Oh, Hello - Hexagons, Chevrons & Lace

 Here are a couple of cards I made recently, using products from the current Anniversary Seasonal Catalogue.  It's full of the latest trends, such as chevrons, vintage trinkets and hexagons.

The two cards started out with the same basic layout, and I tweaked the second to change it up a bit.  In the end, I didn't have a clear favourite.  The base is So Saffron, embossed with the Honeycomb folder, $13.95, p6.  I used Raspberry Ripple for the base oval, and stamped the Oh, Hello Chevron oval in Primrose Petals to make the topper oval, cutting with Ovals Collection Framelits.  Incidentally, this collection of ovals is a little different to others available - the outer-most, largest oval is scalloped, ready to nest with any of the inner plain ovals - what a great idea!

For the top card, I then took some snips of DSP - my current favourite from the Anniversary Catalogue, Tea for Two, and another favourite from the Annual Catalogue, First Edition Specialty.  I used a square punch on one end to create the banner look.  Some delicious lace from the very special "Artisan Embellishments Kit"  ($16.95, p10) was given the same end treatment (with scissors though!).  Some seam binding and coloured lace were tied together in a knot, and topped with a resin rose all from the kit.  The sentiment is from Memorable Moments, and is mounted on a funky square from the Apothecary Accents Framelits set.  Some matching chevrons are overstamped on this piece.  A flower from Oh, Hello was inked with markers, stamped and cut out.

For the bottom card, I substituted a fancy resin button for the rose, moved the sentiment to the opposite side, on a different Apothecary Accents shape, used a slice of Vanilla Paper Doily Sizzlit instead of DSP and added another Chevron stamp from Oh, Hello.

 Would you like to see more?  There's plenty in the 40 page Anniversary Seasonal Catalogue to suit a multitude of tastes.  Click on the blue cover image in the right sidebar to view online, or txt me with your name & address to get a hard copy sent in the post.

In other important news, Sale-a-bration is coming to an end - March 22nd, just over 2 weeks left! 
I'll be placing orders up to the 19th - but I'll be travelling after that and I can't guarantee I'll be able to submit last minute orders.

Also - Registration for Convention 2013 will be opening in just a few days, for demos from 11th March, and from 19th for guests.  But - really, it's a no-brainer if you'd like to attend but are not yet a demonstrator - sign up today!  You'll benefit from the extra value in the SAB joining kit, you'll be able to register early, AND you'll also save $100 by being a demo attendee.  Spend just $169 to join, save $100 on convention registration, and get $294 worth of products + an $80 business supplies pack.  And that doesn't get even close to the real benefits of joining my team!  Check out the info page here or give me a call to chat about your options.

I have a feeling it's going to be a silvery, sparkly, special kind of Convention, Stampin' Up sure know how to party, and they've a lot to celebrate this year!
Have a lovely Wednesday everyone :-)

Birthday card with "Established Elegance"

 

I made this card one day at the home of my lovely team member Clare, AKA "Crafty Cow".  She invited a group of us over during the last weeks of the summer school holidays.   Now, Clare is absolutely 'teh awesome' when it comes to creative and funky stuff, and I think you can practically bottle the stuff in her house!  I always seem to get more done there than usual.  Clare is participating in the new craft markets in the Campbelltown area, Hummingbird Craft Markets, so if you're nearby or feel like a Sunday Drive on March 11th, why not check it out?

Back to the card, it uses the "Established Elegance" stamp set, (124966 $53.95 in woodmount, 122532 $42.95 in cling mount). I picked Bravo Burgundy as a colour I haven't used in a while, and added some layers of Soft Suede and Confetti Cream.  I used the 'Stampin Off' technique to get a selection of shades of Soft Suede on the main stamped panel layer, and I also used some Versamark and embossed with Clear powder to give a bit of a resist effect, creating a background image for the dressmakers models.  Before I forget, there's some scrunching and some misting with the lovely grungy "Log Cabin" smooch spray, (119921, $7.95) for the other layers.  And, some of my totally favourite ribbon of the moment, Crumb Cake Seam binding - 122332 $12.95 a roll behind, loosely pleated using the super sticky "Sticky Strip" tape.

The mannequins were stamped once onto the front layer, and restamped onto scraps of Confetti Cream, Soft Suede and Bravo Burgundy, so I could cut out the main sections, and give them some lift with Stampin' Dimensionals (104430 and just $7.50 for 300 plus the useful edge bits!).  Lookin pretty good...

Then, I dropped an inkpad on the card, leaving a splodge mark of ink on the cream mannequin shape. You can see a bit also on the Miss Soft Suede also, but much less obvious!  Bummer!  But, no matter, maybe that's why I love the vintage and distressed look so much, because occasions like this cease to be 'bin it' moments, and become opportunities for embellishments.  So, I decided that Cream Mannequin needed..... a scarf!   A tiny snippet of Bravo Burgundy Grosgrain, with the ends frayed, and tied off with a snip of linen thread, and she was all fixed.  In fact, dressed, and probably better than before - what do you think?

Looking at this card now, I think I could have added some of the Champagne Stampin' Glass Glitter, 120997, $7.95, but I've already given it to my dressmaking mum for her birthday!  She keeps my cards, so maybe I can sneak it on sometime?  LOL :)

Vintage Letterpress with Artistic Etchings

Here's one of the first cards I made with the Artistic Etchings set.  As much as I loved it when I saw the beautiful vintage elements, I wasn't sure how easy it would be to create with, but I was pleasantly surprised to find my 'vintage groove' straight away, and I've been enjoying the collage/quirky style very much!

I think the original layout came from a sketch challenge at our recent team weekend, but of a very different clean and simple style of card.  Not for long once I got hold of it!

Card base is Crumb Cake, and there is also Very Vanilla, Soft Suede and Basic Gray.  I've layered, I've distressed, I've asymetricked (yes, I know that's not a word, maybe it should be?), I've crimped, added metal embellishments, and all together it gives the vintage look.

One thing that was a bit of an experiment was using the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder for the Big Shot machine to apply ink to the Debossed sections of the cardstock.  Here I used Baja Breeze ink, and swiped it over the smoother pattern side before running through.  You get a reverse type effect when you run the ink over the raised side.  This "letterpress" style is quite popular at the moment, and there are several newish tools on the market to make invitations with.  I think it's nice that you can take tools you already have and achieve a similar effect.  And if you don't already have the tools, then it's another reason to NEED them!! 

Speaking of NEEDS, there is a short while left on the Dressing Up Christmas Promotion, running until the 30th November.  The Ornament Punch bundle is currently unavailable however, due to a technical issue with the punch which is being worked on right now.  There are still three other bundles to choose from to get FREE RIBBON, including the Welcome Christmas bundle with very pretty Christmas Cocoa specialty paper.  Give me a call on 0403 175 790 to order.

For those of you who's significant others need some prodding and direction in the Christmas Gift department, stay tuned for details about my "Christmas Gift Wishlist" system, which makes it so easy for them to get you what you want!! Later today, hopefully, if I can get a few more things crossed off my to do list!

Friends Never Fade - Team Weekend Swap

This card is the one that I designed for the Card in A Box swap for the "INKlings" team retreat in August.  It uses a few of the new goodies in the new 2010-11 Idea Book and Catalogue.
I chose the colours from my favourite Designer Series Paper, Elegant Soiree, although it wasn't available to purchase at the time.  The card base is Baja Breeze, back with us for good now that it is a Core Colour!
I ran the card front through the "Vintage Wallpaper" embossing folder in my Big Shot machine, isn't it pretty!!  The next layer is Basic Gray, and I tore the lower half and rolled and distressed the lower edge, and did a bit of sponging also.
The greeting is stamped in Basic Gray ink, using the "Thank you Kindly" stamp set.  The stamped panel is Very Vanilla, and I stamped the gorgeous stylised flower in Soft Suede, Baja Breeze and Sahara Sand.  To add some dimension, I used the lovely new "Beautiful Wings" Embosslit die to make some pretty little butterflies from various colours, this card has a Vanilla and a Basic Gray creature fluttering above the flowers.  I attached them with mini glue dots, and bent the wings up a little.
To finish, I made some paper ribbon.  I cut some 1cm strips of Soft Suede cardstock, and ran them through my crimping tool to soften the paper fibres.  A few goes passing the strips in and out, and the cardstock ends up being soft and flexible, just like real ribbon.  I used Sticky Strip to pleat the paper ribbon across the join, being deliberately messy about it, to echo the torn bottom edge.  All done!  I might try something similar now that we have the Elegant Soiree paper to match the colour

Christmas Card Stamp-a-Stack Class - fully booked!

