Happy Easter

Gosh, another whole month has passed by since I blogged….   I’m ashamed of myself.  Many of you know how busy life has been for me just lately and following my fantastic new catalogue launch party last Saturday, my dear friend Flo gave me this terrific easter basket idea to use in our class this week.  This adorable little basket was such a simple and fun project to make, especially the last step which was to fill it up with chocolate eggs.

Everyone made their basket in various colours but this one is done in Almost Amethyst cardstock and stamped with Baroque Motifs in the same colour ink.  I used Pretty In Pink for the small flowers and Barely Banana to punch the scallop square and sponge the Easter Wishes message.  The bunny is from the ‘A New Little Someone’ set which is now retired from Stampin’ Up!  I stamped the bunny onto Whisper White card and coloured with my markers and aquapainter…… so cute !!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Easter weekend.

TTFN

x Tina

Summer by the Sea

Summer By The Sea has been another of my favourite Stampin’ Up! stamp sets….. and although it’s retiring I’m not in a hurry to part with it – in fact, I think these lovely stamps will remain in my collection for a long time.

Here’s how I made this card:

Cardstock:  Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Cameo Coral, Watercolour Paper.

Ink:  Stazon Jet Black

Accessories:  Markers in Cameo Coral, Old Olive, Pixie Pink, Creamy Caramel and Bashful Blue, Afternoon Tea DSP, Silver Brads, Lg Oval Punch

The Happiness Always stamp is from the retired Sale-a-bration stamp set which I think was called Happy Harmony.  To do the watercolouring, I used the brush tip of the marker to outline the areas of the stamped image and then used my aquapainter to blend and drag the colour to where I wanted it.  This technique takes some practice but once you get the hang of it, it’s a nice easy way to get a really effective water coloured look.  It’s hard to see in the photo but I watercoloured the sky with Bashful Blue – I scribbled the marker onto the plastic sheet that comes with the Stamp-a-ma-jig (you can use any non pourous surface) and picked up the ink with the aquapainter before painting it on.

I hope you like my card and feel encouraged to try the watercolour technique for yourself.

TTFN

Tina

Mojo Monday 76

mojo monday 76

I made this card from the sketch at mojo monday blog using one of my all time favourite stamp sets – Natural Beauty – which is about to retire from Stampin’ Up!

Cardstock:  Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Barely Banana, Watercolour Paper

Ink:  Certainly Celery, Barely Banana, Apricot Appeal.

Accessories:  Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Spring Break DSP,  Aquapainter, Dimesionals.

I’m going to send this one to my Aunty Beryl in the UK….it’s her birthday soon and I think she’ll really like it.

Have a great day

x Tina

Update on Stampin’ Up!’s Donation to the Bushfire Appeal

The following passage comes direct from Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator Website.

Donation Amount for the Bushfire Appeal
5 March 2009

We’re thrilled to report that to date, with the sales of the Bushfire Appeal stamp sets, we’ll be able to donate $58,131.68 to the Australian Red Cross Victorian Bushfires 2009 Appeal.

Thank you for your efforts to help those who’ve suffered from this tragedy.  We’ll keep you aware of the donation amount as the month progresses.

All I can say is WOW..WOW..WOW  ….and…. congratulations to everyone who has purchased one or more of the designated stamp sets which Stampin’ Up! will donate half of the retail sales price to the appeal.  If you’d like to support the Bushfire Appeal by purchasing a stamp set, here’s a list of the stamps that are included in the promotion.

Stamp Set	Item Number	Page Number in Catalogue	Retail Price
Priceless	112312	105	48.95 AUD/57.95 NZD
Seeing Spots	108909	89	29.95 AUD /35.95 NZD
Baroque Motifs	112380	98	39.95 AUD /46.95 NZD
Live Your Dream	114261	3 (Summer Mini Catalogue)	55.95 AUD /66/95 NZD
Looks Like Spring*	108864	76	58.95 AUD /68.95 NZD
The Snowflake Spot*	108934	27	39.95 AUD /46.95 NZD
Bodacious Boquet*	108756	80	58.95 AUD /68.95 NZD
Polka Dots & Paisley*	110247	46	35.95 AUD /42.95 NZD
G’day Mate*	111973	115	35.95 AUD /42.95 NZD
Be Happy*	108744	51	39.95 AUD /46.95 NZD

*These sets are on the list of retiring products, so they will only be available for the Bushfire Appeal–while supplies last.  Call or email me if you want to order – it’s for a great cause.

Masculine greeting card

Most people tell me they find it difficult to make masculine cards and I sometimes have trouble with guy cards too but this blokey card seemed to come together quite well. 

If you want to cook this one up for a special guy in your life, here’s the recipe.                                    (all Stampin’ Up! procduts)

Cardstock:  Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Very Vanilla, Mellow Moss.

Stamps:  Wanted,  Short & Sweet

Classic Stampin’ Pads:  Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip.

Accessories:  Hemp Twine, Hodgepodge Hardware, Photo Corner Punch.

• I stamped the Creamy Caramel cardstock with matching ink using the stamps from the Wanted stamp set to create the background design.  
• Then with the Very Vanilla card and Chocolate Chip ink, I stamped the horse, first with full strength ink and then again without re-inking and behind the first horse – then after inking up again, I stamped the horse behind the second, paler horse.  I think this gives the impression of the horses running free and wild.  
• I sponged some Chocolate Chip ink under the horses and some Mellow Moss ink above them and adhered strips of Chocolate Chip and Mellow Moss cardstock.  
• Best Wishes is stamped with Chocolate Chip ink onto Very Vanilla card and cut out to fit the Hodgepodge Hardware and attached to the card with matching brads.  
• I looped the Hemp Twine and tied a knot in it to create the “Rope” and fixed it to the card with more Hodgepodge Hardware.  
• Then, I punched the Photo Corners from Mellow Moss and Chocolate Chip cardstock, layered them togther and put the brads through them.
• I adhered all the elements I made to the stamped piece of Creamy Caramel card and attached it to the Chocolate Chip main card.

