Masculine cards in Blue

By | November 6, 2023
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Hi there

Back in September I participated in a 14 day Social Media challenge on Facebook and since then I’ve been trying to build up my presence on my business Facebook page. I’d love to have you join and follow me there. I am now going to try and incorporate posting here again too as I know not everyone is on Facebook and I’d hate for you to miss out on seeing my creations and what’s new in Stampin’ Up!

One of the biggest challenges during the 14 days was to do a Facebook Live – eek I’d never done one before but I stepped out of my comfort zone and actually enjoyed doing it. I am now doing a regular Monday Live at 7pm (NZT) and would love for you to join me. Unfortunately I had a prior engagement tonight so am posting a project rather than making it ‘Live’.

On a Friday I ask a ‘this or that’ question which will determine what I create on a Monday. My question was ‘which colour do you go to when creating a masculine card – blues or neutrals?’ Blues won hands down so here are some cards which I hope will inspire you.

None of my family are into fishing but I really liked the Let’s Go Fishing Designer Series Paper (DSP). One side is ‘fishing’ and the other is designs of blues and neutrals. The Twisted Rope 3D Embossing Folder goes really well with this paper. The banner is cut from two of the largest banner dies from Nested Essentials – the join is hidden under the sentiment. The sentiment mats are also from the Nested Essentials dies. I’m not sure what shape this is but I’m calling it an elongated hexagon. I’ve used Boho Blue and Misty Moonlight with a Thick Basic White base.

For this card I’ve used a different design of paper and cut three panels measuring 4.5cm x 9.7cm. Before adding it to the mat (10cm x 14.3cm) I’ve run each panel through the Stampin’ Cut and Emboss machine using the Timeworn Type 3D Embossing Folder. This gives an added texture to the paper. The sentiment is from Phrases for All and is adhered to the largest tag from Tailor Made Tags.

These designs are a great way to use up your DSP and can be used for masculine or feminine cards.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these cards and give them a try yourself.

Don’t forget to pop on over to my business Facebook page – I’d love to have you follow me there.

Until next time…

Patchwork Crafting With You

By | August 20, 2023
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Hi there

I’ve had so much fun creating projects with the Crafting With You bundle. Here are two more cards I made to share at the recent crafting retreat I attended.

I made this card for my Sister-in-law who had a birthday yesterday. She has made some amazing patchwork quilts so when I saw this idea on Pinterest (thanks Marcie Besecker) I knew I had to recreate it. I cut my squares from the various designs of the Countryside Inn DSP and adhered them to a piece of copy paper. Before adhering them I had a play with the positioning – it changed a number of times. I adhered the DSP to a piece of Night of Navy cardstock that was slightly bigger to create the binding. I love the texture on the cotton spools – the die cuts and embosses at the same time.

When I was creating the jotta pad table gifts for the retreat I’d been playing around with various colour combos. I decided to use the ‘trials’ to create a card similar to the jotta pad. The paint brush outlines were stamped in Crumb Cake so to add some colour I used my Stampin’ Blends on the handles and brush tips.

Don’t forget we have our Kit sale on this month – ends 31st August. I’m going to purchase a couple of kits and put them aside for when I have my Christmas holiday. These kits are all inclusive – way easier to pack a small box that trying to remember to pack all the bits and pieces to create cards. Check out my post here about our kits.

If you’d like to place an order you can do so via my online store or contact me directly.

Until next time …

Crafting With You – Weekend Retreat Projects

By | August 9, 2023
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Hi there

Last month I attended a weekend craft retreat with 9 others. We had a great weekend and I came away with lots of samples and ideas. We each taught a project and for those of us that participated in the swap we used the same stamp for our swap. I used the Crafting With You bundle (page 91). I also made my table gifts with this set. The Crafting With You bundle covers a number of ‘crafts’ – painting, sewing/knitting and paper crafting so I featured these across my projects.

For my table gift I covered and decorated a jotta pad going with the ‘painting’ theme.

Crafting With You bundle

For my swap I went with the sewing/knitting items in this bundle.

