Only 2 Days left!

I'm making this a sticky post until the end of the month so make sure you scroll down for new posts
If you haven't already taken advantage of our Birthday Offer now is the time! It ends tomorrow, so check out these gorgeous sets and email me with your choice before 9pm Friday:
Short & Sweet Crab & Co
Birthday Best
Pretty Princess
Big Bold Birthday



Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Search Cloud

I've created a little search cloud along the top of my blog so that my readers can browse by category. At this stage I've haven't added (and don't think I will) Colours or Techniques to the search cloud, however you can easily browse by stamp set or topic, whether you want a Layout or a card etc. The most common labels are the biggest, the least common the smallest etc
I used a tutorial I found online if anyone wants to add one to their own blog it was pretty easy to follow, there was a little bit of technical mumbojumbo but overall it was just copy and paste this, replace that with this etc.
Let me know what you think and if you think I should add colours and techniques to the cloud.

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

RAK from Marcia

The gorgeous Marcia Pringle from over at the Stamp Spot helped me out with a huge favour for a customer of mine and in the box she also included this gorgeous card! How's that, she helps me AND sends me a card! I should be the one sending her a card for all the help she gave me!!!
The photo doesn't really do it justice, but I don't know if you can see the gorgeous pattern on the background of the card, it looks like it has been cuttlebugged or something similar. I'm really not familiar with all the embossing and die-cutting products out there so I can't tell you what one it is or any of the specs but I can tell you it's beautiful and at the end of that day that's what matters right?
If you haven't checked out her blog yet you should! She has some really beautiful SU! & non-SU! creations!

Images © Stampin' Up!

Cardinal Stampers Challenge #3

I made this card for Lisa's Colour Challenge over at our Cardinal Stampers blog. Her challenge was to use the colours Pretty in Pink & Certainly Celery to make a girly card. I decided that with the Summer Mini being just around the corner (Demo preorder in November and open to the public in December) that it would be great to use the new set that we got at Regionals "Live your Dream".
I used the faux seersucker technique to create my own patterned paper (you just run it through the crimper alternating directions until you are happy with the look). It's a little hard to see but I've also stamped the saying "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams" in the bottom corner using Pretty in Pink.
I've tried to get a real girly girl kind of look but not sure if i'm quite there yet(tomboy-in-a-dress maybe).
Stamps: Live your dream, Linen Background
Ink: Certainly celery, Pretty in Pink, Soft Subtles SW Markers
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Certainly Celery
Accessories: Crimper, Metal Edge Tags, Pink Gingham Ribbon, Certainly Celery 5/8" Grosgrain, Soft Subtles Buttons, White Gel Pen

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

So Shelli Creative Challenge - I thank God for you

This is my entry for So Shelli Creative Challenge Season of Thanks.
For the journalling pocket I took a pocket from the "Pockets and Pieces" set then I covered it in cardstock to match my layout as the Kraft didn't suit my layout.
The journalling outside reads: "You are my Reason to give Thanks" and inside: "I am thankful for your smile, your laugh, your health, I am even thankful for your strong will (sometimes). I thank God for YOU"
I got the rhinestones for the photo corner by pulling apart some Rhinestone Brads. I did this as I really wanted a little bling but because I'd use Pewter Hodgepodge I thought the silver on the Rhinestone brads would have clashed. You might notice the 'n' in thanks might look a little different, it's because I had already used the 'n' but i still had the 'm' so I trimmed the extra 'leg' off and turned it into an 'n'.
Sketch: Got Sketch Express
Stamps: One of a Kind, Short Order Alphabet, Best Friend Alphabet, Linen Background
Ink: Mellow Moss, Soft Sky, Rich Regals & Soft Subtles SW Markers
Cardstock: Mellow Moss, Regal Rose, Soft Sky, Fall Flowers DSP
Accessories: On Board Lots of Letters, Hodge Podge Hardware Pewter, Fire Rhinestone Brads, Pockets & Pieces

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

RAK from Marelle

I was lucky enough to win the ribbon part of Marelle's little guessing game a week or so ago, and even though I told her she didn't need to (I felt bad because I was a demo) she sent me a Beautiful Card and a little packet of In Colour double stitched ribbon!
I used my best photo shop skills (read no skills lol) to try and do this card justice but it still looks a million times better IRL!
She has used the cracked glass technique which I have been meaning to try for months now and I have added a close up of the tree so that you can see the cracks and the gorgeous colouring.


