Hi Everyone,

I hope you are having a great week thus far.

I am feeling quite frustrated at the moment as I am having terrible troubles with my internet connection due to our phone lines having been sitting under water during the big rains we had last week. I haven’t been able to ‘browse’ much as one minute I can load a page and then the next link I click and the internet is gone! Crazy I tell you!! And I have just been informed they can’t fix it until next week. So I am just going to have to learn to deal with it for now. :)

Fortunately I have managed to get into my blog after a few tries so I can write this post. I’ll just have to make sure I am connected when I hit the Publish button! :)

So without holding you up any further (and a race to get this finished before I lose my connection again!!) here are the winners from the Australian Blog hop!

The following people were randomly chosen from the DT girls to receive an Australian Souvernir

 AJ‘s Winner

Jan Garber from  http://jansgarber.blogspot.com/

Barbara‘s Winner

happyglitzygirl – ” Gorgeous project, love how you did the road. Great blog, blessings Hilde “

Debbie‘s Winner

RENKATA from  http://scrapandstampwithfriends-renkata.blogspot.com/

 Jane‘s Winner

Nina from http://newfoundjoys.blogspot.com/

 Jenn D‘s Winner

Lorraine from http://lorrainescreations.blogspot.com/

 

 Jen J‘s Winner

Susie Little from http://whiteribboncards.blogspot.com/

 Maria ‘s Winner

Suzi from suzies.blogspot.com

 Ruby‘s Winner

Christina from http://christinascardconnection.blogspot.com/

 

Winners please contact me HERE
with your mailing address and I will send you a little Aussie Souvernir!!

 

 

GRAND PRIZE WINNER

And the winner from my blog who will win the whole Australian Collection Pack is….

Carla S who said:

Happy Australia Day, Zoe! Just finished the fabulous hop! Love the new stamps and the gorgeous creations from the team! Awesome coloring of Miss Gumnut Curly Top! Glad you had a nice break! Thanks for all the chances to win fun stuff!

Thanks Carla! Congratulations!!

Carla please contact me HERE and I will organise your digital stamp prize!

 

Thank you for hopping along with us everyone. I am so happy you enjoyed all the fabulos inspiration from the ladies.

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to enter my big candy giveaway
Just click on the image in the right hand sidebar.

 

Until next time – sending you my Big Aussie Squeezes
even though they are a little moist and sloppy with the high humidity here. hehehe

It’s the hug that counts right??

 

Zoe xxoo

 

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!!!

I hope all the Aussies out there had a great day and threw a few snags on the barbie!

 

It’s about time I popped my head up right?
I know I know… drops head in shame. I’ll catch up with you further down this post!

 

New Australian Digi Stamps!!

Being an Aussie myself I decided it would be a great day to finally release an Australian themed collection of digi stamps.

Many of you just LOVE the elements sets so I thought, why not take the road ‘Outback’, drive on past an old Windmill, a few Gum Trees, some Australian Animals too – catch up with an Aussie Sheila and I guess we can’t forget the ‘Dunny’ stops too!

There are a bunch of new fabulous digi stamps so you can create your own Outback story!

 

LAST STOP ON THE HOP

With thanks to the gorgeous girls on my team, a few of us threw together some creations to inspire you and we’re having a hop!!

I just so happen to be the last on the hop but if you wanted to make your way to the beginning you can drop by to say G’Day to AJ.

 I’m giving away an AUSSIE Souvenir along every stop!
So make sure you leave comments along the way for a chance to win!!

 

 I haven’t had a chance to make a card (I’m not in the mood to put myself through all the fussing I do!!) but I can introduce you to

Miss Gumnut Curly Top!

She is a little red hair curly top girl with freckles of course!!

She is wearing a sweet little outfit decorated with gumnuts and gum leaves from our Australian Eucalyptus Trees!

The little skirt resembles gumnut flowers!! I think she is just so adorable.

 

COPIC COLOUR LIST

Skin: E000, E01, E11, E13
Hair: Y38, YR18, E13, E17, E19
Dress: YG06, G14, G17, G29, Y11, Y13, Y18, R30, R32
Gumnuts: W1, W3, W5, E44
Gum Leaves: G94, YG97

 

ENJOY 20% OFF Storewide until January 28th!

