Stamping!Stamping!

Personalised Notebook

2009-05-17T23:19:00.000-07:00

I love notebooks! I always have several lying around the house for all different purposes. I accidentally buy new ones all the time with grand plans for what I am going to use them for, but then I only use a couple of pages and then forget!

This one is one of the Stampin Up On Board Art Journals on page 147 of the catalogue. I'm going to use this at home and at workshops for all my stamping planning. And when I forget, I'll just leave it lying around looking beautiful! These would make a beautiful gift for someone - especially monogrammed like this one is. Maybe for school or preschool teachers? I might start now so that I can have them ready for Christmas!

Cardstock: chocolate chip

DSP: Bella rose, candy lane, pink pirouette patterns

Ink: Riding hood red

Ribbons: chocolate chip grosgrain, riding hood red taffeta, pink pirouette taffeta

Other: flower brad, chipboard letter (non SU)

Little Handbag

2009-05-17T23:14:00.000-07:00

How gorgeous is this little bag? It's a case of the one on page 65 of the catalogue. I couldn't resist using Urban Garden for this one. It's a close race between that and Washington Apple for my favourite DSP. Urban Garden won for this bag because it goes so well with the kiwi kiss satin ribbon and the button bouquet. They are two new accessories that I just can't live without!

DSP: Urban Garden

Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss

Other: Button Bouquet, Kiwi Kiss satin ribbon

Swirly Eggplant

2009-05-17T21:13:00.001-07:00

This is one very simple card but I still love it!

It's a fabulous way to start using a wheel - and the so swirly wheel is my absolute favourite. Well, maybe bella's border....or always in bloom......... hmmmm..... definitely my favourite jumbo wheel!

Stamps: So Swirly Jumbo Wheel

Ink: Perfect Plum

Cardstock: Pale plum, elegant eggplant, whisper white

Other: elegant eggplant grosgrain ribbon

Pick A Petal

2009-05-10T04:29:00.000-07:00

Do you know there are some really strange bloggers who do weird things like post every day? Strange. I see no problems with once a month! No, actually I would like to post more often but I am just too slack. So I'll make an effort to try harder. Maybe!

Pick a petal is one of the very few existing sets that made it into the current catalogue, so it must be good! I cased this card from the lovely Karen Thomas. As you can see, I was slack once again. I haven't really changed the card other than to use current colours - but that must mean it was really good to start with!!

Stamps:Pick a petal, short and sweet
Ink: Elegant eggplant, riding hood red
Cardstock: elegant eggplant, so saffron, riding hood red, whisper white
Other: elegant eggplant grosgrain ribbon, earth elements button, scallop edge punch, paper piercing tool

Buttons and Squares

2009-04-18T20:47:00.000-07:00

New paper, new colours, new ribbons, new buttons! It's all so exciting and this card uses them all! I cased this from here.. http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1291101 and just changed all the colours.

Cardstock: whisper white, riding hood red, baja blue, pink pirouette

Ink: riding hood red

Stamps: wow flowers

Paper: bella rose, urban garden, pink pirouette patterns

Ribbon: baja blue from Valet originals

Other: button bouquet, scallop square punch

Sweet Stems

2009-04-14T21:04:00.001-07:00

I've decided I should regress to school and do some colouring in. The only problem with this is that I am the world's dodgiest colour-inerer. But hey, practice makes perfect, so let's get some new stamp sets!!

So I went through the new catalogue, looking for a set which would be good for me to colour and Sweet Stems fit the bill. There are other stamp sets more specifically designed for colouring, but they aren't always my style. On this one, the flowers are small, so there's only so much colouring I have to do, so it's good my attention span and there's less space to stuff it up!

I used my aquapainter for this, and I picked up some colour from the lid of the inkpads. You just squeeze the ink pad when it's closed, and then some ink will be on the inside of the lid when you open it. You then just dip the brush in and pick up as much colour as you like.

I also loved the opportunity to use some of the new accessories - the paper, ribbon and button are all brand new.

Stamps: Sweet Stems, Pocket Silhouettes
Ink: Riding hood red, kiwi kiss, so saffron, basic black
Cardstock: whisper white, riding hood red
Paper:Washington apple
Other: Riding hood red taffeta ribbon, Sahara sand marker, button bouquet

That bird......

2009-03-10T17:45:00.000-07:00

This is another of the new sets in the new catalogue, called Good Friend. That bird seems to be everywhere at the moment. It's all over splitcoast and all over any Stampin Up blogs from the US, so I thought I should join in the fun.

