Cupcake Birthday

My friend is an amazing baker of cakes and seems to be able to turn out enough delicious cakes in an evening (after working all day too) to keep a cafè fully stocked. She always laughs when we tell her that. I put together some cupcakes for her celebration - only mine are paper, because I'm not great in the kitchen, paper is my passion.

For the paper patties I experimented while using Stampin' Markers to colour them. That technique is 'Ink To Rubber' and can come in handy when you want to pick out different features on a stamp, like the spots on some of the paper cases. I used mostly pale pastels, but injected a bit more life with a splash of Island Indigo, Elegant Eggplant and Hello Honey.

There's some texture in the background with butterflies of assorted sizes on the larger Fluttering Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. That is why there's a tiny silver punched butterfly as well. These cupcakes are easy to make, there are two styles of icing and two styles of paper patties to mix and match in Cupcake Party, plus the Cupcake Builder Punch helps to punch them out. I did grab Sprinkles of Life for the sentiments on the front, too cute!

Unfortunately, Cupcake Party and the Cupcake Buider Punch have retired from the Stampin' Up!® range now, to be replaced by Sweet Cupcake and the Cupcake Cutouts Framelits, available as a bundle at 10% off and shown on page 23 of the Annual Catalogue.Sprinkles of Life is still available.
What colour cupcake will you make?


Cheers, Rachel

Favourite Holiday Bundle -CTC#56

It's Sunday evening here in Australia, time for a CASE-ing The Catty Blog Hop. Perhaps you are just starting out here with me, but do make sure you hop around all the blogs to see the creation inspiration we have for you. I spent yesterday at Stampin' Up! Onstage in Melbourne, getting the 'whisper' on what we have coming up in January. Such a fun day chatting with other demonstrators and getting inky with NEW stamps. It's all so lovely, hard not to want everything!!!

Catalogue picture

This week we are sharing our favourite bundle from the Stampin' Up!® Holiday Catalogue.
Just wait till you see the new bundles! I've chosen Snow Place Stamp Set with Snow Friends Framelits Dies as my absolute favourite, even though they're all so great. Since I've had this stamp set, I've been really enjoying playing with different combinations of the stamped pieces and the matching dies. It's a bit like playing paper dolls!!! Wouldn't it be fun if Stampin' Up!® released another stamp with more cute outfits and accessories for these guys?

I hadn't planned to buy this bundle originally, until I realised that two of my young grandchildren lug soft toy penguins every time they come here to sleepover. They've spent some of the school holidays at the beach and they loved going to see the real live 'Little Penguins' coming ashore one evening. I've also spent a few days away with them and took the stamp set with me so the children could stamp out some pictures with snowmen and penguins. Photopolymer is a bit better than my usual wood mount stamps for use by the children, they can't ruin the blocks getting ink all over them!!! The Snow Place stamp set retails at $45.00 for 22 stamps, there are 15 dies in Snow Friends Framelits Dies retailing for $45.00 also but together as a bundle, you save 15%.


This card was originally inspired by the card at top right of the catalogue picture, but this cheeky chappie has been dressed to suit our summer Christmas.





My fellow demonstrator, Petra Tailor has already done the shirt & ice cream idea, now I've put my spin on the theme. I used the die for a penguin as a guide to the shape for the shorts and shirt, and then did a few alterations with paper snips. The clouds are punched with the Cupcake Builder Punch, you could also use the Tree builder Punch. I've enjoyed the mix-&-match aspect of this set: - top hat, Santa hat, ear muffs, ties, scarf, but sadly, no sun hat for when he eats ice cream at the beach!

I've made this pair of fun Christmas cards as part of the selection for my Christmas card class next Friday 21st, with penguin and snowman wearing Santa hats with an added sprig of holly.

This stamp set doesn't have to be restricted to the yuletide season though. Because my small grand-daughter adores penguins, I decided to make her next birthday card with three lady penguins. They've dressed up for the occasion with necklaces and a bow in the hair of the youngest. It seemed a good idea to try out the Sleigh Ride Edgelit Dies, the curved landscape added interest to the scene, even in the very neutral Crumb Cake. I finally ordered the Little Numbers Thinlets, and its a great size for cards. "Look who's turning" is from Hooray It's Your Day, which was in the Occasions Catalogue back in January this year.

