1 More Sleep ...

Well down to the wire now, this will be my last post before the Idea Book & Catalogue 2010-11 goes "live" tomorrow.  As soon as I am able I will change the links on the side of the blog to take you to the new catalogue for you to all have a browse through. 

As well as the New IB&C tomorrow is the start of the ESAD Blog Hop - a group of 25 demonstrators have been working hard on a variety of projects all from the new IB&C, and tomorrow all of us will be posting these up on our blogs and websites and they will be linked so that when you finish looking at one, you click on the link to the next blog to visit.  Eventually you will "hop" around all 25 of the blogs and get to see a range of projects using all types of techniques, sets, and layouts.  So get yourself a cuppa and sit back and enjoy. 

But that's tomorrow ... today you have a look at the last of my sneak peek leading up to catalogue launch projects.

This one is done using the level 3 hostess set "Playful Pieces", its a great set as it has 30 individual stamps in it, many of these are fairly small images but when put together you can use them to creat any number of things. For this one I have used Soft Suede for the base of the card and Tangerine Tango for the ink and matting for my butterflies, the DSP comes from the Greenhouse Gala DSP and shows the new colour Daffodil Delight.  The butterflies are stamped using 3 of the Playful Pieces, the upper wing, lower wing and body, the small flowers in the bottom left of the card are also from the set, and the sentiment comes from Great Friends stamp set. 

2 More Sleeps ...

Only two more sleeps until the new Idea Book & Catalogue go live!  And only 2 more days to order items from the Last Chance List and from the Autumn/Winter Mini Catalogue, contact me 0438260104 if you are interested in placing an order.

Its also only 2 more sleeps until the ESAD New Catalogue Blog Hop, so don't forget to pop back and visit anytime from 10am EST on Wednesday 1st September.

Now for today's card, I have seen a lot of cards using the Artistic Etchings stamp set and a lot of them (even mine) use Red, Black and Very Vanilla.  Well I wanted to try something a little different for this one, and I am happy with the results.

This is the first time I have tried an Emboss Resist - stamping the two images from Artistic Etchings onto Very Vanilla card stock, embossing with white embossing powder and then using sponges to colour over the top of them.  I paired this with a sheet of the Baja Breeze paper from the Greenhouse Gala Designer Series Paper.  I then cut a matching flower from the same patterned DSP in the Daffodil Delight colour and mounted on an Old Olive Oval. The sentiment comes from the Occasional Quotes level 3 hostess set.

Hope you are enjoying the daily updates and sneak peeks at what is to come in the new Idea Book & Catalogue, I am very excited about all the wonderful new products that are coming, and my chance to share them with you all.

CASE from 2010-11 Idea Book & Catalogue Part 4

Page 74 of the new IB&C provided lots of inspiration, not only for the cards featured in Part 1 and 2 of this series, but also for this one. I made some changes to the colours in this card from the original, and because I don't have any buttons yet, I substituted some I made with my Big Shot die "Buttons #5". I covered them in Crystal Effects to make them more like real buttons.

This stamp set, Printed Petals, was one of the sets that demonstrators who went to convention were given. While I was not lucky enough to attend convention this year I have met a lovely lady, Cathy, who let me have a play with her stamps. She also lent me her For You Flower featured yesterday and the matching punch. This card features some of the Wild Wasabi that my lovely upline Kasey sent me. Wild Wasabi was a previous In-Colour that is returning, and Kasey had some on hand so sent me a sample. It seemed just right for this card. The base of the card is Rose Red, and the stamped flowers are in More Mustard, Perfect Plum, and Tangerine Tango.

CASE from 2010-11 Idea Book & Catalogue Part 3

This little card is made with one of the A La Carte stamps. These are stamps that are sold as individual items rather than in a set, there are 10 to choose from on the last two pages of the Catalogue and cover a range of themes, thanks, birthday, Christmas, general, baby, and a really cute "to:   from:   " tag stamp that goes with the Large Tag Punch.

The stamp I chose for this card is the "For You Flower" and to save you cutting this one out Stampin' Up! have released a punch that goes perfectly with this stamp the Fancy Flower Extra Large punch.  The base of this is from Kraft, soon to be re-named Crumb Cake, Inks used were Real Red, More Mustard and Old Olive.  I love this stamp in that you can colour some of the words to highlight the "for you" message.  The centre I punched out using a circle punch 1 1/4" I from memory.  Some ribbon and paper piercing finished off the card.

One of the things that really took my eye in the new IB&C was that Stampin' Up! have introduced a Paper-Piercing Tool for only $6.95, not only great for putting accents on cards like this one, but also for piercing holes for brads.

Come back tomorrow for the final installment of my IB&C CASE cards

CASE from 2010-11 Idea Book & Catalogue Part 2

Here is the second card I CASE'd from the new IB&C. It is a copy from yesterday's card but I wanted to show how the same layout can look quite different with a different bolder colour scheme.  Rich Razzleberry, Soft Suede and Melon Mambo for this one. 

