This week the team at Just Add Ink is encouraging us to use EMBOSSING on our projects. Heat embossing is a really simple technique that can make a card look professionally finished ... it was the first "WOW" moment I had with stamping some 14 years ago. Back then, I gold-embossed anything and everything, but my tastes have taken a more subtle turn over the years! I've chosen to clear-emboss on my card for this week's challenge.
I started off with a colour scheme that was inspired by this gorgeous card - I would never have thought to pair Sahara Sand with Regal Rose, but don't you think they look made for each other? I was also inspired to use some of my vast collection of silver decorative brads from Stampin' Up! So, using my much-loved "Flower Fancy" stamps, I clear-embossed, onto Sahara Sand card, the small outline flower to create a background (just on the lower 2/3 of the card). I also clear-embossed the flower onto Whisper White card, and overstamped the sentiment in Staz-On ink (there's a close-up, that's possibly photographed way-too-close-up, below!).
I won't ramble on too much about the methods I used, but I do want to add that I was pleased to find that three of my circle punches were the perfect size to make backing circles for the three different-sized brads. I roughed up the edges with my fingernail.
and the sentiment panel:
In hindsight, it would have been better to stamp the sentiment first, and emboss the flowers over the top. Oh well - you live and learn! :)
Stamps: Flower Fancy, Upsy Daisy (sentiment)
Card: Sahara Sand, Regal Rose, Whisper White
Ink: Versamark inkpad, Sahara Sand stampin' pad, Jet Black Staz-on inkpad
Other: Clear embossing powder, Circle Punches: 1/2", 3/4", 1", Regal Rose 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, silver brads from Hodgepodge Hardware and Flower Brad assortment, Mat Pack and paper piercing tool, dimensionals, sponge dauber
Boy, I come up with some really imaginative titles, don't I?
In honour of this month's Stampin' Up! promotion on Two-Step Stampin', I have been giving my "Flower Fancy" stamp set a good work-out. I cannot tell you how much I LOVE this set!! Well, I can, but your eyes would probably glaze over before I was through.
I hope you like this bright, cheery, "get well" card I made. In my eyes, you just can't go wrong with red! I also think it's really cool that there was enough natural light to photograph this outside; it has been so overcast and windy lately. So, here's to a lovely day in Melbourne, and to cheering up someone who needs it:
Stamps: Flower Fancy, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Card: Real Red textured, Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Jet Black Staz-on inkpad, Real Red and Old Olive stampin' pads
Other: Eyelet Border Punch, stickers from "I Wish" Simply Scrappin' Kit, Small Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Red Gingham Ribbon, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Playground Designer Buttons, dimensionals, mini glue dots
I couldn't help myself with this week's colour challenge at Just Add Ink; just HAD to make another card using this colour combination:
I really love Soft Suede, so wanted that to form the basis of my card. I made this card tonight, and am too impatient to wait until it's daylight to photograph it!
Here's a close-up of the sentiment, so you can see I have actually used Elegant Eggplant (and to show that there's a bit of Crystal Effects on the one flower centre):
Stamps: Organic Outlines, Wow Flowers
Card: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla
Ink: Soft Suede and Rose Red stampin' pads, Elegant Eggplant stampin' pad and marker
Other: Word Window Punch, Crystal Effects
No ribbon, and no brads, on this card, but I rather like its simplicity. I'm pretty sure this will be my final entry for Just Add Ink this week :).
This month's promotion, from Stampin' Up!, is a sale on eight fabulous Two-Step Stampin' sets. I decided to get out my "Cheep Talk" stamps, and share with you a couple of simple cards that I think are pretty cute and happy.
"Cheep Talk" is a set of 11 stamps, and is on sale this month for only $38.36!! That's incredible value, especially considering how versatile the set is - birds, heart, flowers and a branch that lend themselves to all sorts of possibilities. If you don't own this set, I can help you out - just email me, and I can order it for you, and have it delivered straight to you, anywhere in Australia.
