And here I was posting daily, all was wonderful until I ended up with a child at home with stomach pains and me with barely any internet.  I’m still trying to figure it out if it was me or the kids that sucked up all the internet but I’ll blame them   So.. blogging was a challenge to say the least.  I think I need to make it up to you all so I’m posting a Sneak Peek today of some products from our upcoming Annual Catalogue (previously known as ‘Idea Book & Catalogue’).

This is still my first go at using this stamp set and matching paper so I’m keen to try out quite a few different things with this one.

In the meantime, products from the current Idea Book & Catalogue are selling out… here’s what’s sold out completely so far:

Stampin’ Scrub Replacement Pads
Peach Parfait ink refill
Dotto refill
Concord Crush ink refill
More Mustard Marker
3/16″ Gold Brads
Pear Pizzazz ink refill
Poppy Parade ink refill
Stack & Store Containers
Circle cutter replacement blades
Christmas Greetings stamp
Confetti White CS A4
Blushing Bride ink refill
Blushing Bride CS
5-petal flower punch
Color Caddy Extender Kit
Stampin’ Around Wheel Storage – Standard size
Timeless Type Junior Alphabet Dies
Concorde Crush CS A4
Well Worn Designer Series Paper
Mini Library Clips

Sold Out Stamps
Just Surfing
D is for Dog
Curvy Verses
Shot & Sweet
Calendar Alphabet & Numbers

I’m cheating a little today and showing you a card that I made a little while ago.  I was going through my photos and found it so I thought I’d share it.

I kept the main part of the card very simple because the middle part is quite fancy. The patterned paper has been sponged around the edges with Crumb Cake ink.  The flourish frame is actually patterned paper from the same patterned paper pack as the ‘chicken wire’ paper (Beau Chateau) and I cut that out with some small scissors.

The oval in the centre is vanilla cardstock which I die-cut with the Big Shot and I then stamped the Fine Flourish stamp with Pink Pirouette onto it.  I then stamped the ‘S’ over the top of it with Marina Mist ink.  Here’s how to do the ‘frilly lace ribbon’ around the oval: put Sticky Strip (very very strong double-sided tape) around the edges of the back of the oval then stick one end of the lace ribbon down and keep gathering the ribbon while pressing it down onto the tape.  This is way way easier than it sounds and you don’t have to be perfect with it, it just turns out great anyway.  The finishing touch was to press down some self-adhesive pearls around the perimeter of the oval.  That was super easy too because the pack of pearls come with a few strips of joined pearls so you can just pick up a strip and stick it down.  Of course if you want to use them separately you want too by snipping each one off.

I hope you like this idea for a monogram card.  You can use it as a birthday card or thank you or whatever you like – just add your sentiment to the inside

If you have any questions about the card or products I’ve used, or if you wish to purchase any Stampin’ Up! products, please feel free to email me.

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

Rubber Stamps:
Lovely Letters (the ‘S’ monogram)
Fine Flourish (stamped lightly under the ‘S’)

Cardstock & Paper:
Early Espresso cardstock
Soft Suede cardstock
Very Vanilla cardstock
Beau Chateau Designer Series Paper

Inkpads/Markers/Paint:
Pink Pirouette (the flourish stamped under the ‘S’)
Marina Mist (the ‘S’)
Crumb Cake (aka Kraft) inkpad (for sponging)

Tools:
Big Shot
Ovals Die

Accessories:
Chantilly Lace Trim
Basic Pearls
Crumb Cake (aka Kraft) Seam Binding

Adhesives:
SNAIL
Sticky Strip
Stampin’ Dimensionals (foam dots)

I’m a bit torn over this card.  I really like it because it’s my style, but I feel like it might need more?  I don’t know… I started to add pearls to the scallops then took them off.  I started to put buttons on the card then never glued them down.  I think it looks fine as it is but then also wonder if it needs more ‘stuff’ on it to look finished.  I don’t know.

Okay, so I couldn’t settle so I went and glued down some buttons and photographed it again, LOL.  Here’s the ‘upgraded’ version of the same card.  Which one looks best?

The patterned papers were cut to size and I sponged some Crumb Cake (Kraft) ink around the edges then adhered them to some pink cardstock which was also sponged (pink sponging).

