Melbourne and Stampin' Up 2011 Convention...

Its only 11 more sleeps till I am off to Stampin' Up's 2011 Convention in Melbourne !!!

If you have been on this journey with me for vrey long, you will know what an exciting 5 days I will be spending, with atleast 5 (or is it 500) of my closest SU friends.

I have a to do list that keeps growing and one of them is to make a Name tag.

This year the Crafters Anonymous group have a challenge to make a name tag that identifies you as part of their group.

Well, I am still working on this project... it is definitely a work in progress:

 I started with the pre-requisite Concord crush patterned paper, mounted on Perfect Plum Cardstock.

For my name I used the Big Shot Time less Type Alphabet die to spell it out.

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While the Big shot was on the table I tried my brand new Embosslit buttons (in whisper white) AND the Beautiful wings die, plus the other Beautiful Butterflies die.

Can't have enough flutterbies on this project.

Before attaching the accessories, I have used a new technique where you emboss the whole project .

 Not enough?

It needed more ... to truly describe my paper and crafting passion.

Artistic Etchings on velum stamped with Black stazon.

Now, the butterfly needed a little Crystal effects for that shiny lacquered look, and so do the buttons ...

Got Rhinestones? ...Check!

I think it needs more rhinestones... and something that says Crafters anonymous.

Sweet and Sour butterflies

I have scrapbooked a page from our December holidays. We usually visit family on boxing day. It is one of the few days of the year I can get Jessie in a dress to sit and look pretty for a photo before she is out rolling in the dirt,chasing lizards and climbing trees.

When I opened my last order I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my butterfly die and the Sweet and sour patterned papers.

All I needed was a picture with some Rose Red and pink to match these gorgeous papers.

I chose a photo of Jessica with her aunty and cousin.

 This specialty patterned paper is double sided with one side glossy and textured. You can see the glossy pattern on the butterfly. One of the textured sides has this mosaic pattern, it contrasts with the swirly patterns and also goes with the square embossing layer under it.

 The sponging of the edges makes it look soft and natural. These butterflies just called to me to add pearls for their bodies.With the ruffled ribbon it is very girlish.

 I just love the Pumpkin pie with Rose Red.

Scrap page Recipe:

Card stock: Rose Red, Regal Rose.

Specialty Paper: Sweet and Sour patterns $22.95 (12 sheets).

Ink: Rose Red

Tools: Big shot, Beautiful Butterflies die, square lattice embossing folder, Timeless type alphabet dies.

sponges, white satin ribbon, Basic pearls, mini glue dots and dimensionals.

Kangaroo Hop, bop she Wop!

 During November and December I don the Proud-Mummy hat and follow my daughter to singing performances at Libraries and Shopping Centres as she spreads her school's Christmas cheer.

We did some scrapbooking at a friends place and I found the XL Scallop Circle punch is just perfect for making Christmas baubles from photos with a piece of taffetta red ribbon for the string. A bit of tearing and rhinestones, shimmer paint and stickers -  another set of scrapbooked memories going down in history....

 I have managed to squeeze on 5 or more photos to the page using the photo as bauble trick. Plus using some photos in portrait and some overlapped in landscape mode.

 Jessie's singing club sing traditional carols and lots of fun modern tunes: my favourites are Kangaroo Hop and Santa wear your shorts tonight. Good Aussie Christmas carols that stick around in your head for months!

Jess just makes me laugh, she took a handfull of bells and got right into the dancing and ringing with "Come on Ring those Bells" and she did!

She Jingled those bells and made Rudolf very proud.

The New Year ...

Christmas may be over for another year, but did you know that the 12th Day of Christmas was only yesterday? (December 25 is the first day of Christmas)

Time to take down those decorations and start to celebrate 2011.

So what do I have to show you today?

A scrap book page that I completed only yesterday, well its holidays and time for creating just for me.

 I find if I start my Christmas scrapbooking while I still have my Christmas stamps out I can capture the moment and "feel" like I am up to date with Scrapbooking for the year. Who said things must be done cronologically? Its more fun to scrap the photos you want, when you want. 

