Happy Moustache day!

One of our friends just loves moustaches at the moment. For her birthday my daughter designed this card for her. We used the happy day stamp set and my undefined carved "lippy" stamp.

On the inside we used the "Sketched Birthday" stamp set. 

So that she could put the card under her nose, we also decorated the back of the card with the same images.

Did it make you smile? 

Card recipe:

Stamps- Happy Day, Sketched Birthday, Creatively Yours, undefined.

Card stock- naturals white, crumb cake.

Ink - Black stampin write marker, Cherry cobbler ink pad.

Sharp snip scissors. 

Storage boxes

What do you use your plastic wood stamp boxes for?

I had this idea recently to store my clear mount blocks in it.

You can fit 4-5 blocks in a large case. 

This one fits block A, D, H and E.

Easy to store on the shelf or in your craft bag, see through and you know where and whats in there at a glance.

These boxes are made to hold your wood stamp sets ... They come in large and half size boxes.

I have used the half box to store a set of undefined stamps.

And fellow demo Felicity used it for gift wrapping some chocolates and now that we've eaten all the contents, i might have to use it to store some stamp supplies like snail refils, glue dots and two way glue in.

Also thinking you can store several containers of embossing powder and an embossing buddy together in one place. Or, several bottles of re inkers, glitter and ribbons...

Large boxes are 4 for $11.95 and 

4 half boxes for $8.95.

Also on the same page 197, are the clear mount DVD size: 4 cases for $9.95.

An envelope punch board Gift card holder

Here's a quick gift card holder I made with the envelope punch board.

It is made with a piece of naturals embossed paper measuring 4" x 12" . Isn't the pattern gorgeous? The paper comes embossed and you can sponge any colour over it. I have used Night of Navy ink.

The gift holder is Scored at 2 1/4" and 8", creased and folded. 

Then the bottom piece is stuck down to create a pocket.

The top flap has two notches punched out with the envelope punch board to create a little lock which keeps the gift holder closed.

Finally i have decorated with a EPB silver Card stock Bow and mosaic punch bauble.

Tag a bag gift boxing

Last days before Christmas... Shopping, end of year get togethers, coffee and catch ups with friends, going to the beach for a swim in the evenings. 

And in our house hand making gifts for teachers, friends and family.

Yesterday I visited one of my favourite crafting friends. 

I made her a simply decorated box from page 158 of the annual catalogue. They're food safe so you can package biscuits, ginger bread, lollies, cupcakes or chocolate in them.

I took my decorating inspiration from page 180 of the AC. But instead of stamping hexagons on the acetate sleeve I ran it through my big shot using the hexagon honeycomb patterned embossing folder.

It was so simple to decorate with cherry cobbler and silver ribbon with a gift tag. I did stamp some white staton ink hexagons from my undefined stampset for decoration.

Inside is some chocolate, coffee and tea bags and a velum paper lantern to hang

on the tree. I will show you that on a separate post.

Here's the same box I made for Jess's teacher.

I placed a piece of Wisteria Wonder cardstock under the embossed acetate wrapping it with ribbon and a gift tag. This is the time of year for gifting. I love making individual gifts for friends and family. Inside the calico bag is an ink spot and two stamps for the teacher. Stamps a teacher might use like "You rock" !

Happy mail

We all love happy mail and at this time of year every day brings more.

Here's some I received from some talented ladies.

Felicity Hawkins - I absolutely love the doily and heat embossing on the gift box, wrapped beautifully with a matching Santa's list Christmas card.

The second one is from Jill F - just loving the paper stacks in Bermuda Bay and island Indigo.

Third is from Lynn - I just love the sparkly embellishment on her stars.

This one is from My other gorgeous cousin, Janet, I love the red and green buttons and glittery bells.

A Vellum Lumier for Christmas

What is a vellum lumier?

It is a lantern made from vellum that you can put a tea light candle inside.

The square of vellum is 8"x 8" and I scored at 2", 4, 6 and cut out four corner squares, leaving 1/2cm tabs to put sticky strip on. 

This one is simply a velum box with some embossed texture and holes for the ribbon to go through and punched glimmer paper mosaic shapes on the outside.

I have placed a small battery powered Led candle inside.

It is safe to hang on a tree and very light if you had to post it too.

Boxes and bows at Friday coffee and cards

Did you miss what we made at Friday's coffee and card session?

