Now in saying all this it doesnt mean we dont share the Christmas Joy with our friends overseas where it is winter and snowing at Christmas and this is probably why “Christmas in July” is such a fun thing here in Australia and why some of my customers have asked for ‘Christmas in July’ Stamp A Stacks.

I splurged and purchased two new Christmas stamp sets the other week – not that they are new to Australia but just new to me I am sure some of my customers are over the cards I did last year with Snow Swirled, Lovely as a Tree and Wish for Peace although I still do love those sets so you might see another one or three cards made with those over the upcoming months.

If you have been a long time visitor to my blog you will know that I love to make Christmas Cards using ‘non’ Christmas stamp sets.  This past weekend I’ve been playing with the Autumn Days stamp set from the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue and made a couple of simple and very easy Christmas cards.

How nice is this?? and so easy to make and quick too!  I’ve just used the Pine Cone stamp from Autumn Days and stamped on the base card in Versarmark to give it the watermark look – you could even clear emboss the base card too to give it a little extra lift.

The main image is the same Pine cone stamp coloured with the Stampin Write markers then stamped onto Very Vanilla Cardstock. I’ve then stamped the Merry Christmas from Teeny Tiny Sentiments down the bottom and tied a ribbon around it – easy as!!

Do you like the second one??

The only difference is I’ve stamped the sentiment in green and tied the Red Taffeta Ribbon around the card. Now this bow has no tying! Yep no tying at all – this is so easy you’ll wonder why you hadnt thought of it before!

I got this idea from my lovely friend and downline Andrea Lowcock. You simply hold your ribbon in the bow shape, open a brad and have it so the prongs are going up and down then wrap the brad prongs around the ribbon. Adjust your bow before tightening the prongs. See …. easy!!!

These cards are just so so easy to make and would make a great Christmas card and you could do a bundle of these in just one night – even in front of the Television if you’re into multitasking!

So I decided to utilise this lovely quiet time and make a couple of cards and continued on with the Christmas Theme from yesterday. Well the Christmas Classic set was still on my desk so why waste energy getting a new set out?

I remembered the pretty sketch challenge from Stamping 411 so decided to use that for my next card.

I do love to make cards from sketches as I find when I look at a sketch I can see so many cards with it whereas if I just go and pull out a stamp set to use I can deliberate for hours on colours, papers and layout.

You should give a sketch a try – use any of the ones I’ve done or just simply do a Google search on ‘sketch challenge’ and I’m sure you’ll be amazed at how many places have these challenges every week.

Here is my card ….

Recipe:

Stamps:  Christmas Classics, Baroque Motifs
Paper:  Baja Breeze, Ridinghood Red, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Ski Slope DSP
Inks:  Baja Breeze
Accessories:  Chocolate Chip Stampin’ Write Marker, Real Red Stampin’ Write Marker, More Mustard Stampin’ Write Marker, 1/4″ Chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon, eyelet border punch, stampin dimensionals, snail adhesive.

This is another very quick and easy card and a great one to make for christmas as you could do a few in no time at all!

Now I think I might take this aching body back to bed for a little nap and try and get over this flu.

This week’s sketch comes from you from the lovely Carol and my sponsors this week being Nespresso, Ease a Cold (cold & flu tablets) and the makers of Ibuprofen!

Yes I’ve come down with the dreaded flu and just when the kids are due to go back to school and I have a few bookings this week so I hope I am ok to do those and not have to reschedule any.

As soon as I saw this sketch I had a few ideas running thru my head – yes it got quite noisy in there!  Now those ideas were put on the back burner as I have a “Christmas in July” stamp a stack on Monday so thought I’d go with a Christmas theme today and had to use one of my new Christmas sets – Christmas Classics … well it is new to me!

Here is my card …

This is a simple and ‘easy to put together’ Christmas Card with minimal colouring but colouring those baubles is so easy and they turn out so nice dont they?

I still have some of the gorgeous Ski Slope Designer Series Paper from last year’s Summer Mini Catalogue and I so so love these colours together. I should just have enough for Monday’s Stamp A Stack too.

I do hope you like my little card and now its time for you to skip along to the next Sketchy Saturday Diva being the lovely Ruthie B. So pop over to Ruthie’s blog to see what she has created.

Now if you get to a blog that hasnt got their challenge card up then you can view all those in the Sketch Design Team at the Utah Divas International Blog.

This month we have a swap for a Technique Book which I’m a part of.  All the participants had to choose a technique different to the other participants and make up an instruction and sample page for each participant. So I had to make 12 instructions & samples for this swap and the technique I chose was Collage Stamping.

I love doing Collage Stamping as you can make it your own and create lovely effects and it gives the look of your very own designer series paper.  Now while I was making my samples the other day one of my daughter’s friends was staying over and she asked why I was putting butterflies on the patterned paper – I then explained what I was doing and that I’d stamped all the images on the cardstock myself.  She then exclaimed “Wow how cool!!”  Now this does boost one’s self esteem to no end!

Here is the sample I made for the swap ….

After deliberating for what seemed like days on what set and style to make I decided on this gorgeous “All a Flutter” stamp as the main focus and then popped in some flower stems, leaves and script.

I really do love the final sample and I do love that butterfly!

