Post your “d’oh!” moments

Well I’m off to the Paper Crafts Festival tomorrow for 3 days so I won’t be around here to post any new stamped samples. But to keep you amused I thought it might be fun if we all post our “d’oh!” (or duuuhhhhh) moments.

Here’s mine: I’ve learnt from experience when using Opals, UTEE, Xtee, etc., not to touch the moulten piece I’m working on to see if it’s cooled down enough to be safe to pick up. D’oh! Oh, and to make it worse? it’s taken me like 3 or 4 times to figure out not to keep doing this. Slow learner obviously. LOL.

Not enough? Here’s another one: Before adding rub-ons to your scrapbooking layout, check to make sure it’s not in the clear protective sleeve first. D’oh! Oh come on! I can’t be the only one that’s done this???

Now it’s your turn. Post your ‘d’oh!’ or duuuhhhh moments so that when I get home I can have some fun stuff to read.

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No unusual technique but…

Warm sassy flower.jpg

Just a little something I whipped up this afternoon. I’ve decided that I need to do a lot more stamping as I have so many people I want to send cards to and that’s just not going to happen unless I pick up my game a bit. It’s so easy to spend time doing this and that, organising and reorganising my desk but not actually making anything. Although in my defence I did exhibit my cards at a Big Morning Tea the other day (fundraiser for the Cancer Council) and I have been getting organised for the Paper Crafts Festival that’s on next week. So here I am telling the world (gulp!) that I am going to be producing a lot more work. Some I’ll do using some different techniques and some, like this one, I’ll just go with the flow and make what comes to me.

To make this card I used the following:

All products by Stampin’ Up! (images copyright to Stampin’ Up!) and available for purchase through me at angelasargeant@gmail.com

Sassy Stems stamp set (I’ve used on of the 3 stamps in this set)
Weathered Background (God knows how many times I’ve used this one, it’s just so usable on everything!)
Chocolate Chip cardstock, matching inkpad and matching grosgrain ribbon
Almost Artichoke cardstock and matching marker
Recollections scrapbooking paper (this comes in 6 designs, 2 sheets of each in a pack)
Watercolour Paper (perfect for watercolouring!)
Rustic Retreat Ribbon Originals (5 different ribbons and all of them match the Stampin’ Up! colours!)
Ruby Red Inkpad and matching marker
Summer Sun marker (used on the stamen)
Aqua Painter (waterbrush)
SNAIL Adhesive and Sticky Strip (SS for the ribbon)
Antique Brass Hodgepodge (metal hardware & brad)

Hope you like the card. I like it because it feels warm and comforting on a cold night like tonight.

Thumping

Here’s a really easy and cool technique you’ve just got to try! It’s called “thumping” and it’s great for stamps that you’d like to give a mottled effect to. For example, this tree stamp from the Stampin’ Up! stamp set called Lovely as a Tree, I wanted to give it an autumnal feel (yes, yes, I have my seasons all mixed-up again LOL) so I used the thumping technique.

Inspire.jpg

Here’s how to do it:

First I used the Chocolate Chip marker to colour-in the trunk of the tree (put the stamp wood side down on your desk and colour directly onto the rubber with the marker), then to do the thumping on the branches what you do is to hold your marker between your thumb and forefinger up high near the end (not the tip) – in the same way that you hold a pen or pencil and use it drum on the edge of the desk when you’re thinking – only you do that onto the rubber. First I used Old Olive and thumped that onto the branches, then Creamy Caramel and then Ruby Red. The end effect as I said before is a mottled look or in this case an autumnal tree. To finish off I lightly coloured the trunk with some chalk then sponged the edges of the card with Pumpkin Pie inkpad and swiped the edges with the Creamy Caramel inkpad. This was then adhered onto some Old Olive Cardstock then mounted onto the base card with Stampin’ Dimensionals. The background is simply the Well Worn Words background stamp stamped in Pumpkin Pie onto Very Vanilla cardstock and then the edges of the card are sponged lightly with the Creamy Caramel inkpad. The word “Inspire” at the bottom is from the Natural Beauty stamp set and has been stamped using a Chocolate Chip marker onto some Stampin’ Up! chipboard. The edges of the chipboard have been sponged in Creamy Caramel but the rest of the chipboard has been left raw. This was then adhered to the card using Sticky Strip.

Here’s a quick reference list of what I’ve used:

All products by Stampin’ Up! and available for purchase through me at angelasargeant@gmail.com

Well Worn Words background stamp
Lovely as a Tree stamp set (one tree used)
Natural Beauty stamp set (just one word of one stamp used)
Very Vanilla cardstock
Old Olive cardstock
Pumpkin Pie inkpad
Creamy Caramel inkpad
Chocolate Chip marker
Old Olive marker
Ruby Red marker
Stampin’ Pastels (Chocolate Chip)
On Board chipboard
SNAIL Adhesive
Sticky Strip
Sponge

Did you need more information on this project? E-mail me on angelasargeant@gmail.com and I’d be happy to help out and answer any questions you may have.

Smile!

I know it’s winter but the weather here in Sydney has just been fabulous – getting a little cool but still lovely and sunny so I thought I’d use my latest favourite stamp set to grab hold of whatever bit of fresh summery feeling is left to create a card that’s might cheer someone up.