I decided on the greeting ‘fabulous’ because I thought it could stand for many things depending on what I wrote inside the card.  The ‘fabulous’ greeting was stamped in Soft Suede which I was surprised to see worked really well with the gold embossed frame that I stamped it in.  Actually I stamped the frame first in Versamark, gold embossed it and then I cheated and used a Stamp-a-ma-jig (stamp positioner) to stamp the greeting so that it sat nicely in the centre.  I wasn’t going to risk stamping it crookedly then start the embossing all over again!  Then I cut around the frame with some small scissors.  I wasn’t sure how that would turn out as I always use punches or dies or cut straight around frames but surprisingly it looks okay.

I hope you’ve all had a great weekend! I didn’t do nearly as much crafting as I wanted to do, but then again that’s what my Mondays to Fridays are for   See you tomorrow!

If you have any questions about the card or products I’ve used, or if you wish to purchase any Stampin’ Up! products, please feel free to email me.

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

Rubber Stamps:
Creative Elements (frame stamp)
Fabulous Phrases (greeting)

Cardstock & Paper:
Crumb Cake (aka Kraft) Textured cardstock
Pink Pirouette cardstock
Beau Chateau Designer Series Paper

Inkpads/Markers/Paint:
Soft Suede inkpad
Versamark inkpad

Tools:
Heat gun
2 1/2″ Circle punch
2 3/8″ Scallop punch

Accessories:
Gold embossing powder
Antique brad
Victoria Lace Trim
Designer Buttons (Subtles & Neutrals) – optional

Adhesives:
SNAIL
Stampin’ Dimensionals (foam dots)

I have a confession to make   When I make a card for someone who’s not in the ‘card world’, I like to use heat embossing.  I remember when I first saw gold embossing and I was blown away that could be done by just anyone – not just Hallmark!  So now, I like to use gold embossing for non-stampers just so that I look extra clever, LOL.

It’s my Aunty’s birthday tomorrow and I wanted to make her a card that reflected her tastes.  The colours, the vintage style and images of fountain pens I think suits her perfectly.  It’s lovely to be able to dig through your stash of craft supplies and be able to find those bits and pieces that make a card individual for the person you’re making it for.

For this card I started with the patterned paper.  I thought the images on it were perfect so that was the starting point and theme for me.  The birthday greeting was heat embossed in gold and I’ll give you a little tip for when you’re wanting to heat emboss inside a frame.  I’ve tried this a few different ways and what I found the fastest and easiest way is to do your stamping and heat embossing first then do the dry embossing and die-cutting.  That way you don’t have to worry about stamping your greeting crooked.  To do this, I stamped the “Birthday Wishes” greeting with Versamark onto some Very Vanilla cardstock and dipped it into my gold embossing powder.  I like to keep my embossing powder in large plastic containers so that I can dip the whole cardstock in – it’s less mess than pouring your powder onto your image.  So, after your embossing powder is on, you use your heat gun to melt and emboss.  I then applied some Dotto (repositionable adhesive) on the back of the cardstock and placed it inside my embossing folder so that I could see the greeting nice and centred in the oval.  The Dotto kept my cardstock in place so it didn’t shift around when putting it through the Big Shot.  Once the oval was embossed I then die-cut around the oval with a Stampin’ Up! Framelit.  Sounds time consuming but it really only took minutes.

Some seam binding ribbon and a vintage brad finished off my card and kept to the whole ‘soft vintage’ theme I was going for.

Don’t forget, this gorgeous paper I’ve used is retiring in just over a week.  I’ve ordered myself 2 extra packs because I love it so much.

If you have any questions about the card or products I’ve used, or if you wish to purchase any Stampin’ Up! products, please feel free to email me.

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

Rubber Stamps:
Sincere Salutations

Cardstock & Paper:
Very Vanilla cardstock
Attic Boutique Designer Series Paper (retiring on 31st August 2012!)
Poppy Parade cardstock
Soft Suede Textured cardstock

Inkpads/Markers/Paint:
Versamark inkpad

Tools:
Heat Gun
Big Shot
Designer Frames Embossing Folder (two in the pack, I used the oval one)
Labels Collection Framelits Dies

Accessories:
Gold Embossing Powder
Very Vanilla Seam Binding
Antique Brads

Adhesives:
SNAIL
Stampin’ Dimensionals (foam dots)

So I’ve finally gotten over my issues with cutting into beautiful patterned paper only to now come up with the fear of running out of said beautiful paper.  Aaaahhh!  Can anyone relate?  The paper I’ve used here for this card was actually free (yes, you can get it free too, more info later) and so I’m thinking I’ll need to hoard several packets of it just so that I don’t run out too quick.

