Easy Easel

At last, I got around to trying one of these Easel Cards out the other night ... and it was "easel"y one of the "easel"iest cards I've made in a long time.

Sorry. Got a bit carried away there, but I'm over it now *g*.

Anyway, this is the card which inspired me to finally make an easel card ... I love how she has used the little flowers from the Trio Flower punch to hold the card up - so clever - so I snaffled the idea for my card.

I put each little flower onto the the foam pad out of the Mat Pack and pressed down in the centre with the end of a pen - this was to shape the flowers a little so they would sit up around the edges and catch the front of the card when it is open.

My version is very much on the "simple" side - I was a bit short on time and space when I made it, so had to stick to the basics, but it was a very easy card to make with a high degree of "wow" in the presentation - my favourite kind of project!

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Inspired by Nature
Ink: Not Quite Navy
Cardstock: Kraft, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White
Other: Trio Flower Punch, Vintage Brads, Mat Pack

Warning - Sunglass Alert!

So this came out a little, um, brighter than I had anticipated (and in real life, it's even more startling). You can't say you weren't warned. And it could have been a lot worse - imagine if I had slipped some Summer Sun in there as well!

Having said that, I really love these colours together. Just have a look at this, the card on the left here and this (well, there's no red in that last one, but just imagine if there was!). You wouldn't think that a pale orange, a bright pink and a lush red would work so well, but *shrug* who am I to argue?

This card was made using something called a "serigraph" technique (you can view a tutorial here). I chose not to use embossing in this piece, as you can see. Ran out of space, really. And I like it without.

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Heartfelt Thanks
Ink: Apricot Appeal, Pixie Pink, Real Red
Cardstock: Pixie Pink, Apricot Appeal, Real Red, Whisper White
Other: Stamp-a-ma-jig, Real Red 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon

Sneak Peek - New Stuff (part 3)!

The third of my sneak peeks to share with you just a few of the goodies soon to be available from the Autumn/Winter Mini Catalogue (official release April 1).

This is just so cool! If you (like me) love the stamp set "Fifth Avenue Floral", which among other things contains a gorgeous rose stamp, you're going to love this embossing folder!

Here I have taken a tip from Patty's Stamping Spot (wow, what an awesome talent!) and looked at the flower from a whole different angle, so to speak. The result is stunning and so easy when you know how it's done.

And have you noticed? I have been a little adventurous in my colour choices for the last few cards. Here we have Apricot Appeal teamed with Chocolate Chip and Tempting Turquoise (thanks Gail for the suggestions!), with a little Real Red sponged on the flowers.

You will also notice the Scallop Oval Punch - don't forget that while this punch does not appear in a current Stampin' Up! publication, it is still available for order (the code is 114889) along with a select few other items (refer to this post for full details).

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Best Yet (Hostess Set)
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Apricot Appeal, Real Red, Chocolate Chip
Cardstock: Apricot Appeal, Tempting Turquoise, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Other: Manhattan Flower Embossing Folder, Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Tempting Turquoise 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Scallop Edge Punch

Sneak Peek - New Stuff (part 2)!

More new stuff for you to admire *g*.

Last time I showed you a card made with the Top Note die and a new set called Vintage Vogue.

Today, it's the die again and this awesome punch (which includes the bird, wing and branch, all in one). And a new colour combination (Old Olive, Apricot Appeal and Chocolate Chip - who would have thought they would look so good together?).

If you would like to see more of the Autumn / Winter Mini Catalogue, email me and I will mail you out a copy.

There is a lot of new stuff in the Mini Catalogue, in fact it's a little larger than usual to fit it all in! And a lot of new innovations as well which I can't wait to share with you!

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Cottage Garden
Ink: Apricot Appeal, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive
Cardstock: Old Olive, Apricot Appeal, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Other: Top Note Die, Extra-Large Two Step Bird Punch

Sneak Peek - New Stuff (part 1)!

My next few posts will be dedicated to providing you all with a little taste of what is coming up in the Autumn/Winter Mini Catalogue next month.

Because Stampin' Up! have decided to change the "catalogue year" to September-August (rather than April-March as it has been since they started out in Australia in 2006), they have decided to bring out a kind of "super-mini" catalogue to get us through the next few months.

And as a demonstrator I am lucky enough to be allowed to pre-order some of the goodies contained therein!

So what do we have coming up? Can't say too much, but perhaps this card will give you a clue ...

See that gorgeous vanilla layer? Wanna know how that was done?

Email me for a copy of the new Autumn/Winter Mini Catalogue and find out!

(or I could just tell you it's an exclusive die made for Stampin' Up! by the lovely people at Sizzix) (but email me for a copy of the Mini Catalogue anyway *g*).

And did you see the colours I used? I have to say, I didn't realise just how good Very Vanilla, Old Olive and Perfect Plum looked together until now. They really suit the vintage look of the stamps, too.

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Vintage Vogue
Ink: Perfect Plum, Old Olive
Cardstock: Perfect Plum, Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Other: Top Note Die

Happy Birthday Gail!

A few days ago, my friend and upline Gail celebrated her birthday. As is traditional, this card was made on her actual birthday and posted the next day - nothing unusual there *g*.

