Little brown birdie...

This card came about because I had a stray scrap of Pool Party cardstock in my paper stash which I had stamped and distressed and then decided not to use.  While it wasn't right for the original project (which I posted the other day), it was exactly what I needed to go with this Very Vanilla/Crumb Cake combination.

Images © 1990-2013 Stampin' Up!®
Supplies used:
Stamps:  Papaya Collage, Everything Eleanor, Clockworks Cardstock:  Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Pool Party
Ink: Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede
Accessories:  Apothecary Accents Framelits

Clockworks

Continuing my love affair with Pool Party ... another card which started life at SERS the other day, hence the limited colour palette.  I only took a few inkpads with me, so once I'd stamped the focal image and the strip of Wisteria Wonder, the whole thing ground to a halt.  Luckily I finished it off at home, once I got back to my Big Shot (I knew going to a craft afternoon without it was a bad idea).  Love that Chevron embossing folder!

Images © 1990-2013 Stampin' Up!®
 Supplies used:
 Stamps:  Clockworks Cardstock:  Pool Party, Island Indigo, Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White Ink: Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder, Perfect Plum, Island Indigo Accessories:  Chevron Embossing Folder

25% off Selected MDS Products!

If you haven't tried digital scrapbooking yet, what's keeping you?  Is it the cost?  Well, from now until June 15, you can get 25% off selected digital downloads over at my Online Shop.

And remember that the MDS Free Trial is available - download the software, try it out for 30 days, and if you like it, the full version is under $25 - a bargain (it even comes with a huge range of content already included)!

It's simple enough for a beginner to jump right into digital scrapping, cardmaking, calendars and a host of other projects, but has more than enough to keep an experienced digital crafter happy for hours (I can vouch for that *sigh* ... it's addictive!).  There is also a great online forum where you can find all sorts of answers in no time.

This and That

The title of this post sounds a little ... directionless, don't you think?

Well, it's not at all - This and That is the name of a new product range that Stampin' Up! are introducing with the next catalogue (not long now - release date is July 1, 2013!).

But why wait until July, when you can have a taste of the range right now?

From now until May 31, you can purchase the five This and That products in a bundle and save 15% off the regular price.  If you miss out, you can still buy them in June, but not at the bundle price.

Available are a journal with printed pages, Designer Series Paper, a rotary stamp, stickers and washi tape.  You can see the range at my Online Shop, or read a little more about it on my Business Web Site.

My favourite colours

Since the new Colour Refresh was announced the other week, I have been quietly rejoicing - sad though I will be to say goodbye to a couple of old favourites (Pretty in Pink or Baja Breeze, anyone), I am so glad that Pool Party is hanging around, and that Wisteria Wonder has also earned a reprieve.

Pool Party has to be one of my favourite colours at the moment - and look how well it works with Island Indigo (yes, another In Color joining the family!), Wisteria Wonder and Perfect Plum!  I love the bluey-green and purple combination (regular readers might have guessed that).

The other day, I went out to stamp (at SERS - newcomers welcome, if you can make it to Glen Waverley on the last Saturday of each month), and was after a quick, easy project that wouldn't require me to take my entire craft room with me - and here it is:

The card was super-quick to make, as you can see - just a random stamping of the large flower and small flower trio from Betsy's Blossoms in Pool Party, Island Indigo and Wisteria Wonder, and then the bird from the same set in Perfect Plum. 

Once I decide who or what the card is for, I will add a sentiment just to the left of the bird - but for now I will just admire the pretty colours.

Images © 1990-2013 Stampin' Up!®
Supplies used:
Stamps:  Betsy's Blossoms
Cardstock:  Pool Party, Island Indigo, Whisper White
Ink: Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder, Perfect Plum, Island Indigo

Want more?

Who wouldn't like more value for their dollar?

Host...

Simply host a party between now and May 30 (yes, the second last day of the month) with sales over $400 (or collect orders to that value, or even place your own order!) and you can receive an additional $60 in Hostess Dollars.  That's on top of the hostess dollars you already get!

Take a look at the page over at the Stampin' Up! website to see what the "normal" benefits are, then add $60 to any of the levels above $400 - not bad :-)

If you were to hold a workshop, and you find that some of your guests can't make it - perhaps they live too far away, or have a prior engagement - there is now a nifty new tool called the Hostess Code which you can send to your friends for them to place Online Orders through my Shop - they can place their orders online, add the Hostess Code and their order is automatically tied to your party, thus increasing your benefits while they have the order shipped safely to their home address - how cool is that!   You can even use the Hostess Code to have a "virtual" party - place your own order through me, I generate the code, and you pass it to your friends to place their orders online - no mess, no fuss, and you have up to 30 days to close the workshop).

or Join ...

And, if you love the product so much you just have to sign on as a demonstrator, keep reading that page - because you will see that if you sign up before May 30, you receive an additional $60 of product in your starter kit!

Contact me if you would like more information about either of these great offers.

Another MDS project

I have been playing around a lot with My Digital Studio (MDS) recently, although most of the time I am just fiddling about seeing what I can do with it (answer:  a LOT).

Here is one of my earlier, finished projects (my Dad's 80th birthday last year).  Now bear in mind I am not a scrapbooker, not in the traditional sense.  I have always enjoyed "dressing up" my photographs with the many digital scrapbooking elements available out there on the web, and am having some fun doing the same thing with purely Stampin' Up! digital paper, stamps, accessories and colours.

Because the elements within MDS are all digital, in most cases they are scalable - so a stamp image can be shrunk or enlarged (to a point) to suit your project.  The swirls shown on this page (from Autumn Elements) have been reduced slightly, and I also reduced the opacity a little so they weren't so "stark" in their original black.  I could have recoloured them, but liked the contrast.

My next challenge with MDS will be to take some of my finished projects to Big W or Harvey Norman or somewhere similar to get them printed up in proper scrapbook page size :-)  I'm looking forward to seeing how they come out.  I am even thinking about t-shirts, or printed canvases, not to mention the flexibility of "hybrid" projects using both digital and physical elements - there is so much I want to do with this product!

Most of the content on this scrap page is made with elements which come with your initial purchase.  You can see a full list of what comes with the "full version" of MDS here, and the 30 day trial version here.

Images © 1990-2013 Stampin' Up!®