Sweet, Simple Swallowtail SSC98

Sometimes it is good to get 'back to basics' and this week Sunday Stamps challenge has reminded me of that. They want a one'layer card with the image and sentiment toward the top right, so no die cut butterfly, or sentiment on a label, let's just keep it sweet and simple.

It's been a long time since Swallowtail saw ink and I've kept it fairly simple in black with a sentiment from Painted Petals with the only colour provided by splodges from Gorgeous Grunge.

Inside I've stamped two of the butterflies from Papillon Potpourri. One of my customers ordered that stamp set last week, which reminded me of all the different sweet butterfly images that I have.

Now, it's time for me to pop out into the Autumn sunshine to plant some bulbs I bought last week.

Cheers
Rachel


**Very happy for this card to be picked by Angel at Sunday Stamps, as a Top Pick. (11 April,2015)

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#birthdaysrock FMS179

#birthdaysrock big time, especially when you're turning 21. Definitely!

This week I had another special order, and this was for a 21st card for a young apprentice carpenter. I don't know the lad personally, but my instructions included trying to get some tools, timber or similar, onto the card. Unfortunately I didn't buy the Totally Tools stamp available a few years ago, and haven't I regretted that a number of times since? I learnt my lesson and bought Guy Greetings from the Occasions catalogue mainly because there is a plumber in the family and  "righty-tighty, lefty-loosey" is a sentiment he's been heard to use.

I began using #Hello this week with my other special order, and so it was still out on my craft table. The large @ and #birthdaysrock are from that stamp set. Gorgeous Grunge seemed to fit the theme too and Hardwood was a 'must'! I found an online colouring in picture for pre-schoolers and reduced it to an acceptable size, to use as a pattern to cut the little hammer and saw from silver foil and card.The hammer looked far too bright and shiny so its gone through the embossing folder and had black ink smeared over it to 'age' the metal.

The sketch by Amy O'Neill on the Freshly Made Sketches blog provided a starting point, and I hope they like this masculine card.

During the day I put the card pieces together, and sent photos for approval, but nothing was adhered until Jacob arrived tonight to pick up his commission. You can see how it looked before all the bits and pieces were added. I'm so glad I ordered the Adventure Bound Designer Series Paper Stack. Don't you love the stacked logs paper?

School holidays begin tomorrow and I am on holiday from my 'other' role. Looking forward to getting to the annual Melbourne International Garden Show soon, catching up with friends and spending some time with my grandchildren.

Cheers
Rachel

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Stampin' Up! Weekly Deals Ending 31st March

If you don't already have an Envelope Punch Board, this would be the week to buy one. At $23.96 it's a bargain, and $11 cheaper than the one sold at Spotlight. Do you need a gift for someone crafty? What would be better than the Envelope Punch Board and some paper?

Those 12" by 12" papers are perfect for making envelopes and gift boxes, and you can have a big Designer Series paper stack in the In Colors that are carrying over, or the Regals collection at $28.96 - I'll be getting one of each!!! The A4 card packs are another good buy at $8.96 - Pistachio Pudding is a retiring In Color but I do love that soft green and have already stockpiled a couple of packs. Crushed Curry returned to the colour range less than 12 months ago and is a fave of mine too.

SALE-A-BRATION finishes at the end of the month too, so if you are wanting anymore items before it's all over, this week is your last chance. Remember to claim one free item with each $90 order. You are prompted to choose at checkout in the Online Shop. I've used Best Day Ever (SAB), Dotty Angles and Best Year Ever Designer Series Paper(SAB) on my card and gift box. You can also see the Best Year Ever Accessory Pack in front.

I'd love to send you the tutorial for this cute little five-sided box made with the Envelope Punch Board, and if you order through my Online shop, use the Hostess code 6MGVWWGH and allow contact, I'll be able to post you the tutorial and a small thank you gift.

