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Embossed Vellum

I made a card recently that involved embossing on a vellum overlay (you can see it here). I loved the effect so thought I'd play with the vellum again. The stamped images are from Artfully Asian (p48) and are embossed in my own little EP mix: it's roughly 3 parts silver Stamin' Emboss Powder (p148 IB&C) and 1 part Dazzling Diamonds glitter. Doesn't show up too well in this photo, but it looks so sparkly and.... well, dazzling! You could also try mixing black EP with glitter. That will sure give you a WOW.

This little "SunnyBoy" container (aka Sour Cream container), is made from a sheet of A4 Vellum cardstock (p133). Inside are some goodies for my lovely hostess at today's Stampin' Up!workshop (wave to Tanya!).

Mon Amie Tin

Here is the tin I covered for Mum's birthday, which was yesterday. Couldn't have her storing all her cards in an old shoebox now, could we?

The tin is covered in Le Jardin Designer Series paper, Vanilla taffetta ribbon and more pretties from the Pretties Kit, including the hat pin! Adhered and painted over with ModgePodge.

Beads from the Pretties Kit were threaded on to the ends of the ribbon. And because it is a firm fit, they stay on the ribbon without needing a knot!



The flower was dyed by dropping it into a small dish of Mellow Moss ink (from the reinker bottle) and a few drops of water. I sat it on a paper towel to absorb the extra moisture, and couldn't believe that it was dry in only 5 or 10 minutes. It created a lovely soft colour, and then I added highlights directly with a Bashful Blue marker. Glue dots were used to attach the flower to the tin and the half pearl to the flower.



Thanks for looking.

Pearls of Wisdom

I love using the flowers, beads and pearls from Stampin' Up!'s Pretties Kit (p144 Idea Book & Catalogue), but tend to only use them on 'special' cards. Crazy isn't it?! Put your hand up if you hate cutting into a gorgeous new sheet of scrapbooking paper. Well I'm a bit like that too but I tell myself that if I use it all up then I can buy some more!! Ha, works a treat every time. LOL :)

After using most of the Pretties Kit flowers as embellishments on tins, I'm left with quite a few half pearls. I found a lovely way to use them with the Le Jardin Designer Series paper (p134), and it was soooo easy. Just pop a mini glue dot on the back and attach to the flowers featured in the design of the paper.

Stay tuned for my next post where I'll be sharing a special project featuring more of the Pretties Kit.

Stamp set: Three Thoughts Simply Sent kit

Ink: Always Artichoke

Cardstock: River Rock, Mellow Moss, Very Vanilla

Other: Le Jardin Designer Series paper, Pretties Kit, corner rounder

September Stamp Club

Just a quick one today. I wanted to share one of the projects we're making at Stamp Club tomorrow. It's based on a card I was given by my upline Janine.

It will be this group's final month of stamp club for this round, but they enjoyed it so much they're all coming back for the next round starting in October. I'm looking forward to it girls - got heaps of great things planned!

If you would like info about joining one of my Stamp Clubs - or starting your own with a group of friends - just send me an email.

Stamps: Wild About You, Short & Sweet

Cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Very Vanills, Black

Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red, Old Olive, Summer Sun, Basic Black, Versamark

Other: 1 3/8" square punch, spiral punch, googly eye (on elephant)

Happy Fathers Day

I hope the special men in your lives are having a wonderful day. Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads, Grandpas, Daddies, Pops, Pa's.... Lets spoil them today.

This card features the Designer Series paper called Outlaw, and the coordinating colors of Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, Creamy Caramel and Very Vanilla.

Other accessories used in the Fathers Day card: Hodgepodge Hardware, eyelets, stamp from the Occassional Greetings stamp set, distressing tool from the Cutter Kit.

Congratulations to Felicite for winning the Designer Series paper and ribbon giveaway from a blog post last week. I'll be in touch with you shortly. And a big thanks to everyone who left a comment - keep them coming!

