The beauty of having a daughter who also loves papercrafts is that when I receive my new Stampin’ Up! catalogues I have someone right there with me to get excited and pour over all the new beautiful products.  When the Idea Book & Catalogue came out last September one of the stamp sets that my daughter chose as her favourite was the Up, Up & Away stamp set that features hot air balloons and she couldn’t wait for me to order it so she could get her hands on it.  So the other day when I was making her birthday card I knew exactly which set I’d use as a change from the usual flowers and butterflies.

Easy technique tip: You’re probably wondering already if I’ve used a punch to punch out those balloons – nope!  I cut them out super quickly with some small sharp scissors.  The trick to making your cutting look as neat as possible is to leave a thin border around your image.  So when when you adhere your image to the cardstock the edges fade into the background and your eye isn’t drawn to any dodgy cutting.  Also, if you’re new to all this – try keeping your scissors in the one place and move your cardstock around while you cut, this gives you a much smoother border

Happy 14th Birthday Jade!!!

Style tip:  I think this card would also work well for a masculine birthday card.  Simply change the ribbon to one that’s not ruffled and use some different brads or embellishments.  I’d probably also change the punched out shape behind the sentiment, maybe just stamp the sentiment straight onto an oval. I think you could even use the same papers/colours as the patterns are quite generic.

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

Rubber Stamps:
Up, Up & Away

Cardstock & Paper:
Whisper White
Pool Party
Everyday Enchantment Patterned Paper (free! out of the Sale-a-bration brochure)

Inkpads/Markers:
Lucky Limeade inkpad
Pool Party inkpad & matching marker (the fine point of the marker was used to make the dots around the sentiment)
Calypso Coral inkpad
Chocolate Chip inkpad

Tools:
1 1/4″ Square Punch
Decorative Label Punch

Accessories:
Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon
Everyday Enchantment Brads (free! out of the Sale-a-bration brochure)

Adhesives:
SNAIL
Stampin’ Dimensionals

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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)

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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

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So a little while back I posted a photo of the invitation I made for my daughter Jade’s 13th birthday.  Today I’m posting the birthday card for her. Although her birthday theme was ‘pink & green’, I decided to make her card Rose Red & Orange simply because I know she really likes the patterned paper I have in those colours. At the bottom of this post after all the card stuff I have some photos of the dessert table that I organised for Jade’s birthday party. You really have to scroll down and have a look.

This card measures 6″ x 6″ and the background is actually patterned paper, I haven’t done anything to it – the element in the bottom right hand side that looks like clear embossing is actually part of the paper.  The ‘happy birthday’ greeting was stamped onto a piece of vanilla cardstock that I die cut using the “Lots of Tags” die(s) by Stampin’ Up! Actually I cut three of these die-cuts, the other two were in Rose Red cardstock and I simply trimmed the right and left hand sides so that they layer nicely underneath the happy birthday greeting.

Style Tips: I’ve used 5 different patterned papers on this card! Use patterned paper from a single collection or paper pack if you’d like to be able to mix papers without the card (or scrapbooking layout!) looking too busy.  Another tip: To highlight a die-cut, use a marker to gently go around the edge of a die-cut image such as the circle I have used on this card. I didn’t want to use another circle slightly larger under it but it also seemed to not looks as strong under the greeting due to the paler colour – this is fixed by highlighting around the edge with the marker which matches the darker cardstock.

All products are by Stampin’ Up! and available for purchase through me.

Rubber Stamps:
Well Scripted

Cardstock & Paper:
Very Vanilla cardstock
Rose Red textured cardstock
Sweet & Sour Specialty Paper

Inkpad:
Rose Red inkpad and matching marker

Tools:
Big Shot
Lots of Tags dies
Beautiful Wings die
Circles #2 die

Accessories:
Basic Jewels
Vanilla Satin Ribbon

Adhesives:
SNAIL
Stampin’ Dimensionals

And now some photos of the Dessert Table from Jade’s birthday..

Dessert Table was done by Mrs A In The Cove

Look at those gorgeous handbags!

A close-up of the little Louis Vuitton handbag.  These amazing cupcakes were made by Blissfully Sweet.

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It’s my daughter’s 13th birthday coming up very soon and while her friends are expecting an invite via Facebook or email, there’s no way we weren’t going to take the opportunity to make up a cute card as the invitation.  So here’s the finished product, designed by my daughter Jade with my help.

Jade’s birthday party is going to be a theme of pink and green so she chose Melon Mambo and Pear Pizzaz as her colours for the card.  She likes a nice clean looking and modern card so we decided to stick to a simple design of a cupcake within brackets.  The white background was done on the Big Shot using Stampin’ Up!’s Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  The cupcake is a die called Big Bold Birthday which comes in separate pieces so you can cut out the different elements in different papers.  My favourite part of the card is the cherry on top!  This was made using the Itty Bitty Buttons – I just punched out the scallop shape that matches the Itty Bitty Button and glued it to the bottom of the button then topped the button with a rhinestone.

