Frozen Elegance

 Isn't this a cute sketch from Sketch Frenzy Friday this week?  I thought there was the opportunity for some cute elements so got creative.

I love love love Coastal Cabana, it is such a fresh and clean colour and the DSP in Eastern Elegance has some beautiful patterns using it. This pattern goes beautifully with the matching embossing folder and of course adding some Silver Glimmer Paper added some lift to the card.  Once I made this I immediately thought of the animated movie Frozen!

This is a close up of the little flags I used two of the images in Perfect Pennants, a set in the new Occasions Catalogue, I think they are just the right thing for this card, perfect you might say ;)

Happy Stamping

ESAD Occasions Blog Hop

It's time for another ESAD Blog Hop, this time to showcase products for the current Occasions Catalogue that went live in the South Pacific market on 28th January.  The first time I looked through I wasn't sure there was a lot that really grabbed me, but on closer look there is a really good range of products and this blog hop will show you some of them in some amazing projects. It doesn't matter if you have hopped here from the link on Gail's blog Stamp With Gail, or if you are starting the hop here, just follow the links at the end of each blog to hop to the next one until you have made it all around to the blog you started at.  

I have chosen the cute a la carte stamp "Blessed Easter" and as usual wanted to show you a few different ways this lovely stamp can be used.  As you can see from this image it is a single stamp with three beautiful tulips and an Easter sentiment.  This is a wood mount stamp and I chose to cut off the sentiment before mounting so that I could easily use the images separately.

While the stamp has an Easter theme, it is easily transferrable to other occasions, in this case I have used it on a birthday card.  For this card I have used the oval Framelits to cut a window in the card and stamped on vellum to give a luminescence to the image.  I added some bling with some of the cute little gold sequins that are also one of the new products in the catalogue. The sentiment, from Blooming with Kindness, was cut using one of the Banners Framelits Dies, also from the catalogue, they are great for getting perfect ends on sentiment banners. 

Next up I created a 'card in a box' with the tulips, stamping and cutting them out multiple times to create the bunch of flowers look.  I added some butterflies stamped on vellum and attached them to thin strips of window sheet so that they appear to flutter slightly as the card opens or catches a breeze.  I used the Easter sentiment that is part of the stamp, but this would be a great project for Mother's Day, or even a get well card for someone in hospital where flowers can't be taken.  

Finally I wanted to show you another option for the Blessed Easter stamp.  This time I have attached it on the front of a little chocolate box made with the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch.  This is a great punch that is so much more than a tag topper!  I will be posting a tutorial for this box in upcoming weeks. I have used some of the Watercolour Wonder DSP behind the tulips - this is a great DSP with lots of soft images, I also used one of the sheets on my card in a box above. This treat box holds two small blocks of chocolate, I got these from Aldi and the gold on the top goes perfectly with the Gold Baker's Twine around the ribbon.

I hope you have been inspired by my creations, now it is time to hop on over to the next blog to see what the very creative and talented Sharlene Meyer has to show you on her blog 

Magpie Creates

What is ESAD?

ESAD stands for "Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators" and it is an on-line group just for Australian and New Zealand Stampin' Up! demonstrators. We so love what we do and not only do we love to share it with our customers, friends, and wonderful blog visitors, but we share our love for what we do with each other as demonstrators. We run swaps, challenges, tutorials, product know-how, and cyberstamps, and we are always there to help and support each other when it is needed. So if you are a Stampin' Up! demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand, then please feel free to contact me for an invitation to this wonderful group.

Happy Stamping

My Challenge Helper!

Let me introduce the newest member of our family, Makucha, he is an adorable little rescue kitten and is clearly my kitten.  This morning he had fun on my desk as I tidied up the mess and when it was all clear he chose the centre of my workspace as the perfect place to have a nap.  Even after I carefully slid the paper he was on off to the side (I have a huge desk), he stood up, stretched and moved back onto my cutting mat!

I decided the best thing to do was go through my Feedly feed and see what new posts were up on some of my favourite blogs.  I spotted these two challenges from Friday Mashup and Just Add Ink and started planning my creation.  Luckily kittens don't sleep for too long before they are off to explore the next thing and I got chance to create.

