Birthday Cards........

Well amidst the Easter festivities, school holidays and work I had a birthday *grin* yep they do sneak up on me each year! Anyway this year I thought I would share with you some of the beautiful cards that friends gave me.

A gorgeous panelled card using Elements of Style from Catherine:

A fishy affair from Charmaine:

A Load of Love from Annette:

An amazing gift and card from Marsha using the Fun Flowers die & Happiest Birthday Wishes:

That even had a matching envelope - how cute is that!

A wonderful gift card from Myleigh and the Stampin' Sistas:

And inside a vellum embellishment:

Thanks girls - you all helped make my day very special!

African Giraffe

There are so many fabulous stamp sets in the new catalogue I want to use them all! I did use the new Zoo review set in a recent scrap class and for this card below which was part of a masking class.

Stamps: Zoo Review & You're A Gem

Ink: Black Stazon, More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Old Olive, Early Expresso

Card Stock: Early Expresso, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Linen thread, Big Shot, Houndstooth textured impressions embossing folder, stamping sponges, Aquapainter, 3/4" circle punch, 1/16" handheld punch, Dimensionals, SNAIL. 1" circle punch, Dotto

Floating Re-Inker Flowers

Growing Green is such a nice stamp set, I like the delicate leaves on the fern and the flowers. The flowers are perfect for the floating re-inker technique as they have nice open spaces within the petal outlines. 

The technique is when you use white embossing powder to heat emboss the image outline onto shimmer white card stock (it needs to be a non-porous surface). Spritz the back of the card stock once (this stops it from bending) and then several times on the front until the water pools. With the tip of an Aquapainter apply a small amount of re-inker to the edge of the petals and watch it spread and move (if it goes over the edge of the embossed image don't worry), repeat with up to three different colours, the different colours will blend and move on the surface of the water. Set it aside to dry. Once dry you can  cut out the flowers and use them on your projects.

Want to learn some cool techniques like this? Check out my class schedule as once a month I have a technique class or can do them to suit if you have at least 4 people who want to do a class.

Stamps: Growing Green, You're A Gem

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Regal Rose, Concord Crush

Card Stock: Shimmer White, Whisper White, Concord Crush, Newsprint DSP, Old Olive

Accessories: Big Shot, Little Leaves Die, Circle Scissors Plus, Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot grosgrain ribbon (retired, but you can still get plain), Heat Tool, White Embossing Powder, stamping sponges, Aquapainter, Dimensionals.

Sweet Stitches Designer Paper

There are so many nice things in the Autumn-Winter mini catalogue, it gets hard to decide which to use first sometimes, this card incorporates several items and as a bonus is not only very bright and happy, but really quick to make and showcase the gorgeous double sided Designer Series Paper from Stampin' Up!

Stamps: You're A Gem

Ink: Tempting Turquoise

Card Stock: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, Tangerine Tango, Sweet Stitches DSP

Accessories: Dimensionals, small oval, large oval, Tangerine Tango Pom Pom Trim. 

Ice-Cream Anyone?

I am loving the new Cupcake punch from the Autumn-Winter mini catalogue - too much fun - of course there's a lot more to make with it than just cupcakes! I also love the new Tasteful Trim Big Shot die and the multi-purpose adhesive sheets in the new mini catalogue as well.

Stamps: Create A Cupcake & You're A Gem

Ink: Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip & Real Red

Card Stock: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip & Pretty in Pink

Accessories: Tasteful Trim die, Big Shot, Multi-purpose adhesive sheets, Polka Dot textured impressions embossing folder, Crystal Effects, Square Lattice textured impressions embossing folder, 1" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, Dimensionals, Stamping Sponge, Dazzling Diamonds.

Sew Suite Swap

Each month our group of Stampin' Up! demonstrators has a meeting featuring learning a technique and a swap theme, as well as a general chat and catch up on all things Stampin' Up! and paper crafting. This month our swap theme was anything made using items from the new mini catalogue - well it took me almost a month to narrow the choice down! Anyway I saw a card made by Jackie T. using the Sew Suite stamp set and matching designer papers ages ago and decided with a few changes to CASE the card............

Pretty cute hey? I love the brown paper flower - the brown paper is packaging material that comes with our orders (another idea was the paper bags in my last post here). I made the buttons using patterned paper and the button die and Big Shot. Lots of lovely new products on this card - I'll post some of the other team members swaps soon. Of course if you're interested in getting a permanent discount for your craft items as well as lots of fun and support contact me for further information to join my team now or go direct to the top right icon here and click "join now"!
  
Stamps: Sew Suite, You’re A Gem & Pattern Pieces

Ink: Basic Black, Early Expresso & Wild Wasabi

Card Stock: Sweet Stitches DSP, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Early Expresso & Daffodil Delight

Accessories: Gold metallic eyelets, Crystal Effects, ½” circle punch, Buttons #2 die, Big Shot, Paper Snips, Tangerine Tango pom pom trim, Itty Bitty buttons, Itty Bitty circle punch, Vintage trinkets safety pin (carry over item), linen thread, SNAIL, Dimensionals, Aquapainter, mat pack & paper piercer, Crop-o-dile, Sponges, black marker pen.
Non SU: brown paper packaging

Upcycled DIY Paper Bags

Okay so recycling, repurposing and upcycling things is a bit of a hobby for me - it reflects my conservation efforts in other aspects of my life. As a Stampin' Up! demonstrator whenever we get an order, it comes packaged with lots of brown paper to help protect the contents of the boxes........always important! I do use the paper as scrap paper to protect work surfaces, make paper flowers and my son makes massive collage pictures on reams of it.............but to be honest there is a limit to how much I can use so some ends up in our recycling bin. However this week I did a fun tutorial over on Crafters Anonymous and we made two different types of paper bags and the brown paper packaging is absolutely perfect for this purpose. Of course if you didn't have the brown paper packaging that I have access to - you could easily substitute it with old posters or large stiff sheets of newsprint. I used some old paper raffia for the bag handles, but you could just punch out handles using an oval die or use ribbon (I was just recycling again!).

