Camera, Action, Smile -RS #99

I was 'in the mood' for a sketch challenge this afternoon, so popped over to RetroSketches to see what the sketch looked like and I sure did like what I found!

The half-circle cut out really appealed to me, and it didn't take too long before this idea came to me. I'm a sucker for camera stamps, so best I get on and ink up Peachy Keen! It has matching dies too and can be bought as a bundle at 15% off if you like cameras too. I used the Circles Collection Framelits for cutting my half-circle from the Sale-A-Bration DSP Sweet Sorbet. Most of the papers in this set of design series are sweet pastels, as the name might suggest, but I really like this bold pattern and mounted it on a mat of black card. The circle of Silver Glimmer Paper with the middle missing is from my scraps, I liked the way the central circle cut-out is off-centre! Some scattered rhinestones add a bit more gleam, and the bold smile greeting is from Happy Day.

Here is another close-up of the card, don't forget to leave a comment if you like my card, I really do get a thrill reading what you say.

Catch you soon,

Rachel

Retro Sketches Shout Out - Yay!!!

Another Shout Out! from Retro sketches for this birthday card. I used all New goodies from the Occasions Catalogue and a Sale-A-bration freebie stamp.

See the original post here












Have a great weekend!

Rachel

What's New?

NOW AVAILABLE!  Texture Boutique Embossing Machine  $49.95.  Click HERE to purchase!

It's embossing made easy. Texture Boutique is the perfect, portable tool to create embossed cards, tags, embellishments, and more. Use it with the Stampin' Up! exclusive Textured Impressions Embossing Folders.

It WILL  be available again as a regular item in the upcoming annual catalog (June 1).

SNAPPY NEW EMBOSSING FOLDERS YOU MIGHT WANT TO INCLUDE WITH YOUR ORDER!

• Ampersand Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (item 132970) 
• Arrows Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (item 132187) 
• Scallops Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (item 132971)

If you order the Texture Boutique Embossing Machine and all three of the new folders (for a total of  $90 in product or more), you will qualify to get a FREE Sale-A-Bration gift-the Decorative Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (item 133520) would be the perfect choice! 

Here's what you need to know to get the most out of Sale-A-Bration!

• Jan. 28 - March 31, 2014, earn a FREE Sale-A-Bration gift for every $90 you spend.  Please note qualifying totals do not include shipping.
• The suggested bundles in the Sale-A-Bration brochure show you simple and coordinated ways to reach $90 in product.  However, ANY $90 Stampin' Up! product order qualifies.  
• Spend $300 or more (before shipping) and you''ll earn Hostess Rewards plus your Sale-A-Bration freebies (1 for every $90 in product you spend).

• BECOME A MEMBER OF MY TEAM!  Hobby crafters welcome, no need to actively demonstrate.  Get the Starter Kit for $169 and choose up to $255 in Stampin' Up! products (a $20 bonus).  The kit ships free for another 5% savings!  Choose items in current catalogs: stamps,clearance rack, holiday carryover items and specially priced bundles!  Join through me here.  Have your Wish List ready beside you with $255 worth of the products you want.

New Occasions Catalogue 28 January-30 June 2014

Are you happy to flick through the online version or you'd love to have a hard copy in your hands? 

Email (rpalmieri5@bigpond.com) or TXT  (0417 500 681)me your name, postal address and email(Australia only) and I will mail you this catalogue and a Sale-a-bration brochure for free.

Card-in-a-Box and Class Schedule for February & March

My five weeks of summer holidays draws to a close. :(

Back to work tomorrow, and what is the weather going to be but sunny and 39 degrees (think that's 100 Fahrenheit!!!!) so it's not going to be fun.

And I've had so much fun over summer! Meals out with friends, friends from near and far to visit, family spending time at the beach with us (its so much fun with small children to play with) and lots and lots of crafting time!

These Card-in-a-Box creations began to appear late last year, and I've had a play about with a few different versions. This one is based on measurements given by Monica Gale, a UK Stampin' Up! demonstrator. It turns out rather large, and apart from that, I wasn't aware that it was best to not extend too far beyond the edges, because  then it doesn't fit in an envelope! Luckily I have my Envelope Punch Board and I used a 11½ inch square piece of DSP to make a giant envelope.

