Fresh Cuts

Every now and then I like to pull out a stamp set that I haven't played with for a while and breathe some fresh life into it. That's just what I did here, with "Fresh Cuts" a set that I had used to death for a while, and then left neglected on my shelf. I had fun watercolouring the delicate blooms, and bringing them to life. It's a nice soft colour combination too - Perfect Plum, Always Artichoke and Sahara Sand. I think I'll pull out some more neglected sets and try something new with them!

TIP: I used the Colour Spritzer tool and a Perfect Plum marker to add some texture to the background. It's a quick way to fill a space that feels too 'empty'.

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: Fresh Buts, Bella Toile
ink:Black Stazon, Perfect Plum, Always Artichoke,Sahara Sand
card:Perfect Plum, Always Artichoke, Whisper White, Sahara Sand
other: Ovals Die, Paper Piercer, Color Spritzer, Blender pen, sponge daubers

Sale-a-Bration Time!

Yay! It's finally here - Sale-a-Bration! Click HERE to view this year's selection of FREE stamp sets, anmd to read all about how SAB (as we fondly call it) works. This year's selection is awesome, and if you're anything like me, you'll want to own them all.

If you get in fast, I have a special bonus for you.... For every $100 order placed between now and January 31, I will include a FREE GIFT with your order. It's a little thankyou pressie from the Summer Mini Catalogue, but I'm not telling you what it is, so I don't spoil the surprise...but it's good, I promise!
Email me to place your order... but it must be by January 31!

I'm back!

Did you miss me? I've just returned from a very relaxing family holiday on the North Coast (Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour). At one stage we weren't sure whether we'd make it as far as Coffs, as we watched the news of devastating flood waters heading south. We weren't affected, but my sympathy goes out to all of those who were.

I came home to this latest update from Stampin' Up!:
To help the victims of the floods that have devastated over three quarters of Queensland, join with us in supporting the Australia Flood Appeal. Stampin' Up! will donate $2 AUD of the retail value of sales from any stamp set (with a retail value of $30 or more) sold in Australia and New Zealand from 15 January through 15 February to the State Emergency Services in Queensland. As flood waters continue to inundate Australia in what has been described as the worst flooding in 37 years, we express our deepest sympathies to those who have lost loved ones and homes and to those whose lives have been changed forever. We, like so many of you, feel a compelling need to lend support to all those who have been affected.

I'm hoping to get to my stamp desk soon, and start regular blogging again...first I might have to do some grocery shopping and wash some clothes though, or I don't think I'll be very popular around here!

Happy New Year!

I've been having a lovely family time over Christmas and New Year, and the computer has been very neglected. Once I get past the withdrawals, I actually find that I'm reluctant to switch it back on!
Stampin' Up! have a new promotion to see in the new year. You can get a FREE package of Heart Treat Cups-- $6.50 value--when you purchase the Sweetheart Stamp Set or Full Heart Punch. You can read all about it HERE
And for those of you who have been wondering if you've dropped off my newsletter list - you haven't! December just got away from me, but I'm planning on getting a newsletter out later today, hopefully. If you're not on my subscriber list, you can subscribe in the sidebar over there ------>

My Christmas Card 2010

Merry Christmas! I sent out 160 Christmas Cards this year and it still wasn't enough to send one to all the special people in my life! So consider this a Cyber Card for all of you who check my blog regularly. I wish you all the happiest of Festive Seasons and many blessings throughout the New Year. Blog land would be a very lonely place without you all!

I decided to use a stamp from a non-Christmas stamp set this year. The swirly stamp is from Elements of Style, and I've used my favourite Christmas red, Cherry Cobbler. To get the 2 shades, I stamped it twice without re-inking. I gave the whole card some shimmer by mixing some Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint with some Isocol (rubbing alcohol) in a spray bottle and giving the card a quick spray. I've tried to capture the effect in the second photo, but it looks much better in real life!
I hope you have a lovely day, surrounded by loved ones!

