JUST ADD INK #60

This week at Just Add Ink, the challenge is to use the following colours on a card, scrapbook page, or other papercraft project:

I have made a very simple, kind of playful, card.  Would you believe that it took SEVEN stamp sets to make this card???!!!

Stamps: Fox & Friends; Cheep Talk; Flight of the Butterfly; Inspired by Nature; Pocket Silhouettes; Silhouette Sentiments; Hello, You

Card: Crumb Cake, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White

DSP: Crumb Cake Patterns Designer Series Paper

Ink: Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry and Crumb Cake stampin' pads

Other: Modern Label punch, 1" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Basic Rhinestones, sponge daubers

I plan to have at least one more attempt at making a card using these colours, as they go so well together.

"CHEEP TALK" note card

My "Cheep Talk" stamp set has been sitting, unloved, on the shelf for quite some time.  It's a gorgeous set, so today I decided it was high time it saw some ink.

I have SOOOOOOO many ideas and projects swimming around in my head at the moment, that I wasn't sure where to start.  So, I turned to page 50 of the Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalogue, and used the cute little note card as inspiration.  My card is a direct copy, but in different colours, and is 10.5cm square.  I knew I wanted to use Marina Mist on my card, so I got out my trusty Color Coach and opted to go with the suggested colour combination of Marina Mist, Old Olive and Real Red.  I think the end result is pretty darn cute - what do you think??

Stamps: Cheep Talk, Tiny Tags

Card: Old Olive, Marina Mist, Whisper White

Ink: Versamark inkpad, Real Red stampin' pad and marker, Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist and Old Olive stampin' pads

Other: Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Marina Mist satin ribbon, Stamp-a-ma-jig, paper snips, Circle punches (Itty Bitty Shapes, 1" and 1 1/4"), stampin' dimensionals, mini glue dot, Basic Rhinestone

I hope this inspires you to get out your own copy of the catalogue, and try making a card you like; it's a great resource, so make the most of it!  If you don't have your own hard copy, and would like one, please email me at stampwithchristine@gmail.com.  I can send out catalogues anywhere in Australia.

JUST ADD INK #37

My favourite weekly challenge site, Just Add Ink, has a colour challenge this week, to use the following colours on a papercraft project:

I decided to break out my long-neglected "Tart & Tangy" stamp set, and use a bit of creative licence to colour the cherries and strawberry  Rose Red.  After adding Crystal Effects, the colour looks a bit more like Real Red, but I assure you I used the right colour!

Here's the bright, fruity, card I came up with:

Stamps: Tart & Tangy, Cheep Talk (sentiment)

Card: Whisper White, Shimmery White, Always Artichoke, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Rose Red

DSP: Rose Red and Pumpkin Pie Patterns Designer Series Paper

Ink:  Always Artichoke marker, Pumpkin Pie stampin' pad and marker, Old Olive marker, Rose Red stampin' pad and marker

Other: Scallop Edge border punch, 1 1/4" square punch, 1 3/8" square punch, Old Olive satin ribbon, Sherbet and Playground Designer Series buttons (retired), sponge daubers, stampin' dimensionals, mini glue dots, Crystal Effects

"CHEEP TALK" .... IN RETIRING COLOURS

This month's promotion, from Stampin' Up!, is a sale on eight fabulous Two-Step Stampin' sets.  I decided to get out my "Cheep Talk" stamps, and share with you a couple of simple cards that I think are pretty cute and happy.

"Cheep Talk" is a set of 11 stamps, and is on sale this month for only $38.36!!  That's incredible value, especially considering how versatile the set is - birds, heart, flowers and a branch that lend themselves to all sorts of possibilities.  If you don't own this set, I can help you out - just email me, and I can order it for you, and have it delivered straight to you, anywhere in Australia.

As the title of my post suggests, I've made my cards in colours that are available only until the end of August.  With Stampin' Up!'s exciting Colour Renovation, happening at the beginning of September for us in Australia (when the new catalogue comes out), 30 'old favourite' colours will be retiring.