So, next I checked around and found another tutorial, this time by Australian demonstrator, Tanya Bell. Tanya is very clever, and generous also. She shared the smaller dimensions that mean the Card-in-a-Box will fit in a standard C6 envelope, readily available here. I have decided to offer this as a special Project Class in February or March. You need to click on the CLASSES tab at the top of the blog, and check the list of dates that I have available. If you have 3 hours free on one of the days I've nominated, send me an email or text (0417 500 681) and we will see what we can work out. I need two participants to run a class, so if you also have a friend who wants to craft, we could be good-to-go, otherwise I will place it up as a class taking place and we will see if anyone else wants to join you and create.
 You probably need to have had some experience with paper cutters, precise measurements are required (and the equipment and measurements are imperial, not metric) but I will demonstrate the construction process before you embark on your own Card-in-a-Box.
                                                                                 


There are other classes available too, for beginners and more experienced crafters, maybe we can get together soon...
Rachel

Classy and Elegant 40th

I need a 40th birthday card next week, for my sister-in-law. I made 2 versions, but deep down I knew the black, white and gold version was "her". I asked family members for their opinion and it was totally unanimous, so I'm happy about that!

I found out today how difficult it is to photograph a black card, especially as I wanted to highlight the texture that the NEW Arrows Embossing Folder ( 132187) gives the card. I used my metallic Encore gold ink pad (132141) to stamp the 'Fabulous is what you are' greeting from One In A Million stamp set. The gold sequin trim (132983) provided a few loose sequins when I pulled them off the thread and I die cut 40 from Champagne Glimmer Paper (127885). There is a glimpse inside of the gorgeous Watercolor Wonder Washi Tape(133000), also available in the New Occasions Catalogue, and going live next Tuesday! Washi tape is such a fun and easy embellishment, very forgiving if you place it crookedly and such good value too.

There's a new challenge out there, this is the second week. The Card Concept has six different categories for the different styles of cards people create. I wasn't on the ball last week to enter a card, but thought I could try with this one as the theme is 'texture'. I think my card fits into 'Classy and Elegant' style and the shingle roof of the house in the picture is a lot like the Arrow pattern.

My holiday is coming to an end, but we head off tomorrow to the coast for a weekend with my eldest son, his wife and their three sweet children. Should be fun!

Thanks for reading my blog, feel free to leave a comment.

Rachel

Dress-Up Party Birthday Card JAI #198

I promised that I would share the birthday card I made for my grandson (about to turn 6). He loves dress-ups, and will be receiving another costume this birthday too. I always hang on to kids stamp sets that are retired by Stampin' Up!, purely because  they can be used over and over, sometimes in ways different from the original idea. And then they bring out a new stamp set, like Cool Kid, and I have to add that in too. Unfortunately, I think I should have inked up my black stamp pad before stamping the original images!

I used the full length of an A4 piece of card, cut at a fraction under 5½ inches and in fact I cut the Bermuda Bay card and Very Vanilla at the one time. This extended piece doesn't fold over. it extends beyond the card front.  Before glueing them together, I sliced an eighth of an inch off each side of the Very Vanilla piece. That seemed to work just fine.
The only stamp available now is Cool Kid, out in Australia on 28th January (the 3 images down the right of the card). Others I used were Kimono Kid, Ahoy Matey (and its wheel) and Googly Ghouls.

 I think I can link this to the Just Add Ink Challenge too.

Hopefully tomorrow I will finish some Card-in-a-Box samples. Come back and see

Thanks for looking

Rachel

Envelope Punch Board Boxed Cards

Now that life is beginning to settle back to normal routine, I've had a chance to have a big play with my Envelope Punch Board. I tried out various sizes of envelopes, a bow for a card, a bonbon (mine is more a Valentine's Day version) and some gift boxes. All good fun, but I wanted to try out some small boxes or large envelopes to hold a set of cards. There are lots more samples at Just Add Ink's blog, they're setting the Envelope Punch Board or Thinlet card as their challenge.

I wasn't sure where to go until a fellow demonstrator pointed me here, to Stamp & Scrap with Frenchie. Frenchie has sorted out the formula for making boxes of any size, its well worth taking a look.
 So, for some reason I decided to make a set of cards 5½ inches square. That's WAY big really, and it meant I had to search out a piece of 12" by !2" card for the box. Never mind, I had some So Saffron that size and even though it isn't listed as a co-ordinating colour on Watercolor Wonder DSP, like most of the Stampin' Up! colours, it fits in beautifully. These papers are gorgeous, you'll find them in the NEW Occasions mini Catalogue, so I mounted a 4½ inch square of DSP onto another shade of card and kept stamping to a minimum. Did you notice the rounded corners? The Envelope Punch Board has a corner rounder incorporated, so now I don't have to go searching everywhere for my long lost corner punch. Some of the cards are stamped with an image or two from Happy Watercolor, also in the new Mini catalogue. Others have a greeting from A Dozen Thoughts. Between those two stamp sets you have things covered. The envelope is quite easy to construct, fits 4 cards and 4 envelopes very comfortably (could possibly fit more) and then you get to decorate.

