Hello and welcome back. Did you know that on Page 22 of the Annual Catalogue, at the bottom of the page, there are 22 sketch ideas for making cards? I have used one of these sketches for my inspiration today, the sketch on the top row, 5th along from the right hand side, and I have used this to create a clean and simple masculine card.
My card features the bird from the Inspirational Sketches stamp set. The image has been stamped with Black Memento ink onto Crumb Cake cardstock, and then coloured with watercolour pencils in Basic Black, Basic White and Early Espresso. I also created a reel on my Facebook page, showing how I coloured the image, which you can find here. While you are on my Facebook page, make sure you follow me so that you can get updates when I post there, which is generally more often than I do here, at least at the moment. I have then modified the sketch a little, extended the panel with the main image and added a layer behind it, to create a different look altogether.
I hope you are enjoying a crafty Sunday wherever you might be. It’s a chilly day here, the start of winter, and we have the fire going, so I will be enjoying staying warm in front of the fire today, and perhaps creating something different. Happy stamping! Chris
I love the Stampin’ Up! Stippled Roses stamp set soooo much, as you will see soon, since I have been using it a lot recently (although I haven’t shared enough here). And today I create this card which I coloured with the Stampin’ Up! watercolour pencils.
The rose image was stamped with Memento Black ink, and then I have started shading using a Basic Black pencil, which I used to go over the already darker areas of the stamped image, just to intensify the shadowed area. For the leaves, I have then come over the black with a Garden Green pencil, followed by a little Granny Apple Green to give them some lighter highlights. The roses were coloured in the same way, Basic Black pencil over the shadowed areas, followed by Pumpkin Pie and then Daffodil Delight. The leaves are from the Stippled Roses matching dies, using Basic Grey cardstock. In the background you will see some of the new Country Woods Designer Series Paper which is an absolute favourite from the new catalogue. I just loved colouring the roses for this card, it’s very relaxing and I am happy with how this one turned out. Hope you are having a crafty day or evening depending on where you are. Happy stamping, Chris
There is an AMAZING deal going right now, check out the image below, and if you have ever thought about join Stampin’ Up! as a demonstrator, even if it’s just for the discount on products, now is a great time to do it. Send me a message if you live in Australia and would like to know more.
Oh my…. there are some gorgeous new products in the latest range of Stampin’ Up! Online Exclusives.
I will keep this short today, and share some projects later in the week. If, however, you are like me and want to see what is available, you can browse through my online store and check it all out here. They are available for you to purchase now.
I’m off to have a play with some new goodies! Happy shopping, Chris
December and January are particularly difficult in our family, so many of our loved ones have passed on, so it is inevitably a quiet and reflective time of year, and a time when I rarely want to do any crafting. This year has been especially difficult with the financial situation that so many of us are facing, which for us became a whole lot more difficult at the end of December. And to top it all off, the email service provider that I was using to send out my regular newsletters, did some weird stuff, including sending out some unsolicited and rather abnoxious emails to people. I am desperately hoping they didn’t go out to any of you, but if so, I can only apologise. As well, I don’t have access to everyone who was previously subscribed to my list but I am hoping this will get to those who need to see it. So… onwards and upwards, starting again and moving forward.
I plan to send out a regular newsletter featuring one product which I have used in different ways, and hope that it will inspire you with some ideas. I won’t promise to do it weekly, but hopefully at least once each month, and I will also include any promotions and sales, as well as any personal news and Stampin’ Up! news.
So this week’s focus is on the gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous Layered Florals Embossing Folder which is available from the current Mini Catalogue until 30 April 2024.
Isn’t it just beautiful? If, like me, you can’t do without it, you click here to go directly to my online store to buy it. So many ideas, so little time.
As always at this time of year, demonstrators start thinking about the upcoming change over of not just the Annual Catalogue (new catalogue at the start of May) but also the retirement of one set of the In Colors. So if you love them, make sure you get in quickly and stock up on your reinkers and cardstock – they always sell out quickly. Pop over to my store and get what you need before they are no longer available. Do you have a favourite from these five colours? I love both Orchid Oasis and Starry Sky but will admit that they haven’t had a lot of use over the two years. As always, I look forward to seeing what is coming with the new lot of In Colors.