Lastly, you get to see a card my son made for his girlfriend's birthday last month, CASE-ing mine above. This time we have a boy and girl pair, the trees from Sleigh Ride Edgelits Dies and a handcut sun from Over The Rainbow. Aaron chose the bold birthday sentiment from Sassy Salutations. I think his card is gorgeous, and such a shame he only makes this one card a year.
Can you see why I'm loving this bundle now? Check below for product codes if this is one you'd love to play with too. I'm looking forward to seeing which bundles the other members of this design team have favoured and what they have shared.

Here's a picture of my friend from Adelaide, Kathryn Mangelsdorf with me at Stampin' Up!®

Onstage in Melbourne yesterday.It was great to catch up, so glad Kathryn was able to come over from Adelaide. You'll find her blog after Stasia's.We have so much fun at these events with lots of chatter and stamping and product give-aways. This time we were checking out the Occasions Catalogue and Sale-A-Bration catalogue, in preparation for their release in January 2016. We can order new goodies already and play with them for 6 weeks before they're released to our customers. There's a lot of beautiful stamps, thinlets, punches and paper coming your way!!!!
I'll tell you more about Onstage later.
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And in the meantime - there will be a 20% discount on selected stamp sets from Monday 16th November, but only through till Thursday 20th November, while stocks last. Click here for my online shop, open all day, every day.
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 It's time to be hopping along to Stasia now, enjoy!

Cheers
Rachel

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Birthday Wishes CTC#34

The most celebrated annual event would have to be birthdays, which probably means that it's birthday cards we need most of - am I right?

This week at CASE -ing The Catty, we are focusing on the birthday section of the new Annual catalogue, pages 5-12. You may have arrived here from Kathryn's blog, or perhaps you are starting here. Kathryn and I used the same inspiration sketch, in different ways, don't you love that you can do that? If you keep on hopping from blog to blog, you'll have lots of ideas for your next batch of birthday cards!

Page 5, is where I found heaps of inspiration. I focused on two of the cards and made only minor changes. Mainly, I decided not to use lace, substituting patterned paper from Cherry On Top. I'm using these as class samples for my July class, so wanted to show a couple of different colour choices. This year's In Colors are a delight, so fresh, and Watermelon Wonder is a fave of mine. I really like the way they co-ordinate with the existing colours and just add pizzazz to the range.The Cherry On Top Designer Series Paper Stack co-ordinates perfectly with it, and the Bermuda Bay used on my other pair of cards.

Build A Birthday, a new photopolymer stamp set provided most of these images, and Sprinkles of Life and Cupcake Party helped out a little when I couldn't find a suitable image in Build A Birthday.

I experimented with the fringing too and the watermelon card has fringes of card, while the blue has the Cotton Paper. The ladies at class will have the opportunity to choose which they'd prefer, as the Cotton Paper comes in a pack of four colours.

One class is on Friday 17th July at 7pm or Thursday 23rd July at 7pm, in South Morang, Victoria. Everything is supplied, no obligation to make any purchases, email me, rpalmieri5@bigpond.com for more details or to book in.

Hostess code for online orders under $250 is B6VWKZMJ. If your order is more than $250 you will be invited to make your own Hostess selections at the end of your order (10% of order before shipping).

The blue card reminds me a lot of a pinata, so maybe I prefer that, but regardless, its easy to cut this fringing with the Fringe Scissors.

Next you're heading off to Monique's blog, she has a cheeky little card for you!
And if by chance you get lost anywhere along the blog, this link to CASE-ing The Catty will see you back on track.

Enjoy

Rachel

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Sweet Taffy Cupcake CTS#98

I cut into some more of the Sweet Taffy Designer Series Paper to make this sweet birthday card. It's such a fun sketch this week at CAS(E) This Sketch. Do I say that every week? They just kick-start my thought process so perfectly, and I used the patterned paper for colour inspiration.

 Actually, I did make a small mistake thinking the paper used Strawberry Slush, when it is Melon Mambo - ooops! Not too serious really, and the Rich Razzleberry and Tempting Turquoise are correct.

I used the  Cupcake Builder Punch with card for the patty pan, scored at regular intervals and it just looks so realistic. The icing is punched from one of the patterned papers.



