More stars

I had a final play with some Sale-a-Bration sets the other day, doing some Elite Challenges. You can see the fruits of my labour HERE, HERE and HERE. It's always fun to do a challenge!
Don't forget TOMORROW is the last day to earn these sets for free! Email me by 9pm Saturday night to place your final orders.

Here's a super-quick card for you today (because it's my birthday and I have other plans :o)

It's "In the Stars" again, and a card I made for my kids when they brought home wonderful school reports in December last year. I actually made 2 of these, this is Amy's girl version, and Jacob's was a boy version in Blue Bayou, Pumpkin Pie and Wild Wasabi.
Such a quick card to make, and perfect for my 2 little stars :o)

I'll be back on 1st March with a Retirement List for you!

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: In the Stars
ink: Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst, So Saffron, Lavender Lace
card: Whisper White
other: Chunky Glitter, Tombow glue, Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon

1 card, 3 ways

I think 2-step stamp sets are the most versatile sets of all. I always recommend them for those starting off with stamping because you can use one set for lots of different techniques. I'll show you what I mean.
In a 2-step stamp set you get an outline image and a base image. The idea is that you stamp the outline, and then stamp the base image over the top (or vice versa). The base image does the colouring-in for you. It's quick and easy to produce really effective results. Don't worry about trying to line them up perfectly. It adds movement and interest when they are slightly out of alignment (at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it!). Here's a card I made using this technique with the "Botanical Blooms" Sale-a-Bration set: Now just because this is a 2-step stamp set doesn't mean I have to use it that way. Here I've used just the outline stamps, stamped them onto patterned paper and cut them out. Then I've stamped the same images onto some plain cardstock, and paper pieced my cut-outs over the top of some stamped images:

I can also use the outline images to watercolour. Here I stamped in Black Stazon ink onto watercolour paper. I then coloured with my markers and spritzed a mist of water over the top to allow the colours to blend and run slightly.

So there you have it - 1 card, 3 ways! Having both an outline image and a base image gives you lots of possibilities. You can make a quick card when you need to, using 2-step stamping, but you can still do other techniques like paper piecing and watercolouring when you want to.

Remember - only 4 more days to earn this set for free!

Materials for all 3 cards (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: Botanical Blooms, linen
ink: Certainly Celery, Perfect Plum, So Saffron, Versamark, Chocolate Chip, Black Stazon
card: Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Perfect Plum, Groovy Guava,
other: Wide Celery ribbon, Afternoon Tea DS paper, Certainly Celery Prints DS paper, Rich Regal brads, Word Window punch, 1 1/4" Square punch, Rich Regal markers, Soft Subtle markers

The Final Countdown!

oh no, now I have that song stuck in my head! LOL
I just realised that there are only 6 days of Sale-a-Bration left!!! This month has just flown by.
These are the cards that we've been making in this month's Stamp-a-Stacks, using the Polka Dot punches Sale-a-Bration set. We used the same 3 pieces of cardstock, plus some punched elements, and made 4 very different cards:

I think they're pretty self-explanatory. I hadn't used this colour combination before, but I like the way they look together. I'm getting the most out of my In Colors before they retire!

The stamp set is "Polka Dot Punches" which I'm loving more and more ...do you like the way I stamped a Wild Wasabi flower and cut all but 2 of the petals off to turn it into leaves? (in the card, top-right). In that same card, I also did small cuts along the Wild Wasabi strip to make 'grass'. The stem is just a row of dots, drawn with the fine point of a Garden Green marker. I used the edge of a ribbon spool as a template to make it curved.

You can earn this stamp set for free, but you only have until 28th February. There are 4 sets to choose from, each one is free with a $100 order. You can see them all HERE. Just email me with your order!

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: Polka Dot Punches, Sincere Salutations
ink: Versamark, Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, Groovy Guava, So Saffron, Close to Cocoa
card: Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, Groovy Guava, So Saffron, Close to Cocoa
punches: Scallop Circle, 1 1/4" circle, 3/4" circle, 1/2" circle, 5-petal flower, Spring Bouquet
other: Wild Wasabi double-stitched ribbon, Dimensionals, Earth Elements markers

In the Stars

I'm loving the "In the Stars" set (in the Summer mini). I've always liked stars, and I love that you can use them for boys and girls of all ages. It's even got a baby stamp in the set (after all, aren't all babies little stars??). I used a metal-edged tag on this card to make it extra-special. When using these tags, I find it easier to stamp on a separate piece of cardstock, punch it out with a circle punch and then stick that to the tag, rather than trying to stamp straight onto the tag itself. I then attached my tag to a scallop circle.
I hadn't tried this colour combo before, but I really like these colours together...Groovy Guava, Pretty in Pink and Regal Rose. The words 'one of a kind' are a rub-on. The scallop edge at the bottom complements the Scallop circle, and I finished it off with some gel pen dots in the centre of each scallop.

