Chipboard Flower

I recently made this little card for a Stampin' Up! demo friend...


The base cardstock is Soft Sky, I sponged the edges and also pierced them. The next layer is Whisper White textured cardstock, then another layer of Soft Sky, then the main layer which is Whisper White. I've sponged on the clouds using the scallop punch and Soft Sky ink...see my previous post for a link to details on sponging like this.

The flower is two pieces of DSP covered chipboard from the Onboard Blossoms and Basics set, the leaves are also DSP covered chipboard (from the same set) and the stem is 1/4" certainly celery grosgrain.

That's about it!
Thanks for looking,
Sam.

Color Inspiration #16

It's that time of the week again....Kristina's Colour Inspiration, and here are this week's beautiful colours:



...and here is my card:



I've used the Nursery Necessities Stamp Set for the boats and the 'rock-a-bye Baby' sentiment, and the Linen Background stamp on the Soft Sky background cardstock (but that might be a bit hard to see here). The scalloping was done with the Stampin Up! Corner Rounder, and then pierced. I've also used some Soft Sky Double-Stitched Ribbon and Silver Eyelets to finish it all off.

Okay...gotta get back to Spooks. It's a bit exciting tonight :-).

Have a great weekend,
Sam.

Colour Inspiration #15

I know I've missed the cutoff for this week's Color Inspiration on Kristina's Blog, but I'd already started it and wanted to finish it...as you do ;-).

Here are Kristina's colours:



I thought that they would be really easy to work with, but I struggled.

Here is my card:



I've used the True Friend stamp set and Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon, both of which will be available from 1st August, when the Stampin' Up! Spring Mini Catalogue goes on sale in Australia. The Close To Cocoa velvet ribbon is from the Theatre Ribbon Originals set. I've done some Paper Piercing around the edge of the Close To Cocoa layer, and I have also sponged Classic Ink on the Close To Cocoa and Really Rust layers. I've used lots of Crystal Effects on the central flower image. LOVE that stuff!!



I hope that you are having a great weekend :-).
Sam.

In the Spotlight

Hi everyone,

First of all, sorry I have been MIA for the last two weeks. Sick kids here, and I haven't been feeling all that hot myself.

I just thought I'd share with you a card we made at a recent workshop. I got the inspiration and basic design of this card from a lovely card by Karen Thomas.



The colours of my card are: Blue Bayou, Really Rust, Soft Sky and Whisper White. The stamps are from the 'In the Spotlight' stamp set, a Stampin' up! Level 2 hostess set.

I've also used Fall Flowers DSP, textured cardstock, the scallop punch, lots of different circle punches, Blue Bayou double stitched ribbon, paper piercer, gel pen and Earth Elements buttons (oh, and the mandatory SNAIL, dimensionals and glue dots ;-).

I made some coordinating hostess gifts/lucky door prizes too:



Thanks for visiting.

Sam.

Kristina's Color Inspiration # 10

Kristina Werner has posted another fabulous Colour Inspiration on her website. The colours for this inspiration are:



What a groovy set of colours!

So, this afternoon, while the kids were playing nicely together (if you believe that you will believe ANYTHING ;-)...I sat down to play myself!



The background cardstock is Not Quite Navy. The next layer is Old Olive Prints Designer Series Papers, and it has a white eyelet mounted in each corner. Then there is a layer of So Saffron cardstock. I have inked the butterfly from Garden Whimsy in Bashful Blue Classic Ink, then Rock n' Rolled it in Not Quite Navy Classic Ink, and stamped on Whisper White cardstock. I have then clear embossed the whole image. A frame of Not Quite Navy cardstock is mounted above the butterfly on Dimensionals, and has been faux stitched using a paper piercer and white gel pen. The ribbon underneath the butterfly is White Taffeta.

Have a great weekend everyone!
Sam.

My First Ever Technique Class....

.....and the first technique off the rank was Crayon Resist!

This is the card we made:



I had never tried this technique before...so I asked how it worked on our online Stampin' Up! Demonstrator forum (its a Yahoo Group for demos, and a FANTABULOUS source of information and inspiration). Lots of demos replied with various tips for me, and I'd like to say 'thank you' to all of them. I also want to say a special thank you to Stephanie Pike who answered a tonne of my questions and sent me photos of her crayon resist cards too! You were very helpful Steph, I really appreciate your time.

In the end I trialled lots of different crayons and slightly different ways of doing it, all of which gave different results. I am very happy with how my final version turned out...and if you want to know how I did it, and which crayon I think is the BESTEST EVER CRAYON IN THE WORLD with which to do it...you'll have to come along to my next class ;-).

