Sympathy cards are difficult to make, not only for humans but also for pets.  These little fur-babies are so much a part of our lives and families that it’s absolutely devastating when it’s time for them to leave us.  So when I heard that a friend of mine lost her dog recently I decided I really needed to make a card for her.

The Stampin’ Up! stamp set I used here is called “D for Dog“. I found this stamp set really easy to use because I knew the doggie would be the main image accented by a little paw print and of course the sentiment.  It helps immensely that the Stampin’ Up! punches match the paw-print image and the sentiment perfectly so I don’t have to worry about how I’m going to incorporate them on the card.

By the way, one of the other sentiments that comes with this rubber stamp set says: “a dog wags it’s tail with it’s heart” – I’m going to use this sentiment for scrapbooking my little doggie dude, Ralph who’s a a King Charles Cavalier x Shitzu (Shavalier).  Any other dog lovers out there?

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

Rubber Stamps:
D for Dog

Inkpads:
Chocolate Chip
Creamy Caramel (to sponge around the edges of the neutral cardstock)
Old Olive (to sponge around the edges of the Olive cardstock
Baja Breeze (for the colouring of the dog collar)

Cardstock & Paper
Naturals Ivory (to stamp on)
Old Olive
Chocolate Chip
Baja Breeze
Kraft
Parisian Breeze Textured Designer Series Paper (stripy cardstock)

Accessories:
Twill Tape
Styled Silver Hodgepodge
Earth Elements Brads (Old Olive used here)

Tools:
3/4″ Circle Punch
1? Circle Punch
Paper Piercer and template (to make the holes)
Sponge daubers (for all the sponging)
Blender pen (for the tiny colouring of the dog collar)

Adhesives:
SNAIL Adhesive
Stampin’ Dimensionals (to pop up the paw print image and main image section)
Crystal Effects (used on the inside of the metal frame to adhere the cardstock – I use this because the point of the glue is the same size as the ridge on the inside of the hardware so it’s super easy to apply the right amount)

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Today I decided to challenge myself to find a stamp set that I hadn’t inked yet and to make 3 cards with it.  And this is the first card that I came up with.

I had a definite idea in my head about how I wanted the card to look.  I wanted it clean and crisp with minimal product – a lot like the greeting cards that you would see in Borders.

This card is so simple, I just stamped the coffee cup images multiple times in Stazon Jet Black (my favourite choice of black inkpads) and then I coloured in the white bits of the coffee cups using a blender pen and the ink from the Baja Breeze inkpad.  The coffee cups were then punched out and adhered onto some textured cardstock, layered onto black cardstock and then onto the base white card.  The black you see in the background is just what I photographed the card on.  (I think next time I’ll take the flash off because I’ve just noticed it’s made my middle cup look pale when it’s not really like that).  Anyway, the sentiment down the bottom of the card “Chocolate, coffee, men – some things are better rich.” is part of another stamp which has a coffee stain image around the sentiment, so I just masked off the rest of the stamp with some masking tape, inked up the stamp then removed the tape and stamped the sentiment on the bottom of the card.  That’s it… minimal but fun

Now it’s time for you to go make a card using stamps you haven’t inked yet… and I know you have some!

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

Rubber Stamps:
Sip By Sip

Inkpads:
Baja Breeze
StazOn Jet Black

Cardstock & Paper:
Whisper White
Basic Black
Baja Breeze Textured

Tools:
1″ Circle Punch
Blender Pen
Stamp-a-ja-jig (Stamp positioner to help me stamp the sentiment exactly centre of my card)

Adhesives:
SNAIL Adhesive

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Yikes! I find it so difficult to make birthday cards for young boys.  Once they get out of that bug-pirate-trucks stage it’s difficult to find a theme for a boy’s birthday card.  Anyone else here have issue’s with boy’s birthday cards? Thankfully the young boy I made this birthday card for is into Karate so I was able to whip out my “All In The Family” stamp set and the matching accessories to make a card that I hope he’ll like.

