JAI #132 : STAMPIN' UP!'S BEAU CHATEAU

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

With only a week left of our current Stampin' Up! catalogue, it's time for me to use up some of the Designer Series Papers that I am guilty of hoarding.  The card I have to share today was made with the lovely Soft Suede and Pink Pirouette paper from the Beau Chateau pack.

To create the flower, I used my Blossom punch to punch out 5 flowers, from a mixture of Pink Pirouette cardstock, Pink Pirouette paper and Beau Chateau paper.  I used an Antique Brad to hold all the layers together, before spritzing each layer with water and scrunching, then unfolding, each layer.  The edges of the petals were sponged with Crumb Cake ink.

Stamps: Elements of Style, Kindness Matters

Card: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Pink Pirouette (textured and smooth)

DSP: Beau Chateau and Pink Pirouette Patterns Designer Series Papers

Ink: Soft Suede, Pink Pirouette and Crumb Cake stampin' pads

Other: Blossom Punch, Victoria Crochet Trim, Adorning Accents embossing folder, Antique brad, Mat Pack and Paper Piercing Tool, Large Oval punch, Basic Pearls, sponge daubers, edge distressing tool

Make sure you pop over to the Just Add Ink site, to check out the Design Team samples - varied, and gorgeous!  We'd love to have you play along with us.

SC 54/12: MAGICAL MASKING TECHNIQUE

This week's challenge at Sunny Challenges & Creations, is to use the sketch below, plus a nifty little technique called Magical Masking, to create a card.

Prior to being issued this challenge, I'd never heard of Magical Masking!  Here's a link to a tutorial on Splitcoaststampers:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=all&si=TLC373&what=keywords

You need to start with a piece of glossy cardstock.  Lay a strip of masking tape, sticky side down, on an inkpad to pick up colour, stick the tape down on the glossy cardstock, and pull it up quickly (as if it's a wax strip on your leg, or elsewhere!).  The cardstock will have ink cover that looks a bit textured.  The idea is to repeat these steps until your glossy card is covered.

Since this is my first time attempting the technique, I'm not sure of my level of success, but I'll show you anyway!  I worked with a piece of glossy card that I'd cut using my Beautiful Butterflies die, and I applied strips of ink in Perfect Plum and Wisteria Wonder.

Here's what I came up with:

Stamps: Elements of Style

Card: Glossy White, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Perfect Plum, Wisteria Wonder

DSP: Flirtatious Specialty Designer Series Paper

Ink: Crumb Cake, Perfect Plum and Wisteria Wonder stampin' pads, Whisper White craft stampin' pad

Other: Scallop Circles #2 die, 1 " Circle punch, Beautiful Butterflies die, Boho Blossoms punch, In Color Designer brad, Scallop Edge border punch, Wisteria Wonder ruffled ribbon, Crumb Cake taffeta ribbon, Basic Pearls, sponge daubers, Mat Pack & paper piercing tool, masking tape, mini glue dots

Thanks to the ladies at Sunny Challenges & Creations for this great challenge.  I'm really enjoying being a Guest Designer this month.  Please be sure to check out the rest of the Design Team samples, and play along with us this week!



STAMPIN' UP!'S FLOWER BURSTS FOR OUR CREATIVE CORNER

This week I am playing along, for the first time, in a challenge over at Our Creative Corner.  The challenge is to:

  Play along with us in a game of papercrafting tic-tac-toe. Choose "three in a row" on the Tic-Tac-Toe board and make sure you work those elements into your papercraft project.

I've chosen the vertical column of Flowers, Yellow and Glitter.  It's a little hard to see in my photo, but in addition to using Stampin' Up!'s silver Glimmer Paper, I've used Dazzling Details to affix silver pearls to the flower centres.

Do you think it's "brad overkill" on this card??  I love using brads, but think I might've got a bit carried away!

Stamps: Field Flowers, Nature Walk, Elements of Style

Card: Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer Paper

DSP: Flirtatious Specialty and Daffodil Delight Patterns Designer Series Papers

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Old Olive and Basic Black stampin' pads

Other: Flower Burst embosslit die, Whisper White organza ribbon, Beautiful Wings embosslits, Neutrals brads, sponge dauber, corner rounder punch, 3/4" and 1" circle punches, stampin' dimensionals, mini glue dots

STAMPIN' UP!'S ELEMENTS OF STYLE - BLEACHED

The fabulous Kirsty Brown, stamper extraordinaire, has a lot to answer for!  She "wowed" us all at Stampin' Up! Convention with a demonstration on how to use bleach with stamping, and a whole new movement has started around the country.  This nifty technique is addictive!!

A couple of special friends celebrated their birthdays this past week, and I decided what I'll call "Kirsty's technique" was the perfect starting point for their cards.