ETA: I just wanted to add a close-up of the crayon resist design.



The most frustrating thing I found about the whole crayon resist process was that I kept getting an ink speckled appearance in my crayoned areas (not the stark white that I was hoping for). After tinkering and tinkering and tinkering again, I think I worked out why that happened and finally got a result that I was very pleased with.

I charged $10 for this class and for this my attendees got to make this card and another card which used the Emboss Resist technique (I'll post that up at another time). The cards came with envelopes and inserts, and there was also a light supper provided...which involved home cooked CHOCOLATE CAKE! Is it sounding like an attractive proposition? The $10 was redeemable on any Stampin' Up! order over $100, placed on the night.

If you are interested in attending a Technique Class in my home (or yours) send me a message (navarino@yahoo.com) and we can organise a time!

And now it is bed time...well and truly!!
Sam.

Happy Birthday Flower

I was just tinkering around at my desk last night, I had some things to get done but I was procrastinating and made this card instead.



The ingredients are: Soft Sky, Certainly Celery and Rose Red cardstock, Fall Flowers DSP, a Metal Edge Tag, the Think Happy Thoughts stamp set, Scallop Punch, Trio Flower punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Certainly Celery 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Soft Sky Double-Stitched Ribbon, Soft Subtles Brads, Paper Piercer, White Gel Pen and Dimensionals.

Have a good day!
Sam.

My Convention 2008 Swap card...

...ok, as promised, here is the recipe for my swap card. As it turns out, I had help from some Stampin' Friends up in Brissy and we got the remaining 18 cards made on Friday night...THANK YOU DIANE AND JANINE. You guys are the BEST!

I did have to fire them both a few times, for various appalling card-making infractions (e.g. a dimensional with its cover still on...and one, where the recipe was upside down!!!...well that was almost the last straw ;-), but in the end they put up with me (everyone should have friends like them) and we got the cards put together in about an hour!



The cardstock colours are Elegant Eggplant, Real Red and Whisper White. The background cardstock has Faux Stitching around the edge. The Real Red layer is mounted up on Dimensionals and has been crimped.

I stamped the flower petals from Pick A Petal on Whisper White cardstock using Ballet Blue, Summer Sun, Real Red and Elegant Eggplant Classic Ink. Each petal has been stamped off once, and I used the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to align them. I then did the Two-Step Stamping, using the loopy overlay stamp in Elegant Eggplant and the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig. Each flower therefore involved 15 stamps! I then cut it out using the paper snips and mounted it up on Dimensionals, on another piece of Whisper White cardstock.

I traced the flower using the paper piercer (these holes are just eyeballed in). The 'Thank You' sentiment is from Cheery Chat and is in Elegant Eggplant Classic Ink. I ran the Two-Way Glue pen over each petal and then sprinkled on Dazzling Diamonds. Last, but not least I affixed a Green Galore (or Real Red) Button from the Bold Brights Buttons selection, to the flower centre using a Mini Glue Dot.

More Buckle Creations

Just a couple more Buckle Cards to show you!




We made this card at a recent workshop. The Stampin' Up! ingredients/tools used are:

Perfect Plum, Pale Plum and Confetti White Cardstock
Enchante Designer Series Double-Sided Paper (DSP)
Carte Postale Stamp Set
Much Appreciated Stamp Set
Perfect Plum and Pale Plum Classic Ink
Small Corner-Rounder and Word Window Punches
Fiskars Crimper
Paper Piercer and Template from Crafter's Toolkit
White Gel Pen
Stamp-A-Ma-Jig
SNAIL Adhesive
Sticky Strip

...and I think that is about it!

While I'm at it, here is another version:



I have used mostly the same ingredients, except instead of the Enchante DSP I have used the Bud Basics Stamp set from the Summer Mini, in Perfect Plum, Pale Plum and Certainly Celery Classic Ink. The original design was from one of Diane Barnes' cards, over at colour me happy (thanks again Diane).

Have a great weekend everyone!

An Almost French Birthday Crocodile?!!

...except the stripes are running in the wrong direction!

This is just a little card I made yesterday, before we went for a drive down the coast. We visited Moruya Beach and then had delicious fish and chips for dinner from Bay Marlin at Batemans Bay. We didn't get home until 10pm, and I didn't really enjoy driving up the Clyde Pass in the dark (too many people leaving their high beams on till your retinas are completely burned out) but it was a fabulous way to spend an afternoon!



