CASE-ing the Catty - Sale-a-bration

Hi there

This week the CTC Crew are taking inspiration from the Sale-a-bration catalogue samples using products that you can earn for FREE during Sale-a-bration. An order of $90 or more (before shipping) entitles you to choose one of the many fabulous Level 1 products and a $180 or more order (before shipping) entitles you to choose two Level 1 products or one of the Level 2 products. You can see the new Sale-a-bration products released last week, here.

You may have come from visiting Megan's blog, but if you are visiting me, you can start your journey here and continue by clicking on the buttons at the bottom of the post. 

 

This week, I'm showcasing the 'Heartfelt Blooms' stamp set with its amazing imagery.  I've taken my inspiration from the card in the photo above.The asymmetric layout with the bold border really appealed to me, plus it is pink, so that is always a winner, lol. This stamp set has 3 greetings in a lovely script font, making it perfect for a range of occasions.

My base card is Sweet Sugarplum and I added another layer of Smoky Slate, which was embossed with the 'Simple Stripes' embossing folder, showing the de-bossed side for a more subtle look.  I have reversed the layout, having the shorter edge on the left. The stamped panel of Whisper white has a narrow border of Sweet Sugarplum on the left and the small scalloped edge from the Decorative Ribbon border punch on the right. I added the Smoky Slate gingham ribbon at the top before adding the borders, for a pretty finish. 

 

To get a really great result from this stamp, your ink pad shouldn't be too juicy.  You can reduce the juiciness very easily, by opening the ink pad and leaving it for about 10 minutes. This allows the ink to sink to the bottom of the pad. Once you close the pad, the pad is upside down and the ink falls to the top again, so there is no wastage of ink. I have stamped the lovely greeting from the same stamp set in Rich Razzleberry ink, cropped it with an oval from the Layering Ovals Framelits and popped it up on a slightly larger Stitched Oval. A trio of 4mm rhinestones is the finishing touch.

For the inside, I stamped part of the design featuring the daisy in the top right corner of the writing panel and then added two strips of washi tape to the base. The finished panel was layered onto a Smoky Slate mat and adhered to the inside of the card.

 

 

Project Details
Stamps	Heartfelt Blooms
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Sweet Sugarplum, Smoky Slate
Ink	Sweet Sugarplum, Rich Razzleberry
Accessories	Rhinestones Basic Jewels, Smoky Slate 1/2" Gingham ribbon, Basics Pack 1 Washi, Year of Cheer Washi (retired)
Tools	Stitched Shapes Framelits, Simple Stripes TIEF, Layering Ovals Framelits, Big Shot, Dimensionals

 

Now it's time to click on the Next button below to hop over to see what Angela has to inspire you this week. 

We would love you to join us with your CASE this week, using our Facebook group. Click on this link or the image below to go there. The first time you will need to click on the 'Join Group' button at the top. Once you have been added to the group, you can go ahead and post your creation and you do not need to have a blog. 

 Thanks for visiting today!

Pretty in Pink and Gold

Hi there

Today I'm sharing another of the projects we made in classes last week, using lots of the products from the Sweet Soiree Suite. One of my lovely customers challenged me to convince her that this suite was worthy of her attention and I think I've achieved it! This bundle has everything you need to produce gorgeous cards for any celebratory occasion.

This is a really pretty, feminine birthday card that is oh so sparkly in real life. I'm looking at it right now and wish I could capture it in a photo for you. The human eye is so amazing that it can see all the sparkle without the glare from the gold foil elements that a camera captures. 

On the Pink Pirouette card stock we have used the Shimmery White Embossing Paste with one of the Sweet Soiree Decorative Masks to create the sparkly background that reminds me of a bead curtain. The embossing paste is so easy to use; if you can butter toast, you can use embossing paste! Spread it over the mask with a palette knife, scrape off the excess and lift it off to enjoy the slightly raised pattern. It dries very quickly, on your project and your tools, so you need to put the mask and palette knife into warm water immediately to make clean up easier. The Pink Pirouette background was layered on Gold Foil and then onto the thick Whisper White card base.