Have you ever had a little papercraft issue then solved it with a happy ending?  I did with this card.  I decided to stamp the main image using the same colours of the patterned paper (Lucky Limeade & Baja Breeze) but for the life of me I couldn’t find my Lucky Limeade marker.  What to do?  Easy, ink up the image with an inkpad (that I could find!) and then pick off the colour from the areas I wanted to colour blue with a blender pen, then colour those areas with my Baja Breeze marker.  In this case I decided I wanted the colouring a little more ‘blended’ so while I wiped off the green from the flowers with my blender pen, I didn’t do it so well that there was no colour at all – that way when I went over the flowers with the Baja Breeze marker, it came out a little mixed and looking like batik.

Technique Tip: picking off a colour with a blender pen to re-colour is great to do multi-colour stamping, but if you’re using a darker colour you don’t need to clean off the ink, simply go over the top of a light ink with your dark marker and it will cover it fine without messing up your marker.  You’ll want to make sure though that there is a significant difference between your shades.  I’ve done this very successfully with Stampin’ Up!’s Pool Party inkpad and Island Indigo markers.

So back to the free part… the patterned paper I’ve used here along with the stamp (which is part of the Fresh Vintage stamp set) is our of the new Sale-a-bration promotion which begins in Australia tomorrow.  More details tomorrow but the short story is that for every $100 purchased from Stampin’ Up! you can choose one Sale-a-bration product free.  In previous years we’ve only had stamps, this time there’s also patterned paper and a brad/ribbon pack available!

Inspiration strikes from anywhere!  Just jumping back in to edit this post… I forgot to add a photo of my inspiration for the layout of this card.

Photo from www.artforkids.net

The colour scheme of course is very different but you can see where the bow at the top with the vintage brad on my card was taken from the fabric/crown combo above the beds.  The centre section and then the strips at the bottom of my card taken from the ruffles from the bottom of the bed.  Maybe I’ll make another one but this time take inspiration from the gorgeous colour palette in this bedroom.

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

Rubber Stamps:
Fresh Vintage (free! out of the Sale-a-bration brochure)

Cardstock & Paper:
Baja Breeze
Lucky Limeade
Very Vanilla
Everyday Enchantment Patterned Paper (Sale-a-bration brochure)

Inkpads/Markers:
Lucky Limeade inkpad
Baja Breeze marker
Crumb Cake inkpad (for sponging edges)

Tools:
Big Shot
Scallop Square Duo Bigz Die (I used the larger of the two scalloped squares)
Sponge Dauber

Accessories:
Baja Breeze Seam Binding
Antique Brad
Designer buttons (Neutrals)
Linen Thread (threaded through the button)

Adhesives:
SNAIL
Stampin’ Dimensionals

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

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

Not all vintage cards have to be heavy and brown!  This card is probably the most ‘clean’ looking vintage style card I’ve made and I’m pretty happy with the way it’s turned out.  The patterned paper I used here reminds me of old fashioned wallpaper and I wanted to keep the card simple to show off the clean lines.

There’s really no special techniques that I’ve used on this card but a few things that might not be immediately obvious from the photo: The little flowers on the corners of the card were made by punching out some patterned paper (that matches the background paper) with one of Stampin’ Up!‘s Itty Bitty Punches, it’s kind of a clover/cross shape and I punched two of these, glued them on top of each other to make a flower then placed them on a soft pad and used the rounded end of a paint brush to push down on the centre of the flower to make the petals stand up a bit. A tiny rhinestone was added to the middle of each flower to finish them off.

Style Tip: To emphasis the stamped crown image in the middle of the card I used a couple rows of tiny pearls from Stampin’ Up!’s Basic Pearls.  In the pack of pearls along with the little individual self-adhesive pearls there’s also three rows of little pearls – so all I had to do was peel off the rows (I used about two and a half rows) and then places them around the perimeter of the oval that I had die-cut.

I’m hoping this style of card will be appreciated by anyone I send it to who likes vintage or might not be really into vintage style. What do you think? Is ‘clean’ vintage a happy medium?

