Author: tinstar05

Hey there! I’m a card-making enthusiast with a passion for creativity that knows no bounds. Currently, I’m fortunate to be a part of four fantastic international card design teams, where I get to explore my craft and connect with fellow artists from all corners of the globe. It’s amazing how the world of card making can bring people together, and I’m constantly inspired by the diversity of styles and ideas that come my way. Beyond my card-making adventures, I lead a pretty busy life in the learning and development field, where I work full time as a Learning Lead. I thrive on helping others grow and reach their full potential, and it’s a role that keeps me on my toes and constantly learning. When I’m not immersed in the world of work or crafting, you can find me on the netball court, coaching and sharing my love for the game with a bunch of amazing individuals. So, whether I’m crafting, guiding professional development, or coaching on the court, I’m all about embracing lifes colorful and creative possibilities! Thanks for stopping by my corner of the web, and I hope you enjoy exploring my card creations and more.

Saturday Crafting

Today Miss K had a new friend from high school over so I was able to get a bit crafty.

I managed to make 3 cards that fit 5 challenges.

First up is a card for the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge.

I made a card for Miss K for Valentines Day using the bokeh technique following the FMS sketch. The sentiment (which is perfect for her) is from Altenew called ‘Everything About You’. I really like how this turned out and I hope she likes it too.

Next up is a card for the current Seize the Birthday challenge which has an optional topping of black and white.

I used the dies from the Stampin Up ‘Butterfly gala’ set and the sentiment is from ‘Amazing Life’ Behind the white die cut butterfly is some acetate so you can see through this card.

Lastly is my card for 3 challenges:

For the trio of images from the CTS sketch I used one of the halftone circles from Altenew inked up with Stampin Up Night of Navy ink. I die cut a butterfly from yellow card stock and added a sentiment from Waffle Flower ‘In Every Way’.

Thanks for looking and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Paw Prints on My Heart

Well hello everyone and thanks for joining us for the Paw Prints on my Heart Blog Hop. This is a blog hop that’s all about our fur babies!

You should have arrived from Pink Zebra Paper Creations, if not you can start from the beginning with Connie.

This is a one day blog hop, but you have until 10pm Sunday 10th February (US Pacific Coast time) or 5pm Monday 11th Febraury (Melbourne time) to finish hopping and leaving your love for all of these talented crafters.

We have two awesome sponsors for this hop – Alicia Bryant from Golden Goddess Designs who is supplying the gorgeous Woodland Animals die set and Rey Mysterio with Orquide Art who is giving away this beautiful Mixed Media Tag she created.

So, what do you need to do to win? Easy… become a follower of each of the fabulous blogs in this hop and leave each of them a comment, letting them know what you like best about their projects. If you’re one of the lucky winners there will be free shipping to the USA, but if you’re worldwide you will be asked to pay shipping. You’ll need to hop and leave a comment on every blog to be eligible to win. Winners will be announced on Wednesday 13th February (US Pacific Coast time) or Thursday 14th Febraury (Melbourne time) at Connie Can Crop.

For my card, I used a new stamp set from Stampers Anonymous called ‘Mister Meow Meow and Tweets ‘ for my card. Don’t you love the stamp name?

I stamped the main cat image in black and heat embossed him. I then messy water coloured him in and added some bubbles to the top for a bit of interest and balance. I mounted the panel on black then white card stock.

You’ll see the cat is fussy cut out – that’s because when I was adding adhesive on the back, I laid it down on some ink I had failed to clean up and I got messy marks on the panel; I didn’t want to waste my image so just cut out the ruined bits.

This guy remindes my of my Oscar, a rather regal ginger cat.

Why not join in the blog hopping fun and see what the other artists have created. Next in the hop list is: Made by Helen

However, if you get lost along the way, here’s our full line up:

Thanks for looking and have a great day.

WWC207 – Helen’s Feminine Anything Goes Challenge

Hello there, it’s time for another Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and Helen is our lovely hostess this week with a Feminine Anything Goes Challenge.

My card this week is using a new set by Stampin Up called ‘Wonderful Romance’ which I stamped the leaves and heat embossed in white on a Calypso Coral card panel. I then stamped the sentiment on some Whisper White cardstock and die cut it with the oval die that matches the stamp set, added a bit of twine and mounted it all onto a Whisper Whie card base.

