Craft Market!

Today I took the plunge with a good girlfriend and set up a stall at her Craft Market. We sure had a good day! It was hot and humid, but we had such lovely visitors and enjoyed chatting with them while they browsed through our products :) We think we shall hold a monthly market since we were so encouraged by today.

Here's a picture of my table at the Market:

 

The picture is a bit over exposed, sorry. The day was so bright and we had our tables set up in the shade, so it was hard to get my Tablet to take a decent shot! You'll see a few things you might recognise from the Stampin' Up! catalogues, though :)

I'll let you know when the next Craft Market is on. Maybe you can come to visit, if you are n the area. I'd love to meet you!

Dreamy Flowers and Scattered

The final pair of cards in my Gift Card series was done with various shades of purple. I used Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum and some Wisteria Wonder. There is also soem Rich Razzelberry in there. I punched and shaped a few little flowers for the card on the right and added a pearl to their centres. The leaves on the right were done with Bermuda Bay ink and I added detail with a silver pen.

Simple Butterfly Cards

It's easy to make simple cards with a butterfly stamp set. When you have the coordinating butterfly punch, it's also easy to pop up a butterfly to add more interest. These little cards only required a couple of different colours of ink to make them pretty. I shimmer sprayed the one on the right and added a pearl to the popped up butterfly on the left.

The Papillon Potpourri stamp set is one of the most frequently reached for stamp sets I have :) 

EDITED: Colours used (inks and cardstock) were Wisteria Wonder, Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo and Elegant Eggplant.

Butterflies and Flowers

I just love the So Very Grateful stamp set in the Occasions Mini. You can only order it till then end of March. I am hoping it will be in the new annual catalogue due out in June, but who knows? Glad I got mine anyway. I kind of reminds me of an embroidery pattern too. Hmm. Maybe I could embroider something with it one day.

These little cards are great as gift cards or just to drop someone a special note. The butterfly card is stamped with Papillon Potpourri and Betsy's Blooms. I like the new little scallop circle punch as it is perfect for little cards like this.

Enjoy your day!

Flowery Notes

I enjoyed making these cards. I plan to stamp my sentiment on them when I need a card fro something.A simple 'hello', 'for you', 'happy birthday' or even 'I'm sorry' would really finish them off. They were so quick and easy to make!

Little Cards

Here are a couple more of the little cards I made the other night. I used Betsy's Blooms on the card on the right. The card on the left was made with my two butterfly punches and a few flowers form my Itty Bitty punch set. A Stampin' Write marker and the retired Spritzer tool helped me make the splatters. Of course I added some rhinestones to make the cards pop. Gotta have bling :)

Gift Cards

I am having a run of making little gift cards lately. Here's a couple I made tonight:

 They are about 3" x  4" (7.5cm x 10.5cm). I made a dozen or so tonight in a single batch. It's quicker to do that. I made envelopes to match them too, using the envelope punch board. It's great to have a batch of these on hand for those special occasions.

Spiral Rose Layout

I just love the new Spiral Rose Die from Stampin' Up! (item number 129379, $29.95, available for a short time only). I keep finding new ways to use it. This month I created a layout using the die to make all the flowers and its negative image as a stencil to make the background behind the photo. I used a couple of the lovely Sale-A-Bration (SAB) stamp sets to stamp rows of flowers and the sentiment. Sale-A-Bration is on till March 31st, and you can order a FREE product from the SAB catalogue for each $90 you spend. Shop with me now to get your goodies :)

Anyway, back to the layout. I used Whisper White and Blasic Black cardstock and made the flowers from Soft Sky, Rich Razzleberry and Basic Black cardstock. I brushed some of them with gold ink. The fringed border and one of the flowers are made with the new Fringe Scissors. I added air dried clay centres with glitter on them, rhinestones and brads too. (Thank you to Traci Cornelius for lots of lovely ideas for how to use this die!)

Here it is!

 

PS: That's my husband and me in the picture :) It was a fun photo shoot.

Supply List:

1.       Spiral Rose Die (129379) $29.95

2.       Fringe Scissors (133325) $16.95

3.       Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding (120992) $11.95

4.       Sale-A-Bration Stamp Sets Petal Parade (133602 in clear mount, 133599 in wood mount), You’re lovely stamp set (133575 in wood mount, 133578 in clear mount) each FREE With a $90 order during Sale-A-Bration (be sure to order before  31^st March and get a FREE product for every $90 spent).