20% OFF sale has now ended

Visit the Make it Crafty Store

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GRAND FINALE BLOG HOP PRIZE!

How would you like to win the Australian Outback Collection of digi stamps worth $55?!?!!

Simply comment below before the end of January 31st and you’re in with a chance!!

I’ll announce the winner of the Grand Prize along with all the winners from the blog hop who will receive an Aussie Souvernir on February 1st!!

In case you got lost on your way through the hop, here is the list of ladies sharing in the Aussie Spirit!

 AJ
Barbara
Debbie
  Jane
  Jenn D
  Jen J
  Maria
  Ruby

and Me!!!

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OK what’s next??

Oh yeah…. Where have I been???

For those of you keeping tabs on me…  haha  I thought I would attempt to explain.

Before Christmas, I promised myself that I needed to take a couple of weeks break from running the store. And I DID!!
But I had had all these plans that I was going to colour and make cards and be all creative, but you know what happened?

It seems that as soon as I gave myself permission to take a break, I needed a break from it all. I stumbled across my old little Nintendo DS from years ago and found myself curled up on a chair playing games, sitting back watching movies, hanging out with the family and so on… And I must say it was terrific. I really really really needed that break away.

But then that was over with a flash and I came back to work with so much I wanted to do. I had all this new energy and ideas and had to run with it!!

I have released some fabulous new chipboard designs that you can co-ordinate with Spellbinder dies.

I have also been working on MORE chipboard designs which is a surprise for next month! woohoo

Plus all the organising of this release, the next release, Magnolia Magazine tutorials, manufacturing, rubber stamps and more! The list goes on!

It turned out that I had not coloured a single image for 3 weeks!!!
I threw my hands in the air and said enough is enough and coloured up the sweet and delightful Gumnut Curly Top you see above. :)

I was relieved to find I could still hold a copic marker! haha

So that’s my story. I hope you can understand my lack of sharing!

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CANDY TIME!!!!

So…. I am hoping to make it up to you with some yummy candy!

I have been wanting to wish all my gorgeous followers a wonderful New Year and want to thank you for ALL your fabulous support throughout 2011.

I hope 2012 has started with a punch and that you have great dreams and aspirations for the year ahead.

Let’s get cracking with some yummy candy!!!

I have THREE candies to give away.

All you have to do is….

1. Be a follower (join top right of this page)

2. Enter your name in the linky form below

3. Add the blinkie code to your blog
If you don’t have a blog don’t worry!!

Here is what you could win!

A selection of Make it Crafty Chipboard!

A selection of Make it Crafty red rubber stamps
Petals & Palings, Geeky Love, Mushroom House, Aussie Chrissie Tree and Aussie Santa

Make it Crafty soon to be released Flower Fairies Collection and Elven Collection rubber stamps
Plus the Whimsical Mushroom and Whimsical Log to create a scene for your new fairies!

 

So if you would like to have a chance at winning one of these three candies simply follow the deets above the images, add the code below to your blog and then drop back and enter your name in the linky below.

The Candy will end FRIDAY FEBRUARY 17th!!

 

BLOG CANDY CODE

<a href="http://www.makeitcrafty.com.au/?p=3121" ><img src="http://www.makeitcrafty.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/mic-candy-12.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="516" border="0" title="MiC Candy Give Away" /></a>

 

ENTER CANDY GIVEAWAY HERE

 Enter your name and email address so I can contact you if you win!

GOOD LUCK!

 

 

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WOW, now that was a HUGE post.

If you made it to the end, here’s a quick run through as there was just so much info!

 

1. Happy Australia Day!

2. Don’t forget to comment below for a chance to win the Big Hop Prize

3. 20% off everything Store wide at Make it Crafty (Now Ended sorry!)

