NEW Texture Boutique Embossing Machine

Are you a gadget fiend?  I know I am - I love the accessories you can get that add spark to the creative process and dimension to the projects.

And if you are particularly interested in dimension, I might have just the gadget for you ... the new Texture Boutique Embossing Machine from Stampin' Up!

This little gem will work with your Textured Impressions Embossing Folders to emboss pretty much anything your heart desires :-) - paper, cardstock, metallic foil, vellum - even (in my case, as my "real life" job is with a sticky paper wholesaler) sticky foil paper.

Note that the machine is designed to emboss only - it will not die cut, so you can't use it with your Big Shot cutting accessories like Bigz Dies or Framelits.

If you don't have a Big Shot, but want to join the embossing craze, this might be the tool for you... have a look at the video produced by Stampin' Up! for more information on using this nifty little tool.

Find the new Texture Boutique Emobssing Machine in my Online Store today!

for Sandra

This is almost unheard of ... the other day I made an actual card to send to an actual person!  Mostly the cards I make are used as samples, and eventually (once the featured items retire) end up in a box through which my daughter digs each time she needs a birthday card quickly.

But this time I had a recipient in mind, made the card (based on this one - isn't it gorgeous?) and remembered to mail it!  I could have used an old sample card for her, but that just didn't seem right for the occasion.

So here you have it ... my card for Sandra.  I hope it made her happy :-)

Tips for anyone attempting this ... firstly, make sure your square punch is sharp *sigh*.  Secondly, lay all your squares out and work out exactly what you want the card front to look like - don't leave it to chance like, perhaps, might have happened here.  Lastly, have some sort of guide on hand so that you can keep the squares lined up evenly.

Images © 1990-2013 Stampin' Up!®  
Supplies used:
Stamps:  Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Cardstock:  Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush, Smoky Slate, Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Bermuda Bay
Accessories:  1" Square Punch, Scallop Border Punch, Bitty Banners Framelit, Textured Embossing Folders: Chevron, Petals-a-Plenty, Argyle, Beautifully Baroque, Perfect Polka Dots

Geometry

A week or so ago, I was browsing Pinterest (oh, what a site!  I have spent many happy hours there!) and came across a card which looked both interesting and do-able (it's the third picture at this link).  As my personal creativity has been a little on the low side of late, I wanted inspiration for a quick project I could make at stamp club without having to think too hard about what to take or what to do with it all when I got there.

And here it is...

I have yet to add a greeting - that will come when I decide exactly what I want to do with the card, but I'm pretty happy with the layout and colours :-)

The style is perfect for that most elusive of card design - the so-called "masculine" card, traditionally quite hard to achieve LOL.
 

Images © 1990-2013 Stampin' Up!® Supplies used: Cardstock:  Pacific Point, Summer Starfruit, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Crumb Bake
Accessories:  1" Square Punch, Postage Stamp Punch, 1-1/4" Square Punch, 1-3/8" Square Punch, Argyle Embossing Folder, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder

Summer Flowers

I'm still loving this set - Summer Silhouettes - lots of scope to mix 'n' match the stamps to create your own bouquet or garden of summer flowers :-)

I ran across this card on Pinterest the other night and knew I had to try my hand at something similar.

Here's my version.  More Crumb-Cake-y, less Sahara-Sand-y, but you can see the inspiration.

The scalloped border was created by trimming a piece of Crumb Cake cardstock with the Large Scallop Edgelits, and then carefully positioning the Delicate Designs embossing folder so that only part of the design was embossed.  I felt that the whole border pattern would be a little too overwhelming on an otherwise simple design.

And here's a closeup of that scalloped border:

No greeting yet - once I've decided just what occasion it's for, I'll sort that out :-)

 Images © 1990-2013 Stampin' Up!®
Supplies used:
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, En Francais Cardstock:  Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Ink: Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Raspberry Ripple
Accessories:  Large Scallops Edgelits, Delicate Designs Embossing Folders

We wish you a Merry Christmas

If I have been good and organised, anyone who was going to receive a Christmas card from me has theirs by now, so now I can post my 2012 family Christmas card.

I was feeling a little lazy this year, so went with a very quick but (I like to think) effective design, relying on two different layers of embossed cardstock and the Apothecary Accents framelits for visual appeal.

And it wouldn't be Christmas if I didn't spritz it up with a little Shimmer Paint :-)  Love, love, love that stuff!  You can barely see it in this photo - the Raspberry Ripple layer has been given a light coat of sparkle just for fun.

