Three Purples

I made this card for my Nana's birthday. I CASEd a card from our Demonstrator Newsletter, but changed the colours. I've used Rich Razzleberry, Concord Crush and Perfect Plum. The Perfect Plum is actually a piece of the Patterns Stack, which I've stamped the Bliss flourish on, and sponged the edges. I gave the flowers their watercolour look by stamping on Shimmery White cardstock in versamark and heat embossing with White Embossing Powder. I then spritzed with water and dropped on some drops of re-inker. As the colours dry, they blend beautifully. It comes out differently every time! The Old Olive leaves were cut using the Little Leaves die and my circle was cut using the Circle Scissor tool.
Hope you have a great weekend!

Sweet Summer Shimmer

This was my other Stamp-a-Stack design for this month. We used 2 gorgeous Sale-a-Bration sets on these cards - Sweet Summer and So Happy for You. They are both quite whimsical in style, so I think they work together really well. Can you believe this colour combo is all from the Subtles family? Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi and Rose Red. I love that the Subtles have much deeper colours now...they used to be a little too, well... subtle LOL.

We stamped all of the images in Black Stazon and then coloured them in with a 50-50 mix of re-inker and Platinum Shimmer Paint.

Here's a TIP for you - don't toss out your dried-out Blender Pens! They are perfect for applying colour to detailed images like these. I just rinsed the tips of mine out afterwards, and then they are ready to use with new colours next time.


Doesn't the Elegant Lines embossing folder and the Organza ribbon complement these cards nicely? :o) Very purty!

Neutral Bliss

This week was Stamp-a-Stack week on my class schedule, so I've had a busy week teaching classes. Lots of fun, but now I'm looking forward to a (relatively) quite weekend. Our last few weekends have been pretty busy!!
We made this set of cards using the Bliss Sale-a-Bration set. I've loved this set the more I've used it. I've gone a bit vintage with these, and done some distressing and spritzing. I also used a clear block on it's own as a stamp, to create a "shadow" frame for my images. And I'm loving this neutral colour palette - Sahara Sand, River Rock, Soft Suede and Early Espresso with Very Vanilla.
I can hardly believe we have only a few weeks of Sale-a-Bration left! How fast is the year going?!
Hope you have a great weekend, wherever you are!

A very late Sketch Challenge

Back in January Kez gave our team a Sketch Challenge. I was away on holidays, so I didn't get to participate in time. I really liked the sketch though, and finally got around to making a card. I used SAB sets Punch Bunch and So Happy for You. I gave my owl a bit more character by punching out a different coloured chest and some eyelids using the owl punch. I've also used a few products from the Summer Mini :

• The 2-3/8" Scallop Circle... I love having a Scallop Circle this big. It has much more impact than it's smaller cousin!
• The stamped frame inside the Scallop Circle is from the "Homemade" individual stamp. It makes it much more versatile when you know you can use it this way, without the sentiment inside. It makes that $14.95 even more of a bargain!
• The little speech bubble heart is from "Love Defined". I like adding this to all sorts of stamped or punched animals and people...sometimes it's just the right thing to say!
  

The colours I've used are Blushing Bride, Peach Parfait and So Saffron....reminds me of gelato....yum!

The Wedding Card

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! I had a lovely weekend :o)
I thought you might like to see the card I made for the wedding. I kept it simple and elegant. I pulled out the Bliss Sale-a-Bration set and inked it up in Sahara Sand. I then stamped it off because I wanted the middle to be very pale. I then sponged Sahara Sand and then Rich Razzleberry ink around the outer part of the stamp and stamped it onto Very Vanilla cardstock. I stamped the sentiment inside in Rich Razzleberry ink (the sentiment is from a Level 3 Hostess set). I then sponged the edges of the cardstock in Sahara Sand, and layered it onto another piece of Very Vanilla. I made some embossed stripes on the Rich Razzleberry piece of cardstock using a Scoring Blade in my paper trimmer. Some ribbon and an antique brad just finishes it off.

By the way, I've had a few people asking how I was going towards earning the Fiji Incentive Trip, and I'm very happy to say that Dave and I will be enjoying an all-expenses paid holiday to Fiji in October :o) Thanks to my wonderful team, I earned the trip nice and early this year, so the pressure was off!

A Challenge...

The other day I challenged myself to use 2 things - the In Colour Poppy Parade, which is my most neglected In Colour and the Every Moment stamp set, which I really like, but have hardly touched. This card was the result.... I used a Sketch Challenge from somewhere too.
The colours are Cherry Cobbler, Poppy Parade, Always Artichoke and So Saffron...way out of my comfort zone! The little border and sentiment are from Because I Care (Level 1 Hostess set). I masked the flowers, stamped in Black Stazon and water coloured with ink pads and a Blender pen.
We're off to my Brother-in-Law's wedding this weekend. They live in Gymea Bay, so we are staying there overnight, and then it's my birthday on Sunday, so it should be a fun weekend!