So there’s the card.  After the birthday I’ll come back with photos of other elements of the party to show the pink & green theme in action.

All products are by Stampin’ Up!

Cardstock & Paper:
Whisper White
Melon Mambo
Pear Pizzazz
Designer Series Pattern Paper Stack – InColour (green dotty paper)
Raspberry Tart (retired paper for the top of the cupcake)

Tools:
Big Shot
Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder
Big Bold Birthday die
Hearts & Brackets die

Accessories:
Itty Bitty Buttons
Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack
Basic Jewels (self-adhesive rhinestone)

Adhesives:
SNAIL
Stampin’ Dimensionals

If you have any questions about this card or would like to purchase Stampin’ Up! products please feel free to email me.

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I’m sharing a clean and simple birthday card with you all today.  So not my regular method of making cards but it’s fun to get out of the comfort zone every now and then.

The main image is stamped directly onto the Whisper White base card (that’s where the panic sets in for me but I got it right first go – genius huh?) I then coloured in the image with markers.  Usually I colour using a blender pen or aquapainter but since the colours I was using are quite soft, I coloured directly with the marker onto the cardstock (except for the Chocolate Chip).  To get a little variation in tone I made sure that I left some white spots when colouring and also held the marker a little lighter in some areas.

And because I get real antsy if I don’t add some sort of embellishment to a card, I added a strip of punched cardstock with a touch of patterned paper and some pearls to the scalloping.

I’d love to hear what you think of ‘clean & simple’ cards.  Do you prefer making this style? Do you find it a challenge? Your style/not your style?

Here’s a list of the products I’ve used to make this card.  All products are by Stampin’ Up! and are available for purchase through me.

Rubber Stamps:
Birthday Bakery

Inkpads and Markers:
StazOn Jet Black
Chocolate Chip inkpad
Pink Pirouette marker
Pretty in Pink marker
Rose Red marker
So Saffron marker
Pear Pizazz marker

Cardstock & Paper:
Whisper White
Pink Pirouette textured cardstock
Pink Pirouette patterned paper (Subtles paper stack)

Accessories:
Basic Pearls

Tools:
Scallop Trim Border Punch

Adhesives:
SNAIL

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It’s so tempting to use browns with all masculine cards but I had to make a birthday card for a friend who I think would suit something a bit more of a clean and trendy in style rather than rugged.  And do you notice something? Ribbon and rhinestone on a masculine card, yeah I’m really living on the wild side now aren’t I?  Yep, I made the executive decision that it was perfectly fine to use ribbon as long as there were no bows and fine to use a rhinestone tastefully    I think that embellishment looks like a nice cufflink anyway.

Here’s something else too… I usually reserve gingham paper for feminine cards like this one but in this case I think it goes well with the stripes and fits in fine with the masculine look.  I find it interesting that the same paper can be used on a woman’s card and a masculine card and still fit in well – gotta love versatility.

So do you think this card is still masculine despite the ribbon, rhinestone and gingham?

Here’s a list of the Stampin’ Up! products I’ve used in this card

Rubber Stamps:
Birthday Block (single stamp!)

Inkpads:
Baja Breeze

Cardstock & Paper:
Baja Breeze
Kiwi Kiss
Basic Gray textured
Urban Garden
Sweet Slumber Textured Designer Series Paper
Whisper White

Accessories:
Hooray Designer Hardware (Autumn/Winter 2010 Mini catalogue)
Clear Rhinestone Brad

Tools:
Crop-a-dile (for the jumbo eyelet)

Adhesives:
SNAIL Adhesive
Stampin’ Dimensionals

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I don’t know what to call this style.  It seems so different for me and I can’t put my finger on it.  Maybe shabby sweet? Feel free to enlighten me on what I’ve made here. LOL.

I started this card based on the patterned paper rather than the stamp which is a bit different for me too – since the Sweet Slumber paper promotion started yesterday I remembered how much I oohed and ahhed over the paper when I opened it so I decided I should cut into it.  I’m pretty good about cutting into paper these days rather than hoarding it but for some reason this one escaped my clutches for a while.  I wanted to make a birthday card for my 2 year old niece so I thought the dotty paper would work well, the colour scheme for the card came straight from the patterned paper – very handy that.  Then out of all the birthday stamps I decided to go with the cupcakes simply because I love this image so much.  By the way, the scalloped strip of card at the bottom that’s gingham – that’s the other side of the dotty paper, so I just used a strip of the same paper but used the other side of it.