Come join in the fun and make a feminine card. Check out the projects that the other artists at Watercooler Wednesday Challenges have created then take the challenge and link your creation to the challenge post. We’d love to have you join us. You have until Tuesday, 12th February at 10:00 Melbourne Time or Tuesday 5pm Mountain Time to link up your project.

Thanks for looking and have a great day.

Get Creative Challenge #77 – anything goes optional twist lots of red.

Well hello and welcome to today’s post. I’ve joined the design team over at Get Creative Challenges and they have a new challenge for this month – Anything Goes with an optional twist to use lots of Red!

Our sponsors for this challenge are: Charlie’s Stamps, Scribbles Designs and Sheepski Designs.

I have used a digital stamp from Scribbles Designs called ‘Santa’ which I printed and then coloured with my Stampin Blends and added some puffy paint for the fur parts of his hat, jacket and pants. I then used the sun ray stencil from MFT in Catherine Pooler Desings Limoncello ink and the sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp called ‘Festive Trees’.

He’s such a jolly fellow and colouring him made me feel happy.

Check out the Get Creative Challenge blog for details on the sponsor prizes and links to the other fabulous projects from the DT and come join in our fun and share you anything goes card with an optional twist to use lots of red by 3pm Friday 1st March (Melbourne time) or 11pm Thursday 28th February (US Eastern Standard time)

Thanks for looking and have a great day.

Card for my Valentine

With Valentines Day fast approaching, I thought I should get cracking on a card for my hubby who has been a pillar of support this past month with my mum becoming terminal and then passing and I want to let him know how much I love him.

I’ve been inspired by a number of challenges when making my card:

I used a stencil from Tim Holtz called ‘Scribbles’ which I roughly sponged Distress Oxides in Candied Apple and Picked Raspberry and then lightly spritzed them with water to get a bit of mixing happening. I cut the panel into a diagonal, added a little bit of black and white paper to make the panel pop and stamped my sentiment from the Power Poppy called ‘Big Scripts’ in the bottom corner.

I love how this colour combo worked out. Thanks for looking and have a great day.

WWC 206 – Anything Goes Challenge

This week’s challenge over at Watercooler Wednesday is an anything goes challenge.

I received a Stampin Up delivery the other day and in it were these adorable little sweet cups that remind me of the little ice cream cups I used to get at the movies when I was a kid.

I decided to cover my little cup with some Stampin Up DSP called ‘Floral Romance’ in the pale green leafy piece. I used the dies from the Stampin Up ‘Botanical Blooms’ set in Mossy Meadow, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White and Crushed Curry to make the leaves and flower. The sentiment is from The Ton.

Now to think about what I can fill it with. Any ideas?

Come join in the fun and make anything you feel like. Check out the projects that the other artists at Watercooler Wednesday Challenges have created then take the challenge and link your creation to the challenge post. We’d love to have you join us. You have until Tuesday, 5th February at 10:00 Melbourne Time or Monday 4th February 5pm US Mountain Time to link up your project.

Thanks for looking and have a great day.

Mindfulness Crafting

On Friday 25th January we said farewell to my mother. She had battled pancreatic cancer for 18months and succumbed on Sunday 20th January. The days in between have been a whirlwind of planning and arranging that I’m really only now know coming to terms with her being gone.

I am struggling to not dwell on her not being here anymore, so I have gone into my craft room to distract myself and try to reset my mind or at least get some balance. So to get inspiration, I have gone to my list of challenges I tend to follow to help me today.

First up is a card for CAS Colours & Sketches and CASology.

This was a quick and simple card to make thanks to the sketch. I used a new Stampin Up DSP for the squares called ‘How sweet it is’ and the sentiment is from Power Poppy called ‘Big Scripts’. I added a little bit of gold thread and sequins for the finishing touches.

Next up is a card for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge.

For the main panel I used a piece of DSP from Stampin Up called ‘Botanical Butterfly’. I chose one of the black and white butterfly pieces and lightly coloured one butterfly with my Stampin Blends in Pink Pirouette. The sentiment is from Avery Elle called ‘Handwritten Notes. I really love how this card turned out.

Next up is a card for the current Less is More challenge.

I thought this was an interesting sketch and loved the cards created by the DT. I decided to use one of my previously made alcohol inked background pieces and heat embossed the sentiment from the Stampin Up set ‘Itty Bitty Birthdays’.

Next up is a card for the current Alphabet Challenge for the letter ‘V’ for vehicle.

