Just one little Owl

Here's the second of my Owl cards, a simple colour variation on the one I showed you below.  This one is more intense, as I have used the yummiest new colour, Melon Mambo as the upper layer, on a Pretty in Pink card base.  Aside for a different sentiment and a solitary owl, all the details are pretty much the same as the other card.  I did use a different embellishment for the centre of the Felt Fusion flowers, this time a Flower Designer brad.

What I have done with these two cards, and also a third (unfinished) with a Melon Mambo base, is to take a colour combination that I liked, and a layout that I liked, and tweaked the order of the layers and the sentiments to create a series of cards.  By doing this, I can make several cards in a sitting, with little to no waste of cardstock, and without the tedium that mass production can induce at times!  It's also an ideal project to do while out at a crop event, as you don't need a lot of stamps, colours or accessories to complete a decent batch.  Happy Saturday everyone, hope you can squeeze in some crafting time!

Pretty Cute Owls

I was given a printout by a friend, of a card she found on Splitcoast that she thought I would like, and I mot certainly did!  I can't find the piece of paper right now, but will come back and credit the creator of the inspiring card when I unearth it amongst the rubble that is littering my crafting room...  The card base is Pink Pirouette, sponged with Pretty in Pink ink.  The next layer is Pretty in Pink, stamped with Pretty in Pink ink with a little sprig stamp from the "Tiny Tags" set, and sponged heavily with Pretty in Pink ink (starting to sound like Dr Suess here...)  I cut a circle using my Circle Scissor from Confetti White to make a 'moon', and edged it with Melon Mambo ink.  The two little owls were stamped using "Fox and Friends" onto Soft Suede cardstock in matching ink, then cut out.  The inspiring card used the owl from "Animal Stories", so I substituted with a set I owned, you could also pop in one or more of the little line-art owls from "Owl Together Now".  I cut two sets of "Little Leaves" sizzlit dies from Old Olive textured cardstock on my Bigshot, then trimmed them down a little to remove some of the leaves, giving the birdies somewhere comfortable to perch.  I was at a crop night when I made this, and had left my little heart punch behind,so I improvised by cutting out stamped hearts from the "Tiny Tags" set, in Pretty in Pink and Bashful Blue.  The sentiment is from my go-to set, "Teeny Tiny Sentiments" - very compact way to cart around a set with a sentiment for just about every occasion there is!  The ribbon is non-SU - I had also forgotten my ribbon pouch, so was tempted by the wall of ribbon at the crop location....  This one screamed "PERFECT" at me, despite being the most expensive ribbon per metre in the shop.  The things we do for our art, eh?  The flowers  are Felt Fusion, with a rhinestone brad in the middle.  All done!  I then went ahead and made a few other variations in colour and sentiment (to maximise the utilisation of said ribbon), so when I get them all done I'll pop them in here for you to see.

Ho hum, off to do a spot of iron shopping, since I killed ours yesterday by knocking it onto the floor.  I'd rather be stamping!

Christmas Stamp-a-Stack - Elegant Embossing

Christmas Card Stamp-a-Stack

Elegant Embossed Cards - Friday 13th August 7.30pm - 10pm

I have planned the first in a series of Christmas Card Stamp-a-Stack classes for the year, to be held on the evening of Friday 13th August.  It's a fantastic opportunity to get started on your stash of Christmas cards for the year with much of the hard work done for you.  You'll make 12 special cards, 4 each in three different designs.  Each of the designs features elegant stamping and embossing, with lots of layers and detail, the sneak peek above should give you an inkling.  Everything is provided for you - pre-cut cardstock, all materials and embellishments, adhesive and beautiful Stampin' Up! envelopes to match. The class will be set up so you can construct the cards in an assembly-line format, with full instructions to create more later if you wish.  The cost of the class is $25 and places are limited to ensure individual attention.  Please give me a call if you'd like to book a seat, on 9484 9447 or 0403 175 790, or email me.

Kindred Spirits in Plums

Kindred Spirits is a lovely set, just $38.95 for two large background stamp sized images and two sentiments. The set is double mounted, which does take a little getting used to, but I think it's well worth it for compactness and value. One side of the large stamp has what I call the 'berry sprig' (above) and the reverse side has a branch that looks like misteltoe.  The sentiments include "Kindred Spirits", as the set name would suggest, and a well sized "With Sympathy"   - never a sentiment you wish to need, but need it you will, from time to time :( 

The card above has a Perfect Plum base, followed by a distressed Pale Plum layer, inked with Perfect Plum ink.  For the image layer I have used Confetti White for it's handmade look.  I have also taken the distressing tool from the cutter kit to this layer and inked the edges with Mellow Moss ink.

