CASE-ing the Catty- More from Sale-a-bration

Hi there

It is Sunday, so that means the  CTC Crew are back with more great projects to get your creativity firing. This week we are looking again at the fabulous products available in the Sale-a-bration Catalogue, which you can get for FREE, when you make a purchase of $90 or more (excluding postage).  For me, this one of the best Sale-a-bration catalogues there has been, with such a great range of items to choose from.

You may have come from Rebecca's blog, but if you are visiting me, you can join the trail here by clicking on the buttons at the bottom of the post.

Tonight I'm featuring the 'What I Love' stamp set on Page 7.  I love creating my own designer paper and this stamp set is perfect for that purpose. It is also a great set to use with the emboss-resist technique as well for creating lovely embellishments by fussy cutting the stamped images. The actual project  I'm case-ing is the square card on page 7 of the Sale-a-bration catty. I love square cards  and I love creating a stamped background, so this is perfect. 

The one-sheet wonder immediately comes to mind when you get a set of images like this. However, sometimes I find it easier to cut up the A4 sheet of Whisper White and then do my all over stamping so I don't end up with a look that is too symmetrical. The bonus is that you get to try out different colour combos as well. I cut one half of the sheet into three 7cm x 14.8 cm strips and the second half into two 10.5cm squares and the narrow strip left was cut in half.  Having said I love square cards, I started with one of the 7cm strips. I always recommend trying a few different colour combos when you have 2 or 3 step stamps, so I started with the combination in the catty of  Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point and Cucumber Crush. This is nice, but I wanted my outline to be a bit darker, so I ended up with Night of Navy (outline stamp), Tempting Turquoise stamped off (solid image), Tempting Turquoise (highlight image) and Cucumber Crush for the leaves. That decision took me down the path to this finished card.

 

This is a simple but effective layout to showcase designer paper, so I have kept the embellishments simple. I created a contrast to all the straight lines by using circle punches to cut and mat the greeting. For the inside, I added a strip of the Cucumber Crush washi tape from the set that is a Stampin' Rewards (Hostess) option in the Occasions Catalogue. The final embellishment is one of the blooms that has been fussy cut and popped up, with the leaves stamped onto the writing panel.

 

Project Details
Stamps	What I Love, Lots of Thanks
Card stock & Papers	Night of Navy, Cucumber Crush, Whisper White
Ink	Night of Navy, Tempting Turquoise, Cucumber Crush, Crushed Curry
Accessories	Cucumber Crush Dotted Lace Trim, Rhinestones Basic Jewels
Tools	1 3/8" and 1 1/2" Circle punches

I decided to try a different colour combo for my square card and I really like the way these colours pop. I have used Rose Red (outline image), Melon Mambo stamped off (solid image), Rose Red stamped off (highlight image) and Old Olive for the leaves with Tempting Turquoise to mat the square and greeting. I'm not sure about the Baker's twine at the top; it would probably be fine with out it - what do you think?

 

I have finished off the inside in a similiar way to the first card, but used some of the lovely Melon Mambo Stitched Satin ribbon at the base.

  

Project Details
Stamps	What I love, Cottage Greetings
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise
Ink	Rose Red, Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive
Accessories	Rhinestones Basic Jewels, White Baker's Twine, Melon Mambo Stitched Satin Ribbon
Tools	Stampa-ma-jig

 

Don't forget that you can choose your own FREE Sale-a-bration stamp set with a purchase of $90 or more (excluding postage) of Stampin' Up! products from either the Annual or Occasions catalogues. This is THE BEST time of year, if you love FREE craft products!

Now it is time to head over to Helen's blog to see what fabulous project she has for you this week. Click on the Next button below to continue the journey.

 

                             

 

You can see the full list of this week's participants over at the CASE-ing the Catty blog. Don't forget that you can join us and link up your creation at the CTC Blog.

Thanks for visiting today!

CASE-ing the Catty - It's My Party

Hi there

It is Sunday again so that means it is time to CASE the Catty. Can you believe how quickly this first month of the year is going? This week the CTC Crew are taking inspiration from the 'It's a Party' section of the new Occasions Catalogue. There is a great range of papers, stamps and embellishments in this suite, which features lots of bright colours.

You may have come from Simone's blog, but if you are visiting me, you can join the trail using the buttons at the bottom of the post.

I have 2 cards for you today and the first one is inspired by this card on page 3 of the Occasions Catalogue. I like the layout of this card as it is clean and simple and very versatile. 

