More Christmas cheer

As promised, here's a picture of the Christmas card that my lucky friends and family are going to receive this year.

Rather than think of a new design, I just based this on the card I made for my "real life job" employer to send out to our customers, with a couple of changes. First and most obvious (duh!) is the colours - I have gone for a more traditional red/green look, with a slightly vintage feel (using the vanilla and kraft).

This is a chance to showcase my new favourite colour, Cherry Cobbler ... so pretty ...!

I also used one of the little stamps in the Delightful Decorations sets for the Christmas message in the middle of the bauble, stamped in the new Crumb Cake ink which matches the cardstock formerly known as Kraft.

The one change you can't really see in this photo is the shimmer spray I've used on the vanilla layer. You put a few drops (about 10) of the new Shimmer Paint (page 143 in the 2010-11 Idea Book & Catalogue) in a little spray bottle, top it up with some rubbing alcohol (available in the health & beauty aisle in your supermarket), shake well before each use, and spritz your cardstock for beautiful shine. If it's not sparkly enough, you can respritz when it's dry.

Here's an exteme closeup, where you can actually see the flecks of paint (click for a closer view). If you could see the actual card, you would see that it has a glow about it, and really adds to the overall effect - I'm very happy with this year's efforts!

And you can expect to see a lot more shimmer in my cards - I love this Shimmer Paint!

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Delightful Decorations
Ink: Cherry Cobbler
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Old Olive
Other: Top Note Die, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Little Leaves Sizzlit, Ornament Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, Shimmer Paint

Christmas is coming ...

... and for a wonder, I'm organised (well, so far).

I have just this week finished the Christmas cards I make annually to send out to the customers of the company I work for - I like to think they appreciate the effort, and of course I am paid for my work and supplies!

This is the card that the lucky customers are getting this year.

I am loving this colour scheme - pick any purple, green and blue, and it just seems to work well together. Here I have used Baja Breeze, Concord Crush and Old Olive - not your traditional Christmas colours, but I like to mix things up a bit *g*.

And I found out something about the Little Leaves Sizzlit. Turns out that using it 120 times in a row makes it stick a little but it still cuts just fine!

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Delightful Decorations
Ink: Concord Crush
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Concord Crush, Whisper White, Old Olive
Other: Top Note Die, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Little Leaves Sizzlit, Ornament Punch

Next time I'll show you the card that my lucky friends and family are getting this year. So if you're expecting a card from me, don't look :-)

Final Project from Regional Seminar

This is the final project from the Stampin' Up! Melbourne Regional seminar last weekend. This one isn't technically finished, as I don't have a photo to put on the scrap page (yet), but it still looks pretty.

The butterfly is from the Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die for the Big Shot - love love love this die! The instructions called for us to stamp the greeting across the middle and sponge the edges, then using the Paper Piercing tool (now available as a separate item in the 2010-11 Idea Book & Catalogue, and only $6.95!) poke a series of holes in a sort of swirl across the whole thing. I like the effect, and hope to find other uses for it in the future.

And here's a closeup of the butterfly. See the antennae? It's just a piece of ribbon - simple yet effective.

Here's a tip for you: When you trim your ribbon, do you find the edges fray and look kind of nasty? Grab one of those gas guns for your gas cooktop (or a cigarette lighter), and hold the flame close to the cut edge of the ribbon (don't stick the ribbon in the flame - bad idea - hold it about 5mm away, and move it closer if necessary, and then only for a second or two). The cut edge of the ribbon will melt (it's only made of nylon, after all) and voila! No fraying problems!

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Every Moment
Ink: Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, Soft Suede
Cardstock: Baja Breeze textured, Riding Hood Red textured, Soft Suede textured
Other: Whisper White 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Paper Piercing tool, Mat Pack, Scallop Edge Punch, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

:-( Christmas Promotion

I have received news from Stampin' Up! that there are quality issues with the Ornament Punches, and as such the "Delightful Decorations" bundle is no longer available for the current Christmas ribbon promotion.

If you were planning on ordering this punch, I'm afraid it will be unavailable for an unspecified amount of time as both Stampin' Up! and the manufacturers are working on a solution.

Another Regional Seminar project

Third of four projects from the Stampin' Up! Melbourne Regional Seminar ... again using Every Moment, but this time the bird stamp from that set.

Here, while we used watercolouring techniques again, this one is done on Very Vanilla cardstock. The result is not quite as satisfactory as when the Watercolour Paper is used, but it can be done. You just need to use less water and be pretty sure about how heavy or light your colouring is, as you won't be able to wash colour away or add too many layers of colour.

The bag is made using Fancy Favour Bigz XL Die for the Big Shot - cut twice, once from Old Olive textured cardstock and once from Very Vanilla cardstock. The bottom is trimmed off the Very Vanilla template and the whole thing turned upside down to create a layered effect.

See the writing on the tag? Eagle-eyed viewers might recognise the text from the stamp in the set, but it looks a little different. Using a Stampin' Write marker and the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, I inked only part of the first line of text and positioned it carefully for a new look.

And here's a closeup of my fabulous watercolouring - this is actually quite addictive *g*.

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Every Moment
Ink: Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Riding Hood Red, Soft Suede, Black Stazon
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla, Old Olive Textured
Other: Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, Linen thread, Basic Pearls, Aqua Painter, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write Marker, Fancy Favor Bigz XL die, Cropadile

Regional Seminar Project #2

Further to my post from the other day, here's the second of the projects I completed after our Regional Seminar last weekend.

The photo might be a little dark (well, it looks that way on my computer screen, which is long past retirement age), so you may not be able to see the texture of the base Soft Suede cardstock.

Again, we used watercolouring on the daisy from the Every Moment set, and also masking to create a bunch of flowers.

When you're watercolouring, the best ink to use for your "colour in" image is Stazon - this is a permanent ink which, once dry, won't run when wet - perfect for this technique.

We also used the Colour Spritzer tool, which is fun - you put a Stampin' Write marker in the holder, squeeze the barrel and a puff of air blows colour from the marker tip onto your project. It takes a little practice to get it right, but the effect is quite interesting - a sort of light splatter of colour across your project.

Here's a closeup of my watercolouring - can you tell I'm pretty pleased with myself?

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Every Moment
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Soft Suede, Jet Black Stazon
Cardstock: Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede Textured, Watercolour Paper
Other: Old Olive 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Daffodil Delight 3/8" taffeta ribbon, Basic Pearls, Aqua Painter, Scallop Edge Punch, Clips Assortment, Soft Suede Stampin' Write Marker, Color Spritzer

Regional Seminar

Yesterday was the day of the Melbourne Regional Seminar for Stampin' Up! demonstrators and guests. After the heat of the latter part of the week, then the downpour Friday night, it was nice to know we were going to spend the day snug in the new Melbourne Convention Centre, learning some new tricks and getting some business tips as well.

Amongst all the presentations and demonstrations, there is a little time to put together the make & take projects using the new stamp set that was included in our admission price. This year, the set was "Every Moment" from the current 2010-11 Idea Book & Catalogue. The designs of the projects this year were a little more involved than in past years, which meant that there was no chance of finishing them during the day (not that I have ever managed to achieve that LOL).

So today I sat down and finished off the contents of my make & take pack, and will share the results with you over the next week or so.

Here's the first one ...

The emphasis with these projects was on watercolouring, and the stamps in the set are perfect for this technique. The single flower on this little 3" x 3" card is watercoloured with Riding Hood Red, Daffodil Delight and Old Olive ink, with the colour intensifying where I have imagined the shadows on the flower to be.

See the "grass"? We did that by punching a scallop edge on a piece of Old Olive cardstock, then putting the card back in the punch a little offset to create a ragged edge.

The little pearl in the centre of the flower is from the new Basic Pearls pack, a selection of self-adhesive half-pearls in various sizes. You get a whopping 150 in a pack, 50 each of three sizes (5mm, 3mm - shown here) and 2mm.

Click the picture to the right to see a closeup of the centre of the flower.

The instructions called for the use of the SU White Gel Pen to create highlights on the petals, but mine suffered death from natural causes the other week (yep, too much use).

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Every Moment
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Riding Hood Red, Black Stazon
Cardstock: Old Olive, Baja Breeze Textured, Watercolour Paper
Other: Old Olive 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Basic Pearls, Aqua Painter, Scallop Edge Punch, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write Marker

I'm still here!

Just been busy with non-stamping stuff lately. Although I have made a start on my my annual commission of 100 cards for my employer to send out to our customers (I get paid for that, by the way). Take a look here, here and here for past years' efforts.

I will be posting a picture of some of the cards in the next day or so. So far I've done 33, only 67 to go! And then I have to make my personal cards. Sigh. Fortunately I receive lovely feedback from recipients, which makes all the work worthwhile.

Don't forget to check out the current special (or try this link, which includes a small picture of the Christmas Cocoa specialty paper), by the way - buy one (or more) of the four bundles on offer and receive a free spool of festive ribbon!