Bouncing Bloom FMS88 & CCMC254

Have you ever tried bouncing Stampin' Write Markers onto an image to give splashes of colour?

It is such a fun technique and I have done it before with Blooming with Kindness, in shades of pink, but I don't think I blogged about that one. It was for an upline's Big O birthday a few months ago.

I thought it might be a good technique to try with the challenge colours at Create with Connie and Mary, but of course the Pool Party and Island Indigo did turn slightly green mixed with the So Saffron, which was my base colour.

I actually like it, I hope you do too!

It's the Finishing touches edgelit on the left side, so pretty and lacy and a So Saffron button with Linen Thread on the right. The panel has been mounted on Island Indigo card for some definition, and popped up on dimensionals.

 The sketch is from Jen Mitchell at  Freshly Made Sketches , and because I know they prefer fresh, clean cards I've aimed for that effect.

The greeting is from One In A Million and the front reads 'You mean SO much to SO many people." and inside it reads, "(One of them is me)". It was already out on my work table because my son came over yesterday to make a birthday card for his wife, and he used both stamps on the inside, with a Happy Birthday on the outside.




It has been such a busy day for me today with the Stampin' Up! retirement list to get out to my customers and my own order for items from the NEW catalogue to compile and send off. If you would like your own copy of the catalogue, I can arrange for a copy to be sent to you for $9.95 (Australia only). If you have ordered from me in the past year, I will be happy to supply a complementary copy.

Have a great weekend,
Rachel

Happy Retirement !

Retiring list released!

Click on the link below to view lists

Retiring Stamp Sets


Retiring Accessories
Stamp set list is a 2 page document and Accessories is 4 pages due to ribbon colours etc.
I am quite happy to order for you if you prefer, ring 0417 500 681 or email me rpalmieri5@bigpond.com.

Yes, you can order your regular Stampin' Up! supplies here too, and on the same order.


Why Not Try Online Ordering?
When you click on the link to the store, and then on "retiring products" in the side bar,you can see images of the products too.

The link below leads you directly to the store. You need to set up a profile, just as you do with any online store and then you're good to go!
Items often sell out very quickly and it is only when we submit an order that we find out, so why not use my online store to order as quick as you can? I have some prizes for orders of $50 or more (before shipping) put through online until June 15th for example - silver glimmer paper, brads, a share of DSP,  etc
http://www3.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx?dbwsdemoid=4004988

If you live anywhere in Australia you can buy from me.

Past experience tells me that some items sell out within hours,  others take a few days, so if you want something listed, don't wait about. For $5.95 shipping, you can buy around $118.00 worth and then it goes up very slightly according to how much you spend (5% of order value, minimum $5.95)

A Word For You

I've added in a couple of images of retiring sets but there are over 130 stamp sets retiring!

Up, Up and Away

French Foliage

Moving Forward with RetroSketches#65

Tomorrow the retiring list is released for Australia and New Zealand, but it is no secret that Moving Forward is to retire. That's because it is a special stamp set for Ronald McDonald House and $3 from each sale goes to the charity - that sounds like such a good idea! Buy stamps sets that are just so cute, AND help out a worthy cause, don't you think?

Moving Forward is an absolute favourite for me, you can use it for a wide range of events, with the tricycle, sailboat and this blimp among the main images. I've used the Ink to rubber technique for this card, check my class schedule for June if you live nearby.
Paired with the birthday greeting from Curly Cute (also retiring) and some Comfort Cafe DSP, it is based on this sketch from RetroSketches. You know, whenever I lack inspiration I go straight to a sketch or colour challenge and find that usually that will get the imagination going. I also entered it for the Make it Masculine challenge at CAS on Sunday

Just a short post today - back tomorrow with the retiring list!
Cheers!
Rachel

Curly Cute

Roses for a Birthday

Time to make a card for a challenge I think!

I really like this sketch by Steph, at Sunday Stamps you could use it in so many different ways. I chose the 'soon to retire' Elements of Style stamp set along with the lovely and also soon retiring Perfect Punches. I particularly like the birthday greeting from this set, and I have to say that I am more than a little sentimental about Elements of Style as my late mother gave it to me, when she was right into stamping and I was only beginning to dip my toes in. My darling mother grew the most beautiful roses, as did her mother before her, so even the image brings back some warm memories.

