Monday 29 August 2011

Something for the boys

Hello Everyone

Today I am sharing a project I taught in classes a while away. The idea came from two Stampin' Up! training events. At one we learned how to make a wallet from the Top Note die, at the other we learned the Mock Croc technique - so I put them together to make this cool project for the man in your life.

If you have never done 'Mock Croc' - get your local SU! demo to show you how. It is great for little purses and handbags and shoes on cards.

We made this with Early Espresso cardstock.



When you open up you can create a little pocket for money or a gift card - couldn't find a gift card for the photo - so you have my gym membership card instead! LOL


I hope you like it! :)

Friday 26 August 2011

Wonderful Weddings

Hello Everyone

Earlier this year I shared a picture of lots of wedding projects which I made to give some ideas for one of my lovely customers - hi Laura!

Today I am going to show each project - a bit picture heavy, but I hope you like what I did. I chose my own wedding colours Very Vanilla & Cherry Cobbler. (I wish had SU! to help me when I made my own wedding stationery!)

I will start by inviting you to my wedding! LOL This is a pull out invitation. I did several styles but this was my favourite. It is so luxurious the way it pulls out.


This is how it looks when opened... the inside flips up to show the wedding details.


My next project is a CASE from Sara - she made one at Valentines day and I love it. It is just the right size for a Lindt chocolate heart. Mmmmm.


Now for a table name place. So easy - I chose textured Cherry Cobbler card stock, XL Oval punch, Modern Label punch and two pearls! I should mention the stamp set I am using here is Always Elegant - a really delicate stamp set.


Next I did stamped candles - so pretty for a wedding. I added bride and groom initials to the candle sides.


I thought I would use my 'cheese box' template to create a little favour box. I finished it with my tag punches and a little ribbon. So simple and pretty.



Another Large Heart punch project - you need six of these and a little loop of narrow taffeta ribbon to form a 3D hanging heart.



And finally...it has to be the Thank You card - perfect to thank your guests for joining you on their special day.



I hope you have enjoyed these wedding projects. Back soon with something completely different!

Tuesday 23 August 2011

Scrapbooking - a little late

Hello Everyone

So those of you who are scrapbookers - hands up who is behind with your projects? I know I am - it takes me for ever to get to my scrapping - even though I love doing it.

I am so behind times that today I am sharing my niece Pheobe's first birthday layout after her second birthday!


I love the pictures of Phoebe with her balloons - she had so much fun with them - even trying to eat them!

I copied the balloon colours and used the Party This Way stamp set, which is perfect with those bright colours.

So happy SECOND birthday to Phoebe and I promise to get your birthday page made a bit quicker this year!

Saturday 20 August 2011

Two Ways with the Scallop Envelope Die

Hello Everyone

Have you used the Scallop Envelope Die yet? It makes really cute envelopes which are ideal for tags or for using as embellishments on your cards. But that is just the start. Here are a couple of little boxes I have made using this die.

Firstly, we made these cute Gift Card Holders at a class.


We finished them with Springtime Vintage designer series paper and the scrummy Seam Binding ribbon. The tags were done with Tiny Tags stamps.

My second use of this die is the little basket which I fell in love with when I saw it done at regional training. You need four envelopes to make it...


Isn't it cute? I did the handle with cardstock cut with the Scallop Trim Border and trimmed with the yummy Rich Razzleberry satin ribbon.

Tuesday 16 August 2011

Scallop Circle Card

Hello Everyone

This is a card I have been doing at some of my recent events and also shared with my fellow demos in Amanda's team at July team training.


It uses the Big Shot as you can probably see. I cut the card base using the Scallop Circle die, the the flower was done with the Manhattan Rose embossing folder.  I cut the flower out, which is easy as you can follow the embossed edge, and then gently coloured it with Rich Razzleberry ink using a dauber.

The leaves are from French Foliage, which I still love SO much. I attached the flower using dimensionals so it popped up above the leaves.

The sentiment is stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock and punched out using the Modern Label punch. The layer beneath is created using another die - one of those from the Lots of Tags pack which are great for layering with your punches.

Hope you like it!

Saturday 13 August 2011

July Team Swaps

Hello Everyone

We had a great day at training last month with my lovely upline Amanda. I always love to do the swaps and share ideas with my fellow demonstrators.

These are the ones I made for team training.