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: In the Stars
ink: Groovy Guava, Regal Rose
card: Groovy Guava, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White
other: Metal Edged tag, Scallop Circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, Scallop Edge punch, white gel pen, Groovy Guava Double-stitched ribbon, "Cherished Memories" Rub-Ons

Ocean Commotion

Do you have days when inspiration is just not forthcoming? When that happens to me, I turn to my Stampin' Up! catalogue. If I need colour inspiration, a little trick I use is to go to page 134, 135 and 136 and look at the Designer Series papers. There you go, lots of tried and true colour combinations, just waiting to be used! Here I've taken the colours in "Spring Break" DSP to make a card with. Then when I looked at all those blues and greens with a dash of orange, I thought of a coral reef, so I pulled out the 'Ocean Commotion' set from the Summer Mini.
I was still feeling a little uninspired, so rather than coming up with a layout of my own, I pulled out the trusty catalogue again and copied the layout of the card on page 85 and voila, a card was born! I reckon there are enough cards and colour combinations in that catalogue to last a whole year without having to have a single original thought...what a relief! I guess that's why they call it an "Idea Book" ;o)

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: Ocean Commotion, Short and Sweet
ink: Old Olive, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Pumpkin Pie
card: Old Olive, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Pumpkin Pie
other: Old Olive Wide grosgrain ribbon

Thankyou all for all your comments, thoughts and prayers. It has been a tough week for us all, I think (and I think I speak for all of Australia here), but it gladdens my heart to see how we have all rallied to support each other through this....

My Heartfelt Thanks

To those of you who have supported the Bushfire Appeal, you have my sincere and heartfelt thanks. This has become a cause very close to my family's heart, as we heard the news a few days ago that my hubby's cousin Mirri, her husband Adrian and their 3 little children perished in the Kinglake fire.
So thankyou to everyone who has supported this very worthy cause....

Bushfire Appeal

Stampin Up! have just announced a Bushfire Appeal. You can read all about it HERE. They are donating 50% of the retail value of all sales from a select group of 10 stamp sets. In addition, I will be offering an extra 20% off these sets*:

Priceless pg105 was $48.95 NOW $39.16
Seeing Spots pg89 was $29.95 NOW $23.96
Baroque Motifs pg98 was $39.95 NOW $31.96
Live Your Dream pg3 (Summer Mini) was $55.95 NOW $44.76
Looks Like Spring* pg76 was $58.95 NOW $47.16
The Snowflake Spot* pg27 was $39.95 NOW $31.96
Bodacious Bouquet* pg80 was $58.95 NOW $47.16
Polka Dots & Paisley* pg46 was $35.95 NOW $28.76
G'day Mate* pg115 was $35.95 NOW $28.76
Be Happy* pg51 was $39.95 NOW $31.96

*These sets will appear on the upcoming list of retiring products, so they will only be available for the Bushfire Appeal--while supplies last.

This is a bit of a sneak peak of the Retirement List, and I expect these sets will go quickly!
So, if you ever needed an excuse to buy some stamps, this is it! Email me now if you would like to order any of these sets for a very worthy cause.

Here's a card I made for the Elite Challenges blog a while ago, using the Bodacious Bouquet set (an all time favourite, and one I will be so sad to say goodbye to):

You can see the full list of materials there. Anyone want to guess how I did the flower?

*Edited to Add: I have decided to offer 20% off these sets, in the hope that I will be able sell more for the Appeal.

Say it with Scallops

Here's a quick set of mini cards made using the Afternoon Tea DS papers, "Say it with Scallops" stamp set (in teh Summer Mini), and the Scallop square and Scallop Edge punches. Using patterned papers makes a really quick card, especially when they are double sided! I just punched a scallop along one edge, and folded it over, so the contrasting pattern was on display, and used a piece of co-ordinating ribbon to finish it off. These 4 cards came together so quickly and are the perfect size to jot down a little note to someone. They are 9.9cm x 9.9cm, so you can get 3 from an A4 page.

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: Say it with Scallops
ink: Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip, Wild Wasabi
cardstock: Soft Sky, Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip, Wild Wasabi
Other: Scallop Edge punch, Scallop Square punch, 1/4" circle punch, Soft Sky double-stitched ribbon, Groovy Guava Double-Stitched ribbon, White Taffeta ribbon, Afternoon Tea DS paper, Vintage brads, Blender pens, Chocolate Chip marker, Sponge dauber

A Blog Tour

I was doing some blog surfing last night (can anyone say PROCRASTINATING???)
I love looking at my team's blogs to see what they're up to. Here's some that I thought you might like to check out too, so take a blog tour with me:

Sam's Gorgeous Stationery Box and First Blog Candy
Sandy's cute love notes and giveaway...and while you're there, check out THIS beautiful layout and her Origami Box Tutorial
Ruth has a request for help on her Blog...it's cards for a cause
Lorna has been busy scrapping her wedding photos
Liam always has something new and clever. I love this heart box she made
Kirrily's work is always gorgeous. I love this punch flower she made
Kerry's blog always gives me a laugh. I love her sense of humour. I also love these cute mini cards
Sue is back and blogging again with a lovely summery creation
Sharon has been having fun with Bali Breeze
Fiona's blog is a nice place to end. I always feel calm and peaceful after reading it.

