Getting Relaxed!

Hi Everyone

I hope your Christmas celebrations were everything you hoped for. Mine was relaxing and low key, no stress and no mountain of leftovers to consume, thankfully! I'm fortunate enough to be relaxing for a few days before another year commences.  I can't believe it is the start of a new decade already - life hurtles along with or without us, so taking some time to smell the roses is essential to recharge the batteries. I can't say I've accomplished very much apart from some gardening, reading 'The Lost Symbol' novel that my husband got for Christmas and tidying up my craft room.

We went into the post Christmas sale melee to purchase my combined birthday/Christmas present - an air conditioner for my craft room.  I could do with it right now, as it is 37C in Melbourne at the moment and I've had to retreat to the bedroom to keep cool.  I need to organise the installation, but that will probably take a few weeks with so many people away on holiday.

Anyway, today I decided to try a technique that I read about recently in the Australian Cardmaking Stamping & Papercraft magazine. It involves bleaching coloured cardstock that has been stamped and then colouring it again with watercolour pencils or crayons. I experimented with Stampin' Up! cardstock and it is not suitable for this technique because the colour is solid all the way through. You will need to experiment with your supplies to find something suitable, but you only need to test a very small patch to know as it should remove the colour quite quickly.

I have used Stazon 'Timber Brown' on the Soft Summer stamp from the last Spring Mini and then clear embossed it on pink cardstock. I like this colour for outline images because it is softer than black.  I added a small amount of household bleach to my second Aqua painter and painted the image. The embossed edge helps, but you need to apply it carefully and not too close to the edges as it does spread. Make sure it is completely dry before attempting to re-colour the image. I used my Watercolour Wonder Crayons for this.  

The rest of the card is pretty simple, but I have used one of the new Sale-a-bration stamp sets called Vintage Labels for the sentiment. This is one of 4 great stamp sets that you can choose for FREE from 25 January 2010 when you make a purchase of Stampin' Up! products over $100 (excl. postage). Each of the label stamps in the Vintage Labels set matches existing Stampin' Up! punches and also includes 3 versatile sentiments. I have stamped the sentiment and then punched it out with a 7/8" circle punch (not SU), sponged the edge and popped it up on a dimensional in the centre of the label, which matches the scallop circle punch. The full detail of products used is at the bottom.

 

Card Details
Stamps	Soft Summer (retired), Vintage Labels
Cardstock & Papers	Close to Cocoa, Whisper White, Regal Rose, Pink Linen (not SU)
Ink	Stazon Timber Brown, Close to Cocoa, Regal Rose, Versamark
Accessories	Mellow Moss taffeta ribbon, Chocolate adhesive flat back pearls
Tools	‘Victoria’ embossing folder, Cuttlebug, 7/8”  Circle punch (not SU), Scallop circle punch, Scallop edge punch, Watercolour Crayons, Dimensionals, Aqua painter, Bleach, Clear embossing powder.

I'll be back in the New Year, stay safe and enjoy.

Judy.

Bella Bleu Gifts

Hi there

It is the time of year for Christmas gatherings and last night the girls in our Stamp Club got together for dinner at a great restaurant chosen by Kerry in Healsville, called 'Wattleseed'. It was a lovely night with great company and good food - what more could you ask for. The table was laden with gorgeous handmade gifts and cards to make any papercrafters heart skip a beat.

Before I show you what I made the girls, here is another gift I have made for a special friend using the Bella Bleu Designer Series paper and the new Butterfly Prints stamp set and punch. I have used a pattern from Jenny Moors to create this desktop drawer and calendar. The drawer is the perfect size for the square note paper you get in a block at the newsagency. The blue dots on the calendar mark the public holidays. The top part is an easel that folds down for easy packaging.  You can't see from the photo, but the butterfly has a second Kraft layer underneath that I have embossed with Swiss Dots. All the materials are listed at the bottom.

 

Card Details
Stamps	Butterfly Prints, Dots (not SU)
Cardstock & Papers	Kraft, Not Quite Navy, Very Vanilla, Bella Bleu Designer Series Paper
Ink	Not Quite Navy
Accessories	Kraft Taffeta Ribbon, Tiny Flat back pearls (not SU), Filagree brad, Silver & Pearl brad (not SU), Mini Calendar (not SU)
Tools	Eyelet border punch,  Butterfly punch, Scallop circle punch, 13/8” circle punch, Dimensionals, Swiss Dots embossing folder

I have used the same concept to make these fridge calendars for the Stamp Club girls using the Urban Garden Designer Series Paper and matching cardstock as well as the Bella Bleu option. If you would like to know the dimensions for the calendars, contact me.

 

 

I have been watching Carols in the Domain while writing this post which really gets you into the Christmas mood. I still can't quite believe Christmas is next week when I still have gifts to wrap, cards to make and post - I better hop to it!

 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

 

Judy.

A Blast of Pink

Hi Everyone

I have been busy completing an order of Christmas cards which has occupied my crafting time for the last few weeks. Now that they are finished, I pulled out my new Butterfly Prints stamp set and Butterfly Punch from the Summer Mini Catalogue to play with. I was dying to use something other than Christmas colours for a change so I resorted to my favourite - pink and hence the title of this post.

I have combined the paisley print from the Raspberry Tart DSP with Pink Pirouette and white for contrast. It may not be obvious but there are two layers to the butterfly, I have punched out the Rose Red bottom layer which I have embossed with Swiss Dots, using the Butterfly punch. The top layer was stamped in Regal Rose using the houndstooth patterned stamp and then punched out with the butterfly punch and the edges sponged.  I stapled the two layers together with a mini stapler before adding the cut out butterfly body and feelers with some glue. I have popped it up on a dimensional so both layers are visible. Here it is. 

Card Details
Stamps	Butterfly Prints, Priceless
Cardstock & Papers	Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Whisper White, Raspberry Tart DSP
Ink	Rose Red, Regal Rose
Accessories	Adhesive flat back pearls
Tools	Lace border punch,  Butterfly punch, Wide Oval punch, Scallop oval punch, Ticket corner punch (NAH), Dimensionals, Swiss Dots embossing folder

Just a reminder, if you are intending to buy Stampin' Up! products for Christmas gifts, then you should place your order by 14 December 2009 to ensure delivery before Christmas.

I hope you are having a good weekend.

Judy.