Birthday Bird

Feathered Nest is the very first clear stamp set I designed and manufactured.

I still enjoy using the set, particularly with watercolour paper and distress inks. Add in a pretty embossed background, some sparkly rhinestones and a shiny, silver sentiment and you have a beautiful card for a special someone.

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Hibiscus Flowers

I didn't want to wait too long to use the flowers I coloured a couple of days ago. (Things have a way of going missing if I don't use them pretty quickly... stashed in a "safe place"... never to be seen again) I teamed the brightly coloured hibiscus blooms with some lush ferns for a fabulous tropical vibe, perfect for summertime birthdays.

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Just The Flowers

I'm always looking for different ways to use my stamps, dies, and other papercrafting items, and one of the easiest techniques is to selectively stamp parts of your images. There are a few different ways of doing this, such as masking on the paper, masking the stamp or even cutting the stamp into sections. Today I'm using little pieces of cardstock that are big enough for the part of the image I want to use, and then I'll use some small scissors to cut away the excess.

I want just the hibiscus flower from the Girls' Night set of stamps. I'm using water based ink to stamp on blending card so I can colour with my alcohol markers.

Pro-tip, colour around your image with marker before fussing cutting. This gives you a little more margin for error and makes for a tidier cut.

Now I have a collection of pretty flowers ready to add to my cards!

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Unforgettable

These little elephants are easy to colour and work well for lots of different occasions. I think this guy would be super cute on a baby card, or decorating the cover of a little photo book.

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Flowering Eucalypt

To make my eucalyptus branch look a little fuller, I stamped and coloured a second image, then fussy cut some of the leaves to position on the main branch as well as behind the image panel.

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Big Wishes

I've been enjoying some of my older designs, including this cute little elephant all dressed up for her ballet class. I've even given her some blue toe nails to match her tutu and head band.

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Year Long Challenge - January

This year I've set myself the challenge of creating a card a month using this little elephant image. I'll base each card on events that happen in the month they're created, although not necessarily for that particular occasion. For example, January has New Year's Day, but since I don't actually give away cards for New Year's, I'm just going to use it as inspiration. Can you guess what February will bring?

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Make 'em Pop!

Have you tried this technique yet? Bright colours on a dark background?

I personally prefer black, but you could also opt for a deep blue, green or purple.

Start by colouring the image or images and then add your background with dark coloured marker.

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Squishy Hugs

You don't always have to colour (or stamp) the entire image. Sometimes little pieces of the design can tell the story just as well as the entire picture!

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Chocolate Mousse

I always consider brown to be a foundation colour, one that doesn't necessarily shine on its own, but plays a very important support role for other colours. For example, the red and purple in this image are what really catch the eye, but I think that's in part because of the contrast with the brown. And if that doesn't sell you on this fabulous colour, then just remember it's also the colour of chocolate!

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Love, Laughter, Happiness

I really love contrast, such as dark and light, salty and sweet flavours, and complimentary colours. One of my favourite contrasts is between old, worn objects, such as a rusty watering can, and pretty, delicate objects like fresh flowers. Are you a contrast person, and if so, what are some of your favourites?

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Green Waratah

I've been feeling a little monochromatic lately, and decided to express myself in shades of green. A simple card to say "thanks", "hi", or to attach to a basket of gardening goodies for someone special.

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