CAMEO CORAL, I'LL MISS YOU :(

I've taken a break for a few minutes from making Christmas cards (I'm determined to be organised this year .... despite making the same promise to myself every year around this time!!).  Today's post is dedicated to a Stampin' Up! colour that is rather polarising.  Cameo Coral - seems you either love it, or you hate it.  Me, I love it.  It's a rich, bright colour, and I will be sad when it retires at the end of August.

I have paired Cameo Coral with Chocolate Chip, and broken up the colour with some Whisper White.  Here's the busy, flowery card that resulted:

...and a close-up of the Tiny Tags (just 'cos they're cute!):

Stamps: Friends 24-7, Boho Backgrounds, Tiny Tags

Card: Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

Ink: Whisper White craft stampin' pad, Cameo Coral and Chocolate Chip stampin' pads

Other: Chocolate Chip and Whisper White taffeta ribbon, Sponge Dauber, Medium Jewelry Tag Punch

Do you like my new watermark?  The wonderful Karen Giron came to my rescue, when it dawned on me that my existing watermarks have my old blog address on them (I'm switched on, I tell ya!).  I have a few gorgeous new watermarks that I'll be rolling out as I get some more cards uploaded.  I'm going away for a stamping weekend with friends this weekend, so should have some projects to share after that.

Also, the next Art With Heart team blog hop is coming up on the first Saturday of August - that'd be the 7th, a VERY special day (I'll tell you why, then)!  I, and some of the other demonstrators in my wider Stampin' Up! team,  look forward to sharing with you then, a few projects designed for/around the men in our lives.

"FLOWERY" CARD FOR A MAN ????

The team of Stampin' Up! demonstrators I belong to has an online forum, that is a great source of inspiration, support and laughter for all of us.  (Get in touch with me if you'd like to sign up as a demonstrator, and join in on the fun - you won't be disappointed!)

One of several challenges set on our forum this month is to make a card for a male, incorporating flowers.  This is one of the cards I came up with:





Stamps: One Of A Kind (sentiment), Boho Backgrounds, Fifth Avenue Floral, Life Definitions, Lovely As A Tree, Weathered

Card: Sahara Sand textured and smooth, Basic Black textured, Confetti White

Ink: Sahara Sand and Basic Black stampin' pads

Other: 1 3/8" circle punch, sponge daubers, dimensionals, paper snips, black brad (from vintage selection), black Jumbo Grommet, linen thread

I love these neutral colours together - what do you think?

Stampin' Pastels & Upsy Daisy (galore)...

Hi all!  About time I posted some more photos of cards, methinks.

I have been busy playing with my Upsy Daisy stamp set, and Stampin' Pastels.  This is fun!  The next four cards started off as panels of Upsy Daisy stamped in Versamark (clear, sticky ink), and coloured using Stampin' Pastels and sponge daubers.    Love the effect this gives - it's like magic as you see the colour emerge.  I added Dimensional Magic (only because I haven't yet got SU's Crystal Effects!) to the flowers for a glossy finish.



In this first card, I used Kraft (my favourite) card, and some of the specialty Sweet Slumber paper.  The pastels I used were Pretty in Pink and Bravo Burgundy.  The sentiment is raised on dimensionals, and I used some shiny buttons from my (somewhat excessive) stash.



Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Cute & Curly (from the Curly Label punch bundle)

Card: Kraft, Bravo Burgundy

DSP: Sweet Slumber

Ink: Versamark, Bravo Burgundy marker, Ranger Tattered Rose distress ink

Other: Curly label punch, Stampin' Pastels, Kraft taffeta ribbon, Bravo Burgundy 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, sponge daubers, dimensionals, buttons (non-SU), Dimensional Magic



My next card shows what a different effect you can get by just switching the card colour.  Again I stamped the Upsy Daisy flowers in Versamark, and coloured them with Pretty in Pink and Bravo Burgundy Stampin' Pastels, but this time I used white card - really pretty, don't you think?  LOVE kraft and pink together, and the white contributes to the soft feel of the card.  Those cute little white flat-backed pearls are from my Stampin' Up Pretties Kit, which contains a great selection of pearls, beads, flowers and yummy embellishments. 



Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Boho Backgrounds

Card: Pretty in Pink, Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

Ink: Versamark, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink

Other: Stampin' Pastels, Sponge Daubers, Wide Oval Punch, Kraft taffeta ribbon, flat-backed pearls (Pretties Kit), mini glue dots, edge distresser, Dimensional Magic



My next card uses Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze and Kiwi Kiss, with a bit of white.  Whoever coined the adage "blue and green must never be seen" clearly didn't anticipate how beautiful Stampin' Up's "in colours" would be!  Everything on this card is pretty self-explanatory.  For a finishing touch, I secured a custom-made brad to the Kiwi Kiss ribbon.  I am a HUGE brad (split pin) fan, and have a vast collection to choose from, but I am super-excited about the Build-A-Brad kit from Stampin' Up; I can create my OWN brads, using just a 1/2" circle punch, pretty paper or a stamped image, and a little SNAIL adhesive.  Too easy, and so much fun!  Here it is:



Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Best Yet (hostess set)

Card: Whisper White, Not Quite Navy

DSP: Urban Garden, Bella Rose, Good Morning Sunshine (brad)

Ink: Versamark, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss

Other: Circle punches (1 1/4", 1 3/8", scallop circle), Stampin' Pastels, Build-A-Brad, Kiwi Kiss 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, sponge daubers, Dimensional Magic



To finish off today's post, I have a card that, with its retro feel, takes me back to the 1970s!  This colour scheme - for all the people who grew up in New Zealand and Australia especially, can't you just see the bathrooms and plastic stools (that's a special shout-out to my sister!)???!!

On this card, I have used my Scallop Square Punch (love that little thing), and the co-ordinating Say it With Scallops stamp set. I stamped the scalloped image twice, and punched out part of one of the images to create my brads - cute, don't you think?!

  **Ooh, the unforgiving nature of un-edited photos; I just noticed some visibe double-sided tape near my bow.  Oh well - proves it's handmade!! (I'll go fix that right now - just don't want to upload another photo, so pretend it isn't there, okay?!)**



Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Say it With Scallops

Card: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie

Ink: Versamark, Pumpkin Pie

Other: Stampin' Pastels, Chocolate Chip 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, Build-A-Brad, Scallop square punch, corner rounder punch, Dimensional Magic



I have had a lovely, "stampy", weekend.  My husband and sons went away for a couple of nights, and although I did actually (gasp) miss them, I loved the opportunity to spend time 'playing' with a very dear friend, and my sister (who is also my very dear friend!).

I was disappointed to miss out on attending Stampin' Up's convention in Canberra this weekend, but already am looking forward to May 2010 - I'll be at convention for sure!  I am extremely proud of my Stampin' Up "upline", Claire Daly - number 3 Demonstrator for all of Australia & New Zealand.  Well done, Claire - you rock!!!

Tomorrow I have more stamping lined up, and this coming week is my monthly stamp group with a lovely group of friends - could life get much better???!!  I hope you all have had a happy, relaxing weekend too.  Thanks for visiting!