S.A. #3 : STAMPIN' UP!'S "HELLO, DOILY" THANK YOU CARD

I don't quite know where January has disappeared to .... I've been meaning for weeks to play along with the Still AddInktive Challenges, and already they're up to week 5!

This week's colour combo was a good challenge for me.  Take a look:

I have inked up my new Hello, Doily stamp that I received for Christmas (it's great having crafty friends who know just what to get me!).  I used Versamark ink to stamp the image on Pink Pirouette cardstock, then melted clear embossing powder over the ink, to give a subtle, shadowy look.

 

 

Once the card was assembled, I spritzed it with Frost White shimmer spray:

 

 

 

Stamps: Hello, Doily; Itty Bitty Banners

Card: Pink Pirouette, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede

DSP: River Rock Patterns Designer Series Paper

Ink: Versamark inkpad, Pink Pirouette stampin' pad and marker, Soft Suede stampin' pad and marker, River Rock stampin' pad

Other: Clear embossing powder, 1 1/4" and 7/8" Scallop Circle punches, Bitty Banners framelits, Fashionable Hearts embosslits, sponge daubers, Pink Pirouette taffeta ribbon, Finishing Touches edgelits, Twitterpated button (retired), glue dots, Frost White shimmer paint mixed with Isocol, Stampin' Distress Tool

 

 

 



STAMPIN' UP!'S "UP, UP & AWAY" IN GIRLY IN-COLORS

Today I have a sneak peek for you of a super-cute Stampin' Up! embossing folder, and a new framelits die, available to buy from 1st February .... only 2 days away!!  We have a fabulous new Seasonal Catalogue coming out on Friday, and it is chock-full of gorgeous new products.

Here's a card I recently made for my niece, for her birthday.  I've kept it pretty simple, because I just love how perfect a backdrop the clouds are for those bright balloons!

 

Stamps: Up, Up & Away; Bring on the Cake

Card: Crumb Cake, Primrose Petals, Whisper White

DSP: Birds of a Feather Designer Series Paper

Ink: Primrose Petals and Crumb Cake stampin' pads, Summer Starfruit stampin' pad and marker

Other: Stamp-a-ma-jig, Hearts a Flutter framelits die (available 1st Feb.), Itty Bitty shapes punch, Paper-Piercing mat and tool, sponge dauber, Primrose Petals and Summer Starfruit stitched satin ribbons, Cloudy Day embossing folder (out 1st Feb.), glue dots, stampin' dimensionals

STB #3 & SC 071/13: STAMPIN' UP!'S STIPPLED BLOSSOMS

It's week 3 over at Seize the Birthday, and here is the great sketch we have, to use when creating a feminine birthday card:

Sunny Challenges & Creations is also back, with a new year of challenges, so I'm entering this in the first challenge for 2013 - to make a birthday card.

I had to make a card for a lovely friend of mine who recently celebrated a milestone birthday.  The card is a bit late, but hopefully she'll still love it!

I have inked up my new Stippled Blossoms stamp set for the first time, and love it even more now that it has seen ink!  I used Tangerine Tango ink (stamped off once on scrap paper first) for the bold rose images, and overstamped the stippled patterns in full-strength Tangerine Tango ink.

Stamps: Stippled Blossoms, Memorable Moments, For My Family

Card: Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White

DSP: Summer Smooches Designer Series Paper

Ink: Tangerine Tango, Old Olive and Crumb Cake stampin' pads

Other: Chevron embossing folder, Labels Collection framelits die, Stamp-a-ma-jig, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, Old Olive button, White baker's twine, Tangerine Tango 1/4" ribbon (Sycamore Street - SAB), sponge dauber, stampin' dimensionals, glue dots, banner die (not SU!)

JAI #150: FRIENDS FLOCK TOGETHER

Mae has come up with a great sketch for this week's Just Add Ink challenge:

I received, from a dear friend, Stampin' Up!'s Flock Together stamp set for Christmas, so decided to ink it up, and pair it with the cute Birds of A Feather Designer Series Paper that I've been meaning to cut into.

Stampin' Up! now offers Oval Framelits dies - woohoo!  I've used them to create my focal panel.  The wavy embossing at the bottom of the card is courtesy of the new Borders Scoring Plate that is a new feature of the Simply Scored scoring tool. 

