Bronnies Stamping Spot

 And, I even got a couple of pink ribbons in there. These cards are so much fun to make but it would have been a bit easier if I had a heart punch instead of cutting by free hand!
I hope you enjoy it and it has added a smile to your day.
Bron

Hi there, I only have three more weeks left in Cairns this year before I have eight weeks off work (see me smile). I haven't had more than a week off at a time in more than two and a half years which has been a long haul. So, I am off to Nepal, India, Wagga Wagga (NSW) and then at last to New Zealand to see my family. Therefore, this weekend is probably the last time for the year that I will get to stamp for an extended period of time. Instead of studying (and getting my research proposal finished) I decided to head up to the coolness of the Tablelands and do some stamping with Adrianne.

I just realised how long it has been since I put a post on here. I have been stamping intermittently. I have had a bit of a time delimma for a couple of months. I desperately need to get my research proposal done for my doctorate before I go on holidays in 7 weeks time while trying to maintain a social life, doing a public speaking course and doing long hours at work. I feel guilty when I say that because I know I am not a mother and that mothers have lots more to juggle but everyone has different demands on their life (and I usually get slammed by mothers for saying that I am busy).

So, today is stamping day and I have finally gotten the chance to do one of Keesha's challenges
And only when I downloaded the picture did I realise that I did mine landscape instead of portrait! I think it is called interpretive freedom

Its dry season here...well it's meant to be. Here in Cairns we have two seasons, not four: wet and dry. Dry season is meant to be dry, sunny and warm instead it has been cloudy with periods of drizzle and very windy which makes it feel very winterish. Dont get me wrong it is still warm compared to the rest of Australia with overnight temperatures getting down to 20 degrees but all the clouds are a bit depressing
.
So, I have finally unpacked the car of my stamping stuff and got stuck into it last night. I started out by just trying to get Keesha's challenge done. I have participated for a while as May and June were a bit hectic. So here is Keesha's challenge which I actually made three cards for (I don't get to play much so I am making up for it)
Here are the colours that I had to play with. I must say, I really do like rich razzleberry and old olive together.
So here is card number one. I consider this the warm-up card (you know what I mean). At the bottom of the card I add some card spagetti which looks quite cool.

Tis challenge time. I have had a big fortnight with having to do two big presentations of my PhD work and needed to de-stress when I got home from work yesterday.

Last week I was in Wagga Wagga (Now there is an Aussie place name for you! Pronounced Wogga Wogga!) and Bathurst for University and then this week I have been doing a three day workshop on how to deal with the ever increasing numbers of violent and aggressive patients. It was an informative workshop but I am feeling a little sore from all the man handling (though the man handling was particularly pleasant!).

My plan was to do the inkspirations sketch challenge and the Just add ink challenge and while I have done a card for both, I was too late getting the Just add ink challenge photographed and blogged. I did do other challenges last night and they are below on my blog.
So, here was the sketch challenge.
And here is my take on it. I am still hooked on rich razzleberry and old olive. They just go so well together.

Brown, blue and white...mmm. Sounds easy right? Sometimes it is those challenges that leave you with so many options that are the hardest. I dont have many shades of blue left in my scrap box or even in my box of card stock.

Brown, blue and white is the colour challenge from the stamping sisters in Christ blog. While most of the cards shown for this challenge have lovely Bible verses...mine does not. I dont seem to have a large supply of Bible verse stamps so went for something that was a bit sacred...a wedding card. I usually have a supply of these but the box is looking a bit empty. Anyway...here it is. The photo is not that good. I left for work before the sun rose and came home just as it was setting
Bron

And clean & simple it is. How quick is it to make a card? This has been made from scraps and I am surprised at how well it turned out. Here is the sketch from clean & simple
And here is my take on it

Well, it has been a really humid day here in Cairns. The journal articles that I am meant to be reading for my doctorate feel all damp and now when I go to stamp, my cardstock is all soggy. This means that you dont get the nice crisp images (hence stamps having a blotchy look). It is so humid today I have actually turned on the air con which is unusual for this time of year.

So my method of procrastination today was Keesha's challenge. Thinking that a card would be too quick (and then I would have to study again) I went for something a little 3D. Keesha's challenge this week was a colour challenge. I have never done a 3D thing like this. They are quite fiddly. Here are the colours:
And here is the creation. A little box. I am not sure I have used the right blue as it has come out of the scrap bag but I know the rest of the colours are right.

I have looked at the 'clean & simple' website a few times and considered doing one of their challenges and last night I finally got around to doing one. It is the first time that I have done a square card and I think that the size of cardstock in Australia (A4 size) may be different from the US as this didn't end up being a big card at all. Here is the layout:

And here is my attempt

4 hours of stamping. Yep, it was actually on the list of about 20 things that I HAD to do on my 'days off'. I am not ususally a list person but when I know I have lots to do in a limited time it is the only way that I can keep motivated. So, Monday night was stamping night and I set about doing some challenges. My brain wasn't quite as creative as I was hoping and that may have had something to do with the research book I was reading before I started stamping!!!! The first one I tackled was Keesh's challenge. Keesh suggested a pastel, easter inspired card but as I dont really do pastels and dont have a stamp set that is easter-ish so I went in my own direction.
It looked innocent enough but I couldn't really figure it out so was feeling a bit so so about this one. I tried a baby card to start with.

