A Christmas card

I seem to be obsessing about this a bit lately, probably because making your own Christmas cards, while a noble pursuit which makes you feel awfully proud of yourself when it's all done, is a lot of work and can take quite some time to do (depending on how many you've got to make).

So with that in mind the last couple of workshops I have done have had a Christmas card theme throughout - trying to get everyone started early *g*.

This is a card I demonstrated at a workshop on Saturday (waves to Sue & friends!) which is super easy and very effective. Here I have used 2 Way Glue to add some sparkle to the baubles, because doesn't glitter just say Christmas?

How do you achieve this effect? Easy! Just punch some random circles in a scrap of cardstock, lay it onto your white piece and run a Stampin' Around Wheel over the top, then sponge a little co-ordinating ink around the edges. Chuck out your mask and add lines freehanded with the narrow end of a Stampin' Write marker for strings and there you have it - Christmas baubles!

I used the little "very merry" stamp from the Short & Sweet set (one of the ones on special this month) - a handy little set to have as it has six phrases for different occasions, and little images to match each one. It's so cute!

Here's a closer picture of the baubles. I love how it came out!

Images © 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp sets: Short & Sweet
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Soft Sky
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White
Other: 1-3/8" Circle Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, So Swirly Stampin' Around Jumbo Wheel, Jumbo Stampin ' Around Handle, 2-Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds, Sponge Daubers

I am in the process of making Christmas cards for our customers at my "real" job ... luckily it's a relatively small business, but that's still about 80 cards - *argh* what was I thinking? When I get them all done I will take a photo to share. I hope the customers appreciate them ...

Just messing about ...

... with Priceless yet again. I will have to make myself use other stamps soon. I picked up a couple of little shelving units on the weekend to store my Stampin' Up! sets in, so they are a little more accessible - hopefully this will cure me of using the same stamps over and over.

Then again, this kind of thing has never worked in the past, I can see no reason for it to start now *g*.

I know that this card was inspired by one seen ... somewhere ... whoever you are, I apologise for not attaching credit, but it was a great idea and ended up being a very nice card.

Sadly you probably can't see the sparkly glitter I stuck to some parts of the swirl ... take my word for it, it does look pretty.

Images © 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp sets: Priceless
Ink: More Mustard, Ruby Red, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White
Cardstock: More Mustard, Ruby Red, Whisper White, Not Quite Navy
Other: So Swirly Stampin' Around Jumbo Wheel, Dazzling Diamonds, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stampin' Sponges

Pretty Priceless

I just love this stamp set. And these colours (you've probably already noticed that). The pale Pretty in Pink contrasts really well with the strong Not Quite Navy and Purely Pomegranate. It's pretty hard to make a dud card with this set, although I have managed it *g*. Not that I will be posting any of my failures, you don't need to see those!

Images © 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp sets: Priceless
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Purely Pomegranate
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White
Other: Word Window Punch, So Swirly Stampin' Around Jumbo Wheel, Stampin' Around Jumbo Handle, Stampin' Dimensionals

Make A Wish

Thanks to this month's birthday celebrations, I bought myself this cute set ... I've been eyeing it off for a while, and decided the price was just too good to knock back *g*.

As you might be able to tell, the cupcake is actually two separate stamps, so you can ink them in complimentary colours and make your own custom cake.

Together with a balloon stamp, two phrase stamps, a candle, a party blower (what do you call those things?), a present, a bow (the present and bow are two separate stamps), some dots, some other dots, a little flower and a little heart - thirteen stamps in all - the whole set represents excellent value at the current special price of $43.16 (when you spent a minimum of $20 on other catalogue merchandise) (not including shipping).

If you would like more information on this month's specials, please email me for details. Don't forget that I can arrange shipping direct to you no matter where you are in Australia!

Images © 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp sets: Big Bold Birthday
Ink: More Mustard, Ruby Red, Not Quite Navy
Cardstock: Not Quite Navy, Ruby Red, More Mustard, Whisper White
Other: Stampin' Dimensionals

Wedding Card

A member of my upline's group was recently married (congratulations Flick!) so of course I had to attempt to make a card for the happy couple. Naturally I didn't get it made before the wedding, but I did manage to catch up with her a couple of weeks later.

