Reflections

Rasberry 'Tri-Fold' Greeting Card

Whilst browsing online recently and flowing from one link to another - as you do - *grin* - I ended up at Splitcoast Stampers and found some fantastic resources on their site.

One of the projects I found was a nifty 'Tri-Fold' Greeting Card that I couldn't resist having a go at!

I decided to use some of my 'Paris' Vintage Pattern Paper from Rasberry, along with some Rasberry Ribbon and Bling as well!

Here's how the card looks when you open it up!

A couple of close-ups too!

I love this pattern paper with a little hint of smokey blue on the printed flowers!

Despite how complex the card might look, it's not all that hard to create! I think I might have to have a bit of a browse through some of their other resources . . . there certainly is a vast array of them and I'm sure I'll find something else that I might like to create as well!

Rasberry Notepads

A little more creativity - with Rasberry goodness and this time around it was some decorated Notepads!

A while back I bought a bulk pack of lined A5 Notepads and took them to a local printing business to have them cut in half vertically.

It's was then just a simple matter of adding a cardstock cover to each one and then decorating it as I wanted to! I thought the Rasberry  'Paris' & 'Milan' Vintage Pattern Papers were just perfect for these and I love the fact that Rasberry has released it's own ribbon and bling lines that co-ordinate perfectly with their pattern papers as well!

Here's another one but this time with a little more of a floral theme to it - oh - and of course a little hand stitching too!

They're simple but make a quick and versatile gift I think!

It's actually been a while since I've gotten creative with some of my Rasberry products but I must say that I've been enjoying delving into them again! So much so infact, that I've got another greeting card near completed too - not your standard kind of card but one that seems to be coming together quite nicely I think! Stay tuned for me to share it with you soon!
  
 

Rasberry - Christmas Cards

It's never too early to make a start on hand-made Christmas Cards - for the past couple of years I started making 1 or 2 cards a week from about July onwards and I found I didn't end up having that big rush to make Christmas cards at the end of the year!

Today I decided to get out my Rasberry goodies and get creative with their last Christmas collection - pattern papers, cardstock, bling and rubons!

Like I do on almost all of my greeting cards, I used plain white textured cards for the base of all these cards - it makes card making so much quicker because I only have to create the front decorated pieces and then attach them to the card front!

Although it may look like I've added ribbon to the cards, it's actually just strips of pattern paper and cardstock which I've then hand stitched along the sides of. 

As you can see on the above card, I applied the Rasberry rubon images to white cardstock and then used a scallop punch to cut them out before mounting them to my cards with dimensional adhesive.

For a little added interest, both this card and the one below feature a cluster of different sized bling in the centre of some of the stars on the pattern paper!

As you can see - a little more hand-stitching too!

The pattern paper ribbon on this card has actually been folded and looped to create a different effect - I'd actually seen this done online and was keen to give it a go myself

I think it would look quite effective in real ribbon too and you wouldn't have to worry about it creasing quite the same as you do with paper!

Today was actually my Longford Crafters fortnightly get together and I'd like to thank everyone in my group for their lovely birthday wishes (for tomorrow) AND for the gorgeous bunch of Liliums they gave me - they're not quite open as yet but as soon as they do I'll be sure to share a pic - I'm sure my kitchen is going to smell absolutely divine in the coming days!

Also on the homefront, I'm really looking forward to tomorrow because our sewing group get together is on and all being well I hope to finish my patchwork apron! I can't wait!

Happy Valentine's Day!

With today being Valentine's Day, I thought I would share a gorgeous Heart-shaped Rasberry album that I recently made AND that is featured over on the Rasberry Blog!

A big thank-you to Mary Warner for allowing me use photos of her gorgeous two daughers throughout the album and that were originally taken by Linley Gordon. Thanks ladies!

Rasberry has a wonderful array of chipboard albums and shapes that can be covered with any of the fantastic Rasberry pattern paper ranges to make a quick and versatile gift for anyone!

I lightly sanded all the edges of my album pages and then applied a light swipe of ink as well which has added to the Shappy Chic appearance of the album.

Don't you just love the colours in these pattern papers? To add to the 'little girl' appeal, I added some pearls along the joins of the pattern paper on the album pages as well - it's really lovely and tactile!

You might also notice that I've added some 'doodling' with my pen around the inside edges of my album pages too - it just adds a little more dimension . . . I've never been really good at drawing a straight line, so to solve that problem, I always wiggle the pen a little and never draw really long lines - I keep them short with a dot or two inbetween and then they always seem to look alright! 

Here's hoping you all have a lovely Valentine's Day!

