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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I was in need of two special masculine birthday cards recently and found an easy but effective card to create – it’s called a Faux Centre Step card. I did make some slight adjustments from the tutorial I was CASEing to fit my metric cardstock.
I decided for my first attempt I would CASE the card as per the tutorial (thanks Pat’s Card Corner). It features the Lighthouse Point Bundle which is sadly retiring at the end of this month. The base cardstock is Starry Sky with the coordinating In Colour 6″x6″ Designer Series Paper (DSP).
Step cards are normally one piece of cardstock with a couple of cuts and various score lines to create the folds – check out some previous blog posts featuring two variations here and here.
For the ‘Faux’ design you have two main pieces – the base and then the centre panel which only require scoring.
The fun part was creating the ‘scene’. For the sky I applied a light layer of Starry Sky ink with a Blending Brush coming down to almost the bottom of the circle and then added the rocks at the bottom using Sahara Sand (which is retiring). I then filled in the gap with the water stamp using Starry Sky. The lighthouse is stamped in Smoky Slate with the ‘bands’ stamped in Starry Sky. This is then adhered with dimensionals and extra rocks are added over the top.
As mentioned earlier I needed two cards so kept with the style of card but changed the stamp set and colours.
For this card I’ve used the Paradise Palms Bundle which is also sadly retiring. The base for this card is Tahitian Tide. The three palms is one stamp so to get two colours on the one image I used my Stampin Write Markers and the ‘direct to rubber’ technique. I used a couple of different ‘greens’ together for the palm fronds.
This card was being hand delivered so I made a gift box using the Cracker & Treat Box Die (which is carrying over) and filled it with chocolates.
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A friend had a big ‘0’ birthday last month and I wanted to make her a special card to celebrate this milestone. I love making fun fold cards and had seen a ‘new to me’ fold called a Gatefold Pop Out card. After a quick Google search I found some instructions for an oversized card which was perfect for what I was wanting.
It looks complicated but once you’ve done the cuts the scoring is easy and then it’s a matter of ‘mountain’ or ‘valley’ folding on the score lines to create this fun fold card. I used Thick Basic White for my card base as it nice and firm.
I was glad of the oversized card as it allowed me to use the new Alphabet A La Mode dies. I love the thinness of these dies allowing you to make longer words to fit on your projects. To make it easy to adhere the letters I used our Adhesive Sheets. Adhesive Sheets are great for fine and delicate dies that are often hard to add adhesive to without getting the adhesive everywhere.
I had made a swap for a team event using the flower pot design and so I CASE’d (Copy And Share Everything or Copy And Selectively Edit) my own idea for this card. The flowers have all been cut using the Dainty Delight dies. The Brick and Mortar embossing folder works well for the background to the flowers.
The back of the card allows plenty of room to add your message and when the card is on show your message is out of view.
I made a belly band to keep the card closed and added the all important ’40’ to the front. As the card was taller than a normal card (from memory it was 8″ high) I was glad of 12×12 paper to adhere to the front panels.
I now need to sort the measurements for a normal sized metric card. I love a challenge like that so watch this space.
Yesterday I shared the a card featuring the Dainty Delight bundle that I taught at a recent event. The second card I taught featured two Sale-A-Bration items – the Beautifully Happy stamp set and Dandy Designs Designer Series Paper (DSP). Unfortunately Sale-A-Bration has now finished but you could easily change the image and paper to supplies you have on hand. I like the layout of this card and it could be ‘upsized’ to a full sized card instead of the Notecard size.
Beautifully Happy is a two set stamp. This means you stamp the outline image first then add in colour with the solid image stamps. Stamping in Memento Black can sometimes give too dark or strong an outline so for these cards we used Basic Gray or Gray Granite. For the flowers we used Calypso Coral or Fresh Freesia and the leaves were Soft Succulent or Soft Sea Foam to coordinate with the Dandy Designs paper.
Once the image had been stamped we die cut a portion using the second largest stitched circle from the Stylish Shapes Dies. This die set is my ‘go to’ set – it contains circles, squares and a variety of banner dies.
We used the same sentiment – Happy Birthday – from the Something Fancy bundle – stamped in Basic Gray and die cut with the coordinating die. When you want to add a coloured mat but don’t have a die the next size up you can do a partial mat as we have done here. Die cut the same shape from your coloured cardstock and just have a small amount showing at the bottom.
After taking a break from blogging, social media and sending out regular newsletters I’m ready to get back into my paper crafting journey. I hope you’ll join me as I share my creations with you.
