Merry Christmas One And All!

A little handmade Christmas star to wish you all a Merry Christmas. I just wanted to share a little quote with you as well:

 Love came down on Christmas Day so many years ago and brought the greatest happiness the world would ever know... Peace came down on Christmas Day to fill the hearts of men with all the sweet tranquility each Christmas brings again... Joy came down on Christmas Day as angels came to earth heralding the miracle of our Messiah's birth. 

Anonymous

Have a wonderful Christmas.

A Vintage Music Christmas Card

Tonight I wanted to play with making aged sheet music to use on a Christmas card for a friend. I was inspired by Ute who sells 100 year old music sheets for crafting in the UK. Now I don't have any of Ute's music, but I did have a Stampin' Up! stamping wheel and some cardstock and ink, and a distressing tool. So I got to work with some Very Vanilla cardstock and some Chocolate Chip ink and made the basis for my background. I edged the piece with Soft Suede ink and backed it with some Perfect Plum cardstock. Then I had fun colouring the little birdie with some Stampin' Write markers before adding him to the card along with a bit of Chantilly Lace and Linen Cord.

The sentiment comes from the same stamp set, Beautiful Season (item no 124944 in wood mount for $41.95 plus postage or item no 122682 in clear mount for $33.95plus postage if you want to order it).

I hope you enjoy my attempt at making Vintage Music. I sure had fun with it :)

December Frenzy at Stampin' Up! Australia

There are some fantastic specials offered at Stampin' Up! this month. They are offerieng many great products at 50% off! Have a look and let me know if I can 'enable' you this month at all ... you know I love to help!

http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/susansalutations/promotions

Not a Christmas Card!

I know everyone who celebrates it is probably still making Christmas cards and decorations, wrapping presents and writing special Christmas notes. I should be doing that too, but today some friends of mine got married and I needed a handmade greeting for them. I came up with this little number:

Lately I am really loving the look of Whisper White and Very Vanilla cardstock together. Ever since I discovered it, I have loved that Whisper white organza ribbon too. There is just something so simple and elegant about putting these two colours together. I liked how the card turned out and hope it pleased my friends too of course.

You can't see it but I also cut out a scalloped envelope in Very Vanilla and used it as a pocket for my wedding gift. I sent them some cash to help out with starting their household. The envelope worked well for that and added security as I 'sealed' the envelope with some re-positionable Glue Dots. 


Congratulations to my young friends who married today. May your marriage be richly blessed!

PS: If you would like the supply list and instructions for making this card, you can see both at www.PaperCraftCentral.com.

It's Thanksgiving this week

Do you have something to be thankful for? I know I do and it would take so long to make a list of gratitude here. I'm even grateful for the length of my list! 

This week my thoughts turned to far away family and friends celebrating Thanksgiving. In Australia I have only celebrated it a handful of times, but I still think of the day and remember what it was like to have family and friends around for a special sharing time a time of good company and good food and laughter.

Pumpkins seem to symbolise the day for me more than turkeys do, for some reason. I therefore decided to play with the idea of making a paper punch art pumpkin and see if I could turn it into a card. Here's how it turned out:

You can see a supply list and get instructions for making your own pumpkin card here.

PS: Remember, Aussie readers can order all non-retired Stampin' Up! supplies used from me too :) Just contact me at SusanSalutations.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Masculine and Feminine

I just realised I had not posted what we did on our class last month! How could I forget to do that? We had a great day making cards with the masking technique where we made our quad bikes and cars look as though they had splashed through mud on a dirt road. We used the Extreme Elements and Need for Speed stamp sets to do that.

Then we made some pretty, feminine gift boxes with the Fancy Favor Bog Shot die and the new lace ribbon punch.We stamped on the box before it was assembled and glued the punched ribbon border on as well.

If you would like to order any of the materials used in these projects you can find them on the product pages at SusanSalutations and contact me from there.

Happy Stampin'

October Card Class

I want to share our card class creations with you for October. We made cards from the card ideas already featured here. It was an enjoyable day. We also took time to celebrate a special birthday - a little one who turned one! Thank you for coming ladies, and for making the day such fun.Can't wait for our November class now :)

This week I am making swap cards for the Stampin' Up! Regionals that happen on Saturday. Will share a picture of those once they are complete. I'm using a colour combination of Old Olive, Night of Navy, Very Vanilla, Daffodil Delight and some very pretty Christmas fabric.