Rasberry - Vintage

Have you seen the *new* 8 x 8 'Paris' Vintage Pattern Paper collection from Rasberry? I do so love the classic Black & White pattern papers . . . here's what I made with some of them!

The card itself is made by interlocking and adhering the flaps of two envelopes together to form the card base and then decorating both the inside AND the outside of the card.

The actual openings of the envelopes create two pockets into which you could insert a Giftcard, Voucher OR even Cash if you were giving the card to the recipient in person!

NOTE: Just make sure when you decorate the inside of your card, you don't adhere OR close off the two pockets you have created!

Clever huh? I thought it was when I saw the idea a few months ago! I hope you are inspired to make one - I know my Longford Crafters ladies just loved the ones they made!

Oh!

Before I sign off for today AND for those of you who love competitions, why not head on over to the Rasberry Blog and enter their current competition - as a Design Team Member I'm not eligible to enter, but I certainly would if I could - *grin*

Oh . . . and one final thing too . . . Rasberry is on Facebook now too! Why not become a Fan?

Rasberry Competition

Have you heard about the *new* competition over on the Rasberry Design Team Blog?  It's your chance to get your hands on some fantastic Rasberry goodness and it's totally FREE to enter! Even international entries are accepted, so what are you waiting for? Head on over to the Rasberry Design Team Blog and get your entry in TODAY!

In other news, I've been spending a little time out in the garden when I can, OR if the weather is unfavourable, I've been going through the boys Playroom cupboard sorting out games and puzzles that they no longer use. As they get more Meccano, Lego, Hot Wheels and so on, space is becoming an issue, so it's time to have a bit of a clean out.

When James was a baby I became a Jigsaw Toy Company Product Advisor and as you can imagine, I invested in a number of their products not only from the selling point of view BUT also because I was impressed with the educational quality of them and wanted them for my children - I guess that was the Early Childhood Educator in me coming out - *grin* Now though, they just sit in the cupboard - SO - I boxed up a heap of them and listed them in the local paper thinking I may as well earn back a few dollars if I can since they were all in excellent condition. Well - that was a waste of time (and money) - not one single phone call.

Oh well - it looks like I'll be giving them away to our local School and Pre-School if they'd like them. Whilst I was disappointed that I didn't sell them, I'm pleased to have gained so much space in the boys Playroom cupboard - now we just need to fix up the shelving in it and it will be perfect! *grin*

Before I sign off for today, I just want to wish my dear friend Debbie, a very Happy Birthday for today - here's hoping you got spoilt rotten!

Until next time,

 

Step-By-Step 'Rasberry' Scrapbooking Page

Have you taken a peak at the Rasberry Design Team Blog? I've been working on a 'Step-By-Step Scrapbooking Page' for them and I can finally share it here on my blog too!

Here's a couple of close-ups to 'wet your appetite' too! *grin*

Don't you just love these new papers from Rasberry? Wait to you see some of the other ones I have here to play with too - so very very lovely! Anyway - head on over to the Rasberry Design Team Blog if you'd like the instructions on how I went about creating this page!

Until next time,

April 'ScrappIt Now' - Rasberry

The last of my projects that you will find featured in the April 'ScrappIt Now' Newsletter is this single 12 x 12 scrapbooking page featuring a 3D Plaster Kit that our eldest son James made and then framed!

As you can see from the photos on this page, each of the nine plaster planets has been adhered inside a Shadow Box Frame that we created and now stands very proudly on a shelf in his bedroom!

Here's a couple of close-ups!

The Rasberry pattern papers were just the perfect compliment don't you think?

Until next time,

April 'ScrappIt Now' - Rasberry

Here's another project made with the fantastic collection of goodies you'll find in this months 'ScrappIt Now' Kit - remember this *sneak peak*?

Well - here's the Book Mark already being put to use - you can download instructions on how to make one of these yourself by clicking here!

Another project I made with this month was this cute little folded CD/Gift/Greeting card holder!

Cute huh? So simple too!  Just take a peak at the April 'ScrappIt Now' Newsletter for complete instructions on how you can make one yourself too!

Until next time,

 

April 'ScrappIt Now' - Rasberry

The April' ScrappIt Now' Kit and Newsletter has officially been released, so I can finally share some of my creations featuring the very lovely Rasberry products!

The first quick project was a book mark for my eldest son who just loves reading! I decided to mount the whole bookmark onto some chipboard, so it's ended up being a nice sturdy one which hopefully will stand up to quite a number of enthusiastic reading hours!

Here's a couple of close-ups too!

I do so love this 'Space' collection from Rasberry - have you seen or used it yet . . . I'll be back tomorrow to share another of the projects I created using the same range!

Until next time,