I loved the lovely yellow colours in the inspirational photo so chose some of the new Watercolour Wonder DSP and coordinated my colours with that. I have really enjoyed using negative space lately and did so again on this card, I stamped the sentiment in VersaMark and used White embossing powder, I sponged around the sentiment with Tangerine Tango to give some depth.  I also sponged around the DSP layers, I haven't sponged as much lately but do love the way it accentuates the edges and adds depth.  I finished off the card with some cute little flowers from Petite Petals, again tying in the inspiration photo.

And wouldn't you know it, the kitten is back! Maybe he can help me tidy my desk again.

Happy Stamping

Bloodsplatter Valentine!

Just a quick post today - I made the decision on Monday to join in with Less Is More and Friday Mashup Challenges.  Unfortunately the mashup is from the week before (where does time go?)!!! The mashup was to use hearts and arrows and combine it with colour combo of Real Red, Coastal Cabana and Crumb Cake.

Here is my card, I realised as I finished it off and looked at all the elements together that the background Gorgeous Grunge stamp does look a little like blood splatter!  However my daughter loves it and will use it for her Valentine this year!  We decided the best thing to write on the inside is "I love you to death"!  

Happy Stamping

ESAD SAB Blog Hop - Banner Punch

It's that exciting time of year again, Sale-A-Bration (SAB) is about to begin! For those new to SAB it is a wonderful time of year when you can earn beautiful Stampin' Up! products for FREE!  In Australia just spend $90 on anything from the main or occasional catalogue and you can chose something from the range of SAB products.  To get you in the spirit the Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators have made some great creations with the free items.  You may have hopped on over from Little Scraps of Paper and Delys's lovely creations, or you might be starting here - it doesn't matter, just follow the links at the bottom of each post until you have hopped around all of the blogs!

Now onto my creations ... I chose to showcase the cute little Banner Punch. I love a product that has more than one use and so I got to work looking at alternative uses for this cute little punch. 

Firstly I wanted to use it in a fairly traditional way, by making three little flags down the side of the sentiment panel. This is great if you have a bit of spare space on a card.  The background DSP, Sweet Sorbet, is also from the SAB free products and is so pretty, matching with the 2013-2015 In-colours. 

This next card I have used the Banner Punch to make longer flags for my sentiments, to do this cut strips of cardstock 1.5cm wide and insert one end into the punch, line up and then punch.  By stamping the sentiments first you can get the length of the banner just right.

The little flowers are punched from Sweet Sorbet DSP using the Petite Petals punch, which is a sneak peek from the new Occasions Catalogue also going live on 28th January.

Finally I have used the Banner Punch to make a faux banner on the front of this card.  By cutting a strip of card stock 1.5cm wide, adding a sentiment, then laying it over two banners punched from the same colour cardstock it provides some added interest to the front of a card.  I used dimensionals to pop it up slightly to add to the effect. In this card I have also used the Banner Blast stamp set to create a border along the top and bottom edges of the card, I stamped using the flat edge of the banner alternating two of the patterns.  The DSP on this card is also from Sweet Sorbet, this paper has such a lot of different looks and you will get lots of use out of it.  The centre butterfly and sentiment banner are stamped on Brushed Gold.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have enjoyed my creations. Now it is time to hop on over to the next blog:

Creating Cards With Andrea 

If you get lost along the way there is a full list of all the blogs at the bottom of this post, don't forget we all love it when you leave comments to let us know what you think of the things we have created - happy hopping!

What is ESAD?

 ESAD stands for "Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators" and it is an on-line group just for Australian and New Zealand Stampin' Up! demonstrators. We so love what we do and not only do we love to share it with our customers, friends, and wonderful blog visitors, but we share our love for what we do with each other as demonstrators. We run swaps, challenges, tutorials, product know-how, and cyberstamps, and we are always there to help and support each other when it is needed. So if you are a Stampin' Up! demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand, then please feel free to contact me for an invitation to this wonderful group.

Narelle Hoggard
Kathryn Ruddick
Nikki Sadler
Emily Campbell
Keryn Campbell
Leonie Schroder
Chloe Evans
Amity Knight 
Alisha Watson
Ann Gerlach
Delys Cram
ME - Monique Fielder
Andrea Buckland
Paula Reid
Pauline Bennetts
Dianne Dunk
Tamsin Adams
Corina Beyer
Richelle Fletcher
Mel Sharp
Christie Kunkel
Nerida Carter
Gail Kirby
Michelle Grech
Sally Williams

Happy Stamping

60th Birthday

I was asked recently to make a 60th birthday card, and of course this is where Memorable Moments stamp set comes into its own, as you can add whatever numbers you like.  I chose Apothecary Art because of the beautiful soft flowers that look so great when coloured.  Embossed in gold, layered with brushed gold cardstock, and embellished with fabric roses it worked perfectly for the occasion.