The main image on the card was stamped in Stazon and then coloured in with the ink from my inkpads and a blender pen.  The oval looked a bit to crisp and bland for the card so I sponged some So Saffron ink around the edges of the oval and also added some tiny dots around the oval using the fine end of a pink marker.

So that’s it.  I’m really happy with the way this card has turned out so I might take the plunge and make some more cards using the rest of that Sweet Slumber paper.

As usual, if you have any questions or comments I’d love to hear them

All products used in this card are by Stampin’ Up! and available for purchase through me.

Rubber Stamps:
Crazy for Cupcakes

Inkpads/Markers:
Pink Pirouette
Baja Breeze
So Saffron
Riding Hood Red
Pretty in Pink marker

Cardstock & Paper:
Pink Pirouette Textured cardstock
Riding Hood Red cardstock
Sweet Slumber Textured Designer Series Paper (on sale
Very Vanilla

Accessories:
Button Bouquet
Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon
Pink Pirouette Striped Grosgrain Ribbon

Tools:
1/2″ circle punch (to punch out the circles stuck behind the main image which look like scalloping)
Blender Pen
Big Shot
Ovals Die (to work with Big Shot)
Eyelet Border Punch
Sponge Daubers (for sponging around the dotty paper and around the oval shape)

Adhesives:
SNAIL Adhesive
Stampin’ Dimensionals
Glue Dot (to adhere the buttons)

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So what do you do when you have a card to make for a 10 year old girl and you don’t know much about her?  I decided to go with glitter, flowers, a butterfly, ribbon and a rhinestone.  I’m hoping somewhere there I’ve hit on something she likes!  Actually a little trick I use when I don’t know the likes & dislikes of of someone I’m making a birthday card for is to either use their name or age as the main image on the card.  Maybe this idea will help you out too.

I like to keep a stash of chipboard and Sticky Cuts for these sorts of cards.  With this birthday card I used Stampin’ Up!’s Sticky Cuts – so easy, I just peeled the numbers 1 and 0 off the sheet and placed them onto some white cardstock then peeled off the protective covering and dumped the glitter on to it.  You need to make sure you press down the glitter firmly with your fingers and then pour off the excess glitter – the Sticky Cuts are super strong so the glitter stays put.  Because I’ve used Chunky Glitter here I also dumped some ultra fine glitter (Dazzling Diamonds) over the top to fill in any gaps.  I could have left it as it was because the gaps really aren’t noticeable but I think it gives an nice extra sparkle to the card.  The butterfly on the card was done by using Stampin’ Up!’s Butterfly Punch, I just punched out two butterflies – one in Melon Mambo and the other in Pink Pirouette textured cardstock then attached them to each other with the Rhinestone brad.

Time to pack this card up now and get ready for the party

All products used in this card are by Stampin’ Up! and available for purchase through Angela Sargeant

Rubber Stamps:
Daisy Dash Stampin’ Around Wheel

Inkpads/Markers:
Certainly Celery inkpad

Cardstock & Paper:
Melon Mambo cardstock
Certainly Celery cardstock
Whisper White cardstock
Pink Pirouette textured cardstock

Accessories:
Letters Sticky Cuts
Melon Mambo Polka Dot Ribbon
Chunky Green Glitter
Clear Rhinestone Brad

Tools:
Butterfly Punch

Adhesives:
SNAIL Adhesive
Stampin’ Dimensionals

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Bright card alert! Get your sunglasses on!  Well if you can’t pull out the bright colours for a kids card then when can you?  I must admit I’m usually confounded by making kids cards but I figure that anything with lollies has to be a hit with the kids.  I made this card for my son’s friend who is celebrating his birthday today.

The gumball machine was stamped and then stamped again, cut out and layered on top of the original image to give a 3D effect.  The 1 3/4″ circle punch is the perfect size for the gumball machine image and also fits the Sweet Treats Cup perfectly.  I filled the cup with Skittles and also made an opening at the back with a pull-tag at the side so that the birthday boy could pull open the tag to get to the Skittles without having to destroy the card.

Please note that all the rubber stamps used in this card are only available until 31st March 2010 when the Australian Summer Mini Catalogue ends.  As usual, we never know which products from the mini catalogues will end up transferring to the main catalogue so if you like the rubber stamps used above and would like to purchase them then please email me today.

Rubber Stamps:
Sweet Somethings (Australian Summer Mini Catalogue)

Inkpads & Colouring:
Pacific Point
Only Orange
Yoyo Yellow
Green Galore

Cardstock & Paper:
Whisper White
Pacific Point
Green Galore

Accessories:
Pacific Point Striped Ribbon
Sweet Treat Cups

Tools:
1 3/4″ Circle Punch
Designer Label Punch
1″ Circle Punch
Oval Punch

Adhesives:
SNAIL Adhesive
Stampin’ Dimensionals

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