Ocean Commotion

Here’s a bit of a change for me.  Although I love blues, I very rarely use Taken with Teal – but I really like the way this card turned out.  This is one of the cards that we made last night at my class and it was cool to see all the variations of the card that everyone made.  It’s a shame you can’t see the glitter on the fish because I love the way it makes the blues & greens on the fish look like shiny scales.

The colours that I used to make this card are Taken with Teal, Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery and So Saffron.  An interesting colour combination that I’m definitely going to use again, I think I’ve used reds to death and it’s time for a bit of a change.  Oh! and I was so excited to find another use for my flat-backed pearls, I think they make gorgeous bubbles.

In case you’re interested in the stamps I’ve used – the fish and seaweed are from Stampin’ Up!’s Ocean Commotion stamp set and the ‘best wishes’ greeting is from “Short & Sweet” which to my delight fits just perfectly in the Word Window punch.

So if you have any questions on this card or if you want to know more about the products I’ve used then feel free to drop me a line at angelasargeant@gmail.com

FAQ & freebie

I thought it might be fun to do an FAQ (frequently asked questions) post.  I get asked a lot of questions from not only fellow stampers but friends who are fascinated that I not only make my own cards but have turned my hobby into a business.

So here goes… let me know if you have any questions you’d like me to answer and I’ll put them in a future post.  I’ll also randomly pick a name from everyone who has asked me a question and mail out to the winner a sample pack of papers and ribbons.*

Do you have a special area that’s just for cardmaking?

Sure do!  I’m lucky enough to have a whole room dedicated to my hobby/business.  I have one desk in there which is for ‘work’ – anything to do with paper that’s not creative!  I also have a table set up just for stamping and I have (mostly) everything I need at easy reach.  I also have a standing-height bench with lots of drawers for scrapbooking and the drawers are filled with all my scrapbooking stash.

Which is your favourite Stampin’ Up! stamp set?

There’s a lot of favourites!  But I can’t go past Lovely as a Tree.  I love getting good value out of my craft products and Lovely as a Tree seems to set me a challenge of “what other technique can I use with these stamps”.  I love the way I can use the same stamp set to make Christmas cards, masculine cares, women’s cards, sympathy and more.

Have you always been crafty?

Yes and no.  From very young I had a fascination with making stuff but I’ve always had two left-thumbs (figuratively speaking of course!) so I wasn’t always very successful at it.  Cardmaking suits my personality well though as I adore paper and ribbons and all the things that go with them… most importantly, if I make a mistake I can just toss it in the paper recycling and start again.

What other crafts do you do?

Other than the related papercrafts such as scrapbooking, ATCs, collage, etc., I can also crochet, knit and do cross-stitch.  I get a bit frustrated though with knitting, etc., so I like to stick to paper.  If I was going to do anything else it’d definitely be crocheting.

What tools are the best value?

I don’t think you can go past punches.  I use my punches more than any other tool (other than a paper trimmer!) and I especially enjoy layering them to get different looks.  I love the way Stampin’ Up!’s designer label punch works so well with the circle & word window punches and the oval punches work great with the Word Window punch.  I try to create different layers and punch paper in different ways to create different looks.

Well that’s all I can think of off the top of my head for now.  Feel free to ask away.

* Non-Stampin’ Up! demonstrators only please.  Also please note due to Stampin’ Up! policy I can only mail product to Australian residents.

Congratulations Stampin’ Up!

Oooh yeah Baby!!!  The news is out: For the 9th year in a row, Stampin’ Up! has won the coveted Creating Keepsakes Magazine Reader’s Choice Awards for their Rubber Stamps, (ingenious) inkpads, and their gorgeous Idea Book & Catalogue.

Congratulations Stampin’ Up! it’s a pleasure and an honour to be part of such an awesome company.

Valentine’s Day Card

I held a couple of Valentine’s Day classes recently and as usual they were so much fun.  Here’s one of the cards that we made – I purposely left the “Happy Valentine’s Day” sentiment off so it can be used for any occasion that you want to express your love.  If I was to use this for Valentine’s Day, I’d simply stamp the matching “Happy Valentine’s Day” sentiment on the inside of the card.

The card uses half of the scallop shapes in the Carousel Notes pack (from the Australian Summer Mini catalogue).  To keep a bit of a theme, I kept the colours simple: Soft Sky, Real Red and Whisper White.  Also for another theme, I pierced holes around the Soft Sky cardstock under the sentiment, added dots with a white gel pen around the scallop shape and glued flat-backed pearls to the bottom which also helped to balance the card.

Here’s a list of the Stampin’ Up! products I used to make this card, if there’s anything that you’d like from here then feel free to email me at angelasargeant@gmail.com.

A Happy Heart stamp set (great for any lovey-dovey occasion or scrapbooking, not just Valentine’s)
Life Definitions stamp set (for the sentiment)
Real Red cardstock
Soft Sky cardstock
Whisper White cardstock
Real Red inpad
Whisper White craft inkpad
Striped Real Red Ribbon
Pretties Kit (for the pearls)
Carousel Notes (the scallop shape cut in half)
Signo White Gel Pen (the only one I’ve found which is true white and doesn’t fade)
Glue Dots (for the pearls
Paper Piercer and Mat Pack (to pierce the holes in a straight line)
SNAIL Adhesive
Stampin’ Dimensionals

Join my mailing list

Not on my newsletter mailing list?  Then you’re missing out on some cool stuff… sorry!  Sign up for my monthly newsletter by typing your email address in the space on the top right hand corner of my blog to receive handy papercraft tips, ideas, stamping tricks and will be eligible to enter in my competitions.