As the title of my post suggests, I've made my cards in colours that are available only until the end of August. With Stampin' Up!'s exciting Colour Renovation, happening at the beginning of September for us in Australia (when the new catalogue comes out), 30 'old favourite' colours will be retiring.
Here's the first card I made, using Mellow Moss and Pale Plum:
.... and a close-up of the brads I made, just because I have a bit of a love affair going on with Build-A-Brads:
Stamps: Cheep Talk
Card: Mellow Moss, Very Vanilla, Pale Plum
Ink: Versamark inkpad, Mellow Moss, Pale Plum and Perfect Plum stampin' pads
Other: Stamp-a-ma-jig, sponge daubers, Build-A-Brads, 1/2" circle punch, Buttons #5 Sizzlits die, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder
I decided that for my second card I wanted to use Close to Cocoa. This beautiful brown has already been way more popular than anticipated, in the wake of the 'retirement' announcement, and unfortunately cardstock is no longer available in this colour. You can, however, still buy Close to Cocoa inkpads and refills. I've teamed the cardstock with some gorgeous Candy Lane Designer Series Papers, and a bit of stamping in Close to Cocoa and Riding Hood Red.
Stamps: Cheep Talk
Card: Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Riding Hood Red and Pink Pirouette stampin' pads
DSP: Candy Lane Designer Series Paper
Other: Mat Pack and paper piercing tool, Close to Cocoa marker (for faux stitching), Stamp-a-ma-jig, Ruby Red brads, Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon, sponge daubers, Circle Punches - 1", 1 1/4", 1 3/8", Scallop Circle
Another day, another challenge! When I saw this week's colour challenge at Just Add Ink, I was determined to NOT leave it until the very last minute to enter. I'm a sucker for a colour challenge. Sketch challenges, not so much.
Here is the colour combo for this week over at JAI:
I added in to the mix a personal challenge, to use no flowers or butterflies on my card. I didn't say anything about birds, though, LOL .... so, this is what I came up with:
Stamps: Friends 24-7
Card: Soft Suede, Rose Red, Very Vanilla, Elegant Eggplant
DSP: Autumn Traditions Designer Series Paper
Ink: Versamark inkpad, Elegant Eggplant and Soft Suede Stampin' Pads
Other: XL Two-Step Bird Punch, Rose Red 1" Double-Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Very Vanilla 5/16" brads, sponge daubers
Aside from the untidy ribbon ends (no matter how carefully I trimmed the ribbon, it frayed, so this is as good as it gets!), and the late-night photography (yet again), I'm quite happy with this one!
I got a burst of late-night inspiration, to make a little card for Makeesha's Inkspirations challenge tonight. I think I've panicked because, after 6 days off, I actually have to go to work tomorrow. Amazing how getting off the computer for half an hour can be quite productive!
The 'challenge' (and I use that term loosely) was to use these yummy colours together:
I wanted my card to be smaller than a full-sized card, so I used one of my trusty Pendant Notes (*love*). I simply cut a panel of Rich Razzleberry card to cover the die-cut design on the inside of the card, and covered the front of the card with my creation, which looks like this (photographed in less-than-ideal conditions at 11.00pm):
Stamps: Very Vintage jumbo wheel, All A Flutter, Short & Sweet
Card: Kraft Pendant Note, Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry
Ink: Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive stampin' pads, Sahara Sand stampin' pad & marker
Other: Watercolour paper, Aquapainter, Old Olive brads, Word Window Punch, Whisper White taffeta ribbon, sponge daubers, edge distressing tool, paper snips
Today is the last day to enter this week's Just Add Ink challenge. I've been meaning all week to come up with something, but the school holidays seem to have just swallowed my time! I'm loving having time with my boys, and being at home.
This week the team at Just Add Ink have a sketch challenge, encouraging us to make something using this sketch as a starting point:
Now, I LOVE the sketch, but I don't love Clean and Simple - at least, when I try to pull it off! I'm not good at leaving a lot of white space, despite the fact that I admire it greatly in others' creations. I always want to add brads, buttons or ribbon, or a few layers!
