On My Mind

Upsy Daisy is still one of my favourite stamp sets. I love the simplicity of the silhouetted outlines, which lends itself to a variety of different looks.

This card just sort of evolved, as I was trying to achieve a completely different look. I like the combination of red, gray and black.

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Sgtamp/s: Upsy Daisy
Ink: Real Red, Basic Gray
Cardstock: Basic Gray, Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White
Other: Scallop Edge Punch

Love this birdie!

The little birdie here is just so cute and plump *g*. His friend from the set Cheep Talk is a little taller and a little more confident, but this little guy just gets to me. Oh, and he fits nicely in the 1-3/8" circle punch which is a bonus.

You can see that I have used to different colours on the pear on this card (not counting the stem, which is a separate stamp) - to do this I inked the pear with More Mustard, then carefully rolled the edges of the inked stamp in the Ruby Red inkpad.

The bird was inked with More Mustard, then the body was coloured with my Ruby Red marker (which is why it looks a little mottled - not actually my intention, but I don't have a More Mustard marker. Yet).

Oh, and have you noticed the crisp, beautifully focused photograph? Yes, I bought a new camera to replace the one I bought only a few months ago - I finally decided that there was no way it was going to take a decent photo and upgraded. My daughter is enjoying her "new" camera *g*, and I no longer dread taking photographs.

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp/s: Cheep Talk, Sanded
Ink: More Mustard, Ruby Red, Old Olive
Cardstock: Ruby Red, Old Olive, More Mustard, Whisper White
Other: 1-1/4" Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Ruby Red Stampin' Write Marker

Another little box

Subsequent to my post the other day, I was having such fun with the little boxes I had to show you another I made, using new product *g*

Here you can see a glimpse of the Standard Wheel "Retro Remix", which we received as part of our make & take packet at the recent Melbourne Regional seminar.

The wheel coordinates with the set "Hello Again", and you can be sure that I will be making some matching gift cards to keep in this box using that set.

Do you like the flower? This was presented at Regionals by one of our local demonstrators (and if I could remember her name, I would tell you *g*). It's so simple, yet effective - simply punch the scallop circle, snip every second scallop and fold up the petals. When layered with another similar scallop it makes a very pretty flower!

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Ink: Pixie Pink
Cardstock: Pixie Pink, Gable Green, YoYo Yellow
Other: Retro Remix Standard Stampin' Around Wheel, Scallop Circle Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, 1/2" Circle Punch, 3'4" Circle Punch

Keep checking back as I will be posting more sneak peeks of items from the upcoming Summer Mini Catalogue - available from December 1!

Christmas Extravaganza 2009

My goodness, is it November already? Do you realise that this means that there is now less than 8 weeks till Christmas? Aaaargh!

If you have crafty family and friends, you might find this month's promotion useful - Stampin' Up! have put together a Gift Giving Guide (click the picture to the left to find out more and download the flyer) with gift suggestions for some of the people in your life.

And the bonus? Between November 1 and December 14, 2009, for every $85 you spend on items from the Gift Giving Guide, you receive a FREE Square Scallop Punch valued at $30.95. So if you spent $170, you could have a punch for yourself and one to give to a friend for Christmas *g*.

I don't own the Square Scallop Punch myself - but once I put my order in, I hope to by this time next week.

Now what are you doing sitting here reading this? You only have seven and a bit weeks to get your Christmas cards made and mailed! In fact, what am I doing here writing this? I have cards to make ... as soon as I think up the design ... oh, the pressure.

You know what's funny? It's not like they move Christmas around or anything, but every year it comes as a surprise and I'm caught unprepared.

Last Chance

You may be aware that this month is the last chance to order products from the Spring Mini catalogue. I have a copy of the next mini (official release date December 1) and can confirm that, with one exception, none of the items currently in the Spring Mini are carrying forward. Occasionally we find that an accessory or two (particularly punches) will carry forward to be available in subsequent mini catalogues, but not this time.

So if you've had your eye on any of the gorgeous stuff in the Spring Mini, don't forget to order it before the end of November, before it's gone for good!

(I personally will be sad to see the Scallop Oval Punch go, it has been a favourite of mine these past few months).

Stay tuned for sneak peeks of new products available for purchase from December 1, 2009 - March 31, 2010!