Here's the first card I made, using Mellow Moss and Pale Plum:







.... and a close-up of the brads I made, just because I have a bit of a love affair going on with Build-A-Brads:





Stamps: Cheep Talk

Card: Mellow Moss, Very Vanilla, Pale Plum

Ink: Versamark inkpad, Mellow Moss, Pale Plum and Perfect Plum stampin' pads

Other: Stamp-a-ma-jig, sponge daubers, Build-A-Brads, 1/2" circle punch, Buttons #5 Sizzlits die, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder



I decided that for my second card I wanted to use Close to Cocoa.  This beautiful brown has already been way more popular than anticipated, in the wake of the 'retirement' announcement, and unfortunately cardstock is no longer available in this colour.  You can, however, still buy Close to Cocoa inkpads and refills.  I've teamed the cardstock with some gorgeous Candy Lane Designer Series Papers, and a bit of stamping in Close to Cocoa and Riding Hood Red.





Stamps: Cheep Talk

Card: Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla

Ink: Close to Cocoa, Riding Hood Red and Pink Pirouette stampin' pads

DSP: Candy Lane Designer Series Paper

Other: Mat Pack and paper piercing tool, Close to Cocoa marker (for faux stitching), Stamp-a-ma-jig, Ruby Red brads, Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon, sponge daubers, Circle Punches - 1", 1 1/4", 1 3/8", Scallop Circle



 

LITTLE BLACK BIRD ..... Two-step Bird Punch

I am boy-less tonight, and have a million projects I really should be working on, but as soon as I saw this gorgeous card on Becky Oehler's blog I just HAD to make my own version!!

One of the new products just released by Stampin' Up! in Australia, and one that you're sure to see LOTS of in the blog-o-sphere, is the XL Two-Step Bird Punch.  It is simply adorable, and very versatile, as the three components - the bird's body, the wing, and the branch - all punch out separately.

Here is my simple little card - a little wonky, but, hey, that proves it's handmade, don't you think?!







That fabulous tag, on which I've stamped the greeting, was cut out by using the new Lots of Tags Sizzlits dies, in the Big Shot.  There are four tag/label designs - love them!!



Here are the products used to make this card:

Stamps: Cheep Talk (tiny flower), Polka Dot background

Card: Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Barely Banana, Basic Black

Ink: Whisper White craft stampin' pad, Basic Black marker, White Signo gel pen

Other: Buttons from the Bouquet and Sherbet selections, XL Two-Step Bird Punch, Yellow rhinestone brad (from Fire Circles selection), mini glue dots, Lots of Tags Sizzlit die, kitchen string
  

Cute and cheery card for a cold and un-cheery day...

Back again - whoa, two posts in one day!  Andrew's niece is having a birthday next week, so I needed to make a happy, girly card.  I chose to use Cheep Talk, a very versatile set of stamps that I just love.  The set contains flower,fruit, foliage and bird images, as well as sentiments - all sorts of possibilities!

Everything on this card is Stampin' Up!, except for the orange embellishments in the flower centres (these are Rain Drops, that I went through a stage of collecting, so I have QUITE a few to use up. Once I decide I like something, I have a tendency to buy it in every available colour; it's a bit of a sickness, but I'm sure some of you reading this can relate!  My sister, Lynda, can attest to the many and varied benefits of having been bestowed with the 'obsessive' gene.  Certainly provides us with hours of laughs when we get together!)



Stamps: Cheep Talk, On Your Birthday

Card: Kraft, Whisper White, Lovely Lilac, Green Galore

Ink: Lovely Lilac, Only Orange, Green Galore markers; Lovely Lilac, Green Galore, Whisper White, Basic Black stampin' pads

Other: 1 3/8" circle punch, scallop circle punch, Cloud 9 Designs Rain Drops

How wonderful it's been to have time today to make cards; my favourite way to while away the hours.  The only thing better would be to have friends around to share the stamping with; I am in the process of setting up my craft room so that others can join me, which is very exciting!  When my super-duper new craft room was built at the end of last year,  I organised it to be all white and pretty, but now I'm hoping to make it a bit more practical.  I have a fantastic built-in U-shaped area to craft at, and bought a cute little Ikea table to share crafting space with a friend.  The cute and pretty table just doesn't "cut it", though, so I have added a longer folding table that has enough space for 6 more people.

I'm looking forward to being able to hold classes at home now.  So, if you live in the outer east of Melbourne, and would like to come to my place in Mt Evelyn to attend card-making classes, I'd love to hear from you!  Let me show you the wonderful world of Stampin' Up! and have a lot of fun making cards together.

That's it for me for today, my friends.  Hope you're all having a lovely weekend too (preferably without a sick child!).

CIRCLE CIRCUS ......"In the Pink"!

Last night I whiled away a few (alright, several) hours in my lovely craft room, and made a few decidedly pink cards.  I do love pink, but I will warn you that the following pictures could constitute a sensory overload....

