Stippled Blossoms for Mum

Hi Friends

I hope you are enjoying me getting back to regular posting.  I try to post on a regular basis but as we all know sometimes life can interfer with our best intentions.

Do you like my new method of writing my posts?  I thought it might be more user friendly for you if I not only provide item numbers for the current products that I used to make my cards but also provide links directly to my Stampin’ Up! shop for that particular product, just in case you want to get your own.

I love this card that I made for my mum for her birthday this month.  My mum and our grand-baby celebrate their birthday’s on exactly the same day so it gives me the opportunity to make two very different cards at the same time.

My mum just loves the colour PINK so I always make her a pink themed card.  I also decided to use one of my most favourite stamp sets for this card…the gorgeous but sadly retired Stippled Blossoms.

Again, this is another card that I found on Pinterest and CASED.

Whisper White card stock #106549 was again used for both the card base and the mat.  The stamp set is what we call at Stampin’ Up! as a “Two-Step” stamp set.  Which means you have a base solid stamp and a more detailed partial stamp of the image.

The flowers are stamped in Blushing Bride ink #131172 and Rose Red ink #126954 and I stamped the leaves in Pear Pizzazz ink #131180 and Old Olive ink #126953.

I to make the leaves look like they are behind the flowers I firstly stamped both layers of the flowers and then stamped the flower image onto a Post-It Note (remember to stamp your image up the top of the Post-It Note so you have the sticky bit) and stuck it over the stamped flowers, I then stamped the leaves in both colours.  If you have never used Two-Step stamps remember you always stamp the solid stamp first in a light colour then stamp the more detailed stamp in a darker colour of the top.

Of course if you used Stampin’ Up! wood mount stamps you will most definitely need a Stamp-a-ma-jig #101049 it is a must-have for any stamper. Helps you position stamped images exactly where you want, every time. Instructions are included and its perfect for alphabet sets.  It is an invalulable crafting tool that I think is sometimes overlooked.  If you love wood mount stamps like I do then you definitely need one of these!

The butterflies on this card are punched out with two seperate punches, the larger butterfly is punched out with the Elegant Butterfly punch #127526 and the smaller butterfly is the Bitty Butterfly punch #129406.  Both butterflies have been embossed with another retired embossing folder….sorry about that 😦

This gorgeous greeting is unfortunately also retired but was stamped in Old Olive ink too.  If you look really carefully (you can click on the image to make it larger) you will see some Pearl Basic Jewels #119247 in the middle of the butterfly.

Please leave me your comments by clicking on the little red love heart in the top right hand corner of this post, I always love to hear your thoughts.

Happy stamping!

Tina xo

 

* Sturdy plastic construction
* Nonskid base

 

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

Robbo’s Birthday Card

Hi Friends

Yes I am still trying to show you all the cards I have made in the past few months.  I am finally starting to get to the end of the backlog… 🙂

Today’s card is one I made back in May for a friend of ours.  If you follow my blog you would know that my husband is the secretary for a very legal, very community minded, militiary motorbike club, called The Patriots MC.

Robbo is the only life-member we have in out chapter up here in Cairns and it was recently his birthday.  As it turned out his birthday fell on a weekend that we were all away on a ride.  So after we had all set up camp and settled in to our motel rooms at Innot Hot Springs I managed to get everyone from the club to sign the card so our president Coops could present it to Robbo.

Obviously as we are a motorbike club the theme of the card wasn’t a real brain bender.  I bought this now retired motorbike stamp several years ago and it really has been worth the money.

I found a card similiar to this on my friend Vicki Burdick’s website, and used her card as my inspiration.

I used Island Indigo card stock for the card base and added a mat of Basic Black card stock and another mat of retired DSP.  The three banners in Basic Black are die cut using SU Banners Framelits and then embossed with a retired embossing folder.  The large Island Indigo scalloped circle was die cut using our Circle Framelits as was the Whisper White circle.

The motorbike is stamped with Black StazOn ink as is the greeting.  I used dimensionals to pop up the large scalloped circle too.

This is a really simple card but I am loving all the layers.

Remember you can always leave me a comment about my posts just by clicking on the little red love heart in the top right hand corner of each post.  I love reading your comments and hearing you thoughts.

