CASE-ING the Catty - So Very Merry

Hi there

Welcome to CASE-ing the Catty this week. 

If you've come from visiting  Rebecca, then welcome!  If you're visiting me, I appreciate you stopping by today! You can continue your journey to see the other inspiring creations from the CTC Crew by clicking on the button at the bottom of the post. 

This week we are taking inspiration from a project in the 2023-24 Annual Catalogue that uses a punch.

This was a little trickier than I thought, but I chose the project above for my inspiration this week. It uses the Circle Sayings Bundle with the new 2 3/8" Circle punch.  This is a really simple layout, but that makes it more flexible as well.

When I saw the circle in the inspiration project, I immediately thought of the newly arrived So Very Merry stamp set that was sitting on my desk. This is one of the new products in the Online Exclusives section of the Online Store. I was happily surprised to find that the 2 circular stained glass-style images in the set also work with the new 2 3/8" Circle Punch.

I started by stamping the angel image in Basic Gray ink on Basic White card stock, as it is softer than black and won't stand out as much with the soft colours. I've used Stampin' Blends Alcohol markers to colour the image, with the background in Lemon Lolly, the Dress in Highland Heather and the frame in Pool Party. I love some sparkle for Christmas cards, so I used a glue pen on each section of the wings and sprinkled over (retired) Dazzling Diamonds Glitter. Unfortunately, it doesn't show up well in the photos, but it adds a lovely sparkle. If you want to try this, make sure you keep the glue within the lines, so you don't end up with glittering covering the detail of the wings. I punched out another circle from Thick Basic White and adhered behind the image, to make it more robust.

I heat embossed the greeting from the Brightest Glow stamp set in white at the top of a panel of Gorgeous Grape card stock. I wanted to dry emboss the panel, but I didn't like anything I tried as it seemed to take away from the angel, so I've gone with a 'less is more' approach and kept it simple. For the 3 bands, I added a 1cm (3/8") strip of Highland Heather and Smoky Slate to a strip of Basic White and added the (retired) Silver Edged Satin Ribbon in the centre and added a bow to the left. The strip was adhered to the Gorgeous Grape background and the finished panel was added to a Thick Basic White card base. I popped the angel circle up on Dimensionals. I finished with some (retired) sparkly rhinestones.

For the inside, I have a Highland Heather mat for the writing panel and I've stamped the bells from So Very Merry in the corner and coloured them with Smoky Slate and Highland Heather Blends.

 

Project Details
Stamps	So Very Merry, Brightest Glow
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Gorgeous Grape, Highland Heather, Smoky Slate
Ink	Versamark, Basic Gray
Accessories	Silver Edged Satine Ribbon (retired), Basic Jewels Rhinestones (retired), Dazzling Diamonds Glitter (retired)
Tools	2 3/8" Circle Punch, Dimensionals, Stampin' Blends (Lemon Lolly, Highland Heather, Pool Party, Smoky Slate, Light Pecan Pie, SU800), Quickie Glue Pen (not SU)

 

We would love to see your CASE 0f a punch project from the 2023-24 Annual Catalogue this week. 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. 

You can head over to Julia to see her lovely project and follow the hop to see the inspiration from the rest of the CTC Crew.

Thanks for visiting today!

• Shop my Online Store 24/7
• See the latest Stampin' Up! Promotions
• Request a FREE Catalogue
• Check out my Tutorial Store

Get Well with Seasonal Branches Bundle

Hi there

I've just returned from a lovely week away in Melbourne, where I attended a team event to celebrate 35 years of Stampin' Up! Instead of a large event, Stampin' Up! has selected 35 events worldwide that are hosted by local team leaders and attended by a representative from the Home Office.  This is rather novel and I'm fortunate that my team leader Claire Daly was successful in being selected for one of the events.  Not only that, we had the CEO, Sara Douglass come all the way from Salt Lake City, Utah to spend a fabulous day with us. I stayed on for the rest of the week to catch up with friends I haven't seen since I left more than 2 years ago.