Happy Stamping

Asymmetric

 Asymmetrical things are not usually my thing, actually they are the opposite of my thing!  So this week's challenge at Freshly Made Sketches really has been a challenge, I decided to pair it with another challenge, this one from Colour Q.  The colour challenge provided a different sort of challenge, I don't have any Poppy Parade left in my stash - not to be put off by that I decided to substitute Real Red instead.

Isn't it great that we now have three different sized flower stamp sets and matching punches?  I have used all three on this card because they go so well together, and layer beautifully. I wasn't initially sure of the colour combination, but I like the bright feeling it gives this card.  It is a bit hard to see, but I have curled each of the flower's petals with my bone folder to add some dimension to the card.

Happy Stamping

Golden Hearts

I love combing challenges, and so to have a challenge blog like Fusion Card Challenge that gives you the option to do just that is a great find for me.  This challenge gave me the opportunity to use some new toys that I have not yet had chance to play with, so that was even better.

The photo opened up the opportunity for me to use my new Woodgrain background stamp.  For the sketch I cut this image in half and sponged the edges.  The other new products are the beautiful Gold Embossed Vellum and the Gold Baker's Twine, the photo doesn't show them at their best, but trust me they look so rich and beautiful in person.  The final new product is the cute little stamped heart from Language of Love, punched with the Heart Punch and backed by a Gold Glimmer Paper heart cut using the scalloped heart Framelit from the Hearts A Flutter collection.  

Happy Stamping

Pirate Christmas

I made this card at the request of a friend from work.  Her partner loves pirates and she wanted a pirate themed Christmas card for him. I don't have any Pirate stamps so had to put my thinking cap on and, along with an internet search, decided the Owl Punch was my best option. I took inspiration from a particular card where the pirate was standing on the bow of a ship, although I made mine a little more Christmassy with a red jacket.  

This is the card I made for her, the sentiment I printed out on the computer before punching out.  The bag of presents is one of the Ornament Keepsakes framelits, and of course the pirate is made with the owl punch. I cut the bow of the boat free hand and then did some score marks for planks of wood, then dragged my stamp pad across it to give a wood grain effect.  The ocean was embossed then cut with framelits, layering vellum between the two card stock layers.

Having had so much fun with the card, I decided to add a couple of gift tags. Along with loving pirates, my friend's parter's favourite colour is orange! She loved them when I showed her, and reported that her partner loved them too, taking the owls off the gift tags to keep on his computer screen!

Happy Stamping

Watercolour Fun

Isn't it exciting when you find a new challenge blog?  Even more so when you know it is a Stampin' Up! one too!  That is how I felt when I found Around the World challenge, I like it too because it has a design team from around the world, so you don't just get a style of what is trending in one country.

I have been enjoying a play with some more of my new sneak peek products, this time from the Occasions Catalogue. The whole card was really inspired by the DSP Watercolour Wonder I love the random splotches of colour on the background DSP and so decided to really give my flowers a watercolour feel not really caring if I coloured outside the lines, or if it looked too perfect.  I then dropped splotches of water coloured with ink onto my stamped image to give smaller versions of the background blotches.  Heavy handed sponging around the flag also gives it the rougher less perfect feel I was going with.  

At the end of the day, I am not sure if this is really my style but it was fun to do something a bit different.  Be honest, let me know what you think.

Happy Stamping

Mashed Up Sneak Peek

It's Friday Mashup time again - this time the challenge was to create a birthday card and/or use twine on your card.  I chose the mashed up option and used twine on a birthday card.  Being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator gives me the opportunity to pre-order new items, usually a month before they are available. It is currently an exciting time in the Stampin' Up! world - we are about to have Sale-A-Bration, where you can earn free products with purchases of $90, and this year at the same time the new Occasions Catalogue goes live!

Apart from cardstock this card has all new items on it - a mix of SAB and Occasions ones.  The Decorative Dots Embossing Folder was used on the So Saffron over layer, I love the gentle, random texture of this folder. 