Now Felicity is a big lover of the colour pink - even her stamp room is pink! - so of course that's the colour I used. I had no idea just how pink it was going to come out, but sometimes that's how it happens when you're working on something - it takes a direction you didn't expect. Which is often a good thing!

Images © 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp set/s: Always
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Purely Pomegranate, Versamark
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Purely Pomegranate, Whisper White
Other: Stampin' Around Jumbo Wheel So Swirly, Stampin' Around Jumbo Handle, Scallop Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, 1/4" Whisper White Grosgrain Ribbon, Corner Rounder, Stampin' Pastels, Stampin' Sponges

Happy Birthday!

My sister in law's birthday is coming up (waves to Sophie) so of course I have to make her a card ... well, I have all this cardstock and ink just laying about, you know?

This took me simply ages, not because it was particularly complex, but just because I couldn't get my head around how I wanted it to look. And pink wasn't my first choice but it just looked right (after many misguided attempts early on with different colours). In the end I had to call in my emergency backup (DD and DS) who critiqued what I had done and advised me (correctly, as it happens) just what was wrong with what I was doing and what I should do instead.

So I did.

Kids are handy like that.

Images © 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp sets: Priceless, One of a Kind
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Purely Pomegranate, Basic Black
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Purely Pomegranate, Whisper White, Basic Black
Other: Large Oval Punch, Small Oval Punch, Stampin' Sponges, Stampin' Dimensionals, 1/4" Whisper White Grosgrain Ribbon, Basic Black Marker

An underappreciated colour - Soft Sky

I have been playing with Soft Sky a little bit lately, and while I didn't think much of it at first, it has started to really grow on me.

As you can see here, it works really well with browns, in this case Creamy Caramel.

Next I might try it with Sage Shadow and Perfect Plum (a la this card) - who knows? It might just work.

Images © 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp sets: Baroque Motifs
Ink: Soft Sky, Baroque Blue, Creamy Caramel
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Creamy Caramel, Whisper White
Other: Scallop Punch, Cropadile, Eyelets, Dimensionals

Birthday Celebrations!

This year, Stampin' Up! celebrates their 20th birthday, and they're giving all their customers a chance to celebrate with them!

During the month of October, spend $20 on regular catalogue merchandise, and you get 20% off the catalogue price of the following birthday stamp sets:

Big Bold Birthday (page 37) normally $53.95, now $43.16
Pretty Princess (page 38) normally $45.95, now $36.76
Birthday Best (page 51) normally $25.95, now $20.76
Crab & Company (page 55) normally 52.95, now $42.36
Short & Sweet (page 118) normally $29.95, now $23.96

What a great deal (and one I will be taking advantage of myself *g*). Contact me today to order your new goodies - and watch this space to see what I create when my order comes through!

Images © 2008 Stampin' Up!®

World Cardmaking Day

The first Saturday in October is officially World Card Making Day, a day for you to set aside time to create cards for family and loved ones, or even start off your Christmas cards.

To help you celebrate, Stampin' Up! are offering 20% off the regular price of their Simply Sent cardmaking kits for orders placed during the period October 4-11, 2008 only.

The kits can be seen on pages 12-14 of the 2008-09 Idea Book & Catalogue. For those who haven't seen them yet, they can best be described as cards in a box - basically all your supplies to make multiples of the cards pictured (including instructions) are included in the kit - from the die-cut stamps, through the cardstock, ink and accessories, right down to the adhesives to put it all together. All you need to provide is a pair of scissors (and, now that I think of it, I think the ribbon in the kids is precut, so perhaps you don't even need the scissors!).

If you've wanted to try your hand at cardmaking but thought that the outlay was daunting - knowing what stamps, inks, cardstock and accessories to buy and then trying to work out how to put it all together, then a Simply Sent kit may be exactly what you're looking for.

Of if you're going on holiday but would still like to create while you're away, a card kit in a box might be exactly what you need. Just don't forget if you're flying to pack your scissors in your checked luggage!

Contact me today to place your order!

Images © 2008 Stampin' Up!®