Thanks everyone for the overwhelming interest in my upcoming Christmas Card Stamp-a-Stack featuring Elegant Embossing.  You can click here to see the details or scroll down a little.  The class is now fully booked, but I already have 2 or 3 people keen to attend a repeat session.  I am also considering running some clases during the week, to make it easier on those of us who have hectic weekends, and would like to get your valuable opinion on running Wednesday evening classes. Just leave a comment here, or email me to let me know your thoughts, or to add your name to the waiting list.  If you've requested a spot for the Friday 13th August evening class, please feel free to confirm your availability.

I'll leave you with another glimpse of Christmas, some 'suspension' cards I made for a recent swap amongst my fellow demos.  Hope you like it!

Manhattan Flower Kiwi Mothers Day Card

Oops! Where does the time go? I swear I was coming back in the same day to describe the rest of the cards I posted below, but alas, life intervened... To make this post look purty on your blog feed summaries, I'll post the pic again.

Card base: Kiwi Kiss stamped with 5th Avenue Floral in Versamark ink

Embossed panel: Whisper White cardstock through "Manhattan Flower" embossing folder and the BigShot, then trimmed to remove blank areas using papersnips

Ribbon: Narrow black grosgrain vertically, with a tie of Kiwi Kiss striped grosgrain

Sentiment: Label stamp from the recent Sale-a-bration set, "Vintage Labels", with a stamp from "Occasionally" positioned inside it, punched with curly label punch and mounted with Stampin' Dimensionals.

Easy Peasy, and it is the kind of card you could make a batch of ahead of time, using various base colours, and add an appropriate sentiment as the occasion demanded.

I love the colour combination of black, kiwi and white in this card, to me it looks crisp and sophisticated. Changing the colour to Bashful Blue or Pink Pirouette and you could have a wedding card. I like versatile card designs, what do you think of this one??

Quick easy (anything) cards with Manhattan Flower

There is very nearly no stamping on these cards. Other than the background stamp on the Riding Hood Red panel and the Tiny Tag, it is all simple embossing and ribbon. You could get away with no stamping at all if you substituted a patterned paper for the red panel and added something else embellishment wise to the ribbon. Very fast, very easy, very effective! I made about 8 of these in about an hour, with a few different variations of ribbon etc. The folder is the utterly scrumptious "Manhattan Flower" Textured Impressions Embossing Folder from the new Autumn/Winter Mini catalogue. It is designed to go through the BigShot diecutting machine also new in the mini, but goes equally well into other brands of roller diecut machine such as Cuttlebug, Big Kick etc. The folder complements the "5th Avenue Floral" stamp set and the "Urban Oasis" Designer Series Paper, but it works just fine all by itself. Here I have used Whisper White as the cardstock, being so densely compressed it gives a lovely crisp finish. I have also used this folder with Glossy White cardstock with great results. The card base is Kraft, and the ribbon is Baja Breeze striped grosgrain and Kraft Taffeta, tied on with Linen Thread. What do you think?

Upcoming Classes and Events - Friday 16th and Saturday 17th April

Hello everyone!
I hope the Easter Break was kind to everyone, and that those with kids are enjoying their School Holidays! It's been a whirlwind of activity here, with a visit to the Royal Easter Show, a trip for the kids to Grandma and Grandpa's farm, Sports camp and more! Phew! I am almost looking forward to school going back...

Now, onto upcoming papercrafty events!

Friday Night Class - Embossing techniques

Friday 16th April, 7.30 for 8pm-10pm class

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. You will also receive detailed written notes. All materials you need for the class are included. Light supper will be served. 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 Places are strictly limited to ensure individual attention.

Saturday Stampin' Crop Day

Saturday 17th April 10am-5pm

Our regular monthly gathering, where you can come for the day or for a few hours to work on your own crafting projects. All my stamps and tools are available for you to use, and I offer casual instruction, inspiration and demonstrations. Snacks, tea and coffee are provided. Come with a friend or come and make some new ones with a lovely group of ladies! Cost is $15 for the day, book your spot on 9484 9447 or email as above!