Quirky Charlotte

This here is another great image from Kraftin Kimmie Stamps, this is Charlotte and her dolls.This sis for the Kraftin Kimmie Blog Challenge. I love these new stamps they are quirky and lots of fun. They are made from rubber, stamp easily and are fabulous to colour in.

I have stamped Charlotte and 'Hugs' from (from Kraftin Kimmie's sentiments) onto white card in Black Stazon Ink. I have coloured  Charlotte with prismacolor pencils and blended with odourless mineral spirits (OMS). As always, I chose my card and designer papers first. I then coloured in to match the papers as close as i possibly could.

These designer papers are from Kaisercraft's new Lilac Avenue 6"x6" paper pad. they are also avaiable in 12"x12".

The border was punched along purple DP using a Fiskars border punch. I then finished off using paper flowers and mauve rhinestones both from Kaisercraft. This was all layered onto a dark mauve (not really purple) base card.

Kraftin Kimmie Stamps are available from Stampin Stuff- link on right side bar.

I sure hope Kimmie likes this card, and I would love to hear what you think, please don't forget to leave a comment.

Until Next Time

Inking of you All

Michelle

Introducing Lilith

Kraftin' Kimmie has gone off on her own adventure and started a fabulous new stamp company called what else but Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps. This here is Lilith and she is one of 4 from the Moonlight Whispers range.
I have stamped Lilith in Black stazon ink and coloured her with my all time favourites Prismacolor pencils.
The base card is white with with red layers of bazzill cardstock. The Designer Papers are from Kaisercraft. I finished the card off with some paper flowers in grey and black with little red rhinestones in the middle.
I hope you like what I have done.
Kraftin Kimmie Stamps are available in Australia from Stampin Stuff. I am very pleased to say I am the Stampin Stuff Design Team along with the fabulous owner Amy and another very talented lady called Vicki.
Click on their names to check out their Blogs.

Until next Time
Inking of you All
Michelle

Bountiful Bananas

Anything but a card. That's what this weeks High Hopes challenge is all about.
I thought I'd make a party favor box and fill it with banana lollies and banana flavoured jelly belly jelly beans. (YUM). It's very rare for me to do some construction, but all in all I was pretty pleased with.

I chose to use Bright Yellow Bazzill criss cross cardstock, it is such a fun and cheery colour. The stamps I used were small monkey mike and go bananas, can you guess what I coloured with? Yes I used my prismacolor pencils I finished the box off using a bright yellow organza ribbon and a 2mm brown grosgrain ribbon.

Until Next Time
Inking of you all
Michelle

Can Ya Doodle?

Can Ya doodle?? Yes of course. Everyone can do it, it all comes down to how confident you are at putting it on a card. They key is put pen to paper and DON'T hesitate.



Doodling is this weeks challenge #31 over on the High Hopes Blog.
I have chosen one of my favourite stamps and I have doodled around the edge using a black millennium pen, they are waterproof and are good to use with any colouring medium. (Also good for drawing in missing lines of your stamped image)
I have stamped this gorgeous elephant in black stazon ink and coloured her with prismacolor pencils and blended with odourless mineral spirits. It is all layered on to designer paper from Junkitz's Salsa range.
Hope you like this card it was quick and easy to do.

Until Next Time
Inking of you All
Michelle

High Hopes Challenge #30

I am back from my holiday and I am straight back into creating cards. The first one I have done is for the High Hopes Challenge... The theme... One for the boys.
I have used Froggy Gift. This is one of my favourite stamps and I just love this bright colour scheme. The colours of course come directly from my paper choice. These designer papers are from Scenic Route.
I have stamped the image using Black stazon and coloured in using Prismacolor Pencils blended with odourless mineral spirits. The coloured cardstock is Cranberry Crisp from SU and the green is Bazzill. I cut the stamped image in a circle using nestabilities.
The sentiment I used is a rub on.
In Australia you can buy these stamps at Heavenscent Crafts. If you would like to check out the Challenges go to the High Hopes Blog

Until Next Time
Inking of you All
Michelle

I Love Roses, thanks Carol

'I Love Roses' is at the moment my new favourite stamp set from Flourishes. The Timeless Tuesday challenge over on the Flourishes Blog, is to use your favourite set. Let me tell you picking my favourite set was EXTREMELY difficult. I love all their sets.

At the moment I have not yet purchased this set but I would like to say a very big thank you to Carol Southern for sending me some pre stamped images.

Carol and I are both addicted to the Flourishes range and we have just done a swap amongst our selves. I hope Carol likes what I have sent her.

The Rose is stamped in Black ink and then I coloured this rose using Prismacolor pencils and have blended the colors together using odourless mineral spirits. I have used 3 different shades of red for the flower.