I like this layout, its nice and simple and really good if you have bright colours but don't want them to overwhelm the card.  It's one of those cards that is very versatile depending on the sentiment used.  Imagine in blues and browns with the bolts from Lots of Bots, or in shades of pink with the Pony Party stamps. 

For the 1/2" circles on this one I used the Fast Flowers Wheel, again using Versamark on the three colours.

CASE from 2010-11 Idea Book & Catalogue Part 1

I decided to do a few cards that are CASE'd from the new IB&C to be released on 1st September.  CASE stands for Copy And Share Everything, so basically I looked through the new catalogue and found some cards that I liked the look of so have replicated them.

First one comes from Page 74 of the new catalogue and while I have kept to the layout and colour scheme for this one, I have changed both the stamps and sentiment.  The sentiment comes from the level 2 hostess set Occasional Quotes.

As you can see in this one I used the tiny little butterfly from the Oval All stamp set, previously available in one of the Mini Catalogues and now returning in the new catalogue.  I stamped it in Versamark on Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron and Riding Hood Red, then punched out with 1/2" circle punch.

Check back tomorrow for another card based on this layout but with a change in colours.

Week 27 Challenge - ESAD

ESAD is a group for Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators, and I love being part of it.  One of the things I enjoy, though don't get to participate in as much as I would like, are the weekly challenges.  This week was a 3D and card challenge using a template found here. As soon as I saw it I thought of an old Combi Van from the hippy days, all painted up.  How pleased was I to learn that the first of the Combi Van's came off the production line in 1950 making the choice for an accompanying card an easy choice of course .... a 60th!

Perfect Punches - Part 2

This is a card I made using a layout CASE'd from Kasey that she sent me in a swap, I drastically changed the colours around to match with some of the new DSP.  So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Real Red. 

The stamp from Perfect Punches set is the My Friend one, however I didn't ink up the curly label shape around the edge, just used the words.  I also used the Top Note die and the Polka Dot embossing folder for the Big Shot.

Stationary Box

This is a project I have been wanting to try for a while, and so when I had some time on my hands I couldn't resist any longer. I made the base from some of the lovely Sweet Slumber Specialty DSP which is card-stock thickness, and paired it with the In-Colour Riding Hood Red for the top of the box, finishing it off with Soft Suede Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon and a collection of flowers from the Pretties Kit.

Inside the box are a number of compartments - large one at the back for cards, and two smaller ones at the front for gift cards and tags. You can see the address book and postage stamp holder on the base, I didn't have a stamp that said "addresses" so used some of the Sale-A-Bration Good Neighbours stamps instead.
I made another one for a good friend who was having a baby and will upload those picture soon (now she has received the box it won't spoil it).  I use this one for my business stationary - business cards, info stickers for catalogues.

New Colour Collections

I was looking for a way to display the new colour collections to help both myself and my customers see what the new colours looked like together in the Colour Collections that will be arriving on 1st September.  I was really excited to see the new colours like this,  I re-arranged my cardstock so that they all sit in the new colour collections, and it re-invigorated my enthusiasm for the changes. 

There are a couple of gaps on the cards, as we don't have access to the new colours just yet - when we do I will update the pics.

* * * * *

First one is Brights Collection.  Unlike the old Bold Brights family this new selection of Brights is not as bright, but still look great together.  Where I didn't use many of the old Bright colours, I will be using these ones a lot more - they may become my favourite colour collection. "A rainbow of happy saturated colours in updated hues for playful, fun projects".

 Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango, Regal Rose, Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Rich Razzleberry, Real Red

* * * * *

 The next family is the Neutrals Collection.  The best thing about this group of colours is that there will now be Markers and Ink Pads for except for Whisper White and Very Vanilla, which will not have Classic Stampin Pads or Markers, but there will remain a White Craft Stampin' Pad.

Early Espresso, Crumb Cake (formerly Kraft), Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla, River Rock, Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip, Basic Black, Basic Grey, Whisper White.

* * * * *

Regals Collection is the next colour collection - a lovely grouping of, dare I say it, Regal colours!   I am really looking forward to Cherry Cobbler as it seems a lovely rich red colour that will be great for Christmas projects.   "Deep, impressive tones, for richness and warmth - must-have colours for any project".

More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Riding-Hood Red, Bravo Burgundy, Garden Green, Always Artichoke, Not Quite navy, Night of Navy, Elegant Eggplant.

* * * * *

Last but far from least are the Subtles Collection.  I think Stampin' Up! have removed some of the really pale colours and made this grouping a bit more lively than the previous Soft Subtles family.  "Soothing, lighter shades of some of our colours, baby soft and yet sophisticated".

Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Pink Priouette, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Baja Breeze, Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, Perfect Plum, Wild Wasabi.

Perfect Punches

To challenge myself a little I decided to make a card with each of the 6 new stamps in the Perfect Punches stamp set that I got as part of my sneak peek.  Perfect Punches is a level 2 hostess set, so if you like the look of it all you have to do is book a workshop and get $600 total sales and with a group of 6-8 friends that's not too hard!  Here are my first 3 cards with this stamp set, I hope you enjoy.