I stamped the image with black Stazon onto Stampin' Up! watercolour paper and punched three random squares with the Postage Stamp Punch, before colouring them with shades of pink with Stampin' write markers and a Blender pen. The background has been stamped with the same stamp and Stampin' Up! Illuminate ink, which gives a lovely, pearly effect. As well as using Basic Jewel pearls to trim the tag, I've scattered a few on the background.

Picked 2nd June 3013! Hurray!
Rachel, Elements of Style is one of my fav sets, so you won me over with that, but I also love how you used the floral image and scattered tiny pearls throughout. 

Secret Garden Swap South Pacific Convention 2013

Would you like to see my swap for Convention?


I left it a bit late, and feel quite ashamed of how few I had to swap, but I will try to get more organised next year, because the girls had some gorgeous swaps there!


I'd heard that the Glossy card was to be retired, we usually would use Glossy card for crayon resist technique. I thought I would try it out on Shimmery White card using Wild Wisteria, Pool Party and Secret Garden flowers stamped in Basic Grey.



It turned out very soft and subtle, which was quite pleasing, but the crayon didn't come out as strongly as usual, so I'm not sure if that was my application of crayon or the soft pastel colours,

I must try it again with a bold colour combo!

Have a great day, thanks for stopping by

Rachel

More South Pacific Stampin' Up! Convention

Part Two

This is the 25th Anniversary of Stampin' Up! and they are celebrating BIG TIME!

Stampin' Up! always treat the demonstrators very well, and demo support, situated in Sydney, are always so helpful and friendly, so it is almost like a big family get together. They arrive en mass from the US, Sydney and New Zealand and everyone has a role to fill. They hand out our bags and greet us, they show projects they have made, they man the tills in Momento Mall. At the end of Convention they must be exhausted - I know we all were! Convention is a HIGHLIGHT of our year, and this year was HUGE!

The Show Begins!

Convention opened on Thursday 23rd May with drumming and pyrotechnics.

Then Shelli talked about why she had formed the company with her sister, when they were young wives and mothers. Their needs at the time were similar to many of our own:- social, creative and financial. The first catalogue consisted of 64 pages, probably quite large for a small-scale home business being run from the lounge of the family home.

This year, the new catalogue has 210 fantastic pages, full of inspiration and tips, as well as the goodies available for you to buy. Every year they seem to get better, we were all thrilled to be given an early peek, especially as we'd been teased with a current copy in our Convention back pack.

The first catalogue.

Naturally, not every one of those 25 years has been positive and full of growth and the company has had to make some difficult decisions along the way. We all understand that while change can be difficult to deal with, it is often beneficial, so Stampin' Up! has always tried to be positive when those tricky moments arose.



Ronald McDonald House

Ronald McDonald called in to thank us for sponsoring the Ronald McDonald houses associated with many children's hospitals. Last year was the first time we had the special stamp set for the Ronald McDonald houses in the Australia/New Zealand Catalogue. It was called Moving Forward, a great favourite of mine, but it will retire on 30th June. I have made a number of cards using this stamp set and you will find one here and another tricycle here and a boat here too. I haven't actually used the blimp yet, but I think I could before too long.

At the end of the presentation, all the demonstrators in the auditorium (and Ronald) received a copy of this years stamp set. I think it is okay for me to tell you that it is called Tag It, but I can't show you any images just yet. I can share with you that $3.00 from every sale of this set is donated to the Australian Ronald Mc Donald Houses.  I will try to get some cards made up soon using that stamp set, and I might be able to post a picture then.

I think that might be enough to go on with, thanks for passing to read my blog,
Cheers
Rachel

Moving Forward from $27.95

South Pacific Stampin' Up! Convention 2013

Part one: Where and Why.

Brisbane City Skyline

I’ve arrived back this afternoon from Brisbane, where I attended the annual Stampin’ Up! Convention for demonstrators. It’s four days of inspirational speakers, amazing WOW Workshops by other Australian and New Zealand demonstrators and similarly inspiring demonstrations by our CEO and co-founder Shelli Gardener and some of the staff from the US and Australian offices. This is one of the best opportunities for learning new techniques, finding out about products about to be released, and some of the cute things to be made with them. We also had tutorials on My Digital Studio and ways to let Facebook and Pinterest work for our business.