Here is a close up

I finished the card off by using Bazzill cardstock and Designer Paper by Kaiser Craft. (from their Christmas range).

I have embellished the card using a buckle cut from the spellbinders range and threaded it with 2 sizes of organza ribbon.

In Australia Flourishes stamps are available from Heavenscent Crafts

Wishing you all a very Happy Easter

Until Next time

Inking of you all

Michelle

2 cards today

Here are 2 cards for 2 separate High Hopes challenges.
This first card is for this weeks challenge... Buttons Galore.
I have used miniature buttons and also a decorative button. I chose to use Peg Leg Pete, (one of my favourites). I stamped him in Black Stazon and coloured him with Prismacolor pencils.

I chose to layer the card on to basic gray cardstock and used designer paper by Inque Boutique. I also used a steel blue card stock that I found in my scrap pile.
This next card is from a challenge a couple weeks ago, (challenge 21). I was really pleased with how this card came out. The stamp is called Froggy gift, and the designer papers I used were all from Scenic Route.

Once again I coloured in using prismacolor pencils. Both are truly great boy cards.
I just love High Hopes stamps. I am currently working on a wish list list that is enormous. I am having a really hard time deciding what I really need right now and what can wait.

Sweet Sarah Kay

Thought I would make a card using this gorgeous Sarah Kay image from Stampavie. It is called 'Picnic of Daisies'. This is just one of the sweetest cards I have ever made. Firstly I stamped the image on cream confetti cardstock and coloured using prismacolor pencils. The pencils I chose to colour were inspired by the designer paper from Crate Paper. I thought this DP gave the card a very rustic, country feel.
Before layering the card together I ran a piece of river rock cardstock through the cuttlebug using the 'swiss dots' folder. Next I sponged some 'Vintage Photo' Distress Ink around the edge of each piece of paper and cardstock.
Lastly I layered it all together with the perfect piece of ribbon from my ribbon stash. The base card is also made using River Rock cardstock.

In Australia,Stampavie stamps are available from Heavenscent Crafts.

Until Next Time
Inking of you All
Michelle

Poise, style, grace, this girl's got it all

Here is my card for this weeks High Hopes Challenge #17. This week was a sketch challenge. I did make this card several days ago but dear Hubby took the camera away with him and I had to wait for his return, before I could get the photo taken.
I just love this stamp in Australia it is available from Heavenscent Crafts in Melbourne.
I have coloured my image using 2 different mediums this time. I like to colour as most of you know and I have lots of different mediums to choose from. This time I combined my Prismacolor pencils for the elephant and watercolour crayons for the background. I am very pleased with the end result. I combined several different watercolour crayon colours to get the final colour needed to match the designer paper (bittersweet by Basic Grey)
This was such a fun card to make. I hope you all enjoy it.

Until next time
Inking of you all
Michelle

Leo the Lion

What a great image this is. It is Leo from High Hopes Rubber Stamps. They stamp up so beautifully and are wonderful for those of you who like to colour in. High Hopes Stamps are now available in Australia from Heavenscent Crafts.
Here I have stamped him in Black StazOn ink and coloured with Prismacolor Pencils blended with Odourless Mineral Spirits.
I have layered the card using the 12 x 12" scrapbook papers from Amazing Creations.
I finished the card off with a pink and brown ribbon and some co-ordinating flowers.
Thanks for looking

Until Next Time
Inking of you All
Michelle

Sorry it's been awhile

I have been so busy lately, I guess it's just that time of the year. I haven't made very many cards, I have been working on my Christmas cards as shown a couple of post ago.
In the past week I decided to sit down and pull put my Fishy Friends set from Stampin Up. I came up with these 2 cards.(They B-Day sentiment is from My Favorite Things)

I have used Bazzill Bling cardstock and the DP is from Kaiser Craft, the stripes are on one side, the dots on the other. I just love the colors. The paper gives a very whimsical feel to these cards. (So does the Pink fish). I have stamped the images on to SU confetti white cardstock with Black Brilliance ink. I have coloured all images with Prismacolor Pencils and Blended with odourless mineral spirits.

Until Next Time

Inking of you all

Michelle

My wish is for High Hopes

I just love this image from High Hopes Rubber Stamps It is called Oops Ellie. High Hopes Rubber Stamps are now available in Australia at Heavenscent Crafts and I have a wish list about a mile long. Unfortunately I do not yet own any of these wonderful stamps, This image of Ellie was lent to me by a lovely friend named Pam. (Thanks Pam). I spent the day with Pam and her friend Pat teaching them to colour in using Prismacolor pencils. When I coloured in this elephant Blue I had no idea what I was going to do with him. A couple of days later I walked into my local stamp store and found this terrific designer paper by Australian designer Rachel Greig. It is from her Darkroom Door Range of products.
On the same day as buying the paper I was looking at the High Hopes Blog and saw the challenge to create a card using both Brads and Buttons. And Viola my card came to life. I hope you enjoy this card as much as I do. I was really pleased with the final outcome. I hope to feature some High Hopes Images over the next couple of weeks.

