I'd share it. Again, haha. There's tooshie Tilda, coloured in distress inks, the flowers are a medley, I can't remember there are so many mixed together now, eek!! Some punches, oak leaf and branch by Martha Stewart, a scroll, of course, and viola. My son helped too, do you see all the slice marks on the calender area? He ran this through the paper cutter a couple of times, thanks buddy... They are so fast when it comes to what they AREN'T supposed to touch!!



I hope you'll have time to pop your entry in over at Creative Inspirations this week!! Thanks for your visit,
Stephanne

MDUC #34, Tilda in Wonderland

Hello everyone,
it is Sunday in Australia,
so that means it is time for a new challenge at
Magnolia Down Under
This week, we'd like to invite you over
to share your easel cards with us.
If you've never made one before,
you can check this tutorial out here.


Amd here is my creation, I've coupled Dreamy Tilda with one of Claire's doodles, you can find this and many fabulous others here at her digi shop. The papers are by Magnolia from Magnolia Down Under, the checks and brown dots are from last years Christmas release and the shrooms are from the Yummy for your Tummy release. Tilda was coloured in distress inks and the shrooms and snails were coloured in PrismaColor pencils, the images were layered on top of each other, where I created a shadow with the help of Faded Jeans distressing.


The sentiment is by Motivet, the border punch is by Fiskars, the punches used amounst the flowers are Martha Stewart, the flowers are a medley of gifts from friends in Blogland, notably, I have added Prima Center Kiss stamen to the centers of the mulberry flowers. This is a nice arrangement that sits fairly flat so I can pop this in the post straight away instead of fiddling around for a special envelope or box. No $7 postage card this time, lol.


I'll be popping this in over at the following challenges:
A Spoon Full of Sugar Spring is in the air!!
Colour Create Red, Pink, Chocolate and whitish...
PaperTake Weekly Check This Out
Stamp Something Touch of Spring Somethings

EDIT:
I shall add this in over at Oh Alice!, Princess Kristy sent me and I am glad she did, as it is their kick-off challenge, Chapter One, Down the Rabbit Hole
Additionally, Lols sent me over to Totally Papercrafts to join in on their Lots of Spots challenge, thanks ladies!!!

Thanks for stopping by my project today, and I hope you will have a chance to check out the fabulous samples over at Magnolia Down Under this week, the samples are beyond gorgeous and there's a delightful prize up for grabs for one lucky lady!!!
Take Care,
Stephanne

Say It In Sepia!!

Hello everybody!!
It is Wednesday, time for a new challenge over at Creative Inspirations which is titled Say it in Sepia. We'd love to see your beautiful coffee coloured creations so I hope you are up to the challenge this week!! Please pop over and see the other works, they are beyond fabulous this week!!


The image is by Penny black, stamped for me by my friend Julia,, thank you very much!!! Kitty was coloured in distress inks, everything was distressed in Brushed Corduroy and edged with Walnut Stain, there is some gold stickles in the mix, the papers are from different companies, stripes are Recollections, dots are K & Company and the fluer paper is Webster's Pages. The laces and pearls are from my stash, as is the charm. And again with the scroll, ahhhh!!!!


I've used Chelseas sketch for her challenge over at Crafting Life's Pieces. Thanks for stopping in, I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!!
Stephanne

Brunos' Love Muffin

Happy Valentines Day folks.
Finally, a post.
I have another "plate" for my calender,
this is for February, go figure...


This is the Whiff of Joy stamp I won from
Stampin' For The Weekend,
the adorable Bruno Bear with Muffin,
thank you so much SFTW and Whiff of Joy!!
I gave Bruno's cupcake a makeover by masking over the candle and then adding a heart to it, there are hearts stamped over the amazing radiating love muffin from another stamp. Bruno was coloured in distress inks.


Papers are all DCWV, the punch is by Fiskars, the leaves are done with an EK Success fern punch, a lot of stash stuff here, with the exception of that delish lace I've used on the card, that is from Kellie's shop, Magnolia Down Under, check it out here. Are you sick of my handmade scrolls yet? The sentiment is computer-generated. There is a cupcake in the corner of my calender that is cut out of a peice of Basic Grey DP.


