Team Training Make and Takes

By | September 28, 2012
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Hi there

I am fortunate to be part of a wonderful team headed up by Jacque Pedersen (soon to be Williams).  Each month we have team training and this get-together is invaluable.  It’s a great time to share new ideas, encourage each other as demo’s and hear what has worked well (and not so well) in our workshops and classes.  We have heaps of fun and there is always a lot of laughter.

Here are two projects we made recently using new products:

The first ones uses the new set – Make a Cake and the co-ordinating DSP Patio Party.  Don’t you just love this colour combo?

The cake is make up of two stamps – one of which we stamped onto DSP then cut out.  This one uses the Summer Starfruit Stitched Satin Ribbon.  We’ve also used the hearts Adorning Accents Folder.  These are great value – you get three narrow embossing folders in one pack.
Supplies:
Stamp – Make a Cake, Curly Cute
Card Stock – Night of Navy, Whisper White
Ink – Midnight Muse
Other – Summer Starfruit Ribbon, 1 3/4″ Circle Punch, 2 3/8″ Scallop Circle Punch, Mini Brad, Dimensionals

The second card uses the new set Blooming with Kindness (this is now on my wishlist after making this card!)  It comes with five sentiments plus the flower stamp.

Supplies:
Stamp – Blooming with Kindness
Card Stock – Whisper White
Ink – Certainly Celery, Primrose Petals, Pink Pirouette
Other – Raspberry Ripple Ribbon, White Embossing Powder, VersaMark, Daubers, Dimensionals

Happy Birthday Jacque

By | September 25, 2012
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Hi there

Today is my friend and upline’s birthday – Happy Birthday Jacque.  I hope you have a really special day and are spoilt by family and friends.

I’m glad that Apothecary Art carried over into the new catalogue – it’s another great colouring in set.

This is a fancy fold card called a Double Gate Fold.  I first saw this on Dawn Olchefske’s blog – check out her video tutorial.
Supplies:
Stamp – Apothecary Art, A Word for You
Card Stock – Perfect Plum, Very Vanilla
DSP – Subtles Designer Series Paper Stack – Perfect Plum
Other – Watercolour Crayons, Labels Collection Framelits, Dimensionals

Baby Shower

By | September 22, 2012
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Hi there

My best friend’s daughter is having her baby shower today.  Unfortunately I won’t be able to attend (I’m in the US) but I have made a card and left a gift for the day.

I’ve used the rattle stamp from the Button Buddies set except I didn’t want to hide the ‘rattle’ part of the stamp with a button so went with Crystal Effects for some depth.  I love using the Polka Dot Embossing Folder when there is a bit of ‘white’ space on a card.

Supplies:
Stamp – Button Buddies, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Card Stock – Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
Ink – Pretty in Pink
Other – Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Crystal Effects

Happy Birthday Tracey

By | September 19, 2012
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Hi there

Another fellow demo is having a birthday today – Happy Birthday Tracey – I hope you get spoilt by the family:)

I do love the Bordering on Romance set – it’s so versatile.

I’ve used the aqua painter to blend the watercolour crayons of this card.  The first time I used the aqua painter I found it hard to get an even blend so kept to my blender pens for ages.  Recently I watched a video where they had put a bit of sponge in the barrel of the aqua painter – it makes it so much easier to control the water flow.
Supplies:
Stamp – Bordering on Romance
Card Stock – Certainly Celery, Confetti White (retired)
DSP – Twitterpated
Other – Labels Collection Framelits, Adoring Accents Edgelits, Certainly Celery Taffeta Ribbon

Mixed Bunch In Colours

By | September 16, 2012
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Hi there

Today’s card uses three of the new in colours.  I cased this from one of my favourite US demo’s Mary Fish – her work is amazing.  I’ve changed the colours around a bit as I only had Gumball Green ribbon.

I really like this colour combo and will try it again when I get more of this gorgeous new in colour ribbon.  The ribbon is SO soft and ties beautifully for bows.  As I had limited supplies when I made this I used the Be of Good Cheer DSP for my background flower.  Running the card stock through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder adds great texture to the card.

