Be Inspired Design Team Hop

28 March 2018


Welcome to the Be Inspired Design Team Blog Hop. You may have just arrived here from my amazingly talented and super funny friend Cathy Caines from Canada. If you are starting here please make sure you hit the next button at the bottom of this post and hop all the way around. 

The theme for this hop is 'Be Inspired by New Life'- Spring, Wedding, Baby etc.

I decided to make a baby card for a friend who has recently had twins. There's actually a couple of friends who have had babies recently - so even though it's Autumn here in Australia it seems it is still the season for new life! 


How sweet are those little lambs?! I used the Moon Baby stamp set on page 106 of the Annual Catalogue and watercoloured them. I really like the rustic look using the Wood Textures Designer Series Paper and to try and keep the background neutral I used a Crumb Cake base and the stripes are from the Tutti-frutti Designer Series Paper on page 29 of the Occasions Catalogue. 


Next up to 'Be Inspired' by is my talented and super sweet friend, Janneke de Jong from the Netherlands.

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Stamping By The Sea II
Preparations are underway for our second Stamping By The Sea Retreat. It will be held at East Beach Holiday Park, Kiama on the beautiful NSW South Coast. Last year was a huge success and so much fun and this one is set to be bigger and better!

Testimonials:
"Congratulations Louise on running a fantastic craft retreat last weekend. While l know we were not devoted Stampin' Up-ers, everyone and especially you went out of their way to make the 'newbies' welcome which meant a lot. Every single detail was lovely...from the decorations, food, gifts and games and make and takes...every single thing. Looking forward to next year already. Thanks for having us!" - Kathy.

"Louise you are a legend! Along with Tracey (chef), Phyl (Louise's mum) and your posse of helpers you managed to create a truly amazing weekend retreat for me and all the ladies. It was nothing short of perfect with every detail carefully planned and executed. Thank you so much. It was a memorable first Stamping By the Sea." - Mehala

"Thank you again Louise and Tracey for organising such a brilliant weekend. Thank you to ALL of you for making me feel so welcome and making my very first retreat so memorable. I learned lots of handy tips and tricks and had so much fun. I miss you all heaps already! Bring on next year!" - Leigh

For further information and to register your interest please click here.



Thanks for hopping by!
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Global Design Project - We Must Celebrate (Easter)

27 March 2018

With Easter on the doorstep it's only fitting that the Global Design Team have an Easter themed challenge this week. For my international friends this mean they are welcoming in Spring and the warmer weather, however in Australia (and of course the rest of the Southern Hemisphere) we are enjoying Autumn and for some people (not me) they are looking forward to the cooler months. I would love to be one of those people who have two homes - one in the Northern Hemisphere and one in the South and rotate according to the Summer seasons...this would mean I would never see my Mum though because she would be on a Winter rotation and we can't have that, so I will just have stay in one home and rug up! lol


Moving on....here is my Easter inspired card, cute huh!  

I made this card using the adorable bunny from the We Must Celebrate stamp set on page 39 and the little flower and leaves are from the Bird Banter stamp set on page 42 - both from the Occasions Catalogue. I quickly coloured this little fella with a Smokey Slate Watercolor Pencil and blended with a Blender Pen. 

This card was inspired by fellow crafting friend Karen Farquhar and her set of adorable Easter cards for the GDP Colour Challenge - you can see them >here< - they are very cute! 

Now head over to the Global Design Project and see what the amazing Design Team have in store for you this week.

Thanks for stopping by!
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My Tips for Creative Block and GDP Sketch Challenge

20 March 2018

#GDP130
There's a great Sketch Challenge over at the Global Design Project this week and it was a popular one for all the Design Team too.
I seem to have lost my mojo at the moment and every time I attempt to step out of my comfort zone and be a little more adventurous nothing seems to come together quite how I like it. I just can't seem to resist the colour combination of Crumb Cake, Pink Pirouette and Melon Mambo....and I'm also a sucker for Linen Thread!! I did however follow the sketch and put the base layer on a tilt and for that I am quite proud of myself! 


I used the flower from the Lots of Happy Card Kit and one of my favourite sentiments 'friend to friend' from the Teeny Tiny Sentiments stamp set. The finished card size is 10x10cm. 

My Tips for Creative Block:
Firstly, it happens, the pain is real. If it hasn't happened to you yet, it will and if you say that you have never lost your mojo, you're simply lying! 
  1. You don't need to reinvent the wheel - sometimes simple is best.

  2. Stay true to yourself. I like using pinks and so I do. If you like earthy tones, bright projects or even if you like using loads of embellishments - then use them!  

  3. CASE - Copy And Selectively Edit or Copy And Share Everything - either way you like to say it, CASE AWAY my lovely people! Go to Pinterest, Instrgram, Facebook or Split Coast Stampers and use an idea from someone else and make it your own. However, if you do plllleeasse make sure you give credit where credit is due and share the person who inspired you - it's the nice thing to do.

  4. CASE yo'self! (lol) For today's project I was inspired by two cards I had already made. Refer to #1 - there's no need to reinvent the wheel, so I didn't!

  5. Play along to challenges like our Global Design Project. The Design Team share the most stunning projects and there's always something to give you direction like a sketch or colour combination or theme. Some other great challenge blogs include Just Add Ink, Mojo Monday, Fab Friday and CAS(E) this Sketch - just to name a few. 

  6. Like Dory from Nemo - just keep swimming. Do NOT stop creating. This is the worse thing you can do. Even if you simply colour like you did when you were a kid, it will be better than stopping. I promise if you keep creating your mojo will return, giving you peace and the world will continue to spin again! 
Hopefully next week I will be feeling more inspired to step out of my comfort zone - actually who knows if that will ever happen! I do however promise to take my own advice and will keep creating. To give you even more inspiration head over to the Global Design Project and see what the amazing Design Team have in store for you this week.


Thanks for stopping by,
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Global Design Project - CASEing Steffi Helmschrott

06 March 2018

#GDP128
This week at the Global Design Project we are getting our inspiration from one of our talented Design Team Members, Steffi Helmschrott from Germany. I love Steffi's clean, elegant style and her watercoloring always blows my mind! 

The definition of CASE: Copy And Share Everything or as the GDP call it Copy and Selectively Edit!  Put simply, we get our inspiration from a particular project or creation. For this challenge we can use ANY element. You might be inspired by the colours, the stamp set or the card layout.


I used the stamp set from the Lots of Happy Card Kit on page 15 of the Occasions Catalogue 2018. The card kit is so pretty and comes with everything you need including the stamp set, ink spot, colouring pencils, clear block and everything to make 20 cards....great to take away for a stamp weekend! It would have to be one of my all time favourite card kits - thinking I should order myself another one....which is a fabulous idea because Stampin' Up! provide a Refill Kit....they're so clever!


Now head over to the Global Design Project and see what the amazing Design Team have in store for you this week.

Thanks for stopping by,
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