~ Candles and Cards ~

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I have had the most frustrating week.

I never realised how much I used the internet

until I have been without it.

Now, finally after two modems and two different

IT technicians my computer is back up and

running.

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There was actually a positive side to the downtime,

I have been using this time to be creative.

Buying gifts for teenage girls can be a bit of a

nightmare, but I think I've come up with a solution.

Along with an itunes voucher I made a Magnolia

Birthday Candle for my daughters friend.

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The card I made was fairly plain and simple

as I wanted the focus to be on the candle.

My copics were put to the side for this project

and my all time favourite H2o's were used.

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The flower decoration was made using my brand
new Nellie Snellen punches. I was thrilled with the
the results they gave, could this mean no more
spending money on ready made flowers, ha ha ha,
I don't think so.
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I painted Tilda on the card to match Tilda on
the candle. I love using my H20's, I would
use them for more projects if they were as
fast as using Copics.
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Still on candles I had a very special
occassion on Easter Saturday which
called for 5 matching candles.
For a very long time I have wanted
to do something and finally last year
I made the commitment.
I have wanted to become a Catholic
for nearly 20 years and last year I
I began the RCIA program at our
church.
On Easter Saturday night, along with
4 very special people I made my Act
of Faith, took my First Communion,
and my Confirmation.
It was the most beautiful, amazing
experience and I shared it with my
beautiful family and some very
special friends.
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I wanted to do something for the four people

who have shared this journey with me so I

made all of our Communion Candles.
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The candles were all the same except for the

handmade hat pins I used for the two girls

candles, just to give them a little bit more

of a feminine touch, and the roses are from

Magnolia.

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~ Peta ~

Butterflies and Magnolia - ROP Challenge

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Well Spring is definately in the air.

I didn't think we'd ever see the end of winter, and I'm

not fooled, I'm sure there's still some wind and rain left

to come, but until it arrives I'm happy to soak up the sun

of these gorgeous Spring days we've been having here

in Australia

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My garden has brand new flower buds everywhere and

new leaves are appearing on all my deciduous trees,

there is new life appearing everywhere.

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I received my new Summer Magnolia collection last week

and I was so tempted to use some of the stamps, but for

Spring I really couldn't go past Magnolia Chasing Butterflies.

She looks just like my little girl trying to catch butterflies in

our garden. And as f0r my Summer collection, if this years

summer is anything like last years, I'll have many months

to be inspired by them.

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So onto this weeks challenge at Roses on Paper.

My very talented friend Susan has chosen the beautiful

colour combination of Soft Blue, Lavender and Cream.

These colours work so nicely together.

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With the addition of Belles 'n Whistles stamps being added

to our challenge blog you have even more reason now to

play along with us.

And if that's not enough reason maybe one of the great

prizes Summer has on offer for the lucky winner will

tempt you to play along.

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I had a day out last week with a family friend to

an open garden. The gardens are owned by

Dame Elisabeth Murdoch.

For my American friends, she is the mother of

media magnate, Rupert Murdoch.

Anyway, I took so many photos, with the promise of

sending copies to my friend. I didn't want to just put them

in any old envelope, so I've created this folder card to send

them in. I hope she will carry them around and show

them off proudly.

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Ingredients:

Magnolia Chasing Butterflies Stamps

Cardstock

Metallic Embossed Cardstock

H2o's

White Marker Pen

Crystal Effects

Wire

Punches

Hydrangea Flowers

Pearl Brads

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~ Peta ~

Belles 'n Whistles Black 'n White Collection

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Finally I finished my first collection of cards from the

gorgeous Belles 'n Whistles Collection.

I'm sure you will agree that Summer and Elisabeth

have worked well together to put together a stunning

set of stamps.

They are so wonderful to work with - lovely big images

that are just so much fun to colour.

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After completing my Sisters project I was a little unsure

of what to do with the other stamps - then I decided to

run with Black 'n White for all of the cards - I thought that

really highlighted the colours I had chosen for the images.

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Teddy Bear Picnic

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Sunshine & Apples

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Lemonade Anyone?

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Belle with Teddy

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Ingredients:

(the same for ALL cards)

Belles 'n Whistles Stamps

Metallic Cardstock

H2o's

Flowers

Diamanties

Pearls

Leone Em Punch

Cuttlebug

White Marker Pen

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~ Peta ~

Belles 'n Whistles - Sisters

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At last, the wait is over and I can now introduce
to you the newest members of the Belles 'n Whistles
family ~ Sisters.
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I couldn't get the ink on this stamp fast enough, and then
the 2 minute wait for ink to dry before I could start to
colour them was almost un-bearable lol!!!!
And now, I can tell you, the long wait was well worth it.
These stamps are an absolute delight to work with.
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Together with artist, Elisabeth Bell, our very own

Summer ~ from Roses on Paper, has worked tirelessly

to produce the most amazing set of stamps.

The packaging is stunning, as much as I wanted to use

them I also wanted to keep them all wrapped up in their

beautiful packages lol!!!!

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Stamping and colouring these gorgeous Sisters wasn't

enough for me, I had to do something else with them,

so out came the Shrinky Dinks ~ a few minutes in the oven,

some beautiful crystal beads and I have the cutest hat pin

ever. How much fun was that!!!!

