Brayered Purple Sky

Who says the sky can't be purple?
A few of my ladies requested that I teach a brayering class this month, and since I am such an obliging person ;o), I was happy to! Here's what I came up with:

I brayered on Whisper White cardstock in Wisteria Wonder and Elegant Eggplant ink and then stamped the image from the My Friend stamp set in Black ink over the top.
The lovely sentiment is from the Blooming with Kindness stamp set, layered on punches and framelits.

Blooming with Kindness in Triple Time

If you do any blog surfing, you've probably seen a whole lot of this technique around lately. It's not a new technique, and I'm not sure who we can thank for it's resurgence, but Dawn has a great video here. I decided it would make the perfect technique for a Stamp-a-Stack. I've done my version in black and white and black and vanilla, with just a splash of colour. I've used the Blooming with Kindness stamp set:

Here's another one using Daffodil Delight for my 'splash':

It's school holidays here, and we've been having a lovely time enjoying the break from routine and catching up with friends and family. I just know the 2 weeks are going to fly!

Edited to Add The measurements for my layers are:
White/Vanilla: 14.3 x 10, 10 x 6.7, 6.9 x 3.7
Black: A5, 10.5 x 7.2, 7.4 x 4.2
I know they are odd numbers, but I worked it that way to get maximum use out of my cardstock that I was cutting for the class. Really you could just round up or down if you are only making one or two of these cards.

Betsy's Blossoms Stamp-a-Stack

It's always fun when we have new products to play with in classes, and that's what we've been doing this month. Here's the Stamp-a-Stack I designed using the new Betsy's Blossoms stamp set and the new Oval Accent Die:

I love this fresh and summery colour combination - Marina Mist, Gumball Green and Midnight Muse. It was a happy discovery when I found that the Oval Accent Die is the same width as our A5 card base (10.5cm). That's makes it perfect to use like this:

The little scallop circle (new punch....love it!!) bitty button combo holds the flap shut and makes for a "secret" opening.
I'm also loving how the new inkpads make stamping bold images like these so easy. The stamped images are so crisp and clear, they almost look printed!
How cute is that Itty Bitty Banners stamp set? Banners are very "in" right now, and this set makes it super easy to add a little banner and sentiment to your card. It even comes with a set of matching Framelits for those people who are allergic to cutting out!

Petal Cone by the Stamp Fairy

We were lucky enough to have a visit from the Stamp Fairy this year at Stamp Camp and this is what  I ... ahem, she... made us:

It's a cute little chockie holder, made using fabric-covered cardstock, cut out with the Petal Cone Die. She must have been at Memento Mall at Convention, and picked up one of the cute "Share What You Love" Stamps:

And how nifty that it fits our paper snips after the chockie is all eaten:

If you follow me on Facebook, you'll know that I have just qualified for the Grand Vacation to Salt Lake City in July 2013! It is largely in part to my wonderful team of ladies that I got there so quickly this time (we have until March to qualify). I'm super excited to be able to join Demonstrators from all over the world at Stampin' Up!s US Convention, and then hubby and I will be spoilt at some Luxury Accommodation at St Regis Deer Valley. Can't Wait!!

Leo's Invitation

I realised that I never showed you all the Invitation I made for Leo's birthday last month. Well here it is. I kept it simple because the photo is the real star (is he cute, or is he cute??):

I'm missing him heaps at the moment because they've been in San Francisco for the last few weeks. I'm hanging out for my Leo fix on Friday!

Blooming with Kindness Design Process

I thought I'd show you a little of the "design process" that I went through to come up with a card suitable for a make-and-take at my Launch Party. The resulting card needed to be quick, foolproof but still 'wow'. Here was my first version:

I liked it but decided the Embosslit button was too time-consuming to repeat 40 times for 40 people, and I felt like the DSP strips were a bit busy. Then I got a parcel in the mail...my order arrived with a new Embossing Folder in it (yay!!), and I came up with this:

I liked that more, but I thought that the ladies might struggle a bit with the DSP flags. That brought me to the end result (which I've already shown you, but here it is again:

Actually there was one more variation, where I went back to Midnight Muse for the base card colour, and that's what I ended up going with. So, sometimes designs just "happen", and sometimes there's a process. The nice thing is, that the steps you take to get you to the final result makes quite a pleasant journey :o)

Launch Party Make-and-Take #2

It's never too early to make Christmas cards, and it's always good to find a quick design that's easy to mass-produce. This card shows off 3 more new In Colors - Gumball Green, Raspberry Ripple and Primrose Petals:

I don't often think of pink tones for Christmas but I think the watermelon-y shade of Primrose Petals works well for this fun Christmas card. The stamp set is Scentsational Season. It comes with matching framelits, for those who hate cutting out, and also works well with the new scented embossing powders. You can make peppermint scented candy canes and spicy cinnamon gingerbread...yum!
I've used the 2-1/2" Circle punch on this card - so easy, with maximum impact, and it stands very nicely on it's own with no matting required.
I punched my star out using the Merry Mini Star Punch...I can see myself using this star a LOT.
For my Launch we used a quick zigzag border that I pre-cut using the Tasteful Trim Die. I didn't think 40 people all using the Lace ribbon Border Punch was going to be such a great idea!
The sentiment comes from my most-used set of words, Petite Pairs.