 

Stamps: Flock Together, Sweet Essentials

Card: Crumb Cake, Whisper White

DSP: Birds of A Feather Designer Series Paper

Ink: Crumb Cake, Primrose Petals and Island Indigo stampin' pads, Crumb Cake marker

Other: Ovals Framelits dies, Primrose Petals stitched satin ribbon, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, sponge dauber, glue dots, Borders Scoring Plate (and Simply Scored), Stamp-a-ma-jig, Basic Rhinestone 

Here's a close-up of the embossed pattern on the front of my card; just one of several designs on the Borders Scoring Plate template:

 

Make sure you check out the rest of the Design Team samples over at Just Add Ink.  We hope you play along with us this week, and link up your creation on the Just Add Ink blog!

STB #2: TEENAGE BOY CARD

Here's this week's sketch at Seize The Birthday ... the challenge is to create a masculine card, and the timing was perfect because I had to make a card for a special young man (waaaaay overdue for his birthday, but I'm sure it'll still be appreciated!).

I created an irregular-shaped central panel using my Top Note die from Stampin' Up!  After cutting a Top Note, I turned the die cut around 90 degrees, and cut again.  I then kept turning the die cut and putting it through my Big Shot, to end up with the shape below (I wanted it to be 'imperfect' for my boy's card).  I like how the ribbon treatment ended up looking like a little bow tie.

 

Stamps: Netting, Memorable Moments, Wacky Wishes, Owl Occasions

Card: Riding Hood Red smooth and textured, Basic Gray, Naturals White 

DSP: Twitterpated Designer Series Paper

Ink: Riding Hood Red and Basic Gray stampin' pads, Basic Gray marker

Other: Top Note die, Basic Gray taffeta ribbon, Tasteful Trim die, Finishing Touches Edgelits die, Basic Gray striped satin ribbon (reversed), In Color Printed Designer Brads, sponge dauber, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" Circle punches, glue dots, Stampin' Dimensionals

JAI #149 : IT'S A "BIG SHOT" BLOG HOP!!

To kick off the year of challenges, the Just Add Ink Design Team have a fun Blog Hop for you to check out today, to get ideas on how to use the Big Shot.  The Big Shot is a fabulous die-cutting and embossing machine, that I just wouldn't be without (I lent mine to a friend for one day, once, and felt totally lost without it!).

You may have come here from the blog of my super-talented friend Nikki Spencer, but if not you'll get to see her gorgeous work as you make your way around the loop today.

My first Big Shot project is a little gift card holder, using Stampin' Up!'s Petite Pocket die.  This would be a great little project if you're in the habit of giving a reward to one of your kids who has achieved good academic results.  My boys get a hug, a pat on the back, and a "well done", but you never know - I might just use this myself!  I used my Big Shot to die-cut the pocket, and to emboss the pocket and the punched label.  Here's what I made:

..... and a photo of the little pocket, without the gift card inside:

 Stamps: Patterned Occasions (Sale-A-Bration set)

Card: Brushed Silver, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White

DSP: Midnight Muse Designer Series Paper

Ink: Midnight Muse and Riding Hood Red stampin' pads

Other: Square Lattice embossing folder, Petite Pocket die, Midnight Muse stitched satin ribbon, XL Oval punch, Decorative Label punch, silver mini brad, stampin' dimensionals, sponge dauber, sticky strip, glue dots

There are so many things you can do with the Big Shot, and I couldn't just stop at one project.  I've also made a card, as I wanted to use some of the super-cute hearts I had cut out, using my Fashionable Hearts embosslits from Stampin' Up!  I love embosslits, as they die-cut shapes, and emboss them with a pattern, all at once - brilliant!  (It's the simple pleasures!)  This card started off with the 'quilted' background, created with gorgeous Floral District DSP, punched out uing my Postage Stamp punch.  My trusty Stampin' Up! Color Coach suggested that I use Primrose Petals, Baja Breeze and So Saffron together.  The stamp I've used on this card is another sneak peek of a freebie you can earn during Sale-A-Bration, which starts on 22nd January.  Cute stamps, I tell you!

