Blackboard Technique

I love this technique!  It's really trendy right now, and so fun.  

Supplies:  Stamps:  Just Believe; Ink:  Whisper White Craft ink; Cardstock:  Basic Black, Confetti White (retired); Other:  Pool Party Ribbon (retired); white pencil, eraser, White Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Stampamajig; sponge/dauber, paper piercer, piercing mat.

It is really easy!  You need to stamp with White Craft ink onto black or dark card stock.  Heat emboss with white embossing powder on the part you want to really emphasise. Sponge around the edges with white ink, and for the "chalky" patches you can either smear a little white ink with a dauber (be careful you don't get a perfect circle from the dauber) or sponge, or you can do some scribbling with a white pencil (raided from your child's pencil case - they never use them) and then erase so you leave a white smudge.

Tip:  Use the "dry ink" setting on your heat gun to dry the craft ink where you didn't heat emboss.  Otherwise it takes a while to set.

As always, you can purchase the supplies you need to make this card from me - drop me a line, or click here to go to my online store.  When you do online shopping it will ask you to make an account, and you will need to nominate me as your demonstrator to get preferred pricing.

Easy Party Bag Tutorial

These are so easy, it feels like cheating.

You might know that last month I hastily cobbled together a birthday party for my 5 year old Thing 4:

Well, I made some cheap and quick party bags for his little friends who came to the party:

They were basic brown lunch bags purchased in bulk at any supermarket, rolled over with two Builder Stamps (details following) in Crumb Cake ink, with "thank you" from  the "Just Believe" stamp set.  I filled the bags with treats, and folded the top over twice before punching two holes with the good old Crop-a-Dile, and tying a tag I'd printed from the computer (of course, I printed it onto whisper white card stock and backed it with crumb cake card stock).

Here's the builder wheel process:

I used the spacer on the builder wheel spindle to I would have a gap in between the awning and pennant  images to stamp "thank you."  Oh, and as you can see in this photo, I stamped the boys' bags with Pacific Point (the tag was also the same blue) and the girls had Melon Mambo.  Both bright colours worked well with the neutral Crumb Cake paper bag.

And here is the bag, ready to be filled.

Here is more information about the stamps I've used:

Let me know if you'd like to know more about builder wheels!

Strength & Hope Campaign

Have you heard about the Stampin' Up! Stregth & Hope campaign yet?

As part of Stampin' Up's Making a Difference programme, Stampin' Up! is proud to partner with The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® in the Strength & Hope Campaign.

Throughout the 2011 Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue sales period, Stampin' Up! will donate $2* from the sale of each Strength & Hope set to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF).   Contact me to host your own Strength & Hope workshops, or to order this stampset and and help contribute to an amazing cause.

Item	Description	Price
123663	Strength & Hope wood-mount set	$35.95
124232	Strength & Hope clear-mount set	$28.95

*Stampin' Up! is donating $2 from this purchase to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation®. BCRF is dedicated to preventing breast cancer and finding a cure in our lifetime by funding clinical and translational research worldwide. For more information about BCRF, visit www.bcrfcure.org.

Shelli Gardiner, founder of Stampin' Up!  talks about the way breast cancer has touched her family (as it has touched many families, mine included) in a video you can watch here.

 Here is a card I've made using the images from this lovely stampset:

Stamps:  Strength & Hope, Just Believe
Paper:  Rich Razzleberry, Pretty in Pink, Very Vanilla
Ink:  Pink Pirouette, Rich Razzleberry, Early Espresso
Other:  Hodgepodge Hardware, Mat pack & paper piercer, sponges, Circle Scissors, Pretty in Pink tafetta

I even felt inspired to decorate the inside, which I never do normally!

all materials, as above

I think this set works well with the Vintage or Shabby Chic style, don't you?

this is not my work, but it is fabulous, no?