Auckland Extravaganza Projects – part one

By | March 24, 2014
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Hi there

I hope your Monday has been a good one – mine was pretty good.  A group of us from work went out for lunch today to celebrate the Persian New Year which is called Nowruz.  We have a couple of staff from Iran so it was really nice to do something from their culture.  I had a yummy Lamb on rice dish 🙂

Here are two of the projects that were taught on Saturday at our Auckland Extravaganza event.  They are so much fun so keep an eye out for details of our next event which will be happening around July.

This first project was taught by Barbz and her team – I really love this colour combination.  It is a box made with the Envelope Punch Board and inside is a ‘card’ containing a hot chocolate sachet – perfect as the evenings are getting a bit cooler.

The second project was taught by Jacque and her team.  This project also uses the Envelope Punch Board – it’s such a versatile tool.  I’ve recently bought the background stamp ‘Hardwood’ so I might just have to give this card a go myself.

Have a great rest of the week 🙂

Happy Birthday Greg

By | March 23, 2014
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Hi there

What a beautiful day we’ve had here in Auckland – we’ve been for two walks which was so nice as they had predicted it would be wet today.

Yesterday was our neighbours birthday so I ran up this quick card for him.

After teaching this style of card at Stamp Camp last month I thought I’d make some more.  This paper is perfect for some of those ‘hard’ masculine birthday cards.  And I’ve gone to one of my favourite birthday sets – Bring on the Cake.  This set has a good range of stamps that are great for all ages.
I inked the front image with markers so that I could get multi coloured candles then recoloured just the centre part and cut it out and adhered it on the original image with dimensionals.

Supplies:
Stamp set – Bring on the Cake
Card Stock – Bermuda Bay, Basic Gray, Naturals White
DSP – Birthday Basics
Markers – Bermuda Bay, Gumball Green, Summer Starfruit, Raspberry Ripple
Other – Circle Thinlits, 2 1/2″ Circle Punch

Hope you have a good week.

Auckland Extravaganza

By | March 22, 2014
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Hi there

Today we’ve had the Auckland Extravaganza event with about 90 ladies attending.  It was a great day and everyone made five projects.  This is the project that Narelle and I taught.

It’s called a Matchbox Box.  This is normally made using the Envelope Punch Board but I changed it so that we used the Simply Scored Scoring Tool with the Diagonal Board – it was so much easier.  I left Narelle to teach the flowers as she is the ‘queen’ of making these flowers with the Spiral Flower Die.  And of course the box wasn’t complete till it had a Whittaker bar in it 🙂
The ladies all enjoyed the afternoon – with a number asking when was the next event 🙂
Supplies:
Stamp Set – Bring on the Cake
Card Stock – Real Red, Whisper White, Coastal Cabana
DSP – Fresh Prints Paper Stack
Ink – Coastal Cabana, Black StazOn
Other – Simply Scored Scoring Tool plus Diagonal Board, Spiral Flower Die, Small Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Tag Topper Punch, Sponge

Well I’m about to go and soak my feet – they’re a bit sore after being on them all afternoon (plus I’ve just been for a 45 minute walk!).

Catch you back here soon.

Get Well Hannah

By | March 21, 2014
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Hi there

I hope you’ve had a good week.  Tomorrow I’m teaching at the Auckland Extravaganza so I’m madly rushing round getting everything together now so that I can have a sleep in tomorrow morning!

This week one of my colleagues daughter has been off school with a head cold – so I thought I’d make her a card and gift to help her feel better.

The image is from a retired set that I use heaps – Word Play.  It has some really good sayings.

An on the inside is the all important tissue 🙂

I’m sure chocolate will make her feel better soon – isn’t chocolate the answer to everything?

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Word Play (retired)
Card Stock – So Saffron, Midnight Muse, Very Vanilla
DSP – Print Poetry Paper Stack (retired)
Other – Midnight Muse Satin Ribbon, Ovals Collection Framelits, Scallop Circle Punch, Fancy Fan Embossing Folder, Brad, Dimensionals

Happy Birthday Mum

By | March 20, 2014
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Hi there

Today is my Mum’s birthday – she’s the BEST mum (and friend) in the world.

