Beautiful Bouquet – Wedding Anniversary

By | April 21, 2018
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Hi there

Just a quick post tonight as we’ve been out all day – we went to Waihi with my parents and nephew to finally get him his Christmas present!  We’ve been trying to get down there all summer but finding a weekend when we were all free was a bit hard hence the delay.

I was deciding which project to share with you next when I found a card I made a couple of months ago but had forgotten to share.  It was for a friend’s wedding anniversary using the Beautiful Bouquet stamp set and coordinating dies.

The only stamping on this card is the sentiment – and that was actually heat embossed in copper.   For the background I did a watercolour wash with Pool Party ink  then wrapped some linen thread around the stems before adhering them to the card mat.  The ‘flowers’ were die cut from Pink Pirouette card stock and the stem is from Pear Pizzazz.  There are two different dies for the flowers and these were overlapped to create the ‘bunch’ of flowers and cover the end of the stems.  I then set about colouring the 40+ rhinestones with our Stampin’ Blends.

The base mat has been embossed with the Stripes Embossing Folder from the Occasions Catalogue.

Check back soon to see the cards we made at this month’s card class.

Until then …

 

Happiest of Days – Note card set

By | April 18, 2018
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Hi there

In my last post I shared a gift card holder using the Happiest of Days stamp set.  Today’s post uses the same stamp set to create a set of three Note Cards & Envelopes – these could be packaged up and given away as a gift or used on their own.

The cards feature three of the 2017-2019 In Colours – Berry Burst, Fresh Fig and Powder Pink – and a range of colouring methods.

To colour in the flower I went around the outline with the Berry Burst Marker then coloured it in with the Rich Razzleberry watercolour pencil.  The leaf is coloured in with the Old Olive pencil.

The cake and the flower are also coloured in with the Rich Razzleberry watercolour pencil.  The flames use the Daffodil Delight marker and the candles use the Sweet Sugarplum markers – I used the fine tip end of the marker.  To create the shadow at the bottom of the cake stand I used Basic Grey watercolour pencil and lightly applied the blender pen to smooth it out.

Powder Pink and Pink Pirouette markers were used to colour in the image for this card with a bit of shading at the corners of the presents.

The sentiments have been stamped with Memento Black and the images have been stamped on scrap pieces of card stock then cut out using the Stitched Framelits – square, oval and circle.

The coloured mat is cut at 3 1/4″ x 4 3/4″ and the Whisper White piece is cut at 3 1/8″ x 4 5/8″.  The Whisper White is adhered to the coloured card stock which is then adhered with dimensionals.  The images are also adhered with dimensionals.

These are really quick cards to put together and make a wonderful gift.

Until next time …

Happiest of Days – Gift Voucher Holder

By | April 16, 2018
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Hi there

I love creating gift card holders and this project is no exception.  This project was shared with me by my upline.

The front has lovely layers and details using a number of products and techniques.  First up the Whisper White base has some masking done with the Decorative Masks and Embossing Paste.  I wanted a bit of ‘bling’ in my paste so added some Dazzling Diamonds to a small container of paste.

The middle three ‘presents’ are all in one stamp so once they’ve been stamped in the middle of your card stock create a mask using a Post It note to cover two of the images and then stamp again.  Repeat this for the last image.  The images were stamped in Memento Black ink and then coloured in with the Watercolour pencils.  The faux ‘stitching’ around the outside is created with the Black marker.  Don’t look too close – my stitching wasn’t even!

Now even those of us who have crafted for a while make mistakes – or get ink where it shouldn’t be!  A great way to correct these boo boo’s is to add some ‘bling’ or sequins :).  The final touch for the front is to layer up the layers and add some ribbon.

And here’s the inside – all that’s needed now is the voucher 🙂

The card stock for this  project is Pool Party, Lemon Lime Twist, Whisper White and Basic Black.  The colours used for  colouring in the images are Old Olive, Calypso Coral, Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight.

I have another project to share with you that uses the same stamp set – Happiest of Days – and our Notecards and Envelopes.

