INKspired Blog Hop #37 - Flourishing Phrases

Welcome to the INKspired Blog Hop #38, I'm so glad to see you here! There's always some great ideas and wonderful cards to be inspired by, such as Teneale's.  If you've hopped here from her blog - you're in the right spot.

Here is this week's sketch ... 

I really wanted to use the Flourishing Phrases stamp set and matching Flourish Thinlits Dies in my project this week. They've been on the top of my wish-list since the release of the new cattie and I've only recently gotten my hands on them.  I just adore all the intricate detail in this bundle and I'm a sucker for floral motifs.

So here's the first card I made ... the colour scheme is Mint Macaron, Sweet Sugarplum and Pink Pirourette.

I asked my hubby what he thought of my card (always a mistake!) and his opinion was that I had strayed too far from the brief. So, despite not sharing his opinion, I decided to make a second offering that features different elements from the same bundle. 

The colour combo in this card is Wild Wasabi, Flirty Flamingo and Smoky Slate.

I was really happy with the first card, but I think the second is now my fave. 

Which is your favourite? Love you to let me know.

Next in the hop is the totally talented Renee with a really fun card.

Thanks for hopping by,  I hope to see you again soon.

Lissa x

INKspired Blog Hop #37

Howdy blog hoppers and big welcome back to the INKspired Blog Hop; it's wonderful to have you stop by.  It's fantastic to be part of this wonderful hop again. We've all had a few months break, but now it's time to get the creative juices flowing again and I've got to say it feels great :)

If you have hopped here from Teneale, you're in the right spot. Teneale always creates a project that inspires me to produce a card to be proud of and  to strive to make a project that is beautiful, as hers always are. Actually, as I'm sure you'll agree, all the INKspired artists are amazing!

Here is the sketch we were working with ...

I have made a birthday card for my nephew Zander who turns 5 next week. Zander is such a whirlwind of energy and always has such a big smile and cheeky twinkle in his eye. Happy birthday gorgeous boy - I hope you love your card.

I was so excited to use my Number of Years stamp set for the very first time; it's been calling to me to use it and I have finally found both the time and need for it. Yah! 

I have paired Dapper Denim and the super sweet colour scheme of A Little Foxy Designer Series Paper Stack. I think they pair beautifully, don'y you?

 Now, lets go see what the awesome and lovely Lisa has created ...

Thanks for stopping by.

I hope you have a wonderful week ahead.

Lissa x

INKspired Blog Hop #23 - Flowering Fields

Hi blog hoppers! Welcome to the INKspired Blog Hop #33.  It's wonderful to have you stop by.

If you have arrived here after admiring Teneale's stellar card ... thanks for hopping all the way around to me.

The sketch for this hop is a great layout and one that is easy to work with;  one I think I'll come back to again and again.

Sadly, this card is for my beautiful Mother-in-law, Anne, who has this week tragically suffered the sudden loss of her dear husband of 50 years, Bob.

Bob was a truly extraordinary man; a loving husband and father, a man of principle and good humour. Bob was a truth-seeker, a rational thinker and an impeccable scientist.  He dedicated the last decade of his life to studying climate change and to communicating to the public and Australian and international governments and agencies alike, the facts surrounding human-caused global warming. He was among the most influential and persuasive of the scientists around the world attempting to inject reason into the climate change debate.

Bob was an outstanding science communicator in possession of the rare skill of being able to clearly articulate complex science topics in terms that were able to be understood by untrained scientists.  As a science teacher myself, he was an invaluable mentor to me. Bob, you are keenly missed by your family, friends and colleagues. RIP.

In these situations, there is little one can say to provide comfort, but I hope that, in some small way, this card brings a little brightness to Anne's day.

When making sympathy cards, I find myself rifling through stamp sets in futile search of the perfect sentiment, alas, none ever seem adequate ... hence the absence of a sentiment on my card.   There are no words to express my sadness ... simply love poured into a card in the hope of brightening a loved one's day.  As we all well know, that's exactly what makes hand-made cards so very special.

To make this card, I used the Flowering Fields stamp set, which is available for free in Stampin' Up!s Sale-a-bration promotion. I really adore this stamp set. So soft, a little dreamy and perfect for water-colouring or use with our blender pens, as I have done in this card. I stamped the images using Crumb Cake ink then coloured the images with Pear Pizzazz, Calaypso Coral, and added a smidge of So Saffron too.  I love the way the botanical motif on the DSP from the Pretty Petals Designer Series Paper Stack mimics the centre stamp, and pleasingly, this made easy work of selecting a colour scheme for my card.

 Now, lets go see the marvellous card Marlene has created for us ...

Thanks for stopping by.

I hope you have a wonderful day.

Lissa x

INKspired Blog Hop #32 - Sky is the Limit

A very happy New Year to you! I hope your year is off to a magical start.

Welcome to our very first INKspired Blog Hop for 2016.  It's so great to have you here.