Cheers

Rachel

#Miss You More - JAI#255

Just Add Ink have a challenge this week - 'Just Add Eggs or Ovals, and with the oval feature, this card will qualify. This week we are bidding farewell to one of our teacher colleagues, someone I've worked with from the time she began as a raw graduate 11 years ago. In that time she has progressed through the ranks until it was time to move on to a new school and become a Leading teacher. I'll miss her, but will continue to see her regularly as she and her mum like to attend my card classes. 

Friday night they were here for my Bokeh class, but after I saw them off, I went back into my craft room and worked on this card for the team to give her, along with an elegant pair of earrings.

This card measures 5½" by 5½" so there is room for several people to write messages and I have lined both sides inside and done a little more stamping. I love to mix up my stamp sets, and I went to town with this one!

Dictionary provided a soft, random background and Butterfly Basics have a line reminiscent of the edge of airmail envelopes,  a New York postmark and the fern leaf.

Painted Petals made a pretty posy in Perfect Plum, stamped once and stamped off. #Hello has a cute little sentiment - #missyoumore, and as well as the postmark from Butterfly Basics, there's a Paris one in the retired French Foliage. When I saw Prue's new hessian carry-all today, I knew this card was right on track. There was random text and postmarks but I'd held back on the plum butterfly!

Have a great week,
Rachel

Easter Joy (And Chocolate!) JAI#255

I abandoned my plans for this afternoon to CASE Bronwyn Eastley and make these 'Egg Thrones' . Check out Bronwyn's blog, AddINKtive designs, because she's bound to inspire you in some way too. Now mine are not as gorgeous as Bron's, but I'm a relative newcomer to 3D projects, and I would have liked more time to sit and experiment with the decorating more. Nevertheless, I'm EXCITED that I've actually achieved something for Easter giving!

And even though Bronwyn's gorgeous creation is in the gallery at Just Add Ink, for ovals or eggs, I still wanted to share my simple little 'egg' there too.

After searching online for tutorials on egg throne's to get me started, something seemed a bit 'off' with the measurements of the first one so I've spent a bit of time tweaking to sort the problem. 

The 'throne' section was a little bit too big for the front and back, which must be just under 2 inches to fit into the Tag Topper Punch. It seems fairly good now, although maybe its been adjusted a little TOO much (Elegant Eggplant thrones). I am trying to write a tutorial for future reference, so hopefully I will have it sorted soon. 

Bunnies are my plan for the next ones. How would you decorate yours?

Cheers

Rachel

Best Ever Party! CTC#23

Each week at CASE-ing The Catty we turn to our Stampin' Up! Catalogues for inspiration. We'd love it if you joined us at CASE-ing The Catty too!

This week we are looking for inspiration by combining products from the Occasions Catalogue AND the SALE-A-BRATION catalogue. That's them in the pictures above. You can copy exactly, or share your original work inspired by a sketch, layout, or maybe choose a colour combination to create a card, scrapbook page or 3D item. Then just share which sketch or colour combination inspired you.

Our challenges close at 5pm Thursday (AEDT)

• Create a new project for the challenge
• Mention CTC in your blog post and link back so others can join us
• Mainly SUO products (retired or current) to be used for these challenges

Since we have been challenged to use a combination of products from both catalogues, the opportunity was there to mix-and-match Balloon Bash with Best Day Ever. Don't you think those two stamp sets were made to go together?

I have a card technique class at home tonight where I will share with my guests the joys of BOKEH, the big craze in stamping. There are a number of different ways you can achieve this effect and while experimenting with possible class samples, these designs came to me. Maybe the ladies won't choose such bright colours, but I think they are jolly happy in these shades of yellow! I have another Bokeh class next Friday morning, if you're nearby to South Morang, Victoria.

This first card is on Crushed Curry, stamped with the confetti stamp from Balloon Bash, giving the background a textured look. Watercolour paper was saturated under the tap before adding drops of Strawberry Slush and Daffodil Delight re-inker. Best Day Ever comes from the SAB stamp set of the same name. The balloons are from Balloon Bash, where else? Those additional words on white card are made using the Alphabet stamp (133769) which has 13 letters/numbers/symbols/spaces in a row, so you can stamp all sorts of original phrases. You'll find a link to many of the products at the bottom of my post.

