Monday, 14 December 2009

You gotta love a bargain

Stampin' Up! today announced a fantastic offer you won't want to miss.
From Dec 15 until Jan 24, you can save an amazing 25-50% off the price of 30 selected stamp sets & accessories from the Idea Book & Catalogue.

Stocks are limited, so click here to see everything that's available & contact me to order the sets you need!

Inky wishes
Di

Sunday, 13 December 2009

Never ending trendy trees

Two posts in one day – yay! Here I am again with another never ending card.
This was actually the first one I made, initially as a possible Father's Day class project. I the end, I didn't use it, but showed the girls at class anyway. Everyone still wanted to make one, so we made a girly one at the fancy folds class instead. For this one, I used the 'Trendy Trees' set, teamed with 'Good Morning Sunshine' DSP & I think they work for a masculine card. Anyhoo, here's the front:& the second view......& the third......& the fourth.It's a long time until Father's Day, but you might like to make one to intrigue a birthday boy in your life with a never ending card. Thanks for visiting anyway!

More inky wishes
Di

Supplies:
Stamps: Trendy Trees, Occasional Greetings
Card/Paper: chocolate chip, very vanilla, old olive, certainly celery
Ink: chocolate chip, old olive, certainly celery

More fancy folds – never ending card

Happy Sunday to you!

Today, I have two never ending cards to show you – this one is the girly version we made in October at my Fancy Folds class. I used the (sadly for now unavailable) 'Great Friend' set, this time with Raspberry Tart DSP. Like this one, the finished card is approx 14cm x 14cm.
This is the front:

...& this is the second view & the third (sorry about the wonky colour)
& the fourth& here's a close-up of us back to the front (with rock & rolled butterfly).If you haven't made a never ending card yet, you'll find Dawn's video very helpful to work out the folds. If you want to make one the same size as mine, you'll need to cut 4 pieces at 14.1cm x 7cm. Any questions, please drop me a line. I'll be back to show you the long lost first never ending card I made for Father's Day.

In the meantime, thanks for popping by.

Inky wishes
Di

Supplies

Stamps: Great Friend
Card/Paper: whisper white, rose red, kiwi kiss, Raspberry Tart DSP
Ink: regal rose, rose red, kiwi kiss

Wednesday, 9 December 2009

Fancy Folds – tri-shutter

Hi there! I was looking through my card directory & realised I'd forgotten to post the cards we made at my Fancy Folds class in October. First up is a tri-shutter card. I also realised I didn't take pics of the actual class card & have posted it now, so this is slightly different to the final one. (which I used Sweet Stems on all middle panels & arranged the DSP differently... just in case you want to know). I really enjoy making tr-shutters, as they look complicated but are very simple once you know how. I used the 'Sweet Stems' stamp set & Raspberry Tart DSP (surprised). All the class attendees got half a pack of this DSP so they could choose their own DSP designs to use on both projects.
This tri-shutter card is smaller than the Tea Party one I made before, so it fits in a regular size envelope. Check out this Splitcoast tutorial to get the idea of how to make one. To make one this size, you'll need to cut your card 27cm x 15cm, then score the long side at 4.5cm, 9cm, 18cm & 22.5cm. Finally, make your slits, 5cm in from each short side, between the 4.5cm & 22.5cm score lines.On the front, I stamped one of the 'Sweet Stems' & coloured it with pretty in pink, regal rose & certainly celery Stampin' Write® markers. I stamped a greeting from 'Great Friend'. I wrapped a filigree brad & pink rhinestone brad around some celery grosgrain, attached it to the stamped piece & rose red mat.

The second card we made at the fancy folds class was a never ending card, but I'll show you that one next time. In the meantime, thanks for popping in for a visit.

