Mmm, roses...

Long time no see! Still too busy to sit down and stamp, although I do need to make some gift card holders for my brother's kids by Christmas day - ah, there's plenty of time, there's still two days to go *g*.

In the meantime, here's a card I made last month and completely forgot to post. My dear friend Pauline was turning *ahem*, so of course I had to use one of her favourite stamp sets to celebrate.

I have also used the Manhattan Flower embossing folder, as it coordinates perfectly with the big rose from Fifth Avenue Floral.

To emphasise the embossed background just a little, I sponged it lightly with some Crumb Cake ink, and also sponged around the edges of the punched-out greeting.

If you look closely, you can see the subtle glitter of Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint spritzed lightly across the central rose.

And as a final touch, I added a self adhesive rhinestone to dot the "I". The rhinestones, along with sticky-backed pearls, are new to the catalogue this year (page 140) - for only $9.50, you get 150 rhinestones or pearls in three sizes (2mm, 3mm and 5mm).

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Fifth Avenue Floral, Upsy Daisy
Ink: Early Espresso, Versamark, Crumb Cake
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla
Other: Manhattan Flower Embossing Folder, Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder, Basic Rhinestones, Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint

Inspired...

I had some birthday cards to make the other night (hopefully they have reached their destinations by now!) and needed some inspiration to get me started. Of course, Splitcoast Stampers obliged, and this card in particular caught my eye. Something about the layout appealed to me, so I sat down to make my own interpretation.

I really like how this came out (hope Lisa likes it also). And I finally got a chance to use my new Crumb Cake inkpad - love it!

Oh, and the blue butterfly - aside from being cute and lifting out the centre of the card, it has an actual purpose in hiding a small smudge :-)

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Upsy Daisy
Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso
Cardstock: Pacific Point, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake
Other: Top Note Die, Circle Cutter, Elegant Lines embossing Folder, Beautiful Wings Embosslit

Upsy Daisy

Still lovin' this stamp set. See how versatile it is? It can be vibrant and colourful. It can be coloured with markers before stamping (hmmm, I don't seem to have a sample of that - better fix this situation soon *g*). It can be dramatic. Or it can be simple, as shown here.

All I've done is stamped the flowers twice in Versamark, embossed in white and layered onto Night of Navy and Crumb Cake.

Love how it came out!

mages © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Upsy Daisy
Ink: Versamark
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Night of Navy
Other: White Stampin' Emboss Powder

Another catalogue CASE

Not too long to go now before the new 2010-11 Ideas Book & Catalogue goes live ... contact me to arrange your copy.

In the meantime, here's a card I made which was inspired by a sample in the new catalogue (which, by the way, is an awesome source of inspiration - which is why they call it an "Ideas Book" as well as a "Catalogue").

The original was much nicer, mostly because I looked at the catalogue, liked the card, waited a few days and then tried to copy it without bothering to look again. You'll see what I mean when you get your copy LOL.

Anway, it was an interesting experiment, and a chance to play with my new crimper (which I resisted buying for the longest time, and yet now can't imagine how I managed to live without it).

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Upsy Daisy
Ink: Soft Suede
Cardstock: Soft Suede, Whisper White, Baja Breeze, So Saffron, Regal Rose, Old Olive
Other: Crimper

The Blues

Every so often, I remember just how much I like the stamp set Upsy Daisy. The fact that it's a silhouette means that you can use it in many different ways, including with a detailed background as shown here.

Because the flowers were stamped in a dark ink, I didn't need to do any masking to incorporate the lighter background, just stamped straight over the top and voila! Instant card.

Honestly, this couldn't have taken more than 10 minutes to make - perfect for a last-minute card *g* (and if you're like me, if it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done!).

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Upsy Daisy, Tres Chic, Best Yet (Hostess Set)
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze
Cardstock: Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Whisper White
Other: Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Scallop Edge Punch

On My Mind

Upsy Daisy is still one of my favourite stamp sets. I love the simplicity of the silhouetted outlines, which lends itself to a variety of different looks.

This card just sort of evolved, as I was trying to achieve a completely different look. I like the combination of red, gray and black.

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Sgtamp/s: Upsy Daisy
Ink: Real Red, Basic Gray
Cardstock: Basic Gray, Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White
Other: Scallop Edge Punch

Everything goes with Chocolate Chip ...

... just ask Gail.