Again, using mainly Balloon Bash, for the sentiment and balloons on this card. The white spots, stamped on the Daffodil Delight to echo the bokeh, is a stamp from Best Day Ever stamp set. When colouring the paper, I added some Pool Party re-inker to the mix and decided to punch out some banners to match.

I'm glad to add another couple of cheerful cards to my stash, and hope you've been inspired to do some creating of your own by CASE-ing The Catty. Will you share with us?

Cheers

Rachel

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Beautiful Butterfly FMS177

Some of the paper in Sweet Dreams DSP is geometric and almost manly, which is the direction I tried to head with this card.
Oh, whoops! There was a Bermuda Bay butterfly sitting on my craft table, and it took over and this is what I ended up with.

I opened up my silver Metallic Encore ink to stamp the smaller butterfly  in Butterfly Basics. I love that lacy floral pattern and have used gold for it heaps but the grey shades called for silver.
A sentiment from Balloon Bash seemed perfect for the banner.

This would have to be one of the quickest cards I've ever made. I guess it was because such a lot was all ready, the butterfly was the only thing to stamp and it and the banner had to be cut. Who says a quick card isn't a good card?

Thanks heaps to Freshly Made Sketches for the great sketches they supply us with for inspiration every week. I do like to play along!

Cheers

Rachel

Floral Fantasy CTS#114 CTD333

Needing to make a birthday card for a 'woman of mature years' it seemed that a floral card might be the way to go. I also know that she does like mauve (or is that lilac?) so the colour palette offered by this week's Colour Throwdown fitted perfectly. The sketch that Gayatri Murali  did for Case This Sketch is open to a wide interpretation, and I decided it was time to pull out an old favourite - with a twist!

Regarding Dahlias is a stamp set with just one large bloom and four sentiments, none of which are for birthdays! This bloom is dramatic, so detailed, that is needs nothing more than inking with your favourite colour. However, I've included the leaf from Kinda Eclectic, just for that splash of green and the two butterflies from Kinda Eclectic fluttered in too. Bitty Banners provided the sentiment.

The inside has been finished with '....and many more' , plus some more leaves and a butterfly all in shades of lilac and green. Now to go out to play in the sunshine in  my garden.....

Have a great weekend

Rachel

  

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Thoughtful Bouquet TCC#30

Today was a beautiful autumn day in Melbourne and I have enjoyed a little time in my garden, trimming back straggly plants and admiring the last of the roses. Before I prepare dinner, I've played in my craft room to make a card for The Card Concept. This challenge categorises styles of cards, which I hadn't ever thought much about before discovering this site, but I know now, that I have a 'clean & layered' style.

There was a stamped image, Love Is Kindness, already lying on my table, so I picked up a few shades of Stampin' Markers and had a little colouring fun. I love tulips, but rarely buy any, and I certainly don't succeed in growing them. It's just not cold enough over winter in Melbourne and we have to remember to put them in the fridge before planting!

The jug in the picture shows some textured areas, and I used the Textured Embossing Folder Decorative Dots to replicate that look and added some random inking of Dictionary, by using my fingers to rub the back of the naturals white card onto the stamp, which was inked with Crumb Cake. I often work with bold shades, but these pretty pastels felt just right today. I didn't feel a need to add 'Thinking Of You' to the card, there's room inside to write plenty.

Cheers
Rachel

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50th birthday

This weekend, a lovely friend celebrated her 50th birthday. She's a bit cheeky, always teasing others about their age, so it's quite amusing (for me) that she is now a "Golden Oldie". 

How does it feel, G? Ha,ha,ha!...... hope you had a good one and lucky you for getting a day off work for it.

Petal Potpourri and Petite Petals are the main stamps used here, with some of the Little Leaves die cut from gold foil along with '50' (not Stampin' Up! dies). The new Flower Medallion Punch, available as a bundle (15% off) makes the cutting out of multiple flowers super-easy and guess what? It also matches one of the flowers in Crazy About You.

