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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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This is one of the cards that I made when I was asked to present at the Stampin’ Up! Australia Regional training in Sydney a couple of months ago.  My presentation was on creating vintage style cards so I thought I’d share one of the cards here with my personal tips on making vintage style cards.

For me, layering is a big thing when it comes to vintage.  That doesn’t mean you have to keep adding more and more things to your card – although I have a few embellishments they are subtle rather than heavy.  The layering I’m talking about adds depth and interest to the card.  For this card I started off with patterned paper that looks like a vintage newspaper, this by itself is quite busy but I was still able to add layers without it looking ‘messy’.  The first layer I added was to stamp over the patterned paper – again, sounds strange for busy paper but it works because I used a swirl background stamp which I find compliments the straight lines of the writing.  The next layer was some sponging of So Saffron ink around the edges of the cardstock then sponging of Cajun Craze ink over the top to create a warm and worn look.  Last layer was a spritzing of gold shimmer to give the card a bit of a glow.  So that’s 4 layers over the patterned paper.  The rest of the card is self-explanatory, I just added some small touches so that when you look at the card in person you think “oh, look at that, and that”.   Below I’ve listed my hints and tips in point form to make it easier to read.

Vintage style hints and tips:

• Use cream coloured card as your stamping base rather than white.  Good colours to use are Very Vanilla, Natural Ivory or Confetti Cream.
• Use lots of layers of stamped images such as swirl background over the newspaper print and ink spritzing
• Sponging, sponging and more sponging!  Sponge more than one colour around the edges of a main layer.  You can also sponge lightly over your stamped image (I did this with So Saffron over the Eiffel Tower)
• Use lace where you can, doesn’t need to be much – just to add some visual interest
• Little embellishments like tiny safety pins, rhinestones and pearls work well
• Age the edges, on this card I tore the bottom of the card with the main image.  I also used the point of my paper piercer to get a nice rolled corner of card then brought attention to it with the rhinestone.

Hope you’ve found my hints and tips on Vintage Style Stamping helpful

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

Rubber Stamps:
Artistic Etchings
French Filigree background stamp

Cardstock & Paper:
Naturals Ivory
Cajun Craze
Early Espresso
Newsprint Designer Series Paper

Inkpad:
Crumb Cake (to stamp the swirl background)
So Saffron (for sponging)
Cajun Craze (for sponging)
Early Espresso (stamping)

Tools:
Sponge Dauber

Accessories:
Basic Pearls
Basic Jewels (self-adhesive rhinestone)
Antique brad
Chantilly Crochet Trim
Vintage Trinkets (safety pin)
Gold Glow Smooch Spritz

Adhesives:
SNAIL
Stampin’ Dimensionals

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I was lucky enough to receive the gorgeous Bella Toile background stamp as one of my awards at the last Stampin’ Up! Convention and now that the new catalogue has been released today, I can show off a card that I made a few weeks ago with this stamp.

It looks like it would take a long time to colour but it’s quite quick really.  I stamped the background using Chocolate Chip ink then just used a blender pen to drag the colour into to the swirls to shade them in.  More colour was added in various spots to add some depth.  Because the image is quite strong I decided to only add a sentiment and some embellishments.  The ‘congratulations’ sentiment is from the Perfect Punches stamp set.  Sounds like a weird name for a stamp set, but it’s called that because each of the stamps in this set coordinate perfectly with one of Stampin’ Up!’s punches.  By the way! if you’ve received your new 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue then you probably have noticed that some of the images of our stamps have an outline around them – that’s to identify which of the Stampin’ Up! punches coordinates perfectly with that image.  Of course there’s lots of images that work beautifully with our punches but the ones that have the outline are the ones that have a specific matching punch.

So, hope you like my card.  I’ve listed below all the products I’ve used but if you have any questions at all about this card or if you would like to purchase any Stampin’ Up! products then please feel free to email me.

Rubber Stamps:
Bella Toile background stamp
Perfect Punches (congratulations image)

Inkpads/Markers:
Chocolate Chip
Rich Razzleberry
Old Olive

Cardstock & Paper:
Whisper White
Gold Brushed
Rich Razzleberry
Old Olive Textured

Accessories:
Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon
Pearls
Linen Thread (to thread through the buttons)
Button Latte (now retired buttons)

Tools:
Paper Piercer (to pierce holes around the scalloped oval)
Scallop Oval Punch
Wide Oval Punch
Blender Pen

Adhesives:
SNAIL Adhesive
Stampin’ Dimensionals
Glue Dots

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One more day until the new 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue from Stampin’ Up! Australia is released to the public!  So one day before, here’s a card that I made using my favourite stamp set from the new catalogue.

