Gone Girl

It has been a long time since I blogged. I'm sorry about that. More sorry than you know. Not much creating has been going on as I'm still trying to get on top of a health issue. Unfortunately for my credit card, it hasn't stopped me buying more supplies even though I can't create right now. Thank goodness for Black Friday sales and online US stores who do international shipping. (The Bank Manager doesn't thank them though)

On a happier note (pun intended) I was ecstatic to see that I won the Inspiration Emporium prize for my last entry. Thank you so much Inspiration Emporium; you brightened my day.

Remember the red pocket Filofax that has been mentioned in my previous posts? Well, I've finally decided to use it to track my spending, budget and savings goals. I'm trying to decide if I will use it as my wallet as well by using a cash envelope system. Still working on the envelope bit but I did notice my wallet has some serious cracks in it. A lot of cashiers comment on my wallet as it has loads of card spaces (4 rows). It holds all my store cards and still has room for more. If I switch to using the pocket Filofax as my wallet, it will seriously reduce my cards and store cards - it only has 3 slots! Good thing or not? To be determined......

The week-to-view pages are used write down all my spending: cash, debit and credit cards. I then used the included note pads to set up pages for sections of my budget in the dividers: Savings, Cash, Medical, Scrap for example. I decorated them very simply ( while sitting quietly on my bed) using thin washi (my new obsession), a pennant punch and scrap paper. A little stamping was added with my planner stamps (another obsession).

Here's a couple of page examples to show you how I used them last month:

The Post-Its show what payments need to be made to my credit card for purchases from the budget type (envelope).

Thought I better blur out the present amounts so no one knows how much I spent on other peoples presents.

My original budget is  in Excell on my laptop but it is good to have another copy on hand so I can see at any time where I am at.

I also made a wee charm for the inside cover page of my budget book. It was the first time I made one and I simply love it. I just grabbed some trinkets and printed twill and put them on a specialty safety pin (it came on some clothing tags - freebie!)

Now to decide what to do with the other two Filofaxes I bought on sale.  I'm not a pink kinda gal but I think I like the fuchsia pink one more than the black one. Red is still my favourite though.

Materials:
Charm: Papervinz trinket, Crafters Choice tassel, Typo twill tape

Pages: Paper - Filofax and assorted scraps; Punch - Stampin' Up!; Washi - Amy Tangerine, Recollections; Stamps - Pink & Main, Waffle Flower, StudioL2E; Ink - Ranger; Post-Its - Dollar Store.

Happy Clips

I'm so happy to be crafting again. I have been unwell recently and have been resting - boring!  This means I have not been able to play in my craft room which makes me unhappy.  Yesterday I felt well enough to try a quick project.  Once again I kept current challenges in mind from Simon Says Stamp, Inspiration Emporium and A Blog Named Hero (more details on them at the end).

When I saw the Kelly Purkey and Hero Arts die plus stamp combo for planner clips I just had to have it. I stalked every place I knew I could order it from. It would go out of stock super quickly everywhere I looked (or the shipping to NZ was too expensive). Eventually, I managed to place an order before it went out of stock [again]. I was so excited and oh so happy. I waited patiently for it to arrive and when it did, it when straight to my craft desk. And there it sat. Occasionally, I would move it around as I worked on other projects. (I can''t believe I am even admitting this out loud!). This was the set I just had to have, remember? The challenges gave me the impetus to actually crack open the packet and put it to work. Once I cut one set of the planner clips and saw how awesome they were I just kept grabbing other pieces of scrap cardstock and kept feeding them through my machine. Seriously, awe.some!

Once the clips were cut, after my euphoria at how awesome they were had calmed down, I set to using the matching stamp on the diecuts. Hey, why stop there; I played with other stamp sets I had as well. Everything just worked together so brilliantly! I was so happy!

These are the clips I made. Some of them are double-sided (stamped on both sides)

See, I said this die and stamp set is awesome.

