Polka Dot Birthday

What fun I had with these challenges!  Just Us Girls inspiration challenge, Stampin' Royalty colour challenge, and Friday Mashup which was to use polka dots and/or a fancy fold!  So really four challenges in one card.

This is the front of the card, I saw this fancy fold when surfing Pinterest, and when I saw FMU was a fancy fold I knew it was the perfect time to give it a try.  I can not find the original creator, but if you recognise them please let me know so I can give credit.  The strip of DSP gives the illusion of a single panel on the front of the card.

As the card opens up you can see the fancy fold and the little panels inside for messages and images.  The Sketched Birthday stamp set is just perfect for this card. along with the large sentiments from Perfect Pennants of course!  It is sort of like 2/3 of a tri-fold card.

 Here I have opened the card all the way so that you can see the different panels,  the blank area is great for writing your message, it will be hidden when the card is closed. I stamped the little party hat in StazOn ink onto the card base after adding the strip of DSP, then stamped again onto Daffodil Delight DSP before cutting out just the hat and adding it to the card.  A touch of Dazzling Diamonds on the candle and front cupcake image gives just a little sparkle.

I re-jigged the measurements to fit a standard A5 card front size (14.8cm x 10.5cm). A paper trimmer is just great for these sorts of cuts and folds.  Cut on the solid line and fold on the dotted lines.


Edit:
How very exciting, my card this week was chosen as the Top Pick in

The Friday Mashup!!!

and
Stampin' Royalty!!!!

Happy Stamping

Modern Vintage Flowers

Lest We Forget.  Today is ANZAC Day, a day Australians and New Zealanders commemorates "the anniversary of the first major military action by Australian and New Zealand forces during the first World War" - Australian War Memorial. It has grown to be a day to remember all the brave men and women in our armed forces who have defended the freedom of this country and others. 

ANZAC day is a pubic holiday in Australia and it has given me the opportunity for some crafting.  I found a few challenges to enter to get my creativity flowing Fusion Challenge, Just Add Ink, and Stampin' Up! Only Challenge to feature flowers.

I just love the colours in this challenge, as my daughter said vintage but just bright enough to make it modern. I haven't used my Oh, Hello stamp set much, and am a bit sad to see it on the US retirement list, so decided I best get it out and inked up in case it retires here too.  I stamped the chevrons and was going to put them on the flower panel full size, but they seemed a bit big and overwhelming.  Instead I punched them with the Chevron Punch.  The flower and sentiment are both from Blooming with Kindness, not on the retired list which makes me very happy.  I embossed the flower with White Embossing Powder then sponged Crumb Cake and Bermuda Bay over the top, sentiment is also done with White Embossing Powder and really pops.  The Crumb Cake base seemed a little pale so I stamped the flower image along the edges in Baked Brown Sugar to give some subtle detail.  

I hope you like my card, and take a moment to remember armed forces who so selflessly risk their lives for our freedom.

Happy Stamping

Easter Treats

No challenge today, I just want to share a cute little Easter project with you. Aren't these just darling?  They are not entirely my own creation, I went looking on-line for a treat box and found a tutorial at XO Stamping Studio, I just made some changes to make it Easter themed.

One of the things I changed was the way I cut out the purse die.  I realised that I did not need the whole die and so to save card stock used an A4 sheet of card stock cut into quarters (14.9cm x 10.5cm).  

 As you can see this makes a bit of a mess of the purse, but leaves the parts you will need for the treat holder. 

You can see from this picture that you will still need to trim a reasonable amount from the purse!

The next step is to trim the top off each of the panels. The neatest, most consistent way to do this is to fold up the bottom of the purse and line up with one of the vertical lines on the paper trimmer - I used the 6cm mark (2-3/8"). 

To make this easier for mass production I used a small piece of craftwood I had lying around and after lining it up butted the bottom of the purse against it for a neat even cut. You could also use a small set square, a flat cutting plate from your Big Shot, or a piece of chipboard.

 I am very much the fan of making things easier for myself, so I created this little template by running some chipboard through the Big Shot and then trimming approx 3mm (1/8") from each side.

One of the benefits of this is that you can then position the template right over the DSP right where you want it.  I really like when things are centred and this works perfectly.  Adhere one of these to each panel.

