CASE-ing the Catty - Bring on the Bling!

Hi there

Welcome to another week of CASE-ing the Catty.

If you've come from visiting Sandra, 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 buttons at the bottom of the post. 

This week we are 'Bringing the Bling' as we take inspiration from projects using all things shiny and sparkly! 

I've chosen this card above on page 15 of the 2020-21 Annual Catalogue for my inspiration. It always catches my eye with the splashes of gold embossing over the spritzed background, so I thought I would give it a go myself. 

I decided on Melon Mambo as my focus colour and fortunately I had some left over Melon Mambo and White Shimmer paint in a spritzer, which I spritzed onto a piece of Shimmery White card stock. To add a bit more 'oomph' to the colour I added some drops of Merry Merlot and rubbing alcohol to another spritzer and spritzed a bit more on the bottom edge for a darker shade.  Once dry (I used my heat tool to speed up the process), I stamped the flower centre from the To A Wild Rose stamp set in Versamark ink randomly over the panel and heat embossed it in gold. I gave it a good flick on the back to remove some of the embossing powder so it wouldn't end up as big blobs. You can see it better in the close up photo below. 

A card front-sized panel of Melon Mambo was dry embossed with the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder and the Gold Foil adhered asymetrically on top. The spritzed panel comes next and that is also adhered on an angle. The Melon Mambo panel was adhered to a Thick Basic White card base.

I've stamped the rose image in Daffodil Delight; stamping off the first layer and then full strength on the highlights. The outline was heat embossed in gold and then fussy cut. The outline for the leaves was stamped in Shaded Spruce and then the inside in Just Jade. The leaves were also fussy cut and I found it easier to separate them for placement. The folded strip of vanilla/gold Metallic ribbon was laid down on the spritzed panel and then the flower popped up over the top. The leaves were then arranged and adhered flat underneath. The 'hello' greeting was stamped in Melon Mambo and fussy cut and the 'friend' was masked off from the larger greeting and heat embossed in gold. I finished with a trio of Gilded Gems for one final touch of bling!

I've kept the inside super simple with a Melon Mambo mat and a Gold Foil border design from the Many Medallions Dies on the right.

 

Project Details
Stamps	To A Wild Rose
Card stock & Papers	Thick Basic White, Melon Mambo, Shimmery White, Gold Foil
Ink	Versamark, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Shaded Spruce, Just Jade
Accessories	Vanilla/Gold Metallic Ribbon, Golden Gems
Tools	Many Medallions Dies, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Subtle 3D EF, die cutting machine, Dimensionals, Gold EP, Heat Gun, Melon Mambo & Merry Merlot Reinkers, Rubbing Alcohol, Spritzers

 

We would love to see your CASE of a 'Bling-y' project from either of the current Catalogues. 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. 

Now head over to my good friend Tina to follow the hop and see the inspiration from the rest of the CTC Crew.

Craft time is getting increasingly hard to find as we continue to sort, cull and pack up our house, but I hope I can fit in a few more weeks before packing up my craft room.

Thanks for visiting today!

• Shop my Online Store 24/7
• See the latest Stampin' Up! Promotions
• Request a FREE Catalogue
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IDEAS Blog Hop - Sale-a-bration!

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 Sara's great project, 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. 

Our theme this month is Loving Sale-a-bration. This bundle contains an amazing 15 tutorials and 89 pages of crafty inspiration with 9 of the brand new Sale-a-bration products as well as new products  from the 2021 January-June Mini Catalogue. Each tutorial includes at least one card and a 3D project.  There is a little peek of the projects in the collage above. 

You can’t help but love the beautiful ‘Berry Delightful’ Designer Series Paper and ‘Berry Blessings’ stamp set. The products also coordinate with the Sweet Strawberry Bundle from the 2021 January-June Mini Catalogue. I’ve created a pizza-style box for this set of sweet berry cards that showcase the coordinating designs in the paper pack. The box is 6 1/2” x 4 5/8” x 1 1/4” (16.5cm x 11.8cm x 3.2cm) and fits standard C6 envelopes and full-sized cards. You could also choose to use it as a gift box for treats with a coordinating card.

