Hello hello.  Welcome to the second Art With Heart Blog Hop.  This month the theme is Easter.

Previous Blog Hop Stop:

You may have arrived from Kristine Thompson's blog, or perhaps you are starting your blog hop here. 

Blog Hop News:

Grab a cuppa and enjoy the Easter creations from those of us on Claire Daly's Art With Heart team.  Hmmm, perhaps grabbing some chocolate would be more fitting!   There are around 90 of us in this team.  You'll find 14 stops on this month's blog hop.  Leave a comment on them all, and email Nikki to let her know and you'll be eligible for this month's prize.  (Details below.)

I was in a bright and happy mood when I sat down to make this project so I cracked open a packet of Bold Brights cardstock and my Bold Brights markers and this is what I came up with.  (You might need some sunnies!)

Hmmm not sure that quite comes together but I sure had fun making it and my two kids love it.  J

The base card is Tempting Turquoise with some chomps done with the Cropadile hole punches for a 'swiss cheese' border.  I got a bit carried away and chomped right through both layers - quite like it. 

The panel wrapped in narrow grosgrain ribbon scraps is Lovely Lilac.   I coloured my Circle Circus stamps using Bold Brights markers and stamped onto Whisper White, then freehand drew two eggs and cut them out.  The greeting is from the little Easter Bunny stamp from Greeting's Eight.  I used my markers to just colour the greeting, not the bunny.  You'll find the gorgeous bunny further along in this blog hop - keep an eye out!

The little girl is from the hostess set Window Dressing, once again coloured with my trusty Stampin' Write Markers.  The eggs are popped up on Stampin' Dimensionals and the little girl got a double layer of dimensionals so that she'd sit up above the egg.

Blog Hop Prize Draw:

If you leave a comment on all 14 stops in our Art With Heart Team Blog Hop within 72 hours (before 6am March 2nd) you'll be eligible for our prize draw.  This month you email Nikki at nikki@inkyart.com.au to let her know you've commented at all the stops and she'll draw a name from a hat for the prize.   (Blog Candy: Non SU demos eligible.)   Good luck!! 

I hope you have a bright and cheery day!  Enjoy the rest of the blog hop.  

Next blog hop stop:

Click on the name for your next stop on the hop:  The talented Di Dunk. 

Happy hopping!

Cheers, Sue

On Thursday we had our last class for Feb and I took a few snaps of the cards the ladies came up with.  A tweak here and a tweak there and a dash of creativity and voila ... some gorgeous originals using the materials provided. 

Here's two from Julia:

(Isn't the butterfly trail a nice touch.)

And here's one from Carol ...

A Sweet Treat Cup card from Cecile ... (The matching smarties coordinate well don't they.)

And a nice bright one to finish courtesy of Sharron ...

Thanks ladies for letting me take a photo and share with the blogland gang.  

(Scuse the photos - not the best lighting of an evening!)

In March we'll be doing some watercolouring at classes using aquapainters with your choice of ink pads, watercolour crayons and markers. Dates and details can be found here.  Some dates are booking out quickly these days so it is a good idea to get your spot early. 

Swing by tomorrow if you'd like to catch our Art With Heart Easter Blog Hop.  (You might need to bring your sunnies for my creation!  Hee hee.) 

Have a great weekend,

Cheers, Sue

Just a super quick one tonight, but HEAPS coming up over the next few days.

One of my favourite SaleABration sets is Vintage Labels - just so handy if you have the matching punches.

I've been working my way through the different packs of Designer Series Patterned paper with this set and my Curly Label Punch.

Here's how it looks dressed up in Holiday Treasures and matching cardstock.

Have a super weekend!  If you're swinging past a computer on Sunday you might like to check out our Easter Blog Hop.   Lots of Easter creations to get you in the mood for chocolate Easter. 

Hmmm did someone say chocolate.  I think there's some smarties left over from my classes - off to see!

Happy stamping,

Sue

A little touch of sparkly glitter to share with you today.   I think most days can be improved with a dash of glitter!

For the greeting on these cards I've used the SaleABration set 'Whimsical Words.'   These fit nicely in some of our punches too for a punched greeting (the ovals work well - wide and large.)  This set works well with Stampin Write Markers too - you can do the different script styles in different colours.  (Click here for info on joining a marker club.)

This set is free with a $100 order placed before the end of March.  (Or check the SaleABration catalogue here for the other 3 choices.)

 Now, another oops moment for me!  I posted those ones before I realised I'd forgotten to add one little finishing touch.  They do look nice with a half pearl from the Pretties Kit.  See ......

The Recipe:

Cardstock:  Real Red, Cameo Coral, Tempting Turquoise and Whisper White

Stamp Sets: Whimsical Words, Butterfly Prints, Sprinkles

Punches: Scallop Edge and Butterfly Punch

Ink: Versamark, Real Red and Basic Black

Other:  That cute red gingham ribbon.  (Why have I not used this before? I love it!)