Many of you will have arrived here after visiting with the super talented Teneale ... if that's you, then thanks for hopping all the way around our blog hop :)

The sketch below is what we are all working with and it's our first ever square card for the INKspired Blog Hop. Gotta say, I love a square card.

With 6 kids in the house (3 of mine plus 3 for sleep-overs), my card had to quick and easy to make, and as you can see, I've taken a quite literal approach to the sketch.  Thanks Teneale for a great, easy sketch to start off the year :)

I have used the Sky is the Limit Stamp Set from our just-gone-live Sale-a-brations catalogue and Pool Party Glitter Ribbon from our also newly released Occasions Catalogue.  Love this colour, and LOVE this ribbon!!! This is the stamp set that really caught my eye when I first got my hands on Our SAB cattie and I was thrilled and excited to receive it for FREE!!!

Remember that you, too, can receive FREE Stampin' Up! products :) Customers and demonstrators can choose one FREE product from our SAB catalogue with every $90 spend from either our current Occasions catalogue or our Annual catalogue. SAB is our major annual promotion and everyone's favourite for obvious reasons.

Now it's time to hop over to my fabulous friend Marlene's blog and see her awesome offering 

... gorgeous, as always!

Thanks for stopping by.

I hope you have a wonderful day.

Lissa x

INKspired Blog Hop #INK028 - Delicate Ornaments

Hello!! Welcome to our 28th INKspired Blog Hop.  It's so great to have you stop by. Many of you will have arrived here after visiting the amazing and wonderful Teneale, if that's you then thanks for hopping all the way to the end of our blog hop :)

My goodness ... Christmas is coming up fast and I'm so excited to have created my first Christmas card of the year and share it with you guys!  I know many of you may be thinking, "Gee, I started my christmas cards ages ago!", but I've just wrapped my head around the fact that it's Halloween tomorrow and I still don't have costumes ready for my kids who are insisting on going Trick-or-Treating!!

The sketch we were all working with as inspiration for our card this hop is a bit tricky, huh??!! Luckily,  I had just received a BBB and inside was just the right thing to make this card work :)

My card features the Delicate Ornaments Thinlits Dies which I used to create the Christmas baubles using red foil sheets.  I love the shiny, cheery brightness these foil sheets bring to a project.  The background leaf motif is from the Embellished Ornaments stamp set, and it also features on the inside of my card.

Now it's time to hop over to my gorgeous friend Marlene's blog and see her cool card 

... amaze balls, as usual!

Thanks for stopping by.

I hope you have a wonderful day.

Lissa x

INKspired Blog Hop #27 - Bravo!

Hello and welcome to another INKspired Blog Hop.  It's so great to have you stop by.

This is my first time being first cab off the rank, and I hope to get us off to a rip-snorting start of card-making craftiness!  Many of you will have arrived here after visiting the awesomely talented Teneale, if so,  thanks for hopping all the way around our blog hop :)

This is the sketch we were all using as inspiration for our card this hop ... Love it!

My card was made for my amazing friend Kelli, who recently achieved a massive goal that she has been working towards for a long time. Kelli is an inspiration to all people that persistence, integrity commitment and hard work are rewarded! Congratulations Kelli on your achievement and thanks for being such a beautiful, sparkling, shining light, guiding the way for many.

My card features the Bravo stamp set and the ink and card colours from the Regals collection.

The star is very blingy, but hey, what girl doesn't like a bit a bit of bling?

Hope Kelli will like her card. But I'm guessing she'll like the chocolates that will accompany this card just as much! She has a bit of a sweet tooth, does Kelli :)

Now it's time to see what my talented stamping friend Cherie has made. Can't wait to check it out!

Thanks for stopping by.

I hope you have a wonderful day.

Lissa x

Global Design Project #GDP001 - You've Got This!

Hi there! 

My wonderful friend Louise Sharp has just started a new design team with a few of her best and most talented stamper friends from around the world.  Its called the Global Design Project and the team will set a different challenge each week for us to play along with.   To kick off we have been given a colour challenge ...  

                        I hardly ever use these colours but I'm feeling up for a challenge, so I'm in! 
                                                         
                                                         Here is my #GDP001 creation ....

I chose to use the You've Got This stamp set for my card. 

I stamped the flower image onto watercolour paper and coloured using an aqua painter and Pink Pirouette ink for the petals and So saffron for the stamens. 

Then came the fussy cutting of the flowers ... I swear I could have used a matching framelit for this image at about midnight last night! 

The flowers are held up with dimensionals over the Smoky Slate card stock which I stamped with the background stamp out of the Butterfly basics stamp set as it has the same honeycomb motif as the DSP I have chosen to lay over the black card stock base.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my card. 

It's for a beautiful friend who is beginning a new business and I just know she will rock it!

 You've got this Nat!

Hope you have a wonderful day,

Lissa x