Have you seen Breaking Dawn yet? I imagine if Bella and Edward had Wedding Favours (Bonbonerie) then this box with the black & red theme would work well.  Although it seemed that in the movie a large number of guests colour-coordinated themselves in soft purple colours, red & black still screams Twilight to me.

And look at this… the pattern is also very reminiscent of Bella’s bedding from the Twilight movies

Photo from www.squidoo.com

And if you can see past that gorgeousness that is Edward Cullen you can see the bedding pattern in the background.

Photo from www.twilightlexicon.com

By now you’re probably thinking I’m a bit weird to notice all this.  But it’s just a “Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator” thing to notice things in the shops, movies and wherever you go that remind you of a particular stamp or colour.  I’m forever seeing t-shirts and cushions and other home items with Stampin’ Up! style images like bird cages, swirls and crowns and similar flower designs.  Of course it’s difficult to pass by clothes without saying “ooh, love that Cherry Cobbler top”, rather than “ooh love that red top”.

Aaaanyway.  The box that I created above was super super easy to make.  And not sure if it’s even possible to tell in the photo but the box is made of fabric so it’s really beautiful to hold and touch – but still very quick to make.

Gift Box Instructions:

1.  Take a piece of white cardstock and cut it to fit the Box #2 die (this will be a sheet of A4 cardstock cut down to be narrower).

2.  Cut a piece of Big Shot Multipurpose Adhesive Sheet to measure the same as your white cardstock, peel off one side of the protective covering and place it over your cardstock.

3.  Peel off the other side of the protective covering from the Big Shot Multipurpose Adhesive Sheet and place your fabric (cut to the same size) on top.

4.  Now you have your fabric backed by cardstock it’s easy to run through your Big Shot using the Box #2 die to cut out the box shape.

5.  The box comes out in one piece with scoring so simply fold and assemble your box – there’s only one place to add a little adhesive (Sticky Strip) to keep the box together.

6.  Decorate your box as you please.  I’ve tied some Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding around the box and stamped a frame, punched it out, wrote “for you” on it then adhered it to the box.

Easy! Done in less than 10 steps

And here’s a list of Stampin’ Up! products that I used to create this card:

Rubber Stamps:
Four Frames

Cardstock & Paper:
Whisper White Cardstock

Inkpad and Other Colouring Items:
Cherry Cobbler Inkpad
Black marker to write message

Tools:
Big Shot
Box #2 Die
Decorative Label Punch

Accessories:
Timeless Portrait Fabric
Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding

Adhesives:
Big Shot Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets
Sticky Strip

Share this article:

It’s lovely when family and friends appreciate the cards you make.  I find I’m always making a birthday card for my children’s friends and sometimes I wonder if they would prefer a store-bought card but I’ve been assured by my daughter that her friends look forward to receiving a handmade card.  Usually I try to make teen girl cards a bit funky and trendy  but this time the girl I was making the card for likes simple and elegant styles and the colours blue and purple.

I think I’m quite liking the Perfect Plum and Marina Mist colour combination.

So there’s really not much to explain with this card.  The oval in the centre was cut out using the Big Shot.  I didn’t want to do a whole lot of layers in the middle so I used the rhinestones to define the ‘Happy Birthday’.  The rhinestones were super quick to do actually because the packs of Stampin’ Up! rhinestones come with not just the single rhinestones but also two straight lines of them, so all I did was pick up a line of rhinestones and position the whole line around the oval then add whatever extras I needed.

The two butterflies at the top were cut out using Stampin’ Up!‘s Beautiful Butterflies die and the Big Shot.  I cut one butterfly with patterned paper and one with the purple cardstock – you can save time by putting the cardstock/paper on top of each other and cutting them out at the same time.

Style Tip: Add some pizzazz to simple cards by using pearls, rhinestones, satin – anything a bit more ‘formal’ to make an easy or plain card a little bit extra special for a birthday.

And here’s a list of Stampin’ Up! products that I used to create this card:

Rubber Stamps:
Bring On The Cake

Cardstock & Paper:
Perfect Plum
Marina Mist
Beau Chateau Designer Series Paper

Inkpad and Other Colouring Items:
Perfect Plum

Tools:
Big Shot
Beautiful Butterflies Die
Ovals die

Accessories:
Marina Mist Satin Ribbon
Basic Pearls
Basic Jewels (Rhinestones)
Silver cord (for the button centres) – retired

Adhesives:
SNAIL
Glue Dots (for the Buttons)

Share this article:

Have you ever made a double opening card? It probably has some other technical name but since I’ve never seen one of these cards before I’m not sure what it would be officially called.  I just had the idea one day of making a regular card but then attaching another smaller card to the front that also opens.  I figure you could put a little photo in the small card which is attached to the front of the main card.  So when the recipient opens the card where it says ‘thanks’ they’d see a photo and then when they open the main card they would see your message.

