Here’s a special card for a special little girl.  My daughter Jade is turning 11 this weekend so I made this card for her today.  Actually this year I gave Jade the option of receiving a store-bought card or me making one… I know, I know… sacrilegious – but I thought she might be sick of my cards… anyway, I was totally surprised when she said “no, I’d like you to make me one”.   How sweet.

Jade loves the Cuttlebug (as do I) so I decided to make her a birthday card with Cuttlebugged (is that a word?) butterflies.  If you look carefully you’ll see that the bottom butterfly has the embossing raised whereas the first two are debossed…. that was done on purpose, I flipped and flopped the butterflies and found that was the way I liked them best.  Making the butterflies was so easy, I just ran some Pixie Pink cardstock through the Cuttlebug with the butterfly die then placed the die-cut into the matching butterfly embossing folder and ran it through the Cuttlebug again to emboss it.  I did this three times with three different designs.  Sounds slow but it was super quick to do.  The butterflies are stuck down to Bashful Blue Textured cardstock using a little bit of Sticky Strip in the centre so that the wings stand up.  I should have adjusted the flowers before photographing but the three larger flowers are double layered (you can just see it) and the large flowers have tiny light blue rhinestone brads inserted in them and the smallest flowers have the clear rhinestone brads.  I know the ribbon looks creased but it’s only because of the bright natural light hitting it – in real life you have to hold the card at an angle to notice anything.

I hope you like this card, I know Jade will love it as she loves anything with butterflies, flowers and pretty colours.  I can’t wait to give her this card.

Soooo, for those of you who need to know what I’ve used on this card, here’s the comprehensive list:

Stem Sayings stamp set (the happy birthday greeting down the right side of the card)
Whisper White cardstock
Bashful Blue Textured cardstock
Bashful Blue inkpad
Pixie Pink cardstock
Cuttlebug (Provocraft)
Combo Cutting Die & Embossing Flower Butterflies (Provocraft)
Pretties Kit (flowers and clear rhinestone brads)
Ice Circle Rhinestone Brads (pale blue rhinestone brads)
Bashful Blue Double-Stitched Ribbon
SNAIL Adhesive
Sticky Strip
Paper piercer (to make holes in the card to insert brads)

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

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So do you know what movie that line comes from?  Comment on this post if you do.

Speaking of movies/TV… those of you with the skills of Patrick Jane of The Mentalist would have by looking at this card, figured out already that I spent the morning clearing off my scrapbooking desk.  Yep, now I have space and so the Cuttlebug has been hauled out again and I created this card using the Circle and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities.

The idea for this card started with the flower stamp in the top left had corner.  I thought it would look nice embossed in silver and then coloured in with markers.  I wanted the image quite ’solid’ so I didn’t do any watercolouring, just coloured directly onto the paper with my Almost Amethyst marker and then used the white gel pen for the flower centre (even though it’s white cardstock, it looks better with white gel pen).  The white gel pen was also used for the dots around the amethyst circle.  The centre of the card has Stampin’ Up!’s Floral Background stamp stamped in Almost Amethyst on the same coloured cardstock.  The word hope is from Stampin’ Up!’s Tres Chic background stamp – do stamp only this word, I turned the stamp over (rubber side up) and coloured in the word ‘hope’ using my Almost Amethyst marker then stamped it onto white cardstock.

I hope you like this card.  I’m very very pleased with it as I just love the simplicity of monochromatic cards.  Now, before anyone emails me to say it’s biochromatic…. sure white is considered as ‘all colours’ but humour me here and we’ll just call this card monochromatic.

Here’s a list of the products I’ve used to make this card.  All products by Stampin’ Up! and available for purchase through me at angelasargeant@gmail.com unless specifically stated.