And here we go with the challenges:
Cute Card Thursday In the name of love!!!
Double Dutch Be my Valentine
Everybody Art Challenge Valentine
Fussy and Fancy Dazzle Us
Just Cute Bears Challenge Hearts
Lili of the Valley Valentines
Stamp Something Cute Somethings
Stampin for the Weekend Love is in the air
Stamp with Fun Hearts
The Pink Elephant Mushy Gushy Valentine
Whiff of Joy Jane's Sketch

Have a fabulous week!!
Stephanne

Creative Inspirations Anyone For Leftovers Challenge

Hello ladies,
it's Wednesday and you know what that means,
time for a new Challenge over at
Creative Inspirations,
which is ANYONE FOR LEFTOVERS!!!
We want to see your projects using up
some of those paper scraps we've all got
leftover from other projects.
This week we are sponsored by Bunny Zoe,
you wont want to miss your chance at the gift voucher.


Here's the start of my calender, yes, I am running behind but what's new about that? I've used up a piece of Websters Pages, beneath the flowers is a big missing area, I cut the flowers from another area of the DP and placed it there over the missing area as well, to build up the hole. All the cardstock had to be surgically altered into frames. I've used my fabulous Christmas DT stamp from Magnolia Down Under, Tilda with Cracker, she' been coloured in Distress inks, and the flowers are a mix of several brands, with the big blue one coming from Kellie.

I have a few extra pics of the "procedure" to share:

The Beginning of the surgery:


Midway through the surgery:


Surgery Complete:

I have been salvaging that strip of DP for so long that I really don't know who made it anymore. I think it's Basic Grey, either way, I love it and couldn't cover up the flowery pattern, although I do have an image painted and mounted but it covered up all the red flowers so I couldn't do it. Oh well. I found a way to keep the gorgeous paper around for longer, so yay for that.

The design idea is that these are attachable "plates" for my calender, the base is similar to an easel card, and I will swap out the "plate" monthly, the base will have a mini calender and post it pad for notes and quick-reference dates. That's the idea anyway.

With most challenges of the Valentines variety, I have no other challenges to enter it in. Hmmmmmmm. Weird.....

Have a wonderful day,
Stephanne

MDUC's Pink and Grey Shadowbox

Edited to add the following exciting facts: This lovely project placed in the Top 5 at Cupcake Crafts Four legged and Furry challenge and also made the Top 5 over at Stamp Somethings Love Somethings Challenge, thank you so much for the crafty boost!!! You know what I just did? Went and opened up another page to collect the links to the challenges, went and got them, put them into this edit only to have it dawn on me, well, scroll down.... Geez, I need some sleep.


Hello lovely ladies,
it's Sunday in Australia
and you know what that means,
time for a new challenge over at
Magnolia Down Under,
which is a fabulous colour challenge of using
PINK and GREY
You will want to hop over and check out the
Design Team and fabulous guest creations,
they are totally gorgeous and inspiring,
and Kellie has put together a scrumptious prize
for one lucky lady, you don't want to miss it!!



You know, I think I like pink!! Okay, I will admit it, I like it a lot!! For our challenge this week, I have put together this shadow box full of fabulous goodies that I tend to hoard rather than use, which includes A LOT of scrummy gifts from Blogger buddies, which I will try and list as logically as possible.



The inside is layered with Graphic 45 DP, Modge Podged into place, there is a strip of lace peeping up above the filler grass, the heart shape is a laser cut shape that I added Ranger Crackle paint in picket fence to, plus my Tilda with Kitten image and the other kitty climbing the trellis is the cat from the Tilda with Cat stamp, which I have paper pieced for dimension and coloured in watercolour pencils and distress inks. Things have been popped up with foam mounts. The beads are from Michaels bridal department and those gorgeous flowers are Prima, the gardenias are from The Tremendously Talented Tracey, love them!!!



The heart was a wooden shape that got the crackle treatment, all flowers are Prima, with the addition of Crystal Stickles and that fabulous key is from my stash (oops, dumped everything together, now there's no telling who made what!!) The punches used are EK Success Fern and Martha Stewart Oak Leaf.



The sentiment scroll was stamped with Tattered Rose, the background stamp is by Stampabilities called Composer's Dream, the sentiment is by Studio G, distressed in Old Paper and bordered with Brushed Curdoroy, the wings are German Scrap paper from The Fabulous Debra, they were distressed in Milled Lavender and Old Paper and I added some Crystal Stickles. I've added some beautiful half pearls from Debbie The Glorious.