New Stamps

I love this new Season of Joy stamp set (p22 Spring Mini Catalogue)! It's a funny story, but I wasn't actually planning on getting this set. Really and truly :) But I was at a workshop the other week discussing the set with a fellow stamper and we were tossing up whether she should get this one or another one. And you know, the more I looked at it, the more I thought hmmmm I could do soooo many things with this set.

So thanks Leanne, looks like we both got it!!!

If you've got some stamps with swirly bits or scrolls (very technical terms, I know, but hey you know what I mean) try stamping a flower on the ends of each curl. It adds great definition to the image. For another interesting effect, try piercing (pricking) the paper along the line of dots.

So far I've made a scrapbook page, a gift box and quite a few cards with this set. The card above was a CASE from Nicole Lechelt.

Would you like to make it?

It is surprisingly quick and simple, and uses only stamps from Season of Joy. It's one of my workshop Make & Take projects, so if you want to get together and make this card with some friends just contact me and we'll set it up!

On Sunday I'll be drawing a winner for the Designer Series paper and ribbon giveaway. If you want to be in it, leave a comment on my last post. And a big *thanks* (and a few giggles) to those who left a message over the past couple of days.

Till Sunday

Simone :)

Stampin' Up! Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Bravo Burgundy, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla

Other: Stampin' Dimensionals, Artichoke & Burgundy narrow grosgrain ribbon, 3/4" circle punch

Crossover Card AND a GIVEAWAY!!

For more info on the giveaway see the bottom of this post.

This is a fun card, based on one that was given to me by my wonderful Stampin' Up! team member Maree (thanks Maree!).

How to make it?

1. Cut an A4 sheet in half lenthwise.

2. Score 10cm in from either side, so it's basically divided into thirds.

3. The outside thirds now need to be trimmed so they resemble triangles instead of squares. I found it easier to just line the corners up on my trimmer and then slice from point to point. You can't miss! Once you get started this will all make sense :) No, really it will!!!

4. Then simply fold the 2 sides in over the centre. Adhere the bottoms if you wish, so the card doesn't fall out.

5. Insert and decorate the card (mine was 9cm x 9cm), and stamp or decorate the outside using the gorgeous Designer Series papers.

Now, for the GIVEAWAY!!!

Would you like to receive a sample pack of Designer Series paper and ribbon? Just leave a comment on this post and I'll randomly pick the winner. Make sure you leave an email address or some way of contacting you. Mum, you may be the only one reading this but you can't enter 10 times OK? :) haha

EDITED 7th Sept: Congratulations to Felicite for winning the Designer Series paper and ribbon giveaway. I'll be in touch with you shortly. And a big thanks to everyone who left a comment!

Items used in these projects:

LEFT (Maree's card): Elegant Eggplant cardstock, Almost Amethyst print (ret.), Circle of Friendship stamp set, White ribbon, Whisper White cardstock

RIGHT (my version): Always Artichoke cardstock, Le Jardin Designer Series paper, Very Vanilla cardstock and ribbon, half pearl from the Pretties Kit.

Bouncy Card

I was trying to make something special over the weekend for a fabulous hostess. After experimenting for a while with the position of the ribbon it flipped over and started bouncing!? Wow, that's different, I thought. Mind you, I'm sure this sort of thing has been done thousands of times by more savvy cardmakers than me, but hey it was new to me!!!!

It was a layout I use at workshops, and features Pale Plum, Perfect Plum and Certainly Celery (what a great combo!) and the always popular Seeing Spots stamp set.

Don't know what will happen after it's been flat in an envelope for a couple of days, but I hope it still bounces at its destination LOL!!

And as promised, here are a couple of the projects we made at our team stamping day a week or so ago. I've had so much fun playing around with these projects and adapting them using my stamps (or Designer Series paper, as I did with Juliana's ice-cream cards). Enjoy xx

It's the Little Things...

A big HELLO to all the wonderful ladies in my Stampin' Up! team who came to my place last weekend for an afternoon of... you guessed it, stamping! It was a great day! I learnt sooooo much, and really enjoyed being surrounded by such a wonderful, positive, inspiring group of women.

I've had a lot of fun over the past few days practicing new techniques and trying different layouts and card designs. So a big THANK YOU again for continually inspiring me and sharing my love of papercrafting.