DSCN1552.jpg

When I received my new 2007-2008 Stampin’ Up! Idea Book and Catalogue at the end of March, there was one stamp set that I was desperate to get over anything else. Now anyone who really knows me will know that I love vintage but this set was just so cool and trendy and I could see that it would be very versatile for boy, girl, woman, masculine cards, scrapbooking layouts, whatever. Actually now that I think of it, I might set myself the challenge to use the same card to make something totally different with it. Okay, so here’s the first thing that I made (at home because I did use it at the Stampin’ Up! Convention last week): Actually what pleased me most about making this card was using my punches. When I first started card making many many years ago, I could never understand geometric punches, I always went out and bought punches that were in the shape of actual items (mainly lots of different flowers), but now I have found the versatility of geometric shapes and I love them! In this card I’ve used two punches, a large oval punch which I used to punch out the flower petals and I also used the 1 1/4″ circle punch to punch out the ’smile’ stamp and then adhered it to the centre of the metal rimmed tag. Sure I could have stamped straight into the tag but I can never do that so that it’s even so I find it much easier to stamp, punch then adhere. So to make the flower petals I simply stamped the spotted tag image from the Be Happy stamp set seven times using the Rose Red inkpad onto the Rose Red cardstock and then punched out the ovals in the middle of the tag images. This is one of the reasons I find this set so versatile, just because the image is of a tag, it doesn’t mean that’s the only way it can ever be used.
Here’s the complete list of products that I used to make this card:

All products by Stampin’ Up! and available for purchase through me at angelasargeant@gmail.com

Card adapted from a Stampin’ Up! magazine available only to Stampin’ Up! demonstrators. Card made by Angela Sargeant.

Be Happy stamp set
On The Spot background stamp
Tempting Turquoise cardstock and matching inkpad
Certainly Celery cardstock and matching inkpad
Rose Red cardstock and matching inkpad
Sweet Shop Ribbon Originals (5 different ribbons in this pack)
1 1/4″ circle punch
Large oval punch
Metal Rimmed Tag (small)
Sticky Strip (to adhere ribbon)
SNAIL Adhesive to adhere everything else

Mother’s Day

I know I’ve made these gift pouches before but I couldn’t help myself; they so easy and so quick to make that when I was asked to donate 3 gifts for the Mother’s Day stall at my children’s school I whipped up some of these and then filled them with chocolates. That way at least 3 mum’s will get something they like from the school Mother’s Day stall. LOL.

Mothers Day copy.png

If you’d like exact instructions on how to make these then just e-mail me on angelasargent@gmail.com and I’ll e-mail you back the instructions. The cool thing about these pouches is that you start with a square piece of card so you can make them in any size you like. These one’s are actually 10.5″ x 10.5″ but I’ve also made them with 12″ x 12″. If you’d like to make some tiny ones you can go much smaller and then thread a ribbon through them and use then as Christmas Tree decorations with trinkets or chocolates. Wow! How about making 24 of them on the Christmas tree as an unusual advent calendar! Got any more ideas? Post them in the comments section of this post so that we can all see your great ideas.

The products that I’ve used here are all by Stampin’ Up! and available for purchase through me. This is what I’ve used:

Seeing Spots stamp set
Warm Words stamp set (cherish)
Cellophane bags (large)
Bashful Blue cardstock & matching inkpad
Regal Rose cardstock & matching inkpad
Orchid Opulence cardstock & matching inkpad
Apricot Appeal cardstock & matching inkpad
Whisper White cardstock
1 1/4″ Circle Punch
1 3/8″ Circle Punch
matching coloured brads

Wanna Meet Me?

Well I want to meet you :D .  I’ve always wondered about people who read this blog and if we’d ever get to meet. Now here’s our chance to gawk at each other.  I’m going to be at the Paper Crafts Festival in Sydney on 1st, 2nd & 3rd of June, if your going then please drop in and say ‘hi’.  I’m going to have a booth there with a few of my Stampin’ Up! team members so please come by and introduce yourselves.  On all three days we’re going to be doing demonstrations of some fun techniques that you may have not tried before.  We’re also going to have a make & take table so please feel free to join us in making a really cool stamped item (not telling what it is as yet ;) ).  We’ll have catalogues to sell and some other little surprises.  Of course we’ll also have a display of fabulous stamped cards, scrapbooking layouts and gift items.
Here’s the details:

Paper Crafts Festival
1st, 2nd & 3rd June 2007
Sydney Showgrounds
Sydney Olympic Park
10:00am – 5:00pm Friday & Saturday
10:00am – 4:00pm Sunday

Convention and Stampin’ Up! May Promotion

Hi everyone! Well I’m back – I’ve been away for a few days at the first annual Australian Stampin’ Up! Convention. What a blast it was! I met so many fabulous friends, some I had met before, some I had never seen face-to-face but have ’spoken’ with daily over the internet for a year or more. The actual Convention part was fantastic too, so inspiring and motivating and all the demonstrations and classes were absolutely fantastic. Can you tell I’m excited??? :D

I’d like to extend a big thank you to all my team members for a fantastic first year with Stampin’ Up! But I’d also like to say a huge congratulations to six of my team members who won major awards at the Convention this weekend. Vanessa, Kerri, Jenni, Alisa, Jayne and Roz, congratulations for your well deserved awards (Jayne & Alisa won multiple awards). Ummmmm okay… me too!!!! I won two awards at Convention this year so I’m absolutely chuffed. :D I can’t believe how much fun this is… and the best part is watching my team grow from strength to strength and achieve their individual goals.

Want to join in the fun with me and my hugely successful team? Well you’re in luck! This month (until May 31st), Stampin’ Up! has a super-dooper promotion on where you can join Stampin’ Up! as an Independent Demonstrator and receive the Starter Kit for only $299! That’s a saving of $25 on an already hugely discounted kit. Not only that, if you want, you can swap the stamps, inkpads or cardstock in your kit for other ones that you prefer (to the same value or less).

Yes can can still be a demonstrator without doing workshops
Yes you can work at your own pace
Yes you can just shop for yourself and/or friends at a discount
Yes you can build your business to be as large as you want.

Like to know more? E-mail me on angelasargeant@gmail.com right now and I’ll mail you a free information pack.