Avant Garden Sale-A-Bration CTC#113

It's Sunday, and welcome back to CASE-ing The Catty Blog Hop. Again this week the crew are sharing inspiration from the Sale-A-Bration Catalogue, pages 4-7. Don't forget to go full circle to check out what each member of the crew has shared. Elizabeth is the crew member before me.

I've used this picture on page 5 of the SAB catty to CASE a couple of cards. It's a great sketch and variations of it can be used over and over. Even though I had the actual paper used on this card from the Annual catty, (Serene Scenery 141657) I decided to ink up the Hardwood stamp with Crumb Cake and stamp onto Soft Sky. A scrap of Tip Top Taupe went through the Big Shot using the Seaside textured impressions embossing folder. The flower from Avant Garden was stamped with Archival Black ink and coloured with ink and a Aqua painter. It has been secured with dimensionals, tombow and some washi tape. 'Happy Birthday Wishes' is one of the three sentiments included with Avant Garden, and in such a pretty font.

Next, the colour was changed quite drastically. A piece of paper with a bokeh effect from Serene Scenery Paper Stack was the background of the card, and also finished the inside nicely. Ink to Rubber technique was used to colour the flower this time and it was fussy cut and laid on a stitched circle. Same sketch, but quite a different result.

I wanted to try CASE-ing another flower from the Avant Garden SAB stamp set. This flower is separate from the stem and leaf, so you can arrange them any way you like. It is such good value when you have a couple of floral images, some other incidental images and 3 sentiments. What's more, it is FREE with your $90 order during Sale-A-Bration 94th January - 31st March).

You could definitely have a nice selection of birthday cards on hand if you used this stamp, these sketches and a few different colour combinations. 

Here you'll see a Youtube video sharing different ways to colour

Now it is time for you to hop over and visit Rebecca Scurr

You can join in by making a card or 3D item using pages 4-7 from the SAB catty as your inspiration and link to our FB challenge here. It can be a colour scheme, a layout or anything really which triggers your creative spark!

Happy crafting

Rachel

Floral Butterflies or Christmas? CTC54 Colour Challenge

WE don't often have colour challenges at CASE-ing The Catty, but this week is an exception and we're mixing Mossy Meadow, Pool Party and Real Red together. I'm sure it will be lots of fun to circle the blog checking out what the design team has thought to produce with this colour scheme.




Have you come from admiring the Christmas ornaments lovely Kathryn in South Australia made, or did you join in here with me? Either way, a big welcome, and keep on blog hopping!


When I first saw the picture above, I thought the Mossy Meadow was overwhelming. It really hasn't been a favourite of mine, but in different (=smaller) proportions, it is a very useable combination. I began with a Christmas card, because the red and green spoke to me of Christmas. Recently I ordered  Sparkly Seasons stamp set and Seasonal Frame Thinlets Dies as a bundle and was keen to try them out. The 'Falalala' is part of the Seasonal Frame Thinlets Dies. One was cut in gold glitter paper, the other in the red. They're stunning!

I stamped onto watercolour paper and experimented a little with the colouring. Finally, I decided my preference is for ink squeezed into the stamp pad lid and applied lightly with an Aqua Painter. You do need to take care not to get the paper too wet and have the colour 'run' outside the lines. Another option would be to use the Shimmery White card instead of watercolour paper. On the Pool Party card, I've used the Hardwood stamp for a background and stamped Mossy Meadow onto card the same colour for the snowglobe stand and it looks soft & velvety, like suede. It was the cute snowglobe images which made me buy this stamp, I can see some sweet scenarios using another of the images, a cute, little ballerina when a young lady in the family becomes a tiny bit older, and {maybe} becomes a dancer.She looked very sweet today at her cousin's birthday party wearing a green tutu.

