Farewell Botanical Blooms! CI#07

My head is in a whirl, after spending 10 days in wonderful West Australia! I will give you a bit of a rundown toward the end of this post. I was very tired yesterday after having a longer than usual flight home. Landing was delayed due to a bank up of aircraft after storms. Suddenly I realised I was due to have my Colour INKspiration project made and photographed and linked up with the rest of the crew, so while the washing machine also whirls away, I've put together a card using a BIG fave of mine, Botanical Blooms. 

 It was a shock to see that stamp set and the matching Botanical Builder Framelits in the Retiring List, and what's more, they're reduced. I doubt they'll be in stock for very long!  One reason I was able to put my card together quite quickly is that when I have a lot of paper scraps, I roll them throught the big shot with Botanical Builder Framelits and keep them in plastic containers, sorted into colour groups. This challenge features Mint Macaroon, Daffodil Delight, Pink Pirouette and Tip Top Taupe. You might even be able to grab a pack of Tip Top Taupe and Mint Macaroon cardstock before they retire!

Surprisingly, the Banner Framelits leave the catalogue too. The've been price cut to $36 AU for the set. I find them helpful when layering tags. You'll find that Suite Sentiments, which currently features on the last page of the Occasions Catalogue, (hoping your day is perfect) has not been included in the Annual Catalogue. Linked to the stamp name is the clear mount version which is reduced in price, there is also a wood mount version, still at regular price. Suite Sayings in the Annual Catalogue is retiring also. Celebrate You is the sentiment on the tag, and the link is to the reduced clear mount version. All these links are direct to the individual items in my online shop. It would be great if you added the Host Code 3VS77ZH6 and I will send you a gift in the mail.

It was my first trek across our great island continent and I must say, it was well worth it. Initially I was travelling with my husband and we explored around Perth on foot, before hiring a car and heading off for three days in the Margaret River region, staying at Busselton. We saw a large pod of dolphins frolicking near the shore on this evening. Did you know that the jetty there is nearly 2km long and has a train to take you to the end if you choose?

 We enjoyed exploring vineyards and breweries, lighthouses and caves. We even met a Quokka or 3 at Rottnest Island. At the end of my husband's holiday leave, he flew back to Melbourne and my Stampin' Up!® buddies from Adelaide came over to join me. 

Kathryn, Andrea and Caroline are all Adelaide Stampin' Up!® demonstrators, and you may recognise Kathryn from the design teams on Colour INKspiration and CASE-ing The Catty. We toured the Swan Valley for wine tasting and chocolate. Yummo! We went to Fremantle on the train for some sight-seeing, and ate out lots. Kings Park and Botanical Gardens is well worth a visit with delights to uncover around every corner.

                                                                                         

Last Saturday was Stampin' Up!® Onstage in Perth, where 200 demonstrators gathered at the Hilton Hotel for some training and most importantly, the reveal of the next Annual Catalogue. We saw fabulous samples and even had a chance to play with some new products. My suitcase was quite a bit heavier coming home with new stamp sets and swaps inside. We made sure we took a photo of the four Colour INKspiration team members at Perth Onstage. From left it's me, Kathryn Mangelsdorf, Kelly Kent and Nicole Wilson. Our next Onstage is on November 11th and I'm hoping that some of my team members will join me for this one. If you join my team, South'n Stampers before then, you'll be eligible for a fun day of stamping and a bag full of Stampin' Up!® products. There is more information here, or email/call me. I'm Rachel Palmieri, in South Morang, VIC

Cheers, Rachel   

Now you are going to hop on over to the blog of   Bronwyn Eastley                  

Bronwyn Eastley - http://addinktivedesigns.com/2017/04/12/colour-inkspiration-07/

Lou Kitzelman - http://withabowontopbylou.blogspot.com/2017/04/colour-inkspiration-challenge-07-blog-hop.html

Kelly Kent - http://mypapercraftjourney.com/2017/04/12/colour-inkspiration-07/

Nikki Spencer - http://nikkispencer-mysandbox.blogspot.com/2017/04/colour-inkspiration-07.html

Elizabeth Gross - http://lillylovespaper.blogspot.com/2017/03/ci07-colours-from-easter-wreath.html

Rose Packer - http://wp.me/p6g0iC-DN

Jo Stubbings (Guest DT) - http://jostubbings.blogspot.com/2017/04/colour-inkspiration-ci07-colour.html

Denita Wright - http://denitawright.blogspot.com.au/2017/04/colour-inkspiration-blog-hop-ci07.html

