Valentines Card with "A Happy Heart"

Here's a card I had forgotten to upload and show you. It's a Valentine's Day card, obviously! The "A Happy Heart" stamp set is a useful selection of image stamps and greetings, and I think I have used almost every stamp on this card. The card base is Bashful Blue, sponged on the edges with matching ink. Next we have a layer of Real Red, and I have stamped some of the stamps in the set across the base in vertical rows, to create a background. I've stamped them in Real Red ink, which creates a subtle tone-on-tone effect.

So that the Real Red Polka dot ribbon didn't get 'lost' on the background, I have mounted it on a band of Bashful Blue. Have you stocked up on this fabulous ribbon yet??? It's about to disappear, as it's a Summer Mini product, so give me a quick yell and I'll make sure to order some for you before 9pm on March 31st.

Over the ribbon band is a heart stamped onto Whisper White in Real Red ink, cut out and mounted on a Bashful Blue layer. I used the double rectangle punch to make slots for a tie of Whisper White taffeta ribbon.

I stamped the greeting using the Stamp-a-ma-jig so I could split the sentiment onto three separate lines, and fit it inside a label stamp from "Cute and Curly" and punch it with the Curly Label punch. I also punched some hearts using the "Heart to Heart" punch, from Bashful Blue-stamped large heart stamp, and popped them up using Stampin' Dimensionals. A finishing touch is some faux stitching done with white Gel pen. Hope you like it, hubby did!

I'm on the way home from a retreat weekend, and I had a chance to make quite a few new cards showcasing some of the upcoming Autumn-Winter Mini catalogue, stay tuned for updates! Remember final orders for the Summer Mini close 8pm on Wednesday 31st March!! Email or call me with your shopping list!

Wild about You - by Barbara!

Here's a card made recently by one of my lovely friends and customers, Barbara. She made it for the birthday of a co-worker who loves elephants. It uses the retired background stamp, Paisley. I am waiting for a similar stamp to become current, as this one demonstrates the technique of "kissing" so well. "Wild about You" is a set that has been around for a long while, and it still holds great appeal, it's one of my most reached for sets when making cards for children. This little elephant always looks like he has such a cheeky grin, he's irresistable!!

The card base is Not Quite Navy, stamped with Paisley with matching ink. A brayer is very useful for getting an excellent impression from a background stamp as solid as this one. The elephants are stamped in Whisper White, in Not Quite Navy ink. The elephant on the left was inked up with a brayer using Not Quite Navy ink, and the one on the right was inked up by "kissing" the background stamp inked up with a brayer to pick up the Paisley pattern on the solid stamp surface. Barbara stamped him again so that she could cut out an extra pair of ears to pop them up. Cute hey!!

The sentiment was stamped using the Hostess set "Best Yet" , inside one of the stamps from the "Cute and Curly" stamp set. It was trimmed closely, and then mounted on a Baja Breeze Curly Label punchie - it makes a perfect mat for the cut down label stamp. Underneath the sentiment is a stretch of Baja Breeze striped grosgrain ribbon. And, in trademark Bling Barbara style, the finishing touch was a blue rhinestone added to the flower centre.

Would you like to come along for a fun day and make some cards like this? If you are close enough to Cherrybrook to travel, make a note of the schedule of my monthly "Stampin' Crop" days, every 3rd Saturday. I'll have all my stamps, punches, tools and accessories available for you to use, and would be delighted to show you how easy and satisfying it can be to make your own cards. Beginners are most welcome, call me on 9484 9447 to reserve your place for next month, Saturday 17th April. Cost for the day is just $15, and includes morning and afternoon tea, tea, coffee, inspiration and casual instruction, as well as great company.

Butterfly Prints - QUICK EASY CARDS! Get it while you can!

One of the most popular sets from our Summer Mini catalogue has been the "Butterfly Prints" set and the matching butterfly punch. This card was made laaaate one night, in preparation for a birthday party being attended by my daughter for one of her friends turning 5. I made it with leftover pieces from a Make n Take at a workshop earlier that evening, using the Sweet Always papers and the matching colours of Regal Rose, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White and Chocolate Chip. Super quick (well, it needed to be!!), I simply stamped the butterflies randomly over the card base in matching Regal Rose ink and some on Whisper White in various colours above before punching out. So quick!! A band across the centre of the Designer Series Paper and some Felt Fusion flower accents with a Rhinestone brad and the Scallop Oval punch to add a greeting from the "Something Sweet" set. A final touch was a tie of wide grosgrain ribbon in Regal Rose.