Remember you can order from my website 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week 

 

Spiral Rose Die Heart Wreath

Yes, I am still loving to use my Spiral Rose Die! I have had a fun time this week making felt and paper roses. I made this little wreath using a wooden frame I got at Spotlight, by hot gluing the flowers onto the frame and adding some bits of ribbon. I might fill in a bit more of the frame with ribbon (seam binding) before I'm done:

Here's a picture frame i dressed up with some felt spiral roses and Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding:

I have also put together a banner I got for free by making a $90 order! I love Sale-A-Bration time. I am getting a lot of new product for free this way :) (Find out how to get your own free products here).
The photos I have taken of the banner have washed it out due to having a dark background so I will move it and take a picture for you before too long.

Have a great stamping and crafting day!

News

You might have noticed I have been using a few new items in my projects lately, like the Spiral Rose die? I wanted to let you know that you can order these items for yourself now because there is a new catalogue full of goodies available at Stampin' Up! Australia.

The New All Occasions Mini Catalogue has arrived! As well it is Saleabration time for Stampin Up. That means you can get FREE goodies with orders over $90 during Sale-A-Bration, AND the kit you get for becoming a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator is even more fantastic than usual. Check out all the specials and new goodies by clicking on the catalogues picture to the right.

The Occasions Catalogue runs till the end of June and Sale-A-bration Rewards run till 31st March.
Woo hoo!

Wedding Card and Wedding Card Box

I love weddings. I love the happiness and the memories that are etched on our minds by weddings. I think they should always be an occasion where I take special care to do something really nice. So I was very happy to make something special for my friends who were married on the weekend.

My friends had a Wishing Well instead of a present table, so I really wanted my card to be special. Here's the card I made for them using all kinds of Stampin' Up! products, both new and retired. It is a gate fold card:

I made the Bride's dress with the Dress Up (130101) thinlit and added to her dress length by cutting a few more dress bottoms out and layering them. I hand drew and cut the groom's outfit. His button rose is a teeny tiny spiral rose I made with the smallest scalloped circle punch. The larger roses are of course made with the Spiral Rose die (129379) (available TOMORROW!) I used an Expressions thinlit (132171) (retiring TOMORROW!) for the word, and nestled a Frosted Finishes embellishment (132150) (also retiring TOMORROW!!) in amongst the roses. That's white organza ribbon (114319) and the embossing folder used on the dress is retired. The one I used on the background is the Pretty Print Textured Impressions one (132175) (retiring TOMORROW!) I used retired SU stamp and other manufacturer stamped greetings on the inside, and made the little scalloped money envelope with a retired Big Shot die. I hand cut the hearts.I finished off the card by adding some pearls to the dress, the flowers, even to the groom's buttonhole. And I used some silver shimmer paint to highlight and edge the bride's dress.

The spiral roses made the card TALL. I also used nearly a whole A4 sheet of Whisper White and Basic Black cardstock to make the card, so it was tall too.

That meant I needed a card box, not a card envelope. So I made one:

The silver is actually roof flashing bought at a hardware store, then put through my Big Shot with a retired embossing folder. I carefully blunted the edges before mounting it to the top of the box. I used similar products to decorate the top - the Spiral Rose die, white organza ribbon, pearls...but I added their surname by cutting out individual letters with my Big Shot using a retired set of alphabet dies.

Did I say I had fun?

I had fun.

I think the bride and groom liked it when they opened it, too.

Congratulations again, Mr and Mrs Newlyweds!

The Spiral Rose Die is Coming!

I love that I can pre-order new goodies from Stampin' Up! because I am a demonstrator :) That's just one of the perks of becoming a demo. I pre-ordered the new Spiral Rose die that is going to be generally available from January 28th and have been playing with it a lot! First I made some cardstock and designer series paper roses, but I gave them away almost immediately. So then I made a felt rose broach, a cardstock rose and I made some clay air dried roses just to see how they all compared with each other size-wise. The felt version is the largest because felt is fatter than cardstock:

Pretty, hey!

Then I wanted to see how they would look on a standard sized card, so I lay them on this card blank:

I think they are going to feature on lots of my projects! I can also imagine them on box lids, presents and home decor projects. I can just make them in any colour or quantity I want now :)

There are a few hints and tips for making them and Stampin' Up! has a little video showing a few of these:

In the meantime, I have been wearing my little felt rose pin. I hand cut the rose leaf out of felt too:

I loooove my new die.

