Cake shop birthday

Another Pinterest idea I have been wanting to try is a card with a Word Window punch awning.  Now as I don't actually have Birthday Bakery set which came out as a Hostess set in 2010-2011 the images have been photocopied, so once again they aren't the best quality.  

The outside photo is truer in colour; Regal Rose on the awning and Pretty in Pink on the card.  I sponged one of SU's Paper Doilies to create the lovely lacy effect under the "window" - it looks quite pretty so will do this again on another card. 

Quick and Easy card

Well I seem to be hooked on Pinterest at the moment and for some reason I now have somone "following" me over there.  Not sure why - I haven't actually put anything on, just pinned the cards I like.  Quite strange that they follow me and not the person whose card I liked.  Anyway.  But there are some great cardmakers out there. 

I saw this card made by Linda from Crafty Distraction blogspot and as I actually had the same set I decided to CASE her idea.  I even used the same colours; Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy and Old Olive.

The card was masked with post it notes and stamped using the Silhouette Sentiments set in different colours and then while the post it notes are still in place it has been sponged with Old Olive.  Then a line of paper piercing and a sentiment stamped and it was finished.  It really is a very simple but effective card. 

Happy Birthday to my Brother in Law

This is the birthday card for my brother in law whose birthday is today.  He and my sister are currently on holiday (again) somewhere down the coast and this is the card he will get when he returns home.  

And the inside

Very similar to one made last week but this time I used some eyelets to read through the ribbon.  My B-I-L is a very fit and active man who lives by the beach and is quite boaty, hence the nautical theme.  

Enjoy your travels and happy birthday.  Your card will be sitting in your letter box when you get home.  

Stampin' Up news

There are a lot of things happening with Stampin' Up at the moment, so this post is just to let you know what's going on. 

 

Order Online

 

Did you know you can now order online yourself any time you want? Unfortunately I can't work out how to set up a link directly at the moment, but if you click here it will take you to their website where you will need to set up an account for your purchases.  I would be very grateful if you could use me as your demonstrator when it asks you if you have one.  Stampin' Up will then send me a notification that you have purchased through me.  

 

The benefits to ordering online yourself are that you can shop anytime you like, day or night, and have your goods delivered directly to where you want.  Great for those last minute have to have's and also when I am away on holidays.  Dream on!  No waiting around for me to deliver to you.  Also, you can buy using your own credit card, again, not worrying about having the cash when your goods are delivered.  

 

I am still more than happy to order for your too.  I would hate missing out on seeing what everyone orders and catching up with you.

Petite Curly Label Punch

The Petite Curly Label Punch that you saw in the Sale-A-Bration brochure is still available for purchase.  This is a smaller version of the Curly Label punch (obviously) for $18.95. 

To enlarge picture click here

 

Watercolor Pencils and Crayons Discontinued

If you have ever though about owning either the Watercolour Crayons or Pencils you had better get in quick as these have been discontinued and are available only while stocks last. 

 

• 101879: Watercolor Pencils
• 119802: Subtles Collection Watercolor Wonder Crayons
• 119803: Regals Collection Watercolor Wonder Crayons
• 119804: Brights Collection Watercolor Wonder Crayons
• 119805: Neutrals Collection Watercolor Wonder Crayons

 

Sent with Love kit

 

From 1 April through 15 June only, get our exclusive Sent with Love Stamp Set or Designer Series Paper—or buy them in a bundle with Calypso Coral Baker’s Twine for 20 percent off!  Click here for link to view stamp set and papers. 

Item	Description	Price
131847	Sent with Love Clear-Mount Stamp Set*	$33.95
132182	Sent with Love Designer Series Paper*	$18.95
132851	Sent with Love Bundle*    Includes the Sent with Love Stamp Set, Sent with Love Designer Series      Paper, and Calypso Coral Baker’s Twine at a 20 percent discount!	$46.25

*Only available through 15 June 2013. 

Calypso Coral Baker's Twine	Sent With Love Bundle	Sent With Love Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Sent With Love Designer Series Paper

Announcement of new 2013-2014 Colours

Stampin' Up have let us know about their new colour range for 2013. Below is a list of the new colour families with their changes.  I was pleased to learn that 4 of my favourite In Colours will still be around for a while, not that I was planning of giving them away anyway.  

If you want to have a look at the new colours then click here

for a video (hopefully).   