This set (and all the others in the Summer Mini) are only going to be available until March 31st, so check the catalogue by clicking on the cover image at the right hand side and get in touch if there is anything you'd like to get before it's gone! Check this post from a little further down for my bonus free post or free marker offer!

Nature's Nest - Pretty as a Peacock

I haven't seen many cards made with this beautiful feather stamp from the "Nature's Nest" set from the Summer Mini catalogue, and it's a shame! When I looked at it, I knew instantly that I would like to try colouring it as if it were a peacock feather, hence the colour combination of this card. Where we were staying at Bawley Point, there was a number of peacocks, so I was able to work from real life in choosing the colours.

The base is Night of Navy, and the mats are layered Baja Breeze, Taken with Teal and Brushed Gold metallic cardstock, for that bit of irridescent shimmer!

The feather I played around with a few methods of colouring, and settled on inking up with Baja Breeze and then using the Marker Thumping technique to add accent layers of colour. I didn't have my Encore Gold inkpad with me, or I would have "Rock n Rolled" the final inked up feather.

The ribbon is from Valet Ribbon Originals, a gorgeous satin Baja Breeze, and the greeting is from the must have "Best Yet" Level 1 hostess set.

Speaking of Hostess benefits, why not get a group of three friends together for coffee before March 31st, and browse the main IB&C and Summer Mini before it's gone? Spend $100 each, and you'll not only have some lovely products to use, you'll also be able to choose a Sale-a-bration stamp set each! And, you can receive the usual Hostess Benefits for a $300 order and share them amongst yourselves, "Best Yet" included if you choose it. Many of my customers craft with friends and have been steadily growing their library of stamps and inkpads in this way, give it a try! Just contact me for a "Catalogue Party" kit that you can use to make things easy peasy :) Ph 9484 9447 or email michelle.dyson@bigpond.com

There's still time to Sale-a-brate! + FREE POST BONUS

Sale-a-bration has just FOURTEEN DAYS left to run!

Have you got your FREE stamp sets yet? Got more on your wishlist?

Simply get your order to me before 9pm on March 31st and you can choose one of 4 never-to-be-seen-again stamp sets for each $100 spent on fabulous Stampin' Up! products!

There's "Happy Moments" , shown in the two cards above, with it's cute birdie in a cage and great cake - simple to watercolour, and with three versatile sentiments to go with it - 'for you', 'happy birthday' and 'thank you'

Or, 'Vintage Labels' - a set of three elegant frame stamps and three sentiments to go inside them, designed to co-ordinate perfectly with Stampin' Up! punches. You can see a card made with this set HERE

Then there's "Good Neighbours" - a cute collection of little houses and trees you can mix and match with. This set goes beautifully with "Trendy Trees" and "Funky Forest" and is just the ticket for housewarming and moving home announcements as well as great borders for scrapping. Shelly May has done a great selection of cute cards with this set!

And lastly, an elegant and versatile sentiment set called "Whimsical Words" Shelly May has shown us even more great cards with this set, and I agree with her, you can never have too many sentiment sets, because you'll always have the right thing to say! Clever girl this one, I wonder if she's a 'Michelle' as well, or a born 'Shelly'??

And, if you've been thinking about signing up to become a demonstrator for the great bonuses and product discount (as well as the most fun you can have earning money!), there's still time! Please give me a call for a no-obligation chat and I can help you sign up online! During Sale-a-bration each new team member can choose any stamp set valued at up to $79.95 FREE, in addition to the great value, highly customisable Starter Kit. If you place your first order over $300 before March 31st, you not only earn a generous extra discount rate, but you can select THREE (or more!) Sale-a-bration sets as well! Tiny investment, huge opportunities and bonus freebies - it doesn't get much better!

Lastly, I have a BONUS offer for my local customers - from today 17th March 2010 until 9pm March 31st I am offering free postage on all orders if you are willing and able to collect your order from Cherrybrook (North-West Sydney). For my non-local customers who have their orders shipped directly, you can select a FREE Stampin' Write marker in your choice of colour, valued at $5.75! I have a goal to reach the next Sales bracket for the Sale-a-bration promotional period, and I hope that you can all help me reach it!