I used markers to ink up the various elements of the "berry sprig" - Pale Plum,  Perfect Plum and Mellow Moss.. With two of these three harmonious colours retiring, make sure they are in your collection if they appeal to you.  The sentiment was stamped using my Stamp-a-ma-jig and Mellow Moss ink.  I thought about adding some ribbon or a metal designer brad, but decided to leave it in elegant simplicity.

Onto slightly happier thoughts, I have seen some cracker Christmas cards made with the Misteltoe-looking side of the main stamp, perhaps I'll have a play with making some of those soon.

Even more Friends 24-7 and a reminder about 2-step Stampin' Special

The final part of my Brocade Blue Friends 24-7 set...  Brocade Blue cardstock is the base, stamped with Baroque Background in Brocade Blue ink.  The sentiment is from the unmounted "Friendly Words" wheel, who would have thought you could get 14 stamps that match the main set for just $15.95?  To embellish I used a hat pin, crystal faceted beads, pearls and silk flowers from the Pretties Kit.

Here's a pic of all three pieces together:

Two-Step Stampin' Promotion
We're now half way through July, so there's about 2 weeks left in the special offer on selected stamp sets.
Make sure you take a look at the list in my post below here and see if you can be tempted...

Discounted Starter Kit Promotion

July 31st is also the very last day to take advantage of the 20% discount on the Starter Kit.  Start your own business for just $259, and make your job something you love, flexible, and rewarding.  Lots more details can be found here, or give me a call to chat about this enjoyable opportunity.

Friends 24-7 part II

Here is the second in my "Friends 24-7" set of cards.  I loved this set as soon as I saw it in the catalogue, and was one of my first purchases.  And when I saw a tutorial by the very clever Annette Stewart about unmounting the "Friendly Words" wheel and cutting it into separate images, I had to make my own!  As for the pizza box below, the base was Brocade Blue, stamped with the Baroque background.  A series of nested shapes was cut from Confetti White and Night of Navy to mat the images with.  Images from the "Friends 24-7" set and the unmounted sentiments were stamped using Brocade Blue and Night of Navy markers, and I used the stamping off method to create light background tones with the damask stamp.  To finish, I used Whisper White Taffeta and Brocade Blue narrow grosgrain ribbons and some silk flowers from the Pretties Kit.  There's another card to show you, if you like these, come back for a look tomorrow!

Classes and Crops and Cards

There's a lot happening around here this week!   On Friday night 16th July from 7.30pm you can come along to my home in Cherrybrook and learn all about heat embossing - there are currently two available spaces.

Heat Embossing Class Friday 16th July 7.30pm-10pm

This is a technique class, where you will explore several uses for heat embossing, from resist to faux metal. You will make several pieces that you can turn into either cards or samples for your technique book, there's always lots of "WOW's" at this class, even for experienced cardmakers. You will also receive detailed written notes so you can go home and dig out those neglected heat tools and create some "WOW's" of your own.  All materials you need for the class are included and light supper will be provided. Cost for the class is $20, and you can reserve your place by calling me on 9484 9447 or by email at michelle.dyson@bigpond.com

 

Stampin' Crop Day - Saturday 17th July 10am - 5pm

Join myself and a lovely group of ladies for the day, and bring along whatever projects you are keen to work on, catch up on your scrapping,  get some cards made, cross-stitch even!  I provide morning and afternoon tea, impromptu demonstration and instruction, heaps of inspiration, and my extensive collection of tools, punches, die cutting machines and stamps for your use on the day. Come and go as you please, lunch can be BYO or grab a bite to eat from the bakery or cafe just 2 minute walk away.

Where? My home in Cherrybrook, ring 9484 9447 or 0403 175 790 to book your spot and get location details. New ladies are most welcome!

What to bring? Your basic papercrafting tools (trimmer, bone scorer), your projects to work on, a selection of adhesives, packed lunch if you wish.

Cost: $15 for the day, includes tea, coffee, nibbles, morning and afternoon tea and use of my equipment.