Happy Crafting!

Christmas Stockings

Stockings at Christmas! I remember having a Christmas stocking from the time i was a little girls. My Aunt made me a specialone that I still have. It comes out to grace my home in December each year. So when I saw the new Stitched Stocking stamp set and punch from Stampin' Up! I wanted to play!

I made this card using non-traditional colours. Whisper White, Pear Pizazz and Tempting Turquoise go together well so I chose them. That's Hemp Cord (also from Stampin' Up!) wrapped around the cnetre piece.

If you don't want to make Christmas cards just yet I have seen some adorable hobby horses made from upside down stockings (give them ears, add an eye and some thread mane, then a cardstock 'stick' and voila!)

Then there are the baby booties I saw made from the striped stocking with a few stripes removed so the top fits on the sock part like a bootie.....

I'll see if I get a chance to make you a sample or two soon.

In the meantime, if you live in Australia and would like to order this set before it is released in the summer mini catalogue, you can! Contact me to place your order :)

Stitched Stocking Stamp Set (7 stamps) wood mount 125798 $53.95
                                                              clear mount     123784 $42.95

Stocking Tag Punch 124095             $33.95

Christmas Stamp A Stack

 

Did you know it was World Cardmaking Day on Saturday? I just happened to have a Christmas Card Stamp A Stack  organised and we girls had some fun in the afternoon, making Christmas cards! This is one of the five we made with the Contempo Christmas and Baroque Motifs stamp sets. I made it all in shades of purple: Wisteria Wonder, Perfect Plum and Elegant Eggplant. The branch has been made from Garden Green. We made the pretty trim with the new Lace Border punch, and decorated  the middle bauble with a sweet little bow made from Whisper White Taffeta ribbon.

What a lovely way to enjoy World Cardmaking Day!

Join Stampin' Up! for just $169!

Join for Just $169!

During September, if you live in Australia, you can join my Stampin' Up! family as a demonstrator for only $169! The limited-time mini Starter Kit-valued at over $310-comes with the high-quality products listed below:

$169 Mini Starter Kit

Easy Events Clear-Mount Set*
Pennant Parade Wood-Mount Set*
Basic Black Classic Stampin' Pad
Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad
Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad
Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
A4 Smooth Card Stock Assortment
Just Add Cake Designer Series Paper*
Chocolate Chip 1/2" Scallop Dots Ribbon*
Notes Cards (20)
Clear-Mount Block C
Blender Pen (1)
SNAIL Adhesive
Business supplies

*New to the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalogue

Or, if you want the full Starter Kit, you can get it 20 percent off during September only! That's over $610 worth of premium Stampin' Up! products and business supplies for just $231.20! See what's included in the full Starter Kit here.

Join Stampin' Up! in September and get brand-new products for just $169! Contact me to get started today.

August Card Class

Today was Card Class day at my house and six of us met to have some fun, craft awhile, celebrate a birthday and eat goodies! Lol! We made a Flower Pot note card to send to people who needed cheering up :) or just would appreciate a special little message hidden in a card. It was a lot of fun seeing how these turned out differently as each person treated the flowers a little differently and each of us had slightly different pieces of designer series paper, all from the new Stampin' Up! Flirtatious paper pack. We made the flowers using the Blossom Party Big Shot dies and we even made our own buttons so they would match in with the flowers.

I love holding Card Classes with my crafty friends :)

Birthday Flowers

There are sooo many new stamp sets I have on my Wish List from the new Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalogue, but Printed Petals is still fun to play with :) And it's continuing to be available in the new catty too! I decided to go with it to make a pretty birthday card.

I used thumping (with Rich Razzleberry, Daffodil Deligt and Melon Mambo) and spritzing with Frost White shimmer paint diluted in isopropyl alcohol to make the stamped images for the flowers on Whisper White cardstock, stamping two images with the same thump-inked stamp. Didn't they turn out pretty?