3D Box making class and Stampin' Crop Day

Hi everyone,

There is still time to book into my Friday Evening Class this Friday 19th March at Cherrybrook. We'll be making several styles of container from Designer Series paper and cardstock, and embellish them. Class cost is $20 and includes supper, full written instructions, templates to take away and all materials used to make the projects. I need two more participants to run the class this week, otherwise I will move it to the end of the scheduled class queue, so please RSVP ASAP if you are interested in attending. The time is 7.30pm for an 8-10pm class.

And, this Saturday is Stampin' Crop Day! Come along any time between 10am and 5pm and enjoy a day crafting with good company, lots of stamps, tools and accessories to play with. There will also be casual instruction, informal demonstrations, loads of inspiration and light snacks. The cost is $15 for the day, call me on 9484 9447 to book your place, or email at michelle.dyson@bigpond.com

Window Dressing and watercolouring

This is a card I made for a special birthday boy recently. The set I have used is called "Window Dressing" which is a stamp set available exclusively to hostesses. I have also used one of the cute little characters from the "All in the Family" stamp set to fill the window, although the set does come with several choices to put in the window including a kitty cat, flowers and a sweet little girl. The background layer is Real Red, and I have stamped it with the retired "Linen" background, in Real Red ink, and the next Night of Navy layer is also stamped in Night of Navy ink with "Linen". The window image has been stamped in Stazon black ink on Watercolour paper, and I used Watercolour pencils and blender pens to add colour. The soccer ball is from the Family Favourites accessories set, and I stamped it separately and popped it up on some Stampin' Dimensionals. The entire window is also raised up on Dimensionals. The ribbon is Real Red Polka Dot ribbon from the Summer Mini, but tied upside down so just the stitching edge can be seen. The greeting is stamped in Whisper White Craft ink using a stamp from the "On your Birthday" stamp set, and some coloured brads added to frame it. Lots of fun, contact me if you would like to find out how you could earn the "Window Dressing" Hostess set for free!

A very special Wedding Card with "Always"

In my family, the first 6 of 9 cousins were girls, with me being the second eldest. The last three were boys, all in one family, and they lagged behind us in age by a few years. Us girls have been and done the getting married thing, some of us quite a number of years ago (Ruth - it must be 20 years??!!) but the boys are just getting around to it now, with Glen marrying his gorgeous girl Adele a week or two back. Glen's older brother, Trent, will be tying the knot with beautiful Bree later this year. Carl - he's still working on it, but he's the baby of the cousins so he's allowed to be last.

The wedding was lovely, held in the Southern Highlands of NSW where all of our families are from and some still live now.

Here is the card I made, and it was inspired by a card I found on Splitcoast made by Diamondangelfish . I had saved it in my CASE file for such an occasion as this, where elegance by the bucket load was required!

I changed it around just a little. The card base is 6 inches square, and then there is a layer of Parisian Breeze Specialty paper (now retired), sponged with Baja Breeze ink. Next up is a thin mat of Whisper White that I have punched the bottom end with the Eyelet Border punch. Over this there is a heavily sponged layer of Baja Breeze, popped up on some Stampin' Dimensionals. The lace is from the Dress Up Ribbon originals pack, and I was really pleased with how well it went with the lovely textured Parisian Breeze paper.

The hearts were stamped and embossed with Versamark ink and a silver pearl embossing powder, using the "Always" stamp set. Then I trimmed one pair to layer over the base pair with more Dimensionals. The finishing touch was made with embellishments from the Pretties Kit - I love using this! - Half back pearls in white and a couple of silk flowers layered and attached with mini glue dots. I hope they like it, and are enjoying their honeymoon in Thailand!

And the card info...

Sorry, I was going to post the details about the card in the image below along with the Circle Scissor tips, but it was already pretty long by the time I'd finished with the tips so I called it a night there.

The card was inspired by the sudden ability to cut multiple concentric circles in whatever size appealed. I cut two from Whisper White and two from Old Olive, and inked the edges.

The card base is Real Red, and I sponged the edges with Real Red ink. I stuck them down as shown, taking care to lap them so I would have somewhere to put a greeting. To make the Old Olive circles stand out, I used the White Gel pen to put some faux stitching around the edges.

Next, I took the gorgeous butterfly stamps from "Butterfly Prints" and stamped a selection onto Whisper WHite in both Real Red and Old Olive ink, before punching out. Easy peasy! I attached them using Mini Glue dots, so that their wings could be bent slightly for dimension.

I used my Stamp a ma jig to position the greeting at the bottom right and a Jumbo Grommet at the left side to secure a structured bow of Real Red polka dot ribbon. It was quite tricky to get the prongs of the Grommet through all the layers of the ribbon, so next time I will use Sticky Strip to hold the folded ends in place, and then the Grommet will only need to go through one ribbon layer instead of 2.