Inky wishes
Di

Supplies
Stamps: Sweet Stems, Great Friend
Card/Paper: whisper white, rose red, regal rose, Raspberry Tart
Ink: rose red & regal rose ink pads, pretty in pink, regal rose & certainly celery Stampin' Write® markers
Accessories: 5/8 & ¼ inch celery grosgrain ribbon, filigree brads, fire rhinestone brad

Sweet Stems (115880) $29.95

Thursday, 3 December 2009

Punch Pals SAS

Tonight, I have lots of cards to show you from my September Christmas SAS, so I'll try not to waffle. For this SAS, I used the very cute & multi-punchable 'Punch Pals' set for all the cards. There are so many different but co-ordinating stamps in this set that you can make lots of different cards, tags etc (see all the images at the bottom of the post).

I kept the same main colour theme for all the cards, which was kraft bases with riding hood red, old olive & 'holiday wishes' DSP. I only used one paper here, but at the classes, the ladies used a range of papers from the pack. All the stamped images were water-coloured on whisper white card with my Earth Elements® Watercolor Wonders™ & Aqua Painter™ , which added a few more accent colours. I couldn't decide which cards to use, so the ladies got to choose which ones they wanted to make.

First up is one of the most popular cards: Mr Snowman.
Here is a closer version, so you can see his colouring better. Note: I stamped Mr Snowman is basic brown ink (I think it's softer than black & suited the DSP colours) & colour washed the white parts with sahara sand ink to give a bit of depth. You can see him better here:Next up is another very popular choice with the girls - a penguin trio. The penguins are stamped & coloured in basic grey ink (again, not as harsh as black I think) I used riding hood red ink for the red scarf & wcw crayons for the other colours.
This tree card was probably the quickest & easiest card to make. I got the idea for this one from a similar card in the US Idea Book. I stamped the tree in old olive ink, then coloured them with the olive wcw crayon. While the old olive ink pad is not waterproof like the basic grey & basic brown ink pads, it's fine to colour with, so long as you don't use too much water to colour – very easy with the aquapainters).

Now we have a combination of the penguin & the tree. It's hard to see, but Mr Penguin is cut out & raised on dimensionals. You may be able to see better in this pic. Going off SAS for a mo, here is a square, kiwi kiss version of this card that I made while playing with the set.

This next card is a bit different & is all about playing with punches.I punched some riding hood red & old olive squares, laid them out checkerboard style on the base, then added a punched snowflake with dimensional. The greeting & scallop edge were then butted against the squares. This one took a bit longer than it looked.

Last but not least, here's another Mr Penguin one. In hindsight, I think I should have added some background snowflakes to the bottom part of the base to add a bit more detail.

A Final Tip: Custom Mounting Stamps:

One of the stamps in the Punch Pals set (see below) includes 5 different greetings & 2 snowflake rows. I decided to split all the greetings & mount them on the ends of some of the other stamps in the set, to make it quicker & easier to stamp them singly. I also mounted the snowflakes, parallel to one another with enough space to stamp a greeting in between. Just one more benefit of being able to mount your own stamps. I really should have taken a pic to show you what I did, but didn't think of it until now. If I remember next time I'm using it, I'll add it to the post.

Phew, that was a long post. Thanks for hanging in there. If you have any questions about any of the cards, just drop me a line....& thanks for visiting.

Inky wishes
Di

Supplies:
Stamps: Punch Pals
Card/Paper: Kraft, riding hood red, old olive, whisper white card, Holiday Wishes DSP
Ink: basic brown, basic grey, old olive, riding hood red ink pads, Earth Elements® Watercolor Wonder™ crayons (pumpkin pie, not quite navy, old olive, garden green, summer sun).
Tools: punches: scallop circle, 1 3/8 inch circle, 1 ¼ inch circle, 1 inch circle, ¾ inch circle, 1 inch square (non SU), word window, large oval & scallop oval (kiwi penguin)


Punch Pals: (115856) $56.95

Tuesday, 1 December 2009

Summer is here!

As well as officially welcoming Summer in Australia today (even though it's been soooo hot for weeks & ironically quite cold today), I'm very excited to also welcome our brand spanking new Summer Mini Catalogue.

