CASEing the Catalogue

Sometimes you want to make a card but the effort of thinking of a design and/or colours for yourself can be so tedious *yawn* ... that's when the samples in the Stampin' Up! Ideas Book & Catalogue (and the current Spring Mini Catalogue) come in so handy *g*.

Take this, for instance ...

The layout and colours are from the sample on page 4 of the Spring Mini catalogue. It was quick, easy and effective and took very little time to do, because I didn't have to think about it too hard.

Images © 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp sets: Always
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Whisper White
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White
Other: Pretty in Pink 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stamp A Ma Jig

Then I tried again, this time using the featured stamp set as in the original sample, but mixing up the colours somewhat ... I'm not so sure that this one worked, but I wanted to try green/purple together.

The little row of flowers from this stamp set placed under the main image just seemed to tie the card together and finish it off. I liked that bit.

Images © 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp sets: One of a Kind
Ink: Perfect Plum, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Perfect Plum Old Olive, Whisper White
Other: Certainly Celery 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Boho Blossoms Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stampin' Sponge, Stamp A Ma Jig

The samples in the catalogues are there to provide inspiration for you, so why not use them? You can even check out pages 155-159 of the main catalogue to see exactly what supplies have been used to create each of the beautiful projects throughout the book.

Put some sunglasses on before you read this!

Don't say I didn't warn you. I was looking for some inspiration and checked out Splitcoast Stampers Colour Challenge ... this one particular combination just caught my eye for some reason. It's so BRIGHT! The colours are Real Red, Pink Passion and Summer Sun.

I used the same trick as the other day to create the yellow ribbon - a few drops of Summer Sun and a tiny drop or two of water in a little container, then drop in your white grosgrain ribbon and shake vigorously for a few minutes. You have to make sure that the ribbon is blotted dry on paper towel or something and then left to sit until it's completely dry before you use it though, or it'll get everywhere.

And I used a little of the Crystal Effects on the red centre of the flower to give it a bit of punch. It looks very neat in real life. I keep wanting to touch it!

PS: as you see, my camera is back from its holiday safe and sound ... it was used about ten times on Day 1 of camp then not looked at again. Next time I'll buy her a disposable film camera to take I think.

Images © 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp sets: One of a Kind
Ink: Basic Black, Real Red, Pink Passion, Summer Sun, Summer Sun Reinker
Cardstock: Pink Passion, Real Red, Summer Sun
Other: 1/4" White Grosgrain Ribbon, Large Oval Punch, Corner Rounder, Crystal Effects, Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker

One of a Kind

I have just spent a few hours playing with stamps and cardstock, and ended up with this ... I still don't know if I like it, but at the least it has been an interesting experiment.

I wanted to use One of a Kind, which is one of the sets in SU's current Spring Mini (do you want a copy? Email me with your details and I can mail one out). You can buy a punch which matches the small trio of flowers from this set (not shown here), which is a bit of fun and saves a lot of time cutting out!

I tried various methods of working with the large flower from this set, and settled on simply colouring it with my Stampin' Write Markers ... who knew? Sometimes cardmaking is like having a great big colouring book *g*. You will have to believe me when I tell you that this really does look way better in person. As soon as I get my camera back I will try a different picture and see if it's more flattering. For some reason my scanner just refuses to represent Pale or Perfect Plum correctly.

Can you see that I have outlined the flower with my Going Gray marker? I was trying for the illusion of dimension. I still can't tell if it worked.

Images © 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp sets: One of a Kind
Ink: Basic Black, Perfect Plum
Cardstock: Whisper White, So Saffron, Perfect Plum
Other: Stampin' Write Markers in Rich Regals, Soft Subtles and Neutrals, Designer Label Punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Stampin' Sponges