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

My new obsession

... and it's not stamping!  Well, it is stamping related, kind of ...

A friend told me about Pinterest, I took a look and now I can't stop browsing!  It's a site where you can store pictures of things that you love - like a giant pinboard.  In the past, I have bookmarked pictures of things to look back on later, but trawling through all those bookmarks is hard work *phew* - so much easier to have all the pictures right in front of you!  Less clicking = more time to look!

So why is this relevant?  Well, I have been pinning pictures of cards I liked, whether it was a colour scheme, a layout, an interesting way of using something, and was inspired to make this the other night:

 

Here's the original  - isn't it gorgeous?  And such an effective use of the Lace Ribbon Border Punch.

I've made the cute scrunched flowers before, but this one was made by spritzing the punched scallops of cardstock with water, as per the very entertaining tutorial here (I have to admit I laughed a little while reading this one!).

Here's a closeup of the strip of cardstock and the flower - I really like how this came out, and was surprised at how "solid" the flower became once it was dry!  You can also see the flecks of Shimmer Paint (in Champagne Mist) I used to spritz the base and flower for a little sparkle.

And just because I love the flower, here's another closeup.

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Cardstock: River Rock, Very Vanilla
Other: Lace Ribbon Border Punch, 1-3/4" Scallop Circle Punch, Basic Pearls, Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint

This might be a little too pink, even for me...

... and I like pink.

A couple of weeks ago, I took myself of to stamp club, as I do pretty much every month (by the way, if you live in Melbourne, you might like to drop in - 1 till about 4 on the last Saturday of the month - more information on the stamp club blog - new members are always welcome).  I had a mission, which involved not taking practically everything I own "just in case" because I have a LOT of stuff and there's only so much I can carry.  So I took my craft tote bag which has all my necessities like adhesives, scissors, sparkly stuff, etc, etc, etc, a couple of stamp sets a few sheets of cardstock and half a dozen matching inkpads.

Oh, and my Big Shot, assorted embossing folders and a few handy dies, because obviously you can't leave them at home.  They're practically essentials!

Anyway, I was carrying a little less than usual.  Not much, but a little.  And it paid off!  So often, I go to stamp club with no ideas, and just take along a bunch of stuff that doesn't match, and end up frustrated because I can't get anything to work out how I want it.  This time it worked a treat - and while this card is a little pink, even for my tastes, I am happy with it!

The lighting wasn't quite right when I took the photo, so the colours you see here might not be quite as vibrant as they really are, but you get the idea.

I love this stamp set, I just wish I remembered to use it more.  The two-step stamping looks really effective, specially when the outline stamps and the bold stamps don't match perfectly.

I have also used a little rock 'n' roll here - inking the flowers in Pretty In Pink, then lightly rolling the edge of the stamp in Melon Mambo to give a little extra dimension to the flowers.

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Awash with Flowers
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Sahara SandCardstock: Pretty in Pink, Pumpkin Pie, Melon Mambo, Whisper White
Other: Houndstooth Embossing Folder, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder