Happy Mothers day

I hope you all had a lovely mother's day.

Whether you are a mother or celebrated your mother.

My day started early with gifts from the school Mother's Day stall:

 a beaded wire bracelet, vanilla scented bath salts and a red flower made of feathers!

We made pancakes for breakfast and as punishment for being such a nice mum we played the wii fit for two hours before some lovely hot chicken and vegetable soup.

Here are some of the cards I made for the school M' Day stall.

Finding a simple and repeatable design is the fun part.

 Like using my new stampsets and designer series paper in interesting ways that I haven't tried before.

 On these ones I used the Broadsheet Alphabet to spell "Mum"

 and the Summer Solstice stampset.

Then I had a go with the butterfly in this set and for texture ran it through the vintage wall paper embossing folder and the Big shot. 

 The next one is made with whisper white cardstock

 (also run through the Big shot and vintage wallpaper folder).

But first I stamped it with my favourite stampset ATM:

 "Rue De Fleurs."

I just love the images of the vintage umbrella, flower filled bodice, trumpet and pen.

I used Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight and Marina Mist in a random stamping pattern.

And on the last one, I have used the A la Carte stamp called "Elizabeth"

 to frame the "Happy Mother's day" on a word window.

Technique Team swap

Our local Stampin' Up team is called the "Inksomniacs" and yes, we stamp day and night !!!
This month we had a team swap that challenged us to use a  technique that we had seen at Convention 2011. Our group of six shared the following cards:

 My card used the mixed embossing technique (using clear embossing powder mixed with Dazzling Diamonds glitter). The stampset is Strength and Hope from the Winter mini catalogue. (Ends 31 July)!

 I have also embossed the Curly Cute Congratulations in gold embossing powder and sponged with Soft suede ink to bring out the vintage wallpaper texture on the top note.

 Denielle B showcased the technique of Bleaching ... using the ever elegant stampset: Elements of style.
Isn't it amazing how the colour lightens and you get yellow roses out of Soft suede cardstock!

 Felicity Hawkins showed us masking - I love how the Eiffel tower floats above the En Francais script and how gorgeous does her matching tag look? She has masked the sentiment on the tag and spritzed it too.

This technique is very "distressing" by Tracy Farmer and she has used the pretty cup cake punch from the Winter mini catalogue ... Love the library clip and the rhinestones.

 Michelle Dyson has used the torn window technique that we saw at Convention. She has used the Decorative label punch through two layers of cardstock to start her tearing and it looks great (a sneak peek of a stampset we got free at Convention and coming out in the next Idea Book and Catalogue).

Ellen Woodbridge ... Christmas already! you can't see it in the photo but the embossed vanilla  layer is spritzed with Early espresso ink and sprayed with shimmer mist... it sparkles!

Musical Thank you!

Today's card is a card we gave to Jessica's Violin Teacher at the end of term.
A very talented teacher, Jessica could play several short tunes in just 9 weeks ... and eventually learnt to hold the bow and finger board correctly!

Card Recipe:

Stampset: Curly Cute: Thank you

Musical notes Wheel

Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black, Marina Mist and white.

Ink: Basic Black (ink cartridge), Cherry Cobbler.

Decorative label punch, wide oval punch,

Big shot machine, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing folder.

Taffetta ribbon. (grey?)

A Double Easel card

 Don't you just love an easel card?

This one uses a double easel ... a very clever idea inspired by Sharon Makin from Crafter's Anonymous.

 I have made mine with the butterfly stamp from the gorgeous Strength and Hope stampset.
This I think would work for any special event such as a wedding, engagement or graduation card.

I've mainly used basic black ink for all my stamping and versamark for the embossed sentiment.

I stamped over the strip of "Love Letter" DSP and wrapped a piece of black satin ribbon around the base.

The Topnote die makes a stunning statement on this project in sahara sand and black. I have run it through the vintage embossing folder for some deep texture.

The centres of the butterflies are the vintage brads.

Can you pick the mistake I made with this card...?

Card Recipe:

Stampsets: Strength and Hope, Curly Cute, Teeny Tiny sentiments.

Cardstock: very vanilla, basic black, sahara sand

Ink: Basic black, versamark

Tools and Accessories:

Silver embossing powder, heat gun.

Patterned paper: Love letter

Vintage Brads, Paper snips.

Big shot machine, Top note die, Vintage wallpaper embossing folder,

 Pinking hearts border punch.

CASEing that gorgeous little bag that Jenny made.

I so loved the square shopping bag that Jenny Adams sent me I just had to have a go at CASEing it. (That's Copy And Share Everything: CASE).

 My version is in Cherry Cobbler cardstock and Nature walk Designer series paper.

It's a gorgeous little bag (or is it a box?).

Made with an A5 piece of cardstock (21cm x 12cm).