The idea that I had in my head really didn't look right when I put it into practice. So, I found myself adding an extra flower to balance out my card! Here's what I ended up with:
This past week I've been playing around with the 'chalkboard technique', which is a lot of fun, and is a great way to use those Stampin' Pastels (chalks) that have been sorely neglected for far too long! I stamped the gorgeous flower, from my Eastern Blooms stamp set, using Whisper White craft ink on Elegant Eggplant card. Then, using a cotton bud (I like that I can control it better than a cotton wool ball), I picked up colour from my pastels, and applied it in a circular motion to my stamped flowers. I love the rich colours that resulted. Here's a close-up of the flowers:
The Stampin' Pastel colours I used are Taken With Teal, Whisper White and Lovely Lilac.
Here are the other ingredients used to make my card:
Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Occasional Greetings
Card: Kraft, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White
Ink: Whisper White craft stampin' pad, Elegant Eggplant and Sahara Sand stampin' pads
Other: Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, White 5/16" brads, sponge dauber, paper snips, dimensionals
Hi everyone!
Being the first Saturday of the month, it's time once again for our "Art With Heart" team blog hop.
This month our theme is "Christmas in July". Now is a great time to kick-start your Christmas cards (if, like me, you can't even entertain the idea of starting any earlier!) and other projects. We hope to inspire you with the creations we're sharing today.
The "Art With Heart" team of Stampin' Up! demonstrators comprises over 90 women, spread across Australia, and is led by Claire Daly (based in Melbourne). We have a very active online team forum, that is a great source of inspiration, support, and friendship. If you'd like to join us, there is no better time - Stampin' Up! in Australia has a fantastic special offer on the Starter Kit, until the end of July. Whether you'd like to join up as a hobby demonstrator (to get discounts every day on every product), or are interested in starting up a low-risk, rewarding home-based business, you can't beat being able to sign up for only $259! (The retail value of the Starter Kit is $580.) The fabulous Starter Kit contains lots of stamps, ink pads, cardstock, and business supplies - plenty to 'get you started', and there's lots of continuing support available. If this sounds like something that suits you 'to a T', please email me; I'd love to have you join our friendly team.
As with each of our blog hops, we offer blog candy - a little prize for one person who visits all of the participating blogs, leaves a comment, then emails Nikki Sadler to confirm that all blog posts have been commented on. The offer for the blog candy is valid only for 72 hours from the launch of our blog hop; so, to be in to win, make sure you email Nikki by 6.00am AEST Tuesday 6th July. Blog candy cannot be won by Stampin' Up! demonstrators, but we would dearly love for you all to visit our blogs and leave comments anyway!
Today there are 12 of us taking part in the blog hop. You may have come from Kathryn Mangelsdorf's blog; however, if you are starting here, that's fine. When you've finished looking at my blog post, just click on the link below to go on to Kristine Thompson's blog. You can start at any of the blogs along the way; you'll do a 'circuit', and cover all 12, as long as you follow the links on each blog.
Right, enough of the formalities, and onto my projects. I have chosen to make a little gift set, using the "I Wish" Simply Scrappin' kit, that's on page 137 of the Stampin' Up! catalogue. Be sure to take a look at the kit; it is seriously good value for your Christmas projects. The kit costs $36.95, and contains enough textured cardstock, co-ordinating Designer Series Papers, and self-adhesive die cuts to make numerous scrapbook pages, or DOZENS of cards!
Here is the card I made:
I thought it was way past time I gave a bit of love to my Two-Step Bird Punch. For these projects, I've used both sides of some Designer Series Paper from the "I Wish" Kit. The key colours are Old Olive, Chocolate Chip and Real Red; yummy, don't you think?! The patterns on the paper co-ordinate with the Snow Swirled stamp set; the Build-A-Brad just above the bird was created by stamping a snowflake onto Designer Series Paper, punching it out with a 1/2" circle punch, and adhering it to the brad base, before topping it off with an epoxy sticker (that comes in the Build-A-Brad set). I LOVE being able to make co-ordinating embellishments.