Then I punched out some flower centres from Rich Razzleberry and Melon Mambo cardstock and popped them up with Stampin' Dimensionals before finishing off with a Rhinestone.

I made the leaves with some folded Old Olive cardstock and my crimper, free cutting the leaf shapes out after crimping them.

The background is stamped with a Baroque Motif flourish in Soft Suede, and the sentiment is from the Bring on the Cake stamp set stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock and punched out using the Word Window punch.

I hope you enjoy seeing the card :)

'Instant Date' Birthday Box Card

What do you get a friend who has everything except time to go out with his wife? Why, a date in a box, of course!

I was playing with some of the new goodies I got in my advance order from the new Stampin' Up! Ideas Book and Catalogue when I thought of this idea. My own husband had just taken me to the movies and I remembered how much we treasure those times alone together. While we were buying our own tickets, I bought some for our friends. Then after the movie I found a double block of fruit and nut chocolate to go with the tickets. I couldn't just hand him a plastic bag with these goodies inside, could I? So of course I made a box to house them :)

I used the new Pennant Parade punch and the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet Sizzlets for the name, based my box on Night of Navy and Old Olive cardstock and designer series paper (using photo corner punch to add details to the corners) and big silver brads with some linen cord to hang the pennants which I popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals. The sentiment is from a retired stamp set whose name I can't recall right now...

And when we gave it to him, Clive loved the chocolate and now he and his wife are looking forward to a break :)

Enjoy, you two!

For more project ideas return to PaperCraftCentral.com

Retirement List!

It's time for us to say goodbye to some of the products at Stampin' Up! There's a Last Chance Retirement List out that will be updated regularly as products sell out and then after August 31st they will be gone forever. A new catalogue will be available from 1st September.

Do contact me if you live in Australia and would like any of the retiring products or a new Idea Book and Catalogue :)

Thumping Great Butterflies!

I love these colours together. Blushing Bride, Crumb Cake and Whisper White cardstock were made for each other. And the beautiful Organza ribbon has become a favourite of mine. It is so soft and easy to tie into a pretty bow.

The Strength and Hope stamp set really lends itself to making delicate, pretty cards. I wanted to see if I could make the butterflies have a little more depth and character though, so for this card I used the thumping technique. I chose a couple of colours of Stampin' Write markers and, starting with the lightest colour, used the side of the thicker point on the stamp. I bounced it around the stamp on the areas I wanted to highlight. Then I used the next colour, thumping it to fill in some more spaces, and so on till I had covered the stamp.

It took me awhile to add all the colours and some of the ink looked a little dry, so I 'huffed' (breathed warm air) on it to rehydrate the colours before stamping.

So there you have it - Thumping Great Butterflies! Lol!

July Card Class

We had a great card class today :) Thank you fro coming, ladies! I enjoyed our chats, the food (the Food! So much!) and of course sharing in your crafting :)

We made two projects today. I found a paper wallet online and made one up for the ladies to try, then found a lovely thank you card that I CASED from Wendy Hawkinson's blog (thank you for sharing, Wendy). I'll post some examples for you to see :)

PS: If you live in my vicinity, do remember I hold monthly card classes now. See SusanSalutations for details and to book in!

Watercolour Stamping

Have you tried watercolour stamping? Here I used some watercolour paper and Stampin' Up!'s Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set. After colouring the images with some Stampin' Write markers, I spritzed the images lightly with ordinary water before stamping as normal. The effect was lovely and soft compared to the usual crisp, clean images obtained without water.

There are a few more water colouring tips on PaperCraftCentral.com if you would like to explore a few more options :)

The other cardstock and ink are So Saffron, Bravo Burgundy and Garden Green. The ribbon is Night of Navy and the sentiment is from the Create a Cupcake stamp set also from Stampin' Up! The ferns in the background stamped in Versamark are from a retired Stampin' Up! stamp set called Organic Grace.

Children's Birthday Cards

If you have been wondering what we get up to at Card Classes, here is a sample of the parade of creatures we made last week! I showed my ladies how to make childrens birthday cards using their Scallop Circle Die and #2 Circle die with the Big Shot, and a few punches. What a fun day it was!

These little cards are just perfect fro a young child's party. They do not take long to make so you won't mind quite so much if they get ripped or crumpled, and the children do love them.