This card was simple enough to make, I just chose a head image that suited the birthday boy then used the Stamp-a-ma-jig (stamp positioner) to position it in the right place over the Karate suit and then also added the arms.  I like the way the arms come separately that way I can make the figures do whatever I want them to do.  The balloon image was stamped onto the patterned paper then cut out and adhered onto the card.  The colouring was done very simply to suit the drawing, I used a blender pen and the ink from my inkpad to colour the clothes in.  A little bit of Sahara Sand marker was used on the white Karate suit so that it didn’t look totally flat.  The ‘9′ on the card is just a piece of chipboard that I sponged with ink so that it matches the card.  Okay, well I’ve just been told that there’s another birthday coming up, a girl’s birthday this time so I’m off to make another kids birthday card!

p.s. the bottom of the card doesn’t look very flat but it is in real life, I just photographed it at a very bad angle. :blush:

Rubber Stamps:
All In The Family (boy’s head and arms)
Family Accessories Too (Karate Suit)
Family Favourites (balloon stamp)
On Your Birthday (birthday greeting)

Inkpads & Markers:
Pacific Point
Kiwi Kiss
Sahara Sand marker

Cardstock & Paper:
Whisper White
Kiwi Kiss
Pacific Point
Good Morning Sunshine (patterned paper)

Accessories:
Kiwi Kiss Striped Ribbon
On Board Lots of Letters (chipboard ‘9′)

Tools:
1 1/4″ Circle Punch
1 3/8″ Circle Punch
Large Oval Punch
Word Window Punch
Photo Corners Punch
Paper Piercer and template (to add holes above and below the ‘Happy Birthday’ greeting)
Blender Pen

Adhesives:
SNAIL Adhesive (for cardstock)
Stampin’ Dimensionals (to pop up the greeting and circle with the age)

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Here it is, this is the class I have been asked by so many people to teach.  Attend my Mega Christmas Card Class and make a load of Christmas cards, gift cards and tags.

The materials provided to you in this class will allow you to create approximately 35 Christmas cards and 20 gift cards/tags.  You will during the class make as many of the cards you can (depending on how fast/slow you are) and will then take home the rest of the materials to make more cards.

Please email me on angelasargeant@gmail.com to book a spot.  Places are strictly limited so email me now to secure your place at this class.

All materials and tools to make these cards are provided during the class, no need to bring anything with you.

Date: Friday 30th October 2009
Time: 7:30pm
Location: Lane Cove, Sydney.  Email me for exact location.
Cost: $60.  Includes all materials and use of tools during class plus refreshments

Date: Wednesday 28th October 2009
Time: 10:30am
Location: Lane Cove, Sydney.  Email me for exact location.
Cost: $60.  Includes all materials and use of tools during class plus morning tea

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I must admit I love butterflies and flowers on cards, and there’s just something about this butterfly that I can’t get enough of.  It’s actually a rub-on which is the same as the butterfly rubber stamp in Stampin’ Up!’s “Great Friend” stamp set only it’s smaller.  I think I like it so much because it’s elegant, striking and very importantly can be cut out easily

This card came together quite easily because the images are bold and so it seemed to require a simple layout with a modern colour combination.  The butterfly rub-on was applied to some white cardstock then cut out leaving a very thin border.  The frame behind the butterfly is a rubber stamped image from a stamp set called “Gallery” and that was stamped in Baja Breeze ink and again cut out leaving a thin border.  That’s it really, the rest is just patterned paper and some dimensionals to pop up the main section (under the white cardstock) and the butterfly.

Anyone else here have a thing for butterfly images?

Rubber Stamps:
Gallery (frame image)

Inkpads:
Baja Breeze

Cardstock & Paper:
Whisper White
Baja Breeze
Basic Gray
Urban Garden designer series paper (one side of the paper is the flower images on the left and the other side is the grey paper in the centre)

Accessories:
Pretties Kit (flat-backed white  pearls)

Adhesives:
SNAIL Adhesive (for cardstock)
Mini Glue Dots (to adhere the pearls)
Stampin’ Dimensionals (to pop up the main image and butterfly rub-on)

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This card is totally out of my usual style again (though I’m not sure what my usual style is anymore!) but I really think I like it.

I’ve used a rubber stamp from the Stampin’ Up! set called “Define Your Life” again… I find I use this set over and over in my cards and scrapbooking.  For the background of this card I’ve stamped the large rose rubber stamp from “Fifth Avenue Floral” – the thing I love best about this image is that it looks equally great stamped in one colour as it does coloured in, it also makes a fabulous focal image while still working as a background – the mark of true versatility in my book!  On the left of the card I’ve used a rub-on which I applied to vanilla cardstock then trimmed around it and added some felt flowers and a rhinestone brad.  The flat-backed pearls dded the finishing touch to my card while pulling the eye to the sentiment.

