I know, it’s been a whole week again since I’ve blogged! In my defence I’ve had this horrid virus that’s been going around. First the kiddies got it then they kindly passed it on to me. I still feel like I’ve been run over by a Mack Truck but I thought I’d get on here and post a card that I made last week. I didn’t post this earlier as I made it for a friend and I wanted her to receive it in the mail before seeing it here on the blog.

All images copyright Stampin’ Up! 1990-2007
All products by Stampin’ Up! and available for purchase through me at angelasargeant@gmail.com

This card was made using the Office Accoutrement stamp set that is being released here in Australia this Wednesday 1st August. The colours I’ve used here are Chocolate Chip for the base card, Cool Caribbean, the images on the Cool Caribbean are stamped with Whisper White Craft inkpad and the flowers are stamped with Regal Rose ink. The ‘memo’ and “original tag” were stamped with Chocolate Chip. The tag is from So Saffron cardstock and the flower centers are So Saffron brads. The “Rubber Stamper, Tap, Tap, Tap” stamp is from the “Circle of Friendship” stamp set and stamped in Cool Caribbean. The ‘note paper’ was made simply by using the new Spiral Punch on some Confetti White cardstock. Look out soon I’ll be posting more items made with both the Round Tab Punch (which I used for the “original tab”) and the Spiral punch. Some pink gingham ribbon was used to finish the card off.

If you liked the products I’ve used here to make this card then just e-mail me on angelasargeant@gmail.com and I’ll mail you a free copy of the new Spring Stampin’ Up! Mini Catalogue which features these great new products. (sorry, I can only mail this catalogue within Australia).

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Okay I’ll admit it – I haven’t been updating my blog because I’ve been busy reading the last Harry Potter book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Yes I lined up early to buy it then sped home and spent the weekend on the sofa reading. Why the rush? Well I was worried someone would spoil it for me by revealing some important information. The pressure that is on us Harry Potter fans!

Needless to say that I got very very little housework done on the weekend either. I did manage though to make a card or two just before I started reading the book but I just didn’t get time to scan and upload onto my blog – so here’s one now: (note the card is not crooked in real-life, I’m just a bit ‘scanner challenged’).

Image copyright Stampin’ Up! 1990-2007

This card was originally designed by someone who goes by the name of “SharClarke”, unfortunately I don’t know her real name. Although there’s been some amazingly complex cards made with this stamp set, I chose this card to copy because I love it’s simplicity and cheerfulness.

Here’s a list of items used if you’re wanting to recreate this card:

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

Scribble This stamp set (also known as Doodle This in the US)
Everyday Flexible Phrases stamp set (the ‘friend’ word on the tab)
Green Galore cardstock
Green Galore inkpad
Green Galore button
Cool Caribbean cardstock
Cool Caribbean inkpad (also used for watercolouring the flower)
Watercolour paper
Basic Black cardstock
Round Tab Punch
Black & White gingham ribbon
Signo White Gel Pen (the best gel pen I’ve ever used!)
2-way glue pen
Dazzling Diamonds Glitter
Small hole punch to thread ribbon through
Aquapainter (waterbrush)
Sponge Daubers
Note: the flower was watercoloured by squeezing the inkpad (while shut) then using the Aquapainter to pick up the pool of colour from the inside of the inkpad lid.  The sponging around the edges of the watercolour paper was done with the Sponge Daubers and inkpad.

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Decluttering has always been an ongoing process for me but after watching the TV show “Neat” week after week I’ve been inspired to do a massive declutter of the whole house. It’s taken me a while but I finally realised that no amount of organising or sorting or buying of storage boxes helps unless you get rid of stuff you don’t need anymore. Gulp! This isn’t something for the feint-hearted. Admittedly I haven’t done it like they do on the TV show which is to empty out a whole room then sort through what gets thrown out and what’s kept all in the space of 2 days, but I have gone through dumping out one drawer at a time or one shelf at a time and then sorting out what stays and what’s going to the Salvation Army for donation. Last week I took 4 large boxes of kids toys and clothes to the Salvos and this week I have boxed-up some more things to donate.