The bird is stamped in Pacific Point which I think is my favourite of all the new in colours. The versamark stamped shapes on the summer sun and rose red are from the same set. I've also included one of the new flower brads, and I've stamped the sentiment from the window dressing set. Normally I don't go for schmalzy messages, but for some reason that one just works for me!

I realise that colour combo is quite bright and in-your-face, but it's straight off the new combo sheet from SU, so it must be right!

Stamps: Good friend, window dressing

Ink: versamark, pacific point, rose red, summer sun, choc chip

Cardstock: summer sun, rose red, whisper white, pacific point

Other: flower brads, chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon

New Sets! New Sets!

2009-03-10T17:32:00.000-07:00

Only 20 more sleeps til we get the new catalogue! Wooohoooo!!!

One of the (many) benefits of being a demonstrator is that we get a little sneak peak of some of the products out of the new catalogue, which we can order in advance. One of the sets is a level 3 hostess set called Window Dressing, which I just couldn't resist! It arrived on Monday and I had to play IMMEDIATELY! The set comes with the window (of course) and assorted little items you can place in the window. Here you can see the cat, and the little girl. It also comes with three sets of words which fit around the top of the window. It's hard to see in the photo, but the words on the left are "You make me smile!"

The card on the right is based on the Mojo Monday sketch challenge for last week, and because the sketch has a big square in the middle, I decided to lop off the top arch on the window.

So exciting getting new sets. I have a couple of others, as well as the new in-colours, so I will hopefully get a few posts out this week so you can have a sneak peak too!

Stamp Sets: window dressing

Ink: black, grey, chocolate chip, close to cocoa, rose red

Cardstock: Whisper white, rose red, chocolate chip, pink pirouette

Other: markers

Stamp sets: window dressing, short and sweet, polka dot, forever flowers

Ink: versmark, basic grey, night of navy

Cardstock: brocade blue, pretty in pink, so saffron, whisper white

Other: pretty in pink grosgrain ribbon, markers

Girly Elephant

2009-03-06T16:10:00.000-08:00

Well it appears the card in the last post wasn't the workshop card after all. It was this one!

I went back to the old tried and true wild about you. I am not suprised it is staying in the new catalogue. It is such a versatile set for boys, girls and babies. Even adult boys don't mind if you say "Wild About You"....

Cardstock: pretty in pink, basic grey, whisper white, purely pomegranate

Ink: basic grey, purely pomegranate, versamark, pretty in pink

Stamps: Wild about you, birthday whimsy

Other: purely pomegranate ribbon, berry bliss DSP, crystal effects (on the flower - hard to see in the photo)

Garden Whimsy (again)

2009-02-22T00:37:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the second instalment in my garden whimsy bonanza! I used the colour wheel to come up with the colour combo. It uses three of my favourite colours so I'm a bit excited!

One of my upcoming hostesses has asked for cards which are suitable to give to little girls. This is quite a challenge for me because I have 2 sons, and 3 brothers and I am totally not girly at all. (It makes you wonder how on earth I got into stamping!) I have been making lots of girly cards lately, trying to find the perfect one for a workshop. This might be it.... I'm not sure... I tend to change my mind from one day to the next......so I guess we'll see!

Stamps: Garden Whimsy

Cardstock: Perfect plum, sage shadow, whisper white, pretty in pink

Ink: versamark, perfect plum, pretty in pink, elegant eggplant

Garden Whimsy

2009-02-21T23:55:00.000-08:00

Can anyone tell me how it is that I have made it through the first 6 months of my Stampin Up life without Garden Whimsy?! I've had it for a whole 2 days now, and I love it so much I have already churned out 5 cards with it.

I also got the colour wheel, and I have to say, when I first looked at some of the combinations, I thought that I had well and truly wasted my money. But now that I have actually used it, I love it as well! The pink/plum/sage is my new favourite colour scheme. (Expect to find that everywhere because I happen to have stock of all those colours.)

I tried to use the rock and roll technique on the card above but I couldn't quite get it to look how I wanted it to. I ended up inking the middle of the card with summer sun and then sponging ruby red around the edges. It seemed to give a better blend. I was quite happy with how this turned out. Even my husband liked this one!

Stamps: Garden Whimsy, Short and sweet

Cardstock: Elegant eggplant, summer sun, ruby red, whisper white

Ink: elegant eggplant, summer sun, ruby red, garden green

Accessories: elegant eggplant grosgrain ribbon

Where to get ideas...........