Have I mentioned just how much I love my embossing folders?  And my framelits?  And pretty much every accessory ever made for the Big Shot?


Merry Christmas to everyone, and a happy 2013!

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamps: Heart of Christmas 
Cardstock:  Raspberry Ripple, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla
Ink: Raspberry Ripple
 Accessories:  Apothecary Accents Framelits, Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder, Holiday Frame Embossing Folder, 3/16" Metallic Brads

Christmas goodies

Each year, my upline organises a get together for our Stampin' Up! demonstrator family.  Not everyone can make it, of course - this is a busy time of year all around - but we can usually manage ten or so people.  And, of course, where there is a gathering of paper-crafters, there will be an exchange of paper-crafter-y gifts.

Usually I am caught short, with no idea what to make until the last minute (or, occasionally, the next day), however I am so proud of myself for finding this idea and running with it.

Here's my take on the project.  I found the measurements given in the original post didn't really work, so made the width of the little boxes much smaller - my starting piece was 11cm x 19cm, or 4-5/8" x 7-1/2".  I put the 11cm side against the top of my Simply Scored Tool and scored at 1", then flipped the sheet 180 degrees and scored at 1" again.  Then I turned it 90 degrees and scored at 3-1/4" amd 4-1/4" and continued on with the original instructions.

(I must insert an apology here for the imperial or metric purist - I have no problem switching between the two, and a lot of the things I find on the net that I want to try are from the US and as such are in imperial measurements.  My guillotine has only centimetres, but of course the base Simply Scored Tool is in inches.  I find it's just a case of being flexible and finding what works).

The tag portion of each box has been put through the Lacy Brocade embossing folder, in a (vain, as it turns out) attempt to hide the score on the tag (which is designed to fold in half as a cute little tag/card combo).  I used the score line to ensure the strips of Designer Series Paper were straight instead - this worked a treat :-)

And they're filled with Lindt balls ... yummmmm ... lucky there was a few left over from the big bag I bought :-)  I just have to make sure I hide them from the family...

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamps: Perfect Punches
Cardstock:  Very Vanilla, Gumball Green, Be Of Good Cheery Designer Series Paper
Ink: Cherry Cobbler
Accessories:  Lacy Brocade embossing folder, Two Tags Bigz Die, 1-3/4" Scallop Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, 3/16" Metallic Brads, Paper Piercer, Simply Scored Tool, Stampin' Dimensionals

Merry (Minis) Christmas!

Christmas is nearly upon us, so what better time to show you the card I whipped up the other night?  This is a little too fiddly for me to use as my family card (although had I come up with idea earlier I may well have done so) but it was fun to make :-)

The cute little baubles come from a stamp set in the Holiday Catalogue called Merry Minis - a nine piece set comprising three stars, three baubles and three Christmas trees.  You can also buy a Merry Minis Punch Pack, in other words three little punches which coordinate with the stamps.  I attached these with Dimensionals in an effort to make them look a little more like they were hanging from the embossed detail.

 
And just for a little visual interest, I used the Simply Scored Diagonal Plate and my Simply Scored Scoring Tool to create a cross-hatch effect along the bottom of the yellow layer.  Now I'm wondering if I should have just embossed the whole layer?  Perhaps I need to make another one to see... :-)

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamps: Merry Minis, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Cardstock:  Raspberry Ripple, Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green, Whisper White
Ink: Raspberry Ripple, Gumball Green
Accessories:  Merry Minis Punch Pack, Scallop Border Punch, Simply Scored Scoring Tool, Simply Scored Diagonal Plate, 1-1/4" Scallop Circle Punch, Word Window Punch, Adorning Accents Edgelits, Adorning Accents Embossing Folders

A simple Christmas card

As promised the other day, here is the card I made to send out to the customers of my "day job" - it was a pretty simple design, relying on the Apothecary Accents framelits and the Holiday Frame embossing folder for the "wow" factor.  Not shown here is the Champagne Frost shimmer paint applied to the Crumb Cake layer (as I had to make this one up quickly after sealing up and mailing all the work ones, I forgot that step!), which, trust me, looked very effective :-)

This year I made 111 of these little beauties - I really need to talk to the sales guys, and ask them to tone down their efforts to find new business, or this is going to be the end of me!