...and a few more Christmas Projects

I've used the Big Shot to make some more quick and easy Christmas Projects.
Here's a purse that's perfect to fill with a bag of Treats, made using the Scallop Circle Die:And a Gift Card Holder, inspired by an Incentive Trip swap I received from Claire Daly:

here's the inside view - you can pop your gift card in the Scallop Envelope:

And a batch of Christmas tags, so quick to whip up using the Ovals and Circles Dies:

One last Stamp-a-Stack

This is the last Christmas stamp-a-Stack from 2010. A crisp and clean design using Holiday Hoopla. If you're paying close attention, it may look a little familiar... I actually CASEd my own design from back HERE. I just changed the colours around to give it a Christmas twist. It's a good trick to have up your sleeve when you need to make some cards in a hurry!

Candy Cane Mice & Top Note Treat Pouch

I've seen gorgeous Candy Cane Mice on a few blogs (I'm not sure, but I think they originated HERE) and I just had to make some for our team Christmas dinner, since our team is called Stampers Anony-mouse. I adapted mine a little and I have them hanging on little Top Note Treat Pouch. Here are the punches I used for the mice:
Body - Wide Oval + Heart-to-Heart (use the 'fat' heart)
Outer Ears - 2-step Bird (use the wing)
Inner Ears - Small Heart (cut in half)
Eyes - Owl (draw pupils with a marker)
Nose - Crop-a-dile
Hole for the Candy Cane Tail - Itty Bitty Shapes (flower)
I secured the Candy Cane to the back of the mouse with some Sticky Tape.

To make the Top Note Treat Pouch, cut an A4 sheet in half length ways and fold in half. Place the folded edge on the Top Note Die, just inside the perforations and run it through the Big Shot. This gives you a folded Top Note, which by the way, makes a great note card. Now score 1.5cm from the folded edge on both sides. Fold back on both score lines and you'll have formed the base of your pouch. You can fill a small cello bag (they fit perfectly and they're on SALE at the moment in the December Frenzy!) with treats and tape or staple it to the inside of your pouch. I decorated the Pouch with the Sassy Sparkles wheel (super quick and easy!) and I punched a handle with the Small Oval punch, and secured the top with a ribbon.
Amy liked the mice so much she made a bunch of them for her friends!

A Simple Chocolate Wallet

Hopefully not too many of my friends and family check this blog, because I made a stack of these to give out this year! You can make these using just half a sheet of 12x12 DSP and 2 Top Notes. And it opens up:

They are sooo simple to make. Just fold up one edge of the DSP about 10cm to form a pocket. Then fold it in half and half again, accordion-style. Put some adhesive (I used SNAIL on the inner folds and Sticky Strip on the 2 outside 'open' edges) to separate the individual pockets. Then stick a Top Note to the front and back, tie it closed with a ribbon, and decorate as desired. You can slip anything you like into the pockets. I used chocolates, but other ideas would be tea bags, sachets of hand cream, vouchers, diamond rings...

FYI, the chocolates I used are from Aldi, called "Moser Roth" - $2.49 for a pack of 5 chocolates.

12 Cards of Christmas - Card 12

Here I am, just in the "nicker" time again! I've left my favourite set - Contempo Christmas - for last. I think this set is the most versatile of the new Christmas sets on offer. I've also snuck in an extra bauble (from Delightful Decorations) on these cards. After all, once you've bought the punch, you need extra variety in baubles, right?!
Did you notice how I've stuck 3 baubles together to make them dimensional? The kids and I are going to be making some more of these for our tree (and for their own little tree that they have upstairs!)
I love these colours together - all from the Subtles family, but I've used the three colours with the most oomph from that range - Rose Red, Wild Wasabi and Marina Mist. The background stamping is done with a stamp from Confetti. These background stamps are so versatile, and so easy to stamp. I pull them out all the time.
Finally, I've added some Dazzling Diamonds for a bit of sparkle. I just applied 2-way glue over the areas that I wanted to bling up and then sprinkled the glitter on top.
Well, that brings me to the end of the 12 cards...although you've really had value for money since I've showed you three cards every day and four cards on one of the days, so I should be calling it 37 cards of Christmas...I hope you've found some inspiration in there somewhere!
I still have some more Christmas projects to show you over the next week, as well as my own Christmas card for this year, so don't go too far away!