Until Next Time
Inking of you All
Michelle

My Guide to making a great card- tutorial

Here is my first tutorial, I call it My Guide to making a great Card. It is the basics on helping co-ordinate the pieces need to make a simple elegant card.
I have decided to show you this years' Christmas card, but you can apply this to any card you make.Step #1 (above): Choose your Stamp and Designer Paper first

Step #2 & #3 (above): Choose co-ordinating plain cardstock.

Stamp and colour your image. I have chosen to stamp my image in Black and colour with co-ordinating pencils. Choose any other inkpad colours now. If not using a neutral colour like black, choose an inkpad shade the same or as close to possible as your cardstock
When mass producing cards like Christmas cards cut and prepare all necessary pieces at the one time. This makes your life so much easier.

Step #4 (above): Now assemble all the pieces to your card.

I have chosen to do a simple card with a folded front for a bit of interest. As I am making lots of Christmas cards I didn't want to do something to fussy with lots and lots of work (that takes hours per card). However at the same time I still wanted a card that looks nice and classy. I think this card captured the look I wanted.

Step #5: add any embellishments now. I accented my card with red Rhinestones and stickles on the 'ribbon'

Last but not least. Take several photos of your creation before you put them in the post. You might also like to stamp a co-ordinating envelope, just remember to leave enough clear space to address it.

Hope you enjoyed my guide to card making.

The pudding stamp I used is from Stamp It (Australia) and the sentiment is from Hero Arts. The Designer Paper is Kaiser Craft

Until Next Time

Inking of you All

Michelle

Gorgeous Cooktown Orchids and great prices for USA readers

Once again I pulled out one of my favourite stamps, This is the Cooktown Orchid stamp. However this time I've teamed it with the small single Orchid. These stamps are made by a wonderful Australia company called Amazing Creations. Their stamps can be found here .

The flowers were first stamped in black brilliance ink and then I have coloured the image in shades of violet with a touch of yellow as a contrasting colour. The whole image is shadowed in a light shade of blue to give a bit more depth . The single orchid was stamped in a plum coloured ink to match the cardstock.

My colouring medium of choice is Prismacolor pencils.

The cards stock I used was SU whisper white and the coloured cardstock is all Bazzill.

To see more cards with this image look here

All stamps from Amazing Creations. Checkout their website for this great deal, tell them Michelle sent you

USA Readers TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE EXCHANGE RATE AND NO GST
(for example a $20.00AUD stamp is approximately $12.50 USD plus postage and handling. Please note the exchange rate is volatile at the moment and this is for example purposes only - results also vary based on your bank)

Michelle's Hint #3 (for those who like to colour)

Always buy good quality colouring Supplies

I see so many people spend an absolute fortune on stamps only to buy cheap colouring materials like children's textas and pencils. Although great for kids they really are not designed to do great artwork on cards and cheapen your finished product.

It doesn't matter which colouring medium you prefer whether it be watercolour pencils, markers, chalks/ pastels etc. Always chose a good quality brand. They are more than likely going to last you for years and years. There fore in the end, good value for money.

My tombow markers are now 8 years old and still going strong.

Until Next Time

inking of you all

Michelle

Rachel Anne Miller stamp

Here is a stamp sent to me from Deb at Heaven Scent Crafts. It is from Stampavie and is designed by Rachel Anne Miller. She has a whole range just like this adorable image. I have done it in 2 different colour themes and I think each one looks completely different. This first image (top) has been layered using Designer Papers from Euphoria by Basic Grey. I have coloured in both images using Prismacolor Pencils.
This card is embellished with flowers
that have been set with
eyelets, just to be a little different



This bottom card is done in Earthy tones and the designer paper is unknown. It's amazing how much different the card looks by accenting the image in a circle.

Until Next time
Inking of you All
Michelle

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Here is my first Christmas card. I made it for the Flourishes Tuesday Chat Challenge on SCS forum. The challenge was to create a Red, Green, Brown and White Christmas card.
Since I didn't have any Flourishes Chrissy stamps I quickly ordered this one. I can't tell you how happy I am to now get them in Australia. In 2 days no less.
I stamped this image in Black Brilliance and coloured with my Prismacolor Pencils. Then blended with Odourless Mineral Spirits.
I cut all the ovals out using my nestabilities classic ovals, I roughed the edges and then inked around the edge in brown.I added a couple of embellishments, The rhinestone for the nose and the bow around his neck. I layered it altogether with the Christmas papers from K & Company. All in all a very easy card to put together.