Gorgeous Grunge was still out on my work table and made perfect 'sprinkles' around while Boys Will Be Boys provided the Birthday Greeting. I had no idea how much I was going to love that font, it's so clean and crisp.


                                 

Hope your week is going well, thanks for dropping by,
Rachel

Boys Will Be Boys Wood-Mount Stamp Set

$42.95

Boys Will Be Boys Clear-Mount Stamp Set

$30.95

Gorgeous Grunge Wood Stamp Set

$42.95

Gorgeous Grunge Clear Stamp Set

$33.95

Cupcake Builder Punch

$29.95

Sweet Taffy Designer Series Paper

$18.95

Bitty Banners Big Shot Die Framelits

$25.95

Project Life Cards & Labels Framelits

$42.95

Fuse Fast Adhesive

$16.95

Stampin' Dimensionals

$6.95

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

You Make Me Happy, Logan

Here is the second card I've made with the Pop 'n Cuts system. Again, it is for a very special family member, Logan, who headed to hospital the same day his cousin left there. Logan had to have his tonsils removed, as he is always unwell and has no appetite. He appeared to come through with flying colours, judging by the upbeat conversation I had with him, but there are bound to be some low points too, over the coming days.

I made him this bright little card to cheer him up. He'll be able to wiggle it about until it comes apart, I guess. Sadly, Logan prefers diggers, but this police car will have to do I'm afraid. I layered up 2 Deco Label Framelits for the inside this time and stamped with the SALE-A-BRATION stamp set See Ya Later.
The sun is simply cut with a Starburst Framelit in the appropriate size and then various DSP in shades of yellow were punched with the Banner Punch - which has been included in the new catalogue!!!!!! There are a couple of stamp sets which co-ordinate too.

The police car comes from a stamp set called You're My Hero which also has a fire engine and an ambulance, but it too is retiring. That will mean there are no current vehicle stamps for small boys, so sad.

I colour all these images with Stampin' Write Markers to get the variety of shades. Looks cheerful, doesn't it?

The white cloud is a scalloped oval, daubed with Smokey Slate and the Smokey Slate clouds are punched using the Cupcake Builder Punch. That's a useful punch for a few different things. The cupcake piece makes a nice handbag and the clouds/icing/ice cream probably have more uses too! I noticed at least one new stamp set that will use this punch and the current one, Create a Cupcake, is retiring.

I cut the outside of this card using a long-retired DSP with red stars, and I haven't decorated that yet, but I'm thinking a banner with his name too.



Logan's parents have no qualms about their son's image being "out there' so meet Logan, 4 and a bit, prior to surgery.

Hope you enjoyed my post, thanks for dropping by,

Rachel

Cupcake birthday FMS130

There's not much stamping on this card, mainly because I can't find my Create a Cupcake stamp set ANYWHERE! I can't imagine why not. It's been a while since I used it, and I have cleaned up recently, so I don't understand why it isn't in it's spot. Fortunately, you can still make a great little cupcake with just the Cupcake Builder Punch. So with that and some Watercolor Wonder Designer Series Paper ( yes even the pale grey spot is from that pack), I've put together this cheerful little birthday card. The greeting comes from Just the Ticket and even that stamp set has a matching punch, the Ticket Duo Builder.

I made it quite late at night, which isn't always the best conditions, but in the morning light, I'm so pleased with these bright colours on the soft, spotted paper.The Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder added some texture to the 'icing' and I scored the paper patty base.

The sketch is from Linda at Freshly Made Sketches. As usual a great one, I want to CASE so many of the design team's samples, go on over to their site and check them out!

Looking forward to a lovely crafty weekend here, are you?

Rachel

Remembering Your Birthday

This love of pink is something new for me and I think it has a lot to do with the arrival of a little girl in our family - after 38 years!!! A long wait but well worth it.

I've found myself using pink for scrap booking, of course, and also for cards. When you have a stamp that says "Today calls for something pink with sprinkles on top" it DEMANDS pink, doesn't it?

Beginning with Pink Pirouette, I used an embossing folder, Pretty Print Textured Impressions(132175),  from the current Holiday Catalogue. The banners are cut from retired DSP, mostly Twitterpated and I stamped and punched a cupcake with the Cupcake Builder Punch(121807). I have been neglecting my punches for a while, but they are so quick and easy to use, and I love a pretty cupcake.