And now for something creative!
I was intending to make something else to go with this suite of cards, and submit for magazine publication, but they sat on the bookshelf for a while too long, and now the gorgeous Brocade Blue I used is scheduled for retirement...  Ah well, I'll just have to put my thinking cap back on and make something else :)

First up is a mini pizza box, filled with stamped notelets. I've posted instructions for making these cute little boxes before, look here for details. The base is Brocade Blue and I have stamped in Brocade Blue ink using the Baroque background stamp. The centre image is stamped onto Confetti White cardstock, using Night of Navy and Brocade Blue markers, with stamps from the Friends 24-7 set, and the Friendly Words wheel that I unmounted to use the sentiments separately.  I cut the nested shapes on my Bigshot and mounted them with Stampin' Dimensionals. To embellish, I added some Pretties Kit flowers and pearls, and layered white taffeta ribbon and Brocade Blue grosgrain ribbon, adhering around the edges.  The notelets were 3" square pieces of high quality copy paper, stamped in one corner with the damask stamp from Friends 24-7 and another quote from the unmounted "Friendly Words" wheel.  I hope you think they look like they belong in a stamping magazine!  They'll just have to settle for my little blog instead LOL!  Stay tuned, I should get a chance to post another item from the set tomorrow

It's the INKlings "Christmas in July" Blog Hop!!

Welcome to The INKlings’ Team’s Christmas in July blog hop. You may have arrived here from Carol Dunstan's blog or just be visiting my blog, whichever way once you’ve checked out my creations you can continue the hop through the link at the end of this post to the next team member.

The year is flying by, and it's time to start thinking about your Christmas cards and projects! The INKlings team has been busy getting some inspiring projects together to get you off to a flying start, so we're hosting a Christmas in July blog hop. You'll find lots of great ideas as you hop through the chain of 17 different team members’ fantastic blogs.  Why not add my blog to your "follow" list, or subscribe to my newsletter for info about my upcoming Christmas Stamp-a-stack classes.

Want to win some Blog Candy? Simply leave a comment on each blog and then email Christie Wallace and let her know you’ve done so and you’ll be in the running for a fantastic prize of handmade cards plus other goodies from each of the 17 participants.

(Sorry Blog Candy prize not available to SU! demonstrators but you're more than welcome to leave us a comment! )

My projects use the new Stampin' Up! exclusive design cutting die for the BigShot, the Pennant Die. At first glance at the catalogue line-art, you'd be thinking "what on earth would I need that for??" Pretty much my first reaction too, until I saw a few different projects using various components of the die. Once I had it in my hot little hands, I immediately saw the potential for making the small and large Christmas trees below.

They are both made in the same way, by cutting folded cardstock placed onto the die base and run through the BigShot machine.  I made several of each size in both Riding Hood Red cardstock and Designer Series Prints paper and Kiwi Kiss cardstock and Designer Series Prints paper.  I stamped the several of the snowflake images from the "Snow Swirled" set in matching ink all over the plain cardstock, and sponged the edges.  I alternated the colours, and stitched the layers together at the 'spine' with a piercing tool, needle and thread.  The bases are made from a Scallop circle cut from the Bigz Bigshot die (small tree), and from a circle cut using the Circle Scissor (large tree).  The small tree has been sprinkled with Supernova glitter using a 2way glue pen, and 1/2" circle punchies were glittered up to make some baubles for the large tree.  The stars were made from the small and large star punches, folded and glued together.

Now, as you can see from the die line-art, there are also some large scalloped circles - so I applied the same principle to make a paper bauble.

The circles are pre-scored, so all you need to do is to fold in the centre and join them in alternating colours using Sticky Strip tape.  You can make them as full as you like, mine has 8 folded circles.  To decorate, I threaded some Pretties Kit beads, punched and Felt Fusion flowers onto some fine nylon thread, passing it through the centre hole of the bauble. A tie of Kiwi Kiss satin ribbon and a loop of Riding Hood Red taffeta is the finishing touch.

And, there's more!  I also found a great tutorial by Arielle Gordon using this die to make a cute little box!  I've made one here in matching colours to the trees, and I think it would make a nice table place favour.  This one uses four small pennants, and makes a box about 3 inches square.  I plan to have a go at making a larger box with the large pennant.  It is constructed using Sticky Strip, and decorated with some of the spare scallop circles in Designer Series Paper folded over the corners, and a scallop circle with a monogram stamp in the centre from the Schoolbook Serif alphabet.  A tie of gingham ribbon, some tissue paper and some choccies complete the box.

Well that’s three things you can make with the Pennant Die, and we haven't even touched on actual PENNANTS yet!  Next stop on the INKlings’ Team Blog Hop is Jayne Mercer. Have fun and don't forget to leave a comment on each blog to win some great Blog Candy
In case you should get lost along the way, here is the full list of participants and their blog links.


1. Christie
2. Dani H
3. Carol 
4. Michelle D
5. Jayne
6. Kylie S
7. Kari
8. Dani F
9. Beth
10. Nicky A
11. Clare
12. Amy
13. Fiona
14 . Michelle Frost-Stevenson
15. Fiona Poirier 
16. Divya Rao 
17 Rachel Jackson 
 
Thanks very much for visiting, come back soon for some more Christmas themed projects!