Inspiration for the other set of cards came while I was still creating the Christmas card. I decided the colours would be perfect for the Floral Wings Hostess stamp set. I have an order from a customer for a half dozen thank you cards and I know she likes butterflies, so although I will also use Butterfly Basics, I thought I would make her a couple from the Floral Wings too. I've made a couple of cards the same, and then I also made another with a vase of roses. I'm thrilled with how they've turned out.

The Hello You Thinlets have cut the 'thanks' and its so much easier now I have the Precision Base Plate. You can see it demonstrated here on Youtube.The Bold Butterfly Dies cut like a dream with the Precision Base Plate, as does the much more intricate Butterflies Thinlets. The other great new addition to the Stampin' Up!® range, introduced in the Holiday Catalogue, is the Fine-Tip Glue Pen. It has a needle which slides down the tip after use of the glue pen to seal it shut properly, so it doesn't clog up and you can easily place the right amount of glue on the back of  very fine die cuts.
 Our Hostess sets are at the end of the catalogue and you can earn them by hosting a party, hosting a catalogue party with your friends, or even by buying all the goodies on your own wish list, and once you pass $250, you will have $25 Hostess Dollars to spend (and Floral Wings will only use $18 of those Hostess Dollars).Have I confused you? You can call 0417 500 681 or email rpalmieri5@bigpond.com and ask questions.

Now it's time for you to hop on over to  the amazing Rebecca's to check out her fabulous project for the colour challenge.

Cheers

Rachel

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

CTC49 - Home For The Holidays

Another week of CASE-ing the Holiday Catalogue, pages 8-21 "Home For The Holidays', is the theme. I don't know if you're having trouble deciding what you like most in the Holiday catalogue, but on pages 10 & 11 are two photopolymer stamp sets, and two sets of framelits which fit together as snuggly as a hand in a glove. Naturally, I had to put both bundles on my first order, at least I was saving 15% and I've had such a lot of fun playing with combinations of the two - so cute!

Maybe you have arrived here from Stasia's blog, but if you're just starting out here, you can follow all the links around, doing a Blog hop with the design team at CASE-ing The Catty.

Initially, I cased the tag on the gift here on the right, almost exactly. I have to confess: - I love miniature things, so that teeny tiny wreath is a winner for me. I will have plenty of tags for my Christmas gifts, so it has been made into a full-size card.

Because we are inside looking out, I left the Soft Sky card plain, like a painted wall. The window frame is Crumb Cake, cut with the die and left plain. The group of  trees out the window come from Happy Scenes stamp set. The sentiment is from the same stamp set, and because it is photopolymer, it is possible to curve it. I used the base of my Stampin' Mist bottle as a guide and just hand-cut the banner. Easy-peasy! The tiny wreath features in Festive Fireplace. Again, easy to stamp in Mossy Meadow, before using the Stampin' Write Marker in Real Red to colour some holly berries. I grabbed a little red twine from the Oh What Fun Tag Kit and tied a knot before using a mini glue dot to attach it to the window frame. This card is one of the options to make at my November Christmas card class (Friday 21st at 7pm).


For the other card, the cat features.... peering out the window, watching his family heading off on holiday, towing a caravan behind the car. This is so typical for an Australian Christmas, since it is summer here at that time of year. My husband and I often head away to the coast, soon after our Christmas celebrations. Fortunately we don't need to take our cat anymore, because our adult sons stay at home. Our 10-year-old cat has always hated travelling in the car, and would cry for the whole trip! Two solid hours of wailing, even while being comforted, not good for any of us, so I bet he's glad to sit at the front window and watch us head off!!! The little scene makes me chuckle inside.

Let's Get Away provided the car and caravan, and the tree and birds stamp is from Happy Scenes, I just stamped some 'leaves' for the autumn tree, since it is bare but obviously wouldn't be in summer. I chose a greeting from Wondrous Wreath for this card. I'm having a lot of fun with these stamps and framelits, maybe at this rate I'll have all my Christmas cards made soon?

Now it's time to head on over to my buddy , Kathryn's blog to check out what she is sharing this week.