Launch Party Make-and Take #1

When it came to designing make-and-takes for my Launch Party, I just had to use the new set Blooming with Kindness. It's one of my absolute faves from the new catalogue...a big gorgeous flower that doesn't require any colouring and a bunch of lovely sentiments in a gorgeous font...what's not to love? We were lucky enough to receive this set as a gift at Manager's Reception at Convention
Here's what I came up with for the Launch Party:

I ended up changing my mind though and making the base card Midnight Muse, and the matting piece Soft Suede, but it works well either way. I love this colour combo of Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse, Soft Suede and Very Vanilla. Summer Starfruit is definitely a "swan" in this combo!
The little embellishment is just a scrap of Comfort Cafe fabric tied with Soft Suede taffeta ribbon and a mini safety pin (from the Vintage Trinkets)
Loving the new Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder...and the larger size of the new folders! They fit our standard A5 cards now. Yay!

Goody Bag Tag

A plain Goody Bag would be...well, plain...and very boring. I jazzed mine up with a simple tag:

I created the tag shape using the new Oval Accent Die (the same one I used to make these purses)
Decorating it was easy with the new Patio Party Designer Series Paper. The sheet that I used has stripes in lots of different designs, so every tag came out differently (and is a total cheat - it looks like a laboriously pieced different patterns together. Gotta love cheats! ;o)
I used Betsy's Blossoms stamp set (again!) and Itty Bitty Banners (again!). I reinforced the hole with the 1/2" circle and then tied a piece of Denim Jean ribbon through it. Simple, but cute.

GIANT Craft Sale - NEW VENUE!

GIANT Craft Sale!

It’s on again!!! We’re having our 5th Annual Giant Craft Sale.

We have cleaned out our cupboards again and have lots of items that need to find new homes. There will be stamps, scrapbook supplies, ribbons, embellishments, hand-made cards, gifts (perfect for Christmas) and lots, lots more. Everything will be priced to sell, so come along and grab a bargain!

When: Saturday 13th October

Time: 9am - 12pm

Where: NEW VENUE!!!
Kings Langley Scout Hall
James Cook Drive, Kings Langley
(Located behind the Community Centre next to the
Kings Langley Shopping Centre)

We’ll also have morning tea (gold coin donation), plus Lucky Door Prizes to be won.
Please spread the word!

In Color Bookmark

Every year I like to make some In Color Bookmarks to pop in the Launch Party goody bags. Here's what I came up with for this year's lovely batch of In Colors, using the stamp set Betsy's Blossoms:

I'm loving the depth and intensity of this year's colours. No shy, faded tones here! These colours are happy to stand up and be noticed. I'm calling Summer Starfruit the "Ugly Duckling" of the batch...on it's own it can look a little...unusual...but paired with the right colours it turns into a swan. I've come to love it already, and I'm looking forward to another 2 years of playing with these colours. I find that 5 new colours breathe so much new life into all of my colours, by opening up a whole new batch of colour combinations to try :o)

If you love the new In Colors, grab your In Color Cardstock and inkpad Bundle (on page 152). You get all 5 inkpads plus a pack of assorted cardstock for only $47.95. What a Bargain!!

Oval Accent Purse

It has been crazy busy around here lately! I feel like I haven't stopped for about a month. I'm hoping my batteries don't run out for another couple of weeks, and then I'll be taking a lie-down! LOL
My New Catalogue Launch Party was yesterday, and I had 45 lovely ladies come and spend the afternoon/evening with me. There was champagne, stamping (of course!), lots of oohing and aahing over new goodies, lots of special offers, prizes and a goody bag to take home. Seeing my house filled with people who really 'get' this is such a buzz :o)
To make up for my absence last week, I'll be blogging every day this week to show you some of the fun stuff from my Launch party.
Here's one of the items they received in their goody bag:

It's a little purse, made using the Oval Accent Die. I just scored it twice, a few millimetres either side of the centre and popped a little fun size pack of Smarties in there (held on using a dimensional). I decorated it using Betsy's Blooms wheel (Baja Breeze), a strip of Patio Party DSP, a flower from Betsy's Blossoms, a Butterfly Embosslit (Primrose Petals) and a Bitty Banner. I made the handle using the small chubby oval punch (I know that's not it's proper name, but that's what we affectionately call it around here!).
Here's a side view:

By the way, for all the US readers out there, our Smarties are candy-coated chocolate, similar to m&ms, not the candy rolls that you guys have!