These little handbags were made with the Scallop Envelope Die, trimmed and corner rounded to get the shape right. I used the Large Oval and Small Oval punches to create the handles and the 1/2" circle punch to make the faux brad closures. I stamped on the bags with Artistic Etchings.


The sentiment comes from Notably Ornate and the beautiful background is made with the Manhattan Flower embossing folder.

I loved how they looked in all the different colours. :) Hope you like them too.

Wednesday 10 August 2011

Laquered Lanterns

Hello Everyone

I mentioned the other day that I usually do my favourite stamp set Kimono Kids in reds and blacks and thought today I would share one of those cards with you.


For this card I started by stamping the base card with little flowers from the Confetti background stamp set. They really echo the flowers on the Kimono Kids outfits don't they?

Next I stamped my little Japanese girls in stazon and then coloured them using markers. I used the In Colors of Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz and Poppy Parade. The laterns were done in the same way. They are fairly easy to cut out - and fairly easy to cut off the tassles by mistake too! I speak from experience! LOL

I used Crystal Effects to give a laquered effect to the lanterns and fans.

Hope you like!

Sunday 7 August 2011

Subtle and Bright

Hello Everyone

A quick post today with some of my summer thank you cards. I make a little thank you card to give to my lovely customers with each of their orders.

These first ones were totally inspired and CASED from my lovely online friend Anne Marie over in Texas who used her Subtle colour pallet with my favourite stamp set Kimono Kids. Until then I had used bright reds and blacks for these stamps.


Those little Kimono Kids look so sweet in Pirouette Pink and Bashful Blue. I coloured them using blender pens and inks to get a soft look.

Now for something brighter for my next crop of thank you cards...


For these I started with square cards in Tempting Turquoise, Regal Rose, Pumpkin Pie & Concord Crush. Now officially the Concord Crush is an In Color - not from the Brights collection - but I thought the four colours worked well together.

I started by embossing the base cards with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. I used the 1 1/4" square punch to quickly punch the scraps into squares to make the layer.

The images on the cards and envelopes are from the lovely Cute by the Inch hostess set.

I hope you like my subtle and bright cards.

Thursday 4 August 2011

Springtime Vintage in Summertime

Hello Everyone

Today I thougth I would share two little projects made with the beautiful Springtime Vintage designer series paper from Stampin' Up!

The first is a little bag I made at team training and then finished later with a few little embellishments.


I created a closure using the fabby Pear Pizzazz seam binding ribbon. I then stamped up a little 'hand crafted' tag using Tiny Tags stamps and finished with three faux brads in Wild Wasabi & Marina Mist.

My second project is a cute little box made using the scallop circle die to create the embellishment. You need two scallop circles, snipped from one scallop valley into the centre and then folded accordian style. You glue the two sides together and top with a punched scallop circle, layered up with a circle of designer paper and a pretty brad.



For the back of the bag I used the Little Leaves die and Flower Dasies #2 die.


I just love those Springtime Vintage papers - I want Spring to last all year!

Monday 1 August 2011

Summer Splash 3 Ways

Hello Everyone

Recently I got the chance to have a play with the Summer Splash stamp set - I don't own it yet - but love it! I am working on buying the whole catalogue, but it takes a while! LOL

I made three different types of card to share with you - I love them so much I have them on display in my craft room right now.


The first one is my Surfer Beach card. I just LOVE those surf boards. I stamped them in Certainly Celery and then added more colour with Wild Wasabi & Tempting Turquoise markers


I cut out the surfboard images and coated them with a layer of Crytal Effects to get a shiney finish. The sand was made with Crumb Cake cardstock, daubed with Crumb Cake ink and the spritzed with Soft Suede and Chocolate Chip ink.

I hand cut the coconut tree - the sun is done with So Saffron cardstock and daubed with different yellow and orange shades. You can feel the warmth can't you? :)

OK - card number 2 is my Summer Splash / Pirates combination. I wanted an 'above and beneath the waves' effect. I inked the ship with markers and stamped that image first.


I next did the sea bottom with daubers and dots from the Confetti stamp set. The cute sea creature images I stamped using the rock n roll technique. I used the little shell image at the top to cover the pirate skull image - which didn't really match my theme! DH Mike calls it my Octapusses Garden card.

The final card used a background technique - more of this soon as we are doing it in a class.


I had lots of fun using Summer Splash - I think the images would be great for scrapbooking too. I like them all - but I do have my favourite...I love that Surfer Beach!


Which one do you like best?