Just Judy Designs

A Little Bit Retro

Hi there

The card I have for you today is a bit different from my usual colour choices and a bit retro.  I have used the Just Add Ink #110 sketch challenge and a new stamp set called 'Bright Blossoms' that will be coming in the new Autumn/Winter Mini Catalogue starting on 1 April 2012. Here is the sketch:

This is the card I came up with.  I used one of Stampin' Up!'s Note Cards as it suited the scale of the vase image.  I quite like the bold retro look, although it is somewhat outside my comfort zone.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Bright Blossoms, Just Believe (Sentiment)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Neutrals DSP
Ink	Real Red, Basic Black, Daffodil Delight
Accessories	None
Tools	Designer Frames Embossing Folder, Big Shot, 3/4", 1", 1 Circle punches,  Dimensionals, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, Stampin' Write markers (Real Red, Old Olive)

Thanks for looking!

ETA:

Many thanks to the DT at Just Add Ink for choosing my card this week!

Freshly Made #23

Hello

I'm enjoying the first day of my holidays after a very intense 7 week project to migrate the patient administration system of the hospital I work in, to a new database system. Thankfully, it was successful on the day after all the hard work by the team. 

The card I have for you today is the first I've made for ages and I'm using the Freshly Made Sketch #23 and some new goodies that I received from overseas.  This is the sketch-

I love the 'Twitterpated' designer paper, which will be coming to Australia soon.  It has a lovely range of co-ordinating colours and I'm using Riding Hood Red and Baja Breeze with the sweet floral.  I've teamed it with the typewriter from the 'You're My Type' stamp set which has a quirky retro feel. I've paper pieced the paper in the typewriter and popped up the keyboard for added interest.

Project Details
Stamps	You're My Type (NAH)
Card stock & Papers	Riding Hood Red, Pirouette Pink (Textured), Baja Breeze, Subtles Patterns,  Whisper White, Twitterpated DSP
Ink	Riding Hood Red, Basic Gray
Accessories	Basic Pearls, Baja Breeze Seaming Binding ribbon, Mini Library Clips
Tools	Fashionable Hearts Embosslit (NAH),  Big Shot, 1" Square Punch, Word Window punch, Boho Blossoms punch, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch pack, Pinking Hearts Border punch, Dimensionals

See you soon.

Welcome Back Sunshine!

Hello

It is wonderful to see some sunshine today, after almost 4 days of continuous rain.  My back garden is totally waterlogged and the cats try hard not to walk on it by taking great leaping bounds to the next dry spot.  I've got some photos at the end of the post to show how they are enjoying the sunshine.

Before getting on to today's card, I would like to thank the lovely people who left a comment on my Blog Hop post.  Your support is really appreciated.  Also, thank you to all the visitors from Paper Punch Addiction  and to Kim for selecting my post to feature on 29 September. 

Recently, I decided to try out colouring with Copics and now I'm hooked.  I have avoided doing this  for ages, specifically because of the cost of getting involved in another craftt  product (so much for good intentions!).  I am very much at the beginning of the learning process and look forward to  improving with practice.  Today's card uses the first image I have coloured with Copics.  This is 'Marci' Ballerina and reminds me of the 'fairy' outfit I bought for my husband's niece a couple of years ago, that she loved.  It is her 5th birthday shortly (where have the years gone?) so I hope she will like it.  

I created a stage for 'Marci' with the Top Note die and added lots of dimension and texture. The top scalloped 'curtain' was cut with the Tasteful Trim die and then put through the crimper and the stage 'skirt' has been pleated. The floorboards are textured cardstock coloured with Copics and a Chocolate Chip ink pad swiped over the top. I've finished it with clear rhinestones to add some bling. This was a fun card to make.

Project Details
Stamps	'Marci' Ballerina
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla (Textured), Melon Mambo, Melon Mambo & Marina Mist Patterns Stack
Ink	Memento Tuxedo Black, Chocolate Chip
Accessories	Pink Rhinstone brade, 1/8" Marina Mist taffeta ribbon, Basic Rhinestones
Tools	Top Note Die, Tasteful Trim Die, Timeless Type die, Big Shot, Circle punches, Dimensionals, Crimper, Copics

I also have a  'mini-card' to show you, using the 'Two Tags' die.  I have used the tag hole to add the flower embellishment, which makes it more of a 'mini-card' than a tag. Some friends came over to stamp last weekend, so I took the opportunity to stamp out a few images from the 'Easy Events' stamp set.  These small images are quick and easy to colour and perfect for mini-cards.