 

 

I don't have the 'Party Wishes' stamp set that is used on this card, so I have substituted the Sale-a-bration set 'Perfect Pairings', which I think works really well. I used the Melon Mambo design from the coordinating set of washi tape down the sides of the base card and then selected 3 of the colours from the I'ts My Party suite - Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry and Mint Macaron. I love these colours together. I've stamped the happy birthday trio onto a separate panel of thick Whisper White as I find it works much better when you pop it up on dimensionals.  I've added a little banner on the right for balance and then scattered some of the cute coordinating enamel dots.  The fabulous colour coordination of Stampin' Up! products makes it so easy to create!

For the inside, I have used the balloon design from the washi set at the bottom and paper pieced the balloon from the Sale-a-bration 'Honeycomb Happiness' stamp set to finish it.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Perfect Pairings, Honeycomb Happiness
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White (thick), Melon Mambo
Ink	Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Mint Macaron
Accessories	It's My Party Washi and Enamel Dots, white Bakers Twine
Tools	Stamp-a-ma-jig, Dimensionals, Banners Framelits, Big Shot

This card from page 6 of the Occasions Catalogue with the bright balloon design caught my eye, so I decide to CASE it as well.

I started my card with a Mint Macaron base and added a layer of the black balloon DSP from the It's My Party DSP Stack.  On the banner I have used the 'Endless Birthday Wishes' stamp set. I have coloured the cute little cake with markers and then constructed my greeting from the great selection of words in this set. I've added a couple of little banners at the top and some white Baker's twine wrapped around it all. The pink banner uses the Melon Mambo washi on white card stock, which I die cut with the Banners framelits.

For the inside, I have used some of the Melon Mambo washi at the bottom and then punched out a small balloon using the new Balloon Bouquet punch. I've drawn in a string on the balloon to mirror the DSP.

Project Details
Stamps	Endless Birthday Wishes
Card stock & Papers	Mint Macaron, Whisper White, It's My Party DSP Stack
Ink	Crushed Curry, Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories	White Baker's Twine, 2mm Rhinestones (not SU)
Tools	Banner's Framelits, Big Shot, Banner Punch, Copic Markers, Balloon Bouquet punch

I'm at the end of the line this week, so clicking on the Next button will take you to the CASE-ing the Catty blog where you can see all the participants and start at the beginning. Alternatively click on the Previous button and check out Simone's lovely creation and do the circuit in reverse. 

                             

 

Don't forget that you can join us and link up your creation at the CTC Blog.

Thanks for visiting today!

Being Grateful for the Little Things

Hi there

I had a lovely afternoon creating with some friends today and we made a Gratitude Jar. I love the idea of being able to write a little note about things I am thank for, so that I can go back at the end of the year and re-read them.   I often think it, but writing it down gives it extra meaning and it will be a nice way to reflect on a finished year. 

Having decided I wanted to make a Gratitude Jar, I found the perfect jars in a $2 shop last week. I have used the beautiful small floral print from the 'Birthday Bouquet' designer paper and matched it with Lost Lagoon and Blushing Bride card stock in layers around the centre. Although Lost Lagoon isn't strictly a coordinating colour for this DSP it works beautifully to bring out the colours.

 

The centre label has the lovely sentiment - 'Let our lives be full of both thanks and giving'  from the retired 'Lighthearted Leaves' stamp set.  It has been embossed in silver and die cut with the 'Lots of Labels' framelits. The floral embellishments around the label were created with the new Botanical Builder framelits. The final touches are the little butterfly on the lid that sparkles from the Wink of Stella and the white tassel hanging off the knob on the jar.

I wanted to complete the jar by adding a little note pad and pen inside to make it as easy as possible to use.  I searched in vain for a notepad to fit and finally decided to make my own. The added benefit is that I can add more pages to it as I need, as I have cut an A4 sheet of photocopy paper into 7cm x 9.9cm pieces (no wastage). I have made a coordinating cover and used a cute little bulldog clip to hold the pages together. The 1" square punch was perfect to cut out the hole at the top for bulldog clip. This allows the cover to open without removing the clip.

 This set would be lovely to give as a gift to close friends or even as a wedding gift.  Here is the group of finished jars.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Lighthearted Leaves, Endless Thanks
Card stock & Papers	Lost Lagoon, Blushing Bride, Whisper White, Crushed Curry, Mossy Meadow, Pool Party, Birthday Bouquet DSP
Ink	Versamark, Watermelon Wonder, Blushing Bride
Accessories	Pearls Basic Jewels, White Tassel (not SU), 3/4" Mini Bulldog clip
Tools	Botanical Builder Framelits, Lots of Label Framelits, Big Shot, Bitty Butterfly punch, 1" Square punch, Dimensionals, Sponge daubers, Silver embossing powder, Heat gun

Thanks for looking!

