Inspire.Create Stamping Challenges Theme: Birthday

Hello and welcome I am Karen Farquhar from Australia and thank you for joining me today for Inspire.Create Stamping Challenge #048.

July seems to be the Birthday month in our family so Inspire.Create Stamping Challenge #048 with a theme of 'Birthday' was perfect for me.
My card for the challenge was created with the Above the Clouds stamp set and the Hot Air Balloon coordinating punch.
I was fossicking through some boxes in my craft room and found some long forgotten pads of honeycomb paper and thought it would make a great hot air balloon.
I stamped half the stamp image on the back of the honeycomb pad and cut the image out. I then opened up the honeycomb paper and adhered the opened balloon to my card. 

But of course not everyone has honeycomb paper in their stash so I punched out 5 balloon die cuts with the Hot Air Balloon Punch, folded them in half and adhered them together to achieve a similar effect on my little 3" X 3" notecards.

I love punches. They are a quick and easy way to add depth and interest to your projects. Plus Stampin' Up! punches are of high quality, are affordable, simple to use and fold flat for convenient storage.

For another take on the hot air balloons I have stamped the balloons and created an easel card. You will notice that the stamped images have a mottled effect to add some texture and shade to the balloons and clouds. 

Thank you for visiting me today. Please, you are more than welcome to enter your projects for the Inspire.Create Stamping Challenges here. We really would love to see your creations. Please note we need your projects submitted by 10am. (UK time) Sunday. 

Also pop over for a visit to see the projects of other talented stampers.

To purchase products I have used today and all other Stampin' Up! products just click on the product thumbnail below to take you directly to my Online Store.

Have a fun time shopping. 

(Sorry Australian residents only)

Product List

Above The Clouds Bundle [151135]	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549]	Melon Mambo A4 Card Stock [119980]	Granny Apple Green A4 Cardstock [147014]	Pool Party A4 Card Stock [124391]	Seaside Spray A4 Cardstock [150889]
Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad [147051]	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Pad [147095]	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad [147107]	Seaside Spray Classic Stampin’ Pad [150085]	Rococo Rose Classic Stampin’ Pad [150080]	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708]

Stampin' Dreams Birthday Theme

Welcome to the June, 2018 Stampin' Dreams Blog Hop. You are currently visiting Karen Farquhar from Australia and this month we have a Birthday theme. I hope you are inspired by my projects today.

It must be the Jessica Birthday month not only is it Jessie Holton, our Stampin' Dreams coordinator's birthday month but also my eldest Granddaughter, Jessica, turned 18 years of age this week. I had previously made her a card to mark the occasion but misplaced it so I had to make another.

Using the stamp set Beautiful Bouquet and coordinating Bouquet Bunch Framelits on a background of stencilled Shimmery White Embossing Paste I have created simple but pretty card. 

This same Granddaughter is to blame for my passion for Scrapbooking. When she was 3 years old her father was working in England and the family were living there. Her mother, my daughter was regularly sending me photographs of Jessica and her baby brother, Callum. I missed them terribly and decided to start a Scrapbook for each of them which I intended to present to them on their 18th Birthdays.

Well I remembered this last week and thought I had better get Jessica's Scrapbook out of my craft cupboard ready to give her.

 But to my dismay I had probably only scrapped one page of her since her 10th Birthday. Oops!  So I had a bit of quick catching up to do. 

Amazing how time flies!

Below I have included 2 of the completed pages. One from her year 12 farewell formal and the other taken of her this year. (sorry the photographs have come up a little dark)

Looking back over my first attempts at Scrapbooking I was amazed at how my style has changed over those 14 years. Back then I would spend hours in local craft shops and on the internet searching for coordinating products. Usually with little success. Thank goodness I found Stampin' Up! where I can just hop online and order everything I need in one place and be assured that I will find fully coordinated stamp sets, punches, dies, papers, ribbons, inks and accessories. All delivered to my door within 3-4 days. 💖 

Jessica rang me after opening her album to thank me and tell me that my daughter and her Godmother both had a tear in their eye whilst reading through it. Mission accomplished.

Message to self:- as I now have 6 Grandchildren I must try to Scrapbook a page at least once a week so as not to get caught at the last minute again. That's the plan anyway. 

Thank you for being part of Stampin' Dreams Blog Hop I recommend following the links below for more inspiration. I can't wait to see everyone else's creations.



Product List

Beautiful Bouquet Photopolymer Stamp Set [143666]	Bouquet Bunch Framelits Dies [143659]	Celebrate You Thinlit Dies [146840]	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies [145372]	Whisper White 12" X 12" Card Stock [124302]	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549]	Blueberry Bushel A4 Cardstock [146991]
Blueberry Bushel Classic Stampin' Pad [147138]	Balmy Blue Classic Stampin' Pad [147105]	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Pad [147095]	Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad [147104]	Linen Thread [104199]	Shimmery White Embossing Paste [145645]	Pattern Party Decorative Masks [144103]