I'm Back and I'm Blogging!!

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I must put my hand up and admit it - I've been a very bad blogger!! It's been five months since my last blog post (before yesterday's), and it's not as if I haven't been doing anything crafty... Actually, I have been doing LOTS, which I'll show you over the next few days/weeks/months! Thanks to all of you who have told me to get my A into G and start blogging again - see, I do listen to you (sometimes!).

My apologies in advance too; because I have been very bad and haven't blogged in so long, Stampin' Up! has gone through one whole mini catalogue AND Sale-a-bration while I've been away. Consequently, you may see projects that feature some products that are no longer available (although I live in hope that we'll see them again in the new Idea Book & Catalogue that comes out in September!). However, now that I have blitzed through my wishlist (yes, Demos do have these as well...) of goodies from the new Autumn/Winter Mini I have lots of new toys to play with, so you'll be seeing some of the projects I've been busily making with those as well. My gosh, I may have to blog every day for the next year just to get through everything I want to show you!!

Here's the first project I made when my goodies arrived; as you can see, I used a lot of my new toys to create this: the delicious new Rich Razzleberry cardstock, ink and ribbon, the new Cottage Wall DSP, the two-step bird punch, the Vintage Vogue set, and the Little Leaves Sizzlet die.


I used this card as my project at the Waipapa Extravaganza on 27 March. Those attending got to make four projects designed and taught by three different Demonstrators, and the ladies who booked to come to the Extravaganza through me also got to take home a little box filled with Easter goodies that I made for them. I got the idea for the punch art bunny from a blog I happened upon during my travels through cyberspace, but unfortunately have lost the link to it otherwise I'd post it here.


Stay tuned for more of my projects in the very near future!
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Just Add Ink Challenge #14

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Nothing like a challenge to get someone back into blogging is there! I umm-ed and ahhh-ed about whether to post this page, as it didn't come out as 'heritage' as I would have liked, but thought I would share anyway, as part of it has a really nice collage effect.


This page showcases my gorgeous god-daughter, Carla, who has (surprisingly!) graced the pages of my scrapbooking pages (and blog) many times before! Last year she was finally old enough to travel up from Auckland to visit me in Whangarei, and we had plenty of photo opportunities when we visited Mair Park and she started climbing the old trees!!

I wanted to capture the timeless nature of this park, and to also show that this was an historic visit for us both. Hence the heritage-style page! I bought the twill tape ages ago when I saw how cool it looked stamped, but haven't managed to pull it out of my stash until now. I love it! To make the title shown below I first wheeled the Very Vintage jumbo wheel using Soft Suede, then randomly stamped the vine, from the de-vine (hehe) Vintage Vogue set in the new Autumn/Winter Mini, using Old Olive ink. I then stamped the title and flowers using Rich Razzleberry (or Rich Raz as I call it!), frayed each end of the tape and attached with brads. A few buttons cut out using the Buttons #5 Sizzlet and a bit of linen thread and Crystal Effects, then my title was completed!



I also stamped some flowers from the Vintage Vogue set onto vellum cardstock using the Rich Raz, cut them out and adhered to the page. A bit of faux-stitching using the mat pack, piercing tool and white gel pen to tie the Cottage Wall DSP together gave the page a nice collage feel. I know that the faux stitching and hand-cutting of the flowers takes time, but I love how the detail gives the page a real 'hand made' feel.

So, that's my take on the Just Add Vintage challenge! It's so nice to be blogging again - this will be a regular thing, I promise!! Go and check out the other great entries at Just Add Ink - there are some stunning ones this week!

Recipe (all products by Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted):
Ink: Old Olive, Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry, Sahara Sand, Whisper White
Paper: Old Olive, Soft Suede, Kraft, Vellum Cardstock, Cottage Garden DSP
Stamps: Lovely Letters alphabet, Vintage Vogue
Other: Vintage brads, Top Note Die, Buttons #5 Sizzlet, twill tape, glue dots, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Mat Pack and piercing tool, white gel pen, linen thread
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