I was reading the (Australian) Daily Telegraph newspaper today and was really surprised to read that three percent of children aged 5 to 9 are going home alone after school and that one in five of the nation’s 10 to 15 year olds are latchkey kids.  The Newspoll found many parents were unable to get the flexible work hours they needed to care of their school-aged children after school and during school holidays.  Full article here.  I suppose I was mostly surprised because I’m so used to being able to take my children to school, pick them up and also attend things such as special school assemblies, open days, etc., that I forget how difficult it must be for others.  I certainly don’t take my job and lifestyle for granted – I am grateful and thankful every day of my life that I discovered stamping which then led me to discover Stampin’ Up!  But I didn’t realise that kids that young were going home alone and that parents are feeling so helpless, I just assumed that young kids were all going to after school care.  Reading this article today made me think “I have to talk about this, what if I can help someone out there”.  So if you’re reading this blog post and thinking “yep, that’s me – I don’t want things to be this way, it’s stressful for me, but I don’t have a choice” – then call me!  Let me show you how you can start your own papercraft business to fit in with your lifestyle.  There’s ladies all over Australia who are growing wonderful businesses while still working at a ‘regular job’, I’d love to show you how it can be done.

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That’s what I’ve decided… this stamp set, Always, is always stylish – doesn’t matter how you use it.

I think this card would make a nice Valentine’s Day card for those not overly into Black & Red.  Yeah, it’s way early for Valentine’s day but I only realised after I made the card that it would be good for Valentine’s Day, I might have to hide it away until next year for the husband.

I don’t know if it’s just me but the photo might look a bit confusing… the base of the card is Chocolate Chip – the vanilla you can see in the background is not part of the card but a manilla folder that I put up against the window to take the photo.  So the heart shape is cut out and sticks up past the spine of the card.  In case you’re wondering about colours and stamps and stuff, I’ve listed the ingredients for the card below.

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

Always stamp set
Linen Background stamp
Chocolate Chip cardstock (base of card)
Soft Sky cardstock
Blush Blossom cardstock (the part that has ‘everything’ stamped on it)
Very Vanilla cardstock (the heart)
Versamark inkpad (to stamp background onto Soft Sky card)
Purely Pomegranate inkpad (heart)
Blush Blossom marker (to highlight the heart and branch)
Chocolate Chip inkpad
Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon
Crafter’s Toolkit (to pierce holes above/below ribbon)
Stampin’ Dimensionals (to make heart pop)

That’s it… not a lot of product in this card, just straight stamping but I’m pretty happy with it.

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I’ll admit that I’ve never been a ‘die-cut’ sort of person… not with card making, not with scrapbooking.  Maybe that’s because the only die-cuts I had ever seen were quite kiddie-looking.  Well looks like die-cuts have grown up a bit.  When Stampin’ Up! Australia brought out their die-cut blooms I thought I’d better check them out if I was going to be selling them and I’m so pleasantly surprised .  These die-cuts come in fresh funky flower shapes and are cut from Stampin’ Up!’s textured cardstock.  If you haven’t tried Stampin’ Up!’s textured cardstock, it’s very similar to Bazzill cardstock only it comes in Stampin’ Up!’s coordinated colour range.  So last night I took the plunge and made this card.

Notice anything? Huh? Huh?  No stamping.  OMG, no stamping.  Still, this card was really fun to make and I had so much fun that I’m going to make a heap more of these to send to friends.
So here’s the list of products I’ve used: (All products by Stampin’ Up! and available for purchase through me at angelasargeant@gmail.com)

Old Olive Textured Cardstock
Die-Cut Blooms (I used 3 flowers and a circle and layered them on top of each other)
Styled Silver Hodgepodge (that’s the awesome looking brad in the middle of the flower)
Sherbert Ribbon Originals – So Saffron (good way of using extra wide ribbons is to use them as a base to ‘ground’ a focal image)
Anchored Rub-ons (the ‘hello’ sentiment.  The rub-ons with one sheet of white and one sheet of black in the same pack)
Stampin’ Dimensionals (you can’t tell from the photo but I’ve mounted the flower so that it pops up from the card rather than sitting flat).
SNAIL Adhesive (to adhere the flowers together and to stick down the ribbon so it sits nice and flat on the card – although I did also secure the ribbon to the back of the inside of the card using some sticky tape)
That’s it for today   Hope everyone is having a lovely week

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Hi everyone,

Just wanted to let you all know that my blog may be ‘down’ for a little while sometime this week while some upgrading is taking place.  I’m very excited to say that Gabbie, who originally set up my blog and did my banner, etc., is giving my blog a make over.  I can’t believe I’ve been blogging for 2 years now!  Anyway, time for a spruce up so that’s what’s happening this week.