Crafting With You bundle

I went through a few iterations for the layout of this card and finally settled on the above. To colour the flowers in the ‘hoop’ I used daubers carefully applying the different coloured ink. The spools of thread are so cute – it’s a bit hard to see in the photo but the coloured bits are textured.

For my project that I taught (and the others got to make) I used the rest of the elements from this bundle – the paper crafting items.

Crafting With You bundle

This is a fun fold ‘book fold’ card – one of my favourites (you can see some other designs here and here). There is very little stamping on this card and quite a bit of die cutting. I love the paper trimmer and scissors. To create the side panel I used one of the dies from the Beautiful Balloons bundle (page 15) and threated a strip of cardstock in between the slits for a ribbon effect. Instead of using normal ‘bling’ for the embellishments I used the Enamel Effects Basics Metallic of copper, gold or silver. If you’ve missed this product check it out on page 137.

To recreate these projects hop on over to my online store to purchase this great bundle.

Until next time …

Kits Sale – up to 30% off

By | August 2, 2023
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Kits are an easy and economical way to try crafting – that’s how I started my crafting journey, over 12 years ago. Kits are fun, quick and easy, and all-inclusive so there’s nothing extra to buy. For the month of August you can save up to 30% on amazing kits from the Kits Collection by Stampin’ Up! What are you waiting for? Start shopping and crafting as this is a limited time offer you won’t want to miss.

You can place your order via my online store or contact me directly.

24-Hour Stamp Sale – 19 July

By | July 18, 2023
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Do you find yourself staring at multiple stamp sets from the 2023–2024 Annual Catalogue and can’t decide which ones to get? You won’t have to stare for much longer because tomorrow – 19 July 2023, you can get those stamp sets you’ve been wanting at a 15% discount! Be sure to place your order on the 19th via my online store or message me directly – don’t wait as this lightning deal will only last for one day, so make sure you are ready to shop ‘til you drop! This is definitely a deal you don’t want to miss out on. PLUS for every NZD$110 you spend (excluding shipping), you will receive an NZD$11 Bonus Days coupon, which can be redeemed in August for extra savings

Please note that this sale does exclude host stamp sets.

Timeless Charm – Online Exclusives and updated Clearance Rack

By | July 6, 2023
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Hi there

You’ll want to check out my Online Store today as we have the latest release of Online Exclusives plus the Clearance Rack has also been updated. Don’t forget for every NZD$110 you spend during July you earn a NZD$11 voucher to redeem in August.

Last month I mentioned that we’d had a team training day and I shared four of the cards we made. Today I have the final card we made which uses one of the new bundles from the Online Exclusives. It’s called Timeless Charm. We’ve also used two circle punches which were in the first Online Exclusive release back in March – check out the links below to find them in my Online Store.

This is a simple but effective card and the design could be used for all sorts of stamps and dies that you currently own.  To create the three circle rings punch the smallest circle (1 3/4″) from a piece of cardstock 2 3/4″ x 2 3/4″, then using the next size up (2″), centre the hole within the bigger punch and punch.  This creates the ‘ring’.  Repeat again with the 2 3/8″ punch.  Using a selection of embossing folders, emboss the rings.  The flower and greenery images have been die cut from Basic White using the Timeless Charm dies.  Using Stampin’ Blends you can colour your images whatever colour you want.  You could die cut a whole lot of these to have on hand to create quick and simple cards.  The sentiment has been heat embossed using the Timeless Charm stamp set.

Supplies used for this project include:
Stamp and Dies – Timeless Charm Bundle
Cardstock – Basic White, Gray Granite and Basic Gray
Other – 1 3/4″, 2″ and 2 3/8″ Circle Punches, White Embossing Powder, VersaMark, Heat Tool, Embossing Folders

If you’ve got items on your ‘shopping list’ July is a good month to shop as you earn Bonus Day coupons which you can redeem in August.

Let me know if you have any questions or want to place an order.

Until next time …

Bonus Days are here again

By | July 5, 2023
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We’re bringing back one of our favourite promotions—BONUS DAYS! Because do you know what’s a great deal? Getting rewarded for all the crafting supplies you’re already going to buy! When you shop between 6–31 July and spend $110 NZD you will earn a $11 NZD coupon! Make sure you save all your coupons because you can redeem them (and we mean ALL of them) between 1–31 August.

