Catch Up Continues - Convention 2010

So having never been to a SU convention I thought I'd go along as this year it was in the UK - incredible Croydon! As we were all going to have the same bag at convention here is the name tag I did to distinguish mine from others. I've used Soft Suede background card then craft with Sahara Sand background flower stamp from Vintage Vogue set. The double flowers printed from the hostess set Punch Potpourri in soft suede ink, then punched out by Boho Flowers and secured by an antique brass brad. Then for the name I used the first initial from the Broadsheet Alphabet then the remaining letters from Just perfect alphabet. I put the eyelet into the largest flower and then threaded some of the gorgeous organza ribbon for the finishing touch.

This is the general swap I took for the convention. As you can see I carried on with the same colour theme and got to play with new punches - woo hoo! I am truly hooked to the scallop trim corner and border punches that work well on a 10cm square. I used the bird and flower stamp from the Punch Potpourri set and then the Two step bird punch - et voila!

Will follow up soon with the two organised swaps I did for convention and other forms of inspiration - hope you're all having fabulous festivities and 2011 brings your hopes into realities! Keep on crafting Gen x

Training swaps

Should of mentioned this in the last post! Here are the swaps that I took along for the training event. Here I've used Pocket Silhouettes stamp set with Melon Mambo base card and Ink with Tempting Turquoise on Whisper White card stock, punched out with the circular and oval punches and 1/4" grosgrain ribbon. Then Rich Razzleberry base card and Ink with Old Olive and Always Artichoke ribbon - a colour mix that I wouldn't have tried, but having been having lots of fun with the colour coach to try out different colour combinations and I'm finding it a really useful tool! Keep on crafting! Gen x

Catch Up Queen!

This is the fabulous card we did at the Manchester regional training in September. Here we've used a Chocolate Chip base card then tearing the overlying Whisper White and rather delicious Cherry Cobbler. Then stamp set here is Contempo Christmas, sentiment stamped in Whisper White and then the bauble printed and punched out three times, folded in half and glued together for the three dimensional effect, finishing with the new 5/8" Organza Ribbon (IBC p97) - simply fabulous ;-)

This was followed by a Christmas tree treat bag with the same colour scheme and then a cellophane bag attached to the decorated header, to put your Gingerbread goodies or whatever sweet things take your fancy. I think this will be an added treat to my Christmas tree this year, a little surprise for my Nephews and Niece - any excuse for treats!

September Birthday Wishes!

Just a quick update - or at least in an effort to beat the backlog! Further indulgence into my passion for Pink and Turquoise and of course cakes! Birthday Girl Jordan let my girlie tendencies come to the surface ;-) Here I've used Tempting Turquoise card stock and ink, side punched with the eyelet border punch. Stamps were Vintage Vogue flower stamp as a Background and then also for the Regal Rose Ink flowers on the right with Rhinestone brads as centres. The Crazy for Cupcakes stamp is done in silver emboss then water coloured with Aqua painters and decorations coloured with stampin' write markers. Birthday Wishes from Sincere Salutations and then punched with oval and Regal Rose scalloped oval. Her presents were presented in a colour co-ordinating improvised bag - any excuse for the Melon Mambo polka dot bows - more projects to follow soon - honest, keep on crafting, Gen x

New Catalogue Launch!

Hooray! October is here and the NEW catalogue is launched - see the sidebar for details :-) Needless to say I have been seriously tempted and will be posting my newest lovelies here soon! Before all that excitement starts I have a few things to catch up with . . . A BIG thank you to all the lovely ladies at Llandrindod Card Club last September - we had a Christmas theme so that allowed us to do 2 cards and some tags.

First we tackled the Dasher card seen here on the right, this a simple white card with a 5cm Old Olive textured card stock with the scallop edge punch on the right side. I decided to put the fold of the card at the top allowing 5 small 1/2" holes to be punched and allows the red satin ribbon to be threaded in and out of the holes. Then Dasher was stamped in Chocolate Chip ink onto Whisper White card stock, trimmed and then placed onto the Real Red card stock to create a thin border. The Christmas sentiment came from the Season of Joy stamp set done again in Chocolate Chip ink punched out with the oval punch and then mounted onto the scalloped oval Chocolate Chip card stock, and glued into place overlapping the textured card stock.

