Window Sheet Card

Today I held a class and had one new lady join us, it was lovely to meet her and I think she had a great time, and was so happy with her creations being a very first time stamper. I decided that I would showcase  a couple of new items from the current catalogue and show the ladies how quick and easy this card was to make. We used the new Secret Garden Stamp set and also the matching Framelits that match all the stamps....it makes cutting out so much easier, a few turns of the handle of the Big Shot and you are in business! We also used the Finishing Touches Edgelits to give the lacy look to the cardstock. The DSP used was retired as was the stamp for the greeting that was stamped on the inside of the card on the right hand side so it was visible when the card front was closed. I had seen these cards before, and this time my inspiration came from Vicky a very good friend and a very talented papercrafter. Till next time......

Direct Ink to Paper Technique

Direct to Paper Technique or DPT is a very simple but effective way to create a back ground in a matter of seconds! The thing to remember when you first attempt this technique is be 'lightly as you go' When you have done it a couple of times and feel a little more adventurous you may well want to see the effects that you can have by being a bit more heavy handed with the inks you are using. I followed a tutorial by Michelle Zhindorf changed the colours, the embossing folder used and added some brads to the bottom corner of the card. I am going to show the ladies that come to the class this week how to do this wonderfully simple technique. I used Marina Mist for my base, and the houndstooth embossing folder on the old olive card stock. The DITPT card front was mounted on Always Artichoke and the little corners were made by punching out a 1 3/8" square and cutting it diagonally in half and placing behind the Always Artichoke on the top and bottom corners on the non opening side of the card. On the inside of the card I  used the same image as the front using Sahara Sand but off stamped it three times before stamping of the Whisper White insert. This is so there is just a very faint image and therefore able to write over it if required. This is such a fun technique and I hope you will try it. Till next time

Get Well or Hope you feel better challenge

Hi Stampers this week I set the challenge at Sunny Challenges and Creations, the brief was very simple just create a Get Well Card scrap page of 3D item. Even though I set the challenge I still had to think about what I wanted to do. I took a piece of Marina Mist card stock, folded in half and then in half again on the front opening.  I then placed the beginning of the folded front half in the big shot and using the largest of the  Apothecary Accents Framelits cut out 1/2 the shape, I also cut a full framelit the same size but using Twitterpad DSP. I then embossed the card front using the Elegant Lines embossing folder twice to get embossed coverage to the whole of the card front, and then I folded the 'scrap piece' back to the centre of the card. I used white taffeta ribbon to the front and adhered it under the back flap of the front. I used the Word Play stamp set for my sentiment and punched it out with the Decorative Label Punch and sponged around the outer edge with Marina Mist. For the inside of the card I used the Tulips embossing folder on Whisper white card stock and added the flower image from Serene Silhouettes, which I had stamped off three times before adding it to the Whisper White. Kris, Vicky and I hope you will play along with us the next two weeks on Sunny Challenges and Creations, and check out what our guest designers have come up with for the challenges as well. Till next time....

Sunny Challenges 74/13

This week over at Sunny Challenges and Creations, it was Vicky's turn to present the challenge. Vicky gave us this sketch and it was to be an Easter card. First up my thoughts turned to the usual Easter Bunnies, chocolate eggs, adorable little chicks and so on. When I eventually banished these images from my mind I came up with this creation.

 My card base is Whisper White, and I have matted that with a strip of Raspberry Ripple that was embossed with the Honeycomb embossing folder that I ran through the Big Shot. I matted  piece of Whisper White onto another piece of Raspberry Ripple, and using the masking technique I stamped the large flower from Everything Eleanor and then stamped another flower image, cut it out and attached it to the centre flower with  dimensional. I off stamped the flourish using Gumball Green. The sentiment from Well Scripted stamp set is stamped in Raspberry Ripple and punched out using the Scallop Oval Punch. To finish it off I dabbed Silver Dazzling details on the stamens of each flower. We love to see your creations too and who knows you could be our next Ray of Sunshine, till next time...... 

Flower Treat Holder

The weather here in not so sunny Queensland is keeping many of us indoors, so today I thought that I would make some flower treat holders. I first saw some that Kris had made, following a tutorial at Stamp Academy . They have the most amazing tutorials there and the projects are so easy with step by step instructions both by video and PDF. I loosely based mine on those, instead of using Hearts a Flutter and the coordinating framelets, I used Fun Flowers Bigz L die and using the large and the smaller flower, I ran the DSP through the Big Shot. Some of the DSP is current and some is not. I was using up what I had on my work bench...so much better to use it up than have to put it away! I also used some non SU Jumbo type brads in the shape of a flower and some others that I either tied a bow on or threaded ribbon through the eyelets of them. I basically followed the instructions supplied. I filled the cello bags with M & M's and Smarties. I know the grandies will love these. Till next time...

Valentines Day

This year I decided to make some small heart shaped gift boxes that Crafty Maria had on her blog and she had cased them from HERE. They were so easy to make and so quick, I thought perhaps if I made a few and a few cards then I would be covered. because I dont usually sell a great many at my market stall for Valentines Day. For whatever reason this year was very different from the last 3 years and I couldnt keep up with cards (maybe the newsagent running out had something to do with it).
The heart covered card was made from Whisper White and matted with Real Red. I used some scraps of card stock and DSP  some current and some retired and punched away with my retired triple heart punch, I then adhered them to the card stock and run the card stock through the Big Shot using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. Using my heart Framelits I Cut out some hearts this time using the Bigshot and embossed them using the polka dot embossing folder, I attached the small heart with a dimensional and added a basic rhinestone to the centre.  The next card was one I CASED on a blog and I can not remember who it was. So if the triple heart card looks familiar and is yours please let me know so that I can give you credit for your creation.It uses Riding Hood Red, Melon Mambo and Primrose Petals, each punched heart punched out and placed onto matching cardstock with a dimensional. These were attached to Whisper White Cardstock with a trim of Dotted Scallop Border Trim Punch. The last card is one that is just all the left over hearts that I had punched out and I made them to look what I thought was hearts overflowing from a box. I then trimmed the bottom of the box with some of the smallest hearts from the retired triple heart punch. These were all quick to do and apart from the sentiment had no stamping on them

Feeling Sentimental........

This weeks challenge with Sunny Challenges and Creations was to use some of those lovely Sale-a-bration items that we have received for free when placing an order of $100.00. You have to admit that it is not hard to spend $100 with so many wonderful things available to us in the Holiday Mini or The 2012-2013 Catalogue. I decided to make some coasters using the three picture images from the Feeling Sentimental set, and to do this I used the Scallop Circle Die and some backing cardboard from the Silver Glitter Card stock and run it through the Big Shot. I did the same with the First Edition Specialty Paper and some cork sheet that I had on hand here. I Stamped the images using Early Espresso on the Specialty paper and adhered it to the scallop shape of the cardboard, cork backing and the Limited Edition SP using my Anywhere Glue Stick (love that stuff). I then sponged the image and the SP with Soft Suede to give it an Antique look. To finish it off I covered the top with Crystal Effects and let dry. I love the way they have turned out and think I may be making more of these as small gifts. My next project was to make a card using the telephone box. Once again I used the Limited Edition SP on the bottom section of the card and Whisper White which I had embossed using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder, on top of a Real Red Base. I added a strip of Real Red which I had punched with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border. The phone box image was stamped using Real Red once again on Whisper White and matted onto a piece of Basic Black card stock. Very simple and very effective. Till next time, take care.