Paper doilies and butterflies

 I know who would have thought Paper doilies would come back into fashion?
But the crafting world is going all vintage and there are many different ways to go vintage.
Grungy, Pretty, old world, shabby chic, monochrome... and colours too.

 On this card I have used a mix of products from the Autumn mini catalogue or Seasonal catalogue (for those northern climes who arent experiencing our beautifully warm Autumn) and some Saleabration products too.
I let the "Sycamore street" Designer series paper set the colour mood for this card.
It has lots of Pool Party ink and sponging (just love this pretty minty blue) and Island indigo to stamp the bicycle (from Feeling sentimental stampset)  and Happy birthday sentiment.
Love these little butterflies? I have punched them from the sycamore street paper (FREE during saleabration) using the Bitty Butterfly punch.
 The doily stands on its own no sponging needed, just layered on the naturals white cardstock.
Makes me think of cups of tea and butterfly cupcakes at my aunties country house in Scone...

Warning: Feeling sentimental stampset and Sycamore street papers are only available during SALE-A-BRATION which ends on 22 March and these FREE with order items won't be available again.
You can place an Order by emailing me at nerida_carter@hotmail.com.

Scrapbooking the holidays

This scrapbook page is from photos I took last school holidays.

It celebrates my daughter and I and the fun we have together.

So the title is Celebrate today and the journalling says:

"My happiest days are with you".

I have stamped directly onto the patterned paper in the blank space below the bird on it's branch.

There is something about this bright  and clear "Poppy Parade" that makes me smile.

I have made all the embellishments with my Mixed bunch stampset and the blossom punch with a few of the circle punches to make the centres.

The Patterned Paper featured on this page is:

Pocketful of Posies.

The paper was cut out using the framelits die and the Big shot machine.

The Simply scored origami gift card holder.

When I saw these demonstrated by Michelle Le Breton recently I was aching to give them a try.

Great way to use all your gorgeous patterned papers to make a substantial and very clever gift folder.

This first one features one piece of 12x12

 "Cheerful treat" patterned paper - from page 9 of the Catalogue.

I made a just for you card to slip in one pocket with the bicycle stamp out of the Autumn mini cat.

My daughter loves this stampset.

She also wrote a note to her aunty to go inside behind the chocolates.

What I love about this cross over folded wallet is that it has numerous pockets for you to put notes, tags and gift cards in.

It easily fits a gift card and an Artist trading card (which you can write a note on the back of), plus T-bags  and a chocolate inside.

I made a another one ... in pink -

 Using some Melon Mambo pink ribbon to decorate it with and then I embellished it with the

 Doily triple layer punch and button dies to make a flower on the front.

And there is a Jelly Bean Brad in the centre 'cause we all love cup cakes...

My tag, that I am tuckng in this one, has the Summer Solstice butterfly and words that say:

"We meet no ordinary people in our lives."

I made all my origami folds using the Simply Scored tool and a bone folder.

Enjoy!!!

The Paper Party continues...

May is Stampin' Ups paper party month where you can buy 3 packs of Designer series patterned paper and get a fourth pack FREE.

OR join up as a hobby demonstrator and get a pack of patterned paper

 every month

 until the end of the year!!!

I want to sign up again just for the free paper.

$170 gets you there.

Call me, phone me, text me: 0468 877 125 soon, as it only lasts till 31 May.

I will email you the order form and once it's posted you will be receiving your starter pack and papers.

Isn't this an elegant wrapped package?

I got this idea from our Elite stamper's team training...

Did I mention I am also going to the Inksomniacs Team Training this Saturday night?

Want to join me? 

This gorgeous little package is made so easily with the Simply scored scoring tool.
With the scoring tool you can score the paper in a 5, 10, 5, 10, 1cm pattern and fold it top and bottom to make a gorgeous box.

The curved front of the flap is made with the edgelit die (run through with my ever handy Big shot machine).

The embellishments are:

 some Real Red Ribbon.

and two Blossom punched flowers in Poppy Parade cardstock

held on with a Fire ice square brad.