Would you like a copy of the instructions for this and the 14 other projects for your personal use, or even to use in your classes? 

There are 3 ways you can get the January 2021 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.

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 Debbi's Blog to see her fabulous project.

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 - Getting Ready for the New Year

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 Pia's great project, 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. 

Our theme this month is Getting Ready for the New Year. This bundle contains an amazing 15 tutorials and 97 pages of crafty inspiration. Projects include New Year cards and gifts, calendar projects, craft supply organizers, card organizer, portable stationery box, letter writing compendium and more besides.  You can use these projects for any time of the year! There is a little peek of the projects in the collage above. 

Starting the year with a stash of birthday cards is always a good feeling as it takes the pressure off the first few months. Wouldn't it be fabulous to be gifted this lovely pack of 6 birthday cards? The floral image from the Fancy Phrases stamp set is super quick and easy to colour and you could easily colour a few sets in an evening. My gift pack holds at least 6 full-size cards and envelopes (3 each of 2 designs).

Would you like a copy of the instructions for this and the 14 other projects for your personal use, or even to use in your classes? 

There are 3 ways you can get the December 2020 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.

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 Yolanda's Blog to see her fabulous project.

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 - Colour Combo

Hi there

Welcome to another week of CASE-ing the Catty challenge! 

If you've come from visiting Kathryn, 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 buttons at the bottom of the post. 

This week we are CASE-ing the colours in the banner photo above, from page 18 of the 2020-21 Annual Catalogue.

This is the combination of  soft and pretty colours that I've used to create my project this week. Even Gray Granite looks soft when combined with the other colours from the Subtles Collection. The projects in the inspiration photo also include Sahara Sand, but I didn't need a second neutral.

I started with a card front-sized panel of Gray Granite card stock and dry embossed it with the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder, adding the strip of Mint Macaron paper to the right, before adhering the panel to a Gray Granite card base. I prefer this method to dry embossing the front of the card as it can sometimes cause the top to buckle near the score line and I prefer to not have it show on the inside of the card. Next up is a panel of Blushing Bride card stock that I cropped with a Stitched Rectangle Die, cutting twice to get the length I wanted. On top of that I have layered the Square Vellum Doilies for a feminine touch without adding any colour. I have overlapped the doilies at the centre so the scallops matched. I then decided to add the 1/4" Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon arouund the whole panel, which is the next best option to cover a join if you cannot overlap the doilies . 

For the focal point of my card I have the sketchy roses from the Fancy Phrases stamp set in the vase from the Basket of Blooms stamp set. As we don't have Blushing Bride in the Blends (unfortunately), I stamped the image on Shimmery White card stock with Early Espresso ink. As it was set up in the Stamparatus, I stamped over the top with Versamark ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. If you are super quick, you can usually heat emboss the ink without the Versamark, but as I wanted to watercolour the image, I wanted to be sure nothing was missed. I used the new Water Painters and ink pads to colour the entire image, using Blushing Bride for the flowers and Mint Macaron for the leaves and I added a touch of Crushed Curry to the smaller flower centre.  I fussy cut the whole image, cropping out just the 2 flowers at the bottom of the image.

For the vase, I stamped in Early Espresso ink and used the Gray Granite Stampin' Blends to colour, before fussy cutting. The vase was popped up with 1mm foam pads on a panel of Whisper White that was dry embossed with the Dainty Diamonds 3D Embossing Folder and cropped with another Stitched Rectangle Die. I added the spray of foliage cut from Gold Foil with the Poinsettia Dies and then popped up the coloured flowers with Dimensionals, over the vase. The white panel was popped up over the vellum doilies and finally the pink panel was adhered flat to the card base. I stamped the 'hello' from the Dressed to Impress stamp set in Early Espresso on Soft Sea Foam card stock and fussy cut it. It is only a small touch of Soft Sea Foam, but it was just enough colour and didn't compete with the other elements.

