Christmas Star In Blue

This is another Christmas Card I made to send to friends this year. It was really quick to make, using the single stamp Christmas Star from the Holiday Collection. I have tried to check how much longer this stamp is available for, but can't locate that information at the moment - sorry :(



When I make bulk cards I always do each step in order, so with this card

1. Cut white card front
2. Stamp star in Soft Sky
3. Stamp star in Marina Mist
4. Clean stamp
5. Over stamp with greeting (This is a retired one, Many Merry Messages)
6. Adhere to card base
7. Decorate with rhinestones

Because you do it step by step, it cuts back on measuring, cutting and cleaning up time.

Hope all your cards are in the post and your Christmas shopping is completed and wrapped ready for the big day!
Merry Christmas
Rachel

Last-minute Post-it Note Gift

It was my last day at work today (for the five week summer break) and I had planned to make small gifts for the teachers I work with but I have been flat out with family commitments and work and it hadn't happened! Last night my husband and I were out until midnight and then I whipped up these post-it note holders.
My friend Alison has a tutorial on YouTube at this link stampwithali, and once you've made a couple, they're a piece of cake. The pens are available at Officeworks (Australia) for a reasonable price, the post-it notes are a bit more expensive at Officeworks, but what gorgeous colours!!!


I used Stampin' Up! card colors Pool Party, Pacific Point, Wisteria, Pear Pizzazz, Melon Mambo and Strawberry Slush.I can't even pick my favourite colour, they all look lovely.

A variety of stamp sets including Oh Hello, Happy Day, Regarding Dahlias,Simply Stars were used to decorate the covers, stamped straight on as I was so short of time, but Ali did a much nicer job of the finishing off. Mine were well-received, even by the male teacher, so I was happy with that.

With Christmas looming, I hope you have all your preparations under control!
Cheers
Rachel

Challenges Entered:
Sunny Challenges & Creations
SUO Challenge - Almost Last Minute

Perfect Princess at Freshly Made Sketches

I was thrilled to see that Amy had chosen my card at Freshly Made Sketches this week. I gave out this card at work today (along with lots more!), so Annette, this is your card!!!
 
I have finished work for the summer, so five weeks of fun, friends and family!
Cheers
Rachel

Seasonal Sayings FMS #116

What a busy weekend, and such a lot of it spent travelling in the car! My second grandson celebrated his 4th birthday today, although his actual birthday is next Wednesday. Unfortunately, kinder has the break-up party on Wednesday too, and since they live an hour and a half away, Sunday proved to be an easier day for our family to gather.

I still need a few more Christmas cards, so I used this sketch by Narelle (who also lives in Melbourne) and is part of the design team at Freshly Made Sketches.

The Christmas greeting from Seasonal Sayings hadn't been inked up before, even though it was one of the stamps I really liked in the set. I used Gumball Green, to match the green in the Be Of Good Cheer DSP. Simply Stars is a stamp set with four stars. Placing my clear mount stamps on a block which allowed three to be arranged, I stamped in Raspberry Ripple.

A very simple design, quite quick and easy.


Catch you again soon....
Rachel

Morning Meadow Birthday RS

With all the craziness of Christmas, it is easy to overlook birthdays! I have a friend whose birthday is the day before, so in among my Christmas list is a note to choose a gift for her also. when I wrapped her gift in its pretty soft green paper, it struck me how similar the pattern was to the sprig of flowers in the Morning Meadow stamp set.

Using Pistachio Pudding I stamped on Whisper White and over -stamped in Baked Brown Sugar and the birthday greeting from Simply Sketched. I then used the Circles Collection to cut the white circle and a larger one in Crumb Cake and popped an In-color embellishment on the corner. It is loosely based on this sketch at Retro Sketches.





Thanks for looking,

Rachel

Clearance Blitz

Just a quick note to let you know that Stampin' Up! are having a Clearance Blitz of retired goods (no details available yet) but at up to 80% off it may be worth popping into my online store to take a look. Things sold out very quickly last year so if you fancy something, best to pop in your order quickly!
 The online store is here available after midnight Monday 9th December.

Regarding Dahlias FMS 115

Regarding Dahlias stamp set has been around since June, but I had put off buying it until last week, after seeing all the amazing cards others have been making. I've struggled a little tonight to bring this together, but I'm happy with the final result. Excuse the poor light though, taking a photo at night with artificial light is not a recipe for success!!!!



