Lillybet's Papers

I'm so honoured to be part of this great blog hop.  There are so many lovely stamping friends whom I have come to know a little in the last few months. Some I've met at Onstage and some I only know online. It's amazing how we all connect through a love of creating. Like Kelly I have been a demo for 5 years and just received my 5 yr badge a few weeks ago, but unlike Kelly my kids are grown and moved away, so I am in awe of how much she is able to create and her awesome energy while still having little ones at home. I think we can all learn a lot from each other, but she definitley inspires me with her bubblyness and fun and creative approach. So thinking about the brief I tried to pinpoint what makes me happy ( in the paper world..) here's a few: brand new sheets of pretty paper new stamp sets playing with colour having an idea in my head and being able to make it come to life sharing creativity with others encouraging others to have a go  the lo

Well all good things come to an end, and this week is the end of the Occasions Catalogue so the team are CASEing it one last time. Many products are continuing but some just have to go. So I'm using the Urban Underground DSP before it's gone, and Kraft cardstock which I REALLY am going to miss, and an old tool - the alphabet rotary stamp since I don't yet own a small alphabet stamp to create my own sentiments. But I have also chosen the Gorgeous Dragonfly Dreams set which is continuing and some new ribbon coming next week - the mini chevron ribbon. I love quite a lot of projects in this book but I am very short on time this week so opted for a card that looked quite quick and easy, as well as packing a punch with its simplicity. The card on page 44, bottom right - how easy is a few strips of paper? And there are so many gorgeous patterns of DSP you could make this card a million ways and each one would look unique. The first sample follows the catalogue la

Welcome back to the next blog hop for colour INKspiration. I just love the colours this week - and my gorgeous daughter is a redhead so the inspiration picture really spoke to me. I rarely use Cajun Craze ( have you read that in 95% of the posts this week?) but it is quite a beautiful colour when you give it some love! AND how well does it go with these colours.  Bronwyn has done a brilliant job of challenging us all this week. I hope you get a chance to get inky and play with them too. Do you ever look at a challenge and wonder where to start? This often happens to me so I regularly turn to a trusted sauce of Inspiration - The Annual Catalogue. I figure the concept artists and designers there have already done a lot of hard work in experimenting with projects to come up with the right balance of scale, embellishments and layout so when I have limited time I can take short cuts by copying their ideas. When I first was introduced to Stampin' Up! the catalogue was actuall

Masculine cards are always tricky, but I don't believe they always have to be blue and brown and green and boring!I'm confident that this gallery will contain loads of amazing examples of that.  So this card is cheery and colourful. In truth the colours come from the Colour INKSpiration challenge blog this week because I was playing with them to create some birthday cards for that post. I'm terrible at throwing bits and pieces out and will hold onto them until I can create a new card! This card sort of happened that way. The background panel is shimmer white with some clear block stamping of Pool Party to get that watercolour background colour. The denim leaf is cut using the Seasonal Layers thinlits dies and then inlaid into the embossed cherry panel. I love the simplicity - and the element of a jigsaw piece. I love bows and string but they aren't quite masculine enough are they?! So I have had fun teasing out some of the Copper trim which is also coming in