4. Thank you for your support throughout 2011! I’m sorry I have been absent so far this year!

5. Candy Candy Candy. Yup 3 of them. Enter the Inlinkz for a chance to win one!

6. SENDING YOU MY BIG AUSSIE SQUEEZES!!

 

Zoe xxoo

Hello Everyone,

Boy 2012 is just around the corner now. Seems so hard to believe another year has just passed. I am a firm believer now that the older you become the faster the years whizz on by!

Today I wanted to share with you this gorgeous little image Saffron who was illustrated by a very dear friend of mine Barbara owner of Little Miss Muffet Stamps. She is celebrating the end of year by offering you Saffron as a freebie here. I have to say I am so proud of Barbara for following her passion and dream. She has come a long way in the last year and her illustrations just keep getting better and better. Big Squeezes Barbara! xo

I am a little disappointed with myself as I have lost a bit of my colouring mojo over the past few weeks after having to colour up a bunch of the images for the new store which took too many hours to count. So I don’t think I have done little Saffron any justice and then well the rest of the card – just close your eyes and imagine it is a completely different colour! haha I Know I know… what was I thinking???

There’s plenty of great inspiration though if you head on OVER HERE!!

 

And don’t forget Barbara is giving you Saffron for FREE HERE

 

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and have had a chance to relax a little afterwards.

I’ll try to be back before the year ends. I have a little something up my sleeve! :)

 

Big Aussie Squeezes!

Zoe xo

 

 

Hello Everyone,

My last day playing along with Whimsy as a guest. :(
It’s been fabulous as they are such a wonderful group of ladies and welcomed me with open arms.

 

But the show must go on and…

Today is Showcase Day SEVEN!!

 

I’m Playing with WEEEEEEEE…..  hehehe  Wee Stamps for Whimsy!

I was trying to decide how to give little ‘Spring Bringer‘ some fancy clothing but I ended up going fancy with her hair instead!

I think she is such a sweet girly image that I decided to put myself through the agony of creating a pretty card. hehe

I began by designing a new chipboard frame with the sweetlittle bird and butterflies. I covered it in a number of mediums whilst experimenting with ideas. I quite like how it turned out a little antique.

The papers are Prima from one of my absolute favourite pads – ‘Annalee’ – I bought TWO of them! haha

The blue lace is Websters and the flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts.

And of course the sentiment ‘Hugs’ is from the new ‘Love mini tickets‘ and it was cut with the ‘mini ticket die‘

 

 

IF YOU ARE JUST JOINING US…

Whimsy Stamps have just released this month’s rubber designs and new shapeology dies and we’re doing some mini hops with PRIZES throughout the showcase.

To be entered into today’s mini blog hop prize draw, be sure to leave a comment on ALL of the DT’s posts listed below by 12.00PM EST tomorrow.

All winners will be announced on the Whimsy Inspirations blog after 12.00PM EST on 22 December.

Stop by and check out the creations from these ladies too!
Don’t forget to comment on everyone’s blog for a chance to win some goodies!

 

Ellie Stover

Erin Bailey

Jacque Beddingfield {Special Guest}

Iris Wiechmann

Zoe {Special Guest}

Sylvia Blum

Remember that the entire new release is available to buy right now from the Whimsy Stamps store along with all your Whimsy favourites.

Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to check the Whimsy Inspirations blog to see if you are a winner!

 

Wishing you a VERY MERRY Christmas!!

 

Big Aussie Squeezes!!

 

Zoe xo

Hello Everyone,

I’m playing along with Whimsy again (I just love thier stuff and it’s a great excuse to make me play) teehee

I’m sure you have been blown away so far by all the fantastic creations over the last few days. Today is Showcase Day SIX!!

Whimsy Stamps have just released this month’s rubber designs and new shapeology dies and we’re doing some mini hops with PRIZES throughout the showcase.

To be entered into today’s mini blog hop prize draw, be sure to leave a comment on ALL of the DT’s posts listed below by 12.00PM EST tomorrow.

All winners will be announced on the Whimsy Inspirations blog after 12.00PM EST on 22 December.

 

MY CARD!

Well… I decided it was time to experiment a little and so I decided to play with ‘Groove Dude‘ – I’m really quite impressed with myself! haha  (you won’t hear that often!!!)
I love how his skin turned out as it’s not a colour I do often.