Embrace Life stamp set
Tres Chic background stamp
Floral background stamp
Cuttlebug (by Provocraft)
Plain Circle and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities (by Spellbinders)
Almost Amethyst cardstock (plain and textured)
Almost Amethyst Marker
Whisper White cardstock (plain and textured)
Silver Embossing Powder
Anti-static pad
Heat Gun
Signo White Gel Pen in Impact White
Styled Silver Hodgepodge (silver frame)
Pretties Kit (pearls)
Glue Dots (to adhere pearls and silver frame)
White Taffeta Ribbon
SNAIL Adhesive
Stampin’ Dimensionals

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Would you like to:

* gradually build up your stamp and supply collection?

* earn FREE stamps and products?

* receive a new project idea in the mail each month?

Then you should join my…

Stamp Club!

Here’s how it works.  We need 6 people to participate, each person commits to purchasing $50 of Stampin’ Up! product per month for the 6 months. That way every club member receives free Hostess Shopping Dollars and Exclusive “Hostess Only” Stamp Sets once during the 6 months without having to place one large order.

Anyone living anywhere in Australia can join in, just email me at angelasargeant@gmail.com to reserve your spot.  Currently there is only one spot left. All club spots have now been taken, please email me your details so that I can advise you of the next stamp club starting soon.

Benefits:

* Each month, club members will receive a mini tutorial as a gift

* The minimum hostess benefits you will receive on your month will be a free Level 1 Hostess Set plus $30 worth of Stampin’ Up! product of your choice.

* You can place a larger order on your hostess month or collect orders from friends to ‘bump up’ your Hostess Benefits to the next Level.  (please see page 16 of the Idea Book and Catalogue for a comprehensive list of Hostess Benefits or email me for details and to receive your own catalogue)

* Each member will also receive the new 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalogue free when it is released on 1st April.

The Fine Print:

You must commit to purchasing at least $50 per month for 6 months.

Names will be drawn out of a hat as to which month will be the month you receive hostess benefits and will be announced at the beginning of the club.

Regular Stampin’ Up! postage & handling will be charged. That is $5.95 or 5% whichever is greater.

Interested?  Email me now at angelasargeant@gmail.com to join my Stamp Club.

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I decided to pull out the sweet colours for a sweet little girl’s first birthday card.

This card started with the number 1 rather than the main image.  I used a chipboard ‘1′ and applied some Tombow Multi Glue to it and then pressed the chipboard into a pot of chunky pink glitter.  The birthday cupcake comes in three separate parts, the base was stamped then cut out and adhered straight onto the card.  The frosting was stamped, cut out, glitter added then mounted with Stampin’ Dimensionals.  The candle was also done separately, it has a tiny piece of Stampin’ Dimensionals under the flame but SNAIL under the base of the candle so that it sits up on the frosting properly.  Not much to this card but I wanted it uncluttered and modern looking.

Here’s a complete list of items that I used to make the card:

Big Bold Birthday stamp set
Regal Rose cardstock
Certainly Celery cardstock (plain and textured)
Whisper White cardstock (plain and textured)
On Board Lots of Letters Chipboard ‘1′
Tombow Multi Glue
Chunky Sprinkles Stampin’ Glitter (pink)
1 1/4″ Circle Punch
1 3/8″ Circle Punch
Scallop Circle Punch
Crafter’s Tool Kit (paper piercer and template to make holes around the middle white section)
2-way Glue pen (to adhere fine glitter to cupcake and candle)
Dazzling Diamonds Glitter (for cupcake and candle)
Regal Rose grosgrain ribbon
SNAIL Adhesive
Stampin’ Dimensionals (foam dots to raise the scalloped embellishment and the candle)

If you have any questions about the card or products I’ve used, please feel free to email me at angelasargeant@gmail.com

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Here’s the second Get Well card in the series of three that I need to make.