Images © Stampin' Up!

Wish Big!

I had a new customer come to my Christmas Card Club on Saturday and she was telling me about a cupcake card she made and as soon as she left I had to look them up and see what she was talking about.
She was right, they were cute! So when Makeesha posted this colour challenge on the weekend I thought I had the perfect colour combo for a cupcake!
I have used Regal Rose for the Icing & Cherry, Soft Sky for the icing decoration & Sentiment, Pumpkin Pie for the Patty Pan (is that what they're called? You know what I mean right?) and I managed to sneak in Basic Grey in the Taffeta Ribbon. I have used versamark and heat & stick powder to make the dazzling diamonds stick to the detail on the icing.
The main stamp set I used, short & sweet, is available for 20% off until Friday only, so make sure you don't miss out and email me zjgould@gmail.com if you want to place an order!
Stamps: Short & Sweet, Baroque Motifs
Ink: Soft Sky, Versamark
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Regal Rose, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
Accessories: Heat & Stick Powder, Dazzling Diamonds, 3/4" Circle Punch, Basic Grey Taffeta Ribbon, Styled Silver HodgePodge Hardware, Crimper

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

I hope I win!!

GROSGRAIN MINI STORE OPENING NOVEMBER 6!!!! AND BIG PREVIEW GIVEAWAY!!!!

Check out this gorgeous blog, she handmakes kids costumes and clothes and then gives them away!

Best Wishes

This is the card I made for our friends Kerrie & Jason who are getting married this afternoon. It will also be the naming day for their daughter Amber and we are really looking forward to going! This will be Charlotte's first wedding and the perfect occasion for her to wear the pretty new dress that her Uncle Chris & Aunty Amy bought her for her birthday!
I knew purple is one of the colours Kerrie has selected as her wedding colours so I took the opportunity to use some of my brand new (it's been out for a while I only just got it) Elegant Eggplant 1/4" Grosgrain. I have also used the Mellow Moss ribbon from the Fairy Tale Ribbon Originals pack.
The sentiment is from Short & Sweet (which is available in this months birthday promotion) which I stamped it in Elegant Eggplant and framed with some Styled Silver Hodge Podge (currently available in the Spring mini catalogue which ends in 36 Days!!!). The flower is from Oh, So Lovely and I have Embossed it in Black straight onto my Confetti Cream Cardstock and then coloured with Ink Pads & Aquapainter. The Shadow is from the same set stamped in Mellow Moss which has been stamped off once.
Stamps: Oh, So Lovely, Short & Sweet
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Versamark, Mellow Moss
Cardstock: Confetti Cream, Elegant Eggplant
Accessories: Fairy Tale Ribbon Originals, Elegant Eggplant 1/4" Grosgrain, Styled Silver Hodge Podge, Corner Rounder punch with guard removed, Black EDP, Aquapainter

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Together Forever Monogram

I made this card for my Brother in Law Nick and his beautiful now fiance Carmen as their engagement card. The got engaged on Saturday morning and it was all very romantic (every other guy in Parkes is now in trouble for not being that romantic kind of romatic!)
I think I went a little overboard with the embossing on this one! I don't emboss very often (and i think my little embossing powders almost died from shock!) but I do like to emboss on wedding and engagement cards as they're the types of cards that get put in keepsake boxes.
I have made the card by wheeling all over the black cardstock in versamark and embossed it with clear EDP ala Kristina Werner. For the monogram I have stamped and then embossed their initials and the '&' with Gold EDP, and then using my Stamp-a-Majig I have stamped the circle in Rose Red ink, I dabbed with a paper towel to remove any excess ink (dab don't wipe or you get smears, ask me how i know!).
I've also stamped and then embossed in black 'Together Forever' on a piece of Rose Red Prints DSP and then positioned some Hodgepodge over the top to frame it.
Carmen's a ribbon girl (she wears a ribbon in her hair every day) so it wouldn't be complete without a bit of ribbon so I added some White Taffeta to the top of the panel.
Stamps: Together Forever, Best Friends Upper Alphabet, Forever Flowers Wheel
Ink: Versamark, Versamark, Versamark! Rose Red
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Rose Red Prints DSP
Accessories: Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon, Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Shore Do Love You

