World Cardmaking Day - Who Knew!

So, hands up those of you who knew there was such a thing as World Card Making Day (WCMD). Well, OK, there are a few of you since everyone is advertising the fact on their blogs, LOL. In order to celebrate WCMD, Stampin' Up! are offering 20% off each of the Simply Sent kits ordered between October 4 and October 8, 2007. You can see the kits here and here.

These kits are pretty cool. They contain EVERYTHING you need to make 10 cards, 5 off 2 different designs. In my opinion, the best thing about these kits is that the stamps sets in them are DIE CUT. What does that mean - no cutting or trimming before mounting onto the blocks!

I have the 'A Wish For You' kit, and I thought I'd show you a sample from the kit and then a sample using different supplies. I kept the layouts the same, I just wanted to show how easy it is to substitute other colours in to get different effects.


So this is the first - using Certainly Celery and Tempting Turquoise. This is the 'kit' card. It was surprisingly easy to line up the candles on the top of the cake, and it most time consuming part of the whole card was the ribbon tying!



This time, I thought I'd make it a more masculine card and substituted Kraft for the base, Chocolate Chip for the layering and the images are stamped on Very Vanilla using Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa inks. I also used that damned twill tape that I bought on my VERY 1st SU order over a year ago. I have immense trouble using this tape, I don't know how many times I have pulled it out, only to put it away just as quick. The piece I have used is actually the smallest width cut in half. It was too bulky to use as is and it gives it a bit more of a manly vibe than ribbon.


This is the second 'kit' card. Base is Rose Red, matting Certainly Celery. Ink is R/Red, T/Turquoise and C/Celery. Again, ribbon tying took ages, but as you can see, I also had trouble lining up the 'ribbon' image. (Sorry, the photo is a little blurry - didn't realise until I went to post and it's too late to take any more). As I was putting this one together, I thought to myself, wouldn't it look cool 'blinged out'. This lead me to the next sample.





I love black and pink together. For this I've subsituted Basic Black for the card base and Pink Passion for the matting. Since SU don't have any P/Passion ribbon (& I couldn't be bothered dying white to pink) I used black & white gingham. I stamped the image using black on W/White, (I cheated and used one of my old black pigment inks), covered with Heat & Stick powder, heated with heat tool to make it sticky and then covered in Dazzling Diamonds glitter. I used P/Passion for the ribbon (again, practice did not make perfect, LOL) Isn't it pretty? It is really, really sparkly IRL. Oh, sentiment is stamped in P/Passion too.

If you would like to take advantage of the 20% discount, make sure you get your orders to me ASAP. The deadline of October 8 will be strictly enforced so make sure you don't miss out! You can email me here


That's all for tonight, the dishes need doing before going to bed and I'm mega tired today. Had to be up early (5.30 am) for a job interview (which I think went well) and I got hardly any sleep because I couldn't stop my mind from buzzing! Hate that.

While Waiting For My Dinner To Arrive

I thought that I'd post a couple of notebooks that I altered to add to my goodie box. The goodie box comes to workshops with me and my hostess gets to pick something from it for her hostess gift. The winner of the door prize also gets to pick something from it as their prize. And finally, for every workshop/party that is booked at the workshop, the hostess gets another choice. The goodie box contains a few different things: cardstock samples, pre-made cards & envelopes, stamps and now these altered notebooks.

This first notebook is covered with the retired Sassy designer series paper, the Daily Notes sentiment (from Office Accoutrement - Spring Mini) was inked up using Only Orange, Pink Passion and Green Galore markers, stamped on Whisper White and punched out using the 1-1/4" RD punch. It was matted on a 1-3/8" RD piece of Green Galore, attached to some Apple Green grosgrain ribbon using some pink brads (non SU). It's also popped up on a couple of dimensionals to keep it still. AND there is some BLING attached to the centre of the flower (althought it's pretty hard to see in this photo).

I then applied a coat of mod podge to all the covers (front, back and insides - these are also covered) to give it some protection.

Again I've used the retired Sassy DSP. The word 'notes' is Pink Passion cardstock that has been die cut with my Cuttlebug and Olivia alphabet dies. I added some Pink & Orange stiched ribbon and there is some more BLING on the top of the 'N'. I adhered the letters using the Sakura Quickie Glue pen. I've seen lots of mentions of this little gem by girls in the US but I've never seen them here until just the other day. At $3.95 I figured I didn't have a lot to lose to try it out. It's like a gel pen but with glue inside. It was really good to adhere the letters as they are quite fine in some spots and the glue rolled out easily and gave a nice coverage (without oozing out from underneath). I am really hopeless with any type of glue so I was pleased with the results.

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Office Accoutrement

Ink: Only Orange, Pink Passion, Green Galore Markers

Cardstock: Whisper White, Pink Passion, Green Galore

Accessories: Sassy DSP (retired), Apple Green grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

Non SU Accessories: Notebooks, Cuttlebug, Olivia Alphabet Dies, pink brads, pink/orange stitched ribbon, Sakura Quickie Glue pen, Mod Podge, Foam Brush, self adhesive gems (can't find them to get the name, sorry)

An Apology & The Stamp That Started It ALL!!!!!

First, an apology. I thought I was technically proficient enough to take photos of my creations. I used Amy's method of setting up, however it appears we have little or no natural light coming into the house as our skylight has been covered during our on-going renovations and I'm just NOT as good as a photographer as I thought I was. Back to the scanner for me! LOL.

Also, my WONDERFUL trial version of Paint Shop Pro X has finally expired. Today, I downloaded a trial version of Photoshop Elements 5.0 & boy, is it hard to use. After this I'm off the the forums at SCS to see if I can get some idea of how to use this program. I must say though, the organiser feature is super easy, but anything else I've tried to do has just seemed REALLY complicated (even just saving the damn file - AAARGH).

Anyway, as promised this is the card I made for our friend's engagement. I made it using THE stamp that started my obsession with Stampin' Up! - the beautiful Soft Swirls. I saw the most beautiful card made using this stamp in a US stamping magazine The Rubber Stamper in 2004 and that was IT! I had to have this stamp!!!!!

So, imagine my UTTER DESPAIR when I found out that it was NOT included in our 06/07 catalogue. And then to make matters worse, it was listed on the US RETIRED list, to be retired at the end of June, 2006. This time I was lucky enough to have a truely WONDERFUL contact who was able to finally get this stamp for me. And wouldn't you know it, this is only the 2nd time I've used it, LOL.

I stamped Big Rock by Paper Candy (don't you just LOVE this stamp) in VersaColour Silver onto Whisper White and matted onto Basic Black that had been punched with my 1-3/8" SQ punch. The diamond has been covered with 2-way glue and dazzling diamonds for that extra bit of BLING, you just can't see it in the picture. I mounted this onto the Soft Swirls (stamped in silver, matted with silver) using dimensionals. I then stamped Big News (also from Paper Candy) in silver on W/White, punch a hole in either end using the 1/8 punch and threaded through some silver organdy ribbon. This sentiment is also raised up on dimensionals. I then attached the whole lot to a Basic Black card.

This is the matching gift card holder I made for our gift (a travel voucher to go towards their honeymoon). I had a major DUH moment when making this. I used my slit punch for the first time to make the holder for the gift card, but before I actually punched it I just couldn't figure out how this was going to work! (I put it down to seeing it used to make scalloped edging). Finally figured it out - DUH!

Supplies Used (for both)

Stamps: Soft Swirls (retired), Big Rock, Big News (Paper Candy)

Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Silver (source unknown)

Ink: VersaColour Silver pigment

Accessories: 2-way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Silver Organdy Ribbon, Dimensionals, 1-3/8" SQ Punch, 1/8" RD Punch

2 Posts in 2 Days - What's Up With That!!!!

Well, I told you that I had been doing SOMETHING, lol! These are a couple of things that I made for my last workshop - a gift for my hostess and door prizes/booking incentives.

So this is a Bag-A-Lope, I received one of these little beauties (along with instructions on how to make it) at our Training Night in October from a fellow demonstrator, Naomi as part of a swap. Now I must say how generous the VIC SU demos are - I hadn't made ANY swaps as our training night was only 6 weeks after I gave birth to Harrison, yet everyone was happy to hand their creations to me without getting ANYTHING in return. Thank you ladies, your kindness was greatly appreciated. Might I add, I didn't realise it contained chocolate goodies until the NEXT day, what a FANTASTIC surprise!!!!!

I have made these up for my hostess gift - filling them with M&M's for my last 2 workshops. I also show everyone how to make them as part of my demo - they are proving to be a real WOW factor.

For this one, I stamped the frame in Sahara Sand and then masked it. I them stamped the Floral Background in Bravo Burdandy on the front & back of the envelope so it was completely covered, removed the mask and using the Headline Alpha, stamped my hostess' initial in B/Burgandy. I then topped it off with a piece of Sahara Sand cardstock folded in half, punched 2 holes using my 1/8" punch (using my Paper Piercing template from the Crafter's Tool Kit as a guide) and threaded Burgand grosgrain ribbon through & tied it in a bow to finish it off. I really like how it turned out.

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Floral, Headline Alphabet, Label Classics

Cardstock: Sahara Sand, White envelope

Ink: Sahara Sand and Bravo Burgandy Classic Ink

Accessories: 1/8" Punch, Burgandy Grosgrain Ribbon, Post-It Note, Paper Snips, M&M's, Bone Folder

This next project is a Post-It Note Holder. Emily (emilymomto3boys) has a wonderful tutorial on how to make these - they are SO easy & effective.

I used our gift from Shelli - Seeing Spots - for this project. We have been told that this set will be available in our new catalogue which will be relased in April 07. It's a really fun set and coordinates so well with On the Spot and Sweet Spot that were in our Mini (hope that's a hint of what's to come, KWIM)

I stamped the Whisper White card using Only Orange, Real Red, Pixie Pink and Lovely Lilac markers. I then stamped 'NOTES' using the Rough Edges Alphabet (this is a fun set - a bit of a pain to mount, but one that I will use often!) in W/White Craft on Lovely Lilac, punched out with the Word Window Punch, set some white eyelets and used some Red gingham ribbon & dimensionals to attach it. Then I stuck the Post-It Note pad to the holder with some sticky strip. This is a REALLY fun project!!

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Seeing Spots, Rough Edges Alphabet

Cardstock: Whisper White, Lovely Lilac

Ink: Only Orange, Real Red, Pixie Pink, Lovely Lilac Markers, W/White Craft Ink

Accessories: White eyelets, Word Window Punch, Red Gingham Ribbon, Dimensionals, Sticky Strip

I also made a matching card. I stamped On the Spot using Lovely Lilac markers (need to get the ink pad in this colour - colouring those dots was annoying!)

I then stamped the Thank You and Flower from Seeing Spots in L/Lilac on W/White & punched out with the 1/1-4" punch, used the 1/16" punch to make a teeny tiny hole, attached a jump ring and attached it to the red gingham ribbon. Easy peasy - I really like these colours together!

Supplies Used:

Stamps: On the Spot, Seeing Spots

Cardstock: Lovely Lilac, W/White

Ink: Lovely Lilac Marker

Accessories: 1-1/4" Punch, 1/16" Punch, jump ring, Red gingham ribbon