Pretty Pink Pony Party

There's been a bit of a rush of birthdays in Lillian's kindergarten class, and the other weekend she attended two parties on the same day!  Luckily, through arrangement by the mums involved, there was a neat half hour between them to allow for the shuttling between process.  This card is the one I made for Isabella, who likes pink and horses (according to Lillian! )

The card base is Pink Passion, stamped with Polka Dot background with Pink Passion ink.  I sponged the edges too.  I do this with most cards if I have time, since it adds depth and interest quickly and easily.

The colour scheme for the rest of the card was inspired by a piece of Kaleidoscope Designer Series Paper (from the Summer Mini, now retired)  There's a piece of Gable Green behind the DSP panel, and the circle behind the stamped image is textured Apricot Appeal, again sponged with matching ink.

The circles were cut on the Circle Scissor, at 2 3/4" for the inner and 3" for the outer.  I used my Dotto to stop the watercolour paper circle from wandering about while I stamped the pony in Stazon Black ink using the Stamp a ma jig to position it carefully.

To colour, I used Watercolor Wonder Crayons from the Bold Brights set, and applied them around the inside edges of the image, and along the internal lines in light strokes.  Using a Blender Pen in a small circular motion, I blended and drew the colour in to complete the image.  For the really detailed areas, here is a little trick for you:
Scribble a small patch of crayon on the inside of the lid, and use the Blender Pen to pick up just a smidge.  Then you can use the fine detailed point on your Blender Pen to get carefully into the nooks and crannies of the mane and tail for example.

The greeting was stamped in Stazon Black onto a scrap of watercolour paper, and trimmed to a banner shape before fixing at one end with a Flower Designer Brad and shaping with a Stampin' Dimensional for a bit of lift.

July Promotion - Two Step Stampin!

Yay!!  Cheap stamps!!

This month, until 31st July, we have a selection of Two Step Stampin stamp sets available at 20% off their normal prices (or sign with me as a demonstrator to get them at least 40% off, and save 20% on the Starter Kit as the same time!)

So, what is Two Step Stampin?

As you know, our stamps come in sets, and some sets have a little circular "2" symbol marked against them in the catalogue and on the label that indicates that they are great for this technique.  Most often, they are sets that have stamps that can be used in layers, such as a flower background, outline and centre, to create a sense of depth and realism impossible with a single stamp impression.  Others are "building" type sets, where you can create a scene or phrase by stamping multiple images.  Whatever your preference, they are a lot of fun and an easy way to get that 'wow' effect!  Versatile too, since you can use them with and without the double stamping method.

Here is the selection - you will note in the descriptions (XXX) that some of these sets are scheduled to retire at the end of our current catalogue, and are available while stocks last.  Please don't delay if any of these retiring sets have been on your wishlist for a while, I'd hate to see you disappointed if they sell out before the official Retirement List is announced in August.

116386  p39   Loads of Love was $39.95 now $31.96
116342  p42   Big Bold Birthday was $53.95 now $43.16  XXX
115860  p78   A Rose is a Rose was $66.95 now $53.56  XXX
116332  p86   Playful Petals was $52.95 now $42.36  XXX
115770  p98   Cheep Talk was $47.95 now $38.36
115946  p115 Wonderful Favourites was $39.95 now $31.96
119187  mini  Tiny Tags was $38.95 now $31.16 *
119163  mini  Cottage Garden was $32.95 now $26.36 *

* Tiny Tags and Cottage Garden sets are in the Autumn Winter Mini, and are both available in Clear Mount stamps as an option, please refer to the mini for pricing details.

For me, I am definitely getting the Cheep Talk set, I have coveted it for a while!  And, if you haven't got the already great priced Wonderful Favourites set, it's a Wonderful Opportunity!

And, in the spirit of "would you like fries with that?", I'm going to make the suggestion that you also purchase the amazing "Stamp a ma jig" stamp positioning tool, if you haven't already been converted to it's essential-ness!  This can be found on page 155, item 101049 for $22.95 and will give you perfect placement and save you many times its price in frustration and wonky alignment, for titles, sentiments, two-step stampin and more.  As a SPECIAL OFFER, exclusive to me, purchase any three of the sets listed above to get the Stamp-a-ma-jig  HALF PRICE! ($12.05 inc p/h)  Or, purchase any four or more of the sets listed above and get your Stamp-a-ma-jig FREE!

These offers are only available until 31st July, so please give me a call or email to arrange your order.  Limit of one free/discounted Stamp-a-ma-jig per customer, thank you :)