I used an odd mix of colours to create the skin tone:

I started by laying a base coat of Y21 only on the area I was about to colour (not the whole area at once)

Then I would work my way from the darkest areas working with the colours – YR24, E25, E27 & E29
The highlights were blended with a mix of Y21 and E21

Greens: YG03, G14, YG06, G16

Oranges: Y18, YR04, YR07, YR09, R24, R29

Black: C2, C4, C5, C7, C9

Shading: W1, W3, W5, W7

 

I kept the card basic so he would stand out. I wanted to make it simple so I could begin hoarding some ‘male’ cards.

The sentiment ‘Youre Awesome’ was a perfect match. It’s from the new collection called ‘Friendship Notables 2‘ and I cut it out with the new die ‘Noteables 2 die‘. They are a perfect size for me as they are tiny and can be squeezed onto a card easily. hehe

I’m not sure what the DP is called, it was a gift from my gorgeous friend Shirl from Maylaysia when we met up with each other earlier this year, but it is just the perfect colour orange to make Groove Dude pop!

 

IF YOU ARE JUST JOINING US…

Stop by and check out the creations from these ladies too!
Don’t forget to comment on everyone’s blog for a chance to win some goodies!

Remember that the entire new release is available to buy right now from the Whimsy Stamps store along with all your Whimsy favourites.

Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to check the Whimsy Inspirations blog tomorrow for more new release creations!

 

Wow! Only 4 days to go til Christmas!!!
This year has flashed by!
I hope it’s been a great one for you!

 

Big Aussie Squeezes!!

 

Zoe xo

Hello hello!!

I have some news and a pretty good excuse to explain a lot of my absence over the last few months.

I have been building a NEW STORE! I finally had to throw my hands in the air and look for a new platform as my old store was causing some headaches for people when they were trying to checkout!! Talk about a bad place to fall over!!

I am pretty excited about some of the features in the new store AND I completely redesigned the whole look and feel. It is now FRESH and easier to navigate PLUS all the digital stamps have nice coloured previews to offer some inspiration. I’ll slowly be updating all the areas of my sites so don’t freak out when you drop back here one day and it’s all changed!! hehe

So how do you find the new store??  Well you can visit THE NEW STORE HERE.
The old store is still open to allow those of you who have orders that need to be downloaded to still access them.

 

OTHER NEWS!

I have been so caught up with trying to get the new site ready that I haven’t been blogging much and I can’t believe I haven’t had a chance to tell you about the awesome ‘Stampers Challenge’ feature in Australian Cardmaking, Stamping & Papercraft Magazine – vol 17 no 11.

The ladies all used rubber stamps from the Island Collection playing with the mermaids and backgrounds stamps. I just LOVED the ideas they came up with!

 

CARD TO SHARE!

I have had this image half coloured for quite a while and one night early last week I finally sat down to finish colouring it up!

 I created this scene using a number of images.

Lizzie with Gift from Make it Crafty

And the Parrot opening the present is called ‘Pluto‘ from Little Miss Muffet Stamps

The gift boxes are also from Make it Crafty

Here is a close up of the colouring. I was attempting to have the light source come from Centre Top as I wanted to cast a shadow from the present onto her dress.

It turned out OK but I can see now how I would done a few things differently.

I don’t have a list of colours sorry as it was coloured in parts over some time.

And a close up of ‘Pluto‘

Barbara actually drew this image especially for me as I have a Quaker parrot called Pluto!!

So I of course had to colour him with his colours!
I love that Barbara drew him with his wings open as normally his vibrant blue feathers are hidden beneath the green. You can only see them when he opens his wings or just on the tips when they are closed.

 

The image was quite large at 5″ so I kept the rest of the card really simple.

 

I want to take this opportunity to wish you a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Thank you for your support and friendships throughout the year.

 

Big Aussie Squeezes!