Apply adhesive to the side tab on one of the panels, I used Tombow, but Sticky Strip or other strong adhesive would also work well. 

 Line the tab up with the side of a second panel.  I found it easier to fold the tab over and ensure the two pieces were lined up evenly.  Do this with the second pair of panels, then use same process for adhering the two sections together.  

Add a base 6.7cm x 6.7cm (2-5/8" x 2-5/8"). Then fold over the tops and adhere with TomBow or Sticky Strip.  

Decorate the box as desired according to the occasion.  I finished mine off with cute little punch art chicks using the 2-Step Owl Punch and sentiment from Teeny Tiny Sentiments.

Happy Stamping

Easter Gift Box and Card

Easter is such a special time of the year, and I wish I was closer to my family to celebrate with them. Unfortunately they are over 1,700km away so that just isn't possible.  I decided that this year I would make an Easter gift and card for the family of my daughter's boyfriend.  She spends a lot of time with them so I wanted to do something special, not just buy a box of chocolates - these are my creations.

First the box, I was going to use a pre-made box from Stampin' Up! but found none were quite the right size for the chocolates I wanted to give.  So the only alternative was to make a box myself!  I used the Natures Composition Speciality DSP for the base of the box, it is quite a heavy weight that is more like a stiff card stock than a paper so it was perfect.  It is difficult to see but I used the sheet with the floral pattern and brayered it with Crushed Curry.  I made the lid from Window Sheet and made the faux band from Melon Mambo and Gold Embossed Vellum.  The box is of course filled with Easter Eggs and Lindt Balls.

I wanted to make a card that matched so after some false start sketches I decided to go with a bigger sentiment and butterfly and I am happy with the result.  They are quite bright, but Easter is a time for celebration and so the brightness seemed to fit perfectly.  You may notice that I have stamped the flowers using the Encore Gold Ink in the Occasions Catalogue, and then coloured parts of the petals with Melon Mambo to give some depth of colour.  The centre flower on both the box and card are raised on Dimensionals and curled.

Box Measurements
Base
- 10" x 10" Card Stock
- Score on each side at 2-3/4"
- Base adhered with TomBow Glue

Lid
- 10-1/8" x 10-1/8" (this is a smidge bigger so the lid fits neatly over the base)
- Score on each side at 2-3/4
- When cutting the fold over flaps, I trimmed these to 1/4 inch so they are less conspicuous.
- Lid adhered with Sticky Strip

Happy Stamping

Vintage Birthday

I am a fan of mixing up challenges, so was excited to try this one from Runway Inspired Challenge and CAS(E) this Sketch.  I haven't seen Runway Inspired Challenge site before so that was a nice find as well, they take their inspiration images straight from the runway!  So on trend for patterns and colours which is a bit fun.  

I decided to turn the sketch on it's side as it fit the sentiment better.  I have been having some fun recently with the Gold stamp pad, here I have stamped onto Basic Black card stock with both Flower Shop and Petite Petals stamps.  I finished off the centre flower with one of the Antique Brads, I haven't used these for ages so it was nice to brush the dust off!  The sentiment is from Perfectly Penned and also seemed to fit the vintage feel of this card.

I have taken a second photo so that you can see that I have spritzed the Modern Medley DSP so that it has a shimmer to it, the flowers have also had the shimmer treatment.  I found this helped tone down the starkness of the DSP, and tied it into the Brushed Gold layer.  I was thinking about adding some colour, but decided against it and kept the monochormatic look.

I have a very special Easter project to share with you, but as I haven't given it away yet I won't post that until Sunday. I will say it is a very different feel to this one with much brighter colours, although it does use the Gold ink again!

Happy Stamping

Grunge Birthday

My daughter was headed out with her boyfriend's family this week to celebrate his sister's 15th Birthday.  Being a 15 year old girl I wasn't quite sure if she was a girly girl or a grungey girl, so I decided to take the middle ground and make a 'pretty grungey' card! It is a bit hard to tell but I used the Gold Ink on the fine splatter to add some glitz and tie in the Champagne Glimmer Paper.  I love Gorgeous Grunge set, it really is so versatile and I will be so sad if it retires at the end of this catalogue!