The other week Mum (and Dad) helped me prep the kits for the Tauranga Extravaganza so I thought I’d make Mum a card in the same design.

I’ve used some of my favourtie colours and products for this card.  The Pool Party card stock is the Core’dinations which I ran through the Big Shot with my favourite embossing folder – Decorative Dots.  I’ve given it a light sand which has made the dots ‘pop’ more off the card.  Can you see the pearls on the flowers and the sentiment?
I’ve had to delay posting this card in case she checked my blog during the day plus she’d find out what her present was before time – Dad, Phil and I have bought her a Texture Boutique Embossing Machine – I’m sure she’ll get lots of use out of it.

Supplies:
Stamp Sets – Petite Petals, Label Something
Card Stock – Naturals White, Rose Red, Pool Party
Ink – Rose Red
Other – Petite Petals Punch, Artisan Punch, Basic Pearls, Scallop Tag Topper Punch, Rose Red Grosgrain Ribbon (retired), Dimensionals

Happy Birthday Mum – I hope you’ve had a lovely day.

Note Cards

By | March 19, 2014
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Hi there

I thought I’d share with you some cards I’ve received in the last couple of weeks from my upline Jacque.  It’s so nice to receive ‘snail mail’.  These both feature the Note Card and Envelope set.

I really love the new scallop tag topper punch – it’s so versatile and adds a quick layer to your card.

If you’re anything like me you’ll have lots of scraps of DSP and this card layout is a great way to use them up – I think I’ll be casing this layout.

Summer Silhouette

By | March 18, 2014
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Hi there

Back again with another I made in the weekend.

I’ve used Summer Silhouette which is a two step stamp set for this card – have you tried two step stamping?  Two step stamping is where you image has two  parts to it – in this case step one is the stem of the flower and then step two is the actual flower.  You really need a Stamp-A-Ma-Jig for this so that you align everything up properly.

For the inside of the card I used the smaller flower.  To get the lighter colour of flower I inked the stamp then stamped it first onto a scrap piece of paper then stamped on the card stock – the other two I stamped as normal.

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Summer Silhouette
Card Stock – Rich Razzleberry, Crumb Cake
Ink – Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz, Rich Razzleberry
DSP – Polka Dot Parade
Other – Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, Soft Suede Taffeta Ribbon, Decorative Dots Embossing Folder

Flower Shop and Hexagon Hive Thank You card

By | March 17, 2014
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Hi there

What a beautiful day it’s been after the wild weekend weather.  Hopefully it stays around for a bit longer 🙂

I need to send some ‘thank you’ cards out this week so yesterday I sat down and got creative.  I find my craft time very relaxing which I’m in need of at the moment.

Once I created the ‘base’ of the card it needed something to bring it alive so I’ve gone with the Flower Shop set which hasn’t seen ink for awhile along with a die has hasn’t seen light in – I don’t know how long.  Do you have supplies that sit unused for awhile?

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Flower Shop, Embellished Events, Petite Petals
Card Stock – Soft Suede, Naturals White, Wild Wasabi, So Saffron
Ink – Tangerine Tango, Soft Suede
DSP – Retro Fresh
Other – Hexagon Hive Thinlit, Little Leaves Sizzlits, Petite Petals Punch, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch

Well I’m heading off to babysit the kids next door – enjoy your evening

Another Leaving Card

By | March 16, 2014
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Hi there

Just a quick post tonight as I’m trying to finish off some work birthday gifts and get some baking iced before heading to bed for an early night.

One of the ladies at work left a couple of weeks ago to take up a new role in Singapore and of course I had to make her a special leaving card – none of these bought ones.  Here name is Rose so I used products with ‘Rose’ in them – Regal Rose and Rose Red.

It’s made in the same style as this one here
Supplies:
Stamp Set – Flower Shop
Card Stock – Regal Rose (retired), Rose Red, Whisper White
DSP – Twitterpated (retired)
Ink – Rose Red
Other – Pansy Punch, Rose Red Grosgrain Ribbon (retired)

I’m glad that the wind has died down now – just need the rain to stop.
Have a great week.

