Category Archives: Cards

Pretty Butterflies

Posted in Baroque Motifs, Cards, Designer Series Paper, On Your Birthday by

Firstly, thanks everyone for all of your lovely comments, it is lovely to hear from some old friends, and some new ones!  I had a really relaxing weekend and am feeling a heap better today.  And I did some stamping over the weekend, so things are looking up!
Here is one of the cards I made over the weekend, I really enjoyed making this, and it is so pretty in real life.

The details are a little hard to see in the photo, but I have stamped the swirl from Baroque Motifs straight onto the Whisper White Card base using versamark ink, then used Heat and Stick powder and Dazzling Diamonds to give it a very pretty sparkle!  There is a strip of the wonderful new In Colour Rich Razzleberry down the right side, and some of the Cottage Wall DSP, both of them scalloped with the Scallop Edge Punch.  I have also used the same DSP for the butterflies which have also been punched out.  And the greeting is from On Your Birthday using Rich Razzleberry ink.  A pretty easy card really, and a good way to use up some of those scraps of cardstock.
And on the subject of punches, don’t forget that tomorrow is the last chance to four punches at 30% discount.  Contact me for more details or to place an order.  Payment and orders must be placed with me no later than 5pm tomorrow, and I can ship your order to anywhere in Australia. 
Hope you get some stamping done today!
Chris

Season of Joy

Posted in Cards, Season of Joy by

No, I am not posting a Christmas Card today, however the card I am going to show you does use the Season of Joy stamp set.  I love the challenge of trying to use stamp sets in different ways, doing something that’s not so obvious.  So here is what I have come up with today.

As well as Season of Joy, I have used the new Heard from the Heart greeting set, which is fast becoming another favourite, I love the long, flowing lines of the these greetings.
Of course, this card could be a Christmas card, just change the colours and use a christmas greeting.
I have used Cameo Coral and Certainly Celery cardstock and inks, with some Certainly Celery ribbon, and some flat back pearls from the pretties kit to add some flair.  The flowers have been stamped and then cut out to give them a dimensional look, and for a finishing touch, my all time favourite, some paper piercing in the corners.
I really feel that I am starting to get better now, as I am wanting to do more and more crafting and creating every day, not just stamping, but I have also found that I am having time to get back into some of the other crafts that I enjoy, such as knitting, sewing and needlecraft.  So I thought I would share one other thing with you today.  I have had a lot of comments from family and friends about this rug, which I made quite a few years ago now, but is Jamie’s favourite snuggle rug when he is unwell.  I did crochet the entire rug out of left over balls and bits and pieces of wool which my Mum and I had both collected over years of knitting, and crocheting.  The photo is not the best, as it is a bit hard to take a photo of something that size, when it is laid out flat.

This is just another of one of many things that I look forward to getting back into.  So you may well be seeing lots more different crafty stuff on here in the future 🙂

In the meantime, I think I will go and make a card!  And I hope you get some time today to do some crafting.  Happy stamping!
Chris

Autumn Days Class

Posted in Boxes, Cards by

On Wednesday 16th June at 7.30pm and Saturday 19th June at 1.30pm, I will be holding a class featuring the Autumn Days Stamp Set and Autumn Traditions Designer Series Papers.  Here is a bit of peak at what we will be making:

The cost of the class is $25 and we will make four cards and a box for them to go into, making it a very special gift box to give away or keep for yourself.  This class is suitable for beginners and the inexperienced, but should be lots of fun for the more experienced stampers as well. 
As with all my classes, seats are limited so contact me now to book your place.  If you can’t make it on either day, then you have two options, either find a group of your friends who would like to do the class and work out a date with me, and I will bring the class to you. Or I can make up a kit for you to make the set at home in your own time.
I will be back soon with more dates for classes and stamp-a-stacks, including a Christmas in July Stamp-a-stack, so stay tuned!
Chris

I’m still here….

Posted in Cards, Clear Mount Stamps, Cottage Garden, Tiny Tags by

…..really I am!  And just to prove it, I am going to post a card!

There, you see, I have been doing some stamping.  But only a little.
I made this card for a workshop which I did a couple of weeks ago, during one of the few days when I have not been ill over the past few months.  I managed to get the workshop done and order in etc just in time to come down with the next bout of illness.  But I feel as though I am on the mend and am looking forward to getting back into stamping and running classes and workshops.
Unfortunately I missed out on this year’s Stampin’ Up! convention because my lovely boy, Jamie, had pneumonia and was very sick.  And as it turns out, I had a very bad throat infection that weekend and couldn’t speak for two days, so it was probably just as well that I couldn’t get there.
Anyway, this card was a nice simple one, perfect for one of my beginners workshops.  The girls also got to use some of the new clear mount blocks and stamps, so that they could feel how lovely they are to use, as well as sampling those gorgeous new colours. And I demonstrated to the workshop guests, how to dress that same card up, and make it just a bit more exciting and interesting.  So here is the “upgraded” version.

Stamp Sets: Cottage Garden, Tiny Tags.

Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Whisper White.

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Old Olive.

Accessories: Paper Piercing Tool and Mat Pack, White Gel Pen, Paper Snips, Scallop Edge Punch, Medium Jewelry Tag Punch, Corner Rounder Punch, Melon Mambo Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon, Clips Assortment.

Aren’t those colours just gorgeous! 
I am currently in the process of working out dates for my upcoming classes, so make sure you check back over the next day or so to see what exciting things I have in store for you.  Most of them will use some new stamps, punches and accessories from the current mini catalogue.
I will also come back with some exciting news from Stampin’ Up!
In the meantime, happy stamping,
Chris

Pendant Park Swap

Posted in Big Shot, Cards, Pendant Park by

Pendant Park is one of the new stamp sets from the Autumn / Winter Mini Catalogue, and one that I thought would have a lot of use and that I could do a lot with.  And I have used it to make some swaps that I recently took part in with other members of the ESAD group.
I have done a lot of sponging with this one.  You could use a brayer to do the background, but I prefer the more subtle look of the sponging.

Stamp Set: Pendant Park

Cardstock: Whisper White, Soft Suede.

Inks: Versamark, Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, Basic Grey, Mellow Moss, Creamy Caramel, Really Rust.

Accessories: Big Shot, Top Note Die, Word Window Punch, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Sponges.

It’s something a little different to my usual style, but I enjoyed it, and will definitely be doing more like it.

Don’t forget to check out my “Classes” page for some new classes coming up.
Keep stamping
Chris

Sympathy Cards

Posted in Cards by

Sympathy cards are really difficult to make, but, I have been lucky enough to receive quite a number of beautiful handmade sympathy cards over the past few weeks, and wanted to share them with you, and to give the creators a huge thank you.  I can’t tell you how much it has meant to me that each of you put the effort into making and sending such lovely cards.  And I wanted you also to see, that sympathy cards don’t have to be done in certain colours or styles, they don’t have to be anything in particular, and these are all different, but gorgeous!

This first card was made by the very talented Debbie Fearns.  I am lucky enough to have Debbie in my downline, and very grateful to have her and her family as close friends.  Debbie has used her Big Shot and the new Top Note Die for this card.

This one is from Carolyn MacPherson, again Carolyn has used the Big Shot, this time with an embossing folder:

From Annette MacMillan:

This next one is from a friend who, as far as I know, has never done any classes in card making, and tells me that I inspired her to make her own cards.  She has hand drawn the tree and this card is just stunning in real life.  Thank you Carly, for the effort that went into this card.

From Carly Clough:

From my Secret Sister: – love this colour combination – it uses Soft Suede, one of the new In Colours, in combination with Baja Breeze.

From Kerri Donsky, a fellow demonstrator in Queensland:

And from Paula Allcock, also a demonstrator:

I am having some problems formatting this page, so my apologies if it comes out looking a bit odd!  But I am sure you can decipher it!

Happy Sunday Stamping! 🙂
Chris

Cinema Saturday Challenge

Posted in Big Shot, Cards, On Your Birthday, Vintage Vogue by

In recent times I have really been struggling to find my “mojo”.  It’s not surprising, I suppose, with everything that has been going on, but stamping has just become a struggle rather than something that I love to do.  So, it was definitely time to get back into some of those challenges that I enjoy doing, in the hope that things might start to pick up a little.
And what better way than to go back to one of my favourite challenges, Cinema Saturday Creative Challenges.  And it just so happens that this week’s movie is Sense and Sensibility, which is a movie that I just adore.  I am totally into period movies and books, but this one is definitely a favourite.
The challenge is to create a card, inspired by the movie, and which is a CAS Card, meaning Clean and Simple. Here is what I came up with.

I have used some plain Whisper White cardstock for the base, stamped the greeting in the yummy new Soft Suede ink, then run it through the Big Shot using the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, just to give the background a nice subtle texture.  The heart is Bashful Blue cardsock, punched out with the large Heart Punch, and then stamped using the Vintage Vogue stamp set from the new mini catalogue, in Old Olive ink. I have stamped the small flower also from Vintage Vogue onto white cardstock with Bashful Blue ink, cut out the flower, and then sponged around both the flower and heart using daubers and Soft Suede ink.  The button is from the Playground buttons from the previous mini (ie retired) and has a tiny piece of white cardstock threaded through, just to give that finishing touch.
It was quite a quick and easy card to make but I know just who to send this one to!  Thanks for stopping by.  I will be posting some of the items that we will be making at tonight’s catalogue launch, so make sure you come back and have a look at those.
Happy stamping
Chris

Cards for our Aussie Troops

Posted in Cards by

I recently came across an amazing lady, Karen Cummings, who last year collected hundreds of handmade cards to send to our Australian troops overseas, so that they could send cards home to their families for Christmas. 

She is currently collecting cards for Mother’s Day, so I am putting the call out there to all of you cardmakers, lets show our support for our fabulous armed forces.

As a former serving member myself , (although I wasn’t lucky enough to serve overseas), I know just how difficult it is to be isolated and away from family and loved ones for long periods of time.  I also understand just how hard it is for the families left back at home, and how much the correspondence means to both parties.
So, lets see how many we can make.  They don’t have to be complicated, just a nice handmade card that someone can send home to their Mum for Mother’s Day. 

I will be collecting cards until Friday 26th March, so please, if you can put aside 10 minutes a week over the next couple of weeks, it will mean so much to someone’s Mum!
If you would prefer to send them straight to Karen, just click on the link above and email her for her address. And please feel free to email me if you have any questions.

Thanks in advance,
Chris

Matching Card

Posted in Big Shot, Cards, On Your Birthday by

There, I told you I would be back today with the card that matches the box from yesterday’s post.  But only a very short post today, as I have a busy day.  It is my lovely husband’s birthday today!

Anyway, here is the card, using the wonderful new Cottage Garden stamp set, which comes in both wood mount and clear mount.  I have the clear mount version. And I have used the colours of the Cottage Wall Designer Series Paper, which are Old Olive, Orchid Opulence, the new Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, and of course a little bit of white embossing for the greeting and some dazzling diamonds for the centres of the flowers.
And, I must not forget the all important Big Shot and Top Note Die, which I have used to cut out the white layer.  Both the Big Shot and Top Note Die will be available through me from Stampin’ Up! from 1st April – how exciting is that??? 🙂
Hope you have a lovely day! Chris

Happy Mail

Posted in Cards, Fifth Avenue Floral by

As many of you know, I belong to a group of stampers who are all Stampin’ Up! demonstrators from around Australia and New Zealand, called the ESAD group.  The group often runs swaps, which I am generally keen to take part in, as I am able to use many of the ideas in my own classes etc.
At the moment I am taking part in a kind of swap, that we call “Secret Sisters”.  As a very brief explanation, I am a sister to another person who I send things to, I know her name, but she doesn’t know mine.  I also have a “Secret Sister” who sends things to me.  She knows my name, but I don’t know hers.  Ok?  Clear as mud?
Well, anyway, my Secret Sister (who ever she may be), sent me this gorgeous card last week, using lots of my favourite things, and I just wanted to share it with you.  And….. you will also get to see a bit of a peek of one stamp from one of the great greeting sets from the Autumn / Winter mini Catalogue (and yes, there a few in there).
Now, I hear some of you other demonstrators and customers saying “oh, but you can’t do that!”, so I just want to clear that one up. Not all that long ago, there were some changes to the demonstrator agreement, which means we are now allowed to show items that have been made with things out of the upcoming catalogue.  I can’t let you see the catalogue,  I can’t show the stamp sets etc and I can’t sell you anything before the 1st April,  but I can show you the cards, scrapbook pages etc that I make using those things.  So guess what?  I am going to show you lots! 🙂
Anyway, lets get on with it!  I absolutely adore the colours of Sage Shadow and Elegant Eggplant, and don’t they just look great in this beautiful card.  So, thank you Secret Sister, for my “happy mail” 🙂

Stamp Sets: Fifth Avenue Floral, Heard from the Heart (available from me on the 1st April, and not before!! 🙂 )

I have to admit that the Heard from the Heart Stamp Set was not on my wish list, that is, until I received this card, but now it is, along with lots of other stuff 🙂

Happy Stampin everyone,
Chris