If you are wanting to purchase any of these items, the links below take you to that item in my online shop, but if you'd just like to check out the Weekly Deals (new every Wednesday), Clearance Rack or the catalogues in general, you can visit the online shop here. The Hostess Code for this month is EUFRFMNX

To find out more about the class, there is more information under the 'classes' tab.

Cheers

Rachel

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Lovely Leaves Colour Me CMCC#89

Last night I was lucky enough to have some bonus me-time, and off to my craft room I trotted. I had wanted to work with these colours in the Colour Me Challenge no. 89. It has jolted my memory, I love Island Indigo! Unfortunately my stash doesn't extend to Garden Green, except for a marker pen, so to colour those lovely Lighthearted Leaves, I scribbled with markers on an acrylic block and used my aqua painter to fill the gaps.

What do you think of the sentiment? I've used the H happy from Project Life This Is The Life and then grabbed birthday from Endless Birthday Wishes to finish off the sentiment. So many expressions you could make up this way, using those two stamp sets.

After all the die cutting, stamping and colouring, the card wasn't appealing to me, so I went to bed. With fresh eyes this morning, I was much happier with the symmetry of it, and decided that adding Hardwood to the background was the only change I needed to make.

What a thrill! My card was picked at Colour Me! this week!

Cheers

Rachel

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Gift For A Gardener Case-ing Gift Packaging CTC#40

This week the CASE-ing The Catty Crew are CASE-ing the section of the catalogue titled Gift packaging, pages 55-66. You may be starting here with me, or perhaps you have come from Rebecca's blog, Mommiedom.
If you've started here, you can continue to blog hop your way right around for plenty of CASE-ing The Catty inspiration by clicking on the link at the end of my blog. If you happen to get lost along the way, you can get back on track at Case-ing The Catty.




I was absolutely sure that I didn't need the Gift Bag Punch Board even after trying it out at Convention. After all, I can make a gift bag without it. Then I had another think about it and ordered, because it is fairly inexpensive at $32.00, and when I need to make multiple gift boxes for Easter or Christmas gift-giving, this is going to be much quicker. I'll have more time for decorating the boxes!

The Gift Bag Punch Board arrived in my last order along with lots of other goodies that I've use to make this Gift Bag. After having a couple of practice runs, I had memorised the steps, it was easy-as and super-quick, so I'm hooked.

In the same order I received Stake Your Claim stamp set, Floral Wings Hostess stamp set and the Textured Impressions Embossing Folder Brick Wall.  This bag was inspired by the pretty pink bag with a piece of Embossed Butterfly decorating it, on page 58, so pretty and it uses Oh My Goodies bundled with the Deco Labels Collection Framelits. Before I assembled the box, I stamped it with Sahara Sand ink and the Hardwood stamp. Looking at it in the pictures, it might have paid to have stamped that with Tip Top Taupe, it's quite subtle. I was inspired to emboss the wall onto Sahara Sand card, but you wouldn't know that now as I went nuts with a sponge and Tip Top Taupe, Cajun Craze and Delightful Dijon inks to give it warmth and texture. The grout lines of this folder are very deep, but it doesn't break the card. I've seen it used with either side as the feature too. Also, it is a BIG 6" X 6" and still fits through the Big Shot!

Gently tearing the bricks along the grout lines gave it the rustic, tumble-down look and before I adhered it with Tombow, I stamped two meandering vines, from Floral Wings. I might go back and add some flowers to that vine. I suspect it is a climbing rose, madly out of control, judging by the fowers in Floral Wings!!! I had a bit of fun die cutting the plant pots and trowel out of scraps. I had the Handpicked Framelits  already,from the Occasions Catalogue but you can still purchase it because now Stake Your Claim is the co-ordinating stamp set. That's where the 'birthday' stake is from. It was stamped in Rose Red, 2nd generation as I've heard some call it. That means it's been stamped once and then stamped again with out re-inking.