The sketch is a Freshly Made Sketches one from a few weeks ago, where I ended up submitting a different card, Little Buddies Birthday. The colours were from that same week, at ColourQ.

Thanks for looking in, lovely to have you visit.

Rachel

If you choose to shop with me to stock up on your Stampin' Up! supplies (and earn a SALE-A-BRATION freebie with your $90 order) remember to use the hostess code, and I will mail you an additional small gift.

You have until 20th March to use this particular code. This month's Hostess Code is B3M6SRH7 

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Bokeh Class

This month I will be holding a Technique class featuring Bokeh. This is a technique alluding to the light spots seen in photography, but duplicated with ink and sponging. It is a very effective technique to create some beautiful cards and I am sharing  several versions, from the simplest right through to a process using a few steps to achieve the end result.

There is an evening class 7pm - 10pm Friday 20th March 2015

and a daytime session 10am - 1pm Friday 27th March 2015

Location: South Morang, Victoria

Everything is supplied, no need to purchase anything, the 3 hour class costs $20. More details here and you may email me to express interest.
rpalmieri5@bigpond.com

Cheers,
Rachel

Butterflies In My Garden CTC#21

Each week at CASE-ing The Catty we turn to our Stampin' Up! Catalogues for inspiration. We'd love it if you joined us in CASE-ing The Catty too!

This week we are seeking inspiration from the Everyday section of the Occasions Catalogue. That's the one in the picture above. You can copy exactly, use a sketch or layout as an inspiration starter, or maybe a colour combination to create a card, scrapbook page or 3D item. Then just share which sketch or colour combination inspired you.

Our challenges close at 5pm Thursday (AEDT)

• Create a new project for the challenge
• Mention CTC in your blog post and link back so others can join us
• Mainly SUO products (retired or current) to be used for these challenges

I turned to the Everyday section, marked with a green half-circle at the top right of the page. Most of my favourite stamp sets are in this section, which could make it very hard. Or... I could choose a sketch, step it up and use THREE favourite stamp sets!!!!

At the top of page 20 is a sweet little card, featuring From The Garden. This stamp set was one of three on my must-have list because I do like to potter in my garden, pull a few weeds, strike cuttings and pick a flower or two. This afternoon I picked a huge crop of tomatoes in fact, and nothing on earth tastes better than home-grown tomatoes.

My first CASE of the card was a single layer card. I'm never very comfortable with single layer cards, because smudges are difficult to camouflage, but I used sequins and one of the flowers placed strategically to achieve that! I absolutely love the Framelits to cut little plant labels to hold the greeting, and this sentiment came from Little Buddy Birthdays. I borrowed some of the pink-toned sequins from the Perpetual Calendar Kit, as they come in lovely shades of pink. Flowers are punched using Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack with a candy dot popped into the centre.

Next, I tried another version using two layers. Because it could be discarded if it didn't work, I was brave enough to try spritzing this layer too! The linen thread didn't make it onto this card but the sequins did, along with a sentiment and pair of butterflies from Butterfly Basics. Again, you gotta love those framelits.

For this card, I really went to town with the new Chalkboard paper for the label, stamped with Whisper White Craft Ink. The background is one of the stamps from Butterfly Basics, using Pink Pirouette, Strawberry Slush stamped off once and Pear Pizzazz. The fern leaf, small butterfly and sentiment are also from Butterfly Basics.

Never being satisfied with a one-layer card, the stamped panel is mounted on black and then four of the largest bloom from Crazy About You have been stamped, punched, trimmed and layered. I guess you can still see where my card originated, since there's a multi-coloured background and a plant label with twine, but it's very stepped-up from the inspiration sketch.

NOW, what can you do using the Everyday section of the Occasions catalogue for inspiration? Don't forget to share it with us at CASE-ing The Catty.

Have a great weekend, we celebrate Labour Day here, so Monday is a day off work. 

Rachel

This month's Hostess Code is B3M6SRH7. If you choose to use it when you make an online order, and you allow me to contact you, I will post you a small gift to say thank you. Don't forget, SALE-A-BRATION continues till March 31st - one free item for every $90 ordered, and four more items have been added.
Check them out here.