Yarg!!! It took longer to write than it did to make!!
Of course, I will pop this in at some of my fave spots!!
Crafty Creations wants to see wings on our projects,
Cupcake Craft Challenge wants to see
four legged and furry friends on our project,
and Stamp Something
would like to see Love Somethings,
and this is ideal for my loving,
but not quite Valentiney creation.

Thanks for stopping by today,
I hope you will have a chance to stop by
Magnolia Down Under,
better yet, I hope you can join us!!
Take Care,
Stephanne

DT- Creative Inspirations Pink and Cream Clara...

Hello Blogger Buddies,
it is time for a new challenge at
Creative Inspirations,
a colour challenge of PINK and CREAM
and guess who's sponsoring us this glorious challenge?
None other than the fabulous
Simon Says Stamps, woohoo!!!


The "recipe" is toward the bottom of this post in an attempt to shave down the length of my post, yet again. I had fun with this project!! I had so many leaves and flowers out, distressed, glimmer misted and Stickled, all ready to go onto my project, but then I started having a crisis about covering up all of the birdcages on this fab BG paper, so I left most of them off. I did lots of paper piecing on this one, I stamped the image as if she were reaching right out of her oval and shadowed the image in Faded Jeans ink, then I coloured and cut out another image, she is glued down in most areas except for her head and her dress, I popped those spots up with foam dots, it is a great effect to enhance paper piecing.


I've played along with several other challenges:
Basic Grey Challenges
wants to see animals on our creations,
Cute Card Thursdays' challenge is Bloomin' Gorgeous!!
And I used the sketch from Sketch Saturday,
although I swapped out a sentiment for a bow...
As usual, had to tweak something.



Supplies:
Stamps: Kraftin' Kimmie (this is Clara), Inkadinkado flourishes
Mediums: Ranger Distress Unk, Archival Ink, Crystal Stickles
Papers: Basic Grey designer paper, Bazzill cardstock
Flowers: Little Primas, ek Success fern punch, MS twig punch,
gardenia from The Amazing Jodie
Lace: Kellie's magical lace, find it here
Others: organza ribbon, foam dots, sewing machine

Thanks for stopping by.
I hope you can pop by
Creative Inspirations,
the designers have created
the most scrumptious projects
for your viewing pleasure!!

Take Care,
Stephanne

MDUC gets girly with Tilda's Love-trellis

Hello lovely Blogger Buddies,
I hope your weekend is going by fabulously!!
It's Sunday in Australia and that means it's time for a new challenge over at Magnolia Down Under, which is triple the fun, use our sketch, use some orange and make it girly!!

This week, yes WEEK, we are sponsered by The Cutting Cafe, who will be providing our winner with 3 sets of their choice, woohoo!!! They were even kind enough to give us girlies at Magnolia Down Under a few items to tinker with, unfortunately, I have not even one drop of ink left in my printer (see purple lady below for proof, lol) but I look forward to using our samples in the future :)

Additionally, there have been a few changes over at MDUC. We have had the great pleasure of working with Norma and Sue over the past few months, and although it will be sad to see them go, like really really sad, we have a few new uber-talented guests that will be joining us for the next 6 months, Chelsea, Jane and present-guest designer Frantastic will be staying with us for another 6 months as well. Welcome Aboard ladies, your work is astounding!! Also, Magnolia Down Under will be reverting back to weekly challenges starting now!! So you will see us again with a new challenge and a new chance at winning a scrumdiddily-umptious prize next Sunday!!! Is that everything? Geez, I hope so!!


I've listed all the ingredients to this card below in an attempt to cut down on the waffling, but what that list cant tell you is that I masked several different swirls off to make the flourish on my paper as well as several heart images. The hearts were from the fabulous Sue Drees, which I covered in Distress Crackle paint, then distressed in Vintage Photo and topped off with a smidge of Stardust Stickles, yummy!!


Of course, I have a few other challenges I'll be popping this in at, ABC Challenges, M is for Masking,Fussy and Fancy is having a heart challenge, I have not joined in there before but I think their DT is fab, so here I come!!! Just Magnolia is having a hearts and flowers challenge, Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge wants to see hearts too, and over at The Pink Elephant they want to see polka dots, pink, and a bow!! y original DP was a pinky paislee cutie but I found the pink in Tildas dress got lost in it, so I swapped it out, there's still plenty of pink though, phew!!