PS: You can order a Spiral Rose die for you from Jan 28th. Just use product code 129379.

A Watery Card

Today I am going to share a watery card with you. It is doubling as a masculine birthday card as well. You see, my son-in-law and husband and sons and some of my friends all think fish are wonderful. Some fish just for the pleasure of fishing, some want to catch their dinner and have fresh fish, others like to set up and keep fish in aquariums. So the By The Tide stamp set has been getting a great workout in my craft room these past few months!

I remembered that I had read a tutorial about how to make a water card with a small plastic bag and some clear hair gel, so decided to give it a go. Here is the result:

 

I used the retired cardstock Baja Breeze but also current cardstocks and inks - Bermuda Bay and Midnight Muse and Whisper White. I heat embossed  my fish in Midnight Muse then sponged him in Bermuda Bay and So Saffron, and added some silver gel pen highlights.

The background is from one of our designer series paper stacks in Island Indigo, stamped over with Bermuda Bay ink to show the coral.

I added some stamped images in Bermuda Bay and Midnight Muse for the card front too. The porthole is made with two of Stampin' Up's! circle dies, and the studs are more silver gel pen dots.

I mounted my fish on top of another stamped image of the same fish.

The plastic bag has hair gel in it but also some blue and green chunky glitter.

I sure hope he adds pleasure to your birthday, Luke!

Happy New Year!

Where did last year go? Now we are already into the first part of 2014. Did you make any crafty New year's resolutions? I did. This year I am going to plan to make something for Christmas 2014 each month. Then I will be much more prepared to just cruise through the month of December without as much stress happening.

This week I made a card for a male friend who is spending lots of time in the hospital. The new seasonal colours are in the purple/orchid shades, so I decided to challenge myself to make a male card using just shades of purple with silver accents. I started with a Wisteria Wonder card base, then layered on Elegant Eggplant and Perfect Plum. I stamped my images form the By the Tide stamp set in Wisteria Wonder and Elegant Eggplant then  stamped a separate fish in Versamark and heat embossed it with silver embossing powder before cutting it out. I popped this main image up and added some retired twine, then popped up the entire main image layer on the card. I finished off with some dots made with the White Gel pen.

The inside is lined with ordinary printer paper and i wrote my message with an Elegant Eggplant Stampin' Write marker.

 

What do you think? Is it 'male' enough? I hope it cheers my friend up and helps him know that his friends miss him. Get well soon, Pete!

Supply List:

 

By the Tide stamp set 131910 (wood) 129120 (clear)

Elegant Eggplant cardstock 108614

Perfect Plum cardstock 108615

Wisteria Wonder cardstock 124389

White gel pen  105021

Wisteria Wonder inkpad 126985
Perfect Plum inkpad 126963
Elegant Eggplant inkpad 126969
Versamark inkpad 102283
Silver embossing powder 109131

Curled Paper Wreath

I just love my new curled paper wreath. I followed Lyn Webb's instructions for how to make one and enjoyed a social night with her and some friends as well, while making it. Don't you just love that about Stampin' Up! and paper crafting? You get to make new friends who have similar interests and who 'get' your papercrafting hobby like no one else does! Lol!

Anyway, here is my wreath:

It really looks beautiful in real life because the silver glimmer paper in the snowflakes and the strips of it curled into the wreath really sparkle in the light.

I was imagining having a series of these for other special occasions too. If you decorate for Valentine's Day, make one with pinks and whites and hearts and flowers. If you decorate for Hallowe'en, make one from orange and black papers with bats and pumpkins. If you want one to just look gorgeous, choose papers and rosettes or other embellishments to suit your decor. Imagine the possibilities!

Oh, you want to know how to make one now, don't you. You can find the instructions and supplies I used for this project at PaperCraftCentral

You're welcome. Merry Christmas.

Christmas Lights Technique

We had such fun at our craft class this week! I had a few little projects and one card, plus a gift bag for my ladies to play with making. The technique we tried was the Christmas Lights technique showcased by Lydia. We really enjoyed trying it out! I made a little city scape card too to show how you can use the technique for different glowing light occasions. I'll show that when I take a picture. But in the meantime, here is one of the cards we made using a Christmas tree shape:

I used the cupcake wrapper from the cupcake punch to make a stand for the tree, and more white gel pen of course. The bow is made of Cherry Cobbler seam binding and the star at the top is one of the large rhinestones. The background stamp is the Love and Joy one from the current seasonal catalogue, and I used Wisteria Wonder and Perfect Plum cardstock.