I WILL be posting some of the projects we made. Soon!

But first I wanted to share a little project I've been working on. It's a 3"x3" journal that fits into a flip-top box, and is one of those projects that comes from the heart, IYKWIM? There are a few pages with special quotes and messages and journal pages. I made it for someone very special to me, and I look forward to giving it to her this weekend. I hope she likes it.

All items used are from Stampin' Up!

Cardstock: Mellow Moss, Pretty In Pink, Whisper White

Rub Ons: Anchored

Ribbons: Pink Gingham, Light Pink

Other: Pretties Kit, Pewter Jumbo Eyelet, Spring Bouquet Flower Punch

Stamping on.... Cakes?!

Well, on the icing, to be precise!

We had a birthday in our house yesterday - our middle child Zoe turned 5. Happy birthday Zoe :)

I was chatting to one of the lovely ladies in my Stampin' Up! team the other day (hi Heather!) about cakes and she said "Did you know you can stamp on cakes?"

WHAT?

No, I didn't know that! So of course I had to give it a go, didn't I? Very much trial and error, but Zoe and I had lots of fun with it.

First, she picked her favourite stamps and then I gave them a good clean!

Now as much as I loooove the Stampin' Up! inks, they don't taste too good and probably wouldn't be too good for you, so I took Heather's advice and tried the food dyes. Most of the ones in my pantry didn't work - some were too runny, and the paste was too thick etc etc. Then I had a lightbulb moment... The kids got some "Colour-A-Cookie" packs a little while ago, which had a large biscuit and a picture they could colour in with the included markers made from edible inks (food dye). They worked a treat. I "inked up" the stamp just as I would with the ink markers.

When I stamped onto the icing it created a 3D effect, from where the stamps made an indentation onto the icing.

I put the icing over cupcakes, and the kids (and adults) loved them.


How cute would they be with little matching cards.... hmmm.

Stamp sets used: Wild About You, Garden Whimsy, Princess

Spring Mini Catalogue

How exciting!

The new Stampin' Up! Spring mini catalogue has just been launched today, as a supplement to the huge Idea Book & Catalogue. Although it's rainy and cold outside, it's so refreshing to look through all the wonderful new products that are available for the next few months.

I've had the chance to play with some of the exciting new treasures, such as the die-cut flowers and beautiful new Christmas ('Holiday Harmony') Designer Series Paper.

There are also some sweet new stamp sets - something for everyone!

Products in the mini catalogue are available from the 1st of August until the end of November.

My past workshop hostesses will be getting a copy in the post any day now... along with a little surprise (I love spoiling my hostesses!) Stamp club members will also have the chance to play with some new goodies when we get together next week.

If you would like a copy of the Spring Mini Catalogue, just email me and I'll get one to you.

Christmas In July

This card uses Stampin' Up!'s Lovely As A Tree stamp set, gold embossed sentiment (from Occasional Greetings) on vellum paper, vanilla cardstock and ribbon, and Always Artichoke cardstock and ink. There's a touch of Creamy Caramel and Choc Chip ink in there as well. The eyelets were set with the Cropadile.

Fun Notepad Covers

Just a quick one today. Wanted to share with you what we made at Stamp Club yesterday. The theme was CHIPBOARD so we tried a few different ways to dress up the raw product:

1. inked it with craft ink (which could later be stamped on)

2. embossed (with heat and stick powder, then dazzling diamonds glitter)

2. covered it with paper and photos using ModPodge (this made cute Christmas decorations)

The notepads pictured above were a big hit. We made them for our little girls, as each of the ladies in Stamp Club have young daughters. We decorated their monogram with all that Dazzling Diamonds glitter - wow does it sparkle - and loads of ribbons tied from the binder coil at the top. If you want more details just email me. Thanks so much to Jenny Myerscough for sharing the idea with me.

My 4 year old Zoe loves hers. She is going into hospital today for a little operation (bit nervous, have been up for a while) so keep her in your thoughts today!

Happy stamping :)

Cards for the "Card Tin"!