More beauties - the B sides of the double-sided ones:

Remember that cute, red Filofax I showed you in my last post? My plan was to use the clips in this planner and boy, do they look fab. This makes me so happy.  I cut plenty more and I have put them in my stash for use on other projects as they still look awesome naked (not stamped). Very. Happy.

You might have noticed my [excessive?] use of the word happy. This is because the Inspiration Emporium challenge is: Happy. I was so happy to finally be ok to play. I was so happy to crack into my just had to have it product (finally!). I was so happy to see how awesome the die cuts are and how cool they look in my planner. The details for the challenge are here.

The other challenges I am entering are:
Simon Says Stamp: Work it Wednesday - Use a Stamp. The details are here.
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Use a Stamp. The details are here.
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - No Designer Paper. I didn't use any designer paper for these clips. I used scrap cardstock and stamps to add colour and patterns. The teal patterned clips are actually cut from the packaging for Kaisercraft pocket scrapbooking cards - the inside was patterned (brilliant!). The details are here.
A Blog Named Hero - Die Cutting. For once I was able to use a Hero Art product for their challenge: the planner clips die and stamp combo by Kelly Purkey.  The details are here.

Materials: Die - Hero Arts/Kelly Purkey; Stamps - Hero Arts/Kelly Purkey, Technique Tuesday, Pink & Main, Ruby Rocket; Ink - Stampin' Up!, Ranger. Various Cardstock Scraps and Kaisercraft packaging.

#Plannernerd In The House

It's no secret that I am a [self-confessed] Planner Nerd! #Plannernerd in the house.  I love seeing all the professional planners that people use, and I covet them desperately, but I won't let myself spend so many $$$ when I have an inexpensive spiral bound planner that does the job.  When I was browsing in a NZ chain stationery store recently I found this little beauty in the clearance section:

Isn't she gorgeous? She is a Filiofax pocket organisor and you can get an idea of the size by seeing the instax mini photo on top. Best of all - she is red! (My favourite colour).  I'm not sure what I will do with it exactly yet (Instax photo binder?) but I decided to add some decoration. The Filofax came with a plastic sleeve so I decided to decorate a little bit. There are three challenges over at Simon Says Stamp so I kept these challenges in mind when I created my masterpieces:

The pocket is from Gossamer Blue and I created the background with CTMH washi tape. The stamps are by Tim Holtz (hidden) and Ali Edwards, The love punch is by Teresa Collins and the puffy heart is by Heidi Swapp.  Here's a close-up with the photo removed from the plastic sleeve:

As you can see I decorated the back also:

The phrase on the right really suits me - probably because I am not tall at all! (you can see that from the photos). The colours of the print work beautifully with the Filofax.  I stamped a phrase from Tim Holtz stamp set on vellum and added a butterfly with a black dot of perfect pearls. The photo corner is an embossed resist paper by Hot Off The Press and coloured with black ink.  Here's the close-up of the second photo with the photo out of the plastic sleeve:

This blog post is for three challenges at Simon Says Stamp:
Simon Says Stamp main blog page - Link up a project using a Tim Holtz stamp. I used Tim Holtz stamps on both pages:  #Hashtags and Simple Sentiments. The blog post is here.
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Stamp and Punch. I used a punch on both pages - love and the photo corner - plus stamped sentiments. The details are here.
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Use a Stamp. Um, totally rocked this challenge by using sentiment stamps on both pages (LOL!). I did the blog hop too so fingers crossed! The details are here.

Materials:
Stamps: Tim Holtz, Ali Edwards; Ink: Stazon, Versafine; Punches: Teresa Collins, EK Success, Martha Stewart; Washi - Close To My Heart; Puffy Heart: Heidi Swapp; Paper Scraps: Hot Off The Press, Bo Bunny, Vellum; Pocket - Gossamer Blue; Perfect Pearls : Ranger. Alcohol Pen: Kaisercraft, Copic.