Firstly, for my darling friend (and now sometime travelling companion) Jane, who loves blue, I made this card:

Stamps: Elements of Style, Teeny Tiny Sentiments, En Francais

Card: Shimmery White, Baja Breeze

Ink: Versamark inkpad, Baja Breeze stampin' pad

Other: White embossing powder, Very Vanilla satin ribbon, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, Basic Pearls, sponge dauber, mini glue dots, aquapainter containing neat bleach

I ran outside to catch a very brief spell of sunshine to photograph these cards; the photos aren't great, but they're the best I could manage.  It's a bit hard to make out the subtly stamped background, and the beautiful shimmery cardstock, but just use your imagination!

Using the same layout and ideas, but the beautifully dramatic Perfect Plum colour from Stampin' Up!'s range, I made a card for one of my special class 'regulars', and lovely friend, Kathy:

Stamps: Elements of Style, Teeny Tiny Sentiments, En Francais

Card: Shimmery White, Perfect Plum

Ink: Versamark inkpad, Perfect Plum stampin' pad

Other: White embossing powder, Very Vanilla satin ribbon, Basic Pearls, sponge dauber, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, mini glue dots, aquapainter filled with neat bleach

JUST ADD INK #71 ..... JUST ADD BLACK & WHITE

Boy, I was challenged this week by Paula's choice to make the Just Add Ink challenge "black and white" only.  I'm not sure that I've ever made a black and white card, and throughout the whole process I was itching to add a dash of red!  However, I persisted, and managed to make a card, that I am quite happy with.

I found this colour (or are black and white technically 'tones'?) scheme rather formal, so to lighten it up a bit I added a few lightly crumpled flowers here and there.  Here's the end result:

Stamps: Elements of Style, Sincere Salutations

Card: Basic Black, Whisper White

Ink: Whisper White craft stampin' pad, Versamark inkpad, Basic Black stampin' pad

Other: Black embossing powder, Mat Pack and Paper Piercing Tool, Basic Rhinestones, Neutrals brad, Itty Bitty Shapes flower punch, Whisper White 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, mini glue dots, Stamp-a-ma-jig

COLOR LAB CHALLENGE #37

I've gone a little bit "vintage-y" for this week's colour challenge over at the Color Lab.  Take a look at these gorgeous colours, to incorporate in a papercraft project:

Despite being a lover of green, I must admit to seldom using Always Artichoke.  I've been reminded of what a beautiful colour it is, though.  Here is what I came up with, using these colours:

Stamps: Elements of Style, Elegance Stampin' Around wheel

Card: Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke (smooth and textured), Regal Rose textured, Rose Red

DSP: Always Artichoke Patterns Designer Series Paper

Ink: Regal Rose, Rose Red and Always Artichoke stampin' pads

Other: Birds and Blooms sizzlits die, Crochet Trim, Basic Pearls, 1" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, Eyelet border punch, sponge daubers, Fancy Flower punch, 5-Petal Flower punch, Boho Blossoms punch, mini glue dots, sticky strip

JUST ADD INK #62 - "JUST ADD STAMPS"

This afternoon when I saw the new challenge at Just Add Ink, I wasn't sure I'd be able to rise to it!  The challenge is to use only stamps, ink and cardstock to make a card.  I just LOVE ribbons, brads, punches, embellishments - all the 'bits' to pretty up a card, so this was HARD!!! 

On my way home from dropping Ethan (my big, grown-up 10-yr-old, who insisted I wasn't welcome) at a school BBQ tonight, I saw a woman wearing an outfit that I can only describe as Peach Parfait and Basic Black (we SU! demonstrators don't think in terms of 'orange' and 'black', you know).  It was instant inspiration!  I came home and made this card:

Stamps: Bella Toile, Elements of Style, Thoughts & Prayers

Card: Peach Parfait

Ink: Peach Parfait, Basic Black and Whisper White stampin' pads

Other: Stamp-a-ma-jig, stampin' dimensionals, stampin' sponge

Even though I wasn't allowed to add any embellishments, I just HAD to sponge around the edges.  I used a sponge, rather than my beloved sponge daubers, to achieve a deeper colour around the edges.  I've raised the central panel up on dimensionals, and am pretty happy with the result after all! 

JUST ADD INK #40

I can remember the excitement of Just Add Ink starting up .... and here they are, at their 40th challenge!  Thanks, girls, for the wonderful challenges you set every week; I love them.

This week is a colour challenge, to incorporate the following colours into a papercraft project:

I had need this week for a sympathy card, that I wanted to have a feminine touch.  It was a real challenge for me to incorporate the Pear Pizzazz, once I'd figured out my design, but I got it in there (in the sentiment)!  This is the card I came up with:

Stamps: Elements of Style, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Card: Sahara Sand, Blushing Bride, Bashful Blue, Whisper White

Ink: Sahara Sand, Blushing Bride, Bashful Blue and Pear Pizzazz stampin' pads

DSP: Sahara Sand Patterns Designer Series Paper (from Neutrals stack)

Other: Eyelet Trim border punch, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, sponge daubers, Basic Pearls, Blushing Bride poly-stitched ribbon, paper snips

Well, well, well .... another BLUE card!