Just a quick word - if you like this stamp, called "Heart of Christmas" and want it for your own, it's only available until the end of the Holiday Catgalogue period, January 31, 2013.  It is one of the "a la carte" range, meaning it is a single stamp, not part of a set, so is very affordable :-)


Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamps: Heart of Christmas 
Cardstock:  Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla
Ink: Cherry Cobbler
Accessories:  Apothecary Accents Framelits, Holiday Frame Embossing Folder

Another birthday card

Just a little card I whipped up for my friend Liz's birthday a couple of weeks ago ... for a wonder, this card came out pretty much exactly as I had imagined it!  Usually the colours don't match like I wanted, or the layout is just a shade wrong in some indefinable way, but not this time!

As with this card made for my Dad's 80th birthday recently, the main layer is popped up on Dimensionals so that you get the full effect of the punched out circle and pierced detail.

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamps: Betsy's Blossoms, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Cardstock:  Marina Mist, Whisper White
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist
Accessories:  2-1/2" Circle Punch, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack, Bitty Banners Framelits, Delicate Designs Embossing Folder

80th Birthday!

My dad celebrated his 80th birthday last week - wow, I can't believe I just wrote that :-)  My brother had the family over to his house in the country for lunch and cake and general get-togetherness and a great time was had by all - specially Dad!  He was proud as punch to be surrounded by not only his kids, but his grandkids as well.

To mark the occasion, what could I do but make a special card for him?  This turned out to be quite a challenge, as a "milestone" card like this can't be just any old thing - it has to be something special!

I hope that this card meets that expectation:

Inspiration was heavily drawn from this card which I found on Pinterest - which was in its turn, inspired by another picture on Pinterest ... I wonder if my card will end up on Pinterest in some sort of Pin-vortex?

Anyway, I specially liked the cut out circle with the image below - I dressed mine up a little using the Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack and my trusty paper piercer.  And that embossed layer is popped up a little with Dimensionals ... lots and lots of Dimensionals.  I can honestly say I've never used so many Dimensionals on one card before :-)

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Memorable Moments
Cardstock:  Basic Gray, Lucky Limeade, Midnight Muse, Whisper White
 Ink: Lucky Limeade, Midnight Muse
Other:Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder, 2-1/2" Circle Punch, Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack, Midnight Muse Striped 3/8" Satin Ribbon, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Stripes Embossing Folder, Apothecary Accents Framelits, 3/16" Metallic Brads, 3/4" Circle Punch

Everything Eleanor

A new stamp set that might well be my new favourite (although time will tell) is Everything Eleanor.  It's another of those sets with different, "collage-y" type elements that work well together and with other similar sets.  Here I have teamed it with my all time fave background stamp En Francais (sadly stamped a little crooked - my fault for cutting the frame shape before stamping - you'd think I'd know better by now) and a little bit of Creative Elements (along the bottom - look carefully).

I'm also loving the new Bitty Banners Framelits - you can use them with the coordinating stamp sets, or just any old set that happens to fit as I've done here with Teeny Tiny Sentiments.

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Creative Elements, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Cardstock:  Baja Breeze, Midnight Muse, Very Vanilla
Ink: Crumb Cake, Midnight Muse, Baja Breeze
Other:Apothecary Accents Framelits, Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder, Bitty Banners Framelits

Happy Birthday John!

Following hot on the heels of my sister in law's birthday each year is my brother's birthday ... so it's easy enough to remember his (and, after all, I have a lifetime of knowing when his birthday is).

I find cards for guys to be ridiculously hard ... when it comes to buying stamps I am drawn to flowers, butterflies and other girly stuff (and a long time follower of my blog will be aware that I'm quite fond of pink as well).  So I had to hit the internet for inspiration, and broke in a new stamp set (Postage Due) I just received last week for the occasion.

I used to do a lot of the "collage" type stamping, back in my pre-Stampin Up days, so it surprised me that it was kind of hard to put this together at first.  Guess I'm out of practice.  Of course, the background here is all one stamp, so that was pretty easy LOL.  I placed the stamps along the right hand side to cover up the flower image (not very masculine).

And here's a closeup of the Bitty Banners framelit with the coordinating stamp from the Itty Bitty Banners set, as well as the large shape from the Apothecary Accents in Summer Starfruit, which I have embellished a little by adding pierced holes using the new Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack.  And look!  Something else from the new catalogue!  I used one of the Delicate Designs embossing folders to fancy up the strip of Midnight Muse cardstock.