For the inside, I have a Blushing Bride mat for the writing panel. I have used the remainder of the coloured floral image at the bottom, using the strip of Mint Macaron paper to cover the area where the other flowers were cropped.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Fancy Phrases, Basket of Blooms, Dressed to Impress
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Gray Granite, Blushing Bride, Soft Sea Foam, Gold Foil, Subtles DSP, Shimmery White
Ink	Early Espresso, Versamark, Blushing Bride, Mint Macaron, Crushed Curry
Accessories	1/4" Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon, Elegant Faceted Gems, Square Vellum Doilies
Tools	Subtle & Dainty Diamonds 3D EF, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Big Shot, Stampin' Blends (Gray Granite), Dimensionals, Clear EP, Heat Gun, Water Painters

 

We would love to see your projects using these lovely colours. 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. 

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

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

Colour Creations Showcase - Highland Heather

Hi there

Tonight, I'm joining the ladies from the Art With Heart Team for this week's Colour Creations Showcase. This week we're featuring Highland Heather which is from the Subtles Collection and one of my favourite colours to create with.

This is my colour combo tonight. It has been a busy creative week and I got a bit sidetracked in the garden today, so I wanted to keep my card simple. When I was writing this post, I realised that I hadn't used any dies, embossing folders or my die cutting machine! It is rare for me to just use paper, stamps and ink. It is good to remember that you don't need more than that to create a nice card.

I started with a panel of Whisper White card stock and masked off a section and got to with some ink blending. I've used Highland Heather at the bottom and Balmy Blue at the top. The large floral image from the Fancy Phrases stamp was stamped over the blended panel. As it is quite a heavily shaded image, I didn't want it to look too harsh on the soft colours, so I stamped it in Basic Gray ink. I also stamped the cute dragonflys from a brand new stamp set called Dragonfly Garden from the upcoming 2021 January - June Mini Catalogue.  The greeting from Fancy Phrases was heat embossed in white on Gorgeous Grape card stock for a bold pop. I've wrapped the Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon around the top and finished with a bow. The finished panel was adhered to a Highland Heather card base.

For the inside, I have a Gorgeous Grape mat with a narrow border for my writing panel. I masked off a strip at the base and created a coordinating border with my ink blending tools. The small floral image from the Fancy Phrases stamp set was stamped in the corner in Basic Gray Ink.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Fancy Phrases, Dragonfly Garden
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Highland Heather, Gorgeous Grape
Ink	Versamark, Highland Heather, Balmy Blue, Basic Gray
Accessories	Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon
Tools	Blending tools, Dimensionals, White EP, Heat gun

 

The lovely Catherine is hosting us tonight, so make sure you head over to her blog for the links to the other participants tonight.

Thanks for visiting today!

CASE-ing the Catty - Plaid Tidings DSP

Hi there

Welcome to another week of CASE-ing the Catty challenge! 

If you've come from visiting Peta & Marvi, 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 buttons at the bottom of the post. 

This week we're CASE-ing the colours of the Plaid Tidings Designer Series Paper from the 2020 August-December Mini Catalogue. This pack of designer paper is ON SALE right now, until 31 October 2020.

There are a LOT of colours and patterns in this designer paper as you can see in the photo above, so it can be a little overwhelming. It is best to look at each design separately to appreciate the possibilities. I decided on a design and used the coordinating colours  in the paper to create my card, using the Love of Leaves Bundle, which found it's way into my craft room recently! It you haven't noticed it, it's on page 40 of the August-December Mini Catalogue.

This bundle is perfect for either gender and those with a love of nature and the outdoors. It would be wonderful for scrapbooking your outdoor adventures as well. I don't think the image of the dies in the catalogue does them justice, so I hope my photo gives you a better idea of the detail. Each leaf has 2 dies; the outline which cuts and adds stitching around the cut edge and the centre embossing die for the veins. I have used some sticky note to keep the 2 pieces together, so you can cut and emboss the leaves at the same time. In addition to the leaves, there is the large decorative border die.  If you are happy to die cut the leaves from cardstock or foil (which looks fabulous!), then the dies can really stand alone. You can die cut from coloured cardstock or patterned paper and then add extra depth with sponge daubers. Alternatively, add drops of ink onto wet watercolour paper to get gorgeous variegated leaves or use ink blending tools to create your own paper. 

I started with a card-sized panel of Pretty Peacock card stock and used the border die from the Stitched Leaves Dies on the left side to add  the decorative stitching.  The design from the Plaid Tidings Designer Paper pack was added to the right end leaving a narrow border. I found the strip of Cajun Craze with the zigzag in my scrap bag and I added that to the left edge. It  was cut with the retired Finishing Touches Edgelits Dies from way back in 2012!  The greeting from the Life is Beautiful stamp set was stamped in Pretty Peacock ink and then dry embossed with the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder before being cropped with a Stitched Rectangle Die.

The plaid design I've chosen lends itself to more autumn colours, so I've stamped the leaves in Pumpkin Pie, Bumblebee, Cajun Craze, Pretty Peacock and Cherry Cobbler and cropped them with the coordinating dies.  Cajun Craze isn't in the list of colours, but works well with the brown tones. The stamps provide a lot of shading by themselves, so make sure your ink pads aren't too juicy or you will lose that definition. If you can see bubbles of ink on the stamp, use the back of teaspoon to temporarily push the ink down in the pad.  I added a little bit of extra shading on the edges of the stamps with a sponge dauber after stamping the main colour. This is easy to do if you're using the Stamparatus, or you can see through the photopolymer to line up for a second stamping. As the paper is already busy, I wanted to keep the stamping simple.  I layered up the leaves on the left of the white panel and finished with a bow using the copper metallic ribbon. I added a trio of banners to balance the focus panel. 

For the inside, I have a Pretty Peacock mat for my writing panel and a strip of the plaid designer paper down the left side. I've had a little fun with the leaves here. I die cut the tall leaf out of the writing panel, so you can see the stitching on the cut edge. I created more variegated leaves with multiple layers of colour this time. 

Don't think you're just limited to autumn leaves with this bundle. Check out my Love of Leaves Pinterest Board for a lot more inspiration with this bundle. 

 

Project Details
Stamps	Love of Leaves, Life is Beautiful
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Pretty Peacock, Cajun Craze, Bumblebee, Pumpkin Pie, Plaid Tidings DSP
Ink	Bumblebee, Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Pretty Peacock
Accessories	Gilded Gems, Basket Weave & Metallic Ribbon Combo Pack
Tools	Stitched Leaves Dies, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Tasteful Touches Dies, Itty Bitty Banners Dies (retired), Subtle 3D Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Dimensionals

 

We would love to see your projects, CASE-ing the colours of the Plaid Tidings DSP. 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. 

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

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

Colour Creations Showcase - Gray Granite

Hi there

Tonight, I'm joining the ladies from the Art With Heart Team for this week's Colour Creations Showcase. This week we're featuring Gray Granite which is from the Neutrals Collection.  

This is my colour combo tonight. Gray Granite is one of my favourite neutrals as I think it works so well with all the colour collections. I've paired it with Rococo Rose and Early Espresso.

I started with a Thick Whisper White card base and added a strip of Gray Granite embossed with the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder to the left side. Rococo Rose card stock is a darker pink than the Stampin' Blends colour, so to keep it all in the same tone, I coloured a strip of Whisper White with the Light Rococo Rose Stampin' Blend and added it over the Gray Granite strip. The remainder of the card base was covered with one of the Gray Granite designs from the Peony Garden Designer Series Paper.

I stamped the images from the Prized Peony stamp in Early Espresso ink, which I think works well with the Gray Granite. The leaves were coloured with Gray Granite Stampin' Blend markers and the flowers with Rococo Rose Stampin' Blends. I used So Saffron for the stamens with Mango Melody around the dark centre. The fussy cut flowers were layered onto the largest of the Stitched Circles at different heights. The greeting from the Prized Peony stamp set was stamped in Early Espresso ink and cropped with the label from the All Dressed Up Dies.  I finished with a tiny  butterfly in Silver Foil and a trio of rhinestones.

For the inside, I have a Rococo Rose coloured mat and a strip of the designer paper at the left. I've stamped and coloured the smallest floral image from the Prized Peony stamp set in the corner of the writing panel.

