Archive for the ‘Sympathy’ Category

Today I had a workshop for a group of ladies who are new customers and I wanted to make their ‘make n take’ simple but elegant and the hostess had told me they wanted to see the Extra Large 2 Step Bird punch in action.

So this is what the girls made today as their make n take …

How sweet are these cards?

They are so so quick and easy to make. Its also a great way to use up some of that Designer Series Paper that you have in your stash. Actually the ones we made today used the 6×6 paper sheets from the Patterns Pack II Level 1 Hostess Gift. I also used the awesome Stampin Up! Notecards that come 20 to a pack with envelopes for just $9.50!  What a bargain!

These pads of paper are so versatile and great for card making or 6×6 layouts or matting.  In each 6×6 Patterns Pack you get and assortment of 5 colours in 60 sheets of double sided paper – and all for free – just by hosting a Workshop and qualifying for the Level 1 Hostess Benefits.

My cards above were inspired by a sweet card I received from the lovely Genelle Little which is here for your viewing pleasure ….

I met Genelle through the ESAD online forum I run for Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators from New Zealand and Australia.  Its a great group for inspiration and getting ideas from other demonstrators so if youre a demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand click on the link and join today!

Its the last day of the first week of School Holidays and we are all still alive so thats reason to celebrate is it not? I might treat them to lunch today … might … well I could use it as an incentive reward couldnt I?

How good is this month’s promotion?  A whoppin 20% OFF  selected 2 Step Stamp sets – thats the demonstrator discount so how lucky are you?

Here’s the list of Stamp Sets and the discounted price

*From 2010 Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue

**Retiring stamp sets!

I love Stampin’ Up!’s promotions and I try to show you various projects in relation to the promotion and yesterday I had a play with the Playful Petals Stamp Set.

Now this set is actually retiring at the end of August so if you want it you better get it now – especially since its over $10 off the regular price!

I love this flower stamp – actually I love all the flowers in this set!  Maybe because I get to colour them in all purty colours.

I havent actually used the Tea Party DSP (it is designed from this stamp set) but I have used the colours from that pack to colour my flowers and for the cardstock and inks I used.

I have also specifically used the colours that are staying after the Colour Renovation happens.  I’ve even reorganised my inks, markers, reinkers and cardstock to the new colour families and I must say I do like the colours that have been grouped together even if I do now have a few holes here and there!

I also wanted to show you a close up of the flower on the bottom left as its all ‘dimensionalised’.

Is that even a word? well it is now!  I’m sorry its not so ‘clear’ as my camera isnt as flash as some and close ups arent one of its strong points!  I think you can still see the dimension it has though.

Have a wonderful Friday – I’m off for a Coffee and some toast – late breakfasts here during School Holidays!

Its currently school holidays here at the moment so things are not going according to my routine as they usually do. I had a lazy day today so thought I’d give my blog a little makeover – what do you think?

You might remember in my last post the card I cased from the lovely Lynda Shrimpton – well Lynda is such a lovely friend she let me case a couple more cards – aint she sweet.  Most of my cards are my own creations and as I do many Stamp A Stacks I like to give my customers a few different choices when choosing what cards they wish to make so sometimes its nice to not have to think too hard – especially during school holidays!

Here are a couple of very easy cards using the Vintage Vogue stamp set.

How pretty and delicate is this card?

The flowers just trail down the card a bit like Jasmine on a fence or anything that stood still too long and too close!

This has to be one of the easiest cards I’ve made and the ladies on Sunday enjoyed making it too.  It is one of those cards that could be used for any occasion.

Recipe

Stamps: On Your birthday, Vintage Vogue
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Mellow Moss, Whisper White
Inks: Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Mellow Moss Stampin Write Marker, Pretty in Pink Stampin Write Marker, Large Oval Punch, Scalloped Oval Punch, Stampin Dimensionals.

Now for the second card – another lovely soft card but in blue ….

This card is the same layout and design as the other just in the landscape orientation. I’ve also added a row of the lovely leafy edge image at the top and bottom of the panel in versamark.  The top and bottom of the white piece is daubered in Bashful Blue and a simple little sentiment from the Teeny Tiny Sentiments set.

Dont you just love the Soft Subtle range?  well if you answered yes and your a regular Stampin’ Up! customer you will know that many of the the Soft Subtle colours are retiring at the end of August.  However we have had a few colours start to run out already so if you’d like to grab some soft subtles before they are all gone I’d suggest you get your order in sooner rather than later.

If the single colours sell out dont forget you can still buy them in the mixed family packs!

Would you like to make these cards?

I still have a couple of places available for my Stamp A Stack here on Saturday 10th July so if you’d like to come contact me today to reserve your spot. Its just $20 for 9 cards – oh and some very yummy coffee … and I’ll even make you a cup in my new coffee cups!