This first one is with the Joy at Christmas stamp that fits with the Scallop Circle Punch, and in this card I have paired that with the 1 1/4" Circle Punch as well.  Real Red as the base of the card just makes it Christmasy to start with, and I have added some Wild Wasabi striped ribbon that was part of my prize on Helping Hudson question of the day. I coloured the leaves around the scallop with Old Olive (no wild wasabi pen just yet, though hang around for the new IB&C which starts 1st Sept). 

To break up the red on the front of the card I stamped the little snowflake from Hello Again stamp set - it will say "hello" again in the new IB&C

I punched through the base card with the 1 1/4" punch to make the window, then stamped out the image once and punched the centre out and lined it up with the window.  Then punched out the remainder of the image with the Scallop Circle Punch and lay this over the window on the front of the card. Then wrapped the ribbon around and tide in a knot.

The idea for this card was CASEd from Leonie over at Pepperpot Stamper sadly she hasn't put her card up there, but she did put it up in the gallery of ESAD a website for Stampin' Up! demonstrators. 

My second card is using the Thanks from the Perfect Punches set.  Here I have paired it with Cottage Wall DSP, and butterflies from the Flight of the Butterfly and Butterfly Prints stamp sets.  With the smaller butterflies I highlighted the dots on their wings with the uni-ball Signo Gel Pen which really gave them a lift.

I just love these stamp sets and not only does the Thanks stamp fit perfectly with the Scallop Oval Punch, the beautiful butterflies are a perfect match for the Butterfly Punch!  I love the use of punches, saves so much fiddly cutting out. 

Final stamp from this set for today (there are 3 other stamps that I just haven't finished using yet) is the Happy Birthday stamp which fits with the Large Oval Punch.  For this card I used the Black Magic technique and was really happy with the overall effect.  The card itself is a bit outside my usual "go to" colour scheme, but I am really happy with the result.  Comfort Zones are meant to be exited from time to time!  I watched the you-tube video by Dawn Olchefske to learn the technique, its a really easy video to follow. You do need to have Basic Black card stock and White Craft Ink as well as Watercolour Pencils - all available from Stampin' Up! contact me to place an order.

Cute by the Inch

Another look at some creations using one of the stamp sets I got with the Sneak Peek order. These also come from Cute By The Inch level 2 hostess set. There are 9 stamps in total in this set, some with words and some just decorative like the ones I have used here. I wanted to make a little box of cards so chose the mini pizza box to store the four 3"x3" cards in. I wanted to match them with the Haiku DSP available from the current Idea Book and Catalogue, so they are a little earthy in colour, but I was really happy with the way they came together. For the base of the box and the cards I used Kraft (soon to be renamed Crumb Cake).

This is the top of the mini pizza box. I wasn't sure of this little owl stamp but have come to really like the little fellow.

On this one I used Elegant Eggplant for the main colour, adding in Old Olive and More Mustard in the little flower stamp. I love the versatility of the Stampin' Write Markers and colouring directly onto the rubber stamp allows you to add colour to the image.

Here I used that little owl again. The highlight of the "h" and "i" in the alphabet to say "hi" adds a cute playfulness to this stamp set.

Similar to the first card, this one uses the flourish stamp, which I think will be my most used stamp from this set, this time inked with Old Olive. Again used the marker directly onto the stamp to highlight parts of the flower.

Lucky last in the set. I loved the way this little stamp matched the Haiku paper so well, again inking up the stamp with markers prior to stamping to add different colours to the flower and highlighting the sentiment. The ribbon on this card I won by answering one of the questions of the day over at the Helping Hudson - A Wheelie Good Cause. Please pop over and join in the challenges, answer the question of the day, purchase one or more of the great tutorial packages or just visit and show your support.

Watch out for more Sneak Peek posts through out August. And Don't forget to check out the Last Chance List for all the products that are retiring from the current IB&C, some are already sold out so get in quick if you have your eye on something.

Sneak Peek

The exciting thing about being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator is that we get to have a sneak peek at the new Idea Book and Catalogue a month before it "goes live" as they say. As well as a peek in the IB&C we get a small range of stamps, DSP and other bits and pieces to purchase from starting 1st August. Well mine arrived on Thursday afternoon, and yesterday I had some fun with them, and would love to share what I created ....

This one was done with the big cupcake coming from the Party Hearty stamp set that is carrying on into the next IB&C, the little cupcakes came from "Cute By The Inch" a level 2 hostess set available from 1st Sept, and the sentiment is from Occasional Quotes level 3 hostess set.

Cute By The Inch is especially designed to fit inside a new punch that is to be released in the new IB&C. Unfortunately we didn't get to pre-order that but I was really happy with how versatile the stamp set was even without having the punch.

Colours: Melon Mambo, Chocolate Chip

It's Last Chance List time! This has previously been known as the "Retirement" List, things from Stampin' Up! that are not going to be available in the next catalogue. These items, some Drastically Reduced are available from now until sold out or 31st August, which ever comes first! So check out the link HERE to see if one of your favourites is on the way out, and grab it while you still can.