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)

Too much white?

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments about my published work. You guys sure are good for my ego! Seriously, I felt so supported when I read all the lovely things you had to say, and I'm only where I am today because of all of you, so thank you!
I've really been enjoying this set "Eastern Blooms" from the Summer Mini.

I really love the possibilities that Bold stamp images have. You can make the same bold flower look so different, depending on what technique you use to stamp it. Here I inked the flower in Regal Rose ink, and then drew straight onto the stamp with a Rose Red marker, and then stamped it on Whisper White cardstock and cut it out. The colour inspiration came straight from this gorgeous patterned paper. It's "Bali Breeze" from the Summer Mini. I've also used a 'tab' of Regal Rose Wide Double-stitched ribbon (also from the mini) and Chunky glitter on the flower centre from (you guessed it) - the mini! I wanted to balance the strong pinks and reds with crisp white, but now I think there's too much white on there...what do you think?

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: Eastern Blooms, Occasional Greetings
ink: Regal Rose, Rose Red
cardstock: Regal Rose, Rose Red, Whisper White
other: Bali Breeze DSP, Regal Rose Wide Double-stitched ribbon, Chunky Glitter, Dimensionals

Covergirl :o)

I've got lots more Mini Catalogue and Sale-a-Bration stuff to show you, but I'm going to interrupt that to blow my own trumpet just a little. These are the cards I had published in this month's Australian Cardmaking, Stamping and Papercraft magazine. I was even lucky enough to be on the cover (although my son Jacob was very disappointed when I squealed "I'm on the cover!" and he said "where? where?" and I pointed at a card. LOL)

I used the set "Forever in my Heart" for these, and there are full instructions in the magazine (Vol 14 No 7)
The colours I have used are Pale Plum, Purely Pomegranate and Old Olive, and all the supplies are Stampin' Up! and available from me :o)

Not Me!

I made this card for Keesh's Inspiration Challenge, and it didn't come out at all how I saw it in my head. It's not a very "me" card at all, and I can't say I like it much!! Ah well, we all have creations like that sometimes...

I've used "Eastern Blooms", and punched the flowers out with the 5-petal flower punch (isn't it cool that you can do that? It changes the shape of the flower, and you need to sponge the teeniest tip of the petals, but it sure beats cutting out 12 flowers!!). I layered 2 flowers on top of each other, and then a smaller one (which I did have to cut out!) on top of that.

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)

stamps: Weathered background, Occasional Greetings, Eastern Blooms

ink: Cameo Coral, Ruby Red, Tempting Turquoise, Taken with teal, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive

cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Old olive, Whisper White

other: 5-petal flower punch, Bali Breeze DS paper, sponge daubers, dimensionals

Flowers and More Flowers

Happy Australia Day! I really should be showing you something patriotic, or at least green and gold, but I've never made an Australia Day card, so I'll just pull out another Sale-a-Bration card instead!

I've used the 'Botanical Blooms' set and the 'Congrats' set on this one to make a wedding card, but you could switch the greeting and make this for any occasion, really. Who knew that you could say Congratulations for so many things? I reckon you pretty much have it all covered with this set...anniversaries, retirement, marriage, baby, birthday and just a general 'well done'.
To do the background panel of this card, I stamped the leaves first (in Sage Shadow) and then used a Regal Rose marker to ink just the inner part of the flower. You can see the whole flower where I cut it out and attached it, but for this background, I wanted a more delicate bud-like bloom. My trusty markers came in handy again to colour the White Taffeta ribbon Regal Rose. I used the Scallop Edge punch and pierced a hole in each scallop to give it a more lacy feel.

Now, for more flowers! If you're very observant, you'll notice 2 new names on my "Downlines Blog Roll" over there --->
I feel very lucky to have 2 lovely and talented ladies join my team.... Sandy and Fiona both joined Stampin' Up! this month. They both have blogs already where you can see their work. Check out THIS gorgeous Paper Flower tutorial by Sandy and THESE Origami flowers by Fiona. Aren't they clever?!

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: Botanical Blooms, Congrats
inks: Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose
cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, Very Vanilla, Close to Cocoa
other: White Taffeta Ribbon, Regal Rose marker, Scallop edge punch, Paper Piercer and Mat pack.

A Colour Challenge

I haven't participated in any challenges for a while, but I'm back in the swing of things now, and I feel ready to take some on! It's still school holidays here for one more week, so my challenge cards have had to be quick ones. This is the latest colour challenge from Makeesha (fondly known as 'why make one card when you can make five') Byl.