Scored at 3cm, 10cm, 13cm and 20cm, (leaving a 1cm edge to seal the box)

Then turn and score at 3cm from the bottom edge.

If that doesn't make sense, send me an email and I will give you detailed instructions. You can make nearly any shaped box by varying the score lines.

This one is so textured because I ran it through the

Big shot machine

 using the Vintage Wall paper embossing folder.

The Enjoy is from the new "Youre a Gem" stampset in the Autumn Winter mini and the Paris stamp is from the "French Folliage" stampset.

The miniature paper daisy has been sponged with Cherry Cobbler ink and has a rhinestone in the centre and the handles are made with chocolate chip taffetta ribbon.

It looks even better when you fill it with chocolate!

Lap of luxury Bliss and embossed butterflies

Bliss is ...
a card adorned with embossed Butterflies and Lap of luxury Designer Series Paper from Stampin' up.

At  Pals Paper Arts - PPA86 they have an embossing challenge this week so this is what I came up with.
There are so many interesting products on this simple card that I love ...

 I started with the Rich Razzleberry paper and stamped it all over with the Bliss swirly pattern stamp for my background pattern. Then cut a rectangle of Lap of luxury designer series paper.
You can see why I love these Lap of Luxury colours: Concord Crush, Pretty in Pink, Basic grey and vanilla.

*     *     *

The butterflies are Concord Crush cardstock embossed with the Big shot machine then "wiped" with white cotton stazon ink to accentuate the Vintage wall paper embossing pattern.

The body of my butterflies are made with Stampin'up
 Basic Pearl jewels.

Now you're looking at those butterflies and saying: in real life they would look amazing!

You would be right - because they have also been sponged with champagne mist Shimmer paint.
They sparkle and shimmer in the sunlight on my table.

The Bliss stampset is FREE until the 31st of March with any purchase of $100 worth of Stampin up products (exclusive during Sale-a-bration 2011) and it fits perfectly into the scallop oval punch with just a tiny bit of Concord Crush sponging.
Enjoy!

Finishing on a top note ...

 My final card for Christmas ... a bit of traditional red and then some Concord Crush and Marina Mist...

And, where would I be without my Big shot machine?
It dry embossed this cardstock with the embossing folder - Vintage wall paper and then cut it out with the topnote die.

How about some shimmer paint in Frost white to put a little glitter on the red ornament embellishment?

Merry Christmas and wishing you creativity

 and lots of stamping JOY through the new year!

Artistic Etchings Life is Beautiful card with Rhinestones

I am so in love with this colour combination:
Marina Mist, Concord Crush, Early Espresso and whisper white.
So the texture and the Rhinestones make it that little bit special but this is just one of my favourite combinations at the moment.

I've stamped the topnote with Marina Mist... with the roses from Life is Beautiful.
Then put the topnote through the Big shot again with the textured embossing folder "Vintage Wall Paper".
But before I did that I wiped the ink pad all over the raised bits of the embossing plate with Concord Crush ink.
The life is Beautiful sentiment, Eiffel tour, crown and keys are stamped in Early Espresso and raised on dimensional foam with just a spattering of Rhinestone jewells on top.

Top note Gift Box and a matching Razzleberry card

Isn't it lovely to be able to match your gift wrapping with your card -

Even better when the gift box becomes part of the gift?

When I first saw one of these Top note boxes with the flower on top I just wanted to hold it and touch that delicate looking flower.

I just wanted one ... and with stampin' up colours you can have one in any colour you like.

I've seen them in Red, I've seen them in Soft Suede, in blue and now I've made one of my own in Rich Razzleberry...

But guess what?

I have to make some more because I gave this away the same day I made it.

It was so beautiful I just had to give it away.

 The flower is made from 8 punched out scallop flowers. Four of the rich razzleberry cardstock and four of vellum. Each layer has been distressed by scrunching and folding.... its so hard to start destroying the cardstock like that. . . but then you enjoy it!

 I have unfolded each layer and pinned them together with a pink fire rhinestone Brad in the centre.
Now the edges are so simple but so pretty:
1st step is to sponge Razzleberry Ink on the tips of the flower and 2nd comes the white shimmer paint with a separate sponge all glittery and well, shimmery.

Here's the box from the side showing the layers of distressed de-laminated cardstock and sponged vellum.
The box is made with two Top notes and a rectangular box sandwiched between them. A piece of satin ribbon and a silver brad make a small handle to lift the lid.
I've ued the vintage wall paper embossing folder to texturise the top notes - I just love the textures!
Enjoy!!!

Wishing you Joy at Christmas

The selection of cards above are all made with the big shot machine, the scallop die, and the vintage wall paper embossing folder using different colour cardstocks and ribbons.