SSS Double Challenge - Trio of Colours and Anything Goes

The #PlannerNerd is back!  This week I'm sharing the set up in my diary for the week August 31 to September 6 (Diary =  planner for the American readers).  This set up just happens to be eligible for two challenges this week over at Simon Says Stamp: Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge -Trio of Colours, and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.  As you can see I used a Trio of Colours for this week: Brown, Blue and Pink (raspberry?). I used a few shades of blue but I am sure it still counts as one colour in a trio.

The base for my layout this week was the viewfinder stamp from Close To My Heart. I stamped the image on both sides of the flip element.  I do love having a cinch to add things like this into my planners. I ended up using the other stamps in this set elsewhere in the layout too: the hexagons beneath the To Do stamp (Heidi Swapp) and the chevrons as an element on the bottom of the page. Where I have stamped [EPIC] I will write in my daily gratitude; I may even roll over the Heidi Swapp 30 Day Challenge into the new month - I have left two spaces free to fill-in in case I do decide to repeat the challenge. The other stamps I used are from Heidi Swapp and Technique Tuesday.  I used a Heidi Swapp mini stamp set to highlight a birthday this week and Father's Day. The Technique Tuesday stamp is to remind me to do my physio exercises as I often forget (I love that it has a check box!).

The challenge details are as below:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge -Trio of Colours is here
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes is here (closing today!)

Materials: Stamps - Close To My Heart, Heidi Swapp, Technique Tuesday; Ink - Prima; Washi - Reflections. Binding - Cinch WRMK; Cardstock - from my scrap bin.

SSS Anything Goes for Father's Day

The latest challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog is Anything Goes! Perfect! It is Father's Day in New Zealand this weekend so I whipped up a card for Dad. I finally played with a stag die from the Maggie Holmes Open Book collection. Man, I coveted that die for so long but couldn't let myself spend NZ$50 on a die set just for one element! Luckily, I found it on clearance with an extra 50% off so I could justify the purchase (sometimes it is good working within minutes of a large chain craft store - other times  resisting the temptation is not so great!). Boy, I do love that stag die cut!

As you can see I kept things pretty simple by layering the die cut on a 3x4 pocket scrapbooking card and added a tag. Originally I wanted to emboss the stag die cut with a wood grain embossing folder but then I decided to do a plain card base and stamp it with a woodgrain stamp - genius! (even if I say so myself!). I also drew around the die cut to make it stand out and give the impression of it being 3D as if it was hanging on a wall.

For the inside I added a Happy Father's Day stamp but I wanted the sentiment to say more than that. I looked at my birthday verse stamps and decided to alter one to fit the theme.  I inked the verse stamp carefully avoiding getting ink on the word Birthday and then added the words Father's Day with an acrylic stamp afterwards. I think it looks as if it fits the theme of Father's Day and even as if I am highlighting the word Father's Day. What do you think?

The details for the challenge I am entering this card for are here at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

Materials: Die - Maggie Holmes, Tim Holtz; Stamps - Pink & Main, Rubbadubbadoo, Hastings Art Stamps, Stampin' Up!; Ink and Marker - Stampin' Up, Pocket Scrapbooking Card - Kaisercraft; Other - Paper, Card (Unknown)

SSS Monday Challenge - Ticket, Please

Sadly for me I don't have any trips planned so I don't have any tickets to share. I can, however, participate in the latest Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Tickets, Please. With this challenge in mind I created a card for my mum's birthday. I knew I wanted to create a line of tickets with a strip of washi. I pulled out a packet of Tim Holtz tickets and a brand new die set from Maggie Holmes that had a cute heart ticket die (sitting unopened on my desk - eeek!). I needed more tickets than that so I also pulled out my Tim Holtz ticket strip die. The Tim Holtz printed tickets basically set the colour theme as they are kraft with printing in black or pink. I decided to place them on a green base.  The base needed embossing and inking of course. It is amazing what a difference either of the two techniques make to a card (embossing and inking).