See….easy… ……well, I hope you like it as much as I do anyway… LOL

TTFN x Tina

Hot in the City

Happy 2009 everyone…..I know it’s been too long – yet again – since I posted last, and to be truthful, I haven’t been stamping too much since before Christmas.  I’ve really enjoyed having some time out, I’ve taken the opportunity to catch up on my bookkeeping (the ‘real’ job) and spent some lovely time with my Aunty and Uncle who are staying with me for their holidays from the UK.  I’ve had a lovely break but it’s time to get the creativity flowing again.

Today has been pretty bloomin’ hot – 41.8 degrees in Perth – and the only way of dealing with that kind of heat is in the air-conditioned comfort of the STAMPIN’ ROOM….LOL

I found it difficult to find the old MOJO again after having nearly 3 weeks away from the craft table so I blog hopped around some of the Elite Stampers and found some inspiration from my Stampin’ Up! family. (thanks girls – I’ll give credit where it’s due) I’ll post some pic’s of my creations tomorrow – some are CASE’D but most are my own work and I’m looking forward to sharing them with you.  Here’s one inspired by Kerri’s card – apologies for the fuzzy photo, I took it with my phone as the battery in my camera was flat….

Stamps:  Ocean Commotion & Botanical Blooms.  Cardstock:  Taken With Teal, Glossy White.  Ink:  Garden Green & Always Artichoke.   Markers:  Ballet Blue, Taken With Teal & Not Quite Navy.  Accessories:  Bashful Blue 1/4″ Grosgrain ribbon and Styled Silver Hodgepodge.

The background on my Glossy White is done with the Salted technique.  To do this you need to dilute a couple of drops of Bashful Blue (in this case) ink from a refill bottle into a small spray bottle (I use a Ranger Mini Mister) and spray onto the glossy cardstock.  Then, while it’s wet, sprinkle a generous coating of regular kitchen salt over the card and set aside to dry.  On a day like we’ve had here today, it won’t take too long to dry but if you’re in a rush, you can use your heat tool and it will look just as good.  Once dry, brush off the excess salt and it’s ready to use.

Enjoy – and check back soon to see what else I’ve been up to.

Happy Stampin’ 

Tina x

Lovely as a Christmas Tree

I made this card for the Elite Challenges website – it was a sketch challenge – and I loved the finished card so much I included it into my class schedule this week.

The base card is Mellow Moss stamped with the flourish from Baroque Motifs also with Mellow Moss ink – this creates a lovely background.  The line of trees are stamped onto Very Vanilla with Mellow Moss ink and the main tree is in Always Artichoke ink.  The sponging is done with Mellow Moss – I used the 1″ circle punch for the moon mask – and then mounted the scene onto Always Artichoke cardstock and pierced down the sides using the grid in the mat pack.  I made the scalloped edges with Stampin’ Up!’s border scallop punch and Purely Pomegranite cardstock.

I stamped Merry Christmas (from Many Merry Messages) onto Vanilla cardstock and punched each word out individually with the Word Window Punch. 

Enjoy

Embrace Life

This is my first attempt at a card using the Embrace Life stamp set from the Stampin’ Up! Summer Mini Catatlogue.  I used a colour combination that I found on my desk one day while unpacking a cardstock order from Stampin’ Up! …. Close to Cocoa, Blush Blossom and Groovy Guava – gorgeous !!

Everyone who attends my classes this week are making this lovely card and also the one in the next post.  Stay tuned for the next one……

True Friend

I love the flower from Stampin’ Up! True Friend stamp set – I think it begs to be multi-coloured with markers so I used the combination of Really Rust, Pumpkin Pie and More Mustard for the flower and Old Olive for the stem.  It takes a while to colour each section of the stamp so I had to huff onto it before stamping (the moisture of your breathe re-activates the ink).  I then used my classic and scalloped oval nestabilities to cut the shapes from Barely Banana and Choc Chip.  the patterned paper is from Brocade Backgrounds DSP and is mounted onto River Rock.  I stamped the larger flower with Versamark ink as a background on the main Old Olive card.  The sentiment is stamped in Choc Chip ink and mounted onto Barely Banana which I sponged with some More Mustard ink to match the ribbon.  Another of my favorite cards using stamps from the Spring Mini.  I hope this set makes it to the new main catalogue in April 09.

Double Blooms

Here’s another one made with Bloomin’ with Beauty…..just the single bloom, stamped onto watercolour paper, masked and stamped again. I thengave my Groovy Guava ink pad a good squeeze and coloured the flowers with my aquapainter.  I highlighted with my Really Rust and Basic Black markers.  I coloured the  stems and leaves with Mellow Moss and a touch of Old Olive.

The base card is Really Rust, patterned paper from Fall Flowers DSP and the flower image is layered onto Close to Cocoa and Barely Banana.  The ribbon is Apricot Appeal grosgrain and the ‘for you’ sentiment s from ‘Occasional Greetings’ stamp set.  The metal frame is from the gorgeous Styled Silver Hogdepodge kit which fortunately, is still available in our lovely new Summer Mini Catalogue, thank goodness.