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Well I was going to make a Christmas card based on this card this week but I lent out my corner rounder to a friend so it’ll have to wait for a little bit.  For now though, I have made the last of a trilogy of cards based around Purely Pomegranate and Chocolate Chip.  So here it is:

My cards aren’t to everyone’s taste but it’s what I love to create and share with others.

This card is just simple stamping but if you’d like to recreate it then here’s the list of products I’ve used: (All products are by Stampin’ Up! and available for purchase through me at angelasargeant@gmail.com)

Carte Postale stamp set
Life Definitions stamp set
Linen Background stamp
Very Vanilla cardstock
Chocolate Chip cardstock
Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon
Chocolate Chip inkpad
So Saffron inkpad
Creamy Caramel inkpad
Purely Pomegranate cardstock
Brushed Gold cardstock
Encore Gold reinker (to paint highlights on the bird)
Pretties Kit (Clear rhinestone brad and flat-backed pearls
2-Way Glue Pen (to glue down bird)
Mini Glue Dots (to glue down pearls)
SNAIL adhesive (for the rest of the card)
Sponge Dauber
Hope you enjoyed today’s offering

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I made this card last night and was thinking that it would make a good wedding card if the sentiment was changed to “Cherish”… just happens that the stamp set I used for this card does have a stamp with “Cherish” and “Joy” and “Hope”, so I’m thinking I could make it even a Christmas card if I changed the sentiment to “Joy”, changed the colours and used rhinestones instead of pearls.   I’ll have to try it out this week, so stay tuned.  Thinking about it again, it would probably also work really well as a baby card with just the change of the sentiment.

Enough thought wandering… so what do you call Vintage when it’s not really old fashioned or in dark colours, etc?  Pretty Vintage? Lite-Vintage? Delicate Vintage?  I’d love to know your ideas so please post a comment.

For those of you who would like to reproduce this card, it’s easy – I just stamped some Very Vanilla cardstock with the Linen Background stamp and So Saffron ink, sponged the edges and stamped the “Thanks” sentiment from the Illuminations stamp set in Blue Bayou ink (which is one of the current Australian InColour range).  The base card is Soft Sky (another Australian InColour) and in the centre of the background I have stamped a motif from Carte Postal using Versamark.  The base of the card was scalloped using the corner rounder punch (yes, the card stands up just fine) and little ivory flat-backed pearls from the Pretties Kit were glued down in the scallops.  At the top of the card is some wide vanilla grosgrain ribbon.  All products used in this card are by Stampin’ Up, please feel free to email me if you have any questions or would like to purchase any of these products.  And don’t forget to comment with what sort of style you feel this card is.  Thanks for looking!

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You’ll hear papercrafters tell you that they get their inspiration from different places.  Some are inspired by their children’s artwork, others by their garden, a view from their window, a piece of clothing or maybe like lots of us – new products.  Today I was inspired by a plate – I’m going to take a stab and say it’s Spode, but maybe someone here would guess differently… anyway, this is a shot of a plate in a magazine and under it is my card.  Mind you, I wasn’t going for exact… just ‘inspired’.  Talk about frustrating though, I find it so annoying to try and photograph a card so that the colouring is correct… this is as close as I could get – my card is more a Wedgewood Blue than you can see in the photo but anyway… and I did purposely go for Vanilla cardstock rather than white as I thought it looked nicer – not as stark.

I enjoy making monochromatic cards, the look is simple and pleasing to the eye.  The colours I’ve used are Ballet Blue and Very Vanilla.  The fern stamp and the bird stamp are from the ‘Touch of Nature’ stamp set by Stampin’ Up! and the border is a little flower stamp from ‘Always’ which is in the new 2008 Spring Mini catalogue.  I actually mucked around with this card for quite a while adding ribbon, taking off ribbon, adding brads, taking off brads.  In the end I decided on two flat-backed ivory pearls (from the Pretties Kit) as everything else was looking too busy for this design.