If you would like to make a similiar card you can, just by popping on over to my Stampin’ Up! shop and purchasing some supplies.  I know some of these products are retired but you can always purchase a different embossing folder and DSP to make your own individual project.  That’s the beauty of papercrafting if you see something you love and want to CASE (copy and share everything) it, if the original card was made from now retired products you can always just use one of the current items instead and mix it up a bit.

Don’t you just love papercrafting?  I know I do.

Stay tuned for more projects coming soon.

Thanks for visiting.

Tina xo

Butterfly Basics….Just because

Hi Friends

You know sometimes I just create a card just for the sake of it and not for a specific purpose.

That is exactly how this next card come to life.

Again, it’s another one I made in the early months of this year.  If I remember correctly I think I was just sitting at my craft desk and wanted to create something pretty.

The new Butterfly Basics stamp set had just been realised in the Ocassions Catalogue and I had been seeing lots and lots of gorgeous cards and decided I wanted to try to make my own gorgeous creation.

This is what I came up with….

As you can see this isn’t your normal size card, I decided to make a long card.  I started with Blushing Bride card stock and embossed the co-ordinating mat and distressed the edges.

I wrapped some Sahara Sand Lace Trim around the mat and the cut a smaller mat in Blushing Bride card stock, which has a piece of Very Vanilla card stock that I stamped with the stunning flower from the Butterfly Basics stamp set.  I used my Stampin’ Write markers to color in the flower with Pink Pirouette and Garden Green.  The strip down the right hand side has been stamped in Crumb Cake ink.

As a final touch I added a Vintage Faceted Designer Button and stuck a Pearl Basic Jewel in the centre.  If you look really closely you will also see on in top right hand corner too.

The stamped image on this card was actually a scrap piece of paper I had lying around after making my cousin Vanessa’s birthday card last year.  Although I didn’t use this image I thought it was just too pretty to throw in the trash so it has been floating around my craft desk for months before I found something to use it on.

All products mentioned are available in the brand new Annual Catalogue so pop on over to my Stampin’ Up! shop and purchase your very own online.

Thanks for visiting.

Tina xo

Yes I have been crafting….

Hi Friends

Yes I know it seems like forever since I have showed you what I have been creating.  I have been crafting but it has been pretty sparse these past couple of months.

These cards are ones that I made a couple of months ago at my upline Michelle’s monthly class.  I can’t remember if we made these cards in March….I think 🙂  Michelle decided for this class she was going to teach us how to make “fancy fold” cards.

This is what we made….

This “pocket card” is made using the Crazy About You stamp set.  The card & pocket is made from Vellum and the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits.

This is a really simple, but individual way to make a “card” with a difference.

 

This second card is a bit more tricky and definitely something you need to concentrate on while you are making it.  Probably not the sort of card a beginner would attempt without assistance.  Although this card was challenging it was lots of fun and looks fabulous when completed.

Can you see how this card opens, it is quick tricky really.  The stamp set used for this card is now retired Balloon Bash.

I love how this card looks when it’s open.

Our third and final “fancy fold” card is called a Tent Card.  We used the Love is Kindness stamp set and embossed the front and back of the card for some lovely texture.

This was another card that was fiddly and complicated.

 

These cute little tags slip into the pocket on the back of the card.

Don’t forget to pop back again real soon to seeh what else I have made these past couple of months.

Thanks for visiting.

Tina xo

 

 

Love & Sympathy card

Hi crafty friends

My daughter had devasting news this past weekend.  My ex-husband’s father (her paternal grandfather) passed away early Saturday morning.

Although Cassie lives in Queensland and both her father and his parents live in Victoria she always makes an effort to visit them whenever she is down there.

Naturally she was very upset and rang me to give me the news.  This is the first of her grandparents to pass away so naturally she was struggling with the news.

I have been divorced from her father for almost 20 years but his parents have always been such lovely people and I feel for my ex-mother-in-law and the rest of the family.

My daughter was planning on visiting her Pa in two weeks time when we go down to Melbourne for my step-son’s engagement party, sadly Pa couldn’t hold on that long.

Apparently Jim has been ill for quite some time and never really recovered from a severe stroke that he had several years ago.

