A Christmas Card
I was watching the news last week and they said it was only 100 days to go till Christmas. I found the thought of Christmas being that close a little scary. So perhaps its just as well that I have started making a few Christmas cards. Before I came to live in sunny Queensland I lived in Pottsville, NSW, and my Mum and Dad still do (hi), so occasionally when I get back there I get together with my customers and we make a few cards.
This is one of the cards we made a few weeks ago.
The baubles from Tree Trimmings were stamped in Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss and Baja Breeze Ink onto Glossy cardstock. The greeting is from the Snow Swirled stampset and was stamped in Riding Hood Red ink. The strings were stamped in basic black. The glossy card slips inside the Riding Hood Red Card which is folded over the top. This piece was then attached to Kiwi Kiss Card and the Kiwi Kiss striped grosgrain ribbon tied around it. The whole thing is then attached to a Whisper White card. This is a very simple card but I think it is quite elegant.
A Sad Time
Last week I had to send a card to my niece as her grandfather had passed away. As you know these are not my favourite cards to make and I never seem to have anything suitable on hand. So for inspiration I went looking at the examples on the Demonstrator Page of the Stampin’ Up Website and as usual I was able to find something to inspire me.
I used the colours that were suggested but changed the stampset and the greeting.
I inked the image from Thoughts and Prayers using my Bordering Blue and Old Olive Markers. I stamped this onto Whisper White card. Next I layered the image onto a piece of Bordering Blue Cardstock. The next layer is Kraft card and this is torn down the left hand side and then a row of paper piercing is added. Lastly I punched an Old Olive photo corner using the Photo Corner Punch. The whole piece was then attached to the Very Vanilla card. The words (also from Thoughts and Prayers) were stamped using Old Olive ink.
If you would like to be able to access the Demonstrator Website – contact me (k.mcintosh1@optusnet.com.au) and we can discuss how you can get all the benefits of being a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator.
Faux Silk Class
Today Sarah and I are hosting a class teaching a technique called Faux Silk. We have some lovely ladies coming and I hope they enjoy themselves.
This is one of the cards we will be making today. This is a technique that Stephanie taught us at retreat and this card is a case of the sample we made there. Check out Steph’s website to see some other fabulous ideas.
This card uses the Great Friend stampset from the Stampin’ Up! current mini catalogue. My base card is Basic Gray and I have stamped the butterfly from this set randomly on the right hand side in Basic Gray ink. The Cameo Coral piece has been punched down the right hand side with the Eyelet Edge punch. To make the main piece, firstly I have stamped the leaf image in Cameo Coral Ink and Basic Gray ink onto some tissue paper. I have crumpled this tissue and then adhered it to a piece of Whisper White card. I then trimmed the extra tissue paper away. I attached this piece to the Cameo Coral card and wrapped it with Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon. Once this piece was adhered to the left hand side of the card, I stamped the butterfly in Cameo Coral Ink onto some scrap Whisper White card and cut it out. I then attached it with dimensionals over the stamped butterflies. Thanks Stephanie for the inspiration for this card and for teaching us this great technique.
If you would like to learn this fantastic technique please do not hesitate to contact me on k.mcintosh1@optusnet.com.au.
There’s more than one way to use a punch
When I was surfing the net recently I found a card made by someone, somewhere (can’t find it again) with a link to a You Tube video to make this fabulous punch art owl.
As soon as I saw it I knew I would have to make a card using it. My husband and I recently took our grandson Ethan away for a few days and he was such a good boy I wanted to make him a card telling him so.
He loved it and so do I. If you would like to make one then please visit the video or visit her website.
I have used Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip and Pumpkin Pie Cardstock to make the card. I have stamped the Creamy Caramel with the Sanded Background using Creamy Caramel ink. The greeting is from the Hostess Set “Best Yet”, one of my favourite greeting sets.
Updated For Sale Page
Just a quick post to let you know that I have updated my For Sale page. My downline held a very successful “open house” last weekend and sold a large number of sets for me. I have discounted the prices again – so if you are after a bargain, please have a look and contact me if you would like to purchase any of these sets. My cupboard space (and my husband) will thank you.
Christmas Tri-Shutter
I had a lovely class last weekend where we made four cards using different folds. This is the tri-shutter card which we made.
We used Ski-Slope Designer Series Paper from the current mini catalogue. The base card was Old Olive and the main panels Whisper White mounted onto Real Red. The ribbon is Real Red 5/8″ grosgrain. The stampset is Season of Joy and the words are from Many Merry Messages. Inks used are Real Red, Old Olive and Chocolate Chip. We had a great time putting all the pieces together and everyone loved the way the card turned out. If you haven’t made one of these yet – you really should try. There is an excellent tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers here by Bonnie Szwalkiewicz. Get crafting and make one of these beautiful cards.
A beautiful thankyou
I was lucky enough to have a catchup morning with a group of other Stampin’ Up! demonstrators who all live in the same area where I live. We met at our local coffee shop and had lots of fun getting to know each other. While there my lovely downline Shirley gave me a beautiful card to thank me for loaning her a stampset and some cardstock for her workshop.
Shirley does lovely work and this card is no exception. She has used the Good Morning Sunshine Designer Series Paper, Kiwi Kiss and Pacific Point Cardstock and the beautiful stampset Eastern Blooms. She has just started her own blog so please check out her other work here.
