Pink Card Making Inspiration

 

Aren't they gorgeous?

I photographed these beautiful pink begonias in the Begonia House in Ballarat, Australia.

I was all set to come home and grow begonias myself, I was so in love with the delicate blooms. Alas, I found out they won't grow in my area, as it's too hot.

Pink Inspiration Card Making
Next best thing, make some pink flower inspired cards, and a good excuse to buy all things pink. I've gathered yummy pink ribbons, flowers and paper in all shades. Oh and yes, of course pink bling.

I have the pink inspiration and the card making materials. Now, I just have to get to and actually make the cards.

I may not have pink begonias in my garden, but I still have the gorgeous photos to inspire me. Can you grow begonias in your area?

Etsy Wish List Craft Gossip Giveaway

Who wouldn't want a blank cheque to spend at Etsy?

The Craft Gossip Etsy Wishlist Giveaway
I bet we all have an Etsy wishlist. It's a great place to browse at all the wonderful goodies.

Craft Gossip is a network of craft blogs, including Scrapbooking and Stamping. They are giving 3 people a chance to win a $100 gift voucher each to spend at Etsy on their Etsy Wishlist. Check out my Wishlist for the Giveaway below.

They cover shippping too, which is a real bonus. Find out more at the Craft Gossip Etsy giveaway post on their site.

What I'm Looking At
I'm keen to make some more cards and papercraft projects, especially experimenting with Vintage, French inspired and Oriental themes. I found the perfect selection for my Etsy wishlist for the Craft Gossip giveaway.

Here's my $100 Etsy Wishlist
Cute Japanese Stamp - Traditional Pattern - $10.50
Wooden Stamps In A Can - Bird  - $26.00
Wooden Stamps In A Can - Paris - $26.00
Duet Stamps - Bird & Bird Cage - $9.00
Duet Stamp Set - Angel - $9.00
Duet Stamp - Lace - $9.00
Cute Japanese Stamp - Flowers - $10.50

Comes to $100 exactly and all from the one Etsy store... Karaku - one of my favourites.

Gosh. that was fun choosing. Hard to stop though! It would be so fun to play with this little selection of goodies. I have some ideas already.

Do you have an Etsy wishlist?
Head on over to Craft Gossip to find out how to make your own Etsy wish list. Winners announced September 1st and open worldwide.

Mini Books Know How Links

The very talented Kerri at My Scrappn Addiction reignited my creative juices with this fabulous envelope book, pictured above.

She runs all sorts of papercraft classes too if you're in the Melbourne area (Australia).  Check out her site for lots of wonderful creations and ideas. I'm also looking  forward to seeing the Recipe Book that Kerri's going to make soon.

I've recently tried making a tag book, also known as a flag book.  I'm just dipping my toe in the water with mini books, but enjoy experimenting, especially as I now have my new Bind It All.

Over 60 Mini Book How To Videos
So I went on a search. Wow! Check out Card Making Accessories for a feast of mini book goodness. There are over 60 individual videos of mini books there. That should keep us all busy for a little while. :)

First though, I'll be making Kerri's yummy envelope book!  Thanks for the inspiration, Kerri.

Envelope Book Image: © My Scrappn Addiction - Used With Permission

Free Downloadable Word Art Sentiments from Papercrafts Magazine

Papercrafts Magazine has a section on their site with great free downloadable sentiments, patterns and other downloads. Many are in colour. 


I've made it easy for you, by doing a very broad listing of some of what you'll find there.


The word art sentiments I spied include -

2010

• September/October- Halloween
• July/August - Thankyou, Gratitude & Inspiration
• Card Creations Vol 8 - Christmas, Birthday, Thankyou, Dad and more
• May/June - Mothers, Fathers and A Good Laugh
• Go To Sketches - Birthdays, Best Wishes, Friends, Thinking of You
• March/April - Baby, Love, Marriage, Congratulations, Thanks tag
• January/February - Valentines

2009 

• November/December - Christmas, Holidays, Thanksgiving
• September/October- Halloween
• July/August - Earth, Tree, Mother, Thankyou
• May/June - Mothers, Fathers, Graduation
• March/April - General
• January/February - Success, Wisdom, Happiness, Education

2008

• November/December - House, Home
• September/October- Halloween
• August - Flowers, Birds, Colours, General

Here's an article with links to cards done with these free word art sentiments. More cards are shown with the actual sentiments in the download section. Enjoy browsing... some great ideas there!

For more free digital stamps and downloads check my Free Digital Stamps List

Please Note: Check rights and terms of use for freebies or downloads before use.

CalligraFUN - Callilgrafun Brush Marker Lettering

I'm thinking of doing Martha Lever's online Calligrafun workshop.
It's fancy lettering with brush markers. Others who've done the course have given positive feedback. I'm a long time reader of Martha's blog, Art Du Jour. She is delightful and super talented.

I also enquired about the course and Gail from Shabby Cottage, which hosts the courses, couldn't have been more helpful with my questions. So all is sounding good. Now, I just need to get myself organised.

In the meantime, here are some Calligrafun videos from YouTube. Enjoy!

Shabby Wrinkled Ribbon Candy

I love vintage and have a thing for ribbon, so I was delighted to discover this Shabby Wrinkled Seam Binding in a beautiful array of colours.