The butterfly was a last minute addition, then I decided it needed some bling. That meant I had to add more bling to even out the design (embellishments in uneven numbers: 5 not 2).  The corner punching was done at the end to match the ticket edges.  I wanted to use the phrase for the card as I think it is hilarious. My mum has a good sense of humour so I know she will enjoy it.

Since I have been on a design team this year some of my supplies have been neglected. Just because I couldn't use other supplies it didn't stop me from buying more though. I will even confess to having new items that I haven't even used (or opened!). I want to try and use more of my stash again so I am challenging myself to use my new or unused items.  To keep myself accountable I will list items I am using to fulfil this personal challenge.  For this project the new or unused items are: die set, thin washi, Tim Holtz tickets (old). Older items from my stash include: washi, small heart punch (from when I first started scrapbooking), Tim Holtz die, paper scraps (seriously old).

The details for the challenge I am entering this card are here at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog.

Materials: Card - American Crafts, Stampin' Up!; Washi - CTMH (thin), Unknown (wide); Tickets - Tim Holtz; Dies - Tim Holtz, Maggie Holmes; Butterfly - Heidi Swapp; Stamps - Pink & Main, Ali Edwards; Ink - Colorbok, Tim Holtz, Ranger; Embossing Folder - Tim Sizzix; Corner Punch - WRMK; Pearls - Retail Girl; Other - Foam Tape, Mini Heart Punch.

SSS Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Although I am sad to stop designing for Pink & Main I am happy that I have some more time to create for challenges. This week I made a 4x4 card for the album that Becky Higgins is putting together for Heidi Swapp (so sad!). I made my card into an actual 4x4 card. I was going to colour texture paste with colour shine and use it with a HS stencil but I ended up using the gold crackle texture paste again instead (love it!). As this card is for Heidi Swapp I tried to use Heidi Swapp product as much as possible:

I decorated the inside of the card too:

 

 

It's been a long time since I have entered a challenge. This week I am entering Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes. My favourite theme! The details are here.

 

Materials:

Heidi Swapp: Ephemera, Stamps, Mistables, Stencil,

American Crafts: Ribbon, Ricrac, Embossing Powder.



Prima: Gold Crackle Paste
Simon Says Stamp: Stamp.

Pink & Main - Farewell Bling

This is my final post for Pink & Main today. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on the team and getting to play with the awesome stamps. You can keep up-to-date with my crafty life on my blog: Memoriesbymanda

For my final post I decided to use a stamp set that I purchased from Pink & Main to show that I like their stamps so much that I would purchase them myself.  The stamp set is called Bling.  Sparkle is my One Little Word (OWL) for 2015 so this set is perfect for documenting that.

At the recent scrapbooking expo in New Zealand I purchased gold crackle embossing paste and I wanted to give it a try. I slathered the gold crackle through a stencil on cream cardstock. After waiting impatiently for it to dry I was really happy with the result. I did ink over it with a colour that blended with the background card and it just made the gold pop. Next up I layered an inked doily and flower then I created the centre piece. I embossed the shine bright bling with some copper and glitter embossing powder.  It's unfortunate that the shine doesn't show up in the photos.  I did go over the white space of the design with an alcohol pen to blend the colour in with the rest of the card. Here's a close up of the details.

This is the stamp set I used for the card - Never Let Anyone Dull Your Sparkle is perfect for the inside of this card.
http://pinkandmain.com/bling/

Thanks for following me on the Pink & Main blog this year. Don't forget to continue to follow me over on my blog: Memoriesbymanda

DT Amanda

Pink & Main - Destination Fun

It's no secret that I love travelling and documenting my travels so I was excited to see one of the new releases is a travel stamp set: Destination Fun.  Last year I started my first pocket scrapbooking album and the hoarding of cards has started! I used Destination Fun to make some travel themed cards which you could use straight away or keep in your stash.

It is really simple and easy to take 3x4'' journaling cards and add stamps to make them suit your theme. I also did a 4x6" decorative card which I can add more details to (perhaps with Planning Vacation stamp set?).