Having made the sweeping statement that I don't often use blue in my creations, I must admit that I am totally smitten with Stampin' Up!'s Marina Mist (and Baja Breeze) .... guess I need to eat my words!

A few days ago I ran an embossing class, and we focussed on the new "Elements of Style" stamp set - because I love it, and, hey, as the teacher, I get to decide these things!  I particularly like the Marina Mist card we made, so thought I'd share it with you.  Simple, but sweet, I think (hope you like it too!).

Stamps: Elements of Style

Card: Marina Mist, Whisper White, Basic Black

Ink: Marina Mist stampin' pad, Versamark inkpad

Other: White embossing powder, Beautiful Wings embosslits, Basic Black taffeta ribbon, Mat Pack and paper-piercing tool, 1" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, sponge dauber, Basic Pearls, Tombow multi liquid glue

This coming Saturday (23rd October), a few friends and I are having a "mini" blog hop, that is technique-based.  Even though there will be only 6 of us taking part, we are each showcasing a different technique to use in your paper crafting - hope you'll come back to visit, to get some ideas!

JUST ADD INK #35

This week's challenge at Just Add Ink is to make a sympathy card.  I wasn't sure that I'd get a chance to take part this week, as I've had a couple of classes (silly me, arranged them with different themes, so had double the preparation!) this week.  However, I am really pleased that I have been able to have some "play time" in my craft room this afternoon.

I think soft greens are beautiful, especially with white, on sympathy cards.  I have teamed Pear Pizzazz with Whisper White, and added in some of the new yellow in Stampin' Up!'s range - the gorgeous Daffodil Delight.

Because the light was failing when I went to photograph this card, I'm not sure if you can see that the base card has been stamped with the floral image from "Elements of Style".  It's the same stamp I've used in the main panel, but I've used Pear Pizzazz ink, stamped it off once on scrap paper, then stamped the lighter impression on my card.  Anyway, enough words - here's the picture:

Stamps: Elements of Style, Thoughts & Prayers

Card: Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White

DSP: Pear Pizzazz Patterns Designer Series Paper (hostess pack)

Ink: Versamark inkpad, Pear Pizzazz stampin' pad and marker, Old Olive marker, Daffodil Delight stampin' pad and marker

Other: White embossing powder, Whisper White 5/8" satin ribbon, Stamp-a-ma-jig, blender pen, sponger daubers, mini glue dots

I will be back soon with another post, to show you a couple of cards we made in today's Christmas card class!

CARDS FROM YESTERDAY'S CLASS

Yesterday I got to spend an afternoon with some of my wonderful friends, who are also customers.  I ran a class, to share a whole lot of the new products I've bought from Stampin' Up!  We made 4 cards.


The first one is a little "love note" sized (3" x 3") card, using the beautiful "Elements of Style" stamp set and a couple of new "in colours".  The photo doesn't show it well, but we used Shimmery White cardstock - LOVE it!

Stamps: Elements of Style, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Card: Shimmery White, Pear Pizzazz

Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Concord Crush

Other: Concord Crush 1/2" poly-stitched ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, sponge dauber, Word Window Punch, paper snips

The next card we made was using the new Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, which I think looks divine on the new Early Espresso cardstock - don't you?  This card also shows Poppy Parade, another of the new "in colours", and a new border punch (that I am also loving to bits!  Easily pleased, aren't I?!).

Stamps: For You Flower, Confetti

Card: Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Poppy Parade, Early Espresso

Ink: Versamark inkpad, Poppy Parade stampin' pad, Early Espresso marker, white gel pen

Other: Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Fancy Flower XL punch, Scallop Trim border punch, Mat pack and paper-piercing tool, stampin' dimensionals, Early Espresso taffeta ribbon, Poppy Parade 1/2" stitched-poly ribbon

Now, I couldn't possibly hold a "new products" class without letting the girls have a play with the new Two-Step XL Owl punch!  Here is the card we made (don't you love the 'feathers' on the owl's tummy?):

Stamps: Tiny Tags

Card: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Baja Breeze

DSP: Elegant Soiree Designer Series Paper

Ink: Baja Breeze and Soft Suede markers

Other: Circles #2 Originals die (in Big Shot), Elegant Lines embossing folder, Basic Pearls, Two-Step Owl XL punch, Two-Step Bird XL punch (for the branch), Tombow Multi glue

The last card I have to share with you is another using the cute "Funky Four" stamp set.  The colour inspiration for this card came from the new bright and cheery "Play Date" designer series paper.

Stamps: Funky Four, Confetti, Teeny Tny Sentiments

Card: Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise

DSP: Play Date designer series paper

Ink: Versamark inkpad, Chocolate chip stampin' pad and marker, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise and Old Olive markers

Other: Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, Beautiful Wings embosslits die (in Big Shot), Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Whisper White 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, sponge dauber, Tombow multi glue

What a nice way to spend an afternoon, don't you agree?!