My Convention swap cards

 

 This year I only made ten cards to swap at Convention. With 700 women who are potential friends to swap with I swapped mostly with people I know. I used a design I'd come up with using my favourite technique at the moment called thumping with markers.

 No two of my cards ever turn out the same especially with the thumping marker technique, I love how the colours flicker on the Swallowtail butterfly stamp.
Then I stepped it up by creating a 3D effect with layering a second butterfly wing on top. Time consuming but worth it! Really love these colours together: Elegant eggplant, Island Indigo and Gumball Green with a touch of Wisteria Wonder.

Here are some of the swap cards I received - I am so pleased to share these with you. I always enjoy the personal touch stampers have when they share how they made their card and what they feel about it.

 Karen Pinkerton - How gorgeous is this red glimmer paper dress contrasting with the black Stippled blossoms? And the scallopped edgelit behind is just a lovely touch.

 Michelle Walker - I love the Everything Eleanor blossoms in Soft Suede against the patterned Poetry paper. And the sentiment is also one of my favourites.

 Vanessa Webb has created a hybrid card using My digital studio - Isnt it professional and effective?

And on the other side is the handmade hand stamped tag with a bottle top embellishment.

I might prefer the handmade side, but if you were making invitations or thank you cards in large numbers the My digital studio is definitely a contender ... I am going to try these out, perhaps for business cards and Thank you cards!

Tanya Mulhall - using Secret Garden and the Curly label punches works so well with the delicate lace design at the bottom, so pretty!

 Michelle Johnstone silver heat embossed her swallowtail and used a Designer builder brad from page 12 of the Season Catalogue. (retires on 30 June!!!)

 Anne Farrar shared this great colour chart showing the different effects you can get with two step stamping the Stipple Rose.

Cheere Robinson - Take a close look the Lattice die cut in Timeless Portrait Fabric. This really looks stunnning against the Pretty in Pink Cardstock. (The fabric and Pretty in Pink are retiring at the end of June).

More to show you tomorrow!

Two tags for Owl Occasions

 If this is Saturday then you know that I am at Stampin' Up's Heartfelt Event at Darling Harbour and enjoying an exciting day ... what else can I say?

Wish you were here!

 In the meantime, here is the card I made for the Demo boards for the stampin' up! Heartfelt event.

Owls are very popular this season - I am seeing them on pillows, Manchester, children's clothes, birthday cards and wrapping paper.

I have die cut a tag from the Two tags die using the Big shot in my favourite cardstock ( Crumb cake ).

Then glammed it up just a touch with a decorative strip of

 gold glimmer paper

cut with the Finishing Touches edgelit die.

It hides a piece of sticky strip that anchors my folded scallopped Tulle ribbon.

 Did you notice the little owl crown?

It is a small piece of glimmer paper cut from the edgelit and raised on an even smaller piece of dimensional.

Recipe:

Cardstock: Crumb cake, Basic Black, Whisper white.

Gold Glimmer paper.

Stampsets: Greetings of the season, Owl Occasions

Ink: White craft ink, and Basic black.

Antique Brads. Scallopped Tulle ribbon.

Tools: Big shot by Sizzix.

Dies:Two tags die, Edgelits, Apothecary accents,

Embossing folder: Lacy Brocade.

Corner rounder.

Big shot snow flurry and silver spritzing

Get your big shots ready ...

Its November, which is serious Christmas card making time!

Even if you don't do Christmas you can't avoid the SEASON of celebration we have ahead of us.

I'll be loading my cards as I make them ... ideas for you to create yourself.

Give me a call if you want some help with the supplies, techniques or a demonstration.

 Card Recipe is as follows:

Big shot machine

Snow flurry Die

Apothecary Accent Die

Stampset: Greetings of the Season

Cardstock: Whisper white, Midnight Muse.

Ink: Midnight muse

white stazon (for sponging)

Smooch Spritz (silver foil)

Window sheets (acetate) for snowflake and stencilling.

Glimmer paper (silver)

Sharp snip scissors.

I have stamped my own background on the Midnight Muse cardstock with the words "Noel" and "Peace on Earth" then sprayed silver spritz.

 I've created my own stencil using the acetate negative from the Snow flurry die.

The Smooch spritzing is very effective to use with a mask or stencilling.

The snow flake is made of acetate (window sheets) sponged with white stazon ink with one layer of the glimmer paper. Topped with a vintage facetted button and Rhinestone jewel.

Glue dotted together with a silver brad to hold it all together.

Scentsational Season

 Here's to wishing you Peace on Earth and a Scent-sational season!

This one started as a CASE of the Peace on Earth card on page 8 of the Holiday catalogue.