Actually we adults had a lot of fun reliving old memories of childhood and child rearing ourselves. The Muppets have been around for a long time! Lol!

If you would like to see how to make your own fun children's birthday cards, there is a tutorial on PaperCraftCentral.com for you.

Congratulations Cards

Here's a card with a little different style to the last one I posted :) While I personally love Vintage cards, sometimes I need a simple one for a man, and vintage style doesn't really make me think of masculine cards. I like to have a couple of congratulations cards on hand so I can be prepared for times when some recognition is in order!

I made this one using a stamp from Stampin' Up!'s Fun and Fast Notes. I don't know if this stamp set will be available in the next Idea Book and Catalogue coming out in September but I have liked this set from the start. The images make whipping up a quick card just so easy.

If you want more details for how I made this card, I wrote a tutorial about it on PaperCraftCentral.com for you.

Tiny White Flowers

Isn't this a pretty card? It was inspired by one made by Monica Gale and I just love it. I used the birdcage from the Nature Walk stamp set from Stampin' Up! plus the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder from the same source. The papers are Whisper White, Basic Black, Sahara Sand and Very Vanilla. I thought it was just such an elegant card I decided to teach a few friends to make some too at a card class today. Here they are:

I really think these little cards are beautiful! Well done, ladies :)

Do you like the little white flowers on the cards we made? If you have not tried making these flowers, of course there is a tutorial for you over at PaperCraftCentral.com. Enjoy!

Retreat!

Just thought I would share another cupcake card from the Brisbane Papercraft Expo stall we ran :) I like how cheery it is, being made of So Saffron cardstock and scrunched Old Olive ribbon and all. And it says 'Celebrate', which is what I just got finished doing at the Stampin' Up! Retreat held for our Independent Demonstrator team this weekend.

We stamped! We inked! We punched! We ate! We talked! We laughed! I think there were about 30 of us who stayed for the three days of the Retreat (I elected to leave half a day early to go to church) but we had a great old time while together.

In case you want to get away for a crafty break too sometime, I advertise when they will happen on SusanSalutations. I'll upload the dates for the next ones shortly. If you are within reasonable distance of Brisbane, Qld Australia, and you want to come along to a Retreat, let me know!

Motorbikes Forever!

I'll tell you a little secret. In my youth I rode a small motorbike. I had friends who had bikes and we would go for long rides, feeling free and exhilarated in the open air! So when I saw the new Motorcycle stamp in the 2011 Autumn-Winter Mini catalogue from Stampin' Up!, well, I just had to get it.

It is quite a lovely detailed stamp and when I saw it, I immediately thought of using the faux metal technique. I think I need a few more practice goes but in the end I was pretty happy with how the image turned out. I made it into a birthday card to have on hand when the next man in the family has a special day :) None of the other family women ever learned to ride a bike that I know of! Lol!

If you would like to see how to make a faux metal image, the instructions are on PaperCarftCentral for you now.

Embossing Makes Cards Pop!

The Big Shot is such a versatile machine! I love how it embosses and what you can do with the beautifully embossed cardstock. I made a series of cards with my Build a Cupcake punch and used the coordinating Create a Cupcake stamp set (both from the Stampin' Up! Autumn-Winter mini catalogue) but wanted to add a richness to the cards that only embossing and pretty ribbon can bring.

We used these cards at the Brisbane Papercraft Expo of course :) You can see the entire series at www.PaperCraftCentral.com, of course!

Scrapping an old photo

Have you ever got cold feet about an old photo and whether or not to scrap it? I have had this picture for a very long time and finally got the courage to do something with it. I was glad I did! Now it will be protected for years to come instead of floating around on my craft desk making me feel guilty :) Lol!

If you would like a little fuller explanation about how I made some of the elements in this retro layout, here's the link on PaperCraftCentral.com

Black Magic Inking Technique

Here's a way to make a dramatic impact with a stamped image, some light coloured ink on dark cardstock, and some chalks. I made this card for the display at the Brisbane Papercraft Expo

Buckle Card

The fan fold flower card shown below is actually a buckle card. I have had people asking how these cards can be made and to help you, I have made a tutorial about these cards that is now available on PaperCraftCentral.com

If you have been making these cards for a long time, I would love to see your version of them. Blogger does not allow you to upload pictures in the comments section, so if you would like to upload a photo of your own work you can do so at PaperCraftCentral.com. I would love to see more cards made with this design!