Flight of the butterflies and Circles - Circle Scissor tips for use

I had a lot of fun playing with my Circle Scissor tool (new in the Summer Mini Catalogue) to make the set of circles on this card. I am yet to actually take step by step pics of what I have gleaned from my Circle Scissor (CS) practice (one day, one day) but I can give a few tips on how to get great results every time:

* You really do need the GLASS MAT to go with the CS, there's no getting away from that. A traditional green OLFA style cutting mat is too soft and 'grippy' and will catch the blade so it drags and stutters, giving a rough result. The hard slippery glass surface allows the blade to glide smoothly.

* The principal secret is judicious use of a good removable adhesive, such as Dotto (#103305 page 154 in the main Idea Book and Catalogue) The paper or cardstock needs to be firmly attached to the glass mat so it won't budge while cutting. But, you do want to be able to extract your perfect circle without ripping it to shreds, hence the 'removeable' aspect!

* Next, have a close look at the CS tool and glass mat, and notice a few features

- Note the large rubbery black grip along one half of the tool

- Note the blade holder hole has a little arrow which is pointing anticlockwise

- Note the concentric rings and 'cross hairs' on the clear rotating section

- Note the grid on the glass mat, there are standard card sizes in bold and also a grid pattern

* Firstly, cut the cardstock into a square or rectangle about 1/2" bigger all round than the circle you would like to cut, and apply a small 1cm-ish splodge of dotto on each corner and in the centre. Firmly smooth down onto the centre of the glass mat, and rub to make sure it isn't going to slip. The reason for cutting first into the approximate size is that it saves both cardstock and adhesive - it's much more useful to have square bits and rectangle scraps than A4 sheets of cardstock that look like swiss cheese, and you don't need to apply yards of dotto to hold the whole sheet in place!

* Now place the CS over the centre of the cardstock, with the rubber hand grip between 6 and 12 if you were looking at a clockface. Rotate the clear plastic centre until the (empty) blade holder is at 9 o'clock, and use the black centre dial to adjust the scale to the desired size.

* Swing the clear plastic centre around, while looking at the pointer to make sure your cut can be completed without going off the outside of the cut piece, adjust the base position if necessary so you have clearance on all sides.

* Insert the spring loaded blade knob into the holder, lining up the little ridges so it fits smoothly. Note that the blade knob is springloaded, but this doesn't mean you need to use a lot of pressure to make the cut.

* Holding the black rubber grip with your left hand spread apart and the blade knob with your right, press down moderately and rotate 360 degrees ANTICLOCKWISE from 9 o'clock to just a tiny bit past 9 o'clock - you will feel the cut complete itself.

* STOP! Don't move anything yet, if you wish to cut a frame you have just made the first, smaller cut of the two. Without moving the base, adjust the dial by the width you want your frame to be, and make the second cut just as the first. If you try and make the larger outer cut before the smaller one, there will be insufficient adhesive to hold the circle while the second cut is made.

Ta da!! Now you can repeat again and again, and have lots of fun with circles! It's a good idea to periodically remove the dotto residue from the glass mat, with either your adhesive remover or some goo remover liquid. And slide the blade cover back onto the blade, because that tiny sucker is SHARP when you find it on the floor with your foot!

I hope you find this useful, and drag out your CS tools for a good practice - it's certainly the easiest and best circle cutter I have ever tried :)

Razzle Dazzle - variation on a theme

This is another card I made at the same time as this one a few posts down. just a slight variation. This one uses a white rubon border from the Dots and Designs pack from the Summer Mini catalogue instead of the solid chocolate. This one is also missing the 'wallpaper' stripes at the bottom. Otherwise, it uses the same materials basically, with an extra circle or two, and a metallic brad through the bottom left circle instead of a piece of hodgepodge with a greeting. I like to play around with card designs like I have done here, making two or three cards, each time switching things around a bit, making small changes, variations on a theme. Hope this gives you a little inspiration to stretch your own imaginations when you next make a card!

Hello Again! My Blogs are now linked!

I've been working on my Demonstrator Business Website (DBWS)!

There are some very exciting features there that will be great for hostesses to keep track of their workshop RSVP's, sales goals and other details, as well as a blog. I have even been able to link this blog to my DBWS via the RSS feed. I don't really know what I'm talking about with this stuff, but I did manage to figure it out for myself - aint technology grand? (well, mostly...)