Digital Scrapbooking - My Digital Studio (MDS)

You may have heard about this one before.  America has had it for a while, but MDS has finally reached Australia.  I must confess I don't know much about it yet but plan to change that soon.  If you want to have a try before you buy, it is available for a 30 day free trial for a short time. There are some details below to give you a bit more information. 

It's here! We can't contain our excitement anymore. My Digital Studio is now available. Here are some helpful resources to get you started.
Software:

• Software: The My Digital Studio software is called MDS (item 130646) and is available as a download for $24.95 AUD/$27.95 NZD. 
• We wanted to get the software out to you as soon as possible, so we're releasing it as a beta version. So, what does that mean for you? Go ahead and download it now because any bugs and fixes will be worked out with future updates-available right in the software. 
• It is loaded with a bunch of content to help you and your customers get started. 
• Check out some of our favorite features and then watch the training videos to learn more. 
• If you or your customers aren't quite ready to buy, start with the 30-day free MDS Trial (item 130910). It also has content to help you get started.

Digital downloads:

• You now have access to a HUGE library of digital downloads from the Stampin' Up! online store. 
• We release new ones every week, so watch for even more! 
• Click here to learn more about how to get My Digital Studio downloads. 

I think that's about it for now.  A lot seems to be happening all at the one time, and then soon we will have a new catalogue.  Now that I am really looking forward to.  

 

Male birthday

This is another one for the men in your life.  It's a combination of The Open Sea and Clockworks.  I think by now you know that I like shading around the edges and don't mind a little cutting out.  Done in Black, Grey and White. 

 

You're a blast

I had another go at a Spinner card on the weekend - this time one that goes all the way around.  The colour of the card is Night of Navy, which is a little hard to photograph, or for me anyway.   There is a "trough" all around the centre that the rocket is supposed to glide around but when I sprayed shimmer all over the card it slightly warped it so the rocket has a little trouble getting around the world. Nice idea though. 

A black and white trifold

This is another style of card I had to have a try of.  I wrote down all the measurements but forgot to save the link, so thank you whoever you are for the idea.  

The card is called a double trifold card or a hinged card and is a bit fiddly getting all the measurements cut out, but very easy after that.  Basically it is two separate cards that join into one.  

I wanted to use black and white cause I think they look elegant, but when finished it needed just a touch of colour, hence the green leaf.  I love the outside panel and the inside back panel, but I don't think the middle bit is "right".  Anyway, here it is, see what you think.  

I am going to have another go at the inside with something less cluttered, maybe even a different colour, and will let you see again. 

If you are interested in making your own version and want the measurements and instructions let me know by making a comment with your email address and I send them along. 

Happy Easter

We don't give Easter cards in our family but I just made this one very quickly for the occasion.  

Enjoy your weekend, hope you are going to be doing something fun with family and friends.  And don't eat toooooo much chocolate!

Animal birthday

This one is another version of one seen on Pinterest.  This one is by Monica Gale ad I loved the idea of the animals sitting in little wagon trains.  (To see Monica's card you will need to scroll down to her post from 13th March 2011).  

The design of the card is called a Side Step card, for obvious reasons, and the wagons are made using the Decorative Label punch.  I used the punch longways to accommodate two animals, whereas Monica has just cut the shape in half making it easier to fit three carriages across the card.  I liked the idea of just sticking to three colours on the card.  Another cute one. 

The Circus is in Town

A few people have been telling me how good Pinterest is for checking out card designs so over the last few weeks I have pinned a few cards I wanted to try.  This is one of those cards and with a bit of help from Heidi Van Laar and her tent template and Heather Holbrook this is my version. 

The inside animals are from the stamp set Fox and Friends, which has now retired, but still lives in my house, and the outside characters are from Under the Big Top, which I don't actually own so I photocopied the page from the catalogue and then coloured them in. They would look better if I had stamped them though.  On the inside there is a line that the monkeys are hanging off, but it's not clear in the photo.  They aren't just hanging there.   Lots of cutting out, but cute.    

Welcome Baby

Thought you might be sick of Pool Party, so broke out Pretty in Pink for a baby card.  I was lucky enough to get the Happy You hostess stamp set recently and have used one of the images from that set here with another one of the dies from Hearts A Flutter.  

Had a go at some diagonal scoring on the card but left off the corner for effect.  Not really, I just got lazy and had done enough.  

I photographed the cover of the stamp set so you could see the baby in the flowerpot better.  It's quite cute.  There is also a pinwheel and trio of mushrooms image that didn't make it into the shot.  I wish the images were just a little bigger but that's just me.