My mailout of catty's to current customers should be done tomorrow, but if you can't wait, you can view the fun & fabulous new goodies online here. If you'd like a copy of the catty, just drop me a line & I'd be happy to send you one.

I'll be back to show you some of my first Summer Mini Projects in the next week.

Inky Wishes
Di

PS: Gift Vouchers
I've had some questions about whether I'm offering gift vouchers again this year, which I definitely am. If you'd like to purchase one for a loved one, or would like a loved one to give one to you, just contact me.

Saturday, 28 November 2009

Christmas Circle Circus SAS

Here I am again with the second card from my October Christmas SAS.

For this one, I used the Circle Circus set. This is not a Christmas set, but when I first saw it in the catalogue back in April, I thought it would be great for Christmas baubles, as well as an opportunity to go mad with punches (& regular class goers will know how much I loooove bauble cards & punches, not to mention getting the most from the stamps in my collection).
The layout is very simple & quick to mass produce, but has some extra details to make it a bit more special. The hanging bauble has 3 stamped & punched out images, glued together & mounted on dimensionals.
I realised after making it that the colours are almost the same as this card, but with a different look. The greeting is from 'Many Merry Messages', a very well used essential Christmas set, as it includes greetings for both the front & insides of your Christmas cards. (I think this is my 3rd year using it!)
Here's another version with the colours & stamps swapped around.And one more quickie card I made at the same time. The front is 9.9cm x 9.9cm, which sounds like a weird size, but it means you can get 3 square cards from one sheet of A4 card. The card has a part oval punched out of the side, with another part olive oval inside with a ribbon knot attached.
Hope this gives you some more ideas for quick Christmas cards. Please let me know if you have any questions & thanks for popping in.

Inky wishes
Di

Supplies:
Stamps: Circle Circus, Many Merry Messages
Card: old olive, ruby red, whisper white
Ink: riding hood red, baja breeze, kiwi kiss, always artichoke
Tools: punches: scallop circle, 1 ¼ inch circle, ¾ inch circle; mat pack – piercing template & mat

Circle Circus set (114375) - $52.95

Many Merry Messages (115930) $64.95

Thursday, 26 November 2009

Season of Joy SAS

I'm back with a very quick post to show you the first card from my October Christmas SAS.Those with good memories will realise I haven't show you September's SAS yet, but I don't have enough time for Sept now, as it has lots of different cards. This SAS saw the return of an old favourite set from last year – 'Season of Joy', with a new look courtesy of this year's in colours & some striped 'Ski Slope' DSP & spotty 'Holiday Wishes DSP from the main catty. I took my colour combo from the striped paper – baja breeze, riding hood red, old olive & chocolate chip. It's a very simple layout, but I like how it all came together. If you have any questions, just let me know.

Here is another variation of the card using the poinsettia/flower stamp. I don't think it works as well because the flower is maybe a little small – probably should have added a couple? Anyhoo, I thought I'd show you anyway.

I'll show you the second card design we made next time, which will hopefully be over the next few days. It's my darling hubby's birthday tomorrow, so I'll be a busy girl making sure he has a really happy day...& hopefully finding the card I made for him today. It has disappeared off the face of the earth. Damo joked that it was all a ploy to hide the fact I hadn't actually made one. Thankfully, though Cara saw it & I took pictures before I lost it, so he might have to settle for the digital version until it turns up! Anyhow, I'm waffling now, so I'll say bye for now & thanks for visiting.

Inky wishes
Di

PS: Thanks to everyone for all the lovely comments on my Regionals swap. What a bunch of sweeties.
PPS: Ski Slope DSP & the scallop oval punch are only available until Nov 30, so please contact me if you 'need' to order them.