Kim Badelt - http://kimsstampingspot.blogspot.com/2017/04/colour-inkspiration-07.html

Jacque Williams - http://wp.me/p65baO-2ph

Rebecca Scurr - http://thepaperandstampaddict.com.au/2017/04/12/ci07-flowers/

Nicole Wilson - http://nicolejuliewilson.blogspot.com/2017/04/colour-inkspiration-07.html

Narelle Farrugia - http://wp.me/p1ikRV-1xk

Rachel Palmieri - http://stampinpals.blogspot.com/2017/04/farewell-botanical-blooms-ci07.html

Delicate Details CTC#115

Welcome back to our weekly CASE-ing The Catty Blog Hop. You may have come from Liz Gross in Queensland and now you're with me, Rachel Palmieri in Melbourne. This week we are sharing something inspired by the SALE-A-Bration catalogue, pages 8-11. Page 9 with Delicate Details FREE with purchase SAB stamp set, was my inspiration this week. The rows of lace really appealed to me, such a sweet look. My choice to stamp was Basic Grey archival Ink, and I used some SAB paper from this time last year, in various shades of yellow. After stamping, this was mounted onto Crushed Curry, then  Basic Gray card, and lastly a So Saffron card base.

Two layers of flower from Botanical Builder Framelits were adhered after stamping some stamens, and a fern leaf is poking out behind. Suite Sentiments is a fabulous stamp set, at the very back of the Occasions Catalogue. There are sentiments for every event, and I thought this one quite apprpriate. It has been cut with a Stitched Oval Framelit, but purposely with one end chopped off, to not cover so much background. Delicate Details is one of the FREE choices you can have with your $90.00 order from January4th-March31st, check out my online store for more choices.

Don't forget to link to our Facebook challenge, using the same pages of the SAB as inspiration.

Happy Crafting

Cheers

Rachel

 If you get lost or find a broken link along the way, you can get back on track here.

Now you should check out what the very lovely Julia Quinn  on the Sunshine Coast has shared

Botanical Art

I'm going to be absent on holiday for just a little while but have left a few posts preloaded to give you something pretty and new to look at if you happen to pop by. Maybe this card, using Painters Palette and the glorious Botanical Blooms might give you a tiny hint of where I've headed to, with my guy.

It is warm.....and tropical.......with palm trees......and hibiscus.....

I did love the way this card came together, using the rather bright new InColors along with an old fave, Rose Red. A strip of Playful Palette designer series paper stack helps to tie many of the colours together.

Even though I'm away, my online shop is open any time of the day or night. Stampin' Up! do a great job of updating the website with current specials, so check in any time. When you place an order and use the current HOSTESS code, P2KYFUU9 you will receive a small gift in the post from me.

Cheers, Rachel

Stampin' Up! Catalogue Launch

This post might be a little bit picture heavy, but I'm so glad that I remembered to pick up my camera 10 minutes before the guests arrived and grabbed some photos of the display. It ended up being too busy during my party and I didn't remember later.
A few weeks before, I sent an invitation to my Catty Launch. It was mainly printed on the computer using a colour similar to Melon Mambo, then stamped with 'Time To Party' from Confetti Celebration. I stamped my name and address at the bottom. On the reverse I used DSP from It's My Party paper stack. Next I added a Botanicals leaf, a strip of the gold glitter washi tape from SALE-A-Bration, and a hand cut flamingo from Pop Of Paradise. At the Catty Launch I showed them how to turn their invitation into a birthday card.

Swirly Bird and the Swirly Scribbles Framelits were the first things on my pre-order. There have been so many brilliant cards made using this particular bundle, so I had a lot of different samples to share. It is perfect for all sorts of things, I'd made kites, yachts, owls and flowers. Pinterest is a great source of inspiration.

The other stamp set I featured was Pop Of Paradise, and I was lucky enough to find this giant paper pineapple in a party store, to tie in with the pineapples I'd embossed in copper or stamped. A little disappointing that my blow-up pink flamingo is still in transit and missed the party!

The make & take was a combination of Swirly Scribbles Framelits and Pop Of Paradise with Timeless Textures in the background. Most of the ladies used my choice of Dapper Denim and Peekaboo Peach, but one guest used Emerald Envy and Flirty Flamingo which was gorgeous too. They loved the leaves from Pop Of Paradise and found it hard to believe they weren't cut out.

The second make & take was a card of their choice from the Oh Happy Day card kit. We opened it together, and I love the bright colours. I know that this kit is on a couple of wish lists.