Wish Big birthday

By | September 13, 2012
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Hi there

I cased this card from Tamara Bertram who cased it from Becky Roberts!  When I saw Tamara’s card I knew I had to re-create it – I loved her colour combo and it was a super fast card to re-create.  My base squares are 1 3/8″ and the DSP are 1 1/4″ squares.

Supplies:
Stamp – Word Play
Card Stock – Poppy Parade (retired), Early Espresso, Baja Breeze
DSP – Just Add Cake (retired)
Ink – Early Espresso
Other – 1 1/4″ Square Punch, Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch (retired), Rhinestones

Happy Birthday Heather

By | September 10, 2012
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Hi there

Today is a fellow demo’s birthday – Happy Birthday Heather and I hope you have a great day:)

This card uses the lovely set Bordering on Romance.  I have also used the matching Edgelits die and Embossing Folder – I love how these all work together.

I wanted some more depth to the flowers so I add Crystal Effects.
Supplies:
Stamp – Bordering on Romance, Bring on the Cake
Card Stock – Old Olive, Real Red, Watercolour Paper
Ink – Old Olive and Real Red, Black Stazon
Other – Old Olive and Real Red Watercolour Crayons, Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon, Adorning Accents Edgelits, Adorning Accents Folders
Well today’s the last day of work for 5 weeks!  The bags are all packed and I’m ready to go.

Ice Cream anyone?

By | September 8, 2012
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Hi there

I am getting REALLY excited – only 3 more sleeps till we go on holiday 🙂

I have been doing a bit of a clean up of my photos and found I hadn’t blogged some cards I made last month so here they are.  They all use the now retired Sweet Shop DSP:

I’ve used Petite Pennants Builder and Cupcake Builder punches to create my ice creams.  To get the ‘waffle’ effect I used the Square Lattice Embossing Folder.  My sentiments are from Bring on the Cake and Word Play – very useful sets to have.
I plan to schedule some posts for while I’m away.  I will also try and do some ‘live’ posts of our travels so keep an eye out for me and Yellow Bear in the US 🙂

A busy stamping weekend

By | September 2, 2012
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Hi there

I’ve had a yuck week this week (hence no blog posts) – my sore throat & head cold got worse so I went back to the doctor on Friday afternoon.  She gave me some more antibiotics (Sudomyl) and they have sent everything packing 🙂  So now I am feeling like myself again.  I was getting a bit worried as we fly out to the States on the 11th of September and I didn’t want to be taking the head cold with me.

I’ve had a busy weekend – launch of two new catalogues, turning one as a demonstrator, a workshop and then a launch party.  I have thoroughly enjoyed myself.  Here are the cards we made.

First up is the card we made at the workshop which uses the emboss resist technique.  I think I have fallen in love with the new In Colours satin ribbon – it’s so soft and great for tying bows (see last card).

This card uses a number of new products from the main catalogue – two of the new In Colours – Midnight Muse and Gumball Green (ink, ribbon and card stock) plus a new framelit – Apothecary Accents Framelits.  The framelit has cut out the Whisper White card then we traced around the outside of the Framelit and manually cut it to create the mat.  The ladies did really well with their re-creations of this.
Then today at my launch party we made two cards – the first one uses the In Colours and showcases the card stock and ink plus the Gumball Green ribbon.  In the past I haven’t used black card stock as a base but am loving the effect it gives.
The last card we made uses the Be of Good Cheer DSP and the Gumball Green Ribbon.
I took this photo before the party but at the party we then embossed both layers of the Top Note with the Square Lattice Folder.  I wanted to show the ladies the difference that embossing gives to a project (I will try and take a photo in the daytime).
Well that was my weekend – a great time was had by all.
Catch you back soon.

Congratulations Rob & Jacque

By | August 26, 2012
3 Comments

Hi there

Over at NZSU this last week I set another challenge – showcase a retiring product.  I almost forgot to post my own creation!  I will be sad to see this stamp set retire at the end of the month so I just had to use it again to create an engagement card for Jacque (my upline) and Rob.  They make a wonderful couple and we are all so happy for them.