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Pretty Pink Balloons JAI #253

What a fabulous challenge at Just Add Ink. The design team have so many gorgeous cards there for us to admire and get inspired by, do click on the link to check them all.

I could have happily chosen the butterfly for this challenge too, but the Celebrate Today stamp set is another big favourite, especially as it has matching Balloon framelit dies. The  inspiration for me is the cute cushion on the bed, so I've used a hint of gold and  some large spots on balloons.




This card is for my eldest daughter-in-law who to me is a 'hot pink' kind of girl.
She's mum to three of my grandchildren, a great counter-balance to my (intense) son and so full of enthusiasm and energy. For her birthday she was after yoga or running pants and I couldn't resist adding the hot pink crop top you can see behind the card. Yes, even after three kids she can still do a crop top to perfection. Must be all the exercise she does!!!

Thanks for visiting my blog, I'd love you to say "hi' in the comments.
Rachel

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On Your Bike CTD332

It's so hard to explain why I've taken so long to ink up Postage Due, but maybe I do really have too many stamp sets!!! No, never!!!

Anyway, now that this stamp has seen ink, it's really getting a bit of a workout. This is the second card I've made with it, and there's a third on the way too. Love those postage stamp images and luckily we still sell the Postage Stamp punch, which finishes them off so authentically. I coloured the long stamp from Butterfly Basics to look a bit like the aerogrammes my grandmother used to write home, while she cruised around the world in the 1960's. She must have missed her family even though she loved travel, because these aerograms came very regularly.

The colours suit the challenge at Color Throwdown although my Cherry Cobbler seems a bit darker than the red in the picture. I used Pool Party, Crumb Cake and Night Of Navy too.

Thanks for visiting my blog, I'd love it if you have time to leave a comment.

Rachel

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Overdue Postage! CMCC#61

Yesterday I was challenged to use a stamp that I just HAD to have, but haven't used yet, with my most disliked colour. Tangelo Twist, one of the current in-colors, is the shade that appeals to me the least. Funny co-incidence, it is one of the challenge colours at Colour Me...! this week too.

In fact, I have difficulty using most of those colours in the orange family, even the corals. So there is only a hint of the Tangelo Twist. Teamed with Crumb Cake and Natural White card stock it becomes a necessary accent along with the cork accents (treasures from last SALE-A-BRATION,discovered while I was hunting for wooden accents)which add to the 'earthy' feel. This card pleases me, despite featuring my least favourite hue.

Now for the Postage Due stamp. I bought it to use with my scrapbooking of a trip to Paris which took place 18 months ago. Unfortunately, I haven't caught up with my travel scrapbooking, and it remained on the shelf unmounted. I had transferred it from the oyster pack it came in, to the new type of case, but last night is when the rubber finally made it onto the blocks.

At least when I inked it up, I was inspired to make a second card in colours I prefer and I may share that one soon.


Cheers
Rachel

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Tulips For Lara

A little while back I signed up to 'We Stamp For Lara" a fundraiser for the family of a fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator. The funds raised will go part of the way to purchasing and fitting a family car with a hoist for lifting Lara into this vehicle.

Today I received my first tutorial, and soon after that, a colour challenge. I love challenges, so when I had done my chores this morning I could hardly wait to ink up Love Is Kindness for the first time ever! It is a single stamp in the Occasions catalogue (page 32) and to my way of thinking it would be good for Mother's Day, thank you cards and birthdays.

I used Memento black ink and Blendabilities to colour the image, and it was done in no time. You'll also glimpse some of the SAB Irresistibly Yours Specialty Designer Series paper which I spritzed with Pool party and Daffodil Delight. This is thicker white paper with one of six different embossed patterns already done. Saves you getting the embossing powder out! You can sponge it, brayer it or spritz it and end up with an individual piece of card.

It's not too late to join in while we Stamp For Lara, the link takes you to  the site where you can pay with Paypal and all tutorials will be delivered to you via your email address.

Cheers

Rachel