I designed one of the four make & take projects for the attendees, so today I'm sharing the card I designed. It was a busy time cutting and assembling the card kits before I went. This is the class table in my studio with 59 card kits laid out, so I could compile all the required pieces and not miss anything. They were then packaged into individual cello bags so nothing could get lost 

It is surprisingly challenging to come up with a design that can be completed within 30 minutes, is not too expensive, doesn't use too many tools (only the Mini Stampin' Cut & Emboss machine) and isn't too boring for a group of Demonstrators! Here is what I came up with.

As this is a get well card, I've chosen the very calming Boho Blue for the card base and then added the bright white panel embossed with the cross-hatch design from the Basics 3D Embossing Folders. The octagons created with the Countryside Corners Bundle form the background and the white octagon has a softly blended Balmy Blue 'sky' for the bird and branch from the Seasonal Branches bundle. The bird was coloured with Boho Blue and Pecan Pie Stampin' Blends markers.

For the inside, I have stamped part of the leaf set across the bottom of the writing panel and added another bird. Unfortunately, there wasn't time at the event to do the inside, but I encouraged everyone to stamp and colour the second bird to finish it at home.

Here, Sara is preparing for her surprise demonstration with a table of ladies behind, doing one of their make & takes. We had lots of lovely display boards and samples to look at, plus yummy treats for morning and afternoon tea and a bento box lunch. 

I managed to get a pic with Sara at the start of the day.  I was totally knackered by the end, after supervising the 8 tables doing my make & take, but it was a fabulous day, enjoyed by all.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Seasonal Branches, Countryside Corners
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Boho Blue, Pecan Pie
Ink	Boho Blue, Balmy Blue, Old Olive, Pecan Pie, Early Espesso
Accessories	Brushed Brass Butterflies, Linen Thread
	Basics 3D Embossing Folder, Seasonal Branches Dies, Countryside Corners Dies, Paper Florist Dies, Stylish Shapes Dies, Mini Stampin' Cut & Emboss, Dimensionals, Tombow Glue, Glue Dots, Stampin' Blends - Boho Blue, Pecan Pie, Pumpkin Pie

 

Thanks for visiting today!

• Shop my Online Store 24/7
• See the latest Stampin' Up! Promotions
• Request a FREE Catalogue
• Check out my Tutorial Store

CASE-ing the Catty - Die Cut Project

Hi there

Welcome to CASE-ing the Catty this week. I've been MIA for the last couple of weeks as I had 2 fabulous weekends away! Not something that happens very often, but it was lovely to visit friends and see some lovely countryside.

If you've come from visiting  Monique, then welcome!  If you're visiting me, I appreciate you stopping by today! You can continue your journey to see the other inspiring creations from the CTC Crew by clicking on the button at the bottom of the post. 

This week we are taking inspiration from a Die Cut project in the 2023-24 Annual Catalogue. This provides a lot of scope given that it's almost impossible to make a card without dies!

I chose the project above for my inspiration this week. I'm busy cutting 56 card kits for a team event in Melbourne next week, so I was looking for a simple project. Haha, the best laid plans! 

I wanted a soft, feminine look for my card, so I started with a panel of Bubble Bath card stock and used the same mask from the Foursquare Decorative Masks with Berry Burst ink and a blending brush. My first effort was very bold (more on that later), so I put that aside and decided to try with Bubble Bath ink. It was softer, but didn't have any pop, so I turned it over and tried again with Berry Burst, using a lighter touch to get a result I was happy with. The moral of the story is to carefully lift up a corner while holding the rest firmly and check how it looks. It is hard to gauge the strength of the colour, otherwise.

I stamped a few of the bubbles from the Timeless Arrangments stamp set on the background in Berry Burst ink and then die cut some foliage in white and Berry Burst to keep a tonal look. The greeting from Crafting With You stamp set was stamped in Berry Burst ink and cropped with a die from Timeless Arrangments and I added a narrow border of Berry Burst. Once I had the foliage roughly arranged under the greeting, I removed everything and added the faux bow of silver Simply Elegant Trim with glue dots and then adhered the foliage over the top. The greeting label was then popped over the top with Dimensionals. I finished with silver Festive Pearls either side of HUG and a trio of the Loose Silver Sequins, which are actually quite see-through.

