Demo Make n Take

Two of my sister SU Demos came over tonight for some stampin' fun! They had requested I demo the Waxed Paper Technique. You can see the two original cards I made at this post . I tried a variation for the above card. Inside of scrunching the waxed paper I folded it as many times as I could. This has produced a different look. It is more linear than "swirly". I like both effects. What about you?

Makover Monday Challenge

I have finally had time to particpate in a challenge. Every Monday (Canadian time) Andrea posts a Monday Makeover Challenge on her blog, Sunny Stampin.

Each week Andrea chooses a totally, or mainly, non-SU card and issues a challenge to perform a Stampin' Up Makeover on it. This week she chose this card. Above is the result of my makeover. I was inspired by the Secret Garden Scrappin' Kit. The colours are Groovy Guava, Old Olive, River Rock and Always Artichoke. I used the flower stamp from Baroque Motifs. The sentiment is one of the many in the hostess set So Many Sayings. I mounted the Groovy Guava flowers on River Rock circles which had been sponged on the edge with Always Artichoke ink. The paper is Old Olive DSP. The scallop edge was made with the corner rounder (with the guard removed).

I really like this one. Let me know what you think.

Playing with New Rubber

Before I went to my training course last week I picked up my latest SU order. In it were 5 new stamp sets! I looooove new rubber.

Of course, I took them with me so I could play in the evenings. These first 2 cards are CASEd directly from the 2008-09 IBC (Aust). I really like the colour combination of Bordering Blue and Mellow Moss. The card on right is a small square card in the IBC but I adjusted it to make it a standard size. I also substituted Mellow Moss taffeta ribbon for the grosgrain in the original.
The stamp set is Artfully Asian.

The card on the left uses Close as a Memory. I have wanted this set for a while as I didn't have any sympathy sentiments. This card uses the same colour combination as the one on the left, with the addition of River Rock. Again, I substituted taffeta ribbon for the grosgrain. I also left off the brads and used faux stitching on the left hand side instead of the real thing (I didn't have my sewing machine with me anyway).


This card is an original. I have wanted Wild About You ever since I first used it at a workshop ran by my upline's upline, Karen.

I decided that I wanted to make a bright card so all these colours are from the Bold Brights family - Real Red for the base, Gable Green for the mats, the elephant is stamped in Lovely Lilac, the crocodile in Green Galore and the giraffe with Only Orange. The sentiment is from A Little Birthday Cheer and is stamped in Real Red.

As I was playing with the arrangement of the images on the card base I realised it needed something else. I decided to used my brand new Real Red striped grosgrain ribbon. Let me know what you think - I'm not entirely sure about this one.

Please leave a comment so I can know who visits me.

Sorry for keeping you waiting

I know I said last week that I would have more cards for you to see very soon. Well, I spent time working on a swap and wanted to wait until I was sure they had been received until I posted it. Here it is:

This one was for a swap organised by my upline, Nerine. The only rule was it had to be a floral card. I used Purely Pomegranate, Old Olive and Pale Plum. The flower is from Scribble (Doodle) This. I silver embossed it on the Purely Pomegranate background and on Pretty in Pink. I cut out the Pale Plum flower and layered over it a small flower from the Pretties Kit (coloured on the Purely Pomegranate inkpad) and a rhinestone brad from the Ice selection. I added another coloured flower next to the sentiment (from Lots of Thoughts) but this time added a white half pearl from the Pretties Kit.

I really like this one and wish I had made one for myself to keep!

A Couple of Cases

I am away from home this week on a training course for my day-time job. Of course I took my stamping stuff with me! What else would I do in the evenings in my hotel room.

