Tag Archives: cardmaking

Introducing Mosaic Madness

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Ok, yes it has been a while since my last post, not quite sure where the time has gone…… anyway, I am sure you have been getting your inspiration elsewhere, and you may have noticed just how popular anything and everything mosaic is right now.  As always, Stampin’ Up! are onto this trend and in the new catalogue which is only a week away from release, includes the fantastic Mosaic Madness stamp set.

My card features the Mosaic Madness stamp set, the matching punch, and also the Modern Mosaic Embossing Folder.  You might also notice that the colour is not a familiar one…. this is Pistachio Pudding, one of the gorgeous range of new In Colours.

Talking about all the new goodies from the new catalogue, you can come along to my Catalogue Launch dates, Thursday 4th July at 7.30pm or Sun 7th July at 2pm.  Send me an email for more details.

I think I might just be able to squeeze this card in for the current challenge with the girls over at Freshly Made Sketches, and I promise to be back with more ideas and projects for you soon.
Happy Stamping!
Chris

Convention Swaps

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This year’s Stampin’ Up! Convention was just amazing and an experience that had to be seen to be believed.  They are such a special company to be part of.
I have just so much to share, I took over 500 photos – don’t worry I won’t post them all, but I will try to pop a few up over the coming days.  I also have rather a lot of things I want to try out and share with you, but firstly I will show you the swaps that I made.  These are simply card fronts using Stampin’ Up! products that we make in order to exchange or “swap” with the other demonstrators at convention.  I only made 25 this year and had swapped all of mine before the first hour was even over.

My swap uses the Clockworks stamp set in the background and features my favourite “Faux Stitching” along with the Epic Day This and That Designer Series Paper.   This fabulous paper is part of the This and That Bundle which is available at a 15% discount, but only until this coming Friday – 31st May 2013.   Feel free to contact me if you would like to know more about this bundle and how you can get hold of it, or if you would like to know how you can come along to next year’s Stampin’ Up! convention.
Off to do some stamping and creating now 🙂
Happy Stamping!
Chris

CASEing… again …..

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My card today is inspired by an Australian stamper, who I have long admired and hope one day, to be able to make beautiful cards the way she does… I am talking about the fabulously talented Teneale Williams.  I am not sure that I even get close, even after years of practice 🙂 nevertheless, I just adore her work and was thrilled when she recently visited my blog and left a comment.  Thanks for your kind words Teneale.
Here is Teneale’s card:

And here is my CASE, with a little bit of “me” added! 🙂

The patterned paper is called Tea For Two and is from the current Seasonal Catalogue.  Isn’t it just gorgeous?  Because the paper refers to “Tea” I thought it was only fitting to use the Tea Shoppe stamp set, one which has been a little neglected of late.  The individual tea cups have been punched out using a circle punch and then layered with some dimensionals, over the yellow circles on the paper.  I have also stamped and then fussy cut the flower from the stamp set and popped it in the bottom tea cup.  Add some of my favourite faux stitching around the edge of the So Saffron layer of cardstock, lots of sponging on the edges, a pretty ribbon and bow, and a Vintage Brad, and there is my version.

Happy stamping everyone.
Chris

 

 

Pretty in Pink

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Oh no, Pretty in Pink is soon to be leaving us!  If you didn’t already know, Stampin’ Up! have done a colour renovation and with the new catalogue in July, will come a new set of gorgeous colour combinations.  One of the colours that will be leaving the collection is Pretty in Pink… it is such a pretty, girly pink, I am going to miss it!

I have used this week’s sketch from Freshly Made Sketches as a basis for my card and also used my Sizzlits Pinwheel die which hasn’t seen the light of day until now.  The papers are from the Tea For Two Designer Series Papers pack.  The pinwheel may look a little different to how you are used to see them, but I wanted to use just the pink side of the patterned paper without the pattern on the other side showing so I just reversed it – I think it looks a little more like a windmill than a pinwheel, but never mind 🙂  I also struggled with where to put the sentiment.  I have stamped it onto some vellum for a nice soft look, but it just didn’t quite look right, no matter where I put it. Perhaps I should have left the card sentiment free.
The other challenge that I will enter this card in is SUO Challenges, who are currently running a challenge using anything Sizzix – well, I have plenty of those!

Hope you have a crafty week.  Happy stamping!
Chris

CASE Study #138

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I need inspiration!
Yes, Mojo has gone well and truly out the window of late, the last thing I have felt like doing is anything to do with stamping, papercrafting or scrapbooking…. and how rude is that? Well, maybe I just needed a break.
But in any case, after a couple of weeks of keeping busy with, well, life… I finally feel like getting some creativity happening again, so I have been blog hopping, hoping to find some inspiration, and came across this fabulous challenge site called CASE Study.

Here is the inspirational photo:

 

For my inspiration, I have used the turquoise /aqua /blue colours in the sky, along with the butterfly to create my card.

The Swallowtail stamp has been heat embossed with black embossing powder onto some watercolour paper, and I have then watercoloured using an Aqua Brush and ink in the colours Pool Party, Tempting Turquoise and Pacific Point, blended together.  I then cut out the butterfly image and adhered it to the base but only on the left hand side, so that the wing of the butterfly stands up from the card.
So, thanks to the ladies over at CASE Studies for the inspiration, and happy stamping everyone.
Chris

Dynamic Duos #50

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Here are the colours for this week’s Dynamic Duos challenge……

This week all the cards from the Design Team are birthday cards, a special celebration for Design Team member Vicki Burdick, whose birthday was a few days ago.  So, Happy Birthday Vicki, I hope you had a fabulous day!

My card uses the Elements of Style stamp set, firstly the swirl is stamped tone on tone onto the base layer.  The beautiful flower image has been stamped using black Stazon ink, and then I have coloured inside the black outline with markers directly onto the Very Vanilla cardstock.  I coloured the leaves in Sahara Sand, the flowers were coloured with Blushing Bride first and then with Calypso Coral over the top to add some depth and shading.  The image and the the Crumb Cake layer have both been cut using the Ovals Collection Framelits Dies, and of course I had to add some paper piercing! The sentiment is an individual stamp called Beautiful Birthday (Page 44 of the Annual Catalogue).

Sadly, this is my last challenge with Dynamic Duos Design Team, it has been a fantastic six months and I have thoroughly enjoyed the time I have spent working with this amazing group of ladies.  They are all so incredibly talented, creative and inspirational.  I am sure I will be playing along with the next lot of colour challenges and the new Design Team, so keep an eye out for the announcement of who will be taking over for the next round.
And I hope you will continue to check in here and see what I have been doing, it has been wonderful to get all of the lovely comments and I do enjoy sharing my creations with you.
Happy stamping.
Chris

Dynamic Duos #49

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More fun again this week from Dynamic Duos, with an unusual colour combination and the option of making a masculine card with Basic Black and Basic Grey.

I enjoyed this challenge, but then I also enjoy making masculine cards!
Nothing too exciting about my card, I have used the Woodgrain Embossing folder for the black background, the Serene Silhouettes stamp set, lots of paper piercing (of course!) and the the patterned paper comes from the Twitterpated DSP.
Lots of gorgeous inspiration from the Design Team can be seen here.
Hope you are having a crafty weekend. Happy Stamping!
Chris

More Triple Time Stamping!

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I thought I would show you the cards we made last week in the Triple Time Stamping classes, I really enjoyed making these as did those who attended.  So pay attention if you missed out, you could have come along and made these too!! 🙂

We started off making a Christmas card……  yes, Christmas… it’s never too early to start your collection of lovely handmade Christmas cards.

This one uses the stamp set Lovely as a Tree, and the sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Sentiments.  It could, of course be a masculine birthday card rather than a Christmas card, but in any case the idea was to introduce the Triple Stamping technique with just two layers of stamped cardstock to see how it all goes together.

The second card uses the gorgeous Swallowtail stamp, combined with Papillon Potpourri, and the colours Pool Party and Island Indigo. 

And last but not least, a masculine card which uses The Open Sea stamp set, and in the background some patterned paper from the Sunshine and Sprinkles Designer Series Papers, and the Cloudy Day embossing folder.

This is such a great technique and creates gorgeous and unusual cards.  I have a couple more that I have made as samples that I will share with you soon.
Happy stamping!
Chris

 

Dynamic Duos # 48

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Ok I will admit, I struggled with this week’s Dynamic Duos colours…. a lot!

The first card I made started with some ideas and then didn’t turn out anything like I had intended it to.  The lovely ladies on the Design Team told me they liked it, but I am really unhappy with how it turned out.  However… I promised them I would post it here so that you can see both the cards I made with these colours.  So without further ado……..

I have used some of the Delicate Details Lace tape over strips of Pumpkin Pie cardstock, along with a doily, and the circle image is from Serene Silhouettes stamp set.  There are also layers of the Creped Filter Papers which have been punched out and then sponged with Bashful Blue ink.

The second card using these colours is a masculine one.  I have seen this idea on Pinterest, but unfortunately the card didn’t have a persons name attached to it so I can’t credit them with the idea.  As per usual though, I have changed it and added a few my own favourite techniques and ideas to it.

Firstly, I have stamped the sentiment from Wacky Wishes, then added the strips of coloured cardstock to the base (I have used some Crumb Cake along with the Bashful Blue and Pumpkin Pie).  I have then stamped in Versamark ink, the seaweed image from By The Tide stamp set, over the cardstock strips.  It is a little harder to see it in the photo than in real life.  The shell image, also from By The Tide, is stamped in Crumb Cake and then cut out by hand. And of course, I had to add some faux stitching!

Please feel free to leave a message and let me know which one you like best, and make sure to check out lots of inspiration from the Design Team.
Happy Stamping!
Chris

A New Challenge!

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I love it when I find a new challenge, especially when it is one that really opens up the possibilities and gets the creative juices flowing.  Well done to Lesley and Jackie for coming up with this idea, and thanks for all the inspiration.

And here is my first Fusion card.

I have added my own challenge to this as well, I really want to get good at making Clean and Simple cards.  I do find it difficult leaving lots of white space and not using heaps of embellishments, ribbons, lace etc but it will be good for me to learn something new!
It just so happens that this week’s CAS-ual Fridays challenge is to use Chevron and Flowers, so I will enter my card in that challenge as well.


The colours are just gorgeous, aren’t they?  Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango and Melon Mambo.  The yellow Chevron paper is from the Parker’s Patterns DSP, and the greeting from the gorgeous Kindness Matters stamp set.  The flowers look like they have dark blobs in the middle of them, but actually it is just a dob of silver Dazzling Details – the shiny stuff just didn’t show up in the photo.  Have to have a little bit of bling!
Hope your day is bright and sunny!
Happy stamping!
Chris