Have a workshop this month and I will make you one of these with goodies inside.

Or order some Papers and make one yourself.

Summer Solstice

 If you know me or have been following my blog for a while, you will know I love butterflies.

 We found this stone sign at a garden we visited during the school holidays.

We are happiest when we can get involved in something we love, something we are passionate about or something that engages our creativity.

 

 I discovered this stampset in the catalogue recently.

It is called "Summer Solstice" and it has a butterfly, a flower, leaves and words such as:

"We meet no ordinary people in our lives".

 I have stamped the butterfly and cut it out so that it lands on the Apothecary Art flowers for a Mother's day card. The main part of this card is the Designer series paper in  Daffodil Delight, Pear pizzazz and Poppy Parade.

The patterned paper was not very exciting so I have stamped some more butterflies in Early Espresso ink around the base of the card.

 I have used the colours of the paper in my watercolouring of the flowers.

Another project with the two tags die

 Here is a little project I came up with, all by myself ... no CASEing on this one.

Don't you love it when you make something new and you can be proud of it?

It is fairly simple - just a piece of cardstock, folded in half before running it through the big shot, using the larger of the two tag dies.

 You can see how I have folded it and placed a square Post it note and pen on the inside.

Handy little gift is it not?

The Concord crush cardstock was also textured with the Flower garden embossing folder. It gives a lovely deep embossed line.

The big flower on the front is made with the Big shot Fun Flower die using the Free Hostess-only Designer series paper.

And I have created a belly band that locks in behind the flower with a tiny slit made with my cutter kit.

 The sentiments: Are stamped with the tiny tags stamp and punched out with the tiny tag punch.
Tied with a piece of twine onto some ruffled Wisteria Wonder Ribbon.

And of course the pen is from Stampin' Up! a souvenir pack from the last Stampin' up convention.
Are you sure you don't want to come with me as a guest  at the end of May this year?

Mother's day cards in March?

 Mother's Day is only about 7 weeks away ... did I count that correctly?
I usually find if I don't make cards for an event a month a head I totally miss it. Does that happen to you?
When I think of mother's day I think of flowers and this beautiful Rich Razzleberry colour with patterned designer series paper gives a rich background to this stamping technique.

Has anyone shown you the Mother-of-Pearl technique before?
It is just another use for our gorgeous shimmer paint.
In brief you apply the shimmer paint with plastic cling wrap, then sponge ink onto the glossy cardstock in soft colours such as baja breeze, pretty in pink.
And when it dries you stamp an image over the top in black stazon ink. When it catches the light it shines like mother of pearl.

Quick Recipe:
Stampset: Fabulous Florets (Summer mini), Teeny tiny sentiments. 
Cardstock: Rich razleberry, whisper white and glossy white.
Designer series paper: Pocketful of Posies.
Ink: baja breeze, pink and Rich razzleberry.
Tools: 6cm and 4 cm circle punches, modern label punch.
Sponges, sponge daube, cling wrap.
Shimmer paint - frost white.

Timeless Portrait in the lumpy bumpy style

I think this is the style that was meant for me.
Layers of fabric, texture, ribbons, border punches, vintage, but fairly clean and a few pearls for embellishment.
I quite enjoyed making this card using the Forever young, Established Elements and Kindness matters stampsets.

 I have fussy cut the picture frame and ink swirl  stepping them up with dimensionals.
Which by the way stick very well to fabric and ribbon.

I've manage to use my Lace ribbon border punch with First Edition printed paper.

And punched the Modern label for my sentiment.

The embossed frame is made with the big shot and Designer frames folder.

 My Cherry Cobbler Seam binding ribbon has been tied into a bow and crumpled mercilessly...
Sprayed with a bit of shimmer mist spray and crumpled again!

The fabric circle is Timeless portrait fabric cut out with my Big shot and Clear Circle die.

You will find it on page 158 of the 2012 IB&C.

A free stampset - Elementary Elegance

This is a really fun card fold called a

"Double gated" card.