This card started with the orange patterned paper, I wanted to use something cheerful but not overwhelming.  The orange is Pumpkin Pie so I then picked Rose Red for the flower and base of card because I’ve found in the past that I like the look of Pumpkin Pie and Rose Red together.  I stamped the flower then cut it out and added a felt flower to the centre and then a half pearl in the centre.  You can’t tell in this photo but the flower is mounted using Stampin’ Dimensionals so that it sits up on the card rather than flat. Same with the greeting, that’s mounted so that it ‘pops’.  Also the whole centre part of the card (everything stuck onto the white cardstock) is mounted onto the Rose Red card using Stampin’ Dimensionals.  Seriously, I buy those Stampin’ Dimensionals in bulk I go through so much of them but I just like the effect they give.  Oh and on the left of the card is some patterned paper which I punched out using a Square Scallop punch and I just folded the square in half and sandwhiched the card into it.  I could have been frugal and cut the shape in half and stuck that on top and saved the other side for another card but I just like the finish it gives to the side of the card when it’s folded over the back.  So that’s it… I hope it cheers up the lady I’m going to send it to.

If you’d like to know exactly what I used to make this card the list is at the end of this post.  All the products I’ve used are by Stampin’ Up! and are available for purchase through me at angelasargeant@gmail.com.  Please feel free to leave a comment and maybe let me know what you usually like to put on a Get Well card, is it flowers? a bandaid? animals?  I always like to hear what other fellow papercrafts like creating.

Products used:

Sincere Salutations stamp set
Eastern Blooms stamp set (from the 2008-2009 Summer Mini catalogue)
Bali Breeze Designer Series Paper (both the orange and green paper is from this series of paper)
Ribbon Originals – Fairy Tale (the green ribbon is one of 5 ribbons in a pack)
Flower Fusion Accents & Elements (the small green felt flower)
Pretties Kit (pearls)
Rose Red cardstock
Rose Red inkpad
Old Olive inkpad
Sponge Dauber (to sponge Rose Red ink around the greeting)
Whisper White  cardstock
SNAIL adhesive
Stampin’ Dimensionals (foam dots)
Glue Dots (to stick down the pearls)

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I just finished making this get well card (unfortunately for the recipients I need to make 3 get well cards this week and two sympathy ) and I realised that I used all the things that are real staple items for me.  Things like gold embossing powder, a set of sentiment stamps and some pretty embellishments that are for all occasions and of course some ribbon in a colour that goes with everything.  This is a simple card and yet I just love it’s elegance.  Okay, I feel weird praising my own card… but since I’m so over-critical with my cards usually, I’ll let this one slip by!

I also have a real ‘thing’ for frame stamps… I don’t know what it is but I figure that if I have a frames of some sort then I can always stamp a flower or sentiment or something inside and it’ll be a nice ‘complete’ image.  Now please don’t look at this and say “oh wow! she can sure stamp straight”… because I don’t!  Thankfully I have a Stamp-a-ma-jig (stamp positioner) and that’s how I managed to stamp the “get well soon” greeting so perfectly into the gold embossed frame.  It’s funny, because when I first started stamping I had heard of stamp positioners and I always thought they were one of those fad items that they get newbies with.  I can’t believe it took me 5 years to admit that it’s easier just to stamp something right the first time rather than stamp it crooked half a dozen times (with lots of cursing in between.. cough, cough).

So feel free to comment on my card, and let me know what your ’staple’ items are for your cardmaking.

And for those of you who don’t want to discipher what I’ve used in the card, here’s a comprehensive list for you.  If there’s anything you’d like or if you have any questions then please email me on angelasargeant.com

All products by Stampin’ Up!

Frames with a Flourish stamp set
Sincere Salutations stamp set
Whisper White cardstock
Chocolate Chip cardstock
Brushed Gold cardstock
Soft Sky cardstock
Afternoon Tea Designer Series Paper (from the Summer Mini Catalogue 2008-2009)
Chocolate Chip inkpad
Versamark inkpad
Gold Embossing Powder
Anti-static pad (so I don’t get gold dots all over my embossing)
Heat gun
Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon
Pretties Kit (white flowers and white flat-backed pearls)
Glue Dots (another staple)
Stampin’ Dimensionals (used on 99.99% of my cards)
SNAIL Adhesive (so easy, I’ll never use double-sided tape again)

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I love Cherry Blossoms so when I saw this stamp I just had to have it.  Here’s the first card I’ve made with my new Cherry Blossom stamp and I made this the other night during my social stamping night.