 

Shelli Gardener showed her 'This and That' Book

This year 680 demonstrators (mostly women) from all parts of Australia and New Zealand gathered at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, a wonderful venue, which served great food too!

Some Fun

In among this rather full program, there was also time to eat out with friends while enjoying the sunshine during the day and mild weather in the evening. A delicious lunch was supplied at the Convention Centre on two of the days.

Stampin' Up! are a very generous company, and even more so in this, their 25th year. We were given lots of free product to bring home in a special white and silver back pack, including stamp sets, kits and the new catalogue, which starts selling here on June 1st. I've spent time on the plane, jotting down the other stamps I want to buy, and we've had a chance to use the new In-colours and other new colours on our 'Make and Take' projects. They are fresh and lovely, and I 'm thrilled with all the stamp sets we have in our hands already, especially Gorgeous Grunge. (See below) This is one of the Make and Takes I had an opportunity to make using some new colours and my free stamps.

Retiring Product

With the new catalogue arriving soon, you might want to know when the Retiring list is released. Stampin' Up! have decided to release it this coming Friday. I have a good idea of items being retired, have already told you in an earlier blog post about the retiring colours and there is very little left in the way of A4 card or ink in those colours now. I think you may be best to jump in quickly if there is anything you want and it is so easy to do that now with online ordering. Oh, you can only order from me if you live somewhere in Australia.

Online Ordering

http://www3.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx?dbwsdemoid=4004988

The link above should take you straight to my online store, where you do need to set up a profile, similar to other online shops. I am offering a small gift (brads, stamps, ink pads) to any online orders in June, if you email me at rpalmieri5@bigpond.com and let me know you read about it on my blog.

I have to race off now to my regular day job, but I'll be back with more news about convention soon.
Rachel

Many Thanks

I just wanted to say how thrilled I was to have my Poppies card picked on both Freshly Made Sketches and Create with Connie and Mary and to have so many of you visit my blog, and even sometimes leave a comment! Thank you for your kind comments.

I have been away at Convention (South Pacific Region) and struggled to do very much computer-wise during that busy time. Home safely now, and have lots of news to share in the next few days.

Have a happy week
Rachel

Pleasant Poppies CCMC252 FMS86

I'm really glad I did most of my housework yesterday 'cos with the family all busy today, it has given me time to sit and make cards, and that has to be good, right?

I'd had so much fun with the Create with Connie and Mary challenge colours this morning, so after a break I decided to watercolour a portion of the HUGE  Pleasant Poppies stamp. I used Stazon stamped on Stampin' Up! watercolor paper. Each flower was shaded very simply with my Stampin' write marker in So Saffron. I also 'shadowed' one side of the blossom and stem with a soft line in Sahara Sand, because it helps the image POP!

I wonder if you can see what I mean in this close-up?

The Blender pen is invaluable too, as it really does what its name implies - helps blend the colours smoothly.

If you would like to learn this technique, I'd be happy to show you, if you're nearby.

I decided to use Amy's sketch here. Don't forget to pop over to Freshly Made Sketches to see the other fabulous cards too.

I stamped a Happy Birthday greeting with Itty Bitty Banners stamp set, there is a lovely assortment of greetings in that set, which is carrying over to the new catty. A small strip of retired DSP at the bottom of the panel was mounted onto a Soft Suede base, and I had to use retired ribbon too, as I really wanted a narrow piece and I had nothing current that was suitable. The greeting was topped with a So Saffron button threaded with linen thread and I lined the inside with the DSP and some more poppies.

Happy stamping!

Rachel

Get Well with CCMC #252

This week it is a great colour challenge over at Create with Connie and Mary. There are so many ways you can interpret a colour challenge depending on the one you choose as your dominant colour. My choice was So Saffron, such a soft, pretty shade of yellow.