Envelope, Bonbon & Bow

I decided to go crazy with my flower punches and the leaf die from Secret Garden. I crumpled the flowers and worked them with my bone folder to soften the paper fibres and you get a softer looking flower. That is attached with dimensionals, and then you can slip the tip of the envelope under neath to hold it all closed. I added a belly band, only for decoration in this case. I love the gelati colours, what do you think?



I have a lot more crafting and blogging to do before I head back to my "other" job next week. Would you like to leave a comment so I know you visited?

Catch you soon
Rachel

January 2014 Newsletter

I hope you have enjoyed time with family and friends over the holiday season and summer break. In Victoria, we have had the usual mix of weather, those temperatures race up and down like you wouldn't believe! Quite cold after Christmas and through the New Year and now that people are returning to work, we are sweltering! Actually  four consecutive days over 40 degrees (more than 100 degrees on the Farenheit scale!) I've had plenty of time for friends, family and some downtime for me too, so a very enjoyable summer. I do really enjoy the lack of structure in my life for a few weeks, but when we return to routine at the end of the month, it is also very welcome. One lovely advantage of being a demonstrator is being able to order new products a month before they go on sale to the public, and being on holiday has given me more time to play too. I made the Strawberry Slush cards using Starburst Sayings stamp and the matching Framelit. The DSP is called Kaleidoscope, the embossing folder is Arrows Textured embossing folder and that is your sneak peek at goodies from the Occasions Catalogue.
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2014 Classes

Basic Class - January & February

I am in the process of planning different classes for the coming six months. I think that I will hold three types of classes:

•  Basic - for those new to stamping and cardmaking or just wanting an hour or so away from the chores (AND no mess to clear up!)

• Build Your Stash - more complicated stamping or construction trying out a different stamp set each time. 
  

1. February- Chalk Talk stamp set & Framelits 
2. March - Cutting & Decorating Circle Framelit Card (see ambulance card below)

• Projects and Techniques - some of the more involved (messier!) techniques and projects with several steps, 

1. February - Water colour and stamp two cards
2. March - Card -in-a-box

I'm still creating the class samples for the project/techniques class and may not be ready to commence very early in February.
I am able to hold classes anytime Thursday or Friday - morning, afternoon & evening and even more times during school holidays, but I'm reluctant to dictate the dates/times classes will occur, as it is difficult to predict when people are able to attend, and how many are interested in each type of class. There are some dates when I am definitely free under the CLASSES tab at the top of my blog. I am happy to conduct classes with a minimum of two people, maximum of six, so if you and a friend want to come, give me a call. I need about one week's notice to make sure I have the projects and materials prepared. If you are interested, email me or phone 0417 500 681. I hold classes at my South Morang home, about 4 km off the Greensborough ring road (Plenty Road exit is easiest, Hume Highway or Edgars Road get you here too, via Cooper Street and a few others!)
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Whole Lot of Love

1 December-27 January

This is a promotion for Valentine's Day, but I can see possibilities for wedding and engagement cards.finishes on the 27th February so you might want to visit here for the online store.

I've had a play with Follow My Heart stamp set and some of the SALE-A-BRATION paper, Banner Blast stamp set and NEW Banner Punch.
I had my little sewing machine out so I've sewn the banners onto the card (not too straight though!!!) and the strips at the bottom were sewn together too. Those random spots in the Sweet Sorbet Design Series Paper remind me of the twinkling lights all over the Eiffel Tower, when it is lit up at night. Gorgeous!
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SALE-A-BRATION
It is almost time for SALE-A-BRATION!

This has to be my favourite time of the Stampin' Up! calendar. It isn't just because customers and demonstrators earn free product while choosing lovely craft supplies, the stamp sets and papers are just so-o-o-o-o good, that I keep on using them even when its over. SALE-A-BRATION products never appear in the annual catalog, so you need to order up between January 28th- 31st March 2014 to qualify for these freebies.

Even better VALUE IN 2014 - this year for each $90 amount you spend, you get to choose one item from the SALE-A-BRATION brochure. There is something for everyone in here: stamp sets, paper, an embossing folder for the Big Shot, card kits and even packaging. If you spend $90-$179 you choose one item, $180-$269 two items and it can be from either the NEW Occasions Catalogue, the Annual Catalogue or a combination of both.