I love colouring direct to rubber as it’s such a simple technique which gives you a beautiful effect.  To give this image a multi-coloured effect, I coloured directly onto the rubber using Chocolate Chip marker for the branches and Ruby Red for the flowers then stamped it onto Very Vanilla cardstock.   The larger flowers are from the same Stampin’ Up! stamp set as the Cherry Blossom stamp and they were stamped using Chocolate Chip ink onto Ruby Red cardstock and cut out then a rhinestone brad inserted in each flower.

So there it is, my first card using the Cherry Blossom stamp from Stampin’ Up!’s Embrace Life stamp set.  Feel free to comment on my card and to also tell me your favourite flowers.  My favourite are white tulips, but the Cherry Blossom is definitely up there… maybe tied with white tulips

Products used to make the card above are available through me at angelasargeant@gmail.com

Chocolate Chip cardstock
Pumpkin Pie cardstock
Bali Breeze Designer Series Paper (6 designs in one pack, the paper used above is just one design)
Ruby Red cardstock
Very Vanilla cardstock
Chocolate Chip inkpad
Chocolate Chip marker
Ruby Red marker
Scallop Edge Punch
Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon
Styled Silver Hodgepodge (ribbon slide)
SNAIL Adhesive
Stampin’ Dimensionals
Fire Circles Rhinestone Brads (4 colours in 3 sizes, I’ve used the smallest of the orange ones)

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So I had my first social stamping night last night – well one that I organised anyway.  We had a blast, lots of chatting, stamping, drinking tea, eating chocolate (okay so I was the only one that ate chocolate, ahem), and sharing of ideas.  Normally I craft on my own but I’ve decided to have a monthly get together so I can get local ladies together to share ideas and have some dedicated crafting time away from home where there there’s no ironing or cleaning in sight.  Here’s one of the cards I made last night

This card came together so quickly.  I started with the pretty floral paper and decided that because it was so rich in colour and had lots of flowers that I would keep the rest of the card simple and just add a sentiment.  I wanted to show off the back of the paper so I folded over the corner of the paper, adhered it to my folded base card then secured the corner down using a large silver brad.  The sentiment in the middle of the card says: “wish.  Heart’s desire; to dream of; reach for; aspire to.  To want.  ‘Wish upon a star’.  This was stamped in Chocolate Chip ink onto Very Vanilla cardstock and I edged the card with my Cameo Coral marker to give it some emphasis.  The sentiment was layered onto a piece of Ruby Red cardstock using Stampin’ Dimensionals (foam dots) then layered again onto a piece of Certainly Celery cardstock on which I had pierced a border of holes.  This whole centrepiece was was then layered onto the centre of the card using Stampin’ Dimensionals to give it extra pop.

If you live on the North Shore in Sydney and would like to join me and other avid papercrafters for a stamping night each month then I’d love to hear from you.  Contact me at angelasargeant@gmail.com

Below is a full list of the products I’ve used.  If you’d like to ask me any questions about the card or about any of the products or if you wish to purchase any of the products I’ve used then please email me at angelasargeant@gmail.com.

(all products by Stampin’ Up!)

Define Your Life stamp set
Chocolate Chip cardstock
Ginger Blossom Designer Series paper (from the Australian Summer Mini catalogue)
Very Vanilla cardstock
Certainly Celery cardstock
Ruby Red cardstock
Cameo Coral marker
Chocolate Chip inkpad
Crafter’s Tool Kit (for the paper piercer and template to make the holes)
Styled Silver Hodgepodge (silver brad)
Snail Adhesive
Stampin’ Dimensionals

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