Clam shell box - crafters anonymous

 Each Monday night the Crafters Anonymous group have an online class. This is the best gift box I have made in such a long time. It was designed by Dee Sturgeon from NZ.
The template can be purchased from their site from the homepage under For sale.

 I just had to show you my version and how the box opens wide to fit a babies rolled singlet inside.
To give the box some interesting texture I have rolled it through my Big shot machine using the elegant lines embossing folder. And edged the inside of the box with the pinking hearts border punch.

It is very easy to make and closes with a piece of tafetta ribbon and a tag.
 The singlet reads: 50% mummy, 50% daddy = 100% Perfect

Here it  is with the gift card I made a while ago to go with it.
A Perfect combination for a baby's shower or birthday.

Farewell to the Summer mini and Sale-a-bration!

If I had to nominate Five things I am going to miss from the Summer mini it would be a difficult list.

I can't help it I would have to say the cute little

Aviary stampset.

It has been on many a card, tag and scrapbook page this last 3 months.

I haven't shown you all my March projects that I have made... too busy making them in my spare moments to photograph and load the photos.

 I love the little owl from the aviary set and enjoyed stamping it on the tag above and the inside of cards, too. 

 My second favourite thing I will miss is the square scallop die because it has a clear top that you can see the paper or cardstock through when you are positioning it in the Big shot.

I am seriously hoping, fingers crossed, it is carried over into the Main Stampin' up Catalogue this year.

 The Presto Patterns specialty designer series paper is an amazing product that we sponged and smooched to our hearts delight. I will be revisiting this colour combination again I think: pear pizzazz, Marina Mist and Concord crush.

 And the itty bitty buttons they are so, so cute!

With their matching itty bitty bits stampset and matching itty bitty punch pack.

    *     *     *

 What will I be using (that I just cant put away) even though they will no longer be current Stampin' Up product tomorrow?

My Textured Square Lattice Embossing folder,   and

 the Scallop Circle punch.

And then we combined the Summer Mini products with the Sale-a-bration stampsets.

By the way, this card was made with Melon Mambo and Night of Navy for the pure reason that I could use my satin ribbon on it.

And finally, I will say farewell to the Exclusive Sale-a-bration set of stamps.

The elegant and versatile "Bliss" set.

If you wish to place an order best to phone or email me pronto... today is the last day to order these Summer mini and Sale-a-bration products.

Enjoy!

Poppy Parade and Aviary Scrapbooking

Life is Beautiful! 

This is a small 6" x 6" scrap page that I converted into a full 12x12.

Recipe:
Stampsets: Aviary, Musical Notes wheel, Life is Beautiful.
Cardstock: Poppy Parade, whisper white.
Ink: Early expresso, Poppy Parade, whisper white craft ink.
Ribbon: White organza.
Tools: Big shot machine, Square scallop clear die, Label punch, Circle punches.

Aviary Thanks

 So much happening at the moment... I try always to remember though to say thank you.
It is one of the small courtesies of life that brings a warm glow to the recipient and the sender.

  I have indulged myself with Concord crush and pear pizzazz cardstock. Using the topnote die in my Big shot to create this curly frame for the aviary birds to hang around in. This cute little bow is made of 1/8th inch wide tafetta ribbon and attached with a glue dot.

 The aviary stampset is from the current Summer mini Catalogue (which sadly finishes on 31st March)
And the "thanks" is just one word from the SALE-A-BRATION stampset: So happy for you.
Ive stamped the cages in Concord Crush and the little birds in Old Olive and Poppy Parade for contrast.

To add that shiny surface to the birdie I have used a few drops of "crystal effects".
Sale- a -bration runs until 31st of March which gives us about 6 weeks to earn the FREE stampsets.
Contact me if you need to place an order, I am placing another order very soon.

Specialty papers on cards and boxes

On Saturday we made these two projects at Telita's Cardmaking party. We had a great time, six ladies crafting together and having a cuppa, sharing ideas and the rain pouring down outside.
If you would like to make any or both of these at your place send me an email: nerida_carter@hotmail.com

 This is the bright and cheery birthday card we made. It uses the Aviary stampset from the summer mini and also the Sale-a-bration set "so happy for you".
Rose red, pumpkin pie and Early espresso together is a great combination.

Here's the close up of my rock and rolled bird in the hanging cage. We punched him out with the 1 3/8" circle punch that fits this small bird cage perfectly. 

 I can't not mention the beautiful Specialty paper: Sweet and Sour which is textured and shiny on one side, very special, with a bit of sponging around the edges it adds a gorgeous level of quality to a card.

 Here (above) are the scallop square die boxes we made. The box is made out of one piece of A4 cardstock which leaves a strip down the side that you can use for a handle or use the beautiful satin ribbons or polystitched cotton ribbon for a handle.

 We used the Bliss stampset (also from the Sale-a-bration catalogue) to make our tag.
The Bliss word fits perfectly into the oval scalloped punch, and layered onto the wide oval makes a great raised centrepiece for your box front.

 You can attach your cardstock handle with brads, or as above I have just created a hole with the crop-a-dile and knotted the ribbon ends so that they wont slip through.

 I sponged the Presto paper with Perfect Plum ink and layered it onto a concord crush mount. I do love how these three purples go so nicely together.

Sale-a-bration continues until the 31st of March, so if you're planning a party to gain your FREE stampsets let me know as weekends are filling up fast, at this time of year.
If you don't have a Sale-a bration catalogue yet, give me a call and I will post one out to you.
Enjoy!!!!