As promised, here are the cards I made with some more of the Fall Flowers designer series paper as used in my last blog on the tin. This first card is based on the one on page 41 of the Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalogue... I never tire of looking there for inspiration.

Have I mentioned I love love love this paper?!!

Adding designer series paper is a really simple way of putting together a card - it's quick, easy and effective. You don't even have to be creative!

The best thing is that it's designed to co-ordinate with Stampin' Up's colour range, so it couldn't be easier to pick the right colours to go with the project.

The co-ordinating colours for both these cards are Soft Sky (the blue), Sahara Sand and just a touch of Old Olive (the green).

Tried a few different things with this second card. Definitely not my usual look. What do you think?

Covered Tins

Altering items is really big at the moment... you only need to have a look in the papercraft section at Spotlight to see the huge range of tins available, just waiting to be covered and decorated. I've been wanting to do one for ages, and finally came across the perfect size at Spotlight (from Paper Crafts Australia, item code J4919).

Why is it the perfect size? Well, it fits my cards of course!

This set of 2 tins is covered in Stampin' Up!'s Fall Flowers designer series paper, and flowers from the Pretties Kit (these were coloured using matching Stampin' Write Markers).

EDITED: The small tin wasn't from Spotlight. It was given to me a while ago, with some samples of face creams, moisturisers, etc.

The tins were painted in ModPodge adhesive first, then the papers are attached. I painted a layer over the top of the paper too just to give it that extra bit of protection. Plus it makes sure the joins are stuck down beautifully.

I made some matching cards too. Will post them tomorrow!

Thanks for looking.

In July... with Stampin' Up!

Stampin' Up! continues to reward hostesses with the Extra, Extra Hostess Benefits promotion, until the 15th July. Click here for more details.

And a fantastic offer for those wanting to join as a demonstrator has just been announced: $25 off the price of the starter kit! This was already good value at $324 but until the 15th of August the price is only $299 - which gives you over $560 worth of products and business supplies . Check here for more details.

We often say:

If you want a little, order it.

If you want a lot, host your own party.

If you want it all, then join as a demonstrator!

How true is that! There are fantastic benefits in joining the Stampin' Up! team. Obviously you get a substantial discount on all your purchases (including 30% off your first order), but you have the freedom to choose what sort of demonstrator you would like to be....

A discount purchaser? A short-term demonstrator? A seasonal demonstrator? A hobbyist? A career demo? It can be as relaxed or as full-on as you want it to be! If you would like more info, email me and I'll send you an obligation-free info pack.

I'm off to cover a tin with some gorgeous new papers now...

Happy Stamping!

Escape to Create

Well the first week of the school holidays here in Victoria is all but over, and we're exhausted already but loving it!

Last Sunday, our Stampin' Up! Escape to Create event at the local CFA first station went off without a hitch. Hello to all the lovely ladies who enjoyed the afternoon and provided such wonderful feedback.

Along with Keah, one of the talented demonstrators in my team, we provided an afternoon of crafting using Stampin' Up! products.

Our 15 guests made a mini flip-top box, 6 greeting cards (2 each of 3 designs) and four gift cards.

It really was a wonderful afternoon!

We went straight to Melbourne the next morning to spend time with family and friends, and returned home a few days later to find this gorgeous card waiting for me. It is a variation on the double fold pocket card that I posted on my blog a few weeks ago.

I'm not sure if the colours turned out too well on my photo, but in real life it looks amazing. The pocket card was made from the Outlaw designer series paper, and the In the Spotlight stamp step (FREE level 2 hostess stamp set). Thanks so much to Juliana for making it for me.

Now that we are back and settled, I look forward to posting some new projects regularly over the next few days. Stay tuned!

images © 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®

Aye Aye!

I've been aye-ayeing this stamp set for a while now, but I've so far resisted (just too many things on my wish list). My son Matthew is now 7 and is more into bikes and soccer these days, but I really REALLY wanted to have a play with it.

Some of my lovely customers decided to aid-and-abet my stamping addiction by stamping out images for me to use... Don't we all need friends like that?