 My title was made in three easy steps:
1. Choose some white textured cardstock
2. Die cut the letters with the Big shot machine using Timeless Type alphabet
3. Sponge the letters with Champagne Mist shimmer paint.
We spend the day with my sister and her family, (we have a very small family) so we recruit in-laws, friends and cousins of cousins to make our family on Christmas day. It was one of those days where we caught up in the morning with my brother, moved on for lunch and getting to spend time with my nephew and his girlfriend, (he does a great fresh trout cream dip by the way).  Masses of prawns and oysters (a la brother in law) and then its hot turkey (my contribution) salads and baked vegies. How we eat desert is always a mystery to me, but we do - Pavlova, cream and  fruit - weve passed on the Christmas pudding these days - there really is a limit.
Page 2 of my Christmas day ...

 We go for an afternoon walk down to the nearest water's edge. Jess paddles, plays in the park and adults snooze and talk in the shade. It was a warm day but does that deter me from stamping snow flakes?
I think it is my sense of humour ... when its hot, do snow flakes ... and reindeers -

 Dasher graces the page with his Rhinestone jewel necklace and antlers.
I think the Soft Suede, White and Sahara Sand with gold shimmer is my favourite combination this Christmas.

Here 's a close up of the distressed flowers that I created for the centres of my snow flakes.

 The background paper is the flocked Christmas Cocoa paper and the flowers are 5 of the XL scallop circles punched from patterns from the same pack, sponged in Champagne shimmer paint. A vintage brad for the centre anchors it to the page.

Scrapbook in brights - I love 2 swim!

 It is scrapbooking time and I am scrapbookng a page from January 2010.
I have been waiting for the right colour combination for this group of photos and finally it has come together.
From the swimming costumes we get Melon Mambo, the water: Tempting Turquoise and Whisper white with a background of Pear Pizazz. Those smiles say it all - Summer and playing with friends.

At the beginning of the year we loved swimming, we had a break from lessons for awhile and now we love the water again.
I have used the Embosslits Scalloped Heart of Hearts. It kind of looks like a great big textured stawberry... The matting is the newest scalloped punch (one in Tempting turquoise and one in Concord Crush). The words are from Timeless Type die cut with the Big shot machine.

 You can see the size difference with the photo that I have punched with the standard scallop circle and the x-large scallop punch behind it.
This is a very simple layout but clean and it suits the subject. The Big shot and a few dies make scrapbooking so much quicker and efficient. Add a few large punches and it becomes easy.

Enjoy!!!

Smile: Every moment scrapbook page

 Almost at the end of showing you my regional training projects from the Make and take...
I really enjoyed this little 6x6" scrap page ... very simple, only a minimum of stamping and a few punches, the butterfly had already been die cut for us by SU staff (using the Big shot machine). so all we had to do was stamp and assemble. You have probably guessed I am a 12x12 " scrapper ... well my albums are the standard size so here is how I up-sized it to make a larger page.

 The Original page is in Baja breeze textured cardstock so I layered it onto a sheet of Concord Crush, stamped with the Every Moments daisy and a few butterflies in the background.

I've punched a few extra Old Olive 1 3/4" circles and some white scallop edging to the photo to tie it all in.
Note the butterfly almost matches the colour of Jessie's school uniform.
This photo was taken in March 2010... she has lost almost all her front teeth this year, I am so glad I took this photo of her with her front teeth in tact. I think that front right hand one was a bit wobbly.

 And that butterfly - it is cut witht the Large Beautiful butterflies Bigz die (check out page154 of the IB&C) from riding hood red textured cardstock. We sponged the edges, stamped the sentiment then used the paper piercer and the mat pack to dot some swirls (you can just see in the picture above).

And look I journalled!!! I know I usually just cant stand my hand writing so I stick with the essential date, place and names, but it was late at night, I was thinking how proud we are of our little sweet girl this year especially... and so I just free styled the writing and stuck it in place with out a digital font in sight.

 Scrap book page Recipe:

Stamp: Every Moment page 72, $25.95 clear mounted.

Cardstock: Baja breeze textured,Old Olive textured, whisper white, Riding hood red textured, Soft suede textured, Concord Crush textured.