Until then …

 

Retiring Lists are Out

By | April 10, 2018
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Stampin’ Up! have released the retiring list of products for the Occasions Catalogue and the 2017-2018 Annual Catalogue.  Remember these products are on a ‘While Stocks Last’ so please don’t delay in purchasing items.  There are also a number of colours retiring – with new ones being added from 1 June – so be sure to stock up on your favourite colours of cardstock and ink refills.   You can either order on-line via my store or contact me directly.

Check out the lists below:

2017-2018 Annual Catalogue Retiring List

2018 Occasions Catalogue Retiring List

Picture Perfect DSP – 3D desk tidy projects

By | April 6, 2018
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Hi there

I’m not sure about you but I always struggle with feeling more tired in the first week when coming off daylight saving – even though it’s only one hour different.  Hopefully the body clock gets back to normal :).

As part of my presentation at Stamp Camp I created some 3D projects.  I went to one of the Japanese stores in town and bought some balsa wood containers and covered them using the Picture Perfect DSP.

I’m always loosing my bone folder and scissors somewhere on my desk – but not any more.  Now they have the perfect home and can always be found.  The box is about a 3 1/4″ square – the base mat is Berry Burst then a layer of Lemon Lime Twist and finally the Picture Perfect DSP.  I’ve covered all four sides.

Next up I wanted a permanent home for my Liquid Glue, Fine Tip Glue and Wink of Stella – so off on another trip to the Japanese shop.

For this box I covered the front and the two sides with Berry Burst and the Picture Perfect DSP.  For the back I just covered it with the Berry Burst card stock as it won’t be seen.  The size of the compartments was perfect  for the glues.

I have a very exciting day tomorrow – catching up with my fellow demonstrators for On Stage Local :).  It will be a fun filled day where we’ll get to craft together, play with new product AND get to see the new Annual Catalogue (due out 1 June).

So on that note I’m off to bed – till next time …

Lots of Lavender – Double Fold

By | April 2, 2018
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Hi there

I hope you’ve had a great Easter Weekend.  The weather here in Auckland has been lovely and warm – almost like summer.  It’s been a very relaxing weekend.  I decided to take a break from blogging over the weekend have only just realised I forgot to post my last project using Lots of Lavender on Thursday – so here it is 🙂

This is a card we made at a Team Training meeting.

I really like the use of the black mat against the Pool Party and Lemon Lime Twist.  The side panel is dry embossed using the  Garden Trellis embossing folder (page 210 of the AC).  The outline image on the front of the card is stamped in Memento Black and then filled in with Pool Party, Lemon Lime Twist and Calypso Coral.  The pearls have been coloured in using the Calypso Coral Stampin Blend.

The second image from the stamp set has been stamped on the inside mat again with Memento Black.  The ‘Happy Birthday’ sentiment is from the Picture Perfect Birthday stamp set (page 5 of the Occasions Catalogue).

The measurements for this card are:  card base – 16cm x 14.8cm scored at 10.5cm; side panel – 5cm x 14.5cm (BB) & 4.7cm x 14.2cm (WW); inside mat – 10.1cm x 14.5cm (BB) & 9.8cm x 14.3cm (WW); fold out base – 16cm x 11cm scored at 8cm; inside & front mat – 7.3cm x 10.5cm (BB) & 7.1cm x 10.3cm (WW).

I don’t know about you but this switching from Daylight Saving time always gets me in the first week – so I’m heading off to bed now :).

Till next time …

Lots of Lavender Narrow Note Cards & Envelopes

By | March 28, 2018
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Hi there

I love the Note Cards and Envelopes from the Annual Catalogue – they make for a quick and easy project and bundled together they make a great gift.  I hope you’ve spotted our new Narrow Note Cards & Envelopes on page 19 of the Occasions Catalogue – they are really cute.

I’ve combined them with the Lots of Lavender stamp set from the Sale-A-Bration brochure and the new Lots to Love Box Framelits Die from the Occasions Catalogue to create this perfect gift.

The note cards measure 6.4cm x 11.4cm and you can fit about 6 cards inside the box – perfect for a gift to somebody special.

This stamp set is a ‘two-step’ set.  The outline image is stamped in Memento Black and then ‘filled’ in with Wisteria Wonder, Pear Pizzazz and Pool Party.

This card fits perfectly inside the Lots to Love box or can be used on it’s own with the matching envelope.

I used the small image on the inside of the card and on the back of the envelope.

