July Specials!

Have you tried Two-Step Stampin'™? This is a process by which you use two or more stamps to build up an image or picture. Throughout July, Stampin' Up! are offering selected Two-Step Stampin' sets at 20% off catalogue price!

The sets on special are:

Item	Page	Description	Regular Price	Sale Price
116386	39	Loads of Love	$39.95	$31.96
116342	42	Big Bold Birthday**	$53.95	$43.16
115860	78	A Rose is a Rose**	$66.95	$53.56
116332	86	Playful Petals**	$52.95	$42.36
115770	98	Cheep Talk	$47.95	$38.36
115946	115	Wonderful Favourites	$39.95	$31.96
119187	14*	Tiny Tags (wood-mount)	$38.95	$31.16
118592	14*	Tiny Tags (clear-mount)	$28.95	$23.16
119163	31*	Cottage Garden (wood-mount)	$32.95	$26.36
120003	31*	Cottage Garden (clear-mount)	$24.95	$19.96

*From 2010 Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue
**Retiring stamp sets!

And as you can see, just a heads up that if you don't buy Big Bold Birthday, A Rose is a Rose or Playful Petals this month or next month, you will miss out as they are retiring as of August 31. So why not snap them up at a bargain price?

Big Bold Birthday has been a favourite of mine, as shown in these posts. I haven't used it in a while, better drag it out and dust it off *g*.

Cheep Talk is another set which I can highly recommend - with 11 stamps in the set there are so many different ways of using it. There's two cute little birdies, a branch, three phrases and a few different things to stick on or around the branch to create a picture. Here's one variation (keep an eye out - I will post another variation in a couple of days).

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Cheep Talk
Ink: Old Olive, Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie
Cardstock: Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White
Other: Scallop Circle Die

Wonderful Favourites is possibly the best value stamp set you'll ever buy, and at $31.96 during July it is an absolute bargain. The set comprises the words "Wonderful" and "Favourite" in nice big curly writing, then has 21 stamps with words like "mother", "father", "in law", "to my", "and" and so on, so you can build up a personalised greeting for your favourite people.

Lastly, if you are planning on buying a Two-Step Stampin' set, can I recommend purchasing a Stamp-A-Ma-Jig if you don't have one already? These little tools are invaluable for lining up those tricky elements so that you can position them just so on your cardstock.

Vintage Vogue

This stamp set, Vintage Vogue, really is gorgeous. It has a soft, old-world sort of feel which goes so well with muted, vintage colours. Or something a little more out there like I've used here.

You may recognise my new favourite colour combination which I also used here.

This time I took a piece of Whisper White cardstock and randomly stamped it using Vintage Vogue in So Saffron, Pretty in Pink and Rich Razzleberry. I had to be careful not to overdo the Razzleberry - it is a very powerful colour *g*. Then I cut the cardstock up into strips and used them to make three different cards as shown here.

This is a great idea for those times when you want to make the maximum number of cards in the minimum amount of time - this strip style is super quick and oh-so-easy.

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Vintage Vogue, Warm Words
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron
Cardstock: So Saffron, Pretty in Pink, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White
Other: Large Oval Punch, Wide Oval Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Very Vintage Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel

Birdie Bookmarks

How much do you love this punch? It is so darned cute, and also surprisingly versatile - just Google "Two Step Bird Punch" and take a look at all the awesome ideas.

Here I've just used it to decorate a simple bookmark - I find these little bookmarks so quick and easy to make, and handy to have in a house like mine where there's always two or three books on the go at one time (per person, that is *g*).

The tab is stapled on because I find that it holds together better than just gluing or using tape. And inside, at the bottom, is a little pair of self-adhesive magnets so the folded bookmark will "grip" the pages of the book.

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose
Other: Scallop Circle Punch, Two Step Bird Punch, Round Tab Punch

Now, that's a simple bookmark. Here's one with a little more work involved.

I have stamped the Baja Breeze (and, by the way, how glad am I this colour is staying!) using the Sanded background stamp and Whisper White Craft Ink - it really does look like a piece of distressed card now! I punched the Chocolate Chip circle and then ran it through the Big Shot using the Perfect Polka Dots embossing die. The bird and it's wing have been sponged around the edges with Regal Rose ink, and the wing has also been stamped in Regal Rose using the swirl from Priceless.

Same bookmark, different look. Pretty nifty, huh?