There's the Concord crush scallop circle card: The only slow part on this one is feeding the cards through the Big shot machine twice, one for the scallop and a second time for the wallpaper texture. Then its a piece of Concord crush ribbon and a "joy at christmas" stamp from the Perfect punches stampset, punched out with the very useful scallop punch and raised on dimensionals.

Here it is in Rich Razzleberry cardstock and ribbon too. For a bit of further dimension I have punched the inner circle out with the 1 1/4" circle punch and layered it above the frame.

More Christmas cards to come this week ...

Curly Cute Paper Daisies

 A stamped Paper flower, a punched flower centre, a strip of striped wide ribbon and an antique metal brad.

Aahh!

When I made this card I sat back and thought- now this is the style of card I like:

simple colours, not too fussy and a bit vintage classic.

I just love textures and neutrals - they work for any occasion by just changing the sentiment.

I'd be saving this card for someone special - It uses two of my favourite new stamp sets: "Punch Potpourri"

And a new sentiment stampset "Curly Cute" that I can see I will be using a lot!

 How easy was this card to make? But very satisfying ....The new Early Espresso is my new black!

Card Recipe:

Stampsets: Punch Potpourri (just used the heart to stamp the paper daisy and the blossoms) page 10 of the Idea book and catalogue. Free when you hostess a party and reach the first level of sales.

Curly Cute (for the happy birthday words) $34.95 wood mounted or $29.95 clear mounted.

Cardstock: Early Espresso and Very Vanilla

Ink: Early Espresso

Accessories:

Paper daisies: 40 for $13.50

Antique Brads: 20 for $11.25

Tools: Big shot machine,

Vintage Wall paper embossing folder

Boho Blossoms flower punch

Ribbon: Early Espresso striped grosgrain p.137

Just one of the gorgeous colours this ribbon now comes in!

Artistic Etchings and a Concord Crush

We made this 3 D project at the launch last week and for those who couldnt make it ...

Here's the supplies list:

Stampset: Artistic Etchings, En francais background

Cardstock: whisper white, New in-colour: Concord crush

Ink: Concord crush, Marina Mist, Early Expresso

Ribbon: Early Expresso striped grosgrain

Tools: Vintage wall paper textured embossing folder.

Big Shot machine, brad, dimensionals.

12 month Calendar  and a Stampin' Up pen!

I think this idea would be great as a teacher's gift as the end of year present.
Or a calendar for your desk, mind you in a few months you may be wanting to book a holiday to Paris ... to visit the Tour de Eiffel  and a few royale chateaux ... the images have that very detailed and antique look.

I have used the En francais background stamp in Marina Mist with a collage of crowns and key stamps in a kind of bright vintage style.
For the Top note we used a new technique which I call: Inked embossing folder which fairly much describes how it's done.
We inked up the sizzlet embossing folder with concord crush classic ink, just by rubbing the ink pad on the positive side of the folder, and placed our piece of white cardstock inside.
After rolling it through the Big shot machine it comes out with purple ink in the negative part of the texture...
OK you had to be there, you have to see it in real life ...

Concord Crush and Marina Mist just go so well together and the ink just washes off in water.

Be back with another card tomorrow.

Enjoy!

Artisitic Etchings in Baja breeze and Vintage wallpaper

The new catalogue is just full of new favourite stampsets ... have you guessed this is going to be one of my favourite favourite stampsets - Artistic Etchings.
I have been waiting patiently for my new in-colours so in the meantime the next couple of posts will feature only colours that will be carried over to the new catalogue.

The Eiffel tower, key and crown have been stamped in Stazon black ink (for that rich black look).

And the rest of the inking is in baja breeze on either whisper white or baja breeze cardstock.

But wait there's more, much more:

the Big shot machine is my constant companion now when sitting at my dining room table, or the loungeroom floor, it is often in the boot of my car when I go crafting at friend's.

So the background piece is cut out with my Top note die.

Run through the Big shot using the new Vintage wall paper embossing folder, then...

inked with my baja breeze ink pad

 by just brushing the pad onto the raised portion of the embossed paper.

Cool?  I think so, and there are other ways to get this effect like inking up the embossing folder before you put it through the Big shot rollers.

The Baja breeze layer of the card is collaged with the "En francais" background stamp and another new stampset "Friends never fade" flower.

The Amour stamp is also collaged with that flower and the medallion stamp from Artistic Etchings.

Double mounted on a sizzlets Lots of Tags die and then a simple black wide oval punched backing.

Did you notice the rhinestones?

That's correct Stampin' Up now sell the elegant and sparkly Rhinestones

 and half-backed Pearls that you can attach direct to your project.
They look like jewells and step it up just another level.
I am going to have to exercise great restraint to not attach rhinestones and peals to everything I own.
They come with a sticky dot on the back so you simply peal them off and stick 'em on.
Love it! 150 for $9.50 per pack.