To make the box you cut two of the dies and adhere them together  – when joining your box together make sure one has the round ‘flap’ at the top and the other with the ‘flap’ to the bottom.  It does pay to punch the little ‘thumb’ hole out before joining the sides together – I found out the hard way!

I have another project to share using this stamp set so check back soon.

Until then …

Ombre Happy Wishes

By | March 26, 2018
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Hi there

We are now in the final week of Sale-A-Bration so I thought I’d better share with you some projects I’ve made using some of the FREE Sale-A-Bration items.  This year Stampin’ Up! have introduced a two tier reward for choosing your FREE items – there are certain products you can choose if your order is NZD110 and then there are some bigger items if your order is over NZD220.

Today’s project uses the Happy Wishes stamp set which is on offer for those orders over NZD220.

This stamp set has two ‘big’ words – happy and best – and then there are 14 options of words to be added before or after the main words.

The first card I made was the Marina Mist one – and then I got carried away!

To create the ombre look for this card I inked the ‘happy’ stamp with Soft Sky then applied Pool Party with a sponge to the bottom three quarters then applied Marina Mist with a dauber to the bottom quarter.  I then ‘huffed’ on the stamp and stamped my image on a piece of Whisper White card stock.  The ‘birthday’ is stamped in Marina Mist.  Once I’d done my stamping I then cut it out with the Lots of Labels Framelits.  The card base is Marina Mist.

The colours for this card are Peekaboo Peach then Calypso Coral and then Tangerine Tango.  The card base is Tangerine Tango.  I also added some Dazzling Diamonds to each card on the flowers.

Garden Green is not a colour I use that much – it’s not feeling the love from me so I decided to give it some love :).  The card base is Garden Green and the inks are Pear Pizzazz, Wild Wasabi and Garden Green.

Purples don’t feature that often in my cards so they get an outing too.  Wisteria Wonder, Perfect Plum and Elegant Eggplant were used here and the card base is Elegant Eggplant.  The sentiment is adhered with dimensionals so as not to damage the embossed part.

And of course I can’t forget my favourite colour – yellow.  This one is So Saffron, Daffodil Delight and Crushed Curry on a Crushed Curry card base.

The background on the card base is created using the White Embossing Paste and the Pattern Party Decorative Masks.  I had fun creating the different placements of the pattern with the same mask.

Check back soon for more projects.

Until then …

Copper and Wood Textures Musical Card

By | March 24, 2018
1 Comment

Hi there

Here’s a card I created earlier this year and forgot to share it with you.  It was for a friends son who turned 12 – I don’t have many stamp sets suitable for this age but knowing he’s into music I borrowed the set Country Livin’ from a friend.

The card base is Thick Very Vanilla and the front is ordinary Very Vanilla measuring 9.5cm x 14.3cm.  I have then attached a strip of Copper Foil to the back of the card front showing about .5cm on the left hand side – this then makes the card front measure 10cm across.   Before I attached the Copper Foil to the side I wrapped Copper Metallic Thread around the card front.

The circles are 1 3/4″ cut from Copper Foil and embossed, Wood Textures DSP and the music is from a piece of Merry Music Specialty DSP I found.  It was a bit tricky cutting out the circle as I didn’t want and Christmas carol words showing!  I think I did pretty well.

The guitar is stamped in Memento Ink on Crumb Cake then ‘fussy’ cut out.

I used a retired stamp set – Crazy About You – for the sentiment as it fitted perfectly with the image.  It is heat embossed with Copper Embossing Powder – bit of a copper theme going on here.

For this family they always receive a 3D gift box filled with chocolates to coordinate with their card.  This box is created using the Lots to Love Box Framelit which was cut four times from Very Vanilla.  I then added some more of the Wood Textures DSP around the centre of the box and also for the lid.

Well that brings an end to my masculine cards.  I hope I been able to give you some ideas for the next time you need to create a masculine card.

Until next time …

Wood Textures – Panel Card

By | March 23, 2018
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Hi there

We all end up with off cuts of DSP and I never want to throw them out – I always think “I’ll use that one day”.  Well I finally had a ‘one day’ :).  They’ve ended up on the card below which is now ready to post.

