Uniquely Creative Echoes of the Outback Birthday Card

 

Hi blogging friends,

Today I am sharing a Birthday Card that I made for my daughter's birthday:

I wanted to make a card with a Cockatoo on it because we have Cockatoos that visit our garden all the time.  We have a very friendly one that our daughter has called Kevin and he is very well-behaved and extremely gentle.  Kevin will hop on our daughter's arm and lets her pat him.  We have all done selfies with him and he doesn't mind a bit!

I am also popping my card into the Splitcoaststampers June Fan Club Challenge CT0626 of 'A Perfect Union' because Australian Flora and Fauna are perfect together:  you couldn't have one without the other.  Our resident Cockatoos nest in the hollows of gum trees and eat the gum blossoms.  I am also playing along with the WORDPLAY Challenge WORD0626 of FUSE.  I chose F for Flowers, U for Uniquely Creative, S for Sentiment and E for Embellishments (the rhinestones).

If you are a paid Fan Club Member of Splitcoaststampers, you can play along with their monthly challenges and get loads of inspiration + free tutorials - and the DT are very supportive and encouraging.  Even though my 6 month tenure finished in May, I intend to continue playing along each month because it really helps my creativity - plus having a paid membership keeps the website going.  It costs very little and I want to not lose this amazing resource.

In April 2025, Uniquely Creative released Echoes of the Outback and the Card Kit has lots of native birds and animals so I decided to use one of the sample cards from the Card Kit.  The main things that I changed were the sentiment plus I added an extra flower and leaves - and I added the little green tree frog on the far RHS above the sentiment because my daughter really likes frogs and I thought the frog looked really cute hiding under the leaves.

When I glued the leaves down, I only added glue to half of each leaf so that I could bend up the leaf tips for added dimension.

I used Uniquely Creative Foam Squares under all the layers - some are doubled up for extra height.

All the designer papers have been distressed using my Uniquely Creative Edge Distressing Tool.  I love this tool for distressing my projects.

Final touches were adding three Uniquely Creative Champagne Rhinestones.

This was such a fun card to make and I really enjoyed making a card that celebrates Australian Flora and Fauna.

Finished size is 4-1/8" x 5-3/4" or 105mm x 146mm.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps and Ink:  None

Designer Paper:  Uniquely Creative Echoes of the Outback 6" x 6" pad + Creative Cuts

Uniquely Creative Accessories:  Foam Mounts, Edge Distressing Tool UCE1986, Champagne Rhinestones, White Card Base

Other Accessories:  Tombow Mono Multi Glue

Uniquely Creative Indigo Bloom Wedding Card

 

Hi everyone,

Today I am sharing a Wedding Card that I made for my daughter's friends.  I don't have alot of things in my stash for wedding cards and really didn't want to go for a white card as I didn't think it suited this couple.  The lady is so bright and bubbly and full of joy - she just glows - so I wanted to make something more colourful but was a little stumped.  Whilst looking through my stash, I realised that my Uniquely Creative Retailer Exclusive Kit would be perfect as the kit has two different cards and here is what I made:

I am popping this card into the Splitcoaststampers June Central Theme CT0626 Fan Club Challenge of 'A More Perfect Union'.  You have to be a member to play along in these challenges - but I highly recommend joining as you get loads of inspiration each month, suggested tutorials to spark your creativity, lots of support and encouragement and it's so nice to be a part of a fun group.  The central theme is open to your own interpretation so you can use it as a tool to jump-start your card.  I chose a Wedding Card as my interpretation but you could choose two colours that you love to create with or paper quilting - let your head go!

I based my layout on the suggested design from the Uniquely Creative Sheet but added quite a few touches of my own or altered some elements just to put my own spin on it.

The scalloped pink square on the card base was diecut using my Big Shot and Lifestyle Nesting Scalloped Squares Dies as I didn't have the Uniquely Creative Die listed in the instructions.  I also changed some of the flowers and added the Small Pink Paper Roses from my stash - plus more of the Uniquely Creative Delicate Lace Flowers.

I used my Uniquely Creative Fussy Cutting Scissors to fussy-cut some of the elements.  I LOVE these scissors because they are gentle on my arthritic hands.

I used a different sentiment from the kit because the one in the kit had the sentiment:  "lost in time" and used a Best Wishes Sentiment from a Uniquely Creative Cut-a-part Mini Sheet I found in my stash.

I used my Impression Obsession - Heart of Hearts Die to diecut some small hearts from Glitter Cardstock to dot around the card and thought that the blue and pink hearts next to the sentiment suited a Wedding Card.  I used Stampin' Up Dazzling Diamonds Glitter Cardstock and coloured it with Picked Raspberry Distress Ink to match the rest of the card.  The blue heart is from a scrap of Dark Blue Glitter Cardstock.

I had lots of fun layering all the elements together and learning along the way as this isn't a style of card I am used to making but gosh, I really enjoyed it.  I have been making myself get out of my comfort-zone whilst I have been on the Splitcoaststampers Dirty Dozen Design Team and it has really helped me be more brave and more creative.

I added some Uniquely Creative Clear Sparkle Brush to many areas of the card so it looks lovely and sparkly in real life - alas, not captured by the camera.

As a final touch, I glued on 3 x Clear Domed Gems around the card using Art Glitter Glue.  These were purchased from EBay Australia a few years ago.

Finished size is 135mm x 135mm or 5-5/16" x 5-5/16".