I’ve coloured my piece using the Stampin Pastels. I love the soft muted tones you can get with the Pastels and they also blend so well!  Now to ensure that the Pastels dont keep rubbing off I’ve given them a light spray with my hairspray.  This just helps to set and protect your artwork from rubbing off.  You dont need an expensive fixative – just the  cheapest hairspray does the trick.

Now as part of the swap we also had to make one card or project using our technique so I thought I’d use my sample and do one of the challenges from the Cards and Things Challenges Blog run by the lovely Krista Driessen.

Here’s my card …

I love how this turned out and I’ve added another butterfly over the top of one to give it more dimension and make it that extra little bit special.

Recipe:
Stamps: All a Flutter, Organic Grace, En Francais
Paper: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Blush Blossom
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Soft Suede, Mellow Moss, Versamark
Accessories: Big Shot, Scallop Circle Die, Circle Scissor Plus, Stampin’ Pastels, Sponge Daubers, Crimper

Here’s a close up of the layered butterfly …

Starting September I will be starting new Technique Classes so if you’d like to book your spot please email me today.

My apologies for posting late (sorry Carol) we had a spanner thrown in the works last night with a call to let us know that an ambulance had been called for my Mother in Law.  She has had a bad cold and ended up with chest pains last night so everything was just dropped while we attended to her.

Here is this week’s sketch from the lovely Carol.

Diagonals?  What am I supposed to do with that?  So as I do I deliberated and deliberated and then …. I deliberated some more!

Then it dawned on me … pockets.

I have quite a bit of Designer Series Paper that I need to use over the next 2 months so I tried to think what paper I havent used for a while and I grabbed my Candy Lane Papers.  You dont see these pack used so much and I think its really lovely – or maybe I just dont go to the right blogs!

Here is what I came up with …

I’ve modelled this card on the Diagonal Pocket card but I’ve just used it for the pockets on the front so only used 1/3 sheet of 12×12 for the front pockets instead of using the whole  sheet as in the tutorial.  I’ve also added a bit of elegance using the Eyelet Border Punch on a piece of Very Vanilla.

Now here’s the card showing the insert.

I couldnt go past doing my “Latte Stack” on the tag with my gorgeous “Share A Cup” stamp.

I’ve left the tag mainly blank so you can put a little note or even attach a gift card for your favourite Coffee Place like Gloria Jeans or The Coffee Club.

Here is the inside of the card for you to write a message to your friend

Now I’ve added the Eyelet Border egde again with some of the stripes from the Candy Lane Designer Series Paper pack for continuation from the front.

Now I could have put another tag in the top pocket but after grabbing my little Pun Fun Latte stamp I thought what better than to put in a sachet for a Latte.  Its a nice way to say hello to a friend and give them a cuppa

I do hope you like what I made for this sketch and now all I have to do is to find someone to send it to!  Maybe you??

Now its time for you to skip along to the next Designing Diva being the loverly Ruthie Burkey so pop over to Ruthie’s blog and see what she has created for this week’s sketch challenge

Thanks for stoppin by

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!

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

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!

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

From 1-31st July you can purchase selected 2 step stamping sets at 20% off! What a huge saving!

One of the sets included in this sale is the very cute Cheep Talk stamp set. Its a set of 11 stamps and at the sale price works out at less than $3.50 per stamp – now where else can you get 11 stamps for less than $40??

With this great promotion I set to work on a couple of cards using the Cheep Talk stamp set.

How cute is this card?  I’ve had the Scalloped Circle die for a while and havent had a chance to use it so I ‘borrowed’ it back from Lisa and made these cards today.

The first one is done in Old Olive and Perfect Plum. I chose these colours as they are two of my favourites and two that will remain after the Colour Renovation happens with the new Idea Book and Catalogue in September.

Here is the inside of the card.

One thing you will ‘need’ to have when you embark on 2 step stamping is the Stampamajig so you will have perfect placing every time.

While I love this card I also wanted to make another that was bright – for the ‘young at heart’ girls.

Hows this for bright?

Again I wanted to use colours that would remain after the Colour Renovation and nothing says ‘girly’ like pink and orange!

This card uses Melon Mambo and Pumpkin Pie. While I have always loved Pumpkin Pie its taken some time for the Melon Mambo to grow on me. Mind you I received my new Mastercard debit card today and guess what – its Melon Mambo!

I love how this card turned out – so bright and funky!

Here’s the inside – the thinking of you sentiment comes from the ‘On Your Birthday’ set.  All other stamps used in these two cards are all from the Cheep Talk Stamp Set.

Now for the details of the July ’2 step’ Promotion …

• purchase any of the selected Stamp Sets at 20% off
• no minimum purchase
• no limit on how many you can purchase

*From 2010 Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue

**Retiring stamp sets!

Would you like to see the different ways to do 2 step stamping?

I would love to show you just how easy it is to do 2 step stamping and you’ll be able to amaze your friends and family with your creativity. Book a workshop with me during July and I will show you all you need to know about 2 step stamping and you will receive a bonus gift just for holding the demonstration with me. Your workshop is free and all you have to do is invite your friends and make a cuppa and thats it! I can even bring a table if you dont have one!

Ring or Email me today to book in your demonstration or to place your order.