The second card was an Easel card using the Season of Joy stamp set - using my favorite Old Olive ink for the So Swirly Jumbo wheel that I ran along the top of the 15x15cm Very Vanilla card stock and then the bottom of the inside of the card. I coloured the tree individually with the Stampin write markers to allow a yellow star, green tree and brown trunk. Then I used clear emboss for the red square sentiment and the poinsettia button to keep the easel upright - tah da!

Then we ended the workshop with these simple tags. I used the Sparkling Jumbo wheel on Very Vanilla as the background in a now retired colour. Then I printed the Sparkly & Bright motifs onto Whisper White card stock in Christmas colours - Chocolate Chip for Rudolf and then Garden Green and Real Red with some linen thread for the finishing touch.

The only other indulgence, was as we were doing Christmas themed things I did a little decoration display on white painted birch tigs for the workshop table to get everyone in the mood - let me know what you think ;-) Keep on Crafting Gen x

Card making Competition!

Well working through a whole weekend of card makers block I finally got down to making an entry for the Stampin' Up! section. As with all competitions now I've finished it I'd change the whole thing! As A Rose is a Rose stamp set is retiring and it was the first set that lured me into SU it was the obvious choice for me. Here I've used a 15x15cm square card, stamping off the small rose on the background whisper white card in Pretty in Pink ink so it just gives a very faint back drop. I've used Rich Razzleberry card at the left hand side with the Eyelet punch and matching Polka Dot Grosgrain ribbon from the 11 New Products Promotion. Then I stamped the large rose with Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry Ink on Whisper white card stock, with Garden Green for the leaf lightening the base shade by stamping off the first image. And the close up shot on the right shows that I layered the two flowers with a decoupage approach, as the 3-D nature of the print really lends itself to letting the rose jump out of the card. True to form less is always more with me and I kept the sentiment simple, using scalloped oval punch for the Rich Razzleberry border and stamping onto whisper white card with the Sincere Salutations stamp set.

As it was possible to have multiple entries I added this one for fun as it's my favorite colour combination - Regal Rose and Tempting Turquoise - both in the new Regals Collection. I love the detail of the Fine Flourish stamp, here done as a background on the Turquoise card in Silver Emboss, and also in a Kissing Technique where I used the Flower Accent stamp kissing the Fine Flourish Stamp when inked with Tempting Turquoise ink, onto Regal Rose card and then cut out and lined up with the background stamp, with a central Rhinestone brad for the flower and then placed on a Stampin dimensional to raise it up from the background card. This was then placed onto the Eyelet punched Regal Rose card and a simple strip of 1/4" turquoise ribbon on the right and then a simple greeting punched out with the word window punch. Would love to know what you think - keep on crafting Gen x

Designer Series Paper

Having bought and stashed lots of Designer Series Paper for a winter on Scrap booking, I was chatting with my Godmother about the recipes you pull out of mags and don't really want to write out again, when I thought about this Recipe File. This is just a display file that you can pick up at any stationers and some DSP from last years collection (have to make space for all the gorgeous ones that will be launched in October 2010). I simply cut the paper to size, and stamped the spine to read Recipe File with Express Alphabet set and then the gorgeous flowers from Vintage Vogue all in Ballet Blue ink. I was so pleased with the result after I posted this one to my Godmother I made one for myself - hooray!

All sorts of things happen when you have a week off - especially as I'm a fair weather gardener! My Brother & Sister-in-law wanted to display their Wedding cake decorations and having painted a deep display frame silver I put this wonderfully floaty DSP at the back to compliment the colour scheme et voila! Finally hung on the wall to enjoy forever :-)

Don't forget to check out the retiring list on the side bar and the Mini Catalogue will finish at the end of September so save your pennies then spoil yourself - that's my plan anyway! Keep on Crafting Gen x

August Celebrations!

Here on the left you can see the inspiration for one of my August Birthday cards. Here I've used Touch of Nature Stamp Set, with close to cocoa ink on cream card stock and then soft suede polka dot ribbon at the side and for the Birthday Greeting scallop oval.