Last Couple Of February Classes

Got any free evenings this week and a sudden desire to do a bit of stamping?   (Avondale Heights, in Melbourne's west.)

There's 3 spots left Wednesday and 1 spot left Thursday if you'd like to make this Glitter Windows Technique card (and two other cards using punches.)   Details here.

Feeling a Bit Plum?

Or you might prefer this Butterfly Prints card in Plum perhaps.  I like to give a couple of colour combination choices at classes.

Newsletter Sneak Preview

Keep an eye out for my March newsletter for another variation on this Glitter Windows card, and for those of you who live too far away for a class, you'll also find step by step pics of how to do this technique. 

You don't want to miss this edition - there's a sign up box at the top right if you'd like to get my newsletter emailed to your inbox at the start of each month.  A great way to stay up to date with the latest Stampin' Up news.

Family Snippets

Here's another little something that brightens my days. 

We walked to kinder this morning.  3 year olds notice such interesting things - I quite like our hand in hand kinder walks.  'Look a pineapple tree.'  (It did sort of look like a pineapple.)  On a recent walk I asked him what daddy did at work.  'He eats his breakfast at work in a plastic bag.'   :-) 

Meanwhile Miss Hannah seems to be getting older every time I look at her!  

Well that better be it from me today or the day will have disappeared before you get to the end of this post!  Hope you're having a sparkly day!

Cheers, Sue

If you're feeling time pressed but would love to get some scrapbooking done, head over to StampAMemory today for my article about 'No Time To Scrap Scrapbooking.'

Click here:  StampAMemory

Here's a sneak peek at my super quick layout, inspired by one I spotted in our Stampin' Up demonstrator monthly newsletter - such a great source of ideas for cards, scrapbooking, other projects and techniques.

Cheers,  Sue

I've been having fun playing with my SaleABration stamp sets and thought I'd share a few creations with you over the coming days.

One of this year's sets is called 'Good Neighbours.'  I love the funky trees and mix and match houses!

I was inspired by a card I received from Genna Gifford (a talented team mate) in a team card swap we did recently and used it as a starting point to make these ones.

Supplies Used:

Kraft base card.  Riding Hood Red crimped piece.  Very Vanilla for the stamped panel, matted with Baja Breeze.  Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip and Kiwi Kiss ink pads for the stamping.  Old Olive marker for the grass.  Finally busted my Hemp Twine out of its packet!  Hostess Set Autumn Flair and Sahara Sand Ink for the background stamping. 

I cut out two trees and the roof and popped them up on glue dots (trees) and Stampin' Dimensionals (roof) for some layering.  Our paper snips scissors are just great for cutting out things like this.  I often get people at classes singing their praises.   ($18.95 on page 155 if you're after a nice sharp pair of scissors for papercrafting.) 

Tip: For the trees I tapped them onto the Kiwi Kiss ink pad, then pressed the trunks only onto the Chocolate Chip ink pad.  (Or I could have used a Choc Chip marker.)

Decided to make another with a plain background since I'm a bit of a fan of plain!  Old Olive trees this time and I liked the popped up cloud.

Place a $100 order before the end of March andyou can receive Good Neighbours free as a nice little bonus.  (Or check out the other 3 choices of SaleABration sets here.)

Phone or email me if you'd like to cross a few things off your wish list.  :-)

Phone:  0417 377 057    Email:  smadex@bigpond.com

Special Guest Time:  Peta, Michelle and Linae

I had a lovely time again last night at my 'Cards With Punches' class.  The ladies had their creative hats on and gave the design a little bit of a tweak. 

Here's the sample card once more -

And here are some variations.  (Excuse the lighting - it was night time so not the best time for photography!)

Peta -

Michelle -

and Linae -

With matching cardstock, patterned paper and inks - you just can't go wrong!  

Thanks so much ladies for letting me take pics and share your creations.  :-)

New Feb Class Date: Wednesday February 24th, 8pm

I've just listed an extra class date for February if you'd like to try this card, try the glitter windows technique on a butterfly card and make a bright/fun and yummy card using the new Sweet Treat Cups. 

It is next Wednesday 24th Feb - starting at 8pm.  (Note the later starting time for this class only.)  Phone or email to book your spot.  I'd love to see you there.  It is a great way to have a fun night out, make some cards, and try out different tools and techniques. 

Avondale Heights in Melbourne's west.   Class fee: $20.  All materials supplied.  More details here.

Have a lovely lovely day everyone. 

Cheers, Sue

 
   Click here for all the details.    Scroll down for new posts.   

I was in the mood for some simplicity over the weekend and remembered these Jayne Mercer cards I loved.