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  None

Ink:  Ranger Distress Ink - Picked Raspberry

Designer Paper:  Uniquely Creative Indigo Bloom 12" x 12" + Cut-a-Part Sheet UCCS192

Accessories:  Big Shot, Stampin' Up Dazzling Diamonds Glitter Cardstock, Dark Blue Glitter Cardstock, UC Delicate Lace Flowers UCE1849, UC Delicate Layering Flowers UCE2112, UC Blue and Blush Flowers UCE2113, UC Pearl Posy Stickers - Pink UCE1968, UC Fussy Cutting Scissors, UC Foam Mounts, UC Clear Sparkle Brush, Sentiment - UC Cut-a-Part Sheet, Small Pink Paper Roses (stash), Tombow Mono Multi Glue, Art Glitter Glue, Helmar's 450 Quick Dry Adhesive, Domed Clear Gems (EBay)

Dies:  Uniquely Creative Stitched Nesting Hexagons UCD2199, Lifestyle Nesting Squares and Nesting Scalloped Squares (both retired), Impression Obsession Heart of Hearts DIE052-I (retired)

Docrafts Papermania - Lucy Cromwell Home Toppers Thank You Card

 

Hi everyone,

Today I am sharing a Thank You Card that I made for my grown-up daughter to say thank you for all the baking that she has been doing for me.  About 6 months ago, I had to make some dietary changes due to some newly discovered food intolerances.  I am feeling so much better - but it has been a steep learning curve and quite frustrating (at times) to learn how to modify recipes to accommodate those intolerances.  My daughter has always done alot of baking (which I instilled into her from a very young age because I have always baked just like my late Mother) and was up for the challenge - and she has been amazing at always making sure I have something yummy to eat.  So, I wanted to acknowledge my appreciation with a card:

Sorry the photo is a little dull.  It is Winter here and foggy so it is hard to take a decent photo when it is like that.  When I tried to brighten my card in my photo editing program, it made it look even more washed out.  Oh well!

Challenges

I am entering my card in the following Challenges - click on the underlined link to take you to each Challenge:

• Splitcoaststampers - Free for All F4A820 - Food/Recipes/Cooking

• A Perfect Time to Craft - June - Open Challenge and Anything Goes

• Neglected Stuff Challenge - June - Using OLD supplies that you forgot about.  Mine is the Card Topper which is more than 10 years old which I definitely forgot about it.  I found it when I was looking for something else which was serendipitous because I had it in the back of my mind to make a thank you card for my daughter for all her baking.

The main image is a topper by Docrafts - Papermania - Lucy Cromwell called 'Home'.  I bought this sheet of toppers years ago from a Craft Show so you probably can't get it anymore and I couldn't find this particular sheet in my online search.  All the toppers have some glittery elements on them and are just so pretty.  The image was just so perfect for what I needed.

I used to love going to Craft Shows and picking up the latest Docrafts range.  They had such amazing collections and my all-time favourite was the Wellington Bear range because it was fantastic for masculine cards.  I still use this collection because I stocked up and I am so glad that I did.  I am not sure what happened to Docrafts and haven't seen anything by them for a REALLY long time.  I think the whole cardmaking industry seems to be shrinking with many companies no longer around like My Favorite Things, Avery Elle and Impression Obsession to name a few: it's so sad 😞 Anyway, I am digressing.......back to my card........

All the designer papers are by Mintay - Elodie which were first released in February 2023.  I love how well they matched the topper.

The bottom panel Pink Cardstock was punched using a Martha Stewart Doily Lace Edge Punch.  I still adore this punch as much as the day I bought it.  It is so pretty and feminine.

The Silver-edged Pink Ribbon is from my stash.  I attached it in two separate elements and glued the bow on using Helmar's Fabric Glue.  I find it easier to do my ribbons that way because it isn't as fiddly and it looks alot neater.

The sentiment is by Crafter's Companion - Popcorn the Bear - Someone Special Stamp Set.  This is another old set released in the early 2010s and was bare rubber.  This is one of my favourites that I have used alot over the years.  I stamped the sentiment using Stampin' Up Gray Granite Ink as I didn't want to use black ink because it was too stark - and the Gray Granite Ink matched the rest of the card much better.

I used my EK Success Arrows Border Punch to punch some tiny hearts from Blue and Pink Cardstock - they are the leftover punches that look like tiny hearts to me - then added some Uniquely Creative Clear Glitter Brush to them for some sparkle.

The sentiment was diecut from White Cardstock using my Big Shot and a Cuttlebug Tiny Tag Die but trimmed it down.  These dies were first released in 2007 so very old now but one of my most-used dies.  You can still pick them up second-hand in my searches online - mostly on EBay.

When I had finished my card front, I glued it to a Kaisercraft White Card Base using Tombow Mono Multi Glue.

Finished size is:  152 x 107mm or 6-1/8 x 4-1/4".

Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Crafter's Companion Popcorn the Bear - Someone Special PST-SPC

Ink:  Stampin' Up Gray Granite

Designer Paper:  Mintay Elodie 6" x 6" Pad

Accessories:  Big Shot, Tombow Mono Multi Glue, Helmar's Fabric Glue, Art Glitter Glue, Uniquely Creative Clear Sparkle Brush, Silver Edged Pink Ribbon 1/8"-3.5mm wide (stash), Docrafts Papermania Lucy Cromwell A4 Diecut Glitter Toppers - Home PMA157128, Kaisercraft White Card Base, Cardstock - Powder Blue, Pale Pink + White

Dies:  Cuttlebug Tiny Tags 37-1222 (retired)

Punches:  Martha Stewart Doily Lace Edge, EK Success Arrows Border