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And these special little Sisters also needed

a very special poem.

Whenever I come across a poem or verse that I like

I put in a folder for future use, and this was exactly

the right time for this poem.

The words are beautiful.

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I'll be posting some more images from this fantastic new

Belles 'n Whistles collection over the coming weeks, but

if you can't wait til then to see them take a look at my

fellow Design Team member blogs to see what they have

done with their stamps.

You'll find some stunning creations from:

Iris, Rosette, Lim, Anki, Jodi, Susan and our special guest

Designers: Kathrin, Lynda and Lilian.

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And if all that wasn't enough, the artist herself,

Elisabeth Bell

has the most amazing blog candy up for grabs.

While you're visiting her blog make sure you

take a look at all her beautiful images, who knows,

one or two of them might be turned into rubber

before too long!!!!!!

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Ingredients:

Belles 'n Whistles Stamp ~ Sisters

Cardboard Folder

Spiral Binding

Metallic Cardstock

Shrinky Dinks

Ribbon

Flowers

Pearls

Hand Made Hat Pin

Diamantie Brads

H20's

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~ Peta ~

Willow Baby Candle

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I ordered this Willow stamp, by Elisabeth Bell

as soon as it was released, and then I waited

and waited and waited for one of my friends

to have a baby girl and now FINALLY I have

a chance to use it.

I know I could have used it for a baby boy but

as a crafter when I get an image in my head of

how I want something to look, that's how it

has to be.

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I used the layout at Sketch Saturday for

my card. I wanted the focus to be on the

gorgeous stamp and the clean simple lines

of this sketch were perfect.

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When my card was complete I wanted to

colour another Willow, so I decided to make

a co-ordinating baby candle.

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I found this beautiful baby poem for one side

with Willow on the other.

I made matching hat-pins for the card and

the candle and used the same metallic pearls

and ribbon.

I love making candles. It amazes me how such

a simple process can look so stunning.

I just hope the recipient doesn't light it!!!!!

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Ingredients:

Whiff of Joy Willow Stamp

Metallic Cardstock

Church Candle

H20's

Ribbon

Hand Made Hat Pin

Metallic Pearl Beads

Computer Generated Poem

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~Peta~

ROP Gatefold Challenge

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Can you believe it - this is our 15th challenge

at Roses on Paper.

The months seem to have just flown past.

During this time we have seen some amazing

creations by some very talented ladies.

Actually, I should correct that, men do

participate in card making challenges, and we've

got one follower, Scott, who is a very talented

young man with a huge amount of potential.

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This weeks challenge is by the very talented

Jodi - a Gate Fold card with stitching.

The Gate Fold wasn't a problem but I must

admit I don't sew, not even buttons, so it was

faux stitching for me.

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We've had a HUGE response to our Guest DT call out

for the brand new Belles 'n Whistles stamps, (head over

to the blog to find out about a Sneak Peek) due for

release in July - I hope if you wanted to be in with a

chance at this wonderful opportunity that you've

already participated in one or more of our Roses on

Paper challenges - the lucky card maker who will

take on a 2 month Guest Designer role will be

announced very soon - and let me tell you, it's going

to be a very, very tough decision, there have been

some brilliant entries.

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Ingredients:

Greeting Farm Stamp - Pretty Hat Anya

Metallic Cardstock - Black and White

H20's

White Marker

Black Marker

Basic Grey Opaline Half Pearls

Chain

Flower

Nesties

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Peta

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ROP Challenge - Decorated Candle

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I've wanted to decorate a candle for so

long, but have always been apprehensive, thinking

it would be too difficult - boy was I wrong.

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At Roses On Paper this week there is actually two

challenges to choose from.

Hosted by my very talented friend, Iris

you are being given the choice of decorating

a candle or using the inspirational picture to make a card.

A Hint - do the candle - it is SOOOOOO much fun.

With the help of a great tutorial from Iris I picked this

technique up in no time.

I was meant to decorate one candle for the DT team,

but I ended up making 5!!!!!

For your chance to join in the fun, learn a new technique

and maybe pick up an awesome prize donated by Summer,

head over to our Challenge Blog.

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Once I got started I was instantly hooked.

I'm now thinking ahead for all the beautiful presents

I can make with a matching card,

who wouldn't be happy to receive that.

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For the Tilda candle I used my H20's

to decorate the stamped image.

I was concerned that they might lose some of

their shimmer once the was paper went over the top -

but surprisingly the images are still shimmery.
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Prima Belle Fleur flowers, which are available

in various colours from Summer were used to

decorate the candle, with matching ribbon and

brads to finish off.

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My church candle, using and image from Alota Rubber Stamps ,

which is available from Summer turned out to be my

favourite candle.

I stamped my image with Memento Tuxedo Black and

highlighted it with gold glitter.

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I was able to incorporate my new love at the moment,

a handmade decorated hatpin, as additional decoration

along with matching black satin and gold ribbon.

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Ingredients:

Magnolia Stamps

Alota Rubber Stamps

White Pillar Candles

Tissue Paper

Wax Paper

H20's

Prima Belle Fleur Flowers

Ribbon

Brads

Glitter

Martha Stewart Punch

Hand Made Hat Pin

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