Supplies:
Stamps: Season of Joy
Card/Paper: baja breeze, riding hood red, old olive, whisper white, Holiday Wishes DSP, Ski Slope DSP
Ink: baja breeze ink pad, old olive Stampin' Write® marker
Accessories: chocolate chip grosgrain
Tools: large oval & scallop oval punch, scallop edge punch

Monday, 23 November 2009

O Christmas Tree swaps

Well I'm finally back again to show you some little chuppa-chup Christmas trees I made as swaps for Stampin' Up!'s Demonstrator Regional Training day last Saturday. (btw, chuppa chups are lollipops for any non-Aussie visitors). Sam gave me one of these super-cute flower pots last year & the thought to make a Christmas version has been swimming around in my head since them... but I only got it out of my head a couple of weeks ago – sad huh?

I used some more Raspberry Tart DSP for the tree (surprised?) & the pot & stars are rose red cardstock. I adjusted Sam's pot dimensions to fit the look I wanted for the tree too. The trees on each end are my final swaps, the middle was another prototype, but I decided I liked the version with the large tag more (made with the 'Punches Three' hostess set). This also made it easier to include a (still tiny) project recipe. After making 18 though, my hand gave up the ghost, so I didn't end up having many to swap with the around 230 Demo's there, but I hope the ladies I did swap with liked the idea....& that you do too. I should have thought to take pics of some my team's swaps too, so I could show you, but I haven't, so that will have to come later.. so I'll just leave you with a mini forest of trees.In case you're wondering what Regionals were all about....It's yet another perk of being a Demo. I had a great day at Darling Harbour spent with my Demonstrator friends & team members, learning new ideas, tips & tricks from Stampin' Up! & some fellow Demonstrators, seeing & taking pics of all the fab ideas on the display boards, playing with new Summer Mini Catalogue goodies & laughing lots...not to mention eating a LOT of chocolate.

OK, it's bedtime for me now, but if you'd like any more info about the trees or anything else, just drop me a line & thanks heaps for visiting.

Inky wishes, Di

PS: Don't forget you can earn the square scallop punch for free this month, when you spend $85 on items from the Christmas Gift Guide before Dec 14. Click here for more info.

Update - Tuesday: Andrea, one of my lovely team members has posted her very cute triangle box Regionals swaps, so you can see them here now!

Supplies
Stamps: Punches Three (Short & Sweet – middle tree)
Card: rose red, whisper white, kiwi kiss card, Raspberry Tart DSP Ink: rose red
Accessories: gold brads, linen thread, dimensional. 2 way glue pen
Tools: star punch, square scallop punch

Friday, 6 November 2009

Leanne’s gift card wallet

Here's a cute little wallet style gift card holder that my friend & fellow Demonstrator, Leanne Dixon, showed us how to make at a Demo get together we organised back in September. It was a quick project to make, but sooo cute & very useful....plus I got to use lots of punches, which always makes me happy. The olive cover is decorated with some Raspberry Tart DSP, a punched oval greeting (from 'Best Yet') & some punched Boho Blossoms flowers. It's held closed with an attached tab, word window punched shape & gold brads.

On the inside, it has a section to hold the gift card & space to write a greeting. I scalloped the white panel with the scallop edge punch & then punched it out with the scallop oval punch. The punched flowers are also repeated.Thanks again Leanne for sharing this cool project with us. I think I'll be making lots more before Christmas.

Inky wishes
Di

Christmas Extravaganza Gift Offer Update:

Stampin' Up! have extended the free punch options in the Christmas Extravaganza gift offer. Now you can choose to receive either the Boho Blossoms punch used in this project or the square scallop punch for free when you order $85 of items from the Gift Giving Guide by 14 December. How's that for an even better offer? Please contact me for more info.

Boho Blossoms punch:Square Scallop Punch:Supplies:
Stamps: Best Yet
Card/Paper: old olive, pink pirouette & whisper white card, Raspberry Tart DSP
Ink: rose red
Accessories: gold brads
Tools: punches: Scalloped & large oval, word window, Boho Blossoms, scallop edge, corner rounder

Blog Widget by LinkWithin