Feel free to leave me some comments, I always enjoy hearing from you all.

Rubber Stamps:
Define Your Life (sentiment)
Fifth Avenue Floral (flower background)

Inkpads:
Chocolate Chip (to stamp the main sentiment)
Pink Pirouette (to stamp the flower background)

Cardstock & Paper:
Very Vanilla
Pink Pirouette
Chocolate Chip

Accessories:
Fashion District Rub-Ons
Flower Fusion II Accents & Elements (Felt flowers)
Pretties Kit (small Rhinestone Brad and flat-backed ivory pearls)
Pink Taffeta Ribbon

Adhesives:
SNAIL Adhesive (for cardstock)
Mini Glue Dots (to adhere the pearls)
Stampin’ Dimensionals (to pop up the sentiment)

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Here’s another one of my cards that I’m made to send to one of my Stampin’ Up! team members.

Again this one uses a rub-on from the “Fashion District” rub-ons and a sentiment from the “Define Your Life” stamp set.  I’m loving this combination of using a sentiment and a decorative element, I find you can make some lovely clean and trendy cards with them.  The rub-on on the top left hand corner was applied to some vanilla cardstock and then trimmed so that it has a bit of a border.  I then layered some felt flowers and pinned them together with a rhinestone brad and attached that to the centre of the rub-on.

So what do you think? I used only one stamp and wondering if I should have done a light background on the green cardstock or is it okay as it is?

Rubber Stamps:
Define Your Life (sentiment)

Inkpads:
Chocolate Chip (to stamp the main sentiment)
Pink Pirouette (to edge around the oval sentiment)

Cardstock & Paper:
Very Vanilla
Kiwi Kiss
Pink Pirouette
Chocolate Chip

Tools:
Paper Piercer and Template (to make the rows of pierced holes at the bottom of the card)
Wide Oval punch

Accessories:
Fashion District Rub-Ons
Flower Fusion II Accents & Elements (Felt flowers)
Pretties Kit (small Rhinestone Brads)
Pink Pirouette striped grosgrain ribbon

Adhesives:
SNAIL Adhesive (for cardstock)
Stampin’ Dimensionals (to pop up the sentiment and felt flowers)

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Really? Yes, I love it when I make a card which by changing the sentiment means I can make it to suit any occasion.  Birthday, sympathy (change the red/pink to something more sombre), thank you, thinking of you, Valentine’s Day, etc.  It means that when I’m feeling stuck for ideas I can still make a lovely card based on another one I’ve made before.

I made this card for one of my Stampin’ Up! team members to let them know I think they’re special.  The cool thing is I used a Stampin’ Up! a rubber stamp set called “Define Your Life” which has 28 stamps in the set so I can make the same card with a variety of sentiments to suit different occasions.

Now before you go thinking that I have issues with stamping properly, let me explain that the background under the sentiment was purposely stamped lightly so that I wouldn’t get a perfect image… I wanted the background to fade in a bit and have a soft feeling.  Next thing you’re probably trying to figure out is what stamp I’ve used for the oval image – well it’s actually a rub-on.  I’ve decided to take my advice and not hoard them because they’re too pretty to use.  Anyone else do that? come on, ‘fess up!

Anyway, this is the first card of a series of 10 I’m making for some of my team members – hopefully I can make some more tomorrow, not so easy during school holidays.

Hope my card has inspired you to rip open those rub-ons you’re hoarding or to make a card for someone simply to tell them you think they’re special

Rubber Stamps:
Define Your Life (sentiment)
Baroque Motifs (swirl image)

Inkpads:
Chocolate Chip (to stamp the main sentiment)
Creamy Caramel (to stamp the swirls in the background)
Close to Cocoa (for sponging around the pink cardstock)

Cardstock & Paper:
Very Vanilla
Riding Hood Red
Pink Pirouette
Chocolate Chip
Bella Rose Designer Series Paper

Tools:
Sponge Daubers
Paper Piercer and Template (to make the rows of pierced holes at the bottom of the card)

Accessories:
Fashion District Rub-Ons
Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon
Button Latte (flower button)
Pretties Kit (pearl glued to the top of the flower button)

Adhesives:
SNAIL Adhesive (for cardstock)
Stampin’ Dimensionals (to pop up the pink sections)
Glue Dots (to adhere the pearl and button)

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