My first effort at creating the blended front panel with the mask was way too dark, but rather than waste it, I've used it for the mat to my writing panel, which I've left plain. I can add another greeting later, if I need to and the bold border is enough decoration.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Crafting With You
Card stock & Papers	Basic White, Bubble Bath, Berry Burst
Ink	Berry Burst
Accessories	Loose Silver Sequins, Festive Pearls, Simply Elegant Trim
Tools	Timelesss Arrangments Dies, Stampin' Cut & Emboss, Dimensionals, Foursquare Decorative Masks, Blending Brush

 

We would love to see your CASE 0f a die cut project from the 2023-24 Annual Catalogue this week. 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. 

You can head over to Julia to see her lovely project and follow the hop to see the inspiration from the rest of the CTC Crew.

Thanks for visiting today!

• Shop my Online Store 24/7
• See the latest Stampin' Up! Promotions
• Request a FREE Catalogue
• Check out my Tutorial Store

IDEAS Blog Hop - Holidays!

Hi there

I'm back with the IDEAS (International Demos Exciting Artistic Stampin') team this month to share more fabulous projects. We are a group of international demonstrators who create a Tutorial Bundle each month to give you, our customers and readers a heap of inspiration for your crafting.

If you've come from looking at Simone's sweet projects, then welcome!  If you're visiting me, I appreciate you stopping by today!  You can continue your journey to see the other inspiring creations from the IDEAS Team by clicking on the NEXT button at the bottom of the post. 

This month our theme is Holidays and we have you covered for Christmas, New Year, Easter as well as seaside and fishing themed projects. We have a great 77-page bundle this month with 14 tutorials that each include a card (many fancy folds) and 3D item such as treat packaging, home decor, gift card holder and gift box.

I’ve created a diorama with a woodland theme for a fabulous 3D Christmas card that folds flat for posting. Change up the greeting for a fabulous masculine card for a milestone birthday or retirement. I've also included BONUS instructions for a custom card stock envelope to make sure it survives the postal system! This is the perfect card for someone special. The dimensions of the finished card standing upright are 4 1/4” x 5 5/8” x 3/4” (10.8cm x 14.3cm x 1.9cm).

The luminary is a sweet piece of home decor, with an LED tealight candle providing soft background light to the forest vista. You can also place a string of battery operated fairy lights into the luminary for a brighter light. The finished size of the luminary is 4" x 4 1/4" x 1 7/8" (10.2cm x 10.8cm x 4.8cm).

The Grassy Grove stamp set and coordinating Grove Dies are available for purchase from my Online Store, so you can get started on these holiday projects right now!

There are 3 ways you can get the July 2023 Tutorial Bundle.

1.  Place an order with me for $50 or more using the current month's Host Code (shown in the side bar on the right) and you will receive the tutorial bundle for FREE. I will email you the PDF file within 24 hours of your order being confirmed.  

2. You can purchase the tutorial with Instant Download through my Etsy store by clicking here. You can pay with a credit card or PayPal and you DO NOT need to sign up to Etsy to make a purchase. Check out as a guest if you are not a member.

3.  Join my team and you will get this bundle of tutorials FREE every month to use for your personal crafting or for classes. You can see all the details over on the Join My Team page. It might be the right time for you consider the opportunity to run your own home-based craft business or to get a great discount on your craft supplies. There is a fabulous joining offer during Sale-a-bration where you can choose from 3 options, including a fabulous Boho Blue (yes that's a new In Color coming in May!) Mini Stampin' Cut & Emboss machine.

Once you have received the tutorials, please remember not to share or distribute the printed or electronic copies of these bundles. We have worked hard to provide these exclusive projects for your use. If you know someone that would like to purchase the bundle, please direct them to me to obtain their copy. Thanks for your support.

Now it's time to hop over to Sandra to see her elegant Christmas projects. 

Thanks for visiting today!

• Shop my Online Store 24/7
• See the latest Stampin' Up! Promotions
• Request a FREE Catalogue
• Check out my Tutorial Store