To show you how they can be used with your photos I grabbed some pictures from my last trip and laid them out as if they were a layout (I didn't use the page protector as it would not photograph well).

Next week will be my final week on the Pink & Main design team so don't forget to follow me over at my blog if you want to continue to see what I get up to in my creative life: Memoriesbymanda

DT Amanda

Pink & Main - Pirate Layout

Ahoy Me Hearties! One of the new releases this month is a pirate theme stamp set aptly named Pirates. I remembered I had some photos of my family members dressed up as pirates for an event so I decided to make a scrapbook layout with them and this stamp set. Unfortunately I couldn't find a copy of a photo of me in full costume so I had to use a less-than-optimal photo instead.

The layout is a 81/2"x11" layout which is not a standard size for me but the size worked perfectly with the photos and stamps:

As you can see I made a journal block to add my journaling to later. I just love the little birdie on the chest. I popped him on some chipboard and drew around the shape to make it stand out.  I popped the cute pirate boy on chipboard as well so that he would stand out amongst the photos. I used grey ink to add subtle pirate shapes from the stamp set to the journal block and stamped phrases.

You will see that my phrases are slightly different from what is on the stamp set. In the bottom left phrase I decided to replace the 'I' with the 'Aye' from 'Aye think of you often' to make 'Aye treasure you'. On the top right phrase box I combined the 'Ahoy Matey!' with the 'Arrrgh' from 'Arrrgh, forgot your birthday.

All I needed to add to complete the layout were some foam glitter pirate hats and swords and some black vintage ship washi.

Arrrgh Me Hearties - that's it for me this week.

DT Amanda

Pink & Main Sneak Peek - Multi Person Planner

It's a new month so it must be time for a sneak peek of a soon-to-be released stamp set. I'm not sure how much I can reveal but the one I used this week is a planner stamp set. It will be great for people who are studying or have projects they want to keep track of.

This week's project is a month planner for more than one person. I use a personal planner for my own planning but I also need to keep track of the appointments and activities of my family. I need to be able to see at a glance where we all need to be and when. I have also colour coded the entries so I can track a particular person or activity.

For this project I used relevant stamps from various stamp sets as well as the new planner set (think school planning - shhh, I didn't tell you that!). Of course I needed to dress up my planner by adding some die cuts (new to my stash - love 'em!). I added some vivid washi underneath some of the die cuts to really make them stand out.

I didn't need the mini calendar for the previous and up-coming months in the planner so I covered them up with a note for the bus and school schedule. I used packaging from an online order for the note paper. The packaging also had a pinked edge which I cut off and used as a decorative marker for a specific appointment (as seen in the above photo).  In the next photo you can see that I combined a few of the new stamps with the older planner stamps as well as a non-planner stamp from Whale of a Time.   

You can find the released planner stamps on the website here. The new planner stamp set should be released soon.

Materials:
Stamps - Pink & Main; Inks - Simon Says Stamp, Ranger; Dies - Tim Holtz/Sizzix, Technique Tuesday; Paper & Cardstock - Heidi Swapp, Bazzill, Packaging; Washi - Reflections, Punch - Stampin' Up!

DT Amanda

Pink & Main Fairies

It's about time I put the new releases aside and give some love to an older stamp set.  This week I got to work with Fairies stamp set.

A little girl I know loves fairies and the colour purple - this set the colour scheme for me.  From the beginning I knew I wanted to make a trifold card and I was lucky that I had an A4 woodgrain embossing folder that covered all three sides.  After embossing with the woodgrain folder I folded and cut the paper into the shape I wanted then I inked over it in various shades of brown to make it look like a tree. All I needed to do was add a fairy and some leaves.  I coloured the fairy (in purple of course) and added her to some chipboard for dimension.

The first fold opens to the special birthday wishes (don't you just love the saying?) with the tree effect.

The inside has a plain stamped card to write the personal birthday message on. I added this piece as I wanted to cover up the embossed part of the inside so that I would have a flat place to write on.