Bliss Black Magic

...or actually this card is Early Espresso magic! This was our other Technique Class card. The Black Magic technique always looks so stunning. All you do is stamp in Whisper White ink on dark cardstock (I used the butterfly from the Sale-a-Bration set Bliss). When the ink is dry, colour over the top with Stampin' Up! Watercolour pencils. Press quick firmly to get deep colour tones. You can also add highlights afterwards with a White Gel Pen. The results are...magic!

Here's another example, this time using the Priceless set:
Here's the butterfly up close, so you can see the colouring better:

I love how the colours just pop!

Aviary Chalkboard

I'm actually about to head off to do a workshop for a lovely group of ladies this morning (what a nice way to start the week!), so I'll have to make this quick.
This month in Technique classes I taught the Chalkboard and Black Magic techniques...lots of fun! We made this card using the Aviary set for our chalkboard card. It's a very easy technique - just stamp in Craft White ink, and then dab Stampin' Pastels on top with a sponge dauber, while the ink is still wet. The chalk sticks to the ink, and the colours really pop on dark cardstock.
...I'll be back later to show you the Black magic card too.

Presto Patterns Aviary

The Aviary set in the Summer Mini was immediately on my "must have" list. I love the whimsical style of the bird cages and those cute little birds and owl. On this card I've used lots of other products from the mini too. It was a case of having so many new goodies and wanting to use them all NOW! The card started when I pulled out a sheet of Presto Patterns paper and started sponging it with Baja Breeze and Pear Pizzazz. This paper started it's life as a plain white sheet with a clear glossy design on it. When you apply colour with a sponge, spritzer or brayer, the pattern is revealed! Just like magic.
Next I played with the Lattice Embossing folder (another must-have). I sponged mine with some Frost White Shimmer Paint. Finally, the Aviary set was begging to be inked, so I made it the star of the card.


I just finished reading "Before I Fall" by Lauren Oliver...one of those books that stays with you long after you finish it. I couldn't put it down this morning and kept on reading even though I had a million other 'better' things to do. Now I'm sad it's over, and I want to start it all over again!

Elements of Style Stamp-a-Stack

Here is a Stamp-a-Stack that ran late last year, using one of my favourite stamp sets in the catalogue, Elements of Style. I love the look of stamping onto Sahara Sand cardstock...it makes the images easy to watercolour too, as it's much more forgiving than white or vanilla.
I used In Colors for these cards - Blushing Bride, Concord Crush and Pear Pizzazz, and gorgeous Organza ribbon.

Clean and Simple Apple Blossoms

Not too sure about this one.... it was my first attempt using the Level 2 Hostess set Apple Blossoms. It was a nice and quick card to make because I used a Clean and Simple sketch. Using a sketch really streamlines the card-making process!
The colours are Baja Breeze, Always Artichoke, Rich Razzleberry and Not Quite Navy.

A little bit French

Eiffel Towers seem to be everywhere at the moment, so why not on cards? I've used Love Letter DSP and the "Artistic Etchings" stamp set to create this card. They aren't my usual style, but sometimes it's nice to be someone else for a little while!

Precious Moments

As you know, I don't do a lot of scrapbooking, but here are a couple of sweet 6x6 pages that I taught in my classes last year:

I love this photo of Amy and I (taken by my cousin Amanda of Spitting Image Photography). I also love the Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die. It cuts out and embosses 5 perfect little butterflies Life really is a matter of moments....treasure each one

Materials (all Stampin' Up!)

stamps: Elements of Style
ink: Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso
card: Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla
other: Color Spitzer tool, Marina Mist marker, Big Shot, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Scallop Trim Border Punch

Swiping!

I love doing backgrounds using the babywipe swipe technique. I swiped with Not Quite Navy and Baja Breeze here (and masked off the moon with a punched post-it first) to make a quick night sky backgound for my owl. To get this effect, just take a baby wipe and fold it so that it is a bit wider than your piece of cardstock (I used glossy white cardstock and find that it works best). Dab a few drops of re-inker along the folded edge of the baby wipe and then 'swipe' it across the piece of cardstock. You can go back and forth a couple of times if you want to. The result is a quick and easy background. You can usually get a few backgrounds out of the one baby wipe.
....I've obviously been spending too much time watching Dora with my 2-year-old nieces because at this point all I can think of is "Swiper! No Swiping!". My apologies to those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about!
BTW, the owl is from "Fox and Friends" and the branch is from "Cheep Talk"

Bella Toile

I had both kids back to school yesterday, and despite the heat, I had a lovely day making cards at my stamp desk. Now, it's the usual story, I need to take some photos so I can show you the fruits of my labour. However grocery shopping takes precedence over that, so instead I'll show you an oldie that I didn't put up here because it just didn't hit the spot for me. This card is a Sketch Challenge, and I don't know if it's the sketch or the colours I chose, but I just wasn't happy with it. What do you think?

It's still horribly hot today, so I think the air-conditioned shops don't sound too bad!