I used a variety of items to dress up the bags including texture embossing with the Big Shot (it does take two passes to emboss the entire bag), stamping directly onto the paper before assembling them and embellishing with die cuts similar to how I have done other bags in the past.

The flower is also made using the brown packaging paper with the two different sized scallop circle punches. The bags were assembled using Sticky Strip as I find SNAIL not as good for making 3D items which will hold weight or be opened a lot, the SNAIL adhesive I used for decorating the bag once it was made though.

This background stamping with the flourish was done free hand so doesn't line up perfectly, but for the purpose I was happy enough with the result. The bird I stamped onto crumb cake and cut out and popped up on Dimensionals. To add longevity or bling to the handle part you could eyelet the holes after punching them with a Crop-a-dile.

This bag was decorated similar to I would plain store bought ones like I did here and here. I used sponged the edges of the die cuts & punchies and the textured crumb cake card stock to add more dimension to the bag. We also made some flat gusseted bags with the packaging paper.

Again I have texture embossed one and stamped the other. They would be perfect for packaging things like treats, popcorn, small fabric items like a scarf or similar. I would seal these bags using a stapler and cover the staple with the punched card stock closure tab and here's a side view.

Contact me if you want to learn how do make these bags as a friend is hosting an "upcycling" Stampin' Up! workshop and this will be one of the items that you will get to make and take for FREE!!

Stamps: You're A Gem, Friends 24-7, Tiny Tags

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Card stock: Crumb Cake & Early Expresso

Accessories: Big Shot, Square Lattice textured impressions folder, Vintage Wallpaper textured impressions folder, 1" circle punch, Birds & Blooms Sizzlits dies, Lots of Tags Sizzlis dies, Scallop circle punch & 2 3/8" scallop circle punch, Dimensionals, paper snips, SNAIL, Sticky Strip, Crop-o-dile, Jewelry Tag punch, Beautiful Wings embosslit die, Tombow glue, stamping sponge. 

Non SU: brown packaging paper & paper raffia string.

Monkey Business Scrapbook Pages!

Scrapbook pages are always a lot of fun to make, some are simple, some are fun, some take a while to evolve and of course when children are involved in your life you have a vast array of material waiting to be preserved at your fingertips! One of the gorgeous things about children is some of their words or phrases, especially when they are explaining things to each other - so this months scrapbook class is dedicated to "classic kids quotes" which I have combined with some punch art monkeys from the super talented Kim Score. Our scrapbook class is approximately 2 hours and is a double layout with all materials provided - for my class schedule you can check my website or sign up to my newsletter, of course if the time doesn't suit, I would be happy to bring the class to you at a different time if you get a few friends together.

Pretty cute hey! The pages are designed to fit a 5"x7" photo on the left page and a 3"x4" photo on the right. Journaling for the pages can either be done around the pages, the piece next to the right hand monkey was designed for adding a name and date and further space is hidden under each tag - they flip up.......see I hadn't glued them down wonky - they move!!

Just in case you were adding things which might embarrass your children when they get older!!! These pages were done for a boy, but for a girl I would do the photo mats, small stamped circles & hearts on the monkeys in Pretty in Pink instead of Bashful Blue and add a pink butterfly bow in the monkeys hair as well to "girly" it up a bit - although glitter might also work!

All of the edges of the pages are sponged to add dimension and give the pages a softer look.

So if you would like to join us for some fun, please contact me or check out my website for other classes that are coming up.

Stamps: You're a Gem

Card Stock: Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Early Expresso, Bashful Blue, Real Red

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Accessories Crop-o-dile, Jumbo eyelets, metallic brads, paper piercer, mat pack, Tombow Glue, SNAIL, 1/4" chocolate chip ribbon (retired but you could use Early Expresso), paper snips, LOTS of punches, stamping sponge, black stamp 'n write marker and white gel pen, dimensionals.

Motorbike

This is a card made using the new motorbike stamp available in the new mini as a single stamp (love the range of single stamps!) and the square lattice textured impressions plate that I was SO happy about becoming a carry over item!

Stamps: Motorbike, You're A Gem
Ink: Soft Suede, Tangerine Tango
Card Stock: Soft Suede, River Rock, Whisper White, Tangerine Tango
Accessories: Crop-a-dile, gold eyelets, SNAIL, Dimensionals, Stamping sponges, Aqua Painter, Square Lattice textured impressions folder, 1" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch.

Sneek Peek - 4 Ever Anniversary Card

This was a card I made for a wedding anniversary and it contained a voucher for Stampin' Up! stuff (did this husband know what to get his wife or what!). Any way I first saw this made by Linda C. and had to CASE the idea and use some new stamps with it which were just perfect for the occasion. The centre is a mask of the full heart punch stamped with En Francais and then the sentiment is stamped on the vellum overlaid not in the heart giving it a very muted look.

Stamps: En Francais, So Happy For You, You're A Gem
Ink: Blushing Bride & Soft Suede
Card Stock: Blushing Bride, Designer Series Pack - In Color (hostess level 1), Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Vellum, paper piercer, mat pack, SNAIL, stamping sponge, Stamp-a-ma-jig.