I decided to sit down at my craft desk and create a sympathy card for my mother-in-law to show her that despite not seeing her for almost 20 years I still have fond feelings for them.

I love the Love & Sympathy stamp set in the Stampin’ Up! annual catalogue.  I don’t have many sympathy stamp sets but with the few I do, I always seem to grab this particular one.

There is a sample of how to use this stamp set in the annual catalogue and I took inspiration from that to create my card.

I used Soft Sky card stock as both my base and mat this time.  The mat has been embossed with the Large Polka Dots Embossing Folder.  The stems of the flowers are coloured in directly onto the stamp with Old Olive and Always Archichoke Stampin’ Write Markers, and the flowers are coloured in with Soft Sky and Not Quite Navy Stampin’ Write Markers.

The banner is cut from a fairly new product to Stampin’ Up! called Canvas Creations, which is basically a sheet of 12×12 of canvas that can be stamped, die cute or embossed.  I have had this in my stash for quite some time but this is the first time I have used it.  I am really happy with how it stamps.  I cut the banner from the Party Pennants Bigz Die and added some Basic Pearls to the centre of the flowers.

The smaller banner is also cut with the Party Pennants Bigz Die and is Whisper White card stock.  The greeting, also from the Love & Sympathy stamp set, is stamped with Gold Metallic Encore Ink.  The white lace is not Stampin’ Up! but the White Bakers Twine is.

I kept the inside pretty simple, just a mat of Soft Sky card stock and another greeting from Love & Sympathy stamped in Metallic Gold Encore Ink.  Again I stamped the coloured in flower at the bottom.

All products except the white lace is available from Stampin’ Up! and can be purchased through my Stampin’ Up! shop by clicking on the shopping trolley to the left hand side.

Thanks for visiting.

Tina xo

Beautiful Bunch card of love

Hi crafty friends

Back again with another one of my cards to show you.

I have to tell you straight off the bat, I am TOTALLY IN LOVE with this card.

I just love it when a card I can see in my head turns out exactly how I wanted it too.  Sometimes, just sometimes it even looks better than I had imagined.  That is exactly what has happened in this case.

Sorry I don’t mean to toot my own horn but I do tend to get a little excited when I create a card that I am just so proud of.

I used a couple of my most favourite Stampin’ Up! products while making this card, Cherry Cobbler card stock, Very Vanilla card stock, the Beautiful Bunch stamp set. and of course my Big Shot!!

This card has taken me a couple of days working on and off to get it finished, I’m sure you will understand why when I show you the photos.  The purpose of this card is for either Valentine’s Day or to say I Love You, although you can use it for any purpose I suppose.

So the base card is made with Very Vanilla card stock and then a mat of Cherry Cobbler card stock is added on top then another mat of Very Vanilla card stock that has been embossed with the new Lovely Lace Embossing Folder.

All flowers are stamped on Very Vanilla card stock with Cherry Cobbler ink.  The large flower is from the Beautiful Bunch stamp set and the three smaller ones are from the Petite Petals stamp set.  I used the Fun Flowers Punch to punch out the large flower and the Petite Petals Punch for the smaller three.

The flowers were all textured using my Stampin’ Pierce Mat and a stylus, once I got the desired shape I spritzed them with some water (a little trick my gorgeous friend Cheere Robinson taught me).  By spritzing the flowers once they have been shaped helps the card stock to become rigid once dry and makes the flowers more durable and less likely to either loose their shape or fall apart.

The leaves from one of the current Hostess stamp sets called Bloom With Hope, were stamped with Old Olive ink on Very Vanilla card stock and fussy cut out using my Paper Snips.  I stamped five of the leaves for the front cover.  Stampin’ Up! Twine was wrapped around the embossed Very Vanilla mat a couple of times and tied off in a knot before I stuck down the leaves.  I always lay my card out in the design I want before I start sticking it down, just in case I need to shuffle things around a bit.  This is especially good when I am doing this sort of card with lots of leave and flowers scattered around.

Once the leaves were all stuck down I then glued the larger flower in place and then the three smaller ones.  The leaves were also spritzed with a little water and texturized with my Stampin’ Pierce Mat and stylus.  The last thing I did was add some Pearls to the inside of the smalelr flowers.  I am still considering if I will add  a greeting to the front but I haven’t decided yet.  I am worried it will over-crowd the card, what do you think?