The beautifully detailed cake image was gold embossed onto thick Whisper White and cropped with the coordinating die. I've adhered the base of the cake to the lacy-edged stand that was die cut in Gold Foil. The pedestal was adhered under the stand and the whole piece was then popped up with foam pads onto a large Vellum oval. Once the embellishment is adhered, you can turn over the oval and easily see where to place double side tape, so it won't be seen. Three open flowers from the 'Cake Soiree' stamp set were white embossed onto Flirty Flamingo and Pink Pirouette card stock and then cropped with the coordinating die. These were mounted in a cluster towards the left with the greeting banner tucked underneath. The greeting is from the same stamp set and was white embossed on the gold foil. This card is fabulous for a milestone birthday and I've die cut some numbers from the retired Little Numbers Thinlits dies in Gold Foil and popped them up at the top of the cake. It looks equally as good without the numbers, though.

For the inside, I have a Pink Pirouette mat for my writing panel. I've used the narrow gold washi from the retired 'Year of Cheer' set either side of the Flirty Flamingo stars/flowers and gold embossed the lovely birthday greeting in the centre.

 This view from the top, shows the embossed background very clearly, but sadly, without the sparkle. Thanks to Crystal for the inspiration.

Project Details
Stamps	Cake Soiree
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Flirty Flamingo Gold Foil, Vellum
Ink	Versamark
Accessories	Pearls Basic Jewels, Basics Pack 1 Washi
Tools	Sweet Cake Framelits, Little Numbers Thinlits (retired), Ovals Collection Framelits (retired), Big Shot, White and Gold EP, Heat gun, Shimmery White Embossing Paste, Sweet Soiree Decorative Masks, Dimensionals, Glue Dots

 

Thanks for looking!

Mini Gable Box Two Ways

Hi there

I've been kept busy with classes this week, as well as finalising the tutorial to accompany my Sweet Soiree Mega Project Kit. Click on the link too see all the pretty elements  included in the kit, that come from the Sweet Soiree Suite on pages 10-13 of the Occasions Catalogue. When you purchase the kit, you receive my 17 page tutorial for FREE. It contains 5 projects to create and three of the projects include alternative design options.  

Today I thought I would share one of the projects we made in classes this week, using the Mini Gable Boxes. It is one of the projects I designed for the Sweet Soiree Mega Project Kit tutorial.  These are fabulous gift and treat boxes in a matte silver heavy weight card stock that come as a flat pack and you pop them together. Think Christmas, Easter, birthdays, thank you and just because occasions when you want to give a small handmade gift that you've dressed up especially for them. I love having a couple of decorated treat boxes on hand for gifting.

I have used the 'Petal Pair' embossing folder to dry emboss the front and sides of the box and added some of the gorgeous Berry Burst metallic-edge ribbon and a lovely bow. 

The finishing touch is the pretty decorated tag, made with the 'Sweet Cake' Framelits dies that coordinate with the 'Cake Soiree' stamp set and some elements from the Sweet Soiree Embellishment Kit.

In my tutorial, I have provided a second option for decorating these cute boxes. I have chosen one of the smaller silver embossed prints from the Sweet Soiree Specialty Designer Series Paper and teamed it with Flirty Flamingo for a pretty gift box that anyone would be delighted to receive. 

This time the greeting from 'Cake Soiree' stamp set sits on the top section of the box and I've added a pretty bow with a paper tassel from the Sweet Soiree Embellishment Kit hanging from it.

Project Details
Stamps	Cake Soiree
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Berry Burst, Flirty Flamingo, Marina Mist, Sweet Soiree Specialty Designer Paper
Ink	Versamark, Marina Mist
Accessories	Silver & White Baker's Twine, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, White & Berry Burst Metallic-Edge ribbon, Sweet Soiree Embellishment Kit
Tools	Sweet Cake Framelits, 'Petal Pair' TIEF, Big Shot, 1", 1 1/8", 1 1/4" Circle punches, Classic Label punch, Dimensionals, Glue Dots, Tombow Glue,

 

Thanks for visiting today!