Stamps: Patterned Occasions (Sale-A-Bration)

Card: Naturals White, So Saffron,, Baja Breeze, Primrose Petals

DSP: Floral District Designer Series Paper

Ink: Baja Breeze stampin' pad, Primrose Petals marker, So Saffron stampin' pad and marker

Other: Postage Stamp punch, Fashionable Hearts embosslits, Decorative Label punch, Primrose Petals stitched satin ribbon, Finishing Touches edgelits, stampin' dimensionals, glue dots, sponge dauber

Now it's time to see the great project that Tina Gillespie has created.  If you click on the picture below, you'll be taken to Tina's blog.  We hope you'll visit all 11 blogs, of our Design Team members - there's heaps to see!  We would love you to link up your own creations using the Big Shot, or other die-cutting/embossing machine.

Thanks for visiting, and don't forget to play along once you've seen all the Design Team projects!

STB #1 : STAMPIN' UP!'S PLEASANT POPPIES BIRTHDAY

The irrepressible Queen of challenge blogs, Lesley Croghan, has created a fabulous new challenge site called Seize The Birthday.  This site is a great starting point for those of us keen to build up a stash of birthday cards.  Lesley has come up with a sketch, that will be current for two weeks, but there's a twist - in the first week, the sketch is to be used to create a feminine birthday card, and in the second week, we can use the same sketch to design a masculine birthday card.  What a great idea!

This sketch was exactly what I needed, to inspire me to get back into creating after having done very little over the Christmas/New Year period.  Here's the sketch:

I inked up, for the first time, my Pleasant Poppies stamp, and paired the stamped image with a couple of panels of Christmas paper!  I always over-purchase Christmas DSP, and don't use it all, so I was really pleased that it worked with the colours on my card.

 Stamps: Pleasant Poppies, Petite Pairs

Card: Natural Composition Specialty Designer Series Paper, Watercolour Paper, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla

DSP:  Snow Festival and Be of Good Cheer Designer Series Papers

Ink: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler and Real Red stampin' pads, Basic Black craft stampin' pad, Old Olive marker

Other: Clear embossing powder, blender pens, Labels Collection framelits die, Large Oval punch, Beautiful Wings embosslits, sponge daubers, Victoria Crochet trim, Very Vanilla 1/8" Taffeta ribbon, Linen Thread, Naturals Designer Button, stampin' dimensionals, glue dots

I'm really looking forward to trying a masculine card with this sketch, too - thanks, Lesley, for the inspiration!

JUST ADD INK: 2012 - A YEAR IN REVIEW

Are you missing the weekly challenges over at Just Add Ink??  It's only another couple of weeks until we start up again!

In the meantime, you might like to take a look at the Just Add Ink Design Team's personal favourites, chosen from our own creations in 2012.  Lots of variety, and talent, to check out.

Next week we will have a Big Shot Blog Hop .... wait until you see the great ideas the team have come up with.

Stay tuned .....!

STAMPIN' UP! OWL CARD, WITH SNEAK PEEKS

After a rather long hiatus, I'm back in my craft room, and have managed to make a card!!  Today is my hubby's birthday, so the occasion warranted me rediscovering my mojo.  It's a bit hard to get back into the groove of things, but hopefully this is the first of many creations I'll have to share with you in coming weeks.

Stampin' Up!'s Owl Builder punch is a great tool to use for male cards, especially when teamed with some texture, sponging and woodgrain.

On this card I've used a few products that will be available for FREE (with qualifying orders) during Sale-A-Bration, an exciting two months with Stampin' Up! - commencing 22nd January.  See the cute, tiny, sentiment stamp?  It is punched out with an equally tiny Curly Label punch ..... and who doesn't love a co-ordinating stamp set and punch?  I'm a sucker for them.  The textured die cut is courtesy of a great new embossing folder, that is another Sale-A-Bration freebie.

 

Stamps: Pretty Petites (SAB)

Card: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Lucky Limeade, Early Espresso Core'dinations

Ink: Early Epresso stampin' pad and marker, Lucky Limeade stampin' pad

Other: Woodgrain embossing folder, Crumb Cake scalloped tulle, Labels Collection framelits dies, Owl Builder punch, Brushed Bronze designer button, Early Espresso baker's twine, Square Lattice embossing folder, Vine Street embossing folder (SAB), 1 3/4" Circle punch, Petite Curly Label punch (SAB), 1" Square punch, Curly Label punch, sticky strip, sponge dauber, Multipurpose Liquid Glue