Thanks for stoppin by

This past week I’ve been busy getting my emails and Google reader up to date – cant believe I had over 700 posts I hadnt read!  Can you believe its now down to 3?

In my ‘reading’ I did find some gorgeous cards and projects to inspire and case.  Now when you do case a card or something you’ve found online the ‘proper’ thing to do is to give credit to the person who inspired you.  In today’s case this card is one I cased from the very lovely Lynda Shrimpton.  Lynda is an avid blog reader – I know this cos not only does she frequent my blog but those of my demonstrator friends and she always leaves the best comments! Thanks Lynda

Isnt this a great card??

Now I did change the colours somewhat as I wanted to use this as one of the cards for today’s Stamp A Stack.

Recipe

Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Weathered background, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Inks: Sahara Sand, Close to Cocoa
Papers: Close to Cocoa, Naturals Ivory
Accessories: Stampamajig, Sponge Daubers, Stampin Dimensionals
Technique – Shadow Stamping

If you look closely at the card you can see a faint shadow on the swirl. This is done by using the two inks – one light and one darker and you definitely need to use the Stampamajig to place the second stamping.

If you love this effect and would like to see how it is done why not book in for my Technique Class or have me come show you at a Workshop in your home.

Now I have some sad news …..

As you know we have the colour renovation happening when the new Idea Book & Catalogue comes out in September (not long now) and some of our beloved colours are being discontinued. Now while Stampin Up! have tried to keep up with the demand some of the colours will be gone early due to demand and everyone ordering and the first item to go is Close to Cocoa A4 Cardstock.  So while the full packs are no longer available you can get it in the mixed Earth Elements pack but again this is only while stocks last.

So please if there is any other retiring colour cardstock, inks, markers or refills you ‘need’ get it early before its too late!

Have a totally blessed Sunday!

Its a chilly Saturday here in Sydney and I’ve had a nice morning of shopping with the hubby and even managed to get me more things than the rest of the family – which doesnt happen very often. 

I even got some new coffee cups I’ve been after for a while so a good morning in all.

As its Saturday its time for another Utah Divas Sketch Challenge from the lovely Carol.

Now when I first saw this one I thought ‘hmmm ok’  but then it dawned on me what I could do and what sort of a challenge would it be if I didnt change it any?

So me being me gave it a good old rotation and this is what I came up with ….

I really do love this Rose is a Rose set and will be sorry to see it retire in 2 months however if you dont have this set and would like to get it before it goes then you can and if you buy it before 31st July then you can get it at 20% off!  Pretty good deal huh?

Now I did hear from the lovely Max today and she said she cant participate in this week’s sketch – something to do with her mother visiting from England and leaving on Monday and wanting to spend every waking minute with her.  Max I hope you have a wonderful few days and Mum has a lovely trip back home. So this week the next stop on the Utah Diva Sketch Hop is the lovely Ruthie Burkey.

So skip on over toRuthie‘s blog and see what she’s created for this sketch.

Thanks for stoppin by

Its been a busy but exciting week.

Last week my lovely Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator friend Sonia Garbut announced she was a guest designer for a new online class called Inkspirations4U and was offering a free pass … well…. Sonia’s 2yo daughter pulled out my name so I won a free pass!

How exciting is that?  I never win anything!

Before the projects started rolling in Madeline gave us a colour challenge to get us started.

Now those colours happen to be some of my favourites but boy did I have a hard time putting them together!

Here is what I came up with ….

I love this flower image from Asian Artistry. Its just gorgeous … and so is that dragonfly!

I used my Stampin Write Markers to colour the image however I wanted it to have a soft feel to it so I coloured the leaves and stems with the Basic Grey marker and then stamped it off once. I then inked the flowers with the Pretty in Pink marker, huffed and then stamped onto Naturals Ivory cardstock.  I also sponged around the edge of the naturals ivory piece but again after dabbing the sponge on the Basic Gray Ink pad I dabbed it off first to give a softer edge – it tends to blend into the Basic Gray piece behind it this way.

Using the Rich Razzleberry as the base card fulfilled the ‘colour challenge’ although I wasnt totally sold on the card. I thought the Rich Razzleberry was too dark for this sympathy card so here are a couple of variations …

with ribbon

changed base card to Pink Pirouette

Now as much as I love Rich Razzleberry I think the softness of Pink Pirouette on this last card fits the ‘soft sympathy’ feel I was after.

The projects coming through the Inkspirations4U classes are so nice and its not too late to join and well worth the US$20 it costs so why not pop over to Inkspirations4U and join up – would love to see you there!

By now I’m sure you are aware of how much I love my job and how much I love Stampin’ Up!® and their products.