Despite the pact that I had with myself that I would be in bed by 9.30pm each night (A fairly acceptably bedtime in Cairns) this week...I have failed. I started stamping at 7.30 and thought I will just whip up these cards and be in bed by 9.30pm but didn't get cleaned up and all my stuff packed away until 11pm! The reason...I decided to have another go at this challenge from Makeesha
Its similar to the sketch but a bit different. I used really rust, garden green and whisper white and the One of a kind stamp set. Of course I had to have some bling. It looks better in real life.

I think North America must have a different paper size than our A4 size. Their cards really match their layouts and then when I have a go, it doesn't fit quite the same. Here is an example. Here is the sketch challenge of Mojo Monday and look, it fits so proportionately well.

I realised the other day they I dont have any get well cards so I took the opportunity to convert this sketch into one. Here is what I did...

And for a close up...

The fine print
Cardstock: Creamy caramel, old olive, whisper white, ruby red, afternoon tea designer paper
Inks: real red, old olive and chocolate chip
Stamps: Fun and fast notes
Bling: silver hodgepodge

That all for now

Have a good weekend

Bron

It looks innocent enough so I gave it a go

I think it turned out ok. It was a tight squeeze at points but a bit of trimming and we were there. I dont have a lot of word stamps but have been using the 'lexicon of love' stampset alot to make up for it.
So here is the fine print
Cardstock: Cameo coral, creamy caramel, chocolate chip, whisper white, afternoon tea designer paper
Ink: Cameo coral, versa mark and chocolate chip
Stamps: Live your dreams and lexicon of love
Adds and ends: chocolate double stitched ribbon and scollop punch
So onto the next one
Bron

Hey Keesh, it is good to hear that you have had a good time here in Cairns. You have had some good weather while you have been here in Cairns. Its rained, but just at night. Today it is quite windy so you also choose a good day earlier in the week to the reef. I must say well done on not spewing on your way to the reef...you are better woman than I. I have fed the fish every time I have been to the reef except one time despite drugs.

And then after I had stuck it down realised that I had forgotten the ribbon or strip of card on the left hand panel. Oh well, its just going to be one of those days. I do like this one more than the first one.

The fine print
Cardstock: Really rust, Close to cocoa, Old olive and Whisper white
Ink: Eastern Blooms and sentiment from fun filled
Bling: SU large eyelets, pewter hodgepodge

Hope you are having a great weekend

Bron

I was a day late getting a card in for Amy's last challenge but have given this weeks a go. Here is the sketch outline

Well it hasn't been raining so there hasn't been much stamping, in fact I have looked at all my stamping stuff on the dining table and keep thinking that I need to tidy up and put everything away for a week or two and concentrate on some other hobbies. I know I have a cross stitch to do in the next couple of weeks, but I couldn't resist a challenge.

Makeesha's challenge this week is a picture of some fluffy flowers. And as per my usual style I have taken it quite literally and produced this... All I can say is thank goodness for the boho punch. The colours are from my scrap bag so not 100% sure on the colours but my guess for the flowers would be old olive, garden green, real red, tempting turquoise, brilliant blue stuck rather gingerly to very vanilla and old olive card with the base colour being chocolate chip.

The brads inside the flowers are from the bold brights brads collection and some black ones that I had.

The tag is from "a lot of thanks" stamp set on very vanilla set on tempting turquoise and real red.

The ribbon is chocolate chip and refused to be tied in a bow for the first five attempts but I won in the end.

I had some empty space so I decided to add some jumbo eyelets.

Sorry the photos are a bit out of focus, the light disappeared and it was bit difficult to avoid shadows.

So I am off to clean up the dining table. I have some days off coming up and it might all come out again but I just want to reclaim my home from my spreading stamping stuff.

Have a good week
Bron

I have been looking at this challenge since it came out. Last night I lay in bed trying to put the millions of thoughts that were going around my head out of my head and trying to fill it with ideas for a card that uses colours that I hardly ever use. Although I am a big fan of choc chip, I am not a big fan of the other three colours in the challenge so a challenge it became.

Makeesha's challenged called for a card using the following colours:

All well and good. Even after thinking about this challenge I struggled so this is what I came up with;

The colours are Ruby Red, Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla. The stamp set is called "One of a kind." The ribbon is Chocolate Chip satin. The bling comes from stampin up's hodgepodge range (which I am getting addicted to).
It has been a sad couple of days for me with the death of a colleague and fairly amazing that this card didn't turn out depressing.
Bron

It has been pouring with rain all night and at times quite heavy waking me up but there is nothing like the sound of rain on a tin roof. I found Mels challenge this morning and thought I would drag out a card I did a while ago and see how I go. Mel's picture of inspiration is

What else can you do when you are stuck at home due to flooding, watching the storm drain out the back slowly encroaching on your home and watching water drip from the roof? Stamp. So far we have had 350mm in the last 24hrs. At least we haven't lost power (touch wood).