BUT, I digress! The cardstock colours are Brilliant Blue, Whisper White, Real Red and Yoyo Yellow. I've stamped the background cardstock using the Canvas Background stamp. The edge of the Real Red cardstock has been faux stitched using the Paper Piercer and Template, and a White Gel Pen.

The left edge of the Yoyo Yellow cardstock has been spiral punched. The corners of the Whisper White and small Brilliant Blue cardstock layers have been rounded using the Corner Rounder (doh!). The crocodile is from Wild About You and has been stamped in Real Red Classic Ink.

The balloon is from Birthday Whimsy and I have cut it out and turned it over. The number '4' is stamped in Brilliant Blue Classic Ink and is from the Best Friends Numbers stamp set. I've mounted the balloon up on Dimensionals (wouldn't be one of my cards without them eh?), and used a piece of Silver Cord as the balloon string.

The 'Happy Birthday To You' is stamped in Whisper White Craft Ink and is from the Simple Sayings II stamp set.

Brilliant Blue Buckle

This card was inspired by some beautiful buckle cards that Diane Barnes has recently been creating. You can check them out on her blog HERE and HERE. Instructions for making your own Buckle card can be found on Splitcoaststampers.

I have made mine using Brilliant Blue, Real Red and Whisper White Stampin' Up! Cardstock. The inks that I have used are: Brilliant Blue, Real Red and Yoyo Yellow Classic Ink and Whisper White Craft Ink. The stamp sets are: Bud Basics and Small Sayings, both of which are from the Summer Mini Catalogue (which ceases circulation on 31st March 2008).

I have also used the small corner rounder punch...to round the corners ;-), and the paper piercing tool and template (from the Crafter's Tool Kit), along with a White Gel Pen, to create the faux stitching effect. I used the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to place the Happy Joyous Birthday sentiment on the buckle, and SNAIL adhesive to stick the whole thing together.

I was very pleased with the finished product...although I still think it needs something on the white panel (on the right-hand side), but I can't think what! I could use the Spring Bouquet punch and punch some flowers out of the Whisper White layer so you can see Real Red through it. Hmmmmmmm. Any ideas other ideas would be much appreciated.

Thanks for the inspiration Diane!
Sam.

Wild About You and Wild About Eggplant...

At a recent workshop the hostess chose Children's Birthday as the theme for the Make n' Take card. The cards shown above were two of the possibilities with the kits I made up.

The colours are: Elegant Eggplant (my current favourite colour), Real Red, Summer Sun and Whisper White. I've used this same colour combo before, and just love how vibrant it looks.

One of the cards uses the Linen Background stamp and the other uses the Crosshatch Background stamp...which is retiring :-(. I've used Dimensionals all over...as usual! There is Gel Pen faux stitching on one, and plain old dots on the other. I've done some sponging on some edges, but its a hard to see in these shots.

The lion is from Wild About You...of course. I've coloured one using markers in Summer Sun and Real Red, and the other has been stamped separately in those same colours and cut out and layered. The large Happy Birthday sentiment is from Cheery Chat, and the small one is from the SAB set Birthday Whimsy. The number 7 is from Headline Numbers...which is retiring and has sold out already! The ribbon is beautiful Red Gingham.

Hostess and Door Prizes

Here are some more little goodies I have used for Hostess gifts and Lucky Door prizes. I always have so much fun making these little things...but I will have to come up with some different ideas soon. Back to Splitcoaststampers methinks!





The different packages contain cardstock samples (colours are Ruby Red, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum and Whisper White), Dimensional sheets, and a small sample of brads and buttons.

I was so chuffed to hear from some of my customers (waves), that they keep the bag toppers for their own cards etc. How cool is that?

Talk to you soon,
Sam.

Chipboard Valentine's Make n' Take

I have just arrived home after demonstrating at a fun workshop, where we made the card above...and another one, but that'll have to wait for tomorrow for uploading ;-).

The background card colour is Taken with Teal. We have hand drawn the small hearts around the card using a White Gel Pen. The next layer is Whisper White, and then there is a piece of Loves Me Designer Series Double-Sided Paper (DSP). We have stamped the 'I Love You the Most' sentiment, from the Love Matters stamp set, in Chocolate Chip Classic Ink, and used the Stamp-a-ma-Jig to align it.