To go with this Christmas card, I made a darling (if I may say so myself) little gift box:
The photo's a bit fuzzy - sorry. There's a clearer one coming up! I've made these little pillow boxes before only using cardstock, but I LOVE the result using paper. I'm totally in love with how cute this is!
Next, I made some tiny little gift tags, to go inside the pillow box:
I got a little carried away and made 10 tags, but by the time I'd added a couple of layers to the tags, they wouldn't all fit inside the gift box! The pillow box will hold 6 of these tags.
Here are all my projects together, followed by a list of Stampin' Up! products used to make them:
Stamps: Snow Swirled, Spotlight on Christmas, Tiny Tags, Weathered
Card: Kraft, Chocolate Chip textured, Old Olive
Ink: Chocolate Chip stampin' pad and marker, Old Olive stampin' pad, Versamark inkpad
Other: "I Wish" Simply Scrappin' Kit, Build-A-Brad, 1/2" Circle Punch, Wide Oval Punch, Star Punch, Medium Jewelry Tag Punch, 1 1/4" Square Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Crop-a-dile, Linen Thread, Pillow Box and Top Note Dies (used in the Big Shot), XL Two-Step Bird Punch, sponge daubers, Sticky Strip, dimensionals
Thanks for taking the time to visit my little corner of the world today. Next up on the blog hop is the gorgeous and creative Kristine Thompson; please go see what she has made, and enjoy the rest of the tour! Don't forget to leave a comment for each of us, then email Nikki Sadler, if you'd like to go into the draw for this month's blog candy.
In case you need a bit of help, here's a complete list of all my team members taking part in the blog hop:
This month's special offer (and it's a goody!) from Stampin' Up! is 20% off a number of Two-Step Stampin' sets. Two-step stamping is a very easy technique, and a fun way to layer images, or create scenes.
There are EIGHT fabulous stamp sets on sale this month.
"Loads of Love" (p. 39 of the main catalogue), normally $39.95, is only $31.96.
"Big Bold Birthday" (p. 42), normally $53.95, is now $43.16.
"A Rose is a Rose" (p. 78), normally $66.95, is on sale for $56.56.
"Playful Petals" (p. 86), normally $52.95, is only $42.36.
"Cheep Talk" (p. 98), normally 47.95, is $38.36 throughout July.
"Wonderful Favourites" (p. 115), normally $39.95, is $31.96.
"Tiny Tags" (p. 14 of the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue) is on special, in both the wood-mount and clear-mount options. Wood-mount, normally $38.95, is now only $31.16. Clear-mount, normally $28.95, is $23.16.
"Cottage Garden" (p. 31 of the Autumn-Winter Mini) is also on special in both the wood-mount and clear-mount options. Wood-mount, normally $32.95, is now $26.36. Clear-mount, normally $24.95, is only $19.96.
Two-step stamping is a heap of fun, and creates lovely results (it does help to have a trusty Stamp-a-ma-jig on hand! This great tool is the best $22.95 you could ever spend! Let me know if you need one, to help get the most out of your two-step stamps.) Email me if you'd like to order some of these fun stamps - you won't be disappointed! NB: Postage & handling costs, of $5.95 or 5% of order value (whichever is greater) do apply.
I've been doing a bit of two-step stampin' myself, with my newly-acquired "Flower Fancy" set. You'll be seeing a lot of Flower Fancy creations from me, but today I'll share just one - we're about to head off for a weekend away, and I've been telling the boys to hurry up and get ready (best take my own advice!).
Stamps: Flower Fancy, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Card: Kraft, Very Vanilla, Not Quite Navy
DSP: Urban Garden Designer Series Paper
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Sahara Sand
Other: Sponge dauber, Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Paper Piercing tool & Mat Pack, Linen Thread, Baja Breeze corduroy brad (retired)
I hope you'll pop in to visit again over the weekend, to check out my, and my team members', "Christmas in July" creations - time again for our first-Saturday-of-every-month blog hop!
Independent Stampin' Up! demonstrator; 1 husband; 2 gorgeous sons!!
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