This set is called Ahoy Matey and is on page 62 of the Idea Book.

I used some of the Fall Flowers designer series paper, colored the stamped images with Really Rust ink and blender pen then went over it with the chalk pastels. Colour also added with my new neutral markers, which are fantastic. The base cardstock is Really Rust, with the matting in Basic Gray. A few little pieces from the Hodgepodge Hardware finish it off.

The neutral markers are great value. Four markers come in the pack, in Stampin' Up!'s colours of Sahara Sand, Basic Black, Going Gray and Basic Gray. They can be used for colouring, as I've done here, or you can use them in place of a stamp pad by coloring in the rubber and then stamping. The best thing is, when using this method of inking up the rubber you can omit any part of the image that you don't want. AND you can use different coloured markers to create a muli-coloured image. See on the right for an example of this using my Soft Subtles markers.

Spiral Punch

A while back I received a swap from Janine (the talented stamper who first introduced me to Stampin' Up!) that used the spiral punch to create the effect of a film strip. I thought it was so clever because it really gives another use for this punch.

When I scrap I tend to use a lot of photos and I want to capture all the expressions as they change across someones face. Especially little kids when they break out into a huge grin! How can just one photo capture all that?

I felt that way about the photos featured in this scrapbook page. Rachel was having such a blast in this tub on our last camping trip - her smiles and grins were just priceless. This filmstrip technique was great because I printed half a dozen photos in a 'thumbnail' or 'contact sheet' layout and used the whole lot of them :)

images © 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®

Stampin' Up! colours used: Handstome Hunter, River Rock

Other: On Board Accents chipboard

Stamp sets: Warm Words, Simply Said

Stationery Set

Had a bit of fun this morning making the latest hostess gifts for upcoming Stampin' Up! workshops. This is a little portfolio/ card-keeper and I've popped a few envelopes in it.



This is what it looks like inside....







Stamps: Bodacious Bouquet, So Swirly wheel
Cardstock: Close to Cocoa
Ink: Mellow Moss, Close to Cocoa, Rose Red
Other: Jumbo eyelets (love those things!!), vanilla wide grosgrain ribbon

Diagonal Double Fold Pocket Card

Or the DDFPC for short! Ha! There's nothing short about this little baby. Although, I must admit that after you've done a few it doesn't take TOOOO long to whip these up.

This is what I was talking about in yesterday's post. In the first pocket I wrote the invitation, and the second pocket has the event details, such as date, time, venue etc.

Or, you could put the invitation in the front, and the RSVP slip in the back. Or maybe gift register details in the back pocket. So much fun. Look here for instructions.

Princess Card

A good stamping buddy of mine (hi Jen!) is putting on her SuperMum cape today and hosting a Princess party for her daughter... with 25 kids coming along to celebrate! WOW, she's a brave woman.

I couldn't help but jump on the bandwagon, and made my own little princess card.

It's a tilt card, based on a tutorial that was on SplitCoastStampers a couple of weeks ago. We made these and a couple of other animated images in Stamp Club this month.

If you haven't already signed up for the SplitCoastStampers weekly newsletter, then 'do yourself a favour' and sign up! This week's featured tutorial is the Diagonal Double Pocket Card.... and I've made 6 of them already! Stayed tuned for tomorrow's blog update and I'll share them :)

Simply Scrappin'

Isn't she gorgeous? This is my beautiful girl who isn't feeling well today so is home sick from kinder.
We accidentally left the back door open this morning and one of the chooks came in for a surprise visit. Zoe and I were carefully trying to catch her, being very gentle and trying not to frighten her too much... until the cheeky thing went into the spare room (which just happens to be my stamping room at the moment!). Well - in 2 seconds flat I had that chook and she was out the back door!!!! It's one thing that she came in to the house, but everyone knows that the stamp room is OUT OF BOUNDS!
It cheered Zoe up no end. She was laughing for ages after our little adventure together.