You can see the first stamping of the stake in front of the box here, I was concerned that the colour was too bright for the bricks etc., but later, after filling the Gift Box with hand and nail care products, it has brought a bit more of the pink into the picture, This was such a fun project to put together, I think I might just run a gift packaging class later this year.

If you need any of these products, the product list takes you right to that item in my online store, and the Hostess Code is 6J7FYB24. I'm closing this 'party' at the end of July, and it has already reached the hostess dollars mark, so you will be awarded 10% of your order in product - sharing the love of Stampin' Up!

My inspiration, page 58

Now you're off to the next blog on the hop, Alison is bound to have something super to share,
Cheers
Rachel

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

One-of-a-Kind

I am in the middle of a FUN weekend with my family - and the winter sunshine is quite pleasant too.
For those who do not know, I'm the proud mum of five grown boys, three of those are married with children of their own. Six grandchildren, who are all absolutely delightful, of course. Spending time with these people adds such a lot to my life. Friday afternoon and evening was spent with my youngest grandson, Oliver aged 13 months. We went to the park, made a card for his mum & dad, read picture books and he ate and slept when he was meant to, so we were all very happy with that.
This afternoon, one of my sons and I caught a train into the city to see The Rocky Horror Show. This is at least the third production I've seen, but it was every bit as enjoyable as if I were seeing it for the first time ever. It was also fun to share an afternoon out with Will.

This evening I've continued to think about my boys, and getting birthday cards made for them. Only one was born in the first half of the year, so the other four will be scattered through June, July, September and October. I bought Guy Greetings purely for the cluster of tools because one son is a plumber, another is a carpenter. Apart from that, my husband is pretty handy with tools too, so I knew this stamp set would be VERY useful.





I started making this card entirely differently, but wasn't very happy with the way it looked, so I checked out some challenges and settled on this one at Fusion Card Challenge. They've called it 'Blue Skies and Smooth Sailing', but I saw the sketch, colours I like and woodgrain.



I used Hardwood, because this card is for the carpenter. Lost Lagoon, a touch of Night of Navy, and some Hello Honey are the chosen colours. There will be plenty of room inside for birthday greetings because I used 'one-of-a-kind card for a one-of-a-kind person' instead. A Dozen Thoughts has been a much-used stamp set since it was released, but I have never, ever inked this particular sentiment. It occurred to me today that it was perfect for my son, because each and every one of them is one-of-a-kind. I love these little differences, as much as the similarities. Hoping you (and Jacob) like the card.

Cheers,
Rachel

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Thinking Of You CTC#29

Every Friday night at 7pm (AEST), the CTC Crew will share some ideas with you from the latest Stampin' Up!® catalogue.
***Excitedly waiting for the new catty on June 2nd***
We might CASE totally(Copy and Share Everything), or use a sketch/layout, colour combo or an embellishment to begin the creative process.
You might be starting here with me, or you may have arrived from the CTC Blog, either way, you can continue all the way around until you get back to the start.

This week the challenge was to use the card at the top left of this page, the one with the pink tree and the doiley as our inspiration.  I'll let you in on a little secret too, you'll be seeing more of Sheltering Tree over the coming year. I could so easily have directly CASE-d this card, but decided to try to experiment a little.

I had a piece of card stamped with Hardwood and I've paired it with Lost Lagoon and Soft Sky. The doiley was layered on first, followed by a banner cut from Irresistably Yours Specialty DSP. There is a quite similar DSP coming in the new catalogue too, which I am very pleased about. I used Petal Potpourri for the large flower, and the smaller Petite Petals. Both these flowers have matching punches. Petal Potpourri hasn't made the cut for the new catty though so if you like this stamp set, you need to order it before the end of May. You'll find a link to it at the end of my post. The lovely sentiment is from Sheltering Tree.