As usual I had to decorate the inside of this card too, although I am sure some of my friends are going to say I went a little overboard with the inside this time.  Want to see what I did?

Now, I’m sure some of you are going to think that this could quite easily be the front of the card, but as you can see, although the leaves and flower have been texturized like the front of the card it is only a little bit.  Stampin’ Up! Twine and a Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla card stock mat were also added to finish of the look.

Like I said at the start of this post I am so PROUD of this card and just LOVE it to bits.  It is going to be very hard to give this one away 🙂

I would love to hear your thoughts about today’s card and if you have any suggestions on how I can improve it.

All of these products are currently available in the Stampin’ Up! Annual catalogue and can be purchased through my Stampin’ Up! shop.  If you have fallen in love with any of these products like I have, just click on the shopping trolley and log in or create your own account and purchase your own.  All orders are delievered to your front door or post office box.  Remember until the end of March every single order that totals $90 or more is entitled to a FREE Sale-a-Bration item.  Who wouldn’t love that!!

Thanks for visiting.

Tina xo

 

Paperbelle’s Party Time – part 2

Hi Crafty friends

Well yesterday I showed you the make n takes I made at last Saturday’s Party Time event here in Cairns.

Today’s projects are the one’s I made while having a play in the Product Playground with some of the newest products from Stampin’ Up!.

The first one is a little tag I made while my gorgeous friend Marnie Barnett showed us all about the new Chalkboard Paper and ColorBox Chalk ink pads.  As the ColorBox Chalk ink pads are quite light in colour Marnie recommended that we stamp the image in Whisper White ink first onto the Chalkboard Paper and then stamp over the image with the ColorBox Chalk inks.  This cute little hot air balloon is also from a new hostess stamp set called Time to Celebrate.

The base tag is made with Bermuda Bay card stock and then a smaller tag is made with Whisper White card stock.  A layer of the Chalkboard Paper was then added once we had stamped the image.  Finally a strip of Bakers Twine was added to finish off this cute little tag.  I used the Aquamarine ColorBox Chalk in pad to stamp over the Whisper White ink to add a hint of colour.

The next project was run by the multi-talented Shannean Moncrieff who showed us how to make this cute as little mini treat bag using the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Die.  Such a great idea for scrapbooking or even to make a card with a difference, which I did today so stay tuned to see what I did with this die today.  At the table right next door to the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Die table was the Build a Bow Punch table so once I had made my little treat bag I then made a co-ordinating bow and stuck it to the front.

I am loving this gorgeous little bow, I am definitely adding the Build a Bow Punch onto my wish list.

Next stop was over to the queen of clean and simplicity, Mette’s table.  Mette showed us how to do the latest craze….Bokeh Technique.  I am sure you have seen so many projects on Pinterest or blogs where crafters have used this newest craft technique.  Bokeh Technique is a photographic technique that the papercrafting fraternity has adopted and adjusted to our methods.  It’s super simple but just looks stunning….AND there really is no right or wrong with this technique.  Every project you make with this techinque will be different.  Gosh I love a style that you can’t mess up no matter how hard you try 🙂  I changed my project up from what everyone else was doing by adding a couple of banners and a circle and scalloped circle punch.  Check it out!!

I felt this sentiment was perfect to reflect the day I had just experienced, it is from one of the FREE stamp sets from the Sale-a-Bration catalgoue called Best Day Ever.  The base card is made using Basic Black card stock with a layer of Very Vanilla card stock that has been daubed with Hello Honey, Baked Brown Sugar and Crushed Curry ink.  I just blended the three colours together to get a mish-mash look.  Next I made my circle template using all the different size circle punches Stampin’ Up! have and then just place the template onto the background (be sure the background is dry before doing this next step otherwise the background colour will transfer onto your Whisper White ink pad) and daubed the circles in Whisper White ink.  Just keep adding circles, overlapping or running off the edge of the card stock until you are happy with it.  You can add as many or little circles as you like.  To get different degrees of white on your circles just keep daubing until the dauber runs out of ink before re-inking it.  Like I said earlier, SUPER EASY!!!

