All Year Long Christmas Card Challenge

I've been enjoying a challenge made by Alz to gradually make as many cards that I need for Christmas throughout the year, It is going to be great if I can keep it up. I am making a dozen a month. This way I should be able to send a handmade card to each and every person on my list. That is something I have NEVER achieved before! I hope it happens. Knowing me, things do get in the way of good intentions, especially when it comes to card making...

Thank you, Alz, for making this challenge and I am already grateful fro the two dozen cards I have stored away :)

Here's a peek at some of the cards I made last week and today with a green and silver theme:

Fun Banner Cards

It was fun to make these little 'thank you' cards for my Stamp Club ladies tonight.

I used a scallop circle as a template to make the clouds. Aren't they pretty?

I got the idea from a fellow stamper, Jane Blakeley. I'll list all the items I used so you can have a play too. The clouds are fun to make :)

Supply List: (mostly from Sale-A-Bration)

Whisper White and either Pool Party, Lucky Limeade or Tangerine Tango cardstock base

Everyday Enchantment designer series paper & ribbon

Fresh Vintage and Outlined Occasions stamp sets

Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, Tangerine Tango inks

Scallop Circle punch (to make template for clouds), ½” circle and Petite Pennants Punches

Tiny Paper Daisies

I just could not resist quilling some more little paper daisies tonight. I m planning to use them to make Mother's Day Cards for the Troops. It will be nice to have a little stash of them like this when I am making my cards with the church ladies. I think they will go well with the little hearts we are also planning to make. Hearts and flowers for Mother's Day. It seems so right!

Shutter Fold Card

Special friends celebrated their 10th anniversary this month and I wanted to make them a memorable card. This one seemed to hit the spot! It's a Shutter Fold card and there are many examples of how to make this on the Internet. Maybe I'll put a tutorial up on PaperCraftCentral anyway one day. It isn't a hard card to make in spite of how it may look to someone who hasn't made one before.

The supplies are all from Stampin' Up!
So Saffron card base
Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper
Poppy Parade cardstock
Real Red ribbon
Stampin' Write markers in Poppy Parade and Bashful Blue
Every Moment Stamp Set
Poppy Parade and Bashful Blue ink
Scallop Oval, Oval and heart shaped paper shapers
Non-SU! letter stickers

PS: There is a tutorial for the Quilled Daisy on PaperCraftCentral.com 

Happy New Year! I really hope you are all having a good start to 2012. I had a wonderful time on a cruise ship and spent my New Year there. If you haven't been on a cruise, it was a lot of fun. Did you know they even have craft classes on cruises?? Ours was taken by the Entertainment crew, who also doubled as singers, dancers, musicians and actors other times. Talk about laugh! I focused on learning some more about quilling but we had the chance to learn some basic beading too. I plan to use my quilling skills a bit more often now. Next time I go on a cruise I will take my own paper scissors and glue, but really they did supply all the necessary items to do quilling. I just prefer my own scissors and glue! Lol! And then I could have kept going with projects in my cabin once the lessons were over, though I may not have as there was so much else to do and experience on the cruise.

The port hole in our cabin was a constant source of delight. It showed us when we were coming into ports, what the weather was like, the stars by night, oh it was lovely being able to just hop out of bed at night and watch the ocean rolling by. It was also a convenient platform for taking pictures of my quilled pieces!!

See how there is a good sized ledge available? I laid my crafty pieces out on this ledge and relied on the light from the sky and sea to illuminate them. How romantic! Sigh!

 Here's a double frilled flower I learned how to make. I must make a tutorial for you on PaperCraftCentral.com one day soon. They are easy to make with scraps of scrapbooking paper or thin cardstock.

 These quilled roses and leaves were easy to make as well. I placed them on the very end of a bookmark so I will always have a memory of the cruise whenever I use it.

I made a couple of cards too, I experimented with using different heights for the quilled elements here. With more time I would have filled up the entire heart! Lol!

 Again, Happy New Year and may you learn some new crafty techniques in 2012.

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!