I spent last week away on the Gold Coast (Queensland, Australia) at the South Pacific Stampin' Up!® Convention. The motto for Queensland is "Sunny one day, perfect the next." Unfortunately a cyclone came through the week we were up there, and I was very glad that I didn't have too high a floor for the apartment, as the winds were extremely strong. The weather didn't stop us enjoying our convention, it's always so much fun: learning about new products, having inspiring demonstrators share with us, getting together socialising. If you would like to join Stampin' Up!® and be a part of this sort of fun (and pre-order from the new catalogue now) contact me to find out more. rpalmieri5@bigpond.com or phone/text 0417 500 681

A lot of the Australasian CASE-ing The Catty Crew finally met face-to-face for the first time.We tried to get together for a dinner, but there were so many other things going on that only a few of us could go. However, we have finally made a connection and the friendships will continue to develop.

Now you can hop on over to see Rebecca Benson, I'm sure she has something wonderful to share with you.

Cheers,
Rachel

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

South Pacific Stampin' Up!® Convention - More Swaps

Still here on the Gold Coast, enjoying all the fun of a Stampin' Up!® Convention. Last night a large group from Claire Daly's Art With Heart team went out for dinner. So much fun to catch up with demonstrators from the wider team. They came from as far as Perth, taking a whole day to travel to the Gold Coast via Melbourne and they came from around the Gold Coast/Brisbane area too. Well, I guess the fact that we have a team member from the States at the moment makes Karen our most distant member, but she actually has been living in Melbourne.

I made two other card fronts to swap with other demonstrators, and sadly, after the retired list came out last Tuesday 21st, it seems that both my swaps have retired product on them.

This first one uses mainly Polka Dot Pieces, which is retiring, and I believe clear mount has already sold out. I used the small flowers from Something To Say, punched out with Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack and it has all been grounded on the Starburst Framelit circle which was punched out of my design crew swap card.

Starburst Framelits are retiring too. The circle was stamped with Hardwood. The sentiments in From The Herd have a really nice font, the 'happy birthday' came from that set.The Bird Builder Punch remains in the catalogue, so perhaps there will be another stamp released to co-ordinate with it.

For my other swap, the only item used which remains current is Gorgeous Grunge. I tried for a less feminine card, using some DSP, although those are soft colours. The stamp set is #Hello and incudes a lovely big @, as well as some of those hashtag slogans like #friendsarethebest. I paired it with Hello, which is decorated with the teeny heart from the Owl Builder Punch. On Film Framelits are also retiring, but I will keep them for my own use. The round 'hello' was stapled into position.

Now is a good time to pop over and do some online shopping, you might even score a bargain. Many of the products were sold out within hours though, so I hope you're not disappointed! The product links below will take you directly to the item you click on.

I had no time to make more swaps with current products so I hope the recipients aren't too disappointed.
Cheers
Rachel                                                                                                                                                                    

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

South Pacific Stampin' Up!® Convention - April 2015

On Tuesday I flew from miserable Melbourne, Victoria to brilliant Broadbeach (Gold Coast) Queensland. I've been looking forward to Convention almost since the last one!! This is my 4th Convention, and each year is better than the last one, because I know so many more team members and other demonstrators now. Our team sit together, eat out together and generally look out for each other. There is a lot of socialising, mixed in with a little Stampin' Up!® business, and new products, demonstrations by the US staff and other demos from Australia and New Zealand. So much fun!!!

Tuesday night, two of the girls from Adelaide and I went to see the Australian Outback Spectacular.  Tonight I am meeting up with the members of the CASE-ing The Catty Crew. This is the first time I have met any of them face-to-face and I'm quite excited. After we check in for Convention we are heading off to have dinner and swap cards. Card swaps are an 'optional extra' at Convention. Usually you make multiple copies of a card front and swap with other demonstrators who have done the same. It's a great way to meet other demonstrators, get new ideas, cards with stamp sets you don't own. For the swap with the CASE-ing The Catty girls, we've made complete cards.