Celebrations of love also let me play with the Simply Said set and the heart stamp from the Love You Much Stamp set and the heart punch, using Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry inks. Ribbon here is the 1" Double stitched Grosgrain Ribbon in Rose Red. With of course my favourite motto - less is more!

And finally the card for a fabulous Silver Wedding Anniversary (Congrats Noel & Heather). Here I've used the fabulous Baroque Motif background in Silver Emboss, with the Perfect Plum card punched out with the eyelet border, a couple of the large hearts punches with the matching stamp from the Love You Much Set and the greetings stamp the Cheer & Wishes set, and a silver organza ribbon that I had in my previous stash ;-) Keep on crafting Gen x

Two step stamping!

I have to admit that I have been creating with my Stamp-a-ma-jig (IB p90) quite a while before the August promotion (see right). I really like to be able to line the images up and the wipe clean image sheet and stamp positioner make it so easy. As the twins were two, I thought their Birthday cards had to be Trains - here I've used the Choo Choo stamp set (IB p39) in Real Red, Brilliant Blue and Garden Green Inks, with the Right on Track wheel in Chocolate chip, and the Schoolbook Serif Alphabet set for their names (IB p68). Couldn't resist the scallop oval looking like a cloud with the Birthday Greeting in :-)

And then the inside of the card continues with the letter theme and the reason that it's all such primary in colour is that it matches the play tent that I made them for their Birthday - Hooray!

Continuing the Birthday theme and playing with position, here I've used the Loads of Love (IB p31) and Trendy Trees (IB p39) stamp sets which are both in the promotion! It was quite a squeeze getting the two of us in the window of the truck, but it had to be done! I really love the trendy trees wheel as it creates such an effective backdrop which I have highlighted with a single raised tree in the centre. I have coloured the truck and parcels with the Aqua painters (IB p90), which I have found really useful as you can build up to the level of colour you desire, in my case colour the panels of the truck in different shades :-) Keep on crafting Gen xxx

August Promotion!

Use the side bar to find details of this months Stampin' Up! Two Step Promotion - will be posting my two step creations here soon, but undoubtedly adding to my stamp stash with the 20% enticement :-) Keep on Crafting Gen x

The Third dimension . . . . and beyond!

Having treated myself to the medallion background stamp (IB p60), as the free product entitlement in my last order, I could hardly wait to use it. Here you see it in Soft Suede Ink on a buff folder that I've had lying around for quite awhile. I'm really pleased with the result - my file is now instantly recognisable for my SU paperwork :-) I have to admit that the real inspiration for this piece came from a gift earlier in the year (thanks TLB), and the paper pattern of the magazine file is quite a close match. As you can see the file is perfect for mini catalogues and leaflets!

In that order I also ventured into Accents and Elements with a Flower Fusion pack (IB p83) as I have a serious love of felt, and before I knew it my earlier bookmark had reinvented itself into this . . .
Here you can see the bookmark in Old Olive card stock with the 1/2" circle punch used six times, to thread the Melon Mambo polka dot ribbon through. At the top I've used the scallop circle punch with Old Olive card stock then the 1 1/4" circle punch for the whisper white card stock to highlight the large Old Olive felt flower, then the smaller Rose Red flower secured by an Old Olive brad for the centre of the flower. Quick and easy, but nice to play around with the colours :-)

Talking about playing around with the colours I have just sorted through my Ink tower and cleared the retiring colours out to make way for the new additions that will come into being with the new Ideas Book & Catalogue in September. I have also been browsing the August special offer to see if there are any two step stamps sets I can't survive without and think I'll do some samples of the sets I already have to tempt you all with - have already done some cards with Trendy Trees - will share on the next post! Keep on crafting Gen x

Christmas in July!

As a last minute queen, it's a strange concept for me to be thinking about Christmas, let alone make Christmas cards in July! Thanks to a home workshop and particular stamp set requests we produced this selection of cards - trees being the theme. As there was also a specific request for Pocket Silhouettes (IB p50) I decided to bring it into the Christmas theme by using a circular piece of paper in the centre of the card, stamping around the circle in Real Red ink (IB p 72), always with the base of the stamp at the circular edge to create the wreath shape, finishing simply with a 3/16" red gingham ribbon (IB p87) at the bottom of the wreath. I made the holes for the ribbon using a small circular punch and hammer as it's too central in the card for hand held punches.