I had a Workshop on Saturday night and I wanted to show these ladies how you can make lovely cards quickly and easily. These ladies are all young mums so I know how precious their time is and how the budget doesnt always extend to paying $7 or $8 for one greeting card when purchasing them from a shop.

Last year at Sydney Regional Training for Stampin’ Up! we had a lovely lady visit from the home office in Utah, USA and she was telling us how good the Stampin’ Up! notecards are and you’ve seen me share projects using the Notecards since then.  Well here are three very quick and easy cards using the notecards, Thoughts and Prayers stamp set and 2 punches.

How sweet are these cards?

They are so easy – it was just a matter of stamping the tree from Thoughts and Prayers onto the notecard and then using the trio flower punch to punch out the flowers. I then inserted the brads and attached them to the card using glue dots.  The sentiment is stamped onto a scrap piece of whisper white and then punched out using the large over punch.  I’ve then popped that onto a scalloped oval punch out and stuck it on my card with Stampin Dimensionals. Add the ribbon and its done!  How easy?  Now with these lovely cards you could pop on any sentiment you wanted to as they’d suit birthdays or anything.

The beauty of these Notecards is that you get 20 cards and envelopes in a pack for just $9.50 – thats less than 50 cents a card!

Now dont forget that today is the last day for the Punch Deal of the Week where you can purchase any of the following punches at 30% off!

So ring or email me now so you don’t miss out on this great bargain – this deal finishes at 11pm tonight and I’ll have a brand new deal for you tomorrow!

Good Morning … its another fresh morning here and definitely a sign that winter is on its way!

I have wanted to make this card for a while but just hadnt had the time so I made some time last week and am very happy with how it turned out.

How cool are these pansies??

Recipe:
Stamps: Heard from the Heart
Paper: Pale Plum, Old Olive, Elegant Eggplant
Inks: Elegant Eggplant classic ink pad, Elegant Eggplant ReInker, Pumpkin Pie ReInker
Accessories:  Water Spritzer, Silver Brads, Aqua Painter

This is such a neat way on how to use your Butterfly Punch and I followed the tutorial on Mary Jo Price-Williams blog.  They use the ‘floating reinker’ technique are very easy to make and the card is a quick and simple card but you do need to leave the ‘pansies’ to dry which can take a while but I do think the results are totally worth it!

If you would like to learn how to make these Pansies I would love to show you how so ring or email me today to book in your workshop or demonstration.

You may remember the cute little Easter Cards I made for a Stamp A Stack well I thought they were so much fun that I’d make some more!

Get Well Wishes

I’ve used the same layout and design as the Easter cards and just changed the stamps and the sentiments.

Birthday Wishes

You may notice the ‘shadows’ on these cards. This is instead of stamping the image direct onto the white circle layer I’ve actually cut the images out after colouring and then popped them on with Stampin Dimensionals to give them more depth.  This one little step makes the world of difference to the cards.

Baby Blessing

Would you like to make these cards?

Then contact me today to book your Stamp A Stack in and for just $20 you make 3 each of the above designs.

I am holding a Stamp A Stack at my house on 16th May and as places are limited you will need to ring and reserve your chair.

Welcome to Saturday and another Utah Divas International Sketch.

I love this sketch!

It has so many opportunites!

I’m not sure what it is about sketches but they just get my creatives juices flowing. I’ve sat here during the week (staring at my new ink pad storage unit) trying to think of ideas to create with the new stamps I received – free stamps too!

Some of you may be unaware that while you can earn free stamps during Sale A Bration we too can earn free stamps as Demonstrators. You can earn sets for signing up new demonstrators and for the total amount of Sales you do during the Sale A Bration period. This year I earned 3 free stamp set which arrived on Thursday and I’m really looking forward to putting them together and creating some more this week.

Here is what I created for todays sketch

I’ve created this card using the new Autumn Days stamp set from the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue.

I’ve had quite a few requests for Sympathy or Thinking of You cards of late so I thought this one would fit that category.

I dont have any of the Autumn Traditions Designer Series Papers but loved the colours they used to I just used the swatch in the catalogue to choose the colours of cardstock and inks to use. I also replicated one of the patterns of the papers in the DSP pack using my stamps and inks. This is the leaf strip on my card.

I also received my Soft Suede Cardstock and Ink this week and I must say I loved working with this colour this morning and I can see its going to be a new favourite and whats even better is that it wont be retiring come September! Gotta be happy about that!

I love all the elements of this stamp set with the wheat, grass, leaves, pine cones and of course Phillipe – the very splendid pheasant!

So now that I’ve introduced you to Phillipe its time to skip along to the next blog in the Utah Divas International Sketch Design Team being the very splendid Lori Ames blog to see what she’s created this week.