  
The next photo shows you the inside of the card.  There is still plenty of space to write (unless you have large handwriting!).  I love that it fits into the new mini square envelopes, which are lovely and smooth for stamping as well.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Easy Events
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Melon Mambo & Pear Pizzazz Patterns Stack
Ink	Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories	Mini silver brad
Tools	Two Tags Die, Big Shot, Boho Blossoms punch, Itty Bitty Flower punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, Copics

Finally, here are a couple of photos of Artie & Crafty enoying the sunshine today. Artie decided that the washing basket on the deck was the place to be.  It is pretty impressive that he managed to get himself tucked into the base of the basket, because he is a very large cat.

 
The next one is of Crafty, who decided that my rose pot was the place to be.  I'm not sure this rose is going to have a long life. What goes on in their heads?

 

Well, this has been a bit of a long post, so if you made it to this point, thanks for your patience!

Happy crafting!

 

Violet Silhouette

Hello

It has been a gorgeous few days of spring weather in Melbourne and I hope there are going to be many more.  My garden is starting to burst into colour and my new roses are starting to bud as well. This is my absolute favourite time of year.

I was playing around with a few new toys today and came up with this card.  The silhouette and doily give it a bit of a vintage look, and the sentiment seemed appropriate for the season. I'm going to send this card to my Mum, just to say hello. 

 

Project Details
Stamps	En Francais, Easter Blooms
Card stock & Papers	Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, Whisper White, Rose Red, Rose Red Pattern Stack
Ink	Rich Razzleberry, Perfect Plum
Accessories	White Organza ribbon, Small pink rhinestone brad, Basic Pearls, Vintage flowers (retired)
Tools	Doily & Silhouette Dies (not SU), Nestabilities, Big Shot, Modern Label punch, Oval punch, Owl punch (heart), Sponge dauber, Dimensionals.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

  

For a Friend

Hi there

It has been a busy weekend of gardening for me.  I planted my new roses (12 of them) and mulched the whole of the back garden, so not much time was spent creating.  However, I hope to show you a photo of my roses in flower in a couple of months, all going well.

Today, I have another card made with the 'Button Buddies' stamp set.  The vase image is a really versatile one and looks great stamped or embellished with buttons or the Itty Bitty punched flower. This card is for a friend who hasn't been feeling the best lately, so I hope the bright and cheerful colours give her a lift.  Here it is.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Button Buddies, Trendy Trees (Sentiment)
Card stock & Papers	Pacific Point, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo Patterns Stack
Ink	Pacific Point, Melon Mambo
Accessories	1/8" White Taffeta ribbon, Brights and Subtles buttons, Small pink rhinestone brad, Basic Pearls
Tools	Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Scallop & Circle Die, Big Shot, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, Scallop Trim border punch, Stampin' Write markers (Pacific Point, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Old Olive), Dimensionals.

Enjoy your week.

 

More Sneak Peaks & Last Chance List

Hello

It's been busy few days, as our Godson Joss and a couple of his friends have been over from WA for a week of snow skiing, football and shopping. They left this morning and I've been busy with the cleaning and washing and trying to get things ship-shape before my working week starts.

First up, the list of retiring Stampin' Up! products was announced today. You can click on the image in the sidebar on the left to look at the PDF file.  This will be updated on a daily basis and products will be available only while stocks last.  There are some items discounted up to 40%.

You will see a lot of 12" x 12" cardstock in the list, as it is being reconfigured in the new catalogue.  If you enjoy using textured cardstock (as I do), you might want to stock up on your favourite colours as in the 2011-12 IBC, textured cardstock will only be available in the assorted packs. This means you only get 2 sheets of each colour. In the new configuration, 12" x 12" will be in packs of 12 sheets of smooth cardstock only.

The cards I have today, show you one of the new border punches and more of the images from the 'Button Buddies' stamp set that I won at Convention. The cards are all 10cm x 10cm, which I think is a nice size for a gift card. Plenty of room to write your message, but quick to put together.