The card base is Early Espresso with a mat of Crumb Cake.  The narrow strips are 1.5cm x 13.8cm and the wider strips are 2cm x 13.8cm and are adhered straight onto the Crumb Cake mat leaving a small gap inbetween.

Linen thread works really well with masculine cards.  I’ve wrapped the linen around three times starting with the middle line then the cross-overs.  I used a separate piece of linen thread through the button (from the True Gentleman button pack) and tied it in a knot before adhering it over the cross-over part with a Glue Dot.

I’d love to hear your ideas of how you use your offcuts up – click on the ‘comments’ at the top of this post.

I’ve got one more project (for now) that uses the Wood Textures DSP so check back tomorrow for a card and 3D gift.

Until then …

Wood Textures DSP – Double Panel Card

By | March 22, 2018
1 Comment

Hi there

As mentioned earlier I have a number of masculine birthday cards to create this month so here’s another card I made that is similar to yesterday’s design.

The card base is Basic Black that is hinged at the top rather than the side.I  I then added a Sahara Sand layer that measures 10cm x 14.3cm.  To that I added my two pieces of DSP.  The left panel measures 4.5cm x 14.3cm and the right panel is 5cm x 14.3cm.  The right panel is adheres right to the edge of the Sahara Sand mat whereas the left panel is slightly in from the left edge to give the effect of being matted.

The sentiment is stamped in Memento Black on Crumb Cake that measures 3cm x 6cm.  The DSP measures 6cm x 6cm although I’ve used two pieces that were 2cm x 6cm as I had some off cuts I wanted to use up.  The DSP is adhered to a piece of Sahara Sand that measures 6.5cm x 6.5cm and then this is adhered to Basic Black measuring 7cm x 7cm.  This is then adhered with dimensionals to the card front.  I found some Basic Black Rhinestones which I added to the bottom right hand.

I’ll be back tomorrow to share another masculine card using this great DSP.

Until then …

True Gentleman – Lookin’ Sharp

By | March 21, 2018
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Hi there

Yesterday I shared the card and gift box I created for Phil’s uncle for his birthday and today I’m sharing the card we sent to his other uncle in the US.  This one also uses products from the True Gentleman Suite.  I really love the DSP pack in this suite.

The panel on the left is Very Vanilla (4.5cm x 14.3cm) and then a piece of the DSP (4cm x 13.8cm) is adhered on top. The DSP panel on the right is 5.5cm x 14.8cm again allowing for the two panels to be overlapped then the beautiful Corduroy Ribbon is attached before being adhered to the Tranquil Tide card base.

The sentiment is stamped in Night of Navy on a piece of Very Vanilla and then double matted on Tranquil Tide and Night of Navy.

The three pearls in the bottom right hand corner have been coloured using the Night of Navy Stampin’ Blends.

I even remembered to take a photo of the inside of the card which has been stamped in Tranquil Tide to coordinate with the card base.

Until next time …

True Gentleman – Bow Ties all around

By | March 20, 2018
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Hi there

Birthdays, birthdays and more birthdays.  Today is a very popular day for birthdays in our family.  It’s my Mum’s birthday and Phil’s twin uncles birthdays.  Not only do they share the same day but also the same year – so that actually makes them triplets 🙂  Happy birthday to three very special people.

One of Phil’s uncles is currently on holiday in New Zealand with his wife this month and we spent the weekend away with them.  On Saturday my parents joined us and we had a lovely day celebrating their birthdays.  Phil cooked us a beautiful lunch and then we had a lovely walk along the beach at Karioitahi on the West Coast (if you’re not sure where it is check out Google Maps and if you live in Auckland it’s a great day trip).

This card uses the Truly Tailored stamp set, True Gentleman DSP, Tailored Tag Punch and the Night of Navy 3/8″ Corduroy ribbon.

The Very Vanilla card stock is embossed with the Hexagons Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  This measures 14.3cm x 6cm.  The piece of DSP measures 14.3cm x 4.5cm.  This allows for .5cm overlap and then the ribbon is adhered over the top before this is all adhered to the card base.

The bow is made using the Bow Builder Punch.  The sentiment is stamped in Night of Navy on a scrap piece of Very Vanilla then punched out using the Tailored Tag Punch.  To create the mat I punched the image out of a piece of Night of Navy then cut it in half and adhered the two pieces to the back of the sentiment.  This is then adhered to the card using dimensionals at the top and bottom points.