I'm starting to think she might just have it right, too. I was playing with my Eyelet Border Punch last night, and just grabbed a random piece of cardstock to use it on - Bashful Blue, as it turned out. Then I decided to use the scrap to decorate a card, but what other colour(s) to use? As far as Gail is concerned, all colours go with Chocolate Chip (and Close to Cocoa in this instance).

I'm still liking the stamp set Upsy Daisy - so simple yet so effective ...

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp set/s: Upsy Daisy
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla, Bashful Blue
Other: Eyelet Border Punch

More autumn colours

I really seem to be on an autumn colour fixation at the moment. Having spent a weekend in Canberra when all the trees were changing colour must have left me feeling a little inspired *g*.

That's the view from our balcony at Rydges Lakeside. How gorgeous is that?

Anyway, perhaps that view inspired this card. Who knows? I just started with the Chocolate Chip ink on Very Vanilla cardstock and the rest just sort of came together.

Lovin' this set!

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp set/s: Upsy Daisy, Trendy Trees
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie
Cardstock: Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Other: Designer Label Punch, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Stampin' Sponges, 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon

Counting down to Canberra

The highlight of the Stampin' Up! year would have to be the annual Convention, held in a selected capital city each year around this time of year. This year it's in our nation's capital and it's next week (eek).

At most papercrafting gatherings, it is a tradition for attendees to swap creations, and of course a convention hall filled with Stampin' Up! demonstrators is no exception. I have even managed to get my act together enough to prepare swaps (for me this is pretty momentous, generally I'm not organised to make more than one of anything) (I make an exception for these events though!).

This time around I have gone with a couple of different designs, because when I started I didn't have any new stuff, then I got excited about this new set Upsy Daisy and had to do something with that as well. And so I didn't get too bored I ran with a few different colourways on the Upsy Daisy card (you can see two of them here) (okay, there was an ulterior motive - I ran out of Apricot Appeal cardstock and had to use an alternative colour as the base so played around with the other colours*g*).

So here's my swaps. I like them. But I'll be happy to get rid of them all because that means I'll have some lovely new things to look at when I get back from Canberra.

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp set/s: (Cards 1 & 3) Upsy Daisy; (Card 2) Baroque Motifs, En Francais
Ink: (Card 1) Real Red, Pixie Pink, Apricot Appeal; (Card 2) Pixie Pink, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip; (Card 3) Ruby Red, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard, So Saffron
Cardstock: (Card 1) Apricot Appeal, Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White; (Card 2) Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, Glossy White (Card 3) Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red, Basic Black, Whisper White
Other: (Cards 1 & 3) Stampamajig, 1-3/8" Square Punch, Stampin' Sponges; (Card 2) 1-1/4" Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Stampin' Sponges

Can't wait till next week!

New Rubbah!

With a new catalogue comes new rubber, and that's gotta be good. Except for my bank balance (ouch) but these things happen.

My new stamps turned up this week and while I haven't been sitting down stamping madly non-stop, I have managed to put together a couple of cards I quite liked using one of my new favourite sets, Fifth Avenue Floral. This set contains three flower stamps, a stem (so you0 can build your own garden) and a phrase as shown on this first card.

Hmmm ... I don't remember this photo being quite so blurry - sorry about that *g*. You get the idea.

The rose stamp is pretty big - the image is about 6.5cm x 7cm, and as with the other two flowers is perfect to watercolour - or, as shown here, stamp onto coloured cardstock and cut out.

Loooove the new Wide Oval Punch!

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp set/s: Fifth Avenue Floral
Ink: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Real Red
Cardstock: Real Red, Basic Gray, Basic Black, Whisper White
Other: Wide Oval Punch, Scallop Edge Punch

The second card I made with this set was inspired by this one at Splitcoaststampers ... I even accidentally used the same words *g*, trust me, I was looking for something different but the typeface just fit so nicely with the design.

I must have been having a red and black day.

The strange thing about this is, while I love how the card came out, and the warmth and brightness of the colours, I'm not a fan of orange at all. I guess I'm learning to live with it, so long as it's offset by another colour.

The colouring was done partly with a blender pen and inkpad, and party with Stampin' Write markers.

Did you know that the word window fits exactly into the Large Oval Punch? Looks very effective, don't you think?

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Stamp set/s: Fifth Avenue Floral, Upsy Daisy
Ink: Stazon Black, Pumpkin Pie
Cardstock: Real Red, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
Other: Large Oval Punch, Blender Pen, Stampin' Write Markers in Apricot Appeal, So Saffron and Summer Sun