And when you slide off the ribbon it opens up like this- 

These colours are so pretty together: Pool Party and Island Indigo.

The Stampset is a free Sale-a-bration gift when you spend $100 with stampin up.

The Elementary Elegance stamp

is beautifully coordinated to go with the Curly label punch

 and the new Everyday Enchantment designer series papers.

 Card Recipe:

Stampset: Elementary Elegance

Cardstock: Pool party

Ink: Island Indigo.

Paper: Everyday Enchantment Designer series paper

Curly Label punch, Large oval punch, eyelet border punch and dotted scallop ribbon punch.

Pool Party ruffled ribbon.

Tools: Big shot, Designer Frames Embossing folder

Pearl Basic jewels.

Its all about the elegance of coordinated ... colour, ink, stamps and paper.

Thank you Note cards

I have some Thank you cards for you to day.

While I wait for my next Sale-a-bration order to arrive I have been playing with the Everyday Enchantment paper pack and a few punches.

 The in-colour "pool party" is a lovely minty blue and is one of the main colours in my cards here.

You can see I have used some pool party ruffled ribbon right down the centre for texture.

 

I have used the Curly label punch of patterned paper and a cut-down postage stamp punch for my stamped "thanks" raised on dimensionals.

 I love how the punch gives you the window on the back so that you can see what image you are punching out exactly, which enables you to centre the flower and crown in the shape.

 The tiny butterfly is one of the images from "Kindness Matters", it also has the word "thanks" stamp.

Have you noticed this little stampset yet?

Its on page 71 of the Idea Book and catalogue.

Five stamps for $17.95 That is a bargain.

There you are:

 Only a few hours early this morning to make and now all I need is the stampin' up parcel to go with them.

Building a scrapbook page.

Scrapbooking is a little different to making cards.

You know that your scrapbook page is going to be kept for some time and may be brought out year after year by family and friends.

I know that a scrapbook page takes a little longer and so I set aside enough time to enjoy the process.

There is the Photo selection time - choosing a picture that evokes an emotion: a moment of pride, excitement, a beautiful photo, or an event to remember!

Next comes the colour matching - to the photo, to the mood, to the season.

Usually it is the fabrics and patterns in the photo that I want to repeat in the background.

Then choosing the products I will use as accents: Sometimes for me it is the latest set of patterned papers or a shiny new product that I want to experiment with. And, sometimes it is just an idea I have, inspired by a magazine, or an image from an advertising catalogue. My favourite are bath, manchester and bedroom catys. 

This one reminds me of pillows or a patchwork quilt.

Often, I like to start small with a 6x6 inch page and build up a full size page from there. 

 Sometimes by the time you add an embellishment and some background stamping, or a title that is enough!

But usually I like to add more than one or two photos to a page and that decides the way the page will look.

I add my date and journalling last ... and sponge around the edge of the white page.

This page is one of my favourites featuring Jessica at the Choral Festival in September.

The singing club sung songs from Mary Poppins and dressed as maids and chimney sweeps.

The fresh vintage patterned papers and the orangey reds in the embellishments match the cute little aprons they wore.

Star ornaments for the tree

 Since I received this beautiful Christmas star ornament from Daryl Clapham. I have been working on a CASE (copy and share everything).

I have worked out the basics and am now making a few to give as gifts or as decorations.

 Here is my first one stamped in Poppy Parade ink - I have stamped the Contempo Christmas tree, cut it out with my sharp snips and pasted it on a piece of square embossed cardstock and the ribbon is Calypso coral ruffled. I think it complements it nicely.

 Here's the other side with the words and some snow flakes.

And here is the star ornament opened.

 Its made with five squares of patterned paper. Each one is only 3 inches square and you need some ribbon and a bead with a large hole or a ring like I have used here.

 Here it is in Concord crush stitched ribbon, patterned paper and ink.

 I mixed up the patterned paper squares to get a more decorative star ... if you have lots of christmas patterned paper you could decorate a whole tree.