After making Justin promise not to read my blog (and being informed he doesn't ever! Gee thanks don't know if you should get this now hehe) I am posting his anniversary card now so I can show you all the versatility of the Crab & Co stamp set that is included in the Birthday Promotion this month, this set is perfect for Birthdays, Christmas and Anniversary or "Just Because" cards!
I know this card is not your typical Anniversary card, but I think Justin will like it. I have stamped Mr Crabby on watercolour paper with Stazon and then coloured him using Markers & Aquapainters. I added a little Crystal Effects to his eyes to make them pop.
Stamps: Crab & Co
Ink: Ruby Red, Sahara Sand, Neutrals & Earth Elements SW Markers
Cardstock: Summer Sun, Ruby Red, Very Vanilla, Watercolour Paper
Accessories: Linen Thread, Earth Elements Buttons, Styled Silver Hodgepodge, Crystal Effects

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

1

This was the card I made for Charlotte's birthday. I have used Pretty Princess (which you can get for 20% off as part of our birthday promo this month!) She was coloured with Markers & an Aquapainter, with some little white gel pen doodle dots.
To get the Pink Glitter, I've dyed some Dazzling Diamonds with a drop of Pixie pink reinker, mixed it around until it was fluffy and then stuck it onto my chipboard with some heat and stick powder. It's a little hard to get it just right and it was a little clumpy still but after i heat set it most of the excess blew off.

Stamps: Pretty Princess
Ink: Stazon, Pixie Pink, Lovely Lilac, Bold Brights SW Markers
Cardstock: Pixie Pink, Watercolour paper, Lovely Lilac, Very Vanilla
Accessories: White Gel Pen, Heat & Stick Powder, Pixie Pink Re-inker, Dazzling Diamonds, On Board Lots of Letters

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Makeesha's Tri-Fold Challenge

Here is my entry for Makeesha's Trifold Challenge. You can find the instructions on how to make these over at SCS (they call them a Joyfold Card though).
I decided to make this card for Justin's Nana who is currently in hospital after having a Double Mastectomy. She was diagnosed a little over a month ago. And in between had a slip at home and was in hospital with a osteo-fracture in the top of her leg. She's a strong thing, but she has had it really tough lately so I thought a card might help keep her spirits up, Charlotte and I are planning on going and visiting tomorrow in Orange, as my Poppy is house-sitting for Mum & Dad we will be able to see everyone in one trip.

This is the card after the first panel is lifted... ...and the second panel opened.

I was really happy with how easy it was to make a card that looks great just by changing it up and making something other than half an A4 folded in half!

Using the DSP really helped too as all I had to do was pick the DSP I was going to use and choose my base card and ink colours around that. If I haven't already talked you into checking some of it out, now is the time!!! Coordination is honestly a no-brainer once you pick your DSP. With this card I was even able to find ribbon (Fairy Tale Ribbon Originals) & a Brad that matched as well!

The scroll behind "get well soon" was stamped by stamping off once onto my scrap paper before stamping onto the DSP.