Ink: Baja breeze, Riding hood Red (for sponging), White craft ink.

Whisper white 1/8" tafetta ribbon, Paper piercing tool, mat pack, scallop edge punch, 1 3/4" circle punch, paper snips, Big shot, Beautiful butterflies Bigz die, timeless type alphabet die, sponge daubers, stamp a ma jig, stamping dimensional foam, Stampin write marker basic black. 

My little Lamb Scrapbook page

 I have been working on scrapbooking pages using products from the Summer mini catalogue and I showed you a sneak peek of this page in the middle of last month.
If you're new to scrapbooking and even if you're not, this presto paper makes scrapbooking fun and creative.
A scrap book page is usually made up with some standard elements:
A Title: It can be big. It can be small.
It can be stamped, hand written, printed, a sticker or (my personal favourite) die cut.
 Actually "My little Lamb" is both die cut and stamped.

My and Lamb are die cut using the Timeless type alphabet run through the Big shot machine.

And "little" is a word stamp from a sentiment that says something little ...

 Of course, a scrapbook page needs a background. Usually I use plain or textured cardstock but as I have been saying the "presto" paper is brilliant for sponging, spraying, brayering, painting, spattering, or spritzing ... all ways of adding ink and revealling the pattern beneath. There are 6 different patterns in a pack of 12 pages.

 As you can see I have high-lighted the leaves, buds and swirls with my aquapainter pen. You can do this with a water colour paint brush or blender pen. I've just picked up some Concord crush classic ink from the lid of the ink pad and painted it on the tips of the leaves letting it get lighter as the ink ran out. I kept painting and it picked up the already sponged Razzleberry and made it darker.
Cool: two - toning ink!

 Next, a scrapbook page needs some kind of embellishment.
Remember, MORE is LESS!  Sometimes I forget this.
I have used the Beautiful wings Embosslit die for these gorgeous butterflies.
The Big shot dry embosses the texture and die cuts the shape at the same time - seriously !
In the centre of the butterfly body is a half pearl - adding glamour and soft shine.

 Then, every page usually has some kind of journalling.
The most basic (which I like to employ) can be somebody else's words which fit the ocassion such as this stamp from "Always". When you have a lot to say you can use your own handrwriting (pesonal and individualised) or printed computer fonts for that neat typographical look.
My daughter says this to me ocasionally:
Mum, there is nothing more important than you and me and how we love each other. She warms my heart, she says it mostly when I am busy and it is her little reminder, telling me to slow down and enjoy the present moment.

The other type of journalling involves dates and names, the who, what, why and when, maybe how - usually covers it... how this came about, how you felt, how come you took this photo...

In order to keep the writing subdued I have stamped and hand-written the details on a die cut "lots of tags", sponged the edges of the white cardstock then overlayed a piece of velum cut in the same shape.

My journalling was handwritten with the concord crush classic ink marker.

A sneak peek "Presto-Paper"!

It is getting terribly close to December!
I bet you hate it when I say that.
But I 'm not talking about the 25th, no something much closer: because on the 1st of December
the new SUMMER mini catalogue is launched !!!!

Today I just want to share with you a really amazing new product that will be in the Summer mini.
If you scrapbook, or even if you don't you will want to try this...

 This paper comes white on white. No colour just a shiny image on top of a white background.
It is similar to clear embossing on white paper, so when you sponge, brayer, paint, spatter or spray ink onto the paper it takes the ink and hey "presto" the image is revealed.

 Because this image has lovely swirls and leaves I have been able to go back over it with my aquapainter (that's a fancy type of water colour brush) and pick out the details in Concord Crush and Rich Razzleberry.

Here is my scrapbook page that I made from it. The concord crush brings out the purple clothes my daughter was wearing when we visited a farm animal display at our local shops last July.

Wanted: Small comfortable venue to launch a Mini catalogue at.

Requirements: Home with single or multiple Flat surfaces (preferably Table with chairs around it) and 5-10 people who are willing to try new things and take home their creations.

A Hostess Gift from "Stamping Joy" guaranteed. Make it as big or small event as you like.