2009-02-09T20:50:00.000-08:00

Notice any eerie similarities between those two cards? Check out the middle card on page 85 of the catalogue. Spooky!!! Actually, not really. Just very uncreative on my part!

One of the most common things I get asked at workshops is "how do you come up with the ideas?" I also hear comments like "I could never think of anything to do". This is how I quite frequently feel, so I just CASE (copy and share with everyone) from all the bountiful stamping resources we have around us!! And the very best place to start looking is your catalogue. It's full name is Idea Book and Catalogue, because that's just what it is!

I went to a demonstrator team meeting a few months ago, and the ever-talented Marelle demonstrated a card using the ocean commotion set. The colours and stamps were different, but the layout was almost exactly the same as the middle card on page 85 of the catalogue. It really showed me just how useful and flexible the catalogue really is, and it inspired me to make the two cards you can see here.

It required minimal thought on my part to come up with two cards which are totally different! One is very feminine (so not me) and one is very kid-ish (no comment). I love them both and neither cost me any creative juices!!!

Other places to check out for inspiration are http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/, (it would take years to get through everything on that site!) and also the blogs of other demonstrators (links are in the sidebar).

So really, there are no excuses! Get stamping!

Stamps: wild about you
Cardstock: real red, wild wasabi, brilliant blue, only orange
Paper: east coast prep
Ink: brilliant blue, real red, wild wasabi

Stamps: polka dot punches
Cardstock: regal rose, certainly celery, blush blossom
Ink: certainly celery, versamark
Other: Half-back pearls, elegant eggplant ribbon, so swirly jumbo wheel

A Rose Red Valentine

2009-02-05T01:44:00.000-08:00

Yes, another rose red card!!!

My husband and I generally don't acknowledge valentines day. We're a bit hopeless like that. One year, we didn't even remember our own wedding anniversary, which didn't bother either of us in the slightest! (He is, however, totally in trouble if he forgets my birthday!) So I wasn't going to make any valentine's cards, but my SIL requested one for her upcoming workshop. I was compelled to use rose red (of course!), and I also wanted to make the most of the hearts in polka dot punches set in the sale-a-bration catalogue. This is what I came up with, which I think turned out pretty well.

Cardstock: Whisper white, basic grey, rose red

Ink: rose red, white

Stamps: polka dot punches, short and sweet

Other: rose red wide ds ribbon, linen thread

Rose Red DSP

2009-02-05T00:26:00.000-08:00

There are only 2 more months until this year's in colours will be gone forever, so I'm trying to wean myself off purely pomegranate. I've decided to replace my obsession with rose red - which is actually quite close to purely pomegranate, so it's not quite the massive sacrifice I once thought it would be! It has turned out to be quite a helpful decision because two of the new products in the summer mini are rose red - the wide double stitched ribbon and the felt flowers - and I love using both of them.

I think this card is my current favourite. I recently invested in the pretties kit for the first time, and also the rose red dsp. This card uses both, as well as the ribbon from the mini, and I just love how it turned out!

Cardstock: rose red, whisper white, pretty in pink
Paper: rose red dsp
Ink: rose red
Stamps: In the spotlight
Other: rose red ds wide ribbon, half backed pearls, scalloped sqaure punch

Secret Garden Box

2009-02-04T20:08:00.000-08:00

Wow!! What a long time between posts! I've finally decided to be a real demonstrator and do some real workshops, so (in between a couple of little holidays) I have spent the last month making lots of samples and potential workshop make and takes. Obviously none of those have quite made it onto here, but I will attempt to fix that up over the next week or so.

I have always had a bit of a thing for making boxes and bags. I got into this whole papercraft thing in the first place more to make cool boxes than to make cards. The cards have been a very enjoyable side effect!! This one is a bit different for me. Always artichoke and old olive are not really my colours. Green is not me. I never wear green. But I have to say, these two are growing on me. I recently got the secret garden scrapping kit and I just love it!

I went with a belly band so that you don't have to untie the ribbon to open the box. It makes it easier for the lucky recipient to keep the box and use it for jewellery or doo-dads or whatever! I also made the card really small - it's 8cm x 8cm - so it would fit inside. I think it all turned out pretty well ! I might just have to keep it!