The 2 cards below are both CASEd from the 2008-09 Idea Book and Catalogue. The first one uses the hostess set "A Little Bit of Happiness". In the catalogue this card was actually a bag but I made some alterations - as you do. The cardstock is Bordering Blue, Groovy Guava and River Rock - I love it! I stamped the leaf image on Whisper White with Basic Black and watercoloured it using the Aqua Painter and Ink pads - Close to Cocoa, Groovy Guava and Mellow Moss. I only recieve the double-stitched ribbon this week and I'm already loving it. This ribbon is Groovy Guava. I just had to pierce along the top and bottom of the main image - it really finishes it off, I think. This second card uses another hostess set - In the Spotlight. It is so versatile! The card base is textured Whisper White. I made my own "printed paper" using Purely Pomegranate, Blue Bayou and Old Olive cardstock and ink. It is so easy to do. The large flower is stamped in More Mustard (I really like this colour combination) with a smaller Purely Pomegranate folwer and Blue Bayou "hello" circle layered on top. The ribbon is Purely Pomegranate double-stitched, of course! The original card included Hodgepodge Hardware and brads which I didn't bring with me so I didn't use them.

I am going to stamp some more tonight so I should have something else for you to see tomorrow.

If you have visited me, please leave a comment so I know who you are.

Bye for now.

Monochromatic Challenge

I made this cards for this weeks challenge at Stamp Something. The challenge was to make a monchromatic card. I had seen this card on Splitcoast Stampers. The card on the bottom right is a direct CASE. For the other two I changed the colours - Blue Bayou and Soft Sky at the top and Taken with Teal and Tempting Turquoise bottom left. This technique is called "Out of the Box" and is quite simple - although there is a fair of cutting involved with this design.

Hope you like these. I'll have more in the next few days once I'm sure 2 swaps I have been involved with have been received.

Mel's Inspiration Challenge

My good friend and fellow SU demo, Mel, issued an Inspiration Challenge. Here's the photo - Aren't these daisies just gorgeous?

Anyway, Mel chose to use Only Orange, Basic Black and Whisper White. I also saw the blue in the sky (Ballet Blue) and changed the orange to a softer Pumpkin Pie and More Mustard. This is what I came up with -

I used the Chalkboard Technique - very similar to Poppin' Pastels but done on dark cardstock. The stamp set is Spring Solitude (Level 2 Hostess Set). I firstly stamped the triple daisy stamp in Whisper White craft ink in a random pattern on the Basic Black cardstock. When that was dry I stamped the solid daisy in Versamark over the top of the large flower in the triple. I didn't bother to line them up, in fact I aimed to have them off-centre. I then used my Sponge Daubers (my current favourite accessory) and applied Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard and a touch of Ruby Red until I was happy with the depth of colour (it does take 2 or 3 "coats" to get a good look). I then mounted the "chalkboard" on More Mustard textured cardstock and then Ballet Blue. The card base is Pumpkin Pie. I had to add a ribbon so I disassembled the layers and used the Pumpkin Pie grosgrain ribbon and the double swirl from the Pewter Hodgepodge set.

I really like the way this turned out - it actually looks pretty much like I imagined.

Another Long Weekend!

I think I have mentioned before that I love long weekends as they give me a chance to stamp! I took advantage of the Queen's Birthday Long Weekend to stamp late into the night and came up with the following 4 offerrings.

These first 2 use the Level 1 Hostess Set "A Little Bit of Happiness". This is a very versatile set with 4 of these long stamps that just beg to be coloured. I used essentially the same layout for these cards (just flipped it horizontally) but quite different colours. The top one uses Earth Elements, and the bottom one, Bold Brights. I watercoloured the images using the Aqau Painter and then chose cardstock colours to match.


These next 2 cards are CASEd directly from the SU Idea Book and Catalogue. I refer to the IBC constantly for ideas on layouts and colour combinations. I would never have chosen these colour combinations by myself but they work. They both use Old Olive, Sky Blue and Purely Pomegranate with the set "Garden Whimsy" (which I adore!). I changed the second only a little by making my own patterned paper using Soft Sky, the "Happy Birthday" stamp from "A Little Birthday Cheer" and Old Olive ink. Even though I didn't use the Stamp-a-ma-Jig (as if you couldn't tell!) I still like it.

