Sprinkles of Life

Hi Friends

Have you checked out the new Stampin’ Up! catalogue yet?  If not either click on this link or the photo of the latest catalogue on the left hand side of my page.

I always love it when a new cattie is released it is so exciting to see all the fabulous new products Stampin’ Up! have added.

Every year Stampin’ Up! have one special stamp set which is usually at the very back of the catalogue and it is released specifically to raise funds for the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). The Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) keeps families together and surrounded by love when their children are receiving medical treatment far from home.  By purchasing this year’s stamp set called Sprinkles of Life, Stampin’ Up! will donate $3.00AUD/$$3.50NZ to RMHC.

To date Stampin’ Up! have contributed over $1,000,000 to RMHC and thier network of local RMHC chapters, you can learn more about how you can help by visiting www.stampinup.com/giving_au or www.stampinup.com/giving_nz.

I must admit in previous years I have usually overlooked this stamp set, and not purchased it.  However, this year at convention we were shown some fantastic ways to use this stamp set and saw some gorgeous card samples.  As a result I purchased the Sprinkles of Life stamp set #139971 $37.00.

With this stamp set you can sprinkle positive thoughts wherever you want. This set is chock-full of positivity that you’ll want to share with everyone.

Our top-quality photopolymer stamps have just enough give to create a perfectly stamped image every time. They’re entirely transparent for perfect image placement, and they adhere well to our clear blocks. You’ll only need one set of blocks for all your photopolymer stamps (blocks sold separately). The stamps come packaged in cases with images on the spine for easy storage and quick reference.

Quantity: 22 photopolymer stamps

Suggested clear blocks (sold separately): a, c, g

Well with a stamp set this cute I just had to use it for my grand-baby’s 7th birthday this month.  Our darling little Holly is growing so quickly and unfortunately we see her so infrequently what with us living at the other end of the country.  However, she knows that Poppy and Nanny Tina are always thinking of her and we always send her something lovely for her birthday.  This year’s presents were a collection of reading books to help her advance her reading skills at school.  Of course with a nanny who likes to make hand-made cards she always receives a special card just for her.

This is a card I found on Pinterest and just loved the simplicity of it so I had to CASE (copy and share everything) it.

Cute hey?  I used A4 Whisper White card stock #106549 as the base and the top mat, and added a mat of A4 Melon Mango card stock #119980 in between which was embossed with the now retired Argyle Embossing Folder.  The ice-cream cones are stamped on Whisper White card stock with retired Baked Brown Sugar ink and then fussy cut out.  The ice-cream is stamped in Daffodil Delight ink #126944 and punched out with the new Tree Builder Punch #138295.  The sprinkles on top are stamped with Melon Mambo ink and the “cherry” on top are Melon Mambo Candy Dots #130931.  The greeting, also from the stamp set Sprinkles of Life is stamped in Melon Mambo ink #126948 and finally I wrapped a piece of Baked Brown Sugar Thick Bakers Twine which is now also retired around the top mat.

I have added links directly to my Stampin’ Up! shop for all the current products mentioned in this post to make it just that little bit easier for you to purchase your own.

I would love to hear your comments and always get such joy from reading them so please leave me your thoughts just by clicking on the little red love heart in the top right hand corner of this post.

Happy stamping!!

Tina xoxo

Be My Valentine – water/gel card

Hi Crafty Friends

I want to show you a card I have made this past week.  The stamp set I used is supposed to be a Valentine’s Day themed set, but I decided to use it in a different way.  That’s what I love about card-making with Stampin’ Up! products you don’t necessarily have to use them for the purpose they were originally made for.  You are only limited by your imagination.

I found another fantastic tutorial on Dawn Griffith’s blog which I decided to use for this card.  You can find the tutorial here if you would like to give it a go.

I love how this card turned out, and it feels so squishy you just want to keep playing with it.

I started with Coastal Cabana card stock as my base card, then added a mat of Whisper White card stock then added a mat of Best Day Ever DSP over the top.  This DSP is currently FREE as a Sale-a-Bration gift when you spend $90 or more on Stampin’ Up! products.  I choose this particular design from the pack because it reminded me of bubbles, which is perfect for this card.

These gorgeous little fishies from the Be My Valentine set were stamped on Whisper White card stock with Memento Black ink and then coloured in with Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight and Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities.  If this stamp set looks familiar it is, you may remember I posted a card I made a last weekend at the Paperbelles Party Time event using this same stamp set.

See just because it has a particular theme you really can use the images for anything you like.  I just didn’t ink up the Valentine greeting that is part of this stamp.

Once I had coloured the fish I then made the “water” using Dawn’s technique, except I used anti-bacterial hand gel rather than hair gel like in the video, then stuck all the layers together with lots and lots of dimensionals.  I cut out an oval frame using Stampin’ Up!’s Oval Framelits and stamped the greeting in Coastal Cabana ink onto Whisper White card stock and cut out another oval from the Oval Framelits sets to back it.  The greeting is from the Express Yourself stamp set and was attached to the card with dimensionals too.

This is a really heavy card, mainly due to the “water” but also all the layers.  If you were planning on posting a card like this I would suggest you use a padded post bag to protect it.

Want to see a close up of the water?

Cute hey?  I love how not only do you get the bubbles but it even looks like the water is moving with the shadow and light playing with each other.

This is such a easy technique to do, however I do suggest you start with a small amount of gel and add some more if you think you need more.  I think I may have added a little bit too much gel.  I had a 55ml bottle of anti-bacterial hand gel and used about three quarters of it, when in fact I probably could’ve got away with just using about half of the bottle.

None the less I think the card looks fabulous and I love it to bits.  It is really hard to stop playing with that “water”.

I love reading your comments they always make my day so please leave yours at the end of the post.

All products except the gel can be purchased from Stampin’ Up! via my online store by clicking on the shopping trolley to the left hand side.

Thanks for visiting.

Tina xo

 

Baby We’ve Grown – Magic Card

Hi Crafty friends

So have you been keeping up with all my posts this week?  I am definitely on a roll at the moment.  I wonder how long it will last…lol

Last Sunday it was raining again, just for something different here in Cairns 🙂  So what better reason than to sit in my craft room and create.  Like a previous post I choose to use a fabulous video tutorial I foung on Dawn Griffith’s website.  You can find the tutorial here.

However, unlike Dawn I didn’t want to just make a traditional looking card I wanted to do something a little different.  Seeing as I spent all day last Saturday playing with some of the amazing new products currently available in the Ocassions Catalogue I wanted to keep using them.  Playing on Saturday has really whetted my appetite for crafting at the moment.  I’m sure my up up line Shannean Moncrieff will be happy to hear this as this was just one of her objectives for arranging the day.

Firstly, I started by pulling out my pack of Birthday Bash Designer Series Paper and cutting it up with the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits.  I knew exactly what I wanted to create but I have to admit the final project was the fourth attempt at it before I got it perfect.  Everytime I thought I had it right I started to construct it together and found I had made a mistake and had to start again.

Well persistence definitely pays off because on the fourth attempt I finally got it EXACTLY how I wanted it.  I love it when a vision comes to fruition.

Once I had die cut the Mini Treat Bag I then started working on the MAGIC part of the project.  I don’t want to spoil the tutorial so I won’t go into lots of detail, if you like what you see you can always pop on over to Dawn’s blog and follow the video tutorial yourself.

The image is from the Baby We’ve Grown stamp set currently available in the Annual Catalogue and was stamped with Black StazOn ink on Whisper White card stock.  Next I coloured the image in with my Blendabilities using Hello Honey, Bermuda Bay and Calypso Coral.  The greeting is from the Perfect Words stamp set and was also stamped with Black StazOn ink.

Once the card was assembled I cut out some stars using the Stars Framelits and Bermuda Bay, Calypso Coral & Hello Honey card stock and attached them to the front.

 

I cut a square from out of Night of Navy card stock using the Square Framelits as well as punched out a Circle Punch in Night of Navy card stock too.  The Crop-o-Dile was used to punch the hole in the tab and I added some Whisper White Bakers Twine.

Well you’ve seen the front and I’ve told you how I made the card do you want to see the MAGIC???

When you pull the tab the MAGIC happens.  What do you think?  I can just see my two little nephews going nuts over this card and trying to work out how it works.

Like I said if you want to know how to do this technique check out Dawn’s tutorial.

If your as impressed with this technique as I am please leave me a comment I would love to hear if you have used this technique and what you created or what you think about it.

All products are currently available from either the Stampin’ Up! annual catalogue or the Ocassions catalogue and can be purchased online through my Stampin’ Up! shop just by clicking on the shopping trolley to the left hand side.

Thanks for visiting.

Tina xo

Paperbelle’s Party Time – Cairns

Hi crafty friends

I have just spent a fabulous day at the Paperbelle’s Party Time event this past Saturday, with 50 other wonderfully creative ladies (oh and 1 man….sorry Stephen).