As a gift my daughter had bought a poster of one of Sarah's favourite anime series. As you can imagine posters are a bit hard to wrap, so instead I made it a little belly band to match the birthday card - so much nicer than a rubber band!  Apparently both the card and matching band were loved by the birthday girl, which of course is the main thing.  I love being able to make cards and packaging especially for someone, I think it adds so much to a gift.

Happy Stamping

Bright Makes Me Happy

 One of the great things about being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator is the inspiration I can get from other demonstrators all around the world, the Around the World Stampin' Up! Challenge is a great blog to visit, and this week has inspired me to not just look at the wonderful creations, but to join in with their colour challenge!

 I have not had chance yet to use my Hexagon Hive Thinlits Die, and decided to change that with this card. I wanted a painted wood lattice sort of feel so stamped Crushed Curry onto the same colour card stock using the Woodgrain stamp.  Then I ran it through the Big Shot with the Thinlit to create the lattice.  I decided to layer this over the stamped image, a combination of Flower Shop and Creative Elements to give the sense of looking through the lattice into the garden.  The little faux bows were an additional thought when the two layers of ribbon were not quite enough.

I sat and looked at the card for a while, not sure if I liked it or not.  I decided it needed something else to make it pop, so added some smaller flowers using Petite Petals stamp set and matching punch.  I just love how the flower makes perfect leaves as well!  Using my bone folder I gently curled the petals to give more of a 3D look and popped a couple of them up on Dimensionals.  I think this gives the card the finish it needed. I was thinking of adding Crushed Curry Candy Dots in the centres of the flowers but thought that might be taking it a bit far :)

Happy Stamping

Simple Turquoise

It seems as though the re-vamped craft space has given me a new lease on life, or at least on the life of my mojo!  I often struggle to do clean and simple challenges, but decided to dive right in with the Less is More colour challenge to use Turquoise.

What do you think of this one?  There was a big part of me that just wanted to fill up that open space with something, but I made myself stop at the three rhinestones in the top left corner.  Even my hubby said "there is a lot of empty space" lol.  I have had the card sitting beside my desk for 24 hours and I decided that I really like the cleanness of it! To add some texture I stamped and punched out all of the hexagons, then adhered all but one directly to the card.  The one in the bottom right I raised on a dimensional. 

Happy Stamping

Bright and Flowery

 In the mood for more creating I went searching for a sketch and colour challenge and found the Hand Stamped Sentiments sketch and Stampin' Royalty sketch challenge.  I liked both of these and thought it would have been easy to do the sketch with a traditional doily and in vintage colours, the challenge came to do the sketch in the bright colours instead.

I wasn't really sure about the card when I was finished, and eventually made some changes.  The original had no stamping on the So Saffron or the two flower banners, and the base was just So Saffron.  After consulting with hubby who said it was busy in the centre but the rest was too plain, I took the front off the card and used VersaMark ink to stamp flowers across the background and the flags and then trimmed the background to mount it on Strawberry Slush card base to tie in the layers.  I was very pleased with the amended result.  It is a bit hard to tell but the two flowers are stamped and embossed in white then punched, the bottom of each banner is punched also with the flower sitting above the punch image on a dimensional - not sure if that makes sense, so click on the image for a closer look :)

The colours haven't turned out so well in the photo, I don't have a spot for my light box in my new craft space so just took it under my natural light desk lamp.

Happy Stamping

Triple Challenge Card

 Recently I have had the urge to update/upgrade my craft space, and today is the first real chance I have had to play in it since the makeover so I wanted to make the most of it and join in three challenges at once!  Friday Mashup challenge to use spring theme or colours; Just Add Ink challenge to add Layers; and Freshly Made Sketches for the sketch.

I was initially going to use by Beautifully Baroque stamp in the left hand panel, but decided I wanted to use my new Happy Watercolour instead.  I love the way that this turned out, and how easily it makes 'colouring' an image!  Colours are Crushed Curry and Pool Party which go beautifully with the DSP.

I will be posting photos of the revamped craft space soon, I just need to sort it out a bit more.  Most frustrating part is that everything has changed where it lives, I had difficulty finding my camera to take the picture lol.  

Happy Stamping