Next I die cut out two banners using the Banners Framelits, one is in Basic Black card stock and one in Hello Honey card stock.  A Scalloped Circle Punch was punched out in Basic Black card stock and a 1″ Circle Punch was punched out in Hello Honey card stock.  The “Thank-You” is from another new stamp set called Painted Petals.

The fourth project I made is also super cute.  Again, it’s not the same as the original project, but none the less I am still loving it.  This project was made using the Berry Basket Bigz Die.  As you know I LOVE my Big Shot and very rarely make a card without using it for at least one aspect of a project to this was right up my alley because it’s all about using the Big Shot in conjunction with the Bigz Die.  This project would make a perfect class project or something to make with the kids.  You could make these cute little baskets for Easter, Christmas, Halloween, as birthday grab bags, the options are endless.

Don’t you love it!!!  I used Basic Black card stock for the basket and trimmed it with Real Red card stock.  I then made a couple of strawberries using the Real Red card stock and the leaves are from Old Olive card stock.  I even embossed the strawberries with the now retired Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder for authenticty.

All products, except the card stock is currenlty available in the Ocassions Mini Catalogue which you can view via the PDF to the left hand side.  Just click on the catalogue’s image and you can start browsing.  If you would like a copy of your very own please contact me via email and provide your postal address details and I can get one in the post to you today.  Keep in mind all products in the Ocassions catalogue are only available until June 30th, so if you see something that you just can’t live without don’t hesitate in purchasing.  You can pop on over to my online Stampin’ Up! shop 24 hrs a day and place your order.  Remember all orders of $90 or more also qualify for a FREE Sale-a-Bration product.

I love reading your comments, they really make my day so please leave me a comment and make me smile.

Thanks for visiting.

Tina xo

 

 

Paperbelle’s Party Time – continued for a little while longer….

Hi Crafty friends

Another project today to show you from the make n takes that I made at the recent Party Time event.

I love going to these types of events, not only are they a great day spending time with like minded ladies it’s also a fabulous opportunity to make some really lovely projects.

Like yesterday, today’s one is all about gift packaging.  I know I have told you all about how Stampin’ Up!’s products co-ordinate so well but they also offer some fantastic gift packaging ideas too.

This box is an excellent size for storing all sorts of wonderful home-made goodies.  It will hold 12 home-made cookies if your the baking type.

The box is super simple to put together and like everything from Stampin’ Up! they can be decorated in whatever theme takes your fancy.

Before I assembled the box base I stamped it with the love hearts from the Perpetual Birthday Calendar stamp set currently available in the Ocassions catalogue.  Then I embossed the acetate lid with another new product called the Happy Heart Embossing Folder.  Isn’t that a neat little trick?

The tag is one of the stamps from the Be My Valentine stamp set and a little red heart was punched out in Real Red card stock.

Baked Brown Sugar ink was used to stamp the little bird on the tag.  The belly band around the box is made from the Irresistably Yours Designer Series Paper, which is FREE in our Sale-a-Bration catalogue when you spend $90 or more on any Stampin’ Up! products.  The Real Red Satin Ribbon is also new and can be found in the Ocassions Catalogue.

I already have a little plan for this gorgeous box and will be giving it away next weekend, when it will be filled with goodies.

All products in this post are current and can be purchased from my Stampin’ Up! online 24 hours a day. So if you have seen anything that you like pop on over and place your order, keep in mind Sale-A-Bration is still running so now is the perfect time to get some FREEBIES when you place a qualifying order.

Thanks for visiting.

Tina xo

For the birds card #6

Hi Friends

I know this post seems to be taking forever to come to an end and I apologize for that.

These past couple of weeks life has seemed to have got the better of me and I have had very little time to blog.

This is the last 6×6″ card in the For the Birds gift box set.

So this one is a little different from the rest because I used Silver Foil as the mat on the Whisper White card stock.

I themed this little one just for Christams and love this little ice-skating bird.

I have some really cute 3d items that I made in my last kids class to show you in my next past.

I have to send out a BIG thank-you to Pinterest for all the inspiration it provides me in finding fun, simple, cute projects to create with my kids class.

Come back again soon to see what we made.

Thanks for visitng.

Tina xo