The Swirly Bird theme continued with the goodie bag and tag and I managed to use all the new InColors. Inside there was a card from each of the 5 new colours, a thank you card (blank for them to use for someone else) and some die cut pieces from various sets, some pieces of DSP, and they could add their make & take cards.

This is the nicest combination of In Colors we have had. I usually have reservations about one or two of the colours but I love the whole lot here. We were given pieces of card at Onstage and punched the hearts out for our Colour Chart, but I couldn't throw out these pieces! Seemed a good idea to thread the ribbon through so everyone could see how nicely they match.

 The Affectionately Yours Suite on page 44  mainly features the In Colors from last year, so I punched the card the same as this year's. I don't have any current ribbon, the lace from last year has officially retired, and has been replaced with a striped ribbon, which should be delivered to me next week.

My first shaker card. This is so much easier now that Stampin' Up! have Foam adhesive strips #141825 on page 182 of the catalogue along with all the other adhesives. Painter's Palette is ideal for this, as the blackboard fits the Layering Squares Framelits to make it extra-easy to punch out the window.


You can shop anytime in my online store and if you remember to use the HOSTESS Code ZGGAABEE you will earn a small gift from me.


If you have your catalogue, and you love everything and want it all, you might be interested in the attractive joining offer that Stampin' Up!® are offering for June 1st -30th. It will be slightly different in the different markets, but for those of us in Australia it is the usual, choose $235.00 of products of your choice, pay $169.00, no strings attached, no shipping to pay. BUT, the extra special thing for June is you also get to choose 2 extra stamp sets, up to a value of $178.00, and no extra to pay. Isn't that huge? It certainly is the way to afford those big sets with lots of sentiments like Better Together on page 83 or Flourishing Phrases on page 49, both $85.00 in wood mount. Guy Greetings is another quite expensive, but useful set you might want to add to your collection instead, just saying....

I'd love you to join my team, if you live in Australia and I will support and encourage you in your Stampin' Up!® journey, whichever way you want to do it. Most of my current team are hobby demonstrators. Some of them join me for events like today, and get a buzz out of helping the other guests, and others are quite happy to enjoy Stampin' Up!® products, meeting their minimums and not socialising. You might want to earn extra money from your hobby, and I can advise you on how to do that too.
Have a think about it, email me if you need extra information.

Cheers, Rachel

Partying Dinosaurs 3-D Card and Gift Bag CTC#80

3-D project or kit was listed for this week's challenge - a BIG challenge as I don't do many 3-D projects, but I thought I'd try the Double Diamond Fold Card. I saw one on Pinterest by Sarah Poulton, a demonstrator from the UK, and decided that it would be perfect for some of the little boys in my life. I've matched it with a gift bag and tag to hold some dinosaurs for a small gift.

No Bones About It is NOT a new stamp, but it has been neglected by me for a little while. I know that boys like dinosaurs and with 5 young men in the family, I just had to make another card with this stamp set. When I stamp with both parts of this two-part stamp, I find it best to stamp the bones first, and then lay the body over the top, lining up a tail, the feet etc.

The squares are 2½" , and I've made a moss green layer a little smaller, and then another layer in a light colour just a fraction smaller again. The 'grass' has been stamped with one of the stamps from Timeless Textures, and the leaves are both included in No Bones About It. You can write in a number of places on the back here, the square on the left, or the big panel in the middle.

There were footprints in the No Bones set also, and I grabbed the slightly larger Monstera leaves from the brand new tropical stamp set, Pop Of Paradise. Leaves from Botanical Builder Framelits are glued on the tag, and another partying dinosaur has been hand cut. He's sitting on some banners and the birthday sentiment from Guy Greetings. Sometimes the perfect pieces are just lying about on your work space!!! I have had a busy week followed by a busy weekend with a busy class on Friday, a family of five staying Saturday night who needed a 40th card for a male to be made, and babysitting for 3 children, plus a late 2nd birthday party this morning for the little guy who had gastro at the beginning of May, causing his party with cousins to be cancelled.

I'm in full swing preparing for my Catalogue Launch on Saturday 4th June at 2pm. Would you like to pop in to collect a catalogue and Goodie Bag, play some games, stamp a card and have a look at new products and samples? There is no obligation to buy anything, although there will be 'bonus extras' for those who can't resist! You'll need to text 0417 500 681 or   email me for the exact address (South Morang, Victoria) and you're welcome to bring a friend, just let me know beforehand. I'm very excited to share the 5 new colours and some of the wonderful stamp sets, framelits and punches.