Next is a combination of a cute stamp set called Just Sayin' a selection of speech bubbles that wonderfully come with a matching set of Word Bubbles Framelits. To get the layers just right I first used the framelit on the top layer getting the speech bubble where I wanted it.  Then I placed this over the base card (without sticking down) and used a pencil to trace the outline of the shape.  Once the top layer was lifted off I used my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to get the stamp exactly where I wanted it, on this occasion I used Versamark and Gold embossing powder.  Erase the light pencil line and adhere the top layer with dimensionals.  I plan to complete the inside with another speech bubble with the person's age in it once I have a recipient!

Rather than try and describe how I made the flags, I thought I would take a picture. I grabbed a scrap of Whisper White cardstock and used the new Retro Fresh Washi Tape to cover it then used the SAB Banner Punch to punch out my little flags using different parts of the Washi Tape.  This is a great way to have flags that are different but also match a theme, and I didn't use much Washi Tape either. The Banner Punch also has a cute set of matching stamps that you can also earn for free.

The final new product is the very cute Gold Baker's Twine - this is so lovely in person, it has a thin thread of very shiny gold through it.  It also comes in Silver and both are just wonderful and I can see me using them a lot in the future.

Happy Stamping

Flowery Sketch

Isn't this a cute sketch from Create With Connie and Mary?  I just had to play as it let me use some of the new products available soon in the Australian/New Zealand market with both Sale-A-Bration and Occasions Catalogues, both go live on 28th January and are just bursting with great products, some you can get for free!

Onto my card, I have used a combination of new products and some existing products on this one.  The cute little flowers come from Petite Petals that have a matching Petite Petals Punch, I stamped some of the flowers on the top layer of the card and punched others out to let the Sweet Sorbet DSP show through.  I also used the little flowers from Betsy's Blossoms.  The banner is from another new stamp set Perfect Pennants which also has matching Banners Framelits which I love because I can never get the flag end of a pennant or banner to look just right, and this set has 6 different sized banners!

Happy Stamping

Lost Card

I have been going through my "To Blog" folder, a folder I keep with pictures that I want to pop up here, and I came across this card.  This one comes with a bit of a funny story ...

At the end of 2012 my brother and his wife had their first baby, young Henry. My daughter was due to be visiting around the time of the birth so I made a version of this card for her to take with her, made in neutral colours with two picture panels (one pink and one blue), so that she could attach the correct one when the baby was born.  Well chance would have it that somehow after writing on the card, it got lost and never made it to Henry!  So when she came back home I made another one, the one pictured here, only this time I knew it could be blue.  

The really funny part comes because somehow this card too became lost and I never got it sent off!  I am sure one day it will turn up, probably when I do a complete craft space re-shuffle! At least I managed to take a photo before I lost it.

Happy Stamping

18th Birthday Card

Back in September our beautiful daughter turned 18, a big milestone.  It is hard to believe that the baby I held in my arms is now an adult!  When sitting down to make her birthday card I wanted it to be very special so it took a good deal of planning.  

I started with knowing I wanted to use the retired Fifth Avenue Floral rose as it is her favourite ever stamp.  I had bought some black and white wrapping paper for her gifts so thought I would carry that theme to the card. Then to make it extra special I did a tri-fold card.  Here is a picture of the card closed. 

And another of it open.  I have to say that this is the most embellished card I have ever made, and I couldn't consult with my usual blingologist as the card was for her!  It took a while to get the balance of flowers, butterflies and ribbons just right, but I am really happy with the end result.  I am also happy to say that the birthday girl was very happy with it too! 

Happy Stamping

Bitter Sweet

My post today is a bit bitter sweet.  Sweet because I think my mojo might have come back, I saw the Mojo Monday sketch challenge this week and immediately had a plan of what I wanted to do.  The bitter part comes because of the reason for making this card, I found out today that one of my colleagues lost her grandmother last weekend.

Butterflies are so lovely to use on a card, to me they symbolise freedom and beauty, but also change and growth, and so I wanted to use them as the feature for the card.  I hunted through my retired DSP and found a sheet of Newsprint with a butterfly print and it was just perfect.  I love using vellum when I do butterflies, and because I wanted a fairly simple design without lots of busy colour or stamping it seemed the right thing to make the butterfly layer from.  What you can't see in the photo very easily is that I stamped and punched a fourth butterfly and have adhered it over the centre one, so that one lifts off the page.  The sentiment from Sweet Essentials was just right also, a obvious sympathy sentiment didn't seem right somehow.

Happy Stamping