 

Zoe xo

 

 

 

Hello Everyone,

I am back to share my creation for this years “Magnolia Christmas Calendar Advent event” (boy that was a tongue twister – dare you to say it 10 times! haha)

Each day one fabulous Magnolia Team member is sharing an inspiring creation with you and giving you the chance to win a special prize from magnolia Sweden! Make sure you follow along each day for your chance to win!

Here’s a little sneak peek of my creation but you will need to head on over to my Zoes Magnolia Cards Blog for the details and leave a comment there for your chance to win.

(please note, leaving a comment on my personal blog can not be counted towards the entries)

I’ll be announcing the winner tomorrow!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Big Aussie Squeezes

Zoe xo

Hello everyone!!

I know it has been a while since I last posted but I do hope you will forgive me with a chance to win one of the exclusive ‘Koala Hug Tilda‘ Magnolia stamps!! If you can’t wait for a chance to win, jump on over and grab her here!!

I had to snap up this new Aussie Tilda as soon as she was released by the gorgeous Bron of Shopbron.com and I was so excited when Bron asked if I would like to give one away to one of my lucky followers! How could I resist in an opportunity to share a bit of love!!?!?

All you have to do is comment below and I’ll randomly select a winner and post on Tuesday 13th next week.

I am joined this month by a selection of amazing talent who will be sharing their creations and chances to win this gorgeous stamp so make sure to keep an eye out for more inspiration at MaggieLoversChallenge blog this month for all the details.

 

I couldn’t quite decide what I wanted to do with Koala Hug Tilda and then it the idea hit me to team her up with a couple of my Aussie Rubber Stamps too!!

So out came Aussie Santa and the Aussie Chrissie Tree rubber stamps.

I love how it turned out. I coloured Aussie Santa as more of an Aussie Outback guy by colouring with the traditional blues that many singlets (tank tops) are coloured and his green thongs.

I coloured the tinsel on the tree yellow and then added gold stickles and it really pops.

And of course I just had to give Tilda freckles and red hair!! haha

Here’s a close up

 

So don’t foget to comment below for your chance to win
‘Koala Hug Tilda’

AND as an extra little bonus to the lucky winner…
I am going to throw in
Aussie Santa and the Aussie Chrissie tree RUBBER stamps too!!!!

So that is THREE rubber stamps for you to play with!!

 

You’ll be set to make some fabulous Aussie cards
for all your Aussie friends!!!

 

And if you can’t wait…
remember you can buy Koala Hug Tilda exclusively from Bron at Shopbron.com

 

Thanks for stopping by and good luck!!!!

 

Big Aussie Squeezes!

Zoe xxoo

 

 

Update P.S – It seems the comments aren’t showing up your names properly – so make sure you either log in using goggle or enter your contact details in the form fields AND to make SURE I get your name, even sign off with it in your message. :)
Thanks!!!  hugs xo

 

 

Hi Everyone!

I’m back with another project to share with you for the Whimsy Stamps November release! Today is day 6 of the of showcase and if you have been joining us each day and leaving comments on the DT and Guest blogs along the way then TOMORROW is the big announcement for all the prizes! woot woot!  So make sure you comment today to for one more chance!!!

Today I have created a really nice clean card where the image is the main focus. I wanted to challenge myself a little and colour in Crissy’s gorgeous seals “Sealed with a Kiss“

I don’t colour a lot of animals and so this was a challenge – I really should practice a little more so I don’t feel so nervous about it. :)

I really had no idea what colours to colour them so I went searching on google images. Turns out that seal pups have a ‘yellowish’ appearance!!

So I used E50, E51, E53 and YR30 and blended out to white as my main colours on the seals. Then C2, C5 & C7 around their noses.

 

I thought it would be fun to create a winter scene for these little guys
(whilst sitting here in my singlet and shorts boiling!!!)
  so I created a scene on my computer
using FIVE different elements from the Winter Scene Elements collection.

I stamped and masked the two seals and then printed the scene over the top.

When I was looking at photos of seals I noticed that the snow seemed to have a purple tinge to it when in shadow
(I have only seen snow ONCE in my life about 16 years ago!)