That just means that if you are short on time, you can click through to my DBWS and view the latest info on promotions, project ideas and my StampInkPaper blog stuff all on the one site. There's a calendar, similar to the Google calendar at the right hand side, and I'm going to try and make sure that there are lots of events to keep you all interested! In a moment I'll submit this and with a bit of luck it will pop up on the other site as well!

So, how do you find the blog on the DBWS? It doesn't leap out at you, but if you hover over the "About Me" tab on the top left hand side you will see it come up in the drop down menu Ta da! I'll keep you posted with new developments and features as I discover them :)

Now, about the card! It started with a simple scrap piece of Rose Red cardstock, not quite the same size as my usual A5 card base, but I used it as a challenge to play around with slightly different proportions for a change. The set is called "Hello Again" and is a very cute and versatile set from the Summer Mini catalogue. I have used the Polka Dot background with Rose Red ink. For the Whisper White band, I used the matching Retro Remix wheel with Apricot Appeal ink, and put Scallop edged bands of Barely Banana textured cardstock at the top and bottom, sponged with Apricot Appeal ink. I used the Rock n Roll technique to ink up the flowers, and stamped a few versions so I could cut them up and mix and match. I've used Stampin' Dimensionals to give the layers some definition. The little flowerpot I cut by hand, starting with the small tag punch as a base. The "hello" greeting is stamped on the band with Rose Red ink, and the final touch is a Rose Red Felt Fusion flower with a Certainly Celery button from the Sherbet collection and a scrap of So Saffron wide grosgrain ribbon. Oh, and I think I sprinkled a little Dazzling Diamonds over the centres of the flowers using 2 way glue. Cute, no? Now to hit the go button and see what happens in blog land!

Baby card with Something Sweet and Sweet Treat cup

Sorry about the lighting on this one, it was a little late when I decided I should get some pics. The panel of Kaleidoscope paper at the bottom is fresh pinks and lemon in real life!

It's yet another card variation using the Something Sweet stamp set from the Summer Mini catalogue, and this time I've used the rattle handle to create a pretty pink baby rattle.

I have used my circle scissor to cut the larger pretty in pink circle around the Sweet Treat cup and the 1 3/4" circle punch to make the opening for the cup.

Inside the cup I have put a mixture of Crystal and Pink Chunky Sprinkles glitter and Dazzling Diamonds, as well as lots of lolly coloured stamped hearts from the set. I punched these out using the Heart to Heart large punch - the smallest heart of the three is just perfect for this!

The card base is Pink Pirouette, and the band is textured Barely Banana cardstock sponged with Apricot Appeal. The Scallop edge punch was used for the top of the Kaleidoscope paper, and a Pretty in Pink narrow section was scallop edge-punched for underneath.

The sentiment was stamped using Pretty in Pink ink, and I have added a Sherbet Button collection button under the curve. To finish, I made a stitched bow using the wide Pink Pirouette grosgrain ribbon.

Very easy, quite quick, and certainly able to be adapted to suit a baby boy. Hope you like it! All products used are available to purchase through me, just give me a call (and there's still time to earn free Sale-a-bration sets too! - less than a month to go now!)

Have you been to visit my new Demonstrator Business Website yet?

Here'tis!

It's fledgling, I'm definitely still learning what is on there! And how to update it! The best thing is that Stampin' Up! are regularly adding features and soon it will be a fully-featured portal for all things happening in my Stampin' Up! business.

Go on, have a peek, and bookmark the site to your faves (under this blog of course!) and browse through the different tabs and pages. There is a massive amount of inspiration and information there at your fingertips. Everything from project samples to info on why becoming a demonstrator may be the best thing you'll ever do! You can even sign up to become a member of my team online - and receive your Demonstrator ID number super fast!

Please let me know what you think, I'll be endeavouring to add items and personalise it over the coming weeks.

About the card in the photo: It's another in the "Nature's Nest" series, and I was very happy with this idea that popped into my head very late one evening. One of the curious things about bird eggs is the number of colours they come in, and some of the most interesting are a lovely shade of Baja Breeze - hence the card base. I coloured the eggs with Blender Pen and inkpad puddle, shading and adding spots of colour to give them a life-like appearance. The matting layers are Kraft , Mellow Moss and Chocolate Chip, and I have stitched them at the tidy end before ripping the loose ends in sequence. The background has been stamped using the Sanded Background and the sentiment is from the must have "Best Yet" hostess stamp set.