This card was made to thank a  lovely friend who helped me out of a spot last week. I hope she likes it.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Prized Peony
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Gray Granite, Silver Foil, Peony Garden DSP
Ink	Early Espresso, Gray Granite
Accessories	Rhinestone Basic Jewels
Tools	All Dressed Up Dies, Stitched Shapes Dies, Subtle 3D EF, Big Shot, Dimensionals, Stampin' Blends (Rococo Rose, Gray Granite)

 

The lovely Catherine is hosting us tonight, so make sure you head over to her blog for the links to the other participants tonight.

Thanks for visiting today!

CASE-ing the Catty - Kit Project

Hi there

Welcome to another week of CASE-ing the Catty challenge! 

If you've come from visiting Sandra, 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 buttons at the bottom of the post. 

This week we are CASE-ing a project from a kit from either the 2020-21 Annual Catalogue or the 2020 August-December Mini Catalogue.

This week, I've taken the opportunity to break open my Boho Indigo Product Medley from page 9 of the Annual Catalogue. I am a sucker for blue and white and I have a large collection of Wedgewood and Spode china to show for it. There is something about it that just draws my eye. Do you have colours that do that for you? My inspiration is the card in the photo above, which is a note card size and quite clean and simple. 

I started with a Very Vanilla card base and added one of the darker designs from the paper pack that comes with the Boho Indigo  Product Medley. I chose a darker design so that my collection of vases would pop a little more. 

For my focus panel, I have dry embossed a piece of Very Vanilla with the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder and cropped it with a Stitched Rectangle Die, cutting a second time to extend it and give an even border on my C6 metric card. I adhered it to a Gold Foil mat and then layered up my decorative elements. The large basket was heat embossed in gold and the floral vase was stamped in Night of Navy and the small vase was cropped from a scrap of Misty Moonlight that had been dry embossed with the Tasteful Texture 3D Embossing Folder.  The blue flower was fussy cut from the reverse side of the designer paper I used for the background and the gold foil foliage is from the Forever Gold Laser-Cut Specialty Paper. I finished with the flagged banner with the greeting from Fancy Phrases stamped in Garden Green ink.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Boho Indigo, Fancy Phrases
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla Garden Green, Pear Pizzazz, Misty Moonlight, Gold Foil, Forever Gold Laser-cut Specialty Paper
Ink	Garden Green, Night of Navy
Accessories
Tools	Boho Indigo Dies, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Subtle 3D Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Dimensionals, Gold EP, Heat gun

 

We would love to see your projects, CASE-ing a kit project. 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. 

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

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

Colour Creations Showcase - Early Espresso

Hi there

Tonight, I'm joining the ladies from the Art With Heart Team for this week's Colour Creations Showcase. This week we're featuring Early Espresso which is from the Neutrals Collection. 

For my card, I decided to pair Early Espresso with an equally bold colour in Melon Mambo from the Brights Collection. Browns have a pinkish undertone, so they they do work well with pink.  

I have started with the Early Espresso card base and I added a card sized panel that was dry embossed with the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder. Although it isn't necessary, I like to lightly spritz my card stock with water before using this embossing folder to achieve a deeper etching. It is still subtle but has a rich texture that I like. I added a strip of the woodgrain Melon Mambo designer paper on the right for a nice pop of colour.

For the art panel, I started with a piece of Whisper White cropped with the second largest Stitched Rectangle Die and stamped the lovely tree image from the Life is Beautiful stamp set in Early Espresso ink.  You can see this stamp set on page 51 of the August-December Mini Catalogue; I think it gets a little lost amongst all of the holiday products, but it is such a sweet stamp set. 

I love the font on the greetings, the little bird house and the different seasons that are represented. Given we have starting spring in Australia, I was chanelling a blossom tree with beautiful pink blooms. I would love one of these in my garden! This is a Distinktive style photopolymer stamp set, so there is a lot of detail and shading in the stamps that you want to see, especially in the tree. If your ink pads are juicy, you may find you need to use the back of a teaspoon to (temporarily) push some of the ink to the bottom of the pad, so it doesn't muddy the detail of the stamp. The ink will redistribute itself when you close the ink pad. I did a little stamping at the base of the tree for some fallen blossoms and added the cute bird house, using Stampin' Write markers direct to the stamp for the different colours.  The greeting has been heat embossed in white and cropped with a stitched circle. It is popped up over a stitched banner from the Tasteful Labels Dies, cut from Early Espress card stock that had been dry embossed with the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder.