The next card we made uses the Scandinavian Season stamp set and wheel (IB p17). Being the Earth Elements girl that I am I've used Chocolate chip ink for the wheel which I printed onto the inside of the card, then cut off approx 2 cm of the front of the card so that you can see the printed reveal. Then I cut the ruby red textured paper so it was approx 5mm smaller than the front face of the card and used the paper pricking tool to created a border. The Merry Christmas greeting actually comes from the Season of Joy stamp set (IB p 18) which sits nicely into the oval punch (IB p89) on whisper white card stock and the the oval scallop punch (IB p89) in Chocolate chip card stock. The tree is done using the Emboss Resist technique where you use versa mark (IB p91) and clear embossing powder (IB p86) for the tree and then using a sponge dauber with the Old Olive ink pad to create the differing shades of the image by varying the intensity of ink - the embossed image remains the colour of the underlying card stock, in this case whisper white. The dots of the Merry Christmas greeting line up with the paper pricking border, attaching to the front of the card, overlying but not glued to the wheel border of the inside of the card. Just something a bit different :-)

We then did a super quick card - Jolly wheel border (IB p17) in night of navy ink on the right border of the front of the card first. Then using the Lovely as a Tree stamp set (IB p46) again versa ink the image then use white embossing powder on Night of Navy card stock (IB p73) and a single star brad at the top of the tree from the Hodgepodge hardware set (IB p85). Ta dah - keeping it simple saves time too.

And to finish the workshop we continued with the Lovely as a Tree set and played with the Stampin' write markers (IB p72). The base card stock is Really Rust with Very Vanilla on top. To ink the image I have used Old Olive, Garden Green, and Really Rust for the leaves, and Chocolate Chip for the trunk. When using markers for different sections of the stamp, it may take some time, simply breathe onto the stamp before placing it on the upper half of the card and this will rehydrate the ink and improve the image printed, and when the image is dry glue it into place onto the card. Then I cut a slit just behind the side fold of the card long enough to thread Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon (IB p87) through and tie into a knot at the right side of the card. The greetings sentiment comes from the Trendy Trees stamp set (IB p39), Really Rust Ink on very vanilla card stock - fitting into the oval punch with Really Rust scalloped punch to emphasise it. More trendy trees in the next installment, and hopefully will put onto my side bar the new offer for August - excitement! Keep on crafting Gen x

Thanks so much!

I have has lots to be thankful for lately so thought I would let you see how I've been saying thanks :-) On the right you see the card I did for Chris at the SU demo support centre - he's been very encouraging for all my SU efforts. I used the new Soft Suede cardstock and ink with my favourite Baroque motif (Idea Book p57) for the background with the baroque wheel in Chocolate Chip ink on kraft cardstock as the bottom frieze. Having just received shimmer paint (Mini Cat p21) in Frost white, I stamped the greeting from the sincere salutations stamp set (IB p62), onto soft suede (using a sponge dauber - see close up on the left), and oval punched it, with the oval scallop punch being in kraft cardstock again. Being a huge fan of all things tiny, I couldn't resist the tiny tag (Punch MC p6 and stamps p15), of thanks so much, which I attached to the motif with a pewter brad. Hope he liked it, and that the postie liked the envelope!

Have had a few orders lately, and not being organised enough to have batches of cards to send out, I've been making them as I needed them. On the right you see the fabulous Fresh cut notes and stamp set (IB p53 & p80), in Melon Mambo card stock with Rich Razzleberry ink and silver brad to secure the central flower on the top.

Next, but continuing with the same colour combination, I've mixed the Simply Said (IB p59) stamp set and Flight of the Butterfly (IB p43) The Melon Mambo butterfly is printed and punched whereas the Rich Razzleberry is printed straight onto the card.

