Fandom Blog hop

 Welcome to another blog hop with the Crafty Collaboration Design Team! 

I was really keen to be joining this one, after taking a break from the team blog hops for a while. 

The theme for this hop is one of fandom; it was one that really intrigued me and spoke strongly for ideas. I immediately thought of Marvel comics; my brother as a child loved these, so they have been a part of my life for what seems forever. Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Black Widow.... all the big names were ones that I knew growing up and now have become a quiet fan of as an adult.  My own kids have seen all the Marvel movies (and know NOT to leave the theatre until after the trailer credits - if you know, you know!).  This is what inspired the comic strip colour blocked panels on the front of my card. 

But of course there’s other fandom themes that are considered iconic in pop culture, including the timeless hype of Beatlemania!  Whilst I’m a little bit too young to be a traditional Beatles fan, I do remember the cartoon style music clips on TV when I was young. So much fun and so much colour!  A firm favourite of mine was Yellow Submarine. It’s one of those songs that just gets in your head and loops! 

Of course this meant a natural choice of combining the comic strip idea with our yellow Submarine. Naturally, the submarine life stamps is perfect for this theme! 

I've created a series of backgrounds on each colour block with all the fun small background making stamps from a variety of stamp sets.  This gave the card a little more interest.  To keep it more subtle, these were done using watermarking (Versamark ink)

This is a hop, so please be sure to jump over to the other team members and leave them some love for their projects:

The main products featured in this card include the following:

• real red cardstock
• pumpkin pie cardstock
• azure afternoon cardstock
• daffodil delight cardstock and ink
• basic grey ink
• versamark ink
• basic white embossing powder
• black resin dots
• Submarine Life stamp bundle
• basic white and basic black cardstock

Thanks for taking the time to pop by my blog!

Rach xx

Global Monthly Video Hop (May)

Its another month and that means a new project!

Have you been over to my YouTube yet?  The newest Monthly Video hop is live!  

I really loved this 6x6 DSP challenge, and the cutest box came from my video.  

Click on the image above to go and check it out.

Happy stamping,

Rach x

This weeks projects

 This week has flown by! I’ve got a lot of projects to share, it’s been a busy week over on my social.  Here are whats been keeping me busy (in no order!)

Enduring Beauty with the new InColours - Pretty in Pink and Shy Shamrock!

You've probably seen my previous blog post but I was voted a winner for my entry of this Global Design Project challenge colour scheme where I did a watercolour scrapbook page!  So happy with the page and honoured to have been chosen.

A trick card where the Bee My Valentine bee circles around the front of the card using a spinner mechanism.  A fun one to create and give.

A pair of cards using the In the Moment to say goodbye to retiring products.

Another bright and funky cards using all my favourites that are retiring - Biggest Wishes Stamps, Zany Zoo stamps and Rays of Light stamps. 

Out with the old and in with the new - saying goodbye to the in colours and saying hello to the new Leaf Collection background stamp.  

A fun interactive card inspired by a demonstration at OnStage in March, this Submarine Life card will be a fun one to send...

And finally, the monochromatic insta hop this week featured Granny Apple Green. I've just purchase the hooray for surprises stamp bundle - I cant' wait to use it some more!

We had ANZAC day of commemoration here in Australia. I usually bake the lovey pats based cookies but didn’t this year with only 2 of us in the house and no need for extra goodies that will just need to be eaten ;). 

Link for Colour Wheel

You can find the page for the PDF download by clicking the image.

This weeks projects - 21 April, 2024

 Hi everyone, this week has seen me back at work.  I'm lucky that I was organised to have projects completed and scheduled because I'm not sure I would have had enough to share with you all.  Its been a busy week!!

The translucent florals set is so much fun to play with and is super easy to use!  I created this one to showcase the neutral DSP that was included in the Les Shoppes paper pack.  

Probably my favourite from the past week - this interactive plane card was so much fun to create.  I have a quick Youtube video too.  It was inspired by a demonstration from OnStage....

The past weeks monochromatic theme was Misty Moonlight, so I created a masculine card this time around and showcased a retiring embossing folder which I also inked over to look like a freshly painted wall.  Simple but effective. 

And there were a few others posted over on my Instagram and Facebook.  This one was a Sunday Challenge to make a celebration card.  With my wedding anniversary coming up in a few weeks, I feel organised now I have a cute bee themed card made.  Is it too many hearts?  I think not! 

Thanks for popping by, I love that I get to share my craft with others.  Please make sure you leave me a message so I know you've been, I'd love to say hi. 

Happy Stamping,

Rachael

Just a quick page...

 I wanted to use a photo of my husband and I for my next page.  

The latest Global Design Project came along with their colour combo and I have to admit, I jumped straight into creating an 8x8 layout because I knew the pastels would pop against a black and white photo.  Almost the entire page is made using watered down ink and some small stamps as well as the bough punch!  

Hidden journalling (of course!) is under the photo and I've kept the rest very 'basic'.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out but I did have to get the iron out to make it sit flat!!! 

I've got a video coming... I'm just behind on editing!  

Don't forget, you too can jump in on the fun and join the challenge - just click on the image above...  Happy Stamping,

Rachael xx

Freshly Made Sketches #630

Just a quick post for my entry into the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge for this week. 

