Convention Swap #1

Hi there

Today I'm having a fab time with other Demonstrators at the South Pacific Convention on the Gold Coast in Queensland.  This is the last of our local Conventions as we know them, so I'll be making the most of it. We will be getting the new 2015-16 Annual Catalogue to soak in and take home - woohoo!  I will have goodies from Convention to show you next week. 

I managed fewer swaps than I did last year. Life just got in the way, if you know what I mean. This is the first one - a masculine card  using  'Hardwood' stamped in Basic Gray onto Smoky Slate card stock to frame the duck from the 'Moon Lake' stamp set. 

I stamped the duck using Stazon onto water colour paper and coloured it with a combination of ink and Stampin' Write markers.  Some parts of the image are too small to water colour so the markers were perfect. You need to make sure that your piece is fully dry before you use your markers and use them last, so there is no opportunity for any bleed. Normally I would use my ink pads, but this time I used reinkers diluted with water, as I needed to colour 20 images. 

 

  

Project Details
Stamps	Moon Lake, Hardwood, Butterfly Basics
Card stock & Papers	Basic Black, Smoky Slate, Lost Lagoon, Crushed Curry, Moonlight DSP Stack, Watercolour paper
Ink	Stazon Black, Basic Gray, Soft Sky, Lost Lagoon, So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories	Basic Metal Buttons, White Baker’s Twine
Tools	Ovals Collection Framelits, Big Shot, Hexagon punch, 1”, ¾” Circle punches, Handheld stapler, Aquapainter, Glue Dots, Tombow glue, Dimensionals, Stampin’ Write markers (Wild Wasabi, Cajun Craze, Tangerine Tango, Bermuda Bay)

Thanks for looking!

More Masculine Inspiration

Hi there

I have one more masculine card today, that we made in a recent class. I am glad to see that 'The Open Sea' stamp set made it into the new 2015-16 Annual Catalogue as it is a great set for masculine cards. 

I have used one of my favourite colour combinations of Night of Navy, Real Red and Sahara Sand. The red panel has been embossed with the 'Argyle' embossing folder, which is unfortunately retiring. It is a great design for masculine cards and you can purchase it at a discount from the retiring list. 

The sailing ship has been stamped in Early Espresso ink on Whisper White.  I have extended the horizon on the left side with my marker and then turned the image upside down and stamped the sea again multiple times, masking the bottom edge.  This gives more depth at the base of the image for die cutting. The sky was lightly sponged with a dauber and Soft Sky ink.

I didn't have enough Real Red candy dots, so I punched the holes around the Night of Navy oval with my cropadile to let the Real Red base show through.  I was really happy with the way it came out. The anchor has been stamped in Early Espresso and coloured with a Smoky Slate Blendabilities marker and fussy cut. The panel at the bottom has been stamped with the wavy lines stamp from the 'Chalk Lines' stamp set before over stamping the birthday greeting from the 'Four You' stamp set. This set is also retiring.

 

Project Details
Stamps	The Open Sea, Four You, Chalk Lines
Card stock & Papers	Night of Navy, Real Red, Sahara Sand, Whisper White
Ink	Early Espresso
Accessories	Brights Candy Dots, Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Basic Metal Buttons
Tools	Argyle Embossing folder, Ovals Collection Framelits, Big Shot, Cropadile (not SU), Dimensionals, Stampamajig, Early Espresso Stampin' Write marker, Smoky Slate Blendabilities

You can browse the retiring products list online by clicking here.

Thanks for looking!

Bold & Bright Birthday

Hi there

Today, I want to share one of the cards we made in my recent masculine cards class. This is a complete contrast to the soft and feminine Mother's Day card in my last post. I was inspired by this card from the lovely Paula Dobson over at Stampinantics.  

To create a bold masculine look I have gone with lots of black and contrasted it with the brightness of Tempting Turquoise. The background has been sponged with daubers. The black frame has been popped up and the 'happy' has 5 layers so that it matches the inside height of the frame. The overall effect is that it looks like it has been carved out out of solid black.  This technique would also look great with the 'hello' and 'thanks' thinlits from the 'Hello You' set. 

  

The black frame was cut with the 4th (counting from the centre) framelit from the Squares Collection and then moved along to cut out the remaining piece to give a length of 9.5cm (3 3/4"). The greeting has been heat embossed in black to keep it bold and finished with a black candy dot. 

Project Details
Stamps	Four You
Card stock & Papers	Tempting Turquoise, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink	Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Crushed Curry, Tangerine Tango, Cajun Craze, Versamark
Accessories	Neutrals Candy Dots
Tools	Squares Collection Framelits, Bitty Banners Framelits, Hello You Thinlits, Big Shot, Black embossing powder, Heat Gun, Dimensionals, Xyron (not SU)

Have a great week!