The Goods:
Mediums: Ranger Distress Inks, Archival Ink, StarDust Stickles, Rock Candy, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Candlelight
Stamps: Tilda with rice hearts, Tilda blowing hearts, Inkadinkado flourish clear set, stampendous heart
Papers: Bazzill Cardstock, Recollections Fall 2009
Artillery: Martha Stewart punches: doily, twig and maple leaf, ek Success fern, sandpaper and scissors for distressing
Other: heart doily, mini roses, gardenias, lace and rickrack
Welp, thanks for stopping by!!
I hope you will have a chance to swing by
Magnolia Down Under
and check out our sketch
and all of the amazing works from the Design Team,
it is exceptionally gorgeous this time of year,
hearts, flowers, pinky stuff, TILDA!!! Woohoo!!

Take Care,
Stephanne

There's a Magnolia sale going on Down Under!!!

Hi friends,
just wanted to let you in on a
little sumthin' sumthin' going on
at Kellie Winnells
Magnolia Down Under
store this weekend!!

She's got all of her stamp inventory on sale!!
In stock and preorder items are being discounted,
including those wonderful personalized stamps as well as
preorder items from Magnolia's newest release,
Raising The Ceiling!!!


Woohoo!!! Good things come to those who wait!!
If you're in the market for some new Mag's
go take a peek into Magnolia Down Under,
she just might have what you're looking for!!

Creative Inspirations gets feminine!!!

Hello happy blogging buddies!!
It's time for a new challenge over at
Creative Inspirations,
a nice and easy one,
we'd like to see your feminine side!!!
Make something pretty, elegant, dainty, gorgeous,
and enter it in our challenge!!

This week we were provided with images to create with from our sponsor, Lauretta of Lauretta's Digital Stamps, thank you so much, the images are fun to bring to life!!


I've used one of Lauretta's digi images, this one is called Charleston Lady, coloured with Prismacolors and a little bit of baby oil over the black areas, thank you for the inspiration Lori!!! I've added distress stickles to Lady Charleston's boa and Liquid Pearls to her necklace, had to get my Ranger fix one way or another, lol. The polka dot DP is from Basic Grey's Junebug collection and the other DP's are My Minds Eye 29th Street Market yumminess!! The fibres, lace and golden ribbon are from my stash, so are the pearls, the gorgeous gardenias are from Tracey, still lovin' them.... A LOT!!!! And the punches I've used are Martha Stewart (twigs) and Fiskars (lace border), there is some gold Stickles in the mix as well.


I've also played along with the photo inspiration at
Secret Crafter Saturday, as well as the yummy sketch from Sketch Saturday, instead of corners, I placed a tilted peice of DP that adds interest to the corners, hope that is still okay.

I hope you will have a chance to hop over to Creative Inspirations, to see the brilliant works from the Design Team and that you have a chance to join us this week!!
Take Care,
Stephanne

New pic, unblogged cards, Valentines Day Postal Cancellation Information

Hi everyone,
nothing "NEW" to share with you today,
just a bunch of random things and thoughts
smooshed into one post rather than spread out
throughout my usual waffling.

Firstly, I was tinkering with my profile
and replaced the photo of my cat Batman
with a picture of myself...
Well, I am not very keen to electronics,
I thought that I could swap out one pic
and the other one of my "sister" Rita, the chihuahua
would still be there, but she is gone!!
No more doggie in your followers block ladies,
it is now ME!!!! AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

******************************************

Secondly, wouldn't you LOVE to have your
Valentine's Day cards be delivered with a
wonderful Valentine's Day themed postal cancellation???
Here are a list of loving cities
who participate in Valentines Remailings!!



Bliss, NY 14024 -- Postmaster Rosemary Phillippi (585-322-7740) who runs this one-person office says that last year she applied a special pictorial cancellation for Valentine's Day on more than 2,000 envelopes. Her average daily cancellations are 200. This year she will personally apply the unique postmark depicting a cloud bearing the inscription, "Love on a Cloud." The postmark also depicts a shooting heart with stars along the top and bottom. This postmark is available from February 14 through March 14, 2004, only. The media contact is Maureen Marion (315.452.3582).

Heart Butte, MT 59448 -- Acting Postmaster Donel Hall (406-338-2399) is offering a pictorial heart in red ink with a ribbon postmark of Heart Butte during the entire month of February. The Heart Butte Post Office receives several hundred Valentine postmark requests per year.

Juliette, GA 31046 - Postmaster Delores Molton (478-994-6611) says customers can receive a pictorial postmark illustrating Romeo and Juliet with the Juliette, GA, cancellation. Cards must be submitted by February 10 for delivery by Valentine's Day. For additional information, contact Jean Wilkes at (478- 752-8743).