I was hunting through my DSP and found just the right size leftover from Sweet Shop range that went perfectly with the ‘love’ theme.  One of my favourite word sets is A Word for You and I’m glad it will still be around for another year.  It’s such a versatile set.
Supplies:
Stamps – Loads of Love, A Word for You
Card Stock – Pool Party, Watercolour Paper
DSP – Sweet Shop (retired)
Ink – Stazon, Pacific Point, Real Red
Crayons – Brights, Neutrals
Other – Pool Party Ribbon, 1 1/4″ and 1 3/8″ Circle Punch, Dimensionals
Well not many more sleeps until the new catalogues are here but my biggest excitement is that it is now only 16 sleeps till we go on our big holiday to the States – I can’t wait 🙂
Catch you back soon

Stampin Fun and Friends

By | August 20, 2012
1 Comment

Hi there

Here is my first project for this session of Stampin Fun and Friends – a fancy fold card and a card gift set.  The theme is Celebrate Summer as it’s summertime in the northern hemisphere.  I’ve used the Brights range of colours for my project – hope this will cheer up the southern hemisphere crafters.

Inside the gift box is a set of four cards with matching envelopes

Each card has a different colouring in method.  I had fun creating these.  Which one is your favourite?

It’s not too late to join in the fun so click here for more details.

Have a great day.

We have a winner …

By | August 12, 2012
3 Comments

Hi there

Congratulations to Bron Heslop who has won my FREE pass to Stampin Fun and Friends.  The stamp set that Bron will be sad to see go come 1 September is  Pocket Silhouettes.  I too have enjoyed using this set – here is an example I made with it.

Thanks to all those that left a comment on my blog.

Will catch you soon

Well Worn and FREE pass to give away

By | August 11, 2012
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Hi there

As promised here are some cards & gifts I’ve made this week using the retiring DSP Well Worn.  I no longer have any of this DSP 🙁 but it now means I’ll have some space for the new papers come 1 September.

I need 6 masculine cards over the next couple of weeks so here’s what I created (some designs are ones I’ve made previously).  The first one gives you a sneak peak at a new Framelit – you’ll love the set.

I also created some quick gift bags and filled them with chocolates and coffee sachets – what a great combination!

I have a FREE pass to give away for the next round of Stampin Fun and Friends (see my post here for more details).  So don’t forget to leave a comment stating which stamp set you’ll be most sad to see go come 31 August and you could win the FREE pass.  I’ll be doing the draw on Sunday night.

Until then keep warm and dry.

Season of Joy and FREE pass to give away

By | August 10, 2012
7 Comments

Hi there

Well it’s shaping up to being an indoors weekend as we are in for MORE wet weather.  The positive thing is that I won’t feel so guilty crafting as I won’t be able to get out and tackle the weeds!

Today’s post uses the soon to be retired set Season of Joy.  This was the first Christmas set I bought 4 years ago when I got introduced to Stampin Up!  Even though I’ve loved using it I think it’s time for something new.

I love the texture you get from the polka dots embossing folder – great when you have a big white space.
While we’re on the Christmas theme I found another project I made last year but hadn’t blogged!  This one uses the Stitched Stocking set and punch plus the Two Tags Die and Perfect Punches set.
The Two Tags die is great for making these quick gifts that hold chocolate inside 🙂  I made them for all the staff at work and they went down a treat.
I’ll be back tomorrow with some projects using the Well Worn DSP that retires at the end of the month.
Before I sign off today I have a FREE pass to give away for the upcoming session over at Stampin Fun and Friends called Celebrate Summer which starts on Wednesday.  To win the FREE pass leave me a comment stating which stamp set you are most sad to see go.  The winner will be announced on Sunday night.
Until then keep warm and dry.

Loads of Love retiring

By | August 9, 2012
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Hi there

I will be sad to see this set retire come 31 August – it’s such a versatile set and I have used it heaps.  Here are two cards I made ages ago but have never got round to blogging them (I think one may have been created a while ago going by the DSP I’ve used!)

The first is a spinner card:

and the second is a triple fold card:
I’ll be back later with some more creations featuring soon to be retired product.

Have a great day.