I love to layer lots of different stamps when I make my  cards. Possibly I sometimes overdo it? I began with Hardwood stamped in Sahara Sand ink onto card the same colour. Next, Gorgeous Grunge in Regal Rose and Coastal Cabana and the sentiment from Butterfly Basics. I cut a window with the Starburst Framelits (on the retired list now). Behind that is a piece of Whisper White which has been stamped with the flower, and honeycomb stamp from Butterfly Basics. The little poem from that stamp set is stamped in Stazon onto window sheet. The sequins are sandwiched between the layers.

The inside has two more stamps from Butterfly Basics, a second sentiment and those lovely fern leaves.There is a strip of the Something Borrowed DSP and a tiny bow tied in twine.

I do hope they like my card, they're all such artistic ladies, whose work inspires me all the time.

Cheers
Rachel

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

#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

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Stampin' Up! Weekly Deals - Available Till 30th December

Today I finally feel like I'm on holiday! Our family celebration was held on Boxing Day, to allow my daughters-in-law time to celebrate with their own mothers. We also have to fit around everyone's work arrangements and my eldest son is back at work today (Saturday). The festive left-overs were divided up last night, and this morning I've laundered the Christmas linen and it's flapping happily in the breeze. 

I'm late AGAIN with the Weekly Deals but they are too good to ignore so I will share them late, rather than never. After all, the shop is open 24/7 and the warehouse staff are back on deck Monday morning waiting to pack your order! The reduced prices show up automatically in the online shop.

Favourites of mine from this bunch are the Chalk Talk Framelits, Oh My Goodies stamp set and the Circles Collection Framelits. Even if you don't own the Chalk Talk stamp set, those shapes are great for adding interest to your cards or journal tags. I've shared several of these cards before, but they illustrate how often I use these Framelits. This card has two of the Chalk Talk Framelits paired with two sizes from the Banners Framelits. There is a glimpse of Chalk Talk stamping too but the greeting is from Perfect Pennants. I blogged about this card here, last February.

This next card was made a while back too using Perfect Pennants for the sentiment on a double banner. The tag behind the banners is another Chalk Talk Framelit and it was a perfect way to ground all those elements together. The Chevron Border Punch, Petite Petals Punch and a Hardwood background stamp also made it onto this card.

Lastly, for the Chalk Talk Framelits,  a change of colour and two more shapes paired with those Banners Framelits again! The sentiment is from the Hip Hip Hooray Card Kit and the Confetti Star Border Punch, currently in the Holiday Catalogue will carry over to the Occasions Catalogue,beginning 6th January. Chalk Talk Framelits are $32.21, till Tuesday.

Circles Collection Framelits are useful for all sorts of things. They complement the Starburst Framelits, and can accommodate many a greeting, as you can see with this rather large 'Happy 60th Birthday'.  This card was shared on my blog back in March when my friend Carol celebrated her 60th. Circle Collection Framelits are $34.46.











Oh My Goodies is a very useful stamp set too, I used it here to make this birthday card. Umpteenth is a favourite number of mine - I didn't know it was used universally!!!! A wood-mount stamp set is only $32.21 this week only.

This week would be a good time to check through your Holiday Catalogue to see if there is anything you're wanting as last orders will be taken 5th January. A number of items are carrying over, so you can always ask me for that information.

Email, text 0417 500 681 or leave a message on this post for any questions you may have.

Have fun creating,

Rachel

The prices below are pre- Weekly Deals, the correct price shows in my online shop, but the icons will take you there.

Circles Collection Framelits Die

$45.95

Squares Collection Framelits Die

$45.95

Chalk Talk Framelits Die

$42.95

Banners Framelits Die

$45.95

Perfect Pennants Wood Stamp Set

$51.95

Perfect Pennants Clear Stamp Set

$41.95

Hip Hip Hooray Card Kit

$34.95

Oh My Goodies Wood-Mount Stamp Set

$42.95

Oh My Goodies Clear-Mount Stamp Set

$30.95

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