I thought it would be fun to keep the alliteration going a bit longer, so used stamp sets with a couple of 'S's' too, you can't ever have too many can you? I stamped twice with Soft Suede, using the stamp set Serene Silhouettes, onto Sahara Sand,giving the illusion of shadows or fog. I then used the main stamp from the stamp set So Sorry to stamp over the tree image.

The Big Shot had a big workout for this card!!! I embossed the So Saffron panel using the Fancy Fan Folder, cut a piece of DSP from Comfort Cafe paper with one of the Apothecary Accents Framelits and cut the stamped image with the Ovals Collection Framelits. There are six smooth-edged ovals and the seventh is the largest and it is scalloped. I love adding brads to the ends of this label shape, it seems to ask for something like that to finish it off and these Antique brads are perfect. This has been adhered with dimensionals to lift it a bit.

I layered this card up quite a bit with a Sahara Sand Base, then Soft Suede, another Sahara Sand, finished with the textured panel of So Saffron. Inside I place a square of Soft Suede first and then a slightly smaller Very Vanilla square stamped with another tree and greeting from So Sorry.

I thought the colour was a bit too cheerful to be anything but a "Get Well" card, so I finished it with this greeting. Luckily, no-one I know is ill at the moment, so into the stash it goes!

I am having a fairly quiet weekend as I pack my bag to leave for the South Pacific Convention in sunny Brisbane (Queensland, Australia) on Wednesday. Can hardly wait to get together with my Stampin' Up buddies as we see (and receive too) the new products about to be launched in Australia. Yippeee!!

Have a good weekend
Rachel

In the Direction for CCMC251

I'm always being asked for cards for men and boys, it seems to be a challenge for everyone to make something for the fellas in their lives. I haven't made this with anyone in particular in mind, so it will just go into my stash of cards, for now.

I've used two retiring stamp sets, Word Play for the greeting and Up Up and Away for the hot air balloon. (I'm going to miss both of those sets so badly!)

The other stamp set with the map of world and compass stamps is The Open Sea, which is sticking around, thank goodness! I've seen sneak peeks of a LARGE stamp, same size as Swallowtail,  which is a map too, looks great!

I used Basic Gray, Bravo Burgundy (retiring) and Gumball Green card, with the addition to those colours of some Crumb Cake and Garden Green in the inks. The Bravo Burgundy went through the Big Shot inside the Chevron folder for just a bit of texture, doesn't really show in the  first photo, might be better in the next one.

For inspiration, I went over to Create with Connie and Mary, and used this sketch.


Hope you've enjoyed dropping by, I've loved having you call in,
See you
Rachel

FMS85 - Happy Birthday, cupcake!

Last night I had a lovely group of ladies come over for a class on using the Big Shot, particularly trying out embossing folders for texture.

We had a ball and stayed up way too late!!!

I had to enter the challenge when fellow-Victorian Narelle has designed the sketch this week for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge. I had already used the sketch to make one of my class samples, with full intentions of entering it in the challenge, but it is awfully similar to Rita's card, so this morning I decided to make another card, using some demo pieces not used up last night.

There's a piece of Primose Petals embossed with the dots embossing folder and a window cut with Apothecary Accent framelits, a piece of Perfect Plum cut with the large Delicate Doilies Sizzlet, layered beneath a flower cut from a scrap of pink using the Floral Fusion Sizzlet and topped with a button.

I had already stamped the cute little stamp from Patterned Occasions Sale-a-bration stamp set (retired) using the Ink-to-Rubber technique, the technique I will share at class for June.

I put it on a Pink Pirouette base and trimmed with the gorgeous More Amore specialty Paper from the 25th anniversary mini catalogue, still available but only till the end of June, I might have to get another pack. I have a couple of daughter-in-laws with birthdays coming up in June, I think this will be perfect for one of those delightful girls.

Annette's soccer card

One of my ladies is very clever and used the honeycomb folder to make a soccer ball for her son's upcoming birthday. I've seen beehives made with this, but don't think I've ever seen soccer balls made this way! It seems to require very careful placement of the black hexagonals, before punching with the 2½ inch punch.
She's used retired stamp sets to grunge it up, hope her boy likes it!



Hope you have a lovely weekend, we are having unseasonally high temperatures for very late Autumn in Melbourne, its hard to believe Winter is just around the corner.
Cheers
Rachel