CASE-ing the Catty - Sale-a-bration

Hi there

This week the CTC Crew are again taking inspiration from the catalogue samples using products that you can earn for FREE during Sale-a-bration.  We are getting close to the half way point in the Sale-a-bration promotion, which means that Stampin' Up! will be releasing 3 more fabulous options to choose from, on 16 February 2018.

I've got a sneak peak today of one of the new options which is the fabulous 'Blossoming Basket' Bundle. This is a Level 2 option and comprises the 'Blossoming Basket' stamp set and the 'Basket Weave' Dynamic Embossing Folder. You can earn this bundle for FREE when you place an order for $180 or more (before shipping). This embossing folder will also be carrying over to the new Annual Catalogue in June.

You may have come from visiting Mel's blog, but if you are visiting me, you can start your journey here and continue by clicking on the buttons at the bottom of the post. 

This is the inspiration photo I have used for my card this week. It isn't a great photo unfortunately, as I have clipped it from the new brochure, but you can see the Basket Weave embossing folder used on both cards and the lovely basket of flowers that has been fussy cut on the card on the left. I have taken the blue, yellow and white colours from the sample cards and combined them with the 'Basket Weave' Dynamic embossing folder and the 'Blossoming Basket' stamp set for my card. This is one of my favourite colour combos and pretty much reflects the decor in my house.

I went for a square card, as it worked best with the basket image, which I have coloured with  Stampin' Blends in Daffodil Delight, Crumb Cake and Old Olive. There are lots of layers, but starting from the bottom is my Whisper White card base which is 14.5cm (5 3/4") square. Next is the Marina Mist layer and then the pop of Daffodil Delight that has been embossed with the Basket Weave Dynamic TIEF. This is the type that gives a deep textured effect. I spritzed the front of my card stock with water before popping it into the embossing folder and as you will see in the closeup photo, there is no cracking of the card stock. I have brought all of the colours together with the dotty designer paper from the 'Sweet Soiree' pack, which works perfectly. 

 

You can see the lovely texture of the 'Basket Weave' embossing folder in this closeup photo. I have added a mat of Marina Mist on the basket image, which is popped up and the dotty designer paper panel as well. The birthday greeting from the retired 'Circle of Spring' stamp set, was stamped in Marina Mist and cropped with the smallest circle from the Stitched Shapes Framelits and then popped up on Daffodil Delight and then matted onto Marina Mist. This card would also work beautifully for Mother's Day and for spring/Easter occasions.

I have added a few finishing touches with cute bow in the 1/4" Whisper White Organza ribbon that has been coloured with a Marina Mist colour matched alcohol marker. Alcohol markers like Stampin' Blends are fabulous for colouring ribbons, rhinestones, pearls, enamel shapes and many other embellishments to provide perfect colour coordination. The sweet butterfly sitting on the handle also comes from the 'Blossoming Basket' stamp set.

 

For the inside, I have a double mat of Marina Mist and Daffodil Delight for my writing panel and a strip of the Old Olive and silver designer paper from the 'Sweet Soiree' pack at the base. I topped it with the narrow silver striped wash from the 'Sweet Soiree' Embellishment Kit. The single flower from 'Birthday Blooms' stamp set was stamped in the bottom corner and coloured with Stampin' Blends to match.

 

 

Project Details
Stamps	Blossoming Basket, Birthday Blooms, Circle of Spring (retired)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight, Sweet Soiree DSP
Ink	Memento Espresso Truffle, Marina Mist
Accessories	1/4" White Organza ribbon, Rhinestones Basic Jewels, Sweet Soiree Embellishment Kit
Tools	Stitched Shapes Framelits, Basket Weave Dynamic TIEF, Layering Circles Framelits, Big Shot, 1 1/2" Circle punch, Dimensionals, Glue Dots, Stampin' Blends

 

Now it's time to click on the Next button below to hop over to see what Bronwyn has to inspire you this week. 