So I slowly built up the areas I wanted in shadow using B60, B63, B66 then blended it out with B000 & B0000
Then to add a little more depth I used C2 and C0

 

The trees took longer than I anticipated as I wasn’t really sure how to go about colouring them so I kinda just started dabbing it here and there with green and then decided I would try and add shading to the ‘snowy’ sections.
I don’t mind the result when looking at the image as a whole.

I looooove how the mountains worked out with the snow on top. Happy with that one. haha!

The image is 5″ square so I decided I would keep the card really simple.

I matted the image and then added Gesso liberally to the corners, dipped in some glitter and set aside to dry.

Painted the ‘Snowflake Stars Chipboard‘ white, covered in glue and dipped in glitter.

Then I stamped ‘Merry Christmas Santa’ from me new little set of Christmas Stamps – “Holiday Postage Stamps“, globbed on more Gesso and glitter and set aside to dry.

 

Finally…. I squirmed as I added my first ‘snow flake’ blob on my image. After spending ages colouring an image I am always too scared to add glitter etc to the image itself.

But this time I did it!

I added snow blobs! LOL

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IF YOU ARE JUST JOINING US…

Stop by and check out the creations from these ladies too!
Don’t forget to comment on everyone’s blog for a chance to win some goodies!

 

Remember that the entire new release is available to buy right now from the Whimsy Stamps store
along with all your Whimsy favourites. 

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Thanks for stopping by!

Be sure to leave a comment below
and check out the gorgeous creations by the rest of the designers!

 

Big Aussie Squeezes!

Zoe xo

Hi Everyone,

It’s that time again where my group shares our creations on The Official Magnolia Inspriation Challenge Blog! This week we are playing with the Magnolia Animal stamps and also asking you to incorporate Magnolia Designer paper in your creations.

I admit I don’t have very many animal stamps sand don’t really think to use the ones I have that often, so it was a good opportunity to pull out what I do have an think up a scene!

I made this scene using 4 different stamps and I masked each step of the way before stamping my next stamp.

I started with ‘Small Butterfly‘ – Butterfly Dreams collection – , then I stamped Petals & Palings Fence from Make it Crafty, then I stamped ‘Tilda in Summer Rain‘ – Sweet Rainbow Collection – but before stamping her I wiped the ink off the rain drops so she was using the umbrella to protect her from the sun (not rain) – then finally I stamped the background – Butterfly Background – Butterfly Dreams Collection.

I always fall to pieces when it comes to making the card especially when my card will be placed beside the gorgeous creations the Magnolia Team create. I don’t know why, it just freaks me out and I go into a tizz!! hehe
So I ended up spending longer trying to make my card look pretty than the actual time it took to colour the image! haha  I kept going back to it to see if I could stuff anything else on there! haha serious!!

Ingredients

The gorgeous pink background paper is Fairy Tale Pink Rose from “Once Upon a Time” collection and the blue DP is Blue Foliage from “Sweet Rainbow” collection. I had originally tried to use a light purple DP for the background however it wasn’t offering enough contrast with the brightness of the image I had coloured.

I added some fancy lace from Webster’s Pages, doily, flowers, hat pins, leaves, lots of glitter around the edges, stickles on the flowers and charm.

I painted the flower leaf swirls chipboard with distressed white paint and then coated them in glitter and the sentiment is from Whimsy Stamps.

I think I ended up with more glitter on my table than on the card somehow!! haha

Copic Colours

I used lots of colours in this image so I’ll just run through the main ones (no chance of me remembering all the greens I used!! just mix em up! lol)

Skin: E000, E21, E11, E13 – R20 cheeks

Hair: Y11, Y13, Y17 (to help the sun not look so bold!!)

Purple: V000, V01, V06

Turquoise: G000, G00, BG13 & BG49 – I had run out of BG10 and substituted with G000 & G00 – worked well I thought!

Sky: B000 & B00 –
Refilled just prior so they were nice and juicy – I used the broad end to lay down the bulk of the colour.

Shading was achieved with the warm grays

 

So pull out your animal stamps and magnolia DP and come join us this week at TOMIC!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

Big Aussie Squeezes

 

Zoe xxoo