  • Earn a $11 NZD coupon for every $110 NZD spent (before shipping and tax) between 6 July and 31 July.
  • All coupon codes will be emailed right after a qualifying purchase has been made. You can place an order via my online store or contact me directly with your order. I’ll then forward you your coupon codes.
  • If you earn multiple codes from a single order, you will receive one email with multiple codes. If you earn multiple codes from multiple orders, you will receive separate emails for each code earned.
  • There is no limit to the number of coupon codes you can earn per order or throughout the duration of the earning period.

If you have any questions please contact me.

Four Card Projects from team training day

By | June 25, 2023
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Hi there

I hope you’ve had a good weekend. Yesterday I was fortunate to spend the day with 39 other demonstrators. We created four projects using new products from the 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue. We had a fun day with lots of laughs, chatting and plenty of crafting. This will be a longer post as I have four cards to share so grab a cuppa and enjoy.

Card One – It’s A Science – page 80

A fun card involving a couple of techniques – dry and heat embossing. Unfortunately the camera hasn’t captured the true colour of the cardstock. In the top left we have Highland Heather embossed with the dots from the Basics 3D Embossing Folders; top right is Fresh Freesia with the crosshatch design also from the Basics 3D Embossing Folders; bottom left is Fresh Freesia with Stripes 3D folder and bottom right we have Gorgeous Grape with Metal Plate 3D. The Basic 3D Embossing Folders come in a pack of 3 and are part of our new Online Exclusive offerings. (These items are not part of any printed catalogue but can be viewed via my Online store).

Card Two – Earthen Elegance Suite – page 70-71

It’s hard to tell from the photo but this card uses a 6×6 piece of Designer Series Paper (DSP) to create the card front. It uses all the elements of the suite – stamps, dies, designer series paper and embellishments. Doesn’t the pot look cool – this is die cut from the DSP. I love the colours in this suit and can’t wait to have a play with this suite.

Card Three – Textured Floral – page 65

This is a bundle I had overlooked in the catalogue so it’s nice to have a sample. The colours work really well together – Pool Party, Wild Wheat, Night of Navy, Mossy Meadow and Lost Lagoon. The ‘script’ image is from Quiet Meadow on page 66. The sentiment is from the new Wonderful Thoughts bundle on page 41. This set has 14 sentiments with coordinating dies which give a ‘fussy cut’ effect. The ribbon is the 2023-2024 In-Color Jute Trim. The jute has three strands and is easy to separate if you don’t want the thickness of the full jute. I love the crimped effect you get when separating the threads.

Card Four – Countryside Inn Suite – page 62-63

I’m loving this suite – who would have thought a single stamp could be so versatile? Again we’ve used all elements of the suite for this card – stamp, dies, DSP and embossing folder. The Boho Blue mat has been dry embossed with the Countryside Blossoms Embossing Folder. To give the design some more definition we gently ‘swiped’ a White Craft ink pad across the cardstock. We had the option to add dimensionals to one of the layers – I decided to make my top layer the raised layer. The sentiment is from the Lasting Joy set on page 64. Even though this set is not part of the suite the style of font goes really well with the DSP.

I have one more card to share but you’ll have to wait a few more days to see that. Thanks to our wonderful presenters – Jacque, Angela and Madeline.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these projects. If you would like to purchase any of the products so you can recreate these projects yourself, click on the links in the headings to visit my online store or contact me directly.

Until next time …

Circle Sayings Cupcake Card

By | June 20, 2023
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Hi there

As promised here is the second project we made at my recent workshop. This project features the Circle Sayings Bundle and the Bright & Beautiful 6″x6″ DSP. I’m loving this paper pack and have almost gone through a whole pack since the beginning of May. Don’t forget you have until 30 June to get 15% off selected Designer Series Paper – click here for more info.

I CASE’d this card from Denise Cox – why reinvent the wheel when you see something you like – thanks Denise for your inspiration. I did make a few measurement changes so that the design would fit on a Notecard and used a different colour combo.