Last month I held a workshop with a lovely group of ladies and taught two cards. The first card features one of my favourite bundles from the January-April Mini Catalogue – the Dainty Delight Bundle (Page 55). This bundle consists of a stamp set and coordinating dies. When you purchase one of our bundles (stamp and dies or stamp and punch) you save 10% on the total cost.
The Dainty Delight stamp set has five line art images and four sentiments. I love line art images as they allow a range of colouring techniques to be used. The image was stamped with Basic Gray and then coloured in with our Watercolour Pencils before being die cut with the coordinating die. Using the pencils allowed everyone to colour their flowers as they liked.
To add some colour and depth to the background we used the Artistic Mix Decorative Masks and Blending Brushes from the Annual Catalogue. I gave two options of design and colour – Pacific Point on the left or Flirty Flamingo on the right.
The sentiment is from the Something Fancy Bundle (Page 17). I have used this ‘Happy Birthday’ stamp so much and love the coordinating die that cuts it out perfectly.
No card is complete without some form of embellishment and here we used the Pastel Adhesive -Backed Sequins from the Country Floral Lane Suite (Page 9).
I hope you’ll check back tomorrow when I’ll share the second card we made.
Over the weekend I saw a great colour challenge combo on the Colour Inkspiration Facebook group. As soon as I saw the colours I knew exactly what to create with them – a Split Circle card. This design has been around for awhile but I only made my first one last Tuesday when I friend showed me how.
To create these two cards I cut the following sized circles using the Layering Circles Dies. 1 3/8″ (Coastal Cabana & Granny Apple Green), 1 7/8″ (Balmy Blue & Pacific Point), 2 3/8″ (Pacific Point & Balmy Blue) and 2 7/8″ (Granny Apple Green & Coastal Cabana).
I dry embossed the Sahara Sand mat with the Tasteful Textile and Painted Texture Embossing Folders. These cards will be great to add to my stash for work birthdays – with over 200 staff now I need a few cards each month.
Last week Phil and I celebrated our 20th Wedding Anniversary – and this is the card I made for him using Turtle Friends.
This set is so versatile and can be used for any number of occasions and it has a good selection of sentiments to go with the images. I love my Blending Brushes so applied some Daffodil Delight and Soft Succulent to my Basic White base for the background. Did you know that Emeralds are the stone for 20th wedding anniversaries – hence the ‘green’ theme. Mr Turtle has been stamped in Memento Black, coloured with Smoky Slate Stampin Blends then punched out with the coordinating Turtle Punch. I then restamped his shell in Evening Evergreen and applied Shimmery Crystal Effects to his shell. Just make sure you give this plenty of time to dry – I left mine overnight.
The ‘hearts’ stamp has 3 individual hearts so by stamping the image six times I got to 18 – 2 short – so Plan B has needed. I covered two of the hearts with a piece of Washi Tape, inked up the stamp, removed the Washi Tape (the most important step) stamped away and then repeated this to get my two additional hearts. I also did this on the inside.
I used a favourite retired set Well Wishes to stamp the inside of the card. Washi Tape to the rescue again – to get my ‘TH’ after the number I covered the ‘anks’ from the ‘Thanks’ stamp.
We had a lovely day celebrating and remembering our happy day – bring on the next 20 years 🙂
Have you checked out the Awesome Otters on page 11 of the Sale-A-Bration brochure? They are so cute. For my first card I’ve combined a few techniques – masking, blending and fussy cutting – to create this fun birthday card.
I got the design idea for this card from page 26 of the Annual Catalogue. Using a scrap piece of grid paper I roughly torn it in two and adhered it to my card front with temporary adhesive leaving a big gap in-between to create my ‘river’. I applied Pacific Point and Pool Party ink with my Blending Brushes in the ‘gap’.
I originally stamped, coloured and cut the otter lying on his back then thought he looked a bit lonely so stamped, coloured and cut out two more friends to join him. I then went back and directly stamped the two otters coming out of the water on my ‘river’ and adhered the coloured images on top of the images stamped. Their party hats have also been fussy cut and adhered on top.
For the inside I stamped directly to the card and coloured it. I’ve gone with Ivory Stampin Blends for their tummies and Crumb Cake for the rest of the body. The water is outlined with Pool Party.
If you would like to have your own set of Otters place an order of NZD$110 with me between now and 28 February and you will receive the FREE stamp set.