So happy for you with Aviary owl... to pocket or not to pocket?

Another of the cards I made during last week's February heatwave.
The colours are a little dark in the photo because I was taking them downstairs at the southern window.

 My card is made with the Sweet and Sour Specialty Paper. The folded front flap is torn and a piece of Early Espresso ribbon tied around the card to create a pocket for my message to tuck into.

 The aviary stamp has lots of little birdies of different shapes. (My favourites are the owl and the sparrow).
The small cage fits nicely onto the 1 3/8" circle punch.

 If you only tie the ribbon around the front panel your card can open downwards to reveal a stamped interior.
I have kept this one very basic... a new idea for me I know.

 Two more cages with cute little birdies singing to each other on the inside panel.

OR, 

 if you tie the ribbon loop around the whole card you retain the pocket and can slide the insert up to reveal the pictures of the birds in their cages.

Card Recipe:

Stampset: Aviary $35.95 p.13 of the Summer mini.

So happy for you. FREE when you spend $100 during Sale-a-bration.

Cardstock: Rose Red, whisper white.

Ink: Rose red, Early Espresso.

Ribbon: Early Espresso tafetta 1/8"

Specialty Printed paper: Sweet and Sour $22.95

1 3/8" circle punch, cropadile, cotton thread.

Enjoy!!!

Fabulous folds...

Check out the new things on this card?

 You know how I love a new stampset?
And, you know that I LOVE a new specialty patterned paper.
What else is there to get excited about then?
A new way to fold your card that creates a pocket to put your sentiment on!

 Firstly, I made this card to show off this new set of papers (well they're not that new) They've been in the catalogue since September... but I've just bought a pack to play and share with.

 Just showing you my card from a couple of different angles to show you why its a specialty paper - It is a double sided paper and one side is raised and shiny. And the colours are Rose Red and Pumpkin pie. Two very easy colours to work with.
This is one of my most favourite stampsets in the new mini.
There are four different bird cages and four cute birds to stamp (including a very sweet owl) and a bird cage stand.
This easy little folded card can hold an invitation or a birthday wish, a gift card could fit neatly into the pocket on the pull out piece.

The happy birthday stamp is a Sale-a-bration set: "So happy for you".
I am a big fan of word and picture stampsets because they are so versatile.
"So happy for you" has 5 word stamps and 5 pictures of a heart, star, flower, clover and butterfly.
A good set to add to your collection.

Want to see how this pocket fold card works?
You can tie the ribbon around the whole card and then take the ribbon off to open the card out flat, or keep it closed and slide the greeting slip in and out to reveal more stamping underneath.
Hope you like this one?  Enjoy!

Aviary owl hanging under Pendant Park?

 Now if you've had a chance to look through your Summer Mini catalogue you will recognise quite a few of the stamps and products I have used on this card.
Aviary (page 13) Its the cutest little stampset of birds and curly cages to set your creative heart a flutter. I have hung my owl in his cage from a ribbon from the Pendant Park tree. Then for a background I'vw wheeled the musical notes... with a basic black ink cartridge it is extremely useful for adding music to wrapping paper, cards and scrapbook pages ...
I know owls aren't that musical (think Mo-poke) but she is cute.

Happy Birthday is also a new stampset called "Well scripted" on page 18 of the Summer mini.
But what's that curly edging around the the whisper white - is it a scallop square?

You will see a lot more of this BigZ clear die. Because it has a clear top! which makes it easy to see what you're cutting, so you can position your material for the perfect cut be it a photo, patterned paper or stamped image. You can even determine the number of scallops of your square.

The summer mini - what's new

If you Click on the picture above of the Summer mini catalogue you will see an electronic version. There are links there to the product list too. If you'd like your own paper version aswell, email me your address and I will post or deliver a paper copy to you.

My favourite stampset in the mini has to be the aviary stamp set:
Its on page 18 of the mini  for $35.95 in clear mount stamps.

 There are cute little birds and several wrought iron bird cage images. I just haven't had enough time to play with them but this was the first card I made. 

 The mini has a new border punch: the pinking hearts border (you can see it has little hearts).

It is a delicate edge that I wasnt sure was me, but I love the hearts and it goes great with almost everything.

Then there are the cutest little "Bitty Buttons" in a pack of 64 for only $7.95, they have a matching stampset Itty bitty Bits and 3 small punches in a pack for $30.95 (thats only $10 per punch). They coordinate together to make the best little embellishments. I've just used the heart button above.

 My next favourite, which I have already been using excessively is the Square Lattice textured embossing folder. I used it on the topnote card above. When you sponge it the texture is hi-lighted. This coupled with our Big shot Top note die makes a very simple effective card.

And I've used it again on this Christmas card sponged with Baja breeze ink.

My other favourites that I haven't photographed yet are:

The builder wheel (it uses separate wheeled images that you can combine together and stamp in different colours and combinations) check out page14 and 15 of the summer mini.

The smooch spritz is a pearlised accent spray that you can just spritz onto your project for a vintage, misted spray of shine. (They're on page 10.) Smooch spritz comes in gold and silver  for $7.95 each.
And I didnt even mention the large 6 cm Scallop Circle punch on page 22!!!

Is it all too much too soon?
The summer mini products are available until 31 March 2011
Enjoy!!