The next layer is a small piece of Whisper White and it has been run through the crimper, and then we used the paper piercer, template and foam mat from the Crafter's Tool kit to poke the triangle of holes on the diagonal corners. We mounted the crimped piece of cardstock using the Stampin' Up! red-backed Sticky Strip...I find it does a better job when you have a reduced surface area for sticking, as you do on a crimped piece of card.

The centre-piece s a piece of chipboard, like those in the Stampin' Up! Accents and Elements range. We adhered a piece of the Loves Me DSP to the top of the tag using Crystal Effects, then when it was dry we trimmed it back using a craft knife, then sanded back the edges using a Sanding Block. We mounted the tag up on Dimensionals.

The two ribbons are Chocolate and Pink Grosgrain. The two circles of cardstock are punched using the large circle punch on Chocolate Chip cardstock and the small circle punch on whisper White cardstock. Then we stamped a heart from the...hmmmmm will have to get back to you on that..stamp set, in Pretty in Pink Classic Ink on Whisper White cardstock, and trimmed it with the paper snips. The heart was then mounted up on Dimensionals and, as you can see in the image below, covered with Crystal Effects.



I think everyone enjoyed making this card. I know I did :-).
Sam.

Sparkly Heart Valentine

I made this Valentine's Day card last night. I actually made the sparkly heart a while ago, and didn't really know what to do with it, but with Valentine's Day coming up it seemed an ideal time to get it off my desk ;-). You can see a tutorial on how to make these sparklies on Fleurie's blog Forever Young. The heart is from the On Board Accents chipboard set. I coloured my heart with Rose Red Classic Ink, using a Sponge Dauber, before I applied the Heat and Stick Powder and Dazzling Diamonds.

The colours used on the card are: Elegant Eggplant, Rose Red and Whisper White. The light pink paper is from the Loves Me Double-Sided Designer Series Paper collection. The pink ribbon is from the Flirty Ribbon Originals collection. Both the Loves Me papers and the Flirty ribbons are from the Summer Mini Catalogue.

I have done some faux stitching around the edge of the small Rose Red layer. The bottom Rose Red layer, the small Elegant Eggplant layer, and the Heart are all mounted up on Dimensionals. The 'LOVE' sentiment is from the All About You stamp set, and has been stamped on Whisper White cardstock in Elegant Eggplant. I have punched it out using the Stampin' Up! small oval punch. The piece underneath is Elegant Eggplant, and has been punched out using the large oval punch.

And that's all there is to it,
Sam.

Faux Postage Stamps

Last night I had a play with this faux postage stamp template which I downloaded from Splitcoaststampers. Fellow Demonstrators Nikki and Lisa helped me modify the template to show Australian postage rates rather than US rates.

The background cardstock is Rose Red. The next layer is Kraft, and I have sponged the edge with Sahara Sand ink...easier to see IRL. The edges have been distressed, there is also Faux Stitching around the edges, and black brads in the corners. The 'POSTED' stamp is from the Office Accoutrements stamp set. There is a small, distressed square of Vintage Violet, which has been stamped with 'Love' from the Wonderful Words set, in white craft ink.

The stamp sheet has been sponged with Pretty in Pink ink (using the masking technique). Then stamped with a heart from the Happy Hearts stamp set, in Rose Red ink. The heart in the bottom left hand corner has been stamped again on a separate piece of cardstock, embossed with clear EP, cut out and mounted above the original stamp on a dimensional. The 'For You With Love' stamp is from the Level One hostess set, Riveting. The whole Faux Stamp sheet has been 'weathered' - by curling edges, and ripping some joints a little way - and is mounted on dimensionals. A piece of Hemp Twine has been knotted and tied around the Kraft layer.

It is different to my usual, flowery style...but I was pleased with the end result.

Thanks for looking :-).
Sam.

Stampin' Up! Convention Swaps

I have been meaning to take photos of my TWO convention swaps and upload them here. It was a mammoth effort on my part (taking the photos and actually making swaps). I had a grand total of 35 swaps. Next year I have PROMISED myself I will start earlier, and make more. Ahhhhhhh dreams ;-).



This one is my favourite, but it took ages to make, so I only had 8 of these. The colours are Cranberry Crisp, Marigold Morning, True Thyme and Whisper White.



This one is just a bit of fun. I enjoyed making it, and used a tonne of linen thread...which I love. I also love ribbon and cord. My favourite accessories! The colours are Buckaroo Blue, Marigold Morning, True Thyme and Cranberry Crisp. Gold embossing for the cricket and words. The sun is a stamp from Little Pieces, and is on a dimensional. The scalloped edge is made using the slit punch.