Products used to make this page:
Simply Scrappin' Crew Kids Girl (p138)
On Board Simon Lower chipboard (p140), covered in textured Wild Wasabi cardstock

June Specials with Stampin' Up!®

Haven't posted for a week - that's not like me! It's not because I haven't been crafting, that's for sure :)

Here's a little tote that I made using some of the beautiful paper from the Secret Garden Simply Scrappin' kit, just to prove it. I love making these bags, so quick and easy. If you'd like to make one at a workshop just send me an email and we can make a date :)

And now is the perfect time to hold a workshop. Stampin' Up!® just announced a fantastic offer for hostesses whose workshops are held from now until July 15. An EXTRA $50 in free products are available for workshops that reach $700 in sales. WOW. That's on top of the normal exclusive free hostess stamp sets and other benefits that hostesses enjoy.

I only had a couple of dates free during that time, but have opened up a few extra times to make it easier if you would like to book a workshop. Email me for more details.

Customers aren't forgotten during June either. Stampin' Up! is offering the eScape Bundle of products for up to 25% off. The bundle includes a pack of loves notes (I call them gift cards, they are cute little 3"x3" cards with envelopes), the Circle of Friendship stamp set and the matching 1 1/4" circle punch. Click here for more details.

images © 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®

Decorating Gifts

The flowers in the Bodacious Bouquet stamp set are pretty big but aren't they fantastic!



I was asked the other day "What can you do with such a big flower?"

Stampset used: Bodacious Bouquet
Stampin' Up! ink and cardstock: Mellow Moss, Bravo Burgundy, Very Vanilla
Other: Lots of Stampin' Dimensionals for all those flowers and leaves!
images © 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®

I suppose scrapbooking is probably the most common answer, but how about decorating gifts? The box of choc's shown above was just wrapped in tissue paper, and then I slipped a 'belly band' around the whole thing which is decorated with flowers and leaves from Bodacious Bouquet. The matching card uses stamps from the same set.

While I was digging around in the very-unorganised-photo-filing-system on my computer to find that photo, I came across the HUGE amount of happy-snaps I took at the Stampin' Up! convention in Brisbane last month. Wow! Was that an amazing time!



Here are some pictures that a couple of the girls in my team have asked for....


The first photo is me (far left in the red top) with the amazing Shelli Gardner (co-founder of SU!, 2nd from the right) along with the lovely Qld demo's in Naomi's group. The second photo is me (on the left again) and Naomi Swan, who just happens to be one of the top 11 demonstators in Oz - WooHoo! - and a very inspiring upline.

Card CASE

images © 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®

When I first started stamping and cardmaking I kept hearing about CASEs and people case-ing this and case-ing that. It took a while to figure out (only because I was too embarrassed to ask and show my ignorance) that CASE means to Copy And Share Everything.

This practice is encouraged in the papercrafting world and what a wonderful thing that is! It means you don't have to be too artistic or creative to come up with beautiful handmade projects to share with others. As long as you credit the original source of inspiration you can find inspiration everywhere, on SplitCoastStampers, other people's blogs, websites, magazines such as Stamping & Papercraft, and the list goes on.

One of my favourite sources of inpiration is the Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalogue. No matter how many times I look at it I seem to notice something new... a new layout, or colour scheme, or technique.

I started making a card using one of my new sets in preparation for a Very Special Event (more info to come). The set is called Curvy Verses and this card is a direct CASE from the Idea Book & Catalogue on p112. They were so quick and easy to make that I, well, kept on making them! lol

PS. It also took me a long time to work out that LOL (or lol) means Laugh Out Loud!

Stamp sets used: Curvy Verses

Cardstock: Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Rose Red, Bashful Blue, Wild Wasabi textured

Other: Rose Red Designer Series Prints paper, blue gingham ribbon, white gel pen, Wild Wasabi ink.

The front of the card is 1cm narrower than the back, so that the Rose Red prints paper can be seen when the card is closed.

Are you reading this? Let me know by leaving a comment.

Faux Tapestry Bag

Had a little bit of fun today playing around with mini paper handbag templates. Tweaked it here and there because I wanted to hide the metal pins on the brads from showing inside the bag.

Ok, I think I'm nearly ready to move on from the Brocade Background paper.

images © 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®