Little boxes

I was blog-hopping recently, and stopped by Jackie Topa's blog (she is amazing). One of her projects seemed so simple yet effective I had to try it straight away, and here is the result (yes, I know the photo is a bit dark - I was sick when I took the photo and didn't have the energy to sort it out).

The box is a little bit smaller than her version, at only 3-1/2 inches square rather than 4. This made it a good fit for the little 3 inch square gift cards I whipped up to put inside. As you can see, I've used my current favourite colour combination of Apricot Appeal and Pixie Pink here (I tried to get some Real Red in, but it just didn't want to happen).

After I took the photos, I decided to bling it up a little by adding glitter to the butterfly's body and the tiny flower on the wing - so cute!

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp set/s: Priceless
Ink: Apricot Appeal, Pixie Pink
Cardstock: Apricot Appeal, Pixie Pink, Whisper White
Other: So Swirly Stampin' Around Jumbo Wheel, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Apricot Appeal 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon

Here's close ups of each element of this little gift set.

Always

A couple of weeks ago I was in need of a quick, easy and impressive card for a workshop I was doing (waves to Sue). While surfing around the net, I stumbled across this gorgeous card and was immediately inspired.

We were going to be using Stampin' Pastels at the workshop, so I used the heart stamp from Always to demonstrate a technique known as "poppin' pastels", where you stamp in Versamark and then dust over the image with chalks - the chalk sticks to the Versamarked image, but not so much to the cardstock surrounding it, giving a subtle and soft finish.

This is the card we made. And look! I actually cut into my precious stash of Designer Series Paper (this particular piece is from the collection known as "Sweet Always" which coincidentally matches the stamp set Always). We used the colours in the paper scrap to carry over to the chalked heart, that is Regal Rose and Pumpkin Pie.

One of the guests chose to use the other side of the DSP (all SU DSPs are double-sided, and come with two sheets of six designs per packet), which was a gorgeous look as the reverse of this striped piece is pink with a white floral design similar to that on the heart.

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp set/s: Always, Best Yet
Ink: Versamark, Regal Rose
Cardstock: Regal Rose, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White
Other: Stampin' Pastels, Sweet Always Designer Series Paper, Eyelet Border Punch, Wide Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch

While I was fluffing about trying to decide on the card the workshop guests would make, I did a few other variations, mostly to show different looks for the same layout using assorted techniques.

The first of this group is pretty much the same card, however rather than stamping with Versamark then chalking over the top, I chose to ink the stamp with the Versamark and then colour directly onto the (now sticky) rubber with the chalks, then stamp.

This gives a soft effect but more crisp than that achieved with the "poppin' pastels" technique.

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp set/s: Always, Short & Sweet
Ink: Versamark, Regal Rose
Cardstock: Regal Rose, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White
Other: Stampin' Pastels, Eyelet Border Punch, Wide Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Small Oval Punch

The next card uses the same techniqe on the heart, however with this one I also used the matching Always in Bloom wheel in Whisper White ink across the top of the base card to provide some depth.

A tip for seamless coverage when using a wheel - roll it across the cardstock diagonally. This camouflages the joins a little and looks more natural.

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp set/s: Always, Upsy Daisy
Ink: Versamark, Regal Rose, Whisper White
Cardstock: Regal Rose, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White
Other: Stampin' Pastels, Eyelet Border Punch, Always in Bloom Standard Wheel, Wide Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Small Oval Punch

The last is my favourite - this time I ditched the pastels altogether and went for sparkly! The heart is inked first in Versamark, then directly into Regal Rose before stamping. This means you can utilise the stickyness of Versamark and the colour of the dye ink to create coloured embossing and glittering effects.

I used Heat & Stick powder and Dazzling Diamonds (I wish you could see it in real life) to sparkle up the heart, then before assembly used the Always in Bloom wheel and Whisper White craft ink to create a very subtle pattern on the Pink Pirouette cardstock. The Pink Pirouette is so pale you can barely see the white ink, but it really makes the card pop.

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp set/s: Always, Best Yet
Ink: Versamark, Regal Rose, Whisper White
Cardstock: Regal Rose, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White
Other: Eyelet Border Punch, Always in Bloom Standard Wheel, Heat & Stick Powder, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Designer Label Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch