Don't be like this sad stamper :-)

There's only 11 days to go before this year's Sale-A-Bration offerings are gone for good!  For every $100 you spend on Stampin' Up! products, you receive a FREE Sale-A-Bration item of your choice (see here for a link to a PDF of the offerings).  But it has to end on March 31, 2012!

If you have been thinking about joining Stampin' Up! now is a great time - during the Sale-A-Bration period the Starter Kit has been reduced to $249 AND you get a FREE stamp set of your choice.  The ongoing requirements are very easy to meet and you get all sorts of great benefits, not the least of which is a discount on products and being part of the greater Stampin' Up! Demonstrator community!

So contact me as soon as you can to either place your order or take the next step and join the Stampin' Up! family!  You won't regret it!

Birthday Stamps

One of my oldest friends had a birthday recently (waves to Jenny) and as always I was caught short and only remembered at the last minute.  You'd think after all these years I would be more organised *sigh*.  Anyway, I was inspired by this adorable card, especially the way she had punched the Postage Stamp out of coloured cardstock, and had to try my hand at something similar.

So one morning on my day off, after my daughter had left for school and before I started my chores for the day, I whipped this up.

As you can see, I've used a stamp from the Sale-A-Bration set Fresh Vintage (available FREE until the end of March with a purchase of $100 - contact me for more details) which coordinates beautifully with the 1" Square Punch from the Summer Mini (and of course the Postage Stamp punch, also in the Summer Mini).

And from start to finish, this took me around half an hour to make.  I have to admit to being quite proud of myself when I was done :-)

And look!  It's that framelit again (from my last post).  This time you can see it a little better;  in fact I sponged the edges just so it would stand out a little more.  The funny thing is I had stuck the card together then looked across the table and realised the Crumb Cake piece - my crowning glory, that was going to bring the whole thing together - was sitting there all by its lonesome.  Fortunately the "stamps" are stuck to the red border, not the layer underneath, and I managed to slide the finishing touch in *phew*.

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamps: Fresh Vintage
Ink: Basic Black, Crumb Cake
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler
Other: Lace Ribbon Border Punch, 1" Square Punch, Postage Stamp punch, Labels Collection Framelits Dies, Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die, Elegant Bouquet Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Shabby Chic, and a Sneak Peek!

Historically I have had trouble recreating the beautiful "shabby chic" look in my cardmaking.  No matter what I did, it always ended up looking like something made in cutting & pasting time at the local kindergarten (okay, that might be an exaggeration).

So I was delighted with this card ...

I was inspired by this card at Splitcoast stampers - isn't it gorgeous? - but went a little further with my trim using the Scallop Trim Border punch.  The grungy look on the embossed layer was created by swiping my Crumb Cake inkpad vigorously over the inside of the Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions embossing folder - the ink caught in the edges of the design and it looks kind of worn and faded.

The colours are little washed out - the base and butterflies are Pink Pirouette, which in real life looks so pretty with teamed with Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla and Old Olive as shown here.  I also sponged the butterflies with Pink Pirouette ink to highlight the embossing on the wings.

And you might notice a little something lurking in the background there ... see the Crumb Cake shape behind the leaves?  You can't see just how pretty it is, but come next month you will ... yep, it's a new product coming in the Autumn-Winter Mini (released April 1).  Mmmm, framelits ... I am going to have so much fun with these!

Want to know more?  Contact me!

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Ink: Crumb Cake, Pink Pirouette
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Old Olive
Other: Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die, Little Leaves Sizzlit Die, Labels Collection Framelits Dies

Faux Postage

I haven't had nearly as much time as I would have liked over summer to play with the new punches from the Summer Mini, the 1" Square and the Postage Stamp.  So I was pretty happy with myself when I came up with this the other week:

The 1" punch makes the whole "faux postage" thing a breeze ... stamp an image (or even use patterned paper!), punch out the bits you like and there you have it!  Here I have stamped the gorgeous En Francais, punched out little squares, then overstamped with images from Creative Elements.  I sponged the edges of each square before putting them together with the postage stamp shapes.

And how about that border?  Recognise it?  It's the Lace Ribbon Border punch, well, half of it at any rate - doesn't it make a great edge?

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamps: En Francais, Creative Elements
 Ink: Basic Gray, Pool Party, Crumb Cake
Cardstock: Pool Party, Island Indigo, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Other: Lace Ribbon Border punch, 1" Square Punch, Postage Stamp punch, Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Stampin' Dimensionals

Pretty Flowers

I love my Big Shot dies ... I find myself wondering how I ever managed without them, and can't seem to make a card without some sort of die cutting or dry embossing involved.  Here's a card inspired by this highly talented blogger - if only I could read French...!

I loved the white simplicity of the original, but found myself most inspired by the clever dimensional flowers - simply a die cut folded in half, but so effective!

In the absence of fancy brads, I simply used the circle from the Blossom Party die, cut in half and glued down for the flower centres.

And for the flower stem, the two step stamps from Awash With Flowers were perfect - one stamped "right way up" the other "upside down" so the stems bent in opposite directions.

mages © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamps: Awash with Flowers
Ink: Old Olive
Cardstock: Pool Party, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Daffodil Delight
Other: Elegant Bouquet Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Blossom Party Originals Die