Nicole at Gotta Have Paper is giving away a gorgeous bundle of 3 different coloured ribbons from Prairie Bird Boutique, an Etsy shop. This one is called Past Autumn with 5 yards of each colour.

I'm also partial to the ribbon bundle called He Sent Roses which has "moss green, deepest rose pink and beautiful burgundy wine" colours. There are some amazing shabby wrinkled ribbon colours on offer.

This giveaway closes on August 22nd, so head on over to check it out.

Super Idea - Make Your Own Stamped Doily Image

At the Paper, Scissors and Superheroes blog, there is a super idea to "build your own doily" stamped image. I love this idea and it looks so elegant. And of course, you can make your own variations using whatever stamps you have at hand.

It looks like a medallion. Basically, you use any circle stamp (a fancy one is even better). Then you bend any clear stamp straight line image, such as a border into a semi circle or scallop shape and stamp around the outside.

Better still, head on over to Paper, Scissors and Superheroes and check our the superb tutorial for this very clever technique.

Thanks for a great idea, Betsy. I'm off to experiment with this fun way to use my border stamps.

Found A Great Stamping Blog - Selma's Stamping Corner

With so many blogs, there is always something to learn, something to marvel at and something to be inspired by. So I was delighted to discover Selma's Stamping Corner which ticks all those boxes beautifully.

I'll be going back to visit regularly. I also want to have a really good look at Selma's Rose Tutorial for beautiful pink paper and vellum roses and the Crepe Flower Tutorial.

I'm also a big Just Rite Stamps fan, so was pleased to see lots of wonderful ideas for Just Rite projects. Selma generously shares her tips and how to's.

I encourage you to head on over to Selma's Stamping Corner and explore.

Ah.... so many great blogs... so little time.

Blogging The Book - Complete Photo Guide To Ribbon Crafts - Part 1

 

The Complete Photo Guide of Ribbon Crafts - Book Review - Part 1
I'm obsessed with ribbon at the moment and have found the most amazing book by Elaine Schmidt.
I just zipped across to Amazon and notice it has  good reviews there too, so I'm not alone.

I thought I would cover this book over a series of posts to give a better overview for ribbon lovers. First, I have to say, I would really recommend this book.It's the most comprehensive I've seen (224 pages), and covers a lot I haven't seen before,. The full colour photos and clear instructions are a big part of this.

Chapters include -

A Brief History of Ribbon
I found this fascinating.

• Did you know they used ribbon to adorn clothes in Ancient Egypt?
• Did you know that during the 16th Century the British Parliament tried to make wearing ribbons a right only of the nobility?

All About Ribbons
Covers different types of ribbon from satin to metallic and stylish ways for trimming up ribbon "ends"

Making Bows
This was an eye opener to me with full colour photo instructions for an amazing array of bows - many I'd never seen before.

There are also chapters on - 

• Ribbon Flowers
• Ribbon Embroidery
• Ribbon Trims, Rosettes & Tassels
• Ribbon Weaving, Patchwork & Knitting
• Sew & No Sew Ribbon Techniques
• Ribbon Accessories
• Crafting With Ribbon (including Papercrafts)
• Resources

Available from Amazon - $16.49

First Impressions of The Complete Photo Guide To Ribboncrafts
Loved the broad coverage and ideas
New bow styles I hadn't seen, but definitely want to try
Not just for papercrafters (e.g. sewing and knitting with ribbon too), but lots that could be adapted.

Watch out for Part 2 of the Review with specific details e,g, all the different bows covered, in a future blog post.

Over To You
Have you read this book? Do you have any other Ribbon book recommendations?

There's also a Complete Photo Guide of Papercrafts in the same series. I'll be looking for that one, for sure.

Calling All Australian Cardmakers

Making Christmas Cards For Australian Troops Overseas

Can you help?
Karen at Paper Lady and Tracey - an Aussie Stampin Up demonstrator, are organising blank handmade Christmas Cards to be sent to Australians troops serving overseas. They need to have them by November 5th, 2010. See further details at Karen's and Tracey's blogs.

Target of 1000 Christmas Cards - Updated Total To Date - 330
Karen and Tracey have a target of 1000 cards. The tally so far is 75, 250, 330 so a fair way to go yet. Spread the word.

They've had great success in past years with sending Christmas and Mother's Day cards with lots of grateful feedback from the troops who have little access to quality cards. Also, the troops appreciate the gesture from people thinking of them back home.

Organise Your Own Group Cardmaking Day
Or you could send the cards yourself if you get together with a group of friends for a card making day. I'm not sure if there are any specific guidelines e.g. cards with glitter cannot be sent to US troops. Karen and Tracey may have more details.

Some details on what can be sent to Australian troops can be found at the Ocean Sky Khaki blog.  Apparently, you can send up to 2kg post free (not just limited to cards) through any Australia Post Office.

Just in... August 9th Update From Tracey
....combined christmas cards Karen and i now have 250 cards and climbing daily, we have had 2 pizza boxes full from the Gold Coast and some from others all over Australia. The donations for me are over whelming and I cannot thank everyone enough, but please keep them coming, we would definitely love to reach 1,000.

Updated: August  10 - 330 cards