I just realised I don’t have any embellishments on this card!  That would be because I’m waiting for the new embellishments but I don’t think it looks too bad without it.  Here’s how I made this card:

1.  Take a shipping tag (not Stampin’ Up!, just any shipping tag) and lightly stamp En Francais background stamp using River Rock ink then use the Spritzing Tool to add some blotches.  I used Sahara Sand marker in the Spritzing Tool as I don’t have a River Rock marker as yet.  Sponge the edges of the tag using Bravo Burgundy ink then drag the edges of the tag around the inkpad to add more colour.

2.  Stamp the Eiffel Tower onto the tag using Bravo Burgundy ink then wrap some Linen Thread around the tag.  Stamp the crown onto some scrap Very Vanilla cardstock, cut it out and mount onto the tag with dimensionals.

3. Tear a piece of the ledger-style paper from the Newsprint Designer Series Paper and lightly dab the River Rock inkpad over it.  Stamp the paper with the En Francais background stamp and River Rock inkpad then stamp over that with the circle motif in Bravo Burgundy.

4. Using the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and the Big Shot, dry emboss a piece of Crumb Cake* cardstock.  Adhere this embossed cardstock onto a piece of black cardstock then adhere the ledger-style paper your prepared before onto the embossed Crumb Cake cardstock.  Place a length of Linen Thread over the join and adhere to the back with some sticky tape.  Mount this piece onto a folded piece of Bravo Burgundy cardstock.

5.  Adhere the shipping tag to your card then stamp the word ‘AMOUR’ using black ink onto a scrap piece of Naturals Ivory cardstock, cut it out with scissors, rough up the edges with your fingernail then add a little colour around this using the River Rock inkpad.  Adhere to the card as shown in the photo.

Done!  So that’s vintage style using the Artistic Etchings stamp set.  Many people seem to have problems creating vintage style but it’s just all about adding layers of images, texture and adding depth and warmth with ink – in this case, sponging and dabbing but there’s lots of different ways to do this.

Here’s the list of products I’ve used for easy reference:

Rubber Stamps:
Artistic Etchings stamp set
En Francais background stamp

Inkpads/Markers:
Black inkpad
Bravo Burgundy inkpad
River Rock inkpad
Sahara Sand marker

Cardstock & Paper:
Bravo Burgundy cardstock
Basic Black cardstock
Crumb Cake cardstock *(formerly known as Kraft)
Newsprint Designer Series Paper
Shipping Tag (not Stampin’ Up! – just from your local stationery store)

Accessories:
Linen Thread

Tools:
Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder
Big Shot
Sponge Dauber

Adhesives:
SNAIL Adhesive
Stampin’ Dimensionals

If you don’t have your new 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue but would like one, please email me.  Of course I can also help you out if you’d like to purchase any Stampin’ Up! products.

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If you’ve been wondering where on earth I’ve been, I’ve been very busy here in my craft room doing some work for the gorgeous Notebook Magazine.  Here is one of the cards I designed for Notebook Magazine to use at their Paperbar at the Stitches & Craft Show.  I hope that everyone who got to make this card (or one of my other projects) enjoyed the creative time.

This card uses my absolute favourite Stampin’ Wheel, it’s called ‘Very Vintage’.  The matching stamp set is “Vintage Vogue” and both are from the new 2010 Winter Mini Catalogue.

I’ve also been preparing for some classes that I’ll be teaching for Notebook Magazine at their studios in Alexandria, Sydney.  If you’d like to take a class with me – I’ll be teaching the first class on 19th June 2010.  I’ll put a link up as soon as one is available but please feel free to email me for more information.

What else? Well I was lucky enough to be invited to afternoon tea with the wonderful staff members of Notebook Magazine along with some other inspirational ladies who do a variety of crafts such as sewing, quilting, scrapbooking and cake decorating and more.  As soon as I can beg for some photos I’ll put them up here.  It was a wonderful afternoon with champagne and gourmet cupcakes – what a way to spend a Friday afternoon!

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