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

Rubber Stamps:
Artistic Etchings
Tiny Tags

Cardstock & Paper:
Baja Breeze textured cardstock
Very Vanilla cardstock
Elegant Soirée designer series paper

Inkpad:
Early Espresso
So Saffron (for sponging around the oval and around the little tags)
Chocolate Chip (for sponging around the patterned paper)

Tools:
Big Shot
Ovals die
Sponge Daubers
Itty Bitty Shapes Punch (clover-ish shaped punch) – currently in the Stampin’ Up! Australia Summer Mini Catalogue
Jewellry Tag Punch
1/16″ Hole Punch

Accessories:
Basic Pearls
Antique Brads
Basic Jewels (a rhinestone on the centre of the crown and on the flowers)
Linen Thread
Marina Mist Satin Ribbon

Adhesives:
SNAIL
Stampin’ Dimensionals

Several years ago just after I became a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator, a new friend I had just met asked me what my job was, and as I was telling her about cardmaking she said to me that she didn’t think that you could make nice cards from rubber stamping.  I must admit in the first few seconds I felt a bit sad that someone would think that my hobby wouldn’t produce beautiful results but then I remembered she hadn’t seen any of my cards   Yesterday after I finished making this card for a friend, I remembered that conversation – well I have to admit that rubber stamping has never looked so good to me

Do you like how I did the scalloped square background?  The technique I used here was to die cut Stampin’ Up!‘s Presto Patterns specialty paper with a square scallop die then I sponged the paper with Pink Pirouette ink then went around the edges and sponged those with Rose Red ink going further into the middle lightly to give that soft look with defined edges.  Because the paper has a design already embossed into it in white gloss, the design of the paper just pops out when you sponge it.  After I did my sponging I lightly sprayed the whole square with Gold Smooch Spritz to give it a beautiful glow.  I must say I love the pink & gold colour combo!

Some other little touches I added were to very light sponge the oval part in the middle with some Champagne Shimmer Paint to give it a soft golden glow and also sponged around the edges of the oval very lightly with Rose Red ink and then some more shimmer paint was sponged around the edge.

Style tip: For a soft vintage look, try using only two colours in varying degrees of light/dark.  The pink and gold I think lends itself nicely to vintage style.  Also try layering your ribbon for real impact!

Here’s a close up for some detail:

So what do you think? How does rubber stamping measure up as far as cards go?

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

Rubber Stamps:
Friends 24/7 (‘here for you’ sentiment)
All A Flutter (butterfly stamp)

Cardstock & Paper:
Presto Patterns Specialty Paper
Pink Pirouette Textured cardstock
Brushed Gold cardstock
Rose Red Textured cardstock
Very Vanilla cardstock

Inkpad:
Rose Red
Pink Pirouette

Tools:
Big Shot
Lots of Tags die
Clear Large Scallop Square Die
Sponge daubers
Blender Pen (to colour in the butterfly)

Accessories:
Champagne Shimmer Paint
Basic Jewels (rhinestone added on top of each brad)
Antique Brads
Pink satin ribbon
Chantilly 1/2″ Crochet Trim
Gold Glow Smooch Spritz

Adhesives:
SNAIL
Stampin’ Dimensionals

Usually when I make cards I’m either “meh, could be better” or “ooh, I like this one”.  Well this time I’m really happy!  I know the card is very simple but I do love the look of Shabby Chic style and I’m excited that I managed it with an uncomplicated card.

The background is a stamp by Stampin’ Up! called “Bella Toile”.  I think this stamp is cool because you can stamp it plain in one colour or you can colour it in to make it quite rich looking.  The background was stamped with Pretty In Pink – a colour I very rarely reach for but now that I’ve seen how well it works for Shabby Chic, it’ll definitely get a workout.  The main embellishment on the card was made with a the “Lots of Tags” die on the Big Shot.  Actually I cut three tags out, one in the Vanilla and two in Pretty In Pink – I then simply snipped off the right and left hand bits that jut out from the pink die-cuts so that I could layer them under the Vanilla tag.

Style Tip: Want to try Shabby Chic?  Think dreamy soft floral images. Colours like Vanilla and Dusty Pink or Pale Blue and Vanilla work really well. If you’re not confident in mixing many colours together then stick to two main colours along with a neutral.  Soft edges like on the tag I used to stamp the sentiment on work well with Shabby Chic.  Also look at the words Shabby Chic and see how you can take inspiration there – the crochet trim I used is the Shabby, and the Satin ribbon underneath it is the Chic.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of this style!

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

Rubber Stamps:
Bella Toile (background)
Friends 24/7 (sentiment)

Cardstock & Paper:
Very Vanilla
Soft Suede
Chocolate Chip
Pretty In Pink textured cardstock

Inkpad:
Pretty In Pink (for the background and to sponge around all three tags)
Crumb Cake (to sponge lightly over the pink sponging on the vanilla tag and also sponge around the vanilla background)

Tools:
Sponge Dauber
Big Shot
Lots of Tags die

Accessories:
Pretty In Pink satin ribbon
Chantilly Crochet Trim
Basic Pearls

Adhesives:
SNAIL
Stampin’ Dimensionals