Here's the stamp set I used: Fairies


DT Amanda
Blog: Memoriesbymanda

Pink & Main - Whale of a Time Layout

It looks like most of the design team having been playing with the new release Whale of a Time recently. It is such a cute stamp set. It works for cards, pocket scrapbooking cards and layouts about time at the beach or pool.

When I first saw the stamp set I decided to make some pocket scrapbooking cards to have on hand.  I blotted 3 colours of distress stain on a craft sheet and spritzed them with a pearlescent spray then smooched white gloss paper into the blended colours.  Next I got to stamping the 3x4" cards with various stamps from Whale of a Time. Lastly I added perfect pearls and pearl drops.  I intended to keep them for future pocket scrapbooking projects but I ended up making a traditional 12x12" layout.

The first card simply needed red perfect pearls in the heart that the whale is holding

The middle card is super simple: just that cute whale with some pearl drops above his/her water spout

The last card was designated for journaling but I ended up adding a small photo as well

You can see Whale of a Time in the first photo (along with the cute pink acrylic block from Pink & Main) but you can find the stamp set on the Pink & Main website here.

DT Amanda

Materials: Stamps - Pink & Main; Cardstock & Paper - Bazzill, Kaisercraft, Unknown; Alphabet - A Cherry on the Top; Bling Word - Kaisercraft, Markers - Copic, Sharpie; Distress Stain, Ink & Perfect Pearls - Ranger; Pearls.

A Layout For A Change

The blog has been filled with cards this year so I thought I would share something else this week.  When I started my first project life style album last year I fell in love with the 4x4 pockets.  Around the same time my US niece dragged me into this century by getting me to sign up for Instagram so now I have the perfect photos to use with the 4x4 pages. Don't worry, I do know you can print normal photos at 4x4 size! I may be old but I'm hanging in there :)

Speaking of being old, I completed this layout with pictures from my 40th and my friends 40th.  The layout uses these pictures but documents my goals and achievements from the time. I have downloaded the Touch Blur app for my phone and I have used that to hide my goals and achievements in the photo. Yes, I do know how to use apps on my phone. I repeat: I may be old but I'm hanging in there.

This year I have been caught by the planner bug and I even managed to use these stamps on this layout. One of the cards is a flap with my goals for this year. My planner stamps got a work out here in this flap but I didn't reveal enough to show you the whole spread.

 

This project life style scrapbooking might be something I will continue in the future....

 

Materials: Stamps - Waffle Flower, Stampin' Up!; Ink - Stampin' Up!, Ranger; Cards- WRMK; Stapler - Tim Holtz, Ephemera - Heidi Swapp, Crate, October Afternoom, Other



Shake It Baby -A Birthday Card

Someone in our house has had a birthday this week which meant I needed to whip something up.  I did see someone somewhere made a card with a die cut through a washi tape base so I decided to give it a go.

 





I started by laying some strips of washi tape down then die cut my phrase. Afterwards I decided to add some background colour and pattern with a stencil.  In hindsight I should have done the stencilling first then follow up with everything else. Good to note for next time. Lastly, I added some stamped flairs. In case you can't tell this is actually a shaker card. I haven't made one in ages.

This card is ideal for a quick card that uses supplies on hand.  Actually, the paper for the flairs is from the packaging of a parcel that arrived recently - good for the environment.  Also, the plastic I used for the shaker is some packaging from scrapbook supplies. I guess you could say it is an environmentally friendly card. Using packaging instead of sending it to landfill is one of my favourite things.

I am entering this card in the current challenge at A Blog Named Hero - Favourites. This card uses two of my favourite supplies - Washi tape and dies. I have lots of both in my stash so it was great to put them to use instead of hoarding or keeping them for their prettiness!  The Hero Arts birthday stamp set I used is one I pull out all the time for birthday cards so I guess it is one of my favourite birthday stamp sets.  For a bonus - this card is made for one of my most favourite people :)  The details are here.