Every one goes in the draw to win a Lucky door prize.



Embosslit butterflies with Beautiful vellum Wings

I haven't used much vellum lately, so I pulled out a piece and got busy with making embellishments for the gift box I showed you yesterday and some beautiful butterflies, numbers and frames.
I love how vellum is both opaque and semi transparent. Perfect for wings and and flimsy things!

I needed an elegant birthday card for a friend who was turning fifty.
It needed to be: elegant and pretty but not overly so.
Not sure if it met it's mark but I was careful to keep it monotone and with lots of feminine elements.

 The butterflies are two layers: one of whisper white cardstock, stamped with the elements of style flowers (watercoloured in Rich razzleberry and a touch of pear pizazz ink).
The second layer is my embosslit "beautiful wings" butterfly ... sigh... how clever is this Big shot machine to both cut and emboss at the same time.

The edges of the wings and the indented embossing is touched with white shimmer paint.
The card base is of course: Rich Razzleberry cardstock put through the ever handy and useful Big shot machine to give that textured swirly background. The embossing folder is called Elegant lines.

I ummed and arrred about the fifty!!! put it on, no take it off, too much, too old...
Then decided you only get to give a fifty card ocasionally so, why not?
I did the numbers in soft vellum using the Timeless type alphabet and numbers and softened it further with some rhinestone stick on jewells, some shimmer paint, a piece of organza ribbon and the eyelet border punch.
Movie watched today: The Notebook.

Perfect bubbles!

 The photos of Jess blowing bubbles with her friend Zak were just crying out to be scrapbooked and the circle theme just grew out of that. I was happy how the bubbles cut with my circle scissors tool came out.
It was very easy to cut photos on the glass mat (once I had remembered to put dotto down on the glass)...

The centre photos were left un cut with their white borders and the top and bottom photos cut with the circle scissor tool. I love how you can cut smaller circles of any size and create the ring that I cut to frame the main photo. It accentuates the bubble she is blowing and the elegant eggplant goes with her purple T-shirt.

All I had to do was cut my Title from white cardstock using the timeless type alphabet dies.
They are cut with the big shot machine and come with both upper and lower case letters plus numbers.
I had to put a crown on Miss Jessie's head as she is the Queen (or is that princess) when it comes to blowing bubbles and the tag is from Lots of tags tied with a Rich Razzleberry bow.
To continue the circle theme I used one of the Circle Circus stamps as a background on the Perfect Plum textured cardstock.

In Sydney for a couple of days of relaxation and adventuring...

Long name for a scrapbook page ... .

 I still haven't quite worked out the difference between a photo album and a scrapbook yet,

but that's fine... I just have to learn to take less photos or take a less photogenic sweet child next time I go on holidays... 

The first Page shows gorgeous Jess getting aquainted with our hotel room at the Old Sydney Holiday Inn. It is an old converted wharehouse with heaps of character and lots of natural light in all the rooms and the huge atrium inside.

On the Roof top of the hotel is the swimming pool, spa and sauna... Jess took teddy with her for a bit of R&R while we checked out the city views. That's the harbour bridge and the Opera house to the right.

That sunshine in the middle of winter was beautiful, we could have hung around all day.

But, the city shops and sights were beckoning...

and we had to go adventuring:

Can you remember when you were a kid and found a sign with your name on it?

It didn't ever happen for me until I went to Nerida street, Chatswood.

But Jessie has a garden named after her!

We discovered the Jessie street garden in the city and she was over the moon.

Ok, the stamping is minimal on these pages... I have used the big shot Timeless type alphabet to do my titling (the set contains both upper and lower case alphabets) and the Lots of Tags die for the "a few days of relaxation..." The hearts are punched with my small heart punch - it makes a cute border with great contrast against the Pacific Point textured cardstock.

I think what I like about this alphabet is that it makes me think of a magezine font ... now all I have to do is come up with some better titles for my scrapbook pages.

Stampset: Frames with a flourish

Cardstock: Textured 12x12 Pacific Point and Kiwi kiss, whisper white smooth.

Ink: Basic Black Stazon and marker pen.