I used another stamp set and DSP from Stampin Up called ‘Geared Up Garage’ and ‘Classic Garage’. I inked up the car and coloured it with my Stampin Blend Cherry Cobbler marker. I die cut the gears with some silver foil paper. You can’t see it, but I’ve used some crystal effects on the car windows and headlights.

Lastly is a card for the Time Out Challenges and Addicted to CAS challenge. I’ve not played with them before, but who could resist the quote they have for inspiration.

I used a stamp set from Stamping Bella called ‘Uptown Girl Wilma loves wine’. I stamped her in Memento black ink and coloured her in with my Prisma pencils. This image reminds me of the cruise we took with my mum last Easter where we had so much fun, laughing, drinking, sightseeing. Here’s cheers to you mum.

Well, thanks for looking through this very long post and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

WWC #205 – Donna’s ‘All About Holidays’ Challenge

Hello there, it’s time for another Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.Today the lovely Donna is our host for the all about holidays challenge theme.

My card celebrates a summer holiday. We’re in the middle of summer here in Australia and I think I’ve only been able to get to the beach twice – very un-Australian of me!

I decided to use a new stamp set from Stampin Up called ‘Beach Happy’ which I inked up in Stampin Up Granny Apple Green, Grapefruit Grove, Mango Melody and a bit of Crumb Cake for the sand. The card base is Stampin Up Bermuda Bay cardstock. I used a Stampin Up embossing folder called Seaside to create the look of waves on my card base.

I really love how this card worked out and will be using this stamp set quite a bit more.

Come join in the fun and make a holiday inspired card. Check out the projects that the other artists at Watercooler Wednesday Challenges have created, then take the challenge and link your creation to the challenge post. We’d love to have you join us. You have until Wednesday, 29th January at 10:00 Melbourne Time or Tuesday 5pm US Mountain Time to link up your project.

Thanks for looking and have a great day.

WWC#204 – Gail’s Masculine ‘Anything Goes’ Challenge

Hello there, it’s time for another Watercooler Wednesday Challenge. The lovely Gail is our hostess this week with her Masculine Anything Goes Challenge.

My hubby’s birthday is just around the corner, so I decided to make a birthday card for him using a Stampin up set from the new Occassions catalogue called ‘Geared Up Garage’. Not only are the stamps fabulous, but it has some amazing dies including these gears I’ve used on my card cut from silver foil cardstock.

Come join in the fun and make a masculine card. Check out the projects that the other artists at Watercooler Wednesday Challenges have created then take the challenge and link your creation to the challenge post. We’d love to have you join us. You have until Wednesday, 22nd January at 10:00 Melbourne Time or Tuesday 5pm Mountain Time to link up your project.

Thanks for looking and have a great day.

This Magical Moment Blog Hop

Thank you for joining us for This Magical Moment Blog Hop!

Who doesn’t love Disney? We sure do! This is a blog hop featuring projects inspired by Disney characters or the Mouse himself!

You should have arrived from Audrey but if you didn’t you can head over to Connie Can Crop as she starts us off on this special hop.

This is a one day blog hop, but you have until Sunday 3rd October at 10pm (Pacific time) or Monday 4th Febriary (Melbourne time) to finish hopping and leaving your love for all of these talented crafters.

We have two awesomesponsors for this hop!!

M.A.H. Stamp Set4x4

Frame Punch Board andEmbellishments

What do you need to do to win?

Easy… become a follower of each of the fabulous blogs in this hop and leave each of them a comment letting them know what you like best about their projects. There is free shipping to any USA prize winners, anywhere else will be asked to pay shipping if they win.

You will have until 10 pm Sunday 3rd February (Pacific time) or 5pm Monday 4th February (Melbourne time) to finish the hop and leave your comments on every blog to be eligible to win. Winners will be announced on Wednesday 16th January at Connie Can Crop. Be sure to follow everyone and leave a comment along the way!

So, onto my creation…….. I don’t have any Disney stamps but remember when I visited Disneyland back in the early 90s that every where I looked I saw Mickey and Minnie hats with ears; so I thought I’d create a birthday card featuring Minnie’s ears with her signature big bow.

I die cut 3 circles from black cardstock in 2 sizes to make her face and ears. I then die cut her bow using an old Stampin Up Bigz bow die from some spotty DSP. I created my star background piece using Stampin Up Poppy Parade ink and the star trio stamp from the Mama Elephant “Make a wish’ stamp set.

I heat embossed the sentiment from the same stamp set in white on Minnie’s face, glued all the pieces together and my card was done!