I've based my card on the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches, used my favourite colours -Bermuda Bay and Coastal Cabana with a touch of So Saffron on the Papillon Potpourri (132058) butterflies, and a greeting from Itty Bitty Banners(132022). The Bitty Butterfly punch (129406) came in handy, along with the Elegant Butterfly Punch.(127526). Just a few rhinestones to finish off because my friends all love a little bling! I'm preparing for the January birthdays.......

Cheers
Rachel

Hoping For a Calm Christmas

I'm sure we all hope for a calm, peaceful Christmas but how likely is it? We have been madly putting up the Christmas Tree, a live one, and the biggest we've ever had! I'm lucky because one of my sons goes each year to get trees for himself, his in-laws and us, so that is a big help. However, our lights weren't doing the tree justice, due to its increased height, and we have been out to purchase a larger set (and flashier too, I might add). We have added another bauble to the tree this year too, for our small grand-daughter, Alice, born March this year.

As promised, here are my Christmas Cards for this year. Both styles use Calm Christmas (132736) and the card on the right has World Map (130342) as the background. Petite Pairs (128706), on the left card says Merry Christmas on one stamp, while the other half of this pair says and a Happy, Joyful, Bright New Year. Petite Pairs is one of those "must have" stamp sets with greetings for all occasions. Instead of using my 12" by 12" pack of Winter Frost DSP, I used the Winter Frost Paper Stack (132183) because it contains 48 sheets of card-front-size double-sided paper in four of the designs, making it easier to mass-produce a quantity of cards. The items above are all directly linked to those items in my online store if you want to take a closer look. If you decide to shop there be assured that you are shopping on a secure, reputable site. It is recommended that you shop early, as Stampin' Up gears up for a clearance sale of retired stock, beginning early on Tuesday 10th December. Going by last year, stock will move very fast, some items were sold out within minutes, due to low numbers of stock items, and a heavy demand. This is the link to the online store.

The colours used are Smokey Slate, Bermuda Bay, Midnight Muse, Pool Party(World Map) Sky Blue and Marina Mist. The pale dove was inked with Sky Blue and then thumped with the three Stampin' Write Markers shown in the picture. The Thumping Technique is a BIG favourite of mine, I love the soft mottled effect this technique produces, but I'm equally fond of the bold appearance of the Midnight Muse dove. It shows up the patterned surface of the stamp so clearly. Do you like to craft your own cards, or Christmas decorations? I haven't any classes scheduled for the immediate future, because everyone seems to have a full calendar, but as I am away from my regular job from 20th December until Australia Day, let me know if there is a product you'd like to try out. or a technique you'd like to learn and we can see if it can be arranged as a workshop or party.

Thanks for passing by today,

Rachel

Retired items newly listed under For Sale tab at top of page.

Love Story RS#92

I nearly didn't make the time to make this card, but I'm easily distracted from my chores!!! I already had the Shimmery White card cut and embossed so that helped a lot. Then I found a banner cut from the Retired Twitterpated DSP and so I only had to find  my set of One In A Million stamps for the pair of greetings. I didn't think the Frosted Finishes 'button' added enough glimmer and gleam so added three rhinestones. It's just a shame my camera wasn't playing nicelty today, it wouldn't focus properly, so it is hard to pick up all the lovely glitter. The sketch over at Retro Sketches was my inspiration.

I'd like to say a big hello to all my subscribers, I've noticed there are a few new people, so welcome!

I hope you're all set for the end of 2013 which is so rapidly approaching. I'm hoping to be able to share my Christmas cards with you over the weekend.

'Bye for now

Rachel

Betsys Blossoms FMS114

I have taken a break from making Christmas Cards to play along with a sketch at Freshly Made Sketches. It's a great sketch by Linda S. and I could easily have used it to make a Christmas card, but just to ring the changes, I've pulled out Betsy's Blossoms and used the colours I have on the table for the Christmas card, and the very same "Thumping" Technique.
I have stamped the large blossom onto Very Vanilla. I'm a bit disappointed that it looks so 'white' next to the Etcetera Designer Patterned Paper. I would probably have preferred to use a fresher-looking DSP. Don't get me wrong, I DO love the Etcetera DSP, but it is a little bit vintage looking, perhaps.

Here is a sneak peek at my Christmas card!

Ingredients for Betsy's Blossoms Card

Card: Very Vanilla, Pool Party, Bermuda Bay
Stamps: Betsy's Blossom, Express Yourself
Embossing Folder: Pretty Print (132175)
Framelits: Bitty Banners, Circle Thinlet Flip Card

Betsy's Blossoms (131955)

Back to more crafting now,

thanks for dropping by

Rachel