CASE-ing the Catty - Sale-a-bration Favourite

Hi there

It is Sunday again and the CTC Crew are taking inspiration from their favourite projects and stamps in the fabulous Sale-a-bration Catalogue.  There is sooooo much to love in this little catty, that it is hard to choose. 

You may have come from Simone's blog, but if you are visiting me, you can join the trail here by clicking on the buttons at the bottom of the post.

Tonight I'm featuring the 'Honeycomb Happiness' stamp set on Page 15.  This little bird/chick is such a cutie and can be used for lots of occasions.

The actual project  I'm case-ing is this card on page 10 of the Sale-a-bration catty. I love the bright colours and the clean and simple layout on this card.  I decided to make a baby card and I have stayed fairly close to the basic layout.   Baby cards are often pastel, so I thought something bright and contemporary would work well with the cute chick. This is also a cute sweet stamp set to colour - very quick and easy. I have coloured the chick with Copic markers and then fussy cut and popped him/her up. I stamped the balloon onto the Melon Mambo floral DSP and then fussy cut and popped it up as well.  The 'peek-a-boo' greeting is from the new 'Suite Sayings' stamp set from the Occasions catalogue and the 'congrats' is from the 'Perfect Pairings' Sale-a-bration stamp set. This is another really useful and versatile set with sentiments that you can mix and match.

 

 

  

Don't forget that you can choose your own FREE Sale-a-bration stamp set with a purchase of $90 or more (excluding postage) of Stampin' Up! products from either the Annual or Occasions catalogues. This is THE BEST time of year, if you love FREE craft products!

 

Project Details
Stamps	Honeycomb Happiness, Suite Sayings
Card stock & Papers	Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Blending card, Brights Patterns Stack
Ink	Memento Espresso Truffle, Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo
Accessories
Tools	Hearts border punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Dimensionals, Copic Markers (Y00, Y11, Y13, YR15, E33, BG05))

Now it is time to head over to Helen's blog to see what fabulous project she has for you. Click on the Next button below to continue the journey.

 

                             

 

You can see the full list of this week's participants over at the CASE-ing the Catty blog. Don't forget that you can join us and link up your creation at the CTC Blog.

Thanks for visiting today!

Enjoy the Little Things Kit

Hi there

Today I wanted to talk about a fabulous new kit in the Occasions Catalogue. It is the 'Enjoy the Little Things' kit on page 33. It can be quite difficult sometimes to gauge exactly what a kit is really like from the relatively small photos in the catalogue, so I'm going to give you a bit more detail.

• Firstly, this is a home decor project. It comes in a lovely sturdy kraft box, perfect to store your finished project or to give as a gift (the kit or finished project).
• It contains an 'A' frame chalkboard easel with a brushed gold bulldog clip at the top.  It measures 6 1/4" x 8 5/8"  (15.9 cm x 21.9 cm) so it is the perfect size to fit on your desk, sideboard or hall table to give you a smile and a little inspirational quote throughout the year.
• The kit contains the bases and embellishments to make 13 pieces of artwork that you can display on the chalkboard easel and switch around on a monthly basis or when the fancy takes you. Each base piece is 5" x 7" (12.7 cm x 17.8 cm) and of course you are not limited to just these 13 - you can make other pieces for your own special occasions and display them on the easel.  
• There is a separate 13 piece photopolymer stamp set also called 'Enjoy the Little Things' that is used to embellish the artwork pieces.

Whether you are a beginner or experienced crafter, this is a fun project to put together with a group of friends. I like to change things up a bit and add my own creative touches, which I have done with this kit. I've got 3 of my artwork panels to show how you can add your own creative touch using the same components.  

The first one is the 'Be Brave' artwork panel, showing the suggested design in the kit.

This is my stepped up version using the same components. I have changed the orientation of the calico and arrows; embossed the background and die cut the stamped sentiment for an overall effect of giving the whole piece more pop.

The second one is the 'Find Beauty in the Ordinary' artwork panel showing the suggested design in the kit.

This is my stepped up version where I have added some layered flowers in the coordinating colours to really give this piece more pop.

The last one is the 'Choose Happy' artwork panel, which is one of my favourites from the kit. This is the design suggested in the kit.

For my version, I have swapped out the background panel; added some sponging on the jar and some extra details that brings this panel to life.

I will be doing my 'stepped up' version of this kit as a class on Saturday 30 January, 2016. As there are 13 panels to complete, this will be an all day class (10am - 4pm) with a break for lunch. I will supply the coordinating stamp set, ink pads, adhesives and all of the extra details I have used. Please contact me (this link shows my email address and phone number) as soon as possible if you would like to do this class, as the kit needs to be ordered and places are limited.

Putting this project together is lots of fun and I would love to show you my tips and hints to get a great result.

 Thanks for looking!