Envelope Gift Card Holder

This is a cute little Two-Pocket Envelope Card. I followed the instructions from ChickNScratch at http://www.chicnscratchlive.com/2009/07/stampin-up-envelope-card.html . The flap at the top sits behind the main image which is adhered by Dimensionals along the bottom, and flips out easily.This is how the card looks inside - you can see the two pockets here, one for a gift card and the other for a note card or other small greeting card - which I haven't made yet!
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry
Stamp Set: Cottage Garden
DSP: Cottage Wall
Other: Dimensionals, Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds

Small Tote

I was sent one of these by Melissa as part of a swap, then found the instructions from Julia Leece on StampinConnection.

This is my take on the little bag. Made from a piece of 6" x 6" DSP, with some embelishments it would be great to pop a small gift or chocolates in, or a make n take for a group of teen girls, would fit a lipbalm as well.

Cardstock: Real Red

DSP: Patterns Pack II DSP (level 1 hostess set

Other: Half Pearl (Pretties Kit), Whisper White grosgrain ribbon, velcro dots

Button Bracelet

My daughter and I found these lovely buttons ages ago. While I was busy creating cards she found them when she tidied up the beading box, and whipped up this little bracelet with them. The buttons have a sparkle in them which only just shows in the picture, I really wish I had bougt more!

Scallop Circle Card

I made this one last night, the flower should have been in Cameo Coral to match the DSP, but I only had Pretty in Pink. Used the rock n roll technique to ink Real Red onto the tips of the petals.

The design for this card came from Andrea Lowcock http://andrealowcock.wordpress.com/

She uses a really neat little "no-tie" bow, which I was planning on adding to this card, but I had stuck down all my layers then realised I needed to push the brad through something! I did try the bow as per Andrea and it looks great, and is easy to do. Go check out her blog for instructions.

Joy Fold Card

I was looking for something interesting to demonstrate to the ladies at one of my workshops, I knew there were some "old hands" in the group as well as people with less experience so wanted something that would be interesting enough to impress but easy enough to complete. The Joy Fold Card was what I decided to go with. I googled for instructions and away I went and this is what I came out with ...
I used Kraft as the base of the card and sponged with brocade blue. I used the Bella Bleu DSP for this one (my first attempt was in hot pinks and purple - just some off cuts as a trial run and I have to say I like the blues far more lol).

The Joy part of the card is that its actually 2 cards put together, the main card and a smaller 3" x 3" card that overlaps it. Here it is with both parts of the card open. In looking at this I could have used more DSP on the inside as the plain Kraft is perhaps a bit dull, either that or stamped a complimentary image on them. Anyway the smaller card opens up to reveal your hand written message ...

For the front I chose the 2-step bird punch - why? because I like the punch and this is just another way to show it off. I sponged the back of the bird with blue to highlight it, and the chest of the bird with Apricot Appeal as often birds have light coloured feathers on their chests. I also sponged the top of the wing for some added dimension.
In the corner of this picture you can just see the "Thank You" stamped onto the large oval and scallop oval. This was mounted on the base and far corner with a double layer of dimensionals - this allows it to stand up off the page far enough to have the corner of the little card slip behind it to keep the card closed.

For me this card was showing the how the basic techniques of card making can be used to very good effect. Overall I was really happy with the end result. The ladies at the workshop appeared to enjoy making theirs also, which was the true aim of the exercise.

This is a great way to use small layouts and display effectively on a regular sized card.

Playing with Bleach

I had seen this technique when I watched the demonstrators dvd when I first joined up with Stampin' Up! and have been curious to give it a try ever since. Basically you use bleach (yep the stuff from under the kitchen sink) to strip the colour from your card stock. Here is an example of how I did this on the All A Flutter stamp after embossing with gold. I was really pleased with the result as it just lifted enough colour to highlight parts of the butterfly wings. The base card stock was More Mustard with a Chocolate Chip layer, I also used the Fresh Cuts stamp set for the background and some added paper piercing on the card along with very vanilla grosgrain ribbon.

I was really pleased with the result. Now I have one Aqua Painter that is just for bleach (carefully labeled as such) so I can use this technique more often. It may be an option also for when we lose our pretty light purple colours - a spritz of bleach may take just enough colour out of the darker purple to give the effect you are after.

I would suggest doing a test on a scrap piece of card stock (preferably an off cut of the one you are using as I found some variance of colour even on different sheets of More Mustard)