The stamp sets are Create A Cupcake (128520) and  Remembering Your Birthday (131347) and the greeting is stamped inside alongside another cupcake.

I've used this sketch by Kathya at Sunday Stamps as my inspiration and stamped in Melon Mambo and Pink Pirouette.




I have finished my three days at work for the week, and look forward to a visit tomorrow with my son, daughter-in-law and their three cherubs. It has been raining all day here, I do hope it finishes and the sun comes out soon.
Happy stamping,
Rachel

You Made My Day

I'm having such a lot of fun with the new catalogue goodies, but my most favourite item has to be the new Big Shot Magnetic Platform. In the past, I was a little bit reluctant to use the Adorning Accents Edgelits because they always ended up crooked and it took so many pieces of card to get the result I was after. There are magnets inside the platform to hold your edgelits and framelits in place and it REALLY works!
I've been making good use of it this weekend, you'll see I used it twice to cut the Crumb Cake and Bermuda Bay card with the Adorning Accents Edgelit and I also used it to cut the Apothecary Accent Label.
The stamp set is an older one, still current though and a VERY useful one, for the tree image and this graceful floral bough. Its called Thoughts and Prayers, so it also includes some lovely greetings for bereavement and ill health. I've punched the flower pot using the Cupcake Builder Punch out of Venetian Romance DSP (so is the label at the top of the card). The colours in these papers are Crisp Canteloupe, Island Indigo, Pistachio Pudding, Soft Suede, Tangerine Tango and Very Vanilla.
I added some Itty Bitty flowers in Strawberry Slush and Crisp Canteloupe punched with one of the Itty Bitty Shapes Punches with pearl centres. There is a piece of the Bermuda Bay 1/8" taffeta Ribbon and a small button from the new Brights Button range, with a pearl on top too.

The sweet greeting is from a fantastic Hostess set Express Yourself. It contains 12 greetings in this script and you can earn this and other benefits if you hold a party in your home with sales over $300. Or you can party on your own and by submit an online order totalling $300, before shipping costs are added and you will receive an additional $50 worth of products of your choice, which might include Express Yourself.

Last Sunday I had some much appreciated help from my friend, Alison Douglas, (check out Alisons blog here) to learn a bit more about the Stampin' Up! MDS (My Digital Studio) and I thought I'd send here a card to say thanks. Inside I've used the greeting, you made my day, which comes from a new stamp set A Dozen Thoughts.

Catch you soon
Rachel

Thoughts and Prayers- $35.95(clear)

Express Yourself - Hostess

Page 184 $69.95 (Australia)

Cupcake birthday CTS#36

My inspiration today was CAS(E) this sketch challenge 36, a much 'cleaner' look than is usual for me, but change is good, or so I'm told!!!!
It may look very plain, but I really went to town with my lovely new Stampin' Up! purchases beginning with a very sweet label stamp from Hostess stamp set Morning Meadow,  stamped in Smoky Slate. There are six super sweet stamps in that set, and I just had to have it after I saw some cards made by others.
Next I used the Happy Birthday from Sketched Birthday, stamped in Melon Mambo and cut with the Bitty Banners Framelits, because it fits so perfectly. Create a Cupcake is the next stamp set, it isn't new but its pretty cute with its matching punch and all the different patty tin cases you can put your cupcake into. I stamped the cupcake case next, again with Melon Mambo and punched it out with the Cupcake Builder Punch before stamping the icing in Pink Pirouette, and punching out. Those pieces were mounted onto a tag cut on the Big Shot using the Chalk Talk Framelits, so easy to use multiple pieces with the NEW Big Shot Magnetic Platform holding the framelits in place so beautifully. Lastly I added lots of tiny pearl sprinkles to the icing, and mounted natural card onto Melon Mambo, and that onto Smoky Slate.

Inside the greeting comes from Remembering Your Birthday, I'm not sure if you can read it but it says Today calls for something pink with sprinkles on top! Isn't that cute? Another patty tin case stamped directly on the card but the icing is a spare punched one decorated with multi-coloured sprinkles (Stampin' Write Markers).
I've had a fun day today with a friend over this morning so I made scones with jam and cream for morning tea, yum!
Hope your weekend was pleasant too....
Rachel