Stamps: Carte Postale, Sincere Salutations
Ink: Always Artichoke, Rich Regals & Soft Subtles SW Markers
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Very Vanilla, So Saffron, Always Artichoke, Le Jardin DSP
Accessories: Fairy Tale Ribbon Originals, Rich Regals Brads

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Charlotte's Birthday Party

These are the invitations that I made for Charlotte's Birthday Party, I have used Pretty Princess & Scribble This sets, and made them in an almost Kings Orders sealed with wax style (I'm sure there's a name for this fold but right now I can't think of it). The card closes with the Wild Wasabi Striped Grosgrain.
On the front closure I have stamped the Cake from Pretty Princess in Pink Passion on Pixie Pink Cardstock (7x7cm I think), I've then roughly coloured over the icing with my 2-way glue pen and sprinkled with dazzling diamonds. I've layered it on a piece of Wild Wasabi (Just a tip if you attach the Wasabi layer then the ribbon and then the top layer the invitation will close better, if you layer the ribbon underneath the wasabi layer the card opens slightly at the bottom when it should be closed)
On the back I have layered some Wild Wasabi & Confetti Cream and stamped the kid's names in Wild Wasabi with the Short Order alphabet and the little flower from Pretty Princess in Pixie Pink.
On the inside I have printed the invitation details on confetti cream cardstock using Publisher (the Tent Fold Card template works well as you can type on all 4 'pages' but it prints each 'page' in a corner of the cardstock meaning you can get all 4 with only 1 pass through the printer) I have then stamped the Princess using stazon and partially watercoloured her with my watercolour wonders. Watercolour Paper definitely works best for watercolouring, however on a job this large it just isn't cost effective, but confetti cream (or confetti white) has a nice texture that holds the water better than normal cardstock. Then I stamped the flourishes from "Scribble This" on the plain flaps to break up the blank space. I don't have it but 'So Swirly' or something similar would have looked great wheeled on the flaps. Just cut a piece of cardstock the same size as the middle panel and using the 2 way glue as a removable adheasive you can mask off the centre panel.
I should also add that you can buy Pretty Princess for this month only at 20% off as part of our Birthday Promo!

Stamps: Scribble This, Pretty Princess, Short Order Alphabet
Ink: Pink Passion, Pixie Pink, Wild Wasabi, Stazon
Cardstock: Pixie Pink, Wild Wasabi, Confetti Cream
Accessories: Wild Wasabi Striped Grosgrain, Bold Brights Watercolour Wonder Crayons, Aquapainter

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

A year ago today...