Loveland, CO 80538 -- Loveland Information Clerk Bob Tholl (970-663-3010) says customers can receive a Cupid cachet, love verse and pictorial heart-shaped Loveland postmark. Loveland normally receives an average of 35,000 cancellation requests per day throughout Valentine season, making it the world's largest Valentine remailing program. Loveland receives more than 200,000 Valentines annually from all 50 states and more than 100 countries. Senior citizen volunteers do the hand-stamping of the Cupid cachet and love verse.

Loveville, MD 20656 - Postmaster Eva Hall (301-475-5243), who operates the one-person Post Office in rural Southern Maryland, says her daily volume of 1,200 cancellations increases six-fold to 7,200 daily a week prior to Valentine's Day. During this time Hall brings in a clerk whose sole job is to hand-cancel Valentine cards with a unique postmark that depicts Cupid shooting an arrow through a heart. The Cupid postmark is available February 1-14 each year.

Loving, NM 88256 - Postmaster Charlotte Brewer (505-745-3611) says that Loving's special pictorial postmark, available February 1-14, consists of lovebirds sitting on top of a heart over the inscription "Valentine's Day Station." Loving is a small community with a population of 1,400 located near Carlsbad Caverns. Postmarks increase from 500 on an average day to 4,000 before Valentine's Day.

Romance, AR 72136 -- Postmaster Nancy Schnebelen (501-556-5911) reports that two of approximately ten weddings held in the lobby last year were on Valentine's Day. Schnebelen says mail volume increases dramatically during the spring months of April through June as a result of couples wanting the "Romance" cancellation on their wedding invitations. The Romance Post Office postmarks about 400 letters on a given day. Two weeks prior to Valentine's Day that increases three-fold to about 1,300 daily. When necessary, Schnebelen schedules her postmaster relief to assist her in hand-canceling each special piece of "romantic" mail. This year's cancellation portrays a dove trailing a ribbon from its beak, with the ribbon's inscription: "Love is in the Air."

Romeo, MI 48065 - Postmaster Alex Stubbs III (586-752-3823) says customers can receive a pictorial postmark illustrating Romeo and Juliet with the Romeo, MI, cancellation.

Sugar City, CO 81076 - Postmaster Patty McGee (719-267-3333) says the request for the pictorial postmark bearing the description "Sugar City - The sweetest town around," generates several hundred Valentine postmark requests a year.

Valentine, NE 69201 - Postmaster Rick Bordeaux (402-376-1540). A special postmark featuring the words "With Love on Valentine's Day" is available February 1-15. He reports that Valentine's daily average of 3,500 postmarks each day increases to 20,000 daily two weeks prior to Valentine's Day.

Valentine, TX 79854 -- Postmaster Maria E. Carrasco (432-467-2912) operates the Love Station of Texas. Since 1993, students from grades 7 through 12 compete to see whose artwork will be used on that year's special cancellation stamp, and each year the cancellations has been different. Carrasco, with the help of her postmaster replacement, will hand- stamp cards and letters February 1-14. In 1994, a record 39,000 pieces from all over the world received the Valentine postmark. On an average day Carrasco postmarks approximately 100 cards and letters. Two weeks prior to Valentine's Day, that number increases to 1,000 to 2,000 daily.

Valentines, VA 23887 -- Postmaster Denise Evans (434-577-2456), who runs the one-person Post Office, says her daily average of 100 cancellations jumps about 400 times to 40,000 two weeks prior to Valentine's Day. During this time, Evans brings in her postmaster relief for the sole purpose of hand canceling Valentine cards with a unique postmark depicting a red heart with several flowers around the heart. The red heart postmark is only available mid-January through Feb. 14 each year.

So here is what you need to know:
Make sure to affix correct postage to your cards,
Use a larger envelope to enclose your cards,
I suggest USPS Priority Flat Rate Envelopes ($4.95),
and mail to:

POSTMASTER
c/o Valentine Remailing
City, State, Zip

Remember to mail early so you don't miss the "cut-off,"
international mail, be extra cautious of time constraints,
if it takes 3 weeks for your mail to arrive,
then sending it to Loveland a week before
Valentines Day isn't going to work out, lol.