Materials: Washi Tape -  Stampin' Up!, WRMK, Other; Die - Heidi Swapp; Stencil - Teresa Collins; Ink - Stampin' Up!, Ranger; Stamp - Hero Arts;

Pink & Main - Project life/Snap Layout

This month's new release is here! There are plenty of neat stamps to play with in the June release (as always). Did you know you get a free mini stamp set with a $30 purchase? It is called Paradise and I played with it today with another new release Planning Vacation.

Paradise (free with purchase) and Planning Vacation are great for recording holiday memories. Perfect for the US summer right?  This week I used the stamps to create a Project Life or Snap style layout.  I made a 3x4 card with Paradise and stamped part of the sentiment on ribbon. I used stamps from Planning Vacation on the ribbon and the text boxes on the photos.

I took the elements out of the pockets to photograph them for you as the protectors provide too much glare in photos. Looking at them centred on a piece of coordinating cardstock I am thinking I could actually turn it into a 12x12 layout just by adding some more elements...

If you want to get your hands on Paradise all you have to do is spend $30 or more in store. Check out the new releases here.

DT Amanda

Materials: Stamps - Pink & Main; Photo Overlays - Crate; Text Box and Ribbon - October Afternoon; Perfect Pearls - Ranger; Ink - Stampin' Up!, Ranger; Paper - Kaisercraft (packaging)

Pink & Main Sneak Peek - Birthday Wishes

It's almost time for the next round of new releases - excited much?

Today I am showing you a sneak peek of a new stamp set called Birthday Wishes. Although it is designed for birthdays you could use this card for events other than a birthday like a wedding or other celebration. 

This week I was in the mood to break out the embossing folders. I added a little inking and a doily then layered on some bits and bobs on my desk. Voila!

What do you think? I definitely think this could pass as a wedding card.

I can't link the stamp up for you this week as it hasn't been released yet. Keep an eye out for Birthday Wishes - coming soon!

DT Amanda

Materials: Stamp - Pink & Main, Embossing Folder - Cuttlebug, Ink - Colorbok, Frame - Maggie Holmes Open Book, Cardstock - Stampin' Up!, Doily, Ribbon, Flowers

Pink & Main - Snail Mail

The new releases are awesome but my older (only released last month) stamp sets are begging to be played with also. There aren't enough days in the week to showcase each and every new release to it's full potential so I focused on an older release today - Buggy Words (from April - 'old').

This card came together quickly. I was so happy to see that the little critters fit inside the film strip openings. I also used an old technique - tearing. Tearing an edge looks really good with little effort or tools.

DT Amanda

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Simon Brand Products

Just a quick post today. The latest challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog is use Simon brand products. In my last order from SSS I got some of their new hybrid inks for planners (as well as some other items - love every item in my order!) and I have a stamp set I got in a previous purchase so I decided to use them both in my planner set up this week. I managed to finish it earlier in the week but due to circumstance I've only managed to snap a [terrible] picture and load it here today.

Heidi Swapp colour shine was used to highlight spots to write my to-do lists on busy days. This week I challenged myself further by using items I have ordered from Simon Says Stamp as well: StudioL2E planner stamps and Waffle Flower planner stamps. The other stamps I used were from a prize from Maya Rd a few years ago and I've discovered how perfectly they fit my planner. I also learned to stop pulling my stamps apart from each other as I pulled to hard and ripped one of the pennants (grrr!).

Here's a photo of the side with no bleed-through:

 

 

If you would like to enter their challenge for your self the details are:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Simon Brand Products here . The SSS products I used are: Blessed stamp set and Karma hybrid inks.