I liked the Banner / Flag shape of the stamped panel and I was going to put the Peace on Earth circle in the middle of the Glimmer Paper scallop, but decided I just had to use the gingerbread man which relegated the peace on earth to the bottom right hand side.

 Just loving this Designer Series patterned paper - Snow Festival - with the neighbourhood houses, trees and snow flakes from page 10.

It looks really lush layered on top of the Cherry Cobbler Core'dinations paper that I have crumpled and distressed.

 My second card is a paired back version using the Christmas tree image within the scalloped circle and a piece of Snow Festival Paper on top of gumball green cardstock.

The background is stamped with Sahara Sand ink on Sahara Sand Cardstock.

I have stamped the Daydream Medallions randomly so they look a tiny bit like snowflakes.

 I think the sahara sand cardstock works well with the blues and greens, while the crumb cake card goes better with Cherry Cobbler and reds. What do you think?

Greetings of the Season $21.95

Scentsational Seasons $25.95

Snow Festival DSP $18.95

Glimmer paper $8.95



Glimmering Snow Flurry ornaments

It may not snow here at Christmas and I am definitely no snow flake expert But I made these with my bigshot Snow flurry die.

 The snow flake is a combination of three die cuts in different materials.

Silver Glimmer paper, acetate (aka window sheets), on a Marina mist cardstock base.

Can you imagine these hanging in your window, catching the sunlight with all that bling and shine?

In your favourite Christmas colour hanging on your tree...

The centre of my snow flake is a facetted button from Stampin' Up! with a rhinestone stick on jewel in the centre of that.

I love how each element just builds on top of the other.

The acetate bends upwards and gives it a gorgeous 3D effect.

Here's the recipe:

Stampset: none

Ink: white stazon ink (for the edges of the acetate)

Cardstock: Marina Mist

Acetate - window sheet.

Other: Glimmer paper in silver (also comes in champagne and red)

$8.95 - see page 18 of the holiday catalogue.

Big shot $150 (ask me how to get your big shot for only $75)

BigZ die - snow flurry  $37.95

Embossing folder: Petals a plenty $13.95

Punch: Scallop circle

Facetted buttons

Rhinestone jewel

Baker's twine (Island Indigo).

Enjoy!!!!

a CASE of the Catalogue!

Only a few weeks left of the holidays ... I have been neglecting my blog, so sorry - am having a lovely family and friend time, doing some scrapbooking and card making, just making up the days as they come along.

Now just before Christmas I was flipping through the main Stampin' Up! catalogue and remembered how much I liked this box and tag.

Now I had bought the two tags die and the Fancy Favour box die with this project in mind -

I hope you like my interpretation of the project on page 145.

 It is more than a gift box as you can keep your pens, scissors, tags and ribbon scraps in it.
Just looks so special covered in the Flirtacious Designer fabric ... I dont think I can give this away, not yet.

I have used the gorgeous Glimmer paper (sponged with Melon Mambo ink).

The 5 petal punch makes a lovely bloom in First Edition paper held together with a Vintage brad in the centre.

 The decorative label "wings" are sprayed with my homemade shimmer paint "mist".

 I have tied the gift tag with a piece of fabric (just torn from the edge of the fat quarter) and tied a key trinket charm to the top.

The "kindness matters" stampset is so beautiful I want to stamp pink and Soft suede butterflies on everything...

 See what you can make with a few big shot dies, some gorgeous fabric and a pretty stampset?
I enjoyed making this box and it is a substantial little trinket holder on my table.
Any questions or thoughts? Leave me a comment below.

Glimmering Christmas ornaments

 Let me show you a new product fresh out of the Summer mini catalogue.
It is called Glimmer paper (it comes in silver and Red) but don't despair you can colour the silver glimmer any Stampin' up ink colour that you like....
Can you imagine that with a sponge, a dauber, or an aquapainter, an inkpad or a reinker bottle any of these will create glittery paper in any of the colours of your dreams.

 The photo above shows the original silver glimmer paper and the one below is sponged with Melon Mambo ink. Isn't it just gorgeous?

Hint: the more ink you apply the deeper the colour, and if you make it very inky - you can always dry it off with your heat gun.

 On this card I have sponged one of the ornaments with Concord crush ink and attached them both with dimensionals.

 I have tilted the card to the side so you can see this lovely glitter in the light - it's quite amazing!

For the rest of the card I have used my big shot for texture, the petals-a-plenty embossing folder, and a piece of square lattice embossed cardstock too.

The tag is from Lots of tags, some sponging, twine, and ruffled ribbon to complete.

Enjoy!!!