As I was able to give the card in person this year (rather than posting to the US) I also made a cool box using the Lots to Love Box Framelit and filled it with Favourite chocolates.

And here they are together

Tomorrow I’ll share the card I sent to Phil’s other uncle who lives in the US.

Until then …

True Gentleman – Tailored Tag Card

By | March 19, 2018
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Hi there

Most of us find it hard creating masculine cards but the True Gentleman Suite in the current Occasions Catalogue makes this task easy.  This suite includes a stamp set, DSP, a punch, embellishments and ribbon.

My first card using this suite incorporates the stamp set, DSP and punch and is based on a swap I received from my fellow demo – Julia Leece.

Using the Tailored Tag punch I punched out a number of images and then trimmed three to fit along the bottom adhering the centre one first with a dimensional and the others directly to the Very Vanilla mat.  Next I punched out an image (on the right) so that the colour of the card base would show through.  I then adhered a full image next to it and finally punched out a partial image to the left.  The sentiment is stamped on scrap card stock and adhered.  You could stamp the sentiment on the already punched out piece of card stock if you’re careful 🙂

Here’s another version with the bottom row a bit higher up, the sentiment in a different location and adhered with dimensionals.  I love how the punched images can ‘lock’ in together to form a pattern.

The colours used for this card are Night of Navy, Tranquil Tide and Very Vanilla.

Until next time …

Picture Perfect – Gift Card Holder

By | March 17, 2018
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Hi there

Here we are at the last card project from my presentation at Stamp Camp last month.  This project was the one that my fellow demos got to make.

I made four samples to show them the different ways to lay out the card front.  I love doing jigsaws and this design is like a jigsaw :).  Once I’d stamped all the components I lay them out on the coloured card mat.  I then used my offcuts of DSP to fill in the gaps.  The pieces with the sentiments are the same size just different orientations.  Keep reading to find the surprise I had for them on the inside of the card and where the DSP scraps come from.

I stamped all the images on a scrap piece of card stock then ‘fussy cut’ them out.  I added some Dazzling Diamonds to the flames and the noise maker before I cut them out.

I also stamped the images on the pieces of Whisper White then adhered the fussy cut pieces out on top of the stamped image with dimensionals.

The sentiment is stamped with Memento Black and then adhered directly to the card mat.

Once I had everything in place I then cut up my DSP to fill the gaps.  These are just adhered directly to the card mat.

You may have noticed that the title of my blog post says “Gift Card Holder”.  Well I really love the Lots to Love Box Framelits die (I also incorporated this die into my presentation for camp) and wanted to use it in my project.  So I created a little gift card ‘bag’ for the inside of the card.  I used the 6″ x 6″ DSP and cut it at 10cm so that it would fit inside the card.  The die is longer than 6″ but it doesn’t matter – when you fold the cut out die in half it will still hold a credit card sized gift card or you can make your own card.  The remainder of the DSP – about 5cm wide – was used for the front of the card.

The handle is cut from one of the dies in the Everyday Jars Framelits set and adhered to the back of the bag before adhering to the card base.  The card base is Thick Whisper White.  I cut the top ‘flaps’ off and rounded the corners using the Envelope Punch Board.  The closure for the bag is made using one of the die pieces from the set that I used to create the notches to hold the gift card in place.  One I had cut this I then punched it out with a 3/4″ circle punch, adhered just the top and bottom edge then adhere it to the bag.  The final touch for the bag is a Tutti-frutti Adhesive Backed Sequin.

And here’s my handmade gift card – I used the backing sheets that come with the 12″ x 12″ DSP for my gift card.  The notches that hold the gift card in place are create with dies that come as part of the set from the Lots to Love Box Framelits.  I found the easiest way to create these is to place the gift card on the DSP and then put pencil marks down the side.  Remove the gift card and place the two dies just outside the pencil line.  To keep the dies in place while I run it through the Big Shot I use some Washi Tape to hold them in place – otherwise you are chasing them around the plate :).

I wonder which cafe the recipient will choose?

Well that’s it for card projects using the Picture Perfect Party Suite.  I still have some 3D projects but I’ll take a break from this suite and share them soon.

Until next time …