 

Materials:

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp, StudioL2E, Waffleflower, Maya Rd, Pink & Main

Ink: Simon Says Stamp, Ranger

Notepads: Typo, Teresa Collins

Spray: Heidi Swapp Colour Shine

 

 

 

 

 



Pink & Main - Hey Gnomie

Have you checked out the new releases at Pink & Main? They are live on the website now. I couldn't wait to play with the Hey Gnomie stamp set. The phrase "Hey Gnomie" just cracks me up! I decided to create a window card with a gnomie on chipboard popping through the open window. I also popped the trees up on foam dots for the front of the card. Hey Gnomies - here's my card:

For the inside of the card I created a few cardstock and paper mats to ground the cut-out from the front of the card:

You can find Hey Gnomie here

DT Amanda

Pink & Main Planner - Sneak Peeks

Remember when there was a rumour there were new planner sets coming soon? Yeah, the rumour I started. Well, from my April posts you would have seen some of them but two more are being released this month - yes, 2 more! Happy me!

For my weekly planning I use a spiral bound, week to view diary. I'm a firm believer in using what you have. Yes, I have fancy memory planners but I need something to keep me organised day to day, week to week. My fancy memory planners are for memory keeping and I use my daily diary/planner as a reference of what was happening at the time in my life that should go in the memory planner when I'm ready to record in there. That doesn't mean my weekly diary is plain and boring - no, sirree! I spend a small amount of time on a Sunday prepping and decorating my diary for the week. I truly love this time of creation.

For this week's blog post I thought I would show you a week in my diary where I have used Pink & Main stamps. I find the Planning Work stamp set vital for my Pink & Main commitments.  There are a lot of other Pink & Main stamp sets I used on this weeks spread but I can't name them yet as they aren't released just yet (soon!). My pages are white but I decided to colour them with spray ink this week. I used Antique Linen thinking that it would be yellow, unfortunately it turned out more like a tea stain colour! Here's the week as a whole:

In the following page close-up you can see I have an areas of dead space that I don't really use in my diary so I use that space to put in my goals and funny or encouraging sayings. I couldn't resist using the Gnome One Like You stamp (sssh - it's a sneak peek). It is not only funny but a positive thought for my week.

As you can see I use a combination of direct stamping, stamping on paper/washi and diecuts in my weekly spreads. Stickers also get used a lot too - especially when I am time poor.  I like the ease of stamps (same thing every week but in a different colour) and the mix of different elements. Usually I have a dashboard which includes a To Do list. For this week I included a Post-It stamped with some of the new planner stamps instead. I can write my To Do list and move it around the week as things get overlooked or moved to later in the week (real life baby!)

My goals stay the same each week but the way I display them is unlimited.  I used images from Get Fit to document my exercise and weight goals combined with a stamp from the new planner release. It feels kind of embarrassing to show them here but I do actually note this in my diary (maybe not the weight every week- I'm not that obsessed).

As a bonus for readers of my blog I am going to show you some Post-Its I made for my planner and show you the completed week to show you how it looks at the end of the week.

First up is the Post-Its I stamped with the new planner stamps:

Last up is my finished week. I will admit I may have thought about what goes in and what gets left out considering this was going to be used here! I use Frixion Erasable pens - perfect for days when things get moved.  I was inspired by the BFF telling me she got to read her Granddad's diary recently and it even had the daily weather (he was a farmer). Taking a leaf from her Granddad's diary (pun intended) I added the daily weather with the Weather stamp set. I also added some emoji faces with the Moody stamp set.  These were stamped in a pale grey ink so that they weren't too prominent but  I don't think they show up well in the photo.

You can find the Planner stamps here and the New Releases stamps here (when they are released - soon!)

DT Amanda

Pink & Main - Chews You

Happy National Scrapbooking Day for my American friends. Unfortunately I don't have a layout to share today but a card.

Today's card is brought to you by Chews You:

 

The patterned paper is created by stamping the bubble gum splats on coloured paper. I kept the front fairly simple because on the inside I made pop-ups:

This was the first time I have ever made a pop-up card - I hope it doesn't show!

For inking the edge I used a marker but I don't own the matching inkpad which became a problem when I wanted to ink the torn edge. My solution: scribble on an acrylic block with your marker and pick the ink up with a foam applicator. I'll be using this tip again in the future.

Click on Chews You to see it in the store.

DT Amanda