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Priceless, Sanded
Ink: Whisper White, Regal RoseCardstock: Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose
Other: Scallop Circle Punch, Two Step Bird Punch, Round Tab Punch, Perfect Polka Dots embossing die

More Scallop Envelope Fun

The other day I posted a couple of things I'd made using the Scallop Envelope die, and had to share this as well ... so sweet!

If you cut two scallop envelope dies, then trim all but 1/2" from the bottom, you can use the die to create a little gift card box for 3" square gift cards. Simply fold all the sides in and stick them togehter, fold the front flap down and secure it somehow (here I've used a brad to hold it all together).

You can wrap a piece of Designer Series Paper around the box to dress it up a little if you want.

Of course, being me I had to do things somewhat differently. Instead of cutting two envelopes and cutting the bottom flaps off, I used a folded piece of cardstock and placed the fold 1/4" up from the bottom score line so all I needed to do to construct the box was fold all the scoring in and stick the sides together.

And here's the box with the gift cards I made to go inside.

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Priceless
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Pumpkin Pie
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Riding Hood Red, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron
Other: Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, Vintage Brads, Scallop Envelope Die, Washington Apple DSP

New Week, New Deal - FINAL Deal of the Week

Throughout the month of June, Stampin' Up! is offering a new deal every week! You could get up to fifty percent off the catalogue price of selected merchandise from the 2009-10 Idea Book & Catalogue!

And this week, the Deal is ...

Up to 45% off selected accessories!

Item 109113 Pg 149 Square Ice Rhinestone brads was $19.95 now $11.97 40% off!
Item 109111 Pg 149 Circle Ice Rhinestone brads was $19.95 now $11.97 40% off!
Item 109112 Pg 149 Square Fire Rhinestone brads was $19.95 now $11.97 40% off!
Item 111848 Pg 150 Bashful Blue 1" double-stitched grosgrain ribbon was $19.95 now $10.97 45% off!
Item 109050 Pg 151 Certainly Celery 5/8" grosgrain ribbon was $14.95 now $8.97 40% off!

Remember this deal is ONLY available until close of business on Tuesday, June 29, so act now so as not to miss out!

Contact me today!

Scallop Envelope Variations

I've been playing around with my Scallop Envelope Die for the Big Shot (what a fun tool this thing is!) and have come to the conclusion that it is a whole bunch more versatile than you would first think.

Okay, so the basic die does this ... it cuts out a teeny little envelope pattern, with score lines - all you need to do is fold it all together and stick down the sides and voila! A little tiny envelope for a little tiny gift card.

When I say tiny, I really do mean it. The envelope shown here measures a whopping 8cm by 5.6cm. So I made a tiny little gift card to go inside - how cute is this?

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Always
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Cardstock: Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Pumpkin Pie
Other: Sweet Always DSP, Scallop Envelope Die, Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch

But, what if you wanted to give someone a gift card? One of the credit card style from, say Target or Myer? There's no way you'll fit one of those into one of these little envelopes, so what do you do?

Aha, I will tell you the secret!

Take a piece of Designer Series Paper, about 6 inches square. Fold in half and place the fold against the third scallop from the left of the scallop envelope die, then run it through your Big Shot. When you unfold the resulting template, you will find that you have a wider envelope, about 10cm across - plenty of room for that gift card!

Of course, there's a crease down the middle, but that's easily disguised by cutting a belly band and decorating it with an appropriate message.

I got the instructions for this little tip over at this page - thank you to all the hugely talented people who work all these kinds of things out.

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Best Yet (Hostess Set Level 1)
Ink: Not Quite Navy
Cardstock: Not Quite Navy, Confetti White, Very Vanilla
Other: Bella Bleu DSP, Scallop Envelope Die

Another Kraft Card

I know it's not a "real" colour (although that will change come September and the new catalogue, when the new colour family of "Neutrals" will be created), but I'm loving Kraft at the moment.

Combined with the new colours Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry to spice it up, you have to admit it makes a great background.

How do you like this - so simple, yet totally effective. I wish I could remember where I saw the original which inspired this (if I find the link I promise to post it).

***
21/6/10: Edited to add: Found the original! It's here - now you can see why I had to make this card *g*.

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Pocket Silhouettes
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Sahara Sand
Cardstock: Kraft, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Very Vanilla
Other: Scallop Edge Punch