Maree's Launch Workshop

Hello!  I just had a lovely day yesterday in Dalby, doing my beautiful cousin Maree's Launch Party - Maree signed up under me to become a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.  I'm sure she will do very well.

What goes on at a workshop?  Well,  a bunch of friends get together and eat yummy food, drink tea, coffee, and  learn a fun new stamping technique.   Then they get to make a card themselves, laugh and chat, and browse through our catalogues.  Then they order some of the gorgeous Stampin' Up! products, decide whether they wish to hold a workshop themselves next time, and learn about the classes, etc offered by the Demonstrator.  If they are the Hostess, they get to pick some FREE products and an exclusive Stamp set if the orders from the party go over $300.    Sound like fun?

At Maree's workshop, we had 8 lovely ladies and I have to say, I had a really fun time.  The Dalby girls rock!   Next month, Maree will be doing her own workshops, so if you live in the area, look her up!  What did we make?

As many of the group are scrapbookers, I showed them how to make your own patterned paper from the Stars Jumbo roller - here is the finished Scrap Layout I gave to Maree as a Hostess thank you:

I used Riding Hood Red, Whisper White and Brilliant Blue (retiring colour) cardstock and ink, and I punched some stars with the Large Star punch (they perfectly fit the roller stamp) and put some on the page with Dimensionals for some texture and interest.  I used the Big Shot for the envelope (perfect for a little journalling card) and the letters BOY.  The layout is scraplifted (or CASE'd, LOL) from Andrea Walford.  (scroll down to the Nursery Necessities layout on the page I linked to)

Jeez I was feeling the pressure coming up with a scrap page for a bunch of scrapbookers, I can tell you!  They were all very kind to me as I reminded myself "it's just a very large card!"

Then the make and take was based around one of Maree's favourite stamp sets, Fifth Avenue Floral.  It is one of my favourites, as well, so I found it easy to come up with something!

I used confetti white for the card base, Melon Mambo for the scalloped strip and the ribbon, and Old Olive for the matting layer.  The scalloped edge punch, scalloped circle punch, and 11/4 " and 13/8" circle punches also got an outing, and last of all the hppy birthday stamp is from Think Happy Thoughts, which is on the Last Chance List.  The flowers were stamped in Old Olive and Melon Mambo, on Whisper White.  I really like the feminine, yet crisp and graphic images you get with this stamp set when you don't colour in the flowers.

So, if you live in Brisbane (I'm Northside), and would like to host your own workshop (and get a FREE copy of the new Catalogue for doing so) and make cute projects like these, be sure to contact me.  

Girly Cards

Two little girl's birthday parties this weekend, and I had fun making these girly cards, inspired by the colours in the pretty Always DSP. I've noticed that Garden Whimsey is my "go-to" stamp set when I want to make something for a little girl. It makes it very easy!

I also had my 4 year old daughter help me make the wrapping paper - very cute and a lot of fun. All I do is take some Butchers Paper (buy it by the roll at IKEA), the stamps and inks that match the card I made, and let my daughter go to town on it. The result is a one-of-a-kind cheap as chips wrapping paper that coordinates with the card you spent hours slaving over.

The card base is so saffron, with pumpkin pie , whisper white and pixie pink and the little flower accent is punched out of pink pirouette with the three for you punch. The medallion uses the scallop circle punch, the circle punches and a pretty brad. I used the new eyelet punch and the crimper for the border on the bottom - I like the corrugated effect. I got the idea from Michelle Habib's presentation at Convention.

Same layout, same stamps, this time a Pink Pirouette card base.

I added some sparkle with my 2 way glue pen and dazzling diamonds glitter, and sponged the edges of the butterfly panel.

I hope the girls liked them!

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.