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamps: Postage Due, Itty Bitty Banners
Cardstock:  Crumb Cake, Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit, Very Vanilla
Ink: Crumb Cake, Midnight Muse

Other:Delicate Designs Embossing Folders, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Bitty Banners Framelits, Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack, Paper Piercer, Postage Stamp Punch

Happy Birthday Sophie

It was my gorgeous sister in law's birthday last week, and as is traditional, I had completely forgotten and had to whip a card up quickly to get in the mail in time to reach her.  It just wouldn't be a birthday without a last minute card, after all it's not like I have all the stuff lying around ready to make cards... um, well, I probably do.  I'm just forgetful and slack.

Anyway, happy birthday Sophie!

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Cardstock:  Rich Razzleberry, Pool Party,Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Crumb Cake

Other:Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Basic Pearls

Blues and Browns

The colour combination of the moment seems to be blue and brown, and who am I to argue?

Here's a little card I put together recently to show someone how easy it is to colour the white Paper Daisies (although I admit that the ones you see here are actually old ones from my stash, but they are the same sort of thing).

The colouring process is simplicity itself - simply put a few drops of any classic ink reinker in a small container, add a little water (maybe a teaspoon or so), swirl to mix and drop your flower in.  Retrieve it straight away (this is where tweezers are you friends) and set aside on some paper towel to dry.  You can blast it with your heat gun, just be careful it doesn't blow away.

The flowers here were dyed with Baja Breeze, to match the blue layer, and had a nice little pearl added in the middle because - well, it needed something :-)

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used: 
Stamp(s): Creative Elements
Ink:Crumb Cake
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake
Other: Paper flowers from my stash, Basic Pearls, Textured Impressions Embossing Folders: Elegants Lines, Vintage Wallpaper, Elegant Bouquet

Create

Recently I attended a small get together of Stampin' Up! demonstrators from my upline's extended "family" ... a swap was proposed and for a wonder, I actually got involved!  I rarely do swaps, as I have a very low boredom threshold, and doing more than about three of the same card sends me around the twist (which is why I dread Christmas each year lol).

Anyway, here's the card I ended up with ... it started with a desire to at last get around to using the Two Tags Bigz Die that I finally bought in May as well as the Cherry Cobbler embossing powder that I have had for months, and sort of grew from there.

The bottom right corner was masked with a piece of torn paper then stamped with En Francais in Crumb Cake.  I decided to lightly sponge the masked area with the same ink as well for a little extra definition.

After much debating with myself (and solicitation of advice from my 13 year old daughter, who frankly couldn't care less) I used a strip of Soft Suede cardstock down the left side of the card to balance out the greeting and sponged/stamped right side - I think I made the right decision in the end.

Sharp eyes might notice something about this card which may ... or may not ... be included in the next Stampin' Up! catalogue ...  I will leave it up to you to work it out :-)

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used: 
Stamp(s): Creative Elements, En Francais
 Ink: Versamark, Crumb Cake
  Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla
Other: Two Tags Bigz Die, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Cherry Cobbler Embossing Powder, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Decorative Label Punch, Large Oval Punch, Stampin' Sponges, Extra Secret Ingredient from upcoming Catalogue :-)

Embossing Fun

A couple of weeks ago while flicking around the web, I came across a card using the Framed Tulips Embossing Folder - but not in a way I'd ever thought about before.

The stamper had turned the folder on its side and used just one edge to create a border across a card front, and I found it intriguing enough to have a try for myself.

Here's the original, and here's my take on the technique:

The original card is much nicer, but I do quite like how mine came out - it's the teensiest bit wonky but I think I'm the only one who can tell :-)

 And so you can get a look at the wonkiness, a closeup:

See?  Barely noticeable!

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used: 
Stamp(s): Mixed Bunch
 Ink: Old Olive, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight
 Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Whisper White
Other: Blossom Punch, Framed Tulips Embossing Folder, 1" Circle Punch

Parfait-ly Pretty

I set about trying to make a card using my new Framelits Dies (now available from the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue), incorporating the Designer Frames Texture Embossing folders I got last week - the oval frame in the embossing folder fits nicely inside the Framelits die, as you can see (and the Extra-Large Oval Punch is exactly the right size for the centre of the embossed frame!).

But for the life of me, I can't explain all this orange.  I just used a piece of Peach Parfait to make the central piece, and the next thing you know, the whole thing was Peach.  And I'm not generally a fan of orange, but I really like this card!

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamps: Simply Soft (Hostess only set)
Ink: Going Gray, Daffodil Delight, Peach Parfait
Cardstock: Peach Parfait, Very Vanilla
Other: Labels Collection Framelits Die, Designer Frames and Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folders, Old Olive Stampin' Write Marker, Old Olive 1q/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Extra-Large Oval Punch