One thing I have decided to ebay instead of donate is some stamps that I don’t use anymore or have never used. Wow, I never thought I’d sell any of my personal collection but there you go. Deep breath, this is a big step for me. Although I will admit I have not (and probably will not) declutter my books. I think that would be the end of me. LOL. So anyway, if any of you are interested in any stamps – my ebay id is “anj88″. I only put them up there for 3 days as I don’t see the use in having them on ebay for longer so you’ll need to be quick if you want any.

By the way, my daughter (9 years old) really got into the swing of decluttering recently (actually she’s a lot more ruthless with it than I am) and was thrilled to find $20 that she had stashed away and had forgotten. LOL. Any of you out there found anything interesting/fun/forgotten while decluttering?

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Look what I made today:

This is a card I made for my daughter Jade, I always make cards for her if I’m experimenting but I think it’s turned out okay. I rarely make cards with a white background but in this case I really wanted a clean crisp background for a fresh-looking card.
So I call this my doodling card even though I’ve used stamps to make it, it does look like doodling. Mind you, the stamp sets I’ve used are called “Scribble This” and “Scribble Alphabet” – scribble is the political correct way to say doodle since that has a different connotation in Australia. If you’re wondering why you haven’t seen these stamps in the Australian Stampin’ Up! catalogue, it’s because they’re brand new to Australia and will be available from next month (August 1st) in the new Spring Stampin’ Up! Mini Catalogue.
The card was really easy to make, I just stamped the two swirly doodles on the top and bottom using the Orchid Opulence inkpad and then coloured them in using a green watercolour pencil and blended the colouring with a blender pen. The flower was stamped twice and coloured in with a blue watercolour pencil and blended then cut out and glued together then mounted onto the card with some double-sided foam mount. The centre of the flower is a purple button that I covered with Crystal Effects (glue) then sprinkled with Dazzling Diamonds glitter. The name ‘Jade’ was stamped with the Scribble alphabet and coloured with watercolour pencils as described above. The letters were then cut out and mounted onto matching cardstock and cut out again then adhered to the card.

Here’s a list of products I’ve used:

All products by Stampin’ Up! and images copyright to Stampin’ Up!, card made by Angela Sargeant

Scribble This stamp set
Scribble Alphabet stamp set
Soft Subtle buttons
Watercolour Pencils
Crystal Effects
Dazzling Diamonds glitter
Stampin’ Dimentionals (double-sided foam tape)

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Okay, I’ve got a stack of new Stampin’ Up! Spring Mini Catalogues about to arrive on my doorstep any day now so I’ll be ready to mail them out very soon.

If you’d like a free Stampin’ Up! Spring Mini Catalogue please e-mail me on angelasargeant@gmail.com.

Please, only Australian residents.

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I’ve been tagged again! This time by Kristine, you should check out her blog she has an amazing layered cake on it made completely from cardstock.

So, not sure there’s enough to say about me really but here goes… 7 things about me.

1. My favourite groups are The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles, Aerosmith and The Eagles
2. I love reading biographies and probably have hundreds of them
3. Andy Warhol is one of my favourite artists
4. Two of my favourite movies are Love Actually and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. (Bueller, Bueller, Bueller)
5. I played the piano for a radio station once when I was younger (live! eek!)
6. I have a storage fetish. Just love Tupperware and office/home storage stuff.
7. I bought an iMac a few months ago and will never go back to a PC again.

Hmmm, who to tag now that I haven’t before?

Maggie

Linda
Sue

Coby

Leonie

Tamara

Madonna

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Here’s my latest piece of work that’s been published in the current issue of Australian Paper Crafts magazine which also happens to be the big ‘Annual’ issue.