I'm hoping that my daughter will cooperate and go to sleep early tonight so I can stamp some more.

Bye 'til next time.

Stampin' Up Promotions - June 2008

Stampin' Up has 2 fabulous promotions for June.

Firstly, for our Hostesses. If you host a workshop in June with sales of $700 or more, Stampin' Up will add an extra $50 to your product credit! That means you will have a minimum of $130 to spend on SU product of your choice! How fabulous! If you can't wait to take advantage of this fantastic offer, just leave a comment on this post or send me an email. I only have limited times available to book home workshops for June so you'd better get in quick!

Also, Stampin' Up are encouraging us to leave our emails and blogs behind for one day and create and send at least one hand-made card. I am holding a special "eScape" workshop to help you to do this. In this workshop we will create 10 small cards to send as "Love Notes" to your friends and family. Not only that, you'll also make a cute box to keep them all in. This set would also make a fantastic gift. These note cards are so much more personal than an email! Don't you just love receiving good "snail mail". I know I do! It feels like my birthday. Anyway, the details of my "eScape" Love Notes and Box class are:

Date: Wednesday 25th June 2008
Time: 7.30pm
Place: 4 Scherger Pl, Tindal
Cost: $25 only!
RSVP: Friday 13th June

I need for you to pre-register so I can ensure I have sufficient cardstock for everyone to complete their 10 note cards. If you pay on registration I will drop the price to $20 (that's a 20% saving). I accept cash, cheque or credit card. Just send me an email or leave a comment on this post to register or for more information.

Worth the Wait - I hope!

Sorry to have been absent for a week. I was away on a training course for my full-time job. But I'm back now and in the last 24 hours I have made 4 new cards - 3 were not even CASEd either! Are you impressed? I am.

This first card used a black scrap from another card using the same technique - split negative. I couldn't through it out (can any cardmaker through away a half-way decent scrap?) so I decided to make a second card. The swirl is from Baroque Motifs. The colour (other than Basic Black and Whisper White which anyone who has done primary school art should be able to tell you are not actually colours) is Purely Pomegranate - my favourite of the current In Colours. I used a rhinestone brad from the Fire colourway for the centre of the card and surrounded it with a hollow scallop. Stylish don't you think?


The next 3 cards all use the Poppin' Pastels technique. I have joined a card swap for June and that is the prescribed technique. I realised that this is one technique that this technique junkie had never tried so I thought I should practise before making the swaps.

This is my first attempt. Do not adjust your computer screens - the image is fuzzy. I learned with this one that it is better not to go too far off the image if you want a crisp outline. I still like the look though. This is one of my favourite flowers at the moment - the tulip from Garden Whimsy. The colours are Rose Red (my favourite red), Certainly Celery, and Barely Banana (straight off the Colour Coach - what would I do without it?). The patterend paper is from the no-longer-available Palette of Prints. Not bad for a first effort, I thought.

I'm happier with the colouring on this one - using a 2-step set makes it much easier to get the crisp outline as you can stamp it in after! The colours here are Always Artichoke, Pumpkin Pie and Almost Amethyst. I used two stamp sets - Heartfelt Thanks for the flower and A Little Birthday Cheer for the sentiment. One of the swap rules is to use eyelets so I added an eyelet to each of the four outside corners but it needed something else. I was immediately drawn to my brand new packet of Linen Thread. Does it work? Let me know what you think.

This last one is my daughter's pick. Again, I used Heartfelt Thanks (as I did for the previous card) but the colours are Rose Red (again!), Always Artichoke and Elegant Eggplant (Colour Coach!). I only received the Jumbo Eyelets this week and aren't they fabulous? The crop-a-dile makes it just too easy to set these babies! I tore the bottom edge of the 2 layers and then sponged with the same colour inks to give some interest and depth to the card. The top layer is also popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals. I personally agree with my daughter. What about you?


Check out my next post for details of a fantastic offer from Stampin' Up and my next class.