I think this sort of card would be great if you’re doing thank you cards for an occasion like an engagement, wedding, wedding shower/baby shower/kitchen tea, Christening, special birthday – an endless list of occasions really.

Making one of these cards is super easy.  Just create a regular card with a background and then mount your centrepiece onto a card that opens and attach the back of that to your base card.

So here’s how I made this card:

1.  I started with a piece of Early Espresso cardstock which was folded in half so that it opens from the bottom rather than the side.  You can make a side opening card but I chose to have it open from the base.

2  Onto that I layered a piece of Pink Pirouette cardstock and then a piece of patterned paper which I sponged around the edges with a little bit of ink to soften it up and give it a more vintage look.

3.  Next thing I did was to create the little card that sits on top.  Again I started with a piece of Early Espresso cardstock and folded it in half (bottom opening again) as if I was going to make a smaller card.

4.  The piece of Very Vanilla at the bottom was put through the Big Shot with the “Designer Frames Embossing Folder” so that it embossed the oval at the top of the cardstock.

5.  The middle of the oval is the same size as the Stampin’ Up! Wide Oval Punch and so on a separate piece of vanilla cardstock I stamped the Fine Flourish stamp with Pink Pirouette then stamped the word “thanks” over the top of it with Early Espresso.  This was punched out with the Wide Oval Punch and then I sponged the edges of the oval with the pink inkpad and adhered it to the centre of the embossed oval.

6.  The bottom of the vanilla cardstock was stamped again with the Fine Flourish stamp, this time in Soft Suede  and the cardstock lightly sponged around the edges with Soft Suede ink.

7.  A couple of little extras were added with the ribbon and pearls and then I adhered the stamped vanilla cardstock to the folded Soft Suede card.

8.  The whole small card was then adhered to the centre of original larger card.

Hope you like this idea of creating a Double Opening Card.  By the way, I know you are all out there but keeping very quiet! LOL.  I met so many people the other week at the Penrith Papercraft Festival who said “Oh, I read your blog!” – so I know you’re there… please feel free to say ‘hi’

And here’s a list of Stampin’ Up! products that I used to create this card:

Rubber Stamps:
Fine Flourish
Thank You Kindly

Cardstock & Paper:
Early Espresso
Pink Pirouette
Very Vanilla
Beau Chateau

Inkpad and Other Colouring Items:
Pink Pirouette inkpad
Soft Suede inkpad
Crumb Cake inkpad
Early Espresso inkpad

Tools:
Big Shot
Designer Frames Embossing Folder
Wide Oval Punch
Sponge Daubers

Accessories:
Crumb Cake Seam Binding
Basic Pearls (self adhesive)

Adhesives:
SNAIL

Share this article:

For November 2011 only, Stampin’ Up! are taking 10% off selected Dies and Embossing Folders

Check it out:

Got any question or just want to jump in and grab a bargain – email me now.

By the way, if you’re on Facebook, jump over and visit me – I have a fun little competition happening.

Share this article:

So I’ve been going through my mind with all the excuses as to why I haven’t blogged in forever.  After the usual back & forth about being busy with other areas of my stamping business, some issues with my right hand due to carpal tunnel and also getting ready for my trip to Fiji, etc., I think it all boils down to the fact that I’ve just let other things get in the way.  I love blogging and I really miss it when I leave too much time between posts, so here I am vowing to myself not to let other things get in the way too much.

Now after all that rambling I’d love to share with you a card that I made this morning.

The card is very simple to recreate.  All I did was die-cut out the butterflies in matching papers all from the Beau Chateau suite of papers from Stampin’ Up!, sponged the edges with ink and then layered them.  The background is Crumb Cake cardstock (formerly known as Kraft) which I dry embossed using the Big Shot and the Finial Press Embossing Folder.  The ‘newsprint’ paper on the right is from Stampin’ Up!’s First Edition specialty paper which I sponged around the edges with Crumb Cake ink and then sponged the centre with some Champagne Mist shimmer paint to give it a very light gold shimmer.  Very quick and easy and I think would work for a variety of occasions such as birthday, get well, thank you, Mother’s Day (although that’s aaages away)… just add your sentiment to the inside of your card and you’re done.