Edited to Add: Fiona has just launched her brand new Stampin' Up! Blog...check it out HERE

I hope you enjoyed my tour!

Something Simple

I can't seem to get my head around anything today...the devastating news about the bushfires in Victoria is occupying my thoughts. A tragedy like that just makes everything else feel so trivial.

So, just a super quick and simple one from me today. A couple of pieces of Bali Breeze patterned paper, some co-ordinating cardstock, and voila, a card. I used markers to ink up the stamp, colouring direct to rubber,so that I could get the 2 different shades. After I put it all together, I did a tiny dot of Crystal Effects in the centre of each blossom. It's hard to tell in the pic, but it really makes all the difference to an otherwise simple card.


Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: Eastern Blooms
ink: none!
card: Old Olive, Taken with Teal, Whisper White
other: Old Olive marker, Taken with Teal marker, Old Olive Wide ribbon, Crystal Effects, Bali Breeze DSP

The other half

As promised, here's the other half of the scallop carousel note that I used yesterday. This time I've taken my colour inspiration from the Afternoon Tea papers. For the main image (from "Live Your Dream" stamp set in the Mini), I inked up the entire image in Soft Sky ink, and then carefully used the corner of my Wild Wasabi inkpad for the stem, and the corner of my Groovy Guava inkpad for the flower centre. I then stamped it on Whisper White cardstock, and without re-inking, stamped the image again just slightly to one side. this gives a 3D effect. I did it by eye, but you could use the Stamp-a-ma-jig to be more precise about the placement if you prefer. Instead of mounting this panel on Chocolate Chip cardstock, I used the Afternoon Tea paper - the lovely chocolate hessian-y piece. For the greeting, I stamped the word 'Thanks' (from "Live Your Dream" and punched it out using the scallop square punch. I then trimmed it down to make a little frame. You can see how HERE. Clever, hey? The rest is just some background stamping and more pretty Afternoon Tea papers.

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: Live Your Dream
ink: Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi, Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip
card: Groovy Guava, Whisper White
other: Afternoon Tea DSP, Scallop Square punch, Carousel Notes

Time for You

What a cute set this is, from the Summer Mini. For those wanting to try their hand at watercolouring, this set is a great place to start because the sections you need to colour are nice and small, so you don't have to worry too much about shading.
This card looks a lot better in real life...the ribbon looks all wonky in the photo, and there is actually some white showing on the other side of the ribbon, which the photo angle hides. It's such a lovely crisp colour combo, which the photo doesn't do justice either! Soft Sky, Whisper White and Chocolate Chip...very stylish.
I used one of the carousel notes from the Mini...actually I used half! I'll show you the card I made with the other half tomorrow. These are so much more than just a scalloped note card. They are a great size for making all sorts of projects out of. They come in 3 of the In Colors, Groovy Guava, Soft Sky and Wild Wasabi. You get 4 of each color in the pack. They come with yummy matching square envelopes in Chocolate Chip. These notecards are big - just over 15cm in diameter.
I and used my trimmer to cut the Carousel Note in half, and then stamped it with the Polka Dot background in Chocolate Chip ink.

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: Time for You, Polka Dot background
ink: Black Stazon, Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Whisper White
card: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
other: Carousel Notes, Soft Sky Double-Stitched ribbon, Blender pens

A line of Greens and Blues

Judging by your comments, you all quite like a lot of white in cards! I do too, but I do think it can be tricky to get the right balance. You all seem to think I pulled it off...phew!

When I was having a play with this set and making lots of girl baby cards, I decided to make a boy one too (after all, boys are cute too!).

I went with a colour scheme of Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue and Night of Navy. I really like the contrast of navy with soft greens and blues... thus the title of my post. I now have a song stuck in my head (lucky I really like it!!). Anyone want to guess which song it is?
I used Certainly Celery "Prints" Designer Series paper for the stripey pattern...I love, love, love these papers. It's the one type of patterned paper that I seem to use every scrap of! The patterns aren't so overwhelming that they dominate the card or layout.
I stamped the main image in Black Stazon, and watercoloured using Inkpads and Blender pens. I added a touch of blue chunky glitter to the little heart. The ribbon is the gorgeous wide double-stitched ribbon in the Summer Mini.

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: Big on Spring, Short and Sweet
ink: Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, Black Stazon
cardstock: Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, Whisper White
other: Large Oval punch, Small Oval punch, Bashful Blue Wide Double-Stitched ribbon, Chunky Glitter, Tombow glue (to adhere glitter)