When I was flicking through the Idea Book I saw on page 50 a card layout that I've adapted for the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set and the colour choice was easy as this went to someone who has a penchant for purple. The thing that I love most about this card is that it was really quick, but not quite a quick as these . . . . . .

These are truly the fastest I've made to date! 5-Petal punch (IB p89) in Old Olive and Melon Mambo respectively, with a rhinestone brad for the flower centre on Grosgrain ribbon. With the Melon Mambo card I stamped the tips of the petals in the same colour ink with a flower stamp from the tiny tags set - really am hooked ;-) Both of these cards are made on the lovely Love Notes (IB p80) and are only 7.6cm square - really cute! Keep on crafting - hope to post more tomorrow!

Thank you Llandrindod Card Club!

A big thank you to Llandrindod Card club, (and particularly Teressa who asked me along), who meet on the second
Sunday of the month, who asked me to demonstrate in June.

As you can see from these photos they were a very productive group. We did the workshop listed earlier where everyone got to make and take the three projects (bookmark, card and gift bag in Rich Razzleberry and Melon Mambo), they had made that day. I enjoyed it enormously and hope that we can do it all again some day.


Also thanks to those that placed orders, hope you're enjoying your new goodies :-) Thanks again - keep on crafting GenGen x

Birth Day and Birthdays!

So welcome to the world little Howie! Although now months old by the time I post this blog! Just wanted to show you the congrats card I made :-) All in Bashful Blue - I used the Nursery jumbo wheel at the side - highlighting the edge of the h in silver and adding peel offs to spell his name. The teddy from the Bundle of Joy stamp set (Bashful blue ink on bashful blue card stock), with a couple of greetings from my stash to welcome this sweet little one.

Here on the right you see one of my recent Birthday cards - I am truly getting carried away with the new colours - here I've used Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry. Another excuse to use the Baroque Motifs background stamp and flowers. For the central flower I've used the flower stamp from the new a la carte range in the mini and then shaded the edges by using the darker colour on the edges of the petal leaves with the sponge daubers, securing the centre with a glitzy clear rhinestone brad. The melon mambo polka dot ribbon at the side was too girlie to resist, et voila!

And finally for this post - in an effort to catch up with the backlog of my absence I think I'll have to try and blog daily to let you see what I've been up to! A simple Birthday card for the cake making extraordinaire that is Graham - my cake may well of been paper, but it's the thought that counts! Continuing my fascination with turquoise I choose that as the background card stock. The cup cake comes from the Crazy for Cupcakes stamp set and here I have silver embossed the image to allow easier water colouring for the cupcake base and icing - the sprinkles have been coloured using the stamp write markers. The sentiment here is from the Sincere Salutations stamp set and the flowing writing is just moreish! Will blog again soon to show you the other goings on, especially the June workshop - many thanks to the Llandrindod Card Making group :-)

Make and take!

So here is a quick peek at the three items that we did at the workshop last Saturday! I have taken inspiration from the gorgeous new release colours so here you see Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry and the Soft Suede, and also inspired by Jamie Loves Paper blog that I watch (see my blog list) where she used one stamp set (Simply Said) in different ways - WITH a bookmark - really inspired, thanks Jamie :-)

I love SU ribbon so much that it wasn't difficult to come up with lots of different ways to use it. The bookmark was a particular fave for me as I simply punched 6 holes with the 1/2" circle along the Rich Razzleberry card and used the heart punch for the base of the topper in the Melon Mambo card stock with razzleberry ink, then contrasting Melon Mmabo stamp of the central heart flowers on Whisper White card stock. Simple yet effective, and really easy to do. Then we moved quickly onto the card, I'm a big fan of anything quick and easy and having treted myself to the Sweet Pea Designer Series paper I thought this would be the ideal opportunity to introduce more paper into my card making. So, we started off with our C6 size cards from Rich Razzleberry cardstoch - stamping the top half of the card with the same ink and the background flowers of the Simply Said stamp set. Then we put the stricking circular paper on the bottom half of the card - covering the join with the Soft Suede 1/2" polka dot grosgrain ribbon. Finally we made a topper with the sentiment stamp from the same set punching it with the oval and then the scallop oval in Soft Suede et voila! I think the patterned paper really brings all the colours together.