Time for some Shares!

Although I know you would all like to get ALL the new accessories in the Catalogues, sometimes budgets don't stretch quite that far. Here's a way to get your hands on a sampling of all the new papers, brads and ribbons in the new Catalogues.  I am running Shares from both the Annual Catalogue and the Holiday Catalogue. You may join some, or all of the Shares (and receive a free bonus!) and you may order double Shares if you wish.

 

ANNUAL CATALOGUE SHARES

DESIGNER SERIES PAPER SHARE     (p 162-169)   $34

You will receive a 6x6 piece of each of the 6 sheets in each pack. So this is a total of 84 6x6 pieces from 14 packs: Natural Composition (specialty), First Edition (specialty), Comfort Café, World Spectacular, Floral District, Storytime, Polka Dot Parade, International Bazaar, Be of Good Cheer, Birds of a Feather, Patio Party, Fan Fair, Summer Smooches, Twitterpated.
FREE BONUS: 10 6x6 sheets from the 2012-14 In Color Patterns Stack

EMBELLISHMENT SHARE   (p 175-6)     $12

10 In Color Dahlias ( 2 of each colour), 6 Vintage faceted Buttons ( 2 ea of 3 designs), 6 Naturals Buttons (2 ea of 3 designs)

IN COLOR STITCHED SATIN RIBBON SHARE  (p 172)                $10

1/8 roll (approx. 1.15m of each colour) 5 colours - Primrose Petals, Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green, Raspberry Ripple

STITCHED GROSGRAIN RIBBON SHARE  (p 173)                $12

1/8 roll (approx. 1.15m of each colour) 10 colours - Basic Grey, Pretty in Pink, Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Early Espresso, Rich Razzleberry, Night of Navy, Whisper White, Pacific Point, Wild Wasabi

 OR BUY THE LOT - $68

and receive a FREE GIFT of a packet of Large Pearl Jewels! ($8.95 value)

 

If you were to purchase all of these items individually, it would cost a whopping $511.35!

HOLIDAY CATALOGUE SHARES

DESIGNER SERIES PAPER SHARE               $10

Eight way share of 4 papers You will receive a 6x6 piece of each of the 6 sheets in each pack. So this is a total of 24 6x6 pieces: Candlelight Christmas (specialty), Snow Festival, Howlstooth and Scaringbone, Orchard Harvest

EMBELLISHMENT SHARE              $10

2 Flourish Designer Frames (silver), 4 Designer buttons (brushed bronze), 4 Designer Ribbon Slides, 2 Stitched Felt ornaments

RIBBON SHARE                       $15

1/8 roll (approx. 1.15m of each, 8 lengths) - Striped Satin (black/grey), Cotton (natural), Sweater Trim (Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green, Whisper White) , Scalloped Tulle (Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso)

CORE’DINATIONS & FESTIVAL OF PRINTS                    $12

Four way share of 3 core’dinations colours - you will receive 3 12x12 sheets of the 3 colours (Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Gumball Green) A total of  9 sheets. You will also receive 12 sheets of the Festival of Prints Stack (1 of each design) 11.4 x 16.5cm
                                            

OR BUY THE LOT - $47

and receive a FREE GIFT of a “Dazzle Marker”! ($5.95 value)

If you were to purchase all of these items individually, it would cost $278 (ouch!)

 

Email me with your Share selections, and to sort out payment. I accept payment by Cash, Direct Deposit or cheque. Stampin' Up!'s 5% Shipping & Handling Charge is included in the Share price, but if you need your shares mailed out to you postage will be at actual cost (I will use the most cost-effective method).

The Closing Date for Shares is 21st September, 2012

TWO New Catalogues!

They're here! Check out the NEW CATALOGUES!

How spoilt are we to have 2 fabulous new catalogues at once???
The only problem is, there are too many gorgeous things! My wishlist is ginormous. It's always so hard to narrow it down and prioritise, because I NEED it all now!
I'll be running some Shares of all the Embellishments, Papers and Ribbons, so at least you'll be able to get a taste of all of those. Stay tuned for those....

The catalogue is always so much better in real life than on a computer screen, so if you'd like your very own copy to keep by your bedside, there are a few ways to get your hands on one:

Would you like to get both catalogues for FREE? Here's how...

The Catalogues are $5 (for both), or FREE* with one of these options:

1. Place an order for at least $50 during September. I will include your catalogue with your order

2. Book a Party

3. Attend a class during September

4. Attend my Launch Party on September 9

*if you need it mailed, postage is $10. I will waive the postage fee for customers who have spent $300 with me since April 1st.