12 Cards of Christmas - Card 11

Another non-traditional colour combination, this time a bit of a twist on the red and green, we have Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive, with a dash of Tempting Turquoise thrown in. I love this Delightful Decorations set, it makes for very quick and easy cards and tags. I've also used the new Pinking Hearts Border Punch, available in the Summer Mini.
Just a quick one from me today. I have both kids home from school now (Amy finished on Friday, and Jacob yesterday) and we have put together a long list of Christmas "jobs" to do (all fun stuff like wrapping presents, doing Christmas baking, and watching Christmas DVDs!)

12 Cards of Christmas - Card 10

Much as I love the red and green of Christmas, sometimes it's nice to have a change. How about purple? Here we have Concord Crush, Perfect Plum, Very Vanilla and Crumb Cake. I've used the gorgeous Dasher stamp. I love that for only $14.95, you can add a fresh stamp to your Christmas collection.
I've made my Dashers shimmery, but the shimmer hasn't shown up very well in the pic (try clicking on the photo to see a larger version). I mixed 3 drops of Platinum Shimmer Paint with 3 drops of Concord Crush re-inker and applied it to the stamp with a dauber. I've also highlighted some areas of the Finial Press embossing folder by applying Frost White Shimmer paint with a Blender Pen (Just pick up some paint from inside the lid with your pen).
Back again with more tomorrow... Hopefully you're not sick of me yet!

12 Cards of Christmas - Card 9

I just went to upload the next Stamp-a-Stack cards and realised I haven't taken a photo of them yet! ooops! So, that will be today's job. Rather than keep you waiting, I pulled out some stand-in cards instead. I actually made these for a magazine a while ago now. I was asked to use one stamp, 3 ways. I rock'n'rolled, coloured with markers and sponged on ink to get 3 different looks. I did the backgrounds with versamark and clear embossing powder, but kept the rest of the cards pretty simple, to keep the focus on the main panel. The card on the top-left is actually an ornament card - the main panel has been stamped on both sides, and sits in a cut-out window so it can be removed and hung on the tree. You could also put a photo on the other side...
Back agian tomorrow!

12 Cards of Christmas - Card 8

More Vintage Style! Maybe I'm getting the hang of this?? This was another popular Stamp-a-Stack design. Lots of ladies commented that they hadn't liked this stamp set -Winter Post- until they used it at this Stamp-a-Stack (and then they were cursing me because it was another Christmas set that they "had to buy"! LOL)
I admit that I wasn't sure about this set when I first saw it either. I think it was those ice skaters that put me off initially. I have nicknamed the man "sleazy skater" ...he just looks a bit serial-killer-like to me (notice that I haven't used him on these cards, but he's on page 26 if you want to check out his creepy leer).
Sleazy Skaters aside, The colours I've used here are Riding Hood Red (a lovely soft "vintage" red, Chocolate Chip and Crumb Cake. I've also used Naturals Ivory, which is a lovely antique cream. Lots of sponging again, and the Big Shot Scallop Envelope Die fits perfectly on a card-front...just the right size to slip a note, or photo into.
Make sure you come back top see the last 4 cards...and then I'll also have some Christmas projects to show you, including this years Chocolate Wallet!

12 Cards of Christmas - Card 7

Lots of people told me that this was their favourite Stamp-a-Stack card that we made. It surprised me, because I've never thought that I do "vintage" very well. I "borrowed" this colour combo from the US Holiday Mini. The Welcome Christmas Stamp set just cries out for vintage colours. Lots of sponging - I sponged every layer of cardstock in the same colour ink, and I sponged the Very Vanilla Top Notes in Crumb Cake ink. Crumb Cake is the best colour to sponge in if you want that 'aged' look. I also wheeled some backgrounds using the Music Notes wheel and the Very Vintage wheel. The final "vintage" touch was some stick-on pearls.