In some other sad news this week, I was so sad to learn that the stamping and scrapbook company Close To My Heart will cease operations on June 30, 2024! It is never easy to hear of the closure of yet another business in these difficult times. From the Founder of CTMH: “Dear Close To My Heart Community,As the founder and owner of Close to My Heart, I have devoted my life’s work to building and supporting this community, helping millions of people to preserve memories and celebrate relationships in meaningful ways. This company has grown and developed into a beautiful, vibrant community devoted to touching hearts with these vital creative arts, offering incredible products, rewarding business opportunities, and deep connections with fellow crafters.As much as I love what Close To My Heart stands for, after a great deal of deliberation, prayer, and counsel, I have come to the heartbreaking conclusion that the time has come to discontinue the business. Close To My Heart will cease operations effective June 30, 2024.The reasons that have brought me to this decision are too many to enumerate fully here. My health is a major factor, as the stresses and demands of the business continue to take their toll on me. At the same time, we have not seen the kinds of growth that were needed in order to achieve long-term stability. The way the company and the economy are trending, I foresee considerable challenges ahead that we simply are not equipped to overcome.Ultimately, I am choosing to end Close To My Heart on my own terms rather than being forced to close at some future date in less favorable circumstances. As upsetting as it is for me and for our thousands of Makers, by taking this course of action now, we can provide our community and our employees with as much notice and as many opportunities as possible.Because I cherish the community we have built together, I have been working with my team to find a new home for our Makers, where they can continue to benefit from the years of work they have poured into their individual Close To My Heart business. We are in the midst of conversations with Stampin’ Up!, collaborating on a solution that we hope will help our Makers make the most of their investments of time and resources and that will maintain at least a part of the legacy we always hoped to build.In the meantime, we still have a lot of product to offer, and we will continue to fulfill orders as usual over the next few months. It is possible that turnaround times may grow a bit longer depending on order volumes, but we will do our best to process orders in a timely manner. We encourage you to continue shopping with your Close To My Heart Maker in order to support them through this transition period.I express my appreciation to you for joining me on this journey and respecting my decision at this time. It has been an honor to be able to serve this amazing community for the past 40 years. I have given my all to the success of this company, and I will forever cherish the love I have felt from you and for you. My heart goes with each one of you as your personal journey takes you beyond the time that we have been blessed to share with one another through this marvelous company. You will always remain Close To My Heart.Sincerely,Jeanette R. LyntonFounder & CEO”
My heart goes out to all involved with CTMH.
And on that note, these difficult times mean that my own Stampin’ Up! business is struggling to stay afloat, and without many orders coming in, I will also have to close. Unless that is, you my valued customers, can help with even just a small order. Every single order helps and is appreciated more than you can know. So if there is anything you need, your order in March would be valued, and you never know what extras might come your way, just to say thank you. You can pop your orders through here, or alternative, send me an email if you live close enough to come and pick up your order from me directly.
Thanks for being part of my papercrafting journey. Happy stamping, Chris
You may have noticed that I love, love, love decorative masks, stencils and sponging, I love the look and the amount of different ways they can be used to create and decorate. I also love colouring. So my card today is a mixture of both of these. Cute little birdie, along with the branch and leaves from the Bird’s Eye View stamp set has been coloured with Watercolour Pencils before I used Wink of Stella to blend the colours and add a bit of sparkle. They have all been fussy cut and glued to the front of my card. And the strip of gorgeous Afternoon Azure colour down the left hand side has been masked off with Masking Paper and sponged with Blending Brushes before I added one of the Abundant Beauty Decorative Masks over the top, and sponged a little more, for some tone on tone colour to brighten the card up.
Below is the video of how I made the card.
The gorgeous Abundant Beauty Decorative Masks are new and now available in the Mini Catalogue, along with a stack of other new goodies, including Christmas products.
Make sure you head on over the The Crafty Addicts site to check out what the Design Team have created for this month.
My card today features the stamp set called Enjoy The Rhythm, and it’s a great way to use up some of those scraps of cardstock that we all end up with. The main colour used is Calypso Coral, with some strips of Petal Pink and Cajun Craze cardstock. It was a very quick and easy card to make, and I am going to keep this post quick as well 🙂 I hope you are enjoying some crafting time for yourself. Happy stamping, Chris
Today I get to share a sneak peek at a gorgeous stamp set which will be available in September, a beautiful Christmas set called Radiant Light.
I love candles at the best of times, the flicker of the flames and the soft light. And I especially love them at Christmas.
I have used the Merry Melody Embossing Folder with Very Vanilla cardstock to create the background. The candle image has been stamped with black Memento ink, then coloured with Stampin’ Blends (alcohol markers). The sentiment is also stamped in black and then fussy cut. I’ve also added some Wink of Stella to the flames but it doesn’t show up well in the photo.
This week is a celebration for me, it is my birthday week. And because I am a musician, this week you will see a lot of music themed projects. I am also celebrating my birthday by giving away gifts to anyone who places an order, whether that is directly with me, or through my online store. And I love giving away gifts!
And there is one other thing that I am hoping to celebrate this week – I am only a few subscribers away from 100 on my YouTube Channel, so I am hoping to hit that milestone this week. I would love it if you would help me out.
The beautiful Radiant Light Stamp Set is only available to demonstrators at the moment – just one of many benefits of being a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator, but it will be available to you from the 6th September.
Welcome to the very first Heart of Christmas blog hop for 2023. My project for you today is a Christmas Card, and alternative project using the Stampin’ Up! Colorful Kaleidoscope Kit.
I have taken one of the die cut pieces from the kit and layered it over some of the Gold Celebrations Specialty Designer Series Paper, then adhered it with dimensionals to the white cardbase. The Christmas sentiment comes from the Cottage Wreaths stamp set, and has been heat embossed on some Gold Foil Sheet before die cutting with the banner from the Gorgeously Made Dies. It really is quite a simple card to make and the gold and white combination is favourite of mine for Christmas.
Next along on our Christmas Blog Hop is the lovely and very talented Christine Blain, make sure you hop over to her blog for more inspiration and ideas.
If the next button link is not working or you’d like to see the entire list of participants, go to Sharon Davern’s blog.
Did you know that all Stampin’ Up! kits are on sale in August? You can get the Colorful Kaeidoscope kit at 30% off. It’s such a gorgeous kit and I will be sharing some more alternative ideas through the coming week for this kit. Thanks for stopping by. Happy stamping, and happy hopping, Chris
This week’s Colour Creations Blog Hop is featuring my favourite of all the Stampin’ Up! colours, Blackberry Bliss. My card this week features the Gorgeously Made Dies, combined with the Aspen Tree Dies.
I have used the Foursquare Decorative Masks to blend a very light layer of Blackberry Bliss ink onto the background, and have also used the blender brushes to colour the leaves from the Aspen Tree Dies, using Blackberry Bliss, Real Red and Mossy Meadow inks.
Next on our Blog Hop is the very talented Tina Gillespie.
If at any time you find a broken link, please go to the blog of our Colour Creations host, Catherine Proctor, who will have a list of all of the participants in the Blog Hop.
Thanks for stopping by. Happy stamping, and happy hopping, Chris
This morning’s Facebook Live is now available to watch both on Facebook and YouTube.
As you can see, the Cottage Wreaths stamp set and matching dies are great for cards of all occasions, as well as Christmas. I hope you enjoy watching the video, although I have to apologise for being quite distracted towards the end, one of my cats could hear me talking but couldn’t work out where I was and was getting quite vocal. Cheeky little rascal.
The kits to make the three cards are available for free to anyone who places a $30 order in my online store before midnight this coming Sunday 30th July (shipping extra). The kits will be sent out separately to your order. And just a reminder that due to Stampin’ Up! policy, I am unable to stamp images to include in the kits – that means you get to do the fun stuff! Don’t have the Cottage Wreaths stamp set? Try the cards with a different stamp set, that’s part of making creativity fun. Alternatively, you can order the stamp set and dies by clicking on the images below. Happy stamping, Chris
Dot Dot Stamping Designs 