Happy Birthday Father In Law!

A big week in our family, starting with my Mother-in-Law's birthday and ending with my Father-In-Law's birthday!

Here's the card I made him:

And yesterday some lovely ladies and I made a card together at Gingerbella's coffee shop.  It was fun!   I'll take a pic of that card to show you soon.   A small child is requesting my presence just now.

Here's the card:

Edited to add this card is CASED from the Stampin' Up! Demo website - such a great resource!

And here's another pretty cardbox I made from (retiring) DSP 

Another OSW - this time with A4

Mae Collins also created a template for an A4 One Sheet Wonder, that I had to try.  You can find her template here

I stamped the gorgeous (and retiring!) Bodacious Bouquet stamps randomly on some whisper white cardstock.  I looked to the SU! Colour Wheel to help select the colours, and came up with Ruby Red, Handsome Hunter, Cameo Coral and Groovy Guava with chocolate chip for mats and contrast.  I LOVE the way these cards turned out!  I thought I had taken better photos of these cards, but it looks like I didn't.  If I do, I'll edit this post later to put them in.   As you can see, I got 7 cards from one A4 piece of cardstock.  Makes an excellent gift for someone or a quick way for you to make a few cards in advance if you know you have a few birthdays coming up.

Give it a try!

The Summer Mini Is Dead, Long Live the New Catalogue!

OK. not exactly dead - just in the last throes.   So is Sale-A-Bration.  SAB finishes at the end of this month (a week!).   Summer Mini finishes at the end of March.   In honour of both, here are a few recent creations featuring DSP/stamps from the Summer Mini and SAB.

Here's a gorgeous card box I made with the Bali Breeze DSP:  

I embellished it with the Felt Flower Fusion flowers (from the Mini) and a tempting tourquise brad.   I am not nearly clever enough to have invented this box; I found it  last year some time on Dannie's Designs - she has a fabulous video   This is the third one I've made so far, and not only am I better with practice, but I'm using better quality materials now, and  it really does make a difference.  The first two I made before I had a lot of SU! stuff and the quality was not so great.  Six months later those boxes have fallen apart because I just used ordinary double-sided tape instead of Sticky Strip.  Also I used cute DSP but didn't have co-ordinating cardstock so the end result wasn't as good as it could have been.  I am way too embarrassed to show them to you.  Chalk it up to experience!

Next I've got the card I made for my lovely MIL's birthday today (Happy Birthday Shirley!) using the SAB Botanical Blooms set again.  It's a completely different look from the other card I made.  This time I stamped the images on watercolour paper with black Stazon ink and watercoloured them with my aquapainter.  Such a soft look!  And completely co-ordinated with the card.  

The card co-ordinated with the present of course - a handmade card tote with about 16 or so cards in it!  

    

I  will post later with the directions for the card tote - I have adapted one I made earlier to fit a standard Australian C6 envelope.  The tote is made from Always Artichoke cardstock, with So Saffron and Soft sky ribbon.  The "for you" decorating the front is from the Say it With Scallops stamp set (Mini) and punched out with the square scallop punch (mini).  I also used the scalloped edge punch (mini) there too.  The big silver brads are from Styled Silver Hodgepodge (Mini).

Remember I posted recently about experimenting with One Sheet Wonders?  The cards in the tote are all made using a single 12 x 12 sheet of Le Jardin DSP.   Again, I didn't invent the concept; there are hundreds of different OSW recipes on the internet.  This one is by the fabulous Mae Collins - check her blog Mae's Cachet here.  (Edited to add I've fixed the link)

I used the palette of colours in the DSP as my guide - River Rock, Very Vanilla, Soft Sky.  They look so soft and elegant together I think.

From this:

To these:

Not a scrap of the gorgeous DSP wasted.  Pretty good value I'd say!

Makeesha's Challenge #4

Boy, do I have a lot to show you guys!

First, here's my submission for Makeesha's inspiration challenge (click on her name):

And here are the bookmarks in the nude!

Aren't they sweet? I CASE'd them from a talented lady by the name of Patti Lee - her blog Creations by Patti is a wonderful source of information and inspiration. Check it out!

I used Eastern Blooms on their kimonos, the round tab punch and 13/8 inch circle punch to make the bookmarks, and So Many Sayings (level 1 Hostess set) on the bookmarks.

Next I have to show you these cards from the Starter Swap I was involved in a couple of months ago - 6 new Demonstrators swapped cards. Here they are:

They are by: Melissa Sharp, Chantell Randall, Bronwen Cornish, Louise Sutton (ME!), Christie Wallace and Lisa Beard

Aren't they lovely? I think that we newbies are pretty darned clever!

Here's the card we made as a make and take at the workshop I did on Monday:

This was CASED from a card by the fabulous Stephanie Pike. I used Groovy Guava cardstock, ribbon and ink, Chocolate Chip cardstock and ink and Very Vanilla Cardstock. Mmmmm, anyone else hungry now? The flower stamp is one of the FREE SAB sets, Botanical Blooms. The background is the ever-faithful En Francais. (I use that a lot!)