If you live in Australia, and want to place an order you can go to my online store anytime of the day or night. There are still lots in the retiring list and clearance. The Hostess Code for this month is ZGGAABEE

Cheers,
Rachel

    And now you're off to visit Helen.  I have a sneaky suspicion that she is sharing the very cute Pyramid Pals, which I've finally ordered too.

Timeless Elegance - Papers We'll Miss

I'm on a mission to use up DSP, preferably NOW! I have an enormous pile of unopened DSP, but as well as that, I have a huge number of partially used packets. SUO Challenge seems to understand my predicament by challenging us this time to share the papers we'll miss. Well, I have to say this time around, there are so many lovely papers but this is one I actually used this week.

Timeless Elegance DSP, which I adore, has many subdued patterns which lend themselves to a little jazzing up. I had used most of the black lace to make a card and gift bag for my youngest son's girlfriend, but apart from that, only a small portion was used.

 Last week I cut a number of the sheets and mounted them on slightly larger rectangles of black card, so they are ready to work with whenever I have time. A sponge dauber into ink (Watermelon Wonder) has been used on the roses on this piece of paper, while a sentiment from Rose Wonder was stamped inside the label stamp and cut with the matching die. A few Basic Jewel pearls were added and after it was mounted on a Watermelon Wonder base, it was complete.

The colouring on the card at right was done with ink and an aquapainter. It needed a couple of light coats to get enough colour, and for a bit of fun, I've stamped some splodges of  Sweet Sugarplum (new colour) about. Gold Wink of Stella on the stamens added a lovely touch and this sentiment has been heat embossed in the new copper embossing powder onto a Sweet Sugarplum banner.

This black and vanilla stripe is another of the papers in Timeless Elegance DSP. It is a great background to show off the gorgeous flowers from Botanical Blooms. I'm stamping on them more, and shading with sponge daubers and finding that the possibilities with these dies and stamps are endless. As well as the old favourite Melon Mambo, you see Flirty Flamingo at the back and Sweet Sugarplum in front. I've just ordered some more sponge daubers for the new In Colors after realising I'd reached the end of my supply.
                                                                                                         

Do you use your DSP or hoard it like I used to?
If you live in Australia, and want to place an order you can go to my online store anytime of the day or night. The Hostess Code for this month is ZGGAABEE

Have a great crafty weekend

Cheers

Rachel

Have A Cuppa With Me CTC#76

Welcome again to another round of CASE-ing The Catty. Each week the crew take inspiration from a section of a Stampin' Up!® catalogue. Currently we are working our way, section by section, through the Occasions catalogue. This week is Have A Cuppa, pages 34-37. CASE is an acronym which stands for "Copy And Share Everything" and we hope by sharing what we have CASE-d, you'll be inspired too.

It has been a while since I used my Banner Framelits, and looking through those pages for inspiration, I spied the Mother's Day sample on page 36. The pink one was the start of an idea, to use a banner for the sentiment and hearts somewhere, and so the idea began to grow.

There are a couple of cups, a mug, teapot milk jug and cutlery amongst some of the cute bits and bobs in the Cups And Kettles Framelit Dies. Being a tea aficionado, and it must always  be made in a tea pot, I knew I wouldn't be able to resist this set for too long. I'm very sad that it hasn't made it into our new Annual catalogue, and will be unavailable after May 31st.

Isn't it clever the way the sentiment from Balloon Celebration suits this so well? You can change it to coffee, champagne or hot chocolate too!

I cut two of each mug and on one of each colour, die cut the heart, and popped it onto the other colour. Then I couldn't resist adding a couple of Botanical blooms to make it prettier.

Back on page 34 there is a large picture featuring a half dozen different projects made with A Nice Cuppa and the Cups & Kettles Framelit Dies. Banner Framelits came in handy again for the card on the left, and a little flower from Birthday Blooms.

My Farewell Favourites class on May 19th or 20th, both at 7pm includes one of the cards on the Soft Sky background. My regular class voted on a selection of ten cards/stamp sets at the last class and came up with A Nice Cuppa, Six-sided Sampler and Vivid Vases,

The paper I've used is retired, but soft florals was what I wanted and Attic Boutique was perfect. Unfortunately, it's not in the Clearance Rack, but there are other soft florals which would do as well. The stacked teacups can be made in so many combinations with the different dies. This is sweet and simple with some more of the Attic Boutique paper and a paper doiley cut not-quite-in-half. Both of these cards have greetings from Balloon Celebration. A Nice Cuppa is retiring at the end of May, so if you love this stamp and/or the framelits, best you head over to place your order. If your order is less than $250, please use the hostess code and you will receive a small gift from me.
Hostess Code: ZGGAABEE

I hope this has inspired you to get crafty too, You can share your projects with our crew here

Cheers, Rachel

If you're going in reverse, you'll be heading back to the lovely Liz -and let me tell you, her projects are fabulous!