Stamps: Short and Sweet, Sprinkles

Cardstock: Always artichoke, old olive, groovy guava

DSP: Secret garden scrapping kit

Ribbon: Old Olive, groovy guava

Christmas Boxes

2008-12-27T20:15:00.001-08:00

For Christmas, I always like to make some sort of hand-made goodies - things like baileys balls, or caramel fudge or coconut ice. I have always made an attempt to wrap them somewhat nicely and Christmassy, but this year I had a distinct advantage because I have discovered Stampin' Up and SplitCoastStampers!

This year I was intent on making shortbread. I absolutely love shortbread, but I have never found a recipe that was just right. A couple of weeks before Christmas I typed "traditional scottish shortbread" into google, and this recipe came up. It is perfect! It's just the type of shortbread I was looking for! It doesn't use any rice flour, or any icing sugar, so it's not too soft and it has that grainy, traditional feel to it. This is now my go-to shortbread recipe. But I digress....this is a stamping blog after all!

I made a test batch of the shortbread with my favourite Christmas tree cutter, then I measured up 6 or 7 trees together and created the template for the box, based on this one from splitcoast. I ended up making about 10 of them for family and friends and I used a variety of ribbon and paper. The one in the picture uses Holiday Harmony DSP, Old olive cardstock, and purely pomegranate ds ribbon. The stamp on the tag is from one of the new Sale-a-bration sets which are coming up in January. Woohoo! Have a workshop and get free stuff!!

Another Blue Christmas!

2008-12-20T17:40:00.000-08:00

This time with a splash of pink! Cased from here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1110049?perpage=48&thumbsonly=0&thumbcheck=

In one of my DSP buying frenzies I picked up quite a bit of pink paper with snowflakes. It's not SU!, but it matches the rose red ribbon in the current mini really well. I once again used the scallop-edge punch. It's definitely the punch of the moment. I will be very surprised if it doesn't make its way into the main catalogue next year.

Blue Christmas

2008-12-15T23:54:00.000-08:00

I love blue Christmas cards. Makes a nice change from the traditional red, green and gold.

I was a on a mission to use the all scallops stamp set because I haven't used it much. On a skim-through of the catalogue, looking for inspiration, I noticed a card using the Round Up Simply Scrappin' kit. I don't have the kit, but some of the die cuts can be created with the stamps I already have, one of which is all scallops! (with a little help from the trusty stamp-a-ma-jig!)

I love looking through the catalogue, over and over again. I always seem to find something new that I haven't noticed before. The problem with this, of course, is that then I feel like there are new things that I just HAVE to get! Oh well! There are worse problems to have.

Cardstock: Ballet blue, night of navy, whisper white, silver (non SU)

Stamps: Season of joy, all scallops, hero arts sentiment

Ink: Ballet blue, night of navy

Embellishments: silver brad, snowflake

Scallop circle punch, scallop edge punch, circle punches

2008-12-08T18:31:00.000-08:00

Further to my previous post about being harassed about creating cards from scratch, this is another attempt that seemed to go down well!

I started off with the In The Stars set and the (non-SU!) ribbon, and I just mucked around from there. The star in the circle is from Occasionally, and I stamped it with glue from the Tsukineko glue pad (LOVE IT!) then just sprinkled over some fine glitter I got at the craft show. I love glitter! Aside from the mess of course! No matter how careful I am, I still end up with glitter everywhere. I have found that baby wipes are great for getting all the last little bits off your hands, and your glitter tray and your work space. I think there is a reason that a lot of people take up stamping after they have babies. It's because you need to have LOTS of baby wipes already in the house!

Cardstock: real red, whisper white, silver (from Fantasia)
Ink: real red
Stamps: Occasionally, In the Stars
Other: Star ribbon from Spotlight, Glue pad, red glitter

The Lemon-Lime Baby!

2008-12-07T20:40:00.000-08:00

We have a baby shower coming up in a few weeks, and we don't know the gender of the baby. This leaves me no choice but to go with the standard gender-neutral colours, lemon and lime. I was also a bit excited to use the In The Stars set from the new summer mini.

It's fairly simple, but I like it! It's a pretty versatile design as it could easily be changed to two tones of pink or two tones of blue for a girl or a boy.

Cardstock: Barely Banana, Gable Green, Whisper White

Ink: Whisper White, Barely Banana

Stamp sets: In the Stars

Punches: 1" inch circle, 1 1/4" circle, scallop circle

Ribbon: white grosgrain

Place card Box

2008-12-06T18:15:00.000-08:00

When we have big family dinners, my mum always likes to have place cards. In a previous life, I think I wrote some for her when I was going through my calligraphy phase. They were pretty good, but we've added five children and some husbands and wives since then, so we needed an update!

