Since my first look through the new 2008/2009 catalogue I've loved the set Baroque Motifs (pg 98) and mine arrived on Monday.  Stampin' Up is a generous company and over recent months I earned 3 free stamp sets.  This is one of the ones I chose.  Here is my first play with it.  Love that big swirl.

I made my base card with Confetti White cardstock.  I punched out a circle first near the top with my 1 1/4 inch circle punch.  Then I stamped the swirl pattern at the bottom, plus a little at the top to balance it out.  I used my embossing pad which has a tinge of pink colour then embossed it with clear embossing powder to give it a little raised texture and shine.  Next I strung some beads (from my bead collection - I had a beading phase a while back when I enjoyed adding beads to my scrapbook pages and amassed a nice tray of colours.) Threaded some pink and clear beads onto some silver thread, tied off the ends and stuck it to the back of the circle so that it hangs through the centre of the circle hole.  I used a thin line of ribbon glue (just a craft glue with a handy tiny nozzle) around the circle and made a border of beads there as well. To finish the card I stuck some clear beads onto the swirl and stamped the word cherish (from Baroque Motifs) in Regal Rose.  The Baroque Motifs set also has three more flower stamps and the word kind.  I think it is very good value at $39.95 and look forward to making some more creations with it. 

This one was a bit of a fiddly card but I had lots of fun making it.  Sometimes I find you feel like spending a little more time on a card, and other times you want to get one made quickly.  I've been specialising in 'quickly' lately so it was nice to do something more delicate.

Edited:  I've since had another few tries at this design - tweaked it a bit.  You can find them here and here.

Are you interested in becoming a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator?

Perhaps you have been eyeing off that starter kit on the back page of the catalogue and thinking   about becoming a demonstrator. 

Some people join to make some extra income and are keen to do workshops at times that suit their lives and other commitments.  Some want to help fund their craft habit!  Others just want to get the starter kit (a great collection of supplies for $324) then order their stamping and craft supplies at a discount rate, perhaps showing their catalogue to friends or family who share their craft interest. 

If any of those sound like you, ring or email me and I can have a chat and send you some more information.  I would love to have you become part of my team. 

I am offering an extra bonus to the next people to join my crew.  Receive a pack with a 3" x 3" square of all our patterned paper in the catalogue (240 squares in total - wow), great for making a display book like this one to show customers (I can give you my template too) or for use on small cards. I have 3 packs so limited to the first 3 people! 

Cheers,  Sue

This card uses the Hostess Stamp Set Spring Solitude and I based it on a design by dawnsing on www.splitcoaststampers.com

The white piece is stamped with Wild Wasabi ink.  I stamped the outline flowers first. 

(Hint: If you are stamping repeatedly like this it is a good idea to turn the stamp each time so that the images don’t look identically placed.) 

I then used the solid flower stamp over the top of the large outlined flower in 3 places and put a pewter brad in the centre of each one.  The white piece is matted with chocolate chip card, plus a wider layer of Night of Navy card at the top (hard to see in the photo.) 

A length of Night of Navy thin grosgrain ribbon balances this at the bottom of the stamped piece.  The greeting is stamped in Chocolate Chip.  So is the bird.  I used my Paper Snips to cut out the bird, leaving a tiny white edge.  I stuck the bird on with a foam dimensional tab.

Now I am off to make another 8 of them for a card swap I'm taking part in! That should keep me out of mischief for the next wee while.

Here is another completely different card using the same set

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I got the design for this card from Joan B on Splitcoast Stampers. She did it in orange/yellow for a warm cheery look and it really caught my eye with its simplicity. 

I just stamped the 3 flower image in black on Glossy White cardstock and coloured it in carefully with my Bordering Blue Marker. 

Hint: Be especially careful on glossy card not to rock your stamp or your image will smudge.  Took me a couple of practices to get this one right! 

I used one layer of colouring for the small flower, added another layer for the large flower and a third layer of marker colouring to make the medium flower the darkest.  I glued a rhinestone in the centre of each flower and stamped the greeting in black to finish.  Very simple design but I like it. 

Isn't it amazing what different cards you can make using the one stamp set. 

May Newsletter

You might recognise these cards if you received my May newsletter by email this month.  I had a bit of a glitch sending them out, so if you did not receive yours please email me and I'll shoot one through.  OK not so much a glitch with the computer as a glitch with the human operating it!  I had clicked on send then remembered one more thing I was going to add to my email so tried to delete it from the outbox while it was sending.   Nothing is listed in my sent items but I think it sent some.  Not the full list though it turns out so if your name is nearer to the z end of the alphabet you might have missed this one! 

Family News

Happy Mothers' Day to all the mums out there.  I enjoyed my Mothers' Day which began with a lovely breakfast in bed plus some presents from my 2 little munchkins.  Hannah had a great time at the Mothers Day Stall picking out a gift, plus she made me a wall hanging at art.  (Just love those little handmade presents! Lots of love in them.)

I've had a nice morning with Jack today while he poured me 15 'cups of tea' before heading off for his truck run!  Some quick pics. 

Cheers,   Sue

How cute are these little cards?  I was just getting ready for a workshop and wanted to make a sample using markers directly onto a  stamp.  The hostess set Oh So Lovely is perfect for this technique. 