Flowers from the Fan Fold

Have you ever made a fan fold flower? I found out how to make these and decided to create a buckle card with this type of flower embellishing it for a special birthday coming up. I made a tutorial about how I made them at PaperCraftCentral.com, of course! Just for you!

Hope you like it :)

Cute Puppy

I made a double layout of my cute little puppy while I was at a Scrapchat retreat last month. The pictures were just begging too be scrapped and when we were given a wonderful four photo sketch to work with, I was away!

Teddy has grown quite a bit since these pictures were taken. I'll have to update you with some newer ones soon. He's still as cute as a button :)

More about how this layout was made at PaperCraftCentral.com

An Album for Ali

I made a special album to hold a lot of cards handmade for a certain friend who has been feeling low lately. A bunch of us girls got together secretly and decided to do something to cheer her up. Each of us made a card and I collected them all to make into this little album. It contains over a dozen handmade cards and decorated envelopes from a dozen different friends! We gave it to our friend this week and yes, there were tears!

Here's the album opened up,

a pic with the cards released from their ribbon,

and a shot of the back of the album too.


If you would like to know how to make a similar album, the instructions are on PaperCraftCentral for you.

I'd love to see your version if you make one, so please do leave a link in the comments section if you do :)

Inking Techniques

I discovered a new inking technique that involves using my brayer and a couple of ink colours recently and had to have a play. I also found a way to make leaves using my paper crimper and wanted to share them with you :) If you would like more details, go to PaperCraftCentral.com to see how it was all done!

A Wedding Easel Card with a Western Theme

Have you ever been asked to make a wedding card with an unusual theme? How about this one, with its distinctly western flavour? This one also had to be a card everyone at church could sign, so I made it out of a while A4 sheet of cardstock.

If you would like to see how I thought it out and made it, there's a page on PaperCraftCentral.com that shows you all that :)

Something a little different

A friend requested that I scrap a circle journal entry for her about my favourite music. Since I love classical music, I decided to find a favourite musical piece in sheet music and make my own musical 'ribbon' from the score. I also made a border of mixed musical notes in silver pen.

I added my photo and a journaling piece backed by black and white designer paper. The addition of a few blue crystal brads and some white ribbon tied in a bow completed the pages.

All but the designer paper is from Stampin Up! supplies.

It's Almost Mother's Day!

Do you need an idea for a special card for Mother's Day? I made the one shown using an embossing technique on the heart that you may like to try. Read about how it was done on PaperCraftCentral. And do let me know if you try it out by leaving a link to your card in the comments section.

If you are celebrating Mother's Day this weekend I hope you have an enjoyable day:)

Easter Greetings

Just a little hello to you all at Easter. I'm thinking of why we celebrate Easter, why we take the time to pause on Good Friday to remember the sacrifice made for us. Fewer people seem to know the true meaning of Easter. I hope with all my heart that you do.

May your Easter be a time of remembrance and thanks.

And if you are looking for a way to tell children about the Easter story, why not do it while making Resurrection cookies? They sound so good :)

A Paper Punch Bunny for you

Here's a cute little paper punch bunny I can show you how to make on this video. You can also find a full product list on papercraftcentral.com

Strength and Hope Campaign

As part of our Making a Difference program, Stampin' Up! is proud to partner with The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® (BCRF) in the Strength & Hope Campaign.

From 1 April-31 July 2011, Stampin' Up! will donate $2* from the sale of each Strength & Hope Set to BCRF.

Item Description Price

123663 Strength & Hope wood-mount set $35.95

124232 Strength & Hope clear-mount set $28.95

Contact me today to order this beautiful set and support BCRF as they work find a cure for breast cancer! .

*Stampin' Up! is donating $2 from this purchase to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation®. BCRF is dedicated to preventing breast cancer and finding a cure in our lifetime by funding clinical and translational research worldwide. For more information about BCRF, visit .