Party Time is an all day event where a bunch of Stampin’ Up! demonstrators and customers have the opportunity to get together and see, touch and play with some of the newest products available from Stampin’ Up!.  It’s such a fun day where we get to create some gorgeous projects as well as catching up and chatting.  For us demonstrators there it is also a great chance to learn about new techniques and the latest up and coming news from Stampin’ Up!.

We usually make 3 “make n take” projects with new products.  Want to see what we made?

Like my previous post this little cutie is made using the new Be My Valentine stamp set currently available in our Ocassions Mini Catalogue.  I started with Bermuda Bay card stock for the card base then stamped the little fishies with Memento Black Ink onto Whisper White card stock.  I then used the new Bermuda Bay Blendabitilites (Stampin’ Up!’s new alcohol markers) to colour in two of the fish.  The bubbles are also stamped in Bermuda Bay ink are from another new stamp set called Perpetual Birthday Calendar (which co-ordinates with the Perpetual Birthday Calendar Kit).  A strip of the brand new Bermuda Bay Sequin Ribbon was attached towards the bottom of the card and then the greeting was stamped.  A little red heart is stuck on with a Glue Dot that was punched out from Real Red card stock.  If you look really closely at the bubbles and the eyes of the fish with the glasses you will see that I have used some of the new Clear Epoxy Stickers to add dimension.  I went with Elton John inspired glasses for the fish using the star epoxy stickers.  I also used some of the Bermuda Bay Sequins in amongst the bubbles.

Cute hey?

This is such a quick, sweet card I can see myself making this again and you can always switch up the colours if you like.

All products listed except the card stock are currently available in the Ocassions Mini Catalogue which ends on June 30, so don’t delay in getting yours today.  Once the catalogue finishes there is no guarantee that any particular product will be available again.  So my advice is purchase what you love while it’s available.  You can purchase all these products and more at my Stampin’ Up! shop by clicking on the shopping trolley.

Please leave me a comment about my card if you like, I love reading them they always make my day, and then I know I am not just talking to myself…lol

Thanks for visiting.

Tina xo

Be My Valentine shaker card with a twist

Hi Friends

Well it’s still raining here in Cairns and I am still crafting….mmm I wonder if there is a connection there???

I found a fantastic tutorial on how to make a shaker card on Dawn Griffin’s website, you can find the tutorial here and decided to give it a go.  Dawn’s cards were Valentine’s Day cards, but since I had already made my husband’s card I wanted to do something different.

I decided to pull out another brand new stamp set, which coincedently is a Valentine’s stamp set and use it a little bit differently.  I ended up making a small note card which is only 4cm x 4cm, so it’s small and cute.

I started with Basic Black card stock and added a mat both inside and on the front of Smoky Slate card stock.  The next layer on the front isn’t DSP as you might think, it’s actually another brand new product called Washi Paper.  I choose the Bermuda Bay Washi Paper to go on top of the Smoky Slate mat.  I do have to admit it is a little tricky to use but you get the hang of it after a little while.

The super cute little pirate and treasure chest was stamped in Black StazOn ink on the inside mat of Smoky Slate.  I used the Circle Framelits to cut out the circle on the front and added a Window Sheet that is popped up with Shaker Frames and I added some gold and silver sequins as little coins, a second Window Sheet was adhered on with dimesionals to close up the “shaker”.

This card was originally made as a practice card with the vision of making it in a larger size once I got the hang of it, but I am so happy with how it has turned out I think I will use it just as it is.  As you can imagine with all these layers and dimensionals this card is quite thick.  Therefore, I had to make a custom made envelope to keep it in.

Again, Basic Black card stock was used and a strip of Bermuda Bay Washi Paper was stuck across the bottom.  I stamped the pirate with Black StazOn onto Smoky Slate card stock and fussy cut him and his bursting treasure chest out.  I then added some more gold sequins (from our Gold Sequin Ribbon, but the way), just what every little pirate wants….a treasure chest full of gold coins.

I love reading your comments so please feel free to leave me your thoughts.

If you have any questions about this card or envelope just drop me an email and I will be happy to answer them.  All products are current and can be purchased via my online Stampin’ Up! shop.   Click on the shopping trolley to the left hand side and you will be taken straight there.  Please be aware alot of these products are available from our current Ocassions Mini Catalogue which will cease on June 30, so if you want to get any of these products I suggest you don’t hestitate.

Stay tuned because I have just spent a fantastic day at a special Stampin’ Up! event where we made lots of gorgeous projects that I just can’t wait to show you.

Thanks for visiting.

Tina xo