Basically, you take a white gel pen and make your Christmas lights, then you use chalks and a cotton bud to add a coloured glow to each light. We set our chalks with a light misting of shimmer paint mixed with rubbing alcohol.

We also made some of Vicki's Santa punch tags:

I love that you write in the beard part. Lol!

And we made some envelope punch board tags:

And finally we made some cute little table decoration lolly bags that looked like plum puddings!

Of course we had yummy food, lots of laughs and exchanged little gifts and cards amongst ourselves. It really is wonderful to have made such good friends through our mutual love of paper crafting.

This was the last crafty class of the year fro me, but I have a few more exciting projects I'm working on before the 25th! I'll be back when I have pictures of them. I hope your December crafting is going well!

Time for a Christmas tree pic or two

I got my tree up and decorated and just love the look of the new owl ornament I found this year :) I thought I would show it to you and see what you think:

Isn't she cute? I guess she is a she. I don't know how to tell with owl decorations (or real owls either, come to think of it! Lol!)

Christmas Card Craft Mode

Yes, I am into Christmas Card Craft Mode now. It is so close to the time I will need to send overseas cards. The last class I had here was about Christmas. Here's the Julie Gearinger inspired card we made:

The colours are Always Artichoke and Cajun Craze, with Ivory cardstock as a base for the main images. I used Crumb Cake for the background, using the letterign from the Open Sea stamp set. The Flowering Flourishes set is so pretty for the swirly bits. I used my new That's the Ticket stamp set for the sentiment (there is also a matching punch). We stamped and coloured the images, then masked them to add the background, added shadows to increase the look of depth for the swirly bits, then sponged around the edges in Crumb Cake and finally distressed and curled/split the corners. We added plain glitter glue to the circles, though some class members added rhinestones or pearls instead.

The sentiment is heat embossed in gold and the double bow is made from 7/8" Cotton Ribbon.

All products are available in the main Stampin' Up! catalogue or in the current mini catalogue.

We also made a little gift bag using the Christmas Star stamp. I'll show that to you later :)

Now I am off to the craft desk for more Christmas Card Craft!

A File Folder Card

 I realised tonight that I may not have shared one of the cards we made at Craft Class recently. I think I showed you the Merry file folder card though? I made this one the same day in case anyone had a birthday or other special event coming up, or in this case needing a thank you card.

Yes, the card is definitely made with the Envelope Punch Board that makes it so easy to make the file tabs on the card and its insert. I put a diagonal corner on the insert so I could add a gift card to it when I give it away.

I even made the matching envelope with the Envelope Punch Board!! Punches and Thinlits were of great use too :) I like to make this type of card a little bigger than usual so it is really nice to be able to make a pretty envelope that fits the card comfortably.

What craft project are you working on now? For me it is time to make my personal Christmas cards. I gave all the ones I made this year away to the Cards for Troops drive, so I need to get busy. I'm going to go to a craft retreat this weekend and that is what I plan to work on. I hope I get lots done. As I am going away with friends, there is lots of chatting to catch up on too! Lol!

If you want to know what specific supplies I used on this card, leave me a note and I will edit this post. You can always shop 24/7 at SusanSalutations.

Happy crafting!

Christmas Star

The single stamp The Christmas Star is really fun to play with. I love that you can stamp it flat, or can score its lines and make it 3d. You can even put it back to back with another stamped and folded star to make a 3d tag or ornament! I saw it made into an even bigger ornament by pairing it with the Rosette die.

Here's a card I made with the stamp as a 3d image with some glitter glue picking out the design. I put a rhinestone in the middle of the star:

That's the Winter Frost Designer Series paper stack in the background with the pretty silver ribbon under the star. Both are in the mini catalogue and available till the end of December. I used a retired sentiment stamp. The star is stamped in Island Indigo.

I've been crafting again today with the Christmas Stamp so will show you what I made after Craft Class on Tuesday :)

Meanwhile, I am also getting ready for a weekend Retreat next weekend. I want to make loads of Christmas Cards fro my friends and relatives. I can't wait!