For the inside, I've used another stitched rectangle and partially stamped the tree on the right with the pink blooms stamped over the top and base. I added it to a panel of Melon Mambo to create borders than balance the length.

I decided to make a few more to thank my customers for their support. Using the Stamparatus, I was able to stamp the tree and bird house easily, but the blooms are hand stamped, making them all look unique. 

 

Project Details
Stamps	Life is Beautiful
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Early Espresso, Melon Mambo Brights DSP
Ink	Early Espresso, Melon Mambo, Versamark
Accessories	Rhinestones, Braided Linen Trim
Tools	Stitched Shapes Dies, Stitched Rectangles Dies, Tasteful Labels Dies, Subtle 3D EF, Big Shot, Dimensionals, Stampin' Write Markers (Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Pacific Point), White EP, Heat gun

 

Catherine is hosting us tonight, so make sure you head over to her blog for the links to the other participants tonight.

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

Welcome Spring!

Hi there

Today I'm sharing a bright, spring card. We have had some lovely sunny weather in Melbourne in the last few days and it has the feel of spring in the air. This is my favourite time of year and I love spending time in the garden enjoying all the new colour.  This is my favourite Camellia that flowers at the beginning of spring, aptly named Spring Surprise. It flowers so abundantly and is a joy to look at from our breakfast table. I planted another 2 in the same bed last spring and they are flowering, too. I hope they catch up in size to this one that has been in 3 years now.

I started this card with the intention of participating in the Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase this week, which was featuring Daffodil Delight. However, I didn't get it finished in time, but I thought I would share it anyway.

This is the colour combination I've used on my card. I usually use yellow as an accent colour, so it was quite a challenge to make it a focus of the card. I love yellow and blue together, as it is bright and cheery combination. I've kept the layout clean and simple, letting the bold flower image be the focus.

I started with a wash of Daffodil Delight onto a piece of watercolour paper.  While it was still slightly damp, I ran it through with the Tasteful Textures 3D Embossing Folder. 

The flower image from the Band Together stamp set was stamped in Early Espresso ink and coloured with Stampin' Blends Alcohol markers. I've used Old Olive on the stems and leaves and a combination of Seaside Spray and Light Night of Navy for the flowers.  I chose to fussy cut the image (although there is a die to crop the flower), separating the large flower from the stem and popping it up over the top on the background panel.

The panel was layered onto a Night of Navy mat and I wrapped some Seaside Spray/Silver twine around it and finished with a bow on the stem and adhered it to a Seaside Spray card base. The greeting from the To A Wild Rose stamp set was stamped in Night of Navy and cropped with a die from the Ornate Frames Dies. I die cut another of the labels in Seaside Spray and then cut it in half to create a shadow at the top and bottom of the greeting.

For the inside, I have a Night of Navy mat for the writing panel with a strip of Daffodil Delight designer paper at the base. The large flower was stamped again, coloured and fussy cut to go in the bottom corner.

Project Details
Stamps	Band Together, To A Wild Rose
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Night of Navy, Seaside Spray, Watercolour paper, Brights DSP
Ink	Night of Navy, Early Espresso
Accessories	Blue Adhesive-Backed Gems, Seaside Spray/Silver Baker's Twine
Tools	Tasteful Texture Embossing Folder, Ornate Frames Dies, Big Shot, Dimensionals, Tombow Glue, Stampin' Blends (Old Olive, Seaside Spray, Night of Navy, Daffodil Delight, Mango Melody, Soft Suede)

 

Before I go, just a reminder that the fabulous 'Box of Sunshine' Paper Pumpkin Kit is still available to purchase in Australia for $37AUD, while stocks last. You can see all the details in my post here.

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