I started off with a piece of Regal Rose card (must admit I've not used this colour before - now, I have very little left!), and repeatedly stamped what I like to call the 'bubble' image from the Circle Circus stamp set.  I stamped all over the card in Regal Rose ink, then overstamped in Whisper White.  This is a small sample of what I ended up with:



I then cut panels of the 'patterned paper' I had created, and used them on some cards.  This is the first one I made.  I really like the intensity of the pattern on the square panel.



Stamps: Circle Circus, Flight of the Butterfly (how cute is that tiny butterfly?!), On Your Birthday

Card: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose

Ink: Whisper White craft, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose stampin' pads

Other: White embossing powder (and heat tool), Stamp-a-ma-jig, corner rounder punch, Regal Rose 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, Chocolate Chip 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, 1/4" Pretty in Pink grosgrain ribbon, circle punches - 1", 1 1/4", 1 3/8", scallop circle, sponge daubers, edge distresser



Before I assembled this next card, I added a few Chocolate Chip stamped images, from Circle Circus, to the 'bubbly' background.  This stamp co-ordinates with the new Filigree Brads from Stampin' Up!, so I found a place to add one of those (although rather than using the silver brad centre, I popped in a pink brad from my stash - thought there wasn't quite enough pink on the card, you see).  The main panel has images stamped in the colours to match the background.  Although I've angled it so it looks like the little bird is going to slide right down the branch, I like the simple stamping!  Some rather blobby dots with a white gel pen, and a knotted piece of divine taffeta ribbon, finishes off this card.



Stamps: Circle Circus, Cheep Talk

Card: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose

Ink:  Whisper White craft, Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink stampin' pads, Chocolate Chip stampin' write marker (see the tiny dot?)

Other: Filigree brad (with non-SU pink centre), white gel pen, corner rounder punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig, sponge dauber, Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon



Okay, on we go to more luscious pinkness.  This next one is my personal favourite, but I would love to hear which one you like the best.  I have used a larger panel of the bubble-patterned card, matted on some Chocolate Chip card.  The owl has been stamped on watercolour paper with Staz-On ink, then watercoloured using my stampin' pads and an aquapainter (love this little invention - no more pots of water to tip all over my desk!).  I masked the owl and branch, and stamped little pink hearts in the background.  These cute hearts, along with sentiment, also come from the Owl Together Now set.  I sponged the edges of the owl panel in Pretty in Pink, and Regal Rose.  I used my Cuttlebug to create the tiny tag, and again stamped the hearts in Pretty in Pink. My wonderful Stamp-a-ma-jig allowed me to stamp the image exactly where I wanted it - yep, yet another of my favourite crafting tools. 



Stamps: Circle Circus, Owl Together Now

Card: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink

Ink: Whisper White craft, Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose and Pretty in Pink stampin' pads, Jet Black Staz-On, Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Write markers

Other: watercolour paper, aquapainter, white eyelet (from my stash), Cuttlebug mini tag, Chocolate Chip 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon, sponge daubers, foam dots


Now for the last card in this pink series.  Having already said that the owl card is my personal favourite, I must say this one comes a close second.  I'm a big fan of the Flight of the Butterfly set.  I broke out and used Basic Gray instead of Chocolate Chip with this one.  Lots of scallops (thanks to my Nestabilities, through the Cuttlebug, and my scalloped square punch from Stampin' Up!), and simple stamping with gray/blingy highlights.



Stamps: Circle Circus, Flight of the Butterfly, Best Yet

Card: Whisper White, Basic Gray, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink

Ink: Whisper White craft, Basic Gray, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink stampin' pads

Other: Nestabilites, scallop square punch, sponge dauber, Stamp-a-ma-jig, rhinestones (Kaiser), Basic Gray taffeta ribbon, foam dots, Sakura Gelly Roll glitter pen (dotted in the flower centres on the butterfly's wings)



Right, I think that's about enough pink for one day!  I hope to try out a few more things with Circle Circus before I (reluctantly) return the set to Claire, so please come back to visit over the next few days.  Happy Monday, everyone!

Trees, birds and butterflies....

are some of my favourite elements on cards at the moment.  Thank you Stampin' Up! for all the beautiful stamps that feed my desire for such things!!  First up I have a couple of cards made using the great little Trendy Trees set.  This first card, I think, would make a suitable sympathy card.  It is simple, with classic colours.  Check out the cute little bird brad that I have had in my stash for a while; along with the button (non-SU, but how well do the colours match?!), it helps finish off the card nicely.  I have stamped on the Night of Navy card with Very Vanilla craft ink (not available in the current catalogue, but I couldn't resist - it complements the vanilla card so well).  The beautiful paper is from my brand new Urban Garden pack, just arrived today.