We would love you to join us with your CASE this week, using our Facebook group. Click on this link or the image below to go there. The first time you will need to click on the 'Join Group' button at the top. Once you have been added to the group, you can go ahead and post your creation and you do not need to have a blog. 

 Thanks for visiting today!

CASE-ing the Catty - Occasions Kits

Hi there

This week the CTC Crew are taking inspiration from the kits in the Occasions Catalogue on pages 15-17. Not got your own copy of the Occasions and Sale-a-bration catalogues yet? If you are located in Australia, just leave your details here and I would be happy to pop a set in the post for you. 

You may have come from visiting Julia's blog, but if you are visiting me, you can start your journey here and continue by clicking on the buttons at the bottom of the post. 

This week, I'm taking my inspiration from the 'Lots of Happy Card Kit' on page 15. This is an all-inclusive kit, which means it includes the exclusive photopolymer stamp set in the kit. This really is a fabulous kit with lovely images to colour and lots of extra embellishments to use on your cards. Plus there are 5 different shapes of card and they come with the matching lined envelopes too. The great thing about this kit is that you can make it up exactly as per the designs included for a beautiful set for your stash or you can use the components to make your own designs or do a bit of mash-up using a combination of the components and designs. Even better, there is a refill kit so you can make more!

I have 2 cards to share this week. This first one uses the front of the hexagonal card, which I have coloured with my Calypso Coral Stampin' Blends and the Lemon Lime Twist water colour pencil included in the kit.

I adhered it to some Calypso Coral card stock and then used my trimmer to cut it down to a narrow border on all sides. I adhered it to the Sahara Sand background that has been embossed with the Polka Dot Basics embossing folder from the Annual Catalogue and then onto the Calypso Coral card base.

For the embellishment of the hexagon, I have used the gold foil banner across the centre with the Lemon Lime Twist ribbon as per the kit design with the vellum leaves tucked under the ribbon. I have gold embossed the birthday greeting from the included stamp set and cropped it with a circle from the Stitched Shapes framelits. It is adhered to a mat of Calyspso Coral and then to another wider one of Sahara Sand. I've popped it up over the banner and the small flowers were added to opposite sides of the greeting.

For the next card, I have followed the kit layout pretty closely, but changed up quite a few things. I've started with a piece of the black and white striped paper from the kit and coloured the white stripes with the Light Pink Pirouette Stampin' Blend marker to soften the brightness. I trimmed it down a bit to better fit the shape of our card bases and added a mat of Gold Foil. 

I have coloured the berry spray with a combination of Pink Pirouette and Old Olive Stampin' Blends and the Flirty Flamingo and Lemon Lime Twist water colour pencils from the kit. I laid on some of the vellum leaves and then the coloured image over the top. I cut it in half to give me a bit more flexibility with the positioning.

I added a loop of gold Mini Sequin Trim and then popped up my greeting panel. I chose another of the lovely greeting stamps from the kit and gold embossed it before cropping with an oval from the Stitched Shapes framelits. I finished with a heart from the Metallic Enamel Shapes.

  

Project Details
Stamps	Lots of Happy Card Kit
Card stock & Papers	Calypso Coral, Pink Pirouette, Sahara Sand, Gold Foil, Whisper White
Ink	Versamark
Accessories	Metallic Enamel Shapes, Gold Mini Sequin Trim
Tools	Stitched Shapes Framelits, Layering Ovals Framelits, Polka Dot Basics TIEF, Big Shot, Dimensionals, Glue Dots, 2" and 2 1/4" Circle punches, Gold EP, Heat Gun, Stampin' Blends

 

Now it's time to click on the Next button below to hop over to see what Peta has to inspire you this week. 

We would love you to join us with your CASE this week, using our Facebook group. Click on this link or the image below to go there. The first time you will need to click on the 'Join Group' button at the top. Once you have been added to the group, you can go ahead and post your creation and you do not need to have a blog. 

 Thanks for visiting today!