    

Or you may be just starting and want to travel forward so you're off to see The Paper And Stamp Addict, Rebecca now

Botanicals Class For April

Last night's class making cards using the Stampin' Up!® Botanical Blooms stamps and the Botanical Builder Framelits was a great success, despite some last-minute cancelations.
One of the cards they made was similar to the one we made at Stampin' Up!® Onstage in November 2015. This one also used the Botanical Gardens DSP. I like to offer the ladies an opportunity to add their own touches to cards, so they often move components around and use different sentiments.


On the whole, most stuck to the basic plan and colour scheme with this next card. I'd designed this one to show that it was possible to use the stamps alone, without any die cut pieces. I don't mind that one rebel chose mainly die cut pieces in shades of mauve, she was wanting an extra-special birthday card for someone.

However, this last card really takes the prize!!!
The girls let their creativity take charge and we had five masterpieces on display. I was so impressed! Haven't they done a great job?  The long leafy framelit does give a lot of opportunity to make it individual and they could choose a strip of Pear Pizzazz or Mint Macaroon. They've changed flower colours and arrangements, as well as different sentiments.
Top job girls!

Next month the class is called Farewell Favourites, so you might guess that we are using retiring stamps. I offered up a selection of eight last night, and they voted for their favourites. They've chosen A Nice Cuppa, Six-sided Sampler and Vivid Vases. I will have the samples on the class page in a few days. The Friday class has only one seat available (or you can go on a cancelation list) but I am now offering Thursday evening classes also. Check out my Classes page for lots more details.

Don't forget to also check out the retiring lists in my online shop, to get some markdowns before theyre gone. Rotary cutter blades, black embossing powder and the 2014-2016 Incolour range are all retiring at the end of May. If your order is less than $250 you may choose to add the Hostess code to your order - this month it is  JSDCTABC

Cheers, Rachel

Botanical Gardens CTC#73

This week at CASE-ing The Catty we are checking out the Botanical Gardens section of the catalogue, from page 26-29.  I fell in love with these flowers the moment they were shown to us at OnStage back in November. I particularly like the flowers with petal which separate, and the variety of leaves. I spend a lot of my spare time, die cutting scraps of card and sorting the pieces into colour families. That way, I have flowers and leaves ready to add to any project. I could hardly wait to CASE the card from the main picture in the catalogue, and as I came home from Onstage with Enjoy The Little Things in my bag of goodies, I only had to wait for Stampin' Up!® to ship the Botanical Gardens Bundle out to me.

I just changed up the colours slightly for my CASE, and made a regular-sized card instead of a square. The long, leafy die is lovely with its gentle curve. It can be used to add an edge with a difference to your cards also. With a sponge dauber, I've added colour to the edges and centre of the main flower, the wee flowers have candy dots.

The sample in the catty may have had the sprinkle of dots added from Timeless Textures, on the next page of the catty, but I didn't have it then, so used the similar one from Perpetual Birthday Calendar. You could use Gorgeous Grunge if you own that set.

 I've had people asking me whether it is worthwhile buying the bundle or should they just get the framelit dies and of course that choice is always up to the customer. I have to admit that I use the dies a lot more than the stamps but I've stamped this sample for my April class, and I really like the tropical appearance of these images. You'll find dates for my classes under a tab at the top of my Stampinpals blog - Classes. Students will make 3 cards, including both of these, using Botanical Blooms and Botanical Builder Framelit Dies and it's usually up to date with availability. Email or text me - 0417500681 - I'm in South Morang on the northern outskirts of Melbourne.

The sentiment is made up from two stamps, belonging to Happy Birthday, Everyone, a hostess set in the main catalogue (page 179). This will retire on May 31st, but although it is a Hostess set, you can purchase it (and have change) with Hostess dollars earned with your $250 order, before shipping. Contact me if you're not sure how this works.
 We would love you to join in the challenge to CASE The Catty with us. You can link your entry here

Don't forget to visit everyone by clicking on the links. You can  pop back to Judy May or continue forward to stop by Julia's blog

Both ladies have amazing projects to share with you!

  

Cheers, Rachel