3′ x 3″ Thank You cards

By | March 15, 2014
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Hi there

I hope you have all survived the wild weather today – it’s certainly been wet and windy.  Today I’ve been busy preparing for next weekends Auckland Extravaganza – we have five projects for everyone to make but you’ll have to wait until next Saturday to see what I’m teaching.

Here are some litte thank you cards I made earlier this week.  The finished size is 3″ x 3″.  This is a quick and easy size to make and a great way to use up your scraps of DSP.

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Embellished Events
Card Stock – Whisper White
DSP – Twitterpated and SAB 2013 (both retired)
Ink – Island Indigo
Other – Postage Punch

March Stamp Class – Heat Embossed Sympathy Card

By | March 14, 2014
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Hi there

I hope my fellow Kiwi’s are ready for the fast approaching cyclone.  We’ve made sure things are secure outside and have our candles ready – just in case.

This is the second card we made on Wednesday night – this one combines a few techniques – dry embossing, heat embossing and watercolouring.

We heat embossed the tree image then used blender pens and ink from the ink pad (squish the ink pad together so that some ink goes onto the lid then used it as a palette).  I find that having the image heat embossed gives it some depth and the colouring is a lot easier.  The card stock is the Core’dinations which we gave a light sanding to expose the core colour.
I even remembered to take a photo of the inside this time!

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Lovely as a Tree, Thoughts and Prayers
Card Stock – Old Olive, Early Espresso Core’dinations, Whisper White
DSP – Polka Dot Parade
Ink – Old Olive, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso
Other – Early Espresso Bakers Twine, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Windows Collection Framelits, Stampin Sanding Block, Blender Pens, Sponge, Dimensionals

March Stamp Class – Dry Embossed Sympathy Card

By | March 13, 2014
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Hi there

Last night I held my second stamp class with six lovely ladies 🙂

We made two sympathy cards as was the request from the previous month.  The first one uses the dry embossing technique with a twist of resist.

I taught the ladies how you can emboss just part of the card allowing you to stamp your image in the centre which is still flat.  This is such a cool twist on simple dry embossing.

Now that I’ve come to blog this card I’ve realised I forgot to take a photo of the inside!  Will try and update that tomorrow.

Update:  here’s a photo of the inside.



Supplies:
Stamp set – Thoughts and Prayers
Card Stock – Pink Pirouette, Soft Suede, Rose Red, Whisper White
Ink – Soft Suede, Rose Red
Other – Decorative Dots Embossing Folder, Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Basic Pearls, Soft Suede Taffeta Ribbon

I’ll be back tomorrow with the second card we made – and this time a photo of the inside!

Happy Birthday Kate

By | March 12, 2014
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Hi there

Last Friday one of my work colleagues had her birthday and this is the little gift I gave her.

I’m in love with the new Scallop Tag Topper Punch.  I wasn’t going to buy it to begin with but then I started seeing all these amazing things you could do with it – so I HAD to buy it.

This card is easy to make and so effective.  My little box is one I cased from Sam Donald in the UK.

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Label Love
Card Stock – Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black, Naturals White
Ink – Cherry Cobbler
DSP – Modern Medley
Other – Scallop Tag Topper Punch, Artisan Punch, Petite Petals Punch, Basic Pearls, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding Ribbon

Tauranga Extravaganza project

By | March 11, 2014
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Hi there

Last weekend I had the pleasure of teaching a project at the Tauranga Extravaganza.  One of the demos’s had to pull out at the last minute due to ill health.  Phil and I decided to take the Friday off work and make a weekend of it.  The weather was perfect and it was nice to get out of Auckland for a break.

This is the project I taught (to 50 ladies).  The ladies lovely the little chocolate box 🙂

Supplies: 

Stamp Set – Label Love
Card Stock – Baked Brown Sugar, Naturals White, Real Red
Ink – Real Red
DSP – Fresh Prints Paper Stack
Other – Scallop Tag Topper Punch, Artisan Punch, Petite Petals Punch, Early Espresso Taffeta Ribbon, Rhinestones

Stamp Camp Swaps #4

By | March 10, 2014
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Hi there

Here’s the last of the swaps – these ones are from Sheryle, Shona and Jacque.

We also all received something from the ‘pillow fairy’ – thank you ‘Pillow Fairy’ 🙂