In the design on the left I used Always Artichoke and Regal Rose markers and cardstock.  The image is stamped onto Whisper White card.  The card on the right uses Elegant Eggplant and Always Artichoke markers and cardstock.  The image is stamped onto Very Vanilla card.

I coloured directly onto my stamp using my set of Rich Regals Stampin' Write Markers.  Hint:  Breathe on it before you stamp to remoisten the ink. 

So if you are after some very quick and easy little gift cards that don't use many materials, perhaps these might do the trick.

Cheers, Sue

I love my Leaves A La Carte jumbo wheel.  I saw a lovely card by Yvonne Campbell a while ago and put it straight onto my wish list! 

Here are some cards I made today (based on Yvonne's design) using Night of Navy and Whisper White cardstock, Night of Navy narrow grosgrain ribbon and some Hodgepodge Hardware pieces to embellish.  I don't have a Night of Navy inkpad (yet!) so stamped my greeting (from Short and Sweet) in Whisper White on some navy cardstock instead.  The neutral colours are quite handy for that. 

I am using this wheel and Purely Pomegranate ink and double stitched ribbon in some of my May workshops so guests will be able to make an elegant card for a range of occasions.  It is always handy to have a Thank You or Best Wishes card ready to go for those unexpected times. 

If you like to use ribbon on your cards and scrapbook pages, Hodgepodge Hardware comes in handy.  It has a range of ribbon slides, metal frames and other embellishments that work well to just add that little finishing touch.  I looped my ribbon through the figure 8 swirl (in the card on the left) to attach it to the card.  For those wondering about adhesives, I have a thin roll of double sided tape that I usually use to adhere my ribbons to cardstock.  Hodgepodge Hardware comes in Pewter, Antique Brass and Aged Copper.  I've used Pewter here.  The sets include 138 pieces of assorted hardware, plus 10o brads and cost $52.95.  Its a bit of a splurge, but you can make a lot of items with one set.   

Cheers,   Sue

I had a great day at Picture To Page Craft Show in Burwood on the weekend.  Meeting lots of craft lovers is always fun.  I spoke with scrapbookers, card makers, doll makers, quilters and people into a huge range of crafts.  Each of us on the Stampin' Up! stand had brought along some items to display, and I loved seeing the range of work.   It is always great getting new ideas for things to create. Congratulations to all the lucky winners of the card packs, and the hamper of Stampin' Up! goods.

Speaking of creating, I've been having fun today at my desk.  Stampin' Up! are having a patterned paper promotion this month and I got one of their 6" x 6" pads of double sided Designer Series paper.  Got it out today to make a card.  ('Scuse the crooked looking photo - I was a bit camera challenged today!)

I've used 2 different patterns of the Almost Amethyst paper on an Elegant Eggplant base card.  I added a strip of Elegant Eggplant to separate the papers.  The flowers are from our Pretties Kit.  I used my Elegant Eggplant marker to just colour in the white flowers to match my card. The rhinestone brad in the centre is also from the Pretties kit.   I used Whisper White craft ink to stamp my greeting (from Short and Sweet - think this is shortly going to be competing with Sincere Salutations as my most used set!)  Here are the details of the patterned paper promotion ....

Stampin' Up! Palette O' Prints Promotion

Spend $35 on any Stampin' Up! products and get a 6" x 6" pad of double sided Prints Designer Series Paper for $12.95.  This offer gives you 48 double sided sheets in Certainly Celery, Rose Red, So Saffron*, and Almost Amethyst*.  Each pad holds twelve sheets of each colour - two sheets of each pattern in each colour - that can be used for cards, crafts or scrapbooking.  Contact me if you are interested in taking advantage of this offer with a May order.  The colours marked with a * are not offered in the 2008/2009 Idea Book and Catalogue and can only be purchased through this offer.  Offer ends May31st.

And one more card ...

Just a simple one on Elegant Eggplant again.  I've stamped the swirl (from Bodacious Bouquet) and the greeting (from Short and Sweet) in Whisper White craft ink.  The flower (again from Bodacious Bouquet) is stamped in the craft ink on Almost Amethyst card.  I then tipped some Heat and Stick powder on and used the heat gun to make it tacky.  Then I tipped some Dazzling Diamonds glitter on for some sparkle.  (The sparkle doesn't really show in the main photo!)  I used one of my markers to just define the lines and dots in the flower a little then I cut the flower out and added it to the card.  Quite a simple card to finish off with today.

Happy Stamping! 

Cheers,   Sue

Another personalised birthday card for a little loved one.  (My nephew - happy almost 3!)  He is having his celebrations a little early this year as he is getting an extra special present very soon - a new little bub.  I think he will love being a big brother.  Cheerio James!

To make this card I used Real Red for the base.  I stamped the star pattern from Eat Cake set in gold onto Glossy White card.  Then I stamped JAMES over the top using Brilliant Blue ink and Best Friends Alphabet Upper.  I matted the white piece with Night of Navy and Brilliant Blue.    The balloon (from Eat Cake) is stamped in Real Red and cut out carefully.  I added some sparkly thread for the balloon string and stuck the balloon on with foam squares so it stood out from the page a little.  The greeting in the corner is done with Brilliant Blue and is from the Eat Cake set.   Quite quick and easy.  (No what am I saying - it took ages, really!  Hee hee.) 

Cheers,  Sue