I've used Citrus Blooms and created a card using Peach Pie, Lost Lagoon and Berry Burst.  This colour combo is the triadic combination from the Stampin Up Colour Wheel which I was gifted as an OnStage Attendee.  

Pop over to my Youtube to see how this card comes together.  

Happy Stamping,

Rachael xxx

 

I went to OnStage!!!!!

Beware.... this is a very photo heavy post!  

In March, I was lucky enough to fly to Melbourne and spend 3 days with people who were just as passionate about cardmaking and stamping as I am (ok, so some are probably more passionate than me!). I bunked in with some beautiful friends in the city and lots of our time was spent at the Convention Centre listening to and watching fabulous demonstrators and leaders in papercrafting from here in Australia as well as America.  

We chose to participate in the paid Pre-Event crafting night, which was so much fun.  I had picked the Citrus Blooms to play with and it did not disappoint!  Such a fabulous was to start the weekend. 

The annual catalogue being handed out and prize patrols were a highlight.  So many new and exciting things including the announcement that Stampin Up is opening their arms to new members from another company and returning to Scrapbooking in a bigger and better way.  I have been dabbling in returning to memory keeping myself so this was exciting news!

The product playground, a series of hands on and visual displays was open at lunchtimes, and was a lot of fun to participate in.  We got to sample the new In colours (delicious variety this year!) and make our own colour wheel to use.  We also got to use some of the products in the upcoming catalogue to mix and match for a customised card.  I think these products are going to be popular for beginners and young kids.  

I met a few online friends in person, some who have been in and out of forums and online groups with me for the past 17 years, and others are fresh faced from recent social media groups.  It was a great thing to be able to say hello and to make those connections.  I'm generally a shy person is a large crowd so a few friendly faces made all the difference. 

Melbourne city did not disappoint either.  I'm Melbourne born and although I haven't lived there since I was little, I definitely feel its a bit of a home for me.  I love the city, the vibe that you get.  Unfortunately I didn't get to see too much except the sunsets from our balcony, but it gave me a thirst to travel back again for a break soon. 

One of the most impressive activities I thought was the final display... this huge sign is made up on small squares of cardstock that demostrators placed on the wall.  I had no idea what it was, just stuck the squares on and later came back to this!  Isn't it the best idea?  And it really represented us all as a whole community.  

Exciting news.... OnStage is coming to Brisbane next year.  Mark it in your calendars.  It will be the best time to make sure you are signed up as a demonstrator.  I'm going for the entire event and would love some friendly faces to be there with me.  Let me know if you are interested.  

If you made it this far, thank you.  This event was exactly what I needed in my life, it pulled me out of a bit of a creative rut where my mental health wasn't its best and the connection to craft and expression as well as decent supportive and caring humans made me realise that all this playing with paper and ink really is worth it.  A huge shout out to my roomies and besties, Tracy and Marian.  Without your encouragement I would have cancelled the event, sold my ticket to someone else and still been in that rut.  

Happy stamping,

Rachael xx

 

A recap of the past several days....

 I've been on a Christmas/New Year break but I'm back!!!  Here is some of the projects I've been completing the past week.  I'm so in love with some of the new SaleABration products.  

Using the trusty tools DSP

A spotlight card using the host set "night of flight" to stamp a background

Bee My Valentine bundle makes for an easy and cute bee themed card - and rainbows are a must!

Fussy cutting to create a male themed card, again with the trusty tools free DSP

Wild Wheat monochromatic Challenge using Free DSP and the heartfelt hexagon bundle.

I hope you week ahead is filled with fun, I'm back at work in a few days which means less creating time.  

Happy stamping,

Rachael xx

So much happening...

 Happy New Year everyone!! 

Its time for a new mini catalogue and a SaleABration promo too.  FUN!!!  Here is my Monthly Global Video Hop featuring one of the new FREE stamp set bundles that you can get with a qualifying purchase.  

I'll pop back in soon to add some more samples from the new catalogue :) 

Happy Stamping

Rachael xxx

The week that was

It has been a busy week or two since I did an update.  I participated in a local Christmas craft market last weekend, boy it was busy!  I'm proud to say our set up looked amazing and it was a fun day.  I now have the task of sending out cards to everyone and have one week of work left before school holidays start for Summer.  

As far as crafting goes, I've tried hard to have a little break but of course I couldn't help myself.  I celebrated our sons graduation by creating an A4 scrapbook page.  I've recently started thinking of taking up scrapbooking again and using A4, whilst not a traditional size, would make it easy for me to print photos and get them on a page quickly.  Hopefully I can inspire a few others to give it a try. 

My order arrived after OnStage@Home and I couldn't wait to get these hot air balloons used.  The paper from the suite is so pretty in person.  

I had also had some requests for retirement/farewell cards from some work colleagues, so whipped these 2 up from images that I had coloured and already sitting on my desk.  

Speaking of colouring, I've made a start (finally!) on labelling my Blends, after finding the correct size punch at a local Lincraft store by fluke.  I love how organised they look and it will now be easy to make sure I put them back in pairs. 

Have a fabulous week everyone, I'm excited to get to some time off but also worried about how much work I have left to do in the 5 days.  

Happy Stamping, 

Rach xx