I CASEd the design from the talented Ilina Crouse (although I see my CASE is a CASE of a CASE she CASEd ... did you follow that? Anyway, the design is awesome so I borrowed it).

I remembered that I bought some of the Fine Supernova glitter a while back, so added the pink glitter to the butterfly to act as a body.

Love this butterfly stamp set and punch ... and if you do too, remember that it's in the Summer Mini Catalogue, so there is only a couple more weeks to grab it!

Contact me for more details!

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Inspired by Nature, Butterfly Prints, Short & Sweet
Ink: Old Olive, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink
Cardstock: Old Olive, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
Other: Large Oval Punch, Small Oval Punch, Butterfly Punch, Fine Supernova Glitter

CASEing cards

I wanted to make a card. I had no inspiration. What to do?

CASE someone, that's what.

The lovely and talented Simone recently posted a cute card on her blog, and I just had to make something similar (as it turns out, very similar *g*). I changed out the colours and added an extra layer or two, but how easy is it to make?!

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: I {Heart} Hearts, Best Yet (Hostess Level 1)
Ink: Real Red, Going Gray, Basic Gray, Basic Black
Cardstock: Kraft, Real Red, Whisper White
Other: Heart to Heart Punch

Using up scraps

Sometimes when I'm stamping, I put something together and it doesn't quite work with what I'm doing. When that happens, I usually put the stamped piece aside (most often in the Stampin' Up! box with the matching stamps) to see if inspiration will come to me at a later date.

This evening I dug out "I {heart} Hearts" and found this stamped strip which was originally going to be part of this card.

Rather than have it go to waste I threw together this card. Not sure if it works, but hey, that's one less scrap in my stash *g*.

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: I {Heart} Hearts, Pocket Silhouettes, Tres Chic
Ink: Mellow Moss, Rose Red, So Saffrom
Cardstock: Mellow Moss, So Saffron, Rose Red, Whisper White
Other: Large Oval Punch, Small Oval Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Cutter Kit

Fun Flowers!

*gasp* a non Stampin' Up! entry! But it was such fun I have to share.

A few weeks ago, a challenge was issued to members of South Eastern Rubber Stampers (a craft group who meet on the last Saturday of each month in the Mount Street Neighbourhood House in Glen Waverley).

The challenge - create a paper flower to go towards a big surprise "thank you" bouquet for Pauline, who does such a great job running the club for us, and has done for many years now.

These are the flowers I made - I was only going to do one, but found once I started it was impossible to stop, and ended up with four.

The first two flowers are made with a series of heart shapes, curled a little on the edges, the third and fourth are made with circles (the largest was about 4 inches across) fringed along the edges and again curled.

You can see the finished bouquet over on the SERS blog.

A little forest *g*

Trendy Trees is one of those stamp sets that doesn't look like much when you see it. It consists of two little tree trunks, four different tree tops and a couple of phrases. But once you start to put the stamps together (and I highly recommend the use of a Stampamajig here) it's a lot of fun!

This little forest of trees was just me grabbing out a few random ink colours to see what would happen - who would have thought they would work so well?

I also got out the matching Funky Forest wheel to add a bit of interest to the layering.

While on the subject of wheels, can I interest you in a Stampin' Around Wheel Guide? I am a bit, um ... defective when it comes to straight lines, so whenever I am using my Stampin' Around Wheels, I always use the guide as well to ensure I'm not going off the straight and narrow. I find that when using the "standard" wheels, they can tend to wobble a bit - the Wheel Guide helps overcome this problem.


Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Trendy Trees
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Really Rust, So Saffron, Certainly Celery
Cardstock: So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Really Rust, Whisper White
Other: Funky Forsest Stampin' Around Standard Wheel, Stampamajig, Stampin' Around Wheel Guide

March offer

Because it's Sale-A-Bration time and I want to be sure everyone gets something for FREE, I have decided that all qualifying orders (ie. orders over $100 which would normally qualify for a FREE Sale-A-Bration stamp set) placed with me during the month of March only will go into the draw for an additional FREE Sale-A-Bration stamp set (from my stash, not sure which one yet but it's looking like Whimsical Words at this stage, as a very versatile set).

The winner will be drawn in early April, and will be notified by email. I will also announce the winner here on my blog. The prize will be posted out within the first week of April (or hand delivered if you live close by).

Note that this offer is made by me only, and is not a Stampin' Up! promotion - other demonstrators may choose to offer something similar, but are not required to.

Have a look at the Sale-A-Bration page on my Stampin' Up! website for a copy of the brochure, then contact me to place your qualifying order!

The Blues

Every so often, I remember just how much I like the stamp set Upsy Daisy. The fact that it's a silhouette means that you can use it in many different ways, including with a detailed background as shown here.

Because the flowers were stamped in a dark ink, I didn't need to do any masking to incorporate the lighter background, just stamped straight over the top and voila! Instant card.

Honestly, this couldn't have taken more than 10 minutes to make - perfect for a last-minute card *g* (and if you're like me, if it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done!).

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Upsy Daisy, Tres Chic, Best Yet (Hostess Set)
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze
Cardstock: Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Whisper White
Other: Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Scallop Edge Punch