Quick cardmaking tip: using patterned papers that come in a pack means super quick and coordinated cards.  You can use lots of different patterned paper and it still matches beautifully (see how many different patterns are in the butterflies?).  Also your colour combination is taken care of as you just go with the colours that are from the patterned paper.

Card background style tip: If you don’t want a plain background but the front of your card is quite busy, go for an embossed background (dry embossed or clear embossing powder on plain cardstock) to give interest and texture to your card without overwhelming it.

Hope you enjoyed this card and I promise I will be back again quickly.

And here’s a list of Stampin’ Up! products that I used to create this card:

Cardstock & Paper:
Pink Pirouette Textured cardstock
Soft Suede
Crumb Cake (aka Kraft)
Beau Chateau designer series paper
First Edition specialty paper

Inkpad and Other Colouring Items:
Crumb Cake inkpad (for sponging)
Marina Mist inkpad (for sponging)
Champagne Mist shimmer paint (for sponging on First Edition paper)

Tools:
Big Shot
Beautiful Butterflies Die
Finial Press Embossing Folder
Sponge Daubers

Accessories:
Flower Button (Neutrals)
Clear Rhinestone brad (medium sized)
Antique Brad

Adhesives:
SNAIL
Stampin’ Dimensionals
Glue Dots

Share this article:

I had a lovely night of cardmaking last night with some of my team members around Australia – that’s the magic of cyberstamping!  A bunch of us jumped onto my team forum and stamped the night away while chatting.  One of my lovely team members, Jayne, hosted the cyberstamp and posted some challenges to get the creative juices flowing.  The first card challenge for the night was to make a birthday card using these colours:

Here’s my card (and bear in mind I was typing and not taking as long as I usually take to make a card, LOL)

The card is fairly straightforward without any fancy techniques but I think this colour combination is just so beautiful that you can keep the card simple.

Style Tip: I think these colours just call out for some ‘natural’ embellishments and textures so that’s why I chose the Linen Thread and simply wrapped it around the card.  The tearing of the side of the cardstock that the main image is stamped on also adds interest and texture that seems to go well with this colour combination.

Technique Tip: Try sponging around the edges of the layers of cardstock like I have – this goes well when you have a card that is highly textured like this one.  The different textures here are the background that was done using an embossing folder on the Big Shot, the linen thread, the lace trim and the tearing.

Another Card Idea: This colour combination can be used for a variety of occasions, this particular card is for a woman but I think these colours (and layout!) would be equally great for a masculine card – just change the stamped image to something more masculine and change the lace to twill.

So what do you think of the colour combination? Are you inspired to give it a go yourself?

And here’s a list of Stampin’ Up! products that I used to create this card:

Rubber Stamps:
Just Believe
Bring on the Cake (birthday sentiment)

Cardstock & Paper:
Crumb Cake
Very Vanilla
Chocolate Chip
Wild Wasabi

Inkpad and Other Colouring Items:
Wild Wasabi
Crumb Cake (for sponging)
Chocolate Chip

Tools:
Big Shot
Square Lattice Embossing Folder
Wide Oval Punch
Sponge Dauber

Accessories:
Linen Thread
Chantilly Crochet Trim
Vintage Brad

Adhesives:
SNAIL
Stampin’ Dimensionals

Share this article:

So according to what I said on my Facebook page, yesterday I was meant to upload a photo of a card that I made using my sketch.  Of course when you work from home, things that aren’t so urgent seem to fall by the wayside a bit – especially when you’re sitting in the TV room, laptop on lap, looking out the window on a beautiful Winter’s day.

I found it difficult to get up and tackle the internet issues that I always seem to have from my office upstairs yesterday (the photo of the card was on my computer not laptop).  So here I am now (one day late) and with the internet currently working in my office, here’s the card that I made from my sketch.

Ahhhhh!  I just realised that I made a mistake and didn’t place my oval more to the right.  Sigh.  Well I might just have to lift the centrepiece and reposition it to match my sketch a bit better. LOL.

So a pretty straightforward card – the gorgeous bird image was stamped in Early Espresso ink onto some scrap cardstock then coloured in with chalks to give a nice soft feel then cut out and adhered to the oval that I cut out on the Big Shot.  I ran a So Saffron marker around the edge of the oval to give it a bit more emphasis as it seemed to get a little lost on the card with out it but otherwise I didn’t do any other sponging or highlighting on the card, the whole ‘natural and rustic’ look comes straight from the gorgeous paper that I’ve used.  Definitely I’ll be hoarding a few extra packets of this paper so that I have a stash when it retires.