I woke up at 5.30am with regular back pains that made it hard to go back to sleep, after a while I realised that these were definately contractions an decided to get out of bed. By 8.30am they were still so irregular and relatively pain free that I decided to send Justin & Mum to work promising that I would call if they got to 10 minutes apart. I rang Karin the "Contraction Distraction" to come and keep me company for the day, she came over with strict instructions from her mum not to drive me anywhere in her own car in case my waters broke (Thanks alot Rhonda!), it felt calming to have an RN around, even one without midwifery experience. We spent the day watching DVD's and chatting and eating Hot Chip Sandwiches (maybe those kinds of pregnancy cravings have something to do with all that pregnancy weight I got lol).
Mum came home (she was staying with us because it was during the time where they had moved to Orange but she hadn't got her transfer yet so she was still working in Parkes) and took me to the Doctors (I had an appointment anyway so I decided to go in and see what he had to say) and after I showed him how long it was between contractions and that they still weren't anything regular he told me that I wouldn't have the baby tonight but probably sometime this week (Did I mention this was only Tuesday!!) So we went grocery shopping and then home for dinner, about 10 that night (just as we were getting ready for bed) my contractions decided to get organised and regular, so we started getting ready to go up to the hospital. We hung around at home for a while longer. At on stage Mum started to get sympathy stomach cramps and back pains and had to sit down, I was half way through a contraction and offering to go get her a Nurofen! It was hilarious!
We headed up to the hospital at around 1am & Justin got lost on the way! Well not technically lost but he just turned too early and that intersection was a left turn only so we had to go around the block and try again at the right one.
When we finally got there the midwife told us that babies are only born at dawn or dusk (I know what the???) and I wasn't far enough along for dawn and if I was lucky I'd have the baby at 6pm but probably not until 6am the next morning, but she decided to admit me anyway. That midwife was a little weird, she had been a midwife for a million years but she was having trouble telling how far along I really was because charlotte was posterior (where her back was against my back instead of being against my stomach) and you progress really slowly then all of a sudden the baby turns around and they're born really fast, at least that was how it workedfor me anyway. She also put me into a shared room when the entire maternity ward was empty that week except for one other lady and her baby and she put us in the same room!
At 6am 2 new beautiful midwives came on duty, a trainee midwife Tanya (Charlotte was only her 8th baby she'd been there for and the first she'd actually delivered) and Karen who is actually the mother of one of my friends from school. I just felt this incredible sense of calm every time Karen walked into the room, like she was in control and there was nothing that she couldn't handle. Tanya was great too, as she was a new midwife she knew that some of the lingo and procedures could be a little overwhelming so she explained what and why they were doing everything they were doing.
At about 7.30 when the doctor came to do his rounds he decided to break my waters and speed things up. That didn't seem to work and they were still having trouble getting charlotte (even though we didn't know it was charlotte yet) to turn and each contraction was pushing her head into my tailbone (It ended up cracked by the end!) so they decided to put me into the bath around 11am to give me some relief, I fell asleep a few times and got woken up mid contraction, that was really not fun! (I hadn't had any sleep since the first contractions about 30 hours before!) I had started getting the urge to push, however I wasn't far enough along that pushing would have actually been dangerous so before they put me in the bath there was talk of an epidural if she didn't turn while I was in the bath, I hadn't really considered pain relief before hand just figuring that I would make up my mind when I found out how painful labour actually was. Anyway after 10 minutes in the bath I started demanding my epidural, by this stage they'd realised that Charlotte was turning and this was the 'Transition' stage they talk about, where the mother gets really bad tempered (I don't have the best temper to start with so you can imagine how bad I was), so they kept putting me off telling me that they couldn't find the doctor and that he had just left the hospital to go back to the surgery, at which my response was "Why did you let him leave when you knew I wanted an Epidural? You knew! and you let him leave!", during all this they were starting to tell me that if I needed to push I should, so that should have tipped me off but I didn't realise. I also started to calm down and get less demanding, so the next time Karen came in she told me that it was time to get out of the bath because "We have some work to do" I won't go into the really gory details but Charlotte was only born half an hour later, they rang the doctor to warn him that they would call back when it was almost time and they had to call him about 2 minutes later. He walked in just in time to see her born. As soon as she was born they put her on my chest to keep her warm and to let us bond.

As soon as she was born she started cooing and chattering away, it was as if she wanted to tell us what she'd just been through, she kept making that noise for about the next 36hrs, even in her sleep, after about half an hour they actually checked out her breathing to make sure that she was breathing properly as she shouldn't have done that! I remember thinking if she's like this now, what's she going to be like at 3?
So sorry for the novel, but I want to write this stuff down while I still remember it and I thought the perfect time would be a year to the day from when I went into labour.

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Four

Here is a card I made four (haha get it four!) Carissa's 4th birthday. Carissa is Charlotte's little friend, she has loved Charlotte since the day she was born and she was very excited that Charlotte could come to her birthday party.
I have used the set "Birthday Best" which is included in Stampin' Up!'s 20th Birthday Promotion for October.
I don't actually own this set, I just stole (umm I mean Borrowed) it when my friend Karin left it here last weekend. I stamped the little cupcake on Watercolour paper in Stazon, then I coloured it with SW Markers (Lovely Lilac, Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana & Apricot Appeal) and Blender pen. Then I stamped the cupcake again on the Petals & Paisley DSP strip in Lovely Lilac, cut out the original cupcake and flame then layered them up on Stampin' Dimensionals. (I also added some dazzling Diamonds with my 2 Way Glue pen to the cupcake icing).
The rest of the card is fairly straight forward I think, let me know if you need any more details.

Stamps: Birthday Best, Short Order Alphabet
Ink: Lovely Lilac, Pretty in Pink, Bold Bright & Soft Subtles SW Markers
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Lovely Lilac, Petals & Paisley DSP, Watercolour Paper
Accessories: Blender Pen, Stampin Dimensionals

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Happy Birthday Pouch

I made this little pouch based on Aaron's (the Australian SU! Business Manager) demonstration from regionals, it is a really simple pouch with no adhesive necessary, it is all held together by the little clip at the top. I don't have the instructions typed out yet as they are still in my little scribbled notes, but I am planning on typing them up so if you want a copy let me know and I can send it to you when I type them up.