Mother's Day Blog Hop - Pretty in Pastels

Hello

Today I bring you another Blog Hop with some of the lovely ladies in the Art With Heart Stampin’ Up! Team. Today our focus is on Mother's Day!

You may have come to my blog from the lovely Genna Gifford, but if not, you can join the hop here and continue to the remaining participants.

Mother's Day is coming soon and today I have a little gift set that would be lovely for Mum. I always use soft colours for Mother's Day and this year I have chosen Sahara Sand and Pink Pirouette with Blushing Bride for the accent and the lovely Something Borrowed designer paper. I have chosen to make a 13.5cm (5 1/4") square card for a change, which suits my layout better. 

For the inside, I printed a verse on my computer in Early Espresso colour, to soften it a bit and then added the spray of flowers from Painted Petals. Whisper White goes through the printer without a problem and I put a custom sized piece such as this through the manual feeed tray.

I have made a little set of 3" x 3" note cards in the cute Berry Basket in matching colours. In order to fit the envelopes in the basket with the cards, I increased the base size by scoring a further 1/8" on each side from the original score line. It doesn't affect the top rim of the basket, just marginally reducing the height. I lined the base and one half of the basket with the Something Borrowed DSP and embellished the other half with the doilies from the Artisan Embellishment kit, which are the perfect size.

The handle has been sandwiched between the two layers of top rim for a neat finish. I used Pink Pirouette on the inside rim and Something Borrowed DSP on the outside.  This makes the basket really sturdy. I used Tombow glue for the rim as I didn't want to see staples.

 Here is a picture of the basket with the envelopes and note cards. You can make 8 of these note cards from a 12 x 12 sheet of card stock and you can purchase the envelopes from the Annual Catalogue - you get 40 in a pack. The basket would easily holds 12 envelopes and cards if you wanted. 

I have used Sahara Sand for the base of the note cards and then stamped onto a 2 3/4" square of Whisper White.  I was running out of daylight, so I have kept the note cards really simple with images from the 'Painted Petals' stamp set. I added an accent of Soft Suede on the cards, but not really sure I like it.

Finally, here is the set together.

If you would like any further information, please contact me.  I would love to hear what you think, so please leave me a comment!

Project Details
Stamps	Painted Petals, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Card stock & Papers	Sahara Sand, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Something Borrowed DSP, Champagne Glimmer paper,
Ink	Sahara Sand, Pink Pirouette, Blushing Bride, Soft Suede
Accessories	Flowers and doilies from Artisan Embellishment kit, Pearls Basic Jewels, White Seaming Binding ribbon, Mini square envelopes
Tools	Berry Basket BigzL Die, Big Shot, Bitty Butterfly punch, Bird Builder punch, Bow Builder punch, Modern Label punch, Word Window punch, Glue dots, Tombow glue

Click on the heart below to hop over to see what the lovely Kate Morgan has to inspire you.

If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the participants below:

1. Ros Davidson
2. Kathryn Mangelsdorf
3. Rachel Woollard
4. Genna Gifford
5. Judy May
6. Kate Morgan
7. Nikki Sadler

 

Thanks for looking!

Oh My Goodies !

Hi there

Today's card uses a few products that I have had for a while but are seeing the light of day for the first time. One of these is the 'Adventure Bound' DSP stack, which is a pad of 12 card sized, double-sided designs (4 sheets of each) that make creating a masculine card so much easier. I have chosen a plaid design in Smoky Slate, Basic Gray and Island Indigo and added Basic Black for extra pop.

I have also used one of the fabulous 'Bonus Bundles' that are available at a 15% discount until Friday 17 April (see the full list below). The Deco Framelits are one of my favourite sets and they are paired in the bundle with a fun stamp set called 'Oh My Goodies'. It is a set of 4 stamps that can be die cut with the smallest of the Deco Framelits, which makes it a great size to mat onto the next size of framelit and it still fits easily on a card. I have used the birthday greeting, which is a little irreverent, but good for a giggle.

Project Details
Stamps	Oh My Goodies
Card stock & Papers	Basic Black, Whisper White, Island Indigo, Adventure Bound DSP Stack
Ink	Island Indigo, Versamark
Accessories	Basic Black Baker's Twine
Tools	Arrows Embossing Folder, Deco Framelits, Big Shot, Black embossing powder, Heat gun, What's Up punch, Dimensionals,

There are 5 bonus bundles available in the following configurations, all at a 15% discount until Friday 17 April, 2015. If any of these are on your Wish List, don't miss out. Click on the image to see the bundles in more detail in my online store.

Thanks for looking!