I also want to share with you some beautiful work done by my lovely granddaughter Abigail. Abi is 4 1/2 and loves to stamp. Last week while she was spending some time with me she decided to make a card and decided that it should be just like one I had just made.
She picked the colours around a piece of ribbon from my offcut stash. The tree from Thoughts and Prayers was stamped and then I cut it into pieces for her. She glued everything down using snail and then found the wide oval cutout also in my offcut stash and stamped the for you. After she had finished stamping she decided to do some writing to give the card to her Mum. I think I just may have another budding Stampin’ Up! demonstrator on my hands. I wonder how old you have to be?
OBE
One of the members of a group that my husband and I belong to is turning eighty and I volunteered to make the card to be presented with his OBE (over b…. eighty) award. I have drawn inspiration from this card which I found on Splitcoast Stampers. I love the colours – Very Vanilla and Night of Navy.
I first stamped the Sanded Background onto Very Vanilla card using Night of Navy Ink. Then over that I stamped the “cog” image from the Sense of Time stampset which is a new set in the Spring Mini catalogue. Then over that I stamped the large “clock” image from the same set firstly stamping off twice onto scrap paper. I then sponged the edges with the same ink. The ship image is from the Seaworthy stampset and this has been stamped in Night of Navy ink onto Very Vanilla Card. The edges were sponged with the same ink and then it was attached to Night of Navy card. This was then attached to the larger stamped piece and wraped with twine. The whole thing was then attached to the Night of Navy base cardstock.
I am quite pleased with this card and hope that John likes it too.
Spring Mini Out Now
Well the Spring Mini catalogue is released today and what a fantastic catalogue it is. Beautiful new stampsets with co-ordinating papers and rub-ons. A great new scallop oval punch. Now you can nest the small oval and large oval into the new scallop oval and they have even released a stampset Oval All which fits the new punch.
You can view the new catalogue online here.
If you would like one of these catalogues or if you would like to order any product from this catalogue please contact me k.mcintosh1@optusnet.com.
Just to whet your appetite I made this card at retreat using the new Forest Friends and Oval All stampsets.
I have stamped the branch image from Thoughts and Prayers on the left hand side of the Whisper White card with Old Olive ink three times. I punched out three flowers in Pretty in Pink using the Trio Punch. I used crystal effects to adhere the seed beeds from the Pretties Kit and attached them over the branches. I stamped the “Bambi” image using Chocolate Chip ink in the bottom right hand corner and the “Thumper” image in Close to Cocoa. Both these images are from the Forest Friends stampset. I stamped “fabulous friend” from the new Oval All stampset in Basic Black ink and coloured the flowers with a Pretty in Pink marker. I punched this image out using the large oval and mounted it onto Chocolate Chip card punched out using the new scallop oval punch and attached it to the top right hand corner. I distressed the edges of the Whisper White card and attached it to a piece of Chocolate Chip card using dimensionals. I wrapped the bottom of the Chocolate Chip card with wide Old Olive grosgrain ribbon and tied a square clear button on using linen thread. This whole piece was then attached to a Close to Cocoa base card. Don’t you just love these gorgeous little animals. This card is a case of one that I saw on Splitcoast stampers here.
My granddaughter Abi just loves this card and she just might receive it next time she helps out her Nana.
Retreat Challenges
When we arrived at retreat we were each given a gift bag filled with goodies. There were also three challenges which you could participate in if you wished.
The first challenge was a sketch challenge. The cardstock was provided. I decided to randomly swipe the Night of Navy base cardstock with a Night of Navy ink pad. The Baja Breeze piece I stamped with En Francais using Baja Breeze ink and then sponging the edges with the same ink. The Pumpkin Pie piece I stamped with the greeting from Cheers to You in Pumpkin Pie ink and then sponged the edges with the same ink. I stamped the Martini glass from the Cheers to You set and coloured in using Baja Breeze, Night of Navy, Pumpkin Pie and a Ruby Red Cherry. I punched this piece out with the small tag and then mounted it onto a piece of Basic Black which I had punched out using the Tag punch. I used dimensionals to attach the tag to the card.
The next challenge was a “mystery” challenge. Everyone’s pack contained something different and we had to come up with whatever we wished. You had to use all the pieces in some way, a punch and you could add ribbon if you wished. I used a favourite layout of mine and stamped the branch from Thoughts and Prayers using Regal Rose and Always Artichoke markers. I used a greeting from Short and Sweet, punching out with the small oval and mounting on a Regal Rose large oval. I punched the So Saffron strip with the Eyelet Edge and added the Always Artichoke Ribbon. The Brocade Blue base cardstock has been stamped with the Weathered Background using Brocade Blue ink. All in all not too bad.
The next challenge was all about pink. We were given a piece of Pink Pirouette cardstock to use as our base and a piece of Pink Pirouette stripped grosgrain ribbon. I decided to use the grass from Inspired by Nature which I stamped in Close to Cocoa on Whisper White card. I mounted this to a piece of Close to Cocoa card, wrapped it with the ribbon and attached it the Pink Pirouette card. I stamped the butterfly image from Dreams Du Jour three times onto Whisper White card using Pink Pirouette ink and then cut them out. I sponged the edges of the butterflies with Regal Rose ink and attached them to the card using dimensionals under the wings and snail down the body of the butterfly. For this one I got an “honourable mention” and I was thrilled to bits.
Stamping with Kris 