The little tag is made using Makeesha Byl's Hodgepodge Keyring tutorial, however I have just attached it to some linen thread and made it into a gift tag instead, I also went without the Acetate as I didn't think it needed to be as durable for a gift tag as for a keyring. The pouch holds a dozen or so of little Lindt Dark Chocolate Squares.

Stamps: Every Day Flexible Phrases (? - I'm having a mental blank so I could be wrong)
Ink: Bashful Blue
Cardstock: Spring Showers DSP
Accessories: Pewter Hodge Podge Hardware, Chocolate Satin Ribbon, Choccies!!

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

Hoppy Birthday

I made this card for my Dad's Birthday, and apart from the fact that I love this set I know my dad is a big fan of frogs (he made a frog pond at their last house and researched all the plants etc to attract frogs, and he got the odd one but the main creature found around the pond was the 3 legged poodle as she decided that the gross green algae water was yummier than the nice clean water bowl) so it was a perfect excuse to use Unfroggettable again!
I have watercoloured the little frog using Watercolour Wonders & my Aquapainter, then I cut him out and put him on the lily pad using dimensionals. I left the rest of the card very basic as I wanted to draw attention to the little guy sitting on the Lily Pad.

Stamps: Unfrogettable, Lily Pad Wheel
Ink: Old Olive, Stazon
Cardstock: Mellow Moss, Old Olive, Water Colour Paper
Accessories: Styled Silver Hodge Podge, Mellow Moss Taffetta Ribbon, Earth Elements Watercolour Wonder Crayons,

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

2 months

Day 5 over at Paper Goddess' Layout a Day October challenge! This is another layout in Charlotte's 1st year album, I am picking a photo from close to her birthday every month to show how much she has grown. This picture is a photo of her and my Poppy, this was not long after they met for the first time and she took to him instantly! I just love this photo so much! It is a beautiful photo of 2 of my very favourite people in the world!
I have punched a border around the edge with my double rectangle punch and threaded some Pretty in Pink Taffeta through the holes & tied the knot with the ribbon slider from the Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware. The Heart is from the Onboard Accents & Elements and I have covered it in Pretty in Pink Cardstock then inked the edges with Close to Cocoa Ink.

Stamps: Short Order Alphabet, Big Bold Butterfly
Ink: Earth Elements SW Markers, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Versamark
Cardstock: Taken with Teal, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Double Rectangle Punch, Pretty in Pink & Chocolate Taffetta, Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware, On Board Accents & Elements and Lots of Letters.

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

When the twins went to Fiji...

This layout is for our Cardinal Stampers team challenge that was my turn to set this week. You can see all the details over at our blog. I chose to do a scrapbook page rather than a card so that I could combine it with Day 4 of the October Layout a Day challenge over at Paper Goddess (Day 5 layout to come later today).

This layout is of the gorgeous little shirt that my friends Karin & Olivia bought Charlotte when they went to Fiji. I've also turned the photo mats into pockets for the postcards that they sent us while they were over there. I will finish the layout off once they email me a photo of themselves on holiday!

Stamps: Live your Dreams
Ink: Groovy Guava, Earth Elements SW Markers
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Old Olive, Fall Flowers DSP
Accessories: Hodgepodge Hardware Pewter, Groovy Guava & Soft Sky DS Ribbon, Word Window Punch

Images © Stampin' Up!, Designs © Zarna Gould

World Cardmaking Day

To celebrate World Cardmaking Day today we are offering 20% off simply sent card kits for this week only.
Each kit contains enough materials to make 10 cards as well as full colour instructions, however this is just a starting point and there is so much more you can do with these kits! You receive a die-cut stamp set in each one so you can use it over and over again.

To take advantage of this offer, or if you just want more info on Simply Sent kits contact me zjgould@gmail.com

Images © Stampin' Up!