4 colours that I haven't put together before...a nice masculine combo. This Polka Dot Punches SAB set makes really quick cards, and it's fun getting some layering happening with the punches. I caved last week and finally bought the Sanded background. I love it!

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
Stamps: Polka Dot Punches, Cheer and Wishes, Sanded background
Ink: Versamark, Blue Bayou, Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip
Cardstock: Blue Bayou, Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Other: Ginger Blossom DS paper, Wide Chocolate Double-stitched ribbon, Scallop circle punch, 5-petal flower punch, 1" circle, 3/4" circle, 1/2" circle, Dimensionals

Blokey!

I know a lot of people struggle with Masculine cards, and I think that's why the "For Father" set in the Summer Mini has been so popular. You can't get more masculine than this image - a box of tools. I stamped mine on Watercolour paper, and coloured with Watercolour crayons and an Aquapainter. The panel on the left is designer series paper "Afternoon Tea". Yes, in amongst all the pretty floral designs there is this lovely Chocolate Chip hessian-ish design that's perfect for more blokey cards.
I used some Hodgepodge to jazz up this otherwise fairly plain layout (I always seem to reach for Hodgepodge to jazz up masculine designs!). Instead of ribbon, I used twill tape to complement the texture in the patterned paper.

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: For Father, Sincere Salutations
Cardstock: Blue Bayou, Always Artichoke, Watercolour paper
ink: Black Stazon
Other: Aged Copper Hodgepodge hardware, Twill Tape, Afternoon Tea DSP, Watercolour Crayons, Aquapainter

More Blooms

Here's another card made using my favourite SAB set "Botanical Blooms". I made a few of these in some different colour schemes for some special December and January birthdays. I'm not sure if you can tell from the pic, but I stamped the Linen background on most of the pieces of this card. I just love the subtle texture it gives. It was Teneale who got me addicted to this stamp!
The colours I've used here are Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive. I embossed the greeting (from "In the Stars") with white powder so it would be nice and crisp. The photo corner punch comes in really handy when you need that extra balance to a design. It punches a large and small photo corner in one go.

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
stamps: Botanical Blooms, In the Stars
ink: Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Versamark
cardstock: Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive
Other: Photo corner punch, silver brads, White Embossing powder, Wide Old Olive grosgrain ribbon

Polka Dot Punches

Participating in challenges is a great way to get the creative juices flowing. When I received my Sale-a-Bration sets, I decided to do some old challenges that I didn't have time to participate in at the time. This particular card is a combination of this sketch challenge of Makeesha's and this colour challenge, also by Keesh.
I used one of the Sale-a-Bration sets, "Polka Dot Punches". I think this one is pretty self-explanatory, so here's the list of materials (all Stampin' Up!):

stamps: Polka Dot Punches
cardstock: Certainly Celery, Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
ink: Regal Rose, Certainly Celery
other: Soft Subtle brads, Scallop circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1/2" circle punch, 5-petal flower punch, stampin' dimensionals

Let the Cute begin

I'm back! Hopefully good and regular for a while now. I've had a lovely time away with my family (although it was HOT where we were...40+ every day) and am feeling refreshed and ready to take on a new year!

There has been a fair bit of cute happening around here lately, with my twin nieces just hitting the 7 week mark. They are just adorable, and very good babies too (what a blessing!). I have even had them overnight to give my SIL and BIL a break. I just love the sentiment on this card, and I made one similar to this for my SIL when she had her girls:

I stamped the main image in Black stazon ink, and watercoloured with my Aquapainter and Watercolour crayons. These are my favourite way to colour, and give the most fool-proof results on regular cardstock (in my opinion). I wanted some Barely Banana ribbon, and Stampin' Up! don't have any, so I just pulled out my standby White Taffeta ribbon, and coloured it with a Barely Banana marker. The Polka dot paper is "Bali Breeze" (from the Summer Mini). I felt like the card needed a little extra something to balance the right-hand side, so I trimmed the edge off, attached a piece of Whisper White cardstock inside, and stamped 'All Scallops' in Regal Rose ink. The little jumpsuit was crying out for some bling, so I used some Tombow glue and Chunky glitter on it. It's lovely and pink and sparkly in real life.

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)
Stamps: Big on Spring, All Scallops
Ink: Black Stazon, Regal Rose
Cardstock: Barely Banana, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Whisper White
Other: White Taffeta ribbon, Barely Banana marker, Watercolour Wonder Crayons (Regal Rose, Rose Red, Barely Banana), Chunky Sprinkles glitter, Tombow multi adhesive