The first card uses the new 'Dotted Scallop Ribbon' border punch. This punch has lots of potential and this card shows you a cute frame created with the punch.  This is really simple, just start with a piece of cardstock 3" x 3" and positioning the punch in the centre, punch each side of the square.  You can do this with the other Stampin' Up! border punches, but I think this one is particularly nice. I have coloured the image from 'A Flower for All Seasons' with ink and an Aqua Painter and trimmed it to fit. This is one of the many stamp sets that is on the Last Chance List.

 

Project Details
Stamps	A Flower for All Seasons, Tiny Tags
Card stock & Papers	Bazzill White, Marina Mist (Textured), Pretty in Pink, Watercolour, Pretty in Pink Striped DSP
Ink	Stazon, Daffodil Delight, Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Soft Suede
Accessories	Basic Pearls
Tools	Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch (NEW), Itty Bitty Flower punch, Jewellery Tag punch, Dimensionals, Aqua Painter

The next two cards use images from 'Button Buddies', which as the name implies, is designed for use with buttons, but the images are just as cute without them. The first one is a bunch of cherries, which is perfect for the Cherry Cobbler buttons I've used.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Button Buddies (NEW), You're a Gem
Card stock & Papers	Bazzill White, Whisper White, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler (Textured), Whisper White, Black Striped DSP
Ink	Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black
Accessories	Basic Rhinestone, 1/8" Black Taffeta ribbon
Tools	Oval Nestabilities, Big Shot, Scallop border punch, Dimensionals, Sponge Dauber, Mat Pack, Paper piercer, Glue Dots

The last one uses the flower image, which was stamped 3 times in various shades of pink and then cut out 2 of them at the different petal layers.  This is also a versatile image and would look great with the petals layered as well.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Button Buddies (NEW), Fabulous Phrases
Card stock & Papers	Bazzill White, Whisper White, Regal Rose, Basic Gray Striped DSP
Ink	Rose Red, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink
Accessories	Basic Pearls, Brights and Subtles Buttons, 3/8" White Taffeta ribbon
Tools	Scallop Trim border punch, Word Window punch, 1/2" Circle punch, Dimensionals, Glue Dots

 Have a good week.

  

Candy Butterflies

Hello

The end of another week and it has been very wintry here in Melbourne - great for hearty soups and comfort food, but not great for the hips!  I'm feeling more refreshed and alive after my first week of holiday, the healing power of sleep is wonderful. I've been out in the garden today as there are lots of leaves and seed balls still coming off my Liquid-amber tree and the end is not yet in sight (sigh).  Not sure why our tree is always the last in the neighbourhood to fall; it must be too well looked after, I think.

My card today is enough to brighten up the dreariest day with candy coloured butterflies from the new 'Creative Elements'  stamp set. This set will be in the new 2011/12 Idea Book and Catalogue in September and was one of the fabulous stamp sets that we got at Convention this year.  Not another butterfly, I hear you say?  This is a really cute butterfly stamp and it is a good size (not too big or small) and it stamps beautifully to highlight the lovely lacy pattern.  This set has 7 other versatile stamps suitable for a variety of projects, which I'll give you a sneak peak of in the coming weeks.

I've used last week's versatile Clean & Simple 147 sketch for this card.  I've got heaps more ideas for this one.

 

Here is what I came up with.  Now aren't those butterflies cute?

 

Project Details
Stamps	Creative Elements (New in 2011/12 Catalogue), Best Yet (Retired, Hostess Set)
Card stock & Papers	Tempting Turquoise (Smooth & Textured), Whisper White, Pretty in Pink (Textured)
Ink	Regal Rose, Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight
Accessories	Basic Pearls strip, White Taffeta Ribbon
Tools	Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die, Tasteful Trim Die Bigz XL Die (Autumn/Winter Mini), Big Shot, Circle Punches, Dimensionals

 I hope you enjoy your weekend!

 

A Flower for All Seasons

Hi there

I hope you're enjoying the Queens Birthday long weekend and getting some rest and relaxation.  That is certainly my aim, as well as some stamping, of course.