*********************************************



This is a card I made for Tracey, my MDUC teamie, that I did not have the chance to blog. It was meant to go into about 7 challenges, but each passing day saw another challenge deadline missed and before I knew it, I just never blogged it!! My Christmas schedule was insane!! Nevertheless, think back to the "nontraditional Christmas colours" challenges a few months back, this is when I created the card. Basic Grey papers, Magnolia stamps from Kellies shop, as is that brilliant wire heart, the tulle and velvet rickrack are from my stash, she's coloured in distress inks and dosed with a fair amount of gold stickles. The pressies were pieced with BG papers and hemp was added around the boxes. I wonder what's inside!!?


This little gift bag was made as a last minute gift for my favorite postal clerk, thus the envelope!! I was going to enter it in the slew of last minute present challenges and a colour challenge, but the same story, not enough hours in the day to create, work, blog, work, work, eat, maybe even some sleep... The papers are Basic Grey, the stamps came from Kellie's shop, the DP is Basic Grey, the doiley was the beginning of a very long phase in my crafting, they are hard to resist, everythings cut out and popped up on foam dots, coloured in distress inks and coated in Stickles. Hemp, lace and ribbon are from my stash, the charm is from Blue Moon Beads.


******************************

I actually have more to blog,
but I think I will give this a break
and save some for Thursday or Friday!!
Tomorrow I have a card to share for the
new Creative Inspirations challenge,
and hopefully I can get some awards passed out
in that posting too :)

Take Care,
Stephanne

Be Mine or else......

Hello everybody,
I hope all is well with you!!
As you can see, there is some new rubba
over at House of Stephanne
and I could hardly handle waiting to ink them up!!
This one is called "Drucilla",
from the Moonlight Whispers line of
Kraftin' Kimmie stamps,
and I love her wacky butt to bits!!
The characters remind me of Nickelodeons' Rugrats!!


The DP is My Minds Eye from the be*loved release,
cardstock is Bazzill, and everything else is from my stash,
except for those little red buttons from Princess Bling.
I've coloured in distress inks,
added Stickles and Peach Spica pen,
as well as Pewter Liquid Pearls.
She seems like a spunky gal so I gave her
a few highlights and burgundy lo lights, heehee!!


I've used the sketch over at
Stampin' For The Weekend,
I've used Drucilla's legs as a component of the sketch,
at Kraftin' Kimmie's Challenge,
they've set a colour challenge of
red, pink and brown + hearts,
Crafty Creations
is hosting a Valentine's or Love theme,
and that is it, I guess.
So many sketches at the moment,
really puts a damper on my challenge combo's....

Thanks for stopping by tonight,
have a wonderful weekend!!
Stephanne

Ike and Mike play with Creative Inspirations!!

Hello ladies, and possibly a gentleman,
it's Wednesday and you know what that means,
a new challenge for you over at
Creative Inspirations!!
We have a fabulous sketch by Nat
for you to create with, it's a good'un too!!!
Here's my take on it!!


As some of you know, I have been on a quest for a penguin image and these little penguins from Whipper Snapper Designs are just what the doctor ordered!! Here we have "A Hug for Ike," Ike the penguin is getting a bear hug from the superbly adorable Mike!! Love these, I am totally pleased with my WSD purchase, as always, and even though it's a little late in the season, I think you'll be seeing more from Ike and Mike very, very soon!!


DP is K & Company, cardstock is Bazzill, the image is coloured in distress inks and layered, popped up with foam dots, background distressed in faded jeans, snowflakes have been stamped onto the back panel with Brilliance Moonlight white ink, Star Dust stickles has been added here and there, and the punched snowflakes are courtesy of a Martha Stewart punch, they've been glimmer misted in pearl and stabbed with these fabulous curdoroy brads from the dear Princess Bling Kristy, thanks snookums!! The snow is Martha Stewart coarse glitter and the sentiment is a stamp from Recollections, I cut and shaped a white peice of Neenah into a banner shape, distressed it in Old Paper, stamped the sentiment on it in Faded Jeans and slapped on some Stickles, the idea was to make it look snow-kissed, not sure I pulled it off, but a grand idea nevertheless!! More sewing, lots of distressing with scissors, scrummy lace from my stash, and there you have it!!


Seems sort of plain after my last couple of cards, but I wanted to show off the image work and the yummy paper and distressing, not to mention, my rapidly-improving sewing skills, lol!!

