Happy Birthday Keryn

Yesterday was Keryn's birthday and as I know she has already received this in the post I can show it to all of you now!

I received the latest Impressions magazine a few days ago and wanted to try out a new technique they showcased on the cover regarding mixing embossing powders to create a dappled effect.  They used black and white but I chose to mix gold and black (you guessed it, I don't have white!) to try and recreate the effect.  You may not be able to see the results too well in the photos but it did work and looks very nice.  As I was using black and gold I decided to go for a vintage/shabby chic look so used Rose Red, Crumb Cake and a hint of black to finish off the card.

(Click on cards for larger view)

What I used:

Card:  Very Vanilla, Black, Rose Red, Crumb Cake

Ink:  Crumb Cake, Versamark Watermark.

Stamp Sets:  Fresh Cuts, Sincere Salutations

Tools and other fun stuff:  Floral Fusion Sizzlets die, Basic Pearls, Stampin' Dimensionals, gold embossing powder, black embossing powder, embossing buddy, heat gun, Scalloped Border punch, Scalloped Oval punch, Wide Oval punch.

More from the challenge...CAS this time

You can tell this was the last card, can't you?!  All I had left by this stage were two flowers and was craving for something relatively 'clean and simple' - hope you like it!

I embossed the last Night of Navy flower with the Square Lattice embossing folder, added the cork flower and a rhinestone as a centre.  I did a 'partial embossing' on the Very Vanilla with the Framed Tulips folder (not sure of the proper name for that technique!) so I ended up with a smaller embossed square than I used for card number two,

I added a snipped of Old Olive Ribbon, sponged the edges with Night of Navy and used my Stamp-a-majig for perfect positioning of the greeting - and voilà!

{PS - did you notice the window in the background has finally been cleaned??  Which also explains the scaffolding outside that window - Carlos was doing some work which involved cutting quite a few branches off the neighbours' trees (shhhh... don't tell the neighbours!) and then cleaning the gutters in readiness for the winter - and it was too good an opportunity to pass up so he also cleaned that window - now I won't have to jump up and down with a wet broom trying to clean it this season and that's got to be a good thing LOL!}

What I used:

Card:  Night of Navy, Very Vanilla

Ink:  Night of Navy

Stamp Sets:  Sincere Salutations

Tools and other fun stuff:  Big Shot, Blossom Party Originals Die, Square Lattice embossing folder, Framed Tulips embossing folder, 1/8" Old Olive tafetta ribbon, sheet of cork, Stampin' dimensionals, rhinestone, Stampin' sponges, Stamp-a-majig.

Sweet little card

Was sitting tidying my desk the other day (it's the one part of the house I really enjoy tidying up - you come upon such treasures sometimes LOL!) when I found this stamped piece I made a couple of months ago when Sale-A-Bration was on, and just had to use it even though SAB has finished for this year.

I have used this colour combo many times but simply love it, so warm and earthy, the soft buttery yellow, warm green and orange - a classic.

What I used:

Card:  So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Whisper White

Ink:  Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie

Stamp sets:  Sweet Summer (retired), Fresh Cuts

Tools and other fun stuff:  Butterfly Embosslits die, Square Lattice embossing folder, Scallop Oval punch, Large Oval punch.

Challenge - part 3

Time for card number 3!

This time I used the negative shape from the Night of Navy cardstock after the shapes were cut out.  I ran it through the Square Lattice embossing folder to add some texture and placed it over a piece of Very Vanilla which I had stamped with the little bee image from Nature Walk.

Then... I layered three flowers from the 'challenge bag' and added a large pearl in the middle.  I also punched out four stems with leaves using the Bird Punch and assembled the card.  

As a finishing touch I added three more pearls to the bottom of the card.

I really like the layered flower with the leaves... not so sure about the bees in the background though!

What I used:

Card:  Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Night of Navy

Ink:  Night of Navy

Stamp Sets:  Nature Walk

Tools and other fun stuff:  Big Shot, Blossom Party Original Die, Bird punch, basic pearls, Square Lattice embossing folder, sheet of cork

Deals of the Week - 1st May to 10th May

Deals of the Week are back!  Would you like the chance to purchase Stampin' Up! products for up to 40% discount?  Over the next four weeks Stampin' Up! will be offering a selection of products with great discounts, contact me asap if you'd like to place an order!

This Week's Deals:

Item	Page	Description	Regular Price	Sale Price
121578	37	Tag Alongs Wood-Mount Set	$38.95	$23.37
120468	59	More Monkey Accessories Clear-Mount Set	$29.95	$17.97
121550	59	More Monkey Accessories Wood-Mount Set	$36.95	$22.17
120003	75	Cottage Garden Clear-Mount Set	$31.95	$19.17
119163	75	Cottage Garden Wood-Mount Set	$39.95	$23.97
121494	98	Compliments to the Chef Wood-Mount Set	$43.95	$26.37

Look forward to hearing from you!

Challenge - part 2

Here is the second card from the 'cork flowers' challenge.

This time I used some of the lovely images from Nature Walk as a subtle background, added a strip of embossed Cajun Craze and then popped a flower made from three of the shapes from the Blossom Party die.  I also made three loops with Old Olive Ribbon to add as 'leaves' under the flower.

The edges of the Very Vanilla background have been sponged with Crumb Cake to soften them a little.

What I used:

Card:  Old Olive, Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla

Ink:  Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede

Stamp Sets:  Nature Walk

Tools and other fun stuff:  Big Shot, Blossom Party Originals Die, Framed Tulips embossing folder, Stampin' sponges, 1/8" Old Olive ribbon, sheet of cork.

It all started with a challenge!

It was my turn to design a Make and Take for our monthly meeting and Keryn challenged me to do it using some cork and card flower we had cut with the Blossom Party Originals Die and the Big Shot.

We looked through the Color Coach to see what colours would work nicely with it and we came up with a combination of Cajun Craze, Night of Navy and Old Olive.  

The first photo shows what I arrived home with.....  as I don't to waste anything I ended up making 5 cards!  

The card you see today is the first one I made and the one we made last night during our meeting.  I used the inlaid embossing technique and really like how it turned out!

Over the next few days I'll reveal the other cards, I tried to make them in different styles so show the versatility of the materials.

What I used:

Card:  Very Vanilla, Night of Navy, Old Olive, Cajun Craze.

Ink: Nil

Stamp set:  Nil

Tools and other fun stuff:  Big Shot, Blossom Party Originals Die, Glue stick, Square Lattice embossing folder, sheet of cork.