 

 

 

More Hearts

Seeing as though I had the Pool Party cardstock out I stayed with the colour and square theme and came up with this one.  

I think what makes this card stand out is the edge of hand drawn black "stitches" around the edges.  Such a simple thing to do but it gives it a bit more oomph.  Have layered a strip of DSP beind the squares and then stamped the wave splodge from Clockworks set.  Added some Baker's Twine in Pool Party and a key that was hanging around my desk for some reason.  I wanted to stamp a sentiment on the tag, but couldn't find anything small enough and didn't want to stuff it up by writing on it.  Was happy with this one too.

Miss me?

Apologies for my absence.  We were away last weekend at my nephew's wedding and during the week I just didn't have the time or the inclination to do any crafting, so hence the reason for no posts - nothing to show.  I did make a card for the wedding but then forgot to photograph it.  I wasn't really happy with it anyway - the design in my head was much better.  Ever have that when it just doesn't come out the way you planned?  Happens a lot around here. 

So this weekend I made time to create a little and this is almost the card I wish I had made for the wedding.  I have seen a few cards like this on the internet and have always been jealous of the number of embossing folders some people have.  Now I guess it looks like I own 9 myself, but really I only have 6.  Luckily I found a few pieces of cardstock that I had embossed using other people's stuff.  

I have used Pool Party as the background colour which combined with the white just looks so fresh, elegant and serene.  I really will miss the old 2011-2013 In colours when they retired in July. Will have to make sure I stock up on them before they are gone.  My favourite colour would have to be Lucky Limeade, then Pool Party and Wisteria Wonder.  But then again I also like Calypso Coral and Island Indigo.  Too hard to choose.  Which will you miss the most?

Last ones

The last couple of projects were a card using the Postage Due stamp set with lots of sponging and some of the Core'dinations Card Stock, and a bow to top off a gift.  And also the pinwheel card on last week. 

The Core'dinations Card Stock has been run through the Big Shot using the Honeycomb Embossing folder and then lightly sanded to show up the inside of the cardstock.  As I said, lots of sponging going on too. 

The bows were really easy to make.  You need 4 strips of DSP (or cardstock) measuring 7, 5, 4 and 2 inches and 3/4 inch wide.  You loop around the 7 and 5 inch pieces to form a circle and glue and then using the 2 inch strip secure together.  The 4 inch strip then has the V cut into it for the peaks and then attached to the back.  Guess you could make these bigger if you want.  A beautiful and easy way to decorate a present.

 

Another one from Saturday

This is another card made on Saturday.  They were able to chose whatever colour they wanted with this one, and I forgot to get photos of them.  Think my favourite was the Lucky Limeade version - I am quite taken with that shade of green - who would have thought!  

 

The hearts were cut from the Hearts a Flutter framelit with a embossed edge of the hearts from the Adorning Accents folder.  The greeting is embossed with white powder and some Baker's Twine bows added.  Nice and simple.  

Saturday's cards

Well, I got all confused last week and stuffed up.  My big sister is actually coming down this week, not last, and that depends too on whether she can get through from Brisbane after all the rain.  Hopefully things will have cleared up a lot by then cause we need all the roads and weather clear for next Saturday so I can get to see all my family again.  Big event.  More news later.

I had a class on the weekend, the first one for this year, and was able to catch up with most of my little group of stamping buddies.  I made them work a bit harder this time with 6 different projects to create.  

This first card had two different versions to it.  I think it's called a Criss Cross Card, but maybe that's just what I call it.  They are both made with retired DSP I had stashed away so I am not sure of the names of them.  My favourite is this first one, all Old Olive tones.  

Quite easy to make using a 4 x 12 inch strip of DSP.  You simply score at 4 and 8 inches for the folds, and then depending on which way you score and fold the front and back flaps changes the look of the card.  This one is scored from the top of the 4 inch mark to the bottom left edge and then scored from the top of the 8 inch mark to the bottom right edge.  You then fold the top down to the bottom corner to create the triangle and then stick the flap down. The insert is then stuck in the middle so it pokes through the top when folded.  

This next one is scored from the bottom of the 4 inch mark to the top edge and then the top of the 8 inch mark to the bottom and then folded back and stuck down.  On this version the last 4 inch section has been taped at the bottom to form a pocket for the insert or gift card.   Just remember this last one will not stand on its own.  Bit annoying but what can you do.  We did try reversing the flaps so it could stand on just the one flap, but then the insert is upside down and could fall out of the pocket. 

Hope you were able to understand what I was talking about.  Much easier to do than explain really.