Category Archives: Cards

I am still here…

Posted in Cards, Heartfelt Thanks, Lovely as a Tree, On Your Birthday, Seeing Spots by

… but phew, what a week… or two!
Some of those dreaded “change of season” bugs hit our household full force over the last couple of weeks.  My poor husband had a week off work (totally unheard of) and my son was sick with it as well – at the same time, of course.  And then just when they were starting to get over it, I got sick with a very nasty tummy bug that saw me visiting the emergency unit of the local hospital.  Fortunately it was only a short stay, and I managed to escape the hospital the same day that went in.  But recovery has been a bit of a slow process, and I am now on some medication which seems to be helping, although not quick enough for my liking.  Being unwell is just soooo not me, especially when my mind is willing but my body just isn’t.
So, needless to say, I have a million more ideas running around in my head, but have only had the energy to make a few of them.

I did promise to share some more of the cards I made using the Seeing Spots Stamp Set, which I will do shortly.  And I also have to share some of the excitement of the amazing new Autumn /Winter Mini Catalogue which goes live on the 1st of April, but as a demonstrator, I have been lucky enough to see.  Actually, I have spent quite a few hours with it firmly adhered to my forehead!  It is gorgeous!!!!!  I desperately need the lotto gods to bless me with very large amounts of cash that I can spend on all of the mini catalogue, because to honest, I think I could buy every single thing in it.
I will come back with another post with some details on the new clear mount stamp sets, but in the meantime, some cards.

As well as Seeing Spots, this one uses the lovely Nature’s Nest Stamp Set which is only available until the end of this month.  And the greeting is from the Sale-a-Bration set Vintage Labels, again only available until the end of the month.
Cardstock is Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip and Whispers White.

This second card uses the Heartfelt Thanks Stamp Set, in the colours of  Barely Banana, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery and Chocolate Chip.

And this last card using an all time favourite of mine, Lovely as a Tree, along with On Your Birthday for the greeting.  The colours are Barely Banana, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White.

Hope you are getting lots of stampin done, and for those of you in Canberra, enjoy your long weekend!
Chris

Seeing Spots!

Posted in Cards, Seeing Spots by

What a great stamp set!  On Sunday I held a Stamp-a-stack using the Seeing Spots Stamp Set, which we combined with Wow Flowers and Starring You, and the soft subtle colours of Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana, Certainly Celery and Bashful Blue, with a little Chocolate Chip.  I cut the cardstock into kits, but then we mixed up the colours and changed things around and ended up with lots of different cards in different colour combinations.  It was lots of fun.  Here are a couple of the possibilities, but trust me, there were plenty of other ideas too.

For both cards, I have used:

Stamp Sets: Seeing Spots, Wow Flowers.

Cardstock: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana.

Inks: Chocolate Chip, Barely Banana, Pretty in Pink.

Accessories: Soft Subtle Brads, Silver Brads, Large and Small Oval Punches, 1 1/4 inch Circle Punch.

While they were all busy making these, I made some different designs using Seeing Spots as a background, so I will be back shortly to show you how some of those worked out.
Until then,
Happy Stamping
Chris

Slack blogger…. again!

Posted in Cards, Wonderful Favourites by

I have been, I know, a very slack blogger!  I will try to be better, as I have soooo much to show you.  Yes, while I haven’t been here putting up posts, I have been doing a lot of stamping, so I will post them one at a time so you can see what I have been up to. 
First up, I will share with you the Valentine’s card I made for my husband.  I am quite pleased with how it turned out, and he liked it, which is the main thing! 🙂

Stamp Set: Wonderful Favourite

Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red.

Inks: Basic Black, Versamark.

Accessories: Heart Punch, Slit Punch, Embossing Buddy, Gold Embossing Powder, Heat Tool.

Stay tuned for the next installment soon!
Keep stamping,
Chris

Finally…. some stamping!

Posted in Cards, Heartfelt Thanks, Three Thoughts by

I have had so much going on over the past couple of weeks that I have had no time to do any stamping at all.  So yesterday I got up earlier and actually had time to make a card! Yayyyy….. 🙂
One of the reason I have been so busy, is that Jamie had his very first day at pre-school on Friday.  He really loved it, and had just so much fun. So here are a couple of photos, the first one just as we were leaving to walk down to pre-school, and in the second one he is sat right up the front near the teacher.  I will definitely be making a scrapbook page out of these 🙂

And now to my card.  The ESAD group for Stampin’ Up! demonstrators often runs challenges, and the latest challenge was to use the layout of one of the cards on Page 13 of the Summer Mini Catalogue (the orange card) and make our own version. I also had a few of my own personal challenges that I wanted to add to this, which were, to use some colours that I don’t use very often, and to use a stamp set that I haven’t used for a long time.  And here is what I came up with:

Stamp Sets: Heartfelt Thanks, Three Thoughts.

Cardstock: Whisper White, Gable Green, Orchid Opulence.

Inks: Basic Black, Orchid Opulence, Gable Green, Tempting Turquoise.

Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Paper piercing tool and Mat Pack, White Gel Pen, Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon, Paper snips, sponges.

The idea for the colour combination came from a recent post on Gretchen Barron’s blog.  It is not a combination I would have thought of, but it is stunning, and I will definitely be using more bold bright combinations in my cards from now on.  So, thank you for the inspiration Gretchen.

I am sure we all have stamp sets that are sitting up the back of the cupboard, unused and collecting dust.  So set yourself a challenge to get one of them out, and stamp with it again.  Stampin’ Up!bring us so many new, gorgeous sets, that sometimes it is easy to forget about some of the old favourites.
Here’s to more stamping time,
Chris

Half Sheet Wonder Part 2

Posted in Cards, Hello Again by

Here is the fourth card in the series of Half Sheet Wonder cards, following on from the three cards I posted up yesterday.  The main flower has four layers of cardstock with a “Build a Brad” in the centre.  The leaves have been cut to shape by hand and then I have used the edge of the ink pad for the veins of the leaves.

Stamp Sets: Retro Remix Wheel, Hello Again, For Everything, On Your Birthday.

Cardstock: Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum.

Ink: Pretty in Pink, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Barely Banana, Bashful Blue, Sage Shadow.

Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, Paper Snips, Build-a-Brad, Circle Scissors.

Artwork copyright Chris Parker-Barnes
Images copyright 1990-2010 Stampin’ Up!

Sorry this is such a short post today, but my lovely little boy has been quite unwell over the past two days and just wants to sit next to me and have a snuggle!
Have a good day.
Chris

Half Sheet Wonder

Posted in Butterfly Prints, Cards, For Everything, Hello Again, One Sheet Wonder by

If you spend any time browsing the internet, and the many wonderful stamping blogs and websites out there, you will most probably have heard of a “One Sheet Wonder”.  The idea is to take a sheet of patterned paper, or stamped cardstock, and use it to create as many cards as possible.
I came across a post on the blog of a fellow Stampin’ Up Demostrator, the lovely and talented Claire Daly, who had a challenge to do a “Half Sheet Wonder”.  I think I might be too late to enter her challenge, but thought I would share it with you anyway.  And it is such a great idea.
I have taken a sheet of A4  Whisper White Cardstock, and I have used my Retro Remix Stampin Around Wheel up and down the page a few times, and then stamped in between and around it using the cute Hello Again stamp set. 
Here are three of the cards I have made (there is a fourth one which is only half finished), and I still have the other half of my A4 sheet left to use for some other ideas.

Materials for all three cards are:

Stamp Sets:Hello Again, Retro Remix Wheel,  Best Yet, Vintage Labels (Sale-a-bration Set), For Everything, Butterfly Prints.

Cardstock: Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum.

Inks: Perfect Plum,Pale Plum, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Sage Shadow, Barely Banana.

Accessories: Paper piercing tool and Mat Pack, Markers, Scallop Circle Punch, 3/4inch Circle Punch, Boho Blossoms Punch, Butterfly Punch, Slit Punch, Metal Edge Tag, Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon, Circle Scissors, Paper snips, Two-way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds.

Artwork copyright Chris Parker-Barnes
Images copyright 1990-2010 Stampin’ Up!

I will try to bring you the 4th card tomorrow, and maybe some more examples later in the week.  But why don’t you give it a go too, you can use any patterned paper in any sort of layout, just have fun, and happy stamping!
Chris

Valentine’s Card for Men

Posted in Boxes, Cards, Designer Series Paper by

I recently had a request to design a male Valentine’s Card for a group of ladies.  I struggled with this at first, my husband and I do usually exchange cards on Valentine’s Day but we don’t place much significance on it.  I also don’t have many stamp sets which have hearts or “happy valentine’s” greetings on them, so I had to come up with something using what I currently do have.  I hope you like the end result.  I also made a small matching box.  We made a similar box at last year’s Stampin’ Up! training night here in Canberra, but I altered it slightly and made it from one piece of cardstock instead of two.  Much easier for my class of beginner stampers and box makers.  And it is just the right size for a couple of chocolates or a small gift.

Stamp Sets: Hello Again (Summer Mini Catalogue), Best Yet (Level 1 Hostess Set), Boho Backgrounds.

Cardstock: Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip Patterns DSP.

Inks: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze.

Accessories: Heart Punch, Word Window Punch, Paper Snips, Markers, Sticky Strip.

Artwork copyright Chris Parker-Barnes
Images copyright 1990-2010 Stampin’ Up!

Enjoy your day.
Chris

Vintage Labels

Posted in 3D, A Rose is a Rose, Cards, Designer Series Paper, On Your Birthday, Sale-a-bration, Vintage Labels by

Firstly, I would like to thank everyone for all the lovely comments I have received over the last two days, it is always good to get comments on my blog and know that other people are getting inspiration and ideas from my projects.
I do hope you enjoyed all the wonderful projects on your way around the blog hop, I certainly did, and now have many more ideas and new things to make 🙂  I think I need to find an extra day each week, just to fit in all the new projects I want to make!!

And now I would like to share another project which features the wonderful Vintage Label Stamp Set, and one of my all time favourite stamp sets, A Rose is a Rose.  This time a card, with a matching bag and candle, just perfect for giving to someone special.

Stamp Sets: Vintage Labels (Only availabe during Sale-a-bration), A Rose is a Rose, On Your Birthday.

Cardstock: Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White, Pink Flamingo DSP.

Inks: Basic Black, Real Red, Kiwi Kiss.

Accessories: Basic Black Grosgrain Ribbon, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/4 inch Circle Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Paper Snips, Paper piercing tool and Mat Pack, White Tissue Paper, Heat Gun.

Artwork copyright Chris Parker-Barnes
Images copyright 1990-2010 Stampin’ Up!

Happy Australia Day, and happy stampin,
Chris

Watercolour Pencils

Posted in Cards, Designer Series Paper, For Everything by

My lovely and supportive husband gave me some watercolour pencils for Christmas this year (Stampin’ Up! ones of course!), and I just love them, even though I haven’t had enough time to really get to know how to use them properly yet.  But you can be sure that you will be seeing quite a lot of them in the near future, as I do more experimenting.  Anyway, this card was a nice, simple one for my first play with the pencils.  I have stamped the images onto some scrap pieces of watercolour paper with black Stazon, then coloured inside each image using the pencils.  I have then blended the colours together using the Aqua brush, which really brought out the gorgeous, vibrant colours.  I hope you like it!

Make sure you check out my Upcoming events page for classes for February, and hope you get some stamping time this weekend.
Chris

Stamp Set:For Everything

Cardstock: Night of Navy, Watercolour Paper, Kaleidoscope DSP.

Inks: Night of Navy, Back Stazon.

Accessories: Watercolour Pencils, 1 1/4 and 1 3/8 square punches, Aqua Brush.

Artwork copyright Chris Parker-Barnes
Images copyright 1990-2010 Stampin’ Up!

Workshop Cards

Posted in Butterfly Prints, Cards, For Everything by

The two cards I will show today, are both cards I have designed for some upcoming in-home workshops.  Both cards showcase stamp sets from the Summer Mini Catalogue but I have kept them nice and simple since anything too complicated just doesn’t work in a workshop setting.  Workshops are a wonderful way to earn some Stampin’ Up! products for free, and also a good way to introduce non stampers to “our world” in a fun and friendly environment where they can try things out without having to buy first.  So make sure you contact me soon, if having a workshop is something you would like to try.  All you need to do is to invite your friends, family, neighbours etc over, provide a few refreshments, and I do the rest!  And you might just be surprised at who comes along if you invite them. 🙂  Stamping, cardmaking and scrapbooking are growing and growing in popularity, and there are still plenty of people out there who have never tried it and would like to.  So don’t be shy, give me a call or send me an email 🙂

Stamp Set: Butterfly Prints

Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Basic Black, Raspberry Tart DSP

Ink: Basic Black, Pink Pirouette

Accessories: Butterfly Punch, Eyelet Border Punch

Artwork copyright Chris Parker-Barnes
Images Copyright 1990-2010 Stampin’ Up!

Stamp Set: For Everything

Cardstock: So Saffron, Whisper White, Tea Party DSP

Inks: So Saffron, Pretty in Pink, Almost Amethyst, Certainly Celery

Accessories: Large Oval Punch

Artwork copyright Chris Parker-Barnes

Images copyright 1990-2010 Stampin’ Up!