Oh Christmas Tree ...

Can you believe there are less than 14 weeks until Christmas? Scary stuff! On the upside I love making Christmas cards and I thought I had better get started. I will aim to show a new card or gift every week so be sure to watch this space for the next addition.

This week we have a collection of old and new, with some old stamps and lots of new colours.

The tree is from the Loads of Love set. I have stamped this on its own for a more
traditional look but couldn't resist some bling on top to add some sparkle.

The star has been stamped in Cherry Cobler then had a
heavy dose of Crystal Effects added to give it some shine.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Crumble Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Pear Pizzazz, Chocolate Chip, Watercolour Paper
Inks: Cherry Cobbler, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Suede
Stamps: Loads of Love, Playful Pieces (hostess reward), Best Yet (retired)
Other: Hodgepodge hardware, Cystal Effects, Chocolate Chip Ribbon

Happy Birthday Human

This is the card I designed for my brother-in-law ... Happy Birthday Kimbo for today! It makes such a change for me to use something other than flowers and I think the Little Bots set adds just the right amount of masculinity. The most amazing part in all of this is the fact that I actually sent the card on time ... I am notorious for sending them too late to get to the recipient on time (it's a good thing they are all handmade with love, get's me a few extra brownie points LOL).

Supplies:
Cardstock: Soft Suede, Certainly Celery, Real Red, Watercolour paper
Ink: Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip, Stazon Ink (black)
Stamps: Little Bots
Ribbon: Real Red
Other: Watercolour crayons, Hodgepodge hardware, Mat Pack

Simplicity ... cased

I saw this on a fellow bloggers site (Stampzone) and felt inspired to recreate her awesome design. I didn't case it exactly, but pretty close and I think I have managed to duplicate the simplicity of it.

Supplies:
Ink: Marina Mist, Crumble Cake, Cajun Craze
Cardstock: Whisper White, Crumble Cake

Stamps: Cute by the Inch (hostess), Sincere Salutations

Just Add Ink 36

Yes, another challenge. This time a really simple design that was very quick to throw together. This was made especially easy by the gorgeous Marina Mist colour that I adore. I do love anything that reminds me of the sea so the name alone grabs me LOL.

Want to join in on this challenge? Click on the Just Add Ink badge to the right of this page to go through to their blog.

Supplies:

Ink: Marina Mist

Cardstock: Marina Mist, Crumble Cake
Stamps: Vintage Vogue
Other: Whisper White ribbon, Clear button, Linen thread

TESC 129

I love a challenge and I love using new products!! My most recent delivery of Stampin' Up! products included the exclusive Hostess Reward stamp set 'Birthday Party' as well the 'In Colours' inks and cardstock. So I have used these with my latest challenge and I am pretty chuffed with the result.

I distressed the edges of the circle before daubing with ink and paper piercing

Supplies:

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Soft Suede, Blushing Bride, Poppy Parade, Concord Crush, Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait

Cardstock: Peach Parfait, Whisper White, Concord Crush, Blushing Bride

Stamps: Birthday Party (hostess)

Sundry: Mat Pack, Daubers, Blender Pen, Eyelet Border Punch, brads

MMM ... Marathon Masterpiece Mojo 157

Rome wasn't built in a day, and nor was this masterpiece! I have been having a blast trying some new techniques this week and chalking has been my focus over the last few days. I have done chalking before but haven't been entirely thrilled with the results. So what do I do when confronted with a less that ideal result? Practice, practice, practice!! And the result is a layout and card based on the latest Mojo Moday design. Normally I do a card then move onto a layout, but decided to do it differently this time. I like the card, but I LOVE the layout.

I have used Versamark to stamp the images, then daubed on the chalk to colour it up. I love this technique and had great fun doing the lower portion of the card and layout.

 

Supplies:

Cardstock: Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Soft Suede, Brocade Blue, Rose Royal

Ribbon: Soft Suede Polkadot

Stamps: Vintage Vogue, Very Vintage Jump Wheel, Best Yet, For Everything

Other: Daubers, Chalk, Mat Pack, Eyelet Border punch, Versamark

Mojo 156

Yes, another Mojo Monday attempt. I have been thoroughly enjoying the 'Little Bots' stamp set in conjunction with my watercolour crayons and blender pen. I love the results and loved putting this card together.



Supplies:

Cardstock: Soft Suede, Old Olive, So Saffron, Real Red, Brocade Blue, Watercolour paper

Ink: Versamark; Old Olive

Stamp Sets: Little Bots, All Scallops

Ribbon: Soft Suede Polkadot

Other: Hodgepodge Hardware, Watercolour Pencils

Happy Birthday

Oh, I so love this card. I just started playing with the Vintage Vogue and Perfect Punch sets and everything just kind of came together on it's own ... if only it were always that easy!

Supplies:
Ink: Melon Mambo
Stamps: Vintage Vogue, Perfect Punches
Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Ribbon: Melon Mambo Polkadot (retired)
Other: Brads

Mojo 155

I have had another attempt at a Mojo Monday challenge and have made a point of using some of my new products from the new IBC. These are not colours or papers I would normally put together but the combination is growing on me.

Instead of using the original cardstock punch out for the branch, I have used it as a template and daubed the ink on instead for a more subtle effect.

Supplies:

Ink: Real Red, Chocolate Chip

Cardstock: Real Read, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron

Papers: Greenhouse Gala DSP

Stamps: Cute by the Inch (hostess set)

Punch: Two-Step Bird X-Large

Ribbon: Real Red, So Saffron

Other: Hodgepodge Hardware

and the winners are ...

Each month Stampin' Up! collate a list of the previous months' top selling stamp sets and the following are the 'winners' for August:

•116408: Seeing Spots (wood-mount) now retired
•121596: For You Flower (wood-mount) IB&C 160
•118621: Baby Tees Stampin' Around Jumbo Wheel IB&C 57
•120594: Contempo Christmas (clear-mount) IB&C 23
•120573: Artistic Etchings (clear-mount) IB&C 95
•115758: Best Wishes & More (wood-mount) now retired
•120516: Perfect Punches (clear-mount) IB&C 93
•120618: Friends Never Fade (clear-mount) IB&C 71
•115822: A Holly, Jolly Christmas (wood-mount) now retired

Would you like to get your hands on some of these great products? Email me today and it can be yours! :-)

Old and New

I know, I am committing the cardinal sin by using retired products, so I figured I would pair it with something new. I love the versatility of the Playful Pieces stamp set, which is one of the hostess rewards from the 2010/2011 catalogue, and know that I will be using it a lot more. Watch this space!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Glorious Green (R), Real Red, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip
Stamps: Riveting (R), Playful Pieces (new)
Inks: Real Red, Glorious Green(R), So Safron, Chocolate Chip
Ribbon: Whisper White
Other: Mat Pack

Happy Father's Day

I want to wish my Dad a very Happy Father's Day, and what better way to show him that I care than to make him a handmade card. The following cards are 3 designs that I came up with and I used 2 of them at a recent workshop. The problem was, I couldn't quite work out which was my favourite so choosing one for my Dad was harder than I thought!

Supplies (for all cards):
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Brocade Blue, Glorious Green, Soft Suede
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Soft Suede, Glorious Green, Old Olive (inkpad & jumbo cartridge)
Stamps: Paisley Background, Short Order Alphabet, Very Vintage (wheel), A Happy Heart, Sincere Salutations, Sweet Little Sentiments
Ribbons: Chocolate Chip; Certainly Celery, Soft Suede Polkadots
Other: Hodgepodge Hardware, Mat Pack

Introducing .... the 2010/2011 Idea Book and Catalogue

That's right!!!! We have now moved into the new catalogue for this year and it is full of some wonderful products. New colours, stamps, embellishments, Big Shot accessories and more. You can view the catalogue through the contents bar above, or call me to order your own copy today for only $12.95 (+ postage). Not only do you get to see all the products on offer, but there are many cards and scrapbooking layouts to use for inspiration.

As if the new products are not exciting enough, Stampin' Up! have a great deal with new colour kits. There are some great discounts to be had so be sure to check them out here.