Which reminds me… there was a discussion recently between some stampers who were lamenting the fact that so many cards these days are made using ‘ready made products’ rather than making interesting backgrounds with ink, rubber stamps and other stamping stuff.  I must admit I used to feel this way but these days I figure that whatever it is that you use which makes you cardmaking experience a happy one is just fine.  If you prefer to make your own backgrounds with sprays and ink and rubber stamps then fantastic, I certainly still do that too.  But if you want to make a card that primarily uses patterned paper like I did with this card (except for the stamped bird and sentiment) then I think that’s fine too.  I really enjoyed making this card and love the fact that everything coordinates.  Anyway, seems to be a bit of a hot topic sometimes with stampers, so let me know what you think… anything goes? do you enjoy one way of cardmaking over another? I’d love to know.

If you are on Facebook then please jump over to my Facebook page and click like. For those not on Facebook, here’s the sketch that I uploaded there the other day:

And here’s a list of Stampin’ Up! products that I used to create this card:

Rubber Stamps:
Nature Walk
Clearly For You (for you sentiment)

Cardstock & Paper:
Early Espresso
Naturals Ivory
Botanical Gazette

Inkpad and Other Colouring Items:
Early Espresso
Stampin’ Pastels (chalks – Not Quite Navy, Marina Mist, Old Olive, Early Espresso)
So Saffron Marker

Tools:
Big Shot
Ovals die (for the Big Shot)
Scallop Trim Border Punch
Modern Label Punch

Accessories:
Early Espresso 1/8″ Taffeta Ribbon
Victoria Crochet Trim
Linen Thread
Designer Buttons (Neutrals)

Adhesives:
SNAIL
Stampin’ Dimensionals
Glue Dots

Share this article:

After posting the card in my last blog post I decided to use the same stamp set to create a card that was a little different.   The last card had a shabby-chic feel with pretty colours so this time I’m posting a card that’s done in Black & White (okay, Black & Vanilla) using the same stamp set.

You can see I’ve used the same bird as in the last card but this time I’ve made it all sparkly and glittery.  I wanted to keep the black/white theme but still wanted the bird to stand out so I stamped it in Versamark then covered the image with Heat & Stick Powder, heated it with a heat gun then covered it with glitter.  After pouring off the excess glitter, I gave it another quick shot with the heat gun just to set the glitter.  If you want a visual on how to do this then click here to see an older blog post with step-by-step photos, it’s using a different stamp but the technique is the same.

I know it’s a bit sad, but I get quite excited when I find stamps that match with my punches or dies that aren’t specifically made to match (is this a cardmakers’ thing? or is it just that working with Stampin’ Up! products I keep looking for matchies?).  Anyway, I was very pleased to find out that I could stamp the flourish frame image from Stampin’ Up!’s Notably Ornate stamp set beautifully inside the Top Note die which I cut out with the Big Shot.  And it doesn’t look like they’re made for each other but I do like the way the “just because” sentiment fits inside one of the die-cuts from the Lots of Tags set of dies.

So there’s my little challenge done.  I love to be able to create quite contrasting cards using the same stamps or products, I always feel like I’m getting good value out of my stamps and tools and it’s a fun little creative challenge.  Maybe you’d like to do the same, create a totally different style of card using some stamps that you usually use in one particular style.

Here’s a list of products I’ve used to make this card. Email me to order any of  these or other Stampin’ Up! products.

Rubber Stamps:
Notably Ornate

Cardstock & Paper:
Basic Black
Very Vanilla
Newsprint Designer Series Paper

Inkpad:
Basic Black

Tools:
Big Shot
Top Note Die
Lots of Tags Dies
Paper Piercer (just around the inside of the tag, the perforations around the Top Note are made by the die itself)

Accessories:
Basic Jewels
Black Satin Ribbon

Adhesives:
SNAIL
Stampin’ Dimensionals

Share this article:

Isn’t it funny the way ideas for cards start?  Most of the time I’m wanting to make a card for a particular person so I look for an image and colours to suit.  This time I was just making a card for no reason and the ideas started with the scallop circle die-cut that’s in the middle of the card.  I had an idea that I wanted something tactile/textured and scallopy in the middle of my card so I started by cutting out the large scallop circle with the Big Shot, then ran it through the Big Shot again in an embossing folder to give the pattern.  After that everything else seemed to just come together.