For the finale we did a 3D item in the form of a small bag - and as I was having a girlie phase with the new hues couldn't resist using the Rhinestone brads for the real bling factor. We started by background stamping the body of the Melon Mambo bag in Rick Razzleberry ink - I used two different sizes of flower for this, and then the small flower stamp for the handle too. Then we eyelet punched the razzleberry scalloped edge and attached, added the dolka dot ribbon, formed the container, added the topper made by stamping onto whisper white punched circle onto razzleberry scalloped circle and then took a small piece of ribbon and formed the bow used the brad to make the knot (thanks for the fab You tube demo Monica). I am really pleased with the results as the dots in different formats seem to work well. I would like to thank Mandy, Jo & Finlay for attending the workshop, and although we were a select group we had lots of fun :-) Leave a comment to let me know what you think - and if you would like this demo at your workshop simply email me. Keep on crafting - Gen x

Workshop temptation!

So just to tantilise before I show you what we made at the workshop on Sat 29th May, here is a photo of the inspiring stash that I simply couldn't resist from SU :-) With the eleven new products calling out to be ordered I thought the best way to make the Colour transistion was to throw myself into it head long - and have to say its been lots of fun. So of course we have Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo and Soft Suede, with co-ordinating ribbons and card stock!

Then to kick start my Scrapbooking I treated myself to the Cottage Wall Designer Series paper which has gone straight into a 12x12 album that was sitting very folornly in the cupboard, and I have used the Printed Window sheets as the first and last page of the album - dah nah! Just photos to find now and I'll be on my way! So keep an eye out for my first tentative steps, I'll post my efforts here - keep on crafting, Gen x

Time flies!

Sorry not to have a picture with this post, but have been a bit rushed for time of late. I am hosting a workshop at my home for a few crafty friends so am trying to formulate a theme for a fun time for all - using the newly released colours (see flyer on the right), for inspiration. The only difficulty I find is limiting myself! As I truly get carried away with all the fabulous SU products and their versatility. Hay ho, I'm sure by Friday I will have come to the conclusion as most of my decisions are made close to the deadline - hee hee! Carry on crafting Gen x

Birthday Boy!

Continuing my Turquoise theme, and as always mixing and matching different stamp sets with the same theme of stars. Here I have used Starring You as seen on p77 of the current idea book, and In the Stars p 55. I have used Tempting Turquoise, Night of Navy and Kraft whisper white inks, of varying intensities as always! I am so loving the word window punch as now all my greetings can be the perfect topper - hoorah! The ribbon here I picked up at antiques fair - who'd of thought it? Not my husband, that's for sure - hee hee hee!

And just to finish off this card, I stamped the inside with this stamp - adding 10th as it was for my nephew Davon - hope that your Birthday was fabulous - double figures now :-)

Carrying on with Kissing ;-)

As you can see here I have a Turquoise and Pink fascination at the moment! I really love the Fine Flourish stamp from the "a La carte" section of the Mini :-) Here I kissed the Flower Accent stamp in Tempting Turquoise onto Pixi Pink cardstock, and then used a stampin' dimensional to lift it from the inked turquoise panel of the whole Fine Flourish stamp. Have been looking for an excuse to use my new Eyelet Border punch and thought it worked well in the pink, with a simple ribbon strip in turquoise and greeting perfectly framed with the word window punch - almost a shame to send it, but I hope you had a wonderful Birthday Sarah! ;-) Gen x

Colour Renovation!

Here you see the new Colour Collections that SU will be introducing in the new Idea Book & Catalogue in October 2010. There are four colour collections, with ten colours in each.

As an Earth Elements fan it has taken me quite a long time to get the new collections into my head and come to terms with loosing these colours all together . . .

. . . .well, from next October! I am consoling myself with the extension of the Neutrals Collection. Looking at the collections, they all seem to have a red, yellow, green and blue aspect, and as an 80's Rainbow child I now love them all! Also, there are several similar shades that are retiring and that leaves the new colour collections with vibrancy and better mix and match possibilities, making colour co-ordination even easier! New colours means new favourites :-)