I love it all, but the very first items I put on my order were the Banner Blast stamp set and the Banner Punch. When the order arrived I could hardly wait to get started and began by CASE-ing the SAB brochure (page 5) and had made these two cards in next-to-no-time. They're cute, aren't they?
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Occasions Catalogue


I have copies of this catalog available to distribute and you can place orders for these gorgeous goodies from the 28th January.
Its so handy that this catalog release coincides with SALE-A-BRATION, it makes it so much easier to meet my spending targets (WINK). If you have ordered from me in the last 6 months, I will automatically post/hand deliver you one, but if you aren't a customer yet or haven't ordered recently, and you would like a copy of the Occasions Catalogue and the SALE-A-BRATION brochure, send me a quick email with 'Catalog' in the subject line and your name, address and phone number in the body of the email and I'll add you to my mailing list

There is so much in here that I 'have to have' too. One set I ordered is Cool Kid for the super-hero dog image. I am making a dress-up birthday card for my grandsons birthday and that dog wearing a cape will be the finishing touch. I'll show you the card when its finished.
I love the Starburst Sayings with the matching Framelit dies, the Perfect Pennants stamp set and Framelit dies and Happy Watercolor is such a easy stamp to use.
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Thinlet Card Dies have been available in Australia since late October 2014 and I have used the Circle Card Thinlets die heaps. So many stamp sets really suit the circle including Santa's List and some listed below too. What about the Get Well card below? It uses one of the stamps from the Tag It stamp set and You're My Hero (ambulance, police car, fire engine).
   Label Card Thinlits Die (item 133479):

• Happy Day Stamp Set (item 130294 W item 130297 C)

Circle Card Thinlits Die (item 133480):

• Worth the Wait Stamp (item 131091 W)
• Five-Way Flower Stamp (item 131088 W)

Both card dies pair well with:

• Oh, Hello Stamp Set (item 131931 W item 130733 C)
• Yippee-Skippee! Stamp Set (item 131341 W item 131344 C)
• Really Good Greetings Stamp Set (item 130330 W item 130333 C)
• Regarding Dahlias Stamp Set (item 130324 W item 130327 C)

These dies also work well with our new magnetic platform (item 130658) so you can place the dies exactly where you want them!

I am planning to have a class using the Thinlet card die soon, keep an eye open at the CLASSES tab at the top of my blog. There's many a way to decorate these cards!
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Best Of 25 Years
This months Best of 25 Years stamp set is Best of Brides and Babies. Any of the Best of... stamp sets are available until 30 April 2014 (unless sold out) and there are some good stamps in the collection. If you click on the title, it will take you direct to see which ones have been released already.

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I hope that you haven't been bored with my long-winded newsletter. If I can help you with anything, I'll do my best to answer any questions, just get in touch any way you are comfortable with.
Phone 0417 500 681 email rpalmieri5@bigpond.com
Bye, happy stamping
Rachel

Would you believe I'm a ROCKstar? Nah, I wouldn't either !!! Ha ha ha! But I am one super-excited Crafty lady. I found out last night that a few weeks ago, while I was away on holidays, my wedding card was picked at RetroSketches, so the team there, at least, think I'm a ROCKstar.

I did get a Shout out! back in September, for this card, but that is kind of a consolation prize. Nice, but still leaves something to aim for.
I'm going to keep on aiming high, I love card-making so much, and its nice when others like what you're doing too. You can let me know what you like too,  by leaving short messages on the blog - at the end is a comments section.

I posted this winning card, in mid-November and I used a long-retired stamp (to have & to hold etc) but it is being released in Australia by Stampin' Up!  in the Best of Greetings set before April. It's already out in the US, but in Australia our stamps have been released in a different order, and we only have February, March and April to go. If you'd like to have a look at the other nine "Best Of" sets, you can pop into the online store here. There is something for every occasion in there.

We are absolutely roasting in Melbourne, think its our 4th day over 40 degrees with one more before it cools a bit. Don't know how to convert that to Fahrenheit but it is a bit over 100.

See you again?
Rachel

21st Birthday card

I think this is the first time I have entered a challenge at Seize the Birthday, but I make a lot of birthday cards and the challenge is NUMBERS, and I thought this 21st card would qualify.
I've used Chalk Talk stamp set and Framelits and the numbers and banner have been cut from Stampin' Up! silver Glimmer Paper. There's a layer of glimmer paper under the Bermuda Bay and a layer of Coastal Cabana embossed with a retired Embossing Folder.