Whenever I make a card I place all my elements onto the card as if everything is stuck down before I start adhering things so that I can see if the card is going to look right to me.  In this case the scallop circle looked like it was ‘floating’ a bit so I used the Tasteful Trim die on the Big Shot to cut out the double scallop edge strip to visually anchor the scallop circle.   So after this was done and the bow was added, I adhered the scallop circle to the yellow patterned paper (which I sponged around the edge) and then added the stamped images from Stampin’ Up!’s Notably Ornate stamp set.  I used these images because I thought that they would go well with a number of occasions until I decided what sentiment to add.

Technique Tip: Next time you punch out a shape with your punches or you use your die-cutting machine, try also adding some texture to your shape/die-cut by dry embossing it.  You’ll find it adds extra interest to your card without bulk and gives you a very ‘ooh I need to run my fingers over this card!’ look.

Product Tip: The Tasteful Trim die is great to use for those times when you don’t have ribbon in a particular colour you want or if you want your card to be a bit ‘flatter’ for cheaper mailing.

Well, there’s a cheerful card on a dreary Sydney autumn day.  I hope you had a lovely Easter and that you are enjoying ANZAC day today.

So how do you start your cards? Do you start with a person in mind or just a particular stamp you want to use? or maybe some other idea?

Here’s a list of products I’ve used to make this card. Email me to order any of  these or other Stampin’ Up! products.

Rubber Stamps:
Notably Ornate
Fabulous Phrases

Cardstock & Paper:
Pear Pizazz textured cardstock
Designer Series Patterned Paper Stack (Subtles – So Saffron and Pear Pizazz)

Inkpad:
Pear Pizazz
So Saffron (for sponging around the oval, bird and ‘friend’)
Marina Mist
Perfect Plum

Tools:
Big Shot
Scallop Circle Die
Tasteful Trim Die
Finial Press Embossing Folder
Sponge Daubers

Accessories:
Basic Jewels
Daffodil Delight Striped Grosgrain Ribbon
Designer Buttons
Linen Thread

Adhesives:
SNAIL
Stampin’ Dimensionals (to glue down the buttons)

Share this article:

Yes I’m still here! An apology for the drought of 3 weeks without blogging, I haven’t been feeling very well and so I decided that it was best that I didn’t unleash my foggy brain on to the public during this time.  I have been creating though and so I do have some cards to share with you all.

Oh how I love this butterfly! I do have a ‘thing’ for butterfly stamps but the elegance of this image makes my heart sing.  To make the centrepiece I used a piece of shimmer cardstock which I cut out into an oval with the Big Shot then stamped the words image from Stampin’ Up!’s Strength & Hope stamp set onto the oval using Crumb Cake ink and sponged the edges of the card.  The butterfly was stamped directly on top then an other butterfly image was stamped onto a separate piece of cardstock, cut out, then adhered on top (just the centre, the wings are free) that way there’s still a shadow image of the butterfly underneath when you’re looking at the card in real life.

I really do love the look of stitching on cards but I have to admit I’m too lazy to pull out the sewing machine just to stitch some cardstock, so the pink patterned paper that goes across the whole card has tiny holes pierced around the edges then I used a white gel pen to ‘join the dots’ giving a stitched look.

Style Tip: For a shabby chic look go for soft colours and don’t be afraid to mix several patterns and colours together, you can tie them together with some vanilla/white accessories to soften the look a bit.  Anything to do with lace and flowers goes beautifully on a shabby chic card. Don’t be afraid to use lots of embellishments! I admit I’ve used a lot of accessories here but I decided they were much better used on a card than sitting in my craft room unused.

If you have any questions at all on this card (or comments!) please feel free to leave a comment on my blog.

Well that’s it for today, I do have more cards to share so I will be back soon.  In the meantime, Happy Easter!

Email me to order any of these Stampin’ Up! products.

Rubber Stamps:
Strength & Hope stamp set ($2 from the sale of this stamp set goes to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation)

Cardstock & Paper:
Bashful Blue textured cardstock
Greenhouse Gala patterned paper
Subtles Designer Series Patterned Paper Stack (in Pink Pirouette)
Shimmer cardstock

Inkpad:
Marina Mist
Crumb Cake

Tools:
Big Shot
Ovals die
Top Note Die
Sponge Daubers
Designer Label Punch
Paper Piercer and Mat Pack

Accessories:
Basic Pearls
Basic Jewels
Linen Thread
Victoria 5/8″ Crochet Trim
Fleurettes II (crochet flower)
Paper Daisies
Green Rhinestone Brads (Circle Ice)
Hodgepodge (metal label holder)
White Gel Pen
Subtles Designer Buttons

Adhesives:
SNAIL
Stampin’ Dimensionals
Glue Dots

Share this article: