Another Pinspired post

Just a little something I whipped up ... well, actually,  it took a lot longer than I'd expected, but that was mostly sponging each punched flower, and holding it together layer by layer as the glue dried.  The end result was totally worth it, though ...

Here's the pin that inspired this tag.  Hers is so much nicer, but I'm still happy with my little effort.  Some more practice and maybe I can get as gorgeous a result as my Pinspiration!

Images © 1990-2014 Stampin' Up!®  
Supplies used:
Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge, Fabulous Phrases

Cardstock:  Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Rich Razzleberry

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Crumb Cake, Whisper White Craft Ink

Accessories:  Blossom Punch, Banner Punch, Scalloped Tag Topper Punch

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

More Mosaics

I really like this stamp set - can you tell?

Another card inspired by one found via Pinterest ... I might even add some bling to it as in the original :-)

It was a little fiddly getting the positioning just right, but I'm pretty happy with how it came out.  I've embossed the bottom part of the card and added a stamped strip to cover the edge of the embossing.

The stripes stamp on the Bermuda Bay strip of cardstock is from the set Gorgeous Grunge, which is one of those sets that probably doesn't grab you on first sight, but once you see what it can do, the possibilities are endless :-) (do a Google Images search for Gorgeous Grunge Stampin Up to see what I mean).

Images © 1990-2013 Stampin' Up!®  
Supplies used:
Stamps:  Mosaic Madness, Sketched Birthday, Gorgeous Grunge Cardstock:  Bermuda Bay, Smoky Slate, Whisper White
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Strawberry Slush
Accessories:  Bitty Banners Framelits, Mosaic Punch, Mosaic Embossing Folder, Stampamajig

Mosaic Madness

Something I "whipped up" during stamp club yesterday ... heavily inspired by this card I found on Pinterest the other day...

I had limited room to take a bunch of different supplies (I'm not a good travelling stamper) so decided to experiment with the new In Colors, represented here by Coastal Cabana, Baked Brown Sugar and Strawberry Slush - I love this year's new colours!

This card also demonstrates the use of the Stampamajig, both in placing the smaller elements on the embossed cardstock, and also (although it's mostly hidden by the greeting) the stamped strip of Coastal Cabana cardstock.


Images © 1990-2013 Stampin' Up!®   Supplies used:  Stamps:  Mosaic Madness, Sketched Birthday
Cardstock:  Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush, Baked Brown Sugar, Whisper White
Ink: Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush, Baked Brown Sugar
Accessories:  Bitty Banners Framelits, Mosaic Punch, Mosaic Embossing Folder, Stampamajig

Sponged Postage

A while back, in my pre-Stampin' Up! days, I used to do a lot of sponging onto gloss white cardstock, but somehow that technique seems to have been put aside in the past few years.

I was browsing Pinterest (yes, I know, it's the thing I do when I have a bunch of other stuff to do that I don't feel like doing) and came across a card which reminded me how much fun it is to take a piece of plain white cardstock and turn it into something colourful.

The colours used are Pool Party, Island Indigo and Perfect Plum (a sadly neglected colour in my stash - sometimes I need reminding to revisit old favourites), because I love the blue/green/purple combination, and because I was celebrating the fact that Pool Party and Island Indigo, two of my favourite In Colors, are going to stay around as part of the core colour family in the next catalogue :-)

The "postage stamps" were stamped onto gloss cardstock, sponged and then cut out - using the 1" Square Punch for the 2c and Travel Post stamps and by hand for the Paris one (because it has that little oval that goes outside the square just a little), and then glued onto pieces of gloss cardstock punched out with the Postage Stamp punch.

I need to go back to basics sometimes, to remember why I love this craft so much, and revisit some older techniques/colours/stamps to reinvigorate my "creative juices" (sounds so squishy!).

Images © 1990-2013 Stampin' Up!® Supplies used: Stamps:  Postage Due, Everything Eleanor
Cardstock:  Pool Party, Perfect Plum, Island Indigo, Glossy White
Ink: Black Stazon, Pool Party, Perfect Plum, Island Indigo
Accessories:  1" Square Punch, Postage Stamp Punch, Stampin' Sponges

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

CASEing myself yet again

Inspired by myself, I put this card together recently ... I had made a cut out card for my friend's birthday, but once I'd given it away I realised I wanted one for my own "stash" as well.

 
It's not quite the same - I was away from home and didn't have all my Big Shot goodies with me, but I did have a few scraps of cardstock, including this piece of Island Indigo which had been cut using the Adorning Accents Edgelits for another project.

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamps: Betsy's Blossoms
Cardstock:  Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo, Whisper White
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo, Pumpkin Pie

Accessories:  2-1/2" Circle Punch, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack,Adorning Accents Edgelits

Painting with bleach

Recently I showed you a card I made for my friend Pauline, in which I used bleach to strip colour from cardstock in a kind of reverse painting thing-y.

I liked it so much (or perhaps that was just the smell of bleach in an enclosed area?) that I had to make another!

Here you can see the results of bleach + Riding Hood Red - interesting that, no matter how much bleach I dabbed on, it never got lighter than this yellow shade.  Which, happily, coordinates nicely with the So Saffron base card :-)

Oh, and did I mention just how much I like this Everything Eleanor set?  The flowers are gorgeous, beautifully detailed, and that swirl is going to go with everything.

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Fabulous Phrases
Cardstock:  So Saffron, Basic Black, Riding Hood Red
Ink: Black Stazon
Accessories:  Bitty Banners Framelits, 1" Circle Punch, 1-1/4" Scallop Circle Punch

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

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

Birthday Bikkies

Further to my last post about my dad's recent 80th birthday, I just wanted to show you the little box I put together to hold some shortbread I bought for him (I was going to bake but I remembered just in time that I am a lousy baker).

I used Midnight Muse and Lucky Limeade to kind of coordinate with the card.

The box pattern is the same one used in this post, with the obvious exception that this one is full of bikkies :-)  I have also misplaced my Large Oval punch, so had to make do with a smaller one - not quite as satisfactory, but there was no other choice.

I used the frame stamp from Everything Eleanor punched out with the large scallop circle, and then the circle of Lucky Limeade to cover up the journalling lines.  Finally, my new "go to" set for sentiments, Fabulous Phrases (and, of course the Stampamajig to line it all up), teamed with the Bitty Banners Framelits and the job was done!

Just a closeup showing that the decoration on the box is a combination of the large swirl stamp from Everything Eleanor and the more delicate swirl from Creative Elements.

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Creative Elements, Fabulous Phrases
Cardstock: Midnight Muse, Whisper White, Lucky Limeade
Ink: Midnight Muse
 Other:Large Oval Punch, 2-3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Corner Rounder Punch, Bitty Banners Framelits, Midnight Muse 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon

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

Birthday Butterflies

Now, before I start, I have to tell you ... this card design is not one of mine. Yes, I made this, but it was following instructions from my incredibly talented "side-line" (ie. we share the same upline) demonstrator, Felicity.  Go on, check out her blog - you won't be sorry!  Just don't forget to come back.

*****

Welcome back.  Isn't Flick's stuff just gorgeous?  *sigh* if only I had half her talent.

So, where were we?  Oh, yes, the butterfly card.  Well, a little while ago, Flick hosted a training night for some of her downline, and while I am not part of that group, I was lucky enough to be invited along.  We all got to make the card shown, with its matching envelope, which were inspired by the cards that *ahem* some of us made at our annual Convention back in late May/early June.  (I am ashamed to admit that my own make & take projects from Convention are still in the bag that I put them in while packing to return home from Canberra).

 There is just so much going on here with new products, I don't know where to start!  Well, the "happy birthday" is a new stamp set designed to co-ordinate with a new Framelits set comprised of a set of three cute little banners (take a look at the stamps on page 134 of the new Annual Catalogue, and the framelits on page 191).

The butterfly punch is also new - and it's soooo nice.  As you would imagine, being a Stampin' Up! product and knowing that co-ordination is a cornerstone of their design, this punch will work with the beautiful Papillon Potpourri (page 115).

And the Island Indigo layer is cut with another of the new Framelits, this time a set known as Floral Frames.  This set of five dies is made to work with the Daydream Medallions stamp set on page 117 (you can see one of the stamps from this set across the Baja Breeze cardstock), but of course you can use it in any way you please.  The largest of the five dies is a whopping 13.3cm across.

Here is a picture of the card with the matching envelope, made from Baja Breeze cardstock and lined with paper from the Twitterpated set.  The envelope was made using the Simply  Scored tool, and the optional Diagonal Plate - now you can make envelopes to match all your cards, and they don't have to be standard A6 size either (one of these days I will make a tutorial on creating an envelope to suit any size card ... it's amazing!).

And finally a closeup of the button detail on the middle butterfly -  the darling little button is one of the Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons (page 176) tied on with a bit of string and glued down onto an Island Indigo circle with a dab of the Tombow Multi glue - a nice touch.

Supplies used: 
Stamp(s): Itty Bitty Banners, Daydream Medallions
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, Pacific Point, Whisper White, Twitterpated Designer Series Paper
Other: Elegant Butterfly Punch, Bitty Banners Framelits, Floral Frames Framelits, Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons, 1cm Circle Punch, Simply Scored tool, Simply Scored Diagonal Plate

More Circles

When I dragged out my Circle Circus stamp set the other night (see previous post), I must have been on a roll, because this card just sort of popped up out of nowhere demanding to be made.  For a stamp set I have had a lot of trouble with in the past, I am awfully proud of this card!

And how awesome does the combination of Pacific Point and the new Summer Starfruit look?  Summer Starfruit is an odd sort of colour, which here looks green, but next to a green looks yellow.  Weird *shakes head*.

The Summer Starfruit strip of cardstock was originally going to just go across the entire card until I thought I wanted it to look kind of "ribbon-y" - so out with the square punch to cut a nick out of the end (much neater and easier than trying to cut it with scissors - I would have had to trim it here then trim the other side to make it even, then trim the first side again to match and so on until I had nothing left!).

Supplies used: 
Stamp(s): Circle Circus
Ink: Summer Starfruit, Pacific Point
Cardstock: Pacific Point, Summer Starfruit, Whisper White
Other: 1-3/4" Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, 1" Circle Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, 1/2" Circle Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, 1-1/4" Square Punch, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder

Mmmm, ice cream...!

I saw a really cute ice cream card the other week, and it reminded me ... "hey!  I have that punch!" (yes, sad but true - I have so many punches I sometimes forget which ones I have.  Remind me to post a picture of them all one day).

It took me a while to get around to actually making my homage to the original, but it was worth it.  In hindsight, I think I could have added some bling to jazz it up a little, but the girl who eventually received this for her 14th birthday party last week loved it, and who could ask for more than that?

The cupcake from the Cupcake Builder Punch makes an awesome ice cream scoop!  And the Square Lattice Textured Embossing Folder really does have a waffle-cone sort of look about it :-)

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used: 
Stamp(s): Memorable Moments (sneak preview from 2012-13 Catalogue)
Ink: Soft Suede
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Pink Pirouette
Other: Cupcake Builder Punch, Decorative Label Punch,Extra-Large Oval Punch, Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

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 :-)

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

More Shabby Chic

After all this time, looking sadly at other people's amazing "shabby chic" style cards and wishing I had whatever it was that it takes to create such pretty things - I may have cracked it!

First this ...

And now this:

I'm particularly proud of this one - and it is so much prettier in real life!

Originally I sat down with elements of this card in mind - I liked the combination of Framelits and Designer Frames Embossing Folder and wanted to see what I could come up with.  But I also had an idea that I should use a colour that hasn't been getting much airtime - so out came Calypso Coral.  I have to admit, this is not a favourite colour of mine, so it has sat untouched and unloved in my collection.  I had no idea what to pair it with.

So I did what I always do when I don't know - than you Google - and voila!  I found this beautiful card made by a fellow SU demo in Perth, and my colour combination (and some of my inspiration) was complete.  Who knew that Calypso Coral would look so good paired with Pool Party and Soft Suede (with just a touch of Old Olive)?


Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamps: Creative Elements, Vintage Vogue
 Ink: Calypso Coral, Soft Suede
 Cardstock: Pool Party, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Calypso Coral, Crumb Cake
 Other: Eyelet Border Punch, Labels Collection Framelits, Designer Frames Textured Impressions Embossing Folders, Extra-Large Oval Punch, Crimper, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Bird Builder Punch, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die, Basic Pearls

Fancy a cuppa?

There's nothing like sitting down with friends and chatting over a cup of tea (or coffee, I suppose ...).  This set, Tea Shoppe (available for a limited time only in the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue) was a must-have the minute I saw it - I love vintage style!

 

Now, I know the large greetig on this card says "tea for two" but I could realistically only fit one "teabag" in the cup.  And I was going to put a real teabag in, but it turns out they're full of tea and kind of bulky - so I used the Tag Punch to make my own.  I did steal the string from a teabag though - it was small and flexible enough to work well here.

Take a close look at the Concord Crush layer behind the oval punch.  Recognise it?  No?  I punched a flower out using my new Blossom Punch (Autumn-Winter Mini again) then trimmed off the top two and bottom two petals to leave an interesting shape for layering - who said you have to use the punches "as is"?

And finally, here's a closeup of the Very Vanilla layer, showing a little of the scored detail - I used my Simply Scored tool to accurately score exact distances just to give the background a little texture.

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamps: Tea Shoppe
 Ink: Concord Crush

 Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Concord Crush, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede

 Other: Wide Oval Punch, Blossom Punch, 1" Square Punch, Tag Punch, Scallop Border Punch, Simply Scored

Daffodil Daisy

Don't you love a quick and easy craft project, for those days when you want to make something but just don't have the time to spend hours on something?  This card is exactly what I was after the other day when I took myself off to stamp club.

I was inspired by these, which worked out a lot better than mine - I still have to work out how to get the petals to curl up properly.  However I'm still pretty happy with it.  Shame that the gorgeous bright Daffodil Delight cardstock and ink hasn't translated to the screen as well as I would have liked.

I have used the stamp set Mixed Bunch and the matching Blossom Punch (they're currently available in the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue) - the stamp set contains three large flowers in varying styles to suit the punch, and three smaller designs to use as the middle of the flowers.  If you look closely, you'll see that I have layered one of those smaller stamps onto a piece of Pumpkin Pie cardstock which was put through the Square Lattice Textured Impression Embossing Folder for a bit of visual interest.  And right in the middle, one of the tiniest pearls from the Basic Pearls packet.  So sweet!



Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamps: Mixed Bunch
 Ink: Daffodil Delight, Punpkin Pie
Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie
Other: Blossom Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Basic Pearls