Last of all is a card with matching wrapping paper for a little girl's 4th birthday last weekend, using Polka Dot Punches (FREE SAB set). I was trying to do the Bandanna Technique, but don't think I got it quite right. I still liked the effect, so I thought I'd include it - keeping it real, folks!

I've also been playing with some OSW (One Sheet Wonders) but I'll have to make that a post for another day as my children keep banging on the study door demanding my attention.

Stampin' Up! helps the Victorian Bushfire Appeal

Like many of you, I've been watching the tragic events in Victoria over the past week or so with tears in my eyes. I'm very pleased to see that Stampin' Up! has decided to respond to the disaster by donating 50% of the retail value of all sales from a select group of stamps to the Australian Red Cross Victorian Bushfire 2009 Appeal. This will last from 12th February 2009 to 31 March 2009.

Here is a list of the Bushfire Appeal sets:

Stamp Set	Item Number	Page Number in Catalogue	Retail Price
Priceless	112312	105	48.95 AUD
Seeing Spots	108909	89	29.95 AUD
Baroque Motifs	112380	98	39.95 AUD
Live Your Dream	114261	3 (Summer Mini Catalogue)	55.95 AUD
Looks Like Spring*	108864	76	58.95 AUD
The Snowflake Spot*	108934	27	39.95 AUD
Bodacious Boquet*	108756	80	58.95 AUD
Polka Dots & Paisley*	110247	46	35.95 AUD
G’day Mate*	111973	115	35.95 AUD
Be Happy*	108744	51	39.95 AUD

Some of the items will be on the retired list - all the ones with an * are going to retire (sob! goodbye Bodacious Blooms, I'll miss you!) so get in quick! They are only available for the Bushfire Appeal–while supplies last.

Tool of The Month (TOTM) - Stamp-a-majig

A Stampa-ma-what?

Ever wondered how the cards in papercrafting magazines never have the sentiment crooked? Or how to stamp say, a flower, inside a circle, without it being slightly to the side of centre?

They use a stamp positioner. The one I use is called a Stamp-A-Majig. Here is is in a dark photo taken late at night:

I got mine at a craft fair years ago - and I've NEVER seen one in a craft shop. Lucky for you, Stampin' Up! sells it: see page 149 of the Idea Book & Catalogue. (The SU! SAMJ is a classic black, not purple like this one) It sells for $22.95, and I think it is worth twice that at least. It is one of the tools that I always keep on my craft desk.

A Stamp-a-majig (or SAMJ) is two parts: a "T" shaped thing and a clear plastic sheet.

Let me show you how to use it:

Here I've stamped the cute circular Happy Birthday stamp from the Think Happy Thoughts set (although, oddly the stamp says "happy thoughts" .....hmmm. Must have grabbed the wrong one for the photo! )

I'd like to stamp a flower in the centre - so I'll use the trusty SAMJ!

First, ink up your stamp, and stamp your image on the clear plastic sheet that comes with the SAMJ. Make sure you have your stamp right up in the corner of the "T" on the SAMJ, as in this photo (notice also I had the stamp upside down? That doesn't matter, as long as I keep it upside down again later):

Then, placing the clear plastic sheet over the cardstock you wish to stamp, line it up with the SAMJ.

Remove the plastic sheet (WITHOUT moving the SAMJ!) and stamp your image, having first lined your stamp up in the T as before.

See? Perfect!

This is one of those gadjets I looked at at first and thought "what a waste of money! " Then once I had it I realised I was saving money, because I wasn't wasting cardstock by having to restamp crooked images. Perfect result first time, every time.

To clean the image off the plastic sheet you just wipe with a damp cloth or a baby wipe.

Have a look through some of Kristina Werner's old "Make A Card Monday" video tutorials, you'll see her using it in quite a few. I think she even does a video tutorial from memory. I'll post a link later if I find it.

Another cute little treat box

Like this cute little treat bag?  I made it from a single piece of  A4 cardstock and a brad.  Here's how:

Take your A4 cardstock, stamp any way you like on one side (I used a Jumbo Roller "It's Beautiful" from the Spring Mini, retired just now).

Then along the short side, score at 6.3cm and 14.7cm.  Turn it so the long side is up, and score at 12cm and 16.8cm.    Mark in pencil the point 5.2cm from the 12 cm score line and again from the 16.8cm score line.  You will then score a line from that point to make a triangle - see this diagram to explain what I mean.  I have drawn the lines to score with black pen (ignore the other score lines, which were a mistake!).

Fold all scored lines,  folding both ways so the cardstock is "flexible".  Not sure how to describe it, but hopefully you'll see what I mean when you try it.

Then fold it as shown - the long sides inwards first.  You should end up with a pouch with two long ends and two short sides.  Pinch the top together and either fasten with a brad, as I did, or a ribbon.

Here's the side view:

I wasn't at last year's Stampin' Up! Regionals (I only joined in October last year); but I believe  this box was demonstrated there by Aaron (Australian SU! Head Honcho).   See?  Becoming a Stampin' Up! Demo isn't just about getting a great discount and getting previews of coming catalogues and specials.......it's also about getting access to great ideas and templates.   I'll be demonstrating this little pouch at a workshop soon.