a fun cube!

Over at Crafters Anonymous we had our very first online class and Anne Brignall taught this cool cube. You can use it as a photo cube like I did, or just a box with something special inside - whatever suits your need.

It's quiet an easy project and I look forward to teaching it sometime this year. I started with Crumb Cake and each photo is layered with Whisper White. I stamped directly onto the photos using Stazon Ink and even coloured some stamps in with Stampin' Up! markers which worked well too! The photos are of my husband and his two brothers - hubby is the cute little one! lol My father in law took lots of photos so I have lots to choose from - such a neat way to see how they grew up!

Below are pic's showing each of the sides and how I decorated them. The bottom I kept blank.




thanks for visiting my blog today - see you tomorrow :)

interesting fold time!!!

This is a fun card to make for a change. I first saw it on another Stampin' Up! demo's blog HERE go check Clare's samples out! It looks really complicated but it is relatively easy!! I think I will do it for a class this month on the 15th.

This sample I started with Crumb Cake (aka kraft) and used Mocha DSP (love that packet!) and Basic Black. Stamping a range of stamps on with Crumb Cake, Soft Suede and Basic Black makes it easy peasy.

Do let me know if you would like me to teach you this cool card either at one of my classes held at my place or a one off at your place with a few friends. Email me julia.leece@vodafone.co.nz for more information.

thanks for visiting and HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUCKLAND CITY! we are 172 years old today!!

Stocking punch EXTRA - broken leg

I just HAD to make this card following a comment on my last stocking punch post by Ms. (sorry I don't know your real name!) What a cute idea! It took a bit to get the crutches somewhat right - still not 100% happy but....... you have to stop somewhere! hehe

The sentiment is a cut up on from a cool alpha we have now (I'm typing this in bed without my catty near me so sorry can't remember the name! hehe) and it says "Q - is for Quickly - how we want you to recover" I didn't want all those words so I just cut up what I did want!

The irony about this card as it was me at the local A&E yesterday as I broke my toe - my little toe at that - no where near as dramatic as a whole leg! hehe. Just one of the annoying things that they can't do anything about but you knock it every time you walk anywhere!

Tomorrow I have another neat card fold technique to show you - might make it an upcoming class soon. Don't forget my class on Wednesday - It will be at 10am this week only (1st Feb) - but it will be repeated on Sunday 12th Feb at 12.30pm if you can't make this weeks one. Email me for details julia.leece@vodafone.co.nz

another tea cosy made with Stampin' Up! dies!

this is basically the same pattern as the other tea cosy I posted but I covered the top with flowers made from felt that I cut out using the Stampin' Up! dies - they are so easy to make and makes this somewhat retro project POP!!! I glued the flowers together first but hand sewed them on to the tea cosy. Now I just need to find a tea pot to go with it! hehe

Tea Cosy Stampin' Up! style!!

Isn't this a fun project. It's a (large) tea cosy made from Stampin' Up! fabric - Flirtatious (122335 $24.50) to be exact. I used a cool pattern I found at a quilt shop in Cambridge and really enjoyed sewing for a change.

Stampin' Up! have 5 sets of fabric in the Main Catalogue and Ideas Book. Each packet contains 3 different fabrics each 68.6cm x45.7cm or 18" x 27". There is another pack called Spice Cake in the current Summer Mini too. They are 100% cotton and LOVELY to work with. Email me if you would like more information regarding ordering Stampin' Up! fabric. julia.leece@vodafone.co.nz - don't forget they have a range of buttons, ribbons, and other embellishments that co-ordinate with the fabric!!

I will be showing a few projects that I have sewed using Stampin' Up fabric - although you have seen some before like me yo-yo mouse on this post HERE

Thanks for visiting and sharing your comments - I LOVE hearing from you. I am off now to make a card with a broken leg on it after Ms left a comment about one on my last post - thanks for that :)

see you tomorrow!

Stocking punch - running shoes!

this is the last of the series of cards using the stocking punch. I made some running shoes this time. The socks are the top end of the stocking and I've crimped it to give the look of socks. The white soles but using a bit from the bottom of the punch. You could add 'strips' or a 'swish' if you want to be more brand specific lol! I love this sentiment from Word Play stamp set - it just seemed perfect for this card. The gravel on the path is just the background stamp ' Wonderfully Worn' - and more crimping on the background 'grass'.

I hope you have enjoyed this series - I have barely touched the surface of what you can do with this punch - like I have seen a great pair of ice skates made with it. If you have made something with this punch leave a comment below - I would LOVE to see them!

I have some more creative 'off the page' projects to show you so be sure to come back and visit. :)

Stocking punch - muddy gumboots!!

I couldn't do a series on the stocking punch without including a gumboot one esp. as we in New Zealand is one of the biggest farming countries in the world. Gumboots are the same as galoshes or 'wellingtons' - each country call them something different! lol the rubbery boots you wear to keep your feet dry and MUD free! If you have a different name for them please leave a comment- I would love to know what they are called where you live!! There is nothing better than jumping in puddles of water or mud in your gummy's! hee hee

The grass is made by crimping a strip of Old Olive then snipping bits out - just make sure the point of your grass blades are on the top ridge, this keeps it strong and somewhat more regular. I I sponged it before I snipped too. To create the sky I punched out a scallop circle and oval out of a piece of scrap card and used the hole as a stencil - not the punched out piece. I sponged using the stencil with Whisper White craft - easy peasy!