By the way, there is a GREAT promotion running through the month of May, with Stampin' Up! Designer Series Paper (12" x 12" - perfect for scrapbooking,cardmaking, and other papercrafts).  If you buy three packs of the DSP, at $16.95 per pack (plus postage), you can choose another pack FOR FREE!  This is such a great offer - the range of papers is beautiful, and I would be happy to show you some 'real life' samples if you live near me in the outer east of Melbourne (I am in Mt Evelyn).  If you would like to take advantage of this limited-time offer, or if you would like to buy any products from the current Stampin' Up Idea Book & Catalogue, please contact me by email: c.blain@yarravalleysnackfoods.com

Now, on to the aforementioned card ....



Stamps: Trendy Trees

Card: Very Vanilla, Night of Navy, Kiwi Kiss

DSP: Urban Garden

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Night of Navy, Very Vanilla

Other: Kiwi Kiss 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, eyelet border punch, sponge dauber, Nestabilities, velvet bird brad (7Gypsies), dimensionals, cardboard button



Next up is a bold-coloured card, using Trendy Trees, to show what a different result you can achieve just by using different inks and cardstock.  I got the idea for this card from a Splitcoast gallery - sorry, but I didn't note whose.  I love the crispness of the foliage stamped in four of this year's "in colours".  It's not obvious in the photo, but I stamped just the spiral tree-top all over the Pacific Point card, to create a simple background.  Inside the card I inserted some white card (couldn't resist sponging those edges), stamped with one little tree for a cute touch.





Stamps: Trendy Trees

Card: Pacific Point, Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango

Other: Kiwi Kiss 5/8" grosgrain, word window punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig


Warning - the next card is BRIGHT!  It's not my usual pick of colours, but gets the 'thumbs up' from my boys, so I decided to put it on here.  I used the Cheep Talk stamp set, using markers to colour the bird and the orange flower.  I used a Versamark ink pad, to ink up the flower and stamp all over the larger panel of Tempting Turquoise card.  Lots of co-ordinating card and ribbon on this one.



Stamps: Cheep Talk

Card: Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant, Tempting Turquoise, Only Orange

Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Tempting Turquoise, Only Orange Stampin' Write Markers, Versamark

Other: 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 1/2" circle punch, scallop circle punch, corner rounder punch, eyelet border punch, dimensionals, 1/2" grosgrain ribbon - elegant eggplant, tempting turquoise, only orange, glitter brad (Doodlebug)


My fourth, and final, card for today's spot of sharing is using kraft - my "go-to" card and colour.  I just love it.  As soon as I saw the Bella Bleu DSP that has just become available, I knew I had to have it - it co-ordinates beautifully with Kraft and Very Vanilla, and introduces Not Quite Navy to the mix.  Stunning.  I think this card would definitely be suitable as a sympathy card; not the sort of card any of us like to have to make, but necessary.  I love the muted colours in this card, and have kept it very simple; I like the 'wallpaper' effect of the DSP.



Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes, Best Yet, Friends 24-7

Card: Kraft, Not Quite Navy, Very Vanilla

DSP: Very Vanilla

Ink: Very Vanilla Craft (not in current catalogue), Not Quite Navy

Other: Oval Nestabilities, kraft taffeta ribbon, scallop edge punch, large half pearls (from Pretties Kit), 3/4" circle punch, sponge daubers, butterfly punch (non-SU)


I hope you've enjoyed the variety of cards I've posted today.  I am a long-time customer of Stampin' Up! and have only recently signed up as a demonstrator; I can vouch for the fantastic qualities of these products, and would love to share my enthusiasm with you!  Please don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions, or if there are any products you NEED! 

Christine :)

"Cheep Talk" card

Okay, so it worked!  Forgive my excitement, but I'm very new at this.  Here is a (less than great) photo of a simple little card I made with my new "Cheep Talk" set - such a cute, fun set that I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot of from me. 


Stamps:  Cheep Talk

Card: Whisper White, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip

DSP: Bella Rose

Ink: Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango, white

Other: Horizontal Slot Punch, Chocolate Chip 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, white flower (Bella brand), decorative brad (K & Co.)