Aren’t these cool? The Bright & Beautiful DSP uses all the new and returning core colours bar Pecan Pie. You really can’t go wrong with this paper pack. There are so many colours and designs and there really isn’t a design/colour combo I haven’t used.

The measurements for this card are – mat is 2 7/8″ square of Blueberry Bushel; DSP is 2 3/4″ square and a 3 3/8″ x 4 7/8″ piece of Basic White. I find it’s best to stamp your sentiment before adhering your project together. The sentiment is from Circle Sayings and is stamped in Blueberry Bushel – I do love this blue.

With Photopolymer stamps being ‘see through’ I’ve found it’s easier to punch the circle then stamp. You can then line your image/greeting up to fit inside the circle or shape your stamping on. To get a good image when using photopolymer stamps I recommend placing a Stampin’ Pierce Mat (page 151) under your cardstock before stamping. There are so many image and sentiment combinations in this set – I can see it being a favourite.

On a scrap piece of Basic White we stamped our cupcake image in Memento Black then coloured it in with a range of Stampin Blends. These are alcohol markers and tend to ‘bleed’ through the cardstock so it’s good to have it as a separate image to be adhered. To create the DSP banner we used the Banners Pick A Punch.

As with the previous project this design can be quickly transferred to a full size card by adding a mat. I also stepped it up by adhering the cupcake with dimensionals and adding some embellishments. When using Notecards you can’t have them to0 raised as they fit snuggly in the envelope.

If you would like to recreate this project click on the links above which will take you to my online store or you can message me directly.

Until next time …

Countryside Inn Suite and Lasting Joy Notecards

By | June 19, 2023
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Hi there

Last weekend I held a workshop with my group of ladies and we created two projects – one using the Countryside Inn Suite and Lasting Joy and one using the Circle Sayings Bundle along with the DSP from the Bright & Beautiful Suite. We had a great afternoon crafting together.

The Countryside Inn Suite includes the beautiful Countryside Inn 12″x12″ Designer Series Paper in a range of ‘blues’ – Balmy Blue, Misty Moonlight, Boho Blue and Night of Navy; the Countryside Corners stamp; the coordinating Countryside Corners dies and the lovely Countryside Blossoms Embossing Folder. The stamp is a single stamp and when paired with the dies allows you to create six different border frames or combinations thereof. There are six nesting dies and one banner die in this set – a must to be added to your craft stash even if you don’t buy the stamp. The stamp and dies also come as a bundle which saves you 10%. Now onto our first project.

As mentioned above the Countryside Corners stamp is a single stamp. From the image below you can see it has six different sized border images which you can die cut with the corresponding sized die to give you six ‘frames’.

The image was stamped in Misty Moonlight then with the nested dies on top we ran it through the die cutting machine to get our six frames. Placing the largest and third largest die on our DSP we cut two frames – with the DSP being double sided flipping the inner frame gave us two designs from the one piece of DSP. After arranging the ‘frames’ on top of the DSP this was adhered to the Notecard. For the centre we die cut the smallest frame from Basic White and stamped our sentiment and image from Lasting Joy which coordinates nicely with this Suite. As we no longer have Basic Pearls we used the White Pearlized Enamel Effects for the flower centers.

This design can also be used for a full sized card by adding a mat. I ran a piece of Misty Moonlight cardstock through the embossing machine using the Countryside Blossoms Embossing Folder and adhered the ‘frames’ to the mat with dimensionals.

If you would like to purchase any of the products used in this project click on the links which will take you to my online store or message me directly.

Check back tomorrow for the second project featuring the Circle Sayings Bundle.

Until next time …

Fun on Wheels Slider Card

By | June 17, 2023
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Hi there

I hope you’re enjoying the new Annual Catalogue and the new In Colours – do you have a favourite colour yet? Pebbled Path is a favourite and coordinates with lots of colours. Wild Wheat was my least favourite but it’s starting to grow on me the more I use it.

When I first looked through the catalogue the Fun on Wheels bundle (page 90) jumped out at me and I knew who would be the first recipient of a card made with this bundle. My brother is a ‘MAD’ keen cyclist and thinks nothing of going for a 100 – 150km (62 – 93 miles) bike ride on a Saturday morning.

