Happy Birthday Leanne

 It is the birthday of my good friend Leanne today. As she had prior arrangements for her birthday weekend, we went out for lunch last week. I got a little inky and hand stamped the wrapping paper. I used a roll of brown paper (parcel weight, not the thin stuff) and I stamped a doily pattern all over. With the additional of a matching tag, ribbon and some sequins I think it looks very pretty.

The doily stamps used are from Stampin' Up!, Papertrey Ink and Kaiser. Sentiment from SU.

I made a gift bag for the parcels using the Stampin' Up! Retro Fresh DSP and Starburst framelits from the Occasions catalogue plus the Banner Blast stamp set and matching punch from the Sale-a-bration catalogue. The lettering was cut on my Cricut. I have layered up the banner to extend the length and pick up on the colour combo in the DSP.

Gift bags

 I made these two bags using the We R Memory Keepers bag maker. I did make a few adjustments though because I wanted the bag bigger than you are able to make with their guide. I also made a extra fold at the top of the bag to hide the attachments for the handles.

The first bag uses Stampin' Up! Crisp Cantaloupe 12 x 12 paper from the In Colour DSP stack. The sentiment is from the Perfectly Penned set and the framelit die is from the Apothecary Accents set. I used Memory Box and MFT dies for the design on the front of the bag topped off with a bloom from Prima.

For the second bag I used Island Indigo DSP from a now retired range.
I decorated the front with paper and die cuts from My Minds Eye Hip Hooray range.

The bags measure Imperial 5 3/4" x 2 3/4", Metric 14.6cm x 7.1cm, you will need two sheets of 12 x 12 paper . I reinforced the bottom with a piece of card. For handles I have used ribbon. I measured the size of the handle I wanted, cut the ribbon to length and the stapled each end to a piece of card 3/4" or 2cm square.
On the photo below, you can see the inside of the bag and the top fold. I made 4 cuts (3/4" or 2cm long) on the top fold line where I wanted to position the handles. I then inserted the square piece of card (that the ribbon was attached to) through these cuts. The squares were then firmly attached to the bag. The fold was then secured to the squares and the bag. When finished the fixings are neatly hidden.
I hope this all makes sense, if you are confused or want clarification just leave a comment and I will try to answer your query.

New goodies

I had been coveting these Stampin' Up! stamp sets ( Simple Stems and Hardwood) as soon as they started appearing on the US demonstrators blogs.They along with the gorgeous Fresh Prints stack were eagerly purchased when the new catalogue was available here in Australia.

The leaves and stems (Fabulous Phlox and Norrland Flower) are dies from Memory Box available here

With the first card, I stamped Hardwood in Crumb Cake on White, which I think gives the wood a lime washed effect, that I really love.I tried lots of colour combos for the wood but white and Crumb cake are my favourites which ever way round you use them. I stamped the blooms in Real Red and used the Tiny Tags stamp set and punch (both sadly retired)  for the sentiment.

For the second card, I stamped the flower in Coastal Cabana and then highlighted the stamens in red.It looked a bit bare at the bottom of the bloom where there were no stamens, so I added a few extra. Here I have stamped white on Crumb Cake, quite a subtle effect which doesn't detract from the flowers.

Dahlia Box

Here is the box I mentioned in an earlier post. Stamped with PTI Delightful Dahlia set.

 For the label at the top, I have used PTI Mat Stack 3 and stamps from the Stampin Up! Mixed Medley set.

I have used Pistastio Pudding for the box and Old Olive and Pear Pizazz for the leaves and label base. The Dahlias are stamped on Strawberry Slush and accented with Real Red and Cherry Cobbler.









The lattice is Memory Box Piestra Tile, I have used this to back the dahlias and also layered it up to mimic a patterned ribbon.

I also made a plain Crumb Cake box and stamped it up with PTI Rosie Posie, and added Cherry Cobbler seam binding.

JAI challenge

 In my case JAI means "Just Add Inspiration" and today I got mine  from Christine. I don't usually enter challenges but I love what Christine has done and although I don't have the Zoo Babies stamp set, I do have a similar one which I have used.

I was enjoying myself so much, I got carried away and made four cards altogether. I asked my daughter to pick her favourite ( the lion) and that is the one I am entering in the challenge.

More chevron gift bags

 I made larger bags this time and used the Background Basic Chevron Stamp set from Papertrey Ink.
















Love this stamp set - Delightful Dahlias (and the additions set) another Papertrey Ink design. Stamped on Stampin Up! cardstock, Pink Pirouette with Real Red and Cherry Cobbler as the accent colours. The leaves are Lucky Limeade and Old Olive. Die cut leaf swirl from Fancy That dies.

Just a change of arrangement on this bag, this time using a Stampin Up! punch for the sentiment.

I will have a gift box to show you soon using the Delightful dahlias stamp set.

New babies

Meet Alfie, born the beginning of January. We were beginning to think his Mum wasn't pregnant after all because she was much later delivering than we thought. We were expecting her to deliver within a few days of the others instead of three weeks later. Believe it or not his Mum is black and white and his Dad was white.

This is Nylah, born mid December. She has been very independent from the offset, whereas Alfie is a real Mama's boy. She, Joffrey and Alfie have become firm friends. They love nothing better than chasing  round the paddock, jumping on each other, occasionally incurring the wrath of the adults when they bump into them.