One more card tomorrow - see you then.

:)

Stocking Punch - love those red shoes!!!!

I couldn't do a stocking punch card set without something glamorous or sparkly! Every girl has a favourite pair of shoes and mine are red!! And yes I have 'cankles' like this lady - actually it could easily be a self portrait! hehe The heals are the 'hanger' part of the stocking punch. To achieve the definition on the legs I started with Pink Pirouette then sponged the legs with Whisper White craft ink then lightly sponged the edges with Chocolate Chip. It just makes it look like she has stockings on, you could try and sponge some shape into the legs/feet/ankles but as I don't have any shape in mine I didn't put any on the card! lol

Using the crimper again for the dress - just helps to give the card some texture. Two more stocking punch cards to come (more if I design more hee hee) so see you tomorrow.

:)

Stocking Punch - Rugby World Cup card

As many of you know New Zealand won the Rugby World Cup in October last year. It was many years ago that we last won so this is a BIG deal for us!! To celebrate this achievement I thought I would use the awesome stocking punch and make some rugby boots. You can easily change them to soccer, football, gridiron whatever! I used the crimper for the socks to make them stand out, especially as the winning All Black team wears 'all black' LOL.

The sentiment from Word Play was perfect for this. I used Pear Pizzaz for the Top Note but sponged it with Old Olive to give it more colour. The Rugby World Cup colours is green, white and blue, so I used the Pacific Point card base to replicate their scheme.

I have another great card using the stocking punch and crimper tomorrow - see you then!!!

Stocking punch - ballerina!!

I have made a series of cards using the stocking punch. This particular one i.e. the ballerina is inspired from Jackie Topa's tutorial she has for sale on her blog. She had a different skirt etc but the shoes are all her design. Over the next few days I will show you how I took her 'shoes' idea and ran with it - and I mean ran with it!!! lol I had a BALL (literally hee hee!)

There is SO MANY options when you think of it, it's just a matter of working out how to execute it.

So come back over the next few days and see how I turned the stocking punch into one of the most useful punches there is! Don't forget that Stampin' Up! aren't continuing with this punch so if you haven't got yours yet then ORDER IT TODAY!!! you don't want to miss out!!!

:)

Love that sparkles!

the last but by no means least is this love token box. I just LOVE using the new sparkly card from Stampin' Up! It punches really well which is what I've done here. It's a simple design but that's all you need with sparkle like this!! I stamped the "LOVE" stamp with markers to get the multi coloured look. Add a little ribbon and it's done!

I'm going to start a series of projects using the cute Stocking Punch from tomorrow - so be sure to come back for another visit.

See you then. :)

SWEET MAMBO!!

I decided to make the Melon Mambo box into a 'sweet treat' type box. I love the Melon Mambo with Pumpkin Pie combo. The rickrack is made with the Tasteful Trim Big Shot die - I ALWAYS use the Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets (MAS) when I am using dies that are fiddly to stick down. It makes it SOOOO much easier - I cut a strip of the MAS just a bit bigger than what I'm cutting out - stick it to the card stock then put through the Big Shot. It's REALLY great when doing alphas too!

Back to the box .... I used the doilies stamp set (and matching DSP) to pretty this wee box up.

Another box to show tomorrow - hint - it's got SPARKLE on it! lol

thanks for looking today :)

mini takeaway boxes

This tower of mini takeaway boxes are a fun way to make cool gift boxes. I made them using the Cone Petal Die (you use two with a bit cut off the bottom 3" from the top and a score mark 2" from the top) and I also made the handles from bangle wire. Over the next few days I will show you how I decorated these three funky boxes.

Today's box I have kept to the 'oriental' theme.

I used 4 different stamp sets for this but kept to Basic Black and Real Red ink. The 'flag' thing on the handle is also part of the die and I stamped it with this neat stamp from "Bring on the Cake" which I reckon gives the look of the fortunes found in fortune cookies! lol

Come back tomorrow (yes I am back blogging again!) to see another version.

Thanks for visiting!

and the winner is .....

this afternoon I have entered the numbers into www.random.com from the below list

1 - Lisa Bullock

2 - Paul Reid

3 - Sally Williams

4 - Carolyn S

5 - Narelle Hoggard

6 - Tia Routledge

7 - Ms

8 - Glenda

9 - Rhonda

10 - Angie Jones

from the list of all those who commented on my blog post for my Totally Scored Ustamp with Dawn project. And the winner is:

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:5Powered by RANDOM.ORG

a BIG congrats to Narelle who I know will be so happy to join me at the next Ustamp round! Thanks to all those who entered - it's not to late to join in the fun!!!

what an awesome start to the year with Ustamping with Dawn - Let's Score

This is my current Ustamp with Dawn project

This round of UStamp with Dawn and Friends is all about the new Scoring Tool released to the American market recently. Unfortunately we 'down under' don't have it in our current catalogues but we keep our fingers crossed! lol One advantage of designing for this UStamp rounds is that Dawn sent me a score tool!! how COOL is that!! It's a fabulous tool and I LOVED working with it!.

Why not join up now and get the tutorials by the best of the worlds Stampin' Up! designers and have a BALL while doing so!

I have a free pass to hand out for the next round of UStamp so leave a message and I will pick a winner thru random.com.