We made bows with the stampin up envelope punch board (EPB).

We made envelopes in different shapes and sizes. A cute little Gift box with a tab top opening. 

Here's how it looked with a piece of ribbon threaded through the punched tabs.

And finally the two Slate grey Christmas cards made with the one inch paper bow and silver paper ornament. I really like the Navy blue and Slate grey with silver together.

We had a great morning chatting and crafting. My next order will be going in on 11.12.2013 when the December Clearance sale goes live.

Undefined stamping - Stampin' Up!

Need a new stamp? This one's an original! 

Can you believe I made it myself from the undefined stamp carving kit?

Now I can put a ribbon on a card in any colour I like!

Here it is on a Christmas card or two.

I have stamped it in Real Red and popped it up on dimensionals, then I added a bauble from the ornaments stampset and a large rhinestone on the top.

I love using the patterned paper packs from the Seasonal catalogue they are just bigger than a card front so you can cover as much or as little of the base card with your chosen pattern.

These cards are stamped in cherry cobbler to match the patterned paper. The Christmas bauble is stamped in Gumball green ( a favourite Christmas colour for me this year).

And the words are from "O, holy night" stamp set. I used my stampin' write markers to colour the words I wanted to use.

Let me know if you are interested in doing a stamp carving class. 

The Undefined stamp carving kit is $34.95 a great Christmas present for a crafty friend or family member. Contact Nerida on 0468 877125 to inquire about my classes or, email nerida_carter@hotmail.com to place an order.

A Christmas gift

A lovely friend asked me to make this gift for her. She posted it off and I am so glad to be able to create hand made gifts for people, that I know will appreciate them.

The box is from Stampin' Up! It's designed to keep and store wooden stamps neatly on a shelf. I am finding heaps of fun purposes for them. Here is the back.

The boxes have a plastic sleeve front and back so you can slip a piece of patterned paper in side ( like you do with a DVD case). You could keep rolls of ribbon, buttons and brads in them, birthday cards and any kind of card making kit with small pieces.

This box will fit 10 cards inside easily. I have included 10 cards and stamped envelopes in plastic sleeves.

The boxes are $11.95 for a pack of 4 (works out at about $3 each).

And you can get them in stackable half size cases too.

Sealed with a kiss - Undefined stamp carving

Sunday is creating day ... I was showing my daughter how to carve rubber with the Undefined stamp kit and thought it would be nice to share a carving tutorial with my blog readers.

You will need: 

Stampin' up! Undefined stamp carving kit.

A pencil and a pair of strong scissors.

Step 1. Choose an image you'd like to create a stamp of. We chose a set of lips to seal our envelopes with! I think a year or so ago Stampin' up sold a single stamp like this. So you could choose an idea from Pinterest or from your wish list of stamps I always wanted but didn't get!

Step 2. Draw your picture onto a piece of paper. Turn it over and press it on to a piece of the stampin' up rubber. You can scribble on the back of it like we did at school. 

Step 3. Take the smaller and thinner of the two stamp carving tools and begin lightly carving along the lines. It takes a few goes to get the right pressure and angle. 

Tip: I found it far easier to carve the lines with the small tool first and then do the larger tool last.

Do all the detail and fine lines with the finer tool, first.

Step 4. Now take the larger tool and gouge out all the bits that are not part of your stamped image.

Around the edges, into the deep crevices. This tool is pretty heavy duty so always start away from your line, one false move and you could lose a lot of rubber. Or a bit of skin ...don't say I didn't warn you!

Step 5. Now when you have almost finished and wondering whether you've done ok, or should walk away from the carving table. Ink up your unfinished stamp and see what your image is going to look like. Remember it's reversed so if you are creating words make sure you carve it back to front.

Step 6. Carve away any rubber that is not part of your image. You can make any adjustments to the shape and cut away the excess bits that you don't want to have ink on them using a pair of good rubber scissors.

Step 7. Cut a piece of sticky foam ( provided in the kit) roughly the same shape and size of your stamp. Layer and stick the foam and rubber together cutting any excess foam away.

Choose a wood block to mount your rubber stamp.

Step 8. Stamp your image in black ink onto your wood block then stick the rubber stamp to the other side of the block.

Step 9. Start stamping your completely undefined, unique, hand-made stamp.

Undefined stamp kit has everything you need for $34.95

Enjoy!