Goodbye Post #3

Another farewell post *sniff* this is getting me a little emotional.  I have loved these sets, and will miss being able to share the love with others.  Of course, I will still have them, but won't be using them nearly as much now that I can't sell them as well :-)

Today, Inspired by Nature.  What a gorgeous set - one large stamp with daisies (or whatever they are - I'm no botanist), and another grass.  Sounds odd and not very pretty, but honestly, they are!  The grass in particular has been well used, as it comes in handy for the background of many nature inspired cards.

My personal favourites:

If you click on the pictures you will be taken to the original post which should outline the materials used on each card.  Keep in mind that some of these are several years old and as such, quite a bit of the Stampin' Up! product used has long since retired.

Black Butterflies

Yes, more butterflies, this time as a kind of silhouette look.  I saw this card (such a talented lady!) and loved it so much I had to make my own version.  Of course, mine has a long way to go before it matches the beauty of the original, but I still like it :-)

It was pretty easy to make, as well, with the layer of stamped Whisper White peeping out from behind the Lucky Limeade panel

And see how well the punches layer together?  I love that about punches - you don't have to have the same shapes in different sizes to get a neat layered effect - just mix and match until you're happy with the result!


Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used: 
Stamp(s): Inspired by Nature, Tea Shoppe, En Francais
Ink: Lucky Limeade, Basic Black
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Lucky Limeade
Other: Basic Black 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Beautiful Wings Embosslit,  Decorative Label Punch, Large Oval Punch

Concord Flowers

I loved this card the minute I saw it. I can't decide if it's the colour scheme (how well does River Rock go with Melon Mambo and Elegant Eggplant?) or the layout. In an attempt to find out, I made my own version - and yes, I know, it's pretty much a straight copy. I was low on mojo the other night when I did this, and couldn't find my own creativity :-(

Anyway, aside from using Concord Crush instead of Elegant Eggplant (just a personal preference), changing out the stamp on the panel and using my embossing folder to dress up the Melon Mambo layer, it's pretty much the same card.

I might have to try this colour combo for other projects - it's certainly eye catching!

And here's a close up of the little butterfly - spritzed with a shimmer mist made from Frost White Shimmer Paint ... so cute.

Supplies used:
Stamp(s): Inspired by Nature
Ink: Concord Crush
Cardstock: Melon Mambo, River Rock, Concord Crush
Other: Finial Press Embossing Folder, Top Note Sizzix Die, Beautiful Wings Embosslit

Yet More Butterflies

I am still having fun with my Beautiful Wings Embosslit - it is just so handy for adding that finishing touch to a floral card!

Here is something I made recently when some friends came around to stamp. I was inspired by a card I saw ... somewhere ... I think it might have been on the Stampin' Up demonstrators' forum.

I have stamped the grass from Inspired by Nature (note to self - must use that set more often) on the base card. Then I sponged a piece of Whisper White first with Pink Pirouette and then with Concord Crush and overstamped the weeds from Pocket Silhouettes in Basic Black. The butterflies from the embosslit completed the picture. And, oops, I believe I forgot to add rhinestones! Better fix that up at some stage!

So there you have it - quick and simple, and quite pretty as well!

Supplies used:
Stamp(s): Inspired by Nature, Pocket Silhouettes
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Concord Crush, Basic Black
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Concord Crush, Whisper White
Other: Beautiful Wings Embosslit

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

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

Another Monochromatic Card

After I made the card in my last post, I tried another monochromatic card, this time using the Dynamic Duo of Old Olive and Certainly Celery. Again, this is a shameless CASE of someone else's card - one I saw in our display at the Craft & Quilt Show recently ... I have no idea who made the original (which was made in browns), but it was so striking I had to try it.

I love how it came out!

First I stamped the grass image onto Certainly Celery cardstock, then dusted the image with the Embossing Buddy in preparation for embossing. The Embossing Buddy helps to dry any damp ink and stops embossing powder sticking to places it shouldn't.

The flowers were stamped with Whisper White Craft ink (I could have used Versamark but wanted to make sure the resulting image was as white as possible) then embossed with white embossing powder.

My kids said the card was "too green", but I like it. I will definitely be trying this style again with different colour combinations.

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp set/s: Inspired by Nature
Ink: Old Olive, Whisper White Craft
Cardstock: Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Other: Wide Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Embossing Buddy, White Stampin' Emboss Powder

Using Markers

I'm sure you're aware you can use markers to ink up your stamps. Most water based markers will do the job, although brush tipped markers like the Stampin' Up! Stampin' Write Markers are ideal as you can use the side of the brush tip to ensure a more complete coverage.

I finally got my own set of Inspired by Nature a month or possibly more ago and immediately set to work stamping with it. I coloured the flowers in with Summer Sun, Ruby Red and Old Olive markers, then spritzed it ever so lightly to blend the colours a little and give it a watercolour look (a tip: If you don't have a squirty bottle with a fine spray, you can spray it into the air and sort of "catch" the drops on the stamp - kind of like how you're supposed to "walk into" your perfume *g*) and stamped it on Very Vanilla.

Then my sample piece sat in my craft trolley for a while. A long while.

Until last Saturday when I finally used it to create this finished product. I stamped the grass in Old Olive on Old Olive cardstock to create the background layer. Love that grass stamp!

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp set/s: Inspired by Nature
Ink: Old Olive
Cardstock: Summer Sun, Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Other:Wide Oval Punch, Stampin' Write Markers in Summer Sun, Ruby Red and Old Olive, Stampin' Sponges

Something simple

I haven't played around with my stamps for a little while now - lots of other stuff going on, not least of which was Paperific (and if you missed that, don't forget the Craft & Quilt fair is being held in July at Jeff's Shed ... uh, I mean the Melbourne Exhibition Centre - yes, I'll be there).

So it was nice to find a few moments to sit down and create this card. I hadn't yet used the Kraft cardstock I got a few weeks ago, and thought it would be pretty dressed up with Pacific Point (such a gorgeous blue! At first I thought it was just too blue, and if you happen to drop a stamp wrong side down in the ink pad it gets everywhere, but now I'm quite liking it).

And it did only take a few minutes to put together once I got all the basic ingredients out.

The detail's not so great so you might not be able to see the words stamped along the bottom of the Kraft cardstock - these are from the Friendly Words wheel, and inked in Baja Breeze.

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp set/s: Inspired by Nature, Friendly Words wheel
Ink: Pacific Point, Baja Breeze
Cardstock: Kraft, Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Very Vanilla
Other: Wide Oval Punch, Jumbo Stampin' Around Handle, Stampin' Dimensionals

Emboss Resist

One of the (many) advantages of attending the annual Stampin' Up! convention is being able to watch top demonstrators and SU staff sit down and create cards before your eyes. We were lucky enough to have Pam Morgan from the States entertain us with her presentation (and, yes, she is very entertaining!).

One of the cards Pam demonstrated really caught my eye, and I got the chance to replicate it (in my own way) the other night.

Now, normally I wouldn't combine pink and red as shown here, but having seen Pam's sample I realised that it can work.

Anyone who's seen the original knows that the main panel is much the same (using the emboss resist technique), and the rest is just me making things up, but I was working with what I had on hand at the time, and I had just taken delivery of the new Eyelet Border Punch (isn't it yummy?) so needed to take it for a maiden voyage.

Thank you Gail for letting me borrow your stamp set and wheel, and I can't wait to get my own *g*.

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp set/s: Inspired by Nature, Friendly Words wheel
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirhouette, Versamark
Cardstock: Pink Pirhouette, Whisper White
Other: Eyelet Border Punch, Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder, Jumbo Stampin' Around Handle