Thanks for looking

Rachel

Kaleidoscope Birthday RS #97

Oh boy! Is it ever hot here in Melbourne at the moment. It reached 43 degrees celsius today, with the same temperature predicted for the next three days. I'm very glad to be on holiday at the moment, as our school is without any air conditioning.

I haven't done too much, but I did slip into my craft room this evening and browsed through the challenges, and then I spied this sketch at Retro Sketches. I really mixed things up for this simple birthday card, taking a stamp from Starburst Sayings (and its matching Framelit), a stamp from See Ya Later (that's a Sale-a-bration stamp set) and the paper is Kaleidoscope available in the new seasonal catalogue, which is on sale to you from January 28th. I used the Label Framelit from Chalk Talk too, so it really is a bit of this and a bit of that.




Thanks for visiting my blog, I'd love to read your comment

Rachel

Little Pink Bunny FMS 118

I have been sorting through my huge quantity of Stampin' Up! retired goodies since we returned from holiday, preparing to sell off heaps of stamp sets, paper and some ink pads etc.

However, while I slice and dice, I come across paper I loved, or hadn't noticed or .......whatever. This DSP is long retired, might have been called Nursery Nest I think. It's very sweet anyway, and I had several of the bunny stamped and cut, but not colored. She comes from Storybook Friends and has the word surprise! underneath, but that is easy enough to leave off by not inking it. The base card 'needed' something too, so I settled on the word girl, which is in the Baby Prints stamp set. A little bit of Pistachio Pudding grass from Dinoroar, and a rhinestone at the end of the wand, finish it off.

Just a very simple card, to suit the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.
Thanks for passing, leave a comment if you like
Rachel

Birthday Clockworks

Apparently I didn't blog the card I made for my eldest last year using Clockworks. I found that out when I went to link to this morning's post, so just a quick little post to show the difference when you change up the colours.

Last year I was telling him that Life Is A Daring Adventure, a stamp set that retired when we received our new catalogues last September. Glad I bought it before it retired as it fits with my Travel scrapbooking. The main catalogue will be released at the start of July, so keep an eye out through June, so you don't miss some stamp set, punch or die that will be removed to make way for new, exciting products.

Memorable Moments provided the greeting and numbers (so handy) and I stamped the pocket watch a couple of times to layer with dimensionals. Fussy cutting the watch hands was tricky, and fastening them with a tiny brad made them look real. From memory, I think the colours used are Pool Party, Midnight Muse, Gumball Green and Soft Suede.

I must keep going now
catch you soon
Rachel

The Secret of Life

I've interrupted my destashing/organising of my workroom to put together this card for the Friday Mashup. I have followed the sketch because its such a terrific one and the theme - Tic, Tock. My eldest son sprang to mind immediately, he makes me laugh with his obsession to encourage his Dad and I to use our time wisely.

I used Clockworks for his card last year too but this one is quite different. I've also used the quotation by James Taylor, included in a stamp set called From My Heart. I was thrilled to find a couple of clock embellishments when I was stocktaking, one made it onto this card adhered with glue dots and a piece of Linen Thread to finish it off. They came from the Tea Time embellishments from the mini catalogue from early last year.  My demonstrator order for the Occasions Mini Catalogue will arrive this week and I'm looking forward to playing with new goodies.


I used Elegant Eggplant, Crushed Curry and Baked Brown Sugar and the new Decorative Dots Embossing Folder (love it!!) from Sale-A-Bration (starting January 28th in Australia, as is the Occasions Catalogue).

Now, off to do more sorting
Have a great day!

Rachel

Baby Cuddles FMS #117

Here I am after a pleasant little break for Christmas and New Year. I hope you have enjoyed your festivities too. I have been away at the beach, with minimal craft supplies and limited internet connection, so in many ways, it's nice to be home.

I do happen to have my very first sewing machine at the beach house, so I pulled it out to do some stitching on cards, including this baby one (the paper banners are stitched together). I had to wait until I arrived back yesterday to stamp the image and greeting. Unfortunately, it seems the subtlety of it becomes very faint in my photo. Its the two baby feet from Baby Prints, over-stamped with Babies fill your heart with happy. There are some lovely baby greetings in Cuddles & Kisses but that phrase rings so true. We have recently found out that our sixth grandchild will arrive this year, so my heart is feeling very full.

Luckily for me, Freshly Made Sketches held the sketch over for longer and I might just get linked in too!

Looking forward to seeing more of you here this year, happy crafting!

Rachel