I stuffed around with different papers and colours for a while, before I realised I should always just go back to Purely Pomegranate! I also used the Holiday Harmony DSP. I cut out a sheet into A4 size, and then ran it through the printer to print out the names. I was a bit concerned that it might get jammed because it is so much thicker than normal paper, but my printer has an option for "thick normal paper" so I just chose that and it ran through beautifully.

The gold stars are actually brads. I put one of them through the ribbon to test it out, but it made a thread run. So I made all sorts of promises to my husband and he agreed to cut off the backs and flatten them out. I then just glued them on.

As you can see, the box is a bit too long for the cards. That's because of nothing other than sheer stupidity! I drew up a diagram for the box base, measured it all out compared to the cards - all great, should be a beautiful fit. Then when I cut and scored the cardstock, for some reason my brain just decided to measure an entirely different number! So the digram was right in front of me, but I still managed to stuff it up!

Doesn't matter! I think my mum will still like them. She has also asked for a non-Christmas set, so I will take that opportunity to make the box properly!

Challenges

2008-12-01T20:20:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of different card challenges out there on the net, and I have never participated in one before. This card was an attempt to do this sketch challenge and this colour challenge all in one!

I quite like the layout, but I think it's probably too many colours on one card for me. Or maybe I just have cameo coral and old olive issues. Never mind the fact that the entire rest of the world just loves old olive. Oh well. I'm just uncool!

Cardstock: So Saffron, Close to cocoa, Bravo Burgundy, Cameo Coral, Old Olive, Whisper White

Paper: Berry Bliss

Ribbon: Very Vanilla

Ink: Old Olive, Bravo Burgundy

Stamps: Seeing Spots

New Mini!!!

2008-11-29T19:12:00.000-08:00

In another life, I would be blogging about the shortbread Christmas trees I just made, which turned out exactly how I wanted them to, but this is a whole new life! And we have a whole new mini!

Some "friends" of mine seem to think that I have no ability at all to create a card from scratch, that all I can do is copy other works of art out there in the stamping world. There is actually a little bit of truth to that, so armed with my new mini, and my new favourite stamp set, I worked hard to come up with my own creation.

I started off with Eastern Blooms and I picked out one of the beatiful ribbons I found at the craft show at Canterbury last month. I decided I didn't care what else happened with the card, but I had to use those two things. The colours that matched the ribbon best were Rose Red, Blush Blossom and Perfect Plum. I think I really like this combo! It's quite pink, which I really like because my cards so far haven't used much pink. I'm also excited because I am about to order the Rose Red ribbon in the mini, so now I will have one less combo to think about.

So what do you think dear friends? Does this meet with your expectations?!?!

Cardstock: Blush Blossom, Perfect Plum, Rose Red, Whisper White

Stamp Set: Eastern Blooms, Hero Arts sentiment

Ink: Blush Blossom, Perfect Plum, Rose Red

Ribbon: from Craft Queen

My first attempt at embossing

2008-11-18T18:16:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I worry, because every time I sit down to write one of these posts, I want to rave about how much I love that particular colour, or stamp set, or punch or whatever. I'm thinking I have just a wee little addiction problem happening here! (blistex anyone?!) I love Season of Joy! Love it, love it, love it! And I also love Snowflake Spot! Love it, love it, love it! Hmmmmm, yes, I have a problem.

I also have a problem with embossing. The problem here though, is that I haven't quite got the hang of it yet. Maybe I have tried to do it with stamps that are too detailed, but I am not getting it clear enough. The sentiment on that card says Very Merry, but it's really not that easy to read. Once again, it's probably just a case of practice makes perfect, so see you later! I'm off to practice!

Cardstock: Glorious Green, Whisper White
Stamp sets: Season of Joy, Short and Sweet, Snowflake Spot
Ink: Glorious Green, Versamark
Other: Gold embossing powder, gold star brad

Winterbright Kit

2008-11-18T18:09:00.000-08:00

With Christmas fast approaching, now is the time to get cracking and finish off your Christmas cards. The Winterbright kit makes it all easy with die cuts and borders and sentiments all ready for you to just whack on a card! I also used the Festive Favourites stamp set and dressed it up with the Real Red and Summer Sun markers.

And look! Not a drop of Purely Pomegranate in sight!

Cardstock: Real red, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White

Ink: Wild wasabi

Paper: Winterbright kit

Stamps: Festive Favourites

Other: Markers, gold star brad