Last week he celebrated his birthday and here’s the card I made for him – it’s a slider card.

The bike moves across the front of the card by pulling the strip that is sticking out on the right. It also reveals the sentiment as the bike moves along. The background ‘scene’ has been created using blending brushes, ink (Azure Afternoon for the sky and Old Olive for the grass) and the Basic Borders dies.

The bike has been die cut in two parts – the frame and the wheels – then adhered onto a solid bike die cut. To make it easy to adhere I added Adhesive Sheets to my cardstock/foil before die cutting. Adhesive Sheets are a must in my craft space – if you don’t own any I highly recommend adding them to your next order – they are so useful and save you getting glue everywhere.

Check out my business Facebook page for a video of the card in action.

If you haven’t received a copy of the new 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue and would like one please let me know and I’ll get one sent to you.

Until next time …

Starter Kit+ Joining Offer for June

By | June 8, 2023
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It’s a fabulous time to join Stampin’ Up! – sign up this month and get even more FREE product in your customisable Starter Kit. Sign up between 1–30 June and you’ll get to select $285 NZD $333 NZD worth of products for only $189 NZD + free business supplies + free shipping + all the fun being a part of Stampin’ Up! There are many additional benefits of being a demonstrator beyond the ability to earn commission on sales and receive discounts on your orders.  As a demonstrator you’ll have early access to products, demonstrator only events, access to training, connection with stamping friends around the globe and be part of my team.

If you want to know more, check out Join Stampin’ Up! – to take advantage of this amazing offer sign up before 30 June.  I would love to have you join my team.

Designer Series Paper Sale – 1st to 30th June

By | June 7, 2023
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We all love beautiful Designer Series Paper, so from now until the 30th June, you can enjoy a 15% discount on select Designer Series Papers from our new 2023–2024 Annual Catalogue and Online Exclusives. Whether you’re a scrapbooker, a card maker or simply a paper lover, this is a great time to stock up and save on gorgeous paper so you have artistic and versatile paper designs on hand for your next projects!

All Designer Series Paper on pages 129-132 of the Annual Catalogue are included in this sale plus Hello, Irresistible our Online Exclusive paper offering.

You can place an order via my online store or directly with me.

Wisteria Wishes – Three different looks

By | April 11, 2023
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Hi there

Over the coming weeks I’ll share some projects featuring some of our retiring products – first up we have the Wisteria Wishes bundle. A number of the stamped images have a coordinating die which makes it so much easier to cut out – better than ‘fussy cutting’. There are also stand alone dies that create a two layered Wisteria flower. Both the stamped and die cut flowers can be used ‘hanging’ or around the other way to create flowers. My first card uses only the dies.

Wisteria dies

To create my Wisteria I’ve die cut the two images in two colours – Highland Heather and Gorgeous Grape – then ‘mixed and matched’ them. I cut a couple of the ‘greenery’ dies from Old Olive and layered them on top of each other to create the vine. The Highland Heather Pastel Pearls just finish it off.

Wisteria Wishes stamp set

My second creation is a CASE based on a card from Su Mohr and uses only the stamps. I loved how she had the ‘yellow’ glow behind the Wisteria. Even though this card is a single layer card – pretty much ink only – you can create depth by having the two step/two tone image. I love using a white base with a coloured mat and then the image on top of that. My embellishment for this card was the Brushed Brass Butterflies – I’m glad they’re carrying over.

My last card is a combination of stamps and dies.

Wisteria Wishes Bundle - stamp and dies

The stamped images – flowers and stalks – come as three on the one stamp. For the background images I stamped them so that one went off the edge giving the illusion of a row of flowers in a field. To give the card some extra dimension I stamped the images on scrap cardstock then die cut them and adhered them with dimensionals. I didn’t have any coordinating ribbon so I coloured some of the White Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon with my Highland Heather Stampin Blend. I will be sad to see this ribbon go as it was so versatile. I do love the little butterflies hovering over the flowers.

If you like these projects and want to create them for yourself it’s not too late to purchase the Wisteria Wishes bundle.