I haven't done any colouring recently, so I decided to get out the 'A Flower for all Seasons' stamp set. They are all cute images, but with some warmer weather in mind, I chose the daisies and watering can with the cute frog. I've used inks and a blender pen on Whisper White cardstock, which is a good option for small detailed images such as this one.  I'm still in a Rich Razzleberry phase at the moment, so the colour of the watering can led to the rest of the colour scheme. I cut out the image with a labels die and while still sitting in the die, sponged around the edges to define the frame.

The scallop border is created with the double edged scallop oval trim cut with the 'Tasteful Trim' die. At the top, I have shown only one half of the scallop and at the bottom I've used the full trim.  I like that the scallop is larger than the scallop border punch, but a bit smaller than the other scallop border on this die.  The flowers are punched from the Itty Bitty punches set and to give them some dimension I use the bone folder and the pricking mat to press down the centre and the petals fold in nicely.

 
  

Project Details
Stamps	A Flower for All Seasons, Trendy Trees (Sentiment)
Card stock & Papers	Pear Pizzazz, Rich Razzleberry, Cottage Garden DSP (Retired), Rich Razzleberry Patterns Stack, Whisper White
Ink	Basic Grey, Rich Razzleberry, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, More Mustard, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Suede
Accessories	Basic Pearls, 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon
Tools	Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Corner Rounder Punch, Dimensionals, Blender Pen, Spellbinders Labels die, Tasteful Trim Die, Big Shot, Sponge Daubers

Stay warm!

 

More Sweet Stitches

Hi there

I hope that the Easter bunny has visited and you are having a lovely long weekend. Unfortunately, no cholocate for me yesterday as I spent most of it in bed with a migraine.  Definitely not what I had in mind for Easter Sunday. I hope today is a better one and that we get some sunshine in Melbourne after this cold, foggy morning.

Onto to brighter things, today I have a another simple card for you using the Sweet Stitches DSP from the current Autumn/Winter mini catalogue.  This paper is quite busy in terms of colour and pattern, so one way to use it is in small amounts.  Although I have put the patterns close together it gives an overall impression of bright colour without one pattern being overwhelming.

The colours and patterns of these papers remind me of the 1930's quilting fabrics. I've paired it with the (now) rarely heard sentiment from the 'You're a Gem' stamp set, which goes perfectly, I think.  This card is for my Mum's friend who took the photos at her recent birthday event and sent me them to me on a disk.

 
For a change, I've used the Curly Label punch on the front of the card and then placed the sentiment on the inside, so you get to see it again. 

 

Project Details
Stamps	You're a Gem
Card stock & Papers	Melon Mambo, Very Vanilla, Sweet Stitches DSP
Ink	Melon Mambo
Accessories	1mm Rhinestones (not SU)
Tools	1" Circle punch, Curly Label punch, Decorative corner punch (not SU), Corner rounder punch

Happy stamping! 

 

Simple Invite

Hello again

I'm going to WA shortly to catch up with family and friends for a couple of weeks.  It will also be my Mum's 80th birthday, so we are having a family dinner to celebrate.  I haven't seen some of my nieces and nephews since they were children (now they are adults), so it will be an interesting time.

To make it a bit special, I put together some invitations for the dinner in a card format.  I needed to produce a bunch of these really quickly as I had to send them to WA before they were posted to the recipients.  So, simple and elegant was the order of the day and the 'Baroque Motifs' scroll stamp fit the bill. I have embossed it in gold on Very Vanilla and then added a couple of small flowers punched with the Itty Bitty flower punch.  They were distressed a bit to give them some shape and then a small rhinestone popped in the centre.  The card base is Rich Razzleberry as is the sentiment.  They got the thumbs-up from my hubby (which always make me worry ) who always prefaces his positive statements with 'I don't want to encourage you, but...' . Gotta love those males! Anyway, here it is.  This isn't a very good photo, as it was taken in the early morning gloom, before rushing to the post office.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Baroque Motifs, Sincere Salutations
Card stock & Papers	Rich Razzleberry, Very Vanilla
Ink	Versamark, Rich Razzleberry
Accessories	2mm Rhinestones (not SU)
Tools	Scallop Trim Corner Punch, Itty Bitty Flower Punch, Gold Embossing Powder (not SU), Heat Gun, Stamp-a-ma-jig

 Thanks for stopping by.