So I grabbed out my Kraft cardstock, a pack of Bright Delights rub ons and my trimmer that has a scoring blade and had a play.

I popped some card into my trimmer and ran the scoring blade over it several times in different places to make some raised lines.  (These cards from Teneale inspired me to get out the scoring blade.)

Then it was just a matter of picking out some images from the sheet of rub ons to rub on!

The owl first for a belated birthday card.  (I added some Riding Hood Red Ribbon and a greeting from On Your Birthday to this one.)

Some flowers and hearts and dots scattered about for this card for a friend.  (The rub on dots helped bring it all together.)

And super simple for this one for another stamping buddy in my team.   I must say I rather fancy this card.

Have a confession to make with this one!  I've got a scoring blade and cutting blade on my trimmer and in my rush forgot which was which and sliced off the bottom of the card.  Oops!  Rather than consign it to the scrap heap I scalloped a scrap of Riding Hood Red and added this as a trim.  Think I'll be slicing the bottom off more often as I quite like my quick fix! 

Now how often does that happen!?  I find I often 'mess something up' then in my efforts to fix it end up with something I like even better.    

Supplies Used

Trimmer (pg 155) - $39.95

Cutting and scoring blade refills (pg 155)  - $11.50

Pack of 40 sheets of Kraft A4 cardstock (pg130) - $13.50  

2 sheets Bright Delights Rub Ons (pg 139)  - $21.95

Spend $100 during SaleABration - Free SAB stamp set

Some peace and quiet to do a little craft -  Aaaahhhh, priceless!  J

Cheers, Sue

Goodness - that's a bit of a mouthful of a title isn't it.  Lots to share with you today!

My classes kicked off again last week and I so enjoyed seeing some of my class regulars and some new faces too. 

I had a quick 'aagghh' moment last Sunday when I realised that I'd forgotten to order one key part of one of the projects - a roll of red gingham ribbon.  It's so lovely to be part of a warm, friendly team.  I put out a 'help' call on our forum and the gorgeous Christine came to my rescue with this package (with a cute little card tucked in as well.)  A big thanks. :-)  You can find Christine's blog here.

So complete with gingham ribbon, the class materials were all set up.

We've got some card materials from Coles this month (which my two munchkins are quite happy about as they got some of the leftovers!)  Yes smarties and jelly beans.  Its much more fun making a sweet treats cup card with something to put inside it! 

We did learn something though on a very humid sticky Thursday.  Jelly beans warming up after being in the fridge can 'sweat' colour and leave marks on fingers and cardstock!  We'll watch out for that one in future.  :-)

There's room this Wednesday evening and a couple of spare chairs Thursday evening if you'd like to join us for some February card making classes.  Details here.   (Avondale Heights, Melbourne - $20.)

I do love it when people use the class materials and do a bit of tweaking to come up with their own version of the design.   (And especially when they don't mind me taking a photo and sharing with you in blogland, thanks guys!)

Special Guest Cardmaker:  Norma

This was one of our projects for Feb classes.

Norma gave it a bit of a tweak and came up with this.  I really like the little details like the eyelet border and the layered greeting.

Here's a close up of the greeting.  It is 3 small ovals layered on top of each other with dimensionals.

Nice touch!

Special Guest Cardmaker: Simon

Simon used the bits and pieces out on the table to come up with a completely original design.  How cool!

Thanks  Simon and Norma for letting me snap a quick pic of your creations.

Happy Valentine's Day

I'm a lucky girl today.   John arrived home from a morning of golf with some roses and chocolates, and is making my favourite lamb stir fry for dinner.  I got struck with a sudden urge to bake and made some love heart biscuits in return.  (And dug a heart embellished basket out of the back of the craft cupboard to pop them in. )

I hope you are having a lovely day.  Back with more next week.

Cheers, Sue  
  

So much to share but no time to unload the camera!  Will be back soon with more bits and bobs but just a quick one today.  Here's another of my simple Vintage Labels cards, this time using Sweet Always DSP (Designer Series Paper.)

And I promised Hannah (7) I'd post one of her school holiday creations.  :-) 

I liked her bright fun colours and matching envelope. 

For those ladies who've been class regulars, this year we'll be making matching envelopes for all our class cards, and we'll be putting them into those groovy plastic sleeves too to help protect them on the trip home.  (And I know lots of you like to keep them in a 'class collection.' ) 

 This week's classes are full, and my newly listed Thurs 25th has already booked out, but there's still space next week on Wednesday and Thursday if you'd like to catch a class this month.  Details here. 

We're doing a glitter window card, a Vintage Labels/punch card and a nice bright one using a Sweet Treat Cup.  (Complete with smarties or jelly beans if I don't eat them all beforehand. J

Cheers, Sue