I was asked to take part in their “Artist and The Stamp” challenge, which basically means that they send me a free stamp (in this case a Paper Artsy stamp sheet) and I had to make something of it. I decided to make a canvas as I really love canvas work – I just find it so liberating and fun. In this challenge three other people were also asked to participate and I found it so amusing that two of the three also happen to be on my Stampin’ Up! Team (Alisa Tilsner and Linda Baldock). Actually the whole magazine seems filled with people I know: Sephi Kemp, Gillian Hamilton, Yvonne Campbell, Sandie Downey and Gabbie Coburn – all very talented stampers.

By the way, the big ‘flourish’ chipboard at the top is by Buzz and Bloom.  It looks like it’s slipped a bit in the photo, in real life it’s straight though – not sure what the stylists were doing with it! It’s also a bit difficult to tell by the photo but that flourish was ‘painted’ with a Gold Krylon pen.

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I think one of the easiest and most relaxing techniques in stamping is watercolouring. Must be my childhood memories kicking in, I never could colour-in between the lines then and not much has changed. LOL. Thankfully watercolouring doesn’t have to be precise (well not this sort anyway).

To make this card I stamped the flowers from the Stampin’ Up! stamp set called Natural Beauty using Jet Black StazOn ink onto watercolour paper and then coloured in the image using my Watercolour Crayons. The colours I used were Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie and Garden Green. There’s various method you can use such as colouring directly onto the image with the crayons and then blending the colours with a waterbrush, but in this case I picked up the colour directly from the crayon (with the crayon still sitting in the tin) using a waterbrush and then coloured-in the image making sure I blended the two colours well. The waterbrush is basically a brush with a barrel which you fill with water, you just unscrew the brush part and fill the barrel with water then screw the brush back on. The benefit of using a waterbrush over dipping a paint brush into water is that you’ll never dump water all over your work and desk by accidently bumping the glass of water – nor will you ever be in danger of accidently drinking painty water instead of your coffee. Don’t ask!

After I coloured in my image I traced around the edges of the watercolour paper with the Pumpkin Pie and Rose Red crayons then blended them with the waterbrush to soften. I then adhered this to some Certainly Celery cardstock and tied some green gingham ribbon and white organdy ribbon to the bottom. The background is the wonderful Paisley background stamp which has been stamped with Rose Red ink onto a folded piece of Rose Red cardstock. The flower piece was adhered to the background and then I attached some Rose Red stitched ribbon to the right hand side of the card using mini-glue dots. To finish, I stamped the butterfly stamp from the Natural Beauty set using StazOn ink on watercolour paper again and watercoloured it using Ballet Blue and Regal rose with some touches of Rose Red. The butterfly was then cut out and some glitter applied using the 2-way glue pen and then adhered with a bit of Sticky Strip to the top of the card.

All products used in this card are by Stampin’ Up! and are available for purchase through me at angelasargeant@gmail.com
Image copyright Stampin’ Up!

Products used:

Natural Beauty stamp set
Paisley background stamp
Rose Red cardstock
Certainly Celery cardstock
Watercolour paper
Watercolour Crayons
Green Gingham Ribbon
White Organdy Ribbon
Rose Red Stitched Ribbon from Sweet Shop Ribbon Originals
Jet Black StazOn inkpad
Waterbrush
2-way Glue Pen
Dazzling Diamonds Glitter
SNAIL adhesive
Sticky Strip
Mini Glue Dots

Please feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions on this card or any other project on this blog.

Ooooh! Edited to add:  Almost forgot.  Stampin’ Up! has a fab promotion this month – For every $50 worth of purchase on any Stampin’ Up! products you receive 25% off one set of Watercolour crayons or Watercolour Pencils.  So , $100 will get you 25% off two sets of watercolour crayons (or one set of watercolour crayons and pencils), etc.  E-mail me on angelasargeant@gmail.com for more details.

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