I have, of course, fit this into several other challenges:
A spoon full of sugar wants to see lots of layering, oh yesssss, I can do that!
Colour Create is hosting a kraft, white and blue + texture challenge,
Double Dutch wants to see our frozen, frosty creations,
PaperPlay Challenge is hosting a Furry Friends challenge,
Saturday Spotlight with Hidden Potential is suggesting we let our snowflakes go wild!!!
And of course, our sketch from Creative Inspirations


I hope you all will have a chance to play along with us this week, we have a yummy prize up for grabs and beautiful inspiration from the DT!!
Take Care,
Stephanne

You're Sinfully Sweet!!!

Hello lovely bloggers,
I hope you've been crafting up a storm!!
The time has come for
Magnolia Down Under
to post a new challenge,
and wouldn't you know,
the theme is Valentines Day!!!
Hearts, reds, pinks, frilly things, etc.
We'd like you to warm our hearts
with your romantic side, wink wink ;)



Well, I was besmitten by Cupid and over the course of a few days crafted this Valentiney creation. Actually, this is the hardest challenge I've taken part in lately. Let's just say it wasn't coming to me. All that talk about Cupid was a lie!There was, however, a wonderful envelope of Valentines supplies in my mailbox from my lovely blogger buddy Sue that I've put to use straight away, thanks for saving my project Sue, things were looking pretty grim for a while there.



Challenges that begin with the letter C, Alex.
Crafty Creations is hosting a textures challenge,
Creative Inspirations is hosting a distressing challenge,
the sketch is from the truly talented Chelsea of
Crafting Lifes Pieces and at
Charisma Cardz there is an
Anything New Challenge.
As some of you may have noticed,
I was the random lady to win a
7 Kids College Fund
gift certificate at Just Magnolia,
and I've used it to get the following new goodies:
Made with love charm, spica pen,
and Zva Create blossoms,
I also picked out another Mag to add to the family,
she'll be making her debut in the next month or so,
thanks 7 Kids and Just Magnolia :)




In addition to the products previously mentioned,the images are coloured in distress inks, Stickled here and there, white gel pen here and there, Spica pen here and there, cut out and placed on a doily on top of a wonderfully embossed peice of paper from Sue and I believe that she uses a Cuttlebug, that amazing heart doily is handmade by Sue's sis, the punch used for my leafy things is a maple leaf punch by Martha Stewart, lace, ribbon, pins and pearl strings are from me old stash box, love charm is Blue Moon and the heart brads are from Kaiser. I've distressed in Vintage photo and stickled in gold around the edges of the distressed Bazzill Kraft cardstock. I've sewn up the side of my papers for some extra flare.

Well, I bet that anyone reading this
is ready to take a nap,
sorry about the rambling.
Be sure and stop in over at
Magnolia Down Under
and see what sort of fun stuff is happening,
hint hint, we are looking for guest designers ;)
Til Next Time,
Stephanne

Creative Inspirations DT New New New

Hello ladies,
Wednesday is upon us and that means
it is time for another challenge over at
Creative Inspirations,
a nice and easy one for you,
New Year, New Products!!
We want to see you create
with some of that new stash you got
from Santa or bought for yourself
in the last couple of weeks!!


I have had new deliciousness overload!!
With Christmas and my birthday in close vicinity,
gift cards and birthday cash,
punch cards ready to be redeemed,
I tell you, I am in Crafters Heaven!!


Some of my new loot used on this project include
Distress Stickles, 2 new colours of distress ink,
the K & Co. papers, how did I ever craft without them!!?
The gorgeous vintage rose Tilda never inked until now,
and my lovely sewing machine,
sure it isn't BRAND BRAND new anymore,
but I bought it in 2010, new enough, lol.


And my beautiful insignia stamp from Kellie!!
Check them out at MDU here,
truly adds that finishing touch to the project!!
Other items used are MS punches,
beads, pins, lace, ribbon and charm from stash,
Tilda was painted with distress inks in watercolour paper,
then cut out and placed onto Gina K cardstock
that I added a shadow to in faded jeans distress ink
before placing the cut out Tilda on top.
The beautiful gardenias are from Tracey, love them!!
And the mini roses are a custom-coloured item
by yours truly, layered in glimmer mist and inks.