Flourishes stamps are some of my favourite stamps to use. In America they are available from Flourishes .Org and in Australia at Heavenscent Crafts

Until Next Time
Inking of you All
Michelle

Lots of Exciting News

HELLO everyone, where do I start?

Anyone who knows me knows just how much I LOVE the stamps from Flourishes and My Favorite Things.

Well guess what?? They are now available in Australia. In less than 24 hours (1st November 9am) the site will be launched. It is called Heavenscent Crafts. Now Debbie who owns the store is such a doll, she is also stocking lots of other unique stamps not found anywhere else in Australia, companies like High Hopes Stamps, Magnolia Stamps, Stampavie just to name a few.

The other great news is that Debbie has asked me to join her new design team. So you will see my cards on the website plus on the display boards at craft shows and in her Melbourne store.

Here are a couple of my cards that you will see in the gallery.

*The Siberian Iris card is from Flourishes, Designer Paper in this card is from KaiserCraft

**The Bath card is from My Favorite Things (MFT) Designer paper is Basic Grey "Euphoria"

***The Get well card is also MFT. Designer paper is CollagePress Doubletakes.

All images are stamped on to whisper white from SU, All plain cardstock is Bazzill.

All images are coloured using Prismacolor Pencils.

Michelle's Hint #2

Re-Ink your inkpads regularly, Most of my cards are stamped with Black Brilliance. I will re ink my pad approx every 2 weeks to keep the colour topped up and 'lush'. If I am making lots of cards sometimes I do it each week. There is nothing worse than an image that is 'wishy washy'. It really lowers the quality of your card.

Until Next time

Inking of you all

Michelle

Adapt a stamp... part 2

Going back a few weeks, I did adapt a Stamp...Part 1. My local stamp group did a series of flower images and we all created very different cards. Here is another image for you to look at. This is an Australian Native flower called the Waratah, the stamp itself is from Stamp World.

This card is my effort in the challenge. I chose to do mine in a circle I cut the circles using nestabilitites Classic circles. The green cardstock is mellow moss, the red was bazzill, I am unsure where the designer paper came from, one of those pieces I've had put away for years.

Once again I chose to colour with my Prismacolor pencils, I just love the effect I get with them.You can almost achieve a 3D look just from your colouring.

Until next time

Inking of you all

Michelle

Believe in Beauty

Yet another new image that I have just fallen in love with. The bird and the sentiment are from an unmounted RUBBER set by Pink Poison Stamps.
I started off by stamping the bird in Black stazon, on SU naturals Ivory cardstock (CS). I then coloured it using Prismacolor pencils and blended with Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS)or Gamsol. I cut around the tail with scissors and carefully cut with the classic oval nestabilities. NOTE: Pull tail outside of oval nesties frame so it doesn't get cut off.
Cut another oval out of Stampin UP (SU) River Rock CS and a scalloped oval from SU Cranberry Crisp. Layer together as shown.
The sentiment is stamped in SU Cranberry Crisp Ink on River Rock CS.
The designer paper is from We R Memories and co ordinates beautifully with these colours.
Michelle's Hint: #1
Choose your Patterned Papers and matching coloured cardstock first . Then colour your image to match. This way your project will be much better co- ordinated.
Too many people colour first than try to match papers and cardstock, this really is the hard way to do it. Nobody likes doing things the hard way.
Until Next Time
Inking of you all
Michelle

It's all in the details

Summer Fruits. This is the card I made for this weeks Flourishes Tuesday Chat Challenge on the Splitcoast forum. The Challenge this week was to make a card with a non- traditional fold. I still had the traditional fold in there but I added an an extra fold on the card front.
The fold is not so obvious front on so here is another angle for you to see it a little better.
The stamps are all from Flourishes
I have stamped the image (using the basic masking technique on the fruit and table see below) on whisper white cardstock and coloured with Prismacolor Pencils , I have blended the pencils using odourless mineral spirits.
The purple and green cardstock are all Bazzill and the designer papers are from the new Basic Grey pad "Eva".

In this 3rd photo you can see how I have mounted the sentiment in 3 layers. I have used the Nestabilities Petite Ovals. Top layer is the sentiment in contrasting green. The 2nd layer has a very small scalloped border. I have kept it the same colour as the 3rd layer, just to provide the card with a bit of detail without standing out to much.
The last of the small details is the dimensional magic on the fruit. This photo shows the masking at it's best. I stamped the bowl of fruit first, then the table. Without the use of masking the bowl of fruit would have the line of the table through it. You can also see the pencil shading I have used to give a flat stamped image more of a 3D appearance.

Until Next Time

Inking of you all

Michelle