Anyway, hope you like.  Feel free to comment on what inspires you or to correct me on my guess of plate manufacturer

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This Month’s Technique Class is Mottled Ink Tutorial is delivered direct to your in-box and will show you step by step how to create three fresh & fun cards along with a 6 x 6 Layout – a perfect brag book size.This class uses 100% Stampin’ Up! product however the projects can easily be adapted to be used with products that you may already have at home.If you are too busy to attend a stamping class or live too far away or just want to do your stamping in your own time at your own pace then you are going to love the Technique Class. Of course those who can attend a hands on class you are catered for.

Here’s how you can make these cards yourself:

1.  Attend a cardmaking class:  Come and make these three gorgeous cards.  Class will be held at Lane Cove on the Lower North Shore of Sydney at 7:30pm, 5th September 2008.  Class costs $20 which includes all materials required to complete the cards along with refreshments.  Bookings are essential as spaces are limited.  To reserve your spot, please contact me at angelasargeant@gmail.com.
2. Buy the Tutorial: Can’t make the hands on cardmaking class, but would still love to create the projects? We are offering this workshop in PDF format, complete with over 60 photographs taking you through the cardmaking and scrapbooking process step by step. Also included is two extra sample cards using the same technique. All this for only AU$10, a link to the tutorial will be emailed to you upon payment either via Paypal, Credit Card payment by paypal or over the phone, or by Direct Deposit (email for details)

3. Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators – Teach the Class: Are you already a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator who would love to learn this fabulous new technique? Impress your customers with these publishing-quality projects at your next class while saving time and money by purchasing our Monthly Technique Class in a business format. This Mottled Ink Technique is sure to please your customers who are looking for something a little different. Show samples of the cards at your next workshop or class to get more bookings. Along with the Technique Tutorial you will also receive a full costing breakdown for each project along with details of what you will require to teach a class of ten, plus a checklist of tools and products with required amounts to make your class planning a breeze. All this for only AU$20, a link to the Tutorial and Costing Breakdown will be emailed to you upon payment either via Paypal, Credit Card payment by paypal or over the phone, or by Direct Deposit (please email me at angelasargeant@gmail.com for details)

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I have a few spaces left for this class to make these lovely Twinkling Watercolour cards.  The cardmaking class will be held at Lane Cove on the Lower North Shore of Sydney on Friday 8th August at 10:30am.  All supplies to make three cards are provided along with morning tea.  Class cost is $20, bookings are essential.  Just email me at angelasargeant@gmail.com or phone 9427.2989 or 0400 907.219 to reserve your place at this class.

This Christmas cardmaking class will be held at 10:30am on Friday 27th August.  Places are limited so book now.  Details as for the class above.

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Yay!  It’s official… the Australian Stampin’ Up! Spring Mini Catalogue can now be seen on-line here, so if you fancy some weekend shopping therapy then just email me on angelasargeant@gmail.com.  And now, a card that I’ve made using a stamp, rub-ons and ribbon from the new mini.

Looking at the card again now, I think this would make a nice sympathy card too if the sentiment was changed to something more appropriate.  I must say that using the rub-ons on the satin ribbon was just a dream – it comes out just beautifully.  The rub-on I’ve used says “Follow your heart” and comes from the Eastern Elegance rub-ons… and in case you haven’t noticed/realised, the rub-ons come in a package in both black and white so you can choose which will suit your project the best.

The stamped flower is from the ‘Bloomin’ with Beauty’ stamp set.  This is actually called Bloomin’ Beauty in the US but I figure they changed it for us so it doesn’t sound like we’re swearing. LOL.  I stamped the flower onto watercolour paper then watercoloured it using an aquapainter and inkpads then outlined it lightly with Sahara Sand marker.  The flower was then masked and I stamped En Francais over the top in Creamy Caramel.  The cardstock under the flower is More Mustard and that’s stamped with Creamy Caramel using the Linen background stamps.  The red cardstock used in this card is Purely Pomegranate… I LOVE THIS COLOUR!  To set off the Chocolate Chip and Purely Pomegranate cardstock I sandwiched some Brushed Gold cardstock in between which I think helps give ethe card some extra warmth without it looking too dark.  Oh, and the little ivory pearls are adhered to the ribbon using glue dots and they are from the Pretties Kit.

Feel free to leave a comment or email me, it’s nice to know someone out there is reading.

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