I am playing along with a few other
challenges this time around:
Charisma Cardz
is hosting a colour challenge of
pink, brown, cream and toffee
Crafting Life's Pieces
January Sketch #15,
gorgeous ideas from an extremely talented crafter,
Cupcake Craft Challenge
is going girly this week!!
PaperPlay Challenges
has a Precious Metals Challenge
The Pink Elephant
is hosting a birthday challenge,
and although my creation isn't overtly
BIRTHDAY BIRTHDAY BIRTHDAY,
it is indeed a birthday card.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my creation,
I hope you have a moment to hop over to
Creative Inspirations
and see the other samples,
they are dreamy!!
Oh, to be in their craft rooms
with that new stuff, fun fun fun!!
Take Care,
Stephanne

You're sweeter than strawberries!!

Hello everybody,
I hope you are staying warm,
and Aussies, I hope you are staying cool.
I have a card to share with you.


Information on the joy-fold card is
toward the bottom of this post,
I've used this darling hAnglar image
coloured with distress inks,
along with some fun new-to-me
DCWV Farmers Market papers,
my new toy, the sewing machine, haha,
I had a breakthrough today ladies,
next time I use it, I think the results
will be a little less wiggly,
gotta ease off the throddle, hahahaha,
a Penny Black sentiment,
the Martha Stewart doily punch
and lace ribbon and cherry blossoms.


This is a definite change of pace,
bright bold colours and patterns,
I think I am trying to warm up mentally
because I can't physically or something!!



I have a few challenges that I'll enter this in:
ABC Challenges is up to L,
L is for layering, you know it!!
Cute Card Thursday
is hosting a NEW challenge,
and I went with new-to-me stash
for my "new" requirements,
Dutch Dare Card Challenges
was my inspiration,
they are hosting a Joy fold card challenge,
and have a tutorial included in the posting,
thank you ladies, I enjoyed this lots and lots!!
I had a lot of fun looking at all of the
DT works at these challenges, fab stuff,
I think a lot of us are whipping out
bright and bold papers and embellies, lol.

I hope you all have a wonderful week,
get some crafting done,
visit lots of fellow bloggers,
waffle waffle waffle, with ME, lol!!
Take Care,
Stephanne

Creative Inspirations DT project-Anniversary!!

Hello my blogging companions,
how have you faired
through all the Holiday Mayhem??!!
Any new stamping goodies from
The Man in the Red Suit?
I won't lie, Santa brought me stamps,
he ever wrapped them and put them
amoungst the gifts under the tree!!
I was a good girl this year,
kept a clean house,
paid all my bills,
laid off the swear words a little...

Now that things are getting back to normal
and I can get back to being a good little blogger,
I have some fantastic news to share!!
As if somehow she already knew
I was thinking about branching out
and applying for a design team
or two or seven, lol,
Nat from

Creative Inspirations

invited me to join their challenge blog!!
How great is that?!?!
Have you seen the talent over there, my God!!
I will have to pull out all my best goodies &
learn some new techniques to keep up with them!!



So without further ado,
the challenge this week is:

ANNIVERSARY!!!

And here is my sample,
a card I made for my dear husband,
as our "first-date" anniversary
is just around the bend:


I've created an PeepShow card,
I used a Fiskars circle lace punch
to dress up my peephole!!
The paper in from Graphic 45,
those darling little hAnglars
are painted with distress inks.


I've distressed my papers with Old Paper
and Vintage Photo inks,
I tried to sew, hahahaha,
don't look too closely, I've never sewn before!!
I had this little rinkydink handheld stitcher,
but that was a waste of $10!!!
I just entered the Big Leagues
with a real sewing machine I got for
my birthday this past December 29th, woohoo!!
And like a true paper addict,
the first thing I sewed was a card,
I might try my hand at hemming some jeans
or something a little more practical soon....


My sentiment is something I typed up
on my computer, ENTRUST, now that is heavy, lol.
But it makes perfect sense with the images,
so entrusting the key to my heart it is!!
I have some more sappyness to add to this card,
but figured I would spare anyone reading
of the extra sap-fest.


I've layered lace, velvet and hemp
and tied some charms on.
I want to stick roses on this SOOO BAD,
but it is for a MAN, so I won't :(

Are you still with me
through the Waffle-Fest???
I hope you'll pop in over at
Creative Inspirations
and check out all of the gorgeous
Design Team works this week,
Simon Says will be sponsoring us this week,
so you're gonna wanna give this challenge a go!!
This is also going to be entered over at
Sketch Saturday,
I gave it a flip, as usual, lol, and
A Spoon Full Of Sugar
is hosting a HEART challenge,
and since that is pretty much the theme
to my card, you know, aside from the key...

Have a wonderful week!!
Stephanne